There are so many things that get in the way of getting good rankings in search engines. This is a brief summary of most of them as well as a workaround for each:
Graphics & Images : Naturally, search engines cannot read images and graphics. Even if you have text embedded in a graphic a search engine cannot read it. There are however a few ways to help a search engine understand what is in graphics on your website, and help your images rank in search engines as well. One method of tagging an image or graphic for search engine rankings is to always include ALT tags for every image. It is a general rule of thumb that the first 3 images on your site have highly keyword targeted ALT tags. Remember, a search engine parses hyphens as spaces, so always use hyphens to separate words like:
<img src=”logo.jpg” alt=”simple-tiger-internet-marketing”>
Another method that should be used in conjunction with ALT tags is including plenty of content and textual copy immediately around the image. If you have an image in a cell of a table, include a small caption explaining the image with a few keywords.
The last method for helping a graphic heavy site is acquiring inbound links. You will notice that I mention this a ton, links are the only reason the internet exists, so they will never go out of popularity. Recommendation = Get links.
Ever wonder how to get your images to show up in Google’s Image Search? Well thats how. 
Flash Websites : Currently, most search engines cannot read Flash files or websites. The reason for this is Flash is a language much like HTML but the text in Flash sites is sometimes embedded as a certain format that search engines cannot read. Search engines are working really hard on this and will eventually be able to read Flash sites, but for now lets work out a few solutions:
1. The best workaround for Flash sites is to create an HTML version of any Flash site you create. Then create an HTML homepage that offers the visitor the option to use the Flash version or the HTML version. You will want to inform the user on the homepage what the site is about with a small block of text. It is a good idea to offer a small Flash element on the homepage for the user to see what the Flash version will look like, but then inform them that they must have an up to date version of Macromedia Flash Player installed to view the Flash version of your site.
2. If you are an advanced Flash and HTML/CSS user (learn CSS, trust me) then definitely consider turning your Flash site into an HTML site with Flash animations. You will then be able to include plenty of keyword reach textual content which will entice spiders as well as readers.
3. You can never go wrong building strong link popularity. Get as many high quality, relevant inbound links as you can, and you won’t have to worry nearly as much about on page optimization for a Flash site, especially of the links you get provide good traffic.
4. You may also consider placing your entire Flash <object> into <noembed> tags. Flash objects are naturally embedded in HTML using an <embed> tag, but using the <noembed> before and after the object will allow you to still use the head section of your site and provide enough information so the search engines can crawl your site.
Really, you can’t beat good links. Try to build links to any site and you will notice a difference in your search engine rankings. I will provide more info on link building in a near future lesson.
Frames : Frames simply put, are bad. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, because frames suck. If you use frames, consider a different design. Unless a site with frames has the information I am looking for, I leave. The best solution here, build links.
Dynamic Sites & Shopping Carts : The best solution for these sites is using a CMS or Content Management System. If you want to make a blog use WordPress because it is by far my favorite CMS and its free. There are content management systems for roughly any application out there.
JavaScript : JS is such an old language, but search engines still have trouble reading it. Always remember, never ever use JavaScript for your site navigation. If you absolutely have to, make sure to include a footer navigation in HTML. With JavaScript laden sites, inbound links help your rankings just as well. Are we beginning to notice a trend here?
As you can now understand, building high quality, relevant inbound links to your site is one of the best methods of website promotion available. We will be discussing links in a later lesson, so subscribe to the RSS feed now and check it out.
The next lesson “Building Links - By far the hardest part, yet this part pays off the most” explains the importance of acquiring high quality, relevant inbound links to your site.
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