SEO Learning Outcome 1
This blog will be exploring a bit about how search engines work but mainly about SEO. I will be pouring over a couple of websites to offer my thoughts on their off-page SEO.
I'll also look at information architecture and consider the Web copy-writing on both, individually.
How search engines work
Let's look at Google, as it's the most commonly used portal.
Google's robots 'crawl' over webpages, scouring the content, indexing what they find to see if it's relevant to the end user's search.
The 'crawlers' take into consideration how popular a site is. They perceive this to mean that the website is trusted for that particular information and assume that it is more pertinent to the end user's search. All this info is run through complex algorithms to organise importance and relevance. This in turn is presented to the user in the form of search results.
Off-page SEO
Put simply, this is a range of techniques that can be employed to increase the ranking of a webpage.
Let me give you a few of the more common methods...
'Tweet', 'like' and 'share' your way to a better Google ranking. This is an easy method, accessible to all.
Writing an engaging blog is a way to make visitors return to your site again and again. It also keeps the Google bots happy as fresh content will make crawlers return to your site, pushing you up the rankings.
This function can generate a lot of traffic. Back links can also be generated in this way by people posting links on the comments section.
Site Architecture:
Good site architecture can make your site more crawl-able or visible to the Google bots. Consideration to forward planning is crucial to the success of a website.
You are trying to achieve is improving how Google bots and visitors can find their way around your site.
Use a 'flatter' architecture to keep your most important information further up the website so the user has fewer clicks to reach what they are looking for.
Avoid having too much Flash and always make your links text so the bots can find and index them.
So, on to the Websites....
This website shows good use of suitable keywords in the title of the page.
<title>David Keating Photography | Denver Family Photographer</title>
Fortunately, the meta tags have been used well in this website...
<meta name="description" content="Capture the fun, unique, and expressive moments of who your family really is with Denver lifestyle photographer, David Keating." />
<meta name="keywords" content="photography,photographer,denver,colorado,family,pet,commercial,outdoor" />
<meta property="og:type" content="blog" />
<meta property="og:title" content="David Keating Photography" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Capture the fun, unique, and expressive moments of who your family really is with Denver lifestyle photographer, David Keating." />
<meta property="og:url" content="http://keatingphotography.com" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="David Keating Photography" />
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" />
It also has relevant keywords in the copy that appears throughout. The site also has descriptive URLs which reflect the information on a given page. This is useful for improving search engine rankings. Take this URL from the Commercial photography category on the site...
http://keatingphotography.com/denver-photo-galleries/denver-commercial-photography/
Content wise, the site has valuable, well-written copy offering relevant information pertaining to it's categories. Someone looking for a family photographer in the Denver area could come across this site ranking well in a Google search. Useful words incorporated in the copy without overloading it.
Here's a snippet from the Family Photography section...
'Family lifestyle photography is about capturing the true personality of a family or individual while they are relaxed and having fun just being themselves. Family shoots are always great time.'
The alt-text for images on the site also appears to be relevant, concise and clear.
Site architecture-wise the site doesn't have an abundance of flash or animation. The navigation is text-based, which appears to be enhanced with some Java Script. It's clear and easy to follow and the Java Script applied doesn't seem to hinder usability.
It's got an external CSS style sheet which prevents the code from becoming bloated, however, the Java Script seems to be inside the HTML. This could also be put in an external style sheet to further streamline the code.
The site is in XHTML. Possibly updating to HTML5 could make it more SEO-friendly.
Samsung.com shows good use of suitable descriptive keywords in the title of the page.
<title>SAMSUNG UK - Home Electronics | Home Appliances | Mobile | Computing</title>
Again, the meta tags have been used well in this website...
<meta name="title" content="SAMSUNG United Kingdom" />
<meta name="Description" content="Welcome to Samsung UK. Discover a wide range of home electronics with cutting-edge technology including TVs, smartphones, tablets, home appliances & more!" />
<meta name="Keywords" content="samsung, samsung.com, samsung electronics, samsung website." />
The URLs on samsung.com are also very precise. Further investigation showed that this was throughout the whole site but I've included an example below to illustrate this. Words and phrases like 'mobile devices' and 'smartphones' are a surefire way to get hits from a Google search...
http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/mobile-devices/smartphones/
A lot of the content in the consumer section is image based. It does give technical info on each product but doesn't seem too concerned with keyword-laden copy for crawlers. For example, here is a snippet of copy for one of their phones currently available. Phrases like 'smartphone' and 'mobile phone' are notable by their absence...
'Sharing is a beautiful thing. Make the most of your lust for life and love of making connections through convenient communication, social networking and content sharing features. Huge 4” screen is designed for brilliant viewing and staging your content for sharing. Enjoy the best multimedia and enjoy interacting with friends and families through your favourite apps, games and video calls while keeping pace with your go-go-go lifestyle.'
There's a distinct lack of alt-text on many of the images throughout the website so users utilising screen readers may face some problems.
Again, site
architecture-wise, navigation is text-based, which also appears to be beefed up
with some Java Script. On the face of it, it's clear and easy to follow and the Java Script enhances the look without becoming messy . It's a massive site and the navigation runs pretty deep but there is a site map at the bottom of every page so if you get lost it's not too trick to find your way home. There's also breadcrumbs for this purpose too.
Much like the first website reviewed, it's got an external CSS
style sheet which prevents the code from becoming bloated, however, the
Java Script again seems to be inside the HTML. like the website above, this could also be put in an
external style sheet to avoid bloating the code.
The site coded in HTML5. This can help reduce use of flash animations, making the website sleeker.
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