Why You Don’t Want a Flash Website

Hackers exploit Flash's need for constant updates as an opportunity to install malware on your computer.

All Flash-No Substance

As web developers we are constantly asked by our clients for flash-based websites. They are understandably attracted to the “bling” factor of flash-based sites. Those hypnotic blurs, fades, and slides dance their pretty little images past our eyes and we think “ooh, aah, I want it now! Naturally any business owner would want potential customers to have that exact reaction when opening up their site. But the practical, nuts and bolts technical reasons not to use flash far out weigh the wow factor. Here are the top 5 reasons why a Flash-based website is a bad idea. [Read more...]

Link Building Basics

“Why do you think you should be on the top of the search page?”

By Kenneth Jackson and Keran Krane

Why incoming links are import? Because search engine spiders do only two things:

  • Follow links
  • Collect text

PERIOD! That’s it! The number and quality of the sites that link to you is all that the search engine has to determine the quality of the results returned to the user.

Links that improve search engine rankings will be those that the engines feel are a trustworthy indicators of quality. These can and will be different for every site. Not all links are equal. [Read more...]

Writing for Search Engines

By Keran Krane

Writing copy for your website or blog can be a daunting task even for the most confident writer. (Which most of us are not). Writing for search engine optimization can be especially intimidating, as most bloggers don’t even know what the search engine is searching for.

Search engines seek to find the most relevant, sites for a particular keyword. To do this the search engine looks for “expert” content. That’s why the most successful websites contain multiple blog entries which are updated regularly.

For search engine optimization, (helping the search engine find your site and give it a high ranking), it’s actually key phrases that are key. That’s because single words don’t count. When you are searching for a topic in a search engine, you would usually enter 2-3 words that focus your search to your specific needs. Instead of searching for “movies” you will narrow your search to “new horror movies”, or “movies times, Amarillo” . To determine what key phrases you should use for your website, simply ask yourself, or better yet your customers, what key phrases you would search to find your product or service.

For the most successful search engine optimization, you should select 3-4 key phrases that describe in full detail your products, services, or topic.

Search engine key words should be descriptive and specific. For example, use “commercial and residential rental property in Amarillo” instead of “rental property” If you write descriptively you can get more key phrases in your article without it seeming spammy.

Be careful not to overdue it. If you are using the same key phrases over and over again it will turn off the reader and dilute the effectiveness of your copy. You should not use more than 4-5 keywords. The goal is to establish a theme in your writing, not to stuff the site with key words- a practice that cause search engines to give you a lower ranking.

As with any good writing the overall tone should be conversational. Write like you speak. To make sure your copy is clear and not overly stuffed with key words the best practice is to read it aloud. If it sounds repetitive then you have probably over used your key phrases.

Also be on the lookout for words with multiple spellings – for example, work place and workplace. Don’t use more than one form of the word in your site.

The most important thing to remember is your not writing for search engines. You are writing for readers. So keep your writing fresh, relevant and interesting so your readers will keep coming back.

As always SellitAnywhere is happy to answer questions and assist you in any way we can to get your e-business up and running over the competition. Contact us at service@sellitanywhere.com.