Web Design Newsletter

3 WAYS TO KEEP SPAMMERS FROM HARVESTING YOUR EMAIL FROM YOUR WEBSITE

ANNA DALEA — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:30:00 GMT

3 WAYS TO KEEP SPAMMERS FROM HARVESTING YOUR EMAIL FROM YOUR WEBSITE

by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

Spamis unsolicited email - unwanted email that is not requested by the recipient. Websites are commonly scanned by robot programs that harvest email addresses so that spam can be sent to them. Personally I have recieved a number of "stock" emails, "Santa Barbara Bank & Trust" emails, PAYPAL or Ebay emails etc. Recently I have seen a number of increased emails with PDF attachments. A number of techniques are being used to prevent email addresses from being harvested.

"Encoding your email address into special values called character entities which represent each character is one method. Javascript programs have been written that will convert an email address to its encoded value (see the links below). You will then copy and paste the encoded email address after the "mailto:" part of the link. For example, this is an encoded link for Ohlone's webmaster email account (extra line breaks have been placed in the code below so the width of the page is not broken - make sure the encoded parts you use are all on one line in your web page):

<a href="mailto:webmast er@ohlone .cc.ca.us"> webmaster@ ohlone.cc. ca.us</a>

There is no guarantee, however, that encoding your email address will prevent spam. Robots can be created that are smart enough to decode the encoded address. " -- http://www.ohlone.cc.ca.us/org/webcenter/emailencoding.html

1. Online Tools to Encode Your Email Address

Ohlone's Email Encoder (online tool) - used with written permission from West Bay Web
West Bay Web - Email Encoder (online tool) - "This form will allow you to encode your e-mail address through the use of Character Entities, transforming your ascii email address into its equivalent decimal entity. Simply enter your regular e-mail address in the first text box, click the encode button, and then highlight and copy the resulting code produced in the second text box. This encoded e-mail address can be read and translated back into its original ascii text by almost any web browser without any further action on your part. Just replace all instances of your e-mail address on your pages with the code, and you won't have to worry about spam lists."
mailto Encoder (online tool) - "The HTML Encoder is a service of SiteUp Networks. The Encoder will format your E-mail address in a way that IS NOT readable by any E-mail extractor or search engine. The Encoder is only provided as a way to prevent HTML E-mail harvesters from getting your address from your web pages. If you do not have a web site, the Encoder will not be useful to you."

2. Tools that use javascript to encode:

Just drop this code into your web's html code where you want the mail to be listed and change the name after mailto: in the code and the domain name from sbcglobal.net to yourdomainname.com

<script language="JavaScript">

</script>

eMail Encoder 2.0.2.5 by Slipstream Solutions UK Ltd.

Protect your email inbox. Posting your email address on a website is the best way to get your Inbox full of unsolicited email advertisements. This application, for Windows, protects your email addresses by converting them into encrypted JavaScript.

3. Using an email FORM -- can prevent this spamming issue because visitors to your site must fill out a contact form to contact you. Try, contactforms.com or my personal favorite "response-o-matic.com".

SHOPPING CARTS: What solution is right for your business?

ANNA DALEA — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 03:47:00 GMT

SHOPPING CARTS: WHAT SOLUTION IS RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

At some point or another, every business owner has thought of possibly creating or implementing a shopping cart feature on their website. This is a very involved process and should not be delved into until you know all of your options and everything that will be involved in the process. There are three different types of shopping cart solutions that can integrate with three different types of business volume. We will explore these options here. Hopefully, this article will assist you in your decision. Don't get stuck paying tons of money if you don't necessarily have to or if your business is not at that level of sales volume.

1. Pre-fab shopping cart solutions. This includes Godaddy-like shopping carts. First off let me state that companies like Godaddy are a very inexpensive alternative to most of your website needs. However, their shopping cart has drawbacks, like most other companies that offer similar shopping cart solutions. This option is for the do-it-yourselfer who wants to create and maintain their shopping cart themselves. These people are concerned about PRICE, not visual appeal or quality of the design. The cheaper the better is their motto. Most start up businesses would most likely go this route because a lot is thrown in for one price. DRAWBACKS: pre-fab templates -- you HAVE to choose one of their templates for your site... also, another drawback is that your shopping cart has to be YOUR SITE... you can't already have a website up and running and think that Godaddy's (or a similar companies) shopping cart will integrate nicely into it. It won't! This option however, can be for a company that has A LOT to sell as the shopping cart is set up for this purpose.

2. Merchants, Processors & Gateways. If you are, again, selling a good amount of products that you expect will generate A LOT of business for your company, you may want to open a merchant account and use a credit card processor. This is actually a great way to go for business owners that have a good amount of merchandise to sell, or that want to have a nice integration of shopping cart and custom website design. It's a very involved process, but having a good processor to hold your hand through it all is a treat (one of which is someone I work with called Evelyn Sigel of CashFlowServices.com) The Gateway company will be able to give the webmaster, or whomever is creating your site, a special code that drops into your site so that viewers will see a purchase button for each item. You, as the merchant, will set up all the specifics -- of what you want your clients to see after they click the purchase button-- online with your merchant account.

3. Paypal. This option is great for small business owners who are just starting out and have no clue as to how much of their product they will sell. Perhaps they want to start out slowly with their business, but would like their clients to have the option to purchase with a credit card. This option is also for business owners that will only be selling a couple of items on their site. It's a much cheaper alternative in the short run -- if you expect small or few sales. If you're selling a book, I would go with Paypal... if you're selling seminars... i'd go with paypal. If you're only selling 5-10 items...paypal. It will at least get you started and give you the ability to feel it out to better assess your shopping cart needs. The only drawback is that sometimes clients don't necessarily like Paypal because you have to verify your payment method if you don't already have a PayPal account. It's a hassle to most clients! But it still is a good way to START a new business until you gain momentum and gain a budget that will allow for a monthy fee to a gateway.

Remember, just make sure that you fully understand what is involved with any shopping cart solution that you decide to go with. No matter which way you go, you will be EXTREMELY involved with the process. If you're going to accept credit cards online you will definitely have to go through a processor and gateway regardless.

interview with Dr. Kaaren Douglas, HelloWorld

ANNA DALEA — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 17:46:00 GMT

INTERVIEW WITH DR. KAAREN DOUGLAS, HELLOWORLD

Interviewed by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

Click to download video interview

NEED A WEBSITE? DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START?

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:04:00 GMT

NEED A WEBSITE? DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START?

BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS

It's quite common for a business owner to be rushed into "getting" a website. Perhaps clients are asking if you have one or when it will be up and running... perhaps clients are requesting that you create a sub-website for them? For example, I just met with a property management company who's client is asking why the management company won't build a website for them. I was called in to a situation where the property manager had no clue as to what a website really was, any of the terminology, where to start or what the client really needed. They expected me, the web designer, to give them all that information.

The problem here? I don't know their company...furthermore, i'm not familiar with their client. If the property manager doesn't know what their client wants or needs from a website, then how should I? I'm not a mind reader...

Here are some things that business owners need to keep in mind when they feel compelled to get a website but don't have the first clue as where to start:

1) First you must find out the needs for the site. What information is needed to make the clients happy. What do the CLIENTS want to see? Most likely they'll want to see some information about the company, contact information and perhaps what services they offer... how about forms or documents? Newsletters? These are things that a web designer can't guess on. To make a site successful, it has to be thought out properly (not just jumped into to get something on the internet fast).

2) Do some research of other sites that you've seen that are in a similar field to yours and get a better idea of what you like or dislike about those websites. It will not only help you, the business owner, to know what you want, but it will help when it comes time to get a web designer on your team to give them direction.

3) Pick a color scheme for your site. Keep them similar to your logo colors. That's always a good idea. You don't want the two to clash. www.colorschemer.com

4) Who are you marketing your site to? Will it be basic HTML or will it be in Flash?

5) Make sure that you have pictures ready that give a good representation of your company. Obviously, if they're pictures that you'd like on your website then that's even better!

Anyhow, this is a good place to start. Make sure you do your homework before calling a web designer. They need direction. If you make them GUESS what you want, they'll fail. It's all about what the business owner wants. Don't make the designer work hard for nothing (for you to just change your mind about what you want). Don't be wishy-washy. Have a clear idea about the direction you want the design to go in.

BEING IN CONTROL OF YOUR SITE'S MATERIAL

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:02:00 GMT

BEING IN CONTROL OF YOUR SITE'S MATERIAL

BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS

A very common situation comes up 9 times out of 10 when i'm working with a company that already has a website and is looking to revamp the design. They just don't know what they have on their site.

Most clients don't even know the difference between a website, web master, designer, hosting, or domain names. This is crucial that you make yourself familiar with this terminology. I make sure that I inform my clients about their information. If you don't, here's what happens...

Joe Schmoe designs and hosts your website.... a couple years down the road you find your site to be stale and in need of a few touch ups. So, you hear from a friend that there is a wonderful web designer that you should get in contact with to revamp your site. The new designer asks you a few questions...

1) Do you have a domain name?

2) Who hosts your website?

3) What is the FTP information?

4) Is your domain name and host server with the same company or did you get each from a different company?

5) I notice that you have flash on your site...do you have the original FLA (editable) file so that I can make adjustments for you? Or did your last designer only upload the SWF file?

If you can only answer one or two of these... you're not in control of your site. You should know the answers to these questions. Why? Why, if the designer has all that info? BECAUSE.... there have been incidents, first of all, where domain names have been taken or hijacked by other people... you could lose your domain name without even knowing it. YOU NEED TO BE IN CONTROL OF YOUR DOMAIN NAME... you need to know when it's due for renewal (how many years you bought it for). What is a domain name? It's your web address, basically. For example, www.ERTwebsitesolutions.com

You also need to know who hosts your site. Keep your records handy just in case you ever decide to switch designers. When you get a hosting company they will send you your login information...in addition to your FTP login information. FTP information is the host name, username and password that allows the designer to access the hosting server to upload the files for your website. It's very important information. Also, make sure that you are listed as the administrator on your hosting account. You need to be able to make decisions in case anything happens. What if you want to switch hosting providers and your designer is no longer in the business or you just can't get ahold of them? That's when being in control comes in handy.

It's better to keep both your domain name and hosting company as one...This is advice if you're starting up a new website. If you currently are in this situation of not having these with the same company... you may not want to switch unless the domain company is not trustworthy or charging you way too much money. Domain transfers are sometimes a pain in the ass because some of the larger companies don't want to give you up as a client and they'll hold onto it for quite some time before allowing it to transfer over... they want you to feel like it's a hassle so that you'll change your mind.

Lastly, if you know that you have flash on your site, make sure you get the FLA AND SWF files from your designer in case you ever leave them. Don't be afraid to ask for them as you've paid for all of this stuff...so it's rightfully yours!!!

Don't ever let a designer tell you that they will keep copyrights to their designs... if you pay for it, it's yours... if it appeases them, offer to allow them to add their byline to the bottom of your site that says they designed it.

PHOTO GALLERIES AND SCROLLING CODES

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:01:00 GMT

PHOTO GALLERIES AND SCROLLING CODES

BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS

A feature that most clients like to implement on their websites are photo galleries. There are many different styles of photo galleries that can be created to suit your needs. They range from:

1) A picture in the center with a left arrow and a right arrow to scroll through the gallery (stationary-one picture at a time scroller). http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/3slide.shtml
http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/pslide.shtml

2) An image slideshow that changes the picture every few seconds.
http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/flexibleslide.shtml
http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/multishow.shtml

3) Photo scrollers that scroll multiple pictures across a page.
http://cow.neondragon.net/stuff/marquee/

4) Picture cube slideshows that turn the pictures in a cube-like fashion. http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/script2/cubeslideshow.shtml

5) And then there's the good ol' fashioned flash photo scrollers. Those can be done by hand or through a program or bit of code.

In my honest opinion, the only ones that look good without making your site look old and antiquated would be the marquee photo scrollers and the flash scrollers...there are special/creative things that you can do to the flip galleries or automatic slideshows to make them look more updated, but from a plug-and-go standpoint, use the ones that are easily editable.

The one issue I had recently with the marquee photo scroller code was that when I had it fitting how i wanted into my site, I would upload it and check it out and it would stretch the table for a split second. However, it would look odd because each time you click to another page it would stretch briefly...and what you want out of a site is fluidity! Each page should look relatively the same in structure.

So, have fun implementing these photo galleries and being creative but there is no doubt in my mind that you may come into some road blocks. Don't get frustrated... there's always a solution or a way around the problem.

GOOGLE ADWORDS ISN'T FOR JUST ANY TYPE OF BUSINESS OR SITE!

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:59:00 GMT

GOOGLE ADWORDS ISN'T FOR JUST ANY TYPE OF BUSINESS OR SITE!

BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS
Google adwords is a great place to pull traffic to your site. It allows you to be near the top of the search results (if you're paying enough) and you get tons of clicks. However, I did want to mention, for some of the small business owners who like to jump into a project without researching heavily, that you need to know you're niche and know how to get traffic through keywords and an accurate portrait of what your site is about.

Just recently I had a client who wanted to put up a one page website and feature it in an ad on Google Adwords. The problem was that the site he wanted built was a straight survey. The client thought that the survey would get MANY hits and that he would get tons of survey results sent to him so that he could start writing an e-book.

Now, I don't know about you... but when I go online to look for something, if I get to a site (or a popup) that is for a survey, I immediately click out of it and go somewhere else. I don't have time to fill out online surveys... i'm looking for information!

In my opinion, surveys are going to get you about as much feedback as a marketing mailer. If you send out 1,000 mailers the average return rate is about 1%, if that. I would assume that it would be the same with an online survey.

If you do want to put a survey out there on the internet, here's a source that tells you the best way to do so. It gives you a plan of action: http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page5048.cfm

DON'T JUST JUMP INTO A SITE WITHOUT DOING SOME RESEARCH

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:57:00 GMT

DON'T JUST JUMP INTO A SITE WITHOUT DOING SOME RESEARCH

BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS

Most small business owners may start their business without a website. Sure, they can operate without one... but soon they'll start hearing, from their clients, "do you have a website?". Most clients will start asking because now-a-days if you're a company and you DON'T have a website you're not a very reputable company. Clients want to make sure that you're not fly-by-night...that you're staying put.

Most clients want to get more information about your company... the easiest way to get infomormation into your clients hands is through the internet. Instead of spending tons of money on marketing materials that tend to get tossed, invest in a website. Websites may seem to cost alot... but it's all up front costs and does not cause you monthly withdrawls of your hard earned cash.

Websites are a good way of getting outside business that you may have not received otherwise. You're able to reach so many people from so many different areas with the internet. It's a band-wagon that every business owner needs to be on.

Even the tiniest business needs a website, telling who they are and what they do...and how to contact them. If someone loses your business card it sure would be nice if they could just go online and look up your company to get the contact information that way. (hint, hint).

You do need to make sure that you at least have an about us page that explains your company's history, and a page describing your company's services or products. And you can't forget to have a contact page which gives every possible way of contacting your company. Without these three pages, your site will fail.

Don't jump in just yet... you need a design for your site that stands out and sets you apart from your competitors. So, start checking out your competitors sites for an idea of structure and design and call up a designer to get you some layout ideas. Remember, BRAND BRAND BRAND.

Your text (body copy) needs to set you apart as well. It needs to hook the clients from the get go. Get a great copywriter on your team. It's sure to bring in plenty of surfers and keep them on your site for longer that a few seconds.

Get a good team together and do your research! That's the start of a good website.

INTERVIEW WITH ALAN COHEN, COMPUTER PRO (A MUST READ FOR BUSINESS OWNERS)

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:02:00 GMT

INTERVIEW WITH ALAN COHEN, COMPUTER PRO

INTERVIEWED BY ANNA DALEA, ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS

KEEPING YOUR BUSINESS SECURE-- TIPS FOR THE INTERNET USERS

1. YOU ARE A COMPUTER REPAIR TECHNICIAN, BUT WHAT IS YOUR SPECIALTY?

I work with small businesses and home based users. I trouble shoot system issues; set up small networks both wired and wireless. I am an Apple Business Agent so I work with both PC and Mac issues. I sell both PC and Mac solutions. I also help my customers with security issues.

2. YOU'RE INVOLVED WITH INTERNET SECURITY AND FORENSICS. WHAT IS A MAJOR CONCERN, RIGHT NOW, REGARDING IDENTITY THEFT AND THE INTERNET?

People need to realize that this is the number one crime right now. They need to take active steps to insure both their data and their personal information is secure. It is very easy to transmit this information without a person even knowing it. One easy and very important step is to exit then re-start your browser after completing a secure transaction.

3. WHAT IS SPAMMING AND PHISHING, AND HOW CAN WEBSITE OWNERS AVOID BECOMING VICTIMS OF THESE SPAMMERS/PHISHERS?

Spam is a form of advertising. If you have an email address you get spam. It is a very inexpensive way for business to send out their advertisements. Phishers are criminals, they are attempting to fool the reader into believing their phony web site is legit. For example you may receive a letter from your bank stating your account has been suspended and you need to follow the link enclosed in the email in order to reactivate it. You are directed to your banks website; but it is really not your banks site. You then enter your personal information which is sent immediately. Your information is then sold or sometimes even given away to establish the authenticity of the thief's collection of information.

4. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS FOR THE READERS ON HOW TO KEEP THEIR EMAIL FROM GETTING SPAM?

You can set up a separate email address that you can give out easily while your main address is protected. One service such as " pobox.com" allows a user to have different email addresses while forwarding them to your main address; this way you can terminate each account as it begins to receive to many spams. You can also use a free service such as http://www.spamgourmet.com/ that will allow you to create disposable email addresses that will only work for the amount of times you specify.

5. WHAT ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE TO SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS WHO ARE CONCERNED WITH IDENTITY THEFT AND INTERNET SECURITY?

Secure your wireless connections. Subscribe to some form of credit monitoring service. Consult with your IT Professional to make sure your system is free from viruses and spy ware. If you give your employees access to your network; if you terminate them make sure you lock them out of the network either before you give them their walking papers or the second after.

6. WHAT HAS BEEN THE SCARIEST THING YOU HAVE FOUND DURING YOUR INVESTIGATIONS?

Ex-employees tend to get very angry when they are asked to leave. The more access they have to a business persons computer the more damage they can do. I have seen computers hijacked, porn sites set up on servers and that is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

7. IS THERE ANY WAY TO SETUP OUTLOOK TO FILTER THE SPAM (EVEN THE SPAM THAT SEEMS TO GET THROUGH THE SPAM FILTER THAT'S AUTOMATICALLY IMPLEMENTED)?

Filters can be set up but spammers have ways to spell things so they will get through the filters. You can try to list all possible spelling combinations and add rules as new types of spam gets though.

8. YOU OFFER IDENTITY THEFT SOLUTIONS TO ANYONE WHO WANTS PROTECTION. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE PROGRAM AND GIVE A LINK FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM?

The service I offer is called Identity Theft Shield; it is a product offered by Pre-Paid Legal. This service not only monitors your Social Security number but helps you if your should have a problem. Those interested can go to www.alan007.com for additional information.

9. IF YOU BECOME A VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STEPS YOU NEED TO TAKE TO RESOLVE THE ISSUE?

File a police report. Get in touch with your credit card companies and let them know what is going on. Put a Fraud alert on you Social Security number and get ready to spend hours dealing with problems that surface.

10. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE MY READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR SERVICES THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY ASKED YOU?

They can feel free to contact me should they have any questions by sending me an email at acohen@pobox.com or by calling me directly at 805-445-7558

Link Checking

ANNA DALEA — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:06:00 GMT

LINK CHECKER

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

Sure, you may be able to create a great looking website, but what happens after you have 10 or more pages uploaded to your hosting server and no traffic is hitting your site? Your broken links could be preventing search engine bots from finding the information on your site.

Use this Link Checker to make sure that all of your links are perfect so that there are no barriers between your site and the world wide web.

Fast Link Checker searches allpages of your site for broken links and gives you a detailed report for each broken link that was discovered. It checks links to all the pages (internal and external), availability of images, scripts, style sheets and other objects linked to pages.

If it finds a broken link, it shows its position in the document, its cause, why itdoes not work and offers a hint describing how it can be fixed.

POP UPS FOR YOUR SITE

ANNA DALEA — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:54:00 GMT

POP-UPS FOR YOUR SITE

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

EasyAttention.com takes the nuissance factor out of pop-ups and gives pop-ups a more sophisticated, upbeat feel. You can get a free trial on their site. Check out their cool designs! It's not like the usual jiggly annoying popup design. It doesn't jiggle or float all over the page.

link popularity

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:36:00 GMT

LINK POPULARITY

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

How many websites are linking to yours? Did you know that this is an extremely important factor in search engine optimization? The more websites link to yours the more "popular" you become! That's right... this means that you'll climb the ranks much faster if you're popular.

How can you tell who is linking to your website? Easy!!! Use a link popularity checker to determine which websites are linking to yours.

Hardly have anyone linking to your site? Need to get some quality links? Here's some suggestions:

These are the steps you must follow for a successful link exchange campaign. You never want a one-sided campaign... to be fair and to get quality links to your site, you must usually give a little as well.

Create a Links page on your site, where you can place links to all the sites that link to you. Make sure to provide clear instructions on how to link to you, including the exact HTML code you want your link partners to use.
Download the Google toolbar: The Page Rank feature will help you determine if the site you want a link from has a good page rank on Google. To download the Google toolbar, go to http://toolbar.google.com and follow the instructions.
Go to the major search engines and search for your target keywords (the words you think people will use to find sites like yours). Click on each of the results and see if the site:

a. Is complementary (non-competitive) with your site

b. Has a good Page Rank

c. Has a links page.

If it does, put it on your list of selected sites.

Write to the webmasters of the selected sites and ask them for a link exchange, following these guidelines:
1. Place a link to them on your own site before contacting them.
2. Start your letter by explaining the nature of your site, how does it relate to theirs, and how both would benefit from the exchange.
3. Give them the URL of your links page, so they can see their link and make sure that their link information is OK. The fact that they see their link on your site will make them more inclined to reciprocate.
4. Give them the exact HTML code that they should use to link to you. By all means, include your main keywords in the link text since that will give you a boost with the search engines. For example, if you own a pet supplies store called Petmart, and assuming that your main keywords are "pet supply store", it is better to make the link text: Petmart - The Pet Supply Super Store, instead of just Petmart.

Another way to find suitable link partners is by finding out who is linking to your competitors. You can use a free tool like the one in http://www.bcentral.com/products/link_finder.asp. Just type the URL of your competitor and you will get a list of sites that link to them. Write to the webmasters of those sites and ask for a link.

Do you have sites that you are already thinking of getting a link from their website? Before you do it, use this link appeal tool to "calculate the desirability rating of having a link on the url you specify. This calculation includes factors such as PageRank, number of outbound links and the overall percentage of links to html. It is intended as a guideline for evaluating whether you should ask for a link on a certain page or not."

WARNING! Do not use the scams that say that they will give you hundreds of links to your site for a fee etc...you need QUALITY links...not quantity. What is a quality link? A quality link is a website who is in your field of expertise. For example, if you're a web design company you would want to get links from web design online magazines (eZines, etc), web design blogs and forums, hosting companies, Search engine optimization companies, domain providers, etc. Anywhere that there will be "surfers" who are already in the market for similar sites.

search position checker

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:34:00 GMT

SEARCH POSITION CHECKER

For all of you who wonder where your website falls within a search, you can use this tool to find out. Specify and check if your URL appears in the first 50 results for your chosen keywords. If the URL is present, it will output what position it occupies. As an additional feature, the tool also informs you if any other URLs from your domain appear in the search results.

The tool queries the following engines: Altavista, Excite, Google, Yahoo, HotBot, MSN, WiseNut, All the Web, and Teoma.

This tool is useful for those of you who are trying to build an SEO campaign. This tool is key for search engine optimization as you will want to constantly check to see where you rank over the span of months. The average time that it takes to start seeing results with SEO campaigns is roughly 3 months. Keep in mind, depending on your keywords and content, as well as the topic of your site, some sites will naturally do better than others. SEO takes time... so don't be surprised when your search position is not as high up as you'd have hoped. There are a lot of factors that go into search engine placement.

Anna Dalea
ERT Website Solutions

Keyword Density

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:31:00 GMT

Keyword Density

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

Keyword Density is an extremely important factor when creating a website. Search Engine "surfers" will be using those keywords to find your page. Here are some examples of where to use your keywords and what NOT to do:

1) Use your keywords at TEXT not pictures. For example use the keywords as the headings on your pages, page titles(example: Custom Web Design | ERT Website Solutions), file names (Custom-Web-Design.html), links to other pages on your site (http://www.websitenameHERE.com/keyword.html), and sprinkled throughout your body copy. Also, use the keyword in diagrams, etc that are shown on the page.

2) Warning, do not use keywords to saturate your page... it should look natural, flow throughout the script and not look as though you're trying to get to #1 on google by plastering your page with unneccesary keyword usage.

3) Make sure to put your keywords in the meta tag "keywords" and "descripions" just in case.

4) For assistance, you can use this Keyword Research Tool . Research appropriate words and phrases to include in your webpage's body text to aid in promotion.

5) You can also use this Keyword Analysis Tool (Density Checker) to let you know what words are used, and how many times they are used. This should be helpful, especially when you can use the outcome from this tool to compare against your competitors keyword density. My suggestion: Run their website as well to get their density status... make sure that you are close to what they have...but DO NOT go to the extreme. If their density is a 10 keep withing +/- 5 just to be safe so that it doesn't look like you're trying to cheat the system.

6) Here is a great tool that will help you create Meta Tags for your pages. Meta Tag Generator

This is the first step in creating a powerful site... knowing what keywords are strong and that will benefit your site. Without powerful and unique keywords, say goodbye to strong rankings.

CSS Menu Generator

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:24:00 GMT

CSS Menu Generator

by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions
Here is an easy way to create an interactive menu for the novice web designer: click here for the generator.

However, make sure that you put the code into a cell within a table to keep it contained and in the appropriate spot. This is only for vertical menu's... however, it's an easy way to add a menu to your site. This is helpful if you do not have a program that can create buttons for a menu, such as Photoshop. This generator has many different styles and interactivity in it's design. So have fun!

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES SEE MY WEBSITE?

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:39:00 GMT

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES SEE MY WEBSITE?

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

As we know, search engines are the avenue through which people all around the world will find our websites. These people will type in the words that describe what they're looking for on the web, and the search engine "spiders" will scour the internet in search of web pages with those "keywords".

Keyword density is extremely important in search engine optimization. Keyword density means that the "keywords" (words that we believe are the ones that truely describe our website, in a nutshell) that will be a good representation of what the web surfers are looking for will be properly distributed throughout the text of the web page. For example, if your keyword is "green apples" then it should be distributed evenly throughout the web page. There is NO set number for keyword density as everyones sites will be different. Therefore, you must research the keyword density of your competitors that have the same keywords to see what their density is and either match or beat it. However, DO NOT....I REPEAT...DO NOT enter in excessive amounts of that keyword. If your competitors show a keyword density of 10 do not exceed this number by more than 5 or so...otherwise Google may consider it as a flooding technique and boot you out of the listings or ban you all together. [See my article on Keyword Density for more information]

Search Engine spiders see your website in a completely different way. They are concerned with WORDS only... not pictures really. So when they go to your site they read word for word what you have there. To see your website as a Search Engine Spider click here.

WYSIWYG

ANNA DALEA — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:22:00 GMT

WYSIWYG

By Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

WYSIWYG means: An acronym for "What You See Is What You Get". A WYSIWYG program is one that allows you to create and edit a web page, text, or graphical user interface so that you can see what the end result will look like while the webpage document is being created. WYSIWYG web page editors conceal the markup language (HTML) so as to allow the user to think entirely in terms of how the page should appear. Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe PageMill are two common WYSIWYG editors.

WYSIWYG relies on the visual aspect only. One such editor is Adobe Contribute CS3 (currently). Any professional web designer will use either hard coding methods or editing programs that produce both the code and visual aspects and allow for publish/previewing (such as Dreamweaver).

Normally, after creating a web design in Dreamweaver or hard coding in HTML, JavaScript or CSS, if the clients choose to maintain and update their website themselves, I will have to determine their level of competance with computer coding. If they understand or can find their way around HTML coding, I will suggest using CoffeeCup HTML Editor in which they can view code and visual aspects of their website. If they do not understand coding, however, they should use Adobe Contribute to edit the visual aspect only. This means that the website has to be set up with the competance of the client in mind so that the visual aspect will be easy enough to maintain.

INTERVIEW WITH BILL MUELLER, DATA STREET INTERNET SYSTEMS

ANNA DALEA — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 04:11:00 GMT

TOPIC: ADVICE FOR HOSTING YOUR WEBSITE

INTERVIEW WITH: Bill Mueller, Data Street (Hosting Services)

INTERVIEWED BY: Anna Dalea, owner of ERT Website Solutions

1. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN BUSINESS?
A: We have been in business for 11 years.

2. CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR COMPANY AND ITS SERVICES?
A: Datastreet Internet Systems was founded in 1996 as an Internet Hosting and IT consulting company. We currently have two data centers. Our primary data center is located in downtown Los Angeles adjacent to the One Wilshire collocation center. Our second is at our corporate office here in Westlake.

Our services include all aspects of Internet hosting, from basic websites and e-mail to custom dedicated servers, applications and a wide range of secure off site data storage solutions. We work with clients from the concept phase of a site or complex web applications through beta testing and production releases. We complement all of this by also providing full service IT support which includes network design, installations and comprehensive troubleshooting.

3. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PRIVATE HOSTING COMPANY LIKE DATASTREET AND A LARGE WELL-KNOWN COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANY LIKE GODADDY?
A: It’s very difficult to compare Datastreet with larger hosting providers as we target completely different markets. For example, Go Daddy and the other “Big Guys” focus on gaining massive amounts of generic low-end hosting contracts with the goal of capturing as much market share as they can. Datastreet, on the other hand, concentrates on clients requiring a more customized platform for their hosting and IT needs. We are by no means the cheapest provider out there, but we are arguably the best.

Having been in the business for over 10 years, we credit our longevity and success to fast, reliable, personalized service at a fair price.

4. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS DON'T TEND TO HAVE IN-DEPTH WEBSITES AND LARGE FILE SIZES IN MY EXPERIENCE. WHAT IS THE AVERAGE BANDWIDTH, HD SPACE AND EMAIL ADDRESS USAGE, FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE? (TO GIVE THE READERS AN IDEA)
A: You’re absolutely right. Most small businesses have basic, informative static websites that don’t have high bandwidth or large disk space requirements. The average small business will only utilize about 50 to 200 Megabytes of disk storage and anywhere from 250MB to 1GB of transfer a month depending on the site. These are all nominal numbers in hosting. Most data transfer in small business comes in the form of e-mail.

5. WHAT DOES DATASTREET OFFER THAT LARGER COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANIES FAIL TO PROVIDE THE CLIENT WITH?
A: In a nutshell, we can facilitate virtually all hosting and IT requirements with an emphasis on personalized service. Sure, Datastreet offers all of the services as the larger companies, but being much smaller allows us to stay focused on our clients and their needs. Whether it’s helping troubleshoot a simple coding problem or helping set up a new e-mail on their computer, we concentrate in going the extra mile with all of our customers. This philosophy has proved to be both financially successful and personally rewarding. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing one of our customers grow their companies. Many of these customers have been with us for over 10 years.

6. I KNOW IT'S AN ISSUE WITH MANY COMMERCIAL HOSTING COMPANIES TO "DESPERATELY HOLD ON" TO YOUR DOMAIN NAME TO TRY TO KEEP YOU AS A CLIENT. WHAT IS THE AVERAGE DOWN TIME A COMPANY MIGHT EXPERIENCE WHEN TRANSFERING THEIR DOMAIN NAME TO YOUR HOSTING COMPANY OR TO ANY HOSTING COMPANY FOR THAT MATTER?
A: As far as we are concerned, there would be no down time at all. If a customer expresses the desire to host with Datastreet, we would set up all the back end DNS settings and website accounts in anticipation of the transfer. Once a copy of the website is uploaded to our servers and the DNS search order is changed with the registrar, the website will automatically pick up on our servers when the DNS refreshes. It’s important to remember to keep the website running on both hosts until all DNS servers worldwide have had a chance to refresh, which would be about 24 to 48 hours.

Here’s another very important tip for your readers. ALWAYS register your domain name with a reputable registrar making sure your name and/or company name is the sole owner of the Domain you are registering. A reputable registrar will provide you with a username and password for your account along with the ability to modify your account any way you see fit. When it comes to Domain registrations, we always recommend Network Solutions, Register.com or Go Daddy.

7. HOSTING IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT TO HAVING A WEBSITE. DO YOU FIND THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE THEY NEED BOTH A DOMAIN NAME AND A HOSTING PROVIDER?
A: The majority of folks we work with are way too busy focusing on their own companies to have the time to understand all of the components necessary in making a website hosting project successful. That’s what we’re here for, right! 

8. WHY, IN YOUR OPINION, IS IT NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SKIMP ON WHICH HOSTING COMPANY YOU USE?
A: Your website is the most available, dynamic marketing tool in any businesses arsenal. The availability of your website says a lot about your company. Is that really something that you should trust to the lowest bidder? Always choose a provider that can prove a 99%+ uptime report for a period of over a year. Datastreet’s can be found at http://www.webhostingstuff.com/uptime/Datastreet.html.

9. AT WHAT POINT DO YOU SAY "THAT'S TOO EXPENSIVE" FOR HOSTING? IS THERE A PRICE THAT YOU FEEL IS WAY TOO OVER-THE-TOP? COULD YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF MAXIMUM PAYMENTS FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS TO LARGE BUSINESS OWNERS WHO USE SOFTWARE ON THE SERVERS?
A: No one should ever pay more than $25/mo for basic hosting. More elaborate plans that include database functionality, shopping carts, etc. will obviously cost more. It’s difficult to give a maximum number because each customer’s requirements vary from another’s. For example, we host a travel agency website and have been for over 9 years. When they started out, they had one basic static website. Over the years they have evolved to a full service agency that books travel online, similar to Expedia or Orbitz. Their service now spans numerous dedicated servers in multiple data centers costing a few thousand dollars a month. On the other hand we have been hosting another customer for over 10 years and their needs have never changed. If you’re not seeing value for your investment, you’re probably overpaying.

10. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE MY READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR COMPANY OR YOUR SERVICES THAT I HAVEN'T ALREADY ASKED YOU?
A: Well, you covered quite a bit. Just remember when searching for a hosting provider, make sure you are dealing with a reputable company that can offer you all the services necessary to make your business successful. Don’t shop based on price alone because you’ll most likely be disappointed. If anyone has any other questions about Datastreet’s offerings or questions in general, we’d love to hear from you.

Bill Mueller
DataStreet
www.datastreet.net
818-735-0142
wmueller@datastreet.net

CREATING POP-UP WINDOWS

ANNA DALEA — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:45:00 GMT

CREATING POP-UP WINDOWS

by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

I don't know about you, but I sure do get annoyed at the automatic popups that block what i'm trying to see on the screen. I do like the totally UNANNOYING popups that you can create so that when someone clicks on a link it opens up a smaller window, just big enough for the info you want them to see or sign up for. Here's how you do it:

On the page that you're link is on that you would like someone to click on that in turn opens a new SMALL "popup" window, insert this code:

<a href="sub_services/customer_service.html" target="_blank" onclick="NewWindow(this.href,'name','550','550','yes');return false">Customer Service</a>

1) Change the string "sub_services/customer_service.html" to the path of the small window you want people to see. NOTE: It helps if you know the width and height of your SMALL page ahead of time.

2) Then just change the '500','500' to the width and height that you desire.

3) Lastly, change the words "customer service" to what you want to appear as the link. You can also insert a picture here as well... it just turns it into a link.

Have fun!

ADDING TABS & ROLLOVERS TO YOUR DESIGNS

ANNA DALEA — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 20:30:00 GMT

ADDING TABS & ROLLOVERS TO YOUR DESIGNS

by Anna Dalea, ERT Website Solutions

I don't know about you, but i'm tired of seeing the old and outdated websites that use html links to get from page to page as their main navigation. Now-a-days, people like interactive content. One of the easiest way to implement interactive content onto your site is with tabs and rollover effects.

These are easy to implement with Dreamweaver... however if you're doing it the old fashioned (coding) way, you just need to know how to code it. I'll give you the code here:

First of all, you need to create your tabs in Photoshop (or other graphics application). For example, you would create a tab in medium-blue with the words "Home Page" on it... save it as "home.gif" then change the tab color to a light-blue ad perhaps change the color of the words "home page" (instead of Black use a gun-metal grey). Then save that second tab as "home_over.gif".

Now that you have two different versions of the same button... we will code it so that when the viewer rolls over the button with their mouse it will toggle between medium-blue with black text to a light-blue with grey text. This will show "interaction" and make your viewers think that you're site has been upgraded and is keeping up with competitors.

Now the only thing you have to do is implement it with the code: (this is example code from my website, ERT Website Solutions, that was made using dreamweaver)

<a href="index.html" onmouseout="MM_swapImgRestore()" onmouseover="MM_swapImage('homebutton','','images/homebtn_over.png',1)"><img src="images/homebtn.png" name="homebutton" width="145" height="40" border="0" id="homebutton" /></a>

        1) In the first string the only info you change will be "index.html" to whatever the path & page is that you're
               editing.
        2) Now, change the name "homebutton" to what you want to call the button for your page.
        3) Now, change the path for your "over" button and the name of the "over" image.
        4) Then you'll change the image src path to the name of your button and change the name of the button
               again to whatever you changed it to in step 2.
        5) Don't forget to change the width and height to accomodate the width and height of your images.
        6) Lastly, change the id name for the button just like in step 2.

I know it seems like a lot.. but practice and it will get easier! I promise.