Animated GIFs

This will not be animated in many email programs: Back when I started in web design, animated GIFs (pronounced like the peanut butter) were animation from the wrong side of the tracks. We often used them to give a client an idea of what a Flash animation would do. They were seldom used them in actual web work. Animated GIFs were viewed with disdain. They couldn’t do many of the things that Flash could do and were comparatively big in file size. But when Steve Jobs rang a serious blow to Flash (by not allowing it on any ’i’ device) with

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Shaking Hands

Customer Responsibility When Hiring a Contractor

Hiring a contractor to do anything for you, including creating a website, requires a partnership. Both sides have needs and expectations. It is the customer responsibility to be sure their expectations are clear. Contractors are not clairvoyants and can not know everything the customer may be thinking about inclusions, exclusions, and time-frames. Ask Questions and Do Your Research If you don’t understand something, JUST ASK. It’s not macho not to ask, just dumb. Contractors cannot know what your expectations or assumptions are. Good contractors will try to find out, but even so, they can’ know all that you are thinking. So,

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Know Your Limitations - Dirty Harry

Know Your Limitations

Continuing on with the things that create a better working relationship with any contractor, this week I cover Know Your Limitations and Read the Contract. You’ve got to know your limitations For each of us there are three resources: time, money and energy. Before starting a project it’s a good idea to evaluate how much you are comfortable spending and what you are capable of spending or investing of each. Basically, how much do you want to spend, and how much could you spend. The reason for this is that your wants may exceed your capabilities in one or more areas and

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What is Social Media Marketing?

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is creating, posting to and advertising on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and other social media. It works, too! Many business’ clients or customers weren’t always on social media, but much of that is changing. So where does this piece fit into your online marketing picture? If your customers or clients are on social media, start here after optimizing your website. First determine if it is a good fit for your business. If so, try it before you start full Search Engine Marketing. How do you know if Social Media Marketing is right for your company? Cyber-stalk some of your best clients and customers. Do

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What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

SEO is about what you do with the content and coding of the actual site. Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Marketing are about what you do outside of the site. Directory Listings First things first: register your site with the search directories. Many of the search directories will pick up your site eventually, but some will not. However, there are services that can register your site with many of the top search directories right away which speeds up the process. Registering with the top search directories is a good idea for all businesses regardless of how large their service or customer radius is.

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What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about what you do with the content and coding of the actual site. It means making a website optimal for the web bots, the little bits of code that go around and ‘read’ the web to index what is there. When there was one car repair service on the web, it was fairly easy for it to be found. The bots read ‘car repair’ on the website of our car repair place. When users searched for the keyword ‘car repair’, the bots directed web visitors to the one site. Then there were 1000 car repair places and the job for

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