From Easy to Geeky:
A Top 10 List
Mark Phillip
markphillip.com
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Easy
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Geeky
favicon.ico
Tiny, little picture
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favicon.ico
Options to display one on your site:
• Include:
<link href="http://twitter.com/favicon.ico"
rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" />
• Simply name it “favicon.ico”
Google Webmaster Tools
Hey Google, does this code make my butt look big?
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Google Webmaster Tools
Verification process options:
• Upload blank file to server with Google-specified
name
• Add Google-specified <meta> tag
More Info:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
Sitemap File
Table of Contents for search engines
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Sitemap File
<url>
<loc>http://markphillip.com</loc>
<lastmod>2009-06-11T20:40:03+00:00</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.8</priority>
</url>
<url>
<loc>http://markphillip.com/2005/01/misfiring/</loc>
<lastmod>2000-02-05T19:09:36+00:00</lastmod>
<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
<priority>0.3</priority>
</url>
Sitemap File
More Info:
http://www.sitemaps.org/
Note: Best way to inform search engines about your
sitemap file is to include it in your robots.txt file.
Canonicalization
Fancy ComSci term popularized by Google
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Canonicalization
These are completely different URLs:
ups.com/contact
www.ups.com/contact
ups.com/contact/index.html
Rule of thumb:
Ignoring anything after a “?”, each page should be
reachable by just one URL.
Google Analytics
Who is visiting?
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Google Webmaster Tools
More Info:
http://www.google.com/analytics/
Firebug & YSlow
Geek X-Ray Glasses
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Firebug & YSlow
Install Firebug:
http://getfirebug.com/
Install YSlow:
http://developer.yahoo.com/yslow/
NB:
Firebug and YSlow add-ons are made for Firefox. IE,
Opera, and Safari support can be replicated using
Firebug Lite.
Multiple CSS, JS, Icons
Carpooling for files
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Multiple CSS, JS, Icons
Stylesheets look like:
<link … rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
JavaScript files look like:
<script type="text/javascript">
Images look like:
<img src=“/img/logo.gif” height=“120”...>
Note: Search for underlined terms to find items in page
source
robots.txt
House Rules for Search Engines
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robots.txt
SHAMEFUL
Don’t index anything:
http://jcp.com/robots.txt
http://www.sears.com/robots.txt
SHADY
Don’t let anyone see I that changed my policies:
http://vonage.com/robots.txt
SOLID
Index almost everything
(and grab my sitemap while you’re here):
http://www.llbean.com/robots.txt
robots.txt
Zoo Animal Puppet Kit
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.
do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=48/2212
&tabId=3&cm_re=FF-_-Feature-_-F1L2
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/tellAFriend/TellAFriendC
ontroller.jpf?productCode=48/2212
Camp Journal Craft Kit
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.
do?requestURI=processProductsCatalog&sku=48/3123
&tabId=3&cm_re=FF-_-Feature-_-F2L3
http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/tellAFriend/TellAFriendC
ontroller.jpf?productCode=48/3123
Semantic URLs
Your URLs should tell a story
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Semantic URLs
Good:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/standings
Bad:
http://columbusdispatch.sportsdirectinc.com/football/nflstandings.aspx?page=/data/nfl/standings/20082009/pre/league/standings.html
External Presence?
Blog? Facebook? Twitter?
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External Presence?
Problem:
http://twitter.com/markphillip/status/1528389248
Solution:
http://twitter.com/HRBlock/status/1528525560
Thanks!
Mark Phillip
markphillip.com