The load time of websites is one of the most important factors affecting its usability. When a user is opening your website every object on the page (e.g. images or scripts) will require a round trip to the server. Those HTTP requests will delay the response time of your site, and if you are loading dozens of objects this delay can add up to several seconds.

The first step to reduce the delay from HTTP requests is to reduce the number of objects on your website. Get rid of unnecessary images, headers, styling features and the like. If possible you can also combine 2 or more adjacent images into a single one.

Secondly make sure that your requests for external files or scripts are combined in a single location. For example instead of using three CSS files to create the layout of your page:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/header.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/body.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/footer.css" />

You should use a single one with all the styling information:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/style.css" />

With javascript libraries such as jQuery, Mootools and Prototype becoming increasingly popular and an array of ready built plug-ins available that can give your website that extra functionality it is very easy to end up with multiple javascript file calls in the web page. By combining these files into one single file you would reduce the number of http request dramatically.

Often described as one big process, good search engine optimization involves a number of different steps.  The intricacies of these steps is what leads many website owners to hire professional SEO firms that claim to have the magic formula. Going it alone could seem very daunting and unrewarding even after months of hard work. If you truly want to get the most out of search engine optimization, the following mistakes must be avoided at all costs.

Watch Out for SEO Gurantee Scams

The web waters are infested with companies looking to bank off the prevalence of SEO.  These firms often guarantee services that will put you on the first page of Google in the number one spot.  What you should know is that no company can guarantee such rankings.  The fact that most of the top ranked sites report to having no dealings with SEO firms should be enough for you not to rely on such claims.

Cloaking

The term cloaking refers to a black hat search engine optimization (SEO) technique in which the content presented to the search engine spider is different to that presented to the user’s browser.

While this may seem like a viable strategy, cloaking should be avoided if you want to remain on favorable terms with the search engines.  It might have worked a few years ago, but today’s search engine’s are sophisticated enough to detect this and other unethical forms of SEO.

Multiple Search Engine Submissions

Contrary to popular belief, submitting your website to search engines regularly can be a mistake.  There are some companies that offer services utilizing special software that will automatically submit your site on a regular basis.  Don’t buy into this as it can actually get you penalized and hinder your efforts.

Don’t Overuse Flash and Rich Graphics

If at all possible, Flash is a technology you want to do without.  Though nice from a visual aspect, Flash can leave your site heavy and difficult to process, making it nearly impossible for search engine spiders to interpret.  The best technologies are integrated with HTML as this the language embraced by all search engines. Whenever you put important information in a graphic form make sure to have it a text version of it for the search engines to index.

Moving Too Fast

SEO is an ongoing process., not something you can do just once and put to the side.  Reaching a top search engine position in two days or even two weeks is virtually impossible.  So, even though an SEO firm may claim to get you there in a short amount of time, stay away from the these bogus claims and keep your money. Generally speaking, some changes can take less than a week to take effect, while many take 3-6 months or more for measurable changes to be observed.

These are the basic no-go principles of SEO. If you follow these simple guidelines you’ll save yourself from a lot of trouble and unnecessary expenses.

When I first got into online marketing many months ago, my main focus was on paid search (Google AdWords et al)  creating campaigns, bids, clicks, conversions etc however, although it wasn’t part of my job, I found SEO equally as interesting and wanted to learn more. Without any on the job experiences to learn from I went looking online for websites that would help me and found many interesting sites.

Whether you are a complete novice or you an SEO master, these sites have enough of a back catalogue and regular new information to keep you going for months!

• http://www.seomoz.org/blog: Starting as an SEO agency they have used their blog to position themselves as a global resource for the industry

• http://www.seobook.com/blog: A mix of practical advice, industry news and personal opinion

• http://searchengineland.com/columns/: one of my favourite sites, the columns section covers all aspects of search marketing

• http://searchenginewatch.com/sew_archive_experts&type=sew_experts/sem-101&issue=2009: Really good introductory articles to various aspects of online marketing

• http://www.wolf-howl.com: This site has been around for years and it mixes advice with commentary and personal opinion

• http://econsultancy.com/blog: The volume of posts each day can be a bit too much and some articles don’t go in to a lot of detail, but the percentage that do hit the money make it worth it.

• http://www.toprankblog.com/: Good traditional ‘how to’ blog with some great advice for all levels of knowledge

These are the sites that I relied on to get me up to speed and the ones I still read each week, and I’m sure many have your own, so if you’d like to share them leave a comment and link below…

P.S. For a great list of online marketing sites check our AdAge’s Power 150