Q and A: How do I move my site without losing rankings?

Dear Kalena...

I am having trouble with my "advanced access" website. The customer service has become horrible. They are very rude. I am thinking of moving my site (of course, I would have to redesign because I am using their template) but I own the domain name. I have high rankings on google so I am afraid to lose ranking. Is there a way to change my website design and webmaster without losing ranking?

Teri

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Teri

I'm not familiar with "Advanced Access", but I'm assuming this is some type of hosted Content Management System you use to edit your site with? Looking briefly at your site, I believe it is. And it looks as though most of the content is actually hosted on the AA site and not on your own domain. Don't be afraid to move your site if you are getting lousy service.

In terms of ranking, I think you'd actually be better off by moving your site content and domain to full hosting elsewhere. Your new host should be able to advise on making the DNS switch etc. You'll need to download all your existing site content and any images or files that are hosted on AA but referenced in your site. Of if they own the template you are using, simply keep a copy of all the text content and pay someone else to create a simple design for you based on the same content.

Provided you keep the same page content, keywords, page titles, META tags etc, you shouldn't lose any Google rankings. In fact, your rankings might even improve as you'll be referencing all your images and files etc on your own domain instead of somebody else's. If your page URLs change during the redesign, you'll need to make sure that the old pages are redirected to the new ones via 301 redirects so you don't lose traffic or existing rankings for those pages. There are plenty of posts on this blog to help you with that - simply click on 301 redirects under the Q and A labels. Best of luck!


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Q and A: Which type of page formatting is best for SEO purposes?

Dear Kalena...

For SEO and other purposes, in a simple medium sized site, using Dreamweaver - which method of formatting is best: using CSS, style, format or manually? Does it matter if a mixture is used, a result of having different people designing the site?

Thanks
Peter

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Peter

In terms of search engine compatibility, you should try to keep as much of your page formatting off the page as possible. The aim being to keep the HTML clean and reduce code bloat to ensure search robots can index it more easily.

So this means using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and external JavaScript files if you are using JavaScript menus. Need more info? Read this page about formatting web pages for better SEO.


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Q and A: Will changing my web site layout affect my Google PageRank?

Dear Kalena...

I have a page rank 2 website now I am going to change only the layout of the site, not the content of the site. Will this effect on my Google page rank or not? Secondly advice me how I change the layout of the website.

Regards,
Qamar

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Qamar

Let me take your questions one by one:

1) No. Unless of course you uninstall the Google Toolbar during the site update, (which I highly recommend).

2) Sure. How about I teach you HTML, PHP, Adobe PageMaker, Dreamweaver and ASP from scratch? Each will probably take you around 30 hours to learn, so that's 150 hours at $120 per hour = $18,000 please. You can PayPal the cash to me via the Buy Me a Coffee button on this page.

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Q and A: What should we look for in a web design company?

Dear Kalena...

I've been reading your blog for a few months now and I just want to let you know how much I enjoy it. I have a few broad questions for you. But I'm donating you 2 coffees for your help to get you through them.

Ok, here it goes: Dr. Bell, the owner of the business, really wants to redesign our site. He wants a fresh clean look that people will want to checkout frequently. We want someone local, so we can talk face to face with them. My questions are, What should we look for in a website design company? We have a pretty big site, we are willing to pay good amounts to get a really nice job done, but what is a realistic but fair price(so we don't get ripped off)? Is there anything else that we should know or do? Thank you so much for your help.

PS I really liked the new newsletter and I'm happy you are back and healthy.

Thanks Again
Victoria

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Victoria

Choosing a web design firm is a big decision. A US client of mine just went through the selection process and evaluated the candidates based upon five criteria:

1. quality
2. price
3. flexibility
4. reputation; and
5. ability to meet timeframe

They eventually narrowed the field down to two candidates, one close to their own location in the US and the other in Australia. Their gut instinct told them the Aussie firm would be a better fit but they were concerned about how the time difference would impact on their relationship with the designer and their ability to meet deadlines.

Interestingly, they ended up choosing the Australian designer, despite their concerns about ease of communication with the time difference. So what made them choose a company thousands of miles away? Several reasons:

1. They weren't convinced that the local firm understood their target market and the importance of site conversions to their business. In their proposal, the Australian designer addressed site usability and conversions as crucial to their approach.

2. While the local company provided a portfolio of impressive site designs they had developed, the Australian designer had an excellent global reputation for creating beautiful web sites that were also search engine friendly.

3. The Australian designer had several US clients who gave glowing references from both a professional and personal perspective.

4. In her proposal, the Australian designer demonstrated that she understood the client's primary objectives and future goals for the site.

5. The Australian designer proved she was flexible regarding potential communication issues. During the final selection process, she worked with the client to verbally address any remaining concerns.

6. The Australian designer came across as honest, warm and friendly on the phone and established a good first impression with the client.

The point here is to use selection criteria to choose your candidates, but go with your gut on the final choice. They need to totally *get* your business and your online goals before they even flesh out a basic site map. Don't let money, size or locality be the deciding factor in your decision.

You need to be able to work with these people closely for some months and develop a good rapport with them. A designer that can meet most of your criteria and with whom you can have an enjoyable conversation may well be a better fit than a firm that meets all your criteria but whose staff seem impersonal or bored.

Oh and one more thing: ALWAYS get client references. Call or email some of their clients and ask about what they are like to work with, if they are happy with the design, etc. If you do a Google search for "what to look for in a web designer", you'll find even more advice.

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Q and A: Should I buy an established web site?

Dear Kalena...

I know you are very busy, but I hope you can help me. I am considering buying a web site. The price is $1750 and the domain is [URL removed]. This website sells over 400 different dog and cat pet products. The web site already has all of the supplier's available products loaded with description and pictures.

It’s only through one supplier – I could certainly find out who that is before I bought it. It’s not a business yet, just a website. They sure found a great domain name! Do you believe it was available? Do you think you could give me a quick opinion on this? I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!

Best,
Lois

Kalena's Answer:

Hi Lois

I'm not in a position to advise you on this purchase, as I've never personally purchased a completed web site before, only ever bought new domain names and built up my own businesses. May I suggest you do a few things immediately:

1) Look up the company selling the site on their local Better Business Bureau to ensure they are legitimate.

2) Do a Google search on the company selling the site to see what others are saying about them.

3) Ask to have referrals from other customers who have bought sites from them.

4) Look up the domain you are purchasing on Allwhois.com to ensure the domain registration details match the company claiming to own the domain.

5) Get in contact with the suppliers of the products that the site is selling to make sure this is a legitimate business.

6) Ask for some advice about purchasing established websites on various webmaster forums such as cre8asite forums and high rankings forums. You are likely to find other webmasters on such forums who have done this before and will give you good advice.

Also, I've had a look at the site for sale and there is reason to be concerned about it's search engine compatibility. First up, the site pages are all dynamic in nature, meaning search engines might have trouble indexing them. The home page redirects to a long-winded PHP page with multiple parameters which looks like an affiliate link. The site has no Google PageRank and is not being cached by Google. This would trigger alarm bells with me.

I'd do a LOT of research before throwing yourself into this. The domain name is nothing special. You could have a very nice web site built by professionals using a search engine friendly CMS for less than $1,750.

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Q and A: Is it better to use a database or build individual web pages for each product?

Dear Kalena...

I was thinking of starting an e-commerce site and wanted to ask for your opinion regarding information of the individual products. Is it better to simply build a separate web page for each product rather than storing them in a database? This way search engines should be able to crawl them and I may get more visitors.

Thank You,
Daniel

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Daniel

It's difficult to answer this question without knowing your range of products. Assuming your product range doesn't extend into the hundreds and the specs for your products won't change regularly, I would create a dedicated web page for each product that has it's own URL e.g. www.site.com/catalog/product74855.htm rather than having a single catalog page with dynamically generated product pages like www.site.com/catalog.asp?productid=74855 and www.site.com/catalog.asp?productid=74856 etc.

When a database is used to generate content, some search engines will only ever index a single page. For example, in the situation above, the URL www.site.com/catalog.asp would be indexed but the product pages wouldn't be viewed as pages in their own right. Having flat product pages also gives you the opportunity to optimize each one for unique target keywords relating specifically to their content.

With the increasing uptake of the sitemaps protocol, search engines are getting better at indexing dynamic content, but why take the risk? You might as well make your site as findable as possible right? With large e-commerce sites, you've rarely got any choice but to use a database. The solution here is to use one in conjunction with mod_rewrite to ensure each page has it's own "static" URL.

If your product information changes on a regular basis, another solution that a colleague of mine uses is to have a database that generates a dynamic main page for each product, but to manually create a flat product description page that appears when persons click on a "more information" link within the main page. This description page can have a product image on it and optimized descriptive text that can be edited whenever the product is updated. As long as you provide a way for search engines to easily find it, this type of content makes juicy spider food.

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Q and A: Does it matter to search engines if my pages are PHP or HTML?

Dear Kalena...

Does it matter if I write my web pages in php or html? Does it hurt me to use php pages, or is it a benefit? Any suggestion to improve my site? Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it!

Barry

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Barry

Nope. Whatever programming language you choose to design your site with, just make sure you use clean, valid code, preferably in combination with CSS to help reduce code bloat.


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Q and A: Do we need to start over with our web site?

Dear Kalena...

Thank you very, very much for the thorough analysis of our site. That is just what we were looking for. We built the site with Microsoft Frontpage 2003 (and still use it) a few years ago. I thought 'tables' were the staple of all websites, what is CSS? So you are saying we need to start over right? What web building software should we use? Do you ever do this sort of work (correcting all the problems you described with our site)? The background and a few other small things we can fix now. Can we use a light grey background or does google like white better? Also what is "anchor text link" and "Your internal links could also use some work from an anchor text angle." How do I find these "Trusted Sites"?

Thank you very much Kalena!

Mike

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Mike

That's a lot of questions! Think I'll need some more caffeine :-)

Let's take them one by one:

1) What is CSS?

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets and is a way to store the design and layout code for your site in a separate file so you don't have to include it in the HTML code of every page. Instead, each page simply refers to the CSS file. It's a much neater way of designing a web site than tables and search engines prefer it too because there is less code for them to index and less chance of your code tripping up a search engine bot while it's indexing your site.

2) So you are saying we need to start over right? What web building software should we use?

Yes, preferably. Tables are old technology and very difficult to design with. Also, the site could use an overhaul - no offence but it does look a little "home made". I have a confession to make - I am also a Front Page junkie! But I have learned over the years that Front Page adds a lot of unnecessary code to web pages and most sites built with FP aren't very search engine friendly so I try not to use it anymore. It's best if you build a site from scratch using HTML code and CSS or hire a designer who can build one for you in PHP or HTML. There are web site templates you can purchase online, but often these are built with tables. The alternative is to use an Open Source Content Management System (there are available free of charge) but it will require a steep learning curve. If you'd like some recommendations for reasonably priced web designers that understand how to build search engine friendly sites, please let me know.

3) Do you ever do this sort of work (correcting all the problems you described with our site)?

Yes, I offer search engine optimization services via my hourly consulting rates and my company Jordan Consulting Group can provide a quote for web design using a Content Management System. Use the Ask Kalena link again and ask for a quote on either service if you're interested. If you want to learn quickly how to optimize your own site from scratch, consider taking one of our online search engine optimization courses.

4) Can we use a light grey background or does google like white better?

Light grey should be fine, as long as it has a different HEX color to your table background in your HTML code.

5) What is "anchor text link" and "Your internal links could also use some work from an anchor text angle."

Anchor text, (sometimes known as the link label), is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The keywords you use in a link to a site can have an impact on how well that site ranks for searches utilizing those keywords. In other words, if you want your site to rank well for "gold dipped roses", then you should incorporate links within your site that use "gold dipped roses" in the anchor text of the links. You can do this by linking from internal pages of your site to other internal pages of your site with such anchor text. But the keywords you use in your link text should always be relevant to the page content you are linking to. You should also try to encourage other sites to link to you using anchor text in their links.

6) How do I find these "Trusted Sites"?

Ah, that's a time-consuming task. You need to research and look for popular directories to submit your site to and approach sites that have a similar theme to your site to ask for a link. Try looking for niche directories, regional directories and industry portals relating to your business as a source of one-way incoming links Some sites will require a reciprocal link placed on your site to theirs before they will link to you, but reciprocal links don't have as much search engine value as one-way incoming links. If you don't have time, you can hire a company to run a link building campaign on your behalf.

Good luck!

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Q and A: Does changing the name of a site impact search rankings?

Dear Kalena...

I am thinking of changing the name of my internet business site so as to direct more traffic because the current name, while nice, doesn't really spell out what we do. It is now Gilt-Edge Luxury Tours and Travel and I would like to change it to DC Luxury Tours. However, we have had this site for 10 years and it well indexed by the search engines. Does changing the name (but not the url which would stay the same) have any impact on the search engines? Or would I have to start all over from scratch if I changed the name?

Gilda

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Gilda

A site name change is not necessarily a problem. It would be different if you were changing your domain or changing your name from one with keywords in it to one without. Losing the word "travel" from your site name may slightly impact your site's rankings for searches involving the word "travel", but only if you no longer include that word prominently in your site. Your main site heading will no longer include "travel", but you can compensate by making sure that the rest of the site is optimized for travel-related keywords.

The other area that might be impacted is your link popularity. If other sites are currently linking to you using your old name, it might be contributing to your site's relevancy for "luxury tours and travel". But if ranking for "DC luxury tours" or "DC tours" is actually more important to you, then you should encourage sites already linking to you to change the anchor text of their link to your new site name and of course any new link partners should link to you using your new name. DC Luxury Tours is certainly easier to remember than your old name, so the change should be good from a marketing and usability perspective.

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Does Your Web Site Need a Workout?

I recently turned one of my blog rants into an article and I thought you, my dear readers, would enjoy it.

Does Your Web Site Need a Workout talks about how some companies waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on their web site without ensuring that it's working hard for them. Extract:

"I see it so often, regardless of company size. Web sites that could easily be bringing in loads of traffic and revenue simply wasting away because nobody can be bothered tracking visitor activity, analyzing trends or checking for search engine compatibility and usability.

These companies are simply keeping up appearances, investing heavily in Internet technology because their competitors are doing the same."

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Q and A: What are RSS feeds and why should I use them?

Dear Kalena...

I am working with web project using jsp. I came to know about the RSS Feeds. In my search for RSS Feeds I got your mail id. I think you can help me in this. Can you explain to me when and where we should use this RSS Feeds? What is the importance for this in a web project? Please explain to me briefly.

Majo

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Majo

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. According to Wikipedia's definition, RSS is a format used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts.

Users of RSS content use software programs called "feed readers" or "feed aggregators". The user subscribes to a feed by entering a link to the feed into the reader program. These programs allow you to grab the RSS feeds from various sites and read them or display them on your own site. RSS feeds are usually delivered in XML format.

RSS feeds are useful because they allow you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. They are beneficial to a web site owner because they provide instant, free content for your site that is automatically updated without you having to lift a finger. You can subscribe to feeds in any topic of interest to you or of relevance to your site.

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Q and A: Does the use of bold or italics tags add relevancy weight in search engines?

Dear Kalena...

A quick question - How much added value is there to placing keyword text within bold, strong, italics, or emphasis tags in terms of the weight given to those terms by search engines?

Thanks,
Adam

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Adam

Just like a healthy diet, everything in moderation is the key to a search engine compatible page. Yes, if you use bold/strong or italics to highlight text on your page, the search engines will assume you consider the content of that text to be important.

Same goes for the use of H1, H2 tags etc. If you consider certain keyword strings important enough to emphasize via headings, it is my understanding that the search engines will give the content between the tags slightly higher relevancy weight than content outside the tags. But don't go overboard and emphasize too much content, or you will defeat the whole purpose of making certain keywords stand out. You'll also annoy your readers - there's nothing worse than trying to read a web page that has been over-formatted. Overuse of such tags might also trigger anti-sp@mdexing filters.

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Q and A: Is Web 2.0 an SEO Killer?

Dear Kalena...

I have been doing link building for a local SEO firm for a couple of years now. I want to learn more but the person I sub-contract for seems reluctant to teach more than bits and pieces. Never the whole picture. After reading your article 11 Reasons Why You Should Consider A Job In Search Engine Marketing, I mentioned wanting to learn more since it looks the future is good in this industry. Her response was: "Just because SEO is hot today doesn't mean with more Web 2.0 functionality coming down the road it couldn't change all that in a very short time".

Is this a belief held by the majority of the industry? I would like to know that I am putting my energy into something that will be around for a while.

Thanks
Sue

Kalena's Answer:

Dear Sue

It sounds like you should find a new employer! It's interesting that somebody working in SEO is so sceptical about its future. Regardless of her personal opinion, not embracing the opportunity to educate you about search engine compatible design (and that's what SEO is in a nutshell) seems very short-sighted. Perhaps she's concerned that you will indeed learn more than her and take her job?

I can assure you that the majority of us working in SEO have no immediate concern about its continuing viability. Traditional search engine optimization methods may change over time as we move towards a Web 2.0 approach to design and collaboration, but there will always be a market for consulting to make sites more search engine compatible, user friendly and accessible.

What you need to do is expand your skills to a range of areas aside from link building (think blogging, search-friendly design, web site copywriting, usability etc.) so that you will be ready to meet the market demand that continues to grow. Good luck!

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Q and A: Can you please suggest improvements to my web site?

Dear Kalena...

I enjoy your Q. & A. column and note from your profile that you enjoy looking at new websites. I invite you to take a moment and give my website a look at www.thetreeofselfrealization.com especially the section on partnerships.

Please feel free to ask questions and to make suggestions for its improvement. Your comments will be greatly appreciated and helpful as I try to reach my target audience.

Sincerely,

John

Kalena's Answer:

Hi John

Lots of things will improve your site's search engine compatibility. Here are just a few suggestions:

• Your title tag only contains the phrase "The Tree of Self Realization". Unless persons know the name of your site, they are not going to type that phrase into search engines. You need to expan on your title tag to include logical search keywords relating to your content.
  
  
• Your home page HTML is missing a META Description Tag. This tag is often used by search engines to describe your site in their search results pages, so it shouldn't be excluded.
  
  
• Your navigation menu is entirely graphical, meaning search engines can't index it. I suggest changing it or supplementing it with a text-based menu.
  
  
• Your home page copy consists of long paragraphs of text. People don't read on the web, they scan. So you need to break up long pieces of copy with headings and bullet points if you want them seen.
  
  
• There's no site map. A site map is important for usability and also to enable search engines to find and index all the pages on your site.
  

Happy Editing!

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New Search Engine College Site Goes Live

After weeks of programming, tweaking and much wringing of hands, the new Search Engine College web site is finally live. Leave your comments here and let me know what you think! If you spot any glitches or broken links, I'd appreciate a heads-up.