As a web site developer and amateur search engine optimist (right?) I am fully aware of the importance and ultimate need of giving Google’s butt a big old sloppy kiss. Place one hand on each of Google’s large round O’s and dive right in. It is understandable why many people feel this way, and are slighted by facing the fact that Google is playing a major role in a large percentage of web surfers and researchers.

With the introduction of Google Spreadsheets and Documents, and the integration of them into the already famously popular Gmail, they are proving once again their place at the top of the heap of the Internet Search Engines and Media Control Companies. Its not every company built on search technology that can afford to buy a YouTube.com while still expanding their existing scope of projects both online and on the desktop. (Note to self: Think of something clever and get Google to buy it for way too much money. Insert evil laughter, here.)

The entire kissing Google’s Butt connotation I make stems from the fact that I, as a developer, feel that I have on one occasion or another (or my entire career) – have had to do that very deed… bending over backwards even. I have redesigned, engineered and completely rebuilt web sites from the ground up multiple times just to appease Google. An algorithmic burp from them can literally send you spiraling down into the depths of the Internet Abyss. The recent inclusion of Supplemental Results is no picnic either, which means more speculation and trial and error to find out which spot on Google’s back needs to be scratched… with my lips.

In many aspects, engineering your site and planning on Google rankings is not a completely insane task. If you are seriously thinking about today’s technology then you can see why most of the rules that are put into place are realistic expectations and logical construction. Here are some things that you should keep in mind when designing or planning for Google:

Building Your Web Site

Never Use Tables for Web Site Display
Certainly you have heard about the huge table versus no tables dilemma. Though it actually is not a dilemma, its just a fact – do NOT use tables for display purposes. DO use tables for tabular data. Consider only putting tables on your pages if you are displaying something similar to an Excel spreadsheet. For real, learn how to use Cascading Style Sheets, which are reliably into the 2.0 standard. All current browsers can display your CSS designed site if you are keeping away from IE or Mozilla specific styles.

If you decide to wrap all of your nicely written original content in several layers of tables, you are shooting yourself in the foot by making search engines dig through your garbage code to get the information that people searching for you need to know. Unless you are my direct competition, just don’t do it.

De-Clutter Your Code
When you look at your web pages and view their source, is it easy to read? How far down your HTML do you have to scale before you begin to hit content? This is another selling point for using CSS driven web sites, keeping the content of your web pages at the top of your code, and any repeating elements at the bottom of your code.

Strip your web server bound pages of all their comments and garbage data. Make certain that your style sheets are all stored in external files with the proper calls to them being made in the head of your documents. Make all of your JavaScripts that are not dynamically generated, accessed from external locations as well. Although most search engines, including Google do not actively load and run the contents of your external CSS files and JS scripts, they certainly have the ability to do so. Taking advantage of the aspect that they do not, makes the reading of your web page all the quicker without forcing the bots to scan your scripts and styles. Trust me when I tell you that the bots do not care about your fancy rollovers or scrolling news ticker.

Remove Repeating Elements
I used to think that this was silly actually, until I took the time to think about it. Examine your web site and find any static elements that repeat from page to page. Now you have to get rid of them. Now before you throw a major fit because your static content is so important, read on my fellow narcissist:

Take your blocks of static repeating elements and slap them into a JavaScript file, and call to it from within the page. This allows the content to remain on the page for your human viewers, and out of the eye of the search engine robots. This will assist anyone with Supplemental Issues with the “Big G” – it’s not the cure, but it will help.

Use Your Block Level Elements!
I know that everyone wants their web pages to look “just so” but you can still have your signature look and feel using the correct markup and styles. Don’t skimp on the H1 tag, and H2 through H6 tags, also make sure you are containing all of your primary text in P tags. Yes it is that important. I have taken the short cuts too many times to count, but there is no denying that one thing that Google likes to see is HTML compliancy and logical page or content structure.

Here’s a test you can do to check several of my top statements above. I have used these techniques extensively on the following site: http://www.businesshostingprovider.com/. Now open this page, or any of the pages on that site in Mozilla Firefox – click on View, Page Style, No Style, in the top menu bar of the browser. See how pretty this site looks with styles compared to how it looks without? More importantly, notice how the content is the first thing to appear on the page. Other than that nasty table, which is actually a JS include… getting the point? View the source of the page, this site is a great example of how a web site SHOULD be done.

Search Engine Marketing

Quality Inbound Links
What about them? GET THEM. Find other sites that are authorities in your field of interest, or have excellent Page Rank. Is Page Rank something to focus on? I don’t think so, but it doesn’t hurt to find links from high PR sites, and have them pointing at the pages you want to highlight in the search engine results pages.

I know you next concern should automatically be the debate on reciprocal linking, and if searching for links, or buying links is a bad thing. Reciprocal linking is not the end of the world, but it is better than no links. Best-case scenario linking would be those that occur naturally from another site using yours as a reference or example.

Another option in link building is the practice of Tri-Linking. This is where you have access to a quality web site and offer link trades with other quality sites, however the incoming link from their sites point to your site that you want to build exposure and ranking for. You are providing a reciprocal link, without the penalty. Each of the links count as non-reciprocal inbound links and is a win-win situation.

Don’t Target Your Home Page
Do not collect inbound links pointing solely at your home page. Is your home page where your search engine bound viewers will find all of the information they need about the topic of their search? No, not in most cases. Target links with your keywords or key phrases to individual pages that reference those very words and phrases. Closing the click-through gap for your visitors will keep them there longer, and increase the chances of adding your site to Social Bookmarks, etc.

In this same sense, when finding link partners, gather inbound links from one or two pages from within their site. Requesting site-wide links is no longer necessary to be seen quickly by a Search Engine Bot. In fact the links that are not found on every page of a particular site will be given more weight and power than those that appear to be redundant information.

Unique Content Is Anti-Supplemental Ointment
Make certain that you are not using duplicate content from multiple pages of your own website. Also, make certain that you are not using content from other websites. Google knows, and Google checks for contextual relevance, and for duplicate content. Your rankings can be very short lived if and when you get busted for duplicate content.

Unique and original content does not stop with your primary page data… on the contrary. Your unique content needs to BEGIN with your page title and description metatags. The first thing a search engine robot sees is the head of the HTML file. Guess what the first thing to get recorded and categorized is? Title and Description? BINGO! Having a web site with the same information in the head is like begging to be thrown into the supplemental bin.

Sitemaps Sitemaps Sitemaps!
There is one thing that can let Google know that you have new content up and rolling on your website faster than anything else – that would be having a Sitemap. Using Google sitemaps or generating your own is really rather simple, you just need to take the time to learn how to do it. A good way to get on the right foot with submitting and understanding them is to create a Google account and visit http://www.google.com/webmaster/. Some of the Google tools you find available will not be worth your time in playing with, but there are a few great tools that you do have access to, one of which is Sitemaps information and direct access to your stats on your site’s indexing and linking (internal and external).

Most Important Advice You Will Ever Read

Don’t Trick or Treat
No one really knows what the algorithms are that Google and other Search Engines use to index and rank their sites based on search terms. Spamming and tricking the search engines is doable for short periods of time, but your time will be wasted, and you WILL be caught. Taking a look at Google specifically, you will see that it has the ability to check web site content for duplicate information on a global scale. Google can cross reference web site’s IP addresses and ban like-sites across entire Class C blocks. Why risk getting your web site(s) banned and/or black listed for a temporary result? You’ll have a better chance at selling a Kidney on Ebay, than in having any last effects from trying to gyp the Search Engines.

In reality we all know the importance of pleasing Google and their Google-bots, making the happy little trails through our web sites as easy and attractive as possible. The same techniques should also work well in keeping you in Yahoo and MSN’s good graces as well – though your potential traffic from both of those is still dwarfed by the Google Potential. With the inclusion of full book texts, videos and all of their contextual advertising with Adsense and Adwords, it makes full sense why they have such strict standards when indexing and then ranking sites.

So to me it’s worth a little butt kissing for now. No one should be surprised about changing technology and how he or she will be assimilated into the huge directories that are search engines. The rules are always changing and they will continue to change. I just wish for all this bending over, it came with a dinner and a movie occasionally – or even a breath mint.