Ted On Flash: Flex Directory, SEO, and Flex

Flex Directory, SEO, and Flex - Part 2

DIGG IT! 7 Comments Published Friday, August 10, 2007 at 8:55 AM .

It worked! Google's spiders picked up the schema changed in the Flex Directory and have modified the listing. Additionally the Directory can now be found under a much larger search pool of keywords. It is also interesting to note how fast this has occurred given the use of the sitemap.xml api.

The next problem to solve is to expose the XML in a format where the contents make the search engine listings to expand the search results. If you type in a company listed and "Flex" ideally this listing will occur, say "Farata Flex". This will involve changing the Flex application to match the new schema within the XML. The cool part is that plain XHTML can have a stylesheet so it is a valid technique for presenting raw data yet providing a much better UI to end users.

I got some 38 new listings to add to the Flex Directory. My apologies on the delay in getting these new ones listed. I am looking at building a new system that is federated for listing companies in the Flex Directory and this will include a larger range of listing options. Ideally companies will be able to list screen shots, quotes, better contact information, and maps in the directory when things are enabled. Plus then companies can update their listing independently by changing the XML document on their server which the Flex Directory aggregates. Think RSS but with directory content.

More to come!

Ted :)

7 Responses to “Flex Directory, SEO, and Flex - Part 2”

# Doug McCune August 10, 2007 10:12 AM

Alright, I was skeptical about the XML data approach. Adding in the HTML stuff to give google a hint to index it was a great idea. Format your data more like XHTML instead of XML and I think you're on to something. Instead of having <company> tags, why not have <strong> tags? Or <h1> for a company and then <p> tags for the other fields for a company. Yeah, it's not as nice XML, but I bet google will index the data.
# capital H coder August 10, 2007 10:31 AM

It's nice to see we might have some options for RIA SEO... but what I'm really curious about is how roundpeg got in the list twice... did they find a square hole and force their way in?

Sorry, couldn't help myself.
# Ted Patrick August 10, 2007 11:41 AM

Duplicates listings removed, It was a Ted error! :)
# Ted Patrick August 10, 2007 11:46 AM

Doug,

That is exactly the tactic. We can have structured data and provide semantics for user agents while delivering a better user experience.

More to come!

Ted :)
# Scott August 14, 2007 9:13 AM

Doug is right: make it easy on yourself and use XHTML as your schema. Use nodes for content, and attributes for meta information. As a bonus, add a stylesheet and you have a version that does not require a flash player.
# Tom Hooper October 3, 2007 11:56 AM

XHTML all the way... It's easily understood by search engines, and more importantly; people can get at your data without having to have Flash installed!

So build the app as static XHTML (lists, linked pages), then enhance this interface with either AJAX or Flash, depending on what the user supports.

We did this a while back with one element on a page. You can read about it here:
http://alastairc.ac/2007/06/cms-editable-flash/
Some of the methods might be useful if you progress with this.
# Tom Hooper October 3, 2007 11:58 AM

Sorry, ^ Link CMS editable Flash

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Flex Directory, SEO, and Flex - Part 2

7 Responses to “Flex Directory, SEO, and Flex - Part 2”

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