Are you a business owner trying to establish an online presence? Have you considered using a so called free website service only to end up frustrated and unsatisfied with the results? Creating a professional website is no small task. Choosing the right person for this process is going to take a little bit of your time and effort but the end result will be a website that best represents your business and brand.
Questions to ask yourself about what kind of website you want and need.
Who is your targeted audience?
Are you going to be selling a product or service?
What style of web design are you looking for?
Do you have any preconceived ides of what your website should look like?
What is your time frame before the website has to go live?
Budget
What budget do you have for your website? Prices can vary depending on requirements. One thing to keep in mind is that there is no set price for websites. They can start at $500 and go up to $80,000+. Prices will vary from place to place. Keep in mind that just because someone charges more then someone else doesn’t necessarily mean your getting a better website.
What to look for in a web designer.
One of the obvious thing to look at is there portfolio. Does there work look professional? Do you like the style of there work? Do they have a wide range of design style or does all there work look the same? Is there work clean and simple to read and navigate or is everything crammed together. Do they pay attention to the smallest of details or does there work look like it was done fast with no real creativity. A good designer will always balance between cost and quality and give you the most bang for you buck.
Beware of the following.
Do not be fooled by a smooth talking designer who claims to be more then a designer. Just as there are bad sales people there are also bad designers who promise more then they can deliver. Be sure to have a written and signed agreement on what is to be delivered. There are design companies who will give you a price then later change the price in order to get more money out of you. Some will even hold your website from going live and tell you that the website will not function unless you add these extra features that where not discussed. Remember that there is no such thing as a free website, there is always a catch.
One of the most important aspects of your business success is ensuring that your business website is ranked well in searches for your local area. People aren’t just searching online by simply typing a service or product. They are entering the location of where there at also. For example, if your a San Antonio web design company, potential clients and customers most of the time look for a company that is located in the same city there in. Making sure that your business shows up on local listing is vital! Here are 5 tips for local ranking to get your business off to a strong start.
1. Claim your local business listing – Go to Google Places, Bing Local and Yahoo Local and completely fill out the steps and verify that this is your business. Be sure to include your address.
2. Be sure to associate your business with the proper categories – If your a web designer be sure to be listed for that field. It makes no sense to be placed under Automotive.
3. Service keywords – Be sure to use specific keywords that pertain to your business. The more the merrier isn’t always true when it comes to using keywords.
4. Local address and phone number - Business that have a physical location in the city they are searched for have a great chance of ranking for a search in their city. Another big factor is to have a phone number that is local.
5. Reviews – Business reviews play a big factor when it comes to attracting potential customers.
Flash websites get an undeserved bad rap from some web designers/developers because they claim that Flash isn’t search engine friendly. Back in the day Flash was just embedded on a page and Google spiders had no way of crawling any content. But with the invention of SWFObject, Google now has a way of reading and crawling the content.
What is SWFObject?
SWFObject is a Javascript library that has been around severals years and allows you to provide alternative HTML content for Search Engine Optimization purposes. It also allows Google spiders to craw the HTML content, resulting in better page rank for your Flash website.
Is this a green light for creating all websites in flash?
No it isn’t. Flash should only be used on websites that will have alot of interaction/movements or websites that are heavy in graphics and make use of video.
Another thing to keep in mind when using Flash is that some mobile devices do not have Adobe’s Flash Player. So if your a big Iphone or Ipad user and want your website to be viewable on those devices then Flash may not be your best option, unless you create a fall back website that is created using your standard HTML/CSS. SWFObject can allow users that do not have Adobe’s Flash Player be redirected to a standard HTML website when viewing on those devices.
There are many options that are possible when creating a website. Some prefer your standard HTML website and other prefer websites created in Flash. The purpose of this short article was to inform your that Flash is search engine friendly when used in conjunction with SWFObject.
What is HTML5? Why should i care? Which is the best option to use when creating a website? These are the questions that clients have been asking or should be asking when there website is being developed. In this short article, I briefly try to explain the difference between HTML5 and Flash to help guide you in the right direction and to better inform you as to what is the best option to take.
What is Flash?
Flash is an established platform that reaches 99% of desktops and laptops browsers with solid performance. It’s been estimated that over 80% of sites visited use Flash. Around 75% of video that is viewed online is created and published using flash. Is there any drawback when using flash? Yes, some mobile browsers , mainly iOS Safari(Apple Iphone, Ipad etc..) do not currently support flash. But one thing to keep in mind about Apple’s lack of support is, sure they have sold over 100 million Iphones, which is alot, but that only accounts for 1% of total browser market.
What is HTML5?
HTML5 is a mixture of several new and existing technologies such as CSS3, Javascript, Canvas. Mixing these together allows for some great browser benefits. HTML5 allows current browsers that do not support Adobe’s Flash plugin such as Apple’s Iphone and Ipad, which run on Safari, have a more engaging browser experience. So whats the downside of HTML5? One of major downside is features and performance. HTML5 might run smooth on a desktop but it will vary on features and performance when viewing it on an Ipad. The real difference is when viewing a browser on an Ipad vs Ipad2. HTML5 is still a work in progress but it’s future looks promising.
Both have there benefits and both have there drawbacks. Which is the best solution for you? That depends on your target audience. Are you wanting your website to leave an engaging experience with all the bells and whistles? Then Flash is the way to go. Do you want your website to be viewable by both desktops and mobile phones(Iphone, Ipad) then HTML5 is a great option.
As web designers in San Antonio we often come across a clients who have gotten bad SEO advice. Usually its often the same advice given to them either threw email or friends that might have good intentions but have no clue when it comes to SEO. SEO is never a one time service, its an ongoing process that takes time and patience. I will list some myths about SEO to better inform you.
1. SEO isn’t worth the time or effort anymore. It’s much better to use ad’s on tv or billboards.
While ad’s on tv and billboard are great tools they are often way more expensive. Another thing about ad’s on tv is that not everyone will get to see your product or services. Sure you can have an ad here and there and yes you can reach an audience. But for the small business with a tight budget this simply isn’t doable. The great thing about SEO is that you can have a targeted audience. Let say you have a small business in San Antonio that sells custom made suits. Your targeted audience would be clients who are looking for suites and not sweaters nor shorts. SEO will allow your website to be found when looking for suites. And good SEO willl allow your website to pull up on the first page. Resulting in Maximum exposure for your business.
2. A certain company can get your website over 1000 backlinks resulting in higher page rank for a small fee.
While its true that backlinks are a part of SEO, not all backlinks are equal. The quality of backlinks play a major role in page rank. Having to many wrong backlinks may at first increase your page rank but sooner or later your ranking will fall. Google will penalize your website. If Google does not like the manner in which you are attracting traffic to your website, then there is a big chance you Google will ban or penalize your website.
3. Submit your website to major search engines weekly or monthly will increase page rank.
You only have to submit your website once. Submitting more then once can result in a downgrade of page rank. Once your website is submitted it is placed in the search engines database. It will not disappear nor get lost. A website that is optimized with targeted keywords will result in good page rank and will help to reach your targeted audience.
These are some of the most common myths out there about SEO. Do not fall prey to them or they can cost you and your business alot of time and money.