Home
>
Web Design
>
Whats Wrong With My Website?

Whats Wrong With My Website?

I ask myself that question about once a month.My website looks fine to me, but what are otherpeople seeing? And what are the Search Enginesseeing? Here's a checklist of 10 ways to optimizeyour website for peak performance:

1. Browser Compatibility

The first thing is to look at your website throughother people's browsers. I do this regularly and I'vesometimes been shocked at what I saw!

ANYBROWSERhttp://www.anybrowser.com

2. Broken Links

About 5% of all links on the Internet are broken. Asite that contains broken links gives a bad impressionto visitors and is a frequent cause of lost sales.Also, the major Search Engines and Directories will notlist your page if it contains any broken links or missingimages.

Here are some free link validators:

LINK SCANhttp://www.elsop.com/linkscan/quickcheck.html

NET MECHANIChttp://www.netmechanic.com/maintain.htm

WEBSITE GARAGE DEADLINK CHECKhttp://websitegarage.netscape.com/O=wsg/tuneup_plus/index.html

3. Web Safe Colors

Are the colors on your web site displaying properly onother people's browsers? You may have a beautifulshade of lilac on your index page but it could lookvery strange on someone else's computer.

There are only 216 colors that you can safely use onthe Web. These colors display solid and consistent onany computer monitor or web browser that is able todisplay at least 8-bit color.

The Web Safe Palette contains six groups of colorswith 36 colors per group. These 216 web safe colorscan have any combination of the following RGB (RedGreen Blue) values: 0, 51, 102, 153, 204, 255 (eachRGB value must be divisible by 51).

Here's a good palette of web safe colors:

WEB-SOURCE SAFE COLORShttp://www.web-source.net/216_color_chart.htm

4. ALT Tags

ALT Tags allow you to give an alternative to peoplewho have the 'view images' function turned off intheir browser. Let's say the navigation system on yourwebsite is a series of buttons that link to otherpages on your site. If you don't have ALT Tags, peoplewho have the 'view images' function turned off willbe unable to navigate through your site - in placeof your button they will just see an empty space.

But an ALT Tag allows you to tell those people whatthat button does. For example, if the button is a linkto your 'Site Map' you could insert the following ALTTag: Click here toview Site Map

ALT Tags also allow you to raise your keyword density.For every image that is not hyperlinked you couldinsert your main keywords. For example:

5. Meta Tags

Meta Tags are so important they deserve a wholearticle on their own. The most important Meta Tags arethe Title Tag, the Keywords Tag and the Description Tag.

The Title Tag should be no more than 64 characters(longer than that and it will be cut off in someSearch Engines).

The Keyword Tag should contain about 5 to 10 keywordsthat appear on your page. Never include words that donot appear on that page - in some Search Engines your websitewill be penalized for this. Do not repeat the same keyword - this is called 'keyword stuffing' and is also frowned upon bythe Search Engines.

Separate your keywords with spaces (not commas). Thisallows the Search Engines to combine your keywords into phrases,for people who do 'phrase searching'.

The Description Tag should be no more than 200 characters.Include as many of your keywords as you can. Remember also thatyour Description Tag must be enticing - it must make peoplewant to visit your site.

Here are some programs that will generate your MetaTags for you:

WEBSITE GARAGEhttp://websitegarage.netscape.com/turbocharge/metatag/

META MEDIChttp://www.northernwebs.com/set/setsimjr.html

MULTI-META-MAKERhttp://www.multimeta.com/to ols/multimetamaker.html

6. Load Time

A slow-loading index page is one of the main reasonsfor lost sales. The generally accepted maximum timefor a page to load is around 15 seconds. Here is afree service that tells you how long your web pagetakes to load:

NETMECHANIChttp://www.netmechanic.com/cobrands/FutureQuest/load_check.htm

Your pages should be no more than about 30Kb in size. To calculate the size of your web page, highlight theHTML document and then click on 'File' and'Properties' and note down the file size. Then do thesame for any graphics you have on that page. Then addthose figures together to get your page size.

If your page is less than 30Kb and takes more than 15seconds to load, the problem is most likely with yourweb host. The solution is to change web host. Here are2 services that will check the speed of your web host'sserver and compare it with other web hosts:

HOST COMPAREhttp://www.hostcompare.com/testtools.htm

CNET WEBSERVICEShttp://webservices.cnet.com/ping/

7. GIF (or JPEG) Cruncher

Shrinking the size of your images is one of the bestways to get a faster-loading web page. You can usuallyreduce a GIF or JPEG image by 40% to 50% withoutlosing any significant definition or sharpness.

SPINWAVEhttp://www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html

8. HTML Optimizer

Another way to make your page load faster is tocompress (or optimize) your HTML code. An HTMLOptimizer removes all blank spaces in your HTML codeand also removes certain unnecessary tags.

On average, an HTML optimizer will reduce the size ofyour page by 15% to 20%. That percentage may not seemmuch, but the saving in load time is much higher, asyour visitor's browser will parse your page much moreefficiently.

A word of caution: in most HTML Optimizers you willfind an 'Options' menu that tells the program toignore certain parts of your code. Make sure yourOptimizer does not compress embedded script tags - ifthey get compressed, the script will usually not work.

ADVANCED HTML OPTIMIZERhttp://www.pcbit.com/htmlopt/

9. WIDTH, HEIGHT and BORDER Tags

The WIDTH, HEIGHT and BORDER attributes are essentialfor each image that you have on your website. When youhyperlink an image, always make sure that the BORDERattribute is set to zero (BORDER=0). If you don't dothis, your hyperlinked image will have an ugly blueborder around it.

The WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes allow your page toload faster, as the browser knows in advance howmuch space the image requires. To find out the widthand height of any image, just double click on theimage file. This will automatically open 'MicrosoftPhoto Editor' - your image will appear, with the widthand height of your image (in pixels) displayed on thetool bar.

10. HTML Validator

Always check the validity of your HTML. Some SearchEngines give lower rankings to pages that have poorquality HTML (such as incorrect nesting of elements).

Here are some free online validators:

HTML HELPhttp://www.htmlhelp.org/tools/validator/

BOBBYhttp://www.cast.org/bobby/

WATSONhttp: //watson.addy.com/

------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Southon has been writing for the Internet for over 3
years. He has shown hundreds of webmasters how to use this
simple technique to build a successful online business. Click
here to find out more: http://ezine-writer.com/
------------------------------------------------------------

express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..

In The News:

Researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University designed a 21-foot dome that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to create a self-sustaining urban food system.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

ChatGPT data breach exposes personal info of users through partner Mixpanel. OpenAI confirms names, emails compromised in security incident.

Android rolls out Emergency Live Video for 911 calls, letting dispatchers see real-time scenes during emergencies. Great for holiday travel safety.

Malicious Chrome and Edge extensions collected browsing history, keystrokes and personal data from millions of users before Google and Microsoft removed them.

Google's new Call Reason feature lets Android users mark calls as urgent before dialing, displaying an urgent label to recipients using Phone by Google app.

Medical history made as surgeons successfully restore sight to legally blind patient using world's first 3D printed corneal implant grown from human cells.

Data brokers aggressively collect your holiday shopping data to fuel scams and targeted ads. Learn how to delete your digital profile before 2025 starts.

Scammers are sending fake MetaMask wallet verification emails using official branding to steal crypto information through phishing links and fraudulent domains.

Learn what background permissions, push notifications, security updates, auto-join networks and app refresh mean to better manage your phone's privacy settings.

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Whats Wrong With My Website?

Web Design