Wordpress
Jan 16th
Getting on the Internet could not be any easier with WordPress. I have been working with Wordpress on a couple of projects now and I am amazed with the amount of time I can produce a website will content management at your finger tips.
You can download already built templates from a library of hundreds which some are OK and some are not too bad. If you dont mind sharnifg a template with hundreds of other people.
You can also download plugins such as twitter, facebook, flickr and lots more to lots of other things. Wordpress isnt just a blogging software its a complete content management system built with the latest web technology.
I can see why the search engines love Wordpress websites, with its clean URL permalinks which also can be customised from Numeric, Category or whichever format you would like. So for example a normal website link would be http://www.silvermarbles.co.uk/portfolio?=freedom_flying.php where as Wordpress can rewrite the URL to look like http://www.silvermarbles.co.uk/portfolio/freedom-flying – far more cleaner and nicer looking!
Wordpress is great but its not the bee all and end all to the web creation side of things. It does have disadvantages with some website projects which may require a more unique approach to building the site and the features may not be supported. So web designer’s aren’t going to be put out of job just yet!
Looking forward to getting into more Wordpress projects with some ecommerce and brochure website and certainly more blogging sites!
Shropshire Wedding Photography
Nov 26th
For professional contemporary images for every occasion such as Weddings, Events, Commercial or Portraits visit www.mikenorman.co.uk.
Mike Norman is a based in Wem, Shropshire and has many years experience in Wedding Photography.
He has a new website which allows him to upload his work quickly and easily.
Site Speed — Google’s Next Ranking Factor. How Fast is Your Site?
Nov 25th
World Wide Web is soon going to become the Wild Wild Web where the fast guys rule. According to Google’s engineer Matt Cutts the search giant is inclined to introduce a new ranking factor into its algorithm — site speed. Once that happens, your site load time will have a direct impact on your Google rankings.
If you’re a fast site, maybe you should get a little bit of a bonus. If you really have an awfully slow site, then maybe users don’t want that as much 
, says Cutts.
Google is pushing towards a faster web where web pages can be turned as quickly as those of a print magazine. If your site doesn’t catch up with the pace it doesn’t belong on the first page of search results.
When will Site Speed Become a Ranking Factor?
Google’s already using load speed as a Quality Score factor in its paid search platform AdWords, where advertisers with faster web pages pay less. It’s hard to tell for sure when site speed factor will be officially brought into organic search though. Some experts believe it already has an effect on rankings and Google will give it more weight. Google says speed is yet to become a factor in the ranking algo.
Anyway, it seems reasonable for Google to introduce the new factor together with the new search architecture known as Google Caffeine which is to be rolled out after the holidays (early 2010). Google wants Caffeine to be faster. Higher speed will be hard to achieve with slow sites ranking in top 10, so it makes perfect sense for Google to apply the site speed factor in Caffeine.
Check Your Website Load Time
If your site depends on Google rankings for traffic and sales (which is true for a vast majority of sites) you should be ready for any change in the game, big or small. Taking action before the change even happens is a key to the prosperity of your business.
Google doesn’t often tell us about its updates before they go live. That’s why as soon as we heard the news Link-Assistant.Com put together a new version of WebSite Auditor (our on-page optimization tool) that will help you get ready for the change.
The new version lets you quickly check your site speed and compare it against your top ten competitors. Doing this is easy as ever with SEO PowerSuite tools. You simply specify your website or web page address and the keyword(s) you’re targeting. WebSite Auditor then finds your top 10 competitors for the keyword and compares your site against them in a variety of ways:
- Keyword use and density in all page elements.
- Most popular keywords and keyphrases on your and competing webpages.
- Problem areas in your content, etc.
And now it also lets you check your site’s load time. If you click through to the Report Tab you’ll see a special Site Load Time section closer to the end of the report. In it you get all the information you need to check whether your site is fast enough to rank in the top 10 of Google.
Creating a favicon for your website
Nov 17th
What is a favicon?
A favicon (the name is short for “favourites icon”) is the 16×16 pixel square icon displayed in your web browsers’ address bar, browser tabs and next to your bookmarks, e.g…
URL address bar
Bookmarks
Browser tab
Why have a favicon?
A favicon isn’t a killer necessity for your website, however what it does do is ensure…
- You maintain consistent branding
- You portray a professional image to visitors (and by association you are trustworthy)
- Your site stand outs in bookmarks & tabs increasing likelihood of being re-visited
- You make life easier for people who are heavy multi-tab users
How to create a favicon
If you have a copy of the open source software ‘Gimp’ you can create and save an image as a ‘.ico’ file to use as a favicon. If like me you have zero design skills or want a quicker way of creating one there are countless free generators such as this free favicon generator from Dynamic Drive or http://favicon-generator.org/
Once you have your image, the easiest way to set up your favicon is to name it “favicon.ico”, upload it to your website’s root directory and let the browser (Firefox, IE, Safari etc) find it and they will then automatically display it. However, if you would prefer to add the necessary code you can use this in between your <head> tags…
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
<link rel="icon" href="/favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
Motorcycle Training West Midlands
Nov 16th
Have you ever wanted to learn how to ride a motorbike?
Bikewise can train you whatever your level of experience is. They train to CBT and even CBT2DAS. They have bike schools in Shrewsbury, Stafford and Wolverhampton covering most of the West Midlands.
For professional motorcycle training in west midlands get in touch with bikewise.
Call 0800 996 1200 or 01785 222 111 or visit the website www.bikewise.net
Life Coaching Online with OCP
Nov 9th
If you are like me, I prefer to do most things on the Internet. For example I do my shop for groceries with Tesco’s online, shop at Next for clothes online, check what new films from Sky movies will feature this Saturday, place a bet with Bet365 for this weekends footie. Have you ever tried to develop your life skills online?
Online Coaching Partnerships is a website that offers its members a way of logging in and learning from a cariety of life courses. When you register you have a good choice of life courses to choose from.
- Building a Personal Career Portfolio
- Creative Writing
- Developing Confidence
- Developing Interpersonal skills
- Goal Setting
- Preparing for an Interview
- Solid Self Beleif
- Weight Loss
- Understanding Stress
- Work Place Bullying (FREE course)
There is usually more courses added on a monthly basis but there is quite a few to get you started if you fancy improving that part of your life that you struggle with.
The site is easy to use as all your learning materials will be accessed by you online with your own logon. Once you have signed up you will be allocated a coach who will get in touch with you by email. When you are ready you can send your coach your assignments by email and make arrangements to take part in a discussion between you and your coach. This can be done either by email, phone, webcam or instant messaging.
Our coaches have a wealth of experience both in life, work, and from working in education, and they are easy and fun to work with. Most of our courses are accredited with a national awarding body. You can take as little or as much time as you need to complete the courses. What makes our courses extra special is that you can also receive a certificate from a National Awarding Body, National Open College Network, NOCN. This means that your qualification will be recognised throughout the UK.
Please visit Online Life Coaching for further costs and information.
SEO, Blogging, Social Networking, Inbound Linking and Email Marketing
Oct 8th
If you combine SEO, Blogging, Inbound Linking and Email Marketing you can provide your optimised website a funnel of traffic.
SEO
It is important to have an optimised website with your chosen keywords and to reflect those keywords in your web page content. Also making sure your images have ALT tags and TITLE tags can help. Try using your keywords in your images, this can gain extra points.
BLOGGING
Who can afford not to blog? Write what you are thinking ona blog and engage with other people who are searching for your thoughts.
SOCIAL NETWORKING
Having a Twitter page, Facebook fan page, MySpace page and a LinkedIn profile can help point traffic to your website. Who can afford not to have links from some of the biggest names in social networking. Its free to create these pages, put the time in to make friends, comment on blogs, get connected, start tweeting and your online community will slowly grow.
INBOUND LINKING
This is a tough one but can go hand in hand with the social networking side of things. Business directories like DMOZ, Yahoo Directory, AOL and others can all contribute to quality inbound links and I would recommend anyone to get listed.
EMAIL MARKETING
Sending emails is one of the best ways to keep in touch with potential customers or existing customers. You should take advantage of SEO’ing your email campaigns with anchor text keywords in your email marketing content and hten further optimising your landing pages.
Ok, so I am generating the traffic how do I convert?
Converting traffic into leads is the important step, lots of traffic and no sales means the website has a problem. This could be a number of things.
- No clear marketing message, whats is your website selling?
- The website is not easy to navigate or not accessible for the visitor.
- The information or products are too hard to find
- There are no terms of conditions, policies for refund or privacy.
- There is not enough life in the website. Nobody reads anymore, make an impact with images.
The list could go on. However these are the major 5 reasons for websites not performing.
Please leave comments with any questions you may have.
Looking for a job in AV?
Oct 2nd
If you are looking for a job in Audio Visual, you need to register at Lava Jobs, the hottest AV Jobs in the UK.
Registration is free to all job seekers, all details are confidential and only viewed by Lava Jobs.
They are currrently looking for Engineers, Technicians, Salespeople, Marketing experts, Product Managers and Events Organisers!
Register at Lava Jobs today.
Need a new projector lamp?
Sep 23rd
Then fear not! Sirlampalot.com is riding to your rescue !!
Massive range of projector lamps whether you have ACER, EPSON lamps, SONY, SANYO, PANASONIC they have them all!
In fact they have around 7650 projector lamps, so to get a good deal on your next projector lamp visit www.sirlampalot.com.
They only supply genuine lamps, always in stock and FREE DELIVERY!
There are millions of singles out there!
Sep 21st
Find love online at www.dates4you.co.uk – your gateway to finding new friends, love or if you just like chatting!
Our website is powered by the latest dating software, some reasons why people are using dates4you.co.uk
- FREE Registration
- Do some searching and see who is online!
- Easy to use website
- Safe and secured by the latest hacking software.
Members can use the following features
- Video Profiles
- Who’s Online, Instant Messengin, Video Chat
- Mobile Payments / SMS Alerts
- Blogs / Diaries
- Personlaity Profiling
REGISTER TODAY and FIND FRIENDS, LOVE OR JUST MEET PEOPLE