I want to give you a visual representation of how people build websites. There are some trends that you see when you start playing with people’s sites, they resemble a dog in some fashion. Here are some of  the dogs out there and how to improve them.

Corgis – Plenty of content, spotty design.

Photo by: Carlos del Rio

Corgi’s are fun to play with they have a lot of content, they just don’t have legs. This particular little lump is named Edgar. He is a working breed dog, he works great as a doorstop.

As websites go he is a proponent of “Content is King” — he will accept any content he can get. He just can’t move that content very quickly, he shuffles you through. These are sites that are best helped by improvements to architecture, helping the user move through the content, or giving the content legs.

So what do you do with this hairy sausage? Take him for a walk. He has everything he needs to get attention he just need to be shown around. Build links to his interior content and start rearranging internally to move more of him up out of the dirt.

Greyhounds – Well built, not much content.

Photo by: Tc7

These move content fast, because they are lean. Well linked, well built sites that just need to fatten up. It is important to build up these sites intelligently, if you just pack on some extra content without a plan you will end up with a very strange looking and unweildy creature.

Building content in a uniform method is a good means of expanding a site that is link rich and content light. If you just start putting on content without a plan you may discover that you do not get good visibility because you have created an extra leg that is not taking advantage of the initial structure of the site.

So what do you do with a lean site? Make a long range plan for content development — grow out one or two sections at a time and seed links to the new deeper content.

Yorkies – Attractive, can’t support much growth.

Photo by: Swing…kn

Brochure sites are like Yorkies, they are small, fluffy, expensive, and no one takes them seriously. Many people see the web as a place where you throw up a site because everyone does it. As if magically the site’s existence will make you part of the web frontier. This is, of course, not true. One of the worst things about Yorkie type sites is that most people have overpaid for them. So the owner is both attached and reluctant to spend money buying something that is more functional.

So what do you do with a small vanity site? You replicate it. If the structure is solid you have a nice looking, hopefully unique, template to build branded mini sites. If you are in a vertical that is dependent on advertising it can be a legitimate strategy. Ten Yorkies may not be able to tow a car but they are better than nothing.

Labradors – Functional and can sustain growth.

Photo by Buz Carter

Everyone knows a Labrador, they are often big brands. Sometimes they’re fat, sometimes they are small, sometimes smart, sometimes dumb, and always recognizable. These come in many states because they have so many similar sites to emulate and a natural ability to grow and accumulate fans. They are going to be well used even if they are mediocre.

What do you do with a stable website? You can start whereever you want the important thing to focus on is being smart. Your job on these sites is not so much changing the way that things are done, but making sure that it has plenty of tricks to call on as the need arises. Because there is not a huge amount of need focus on building value so you stay strong as times change.

My Dog – At least 1/3 Llama

Photo by: Carlos del Rio

My dog, like most of my sites, is more legs than body. She is a fat Greyhound, fast moving and getting bigger every day. I like sites to start this way. Incrementally growing a well structured site ensures that you are functional by the time you are big. When you are dealing with existing sites I find it far easier to flesh out a solid structure than to redesign a content rich site mainly because there are many things that can go wrong when you try to reassemble it, missing part will make both you and the site very sad.

Read more about internal link structure, search metrics, and landing pages to help get your dog ready for show.