Today Dan explains the difference between organic links and using JavaScript to links to other pages, and its effect on Search Engine Optimisation.

JavaScript is a tool that’s widely used in the Web design industry today. Essentially it gives Web designers more power to control objects on pages and to deliver special/fancy effects and interactive functions to Website visitors.

Unfortunately when you use JavaScript to link to other pages on your Website, it will not be indexed by the Google Robot. This is because Google will not treat your link as a real link – but rather as a script, and therefore your Website will not be “fully” indexed and will lose visibility on search engines.

Should I remove JavaScript to appease the search engines?

To blatantly contradict what I just said, I’m now going to clarify that it isn’t entirely true to say Google will not read any JavaScript links.

Some JavaScript is still recognised by Google, such as “On-click” events. You can still use JavaScript, but you must make sure search engine robots accept your code.

Relating to your Website visitors

According to some Web trend analysis report I read [yeah citation needed, I can't remember though], about 3% of users have a non-JavaScript Web browser. This includes users who disable JavaScript functions from their Web browser to avoid possible hacks and virii. So if you’re using JavaScript in any form on your site you’re automatically blocking a portion of your audience.

Conclusion

To design and develop a modern Website, we have no choice but use JavaScript. However, if you’re using JavaScript to link pages, add alternative links to ensure your site is indexed by the search engines.

For example, go ahead have a fancy JavaScript drop down menu in your header, but remember to put normal text links on the footer, so that the robots still have a way to dig through your Website.

MaxGen Media

All of our Websites are fully search engine optimised, so you can expect all your Web pages to be indexed by Search Engines. As a result the visibility of your Website will be maximised and enjoyed by the world.

In this post, Danilo is going to discuss the finer points of Website formatting relating to usability.

It’s really important to know how to prepare your Web text so it can be easily absorbed by your audience. In fact, formatting your content can have a significant impact on how well people read, respond to, and retain what you have to say. In some ways it can be just as important as the substance of your content.

Font style

Your website needs have a consistent font style (font type, font size, font color, font spacing) across all pages. Changing fonts styles on every page will do little more than confuse your reader. According to studies, 12-point Times New Roman and 10-point Arial result in the fastest reading speeds. That doesn’t mean you can’t use other fonts – generally if the font you want to use is between 10-point and 12-point it should be all right to use. In the case of using an online editor (WYSIWYG), be careful because the more you change your text, the more “dirty” the text will be and may affect your SEO.

Use subheadings

People usually use headings, but rarely subheadings (the one you see above this paragraph). As people tend to scan pages, not read them, it’s very important to divide a long text with short and relevant subheadings. A good example is how Wikipedia’s pages are formatted.

Use bullet points

Presenting information with lists is one of the more effective techniques that will capture your reader’s attention. By put large parts of information in short extracts, listing makes reading and retaining information easy.

Highlighting text

It’s important to highlight words in the text flow if you want to give a different intonation and bring your point closer to the reader. You can make the text strong (HTML tag <strong>) or emphatic (HTML tag <em>). Don’t over-do it though.

In general, keep things tidy and to the point. If you’re looking over your blog or Website at the moment and aren’t sure if it’s easy to read or not, give MaxGen Media a call or email and we can arrange a consultation to give you a hand.

In this installment, Dan Cort provides insight into Web Standards and why they are becoming increasingly important.

Imagine if each household appliance came with a different plug, and when you bought it you had to adapt a socket in your house for it. That would become chaotic, wouldn’t it? Fortunately there is a STANDARD plug for every household appliance. So if you buy a micro system in Auckland, you can take it to Christchurch and it will work normally. I offer this example so we can realize the value of standards. On the Internet it is no different, we need to have standards to realize the full potential of the Web. To turn this dream into reality, a project called WaSP (Web Standards Project) came to spread the Web Standards with the organization which is behind these, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium).

What are the benefits of having a standards compliant Website?

Standards compliance helps ensure that everyone has access to the information you are providing on your Website, and also makes access to it faster and more flexible. WaSP defines these Web Standards on their website:

“Standards compliance makes it easier for people with special needs to use the Web. Blind people may have their computer read web pages to them. People with poor eyesight may have pages rearranged and magnified for easier reading. And people using hand-held devices can browse the Web just as easily as those using high-end workstations.”

Also if your Webpages are complied with Web standards, they have greater visibility in Web searches. According to WaSP, the structural information present in compliant documents makes it easy for search engines to access and evaluate the information in those documents, and they get indexed more accurately. Read Daniel’s previous posts about SEO to understand this more.

Accessibility is also really important for Websites. After all, if you have a Website certainly you want it to be viewed by everyone, including people with disabilities and people using browsers other than the usual ones – including voice browsers (which read Webpages aloud to people), Braille browsers (that translate text into Braille), hand-held browsers (with very little monitor space) and other unusual output devices.

Conclusion

As a Web Development company, MaxGen Media are constantly bringing the best, newest and coolest technologies to our clients, and Web Standards are one of them. The W3C explains why you should buy a standards compliant Website, so before you move forward with a Web designer its wise to pay attention to what you are buying and the quality offered by the company.