Preface

Is this the right book for you?

Although this book is written with developers in mind, it’s really a guide for all who plan, design, and build websites. The Web is a vast wilderness in which a message runs the great risk of fading into obscurity. Your creative ideas, and talent deserve more.

The findability strategies outlined in this book are designed to help you deliver your message more intelligently so that you might reach your intended audience and beyond. Each chapter introduces core principles and best practices, which are accompanied by practical code examples that can be applied to any project to overcome findability pitfalls.

Web standards are the foundation of the concepts and examples in this book, but you’ll find that findability extends beyond code. Findability is as much about what we say as it is how we say it. As you’ll soon discover, search engine optimization via web standards will attract traffic, but it’s quality content that captivates and captures an audience.

If you’re a web standards guru often struggling to help colleagues and clients see the light, you’ll find the concepts and examples in this book of interest. Search engine optimization and general findability are the most compelling arguments for web standards best practices, as they speak to the bottom line.

web standards = improved search traffic = more successful sites

If you’re just getting started in the world of standards development you’ll find a primer that will introduce you to the core principles and how it fits into your professional practice.

As the title of this book suggests, you’ll find plenty of discussion of search engine optimization here, but findability is a multifaceted subject in which SEO is but a piece. Upon reading this book you’ll have a complete picture of how a holistic approach to building websites using web standards will not only make your sites more search engine friendly, but they’ll be more successful!