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Content that’s good for visitors and robots

Our web brand update for Western Copper Corporation completed in August 2009 involved the creative use of CSS and SEO knowledge to generate content optimized for both search engine robots and web site visitors.

"From the outset our strategy was to create more than just a visually appealing design" says Simon Britchford, Web Architect. "We wanted to improve the functionality of the page while leveraging the content for maximum Search Engine 'findability'".

Working with the client we identified three distinct user profiles and a number of tasks they needed to accomplish. These were prioritized and translated into a 'dashboard' style interface comprised of six panels, each providing key information and starting points for both new and return visitors as well as indexable links deep into the site.

One of the panels required a map showing the location of the company's properties. "This was an important element for illustrating the geo-political stability of the properties and investment potential. But as a graphic element it would not give us the required SEO value" says Britchford.

Our solution was to use an image replacement approach, building a structurally correct SEO-friendly framework from which we "hung" the map graphics using CSS styling techniques.

What Search Engines See

	<div id="properties">
	<h2>Western Copper Properties</h2>
	    <h3 id="casino"><a href="http://www.westerncoppercorp.com/casino">Casino</a></h3>
	    <h3 id="carmacks"><a href="http://www.westerncoppercorp.com/carmacks">Carmacks</a></h3>
	    <h3 id="island_copper"><a href="http://www.westerncoppercorp.com/island_copper">Island
	    Copper</a></h3>
	    <h3 id="redstone"><a href="http://www.westerncoppercorp.com/redstone">Redstone</a></h3>
	</div>
	

The sample code (above) has been simplified to show the elements valued by search engine robots (highlighted in blue). Note the heading level <h2> and <h3> tags plus the links with keywords.

What Visitors See

Using CSS, the text heading titles and hyperlinks are hidden from view and replaced with graphic elements. The map (above) also has an embedded table of resources which are editable by the client through the content management system.