MH1 Web Design Blog

by Chris Crum for WebProNews

The More Things Change…

Google is traditionally the main area of focus when it comes to search engine optimization. With the search engine giant so far ahead of the game in terms of search market share, it’s not hard to understand why.

Search is changing though, and there are always new elements coming into play. Since social media has come into its own, more opportunities and questions have come along with it. Now Microsoft is going for Google’s throat with a new search engine and an aggressive marketing campaign. What this means for the future of search market share is yet to be determined, but there’s no denying Bing is capturing some attention, and that means there are people searching with it.

SEO for Bing

Microsoft’s stance on search engine optimization really doesn’t appear to be all that different from Google’s. You’re not going to get the same results on both Google and Bing in many cases, but that is after all why the two can co-exist. The real difference is in how the results are presented, and not as much in how the two determine quality and relevancy.

 Read the full article here

by Mike Hallaron, Mh1 Web Design

Building and launching your company Web site is only half the battle. If no one can find your site using search engine giants Google and Yahoo, then you will have a hard time seeing results and increased sales from the site. We have discussed meta tags called keywords in several posts here before, so I’ll assume you understand how important they are to how your site ranks in Google and Yahoo.

Early in the Web site design process, when we are defining goals and site architecture, I highly recommend that you visit Google AdWords and spend some time with their free keyword tool, refining your keywords and key phrases. Located at https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal this tool takes seconds to use. Simply type in relevant keywords or phrases that describe your business services and products and the tool generates a list of related terms showing how many times these keywords or phrases were actually searched on Google last month. It’s gold!

This is an invaluable tool. It will help clear up subtelties between plural and singular forms of words and the most effective combination of words in your search phrases, such as “furniture houston tx” or “houston furniture” or “furniture stores in houston”. Many times we assume we know our keywords but this terrific tool provides real world data to steer you in the right direction when selecting these crucial search engine marketing nuggets.

We use the same tool with our sites and usually when selecting clients’ keywords and phrases. The tool is useful for tweaking your keywords if your site is not ranking as highly as you want. Try alternatives and variations and update your site on a regular basis to keep content and meta tags accurate, timely and fresh.

 Learn more: http://www.getelastic.com/google-keyword-research-tips/

Whether your internet marketing strategy utilizes websites, blogs, article marketing or press releases correctly using keywords is an absolute must.

Anyone involved in an online business will tell you their marketing efforts are dramatically reduced if they haven’t optimized their published content correctly with the right keywords.

Keyword optimization is a very integral component of an effective online marketing strategy.

The proper keyword optimization of content helps anyone searching for information like yours to easily find it. Done correctly and you’ll be rewarded with a higher ranking in the search results. The manner in which you use keywords within your content will make or break you in the search engine rankings. A low search engine ranking will make you virtually invisible to anyone searching for content like yours.

Search engines rely heavily on keywords to accurately identify and rank sites found on the internet for people searching for the content that these sites contain. Under or over utilizing keywords will only hurt the ranking of the site giving it a very weak showing in any search results.

There are 3 areas of focus you’ll need to be concerned with to correctly utilize keywords within your content. By doing so you’ll gain the favor of the search engines and also quite a bit more traffic to your site.

Let’s discuss these 3 important areas of keyword optimization below:

ACCURACY

Any keywords you select to use should be relevant to the content itself. Search engines are very strict about this and will bury you in the search results if they feel your keyword selection doesn’t reflect the content. When people search keywords on the internet they’re expecting to find information directly related to the words they are searching on. Search engines for their part want to insure that people using their search engine find what it is they’re looking for.

POSITIONING

Another factor to be considered when using keywords is the placement of these words within the content itself. For instance it is recommended to use keywords in the title of your content when you can. Even within the title it is better to place the selected word or phrase at the title beginning if at all possible. Again you must remember that these keywords must accurately describe, reflect, or relate to the content within.

Another consideration is to place your primary keyword at the beginning and the end of the body of content you’re performing the keyword optimization on. Additional theme keywords should be used conservatively thru out the content when their use makes grammatical sense.

FREQUENCY

Here’s an area where some people may have a tendency to get carried away. In an attempt to gain the attention of search engines some may overuse their selected keywords throughout the content. Keyword ’stuffing’ as this is known is frowned upon by search engines as a deliberate attempt to gain higher search rankings. Search engines discourage this by penalizing you with a lower search engine ranking.

Opinions vary on what is the right percentage of keywords to use within the content that will maximize your optimization efforts while avoiding penalties. Generally any keyword usage between 2 and 5 percent of the total body of content is considered safe. A free keyword density tool you can use online to check your content can be found at live-keyword-analysis.

Always remember to use your selected words in a natural way within the body of your content since you’re writing for the reader and not the search engine. So before you hit the ’submit’ bottom proof-read your work to ensure it reads like a human wrote it and not some cyborg.

Proper keyword placement and utilization is almost always at the core of any successful internet marketing strategy. Thru the correct implementation of this online marketing technique you will increase your search rankings thereby boosting the awareness of your online presence. Whatever your reasons for being online may be, if you’re looking to boost your traffic this is one of the most effective and fundamental ways to achieve that!

TJ Philpott is an author and Internet entrepreneur based out of North Carolina. For additional online success tips and a free guide that demonstrates how to find both profitable markets and products visit: http://blogbrawn.com.

by Mike Hallaron,
MH1 Web Design

The ubiquitous company logo is a sticky subject for many companies, but I hope to simplify the issue. As a young advertising salesman in the 1980s, I was taught that when designing an advertisement layout, forget the logo unless your company is Coca Cola or McDonald’s. In other words, only use a logo if it’s instantly recognizable across corporate America. Well that advice was misleading and a dramatic overstatement. While it is true that smaller companies logos are not as well-known, it is more important in the web design world of the new millennia than the newspaper/magazine ad world of the 1980s. Your Web site probably needs a logo. The trick is in the design and usage.

Designing a company logo is best left to a professional designer. Too many small business owners attempt it themselves with disastrous results. A professional graphic designer or Web designer will have the proper software, knowledge of marketing and design techniques as well as technical proficiency with print and Web file formats, not to mention artistic talent. Logo design and in a broader sense graphic design often suffers the same fate as people who think they have a lovely singing voice after two glasses of wine in a Karaoke bar. If you know you can’t sing – don’t. The same is true for creating your own logo. Your business is serious. Invest some dollars in your logo design. Unlike the logo advice I received over two decades ago, a recognizable logo is important in identifying your company and your Web site.. even for small and mid-sized companies.

Veteran British Web design guru Paul Hoskins offers these guidelines about creating a company logo:

• Make sure your logo works offline in print media as well as online. Your designer should use a vector art program such as Adobe Illustrator so the logo can be optimized properly for print as well as Web media.
• Avoid special effects such as drop shadows and beveling. These make your logo look outdated and amateurish. They can also wreck your logo when used against different contrasting backgrounds and colors.
• Stick with a clear, clean design, avoid being too clever. Most people will not get it. Use only two to four colors and experiment with you logo on white and black backgrounds. Tell your designer you want to see it both ways.
• Show the design to friends and colleagues and get their opinions. But remember, their comments are only opinions. Feedback is important.

Designing a logo for the Web

The Internet relies on much smaller, simpler versions of image files including logos. Images are composed for color computer monitors and optimized as jpeg, gif or png files. These files are much smaller with far less resolution than their print-bound counterparts. Your designer should build your original logo files using high resolution, large file size vector art software. The final “print” format may be a TIFF. These large print files can be scaled down in Adobe Photoshop for manageable use on the Web. Photoshop converts the large TIFF file into a smaller Web-friendly jpeg or gif. When the design job is finished, you should receive a CD of various versions of your final logo for print and Web use.

When designing your Web site, it’s best to place your logo in the upper left. Statistics show that 85% of Web sites do the same, so visitors are accustomed to seeing the company brand here and identifying pages within your Web site the same way. Make sure to keep your logo in place within your masthead or header on every page. It does not need to be very large – certainly no more than 100 pixels high. Site visitors do not spend time studying or even considering your logo. They are too busy looking for relevant content.

Don’t forget that many companies use only type or words in their logos, too. The Nike swoosh or other artistic shapes and images don’t always work for every company. Dell Computer is a great example of a company logo that only uses letters. Of course the font, color and other typography attributes are standardized so the logo always appears the same. Uniformity is the key.

Follow these basic logo guidelines and your Web site will look more professional. And your online and print marketing efforts will match giving your company a polished appearance.

Some notable examples

www.apple.com

www.hp.com

www.windows.com

www.shell.com

by Derek Gehl

What do people who’ve actually purchased and used your product or service think about it? Answering that question is one of the most fundamental tasks your website needs to accomplish–and it’s as simple to do as it is important.

By using testimonials (reviews and comments from your satisfied customers) in text, audio or video format on your website, you not only answer the question, you also transform your sales pitch into a credible, unbiased recommendation for your product.

Overcome Buyer Skepticism

Adding testimonials is probably one of the easiest ways to improve your website, and a good one can generate more selling power than some of the best sales copy out there.

• Testimonials build trust. Whether your customers are raving about what your product has done for them or about the great service you gave, they’re telling your visitors first and foremost that they had a positive experience with your products and company.
• Testimonials aren’t “salesy.” Because testimonials aren’t written in your “voice,” they stand out in your copy as candid and unbiased accounts of how well your product works.
• Testimonials overcome skepticism. A good testimonial has the power to convince even your “tough sell” visitors that your product or service really made a difference in your customer’s life–and can help them, too.

How to Choose the Right Testimonial
What makes this testimonial so powerful? Let’s break down the elements of an effective testimonial in more detail:

• A good testimonial is filled with benefits. A comment like, “This product is great!” is nice to hear, but it doesn’t tell visitors what your product can actually do for them.You want the benefits of what you offer to be front and center in every testimonial: “This product doubled our profits in a month!” or “This product made the pain in my back disappear completely–and did it fast!” or “We’ve never seen any product that could get the rust off our car without damaging the paint–until now.”
• A good testimonial substantiates your claims. If you say your product can do something, your testimonials should back up your promises, complete with actual facts and figures. How much money did your customers save by using your product? How much time did they save by using your service? How did it solve their problems or improve their lives?
• A good testimonial is from someone your audience can relate to. You want your visitors to see that your product helped someone just like them. Make sure your testimonials come from someone with whom your target market can identify.
  If you sell primarily to seniors, for example, ask your customers if you can include their age along with the testimonial. If you’re selling to moms with children, ask if you can mention how many kids they have or include a photo of their family.
• A good testimonial is credible. Accompany each testimonial with the first name, last name and hometown of each testimonial-giver to show that your endorsements come from real people. Always try to include a photo as well.
• A good testimonial endorses the key benefits of your product. It’s fun to hear that your super-duper floor cleaner smells nice or that the bottle doesn’t drip–both things that matter to people who would consider using your product. But have you established that it cleans their floors well?
• A good testimonial is comparative. Did your customers try another product that didn’t work before they found yours? You want your visitors to know what your product can do that other products can’t. Choose testimonials that set your product apart from your competition.