The content on your page
This content is extremely important because it is the most direct writing for your website.  You must have good content on your site; without the great and persuasive writing all the other work that you’re doing to have content pointing to you will be a lost cause.  Everyone who decides to visit your site from all the links and other content you’re working so hard to develop will see your website content.  Make sure it’s persuasive and sells your products, services, or ideas.

Press releases
Press releases are a great way to write content pointing to your site, your company, and a new product or service that you offer.  The benefits of a press release are that they are not posted to your site, they provide a more formal way to talk about the news with your site, they offer a formal third-party perspective (even though you write your own press releases).  Most importantly, press releases provide the all-important link to your site from an outside source.

Third Party Reviews
Another great way to link to your site is through third-party reviews.  If someone writes a review of your product or service and then links to your website, your ranking power will increase.  Not only do you have another link into your site, but the reviewer has voiced an opinion that others are likely to listen to.

Many more types of content exist that can drive traffic to your site, and there are many things that you must remember to do to gain the benefits of these SEO tactics.

• Targeting keywords that people never use. Don’t use industry jargon that customers will never enter into a search box. (An important aside: She notes that business should be aware that some SEO firms purposely select “off-the-wall keyword phrases so they can guarantee rankings on those phrases. ” Also, be wary of any SEO firm that guarantees anything.)
• Confusing keyword popularity with keyword appropriateness. For a smaller business, it makes more sense, she writes, to “pursue more focused, more relevant terms that are less popular, but be better choices because they convert better.”
• Not considering user intent in keyword selection, selecting single word keywords, and keyword misalignment.
• Not considering the competition. It’s especially important for smaller businesses to consider what Churchill calls “the competitive landscape” of that phrase on the Web.
• Failing to periodically review keywords.
• Not allocating enough resources and time to perform good keyword research.

RemedyOne encourages anyone trying to market themselves or their business online avoid these pitfalls to help them rank better on the search engines and win more business.

Usability

Usability refers to the elegance and clarity with which the interaction with a computer program or website is designed. Since the user is the only person at the computer who clicks the mouse and has power over everything,  you need to make sure everything works and is user friendly.  If something on your site does not work for the user, it may as well be nonexistent. As a designer you need to remember that users do not read fully, they scan. Users analyze the web page searching for fixed points and images that will better allow them to understand the content.

Navigation

Although navigation is an aspect of usability, it is an important topic to touch on in and of itself. One of the most frustrating experiences a user can have while attempting to navigate a site is being unable to figure out where to go or where you are.  Navigation buttons should be easy to find and clear to use. If you have links on your site that do not work and take the user to the appropriate place, the user is going to get frustrated and potentially leave your site, which will inevitably lead to lost business.

Aesthetically Pleasing

Aside from making sure that your site is user friendly and easy to navigate, you want to make sure that it is visually appealing. If users are happy with your site, it’s going to reflect positively on the brand or company image. By using colors to highlight the parts of your site of utmost importance, you’re bringing the users’ eye there instead of to other areas. By using larger text, you are also attracting attention to that area, versus the smaller fonts. Most importantly, remain consistent! When navigating from page to page, users should see buttons in similarly placed areas, as well as having heading sizes and spacing the same. If you’re not consistent, you’re running the risk of confusing and ultimately losing that user from your site.

The design of your website is taking on a much larger role in the online world. It is getting harder to find a company that does not have an online presence via their website. Consumers are expecting to be able to log onto your website and find what they need quickly. If they can’t or if they have a hard time finding what they need, they may get discouraged with your site and move on to a competitor’s that is easier to manage. With the internet taking on such a huge role, many consumers aren’t leaving their homes anymore, all shopping and information services are taking place online. Consequently, the website is replacing the in-store experience that consumers used to have.  This is why companies need to make sure that their website gives off the same positive and welcoming feelings as a brick-and-mortar store would.

The web is taking over and shows no signs of slowing down. Web designers and companies need to stay on top of the trends and keep their websites up to date and attractive to consumers!

Search engine optimization is crucial to your traffic flow. No matter what you are selling, saying or doing on your website you need people to be aware of your site for it to thrive. The best website in the world is wasted if no one knows that it is there.

If you are not listed in any of the search engines no one will be able to find you unless they type your URL into their web browser. Once you understand how to optimize your website for the search engines, your site will be easier to find and the number of visitors to your website will increase over time.

Positioning Your Website

Having your website listed on the first page of a search engine’s results will give you the most exposure. The closer you are to the top of the page, or the higher the position you have in the search results, the greater the number of visitors you will receive.

By optimizing your website you can exercise some control over your position and where your site shows up in the search results of the search engines. You should try to optimize your website to rank somewhere in the top ten results, or at least the first 3 results pages (studies have shown that viewers will rarely pass the third page of search results.)

Optimization of Web Page Keywords & Content

First focus on your keywords and keyword density but don’t sacrifice your message. Write your content like you were writing to a friend. Let your creativity take over and write from your heart. Focus on what you want to say and don’t worry about optimizing your web page content until you are completely satisfied with your message.

Once you have your content it is essential to utilize the meta tags keywords, description, and title. Use your keywords when naming your pages and also for paragraph headings. Not all search engines operate exactly the same. But, if you follow the optimization tips outlined below you will do just fine on most of them.

Best Areas To Place Keywords

1. In the filename – Include keywords in the filename of each page that best describes the content of the web page.
2. The page title – It is important to have a page title (i.e. header) that includes your keywords. Be sure to emphasize the content of your web page.
3. First paragraph of your web page – Include your keywords in the first paragraph of each web page. Some say that you should include your keywords into the last paragraph as well.

Optimization Tips

• Place keywords in the title tag.
• Place keywords in your content.
• Make sure your keywords accurately describe the theme or subject of your page.
• Create a list of words that your potential viewers will use in the search engines to find your site
• Make sure you have content near JavaScript, if you use JavaScript on your website (CSS and JavaScript are nice, however, search engine robots don’t know what to do with it and often give up if there’s no content nearby.)
• If your website is a business, make sure you put your business address and other relevant contact information onto your website (Directories look for this when reviewing business sites.)
• Be sure that your page titles reflect your keywords and be sure to repeat them in the body text of the page.
• There should be plenty of text links on your website, rather than links that robots can’t follow such as image map links and links in dropdown menus.
• Read each search engine’s FAQ page before submit your URL, you want to avoid spamming these search engines (each has a different policy, and their policies change often.)
• Try to get links from other websites to yours. If other websites similar to yours link to you it will increase the relevancy of your site to the search engines.

Links From Other Websites

One of the biggest things that search engines look for, after content and theme, are quality links to your website from reputable internet addresses. Just any links won’t do. They must be roughly the same subject matter and rank well on the search engines. This can be one of the most difficult parts of the optimization process but if your site is interesting, full of rich content and you keep growing your website they will come.

Website Promotion

Remember that while search engines are a primary way people look for web sites, they are not the only way. People also find sites through word-of-mouth, traditional advertising, traditional media, news group postings, web directories, and links from other sites. Many times, these alternative forms are much more effective than search engines.

ROR/RSS Sitemap Generator

For starters be sure to add a ROR/RSS sitemap to your root directory to help the search engines classify your site. This type of sitemap is easy for the search engines to use when classifying your website.

HTML Sitemap

Another important page on your website is a text only HTML sitemap. Although an ROR/RSS sitemap is important for classifying your website with the search engines, the content of your site is better expressed by an HTML sitemap. This is where the human visitors will look to find your content.

Polaris Google Analytics

Polaris is a cross platform application for Google Analytics. With 8 easy to use standard reports, it allows you to keep your data always organized and available. Polaris is a free download for everyone with one website profile. For those that manage multiple profiles, Polaris offers an easy full-version upgrade for only $15/year.

Posterous

Posterous is the new, simple way to post anything online using only email. No set up is required, all you need to do is email Posterous with the information you want to share, and they will instantly reply back with your new Posterous website. This way you can share audio, photos, videos and anything else you can think of with family and friends in a quick and innovative way!

Web Based Screencasting Apps

The next set of popular application tools are those that allow the user to create video recordings of your desktop screen without installing new software. These recorded videos can then get uploaded to the web automatically so the user doesn’t have to worry about format or web hosting.

Woopra

Woopra is a free, easy to use web tracking and analysis application. Everything on the site is done in real-time allowing you to make changes and see them immediately! Not only does Woopra offer comprehensive statistics, but they do this in an easy to understand way and make your results very aesthetically pleasing.

Web Applications Review

This site is a great tool to use when new users are looking for information and reviews on applications they may want to use. WebApplicationsReview.com provides users with first hand information about various web applications so that they can make more informed decisions when deciding which tools to use!

Schedulicity

Schedulicity is the modern way to schedule appointments online. You will never have to pick up another phone to schedule an appointment again. Schedulicity allows users to book appointments with any type of business, located anywhere!

SIS Survey

SIS Survey is a free account that lets users create online surveys and polls for your website, blog and social networking site. The site’s interface is very appealing and user friendly, that allows users to create unique and customized polls!

One2One Research

One2OneResearch is a research and consulting company that provides a distinctive online business marketplace that brings together professionals, entrepreneurs, and customers. The site is for anyone who provides or searches for information and services in business consulting, market research, finance & investments, legal, marketing and advertising, or other business related categories.

Patio

Patio is a simple to use application designed to enhance your life by doing all the things an ordinary paper planner would do. You can add items to your list and check them off as they have been completed. Patio even transfers your items to the next day if they have not been completed by the end of the day! Patio is a free service, but plans to enhance some features that will charge a small fee.

Google

As with other successful and informative Google applications, Solutions Marketplace is no different. It is a place that allows users to potentially purchase third party solutions that complement Google’s business and education-focused products. The Marketplace reaches thousands of users each week from a range of organizations, with new users becoming vendors and listing and selling their solutions for free.

CMS is very simple to use, here is a basic explaination:

• Content is added and saved through the user interface
• The web page is generated and published by the CMS
• The web page URL gets listed in the website navigation menus
• All index pages and navigation menus get updated automatically

Utilizing a Content Management System is not only a great way to efficiently create and manage a website, it also has many other benefits:

Keep Content Fresh

The most important benefit that CMS provides its users is the ability to quickly and easily provide up-to-date content for a website’s viewers.  Content is published in real-time, allowing a CMS user to change their site every few days if need be, giving the viewers something new to look forward to, and keeping the website fresh for repeat viewers.

Keep Website Maintenance Costs Low

With CMS software, the maintenance cost of your website is next to nothing.  Without the CMS, a website owner would need to pay a developer to update their content.  Making a website either extremely expensive to keep up to date, or making a website out of date to save cost.  The ease and flexibility of CMS makes the developer unnecessary for minor changes to the site.

Allow Multiple Users

Content Management Systems allow many different users access and change the information that will appear on the website.  This is useful in many different business situations, and allows different branches of a company to inform their viewers of developments independently of the entire company.