Category: Creative Programs and Systems - page 23

People want to know how to successfully market themselves on the internet all the time. Search engine placement is the number one thing people question me about when they are interested in website design. Websites can be beautifully designed and not recognized by the internet because they are not ranked within the search engine world. In order to get a website recognized by large search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing you need to find a company that will provide you with the best search engine placement services and to really know the value of what they are offering.

To fully understand search engine placement you must understand what it entails. It is the basic handling of aspects on your website along internet marketing techniques to find a place within major search engines. In trying to reach a desired location among search engines various techniques such as keyword density, inbound links and appropriate keywords and phrases will help guide your site.

There are firms that will take advantage of your business and use techniques that will ultimately get your website blacklisted on search engines. It is up to you as a consumer and website owner to be aware of the technique that they are using. If a company tries to manipulate the web through bulk tactics you will most likely see your website blacklisted fast. It is imperative that the company you choose use organic techniques to launch the ranking of your site. Organic techniques might include posting an article on a subject relating to your website to one of the many free article sites that links information directly back to your website. This technique is considered a safe practice.

Techniques that are faster and get your site instantly recognized are those to be weary of. If a company offers you any kind of immediate results you should not be disillusioned into thinking that is a good thing. This is most likely a company using techniques that in the long run will get your site blacklisted from search engines.

A good firm that is looking out in your best interest will give you a schedule within you should expect to see results. Search engine placement takes time and is a tedious time consuming effort. This is why most website owners leave it up to the professionals. It is important that after you go through the steps to get your site ranked that you do not abandon the effort once you are number one. This technique will have you falling down the search engine ranking ladder quickly. Instead it is important to start out strong and gradually work your way into a maintenance phase with search engine placement. I use the example of a diet. You work out hard loose the weight then need to continue doing moderate exercise to continue to maintain the goal that you have reached. If you stop all together what happens? That is right, a few months later you are back up the weight plus some.

Take time to really research a company to work with that shares your same value and is as excited as you are to have your search engine placement at an optimal level for growing your website business.

Lamocu Productions provides event coordinating and fund raising options for any occasion or cause. They supply a large range of talent from motivational speakers to musicians to fit any budget. Visit www.lamocuproductions.com before your next event.

It seems like the flu hits all the time. The same is true with computer viruses. Even though we get a yearly flu shot someone in our family always ends up laid up in bed with the flu. The same is true with our computer. I add the latest and greatest anti-virus software and bam weeks later I am looking at kitchen cupboards online and I get a virus. It is a never ending cycle. I am either paying to remove a virus from my computer or my kids. It never slows down. I am naïve and think because I have protected my computer with this antivirus software that I am safe from the evil lurking amongst the web and that is just not true.

So now I seek out computer repair. Just as I would look for a new doctor I carefully peruse the internet, ask friends and even look in the phone book for one to come to me. It is important that the computer be repaired by a technician that can speak to me in terms that I can comprehend. I want details on the virus. I want to know what site infected the computer, how much damage was done to it and if I should concerned about any personal data being lifted by the virus. I also need to know that while my computer is in the shop that it is safe. It is important that the computer repair shop be reputable because so much personal information in kept amongst the files of that computer.

The first place I turn to is my family. Each one of them has a personal story about a shop they didn’t have a positive experience with but no one was thrilled about any of the places they had been. Many technicians know what they are talking about but have a hard time understanding that I too would like to know what they are talking about. The technicians are knowledgeable and can always fix the problem but like when I go to the doctor I like to also know what is going on.

The next place I looked was the web. Of course there I found many different computer stores but one stood out in particular. There site was clean, organized and written for the average person to understand. When I called I expected to get some nut on the phone but then again was surprised. The technician stated all the possibilities with an infected computer and we then talked about all of the possible computer repairs that might be needed if the virus did not simply want to go away. It was refreshing. I went in the next day and had my computer two days later feeling much better.

Computer repair shops are valuable to all of us as technology continues to consume our lives. It is important that you look into finding a computer repair shop in your area that is reasonable, fair and able to explain to you what is happening with your PC. Start by reaching out to family and friends. If they are of little help check the web. Don’t be fooled by sites that are littered with technical jargon and tons of corporate testimonials. When looking for PC repair you need a middle ground. Someone who is professional, technical and that can relate to any computer user. Make sure you are happy with the service you have received and the explanations that have been given before any money has changed hands. This way you stay in control of the transaction and can make sure that the computer has been repaired and you understand what was done.

I never realized that when I spoke people only heard every other word I was saying. I don’t think I fully realized this until after building multiple websites for clients. As we would go through the development and launch I would thoroughly discuss with them search engine placement. I would explain that no matter how well designed their new site was it wouldn’t matter if people could not find them. I think my clients are like most of the people in need of a website today. They heard what I was saying but did not really believe that their new site wouldn’t just pop up when people searched for it.

I will never forget this one client in particular who changed her business and mine. After we spent a few weeks coming up with a terrific site devoted to her company I again explained how we would need to continue the momentum with search engine placement. I explained how this would benefit the site and help her grow her business. She declined to do the search engine placement so that she could add two more pages to the site and stick with in her budget. I again emphasized that it really didn’t matter how detailed the site was if people could not find her website when using one of the major search engines.

Weeks after the site went live I received a frantic call from her explaining that she had gone on Google and typed in a few keywords to search her site out. She even once including the exact name of her company and the city she was located in. She was crazed that nothing about her business came up. Of course I explained once again that this is why search engine placement was as important as the actual website development. It wasn’t until that moment that a light bulb went off and she realized that if her business was going to draw clients from the internet that she must start investing monthly into search engine placement as part of her long term marketing goals.

A few months after we started helping her reach this long term goal with monthly search engine placement I checked back in with her. At this point she informed me that she had so many people finding out about her business from her website that she was ready to move forward and add a shopping cart on to her site. She figured she could at least double her profits with this addition. She was thrilled to have a store front business and a healthy online business to go with it. She admitted to me that she wished she had taken my advice from the start and wished she had not been naive enough to think that online presence only came from a website.

The great thing about having a client that has a light bulb moment is that they can help bring awareness to future clients. Advice coming from someone that has grown a successful online business with proper search engine placement is better than any sales pitch I might come up with. Now when I have a client who is hesitant to move forward with search engine placement I refer them to her. I let her explain that the money she has put into search engine placement has at least doubled her business and allowed her to become a competitive online business as well.

The web is a wild place. It is an art gallery without the admission fee. Web designers are artist of a different medium. Like artists not all of the website designs that they create are going to work. Some websites are truly annoying. Take for instance a painter that really likes the color blue. If it is used in every piece of art the painter makes it will visually not stimulate our eyes and we will become bored or annoyed with the artists art. The same is true for web design. As a website developer you need to make sure that your “art” is different for each client and you need to avoid common mistakes that draw attention away from the client’s product or service. There are several things to steer clear of when designing websites to ensure a perfect site for your client.

Top Five Most Annoying Website Design Techniques

1) Colors that assault the eye – If your clients insisting on using every color of the rainbow in their site design it is your job as the website designer to talk them out of it. Even though they think it adds just the right touch of pizzazz to their site you know better. Colors that are too bright or morbidly dark will not be suitable to promote your clients work. Even if you are promoting a circus keep the main site colors down to a maximum of two or three. Do not give in to the more is better philosophy with color.

2) Background sounds – Nothing is worse that a site that replays the same sound bit throughout the entire site. Or worse yet a slogan that plays each and every time you click on a new page within a site. Full songs are also an absolute annoyance. It is best that the site visually provides the entertainment leave the background noise out of future web designs.

3) Spelling Errors – You are using a computer with a spell check button make sure you use it. Nothing is worse than bad grammar, incorrect punctuation or pour spelling. Before you go live with any site make sure multiple eyes have looked over all text. Even if the client has provided the text for their site do not trust that it is correct. Always double and triple check for errors or inconsistent tenses. They will thank you for catching the error before the site has become viewable to their clients.

4) Font Size – If you use all capital letters in your design people will feel like the site is shouting at them. Using all small letters will make people feel like you are whispering. It is best to stay consistent with normal text and punctuation. This way it will make the website feel as if it speaking to the viewer in a normal voice which will make it more pleasing to read.

5) Blinking links and popup windows – These items are to the web what junk mail is to our mail boxes. Useless information that gets in the way of important information. Stop using popup windows and blinking lights to attract attention to your art because the reality is that they are just annoying.

Remember in web design it is all about how your website design is perceived by the people viewing it. Make sure the art you present does not detour anyone from visiting the websites your clients have had you design.

While GRINDERS are the heart of their menu and what they are well known for, Mancino’s is quickly developing a great reputation for other menu items including award winning pizza and huge stuffed calzones. Check them out at http://www.flintmancinos.com/.

CPS introduces Kate Hoerauf a self-taught artist and crafter. She very eclectic in the mediums she use to create her art, combining the various forms like textiles, glass and metal to embellish an art quilt. More often than not, she will use photographs within the pieces or as the inspiration for the piece. You can check out her art at http://www.piecesofmeartgifts.com.

CPS is proud to present http://www.srcmi.com to their list of newly launched websites for the year.
Steve Counsell has over 30 years of experience within the civil design and consulting industry. If you are a land owner, developer or civil consultant engineer that desires modification to developed or undeveloped property you will need to check him out at http://www.srcmi.com.
Steve‘s experience promotes safe economical site development designs. Throughout his career, developing and sharing quality assurance methods to maintain the best possible consulting services has been a cornerstone to his success.

Finding good help of any kind these days is difficult. Let alone when dealing with something like a computer. Computer help is hard to find because of the whole computer language. Another thing that gets me is the technicians always seem to assume that I have a clue about what they are talking about. Which I don’t nor do I pretend to. Then I ask a question that seems to change everything. Now they seem lost too. So how do we find computer help these days? Is it possible to find a computer repair shop that can speak computer in plain English? The following tips are helpful when looking into finding a qualified computer service team.

The first think is to ask the people in your network who they have used in the past and their thoughts on them and about using their services again. You will also want to inquire on the work that was done, what steps were taken to repair the problem, the shop name and technician that they used.

If your network proves to be fruitless then look into search engines, newspapers and phone books. Call around to different computer help stores and speak with the staff. Check out prices, turnaround time and ask questions related to your computer. This should give you a good idea on how they will handle your issues when you are in the shop. If you have a gut feeling that makes you squirm then it is not where you should take your computer. You need to feel confident in your computer repair choice. It is also important that you understand what they are telling you. If you went to the doctor and he fixed you without telling you what was wrong you would feel a bit violated. The same is true when it comes to computer repair. If a computer shop is helpful and polite than they are most likely going to service your needs appropriately.

Make sure that you gather as much information as possible before you seek computer help. This is helpful in giving the technician a point to reference. Write down any issues that you are currently experiencing. It is important to let the tech know what errors are coming up and if you have been experiencing difficulty in opening files or programs. This is helpful for the technician as he uses this information to diagnosis your computer.

It is important that you understand what was wrong and how it was fixed. Make sure that before you pay for any repairs that the work has been completed to your liking. Make sure that you get what you are paying for but remember no service is for free. Computer help is just like any other help that we seek out. The biggest difference between say appliance repair and computer repair is that we take our computers in to be serviced. Like appliance repair we expect that our computers are performing as they were before the initial issue.

Darlene Mowatt shares her inspiration in each piece of art she creates. CPS has launched www.DarleneMowatt.com, Darlene’s website, so that she can share her art with you. Visit Darlene’s site and enjoy each of her unique pieces of art. From her newly launched site you will have access not only to her portfolio but also to other projects Darlene is working on. Come check out her artistic talent today at www.DarleneMowatt.com.