Tag: flash

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Search Friendly Website – Talking to Spiders

As appeared in the Presence Pointers column of the April 2008 issue of “Business Watch” magazine.

On the simplest level, a Web site visitor can be classified as human or spider. Of course human visitors are obvious and highly desirable as they are the only one of the two that can buy from us. Back in November of 2007, I talked about the importance of making sure your Web site met your human visitors’ needs in the article, It’s not about you.

But what about these spiders? Is your Web site about them, and how could it be if it is about your human visitors? Thankfully, your site is still about your human visitors, even when the spiders come crawling. While your message doesn’t need to change, we may need to change how it is delivered to get the most out of the message for both humans and spiders. Continue reading “Search Friendly Website – Talking to Spiders”

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Leap Onto the Web

As appeared in the Presence Pointers column of the February 2008 issue of “Business Watch” magazine.

If your business doesn’t have a website yet, then this month’s column is especially for you. And even if you do have a site, it may still be worth the read. If you’ve been holding out on making the leap to the web, well it’s time to move past that. Web access is available in more businesses and homes than ever, and thanks to smart phones like the BlackBerry and iPhone, people have access to the web 24/7, just about anywhere they are.

Let’s talk about this thing called “web design.” We’re going to bypass the do-it-yourself discussion. If you want to play around on your own with a hobby site or site for your family, great, but don’t jeopardize the image of your business while trying to learn web design — there’s much more to it than just understanding a little HTML code. Businesses will either have staff on hand or, more likely, will outsource the development of their site. It is very important to understand up front that graphic design and web design are extremely different things. Continue reading “Leap Onto the Web”

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Is Your Website Flash In the Pan?

As appeared in the Presence Pointers column of the August 2007 issue of “Business Watch” magazine.

Flash in the pan is a catchy saying that derived from a very literal meaning. It generally means “something or someone that disappoints or fails to deliver anything of value, even though its showy beginning promised otherwise.” Literally though, it referred to the firing of muskets, which had small “pans” that held the priming used to ignite the main firing charge, and the priming ignited but failed to ignite the main charge. So, you’d end up with a “flash” but no results… the musket didn’t fire.

So what does this have to do with your website? Well there is a very generic connection, but I have a very specific reference in mind. There is a technology called Flash®, which you have probably experienced online. It has many uses… delivering video or audio, site navigation, interactive banner ads, and even entire websites. Continue reading “Is Your Website Flash In the Pan?”