Lesson 2: Identifying Roadblocks to SEO
Before we can move on to the more positive stuff, we need to identify any major issues with our existing homepage which may inhibit search engine optimisation.
There are ways around all of these roadblocks so don't despair if you have them - but you will need to plan to do something about them.
You may have noticed if you used Marketleap (www.marketleap.com) to see your existing search engine saturation (in Lesson 1,). That not all of your pages are indexed by the search engines. If you were unfortunate maybe the search engines are only recognising your homepage.
The idea here is to get total saturation so the search engines see all your pages, and searches for specific products and services throw up the relevant page of your site -not just the homepage. So here are the main culprits preventing this and guidance as to what you should do:-
Use of Frames technolgy to develop your site.
If Frames were used this will inhibit search engine optimisation.
You can easily check this by viewing your source code and seeing references to frames, like this for example -
function loadFrames(frame1,page1,frame2,page2) {
eval("parent."+frame1+".location='"+page1+"'");
eval("parent."+frame2+".location='"+page2+"'");
If you have no intention of redeveloping your site the get around is to include readable content as 'noframes' content surrounded by the relevant tags
Your website designer can hopefully do this for you but get in touch if you need help. For a fuller discussion of how frames affects SEO see:-
www.websight.net.au/search-engine-optimisation/frames.asp
Flash
The use of Macromedia Flash technologies is great for making sites look good and interesting; the downside is it can impede the search engines if it's not implemented properly. By properly I mean embedded and used sparingly. This is a bit technical to get around - you'll know if you've got it and its causing search engine problems - so get your web designer to help and again, call me if you need help.
Database driven sites
It used to be a problem but the search engines are getting better at reading the database behind your site. Google has no problem. Its only a real problem if it hasn't been set up properly and too many parameters appear after the domain and certain characters like ?.
Marketleap will let you know if your database is indexed.
Javascript Navigation
You will have seen on many sites - possibly even your own - drop down menus as you mouse over the main navigation tabs. This is great for users but search engine spiders cannot follow these links.
Search engine spiders are essentially simple souls, they can only get their teeth into html code (think of html as spider food). So the solution here, if you use this form of navigation, is to ensure there is also html navigation to the other pages. Using a site map is useful for this; another common techniques is to include a couple of lines of links at the bottom of your page linking to each of your other web pages.
These tend to be the main issues; there are others - if in doubt get a comprehensive analysis done.
(Its a bit like a dental check - takes time and costs money but the benefits are worth it!)
We do this as part of our traffic builder service and give specific instructions as to how to overcome the issues.
A simple experiment for you...
Lastly, here's a simple experiment to do to see what the search engines can actually see when they visit your homepage:-
1. Go to your website homepage
2. CNTL + A (to highlight the elements of your page)
3. CNTL + C (to copy to the clipboard)
4. Open Notepad
5 CNTL + V (to copy in the content)
This is what the search engines see when they visit your homepage. It should be good readable content rich in your strategic keyphrases. Chances are this is not what you got.
Once you've got a good optimised homepage with links through to the inner pages we can then optimise these to ensure they get listed when relevant searches are done.
Is it necessary to optimise all of your pages?
I'll quote what my dentist said when he'd taught me the interesting technique of flossing.
Do I have to floss ALL of them! I asked.
No, just the ones you want to keep, he replied.
Just off to to the dentists. Next time back to more positive stuff; I'll show you some great tools and techniques for unearthing some powerful keywords and phrases.
There are ways around all of these roadblocks so don't despair if you have them - but you will need to plan to do something about them.
You may have noticed if you used Marketleap (www.marketleap.com) to see your existing search engine saturation (in Lesson 1,). That not all of your pages are indexed by the search engines. If you were unfortunate maybe the search engines are only recognising your homepage.
The idea here is to get total saturation so the search engines see all your pages, and searches for specific products and services throw up the relevant page of your site -not just the homepage. So here are the main culprits preventing this and guidance as to what you should do:-
Use of Frames technolgy to develop your site.
If Frames were used this will inhibit search engine optimisation.
You can easily check this by viewing your source code and seeing references to frames, like this for example -
function loadFrames(frame1,page1,frame2,page2) {
eval("parent."+frame1+".location='"+page1+"'");
eval("parent."+frame2+".location='"+page2+"'");
If you have no intention of redeveloping your site the get around is to include readable content as 'noframes' content surrounded by the relevant tags
Your website designer can hopefully do this for you but get in touch if you need help. For a fuller discussion of how frames affects SEO see:-
www.websight.net.au/search-engine-optimisation/frames.asp
Flash
The use of Macromedia Flash technologies is great for making sites look good and interesting; the downside is it can impede the search engines if it's not implemented properly. By properly I mean embedded and used sparingly. This is a bit technical to get around - you'll know if you've got it and its causing search engine problems - so get your web designer to help and again, call me if you need help.
Database driven sites
It used to be a problem but the search engines are getting better at reading the database behind your site. Google has no problem. Its only a real problem if it hasn't been set up properly and too many parameters appear after the domain and certain characters like ?.
Marketleap will let you know if your database is indexed.
Javascript Navigation
You will have seen on many sites - possibly even your own - drop down menus as you mouse over the main navigation tabs. This is great for users but search engine spiders cannot follow these links.
Search engine spiders are essentially simple souls, they can only get their teeth into html code (think of html as spider food). So the solution here, if you use this form of navigation, is to ensure there is also html navigation to the other pages. Using a site map is useful for this; another common techniques is to include a couple of lines of links at the bottom of your page linking to each of your other web pages.
These tend to be the main issues; there are others - if in doubt get a comprehensive analysis done.
(Its a bit like a dental check - takes time and costs money but the benefits are worth it!)
We do this as part of our traffic builder service and give specific instructions as to how to overcome the issues.
A simple experiment for you...
Lastly, here's a simple experiment to do to see what the search engines can actually see when they visit your homepage:-
1. Go to your website homepage
2. CNTL + A (to highlight the elements of your page)
3. CNTL + C (to copy to the clipboard)
4. Open Notepad
5 CNTL + V (to copy in the content)
This is what the search engines see when they visit your homepage. It should be good readable content rich in your strategic keyphrases. Chances are this is not what you got.
Once you've got a good optimised homepage with links through to the inner pages we can then optimise these to ensure they get listed when relevant searches are done.
Is it necessary to optimise all of your pages?
I'll quote what my dentist said when he'd taught me the interesting technique of flossing.
Do I have to floss ALL of them! I asked.
No, just the ones you want to keep, he replied.
Just off to to the dentists. Next time back to more positive stuff; I'll show you some great tools and techniques for unearthing some powerful keywords and phrases.
posted by Unknown at
4:21 pm
