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.
20110317
Abacus believes that communications is paramount to understand the needs of its clients. There are many forms of communications that are simply not used because of impracticality. Faxes are one such impractical way to communicate. Information in within Faxes can not be easily transferred as they contain only low resolution images of the sender's intent. For this reason Abacus does not accept Faxed documents. We realize this may be an inconvenience for a small minority, but it is necessary to ensure that all of our clients receive the best service possible.
20110310
What your clients cant see will hurt you
Did you know that one in twelve people interpret colors they are seeing incorrectly due to some sort of color deficiency. When Abacus designs for WebSites, we keep this in that a small section of the population will not be able to see the site as intended. That's a lot of people that most other companies completely ignore.
Understanding color blindness is crucial in design for obvious reasons. Color vision is pretty complicated. If you're not color-deficient or color-blind then it's hard to understand what color-blind people see. There are four kinds of color vision:
Regular vision is Trichromatic, meaning it implements the three color receptors (Red-Green-Blue). In practice, the cone cells in your eyes are called L, M and S (for long, medium and short wavelength reception), but the colors they interpret is actually closer to Yellow, Green and Blue. The wavelengths eyes interpret are vastly overlapping, so green light hits all three in varying degrees (and all wavelengths hit your rod cells).
Anomalous Trichromat is when individuals use all three color receptors but reception of one pigment is skewed and less sensitive. A Dichromatic aberration is when vision is only two of the three light wavelengths is interpreted. When most people say color blind a Monochromatic vision abnormality is the most extreme case. Some might call this seeing in gray-scale where very low color recognition is experienced.
Now this might sound very confusing which is the reason many so called designers don't bother to consider it in their work. Abacus takes this very seriously since the wrong color combination can make a design seem completely uncomprehendable, let alone get your message across. If someone can't see your website, then it is useless.
Understanding color blindness is crucial in design for obvious reasons. Color vision is pretty complicated. If you're not color-deficient or color-blind then it's hard to understand what color-blind people see. There are four kinds of color vision:
Regular vision is Trichromatic, meaning it implements the three color receptors (Red-Green-Blue). In practice, the cone cells in your eyes are called L, M and S (for long, medium and short wavelength reception), but the colors they interpret is actually closer to Yellow, Green and Blue. The wavelengths eyes interpret are vastly overlapping, so green light hits all three in varying degrees (and all wavelengths hit your rod cells).
Anomalous Trichromat is when individuals use all three color receptors but reception of one pigment is skewed and less sensitive. A Dichromatic aberration is when vision is only two of the three light wavelengths is interpreted. When most people say color blind a Monochromatic vision abnormality is the most extreme case. Some might call this seeing in gray-scale where very low color recognition is experienced.
Now this might sound very confusing which is the reason many so called designers don't bother to consider it in their work. Abacus takes this very seriously since the wrong color combination can make a design seem completely uncomprehendable, let alone get your message across. If someone can't see your website, then it is useless.
20101104
Developing and Designing with productivity in mind
Productivity is key to offering better service. Much design work on WebSites includes working with multiple computer programs all running at once. On a traditional single monitor, the task of jumping back and forth between layered windows eats away at productivity.
Having a larger desktop to work with enhances productivity. The more that can be viewed at a single glance, improves the time it takes to work with multiple programs at the same time. Selecting a higher resolution for the desktop will achieve this. Implementing a duel screen solution further increases the amount of desktop space which can be viewed at one time.
Today my eMail inbox contained a sterling reminder and pun to this productivity concept. It might seem cute, even outlandish to some, having multiple monitors.
To me, it is a fact of life and a necessity as a developer / designer of WebSites to work with multiple monitors. I can relate to Alice in the third panel. I have worked in large tech companies where a single tiny screen was the rule. It was stifling to know that a short sighted decision, limiting users to a single monitor, holds back productivity. Its easy to shortchange workers; its only a small amount of time that is saved after all. Adding up those chunks of time convinced me that a multiple monitor implementation is simply the right thing to do.
This is why I employ multiple monitors in my business. It just makes sense to allocate resources upfront to a proven productivity enhancer. Making the right choices in the past has allowed Abacus to save countless chunks of time over the years.
Having a larger desktop to work with enhances productivity. The more that can be viewed at a single glance, improves the time it takes to work with multiple programs at the same time. Selecting a higher resolution for the desktop will achieve this. Implementing a duel screen solution further increases the amount of desktop space which can be viewed at one time.
Today my eMail inbox contained a sterling reminder and pun to this productivity concept. It might seem cute, even outlandish to some, having multiple monitors.
To me, it is a fact of life and a necessity as a developer / designer of WebSites to work with multiple monitors. I can relate to Alice in the third panel. I have worked in large tech companies where a single tiny screen was the rule. It was stifling to know that a short sighted decision, limiting users to a single monitor, holds back productivity. Its easy to shortchange workers; its only a small amount of time that is saved after all. Adding up those chunks of time convinced me that a multiple monitor implementation is simply the right thing to do.
This is why I employ multiple monitors in my business. It just makes sense to allocate resources upfront to a proven productivity enhancer. Making the right choices in the past has allowed Abacus to save countless chunks of time over the years.
20101026
Economic Downturn: Your WebSite in Jeopardy
We can all agree that the general economy in the United States is problematic at best. Here in Nevada, we are particularly hard hit. Your marketing WebSite efforts force you to ask some important questions.
Does your WebSite sell necessities? If your WebSite sells either a service or tangible product that is needed by people, regardless of the general economy, the WebSite needs to focus on selling the idea that your product or service is something worth buying in these hard times.
How do your prices compare to others in the Northern Nevada market? Regardless to how superior your service or products are, consumers have a tendency to price shop in a poor economy. Many business owners believe they know their competition, but in truth they spend so much time with day to day business activities, they are unable to effectively gauge the competition. You must understand what similar products and services that consumers might substitute for yours. With more consumer choices, your WebSite needs to be discourage price shop and take into account the overall value of your product or service.
Does the message on your WebSite clearly state how your product or services are unique from the competition? If you have a truly unique product you are at an advantage to those that have to deal with competition. But if there are competitors in our market, your WebSite must clearly reflect why a consumer would want to choose your service or product over the competition.
Even if your WebSite is in Jeapordy, sucsess is still at hand. You will need to make the commitment to continuously scrutinize your customers. Are they helping or holding back your business? Does it make sense to go after new customers within the current demographic or search for customers that may help build your business? Take the time to survey your customers to know what value they find in your product or service. If you don't have time to do this yourself, then you need to have someone do it for you. Otherwise you will find your customer base has shifted too late.
One of the misnomers about having a WebSites is that it should relate to everyone with an Internet connection. Trying to appeal to everyone only accomplishes appealing to no one. Your WebSite should appeal to your customer demographic. This is why it is important to know your customer demographic. Otherwise how else can you appeal to them.
Abacus can help you more than with just a good looking WebSite. We provide the WebSites that work for you and your business by taking the time to understand your customers. Did the person that designed your current WebSite, understand your customers? Does your WebSite still attract the people that make your business successful? If you even have a doubt it is time to take a look at a WebSite developer that does.
We all have trepidation about the weak economy. Abacus will ensure that your business WebSite helps your business achieve its goals. We will see your business through these tough times.
Does your WebSite sell necessities? If your WebSite sells either a service or tangible product that is needed by people, regardless of the general economy, the WebSite needs to focus on selling the idea that your product or service is something worth buying in these hard times.
How do your prices compare to others in the Northern Nevada market? Regardless to how superior your service or products are, consumers have a tendency to price shop in a poor economy. Many business owners believe they know their competition, but in truth they spend so much time with day to day business activities, they are unable to effectively gauge the competition. You must understand what similar products and services that consumers might substitute for yours. With more consumer choices, your WebSite needs to be discourage price shop and take into account the overall value of your product or service.
Does the message on your WebSite clearly state how your product or services are unique from the competition? If you have a truly unique product you are at an advantage to those that have to deal with competition. But if there are competitors in our market, your WebSite must clearly reflect why a consumer would want to choose your service or product over the competition.
Even if your WebSite is in Jeapordy, sucsess is still at hand. You will need to make the commitment to continuously scrutinize your customers. Are they helping or holding back your business? Does it make sense to go after new customers within the current demographic or search for customers that may help build your business? Take the time to survey your customers to know what value they find in your product or service. If you don't have time to do this yourself, then you need to have someone do it for you. Otherwise you will find your customer base has shifted too late.
One of the misnomers about having a WebSites is that it should relate to everyone with an Internet connection. Trying to appeal to everyone only accomplishes appealing to no one. Your WebSite should appeal to your customer demographic. This is why it is important to know your customer demographic. Otherwise how else can you appeal to them.
Abacus can help you more than with just a good looking WebSite. We provide the WebSites that work for you and your business by taking the time to understand your customers. Did the person that designed your current WebSite, understand your customers? Does your WebSite still attract the people that make your business successful? If you even have a doubt it is time to take a look at a WebSite developer that does.
We all have trepidation about the weak economy. Abacus will ensure that your business WebSite helps your business achieve its goals. We will see your business through these tough times.
20100405
Abacus' job is to understand, otherwise your message is lost.
Does your "Web Designer" understand your business? Did they take the time to sit down with you and ask questions? Can they reliably state the type of customers your company wants to appeal to on your WebSite?
How then can they build and maintain a critical part of your marketing strategy? Your WebSite is so much more than a group of pictures and a quickly put together catch phrases. To many its the first and last chance for a potential customer to choose you over another company. Your WebSite needs to stand out and accurately convey its strengths.
Abacus will sit down with you to understand. We will ask the right questions so your WebSite is developed and designed to attract the customer that increases business.
20100325
Substance to what is lacking ...
You know the difference between customized service and regurgitated garbage that many designers pump out can be shown in a simple example at an Adobe Forum where users can help one another with DreamWeaver issues.
A "high volume" poster whom refers to themselves as a "Web Specialist" provided an response that simply failed to directly answer the original poster's question. Or perhaps I should restate that, they responded with a bunch of regurgitated catch phrases that they had used in countless prior posts. Certainly if the question was answered, this form of reply would be be acceptable. But the reply simply did not answer the question.
Many would defend "why reinvent the wheel". Automation can assist with productivity. But when quality is forfeited you have to ask yourself, "Does the output satisfy the request?
Substance is actually answering the question being asked. Substance is taking the time to understand the question and formulating an answer that works now and in the future. Substance is the very essence behind each and every project Abacus undertakes.
Abacus takes pride and enjoys helping people with solutions that utilize the Web and the vast Internet marketplace.
A "high volume" poster whom refers to themselves as a "Web Specialist" provided an response that simply failed to directly answer the original poster's question. Or perhaps I should restate that, they responded with a bunch of regurgitated catch phrases that they had used in countless prior posts. Certainly if the question was answered, this form of reply would be be acceptable. But the reply simply did not answer the question.
Many would defend "why reinvent the wheel". Automation can assist with productivity. But when quality is forfeited you have to ask yourself, "Does the output satisfy the request?
Substance is actually answering the question being asked. Substance is taking the time to understand the question and formulating an answer that works now and in the future. Substance is the very essence behind each and every project Abacus undertakes.
Abacus takes pride and enjoys helping people with solutions that utilize the Web and the vast Internet marketplace.
20100309
20100201
Social Media Marketing - part of your marketing message
Social media marketing mas many definitions and preconceptions. In short not grasping the basics is foolhardy.
If you plan to have your company be in existence five to ten years from now it is mandatory that you begin now. It's not to late to get your message out there, but soon it may be. If you are not in the game soon, it will be extraordinarily difficult to catch up. If your company is not activly using social media you will be ignored by kids, soon to be adults, that live on it.
- You must understand where your company is headed—where you want to be over a given time period. Every post to a blog, every customer contact that you acquire, building that relationship must be planned. What do you want people to see and know about your company? How will your readers interpret over time what you have posted months ago? Each time you write, involve your customer, the reader so they become part of the organization. If your message is not part of a plan, then you are not being efficient with your time an money.
- Bring something new your bog when you write. Share fresh ideas, new stories, insights—no matter the chosen social media outlet. When you bring your perspective, you are showing off your business.
- Most important is conducting serious research before you start on the social media road. Don’t figure it out as you go along. Stumbling along the way will muddy your message. Develop your own unique style of communication and stay with it, unless you change your entire plan.
If you plan to have your company be in existence five to ten years from now it is mandatory that you begin now. It's not to late to get your message out there, but soon it may be. If you are not in the game soon, it will be extraordinarily difficult to catch up. If your company is not activly using social media you will be ignored by kids, soon to be adults, that live on it.
Check out David Schwartz @ Business: Impossible where he will share with you “secrets” and can help get your social media strategy implemented.
20091211
Being placed at the top of the search list for a particular term is what will drive more business to your WebSite. The idea is to manipulate the search engines into bringing up your particular WebSite before your competitions'.
The trick is that the search engine people don't want you to manipulate their results. It's a mad race between search engine optimization specialists SEOs and the search engine companies themselves. My money is on the Search engine companies since it is their game and they hold all the cards. We go to them for the search results. It is never the other way around. We ask them what ranking something is. We even ask them for our own rankings compared to our rankings last period. Can you say dependence?
Now to the real reason why I am writing this particular blog piece. A client came to me today and asked me why their listing was three pages down while their competitor, who does not even have a web presence is listed on page two. I was baffled. I could not fathom any logical reason why my clients listing would be as low as is was with a particular search term while their competitor had a higher listing without any website whatsoever.
First things first, I don't say I am a full fledged SEO. They spend or should at least spend several hours a day trying to figure out how the search engine people are coming up with their newest trick to stop SEOs from promoting their clients WebSites. Some SEOs are nothing more that glorified sales people dressed up in confusing statistics, and leave on the first train out of town once they get their money. The good ones study your business and try to understand just what different avenues can be utilized through keywords. I myself know enough to be dangerous and helpful to others. When I create a WebSite I develop them with the basics that anyone show do as to properly introduce them to the search engine. I actually spend a great deal of time devising the plan which will be used.
But it all comes down to the same questions why is this listing come before that other one? Someone surely knows. The metrics are there somewhere in a database some where, but I must only guess at there contents.
For I am QueryAll Question Everything It may time a long while to soft through the entire dump of information but all of if will be there to review.
Any comments?
The trick is that the search engine people don't want you to manipulate their results. It's a mad race between search engine optimization specialists SEOs and the search engine companies themselves. My money is on the Search engine companies since it is their game and they hold all the cards. We go to them for the search results. It is never the other way around. We ask them what ranking something is. We even ask them for our own rankings compared to our rankings last period. Can you say dependence?
Now to the real reason why I am writing this particular blog piece. A client came to me today and asked me why their listing was three pages down while their competitor, who does not even have a web presence is listed on page two. I was baffled. I could not fathom any logical reason why my clients listing would be as low as is was with a particular search term while their competitor had a higher listing without any website whatsoever.
First things first, I don't say I am a full fledged SEO. They spend or should at least spend several hours a day trying to figure out how the search engine people are coming up with their newest trick to stop SEOs from promoting their clients WebSites. Some SEOs are nothing more that glorified sales people dressed up in confusing statistics, and leave on the first train out of town once they get their money. The good ones study your business and try to understand just what different avenues can be utilized through keywords. I myself know enough to be dangerous and helpful to others. When I create a WebSite I develop them with the basics that anyone show do as to properly introduce them to the search engine. I actually spend a great deal of time devising the plan which will be used.
But it all comes down to the same questions why is this listing come before that other one? Someone surely knows. The metrics are there somewhere in a database some where, but I must only guess at there contents.
For I am QueryAll Question Everything It may time a long while to soft through the entire dump of information but all of if will be there to review.
Any comments?
20091109
Taking the time to understand
How many times have you undertaken something that you don't quite understand? It's my belief that it you need to go out on a limb at times to expand knowledge. Going beyond your comfort zone while increasing familiarity, does take extra time from a tight schedule.
The new situation is exciting and shows promise. Great rewards appear be to a few more exertions away. Life after-all should be a learning experience. The old adage good things are difficult to achieve is simply an acknowledgment that understanding has a price. The cost of understanding is time. or does it have to be?
The new situation is exciting and shows promise. Great rewards appear be to a few more exertions away. Life after-all should be a learning experience. The old adage good things are difficult to achieve is simply an acknowledgment that understanding has a price. The cost of understanding is time. or does it have to be?
20091020
Finding valid information online
Performing a search online for a particular subject is stragiht forward enough. The trick comes in determining if the information you find is valid and not some ramblings, well intended but deviating from the truth enough to mislead you down the road of mistruths.
Take for instance a topic I discovered via a client's helpful chain eMail. The topic was that of nasal irrigation. You may find this a little odd or even gross, but due to an early cold this season I was seeking remedies to help alleviate the symptoms and quicken up the healing process. Sounded kinda icky, but I was so stuffed up and fed up with my cold that I would try even something as bizarre sounding as this.
Before my jump into this odd behavior I wanted to confirm that this remedy had some validity behind it. Obviously I asked the net for assistance. For starters I was lucky that I had keywords which already matched so many results on the net, "nasal irrigation". But perhaps I used different keywords, I would undoubtedly come up with other results for my query. This is most important to remember when performing a search. Asking the right question is crucial to finding the answer you seek.
I found myself a bulb syringe, kosher salt as this is the only kind allowed in my house, a half cup container. I brought my booty into the bathroom and drove right in. OMG, I had red eyes and was a mess with all the salt water on my front, but I could breath. Short time sure, but wow it tickled and was the oddest sensation, but I knew I could live with it if only I could aim the discharge a little more controlled and into the sink and not allover me.
My results, by their sheer numbers and united voice concluded that there was some validity to this procedure. One might say that a consensus does not make truth. Afterall just look at the notion that the Earth is most certainly flat..... Finding an unbiased source and if possible finding multiple unbiased sources helps confirm your results. One of mine is this link from the a reputable source the Mayo clinic.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nasal-lavage/MM00552
There are a many other reputable places besides the Mayo Clinic that are acknowledge this as a healthful, inexpensive, and perhaps a little gross way of getting through the cold season. The point is finding reputable information. There are many other pitfalls to finding valid information online, but alas this bog is finite. Perhaps for another day.
Take for instance a topic I discovered via a client's helpful chain eMail. The topic was that of nasal irrigation. You may find this a little odd or even gross, but due to an early cold this season I was seeking remedies to help alleviate the symptoms and quicken up the healing process. Sounded kinda icky, but I was so stuffed up and fed up with my cold that I would try even something as bizarre sounding as this.
Before my jump into this odd behavior I wanted to confirm that this remedy had some validity behind it. Obviously I asked the net for assistance. For starters I was lucky that I had keywords which already matched so many results on the net, "nasal irrigation". But perhaps I used different keywords, I would undoubtedly come up with other results for my query. This is most important to remember when performing a search. Asking the right question is crucial to finding the answer you seek.
I found myself a bulb syringe, kosher salt as this is the only kind allowed in my house, a half cup container. I brought my booty into the bathroom and drove right in. OMG, I had red eyes and was a mess with all the salt water on my front, but I could breath. Short time sure, but wow it tickled and was the oddest sensation, but I knew I could live with it if only I could aim the discharge a little more controlled and into the sink and not allover me.
My results, by their sheer numbers and united voice concluded that there was some validity to this procedure. One might say that a consensus does not make truth. Afterall just look at the notion that the Earth is most certainly flat..... Finding an unbiased source and if possible finding multiple unbiased sources helps confirm your results. One of mine is this link from the a reputable source the Mayo clinic.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/nasal-lavage/MM00552
There are a many other reputable places besides the Mayo Clinic that are acknowledge this as a healthful, inexpensive, and perhaps a little gross way of getting through the cold season. The point is finding reputable information. There are many other pitfalls to finding valid information online, but alas this bog is finite. Perhaps for another day.
20090921
Apple, it's not safe to tease the bad guys
Recently Apple has been touting, with head held high that their computers are free of hacker created malware. Apple must realize this is just inviting the hacker element to pay closer attention to Apple.
In all truth, the primary reason for Apple's escape from infestation is one due to far lower market share. It is more effective to build code that will attack Windows based computers than it is to develop code for an Apple OS environment.
If you are not familiar with computer malware, much like any bacterium or virus, it is suited for a particular species. Thus a virus that gives your pussycat leukemia, would not cause you or your fellow humans the same problem.
A computer based malware such as a virus is much the same. A ILoveYou worm does its damage by utilizing VBScript on Windows based computers. This worm is unable to function in a Apple enviroment because the code that the worm was developed in is Microsoft Visual Basic and requires a Windows based registry to infect. While it is certain that millions of Apple computers received the ILoveYou worm, none was infected because this particular malware was not developed to infect an Apple.
Now getting back to my point, by taunting the very hackers which develop malware, Apple is inviting them to code specific malware infections for the Apple OS. Staying under the radar has protected Apple from the onslaught, but I am afraid that this situation will only change as Apple market share increases and the company taunts the very people that create malware.
In all truth, the primary reason for Apple's escape from infestation is one due to far lower market share. It is more effective to build code that will attack Windows based computers than it is to develop code for an Apple OS environment.
If you are not familiar with computer malware, much like any bacterium or virus, it is suited for a particular species. Thus a virus that gives your pussycat leukemia, would not cause you or your fellow humans the same problem.
A computer based malware such as a virus is much the same. A ILoveYou worm does its damage by utilizing VBScript on Windows based computers. This worm is unable to function in a Apple enviroment because the code that the worm was developed in is Microsoft Visual Basic and requires a Windows based registry to infect. While it is certain that millions of Apple computers received the ILoveYou worm, none was infected because this particular malware was not developed to infect an Apple.
Now getting back to my point, by taunting the very hackers which develop malware, Apple is inviting them to code specific malware infections for the Apple OS. Staying under the radar has protected Apple from the onslaught, but I am afraid that this situation will only change as Apple market share increases and the company taunts the very people that create malware.
20090920
Wikipedia
Wikipedia; if you trust in human nature, then this source of information must also be trusted. There will always be people that aim to mislead and poison truth for various reasons. But overall I believe that people do the right thing most of the time.
Like life, Wikipedia requires validation and scrutiny. To rely on it solely indicates foolishness, and blind faith.
The next time you need to understand something, take into account Wikipedia and when time allows, as many other sources from the Internet. Only with comparative analysis of as many sources as we can uncover will truth be revealed.
Like life, Wikipedia requires validation and scrutiny. To rely on it solely indicates foolishness, and blind faith.
The next time you need to understand something, take into account Wikipedia and when time allows, as many other sources from the Internet. Only with comparative analysis of as many sources as we can uncover will truth be revealed.
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