Denver SEO Blog: Web Development, SEO & Marketing

Yahoo’s “Search Assist” tool is a hoot. Search for “Denver Mobile SEO“. go ahead, I dare you. Now, I’m thinking Yahoo knows me a little better than I’d like. Is this behavioral targeting? Profiling? Something even more sinister? Or is it just that Mobile SEO always goes better when plenty of chocolate is at hand.

Now look through the related queries for “Chocolate“. Go ahead - I’ll wait. It appears many of us are writing about chocolate and writing about mobile seo in the same places. I’m going to bet more people are writing about chocoalte, and I don’t blame them:

Mobile SEO is the (sometimes thankless) task of making sure websites look good on all sorts of mobile devices, including handhelds, cell phones, zunes, and the new ipod touch(which is probably a “no brainer”). Few mobile seo simulators are available online, which means field testing. And then page tweaking. It can be a time consuming and arduous task. It’s best accompanied with plenty of chocolate.

Tags: denver web development, website design, search engine optimization, denver web design, seo, website development

It takes many different web development / programming skill sets for a successful internet marketing project. For any website to be successful on the web, it requires a combination of stunning web design, usability, web conversion, bulletproof web development, search engine optimization, and project management. A failure at any of these points can destroy the potential of any internet marketing project. The roles each require very specialized skills:

Web Design
Web designers are popping up everywhere these days, but it is still very hard to find website designers who have stunning artistic and layout skills and just enough web knowledge to make it all work. Implementing some designs on the web can be impossible. It’s important to have a web designer who understands the limits and potential of each web technology. Web designers must also know enough CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to create web friendly designs that will look great in any web browser.

Usability
Usability is very important to any website. Web site visitors must be able to understand the navigate the site. Most usability professionals are not great designers, but have a knack at understanding human behavior and expectations on web sites. Having a site that is highly usable encourages repeat visits - or “stickiness”.

Conversion
Web site conversion is a very important consideration: How do YOU want visitors to use the site? Web site visitors should be eased and encouraged to follow a “desired action” on your website. The action might be to purchase a product, send an email, sign up for a newsletter, or even pickup the phone. Having a great website is still pointless if it does not drive sales, lead capture, or some other desired action.

Web Development
Web developers are programmers. They create programs that allow interaction with human visitors, like shopping carts, RSS Feeds, image uploading and more. Web development requires a tremendous skill set that is always in need of expansion and updating. Web development languages like PHP, Perl, Flash Actionscript, and the many Java technologies require constant upkeep and training as they develop.

Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is a set of guidelines, technologies and procedures for ranking well in search engines. The first step is determining which keywords can drive quality traffic to the website. What are prospective visitors searching for? Search engine optimization (SEO) specialists research keywords and optimize the pages to show how relevant the site is to visiting search engines. SEO Specialists are skilled at showing the natural relevance of pages and securing better search rankings. Since many search engines also weigh the amount and quality of links to a website, SEO firms will often create and request links from other websites.

Social Media Optimization
With the creation of social media websites like myspace, digg, facebook and friendster, websites have an opportunity to capture amazing amounts of targeted web visitors. With millions of searches starting on myspace, it has become an important opportunity for certain niches. There is a social media website for nearly every niche, however. Finding the correct niche full of prospective buyers can drive tremendous amounts of sales.

Project Management
Project management allows all of the other skill sets to shine. By communicating between clients and the other roles, the project manager helps balance the many roles in the project with the client’s needs. They also serve as the point of contact for many the many questions and deadlines involved in the project.

In sum, any great web development project requires a diverse skill set. A balance between the roles is equally important, never sacrificing usability for design, or design for search engine optimization.

Tags: denver web design, seo, denver web development, website development, website design, search engine optimization

Mobile Search Optimization has been a bit of a buzzword this last twelve months. Web sites have long ignored the cellphone-based web surfer, but lately there has been much interest. There may be huge opportunities for websites optimized for cellphones, PDAs, toasters, and all of the other crazy devices visitors might be using to surf the web. More and more consumers are requiring email and even web access on their cellphones. Initiatives are merging local search, coupons, and even GPS. Mobile search optimization surely is the next huge possibility for traffic. Is your website ready?

It may not matter. With Apple’s impending introduction of the iPhone, everything may change. Again. Consider:

1. There will be a whole new set of expectations for how a phone should browse. With the iPod, Apple defined the niche. Competitors were weighed against Apple’s offering. With the introduction of full-featured browsing via the iPhone, consumers are about to demand more from their phones. They won’t demand a better mobile experience. They are demanding the full desktop experience in a mobile phone.

2. Who would visit a .mobi site, when the full featured experience of a .com is available? In most cases, I would be too lazy to attempt a .mobi surf - since I KNOW the .com is available. We all just want to get our data and get on our way. Only hobbyist surfers would want to go check out the .mobi sites. Who wants to look at a dumbed-down webpage?

Was mobile search optimization a waste of time? Having a few major companies optimize their websites for cellphones probably didn’t make much of a blip on the radar. It’s hard to say what the ROI was for their efforts, but it was likely more of a bet for the future. What do you think - Is mobile search optimization worthwhile for your company or clients?

Tags: denver web development, website development, website design, search engine optimization, seo, denver web design

Successful web design projects require a tremendous amount of planning, and planning starts with asking the right questions. Any web design benefits from extra planning, but 4 questions should define the entire project from the start:

1. Who is my target audience?
Too many websites try to be all things to all people. Instead, think of your most important visitors and design according to their tastes. They may or may not appreciate animation. They may be on dialup connections or they may be visiting the site via a cell phone. Knowing your website’s target audience is vital to the project, even before a web site design has been created.

2. What do I want them to do?
If the purpose of your website is to get prospective customers to call, be sure your phone number is prominently displayed. A link to the “Contact Us” page should also be prominently displayed. Other websites may want to capture email addresses or newsletter signups. Ecommerce websites want to make a sale. Whatever the objective, make it as easy as possible for your customers.

3. How will they get to my site?
With competition among websites growing daily, it’s important to plan how you will increase the visibility of your website. Will you blog? Or participate in forums? You might even use pay-per-click advertising on Google AdWords. There are many ways to bring targeted visitors to your website, but they won’t come just because you’ve launched a new website design. Plan ahead, and watch your website bring you new business!

4. How can I measure the project’s success?
Many smaller website owners do not measure their web site metrics or statistics. Without an idea of traffic patterns and popular keywords, it is difficult to tell if a new web site design is effective. Are web site visitors converting to leads? Is the web site generating sales? Only by measuring can you know for sure.

Tags: website development, seo, website design, search engine optimization, denver web development, denver web design

After the launch of any web design project, stakeholders and web design firms might sit back proudly and call it done. There are, however, a few things that should be cared for after the big launch.

1. Check 404 error logs
Be sure to check your logs after you launch that new site.
A. Missing pages
You wouldn’t move without forwarding your mail, would you? Don’t forget to forward your important (former) page locations, either! Instead of showing the (hopefully customized) 404 error page, make sure you 301 redirect that page to the appropriate new location. You’re not only saving your visitors a click, but you might just preserve the pagerank(and trustrank) Google has given that page.

B. Images
Were important images being shown on other websites? Perhaps your logo is being shown on a partner’s website. Of course they shouldn’t link directly to images on your site like that. But they did. And if the logo is now missing, it isn’t going to get visitors to click through to your site! You may also have traffic from Google’s image search or other sources. Make sure you know what happens to that traffic when images are suddenly missing.

2. Announce the site launch to vendors and customers
A website launch is an excellent reason to get in touch with old and new partners, vendors and customers. Contact them via email, email newsletter, or a direct mail piece. Who knows - you may have a product they didn’t know you offered!

3. Make adjustments
Luckily, changes can always be made after a website launch. Is something working? Not working? You can always fix it on the web. Everything web is measurable. Measure and adjust.

These steps will help any website design launch go more smoothly. Remember - it isn’t over after the big launch. Sometimes a little more work is needed to put the professional touch on that site.

Looking for a more organized approach to your next web design or redesign project? We HIGHLY recommend Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works.

Tags: denver web development, website development, denver web design, seo, website design, search engine optimization

1. Frames
Frames were rarely done in a search-friendly manner. In the age of cellphone browsers and section 508 compliance, frames must go.

2. IE 5 Mac hacks
Internet Explorer was a miserable little browser on every OS it ran on, but was particularly miserable on the Mac. It required CSS hacks that other browsers tripped over. Some standards it - inexplicably - did not support. Even on MacOSX, it sucked.

3. Splash pages
These pieces of eyecandy were frequently skipped by visitors, and even more frequently cursed under their breath. Known to be slow-loading and pointless, it is nice to see them used less often.

4. Microsoft Frontpage Extensions
These buggy little replacements for scripting would break if you looked at them funny, and gave years of frustration to unix admins. Even Microsoft is turning it’s back on the Frontpage product, and not a day too soon.

5. Popup and Popunder windows
There are still sites that tout the effectiveness of popups and popunders, but let’s face it: We all hate them. Every good browser tries to block them, but every once in a while you’ll see one. They are the junkmail of web browsing, and it’s time for them to go far, far away.

6. Animated layers that block content on page load
There are few things as annoying as a layer that suddenly slides over to block content you are reading. They usually make users dismiss the ad to read page content.

I’ve gotten so that I dismiss anything that slides over, not even taking the time to read the ad.

The web will be a better place when these web design techniques are no longer seen. Have others? Add a comment and let us know!

Tags: seo, website development, denver web development, search engine optimization, website design, denver web design

Website visitors have never been more impatient, and I’m the worst. Just today, I was looking up the lyrics to a song. I clicked on the site in #1 position(Like 90% of the rest of the world), but it was too slow. Before I even left the Google SERPS (Search Engine Result Pages), I clicked on the link in position 2. I’m going to bet I’m not the only impatient soul looking for lyrics… or even more important things(as if!).

Lucky, mother Google(our gentle overlord) is paying attention. One of the items mentioned in seomoz’s reent survey of perceived ranking factors is the availability of the server hosting a site. In this case lyricbarn, or whatever they were called, lost a visitor and a potential adsense click or two(Ads are fun to click).

Web Designers - Yeah, you - Reduce your page load times and keep visitors!

Tags: seo, denver web development, search engine optimization, denver web design, website development, website design

Forms can be quite annoying to users. We have all had to fill out “The Form From Hell” at one point or another. Often they are created with no regard to usability whatsoever. The form is sometimes a direct reflection of the organization of a backend database, and human needs are not taken into acount.

There is a great article on sitepoint today titled Checklist for Usability Forms. Based on our own experience with forms, here are a few items that probably seem like no-brainers, but I would also like to see the web’s programmers take into account:

1. Never erase user-entered data
Sometimes a form will have a required field that we humans miss at the first go. “Oh, my title was required?!” I enter “King of the world”, but then discover my credit card details need to be entered again. Who knows what will be missing if I mess that up? If the form is on a secure server, even credit card information can be kept between page requests.

2. If the form requires JavaScript, let the user know
Although users are surfing with JavaScript turned on most of the time, there is nothing worse than finding a form you just filled in requires JavaScript to actually be submitted. Sometimes I’m testing pages with JavaScript turned off, and I’d appreciate the warning when it’s needed. After I fill out a form and see the submit going nowhere, I usually check my JavaScript settings. Then I refresh the page, and all of my precious data entry is gone! My tired and worn fingers just look up at me and sigh as we start filling in fields again.
3. Autofill wherever possible
When a user has to type in their billing address, web designers should also offer a box to copy all information to the “shipping address” field, or it should automatically be filled in. Intelligent web form design should mean users are never required to enter the same information twice. Unless lives are at stake, our web forms can usually make the correct guess.

4. Make it easy for users to find their country in a list
When 99.9% of site visitors are from the United States, it is not impolite to list the United States at the top of the list, and even have it preselected. Yes, I said it - preselected. Rarely is it appropriate to have Afghanistan as the first option(or the option that has already been selected). I cannot tell you how many sites still think I’m located in the “United States minor islands” due to my lack of apparent skill with a mouse.

In most cases, we web developers can even sense the visitor’s country of origin by looking at their IP Address. Why not preselect the country of origin accordingly?

5. Set the tab order of form fields when necessary
Most forms do not require this step, but be sure to tab through the form in various browsers. In most cases, you won’t find anything strange. But that one percent is what testing is for, isn’t it?

Please feel free to comment with additional tips. I didn’t see a way to add tips to the original article, but we can certainly add them here. We’ve all encountered the poorly designed web form. Tell us about it - we won’t think you’re crazy. Let it out: You’re among friends.

Tags: denver web design, website development, website design, seo, denver web development, search engine optimization

This post is for server geeks. Everyone else should flee. Here we are talking about the underlying codes that every server sends along with html of a web site design when a page is requested from your website.

There are really only a few httpd server codes that should ever be sent on purpose:

1. Code 200 OK

This status code tells browsers (and the googlebot) that everything is a-okay. The content sent with the code appears to be just what was requested. Code 200 says “Yes, I have that content right here. This is the right location for requesting it, and I’m sending it to you now.”

2. Code 301 (A redirect)

A status code 301 tells the googlebot that content has moved. There isn’t a penalty applied to 301 redirects in the search engines, which makes it ideal for:
- Redirecting traffic to the www version of your domain (to solve possible duplicate content issues)
- Redirecting traffic from old or broken URLs

3. Code 404

A status code 404 tells visiting search engine spiders like the googlebot that the content is missing. After receiving a 404 error after several visits, most search engines will remove the page from their listings.

These are the HTTP status codes that should be sent to the server in most cases. Other status codes - like the dread 302 redirect - will usually only cause problems. One site we recently analyzed sent these codes when the hompage was requested:
302 (Redirected to another page)
404 (Missing. The page they were redirected to was missing!)
Then the HTML of the homepage was returned as the 404 error page. What a wild ride for the Googlebot!

Curious about what codes are being returned by your server? Try our new SEO Diagnostic tool, currently in beta.

Tags: search engine optimization, website design, denver web design, website development, seo, denver web development

With the ever increasing impatience of internet visitors, it is important that pages load as fast as possible. Here are some quick tips we implement when developing websites to keep the page size to a minimum:

1. CSS and Javascript should be in external files. This way, they are cached after the first page is visited.

2. For large images that cannot be optimized any further, load a placeholder and update it with the full version after the page has loaded.

3. Get faster hosting.

4. Use CSS instead of tables for layout.

5. Be a minimalist. Do you really need a sound on the home page? Are animations really needed to convey your message?

Tags: website design, search engine optimization, seo, website development