Your Website Content is the most important part of your website.  Many people say that the design is key…but here is the real story.  The People that visit your site, rarely read all the content on the page that they are looking at.  In fact, in many cases, they only stay on the page for about thirty seconds on average.  The design is the important part for the prospective buyer and they need to know relatively quickly if they can get from you what they need or want.  If so great.  It’s the words on the page, however, that brought them to your site.  The words and website content are indexed by Google, Yahoo, and Bing, and put into their search engine database allowing visitors to find you when searching.

Simply put, the more Read the rest of this entry »

I recently received an email from Corel promoting one of their sales.  I am a huge believer in email marketing however in this case, the Quality Assurance folks at Corel missed something critical…..they spelled Alert wrong!

Oops!

Just a reminder folks, that the subject line is of major importance when sending out bulk email.  It alone determines whether someone will open your email or not.  In small business, you cannot afford to make these mistakes!

Why Web professionals should validate to W3C standards.

In early 2009, the web community was asked if they thought there still was a strong motivation for validation. Here are some reasons they mentioned:

Validation as a debugging tool

While most Web browsers do an increasingly good job of parsing even the worst HTML “tag soup”, some errors are not always caught gracefully. Very often, different software on different platforms will not handle errors in a similar fashion, making it extremely difficult to apply style or layout consistently.

Using standard, interoperable markup and stylesheets on the other hand, offers a much greater chance of having one’s page handled consistently across platforms and user-agents. Indeed, most developers creating rich Web applications know that reliable scripting needs the document to be parsed by User-Agents without any unexpected error, and will make sure that their markup and CSS is validated before creating a rich interactive layer.

When surveyed, a large majority of Web professionals will state that validation errors are the first thing they will check whenever they run into a Web styling or scripting bug.

Validation as a future-proof quality check

Checking that a page “displays fine” in several contemporary browsers may be a reasonable insurance that the page will “work” today, but it does not guarantee that it will work tomorrow.

In the past, many authors who relied on the quirks of Netscape 1.1 suddenly found their pages appeared totally blank in Netscape 2.0. Whilst Internet Explorer initially set out to be bug-compatible with Netscape, it too has moved towards standards compliance in later releases.

Validation is one of the simplest ways to check whether a page is built in accordance with Web standards, and provides one of the most reliable guarantees that future Web platforms will handle it as designed.

Validation eases maintenance

It is reasonable to consider that standards such as HTML and CSS are a form of “coding style” which is globally agreed upon. Creating Web pages or applications according to a widely accepted coding style makes them easier to maintain, even if the maintenance and evolution is performed by someone else.

Validation helps teach good practices

Many professionals have been authoring the Web with HTML and CSS for years and know these technologies by heart. Beginners and students, on the other hands, will find automated checking tools invaluable in spotting mistakes. Some teachers also stress that automated validation tests are a good introduction to broader, more complex quality concepts such as accessibility.

Validation is a sign of professionalism

As of today, there is little or no certification for Web professionals, and only a few universities teach Web technologies, leaving most Web-smiths to learn by themselves, with varied success. Seasoned, able professionals will take pride in creating Web content using semantic and well-formed markup, separation of style and content, etc. Validation can then be used as a quick check to determine whether the code is the clean work of a seasoned HTML author, or quickly hacked-together tag soup.

Note: Currently, Central Mass Web Design, Inc. insures W3C validation on all of the websites they release. Furthermore, before release these new websites are reviewed and tested in Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8, Firefox, and Google Chrome.

Thank you to http://validator.w3.org for their contribution to this article.

In recent years  customers have come to expect more from their online browsing experience.   This has caused a change  in the standard for company websites.  A dynamic web site contains content that is continuously updated,  a design that is eye catching and inspiring which will give the consumer  a new online experience with every visit.

Maintaining Dynamic Web Page With Content

Maintaining a web sites content can be time consuming and can cost you money.   However, with our content management systems and Web Maintenance Plans,  even the least technical users have the ability and functionality to maintain dynamic web site content .

Content management systems give you the freedom to create dynamic web page content “in-house” rather than needing a third party.   You will easily be able to :

• Create  content schedules that automatically adds or deletes items.
• Update your events calendar, company news, or job openings.
• Add Pictures to your content to keep your website dynamic in appearance.
• Add dynamic data to all of your pages and keep your website fresh and inviting.

Our content management systems put you in control and give you the ability to maintain a dynamic web site.

Don’t have the time to do it yourself?  Ask us about our Web Maintenance Plan and Search Engine Optimization Plan!  Our trained and experienced staff can do it all for you.   Maintaining a dynamic website through design and data can be very time consuming.  Our staff is experts in many fields and we have created a team that can work to ensure your dynamic website stays attractive to all of your consumers.  Central Mass Web Design has helped many clients to maintain dynamic websites throughout Massachusetts and beyond, including Fitchburg, Leominster, Worcester, Cambridge, and Boston.

Want to view some of our recent works?  Check out our online portfolio to see our many designs, and request a website design estimate today.

By now, you’ve heard that Facebook and Twitter are almost essential when marketing your business online. Not only has Central Mass Web Design encouraged the idea, but it’s on news websites everywhere. Social Media is a bandwagon that you don’t want to fall off of. It’s helping businesses everywhere with their online marketing and strengthening relationships with their customers.

For those of us who are currently utilizing the free services of Facebook and Twitter, we’ve got some big news! (And for those of you who are not on these social media sites, read on. You might find yourself registering by the end of this article). Both Bing and Google have recently announced that they are joining forces with the social media craze. A few days ago, Bing publicized their decision to take your tweets and status updates and pull them into their SERPS (Search Engines Results Pages). Shortly after, Google proclaimed a similar deal with Twitter. They too will pull your tweets into their SERPS.

So, what does all of this mean? Well, first of all, if you are not currently using social media to expand on your business horizon, it means you are clearly missing out, go register! And secondly, it means we owe big congratulations to those who ARE using social media. If you are keeping your status updates and tweets fresh, you should start seeing an increase in traffic to your website (that is, if you are linking back to it within your updates – which is a must!)

If you are not taking advantage of the social media sites out there, please feel free to give us a call! We currently assist our Search Engine Marketing clients with their social media and we can help you too. Call 978-632-5300 or email us at Info@CentralMassWebDesign.com.

What is Networking and how does networking relate to building traffic for your website?

Networking is meeting people, weather on social networking sites, or through local groups like BNI, the Chamber, etc. Many people don’t relate networking to their website and they don’t see the benefits of increasing traffic to their website via the networking route, yet this can be very effective. First, let’s address the local networking events. While meeting people locally you have the ability to put your business card in their hands, in doing so, it should have your web address on it. Furthermore these opportunities exist to show those individuals that you are an expert in your field and that you have knowledge to share. Assuming that you have a blog or at least some articles on your site, you can mention to the person to visit your site for some great tips on “widget services” or whatever it is that you do. You can establish a newsletter and ask permission to register the person on the newsletter and you can use that newsletter to inform. All of these vehicles provide value to people.

In Summary, when you are out networking for your business, keep in mind that your site likely has a ton of information on it that people can take the time to read at a later point. As such, ensure that you clearly notify them of your site, the URL, and what is available, and you will see results. It takes time, but with patience, your networking and your site can become one great sales combo.

NHL is having a Tweet Up?

Whats that you ask?  Well, Twitter is coming to town.   Well, not completely..  But with the start of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs , the NHL is stepping it up and taking it to the next level…. web 2.0!

Google seems to have their hand in everything, and rightfully so.  They happen to be one of the few that have the Midas touch.   ( In Greek mythology King Midas possessed the ability to turn everything he touched to gold.)  To say that Google has the ability to do the same is an understatement.  What makes Google so different?  Its not the ability to develop applications that makes them have the golden touch, its the ability to do it right… or as close to right as possible.   Now that doesn’t mean that Google applications have had their share of problems and bugs.  All applications have their share of problems and bugs.  Usually after the first round of testing you have a laundry list of issues, and each testing phase brings less.   Not to mention, usually at some point the developers think of a “better” way for something to react.   What google does better than anyone else is project what technology is needed , when it is needed and how it is needed to interact with all other Google applications.   This is what makes Google King Midas.

I have tried to compile a useful list of Google top applications and uses.  I use most of these myself in one way or another, and find them to be not only addictive but as needed and as useful as my smart phone.

Google Application 1.) Gmail has to be one of the Internets top email tools.  Now because of its inventive message-organizing methods, it takes some getting used to, but once you master it, you will not be without it.

Google Application 2.) Do you need a chat program with no added features?  Maybe a way to communicate internally at your comapny. How about something that integrates with your Gmail?  Well Google Talk is for you!

Google Application 3.)  Google Calendar!  How about… yes… just yes!  Google Calendar enables you to manage appointments and discover events from other sources that different users have made public.

Google Application 4.) Ever wish you could crunch some numbers and and track some information when you were not at the office and able to access Excel?  How about Google Docs…. Google Docs lets you make calculations on the fly from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection and a browser.

Google Application 5.) Google Sketchup.  Way Cool Application!  Don’t know a thing about CAD?  Have no clue what CAD even is?  Well, Google Sketch lets you build your dream house in 3D detail without a lick of CAD or architectural expertise.

Google Application 6.) Google Reader continuously checks your favorite website for new content and puts it all in one place.

Google Application 7.) Google Secondary Search Engines:

A.) Google Scholar – This Google search engine is for people who want to search scholarly literature, such as academic articles, peer-reviewed papers.

B.) Google U.S. Government – You can use this search engine to limit your Google search to government websites.

C.) Google University Search – Search to a specific university website–great for finding information about admissions, school scholarships and alumni news.

D.) Google Product Search -  This search engine limits results to products and e-commerce sites.

E.) Google Book Search – Google has created a reference page for each book in its system that includes previews, reviews, publisher information and much more.

Google Application 8.) Now even though this is cool.  I am very cautous and have not used it myself…Google Health.  Organize your medical records online.

Google Application 9.) Google Custom Search.  Yes, I said Custom Search.With Custom Search Engine, you can harness the power of Google to create a search engine tailored to your needs.

Google Application 10.) Lastly, but not in any way the least, announcing Google Mobile! Stay connected on the go with Gmail, Search, Maps and other Google products.

Try them out.  I will be shocked if you are disappointed.

-Kimberly Veautour