04
2008
Flash - and why you shouldn’t use it
What is Flash Anyway?
Flash is a Macromedia technology used for animation. It was not necessarily conceived for the web (originally it was aimed at multimedia CD presentations) and it has a number of problems that makes it a poor solution for a web site. In my view, you can’t really call a Flash web site, a web site: it is more a presentation in a web browser.
Drawbacks to Flash
- A browser plugin is required to play the animation. The plugin is called Shockwave and about 5% of people do not have it installed and available to their browser. These people get a grey hole in their screen instead of your flash presentation.
- Search engines are blind to Flash. They can not read or infer anything about a flash web site. There is a program that can turn a Flash presentation into an HTML web site so it can be indexed by search engines, but you will be punished if you forward one audience (human) to the flash, the the other audience (machine) to the HTML. This is called “cloaking”, and will earn you much more than 10 minutes in the search engine sin bin.
- How strange is that “enter” or “skip intro” button. Weird huh? Just let me into the site, I want to get on with what I came here for! How many human hours are lost to making people click that button before they get anything useful.
- Companies tend to use Flash to present their brand ahead of the content on their site. While this may stroke their ego it does nothing for the casual visitor. Ask yourself the last time you really wanted to take a close look at a company logo rather than find out what they had on offer. Never right? Content always wins over eye candy.
- Flash can not easily be changed. You will have to return to the source to get text and images changed. Also, special tools are required. You can edit an HTML document in Notepad, the most basic text editor on your computer, but to change a Flash presentation you need a $700 program and many, many more hours. If you had some 20 something make your Flash web site, chances are they will have moved on by the time you need to return to them for changes.
- Finally Flash is an oxymoron. There is nothing flash about Flash. Most Flash web sites are very slow to load. They are useless to modem users.
Usability expert Jakob Nielsen has more to add in this article: Flash: 99% Bad
So What’s Good About It? People Use it, there must be Advantages?
Young designers (25 yrs and under) love Flash. It moves and makes sounds. As an experience it is closer to Television and beats boring old static web pages hands down, besides all you can do with a web page is read it and look at pictures right?
The best use I have seen of Flash is image viewing, like Simple Viewer and product display animations that allow the user to rotate the product, open or disassemble the pieces etc. In other words, the Flash is doing a specific function within a wider framework.
So is Flash ever any good?
Well, yes. If used judiciously, so as not to create a download burden and hide the site from search engines. Maybe to animate a logo or banner area, but not the whole page, and definitely no “enter” button.
Summary
As a web site owners you have to ask yourself is my web cool or tool. Should it entertain, or is there a serious function to perform. If you want to be taken seriously by humans and search engines, stay away from Flash. The Flash presentation as a web site will be more costly to maintain.
28
2008
Select the Best Keywords for Your Web Site
Find below Dynamic Web Solution’s easy three step program to select killer keywords for your website.
1. How to Find the Best Keywords or Search Terms
Firstly, find out what your competitors think are good keywords for your industry class or product type. They may be completely wrong, but it is worth checking and it only takes a few moments. Here’s how…
- Go to three of your closest competitor sites
- On the homepage go View > Source
- Look for two lines of code at the top of the page that look like <meta name=”description”… and <meta name=”keywords”…
- Make a short list of search terms you think are worthwhile
Now, go and test your short list of these keywords on www.keyworddiscovery.com. You will need an account to get basic results.
The example below is for the keywords “real estate”. Note how “las vegas real estate” is the second most searched on term with “real estate” in it. Who would have guessed?
Recap: looking at your competitor’s web sites and using a keyword discovery tool has a single purpose: to get real about what people are actually searching on. NOT what you think they are searching on, but what they are actually searching on. It is a litmus test. You are looking for synonyms to your search phrases.
Tip: the keywords you choose are not in fact words, but phrases. There are too many web pages that conform to a single word so people search using phrases.
2. How do I Add my Killer Keywords to My Web Site?
Much has been written on this topic, so what follows are broad principles and not specific instructions.
So, you have your shortlist of keyword phrases and you now need to work them into your web site in such a way as to make it 200% clear to search engines what your site is all about.
The thumbnail above expands to a full size screenshot. Note the the little flame icons. They show that:
- The <title> tag is glowing white hot. If you only do one thing, make sure each page of your web site has keywords in the title tag specific to that page. Many webpages are listed as “Untitled” in search engine results. These sites are missing the single biggest opportunity they have to present keywords phrases.
- The first link on your homepage is also burning hot for search engines. Try to include at least one keyword in it.
- The first main heading on your page (H1 or H2 tags) is burning hot. Tell those search engines what the page is about.
- The first para on the page is the one that introduces the subject of the page. It is cooler, but still very important. Add your keywords to it.
- Likewise, the closing para sums up the page. Put your keywords in it.
Recap: What does all this mean? It means that there are some parts of your page that are scrutinised more closely than others. Use this logic to present your keywords to search engines.
Tip:you are looking for 5% (not more) keyword density on your chosen phrase(s). Use www.keyworddensity.com to calculate your keyword density in relation to your competitor’s sites.
Tip 2: make sure your page is comprised of valid hypertext mark up. Go to http://validator.w3.org to make sure.
Tips 3:if your site is made with frames, get a web designer to rewrite it with tables or divs and css. Frames are old and out moded.
3. Evaluation: well, did it work?
To evaluate the success of the work above you need a ranking report. A ranking report takes your web address and chosen keyword phrase(s) and looks for your position or “ranking” on search engines.
There are free tools that do this like http://www.selfseo.com/serp_check.php but they tend to be blunt and not very helpful. If Dynamic Web Solutions made your web site, it is likely that we are submitting it to search engines and can give you a free emailed report of your search engine ranking on the leading search engines.
See a sample below (click to enlarge).
Summary:
- Compile a short list of keyword phrases you are going to target after researching competitor sites and using reverse look up tools like Keyword Discovery
- Work these keyword phrases into strategic parts of your web pages
- Review with ranking reports at 12 week intervals
If you have done the above, you will be clear what your objective is and you will have a subjective means of evaluating your progress.
This article was written by Peter Mitchell of Dynamic Web Solutions Pty Ltd
Copyright 2008
28
2008
Tips for Choosing a New Domain
by Sharon Housley
Choosing a domain is one of the first steps in establishing an online presence. Changing a domain after-the-fact can be time consuming, and can be harmful to search engine ranking, so it is best to get it right the first time around. Follow these simple steps to select a domain name that will represent your online brand…
1. Nice Neighborhood
Stick with .com or .net domains for businesses, .edu for schools, and .org for non-profit organizations. Some search experts say that any other extensions will have a more difficult time ranking well in the search engines.
2. Easy To Verbalize And Understand
Domain names should be easy to verbalize. Often in conversations, similar sounds are difficult to discern. Select a domain name that is clear and easy to understand without having to repeat it.
3. Easy To Spell
Select a domain that is easy to spell. Certain words can be spelled in a variety of ways, and this can cause confusion and result in people being unable to easily locate your website. Use a domain name that is intuitive and easy to spell.
4. Keep It Brief
Shorter domains are easy to remember, so if possible, avoid selecting a domain name that is excessively long. The domain name can not exceed 63 characters, and may consist of letters, numbers, and hyphens. If you decide on a hyphenated domain name, be sure to articulate it so that it is easily understood.
5. More Than One
Domains are reasonably inexpensive, so register multiple domain names that relate to your primary domain name. The additional domains can be permanently redirected to the main domain. Also, purchase domains that use common misspellings, plurals, or that alleviate any confusion. This way you will be sure to capture all of your traffic.
6. Extend It
Protect your brand by purchasing common extensions for your domain (ie. .net, .org, etc). And consider purchasing country extensions if you sell globally (ie. .uk, .au, .fr, etc).
7. Written Form
The written form of the domain should be clear and not cause unnecessary confusion. If the domain contains multiple words, make sure that the written form cannot be misinterpreted.
8. Make It Memorable.
Select a domain name that is easy for people to remember.
9. Related And Relevant
The domain name should relate to your core business. Building a brand does not end offline; brand continuity should encompass all aspects of your business, both online and offline. A related relevant domain should reinforce your brand and corporate identity.
10. Check Trademarks
As with any name, be sure to check carefully for trademark infringements. Do not take chances by infringing on another company’s brand. The extra effort might save you from a court case or hours of expensive legal maneuvering. Search the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov for any existing trademarks.
11. Brand vs Keywords
Many webmasters struggle with the decision to use a brand as their domain, or to incorporate keywords into their domain name in an effort to rank better in the search engines. The decision does not need to be absolute. Domains are inexpensive, and redirects are easy to set up, so there is no reason you can not purchase both brand and keyword domain names.
12. Location Specific
Unless you only serve a specific region, avoid using the location in the domain name. A geo-specific domain will limit a company’s ability to expand into other regions as it grows.
And before doing anything, use the database at Enetica to determine whether a desired domain name is actually available or not.
Selecting a domain name is an important step in establishing a web business. Take your time and think carefully about selecting a domain, as it will be the hallmark of your online presence.
About the Author
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.
25
2008
Link Your Website
Disclaimer: nothing that you read below has been confirmed or approved in any way by major search engines such as Google. At best it is a summary of what industry commentators say about successful linking strategies. Some of these have been tested, but many can not be proved with testing and must be considered speculation.
Introduction - life before Search Engines
Unbelieveably there was a time on the web when there were no search engines. So how did people find web sites? They traversed links from one site to another. This act became known as “surfing the web“, or “browsing the web”. Therefore, in the very first years of the world wide web, people who made web sites knew they had to both link out and get links into their web site.
This focus was lost as commercial interests quickly entered the Internet in the late 90’s and weren’t that keen on linking out to other sites for fearing losing traffic. Some even wanted to control who linked into them.
Today search engines strongly reward sites that have good links exiting and entering them. This is the reason why you should spend time cultivating links.
How to Find Good Inbound Links
Browse the web, its as simple as that. To break it down
- Go to a search engine and search on a topic close to or strongly related to your web site’s topic. In other words you are going to theme your links, i.e. group them by topic
- Find a number of sites you like and you believe would add value to your web site in the eyes of your users. If you have the Google tool bar installed, aim for sites with a 3, 4 or 5 page rank. If you do not have the Google tool bar, get it. You going to need it.
- Pen an email to the owner (or call them) and suggest a link trade between your site and theirs. Remember email can be caught in spam traps and can be easily ignored, so a call maybe more effective
- When they agree add their details to a spreadsheet of links you are forming (column headings could be date, web address, email address, date requested, spoke to, sent my link)
- Then check back in a few weeks and see if they have added your link. If not, send a reminder
Reverse Links
Finding out who is currently linking to you, and who linked to you after you approached them for a link is very simple. Go to www.yahoo.com and search on link:www.yourdomain.com.au. Obviously substitute yourdomain, with your domain name. You can do a similar search on Google, but inexplicably its results are no where near as comprehensive. Note also, that if you just use link:yourdomain.com.au you will get different results. If you only have a handful of reverse links, you are in trouble and need to address that as soon as possible.
How to Present your Outbound Links
There are two preferred ways to present your links on your link parter’s web site.
- You could just ask them to add a link under existing text in a para on their site
- or you could provide them with a para of text with your web site title above it in bold as the link
Two is the most common approach, as you get the opportunity of optimising the text around your link with further keywords. Follow up is going to be critical. People may agree quickly to give you a link and then do nothing. You will have to chase them.
Timeframe to Success
This is a good question, and it has two answers:
- the benefits of linking are immediate in the sense that you will get traffic from your link partner’s site as soon as they upload the page with your link on it and their site visitors can see it. The volume of this traffic depends on how busy their site is. If it is an obscure resource with a low page rank, then the benefit will be minimal but if it is a high trafic site, you will get a share of that traffic.
- the benefits of linking in terms of the SERPs are less immediate. A 9 to 12 month period is minimum. So the sooner you start the sooner you get results.
How Many Links Should I Get?
The short answer is as many as you can. Another short answer may be, many more than your best competitor. A dozen links may get your site on the radar. Twenty links will start your ascent on the SERPs, 60 to 100 and your are starting the blitz your competition and look very important in the eyes of search engines.
Tip: do not add more than 60 links per page as this page may be consider spam to the search engines.
So What Does Google say About its Search Engine?
Google is not completely silent on it’s search engine. It publishes guidelines to webmasters and summary information about it’s technology. It does not however confirm specific strategies that webmaster may believe to be effective. Interestingly the main thrust of Google’s comments is to focus on your content: create great, compelling content and they will reward you. In other words, make your web site good for your human audience and we will do the rest.
In my experience as a web developer, I know that the hardest thing for people to create is compelling content. It is a challenge. One well worth pursuing though.
Should I Pay for Links?
Obviously the process described above is lengthy and requires ongoing attention. Like a garden, you have to tend it. If you find that you are not securing 3 or 4 links each month, you should outsource this task.
A warning though, if you outsource you will not have hands on control, or any oversight of who your site links to and who links back to you. This will be in the link traders hands.
Similarly, you should NOT pay for any single inbound link unless the person offering it for sale can demonstrate to you that it is worth the price they are asking for it. Your web stats will tell you if the link you are considering buying is worth it. With web stats you will be able to monitor all inbound traffic. If you get 50 hits a month from their site, and your Google adsense click through price is .50 cents, dont pay more than $25.00 per month
Is That It?
By no means, there are many more things you can do to “optimise” your site for search engines. Links are important though, and you have to cover this early. Other ideas and issues concerning optimisation will be included in this blog.
Glossary
SERPS, search engine results pages, that is the results that come up when you use Google and Yahoo. This screen has “sponsored” or paid for ads on it and “natural” results.
PageRank, this is a Google trademarked tecnology, according to Google
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important”.
Optimisation is the process of analysing a web site for the prominance of its chosen keywords and then maximising the prevalence of these keywords throughout a web site. It also includes a good in and out bound linking strategy. Keyword analysis is covered elsewhere in this blog: see Keyword Effectiveness Index or KEI,
This article was written by Peter Mitchell of Dynamic Web Solutions Pty Ltd
Copyright 2008
16
2008
Quick And Easy Keyword Research Tools
by Michael J. Taylor
For a number of years, the Overture Keyword Suggestion tool was the favorite of Internet marketers. That tool has been decommissioned…though you can still find marketing advice that recommends the Overture Keyword tool.
Keyword research is still needed for both marketers and writers. So, with the Overture tool’s passing, where are we to turn for our keywords? Here are three excellent keyword resources. Two of these will supply you with keywords. The other one will help you determine the commercial potential of the keywords you find.
Wordtracker’s Free Keyword Tool
www.dmpage.com/go/wordtracker
Simply enter a keyword and the free Wordtracker tool will return a list of up to 100 related keywords. You can click on the keywords it finds to narrow your list. For example, if you enter the very general term ‘water’, Wordtracker will return a long list of keywords related to water. If you’re hunting for keywords having to do with water pollution, you would click that keyword phrase and Wordtracker would return a list of keywords related to water pollution.
Trellian’s Free Keyword Discovery Tool
www.dmpage.com/go/keyword-discovery
As with the free Wordtracker tool, just enter your keyword. You’ll also need to enter a simple code provided on the search form. This code is used to prove that you’re a human and not an automated computer process. The Trellian free Keyword Discovery Tool is limited to 100 keyword results.
These two keyword power-tools are helpful…they can help you build huge lists of keywords. But, if your goal is to generate the kind of traffic that puts money in your bank account, you’ll need to dig a little deeper to know if a keyword has commercial potential. That’s where MSN comes in. The next keyword tool you must have is MSN’s Detecting Online Commercial Intention tool.
Detecting Online Commercial Intention
www.dmpage.com/go/commercial-intention
This tool can evaluate a web page or a keyword phrase. When you submit your keyword phrase, it will grade it as either commercial or non-commercial. The non-commercial grade indicates the searcher is probably looking for information, rather than getting ready to make a purchase.
A commercial grade shows that a purchase may be on the searcher’s mind. This is a very handy tool, as it helps narrow down the keyword choices you have and points the way to more profitable online marketing campaigns.
Of course, just like any other tool on the Internet, the results won’t guarantee a flood of traffic or even sales. But in the crowd of free keyword tools, it’s light years beyond anything else.
About the Author
Michael J. Taylor publishes dmpage.com - a direct marketing news page. For late-breaking news affecting your place in the world of direct marketing and Internet marketing, visit www.dmpage.com today.
16
2008
SEO - The Basics You Should Know
by Alan Lim
SEO is the acronym for search engine optimization. This title refers to the process of improving the page ranking of your web site through careful use of keywords, keyword placement and links to and from other web sites.
What is it?
SEO is a carefully created method of improving the probability of your web page appearing on the results page of a search engine query. The nearer to the top of the search engine results page your web site appears, the more likely that searchers will click on the link to your web site and go on to purchase the product or service you represent. You can perform search engine optimization yourself, or hire an expert to do it for you. There are approved ways to improve your standing and ways that can get you banned. It’s important that you do the optimization correctly to avoid getting your web site shut down.
Who needs it?
Any small business owner with products or services advertised online should make the effort to optimize their web site so as to achieve the best results when the search engine spiders visit your site. There are SEO algorithms that are used that are generally proprietary and different search engines look for different components in order to determine the rank of the specific web page. Naturally, each web site owner wants to achieve the highest possible page ranking for the products or services that are displayed on the web site. Getting your page ranking as near to the top of the search results as possible gives you more web browsers seeing your link.
How to get the best results
The best results for SEO is to determine the specific algorithm used by a particular search engine and write your web site to use the best possible mix of keywords, links, and placement so as to improve your ranking. Attention should be paid to using the keywords or keyword phrases correctly. Not only the number of times they are used, but in what context they are used. Even the placement of keywords on the page is important for best results. Another factor that is important is that of links to other web pages.
How does SERP apply?
SEO best results are returned on the SERP or Search Engine Results Page. When a searcher on the internet uses terms in a search engine query box, the search engine returns results on a page called the Search Engine Results Page. This can be a few links up to thousands of links, but few searchers look beyond the first page or two of results, since the results often are less relevant as you move further down the page. The ranking of your web page up toward the top of the list is what can increase your sales significantly.
Page rankings
Page rankings are the somewhat arbitrary number assigned to web pages based on the SEO results identified by the search engine spiders or robots. Each major search engine relies on a different algorithm for ranking, although there are similarities between the three major search engines, MSN. Yahoo and Google. The goal of search engine optimization techniques is to have the web page appearing on the first page of search results for the specific query.
About the Author
Optimization techniques and resources information can be found at Search Engine Marketing or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the goal of each business and web site owner in order to increase the sales revenue for the product or service.
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