Posts In Web Design & Development

Make Your Images Rank Well In Image Search!

Hi,

The prime aim of every website is to rank well in the search engine results. And to achieve this rigorous search engine optimization activities are performed. Apart from the regular strategies, one of the most effective way to get good rankings is to optimize the images on your website and blogs.

Image SEO involves optimizing the images that illustrate the posts on the blogs and that on your website. This ensures that you rank well on Google Image Search and get considerable traffic from there in addition to the organic traffic from search engines.

Here are some things you need to do to get started...

Make the page title and headline of your post correspond to the image. (Yeah... A better deal would be to use images that are highly relevant to the post you are writing or the contents of the web page)

The file names of the images should be highly descriptive so that search engine crawlers get a good idea about the contents.

Don't use images that don't have any connection with the contents of the text. That would be like talking about the Italian pastas and showing pictures of burgers. Both of them may be food items but they are certainly not irreplaceable.

Make sure the caption of the image is its descriptive summary. The caption is not where you explain the link to the post but where to tell visitors what the image is in simple and clear terms.

The image size should be at least 250*300 pixel.

Try to include your keywords and phrases in the name of the images.

Try to save the images in the .PNG format because they perform the best. But if not that you can use .JPG or .GIF in the same order.

Don't forget to include your keywords and phrases in the Alt attributes of the images.

So go ahead and prepare yourself for some additional traffic this time over!

Footers In Website Design

Hi,

Footers are an integral element of a website design. It is the region that constitutes the bottom or end region of the web pages. However, the footer spaces often go underutilized because designers fail to realize its full potential.

The footer is not just a place to fill in text about copyright policies and disclaimer. Rather, it is an important space that can be utilized to enhance the appeal and value of the website design.

Often it happens that the web page contains long scrolls of text which abruptly ends at the bottom of the page. This not only breaks the reading flow but also creates a dead-end feeling for the website visitors. This is where website footers come into play.

Footers to enhance Usability
Footers are an excellent tool to enhance the usability of a website. Footers can let your visitors have access to what they want next without having to scroll back up. Here are some essential elements of a footer.

Links of the main navigation.
Explanation of the website purpose, products and services etc.
Contact information
Logo
Copyright policies, disclaimer, privacy notice etc.

Apart from these essential elements, you can also seek to enhance your footer design by adding extra links. Here are some things you can add.

Link to the blog
Links to your social profiles on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter etc.
Sitemap
Testimonials

These are just a few ideas about making your footer more attractive and useful. You can obviously think of more things that will cater to your business better!

Why Do You Need To Have An 'Articles' Page?

Hi,

How many times have you entered a product name on Google in the quest to get some information about it and instead got a string of advertisements that offer the product for sale?

Quite often.. I am sure! But did you realize what had happened?

Before buying anything... people often search for more information about it online. Before they log on to a website and purchase it from there, they need to know more about the product and see if its really as good as they believe it is.

And good information can be promoted through articles!

Writing articles about your products and services is the best way you can offer information about them and tell your potential customers how they can benefit from the. Information about the product helps people decide if they should invest in it or not and how good will the investment be. If your articles are good enough, people will be convinced about the product or services and will definitely make a purchase from your website.

Internet users are an impatient lot. They don't like to hop from one place to another. If they get all they need from one place, there is no reason why they would stray. And if your website has great information about your products, they will definitely give you a sale.

All you need to do is talk to increase your revenue!

How to write good Articles?

One thing that needs to be kept in mind while writing articles is to use appropriate keywords. By using keywords in your articles, you will have higher chances to rank well in the search results. Use keywords that people are searching for and sprinkle them liberally over your articles. However, make sure you don't hamper its quality!

Create a Articles page on your website where you can upload all the articles and create a repository for the same. When search engine crawlers come to your website, they will index the keyword rich articles which would further boost your performance in search results.

There is nothing like writing articles. It offers dual advantage – marketing and search engine optimizing.

Therefore, during the web design and development process make sure that you create an exclusive page for Articles.

So... Happy writing!

How To Get A Great Deal For Web Design Services In The Recession Hit Times?

If I mention 'economic crunch' one more time... you'll probably shriek! Yeah... I know the term has been exploited much but the fact it is.. It is everywhere!! Tell me one thing that hasn't been effected by the economic calamity and subsequent recession and I bet you can't think of anything better than your backyard bush.

Well they say.. 'When things seem the worst, they probably can only get better!' So my optimism prevails. I'll tell you how...

SMEs, which comprise a major chunk of businesses in industries worldwide, have put on hold their expansion plans and are waiting to see how the market shapes up in the coming times. And meanwhile they are devising new strategies to reduce their costs and maintain their leaning profit margins. And their prime target is Marketing.

Well now.. marketing is a expensive (and expansive) affair. And it cannot even be done away with either. There has to be way where the power of marketing needs to be preserved at reduced costs.

Enter, Internet Marketing. It is the most cost effective way of marketing to your business on an global scale to an international audience. Companies are working aggressively to establish a strong web presence and get their websites listed on the top slots of search engine results. Increased visibility means more exposure which further translates into more revenue! Not only is internet marketing a powerful business strategy but is proves to be a very cost effective tool in these recession hit times.

So, if you don't already have an online presence, its high time you got one. All you need to do is find an efficient service provider who understands your business and would create a great online corporate face for it. In fact, you can hire the services of offshore vendors and make it an altogether profitable endeavor.

Offshore outsourcing gives you immense cost benefits at the same time also ensuring high quality of services. In fact, with the right kind of negotiation, you would even be able to great deal! Here are some tips...

Ask for Free Consultation
Before you go ahead with the project, ask the service providers for a consultation session. You can tell them about your company and business and what you need to achieve through your web presence. In turn, they will present you with their ideas and suggestions of how to go about achieving the same. This session will give you an insight into the service providers style of work and expertise. If you like it, go ahead... seal the deal. If you don't, move on!

Contract Prices
Examine various charging systems. While some service providers charge for the number of hours dedicated for project completion, others charge a lump sum depending on the size and complexity of the project. Look at what is a cheaper option for you and go ahead.

Request for Mock Ups
Ask the service providers to present a few samples or mock-ups of their work before you go ahead and sign the deal. This will give you an idea about the kind of work they do and what your potential website can look like.

Negotiate on Delivery Timings
Based on how soon or how long they take to complete the project, you can further negotiate the prices.

Package Deals
If you hire a professional web services company, they would be providing a range of web services like website design and development, website maintenance, search engine optimization and so on. And you can get a cheaper deal of you hire more than one service. They usually have package rates!

Election 2.0 – Is It A Reality?

Hi,

The 15th Indian General Election is just round the corner and political parties are campaigning in full swing, some even resorting to aggressive promoting measures by making use of Web 2.0 means.

Well, elections in the past was all about releasing a manifesto and campaigning to promote it among the citizens. However, in this age and era, plain campaigning is hardly enough. As technology advances and people become more tech-savvy, communication mediums need to change too.

That's why campaigners this time are relying heavily on web and mobile mediums to reach out to the audiences. In fact, web giant Google has acknowledged the enormity of the process and launched the Google India Election Centre in order to help Indian citizens with voting and other related aspects of the general elections.

Google has partnered with the Hindustan Times and dedicated the website for the comprehensive coverage of the General Elections and provide visitors with a range of tools that will help them acquire more information about the election process. The website, available in both English and Hindi will provide voters with the following provisions:

Confirmation of voter registration status
Find specific polling locations
Viewing of particular constituencies on a map
Access to news, blogs and videos about the elections
Evaluation of the status of development in their constituency across a range of indicators
Information about the background of MPs and other candidates

Considering the fact that one of the prime reasons of inadequacy of elections is ignorance, this website would be like a boon for voters. All the information contained in the website will enable voters to make an informed choice and

Just visit the website and select your constituency and you'll have access to all the information that you want to know. Apart from the current features, there are more tools to be added in the due course. So, just wait and watch!

Blogs Or Forums – What Do You Need On Your Website?

Hi,

Blogs or Forums?

What do I include on my website?

What will get more traffic?

This is one of the most common questions that is put forth by clients who become owners of a newly launched websites.

Blogs are a great way to communicate with your industry audience and carry out an informal dialogue with them. And Forums are a great place to exchange ideas with your audiences as well. Here are some points of similarities and differences between both of them.

How are they Similar?
Both blogs and forums are great mediums to interact with your niche audiences and prospective customers. You can not only exchange your ideas but also receive feedback, advice and suggestions from them. Internet users can comment on blog posts on blogs and on comments on the forums. One the whole, they help you exchange information and do some value addition for the yourself.

How are the Different?
Forums connect people. Users generally have to register themselves on the website in order to post comments. Forums are online communities that provide a platform for individuals to discuss a topic with one another. Users can access valuable information as well as connect with like minded people. Private messages are a important feature that lets users have personal conversations.

Blogs, on the other hand don't have a registration procedure. Users can just submit their names, email addresses and website URL if need be and post a comment on the particular post. Though other users would be able to view all comments and post their own, they aren't able to communicate privately.

SEO Advantages
If you are concerned with the search engine optimization of your website, a better bet would be to add a Blog rather than a Forum. This is because blogs can be optimized for search engines and help in enhancing online visibility.

The choice is totally yours. In fact you can have both blogs and forums on your website. Both of them will help you strike a good rapport with your audience. Just make sure you manage them well!

Internet & Recession

The economic recession has affected the global market and all the businesses are working towards to ensure a regular flow of running costs. Rather than thinking about expanding their profit margins, they are devising ways to fight the recession and ensure sustenance in the market SMEs constitute a major percentage of businesses in all industries and most of them have put a hold on the expansion plans and are waiting to see how the market shapes up during the phase of revising from the recession.

Cost cutting has become a fashion and trend of all the businesses these days. In any business, a considerable chunk of cost lies in marketing the services & products it offers. Marketing is a sustenance mechanism for a business and it cannot be stopped no matter what. Any turbulence in the marketing can make things even worse for that business.

Internet presence and marketing online is becoming more and more favorable as it is the most cost effective way of marketing to the global market as compared to hard marketing. Thus we can say that the businesses that offer services for website design, development and internet marketing will get new opportunities. Knowing this, more and more business based on the services model are venturing towards providing these services, which is increasing the competition for the present industry players.

Businesses that were relying on hard marketing and had never thought of Internet Marketing are now thinking about it and aggressively working on it in order to establish a strong online presence of their business on the World Wide Web and get their website listed on top slots of the search results of top search engines. Thus in my view, any business who has not promoted itself on the internet, it’s high time to do it. It's not only will create another medium for marketing but will prove to be a very cost effective tool in these hard times. Moreover, the internet presence of the business acts as a additional revenue channel.
If you are planning to promote your website on internet, then the following tips can prove to be helpful in finding a right service provider as well as getting the desired results: -

A. First, devote some time to think about relevant keywords that people may use to find a business like yours.

B. Make sure you have identified the geographical locations where you would like to promote your website. If your product or service is such that it can be shipped to any part of the world then you might prioritize the locations that can get you maximum business.

C. Internet Promotion can be classified as SEO, SEM and Email Marketing. Make sure that you have discussed in detail with your provider the differences between these to choose one, which will be best for your business.

Choosing a right Web Service provider
The choice of the right service provider goes a long way in determining the success of the project. If you select a provider who does not have the expertise then it might result into waste of your time & money. These days many service providers have realized the fact that Internet is becoming a prefered platform for marketing a business, as a result of which they have added “Internet Promotion” to the list of services they offer. And because they are new entrants in the field, they can afford to keep the costs low. Consequently, there is increased competition in the market and also increased number of cases where clients have ended up burning hands by having a less experienced provider to work for their website promotion. Cost will definitely be a factor in choosing a provider but it should not be at the cost of quality of the deliverables.