Universal Templates and SEO for Universal
http://www.isedb.com/db/articles/1674/1/Universal-Templates-and-SEO-for-Universal/Page1.html
Jim Hedger
Jim Hedger has written a widely read search marketing column for over
five years. Co-host of Webcology on WebmasterRadio.FM, Jim is a writer
and SEO consultant with Metamend Search Engine Marketing in Victoria
BC. By Jim Hedger
Published on 06/25/2007
Websites are increasingly designed to be used within a content management system (CMS) in order to make simple tasks easier in order to allow general office staff to make text, pricing and other basic updates. That makes it fairly easy for the office to run its website without relying on the original design company or the transitory IT skills of individual employees.
Universal Templates and SEO for Universal
Every site designer uses templates. HTML Templates are base files used to create new pages in a site. Think of them as pre-branded blanks containing information that is supposed to be visible on every page in a site. Content for any new page is thus either placed on or called to a document made from a common template.
Websites are increasingly designed to be used within a content management system (CMS) in order to make simple tasks easier in order to allow general office staff to make text, pricing and other basic updates. That makes it fairly easy for the office to run its website without relying on the original design company or the transitory IT skills of individual employees.
Two common problems are shared by many businesses. The first is a lack of skilled, full time webmasters. The second is continued lack of standardization in web design techniques.
In the course of business, changes happen. Major changes in the life of a business often necessitate universal changes on a site. Information ranging from address, inventory, key staff members, or services often need to be altered on all pages of a site.
Similarly, there are more ways to easily spread information online than ever before. It is not uncommon to find video files embedded in with text content as parts of an overall message on tourism related websites. Many newspapers such as the NYTimes and the Toronto Star are embedding video streams into their front pages.
It isn’t hard to alter a template, especially when one remembers to save the original. Once the altered template is implemented site-wide, a well built site can be radically changed quite quickly.
There are a number of ways SEOs can use multimedia content to create a greater number of placement opportunities for unique pages in a website. The addition of video, audio, mapping (local) or even image content opens a dozen new doors in Google Universal search and Ask.com/. The trick is in cross-linking with social media and local search sites and using well planned tags and titles for those files.
If, for instance, Google visits a bed-and-breakfast site and sees a well produced video promoting the region drawn from YouTube that has the faintest hint of popularity with other YouTube users, that video stands a better than even chance of finding its way into some interested party’s Universal search results. Another universal winner is maps. By embedding a Google on the Contact page of a site, an SEO creates another placement opportunity in Universal results.
The next time you’re updating templates for your website, think about other types of files that can be added to enhance the types of results Google might present for any given page. Make your own Placement Opportunities.
Websites are increasingly designed to be used within a content management system (CMS) in order to make simple tasks easier in order to allow general office staff to make text, pricing and other basic updates. That makes it fairly easy for the office to run its website without relying on the original design company or the transitory IT skills of individual employees.
Two common problems are shared by many businesses. The first is a lack of skilled, full time webmasters. The second is continued lack of standardization in web design techniques.
In the course of business, changes happen. Major changes in the life of a business often necessitate universal changes on a site. Information ranging from address, inventory, key staff members, or services often need to be altered on all pages of a site.
Similarly, there are more ways to easily spread information online than ever before. It is not uncommon to find video files embedded in with text content as parts of an overall message on tourism related websites. Many newspapers such as the NYTimes and the Toronto Star are embedding video streams into their front pages.
It isn’t hard to alter a template, especially when one remembers to save the original. Once the altered template is implemented site-wide, a well built site can be radically changed quite quickly.
There are a number of ways SEOs can use multimedia content to create a greater number of placement opportunities for unique pages in a website. The addition of video, audio, mapping (local) or even image content opens a dozen new doors in Google Universal search and Ask.com/. The trick is in cross-linking with social media and local search sites and using well planned tags and titles for those files.
If, for instance, Google visits a bed-and-breakfast site and sees a well produced video promoting the region drawn from YouTube that has the faintest hint of popularity with other YouTube users, that video stands a better than even chance of finding its way into some interested party’s Universal search results. Another universal winner is maps. By embedding a Google on the Contact page of a site, an SEO creates another placement opportunity in Universal results.
The next time you’re updating templates for your website, think about other types of files that can be added to enhance the types of results Google might present for any given page. Make your own Placement Opportunities.