Back in the May 2008, I wrote a post that analyzed what the best screen resolution size was for designing a website.  I thought it would be a good idea to see how screen resolutions have changed in a year and a half.  You can see the results from 2008, along with updated statistics from late 2009. May 2008 Results Websites Analyzed: 6 Total Visits: 185,637 Date Range: January, 2008 – May, 2008Resolution Visits %1024 x 768 82,351 44.36%1280 x 1024 29,989 16.51%1280 x 800 28,790 15.51%800 x 600 10,858 5.85%1440 x 900 10,242 5.52%Other 23,407 12.61%January 2010 Results Websites...

In April 2008, Google announced that page load time would effect your ad quality score for Pay Per Click ads.  They stated the main reason for implementing this factor was to give the user a better experience and to be able to serve web content faster.  In further efforts, Google released a great resource for helping webmasters  to increase their sites loading time.  This resource is packed with helpful articles, tools, best practices and discussions that talk all about how you can improve your sites performance. With all of these measures Google has taken to promote site performance, leads...

There was a great meetup I attended a few weeks ago to discuss web usability.  Ashley Berman Hale and Phil Buckley were the organizers who presented some helpful usability tips. Here are the notes of the Meetup: Usability: On the Web & On Your SiteUsability is “Task Oriented” and should enable momentum so users can complete tasks Allow search capabilities so a user can expand or refine their search Users need to understand where they are.  Use breadcrumbs, multi-tier navigation and good cross-linking.Applicable ExamplesShow price: Don’t wait until it goes into a cart...

Driving people to your website is only half the battle. Once you get them there, how do you lead them to where you want them to go on your site? Having a well designed website will help give your users a great experience, find what they are looking for and be more inclined to lead to a conversion.Here are some helpful design tips to keep in mind when developing your site.Well Thought-out NavigationIt’s pretty standard to have a top navigation or horizontal navigation or both, depending on how deep your site is. Whichever navigation you decide on, make sure that you have categorized...

Create a Visually Pleasing Design: Capture your audience by having a professional looking design. Use a color scheme that flows naturally and is not harsh on the eyes. Use appealing icons, buttons, calls to actions, and graphics to help draw the audience to important parts of your site.Create a User Friendly Site Structure: Create a consistent layout throughout the site. Always have your main navigation, secondary navigation, content, and graphics laid out in a similar manner throughout the site so that your users are not searching for what they are looking for. Take the time to create a...

When we talk about website usability we talk about the overall experience you give the user. That includes the overall design, navigation, content layout, calls to actions, accessibility and functionality of your site. I want to give you some tips on each of these points that will help your users stay on your site longer, stay engaged, absorb more content, and improve your conversions. DesignOverall, you want to have a clean, clear, and consistent design. You don’t want to have a website that looks cluttered and unorganized. For someone visiting your site for the first time, they want...

Probably the most important part of Search Engine Optimization is making sure that your website is search engine friendly. When I say search engine friendly, I mean that when search engines “crawl” your site, they are able to read all of the content, links, and pages within your site. Big NoNo’s for Search EnginesUsing Flash, Images, JavaScript, Videos, Audio, and other non-text material is virtually invisible to search engines. If you have a site that is completely made up of these components you will have a very hard time getting indexed in search engines because they cannot...

Part 1: Search Engine Friendly Site StructureNoNo’s for Search Engines Using a Text Navigation Creating Static Pages Descriptive URL’s Internal Linking StructurePart 2: Keyword ResearchInitial Keyword List  Analytics Data  Keyword Research Tool Analyze Your Master Keyword List Test In PPC Implementing Those KeywordsPart 3: Website UsabilityInitial Keyword List  Design Navigation Functionality Content Layout Call To ActionPart 4: Content OptimizationTypes of Content Optimizing Your Content Keyword Density Anchor TextPart 5: Link BuildingAnalyzing Links Finding...

A Cookie is a pretty easy concept to understand. It is simply a tracking code that is stored on the user’s computer for a determined amount of time to track their ID session, navigation, and preferences. Where is can be a bit confusing is when you talk about the different types of cookies. There are two different types of cookies, dependent on what type of website sets them. I wanted to give you an in-depth definition of what a cookie is and the pros and cons associated with each.Definition of a Cookie? Information created by a Web server and stored on a user’s computer. Some web...

I am writing this post in regards to a recent article I read on HubSpot. Mike Volpe’s lists 7 reasons why marketing can’t trust the Webmaster with SEO. I agree with all 7 reasons but I feel the view from the Webmasters eyes needs to be known as well. I have been a web developer for the past 6 years and just recently have started working with an in house SEO specialist. It took a good amount of time for us to work out an efficient process. Allow me explain. In the development world we are more concerned with design, functionality and structure. As Mike points out, “The Webmaster...