Sorry for the delay on this installment. Things got kinda busy after New Years… 
Last time around we established that META tags are how we add extra, non-essential information to web pages. This extra information is called metadata, and while it can be useful, adding metadata is to your web pages is not mandatory. All metadata does is supplement the necessary information contained in digital files.
When used on the Web, this extra information is sometimes used by the end-user’s web browser. Other times it will be used by search engines, and still other times it will be used by third-party programs. Let’s take a look at the kinds of META tags you can use, and how each kind is built. Continue reading →
I’m currently up to my eyeballs in a web development project that seems determines to act like the Blob – growing and growing with no end in sight – and while researching service providers of various sorts I came across an article that struck a nerve. Continue reading →
What would the New Year be without a new round of classes at Glendale Community College? As usual, I will be spending my weekends in Room 225 at the Garfield Campus teaching classes on everything from basic computer skills to various Microsoft Office applications.
For a full listing of classes I will be teaching, go to the GCC website. There you can view their online catalog, and even register for classes on everything from basic guitar to water coloring to golf and more!
Enjoy!
~B~
Posted in Misc, Teaching
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In my last post we took a look at some HTML source code and started exploring ways to optimize the HEAD content of your web pages. So far we’ve only looked at how to use the TITLE tag, but in this post I want to talk about META tags and what they really are.
META tags are the web’s version of metadata. If you’ve never heard of metadata before, don’t freak out. You have probably encountered metadata before but never had it explained to you what you were seeing. Continue reading →
We have entered the part of this series on search engine optimization where you need to have some basic knowledge of how web pages are built. I’m not foolish enough to expect that you will become an über scripter (meaning a person who lives to code and has no social skills), but I do expect you to be willing to do a little studying so you can understand the fundamentals. Continue reading →
This past year has been full of trials, tribulations, challenges, adventures, losses and victories. Like so much of life, it has been a mixed bag, which leaves me with a choice: As this year draws to a close, do I choose to see the glass as half empty or half full?
My current state is similar to that of so many people around the country, and my holiday season is being tempered by “real world” challenges, low cash reserves, and worry about the future. My credit debt is high. My savings are nearly gone. And I have no job security, which often makes me toss and turn at night, wondering if I will join the ranks of those losing their homes. Continue reading →
Posted in Misc, Opinion
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By now you’re probably sick to the teeth with background information. You want to “get your hands dirty” and start applying all this search engine optimization theory in your website. Fear not! If it’s dirt you want, it’s dirt you’re gonna get! Continue reading →
My last three posts on search engine optimization have dealt with gathering information about your customers or clients, their wants, needs and surfing habits. To help you understand why I keep emphasizing text, text and more text, let’s take a quick tour down memory lane for a short and sweet history of the World Wide Web. Continue reading →
The past two articles have talked about what you can do to figure out your customers’ needs based on your own knowledge and expertise. But there is another very important way that you can discover what your customers want: analyze your web server logs!
Web analytics is possibly the best-kept secret when it comes to e-commerce and online marketing. The term “web analytics” can be translated into English to mean the study of how people use your website. But I’m willing to bet that better than 90% of people who have a website know nothing about analyzing their web server logs, let alone why it matters. Continue reading →
Identifying the best key words and phrases for your website is a huge part of search engine optimization, and another area that is grossly misunderstood. If you’ve done the homework assignment given at the end of my last post, you have a good start on identifying the most important keywords for your business. The trick now is to distill those ten to fifteen questions into the core words and phrases that relate to you, your company, product(s) and/or service(s). Continue reading →
