My wife and I were at a red light when we saw the nice Jaguar covered in ads for a Realtor. "Who could do that to a Jag?" Yes who. No one would make that comment about a truck with a sign on it for a construction company, or a van with a sign for a lock-smith. So why the problem with the Jaguar? Obviously, the owner of the car was a Realtor, and they were just wanting to get their name out, however in doing so they lessened the perceived value of their (expensive) car. As individuals, we … [Read more...]
posted on July 27, 2010 by
New Website Live
Just released another client website into the wild - In Focus Family Law. The site was developed using WordPress as a Content Management System. While WordPress is normally used for blogging, recent versions have allowed it to be used for normal websites even easier. The front end interface was designed by a former student of mine, and I converted her designs into the WordPress template. We choose WordPress because: The number of plug-ins readily available to help develop the site … [Read more...]
posted on May 18, 2010 by
Choosing a Good Web Host
As a follow up to my last post on moving a host, I thought I would post a link to an article where I was recently interviewed for on what small businesses should look for in a web hosting company. SMB Guide: How to Choose a Good Web Host Provider If you need help in choosing a web host or building a web site for your small business, feel free to contact me so that I can assist you. … [Read more...]
posted on May 11, 2010 by
Showcases To Go
WaltDesign developed a database to store the contents of their catalog and built a shopping cart for their users to store their purchases in. From there the user can choose to purchase online, and the website processes their credit card information, or offline, where it displays a print off form so they can mail in a check if they want to. Additionally special discounts, limited run promotions, and other complexities are handled through this system. Also there is a password protected admin … [Read more...]
posted on April 30, 2010 by
Moving Web Hosts – What you need to know!
Recently I was helping a client move from one host to another. After going through this experience a couple of times with various clients, I thought I would write down my experiences so one might know the steps to move a site from one hosting company to another. You will need to get copies of your existing files. This is best done my getting them from your existing host. This may be done via FTP. In some cases you can download the files from the site, but more modern sites will run Content … [Read more...]
posted on April 10, 2010 by
Google Using Page Speed as a Ranking Factor in Search Results
Google announced this week that the speed of a page is now being considered as part of how they rank pages on a web site. This has some people happy, others scrambling. There are a couple of things which need to be considered with this news. Google uses over 200 factors to "grade" a site, determining where it should be placed in the search engine rankings. Adding 1 additional factor, unless it is a large factor should have little effect on the search results. "All things being equal I … [Read more...]
posted on January 28, 2010 by
Today is Data Privacy Day
I don't know about you, but I'm always a bit paranoid with how much information is out there about me. Whether it comes from Credit Card receipts, or data stored on other people's servers. Whether it is your information, or your customer's, you should always mindful of how personal information is being used. This is the idea behind Data Privacy Day (http://dataprivacyday2010.org/). Personal identifiable information (PII) while necessary to have in many businesses needs to be handled with … [Read more...]
posted on November 9, 2009 by
Happy Birthday Firefox!
Firefox turns five today. For some, they remember what the Web was like in 2004 - Internet Explorer 6 was the dominant browser, and had not been updates in 3 years, web technology was stagnating because of it. Now, browsers are faster, and doing more - new standards are coming out (HTML5, CSS3, AJAX libraries, and more) - and while the techno-babble means little to many, it also means everything. It means websites that can do more, and do it faster. It has also heralded other browsers … [Read more...]