We think websites should be designed to fulfill a goal and many times that goal is to rank high in Google. Why? Because ranking higher in Google means increasing the number of times your website gets seen and increases the opportunity of more people visiting your website.

While there are no Google guarantees, we know that by studying the essentials of Google’s advice and designing with best practices in mind, websites that respect what Google considers to be important will rank higher, show up more frequently, and be more visible in search engines.

Google’s Best Practices

We develop websites with the following Google respected elements:

1. Search Engine Friendly URL

The address for each of your pages is referred to as a URL.

2. Browser Titles

This is the title of the page that appears at the top of your internet browser.

3. Page Heading

The page heading is the headline of your page. It should be written for both the human and the computer so crafting is important. It is typically the biggest and boldest sentence on the page so the first impression matters. You want it to be easy to understand, relevant, and specific to the page focus.

4. First Sentence of Copy

Again, just as search engines put emphasis on the first few words of the browser title, so do they put emphasis on the first sentence of your page copy. Remember that you are writing for humans so this sentence should make sense, have value, and reinforce the focus of the page.

5. Page Description

The page description is the short summary for each page that appears below the page title in search engine results. Though the description field is not a primary focus of search engines, it does help support why the page being listed in the search results is the better option for folks seeking your products and services. This area should be written so as to showcase your expertise, value, and commitment to their needs.

6. Photo Alt Tags

Search engines do not see graphics or photos. They do see the code and descriptions behind the photo and graphics. When adding a photo to a webpage, an alt tag is a description assigned to the photo that helps search engines understand the imagery.