Flint Interactive’s Mikaela Krenzen sits down to discuss SEO and SEM. She also manages to work her true passions into the conversation, shopping and family.
Posts Tagged ‘bing’
Flash and SEO – Do they play together?
I wish I could tell you the answer is simply yes or no, but, in fact, it is a little more difficult than that.
There has been a lot of discussion about Flash and search engine optimization. Google has made announcements that they have made improvements in their ability to index Flash movies on websites. In the past, there had been some limitations, but recently Google noted it is now able to work with external files, including XML, HTML and other Flash files.
While Google has made strides in indexing Flash content, Yahoo and Bing have limited ability to crawl the files to get content.
Who uses what search engine?
Recent studies by StatCounter show that Google has about 80% of the search engine market share, while Bing has about 8.5%, and Yahoo! comes in at around 9.4% from United States visitors. Google’s dominance grows when stats include international visitors.
Flash Indexing Fallbacks
Some items to note about crawling Flash movies include:
- The content in the Flash file must be text-based in order to be rendered.
- Search engines don’t process most JavaScript. If your Flash movie is placed in the page with JavaScript and you provide alternate content beforehand, the search engines may not see your Flash movie.
- If a Flash movie contains multiple scenes or keyframes based on clicks, a user cannot get directly to that content from the search engine. For example, if you have a Flash-based site that contains a page about services that generates some search engine ranking, the user is going to have to go to the beginning of the Flash and figure out how to get to that page that contains the search terms that they are looking for, rather than going directly to the content. A good online example of this can be found by completing a search on Google for “intro.swf”. The first result is a Flash presentation with multiple slides. There is no way to get directly from the search engine results to the eighth page without having to click through all of the other pages.
A Search Engine Example
Check out the Google search for “nasa deep impact animation”. The second result brings up a Flash movie, as noted by the [FLASH] display in front of the result. The title is not helpful at all, as it contains the text “Loading Data” and then some ActionScript code. The description does give you a brief summary of what you might find in the movie.
Taking that same search term to Bing, the Flash file was located in the twentieth position, lacking a description and containing a very generic title.
Let’s take a peek at Yahoo! It returns the same results Bing did; however, in the sixth position.
To summarize, Flash and SEO compatibility are starting to play nice; however, Flash is still best used on a limited basis or for items that are not content and keyword rich. There are many other ways to improve search engine ranking, such as the use of optimized content for the HTML page title, meta tags and copy on the site.
Is Your Website Searchable with Bing?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a very important element for attracting traffic to web sites. With Google’s domination of the search world, most SEO has been built around the algorithm developed by Google. But with Bing’s introduction and the potential for growth, how might this affect SEO as we know it?
One thing is clear: search results from Bing are different than those delivered by Google. See for yourself in a side-by-side comparison. SEO experts are still working to uncover more details of the Bing algorithm. In the meantime, here are some factors that are strongly believed to be of importance when considering SEO and website ranking with Bing:
1) Bing prefers quality of backlinks to quantity. With Bing, it is more important that the backlinks are relevant to the page or linked back to your domain.
2) Even though the quantity of inbound links may be of less importance, evidence shows that Bing is keen on anchor text. Anchor text should utilize keywords and phrases pertinent to your company, while also suitably reflecting the content that a user is about to view.
3) Established sites and larger, dependable organizations are thought to receive better rankings, which could prove difficult for bloggers and smaller websites.
4) Age of domain is important. An extended ownership shows a commitment to the domain and helps confirm that your site is not a temporary spam site.
5) Fresh and original content is weighed heavily in Google; experts believe it isn’t as vital with Bing.
6) And, of course, standard search engine optimization rules still apply. Incorporate unique HTML title tags and meta tags for each page of your website. Use H1 tags and text navigation links, and incorporate keywords into URL strings whenever possible.
It may still be too early to determine what specific steps (if any) are necessary to properly optimize your website for placement in Bing. We’ll wait to see how users respond and whether or not the Microsoft search engine will, in fact, hold on and continue to cut Google’s market share.
Mikaela is a search engine specialist and digital communications trends watchdog for The Flint Group.
Bing, Finding a Place in a “Google it” World
The world of search is very interesting, especially when a new player enters the game.
In case you hadn’t noticed, Microsoft recently launched its new search engine tool, Bing. The new search engine has managed to generate significant buzz, due largely in part to its estimated $80 million dollar marketing campaign that swept radio, print, online and TV.
It’s also getting attention for providing relevant search results—something its former incarnation, Windows Live Search, wasn’t able to deliver. Advertised as a decision engine, Bing is supposed to help users wade through the “search results clutter” by offering more relevant results. The engine offers a left-hand search pane that displays related searches and search history. It also lists categories of content, such as news or video, allowing users to quickly make their search results more relevant.
Bing has decided to zero in on one vertical in particular—travel. Users will be given access to tools and features such as Price Predictor (showing the best time to buy airfare) and Hotel Rate Indicator (highlighting the best hotel deals). Microsoft wants to reduce the time that customers spend online exploring different travel options by putting comprehensive results (based on searches for travel information) all in one place.
The icing on the cake—the pretty interface. Bing features a different background image on its homepage every day, each of which include rollover stats with more information about the picture. The engine has even entered the social media realm with a photo contest on Facebook.
What does all of this mean for Google?
Yahoo! and Microsoft just signed a ten year agreement that will put Bing’s search engine behind Yahoo’s interface. As of August 2009, Bing has already surpassed 10% market share—combine that with Yahoo’s, and together they own nearly 30% of the search world, making Microsoft the clear No. 2 in a market long dominated by Google. They still have a long way to go to threaten Google’s 65% share, but for the first time in a long time, a strong competitor has entered the ring.
The question remains whether Bing’s features will be enough to convince people to switch from the clean, white familiarity of Google. But you have to admit, “Bing it” does have a nice ring.
So what do you think? Does Bing have a place in our “Google it” world?
Mikaela is a search engine specialist and digital communications trends watchdog for The Flint Group.
