When you buy products or services from a local small mom 'n pop business, you are not helping a CEO bankroll a third vacation home.
You are helping a little girl get dance lessons, a little boy get his team jersey, a family put food on their table, and a roof over their head. Most important you are helping the local Reno economy get on its feet again.
Abacus clients are our only shareholders and they are the ones we strive to make happy and prosperous.
Thank you for supporting this local Northern Nevada small business!
20120521
Elevate WebSite ranking in search engines (#1)
Any WebSite is comprised of lines of code that inform your browser what to display. There are categorical segments of this code which can specifically inform search engines what the important parts of the WebSite are important. Think of it like bolding text. Instinctively we read the bold text as important. Search engines read certain segments of code as important the same way. Two such segments of code are:
Wrapping up (H Tags) are used to indicate levels of importance of information, while Title tags are used to indicate the subject of an entire WebPage. So in essence H tags and Title tags are closely related since they describe the content found on a WebPage.
Throughout my carrier as a Web and Internet design and developer I have looked behind the many WebPage magic curtains and found that neither of these two crucial tags had been used. While it is possible to create a fully functional WebPage that omits these tags, the people looking at a page will likely have no clue they are missing, but the ever important search engine audience will recognize these omissions, and rank it lower or even categorize the page making very difficult for those same people to find the page in the first place.
Title Tag:
As the name suggests a title tags is a section of code that defines the title of the document or WebPage. Web browsers use the title tag at the top of the browser window to indicate what page you are viewing. More importantly it displays a title for a WebPage in search engine results. These results help you and the search engine determine what the page consists of. Ex: The page your looking at is about dog breads, so the title tag might say something like"Famous Dog Breads around the World"Header Tags:
(H1, H2, H3...): While the title tag is more general, header tags are more specific. Header Tags are inform search engines what particular section of a WebPage is about. Ex: The page about dog breads is divided into five parts, each one discussing a particular dog breed. So there would be five H1 header tags, one for American Foxhound, a second for Bulldog, a third for Irish Terrier, and the final fifth one for Poodle. So now we have five distinct sections. Now if we look at the Poodle section, it is broken down into 2 sub sections. These would be H2 tags, subtags of the H1 tags. So our Poodle section is broken down into a section that talks about Poodle coloring, and the second section talks about personality traits commonly found in poodles. If the author of the page wanted to break down the Poodle coloring subtag into yet further subtags they would use the H3 tag and continue using a higher subtag number for each level of subtagging there was in the WebPage.Wrapping up (H Tags) are used to indicate levels of importance of information, while Title tags are used to indicate the subject of an entire WebPage. So in essence H tags and Title tags are closely related since they describe the content found on a WebPage.
Throughout my carrier as a Web and Internet design and developer I have looked behind the many WebPage magic curtains and found that neither of these two crucial tags had been used. While it is possible to create a fully functional WebPage that omits these tags, the people looking at a page will likely have no clue they are missing, but the ever important search engine audience will recognize these omissions, and rank it lower or even categorize the page making very difficult for those same people to find the page in the first place.
20111206
Founding a web presence (Domains & Hosting)
New business owners ask this question frequently; What are the first steps in creating a website? As with any new endeavor it is vital to understand some basics. Knowing the terminology is an excellent place to start.
Domain Name: In traditional brick and mortar business, location is everything. Choosing a suitable location for your business will make or break your business. Likewise a domain name is critical.
But what is a domain name? Simply put a domain name is a series of characters which represents an Internet Protocol resource (commonly website and eMail). Internet users type in a domain name in their browser's address bar to view a website, or use the domain name in a eMail address, ie: AbacusWeb.com.
Often domains names are simply referred to as just 'domains'. Once domains are registered, they allow the administrator exclusive right to use or point the given domain to an Internet resource such as a hosting server. So in essence a domain is analogous to a street address. It provides a method for finding your website.
Web Hosting Service: is a type of Internet hosting service that provides for accessible space on the World Wide Web. Web hosts offer space on their servers which in turn hosts content available for Internet connectivity. A client either buys or rents space on a server and loads various files which are then accessed through a web browser such as Firefox. These files are interpreted by the web browser and displayed as web pages.
Quickly reviewing the process: a domain name is entered into a web browser. Your internet service provider will then request files from the hosting server designated as hosting your website, which then is interpreted into a webpage.
In the next installment of this series I will discuss the various files which come together to make a website.
Domain Name: In traditional brick and mortar business, location is everything. Choosing a suitable location for your business will make or break your business. Likewise a domain name is critical.
Often domains names are simply referred to as just 'domains'. Once domains are registered, they allow the administrator exclusive right to use or point the given domain to an Internet resource such as a hosting server. So in essence a domain is analogous to a street address. It provides a method for finding your website.
Web Hosting Service: is a type of Internet hosting service that provides for accessible space on the World Wide Web. Web hosts offer space on their servers which in turn hosts content available for Internet connectivity. A client either buys or rents space on a server and loads various files which are then accessed through a web browser such as Firefox. These files are interpreted by the web browser and displayed as web pages.
Quickly reviewing the process: a domain name is entered into a web browser. Your internet service provider will then request files from the hosting server designated as hosting your website, which then is interpreted into a webpage.
In the next installment of this series I will discuss the various files which come together to make a website.
20111128
Professional Website design & Development
You believe that if your going to do something, you should do it right the first time right? Building anything, especially at the very beginning is vitally important. Your small business website is no different.
The process of creating and designing a website can be a thrill ride. There are many pitfalls that unexperienced fall prey to. Just the simple decision of a domain name seems simple enough, but many small business owners do not make the right decision on their own.
The run of the mill business owner has many choices to establish their web presence. From those choices are many seemingly affordable solutions that turn out to be useless. How does a small business owner know what to choose?
There is a distinction between newbie and expert help in any filed of professionalism. Making the first choice to engage professional web designers to build establish your web presence is a choice which you will not regret.
One of the advantages of seeking out a professional web design and development company is the knowledge factor. Beginner coders and programmers don’t have the knowledge creating web sites such as professional web designers.
Companies that sell you a website on a monthly basis make you do all the design decisions and frankly unless you are an advertising / marketing professional the wrong design will turn away customers. Plus there are all the unexpected add ons that make that initial cost suddenly increase out of control. Add the fact that your on your own in bringing people to your site, and your hard earned money will simply be better spent making the right decision in the first place.
The right balance of web-site graphics and aspects of design is what makes a website eye-catching to potential customers. The use of acceptable color schemes is vitally important to target your desired customers.
Part of any successful website is carefully choosing the most cost effective marketing aspects. A professional knows how to attract website visitors that will increase your bottom line.
The process of creating and designing a website can be a thrill ride. There are many pitfalls that unexperienced fall prey to. Just the simple decision of a domain name seems simple enough, but many small business owners do not make the right decision on their own.
The run of the mill business owner has many choices to establish their web presence. From those choices are many seemingly affordable solutions that turn out to be useless. How does a small business owner know what to choose?
There is a distinction between newbie and expert help in any filed of professionalism. Making the first choice to engage professional web designers to build establish your web presence is a choice which you will not regret.
One of the advantages of seeking out a professional web design and development company is the knowledge factor. Beginner coders and programmers don’t have the knowledge creating web sites such as professional web designers.
Companies that sell you a website on a monthly basis make you do all the design decisions and frankly unless you are an advertising / marketing professional the wrong design will turn away customers. Plus there are all the unexpected add ons that make that initial cost suddenly increase out of control. Add the fact that your on your own in bringing people to your site, and your hard earned money will simply be better spent making the right decision in the first place.
The right balance of web-site graphics and aspects of design is what makes a website eye-catching to potential customers. The use of acceptable color schemes is vitally important to target your desired customers.
Part of any successful website is carefully choosing the most cost effective marketing aspects. A professional knows how to attract website visitors that will increase your bottom line.
20110624
Unethical SEO
You want your WebSite to top search engine results. There are Search Engine Optimization "SEO" experts who are paid to get your WebSite ranked better. But how do they do it? It's all smoke and mirrors to average business owner. There are many "SEO" experts out there that will do just about anything to make a quick buck at your expense. Over the years, people have pursued the ever allusive top rank on search engine sites such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and the countless others. The point really isn't always to obtain that coveted position, in some cases it is simply to redirect the top search results to a particular page. You as a business owner need to know that this is called Blackhat SEO and is minimally unethical, and many of the search engine companies consider it against their terms of service.
Blackhat SEO experts fully comprehend that their sites may anticipate that their sites may ultimately be banned irrevocably from search results. Would you like your WebSite banned from Google, never to appear in any search result ever again? Well you should know that the tactics of some disreputable SEO experts, code named Blackhat can lead to this unthinkable dead end.
Some of the more common tactics of Blackhat are: link farming, keyword stuffing, hidden text, blog comment spamming, and cloaking.While the use of these tactics may seem innocent enough, after all its your WebSite, they can lead to search engine delisting, a situation which is devastating to WebSite traffic.
Abacus uses SEO techniques that are approved by the major search engines, to ensure the long term viability of your WebSite search engine ranking.
Blackhat SEO experts fully comprehend that their sites may anticipate that their sites may ultimately be banned irrevocably from search results. Would you like your WebSite banned from Google, never to appear in any search result ever again? Well you should know that the tactics of some disreputable SEO experts, code named Blackhat can lead to this unthinkable dead end.
Some of the more common tactics of Blackhat are: link farming, keyword stuffing, hidden text, blog comment spamming, and cloaking.While the use of these tactics may seem innocent enough, after all its your WebSite, they can lead to search engine delisting, a situation which is devastating to WebSite traffic.
Abacus uses SEO techniques that are approved by the major search engines, to ensure the long term viability of your WebSite search engine ranking.
20110619
Flash - There's still life out there
There is some credible Flash trash talking among my colleagues and the Web industry in general. Several years ago Flash was the new and in-demand Web technology that could make any WebSite vitalized and come to life. Unfortunately enough bad apples got into the bathwater and our new baby was in threat of being thrown out...
Not so long ago the fact was simple, the computer geeks that understood how to make Flash do really cool things had no clue in the art of storyboard creation or really had any artistic skills to speak of. On the other hand the artists that could tell a wonderful story, and get their message across to the masses were frustrated beyond reason as how to make Flash do anything useful.
You see at first when Flash was first designed it was aimed at the artistic crowd. The same people that know how to communicate ideas through design. In the beginning Flash was much easier to use and this in turn allowed artistic types to pick it up without too much hassle. But then Flash had bigger and better dreams of becoming something more. Flash became more powerful by means of its own scripting language. More and more complex programming techniques were needed just to create the simplest effects. Unfortunately this left the artistic types in the dust, grumbling on how difficult it was to do anything with Flash. Adobe, the company behind Flash made a bad judgement that enough users would continue be able to use Flash as it became a more powerful Web medium. This idea was simply before its time. The only ones remaining to develop with Flash were the techno geeks, able to go boldly where no man has gone before, but you know geeks communications skills - NADA! If you question this I suggest you turn on the television and watch Big Bang Theory, and you start understanding the rift in geek communication skills. ~~ afterall isn't the reason for a WebSite to communicate a message?
In essence the majority of Flash proliferating the Net back in 2007 and still today in mid 2011, is a montage of screaming babies, pitiful and annoying. Restraint is a crucial factor in Flash usage. Too much and it becomes overbearing, used as accents it becomes a worthwhile tool. Along with proper usage is proper understanding of the tool. There is a future for Flash. As more and more graphic arts departments in colleges and universities start teaching Flash and the new medium in general, slowly but surely respectable Flash WebSites have taken their place alongside the pure HTML standard.
Even with the tenaciousness of Apple to bar the technology from its portable devices, new portable device platforms like Andriod are wholeheartedly embracing Flash. Only a year ago Flash was doomed to obscurity due to Apples dominance in the portable device market. Perhaps by sheer pressure the all-mighty Apple will give in, but even if it doesn't, they are no longer the only platform in town.
So there is still life in Flash; it is that the tool is utilized properly by gifted artists that make are able to communicate a message through it, as well as the growing number of portable devices that support it.
Not so long ago the fact was simple, the computer geeks that understood how to make Flash do really cool things had no clue in the art of storyboard creation or really had any artistic skills to speak of. On the other hand the artists that could tell a wonderful story, and get their message across to the masses were frustrated beyond reason as how to make Flash do anything useful.
You see at first when Flash was first designed it was aimed at the artistic crowd. The same people that know how to communicate ideas through design. In the beginning Flash was much easier to use and this in turn allowed artistic types to pick it up without too much hassle. But then Flash had bigger and better dreams of becoming something more. Flash became more powerful by means of its own scripting language. More and more complex programming techniques were needed just to create the simplest effects. Unfortunately this left the artistic types in the dust, grumbling on how difficult it was to do anything with Flash. Adobe, the company behind Flash made a bad judgement that enough users would continue be able to use Flash as it became a more powerful Web medium. This idea was simply before its time. The only ones remaining to develop with Flash were the techno geeks, able to go boldly where no man has gone before, but you know geeks communications skills - NADA! If you question this I suggest you turn on the television and watch Big Bang Theory, and you start understanding the rift in geek communication skills. ~~ afterall isn't the reason for a WebSite to communicate a message?
In essence the majority of Flash proliferating the Net back in 2007 and still today in mid 2011, is a montage of screaming babies, pitiful and annoying. Restraint is a crucial factor in Flash usage. Too much and it becomes overbearing, used as accents it becomes a worthwhile tool. Along with proper usage is proper understanding of the tool. There is a future for Flash. As more and more graphic arts departments in colleges and universities start teaching Flash and the new medium in general, slowly but surely respectable Flash WebSites have taken their place alongside the pure HTML standard.
Even with the tenaciousness of Apple to bar the technology from its portable devices, new portable device platforms like Andriod are wholeheartedly embracing Flash. Only a year ago Flash was doomed to obscurity due to Apples dominance in the portable device market. Perhaps by sheer pressure the all-mighty Apple will give in, but even if it doesn't, they are no longer the only platform in town.
So there is still life in Flash; it is that the tool is utilized properly by gifted artists that make are able to communicate a message through it, as well as the growing number of portable devices that support it.
20110423
File names using a date code
Just like paper files, electronic files need to be organized, or else they get hopelessly lost. As an added benefit organizing your files reduces confusion and helps keep your sanity. Efficient management of your files begins with something called file naming conventions. One of the easiest ways to start organizing your files is to incorporate dates into file.
You may ask why should I put the date into a file name when my computer automatically associates the date into a file. One thing to consider is that you may update a file and thus changing the original date. By adding a date into the file name you are ensuring the file will be associated with the date you intend. Also if revisions of a document are made it is makes a lot of sense that files with an earlier date are earlier file revisions.
Some people find it more useful to have the date at the start of the file name, while
others might prefer it at the end. Either way, it is a useful sorting tool when the files are organized, and the same rule is consistently used.
The best way to list the date is based on an international standard following ISO 8601. This international standard date notation is: YYYY_MM_DD or YYYYMMDD.
Don't fret its not all that confusing when you understand these simple concepts. YYYY are the numbers used for the year, MM is the numerical month of the year between 01 (January) and 12 (December), and DD is the day of the month between 01 and 31. For example, the day that this post was posted, April, 23 2011 is written as 2011_04_23 or 20110423.
Why not just use the format you are already used to? Well this particular format allows ease of sorting and comparing files by date and prevents confusion with other date formats (especially in other formats that use just two digits for the year).
For example, this blog entry could be named:
Abacus_20110423
to reflect that this entry was created on April 23, 2011.
Likewise a document containing the content (words & images) for a WebPage could be named:
20110423_WelcomePage.txt
This way the files are more easily sorted by date. All of the files and their revisions can be placed in the same folder.
You may ask why should I put the date into a file name when my computer automatically associates the date into a file. One thing to consider is that you may update a file and thus changing the original date. By adding a date into the file name you are ensuring the file will be associated with the date you intend. Also if revisions of a document are made it is makes a lot of sense that files with an earlier date are earlier file revisions.
Some people find it more useful to have the date at the start of the file name, while
others might prefer it at the end. Either way, it is a useful sorting tool when the files are organized, and the same rule is consistently used.
The best way to list the date is based on an international standard following ISO 8601. This international standard date notation is: YYYY_MM_DD or YYYYMMDD.
Don't fret its not all that confusing when you understand these simple concepts. YYYY are the numbers used for the year, MM is the numerical month of the year between 01 (January) and 12 (December), and DD is the day of the month between 01 and 31. For example, the day that this post was posted, April, 23 2011 is written as 2011_04_23 or 20110423.
Why not just use the format you are already used to? Well this particular format allows ease of sorting and comparing files by date and prevents confusion with other date formats (especially in other formats that use just two digits for the year).
For example, this blog entry could be named:
Abacus_20110423
to reflect that this entry was created on April 23, 2011.
Likewise a document containing the content (words & images) for a WebPage could be named:
20110423_WelcomePage.txt
This way the files are more easily sorted by date. All of the files and their revisions can be placed in the same folder.
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