June 10, 2008
Website Tips:
Many SEO (Search Engine Optimization) clients are focused on receiving ranking reports for their keywords as a major deliverable associated with a properly managed SEO campaign.
But ranking reports don’t mean nearly as much as they once did. Search engine rankings change regularly, are different on various data centers, and won’t generate traffic to the Web site, much less generate leads and sales, especially if a site ranks well for keywords that aren’t often searched.
So, I preach to my prospects and clients that they should be focused on analytics and measurement of SEO much like they would (try to) measure any form of marketing effort. Is the SEO program generating qualified traffic to the site? Is the SEO effort generating phone calls (yes, you can track this)? Is the SEO effort delivering a solid ROI (for what I’m spending on these efforts, either in internal resources or outsourcing)?
Now, that’s not to say that a firm you’ve outsourced your SEO efforts to shouldn’t be delivering reports. They absolutely should. But, let’s try to focus on things that actually matter. These include things like solid keyword research, a competitive analysis, a site structure analysis and analytics reports that “mean something” (making sure that analytics programs are set up properly and tracking what matters).
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June 4, 2008
As a webmaster I often get access to customer accounts and I’m often surprised at the poor quality of passwords and logins that people use on their accounts. Very often the clients simply are not aware of the ease with which a hacker can break into an account using brute force attacks. The other mistake is that they believe this particular account is not important (”it’s not a bank account or something”). But the reality is that access to even an “unimportant” account can easily lead to all the information necessary to access much more important accounts so ALL accounts need to be protected by High Quality Passwords.
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May 27, 2008
We know that many of our readers are web designers, graphic designers, photographers or maybe even aspiring designers. Well here is an idea which might help you to become a self employed designer with your own store.
Last week I got an email from a webmaster’s club I’m involved with. It was a summary of the meeting (which I’d missed) and spoke about the mounting excitement over the upcoming SEO convention in the area. Anyway, one of the members created a t-shirt design for the occasion and by next morning it was available for any member to purchase in twelve different styles and five colors. Wow! that was fast. I had to find out how this was possible.
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May 19, 2008
To socialize these days, countless people every month visit networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
But what if the Web itself operated as a social network?
Google announced yesterday another step in what its engineers see as that inevitable evolution. A new, free service from the Mountain View, Calif., tech giant will allow any Web site to become a social site.
Any Web page, whether it is devoted to curling or pizza or a folk singer, could allow visitors to meet and connect with “friends” who visit that site. Like any such major network today, a Web page using the service could present users with the names and pictures of friends and potential friends. Those people could then post messages to one another.
The new Google service, known as Friend Connect, raises the possibility that the kind of kibitzing that has been largely contained on a handful of mega-sites could spread across the Web. <
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May 7, 2008
Well, today’s website tip is really more of a general business tip.
Do you use a Word Processor, a SpreadSheet, PowerPoint or how about Flowcharts? Most people in business use at least one of these types of programs on a daily basis and more often than not, they are using Microsoft products to do it.
Well, there is no need to deal with the problematic apps of Microsoft nor to even pay for them. All the above softwares (and more) can be downloaded free in the Sun Microsystems Open Office suite. This is not pirate software nor is it some sort of hack software by an unknown company. The suite is every bit as powerful as Microsoft Office Suite without the price or limitations.
When using any proprietary software you are smacked with a large license fee, plus additional fees for upgrades and limitations due to conflicts with competing programs. This is not the case with an open source product like Open Office. In addition, upgrades to open source software usually come faster and bugs are fixed more quickly.
Concerned about all your old Microsoft files? Don’t be. It supports the ISO standard OpenDocument Format (ODF) for data interchange as its default file format, as well as most Microsoft Office formats, among many others. Want to learn more about Open Office
Another great thing about the Open Office Suite is that it comes in a “portable” edition which can reside on your thumb drive. In this way you can pop your USB drive into any computer anywhere and have your programs ready to run and work on your files. No information or files of any kind is left behind on the “host” computer. Take your whole office with you. You can download the portable Open Office here (along with a ton of other cool portable open source applications)
In case your wondering if I’m just blathering on about something I’ve never tried, I can say that I’ve been using Open Office for three years now, happily
Download the Free Open Office Suite
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