Tis the season to pull out the pencils, calculators and spreadsheets, time to sit down and start planning out your 2010 online marketing budget. I know, I know, it's never fun and everyone is dreading it, but it's something that needs to be done. Wondering where to start? SEO, PPC, social media, email blasts, website updates, banner ads, links, directory submission…the list is endless when it comes to Internet marketing options. So what is right for your company? The easy answer is to spend it where you get the most return; the more difficult answer is what will bring the most return. But, first things first, take a look at your existing website. Are there broken links, outdated information, clunky copy or poor design? If so that needs to be the first thing in your online marketing budget. There is little point in driving people to your site if your site is in need of an upgrade. Click here for a free website evaluation. Now let’s see how much you are paying per visi... [More]

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" or un-paid ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results as opposed to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which deals with paid inclusion." - Wikipedia. In English please... Search Engine Optimization is the process of getting your website listed higher in search engines without paying for placement. It seems that in today's world anybody with a little bit of internet knowledge thinks that they can be an SEO Specialist: insert keywords here, submit site to search engines and wa-la instant SEO. Unfortunately it's not so easy; and neither is deciphering the legitimate SEO companies from the fly-by-nighters. Avoid these 5 SEO tricks and you will be on your way to a better ranked website without risking damage to your site or your reputation. 1. “We can successfully have your rankings increased within 48 hours!” SEO is a time consuming proces... [More]

More specifically - the importance of web standards. It's a big subject in the field of web design, and not an easy one to explain. There's a chance I should be picking something a little easier to start this off with, but what the heck, let's just jump right in, both feet! A Look Back The phrase "web standards" - or "standards-based design", or a number of other, similar, variations - refers to websites built in accordance with the W3C HTML and CSS rules. The W3C is an organization - possibly closer to a confederation - of designers, internet guru-type, and professionals in the field. Established in 1994, it had - and still has - the single goal of establishing a standard, usable, nonpartisan set of rules and regulation for website code. With the so-called Browser Wars just getting started at the time, there was a lot of need for an entity like this. Let's back up a minute. Let's step back even away from the web itself, and look at computing in the mid to late eighties. Yeah, I don... [More]