Category: Web Design

Posted on

Five Website Killers

Nancy McCord is almost back from Russia. This article is one of her previously published pieces.

There are many things that you can do to benefit your website, but have you thought about the things that can kill your website? Here are my five top website killers – things you clearly should stay clear of doing to get good organic search engine placement and impress viewers.

  1. Don’t build your website all in Flash. It looks cool, but search engines cannot catalog the information contained in .swf files or for that matter .flv files. Google has just announced in early August that it is working with Adobe to try to rectify this problem, but that doesn’t help you now.
  2. Don’t ever steal your content from another website. You need unique content, don’t scrape someone else’s site. Not only will Google penalize you for duplicate content but you may get sued for copyright infringement. You can’t use the content even if you give credit – that’s still infringing.
  3. Don’t test your website in Firefox. If you don’t check, you won’t know and you really should. Firefox is an important browser and the browser of choice for nearly 25% of the browsing readers. If you don’t look good in IE AND Firefox, you may alienate a large part of your readers.
  4. Don’t make your web page layout too big. Although there are actually still some people surfing the web with 800 by 600 pixel resolution, the bulk of people are at 1024 pixels wide and larger. For my own site, still nearly 30% of my viewers are at 1024 pixels wide. Make sure you have website statistics that track this and then make sure to design your site to accommodate this important segment and not alienate viewers by having scroll bars at the bottom for 1024 pixel resolution viewers.
  5. Don’t use webmaster tools. Google, Yahoo and MSN have webmaster tools, make sure you are using them so you will know how the various search engines see your website. If you have problems, these tools can be invaluable in order to diagnose problems.
Posted on

Top Five Web Design Myths

Nancy McCord will be back blogging on August 16. This is one of her previously published articles.

Here are my top five web design myths and answers to each one.

  1. Search engine spiders can index Flash so I’m okay if my website has been built in Flash.
  2. How long it takes to load a website page doesn’t matter – everyone has DSL anyway.
  3. I like an entry page for my website that is all graphics it’s pretty and sets the tone.
  4. I was promised by this firm top placement on Google if they overhauled my home page and website.
  5. I want my website to have a lot of video why are viewers complaining to me that they can’t see my video.

1.  Search engine spiders can index Flash so I’m okay if my website has been built in Flash.

Wrong, sorry, even Google states that they aren’t good yet on indexing Flash even though for nearly a year they have said they can index Flash. I can tell you that I get more calls for pay per click promotion and search engine optimization from websites done in all Flash. It is far better to use Flash judiciously say a hybrid html site with a Flash banner. What’s the purpose of having a website if no one can find you on search engines and if they can’t even bookmark a content page on your website?

2.  How long it takes to load a website page doesn’t matter – everyone has DSL anyway.

Wrong, sorry, even Google AdWords is now counting how long it takes for a page to load. The industry standard is a load time under 10 seconds. The faster your load time the better.

3.  I like an entry page for my website that is all graphics it’s pretty and sets the tone.

Whoops, so sorry this one is wrong too. Splash pages are old news. Now search engines want content and they want it fast. Readers don’t want to watch a movie about your business. It is the Burger King Syndrome – my way right away!

4. I was promised by this firm top placement on Google if they overhauled my home page and website.

Hmm, the home page IS really important, but no one and no firm can guarantee top placement on Google. Google very closely guards the secrets of placement to prevent others from spamming the system. If they are not on the Google payroll, they simply cannot know how to guarantee top placement.

5. I want my website to have a lot of video why are viewers complaining to me that they can’t see my video.

Video is great, but the home page should be about spiderable content. When you do provide video make sure you provide options. I have found that videos turned into Flash are the quickest loading on the Web, then comes Windows Media Player files, and last of all QuickTime. If you are going to have video use only one on your home page and make it a Flash video. Try a preloader option in your body tag for other important videos and provide viewing options.

Posted on

Three Web Design Layout Types – Liquid, Elastic, Fixed

Nancy McCord is still in Russia. She will be back to blogging on August 16th. This is one of her previously published articles.

There are three web design layout types. Use our information below to find out which one you want to use.

Liquid Layout

This layout style resizes to fill your browser screen regardless of your screen resolution.

Fixed Layout

This is the most popular layout style on the Web. It is a fixed size determined by the web designer. It gives excellent graphics control but may make your website appear dated as larger screen sizes become more popular.

Elastic Layout

This is a new design layout. One that resizes based on on screen resolution but rather resizes based on the font size that your viewer selects to view your site.

To complicate things even further there a wide variety of hybrid layouts that are popular on the Web. Some are:

  • liquid content section with elastic left and right sidebars
  • fixed side bars with an elastic content section
  • fixed side bars with a liquid content section

My own business site is currently done as a fixed layout. I am currently in the early stages of redesign and am leaning toward a liquid content block with elastic sidebars with padding around the whole container.

Choosing the layout style for your website is best not left to the novice but to the web design professional who can discuss which option is best for your viewing clientèle and type of content you will be displaying on your website.

Posted on

Building Web Authority with White Papers

Nancy McCord is in Russia for the next several weeks this is a reprint.

Content, style, tone, and message are king on the Web. If you have great content and market your website through a variety of channels you will build web authority as well as website traffic over time. Getting one way inbound links is just one great way to build web authority for your website, but this may take an investment of your own personal time.

White papers are typically researched and documented unique content. Typically one that you or one of your employees has done based on the unique trends of your business or marketplace. It is very difficult for a professional writer to write a whitepaper for you. White papers will usually document data that has been accumulated over months of observation and then savvy analysis that pulls it all together proving a conclusion point. A whitepaper is not a derivative work of data that is available on the web; it should be unique and created about a specific topic.

The time that you invest in researching and writing a whitepaper for your business can turn into a marketing goldmine. At my firm, I will typically write one in-depth whitepaper once a year. I tie a subscription to my monthly newsletter to the whitepaper, meaning that you will need to give me your email address in order to download my free whitepaper. In a short time I have added several hundred names to my e-newsletter subscription list effectively extending my reach. Some white papers I offer free and other websites and web authorities drive traffic to my own website just for this content. One in particular is a paper that I did on how to stop spoofing of your domain name. Internet service providers routinely link victims to my site for our research and commentary on what to do when you are spoofed.

I have found that not only creating white papers on topics that interest me that I would like to learn more about, but by archiving them I am providing very authoritative quality content that not only provides a service to readers, but educates them, is widely discussed on the Web, and adds to my own personal knowledge base. I have never sold access to my white papers but do use them as marketing vehicles and promote them on my website, blog, and e-newsletter.

If you don’t have the time to invest in research and writing of a whitepaper, don’t despair feature articles written by professional writers may be the alternative for you. Check out our post tomorrow for more information on how you can build web authority with this technique written by professional writers.