Web Designing Tutorials

Back in October of last year, I made my first post with the concept of “Do-It-Yourself” tips for Web Design.  This is the last post in that series that is titled “Keep Your Site Updated And Monitor The Traffic” and happens to be the very thing that many new Website owners fail to consider in their Website management.  Here are a few things to consider for why and how you should be keeping your site updated:

1. The Search Engines put an extreme amount of value to new content which will show up in the Google Page Rank as one of the many factors Google considers in assigning importance to a particular Web page. For competitive Keyword Phrases, those pages with a higher Google Page Rank of at least a 5 or better will generally hold their positions in the top listings over time.
2. Update or add new text content at least monthly to any page that you expect to be competitive in the search results.  If you have an e-commerce site, you can simply have a monthly text ad that you change each month.  Use keyword rich text in that ad (keyword phrases that would be used in a search for your site).
3. Develop a Sitemap page that list all the pages in your Website, their priority of importance to you and when they were last updated.  Submit this Sitemap page to the Search Engines for indexing when it is initially developed.  The important thing here is to make sure you keep your Sitemap updated with the current dates that each page was changed.  I will make a “How To Develop A Sitemap” post in the future as this topic is one in itself and beyond the scope for this article.
4. Create a Blog for your Website and post articles with links back to your main site.
5. Use RSS feeds written in PHP or HTML on a page that you want to keep competitive in the search results.
6. Make a post with a link to the page with new content to your site in Twitter and Facebook or any other Social Media network you may use.
7. Use  Google Analytics to track your Website traffic which will tell you how many visitors have come to your site, which pages have been viewed, which keywords they have used, which sites referred them to yours and other important information.  You can also use a Professional Search Engine Marketing specialist like myself to provide you with this information as well as many others things to assist you in your Marketing efforts.

The easiest way for the average person to “Do-It-Yourself” in keeping your site updated is to use items 2 and 6 above.  I would also consider having a professional develop a Site Map, a Blog, and integrate an RSS feed into your site as they are additional ways to provide and promote new content.  I cannot say enough how important new content is your Google ranking and to search engines as a whole in the results that they return to a user.  Don’t let your site go stagnant, work with it periodically to keep it in the running.

This is a continuation from my October 31, 2009 blog post.  Next on the agenda is to optimize your site for the Search Engines and natural search results.  Here are a few steps you can take to assure your Website will make the best presentation in the Search Engine query results:

1. Keyword Selection - Keywords or Keyword Phrases are what is used in a Search Engine query to find items of interest.  If I were going to find information concerning “shoes”,  I could use that word or narrow the results I expect to receive by using “mens shoes”.  Using Keyword Phrases rather than single words will reduce the number of competitors and increase your opportunity of appearing in the top 30 search results.  You can use Google AdWords External Keyword tool to assist you in selecting quality keywords and phrases.  Use Keywords or Keyword Phrases with the fewest number of competitors and the most search volume.
2. Keyword Placement - Place the Keywords you identified in the Title tag,  Header tag, Alt tag and 2 to 3 times in your Body text.  Use 1 to 3 keywords per Website page and no more, as you do not want the text to appear like “spam”.  The Search Engines will treat “Spam” text negatively in the search results.   Make sure the Keyword placement is natural and the text still reads well.
3. Develop a Sitemap - Develop a Sitemap for your Website which list all of its pages.  Sitemaps help the Search Engines to Index all of the pages of your Website.  The best format is to use XML.  Use this example for what to include and the format for your Sitemap.
4. Submit to Search Engines - Submit your Website and Sitemap to Google,  Bing, and Yahoo.  You will need to sign-up for accounts with each to have access to their Webmaster Tools and the ability to submit your Sitemap to them.  You can submit your Website to the other minor Search Engines, but often times, that will only help to increase your email spam.  In reality, about 85% of of all Searches are performed through Google, so I would put most my optimization efforts there.
5. Build Quality Backlinks - Build quality Backlinks from other Websites to yours.  Quality means Websites that have a Google Page Rank of 4 or above.  The Google Toolbar for Firefox has a Page Rank tool which displays the Google Page Rank for the Website that appears in your browser window.  Including your Keywords as the Link Text is best.  Obtain Links from different sources, not just from all the same Website.
6. Update With New Content - Keep your site updated with new content at least monthly, but weekly is preferred.  Develop a Blog to assist in this effort.  Many Web Hosting companies will have WordPress available for you to use or can install it for you.  WordPress is one of the most popular Open Source Blog software programs available so it has many resouces on the Internet for you to learn how to use it.  You may also use other tools like Quick Blogcast® to develop your Blog which could be a little easier to use and manage.  Search Engines look for new and relevant content in their periodic indexing of your Website.  Updated and New content will provide you with a better Ranking and bring them back more often to re-index your site.

In summary,  Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process where you optimize your Website to compete for top placement in Keyword search results.  You can use many Search Engine Marketing (SEM) tools, but you must also use SEO if you expect to have long-term success in your efforts.  Keywords, Backlinks and New Content are the keys to that success!

This is a continuation from my October 31, 2009 blog post. You should take some time in selecting a Domain Name for a couple of reasons:

1. The Domain Name is a representation of your business and could provide a potential client/customer with a look at your professionalism. For example, a domain like lovedtoys.com might be better than usedtoys.com.
2. While Domain Names with your business name are good for Branding, it would be better to select a Domain with a quality keyword or phrase. If your business is not already a well known entity in the Market for your products or services, selecting a Domain Name with quality keywords could provide you with a better listing result in searches using those keywords. I recommend consulting with an SEO/SEM for the best keyword selection for your Domain Name.
3. Select a Domain Name with as few letters as possible and easy to remember as many of your clients/customers will hopefully return to your site. They may not have Bookmarked or added your site to their Favorites, so they will need to remember your Domain Name or use a search engine.
4. Try to avoid using other derivatives of successful Domain Names. For example, if addidas.net was available, don’t use it in hopes a getting some of the traffic from users who type in the incorrect information. For one thing, Addidas would probably sue you for Trademark infringement, but most importantly, people using that Domain are most likely not looking for your site. There has been a lot of discussion in the industry over Domain Names and Keywords, some winners and some losers in legal battles. I would suggest just not making yourself the subject of one.

You can find a variety of tools available out there for selecting Keywords to use in your Domain Name selection such as Google Adwords and software that performs that function, but I would recommend seeing a professional SEO/SEM. If you were going to fight a legal battle you would most likely find an attorney. If you were going to have surgery, you would find a Medical Doctor.  Selecting a Domain Name is an important process as well,  so consult with a professional who will assist you to enjoy a successful business presence on the Web!

In this economy, it does not surprise me that there are many people who try to build a Website on their own, without the assistance of a trained professional.  If you are one of those people and want to try to save some money, here are a few tips and things to consider before going off on your own.

1. You will need a WYSIWYG (”What you see is what you get”), Visual Editor or some online Web Hosting tool.
   • You will not have to know any HTML coding is what the publishers of these Visual Editor software packages will tell you.  Well, you should at least pick up a book and teach yourself a little as working only visually can wash out your code in some cases.  You should work both in a Visual View and a Code View so you know where your cursor is ALL times before inserting or making any edits as visually it may look correct, but in reality you could be replacing or deleting needed code that presents a page correctly in a browser.  The two best known editors out there are Dreamweaver and Frontpage.  There are many others, one in particular that I used when I was getting my start and that is Coffee Cup.  Coffee Cup sells for about $50.00 and for those new to Web Design it will be all you need.
   • Many of the Web Hosting companies including myself, offer Website Builder tools with their Hosting.  These tools can be quick and easy to use, but with that usually comes a big limit to what you can do visually for your site and you are restricted to using only the templates they have available.  They can produce a decent looking Website, but it may not truly be what you want for your business.  The big advantage to these, if money is your only consideration, they will save you a ton as you don’t have to pay a Web Designer or buy Visual Editor software.  My Website Builder tool is called Website Tonight so feel free to check it out.  I can also help you with this tool if you get into trouble or you can call my 24/7 technical support.
2. You will need your Domain Name/URL which you can purchase from any Domain Registrar (including myself).
   • Pricing can vary annually for a Domain from about $10.00 to $35.00 per year. Make sure you know when your Domain expires and who you purchased it from as there are some companies that will attempt to transfer your Domain by sending you an invoice before your Domain expires. Please read them carefully before paying anything, as they will look like an invoice, but in small print will have a disclaimer that says it is not an invoice and only an offer. If you know who you purchased your Domain from, you will know it is not an invoice from your provider and to not pay it.
   • The more years you purchase, the less expensive it will get per year in general. Buy more years if you can afford to as it will prevent you from inadvertently allowing your Domain to expire.
   • Check out our Full Service Domain Registration for quality service and pricing.
3. You will need quality Web Hosting.
   • Web Hosting is where your Website will reside out in the world. You will need to consider how much storage space you need and how much potential traffic will be coming to your site and viewing your pages(bandwidth). If you have a lot of photos, video or are selling on the Internet you will need more storage and bandwidth. If you have just an informational site, I would stick with the cheapest package which you can always trade up or change providers.
   • I offer a variety of Web Hosting Plans that will meet your needs. Our plans are very competitive so check them out.
4. Optimize your site for the Search Engines and natural search results.
   • Select Keywords for your site that have the fewest competitors and the most searches. You can use Google Webmaster tools for this process as well as Google AdWords has a tool for selecting keywords. Place those keywords in the TITLE (seen at the top of the browser window) of your page as well as it least 2 or 3 times in your body text. Make sure it looks natural and still reads well. Place Keywords in the “alt” tags for your images. Use those keywords in at least a couple of paragraphs of text.
   • Submit your site and a site map to Google, Bing and Yahoo (I will address this process in future post or you can search it out in Google, Bing and Yahoo)
   • Build quality back links to your Website
   • You can use my Search Engine Visibility tool to do some of it yourself
5. Keep your site updated and monitor the traffic
   • Update your text on your site monthly and/or use a Blog( I addressed this in an earlier post) as part of your site. The Search Engines prefer that a site have new information and look like it is being kept up.
   • Review the traffic to your site like what keywords are being used, which search engines is traffic coming from, which pages are they viewing, how long are they staying. Many of your Hosting companies offer this as a service or you can find an SEO like myself to track this for you.

There is a lot there, but if you do all these things, your site can be successful on your own, but I would recommend using someone at least on a limited basis to assist you as it is easier to keep it maintained and working well for you than it is to pick it up out of the muck later.

In another Blog Post I came accross recently, it referred to ways to optimize a Website both “on page” and “off page” which off course I am familiar with them both being trained in SEO/SEM.  “On page” are bascially those things that you do to a page itself like keyword placement and relevant text.  “Off page” are thinks like Link Building.  In the article he speaks of Blogging to increase traffic and I cannot agree more!  Create a blog for your Website and read this article in the Net Gazette to see why!  I probably should have just Tweeted about it, but this article says so many things that I tell my clients, and I just did not want to let it go unread or infringe on the authors content.   It is worth the read!

After having this Blog for the last few months and just now finding the time to read comments and make a post more often, I really wonder what is the purpose of a Blog.  Is it to write something that spawns a legitimate interest and many thoughtful comments?  Or, is it a place where people can just post their links and a comment with no meaning in the world to anyone?  Is it just for you to build up your own presence in the world through thousands of links back to a Website you hope to promote?  How do the Search Engines of the world really treat that?  Do they consider Blogs, Forums and Social Media relevant content enough to consider links from those avenues in boosting a Website in its rankings or Search results?  If they do, then they allow us all to influence the Natural Search results and makes me think as a consumer or a person looking for information, that I should find a way to get better results in my search for information.

Well, I will leave you with those thoughts and move on to some suggestions in promoting your Website. There are a couple of things to consider in your link building to promote your Web Presence:

1. Quantity does not do anything for you.  You need to obtain links from QUALITY sites that are Ranked high enough by Google for them to consider that link worth anything.  It goes like this, if this person we (Google) think is important, thinks that a Website is important enough for them to link to, we (Google) will give more importance/relevance to that link.
2. I have seen out there, many Websites that have a Google Ranking of a 2 or less with thousands of Backlinks.  Now, if they those same Websites have thousands of Backlinks and they are only rated a 2, do you think the quantity of links matters?  Oh maybe it does in some way in the total scheme of things, but longevity and better results for your site all around, depend on having the best links possible.

Is anyone out there, including myself, truly consider themselves an authority enough on what the Search Engines do or not do in determining search results?  I know I don’t, I just look at the logic and then analyze what I see, and I have seen some strange things out there in the top listings to make me feel like I really don’t know everything about what they do to consider a site for the top 10 return.  Mind you, I am professionally trained in Web Design and in SEO, SEM and have been working in this industry since 2003.

I will leave you with this:

• Always design for the user, not just the Search Engines
• Maintain and update your Website frequently for an improved Google Ranking
• Only put relevant content in your site with the keyword spread throughout at a user friendly ratio and not appearing spammy.
• Quality Backlinks are more important than Quantity
• Promote your Website not just online but out in the world elsewhere
• Realize there are a ton of competitors on the Web, so find a niche and promote your site there
• Lastly, check out and follow Google’s Webmaster Tools and Webmaster Guidelines for premium performance on your Website.

I hope that you will post thoughtful comments in response to this post showing me you have truly read what I have written and are making a comment to enhance its relevance in the world.

In dealing with the economic climate and attempting to capitalize on your Web presence, there are a few things to consider for your Website:

1. Use Keywords that have fewer competitors (find a niche) but with enough search activity.  Try this Keyword Search Tool by Google.
2. Use no more than 2 to 3 different keywords per page you would like to optimize.  Place no more than 3 instances of each keyword throughout the text on that page (depends on how much total text you have, you may only use one instance if you only have 50 words of text on a page).
3. Place your Keywords in your browser Title tag, Meta Description tag, ALT tags for images, Heading tags and in backlinks from other Websites to yours.
4. Get Backlinks to your site that are from QUALITY Websites that have a Google Ranking of 5 or better.  Download and use the Google Toolbar for your particular browser to determine Page Rank of the sites you want to link from.
5. You can view who your competition is linking from using a tool for each search engine, but they really don’t provide a real picture.  You can use software that can perform that function, but it can be a bit pricey.  I would Google it and take some time to find something that might work for your needs.
6. Use Google AdWords for your site Marketing, but learn all you can before taking that on as you can spend a lot of money if you are not careful.
7. You can always hire an SEO like myself to assist you, but be weary of people making claims that they can take your site to number 1 as there are many factors that go into optimization and marketing besides the fact that nobody really knows what the Search Engines are really doing to provide the results they do, they keep that to themselves.
8. Lastly and most important, don’t expect miracles, it takes work to produce results for your site, have patience.

In an earlier post I mentioned Keywords and the fact that Search Engine Optimization is not only about Keywords.  While this is true, Keywords play a very important role in Search Engine Results as that is what the user mulls over as they begin their search.  What Keyword or Phrase will provide me with the best result.  Well, with that as the question for the user, it should be the site owners first question as well.

Brainstorm all the relevant keywords and phrases that you feel your potential clients/customers will use in searching for a business like yours.  Select what you feel are the best twenty from the list and test the results through some trial and error to first determine which sites come up in the top 30 and what relavancy for the keyword usage they have.  Look at these as your potential competitors for those keywords.  The Search Engine has included them here for a variety of reasons which could include any or all of the following:

- They have a significant number of popular sites linking to them.

- The Keywords used in the search appear throughout the site in an appropriate ratio to the all of the text in the site.  In other words, not too much or too little as compared to the other sites in the listing.

- The content of the site is updated with new, fresh, relevant content periodically.  The site is not stale.

These are just a few of the important items that the Search Engines review as it determines what to return in a search request.  Keywords play an important role, so knowing what your competitors are using and how can assist you in your placement in the search results.  Seek out a qualified SEO specialist to assist you with the entire process so your site will not fall short of your expectations.  Here is an article that does a decent job covering Keywords:  The Anti-Zen Of Keyword Analysis by Jason Lee Miller.