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    Why Flash is still a problem in 2009

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    Flash is less of a problem for search engines, but there are still caveats. Flash’s problems can be easily mitigated by offering footer links, and regular html text content on any pages with flash. It’s only an issue when no alternative content or navigation is offered. Here’s the longer story: Flash’s problems depend on the implementation: If developers do not implement Flash detection, pages can appear broken to visitors. They leave the site and/or do not convert to prospects/leads/sales. If flash detection is done poorly, it can be seen as cloaking to search engines – which is returning different content for search engines than for visitors. This is rare, but possible. If flash is the sole navigation for search engines and human visitors to follow, search engines cannot spider the site. This is the kiss of death you’ve probably heard about. Some claim it isn’t a problem any more because: Adobe has implemented better accessibility in the last few versions. But these links are still hard to follow and rarely rank well in the engines. MSN/LIVE has enough problems with HTML links, and probably will not find the content. Also, the landing page where visitors would land sometimes doesn’t show properly – it could be a part of a flash animation that doesn’t load, etc. Google made a deal with flash that allows flash to be crawled more easily. But again, these links are still hard to follow and rarely rank well in the engines. Google seems to be looking more for hidden redirects and other black hat techniques with their Adobe API deal. So what can you do to make sure your content is accessible to search engines, and seen as a valuable landing page for organic search visitors? Nothing beats good old fashioned HTML: Links that can be followed, and relevant keywords marking the content from it’s anchor text and title tags down to it’s keyword density.

    4 Places to find keywords for your SEO / PPC campaigns

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    What is an SEO or PPC campaign without the right keywords? Great keyword targets have a good amount of traffic, and a hopefully small amount of competition. Before you can even start measuring such things, however, you must create a broad list of keywords. Here’s where to start: 1. Keyword research  / suggestion services Services like WordTracker, KeywordDiscovery and even Google Suggest can give a great idea of the traffic surrounding certain keywords, as well as the variations of keywords a site should target. 2. Analytics / Statistics If you currently have analytics or web visitor statistics on your website, it is very helpful to look at how existing customers have found your site. If you haven’t loaded Google Analytics, it is quite easy – and free! 3. Brainstorming / Asking customers Great keywords can also be found, just be interviewing current customers with “How did you find us?” Even a quick glance at your business plan can lead you to a few new ideas on how prospective customers might find you. 4. Competitors Competitor websites can be a treasure trove of keywords. Scan their source code for a keywords metatag, if present. Also look at the keywords in their page titles by searching google for: site:competitor.com These four methods should lead you to plenty of keywords for your next campaign.

    Denver SEMPO Meetup / Denver SEO Meetup

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    Why travel outside of Denver for great SEO and Search Engine Marketing events? Last week saw great attendance at the new Denver SEMPO Meetup (Created by the members of SEMPO’s Colorado Working Group). This week’s Denver SEMPO meetup was an excellent educational program provided by Jim Brown, Online Marketing guru for Quark (of QuarkXPress fame). The presentation focused on opportunities in Social Media. Jim provided great information regarding Twitter, Facebook, and Facebook ads. While his presentation was friendly to all audiences, even seasoned Denver SEO professionals left with a new trick or two. And most valuable were the brand ambassador experiences Jim relayed to the group. The Denver SEO Meetup followed, just a few blocks away. Many members attended both meetup groups. The Denver SEO Meetup is not an educational program, but a social function – founded our our President Jim Kreinbrink. Many notable SEO professionals regularly attend, but Search Marketing, Advertising, and Affiliate marketing professionals are also frequenting the meetup. Several SEOs noticed glitches in running Google ranking reports for clients that week, and it was nice to exchange what was working and not working in small informal conversations. Of course, don’t come to the Denver SEO Meetup hoping to learn all about SEO: It’s a more relaxing networking function, not an educational opportunity. With SEO / SEM knowledge and professional networking available in here in Colorado, why travel to search marketing and ad industry conferences every weekend?

    9 ways Google is discovering the invisible web

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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.

    SES Denver 2008: Search Engine Strategies is coming

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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.

    Social Media Optimization: Important Real Estate

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    If you haven’t setup profiles for your organization on the larger social media websites, you might be missing out on an important opportunity for branding and online reputation management. 1. Branding URLs exist on many social media websites Major companies are increasingly spreading URLs like http://myspace.com/microsoft in their marketing campaigns, and these destinations have become important virtual real estate. Losing control of such a visible page location could damage a company’s online reputation and negatively influence branding campaigns. 2. Social Media destinations may be difficult to reclaim Myspace urges users to choose their profile destination wisely, saying it can NEVER be changed. That’s right – NEVER. If you are the first Corey Ryder or David Soard on a social media site, then you are the first. I think that’s more of a function of customer service than technology, but expect it to be a lengthy process possibly involving lawyers if you ever want to change your name. It’s much better now to spend an hour creating profiles on social media websites. And while you’re there, take a look around. Did your competitors think to create their profiles? 3. Think carefully about your brand before adding content As important as it is to claim your profiles, be careful of the message your profile may send. A local telecommunications company had “Does not want children” in their myspace profile. Not only is this harmful to the brand, but also detracts from the main message. And remember: archive.org makes anything posted on the internet live FOREVER. With new social media websites popping up everyday, where should you focus? Make a list of social media websites where your branding is most important. What sites would your potential customers and partners visit? What sites have the most visibility? Now that you have your list, spend that Friday afternoon staking your claims – your online reputation will thank you!