Table Structure For Top Search Engine Position

Table Structure For Top Search Engine Positioning


by Mary Davies

So you have a beautiful website that you paid a pretty penny for

and you are completely happy with it … except no one can find

it. Many web designers do not understand search engine positioning,

so when they design your website little or no thought is given to

the elements of design that may affect your rankings on search engines.

On the other hand some search engine positioning companies offer

services that will boost your rankings but at the expense of your

design. A good search engine positioning company can get your website

ranking for key phrases without affecting the overall design and

navigation of your site. You can make small changes to your website

on your own as well utilizing the tips noted in this article. There

is a happy medium, you can "have your cake and eat it too."

The first step in designing a website that will rank well on search

engines is to build the proper table structure. This framework for

your website will easily guide the search engine spiders through

your site taking the route you want them to. A good table structure

is essentially a map to the spiders, it guides the way as they travel

through your website.

A standard website should use the table structure below:

This table structure is very beneficial to your website ranking

as it guides the spiders to the text rich, most important content

of your site as quickly as possible. The spiders will enter your

site at the first table, the header, and then travel through to

the empty cell in row 1 of the second table, the next stop is your

content area, the "meat" of your website. After going

through your content the spiders will then continue onto row 2 where

you have inserted a table holding your navigation, if your navigation

is image based, as most is, it holds very little content that matters

from the spider's perspective. The spiders will then follow

through to row 3 where you have your footer, a place to add in valuable

text links rich in targeted keywords.

If this table structure does not fit your design at all there can

be work arounds. A good example of this is shown on http://www.far-sited.ca.

Notice that the index page upon load has a very simple look, no

text, clean, crisp image. This is a good way to present your business

with a simple entry page. If you scroll down the page you will see

that there is in fact a lot of text below this main image. With

a simple 100% x 100% table you can achieve this affect on your website.

This table will open the same way in all resolutions giving your

index page the look of a text free page when in fact it is not.

100% x 100% table used as mentioned above:

If you choose to use the 100% x 100% table noted above you should

still try to stick to the general table structure shown first for

your internal pages. There can always be room for adjustments based

on the size of your site however most websites use left hand navigation

and this table structure is based on left hand navigation. If your

navigation is across the top of your page, maybe reconsider it.

It can remain at the top, I have designed a few websites that are

ranking well with this top navigation, but for the best result,

the left hand navigation using the table structure first mentioned

in this article is best.

All in all I cannot stress enough that a well designed site will

rank higher. Even if you do not have a complete SEO overhaul of

your site this table structure will increase your rankings over

those that do not have a clean, properly structured website. Though

the table structure is not noticed so much by the visitors to your

website aside from the look of it, it is very noticed by the spiders

and they will go through your website based on it. For an added

edge, have your site designed with this table structure, or do it

yourself. Make a point of not only giving the visitors to your website

the information you want them to have but also the spiders and as

quickly and easily as possible.

Mary Davies is the owner of Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning. Mary works and writes with years of experience in website design and search engine optimization.