Are your website templates SEO compatible?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) refers to the process of creating a website that can be found, indexed and presented in a relevant search engine search result. VCG's Web Presence framework has been built to employ commonly accepted SEO "best practices", providing you with a tool that facilitates the creation of an SEO compatible website.

Note: VCG does NOT sell or offer SEO services. While we can and will at times offer suggestions that could potentially improve your site's ranking and visibility within search engine results, we make no guarantees or promises in this regard. It's simply not a service that we offer. While there are many reputable companies offering legitimate SEO services, it is important to always remember that no one can ever guarantee you specific, non-paid placement in search engine results.

That being said, some examples of commonly accepted practices that have been built into our Web Presence framework include:

• Semantic HTML markup
  
  Semantic HTML markup is the act of writing HTML code such that it's easy for a search engine to understand what your website is all about without it having to "see" how it looks... it's the use of HTML markup to reinforce the semantics, or meaning, of the information in your web pages rather than merely to define its presentation (look). Using HTML elements such as H1 to define a header, or using <strong> instead of <b> to make a word bold, are two examples of semantic HTML markup. H1 gives the search engine a "header" or summary of the overall content of the page, while strong tells the search engine that this word or phrase is important.

• DIV's instead of TABLES
  
  We've created our website framework by using <div> elements instead of <table> elements for our main site structure. Aside from typically rendering slower and being less flexible than DIV's, using tables can prevent a search engine from determining the proper significance of the content of your website. DIV's allow us to place rich content near the top of your HTML code while still rendering it at the appropriate location in the browser.

• Fewer clicks
  
  Search engines like to be able to easily find all of your website's content... the fewer clicks to required to reach the content, the better. Your Web Presence website's navigational structure is created such that every page of your site is reachable within a single click (with the exception of most online store pages which may require 2 or 3 clicks - still an acceptable SEO practice).

• Meaningful page names
  
  All of your site's page names are relevant to their content. For example, the About page is named About.cfm, which tells the search engines that this page is "About the company". The Contact page is named Contact.cfm. The Gallery page, Gallery.cfm. The Equipment page, (as applicable), Equipment.cfm. (Please note that we are currently making changes to the individual "Products" and "Services" pages, soon these pages will also reflect the actual name of the product or service whose content is being displayed).

• Meta page titles, Meta Tags & Meta Keywords
  
  We've given you the ability to easily add Page titles, Meta Tags & Meta Keywords to every page of your website. Adding these elements can improve the chances of search engines finding, indexing and presenting your website in relevant search results.

• Coming Soon!
  
  In addition to the above mentioned anticipated changes to our individual Products and Services page names, we're also currently considering providing you with a method of adding Rich Snippets to existing structural elements, and we're looking into adding a sitemap to every website.

While we've built our Web Presence service with an underlying information architecture that promotes SEO compatibility, equally important to having a website that is technically sound in terms of SEO best practices is the actual content of the pages of your site as well as the marketing of your site.

• Content
  
  We provide you with some initial content driven by your company's "profile" of products and services that you offer, but providing rich content beyond what we can start you with and demonstrating subject-matter expertise on each page of your site will greatly enhance your search engine visibility.