Application of best practice towards improving web site visibility to search engines: a pilot study

Abstract

Many hours can be spent on creating a Web site before finally introducing it to the world. The content could be informative and presented logically. The design could be outstanding and the user interface functional. Even the unique customers, purpose of the site, simple navigational strategies and all the essential aspects of Web design could have been considered during implementation. In many developers' eyes, such a Web page could be seen as flawless. The hard reality, though, is that a well-designed site will not be successful if the potential customers cannot find the site. Often a developer submits Web pages to the search engines and then wants to move on to other work, under the impression that the task is complete. In most cases, however, the developer's responsibility should also include constantly improving the visibility (ability to be seen or capability of being readily noticed or referred to) of the Web site by having the pages indexed and ranked high in the search engines, and to keep them there. Exceptions include those cases where it is not crucial that a Web site be visible (e.g. personal Web pages, pages where paid methods are used to achieve high rankings, etc). This way, the developer assures constant Web site visibility that, in turn, should generate constant traffic to the Web site.