Archive for the ‘cms’ Category

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 066 entitled Custom CMS and Writing Style comes from a conversation earlier this week with a cms web design client. They realized their style of writing for their website is too wordy, and after offering advice I decided to share key points with listeners. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Custom CMS Client and Writing Style Intro
• Website Visitors and My 5 Second Rule
• How People Scan Your Web Design Pages
• The Most Overlooked Website Writing Secret
• Website Tip of the Day – Resources to Improve Your Writing Style

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – Custom CMS and Writing Style
0:06:07 Quick Tip of the Day – Resources to Improve Your Writing Style
0:07:43 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:08:13 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 066

Referenced Links
Wikipedia NPOV Article for Neutral Point of View writing

Key words are important when writing for the web. The decisions about how to present content will be easier to implement once you understand website visitor behavior as they navigate your website. The link to NPOV provides interesting writing advice from a technical standpoint, yet success writing for the web is less formal. The practical advice in today’s episode is about being more conversational and “talking” to site visitors.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 065 entitled Church Custom CMS Design Idea results from a forum post where a do-it-yourself website designer asked for a review of their church website. The old style of graphics and outdated code really needed professional advice for implementing a custom cms web design. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Introduction to Church Custom CMS Web Design
• Custom CMS and Do-it-Yourself Compared
• Custom CMS Web Design Qualifications
• Evaluation of the Existing Church Website
• Custom CMS Design Conclusions and Advice
• Website Tip of the Day – Why a Visitor Counter is a Bad Idea

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – Church Custom CMS Design Idea
0:09:25 Quick Tip of the Day – Why a Visitor Counter is a Bad Idea
0:10:34 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:11:04 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 065

Referenced Links
Custom CMS Design PDF Download to learn seo and cms techniques (pdf, 50 pages)

Listeners with an existing static website for any business will benefit from the advice in today’s podcast even though a church is noncommercial. The advice applies to site design quality, so anyone considering a custom cms web design should find value in the advice. Note: You do not have to register or reveal an email address to download the 50 page PDF guide to cms and seo shown above under referenced links.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 063 entitled Web Design Visitors Analysis presents a review of recent visitor statistics for my custom cms web design site compared to 6 months ago. Stat tracking and analysis will allow site owners to form forward looking web design strategy. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Web Design Visitor Stats by Browser and SE Referrals
• Comparison of Visitor Traffic and Web Design by Browser
• Web Design and Comparison of Search Engine Referrals
• Screen Resolution and Custom CMS Web Design Strategy
• Custom CMS Web Design for IE6 and Cross Browser Compatibility
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Using CSS to Test Your Web Designs

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – Web Design Visitors Analysis
0:06:10 Quick Tip of the Day – Using CSS to Test Your Web Designs
0:08:24 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:08:54 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 063

Referenced Links
Custom CMS Web Design in Google search page one results
Custom CMS Web Design in Yahoo search page one results
Custom CMS Web Design in Bing search page one results

Links to search engines results shown above represent my core business with the phrase: custom cms web design. While results at the time you hear this podcast may vary, the advice in this episode provides just a few of many tips for successful content optimization and forward looking custom web design techniques. Listeners are welcome to comment or email me from any page for assistance with their web design related questions including cms, seo, or web design visitor analysis.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 061 entitled Blog and CMS Website Strategy offers advice for creating new pages in a content management system or cms web design, and then announcing the content on your blog. The result is enhanced seo, or search engine optimization, because each new page added to your main site provides two pieces of new content for search engines. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Advantages of an Integrated Custom Blog in a CMS Web Design
• Disadvantage of Relying on Your Blog Only for Adding Content
• Search Engine Optimization in a Phrase: Add Original Quality Content Often
• Case Studies of Custom CMS Web Design Clients with Integrated Blogs
• Two for One Strategy When Writing Lengthy Blog Posts
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Using Twitter to Promote Your Site and Blog

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:37 Main Topic – Blog and CMS Website Strategy
0:06:34 Quick Tip of the Day – Using Twitter to Promote Your Site and Blog
0:07:45 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:08:15 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 061

Referenced links
Get web design advice on Twitter by following me at @JimDegerstrom

Twitter? Yes, I mentioned Twitter. For those listeners unfamiliar with the social network on Twitter, it is more than “What are you doing now…”. Personally, I follow other web design professionals from around the world to stay up to date on trends in our industry. For your small business, Twitter provides an easy to use method of promoting your brand, also. Listen to today’s tip of the day to learn more.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 059 entitled CMS Web Design Conversion Tips provides a review of a new project to convert an existing 98 page website to a custom cms web design. Factors to consider in the new web design includes smooth transition to minimize website down time. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• SEO Factor Considerations in Site Redesign
• Comparing Web Design Long URLs to SEO Friendly URLs
• Redirecting Old Web Design File Names with HTAccess
• Using Draft Mode for Instant Web Design Conversion
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Custom 404 Error Page Advice

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – CMS Web Design Conversion Tips
0:07:58 Quick Tip of the Day – Custom 404 Error Page Advice
0:10:09 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:10:39 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 059

Referenced links
Humorous 404 Error Pages from sites with a sense of humor

The problems of converting an existing web design to a newly redesigned website can go smoothly with proper planning. The tip of the day about custom 404 pages adds another point to consider even if you are not redesigning a site. Testing your site with a fake page file name will tell you immediately what your site visitors will see. Like it? No. Listen to the tip of the day, and look into having a custom 404 “page not found” added to your web design.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 054 entitled 2009 Web Design Predictions takes a look at forward looking concepts of web design, and what to plan for site enhancements in the future. Topics include web design trends for seo, cms, DIY web design, multimedia content, and page width standard for 2009. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Search Engine Optimization Trends in Web Design
• Content Management Systems or CMS for Web Design
• Ease of Use in Do-it-Yourself Website Owner Web Design
• Web Design Content Enriched with Multimedia
• New Standards for Web Design Page Width in 2009
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Time for an Annual Web Design Checkup

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – 2009 Web Design Predictions
0:11:46 Tip of the Day – Time for an Annual Web Design Checkup
0:13:28 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:13:58 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 054

Referenced links
Ebook download of 2009 Web Design Predictions (podcast transcript, 6 pages, 252kb pdf)

Keeping up with the changes in online technology, visitor behavior, and web design strategy is necessary for success in custom web design. The advice today provides pointers for do-it-yourself web design site owners with practical advice for web design best practices. Web design techniques that do not change with new technology could very well experience future problems when compared to a competitor’s website.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 049 entitled One Tough Web Design Question is an expanded response to a brief reply earlier this week to a new web design client. Requesting a custom web design price quote will be more effective knowing how to judge web design quality and the right questions to ask. We’ll help answer that today. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Contradiction of Quality Web Design and Low Price
• Matching Quality and Web Design Performance
• The One Tough Web Design Question
• Explanation of Web Design Checklist Items
• Budget Advantages of CMS Web Designs
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Case Studies of Amateur Website Redesigns

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – One Tough Web Design Question
0:12:22 Tip of the Day – Case Studies of Amateur Website Redesigns
0:14:19 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:14:49 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 049

Referenced links
Online xhtml code validation tool at the W3C
Online css validation tool at W3C

The tip of the day provides two case studies where amateur website redesigns resulted in decent quality aesthetics while ruining the quality of the code. Today’s episode explains the right questions to ask to determine a designer’s qualifications for quality. The case studies present what can go wrong when looks are accepted over quality, especially when done by an amateur.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 048 entitled CMS Web Designs Make Page One explores the false opinion that cms web designs have difficulty being indexed and ranked well in search engines. Based on a conversation this week with a cms web design client about their new website launch, their site made Google page one in just one month. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Update of CMS Web Design and SEO
• Comparing Web Design with SEF and Messy URLs
• Google Page One with New Website Design
• Another Client Web Design on Page One
• Update of Web Design Page One Statistics
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Another Look at DupeFreePro

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – CMS Web Designs Make Page One
0:08:29 Tip of the Day – Another Look at DupeFreePro
0:10:06 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:10:36 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 048

Referenced links (Google page one):
Fidelis Search LLC, Atlanta GA listed for search: atlanta area recruiters
SunShiny Florida.com, Stamford CT listed for search: orlando vacation homes

The tip of the day takes another look at free software from DupeFreePro for calculating keyword density as featured in the previous search engine optimization tutorial for cms web design clients. The results for these two clients, and my site, prove the value of cms and search engine optimization for ranking well with Google.

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Show Notes
Podcast episode 044 entitled Web Design Templates Compared comes after a web design review earlier this week for a client interested in custom graphics, and perhaps matching web graphics to upgrade the look of their small business web design. Their site gets very little traffic, and results of their recent attempt at search engine optimization, or seo, has been less than ideal. Here’s the outline for today’s program:

• Free Web Design Templates Review
• Standard Commercial Website Templates
• Custom Web Design Templates and SEO
• Web Design Skills Combined with Graphic Art
• Dynamic CMS Web Design vs Static Site Templates
• Website Quick Tip of the Day – Web Design Navigation and Usability

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – Web Design Templates Compared
0:11:49 Tip of the Day – Web Design Navigation and Usability
0:14:43 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:15:13 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 044

Referenced links:
CMS Template Outline and Ebook on my main site

The tip of the day explains the strategy of web design navigation and usability using a tree structure of internal links. Having your home page as the tree trunk with major branches linked from each page, and then subpages with expanded topics, allows site owners to easily grow their site. The web design and seo concept of “add original quality content often” that I recommend is easier to visualize using this tree structure for website navigation.

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Show Notes
This podcast episode 033 entitled CMS Web Design and SEO Results provides evidence that a CMS web design can rank well with search engines. This update to July statistics reported last week includes a preview of the new PDF ebook being released next week. The expanded ebook is nearly complete and will contain around 100 pages including advanced seo techniques using natural methods of on-page optimization. Here is the outline for today’s program:

• Recent Conversion to a CMS Custom Web Design
• Updated Target Phrases for Web Design
• Advanced SEO Techniques in the CMS Web Design
• SEO Benefits for Clients of CMS Web Design Projects
• Results with over 80 Google Page One Listings
• Website quick tip of the day – Preview of New SEO PDF EBook

0:00:00 Podcast Theme Music and Introduction
0:00:45 Main Topic – CMS Web Design and SEO Results
0:09:54 Tip of the Day – Preview of New SEO PDF EBook
0:12:55 Podcast Outro Theme Music and Credits
0:13:25 End of Small Business Website Mailbag Podcast 033

Referenced links:
CMS Web Design Tutorial outline for the new PDF Ebook
SEO EBook Download of the 12 page PDF short course for SEO

(Updated Aug 9) Note: The free 50 page pdf ebook on web design and DIY SEO was released as announced on the Small Business Resource Center Blog. As usual, readers do not have to register or provide an email address to download the PDF. SEO consultants would charge $1000′s for the search engine optimization information being revealed. Website owners interested in do-it-yourself seo may download the new ebook with no cost or obligation. Listen to this podcast episode to learn my results and why these seo and web design methods work, and then visit my blog next week for your copy.