This post is to provide some extra resources following my presentation at CeBIT Australia.

Below is a summary of my presentation. I touched on all of these concepts at a fairly high level and have provided more detailed information to some of the solutions discussed in the presentation at the bottom of the document.

If there are any questions regarding this presentation, please post them below and I will do my best to answer them.

Search Engine Optimisation

Know how to optimise your websites with best practice web development and optimising content for search engines. People should be able to find your website efficiently, for relevant terms relating to your website and not through any direct paid methods (eg. Google Adwords)

Other methods include RSS distribution of content, external and internal linking strategies and social media optimisation. Having quality and quantity content that drives users to your site, then keeps them there.

Technology

1999: Technology was about hyper-linking, non-linear navigation and communication with the world. Very text-based and a little bit of play or abuse with Flash, which didn’t last very long.

2007: Technology is more sophisticated, more complex and contains more information. More information does not mean more findability however… if implemented incorrectly technology can bury or embed information where search engines will not be able to find it.

Technologies introduced: Audio, Video, Flash and AJAX.

SEO vs Technology - Problems

SEO vs Technology, do you have to compromise? Does one have to be chosen over the other?

Audio and Video: Content is trapped within the technology. Visual medium of content is rich and can be interpreted by visual users in many different ways. There is no way for search engines to see or unlock this content.

Flash: Proprietary, embedded content. No HTML and like Audio and Video the content is embedded within the technology.

AJAX: Better foundation than the Audio, Video and Flash as AJAX begins with an HTML foundation. The search engines can index the starting page of the website. AJAX then will dynamically generate content which cannot be seen by search engines. Search engines will document the starting page, but nothing else, unlike the old model of requesting whole new HTML pages, which the search engine could index separately.

Javascript: The foundation of AJAX and some flash alternative solutions. No search engines can crawl content within javascript code, so even a simple popup window can be missed by search engines if coded incorrectly.

SEO vs Technology - Solutions

Is the technology really necessary? Can you accomplish the same thing with a normal HTML website? Once you have decided this, you must decide which technology is appropriate for you and your users needs.

Introducing a “Javascript must be enabled to view this website” or a likewise message to download a plug-in will drive users away from your website.

Progressive Enhancement

A methodology of building HTML, CSS, Javascript and AJAX websites that allows maximum users to access the essential information of the website, adding layers of presentation and behavior if the browser or device is capable of adding such functionality.

HTML: Content, essential information that can be accessed by all.
CSS: Presentation, the look and feel of your document. For visual representation of your websites.
AJAX: Behavior, the interactivity of your website. This could be Javascript, video, audio or flash as well.

The important layer and idea here is content. Content is essential and should always be accessible to all devices and to search engines. Technology should enhance the content, not be the content.

Sometimes alternatives are necessary

Flash: An embedded technology. Flash should be used sparingly and not for navigation, text headers and body content. HTML and Flash can be mixed on a web page to create sophisticated, slick designs.

If all content must be embedded within the Flash file, look into Flash Object Detection scripts such as sIFR, UFO Object Detection or SWF Object (links below). These scripts will present HTML markup alternatives for accessibility and SEO, while presenting Flash for those browsers that have the plugin.

Video and Audio: Another embedded technology that needs alternate content. Video and Audio must be transcribed, and linked to from the original video. This is easy to do if you put out a few videos a week, but if you put out larger quantities, larger more expensive third party solutions may be your only alternative.

Conclusion

Optimising your web site for search engines while using new technologies is not impossible, but you must keep a few things in mind to make it work.

Understanding: we need to understand why we are using each technology.
Usability: Using technology for the correct purpose, increasing usability.
Findability: unlocking the content, not burying it in the technology.

More resources on Web 2.0 and Search

Some concepts I touched on during the presentation and more detailed information on each of those for further reading.

Progressive Enhancement

Wikipedia Definition

Graceful Degradation & Progressive Enhancement

Progressive Enhancement with Javascript - PDF Presentation

AJAX

Progressive Enhancement with AJAX

Hijax - an accessible, SEO friendly way of building smaller AJAX apps

Flash

Unobtrusive Flash Objects (UFO) v3.20 - javascript detection of the Flash version being used and serves up alternate content.

SWFObject: Javascript Flash Player detection and embed script - works almost identical to UFO above.

sIFR 2.0: Rich Accessible Typography for the Masses - replace snippets of text with Flash fonts for more design freedom

Websites highlighted in the presentation

Jakob Nielsen on Usability

Tokyo Plastic - fantastic Flash animation

Revish - Book Reviews

Primal Scream - Band website

The Show with Ze Frank - Video and Transcription examples