Findability, Web Standards and Accessibility

Writing about findability previously I said

While web standards themselves do not equal a more findable site, it is easier to develop a more findable site using web standards. You develop leaner, more organised code. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but organised in the right way, this can allow search engines to access your content easier and determine more easily what your page is all about, which in turn means improved chances of your site being returned in results for relevant searches.

This prompted me to write some tips for findable blogs/websites - but don't take my word for it... I have found some great articles on A List Apart which deal with the same subject...

Using XHTML/CSS for an Effective SEO Campaign
and
High Accessibility Is Effective Search Engine Optimization

Both worth reading.

One small point, "Using XHTML/CSS for an Effective SEO Campaign" advocates using css to do image rollover effects rather than javascript and they point to an article to help you do so - I love that article, but there are some problems with it. If you want to use css to do image rollovers I humbly suggest you read my article on CSS image rollovers which explains the issues and presents the solutions as given to me by Lee Hosty. If you doubt the power of CSS rollovers, check out the Clamnuts comics site where I used CSS to do the main navigation image rollover effects!