Also, do not use the Table tag as a container for your navigation. The proper way is to use an Unordered List tag <ul> and control the design with CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). This will also reduce the mark-up and keep your site’s content structure simple. Google likes site’s to have simple structures. If most of your traffic is coming from search engines, you will want to keep your structure simple for SEO purposes.

Personally, I try to avoid developing sites in Flash. If I need animation, I may use Flash, but it’s too difficult to set up optimization and SEO. Basically, I only use it for animation and video clips.

Less is more

Using the DIV/CSS method of building websites requires less mark-up (code) than the old school way of using tables for layout. All of this code can add up quickly, slowing down your customer’s ability to download and view the content of your site.

Another reason the DIV/CSS method is a better way for building websites is because it separates Content from Design. The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium – they are the guys that make up all the rules and regulations for the Internet) did this so web developers could change a website’s design by simply changing the CSS code only. You don’t need to touch the HTML. This saves everyone time and money.

“I still don’t get it – my website was designed with Tables, and it looks fine. Why do I care about CSS?”

CSS has several advantages over Tables including; smaller page size, future flexibility, easier to read the source and, of course, SEO benefits.

Furthermore, you need to optimize your images! Bulky images slow down your site. Your customers don’t like to wait a long time for your site to load up. Basically, if there is less data to transfer from the server to the customer’s web browser, the page will load more quickly. There really shouldn’t be any images over 50 KB on your site. If there is, I would recommend cutting that image in half so it is now two smaller images. Your computer tries to download all images at once. To the user it will appear that the site is downloading more quickly, so they are less likely to get impatient and leave.

How does this relate to Affiliate Marketing?

Just like an inefficient engine will cost you more money in fuel in the long run, the same applies to inefficient websites. All of us have launched websites that are remarkably slow or just don’t work properly. Taking these improvement suggestions seriously will allow your website to work properly and that will result in you making more money. Tweak your websites and optimize your campaigns! Don’t forget to change your oil regularly… You will be glad you did.