Is Your Online Content Well-Written?

Do you know what helps a web site gain top ranking spots? A site is not going to hold the top position due to its outstanding collection of photos or eye-catching design. The answer is very simple – well written content (good writing). Your site can achieve this by consistently having much better written content than the rest of the bunch.

Google’s top five pages receive majority of the traffic delivered due to the main searched keywords. Online users are able to find these sites because they have placed these keywords within the content of their sites. For example, if one of the most searched keywords is Web Design, placing this phrase on your homepage will attract majority of Google’s unique viewers.

A lot of web designers and site owners do not understand the importance of proper grammar and wording. Many believe that adding pictures, audio, and other types of web content is more valuable.

Top Content Success Features

• Content Relevance –Text should include frequent words that are associated with top searched keywords.
• Lists – Bullets and numeric format is commonly used for text.
• Paragraphs – Long groups of text may turn visitors away. Keep paragraphs to a minimum of 1-4 sentences.
• Spelling & Grammar – Errors are common on most sites. You can eliminate these errors by using Microsoft Word’s spell check.
• Updates – Written content should be updated on a regular basis. Keeping content fresh will draw more and more viewers. Updates can be made monthly, weekly, or even daily.

Recommendation: have your content reviewed by a professional writer or by someone who is good with words. Doing this will help eliminate any errors and the chance of running away your guests!

Also, we suggest that you update your web site on a regular in order to keep it new and innovative. Content Management Systems are very helpful when it comes to updating and placing written matter on websites.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

How Important is Site Tagging?

Search engine optimization professionals believe that the most effective ways to guarantee that a web site will appear on result pages of search engines is by using proper site tags. Pay-Per-Click campaigns and top keywords are just as important, but a web site’s HTML tags help search engine crawlers retrieve the most information.

A proper SEO plan involves well-written content. All content is very important for the user interface portion, as well as the HTML regarding the crawler-facing aspect. A web sites ranking depends greatly on the “behind the scenes” tagging that manages the page. No online visitor is able to see the HTML, but without it, users wouldn’t be able to view the site!

Site tagging is only successful when the correct HTML commands are place in the appropriate areas. Your hardest task will be deciding on what types of tags to use and what needs to be included.

Basic Tags

• Title
• Heading
• Meta Tags
• Body

A page should always include these particular tags. This is how a search engine finds a web site.

Title tags are by far the most important SEO tag for any web site. Placing the right keywords in a title tag can increase its efficiency. Search engine spiders and crawlers use title tags for determining the web page topic.

With the proper HTML tags, a company can inform a search engine a lot more about a site than the written content can tell it. There are many aspects to tagging a web site. The right strategy should be used to ensure that tags are as helpful as possible.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Why Use Electronic Mail?

Printing advertisements, writing and sending a stamped letter is old school marketing. With the incredible amount of Internet users, businesses are beginning to find new and innovative ways to use electronic mailing to their advantage. It’s FREE, prompt and more resourceful than other forms of communication.

Our community has become a lot more environment-friendly over the past two years. Families and businesses are looking for ways to not only save energy but to save money as well. As a result, electronic mail (also known as e-mail) has become very popular. It’s paperless and is absolutely free for anyone with Internet access.

A business should consider sending clients and potential customers advertisements through e-mail because:

• Messages can be sent to several individuals at one time. This way you don’t have to send out each message one by one.
• Key features, such as an address book, allow you to create groups with similar clients. This will help you target the individuals who are most likely to respond to each particular message.
• It is more reliable and confidential than other types of communication.
• E-mail messages can be personalized. Color, banners, and photos can all be used to add life to your content. Sending a broad message often causes individuals to ignore your initial efforts.
• Staying in touch with customers on a regular will potentially build a long term relationship. Once a message is sent, you are able to see the results of your efforts instantly. Discern who responds and who opts-out of your messages.

The most popular electronic mail providers include AOL Mail, Yahoo Mail, and G-Mail (Google). These servers provide unlimited storage of messages, key feature abilities, and endless communication between individuals with Internet access.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Blogging 101

It is very fortunate for the businesses that are beginning to understand the importance of blogging. The overall idea of blogging makes a lot of sense when you look at it from a marketing and advertising point-of-view. Submitting articles or blogs helps link a company’s web site, encourage potential clients to seek more information regarding them, and gives a business the chance to reach people around the world.

By definition, a blog is a type of web site that includes recurring entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics and video. Most blogs display entries in reverse-chronological order (with the most recent being the first). Often used as a verb, the word “blog” also means to maintain or add content to an actual blog.

A lot of companies prefer to use blogs because it allows them to meet their customers more directly. Unlike flyers or electronic messages, a blog is more interactive and can be visited more frequently.

Search engine optimization professionals recommend that a company post a new blog each day or weekly. Customers and clients like to see updates; it makes them believe that you are serious about your business.

Below is a list of CODANK Charlotte Web Design recommended blog sites:

• Articlesland.com
• Articlesbase.com
• Hubpages.com
• Blogspot.com
• Digg.com
• Technorati.com
• Onlinemarketingconnect.com
• Getyourcontent.com
• Articleblast.com
• Merchantcircle.com
• Populate.net
• Articlepress.com
• Goarticles.com
• Articledashboard.com

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Web Branding Tips for Businesses

As a business owner, the best investment you can have is an online website. A website is not only very crucial for business, but establishing an overall web branding is critical as well. Web branding is a impressive way to stand out within the World Wide Web.

Think of web branding as another way a company can advertise besides using television, magazine or newspaper. By definition, a brand is classified as a symbol. Symbols are known as designs which represent something else, and a brand is meant to package all of the associations, experiences and characteristics into an abstract construct.

In order to lure in customers, a company’s brand should have all of necessities to catch their attention. Whether it’s sound, phrases, logos or imagery, it should be something in which people come into contact with.

Below are a few CODANK Web Design web branding tips. A company should read them carefully and then plan accordingly.

Consistency – Make your brand memorable. Make sure to be consistent in your web design when you’re building it. Keep consistent colors, visuals and typography.

Uniqueness – Differentiate your web page and brand from your competitors. If you don’t, it won’t really be memorable!

Size & Position – Position your logo in the upper left area of the webpage – that is the area most people look to see what site they’re on.

Character – Give your brand character. You can do this by introducing it with a little personality; something that your audience can associate their selves with.

Color – Choosing the right color is very important. Color stimulates emotions and carried with it subconscious associations to numerous things and characteristics.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Traditional Media vs. Social Media

Using the Internet to your advantage is what’s going to keep your brand name out there. Social media is a powerful tool when used correctly. Social networking sites are popping up seems like every other month, making it hard to even keep up. Similar to other forms of marketing, social networking has its pros and cons.

By definition, social media describes web sites that allow online users to share information, media, content, etc. Common examples are the popular social networking sites:

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Friendster

Other popular social media sites that offer a slightly different type of membership include:

• YouTube (video sharing)
• Photobucket (image sharing)
• Flickr (image sharing)

Studies show that people gain more information, education, and news by electronic media and print. The Internet and social media is more popular than traditional media, such as newspapers, televisions, and film.

Described below are the differences and similarities between social media and traditional media:

• Both grant the ability to reach a global audience.
• Traditional media is owned privately or by government, while social media tools are available to anyone at little or no cost.
• Social media typically doesn’t require specialized skills and training.
• Once created, traditional media cannot be altered. For example, once a magazine article is printed and distributed, changes cannot be made to that article. Social media can be modified at any time.
• Social media is available in different forms. Online users are able to choose from forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, social bookmarking, podcasts, and video sharing.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Where Do Online Users Search?

The World Wide Web has granted users the opportunity to find basically any and every type of web site that is online. Accurately, there are thousands of search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN/Bing, which provide the ability to search the Web.

The greater part of online searched are carried out at a small number of search web sites. A great question to ask is, how do the most popular sites rank? The answer depends on how you measure popularity. The term can be measured based the following criteria:

• Total amount of searches conducted
• Total amount of time visitors spend searching at the site
• Total number of site guests
• Audience reach (percentage of site visitors)

All of the above measurements tend to provide slightly different rankings. Below is a list of the Internet’s most popular search sites. The results are based on one month of searches during August of 2007. The study was conducted by Nielson/NetRatings. Roughly 8 billion searches in the U.S. were recorded. The results include:

• Google.com – 53.6%
• Yahoo.com – 19.9%
• MSN.com – 12.9%
• AOL.com – 5.6%
• Ask.com – 1.7%
• My Web Search – 0.9%
• BellSouth Search – 0.5%
• Comcast Search – 0.4%
• My Way – 0.4%
• SBC Yellow Pages Search – 0.4%

Be advised that this is a list of search sites, not search systems. In some cases, the sites own their own systems. Google supplies its own search results, however AOL does not. My Web Search is a metasearch engine receiving results from Google, Yahoo, and Ask.com.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Online Communication Tools

Being able to communicate via the World Wide Web or communication software is becoming more and more popular everyday. Social web sites like Facebook and MySpace, as well as commercial sites such as eBay and Amazon, enabled software systems allow users to interact no matter what time of the day or week it is.

By definition, computer-mediated communication (online communication) occurs through the use of two or more networked computers. Communication can take place via instant messages, e-mails, chat rooms, and within other formats.

Social software applications consist of both interactive and communication tools. Interactive tools are used during interactions between a pair or group of users. It works best to establish and maintain a connection among users, improve the mechanics of conversation and talk.

Different Types of Online Communication Tools

• Instant Messaging – communication with another person in real time.
• Blogs – (web logs) online journals for a particular person.
• Text Chat – normally associated with chat rooms; communication with many people at once, publicly.
• Forums – electronic bulletin boards

There are many notable social software products and services available. Below are a few examples that facilitate a variety of social contact.

Instant Messaging
• HUD
• AIM

Blogs
• ArticlesBase
• HubPages

Media Sharing
• Vimeo
• YouTube
• Flickr

There are numerous reasons as to why online users take part in online communication tools. More and more developers are crafting software that benefits both the user and the business. The latest real-time communication tool is known as Google Wave. This application can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

How Page Titles Help a Website

Page titles are one of the most crucial essentials within search engine optimization. When search engine crawlers analyze a web site, the very first part that it looks at is the page titles. A ranking in search results is also due to the measurement of the title on a page. For that reason, a web designer and copywriter should always construct content for a web site with correct page titles.

A page title is found in the HTML tag and is also used on search engine result pages. Good titles can greatly enhance your web sites search engine optimization (SEO).

When creating your page titles, take into account the following tips, suggestions, and recommendations:

• Consider using special characters in the beginning and end of your title to increase notice ability. Characters such as, parentheses, arrows, and asterisks often help to catch a viewer’s attention to your title page.
• Never repeat phrases and keywords in your title tags. Repetition is known as SEO spam to most search engines, so avoid repeating certain words if possible. Do not duplicate keywords in order to obtain a crawler’s attention. Doing so could result in your site being excluded from search engine listing.
• Make an effort to keep titles to 50 characters or less, including spaces. Certain search engines will only index up to 50 characters while others might index up to 150. Yet, sustaining shorter page titles will keep you in search engine results.
• Try not to use your company name in the page title. A better alternative is to use a descriptive keyword or phrase. Using keywords will help to explain exactly what is on the page. It also helps guarantee that your search engine rankings are precise.

Not tagging your page titles properly can cost your web site its high ranking. All of your titles should be short, descriptive, and tagged into your web page coding. By utilizing title tags, you are increasing the possibility of ranking high in Google, Yahoo, Bing/MSN, and many other search engines.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com

Social Media 101

By definition, social marketing is a systematic method of marketing along with additional concepts and techniques used to achieve behavioral goals.

As social media begins to become more and more popular, search engine optimization and marketing professionals are encouraging business owners to take advantage of these social web sites as channels for promotion.

Popular Social Media websites include:

• YouTube
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Facebook
• MySpace
• Digg

Businesses have been using MySpace for years to create custom pages for their own promotion. MySpace and other sites give you the opportunity to reach current and potential customers in and around their target demographic.

Online marketers are learning the ins and outs of building a social media profile, growing their network and strategically updating their content. But, it is now time to start advertising. Below are a few aspects of social media advertising that a company should know about.

Advertisements should contain the present state of your business – Always keep your advertisements updated with what is currently going on with your business. You never want to mislead your potential or current customers.

Target the correct consumers with your message – It is vital to place ads of relevance on web sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Because majority of their users are young adults, products and services geared toward them would be fit for advertisement on those types of sites.

Understand your targeted social media channel – As stated above, by knowing who is using social media sites is very important to advertisers.

About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top rated Web Design and Internet Marketing firm located in Charlotte, NC. We are dedicated to providing the highest quality, cost effective custom software development services, delivering a broad range of business consulting and outsourcing services.

For more information, visit us at www.codank.com.

Content Management System vs. Search Engine Optimization

A great concern of many web site designers is the affect that a content management system (CMS) has on search engine optimization (SEO). In the past, content management system applications published content with drawn out, complicated URLs or often created several copies. Because of this, search engines seldom accepted the URLs and often ranked the web site lower than normal. Fortunately, CMS applications are designed to be more SEO friendly.

Search engine optimization is very important and should be taken seriously with any type of web site. Entrepreneurs and small business owners who may not have a large budget are now considering how they are going to receive high page rankings within search engines. These individuals are educating themselves on SEO and other technological genres.

Nowadays, most content management systems are expected to improve a web site’s search engine optimization rather than to hurt it. When shopping around for that perfect CMS, ask yourself the following questions: “How does the software or application help with my SEO?” and “What specific parts of the application or software will help to advance my SEO efforts?”

On the other hand, be sure to pay attention to the structure of the application and how it helps you develop your content. This aspect is very crucial simply because a CMS is meant to maintain your content in an orderly manner.

Below are the six main categories of a Content Management System:

• Enterprise CMS (ECMS)
• Web CMS (WCMS)
• Document management system (DMS)
• Mobile CMS
• Component CMS
• Media content management system


About CODANK Web Design

CODANK is a top Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

User-Friendly: Content Management Systems

Many Internet Marketing and Programming companies provide different products designed to help clients and their web sites. Not every client is “tech savvy”, and because of this companies offer various Content Management Systems.

A Content Management System is a file driven web system that allows a user to update and create their own web site content, pages, and upload images 24/7. Also known as CMS, this system is user-friendly and requires little HTML knowledge.

Depending on the supplier, Content Management Systems vary in price. Some are affordable while others tend to be a bit more expensive. It is best to compare CMS’s before a final purchase. If possible, sign up for a trial package.

A Content Management System allows you to manually update:

• Text Content
• Images
• Web Pages
• Links
• Blogs
• Banners and more…

Inside the CMS, updates can be made into the pre-determined content area of each specific page. Each editing feature is available via a browser with no HTML experience or FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software needed.

Editing tools normally included with a CMS:

• Add/manage a directory of members
• Create new pages and delete older pages
• Add text/multiple images
• Add News and Specials/Features/Events headlines and corresponding stories
• Add/edit various calendars

A great feature to most Content Management Systems is a client’s ability to assign access to various users. This allows a site administrator to permit numerous people the ability to view or edit pages on the website, hence allowing those associates to manage available content.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Study Your Potential Consumers

Marketing campaigns and advertisements tend to focus on specific groups of people. Before billboards, magazine ads, and online postings, companies study their consumers in order to better understand their buying habits.

The process of studying consumers’ behavior is called Behavioral Targeting. This type of study uses information collected on a person’s web browsing behavior (by online companies). Online businesses collect data such as:

• Performed searches
• How often an individual stays on a web site
• Particular pages visited

Fortunately for online companies, they are not only able to track the behavior of users but they are meeting these potential customers in places where they are more likely to make a purchase.

When using behavioral targeting, the following methods are normally utilized to evaluate the different behaviors:

Sequential Behavior – a behavior that happens when a user signs onto a website and then visits pages or performs actions in a chronological manner.

Expected Behavior – what a business expects users to do on a specific type of site.

Repetitive Behavior – a type of behavior from which potential customers do over and over again; users accessing a page in a certain order, repeatedly jumping to a site or at a particular time.

In addition to the behaviors listed above, there are also many categories of behavior that are much more precise. CODANK Charlotte Web Design has included a brief list of some of the categories that can be monitored using behavioral targeting. They include:

• Dog lovers
• Motorcycle purchasers
• Theme Park seekers
• Expecting mothers
• Online Gamers
• Smartphone users
• Vacationers
• Movie watchers
• Luxury car seekers
• Personal investors
• Credit card shoppers
• SUV researchers
• Home buyers

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Follow The Rules: Unethical SEO Practices

Practicing search engine optimization (SEO) is more than simply posting your very own web site. SEO professionals are urging businesses and entrepreneurs to begin learning the ins and outs of site rankings, page tagging, search engines and other important SEO elements. Failing to educate yourself is an easy way to fall victim of unethical SEO practices.

Illegal SEO practices can cause a web site to receive a low page ranking or even be removed from search engines. It is best to consult with a search engine optimization professional when launching a site. This will save you a lot of time and energy on an issue that you are not aware of.

Below, CODANK Charlotte Web Design has composed a list of unethical SEO practices. Try to avoid these habits. Be sure to discuss these tips with your chosen Search Engine Optimization professional before constructing a web site.

Unethical Search Engine Optimization Practices

• Fooling search engines by imbedding hidden keywords in a web site. Doing so will more than likely get you banned from search engines.
• Artificially generating links to a site from unrelated sites in order to boost your ranking. Majority of search engines have a built-in mechanism that detects this type of unethical practice.
• Falsely generating traffic to your site so that it appears more popular than what it actually is. Safeguards are in place to prevent this from happening. Getting around these safeguards could place you on the banned list for many search engines.
• Submitting your web site to search engines continually for inclusion in the rankings.

Best Search Engine Optimization Strategies to Use

• Proper Web Site Structure
• Keyword Tools & Services
• Pay-Per-Click Campaigns
• Behavioral Targeting
• Appropriate Written Content
• Tagging Your Web Site
• Suitable Links & Linking

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Have You Registered Your Business Yet?

It is a small business or entrepreneurs main goal in business it to reach their target audience. Not only is it important to have the top search engines to list their websites, it is also valuable for a business to appear in local search results as well.

It is common for a business to be listed within local search results even if the actual business does not submit their own company information. This happens when major search engines collect data from a variety of sources. As a result, a business description may appear in the local listings.

Search engines such as Google, Bing/MSN, and Yahoo give businesses the option of submitting information regarding their company directly to them. Doing so is a great way to increase the possibility of being found during a local search and expanding the amount of information that is viewed.

Submitting specific information to Google, Bing/MSN, Yahoo, and other search engines is very important. Each engine requires different data, but most of them ask for the same basic information. Below is a list of the typical elements submitted to a local search engine:

• Description of company
• Street address
• Phone and fax numbers
• Year of establishment
• Link to your company website
• Operating hours
• Brands which are sold by you
• Payment methods accepted by your company
• Languages spoken by company

Visit the different search engines listed below to learn more about their local listings.

• Yahoo Local Listings – www.listings.local.yahoo.com
• Google Local Search – www.google.com/local
• MSN Local Search – https://llc.local.live.com/BusinessSearch.aspx
• Ask Local – http://city.ask.com/

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

How Well Do You Know Your Competitors?

It is very important to conduct a thorough competitive analysis prior to beginning your search engine optimization (SEO) plan. A break down of your competition should be your #1 priority, along with properly tagging your website, and keyword analysis.

Analyzing your competitor’s web statistics, conversions, and other basics, as well as your own, is an ongoing process. Studying their online behavior may help you reach popular search engines quicker or even draw in more traffic early on. Whatever the case, a business should always perform an analysis.

It is best to remember that you should not only analyze your direct competitors, but your indirect competitors as well. Also, take a look at the companies who are ahead of you in search engine rankings, even if they’re offerings are unlike your own business.

A competitive analysis should cover the following elements:

Meta data: Look at what meta data your competitors are including. How is it worded? You can access the source code of a site by selecting Source from the View menu on your web browser.

Site rankings: Where in the SERPs is the competitor’s site ranked? Make note of the top three to five sites.

Page saturation: Are their pages indexed? Look to see what you should include or exclude on your site pages.

Page titles: Is the sites page titles consistent? What keywords do they use, if any at all? How competition uses page titles should give you an indication of what you’re doing right or wrong with your own site.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Free vs. Paid Directories

When trying to determine to go with free or paid directory listings, a company should be clear of their specific needs as a business. Whether which one is better – free or paid – has been an ongoing debate between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals for quite some time. They also fuss about free e-mail versus paid and free website hosting versus paid web hosting.

Below are two lists that include available free and paid directories:

Available Free Directories
• Dmoz.com
• Jayde.com
• Somuch.com
• Webworldindex.com
• Linkcentre.com
• ExactSeek.com

Available Paid Directories
• Yahoo Directory
• Directory Journal
• Best of the Web (BOTW)
• GoGuides.org
• Botlink.org
• Directoryscape.com

The purpose of a directory is to link one site to other websites by categorizing those links. Directories are not the same as search engines and do not provide lists of web pages based on keywords. Instead, a directory lists websites by categories and subcategories.

Several online users believe that free directories have a greater advantage and equate to better quality sites over those that require payment. In truth, many free directories tend to be very strict about listings that are included in their results. Paid directories can be just as careless about the review process as any other directory.

Top Online Directories
• Yahoo Directory – dir.yahoo.com
• SearchSight – www.searchsight.com
• Open Directory Project – www.dmoz.org
• Google Directory – directory.google.com

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Common SEO Mistakes

If you are not familiar with search engine optimization, properly optimizing your web site may become somewhat of a hassle. Many companies and entrepreneurs fail to understand the importance of thoroughly planning in hopes of drawing in traffic. Inexperienced individuals easily make decisions which tend to damage their search engine optimization plan.

According to Wikipedia.org, search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid search results.

Similar to other methods and procedures, SEO is governed by rules and regulations. These rules are typically administered by search engines which include: Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN/Bing, etc.

Below are common mistakes made during search engine optimization by many companies and websites.

• Wrong Keywords – be sure to select keywords and phrases which have relevance to your web site.
• Use of Crawler Unfriendly Methods – search engines deal better with HTML text rather than Flash files
• Images instead of Headings – search engines need to read actual content; refrain from posting nothing but images
• Backlink Spamming – quality backlinks are much better than just having numerous backlinks
• JavaScript Menus – crawlers cannot read JavaScript menus; try using a sitemap instead.
• Ignoring URLs – place keywords in an URL; helps with SEO
• Poor Site Promotion – marketing goes beyond just launching a site; try inbound links
• Ignoring Title Tags – a title tag is important because it shows in the search results as your page title
• Thin Content Pages – little to no content is present on the page
• Poor Content Management System – a CMS should be crawler-friendly in order to be beneficial

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Message Boards

Catching the attention of online users are message boards. The use of message boards can be quite powerful if they are utilized in the proper way. Message boards tend to attract a large amount of traffic, which brings in visitors who are looking to converse.

A message board is also referred to as an Internet forum, online discussion site, and bulletin board system (BBS). Tree-like directories are found within the message board in a place known as a forum or thread. Users then are able to post content inside the threads. Most message boards require membership while some allow for non-registered members to post. Forums are normally organized, driven and updated by a group identified as members, and governed by a moderator.

Members of a message board often share a common bond or social interest. Topics and discussions vary within each forum.

Examples of Online Message Board Sites

• Yahoo
• AOL
• Ancestry.com
• iVillage.com

Eventually, sustaining a message board can help create hundreds of pages with many thousands of keywords used by members – which is good when trying to build a site’s search engine optimization (SEO) ranking.

Message board systems are inexpensive and often free. They are easy to set up and are creative ways to increase a website’s content.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Cleaning Your Home's Backyard

Making your home’s backyard look beautiful does not take much money or extensive hours (only if you let it!). There are several inexpensive ways to help manage and maintain a healthy yard. Impress your neighbors by taking care of your exterior property as much as possible.

Finding the time to maintain your backyard can become difficult. Try not to let your personal property overwhelm you. If need be, hire a professional company to do the work. But, if you do decide to handle the issue yourself, here are a few ways to beautify your backyard.

Charlotte Cleaning Services Tips on How to Clean Up Your Home’s Backyard

Remove all toys, equipment, and miscellaneous items
Get rid of any clutter in your backyard. You can organize each item in storage or your garage, if needed. Recommendation: invest in a small storage shed or try building one yourself.

Clean up any leaves, weeds and shrubs visible to the eye
Pull out a rake, garden trimmer, and wheelbarrow and remove all debris from the yard. Be sure to look around your fence, deck, patio, and side areas of your house. Shrubs should be handled with a garden trimmer. Place all wasted in your wheelbarrow and dispose of it.

Mow the grass
Set your lawn mower to a low height setting in order to trim down the grass.

Get rid of any blot on the landscape
Even though it may be difficult to imagine, there comes a time when unnecessary items need to be thrown away. These items include: broken lawn equipment or furniture, old cars, rusted children’s playgrounds, etc. If it makes you feel better, donate some of the good parts to a junk yard.

About Charlotte House and Commercial Cleaning Services

With a strong reputation for diligence, Bucket ‘n’ Broom Charlotte House and Commercial Cleaning Services provides the utmost quality of professional maid service cleaning and customer service. Serving the home and office needs of Charlotte, NC, Bucket ‘n’ Broom provides more than the ability to just clean. Services include general cleaning, deep cleaning, bathroom and kitchen cleaning, special occasion cleaning, and post construction cleaning.

Visit us online at www.bucketnbroom.com/charlotte-house-commercial-cleaning-services

What is Viral Marketing?

The importance of Social Media Optimization has increased over the past few years. If you take a look at sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter you will see that all of these sites seemed uncertain of at first, but now they have surpassed many expectations.

Large to small businesses have began to make use of social networking sites in order to create a buzz in the market. Using social media as a marketing tool requires a more dedication than some of the traditional methods. Viral Marketing is defined as the process of marketing materials and information via social networking.

This type of marketing uses pre-existing social networks to increase brand awareness by encouraging people to pass along a promotional message. It is an effective way of using word-of-mouth to achieve success.

The first step in viral marketing begins with good content (also known as viral content). All content that is spread through social networking sites should consist of ‘real information’ that catches the attention of users. Users are more likely to become more excited about things that benefit them in some type of way. If a message does not provide what they need, it is recommended that a company rethink their entire viral campaign.

Common on the viral marketing world is a concept known as blogging. For example, a company may post an article on a site such as articlesbase.com. Once the blog has been posted, the article is then tagged in a social network, and then begins to distribute elsewhere. Each time it is tagged more people see it, and then someone else tags it and it reaches more viewers. It is similar to applying the snowball effect to marketing.

Viral Marketing Tips
• Do not feel the need to only create expensive advertisements
• Make it easy for users to share your content
• Make use of different types of social media sites
• Sell your idea in a creative way

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Search Engine Penalties

Search engine optimization professionals tend to disagree as to whether or not search engines should penalize companies that do not follow their SEO guidelines and regulations. If you were to do your research, you will discover that a majority of search engines won’t actually admit to the specific penalties that decrease a web sites ranking. Unfortunately, they only disclose when a page has been delisted from a search engine.

There are quite a few reasons a search engine might remove a web site from its index. Potential ways to get delisted include: cloaking, linking schemes, keyword stuffing, even over optimization.

Once a web site has been delisted, it is possible to get re-listed. It is recommended that webmasters correct the errors and then give search engine crawlers the opportunity to recrawl a site. Once this has been completed, a web site will be added back into the index. There is a chance that it will take a few months to see the results.

However, a web site may simply lose a higher ranking rather than actually being delisted. Normally, this is not the result of a penalty from a search engine. A drop in ranking could be due to a problem with the web site or web server.

Below are a few reasons why a web site’s ranking may decrease:
• Broken or spammy links
• Another site is redesigned
• Server issues and hosting issues
• A search engine algorithm change

If you find your web site’s rank decrease, begin a thorough investigation and fix the problem quickly. And if you have been delisted, again, handle the issue as soon as possible. Attempt not to let the same problems happen more than once. More importantly, learn how to stay on a search engine’s good side!

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

What is a RSS Feed?

Rich Site Summary, also referred to as RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format. An RSS document is also referred to as a feed, web feed, or channel. It includes full or condensed text, publishing dates, and authorship.

Web feeds help publishers by letting them automatically syndicate content. This is beneficial to readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from preferred websites or to combine feeds from many sites into one place.

Why Use RSS

RSS is the simple solution for people who use the web on the regular. It allows these users to easily stay informed by recovering the latest content from the sites which they are most interested in. People who use RSS save time by not having to visit each site separately. Because you don’t have to commit to any newsletter nor provide personal information, your privacy is ensured. Sites such as Yahoo News and Google News offer RSS feeds.

RSS is shaping up to be a very popular and useful means for communicating. Many sites display a small icon with the acronyms RSS, XML, or RDF to let you know a feed is available.

Commonly Mentioned Uses

•Notification of the arrival of new products in a store
•Listing and notifying you of newsletter issues, including email newsletters
•Weather and other alerts of changing conditions
•Notification of additions of new items to a database, or new members to a group

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Are You Using Effective Keyword Marketing?

When you have decided to use keyword marketing to optimize your company’s web site, there is a chance that you may run into a few problems. Regardless of your best efforts, it is probable that the keywords and phrases you have selected are not producing the results you expected – traffic is not flowing in like it should. On the other hand, specific words that have worked in the beginning can just stop working for you. You can tell when this occurs because the numbers associated with your keywords and phrases decrease without warning.

There are many factors that can transpire and cause certain keywords to quit being as effective as they were in the earlier period. It isn’t always your fault, but you should always try to develop concepts, test, and implement new keywords for you PPC programs and for your web site.

Keyword Tips:

•Combine and analyze the results
•Create a keyword list
•Pick your keywords and use them on your web site

Trying to come up with the perfect combination of keywords and phrases to drive in traffic to your site is one of the biggest challenges of SEO. It is not something that you just jump into one day and then expect to be successful. It’s better to start off slow and build your way to greater success.

Brainstorming and asking potential visitors what they look for when searching the Internet is one way to build a winning keyword strategy. You can also include all of the suggested words and phrases by keywords suggestion and search engine tools. Make sure that the words are relevant to the content of your web site or else it will affect your site ranking.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Keyword Density

The importance of keyword density varies from one search engine optimization professional to another. The term is difficult to measure. Overall, it is a great way to determine the number of times that keywords appear on the page, versus the amount of words on an actual web page.

Keyword density example:

Shine (a diamond jeweler) has a single web page that contains 2,000 words of text. Their prime keyword, diamond, appears on that page 14 times. 14/2000 = 0.007%

Please keep in mind that a keyword is normally a single word, not a keyword phrase which may consist of more than one word.

Many search engine optimization professionals are indifferent with the importance of a keyword density percentage. Some argue that it should be around five to seven percent, while others say that it should be much higher or even lower.

Even though there is no common ground as to what a keyword density should be, web site designers and copywriters should still be aware of how often they use a specific keyword. Too much keyword density can be looked at as keyword stuffing.

Keyword stuffing is defined as an unethical search engine optimization (seo) technique. This occurs when a web page is loaded with keywords in the meta tags or in content – repetition of words. Google and other search engines do not give good rankings to pages that use this type of technique. To many it is called SEO Spam.

Analyzing the keyword density of competitors is possible simply by viewing the source code on their page.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Heuristics 101

A web site should always be designed for the customer (first) and then for search engines. A company should never create a site simply to rank number one in search results. Keeping the client in mind means that the web site needs to be user-friendly – none of them should have to know much about anything in order to navigate your site.

According to Search Engine Optimization Bible by Jerri L. Ledford, Jacob Nielson created a list of ten items that when included in web site design would make a site more usable for individuals. He coined this list heuristics. This term means the ability recognize a pattern and being able to solve a problem or come to a conclusion quickly and efficiently. You can do so by using what you already know about that particular pattern.

Using heuristics is not always the most accurate way to solve a problem. It is important in search engine optimization (SEO) because it permits variations in the way that users search for specific keywords and phrases.

The heuristics list is stated below:

System status – the user should always know what is going on through feedback from the system. It should be provided in a timely manner.

User control and freedom – provided the ability to undo and redo an action due to a mistake. It is best to have back and forward buttons in a web browser.

Error prevention – design your web site with the prevention of errors in mind.

Match between the system and the real world – all systems should speak the language of the user in mind. Do not get too technical when it comes to keywords and phrases.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Tips for Web Branding

Investing in an online website is possibly one of the best decisions a company could ever make. Establishing an online presence is just as important as the overall web branding. Creating a web brand is an excellent way to stay a step further than your competitors.

Branding can come in the form of a slogan, symbol, name, or color combination. Web branding is not that much different from what you may see in a newspaper, local magazine, or on television. When using a slogan, symbol, name or color combination as a brand, you are packaging all of the associations, experiences, and characteristics into an abstract construct.

A company’s online brand should be just as eye-catching as their print brand. Whether it’s a logo, phrases, or imagery, the brand should consist of an idea in which will intrigue potential clients.

Below are a few web branding tips provided by CODANK Charlotte Web Design. We advise you to take into consideration each tip before launching your online brand.

Consistency – Make your brand memorable. Make sure to be consistent in your web design when you’re building it. Keep consistent colors, visuals and typography.

Uniqueness – Differentiate your web page and brand from your competitors. If you don’t, it won’t really be memorable!

Color Combination– Choosing the right color is very important. Color stimulates emotions and carried with it subconscious associations to numerous things and characteristics.

Position and Size – Position your logo in the upper left area of the webpage – that is the area most people look to see what site they’re on.

Character – Give your brand character. You can do this by introducing it with a little personality; something that your audience can associate their selves with.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Online Communication Software

Social sites such as Facebook, eBay, and Amazon.com are helping the growing number of people who use computer-mediated communication. This is true because these web sites would not be able to function without software systems that allow their users to interact and share data.

Both interactive and communication tools make up a social software application. Interactive tools are necessary for mediated interactions between two or more users. These types of tools focus on establishing and maintaining a connection among viewers, lessening the mechanics of conversation and talk. Communication tools typically carry out the storing, capturing, and presentation of messages (written, audio and video).

Types of Online Communication Tools

•Instant Messaging – communication with another person in real time.
•Blogs – (web logs) online journals for a particular person.
•Forums – electronic bulletin boards
•Text Chat – normally associated with chat rooms; communication with many people at once, publicly.

Online communication can take place both at work and at home. Many businesses choose to use communication software for internal use. Below are a few examples of both business and social online communication software products and services:

•AIM Pro
•Google Wave
•HUD
•MSN Messenger
•IBM Lotus Sametime
•AOL Instant Messenger

Recently developed social software called Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. The software is receiving great reviews.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Potential Linking Partners

Similar to other analysis that your company uses to grow as an online business, evaluating potential linking partners is no different. Before deciding to backlink with another web site, you must determine if the link is of good quality (along with other important qualities).

A link partnership is defined as a mutual link between two web sites. The link is typically done to ensure mutual traffic. Search engine optimization professionals recommend that the two web sites which are linking to one another should contain related content.

A top factor that should not be overlooked is the age of the domain in which a company would like to acquire a link from. Google prefers older domains over ones that have recently been registered. Acquiring a link to a web site that was registered in 1994 has a greater effect on a company’s organic rankings than a link from a domain that was registered this past month.

A second factor is PageRank. Linking to web sites with low PageRanks should be avoided at all cost. A PageRank value can be any number from 0 to 10 based on a calculation of the quantity and quality of backlinks. The higher the number and quality of backlinks, the higher the PageRank can be.

Search engines suggest attaining as many links as possible from educational and governmental establishments. These web sites are less likely to link to low quality pages than a typical .com or .net domain.

Try to focus on obtaining links from pages that already rank well for the keywords and phrases in which your web site is targeting. Some of their authority can be passed on to your own web site.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Why Value Project Management

A lot of companies are beginning to adopt the project management concept. Even if you are comfortable with the way your business is operating, there is always room for improvement. While you may not like constraints, the competitive environment which you are in entails a more disciplined approach to gaining market share or even surviving.

According to Just Enough Project Management by Curtis R. Cook, there are also other specific reasons to why companies should use project management. These reasons are as follows:

It identifies a point of contact and accountability for the total success of the project

By placing one person in charge, workers know who to go to with questions during design, development, production, test, and deployment. They are given authority and liability throughout the entire project.

It focuses on meeting the needs and expectations of customers

A project manager is authorized to understand the requirements needed to fully satisfy potential and current customers.

It improves performance in time, cost, and technical areas

If a project managers only purpose is to complete a task, then he or she has no other choice but to get it done accordingly. Finishing a project in due time is easier for experienced individuals.

It reinforces project teams and improves morale

Constrained environments mostly create an immediate performance challenge. The outcome normally helps project teams work together a lot better than functional teams.

It manages risks

During project planning, the team is able to brainstorm any possible negative impacts (lack of resources, bad weather, indecisive customers, etc.) and then give responses before performance begins. This will result in fewer surprises and disasters that threaten project completion.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Steps to Managing Multiple Projects

Juggling multiple projects can be a hassle for both a company and its project manager. A highly trained and skilled manager should be able to organize a proper plan to help reduce the stress of many projects. Below are five easy steps that will assist in managing overload and overlapping tasks. The steps are provided by Just Enough Project Management by Curtis R. Cook.

Five Steps to Coping with Project Overload

Step One: Compile a list of all your projects – In addition to listing your current projects, it is also best to complete a project task worksheet for each project. Make sure that it is clear as to which phase or step you are currently in.

Step Two: Distinguish the next step for each project – looking at next steps can lessen a surplus to a manageable size. Occasionally, the work that we have not begun becomes (in our minds) a huge responsibility.

Step Three: Identify the “quick hits” – Ask yourself this question, out of all of your tasks, what are the 20 percent that would give you an immediate substantial boost in gaining control of your overload?

Will a small amount of time keep the project moving forward?

Is the project almost complete?

Are you delayed because you need a decision or lack clarity?

If you answer all of these questions with a yes, be sure to place these tasks at the top of the list.

Step Four: Prioritize the remainder of the steps – After choosing your “quick hits”, now is important to see if there are any remaining steps you can get rid of or wait until later to complete.

Step Five: Schedule each task weekly, and be able to display your workload

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Changing URLs

There are many ways to make your web site rank a lot better in search engines. One place to start is by modifying your URL structure and making it more search engine optimization (SEO) friendly. Doing this incorrectly can cost you your present rankings and it could take months to make a complete recovery.

According to Wikipedia, a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) specifies where an identified resource is available and the mechanism for retrieving it. An URL example is:

http://www.example.com

Before actually changing your entire URL structure, it is best to make sure that it is worth doing. Below are a few tips and information needed to make a decision. Sticking to this checklist will help to reduce your ranking drops.

Change from a dynamic URL structure to a static URL structure
Creating a static URL that is descriptive and search engine optimization friendly will help you in the long run. It will also give you one URL for each product or page on your web site.

Make all URLs more search engine optimization friendly
Do not create any URLs that aren’t able to explain what each page is all about. Below is an example of a bad URL:

http://www.example.com/store/prod1.html

We recommend that you use appropriate keywords and phrases in your URL to improve its SEO efforts. This will also make them more user-friendly for visitors.

Use 301 redirects in place of old URLs
Once you have changed your URLs, be sure to put 301s in place to redirect all of the old URLs to the new URLs.

Update internal links
All internal links should point to the new URLs. This will eliminate any confusion and will add to your internal link value. Placing 301 redirects isn’t going to solve this issue.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Video Optimization

All of the content that is posted on your web site needs to be found by potential visitors. There is no way that they’re going to find you if your content is not optimized. Similar to written content (or text), the video files you decide to use should be optimized as well to get traffic to your web site.

More and more users are getting broadband access, which means that video usage is continuing to grow. Even though video optimization is in the early stages, it is still very important. Search engine crawlers cannot look inside a video to tell what the content is. As a result, they depend on other page factors to determine what the video is about. These factors include:

•Meta data
•Filenames
•Inbound links
•Anchor text

There are three different types of video optimization scenarios:

•Hosting the video on your own site
•Submitting an RSS or MRSS feed to a third party site
•Uploading a video to another site

Below are some video optimization tips for businesses that are in the early stage. Be sure to read over all of the information to ensure proper optimization of your videos.

•Create videos that present a clear message about your brand.
•Choose a preferred format, such as .mov, .avi, or .wmv.
•Use keywords in the filename, URL, and the link text of the file.
•Allowing visitors to rate and comment on your video will help draw in attention from search engine crawlers.
•Take advantage of thumbnails – visitors like to watch snippets so they can decide if they want to watch the full clip.
•Keep the length of the video to 5 minutes or less.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

User-Generated Content

One of the most powerful search engine optimization tools available for online businesses is UGC – User-generated content. This type of tool is created by everyday users. Local and national companies are prospering off of this innovative tool.

A wide variety of shopping web sites, such as Amazon, Yahoo Shopping, and BizRate, have invested in user-generated content over the past few years. These types of sites are filled with user reviews of pet groomers, web design companies, bakeries, and diamond buyers. They make it their duty to encourage customers to rate the products they sell and to post comments as well.

What is the purpose of user-generated content (UGC)? UGC was created to make it a lot easier for the owners of guide, shopping, travel, and other products and services-related sites to frequently add new content. The good thing about it is that most customers trust it. Studies have shown that online buyers trust the opinions of other buyers more than they put faith in merchants and manufacturers.

UGC does not only exist in the world of review and merchant sites. User-constructed knowledge resources, such as Wikipedia, Mahalo, and Knol are very similar. Flickr, Picasa, and Photobucket allow anyone to post photos. YouTube does the same with its users and video postings. Most of these web sites have the chance of containing your company’s information regarding your brand, products, or services.

UGC tends to create dependence and loyalty. A disadvantage of UGC is that it can attract spam which creates a need for stricter control. It is best to simply ask you own customers to help you. This can be done by asking for feedback on your services and products.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

What to Expect From Your SEO Specialist

Hiring a search engine optimization professional is a great start to actually executing your SEO plan. You now have someone to head up all necessary duties for your web site. Getting started immediately will help you in the long run.

As a company, you should expect a certain amount of work and effort needed to complete the job. Ask yourself, what are the search engine optimization duties? What should be done day-to-day, week-to-week, and month-to-month?

Below is a guideline provided by The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb. It discusses what a business should expect from their search engine optimization specialist.

Review web site content and structure
A complete site review should be the first task. A SEO professional should be able to conduct a review of the entire web site and its structure, as well as a hierarchical listing of each page on the site.

A review of the site’s hosting, page redirects, URL structure, and use of JavaScript is also necessary.

Page layout and HTML analysis
At this step, the SEO takes a look at the web site from a search engine spider’s standpoint. HTML code is checked for accuracy and grammar errors. By this step, recommendations should be made regarding page text elements and source code (filenames, page titles, descriptions, meta tags, URL).

Keyword research and analysis
Third step should consist of conducting a thorough keyword analysis so that you will know which keywords drive the most traffic, and which words are the most competitive.

After these steps have been concluded, the SEO should also perform a ranking report, content and link analysis. Each process should be ongoing.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

Codank is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Protect Your Privacy

The World Wide Web is a gateway to tons of information and entertainment. People of all types use the Internet to explore the millions of sites made available by different companies, entrepreneurs, and sometimes “average Joes.” From CNN.com to blogs of interest, we all seem to take pleasure in its service. Browsing websites may not be as harmless as some may believe.

More and more businesses are starting to offer their services online. They are allowing their customers to pay bills, sign up for email notifications, and other paperless benefits. Many times you are asked to provide a phone number, address, or date-of-birth. If you aren’t careful enough, you may give out too much personal information.

How do you know if you are giving these companies too much information about you or your family? Where do you draw the line at providing more than what is really needed?

As a user, it is your responsibility to read the fine print! Do not be naive by thinking that every company is going to protect your privacy. Do your research and ask questions before you decide to give out personal information. If you ever read, ‘We pledge never to sell, distribute, or disclose the information you provide to us to any third party’, than you know your information is safe.

CODANK Web Design of Charlotte’s top two tips for protecting your personal information:

•Be cautious of sites that offer some type of prize or reward in exchange for contact information or other personal details.
•Make sure that you always have your cookie notices turned on in web browser.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

Codank is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Page Titles Help with Search Engine Optimization

Are you aware of how important page titles have become in the world of search engine optimization? These titles are so vital that they are the first aspects of a web site that search engine crawlers investigate. Web sites rankings are measured off of titles that are placed on the pages. For that reason, web designers and copywriters should invest enough time into creating effective page titles.

Below are a few key issues to consider when choosing your page titles:

•Do not repeat phrases and keywords in your title tags. Repetition may come across as SEO spam when a search engine crawler is examining a site, so avoid repeating certain words if possible. Never duplicate keywords in order to obtain a crawler’s attention. Doing so could result in your site being excluded from search engine listing.
•Try not to use your company name in the page title. A better alternative is to use a descriptive keyword or phrase. Using keywords will help to explain exactly what is on the page. It also helps guarantee that your search engine rankings are precise.
•It is best to consider using special characters in the beginning and end of your title to increase notice ability. Characters such as, parentheses (( )), arrows (<< >>), and asterisks (****) often help to catch a viewer’s attention to your title page.
•Make an effort to keep titles to 50 characters or less, including spaces. Certain search engines will only index up to 50 characters while others might index up to 150. Yet, sustaining shorter page titles will keep you in search engine results.

If you are not comfortable enough creating your own page titles, it is in your best interest to consult with a search engine optimization professional. All titles should be short, descriptive, and tagged into a web page coding. By utilizing proper title tags, you are giving your web site a good chance of ranking high in search engine results.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

Codank is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

New Domain 101

Moving your company’s web site to a new domain can be stressful – similar to moving into a new home. But sometimes, it is much needed to help your business. Often, circumstances beyond your control force a domain move. You may have renamed your business or have recently merged with another company. What ever the case may be, you need to be prepared before the change takes place.

According to Wikipedia.org, a domain name is defined as a common network name under which a collection of network devices are organized (e.g. example.com). Changing from one domain to a whole new domain is an intensive process. No company wants to hinder their organic search rankings, but there is a chance that it will be affected. It will take time for new domain pages to soar up Google’s rankings to approximately the same results you formerly dominated.

If you have decided to move your domain, what should you do? Riona MacNamara of Google recommends the following:

•First, test the process. Move the contents of only one directory or subdomain. Be sure to use a permanent 301 redirect page to send those pages on the old web site to the new site. This informs all the search engines that your site has permanently moved.
•Confirm that all new pages appear in organic search results. Once you have done this, proceed to moving the rest of the site. Recommendation: do not use a blanket redirect because it’s a bad user experience.
•If you have decided to change your domain because of site rebranding or redesign, make the process smooth for users. You can do this by first moving the site then launching the redesign.
•Make sure both external and internal links to pages on your site work properly. Once content is in place on the new server, it is best to use some sort of link-checking software to spot any broken links.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

Codank is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Design Do's and Don'ts

A user-friendly web site should be equivalent to a search-engine friendly website. When you are designing a site, there are several rules that need to be abided. If you choose to “break” one rule, it is best to compensate in another area. Below is a list of design do’s and don’ts provided by The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb.

The list consists of:

Avoid splash pages – A splash page briefly appears as an introductory web site home page. It tends to be graphic-heavy and text-light. These types of pages are not good because they only link to one other page within the web site.

Do not use frames and inline frames (iframes) – Avoid using frames and inline frames because they make it hard for search engines to crawl web sites. They break each page into three or more files (rather than just one).

Use clean, valid coding – It is best to use code that is lighter, cleaner, simpler, more semantically defined, and in agreement with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards.

Avoid duplicate content – Do not place the same text content on multiple domains or within more than one page on your web site.

Avoid Flash websites – Majority of flash sites only consists of one single web page. You will not rank for dozens of separate keywords with only one page.

Utilize individual title tags – Every page on your web site should have its own distinctive title tag. No two pages should be identical.

Place graphics lower on a web page – Because search engines pay more attention to words that appear higher on a page, it is best to use graphics only near the bottom. Search engine crawlers only index words.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Website Content Do's and Don'ts

When preparing written content for you business’s web site, be sure to use the following guidelines (provided by The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb) to help you create well-organized copy that is intended for both your audience as well as search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN/Bing, etc.):

Use proper keywords and phrases – Prior to writing any content, make sure you have thoroughly researched the keywords and phrases that are appropriate for your web site and viewers. The words should match what your target audience is typing in search query boxes when they are searching for information, products, or services.

Place keywords and phrases high on the page – Not all search engine crawlers spider their way to the bottom of a page, so use your keywords and phrases towards the beginning of a web page.

Be descriptive – Try not to refer to yourself as “our team”. Instead, say CODANK Charlotte Web Design. Use the term wherever possible.

Use phrases instead of single keywords – Not all searchers type single-word queries, so you should use phrases whenever appropriate. “Minority Business Loans” is more relevant to a searcher than “loans.”

Don’t use text as a graphic – Search engines can not read images. They only read text. When placing graphics on a page, be sure to use proper naming and tagging of the file.

Provide a physical location – Viewers and search engines need more information than “our office.” Try to incorporate a complete physical address, postal code, and phone number with area code.

Check your spelling – Do not rely on your viewers to correct your mistakes. Take the time to go through all of your pages in order to detect any errors. You do not want the “did you mean..?” message to appear at the top of search results pages!

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

ShareWithBP.com - A Helping Hand in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Relief

After the April 20th “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill”, thousands of people from across the globe have pounded BP with their opinions, concerns, and proposals on how to stop (or at least control) the flow of oil.

The oil eruption (also known as “The BP Oil Spill”) has impacted or is expected to impact miles of coast line along the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Capturing the massive flow of oil before it completely wipes out public beaches, boating and fishing zones, as well as the overall quality of air is top priority for BP, U.S. Government Officials, and other Deepwater Horizon Unified affiliates.

With the overwhelming amount of responses from concerned individuals –ShareWithBP.com was designed to give people the chance to effectively share comments and possibilities with BP. Associates of the site ask that all comments, ideas, and concerns remain respectful for the sake of other viewers.

The process is simple – visit sharewithbp.com and click the ‘Eureka’ button to make suggestions on spill cleanup and innovative technology or click ‘Comment’ to share your opinion.

Sharewithbp.com is not affiliated with BP.

If you have any questions, please contact Codank by email at connect@codank.com

Think Outside the Box: Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is a relatively fresh idea when it comes to using it on the Internet. It is referred to as an unconventional means of getting a company’s name out in the public. Many businesses choose to use guerilla marketing because it is very cost effective – if not free. The tactics that you choose to use are very creative and are, for the most part, fun to come up with. Here are a few examples and possibly some good ideas companies to try:

Force them to visit your website – Be very cautious when doing this! Every time you use a public computer, set your URL to the homepage. This could easily work in a library or lab room full of computers.

Leave your mark on money – Get an ink stamp with your company information or URL and stamp every dollar you use. This way, people see your URL, and visit! This works especially well if your company is centered on cash.

Give away prizes or run some contests – Advertise a contest on your website for free promotional space or endorse a contest in your city for free products or services. Also, you can use radio, TV, or outdoor ads.

Out-of-the-norm advertising – This term is used to describe all sorts of free places to advertise. You can purchase t-shirts that promote your product or service and wear them everywhere. Put bumper stickers on every car, motorcycle, scooter, bike, and tricycle you own.

Look for niche places to advertise - It helps you far more to advertise to the fewer amounts of people that are for sure interested in your product or service than to the masses that may or may not care what you have to say. The movie theater is relatively inexpensive and can be very profitable if you choose your movies right.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Researching Potential Customers

Putting your market research tools to use is a great way to get your actual business started. Your first step should be identifying a target audience. This group of individuals is the people who you want to market your products and services. Second, determine if your products or services match what your potential customers may want or need.

By correctly defining a client base, a company is giving itself a chance to succeed in fully positioning their products or services in the right marketplace.

Whether you want to sell to 30 year old wine drinkers or major suppliers, there are two groups of customers whom you will end up targeting: end users and channel users.

The end users are typically the ultimate users of a company’s product or service. In order to identify your end users, you will need to consider both lifestyle and demographic characteristics. Demographic data is defined as tangible and measurable information that separates one group of individuals from another. Examples are:

•City Size
•Gender
•Education
•Income
•Age
•Marital Status
•Geographic Location
•Occupation

Intangible information falls within lifestyle information. These include:

•Music favorites
•Literature favorites
•Values
•Morals
•Religious beliefs
•Cultural beliefs
•Political beliefs
•Entertainment and recreation activities

Channel users serve as intermediaries between end users and business owners. A product can start with a large distributor and then be sold to a local distributor who then resells it to a wholesale buyer. Ultimately, the manager of owner of a store places the products on the store shelves for purchase by end users.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Choosing a Name for Your Company

Some business owners find it easy to name their own company while others may think it’s much harder than anything else. Several small business owners simply use their name (normally their last name) when branding their company; for example, John L. Hairston Ltd., Thomas Publishing Company, or Williams Products. Others choose to be a bit more creative when deciding on a business name.

According to Black Enterprise: Starting Your Own Business, there are two types of business names you will need to consider in your search are:

Fictitious – A name other than your own. For example, if Stacey Harris owns a pet sitting service, she may choose to call it Charlotte Pet Sitting rather than Stacey Harris Pet Sitting. Fictitious names normally apply to partnerships and sole proprietorships.

Nonfictitious – Your very own name. For example, as stated above, John L. Hairston Ltd. (of which the owner is John L. Hairston) would be deemed a nonfictitious business name. Nonfictitious names are common in corporations.

Deciding on a business name can be fun no matter which type you choose to use. Be sure not to spend too much time brainstorming on this start-up task. Below are a few tips for finalizing a name:

•Use your creativity
•Choose a name that is easy for people to remember
•Keep it short as possible
•Do not use misleading names
•Select a name that reflects the type of business you own

After you have chosen a business name, be sure to select the legal form of your business. You will need to choose the business entity that is right for you.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Equipping Your Business

Equipping your company with office furniture, filing cabinets, telephones, a fax machine, and computers can be costly. Even though you need most of these items to fully operate as a business, how much will they cost? Will you be able to cover all of the expenses?

The type of business you choose to conduct will determine what types of equipment you will need to purchase. If you want to open a pizza parlor, some of the items you will have to obtain include heavy-duty ovens, cash registers, tables, chairs, booths, and various other supplies. A great way to get an estimate of your costs is to both research different suppliers and vendors in the area. Compare quotes before making a final decision. Talk to other pizza parlor owners to see how much their equipment cost for a better understanding.

Once you have figured out how much all of your equipment will cost, it is now time to determine how you will finance your purchase. Most start-up companies look to buy all new equipment, but aren’t able to afford it. Several types of equipment leases are available to assist businesses. They include the following:

Operating Lease – This type of lease is ideal for owners who do not plan to buy the equipment at the end of the lease term, or if they will only use it for a short period of time. The terms of an operating lease are shorter than the life of the equipment. You can gain expensive equipment for much less than its overall cost.

Finance Lease – Requires a longer term and costs less than an operating lease. The owner is responsible for insurance, taxes, and maintenance of the equipment, but can identify as a liability on their balance sheet.

Master Lease – An owner is allowed to obtain certain materials at the beginning of their lease agreement, and is capable of receiving additional materials without having to negotiate a new agreement.

(Black Enterprise: Guide to Starting Your Own Business by Wendy Beech)

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com

Check to See Who's Visiting

A visitor count is very important when analyzing your web sites progress. Collecting this type of data helps to determine what you need to improve on the most.

The main questions you should ask include:

•What was the total number of visitors for this time period?
•What was the length of the average visit?
•What was the average duration of a page view?
•What was the average number of page views per visitor?
•What was the average number of hits per visitor?
•What domain classes and geographic areas are represented?

After you have recorded your answers to the questions listed above, it is now time for you to answer the all-important questions – why and who is visiting your website. Check below to view a list of important information that can assist you in making sense of the stats discussed so far. This list is meant to get you started thinking about how you can use these stats to better promote your web site.

•Average number of views per visitor: The more pages people view, the more interested they are in your site.
•Domain classes and geographic areas: Indicates where your visitors live and work – which is good information to have if you want to attract advertisers.
•Average number of hits per visitor: Eventually, you can use this information to estimate the number of visitors.
•Visitor count: How many people are visiting? Used to gauge true popularity of a site.
•Length of the average visit: Indicator of if people are actually reading pages on a site or simply browsing.
•Average duration of page view: Another indicator of is people are browsing or in fact reading the content. Ask yourself, “are my pages highly textual, highly graphical, or both?”
•Busiest hours of the day: The time of the day when most people visit a site. This can help you plan daily updates, promotion campaigns, and advertising.

About CODANK Charlotte Web Design

CODANK is a top Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company located in Charlotte, NC. The company is dedicated to providing a broad range of web design services. CODANK specializes in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Graphic Design, Online Marketing, and Web Design and Development.

For more information, visit CODANK Charlotte Web Design and Internet Marketing Company at www.codank.com