Arkansas State University Small Business Blog

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Balancing Content with Design for an Optimized Website

Here at the ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center we have been having a great time over the past few weeks teaching our “Website in a Day with Weebly” workshops around Northeast Arkansas.  Small business owners in Pocahontas, Newport, and Wynne have attended and we have had great responses.  More coming so stay tuned to our Small Business Training Calendar for workshops near you!  For a number of our participants finding the right balance between optimizing for “search-bots” versus the human eye is a challenge.  So I thought I would share these observations (and a great video from Eric Spellmann) with our readers.

By Herb Lawrence, ASU Small Business and Technology Development Center…Helping Arkansas Small Businesses “Get Found” Online from the Delta to the Ozarks.

Website Design Challenge

To get the most out of a website today it is important to find a balance between making your website searchable by web crawlers for search engine optimization AND a well designed site to keep visitors engaged.

Ranking well on search engines does you no good if your design does not grab the visitor once he lands on your page and encourages him to stay to visit other pages, watch your videos, or fill out your forms.

 In other words you must find a good balance between “feeding” the spider-bots for SEO (search engine optimization) and “feeding” the human visitor for HEO (human eye optimization).

Both are critical to get the most out of your new website.

 But… is one more important than the other? If so which one? And, what are your options?

Search Engine Optimization

Since “experts” in web design and SEO spend their entire careers trying to answer this question I thought it would be best for our readers to hear (and see) what one expert has to say.

Below is a short video (5 minutes) by Eric Spellmann, with Spellmann and Associates, a web design and Internet marketing firm out of Amarillo, Texas that is worth watching.

I met Eric at a national association meeting several years ago and have been following his on-line tips ever since. The video below was posted last week and does a great job of explaining the balance between content and design.

One important piece to remember is that search engines, especially Google, are constantly tweaking the algorithm or mathematical formula to make search more efficient.

Sometimes it is a major overhaul which means you need to stay “in the loop” on changes how it will impact your search performance.

 Spellmann’s blog is a good resource that is worth adding to your RSS feed to stay informed and be an effective online marketer.

Arkansas Small Business Workshops

Thanks again to Eric Spellmann for sharing his insights with us and to all our Arkansas small business friends who have been attending our Website in a Day workshops!

Want to learn how to grab your seat at an upcoming Website in a Day?  

Just go to our ASU Small Business Training Calendar or our Arkansas SBTDC Training and Events page (if you are outside of our 15 county area) and grab your seat today!

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