IL 2006: Wednesday Keynote: Web Presence for Internet Librarian: Shari Thurow

IL 2006: Wednesday Keynote: Web Presence for Internet Librarian
Shari Thurow

IL2006

This session was chock-full of great information.  I found it immensely helpful and took away quite a bit!  Thruow is not only a good speaker, but she knows how to explain the complicated concept of Search Engine-optimization in simple language.

Thurow began by noting that when she was a kid her parents would punish her by taking away her library card.  I think we should all recommend that in the parent classes held at the library from now on.

She showed us the number of searches that the major search engines get per day.  Google=91 million, Yahoo=60 million, etc.  23% of US adults search more than once a day.  Adults use search engines primarily to research specific topics or get directions/maps, to look for news or information about current events, etc. 

Search engine friendly design is not a design created primarily for obtaining top search engine positions.  Design with the end-users in mind.  These are the primary users.  However, search engines are how people are going to find your site, so you have to keep human-based search engines and crawler-based search engines in mind as your secondary audience. 

Eight Things to Remember:
1) Website should be easy to read--everything: text, images, animation.
2) Website should be easy to navigate (with both a sense of place and a scent of information).  Most of the time, users coming in through search engines will not show up at your homepage, but one of your internal page--from every page, users should see an easy "home" link, a site map, and a site search.
3) Things should be easy to find on your website and your site should be easy to find through search engines.
4) Website should be consistent in layout and design.  Users should feel comfortable in moving around--never getting lost.
5) The page should be quick to download.  A friend of hers at Yahoo is that the majority of a website should download in 30 seconds or less on a 56k modem.
6) Search engines index text
7) Search engines follow links
8) Search engines measure popularity

Users should be able to get to what they want within 7-8 clicks, as long as they feel that they're making progress.  The most important information on each page should be above the fold.  For example, if you put all of the questions from an FAQ at the top of the page, anchored down to the answers below, that makes it easier for users to use and better for the search engines, who will see all of those keyword-heavy questions at the top of the page.  Contact information should be available under "About Us" and have an additional "Locations" page if you have multiple sites.

The foundation of a search-engine friendly site is to have a lot of text, as that's what they crawl, have a navigation scheme that the engines can follow easily, and be popular--have other people linking to you.  She especially recommends against pages that use Flash and AJAX, as they are especially difficult to index.

Do your pages contain words and phrases that match what your target audience types into search queries?  Do you provide easy access to keyword-focused text, with a site navigation and URL structure that the SEs can follow?  Do you contain enough high-quality content so that objective, third parties will link to it.  If you pay to be listed in the Yahoo Directory ($2.99$299), it is well-worth it.

The time to address how your website will show up in the search engines is during the initial brainstorming and design phase.

Successful search optimization depends on text, links, and popularity.

What kind of text?  When visitors view a webpage, does the content appear to be confused?  How to make your content appear focused: 1) HTML title tag--every webpage should have a unique title tag.  If you can get the single and plural version of the key word in the title tag, do.  Use hyphens and not underscores in URLs.  Make URLs easy to type and easy to remember.  2) breadcrumb links and headings--graphic images vs. CSS-formatted text. Locational breadcumb links are very search engine friendly--keywords for your site are at the top of the page. 3) Introductory paragraph 4) Calls-to-action--invitation for users to do something on the site 5) Conclusion paragraph--if you have a long page 6) Graphic images--ALT tags are not read by search engines for relevancy ranking

Primary text is text that all search engines read and use to determine relevancy: title tags, visible  copy, text at the top of a webpage, in and around hypertext links.

Secondary text is text that only some use: metatag content, alternative text, domain and file names.

There are several types of site navigation: text links (SE-friendly), navigation buttons (SE-friendly), image maps (not very SE-friendly), menus (not SE-friendly at all), and Flash (not SE-friendly at all).  Always have two forms of navigation on your site: one for your target audience and one for the search engines.  Text links and image navigation.  She continually re-emphasized that we need to design our websites for the end-users, and keep the search engines in mind as a secondary audience/goal.  Types of text links: navigation scheme, contextual links, embedded text links (links in the middle of the paragraph). 

If people use abbreviations to look for some of your terms, include the abbreviations in your text as well.

Having a site map on your website is essential.

Every webpage that is primarily informational (library examples might be subject guides, FAQs, events pages, tips/HowTo pages, etc.) should have information your target audience is interested in.  It should not contain a lot of sales hype of industry jargon.  They should be spider-friendly and have a simpler layout.  They should also visually match the rest of the site.  Including images with illustrations and extra information can be very helpful.

People's eyes tend to go to heavy color saturation--what does this mean your users are looking at first on your various pages.

She emphasized the importance of cross-linking.  Don't open info-heavy pages in pop-up windows.  Linking to other pages from within your site tells the SEs that those linked-to pages are of paramount importance in your site.

She cautioned us against using SE Optimization companies, as they may do more damage than good and create those annoying doorway pages that might raise your link, but annoy you and your users (and the SEs!).

Popularity: Do users continue navigating your site?  Link to your site (and link with relevant contextual keywords)?  Bookmark your site?  Return to your site?