Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning

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.

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.

About The Author

Mary Davies is the search engine friendly design expert for Beanstalk Search Engine Positioning (http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/). She works and writes with years of experience in web design and search engine optimization; info@beanstalk-inc.com

---

SEO #5: Analyzing the Top Ranked Website on Google

Yesterday you should have read the forth course out of... Read More

How to Use the Google Patent to Get More Traffic

According to the recent release of the Google Patent Application,... Read More

Is My Search Engine Optimization Working?

You've just built a website and can't wait to start... Read More

Google Gunning For Directories?

Why is it that webmasters are so quick to blame... Read More

Is Reciprocal Linking Dead?

I just read an article at SitePro News that really... Read More

More Hits are Good for My Website - A Myth You Should Avoid

I hear this all the time. "I can get you... Read More

How to Boost Your Traffic and Profits with Content!

Are you aware of how vitally important and valuable CONTENT... Read More

Keywords, Ranking, & Search Engine Optimization Fun

I am a Search Engine Optimization newbie. I have read... Read More

The Secret To Getting Indexed In Yahoo

Getting indexed in Yahoo has become very difficult in the... Read More

Google Sitemaps Just Got Better

Having a Google Sitemap just got better! Not only does... Read More

Can Google Really Deliver Country Specific Searching?

This is a serious matter, can Google really deliver top... Read More

7 Free Search Engine Resources You Should be Using Now

Ask any business person who's website is at the top... Read More

How To Find Good Keywords

Good keywords are frequently searched for (high demand) but not... Read More

Keep Your Web Site Content Relevant

Visitors and search engines love content-rich web sites, but just... Read More

Search Engine Optimization For Blogs

Blogging software is really a simple Content Management System (CMS)... Read More

Google Rankings -- Achieve Top 10 Rankings with Free Tools

In order to get a top 10 google ranking it... Read More

Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSS

RSS is the latest craze in online publishing. But what... Read More

See No Google, Hear No Google, Speak No Google

That's right - I dreamt of a World Wide Web... Read More

Keep Your Content Fresh with this Quick and Easy Tip

Some of the Search engines want only original content. So... Read More

Martial Arts Webmasters: Time to Optimize Your Site!

A few months ago I was looking through the search... Read More

SEO: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

I seem to have created quite a stir, on a... Read More

Get Traffic You Need - Make Your Links Work

So you have built a nice web site with good... Read More

Dont Focus Too Much on Your Internet Business Website Ranking

No doubt, having a high search engine ranking is very... Read More

Alert Marketing - Get Google Search Results By E-mail

Sometimes our jobs as marketers means we need to look... Read More

Making Money with Popular Search Engines

With so many internet and home business opportunities on the... Read More

The Other Side of the Search Gods Abracadabra!

Thousands of servers ...billions of web pages.... the possibility of... Read More

Tips On Optomizing Your Website For Search Engines

I wish to give a few little tips, about optimizing.... Read More

Straight Talk on Search Engine Optimization

To get your website listed well in the major search... Read More

Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings

Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their... Read More

Youve Got The Power, Why Arent You Promoting It?

Like all things, theft is theft, misery loves company, negative... Read More

Make Quality Content Your #1 Priority

It is by now a proven fact that content is... Read More

Linking for Traffic not Positioning!

With more and more experts and search engine enthusiastsclaiming the... Read More

The Google Phenomenon: Greatest Hits Collection

As my readers know, I've been one of Google's harshest... Read More