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Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

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  • Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • I asked an SEO person to look at my site and give me some feedback

      This is what he said,"There is a lot of redundant code that can be stripped out. In some cases there are several levels of nested <div> elements that are not needed. Much of the layout is controlled using layout tables rather than CSS, which introduces loads of unnecessary code. And there's heaps of white space (mostly tabs and blank lines) that can be stripped out. It should also be possible to move a lot of the JavaScript into external files. I reckon you could more than halve the size of the page source, which would improve the optimisation.

      I would completely redesign the page templates because at present your most important content is almost at the bottom of the source code, after all the less important stuff in the left and right-hand columns and after that huge piece of code for displaying adverts. That's going to hurt you even if you fix everything else."

      He also mentioned about the site not working in IE6...

      Is this true of Versatility 4 and if so how can I fix it?

      Many thanks

      Jaime
    #365004

  • Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • He also mentioned about the site not working in IE6...

      I used to be concerned about that too until I saw this :arrow: ripie6.com
    #367797
    • John Hodgkinson's Avatar
    • John Hodgkinson
    • Hero Rocketeer
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    • Retired, but build and run websites for organisations of school leaders and others - e.g. http://www.icponline.org, http://www.aspa.asn.au, http://www.appa.asn.au

    Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • A couple of things:

      1. Which template are you using? The most recent RT templates (e.g. Nexus and, IIRC, Affinity ) now load the most important content first, before the left and right columns.

      2. I use RT templates for my sites, and they work in IE6 (including one that uses Versatility 4). Unfortunately, I have no control over what browser most of my viewers use.

      3. You can remove the white space in the template files if you want to, but it will make them harder to read. And will it really make that much difference to loading times? I still have that white space, and none of my sites have been accused of slow loading. And it is easier for me to read the files.

      4. My sites are generally in the first few in a Google search for the organisation / acronym (all non-profit organisations).

      So while I am certain that your SEO person gave you exactly what he saw as being important, you might need to look at the cost-benefits of doing all the work to change those things.
    #367845

  • Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • John and Kri

      THanks for the feedback - I am using Versatility 4. - Is there a way to restructure it to load the most important content first?

      Cheers

      Jaime
    #368933

  • Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • Anyone following this thread still?

      Ta

      J
    #373394
    • Roeland_A!'s Avatar
    • Roeland_A!
    • Preeminent Rocketeer
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    Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • There is always a way, but it requires a lot of work.
    • *Karma comes in many forms, my personal favourite is the random saucepan from the sky* J.Spencer 17-02-2009
    #373507

  • Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • @ Jaime - I would say there are far more important factors you should be looking at rather then template weight. First off the IE6 issue, now IE6 was released in 2001 and in technology terms that is way back in the dark ages. You have to draw a line in the sand sometime and really it has to be drawn in support for IE6. It is like a post I just saw about 800x600 screen resolution a line must be drawn or we will never progress forward.

      Unless you have made some major changes and filled the site full of scripts there should be no reason to spend dollars redesigning Versatility 4. If you want to get pedantic on template weight than most new templates are pretty bloated code.

      Now what market are you in? How old is the domain?
      When it comes to SEO there are far more important factors to consider than the weight of the template.

      I am part of a professional SEO firm here in Oz we have clients internationally and local, I would be happy to cast my eyes over your site for you so you can obtain some impartial advice and not be pressured into spending needlessly.
    #373720

  • Re: Redesign poor templates or bad advice?

    Posted 15 years 9 months ago
    • @ Emma

      Thanks for the reply. I have sent you a PM.

      Many thanks

      jaime
    #375485

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