Joomla! site syndication http://www.webstix.com Thu, 17 May 2012 01:37:11 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.webstix.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.webstix.com Joomla! site syndication http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=730&Itemid=142 Oops! They Did It Again There was a 7.1 earthquake in the search engine optimization world this week. Did you know about it? Did you feel it? There still are some tremors. Here are a number of good articles if you want to read up on it: Another step to reward high-quality sites (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-step-to-reward-high-quality.html) (googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com) The Penguin Update: Google’s Webspam Algorithm Gets Official Nam (http://searchengineland.com/the-penguin-update-googles-webspam-algorithm-gets-official-name-119623)e (searchengineland.com) Google Penguin Update Recovery Tips Advice (http://searchengineland.com/penguin-update-recovery-tips-advice-119650) (searchengineland.com) New Google Search Algorithm Update Targets Web Spam (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2170391/New-Google-Search-Algorithm-Update-Targets-Web-Spam) (searchenginewatch.com) Did Penguin Make Google’s Search Results Better Or Worse? (http://searchengineland.com/did-googles-search-results-get-better-or-worse-119469) (searchengineland.com) It happened on Tuesday. Rankings were affected Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. It's Friday now and some rankings are coming back. What? What does that mean? Well, what happens is, Google rolls... Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:36:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=726&Itemid=142 We Just Launched Webstix X-Press (http://xpress.webstix.com/)! Ok, Tony... what is it? Well, we realized that people really like how Webstix makes websites. We have beautiful design and we pair that design with great content management so that they are able to add pages and change content on their websites themselves. That combination has been successful for us but we know we're not the cheapest place in town. For the kind of quality we provide, it does take work. But we found a way to deliver top quality website design for small to medium sized businesses on a budget by starting with a pre-made website template and then going from there. How Does it Work? It's pretty simple, actually. Go to the X-Press (http://xpress.webstix.com/) home page... Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:54:08 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=725&Itemid=142 New Madison, WI Websites Launched We've got two more websites to add to the list for Madison website design (http://www.webstix.com/) customers that we have helped! MilleRohde (http://www.millerohde.com/) - Provides landscaping, lawn care, construction and snow removal services in the Madison and Dane County areas. This is a Webstix X-Press (http://xpress.webstix.com/) website! Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (http://www.gsafewi.org/) - They value integrity, honesty, openness, and authenticity and are committed to youth leadership, anti-racism, and social justice and recognize we are all life-long learners and teachers. -Tony Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:39:04 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=722&Itemid=142 Getting Into Social Media With a Plan Social media can be an important part of your Internet marketing strategy if you have a business. It does not pertain to every industry, you must commit to it if you are going to participate in it, you have to do it right and you cannot spend too much time on it - it must be balanced. Let's go over these things. Is Social Media for Every Industry? I don't think so. You have to be in a consumer market, for sure. If you have a B2B (business to business) type of product or service, then there's a very good chance that you should not spend your time and money on Facebook and other social media... Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:02:43 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=721&Itemid=142 Why Webstix Hosting? I just wrote a client of ours an email about why hosting with us is a step up. It was a good explanation, so I thought I'd post it here: There are a lot of web hosts out there - no, wait... there are a LOT of web hosts out there. They range from $5 a month on up. So, what's the difference? Well, we consider our hosting to be "Premium" for a few reasons... First, it's like private hosting (ser_webhosting.html). We know everyone that is on our servers. Other web hosts will let just anyone host with them and that is kind of like living in a big apartment building - you don't know who your neighbors are going... Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:48:10 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=720&Itemid=142 New Websites Launched! We've launched a number of great looking websites recently. Here's the rundown - take a look! North Central Group (http://www.ncghotels.com/) - Hotel management, construction and hotel property development around the United States. Genesis Exteriors (http://www.genesisexteriors.net/) - Provides roofing, siding, windows, doors, gutter systems and more in the Madison, WI area. Big Game Tree Stands (http://www.biggametreestands.com/) - Manufacturer of climbing tree stands, hunting tree stands, ladder stands and other hunting accessories. Terry's Car Care (http://www.terryscarcare.com/) - Tires and auto repair services in the Madison area. Earthscape Curb and Mulch - Provides lawn mowing service, landscaping, hardscapes and snow plowing/removal services in the Dane County area. Sign up for a website with Webstix, get great Madison WI website design and your company could be listed on... Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:00:07 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=719&Itemid=142 Google Wants Fresh Content It seems that with the latest Google algorithm update, they're saying that you need to keep your old content fresh, too. It used to be that they sort of liked old content with lots of links to it in the name of "authority" and "age." That seems to have been tweaked so that you should be maintaining old content that has always sort of ranked well: How Fresh Is Your Content? (http://greatfinds.icrossing.com/how-fresh-is-your-conten/) (greatfinds.icrossing.com) Google recently released its monthly update on algorithm tweaks and user experience updates to its search engine – 50 in all. One of them, code named Curlup, is especially significant to marketers: Google will now detect old Web pages more precisely, leading to fewer stale pages... Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:07:54 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=718&Itemid=142 Google Webmaster Tools Check my what? If you have a Google Webmaster Tools (http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/) account set up for your website, it's a good idea to check it from time to time. Set a reminder to check it once a week at least. Why? Well, Google can tell you quite a bit of good information there in the form of messages and alerts. If you run a WordPress website, they have started notifying you if an upgrade is needed. If your website loses lots of traffic suddenly, they've started sending you an alert of that. If your website is serving up malware and has then subsequently been removed from Google, they even tell you about that (important!). As you can see, spending a minute a week checking... Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:53:03 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=708&Itemid=142 Recently Launched Websites And then here are two more websites that we launched this week - we're really busy! Safe Bridge Solutions (http://www.safebridgeinc.com/) - a leading business and technology consulting firm in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area specialized in project management and business analysis. Rivalry Game Tickets (http://www.rivalrygametickets.com/) - Buy and sell sports tickets online for football, basketball, baseball, hockey and more. Their industry-low seller commission structure allows sellers to price tickets lower than they would on other sites. For people who need web design companies in Madison (web-design-companies-madison.html), they just need to look to Webstix! We have great website designers who have great experience and know how to make great looking websites - usually on their first try. This brings up a good point...... Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:31:37 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=707&Itemid=142 Madison WI Website Design Company Small and medium sized businesses in Madison, WI need website design that will give them a return on their investment. They don't have time to sit and learn how to create a website - they have to run their business. We get that! When you hire Webstix, Inc., there are no dumb questions. We know you're not website designers. You know you need a website but you're not familiar with all that needs to get done to make that happen and make it a success. That's why you are contacting us - for help. Webstix is there to help you build a successful website. Should You Get a Cheap Website? There are these offers out there for free or... Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:11:34 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=705&Itemid=142 Recently Launched Websites I just wanted to post a few of the web projects that we've worked on recently. Check out these websites and see our latest website design work: Independent Living (http://www.independentlivinginc.org/) - Assistance and support for older adults to live with independence. Malcolm Eaton Enterprises (http://www.malcolmeaton.org/) - Assistance and opportunities for disabled people. Golder Hospitality (http://www.golderhospitality.com/) - A full service hotel management, development and consulting group. Cycle Country by Kolpin (http://www.cyclecountry.com/) - Plows and accessories for ATVs and UTVs. Bennett Roelofs Estate Service (http://www.madisonsales.net/) - Estate sales in the Madison and Sun Prairie areas. Dan Becker Design (http://www.danbeckerdesign.com/) - Photographer in Madison. Shop Opal (http://www.shopopal.com/) - Women's clothing, dresses and accessories. Mariposa Bella Jewelry (http://www.mariposabellajewelry.com/) - Women's jewelry, necklaces, rings, wraps and more. And there are... Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:33:45 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=701&Itemid=142 Madison WI Website Design Most of our clients are small to medium sized businesses in the Madison WI area. We actually do work with many clients from around the United States. There are many that I've never met face to face and we do projects for them all the time - it's great! If we get clients in Madison or elsewhere, we're thrilled! Why Do People Choose Webstix? Why we're in business is because if you could set up a great website that ranked well yourself, you would just do it yourself. It turns out that many people don't have this kind of geeky knowledge readily available. Besides just knowing how to do something, you want a partner that can creatively come up... Wed, 29 Feb 2012 08:29:12 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=699&Itemid=142 SEO Tips for Your Website I found an article today about how to do some quick SEO tasks on your website. I've read them and they're pretty good... if you know about SEO and websites, that is. Go ahead and read them and then come back here: 8 SEO Tips That Take 15 Minutes or Less (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2144010/8-SEO-Tips-That-Take-15-Minutes-or-Less) (searchenginewatch.com) Ok. How were they? Did you do them? Did they make sense? If so, then great. You've just made a few adjustments to your website and you should be seeing some improved rankings in maybe a week or so. It's good to do website maintenance (website-maintenance.html) and tune your website. For those of you who read that and are completely lost, don't sweat it. Most of our... Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:13:27 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=694&Itemid=142 The trend in the last few years has been local search - it's so obvious. Google, in particular, has done a lot to enhance local search and you can tell it has been on their minds for years. There's Google Places (http://www.google.com/places/) which really helps with local search and since last year (2011), Google has been giving you results based on where you search from. This only makes sense since the market is flooded with mobile devices like smart phones and tablets (iPads). Service over cellular networks has greatly improved as well (yes, even with AT T). People are mobile and have learned that they can search for things around where they currently are and get good results. The begs the question...... Wed, 04 Jan 2012 17:31:59 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=686&Itemid=142 We had to deal with a website being transferred to us from GoDaddy the other day and we thought we'd share the pretty big snag we ran into in an effort to warn others about this. What happened was we were moving a website of one of our clients to our own hosting. They felt that we gave better, more personal support and wanted us in control of it. They had purchased their SSL certificate at GoDaddy and wanted to keep using it. That was fine, it can be re-keyed. In doing this, GoDaddy gave a warning to the effect that the SSL would be removed from the website within 72 hours - or, at least, that's how it read to... Tue, 08 Nov 2011 21:52:28 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=685&Itemid=142 We often blog about SEO here and about how to get traffic to your website. That's often a big hurdle to jump over. But what about if there is traffic but no sales? You might start to wonder what's going on when you look at your website statistics and wonder why you see traffic but the phone isn't ringing or you're not getting any sales on your website. There is a wide variety of things that could be going on. I'll try to cover some of them here. Website Design Content is definitely king, right? People are generally searching for something when they are on the web. They start at Google and want to find a result. Quality content that answers their questions... Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:16:04 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&Itemid=142 Greetings! I found an article online today about some on-site SEO features that your website might be lacking. He gets a little technical in it but it's worth reading so that you understand some of the finer points about SEO (search engine optimization) and all the goes into it. Since the SEO world keeps evolving, your current web developer might not be up on all the latest techniques but hopefully they have the basics covered for you. The article goes over these seven things: Analytics (Google or Otherwise) Semantic URLs XML Sitemaps Controlling Indexation 301 Redirects Canonicalization (I love this word... my spell checker thinks it should be "cannibalization") Site Speed Like I said, a bit technical but if you are going to hire someone to work on your website,... Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:54:55 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=681&Itemid=142 Have you heard the radio ads yet? Yes, it seems Google is offering free websites for Wisconsin businesses through their partner, Intuit. We'll even tell you the website - here it is: www.wisconsingetonline.com (http://www.wisconsingetonline.com/) So... Free? Yeah, they're saying it's free - for a year. I looked it up and here's what happens after a year (from the wisconsingetonline.com website): Free seems too good to be true. What’s the catch? What happens after the 365 days when the free offer expires? It's all absolutely free including the web hosting for one year. If after 365 days, you want to keep your website hosted with Intuit, you can pay $4.99 per month for the web hosting, and $2.00 per month for your domain. These charges will... Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:12:00 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=674&Itemid=142 Get Your Website Ranked Higher I've always said that to be good at SEO, you have to think like Google. That's not easy to do. They have many smart people constantly working on making their search better. There's basically a change to their search results algorithm every day - sometimes twice a day. They ran over 20k experiments and tests in one year to make search better. Check out this video: So what's a person to do? How can you manipulate Google's search algorithm so that your website shows up at the top? Basically, don't think like that. Don't think about manipulation. Google will keep working so that they give people using Google for searching the best results. Your job is to create... Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:41:36 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=672&Itemid=142 Rank Your Website Higher It's good to be at the top, right? There have been a number of stories and studies done showing how you want to be the top result in Google: Top Google Ranking Captures 18.2% of Clicks [Study] (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2100616/Top-Google-Ranking-Captures-18.2-of-Clicks-Study) (searchenginewatch.com) Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study] (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2049695/Top-Google-Result-Gets-36.4-of-Clicks-Study) (searchenginewatch.com) Playing Monopoly - The Top Spot in Google (playing-monopoly-the-top-spot-in-google.html) (webstix.com) Basically, the top result on Google gets the most clicks - more than result #2 and so on. That's where you want to be... but for which terms? Well, you can do some keyword analysis and find out what people are searching for but keep in mind that 20% (or more) of searches being done have never been done before: Interesting Google mobile search stats... Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:30:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=663&Itemid=142 More Visitors to Your Website, You Say? "How do we get more visitors and traffic?" That's the million dollar question, really. We hear it a lot and do enjoy answering it. The short answer is that it will take some work. The long answer is that it'll take more work. :-) Actually, there are some things that can be done to some websites to help them get traffic almost instantly. There are. How much traffic you will get and how effective these techniques are will entirely depend on how poorly the current website is set up. Basically, if it wasn't set up right, you're at a disadvantage. By fixing those things, you can get a boost in rankings and traffic. The hard part... Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:37:27 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=662&Itemid=142 People ask us how to get more traffic. If people just call up and say that, sometimes I'll bluntly ask them, "why do you want more traffic?" It seems like a dumb question but I want to see if they know the answer. They answer that they needs more sales or leads. This opens the door to a lot of other things than just getting more traffic because you need quality traffic - not junk traffic. People think social media is the answer. I think it rarely is because although it's traffic, they're not buyers - just browsers (more on this topic some other time). The best traffic to get to your website is search traffic - from search engines. These... Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:03:45 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=645&Itemid=142 Save Money on a Website You're looking at your current website and you know it can be better. It's old and out of date. It won't let you do what you want it to do and you wonder if it's actually hurting your business but a new website just isn't in the budget - or is it? You know that you don't want to go too cheap when it comes to website development because you know by now that you get what you pay for. Going too cheap with website design will just end you up with a website that still isn't quite there and might even create more problems. There's no reason to end up there. To get quality, you're going... Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:30:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=642&Itemid=142 We have launched our new website! Our 10th anniversary just passed and now we have a new website to go along with the milestone date. The new site has a lighter look and is more modern and cleaner. As with any business out there, you eventually just outgrow your old website if you keep using it. You eventually just need a new one to contain the new features and to accommodate all the content you've added. The home page focuses on our main four areas of expertise: Content Management Systems Search Engine Optimization Website Design Website Maintenance Slick Navigation! My favorite part of the new site is the navigation. It's sexy! I don't think I've ever seen such nice navigation on a website before. There are icons embedded... Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=643&Itemid=142 The magic question out there is: "How do I get more traffic to my website?" We get many calls where that's the first thing out of their mouth. They need help getting traffic to their site. Great! That's what we can do! Let me give you a few tips now. Basically, what it comes down to is you can do it. You can do the work to get more traffic to your website. But do you really want to? Wouldn't you rather just hand off the work to experts? Well, if you're not convinced, here are some tips to help you get more traffic. See if it's something you want to do - maybe you do and if so, then great. We... Fri, 08 Jul 2011 20:56:48 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=619&Itemid=142 One difference between website design and print design (as there are many) is that the website can look and work drastically different depending on which web browser you are using. Some History Back in the 1990s, HTML was being developed at a rapid pace. New versions of HTML were coming out every few months and web browsers were also developing quickly as developers wanted new features and expansions of the language. Things leveled out when HTML 4 came out and CSS (style sheets) helped to equalize everything and make things much easier for developers. Other advances like JavaScript libraries also helped to standardize things for developers and these things brought about the Web 2.0 revolution. Things have been relatively steady for... Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:27:53 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=615&Itemid=142 It's time to post some more articles about SEO (search engine optimization). Not only is it time to start working on it if you want to do well for Christmas this year but just to do well for the rest of the year. The year is almost half over with. If you meant to start working on SEO in 2011 but haven't gotten around to it, then you should really work on it now. I found this great article this morning that explains some philosophies about SEO really well. Definitely worth a read. Here's my favorite part: How to Make SEO Part of Your Company’s DNA (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2073206/How-to-Make-SEO-Part-of-Your-Companys-DNA) (searchenginewatch.com) One important concept that needs to be communicated throughout an organization... Tue, 24 May 2011 13:07:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=142 It's pretty easy to admit that website development companies do not have a reputation for being on time delivering projects and updates to websites. We hear about it all the time. People can't believe that Webstix can get updates done really quickly. I thought I'd go over some reasons why there are problems getting website maintenance (http://www.webstix.com/website-maintenance.html) done to help better educate our future clients. Dedicated Website Maintenance Teams I think the main reason why there are problems with website maintenance is that most web companies do not have dedicated teams for doing updates to websites. They have to pull developers off of projects to take care of updating some other website that they might or might not be familiar with. This... Wed, 13 Apr 2011 14:34:16 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=607&Itemid=142 We've seen a lot of business owners make a pretty big change lately. They've axed their yellow pages ads and have put those resources into advertising on the web. It only makes sense because that's where people are looking. The phone book is getting smaller and smaller - so small, that you wonder why anyone would even use it. It's a smart decision to beef up the company website. Even then, with the economy down for so long (now it's starting to come back), some business owners couldn't really afford to put much money into website design - at least the right website design. A good solution for any small business that needs good website design but has to deal with... Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:14:46 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=589&Itemid=142 As a follow up to my How Do You Blog? (http://www.webstix.com/how-do-you-blog.html) post last week, here's an article I got delivered to my inbox today (via an e-newsletter) that discusses how to find topics to blog about: Where to Get Inspiration for Blog Posts (http://searchenginewatch.com/3642058) (searchenginewatch.com) I write several blog posts every month -- most of which appear on my own site and here on Search Engine Watch. Most of the time I have no trouble coming up with a topic. After all, I read so much that something usually grabs my attention. But some days I'm desperately looking for a topic to blog about. At these times, I might just walk away from the computer... Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:08:52 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=588&Itemid=142 Probably the best way to get better rankings for your website and get more traffic is to add more content to it.The phrase content is king has held true from the early days of the Internet because people get on the web to search for something. If you have what they're looking for and Google thinks your website is an authority, then you'll get traffic. Other websites and blogs will naturally link to you if your content is good. So post good content. One fantastic way to add content to your website is with a blog. A blog is an informal way to easily add new content to your website. The latest posts show first and the rest get... Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:36:45 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=585&Itemid=142 I just have to do a quick post and say WOW! We've recently found some killer WordPress plugins that are really working well for clients. They help with SEO and website performance (which also helps with SEO... again, think like Google - they want to deliver results (websites) that load quickly). If you have a WordPress site and just want us to optimize it, let us know. Knowledge is power! -Tony Tue, 08 Mar 2011 11:54:21 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=583&Itemid=142 If Google does not trust your website, it may not be ranking well. Google does have humans check out websites for their appearance and that evaluation does seem to go into website rankings: Why Google's Panda Algorithm Update Dropped Sites (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110304-095114) (blog.searchenginewatch.com) One key element is whether Google trusts your site. How does Google determine this? It seems Google is using outside human raters, at least in part, as a form of quality assurance. Singhal said they asked raters questions like Would you be comfortable giving this site your credit card? Would you be comfortable giving medicine prescribed by this site to your kids? Cutts said other questions Google asked to establish trust include... Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:42:03 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=582&Itemid=142 We just wanted to make you aware of a workshop coming up in about a week aimed at non profit organizations, who are feeling the pinch of this recession. If non profit organizations want to succeed in this new economy, they need to adjust so that they can still raise the funds that they need without cutting staff or services. The workshop speaker is Jerry Twombly, who has nearly 40 years of experience working with non-profit organizations. You will receive 2 of his books plus a workbook at the workshop, which is only $60. There is also a mini-workshop included about how non profits can use social media like Facebook and Twitter. They will be explaining and demonstrating how social media... Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:28:28 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=580&Itemid=142 Well, we're starting our 10th year this year here at Webstix and I think I've about seen it all. We've had numerous clients choose the cheaper option instead of us and then we've seen them come back to us to fix things later. There's no doubt that it ended up costing them more in dollars and in time. If you ask me, it does matter how you set up your website and who does it. Let me explain. Back in the early days of the web, you could get away with simple, static HTML websites. I've set up many of those and even in the early days of Webstix, we set up a few of those websites before we quickly saw... Mon, 28 Feb 2011 10:19:51 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=579&Itemid=142 If you haven't seen the latest SEO news lately (yeah, only us geeks read that every day), in the last few weeks, both JC Penny and Overstock.com have been penalized by Google for trying to manipulate Google's search results algorithm. Here are the stories: The Dirty Little Secrets of Search (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/13search.html) (www.nytimes.com) This striking performance lasted for months, most crucially through the holiday season, when there is a huge spike in online shopping. J. C. Penney even beat out the sites of manufacturers in searches for the products of those manufacturers. Overstock.com Lands in Google's Penalty Box Over Links-for-Discounts Deal (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110224-093044) (blog.searchenginewatch.com) Overstock.com was enjoying some great rankings earlier this year. Unfortunately for Overstock, Webmaster... Thu, 24 Feb 2011 10:07:04 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=578&Itemid=142 You've got your company website and you know it needs to be updated. Some key contacts have left, some people have been hired, some products and services listed on it are now gone and you know that your website is very often the first point of contact for your new customers since people are using the Web everywhere now. So what do you do? Should you have someone that works for you do it or should you go to a website design firm? I'll be honest here - it might actually make more sense to do it in-house and not hire a website maintenance company (http://www.webstix.com/website-maintenance.html) to do it. I'll present some points and then you can decide. Should You Hire a Website... Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:31:58 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=576&Itemid=142 There's kind of problem that exists in the web design world. It's ignorance. Let's step back into the late 1980s for a moment. Remember then? There was a revolution with desktop publishing. I got into computers at a young age and remember this time well (yeah, I remember seeing a demo of VisiCalc - one of the first spreadsheet programs at a local library back in the day - I was a nerd... but it paid off, of course). People could then publish materials themselves - all kinds of things. But does that mean that they should do desktop publishing? No, not everyone is a designer (don't get me started on the Comic Sans font). Just because you can publish from your... Tue, 22 Feb 2011 13:30:53 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=571&Itemid=142 Don't forget to vote for your favorites in the Best of Madison (http://www.madisonmagazine.com/Madison-Magazine/Best-Of/Best-of-Madison-Ballot/index.php) online poll. There's no website design category... rats!-Tony Mon, 07 Feb 2011 10:38:39 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=570&Itemid=142 I just got off the phone with a client today and wrote up an email. Below is an excerpt from that email, which I'd like to share because it seems to fit what most of our clients want. This client, in particular, has a website (Joomla) that was set up for him by someone he knows but now he doesn't know what to do with it to make the website successful: To recap what we talked about, it sounds like you'd like a proposal from us about what we think we would do for your website. We would be happy to do that for you. I gave some general suggestions on the phone, which were: 1. Technical Work... Fri, 04 Feb 2011 10:47:57 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=553&Itemid=142 Hello again. I found another good article about SEO. Well, it's not about SEO but rather something good for people to read if they don't understand what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is. If someone doesn't understand how Google or other search engines are seeing their site, they don't know that they're doing things wrong. There are many technical aspects of a website. In fact, it's actually pretty easy to mess things up pretty badly and maybe not even know it. We get these kinds of distress calls once in a while and then we go in and fix people's websites. Many of these sites are by people who have taken a course at a local college or had a one-man web... Wed, 12 Jan 2011 11:16:04 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=552&Itemid=142 Happy new year Here are some good article I ran across this morning and thought I'd take a few minutes to blog about. 10 Tips for Top Business Blogging (searchenginewatch.com) (http://searchenginewatch.com/3641720) One of my suggestions in 10 Essential New Year Resolutions for Web Marketers was to start blogging. The potential benefits of a well-executed corporate blog are simply huge. In addition to boosting your organic search engine optimization (SEO) by filling your pages with keyword-rich link bait, it also builds your reputation as an industry authority. The second article is about blogging. Every business should be blogging. It's a place where you can find industry articles and comment on them (what I'm doing now) or else... Tue, 11 Jan 2011 11:35:12 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=534&Itemid=142 Every agrees that Google Analytics is a great stats program. I used to use it when it was still called Urchin - back in the day before Google bought it. But there are some things you should be aware of when you have it on your website. You don't want your own surfing to affect your website's stats. As website owners, it's good to check out your own website to see how it's performing or see what changes you want to have done. You just don't want your own surfing to affect your stats because you want to see how many other people actually come to your website. There are a few ways to set this up. First you could set up... Tue, 28 Dec 2010 14:57:35 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=533&Itemid=142 Yes, it's that magical time of year when you buy Maintenance Blocks and get additional bonus blocks for free! Get the details on our Maintenance Blocks Sale (http://www.webstix.com/maintenance-blocks-sale.html). -Tony Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:38:10 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=530&Itemid=142 We're getting a lot of requests now for website maintenance (http://www.webstix.com/website-maintenance.html) so I thought I'd review how out website maintenance system works. A Simple Plan We sell web maintenance in what we call Maintenance Blocks. One block is a half hour of time. We'll basically do whatever you need done during that time and charge 1 block for a 1/2 hour or less of work. Some work takes just 1 block while other work could take 3-6 blocks and so on. When you pre-pay for our time using Maintenance Blocks, you also get a discount. The more blocks you buy, the greater the discount. We keep track of your blocks on a page that looks a little like a ledger. It shows... Mon, 29 Nov 2010 14:25:21 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=528&Itemid=142 We're right on the holiday shopping season now. If you haven't been promoting your website for the last few months, then well... it's too late now. But don't worry, there are some things you can do that can help. Here's a roundup of information and tips for the holiday shopping season. Cyber Monday! It's the Monday after Black Friday when people get back to work and steal away valuable productivity time at work to shop on the Web! There are lots of great deals to be had. Consider offering something special on your website or do a special e-newsletter to your clients. Most of them will be in their offices catching up on the long weekend, so it's an excellent time to... Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:33:22 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=525&Itemid=142 You may have noticed a few changes going on with Google. Google Instant was introduced a short time ago, which displays search results and suggestions as you type. Google has also been putting local listings at the top of search results. There are called Google Places listings. Anyone can create a Google Places (http://www.google.com/places) listing for their company. A verification process is done to show that the business listing your create belongs to your company. This is done by phone or (snail) mail. In your listing, you want to provide as much information as you can. Just in the short time that Google has been featuring these listings, we've found that the listings have evolved. At first, when Google Places listings were... Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:01:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=524&Itemid=142 Ok, so there's on-site SEO and off-site SEO. In my opinion, it's best to get your on-site SEO in order before starting some link building. Do that. Unfortunately, that's what this blog post is about. It's more about off-site SEO and link building. One great way to increase your rankings is to get links from other websites. Ok, great - but how do you do that? Well, first ask people you know that have websites to trade links with you. Who knows, some of them might do it? If you ask 10 people and get 2 links, then great - that's 2 links! Keep asking people. Next, you can spend some time working on getting links that you're a bit more likely... Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:44:51 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=523&Itemid=142 Since I just wrote a post with some tips on managing email accounts and the Administrative Contact for your domain name called: Managing Your Domain Name Administrative Contact (http://www.webstix.com/managing-your-domain-name-administrative-contact.html) I thought I'd write another post about how to get an SSL certificate since that's something people often have questions about. Why Do You Need an SSL Certificate? First, let's find out if you really need one. What happens with an SSL certificate is that it creates an encrypted stream of communication between the web server and someone viewing the website or submitting information. This traffic is moved from port 80 to another port, 443. There is a private key on the server and also a public key. These are used to make... Mon, 18 Oct 2010 11:11:46 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=522&Itemid=142 Since we have two clients right now having this issue, I thought I'd just give a few, quick tips about buying and registering domain names. The issue is that each client has a shopping cart or secure (SSL) pages on their site. With that, you need an SSL certificate (along with a dedicated IP address since you can't run multiple domains off the same port 443 - but now I'm getting off topic). In order to buy the SSL certificate (typically we, as the host, do this for our clients), an email is sent to the official Administrative Contact on the domain name record. To figure out who that is, you do a whois (http://www.webstix.com/whois) lookup. That email confirms that they,... Mon, 18 Oct 2010 10:32:48 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=520&Itemid=142 If you're logged into Facebook (Webstix on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madison-WI/Webstix/164987056860777)) while searching on Bing, you'll start seeing some different results. Facebook in Bing Search Results (http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2010/10/14/facebook-on-bing.aspx?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter) (www.websitemagazine.com) Bing announced an expansion of its partnership with Facebook yesterday and it’s a doozy. Bing will be enhancing its search results with Facebook Likes. When you search for information on Bing, with “Liked Results” you will now see which of your Facebook friends liked that same result listing. You have now been assimilated! :-) -Tony Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:03:24 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=518&Itemid=142 If you're a business owner and want to find a nice way to show your appreciation for your employees that's easy to order and give out, then pie gift certificates (http://www.gthankyou.com/pie-gift-certificates.html) are just about the perfect option that we can think of. You can purchase them online or by phone, they are easy to distribute to employees and they can be redeemed at any grocery store! Employee Gift Certificates Work Well and Are Appreciated The economic times now are a little tough still, so when a pat on the back isn't enough and looking at giving huge raises doesn't fit the payroll budget, something like gift certificates fit in as the perfect solution. You get to show your employees that you do... Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:45:25 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=517&Itemid=142 One other observation about Google Instant is that the search box at the top, that so intuitively tells you what to search for (more on that later), takes up space. It effectively removes 2 results from being above the fold (depending on your screen resolution, of course but the most common resolution right now is 1024 x 768). So where you used to see 5 top results when you search, you now only see 3 results clearly - that is, if Google is inserting some AdWords ads at the top of the page. This makes SEO even more important. You now need an even higher ranking than before Google Instant. One other thing I noticed is that the results you get are... Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:16:38 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=515&Itemid=142 If you haven't seen it yet, Google came out with Google Instant yesterday. I was watching the presentation live yesterday. It's pretty cool. What it does is start showing results as you type in your search. Their goal is to reduce time in the whole search process even more by predicting what you will search for. People doing SEO, though, are wondering if this changes how to do SEO and if SEO is now even dead since Google now guides the search even more. Has Google Killed SEO? (http://mthink.com/revenue/blog/chris-trayhorn/has-google-killed-seo?utm_source=Revenue+Performance+Newsletter&utm_campaign=504ac46c88-9_9__2010&utm_medium=email) (mthink.com) The important thing is what this does to SEO. First reactions include one from Steve Rubel, the SVP, Director of Insights for Edelman Digital, who said that because... Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:12:56 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=514&Itemid=142 I got an e-newsletter from a business in town this morning. I was interested in what they had, so I clicked through and got to their site. It told me a little more about the service but I wanted to know the price. It seemed that if I would click again, I would get that. Suddenly I felt like an animal in an experiment but I clicked again. I was taken to a login page where I'd be first be required to create an account before I could see the price. Ok, close that tab - and I left. A login or creating an account is a barrier. Maybe if I had all my questions answered (needs met as a customer),... Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:03:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=508&Itemid=142 If you run an e-commerce website, your merchant account provider is going to make sure that you are PCI compliant. Part of the compliance is with your website. It's important to know that how your website is set up is only a part of the total PCI Compliance standard - not the whole thing. There are other parts that include the computer(s) you use to access the website to check for payments. Webstix has helped a number of clients become PCI Compliant with their website. If we get the reports, then we can make whatever adjustments are needed on the website and/or server to help your website become PCI Compliant. Since we've done this for a number of sites, our servers... Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:03:21 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=507&Itemid=142 I get asked all the time about how SEO works and most of it is really about getting incoming / inbound links. Let me explain what's involved in doing that as well as some things to definitely avoid. Think of a link to your website as a vote for your website. The more votes you get, the higher you rank. That's the nutshell version of SEO. It does get more involved though. The text you use, for instance, to link to your site matters. Do this. Go and Google click here. The top result is Adobe Acrobat Reader but why? Well, many different sites, all over the Web have links where you can download Acrobat to view PDF files and... Fri, 16 Jul 2010 10:39:18 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=504&Itemid=142 Here's an email I just sent to a client and I thought it would be good content to post here: Well, there's a bit more to it than just changing some words on your website to make your site rank higher. On some websites with less competition, you can do that and have some success. With the industry you are in, it's more competitive and you'll need to do more. This includes, but is not limited to the following: 1. Adding content to the site - you need to look like an authority on what you do. Google wants to give people the best results. You can't trick Google. You need to have the... Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:08:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=503&Itemid=142 As people are finding out, it's important to have your website up to date. It's now, more than ever, the first place where people will go to find out about your business. And that makes sense, too. The Web is everywhere - in about every home, at the office, at coffee shops and on phones. People are now used to having the Web wherever they go. Sites like Facebook and Twitter thrive on having the very latest information possible available. If you're website is 2 months old, it has cobwebs on it. Researching anything is only a few seconds away. Make sure you're not giving people old information and make sure you're not holding back information that they should have. Who... Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:57:03 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=500&Itemid=142 Webstix is 9 years old today and starts year 10 - happy birthday!-Tony Tue, 01 Jun 2010 07:43:18 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=498&Itemid=142 As a follow up to my last post, Playing Monopoly - The Top Spot in Google (http://www.webstix.com/playing-monopoly-the-top-spot-in-google.html), I found this article today: Link Building is Still a Numbers Game (http://www.seosmarty.com/link-building-is-still-a-numbers-game/) (www.seosmarty.com) When it comes to ranking being first is the only thing that matters. Last month I had a site that has been ranked #2 for it’s main keyword move up to #1, want to see what the traffic was like? The article shows that being #1 is 7 times more traffic than being #2. Seven times! Ok, that's just this one site in particular, but it still makes that same point as my last post. You really can't stop at #2 if you've worked hard to get there. How... Thu, 27 May 2010 16:54:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=497&Itemid=142 Getting a top ranking for your website is important, we all know that. Getting on the first page of Google is definitely one goal but do you stop there? Should you strive and work to get #5, #3 or #2? Sure but what about #1? How much more traffic would you get if you moved from #2 to #1? It looks like it's double! How Much is a Google Top Spot Worth? (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/100525-160427) (blog.searchenginewatch.com) Chitika, search-based online advertising network, reckons that top rankings on Google is worth double the traffic of ranking in the number 2 spot, in a report announced on their blog today. It proves, once again, that your website really needs to... Tue, 25 May 2010 16:23:14 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=496&Itemid=142 I ran across a good article today that explain some details of SEO (search engine optimization). For those website owners who want to know a bit about how SEO works, check it out: Crawl, Index, Rank, Repeat: A Tactical SEO Framework (http://searchenginewatch.com/3640295) (searchenginewatch.com) SEO can be boiled down to three core elements, or functions, in the current era of Google: crawling time (discovery), indexation time (which also includes filtering), and ranking time (algorithmic). He has some good points. One I like is that search engines are in business to give the best results to people that are searching. I've said that for a while, too, and it makes total sense. Think like a search engine. Be the best... Tue, 11 May 2010 15:13:16 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=494&Itemid=142 Yeah, I noticed this earlier this morning, too. Check it out: Google 'Spring Clean' Search Results Pages (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/100505-150426) (blog.searchenginewatch.com) In case you haven't noticed yet, the look and feel of Google search results have changed (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/spring-metamorphosis-googles-new-look.html). A post in the Official Google Blog by Marissa Mayer, VP Search Products User Experience, says, While we are constantly rolling out small changes and updates, today's changes showcase the latest evolutions in our search technology, making it easier than ever to find exactly what you're looking for. Kinda cool, I like it: It makes the page a little longer than before since it has gone from 2 column to 3 column and the middle column is longer but... Wed, 05 May 2010 15:33:36 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=481&Itemid=142 A few times a year we get emails and phone calls from clients that receives a letter in the mail from a company that is called the Domain Registry of America asking that the recipient to renew their domain registration with them.Although the company is a real company their business idea is to try to switch your domain name registration from your current Domain Name Registrar (like GoDaddy, Network Solutions or Webstix) to them. Although they will provide the advertised service you will end up paying more then you have to for this service. There must be a fair number of people that fall for this ploy as the company has been sending out these kinds of... Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:18:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=477&Itemid=142 I haven't blogged in a little while because it's been pretty busy here and also because I had to take one last ski trip. I went out to Colorado for five glorious days of skiing. It was amazing - there was fresh powder on several days. The locals were saying that it was the best day of the year at Vail when I was there. Anyway, I hopefully have that out of my system now - at least until mid summer when I start getting that skiing itch again. Let's Talk About SEO! I thought I'd go over a few SEO points again because of some conversations I've had with a few clients lately. Don't expect... Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:23:43 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=475&Itemid=142 Here in Madison the snow is melting and it's getting warmer. We like this time of year. We're not all bundled up and when it hits 40 degrees, it feels like 70 to us. It reminds us that spring is coming and with that comes to mind ideas of spring cleaning and new beginnings. It's only natural that people are also thinking about updating their websites. When you update your website, you don't need a huge budget. Just about any budget will work. The updates can just consist of updating some really old content, changing some pictures, adding rotating (fading) pictures to the home page or maybe even all the way up to a total makeover. The important thing is that... Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:47:21 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=463&Itemid=142 We're busy with projects, which is why I haven't posted here in a while but that doesn't mean we can't handle more work. We have room!People are taking our advice about getting their websites ready for this year. They're cutting down their Yellow Pages advertising and investing it into their websites. Very smart.A new website won't start a flood of sales in the next day but it's an amazing long term investment. Within a year, you should easily get your return on investment. One problem is that some people won't do quite enough. We always watch that and will tell you - not so that we charge more but so that your project is a success. With some industries, it... Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:31:53 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=457&Itemid=142 It's like you can't even use a safe web browser nowadays! Germany and France have issued warnings to stop using Internet Explorer because of a major security hole. This hole had something to do with the recent attacks on Google in China. There's been a movement for years to get people to stop using Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), which has been dubbed the worst web browser ever. IE7 was a fix but still not great. Most people have IE8 installed and are using it as their default web browser. If you are using IE6 or IE7, please discontinue using it immediately! You are very vulnerable to attacks when visiting certain web sites. If you are using IE8, then please be sure to... Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:19:32 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=455&Itemid=142 Ouch! What was that? Who put that sofa there? Why didn't I see it? Oh, the lights were not on. Yeah, that would help me to see where I'm going and avoid things. I'd also get to where I want to go without problems. Ok, that's a dumb example but many companies have that same exact logic if they're not checking out their website statistics. They want to do web marketing but don't know where they're going because the lights are off, basically. Make it a goal this year to dig into your web stats. You've put your website out there, so how are people using it? Where are you getting the most traffic? What's working and what is not?... Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:47:32 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=450&Itemid=142 We've decided to extend our Maintenance Blocks Bonus Blocks Sale until the end of the week since some people may have been out for the holiday break. Through Friday, January 8th 2010, you can still get the bonus Maintenance Blocks. Update Your Website I was thinking this morning about some people that have websites and all they may want to do to them is just change their copyright date at the bottom from 2009 to 2010 so that their website looks current. Yeah, you should do that but that's not nearly enough. Make it a resolution this year to update your site monthly or weekly. As I've been explaining, that's a great use for a blog. Make your own news. Subscribe to... Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:43:36 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=142 Hello and Happy New Year! If you're in the Southern Wisconsin area, you can participate in the Million Pound Challenge (http://www.princetonclub.net/mpc/). Keep your New Year's Resolution this year and lose some pounds. When you do, you're donating food to our local food pantries! Here is how it works: For every pound of weight you lose, the Princeton Clubs, and our corporate sponsors, will contribute 10 pounds of food, to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southern Wisconsin, up to ONE MILLION POUNDS. That’s 500 tons of food! Go, sign up and join the Webstix team or start your own team! -Tony Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:44:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=443&Itemid=142 As we wrap up 2009, it's good to think about what's coming up in the next, new year. Of course, search engine optimization (SEO) is on everyone's minds. We all want to be found in the search engines. How will search engines change next year? The way I see it, they always have to change. New websites are being launched every few seconds and hundreds of thousands of new pages are added every minute. With this rapid development of online information, the ways it's sorted just naturally has to evolve. What this means for you and your website is that it may become increasingly more difficult to rank. Your website has to be in tip-top shape and very much look like... Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:10:32 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=142 It happened again. I just approved a new website listing on MadisonClick.com (http://www.madisonclick.com/) and saw something kind of strange. It's something you should look for when hiring a website design company. (Also see my Meta Tag Keywords (http://www.webstix.com/meta-tag-keywords.html) post) I think this website is actually a competitor of ours (they seem to do website design on the side or something), but what they've done is put 67 (I counted them) keywords in their keyword meta tags. Not only is that way too many but they are single words, not multi-word keywords (key phrases). So with this logic, they're hoping to rank well for words like: club, door, dry, fleet, box, digital, etc. There are a number of problems here, let... Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:04:55 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&Itemid=142 Hello! Happy Cyber Monday everyone! If you do retail sales on the Web, then this is a fun time of year. Predictions are that it will be better than last year. Hopefully you have your website all tuned up and ready for the blast. Something that takes effect tomorrow (Dec 1, 2009) is the way you can use testimonials on your website. The FTC came up with some new guidelines ( Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising ). They can be found starting here: FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm) (www.ftc.gov) If you have testimonials on your website, you should review it and seek legal counsel. I'm not a lawyer (again, seek legal... Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:12:09 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=427&Itemid=142 CMS Website Design Many people are looking for CMS website design (http://www.webstix.com/) but may not know what it is and what is involved with creating a website with a CMS (content management system) behind it. You should first understand what a CMS is. It stands for Content Management System and it does just that. It's an easy way to manage content on your website and there are tons of advantages. Basically, you can login to your website using just your web browser. No other software is needed. You find the page you want to edit, edit that page using a word processor-like interface, save your changes and then your website is instantly updated. There are many, many advantages to using a web content... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:36:01 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=426&Itemid=142 Here's an interesting blog post I found today: 5 Signs You Need A Website Redesign Now (http://www.elance.com/p/blog/2009/11/5_signs_you_need_a_website_redesign_now.html?rid=1NEPI) (www.elance.com) Question 1: In terms of speed, how fast is your website? You’ve worked hard to get your visitors to show up at your website’s door – don’t put them to sleep with long load times. Numerous studies have been conducted and all of them have found the same result: Longer load times = less visitors = less business. A study conducted by Akamai in 2006 found that if your website takes longer than four seconds to fully load, 33%, or one-third, of all visitors will abandon your site. Additionally, Amazon found that a 100ms increase in site load time... Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:24:22 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=421&Itemid=142 One thing we've noticed is that when people actually find out what kind of website traffic they're getting, where the traffic is coming from and what people are looking at, they start to take notice of their website. I can recount many instances of when we've reviewed website statistics with clients and you almost see their jaws drop. You can tell they simply had no idea what was going on with their website. If you think of your website as a salesperson, that would be like never checking on their progress and just keep paying them. The first step is knowing. Knowledge is power. Assumption gets you nowhere. Once you know what's working, expand on it. People may be coming to page on... Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:16:58 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=420&Itemid=142 I wrote an article / blog post recently called Google PageRank vs. SEO (http://www.webstix.com/google-pagerank-vs.-seo.html) which talked about how Google's PageRank should not be considered an SEO meter. And the latest Google Dance as it's called (where the PageRank is updated in the Google Toolbar) on November 1st, seems to keep pointing in the same direction as many sites again lost PageRank points. But, as a website owner, should you worry about PageRank? Here's a great article about the latest Google Dance with some quotes that I really liked: Google Updates PR in Toolbar (http://www.kingpin-seo.co.uk/webmaster-magazine/google-updates-pr-in-toolbar/01101/comment-page-1) (www.kingpin-seo.co.uk) Yet, a Toolbar PageRank update means little when it comes to your site’s ranking positions moving anytime soon. The PageRank... Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:51:24 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=419&Itemid=142 We now have most of the Content Management System (CMS) training videos online (http://support.webstix.com/tutorials/cms-training.html). The missing ones are coming soon. If you have any ideas for more lessons, let us know.Thanks,-Tony Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:45:57 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=418&Itemid=142 If you somehow haven't been thinking of Christmas sales on your website, then it might be too late by now. You can still try though.I posted recently how it looks like traffic is up on websites already just for Halloween and because it's getting colder out. The biggest shopping day of the year is less than a month away now.At the very least, if your website sells products, you should make sure all the content on your website is up to date. Updating text, adding more text or finally uploading the image coming soon pictures on your website's store would be something to get done now.You're going to need time for search engines (like Google) to spider your... Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:38:06 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=417&Itemid=142 It seems like October has been a good month for website traffic so far. We host a number of sites and I have a few myself and in looking at the traffic reports, October seems to be a good month.Part of the reason, at least locally, is that the weather isn't as nice. I've always noticed more website traffic during the colder months since people are indoors a lot more (even though I'm probably outdoors more in the winter since there's skiing to be had!). There's usually a big drop-off in traffic around late April and May because the weather gets nicer. A lot of the sites we host are for clients in the area, so that's why this phenomenon... Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:07:27 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=416&Itemid=142 My brother (also in the SEO industry) forwarded this article to me about how Google has removed PageRank from Google Webmaster Tools. It's an interesting article. I've put my favorite lines below and then I have some comments, too... Why Google Pulled PageRank from Webmaster Tools (http://www.straightupsearch.com/archives/2009/10/why-google-pulled-pagerank-from-webmaster-tools.html) (www.straightupsearch.com) Their reason for removing it from Webmaster Tools is that webmasters, site owners, and SEOs often focus too heavily on this one metric. PageRank should not be an indicator of SEO success. In fact, if I were a site owner that was paying an outside vendor to improve my organic visibility, I would care less about PageRank. PageRank can provide a level of insight which can be used... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:29:56 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=414&Itemid=142 I was just approving some website listings on MadisonClick (http://www.madisonclick.com/) and still continue to notice websites that have both the www and non-www version of their URLs working.You really need to stick with one or the other and not have both working. Google does seem to now pick which domain is favored, but you still could get penalized for having duplicate websites out there. Matt Cutts (http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-url-canonicalization/) explains this well: Q: What is a canonical url? Do you have to use such a weird word, anyway? A: Sorry that it’s a strange word; that’s what we call it around Google. Canonicalization is the process of picking the best url when there are several choices, and it... Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:03:31 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=413&Itemid=142 It has been said a kajillion times but I'll say it again... content is king! If you do tons of SEO work, get the incoming links for a certain keyword but that keyword is not even mentioned on that page (which would be a lot of work to make that happen), then when people come to that page, they will not find what they're looking for and leave. So what's the point of all that work if your bounce rate is sky high? One big thing I've learned over the last year about SEO is that you need content - totally original content that's quality. Don't just regurgitate the same stuff on a page in a new way, do some research. Write... Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:27:35 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=411&Itemid=142 We're kind of kicking around the idea of having a class in maybe January. It would be a series of 4 classes - one a week. There would be me teaching it and maybe 1-2 guest speakers. You'd get a book with notes. There would be a cost.With these new details, let me know if you're interested. People are still signing up for the next SEO class here on the website and people keep asking us about when the next one is, so it seems there is some interest.I've learned a TON since last year and there are simply some steps you can follow to get your website ranked well. A good portion of it is not even on your... Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:14:00 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=410&Itemid=142 I just had a phone call with a client and thought I'd blog about it quickly.We're planning a slight redesign for them. They're really happy with the design we made for them years ago, so they don't want to tweak it much. We're just going to make it wider for them, move some thing around for them on the home page and give them the Joomla 1.5 upgrade.He mentioned that they get a lot of compliments on their website. I told him that we just hope the website matches the type of service and quality that we know they provide, which is true. They are really service oriented and do provide outstanding quality - the type of client we love.... Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:12:45 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=409&Itemid=142 Hello! It has been a busy week so far but I wanted to take a minute to point out some of the à la carte services that Webstix offers. These are available to virtually any website owner, so you don't need to be one of our current clients to take advantage of these services: WordPress Updates (http://www.webstix.com/shop/website-services.html?vmcchk=1) - If you have a WordPress website and need help keep it up to date in terms of new versions and updates to plugins, we can help. This frees you up to work on your business or content for your website. You never know what could happen with an upgrade. Sometimes an upgrade causes certain plugins and software to go haywire. What... Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:36:19 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=403&Itemid=142 I just took a look at a site and they're using one word keywords in their meta tags and they're really general, too - like sport and so forth and there was one misspelled keyword, which didn't look like it was that way on purpose. That's sloppy and probably not worth having meta keywords.What you want is multi-word keywords. We call them long tail keywords which means they're specific keywords. These target the traffic you want because you will be found in search results and people will be coming from search engines to your website. That kind of traffic is gold. They're specifically looking for what you're offering, they come to you and your website hopefully... Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:00:13 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=401&Itemid=142 I don't know why this is coming up again. I thought everyone has upgraded by now but I'd had this issue come up a few times recently. Here's what I wrote to a client just now: Unfortunately we don't support IE6 with our web design. And honestly, anyone using it needs to upgrade it immediately because it's so full of security holes. Some websites post warnings to people using IE6 warning them to immediately upgrade. It's a seriously bad thing to use that browser - so there's no use in making websites to support that browser. Sorry. Please urge them to upgrade right away - for their own benefit. http://www.shlomifish.org/no-ie/ (http://www.shlomifish.org/no-ie/) http://www.google.com/search?hl=en q=stop+using+ie6 (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=stop+using+ie6) Please stop using... Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:14:55 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=400&Itemid=142 We have a CMS training class (http://www.webstix.com/cms_training_class.html) today but I'm canceling next month's class so that I can use that time to record some tutorials and then get them online shortly after that. So we will have Joomla tutorials online shortly. I think that will help everyone a lot if they can just pop in and watch a video. I'll break them up into separate chapters so that you don't have to run through the whole thing. They'll be bite size and informative. In the meantime, here are a few online tutorials for Joomla: Joomla Tutorials (http://www.joomlatutorials.com/) And for WordPress, here are some tutorials: WordPress.tv (http://wordpress.tv/) I'll see some of you later today! -Tony Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:32:16 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=399&Itemid=142 Hello! It's nice here in Wisconsin but they're saying we're going to get back to normal temps instead of these above normal temps we've been seeing. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted and I think the farmers want some rain now. The leaves are even changing colors a little already. Well here's another article I found about Twitter and it's kind of a Twitter Basics article to explain how to use Twitter for your business. I've blogged about Twitter a lot lately. From what I've seen, you can get a lot of Twitter followers and traffic if you post a lot and post about things people are looking for. Twitter marketing really works. Tweeting 101: How... Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:47:04 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=398&Itemid=142 Ok, so right now there's Twitter and it's amazing because it's real time. People love it. I use it a lot and it's great for doing Internet marketing. Side Note: Please don't confuse marketing with Internet marketing or business plans. I've heard from some people that they needed help marketing and it turned out that they needed something even more foundational... a business plan. The result of research is a business plan, which drives your marketing and one part of marketing is Internet marketing. Just to be clear: your business plan drives your marketing - you need that first. If you don't know what your business does, it's impossible to market it, right? Sorry for the rant, back to... Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:44:46 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=397&Itemid=142 I was on the phone with a client last week. We're working on their design and they were considering removing the blog because they didn't know what to blog about. I strongly encouraged her NOT to do that. Blogs are so important. They get you so much traffic and are just a great place to casually talk about your company or industry. Some things I've written: Get Extra Traffic When You Blog (get-extra-traffic-when-you-blog.html) If Business Blogging Sounds Boring, Try This... (if-business-blogging-sounds-boring-try-this.html) Business Blogging (business-blogging.html) Sometimes your blog posts get picked up and you get all kinds of unexpected traffic: Local News Story Gets National Attention on the Web (local-news-story-gets-national-attention-on-the-web.html) So where do you get ideas and content for your blog posts? Some ideas: Subscribe to daily or... Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:05:16 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=396&Itemid=142 I think the term viral marketing is over used and not used correctly much of the time. Viral marketing is why any marketing campaign spreads on its own, like a virus. Social marketing has aspects of viral marketing but the two are not equal. When I think of viral marketing, I think of the best, most strongest kind... funny videos. The good ones are not usually cheap to make but when they hit the mark, they're really good and go far - and for a long time. There are other kinds of viral marketing, of course. A killer coupon is a good example. Here's an article that @GuyKawasaki Tweeted: GuyKawasaki (http://twitter.com/GuyKawasaki) How to go viral: http://om.ly/Irle (http://om.ly/Irle) The article is... Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:49:44 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=379&Itemid=142 I just wanted to call attention to our Support Blog post about TDS SMTP Server Alternatives (http://www.webstix.com/alternatives-to-tds-smtp-server.html) since we've received a few calls and email about this and their deadline is approaching. That article contains good information some alternatives.You can read more about Webstix SMTP (http://www.webstix.com/e-mail-settings.html) if you like.-Tony Sun, 30 Aug 2009 09:09:43 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=378&Itemid=142 I've blogged about how to blog a few times now (most recently: If Business Blogging Sounds Boring, Try This... (http://www.webstix.com/if-business-blogging-sounds-boring-try-this-html.html) ) and I thought of another tip to use either to help you think of a blog topic or else to help you get more traffic to your blog. If you relate your blog topic to a current, hot topic then you should get more traffic. What happens is, a topic starts getting blogged about (and shows up on Twitter) and Google then flags those keywords and is looking for all the content it can about that topic. Again... think like Google - you want to give what people are searching for. Google even keeps track of this information at... Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:12:40 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=377&Itemid=142 Here's a tip that's great for communication. You've probably noticed how you sometimes later get an email from people who you decide to follow on Twitter. How do they do that? Well, it's easy and it's automated. What you do is sign up for an account at TweetLater.com (http://www.tweetlater.com/). They have a lot of cool services for Twitter - including the autoresponder and auto-following people who follow you. Once you sign up, click on the Accounts button or the Add Account button to add a new account - yes, you can manage multiple Twitter accounts with just one login here, which is nice. Then you enter the username and password for your Twiter account. Scroll down and select the... Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:30:18 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=376&Itemid=142 Here's an interesting article I found about if you should tweet the same thing multiple times: How to Drive Traffic with Repeat Tweets (http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/how-to-drive-traffic-with-repeat-tweets-guy-kawasaki) (www.openforum.com) ...Fast forward to today. While there is still kumbaya going on via Twitter, many people are now using Twitter as a twool. They’re not trying to have a one-to-one conversation. At best, they want a one-to-many conversation if not out-and-out broadcasting in the advertising and marketing sense. The other day, I found my original Twitter sign up email that they send to you. I saved it for some reason and it has been almost a year. A year ago, I had no idea of the potential of Twitter but now I get it. What... Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:57:45 +0100 http://www.webstix.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=375&Itemid=142 I've been doing a lot of research on keywords in the last year and I've noticed something that I thought I'd quickly blog about. You can, as you know, get a lot of mileage out of a bunch of longer tail keywords. They're basically a goldmine. Since people get so many results for typing in something general, they've learned to be more specific and that's how you get long tail keywords. Because people are trained that way now, it really seems like a much better plan to really concentrate on long tail keywords. One particular word in the long tail keyword phrase keeps showing up and I think it's really interesting. That word is: best. So take whatever your main... Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:21:27 +0100