BUILDING YOUR SITE
When building your website, it is good to have an idea of what you want and the audience that you are targeting . Here are a few tips to building a successful foundation for your on-line presence:
-
Look at your competitors websites.
Are they doing something that you should be doing?
-
Think about keywords that clients will use to find you.
Build those keywords into your text and try to use them in natural sentence form. You want the search engines to find you, but they will penalize you for "keyword stuffing".
-
Find designs that you like.
We are not re-inventing the wheel, we are making a better one. Share these designs with whoever is creating your site. It is a place to start in building something that your business will be proud of.
- Find an honest opinion.
All too often we ask the wrong people for their opinion. The wrong person is the one who is afraid to hurt your feelings or disagree with you. There is a diverse audience on the Internet and the goal is to create something that appeals to many.
Contact John Mandel at 908.907.5369
for a free consultation
OPINION
The Internet is a black hole to many. In this ever changing electronic world, computers are getting faster and smaller every day. Many people's concepts of the Internet are based on information that is years old.
When is a computer obsolete? When you open the box.
Did anyone ever think that Internet Explorer's market share would drop to below 10%? Or that smart phone and tablet sales would exceed laptop and PC sales?
It is amazing how many businesses have shied away from print media because they "have a website" (which they haven't updated in years) but at the same time are crying because their business is contracting and not expanding. Advertising has certainly changed over the years but it hasn't disappeared nor has it lost its value. Things such as direct mail, billboards, Google Ad-words and Facebook ads have somewhat replaced the Yellow Pages and local Newspapers. Too many businesses have dropped out of the Yellow Pages but they put the money in their pocket instead of alternate advertising and then wonder why their phone doesn't ring.
Things change, but basic business tenets remain. There is no magic to building your Internet presence. Think twice before you leap and always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.
WEB DESIGN F.A.Q.'s
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the visibility of a website in a search engine's "organic" (un-paid) search results. Optimizing a website involves things such as editing its content to increase its relevance to what your potential customers are searching for and to code it properly so it is more visible to search engines. One can also promote a site through things such as attracting Media attention through press releases and guest blogging on well known sites to increase the number of good inbound links.
SEO is ever changing due to the fact that there are many companies out there using techniques to fool the search engines. The search engine companies want to deliver the most relevant results to the consumers' search and the the best trick is actually not a trick at all - it is to put the best content you can, utilizing the latest in coding and keeping you information up to date.
It's not the number of visitors to your website — it is the quality of visitors.
What is CMS?
CMS stands for Content Management System. Some of the better known platforms are WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal. These programs have a control panel so that the user can edit their site via an online interface.
While these systems are template based with a large variety of free add-ons available, to create a custom site takes a certain level of programming knowledge and therefore have a higher intial cost than a static html site.
What is Responsive Design?
Responsive Design is a term that you may have heard being used. It is a coding technique that enables a website to scale itself to be viewed on all devices. This is an important investment in your business considering the huge spike in the Internet audience using their mobile devices to view your website.
This site is created with responsive design. If you are looking at this site on a laptop or computer monitor, you can see it in action by making your window narrower (or you can simply view it on a smartphone). You will notice that the whole site remains in the window with the text and graphics changing size until ultimately it becomes a single column when it reaches smart-phone width.
What are Mobile Devices?
Mobile Device is a catch-all phrase for Smart Phones and tablets. Many local businesses are seeing that the majority of their website traffic is now coming from Mobile Devices. With this in mind, one would be remiss if they don't strongly consider Responsive Design when having a new website built.
What is Social Media?
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and their counterparts are what is referred to as social media.
Many people (especially those selling social media services) claim that you need to be on ALL of the social media sites. We beg to differ with the "experts". Our theory is that
it is better to do one well than it is to do many poorly.
Notice that the term is not called "Selling Media" nor "Shouting in the Dark Media". Social implies interaction. If your company is posting and not getting a response, you can deduce that you are not piquing the interest of your audience. This happens all to often when a third party is administering your social media or when you are trying to sell. Be social and create content that elicits interaction with your audience.
A company must consider who and where their audience is. Spending time and/or money posting on a social media site that has a disinterested audience is just plain foolish.
Copyright Issues
Many people find it difficult to understand the concept of Copyright on the web. It is really simple: If you did not write or create what you are copying, you need permission from the owner before you can use it. Keep in mind that when you use someone else's text, graphic or code, without permission, you are stealing, and the owner can take action against you.
If you're not sure if an item is copyrighted, it probably is.
How Will they Know?
You may have heard of "spiders". Spiders are programed to crawl the web in search of images and text on web pages. If it matches the programmed criteria, the site will be reviewed for copyright infringement. More and more companies are using them all the time.
Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not.
Oprah Winfrey
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV. This copyright information is for informational purposes only and is not meant as legal advice. If you have specific questions about copyright on the web, you should consult with an attorney that specializes in this area.