Archive for the ‘Search Engine Marketing’ Category

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Matt Cutts Interview – The Hidden Text Argument is Over

July 29th, 2008

I found this interview with Matt Cutts very interesting. Even after all of the backlash about Goolge’s section 508 compliance, it seems as though the debate about “hidden text” on a website is a confirmed killer of PageRank. For the last few years, there have been debates about the use of the hidden jump menu’s and other tactics used by Black Hatters and White Hatters, either way you choose to go, here it is from the horses mouth. Use hidden text at your own peril.

I also enjoyed the comment he made about Niche sites and starting small. I have been preaching that for years. Every time I have a client come in and say “I want to be #1 on Google when someone types in xxx”, I have to explain this.

Also, pay attention to the end of the interview when Matt is asked what he would do if he had more time on his hands.

Enjoy!

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Posted in Business, Computer Technology, Google News, Multimedia Syndication, SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Video Diaries and Webisodes, Web Design, Web Marketing, Website Planning

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Adobe Flash is now Search Engine Friendly!

July 1st, 2008

Big news in the web development world today. Adobe released a statement saying that it has been working with Search Engine engineers and they started to release algorithms that are searching for and indexing content in Flash based web content. Here is a blog post from Google on the matter.

What does this mean?
It means that you are going to start seeing more Flash content features and full-blown websites. Up until now, developers have had to use frames, alternate content and other forms of trickery to get their flash based content indexed in search engines, not anymore.

The iPhone and Mobile dilema
Unfortunately, with the current world-wide push to mobile devices such as the iPhone, which does not currently support Flash, Flash based web content will still need to be used with a caveat that a customer will be segregating their website from mobile users. Developers can still use sniffers and alternate content but, why? The ability to auto-scale Flash on a development level has been out for years. I really hope Apple opens its eyes on this and the issue of mobile TV. Time will tell. Do I even need to mention the issue of forcing customers to use AT&T?

The 3 Year Rule
Typically, engineers and developers are ~3 years ahead of consumers so, my hope is that in the next 3 years, the mobile players realize that we all like really cool websites with VIDEO and FLASH. Plain text might be cool to the WC3 but, consumers want eye candy. Visit the new Diablo 3 website for a recent example of some nicely done flash and video work. That is what I want my internet to be. What do you think?

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Posted in Adobe, Flash, Google News, SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Design, Windows Mobile

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The Long Tail

May 30th, 2008

Due to our extensive experience building custom search engine friendly websites, and an ever-growing consumer demand for ecommerce website design, I find myself explaining The Long Tail concept a lot. Whenever I repeat the same advice 3 times in one week, it’s time for a blog post so, here we go.

This very simple concept was first coined by Chris Anderson in an article written for Wired Magazine in 2004.

As desribed on Wikipedia, The Long Tail means that the distribution and inventory costs of businesses allow them to realize significant profit out of selling small volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers, instead of only selling large volumes of a reduced number of popular items. The group of persons that buy the hard-to-find or “non-hit” items is the customer demographic called the Long Tail. » More: The Long Tail

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Posted in Computer Technology, SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tutorials, Web Marketing, Website Planning

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Make my Website #1 in Google!

May 14th, 2008

A good Search Engine Optimization or SEO strategy takes time, money and commitment.

I get asked for advice on making websites come up higher in search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and MSN all the time. There is no one-size fits-all solution for this, if there were, everyone would be #1.

Simply put, Search Engine Optimization or SEO comes down to content (text) and structure (code).

When a client comes to Delaware.Net, Inc. for custom website design, we ask a lot of very pointed questions, we save the answers to those questions for later in our conversation and for the overall development of the website. » More: Make my Website #1 in Google!

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Posted in Anecdotal, Business, SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tutorials, Web Marketing, Website Planning

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Website Content Organization

April 11th, 2008

Like you, I often visit websites that overwhelm me with options. I had a client show me this website the other day and it’s a great example of how not to organize your website content.

At a glance, I can see that this site has been built on-the-fly and no clear plan was developed for the continued growth of the site. Sites such as this are notorious for getting pretty large over time due to the range of services and information they provide. When a customer comes to us, we like to develop a plan to deal with the immediate needs they have and develop a comprehensive strategy for dealing with the inevitable growth of the website over time. I think we are all familiar with the saying, “the only thing constant in life, is change”.

How would I fix the mbon.org website?
I could recommend about a dozen simple fixes for the site but, for the sake of brevity and to stay within the topic of this article, I will stick to the content structure. » More: Website Content Organization

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Posted in Anecdotal, Business, SEM, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Tutorials, Web Design, Web Marketing

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