Benefits of Search Engine Optimization Other Than Rankings

Alternate Benefits of Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization should not be solely meant to optimize your site for search rankings. If you are doing an SEO campaign solely to generate traffic then you need to re-evaluate your goals. Search engine optimization is really usability optimization, in which case you are optimizing your web site for the most disabled, least-capable user: search engine robots! But this also adds to the user experience of any user.

Limited Capabilities

Search engine robots do not understand javascript, images, or flash (although some search engines can now index flash, I have yet to see a flash site rank well). They are color blind, and can’t even tell what text is bigger than other text. Some other web browsers have limited capabilities like these, and some users have their own disabilities which limit their use of such media. By applying simple search engine optimization principles, you can make it easier for your existing visitors to navigate and access your site because it will be so much more accessible and usable to everyone including search engine spiders, less-skilled, and less-capable human visitors.These visitors will love your site for making it so simple and allowing them to find what they’re looking for on your web site, but as an extra bonus, you should start to receive traffic from search engines, and if you watch your stats, you’ll inadvertently see the benefit of marketing your site online!

Cell Phones and PDAs

You might be thinking that everyone uses the latest web browsers, or that 95% of users have images, CSS, and Javascript enabled. That’s true, but with the emergence of high-speed Internet access on cell phones and PDAs, people are using their cell phones, and other hand-held devices for accessing the Internet a lot more frequently. These devices have some very limited features, do not support javascript, and with images enabled can run up a huge bill for your cell phone. Wouldn’t it be great to tell people that your web site also works on their cell phone? It will show that you are progressive and thinking about the future with your business and your web site.

Quick Tips

Here are some quick tips to make your web site more search-engine friendly (and accessible for everyone).

1. Use properly structured, semantic markup.  Don’t over use the H1 tag. It should only be used once as the main title of your page. Then add some H2 tags and paragraph tags to mark up your content.
2. Separate design from content using CSS and HTML and keep your presentation and layout in a separate file. Now when users with less-capable browsers, or with certain features disabled, visit your site, they’ll be able to view your content and not have to worry about those images and javascript or plugin-related content that they can’t view anyway.
3. Use unobtrusive DOM-scripting or javascript. This will make it easy for less capable browsers or users to interact with your site.
4. Use a valid document type and ensure your code validates. This is a no-brainer, and will help your site remain current and compatible with future browsers in the years to come.
5. Create a consistent, clean, text-based navigation as your main navigation. This makes it easier for users with images turned off to navigate your web site. It also helps search engine spiders index your content properly.
6. Include a sitemap. Using a sitemap will make it easy for your users to find any page on your site from one location. Think of it as a directory or index for your site. Some users with limited capaabilities like to use the sitemap to get a quick listing of everything that is on your web site. This also helps ensure that search engines can see each page on your site.

Follow some of these tips, and do some more research on web accessibility. When you’re done you’ll notice that a lot of the same accessibility principles apply directly to search engine optimization.