Websites are the backbone of e-commerce and as such, they should be designed to be more than just another pretty face on the internet. Outstanding websites not only look good but they generate business! One of the best tools in the designers work bag is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). What follows is a synopsis of the most important features of SEO based webpage design.

Header and title wording is critical in SEO design; it is crucial that keywords commonly used in searched as embedded into all headers and titles. Search engines operate by making searches for sites containing keywords that match what the visitor has types into the search box. An example would be a search box containing the phrase “dog treats”; the search engine would find all sites containing those two keywords. Keyword “tags” serve to boost a websites ranking and are thus, extremely important.

Search engines only pick up the first 60-70 letter characters of a title. Armed with this knowledge, a good SEO strategy would be to use keywords within the first few characters of the title tag. Use title tags that are commonly used in searches to ensure ranking in the first listings.

As a rule, most visitors do not understand extensive technologic terminology and therefore its use should be avoided. Don’t simply stuff your website content with keywords; be sure to present only quality, keyword rich content.

Search engine spiders frequently visit the sitemapfile.xml and it needs to be in a convenient position. Create an HTML version of the sitemap file. Submit your sitemap to Google (and other engines if you desire) to give your website world wide exposure.

Eliminate 404 Errors due to faulty linking by redirecting old pages. Nothing is more annoying to visitors than trying to link to a page that is no longer in service; get rid of old pages and links ASAP.

Make use of linking and easy navigation; facilitate navigation with comprehensible link descriptions using appropriate keywords. Position navigation tools and displays so that visitors are aware of their location at all times.

Optimize URL content; make sure it is easy to remember as well as attractive. Use as few special characters in the URL as possible and be certain the URL is keyword rich to increase URL activity.

Design your webpage to be access-friendly. Adhering to W3C guidelines, using standard pages that are quick to download and marking up pages using CSS and XHTML makes a positive impression on search engines and your ranking will be higher. Remember to design your site with mobile phone platforms in mind so that you will be able to take advantage of that avenue.

Be sure your site’s content is visible or search engine spiders will be unable to index it. Images are not indexed by engines, only content. Never use such tools as spyware, scum ware, shadow domains or doorway pages; search engines will ban websites who operate any of these forms of malware.