If there is anything about the technique used by Informationarchitech to optimize websites that can be considered unique, it is the manner in which we make use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in the effort to build or enhance a site for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes. Put another way, we use a particular web design technique (CSS) in such a way that the website will appear in the top 10 results for any user typing a relevant term into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo (SEO).

Since SEO is relatively new, and CSS even newer, there is little discussion to be found online about this topic. One reason could very well be that those who realize the connection to its full extent are hestitant to even mention it. It is one of those ideas that is literally “too good” for one to feel comfortable about sharing freely-especially since SEO is an inherently competitive field. The audiences that the two acronyms attract (CSS and SEO) is probably another good reason the connection has not been explicitly made by the majority of the web design/architecture community.

Anyone would have to admit that a machine (such as a search engine) can never truly find meaning in the same way a human would. For this, a human touch is required. Put simply, CSS allows you to abstract the “textual information” on a web page from its “display information.” Therefore, you may be able to fully optimize the text side (which search engines understand) without compromizing the display side (which humans understand.)

Strangely enough, a search engine is in certain ways more similar most humans than a computer. A search engine, for example, cannot read code. A search engine does not understand javascript, much less PHP, ASP or Macromedia Flash. A search engine has a limited understanding of HTML, but an insatiable appetite for words. Most of the interesting “eye candy” that is accomplished with Macromedia Flash can be replicated using CSS, and almost any HTML can be simplified using it.

This means you no longer have to decide between drop down menus and search engine-friendliness. With CSS, you can have both–and more of each than before. Informationarchitech is equipped with the latest in CSS and AJAX technology, which allows us to take your existing site and convert the source code into a format more easily understood by search engines. This is, in many cases, the first and most effective step in making an existing website appear higher in the search engine rankings. The mere re-ordering of the source code is sometimes all that is needed to get an otherwise good website the recognition it deserves in the search engines.

SEO using CSS is the cutting edge of information architecture. Click here to request more information about how we can transform your website with “under the hood” modifications that will significantly enhance its performance in the search engine rankings.