Importance of internal linking and site architecture for SEO

Meta tags are one of the first considerations in any website’s on-site SEO efforts. They are amongst the easiest on-site elements to change, and in the case of the meta-description, can influence what searchers see in search engine results. There are more meta tags than just those for the ‘keywords’ and ‘description’, and although there has been much debate over the value of such tags, skilfully written meta tags can greatly help with your website SEO efforts.

Which tags should be included in website design?

There are many types of meta tag, but those you should concern yourself with from an SEO point of view are:

Meta Content Type

This tag allows you to control how your site is rendered in a user’s browser. Failure to include this meta tag can result in an illegible page or faulty design. Web designers will normally use such a tag in the design process, but incorrect usage have a detriment effect on SEO as broken pages lead to high bounce rates.

Meta Description

The meta description tag is one of the most important, allowing you to describe your page to the search engines. More importantly however, many search engines use this description in their SERPs. This tag should therefore contain your targeted keywords and entice searchers to click onto your site; this is effectively your sales pitch.

Robots

The robots tag allows you to dictate whether a search engine follows links and indexes pages on your website. Although, this tag isn’t necessary for search engines to follow a link and index a page as they do so by default, even in the absence of a robots tag. You only need to concern yourself with this tag if you do not want a link followed or page indexed. It is also possible to use specific bot tags if you need a specific robot to perform an action.

Language

This tag can be used to dictate the primary language in which your site is written. This is rarely used in domestic settings but can be useful if you expand abroad or relocate to another country.

Source

This is a relatively new meta tag introduced by Google in a bid to identify the source of the news stories it ranks. Similar to social media where the authority of the author is considered as a ranking factor, we can expect source authority to become an important element of the search algorithm in the future.

Keywords

The keywords meta tag has long been discounted as a ranking factor mainly due to its abuse in the early days of website optimisation. This said, best practice dictates the keywords meta tag should still be included as you never know exactly which factors the search engines will deem important in the future.

Refresh

If your site is using this tag you should change it to a 301 redirect; this tag will have a negative effect on your website optimisation.

Used effectively, meta tags can reward your website with a real SEO boost. On the other hand, if you ignore the tags you can expect a negative effect on your website SEO.  A good website designer will optimise your met tags for you. Here at Designer-Websites.co.uk we can ensure your website optimisation works for, and not against, your website.

We have been working very hard on a new website for Access Training Wales Ltd, a specialist trade training company based in Cardiff, South Wales. The website is very large and contains detailed information on the various trade training courses offered by the company, for example plumbing training, electrician training, plastering training etc. The company have been delivering trade training courses for many many years and have a fantastic facility in Cardiff, which is purpose built to deliver these types of training courses.

The owners came to us with the requirement to completely redesign and rebuild their old website with a particular view to optimising the new site for the search engines. The trades training industry is very competitive and as such their are many large training companies like these guys who are spending lots of time, energy and money on getting their websites to the top of the search engines for the particular courses that they deliver, so this is a pretty tough ask, however we live to prove that we can do this and although we have only recently launched this site our client is already seeing improvements on the number of enquiries, and this will significantly improve over the next few months, of that I am positive.

Working with this company it was easy to see how passionate they are about delivering high quality training to individuals who want to learn a new skill or even develop a new career. They really get a buzz out of seeing their clients/students complete a course and become a qualified trades person, and that is admirable in my book.

The site is pretty large and contains over 160 pages, which was very hard to write and convert into a website. I think there really is a training course for every trade and every trade related qualification possible! Anyway take a look at the new Access Trade Training site and if you have stumbled upon this page because you are looking for trade training courses then you've definitely found the right place, get yourself on one of these courses and you'll be qualified in no time!

We were approached by James Installations and Maintenance for a new website that would both improve the appearance of the company online and potentially bring new business in through people searching on Google for an electrician in Cardiff or an electrical contractor in the South Wales area. We developed a new image for the company and then proceeded to develop the website and content, the result is this electrician website, which the client is very happy with.

On a personal note, I have used James as an electrician at my home and the work completed was faultless and very reasonably priced. I would recommend James Installation and Maintenance for any electrician type work large or small.

The latest addition to Google’s SERPs is their new Instant Preview feature. This allows searchers to “preview” a website or landing page prior to clicking through to it. Searchers can preview any listing in the organic results by either clicking the description, or the small magnifying glass icon to the left of every listing. The overview is displayed in a pop up window which shows a snapshot of the destination page, highlighting where the relevant search term appears on that page.

Through the preview pop up screen, searchers can get a feel for the site on the other side of the link; images, headlines, colour and general layout all have a major impact.  With relatively small size of the pop up window, prominent design features are more likely to catch a searchers eye as small text is difficult to read. This will make the first impression, or snapshot of your site, vital to traffic generation much like an advert in a magazine. You will only have 2-3 seconds to grab the searchers attention.

Some factors to consider when designing for instant preview:

Images

The prominence of images which are product or service specific will become even more important in your web design. Larger images allowing a clearer view of your offerings should be used to communicate instantly the thrust of your site. Smaller images or cluttered images will have less impact than a clear, large image in the new preview window. Pages containing long, text heavy content will look very dull and uninviting, whereas an image will allow you to make best use of the 2-3 second exposure.

Headlines

With small text so difficult to read in the preview window, anything in a larger font or bold will stand out as a headline. The searchers eye will be drawn to these sentences first, so make good use of them. Ensure your keywords are present and that the message you are trying to convey is clear and legible within your headlines.

Page load time

Page load times are an important factor in SEO as well as web design, but speed will be even more important with instant preview. If your images fail to render in the short space of time a searcher is hovering over your listing they will very, very quickly move onto the next. Combine this with the need to have bold images on your site, and a balance will need to be struck between image size, quality and load time.

Flash

As usual, Google has a problem with Flash, and Instant Preview is no exception. Flash sites or page elements are failing to display in the preview, making sites look broken or incomplete. This will deter searchers from clicking through to your site, especially if that flash element was critical to your product/service offering. This will result in fewer clicks, which will in turn lead to lower rankings and fewer sales.

Introduction pages

A good website designer will avoid introduction pages altogether, but there are still a great deal of sites out there using intro pages. Again, we have seen issues with these pages failing to display in previews, making your site appear broken and unattractive. This will have a serious impact on your click through rate and your rankings in the search engines.

So overall, instant preview presents new challenges as well as opportunities for web designers, both in design and SEO terms. Greater consideration will need to be given to what is legible and effective within the smaller preview window as well as on the site itself.

Here at Designer-Websites.co.uk we can ensure you have the edge over your competition with website design which takes advantage of Google’s new instant preview feature.

We have just designed and developed a new website for South Wales UPVC Ltd. The company based in Taffs Well, South Wales had commissioned us to create a new optimised website for their upvc windows and doors business. The website, as you would guess, contains lots of information on upvc windows and doors, as well as information about the company themselves. The company supply and fit a wide range of upvc products, including windows, doors, conservatories, orangeries, roofline products and commercial fittings.

During the development of this website some of us at Designer Websites used South Wales UPVC to supply and fit windows and doors on our homes, and I must say the cost was MUCH lower than any other company we spoke to and the jobs themselves were done quickly and easily, with no fuss and no mess. I would highly recommend these guys for windows and doors, not only because they are a client but because the jobs they completed for us were very professional and outstanding quality.

Anyway take a look at the website and see what they do.. UPVC Windows and Doors Company