Web Site Performance and SEO

If you keep up with my posts on Search Engine Watch, you will notice that I regularly talk about how site performance can be a significant driver in SEO, especially with Google. Many large companies take this data for granted; they are worried about up time and browser performance. Which in most cases is a good thing, however a search engine like Google may be testing your response rate and attempting to predict your level of capacity. In both IIS and Apache it is possible to throttle a search engine so it crawls at a lower level. In most cases this application or module may produce a 500 server busy error. Search engines interpret this as an end user experience and may limit the number of pages and or keywords that may rank at the same time. This practice ensures users commonly find an active page when they click on a listing. How fast are your servers?

Re-invigorate the center of your business

Andy Beal wrote this amazing article about 5 great steps to adding a Million dollars in revenue to your business next year. This article sparked a thought about focusing on the first thing you started with on your site. Most business’ make the mistake of adding new services, products and features without spending much time on the original spark that made your business what it is.

It could be as simple as changing the look and feel of this part, making the site a little more sticky by adding some cool toyish versions of the same thing. For example, what if you sold clothing on your site? Everyone has the same old category structure, where you can drill down to that pair of jeans you want in your size. What if you tried something old, a manikin of sorts but better yet a person wearing a certain style? Thus suggesting a whole package!

You could essentially still have the same old boring navigation, but at the same time you can invoke a sense of “cool” to your shopping experience. The Gap does a pretty good job of this and I really like their new site. The Gap is also a great site to see how you can screw up SEO at a whole new level. They really need help, and I remember seeing a job posting for an SEO, who did they hire?

Remember DHTML can always save you from your Ajax and Javascript nightmares! Think, Invent and make sure your design is accessible, a simple motto to live by.