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Web page templates are generally used as an efficient way
to build a website. Changes can be made to a template in an
application such as Dreamweaver and all pages can automatically
be updated in seconds. These changes can then be uploaded
to the host and like magic the whole site is updated.
The strength of using templates is also a weakness in terms
of search engine optimization. While templates are a great
way to update a website, they are by their very nature inflexible.
By default, in many web page creation applications, when changes
are made to the metatags of the template, these changes show
up across all pages using this template.
Suppose your website is based on 10 different but essential
keywords relating to your business and you wish to optimize
10 different pages, one for each keyword. By using the default
web creation application settings you will have the same metatag
information for all pages instead of meta information that
is unique for each page you wish to optimize.
Generally, you are able to dissociate these pages from the
template and then optimize all of the metatags for each of
your different keywords. Now you have a problem, though of
how to update these 10 pages, quickly and easily. If you want
to add a new link to these pages, you have to do so for all
10 pages instead of just once on your template.
Suppose you have 50 or 100 pages instead of 10? You workload
now may take hour instead of seconds. Though not the default,
some web page creation applications will let you move your
meta keywords and description manually between the editable
regions in the head area of the html.
Example1:
<!-- TemplateBeginEditable name="head" -->
<meta name="keywords" content="test, test2,
test3">
<meta name="description" content="test of
the emergency broadcast system.">
<!-- TemplateEndEditable -->
Example2:
<!-- #BeginEditable "doctitle" -->
<meta name="keywords" content="test, test2,
test3">
<meta name="description" content="test of
the emergency broadcast system.">
<!-- #EndEditable -->
This is one solution. Another is when building your website,
to define your editable and non-editable regions of your templates
carefully with search engine optimization in mind. If a website
is built too rigidly, the search engine optimization techniques
will not be easily incorporated into the site. If a website
is built too loosely, then you will lose the ability to update
the site readily.
Most websites are built with efficiency in mind without regard
to search engine optimization or with search engine optimization
as an afterthought. A more ideal situation is to build the
website from the ground up with both efficiency and search
engine optimization in mind.
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