Denver SEO Blog: Web Development, SEO & Marketing

After a major website redesign, it’s not uncommon for page locations and even page extensions to change. Maybe you’ve switched web development languages, or changed your website’s structure into a SEO friendly themed set of silos. Whatever the reason page locations have changed, it’s vital that the old page locations are 301 redirected to the appropriate new pages.

It’s time sensitive for the developers to make the change, as:
1. Pages will start dropping out of the index (Google hates sending visitors to bad pages, and can see the bounce rate skyrocket). When Googlebot comes to visit your site, it will probably receive a “404 Error Page” as well as a 404 HTTP error code. A 404 error code is the surefire way to get a page out of Google’s index.

2. Humans that have bookmarked the old page will be stranded. Depending on the 404 error page (Your server’s default is simply awful), your loyal return visitor may think the entire site is down.

3. Search engines will stop counting the power of the links coming into broken pages, and rankings will drop. Search engines do not count links to missing pages. The wonderfully diverse link profile you’ve built over the years can disappear as links to subpages are no longer counted.

4. Webmasters linking into subpages might notice the 404 and remove their links. Some webmasters routinely monitor where they are linking to, and remove links to broken destinations.

Don’t make the most common of 301 redirect errors: Sending everything to the home page. to preserve a diverse link profile, you’ll want to keep those links spread naturally across your site’s homepage AND subpages.

Happy 301 redirecting!

Tags: website development, denver web development, search engine optimization, website design, denver web design, seo

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Hyper Dog Media is presenting a day long Search Marketing Presentation in Las Animas, Colorado on February 6, 2009. Three sessions will cover the basics of Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click Advertising, and a revolutionary “Solutions Clinic” – providing quick fixes to attendees’ websites in real time.

The first session, Search Engine Optimization, addresses increasing web site rankings in Google, Yahoo, and more. SEO is all about helping the search engines see and understand the content of your website. Search engines want to be successful in directing visitors to quality destinations, and SEO should be focused on connecting with the right visitors.

The second session focuses on targeting potential customers with PPC (Pay Per Click) and other advertising. It’s possible to waste enormous amounts of money on Pay Per Click advertising networks like Google AdWords. this session will show how to make your limited budget work most efficiently for your business.

The third session builds on the first two. The Solution Clinic is for businesses that already have a web site and want real time evaluation and solutions for their site. Bring your hosting information, and we might just be able to fix it on the spot!

The training is sponsored by Southeast Business Retention, Expansion, and Attraction. For more information or to register, call the SEBREA office at 719-336-1523.

Tags: seo, denver web development, search engine optimization, denver web design, website design, website development

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There are many parts of the web that Googlebot has not been able to access, but Google has been working to shrink that. Google wants to find content, and while many webmasters do not make it easy, Googlebot finds a way.

1. Crawling flash!
Adobe announced today that they have released technology and information to Google and Yahoo enabling them to crawl flash files. It may take the search engines some time before they are able to integrate and implement these abilities, but a time is coming where rich media is less of a liability. I wonder if MSN/Live was left out to prevent them from reverse engineering Flash for their new silverlight competitor? At any rate, MSN is still working on accessing text links, so let’s not swamp them.

2. Crawling forms
Googlebot recently started filling out forms on the web in an attempt to discover content hidden behind jump menus and other forms. See our previous article if you’d like to keep Google out of your forms.

3. Working with Government entities to make information more accessible
A year or so ago, Google started providing training to government agencies to assist them in getting their information onto the web. I’m assuming much of the information has been hidden by URLs with large amounts of parameters.

4. Crawling JavaScript
Many menus and other dynamic navigation features have been created in JavaScript, and googlebot has started crawling those as well. Instead of relying on webmasters to provide search friendly navigation, Google is finally getting to access sites created by neophyte webmasters that haven’t been paying attention.

5. Google’s patent to read text in images
Google also knows many newbie webmasters use text buttons for navigation. By attempting to read text in images, the Googlebot will once again be able to open up previously inaccessible areas of a site.

6. Inbound links
Of course, Googlebot has always been great at following inbound links to new content. Much of the invisible web has been discovered just through humans linking to a previously unknown resource.

7. Submission
Of course, you can always submit a page location of currently invisible content to Google. This is usually the slowest way, especially compared to inbound links.

8. Google toolbar visits, analytics
Recently, many Denver SEO professionals have noticed links being indexed that have not been submitted. The only plausible explanation was that Google has been mining it’s toolbar and analytics for information about new URLs. Be careful – Google is watching and sees all!

9. Sitemap.xml files
The somewhat new stemap.xml protocol is very helpful for webmasters and googlebots alike in getting formerly invisible content into google’s hands.

Tags: search engine optimization, website development, denver web design, denver web development, website design, seo

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SES is coming to Denver early next week. Search Engine Strategies is one of the most important Search Marketing conferences, and the May event seems particularly tuned for small business needs. The two tracks of training are:

Track A:
Local Search Engine Marketing 101
Advanced Keyword Research

Track B:
Search Engine Optimization Workshop
How to Effectively Use Social Media for Search Marketing Campaigns

Of course, the track you should choose depends highly upon your own search marketing goals. I encourage any small business owners to attend SEO training whenever possible. When implemented correctly, Search Engine Optimization can yield a tremendous return on investment.

Tags: seo, search engine optimization, website design, denver web development, denver web design, website development

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Google has recently decided to let it’s Googlebot crawl through forms in an effort to index the “Deep Web”. There are numerous stories about wayward crawlers deleting and changing content through submitting forms, and it’s about to get worse. Googlebot is about to start submitting forms in an effort to get to your website’s deeper data. So what’s a web developer to do?

1. Use GET and POST requests correctly
Use GET requests in forms to look up information, use POST requests to make changes. Google will only be crawling forms via GET requests, so following this “Best Practice” for forms is vital.

2. Make sure your POST forms do not respond to GET requests
It sounds so simple, but many sites are being exploited for XSS (Cross Site Scripting) vulnerabilities because they respond (and return HTML) to both GET and POST requests. Be sure to check your form input carefully on the backend, and for heaven’s sake – do not use globals!

3. Use robots.txt to keep robots OUT
robots.txt file keeps Googlebot out of where it doesn’t belong. Luckily, Googlebot will continue it’s excellent support of robots.txt directives when it goes crawling through forms. Be sure not to accidentally restrict your website too much, however. Keep the directives simple, excluding by directory if possible. And test, test, test in Google’s Webmaster Tools!

4. Use robots metatag directives
Using the robots metatag directives for more refined control. We recommend “nofollow” and “noindex” directives for both the form submission page and search results pages you want Google to stay out of, even though Google says disallowing the form submission page is enough. Consider using tags and category pages that are Google friendly instead.

5. Use a CAPTCHA where possible
Googlebot isn’t going to fill out a CAPTCHA, so it’s an easy way to make sure some bot isn’t filling out your form.

Googlebot is, of course, the nicest bot you can hope to have visit your website. This provides a chance to secure forms and take necessary precautions before other – not so polite – bots visit your forms.

Tags: denver web design, website design, website development, search engine optimization, denver web development, seo

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Hyper Dog Media is providing Search Engine Optimization tips at the Association of Strategic Marketing’s upcoming seminar. The full agenda includes information from experts in PPC (Pay Per Click), Web Analytics, and more:
Proven Strategies for Improving Your Search Engine Marketing

Are you optimizing your greatest asset? Website content is an essential part of online success. Help search engines see the relevance of your pages, articles, press releases and more. Learn to identify and target ranking opportunities with titles, headings, bolding and additional techniques. Also, HTML can be used to communicate the relevance of your website and content to search engines. You don’t need to be an HTML whiz either!

Once you have the content, you must know how to maximize your search engine exposure. Find out how aggressive search engine submission may harm your ability to get into Google’s listings, as well as modern strategies on how to get your site indexed safely. Learn how to take an active role in getting pages indexed quickly in the major search engines as you add new content. Finally, links from other websites are an important source of traffic and search rankings. Several kinds of links will be discussed and you are sure to leave with new link building ideas!

5 reasons to attend!

• Translate the user experience to all online channels
• Learn about online measurement and analytics tools
• Use your SEM campaign to maximize your ROI
• Ensure you are paying for profitable clicks
• Discover 26 sources of links to target

BONUS! Free manual with registration

Hope to see you there!

Tags: website design, seo, website development, denver web design, search engine optimization, denver web development

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It takes many different web development / programming skill sets for a successful internet marketing project. For any website to be successful on the web, it requires a combination of stunning web design, usability, web conversion, bulletproof web development, search engine optimization, and project management. A failure at any of these points can destroy the potential of any internet marketing project. The roles each require very specialized skills:

Web Design
Web designers are popping up everywhere these days, but it is still very hard to find website designers who have stunning artistic and layout skills and just enough web knowledge to make it all work. Implementing some designs on the web can be impossible. It’s important to have a web designer who understands the limits and potential of each web technology. Web designers must also know enough CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to create web friendly designs that will look great in any web browser.

Usability
Usability is very important to any website. Web site visitors must be able to understand the navigate the site. Most usability professionals are not great designers, but have a knack at understanding human behavior and expectations on web sites. Having a site that is highly usable encourages repeat visits – or “stickiness”.

Conversion
Web site conversion is a very important consideration: How do YOU want visitors to use the site? Web site visitors should be eased and encouraged to follow a “desired action” on your website. The action might be to purchase a product, send an email, sign up for a newsletter, or even pickup the phone. Having a great website is still pointless if it does not drive sales, lead capture, or some other desired action.

Web Development
Web developers are programmers. They create programs that allow interaction with human visitors, like shopping carts, RSS Feeds, image uploading and more. Web development requires a tremendous skill set that is always in need of expansion and updating. Web development languages like PHP, Perl, Flash Actionscript, and the many Java technologies require constant upkeep and training as they develop.

Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is a set of guidelines, technologies and procedures for ranking well in search engines. The first step is determining which keywords can drive quality traffic to the website. What are prospective visitors searching for? Search engine optimization (SEO) specialists research keywords and optimize the pages to show how relevant the site is to visiting search engines. Denver SEO Specialists are skilled at showing the natural relevance of pages and securing better search rankings. Since many search engines also weigh the amount and quality of links to a website, SEO firms will often create and request links from other websites.

Social Media Optimization
With the creation of social media websites like myspace, digg, facebook and friendster, websites have an opportunity to capture amazing amounts of targeted web visitors. With millions of searches starting on myspace, it has become an important opportunity for certain niches. There is a social media website for nearly every niche, however. Finding the correct niche full of prospective buyers can drive tremendous amounts of sales.

Project Management
Project management allows all of the other skill sets to shine. By communicating between clients and the other roles, the project manager helps balance the many roles in the project with the client’s needs. They also serve as the point of contact for many the many questions and deadlines involved in the project.

In sum, any great web development project requires a diverse skill set. A balance between the roles is equally important, never sacrificing usability for design, or design for search engine optimization.

Tags: website design, denver web development, search engine optimization, website development, seo, denver web design

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