I have been optimizing websites for the past six years, and all of a sudden last fall I began hearing about Googles Jagger update. Now being a Chick I like to keep things pretty simple and wondered why Google named it Jagger. (At first that seemed more important to me than what effect the update would have!)
As I have mentioned before I am a Google Certified Professional , which doesnt make me any more in the know because Google never called to notify me about Jagger, so I had to learn about it on my own. Curious about the name, I went to Google and typed, Why did you name it the Jagger Update. (Sometimes I like to approach Google like it is a magic eight ball just to see if it will talk to me)
Surprisingly, Google didnt respond but thanks to a gentleman named Glenn Murray who wrote the article Jagger, Google Analytics and the Future of Search & SEO where he explains ... Just like hurricanes, Google updates have names. (A Google update is a change to the way Google determines its rankings. Google makes these changes periodically, and theyre universally feared because they can impact dramatically on a websites ranking.) The latest update is called Jagger, and it has search engine optimizers (SEOs) all around the world in a state of panic.
That brought me a little closer to understanding why they named it Jagger. Maybe instead of womans names like they use for hurricanes, perhaps Google names their updates after famous Rock Stars (To date I have not yet found any evidence to back up this statement so currently this is purely speculation).
Either way they have named it Jagger, and apparently from all I have read the update is complete. Simultaneously I have noticed over the last few months the rankings of some of my clients have experienced some drastic changes in Google and I have wondered if they have fallen victim to The Jagger Effect.
I am not writing to tell you the specific things that could possibly help you, or even hurt you in Jaggers aftermath( if you are an SEO Firm you can read a great article by Jason OConner Google and Jaggers Aftermath.) If you have a website, I am sure all you really care about is, Did Jagger effect my rankings in Google and can you fix it for me
As the world has exploded with numerous Optimization Companies in the last few years, the relevant question really becomes, How well do you know your website optimizer and what experience and knowledge do they have to keep you ahead of the game
Here are a few simple yet powerful questions you should be asking your current or prospective Optimization Company:
1. How many websites have they optimized and can they show you how they improved their search engine ranking positions
2. Is the Optimizer a member of any professional Search Associations
3. Has the Optimizer spoken at any Search Conferences or written any industry Articles
4. What does the optimizer do to stay current on the newest best practices when it comes to search engines and optimization
5. Is the optimizer a specialist or is optimizing just a part of many things they do in a day
Updates such as Jagger are not going away, and the power of the Internet as a direct-to-consumer distribution channel continues to grow, it is time to take a strategic approach to your search engine optimization strategyin this Chicks humble opinion.
Finally, in case you were worried, The Jagger update had no effect on Mick Jagger at all. You can still go to Google and type in Jagger and www.mickjagger.com still ranks number one! Its a great sitecheck it out!
Patricia Brusha is the co-founder of A Couple of Chicks, an Internet Marketing, e-Distribution & Revenue Measurement Company. The Chicks specialize in using Creative, Distribution and Technology to bring clarity to marketing on-line.
To find out more about A Couple of Chicks Marketing and the tools and services available, visit . Visit A New Conference Series Coming Soon - brought to you by A Couple of Chicks!
Yeah why not! They look good and can be very creative with a lot of visual effects. But the truth is they are not very search engine friendly. For those who have just spent a lot of bucks on creating a flash masterpiece, no need to panic, there are a few ways to help improve your websites search engine visibility.
To give you a quick rundown as to why flash websites are not favoured by search engines, they are seen as a one page image file with no text based content. You will notice that when you navigate through a flash website, the URL address will always remain the same. So here you have a website with no text based content, is a one page image file and has no internal link structure, translating into a search engines enemy.
Unless you have an extremely popular name within your industry or have an enormous amount of relevant incoming links, then you will get away with having a flash website for the obvious keyword phrases i.e. company name. Who would fall into this category An example would be Coca Cola, ever heard of them So for those who fall into the other category, and that would be about 90% of us, fortunately there are alternatives to help boost your rankings.
There are three suitable methods that I would recommend. The first method is by far the easiest and cost efficient. It involves optimising your Title and Meta tags for the single page to the best of your ability and then including optimised text information beneath the flash image. Some may see this as a form of spam, but given the scenario, I would recommend this method provided that the text is written accordingly and avoids keyword stuffing.
The second method can be quite costly and might not be favoured given the fact that you have spent a lot of cash on your flash website. It involves developing a second site designed in HTML. When a visitor visits your site, they would be presented with two links, one to your flash site and one to your HTML site. That way search engine crawlers will access all the content and pages via the HTML website.
The third method is by far the most preferred. It works by developing an HTML website with your flash images embedded on the page, and all content is written in text based form. This allows you to have multiple HTML pages which will give you more Title and Meta tags to work with, as well as keyword rich content to write for each page.
To sum up, depending on your time and budget constraints, there are ways to help you avoid the search engine pitfalls of having a flash website. Any of the methods I have discussed, along with a strong incoming link structure, will help you get that extra exposure in the search engines. If are thinking of designing a flash website, make sure you look at implementing a search engine friendly strategy to avoid complications in the future.
About the Author: David Touri works for SEO Sydney, the SEO Consultants. He has worked on various projects and offers .