Stephan Spencer's Scatterings

The Scattered Wisdom of a scientist turned web marketing virtuoso

March 2010
S M T W T F S
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Macaroni and Spam

With two natural listings in the top 10 on the Google SERPs for “dating” it’s hard to argue with Match.com’s SEO tactics. It works well for them - a flashy front page with a novel of text below the fold. Since this has worked so well for Match.com and… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 03/13/2008 | Permalink

Comments (2)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Usability, Search Engines, Content, Web Design black hat seo, keyword stuffing, search engine spam            

Video Tutorial: Discountflies.com

Sometimes, I get the chance to update my website critiques through video presentations. Last February, I had devoted some time to Discountflies.com. Over a year and a half later, I was able to revisit their site through a video tutorial. You will need… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/21/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Ecommerce, Web Design seo tutorial, video, website critique            

Web 2.0 Isn't Friendly to the Search Engines

Two of the most popular Web 2.0 interactive elements, Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) and Flash, might be great for customers and a fresh experience on many sites, but they are inherently unfriendly to the major search engine spiders. In my articl… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/20/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Usability, Web Design ajax, flash, web 2.0, web development            

Web Developer Extension Works for SEO

By using a few toolbars, widgets, or other add-ons, you can enhance your understanding of a website's SEO health. The Web Developer Extension from Chris Pederick is a great tool that can help Web developers, designers, and SEO enthusiasts. In my artic… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/19/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Web Design seo, tools, web development            

Printer-Friendly vs. Search Engine-Friendly

We've all experienced frustration trying to print out an important web page or form. Some web designers have felt our pain, creating duplicate pages that are "print-friendly." Unfortunately, these duplicates aren't great for SEO, as the search engines ge… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/14/2007 | Permalink

Comments (1)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Usability, Web Design duplicate content, print friendly            

Get Closer to the Search Engine Spiders

One of the things I covered in my CNet: Searchlight blog, was the tools for how website owners, webmasters/mistresses, and other professionals can get a little closer to the search engine spiders. Along with providing more detailed information and ans… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/14/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Web Design, Web Analytics search engine spiders, site explorer, webmaster central            

Good Progressive Enhancement is Great for SEO

Progressive enhancement, a "sister" to graceful degradation, is often talked about in web design circles right along with other technical topics like JavaScript, Flash, Ajax, and basic applications of CSS. While it may not be easy to understand what thes… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/13/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Usability, Web Design graceful degradation, progressive enhancement            

How Funny 404 Error Pages Work for You

I'm sure we've all experienced coming across a "404 error page" while surfing on the web. Have you run into one that was pretty unusual? Take a peek at the Homestar 404 Error Page for example, from a website that features a character called "Homestar Run… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 11/13/2007 | Permalink

Comments (0)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Content, Web Design 404, error pages, funny 404 error pages            

What to do about copyright infringement of your website?

They say that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." But not if you're a site owner! I've seen designs copied, content copied, even entire sites copied. It's so easy for someone to "view source" and take whatever they like, without regard to copy… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 06/20/2006 | Permalink

Comments (4)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Content, Web Design, Legal copyright, copyright infringement, copyscape, design, dmca, wayback machine            

Taking full advantage of CSS

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) offers many more benefits beyond that of streamlined web pages with table-less layouts and precise positioning (no more transparent 1-pixel spacer GIFs!), mentioned in my previous post. Indeed, that's just scratching the surf… more »
Posted by Stephan Spencer on 05/30/2006 | Permalink

Comments (4)| Comments RSS | Filed under: Usability, Search Engines, Web Design best practices, cascading style sheets, css, image replacement, search engine optimization, seo            
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