Questions tagged [best-practices]
A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved by other means.
102
questions
26
votes
8answers
4k views
Should I replace fillable PDFs?
I work for a company that has hundreds of forms in fillable PDF format on our website. We run into issues constantly because web browsers love to open PDFs in browser instead of opening the files in ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
SEO best practices for domains in multiple languages [duplicate]
I have a domain https://www.understandmydreams.com (online dream interpreter) and I wish to expand the service to more languages.
The content will be different in each language, not just simple ...
1
vote
1answer
35 views
Is storing common static pages in a database bad practice?
I am wondering whether it is bad practice to store commonly used standard static webpages such as the home page, 'contact us' page, login page, etc. in a database instead of as static files saved on ...
0
votes
0answers
8 views
Canonical Tags on Re-directing Form Pages
I'm adding canonical tags to our website and would like to add them to pages where users can download guides, but depending on user settings they could be redirected.
If they are cookied, they would ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Designing for Firefox ( / accomodating for its bugs) [closed]
I am a (reasonably) new web developer. As I've been getting more into testing / bug finding, I keep finding things that don't work on Firefox, exclusively. Often, when I've found a solution to one ...
1
vote
1answer
35 views
SEO impact of usage of many spacers/formatters/… class in HTML instead of in css static file
We're working on redesigning our full website, we have a critical impact on our business from SEO. We are trying to use a lot of formatters, spacers, etc classes from SASS like suggested by bootstrap. ...
4
votes
2answers
86 views
Is combining / concatenation of CSS and JS technique considered deprecated?
Google used to recommend webmasters to combine external CSS and JS files to improve the page speed. One of these pages was here: https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/best-practices/rtt#...
3
votes
2answers
68 views
Is AMP suitable for a non-periodical website?
I am working on a project to convert some documentation into a mobile-friendly form. The current documentation is outdated and is using MediaWiki, and the formatting is extremely unfriendly for mobile....
1
vote
1answer
26 views
Keep order status private from search engines?
I searched hard before posting this question. I apologize if it is a duplicate or if this is not the correct forum.
We have a homegrown shopping cart website. We do not require shoppers to register ...
2
votes
0answers
23 views
Handling requests for deprecated RSS feeds
The site I run still gets pinged frequently by RSS readers and services, even though we deprecated support for those feeds over two years ago. The URLs currently return a 404.
Are there any good ...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
H1 tag solutions for the main page
I know that the question has beed asked a lot but I'm asking for your advice and "best practices" on the real example. I know what H1 tag is but I'm always in trouble when it comes to the main / home ...
2
votes
2answers
86 views
Is it good practice to include alt tags on all images
… including decorative images such as navigation arrows and social media buttons?
I understand that my "content images" should be alt-tagged appropriately. But should I be tagging decorative images ...
2
votes
1answer
241 views
Remote CDN: Pro's and Cons of grouping CSS and JS
I'd like to know the pros and cons of grouping external CSS and JavaScript files. The grouping method I'm referring to often seen by external libraries providers such as Google fonts and jsDelivr.
...
0
votes
1answer
39 views
Possessive form with nickname/name for a blog title
I am trying to find out whether it is a good idea to use the possessive form with a nickname.
I am creating my personal blog, I am hesitating between the simple nickname/name form and the possessive ...
3
votes
3answers
55 views
Why do websites openly state that some links are affiliate links?
I have seen websites openly state that some of their links are affiliate links and that they will be earning a small commission each time someone clicks through their link and purchases.
I am ...
6
votes
1answer
788 views
Is it considered spam to set “From: ” header to the user's email in a contact form?
I developed a contact form on a client's website. When a user submits it, the client gets an email.
Is it considered as spam (or against best practices) when emails sent from a website form have From:...
2
votes
1answer
1k views
Google Tag Manager Filters for View Home Page (Best Practice)
When using Google Tag Manager you have various tags, triggers and filters. If you want to use the Page View firing Trigger with a filter only for the home page which one is more politically correct:
...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
Changing page's subject year-to-year
I'm having a hard time thinking of the best terms to search for similar questions so please bear with me.
We run a yearly "best X" contest where we nominate several to choose from and let readers ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
Fix existing URLs to hyphenate run-on words?
Say I have a site listing Academy Awards whose URLs were built using run-on words.
http://example.com/bestactress/2016
http://example.com/bestdirector/2016
http://example.com/bestpicture/2016
As a ...
1
vote
1answer
185 views
Best practice for temp directory used by MediaWiki?
This question appears to be related to File system permission for MediaWiki uploads? Tightening permissions has lead to "Error creating thumbnail" messages:
MediaWiki has a page on the temp directory ...
2
votes
1answer
97 views
Is there any SEO benefit to placing testimonial text inside a heading element?
Is there any SEO benefit to placing testimonial text on a landing page nested inside of an <h3> element? For example:
<div class="active item">
<div class="hero-...
-1
votes
1answer
26 views
Canonical tag for pages requiring a starting form
I have a situation for which the standard canonical "prev" / "next" doesn't seem applicable.
On the first page, I have a form which collects information from the user. After the form is submitted, ...
6
votes
2answers
77 views
How to redirect to a mobile site that doesn't have a 1:1 ratio to desktop site?
I have a desktop site with loads of old Flash games on it. Since there wasn't any way of easily porting that to mobile, I have a completely different mobile site with a different set of HTML5 content ...
5
votes
1answer
96 views
How to safely replace live site (without database) with staging site using Apache shared hosting?
I have a PHP website of around 20 pages without a database on shared hosting - it has quite a lot of forms and a significant amount of visits. I have a staging subdomain on the same server wherein I ...
1
vote
1answer
430 views
Is it best practice to exclude the pagination query parameter in Google Analytics?
Our site has 4 query parameters on site. They are all for the Blog section and only the pagination parameter can be added to another query parameter:
Category
Tag
Author
Pagination parameter
...
2
votes
2answers
961 views
Microdata: should I use Book or Product type scheme?
I'm developing a site for an antiques shop, specialized in rare and ancient books.
Every page for each book will have a description sheet available with several data for the item.
Descriptions ...
2
votes
0answers
223 views
SEO: Deindex member profile pages?
I have a forum where users can register and automatically a profile page is created, like here in Stackexchange.
The problem with these pages is that sometimes users creates accounts at different ...
2
votes
2answers
491 views
Is it OK to give status 404 to unauthorized users?
In recent months I have come across several sites, which give a 404 status/error page, when there should be 403 or maybe 401.
For example, I have a private repository on github.com with link:
https:/...
2
votes
1answer
222 views
Best practices for domain names with foreign characters
Suppose you're starting a new web site with the (completely made up name) of "El Niño." Some obvious options for your domain name would be:
elniño.com
elnino.com
And typically, of course, you'd ...
1
vote
2answers
89 views
How to reduce impact moving a website to a different server?
I have a website, hosted on a Shared Hosting plan at 1and1, and recently I've got a Virtual Server, because I aim to transfer the website to a bigger server.
So the process I will be doing is:
Copy ...
2
votes
4answers
862 views
How to fail in case of incorrect URI parameter?
What is the correct way to fail when the user provides a wrong or not applicable value for a query parameter?
with a HTTP 406 Not Acceptable status code and a page describing the issue
with a HTTP ...
4
votes
1answer
598 views
Translate URL query parameters
Just like it is always advisable to translate URL parts in order to internationalize a web site, is there any recommendation (W3C or such) regarding the translation of URL parameters (query strings)?
...
2
votes
1answer
229 views
GWT: Mobile usability issues: Resolving the “Content not sized to viewport” issue
Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) flagged this error on my client's responsive website. The errors exclusively appear on pages with large tables of data. The developers took a quick look and weren't able ...
2
votes
1answer
97 views
Price in page title?
Is it good or bad to include product price in page title? Page describes product, for example women's shoes. And price could be changed twice a year.
4
votes
1answer
746 views
How to hide a JavaScript popup for Googlebot?
I want to display a JavaScript popup when visitors access my website, however I believe Google will decrease my rankings when they detect a popup. So, is there any way to hide a JavaScript popup for ...
1
vote
0answers
17 views
SEO best practices for image based web sites [duplicate]
How should I optimize an image based web site (art gallery, www.cavalet.bg ) to improve the SEO rank for a specific key word (in this case the bulgarian word for paintings - картини)?
The truth is I ...
2
votes
1answer
106 views
Similar Product Pages and Properly Using Canonical Property
I have several products on my website that I am trying to decide if I should use the URL Canonical property on. The reason is because several of the pages will have very near identical information on ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
Repeating product category in product title
I am wondering if there are any benefits or drawbacks to repeating a product category in the tile of the product? For example: Let's say I sell "light bulbs", on the product category page where all ...
1
vote
3answers
177 views
practical reasons for using separate domains instead of subdomains?
Quite often, I see web sites that draw resources from multiple domains. Made up example:
Foo Bar Ltd has a main web site at foobar.com, which references files at fbltdcdn.com and foobar-rewards.net. ...
2
votes
2answers
54 views
Several domains using 302 redirect to our domain
I am wondering what implications we can run into if one of our dealers is redirecting several of their domains using a 302 to our domain. The reason they are doing this is because they want to have ...
2
votes
2answers
159 views
Hosting several HTTP servers on single domain name
Several people have got a single domain name server.company.com server, where they are now supposed to host their infrastructure or temporal projects, written in different ways even in different ...
5
votes
1answer
359 views
Will “jailing” a single page inside an iframe using a JavaScript redirect be considered as cloaking?
Background
I have a website that uses iframes to display content. If the URL to a content is called directly by the user it should be "jailed" into the main page.
The main page provides a header and a ...
4
votes
3answers
606 views
What is the general practice for country TLD subdomains
I'm trying to launch a website application that will focus on cities around the world, whereby TLD for each countries will be used.
For example:
www.website.de - Germany
www.website.cn - China
sub-...
0
votes
1answer
97 views
Will Google treat this JavaScript code as a bad practice?
I have a website that provides a custom UX experience implemented via JavaScript. When JavaScript is disabled in the browser the website falls back to CSS for the layout.
To make this possible I've ...
3
votes
1answer
77 views
Canonicalising to less linked URLs
I have a question about how to use canonical urls on an ecommerce site with a complex category structure.
I have many products and they each sit in multiple categories. Each product can be accessed ...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Best way to handle query string params no longer used [duplicate]
A client's SEO "expert" has recently asked us to redirect hundreds of URLs to the home page but we're not sure if her request is the best way of going about it.
Here's the situation:
The clients ...
6
votes
2answers
800 views
Multiple top level domains - should I redirect/rewrite or leave them?
I operate a website with many different TLD's (top level domains):
example.com
example.org
example.co.uk
example.org.uk
The website is advertised as example.org.uk but I expect that lots of people ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Print friendly version best practice
I am currently recoding a website from tables to modern html/css and have several 100 pages to go over.
The problem is, each page has its own print version in another file, also with tables.
Would ...
2
votes
2answers
323 views
Automatic HTML clean up
What are some of the most popular tools for automatically cleaning up HTML code to its cleanest and most best practices rendition?
The only one I know is the venerable HTMLtidy.
Please see this for ...
1
vote
2answers
113 views
“Included” search phrases in URLs/titles/H1s and SEO
When designing a new URL/folder structure for our website, we faced one interesting problem related to choosing best keywords from SEO perspective. We call it "included search phrases". It will be ...
