Lettermen on SEO? "Top 10 Ways to Raise Your Google Ranking"
Still want to learn more about how to improve your Google site ranking? Read this "Top 10 Ways to Raise Your Google Ranking" article and you'll be well on your way to demystifying the art & science of search engine optimization.
I'll change subjects soon...promise.
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger
Lost at sea... "Organic Google findability"
Anyone that has run a website for any length of time, with the goal of finding new customers or increasing sales, sooner or later get's seriously concerned about being found by the search engines, Google in particular. I say Google in particular, because my own children talk about "googling" like it has always been part of our native tongue, and I don't know if they are even aware that there are other search engines out there at this point.
So, what is the secret? Do I need to spend $10,000 or more per year to get results, to capture key word first page ranking with Google? Well, many have, and it does work if you figure out how to do it or align yourself with a company or guru that performs that work for you for about that much per year, but isn't there a better way? I think so...or at least hope so in the long run, or the Internet will only work for the rich and richer.
My recommendation? Go organic. Just like the food you put in your body, organically "feeding" your website ought to be the healthier alternative in the long run. What does it mean? It means creating real content, real words & images, that appeal to the interests of your audience, and creating it in the kind of quality and volume that will get you on Google's radar. By using creative, keyword-dense, relavent content on your website you will safe guard your Google findability for the future, for just the cost of the keys on your keyboard.
I was encouraged today when a prospective client called me from California and said he found MyWebNControl on Google by using the keywords "multiple website" and "content management", and we ranked #3 on page one in the Google results. This reflects our core offering to customers quite precisely, as we deliver website hosting for multible websites or domains in a single account, along with an extremely flexible and user-friendly content management system. I like real results. I think I'll go eat an organic banana.
Till next time, don't feel lost at sea in this world of search engine optimization, go Organic & join us to learn more at our MyWebNControl Live training classes in 2008!
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger
Off the top of my head..."Leveraging Your Website"
My role as an IT or Web professional has evolved from just supporting business to actually enabling business on the Internet — a shift that has required me to transition my focus from a break/fix model to one of performance and value. Enabling business means that I need to also educate and guide clients in how they utilize the Internet. On the web, this means that customers are no longer (or shouldn't be) satisfied with just "having" a website (the typical one-shot static type especially), but are or should be "leveraging" their website to realize their business vision.
These thoughts have been running through my mind this past year, as I frequently encounter customers that are stuck in a rut with their website, not understanding how crucial it is to their success in business, nor accepting the fact that they are ultimately in control of the direction their website will go--for better or worse. This is particularly true in the world of content management systems like MyWebNControl, where customers are literally behind the wheel of their website, having been given the keys and having passed their "Web Driver's Ed" training.
Here's the tip part: I encourage you to take a long, hard look at your website, where it is today, and where you'd like it to be, and call or email me to help you brainstorm the direction it will go in the new year. I wish you great success on the Internet, and I want to help you achieve it in concrete ways!
Till next time, Happy New Year & join us for our MyWebNControl Live training classes in 2008!
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger
Today's tip..."Linking to Unpublished Pages"
Have a page of content that you want to show on your website, but not on your navigation menu? You can link to unlimited unpublished web pages in MyWebNControl, and here's the easy way to do it. Create the page (typically in a relative sub page or sub detail page hierarchy, temporarily publish the page, navigate to the page to display the URL in your browser, copy the URL, and finally paste that URL into a link that you create using text or images in the relevant spot on your website. Remember to unpublish the page so it no longer shows in your navigation menu too.
When is this useful? It's useful in many situations, for instance, if you have content relevant to a sub detail page, but you don't want to create a parallel sub detail page in your menu. Simply create the page at that level and link to it as an unpublished page. Another situation would be when you have some information that is not directly relevant to the core of your website and you don't want it to appear in your navigation menu, just create the page at the level you desire and link to it. Remember, the more pages on your website (published or unpublished) the better!
Till next time, keep publishing & unpublishing!
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger
User 101..."Shift Key"
Here's a quick hint for you today. When working in MyWebNControl , you'll notice that each time you hit the enter or return key you'll create a double space instead of a single, as you are accustomed to in a word processor. That's because the Advanced HTML Editor used in MyWebNControl is NOT a word processor, rather, it's more of a word transcriber. What I mean by that is every keystroke is being transcribed into HTML. For that reason, a carriage return (in the old vernacular) or enter key stroke produces a double space. It can really be frustrating for new users. The solution? Simply hold the shift key and hit the enter key when you want to create a single space. Voila!
Till next time, keep banging on that keyboard!
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger
In the beginning..."Gotta start somewhere."
First day at the HelpDesk Blog, the beginning of a broad effort to provide more support to our MyWebNControl users, providing you the tools and inspiration to build bigger & better websites. My hope with this Blog is to address very specific questions that we receive from our users so we can further expand our knowledge base and share valuable tips & tricks with each other. For general help we still suggest viewing our MyWebNControl Help Files.
First, some humor, contributed by Denny Howard, from a YouTube video he viewed. This should put HelpDesk requests in persepective and give you a good laugh at the same time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pyjRj3UMRM
Haven't heard of YouTube ? (me either until just recently, follow this link for the Wikipedia description) or go to their website http://www.youtube.com/ and check it out. It's basically a global (isn't everything on the Internet global?) video sharing website, with a rating system, founded just less than two years ago by three former PayPal employees who evidently hadn't made enough money yet, but now with their acquisition of YouTube by Google for $1.65 Billion (with a "B") they are likely sitting on a beach somewhere sipping something saucy. Watch for Jillian, our 13 year old, to be debuting her movies on YouTube next, and hopefully inventing something worth $1.65 Billion of her own someday (soon!).
Now, for today's helping of help. Some users have experienced problems sorting pages on their website, particularly when their total page count at any level of their website (Content, Sub, Detail) reaches double digits. Here's the key. Enter a two-digit numeric value to each page using the "Sort Web Page" feature found in MyWebNControl. This will give you the result you desire. The problem is that the computer doesn't recognize single digits (ie. "1", "2", "3"...) in sequence properly with digits like "10", "11", etc. Try "01, 02, 03...10, 11, 12, etc. and you'll succeed in accomplishing what you want in sorting your pages properly. For more help, go to our Help Files for web page sorting.
Till next time, content, content, content.
Jim Nelson, Internet Solutions, About the Blogger |
