tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:21:14 +0000Thoughts on web design, search engine optimisation and web marketing . . .http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/noreply@blogger.com (Barney)Blogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-3503002198487190000Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:39:00 +00002009-04-30T12:21:14.318+01:00When you check your listing on a browser which search engine do you use? A simple question but important because not all search engines are equal. According to the latest figures the top 10 UK Search Engines are: 1. Google UK 2. Yahoo UK 3. Ask Jeeves UK 4. Freeserve UK 5. Yell UK 6. Alta Vista UK 7. MSN UK 8. NTL World 9. Tiscali 10. Mirago According to 2009 April 04 figures http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2009/04/top-10-uk-search-engines.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-5692702973505162386Mon, 27 Apr 2009 10:30:00 +00002009-04-27T11:58:06.942+01:00Having an optimised website in this day and age is essential. But what does this really mean? When I talk about an 'optimised' site I consider:Keywords researched and definedPages designed to target defined keywordsIncoming links established from other relevent websitesI could go into more detail but that, in essence, is it.So once that's all in place we can sit back and relax? Yes?Well possibly,http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2009/04/optimisation-is-not-one-off-event.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-7479982674208861964Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:55:00 +00002009-04-18T11:51:02.591+01:00ppc advertisingppcpay per clickPay Per Click (PPC) advertising is on the increase. I know this even without the latest stats because Cost Per Click prices are soaring as advertisers increase their bids to gain the top keyword spots. I do this for clients if necessary.But it isn't always necessary. Sometimes business owners want the top spot for a given keyword without assessing what happens after the advert has been clicked http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2008/09/ppc-cost-per-click-is-rising.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-7865658389745011005Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:18:00 +00002008-10-24T13:08:50.081+01:00As search engines have become more sophisticated, so have the tricks and fixes used to gain a high rank. Search engine optimisers are often described as falling into two camps; ‘Black Hat’ and ‘White Hat’. I don’t know where these expressions came from but broadly speaking Black Hat is the use of underhand methods for gaining a top search engine position, while White Hat involves doing things by http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2008/08/seo-quick-fix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-6181621640389898913Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:25:00 +00002008-10-24T13:10:01.450+01:00Typical of SEO and the web is how fast things move on.After my writing about Flash not being search engine friendly it seems that Adobe, Google, and Yahoo teamed up last week to announce that they are making Flash searchable for crawling and indexing.Good news of course but designers should still proceed with caution. How Flash gets indexed will be an interesting question and what weight a Flash http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2008/07/searchable-flash.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-3524778046433679960Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:20:00 +00002008-10-24T13:10:20.981+01:00search engine optimisationFlashFlash has made a big impact on the web and is a great tool with many applications but creating a website with Flash can create a barrier to people accessing your website.What is Flash?Flash is a type of animation software, originally designed to create animations for display on web pages. A good example of Flash appears on Adobe’s UK homepage www.adobe.com/uk/ (the makers the Flash software). Buthttp://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2008/06/flash-on-web.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5185471163617961312.post-4417781572300829033Thu, 08 May 2008 07:55:00 +00002008-10-24T13:10:39.879+01:00I've been working in SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) at various levels for around 7 years and things have changed a lot in that time.When I first started few designers understood or cared about SEO. At that time it was possible to be presented with a new website from a newly formed company and achieve a number 1 ranking on Google within a few weeks by adding a few meta tags and changing the http://www.catnet.co.uk/blog/2008/05/design-v-content.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barney)0