I'm Looking For You

Don't be conned by graphic designers masquerading as web designers. Many SMEs get caught out by beautiful websites that don't deliver customers because they can't be found by search engines. Totem changed their website from Flash to HTML to be found.

[UKPRwire, Tue Jun 08 2010] June 2010 sees the launch of a new website for St Albans based Totem Consulting Ltd. An online presence is vital in the world of business. But equally important is the need to be found. Totem’s initial foray into the world of the web involved a site totally built using Flash rather than the more search-engine friendly HTML.

“It looked so pretty,” said Colleen Addicott, director of Totem, “and I was blown away by our funky new site. But we may as well have saved our money. No one searching the net could find us.”

The problem was that Google and other search engines use programs known in the industry as spiders which trawl the net finding out what each page is about. Until very recently these spiders could not read Flash. So any information shown in a Flash animation or image was ignored. Even now the extent of their ability to read Flash is limited.

But Totem wasn’t going to take this lying down. They invested in a full redesign, this time using HTML. Much of what was done in Flash could be done easily in HTML and some of the more interesting animations could be incorporated directly into the HTML page.

“My Business Link advisor commented that he’d seen lots of small businesses make the same mistake,” continued Colleen. “You talk to a web designer whose real expertise is graphic design and they sell you something that looks great. But unless you deal with someone who understands the way the Internet works, the site probably doesn’t do its job. It’s wasted money.”

So be warned. Pretty only goes so far. Make sure that your SEO (or Search Engine Optimisation) is at the forefront of the design process.