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5 Things to Make Your Website Links Linear and Logical

18 December 2009 in Toolkit by Kate | View Comments

I was on a website today (I won’t say which)…. but I left the website probably before I wanted or needed to.  Why? I just plain got lost.  And the problem was linking… way too much of it!  I know, I know… it helps your SEO, but there’s a point at which you’re degrading user experience by leading them on a wild goose chase for what they want.

I’d get to one page, wanting to read about products, and I’d follow one of the page links, which had more links and soon I couldn’t remember what the heck I was looking for to start out with.  I got tired of this quickly, so I just left.

So, I thought it’d be a good opportunity to offer a few ways to think about your website when you’re putting it together or planning the content.

  1. Think linearly. When gathering information, people usually want to follow a linear and logical path to get that info.  Sometimes it’s from big-picture to details.  Sometimes it’s being led through the process your company takes with its customers.  Sometimes it’s a look at groups of offerings.  Whatever it is, think about how to lay your site out in terms of information-gathering.
  2. Make sure the internal link makes sense.  Don’t add a link for the sake of adding a link.  It doesn’t do any good to be having your readers move between disjointed pieces of information, as it makes it more difficult for them to put the whole picture together.  From a technical standpoint, having your readers feel disjointed will also likely increase your exit rate (in other words, the leave your site!).
  3. Make it very easy for your readers to get back to the original page they were viewing.  Much in line with #2, your readers came to a particular page to read about that facet of your company.  If they came to your services page, they want to know what you have to offer.  They probably want to know about everything you’ve got before moving on, and of course you want them to know that too.  Make sure they can get back there to get that info.
  4. Don’t forget your blog and/or your social media assets. Directing someone towards a blog post or two can be a great idea.  Ideally (if you’re blogging right) they hang out there for a little while, engage in your contact, and get to know your company more.  Without overdoing it, this can be a great way to add an internal link that follows the above guidelines, but also has the possibility to really hook your viewers and supplement your content.
  5. Think about lead conversion while you’re at it.  When you’re putting together a logical path for your readers to follow through your website, think also about how that goes into converting them to customers.  Would adding a particular internal to your services page add the “right” type of info for them to get out their chequebook?

Any other tips for people to think about?

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SEO in Layman’s terms

4 September 2008 in Explanation by Kate | View Comments

My dad asked me the other day what SEO was (and to be clear, he didn’t use the term “SEO,” it was more of a “What do you mean I should get my company page ranking up?  What the heck does that mean??).  I then proceeded to (try to) explain the basic concept of SEO to him.

I thought the dumbed down version of it might be helpful.  It’s on the shorter side, because my dad’s needs for his company website don’t extend much further than that.  I would love for people to add their own versions or additions to other aspects of SEO if they want to.

So here it is:

“Dad.  Let’s say someone searches for your company online.  You’ll pop up (hopefully!) on the first entry.  Great, but how many people do you think are going to find you using your company name?  Those people will probably already know you and what you do.  But what if someone was looking for a product that you produce, let’s say tracer wire.  They’re going to type in “tracer wire.”  So what search engine optimization does is it makes it so your company ideally pops up on the first page, if not one of the first few entries. Most people don’t look past the first page of what a search engine gets for you, so you need to be right there, and in their face.”

“How do you do that Katie [he calls me Katie]?”

“Well, an example of what you could do is to “tag” your website, which means you associate it with key words that you think likely customers might search for.  For instance, you tag your company with “copper wire” and there’s at least a potential that you’ll pop up at the beginning of their search.

“The idea is to make your tags a good mix between both broad and narrow terms so that you remain competitive.  There are a lot of firms that might be in the “copper wire” industry, and you may get lost somewhere in the mix of so many firms.  But there are fewer firms in the cooper wire industry that make “tracer wire”.

“Another way you can give your website some juice is by linking out, or putting links on your sites to other sites.  The search engines are like little worms with many heads, and the more pathways you offer them to your site, the easier and more often they can get to you. ***[Sidenote: this worm analogy could be gross, I'll have to come up with something better for future explanations, but, oddly, it's what popped into my head at the time.... please offer your suggestions below for other analogies]*** And the more times they get to you, the closer to the top of search results you will be.

“For the same reason, it also helps to have other websites that contain links to your website.  Good opportunties might be if you work with partners that could put a link to you on their sites, or if you’re a member of an association that features member sites.  Things like that.” ***[Sidenote: as you may have gathered, my dad is not in an industry where blogging/commenting/social media is used at present, and also note, he doesn’t know how to use a computer, so there’s no chance that he will be leaving comments and his website information on any blogs, but this is another way to go about this).


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