Posts tagged SEO

Google 同 Yahoo! improve Flash indexing

0
3 years ago
by Vicker in , , ,

今日 Google o係 webmaster central blog 公布左佢地已經 improve 左 Flash content 既 indexing power
所有 version 既 Flash content o係唔需要改動既情況底下都可以得到更好既 indexing result

同一時間 Adobe 亦o係 Adobe Developer Center 發表左 SWF searchability FAQ
裡面除左有耳熟能詳既 marketing slogan 之外

The openly published SWF specification describes the file format used to deliver rich applications and interactive content via Adobe Flash Player, which is installed on more than 98 percent of Internet-connected computers

亦有提及到背後既原理
以及 Yahoo! 都會於稍後 update search engine

的確~ 咁多年以黎 Flash 都比人彈 SEO
每一次我幫人做 project analysis 既時候
第一句都係問 “application base” 定 “content base”
今次呢個 news 的確幾吸引~
但係問題係唔係就咁就解決呢?!?!
我地係唔係唔再需要寫特登寫 XHTML version / XSL / 一大堆 supportive AS?!?!
言之尚早~!

At least… Munsang Biology web d content 仲未 index 到~ 哈哈

Anyway~ should be a great start!

詳情:

Improved Flash indexing by Google Webmaster Central Blog
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/06/improved-flash-indexing.html

SWF searchability FAQ by Adobe Developer Center
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/articles/swf_searchability.html?devcon=f1

Munsang College Biology Department Website version 3 始動~!

0
4 years ago
by Vicker in ,

岩岩完成左民生個 Biology website~
講真~ 原本只係諗住 update XHTML version (者係 version 2) 既 content~
可惜我自己又手痕… 想試下用 Flex 黎做…
原本一個鐘頭可以做完既野~ 結果用左差唔多一個星期去做~
Anyway~ 學到野~ product 我都好滿意

Munsang College Biology Department Official Website
http://munsang.edu.hk/secondary/subject/biology/

msc_bio_v3_1.png

主頁同 version 2 無大分別~ 最大改善係 Art design~
用左適當既 alpha transparency 同埋 image reflection (web 2.0 既 standard 野)
另外一樣特別既係 home 既 content 係 randomly selected~

AJAX 做唔做到呢? 易唔易呢? 唔知…
XHTML 就一定唔得~
但係 Flex… 只係幾句~ 仲要係 very structural 咁做~
用 Flex 做 website 絕對係有佢既優點~

其實 SEO 我都有考慮過~ 不過係 Biology web 黎講就未必重要~
因為 Biology web 本身 d content 比較少字~
最多被 index 既都只係 student projects 而唔係 Biology web…
所以 SEO 基本上可以完全唔諗~

Student project page 同 version 2 一樣用 thumbnail 設計
但係就用左 tile layout~ 右手面 show details~ 慳位之餘畫面吸引~
利用左 ArrayCollection filterFunction 黎做 real time searching~
又係普通 XHTML 好難做到既效果~

msc_bio_v3_2.png

除左 thumbnail view 之外~ 為左方便分類而做埋 list view~
用左 Flex 3 既 AdvanedDataGrid 加 GroupCollection~
(Thanks Thomas~ 你o個招好得~)

msc_bio_v3_3.png

Activites page 最大特色係 non popup image viewer~
圖雖然細左少少~ 但係勝在 manageable~ 唔會周圍 pop up~
加埋 next 同 previous buttons~ 睇圖非常方便~

msc_bio_v3_4.png

version 2 有一個大問題係 movie~
有 d student provide wmv~ 有 d 就 mov~
下下想睇都可能要裝 player 或者 open third party application…

今次 version 3 將 VideoDisplay 放埋入 website
所有 movie convert 晒做 flv~ 無論 file size 定 accessibility 都提高左~!
(convert movie 可以話係地獄之旅… 有機會再 blog)

整個 website 用左好 strict 既 Cairngorm structure 去做~
所有 data 係 XML feed 入 delegate 再 parse 成 ArrayCollection of value object~ 絕對 OO~
而且亦可以係無 server side scripting 既情況底下~
令 user 可以透過改 XML instead of 一大堆 XHTML 黎改 web content

呢個 project 絕對係我 Flex 路上既重要一頁~!!

其實 Biology Website 可以話係睇住我既 skill evolution~ 聽日再 blog~

Making Searchable Flash Content

0
6 years ago
by Vicker in

I have seen quite a number of classmates taking about how bad Flash is when considering about usability and accessibility. Take for an example Flash give too much freedom to the designers resulting that Flash always give a non standard interface.

Another main problem that mentioned is that Flash either can’t be identified by the search engines and searched effectively.

Having a short research on this, I have summarize a number of methods to make Flash more searchable.

1. Preparing both Flash and HTML version of the web

This method is the best among all the methods, but the most time consuming one.It can achieve two purpose. First, allowing the contents of your web (in HTML version) being indexed by the search engines. Second, provide alternative browsing method without Flash for the visitors.

2. Using a HTML file to embed the Flash, then applying META tag

The easiest method to apply which is still very effective. By means of the META tag, search engines can easily locate and categorize what the Flash content is about.

3. Separate the content and interface

Inside the Flash movie, all the contents are not directly written inside. An external data source is used, e.g. using database to store the data and some server side script to forward the data to Flash. The advantage is that additional to being searchable, it is also portable. Because Flash is just an interface, the data is portable to other platforms, let say building RSS feeds.

4. Personal submission to the search engines

No need to explain too detail here. This must be a guaranteed method.Actually the search engines are improving too. Say for an example Google already have their own mechanism to search Flash contents. Further, Macromedia have provided the Flash Search Engine SDK for users to build their own search engine.No matter what, as a Flash developer, we should bear in mind that fancy is not everything.

References
Shari Thurow, Optimizing Flash for Search Engines
James Ellis, Accessible Flash Parts
Developing User-Friendly Flash Content
Flash and Search Engines

Check Your Links~~!!

0
6 years ago
by Vicker in

Browsing around the web and found some old statistics from Search Engine Showdown. It is a short report about the dead links found in the famous search engines. You can have a look at here. Although the report is a few years ago already, it is still quite shocking. On average there is around 5% of dead links!

Dead links are really disgusting sometimes. For example, when you want to find a certain information on the web. After finding a few hours, you hardly got a link. However, it is dead… I am sure it is a disaster.

The presence of dead links have quite a number of reasons behind. e.g. the closure of a certain web, the typing errors, illegal link copying, etc. Are there any method to avoid them? The following are some tips.

1. Use more relative links.

The meaning of relative links are links that referring to the current path instead of the root. e.g. For absolute link, we will have something like “http://www.cityu.edu.hk/image/logo.gif”. For relative, we will simply say “image/logo.gif”, assuming that your document is one level upper than the image folder.

The advantage of relative link is that, even your web is transferred to a different domain, it still works. This is very useful for authors who usually edit the files locally and upload to server after editing.

2. Try not to link to other web’s file, copy them.

We will not know or notice when the other web move the file away or rename it. So if we have web space, try to copy it down and link to the local copies.

3. Using some link validator.

W3C Link Checker
Dead-Links.com
This will make the checking of dead links easier and faster.

Hope we will not see this in the future.

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