Natural Search Optimization

Nowadays with Google controlling the majority of searches conducted on the internet it is more important than ever to have a search strategy. You are not just building a website, you are building an brand. Having an understanding of how Google spiders a page is crucial. Paying attention to how Google gets in and around your site is critical to understanding how it ranks.  Some spider-friendly tactics can go along way.  

SEO has evolved from simply organizing keyword research, content, and inbound links.  With many large ecommerce sites becoming increasingly deep, one of the biggest barriers to ranking well is simply minimizing duplicate content and breaking down spider-walls (those architectural elements that stand in the way of robots getting to the content you want indexed).  Many ecommerce sites struggle with pagination issues and product filters that create an infinite number of pages that all look identical to Google

First of all, Page titles (found within the title tags) should be topically relevant to the page they are on. Ideally, they should use some of the most important keyword phrases related to the page. Most importantly, every page should have a unique page title and that each page shoudl sing its own distinct song to the search engines.  Use the page headers should reinforce the page titles, this can be a great place to use synonyms.  Certain aspects of a page carry greater importance in establishing context. The title of a page, which appears in the top “chrome” of the browser window, is the most important element to a spider in understanding what the page is about. Headings on a page (e.g., h1, h2, h3, etc. tags) carry considerable importance also, and their proper usage helps create content hierarchy.  Try to use text-based links.  If they must be image-based, make sure they contain alternative attributes.  This is a plus for usability as well.  The text, or alt text for images, should be topically relevant to the destination page, rather than things like “read more,” or “click here.”  

Any important text on a page should be in html rather than an image, generic promotional text can be left in an image.  Making sure your graphic design team understands these subtleties when creating graphics can be a big help.

Flash can be a nice touch but make sure your not locking up your great content in a box that spiders can’t access.  It is however best used for accent and user interaction, but not as the primary page content or to deliver important information, since spiders have a difficult time accessing and understanding text within Flash.