New developments in Flash search indexing could lead to significant changes in search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies.

Adobe has revealed that it is providing its Flash Player technology to Google and Yahoo! to help the two engines make improvements to their search indexing of Flash SWF file formats.

This could eventually lead to greater visibility of Flash content to search engines, helping web users to find more of the kind of information they are looking for, Adobe said.

According to Mashable, this development could rewrite the rules of SEO, which have historically suggested that those looking to improve search rankings should avoid Flash content as it is not easily picked up by engines.

“We are initially working with Google and Yahoo! to significantly improve search of this rich content on the web and we intend to broaden the availability of this capability to benefit all content publishers, developers and end users,” commented David Wadhwani of Adobe.

Google has already started rolling out the Flash Player technology across its engine and has developed an algorithm that looks at text in Flash elements such as buttons and banners, according to a recent Official Google Blog posting.

News brought to you by ClickThrough - specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing

Spotlighting search terms, site linking and regular blogging are among the best ways a firm can benefit from search engines, a Google engineer claims.

Matt Cutts tells USA Today that search engine optimisation is easier than most companies believe.

He says the most common pitfall is businesses setting up websites without emphasising their key search word enough on it.

“You have to make sure the keywords are on the page,” he tells the newspaper.

“If you’re a San Diego doctor, Des Moines architect or Portland ad agency, best to let people know so immediately, at the top of your page.”

Getting other sites to ‘link’ back to you as an endorsement is also helpful as most search engines rank pages based on popularity.

Google remains the internet’s most popular search engine, with new figures from comScore showing that it increased its share of core US searches from 61.6 per cent to 61.8 per cent in May 2008.

News brought to you by ClickThrough - a provider of SEO Services & Pay Per Click strategies

With the rise in awareness in the public domain of the term SEO (search engine optimisation), SEO experts are now in great demand by ambitious website owners that want to increase targeted traffic to their websites. In order to generate leads, enquiries or sales via your website you need a professional that knows just how to get great results with a substantial ROI (return on investment).

SEO or search engine optimisation is the process of optimising a website in order to achieve top rankings on major search engines that attract vast numbers of searches every single day, which could be providing your website with lucrative sales.

Whilst it isn’t rocket science, search engine optimisation requires some hard work, smart strategy and patience, in order to achieve the substantial growth in targeted traffic that is possible for your business.

As more and more website owners become aware of SEO, it is vital that you have an online strategy to market your website effectively using an SEO expert with experience in successful campaigns.

Some of the more common methods of SEO are listed below, and if you follow these, you could be well on your way to increasing your targeted traffic.

Keyword Analysis

Often overlooked, this is the most critical stage of any SEO or internet marketing campaign or strategy. Knowing what your users are searching for around the world is vital to increasing targeted leads and turnover. If you are focusing on keywords that you think are important, instead of using professional tools to find out what users are physically typing into the major search engines, then you are wasting your time and money.

Analysing your keywords is of paramount importance and you should engage people around you for their ideas on keywords, until you build up a complete picture of possible keywords and thin filter out the ones that are not being searched for.

Meta Tag Optimisation

By properly optimising the meta tags of your website, you are effectively informing the search engines what the subject and content of your site is. This also helps traffic to your site from search engine requests in the major search engines. Optimised properly, you can attract more visitors using this basic, but often overlooked essential area of SEO.

Content

Good content is precisely what the majority of visitors and search engines want to see. If your website is to appeal to users, then your site should have fresh, relevant, targeted content that is there to provide a benefit to the visitor.

Whether you employ a copywriter, a consultant or an expert in search engine optimisation, you must have well-written, compelling and above all unique content, to stand a chance in the ever competitive internet.

This is just three examples of how an SEO expert would increase your traffic, leads and turnover. To get a full insight into how to obtain top ten rankings on search engines such as Google, Yahoo and
MSN, speak to your local expert and find out what business you could be generating from this highly rewarding area of internet marketing.

[Source: via webwire.com, Lee Smith Director,Utopia Creative Solutions]

In a 17-page report out this morning, chock-a-block with graphs and other sciencey stuff, Citigroup Internet analyst Mark S. Mahaney names Google (GOOG) the company’s “#1 choice” in what it calls “Top Picks Live,” a “dynamic list of stocks to buy or sell today.”

Based on “extensive channel checks,” says Mahaney, Google looks on track to make the $3.82 billion in sales and $4.73 per share in earnings he’s projecting for the second quarter that ends this month. That’s slightly below the $3.86 billion the Street is currently looking for, though Mahaney’s profit estimate is slightly ahead of a $4.27 a share estimate.

In the near term, Mahaney’s chats with search engine marketers, firms that place ads on keyword searches such as those Google sells, say “search trends remain generally robust in Q2,” according to Mahaney. That should help the quarter. One marketer embodied the positive attitude toward Google generally, notes Mahaney, commenting that “Google is demand rich and inventory rich,” as regards keyword search. Competitors such as Yahoo (YHOO) and Miorosoft (MSFT) are poor on both counts, according to that source. Mahaney says survey research from “SEMPO,” the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, indicates keyword search should remain strong the next 12 months, and marketers should increase their keyword search spending in 2008.

Longer term, writes Mahaney, Google is poised to benefit from two important additional sources of revenue, one being mobile search, from phones (especially Android-based phones, I would suppose), and from display advertising, in addition to keyword search.

Mahaney has a $630 price target on Google, and he thinks the stock has troughed at 25x this years’s projected EPS.

Today, Google shares are up $2, or .4%, at $530.15.

Source: ByTiernan Ray, Barrons, Tech Trader Daily, 30/06/08)

By K. Mar on Jun 29, 2008 in Marketing and Consulting, Scandinavia, Sweden, www.Icenews.is

Scandinavia’s reputation for high tech investment and innovation means it is a constant magnet for the world’s high tech industries. This year SMX Search Marketing Expo has chosen Stockholm as the location for one of its flagship annual conferences.

SMX is a global search engine marketing conference that offers a wide selection of workshops, discussions and networking opportunities for industry professionals who want to keep ahead in the rapidly changing world of search marketing.

The SMX Search Marketing Expo in Stockholm is planned for the 23rd and 24th September in the Stockholm City Conference Centre, Folkets Hus.

Speakers include Nordic eMarketing’s Kristjan Mar Hauksson and Eniro’s Christer Pettersson, as well as a host of other expert online search marketers. Event speakers are carefully selected based on proven knowledge and experience that they can share with others. There is also a commitment not to include commercial pitches in presentations – a fact that keeps proceedings fresh and fast.

Other SMX expo events take place annually in a several major cities, such as London, Sao Paolo and Seattle, as well as Stockholm. The events provide a fun and stimulating environment for professionals to exchange knowledge and experience, to find and maintain useful contacts and even to keep an eye on the competition.

Personalised search techniques, keyword research tools, and link building are among this year’s top topics. Also on the agenda are targeting potential customer habits and preferences, and how to avoid exclusion by the search engines for ‘spam-like’ behaviour.

For more information on the SMX Search Marketing Expo Stockholm, visit: www.searchmarketingexpo.com/stockholm