Some Simple Checks that can be made with a website

1. Basic SEO Site Checks By Gemma Neesham

2. Canonicalisation Canonicalisation means being able to access the site through more than one URL http://www.domainname.co.uk/ http://domainname.co.uk/ http://www.domainname.com/index.php Google sees these as three different pages even though essentially they are all the home page of the site. This causes duplication problems. Resolution: Addresses 2 and 3 need to be redirected to address 1

3. Can Google see the site Check how many pages of the site are included in Google’s index using the site command: If no pages are cached then Google has not included the site within its index

5. Text which is styled to be hidden e.g. Display:noneBy hiding text from the user the search engines think that you are trying to fool them, and it can result in your site being penalised Resolution: Either remove or display the content on the page

6. Alt Text Alt text should simply describe the image It shouldn’t repeat keywords over and over again

7. Meta Structure <title> <meta name=“description” content=“description of page” /> <meta name=“keywords” content=“list of keywords” /> Check for correct length: http://www.justsearching.co.uk/tools/text-length/ Does the meta structure contain the keywords? (Main Keyword, Unique selling point, call to action) Does each page have unique meta data? Use Google’s site command

8. XML Sitemap Does your site have an xml sitemap? This is a sitemap to be read by Google e.g. http://www.justsearching.co.uk/sitemap.xml This sitemap should list all the pages in your site in xml format This sitemap can then be submitted to Google Webmaster tools to help the pages of the site to get included within its index. Useful Resource: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=156184

9. Google Analytics Check that Google Analytics has been installed Google Analytics gives you insight into who is viewing your site and where they are coming from e.g. Google, Yahoo, other websites. If you are an e-commerce sight it can also track your online profits

10. Any Questions??