You probably already know that search engines send out their spiders (aka robots) out to websites in order to index their content into their search databases so you should already appreciate the importance of having content that is easily accessible to spiders, but what do you do if you’re not sure how visible your content actually is?
Perhaps you rely on JavaScript, frames or multiple URL query strings to present content. How do you know whether your content can be easily read by search engine spiders?
If search engine spiders can’t get access to your website content then you can’t expect them to be able to return that content in search results. If organic search engine traffic is important to you then you must ensure your content can be spidered fully.
Here are some ways in which you can get an idea of what the spiders see:
- Use a search engine’s cache in order to view your website pages as they’ve recorded them. If all of the content that should be on your webpages is visible in the cached pages then you know it’s visible to the spiders.
- Use a text-based web browser such as Lynx to view your website. Click on the thumbnail above to see what this website looks like through Lynx.
- Use an online text browser simulator to view your website.
- Use a search engine spider emulator.
- Search for content you want to check. If you can find it through a search engine then you know it’s visible!
Apart from actually using the search engines themselves, how accurate these methods are at representing what spiders see is questionable. Search engines are known for their veil of secrecy and search technology is ever-evolving. What search engine spiders can’t see today they might see tomorrow. Sounds like the strap line for a horror movie…
To be honest, I’ve not really tried BlogRush so I’m not really in a position to offer an opinion about it. All I know about it is from what the email ‘newsletters’ that arrive in a special part of my inbox say and from what a few others, whose opinions count for more than those sending those special ‘newsletters’, have written about it.
From the description of the features and benefits that others have provided (not their opinion of it, but what it actually does), I’m not in any sort of a rush (no pun intended) to try it nor to be cheated by others bent on exploiting it.
What I am keen to try out is Sarah’s new What Others Are Saying (WOAS) WordPress plugin that offers similar functionality, but without any of what puts me off BR i.e. it’s a PHP plugin that reads RSS feeds and displays them on my blog, but it only takes the feeds from websites I specify, websites which I am fairly certain won’t be making inappropriate posts.
Nicer and more useful than a blogroll, WOAS offers readers of my blog the offerings of other blogs I read myself, but most of the benefit goes to the other blogs as it generates real, direct links to them and introduces their blog posts to a wider audience.
Should I include your blog?
I’d like to add a few more blogs to my WOAS list. If you think posts from your blog might be suitable, drop a comment or message and I’ll check your blog out.
Many people have a vocation in life; a conduit through which to channel their energy and focus. Sometimes, even the most unrelated paths can draw parallels. Spending time in online search engine optimisation (SEO) communities and having acquaintances who are religious has allowed me the opportunity to see some striking similarities between the two groups of people.
Now, you might not appreciate the similarities between the two subject matters right away, but consider the following characteristics:
- There are many different faiths or belief systems. Some beliefs are more popular than others, but each will have its own following of dedicated individuals who believe that things should be a certain way.
- The faiths don’t always get along with one another nicely and each may proclaim their own way of existence to be the one, true way to their goals/nirvana/holy grail/state of enlightenment.
- There is often a lot of internal debate about the interpretation of scripture by followers within a faith. Much of this debate is often futile as only the originators of the faith really know the consequences of your actions.
- For those who seek it, there are representatives in recognised positions to provide guidance.
- Each faith has a way of defining what is good and what is evil.
- There are calendar-based events to observe, events that are pivotal to any particular faith.
Am I describing religion or SEO?
It seems like it’s the season for website theme changes as not only have a few of my regular reads (e.g. Sarah, Jon, Stu, Jason) changed their blog themes, but The Register and Amazon.co.uk have rounded some of their corners out (Amazon.co.uk now seems to have reverted to their previous look since I last checked earlier today) and now my blog!
The theme I’m currently using is a pre-release version that was XHTML compliant on a test installation, but that soon changed after I added my content into the mix together with a variety of third party gadgetry. It’s a CSS-based design with no tables used for layout.
I thought it was a good time to upgrade to WordPress v2.3 (with post preview), housekeep a few redundant plugins and move away from the JavaScript heavy K2 theme I was previously using. I’ve also installed Sarah’s BlogRush alternative, but having a few issues getting it to work with FeedBurner feeds [edit: later found the issues were caused by not RTFM].
If you spot any gremlins at work, please let me know!
As FTP clients go, FileZilla offers all of the basic functionality wrapped up in a no-nonsense user interface. It’s a mature application, well supported and best of all completely free. You can get the source code too, if you’re so inclined.
I’ve been using FileZilla v2 for years and now it’s been rewritten as version 3. The new version stores its site profiles in a different way and the built-in import feature doesn’t allow you to import all of the settings from v2 e.g. folder destinations can’t be imported into v3 using an export from v2. This is a royal pain in the ass as I’ve got dozens of site profiles all nicely set-up with their local and destination folders.
Fortunately, some kind soul known as Nyro, has developed a neat little translation script that will take the v2 export XML file and convert it into a v3 format profiles file. You can use the script directly from their website or download the source code for use on your own server.
Technorati Tags: FileZilla upgrade
You probably already know that search engines send out their spiders (aka robots) out to websites in order to index their content into their search databases so you should already appreciate the importance of having content that is easily accessible to spiders, but what do you do if you’re not sure how visible your content actually is?