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Running
Searchles Around Web 2.0
Dumbfind.com founder Chris Seline isn't above making up silly words to promote
his new products. Seline dumbfound
that "searchiness" was appropriate for his "searchiest search engine," and recently
launched a search/social bookmarking hybrid he calls "Searchles."
Microsoft
Protects Your Privacy?
Microsoft is offering Windows users a "private folder"-a password-protected storage
space that will make its home on your desktop. There are a few Faustian catches,
though, not the least of which is the requirement to run the Windows Genuine Advantage
program before installing Private Folder 1.0.
PodZinger,
TED, And Alex Laats
The TEDTalks series featuring talks by Al Gore, David Pogue, Tony Robbins, and
others at the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference can be searched for
words and phrases with the help of PodZinger's video search technology.
Yahoo!
Gets Trippy
Yahoo! continues to bank on social media and user-generated content as a means
to capture eyeballs as the company officially launched its Trip Planner service
today after months of beta testing. Part of the over all Yahoo! Travel service, Trip Planner allows users to create their own printable travel guide based on places they've been.
Nineteen
Rails Secrets To Web Development
Ruby on Rails has increased in popularity among web developers seeking a solid
framework for their applications, and some helpful hints can make it even better. A number of resources for the Ruby on Rails framework have arrived online since its debut.
Congdon
Replaced By English Accent
How will Rocketboom's Andrew Baron replace his vamoosing attractive, smart, witty,
and charming anchor Amanda Congdon? The space in front of the upside down map
of the world will be filled by an attractive, smart, witty, and charming anchorwoman
with a British accent. So, ha!
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WebProWorld
Development Discussion |
Changing Print Styles
using CSS
I have most of the CSS that I need to make this page print correctly, but there
are a couple of more things I would like to change. On the Website I want the
text to be the colour it is so that it fits in with the overall colour scheme,
but when someone prints something, I would like it to print in black, instead
of the blue.
Is Validation Important?
I've been briefly debating with Mike and Jabber (Notes on new design) about the
importance, or not, of valid HTML. I don't want to distract from the main thread
of that post but I do think the topic warrants further discussion and would like
to continue and get feedback here.
Relative or Absolute
Links?
I have always build pages with relative links but recently I've had to store some
pages in different folders making relative links a pain in the butt. So I was
wondering if using absolute links for menus...
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07.10.06
Webmaster Questions For CMS Developers
By StraightUpSearch
Before Oneupweb, I worked at an online children's store. One of my many duties
there (my desk was always covered in toys) was to manage our store's migration
to an entirely new e-commerce platform.
The first thing I had to do was select our new e-commerce provider. Simple, right?
Not quite. We're talking about a major investment. I embarked on a massive research
project that spanned almost an entire year, comparing solutions as I evaluated
everything from order fulfillment to inventory control to the subject at hand:
Content
Management Systems.
If you're considering migrating to a new CMS platform, here are some things you should keep in mind (or perhaps avoid at all costs - as your friendly SEO advisor, I'm begging you):
1. Will my web site have dynamic or static pages?
Many search engines have difficulty spidering dynamic pages where the URL is always changing, and some engines also won't index URLs that contain multiple dynamic characters, such as the "?" character.
2. Does your CMS attach session IDs to web site pages?
Session IDs create confusing URLs that are not only hard for search engines to follow, but can also lead to duplicate content issues.
3. Will every page on my web site be unique, or will content be duplicated
across different categories?
Be sure that your CMS uses a flexible category structure where if you need to include a page in more than one category, it doesn't create multiple copies of it (search engines don't like duplicate content).
4. Do you allow custom title, meta, and headline tags for each page?
Believe it or not, many CMS programs don't have this essential capability.
5. What can and can't I change on my own?
Be aware of how much flexibility you really have when it comes to adding or changing content. Can you create static pages at your leisure? What about adding or removing categories, or having full control over directory and file names?
6. What's the navigational structure like?
If your web site navigation is contained within Flash or Javascript, search engines won't be able to follow links to any of your internal site pages.
7. Will the site be written in frames or Flash?
Similar to #6, websites that use frames or are written 100% in Flash have a nasty side effect of being largely invisible to search engines, except in these cases it's not only the navigation - it's the entire site.
8. How "clean" are the pages?
Search engines like pages that are simple and easy to follow. Be sure that your CMS doesn't spew out bloated pages full of complicated scripts and style commands that eclipse your web site copy.
9. Could global updates overwrite individual page content?
We have seen some CMS platforms employ global updates with a nasty side effect of overwriting entire portions of a webpage (including actual on-page and meta copy).
10. Does any of this cost extra?
Many times a provider will say "sure, we can do that", but will fail to mention the added cost. I've seen it happen, so the moral is to leave no stone uncovered.
Of course, these above issues relate largely to SEO. Although I don't have time to go into other areas you'd want to consider, I can however offer two additional tips:
11. Document *everything*.
Make an exhaustive spreadsheet (and I mean exhaustive), listing what each solution needs to provide down to the most minute detail. Use this as a measuring stick against each and every platform you consider. You'll be adding to this every day.
12. Put it in the contract.
If you're not sure what is or isn't included with a service, never assume, even if you have a verbal agreement. Request it to be added to the contract in writing.
In the name of facilitating friendlier search engine design for websites everywhere,
I hope these brief tips have helped. Hang in there, and good luck!
About
the Author:
Oneupweb is the only two-time winner of the ClickZ award for "Best Search Engine Engine Marketing Firm". StraightUpSearch´s blog authors include experts from Oneupweb´s natural SEO, pay-per-click campaign management, research, marketing, design, and sales departments.
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