I ran across this article on ecommercetimes.com and I find it very interesting. Yahoo has incorporated RSS into their web mail client in hopes to better complete with Google.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Vs4VDv8ARAXfUz/Yahoo-Sends-RSS-Platform-to-Mail-Service.xhtml
People often wonder what their domain name is worth. I have developed the following scale for use when I am purchasing a domain name to gauge approx. what its worth. I try and answer the questions honestly and give points based on 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest based on my answers.
1) Can it have an industry use? Does the name have great industry potential? Is it suited to be built into a commercial website or another like non-profit organization? 0-10 pts.
2) Is it easily remembered? Easy to trademark and highly brandable? 0-10 pts.
3) How many characters in length? 0-10 pts. (should be no more than 12-13 characters max.)
4) What is the extension? .com 10pts, .net 8pts, .org 6pts, .info 5pts, rest 0pts
Scale:
40 $x,xxx
35-39 $xxx+
34-29 Mid $xx
28-23 Low $xx
22-17 reg. fee $9
17-and below less than $9
Below is a basic web development life cycle that I try and follow when creating websites for clients. I have been very successful sign this method so I thought I would share it with you.
1) Gather Information – Work closely with the client to gather as much information as possible on exactly what they are expecting to get out of their website. Gather all information, photos, articles, etc. that the client would like to be posted on the website This would be a good time to set forth some goals that the client would like to reach.
2) Initial Design Sketch – Draw out an initial design sketch using pencil and paper. Keep in mind the rules of usability, SEO, and try and keep the layout as user friendly as possible. Once the sketch is complete submit it to the client for approval.
3) Sketch-To-Template – Now that the design has been approved use Photoshop and Image Ready to create and slice the template. Upload the non-functioning template and view it in Internet Explorer and Fire Fox to make sure that it fits correctly with 800 x 600 resolution with no scrolling required. Once this step is complete submit for client approval.
4) Initial Coding – At this time start the initial coding like the proper Meta keywords and description, title, links, any client-side or server-side scripting that you want on all the pages of the site, etc.
5) Add Content – Implement the proper content that is unique to each page. Test thoroughly with IE and Fire Fox to make sure everything is functional. When you are finished upload and navigate through the site again to make sure everything is in place.
6) Additional Coding – Implement any additional coding like backend databases, cookies, sessions, custom applications, etc. and test thoroughly again.
7) Final Approval – Submit fully functional website URL to client for final approval. At this time make any additional changes that they request.
8) Search Engine Submission – Submit site URL to Google, Yahoo, MSN, DMOZ, and high PR link directories.
A wonderful way to drive traffic to your site, promote your products and services, and attract repeat visitors is to create a forum or community. Now obviously just installing a forum itself will not accomplish this but there are also many other things that go with this process like installation, administration, selecting additional staff, marketing, etc. Through this series of articles you will learn what it takes to have a successful forum.
What forum software should I use?
There are many different forum options out there like PHPBB, VBulletin, and Invision Board just to name a few. This series of articles will cover only PHPBB because it’s free and I am very much an advocate of the open source community.
PHPBB is a wonderful forum choice in my opinion. As I mentioned above its free and is supported by the open source community. The install process is very simple and can be completed in just a few minutes. I do want to cover a few things here that are very important:
1) I would highly recommend not using the email confirmation option. Many email services especially Yahoo! treat the confirmation email as spam and it files it away and the user will never see it. This will result in the loss of potential members which will damage the value of your forum.
2) It is believed that disabling the session id’s which requires a modification to the code will optimize the forum for search engines to effectively spider the forum. Now while this theory makes perfect sense from a development standpoint it does not always work. I have had better results not doing this so that I what I recommend for you as well.
Once the installation and initial configuration are complete its time to setup the actual categories and their descriptions. I recommend choosing your wording carefully and use as many keywords as possible without overdoing it. This will help with search engine optimization. I would setup only the most needed categories at first and add more as the forum grows. This will make the forum seem fuller to the visitor and will more than likely invoke their participation. This process will concentrate the forum posts to select categories rather than spreading them over a huge forum with many categories. It’s better to have 60 posts each in 3 categories rather than 10 posts each in 6 categories. There is nothing worse for a forum than the feeling of emptiness. and lack of activity.
In the next installment I will cover how to effectively administer and market the community.
When I need to find information about products or services the web is the first place I look. I mean after all its the “Information Super Highway” so why would’t it be a great place to start. Odds are I will find exactly what I am looking for by either heading to the respective url or using a search engine such as Google (the one and only IMO). But what happens if I don’t find the product or service online that I am looking for? In most cases I would probably look for related products or services from businesses that do have a web presense.
I like to check out a businesses website before purchasing products or visiting the physical location to get a feel for who they are and what they have to offer. This is especially important to me when it comes to big purchases or research. When I can’t find it online I assume that the business is behind times and has no interest in keeping up with “today’s” trends and culture.
I have said all that to say this…..if you want to have a more sucessful business you better get online because the internet will be big.
I went to post a few domains for sale on sitepoint.com the other day and now they are charging a listing fee of $10 just to list a domain for sale. What a ripoff! I will now be participating only at namepros.com.
I just scored some free advertising over at http://www.dnlodge.com I was the first person to hit 50 posts. I now get a 468×60 banner put up for three months. Yea! Now I just have to decided what site to put on it or maybe I will divide it up into three sections. Hmmm. I am in the process of doing a re-design on Childloss.org this week. Its got a DMOZ listing and the traffic is fair so I am going to shoot for its earning potential now. I think I am going to go with something similar like CancerDaily.com
One of the things I get asked about constantly is simple ways of doing search engine optimization. Now while SEO can be very complex here is an article that I wrote about some simple but effective things you can do to improve your site’s rankings.
Simple SEO
The foundation of search engine optimization is built with the fundamentals of HTML. Optimizing your website for search engines should begin with analyzing your website’s code to assure that the following tags are present and effectively written.
1. Title tag
The title tag is one of the most important parts of a web page. Not only does it describe to the visitor what they web page contains but it happens to be the first line that is presented to the them in the search engine results. I highly recommend using a brief descriptive title with as many keywords as possible without over doing it.
ex. <title>Essential Information on Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, and More</title>
2. Meta Keywords tag
At this current time it is believed that the majority of the search engines don’t bother to pay attention to this tag anymore but I would still include it regardless. Who knows when things could change so I would be prepared ahead of time in case that happens. Select 10-15 descriptive keywords that relate to your site and use them with this tag. If you need ideas for keywords visit http://inventory.overture.com.
ex. <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="breast cancer, skin cancer, Lung cancer, Mesothelioma, Asbestos, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Testicular Cancer, bone cancer, prostate, prostate cancer, colon cancer, cancer articles, cancer research, cancer treatment">
3. Meta Description tag
The meta description tag is equally important as the title tag because it is the second line of text that a visitor sees in the search engine results. I recommend using a brief but descriptive summary utilizing as many keywords as possible of what the web page contains. Please remember just don’t over do it. To view an example lets examine the way CancerDaily.com looks in google.
ex. <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Dedicated to providing essential up-to-date cancer information to aid in the effort of increasing cancer awareness and to help those who face this disease.">
4. Heading tag
Following the body tag I highly recommend using a heading tag that contains the same information you used for the title tag. Search engines weigh heavily on this tag. Now to some people this tag can appear ugly because of how large the text is but you can use CSS to control its appearance.
ex. <h1 align=center> Essential Information on Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Mesothelioma, Lung Cancer, and More </h1>
5. Paragraph tag
Next directly under the first heading tag I would place a paragraph tag that contains the same information as your meta description tag. This is because in the event that your Meta description tag is missing or invalid most search engines will use this in place of it.
<p>
Dedicated to providing essential up-to-date cancer information to aid in the effort of increasing cancer awareness and to help those who face this disease.
</p>
Now while the information above won’t make your site rank #1 over night its a good first step to “white hat” SEO techniques.
Well, after a long time of procrastinating I have finally decided to set my blog ship sailing on its maiden voyage. My initial thought about blogs was that no one really reads them but I know that I can count on at least a few friends to visit often (google, msn, yahoo, etc.) LOL!
For readers who stumble upon my blog that don’t know me let me give you a little background about myself:
-Name: Josh Evans
-Location: Ohio, USA
-Occupation: Web Developer / Computer Technician
-Marital Status: Happily married to my wife Becca. We have two wonderful children Vincent and Angelina.
- My Development Skills Include: HTML, PHP, SQL, JavsScript, CSS, ASP, Search Engine Optimization, and Search Engine Marketing. I am currently attending Stark State Collge of Technology for an Associate’s degree in Applied Business majoring in E-Commerce Technoligies.
A few Sites I have developed: Cancer Daily, Ride The Red, Eastern Pools, Child Loss, and My Portfolio.
I think I have covered all the basics. If I have missed anything you want to know drop me a line…