Webmasters have many tools to use in creating a page layout, from a frame set (I don’t like them – they should never be used, ever), to tables, to CSS, to PHP includes, divs, and the latest “new” thing, AJAX. You probably don’t know what most of those things are, and that’s okay. It isn’t okay if your web master doesn’t, though, because how your home page uses them can and will affect the way search engine robots digest your site.

Google’s and Yahoo’s robots don’t visit your site the way people do. They review and index the source code of each page. You can take a look at the source code of your home page by following these few simple steps:

• Go to the home page of your web site.
• In the upper left of your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera) will you’ll see the word “View.” Click on it.
• From the drop down menu that appears, select “Source” or “Page Source.” A new window will open. You’ll see the programming code that represents your home page in that new window.
  It looks like gibberish, I know, a foreign language. For those who don’t write in HTML, it is a foreign language. But, that’s what search engine robots see when they index your home page.

Home page structure should make it as easy as possible for robots to determine who you are and what your site is about. The architecture contributes to that process, and it is in your best interests to make it easy for them to follow and clear for them to determine. Here are just a few tips for you to discuss with your web master:

1. You’ll see a line that begins with “title.” This is the title of your home page, not the title of your web site. Be sure you have a keyword in that page title. For instance, here is the title of the home page for one of KISS’s business sites, www.mlmcelt.com: “Web Copywriter MLM Celtic Enterprises,” and “web copywriter” is one of the keywords often used in searches that bring visitors to this site.

2. You’ll see in the source code some lines that begin with “meta” and then followed by “keywords” and “description.” Make sure you have your keywords in this “keyword” section of the source code. Write a concise and keyword-rich description of your web site, too, and have your web master add it to this “description” section of the code for you.

3. Page structure allows for the designation of “heading” tiers. This refers to headings in your text, and distinguishes them both in appearance for human visitors and in importance for search engine robots. H1, H2, H3, H4, H5 are the designations you’ll see in source code, and the order of importance is signified by the number with the H, 1 being the most important. Headings are helpful in copy structure, and are a good spot for a keyword, too, and the robots will look for them. Make sure you have headings, and heading designations in your source code – - the most important keyword belongs in the line designated H1, the second most important in the line designated H2, and so on.

4. Divs are instructions in the source code that determine where on a page a certain element appears. They’re a new technique for creating and positioning content containers, and CSS is used to position them. However, divs do not need to appear in the source code in any particular location. This means the divs (little snippets of code that tell your browser where to display page elements) do not need to be at the beginning of the source code – - they can just as easily be at the bottom. Why is this important? It’s important because robots weigh text placed higher in the code more than they weigh text placed near the end. It allows you to place your copy at or near the top of the source code for your site, and this makes it easy for the robots to find it without interference, interruption or confusion in determining which part of your copy is the most relevant to your site. Web masters with familiarity with this architecture will know what you mean when you ask about your home page divs – - if they’ve incorporated them into the architecture, they have served you well.

My colleague, Josiah Cole, has been instrumental in helping me understand home page architecture – - he’s responsible for design and production at KISS – - and he’s been a very patient teacher. We map out page structure together as carefully as an architect plans building construction. These considerations do make a difference in search engine rank by helping the robots understand more clearly and quickly what your site is about.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Web Copywriting/SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.