website architecture

WebsiteArchitecture

Stoney deGeyterPole Position Marketing

stoney@polepositionmarketing.com

Stoney deGeyterPole Position Marketing

stoney@polepositionmarketing.com

Developers are often unaware of the value of good site structure

What you lose with poor SEO…

Don’t Make Me THINK,

Dammit!

Poor website architecture hinders search engine performance

I’m with search engine

I’m with user

What do you gain? Search engines find important pages Users navigate to important pages

Search engines determine page relevance Users quickly get to relevant pages

Build a search engine friendly website

Duplicate content can plague you like a virus

(or two)

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Slows spidering and indexing

A B

G H

A B

G H

C D

I J

C D

I J

E F

K L

E F

K L

Search engine leaves before spidering all important pages

= spidered

= not spidered

DuplicateContent

IssueD

URL &

Site Structure

Domain Name Keep Short Register 10 years! Memorable Use keywords (if possible)

TheDuffelbagFannyPackTravelStore.com Motorcycle-Battery-Equipment.com OmniInteractive.com

MyMortgageBanker.com BatteryStuff.com Winterkids.com RainbowWeddings.com

Alternate Domain Names Alternate / Misspellings Abbreviated Phonetically similar .net, .org, etc. …sucks.com, …sux.com

HomeDepot.com TheHomeDepot.com

PolePositionMarketing.com PullPositionMarketing.comPPMarketing.com???

FabDesigns.comFabDesign.comFabulousDesign.com

Domain redirects Redirect all domain names to primary URL

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Favicon Adds branding value

Search engine friendly URLs

Keep shortsite.com/category/product.php

Use keywords if possiblesite.com/snowboards/burton/grom

Minimize parameterssite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100615137&N=10000003+90401+528374

Pick one and redirect the other

www. or no www.?Duplicate

ContentIssueD

Home page redirect

www.yourmusic.com redirects to…

www.yourmusic.com/home/

Jacks up PageRank flow

Secure/non-secure pagesDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Differing navigation pathsDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Dash vs. underscore With-hyphens

eMarketingPerformance.com/wp-admin/new-post.php

With_underscoreseMarketingPerformance.com/wp_admin/new_post.php

Is that a spaceor an underscore?

Session IDsDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Session IDsDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Session 2Session 1

Session 4 Session 5

Session 3

Session 6

Home

Custom redirect page

Too-flat directory structure

Home

Too-vertical directory structure

Home

Ideal directory structure

Home

Ideal directory structure

Home

Keyword Keyword Keyword

Not one page per directory!

Keyword Keyword Keyword Keyword

Keyword Keyword Keyword KeywordKeyword

Home

Link&

Navigation Structure

Linking to www. versionDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Absolute vs. relative links Absolute:<a href=“http://www.site.com/page.html”>

Relative: <a href=“page.html”>

Absolute gives you absolute control.

Linking to secure pages Use absolute URLs in Navigation

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Secure shopping pathDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Products Shopping cart

Checkout

Linking to home pageDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Search friendly links

Good Link

Search un-friendly links

Bad Link

Search meh-friendly links

Meh Link

JavaScript:window.open(‘http://www.smartfurniture.com/product/5670/’, ‘newWindow’)

Good linking practices Avoid flash or javascript links Keep links in control (100 max per page) Every relevant page needs one incoming

link

A

A

Splitting link flow

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

N

O

P

M Q

A problem for both internal and external links

DuplicateContent

IssueD

A

Splitting link flow

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

N

O

P

M Q

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Link juice flows to only one page

Top/side navigation

Link to main pages & most important site sections

HomeContact

Basket

Categories & Brands

Search

Primary nav bar

Well Designed and linked to important pages and sub-pages.

Footer nav bar Use for primary company pages Good place for few SEO related links

Breadcrumbs Let’s visitors know where they are Provides easy navigation back

Anchor text Use keywords in link text

Keyword-rich link text Links should accurately reflect the

information on the destination page.

No: Click here to learn more about preparing personal tax returns.

No: Click here to learn more about preparing personal tax returns.

Yes: Learn more about preparing personal tax returns.

Meh: Click here to learn more about preparing personal tax returns.

Cross link related products

Product Categorization

Same Product, Different URLs

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Multiple product pages

Show as many products as possible

Allow product filtering.

Shopping cart pages Keep hidden from search engines

Don’t allow cart links to be followed

Index product pages

Engines can’t access…

password protected areas

Pages found through search,

forms, dropdowns or select boxes

Site map

Exclusion: Robots.txt Blocking pages that

don’t need to be indexed.

User-agent: * Disallow: /includes/ Disallow: /land/ Disallow: /RP/ Disallow: /cgi-bin/ Disallow: /misc/ Disallow: /archive/ Disallow: /can-spam.php

Nofollow attribute Linking out to untrustworthy sites Funneling “link juice”

<a rel=“nofollow” href=“blocked.htm”>Blocked Link</a>

Yes: Click here to learn more about preparing personal tax returns.

Yes: We value your privacy.

nofollow

Noindex Preventing individual pages from being

indexed and/or links from being followed.

<meta name=“robots" content=“noindex,nofollow”/>

Acts like this:

User-agent: *

Disallow: /this page.htm

<a rel=“nofollow” href=“blocked.htm”>All Links</a>

Prevent broken links

Redirect changed page URLs

AA

XLinkredirect

Visitors&

Engines

Document &

Page Structure

Site hierarchy Natural flow of topics and sub-topics

Home

Topic A Topic B Topic C

Amazingly similar to directory structure!

Welcome to MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Beauty ProductsWelcome to MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Beauty ProductsWelcome to MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Beauty ProductsWelcome to MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Beauty ProductsWelcome to MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Beauty Products

MyBeautyProducts.com Discount Wholesale Beauty ProductsNatural and Organic Facial Makeup for Healthy SkinOdor Free Nail Polish and Enamel for Long-Lasting NailsWhy Natural and Organic Cosmetics Are BetterMyBeautyProducts.com Hair > Shampoos > Vidal Sassoon

Title tagsDuplicate

ContentIssueD

Branded titles Recognizable names should always brand

Branded<title>Business Name | Movie Posters, Collectibles

and Memorabilia</title>

<title>Movie Posters, Collectibles and Memorabilia| Business Name </title>

Non-Branded<title>Movie Posters | The Dark Knight One (1) Sheet

</title>

Meta description

Not every page needs a description

Meta keywords

Get over it!

Unique content

Create unique content for each page

Don’t rely on default product descriptions

Unique ContentStands Out

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Textual interlinking

Link to related content wherever possible

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

mollit anim id est laborum.

• mollit anim id est laborum• mollit anim id est laborum• mollit anim id est laborum id est laborum id est laborum

On-page content development Clearly written

Be accurate

Research and use keywords

Use image alt attributes

Transcribe video and audio content

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Hx heirarchy Use outline format

Hx heirarchy

Eliminate code bloat Excessive Tables On-page JavaScript On-page styles HTML formatting

Reduces page load Maintains low text to

code ration Reduces unnecessary

code clutter

<table></table>

<script language="JavaScript">

</script>

<style></style>

<font></font>

Cascading style sheets (CSS)

Allows cleaner code by moving formatting

and style issues off-page.

Reduces code bloat

Makes editing easier

Focuses engines on content

X<font>X<color>X<size>X<table>

X<font>X<color>X<size>X<table>

On-page CSS & javabody {margin:0; padding:0; font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif; background: url(/images/body-bg.gif) repeat top left; text-align:center}

body a:link {color:#069;}body a:visited {color:#069;}body a:active {color:#f93;}body a:hover {color:#f93;}

#pageBox {position:relative; width:780px; margin:0px auto; border:1px solid #000; background-color:#fff; padding-top:97px}

#content {margin:0; border:0px solid #000; text-align:left; background:#fff; padding:8px 5px 0 12px; font-size:70%}#footercontent {text-align:left; padding: 0 5px 16px 12px;font-size:70%}.contentTable {background:#fff;}

#content {line-height:148%}

#content li {list-style-image:url(/images/bullet-arrow.gif); margin-bottom:0px}

.small {font-size:80%;}

.larger {font-size:120%; text-decoration:underline;}

#small1 li {font-size:80%; list-style-image:url(/images/bullet-check.gif)}#small2 li {font-size:80%; list-style-image:url(/images/bullet-check.gif)}

#header {position:absolute; top:0; left:0; width:780px; background:#A9903C url(/images/logobar.gif) no-repeat; text-align:left; height:82px}

#mainNav {position:relative; width:184px; font-size:70%; text-align:left; margin:0; padding-left:3px; margin-top:11px}

#mainNav a {display:block; margin:0; padding:1px 4px 2px 0px; width:157px} #mainNav ul a:hover {color:#000; background:#E2E2E2; width:157px; cursor:pointer}

#mainNav ul {margin:0; padding:0; list-style-type:none; margin:0 5px; padding:0px 0 0 4px; color:#FFF; text-decoration:none}

#mainNav li {margin:0; width:162px; border-bottom:1px solid #4B4B4B}

#mainNav .hilight {background:#E2E2E2; color:#000; cursor:default}

#footer {position:relative; background:#000; color:#ccc; font-size:70%; padding:8px 2px 5px 5px; text-align:left; height:15px}

#footer p, #footer a {color:#979797; margin:0; text-decoration:none}

#footer a:hover {color:#fff; text-decoration:none}

h1 {background:url(/images/checkered-flag.gif) no-repeat left; font-size:150%; padding:15px 0 15px 45px; font-weight:bold; border-bottom:dashed 1px #FF9933}

h2 {font-size:105%; font-weight:bold; line-height:150%} h3 {text-align:center; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #C7C7C7; background:#E2E2E2; margin-top:0}

h4 {padding:0; margin:0; margin-top:3px; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold;}

h5 {font-size:105%; font-weight:bold; border-bottom:1px dashed #979797}

.line {border-bottom:dashed 1px #FF9933}

/* checkered bar */

#headBottomBar {height:30px; width:780px; background:#A9903C url(/images/topbar.gif) repeat-x; position:absolute; top:79px; left:0}

/* Hor Navigation */#navBox {position:relative; margin:0; margin:5px 0 0 20px; padding:0; z-index:10; text-align:left; border-left:1px solid #222; font-size:80%}

#navBox a {color:#000}

#navBox ul {padding:0; margin:0; list-style-type:none; height:20px}#navBox ul li {padding:0; margin:0; float:left}

.menus {color:#000; font:bold 10px Tahoma,Verdana,Geneva; list-style-type:none; position:absolute; top:20px; background:#fff; visibility:hidden; padding:0; margin:0}

.menus a {font-weight:bold; text-decoration:none; text-align:left}

.menus a:link, a:visited, a:hover {color:#000}

.menus li {clear:both}

#m1 {left:-1px; top:21px}#m1 a {padding:2px 4px 2px 6px; width:15.5em}

#m2 {left:48px; top:21px}#m2 a {padding:2px 4px 2px 6px; width:14em}

#m4 {left:128px; top:21px}#m4 a {padding:2px 4px 2px 6px; width:11.5em}

#m5 {left:243px; top:21px}#m5 a {padding:2px 4px 2px 6px; width:12em}

#m3 {left:343px; top:21px}#m3 a {padding:2px 4px 2px 6px; width:10em}

#m1 a:hover, #m2 a:hover, #m3 a:hover, #m4 a:hover, #m5 a:hover {background:#ff9933}#m1 a, #m2 a, #m3 a, #m4 a, #m5 a {display:block; background:#ffcc33; border-bottom:1px solid #666; border-right:1px solid #666; border-left: 1px solid #666}

#breadcrumbs {font-size:95%; margin:0 -12px 15px -12px; padding:8px 16px 3px 12px; line-height:1.2em; background:#E2E2E2; border-bottom:1px solid #C7C7C7}#breadcrumbs2 {font-size:95%; margin:0 0 15px -3px; padding:5.5px 16px 3px 16px; line-height:1.2em; background:#E2E2E2; border-bottom:1px solid #C7C7C7}

#quotebox {margin:0 8px 0 3px; font-size:85%; padding:0 6px; border:1px dashed #ff9933; line-height:14px}#quotebox a {text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal}

#quoteboxtext{text-align:justify}

#headSiteTools {position:absolute; top:18px; right:1px}

#headSiteTools img {display:block}

#sherpaBox {border:1px solid #000; background:#fff}

#borderBox {border:1px solid #000}

#mainNav .recposts {border: 1px dashed #fff; margin: 5px; padding: 4px 5px 5px 5px; background:#fff; color:#000; width:155px}

#mainNav .recposts a {display:block; text-decoration:none; padding:10px 0; border-bottom:1px dashed #ccc; margin-bottom:-4px; width:145px; font-weight:normal}

#mainNav .recposts .nodash {border-bottom:1px solid #fff; text-align:right}

#mainNav .recposts .logoimage {border-bottom:1px solid #fff; margin:0; padding:0; margin-left:3px; margin-bottom:-10px}

#mainNav .recposts a:link {color:#F25313; text-decoration:none}#mainNav .recposts a:visited {color:#F25313}#mainNav .recposts a:hover {color:#96330B; text-decoration:underline}

div#userLogin {width:200px; text-align:right; padding:6px 10px 2px 6px; white-space:nowrap}

.formUserLogin {background:#C2AA57; color:#000; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; border:1px solid #000; width:95px; margin:0}

.skip {display:none}

.formUserLoginSubmit {background:#C2AA57; color:#000; font-family:verdana, sans-serif; font-size:90%; width:97px; margin:0; margin-top:3px; border-top:2px solid #E9D795; border-left:2px solid #E9D795; border-bottom:2px solid #4F4216; border-right:2px solid #4F4216}

#bob {margin:15px 15px 0 10px; border:2px dashed #ff9933; background:url(/images/biopic-bobloblaw.jpg) no-repeat left bottom; }#bob p {padding:0 6px 0px 80px; font-style:italic; text-align:justify; }

blockquote {margin:15px 10px 0 10px; padding:0 6px 0 10px; border:1px dotted #000}#requestquote {margin:0 8px 0 3px; padding:5px 5px 5px 5px; border:1px dotted #000; text-align:center}#block {margin:15px 30px 0 10px; padding:0 6px 0 10px;} <link rel="stylesheet"

type="text/css" href=“styles.css“ /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href=“styles.css“ />

Code bloat: Tables

How tables are read

2 3 4 51

2 3 41

CSS positioning Reposition code to

place important text at the top.

4 2 13

Image alt attributes

All images clearly

explained in ALT

Especially true for

navigation images!

Valid markup Valid HTML… will NOT improve rankings

Non-Valid HTML… can cause problems that prevent ranking

Why Validate? Uncover errors that can prevent spiderability

and proper page indexing

Sight-impaired accessibility Screen readers Adjustable fonts

In 2006 Target was sued because site was inaccessible for visually impaired

Target lost.

Text-only browsers

CSS-less browsers

Mobil users

Printer-friendly pages Use CSS to create style

sheets for printing content.

DuplicateContent

IssueD

Don’t force for standard browsing.

Cookies

Conclusion

Should site architecture to be a priority in your SEM campaign?

Build a search friendly structure to achieve stronger SEO results

Improved spidering and indexing of pages

Increased customer confidence and loyalty

More customer-focused website

Measurable growth in targeted traffic

Improved relevancy in search results

Increased visitor conversion rates (sales)

Developers are often unaware of the value of good site structure

Assignment

Review www.galaxy-quest-airlines.com

Find SEO, usability and architectural

problems

Discuss in SEO Workshop tomorrow

Thank You!

PolePositionMarketing.com

SearchEngineGuide.com