Every now and then I post a blog entry based on emails that I get. This time, someone asked a bunch of questions about SEO and gaining organic position on the search engines.
Because I am a lazy guy, I am just writing the answers to the questions … I think you can figure out what the questions were.
My ‘killer’ SEO reality-check tips:
Hi Wendy,
No one can guarantee #1 listings … not even Google! There is constant competition and thus positions will shift with time.
…. But, you can improve your positions on the search engines with proper SEO and web marketing efforts. In todays world, where there are a lot of websites to compete against … it takes work.
Are there ONLY three people in all of Australia who know how to position sites on Google properly? I doubt it … and I think there are probably more. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who CLAIM they know what they are doing yet they have nothing to show for it!
Would you need to rebuild your website completely – to be search engine friendly? Probably not, but you may have to restructure things if it is a really big mess SEO wise.
Once in a while, I will step away from teaching raw web design and web programming and look at things from a broader, more strategic perspective. This is one example of that …
One of the biggest mistakes people often make, is trying to develop skills in areas that they suck in. For example, you maybe good at writing HTML and CSS code, yet you still have a terrible time at making your pages look good.
… Let’s face it, some people just don’t have that artistic/designers eye.
I found your article while doing a search about sitemaps, so I figured I’d see what your take on it is.
I work at an agency that does small business websites, some as small as 5 or 6 pages, like an online brochure. I know sitemaps are useful, and help with SEO, but it’s part of our standard design to put text links to each page in the footer of each page. I think a sitemap page with 5 links on it is kind of silly, and a waste of space. Should we continue with the sitemaps or do the footer links suffice in those cases?
Thanks a ton!
I agree. Sitemaps are really useful when there is a lot of content in a web site – if you have a really simple site, it is probably overkill.
In the following video, I go over the two basic ways to insert video into your web pages:
1. Using a site like Youtube.
2. Embedding the videos directly using a Flash video player.
I also get into the video formats you can use to embed video in a website:
1. Flash FLV
2. H.264
3. Quicktime video
4. Windows WMV
For details and pro’s and con’s, watch the video:
As you probably noticed, I am using Youtube to deliver this video as part of an ongoing experiment. If you can’t see the video, it is probably because your work place is blocking Youtube. Let me know and I will release another copy of the video on the killersites.com servers.
With the economic crisis is in full swing, many have been laid-off or are about to be laid-off, and are now looking at new ways to make a living. Web design is a great choice.
Why is web design a good choice?
I imagine people could come up with many reasons (don’t be afraid to list them in the comments) but for me, it comes down to a few simple things:
Web design as a profession is growing as quickly as the Web itself continues too grow. The future of business is on the Web, and Web technology continues to evolve as well. That means there will be an increasing need for web designers for the foreseeable future.
Web design is an open market. No corrupt associations and fake certifications are required to jump in. All you need is dedication, a strong portfolio and a touch of talent. You got to love a true meritocracy!
Web design does not require a huge investment to jump into the game. There is no need for expensive equipment or ultra expensive training. Your home computer and some free or inexpensive software … and you’re on your way!
So, how do you land that lucrative web design job?
I’ve been a advocate of website templates in commercial web design for years now, because it saves the designer a lot of time and in saves the clients a good chunk of cash.
… There are occasions where from-scratch custom design makes sense, but for most web design projects, templates are a great solution – especially with a little customization to make it look unique.
How to use Templates in the Web Design BUSINESS process?
I was recently asked by a web designer how I would show clients the templates that are out there? Do you send them to a template site (free or commercial) or do you do something else?
Someone recently wrote to me, frustrated about their web site, where the project seemed to never end … there was always something more to do. Basically, this person was wondering if they were up to being a web designer since they just couldn’t get it right the first time.
Web Design is an Iterative Process
The point of this quick little blog post is to remind you that web design is typically an iterative process. What I mean by that, is that a web site is oftentimes, built in stages where you ‘finish’ the design from a-z and then, you go back and polish the layout and the structure of the site in a second, third and sometimes even a forth pass.
… So don’t get too flustered if your site is not turning out exactly the way you want the first time you take a crack at it. Eventually, you will get it were you want it to be and then … it will be time to redesign again!
I’ve been critical of web design zealots for years now and have gotten into some pretty heated battles over what I would consider to be overly zealous interpretation and adherence to the all not-so-mighty Web Standards.
I don’t want to argue the issue again, but in a nutshell: I always felt it unwise to ignore the practical realities of the browsers actually being used in favor of the Web Standards. I argued that the Web Standards, though noble in thought, were not reflective of the reality on the ground. As such, I advised web designers (years ago) to pay much more attention to browsers that people used, rather than to the Web Standards and the W3C validator.
Heresy!!
“… When people start surfing the Web with the W3C validator, I’ll start testing my sites with it. In the meantime, I will test with IE and Firefox since that’s what people use!”
The forward compatibility myth and the Web Standards
One of the big arguments put forth by the Web Standards zealots was that if you follow the Web Standards, your pages would be “forward compatible” … your web pages would more likely render properly in web browsers that have yet to be created.
Well, recent evidence is showing me that these academic shills were wrong once again.
The PS3 web browser prefers tables!
Being a hardcore nerd, I went out and bought the best blu-ray player on the market: the PS3. One of the reasons I got the PS3, is that it is equipped with a web browser. Yes, I like to surf the Web on my big tv.
Anyway, what I’ve discovered is that the PS3 browser screws up only on ‘forward compatible’ Web Standard compliant web sites. Whereas with old school table based layouts – never a problem.
It seems to me that the fine people at Sony (like so many others) realized that there are hundreds of millions of pages that are built with old school techniques and that they better support them. One thing academic nerds can never understand: pragmatic business decision making. Instead, they are defenders of the faith and thus, are very dogmatic in their decision making.
… Reminds when IE7 came out and it broke all these ‘forward compatible’ websites because they were using CSS hacks rather than safe and sure (non standard) IE Conditional comments. Man, many CSS books had to be corrected and reprinted!
Conclusion
I think this post is best summed up by what one my assistants (and formally Web Standards zealot) said when he started actually having to produce web pages in the real life:
“It’s hard to believe that these zealots are actually building web sites!? … When you’re trying to follow the strict standards in real day to day work … it simply isn’t always practical.”
Now that we are entering into a recession, potentially the worst economic crisis since the great depression (!!), web designers are probably wondering if their jobs are safe?
… This all comes down to whether or not companies will be spending money on web design? The answer:
– Short term: they will spend less.
– Medium term: they will spend more.
My reasoning is based on my 18 years experience as a business owner and on my observations of the current market.
The Short Term
People are nervous now. They hear all the negative news and so they pullback on spending and wait to see what will happen. The REALLY nervous people out there load up on gold, guns and dried fruit … while most of us just rent a movie at Blockbuster and cut back on trips to Vegas.
If you’ve been struggling with CSS based page layouts (as apposed to using tables) and you’ve been smacking your head against the wall to get things to work … believe me, you’re not the only one!
No, you’re not stupid … CSS for page layout is.
What?! CSS is flawed?
Indeed. CSS for page layout sucks hard because the logic behind CSS page layout is weak at best, and perhaps, even flawed. I can say this with experience in other languages like Java and even VB. Not that I am saying CSS is a programming language.
Anyway …
For web designers used to the craziness of CSS layouts, they would be flabbergasted at how easy creating layouts/views/screens are in VB or even Java when compared to CSS.
