Good content is the key to a good website and content is TEXT or the written word not pictures. Search engines can only "read" text they cannot "see" pictures. I hear the idiots already saying "but there are pictures in Google, etc" yes there are BUT only because of the words that describe them; that is the title, the alt tag and the surrounding textural content.
The beginner usually falls into the trap of creating a website and immediately covering their site with loads of images because it is easier than writing text. This is NOT the way to have a successful website.
Every content page should have three or four paragraphs of text. Each page should have a relevant title in <h1> form and at least one or two sub-titles in <h2> or below. It will also help if you name the pages as per their subject. Therefore a page about churches should be called “churches.html”, <h1> titled “Churches in XXX” with <h2> sub-titles of “St Andrews Church”, “St Peters Church”, etc. with a paragraph for each sub-title. I think you probably get the idea by now.
Every picture should have a title and descriptions and MOST IMPORTANTLY a short descriptive “alt” tag and be embedded into relevant text that surrounds it.
"Alt" tags elements of the page code that briefly describe a picture, they are not normally seen by users and are another thing beginners have a great deal of trouble understanding and because they cannot see them they often leave them out all together.
You have to be careful and concise with what you put into an "alt" tag, there is no point saying “An image of All Saints Church” your computer or your browser already knows it is an image because it is an <img> (Image), only images have alt tags and where is All Saints Church and is this a picture of all of it? - It would have been much better to say “The east window of All Saints Church, St Ives” or perhaps "The stained glass of All Saints Church, St Ives, Cambridgeshire"
Firstly we had better define what we mean by these terms. The page name is what it is called like this one you are reading "website_content,asp", the asp means it is an Active Server Page. Its title is "Website Content" and its description is "How to structure, name and describe internet pages that class as good website content". And guess what the information on the page is all about good website content. Do you notice a pattern here? If you don' then read this paragraph over and over again until the penny drops.
When it comes to page titles and header blocks (the bit at the top of the page) you have to remember that you users will not visit your site through the front door (home page) they will drop in onto any page and then more than likely leave after viewing that one page or perhaps one or two others. In which case EVERY page has to carry information informing your users where they are. To see what I mean have a look at the top of this page!
Now that we understand that users drop in anywhere then every one of your pages has to carry some form of navigation. Firstly informing your users where they are on the site and secondly giving them the opportunity to visit some of your other pages. You have to make this as easy as possible to understand or they will not use it and will simply go away.
As stated earlier your home page is likely to be the most important page on your site, not because that the place visitors access your site but because it will have the highest page rank.
It is important that your home page links easily to the next layer of pages in your site, that is the section menus - all of them. Do NOT use images to make these links because you now know that search engine robots do not understand images very well. Use short descriptive text links.
You home page is also likely to say "Welcome to XXX" or something similar. Great, but where is XXX or perhaps which one! If you have a community site then tell the world where you are. For example, "Welcome to St Neots, the largest town in the District of Huntingdonshire now in the County of Cambridgeshire. St Neots is located in eastern England and has a population of around 22,000 etc". The foreign visitor and many non-foreign visitors now know where you are. This is even more important if your location has "twins" or even "triplets" what I mean by this is that there are many locations in Britain called "Stoke" or "Tarbert" so which one are you?
If you are building a commercial site then your home page is even more important, it's your shop front. From it you have to convey who you are, what you do, how people can buy things from you and how they can communicate with you in the easiest and most confusion free way possible.
Why companies hide their contact details on their websites is a mystery as these can be found on the Companies House website in a matter of seconds. Do not hide your identity, do the opposite. Make it very clear on your site which address or telephone number you wish users to use for each type of communication that may occur. Perhaps building a Customer Services page that has specific information to cover the eventualities of that need and on it outline the complaint process that you recommend your customers taker in the event of a problem - show them you care! The more difficult you make it for the customer the more likely they will be very annoyed when they finally track you down and the less likely that they will do business with you again.
Terms and Conditions
All websites regardless of size or purpose should have a Terms and Conditions page and this should outline to the visitor what responsibility or otherwise that you are accepting with regard to the content on your site. The terms and conditions of most websites also include a "Disclaimer" which is legal jargon for saying the although we make efforts to ensure the accuracy of the content we are not guaranteeing it, etc"
Terms and Conditions are very important or you may find yourself legally liable to pay someone compensation for something they have or have not done as a result of information on your site.
Remember that advertising in the UK is controlled by legislation and false and/or misleading statements are illegal. If your site carries advertising then you may carry responsibility unless you state otherwise.
Contact Page
You may wish to create a special page with information relating to how your users make contact with you. Do not spread you email address or other details throughout your website as if they change you will have an awful job to find and correct them all. You may also need to take special steps to prevent people sending you loads of junk email and limiting where you put the contact details simplifies this process.
Privacy Policy
If you communicate with your visitors via your website then you should have a Privacy Policy than informs your visitors what you do with the information and contact details that arise from such communication. In the UK or the EU you may have legal responsibilities under the Data Protection legislation to adhere to. You can check out what you need to do on the website of the Information Commissioner.
Help Page
Do not assume that everyone will find their way around your site as easy as you do because the chances are that they will not. If your site is large then why not write some instruction or an explanation of how you have decided upon the layout of the site.
Every page should follow these rules
(More to come soon...)