| 12 Steps To A Better Web site By: Mark Angeletti |
9. Search Engine Optimization According to a study by Jupiter Media Matrix over 55% of all Internet purchases begin with a search engine. But 93% of these consumers do not look past the first two pages of search engine results. To ensure that your web site is ranked high in the search engine listings you need to make sure that your site is correctly optimized. You've come to the right place. |
10. Accessibility "The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." -- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web. While Berners-Lee made this statement over a decade ago it still rings true today. By having an accessible web site for all viewers you are reaching as much as the market as possible. You can learn more about accessibility at the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) by W3C. |
11. Compatibility While Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser still dominates the lion's share of the market the competition is thickening and will likely continue to do so. It's important that you develop your web site to be as cross-browser friendly as possible. Compatibility will become even more important in time - when people start surfing the web from alternative sources other than a desktop computer, such as a PDA, mobile phone, car display or wrist-watch. To help you achieve a cross-browser design - refer to the W3C's HTML standards validity check. |
12. Content You will often hear the statement, "Content is King." While this may or may not be true, one thing is for certain, if you want a high search engine listing you need to feed the spiders well. That means serving well tagged content that is keyword loaded. Each page should focus on 2 to 3 keywords and have enough content for the spiders to get the gist of the page. |
