Tag: SEO Web Design

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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.

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Adobe Introduces InContext Editing

What a cool new online tool Adobe has come up with. It is called InContext Editing and allows any site you create with Dreamweaver to be a content management site. Specifically, this means that any site you create with the proper syntax and is set up on InContext Editing can now be edited by your customer using a browser and no HTML knowledge.

To take advantage of this new tool, here are the steps. You set up your site with Dreamweaver templates, locking down certain sections of a page where you don’t want your client to change – like navigation or footer information. Then you set up the “FTP bridge” on InContext Editing and then load your real files and templates to your own web hosting server.

InContext Editing allows the client to login to a control panel, call up a page from their real web server and change the areas that you have approved right there in a WYSIWYG mode. The client can publish the updated page with one click. Clients can even add pages to their site, links, and images.

What a great innovative new product! I will be doing some in-depth testing in the next several weeks and will update my blog with my thoughts after I have really taken it for a whirl, but at first blush, it seems like an excellent tool that allows the end-user to be in control.

What is great from my view point, is that you can create the ease of a content management site without the headaches and programming overhead that a typical content management site needs. On top of that, our websites are built for search engines unlike a content management site that is built for user friendliness, so keeping the optimized code in place yet allowing the client to change wording or add things when they want is an excellent feature.

Right now the application is free, but don’t expect it to stay this way forever. I will be very interested to find out what Adobe feels that they want to charge for the application after they’ve gotten web designers in to take it for a test ride.

In the meantime, you can check out more information and even watch a video demo on Adobe InContext Editing on Adobe.com.

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Two New Websites Launched

The Taoist InstituteMan, this has been a busy year so far for my firm. I have moved from one large project to another with another already in the queue. In fact just this past week I have launched two custom SEO web design projects – The Taoist Institute and The Core System Store.

Both sites are owned by the same client and are set up as sister sites to each other, using the general design and feel for branding and recognition. The first www.TaoistInstitute.com is the main site and showcases Dr. Carl Totton’s services and classes in martial arts. The second site www.OneCoreSystem.com is the store site for the main site. It showcases all of his Tai Chi and Kung Fu training videos and supplies. The second site utilizes PayPal add to cart shopping buttons and facilitates credit card transactions through PayPal for an easy start into e-commerce.

The main site is a huge change from the original website which was done with a template in Network Solutions. The new site contains custom content written by the owner and resident martial arts expert and is built to grow. The site is already getting great feedback from visitors and clients.

Isn’t it time for you to consider updating your website too? Check out our custom SEO web design services today.

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Is SEO Really Dead? That’s What Webmaster World Says

I read with interest one of the main page articles titled is SEO dead? at Webmaster World. I have long felt that the combination to organic search placement success was a number of many factors and not just links or code optimization. But it is interesting to read the thread of comments with some professional webmasters agreeing that SEO is dead and that social networking has become king.

Here’s my take. The typical SEO program as we used to know it, is not totally dead, but needs a refresh and new life. What we recommend is great keyword research, excellent site architecture, unique and well-written content with good use of important keywords and keywords in the cross linking of pages. We know that this is actually just good design technique, but many web designers simply do not follow these guidelines much to the chagrin of the end user. It takes time and thought to implement these components into a new site design and the consideration of organic placement needs throughout the whole process. But it does not stop there…

No real program for organic site improvement is complete without a blog to continue to build unique and on-topic content. Search engines reward interesting content that is on-topic and builds “Web Authority” over time. We know this and understand this concept. In fact it has worked for many of our customers as an overall approach for improving organic placement. In addition to blogging, we strongly recommend articles and press releases as great ways to build additional quality incoming links.

If you have time to also embrace social networking like Facebook or LinkedIn and even Twitter you can get even more traction with links and traffic activity, but it all starts with the right website and concept to market your products and services on the code side of things.

So is SEO dead? No not really, but maybe it has mutated into something better. Something  that actually works to draw in web readers and engage them in ways that pure SEO did not. Content has always been king on the Web and that hasn’t changed, but where you put your efforts and budget dollars certainly has.