June 16th, 2010
To determine which keywords might be most effective in attracting your audience, try going to Google (or any other search engine) and entering various keyword combinations in the search box.
Observe the links that come up under each keyword search. When you come to search results that show a neighborhood where you would like your website to reside, copy down that keyword combination exactly and remember it! These will be words that you will want to emphasize in the title tags, description tags and text of the home page of your site (as well as on the inner pages).
Keep trying various combinations, making sure to emphasize your geographic area, if appropriate. Then, select perhaps the top 2-3 keyword combinations, and employ them on your website so as to attract the search engines.
Always make sure to test your keyword phrases in an actual search engine to see what comes up. Some effective keyword combinations may not be immediately apparent (and may even be counterintuitive). Do not try to guess or hope that you will have the best words: test them out first.
Learn more about organic search engine optimization.
Posted in General Web Design Tips | No Comments »
June 10th, 2010
Drupal.org is free open-source content management system (“CMS”) written in php used as a back-end system for at least 1% of all websites worldwide.
With Drupal templates, you can configure your website, add photo galleries, blogs, forums, online polls, calendars, RSS feeds and more.
Many hosting companies like Godaddy.com and Dreamhost.com offer one-click install options, making it easier for you to connect to your MySQL database.
Drupal offers an array of plug-in modules (known as contrib modules) that allow you to create a web site that is robust and interactive, and their online documentation is comprehensive and up to date.
No programming skills are required for basic website installation and administration.
Check out Drupal.org to see if Drupal is right for you!
Tags: CMS, content management system, drupal
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June 3rd, 2010
A bounce rate is the percentage of initial visitors to a site who click away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site.
Analyzing and adjusting your main-page content, as well as the design, can help you to reduce your bounce rate – however, your bounce rate should also be compared with your repeat visitors rate in order to get an idea of what might be needed to improve your client turnover.
Avinash Kaushik of Google.com has stated:
“It is really hard to get a bounce rate under 20%, anything over 35% is cause for concern, 50% (above) is worrying.”
While reducing your bounce rate can be important for e-commerce sites, it is of more questionable value for sites that relate news and information, where many visitors can immediately find what they need on the first page.
See Google Analytics Bounce Rate
and
See About Bounce Rate
for more information.
Tags: bounce rate, exit rate
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May 28th, 2010
Here’s something I’ve never seen before: a small rollover appearing over telephone numbers in a web browser inviting the user to click on the number in order to dial it using Skype.
The rollover appeared on my client’s laptop today (we were working together on updates for his site). I checked the code and found nothing special behind the telephone number — so, in order to rectify the issue for the client (he didn’t want these rollovers to appear for anyone), I deleted the phone numbers (which were in html) and created an image that displayed the telephone number instead. Without the standard telephone format (888-888-8888), the unwanted Skype rollovers disappeared. Of course, with the phone number now in image format, users will not be able to copy and paste the telephone numbers from his web page, but the client decided it was important to him not to have these unwanted Skype rollovers, so the image version remained.
I’m assuming this new element was appearing on his laptop because of his Skype plugin. Skype was able to recognize the phone number as a phone number simply because of the telephone-number format (three numbers followed by a hyphen, followed by another three numbers, followed by a second hyphen, followed by the final four number), and, as such, was “offering” this popup as a way to “encourage him” to use Skype.
Certainly, some Skype users might like this — others might not.
If anyone has anything to offer on the subject, I’d love to hear about it.
Tags: Skype recognition of phone numbers in html, unwanted Skype rollovers
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May 27th, 2010
One of the most common errors made by fledgling and experienced web designers alike is to fail to double check files to make sure the new versions have been saved and uploaded completely to the server.
This may sound like a small thing, but it can mean the difference between making the sale and not making the sale, especially if you are replacing vital contact information.
If your phone numbers or email addresses are incorrect on your site, it won’t matter how wonderful your site looks: the only thing the user will remember is that they tried to contact you and you didn’t respond. From now on they will think of yours as the website they reached out to — and got nothing in return.
Always be careful to check and double check the email links on your site to make sure that you will be able to respond quickly when users reach out to you.
If you have spam blockers on your email retrieval program, consider removing them so as to not lose possible paying customers.
And when you do respond to the client, consider sending them back to your website for further information: repeat visits are detected by search engines, and can help to boost your rankings.
Posted in General Web Design Tips | No Comments »
May 21st, 2010
If you find your clients asking you the same question over and over, consider posting a page on your web site that ANSWERS that question. Then, every time a client asks you that question, you can refer them to the particular URL on your web site that provides the answer.
It’s a win-win situation — their repeat visit to your web site will boost your rankings, you’ve answered their question, and you’ve saved time as well.
Remember, the search engines can detect repeat visitors to your web site, and will reward you for these repeat visitors with higher rankings.
A small investment of time (the time needed to create the web page that answers their question) can lead to big results for your rankings. In terms of cost effectiveness (your time vs. the possible economic return), updating your site with valuable information for your clients is a good investment.
Posted in Marketing Your Website | No Comments »
May 15th, 2010
Award Winning Photographer Allan Detrich Proves All Professional Photograhers are NOT Created Equal!
One look at these storm chasing photos posted by my client, award-winning photographer, Allan Detrich on May 11, 2010 shows the difference between the average photographer and a true artist.
In one afternoon, Allan Detrich can take a set of photos that it would take another photographer a lifetime to achieve.
Detrich was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in Photojournalism in 1998, and one of his storm-chasing photos appeared in Time Magazine as a photo of the year. He continues to win awards for his wedding photography, and he is an active storm chaser and storm photographer.
I’ve been working with Allan Detrich since 1999, and he never fails to astonish me every time he sends me a set of images to post: each photo tells a story, drawing you into the the drama and/or comedy of the situation.
Make no mistake: photography is NOT just a matter of pointing a camera and clicking: before you post your own photos to your website, consider hiring a professional, like Allan Detrich.
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May 8th, 2010
A call to action is a phrase that urges the reader, listener or viewer to take an immediate action such as “write now,” “call now,” or “click here.”
Answer.com defines a call to action as “a statement usually found near the conclusion of a commercial message that summons the consumer to act. A call to action will implore the consumer to ‘run right out’ and purchase, ‘call now, while supplies last,’ write a letter, return a coupon before a deadline, or call an 800 phone number to place an order. Many clever commercials have failed to sell a product because, although they were entertaining, they lacked a clear call to action.
It may sound corny, but it works. No matter how funny, cute or sexy an advertisement is, if it doesn’t cause people to purchase the product, the advertisement is a failure.
Formatting the text in your links as a call to action can also increase your rankings. As much as possible, use active verbs in internal links so as to draw in the user.
Avoid using the same call to action on the bottom of every page. The web site that has “Questions? Contact Us” at the bottom of every page may rank behind the website that has a different, page-specific call to action on each page.
Tags: call to action
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May 3rd, 2010
Posting a photograph of yourself to your Website can be painful (“What photo should I use?” , “Should I hire a professional photographer?”), but having an image of yourself on your web site — particularly if you are providing a service that is “hands on” — can be a good idea: It demonstrates transparency, and says you are willing to show your face — literally.
The decision as to whether or not to hire a professional portrait photographer depends on the nature of your business, and on the quality of the images that you have. In this day and age, with digital cameras and image editing programs like Photoshop, you may not need to go to a professional photographer in order to find something that you can use that will represent you well.
Whatever you do, choose a photo that is welcoming: an image of you that shows you off as friendly and easy to do business with. Unless you are a professional model, users will not be looking for someone who is sexy, but someone who is approachable.
To learn more, see Getting the Most Our of Your Professional Photo Session.
Posted in General Web Design Tips | No Comments »
April 24th, 2010
You can increase your rankings with the search engines by naming all the images on your site using the ALT attribute.
It’s easy to do, and can be very valuable in helping to move your site up the ladder.
Here’s how to do it:
Simply add the following code to each image tag:
alt=”Title of the Image”
Here’s an example:
<img src=”imagename.gif” alt=”Title of Image”/ >
Naming all the images on your website with relevant, keyword rich text can be very valuable. It’s a small detail, but it can add up: and it’s one of the most common areas of search engine optimization neglected by many web sites. Though this can be time consuming, it is simple to do, and it can really help to give your site a boost.
For more information about search engine optimization, see SEO.
Tags: alt attribute, do-it-yourself search engine optimization, Do-it-yourself SEO
Posted in Do-it-yourself SEO, Marketing Your Website | 3 Comments »
