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The best answer is A. You need to take a look at the site first. How can you assess search engine ranks when you don’t know which keywords the restaurant is trying to rank for? And a Google PageRank value is nice to know, but it’s only one factor in determining ranks. 

You take a quick look at the website and notice that it’s built in Adobe Flash.  You know Flash is an SEO handicap (see our Flash article for more information on drawbacks of Flash in SEO). So, as with most Flash sites, you expect to see bland, wordless listings on Google.  Maybe all you’ll need to do, you think, is tell your friend that Flash is handicapping her ranks.

You decide to take a look at how Flash is affecting the site’s Google presence. How should you proceed? (Click on your answer to move to the next step.)

1. Search Google using the query: http://www.providencela.com
2. Search Google using the query: “Providence”
3. Search Google using the query: “Providence Restaurant Los Angeles

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posted 7/11/2006

Like what you see here? Our book, Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day, is full of similarly easy-to-follow advice about organic search, pay-per-click advertising, and conversion tracking. See inside the book here.