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Course Outline
Offered by Networked Information Services
Instructor: Chris Jackson (cjack@bu.edu)
Prerequisites: This course is primarily for website administrators. Basic knowledge of HTML and site maintenance is required. You also should be familiar with the BU Web Search and how to view your site's monthly reports.
2 hours (85 minutes lecture, 20 minutes hands-on exercises, 10-minute break)
Search Engines (15 minutes)
- Introduction - What search engines do.
- How They Work - How search engines work.
- Why They Matter - Why search engines matter.
- Why Google - Why we use the Google Appliance for BU Search.
- SEO - A short history of Search Engine Optimization.
Good Content (25 minutes)
- Write for Users - Make pages for users, not for search engines.
- Structure Content - Structure page content.
- Identify Search Terms - Determine the search terms for your site.
- Create Useful Links - Create links that matter.
Break (10 minutes)
Good Code (25 minutes)
- Clean & Valid - Write clean, valid code.
- TITLE Tag - Make sure that the TITLE tag contains descriptive and accurate information.
- Avoid Hidden Text - Do not hide important text in uncrawled spaces, such as in images.
- Avoid Frames - Do not build sites with frames.
- Use Static Links - Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link.
- Externalize JavaScript - When possible, put JavaScript in external files.
Hands-on Exercise: Improving Code (10 minutes)
Bad Practices (15 minutes)
- META Keywords - Do not load up the meta keywords tag with lots of words.
- Gateway Pages - Do not use gateway or doorway pages.
- Link Exchanges - Do not join link exchanges.
Additional Benefits (5 minutes)
- Usability - Improving your site's usability.
Evaluations (5 minutes)
Supplementary
- Search Engine Myths - Common misperceptions about search engines.
- Launching Your Site - Help for launching your site.
- Controlling the Spiders - Use the META ROBOTS tag to control how the spiders index your site.
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