This is a demo website created with the Thesis to show you, among other things, an effective SEO strategy for linking categories and content. When you click each menu tab category you’ll be taken to that category’s main page. Once there, you’ll see some content and links to additional articles related to that category.

The Site Navigation Chart from SEOmoz illustrates the best way to set up the navigation for a website, not only for your visitors but also for SEO purposes. At the top of the chart is the home page, the second tier is the categories, the third tier represents content pages linked from the category pages, and the fourth tier represents additional articles linked from the content pages.

The internal linking of this demo follows this structure but goes down only as far as the third level.  So what we have here on the demo site is the home page, linked to 4 category pages by way of the menu, and 3 pieces of content linked from each category for a total of 17 pages.

All of the category menu tabs work but I used dummy links to the articles on the category pages because I think you get my drift. And instead of writing dummy content I’ve used this space to illustrate some of the topics covered in the ebook. On the Cheese and Fruit category page, for example, there’s a tutorial on how to format a website with WordPress

Since the site is not live and not being indexed by the search engines the comments section, social networking buttons, and RSS feed have been disabled. And I didn’t want to test Google’s patience either by placing AdSense ads on a dead site.

However, if it were live, you would see at the very least a 728 x 90 AdSense banner right before the content or, preferably, one of the large (300 x 250) AdSense rectangles where the Thesis ad is located. You could also change this layout from 1 to 2 columns (or 3 if you want) and place an AdSense 160 x 600 ad to the right or left of the content.

The type of site discussed in the ebook and demonstrated here is informational and monetized primarily by AdSense. But there are plenty of opportunities for affiliate sales with featured products, product review pages, links in the content to affiliate products, seasonal merchandise, and numerous holiday celebrations on which to capitalize. And if you’re interested in an ecommerce site, there’s an add-on to Thesis for that too.

All told, this mock up took about 2½ hours to create only because I couldn’t stop experimenting with different color combinations. The header is home-made and looks it, but there’s no point in spending $50 for a demo header.

One of the primary purposes of a home page is to have an excuse to repeat the home page keywords as often as possible for the search engine robots. Here’s a blurb I adapted from a gift basket site to show you what I mean.

You’ll also see a second method of internal linking below which is used to pass PageRank from one page to another. Note that I used the primary keyword phrase of the page I was linking to as the anchor text (the clickable part of the link). Using targeted keywords as anchor text adds search engine relevance to the link.

Meat and Cheese Gift Baskets delivers the finest quality gifts to discerning customers across America. From the beginning, we were determined to deliver satisfaction to every home. You’ll discover that same determination to please you in everything we do.

Browse the Meat and Cheese collection and you’ll find the best of the Heartland, delicious dairy cheeses, fabulous smokehouse meats, specialty gift baskets – and just wait until you taste our House Recipe Cheese Spreads made from quality grade cheese!

Meat and Cheese Gift Baskets will make your life easier with great values and fun and functional items for you, your home, and your friends and family.

Whatever the occasion, Meat and Cheese Gift Baskets has the perfect gift – and it’s just a click or a phone call away! We’ll package it carefully and send it out to arrive in perfect time, anywhere in the USA!