Archive for June, 2010

One of the things that I always find challenging when preparing copy for a site is making sure the SEO objectives don’t override the usability objectives (or visa versa). For example, in SEO-land lots of copy rules, whereas on planet-usability, less is always best. But both are important.

A terrific report from Usability One came across my desk today which addresses these exact issues.  Some of their points include:

• Theme your website into keyword groups from the outset.
• Use creative link strategies and summaries rather than putting up too much text just to satisfy the search engines. Or use java script pop ups that offer more text – but only if the user chooses to read it.
• Choose your navigation labels carefully – check to see what users are searching for the most, and use these keywords in your nav.

Usability and SEO techniques should work harmoniously. Not against each other. Now if only we could get the mob in Canberra to do the same!

Here’s the full report.