Website Design
HTML
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. This is the markup/code behind= the scenes of wepages that tells browsers how to interpret words/images and display them accordingly. HTML has a set standard structure with an entire webpage enclosed between <HTML> and </HTML>, with two distinct sections <HEAD> and <BODY>. This is a standardized code used to generate what you see on various Web browsers. You could say this is one of the most important aspects of inbound marketing!
Without HTML, you would not be able to create the beautiful websites, email templates, landing pages, blog articles, etc., that you rely on to attract visitors to your site, convert leads, and close customers. If the internet only displayed items as text, the world would be a pretty dull place.
HTML also plays a vital role in your overall organic discovery effectiveness. Search engines heavily rely on the proper structure of HTML variables/tags, the content within these tags, and the speed at which it takes to load this code into web browsers, as factors in determining when and where webpages show up in search results.
No Follow Link
Introduced by Google in 2005 to combat link spam, nofollow is an HTML attribute added to a webpage (<meta name=”robots” content=“nofollow”/>), or a specific hyperlink (rel=“nofollow”). It tells search engine crawlers not to follow or pass credit to linked websites as a way to avoid association with spammy content or inadvertently violating webmaster guidelines.
To varying degrees, the nofollow attribute is recognized by all major search engines. Here’s how search engines have explicitly told webmasters to use nofollow:
- On links visitors can add to your site (i.e. in blog comments, forums, reviews, etc.)
- On links from ads that appear on your site
- On links included in online press releases
- On links contained within code or widgets embedded on your site that point to another’s site
Responsive Design
Responsive design allows visitors from different types of devices to view websites effectively. The layout and orientation of website elements shift and format for easy viewing on a PC, laptop, tablet, or smart phone. The images and content will shrink and tile from three columns, to two, to a singular column of content as your website automatically identifies the screen resolution of the visitor’s viewing device.
Responsive websites are critical to inbound marketing efforts as more and more traffic is coming from tablets and smart phones. Without responsive design, calls-to-action are difficult to read and click, costing clients valuable conversion opportunities. Great responsive design should prioritize offer display to maximize conversions of leads for all viewing devices.
XML Feed
An XML feed is a plain text version of your website pages that’s perfect for sharing between other applications and using on other websites. Ever noticed a dynamic weather widget on a news website? Chances are, it’s fed by an XML feed. Ever subscribed to a blog’s RSS feed? That’s XML in action!
When someone includes your XML feed on their website, your content becomes visible to an entirely new audience — theirs! Clicking on any of the links in the feed brings them right to your website. This allows more traffic to come in, making your reputation as a reliable and valuable resource more credible. A more common use of XML feeds is to allow subscribers to your blog to receive an email notification every time you publish a new post. Services such as FeedBurner let you see how many subscribers you have and how many of them are clicking on the links in the emails they receive, so you can see what resonates with your audience. These constant reminders of your outstanding content keep you top-of-mind and your readers primed for your marketing messages.