I Know Web » optimize

Writing for the Web

Mary — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:53:56 +0000

I recently attended a ‘writing for the web’ presentation where the subject of how to write for a web audience was covered. It was a fascinating hour of learning how users read online, how to structure content in order to keep the highest level of users engaged, and points to consider while writing content for the online reader.

I was interested to learn that the online reader

skims content
reads 25% slower on screens than on paper
reads in an inverted N pattern

Therefore, a smart Web copwriter will

write in short, easy to understand sentences and words
use plenty of bullets and ordered lists
write content that a fifth grader could read and understand

I love learning new things about the web, communication, and how users interract online. Next time, I’ll delve into how to discover if your website is easy to read and understand, and how making a few small changes in how you write could greatly increase the impact of your website online.

SEO Tips

Mary — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:30:00 +0000

Today I came across a great article that I think touches on all the important points on how to increase SEO traffic to your website. These tips are ones that I recommend and implement on my client’s websites daily – and the author is right – sometimes, it’s pretty tedious! But it all pays off.

Read the SEO Tips Article Here: http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3851486

(And yes, this means I just helped their SEO)

Eye Tracking and IA

Mary — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:26:34 +0000

Information Architecture and Eye Tracking

Check out this post that I wrote for a web marketing agency, on the effectiveness of Eye Tracking studies and Information Architecture: http://blog.jumpdigitalmedia.com/eye-tracking-and-ia/

Eye tracking is an area of web measurement that has always fascinated me. I don’t really know how companies like OneUpWeb are able to measure where the gaze of a person rests… are there special glasses that users wear, or perhaps they sit in something that looks like a MRI machine? Who knows (Google does!) – What’s important is that eye tracking as a science has contributed a great deal to the measurement of websites, and as a web professional, I am grateful!

5 Steps to Optimize Your Site for SEO

Mary — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 16:30:03 +0000

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend and colleague who earns his money by optimizing sites for SEO. He’s taught me so much about it, not the least of which is to leave the heavy lifting SEO Optimization to the experts!

Even so, there are some easy steps that you can take to ensure that your organic SEO is up-to-par.

Here are the Top 5 Steps to Optimize Your Site for SEO:

1) Page Titles Speak Volumes

html page titles (the ones that appear above the URL) are important. They should have relevant keyword phrases in them, and be written so that the keyword phrase comes first, and your site name second. I like to write them like this:

SEO Optimization – I Know Web

2) Headers are King

If SEO is a royal court, then the header tags are king. (OK dumb analogy, you get the point.) Make sure your titles are formatted using H1, and that it contains your keyword phrases. Also important are H2, H3 and so on… don’t neglect them!

3) URLs need love too!

Your URLs should be written so that they contain keyword phrases, and dashes. Google reads dashes as spaces. Don’t underscore, it’s annoying and it doesn’t optimize well. A nicely formed URL should look like

http://www.iknowweb.com/optimize-for-seo

4) Metas Still Matter

Wayyyy back in the beginning of SEO Optimization, meta tags were King. Nowadays, they’ve been demoted, but are still an important part of a SEO Optimized page. Don’t neglect them.

5) Write Relevantly

I’ve saved the best for last, but it’s probably the most important step to SEO Optimization, and that is – write pages that are relevant to the keyword phrase you are optimizing for.

There you have it, the 5 Steps that you can take to optimize your site for SEO. Happy SEOing!