Content may be king for successful SEO but he’s nothing without his queen, and she is accessibility. Think of it this way: you may be the greatest artist the world has even seen but if your work is hidden in a basement, how will we ever know?
Search engines don’t sleep. They never stop working. They send programs called “robots” to gather (i.e. index) content across the Web 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Please note, when I say “content” I’m referring to the copy, or words and other text, on your pages. Without it you will not rank well in search results. Here’s where the queen, accessibility, enters the picture.
To often the plight of good Web content is that it’s stuffed away beneath fancy JavaScript fly-out menus, nested HTML tables and flying cows labeled “e-moo us”. You see, these things require non-essential code and nothing frustrates a search engine robot like extra code. As I’ve written before, search engines only see these things as clutter and barriers to finding real content. The thing is that with structured markup and current browser capabilities, there’s no reason why anyone has to build Web sites using JavaScript menus or nested tables. I think the cow is obvious. I would go as far as to say that if your Web developers aren’t building search-friendly sites, or they tell you it doesn’t matter, you may want to start looking for a new vendor.
Some simple steps. In order for search engine robots to discover your content, it needs to be accessible and strategically optimized. “Fine,” you say, “where do I start?” Here are two tactics that will set you well on your way to better rankings in search engines.
First: Code your pages using search-friendly structured markup or CSS. This will make it faster and easier for search engines to find what they need in your site.
Second: Optimize your content and HTML page elements (e.g. <title> and <H1,H2, etc.>) to reflect the primary topic of the page. This will help search engines make a determination what your page/Web site is about.
The list of things you can do to improve search rankings is a long one but making content more accessible should be at the very top of yours.
Tags: accessibility, html page, search engine optimization, search engine robots, search engines, search marketing, SEO, web content
