Flickr Public Domain Photographs

Struggling to add illustrations or graphics to your website design or blog posts? Consider Flickr public domain photographs.

The photos are mostly collections from public archives and as explained on the Flickr usage page http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/ the photos became public domain for one of these reasons:

1. The copyright is in the public domain because it has expired;
2. The copyright was injected into the public domain for other reasons, such as failure to adhere to required formalities or conditions;
3. The institution owns the copyright but is not interested in exercising control; or
4. The institution has legal rights sufficient to authorize others to use the work without restrictions.

Free to use does not mean free to package and resell as a collection. Please respect copyright when using content for your projects online or in print other than material you own. The Flickr commons is a great resource for photographs to use in your website design or blog posts, but be warned to watch the clock. It is easy to become engrossed in thousands of options and you could end up spending long hours away from your design.



TAGS: advice copyright design graphics illustrations web design

Ignore Those Link Exchange Requests

My advice is ignoring ALL link exchange request emails, or any email that does not address you by name but starts out like "Dear Webmaster" or a similar impersonal salutation.

Links to your site are like votes when found by Google, but the value is zero if the links are reciprocal. You link to me and I'll link to you negates the value because it was not a voluntary one way link to a website based on merit.

I teach natural linking and organic seo search engine optimization methods that hold value long term.

Other link schemes use 3-way linking to deceive search engines. Site A links to B and B to C then C back to A. The links are no longer 2-way "reciprocal" yet they were not earned based on merit, so 3-way links are another attempt to trick search engines. Google's supercomputers easily catch this tactic and punish those websites with poor ranking, or if too blatant your website could be blacklisted.

Some designers or site optimizers who do not keep up with the latest trends will insist you need an active campaign to acquire those backlinks. Sadly, an aggressive campaign that worked wonders 3-5 years ago may backfire today because so many website owners have exchanged links (including for payment) as a deceptive means to increase Google ranking and traffic.

I warned about this and documented evidence from an actual case study 2 years ago in a blog post I wrote in November 2007 entitled Update on Backlinks and SEO Value. The facts and points made in that blog post are still valid today.

Provide a quality visitor experience and continue to add original quality content often to attract other site owners to link to your site. Avoid those link exchange requests or any other unnatural method of improving your ranking based on a scheme. The best strategy is keeping your site content fresh and interesting.



TAGS: advice design links seo strategy

People Search and Premium Options

Online research is part of the detective work involved doing web design. Here's a solution for people in the USA annoyed by people search and premium options when looking for friends, relatives, or acquaintances. Google just their name and most likely you will get results that only lead to paid options before you can discover details that allow contacting that person. Now go to the White Pages for people search for good old fashioned data without a premium price tag. Yes. Free.

I'm in favor of maintaining online identity security, yet published information from phone books or other common public records should not be sold just because you live 1000 miles away from the source. I stumbled upon the White Pages website quite by accident recently when wanting to contact a past business contact to interview as part of a new web design project.

I had all but given up on free lookups until I Googled their name and found their current residential address and phone number on the White Pages site. They do list paid sponsor ads in their result pages, yet at least the basic information was displayed at no charge which I thought was a thing of the past. The best part of the success story? All I needed was the name and state!



TAGS: advice design research web design

Annoying Skype Add-on in IE

Skype for VOIP services is a great way to stay in touch with clients, conduct conference calls, or hold project progress meetings. One customer recently contacted me because Skype links with flags and the Skype logo appeared automatically for each phone number displayed on their custom cms website that I designed.

They assumed the Skype link was part of the website design when instead it is an annoying Skype add-on in IE. The activated add-on and not the custom cms design is the reason the links appear. Their purpose is to allow instantly connecting by phone through Skype if you have their service. If not, and you prefer email or picking up the phone, here's the solution to disable that display.

For people wondering "Where or how did that add-on originate and get on my pc?", it is bundled with the browser, so you didn't have a choice or do anything wrong. This short tutorial explains how to disable the Skype add-on for your pc when enabled in Internet Explorer IE8. The tutorial steps should be similar for older versions of IE, also.

While in Internet Explorer using the menu at the top of the page select Tools and then Internet Options and then select the tab for Programs. In that view select the button near the bottom for "Manage Add-ons". The next screen may take a moment to fill and then you'll see a list of programs that are either enabled or disabled. Find any add-ons for Skype and disable them. That should do it.

You may encounter the annoying Skype add-on if you run older versions of Firefox, also. The steps are very similar to those given in the IE8 tutorial, so search Tools, Manage Add-ons, and disable the one for Skype.



TAGS: advice addon design skype tutorial

Drawing a Crowd to Your Website

Forget the old time carnival barker yelling "Step right up..." when your goal is drawing a crowd to your website. There are other methods to keep visitor interest once they land on your website by providing value that is instantly recognized. A method that I use and recommend is valuable expert tips and advice written as a report or ebook in pdf format that your visitors can download.

People go online shopping for information. They bounce from site to site comparing notes before they stop shopping and decide to buy. The home page is the most frequent landing page on typical sites, so have a free download graphic and link there to share your expertise. The report or ebook topic of interest will likely be related to what brought them to your website, so quite often the pdf will be downloaded.

Unless you need to build a mailing list, my advice is allowing people to download without registering or revealing an email address. I am blessed and busy, so all the reports and ebooks on my website are grab it and go.

What makes this philosophy of sharing interesting is people will trust you and your motivation more if they can commit without worrying about being on a junk mail list forever. Provide quality, and many will forward your pdf report or ebook to business owners, peers, family, or friends.

One copy sent to two people who each send it to two more is like the snowball rolling downhill. In no time you can develop brand recognition and momentum by giving away quality information that others try to sell or at least trade for an email address. Thousands of my pdf reports, ebooks, and tutorials have been downloaded directly from my site. Email feedback from happy visitors promising to tell a friend confirms the value of paying forward.

One of the most popular is the 50 page ebook for people interested in diy seo and cms web design. You may download yours now or read it online, and then please tell a friend.

Bonus Tip: Do not ZIP your pdf report, ebook, or tutorial for download. As a raw pdf visitors may view it online including search engines. Yes, Google can index and send you traffic based on the quality of your pdf download. Win-win.



TAGS: advice design download traffic

2010 Business Card Calendar Download

Each year I release free custom business card calendar artwork in August, and the 2010 business card calendar download is now available. You do not need to register or reveal an email address, so click the image below or use this link for your free 2010 business card calendar download (zip folder, 1.1mb size). Artwork is in 300dpi JPG CMYK 4-color ready for print.



The zip folder includes 3 versions of the 2010 business card calendar artwork with your choice of backgrounds in light granite, grey marble, or plain white as illustrated above. Readers can still download the free 2009 business card calendar for this year, also.

A special thanks to the many readers who took the time to email me to express their appreciation for the free calendar downloads, the visitors who left blog comments, and the many blog and website owners who link here, also.



TAGS: artwork business card free download 2010 calendar

Follow Back Strategy on Twitter

The choice to follow back "a select group or all" should depend on your reason for being on Twitter. I prefer a network of people in web design or graphics to learn trends for my core business, plus meet interesting or entertaining people. I'm on Twitter to learn and contribute as I interact on a professional level plus more informally on a personal level to keep it real.

I'm not selling, so I'm not building a list or feeding the ego by acquiring a large following for the sake of numbers.

I don't follow back 100%. If a follower tweets to provide value and interact on a personal level (even if not directly to me), that's ok. Others who don't reveal a real name, company, or organization, never @ or RT, only tweet hard sell and self promotion, or offend my sense of morality won't be followed.

While the real character of someone you follow on Twitter can be disguised behind false information like age, gender, job title, photo, and more, I tend to follow those who I would be just as likely to entertain or interact with in a real world situation and assume their online personna is accurate.

I have talked by phone or Skype with a handful of followers, and actually met the very first person who followed me when they visited Florida recently. Their real information was easy to confirm, and the nature of their tweets was mature and professional. Still, we met over breakfast in a public setting as opposed to a truly private meeting. Otherwise, I urge caution for anyone considering a one on one tweetup.

Want to learn more about my tweets or those I follow? View my web design related Twitter account @JimDegerstrom for a preview.



TAGS: advice followers following Twitter

Website for Hispanic Small Businesses

Hispanic small business owners represent nearly half my clients for custom web design. I'm pleased to announce a valuable resource by Juan Silvera including his Hispanic Small Business Blog at HispanicSMB.com. El Blog de Juan has been online since 2006 providing valuable insight for Latino small businesses.

Some of my clients contact me for a quality custom website that is designed with bilingual content. Once the English version is launched, site owners have the option of translating all pages for visitors who prefer reading content in Spanish.

In addition to announcing the HispanicSMB site, a link has been added to the Small Business Resource Center blogroll for the benefit of my clients interested in learning more about business trends for US Hispanic businesses. Visit their main site for more content including a Latino small business forum, how-to videos, directory, and library for Latino small business owners.



TAGS: advice blog Hispanic small business small business advice web design

Time Sensitive Marketing Offer Mistake

Besides offering custom web design services, I create custom matching graphic artwork for print, as well. Over the weekend an incoming email with a time sensitive marketing offer for a "printing special" was poorly handled, and the mistake is a good reminder of how automated email messges can affect credibility.

In an email received dated 14 February at 7:53pm a weekend printing promotion that began at 5:00pm on 12 February was announced with an expiration at midnight on the 14th. Where was the email for two days before arriving 50 hours after the start time? Obviously the automated mailing broadcast date and time were improperly set.

Learn from the mistakes of others. For a business that depends on automated email campaigns be certain that time sensitive marketing offers are sent early enough for recipients to react. Besides annoying the prospect, your reputation and credibility as a professional source for your product or service could be at stake.



TAGS: advice advertising email campaign email marketing promotion

Launch and Forget It Web Design

The clients I service for custom website design who return for changes or upgrades "get it" when I advise people to add orignal quality content often.

Having a website with over 650 Google page one listings for web design related phrases in less than a year since consciously optimizing my site last June, I share how-to with clients for duplicating that success, and in a phrase the secret is "add original quality content often".

A strategy of launch a site and forget it violates that principle for success because Google rewards websites with better ranking in search results if they update continually to provide an improved visitor experience.

If you don't track statistics for your site visitors and let your service provider update you, those stats could be misleading. A client I first met had one of those reports stating their site had "over 1500 hits a week", yet the client was surprised having zero new prospects contact them.

The important number is not hits which is a call to the server for content including graphics, but the number of unique visitors. One page with 10 graphics visited by 10 people gets 100 hits just for those graphics. If you can't make the time to track stats, at least insist on reports of page loads and unique visitors.

Measuring effectiveness of an advertising campaign compared to your website traffic requires metrics with factual data. Knowing how people found you allows you to make decisions about the best way to allocate your advertising budget. If your website draws the traffic print ads do not, the focus and budget may be better spent on adding new content to your website.

Search engines treat sites differently than 4-5 years ago, and how people find you has changed, too. Today the majority of people looking for a product or service search online first. Business owners who routinely ask "How did you find us?" can measure site performance compared to print advertising. Tracking trends, a major local newspaper downsized the layout and number of pages and the pinch in ad revenue goes beyond the current economy.

Know what works. If the return on investment for print ads is less than you pay, and your website brings new prospects, it is time to invest those dollars into expanding your site to avoid the pitfalls of a launch and forget web design.



TAGS: advertising advice hits statistics web design

Cross Browser Compatibility in Web Design

Here's a link to a 2008 blog post on testing cross browser compatibility of your web design with links to the current version of 4 of the 5 major browsers including some advice and 2007 usage stats by browser for my site for all of 2007:

It's good to know the setup of site visitors to know pages in your web design display well for the majority while 100% is the real goal. I can't wait for IE6 to get below 10% as it continued to plunge in 2007 and 2008. This post is an update of IE6 based on visitor statistics for 2008. IE6 is at 22% of visitors now, and down from 42% a year earlier. You can download all 5 to test and remove desktop icons of ones you don't use.

Forget Netscape. They're defunct and no longer supported. However, be careful where you download. There are phishing sites (scams, virus trojans, spammers) that offer "downloads" that may be malicious and infect your pc. My advice is always going to the official sites as listed in the blog post linked above. They should be current.

A new browser from Google branded "Chrome" was introduced in September 2008. It has made gains yet not as well as I predicted at the time of the release. They made initial inroads for about a month then stalled. It had minor problems and resources to improve beyond the initial release though minimal have increased their share to 4% since last September. That is significant for a newly released browser brand.

My Sept 2008 review of Google Chrome includes a link to the Google Chrome download page.

For small business owners who contract to have their custom web design outsourced, my advice is requesting evidence of cross browser compatibility testing to the latest version of major browsers as a minimum.



TAGS: advice browsers small business advice testing web design

December Podcast Contest Results

The December podcast contest asking listeners to write 25 words or less about a favorite episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast ended at midnight on December 31, 2008. With $500 and $250 prizes to be given away for design credits for web design, seo services, or matching graphic artwork, visitors may have had too much to do or writers block. Perhaps some doubted their writing skills thinking they couldn't win and gave up before trying. Regardless, zero entrants were received which means no one won by writing in.

After considering a drawing of current clients, I came up with another method for picking a winner and decided how before looking at my email inbox for the last day of 2008. Both prizes would go to the last client who emailed me for any reason on December 31st. The last message received in 2008 was for a vacation rental web design in progress for www.AnOrlandoVacationVilla.com, and the email arrived at 1:04 p.m. local time.

Advanced options discussed outside the scope of the custom cms web design project will be done at no charge. Stay tuned to the web design advice podcast and future episodes. New contests may be announced.



TAGS: contest news podcast promotion web design

Google Search and Poor Spelling

Web design and search engine optimization strategy to misspell keywords to maximize Google search results for poor spelling is unnecessary. Graphics shown below provide evidence for a web design related search phrase that brought a visitor to my website earlier today. Google continues to improve processing of search requests for the most relevant results even if you cannot spell. In addition, Google will cross reference for similar terms to provide results based on synonyms.

The two graphics below display Google search result examples for the phrase "tutorial ebook web design" without quote marks. Each graphic has circled labels numbered 1-4 as follows: 1) underlined search box phrase (incorrect spelling and then correct), 2) position at #1 on Google page one, 3) total number of search results, and 4) the #1 result in Google.

Some SEO consultants would advise adding misspelling of key words to keyword lists anticipating that some people cannot spell. I disagree with using that tactic for search engine optimization. In this first graphic below, the visitor Googled "tutorial ebook web design" with commas between each word, except the word "design" was spelled phonetically as "desain".



In the second graphic shown below the correct spelling returned the same #1 result, and total results were similar except with 20,000 more results when spelled correctly.



The first screenshot graphic was taken after following Google search results while checking visitor statistics for my site. While on that SERP page I then corrected the spelling for "web design" and took the second screenshot. The total results were similar at 351,000 when "web design" was misspelled and 371,000 when "web design" was correctly entered, and each returned the same #1 result.

Next, testing each search without any commas provided identical results. Keyword lists for search engine optimization, or seo, in your web design META code are given very little importance by Google. Yahoo and others may still index keywords hidden in the META tags to determine the theme of your site; however, each key word in your keyword list should appear somewhere in the text that displays to visitors on that page.

Why would anyone intentionally include misspelling in their web design and risk offending their visitors? First impressions are important to keeping people on your site. If they see you cannot spell it could affect your credibility, so some visitors will leave immediately to the next Google result. Trust Google search results for poor spelling to bring traffic without trying to second guess potential visitor typing skills.

Finally, doing grammar and spell check of your web design text content is highly recommended before launching new web pages or blog posts. Poor spelling or grammar will strike a nerve with visitors and intentional errors are unnecessary as search engines become more sophisticated. The secret to success in web design and search engine optimization is summarized in my favorite phrase "add original quality content often". Misspelling violates the word "quality" in that advice for successful web design.



TAGS: advice Google seo search engine optimization spelling web design

Getting a Website Instantly Banned

The podcast episode entitled Web Design Rights and DMCA released this weekend presents advice for small business website owners for understanding the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. A case study of copyright violations that involved cloning an original custom website design on a second domain was presented without identifying the actual site or site owner.

This recipe for disaster is one example of getting a website banned instantly, and provides an update with evidence of the consequences of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Consider the impact of also violating best practices for web design and search engine optimization, or seo. Since the podcast release yesterday, a closer look reveals the mirror site domain was registered and launched in late August and their older original website was instantly banned on August 29th.

Here is the closing comment that I made from the DMCA podcast episode:

For now, in my professional opinion based on the mirror content and keyword stuffing, that site will have zero search engine value unless the owners take action to start over with an original design to address those problems.

After first discovering the copyright infringement on September 5th, I called the client to request they remove the cloned website, and advised a more serious consequence with the potential for being banned as a mirror site. They explained a recent decision to allow a friend to take over and manage their websites which was fine by me. Taking control makes sense. However, violating copyright does not.

It turns out, and no offense taken or surprise here, the password I had to access site hosting was changed. The original design included stat tracking and out of curiosity I checked that account and was able to review stats which confirmed the prediction made in the podcast. Their older original site was banned instantly on Aug 29, 2008, and here is the evidence.

This is a screenshot of visitor traffic stats for 5 weeks from Aug 1, 2008 to Sep 7, 2008 showing decent traffic that suddenly went to zero on Aug 29, 2008 and remained near zero with 1 or zero visitors per day for the last 9 days.



The next screenshot shown below displays visitor traffic since stat tracking was installed by me in February, and 7 months of gradual traffic growth until the site ban on August 29.



For readers, and especially my existing clients who choose to take over their website design without my assistance, you are welcome to request a second opinion before making drastic changes in managing your website. Just as my commercial site provides more than 400 pages of professional web design advice, I offer free evaluation of web design strategy without cost or obligation.

Learn from this lesson about getting a website instantly banned, and then email me from any page for web design advice for your small business.



TAGS: advice dmca podcast seo search engine optimization web design advice web design

Free 2009 Calendar Ready for Print

Update Aug 12, 2009 The 2010 free business card calendar download has been released with 3 free versions in white, granite, and marble.

A free 2009 business card calendar ready for print is available for immediate download. You do not need to register or provide an email address, so right click and download your free business card sized calendar artwork. This is high resolution custom business card artwork in 4-color cmyk at 300 dpi jpg ready for print.

Bonus: Unlike previous years I included 3 versions of the free calendar for 2009 with backgrounds in plain white, gray marble, and white granite, so you may choose any of 3 business card calendars. The graphic above displays all three background versions of each business card calendar larger than actual size (zipped folder, 1.1 meg). Right click this business card artwork download to save yours with no cost or obligation.

Readers can still download the free 2008 business card calendar for this year, also.



TAGS: business card artwork calendar artwork graphic artwork free download

CMS Web Design and Swiss Army Knives

One of the most prominent open source names for CMS web design systems is Joomla. My commercial website design was converted with a much simpler cms package earlier in 2008 rather than Joomla, and I use an analogy of CMS web design and Swiss army knives for comparing both. You can get either with 100 gadgets and use 10% of them, or get a simple knife (or website) with just what the average person will use. With the custom cms package I offer the learning curve for web design clients isn't steep, and the "package" size difference is considerable.

The latest Joomla release v1.0.15 unpacked is 11.4mb with 1,740 files in 255 folders. The system I offer clients is 1.17mb with 102 files in 12 folders. For the average small business owner a universal cms website with options they will never use is overkill. In addition, the custom cms templates that I create using my custom cms web design are xhtml and css compliant without tables for layout.

Ease of use is another advantage. I reprogrammed the backend so users can use plain text boxes to enter meta title, description, keywords, and assign a friendly url file name for every page, and of course new pages are created in plain text using NotePad. Owners of this custom cms website design can modify text and upload images, too. More importantly, everything just described including the automated method for entering META code and friendly URL file names is done from one page in the backend admin panel.

Ease of use, just like the simple Swiss army knife, is one more reason to consider design services for the unique look of a fully custom cms website template. Retrofit or redesign of existing websites to this new cms website design method is an option, also. Visit the custom cms web design page to learn more.



TAGS: cms cms web design custom cms web design

Google Search Results Warning Link

During a Google search recently I encountered a #1 listing on page one that had the following hyperlink under the title of the search result stating: "This site may harm your computer."

Following the Google search results warning link included an explanation with this graphic:



With the graphic was a text explanation that said in part "This warning message appears with search results we've identified as sites that may install malicious software on your computer:"

This level of sophistication from the giant of search engines warning visitors about sites listed in their search results was a pleasant surprise. Following the link to the Google Answers page included a further illustration of a second stronger warning that appears if you follow the potentially malicious site link giving you the option to return to the search page or proceed to the suspicious website.



TAGS: advice search engines Google malware

About Free Small Business Web Design

I'm surprised that the search phrase "free small business web design" returns over 78 million results in Google. Does a small business owner really want a free website? It could be a major strategic error depending on your expectations for site performance.

My analogy from personal experience is a free puppy years ago, and in less than a year the vet costs were astronomical and then it died suddenly. Later the vet discovered the dog was terminally ill with a rare disease. He volunteered to dispose of the carcasse if I would allow an autopsy in the name of science to assist in evaluating the cause, and then told me about the rarity and that perhaps inbreeding was partly to blame.

A small business website that is expected to perform and attract visitors as well as search engines, and then convert those visitors to buyers, may not work with a free small business web design. You risk the same unknowns as that free puppy, and in most cases it leads to disappointment.

Professional advice for acquiring a new website when cost is a factor and you are thinking free is best could very well be a cms, or content management system. Unlike static sites with ongoing costs to upgrade or add pages, a cms system allows a small business owner to take control to add, edit, or delete content without the knowledge of html or xhtml programming. Once the intitial cost is paid, your website is just like free because you can add unlimited pages by creating content in a word processor. For owners who do not have the time to work on website pages, delegate the task to your brightest employee, and learn enough to take over or train someone else in the event of employee turnover.

On the other hand, if you want a site that simply provides more information than will fit on the back of a business card, and search engine traffic doesn't matter, a free web design may work. This point brings out the philosophy I have of asking "What are your expectations for site performance?" before accepting any custom web design project. Think about the downside of a free web design compared to cms, and then view what I offer because a content management system close to free may be the best long term strategy for your small business.

Readers are welcome to request a no obligation evaluation of their website plan, including free advice for resources to meet their small business goals. Visitors to this site reluctant to take the time to write may be surprised. I'm very willing to help steer owners in the right direction even if it means not with me.



TAGS: advice cms content management system web design free web design small business

Small Business Owner Finances Tip

During a web design site upgrade discussion recently, a client pointed out that more than 50% of their competition is closing shop or moving to a home based operation to cut costs. Asked how they manage to survive, they stated they have the experience and longevity, and here's a bonus small business owner finances tip.

A creative source for small business credit card factoring advances is FastUpFront.com who bases loan repayment on daily sales, not on fixed monthly payment amounts. The advantage is more working capital to cover costs during lean months, and they specialize in helping small business owners with poor credit or zero collateral.

My situation as a home-based sole proprietor is more flexible in a slow economy, yet brick and mortar small business owners need all the help they can get during an economic downturn. The release of lower cost web design options in CMS is intended to help ease small business owner finance concerns, also.



TAGS: advice cash flow small business advice small business finance web design

Trademark Research and Web Design

Some time ago a client for a custom web design asked my assistance in doing research for submitting a USA trademark application for their small business. While my real business is custom web design, the customer felt I could find key information about trademarks easily, and save them the time.

Here's what I found. If considering a trademark for your small business to protect your web design or other rights, visit the US Trademark FAQs website to discover more about this interesting topic. Learn the difference between trademark, service mark, certification mark, and collective mark.

The process of applying for a trademark can be costly, and certainly takes time with up to a year of waiting during the approval cycle. Small business owners are welcome to contact me for web design projects or related online research.



TAGS: advice web design research trademark

70 Page Web Design CMS Makeover

The custom web design of the main site of the Small Business Resource Center website has been converted to a CMS, Content Management System, and all 70 pages are done. The advice blog and podcast graphics conversion to match will be done soon so the entire site has a consistent look. This CMS system was selected after 2-3 years of research for a simple method of creating a web design with perfect XHTML and CSS with a tableless design.

The web design makeover to CMS follows the announcement of this new service 2 weeks ago here, and in 2 podcast episodes about CMS. The purpose of a Content Management System for web design is allowing small business owners the control to add, edit, or delete content to manage their website without learning how to code in XHTML.

Unlike most CMS software out of the box, our custom web design with matching graphics, and significant template modification, has been done to maximize aesthetics and allow SEO, Search Engine Optimization, of your small business website. Tired of paying your web developer each time you need a change? Follow this link to learn about a custom web design with CMS for your small business.

Interested in a tour of a working CMS web design? Visit my main site to view the 70 page web design and CMS makeover. Technically my blog and podcast are done in CMS, so the overall content of this website has more than 350 pages of information and advice for small business web design and related services.



TAGS: content management system cms launch news small business services web design

Two Days Two Weeks or Two Months

How long should it take to get a domain registered, a logo proof, and a custom web design for your small business? Incredibly, some of my new clients contact me for one of the above after waiting months for service from prepaid vendors. You pay in advance for support of your new small business and it is reasonable to expect timely action.

Previously a client paid a large design company for a logo, domain registration, and web design, and two months later they were still waiting for the domain to be registered. Phone calls were either not returned or sent to voice mail oblivion without any callbacks.

When contacting me for assistance, the domain was registered within two days plus a logo proof was emailed, as well. With their logo approval the site prototype was online within two days, and the site was complete in two weeks. Since their first order, that client has ordered two more custom website designs.

Another client has been on hold with their custom web project because they're waiting two months for their logo from another designer. If you have been waiting to get your custom web design online for two days, two weeks, or two months, and you're growing impatient, please email me or give me a call.

Besides the advantage of fast response because I'm a home-based sole proprietor, my overhead is negligible and I pass the savings on to my clients with modest pricing for custom web design projects. To succeed, web developers need to be responsive to inquiries plus deliver a quality design at a fair price on time. That formula works for me, and it's sad some companies overlook this basic principle of providing professional web design services to small business owners.



TAGS: advice domains domain registration small business advice web design

Small Business Online Research Frustration

People do online research looking for fast answers to inquiries in search engines. The trail leading to free information for a simple question should not take 5-10 minutes of sorting through sites for a real answer. Here's one case study of small business online research frustration, and the eventual solution.

After receiving a voice mail message from a small business owner, and then getting their answering machine when I returned their call, I decided to search online for more about them. The caller only left their name and phone number and a brief description of the design services of interest.

Without a business name or website URL, my first choice for finding out more about their company was a reverse phone lookup. The results from lookup services were a huge disappointment. Following search engine results was frustrating because each of the first three free lookup sites returned results on their website of "found" with more information available. Following that link took me to a paid service to get what should be publicly available for free.

Finally, I input the prospect's phone number into the Google search box, and instantly the first listing was their website. From viewing their site and doing a search in WhoIs, I was well prepared on the second callback when finally getting through and talking to the owner. Consider various ways of getting creative when it comes to search engines and small business online research to avoid the frustration of following dead ends and finding a surprise shopping cart.



TAGS: advice research search engines small business advice

Preview of Podcast on Cybersquatting

After meeting with an Orlando area recording artist last weekend, I offered to assist them in recovering a domain with their personal name being held by a cybersquatter. More details will be provided in an upcoming cybersquatting case study podcast episode.

Cybersquatting is the practice of registering a domain name strictly for gain without any rights or legitimate interests in that domain. For individuals using their personal name as the trademark for a small business venture, you have options for recovering your domain.

Recovering a cybersquatted site may be successful through arbitration which is usually less costly and faster than pursuing legal recourse. Your name is intellectual property and if used as a trademark in the course of doing business, the chances of success are improved.

Acquiring your domain from a cybersquatter when their intent is to resell at an excessive price, use the domain in bad faith, or unrelated commercial use will be presented in my upcoming podcast episode. Visit and bookmark the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast, and then return next week to hear the program and detailed advice.

Update: Listen now to the podcast episode on cybersquatting advice released 26 April 2008.



TAGS: advice cybersquatting domains podcast small business advice

Two New Card Designs with Custom Logos

The custom business card gallery on my main site features more than 50 designs done for clients, yet it has not been updated in at least a year. Here are two recent card designs with custom logos for a real estate company and an insurance company. Graphics are shown larger than actual size in low resolution.

Real estate card of Green Investment Group, LLC



Insurance card design for Einstein Insurance and Investment Group



Each features custom logos from sketches provided by the client, and then rendered in a unique way or color scheme in vector graphic art for print to match their corporate image. Clients needing a business card, custom ad, or print advertising yet don't have logo artwork can email me a scanned image. As part of my small business services I can reproduce just about any logo in vector art for print or online.



TAGS: business card card design custom logo graphic artwork small business services

McAfee Green Website Testing Service

I was surprised recently while checking my site visitor statistics to find a link to a green rating from McAfee. Following one visitor's search in Yahoo returned results including a link to a report about this website at the McAfee online SiteAdvisor green website testing service, so I couldn't resist checking it out.

One report displayed a green rating for JimDegerstom.com zipped downloads plus an overall green rating including links they follow from my site. I'm certain the majority of commercial sites tested by McAfee show positive results, yet it's nice to know they report truly deceptive websites that attempt to appear legitimate.

The green rating for this site was no surprise, yet still important. I offer many free to download resources for small business owners including seo reports, how-to PDFs, free design templates, mp3 podcasts, and more. Each information product for download on my site is original content that I write, design, produce, and distribute.

Unlike some websites, visitors to this site may download without registering or revealing their email address. Offering advice without any strings attached is especially rewarding when those visitors take the time to email me a thank you note explaining how my free resources helped their small business.

You may want to learn more about SiteAdvisor. McAfee has a search function for checking domains for suspicious activity, and most notably phishing, malware, or spyware risks in downloads. In addition, their purpose is to rate websites for safety, so readers may be interested in the McAfee green website testing service and how they uncover spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.



TAGS: advice small business services reviews website advice online scams

CD Cover Artwork for Newly Released Album

I just completed custom graphic artwork of a CD cover, CD insert, and CD label for a newly released album, Back to the Basics, from Shizz Entertainment and featuring 21 songs of indie artists in the Philadelphia area. This comes less than a week after designing a one page website for them and creating posters, flyers, and other printed marketing materials.

Shizz Entertainment, a small business and Philadelphia independent artist recording studio, also does production and promotion for solo artists or groups, and specializes in gospel, r and b, jazz, and poetry whether vocal, instrumental, or both.

Below is the music album cover design and other artwork shown approximate actual size in low resolution.



Next is the cd album insert showing tracks of these independent musical artists and groups in order of their appearance: Shizz, Young Don the Don, Young Leek, Nuckles, Scrooge, Geezz, Lord Dom, Millz Banks, Black Card, Kanard, Mac Money, 12 Gage, Crazy Ink, and O.C.S.



Finally, here's the look of the finished CD label simulated as printed and placed on a production CD. The look matches the album cover and includes all 21 track titles and the names of each artist or group for every song.



The artwork was custom designed for this promotional music CD, and free downloads of all tracks are scheduled for released on the Shizz Entertainment website later this month.

Readers interested in affordable custom web design or matching graphic artwork for print are welcome to email me from any page for a no obligation review and proposal.



TAGS: cd artwork cd cover design graphic artwork promotion small business

Royalty Free Photo Directory Update

Small business owners on limited budgets often have difficulty acquiring quality photos for in print or online. The small business royalty free stock photo directory lists websites that provide photographs without recurring royalty fees, and was updated today to add another 5 star directory. Here's the new listing as it appears in the stock photo directory:

Wikimedia.org contains a contributed database of over 2.5 million high resolution media files including photographs, graphics, and multimedia.

The number of 5 star sites is now four. The Wikimedia site contains many photos unrelated to business, yet from over 2 million selections I'm certain small business owners will find this a valuable resource.

In addition, the link action on the directory was revised so photo gallery websites will open in the same window, not a new blank window. Links that launch a new window make accessibility more difficult for diasabled persons, so the design change enhances usability for visitors who prefer the back button function.

Over 3 million photographs and graphics are now searchable from sites in my directory with the addition of this public domain photo site. The Small Business Resource Center royalty free directory resulted from reviewing over 150 websites and selecting 23 websites that offer photographs without a recurring royalty fee. Choices were subjective based on my review of selection, ease of use including terms, and the directory is primarily for the benefit of my small business clients.



TAGS: advice news small business advice photographs photo directory

Small Business Blog Time Management

Time management as a small business owner is a matter of sorting tactical and strategic activities. The value of a blog is really a strategy with future benefits, not a tactical activity like other day to day tasks that require immediate attention. For me, building a reputation for my niche establishes long term traffic worth more than the value of any one post.

The tactical distractions in a small business that are time wasters need to be recognized. If you come across a link or interesting email that has you following an internet trail to oblivion, stop. We all do it, and it may takes hours away from real work. As soon as you learn to recognize those things that are fun yet don't generate revenue, you may find more time to dedicate to a blog.

For blog post ideas I subscribe to Google Alerts which delivers daily news on related subjects, and sometimes I follow my blog tags to view other opinions. A visit to the tag cloud on the Technorati home page may be a good source for what's hot and interests people for a given moment. Client feedback is another source of topic ideas for small business bloggers. I've even taken content from my emails to new prospects with advice that I wrote and use part of that if the advice makes a suitable blog post.

Blogs provide one of the most cost effective ways to promote your small business, and the seo or search engine optimization value is worth making blog time management a priority.



TAGS: advice blogging search engine optimization small business advice time management

New Website Launch for Recording Studio

Another custom web design was launched earlier today for Shizz Entertainment, an indie artist recording studio in Philadelphia, PA. The simple starter website will expand over the coming months to add more details about their services, including featured artists, music downloads, and perhaps videos.

Shizz Entertainment specializes in recording, production, and promotional services for independent music artists. Genres include gospel, rap, rythym and blues, jazz, and poetry. Solo and group indie performers are welcome to inquire about low cost solutions for getting started.



The above screenshot of part of their website includes the custom logo design that I created for Shizz which is already being used for posters, printed marketing materials, and t-shirts. CD cover designs are in work.

Previously covering Philadelphia metro only, Shizz Entertainment is expanding with services for indie performers in most East Coast cities. New website content will be provided and added as their time permits, yet a free download sample CD with 21 tracks is scheduled for release soon.

The custom web design for Shizz Entertainment meets W3C standards for XHTML 1.1 and CSS2 with zero code errors, and content is optimized for seo, search engine optimization.



TAGS: launch custom logo design custom website design small business services news seo

Browser Popularity Stats Change and Update

Since my January 2008 post of statistics comparing the percentage of users by browser, Internet Explorer IE7 and Safari have made significant gains. Based on visitors to this website, IE7 has surpassed IE6 and FireFox, and the number of Safari browser users went from 1.7% to nearly 8% of my site traffic.

You may view the Cross Browser Website Testing post to view stats from January, or read the Safari Browser Review here.

While my preference is still FireFox because of the FireFox web developer add-on extensions that suit my work in custom web design, IE7 or Safari are excellent choices for everyday users. Otherwise, IE7 seems to overload and slow down my system performance, and Safari has superior rendering but not much third party support for extensions.

The excitement building over the launch of Internet Explorer IE8 bears watching. Microsoft has softened their stance on browser backward compatibility with the aim of the new IE8 to more closely meet W3C worldwide code standards. For web developers, the Internet Explorer IE8 launch later this year is highly anticipated.



TAGS: advice browsers IE7 IE8 Safari browser

Blocked Email and Spam Blacklist Horrors

Spam blacklists, also called blocklists, are actually a network of spam tracking sites that create databases of known spammers. These services list IP addresses and IP ranges known to send unsolicited bulk email, or UBE. One problem of blacklists is the potential for cutting off legitimate users, especially in the case of people who fall into a range of blocked IP addresses shared with a real spammer.

Visit this authority site to test for a blocked IP at mail-abuse.com. Having an IP listed in a database may not mean your email will always be blocked, yet if your outgoing service gets a complaint, it could cause short-term or extended grief. Here's why.

Being in one of the spam databases is a red flag and the decision to block a particular email is not normally made by the outgoing email server, but by the recipient's incoming email service provider. The majority of them filter incoming email for spam. Most internet service providers subscribe to these databases to instantly check email senders to help protect their users and reputation.

The database is only one factor in identifying spam. Normally incoming filtering systems would screen the IP by accessing blacklist databases, and then scanning the content within the message body to determine if it should be allowed, marked suspect, or blocked. As stated earlier, if your IP is within a numerical range of IP addresses assigned to your ISP, you could get caught up and added to a blacklist if a real spammer is within that range.

Once you encounter bounced email coming back from known contacts with any negative reference to spam or blacklists, take action. Don't wait. My advice for correcting the situation is to begin by contacting your ISP, Internet Service Provider, give them the details, and let the experts resolve the issues.



TAGS: small business advice spam blacklists