When it comes to SERPs, and what users choose from the array of results, Google says, “Our User Experience Research team has found that people evaluate the search results page so quickly that they make most of their decisions unconsciously.” I could have told them that for a free Google mug. And maybe a Google Frisbee.
Search engines, like any object you use on a routine basis, becomes an extension of your senses. Are we really surprised that a thumbnail in universal search draws attention? No. It’s the contrast to a plain. It’s a key component to effective design, photography, and even magic tricks. But what Google determines from this study is that the thumbnails in the SERPs are also not a distraction if they don’t fit the kind of information a specific user seeking.
When auditing a site, one of the first things I check is the use of images in place of actual text. Why? Well, because when I was a website designer/developer, I was very picky about the simplest aesthetics. It drove me crazy how ugly arial and verdana could look sometimes. Blocky, jagged, and “blech”. I started life as a graphic designer, and just always paid attention to typography. So, if the text I wanted to style wasn’t imperative to users and search engines (which it usually was), I would just Photoshop an image together with the words in the .gif, .png, or .jpg. Otherwise, I would sacrifice typography aesthetics for SEO 99% of the time.
But then sIFR came along (and was given some love from Google.). To work, sIFR requires JavaScript and Flash. The beauty of sIFR is that it allows designers to render text into .swf files and use fonts that web browsers and computers otherwise don’t have loaded. In the source code, the actual text was visible for search engine spiders. This made search engines happy, and designers ecstatic.
Now there’s the FLIR (FaceLift Image Replacement) alternative, which just like sIFR, is Google friendly. FLIR works like sIFR with JavaScript, but removes the Flash component. True, most browsers have Flash installed (if not manually installed by users), but eliminating the chances someone doesn’t seems like a good thing to me! FLIR does however require PHP to be installed on your web host, which is pretty much commonplace on any good web host today.
So how does it look? Pretty good (once I determine exactly what font I love). Take a look at the title of this post. You can’t highlight it because it’s a .png file (ie, a graphic). If you search my source code for the title, you’ll still find it in all its glory. Although the header tags are not being used in my particular implementation, I do have this set up to repeat the same text in the alt attributes (I might augment this overlay on the header tags in the future, but I wanted to experiment with the alts for the time being.)
Update April 3, 2011
I originally wrote this article in 2009. It’s still one of my most popular, but I have to say, I don’t really recommend this method anymore. Twitter is five years old now and has really changed since 2009. The auto-respond practice has really been beaten to death. Now, when I follow people, I often have second thoughts about them if I get an auto reply. It feels spammy, and I sometimes look at the person I just followed with more scrutiny especially if the auto reply has a marketing message. Though more time consuming, I would recommend reaching out to your new followers in the public stream with personal attention or overall global value… Not an automated triggered response. Still, for those of you who’d like to know how to do it, read on.
Original article:
Twitter is a great marketing tool if you use it right. Like any social media, it’s a relationship building tool. When you earn the love and loyalty of your network, you find your stage has a pretty bright spotlight. The more you use Twitter and contribute useful content, the more you find followers will find you. There are many tools where your authority can be found aside from just surfing Twitter itself.
Twitter offers the ability to send a direct message to people who follow you. Have you ever noticed on occasion when you opt to follow someone, you immediately receive a direct message with something like “thanks for following – check out my site at www…” For that direct message to be sent, the Twitterer is either doing it manually (unlikely, especially if they’re busy) or using a web 2.0 tool like Tweetlater. This Twitter auto respond tool lets you schedule your tweets, but also has a convenient “auto-reply” feature:
Pretty useful to market yourself a little further. Just make sure you have something to say in your Twitter auto messages. It’s a great way to Twitter clients specifically, as well.
For those who were curious but didn’t ask, my Twitter obsession also hits Tweetdeck, Twhirl, TweetEffect, TwitterGrader, TweetBurner, Tweepler, MyTweeple, and TweetVolume pretty often. I’m about as addicted to these as I am Firefox extensions. (more…)
Update (12-10-2010) – So today I’m not the Firefox fanboy I used to be. I’ve moved into Chrome. Check out Chrome Extensions That Make SEO Easier.
The Firefox browser is an amazing, innovative browser. It’s fun watching IE copy its features (well, as many as its architecture can allow, which isn’t many – MS doesn’t rebuild, so Firefox should be enjoying their notoriety for a long time to come). I was an early adopter, but it’s pretty amazing how many people use this browser now – it’s not just advanced web surfers anymore. I was helping my 60 year old mother install a webcam and saw the Firefox browser. Impressed, I asked her how she heard about it. She said, “well, I don’t want Spyware.” Wow.
For those who still don’t use Firefox, here’s some reasons you should take the plunge. If you’re a traditional IE user, believe me, learning this browser is a piece of cake.
That last one is a big one (and the reason for this post). With hundreds of homemade Firefox extensions on the web, you can customize your browser to make your internet life easier. If you’re a web developer, there are extensions to help you locate and analyze code, view pages in cross-browser emulation, disable style codes or JavaScript, and a lot more. If you are a social media fanatic, there are extensions that make your browser interact with your favorite sites more naturally. It’s pretty addictive to search for these extensions, especially if you’re a tinkerer like me. Here’s a bunch including ad blockers, tab controllers, image viewers, and cool ways to save pages for easier use later (I haven’t used my browsers bookmark function in a while thanks to some of these plugins).
Greasemonkey is a Firefox Extension that allows for sub-extensions (called scripts, also found by Googling ‘greasemonkey scripts’ or something similiar). Search Engine Journal just posted 14 Essential Greasemonkey Scripts for Google Searching, and had a few I didn’t know about. Some of these scripts are useful to the average searcher. They do a great job of summarizing each script, so take a look.
To use these scripts, you just have to install the Greasmonkey extension first, then go to the script pages and click INSTALL. That couldn’t be easier.
There are plenty of Firefox extensions for search engine optimization, allowing for quick site audits, spider emulation, NoFollow checkers, user-agent switchers (view a site as Google), and code viewers.
Again, these sites do a great job describing and sending you to the tools. Tackle these after lunch for an hour, and I guarantee the web will look a lot better. Enjoy -
http://seo2.0.onreact.com/top-10-firefox-extensions-for-search-website-optimization-and-seo-i-use
http://tips.webdesign10.com/firefox-seo-extensions
http://www.automaticable.com/2008-04-29/the-top-12-seo-firefox-extensions/
Hey all – been taking a vacation from the blog for a while, sorting out some personal issues. Wanted to bring up a cool meta search engine that I’ve been getting back into. It’s not new, but it’s a cool way to search when your old standby’s aren’t doing the job.
A meta-search engine is a search engine that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and aggregates the results into …
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meta_search_engine
note: image was altered to fit the width of my blog
“Customized for the metro Philly area”, eh? Interesting, except my actual location this time was outside of Philadelphia, in Reading, Pennsylvania – Berks County, not Philadelphia. I’m not exactly sure how the geo-tracking works in this case (I’ll have to look into that), but when I checked my IP path, I’m not running through Philly. Why not choose Harrisburg then? I’m equally close.
SEO and IP aside, I just started to wonder about whether this was a good idea at all.
I wasn’t logged in. I wasn’t asking for personalized search. What if I didn’t want an art program in the Philadelphia area, but rather an art program like Photoshop? Why would I want a customized “local” search? Or, what if I was open to any location? Granted, these results really didn’t seem that customized to Philly this time around, but how far can Google take this?
I’d prefer some parametric buttons that would let me choose customized results to my location, instead of just having it be “on”.
I’ve been spending my last year working in an agency in Philadelphia. I don’t get out nearly as much as I used to, and as a result, was totally oblivious to this great group of local interactive marketers. I hope to meet them soon. My new friend Chris Phillips invited me to the Internet Marketers of Delaware Valley. Affiliated with that is Search Camp Philly, a great sounding weekend for $21.00. Wow. I might have to leave Disney World early for that. Wife would kill me though…
I don’t feel so alone anymore! I know I have a couple local readers to my new blog. Definitely check this out.
Bill Sebald - Ex-big agency guy, now focused on helping small and medium sized business. I've been practicing SEO since 1998. I started the SEO practice at a major digital agency owned by eBay and helped develop SEO products for one of the largest ecommerce platforms. I'm a proud member of the Philadelphia SEO scene. I'm passionate about search, writing, UX, CRO, and psychology in marketing.
Hang out with me at the SEO Grail
