ST701 Online Classifieds Revamped, Again?

It was announced in the Straits Times that ST701 online classified portal was revamped (again) featuring… “the portal’s popular search engine is now in an easy-to-locate spot”.

But, I think the journalist mention of “easy-to-locate” is not referring to the search box you see at ST701 homepage.

I guess the the “easy-to-locate” search box is in the new layout of these inner pages: jobs.st701.com, cars.st701.com, property.st701.com and shops.st701.com.

If you examine these pages, you’ll see there are TWO search boxes! And can be confusing to the users!

The question on my mind as an user is “Which one should I used?”

The smaller search box at the top is redundant, they should remove it to reduce the clutter and avoid the possible confusion to the users.

ST701 Better Web Usability

As an online classified portal, the new ST701 homepage is probably the most usable than ever before.

Honestly, I think Web usability has improved. It is good to know that the Web development team behind ST701 online classifieds is working hard (also smart) to improve the user’s experience.

ST701 More Search Engine Friendly

I am really surprised to see that the Web developers actually added keyword-rich phrases to the img alt tags to describe the images. I reckoned they are learning search engine optimization, albeit the expensive way and becoming more SEO-savvy.

The Use of IMG ALT Tag

Go visit ST701.com now to take a look at the new layout and take note of the 4 “Cats”. Here, I will show how you can use images and the corresponding IMG ALT tags to make your Web page more SEO-friendly.

If you are using Internet Explorer, you can see “Singapore Jobs“, “Singapore Cars“, “Singapore Property” and “Singapore Classifeds” when you mouse over the respective “Cat” images.

Here’s a short video to illustrate the use of IMG ALT tag in your Web pages to make it more SEO friendly.

Word of caution: Do Not abuse the img alt tag.

Make sure you Do Not use repeatedly the same keyword phrase for every image in your Web page.

Remember, describe your images with the img alt tag accurately. If it is a picture of a book, don’t say it’s a boat.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 1:41 pm and is filed under ST701, Search Engine Optimization, Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.