Should I Add HTML Pages to a PHP Site?

Selecting the Best Web Design Language for Your Project

Good Content or...?

Which file ending is better?

All About Title Tags

SEO Best Practices for Web Site Design

Weekly Quick Tip: How To Set A Table For Company

Should I Add HTML Pages to a PHP Site?

Hi Jill,

Following your guidelines, I have had excellent results optimizing regular html pages. Thank you!

I am currently doing an associate's site that is written in php with a content-management type of program. The pages are in php and not html. The program offers a way of adding in meta & title information for each page but it also has something that it calls "gateway html" and they designate it as being for search engine optimization. It is located in the same area that you will add specific title and meta data for a given page.

I believe that what it does is write out an html page of content that you input, but it is associated with the php page. It will share the same name, title and meta attributes, but you can input different html there than will be viewed in the php page. It will have the same name as the original page, but will be .html instead of .php.

My question is, does this fall foul of "cloaking" whereby you are showing different content via the php and html versions of the same basic page? I have never done anything like this before and I am afraid of having problems with the search engines for fear of cloaking.

Could you please give me your opinion on this?

Thanks very much.

Mark


Jill's Response

Hi Mark,

If I understand you correctly, creating that extra HTML page through your content management system is not something that you need to do. It may have been worthwhile many years ago (back in the age of the dinosaur) when the search engines avoided reading dynamic- looking web pages and adding them to their databases.  However, this is no longer a problem.

Let's discuss what used to happen in the Stone Age of the Internet for a moment, so that you can have a better understanding of this whole dynamic-website issue that plagues so many people.

Many years ago, when search engine spiders saw a URL that seemed like it went to a dynamically generated site (because it had a bunch of parameters in it like question marks, equal signs, etc.), they wouldn't attempt to crawl it.

One of the reasons for this was that with dynamic sites, you would often find the same content delivered to the user (or browser or spider) under multiple URLs.  So for instance, on an ecommerce site that sold hats, you might be able to get to the black ten-gallon cowboy hat that you had your eye on through a URL that was something like this:

www.MyAwesomelyCoolHatShop.com/index.php?category=cowboy&color=black&type=tengallon.php

This user may have browsed for cowboy hats, then chose the color black, and then the ten-gallon type.

You might also get to the same exact hat page through another URL like this:

www.MyAwesomelyCoolHatShop.com/index.php?color=black&type=10gallon&category=cowboy

This user may have been looking for a black hat to start out, and then decided on the 10 gallon cowboy type.

These are similar but different URLs that both have the potential for being added to a search engine's database.  When that happens it creates a whole pile of URLs for exactly the same content, which is one of the reasons the search engines would avoid them.  Another reason for their avoidance was that the search engine spiders had the potential for getting stuck in a sort of infinite loop while they were trying to gather up all the pages.  With so many different ways to categorize the products, and so many ways for a user to land at the same page, the spider might end up going around in circles.  Search engines and website owners don't like that because it can eat up server resources.

Years ago it was easier for the search engines to simply avoid those types of sites, as they were few and far between.  Since site owners still wanted to get their sites into the search engines, savvy programmers learned how to create URLs and pages that were friendlier to the search spiders.  Some figured out how to make dynamic-looking URLs into static-looking ones by rewriting the URLs so that they didn't use parameters.  Others created workarounds whereby the content management system would spit out HTML files that were more crawler-friendly, such as the system Mark was talking about in his question.

Fast-forward a few years.

As websites and businesses began to grow, more and more site owners turned to content management systems to dynamically generate the pages of their websites.  It was a whole lot easier and faster and just made sense.  Dynamically generated pages were definitely not going to go away, so of course it was in the search engines' best interests to figure out how they could index the information contained on them.

And so they did.

Today's search engines generally have no problem with dynamically generated pages.  They don't scurry away as fast as they can when they see a .php or an .asp or a .cfm extension in a URL.  They don't even flee when they see parameters in the URLs.  Question marks and equal signs have no spider-repelling powers anymore. While I don't understand all the programming behind it, I do know for a fact that the search engines definitely index *most* dynamic-looking URLs just fine.

Notice that I said *most* -- not *all*.

Some believe that if you have more than 3 parameters in the URL, you may have less of a chance at getting those URLs indexed.  I've seen some of those in the search engines' databases, however, so it's not a hard-and-fast rule.

Another problem for the search engines is when you require session IDs in your URL.  The engines still try to avoid this type of URL because every spider visit to the site might create a completely different ID number and thus a new URL.  The engines still  prefer to keep hundreds of the same page out of their databases, so they have learned to look for the telltale signs of session-ID URLs in order to avoid indexing them.  Because of this you should avoid using "SID=whatever" in your URLs if you want your pages indexed.  Plus, Google has stated on their FAQ page for webmasters that they don't index URLs that have "&id" in them, so definitely stay away from those as well.

In answer to the original question posed by Mark regarding cloaking: From how he described it, creating those pages wouldn't be considered cloaking, just unnecessary. There's no reason to create duplicate pages of the same content that's most likely already being indexed by the search engines.

If you do choose to use the extra pages, then you'll probably want to exclude the dynamically-generated PHP URLs via the robots.txt exclusion file and allow the engines to index only your .html/.htm files.  But again, you'll be much better off to just ignore that function of your CMS.  If for some reason you start noticing that none of your dynamic pages are getting into the search databases, you may wish to rethink this, but I doubt you will have any indexing problems.

Hope this helps!

Jill

Jill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and editor of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter.

Article by Jill Whalen,   www.searchengineguide.com  -    Published Oct. 2005

Selecting the Best Web Design Language for Your Project

 If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide  what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use.

Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

The easiest and most popular web design language is Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML. This language is so simple you can type the syntax into a text editor, such as Notepad, save it with an .html extension and instantly have a web page.

You can learn more about HTML here:
http://www.w3schools.com/html/

Although HTML will enable you to create simple web sites, if you want something more dynamic, you'll need to look into using other languages:

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, better known as PHP, is a highly popular, server-side scripting language that can be embedded directly into HTML coding.

PHP can do anything that CGI (Common Gateway Interface) can do, such as process form data and auto generate dynamic content. However, PHP can do much more. It can be used on all major operating systems and supports most web servers.

PHP's main focus is development for the web, so it has a quick development time and can solve scenarios much quicker than some of the other web design languages.

You can learn more about PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor here:
http://www.php.net/

ColdFusion

ColdFusion, developed by Macromedia, is used to build and serve web pages. It consists of ColdFusion Studio, which is used to create web pages, and ColdFusion Server, which is used to display the web pages.

One of the best features of ColdFusion is the ability to create web pages 'on the fly' from content stored within a database.

For example, a variety of content can be placed within a database as 'pieces of content.' When a user types in the web address to retrieve the web page, ColdFusion dynamically develops the pages, from the 'pieces of content,' as they are served.

Although it is very reliable, ColdFusion may be better suited for larger companies rather than individuals, as it is fairly expensive.

You can learn more about ColdFusion here:
http://macromedia.com/support/coldfusion/tutorial_index.html

Java Server Pages (JSP)

Java Server Pages, also known as JSP, is a web design language developed by Sun Microsystems. It is used to control web page content via servlets, which are little programs that run on a web server. These servlets modify the web page on the server prior to it being displayed within a web browser.

The JSP technology enables you to combine regular, static HTML with dynamically generated HTML.

You can learn more about Java Server Pages here:
http://java.sun.com/products/jsp/docs.html

Active Server Pages (ASP)

Active Server Pages, also known as ASP, is Microsoft's solution to dynamic, interactive web pages.

Active Server Pages are web pages that contain scripts in addition to the standard HTML tags. These scripts are processed prior to a web page being displayed within a web browser.

Unlike standard HTML pages that have an .html or .htm extension, Active Server Pages have an .asp extension.

An advantage of ASP is that it is language-independent and therefore is easy to use across all platforms and applications. It is very flexible and powerful, yet some people don't like it merely because it is a Microsoft product.

You can learn more about Active Server Pages here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnasp/html/asptutorial.asp

Conclusion

With so many different web design languages to choose from, which is the best language for your project? That will depend on your web site needs and how much time and/or money you're willing to invest.

If you want a simple web site with text and images, HTML is definitely the way to go. Not only is it easy to learn, but there are also many HTML editors available online that will write the code for you.

Although HTML is usually the right choice for most, if you'd like your web site to be dynamic, you will need to research some of the other languages until you find the best solution for your project.

Take your time and do your homework before you begin. If you don't feel confident in your ability to create your own web site, hire a professional. It will save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run.

Article by Shelley Lowery,   http://www.web-source.net  -    Published Oct. 2005

Good Content or...?

Hi Jill,

Can I ask a question about my website? I am very worried. I had about 200 pages on my site and recently added about 300 more pages of good content.  I did have lots of very good top 10 rankings, but they have all disappeared and now traffic is less than half of what it was.

I don't do anything that would get me banned, but since I added pages I have fallen. I submit to paid directories and get good links from related sites.

Do you think the pages and ranks can come back? Would you have any idea why this happened?

I really appreciate any help you can give.

RK

++Jill's Response++

My first question to RK was to ask what sort of content he could have added to his site that could take up 300 pages?  Was this unique content he wrote himself?

RK wrote back to say that the content was articles that he had written himself. However, I was extremely suspicious as to how RK could write 300 "good content" articles all at once, since I know how difficult it is to write even *one* good article.  So I clicked over to his site to learn exactly what these articles were about, yet I couldn't find them anywhere.

Turns out they were linked from some sort of "sitemap" link at the bottom of the page, and that's about it.  These were definitely not an integrated part of his site, and they were far from being "good content."  They were really nothing more than the junk an automated program could have churned out, with each page focusing on different variations of keyword phrases.

So was RK trying to "spam" the search engines?

I don't really think he was; I just think he didn't get it.  He probably read at some forums that the more content he had on his site, the more likely he would get found.

But pages generated solely for the search engines do *not* constitute good content.

Sure, RK claimed that his <cough> articles were helpful to his site visitors, but really, they weren't.  They were nothing more than 1997-era doorway pages, created to blanket the search engines with every combination of keyword phrase that might possibly be related to RK's site.  I don't know if RK created them by hand or through an auto-page generator, but the consequences are apparently the same. Now his entire site doesn't show up in the search engines, and RK doesn't understand why.

I'm not sure that the "why's" of the situation are that important, but perhaps the fact that RK didn't feel his <ahem> articles were important enough to link to through his global navigation should have tipped him off?  If they were so useful, wouldn't he want people to easily find them?  I was specifically looking for them and couldn't find them, so how would someone who didn't know they existed ever find them?

Good content is not content that is just there to target specific keyword phrases.

Good content is information that people visiting your site will find helpful in some way.  It might help them in their purchasing decisions, or it might teach them something they never knew.  Good content is also stuff that is completely unique and original.  It's not a page that is basically the same as another page (on your site or someone else's) with a few (or even many) words substituted here or there.

Good content is definitely *not* pages that are created first for the search engines and next for the users who might read them.  This is one reason why I've never bought into the whole "information page" concept, and much prefer to optimize existing pages of a site.  Most sites have good pages; their creators simply hadn't thought about the search engines and appropriate keywords.

Once I delivered RK the bad news that his alleged articles really weren't good content, and that they may have been what was dragging his rankings down, he wanted to know if removing them would help his site to be found again.  Unfortunately, I couldn't answer that question.  I don't work for the search engines, nor am I privy to their rules and regulations.  I couldn't even say for sure that the pages were really and truly the problem.  It may very well have just been a coincidence or part of the latest algorithm du jour.

But that's the point; you don't need to know whether something you do may or may not be penalized by the engines.  You only need to know what makes your site better overall for all interested parties.  As long as you always do that, you can never make the wrong decision.

There will be times when you really do need to add good content to your site.  Just make sure that you do it for the right reasons!

Jill

ill Whalen of High Rankings is an internationally recognized search engine optimization consultant and editor of the free weekly High Rankings Advisor search engine marketing newsletter.

Article by Jill Whalen,   www.searchengineguide.com  -    Published Jun. 2005

Which file ending is better?

All About Title Tags

The title tag is one of the most important factors in achieving high search engine rankings.  A title tag is essentially an HTML code snippet that creates the words that appear in the top bar of your Web browser.

The HTML code for a title tag looks like this:

<HEAD>
<TITLE>XYZ Company Home Page</TITLE>
</HEAD>

The title tag belongs in the <HEAD> section of your source code, and is generally followed by your Meta description and Meta keywords tags. The order of these tags is not critical, so don't worry if your HTML editor places them in a different position.

Some Web site design tools and content management systems (CMS) automatically generate the title tag from information you provide. You may have noticed Web pages that are labeled "Page 1," "Page 2," or "Home Page" in the browser title bar. You'll often see titles like these being used by beginning Web site designers who simply don't know how to use their software or their title tag for maximum benefit.

Search Engines and Title Tags

All search engines use title tags to gather information about your Web site. The words in the title tag are what appear in the clickable link on the search engine results page (SERP). What you put in this tag is a key factor in which search queries you will rank highly with in the major search engines.  Title tags are definitely one of the "big three" as far as the algorithmic weight given to them; they are equally as important as your visible text copy and the links pointing to your pages.

Do Company Names Belong in the Title Tag?

For years I was adamantly against "wasting" precious title tag space on company names. However, now that I work with many well- known brands, I've altered my thinking on this. I've found that it's fine to place your company name in the title, and *gasp*, even to place it at the beginning of the tag!  In fact, if your company is already a well-known brand, I'd say that it's essential. Even if you're not a well-known brand yet, chances are you'd like to eventually be one. The title tag gives you a great opportunity to further this cause.

This doesn't mean that you should put *just* your company name in the title tag.  Even the most well-known brands will benefit from a good descriptive phrase or two added to this tag, as it will serve to enhance your brand as well as your search engine rankings. The people who already know your company and seek it out by name will be able to find you in the engines, and so will those who never heard of you, but who seek the products or services you sell.

For example, if your company is "Johnson and Smith Inc." and you are a tax accounting firm in Texas, you shouldn't place only the words "Johnson and Smith Inc." in your title tag, but instead use something like "Johnson and Smith Inc. Tax Accountants in Texas."

Title Tags Should Contain Specific Keyword Phrases

As a Texas tax accountant, you would want your company's site to appear in the search engine results for searches on phrases such as "Texas tax accountants" and "CPAs in Texas." You would need to be even more specific if you prefer to work for people only in the Dallas area. In that case, use keywords such as "Dallas tax accountants" in your site's title tags. This is a key point: If you're only seeking customers or clients in a specific geographical region, your keywords need to reflect that. People looking for a tax accountant in Dallas may begin their search by simply entering "tax accountant" in the search engine. However, once they see that their search is returning accountants from all over the world, they'll narrow the search by adding "Dallas" to their search terms. When they do, you want your site to be right there on the first page of new results.

In our Dallas accountants example, you might create a title tag as follows:

<TITLE>Johnson and Smith Inc. Tax Accountants in Dallas</TITLE>

or you might try something like this:

<TITLE>Johnson and Smith Inc. Dallas CPAs</TITLE>

However, there's more than enough space in the title tag to include both of these important keyword phrases. (In fact, search engines will display 60 to 115 characters of your title tag.) Here's an example of an approach I like even better:

<TITLE>Johnson and Smith Inc. - Dallas Tax Accountants - CPAs in
Dallas, TX</TITLE>

Today's search engines are not case-sensitive; therefore I generally use initial caps in this tag because it looks the cleanest. I used to often use ALL CAPS in parts of my title tag because when the engines were case sensitive, it would give me a different variation of my phrase.  However, ALL CAPS looks somewhat spammy in the SERPs, so I generally avoid this practice these days.

As for placing the word "Dallas" twice in the title tag, I have found this approach to be both permissible and effective. Just make sure that you don't put the same words right next to each other. For example, a tag that reads "Accountants in Dallas -- Dallas CPAs" may trigger a red flag with the search engines, possibly making that word ignored entirely. (Search engines see hyphens and commas as spaces, which is why they would count that example as the same word next to itself.) In order to play it safe, it's probably a good idea to not use any given word more than two times in the title.

Use Your Visible Text Copy as Your Guide

I personally would not be able to create a title tag for any page until the copy on the page has been written and optimized. I need to see how the copywriter integrated the keyword phrases into the visible text copy to know where to begin. If you've done a good job with your writing (or better yet, hired a professional SEO copywriter), you should find all the information you need right there on your page. Simply choose the most relevant keyword phrases that the copy was based on, and write a compelling title tag accordingly. If you're having trouble with this, and can't seem to get a handle on what the most important phrases are for any given page, you probably need to rewrite the copy.

The optimal approach when writing copy for a Web site is to think of the main phrases that best reflect your business, and then compose the text around them. When you write your title tag, you simply revisit these same phrases, and compose your keyword-rich title accordingly. I recommend that you *don't* take an exact sentence pulled from your copy and use it as your title tag.  It's my preference to have a unique sentence or compelling string of words in this tag.

So what if a keyword phrase you want to use doesn't actually appear within your visible copy? Does this mean you shouldn't use this phrase in the title tag?

Well, yes and no. Since the title tag is given a lot of weight in the engines, even if you're not willing to change the text on your page, you may be able to rank highly simply by placing your phrase in this tag. Just note that for any phrase that is even slightly competitive, having it in the title tag and not the copy will generally limit its overall effectiveness.  You'd want to be sure to gain lots of keyword-rich  links to your site in these cases, which can also work in conjunction with your title.

You'd be better off still if you'd rewrite the text on your page so that it utilizes the phrases that are important to you. This doesn't mean to just stick keywords at the top or bottom of the page. It doesn't mean to hide them in the background. Nor does it mean to put them in a tiny font so that no one will notice them. If certain keyword phrases are important enough that you want your site to be found under them in the search engines, they are certainly important enough to be elegantly incorporated into the body text of your page.

Once you've incorporated your phrases into the text of your site, you'll find that creating brilliant title tags that help with branding as well as with getting found in the search engines is truly a no-brainer!

Jill Whalen  -   Search Engine Optimization   -   Revised Apr. 2004

SEO Best Practices for Web Site Design

Most designers and webmasters know the importance of building a site that will attract search-engine traffic, but not all of them are proficient in search engine optimization (SEO) techniques.

Sites designed with heavy graphics, frames, Flash, dynamic databases, or other codes that are not HTML based require specific optimization techniques to get properly indexed by the major search engines. By consulting with SEO specialists early on, you can avoid expensive re-design costs that might be needed to improve search engine visibility.

SEO Best Practices

There are a number of techniques that can be used to ensure your site is indexed and well positioned in the major search engines. While SEO techniques change constantly, the following are currently important for good positioning.

• Domain Name Selection

• Web Site Copywriting

• Meta Tags (Title, Description, Keywords, Heading, Alt Tags)

• Basic Links, Hypertext Links and Site Map

• Directory and File Names

• Spider Analysis

• Robots Exclusion File

• Link Popularity

Domain Name Selection

Your domain name (URL) can be a key factor in both search engine and directory positioning. Domain name research is important, and it's wise to get professional help in making this decision.

Web Site Copywriting

Web page copy is of major importance for search engines, directories, and customers. Search robots need machine-readable content (text) in your pages and HTML tags to index your site. Directory editors decide whether or not to list your site based on unique and relevant content. Customers make buying decisions based on savvy marketing copy.

Text near the top of the page is important to search spiders, as are keywords at the beginning of paragraphs and in headings. Write your text first, then create meta tags relevant to specific page content. Write for people first and search engines second. It's not easy to write compelling marketing copy that skillfully integrates your keywords, so it's a plus to have your content written by a pro copywriter.

Meta Tags

Despite less reliance on meta tags, it pays to provide title, description, keywords, heading, and alternate tags in the head section of all your indexable pages. All your meta tags should be unique and apply to a specific page.

• Title Tag – Use 5-10 words to write a keyword-rich title that's relevant to the page. Begin with keywords, using sentence case. It's important because most engines use the copy as the link to your page in search results.

• Description Tag – Very important because it's often used by search engines as your site description in search results. Use 15-20 words, starting with several strategic keywords (170 characters). Make it compelling and relevant to receive qualified traffic.

• Meta Keywords Tag –List your strategic keyword phrases up to a maximum of 744 characters. Use keywords that are relevant to the page, with or without commas.

• Heading Tags – Place these tags at the top of your pages, using strategic keywords relevant to the page. Can be unsightly if not created properly.

• Alt Tags – Also called image tags as they contain the text that appears when you mouse over an image. Use keywords to describe the image appropriately.

Basic Links, Hypertext Links and Site Map

You must ensure that search spiders have plenty of basic links to follow. Search engine spiders will index the text on your homepage, then attempt to follow links from there to other pages in your site.

• Most search engines can't follow dynamic links (question mark in URL), so you must provide basic links or image maps.

• Dynamic links and links generated by JavaScript are not followed by most search engines.

• The text in your links is important and should include keywords related to the page it's linking to.

• A site map is an excellent way to provide links for search spiders.

Hypertext Links – Ideally, your links should have a keyword in the link text or in an .alt description of the image or area tag.

Site Map – Makes it easier for search spiders to find all your pages. Also useful for site visitors. This tool includes a categorized list of all the pages on your site. You must provide one or more links to the site map from the home page.

• Place a text link to the site map at the bottom of the page reading "Site Map," with file name "sitemap.htm."

• Include strategic keywords in the link text link.

• Create a static list of links to all your pages, with a link to this page from your homepage or site map.

Directory and File Names

Because many engines and directories index file names and even directory names, it pays to create these using keywords whenever possible. Use at least one keyword phrase in your file/directory names, preferably at the beginning. Don't stuff keywords and keep the names relevant. Use hyphens or underscores to separate the words in your file and directory names.

Spider Analysis

Spider Analysis can provide a record of activity telling you what happens when search spiders enter your site to index pages. It shows whether or not your site has been spidered, by which search engine(s), on which pages, and on what dates. Spider Analysis reveals which pages are considered more relevant and which should be re-optimized and re-submitted. It also can identify and eliminate harmful spiders like email-harvesting robots. Many SEO firms offer spider analysis services.

Robots Exclusion File

It's important to have a robots.txt file present in your root directory because some search spiders will not crawl a site if they don't find the robots.txt file.

Link Popularity

Most search engine algorithms now include link popularity, which started with Google's PageRank. This technology works by first identifying the link structure of the entire Web, then ranking individual pages based on the number and importance of pages linked to them. Identifying your inbound links and increasing the number of important, relevant inbound links is an essential part of your SEO strategy.

Don't Forget to Budget for SEO

It's essential for Web designers and their clients to budget for SEO in the design process. It's a marketing strategy that gives you highly targeted visitors, good conversion rates, and a good return on investment. Incorporating SEO Best Practices into your Web design process can help you avoid costly mistakes.

Paul Bruemmer is the CEO of Web Ignite, a search engine optimization company. Founded in 1995, Web-Ignite has helped promote over 15,000 Web sites and was recognized by Iconocast and MarketingSherpa as a top SEO firm based on reputation. Client testimonials report search engine traffic increases of 150 to 500 percent. A frequent speaker at Internet.com's Search Engine Strategies, Bruemmer has been reporting SEO trends and techniques for ClickZ since 1999 and is also published in other publications.

By Paul Bruemmer    -   Published Apr. 2004

Weekly Quick Tip: How To Set A Table For Company

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