Your End User Wants A Well Developed Site Not Just Top SEO

Your End User Wants A Well Developed Site Not Just Top SEO

By Scott Boyd
Expert Author
Article Date: 2009-07-02

For some people, SEO has always been about this - creating a killer page that deserves to be number 1. Perhaps it doesn't always shine through in the work you do - there are a variety of constraints that can hold you back - money, time, resources or corporate politics to name but a few. But in general, this is the approach that always serves you well. This article looks at some of the traits of a category killing page and how you moving away from the "keyword, keyword, keyword" mentality that SEO encourages can do wonders for your rankings.

What we're not dealing with here is the technical side of SEO - the link juice, the internal link structures, the on page optimisation, the domain authority and so on - let's assume you're on the ball with these things already. Think of those factors as channels of promotion and packaging - what we're talking about here is the product itself - the content.

It's the content that tends to so undervalued in the SEO world, despite the fact that every SEO pretty much has "content is king" engraved on their eyeballs from the early days in their career. This is largely down to SEO deriving from a very technical group of people; at a time where simply listing more keywords on the page was the key to success. Fortunately the market has matured since then and we're slowly edging out the keyword filled sites in lieu of better content, but bland, average sites are still rampant and no doubt the owners wonder why their rankings aren't as strong as they could be.

The answer is simple - both people and search engines want good results, yet a large part of SEO is about essentially ranking *any* page for relevant terms, rather than creating a page that *deserves* to rank for that term.

Don't get me wrong here - I'm not suggesting that SEO is getting it wrong - quite the opposite in fact, many SEOs get it right with style! More than that though, the SEO industry has encouraged a level of competition amongst websites that drives innovation and development - I think we would have a very different web today if it wasn't for the SEO industry.

The point is that in many cases, SEO is kinda just tagged on the end of a project, almost as an afterthought - almost a case of "we want to rank for x, y or z - go and do it". The effectiveness of the work tends to boil down to the skills and experience of the SEO behind it, and I while I do think that's always and should be important, the main deciding factor should be down to the quality of the page. The two aren't mutually exclusive - let's look at the points to building a category killing page;

Define your objectives

What is your page all about? By defining the purpose of your page from the outset, you can not only easily accommodate any SEO details, but also ensure the page design includes everything you need it to in order to maximise the benefit you get from your traffic.

Some questions to ask yourself:

What do competing pages offer in terms of content?

What am I trying to achieve with this page?

What content do I need on this page?

What content *don't* I need on this page?

What can I offer that no one else is?

What makes this page better than other similar pages?

What will users searching for my targeted search term expect to find on this page?

How important is this page to my business strategy?

The answers to these questions begin to give you a very strong picture of what your page should look like and importantly, what content it should have in it. The point is, the temptation might just be to throw up a blog or other CMS to manage your content - is this really appropriate for what you are trying to achieve? Essentially, what you want to avoid:

Product pages with nothing more than a couple of lines of product description text (the page will have less chance of ranking).

Link bait pages that don't link internally to other key pages (the page will pass on less benefit to other key pages).

Pages that are swamped with ads to the detriment of user experience (conversion rates will drop).

Sales pages that say nothing (or worse, too much) about your product or service (as above).

Bland, uninteresting pages that are no different to any other competing page (the fickle surfer will lose interest and leave).

Generic, catch-all pages that don't really fuffil the requirements of the visitors that end up on the page (pseudo-doorway pages).

Your content is not just about copywriting - it's about creating a product that you package in your website and promote via SEO (and other marketing channels).

Plan and prioritise your layout

When you have your product concept nailed, it's time to design it. This is a critical stage of the process - your page design and layout is the first facet of your product that your visitors will see and in many cases it will be the deciding factor on whether they:

Continue reading.

Engage with your website (buy something / post a review / etc).

Link to your site from their own (I rarely link to sites I don't like the look of).

Spread the joy (social media).

Many sites will push ads in front of the user as soon as they land on the page (i.e. above the fold / before the content), which is fair enough if this is the objective of the page. But in cases where the objective is more complicated (link bait, product sales, attracting reviews, etc), then excessive ads or internal fluff (navigation and so on) can detract from this objective.

It's very easy to ignore this when using a CMS - template driven pages can be a PITA to redesign on a case by case basis - you might not to take the time or spend the resources on doing this. But forget that for the moment - that's something that can be considered at the next stage. Right now, you're looking for a best case scenario - what's the absolutely best solution that will meet your requirements? Ask yourself these questions:

What's the ultimate objective of the page? Keep repeating this to yourself at every stage - it's critical you don't lose sight of this.

Which pieces of content are most important? Prioritise them.

Which pieces of content could you live without on the page?

What are your targeted search terms and what will users expect to find on this page? If there are different expectations (common with generic search terms), then your design should prioritise and accommodate for them appropriately.

Is there anything you are offering that others aren't? Perhaps it's worth highlighting this!

Now you have a solid list of requirements and priorities, your design should pretty much build itself - have a think about how far away you are from when you started.

Review and assess the situation

Your best case scenario may not be an entirely practical solution for the time being, so it's worth going back and looking over what you've done and what you can achieve with the resources you have. It's never a bad thing to take a step back and perhaps do less than originally planned if it means you can do at least that part well.

Your page now should be a least more than a basic block of text stuck in a bog standard template - it should:

Have all the information a user expects when arriving at your site.

Offer a logical structure, with clear objectives.

Be simple for your visitor to perform whatever action you want them to.

Look good and give the impression of professionalism.

Encourage people to come back to the site / link to it / syndicate your page via social media.

Moreover, it should stand out from every other page in the market. Regardless of whether your objective is to create a page that search engines think is the best, or users think is the best, you should have a good result. Coupled with the technical SEO bits and pieces (which I assume you know if you're reading this!), your page will serve you well.

Of course, depending on the type of content you are promoting, this might not be the end of the story. A killer page doesn't necessary mean it will be a category killer - additional stages of internal and external promotion will most likely be needed, particularly in highly competitive areas (a blog post for another day), but at least you are in the game knowing your product is as solid as you can make it.

Given this is all rather bland, theoretical stuff, I'm planning on writing a follow up post with a practical example showing how to apply these points and how I might go about creating a category killing page. Would anyone like to suggest a keyword / market / industry to use as an example?

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About the Author:
Scott Boyd (aka Marketing Guy) is an Edinburgh based online marketing consultant with over 6 years experience in the industry. He is the founder of SEO agency eFlaunt, where he mixes a blend of traditional marketing and SEO.

Scott's musings relating to the marketing and SEO industries can be found on his blog - Fused Nation.