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Can you help me understand all the jargon and acronyms? There are several good internet glossaries online, and it would be redundant for me to create one here. Please check out one of the following links, if you still have questions, email. How do I improve search engine placement? Search engines can be difficult to keep up with. They frequently change ranking criteria - and they generally respond very negatively to tricks and sneaky tactics designed to "cheat" their systems. Getting and maintaining good search engine placement can be a full time job. If you really want success, hire someone to work on search engine placement full-time. If you can't do that, outsource to one of the many firms specializing in search engine placement. Be careful if you choose this path - there are a lot of people out there who make promises they can't deliver on. If you lack the resources or interest in these options, you can always try it yourself. Click here for detailed help. What is a dynamic web page? A dynamic web page is one that is different (or at least can be) every time you access it. An example of a simple dynamic page is one that displays the words "Good Morning", "Good Afternoon", or "Good Evening", depending on the time registered on the host server. A more advanced dynamic page could get it's content from a database. For instance, a database might contain a list of products. A dynamic web page "talks" to the database to get the list of products. When the list changes, the web page changes. More information on dynamic pages driven by databases. What is a static web page? A static web page is one that only changes when the actual html or code of the page changes. The opposite of static page is dynamic page. What kind of web site do I need? This is a complex question that requires more than just a generic answer. The best way to answer this question, would be to work with a web consultant. You can call (503-253-5478) or email CBD for a free consultation (there is no obligation nor will there be pressure for you to purchase CBD services). What are the basic elements that should be included in every web site? With very few exceptions, all web sites need the following: a navigation system, contact information, and something to indicate the purpose of the site. If the site represents an organization with a logo, the logo should be displayed prominently on the site. Sites that have more than 10 pages, should also have a site index or site map. Larger sites should have a search function. If the site is selling something, it's not a bad idea to include some testimonials and/or a business history to try to gain the trust of visitors. Sales sites also MUST contain purchase and/or ordering information, and product information. Others features and functions will be necessary depending on the type of site. Call (503-253-5478) or email for advice (it's free). How often should I change the content of my site? As often as possible! You MUST give your visitors a reason to bookmark your site and return to it. Would you read the newspaper every day if the content never changed? Your previous design was more interesting, why did you change it? Despite a lot of positive feedback about the previous design for City Beautiful Design's web site, the site was not very rich in content. It contained only information on obtaining CBD's services. Such a site is not likely to drive a lot of traffic. It also became clear that my clients and associates would benefit from a one-stop source for information to help them with their own sites/work. So, I decided to go for a less "showy" and more useful site and design. I still like the old design, but it no longer served the goals of this site. What are spiders and robots? Spiders and robots are programs that scour the web indexing pages (usually for search engines). Spiders and robots (aka bots) index page after page by following links. How do I keep spiders and robots from indexing my site? There are certain pages that you don't want spiders and robots to access. An example of this would be intranet pages meant for internal use only. You can protect pages and directories by adding the pages/directories to a file called robots.txt and then uploading it to the root directory of your site. Click for more information. Adding the line: <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> to the <head> of your pages will protect them from some search engine robots and spiders. What is a database driven site? A database-driven site is one that gets its content from a database. A simple example might be a database that has a table of daily "facts". A database-driven page for such a table might have a line of code that tells the server to get the "fact" for the current date. The server retrieves the "fact of the day" and displays it on a web page. Database-driven sites are very easy to maintain. Instead of having to learn html or some web scripting language, a database-driven site requires only that you add, delete, or modify records in the database. Since the web pages get their content from the database, the content changes as the database changes. What is a search engine and how do I use one? A search engine is a program that uses an index of web site data to help browsers find sites with specific content. To use a search engine, you simply type in a word or words that best describe what you're looking for. Indiana University at South Bend has some helpful tips for searching the internet. |
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