Developing OTFA

One of the constant learning curves for any web developer is search engine optimisation. New techniques, new services and new search software all combine to make the art an ever-changing alchemy. We’re interacting with this element quite heavily at the moment, and this accounts for the changes to the main page, the links to the OTFA community sites new stories, as well as the use of tags and a latest comments item. All of these help our search engine rankings.

We’re also asking our posters to ensure their posts contain locations and keywords both in their titles and in the body of the text. Newsroom on the main site is doing a particularly good job. Also, we’re encouraging posters to use the tags field below the post field as well, and these will contribute to the tag cloud on the lefthand menu.

You’ll also notice on the main site we’ve included a “For Argyll:” kicker, which reinforces our location. And this really is the main tip: the name of your community and other placenames thereabouts should be included at every opportunity.