Texas SEO Company Blog

The Google Webmaster Central Blog is in the midst of a four-part series on links. Today’s post deals with link architecture.

If you’re not sure what link architecture is, in a nutshell it is simply how the pages of your website link together. I’m going to summarize Google’s take on link architecture and try to make it relevant for geotargeted Texas websites like yours.

According to Google, here are the most important aspects of link architecture:

• Intuitive navigation
• Crawlable links
• Descriptive anchor text
• Sitemap submission

Here’s the word on each of these link architecture basics as they relate to Texas-based geotargeted SEO:

Intuitive Navigation

Intuitive navigation simply means that your site users find what they are looking for easily. If you have a website devoted to teaching football fundamentals, don’t put tackling under the offensive maneuvers menu item. That wouldn’t make sense. Anyone who knows the basics of football would look for information on tackling under defensive maneuvers.

So the basic principle for your link architecture involves linking pages logically so that they fit according to common perceptions that your site visitors will have regarding the information you share.

Crawlable links

A crawlable link is an link the search engines will find useful. using rel=”nofollow” tags will not help you as you are essentially telling the search engines not to crawl those links. You’ll also want to stay away from php, dynamic, and Flash navigation menus. A good, crawlable link is one that uses basic HTML code and doesn’t require mouse actions in order for the user to activate the link. Search engines cannot use drop down menus so stay away from those types of navigational structures.

Descriptive anchor text

Descriptive anchor text is the text that you use to link from page to page. The linked text should tell human visitors what to expect on the next page and it should be crawlable by the search engines. For instance, if your website is about Texas high school football teams then make your links the names of the high school and their mascots. That is descriptive for both the search engines and your human visitors.

Sitemap submissions

Sitemaps are the least important of the link architecture items on Google’s list. If your site is small, say 20 pages or less, then you may not need a sitemap. Larger sites require them more than smaller sites. If you set up your link architecture correctly in the first place then you can get away without a sitemap. The key is to make your website crawlable and if you stay away from dynamic navigation menus, use HTML code instead of Flash or PHP, use descriptive anchor text and crawlable links then you will do far more to make your website search engine friendly than you’ll ever do with a sitemap.

Texas Cowboys Are People Too

What does any of this have to do with cowboys? Well, maverick or not, you are still human. I know Texans like to feel special, and in many ways you are, but SEO is SEO. The same rules and principles apply to the cowboys as applies to every one else. Search bots can’t see your cowboy hat, but they can see your link architecture.

Geotargeting is the process of SEOing your site for a specific geographical area, be it Texas or a specific community like Dallas. Your anchor text can play a part in that geotargeting. Not only should you use anchor text for your industry-related key terms, but you should also have a few geotargeted anchor text phrases in there as well. That will increase your geotargeted link structure and if you combine the industry-related key terms with the geotargeted key terms for your descriptive anchor text then you’ll hit the power button on both fronts.

It’s time to don the attire of search engine reality and build a crawlable website that both Google and Aunt Mae will love. Link architecture is the key to doing that successfully.

Is Texas SEO any different than Oklahoma SEO, or - let’s say - California SEO? I’m going to be brutally honest here. The answer is, No, it’s not. SEO is SEO.

But while we’re being honest, let’s be real. If you want specific target marketing for Texas consumers then you need real SEO that reaches your target where they live. It’s called geographic targeting and that’s what Texas SEO is all about.

Here’s a football analogy - we live in Texas so we like those, right? Here’s the analogy: Tony Romo goes back for a pass. He’s going long. Real long. And decided to hail mary it 60 yards to Dan Campbell. What are the chances of Campbell catching the ball versus a shuffle pass to the same receiver at 5 yards given that all other fielding positions are the same? Do you think the short pass has a better chance of completion than the long pass?

Texas SEO is the short pass. You may not make as many yards with a successful completion, but your odds of having a successful completion are much better than a hail mary at the entire world. And when you are starting your business, or migrating it to the Web, then you need to complete a few successful completions before you start taking huge risks. Texas SEO is your security against a tough defense.