Explore Studios

Even people who are relatively unfamiliar with the Internet are familiar with the basics of a domain name. Domain names are a defining aspect of websites, so much that many people refer to sites by their domain names. Despite their surface simplicity, there’s actually a lot more going on with domain names than what most people are familiar with.

Every web design company domain name consists of three or more parts: the subdomain, the actual name, and the suffix. The most common subdomain is the ubiquitous “www” which stands for “World Wide Web.” However, it’s possible for sites to have multiple subdomains in addition to, or in place of the standard “www”. The suffix is what’s at the end of the domain name. Most commonly, this is .com, but it can be a number of other things such as .org, .net, or .info. Many countries also have their own suffixes.

The name is quite simply a name chosen by the site’s owner. Most people choose the name of their business or site as their domain name, but this isn’t always the case. For instance, if someone wanted to create a site called Bob’s Corner, they might end up with the domain name “www.bobscorner.com.”

In truth, the domain name is only shorthand. A number, not a name, denotes the place where your site is located on the Internet. The number is called an IP address. Once you’ve settled on a host for your site, the host will point your domain name toward an IP address that they provide, and voila, your website makes its debut.

While catering to your site to search engines is important to a degree, it’s important never to sacrifice the user’s experience just to increase your search engine ranking. Some companies, such as Ecommerce Web Design New York, understand this. Fortunately, the search engines also realize this, and take precautions to prevent this sort of behavior. There are a number of shady techniques that can be used to divert traffic, but engaging in them will often result in having your site removed from the rankings altogether.

One such negative technique is known as “cloaking.” Cloaking is when your site displays one set of information to the user, but another to the search engines. Usually, people attempt to hijack popular keywords to redirect people to their site. This results in users mistakenly being directed to a site that they weren’t searching for. One way that cloaking is performed is by putting invisible text or links on a site – the search engines can read these, but users don’t see them.

Another bad practice is to create multiple sites using duplicate content. This can create a situation where a user searches for something, only to find multiple results with the exact same information. This is problematic when none of those several, copied sites provides the information that they need.

The golden rule to consider when instituting any new tactic on a site is to ask yourself, “Will this help the user?” If the answer is no, and you’re just doing it to reap more search engine traffic, you should rethink the idea.

Javascript is a useful tool for many webmasters, allowing them to create applets that can perform a wide variety of different functions. Javascript is a fairly advanced technique, however, and isn’t recommended for beginners who don’t have programming experience. It is based in part on the high level programming language known as Java. You should be fully proficient in more basic web design tools such as HTML and CSS before thinking about learning Javascript. Whenever you try to find a web designer, make sure they have an excellent knowledge of Javascript.

The first thing that you need to do before adding some Javascript is prepare the browser to read the script. This is done by using the script tag, the basic form is as follows:

<script type=”text/javascript>

This lets the browser know to expect some Javascript code. Without this, it would try to interpret the code as HTML and nothing useful would happen. Of course, once the script is done, you must close the tag with </script>.

Once you’ve initialized the script, you need to run some commands. There are hundreds of different Javascript commands with a wide variety of different functions. The simplest example is a simple script that writes some text on the page. The command to do this is as follows:

document.write(“Enter your text here!”);

Technically, this is known as calling a method. In this case, you’re calling the method “write” of the object “document,” which results in whatever text you like being written to the document in question – in this case a web page. That’s the most basic functionality of Javascript. Taking the time to learn the script fully will provide you with many powerful tools.

As a web design company, one of your many jobs is to construct a site that will be indexed and properly ranked by search engines. Optimally, you want that ranking high, so you can get as much traffic to your site as possible. Fortunately, the search engines are pretty clear about what’s needed for them to find, catalog, and rate your site. Below are some common guidelines that you should be sure to follow.

Use text links whenever possible. Since search engine spiders cannot read text embedded in images, links in image form are difficult for them to navigate. They can still be followed, but the spider won’t know where it’s leading, and thus can’t properly evaluate its relevance. The same goes for important keywords - use raw text rather than images.

Build a site map. Not only does this make it easy for users to see everything that they might find on your site, it also makes it easy for the spiders to navigate. If your site is especially large, you may need to spread the site map across multiple pages so it can be easily followed.

Limit the number of links per page. A page with more than 100 links on it looks fishy to the search engines. If you really need that many links around your site, spread them out across multiple pages.

Provide good content. This one ought to go without saying, but providing relevant and useful content is the best way to get your site ranked high.

The core idea behind link building is to get other sites linking to yours in order to build search engine relevance. It’s a simple enough idea, but to get the most effect out of link building requires significant nuance and knowledge that many people overlook. As SEO Company India is well aware, one of these little gems of link building know-how is the anchor text.

Anchor text is the proper name of the actual text that a user clicks on to link to your site. Traditionally, it’s the text that is underlined, although some sites just have it written in different colors to indicate a link. It’s a fairly subtle thing, but actually a vital part of link building. The anchor text tells search engines what the site is about, so you should do aim to make the anchor text reflect the top keywords for your site.

While having an affiliate link to your site with your company name as the anchor text is acceptable, it’s far better to have it reference what your site is about. For instance, if you run a site called “Bob’s Lighting” that sells custom light fixtures, it’s optimal if the anchor text is something related to custom light fixtures – not Bob’s Lighting. You should having anchor text like “click here” whenever possible, as it doesn’t tell the search engines anything.

If you’re building a network of link sharing partner sites, then it’s a good idea to change up the anchor text every now and again. No one keyword can cover everything your site has to offer, so you should use different keyword phrases on different sites.

Designing a web page is only half the battle. You also have to find a place to host your website for all the world to see. Unfortunately, it’s not always feasible to host a large-scale website from a home computer. If any significant number of people were visiting your site, it would require more bandwidth than most home connections provide. That’s why you need to find a good web host for you site.

It is possible to host a website from your home, but it requires expensive equipment. It also requires that your service provider allows you the bandwidth to host high volumes of traffic. On top of all that, you’d have to learn how to set up the web server yourself, as well as set up firewalls and other protections to keep your server safe. Also, if you want to ensure your site is up all day everyday, then you have to watch it yourself.

For all those reasons, the vast majority of Webmasters find a web hosting service that meets their needs. When you contract a web hosting service, you are paying them to use their network server infrastructure, and also to provide support for your site. That means that the only time you need to worry about your site is when you’re updating it.

Before choosing a web hosting service, it’s important to know what you need. Some services have bandwidth caps, and depending on the type of site you run, this can be an issue. You also want to make sure that the host you choose can offer useful bonuses such as tracking statistics. You also need to know whether your need dedicated hosting or shared hosting. With dedicated hosting the entire server is yours to use, but with shared hosting you will share the server resources with possibly hundreds of other users. Finally, if your site uses certain technologies, such as PHP, you’ll want to confirm that the host’s server is compatible with them.

Structure of a Website

The structure of the web site must be both logical and natural for visitors to your site and “crawlers” of search engines (these are programs that scan your site and collect information about them, which help your site in the process of insertion in search engines.)

Imagine the structure of the site as a bookstore. Let’s say “Adventures” is the theme of Book store. Books are divided by subject (artistic, scientific, fantastic…). Topics of Books are the main pages of your site. The subjects themselves are also grouped into themes of Adventures. Now imagine the books are not grouped thematically and what if than someone wants to find a particular book. Difficult task!

The structure of the web site is exactly as arranged bookstore. We can divide this process in three levels. The structure of the site begins at Home, which will call Level 1. Home page has links to (5-15) pages of Level 2 - these are the mains in your topic. Each page of Level 2 has links to 5-10 pages of Level 3. Only pages of Level 2 are available from the menu on the site and pages from Level 3 are available through links at Level 2.

By creating such a structure site, you make access to its content easy and logical. Visitors to your site will find this structure very easy and fast way to reach the specific topic they want.

Tips for good structure of web site:

1. Creating a site is a process and not the case for one night. Take your time, do a few options. Create pages in a natural way, I mean naturally lead readers from page to page. Search engines do not like many new pages suddenly because this like spam and this is generally done by the normal conduct of a person who writes articles or have auto content scripts. Make it clear that the more natural is the structure of your site, the more love you get by search engines.

2. The structure of your site is an investment in the future and we’ll be operated repeatedly.

3. The structure of the site is linked to the behavior of people. If they find any easy searching and if they walk around the site page after page, it’s good for you (especially if visitors to the site have installed Google toolbar, which monitor their behavior). The longer people are on your site, the more likely there is to spend money on them - to make the sale, to click on your ads.

4. Good structure of the site may help you more quickly to get links to your site because link builders quickly will see a site that may be useful for their audience.

These are some important tips that everyone must follow, not only for the better rankings but also for attracting visitors. Remember “First impression is last impression”.

Sitemaps: Why it’s a good thing having such resource on your website?

Have you ever wondered how a search engine works? It must be fascinating figuring out how this search tool could direct you to several websites that are relevant to your keywords. Or, have you experienced instances where the link that supposedly contains your keywords is not exactly what you have in mind? You would probably think that there must be something wrong with the search engine that it generated irrelevant results.

How does a search engine work?

Two things figure greatly in making search engines work effectively and efficiently: the electronic search spider and the sitemap.

What is a sitemap?

A sitemap is basically a page or pages that serve/s as a directory by listing all the links to all documents and files found in a website. It is not merely a random listing of links, but organized in such a way that it gives the web user an idea of how all the information that can be found in the site fits into an outline or framework. It is like viewing the table of contents of a book, or viewing the “concept map” of the site’s content.

What is a spider?

In SEO language,this electronic search spider is actually a bot which collects data and copies content to be stored in the search engine’s database when keywords are fed into the search dialogue box. The spider reads the content of the site and sends another bot to follow the links and copy the content contained in them.

What purpose does a sitemap serve?

A sitemap like any other map gives directions to a navigator. It primarily targets search engine spiders so that they are properly directed to your site and to the links where keywords entered in the search dialogue appears.  As such, it is actually a useful tool in search engine optimization. A well organized site map would guide the spider to find the information it needs when keywords are entered during a search operation.

As an additional beneficial consequence, sitemaps have proven to be useful even to web users. Since a sitemap displays all the links to information found in a website, it helps the user to search for a particular topic in mind. Many users also use the sitemap to navigate between pages in a site.

What are the benefits of having a sitemap for my website?

1.    No page would be left unturned

Going back to the purpose of sitemaps, having one would mean faster and easier tracking and crawling of spiders all over your site. As a result, search engines would surely get to the view all the pages of your site and not just the pages containing random keywords.

2.    Easier navigation for site visitors

Once a web user has accessed your sitemap, they need not go back to the search engine page to look for what they need. If what they are looking for is in your site, then they would have an easier and faster way of locating it.

3.    Potential advertising value

If it so happens that a relevant product or service company reaches your site, then it would be easier for them to see how best they can position themselves in the different pages of your site as a paid page advertisement.

4.    Encourage greater traffic to your site

If your company website has a sitemap then potential buyers would have an easier time in accessing your latest products and services. Moreover, they would not miss out on any product that might be off future interest to them since the sitemap would display all information found the site.

How are sitemaps formatted?

There are at least three major types of sitemaps: indexed, full categorical, and restricted categorical. An indexed site map appears as an alphabetical listing or directory.
A full categorical map displays all links classified into categories; while a restricted categorical sitemap displays all links listed in a chosen category at a time. The full and restricted sitemaps are very similar except that the former displays all links in all categories all at once in a page, while the latter focuses only the links under the selected category for easier and less eye-straining viewing.

The most widely used format is the full categorical. Based on the results of a 1999 SURL study on sitemap designs, the full categorical format is most preferred by users since it is easier to search for topics within the site and it allows easier comparison between and among categories.

Some tips in setting up your sitemap

1.    Link the sitemap only to your homepage.

This is to ensure that the spider starts searching from your homepage down to all the pages listed in your sitemap. In this way, no page would be left unvisited by the spider.

2.    Do not go beyond 30 pages for a sitemap.

Large websites having 50 or more pages should not go beyond 30 since this adds more pages to the site, and might make search engines think that the sitemap is a link farm. Also, this prevents overcrowding of links which could be tiring to view.

3.    Check all the links listed in your sitemap.

It can be discouraging when you click on a link only to find out that nothing is displayed. Test your sitemap; click all links in every page to make sure that all links are indeed linked to the right page.

4.    Give keyword-rich titles to sitemap links.

Keyword-rich titles give your site more advantage in being searched properly under the right category. But be sure to have this sitemap link linked back to the sitemap (e.g. back to sitemap).

5.    Provide a short description for the links in the sitemap.

Doing so would give readers a better idea of what to find in the link and save them time on surfing.

6.    Be consistent in designing your sitemap with the other pages of the site.

Employ a recurring design and the same HTML template for all pages to establish identity and build character to your website.

Now that you have learned basic things about sitemaps, maybe it is time for you to build one for your site.

3 Must have features for your website

1. Just don’t focus on the home page, keywords and titles.

The first step to sales when customers visit your site to see the products they were looking for. Of course, search engine optimization and better rankings can’t keep your customer on your site or make them buy. The customer having visited your site, now ensure that he gets interested in your products or services and stays around. Motivate him to buy the product by providing clear and unambiguous information. Thus if you happen to sell more than one product or service, provide all necessary information about this, may be by keeping the  information at a different page. By providing suitable and easily visible links, the customer can navigate to these pages and get the details.

2. Understanding Your Target Customer

If you design a website you think will attract clients, but you don’t really know who your customers are and what they want to buy, it is unlikely you make much money. Website business is an extension or replacement for a standard storefront. You can send email to your existing clients and ask them to complete a survey or even while they are browsing on your website. Ask them about their choices. Why do they like your products? Do you discount prices or offer coupons? Are your prices consistently lower than others? Is your shipping price cheaper? Do you respond faster to client questions? Are your product descriptions better? Your return policies and guarantees better than your competitor’s? To know your customer you can check credit card records or ask your customer to complete a simple contact form with name, address, age, gender, etc. when they purchase a product.

3. Does your website give enough contact information?

When you sell from a website, your customer can buy your products 24 hrs a day and also your customers may be from other states that are thousands of miles away. Always provide contact information, preferably on every page of your website, complete with mailing address, telephone number and an email address that reaches you. People may need to contact you about sales, general information or technical problems on your site. Also have your email forwarded to another email address if you do not check your website mailbox often. When customer wants to buy online provide enough options like credit card, PayPal or other online payment service.

Time and time again we see all warps of life getting excited about the PR Update and there is always the lead up excitement about 2 weeks before it happens, weather some people are physic or just get the feeling its happening soon im not sure, i know its “suppose” to be scheduled thing but we all know Google have been mixing and matching when they do their updates for the past year or so. Well as of today (26th July 08) Google have pressed that button once again, this time around i think it reflects better on what PR should actually be after Googles over generous update last time.  Personally my main sites stayed the same with some good inner pr increases and some of the smaller sites took a drop in n PR which to be honest i couldnt give a rats arse about.

The Big hitters like DP still remain PR7 which i feel is deserved although there traffic in the last month has seriously taken a hit (not sure why)

Qdoos Webmaster Forum was a little bit of a surprise and stayed the same PR3 which i would have expected to get a PR5 at least.

Other sites of my interest was Joomla Xtreme that still remains a PR6 after the past 6 updates.

Leave a comment and let me know how you done in the updates, Successful or not ?

On the up side although PR has dropped SERPs have risen on my sites so over all im very happy.