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I've been building websites for many years now and one thing I've learned is that poor construction of a website can destroy the best laid SEO plan. No matter how good your content is, if you don't have an advanced web design with modern HTML elements, your site can wallow on page 15 of Google.
Advanced Web Design is more than just graphic design and content writing. It involves programming elements like HTML5, CSS3 and JQuery scripts, all combined carefully so as not to conflict with each other and be compatible with all browsers. Most sites today are Content Managed, like Wordpress or Joomla. This gives web developers the unique opportunity to start with a fully operational, advanced web design, with SEO tools built in to the dirty work of META generation and Sitemap creation for search engines to index. They also come with a dizzying array of templates both paid and free to customize to their customer's specs. Here is where it gets tricky.
For a few years now, I have been talking about the evils of outsourcing, especially when it comes to intellectual services like web design, e-commerce and SEO services. After years of watching business after business get a raw deal from web design companies that outsource to India, I want to share with you why it's so important to get a website design from an American web developer.
As an e-commerce web designer, it is my job not only to build a great e-commerce site for my clients, but guide them through what is required to get one up and running, and what it takes to make money with one. Like anything else, it's simple when you know what you're doing, daunting when you don't. Here are a few things you should know before starting up an e-commerce site.
For the past 10 years or so, I have spoken to hundreds of people that hired a web designer before Trig Web Design for various reasons, and have come back with the saddest stories about getting ripped off. Unfortunately, the last few years we have seen the uprising of a large number of shysters in the Web Design and SEO business, chock full of mean, uncaring and untalented people that take your money, promise you the world, then disappear after the check clears. Most of the time, they deliver some kind of website, but nothing like what they promised, and the client is stuck with no more money, and a poor design that won't make them a penny. In the hope that some people out there looking for a web designer find this article, I want to tell you what to look for when hiring a web design company, and how to avoid getting ripped off.
I usually avoid ranting, as I think it's a little demeaning (except for comedians) but I have to speak out about what's going on in the web design business. For a long time I have watched web design companies stick it to their clients by overcharging, under-delivering and taking months (or never) to complete a project. Most of these infractions are by one-man firms who bite off more than they can chew. Others are overwhelmed by the number of projects they get, so they let some clients slip through the cracks. The bad part is now I come along, knowing I can help them, but now I have to really earn their trust. It gets frustrating be able to help so many people with my abilities, and have those same people distrust my entire profession due to a few unscrupulous designers.
Of course, there are always two sides to every story, and I'm sure giving web designers the benefit of the doubt is the right thing to do; but there is one disturbing practice that is spreading through the entire web design community; outsourcing.
Planning your web design carefully gives your site the best chance for success. Many people who hire a web design company leave the details entirely to the developers, spelling disaster if you choose the wrong one. In the 15 years I have been in the web design business, I have learned the hard way how to avoid some common mistakes. Here is a quick guide to planning a successful web design project, and it's easier than you think (if you hire the right developer, hint hint, wink wink).
Joomla! has become one of the most popular Content Managed Site systems on the web, with more than a 4% market share. It may not sound like much, but it that number equals about 250,000 websites out there running the Joomla! CMS.
Joomla is both complex and simple, truly earning the adage "A day to learn, a lifetime to master". Here at Trig Web Design, we have mastered the art of Joomla! website development, using some of the most advanced 3rd party extensions, as well as some of our own custom components and modules.
So, you've done your research, optimized your web pages and even setup an AdWords campaign. After all your hard work, you are finally coming up in the top for your keywords and traffic is coming in. But the phone isn't ringing, and your bounce rate is too high. What could be wrong? Maybe it's your landing page.
A bad landing page can spell disaster for any marketing campaign, and if you're working on a shoestring budget, it can be even worse. It's a real shame to lose most of your traffic because you just threw up a page without much thought to it. There really is a science to creating a great landing page. Sure you'll have to test, tweak, and refine; every audience and situation is different, but there are some important dos and don'ts all landing pages should follow.
Sitemaps have become the new "Submissions" for many search engines, especially Google & Yahoo. Did you know that these giants now charge for submissions otherwise? I was shocked to find out that one of our new clients was paying $180 a month just to submit to Google, Yahoo and MSN every month; sitemaps? FREE!
What is a Sitemap? Well, a sitemap is a page in your website that has links to every other page in your site. It allows a search engine 'bot' to crawl your website easier, then report back your links and content to the search engine, who then indexes your pages for searches. Sounds easy right? It is, but like so many things on the web, it is more complicated than that.
I've been building websites for many years now and one thing I've learned is that poor construction of a website can destroy the best laid SEO plan. No matter how good your content is, if you don't have an advanced web design with modern HTML elements, your site can wallow on page 15 of Google.
I usually avoid ranting, as I think it's a little demeaning (except for comedians) but I have to speak out about what's going on in the web design business. For a long time I have watched web design companies stick it to their clients by overcharging, under-delivering and taking months (or never) to complete a project. Most of these infractions are by one-man firms who bite off more than they can chew. Others are overwhelmed by the number of projects they get, so they let some clients slip through the cracks. The bad part is now I come along, knowing I can help them, but now I have to really earn their trust. It gets frustrating be able to help so many people with my abilities, and have those same people distrust my entire profession due to a few unscrupulous designers.
Joomla! has become one of the most popular Content Managed Site systems on the web, with more than a 4% market share. It may not sound like much, but it that number equals about 250,000 websites out there running the Joomla! CMS.
Sitemaps have become the new "Submissions" for many search engines, especially Google & Yahoo. Did you know that these giants now charge for submissions otherwise? I was shocked to find out that one of our new clients was paying $180 a month just to submit to Google, Yahoo and MSN every month; sitemaps? FREE!