Optimisation Tips Summary for Web Site Design

What are the key search engine optimisation tips for web site design?

In summary, the key points are as follows:

• Create your web 'page titles' in 'Pages', using 'Headings'. Remember to limit your page titles to 50-80 characters in total length, including letter spaces (or 6-10 words per web page).
   
• Try to ensure that each web page in your site contains around 200 words of copy. The text should contain keyword combinations, to form keyword phrases, but at the same time, it is important to make sure your text is well-written, clear and readable. Your keyword density should be approximately 10%, or roughly 10 keywords in the form of keyword phrases for every 100 words.
   
• When it comes to web page graphics and photographs, try to load your alt text descriptions with keyword phrases and this can increase your performance on the search engine indexes. Do not get carried away, because it is important to remember that 'alt text' is used to aid visually impaired users of websites. Don't forget to consider using a slightly different mix of keywords in your alt text, in order to avoid keyword-overloading, which can in fact be counter-productive.
   
• When it comes to the click-through web pages for your gallery items (e.g. photo gallery, product gallery), create your 'page titles' using 'Headings'. Remember to limit your page titles to 50-80 characters in total length, including letter spaces (or 6-10 words per web page).
   
• Don't forget that the 'Name of site' will appear in every 'page title' on every web page in your website. Set up in 'Preferences', you should nominate your most important 2 or 3 keywords for the 'Name of site' information. It is a good idea to try and keep your 'Name of site' short and snappy, so that it does not eat up all your page titles.
   
• For the benefit of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), consider using search engine keywords in your domain name and your sub-domain in 'Preferences'.
   
• Think of your meta description as a mini-description of your website. It is recommended that it does not exceed 250 characters, including letter spaces. Your meta description should be rich in keyword phrases and it should be written in plain English.
   
• When it comes to meta keywords, these are the words you would expect people to use to find your website on a search engine. It is recommended that in total, your meta keywords do not exceed 1024 characters, including letter spaces. They should be comma separated and include plurals.
   
• In terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the most important page to get right is your home page. It is best if you write your meta keywords and meta description with your home page in mind and make sure that the keywords used in your meta keywords and meta description also appear on your home page.
   
• Last but not least, please don't waste your time counting words, characters and letter spaces by hand. Please use Microsoft Word to aid this process, by going to 'Tools' and 'Word count...', where it will add up your characters and tell you the totals, including letter spaces.

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