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Papadoc · 10-20-2004, 01:51 PM

Each site as well as the target audience will vary what you should do, but there are some constants as well.

If your text has multiple topics, you will benefit (below) from splitting it up by topic as far as the SE is concerned. The only thing you have to watch for is that the reader doesnt' get annoyed at having to click time after time. Also, if you do this, you should include some kind of hierachy menu or link to the topic index page so that if a reader comes in on page 3, they can then navigate to the top of the topic.

Breaking your topic up into subtopics on separate pages lets you get more specific with regard to title and description and will also generally increase your keyword density on a given page. I do recommend however though that from your topic index page, you link to all pages on that topic. If the SE has to go through link after link after link, you lose relevance and your page PR will continue to fall.

If you choose to keep it all on one page, you do need to break it up a lot and use subtopic titles under the H2 tag. People will scan pages and try to find areas of interest and they will use these titles to generate interest.

What many forget, is that regardless of which way you go, you need to keep in mind whitespace and short paragraphs. Look at your newspaper for examples. People get tired of reading paragraphs where they have to move their eyes from side to side or where there are more than several sentences per paragraph.

Many sites that are designed by people under age 40 are also designed only for that crowd, even if they also want to target an older audience. Believe it or not, just because you can read your text doesn't mean that others can.

Design elements should always include high contrast and a reasonable font of decent size. I just saw a page that had every bit of all the worst things that you can do on it, using 8pt Arial light blue font on a darker blue background and running from border to border and including about 10 sentences per paragraph. At 45, I still have pretty good eyes compared to my contemporaries, but I found it work to get through it.

Other sites try to adopt the Y2K techie look of using 8pt silver type on an off-white background. If you do it, you stand good chances that you will alienate some of us over-the-hillers.

10-20-2004, 01:51 PM	#5 (permalink)
Papadoc Inactive Join Date: 10-20-04 Posts: 175 iTrader: 0 / 0% Latest Blog: None	Each site as well as the target audience will vary what you should do, but there are some constants as well. If your text has multiple topics, you will benefit (below) from splitting it up by topic as far as the SE is concerned. The only thing you have to watch for is that the reader doesnt' get annoyed at having to click time after time. Also, if you do this, you should include some kind of hierachy menu or link to the topic index page so that if a reader comes in on page 3, they can then navigate to the top of the topic. Breaking your topic up into subtopics on separate pages lets you get more specific with regard to title and description and will also generally increase your keyword density on a given page. I do recommend however though that from your topic index page, you link to all pages on that topic. If the SE has to go through link after link after link, you lose relevance and your page PR will continue to fall. If you choose to keep it all on one page, you do need to break it up a lot and use subtopic titles under the H2 tag. People will scan pages and try to find areas of interest and they will use these titles to generate interest. What many forget, is that regardless of which way you go, you need to keep in mind whitespace and short paragraphs. Look at your newspaper for examples. People get tired of reading paragraphs where they have to move their eyes from side to side or where there are more than several sentences per paragraph. Many sites that are designed by people under age 40 are also designed only for that crowd, even if they also want to target an older audience. Believe it or not, just because you can read your text doesn't mean that others can. Design elements should always include high contrast and a reasonable font of decent size. I just saw a page that had every bit of all the worst things that you can do on it, using 8pt Arial light blue font on a darker blue background and running from border to border and including about 10 sentences per paragraph. At 45, I still have pretty good eyes compared to my contemporaries, but I found it work to get through it. Other sites try to adopt the Y2K techie look of using 8pt silver type on an off-white background. If you do it, you stand good chances that you will alienate some of us over-the-hillers.