1stwebdesigner - Graphic and Web Design Blog
1stwebdesigner is a design blog dedicated to bloggers, freelancers, web-developers and designers. Topics focus on web design and inspirational articles.
Create a Classic-Styled Portfolio Design in Adobe Photoshop by Dillen Verschoor 27 Jan 2012 at 2:00pm
Howdy, today we will be creating a nice design for your online portfolio. What we will learn here is how you can use a combination of textures and patterns to create a nice old-school look and how to use guides in a smart way. Here is what we will be making: Resources for this tutorial [...] Guided Tour Through Web Design History by Christian Vasile 27 Jan 2012 at 3:00am
Web design has been with us for a bit longer than 20 years now and sure, it is easy to criticize poorly designed websites nowadays, but few people really know how and where it all started. Things when web design started were really different – actually so different than such a website would be a [...] 5 Must-Know Tips for Better WordPress User Management by Rochester Oliveira 26 Jan 2012 at 2:00pm
WordPress is a great tool to use for managing content. It’s really simple for developers, for managers and for users to use, especially when using a great theme. But if there is one thing that I think that needs to improve yet is its user management settings. I mean, even basic functions need to be coded, [...] Is Web Technology Rapidly Progressing or at a Standstill? by Jamal 26 Jan 2012 at 3:00am
Take a moment and realize how far our industry has come from where it originated. It seems like centuries ago since IE6 was considered the top browser and when being able to use CSS in conjunction with HTML was groundbreaking. Remember when the use of tables was a best practice? It is easy to see [...] An Interesting Debate on Browsers by Salman Siddiqui 25 Jan 2012 at 2:00pm
Browser Wars. That is one boring discussion. Isn’t it? IE lovers (if they exist) will ignore such discussions because they continue to favor IE (for reasons unknown) till death do them apart. Firefox users will always have something which will give Firefox an edge when compared to Chrome. Lastly, Chrome lovers will continue to love [...] Stand Out Among Freelancers by Communicating with Your Client by Christian Vasile 25 Jan 2012 at 3:00am
While the internet becomes more and more accessible to everyone, some freelancers rarely use these new technologies to improve their marketing or client relations. These incredible technologies allow us to communicate easier with people from all over the world and to even optimize the communication with someone who is living close to us. Throughout my [...] 50+ WordPress Themes for Video Bloggers by Sufyan bin Uzayr 24 Jan 2012 at 2:00pm
With the advent of video sharing websites such as YouTube, Vimeo and Metacafe, video blogging has gained momentum like we’ve never seen before. Now it is easier than ever to upload, view and share videos — especially due to the plethora of awesomeness that comes bundled with HTML5. WordPress, of course, can be used for [...] Current Trends in Social News Website Design by Salman Siddiqui 24 Jan 2012 at 3:00am
Trends don’t happen overnight. It is the gradual process of change in an industry that initiates new trends silently. We might not notice the “new” trends in an industry unless they actually become new trends. I covered the trends behind hotel web designs just because I could see a pattern emerging amongst all the well known [...] Google Doodle History and a Nostalgic Showcase by Rachel Arandilla 23 Jan 2012 at 2:00pm
The concept of Google has changed little since its inception. Google is a user-friendly and very useful tool for online searches. We know what to expect of Google already: a search bar to enter the necessary keywords and then in a single click, relevant results are returned. The site is simple and minimal, so it [...] Why Every School Must Teach Design by Salman Siddiqui 23 Jan 2012 at 3:00am
Do something for me. Stand in front of the mirror and just look at your physical beauty. Can you imagine the immense amount of thought that would have gone into designing something as complex as a human being? I believe in evolution, and if you look at it, it looks a lot like the process [...]
Matt Cutts from Google
explains How Google's Search Engine Works...
Introduction
Everyone is different! Everyone needs
different things. So here at DIYSEOUK we are providing you with
options... How to move forward with SEO for your website, at your pace, at
your level of understanding.
Many who arrive here will have already a
basic knowledge of SEO and what they need to do, so in the right hand
column we have a list of items that will give you immediate action in one
or more specific areas.
For our own pricing schedule, please click
on the SEO Price List banner to the right.
However, should you not be so eager, there
are methodical ways to improve your search engine ranking. Most of which
can be done by an 'office junior' in our Step by Step Guide. Here at DIYSEOUK
we will provide you with as many optional methods to increase your search
engine ranking... To read the full article please follow this link:
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimisation.
In the UK it is spelt with an 's' and in the US it is spelt with a 'z' -
Search Engine Optimization...
In brief SEO is optimising your website for
a higher ranking in the search engines.
To read the full article, please follow this
link: SEO
Search Engine Optimisation
There are two types of Website Optimisation
- 'On Page' and 'Off Page'...
On Page - is optimising the keyword
structure of your website. In an ideal world, and if you was a methodical
person, then to do the 'on page' optimising first would make more sense.
If you had a florists in Birmingham, then your main keyword for the site
should be 'Florists Birmingham'
Off Page - This is mainly acquiring
backlinks to your website. One way links are best.
To read the full article, please follow this
link:
The SEO explanations upon this website may
seem complex, but can be completed by anyone reasonably skilled on the
internet. Although the process can be explained step by step, the whole
process is both time consuming and relatively boring at times; but...
nonetheless extremely important.
To optimise your website is relatively
straightforward, but the internet is a big and vast place to explore.
Which means that sometimes you can explore for hours and get no results.
Should you wish to delegate this task then please see our schedule of
prices. Please follow this link:
SEO Marketing
SEO Consultant
An SEO consultant can play many roles, but
his duty will be greater the bigger the website, or the bigger the
'network' of websites.
Some companies have successfully acquired
many website names for the purpose of 'company branding'; and in some
cases these can be networked together to obtain higher search engine
rankings.
To read the full article and see our pricing
schedule please follow this link:
To buy a website and have it designed so
that you can see it on the internet, will not necessarily mean it will be
recongised in the search engine listings.
Type this query into the Google search
engine:
site:
YOURDOMAIN
.com
you don't need the 3 w's, just you own site
name. This will show how many pages Google are indexing. If it says none,
we can get your site indexed very quickly.
Website SEO is the difference between
obscurity and success. Yet at the same time it needs to understand the
need for 'branding'.
If your next website is built with both a
designer and optimiser in mind, you'll achieve great results.
Generally speaking, Web Site Designers and
Search Engine Optimisers are opponents; they both seem to think that the
'others' only play a small part; and that argument could go on forever.
Asking a Web Designer to change their website because an optimiser says
so, can be fraught with time delays. So the process needs to be handled
carefully and with respect.
Optimising your site for Google is the major
task as they take 60%+ of the search queries. But we must not forget the
other two major players, which are Yahoo and Bing.
Maybe sometime in the future Google may
loose their grip, but at this moment in time they are the biggest. We must
respect them.
Google have an algorithm that determines
which sites dominate the search engine listings. Understanding this
algorithm and applying the principles that are required can get your
website into the top 10 on Google and even number one spot.
DISCOVERING THE ONLINE WEB PAGE
1. Right click on a clear piece within any web page (away from any photos)
and scroll down to view source.
2. View source will allow you to see the html settings for their webpage.
This will help you find out what other websites use for their keywords. At
the very top of the page you'll see the meta tags. These are between the
two tags... <head> </head>. These meta tags are an important aspect of
search engine management. Those websites not constructed just in html,
such as java and css may choose not to have all the meta tags. There are
myths to the value of meta tags.
3. In these meta tags you'll see various elements. The most important is
the <title>.
4. The title meta tag should be your main keyword for that web page.
Search engines read the title first to help in deciding to list that page.
Each and every <title> tag should be different for each web page. Avoid
putting your company name. Instead of putting www.whodunit.co.uk; put
'private investigators'. Check your own <title> tags and make sure they
are relevant.
5. If you want to capture two keywords in the <title> tag enter them like
this... Private Investigator | New York ... avoid using too many keywords in
your title, four is considered to be the maximum. Too many and you'd be
spamming your meta tags and the search engines would penalise your
listing.
WEBSITE CONTENT
1. Content is king... that will be said a few times. Try and get some
content, perhaps 100 words for each web page.
2. Search engines cannot read graphics (or choose not to progress to be
able to). As a consequence if you have a lot of graphics or as many call
them 'singing and dancing sites' you'll not get a good ranking unless it
is equally supported with text. This refers specifically to 'flash'
scripts and videos
3. Avoid making pages with duplicate content. 2 or 3 pages with similar
content maybe okay, but to have any more could cause those pages not to be
de-listed.
4. Create a lot of pages of content on your site.
5. Try and have at least 10 html pages amongst all the other permutations
GENERAL WEBSITE EXPLANATIONS
1. There are two types of website optimisation types. Firstly there is
'on-page'. This is everything you can do to tweak your website and
webpages.
2. Secondly... there is 'off-page' - this is basically practical work you
can do to create links coming back to your webpage or website.
3. These two obviously work alongside each other. They work 80% on page
and 20% off page; although off page will bolster your search engine
rankings the most.
4. Off page... may bolster your rankings more, but if you haven't got the
basic structure of your website right, the improvements in your website
rankings will falter and fall back down the rankings.
5. type... site:www.yourchosenwebsite.com into Google and see how many web
pages you have listed.
In order for any search engine to index all
the pages of your site, it should be able to find them. An efficient
navigation system is very important in this regard. Avoid using images,
JavaScript or flash navigation links, because search engines look for HTML
link tags for indexing.
Don't use hidden text... Everyone tries putting keywords in the text
colour of the background. Search engines are wise to this and penalise
your engine listings
Search engines index the content of a website, and the more content you
have, the better. Add relevant content to your website. If your website
sells digital cameras, you can add reviews on the digital cameras that you
carry. This will also attract potential buyers to your website. Usually
buyers do research first before they buy online.
If you must use Flash, you must also make an HTML version available as
well. Block the Flash version from the crawlers within a robots.txt file.
Use synonymous phrases in title, meta tags and headers. Include related
words and phrases in page titles, text, and header meta tags. This will
expand the range of keywords that the web page might be listed under.
Use friendly url names... 'travel_in_london.html' ... not
'123456london003.html'. This is another place to add important keywords.
Try making sure that you have added important keywords into the html tag
< h1 > < /h1 >. To find these study the view page source facility.
Also < h2 > 3, 4, 5, 6 tags are also important as sub headings.
If you don't have a domain name yet, pick one that contains your main
keyword. The ideal would be to have a domain like 'mainkeyword.com'. If
this is not possible... try adding a dash and ideas such as... '-4u.com'
or 'the-'.
Double click on your photo in a website software program such as Microsoft
Frontpage... You need to find the tab and then the appropriate box to
enter a desrciption of the photo. Don't just call it image2 or
myfriendshouse. Call it something using a 'keywords'. It doesn't matter if
it is not relevant. It maybe a graphic about a man and a phone... but call
it a keyword such as 'travel in Germany'. For example - travel-in-germany.jpg
You can also alter your <alt> tags for images. If you alt tags are not
given a name then search engines will not list them. As you may already
know images can be brought up on the first page of google.
Navigation... The technology you use for your website navigation has an
impact on how many pages the search engine will index.
When submitting your website to search engines; always Submit to relevant
categories in popular manually edited internet directories like DMOZ.org.
Separate keywords in your website page names as thus... 'blue-things.html'
or 'green_things.php'. Search engine can read these better
Avoid using re-directs on important web
pages. This is considered as bad practice by search engine crawlers.
It is much easier to target a more specific phrase than a generic keyword
or keyword combinations. Don't use diet... but do use diet plans...
Search maps have their importance and too many try to make one site map to
fulfil two purposes. Make one for your visitors and one for the search
engines.
Avoid using cloaking techniques on your websites. Understand them first
and consider their advantages and their disadvantages.
Post articles and press releases to other sites as well as your own that
then link back to yours.
Create a Yahoo Group... in the niche your site sits.
If you are using a shopping cart on your website... don't forget that these
pages are also best optimised.
Try to include keywords in your text links to your internal pages. This
will tell the search engines what your pages are about.
Submit content from your website that can be re-jigged into an 'article'
and submit to article sites
Submit the same content into bloggs...
Submit the same content to Social bookmarking sites... (Each of these three
create links back to your site, some maybe only temporary, but you need to
submit regularly)
Don't use 'click here' as anchor text to
other destinations on your website. Change it to a keyword.
Don't use 'read more...' as anchor text to other destinations on your
website. Change it to a keyword.
Search engine Crawlers don't stay long on sites that use frames... use
tables if possible.
Highlight each cell in your table and see where it appears in the html
screen. You will sometimes notice that a cell near the top appears near
the bottom of the html. BE AWARE!... What you've done if this is the case
is tell the search engine crawler that this information isn't so important
because it appears at the bottom... So if this cell has important keywords
you've relegated them in their importance. Once you've sussed this out
you'll design each and every subsequent pages differently.
One more point on tables... Sometimes if your important cell appears near
the bottom, as your html script is concerned, then by just adding an extra
blank cell you can change the sequence of how the whole page is read.
On this same theme... avoid putting your navigation bar on the left... The
important content must be first... this alone can improve your position in
Google. Put your navigation bar on the right or at the bottom. But follow
the principle of the table theory mentioned earlier. If you notice
sometimes in html the right table cells can appear before the main cell;
try and avoid this scenario.
If a website is at the top of Google it is doing something right... Try
right clicking in an empty area on the website page and viewing source.
Notice the clean html scripts for the meta tags. Check the whole page in
its html form.
Also notice the table theory mentioned before... Invariably in a tightly
sort after category on Google the web page is slick and it table structure
is simple. The lesser competitive the category the more likely a weaker
structured website will gain top position.
If you didn't already know when search engines describe your website in
their appropriate category they lift what you say in your <title> on the
top line.
On the second line ... <description> and or <keywords> Google generally uses
your site description in their search engine listings, so make them like a
sales letter. Never under estimate the value of these three meta tags
OFF PAGE Optimisation...
Off page as a reminder is basically obtaining links back to your site:
The purpose of 'off page optimisation' is so because it is an important
factor to getting your site higher in search engines.
However if your 'on page optimisation' is poor you'll get moved up 5
places instead of 50
The most common of these is 'reciprocal links'... You offer a link to a
website and they offer a link back to your site also. These have value but
not as much as 'one-way backlinks'; this is where a site links back to
your without you linking to them.
In Google's Search box type link:anysite.com to see valued links that
Google have found. This isn't a full list, you'll find a full list in a
Google Webmaster Account or Yahoo at: http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/
You may notice extremely relevant links and links that don't seem to have
any relevance. Plus... a few links from blogs, forums, social media and
bookmarking sites.
It is deemed accurate by most SEO professionals that a 1, 000 links from a
webpage with a rank of zero isn't worth as much as one link from a Page
Rank 5 webpage...
Black Hat Links are the same as above, but achieved with unethical tactics
***************************
Whilst you can use blogs, social bookmarks, article sites, directory sites
(free), the reciprocal link (mostly free) and the most sneered on... 'paid
for' links; as a major part of increasing your search engine rankings,
they can also help to get your site noticed quicker in Google. Any page or
site that isn't currently listed... then make a blog and direct enquiries to
your new page/new site and see how fast the page is listed!
Here is a backlink tip... Blogs have articles and editorial, and they
allow you to make comments? These are also seen as a one way link back to
your site. The better the article, the longer search engines choose to
keep it listed and the longer your one way link remains intact. Only
choose to comment on blogs that have a page rank or are specifically
relevant to your blog or website.
***************************
OFF PAGE OPTIMISATION
Sub Heading: Linking between your own sites
Most people, once they are aware of the value of links start linking
between their own sites. Although such links show up in Google's linking
search the SEO Industry suggest you plan these links with a little more
perfection. Everyone who builds one site eventually goes on to build a few
more; but the problem occurs when you host every site with the same
hosting company. Search engines can identify links coming from the same IP
address and de-value their importance. As you spread your wings... Also
choose different hosting companies so that when you link there are no
obvious connections.
It would appear as I talk to the un-initiated that Google's Page Rank is
their ultimate aim. Once they get a Google Page Rank they sit back and
watch the traffic flow in. This is not the case.
Google Page Rank acknowledges the quality of your site; but doesn't base
your eventual Google position upon it.
A Google Page Rank is rightly a suggestion of quality and it also rightly
suggests how often Google returns to visit your site. The higher the page
rank to more frequent Google re-visits.
A Google Page Rank is a 'core value'; and will aid your eventual position...
But should you not optimise your page properly or have fewer inbound links
than a site with a lower page rank you'll rank lower than them.
Page Rank is credibility personified, but no guarantees of ranking in the
top 10.
The age of your site alone will give you a page rank. As this age implies
longevity.
21 Jan 2012 at 1:29am Budding SEO and PPC marketers and DIY web designers are now able to view independent tutorials from the specialists at the UK?s most forward-thinking search engine optimisation company, SEO Positive Limited. (PRWeb January 21, 2012) Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9124289.htm
