With the official unveiling of Facebook Ads yesterday, Facebook Pages were introduced. Facebook Pages are intended to be profiles that represent individual businesses, a concept familiar to MySpace users. Creating a Facebook Page is a simple process, much like editing one’s personal profile.
To create a Facebook Page, first navigate to the new Facebook Business Dashboard. The dashboard provides a Flash graph of recent clicks on currently running ads and pages. Once the Dashboard loads, click the “Pages” link atop the page. This will take you to “My Pages”.
When My Pages loads for the first time, the page will essentially be empty with the exception of a “Create Page” at the top-right. Clicking this button will allow you to get started on creating your page.
The first step in creating a page is to determine what category your page falls into. The options are limited to: “Local” for listing a local business; “Brand or Product” for companies with specific product lines such as movies, games, and fashion; and “Artist or Public Figure” for things like bands, actors and actresses, and politicians. Each subcategory must be specified when selected after choosing one of the three topical categories. Additionally, the name of the business or individual must be provided here as seen below.
The next step in creating a Facebook Page is to provide details about the business or individual. Information provided here — including a logo or similar image, website URL, company overview, mission, and products — will be displayed in the Facebook Page, visible to all page visitors. Some topical data may be available as well, such as the option for musicians to list upcoming concert dates and provide song samples.
Much like a profile, these pages include a Mini-Feed describing recent changes made to the page, a wall for visitors to leave comments, and a photos section managed by the page owner. Several additions that won’t be found in a typical profile include a fans section, a videos section, an events section, and a discussion board
When first viewing the newly creating Facebook Page, all the information will be empty. Clicking the “edit” button located within the Information section of the profile allows you to edit these bits of Detailed Info. From here, information can simply be typed in and saved by clicking the “Save Changes” button, as seen below. The Picture tab and Basic Info tab can be used to update additional respective portions of the profile.
others can access it. When viewing your newly created page, the top section of the page will include a “publish” link that will perform this action. Once published, visitors can add your business to their profile within a new profile section entitled “Pages”. Pages that the user are a fan of will be listed prominently for others to find, as seen on the right.
One great benefit of Facebook Pages is the opportunity to get in touch with fans. Those who add your page to their profile can be contacted directly via the “Send an Update to Friends” link found on the Facebook Page. When an update is sent, it appears on a user’s dashboard when logging into Facebook, much like a notification or application invitation. As such, an “Updates” section has been added to the drop-down menu where the message inbox, outbox, and notifications are listed.
he final Facebook Page created in this demonstration can be found here.
13 Ocak 2008 Pazar
XHTML - Kicking And Screaming Into The Future
XHTML, the standard, was first released back in 2000. Roughly five years later we begin to see major websites revised to use this standard. Even the favorite whipping boy of standards-compliance punditry, Microsoft, presents their primary homepages, msn.com and microsoft.com in XHTML. Standards compliant XHTML sites are still the minority. The reason is simple. When the W3C released the new standard, the rest of the web running on HTML did not cease to function. Nor will the rest of the web, written in various flavors of HTML, cease to function any time soon. Without any pressing need to conform to the new standard, designers continue to use old, familiar methods. These methods will perform in any modern browser, so why bother switching?
These sentiments are similar to ones I experienced. A kind of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality sets in. Whether HTML was "broken" or not is a different argument. To the casual Internet user, their standards are fairly direct. If a site displays without noticeable error and functions to their satisfaction, these standards are met. Whatever additional steps the browser took to make such display possible is irrelevant to most users. This kind of mentality is difficult to overcome in designers accustomed to their old methods.
Technical obstacles to adopting XHTML may be quite steep as well, especially as regards large, existing websites with complex scripting. Yet the time may eventually come where yesterday's "tried and true" HTML is little more than an ancient language, unable to be interpreted by modern electronic devices. Whether one agrees with the direction the W3C takes in the development of HTML is irrelevant, you are just along for the ride. With some perseverance, getting the hang of XHTML is possible. In form, it is not as different from HTML as Japanese is from English. Knowing HTML grants a basic knowledge of the language, it simply becomes a matter of learning a particular dialect. Even an original nay-sayer such as myself managed to do it.
Benefits of XHTML
There are 2 primary benefits to using XHTML. First is the strict nature of valid XHTML documents. "Valid" documents contain no errors. Documents with no errors can be parsed more easily by a browser. Though the time saved is, admittedly, negligible from the human user's point of view, there is a greater efficiency to the browser's performance. Most modern browsers will function well in what's usually referred to as "quirks" mode, where, in the absence of any on-page information about the kind of HTML they are reading, present a "best guess" rendering of a page. The quirks mode will also forgive many errors in the HTML. Modern browsers installed on your home computer have the luxury of size and power to deal with these errors. When browser technology makes the leap to other appliances it may not have the size and power to be so forgiving. This is where the strict, valid documents demanded by the XHTML standard become important.
The second benefit is in the code itself, which is cleaner and more compact than common, "table" based layout in HTML. Though XHTML retains table functionality, the standard makes clear tables are not to be used for page layout or anything other than displaying data in a tabular format. This is generally the primary obstacle most designers have with moving to XHTML. The manner in which many designers have come to rely on to layout and organize their pages is now taboo. Simple visual inspection of XHTML code reveals how light and efficient it is in comparison to a table based HTML layout. XTHML makes use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which, when called externally, remove virtually all styling information from the XHTML document itself. This creates a document focused solely on content.
XHTML makes use of "div" tags to define content areas. How these "divisions" are displayed is controlled by CSS. This is known as CSS-P, or CSS Positioning. Trading in "table" tags for "divs" can be tough. Learning a new way of accomplishing an already familiar task is generally difficult. Like learning to use a different design program or image editor, frustration can be constant. Looking at "divs" as a kind of table cell might be helpful, though they are not entirely equivalent. As required by the XHTML standard, always make sure there is a DOCTYPE definition at the top of the document. This is not only required by the standard, but it will force Internet Explorer 6, currently the most common browser, to enter its "standards compliance" mode. IE6 and Firefox, both operating in standards compliance mode will display XHTML in much the same way. Not identical, but far better than IE6 operating in quirks mode. Learning how to iron out the final differences between displays is the final obstacle and can require a bit of tweaking in the CSS.
Clean code has multiple benefits. It creates a smaller page size which, over time, can save costs associated with transfer usage. Though the size difference may appear small, for someone running a highly trafficked site, even saving a few kilobytes of size can make a big difference. Further, some believe search engines may look more kindly on standards complaint pages. This is only a theory, though. In a general sense, any page modification that makes the content easier to reach and higher in the code is considered wise. Search engines, so it is believed, prefer to reach content quickly, and give greater weight to the first content they encounter. Using XHTML and "div" layout allows designers to accomplish this task more easily.
Conclusions
XHTML is the current standard set by the W3C. The W3C continues development of XHTML, and XHTML 2.0 will replace the current standard in the future. Learning and using XHTML today will help designers prepare for tomorrow. Valid XTHML produces no errors that might slow down a browser, and the code produced is clean and efficient. This saves in file size and helps designers better accomplish their search engine optimization goals. Learning XHTML is primarily about learning a new way to lay out pages. Though frustrating at first, the long term benefits far outweigh any initial inconvenience.
These sentiments are similar to ones I experienced. A kind of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality sets in. Whether HTML was "broken" or not is a different argument. To the casual Internet user, their standards are fairly direct. If a site displays without noticeable error and functions to their satisfaction, these standards are met. Whatever additional steps the browser took to make such display possible is irrelevant to most users. This kind of mentality is difficult to overcome in designers accustomed to their old methods.
Technical obstacles to adopting XHTML may be quite steep as well, especially as regards large, existing websites with complex scripting. Yet the time may eventually come where yesterday's "tried and true" HTML is little more than an ancient language, unable to be interpreted by modern electronic devices. Whether one agrees with the direction the W3C takes in the development of HTML is irrelevant, you are just along for the ride. With some perseverance, getting the hang of XHTML is possible. In form, it is not as different from HTML as Japanese is from English. Knowing HTML grants a basic knowledge of the language, it simply becomes a matter of learning a particular dialect. Even an original nay-sayer such as myself managed to do it.
Benefits of XHTML
There are 2 primary benefits to using XHTML. First is the strict nature of valid XHTML documents. "Valid" documents contain no errors. Documents with no errors can be parsed more easily by a browser. Though the time saved is, admittedly, negligible from the human user's point of view, there is a greater efficiency to the browser's performance. Most modern browsers will function well in what's usually referred to as "quirks" mode, where, in the absence of any on-page information about the kind of HTML they are reading, present a "best guess" rendering of a page. The quirks mode will also forgive many errors in the HTML. Modern browsers installed on your home computer have the luxury of size and power to deal with these errors. When browser technology makes the leap to other appliances it may not have the size and power to be so forgiving. This is where the strict, valid documents demanded by the XHTML standard become important.
The second benefit is in the code itself, which is cleaner and more compact than common, "table" based layout in HTML. Though XHTML retains table functionality, the standard makes clear tables are not to be used for page layout or anything other than displaying data in a tabular format. This is generally the primary obstacle most designers have with moving to XHTML. The manner in which many designers have come to rely on to layout and organize their pages is now taboo. Simple visual inspection of XHTML code reveals how light and efficient it is in comparison to a table based HTML layout. XTHML makes use of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which, when called externally, remove virtually all styling information from the XHTML document itself. This creates a document focused solely on content.
XHTML makes use of "div" tags to define content areas. How these "divisions" are displayed is controlled by CSS. This is known as CSS-P, or CSS Positioning. Trading in "table" tags for "divs" can be tough. Learning a new way of accomplishing an already familiar task is generally difficult. Like learning to use a different design program or image editor, frustration can be constant. Looking at "divs" as a kind of table cell might be helpful, though they are not entirely equivalent. As required by the XHTML standard, always make sure there is a DOCTYPE definition at the top of the document. This is not only required by the standard, but it will force Internet Explorer 6, currently the most common browser, to enter its "standards compliance" mode. IE6 and Firefox, both operating in standards compliance mode will display XHTML in much the same way. Not identical, but far better than IE6 operating in quirks mode. Learning how to iron out the final differences between displays is the final obstacle and can require a bit of tweaking in the CSS.
Clean code has multiple benefits. It creates a smaller page size which, over time, can save costs associated with transfer usage. Though the size difference may appear small, for someone running a highly trafficked site, even saving a few kilobytes of size can make a big difference. Further, some believe search engines may look more kindly on standards complaint pages. This is only a theory, though. In a general sense, any page modification that makes the content easier to reach and higher in the code is considered wise. Search engines, so it is believed, prefer to reach content quickly, and give greater weight to the first content they encounter. Using XHTML and "div" layout allows designers to accomplish this task more easily.
Conclusions
XHTML is the current standard set by the W3C. The W3C continues development of XHTML, and XHTML 2.0 will replace the current standard in the future. Learning and using XHTML today will help designers prepare for tomorrow. Valid XTHML produces no errors that might slow down a browser, and the code produced is clean and efficient. This saves in file size and helps designers better accomplish their search engine optimization goals. Learning XHTML is primarily about learning a new way to lay out pages. Though frustrating at first, the long term benefits far outweigh any initial inconvenience.
How to Play YouTube-Style Flash Videos in Facebook
Displaying Flash videos, such as those found on YouTube, Metacafe, or CollegeHumor, is usually a simple task thanks to the readily available “embed code” provided by these websites. However, in order to ensure that embedded Flash media enforces site standards both internally and on developers’ applications, animations must be sanitized with one of several FBML tags, adding a bit of complication to the mix.
Normally, embed code on a site like YouTube can be copied in a format similar to the following. (Note that the below HTML is typically displayed as a single condensed line of code; however, it has been split into multiple lines here to improve readability.)
In order to display this same video in a Facebook canvas page, however, the FBML tag fb:swf must be used.
Getting started with the basic fb:swf usage is relatively simple. The only required attribute is “swfsrc”, which defines the remote location from which the Flash file will be loaded. For rendering YouTube videos, the value of this attribute must be set to the object parameter value whose name is “movie” from the provided embed code. Using the above example, swfsrc must be set to “http://www.youtube.com/v/dMH0bHeiRNg&rel=1″. With this, the FBML output should appear as follows.
Normally, embed code on a site like YouTube can be copied in a format similar to the following. (Note that the below HTML is typically displayed as a single condensed line of code; however, it has been split into multiple lines here to improve readability.)
In order to display this same video in a Facebook canvas page, however, the FBML tag fb:swf must be used.
Getting started with the basic fb:swf usage is relatively simple. The only required attribute is “swfsrc”, which defines the remote location from which the Flash file will be loaded. For rendering YouTube videos, the value of this attribute must be set to the object parameter value whose name is “movie” from the provided embed code. Using the above example, swfsrc must be set to “http://www.youtube.com/v/dMH0bHeiRNg&rel=1″. With this, the FBML output should appear as follows.
Bebo Application Platform Now Open to All Developers
Almost a month ago, the social networking website Bebo announced its own application platform. When first launched, the platform was only made available to a select group of companies and individuals, giving them what many disappointed developers considered an unfair head start on the competition. Today that changes, as Bebo’s application platform is now available to all third party developers.
Similar to the setup of the Facebook Platform, Bebo’s platform offers a 3-part process for getting started: download the developer API; install the Bebo Developer application (similar to the Facebook Developer application); and start coding.
Similar to the setup of the Facebook Platform, Bebo’s platform offers a 3-part process for getting started: download the developer API; install the Bebo Developer application (similar to the Facebook Developer application); and start coding.
How To Use A WYSIWYG HTML Editor To Make Stunning Ebay Auction Listings.
What kind of browser are you using for online surfing? Explorer, Netscape, Firefox, Opera?? Sure, all are good programs but I want to talk about an excellent program called Netscape. If you use Netscape, do you know that you also get an amazing WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) web design program called Netscape Composer for free? Basically you don’t need expensive HTML editors anymore. The list of commercially available HTML editors software is endless – and the price tags are enormous. Most people don’t want to spend a lot of money to get started with their eBay business. Fair enough, since the goal is to make money and not to spend money. So it makes perfect sense to use a program to design auction listings which is available for free. And such a program is Netscape Composer.
It has the same professional features like FrontPage or any other similar program. To design stunning and professional looking eBay auction sites with Netscape Composer you need to download Netscape first. If you start up the program, select File->New Composer Page and basically you can start immediately to design your auction listings. You can make you letters in any colour, bold, italics, use background colours (or even images) etc. The options are endless. You can save this file on your local hard drive as html file. I used to have one file for every listing I generate. The best thing is that once you have got a nice and professional looking eBay auction listing, you can use it for ever. Just open your last listing in Netscape Composer and edit according to your new item. Amazingly, this takes only a couple of minutes.
But how do you transfer your listing saved as a html file on your local hard drive to eBay? The answer is simple. Once you have logged in into your eBay account and selected your category and starting price you have to type in your “item description”. Did you see that eBay allows HTML format? Have a look when you launch your next listing. That’s the time where you go back to your new listing you just have created with Netscape Composer. Down the bottom of your Netscape Composer page you’ll see a button called: SOURCE - the source code of your listing. Click on that and highlight and copy the entire text. Select then the eBay site and paste this text into the “Item description box”. Make sure that all links are working and that all photos are uploaded to the internet.
When you have finalised your listing you will be surprised. A stunning and professional looking “DIY-listing”. You can always use “ready-to-go” auction templates and edit these according to your item. You’ll see that with an professional auction design you can easily attract more buyers and get higher bids. It’s worth the effort. Keep in mind that professional web design software is highly expensive and does the same job. Alternatively, you can choose from a huge variety of third party auction services doing the job for you. But hey, there are incredibly expensive too. Don’t you think that the eBay fees are high enough and you can easily do it yourself without spending any additional dollars. It’s really simple!
It has the same professional features like FrontPage or any other similar program. To design stunning and professional looking eBay auction sites with Netscape Composer you need to download Netscape first. If you start up the program, select File->New Composer Page and basically you can start immediately to design your auction listings. You can make you letters in any colour, bold, italics, use background colours (or even images) etc. The options are endless. You can save this file on your local hard drive as html file. I used to have one file for every listing I generate. The best thing is that once you have got a nice and professional looking eBay auction listing, you can use it for ever. Just open your last listing in Netscape Composer and edit according to your new item. Amazingly, this takes only a couple of minutes.
But how do you transfer your listing saved as a html file on your local hard drive to eBay? The answer is simple. Once you have logged in into your eBay account and selected your category and starting price you have to type in your “item description”. Did you see that eBay allows HTML format? Have a look when you launch your next listing. That’s the time where you go back to your new listing you just have created with Netscape Composer. Down the bottom of your Netscape Composer page you’ll see a button called: SOURCE - the source code of your listing. Click on that and highlight and copy the entire text. Select then the eBay site and paste this text into the “Item description box”. Make sure that all links are working and that all photos are uploaded to the internet.
When you have finalised your listing you will be surprised. A stunning and professional looking “DIY-listing”. You can always use “ready-to-go” auction templates and edit these according to your item. You’ll see that with an professional auction design you can easily attract more buyers and get higher bids. It’s worth the effort. Keep in mind that professional web design software is highly expensive and does the same job. Alternatively, you can choose from a huge variety of third party auction services doing the job for you. But hey, there are incredibly expensive too. Don’t you think that the eBay fees are high enough and you can easily do it yourself without spending any additional dollars. It’s really simple!
The Changing Face of Web and Search Engine Marketing
A few years ago, search engine placement was arranged by your average Web designer and/or Webmaster. The Webmaster would simply submit a site to search engines manually or use rudimentary software that was widely available.
Keyword relevance was largely a matter of link popularity and the Webmaster assigning a simple keyword meta-tag to each page of your site. The system used to work reasonably well, or so it seemed. That is no longer the case.
Today, submission to the major search engines like Google is largely irrelevant, although there is a complex mix of PFI (pay for inclusion) and PFP (pay for performance, sponsored links, PPC ads) that require complex submission of details.
Today's Methodology
In today's Internet economy, sophisticated and complex programs - called spiders - surf the Web looking at the source code of Web pages. They sort through the complex web of formatting tags, programming script, multi-media, page titles, and content that the user may or may not see, to ascertain how to rank each page of your site for each and every word and word combination that it finds.
These spiders index the words of each page found and add it to the engine's database, making them available as keywords for search engine searchers. In this new environment, sophisticated software programs that analyze the various search engine algorithms and how they rank selected pages have moved to the forefront of search engine placement.
This has spawned a large industry of SEO (search engine optimisation and marketing) experts and specialist SEM firms.
What Does Keyword Based Marketing Offer?
If implemented correctly, SEO can offer a higher return on investment than nearly any other marketing strategy (online or offline). Placing high in the search engine ranking positions (SERPs) is a great way to attract first time visitors. Placement in the search engines can largely determine the "reach" of your online marketing strategy.
The stakes in this battle are being raised all the time as the number of users going online increases - which in the U.S. alone approaches 100 million - with over 60% of those users spending some 48 BILLION dollars per year for online shopping (Greenspan, 2002, cyberatlas.com).
With broadband prices in Australia falling rapidly and the rate of Internet takeup extraordinarily high, the Australian consumer is showing similar enthusiasm for online sales. Unfortunately, many potential buyers - some say as many as 70% - give up because they cannot find the good sites to shop at, because they are poorly keyword indexed or the actual site has poor navigation and design.
When any business is making plans to improve their Search Engine positions, they need to understand that optimisation of your site for the Search Engines is not a one-shot job. It requires ongoing monitoring and tweaking in order to keep ahead of both the competition AND the changes the Search Engines make to how they rank sites.
Any comprehensive Web marketing plan should:
(1) Promote your web site based on the (optimised) content of your site and knowledge of the relevant marketplace;
(2) Utilise data of how the average search engine user actually looks for information on your site - including alternative terms, synonyms, common phrasing, etc;
(3) Include internal and external link building with relevant sites and relevant keywords;
(4) Regular reporting of search engine positioning, general Internet visibility and actual visitor statistics/analytics and recommendation for improvements.
Every serious Web site owner should be on a Web marketing plan that is definitely more than just a submission or reporting service. Set a monthly budget and take action.
We've seen many of our clients benefit from the ongoing relationship we have developed with them through our web marketing plans. Plenty of page 1 rankings on Google, Yahoo, MSN are not uncommon over time, as we monitor and tweak their sites for the Search Engines.
However, in almost all cases, those clients would have never achieved and then maintained those high rankings if they had not had someone in the know keeping track of how their site is ranking, and making changes where ever needed.
It's like advertising in the Yellow Pages really. If you don't pay to have your ad included, you don't get an entry in the book, and eventually the calls to your business start to drop off as people update to the newest edition.
Search Engine Optimisation / Marketing is the same. The Internet is NOT static - it's always changing and evolving, and in order for your site to get and maintain good rankings around the keywords that are important to you, you have to keep someone on the job on a regular basis who knows how to react to the changes happening.
The Return On Investment (ROI) for good SEO/SEM services is very high, compared to traditional advertising and marketing. According to Google's statistics, Search advertising is up to 20 times CHEAPER per lead, compared to (for example) Direct Mail. For any company spending money on advertising, this statistic should be of EXTREME interest! After all, what company doesn't want to reduce their cost of customer acquisition?
That's what SEO/SEM companies are supposed to be about! Well, at least at our company, we are - I can't speak for our competitors. Before you hire an SEO/SEM company, ask what their plan is for the ongoing optimisation of your site. If they don't have a plan, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit and hang onto your money.
Keyword relevance was largely a matter of link popularity and the Webmaster assigning a simple keyword meta-tag to each page of your site. The system used to work reasonably well, or so it seemed. That is no longer the case.
Today, submission to the major search engines like Google is largely irrelevant, although there is a complex mix of PFI (pay for inclusion) and PFP (pay for performance, sponsored links, PPC ads) that require complex submission of details.
Today's Methodology
In today's Internet economy, sophisticated and complex programs - called spiders - surf the Web looking at the source code of Web pages. They sort through the complex web of formatting tags, programming script, multi-media, page titles, and content that the user may or may not see, to ascertain how to rank each page of your site for each and every word and word combination that it finds.
These spiders index the words of each page found and add it to the engine's database, making them available as keywords for search engine searchers. In this new environment, sophisticated software programs that analyze the various search engine algorithms and how they rank selected pages have moved to the forefront of search engine placement.
This has spawned a large industry of SEO (search engine optimisation and marketing) experts and specialist SEM firms.
What Does Keyword Based Marketing Offer?
If implemented correctly, SEO can offer a higher return on investment than nearly any other marketing strategy (online or offline). Placing high in the search engine ranking positions (SERPs) is a great way to attract first time visitors. Placement in the search engines can largely determine the "reach" of your online marketing strategy.
The stakes in this battle are being raised all the time as the number of users going online increases - which in the U.S. alone approaches 100 million - with over 60% of those users spending some 48 BILLION dollars per year for online shopping (Greenspan, 2002, cyberatlas.com).
With broadband prices in Australia falling rapidly and the rate of Internet takeup extraordinarily high, the Australian consumer is showing similar enthusiasm for online sales. Unfortunately, many potential buyers - some say as many as 70% - give up because they cannot find the good sites to shop at, because they are poorly keyword indexed or the actual site has poor navigation and design.
When any business is making plans to improve their Search Engine positions, they need to understand that optimisation of your site for the Search Engines is not a one-shot job. It requires ongoing monitoring and tweaking in order to keep ahead of both the competition AND the changes the Search Engines make to how they rank sites.
Any comprehensive Web marketing plan should:
(1) Promote your web site based on the (optimised) content of your site and knowledge of the relevant marketplace;
(2) Utilise data of how the average search engine user actually looks for information on your site - including alternative terms, synonyms, common phrasing, etc;
(3) Include internal and external link building with relevant sites and relevant keywords;
(4) Regular reporting of search engine positioning, general Internet visibility and actual visitor statistics/analytics and recommendation for improvements.
Every serious Web site owner should be on a Web marketing plan that is definitely more than just a submission or reporting service. Set a monthly budget and take action.
We've seen many of our clients benefit from the ongoing relationship we have developed with them through our web marketing plans. Plenty of page 1 rankings on Google, Yahoo, MSN are not uncommon over time, as we monitor and tweak their sites for the Search Engines.
However, in almost all cases, those clients would have never achieved and then maintained those high rankings if they had not had someone in the know keeping track of how their site is ranking, and making changes where ever needed.
It's like advertising in the Yellow Pages really. If you don't pay to have your ad included, you don't get an entry in the book, and eventually the calls to your business start to drop off as people update to the newest edition.
Search Engine Optimisation / Marketing is the same. The Internet is NOT static - it's always changing and evolving, and in order for your site to get and maintain good rankings around the keywords that are important to you, you have to keep someone on the job on a regular basis who knows how to react to the changes happening.
The Return On Investment (ROI) for good SEO/SEM services is very high, compared to traditional advertising and marketing. According to Google's statistics, Search advertising is up to 20 times CHEAPER per lead, compared to (for example) Direct Mail. For any company spending money on advertising, this statistic should be of EXTREME interest! After all, what company doesn't want to reduce their cost of customer acquisition?
That's what SEO/SEM companies are supposed to be about! Well, at least at our company, we are - I can't speak for our competitors. Before you hire an SEO/SEM company, ask what their plan is for the ongoing optimisation of your site. If they don't have a plan, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit and hang onto your money.
Need A Website? You Have 3 Options
When it comes to building a website, most individuals and small business owners think you either have to do it yourself or hire someone to do it. Web builder software is often the better option for this group by far.
Even if you're a seasoned web professional, you should know what web builder software can offer private individuals and small businesses. Designers regularly waste time fielding inquiries from small-time website owners who don't realize the time, effort, and therefore cost involved in making a website from scratch. Or your brain may be picked endlessly by a would-be developer. Recommending a good web builder program is a great way to help this group--you can even monetize these non-prospects by reselling web builder software or referring it as an affiliate.
The 3 Web Design Options
DIY (design it yourself), usually using software such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage.
Pay someone else to design it.
Use a "website builder" that includes everything you need and builds the website based on a setup wizard that asks questions about your website goals.
Most people just stumble into one of these three options without really comparing. In fact, if someone is even considering whether to try to do it themselves, hire a pro, or use a website builder program, it's extremely likely they really do need to start with a website builder program. After all, with the small investment required by web builder software, you can easily decide to go the DIY or professional design route later. But the money and time spent on professional services or DIY cannot be un-spent.
If you don't have the web design skills that would lead you to make your own website without questioning, or the budget to hire a designer just as easily, your time, money and other resources are probably better spent on other aspects of your website--such as promoting it, planning it, or getting content for it.
Website Options Comparison: Cost
: Cost of software (Dreamweaver, the most popular, runs about $300) + many hours of your life--what is your time worth?
Web Designer: $500-$5000
Website Builder: $100-200 (if a software package); $15-40/month (if a subscription service)
Time
DIY: Depending on your skill level, a week to a few months.
Web Designer: A few weeks till completion (but little time on your part).
Website Builder: Five minutes to an hour (depending on how much you want to play with the options).
Graphic Design: Most people who build their own websites use graphic design templates, or at least ready-made graphics. But there's still the problem of how to bring the elements of the design together into an attractive whole.
Web Designer: If you want to be taken seriously, a graphic designer will go a long way. Still, many people manage to sabotage the designer's work with too many demands. Also, some designers are really programmers rather than graphic designers, and will use templates anyway. In the end, though, the biggest drawback is cost: graphic designers can do it better, but can you afford them?
Website Builder: The advantage of a website builder over DIY templates is that the builder will save you the time of coding the website to stitch all the parts together.
Even if you're a seasoned web professional, you should know what web builder software can offer private individuals and small businesses. Designers regularly waste time fielding inquiries from small-time website owners who don't realize the time, effort, and therefore cost involved in making a website from scratch. Or your brain may be picked endlessly by a would-be developer. Recommending a good web builder program is a great way to help this group--you can even monetize these non-prospects by reselling web builder software or referring it as an affiliate.
The 3 Web Design Options
DIY (design it yourself), usually using software such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage.
Pay someone else to design it.
Use a "website builder" that includes everything you need and builds the website based on a setup wizard that asks questions about your website goals.
Most people just stumble into one of these three options without really comparing. In fact, if someone is even considering whether to try to do it themselves, hire a pro, or use a website builder program, it's extremely likely they really do need to start with a website builder program. After all, with the small investment required by web builder software, you can easily decide to go the DIY or professional design route later. But the money and time spent on professional services or DIY cannot be un-spent.
If you don't have the web design skills that would lead you to make your own website without questioning, or the budget to hire a designer just as easily, your time, money and other resources are probably better spent on other aspects of your website--such as promoting it, planning it, or getting content for it.
Website Options Comparison: Cost
: Cost of software (Dreamweaver, the most popular, runs about $300) + many hours of your life--what is your time worth?
Web Designer: $500-$5000
Website Builder: $100-200 (if a software package); $15-40/month (if a subscription service)
Time
DIY: Depending on your skill level, a week to a few months.
Web Designer: A few weeks till completion (but little time on your part).
Website Builder: Five minutes to an hour (depending on how much you want to play with the options).
Graphic Design: Most people who build their own websites use graphic design templates, or at least ready-made graphics. But there's still the problem of how to bring the elements of the design together into an attractive whole.
Web Designer: If you want to be taken seriously, a graphic designer will go a long way. Still, many people manage to sabotage the designer's work with too many demands. Also, some designers are really programmers rather than graphic designers, and will use templates anyway. In the end, though, the biggest drawback is cost: graphic designers can do it better, but can you afford them?
Website Builder: The advantage of a website builder over DIY templates is that the builder will save you the time of coding the website to stitch all the parts together.
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