For developing search engine friendly website, needed some criteria should present. By using this checklist you can be sure that the sites you build are not only easy to use and informative to the target audience but are also going to stand the greatest chance of ranking well on the major search engines and directories.

Please note, that there is a stark difference between search engine ‘friendly’ and search engine ‘optimised’. It is one thing to design or program a site which is compatible with search engines. It is quite another to actually optimise the website through the use of correct keywords, good quality copy, properly written Meta tags, etc.

Planning

• Have I considered search behaviour at the site architecture planning stage?

Internal linking and URL’s

• Have I used text based links between pages or CSS to aid ‘spiderabilty’?
• Have I included a site map?
• Have I included a breadcrumb trail?
• Do I really need to create a framed site?
• Have I thought carefully about the URL structure?
• Are the search engines going to choke on my urls - am I using session ID’s or Cookies?
• Can I create urls that are relevant to the page content?
• Are the page names changing as a result of redeveloping the site?

Content

• Is there an area for textual content on the page?
• If using flash, is this limited to a small area and not the entire site?
• How clean is my code? How much can I place in external files?
• Have I included a bookmark function?
• Is there a useful resources page?
• Is there a news/PR page?
• Has a blog been considered?

Tags

• Can I add a unique set of Meta tags and Title Tags on each page across the site?
• Can page headings be styled using H1, H2 and so on?
• Have images been tagged appropriately with Alt Attributes?

Domains and Hosting?

• Who hosts the domain and how long is it registered for?
• Where is the site hosted?

Usability

• Am I sticking to conventional navigation and layout?
• Are there prominent ‘calls to action’ across the site?
• Has the site been optimised for minimum download times?
• How much information am I requesting on enquiry forms?
• Has the shopping cart been tested?