Archive for November, 2007

Help! I Need a Web Site for my Business but Don’t Know Where to Start!

Monday, November 26th, 2007

Need a business web site

It’s been said before, and we’ll say it again: Every business needs a web site! Just by knowing your business needs a web site already puts you ahead of your competition (the competition that refuses to come into the 21st century, that is.) But finding a great web site design company to build your business on the web can require a lot of time and research if you don’t know what to look for.

Using this guide, you can make the process of finding the best web design company for your business much easier. If you know what you want in a web site beforehand, you will make it much easier for designers to give you a fair and accurate price quote.

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The Business Benefits of Web Standards for Business Web Sites.

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

Web standards are standardized specifications for internet markup languages such as HTML, CSS, and XML. “What the heck does that mean,” you ask? Every web site must be coded with some form of internet markup language to make it readable by an internet browser, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. These standards were formulated by the W3 Organization so web designers all over the world can create web sites with one goal in mind: make the internet a better place.

Why should you care? There are plenty of web sites that do not conform to web standards, so why should you? If you’re a business owner and you have a web site, there are actually many benefits to having a web standards compliant web site. In the competitive world of internet marketing, every little advantage you have helps.

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5 Red Flags to Help You Spot a Shady SEO/SEM Company

Saturday, November 24th, 2007

shady seo company

Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO/SEM). Everyone is talking about it. (We are!) Many business owners know the power of ranking high on the search engine results page. More and more continue to realize it everyday. Every business wants to be at the top of Google and Yahoo’s search results. The number 1 spot for a search term gets about 50% more clicks than the second result, and that could mean the difference between making and breaking your business online.

Because of this desire to rank high, it’s easy to get sold on empty promises. Unfortunately, there are a lot of shady companies out there that offer services that do nothing but waste your time and money. There are things to look for to tell whether a search optimization and marketing company is going to help your business, or just plain sell you snake oil.

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Is it time for a web site redesign for your business?

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

web site redesign

How do you know when it’s time for a redesign of your business web site? If your business web site gets targeted traffic, makes you money, or provides leads, does that mean you don’t need a redesign? Not exactly. Web technology changes almost daily. Even if your web site is only a few years young, there are things that you can do and add to it to make it even better. While there are no specific guidelines for knowing when the time is right for a redesign, you can ask yourself a few questions that will give you some help with the decision.

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5 Mistakes Small Business Owners Typically Make with their Web Sites

Friday, November 16th, 2007

We see a lot of web sites as a web design company. It’s part of the job. It should be part of the job for any web design company, actually. If we’re not doing the research on the competition, or learning what really makes a web site effective by keeping up with the best practices, then we’re going to be left in the dust.

Thankfully, that’s not us, and it shouldn’t be you. As a small business owner, you might be in the position where you have to build and maintain your own web site. That’s a challenge for most, and while we’ve seen some respectable work from the part-time small business owner / part-time webmaster, most of them fall short on the “Web Site Management 101” score card.

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Finding the Best Domain Name for your Business

Friday, November 16th, 2007

Are you ready to get your company on the web? Good. Everyone needs to start with a domain name. A domain name is a unique address identifying each site on the internet. It is part of the DNS (Domain Name System) and it’s used for your web site and e-mail.

There are several types of extensions for domain names, but the most common are .com, .net, .edu, and .org.

  • .com is typically used for commercial sites, but can actually be used for any type of website.
  • .net is also used for many kinds of web sites.
  • .edu is reserved for educational organizations and institutions
  • .org is used for organizations, most commonly for non-profit organizations.

Make it Memorable

The first step in choosing a domain name is making it memorable. Just like a business name, your domain name represents your company. If people have a hard time remembering it, then you’re going to have a hard time branding it over the long-term.

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