Adobe Flash is a popular web development tool that is used to add animation and interactivity to web pages. Flash offers web designers and developers an arsenal of functionality that is seemingly not possible to achieve with standard HTML and JavaScript. However, this added flare does not come without its limitations.

Firstly, Flash requires the installation of a browser plug-in to display its content, but the browsers that support it are mostly limited to personal computers. So a flash heavy website will not display correctly for other devices with web browsers, such as cell phones, PDAs or some of the most popular gaming systems.

Secondly, it is still unknown how well Flash based content gets indexed in search engines. Traditionally, Flash based content was ignored by all search engines. Although Google and Yahoo have announced that they are able to index flash content, the SEO benefits and success have yet to be proven. Some common things we see from our clients are the use of Flash as their primary navigation source. If your primary navigation is contained within a Flash movie, then you need to consider an html based alternative. Probably the best use of Flash, in our opinion, is for rich banner ads, or aesthetic elements that do not rely heavily on important content.

However, if you need to put your content in a Flash movie, there are a few things you can do to help the search engines along. One solution would be to offer alternate content on the page for those users who do not have the Flash plug-in. Another solution involves adding the text content that’s in your Flash movie to an HTML div tag. You can then use a little JavaScript to have both the search engines see the text based content and the end user view the Flash movie as you intended. There are some good articles on the web about how to achieve this and we strongly advise that you implement either solution if you need to build an all Flash website.

Overall, if you are concerned about search engine rankings and you have a content rich website, it is best not to design an all Flash site. If you still want to go down that route, make sure you have an alternative html option, such as those listed above, so search engines will play well with your website. As of right now, it does not appear that you can have an all Flash website without some kind of supplemental solution. Only time will tell if Flash and SEO are truly good bedfellows.

Building links isn’t just a good way to increase the PageRank and positioning for a page in the search engine results pages (SERPs). It can also increase the keyword relevance for a page for its specific key phrase. This is because, in addition to the content in the title tag, the text content on the page and the name of the file where the content is found, search engines will also give a page keyword relevance based on the anchor text of any links leading to a page. For example, this link will give a little boost of relevance to this page: http://www.morevisibility.com/services-seo-optimization.php for the key phrase “search engine optimization”:

Search Engine Optimization

This is how some sites manage to rank very well for a key phrase even though all their content is hidden from search engines in images or other SEO unfriendly media. If enough pages link to the page with the appropriate anchor text, the page will rank well – even without indexable content. This is also why a good text anchored, keyword rich navigation menu is important in any well-designed site. However, on-site links only get so much credence from search engines. Links coming from other sites with your keywords in the anchor text – particularly if that other site is a highly respected site in your sector of the internet – are the most valuable in this kind of keyword targeting. As anyone who has attempted to do any amount of link building for their site will tell you, getting links from these kinds of sites can be tricky and having them anchored with your chosen key phrase can be downright impossible. That said, there are a couple of things you can do to increase the chances that the anchor text on a link leading to your page will have the appropriate keyword targeting:

1. Include the keyword in the name that you use to refer to your company. Some sites will only link to other sites with the company name. If your company name (or tag line) includes the keyword, it will be more likely to appear in the anchor text of links leading to your site.
2. Include the keyword in the title tag of the page. This is always good advice anyway, but some sites will use this as anchor text so keep the title short and well-targeted to your primary key phrase. Directory sites, in particular, are more likely to publish the link with keyword rich anchor text if it is also the title of the page.
3. Include the key phrase in the URL filename of the page. Many sites do not sanction individual anchor text and just choose to include bare links instead. If the URL filename contains the key phrase appropriately separated with dashes, then the URL filename carries its anchor text baked into its structure and anyone publishing the link automatically publishes the anchor text as in this example:
http://www.morevisibility.com/services-seo-copywriting.php. This kind of strategy works especially well with a social media campaign where the link is spread virally rather than by careful submission and the webmaster has less control over how the link will be built.

Building links with keyword-rich anchor text can be challenging, especially if the focus is on the kind of natural in-bound linking strategies most beloved of Google and the other search engines, but taking a little care in the design and labeling of the page can make the task a little easier. Happy linking!

Incorporating video into your marketing efforts can prove to be an effective to way supplement search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) initiatives.

The popularity of online video has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years and with the help of video sharing sites, online video has made its way to the local advertising level.  According to The Kelsey Group’s US Local Video Forecast, local online video ad revenue will increase from approximately $10.9 million in 2007 to $1.5 billion by the end of 2012. Local video advertising is an emerging way to deliver a company’s message, showcase products, services and build credibility.

Many Internet Yellow Pages such as Superpages.com, Yellowpages.com, and Yellowbook.com offer video advertising as part of their advertising bundles and are continuing to expand upon their offerings. For example, Yellowbook.com recently entered into an agreement with YouTube, which will enable Yellowbook.com’s video advertisements to be displayed across YouTube, the world’s most popular online video community. This is a great opportunity for an advertiser’s message to be exposed to an audience separate from Yellowbook.com.

Videos can also be leveraged for SEO. It is common to see video results occupying the top spots on the search engine results pages as part of Universal or “blended” search. These videos can be a powerful differentiator from the common text listings. Tagging video files with relevant terms, adding videos to unique pages on the site with supporting content, and uploading them to sharing sites or social networks can all boost SEO.

Lastly, humorous, informative or interesting videos can increase interaction on a website and can become viral. An engaging site may lead to repeat visits, inbound links from other sites, and an increase in conversions.  With the considerable amount of growth potential, now is the time to take advantage of video because online video marketing will only become more competitive in the years to come.