Why CSS is good for Google

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to separate the stylistic elements of a page such as layout, colour and fonts from the content of the page such as paragraphs and images. We call this Separation of Content from Presentation.

If you don't understand CSS at all then you may decide not to use it for your site. However I would suggest that the advantages to be gained from using CSS, not just for Google, are well worth the time invested in learning it. For an introduction to CSS see CSS Is Easy by Kevin Yank or see the many other quality articles over at SitePoint's CSS Section.

So why is CSS good for Google?

  • CSS allows for smaller file sizes
  • CSS allows you greater control of page structure
  • CSS allows you to hide certain content from browsers while it still gets picked up by Google

CSS allows for smaller file sizes

By taking styles out of the HTML page and putting it into a standalone (imported) style sheet (.css file), you can reduce the overall amount of code in your web pages. Pages with less code have smaller file sizes and Google prefers pages with smaller file sizes (many other search engines do too).

Though Google doesn't offer specific advice on this matter, the search engine optimisation community is generally agreed that 100KB is a good upper limit for page sizes.

CSS allows you greater control of page structure

CSS allows you to structure your document according to HTML standards without comprimising the look-and-feel of the page.

Google rewards pages that are well structured, though many designers choose to ignore standards and guidelines as much as possible, because they (incorrectly) believe standards lead to bland pages. Using CSS, designers can create attractive pages with much flair, while adhering to the findability design principles identified in the book (yes you'll have to buy it to get more!).

CSS allows you to hide content from browsers while it still gets picked up by Google

Using CSS you can hide content from certain browsers in certain situations. For example you may have some content that you only want to appear in print, or you may want certain content to only be shown on screen and not in print (such as page navigation). The advantage is that Google will still index all of the content and you will still get the benefit that content brings.

For an example of this technique see my article Random Content Rotation.

Browser Compatibility

If you are new to CSS, be aware that different browsers still interpret CSS standards in different ways, while some (very) old browsers don't read CSS at all. Ensure that your CSS is as cross-browser compatible as possible, and that your HTML pages look acceptable even without CSS.


Maintaining Web Site Interest

Traffic to your website can be like climbing a hill. the higher you climb in your goal to create a great website the harder it can get. The best web site you see are created with much planning and time. It will take a lot of time and effort for you to achieve the goal you set for your site so don't be discouraged if things don't always go as planned. There will be a time when you might feel like giving up and calling it quits. You may feel that your site is not giving anywhere and the traffic will never increase. The biggest mistake would be to give up on your website. This is the time to think of positive possibilites you can do for your page to make it better. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
 
 1. When a surfer comes to your page, do they 
     immediately know what it's about?
 2. What type of visitors do you want to attract?
 3. What do you want your visitor to know?
 4. Have you told them? 
 5. How many people have a site like you do? 
 6. Is there something you could do to be different? 
 7. Have you looked around the web for better 
     ways to design web pages and how to get hits? 
 8. Look at your page. Does the mood and 
     design suit the purpose of the site? 
 9. Is your design property laid out with effective 
     use of xHTML, HTML tables and alignment? 
 10. Did the user have to scroll a mile down th the
        page to find what they were looking for? 
 11. What is your site about?
 12. Do the graphics look more important 
       then they really what are interested 
       in selling? 
 13. How's your content? Could it be better? 
 14. Do the viewer's eyes have to wander 
       around the whole page to find 
       something they want? 
 15. Have you done enough research on your 
       sites content? 
 16. Can you omit some parts of your site to 
       make it look cleaner and more direct? 
 17. Is your content and information up to date 
       within your industry? 
 18. Have you tried exchanging links with other 
       sites that are similar to yours? 
 19. Are you trying to push your visitor into a 
       sale before you can provide a quality 
       product? 
 20. Are you giving your visitor a center of 
       attention? Wheres the main focus? 
 21. Before you make a web page, you must 
       really think about what you like to do. 
       Where do you true interest lie?
There are lots of things that you could make a webpage for but look for the hobbies or things you have loved all your life. The level of interest you have in a topic can predict the amount of success you will have. I have seen successful websites made by people who love babies and baby products. I've seen a bug collectors website that did extremely well. He knew everything there was to know about bugs and had quality content to back it up. I was really amazed. So any type of hobby site can easily be successful if done right. So whatever your interest maybe, remember to stay focused on what you truly know. Creative unique ideas will flow much smoother and easier for you down the road.

 Importance of having your own domain name

A question that I frequently hear is "Do I really need to have my own domain name?" The one word answer is "YES.". If you put up your site with some of the free web hosting services, the only company who benefits is the web hosting company. The last person who benefits is you. There are a number of reasons why having your own domain name is a must:

1) When you have your own domain name, the address of your web site will be of the form http://www.yoursite.com. On the other hand, if you put up your site on one of the free servers, the address of your web site will be something like http://www.somefreewebsite.com/yoursite/. Which of these two sounds more professional? Which of these two is smaller and is hence easier to remember? I leave you to make the judgement.

2) The only way to make money online is to build up credibility among your customers. Having your own domain name is the first step in doing that. Your customers will feel more comfortable buying whatever it is that you are selling if you have your own domain name. It makes your customers feel that they are dealing with a large, established company, rather than with some fly by night operator.

3) When you have your domain name, you can have multiple email aliases of the form alias@yoursite.com. This allows you to assign different email aliases to different functions, all of them pointing to your actual email address. Hence, for example, for questions related to the products and services that you sell, you can have an email address like sales@yoursite.com. For questions related to the newsletter that you publish, you can have an email address like editor@yoursite.com. For comments/suggestions about your web site, you can direct your customers to feedback@yoursite.com or webmaster@yoursite.com. Having different email addresses for different functions not only makes it easier for you to filter your email using your email client program (Eudora Pro, Pegasus Mail, Outlook Express etc.), but also gives your customers the impression that yours is a large, established company with whom it is safe to do business.

4) Many search engines give a lot of emphasis to the home page of a particular domain, i.e. other things remaining the same, a home page of a domain will often rank higher for a particular keyword than any other page. When you use some of the free hosting services, your index.html page is the home page of your site, but not of that domain. Hence in these search engines, your site will find it very difficult to make it to the top 20 or top 30, let alone the top 10 for some of the really competitive keywords. Just think of the amount of traffic that you will lose if this happens.

5) Some search engines are now refusing to spider the web sites which are hosted by the free web hosts. For instance, if you have a site hosted by the free web hosts, you would, until recently, have got the infamous error message saying that too many pages have been submitted from your site if you tried to submit your site to AltaVista. While AltaVista now says that "your URL has been submitted for processing" if you try to submit your site, rest assured that it will not spider any site belonging to many of the free web hosts even though it says that your site has been accepted. Can you afford that?

6) When your site is hosted by some of the free web hosts, you will find it very difficult to get it listed in a major directory like Yahoo!. Although Yahoo! will never admit that it won't add a commercial site which is being hosted in one of the free web hosts, in practice, it will be a miracle if you can get your site listed by Yahoo!!. Listing your site with Yahoo! is difficult enough even when you have your own domain. Don't make your task more difficult than what it needs to be.

Salaries for Web ‘Designers’ and ‘Producers’
The National Survey Of Graphic Design Salaries and Billing Practices 2006, “conducted” by the Registry of Graphic Designers Ontario and “sponsored” by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, has a few interesting facts about salaries in Canada for Web “designers” and “producers.” It seems to exist as a printed manual only at this point.

Some of its findings related to Web development:

Freelance billing rates

Under the headline “Solo-designer-firm billing rates,” we learn that “Web designers” with less than five years’ experience bill $70/$25 an hour (high/low figures used throughout), while those with five to 15 years’ experience bill $150/$30, a difference of quintuple the lower rate.

The section “16 years’ [experience] or more” is pointless and redundant in Web development of any sort because the Web is not 16 years old. The question should not have been asked and I’m not reporting the results.

For “Web programming”:

  • Less than five years’ experience: $100/$20
  • Five to 15 years’ experience: $150/$35

Both are enormous ranges – ridiculous, really. Again, I’m not reporting their ≥16-year figures.

Billing rates for firms

“Billing rates at design firms with two or more employees are much higher.”

  • Web developer (no years-of-experience figure given): $190/$40 per hour
  • Web producer/manager: $150/$45

Note that suddenly they’re talking about “Web producers/managers” and not “Web programmers.” I suspect there is a degree to which the surveyers did not know what they’re talking about. The term “Web programmer” is not defined in the glossary, either.

If you look at the numbers, it barely pays to be a Web producer/manager compared to a developer. In fact, you lose money on the high end. Ignorance appears to pay. Perhaps this is why Canadians are mediocre.

Project fees

For “Web-site design of 25 to 50 pages for a client with revenues under $2 million,” billable fees ranged from:

  • Less than $2,500 (4%)
  • $2,500–$4,999 (16%)
  • $5,000–$9,999 (33% – note the magic $10,000 mental threshold)
  • $10,000–$14,999 (23%)
  • $15,000 or more (24%)

I read this as follows: Most of the time, you’re cheating yourself by billing less than $5,000. A plurality of the time, you shouldn’t even be talking to them for less than $10,000, and you have a pretty reasonable chance quoting at over $15K.

Median salaries

Web developers found their median salaries increasing from $44,000 to $45,000 to $51,000 (2000, 2002, 2004 figures).

They break out other figures for regions and cities. Looking solely at Toronto, Web developers’ salaries range from $32,000 to $67,000. Web producers/managers earn $49,000 to $82,000. This scarcely seems consistent with the hourly billing rates for the different jobs, but that could be due to national averaging of those billing rates.

Gender split

For Web developers, 12 respondents were male (low/high salaries: $32,000/$80,000), seven female ($29,500 to $55,500). Men earn more than women in this survey, and outnumber them, too.

For Web producers/managers, eight male respondents earned $32,000/$73,000, while seven female respondents earned $43,000/$82,000. Number of respondents was roughly equal and women outearned men. Take careful note of that fact.

 

Anything and everything to do with the web!
To find out exactly what we can do for
you click here to learn more!

 
  Copyright © 2005 w h i n w e b w o r k s. All rights reserved.
Best viewed 1024 x 768 Resolution / IE+ / Mozilla+ /Firefox+
 
You are visitor nos.