Archive for February, 2012
Is it relevant for designers to learn the fundamentals of code? That is the argument going on in the design world, especially with web designers. After reading these two blog posts by Elliot Jay Stocks, Web Designers Who Can’t Code, and Mike Kus, 5 Good Reasons Why Designers Should Code, I agree with their reasoning for why designers should learn the fundamentals of code.
The understanding of web design goes beyond the design process by coding a web page that will be viewed in a web browser. With a knowledge of code, such as HTML and CSS, a web designer can push the design of a website to see how it will function on the web. This step will allow the designer to apply the designed layout into a functional web page to make sure that if any design issues come up they can be fixed immediately by the designer.
There are so many online resources at our disposal for learning HTML and CSS that makes learning code easily accessible. Learning HTML and CSS opens a new level of web design that will provide more creativity and opportunities for employment. Just like Photoshop and Illustrator, HTML and CSS are additional design tools that are necessary for web designers. Once the web page layout is designed, which can be seen as phase 1, the next step, or seen as phase 2, is putting the web page together using HTML and CSS that can then be viewed on the web. These tools go together in web design to see how the end result will be viewed online and in all web browsers.
The year 2012 remains a year of onsite content being integral to successful online sales
Mankato, MN., February 2011— SEOwhat.com, a national leader in internet marketing, web design, and search optimization company, that specializes in both on-page and off-page optimization is recommending that online retailers continue to change and improve online page content in order to improve and continue to have sales success. Google is basing site rankings on how often content is changed and the amount of relevant content a site has.
It used to be that Google wanted sites to have consistent content, that said the business was legitimate and had stability and security. All that changed within the last 12-18 months. Google’s focus is now on updated content. When people are searching the internet for information, they want it to be up to date and/or reflect the latest best products. The algorithm changes Google has been making in the past year reflect what people want in their search results. For a site to have high rankings it needs to have new content that changes frequently. As a result many sites lost search engine rankings with the new round of Panda Algorithm changes. To get those search rankings back to where they were previously to the changes and even higher than they were webmasters need to write fresh content.
To summarize what is good for Search Engine Rankings then, fresh content, new pages, and an active blog. A site that has not been updated in a year or longer is bad for search engine rankings. Sounds like more work for the webmaster and yes it is. To be successful, the business owner needs to create a solid marketing base including social media optimization and onsite content. The effort this work entails will pay off in high search engine rankings. If rankings have fallen and sales are down consider SEO Services.
About SEOWhat.com
SEOwhat.com is an SEO services agency that helps companies navigate the dynamic world of internet marketing, integrating search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media optimization (SMO) and Web site design to increase a site’s visibility and overall global presence. Specializing in Yahoo! and Google optimization, SEOWhat.com develops search friendly Web sites on a variety of platforms including Yahoo! Stores, Volusion, BigCommerce, 3DCart, WordPress and custom built sites. In addition to Google SEO, SEOWhat.com provides organic search results, rich content management solutions and dynamic designs that appeal to the human eye and search engines alike. SEOwhat.com is proud to be woman owned and operated.
With the growing popularity of online writing for the web, it is important to know the proper techniques for writing clean and comprehensible text. Writing for the web should be clear for your readers and consist of text that can easily be scanned for information. This will allow the reader to quickly scan through the text to find what they are looking for.
Follow these 10 rules when writing for the web:
1. Know your product
Knowing your product will allow you to write descriptive and meaningful text for the web. If you know exactly what your product does, then you can prevent hollow sentences that will confuse your reader. Simply start by describing your product and what it does.
2. Understanding the solution
Understanding the solution to which problem your product solves or need that your product fills is a vital aspect to writing good text for the web.
3. Highlight the main features
Highlight the main features of your product to emphasize the main points that you want the reader to know. This will benefit them by making the information they are looking for easily accessible.
4. Write a quick draft
Write a quick draft to get all of your thoughts and ideas out at once so that later you can revise and organize the information for the web.
5. Rewriting your draft
Rewriting your draft will put into perspective your thoughts and ideas that you got out in your first quick draft. Then you can make the necessary adjustments to organize the text in a way that will make sense for your readers.
6. Plan
Plan how you want the text laid out on the web so your readers can take out the necessary bits and pieces of information that they are looking for.
7. Proofread
Proofread the writing that you have for the web to make sure that the text flows in a way that will make sense for the reader. This is also a good time to check for spelling and grammar errors that can distract the reader. If possible, have someone else proofread your writing to see if it makes sense to them. This will let you know if they understood your writing and if it is ready for the web.
8. Revise
Revise any unclear or congested areas of your writing that may be hard for the reader to understand. Remove unnecessary information that may confuse the reader or cause them to move on to something else on the web to read. This is also the time to make changes to any feedback that you may have received from another proofreader.
9. Finalize your writing
Finalize your writing by making sure that the information for the reader is clean with comprehensible text. Make any necessary changes to areas where this is lacking. Check the writing for clarity that keeps a consistent flow of the information. This is where you make sure your writing is ready for the web.
10. Know when to quit
Once you have your writing ready to post on the web, avoid making any drastic last minute changes. Do as little as possible with your writing at this point and know when to quit.
February 23rd, 2012 Pinterest
I have a new addiction, it is called… Pinterest. This site is so fun. Finally there is a place to “store” all these great ideas I read about and want to try later. Well until now when the time came around I forgot all about the great ideas because for me out of site is typically out of mind. I have found many fun ideas and inspiration for storage and cooking.
In my search of what Pinterest is all about I found many articles about tips n tricks for those who want others to repin their pictures. One great tip, any picture you pin should include text. This is sometimes a pain but makes a lot of sense because seeing an interesting picture and instantly knowing more about it with a few characters entices one to want to repin it more frequently. It makes it easier to know what the picture represents. For more tips and tricks on using Pinterest read this.
Since the beginning of the year I have noticed the growth of users on Pinterest, it is huge. Not surprisingly most Pinners are women. However there are many categories for men and that is growing as well. Take DIY, sports, cars, fitness, health, these are all relevent subjects for men. Any business wanting to attract male consumers will put themselves out there on Pinterest, there will be growth with the males when they catch on the ease of it all. Interesting facts I found for targeting the men through Pinterest can be read here.
Happy Pinning to you all.
Titanium-Jewelry.com awards prizes to three contestants for Romance Contest on Valentine’s Day 2012
Modesto, California, United States, February 15, 2012 – Titanium-Jewelry.com, a leading online jeweler specializing in modern mens wedding bands and titanium wedding bands, has announced the winners of the Remember Reunite Rejoice Contest for 2012. There was a Grand Prize Winner, and two Runners Up. The Grand Prize winner received a pair of diamond earring studs, ($950 value), and a Date Night Package, ($130 value). Each Runner Up received a Titanium Heart Bracelet, ($139 value) and a Date Night Package, ($130 value).
The Grand prize winner is Hisham Ibrahim, whose captivating video submission “Honeymoon in Las Vegas. Our Honeymoon from Washington DC to Las Vegas“, was made to look like a movie trailer. The first runner up, David Chin, wrote a touching story of destiny starting in junior high and ending 20 years later with a marriage ceremony on 10-10-10. The second runner up, Nabila Ibrahim, submitted a video of her exotic “Royal Moroccan Wedding”. All submissions can be found on the Titanium-Jewelry.com Facebook page.
Since 2002, Titanium-Jewelry.com has been a leading internet jeweler of award winning titanium wedding bands and jewelry, with an emphasis on modern designs. Titanium-Jewelry.com specializes in mens titanium rings, tungsten rings and cobalt rings combined with the precious metals and diamonds. This company focuses on offering the latest and most unique designs and world class customer service. Not only is Titanium-Jewlery.com an online jewelry retailer but their parent company has a physical jewelry store located in Modesto, CA.
About Titanium-Jewelry.com
Titanium-Jewelry.com offers sophisticated designs from ArtCarved, Benchmark, COGE, Diana Classic, Edward Mirell, Heavy Stone Rings, J.R. Yates, Triton and the Belloria Black Diamond collection for her. Enticing grooms and couples worldwide, the online retailer provides a multitude of styles and metals representing the best selection of palladium rings, mens titanium rings, tungsten rings, and men’s wedding bands for the fashion forward male and female.
Experts in modern men’s wedding rings and modern metals jewelry, Titanium-Jewelry.com leads the industry in contemporary jewelry fashions. For more information, please visit www.Titanium-Jewelry.com.
