Simplify the Web

Most people don't know how to design websites.

There are millions of people who know how to make a website, but very few who know how to design one. Because that's true, two new industries exist:

• the pay-per-click advertising industry
• the search engine optimization industry

In the early days of the web, before the search engine became the primary mode of transportation for surfers, big businesses noticed something odd. They weren't listed at the top of the search results, despite being the biggest player in their industry. Rather than working on their websites so that they were ranked appropriately, they paid the search engines to prominently place their ads instead. They took a shortcut, and it paid off. Of course, they had the money to throw around.

In the not-quite-so-early days of the web, businesses with less money and more sense decided that they'd work on their websites. They were being smart. They hired people to add code to their websites so they could be ranked appropriately...or, in many cases, inappropriately. They took a shortcut and 'gamed the system' and were ranked well despite not deserving it. They were later punished for taking shortcuts.

The search engines finally got it together and changed their ranking systems so that unscrupulous webmasters couldn't bend the rules. They created new algorithms that would only include relevant ranking criteria and they gave different weight to different elements of a web page. They were being smart.

Flash forward to the future. Thousands of people make a living from this seemingly never-ending dance. They charge substantial fees for their services because they're experts...and because, without their help, most folks would never be found on the web. A single page can be optimized for search traffic at a rate between $100 and $5000 per page (depending on how competitive your industry is)...and that's not a one-time process. It's a recurring charge! Unfortunately, most of what they do is also a shortcut. It pays off for them, but not for you.

I have good news for you, small business owner. I have good news for you, non-profit director. You don't need to pay an SEO specialist to reach your goals!

If your website is designed with valid and standards-compliant HTML or XHTML, uses server-side includes, uses CSS extensively, and has reasonably decent content, you've got a good website. If your website doesn't make use of those things, you probably don't have a good website. I'm not talking about how pretty it is...some of the best-looking websites are the worst at helping you reach your goals.

Here's how to succeed on the web:

1. Write compelling content
2. Surround it with a good-looking design
3. Use great code to turn your content and design into a web page
4. Review your content regularly to make sure it's up to date and well-written
5. Measure your website's traffic and, if you want more, write content to attract them.

That's 90% or more of a great website. Sure, I could talk about user interaction, information architecture, accessability, and xml schemas...but that's the icing on the cake. The cake itself is as easy as pie.

Need help with your website? Yeah, we can help.