E-consultancy - Graham Charlton's Blog

Google's Flash indexing - good or bad for SEO?

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 12:10:00 UT

Flash sites can be a nightmare from a user experience perspective, so we were�surprised by Google's decision this week to begin to indexing content from Flash files (SWF).

One major argument against the use of Flash has been that the major search engines have been unable to effectively index the content contained within these files, so websites using this software have been losing out in the search rankings.

But the main arguments are that Flash sites are often inaccessible and their architects often try to reinvent the wheel, which leads to all manner of user experience nightmares.

Establishing customer trust - dos and don'ts

Wed, 2 Jul 2008 08:30:00 UT

Reports of online fraud are often enough to make customers think twice about shopping on the internet, so how can you reassure them?

There are a number of things that retailers can do to make customers feel safe about shopping online, as well as mistakes that can damage trust in an e-commerce website.

Thomas Cook redesign: Has it improved usability?

Tue, 1 Jul 2008 07:27:00 UT

Travel agent Thomas Cook introduced some changes to its website last week, aimed at improving navigation and relevance for its users.

We looked at the site a couple of months ago, finding a few problems with the holiday booking process, so has Thomas Cook resolved any of these issues?

Tips on providing user reviews

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:40:00 UT

User product reviews are a must for retailers and when used well�can enhance the credibility of a site and nudge customers towards buying a product.

Reviews can�have the benefit of bumping up�conversion rates and average order values, as well as providing some unique content for the search engines.

Here are some tips for retailers on providing user product reviews...�

BBC iPlayer revamp improves usability

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:51:00 UT

It's only around six months since the iPlayer was launched, but the BBC has introduced a new beta version�that aims to be more user-friendly.

Site review: Sky News beta

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:43:00 UT

Sky News is in the process of updating its website.�It currently has a new beta site running alongside the old one.

�

It has a bigger, bolder look, but is it an improvement on the old version?�

Contact details - best and worst practice examples

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:10:00 UT

Providing contact details is�a very basic requirement for etailers, but it's surprising how many either fail to provide a range of options or make users hunt around the site to find them.

Indeed, a survey last year found that the UK's online retailers were struggling on this issue, with 60% failing to provide a contact telephone number on their websites.

Visual book browsing with Zoomii

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Zoomii, launched last week, is a virtual bookstore�that displays books from Amazon.

The site is built on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud and uses the Amazon S3 hosted storage service. Buyers are directed to the online retail giant via an affiliate link.

Google Trends adds website traffic data

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:30:00 UT

Google Trends is now competing directly with services such as Alexa and Compete, by allowing users to look at trends by website address.

�

New search tools for eBay

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Online auction giant eBay is introducing some much needed changes to its search functions, making it easier for users to find what they want and filter out what they don't.

The changes will go live on the UK site in the next month but�are already available to try out on eBay Playground.�

Online screenshot tools

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Every blog needs a few images here and there to make posts more visually appealing, break up the text or illustrate the points you are making.

Here's a selection of useful tools to help bloggers capture and edit�screenshots of webpages...

MySpace gets a revamp

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:55:00 UT

Social network MySpace unveiled the first stage of its redesign yesterday, starting with a new look�for the homepage.

Having been one of the more cluttered sites around, MySpace was certainly due for a revamp. So has it improved?

Tips on internal linking strategy

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:14:00 UT

Internal linking is an important and often overlooked element of SEO and, unlike external links, the site owner has complete control over this, so it's crucial to make the most of it.

Scott Allen of Search Engine Guide has written a useful article on internal linking strategies. Here are a couple of his tips, alongside some from our SEO Best Practice Guide...

25 useful Wordpress plugins for bloggers

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:37:00 UT

Open source blogging platform Wordpress can be enhanced with the use of free plugins which can help you manage comments and spam, as well as improving SEO and user experience.

We've put together a list of some of the most useful plugins for Wordpress...

Site review: Last.fm beta

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Online music provider Last.fm is currently in the process of revamping its website, with a beta version running alongside the old site.

We've taken a look at to see what improvements (if any) have been made...

Google provides tips on duplicate content

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:34:00 UT

Duplicate content is an important issue and�something�that can have an adverse effect on a website�s search engine rankings.

So lots of site owners will be pleased to hear that Google has provided some tips on how to address it.

Q&A: Sara Vincent of Media Corp on sport.co.uk

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:25:00 UT

Online publishing and ad firm Media Corp�recently launched sport.co.uk, with the aim of developing the site into a major web destination for sports fans.

We talked to Sara Vincent, the commercial director of Media Corp's publishing division about the launch of the new site...

Reputation management tips for SEO

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:31:00 UT

A number of well known brands and companies have some pretty negative results that appear on the first page of Google's search results.

Take a look at the results for retailers like dabs.com and laptops direct, and you'll see a number of negative mentions, mainly from dissatisfied customers, in the first ten results.

So what is the best way to deal with this problem? ��

Five online bookmarking tools

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:37:00 UT

For anyone doing research online, or just spending a lot of time browsing, bookmarking tools are an extremely useful of saving content for later or sharing it with friends and colleagues.

Here are five of my favourite bookmarking tools for your viewing pleasure...

Polar Rose widens beta test

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 07:32:00 UT

Polar Rose is a Swedish startup that has been developing facial recognition technology for image search since it launched at the end of 2006.

It has recently updated the look of its image search facility and made the image recognition plugin available for Internet Explorer users, so we've taken a look to see how effective it is...