css, ajax, web 2.0
TRANSCRIPT
CSS, AJAX, Web 2.0 & SEO
Rob Kerry (evilgreenmonkey) Head of Search - Ayima Search Marketing
Editor – Sphinn
Bullshit Bingo Warning
• “I don’t care what the site does, just make sure that it’s very Web 2.0”
• “Our new $1,000 website will be a Facebook killer, especially in the Vegemite lovers niche”
• “AJAX makes your website faster, that’s why Twitter and Amazon use it”
Evolution of the Web
• Geeks created the perfect web – Mostly text based web pages with clean text links – HTML tables only used for data – Library style indexing and navigation
• Marketers and Microsoft ruined everything – Microsoft FrontPage created uncrawlable sites – Corporate designers became obsessed with Flash – JavaScript & Form menus resulted in walled gardens
CSS – Pretty & Usable
• CSS returns simplicity and scalability to HTML – Separate content from code – Make a search engine’s job much easier – Your website reaps the rewards
• CSS Decreases your bounce rates – More people now search using mobile devices – Websites that don’t scale, lose visitors and sales – CSS gives the ability to adapt your site for handhelds
CSS – Good Ideas
• Replace old navigation with CSS styled beauties – CSS can style text as buttons with hover effects – Search Engines easily recognise the navigation
• Highlights your most important pages • Text links strengthen internal keyword targeting
CSS – Bad Ideas
• Content Cloaking – Detectable & Dodgy – Many sites use display: none; and margin-left: -2000px;
– Often used as an alternative to AJAX – Can get flagged automatically as potential spam – Sites using this must make the content easy to find
AJAX – Not the football team
• AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)
– Fetches data without reloading a web page – Makes websites feel more like a desktop application – A 2007/2008 fad – overused and misunderstood
AJAX – How it works
Source: the-art-of-web.com
AJAX – Good Ideas
• Data Grids – Perfect for updating and sorting tabular data • Calculations – Shopping baskets, delivery costs etc • Form Verification – Duplicate username checks
AJAX – Bad Ideas
• Content Tabs – Not indexable • Search Results – No Back Button • Product Listings – Can’t Bookmark
Possible Workarounds:- • Use CSS/JavaScript Tabs • Use an <iframe> to spoof browser history • Use hashes (#) in URLs like query strings
(?variable=value)
Web 2.0 – What’s it all about?
“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.” – Tim O’Reilly
Web 2.0 – In English
• Search – Easy access to data • Content – User generated and influenced • Tagging – Simple topic association • Syndication – APIs and RSS feeds • Mashing – Merging data sources to create new data • Software – Hosted scalable applications
Web 2.0 - Search
• Making new information just a search away – Data is only valuable if people can find it
– DMOZ is still the answer
– Any information available via search should be linked to
– Tag clouds are an easy way of getting popular topics indexed
– Web 2.0 != No need for search traffic
Web 2.0 - Content
• User Generated Content is free content, but not free to manage.
• Communities need a lot of hand-holding
• Spam can damage your site as a whole
• A human is always needed in the chain
Web 2.0 - Tagging
• Tag clouds open up the walled gardens of search
• Helps websites identify their core topics
• Identifies words that your users associate with your site
• Look out for spam and negative SEO
Web 2.0 - Syndication
• RSS can stimulate regular visitors and links
• APIs stimulate buzz and links
• Watch out for duplicate content
• Consider re-writing your syndicated content
Web 2.0 - Mashing
• Take other people’s content and create new services
• Add your own value – avoid duplicate filtering
• Watch out for content rights issues
• Syndicate out your mashed content
Web 2.0 - Software
• SaaS (Software as a Service) growing in popularity
• Usually a walled garden
• Open up non-confidential information for links
