August 2011

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SEO & Web Marketing – Adobe Flash, Bells and Whistles

08/15/2011 in SEO, Web, Websites/Bogs by Curt Siters | No comments

Flash, Quicktime and Plug-ins

Adobe Flash is dead. Quicktime, RealPlayer and others are finally being relegated to their proper roles. This has come about because of CSS3 (Cascading Style Sheets Layer 3) which, when fully implemented by all the browsers will take your web surfing experience to the next level.

The World Wide Web has come a long way since its’ inception. We now have interactivity (blogs, forums, mutli-user games, etc.) The average user can now download pages ten times (or more) as fast compared to just a few years ago.

But with these technical changes the users have changed as well. They expect more faster. So, no matter what, you still need to make decisions regarding file sizes and how much cutting edge technology to use to get your message across.

Most sites don’t need whiz-bang-gee-aint-that-nice effects like Flash Animations or Quicktime Presentations. If you decide to use animation and video on your site, make sure the content is appropriate for your site. Keep them to a minimum or put each one on its own page. You still need to keep the file size as small as possible.

Thanks to YouTube, Flash has made great strides and is now a de-facto web standard. As such its’ use on the web has exploded and works extremely well on most bowsers and platforms. However, with the coming of CSS3, and the iPhone not adopting it, it has recently become a de- de-facto standard.

One of the problems with Adobe Flash is that search engines CAN’T index any text inside the video, so DON’T do a Flash website. If you feel the need for Flash keep to just presentations. Don’t use Flash website templates.

Be cautious of new or proprietary technology as it may limit your visitor base. An example would be that Microsoft decided many years to no longer develop a windows media player for platforms other than Windows.

JavaScript is a popular way to add special effects. Be aware that all browsers handle JavaScript differently. This was true back in the 1990′s and is still true today although it is being supported better and more consistently by all browsers. So be sure to check it in as many of the major browsers on as many platforms as possible. CSS3 has many, but not all of the abilities that Javascript/JQuery has in regards to image and text manipulation.

Plug-ins enhance your web browser and can enhance your browsing experience. Don’t use them unless you need to. With all the security problems these days, people do not want to put more on their computers than they have to. If you feel you need to use them, see if you can use the more popular plug-ins like QuickTime or RealPlayer first.

Basically ask yourself – “Does my site need this?” If you answer no or maybe, don’t do it.

More on SEO & Web Marketing:

Planning Considerations

SEO Options

Page SEO Options

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Curt SitersCurt Siters

Webmaster

Shoals Creek Village - a new build intentional community.

My Eco Oasis - the hub for what will be a network of many ecovillages.

Big fan of living simply

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.  ~Albert Einstein

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.  ~Standing Bear

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SEO & Web Marketing – Content

08/01/2011 in How To, SEO, Web, Websites/Bogs by Curt Siters | No comments

The KISS theory (“Keep It Simple, Seriously”).

The design and layout should reflect your business, but don’t go overboard or people will not come back.

Things to consider are:

  • Do not design your site for a screen larger than the most common screen size. As of today large screens or high resolution has become the standard, with the exception of smart phones, but this can be remedied through the use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
  • Too many colors will be too confusing (unless the designer is very, very good). Backgrounds are usually best when they are a single color or muted graphic or picture. If you want a picture or graphic as your background, make sure that the text will be easily readable over the entire graphic.
  • While frames are neat and sometimes useful, they can make it very tough on search engines when they try to index your site.
  • If you have more than one page, you will need a navigation system that is easy to use. While graphical is nice, simple text navigation works just as well and is easier to change if you tweak your design or colors.
  • Pictures and graphics can take a plain vanilla site and turn it into a tutti-frutti one. Unless your site is about pictures and graphics, don’t let them outweigh your text. I used to say keep them to a minimum. Four or five 20KB-25KB graphic files are sufficient. With the advent of high speed internet you can use more but still keep them small in file size (low 2 digit kilobytes). The pictures and graphics should be pertinent to and complimentary of your site.
  • Content is still king. It always will be. Use text pertinent to your topic for the page.
  • Page height should be no more than two to two and one-half screens in height with less scrolling better. Ideally, a page should be less than two screens in height.
  • Content should have the most relevant information near the top. Break the content into logical groups and place these groups on separate pages. Don’t make too many pages or your visitors may lose interest. Use your keywords in the body of your text, the file name, the page name and the description which is used by search engines.

Be aware that each browser displays HTML in a different way

Although they are getting closer to actually adhering to W3C standards. Microsofts’ Internet Explorer is the worst offender and has been since it hit the web. Even as such it still holds a significant share of the browser market (depends upon whose statistics you use.) For the sites I manage I have seen it drop from 80% to around 40%.

Try other browsers such as Safari or Firefox for a better web browsing experience.

Feel free to add a comment about any other W3C compliant web browser that you use and enjoy and feel that our readers may want to know about.

More articles on SEO & Web Marketing:

Be Smart When Designing Your Website

SEO & Web Marketing – Planning Considerations

# # #

Curt SitersCurt Siters

Webmaster

Shoals Creek Village - a new build intentional community.

My Eco Oasis - the hub for what will be a network of many ecovillages.

Big fan of living simply

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.  ~Albert Einstein

Man's heart away from nature becomes hard.  ~Standing Bear

Tags: , , , , ,