Web Design & Site Development, Kernersville NC North Carolina Graphic Design, Rich's Web Design
"News Archive!"

Web Design, NC

FacebookTwitterGoogle+YouTubeLinkedInPlaxoMySpace
RSS Feed
YELP!

Sign-Up for the
Monthly Newsletter!




Montastic - Web Monitoring Tool
Logo Designs by
Logo Design Associate
Get KASPERSKY Virus Protection!

Kernersville Rotary Member



Constant Contact - Create and Send Eye-Catching HTML Email Campaigns in Minutes!
Great E-Mail Marketing Tool!


Steps to get the web site traffic of your preference. ... from "www.WebProNews.com"
1. Define your keywords properly for the search engines. You don't have to incorporate the entire thesaurus for your product. The more you narrow down, the more target audience you'll get. Limit yourself to 6-7 keywords if you want to target a highly focussed group. You can also do keyword bidding at various pay search engines like RealNetworks and GoTo.

2. Formulate a concise and to-the-point description of your index page. Try to include words, in a manner that the sentence makes sense, that might help search engines find your site.

3. In directories like yahoo!, always choose the right heading to add your URL. Don't think that the more general heading you choose, the more visitors you attract. Remember it's not the quantity that matters, it's the quality. So go to the lowest level before submitting your URL.

4. Try to include the major searchable words in the first paragraph of your web site content. Many search engines read first 250-300 words of a page to index it.

5. I've noticed search tools like Google use the title of the page to give it recognition. But the recommendation by the gurus of web development is that the title should be the name of your company. Still, since Google spiders all the pages if your web site even if you submit just the index page, you can play around with the titles of the other pages. Just make sure that from every page, there is a link to your main page, and the link should be attractive enough.

6. A compelling signature that accompanies your e-mail messages many times generates useful visits. It should constitute of a two-line, pithy description of your business, and the link to your URL.

7. Although this I wouldn't suggest to people who have to pay for the online time according to the usage hours, you can look for various message boards and bulletin boards to spread the word around about your business. Don't outright start your media blitzkrieg though. Introduce yourself first, participate in various discussions and debates, and during on of the interactions, you can tell about your business.





What are "reciprocal links?"
Good question! They are links found on other sites that point to your own site. In turn, you place a similar link back to that other site from your own. They can be in the form of a logo or a simple text link.

Who Cares? SEARCH ENGINES are now measuring how many links you have to your site from other sites. The more external links, the better your listing. It is all part of each search engines formula ... usually a secret formula!

Do you have friends that have similar businesses, that also have web sites? Let me know who they are, what their URL is. I will then place a link or logo on your site pointing to your friend's site. Then either you or I can contact their designer to place a reciprocal link back to your site.

Sounds Good? Let me know what I can do to assist you!
Rich





Opera 5 as New / Faster Alternative to IE or Netscape! ... Or Opera 6 (Beta)
If you haven't heard of a new alternative to the browser that you have been using to surf the Internet, it is called "Opera." Each page loads MUCH faster than either Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, it is smaller in file size, it is compliant with all standards and has a few neat options that you MIGHT like better. Who knows! Try it, you might like it .... Nothing to lose!
If you want to download it for FREE, just go to http://www.opera.com/download/?platform=win and it will download rather quickly, and be self explanatory.





Title, Description & Keyword Requirements / Suggestions!
Getting listed in the search engines and directories is a bit of a science. But getting listed with the best possible descriptions and titles is more of an ART! This is especially true in the directories like Yahoo, LookSmart, and ODP. In spite of such high importance placed on directory titles and descriptions, the directories themselves have made only a token effort to educate site submitters by providing what most consider, at best, vague guidelines.

To make sure that our content is consistent and useful, all editors and members of the community follow a set of rules and guidelines when creating site titles and descriptions. A good title and description are essential elements in providing users with accurate search results.

TITLE GOALS! ... Be informative - Be objective - Be concise - Be search conscious - Be original - Be aware of our selection criteria

  • The title may be up to 65 characters long.
  • Titles must be unique. No site description should have the same title as any other.
  • Use the site’s actual name, and not necessarily what is listed on the page's title bar. Find the official name by looking at the About Us or Contact Us section, or at the copyright line. Be sure to use the name of the page and not the name of the company that designed the page.
  • Omit messages, such as "Welcome to," which aren't part of the site’s official name, as well as terms such as "Inc." or "Ltd."
  • Capitalize all words in titles, except for articles and prepositions of fewer than four letters ("at," "by," "for," etc.), as in "Land of the Lost" or "This Song Is for You." Capitalize all prepositions that are four or more letters long ("from," "between," "above," etc.), as in "It Came From Outer Space." See capitalization in the A-Z Style Guide.
  • If it is necessary to use an abbreviation to make the title fit, find the acceptable abbreviation in the A-Z Style Guide, or use an acronym if one is provided on the site. (Be sure to spell out the acronym in the description body.) An ampersand ("&") may also be used instead of the word "and" to make the title fit.
  • If an article ("a," "an," "the") is the first word of a title, place the article at the end of the title. For example, "Iceman Cometh, The" or "Firm, The." This way, lists will be alphabetized correctly.
  • For technical reasons, titles must be free of special characters, such as accents or quotation marks.
  • Spell proper names as they appear on the site. Be aware of nonstandard capitalization in proper names: Spell the company name as it is given officially. Many companies lowercase the first letter (iWorks, eCards.com), use internal capitals (LookSmart), or use punctuation in their titles (Yahoo!, E! Online). If a name officially begins with a numeral, spell it as it appears on the site, as in "4 Star Entertainment." If ".com" or ".net" is officially part of a company name, lowercase the ".com" or ".net."
  • Occasionally, in order to make a title unique and to differentiate it from similar titles, you will need to add the geographic location. For instance, for official city-government homepages: City of Lincoln, Illinois City of Lincoln, Alabama
  • DESCRIPTION GOALS!
  • Describe the site objectively without offering praise or criticism. Do not use superlatives, such as "best" or "worst," or subjective adjectives such as "cool" or "nice." Don't make claims.
  • Be search conscious. Think about the kinds of keywords people might use when searching for the site you are describing. Use words and phrases that are specific to the content of the page. Avoid general statements that could be said about any Web site.
  • Use simple and straightforward language. Avoid jargon and limit the use of technical language to appropriate areas, such as computing. Also avoid using slang, which may not be understandable to all users, may be inappropriate in tone, or may become outdated quickly.
  • In some cases, it is helpful to mention whether the user must have specific software, such as Flash or RealAudio, to access most of a site’s functions.
  • Sites in the same category may contain similar kinds of information and features. When writing site descriptions, vary them by pinpointing differences in content. Don't template descriptions.
  • Don't write anything that will not make sense before the reader has seen the Web site. Keep in mind that a user will open the page only after reading your description of the site.
  • Write descriptions that will stay current for a long time. Avoid describing information that will be outdated soon, such as the dates of upcoming events.
  • Avoid asking rhetorical questions. They rarely provide useful information, and they take up space that could instead be used to describe the site's features.
  • When the geographic location is relevant to the subject of a site (for example, museums or regional clubs), the site description should include the city and the state or province. Both the city and the state or province should be spelled out, if space allows, for search relevancy. See states and provinces in the A-Z Style Guide for abbreviations if you need them. In general, site descriptions should not identify locations generically by country. For example, a company's location should be identified as Windsor, Ontario, rather than simply Canada.
  • Reread your description before submitting it. One last proofreading can make all the difference in quality.
  • KEYWORD SUGGESTIONS!
  • Keywords should also be as well thought-out as the description.
  • Define your keywords properly for the search engines. You don't have to incorporate the entire thesaurus for your product. The more you narrow down, the more target audience you'll get. Limit yourself to 6-7 keywords if you want to target a highly focussed group.
  • Use words that you believe people will use to find your site in the Search Engines.
  • Place the most important words at the beginning of the list. If you are a regional company, use the city names, etc.
  • Little by little, most search engines are NOT using keywords found in the META tags, rather the actual words used in the body of your site. Therefore, "Content is King!"
  • Repetition of keywords (3x) is allowed at present, but there seems to be no advantage in using this practice. Some SE's consider repetition of keywords (more than 4x) to be spam!




  • November 2001 - Search Engine Notes!!!( from www.SearchEngine-News.com )
    Yahoo Update - What's New
    Yahoo has, over the last three months, substantially increased the frequency at which they check for dead links. This increase in checking does not appear to related to the length of time a site has been in Yahoo, or the frequency at which a site is updated.
    Based on data from sites that are new to Yahoo as well as from sites that have been indexed for years, our logs show that, since the beginning of August, Yahoo has been testing for dead links about 4 times per month.
    This means that it is even more important for your site to be up and running around the clock. If your site happens to be down during one of these tests, it's possible Yahoo will drop your listing. Having a reliable web host is even more important now.

    Google - What's New
    Google's most recent index-update was completed approximately October 30th. The index is including the many pages that were spidered around October 15th, 2001. Sites with a high page rank may be updated much faster and more frequently.
    Google now grabbing Flash links - Google just recently began an attempt to follow links found within Flash (.swf) files. They're not trying to convert the actual graphic data from within the files, but they are following text links that are discovered within the flash files.
    Inktomi Powered Engines - What's New
    We recommend you use the paid submission as the best and fastest route into Inktomi's database. We recommend the service at http://www.positiontech.com. HotBot Update - What's New
    No major changes this month AltaVista - What's New
    AltaVista offers new listing enhancements - In October AltaVista launched a new enhanced listing service that allows Express Inclusion customers set their listings apart in the search results. The new service allows four new options:
    Small logo, Small icon, Custom line tag, More text links. The value of this new service? Little to none unless the URL is ranking well for your keywords. But, if it is ranking well it may be worth testing.
    Lycos (powered by FAST) Update
    Lycos title tag placement - We been doing some testing on where the best spot in the title tag is for your keywords at Lycos. The Fast search engine (which powers Lycos) has a preference for the keyword at the start of the title tag, vs other positions within the title tag. So do your best to position your keywords at the beginning of the title tag. Open Directory Project Update
    No strategic changes this month. LookSmart - What's New
    No price increases at LookSmart this month ;-)






    October 2001 - Search Engine Notes!!! ( from www.SearchEngine-News.com )

    Yahoo Update - http://www.yahoo.com

    The changes that took place at article this past month are too numerous to post here. Suffice it to say they are unprecedented and momentous compared to any yahoo changes in the past. For the whole story, be sure to read this months special article "Yahoo Undergoes Biggest Change Ever" in the document I sent you!

    Google Update - http://www.google.com

    Google's most recent index-update was completed approximately August 29th. The engine is showing the majority of pages that were spidered around September 8th, 2001. Sites with a high page rank may be updated much faster and more frequently.

    Inktomi Powered Engines - http://www.inktomi.com

    Inktomi Search Engine Submit: http://www.hotbot.com/addurl.asp

    We recommend you use the paid submission as the best and fastest route into Inktomi's database. We recommend the service at http://www.positiontech.com.

    AltaVista Update - http://www.altavista.com

    No major changes at AltaVista this month.

    Excite Update - http://www.excite.com

    Addurl: http://www.excite.com/info/add_url_form/
    Last known update: 5/29/01 with information in the index as recent as May 23, 2001. Surprisingly we've noticed the Excite spider indexing pages during September but still no update to their index.
    What's New

    Excite sells off assets, files Chapter 11 bankruptcy

    Excite@Home has been making major changes to their business as it struggles for survival.

    Lycos (powered by FAST) Update - http://www.lycos.com

    What's new

    Lycos and Fast are now clustering the search results. This means that if you have multiple pages on the same site they are only showing what they believe to be the most relevant page. This new update lacks the "More pages from this site" feature that is common on other search engines that use clustered results.

    In a new twist on clustering, Fast appears to have designed their system a bit differently. The results appear to be related to how many words are in your search phrase. Very specific searches return multiple results from the same site whereas more generic searches show the clustered results.






    October 2001
    Friends / Clients:

    I have 3.5 quick items for you to be aware of:

    1. Contact Us / Order Form Fixes - For those of you whose sites I host on DigiHost (all except Sharp Interiors, KES, Avid Sol., & NCPSC), and have a "Contact Us" page or "Order Form" ... I made a necessary change to your form / order form. You will not notice it, because it was in the code scripting. I sent those of you a "test" form and also sent you a regular email asking you whether you received the test or not. Please inform me whether you received this "test" or not. If you do not let me know, I will have no way of knowing whether you will be receiving the forms correctly in the future. Thanks!

    2. Search Engine Information - For those of you who have some extra time for some light reading, I have attached a document that is VERY informative about the world of search engines, optimizing sites for search engines, and the ever changing submission procedures. It is a monthly publication, and is considered the "Search Engine Bible". Yes, I realize that I have warned you MANY times about attached documents, but this one is safe! (This document is only available to my clients!)

    3. Clients - If you purchase a new car and do not check or change the oil, are you going to be happy with your dealer's service department? If you bought a brand new suit and did not have it dry cleaned every once in awhile, would it be fair for you to complain about the suit's appearance? If you didn't seed and fertilize your lawn, would you be proud of its appearance?

    Need another analogy?

    3.5. - Maintenance is VERY important to the success of your site. If it does not change, ... You will not have returning visitors ... Your numbers will go down ... Search engines can now detect this and will drop you from their databases ... You will not gain any new visitors, and you will not be happy with the success of your site. I would love to create new information about your business and place it on your site, but I can not. If you want your site to work for you and your biz, you have to work on it too.

    I am here to help!

    Warmly,

    Rich Blakemore
    www.RichsWebDesign.com
    336-408-9075







    September 2001
    Friends:
    By now you have probably noticed the statement that I placed on your site last Tuesday. RSVP to let me know when you want me to remove it, or let me know what else you would like it to say.
    Also let me know what changes you need on other parts of your site!

    Rich Blakemore
    www.RichsWebDesign.com








    September 2001
    Jim, Joey, Dwayne, Mary Jo, Dr's Kulp & Reid:

    GREAT NEWS!! After months and months, and for some of you YEARS, ... FINALLY, Yahoo has accepted your sites into their listing. I can't begin to count the number of times I have submitted all of your sites in the last 1-2 years. THEN last November, Yahoo started charging $199 for listings, ... I went Eeeekkks Alive! But anyway, here is the information I just received:

    The URL(s) you suggested:
    ...
    have been added to Yahoo!. It will appear after our next update, probably within the next 2-4 days. You can find your site at that time by looking through the "What's New" listings (http://www.yahoo.com/new/) or by searching on its title or URL.

    Rich
    www.RichsWebDesign.com








    July 2001
    Dear Friends:

    Have you seen a note recently w/ an attached file that read:
    "Hi! How are you?" ... ... followed by
    "I send you this file in order to have your advice, or
    I hope you can help me with this file that I send, or
    I hope you like the file that I sendo you, or
    This is the file with the information that you ask for" ... followed by
    "See you later. Thanks"

    If you opened up the attachment, even if it were from a person you know, you are now infected w/ the W32.Sircam.Worm@mm virus. Distribution level = High, Damage level = Medium. If so, I have enclosed instructions from Symantec on how to remove it. Do it NOW!

    Have a great day!

    Rich
    www.RichsWebDesign.com






    May 2001
    Dear Friends:

    Just a quick note before the hot days of summer. Let's all welcome some new sites to our team www.ACCHVAC.com (Akers Custom Comfort HVAC), www.NCPSC.com (North Carolina Plastic Surgery Center - redesigned site coming soon), www.AllYearCooling.com (partnership with www.AllYearHeating.com ) and welcome back www.PopeEquipment.com (Pope Equipment)!

    Have you noticed that some of the e-mails that you receive look like web pages? Well they are! There is an easy way for you to send any web page (especially your own) as an e-mail. You can use this to advertise your company, as a newsletter about new things at your company, or any other way you wish. It works best from IE (Internet Explorer) version 5+.
    1. Go to the web page you want to send.
    2. Select - File, Send, Page by e-mail
    3. Place the address(es) and send it as normal ... Easy isn't it!
    (A few sites ... TMan Performance, Debbie's Staffing, NuPro Tech, Wilburn Medical, Loft Gallery, and KES will need to select "Read only" due to the fact that your sites are in frames)
    Let me know if you would like me to make a page of your site into a "Newsletter" for sending, or whatever else you need!

    Stay cool!
    Rich
    www.RichsWebDesign.com
    P.S. I'll send you my site as your next e-mail to show you what the above looks like!







    336-408-9075
    Rich@RichsWebDesign.com

    ----- RWD Pages -----
    About - Clients - Services - SEM - FAQs - Prices - References - Process - Press - Flash - News - Tools - Terms - Contact - Trumpet - SEO - Rankings - GD - Privacy - Section508 - Resume.doc - Resume.PDF - Kernersville - Greensboro - Winston-Salem - Charlotte - Map - Home - T - Acronyms - Burlington - CC Payments - Google - GA - Google Archives - Google Logos - High Point - Jobs - Link - News - Newsletter - NC - Old News - Opinion - Optimization - Partners - Quiz - ROI - Search - SE History - SEM - SEO Practives - SEO Tools - SEO Tools1 - SEO Tools2 - SEO Tools3 - TCO

    ----- RWD Clients A-G-----
    52hymns.com - ArnoldKing.com - Barber Plastic Surgery - Bulldog Group Inc - BrassofPeace.org - C&J Trading - Caudill's Electric - CarsonWattsConsulting - ChemSourceDirect.com - ChristianFaithStories.com - ClemmonsFamilyDentist.com - Dr. Steven A. Cuccia DDS - ColtraneGrubbs.com - CliftonInsuranceAgency.com - CordaEntertainment.com - DiscoverKernersville.com - Encore Symposiums - ESS - Father's Day - FoamRite.com - French Interiors - GarrettMusicProducts.com - Hair Is Our Thing -

    ----- RWD Clients H-O-----
    Hayley's Helpers Pet Care - HarperEyeCare.com - Innocent Dads - Jennic Property - Kernersville Foundation - Kernersville Museum- Kernersville Rotary - Kernersville Spring Folly - KonnoakBaptist.org - KernersvilleNC.com - Kernersville-Insurance.com - Long Insurance Services - Loft Gallery - Mindful Bodi Movement - Mobile Friendly Web Design - NCPilgrimage.org - On Course to College

    ----- RWD Clients P-Z-----
    - Page & Assoc. - PopeEquipment.com - Realty Consultants / RentRRC.com - RobertEdwardsDDS.com - RoomerHasIt.biz - www.Greensboro.Furniture - STJClean.com - SmittysGrille.com - Snow Woodworks - TDG - Video Impact - Will Snyder Law
    About Us Services SEO - Optimization FLASH Clients - Portfolio Latest News FAQ's Testimonials Tools Associates Search Here! Contact Us Newsletter Resume Jobs HOME! [an error occurred while processing this directive]