Web Works Battle Royale

Web Works Delivery Contest Will Crown the Finest Site of December

Clearly, our delivery team was getting along far too well. The pods were helping each other manage the workload, sharing ideas, and even engaging in cordial conversation. Oh! The humanity. Well, things are about to change.

On January 8th, a single website will be unveiled as December's cream of the crop. Each pod will select their strongest site of the month and present it to the President and VP of the company. After weeks of grueling deliberation, our judges will award the gold to the most marvelous of sites. What constitutes a truly marvelous site? The darling will be a tour de force of graphic ingenuity, compelling copy, and infallible SEO. And, of course, the website must be in keeping with the client's needs and marketing goals.

As we energize our portfolio, the friendly fire of office competition rages on. Former allies are now pit against each other in a fight to the finish. Not to fear, the casualties are projected to be minimal and our portfolio victorious. Stay tuned.

Incoming!

Firing a Shot of James & the Giant Floor Sander

A recent addition to the Web Works Collection.

Is There Such Thing as Affordable Web Design?

Affordable web site design is somewhat of a dying market. There are millions of small businesses that require a web site and would benefit greatly by a professionally designed site. However, these people are left with few options. They are conscious of their costs and don't want to spend thousands of dollars to a traditional web design company, but also expect more than what the 'build-it-yourself' template providers can offer. They exist in this limbo state, and typically, this leads to no web site at all. With new options arising on the market to get a custom web site designed by professional designers and copywriters, the number of businesses in this limbo state will decrease and more businesses will have the opportunity to launch a web site for their business. What does everyone think about the current options to get a web site and the quality you experienced with your design firm if you had a site built in the past?

Blog Design: There is Such a Thing!

By Web Works Design Manager Bree Barry

I recently came across a great article about the possible new direction of blogs: Death of the Boring Blog Post. These days, everyone has a blog. It seems almost every blog consists of the same thing: minimal design and big blocks of text. However appealing the blog posts may be, sometimes ideas or interesting thought is lost because of boredom or lack of interest. Well, with the increase in what technology offers us, we can start DESIGNING the information in our blogs. I am not talking about the basic layout and color changes that most blogs like Wordpress and Blogger offer. I am talking about high quality, well thought out information architecture: the marriage of copy and images. I never thought that blogs would one day enter the realm of design, but I am happy that they are. Although Web Works is attuned to the new trends and a supporter of blog design, we probably won't be taking on the task of fully designing our blog anytime soon. But stay tuned, more great things to come and you never know when we are going to jump on the "blogazine" trend.

Why Phonebooks (and their Publishers) are a Dying Breed

The recent bankruptcy filings of R.H. Donnelley, publisher of Dex, and Idearc Media, Verizon Yellow Pages publisher and owner of Superpages, are a sign that fewer and fewer people are searching the phonebook for local services, trending instead towards basic Yahoo! and Google searches. Rife with user generated content, web searches allow for a fast, easy aggregation of more than phone numbers, locations and lists of services, but also for glowing and poor reviews of services and products, straight from other consumers. Plus, a small business with a simple, easily navigable website allows searchers find out who they'll be hiring (and sometimes, even see a picture of the person that will show up at their door or ring them up at the counter) and a comprehensive overview of the company's capabilities and history.

So first, there is a growing need to create a presence on the web, less a company miss out on possible online leads. Even self-defined "computer illiterate" clients understand the necessity of getting their name out there, of illustrating their professionalism and ability to keep up with technology and competitors. They may not all be twenty- or thirty-somethings with liberal arts degrees, but they know a website designed and written by a team with industry experience shows consumers a business that is smart, up-to-date, and is willing to alter their marketing technique to better reach their customers.

But it isn't just necessity that provokes clients to invest in websites. The bankruptcies of two of the biggest names in phonebooks also reiterate what small businesses hope for in an advertiser, whether paper or web based:

1. Reasonable, clear pricing.
2. A personalized approach to the process.
3. A staff, from sales to design/copy to billing, that is accessible, friendly, and easy to speak to.

Perhaps what most draws consumers to Web Works is our confidence in our product. Our websites are user-friendly, professionally designed and written, and above all, effective marketing tools. Because Web Works employees feel good about the work we do, we make ourselves our customers' advocate and are not afraid to hold ourselves accountable for every sale we make, every logo we design, every word we write.

Not to mention, we are one, if not the, most affordable web design company working specifically for the small to mid-sized business. Pricing is upfront and clearly stated before the website is built, and in the (very) rare case that a customer is unhappy with some facet of the billing, they do not go ignored, nor are their accounts held hostage by the billing department.

The failure of the two phonebook giants is unfortunate. There may have been some hope for them, if only they'd thought of their customers first.

*Note: See Idearc Media/Verizon Yellow Pages complaints to understand what their customers are sick and tired of.
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Brought to you by Anne Feher, Web Works Copywriter & SEO Specialist

Don't Let 'Em Fool Ya, Yahoo Uses Keywords Meta Tag

Anne Feher: Web Works SEO & Copywriter
Thanks, searchengineland.com, for letting us know. Our SEO copywriting team hears a lot of concerns and receives a lot of input from novice SEOs. First off, people usually want to jam-pack it with as many keywords as possible, no matter the length. Second, they think if it doesn't have every keyword that could ever be related to their site, that their SEO is shot.

A few weeks ago, news spread that Yahoo had finally chosen to get rid of the keywords tag. Many folks in the community breathed a sigh of relief, since it caused so much confusion and isn't even used by Bing and Google.

But, as Danny Sullivan of searchengineland.com let everyone know, Yahoo DOES still use the keywords meta tag to rank sites. However, they use a new algorithm for it that makes it the LEAST IMPORTANT piece of information used to determine rank. We encourage you to read the post script of Danny Sullivan's post, which is a direct response from Yahoo, to learn exactly how they use it.

Behold! Tava Energy.

New Site Brought to You by Web Works The search for a simpler way to live has inspired the launch of a socially conscious, environmentally responsible e-commerce retail company, Tava Energy. Tava Energy challenges everyone to be more environmentally responsible and plans to make achieving that goal convenient for the consumer. Tava Energy believes in the commitment of sharing your unique talent for the good of others and the willingness to work diligently at saving our planet - together. For more information please visit www.tavaenergy.com. Please check back frequently for our upcoming holiday promotions.

Delayed Gratification

Why Patience is a Virtue in the Game of SEO

By Web Works Coordinator & SEO Specialist, K. McMahon

Those new to SEO are often surprised when their juvenile domain fails to land on top of the SERPs after only a night's rest. Of course, this isn't an unusual assumption in a society driven by instant gratification. Unlike daily transactions, SEO is more of a long-term investment that needs some time to age. Frequently, inadequate ranking leads people to spastic meta data renovation. Yet, the initial impulse to prematurely revise meta data can hinder your ranking potential and ultimately, prolong the wait. The most effective way to strengthen ranking is to double-check the wealth of your content [make sure the content is supporting the main keyword on your page] and market your site outside the web. High Ranking contends in their article, "No Quick Fixes Where Search Engine Optimization is Concerned." As far as advice goes, just remember, good things come to those who wait.

What are They Going to Retouch Next, National Forests?

The following post is a quick post from Web Works Staff Designer, N. Tuttle, and is especially revealing after the current Ralph Lauren photo retouching controversy.

Although it's not something that comes up very often in small business web design, the omnipresent practice of digital photo retouching can hit very hard in a personal sense; it affects everything else around us. It's affecting self-perception, the social import of body-image, even our perception of places (it's not terribly difficult to move buildings around on a city skyline).

The question: Now that this wonder of modern technology lets us do so many things with images, do we really know what we're changing?

Read what the British are considering in this New York Times online article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/28/business/media/28brush.html?_r=1

A Splash in the Pan

Why Splash Pages are Only Cool at First

By Web Works Coordinator & SEO Specialist, K. McMahon

A splash page is essentially a design-oriented home page sans readable content. Generally, a splash page is chalk full of dazzling, flashy visuals that impress everyone except the Search Engines. Viewers (who have advanced internet connections) may be enticed by the use of flash and graphic ingenuity; however, splash pages are virtually impossible to optimize. Even if there's content on the page, it will be neglected by the Search Engines because it's perceived as an image. Splash pages are a suitable option for companies who only use their website as a reference for current clients and/or those who spread the word of their site in a non-internet fashion. To read on about Splash Pages, please check out Dee Sullivan's article, "SEO and Splash Pages".

Designer vs. Programmer

From Senior Web Works Designer, Bree Barry

In the web design world, the difference between designers and programmers is like peanut butter and jelly. They go great together, but they come from very different places.

Designers go to art schools and have Fine Arts degrees. Their education is spent painting, drawing and using photoshop. When they graduate, their skill set is one of intuitive thought, creative thinking, and imagining what the best look and feel is for their client's design. Programmers go to technical schools and spend most of their time in computer labs learning to "speak computer," or in other words, writing code. They know a whole different language that most of the world doesn't even know exists.

With the changing economy, businesses have found the need to streamline the two, into one person with two important talents, and Web Works is no different. Our designers not only design the sites, but build them into the fully functioning web sites that you see in our portfolio. We have some truly talented individuals on the design team that are able to think and design on multiple levels. Consider Web Works the peanut butter and jelly of the web design world.

Feeling Bloated?

Avoiding Website Bloat

By Web Works Staff Designer, N. Tuttle

Bloat is a problem that affects all websites. There is growing pressure to put applets, documents, music players, and all manner of (often) useless junk on websites.

While a website has to look interesting to be effective, a website that is cluttered with all manner of weather trackers, social networking applets, background music, etc. is not effective.

Taking a minimalist (or at least pseudo-minimalist) approach to website design can often yield great benefits. Properly used imagery can push an already well-designed but somewhat bare website from good to great.

Here are examples:

http://sixrevisions.com/design-showcase-inspiration/40-beautiful-examples-of-minimalism-in-web-design/

Don't Scratch My Back. I'll Leave Yours Alone, Too.

Why Reciprocal Linking Isn't Always Chummy

By Web Works Copywriter & SEO Specialist, K. McMahon

The SE's don't necessarily support the old adage you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours (leave it to the Search Engine's to challenge everything your mother taught you). While inbound links and outbound links are often necessary for link building and ranking success, your landscaping company is not going to benefit from mutual links to and from your cousin's wine store. SEO Book defines reciprocal linking as "Nepotistic link exchanges where websites try to build false authority by trading links, using three way link trades, or other low quality link schemes." Thus, hysterical, incestuous linking will impair your ranking and ultimately confuse visitors.

As you may have learned, links aren’t to be strewn willy-nilly throughout your site. We applaud careful, premeditated linking that gently builds your credibility while sticking to the subject at hand. Landscaping companies can link to the nurseries they use. Requesting an inbound link from your township will solidify your integrity if you're looking to rank well locally. The long and short of it is to avoid link hungry binges and employ portion control. Just like research paper citations, your links need to support your subject and strengthen your point. Linking is a wonderful thing when intelligently implemented. Ann Smarty of the Search Engine Journal fearlessly dives into Reciprocal Linking & Interlinking here: http://is.gd/3FHJb. Just to drop a relevant link.

Online Reputation Management

This post is the first in a short series on online reputation management. We're writing about ORM for a couple of reasons. First off, we want to simply explain what it is, why it's important, and how it works. There is so much information out there on the topic that it becomes difficult to aggregate and understand in its entirety. Second, there are plenty of business owners and heads of organizations that view ORM as a bottomless money pit and a time suck because its ROI is difficult to document. While it's true that returns on investments made towards ORM are not easily or clearly documented, one must keep in mind that social media marketing involves more than just money made; it has an effect on your overall marketing strategy and brand position. For a more in depth look on the topic of social media ROI, see the this post from the Marketing Mystic blog and this post from the MetricsMan blog. So what is ORM? Online reputation management (aka online brand management) involves a dedicated monitoring of your organization across the web universe. An ORM campaign serves to: Stifle a sudden storm of negativity surrounding your brand, whether it’s a defective product or terrible customer service. Whatever the fiasco, the flames must be smothered as soon as possible. News travels fast. Prevent the above from occurring. Increase brand awareness and consumer loyalty. Better understand your target audience(s). Managing your online reputation is an all-encompassing examination and engagement of your brand across the Internet, from social networking sites to online shops. Stay tuned for the next installment on the Web Works ORM series, when we'll specify the ways in which brands can be managed online.

The ABC's of SEO

Making Sense of SEO Jargon

Written by Web Works Coordinator, Kristin McMahon

Stacked with acronyms, hybrid words, and technical terms, the SEO lexicon is overwhelming for newcomers. Even professionals have a hard time keeping up with the rapid growth of SEO terminology. Fortunately, for every befuddling phrase SEO & SEM introduce, there's an optimized definition perched atop the SERPS. I've found one of the more useful SEO dictionaries to be www.seo-dictionary.com. With an extensive database, clear, concise definitions, and new additions daily, seo-dictionary.com is one of the best. And, in a results driven industry, it's safe to say that the dictionary ranking 1st for "SEO Dictionary", is practicing what they preach. SEO Book also includes a thorough, well-mapped SEO glossary at www.seobook.com/glossary. SEO Book is one of the most reputable sources for SEO information available. Still, you're only granted complete access to the site after joining and paying dues. Thus, SEO Book isn't ideal for casual perusing and research. So, if you're interested in adding to your SEO vocabulary, hit the books and brush up on some good, new-fashioned terminology.

Friday Web Design Feature

Website Design by Web Works Staff Designer, Evan Miller Rodgers Landscape Services, Inc.

Hump Day Website Design Feature

Website Design by Web Works staff designer, Steve. S. Brittania Electric Inc. Interested in seeing more of our work? Check out the Website Redesign page!

Adopt Orphaned URLs (a.k.a. Dead Links)

From Senior Web Works Copywriter & SEO Specialist, Anne Feher After recently redesigning and writing a website for a mid-sized information technology firm, I Googled their business name. The new site had been up for a couple months, but the only organic results showing up were, to my horror, orphaned links. Sure, they were in the number one and two spots of results, but that means nothing when they pull up a 404 error. Luckily, I found an article with an appropriate and logical solution: Linking Mistakes To Avoid (Part 2): Removing Orphaned URLs There's not an easy way of telling Google that those links are no longer a good result for any search. Eventually, one hopes, Google will notice their irrelevance and stop indexing them. But instead of just letting the orphaned URLs turn to web-dust, Eric Ward's advice is to take those little suckers back. As all SEOers know, any indexed URL is a beautiful thing. So make use of them! In the long run, they can only do your website some good.

Friday Web Works Website Design Feature

Website Design by Web Works Staff Designer, Evan Miller Dimensional Construction

Getting the Most Out of Your Site

Why Google & Yahoo Reviews Pay Off

From Web Works Copywriter & SEO Specialist, K. McMahon

Once your site has been properly optimized by an SEO professional, there are several measures you can take to ensure your site is maximizing its web presence. Foremost, you need to create company reviews on your Google Maps and Yahoo! Local listings. Providing such reviews will increase your website's credibility in the eyes of the Search Engines as well as potential clients. An important thing to remember is you must write your reviews from computers other than your own and under different accounts. The Search Engines will immediately become suspicious of reviews coming from repeat reviewers. Thus, request reviews from happy clients, or simply make sure you use different computers and write under different accounts.

You want your reviews to be genuine. This is why it's best to have satisfied clients do the reviewing. However, strategically placing a couple relevant keywords can further the success of your ranking. For example, instead of saying, "Anne's store is my favorite! I'm so happy they're in my neighborhood!" try "Anne's Wine Shop carries the best red wine! I love that there's such a wonderful wine store in downtown Elgin!"

To get started, simply type the name of your company and your location into your preferred Search Engine. When you see your listing to the right of the map, give it a click. You will see the "write a review" option at this point. Go for it.

See what other SEO tips Web Works provides its customers by clicking here.

Web Design: What to Do, What Not to Do, & Where to Go for Help

From Web Works Senior Designer and Team Manager B. Barry

There are so many poorly designed websites out there! With so many different variations of building and designing websites, it is easy to get caught up in the process and forget about standard practices for Web Design. Web Works designers have an ingrained sense of "What to do" and "What not to do" on the Web, but if there's ever a time we're not sure how to resolve an issue, we reference articles like this:

Design Tech: 8 Web Usability and Best Practices for Beginners

Basic Tutorials for Web Designers

From Web Works Staff Designer Steve S.

Designers have the challenge of coming up with new solutions every day. Here is a great site that Web Works design staff use as a resource on those days when we are finding it hard to be creative. They have basic tutorials for a variety of programs, some free elements you can use on your website, web design tips and resources, as well as just some good design ideas.

http://www.entheosweb.com/free_resources.asp

Coming Soon from the Web Works Blog

More news from the Web Works Design Team!

Because Web Works Corp. provides a total website design, writing and SEO package, we'll soon be including posts straight from the designers, concerning web design practices and offering up some helpful links.

Why Engaging Content Will Always Reign Supreme

Search Engines Respect Your Colorful Content

by Web Works Copywriter and SEO Specialist, K. McMahon

When introduced to the concept of Search Engine Optimization, far too many people go into zombie mode and muck up the implications of keyword rich content. While keyword rich content is, indeed, vital to the success of your website, redundant, robotically stationed keywords will undoubtedly disturb search engines. Furthermore, you can't forget that websites are for the people. Although spiders crawl your site and determine your ranking based on search engine algorithms, human beings read your website. And, naturally, having a website means you have something to share with fellow humans. Thus, it is absolutely essential that your website communicates to both people and spiders.

The debate over active, compelling website copy vs. keyword excessive content is alive and well. Heather of Success Works: Powerful SEO Copywriting makes the case for engaging copy. Because you have something to share, something to discuss, something to sell, you'll never realize the potential of your purpose without a little authorial persuasion.

There's a common ground that must be gently established in the content of your site. Fortunately, the search engines honor unique, unduplicated content. It will be obvious to the search engines if your keywords have been recklessly stuffed into every page of your site. Make sure your keywords are present and robust, but not carelessly littered throughout your site. Ultimately, if you are engaged in the subject matter, well-crafted copy will naturally flow with the keywords that correspond to your topic. So, first and foremost, write with voice, write with character, be persuasive and communicate to your living, breathing audience.

Keeping Up With the Tricks of the Trade: How SEO Professionals Stay in the Know

The ever-evolving search engine infrastructure poses a challenge for SEO professionals. How do you become an expert on a subject that is seemingly void of concrete facts? The answer is: consistent research and effective ranking analysis. There are several strategies SEOs use to stay hip to the times. What's more, because the industry standards are often changing, SEO professionals must stay abreast of the latest developments in search engine optimization. From attending major conferences to analyzing ranking success, informed SEOs rise to the occasion and ultimately delight in the rapid evolution of the industry. Additional SEO Research Techniques Books on SEO SEO Websites, Forums, & Blogs Tracking & Analyzing Personal Site Success SEO Consultants Networking – Mutual SEO Dialogue Social Media – Facebook & Twitter Experimenting With New Strategies Monitoring New Strategies SEO Professionals are creatures who thrive on perpetual learning. Equipped with calculating minds and a need to succeed, SEOs flourish in unpredictable environments. With a bounty of tools, literature, and advice available, optimal optimization is just within reach. To vote for your own primo SEO tactics, check out Lee Odden's, "17 Ways to Stay Current with Search Marketing."

Black Hat SEO: Duplicate Copy/Content

If you know anything about writing copy for websites, you know you can't pull (or scrape) content from other sites and put it onto your own. That's considered duplicate copy by Google, and warrants a serious penalty from the search engines that could sweep that page off their index indefinitely. Not to worry—Google tries its best to determine where the copy originated so that Webmaster is not unfairly penalized.

For most site owners/developers, this is old news. What a lot of Webmasters are still worried about is duplicate copy as it pertains to groups of URLs. When the same page can be accessed via multiple URLs, Google tends to group those URLs into a cluster to avoid redundant search results. If you don't tell the search engines what the best URL for that group is by including it in your Sitemap, they'll pick it themselves.

Check out Google's own article on this topic, which is eye opening but also unleashes a Pandora's Box of Webmaster interrogation:

Demystifying Duplicate Content

Keyword Density: Quit Mixing with the Dark Side and Move onto White Hat Techniques

Keyword density is key to a properly SEOed website, but what exactly does that mean? If your site content needs to be dense with keywords, then couldn't you simply repeat the same word over and over throughout the page? That may have been the case years ago, but now you almost never return a first page of search results filled with completely irrelevant links. The search engines have gotten too smart for that, creating crawling and indexing techniques using more complex and intuitive algorithms to measure keyword density. And the pages written using the recycle-repeat keyword density method? They're ignored (eventually) by the search engines and are sometimes never allowed again to appear as Google or Yahoo search results. We deem these methods black hat tactics.

White hat tactics for keyword density exist, which you can read about here, on Joe Eitel's SEO Chat article on Keyword Density, but the most important factor all website developers and copywriters stress is that the best websites are those written for the viewer. If you're putting relevant content on a page and organizing it in such a way that makes it easy for your site viewers to read, keywords should generate organically in your writing. That's not to say you don't have to balance site content with SEO best practices, though.

Coming soon from the Web Works SEO & Web Design blog: More on Black Hat SEO Tactics.

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