A few general, opinoin Based and other questions I would like some input on.

[harbingerOTV]

It's on topic, really

"Discuss web design, hosting, promotion, and other webmaster issues not covered in the above topics."

and yeah Richard, that's in there for you ;)


So I'm redoing a site for a local buisness. I've condensed the navigation down to somethign they had mentioned before. One of the links was a link to yahoo maps getting a location. My idea this time around was making it part of either the "about" or "contact" section. The about us section is pretty lax but Im planing on showcasing the store more in it than before. So should I make another page soley for directions et al or is including it in one of the previuos pages fine. If you were looking at a physical stores site for the first time and saw there address and phone number on the home page but didnt know how to get there, would you look for a directions page instinctively?

XHTML vs. HTML. I code in html 4.01 Strict. I was reading an article about hiring web people, and they said something about "knowledge in up to date HTML, perferably XHTML". So I know the transition isn't a big deal, but is the real benifit of XHTML?

SEO stuff. Yeah I know keywords are like "whatever" but what if you did something like "artist mobile" "artist oils" "artist abstract". i\Is the word artist read as independant entry in each keyword, or is artist read 3 tims as the same word, thus multiple entries like that leading to keyword spamming?

How about this one:

Using wordpress and have a page that the URL is http://whatever.com/?page_id=2. It's a real URL as I can type it in and go there. Do spiders, or can spiders, actually follow that link?

[mlseim]

In my opinion, people spend way too much time and put way too
much effort into SEO. If designed properly, the site should speak
for itself.

[Pennimus]

would you look for a directions page instinctively?

No, I generally assume that directions and maps are under "contact us".

o I know the transition isn't a big deal, but is the real benifit of XHTML?

Is the benefit a big deal? Probably not. Is it worth doing, because it's so easy, and it future proofs you and your site? YES!

Is the word artist read as independant entry in each keyword, or is artist read 3 tims as the same word, thus multiple entries like that leading to keyword spamming?

Assume this is a list of links? It's probably not spamming to the point where you could be penalised. It looks spammy to people though, you have to think about whether thats something you want. Also you're not adding much value to the page in terms of semantic variation and use of stems, plurals etc... So while it's not going to hurt, I don't think it's going to help either.

o spiders, or can spiders, actually follow that link?

Yes, easily, it's just not optimal that's all. Wordpress has a very easy rewrite built into it to give your pages better URLs, use that.

In my opinion, people spend way too much time and put way too
much effort into SEO. If designed properly, the site should speak
for itself.

Speak for itself to who exactly? It's a rare site that can get by in a moderately competitive market without some consideration of SEO or other search marketing strategies. In any case, people spend way too much time and effort on it because they know how much reward it can bring.