Help Search Engines to Understand!

Bear in mind how search engines work. They use automated processes to read web pages and rate them in relation to the input coming from their users - lists of search terms (or "keywords"). To be understood and rated, ensure that your text includes the sorts of words your audience will be searching on. List them out; then ensure they appear in your text. It is particularly important to include them in headings and in clickable link text.

This consideration is one of the key elements of page design. It's not just about looking good and reading well: you must communicate with search engines as well as people. Search engines are very literal, so you need to spell out everything for them. Don't be too poetic, punning or metaphorical. And wherever possible, add in those keywords.

Take the web design examples page on this site. The headings are, arguably, not very imaginative: "Web Design 1" etc. Descriptions of the sites themselves would have been more obvious. But that could have confused search engines into misunderstanding what this site is about. Teaser headlines might have worked better on a leaflet. But search engines don't respond well to teasing. Instead: what we've managed to do is get the words "web design" into six key headings on a single page (and the link in this paragraph). Search engines will understand that.

Do try to vary the keywords in the same way that searchers are likely to. For example, stylistically we use the compound word "website" as standard. In traditional media, one would strive for consistency. But here, we vary it and slip in the occasional two-worded "web site" too. This should always be done naturally and subtly. (Noticed how we just levered an extra one of each into this paragraph? It all counts! But take care not to over-do it.)

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