• by Rob Garner , January 6, 2010

Designing enterprise Web sites for search engine visibility has been a major thread of this column since I started writing for MediaPost several years ago (side note: I will hit my 100th column in a few months).  URL structures, redirection plans, dealing with process obstacles, and putting research up front have all been topics I've previously covered.  Today I am going to build on a column that I wrote almost a year ago, entitled "How Search Fits Into The Redesign Process." To start, a list of major considerations for designing an enterprise Web site for greater search visibility is provided below. (Please read that column for more info on each of the following points):

 

-       Use site language and messaging that is consistent with the user's perception of your product or service.

-       Read your log files (and/or review analytics reports).

-       Ensure that RIAs are both crawlable and indexable by search engines.

-       Avoid the creation of URL canonicalization issues.

-       Set up a redirection plan.

-       Perform gap analysis, and don't remove content that supports coveted rankings without assessing risks first.

-       Include search as both business and technical requirements before planning has even started.

-       Ensure that there is a voice for search within the Web site team structure.

Here are a few more things to consider as you proceed to design your Web site for search visibility:

Budget and scope for search in your design and development planning.  Unfortunately I've seen many cases where marketers did not want to pay for search expertise in their design process, even when they knew very well that search performance would suffer at the cost of their various marketing goals.  As a result of weak search performance, much higher prices were paid by those same marketers to try and clean up mistakes that would only perform 1/10^th as well than if it had been done right the first time.   

Start with search in mind at the onset of all design and development discussions.  It's time to get out of the mentality that search is not a part of the design and development process.  To the contrary, "doing it right" means including team members who are experienced and focused on all of the nuances of search optimization. Ensure that they have a voice alongside designers, developers, IAs, project managers, etc. Simply put, enterprise search has too many changes and intricacies for a developer or designer to constantly monitor, and it is not reasonable to expect them to do so -- they need to focus on their core expertise, but with search in mind. 

Develop a content strategy that is highly engaging to the audience you want to attract.  In the new world of personalization and real-time search, producing content that is engaging is imperative. This starts with knowing your audience through real market research  -- not just guessing at keyword research.  And content is not just text -- it is also includes images, video, applications, widgets, etc.

Use search data (and other key insights pulled from data) when developing personas.  Develop your target user's search persona, and use search to develop a picture of your user's journey both in-search, and on-site.  When some sites receive 25%  to 45% of traffic from search engines, a huge area of research is being ignored by not finding out how those same users seek out content in engines, both linguistically, and from an engagement standpoint.

Focus on building a strong benchmark analysis, followed by a post-launch comparison.  The bottom line is that you need to know where you were to find out where you went.

Implement RSS feeds for various types of content distribution.  While much of site optimization focuses on allowing a site and assets to be crawled and indexed at the domain level, RSS feeds are a key element of distributing your content across the Web.  RSS feeds translate to the sharing and mashing-up of your content, which pays various dividends from a search perspective.

Determine which types of digital assets make the most sense for your business, and make a place for them on your new site.  Search has expanded well beyond Web pages and 10 blue links to offer video images, news and social streams, among many other vertical asset types.  Many industries tend to have assets that are more relevant than others (images, maps, and video tend to fit more for travel-related sites, for instance).  Ensuring that there is a search strategy and place for these optimized assets is critical in the planning and design stages. 

Consider a relational approach to creative and architecture, as opposed to a "top-down" approach.  "Findability," and user orientation from SERP to landing page is a usability issue.  When sites are designed only for the user who enters the homepage and filters through the site, a major audience is ignored.  And this experience is disorienting for visitors (which ultimately results in lower conversions and performance rates against key metrics).

Educate, educate, educate.   In an enterprise situation, education is critical to getting things done, and showing the ins-and-outs of basic to advanced SEO should be conducted throughout the entire design process. 

So there are 17 bits to chew on with your site design in the New Year.  If that's not enough, here is a link to my first column of 2008, "22 Considerations For Improving Natural Search Performance."  I hope everyone had a happy new year.