C and S Design.
Search Friendly Programming and Design

Go to -> C and S Design -> Articles -> Coding


Coding Websites

code screenshot
The coding section is going to cover various aspects of using code to make a website work well for all user agents.
Usually the primary concern for a designer is the look and feel of the website and very often using "cool" effects. While this is perfect for a showcase website where the idea is to get the designers talents and skills in front of potential clients, It may not be so good for a e-commerce site selling products direct to customers.

User Friendly Websites

Building and developing a user friendly and search engine friendly website takes a lot more than being able to use WYSIWYG development tools or being able to write HTML code. A mixture of web programming or scripting language skills (ASP, .NET, PHP or CFM) coupled with a good working knowledge of CSS, HTML and SSI is needed to create pages that are quick to load and easy for the users and SE crawlers to navigate through.

For catalogue sites or e-commerce sites, while the look and overall design should be professional and reflect the products sold, the main work to make the site user and search engine friendly should not be seen by the visitors, but the effects can make a difference to how the site performs in the search engine results (natural search) and can help make the visitor experience much better.

Navigation menus are the most important point to be considered for usability. Simple HTML links using "<a href=" are best for all types of user agents whether it is a search engine crawler, an accessibilty device or a browser.
The majority of "cool" looking javascript menus, whether they drop down, slide out or fade in are often not cross browser compatible and are usually inaccessable to SE crawlers, text browsers and accessibility aids.

code samples


Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS! copyright © C and S Design 2004 - 2005
Website Design and SE Friendly Coding C and S Design