Newsletter issue #4 - 1st July 2004
This issue
Hello and welcome to this month's Webcredible newsletter! Subscription numbers have soared since the newsletter first started three months ago - there are now over 500 of you receiving this newsletter. Last month we took a look at some of the biggest players on the web to check how hot they were on accessibility. We weren't too impressed so this month we thought we'd check out how they're doing for usability...
In this issue:
- Feature article: Ten usability blunders of the big players
- Top tip: Optimise headers for search engines
- Useful program: Xenu's Link Sleuth
- Top link: AccessibleNet
- New articles in June
- Webcredible news in June
Enjoy!
Feature article: Ten usability blunders of the big players
Last month we had a look at the accessibility of the websites for some of the big players' on the Internet. They didn't do too well so this month we've done a similar investigation into their usability. Do you think they fared any better? Can pigs fly? Let's find out...
Top tip: Optimise headers for search engines
The header area of your HTML pages (i.e. the information contained within <head> and <head>) is the first thing search engines look at when spidering web pages - it's essential to any search engine campaign that this area is optimised:
- Title tag Search engines place more importance on the title tag than anything else on a web page. Make sure you place your important keywords here, but beware - the more words you place in the title the less importance is assigned to each one. Additionally, make sure it's human-friendly as the title tag is what's displayed as the link to your website in the search engine results page.
- META keywords Back in the old days search engines heavily relied on META keywords when indexing pages. Not so anymore due to mass abuse - in fact, Google has publicly stated that they completely ignore META keywords. Other search engines do still look at the META keywords so be sure to include them, but don't spend a long time agonising over them. As with the title tag, the more words you place in this tag, the less importance is assigned to each one. Also, make sure that any keyword you include here is featured at least once within the body text.
- META description The contents of the META description won't affect your ranking in the search engines. The META description is however extremely important because this is what's displayed in the search engine results page as the description for your site. Note however, the search engines will only display the META description if it contains the words that were used in the search. So make sure it's human-friendly, objectively written, no more than about 170 characters long, and most importantly, contains the keywords for that page.
Useful program: Xenu's Link Sleuth
Xenu's Link Sleuth is quite possibly one of the best programs out there for webmasters. Simply type in a URL and it will check the links on every single page of the website. Dead links can come about due to links on external websites going down, a file beening moved or someone typing in the wrong URL. Whatever the reason, Xenu will find those dead links for you and tell you on which pages they are on. Isn't that great!?
You can download this handy program for free at home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html (291kb zip).
Top link: AccessibleNet
AccessibleNet is an online directory of links and resources about web accessibility. With over 455 items here there really is a lot to choose from. Whether you're a beginner looking to find out more about accessibility, you want to advance your accessibility knowledge, or you just want to keep up-to-date with the accessibility industry this is the place for you!
Check it out at www.accessiblenet.org.
New articles in June
- Applying CSS to forms
- Pay-per-click: Buying your way in
- You had me at the search engine
- Ten accessibility blunders of the big players
- Linking out is good
Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in June
- Postwatch website goes live
- Marketing Karma reviews Webcredible Handbook
- .net magazine republishes Man Utd article
Web accessibility & CSS support packages
We now offer a range of accessibility and CSS support packages, offering you access to one of our accessibility consultants anytime you like. Please read more about this innovative service in our web accessibility and CSS help section.
About Webcredible
Based in London, UK, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy. Tailor-made usability, accessibility & design solutions include:
- User research
- User-centered design
- Accessible CSS web design
- Training courses & support
- Website reviews
- Usability lab hire
Please contact us on 020 7423 6320 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.
