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You are Nothing without High-Quality Content
High Quality ContentYour webpages need high-quality content. Remember the dread of writing that 20 page research paper in high school? Although you don't need 20 single spaced, typed pages to get a good grade (or ranking) on the web, you do need two things:High-quality ContentAn Understanding of How People Read on...
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You Need a Better Strategy
A Better StrategyYou need a better strategy on the web.Although we have stressed this time and time again, people must be reminded that being on the web requires a very specific focus and strategy. Rachel McApline puts it this way:Hear my cry: FOCUS!When running a business on the web, you are forced to establish priorities....
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Four Thou Shalt Nots of the Web
Thou Shalt NotNo Spam, No Scam, No Scum, No SplatterAnother great piece of advice found in "Web Word Wizardry" by Rachel McAlpine is her four No's which is even more important today than when it was written:No SpamNo ScamNo ScumNo SplatterNo Spam We all know what spam is; all that junk you find in your inbox...
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Want a Simple Way to Save Time and Money?
Frequently Asked QuestionsSave money and time by adding a Frequently Asked Questions page to your website. I absolutely love how Rachel McApline describes how having a website can save you money and provide more efficient communication.Time saved is money saved is money gained. A well-organized, clearly written website can...
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Differences Between Natural Doorways and Bad Doorways
Doorway PagesDifferences between "natural doorway" pages and doorway pages that will get you banned from the search engines.Many people do not understand that you can have "multiple doorways" into your website. Not everyone is going to "come in" through the "front" homepage....
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A Goal for Every Page
Individual Web Page GoalsGet specific. And stick to it. I know we have spoken a lot about strategy and goals lately, but I can't stress how important it is to have a focus for your website. While reading "Web Word Wizardry" by Rachel McAlpine, she made a very good point. In a broad sense, every commercial web site...
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June 2006 Browser Stats
2006 Browser Stats
Browser stats for 2006 through June 15th. It has been interesting to see the changes that have happened in the past 6 months in relation to web browser usage. Here are the numbers for 2006 so far this year: Site 1 ...
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Internet Explorer 7 in Windows Update
Internet Explorer 7 in Windows UpdateAre you ready for the newest IE 7 (Internet Explorer 7)? Internet Explorer 7 (or IE 7 for short) will be a nice advance from where Internet Explorer has been for the past 5 years. Always being worried about cross-browser compatibility, I have been "pre-testing" sites in IE 7 to make sure...
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Client and Designer Roles in Web Design
Client and Designer RolesClients and web designers must understand their individual roles in making sure that a website will succeed. For a website to be effective, the business owner/representative and the web designer must work closely together to ensure that the business is presented in the best light possible on the web....
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Realign Your Website Instead of Redesigning it
Don't Redesign, RealignRealigning your website to your strategy is more beneficial than redesigning. It is absolutely essential to understand the concept of realigning your website to your strategy or realigning your strategy to your goals to stay competitive in the online market. I read a post recently...
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Do You Have a Website Strategy?
Website StrategyA quick and simple way to create a website strategy to accomplish your website goals. Before you ever think about building a website there are two things you need to decide. The first is the goal of your website. Second, you need to have a strategy for accomplishing your goal because your site will...
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Google Changes its Link Ranking in Big Daddy
Reciprocal Links Lose ValueThe recent Big Daddy update at Google has changed the way Google ranks reciprocal links. Well Matt Cutts just opened a lot of webmasters' eyes about why their pages were disappearing from the Google index (and it appears that we were right on in our thinking). However, Matt did go on to...
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Review of Don't Make Me Think
Don't Make Me ThinkDon't make me think by Steve Krug is a refreshing "back to the basics" type of book. He brings out a number of basic usability issues:We don't figure out how things work. We muddle throughBenefits of using tabsSearch optionsWe don't figure things out, we just muddle throughThis usability tip...
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How can I Increase my PageRank
Increase PageRankHere's a freebie for improved search engine optimization and increased PageRank. I was recently received the following question on one of my articles: I am a Coldwell Banker agent in [city] [state]. My Web site is [website] How can I get better PageRank? - D. Heck (city,state, and website have...
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PageRank Update Leaves People Puzzled
BigDaddy PageRank UpdateA new toolbar PageRank update has gone into effect after the BigDaddy shake up and it has left many SEOs a bit puzzled. When Google decides to shake things up, it SHAKES things up.Matt Cutts said the following about the BigDaddy Update and the recent PageRank update:Q: “Now that Bigdaddy is...
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Defining Points of Action
Points of ActionUnderstanding critical points of action will help increase your online sales and return on investment.The internet is a far different marketing medium than any other out there. Every site has hundreds of entry points, with customers at different points in the selling process. Some come just to look at...
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2005 Website Browser Statistics
2005 Website Browser Stats
2005 Website Browser Stats Review I have gathered together some statistics from multiple sites that I oversee for 2005. These are total percentages for the entire year of 2005 for websites in multiple categories. For example, site 2 is an e-commerce site, site 6 is a tutorial site for Macromedia...
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Judge Website Visual Appeal in 1/20th of a Second
Website Visual AppealThe visual appeal of your website is key because internet users can judge your site in 1/20th of a second. According to a test performed by Canadian researchers (I believe it was Carleton University in Ottawa) users were able to rank a site after seeing the site for only 1/20th of a second. In the...
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RSS Feed Consistency
RSS Feed Icon ConsistencyRSS feeds are becoming more consistent from browser to browser (Firefox and Internet Explorer) and should make RSS marketing in the future easier than ever before. Every internet marketer out there should be standing up and doing the happy dance. RSS has won another victory through Microsoft adopting...
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More Free Stock Photography
Free Stock PhotographyMore Free Stock Photography I've found another place (besides stock exchange) where you can get some free stock photography (even though it normally isn't free). If you go to the weekly archive for istockphoto.com, you can find a free image download every week. Although it isn't as robust...
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Live Bookmarks in Firefox 1.5
Live Bookmarks in Firefox 1.5It is even easier to add live bookmark RSS feeds in the newest Firefox v. 1.5.Firefox has again added the "automatic" recognition of RSS feeds in a website and added a quick way to bookmark the live bookmark. Any website that has added the following code to the head of their code will automatically...
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Website Browser Statistics and Design Quality
Website Browser Statistics
Too many web designers don't make quality websites because their websites only work in Internet Explorer (version 6) and not other browsers like Firefox, Netscape, Opera, and Safari. Recently, one of my known website design competitors redesigned their website....
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Correct Font Sizes for Arial and Verdana
Arial vs. VerdanaYour desired font size should determine if you should use Arial or Verdana on the web. I recently ran across an article by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson about the readability of different fonts in HTML documents . Serif fonts are commonly used today in many types of printed material including books, newspapers,...
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Scannability - How People Read on the Web
ScannabilityIncreasing the scannability of your website can determine just how many people will read what you have to say.Did you know that 79 percent of website users do not read pages on the web word by word. They scan them. This has to do with how the web presents information. People cannot leisurely read a little...
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Why You Need to Use Iterative Website Design
Iterative Website DesignIterative website design is the process of perfecting your website by testing, evaluating and retesting. As you design your website, you should be focusing on very specific goals. However, how do you know if you are meeting those goals? Iterative web design is the way you can evaluate your progress...
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