Phase 4: Technical Engineering

Phase 4: Technical Engineering
Functionality meets form. This phase is a critical examination of the technical issues that may or may not affect the ease-of-operation of the site.
Step 1: HTML, CSS, Javascript/Behaviors, PhP, Actionscripting
1) Validate the site using a validator.
http://www.w3.org/QA/Tools/
and
http://validator.w3.org/ are two such sites that may be useful in carry out a validation.
2) Title All Pages Properly: Search engines can only read a portion of a long title. Stay in the 60-90 characters, 10-20 words range.
3) Meta Tags – Keywords (max 10) and Description (2 lines)
4) Sitemap: If your site has lots of folders and subfolders, then the site should have a sitemap with major site tree structures linked. Search-engine robots can traverse the tree.
5) Google has a section for the most frequently asked questions from webmasters. Look at http://www.google.com/webmasters/
6) Add Site URL to Google: All search engines have "Add a Site" link - add your URL for their robots to visit. See
http://www.google.com/addurl/
7) Unique Content: The site should have unique content not easily available on other pre-existing very popular sites. It is very difficult to displace heavily-linked highly popular existing sites.
8) Inbound links from other relevant Sites: The site should have other sites linking to it. Not all inbound links are equal. Sites which are highly ranked, are more important than lower ranked sites.
9) Inbound links from Blogs: Multiple blog links to a given page can very quickly increase that single page's ranking. Since blogs quote a portion of your text on their pages, your page will get a high ranking for that snippet.
10) Blogger : Start a blog at blogger. Edit the template to include a link to your own site on every page. Blog regularly about your industry. See https://www.blogger.com/start

Step 2: Browser Testing
Is the site optimized to function with the most common browsers used today?

Does the site make use of certain scripting that is best used with newer versions of these browsers?

Consider that while this site can be used with older versions of these browsers, some functions and features may not work properly. Make a list of functions that will not work on older browsers.

Monitor configuration may be an issue in viewing the site.
Is the site optimized for display on a monitor configured at a minimum resolution of 800 x 600. Monitors configured at a smaller resolution (for instance, 640 x 480) will result in the need to scroll horizontally across your browser window.

Are cookies utilized with this site?
This site may use cookie technology to accurately identify repeat viewers. A numeric code may be attached to your browser as a cookie.
Step 3: Type Proofing
1) Check for spelling and grammar: read every word on the web site.
2) Have someone else proof-read every word on the web site.
3) Test every link on the web site.
4) Every picture must have an alt tag name describing the picture.
5) Proof the Title, Keywords, and Description for spelling.
6) Proof the type in the internal documentation: comments within the HTML and Javascript.