Everybody who owns a website wants it to be more popular. From the web design team at the New York Times right down to the small retailer trying to expand into ecommerce, popularity is the key to success. Reading and working with popular websites every day can sometimes feel like living in a bubble where everybody has good search engine rankings and sites are all beautiful so it’s nice sometimes to look at how “normal” websites can improve their popularity.
Invest in a good design –
while people like Ling might think design isn’t everything it is one of the key aspects a site can use to build their visitors trust so you need to get it right.
Learn about usabilty –
having the best designed website in the world is useless if normal people can’t use it. Sit behind some of your non internet savvy relatives and friends and watch them navigate your site and make purchases from your store. If they struggle with things you need to improve your usabilty.
Create a useful website – I know this might sound simple but having a website isn’t just a way to tell people about your company. If you really want to become popular make sure your website is actually going to be helpful to the people who arrive there. If every visitor who was pleased by your site gave you a link or told one of their friends your traffic would increase to Facebook
levels in months.
Keep it up to date –
if your company can’t be bothered to keep your website updated at least once a year then I probably won’t want to use it. Broken links, outdated news and copyright notices from 2003 are not going to turn me on.
Be topical –
just because you are a retailer it doesn’t mean you can ignore the latest news in your niche. Having a company blog might be a bit beyond most businesses but you should at least have a news section to publish company information and responses to popular stories.
Manage your reputation –
responding to your readers/customers comments is key to establishing your company as one that cares about what people say about you. You could also use the criticism to make your website better.
Learn about the internet –
this might sound simple to some people but trying to explain to a middle aged company directory why they need to worry about buzz marketing is hard enough without them asking questions about what links are and what blogs do. Knowing how ideas spread through forums and blogs is essential for webmasters to understand online marketing.
Be controversial –
having a boring corporate site isn’t always the best way to become popular. Sometimes you need to upset 95% of the world just to get the attention of the other 5%. After all, having 5% of the population loving your site isn’t a bad goal to have.
Be interesting –
sometimes a website can break every rule in the book and still succeed. The one characteristic these sites have is they are interesting. So much content on the web is boring and repeated that having an interesting site is probably the best way to get noticed.
Learn about Google –
ever wondered why some websites rank highly on Google while some languish on page 4? It’s because one of the owners understands how Google works. Spend a few days reading the official guidelines and making sure your site follows all the normal optimisation rules and you might be surprised how much of a difference it can make.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Do I Really Need to Perform SEO for My Website?
This question may seem like a no-brainer, but actually, the answer is not necessarily yes in all circumstances. If any of the following examples apply to you’re website, you may not be in need of an search engine optimization campaign right now:
You have a website that you really don’t want strangers to find, such as a training tool for your employees, a classroom tool for your students or some sort of communications platform/blog which is intended for employee’s or family members only.
You already have a website which is ranking well, and you’re fully satisfied with your sales, website conversions, and incoming inquiries, and you don’t want to rock the boat.
You’re in a big hurry—say, you’ll go out of business without a major upswing in revenue in the next couple of months. This is not to say that SEO can’t help you, but good SEO takes time. You may need to focus your energies elsewhere right now.
Your site is going to be completely rebuilt or redesigned in the next couple of months. If that’s the case, be sure to incorporate SEO tactics from the outset. Anybody can have a go at SEO, and i would always encourage you to do some research and try the SEO for your site yourself, but if you really don’t have the time, and want your new website in expert hands, consider hiring an SEO agency to work with your web designer from the outset.
It is a rare site indeed that couldn’t use a little improvement in the SEO department. And, with the importance of SEO on the rise, if you don’t need it today, it’s a good bet you’ll need to brush up your SEO smarts for tomorrow. If you do decide to work on SEO yourself, be sure to checkout my article, Top 10 SEO Myths Explained where I have taken the most prevalent myths that seem to be constantly resurfacing and examined them for you. This is a must read for anyone looking to hire an search engine optimisation firm or someone looking to do SEO for themselves.
via:seoptimize
You have a website that you really don’t want strangers to find, such as a training tool for your employees, a classroom tool for your students or some sort of communications platform/blog which is intended for employee’s or family members only.
You already have a website which is ranking well, and you’re fully satisfied with your sales, website conversions, and incoming inquiries, and you don’t want to rock the boat.
You’re in a big hurry—say, you’ll go out of business without a major upswing in revenue in the next couple of months. This is not to say that SEO can’t help you, but good SEO takes time. You may need to focus your energies elsewhere right now.
Your site is going to be completely rebuilt or redesigned in the next couple of months. If that’s the case, be sure to incorporate SEO tactics from the outset. Anybody can have a go at SEO, and i would always encourage you to do some research and try the SEO for your site yourself, but if you really don’t have the time, and want your new website in expert hands, consider hiring an SEO agency to work with your web designer from the outset.
It is a rare site indeed that couldn’t use a little improvement in the SEO department. And, with the importance of SEO on the rise, if you don’t need it today, it’s a good bet you’ll need to brush up your SEO smarts for tomorrow. If you do decide to work on SEO yourself, be sure to checkout my article, Top 10 SEO Myths Explained where I have taken the most prevalent myths that seem to be constantly resurfacing and examined them for you. This is a must read for anyone looking to hire an search engine optimisation firm or someone looking to do SEO for themselves.
via:seoptimize
Web Design and SEO: The Eternal Debate
Web design focuses on appearance and aesthetics. SEO focuses on text quality and quantity. Web designers don't really like to clutter their designs with text. They prefer to see the images stand out on their own. SEOs on the other hand don't like images that much. Sure, an image can be optimized for the search engines by adding relevant alt attributes and titles, but this is not enough for a site to be properly optimized. Page copy still plays the most important role in website optimization for SEO.
As a business owner you are caught in the middle of this conflict. For your website to convert you need both design and optimization. There is no middle way. You cannot have a little bit of this and a little bit of that and still be competitive. You cannot have just one of the two either. Without optimization your site is invisible to the search engines, hence to your potential customers. On the other hand, without a good design your site, although not invisible, will get nothing but hits. Web users are picky and if they find nothing of interest on your site they will just surf to the next site.
Having a beautiful website no one can find is like having a store and keeping the doors locked. You know it is there, you've done a great job decorating it, the products are waiting for the customers, yet no one comes in.When you pay for web design don't automatically assume that by paying thousands of dollars on a layout you'll be a hit on the Web. The Web is a highly competitive place. There are already thousands entrepreneurs who, just like you, invest in design and hope to become the new "it." Without online marketing (SEO being an important part of the discipline) all these entrepreneurs will remain in the shadow, with their beautiful websites closed to the world.SEO is the key to that virtual door you need to open for your customers. It is important that you consider this tool when you first conceive your site.
Web design and SEO don't need to be enemies. There are enough professional agencies that employ both web designers and SEOs who work together to develop a good business website, a site that is SEO ready, accessible and readable with any browser. You just need to take your time, research and send a few inquiries. Then choose the company that answers your questions in a timely manner, basically choose the company that proves a clear ability of designing with W3C standards and a clear understanding of the online trends and realities.Then balancing content with visual appearance shouldn't be such a difficult task. Aside graphics and artwork you have to choose proper font types, in a readable size, with colors that harmonize with the layout of the site and so on. If your site is not SEO ready from the first stage of the project you'll face additional costs after you launch. SEO ready means a site that is properly coded (errors in the HTML code might stop some search bots from crawling and indexing your site correctly), with good navigability and good internal linking structure.
On the other hand, SEO and appearance are not the only traits of a good site. Brand conscious companies should look at the broader picture: instead of debating what is better online entrepreneurs should ask themselves what works best to convert visitors into clients.Studies show that an over optimized page might hurt the user-experience of people with disabilities. For example, many SEOs stuff the image alt attributes and their alternative titles with keywords. Blind and other visually impaired people who use screen readers to access the Web and read the pages cannot see the images and, instead of listening to a relevant image description, they'll hear... nonsense.Usability and accessibility are equally important as design and optimization. Strangely enough images are better for usability. They give focus to the design and when properly optimized they provide for less cluttered website content. The problems appear when the images slow down the loading times, but with the use of CSS loading times should not be a big concern.As search engines prefer fast loading sites it is easy top understand why good coding and optimization are so important. Poor coding raises many other problems aside loading times and might increase costs when you need website updates, especially when your website administrator is not the one who created your site.
via: designnewsnext
As a business owner you are caught in the middle of this conflict. For your website to convert you need both design and optimization. There is no middle way. You cannot have a little bit of this and a little bit of that and still be competitive. You cannot have just one of the two either. Without optimization your site is invisible to the search engines, hence to your potential customers. On the other hand, without a good design your site, although not invisible, will get nothing but hits. Web users are picky and if they find nothing of interest on your site they will just surf to the next site.
Having a beautiful website no one can find is like having a store and keeping the doors locked. You know it is there, you've done a great job decorating it, the products are waiting for the customers, yet no one comes in.When you pay for web design don't automatically assume that by paying thousands of dollars on a layout you'll be a hit on the Web. The Web is a highly competitive place. There are already thousands entrepreneurs who, just like you, invest in design and hope to become the new "it." Without online marketing (SEO being an important part of the discipline) all these entrepreneurs will remain in the shadow, with their beautiful websites closed to the world.SEO is the key to that virtual door you need to open for your customers. It is important that you consider this tool when you first conceive your site.
Web design and SEO don't need to be enemies. There are enough professional agencies that employ both web designers and SEOs who work together to develop a good business website, a site that is SEO ready, accessible and readable with any browser. You just need to take your time, research and send a few inquiries. Then choose the company that answers your questions in a timely manner, basically choose the company that proves a clear ability of designing with W3C standards and a clear understanding of the online trends and realities.Then balancing content with visual appearance shouldn't be such a difficult task. Aside graphics and artwork you have to choose proper font types, in a readable size, with colors that harmonize with the layout of the site and so on. If your site is not SEO ready from the first stage of the project you'll face additional costs after you launch. SEO ready means a site that is properly coded (errors in the HTML code might stop some search bots from crawling and indexing your site correctly), with good navigability and good internal linking structure.
On the other hand, SEO and appearance are not the only traits of a good site. Brand conscious companies should look at the broader picture: instead of debating what is better online entrepreneurs should ask themselves what works best to convert visitors into clients.Studies show that an over optimized page might hurt the user-experience of people with disabilities. For example, many SEOs stuff the image alt attributes and their alternative titles with keywords. Blind and other visually impaired people who use screen readers to access the Web and read the pages cannot see the images and, instead of listening to a relevant image description, they'll hear... nonsense.Usability and accessibility are equally important as design and optimization. Strangely enough images are better for usability. They give focus to the design and when properly optimized they provide for less cluttered website content. The problems appear when the images slow down the loading times, but with the use of CSS loading times should not be a big concern.As search engines prefer fast loading sites it is easy top understand why good coding and optimization are so important. Poor coding raises many other problems aside loading times and might increase costs when you need website updates, especially when your website administrator is not the one who created your site.
via: designnewsnext
Sunday, March 16, 2008
How to Properly Utilize Headings in SEO
So we all know that the title is the most important single element to optimize on a page, but it’s all to easy to forget the power of headings. Headings are like little titles that can be worked into a site’s content, and while no one heading can affect rankings as much as your title, having several keyword rich headings on your page can be an extremely powerful optimization strategy.
It is important to remember that there are actually six different kinds of headings ranging from H1 to H6. H1 tags have the most effect on your ranking followed by H2, and so on. To turn a piece of text into a heading you simply need to place it between and tags (where * is the heading value of 1 to 6).
The best way to use headings in the optimization of a page is to include a single H1 tag near the top, containing a word or phrase similar to (but not necessarily the same as) your primary keyphrase.
In addition to this, it is a good idea to scatter a few H2 (and possibly H3+) tags throughout the page containing as many of your secondary keywords as possible.
A word of caution, however: it’s not a good idea to overuse headings on any one page as search engines might see this as spam. In the vast majority of cases, you should be using only one H1 tag per page, and include at least two paragraphs of content for every H2 tag.
Overall, heading optimization is just a matter of common sense. Just write a good page of content, then spread a few relevant, keyword rich heading tags throughout your page, and your search engine ranking should be affected for the better. (via:seomix)
It is important to remember that there are actually six different kinds of headings ranging from H1 to H6. H1 tags have the most effect on your ranking followed by H2, and so on. To turn a piece of text into a heading you simply need to place it between
The best way to use headings in the optimization of a page is to include a single H1 tag near the top, containing a word or phrase similar to (but not necessarily the same as) your primary keyphrase.
In addition to this, it is a good idea to scatter a few H2 (and possibly H3+) tags throughout the page containing as many of your secondary keywords as possible.
A word of caution, however: it’s not a good idea to overuse headings on any one page as search engines might see this as spam. In the vast majority of cases, you should be using only one H1 tag per page, and include at least two paragraphs of content for every H2 tag.
Overall, heading optimization is just a matter of common sense. Just write a good page of content, then spread a few relevant, keyword rich heading tags throughout your page, and your search engine ranking should be affected for the better. (via:seomix)
The Truth About Meta Tags and SEO
The meta description and keywords tags are often seen as some of the most basic ways to optimize. But are they so basic as to be obsolete?
The short answer is that meta tags are no longer a requirement, and serve very little practical purpose in SEO. This is because they serve absolutely no role whatsoever in the ranking algorithms of Google or MSN, and play a very small part in the algorithm used by Yahoo.
This does not mean, however, that adding meta tags is completely useless. Even though it doesn’t count towards ranking, Google sometimes shows it to users on SERPs (search engine result pages).
Meta keywords are, if nothing else, a good organizational tool. I for one am a great believer in the value of sketching out lists of keywords and keyphrases that you want to optimize for, and keeping track of them on a page-by-page basis. So what better place to put them than on the page itself? This is an especially handy touch for plain HTML sites with no database, where you have to edit each page individually.
Despite the fact that meta tags are virtually obsolete for ranking, there is no doubt that they still have a few useful side benefits. Whether it is worth it to add these tags needs to be decided on a site-by-site basis, and largely depends on the amount of time involved.
As long as you use them in moderation, meta tags won’t damage your rankings. They won’t help them either, however, so if you are adding them to beef up your keyword density, you will almost certainly be disappointed.
The short answer is that meta tags are no longer a requirement, and serve very little practical purpose in SEO. This is because they serve absolutely no role whatsoever in the ranking algorithms of Google or MSN, and play a very small part in the algorithm used by Yahoo.
This does not mean, however, that adding meta tags is completely useless. Even though it doesn’t count towards ranking, Google sometimes shows it to users on SERPs (search engine result pages).
Meta keywords are, if nothing else, a good organizational tool. I for one am a great believer in the value of sketching out lists of keywords and keyphrases that you want to optimize for, and keeping track of them on a page-by-page basis. So what better place to put them than on the page itself? This is an especially handy touch for plain HTML sites with no database, where you have to edit each page individually.
Despite the fact that meta tags are virtually obsolete for ranking, there is no doubt that they still have a few useful side benefits. Whether it is worth it to add these tags needs to be decided on a site-by-site basis, and largely depends on the amount of time involved.
As long as you use them in moderation, meta tags won’t damage your rankings. They won’t help them either, however, so if you are adding them to beef up your keyword density, you will almost certainly be disappointed.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Guaranteed Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Services
This motto "Results, not excuses" reflects the attitude we take towards the optimization of each and every website we work on. From helping you choose the best keyword targets to seeing your website among the top positions on the major search engines, we'll work with you to
Maximize your return on investment from our SEO services.How confident are we that we can attain high rankings for your website through ethical search engine optimization? Confident enough to offer a 100% money back guarantee on our SEO services.We are business people too, and like you we understand that every investment must produce results for your company. Whether that money is being spent on additional sales staff, new equipment, or on attaining high search engine positioning by hiring an SEO firm; that investment must generate revenue higher than its cost in order to be considered worthwhile.
Why does your website need search engine optimization services?
85% of all website traffic originates from the search engines, with the majority coming from a select few. If your company has an online presence but doesn't have a high ranking on the major search engines for your targeted phrases then you're losing money to your competition every single day.At over Search Engine Positioning we make sure that your website attains a high ranking for the keyword phrases that will produce the greatest profit for you. We do this through in-depth keyword analysis combined with the highest level of commitment to placing your website above your competitors on the major search engines with our SEO services.
Search Engine Optimisation (also known as SEO) can make the difference between a website attracting visitors, and therefore potential revenue, or languishing in online obscurity...We have a proven track record in acquiring top-level positions on the most important Search Engines and directories, such as Google and DMOZ, with our clients' sites being returned on a wide range of carefully chosen strategic search terms.Part of the success of our approach can be attributed to the fact that the accessible, standards-compliant websites we produce, are coded by hand, and come optimised right "out of the box" using industry-standard best practice and outstanding levels of client care.
If you've already got a website, but it isn't performing as you would have hoped on the Search Engines, why not speak to us to see how the situation can be improved to your satisfaction.Everything we undertake to optimise your website is done in close consultation with you - we will work hard to gain an appreciation of your business, and the kind of visitors you wish to attract.We only ever use "white hat" optimisation techniques to acquire solid rankings for our clients - in other words, we simply won't use methods that could have a potentially adverse effect on those all-important positions. Sadly, the same cannot be said of a number of our competitors who employ opposing "black hat" strategies in an attempt to boost a site's visibility on the Search Engines.Of course, you don't have to be based in London, or california to benefit from our experience in Search Engine Optimisation - we can help you wherever you or your business may be!
Maximize your return on investment from our SEO services.How confident are we that we can attain high rankings for your website through ethical search engine optimization? Confident enough to offer a 100% money back guarantee on our SEO services.We are business people too, and like you we understand that every investment must produce results for your company. Whether that money is being spent on additional sales staff, new equipment, or on attaining high search engine positioning by hiring an SEO firm; that investment must generate revenue higher than its cost in order to be considered worthwhile.
Why does your website need search engine optimization services?
85% of all website traffic originates from the search engines, with the majority coming from a select few. If your company has an online presence but doesn't have a high ranking on the major search engines for your targeted phrases then you're losing money to your competition every single day.At over Search Engine Positioning we make sure that your website attains a high ranking for the keyword phrases that will produce the greatest profit for you. We do this through in-depth keyword analysis combined with the highest level of commitment to placing your website above your competitors on the major search engines with our SEO services.
Search Engine Optimisation (also known as SEO) can make the difference between a website attracting visitors, and therefore potential revenue, or languishing in online obscurity...We have a proven track record in acquiring top-level positions on the most important Search Engines and directories, such as Google and DMOZ, with our clients' sites being returned on a wide range of carefully chosen strategic search terms.Part of the success of our approach can be attributed to the fact that the accessible, standards-compliant websites we produce, are coded by hand, and come optimised right "out of the box" using industry-standard best practice and outstanding levels of client care.
If you've already got a website, but it isn't performing as you would have hoped on the Search Engines, why not speak to us to see how the situation can be improved to your satisfaction.Everything we undertake to optimise your website is done in close consultation with you - we will work hard to gain an appreciation of your business, and the kind of visitors you wish to attract.We only ever use "white hat" optimisation techniques to acquire solid rankings for our clients - in other words, we simply won't use methods that could have a potentially adverse effect on those all-important positions. Sadly, the same cannot be said of a number of our competitors who employ opposing "black hat" strategies in an attempt to boost a site's visibility on the Search Engines.Of course, you don't have to be based in London, or california to benefit from our experience in Search Engine Optimisation - we can help you wherever you or your business may be!
Friday, February 22, 2008
12 Steps to Creating a Professional Web Design
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Wednesday, February 13, 2008
How to Optimize Mobile Websites - Mobile SEO Site Opens
The Mobile Website Optimization Company, North America’s premier mobile SEO specialists have opened their collaborative mobile SEO and mobile search engine marketing and promotion website.
This is the first mobile website of its kind where users can get information ranging from creating free mobile websites to programming advice to consulting. Much of the information is free and provides a much needed value added service for mobile web designers and webmasters. The biggest advantage of a website like this is the fact that MWO has experience in all kinds of website marketing and has made a seamless transition to the mobile space for their clients.
MWO offers several value added services including programming help and tutorials, mobile website marketing, mobile optimization, free SEO tools, articles, forums, as well as a special section selling high traffic mobile websites. Visitors to the site can submit questions, advertise their own high traffic mobile websites, utilize the free tools or have MWO provide a service or services they need to get their website properly mobilized.
When visiting MWO be sure to check out their articles section as many of their mobile optimization articles are quite detailed and give mobile webmasters some very good insight into properly optimizing and marketing their mobile websites and online mobile businesses.
This is the first mobile website of its kind where users can get information ranging from creating free mobile websites to programming advice to consulting. Much of the information is free and provides a much needed value added service for mobile web designers and webmasters. The biggest advantage of a website like this is the fact that MWO has experience in all kinds of website marketing and has made a seamless transition to the mobile space for their clients.
MWO offers several value added services including programming help and tutorials, mobile website marketing, mobile optimization, free SEO tools, articles, forums, as well as a special section selling high traffic mobile websites. Visitors to the site can submit questions, advertise their own high traffic mobile websites, utilize the free tools or have MWO provide a service or services they need to get their website properly mobilized.
When visiting MWO be sure to check out their articles section as many of their mobile optimization articles are quite detailed and give mobile webmasters some very good insight into properly optimizing and marketing their mobile websites and online mobile businesses.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Website Design Services
Website design for many visitors, your website will be their first point of contact with your business, and therefore must represent the professionalism of your enterprise and capture their attention.Usable, accessible web design In close consultation with you, we will work towards creating a design that is both appealing and provides access to important information rapidly.
The notion of "accessibility" is also something that is very important to us, and we pride ourselves in constructing websites that are extremely easy to use and navigate – this is done in compliance with the latest standards agreed by the W3C.Getting your website foundWe will also take great pains to ensure that your website achieves excellent positioning on the important Search Engines and have a very strong track record in achieving top rankings on Google and other systems. This will, in turn, increase the likelihood of attracting potential customers.
Ongoing support and maintenance. We are committed to providing full support for the websites we build long after they have gone "live" and fully understand that things do not stay the same for long on the World Wide Web, and so will advise you of any recommendations we might have regarding the best ways to keep your site moving forwards.If you're interested in having a website developed for your business, don't take any chances - talk to us first!You might also be interested in...
We live and breathe accessible web design and development - we are so passionate about the creation of standards-compliant, content managed websites and eCommerce stores, it is quite probable that we dream in XHTML and CSS. Website design, web design packages, website development, web & graphic design Dynamic webs have designed and programmed several hundred web sites. We have developed the expertise to utilise a broad range of knowledge to approach conception and design procedure in the most effective way. Using our own panel of experts covering all aspects of design, marketing and technical consultancy, we are able to assist customers who have extremely diverse requirements.
The comprehensive nature of our service has proved to be invaluable to our clients who have made substantial savings already during design-concept and planning phases.Dynamic Webs provide a special online service, which allows you to view the progress of the web sites construction. This enables you to suggest andanticipate issues regarding the web site development as well as do the proof reading - testing as and when the site has been developed.
Guaranteed Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Services
This motto "Results, not excuses."reflects the attitude we take towards the optimization of each and every website we work on. From helping you choose the best keyword targets to seeing your website among the top positions on the major search engines, we'll work with you to Maximize your return on investment from our SEO services.How confident are we that we can attain high rankings for your website through ethical search engine optimization?
Confident enough to offer a money back guarantee on our SEO services.We are business people too, and like you we understand that every investment must produce results for your company. Whether that money is being spent on additional sales staff, new equipment, or on attaining high search engine positioning by hiring an SEO firm; that investment must generate revenue higher than its cost in order to be considered worthwhile.
Confident enough to offer a money back guarantee on our SEO services.We are business people too, and like you we understand that every investment must produce results for your company. Whether that money is being spent on additional sales staff, new equipment, or on attaining high search engine positioning by hiring an SEO firm; that investment must generate revenue higher than its cost in order to be considered worthwhile.
Why does your website need search engine optimization services?
80% of all website traffic originates from the search engines, with the majority coming from a select few. If your company has an online presence but doesn't have a high ranking on the major search engines for your targeted phrases then you're losing money to your competition every single day.At over Search Engine Positioning we make sure that your website attains a high ranking for the keyword phrases that will produce the greatest profit for you. We do this through in-depth keyword analysis combined with the highest level of commitment to placing your website above your competitors on the major search engines with our SEO services.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)Search Engine Optimisation (also known as SEO) can make the difference between a website attracting visitors, and therefore potential revenue, or languishing in online obscurity...We have a proven track record in acquiring top-level positions on the most important Search Engines and directories, such as Google and DMOZ, with our clients' sites being returned on a wide range of carefully chosen strategic search terms.Part of the success of our approach can be attributed to the fact that the accessible, standards-compliant websites we produce, are coded by hand, and come optimised right "out of the box" using industry-standard best practice and outstanding levels of client care.
If you've already got a website, but it isn't performing as you would have hoped on the Search Engines, why not speak to us to see how the situation can be improved to your satisfaction.Everything we undertake to optimise your website is done in close consultation with you - we will work hard to gain an appreciation of your business, and the kind of visitors you wish to attract.We only ever use "white hat" optimisation techniques to acquire solid rankings for our clients - in other words, we simply won't use methods that could have a potentially adverse effect on those all-important positions. Sadly, the same cannot be said of a number of our competitors who employ opposing "black hat" strategies in an attempt to boost a site's visibility on the Search Engines.Of course, you don't have to be based in London, or california to benefit from our experience in Search Engine Optimisation - we can help you wherever you or your business may be!
Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design
Summary: The ten most egregious offenses against users. Web design disasters and HTML horrors are legion, though many usability atrocities are less common than they used to be.
Since my first attempt in 1996,
I have compiled many top-10 lists of the biggest mistakes in Web design. See links to all these lists at the bottom of this article. This article presents the highlights: the very worst mistakes of Web design. (Updated 2007.)
1. Bad Search
Overly literal search engines reduce usability in that they're unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants of the query terms. Such search engines are particularly difficult for elderly users, but they hurt everybody.
A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms they contain, rather than on each document's importance. Much better if your search engine calls out "best bets" at the top of the list -- especially for important queries, such as the names of your products.
Search is the user's lifeline when navigation fails. Even though advanced search can sometimes help, simple search usually works best, and search should be presented as a simple box, since that's what users are looking for.
2. PDF Files for Online Reading
Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don't work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window. Bye-bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts.
Worst of all, PDF is an undifferentiated blob of content that's hard to navigate.
PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents that need to be printed. Reserve it for this purpose and convert any information that needs to be browsed or read on the screen into real web pages.
3. Not Changing the Color of Visited Links
A good grasp of past navigation helps you understand your current location, since it's the culmination of your journey. Knowing your past and present locations in turn makes it easier to decide where to go next. Links are a key factor in this navigation process. Users can exclude links that proved fruitless in their earlier visits. Conversely, they might revisit links they found helpful in the past.
Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.
These benefits only accrue under one important assumption: that users can tell the difference between visited and unvisited links because the site shows them in different colors. When visited links don't change color, users exhibit more navigational disorientation in usability testing and unintentionally revisit the same pages repeatedly.
4. Non-Scannable Text
A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Intimidating. Boring. Painful to read.
Write for online, not print. To draw users into the text and support scannability, use well-documented tricks:
subheads
bulleted lists
highlighted keywords
short paragraphs
the inverted pyramid
a simple writing style, and
de-fluffed language devoid of marketese.
5. Fixed Font Size
CSS style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40.
Respect the user's preferences and let them resize text as needed. Also, specify font sizes in relative terms -- not as an absolute number of pixels.
6. Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need.
The page title is contained within the HTML tag and is almost always used as the clickable headline for listings on search engine result pages (SERP). Search engines typically show the first 66 characters or so of the title, so it's truly microcontent.
Page titles are also used as the default entry in the Favorites when users bookmark a site. For your homepage, begin the with the company name, followed by a brief description of the site. Don't start with words like "The" or "Welcome to" unless you want to be alphabetized under "T" or "W."
For other pages than the homepage, start the title with a few of the most salient information-carrying words that describe the specifics of what users will find on that page. Since the page title is used as the window title in the browser, it's also used as the label for that window in the taskbar under Windows, meaning that advanced users will move between multiple windows under the guidance of the first one or two words of each page title. If all your page titles start with the same words, you have severely reduced usability for your multi-windowing users.
Taglines on homepages are a related subject: they also need to be short and quickly communicate the purpose of the site.
7. Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement
Selective attention is very powerful, and Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads that get in the way of their goal-driven navigation. (The main exception being text-only search-engine ads.)
Unfortunately, users also ignore legitimate design elements that look like prevalent forms of advertising. After all, when you ignore something, you don't study it in detail to find out what it is.
Therefore, it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements. The exact implications of this guideline will vary with new forms of ads; currently follow these rules:
banner blindness means that users never fixate their eyes on anything that looks like a banner ad due to shape or position on the page
animation avoidance makes users ignore areas with blinking or flashing text or other aggressive animations
pop-up purges mean that users close pop-up windoids before they have even fully rendered; sometimes with great viciousness (a sort of getting-back-at-GeoCities triumph).
8. Violating Design Conventions
Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles:
when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience. Every time you release an apple over Sir Isaac Newton, it will drop on his head. That's good.
The more users' expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it. And the more the system breaks users' expectations, the more they will feel insecure. Oops, maybe if I let go of this apple, it will turn into a tomato and jump a mile into the sky.
Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."
This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.
9. Opening New Browser Windows
Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer's carpet. Don't pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).
Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user's machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don't notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.
Links that don't behave as expected undermine users' understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser's "open in new window" command -- assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior.
10. Not Answering Users' Questions
Users are highly goal-driven on the Web. They visit sites because there's something they want to accomplish -- maybe even buy your product. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for.
Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs if you don't tell them the specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don't have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there.
The worst example of not answering users' questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services. No B2C ecommerce site would make this mistake, but it's rife in B2B, where most "enterprise solutions" are presented so that you can't tell whether they are suited for 100 people or 100,000 people. Price is the most specific piece of info customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line. We have miles of videotape of users asking "Where's the price?" while tearing their hair out.
Even B2C sites often make the associated mistake of forgetting prices in product lists, such as category pages or search results Knowing the price is key in both situations; it lets users differentiate among products and click through to the most relevant ones.
via: useit
Since my first attempt in 1996,
I have compiled many top-10 lists of the biggest mistakes in Web design. See links to all these lists at the bottom of this article. This article presents the highlights: the very worst mistakes of Web design. (Updated 2007.)
1. Bad Search
Overly literal search engines reduce usability in that they're unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, and other variants of the query terms. Such search engines are particularly difficult for elderly users, but they hurt everybody.
A related problem is when search engines prioritize results purely on the basis of how many query terms they contain, rather than on each document's importance. Much better if your search engine calls out "best bets" at the top of the list -- especially for important queries, such as the names of your products.
Search is the user's lifeline when navigation fails. Even though advanced search can sometimes help, simple search usually works best, and search should be presented as a simple box, since that's what users are looking for.
2. PDF Files for Online Reading
Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don't work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user's browser window. Bye-bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts.
Worst of all, PDF is an undifferentiated blob of content that's hard to navigate.
PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents that need to be printed. Reserve it for this purpose and convert any information that needs to be browsed or read on the screen into real web pages.
3. Not Changing the Color of Visited Links
A good grasp of past navigation helps you understand your current location, since it's the culmination of your journey. Knowing your past and present locations in turn makes it easier to decide where to go next. Links are a key factor in this navigation process. Users can exclude links that proved fruitless in their earlier visits. Conversely, they might revisit links they found helpful in the past.
Most important, knowing which pages they've already visited frees users from unintentionally revisiting the same pages over and over again.
These benefits only accrue under one important assumption: that users can tell the difference between visited and unvisited links because the site shows them in different colors. When visited links don't change color, users exhibit more navigational disorientation in usability testing and unintentionally revisit the same pages repeatedly.
4. Non-Scannable Text
A wall of text is deadly for an interactive experience. Intimidating. Boring. Painful to read.
Write for online, not print. To draw users into the text and support scannability, use well-documented tricks:
subheads
bulleted lists
highlighted keywords
short paragraphs
the inverted pyramid
a simple writing style, and
de-fluffed language devoid of marketese.
5. Fixed Font Size
CSS style sheets unfortunately give websites the power to disable a Web browser's "change font size" button and specify a fixed font size. About 95% of the time, this fixed size is tiny, reducing readability significantly for most people over the age of 40.
Respect the user's preferences and let them resize text as needed. Also, specify font sizes in relative terms -- not as an absolute number of pixels.
6. Page Titles With Low Search Engine Visibility
Search is the most important way users discover websites. Search is also one of the most important ways users find their way around individual websites. The humble page title is your main tool to attract new visitors from search listings and to help your existing users to locate the specific pages that they need.
The page title is contained within the HTML tag and is almost always used as the clickable headline for listings on search engine result pages (SERP). Search engines typically show the first 66 characters or so of the title, so it's truly microcontent.
Page titles are also used as the default entry in the Favorites when users bookmark a site. For your homepage, begin the with the company name, followed by a brief description of the site. Don't start with words like "The" or "Welcome to" unless you want to be alphabetized under "T" or "W."
For other pages than the homepage, start the title with a few of the most salient information-carrying words that describe the specifics of what users will find on that page. Since the page title is used as the window title in the browser, it's also used as the label for that window in the taskbar under Windows, meaning that advanced users will move between multiple windows under the guidance of the first one or two words of each page title. If all your page titles start with the same words, you have severely reduced usability for your multi-windowing users.
Taglines on homepages are a related subject: they also need to be short and quickly communicate the purpose of the site.
7. Anything That Looks Like an Advertisement
Selective attention is very powerful, and Web users have learned to stop paying attention to any ads that get in the way of their goal-driven navigation. (The main exception being text-only search-engine ads.)
Unfortunately, users also ignore legitimate design elements that look like prevalent forms of advertising. After all, when you ignore something, you don't study it in detail to find out what it is.
Therefore, it is best to avoid any designs that look like advertisements. The exact implications of this guideline will vary with new forms of ads; currently follow these rules:
banner blindness means that users never fixate their eyes on anything that looks like a banner ad due to shape or position on the page
animation avoidance makes users ignore areas with blinking or flashing text or other aggressive animations
pop-up purges mean that users close pop-up windoids before they have even fully rendered; sometimes with great viciousness (a sort of getting-back-at-GeoCities triumph).
8. Violating Design Conventions
Consistency is one of the most powerful usability principles:
when things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen. Instead, they know what will happen based on earlier experience. Every time you release an apple over Sir Isaac Newton, it will drop on his head. That's good.
The more users' expectations prove right, the more they will feel in control of the system and the more they will like it. And the more the system breaks users' expectations, the more they will feel insecure. Oops, maybe if I let go of this apple, it will turn into a tomato and jump a mile into the sky.
Jakob's Law of the Web User Experience states that "users spend most of their time on other websites."
This means that they form their expectations for your site based on what's commonly done on most other sites. If you deviate, your site will be harder to use and users will leave.
9. Opening New Browser Windows
Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer's carpet. Don't pollute my screen with any more windows, thanks (particularly since current operating systems have miserable window management).
Designers open new browser windows on the theory that it keeps users on their site. But even disregarding the user-hostile message implied in taking over the user's machine, the strategy is self-defeating since it disables the Back button which is the normal way users return to previous sites. Users often don't notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.
Links that don't behave as expected undermine users' understanding of their own system. A link should be a simple hypertext reference that replaces the current page with new content. Users hate unwarranted pop-up windows. When they want the destination to appear in a new page, they can use their browser's "open in new window" command -- assuming, of course, that the link is not a piece of code that interferes with the browser’s standard behavior.
10. Not Answering Users' Questions
Users are highly goal-driven on the Web. They visit sites because there's something they want to accomplish -- maybe even buy your product. The ultimate failure of a website is to fail to provide the information users are looking for.
Sometimes the answer is simply not there and you lose the sale because users have to assume that your product or service doesn't meet their needs if you don't tell them the specifics. Other times the specifics are buried under a thick layer of marketese and bland slogans. Since users don't have time to read everything, such hidden info might almost as well not be there.
The worst example of not answering users' questions is to avoid listing the price of products and services. No B2C ecommerce site would make this mistake, but it's rife in B2B, where most "enterprise solutions" are presented so that you can't tell whether they are suited for 100 people or 100,000 people. Price is the most specific piece of info customers use to understand the nature of an offering, and not providing it makes people feel lost and reduces their understanding of a product line. We have miles of videotape of users asking "Where's the price?" while tearing their hair out.
Even B2C sites often make the associated mistake of forgetting prices in product lists, such as category pages or search results Knowing the price is key in both situations; it lets users differentiate among products and click through to the most relevant ones.
via: useit
Saturday, February 2, 2008
A Very Unusual Pagerank Update
Last week, many webmasters noticed that Google’s public pagerank system (a rough measure of each site’s importance in the search engine) was displaying higher than expected rankings for some sites.
Many virtually unlinked and unheard of sites rose significantly on the scale, without any official explanation from the search giant. Two of my sites that were affected were handsetreviews.com and carriermix.com. Both were ranked 0 out of 10 before the change, but rose to PR6 afterwards. Other sites have been known to rise as high as PR8 as a result of this update.
The strange thing is that this was not a normal update, as it only made a difference to newly created PR0 websites, and didn’t affect most internal pages (at least in my experence). Reaction from other webmasters can be found at this SitePoint forum thread.
Many webmasters believe that this unusual update could further devalue the meaning of PR (which is meaningless enough already for SEO purposes), but I am currently mulling a theory that Google could have a different opinion altogether.
I find it somewhat unlikely that the world’s biggest search engine would deliberately destroy the entire PR system. Rough and inaccurate as it is, the PR scale is the only way to get a simple reading of a site’s backlink weight, directly from Google.
Instead, my theory is that Google is turning PR itself into an elaborate experiment. They could be attempting to make it a more accurate measure of a site’s value, updated on a frequent, or even constant basis. Such a figure can’t be expected to be totally accurate right away, but if Google is trying to introduce such an improvement, I commend them for it.
Now, I must warn you, this is just a theory, and I make no guarantees that it is correct, but it’s quite a possible explanation in my opinion. Whether Google has success in implementing it is another matter altogether.
Many virtually unlinked and unheard of sites rose significantly on the scale, without any official explanation from the search giant. Two of my sites that were affected were handsetreviews.com and carriermix.com. Both were ranked 0 out of 10 before the change, but rose to PR6 afterwards. Other sites have been known to rise as high as PR8 as a result of this update.
The strange thing is that this was not a normal update, as it only made a difference to newly created PR0 websites, and didn’t affect most internal pages (at least in my experence). Reaction from other webmasters can be found at this SitePoint forum thread.
Many webmasters believe that this unusual update could further devalue the meaning of PR (which is meaningless enough already for SEO purposes), but I am currently mulling a theory that Google could have a different opinion altogether.
I find it somewhat unlikely that the world’s biggest search engine would deliberately destroy the entire PR system. Rough and inaccurate as it is, the PR scale is the only way to get a simple reading of a site’s backlink weight, directly from Google.
Instead, my theory is that Google is turning PR itself into an elaborate experiment. They could be attempting to make it a more accurate measure of a site’s value, updated on a frequent, or even constant basis. Such a figure can’t be expected to be totally accurate right away, but if Google is trying to introduce such an improvement, I commend them for it.
Now, I must warn you, this is just a theory, and I make no guarantees that it is correct, but it’s quite a possible explanation in my opinion. Whether Google has success in implementing it is another matter altogether.
Google Strives to Further Improve Search Functionality
Despite Google’s dominant position in the search industry, the internet giant’s decision makers insist that search is not a “solved problem,” and that there is still much room for improvement.
“Our position is that search is a very hard problem. We have still a lot of work to do,” commented internal engineer, Douglas Merrill, noting that 70% of Google’s efforts still go into improving search, as opposed to developing other services.
“It is not enough to have the information, the information should be right,” Merrill went on to say. “Sometimes the problem is figuring out what the users mean, not what the user said.”
At this point, some of Google’s main projects include improving mobile web search, personalized search, and language translation features, as well as finding new ways to combat SEO spam.
By keeping its focus on core search functionality, the internet giant is demonstrating its belief that no search algorithm can be “too good,” while recognizing the continual progress of competitors. This goes to show that even the mighty Google must work hard to maintain the upper hand against rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft.
“Our position is that search is a very hard problem. We have still a lot of work to do,” commented internal engineer, Douglas Merrill, noting that 70% of Google’s efforts still go into improving search, as opposed to developing other services.
“It is not enough to have the information, the information should be right,” Merrill went on to say. “Sometimes the problem is figuring out what the users mean, not what the user said.”
At this point, some of Google’s main projects include improving mobile web search, personalized search, and language translation features, as well as finding new ways to combat SEO spam.
By keeping its focus on core search functionality, the internet giant is demonstrating its belief that no search algorithm can be “too good,” while recognizing the continual progress of competitors. This goes to show that even the mighty Google must work hard to maintain the upper hand against rivals like Yahoo and Microsoft.
Facts About Title Keyword Density
If you’ve done much SEO work for your website, I’m sure you’ve realized just how important it is to include the right text in the <> tag of each page.
As discussed in this article, it is a good idea to build each of your pages around its own primary keyphrase, and somehow incorporate that keyphrase into your <> tag. The question is, of course, what’s the best way to integrate it? The problem is that each search engine has its own unique answer.
MSN (aka Live.com) is generally thought to reward very high keyword density, and often grants top-five rankings to pages with 100% density in the title (that is, pages where the primary keyphrase is the only thing in the title bar).
Google, on the other hand, seems to make a point of devaluing pages on keywords that exactly match their <> tag. This measure was most likely introduced as a way to fight search engine spammers who over-optimize for a single phrase, by excessively placing it in their content, headings, and title.
Overall, you need to make an informed decision about which optimization route you want to take for each of your sites. As mentioned in the algorithm summaries, MSN is a good choice for driving short-term traffic and revenue, while Google has a lot more potential for long-term sustainable content websites.
If you want to optimize for Google, my advice would be to go for title keyword density of around 50%, and no greater than 75%. For example, if your primary keyphrase is three words long, you many wish to add another three-word phrase to your title, consisting of secondary keywords.
As discussed in this article, it is a good idea to build each of your pages around its own primary keyphrase, and somehow incorporate that keyphrase into your <> tag. The question is, of course, what’s the best way to integrate it? The problem is that each search engine has its own unique answer.
MSN (aka Live.com) is generally thought to reward very high keyword density, and often grants top-five rankings to pages with 100% density in the title (that is, pages where the primary keyphrase is the only thing in the title bar).
Google, on the other hand, seems to make a point of devaluing pages on keywords that exactly match their <> tag. This measure was most likely introduced as a way to fight search engine spammers who over-optimize for a single phrase, by excessively placing it in their content, headings, and title.
Overall, you need to make an informed decision about which optimization route you want to take for each of your sites. As mentioned in the algorithm summaries, MSN is a good choice for driving short-term traffic and revenue, while Google has a lot more potential for long-term sustainable content websites.
If you want to optimize for Google, my advice would be to go for title keyword density of around 50%, and no greater than 75%. For example, if your primary keyphrase is three words long, you many wish to add another three-word phrase to your title, consisting of secondary keywords.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Services-Cheap Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Website Design Services
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search Engine Optimisation (also known as SEO) can make the difference between a website attracting visitors, and therefore potential revenue, or languishing in online obscurity...We have a proven track record in acquiring top-level positions on the most important Search Engines and directories, such as Google and DMOZ, with our clients' sites being returned on a wide range of carefully chosen strategic search terms.Part of the success of our approach can be attributed to the fact that the accessible, standards-compliant websites we produce, are coded by hand, and come optimised right "out of the box" using industry-standard best practice and outstanding levels of client care.If you've already got a website, but it isn't performing as you would have hoped on the Search Engines, why not speak to us to see how the situation can be improved to your satisfaction.Everything we undertake to optimise your website is done in close consultation with you - we will work hard to gain an appreciation of your business, and the kind of visitors you wish to attract.
We only ever use "white hat" optimisation techniques to acquire solid rankings for our clients - in other words, we simply won't use methods that could have a potentially adverse effect on those all-important positions. Sadly, the same cannot be said of a number of our competitors who employ opposing "black hat" strategies in an attempt to boost a site's visibility on the Search Engines.Of course, you don't have to be based in London, or NY to benefit from our experience in Search Engine Optimisation - we can help you wherever you or your business may be!
For many visitors, your website will be their first point of contact with your business, and therefore must represent the professionalism of your enterprise and capture their attention.Usable, accessible web designIn close consultation with you, we will work towards creating a design that is both appealing and provides access to important information rapidly.The notion of "accessibility" is also something that is very important to us, and we pride ourselves in constructing websites that are extremely easy to use and navigate – this is done in compliance with the latest standards agreed by the W3C.Getting your website found. We will also take great pains to ensure that your website achieves excellent positioning on the important Search Engines and have a very strong track record in achieving top rankings on Google and other systems.
This will, in turn, increase the likelihood of attracting potential customers. Ongoing support and maintenanceWe are committed to providing full support for the websites we build long after they have gone "live" and fully understand that things do not stay the same for long on the World Wide Web, and so will advise you of any recommendations we might have regarding the best ways to keep your site moving forwards.If you're interested in having a website developed for your business, don't take any chances - talk to us first!You might also be interested in...
We live and breathe accessible web design and development - we are so passionate about the creation of standards-compliant, content managed websites and eCommerce stores, it is quite probable that we dream in XHTML and CSS.Website design, web design packages, website development, web & graphic design Dynamic webs have designed and programmed several hundred web sites. We have developed the expertise to utilise a broad range of knowledge to approach conception and design procedure in the most effective way. Using our own panel of experts covering all aspects of design, marketing and technical consultancy, we are able to assist customers who have extremely diverse requirements.The comprehensive nature of our service has proved to be invaluable to our clients who have made substantial savings already during design-concept and planning phases.Dynamic Webs provide a special online service, which allows you to view the progress of the web sites construction. This enables you to suggest andanticipate issues regarding the web site development as well as do the proof reading - testing as and when the site has been developed.
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