June 20th 2009 12:30 PM
Categories: 
Google started to index Flash files in June 2008. Before this time a heavy reliance on Flash, such as the use of Flash-only pages, was very detrimental to SEO. Since that time Google search has improved its algorithm to ’see’ and read Flash files better than ever. Eventually, I believe Flash will be read as easily as any page of text today. Staying on top of how Google reads Flash is especially important for people using or would like to use Flash in combination with SEO.
Recently the Google Webmaster Central Blog has announced another improvement in its Flash indexing capabilities which is important to note:
The fiasco last April with Domino’s Pizza demonstrates the importance of social media to organizations today. Several months ago, a video of two employees performing what I surmise is the equivalent of 2 girls 1 cup in the pizza world was leaked (I refuse to watch the video because I enjoy pizza). This video went viral within minutes on social sites such as Twitter and quickly received millions of views.
People were voicing outrage through social sites such as Twitter, demanding an explanation from Domino’s. Unfortunately, Domino’s did not have a Twitter account set up and lost valuable time in posting a rapid response.
What can other organizations learn about social media from Domino’s experience?
Web analytics provides you with the needs and intentions of your website visitors and customers. This information drives the necessary improvements to give your visitor exactly what they are looking for, in the way they want it.
Whether you are running a business website or a blog, how much you know about your visitors is the most important factor in determining your success. The second one is actually delivering what they need.
These two factors combine into creating a great online experience for your visitors, which is a very effective way to differentiate against your competition. In fact, it is at the core of how e-commerce powerhouses such as Cabela’s continue to outperform their competition in this recession.
So how can web analytics help you? Here are 40 top web analytics benefits that come to my mind:
Microsoft launched its new search engine called Bing on May 28, 2009. It is a rebranded and far superior search engine than their previous one, Live Search. I think the marketing ($80 million worth) and functionality of Bing will help it gain significant market share. Let’s face it, not many people used Live Search because of the unsexy brand name and lack of differentiators against competing search engines.
With the introduction of Bing, I think Microsoft will make significant headway in the market. Increased and innovative competition in this space can only help us, the consumers. The worst thing that could happen is for Google to actually completely monopolize the search market, and this makes that less of a possibility.
So how does Bing compare to Google? Surprisingly well. The gap between Google and Live Search has closed with the launch of Bing. Here is a head to head comparison of Bing VS Google in terms of speed, brand, functionality, and quality of results.
Ever since Google introduced nofollow links in 2005, they have been hotly debated in the SEO community. Their controversy seems to have grown each year, and with recent changes in Google’s algorithm the blogosphere is buzzing more than ever about them.
If you have a website and have a link building strategy (which you should), it is very important to know about the difference between dofollow and nofollow links. This post provides a solid overview of nofollow links, and some additional resources to learn more about them.
