50 tips for building a perfect websites.

Technorati Tags: design, How-To, website

The layout and background illustration was designed by myself, the back-end and implementation was done by a ColdFusion pro.

Technorati Tags: application, design, development, web

Technorati Tags: considerations, design, web

A website can be a tool to both revenue and frustration. There’s so many tricks to getting it seen that being visible amongst your competitors can seem like a daunting task. I’ve made a list of the key ingredients to a solid, marketable web presence.

#1 – A Spineless Website Will Go Nowhere

A website needs a solid backbone. A backbone, in this instance, would be a tested and open-source CMS solution like WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. I only work with WordPress, simply because it’s the best.

WordPress is a free application that, once installed, will provide you with absolutely every tool you need to make a website run, display information, be SEO friendly, allow easy linking to and from your website, engage communities and allow discussions and so much more. Learn about WordPress. It’s an absolute must!

#2 – An Awe Inspiring Design.

You know which websites you always stick around on – either the ones with information you NEED, or the ones that catch your eye and keep it. Everyone likes a well-designed website. If you can find the right website designer, you can accomplish this without breaking the bank. Here’s some inspiration for your design.

#3 – Engaging, Unique Content

Content is king, as they say. Some even believe it’s more important that good design. But there’s many kinds of content. You must consider who’ll be going to each page, and write content just for them. In contrast, when writing a blog, you must present content that a broader audience would appreciate. Write for your readers – the ones you have and the ones you want.

#4 – Easy-To-Access Similar Content

If a reader is enjoying a page about web design, you may not want to hit him up with financial planning advice in your next article. Make sure, no matter how you do it, that it’s easy to find more articles like the one currently being read. You’ll retain many more readers and should see big spikes in user retention.

#5 – Always Keep Analytics – And Use Them

An analytics tool will track every visitor to your website and keep detailed statistics on their entire trip through your site. A great analytics tool will provide great information you can use to tweak your site and marketing campaigns. No winning company is unaware of this information, so neither should you.

#6 – A Sitemap For Search Engines

Search engines will take their sweet time indexing your website. To speed up the process, and to make sure they know what they’re looking for once they find you, you’re gonna need a sitemap in XML format. This is extrememly easy if you built on a WordPress platform, but can still be done on regular, custom developed websites as well.

#7 – Social Media Integration

Today, websites are not enough to make a business successful. You’ll need to be tied into several major social media outlets, and use them heavily to engage and eventually convert web surfers. By spending time obtaining, and providing quality information to, readers, you’re going grassroots with a digital twist. Enjoy this part – social media is bringing the personal touch back into business in a whole new way.

#8 – Search Engine Visbility

You’re efforts thus far will not produce results nearly as quickly as they will when your site and all it’s content are optimized for search engine friendliness. This means placing specific information on each and every page so search engines can find and rank your content. The better the content is, the higher up you’ll be on the search engines. The only question is – what keywords, titles, descriptions and content do you need? That’s where a professional SEO optimization comes in.

#9 – Daily Updates

This is a bit tedious, but the fact remains; the more often you update content, the better ranked your site will be. So take the time to write a simple article every day or two, and publish them as often as possible. If you don’t feel like writing a lot, just write a paragraph about a topic found on a non-competitive website and publish with a link there. You’ll get love for hyping their site, and you’ll still meet your publishing deadline.

But Wait, There’s More!

Is this ALL it takes to make a great website? Probably not, but it’s a gigantic part of it. If you follow these guidelines, you’re well on your way. Remember, ‘great’ is subjective. Make sure you get feedback as you go, preferably from customers. They can make your business a whole lot better just by using it.

Technorati Tags: How-To

Enter your favorite book and this site will analyse our database of real readers’ favorite books. This site boasts more than 75,000 different titles to date, and more than over a million reader recommendations and suggestions for what to read next. You can even build your own favorites list.

http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/

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Seen a better kill than this? Prove it…

Technorati Tags: Battlefield 1942, best, kill, video game

I don’t usually place links to competing websites (and technically, I still haven’t) but I’d like to give props to the following site designs. They represent the talent that is abundant in Southern NH, particularly Portsmouth!

Fantastic Fortune Cookies

This site, designed by me, is an awesome outlet for the awesome GIGANTIC cookies made by the folks over at Fantastic Fortune Cookies.
http://fantasticfortunecookies.com

The Music Hall

This website is wonderfully designed and represents the venue well. This goes down as one of the more attractive designs on the web, not just Portsmouth. Designed by Raka.
http://www.themusichall.org/

Mass Save

This site is playful, simple and sexy. Designed by PixelMedia, this site is an attention grabber.
http://www.masssave.com/

Maine Coast Shellfish

Designed by VitalDesign – this website is great. It has a real-world feel mixed with clean design. I love the stitching that runs throughout the site that makes it feel like it’s a beautiful scrapbook.
http://mainecoastshellfish.com/

Brussel Sprouts Kids

This is a fun site geared toward the younger generation, to match their playful brans. Designed by Harbour Light of Portsmouth
http://brusselsproutskids.com

Enormous Tiny Art

This is a whimsical site dedicated to highlighting local artists and their masterpieces. Designed by The Atom Group.
http://www.enormoustinyart.com/

Technorati Tags: designers, examples, NH Web Design, Portsmouth

That’s right! I have gathered this collection of 558 websites from 7 collections. These inspirational designs range from the gorgeous and simple to massive and complex.

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Technorati Tags: design, inspiration, website

This movie was designed to explain the Resumebear’s online resume delivery system.

This website design got this client selling homemade giant fortune cookies. This was a WordPress based website design.

Technorati Tags: ecommerce, Maine, sales, website design