Tag: SEO

Internal Linking Strategy: SEO Nerd vs Web Design Nerd

  • admin
  • February 5, 2014
  • 54

The internet is platform where different businesses and website owners compete against each other to gain recognition. A common example is where each and every website owner works towards search engine optimization on a regular basis to top the results page on major search engines. By doing so, a website owner is gaining more exposure towards target audience and eventually increases the amount of traffic landing on the website.
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Participation in the online competition is very necessary for everyone who is working towards achieving a higher traffic rate along with a good click-through rate on their website. However, this is easier said than done. Online, website owners face various dilemmas such as which approach to use for SEO and how to attract more traffic towards a website. These dilemmas are based on priorities since they may go against other approaches available online. A common dilemma is faced by two web specialists related to internal linking strategy.
 
Internal linking is the way pages of a website are linked to each other and how they open up upon clicking on the links. This might seem to be a small matter but in reality it is a very important aspect which determines the click-through rate and the bounce rate of a website. Below are the perspectives from two kinds of people on internet linking strategy; an SEO Nerd and a Web Design Nerd. Here is what they have to say about linking website pages:
 

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SEO Nerd and internal linking:

  1. The SEO nerd will always prefer that internal links are opened in new tabs or other window. This is because he does not want the visitor to leave the original website eventually adding to the page bounce rate. In whatever way possible, the SEO nerd would prefer his existing traffic to stay on his website for as long as possible. Pages with a high bounce rate coupled with a low click-through rate are known to not do well on search engines generally.
  1. Secondly, the SEO nerd perceives that if the visitor wishes to click on a link on the original website, it should always open in a new tab because the visitor is just looking for more information and does not intend to leave the original website. According to him, extra information present on other links should always open in new tabs or windows since the information is related to the original website itself.
  1. The SEO nerd also is of the opinion that if a visitor leaves the website by clicking through another link, this might indicate to the major search engines such as Google, that the website is invaluable for the visitor. Google and other search engines may prefer the link’s website on top of the original website in such a scenario.
 
Photo credit: Seosmartwebsitedesign

Web Design Nerd and internal linking:

  1. A Web design nerd who is also an impression-savvy person prefers that internal links are always opened in the same window. This is because he believes that this is the proper way of links being opened instead of using new tabs or windows. Due to his priority being the design and functionality of the website instead of SEO, he wants his website to function in a normal and perceivable manner.
  1. Secondly, a Web design nerd is of the opinion that if visitors wish to head back to the website after clicking a link, he or she can do so by going back on the browser even if this is not advisable by major search engines. The essence of a web design nerd’s theory is that new tabs and windows disrupts the user’s experience and may also irritate them in certain scenarios.
  1. A Web design nerd does not want to lose visitors and loyal traffic on the basis of impression. If the visitor gets the wrong impression about a website due internal links opening in new tabs and windows, the web design nerd believes he will lose traffic instantly.
In conclusion, we can determine that both forms of internal linking strategies are logical and workable however it highly depends on the person who owns the website to decide on which strategy to use. SEO is highly important in today’s age and time hence in comparison, we can establish that links opening in new tabs are still acceptable as compared to new windows which should be the ideal strategy used by all website owners since SEO cannot be ignored by website owners. Sooner or later every website owner has to work towards SEO as it has become a fundamental practice in terms of marketing a website.
 
Author’s Bio:
 
Jenny works for a marketing agency and has done various perception comparisons in the past to determine the best strategy for many website owners. Her favorite past-time is having a cup of coffee in bed, drawing infographics from info-graphicdesign and reading 10 best ways to improve your backyard.
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Web Design Techniques That You Should Not Try

  • admin
  • September 10, 2012
  • 5
Web Design you should not tryDo you have your favorite websites that you love to visit? Imagine if that website when through a redesign and ended up taking a longer time to load, confusing you with where you thought important navigation bars should be located, and even had some parts that were not visible on your iPad or smartphone. You would most likely not be happy and may even reach out to the company to express your frustration.

New websites, and especially those for new businesses, do not have this same luxury. Most visitors will leave as soon as they get frustrated, which does not take more than a few seconds. To make your website work for your company, you should be sure to avoid the following design techniques.

  • Overuse of Flash – Flash certainly has its benefits. It provides a fun and interactive way to engage your customer and provide more dynamic content. However, when your site is filled with large flash images it can cause it to fail to load on some devices, including Apple iPad’s and some smartphones, and make your page slower. To overcome this, limit the size and amount of flash required parts of your page or eliminate them all together.
  • Frames – Some web designers use frames to create the layout of the website and divide content up. This, however, can make the site get lost in search engines because of the inability to crawl the frames for content leaving your site hungry for traffic. Try using other layout techniques, or if you must use frames, put meta tags with keywords around the frames.
  • Excessive scripts – Businesses like to make their website as user friendly as possible. One way to do this with scripts. While this can make the interface of the website far more dynamic, with rollovers and animations, it can also add extra items to load on the backend making your website seem slower and more frustrating to people as they wait for it to appear on their screen. Limit the number of scripts for a good balance between user friendly design and load time.
  • Hiding text in pictures – Images allows graphic designers to express their creativity and splash images on the screen with promotional text and keyword rich content. The problem with this is that the search engines cannot see this dense content and search engine optimization efforts end up going down the drain. Instead, use pictures then put headlines with keyword rich titles underneath the images for a more stunning look and better SEO tactics.
  • Cluttering the page with stuff – This is a common mistake when too many minds are working on the same project. Every person wants to have their piece of the puzzle put on the homepage for the world to see. While this can help search engine optimization efforts with large amounts of text, it can overwhelm a person visiting and make their experience feel burdensome rather than helpful. Instead, this is where web designers have to get creative and consolidate everyone’s demands into a simple page that requires very little scrolling.
  • Forgetting the vitals – Websites must be credible for them to convert traffic into leads. To give a credible look not only to visitors, but also to search engines, it is important to remember to put the company address, privacy statement, terms of condition and any other important information of that nature at the bottom of the page. This will show people that there is a real business behind the screen and they will be more likely to trust them with their details.
As you are designing your next website, consider these important tips for creating one that converts traffic and helps the business generate leads.
 
About the Author:
Patrick Del Rosario is part of the team behind Open Colleges. It is one of Australia’s pioneer and leading providers of Web design courses and Graphic design courses. When not working, Patrick enjoys blogging, travelling, and photography. Patrick together with his father runs a Photo Studio in the philippines. If you have a blog and would like free content. You can find him on Google+.

Image Source: http://www.sigmainfotech.com.au