1 questions

I have 2 seperate questions I would like to get your opinions on.

1 . Firstly, I have a site that is quite big and it uses css for layout. There are multiple css files for differnt things, like one for the drop down menu, one for hacks, one for the admin area, and a main css file which holds all the layout information for the main site. This css file is over 500 lines long, which seems quite big to me. Its only 9k to download, but still I would like to reduce it. I can heard about compression, but i am not too sure about that. The file has been optimised to reduce size.

Do you think 9k is big for a css file, or shouldnt I worry about it? Only I need to add some more CSS.

2. What do you think about the importance of varying meta keywords across a site. Do you think its ok to use a simple php include file for example which has a set of keywords in it?

Many thanks.

I'm sure there are some CSS optimisers on-line that will reconcile your code and slim it down. Whether you could follow it afterwards to make amendments is a different matter.

If you've completely optimised the CSS then I guess its fine, if all the code you have is actually needed then as far as I know there is not a lot you can do.

You could further split it into files for typography, files for layout, files for colours etc. But added together its still going to come to around the 9k total size.

Secondly,

I've read that the keywords meta should contain keywords relevant to that phrase. I'm not sure but I think by having the same keywords on every page. SE's might think that every page on your site is there for the same reason. Although meta tags are quite lightweight in SEO so I'm not certain.

You probably best off asking Diego (Spinal007). PM him or create a thread in the SEO section for this question.

Mike

Bah, that's nothing The site I'm working on has a CSS folder that's 30k (although they aren't all loaded at once). The main stylesheet is 14k and over 650 lines long.

You can compress a file -- HTML, CSS, or JS -- by removing all the extra whitespace. There are programs that do this for you. The result is a slightly smaller file, but completely unreadable (by humans).

While it will reduce your file sizes, the saving will be small compared to graphics and other heavy-hitting files.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about any of this.

Personally, I think <meta> keywords are completely useless and will have (almost) no effect on your rankings. I never use them at all.

Yeah I have a css folder thats just under 30k too.

Anyway, I am suprised you dont use meta keywords at all, I know they have less importance now than they used so, but surely they are still read by search engines and add weight to certain keywords?

Thanks, yes I will ask Spinal at some point.

I just read an article written yesterday that says meta keywords are still being used. Again, I don't think anyone knows for sure but this author suggested that in his test, he was able to prove it.

Keywords should be different for each page in my opinion. I think they should be reflective of the content of the page.

No, I don't think they are used. I'm well aware that most designers disagree with me, but I think they are wrong. Make your own mind up

Some SEO "experts" will agree with me, and others will disagree. Here's what Wikipedia says:

The "37 leaders in SEO" bit makes for interesting reading. If nothing else, it shows that he knows much who knows he knows nothing Most of their answers are hopelessly vague and speculative, with no evidence to back up their assertions.

That's why I won't take a chance. Since no one really knows! But I see you point as well Mike.

There are a great many things that no-one really knows

It depends on whether you believe the absence of evidence in an entity's non-existence to be a good reason for believing that it exists.

Bertrand Russell supposedly "converted" to Christianity on his deathbed, arguing essentially that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain -- much like your using <meta> tags. In <meta> tag terms, I'm an atheist and you're an agnostic.

I think Russell made a wrong-headed ontological evaluation -- he mistook an infinitesimal subspace for a complete ontological partition -- but billions of people around the world disagree with me

I don't use them either ... I can't be bothered!

I only use them if I remember to before I've made a few pages.

As far as I know. Having the same on every page could be more harmful than not...but I don't know that much lol.