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Search Engine Optimalisation (SEO)

The purpose of search engine optimalisation (SEO) is to reach a top position in the search results of leading search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ilse etc.

In order to be shown in the search results of search engines you shall first have to subscribe/submit the website to the various search engines and search directories (among which ‘dmoz’). After the website is made known to a search engine (this can take up to a few weeks or even months), the respective search robots (spiders) shall visit the new website and index it.
During this process the spiders can come across web techniques which are incompatible to/with search engines, ultimately resulting in said website becoming difficult to find within the various search engines. Some examples of web techniques which can cause problems when indexing, are the following:


Frames Frames offer web designers and web developers the possibility to construct an internet page out of various parts. With this you may, for example, think of an internet page in which a navigation page as well as a content html page is included.
Its main advantage is that when you select a link in the menu, the internet page is not refreshed entirely but only the content html page.
A number of spiders (among which Google’s) are not capable of indexing/indicing frames well (enough). However, these pages can be optimalized as well: adding content optimalized on search terms in the so-called  NOFRAMES tag of the frames page ensures that the frames page can be indexed well/correctly.
Some disadvantages are, however, attached to the use of optimalized frame pages:
  • The extra control of the NOFRAMES content
  • The search spider considers the navigation and content html page to be separate pages. This means that these pages can also appear separately in the search results. When the user opens such a page then (s)he will not see the total frames page but only the navigation or content part of the page. This can, by the way?, be resolved by applying e.g. a JavaScript that always ensures that the complete frames page is called up even if only part of it is called up.
Flash Flash is a MacroMedia animation technology that is independent of a browser. With this technology fluently running animation sequences, films etc can be made and presented in a website. Next to an interactive, and graphically beautiful presentation Flash at the same time has the advantage of a reproduction that is guaranteed for 99% irrelevant of the browser or the operating system used.

On the other hand Flash is definitely not search engine friendly.
With the exception of Google the search spiders are incapable of indexing/indicing Flash.
Nevertheless, a website need not be ‘Flashless'. In Milestre’s general website the hyperlinks and the content are separated from the Flash animation. Because of this the website remains indexable but due to using fluently running animation in the background it gets an interactive and beautiful charisma.
 
JavaScript JavaScript is a programming language with which interactivity can be added to an HTML page. With this you can think of navigation menus which can be ‘unfolded’
However, search spiders are not capable of interpreting JavaScripts well enough. Links defined in JavaScript, cannot be followed. again naturally effecting its searchability.

Therefore the thing is not only to mention the available links next to the statement in JavaScript but also to define them in the contents of the page itself. The so-called  NOSCRIPT tag is used for this more often.

As already mentioned the search spiders prefer high-quality text content. It even appears as if the place of the content in the html page determines the position in the search results. The higher the actual content in the page the better the page is valued. It is therefore advisable not to have the html page start with large quantities of JavaScript and/or style definitions, but to load this JavaScript code and CSS style definition via external files.
 
Dynamic pages
 ‘Dynamic pages’ means: pages which get their content dynamically (e.g. from a database). The page remains the same but the content changes constantly.
Websites based on a content management system (CMS) use such dynamic pages. From /Via the dynamic page the content is collected from a database.
Search engines appear to/have proved to index static html pages in a better way than dynamic pages. And yet within certain preconditions it is possible to develop a website search engine supported by a content management system in a friendly manner.

As appears from what is stated above the realisation of a top position will already be determined during the construction of the website. Still the high-quality website content ultimately determines a high position in the search results.

The search engine optimalisation for this website went through a number of phases:

  • Search word analysis. During this analysis the relevant search tasks for the website are determined.
  • Website optimalisation: search engine-friendly techniques are applied as much as possible within this website. The required optimalisation shall be determined by the position which this website shall acquire.
  • Content definition. Optimized texts shall be written based on the specified search tasks of the search word analysis.
  • Evaluation. The results are to be evaluated and form the basis of a further optimalisation. Next to looking at the position of the website in the search results it is also necessary to have a look at and assess the consulting behaviour of the website. To this end a Consulting Analysis Application such as Webtrends is indispensable.