Quick Guide to Web Usability & SEO: Part 2

Within this Quick Guide, I aim to cover the basics of Web Usability and Search Engine Optimisation
(SEO) – what they are, how they are linked, how one leads to another and – most importantly of all –
how they can help to improve a website.

Since training with Webcredible in 2007 (on Web Usability, Usability Testing and Writing for the
Web) I have been interested in these areas and how website owners can use Web Usability techniques
to improve their websites, both in terms of usability and SEO, for very little outlay in time and
money.

Part 2 – What is SEO?

In essence, SEO – Search Engine Optimisation – is the process of optimising a website’s position in search engines such as Google, Bing etc.

Why SEO is important to your website

There are around 100 billion searches per month on Google
Search drives traffic to your website, more than ever before
The higher your website appears on the Search Results page, the more likely it is to be visited

There are several approaches to SEO, including

Optimising your website’s content and architecture
Building links with other sites, to enhance your website’s credibility
Adding and maintaining a blog relevant to your website’s area of interest
Also vitally important is to continually refine your SEO approach, as Google et al continually update their algorithms and rules and also as Social Media expands in scope and type

Why optimising your website’s content and architecture will improve SEO

Search engines such as Google use crawlers / web crawlers / spiders / robots to visit websites such as yours, to index what the website contains
These crawlers use the textual content of your website to decide what the website is about, with certain content such as Titles and Headings given more weight and importance
These crawlers also use the architecture of your website to move around your site, so the better the architecture is designed, the easier it is for the crawler to move around from page to page and index your site
At this point its vital to note that over-reliance on Flash or graphics in your website will lead to the crawler not being able to properly index or navigate your website. This is why a sometimes graphically stunning website may end up never being visited, as it languishes on page 92 of the search results for its related search terms.

Web Usability & SEO Glossary

Part 3 – Benefits of good Web Usability

*** If you would like help with your website’s Web Usability & SEO, please Contact Me

*** There is now a downloadable version of this content.

Pat Walsh fixed my site within hours of my contacting him – his WordPress website fix service clearly works!

Douglas Green, Douglas Software

Pat has been absolutely incredible at testing each of our projects he works on. He’s very professional, organised and diligent. I look forward to using him again in the future.

Oliver Thurtle, Director of Technology, Drum

We hired Pat to help with QA of a music streaming app. We needed someone with that magic “6th sense” of where the bugs are lurking; the ones which developers tend to miss. Pat more than fulfilled this need, with highly methodical approach and a great eye for detail.

Subsequently Pat has provided QA services for a personal app project of mine, finding a significant issue which had been lurking for some time.

Pat is a real asset to any team – highly competent technically but also easy going and a great guy to work with. Highly recommended!

Andrew Ebling, Head of App Development, Composed

Pat Walsh provided Kingston Valdes with a professional and personable service that was excellent value. The site was built and tested quickly, we are delighted with the results, and we have already had positive feedback from some of our clients. If you’re thinking of building a new site or adapting an existing one, I’d certainly recommend speaking with Pat about it.

Kathy Valdes, Kingston Valdes

Pat is an excellent one-stop-shop for testing Apps and Websites. He is a self-starter who just knows what needs to be done and gets on with it, and is responsive to requests for any specific testing requirements. He provides test plans and reports as a matter of course and was a pleasure to work with. I will definitely be working with Pat again if the opportunity arises.

Andrew Birley, PM, Storythings

Pat came to Composed to respond to our (increasingly urgent) need of QA on mobile and web and I can testify he more than fulfilled the task. On the Android side, his very structured approach (first exploratory testing, then focus on defining test plans for a variety of scopes) and his clear knowledge of the latest mobile technologies have quickly paid off. He was involved directly with the developers (including myself) and this very dynamic relationship enabled us to annihilate bugs swiftly and efficiently.

David Ferrand, Android Developer, Composed

We’ve worked with Pat Walsh on a number of very different projects, from interactive video projects to mobile apps. His work is very thorough and has quickly become an essential and important phase of all the production work we do at Storythings. He’s thorough, diligent, and a pleasure to work with.

Matt Locke, Director, Storythings

Couldn’t recommend Pat highly enough. He goes beyond what you’d expect of a QA tester, commenting more broadly on user experience and even design. He’s quick, efficient and thorough – couldn’t ask for any more.

Rob Calvert, Director, Click

Pat performs comprehensive website testing for us, across all the main browsers and platforms, including mobile devices. His flexible approach to testing and clear feedback enable us to have confidence that the business end of our website is still working smoothly after system updates and changes.

Steve Liu, Manager, Wicked Lasers

Quick Guide to Web Usability & SEO: Part 2