I’ve been reading some books and articles on search engine optimization and I wanted to post some of the tips that I have gleened from these resources:

1. Use standards compliant, accessible XHTML or HTML code. Avoid using presentation tags/styling within the XHTML/HTML files. Presentation should be controlled with an external CSS file.

2. Concentrate on getting your site listed in the following search systems:

1. http://www.google.com
2. http://www.yahoo.com
3. http://www.askjeeves.com
4. http://www.dmoz.org
5. http://search.msn.com

You can learn more about getting listed at these sites @ Search Engine Watch’s article Major Search Engines and Directories.

3. Brainstorm for a list of keywords for your site before you start building the site and writing the content. Keywords are used by search engines to index your site. Keywords should be used in the title, pages names, content, headings, links, alt and title tags, and meta tags. Important keywords should be at the top of the page, in the title, and the heading tags. Keywords can also be bolded or italicized, or added to bulleted lists. Tools like Google’s AdWord’s Keyword Tool can be useful for brainstorming keywords for your site’s content. Look at your competition’s keywords, use singular and plural forms of the words and you may want to use obvious spelling mistakes in your keywords.

4. Get people to link to your site. When sites that are already indexed link to your site, your site will be spidered by the search engines and indexed as well. When someone links to your site ask them to use “keywords” in their links. Text links should be descriptive and contain keywords; avoid using links like “click here”. Search engines use the text in links for indexing, text links are very important. Comment in blogs, leaving your URL when requested.

5. Content is king when it comes to search engine placement. Focus on writing excellent content. A page that relies on images or Flash may not index well. If you are using images, use keywords in the alt tags to describe the image.

6. If you are building a site for a local business be sure to use geographic keywords to identify where your business is located For example, “bay area” “conta costa county”, “california”, “pleasant hill”, “east bay”, etc. are all keywords that I use for the web design class site.

7. If you are setting up a blog, use Technorati ta

Designing for the Web is an excellent article that discusses the constraints a designer must face when developing a web page/site. The article discusses resolution, browsers, percentage vs. pixel based design, color, graphics, text, and accessibility and usability.

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I mentioned before class vacation that I was working on a new web development forum for class. Please take a moment to visit, register, and explore the new class forum today. There is also a section for Microsoft Office discussion!

A lot of information has already been posted in the forums, I hope that you will contribute valuable sites, articles, and discussion!

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These sites are a great starting point for someone who knows nothing about building a web site with HTML/XHTML. While I would recommend that you learn to build standards-compliant web sites with XHTML and CSS, you will usually need to know basic HTML first.

Before you begin you should get some kind of HTML editor for writing your code. Notepad or any plain text editor can be used, but there are so many other free programs that are designed to write HTML. Here are a couple:

HTML-Kit
TextPad

You can find a variety of HTML Editors at C|Net Downloads or at NoNags.

HTML Dog - HTML and CSS Tutorials, References, Articles and News - Great resources for people wanting to learn how to write HTML and CSS. A great start for beginners.

DaveSite offers an interactive tutorial on HTML for beginners. This tutorial is broken up into mini chapters so that you can easily learn and review particular subjects.

HTML Primer @ HTML Goodies - A series of primers designed to teach you the basics of HTML.

Lisa Explains it All! is a wonderful HTML learning site originally developed for kids, but I think it’s a great learning place for any age.

Once you understand the basics of HTML I would recommend that you focus on learning XHTML and CSS. You can learn more about the basics of XHTML in Making Documents XHTML Compliant @ tinkertech.net.

XHTML Tutorial from W3Schools - In addition to the XHTML tutorials, the W3Schools also offers tutorials in HTML, CSS, and a variety of subjects.

About.com offers a free weekly course, XHTML 101 - Free HTML Course. This is an 11 week course.

Western Civilisation - offers a variety of courses and guides for learning HTML, XHTML, and CSS. They’re also the makers of StyleMaster, a great program for writing CSS.

These resources have been primarily posted for my friends in the hermit crab community, Stacy, Vicki, Kerie, Sue, and Vanessa. They are all working to build or improve their own web sites.

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