Well that’s what my mind feels like right now.
I spend hours trying develop sites that work – and nothing happens. Trouble is, my clients don’t have the money to spend on their web sites – and to pay for back links and advertising – no way! Yes, I know about keyword strategies and good content, and finding links from good sites.
So what do I do?
- I build the site well.
I try to run as many HTML and XHTML validation tests so that no errors, warnings and comments are found - I use CSS for all my formatting – mainly to ensure consistency – and only use the attributes that a cross-browser.
This can be a real pain – but in the end getting the DOCTYPE right and using consistent CSS does mean that the site is easy to maintain – and can easily be changed if the client has second thoughts about his/her design. - I try to make the site fast loading.
All graphics (where used) are optimized to load quickly. I do not use graphical menus or tables unless I really have to. All in all, the sites load fast. I also place them with a host that will do the site justice – and seems to be reliable. - I eschew things like Javascript
Some people dont allow it – and others use versions of Java that we just don’t want to think about! If I do any scripting I tend to do it in PHP. This still leaves me with some problems (like a Back button – but sometimes we just have to let the user use the Browser back button). - I create site maps
This will be an HTML site map as well as a google site map. - I promote the domain and submit the google site map to google.
So there you have it. And people say that anyone can do it… Well they can – but have you seen some of the websites out there? And I have to say – it’s galling to find that they have got a better ranking than I have.
Thats all for now… supposed to be doing the Vista bit – but who cares – every one else is doing it at the moment..
Paul