An Introduction to Search Engine Friendly Web Design

Before I begin this post let me explain what search engine marketing is for those of you who do not know, the rest of you can skip ahead. Search engine marketing, also known as search engine optimization, is the practice of marketing a website in a way that is recognized by Internet search engines.

Businesses
Search Engine Marketing is what many companies have done to their websites in order to get ranked well in search engines such as Google, MSN and Yahoo. This is something that should be considered seriously when creating a website for your business. Search engine marketing is even more important for businesses that wish to sell their products or services online.

Generally, search engine marketing can take anywhere from three to nine months for a successful campaign. Some larger web design firms offer search engine marketing as part of a package with their web development. It is very important to be cautious about who you choose to do this, as there are many ways to optimize a website incorrectly and doing so could result in a negative impact on your web site’s ranking.

For more information about the importance of search engine friendly web design check out this article: Are You Wasting Money by Paying Your Web Designer for SEO?

Web Designers
As a web designer I realize that we are generally more focused on how the website looks and flows instead of how the search engines read it. After all, if we do not create a elegant website that is well organized then our clients would not be pleased and we would lose business.

I believe that it is the responsibility of the web designer to consider the wants and needs of the client including making the design of the website search engine friendly. It is important to realize that there are many design factors that can have a serious effect on the ability of a website to rank well. Below is a list of some web design factors that could have a negative impact on the ranking of a client’s website when used inappropriately.

* Image links
* JavaScript links
* Frames
* Duplicate content
* Title
* Meta description & keywords
* URL forwards
* More to come…

Previously, I had the chance to work with on of Atlanta’s top search engine marketing firm. I was able to learn many things from this company about what it takes to create a search engine friendly website while keeping it stylish and attractive to the eye. Having that experience allows me to claim that I have knowledge about what it takes to get a client’s website design to be recognized by the search engines.

Check back later for more information about how you can create a search engine friendly website.