Kessler Associates

There are many ways to obtain a website, some use web based programs such as Windows Live Spaces or that of a hosting provider such as Go-Daddy’s Web Site Tonight. These are template based programs that appear as such and perform very poorly across Internet performance. Web based template programs usually do not allow access to the code which is necessary for implementing Search Engine Optimization. Most appear cheesy and do not justify the site owner and when visited by most are frowned upon due to lack of quality and appearance.

Another method is to pay an online service to also use templates such as the Do It Yourself website at Web.com formerly WebsitePros.com. Even a lot of what the use in their custom websites is template based and is limited in what you can and can’t do as well as accessing script to implement search engine optimization.

I have seen a few sites like this perform rather well in the past, however, things change and in today’s internet you must comply with the expectations of the search engines to compete. Flash sites have been out for a long time. Landing Splash Pages are out as well. Text content rules and you must create enough eye candy for your visitors to get visual interaction without sacrificing load time or performance.

Low Ranking Website’s below a PageRank of 5, which is the majority of all websites, must be in compliance as much as possible to perform in lieu of low PageRank. My primary web site has a page rank of 2 and at times 3, however, I perform well in my industry because my site is W3C and Search Engine compliant with a grade of 91. What this shows is that a small website well designed and maintained can compete with large websites with PageRanks above 5. PageRank is simply Popularity measured by quality linking.

The point here being, hire a freelance webmaster, you will get more bang for your buck. You can consider high school and college students and put them on payroll a few hours each week or you can find one on the internet. The concern should be using an individual and not a company. A company with employees means you won’t get the focus and attention you deserve and you will get less bang for your buck. You don’t need to be paying everyone’s salary, just the one designing and maintaining your website.

A good designer works hard and endures many hours of tedious work designing and maintaining a quality website. This work should be rewarded and the choice of webmaster should be someone reputable and trustworthy. The right website and designer will help you prosper and reduce marketing costs.

For More on Website Designs from a Web Site Designer Designing Websites in The Woodlands, Spring, Conroe and North Houston area visit Kessler Associates.

For More on Website Maintenance Programs, how to properly maintain websites or maintaining your web site visit Kessler-Associates.com.

With the growing trend of Mobile Technology and Mobile America’s appetite, you may want to offer a mobile version of your web site. Mobile Devices have a hard time navigating standard web pages and doing simple tasks like finding your contact information can be challenging.

If you are a local service provider, you should give consideration to a mobile friendly site, check out Google’s Mobile Friendly Local Search: http://www.google.com/m/local

The mobile websites design should use appropriate scripting, be limited to specific content and focus on contact and revisiting from a standard PC. Fast, User Friendly Environment.

Check Out Kessler-Associates.mobi and WoodlandsContractors.mobi from any mobile device and compare to the master domains Kessler-Associates.com and WoodlandsContractors.com.

AboutUs.org – Is not only a free directory, it is also a great oportunity to share yourself, your services, products and website with the world. Even if you are concerned about local trafic and not global, it offers quality linking and popularity which will help you compete locally.

There is a catch, you should revisit every now and then to insure someone hasn’t edited your listing to have content that is not true or you do not approve of. Personally, I have not had a bad experience with unjust editing.

Microsoft Live Office – is used by a few to obtain a free website, however, it does not perform well at all using the standard interface to develop a website with the intent to achive competitive internet presence. But, it gave me an idea, you can use it to make a virtual business card and reference your site appropriately. This would in turn increase both your number of links to your site as well as your main sites popularity.

My Example: Click Here!

It doesn’t take long to do, it doesn’t need to be pretty, it just needs to be functional. Serach engine robots can’t see and if you make it user friendly and functional, any visitors that stumble upon it will find your main website.

While Alexia.com is used by the big guys (and gals) that perform in the top 100,000 websites with thousands of links to them, the little guys can benefit to. It is certainly worth while to update your contact information and linking.

Search for your site: YourDomain.com

Click On “Get Traffic Stats for” yourdomain.com

It will probrably not have any information available, we are small fish. Click On “Self-service tools“.

Update and verify your information and your done with this one.

ZoomInfo.com: For Now, you can only ask to be contacted when they allow adding businesses again. Click on the “Add New Company” link at the bottom of the page and fill out the form. This way they will email you when they start taking new companies.

In The Meantime, setup a personal profile and list links to your website where ever possible, make them count, this is a great quality link to your website.

Bing.com, is the new thing. Much the same as it’s predecessors, it is equally important to maintain a listing here. Chances are you are not listed. A sponsored listing from YellowPages does not constitute being listed. Use the link I provided to claim and verify your listing and as with all listing insure the information is accurate and meaningful.

This listing will take a while to follow up because the only verification method is mailing a postcard, so be patient and Look for the Postcard, don’t throw it away. Validate your listing when your PIN arrives and this will be behind you and you will have added one more valuable link improving your Internet presence and websites ability to perform.

Yahoo Local Business Directory is much the same as Google. Also a valuable
FREE inbound link to your domain (website).

It is important at least once to “Claim your business” and insure the contact
details are accurate and the description is fruitful and packed with Key Words.
Insure that your Domain Address (website url) looks like this:
http://www.yourdomain.com and not like this http://yourdomain.com.

 You may consider adding these places to your “My Favorites” so you can
return later as well as writing down your login and password. You will be a lot
of places if you plan on strategic marketing, keeping track of things is
important.

You might consider soliciting reviews, both for Google and Yahoo. Several to
start off and then every now and then when you receive a positive email, ask the
sender to share it in a review. This will keep things fresh and updated on your
listing.

Google Maps is Probably the single most important inbound link you can
create for your internet presence for free. Just because you might find you are
listed, does not imply it is optimized to help you perform.

Insure you have “Claimed Your Business Listing”

Review the listing for accuracy and complete details. Make sure the contact
information is correct and use Key Words when ever possible. Review a competitor
or two before updating, be sure you have a plan for categories for your listing
as well as an answer to affilliations, products and services.

Insure your domain (Website) is listed like this: http://www.yourdomain.com

Not Like This: http://yourdomain.com

Your Description is Limited to About 200 Characters, make it count. Use
meaningful keywords. Look at the difference in the following two examples and
see how the second is packed full of keywords.

Acceptable Examples: We are a professional website design
and maintenance service provider in the Houston and Woodlands area in Texas. We
deliver hign quality website design and maintenance services.

Better Example: Website Designs & Maintenance, Webmaster
Designing Web Sites, Webmistress The Woodlands, Texas. Design Host Maintain
Webs, Domain Names & Registration

Choose as many categories that are “Appropriate” to your business, do not
choose questionable or categories that are not related. This can hamper your
performance.

Add photos that may help show off you, your products or services.

Add a video if you have one.

Add Additional Details, Use Keywords.

Verify by mail or phone and you are done. You can follow up and make updates
at any time. If you have more than one address, do the same for ALL addresses.
This helps localized searching. A Spring address won’t perform well in The
Woodlands and vise versa.

The Open Project Directory is the Largest Free User Eddited Directory on the Internet and the Site URL is DMOZ.org. Originally named from the relationship with Directory Mozilla. It is not easy to get listed and you must be patient, it can take several weeks.

To Submit Your Website: Click Here!

Follow these directions carefully, they will not communicate with you advising the status of your request. If you do it wrong, you may have to try again in a few months. It takes a few weeks for them to process, so all you can do is check back from time to time to see if you are listed. Don’t drop the ball, this is a free and valuable link to your domain.