What Makes A Website Search Engine Friendly?

Web Development
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Search engines view websites completely differently than humans do. The same appearance of a website can be achieved with a number of different coding methods. Some are more effective for search engine rankings than others. Simply by looking at a website in an internet browser it is impossible to tell how effectively it is coded.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an on-going process that must be a priority in order to reach the top of search engine results, and to maintain those rankings. Proper design is the foundation for SEO efforts, but design alone cannot deliver the maximum results.
Valid Coding
HTML and CSS coding can be validated through the W3C. Valid coding will help to ensure that your pages will be accessible across a range of different internet browsers, screen sizes, devices, as well as for those with disabilities using screen readers. Valid coding will also help search engines to be able to accurately read the code and decipher the contents of your page.

Effective and Accurate Page Titles
Each page on your website should have a title. The title has a strong influence on search engine results, and it will often be displayed on the search results page. Titles should accurately describe the contents of the page and should include keywords whenever possible.

Headings
HTML includes specific tags for headings. Many websites create the same visual effect by using bold text and a larger font size. Although the look can be accomplished either way, using headings helps to show the search engines that a certain word or phrase has added emphasis. Heading tags should especially be used if keywords are in the heading text.
General Content
Search engines love websites that provide original content. Websites with a lot of quality content are useful to visitors and for this reason search engines favor websites with content.

Links
Because search engine spiders crawl through your pages from link to link, dead links can stall the process and can prevent all of your pages from being indexed. Sites with dead links may also be penalized by search engines.