Web Design Blog, Web Designer Resources

26 CMS Solutions That Help You Do Things Other Than Blog

wonkastudio — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:10:44 +0000

An article about content management systems that neglects to mention Wordpress is a rare thing, and there is a good reason for that. Wordpress helped web designers create full-featured and dynamic web sites without needing to deal with back-end coding.

Installing and updating a Wordpress blog could be done in one click, allowing designers to focus on making beautiful and useful web sites for their clients. Additionally, any feature you can think of that is not included in the out-of-box installation can easily be implemented due to the thriving plug-in development community.

With that said, I still believe that it is sometimes better to have a ready-made CMS solution that is designed to handle different types of websites. In this post, I will list different CMS solutions for creating social sites, handling multimedia, project collaboration, and e-commerce with example websites created using each solution.

Social Networking

1. Pligg

Use Pligg content management system to start your own social networking community in minutes.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Pligg:

Visit Pligg ››

2. Moveable Type

An all-in-one social publishing platform.

Features: Open source (Developers), Free (Individual bloggers), Commercial, Self-Hosted

Site using Movable Type:

Visit Movable Type ››

3. GroupSite

Create discussion forums, blogs, group calenders, and more.

Features: Free (Ad supported), Commercial, Hosted

Site using GroupSite:

Visit Movable Type ››

4. CrowdVine

Create a community around your conference.

Features: Free (Ad supported, 500 Attendees Max), Commercial, Hosted

Site using CrowdVine:

Visit CrowdVine ››

5. Boonex Dolphin

Create your own community site with Dolphin

Features: Free (Ad supported), Commercial, Self-Hosted

Site using Boonex Dolphin:

Visit Boonex Dolphin ››

6. Elgg

Build out your social networking vision.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Elgg:

Visit Elgg ››

7. KickApps

Provides social tools for collaboration and communication.

Features: Commercial (30-day free trial), Self-Hosted

Site using KickApps:

Visit KickApps ››

8. Ning

With Ning you can create your own custom social network.

Features: Commercial, Hosted, Self-Hosted

Site using Ning:

Visit Ning ››

9. Hotaru CMS

All the plugins you need to make your own Digg-style community.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Hotaru CMS:

Visit Hotaru CMS ››

10. OSQA

An open source Q&A system.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using OSQA:

Visit OSQA ››

Multimedia

11. Media Core

Delivers an exceptional media experience to any site that depends on delivering video or audio to its users.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Media Core:

Visit Media Core ››

12. PHPmotion

A free video sharing software that also has support for other types of media such as audio/mp3 sharing.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using PHPmotion:

Visit PHPmotion ››

Collaboration

13. Confluence

An application developed to help people work better together and share information effortlessly.

Features: Commercial, Self-Hosted, Hosted

Site using Confluence:

Visit Confluence ››

14. Redmine

A flexible project management web application, written using Ruby on Rails framework it is cross-platform and cross-database.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Redmine:

Visit Redmine ››

15. xWiki

A collaboration software developed in Java and under the LGPL open source license.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using xWiki:

Visit xWiki ››

Microblogging

16. Tumblr

A full featured blogging platform that lets you effortlessly share anything.

Features: Free, Hosted, Self-Hosted

Site using Tumblr:

Visit Tumblr ››

17. Posterous

A blogging web application that lets you post from your email or from a browser bookmarklet.

Features: Free, Hosted, Self-Hosted

Site using Posterous:

Visit Posterous ››

18. Status.net

An open source microblogging platform that helps you share and connect in real-time within your own domain.

Features: Open source, Hosted, Self-Hosted

Site using Status.net:

Visit Status.net ››

19. Jaiku

You can use Jaiku to create your activity stream.

Features: Free, Hosted

Site using Jaiku:

Visit Jaiku ››

E-commerce

20. Devhub

Devhub can make creating your own sites fun, rewarding and profitable.

Features: Free, Self-Hosted

Site using Devhub:

Visit Devhub ››

21. Magneto

Ecommerce platform for growth.

Features: Open source, Commercial (Enterprise Edition), Self-Hosted

Site using Magneto:

Visit Magneto ››

22. Pretashop

Free e-Commerce shopping cart software.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Pretashop:

Visit Pretashop ››

23. Zen Cart

A free, user-friendly, open source shopping cart software.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Zen Cart:

Visit Zen Cart ››

24. Oscommerce

An open source online shop e-commerce solution that is available for free under the GNU General Public License.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Oscommerce:

Visit Oscommerce ››

25. Opencart

A shopping cart solution that is designed to be feature rich, easy to use, search engine friendly and visually appealing.

Features: Open source, Self-Hosted

Site using Opencart:

Visit Opencart ››

26. Vendr

Make any website with a product to sell into an online store.

Features: Commercial (Free up to 5 products), Self-Hosted

Mobile Version:

Full Version:

Twitter

Mobile Version:

Full Version:

Vimeo

Mobile Version:

Full Version:

Volkswagen

Mobile Version:

Full Version:

Yahoo

Mobile Version:

Full Version:

Mobile – Is it time to care?

The latest numbers indicate mobile internet usage accounts for about 1.26% of all internet usage. Is that enough to cater specifically to mobile users, as these companies have done? What’s your opinion?

In Wait for Autumn Sales Boom

wonkastudio — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:10:29 +0000

Did you know that there are 2 days in the year that are so important for eCommerce business – Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Besides, there is also Thanksgiving Day that favors the increase of the traffic for your online shop. Every year autumn brings the heat to the online shopping business.

Both consumers and the owners of the online eCommerce businesses are looking forward to this season. Customers want to save on shopping and the owners look for the good income. Last year online sales grew 41% over those of the previous 2008 and 2010 will bring (according to the latest forecasts) even bigger demand increase in online shopping segment. The statistics mentioned above show you the importance to start your preparations for the huge autumn sales beforehand.

If you are the owner of the online shop, it is wise to plan your business strategy in a good time and the end of summer is this very time. The first thing that you should focus attention on is the design of your project. It is a well-known fact that all users appreciate quality and simplicity of the website, because the thought-out design shows, explains everything and makes the time spent on the page not write-off. So, go ahead and redesign your web presence not to miss your customers. If you don’t have any ideas about how to do it, TemplateMonster eCommerce promo will help you. It is going to be the biggest discount of the forthcoming autumn. This promo offers you 20% discount for all ready-made eCommerce templates that you buy at this site during the time that is set.

osCommerce Templates, Magento Templates, Zen Cart Templates, VirtueMart Templates, CRE Loaded Templates and PrestaShop templates – their designs are specially worked out to increase your sales and drive maximum benefit out of them. Their spectacular layouts and professional execution speak for your future success of the online shopping business.

As you see, TemplateMonster eCommerce promo is a nice chance to keep pace with the autumn boom!

Freebies Sticker icon Pack Download these icons for Free

wonkastudio — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:40:23 +0000

All members of the editorial staff of this website are web designers, that is the reason we all know then better than someone, the technical problems regarding this job. One of these problems is to get graphical resources in high quality, with a cheap price and with first condition, to be used by all types of projects.

Regarding these situation, we have decided to start new series of posts on expertsdesign.com, posts you will be able to access for free. Every week, you will find a new graphic resource you will be able to download and to use by your own or business projects.

We start this series with the icons pack “special sale”. Promote the reduce of your e-business using these wonderful stickers with slightly acid colours.

If you have interest by this post, I’m sure you enjoy these others :

+40 best icons packs that webdesigners should have

35 (NEW) Modern and High Quality Icon Sets

Free Icons : 2experts Icons Set, 100% Free 30 Icons Set

To join the original page, only one click on the picture, a new window will automatically open on Fotolia.

Icons Pack Stickers for webdesigners

This pack includes: 10 icons stickers starting from -10% to -90% and a sticker SALE.
You find find this series in 6 different colours (red, blue, green, orange, pink and grey), in total 60 icons.

Distribution

You can help us to promote this series of posts, on your social networks or on your blog, but please, do not distribute the Zip file or do not publish direct links to these posts. Invite your readers to go on this page to download the icons. Thanks a lot for all of you to bring your help to this type of graphical initiative.

Price

This icons pack is free download.

Use

You can use the icons in all kind of projects. (own or business project)
(Distribution or resell are completely are completely inhibited.

Download

Please, click here to download the icons pack stickers for webdesigners.

If you like this post, do not forget to subscribe to our RSS feed or join our profiles on Facebook or Twitter. For any question, be sure to use the comments below.

ProWorkflow the best way to improve your projects management

wonkastudio — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:54:11 +0000

When you leave the common employer system, to start a new activity, as well as in freelance or starting your own business, you agree to manager new tasks which are normally not yours.
You have to manage a planning, delays, problems to fixe, your customers and their needs….the list is really long. Many companies do not use help of specialists to execute these tasks, doing them as well as they can, from this type of management, it results a work that is longer than it could be and also loosing contracts…..if you arrive at this point, then, it is better to think about software to manage these tasks.

Pro Work Flow is one of these good software, which help you to manage all activities attached to your activity : Projects management, tasks management, data exchange, budget controlling….which avoid you to waste your time and taking you business on the good way.

This application gives you the possibility to join the three main points needed for the success of your projects: the tasks and the time and the people working on it, and each of them will be able to access the planning (though the web) to follow up its statement and to get ahead regarding his own tasks. All want you need to manage your business is part of ProWorkFlow and its use is easy and intuitive.

We can now see ProWorkFlow in details. When arriving on the home page, it is possible to get an overview of your complete activity, by a quick look on it, it is really useful. From this home page, you can also access all other specific parts of this tool.

The projects

This page includes all projects in process or closed. Using this list of projects, you can reach one of them and check its statement, and for sure, you can add new tasks or workers, etc….This page is really important because it represents the heart of your activity.

The tasks

All tasks of all projects are shown on this page, easy for you to follow the work will have to do in the next days. Really useful for tasks getting behind or tasks you forgot or you let on the left.

Time management

Time is money, for this reason ProWorkFlow give you a complete tool to manage your time through a planning or to record the time you used to execute each task, or the work-time of each worker.

Reports

You can easy create reports which you can download under a XML or CSV format.
Create reports about your business, in general or by sector like the activity by worker, by project, by delay like a month or a week.

Under ProWorkFlow, you can find other pages, all useful and with good reasons to exists. All of them will avoid you to waste your time.

For sure, you and all of your employees, will need some time to be efficient on this tool, but I can ensure you, if you make the effort to do it, you will have no regrets then you will see the high benefits you will get back using this software.

Visit the website ProWorkflow

The 100 best icon packs from Fotolia for webdesign projetcs

wonkastudio — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:19:37 +0000

It is possible on the web to find dozen of dozen of different websites proposing graphical resources to web designers and of it completely free. For a professional web designer it is the opportunity to save precious time on his projects helping to quickly satisfy his clients and more efficient.

However, the web designers in this position are plentiful and the distribution of these resources is problematic because it is not rare today, to meet same icons located on different websites but icons sold by different web designers.

Obviously, you cannot present to exacting customers a graphical project including Feebies…or why not simply to say “to customers” . In fact, these customers use services of a professional web designers for one unique reason: to get his own personal service, with high quality and mostly unique.

There is another existing solution, the one using pay services. Today, there is same number of pay websites than free websites, but some of pay sites are different, offering attractive prices and amazing series by their high quality as well as by the number of references. By this way, I can easy notice http://www.bigstockphoto.com/, http://www.istockphoto.com/ and for sure http://www.fotolia.com/.

For need of one of my projects, I got the responsibility to look for icons to define in the different services of the company of my client. Fotolia getting partnership of 2expertdesign.com (check top of the website), it is why I took the decision to show to my clients, the database picture provided by Fotolia.

Time after time, I realized what for a great big series Fotolia offers to its visitors. The graphical quality was perfect for the restriction and rules defined by my client and the price was correct for my calculated agency budget. This pack was really what I needed.

But i did not stop there and i decided to continue my search, and I finish to find another interesting pack, I added it as a favourite link, as use in the future, and after that, I found one more pack, then one more, then one more again, and more and more. Finally I got an impressive list of references, all what I need to satisfy my customers for the next 10 years..

It is by checking this list that I take the decision to create this post, my purpose for today is to visit the list of 100 best icons packs coming from our partner Fotolia.com, the selection has been restricted on :

The quality
The small price
The possibility to use them in several websites types

So, have now a good time for the review of the selection, I let you discover the icons by yourself.

Beyond, if you appreciate the contain of this post, I give you the possibility to reach articles previously published on 2expertsdesign.com :

If you have interest by this post, I’m sure you enjoy these others :

+40 best icons packs that webdesigners should have

35 (NEW) Modern and High Quality Icon Sets

Free Icons : 2experts Icons Set, 100% Free 30 Icons Set

To join the original page, only one click on the picture, a new window will automatically open on Fotolia.

Eleventh Websites of the week Inspiration for webdesigners

wonkastudio — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:20:59 +0000

Yes that’s right, even during holiday we need inspiration for our job, it is why you can find below, a selection of 7 new websites as a new part of the set “selection of Webdesigns”, kept for their particular concept, ergonomics and design.

I remind you that the set of “Websites of the week” posts is based on a suggestion coming from our partner One Inspiration Per Day, you can visit it and find plenty interesting and original Websites.

But it is now the time for the selection of the moment, notice that some Websites of this selection are classified as “the best of the best” never seen since the beginning of the set “Websites of the week” then, do not hesitate to visit them, you will not waste your time.

If you have interest by this post, I’m sure you enjoy these others :

Tenth Websites of the week Inspiration for webdesigners

Ninth Websites of the week Inspiration for webdesigners

Eighth Websites of the week Inspiration for webdesigners

BOUNTY Bev

A perfect model for webpage navigation. All content is located on a vertical page, click on the menu to travel from the top to the bottom, to the section you want to watch. The dominant use of the blue colour is really justified and the website is really pleasant in use. Be care, this website is not allowed for surfers under 18 (alcohol advertising) But for others, have good time on this very interesting Website !
Click to discover this website

Display (template)

The graphic design of this website is really a success, clear, design and especially plain.
The Carousel and the Footer, correctly located, are the elements I prefer in this Template. A good basic start-point for people willing to create an online Portfolio.
Click to discover this website

Freelance Logo

The home page of this website is wonderful, starting with the first page, the reader do not wait longer to enter in the concept and atmosphere of this website, result of a clear layout and amazing and efficient illustrations. On the internal pages, accuracy is missing but the global feeling gives a good sensation of a high design of quality.
Click to discover this website

Kaleidoscope App

If I exclude the illustration located on the right which is fascinating, this website succeed to create an unique design, clear and accessible, but the best is that it performs to create an unique design by each component of this website, and all of them are fantastic. Certainly the most interesting website I have never seen during the 6 last months, do not miss it !
Click to discover this website

Play Jumbalaya

I appreciate this website because its concept is present from start to end. Use of textures is amazing and the logo is really a success, but the rush job used for the layout of the Screenshots hurts me (see at the bottom of the page).
Click to discover this website

Noel Design

Welcome by Terry Noel’s Portfolio, a common clear website including only few pages which takes in charge the rule for it has been defined. The design of this website is very pleasant, looking like a patchwork and making a visit is fine, its atmosphere is really unique. Incredible by its noteworthy original design
Click to discover this website

Orange Apple

This website carries the surfer to another planet, from the first to the last page. Simple to use, the switch from a page to another is really easy and pleasant. This website takes the second position in this set of websites, even the design is a basic one, I appreciate its perfect ergonomics and it is why it enters in the top 10 of the websites you have cannot to miss !
Click to discover this website

Conclusion

A selection with in fact lot of websites with high level quality. By reading this article from the beginning to the end, you get surprised by the increasing quality, when watching a website you know than it is more beautiful than the previous one. If you like this selection of websites, do not hesitate to visit them And if you like this website, do not forget to share its articles with your Twitter or Facebook friends.

Further, if you decide to follow our next articles, did you know that the subscription to our RSS feed is free, it is the best method for you to never miss our new articles?

10 Extreme Productivity Hacks That Will Create More Time

Kalim Fleet — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:46:32 +0000

In order to keep a primary focus on the things we need to do in order to achieve our goals in life we must learn to spend less time on things that aren’t as important. Truth is, you probably are already quite productive. You use computers to achieve tasks that used to take much longer to achieve (just as I have used a computer to help me write this article).

Unfortunately, what computers can save you in time can be easily lost by information overload. There are numerous ways to receive information now like email, RSS, social media updates, SMS, and the list goes on. I am suggesting that you can get more done not by ignoring information, but rather by being more selective about the information that you receive and respond to. Additionally, there can also be significant time savings by learning how to more quickly navigate the programs you use to access that information.

If you have interest by this post, I’m sure you enjoy these others :

What Every Web Designer Must Know About SEO

10 essential advices to manage your projects when you’re webdesigner

10 Best One Stop Solutions to Search Freelance Work

Web Search

1. Get better search results by using operators

Search engines have become pretty good at guessing what you want based on the keywords you enter into the search bar but a productivity ninja is not satisfied with that. This link shows how you can use advanced search operators to refine your search results even further and save the time wasted looking through irrelevent results.

Get better search results by using operators

2. Save your searches to refine them even more

Many search engines allow you to create an RSS feed from the search results retrieved from your query. Once the search is in your RSS feed you have saved the trouble of entering the refined search everytime you want to look something up. This link shows you how to use Google Alerts to do just that.

Save your searches to refine them even more

3. Skip the search engine all together

If you are like me you probably have hundreds of bookmarks that you have amassed from years of web browsing. Why not search these for pertinent information about a project you may be working on? Web browsers like Opera offer full bookmark search including text found in the title, url, and description of the bookmarked page.

Skip the search engine all together

Email

4. Create email filters to automate email processing

Most email programs will allow the simultaneous creation of folders and placing of emails to folders upon receipt. Gmail uses labels, while other programs use folders to achieve this to similar effect. This combined with checking your email less frequently (many suggest no more than 2 times per day), can help you save time spent reading non-important emails throughout the day.

5. Consolidate your email addresses into one program

Be it a desktop client like Outlook or Thunderbird, or a web service like Gmail, you can easily import any email account you have into your favorite email client. You will need to refer to the documentation for the email client on how to do this exactly. This link shows how to do it in Gmail.

Consolidate your email addresses into one program

Task Management

6. Automate when ever possible

As seen earlier with the search hacks, there are many tasks that can be automated by simply defining the information you need and choosing how and when you will receive it. That only touches the surface of what is possible though. For example, you can easily share your latest blog posts with your twitter followers by using a service like Twitterfeed.

If you can’t automate it, delegate it instead – Somethimes there are tasks that require a human being to do them effectively. In those situations, typically you would just do it yourself but I am suggesting an alternative. Instead ask yourself, is the task easy enough for someone else to do and they will need less than 5 minutes of instruction from you to make it happen? If so, consider delegating the task. Consider delegating even if it would take longer to train someone only if the task is something that needs to be done frequently and you can find the time to write the instructions for re-use later.

If it would take you longer to train someone to do a task than it would for you to actually just do the task, then you should consider doing it yourself. The catch is, you can’t just stop what you were doing so a time should be scheduled to handle all such tasks at one time. This leads to the final task management hack.

Stop doing non-important things – Upon further investigation you may come to the valuable conclusion that the task that you are automating, delegating, or scheduling doesn’t need to be done at all. This revelation is like hitting the time jack-pot and productivity ninjas should filter every task through this thought process as early as possible to get the biggest time-savings.

Web Surfing

7. Get a faster internet connection

A slow internet connection can not only limit how quickly you can find, read and share information on the internet, but it can also cause your computer to slow down or even crash while tyring to load large web pages. Spend the money to upgrade your internet connection if you can, the time you save could be worth it.

8. Load pages faster with browser plug-ins

There are browser plug-ins that will automatically disable advertisements and other slow loading javascript thus enabling pages to load faster. Adblock Plus for Firefox is one such plug-in. Click the link below for more information about this plug-in.

Load pages faster with browser plug-ins

9. Combine your social media profiles into one place

Instead of jumping from page to page logging in, reading, and updating your status on different social media platforms, why not combine them all into one location for easier access? Hellotxt is web service that offers this type of function.

10. Keyboard Shortcuts

Productivity Ninja: 101 Ways to Rock the Keyboard

Here are 101 ways to save time by using keyboard shortcuts in Firefox, Gmail, Google Reader, Windows OS, Mac OS, Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook, and Internet Explorer.

Productivity Ninja: 101 Ways to Rock the Keyboard

200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity

This post covers the most useful keyboard shortcuts for essential software applications users and web-developers can/should use on a daily basis – OS, Browsers, Music Players, Communication Tools, File Management and Coding.

200+ Hotkeys To Boost Your Productivity

In what ways have you used technology to save yourself time?

The Best Way To Find The Perpfect Host For Your Website

wonkastudio — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:22:05 +0000

Starting a new Web-project, we have to think about several future problems which can be possible, in this way, strong decisions have to be taken, meaning the selection of the perfect Domain name, the selection of method of payment, and the selection of the best webhosting.

Depending of its prices, efficiency and reactivity, the choice of the Website hosting will finally get a great position in the definition of increasing the success of you business.

Then it means it is better to do the good choice of the web site hosting as soon as starting your project.

But in fact, the selection of a webhosting for his website can become really complex when we need to subscribe to a full offer : not easy to make a selection between the whole of different types of web hosting, some of them are big companies, others have a domain speciality, others are resellers…and the market is overfull today……all this points will result of a nightmare for you.

In case you are in this situation, do not worry, go to webhostingrating.com which will deliver a precious help to you. Webhostingrating.com is a specialist of webhosting, providing a guide to find quickly and easy the best web site hosting for your website.

Starting by the home page, you will find a list of the best webhosting offers, each of them getting attached details like prices, space, traffic, and of course, a rating regarding the reliability of the solution.

Search engine

If you meet problem reaching search using this list, you have still the possibility to find your web site hosting through a search engine : with options of selection regarding the geographic area, the type of server, the price or the type of CMS (Wordpress, Joomla, phpBB etc.).

Compare the offers

You have interest for several offers ? Then , only few clicks on webhostingrating.com and it will display a dashboard resulting positive and negative points of your list of offers you selected. With this tool, you can easy compare each of them.

A help center and a guideline

Using listing of webhosting without limit, it is good, but can you really and easy understand the information and services defined in this list ? To make it clear, webhostingrating.com developed a guideline and tutorials to explain to you, the different needs you will have to reach for your future Web site and in fact to make the best choice of your web site hosting.

Opinion

Today it exists thousand of different offers for your webhosting, some of these offers are competitive, others are serious or defined on a specific domain. But the common point between all of them is that they will never inform you about they negative sides, like an overfull bandwidth, a recurrent technical problem, a slow or missing hotline…but it is often better to get this information before to do your choice, to avoid the famous sentence : “if I had know it before…” webhostingrating.com puts, positive as well as negative points on same level, then you will be able to do your choice with help of all details you have to know to do it, it is why I am happy I have presented it to you today.

What Every Web Designer Must Know About SEO

Kalim Fleet — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:42:51 +0000

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a bit of a touchy subject in the web design community. We’ve all seen it happen.. You design a beautiful and perfect website for your client only to have them complain a month later that they are not receiving any traffic. You explain to them that you are a web designer and that web traffic falls under the realm of SEO. Your client asks you what can be done and you typically send them information for them to read or refer them to a company who specializes in SEO. There is however, another way. Many of the site updates an SEO company will require could have just as easily been done at initial design stages. In this post, I will go over some of the basic SEO terms and strategies that can be implemented while the site is being designed.

Pre-launch SEO

99% of the SEO battle is won before a single pixel is placed on the page.

At this stage, the designer can ask questions of the client that may result in answers that will inform the content and structure of the website. The questions should all revolve around making the website easier for the target audience to find through search engines. The following questions may be of help in achieving this goal.

Demographics
1. How old is your target market?
2. Are they mostly male, female, or equal?
3. What is the education level of your target market (if marketing to adults)?
Needs
1. What critical needs does your website provide to your company?
2. What needs are filled for your visitors?
Competition
1. What other companies are using a website to satisfy the needs you outlined above?
2. What keywords are they using to attract visitors to their site?
3. What do people have to say about their experience at their site?
User Experience
1. What are the top 3 things you want your visitors to do once they find your website?
2. What are three words you would like visitors to use when describing your website upon leaving it?
3. What words are visitors using to describe your website?

Answers to these questions can go a long way in helping to determine not only the content and keywords that will be used but also the writing style, and the structure of the site. In the next section I will talk more about the importance of structuring the website in a logical way that will appeal to both search engines and your target audience.

Site Structure

Tell Google how to find the most important parts of your website.

When indexing your website the search engines look at everything. That’s right, every single element on the page is read and processed. The key is to tell the search engines what to pay more attention to. In particular focus on the keywords you use in the following elements when creating your website. *Note – These are not listed in any particular order of importance.

Non-Content
1. Title – This is the text that appears in the top menu bar of the browser. The text here is also what shows up in the search engine results. Keywords are important here.
2. URL – Your URL optimally will include some type of keyword.
3. Meta Description – This should be less than a paragraph and should be written in a natural spoken style that a user can easlily understand. This appears after the link in the search results. If this is missing, the search engine will just take the first few lines of actual content from your page.
4. Meta Keywords – Many have written that Google no longer considers these when ranking a page in their search results but it has also been written that other search engines do use it, so for this reason I have included it here. This should be limited to 6-7 keywords and all the words here should occur somewhere else on the page.
Content
1. Heading (h1-h6) tags – indicates a section of a web page
2. Anchor href attribute – makes up the first part of a hyperlink
3. Anchor Text tag – makes up the second part of a hyperlink
4. Text wrapped in tags

Internal Links

The more often a link appears from one page on your website to another page on your website the more importance the search engines place on the text in that URL.

If the link contains an image rather than text, the search engines will use the text in the image alt attribute to determine what text to use.

Outbound Links

Outbound links are helpful because they establish a relationship between the site that the link appears and the site where the link points to.

These are most helpful if the URL text and destination from your site are similar in content to the outbound site.

Inbound Links

Inbound links are helpful because, just like outbound links they establish a relationship between websites.

These are most helpful to you if the URL text and inbound website’s content is similar to the content you have on your website.

You get the most effect if the website referring you has a higher rank than yours.

Rank is like authority, which means that a website has established itself to the search engines as a reliable source of information for the keywords a user typed into the search bar.

A primary focus should be to place your keywords throughout your site in a natural way. Don’t fall victim to “keyword stuffing” because that can actually cause your site to be lowered in the search results. This was a tactic that web marketers used years ago but the search engines have grown wise to this. So just write your content in a natural and logical way that can benefit your readers and also make your site easier to index for the search engines.

But I’m a web designer, not an SEO professional

Yes, the hard-core SEO stuff should be left to the professionals. I am by no means suggesting that following the guidelines in this post will put any SEO professional out of business. But who knows, you may be able to save your client a few bucks by just implementing a few simple SEO techniques that can be built into the design of the website.

Please take the opportunity to fill in what I have missed in the comments.

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