Can the design of my website affect my rankings?
Yes, the layout of a website definitely affects search engine optimization and rankings. If you were building a home, and did not properly lay the foundation, the overall integrity of the structure would be compromised. The same principle can be applied to search engine optimization.
If a website is not properly programmed and built, search engine computers will have a more difficult time in reading what your site is about, and your rankings will suffer severely. CyberMark® first task is to analyze the integrity of your website to see if we need to structurally redesign aspects of your site so search engines are not hindered by complicated or confusing programming applications. We will not only apply marketing to your website, we will make recommendations for altering the website’s programming to create optimal search engine exposure. CyberMark® International is able rebuild your site so our search engine optimization strategies work most effectively for your business.
CyberMark® International optimizes sites with these aspects, but it is more costly and the results are not as dramatic. If you are not sure, obtain a free website evaluation.
Flash (top)
Flash is a file that loads from a stationary HTML page. The stationary HTML page should be optimized. The search engines do not read Flash or graphics and the engines will not read any text embedded in this software. If the entire site is in Flash, the search engine will not be able to detect inside pages, which destroys rankings.
To correct the problem, place hypertext links at the bottom of about 6-7 stationary HTML pages that link to each other and back to the homepage. This network of links will help the search engines detect inside pages. If you do not want these pages being seen by the physical visitor, place your Flash file on each of these pages. The Flash file will load and be seen when any of these pages rank and are clicked on by the visitor.
Frames (top)
Frames act as a barrier between your optimized text and the search engine spiders. Engines cannot effectively crawl and index your site if frames are utilized.
Place your Meta tags in the frames portion at the top of your programming and also in the no frames portion. Make sure there is text in the no frames programming along with invisible links to stationary HTML pages. If the engines cannot read all of the pages they can identify the HTML pages and index from those. This results in making your site look like a no frames site to the engines.
Please note that sites targeting very general, competitive terms will have extreme difficulty. Regional sites on the other hand, that utilize frames, benefit well from this form of optimization.
Dynamic Websites (ASP, Cold Fusion, etc.) (top)
Active Server Pages (ASP) and Cold Fusion Sites (CFM) are examples of dynamically generated websites so they do not have the same impact on the search engines as static HTML pages. There must be a static html homepage and several static inside pages for your website to rank successfully.
We strongly recommend reprogramming these pages as HTML. This can be done while being hosted on a Windows NT server. If this is not an option, take the homepage, reprogram it to a stationary index.html page and add hidden HTML pages.
Cold Fusion programming (top)
Cold Fusion is an HTML editor, which fuses the entire site together and makes it difficult for search engines to make changes or index inside pages. Cold Fusion creates problems for the crawlers when the pages have a .cfm extension instead of .html or .htm. Try to stay away from Cold Fusion extensions. Keep it .html simple.
Websites with no inside pages (top)
A website with no inside pages may never be indexed by a search engine spider. Search engines want their database full of valuable content to drive searchers to. If they only find a homepage there is a very good chance that your website will not have enough content to be considered valuable. Search engines look for websites with a main theme on the homepage that develops into relating themes on the insde pages.
Heavy files that lengthen download time (top)
Many search engines will not wait for large images, Flash files, or audio files to download before they leave your website un-indexed. Always test the load time of your homepage on a 56k connection. If it does not load fast you will most likely not rank well.
Incorrect Directory Structures (top)
Always place all inside pages on the same server level as your index.html webpage such as "whatever.com/aboutus.html." Many web designers have been taught to create separate folders for each inside webpage leaving a link that looks similar to whatever.com/aboutus/aboutus.html." This structure can cause very serious limitations to the successful indexing of your website as many spiders will not index that deep into your website. This applies only to html files, not image or code files.
Excessive Javascript(top)
Excessive javascript, for image roll-over effects for example, can cause longer load times as the search engine spider must parse through the excessive code. Place all javascript in external .js files, if possible.
