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Web Design by Barb Barasa

barb@websitings.net

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Resources for web owners and developers

The "usual" questions

New clients (or potential clients) always ask me the same questions, so I've put together some basic information that will answer most of these questions. Click here for "Website Basics [PDF].

Below are links to articles by professional web specialists who keep up with the latest research regarding web design and use. I have found these very useful, and I recommend that my clients read them:

Marketing your site, including search engine optimization (SEO)

Pretty much every client I have asks me early on how they can get their site to "rank high" in "the search engines". The following information is included in my "Website Basics" document, but I'm putting it here for extra emphasis.

Before explaining how to optimize a site for search engines, let me state that I do not believe anyone should depend on search engines to drive traffic to a site. I believe most of your web traffic will probably come from other marketing efforts: putting your web address on all your print media (business cards and any other advertising), word of mouth, email marketing of your web address (including putting it in the "sig line" of all your outgoing emails), etc. Just as with a brick and mortar store front you cannot depend on walk-by traffic, with a website you cannot depend on most of your traffic coming from search engines. You must market your website through other traditional means.

Traditional marketing:

• Put web address on EVERYTHING: cards, handouts, all ads, Yellow Pages listing
• Mention on the phone
• List with professional organizations
• Lettering on vehicle
• Donating products or services to fund raising auctions

That said, of course I optimize every site I do for the best Google ranking possible. But much of the work of SEO must be done in collaboration with the site owner or a marketing consultant.

Sites are ranked by a specific search engine (like Google) on specific search terms. A site does not "rank high in the search engines". rvpianotuner.com might rank high in Google on a search for "piano tuner rogue valley" because that is a pretty narrow search. It would not rank high on a search for “piano tuner” because there are too many sites that fit that search term. So the first thing you have to do is decide which search engine and what search terms you believe people will use to try to find a site like yours. This requires considerable thought a research. Then we optimize for those specific words.

Google and most other search engines weigh the following in ranking a site:

• "Words” in domain name (for instance, the words "piano tuner" appear in rvpianotuner.com)
• Words in the title tag (this is an html tag that contains words that appear at the top of the browser window in the title bar)
• Words in the description meta tag (hidden from the web user's view, but seen by search engines; should be limited to about 150 characters)
• Words in content (text) on page
• Links from other appropriate sites

Over time, make a list of "keywords" - words that you think people would use to find a site like yours. Then incorporate as many of the most important words into as many of the first four items above as possible. This is the most important part of search engine optimization.

It takes 2 to 8 weeks after the above steps have been done for search engines to"spider" a site and index or re-index it. Do not check Google two day after you make those changes and expect to see a change in your ranking! Even after the site is spidered, it can take 3 to 6 months to move up in the rankings.

If basic search engine optimization does not get the result you want, even after you "tweak" the things in the list above, the next step is pay-per-click web advertising, and you will have to determine if the benefit will outweigh the cost. I do not provide pay-per-click placement, but I can try to help you find someone who does.

Online resources for SEO:

Content Writing

Writing for the web is a special skill and can make the difference between an OK website and a highly effective website. I'm a "good writer" and a great editor, but I do not write content for other people's web sites. (I will edit for grammar, spelling, and clarity.) Marketing writing has to tell people why your product, service, or organization is different. Ideally it will get people to take some action: buy something, donate, or use your service.

If you need help writing content for your site, or if you have a large site that needs a project manager to "get it done", here are some people with experience writing and editing content for the web.