Archive for the ‘Web General’ Category
published by Dan in Blogging | Web Development | Web General | Web Technology | Website Analytics | Website Design
When it comes to putting up sites these days, we can see a fair amount of people left with two choices, blog sites or websites. Some may ask what is the difference between the two since they can both be hosted using any domain and maintained using the standard ways of search engine optimization. Between the two, it seems that blog sites are easier to maintain since with software such as Wordpress or TypePad, you can easily just compose and save your blog entries and even add an image or two and you can start building on rapport on the web.
Websites on the other hand are known for requiring the need of advanced scripting and programming languages such as PHP or CSS. Not all people can easily understand how they can use these software and all they care about is putting up a site, adding some content and then applying certain scripts to get their website up and running. These programming languages are actually being studied by most people since they all know that websites are something that most businesses need right now to establish web presence.
Putting up a blog seems to be simple but it does require some scripting to get traffic. Blogs have so far evolved from the usual online diary belief into something that can be made profitable. Through adsense and some text link ads, blogs can generate good revenue if you really focus on building them. Its all about content generation using main keywords in demand in cyberspace today. That is where the profit lies these days.
published by Dan in Blogging | Web Development | Web General | Website Standards
When it comes to being among the optimized and top preferences that will come up when it comes to searching for certain topics, people who are planning to put up websites should focus a lot on unique domain names. This makes it more user-friendly and easier find, especially if you want your target visitors to easily find you on the web.
Now this may not necessarily be easy. For one thing, a large part of the preferred names that we have in mind are already taken. The domain name extensions such as .com or .net are rare these days and unless you are able to come up with a unique name to define your site, chances are you will have to consider other domain name extensions. But perhaps the difference between the two is that you may have to pour optimization efforts like content and meta tags so that your website can be counted among the crawled pages on the web.
Some people would use the placement of dashes in between words such as seo-blog to be able to register their ideal domain names. Others use plural words while others come up with changing certain letters like S to Z just to be able to provide a clear definition on what the site is all about. Domain names have a large bearing on what a site is all about and rather than keep them guessing, it would be best to use domain names that bring them exactly to the point.
published by Dan in SEO | Web Development | Web General | Website Design | Website Standards | Writing for the Web
When it comes to designing a website, people normally point at advanced programming such as PHP or CSS for reference. But there are software today that make it easier. There will still be the usual coding and commands that a site developed will have to get used to but generally, if you know logic, you can handle it yourself.
Normally, hiring a professional website designer would be the immediate solution to the problem for most. But getting the proper one will cost a lot, sometimes even more than the site URL and hosting. For most it would not matter since it is a one time thing. But seriously, if you are inclined to learn, you can use the help option or even get simple tutorials online on basic to advanced programming.
It may all sound simple but most of these seasoned website programmers started out the same way. You will be surprised to find that they have not really garnered any specific dedicated studies towards web programming as most of these software are new to them. In fact, you may be surprised that they would know the latest software when in fact they claim to have learned it long before it was introduced on the web.
This is not to discredit what web programmers do these days. But there are people who do that. The thing is, if they can do it then why can’t you? It is all about taking it one step at a time. There will be basic to advanced modes and once you get the hang of it, the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place and you may even pick up a lesson or two when it comes to building good websites.
published by Dan in Web General
In the previous post I made it clear that US government sites are not allowed to use persistent cookies ever. The cookie policy for UK government sites is more lenient so that web designers can actually use cookies. However, note that when developing a UK government site you should adhere to the following requirements if you plan on using cookies:
- Have a page or section that explains to users the purpose of the cookies and detail the kind of information that will be collected by those cookies. You should also outline what will be done with that information. Usually this is stated in the privacy policy of the website.
- You should design the website so that users can have the option of turning off cookies. Even when cookies are disabled the user should be able to surf the website and perform basic functions without it affecting the performance of the website too much.
- If your website is designed in such a way that user experience will be affected (remember this should only be slightly) when cookies are disabled you should have a way of warning the user of the possible effects to their surfing experience.
The most important requirement is clearly the ability of users to opt out. The good news for those concerned with web analytics (and you should be concerned about web analytics!) is that at least with UK government sites you will be able to extract data thru cookies. Remember to state that you’ll be using the data for web analytics!
published by Dan in Web General
For those designing websites for US government agencies you should be aware that government policies regarding privacy can affect your website design, especially in the area of cookies.
According to a memorandum sent out by Jacob Lew, the Director of Management and Budget, way back in June 2000 “agencies must take care to ensure full adherence with stated privacy policies” in the June 1999 memorandum on “Privacy Policies on Federal Web Sites”. Due to the policies stated in the memorandum “cookies should not be used at Federal web sites, or by contractors when operating web sites on behalf of agencies, unless, in addition to clear and conspicuous notice, the following conditions are met: a compelling need to gather the data on the site; appropriate and publicly disclosed privacy safeguards for handling of information derived from cookies; and personal approval by the head of the agency.”
In short as a web designer you should make sure that you DO NOT use cookies for government sites. However, if you are only going to make use of session cookies and won’t be storing any information in the long run then it could be deemed acceptable. Just make sure you put it in black and white that you are using session cookies and clarify the reason for the use (and stick to this reason!) by adding it to the site disclaimer. As the nature of session cookies is to last only for that particular visit this negates the use of the data from the cookies for website analytics.
Note that this consideration is not from a usability point of view but from a legal point of view. So remember: NEVER EVER USE PERSISTENT COOKIES FOR GOVERNMENT SITES.
published by Dan in Web Development | Web General | Website Design
One question that faces website owners is who to trust with the optimisation of their websites. Many web designers nowadays offer SEO as part of their web design package. While this is very convenient you should be warned that having the web design team take care of the SEO is not always the best thing to do.
Before I explain why this is true let me state that in my opinion web designers should have a solid SEO background. This is important because you want the website to be designed already with SEO taken into consideration. It is important that the “SEO don’ts” shouldn’t be committed and best practices are followed. However, as mentioned earlier the entire SEO, especially the post website designing/building part of SEO should not be left in the hands of web designers. The reason why I say this is that most web design teams do not have the in depth knowledge nor the experience needed to do SEO. This means that….
- it is only the basic optimisation methods that are implemented.
- usually it web designers only consider on-page factors and neglect methods that affect off-page factors for SEO.
- many optimisation packages offered only include the initial SEO and since we know that SEO is a continuous process it is not the best you will get.
That being said this shouldn’t turn you off when web design firms offer SEO services. However you should make sure that if offered the web design firm also has a special SEO team and that it is clear what kind of SEO is exactly offered so that in case they are simply referring to adhering to SEO practices then you won’t end up overlooking the fact that you still need to hire someone to do your website’s SEO for you.
published by Dan in Web General | Website Design
Aside from the previous six signs we have enumerated other things that point to a good web design company include:
- A clear and detailed project price quote - Some web design companies quote hourly or daily rates. While this isn’t a clear sign that those web design firms do not give quality work it is preferable to go with a web design firm that will give you a per-project price. This means that you will be paying based on their output which makes sense since you do not really have a solid idea of how much work they get done in an hour. Per-page price quotes are also not that good an idea since pages differ in the amount of work they entail with static pages being really easy to do while database systems or search systems will take hours upon hours to finish. A per-page quote with the same price quoted for each kind of page indicates that the web designer might not realize/know the real amount of work it entails to finish the entire project.
- Clearly outlined legal issues - A web design company that outlines the legal issues clearly even before you raise the topic is a good sign. Make sure that they state that the artwork they use are used with permission from the original artist, or better yet, custom-made by their graphic designers. This will prevent future problems regarding copyright issues. Furthermore, make sure the issue of who owns custom code and graphics made by the web design company is clear to both you and the web design company you chose. This is important because if it is owned by the web design company then you will have legal problems if you want to use the same image or program for other purposes in the future.
published by Dan in Web General | Website Design
Last time I gave the the basics of choosing a good web design company. However, I did not really give more detailed tips on what to look for to be able to determine if a web design firm is really any good. While there are plenty of factors that come into play to be able to be a good web design company I personally think that a good one should exhibit most if not all of the signs listed below.
- Great website - A website is not great only because it looks nice but because it is has meaty, relevant content, is easy to navigate, and ranks pretty well in search engine results pages.
- People skills - A good company will have people who have good people skills. This means well written email replies and courteous answers on the phone. People skills are important not because they want to be able to reel in potential clients (although of course that is important to them too) but because it takes someone with good people skills to be able to communicate with a client effectively and so be able to discern the client’s needs. If they cannot understand you needs it will be impossible for them to come up with a website design that suits YOUR customers needs.
- Customer feedback - Again this was already mentioned but I can never stress enough the importance of knowing what their previous clients think of their web design services.
published by Dan in Web General | Website Design
There are numerous web design companies you can hire to to develop your website for you making choosing one a difficult task. Add to this the complication of scammers that dot the internet and what you get is a big headache and a lousy website. To help you in choosing a good web design company I have outlined a few guidelines which you can follow. Feel free to add any factors I might have overlooked and do feel free to tell us about it.
- Do a little background research - Check the company site. If the site sucks then how much can they possibly give you a good design? Check their portfolio. Look up the websites they have done before.
- Do not rely on the “client feedback” found on their site - Contact the clients on their portfolio (via the contact page found on the clients’ websites) and ask for their feedback. They might have delivered a great looking website but how easy were they to deal with? Ask for feedback regarding the web design company’s professionalism.
- Meet up - If the web design company you choose has an office that’s not too far from where you are then by all means meet up with the web designers. This way you can assess them in person. It’s also good to know their actual office because you’ll know where to go to in case something goes wrong.
- Ask for proposals - Do not agree to a deal at once. Ask for proposals or at least an assessment of your needs. A good web design service provider will be happy to do this for you. Some may ask for an initial fee, and this is ok, while some may even provide assessment services for free.
published by Dan in Web Development | Web General | Web Technology
As I mentioned in my previous post the other benefit that the popularity of alternative browsers broought is increased security.
The arrival of alternative browsers hailed the beginning of a more secure web environment. With IE being (almost) the sole browser being used (at east by Windows users) it did make it easy for for web designers since they did not have to think about being compliant with other browsers but it also made it an easy target for viruses, spyware, and trojan horses. The popularity of just one browser meant that malicious developers only needed to take a crack at IE and find its weaknesses to affect the majority of the web users. Nowadays though due to the popularity of various alternative browsers they need to figure out the bugs of EACH and every popular browser in order to affect the majority of of web users. To add to the difficulty of their task the innovations made by each web broser is not only for user experience but much has been innovated in terms of security. This means that they not only need to make different viruses for each browsers but they also need to tackle greater security in each.
While we all know that threats to security will never really go away and that people will still keep on trying to despite the added difficulty, due to the existence of alternative browsers the threat is significantly reduced.
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