SEO

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This post was originally on a blog I started for creating web applications. This post goes into SEO considerations for web applications.

Use Search Engine Friendly URLs

Use semantic URLs. Semantic URLs help improve usability and accessibility of a website. The following table from the Wikipedia entry illistrates how to use semantic URLs:

Non-semantic URLSemantic URL
http://example.com/index.php?page=namehttp://example.com/name
http://example.com/index.php?page=consulting/marketinghttp://example.com/consulting/marketing
http://example.com/products?category=2&pid=25http://example.com/products/2/25
http://example.com/cgi-bin/feed.cgi?feed=news&frm=rsshttp://example.com/news.rss
http://example.com/services/index.jsp?category=legal&id=patentshttp://example.com/services/legal/patents
http://example.com/kb/index.php?cat=8&id=41http://example.com/kb/8/41
http://example.com/index.php?mod=profiles&id=193http://example.com/profiles/193

Use Hashbangs for Dynamic Content When You Normally Use Hashes

If you normally use the hash # character for dynamic content, change it to the hashbang #!. This allows googlebot to use #_REQUEST["_escaped_fragment_"] instead of #!.

Use Push State If You Can

If the user is using Firefox or Chromium, you can use history.pushState( object, pageName, "./?param=1"); so that the address bar changes, but the page does not reload. This allows you to use ? instead of #! to keep dynamic content.

Use Descriptive Links

When creating links, refrain from using "this" or "click here" or similar phrases for your links. Link descriptions should be descriptive.

Have an XML Sitemap

Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling.

Have a sitemap at /sitemap.xml for search engines to crawl.

Have a image sitemap for your images!

Create a mobile sitemap!

Use Canonical URLs For Duplicate Content

Use <link rel="canonical" ... /> when you have duplicate content on multiple pages. Remember, multiple URLs that point to the same content coint as dusplicate content. Also remember that ?page=1&subject=my-subject and ?subject=my-subject&page=1 are different pages to web crawlers!

Setup Webmaster Tools

Use Google Webmaster Tools and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Setup Google Analytics

Have Google Analytics set up. Or something like Piwik.

Have robots.txt Configured Properly

Set your robots.txt file properly. Each subdomain must have its own robots.txt file.

301 Redirect for WWW Requests

www.example.com or example.com should be your primary domain, not both. Have one 301 Redirect (Moved Permanently) to the other.

Read the Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide

The starter guide is viewable here.

The Basics

  • Create unique, accurate page titles. These titles are displayed in the search results. Titles reflect what is on each individual page.
  • Use the description meta tag. Google will use them as snippets for your pages.
  • Use simple to understand (ie "friendly") URLs. URLs should contain relevant words. http://mysite.com/article/basket-ball-scores is a friendly URL.
  • Navigation is very important for search engines. Think of you website as folders that should be easy to navigate. Use breadcrumbs!
  • Use sitemaps! Prepare one for users and one for search engines.
  • Use 404s when necessary.

Improving Site Structure

  • Create a naturally flowing hierarchy.
  • Avoid having all navigation based entirely on dropdown menus. Your website should be accessible, pages should be conntected with normal text links.

Optimizing Content

  • Create compelling and useful content.
  • Offer unique and exclusive content.
  • Checkout the Keyword Planner by Google AdWords.
  • Write easy-to-read text. Don't embed text in images
  • Create fresh content.
  • Create content for users, not for search engines.
  • Write good anchor text: <a href="...">Top Ten Basketball Shots</a> is a descriptive link.
  • Use alt tags on your images! This also helps with accessibility.
  • Use descriptive filenames for your images and assets!
  • Supply an image sitemap file!
  • Use heading tags correctly! <h1> is the most important. <h6> is the least important.

Dealing with Crawlers

  • Restrict crawling with robots.txt.
  • Use rel="nofollow" when necessary for links. Normally, user generated links through comment systems should be tagged with nofollow.

SEO for Mobile Phones

  • Configure mobiles sites so that they can be indexed accurately.
  • Create a mobile sitemap!
  • If you use User-agents to generate your mobile site, make sure to allow Googlebot-Mobile!
  • If you use a seperate domain for your mobile app, redirect them to the correct page!

Promotions and Analysis

  • Backlinks increase the value of your site ( backlinks are links that other people post to your site).
  • Know how to utilize your social media sites.
  • Utilize the Google Webmaster Tools.