Edit your Own Website – Content Management System

Is your company looking for a Content Management System?

Content Management Systems (CMS) are a valuable tool to many small businesses.  They offer you the ability to login and edit your webpage without the need for a web developer.

So what is the difference between Custom Web Design and a Content Management System?  They each have their advantages and disadvantages.

Content Management Systems

Advantages:

  • They give you the ability to make changes or edit your websites content rather easily without the need to call a web developer.
  • They are typically less expensive than custom web design as the “framework” is typically set in place.   The best way to think about this is by using a house as a metaphor.  A house has its framing done and then you go in and decorate or plugin your paint colors, pictures, etc.   With a CMS you have the framework laid out as in different boxes etc.  You then modify the CMS with your companies information, pictures, etc.   There are different “frameworks” that you can work with, but the main point is that each “framework”, as plans to a house, are preset and then you can populate the content.

Here are some examples of our Content Management System and some websites we have developed using it:

Content Management System Example

Content Management System Example

Content Managment Example

Content Managment Example

Custom Web Development

Advantages:

  • You have the ability to be very creative as you can do pretty much anything you can dream of as things are not predefined.  For example, you can place an image anywhere on the page etc.
  • Your website can be as unique as you need and you can focus on all aspects marketing.  For example, you can really get down to targeting your demographic with custom designs that represent your corporate image and tie that into your branding and other marketing avenues.

Here are some recent samples of our Custom Web Design work:

Custom Web Development Example

Custom Web Development Example

Custom Web Development Example

Custom Web Development Example

Webnovate is a full service Utah Web Design firm.  We offer full realm of options for your small business as each business is different and has different needs.  We provide Content Management System websites as well as Custom Web Design.  We provide a FREE consultation in which we can come meet with you see what woul be best for your company!     Contact us today or fill our our RFP Form to see what we can do for you!

Website Management Outsourcing – WMO

Website Management Outcoursing (WMO) is the contracting of the management of a website and complete online environment to a 3rd party service provider.  For many medium-sized companies or organizations it makes sense to outsource the website and online presence to a company as Webnovate.

Why WMO?

Many online projects require the skills of creative graphic designers, excellent developers, exceptional project managers, a great hosting company, SEO and SEM campaign management , and much more.  Webnovate is the perfect fit as we have people that specialize in each of these processes.

In todays competive marketplace, your company needs a company that specializes in these services.  With the growth of popular Social Media websites as in Facebook and Twitter, it adds a completely new dimension to your web presence.  You can no longer simply have a website up on the Internet.  You need to utlize these Social Media website and other various tools to increase your traffic on your website.  You also need to tie that traffic into helpful and relevant reports so you can analyze your traffic and inturn, turn that into increase sales.

If your company is looking to outsource your web managment, please feel free to contact us or fill out our Request for Proposal.

Partyland Utah Blog Spotlight

As we have pointed out in other post, one of the BEST things you can do for SEO, is to blog.  We recently setup a blog for Partyland Utah, locate at http://www.partylandutah.com/blog/ that is used as a great tool to keep their customers up to date on the latest and greatest ideas for thier next party.

The blog serves many purposes for thier clients and their clients can even subscribe to its feed and get emailed with any updates to the blog or new entrys.    However, at the same time they increase their SEO presence as they are gaining a ton of useful content that Google loves!

Try a few Google searches and you will quickly see that they are showing up either number 1 or 2 for many popular searches, including parytland or party supplies in utah.    The key thing to realize is that they are moving up higher and higher and it has only been a few months since we installed this for them.    I have to say, I love when a customer takes the advice and puts it into action.  Many times customers get to busy with other things and they do not put time or effort into their blog and updating it.    We have setup many customers with blogs as we are currently offering a FREE blog with any web design package, yet some are not taking the full advantage of updating it with useful content.

If you would like to learn more about Utah Web Design or setting up a blog for your business, please feel free to contact us for a FREE Proposal!

Best SEO WordPress Permalink Structure

When setting up a WordPress blog, one of the most important things you can do from the start is to choose the best permalink structure.  These are not only better for your users to make sense of them, but also for SEO.  What is a permalink?

Permalinks are what you see on a wordpress blog as the URL.    By default, WordPress blogs appear something like this:

www.example.com/blog/?p=23

What exactly is the ?p=23?  Yeah, well if you don’t know, then you can imagine that search engines do not either.  In order to rank higher and push your SEO to the top, you need to use what many call Pretty Permalinks.    A pretty permalink is basically a way to make your URL have rich keywords in their title.  For example, lets assume you are setting up a blog for a Party Supply Store.    Instead of www.partystore.com/blog/?p=23 you would have the URL as www.partystore.com/blog/best-balloons-for-birthdays.

When a Search Engine sees this they can spider it and see that you are talking about the best balloons for birthdays and not just a random number generated by the blog.

So how do you setup Pretty Permalinks within WordPress? There is tons of info out on the web, but here is a link that covers setting them up in detail.  http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks

One of the biggest problems people might have is that you need to setup your .htaccess file to be writable so you can make this change within WordPress.   Once that is done, you can modify the Permalink Structure.  To find the setting within WordPress, just go to Settings, Permalinks.    Note: If you have a blog that has been setup and running for a while, you will need to make sure you install a WordPress Plugin as in Redirection.

What is the best Permalink Structure for SEO? Well to be honest, I have researched this one for about 1 week straight and the conclusion is:  There is not really a consensus on it, but many people state either solely using /%postname%/ or using the /%category%/ %postname%/.

The reason people state simply  %postname% is that it is keyword rich and shows those words closer in the title.    The reason many state  /%category%/ %postname%/ is because many times your category has those rich keywords.  I think a lot of it depends on things as in how many categories you usually apply to one post as it only takes one.

After deliberating for about 1 week, I choose / %postname%/.   Why?  It gets right to the point with what you are talking about and puts those keywords up nicely in the front of the URL.  However, maybe one of the biggest reasons is, this appears to be what all the SEO Guru blogs are doing.

Here are some of the top SEO blogs that use the / %postname%/ this permalink structure:

Matt Cutts – http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

Yoast – http://yoast.com/blog/

SEOmoz.org – http://www.seomoz.org/

BlueHatSeo.com – http://bluehatseo.com/

Here are some of the top SEO blogs using the /%category%/ %postname%/ structure:

Grey Wolf – http://www.wolf-howl.com/

SeoPedia.org – http://seopedia.org/

One thing I noted on the solely / %postname%/ structure is that WordPress has a warning about using this structure, http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks#Using_only_.25postname.25.

This is further explained in this blog post, http://dougal.gunters.org/blog/2009/02/04/efficient-wordpress-permalinks

They would recommend that you use a number to start your permalink structure as in with the %post_id% or %year% as this way WordPress itself can find the entry faster.  This threw a wrench in the whole decision for me, but to be honest, I had to finally come to the reasoning that if Matt Cutts blog and SEOmoz can survive this currently, my blogs would be able to and by the time I reach their status, there might be a fix for that anyways.

Anyways, in a nutshell, one thing that is 100% conclusive is that, when it comes to pretty permalinks vs. ugly permalinks, always go with Pretty Permalinks.

In conlcusion, what is not 100% sure yet is the best Permalink structure, however it appears that possibly the most popular is the / %postname%/ and second would probably be /%category%/ %postname%/.

I would love to hear what others out there think on this?

Happy Blogging!  :-)

Economic downturn – Utah Web Design Special!

I get asked constantly, how is Webnovate doing with this economy?  Well to be honest, we have not seen much of an downturn.  In fact the websites we have been doing are for very smart companies that realize that a web presence and good SEO and Internet Marketing is a vital aspect of their business, especially with this economy.   One of the best things you can do with a bad economy is look for cost-effective marketing and dollar for dollar, SEO and SEM is the best solution out there!

We are offering a Economic Stimulus Special! Any web design package, includes a FREE  Blog and FREE Reports. We realize that times are tough for small businesses and in order to ease the downturn in the Economy, we are doing these services for FREE with any web design package.

One of the best things you can do to improve your SEO rankings is to blog.  The more content you have, the better and a blog is the perfect vehicle to accomplish this.  With a FREE Blog, you will see an increase in your search engine rankings, which is exactly what you need in this economic downturn.

With our Free Reports, you can keep track of what is working on your website and fix those things that might not be working.  For example, if you run a special and want to track how well it is doing, you can see how many people are hitting that web page and thus measure how successful your marketing of that Special is.

If you would like to learn more about our Economic Stimulus Special – Please fill out our form online or call us at 1.877.722.5387.

Website Credibility – 10 Tips

As a Utah Web Design company that specializes in small business web development, we are privileged to interact with lots of small business owners. These owners have often worked extremely hard for years to build a business up from nothing. The owners have learned through experience what works and what does not. I am often amazed by owners who are willing to risk their business’s reputation with a poorly designed website.

Internet business has really only one important gateway to success, its credibility. Everyone has been told of horror stories of being ripped off on the web; unscrupulous businesses taking advantage of unsuspecting victims via the web. It’s a tale that is told over and over. Because of these tales online customers are wary.

On the web there is no credibility gray area. You are either credible to buy from or you are not. If you are not credible customers will spend their money elsewhere. Credibility drives sales.

Stanford Website Credibility Research lists 10 items that are critical to your websites credibility.

1. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).

I am often amazed at what small business owners unfamiliar with web marketing are willing to put on their site. A small business site needs to be professionally designed. Professional graphic designers know how to build a brand and credibility through properly using art and design. By properly using design, a website is able to convey a professional and trustworthy image. Professional photography is also a very important part of your image. Photographers know how to capture the best in your products. They will light the products appropriately and use angles that are flattering to your product.

We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. The visual design should match the site’s purpose. A good graphic designer can cater the design to your sites purpose.

Colors, fonts, type sizes all convey a message a good graphic designer will know how to use these to enhance your business not drive your customers away.

I cannot emphasize this enough… Don’t skimp on the design and photography. It is money well spent.

2. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.

You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support through citations, references, source material for information you present. Providing links to material and websites builds your products and your websites credibility. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material. It shows proof and builds confidence. People love testimonials.

3. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.

Customers want to be reassured that there is a real human being behind the website. Showing that there is a legitimate group behind your website is easy by listing your address, photos of the building and employees. It builds a human side to your website.

4. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.

What expertise is on your team? Are your contributors or service providers’ authorities? Be sure to give their credentials on your website. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association. People want to buy products from knowledgeable people.

5. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.

It is extremely important to show there are real people behind the site and in your organization. Websites can find ways to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies. Listing their membership number in the Better Business Bureau is another method to prove that you are trustworthy. All of these steps build credibility.

6. Make it easy to contact you.

Buyers want to be able to communicate with the seller. They often have questions. Good communication leads to more sales. In addition it adds credibility. Criminals and those who might rip you off don’t want you to communicate with them. They are trying to hide. Legitimate business will always list contact information like phone numbers, email addresses/contact forms and mailing address.

7. Make your site easy to use — and useful.

Many clients believe if you build it they will come. This is not really the case. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology. Creating a dazzling website with the latest technology or extreme resolutions can actually kill a site. There are standards that are common. Webnovate is very familiar with the current standards and trends.

If a website is easy to use it will out perform any site that is difficult or trouble some. Web visitors want easy navigation as well as easy shopping and check out. Amazon.com is an example of this being very well executed.

8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently).

Web surfers like fresh content just like they like fresh fruit. They want a freshness date. Content that doesn’t get updated shows several weaknesses. One weakness is that it promotes the image of the business doesn’t care about its own business. If they really cared they would update their prices, products and other website information. The second is that the web was designed to share data in real time with updates. People expect updates. By showing off a copyright for the site that it’s a year or more behind leaves people wondering if you are even still in business. Again it’s all about gaining credibility for your site.

10. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).

I advise not having ads on your site. Selling other companies and products is not why you spent time and money developing your business site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, it is annoying users and causes you to lose credibility.

Content and writing style should be clear, direct and sincere. What you say and what you don’t say are important to building credibility. Content should go from short and brief and get more detailed as you click down through content.

Avoid errors as much as possible. Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running.

Remember credibility is the difference between getting the sales opportunity or having your hard earned web visitor click out immediately without giving your company a chance.

Techniques to Instill Website Credibility

  • Contact Information
  • Display Privacy Policy
  • Display Familiar Logos
  • Professional Web Design
  • Display Professional Photos

Your website is most likely your greatest asset to show the credibility of your business and by following these tips you can improve your website image and overall your business image.

If you are interested in a new website or ideas to help your existing website become more credible, please contact us by filling out our online RFP or calling us at 1.877.722.5381 – Extension 1.

Webnovate – Company Blog

This is the new official blog of Webnovate, a Utah Web Design firm that specializes in web design, SEO, and SEM.  We have years of experience and customer satisfaction is our #1 Priority! We also provide services as in web hosting, blog setup and customization, and much more.

Our old blog is over at www.webnovate.net as we are starting this one from scratch because we were able to finally purchase the .com domain!