Archive for the 'Search / SEO, SEM' Category
Google Caffeine
Google just got fresher and faster with the release of their new indexing system, Caffeine. In short, old Google indexing = built with layers that would get refreshed at varying frequencies and result in content often not updated for days or weeks. New Google indexing (Caffeine) = analyzes smaller chunks of the web and updates continuously; so content is much fresher!
SEO Part 4, Progressive Enhancement (for Rich Content Search)
The concept of Progressive Enhancement with regards to SEO implementation is easy to understand. Basically, you start by creating a base experience – which any user, using any browser, with any connection, can access the content of. Then, while still accessing the identical content (this is key), you change the presentation (aka “chrome”) to provide greater functionality and design features for users who have more robust systems (i.e. more browser functionality, faster connections, etc.) In other words, “progressively enhance” the experience depending on the user’s capabilities; this way we don’t leave anyone out AND we don’t sacrifice creativity, functionality or experience.
Why is this important for SEO? Because search engines only see the base experience – they can’t understand fancy Javascript or CSS and they cannot see into complex binary files (Flash, video, images) . Therefore, we can use this method to create an experience for everyone to see, including any browser, search engine or mobile device as well as devices used for disability (line readers).
So how does it work?
1). Follow Web Dev Best Practices. First, start by architecting your site with standard web dev design principals in mind: specifically, separating the content (copy, images, movies, etc.) from the presentation (HTML, CSS, Flash). For SEO, it is extremely important that the presentation is the only thing that “changes” based on the user’s system. For example, if you serve different content to the user than what you show the search engine, you run the risk of getting banned by the search engine for cloaking.
2). Base Presentation. Use semantic HTML. Remember in part 3 of my SEO discussion I mention using semantic HTML? This is how our base experience is created and, (without any styling, it may not look “pretty”) it is what the search engine and screen readers will “see.”
3). Improved Presentation. Add CSS to give the base experience some life (using the same data source as the base experience). Ideally, your CSS can be device specific. For example, using the “media” property, you can define styles for screen or print. Now things start too look nice. For example:
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="styles.css"/>
4). Rich Presentation. Add rich content/functionality. Flash, Silverlight, AJAX, DHTM – using the same data source as the base experience.
5). Show the user the appropriate presentation. Using SWFObject() (for example), we can detect if the user has Flash installed and show him/her the corresponding version of the presentation:
- Search Engine, Screen Reader, User with no Javascript == gets Base Presentation
- User with no Flash, Mobile device == gets Improved Presentation
- User with Flash == gets Rich Rich Presentation
The code could look like this:
<head>
<!--snip-->
<script type="text/javascript" src="/script/SWFObject.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<!--non-Flash visitors-->
<div id="non-flash" align="center">
<p>Non Flash Content goes here...make sure it is the exact same
content that is read in by the Flash application</p>
</div>
<!-- Flash visitors-->
<script type="text/javascript">
var hasFlash = new SWFObject("myFlash.swf",
"flash", "680", "390", "5", "#3a403c");
hasFlash.write("flash");
</script>
As you can see, a simple <div> is created to wrap the non-Flash content. Then, using SWFObject, we detect the user’s Flash player, create a new SWFObject, and embed our Flash swf. The search engine will ignore the javascript/SWFObject/Flash stuff, and only recognize and index the non-Flash content. Be sure that the non-Flash content is identical to the content that Flash uses.
The ideal approach would be to create a page-centric structure for your Flash and non-Flash content and build the Flash application to support deep links (links that go to a specific page/section within your Flash app). For example, as the search engine (or non-Flash user) navigates from page to page within the HTML site, the Flash site mirrors with the same page/content. As the HTML content is what is “understood” from the Search engine POV, it (the search engine) will create it’s links to the HTML “page” based on the user’s search query. Therefore, you want to point the user to the same page within the Flash site. Example: your site talks about “German Shepards” only in the “dog” section of the site. When a user searches for “German Shepards”, you want to create a URL that takes the searcher straight to that section of the site. This can be done via query string or even folder structures/page names that create deep links into your Flash site. Example:
1). Google search for “German Shepards”
2). Returns URL: www.mysite.com?page=dogs
3). www.mysite.com/dogs is a HTML page that contains all the copy (in HTML) related to the dog section, as well as a deep-link instruction for the Flash app.
4). Within the Flash app, the deep link parameter (dog) is consumed and triggers the app to load the dog page.
Another interesting tool, and one that avoids the chance for abuse/cloaking altogether, is called sIFR. It reads the HTML content on the page, and automatically creates Flash files of that content to embeds on the page. Therefore, it is not possible to serve one piece of content to the search engine and a different piece of content to the user. However, sFIR can only be used on small headlines and simple text. It is not able to recreate elaborate animations or menus, etc.
No commentsSearch: SEO (rich content) p3, The Basics
Before we dive in to the technical details around SEO for rich content, lets first cover off on the basic items that must get addressed regardless of presentation layer technologies.
- Create your keywords. These are the words that you believe potential “seekers” of your site/product/service will be searching for. For example, if you have a chiropractic practice in the Bay Area called Doctor Smith D.C., that specializes in cold laser therapy, good keyword options would be “Bay Area”, “chiropractic”, “cold laser therapy”. Words like “doctor” and “smith” may be too general.
- URL(‘s). Does your URL describe your site? www.smithchiropractic.com, is preferred over www.drsmith.com. The overall folder structure and naming conventions of the site should also follow this: www.smithchiropractic.com/services/cold-laser-therapy/how-it-works. Be sure to use a dash ‘-’ instead of an underscore ‘_’ to separate words in a URL. The search engine will use dashes to retain the wording structure, and this will help it understand your site content and provide better indexing:
= services cold laser therapy how it works
Meanwhile, underscores are removed and all words become slapped together and rather meaningless:
= servicescoldlasertherapyhowitworks - Use Semantic HTML.
<h1>My Content Title</h1> vs. <span class=”header1″>My Content Title</span> - Use of standard HTML tags.
- <title> Using a descriptive title tag is probably the single most important SEO thing to check off and it doesn’t matter if you are building a traditional HTML-based website, or a richer Flash, AJAX or Silverlight-based RIA. Here is the first place to use some of your keywords (identified in step #1). It’s also important to be aware of the order in which these words appear. Most people will put a name or company name first (or only use a single name): Doctor Smith: Chiropractor. This may work well if your name is “Microsoft” and everyone knows you. However, you may want to list your keywords first for people searching for your specific services in general and place your name/company name at the end. So a better approach for Dr. Smith would be: Bay Area Chiropractor Cold Laser Therapy | Doctor AJ Smith, D.C. If you have a niche/specialty, as in Cold Laser, this is a great opportunity to get high search results; consider moving “cold laser” to the front.
- <h1> Only 1 per page, this signifies the most important topic on the page. Although this may not be applicable in a full RIA (Flash) application, it is important to understand how important it is to search engines; a good place to consider integrating this HTML content on pages with heavy graphics, video, Flash, etc.
- <meta> Description tag very important. This is normally what the search engine will display on the results page to describe what your page/site is all about. Apparently, the keyword tag is no longer used at all.
- <a> Anchor. Again, more applicable for traditional HTML sites. The text is import, use something instead of “more info” – for example, use descriptive text: “how cold laser therapy works.”
- Canonicalization. Fancy for saying: www.smithchiropractic.com vs. smithchiropractic.com vs smithchiropractic.com/index.php: Pick one! Otherwise, you will be spreading your search rating among 3 separate sites (that all lead to the same place). This dilutes your ranking. For example, if you ultimately have 6,000 inbound links, but they are separated among the 3 URLs, you will only have 2,000 inbound indexed for the same site!
Coming Next: SEO Part 4, Progressive Enhancement (for Rich Content Search)
2 commentsSearch: SEO (rich content) p2, Creating a findable strategy
Now for part 2 of my SEO/Findable (rich media) content discussion. After we answer the business questions addressed in part 1: what are we building and who is it for, then we can begin to choose the correct approaches and strategies for getting people to “find” our work; and it is not all about search engine optimization (SEO). There are many platforms for creating attention for your work. Again, think about who the audience is and what you are providing; will anyone actually even use a search engine to find you? Perhaps a better idea is to go to them, where they hang out online. Some of the findable approaches to consider:
- Search Engine Optimization
More on this in part 3, but essentially this involves techniques for building your site so that it is easier for search engines to find and index properly. If search engines can find you, and know what you’re about, then users will be able to find you on the web just by using a search engine. - Search Engine Marketing
Paid placement search (pay per click, PPC)
Paid inclusion: pay the search engine to include you
Combination of paid placement + organic search - Communities, Social Networks and Media
MySpace, Facebook, YouTube
Communities, Blogs, forums
The idea is to go to where the target audience is, instead of trying to get them to “find” you
Inbound linking – getting your site known inside of a community can have additional benefit for your SEO, as now you’ll have a bunch of inbound links (from relevant sites) pointing back to your site - Mobile
Create a mobile application or WAP site that points people to your website
- Online Advertising
Specifically using contextually relevant ads on targeted sites. - Offline
Does your target audience spend more time offline? Use print/TV to point to your URL on the web.
Search: SEO (rich content) p1, What are we building?
OK, I’m becoming a little bit of an SEO freak now. I seem to think about search with everything I do; is that a bad thing? And it’s not all about SEO either, there are many strategies for creating “findable” content as I tried to express during my panel discussion at SXSW. I want to summarize my presentation, as well as all the things I learned from researching this subject and from getting the chance to work with Google, Microsoft and Adobe. Before I get into the technical and creative strategies, I wanted to remind everyone, that the first step in creating “findable” content, is to answer some basic business questions:
- Who is our audience?
-what would make them search for content?
-where do they spend time, what tools do they use? Google? Facebook? Blogs? Forums? YouTube? - Client-specific considerations/dependencies
-does the business rely on search? - Technical considerations/dependencies
-is it an application with a single entry point (i.e. RIA); for example, it would be bad to have an email application searchable!
-does the experience exist in a pre-defined framework? - Distinctions:
- Short lived vs. longer term
-it can take months to get indexed and build solid, reliable search results – will your creation come down before it is even indexed by the search engine? - Big brand vs. smaller name
-some larger brands don’t care about or need SEO, while a smaller company lives by it - Rich experience vs. informational content
-some companies are more interested in creating an amazing experience than offering information content - Awareness vs. direct model
-is the goal to create general awareness of the brand/company, or directly market to a specific group
Part 2: Creating a Findable Strategy, coming soon!
3 commentsBack from MIX and SXSW
What an adventure. 3 days in Vegas at at MIX and then 4 days in Austin for SXSW. Although my plane was late and I missed the opening keynote for MIX, where they demoed the Hard Rock Cafe site that Jason W designed (I’m so pissed I missed that), I was lucky to arrive in time to see Nathan Buggia’s session on SEO. This was fortunate in that I would be giving a similar talk at SXSW in two days! This weekend, I will post more on my SEO, SEM and overall “findability” thoughts, including the ideas (and code) that I presented at SXSW.
I also enjoyed the Steve Ballmer and Guy Kawasaki Keynote. Steve B was so funny and down-to-earth, that I not only fell out of my seat laughing, I also really liked the guy! I thought that Guy did a great job. Not sure how informative it was; although I did get to hear how a typical day in the life of Steve goes, and I also found out more about the Microsoft product roadmap. The Deep Zoom stuff (used in Hard Rock Cafe site) is pretty amazing. I also attended a demo on how to implement it. I wonder how it compares with the old Zoomify for Flash?
More on this to come….
No commentsCome See Me At SXSW
It looks like I will be speaking on a panel with experts from Adobe, Google and Global Strategies at South By Southwest in March; I’m very excited. We will be discussing the ideas and strategies for making interactive content “findable.” In addition to search engine optimization (and search marketing) techniques, we will also share thoughts around other ways for an audience to “find” digital work. Video and Flash have specific considerations for implementing SEO. Meanwhile, SEO and other technical tricks are not so effective for a short-lived marketing campaign; so what can we do to make our work findable? This is a huge topic for me these days…..so I’ve got a lot to say! I will be presenting some recent work and discussing the “findable” strategies behind it. It’s gonna be cool and informative, so please come by!
Creating Findable Rich Media Content – Rich media content is rapidly becoming one of the most effective ways to engage audiences around the world. However, to engage them, audiences must first be able to find the content to see the value in these experiences. Crowded with other media fighting for their attention, making your online material stand out can be quite a challenge.
Attend this engaging panel of experts as they discuss their challenges and share successful approaches to making content stand out. Each panelist will share a project and discuss the challenges and successes behind making it discoverable. Topics will include, but not be limited to:
. The rise of rich media and the future of search
. Challenges behind depending only on SEO
. Deploying additional “find” strategies for shorter-life content
. Optimizing metadata
. How metadata affects search engine placement strategies
Who
* Richard Galvan, Adobe
* Bill Hunt, Global Strategies
* Todd Nemet, Google
* Peter Cole, AQKA
Fun With Ebay APIs
Well I’m having a blast playing with the Ebay APIs – nothing too fancy, I’m just trying to put together an affiliate site for music and pro audio gear (my “other” love). In addition to learning all about the various Ebay APIs, properties, protocols, etc, and getting to play with PHP (which I always love), the whole exercise has really beefed up my CSS chops! I was getting rusty, you know. Probably the most exciting part is all the research I’m doing on SEO (search engine optimization) and online marketing strategy. The whole business side is extremely interesting.
Although I still have work to do, you can check my progress at http://www.proaudiobargains.com/. Plan on me mentioning this URL a bit in the coming weeks 
