Website Development

I spend hours trying develop sites that work - and nothing happens. Trouble is, my clients don't have the money to spend on their web sites - and to pay for back links and advertising - no way!

Yes, I know about keyword strategies and good content, and finding links from good sites.
So what do I do?

• I build the site well.I try to run as many HTML and XHTML validation tests so that no errors, warnings and comments are found
• I use CSS for all my formatting - mainly to ensure consistency - and only use the attributes that a cross-browser.
  This can be a real pain - but in the end getting the DOCTYPE right and using consistent CSS does mean that the site is easy to maintain - and can easily be changed if the client has second thoughts about his/her design.
• I try to make the site fast loading.All graphics (where used) are optimized to load quickly. I do not use graphical menus or tables unless I really have to. All in all, the sites load fast. I also place them with a host that will do the site justice - and seems to be reliable.
• I eschew things like Javascript
  Some people dont allow it - and others use versions of Java that we just don't want to think about! If I do any scripting I tend to do it in PHP. This still leaves me with some problems (like a Back button - but sometimes we just have to let the user use the Browser back button).
• I create site maps
  This will be an HTML site map as well as a google site map.
• I promote the domain and submit the google site map to google.

So there you have it. And people say that anyone can do it… Well they can - but have you seen some of the websites out there? And I have to say - it's galling to find that they have got a better ranking than I have.