The following is a guest post by David Murton. David has been helping companies build and maintain their online relationships with customers since 2006. He is also a professional writer and blogger, with a particular interest in the open source Drupal platform.

When it comes to online marketing, there's almost too much information and advice to comprehend. If it's not the importance of social media, it's how 2011 is the year of online video. But one thing many experts tend to forget in amongst rapid technological change are the basics. What follows below is an A to Z list of tips that are sure to improve your site navigation, your website optimization, and as a result, your conversion rate.

A is for Anchor Text

Your anchor text should utilize keywords. For example, if you are a hosting reseller, phrases like "resell hosting" should be turned into links, just like we did here. Using keywords for anchor text is a classic and effective SEO trick.

B is for Buttons Instead of Text

Your call to action should be more than a boring text link buried inside marketing copy. Use a bold, bright button instead when you say "Get 15% Off Today!"

C is for Colors that Don't Kill the Eyes

Colors are very important when it comes to site navigation. Colors that are too jarring, too bright, or too contrasting will encourage visitors to navigate away as quickly as possible before an emergency trip to the optometrist becomes necessary. Use bright colors sparingly and effectively, such as in call-to-action buttons.

D is for Descriptive Text

"Click here" makes for horrible anchor text. A keyword phrase that describes where the click will take the user is much more effective, both from the point of view of user experience as well as SEO.

E is for Experimentation is Good

Experiment with your website navigation. See what happens to your web statistics when you introduce a new button or change your layout. You might also find out that one small tweak to your navigation vastly improves conversion rates.

F is for Flash is Bad for the Main Navigation

We think that using Flash for the main navigation structure is a bad idea. Instead, stick to simple, easy to read navigation bars that rely mainly upon text links.

G is for Ghost Directories

Avoid ghost directories. For example, if your website includes MyWebsite.com/pictures/madonna, then MyWebsite.com/pictures should also exist.

H is for Homepage

Your homepage is the most important page on your site. It should be easy to skim, with compelling information above the fold that encourages browsers to stay on your site.

I is for Interlinking

When you interlink, visitors will find more and more content, keeping him on the website longer. The longer he's on the website, the more likely he is to eventually make a purchase.

J is for "Just Don't Make Me Think"

As letters N, O, and P point out, website users don't want to have to think too hard on your website. Don't force them to wonder where content is, or they will get frustrated and leave quickly.

K is for Killing Conversions with Slow Load Times

If it takes your website longer than a few seconds to load, you've already lost your customer.

L is for Links that are Visible

We think it's a good idea that you stay old-school with your link colors and decorations, using classic blue, underlined links and purple visited links. If old-school blue and purple are good enough for Google, it should be good enough for you.

M is for Mobile-Friendly Design

More and more website users are going mobile, accessing your site from their mobile devices. Make sure your website is mobile friendly – reduce the amount of content, minimize text entry, and test, test, test.

N is for Navigation Should be Simple and Easy

You'll get more sales with a rudimentary website design that's laid out simply and is easy to navigate than with a fancy website design where it's impossible for the user to find what he's looking for.

O is for Organization

As with N: your website should be well-organized. If your navigation is overly complicated, visitors will leave without giving you a chance.

P is for "Pay Now"

"Money" pages should be linked to from nearly every page on the site. The potential customer should never have to wonder where they click to make a purchase.

Q is for Quick Glance

Put your website to the "quick glance" test: can you get the gist of a page with one quick glance?

R is for Readability

It's amazing that in 2011, people are still designing websites that are difficult for the average person to read or skim. Use dark text on a white or light background, and break up text with bold headers, bullets, and numbered lists that appeal to short attention spans.

S is for Search Box

Especially if you have a large site with a lot of pages, don't frustrate your visitors. On every page, include a search box that's prominently displayed as part of the site navigation.

T is for Track the Results

As you work to improve your site navigation (see letter E), track results and make a determination if changes are improving sales or decreasing them. Learning to use traffic analysis tools properly is crucially important when it comes to improving your website and your conversion rates.

U is for Unusual is Usually a Bad Idea

Some web designers try hard to make their websites stand out from the crowd by using clever, artsy designs. For the standard blog, business, or retail site, an unusual design will lose money rather than make it.

V is for Video Length

When using online videos, make sure that they are short and to the point. Hardly anyone will stick around to watch an extremely long video about your products; three minutes or less should be enough.

W is for "Where Am I?"

Some websites wisely include at the top of each page a brief outline for the visitor of where he is on the site. For example: "Home > Products > Shoes." Each part of the "Where Am I?" description is linked so that the user can easily go up or down a level in the site.

X is for X-Ray the Website Skeleton

Your main navigation is like your website's skeleton – the basic structure around which your website is built. The main "bones" of your website should be as crystal clear as a femur on an x-ray for visitors.

Y is for You Should Pay Attention to Your Own Experience

As you think about how you want to improve site navigation on your own site, pay attention to your own browsing habits on other websites. Watching how you react to site navigation will teach you a lot about what works and doesn't work on your own site.

Z is for Zealous Improvement

Go back to letters E and T again and again, and take the Japanese "kaizen" approach to your website. That is to say, you should continuously improve your website based upon what you learn from experimentation and tracking the results.

It’s been a little quiet round here of late. But it hasn’t been out of total and utter laziness, as I have been writing for the shiny new Next Digital blog. The links to my recent posts are below if you want to go check them out:

• Case Study: OfficeMax Ecommerce Launch
• Who won the online election?
• Location: The next big thing on the web

I’ve also written a short piece on mobile marketing for an upcoming edition of Marketing Mag. So there you have it. Go forth and read my pretties…

Everyone knows that link building is a fundamental activity for any SEO program (or at least everyone who works on the web). Yet the topic of link optimisation gets relatively minuscule airplay in comparison, which is kinda weird when you consider the whole purpose of SEO is optimisation. In essence, link optimisation refers to the process of optimising existing links to extract maximum SEO benefit. It can be a rich exercise, and is the topic of my guest post over at Search Engine People.

Check out – Back to basics with link optimisation

I must admit, I hate the way people add ‘Tw’ to the start of an existing word to describe it in context of Twitter (Eg Tweeple). But I think I may have just helped to popularise the term ‘twanker’, also known as a Twitter wanker. I’ve just written a post for my good pal Dave Harry at Huomah that analyses the recent Twitter scandal surrounding Kyle & Jackie O (who were famously dubbed Twitter wankers). In particular, I tackle the issue of the mass media mindset that most people bring to social environments, and the challenge it presents social media marketers.

Check out Avoiding the curse of the Twitter wanker now

My latest monthly post for SEO Scoop has just been published. The post addresses the sometimes tricky topic of social media measurement. While online marketing has always thrived on accountability, social media takes marketers beyond the comfort zone of direct response and into a world of more fuzzy objectives related to attitudinal shifts and customer retention. But this does not mean marketing initiatives cannot be measured. And in the post I show how I constructed tangible metrics around some fuzzy marketing objectives, with the help of a few specific tools.

Check out ‘Getting a measure on social media metrics‘ now. And for an even more comprehensive review of specialist social media measurement tools, check out this presentation (hat tip Gavin Heaton).

After slacking off in May, I’ve taken back my regular spot on SEO Scoop in June. My post this month provides a beginner’s guide to marketing on Twitter (with help from my pal Matt Edge). The post provides guidance and case studies to those marketers unsure of how they can intergrate Twitter into their business. Six core marketing applications are outlined including customer support, research, informing, promoting, building word of mouth & branding.

Check out ‘A beginner’s guide to Twitter marketing‘ now

The time has come for me to do my thing over at SEO Scoop again. I avoided the temptation to publish a lame April Fool’s Day prank like everyone else and stayed focused on the task at hand. This time round I’ve contributed a case study on niche SEO targeting. More specifically, I’ve provided a summary of how my list of Aussie brands on Twitter shot straight to a top two position in Google within a matter of weeks, and immediately became the number one organic search term for my blog.

Check out ‘Carving out instant niche rankings‘ at SEO Scoop

My transformation from anti-Twitter activist to total Twitter whore is now officially complete with my recent guest post at TwiTip. Ironically enough, not that long ago I was contemplating co-writing a guest post for TwiTip arguing the pointlessness of Twitter. And now I’m contributing to TwiTip singing it’s praises. How quick things change! Anywhoo… my post provides a case study on my recent Twitter whoring post, looking at how a single Tweet snowballed into a tornado of traffic. Or as I like to call it – a real life butterfly effect.

Read ‘Twitter and The Butterfly Effect’ at TwiTip.

Howdy partners. My guest blogging tour rolls on today over at SEO Scoop, where I’ve taken on a role as a regular contributor. I’ll be writing for the Scoop on a monthly basis from now on. My initial post tackles an important lesson in link building – it’s all about the quality baby! Indeed, I deconstruct the elements of a true high quality link.

Check out ‘The true formula for link building gold‘

It was a pleasure to guest blog for my Canadian friends over at Search Engine People today. The Search Engine People blog was one of the very first I ever added to my RSS reader and has remained compulsory reading ever since. What’s more Jeff, Ruud and the rest of the crew are amongst the most approachable A-listers on the Net. My post extends the social media mythbusting series I’ve been working on over the last month or so. This time I dispel the myth that customers are vengeful creatures desperately waiting for an opportunity to troll your business. To prove it I took on the painstaking task of analysing 150 user comments from 3 separate blogs to determine the negative comment ratio. I included the GM blog because I figured if anyone would be getting troll treatment right now, it’s GM. It was hard work, but the results are fascinating.

Read ‘Social media mythbusting – The customer’s gonna get me‘ now