Open Source vs Proprietary CMS (Content Management Systems)?
With the popularity of open source content management systems (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla andd Drupal over the past few years, development costs have dropped dramatically for customers who desire a website that they can easily edit and manage themselves without programming skills. It seems that the glory days of the proprietary CMS are not as profitable as they once were, which is good news for everyone.
A proprietary CMS is a database driven, content management system website that the website owner can login to and make changes. Yahoo Store, many automotive dealer and real estate websites are a good example of this. A good CMS is easy for the novice to use and offers all the flexibility they need. The problem with a proprietary CMS is that development costs and monthly fees are much higher than an open source solution. Features may be outdated or a company may be slow to add the latest, greatest functionality (ie. “bells & whistles”). Even small changes to a proprietary CMS can be quite costly or require you to sign up for a “maintenance contract” or require a minimum hours of project work before the company will even begin to assist you. Many people who often find this out later feel locked into something that is costly and inflexible. Unfortunately, they have invested thousands of dollars and if they are not satisfied with their proprietary CMS, they lose everything when they discontinue services and must start again from scratch.
On the other hand, open source content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla and Drupal (and many others) are free to download and upgrade costing you only the development costs. Because they are open source code, you have the advantage of backing up and saving your website database and files. If you’re not happy with your web design company or they should go out of business, etc. you can simply take your database and files to another company. You cannot do this with a proprietary CMS so if you don’t use it…you lose it. Another advantage to the open source CMS is constant development and new widgets or features that are often free, very low cost and take only minutes to install. A fraction of the cost that a company offering a proprietary CMS would charge. These are the reasons that Alpine Web Media works with the open source CMS model.
To be fair, the companies who offer proprietary CMS’ will say that open source solutions are more vulnerable to viruses and hackers. Like any other popular software, that is true. However, nothing on the web is 100% safe from hackers, not even a proprietary CMS. There are a number of debates on the web about “open source vs. proprietary CMS” and it’s easy to see that the “proprietary” crowd are fighting to retain their high profits and 100% control over their customer’s websites. Their primary argument is that their systems are safer from hackers. If your open source CMS is developed properly with the correct file permission, strong passwords, file backups and vigilant updates, you really don’t have much to worry about, proprietary or not.
A number of large corporations and government organizations utilize open source content management systems. For instance, the White House website is based on Drupal. I think open source is a pretty safe bet and certainly far more flexible and cost efficient. Ultimately, the decision is up to you and your budget.
Turning Lead (ColdFusion) into Gold (WordPress)
If anyone out there has any thoughts or ideas about how to import ColdFusion coded pages into a WordPress template page, I’d really like to know. Can it be done or is it impossible? The more I have researched it, the more I am beginning to think it would be easier to find Noah’s Ark.
I did find a post here that provides a roundabout inkling that it may be possible to integrate the two technologies, but there is nothing forthcoming or any new ideas posted to the website. I have contacted several of the top ColdFusion experts about this but even they are not sure because they’re not attuned to the WordPress coding side of things. So, if anyone has any ideas, please let me know so I can either keep digging around or put this beast to rest once and for all.
Social Media and Why You Should be Using it
Social media is here to stay and even though many of us are a bit reluctant to jump into it, it is very clear that your website growth and success, hinges on the proper utilization of social media.
From Website Magazine:
Technologies change so rapidly that they create the need for new ideas and improved strategies virtually overnight. You may be tired of hearing about social media, for instance, and you hardly consider it a new development. But if you employ the same social strategies in 2012 as you did in 2010, and fail to account for the changes coming in the next year, your business will suffer the consequences. To ensure that your website stays ahead of this trend, direct your focus on providing continually fresh and useful content that matters in real time — content that addresses the current needs of your audience. There is no better way to achieve this than by engaging with your customers on social networks.
Create and distribute helpful blog posts and informational videos on which users can comment and share with one another, and invite them to write reviews about your products, services and business. Build an application or optimize your website to ensure that users can access your business on their mobile devices and get the information they need right away.
To monitor the engagement, explore some real-time analytics solutions to determine how visitors are interacting with your site — while they are on-site. Optify provides just one of the solutions in this rapidly growing space, giving website owners instant analysis that allows them to immediately address the needs of their visitors.
The Accuracy of Google Analytics…or not
Usually one of the first things a new client will ask me about is adding Google Analytics tracking to their website. There seems to be a lot of hype about Google Analytics which doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best website statistics program to use. It’s free, so like anything else, you get what you pay for. As a matter of fact, I compared Google Analytics results head to head with the actual web server statistics from one of my client’s websites and the sever logs reported twice the amount of visitors than what Google served up. So what gives? An excerpt from an article below explains in a bit more detail:
From a mathematician’s perspective it’s not that good at all. All professional web analysts know that Google Analytics significantly underestimates traffic in the overwhelming majority of cases. Anyone who has ever compared the stats from their web server with the stats from Google Analytics knows that the two sets of numbers rarely match up.
There are several reasons why, but the most significant factor is that the GA tracking code only fires if the person loading the page has Javascript enabled. That means that search engine crawlers and other automated web crawlers don’t get picked up, which is great- for the most part, web analytics is only concerned with the activities of real people- but it also means that anyone browsing with Javascript disabled will be completely invisible.
After my own research into this, I have come to the conclusion that although Google Analytics is still a useful tool, I would not rely on it entirely for accuracy. I would, as always, tend to believe my actual website server log statistics first. Any good web hosting company will provide access to your website server statistics so why not play it safe and compare your actual server statistics with what Google provides?
What Google has to say about all those SEO “Experts”
It seems like every day, our company which is a web design agency and offers it’s own SEO services gets calls and e-mails from so-called search engine optimization experts offering to “improve your SEO and get you a top page ranking in Google, blah, blah, blah“. Our customers are also bombarded by this junk but unfortunately most of them are unaware that most of these SEO experts are scammers (or at the very least spammers). Most of the offending companies originate from India, totally ignoring the United States “no call list” laws and regulations. However, some companies are right here in the USA and call and email their shady offerings too. I find it particularly hilarious, and apparently Google does too as you will see below, that they do not “research” your website at all. You’re simply receiving automated spam messages, designed to trick you into believing that they actually evaluated your website, which they clearly have not done.
The following is what Google itself had to say about all of the above. SEO isn’t all that difficult. Google provides a great SEO document here that explains the core process.
While SEOs can provide clients with valuable services, some unethical SEOs have given the industry a black eye through their overly aggressive marketing efforts and their attempts to manipulate search engine results in unfair ways. Practices that violate our guidelines may result in a negative adjustment of your site’s presence in Google, or even the removal of your site from our index. Here are some things to consider:
- Be wary of SEO firms and web consultants or agencies that send you email out of the blue.Amazingly, we get these spam emails too:
“Dear google.com,
I visited your website and noticed that you are not listed in most of the major search engines and directories…”Reserve the same skepticism for unsolicited email about search engines as you do for “burn fat at night” diet pills or requests to help transfer funds from deposed dictators.
- No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.
Alpine Web Media for Mobile Devices
We have just added new functionality to the Alpine Web Media, LLC. blog especially for viewing on mobile devices such as the iPhone. Now you can view all of our posts in an easy to read list format with your mobile device, so check it out!
Why File Names Are Important and How to Name them Correctly
Most non-web professionals do not know how to name computer file names correctly. This is probably the biggest bane of “do it yourself” websites because sloppily named files are the number one cause of images not displaying or pages not coming up properly.
When you create a web page or image, you need to save that page as a file within your file system. And for that you need a properly constructed name. While you can name your file nearly anything you choose, there are some rules that do apply to ensure that the page or image displays correctly in the most situations.
Do not use any spaces in your file names
Most operating systems can handle documents with spaces in the file name without a problem, but that is definitely not a good idea for Web page documents. The problem is that when a web address is displayed it is usually shown with an underline. Vistors to your web page may interpret a space as being the underscore character instead, and will not be able to get to your page.
Do not use special characters
For safest results you should only use the letters a-z, A-Z, the numbers 0-9, hyphens (-), underscores (_) and periods (.). Any other character could cause problems, resulting in the file not loading or the page loading incorrectly.
Other tips for naming files
Keep the file names as short as possible for your own convenience and your web visitors too.
Use all lower case to keep things easy. It’s ok to use upper case to help distinguish files such as autosNissan.jpg, etc.
Develop a convention for naming your image files and get organized. This will help you to easily identify your images and web pages. For instance apple001.jpg, apple001a.jpg, etc. could be an easy way to identify images of different types of apples and their sizes or variations.
The end of the file names are important too
When you save a web page the most common choices are .htm or .html. Eitther choice is fine and will dsiplay properly. Other dynamically generated web pages will use file extensions such as .php, .asp, .jsp but for the web novice these will probably not be a concern.
When naming images, the file name extensions are VERY important. An image ending in .jpg should be used for photographs, .gif for illustrations like cartoon graphics or logos (without shading variations). A newcomer in recent years is the .png file which most browsers can now display properly. Under no circumstances should you use .psd or .tif files in web pages as they willl take forever to load and in most cases will prompt the visitor to save the file rather than allowing them to display it.
One final word on photos, especially related to digital camera images
You MUST reduce them to web sizes before adding the photos to a web page and uploading them. Web standards for images are only 72 dpi, which means the images will look good and load quickly. Digital cameras can take and save photos by default in 360 dpi, 720 and much higher. These will load up quickly on your home computer but will take forever on the web. Download a free graphics utility such as Picasa to properly resize your images before uploading to your web page.
Article Writing for SEO a Waste of Time?
Ever since the web first became commercially viable, there have been a ton of companies advertising top rankings in the search engines. Most of these snake oil claims are backed up with quick solutions that seem to good to0 be true and are utter nonsense.
SEO is the buzzword of the past few years. It supposedly means “search engine optimization”, which is really nothing new. Professional web designers have included SEO when building proper websites since day one. I prefer to refer to SEO as “someone else’s opportunity” as there are a huge number of people out their continuing to make outrageous claims and overnight solutions.
This video below resonates well with all of us who are true web professionals. The man in the video is clearly frustrated by the stupidity and nonsense that the general public fall victim to every day, that also tarnishes our profession. If you’re ready for a dose of reality, enjoy the video below.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Free E-Mail Accounts Like GMail, Yahoo or Hotmail, etc.
First let me start out by saying that there is nothing wrong with using free e-mail accounts. In fact they are terrific for many reasons and I have several accounts myself that I find very useful. Like anything else, used properly, free e-mail accounts are highly recommended.
On the other hand…
If you already have a registered domain name for your business you should definitely be using e-mail accounts from your own domain web hosting account such as info@yourbusiness.com. Why? Because in the first place, it promotes a positive image of your company and profession. When you think about it doesn’t info@microsoft.com seem much more professional than bill.gates@yahoo.com? Absolutely.
Forwarding Domain E-mails to Free Accounts
Here’s another thing that many people do that is unprofessional and can cause problems. They have a domain, set up and email account and proudly announce their contact e-mail as info@yourbusiness.com. But then they have those e-mails forwarded to a free e-mail address such as mrsbusybody@gmail.com, for their own convenience. When they reply to an e-mail, the person who contacts them gets a response from mrsbusybody@gmail.com instead of info@yourbusiness.com. They are probably thinking who is mrsbusybody@gmail.com and why is she sending me an e-mail? Off it goes, unread, to the junk e-mail or spam box.
Which also brings up the possibility that the person receiving your email may have spam filters set to reject e-mails as spam from free e-mail account providers. Do you really want to take the chance that your e-mails are getting filtered out as spam just because it’s easier for you to forward everything to your Gmail or Yahoo account? For anyone conducting a business, this is a lazy and surefire way to annoy your customers. Worse yet it may give them the impression that you never answered their e-mail inquiries, when in fact you did but your reply went unseen to their spam folder.
Sometimes forwarded e-mails are actually weeded out by the free e-mail account provider. In some cases, you will not even receive the forwarded e-mails due to errors on behalf of GMail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc. Many companies such as AOL, Comcast, etc. that provide free e-mail addresses with their services DO NOT ALLOW e-mail forwarding from another account. If something goes wrong, don’t blame your web hosting company where info@yourbusiness.com is hosted. Nine times out of ten, the problem lies with your free e-mail provider. Good luck calling Google or Yahoo and asking them to look into the issue.
Bottom line is why would anyone want to deal with this entire situation at all when you have your own domain name and e-mail accounts? Simply use your webmail (most hosting accounts have webmail access) or configure MS Outlook or other e-mail programs on your computer to retrieve your e-mails automatically. Save yourself a lot of potential headaches in addition to providing a more professional, business like appearance with your e-mails. Use the free e-mail accounts for things like signing up for promotions, etc. to keep the spam and junk mail out of your business e-mail account.
And finally, here is the best reason for using your domain e-mail account – advertising.
If you use a free e-mail account on your website, business cards, print and other ads, what happens if your free e-mail provider switches names, etc.? For instance when Adelphia was purchased by Comcast, everyone who was using johndoe@adelphia.net had to pay a lot of money for new business cards and other changes. At that point, wouldn’t you realize that instead of changing to johndoe@comcast.net, wouldn’t it make more sense to use johndoe@yourcompany.com? As long as your domain name is paid up, you’d never have to worry about changing the e-mail address again. Simple enough?
How to Avoid Being Banned by Search Engines
Search engines will ban web sites that try to improve their rankings artificially, so it’s important not to do anything accidentally that even hints at trying to fool them. Use the checklist below to help you avoid any misunderstandings between your web site and the search engines.
Cloaking is for Romulans not Websites!
Cloaking is an artificial technique that malicious users employ to deliver to search engines content that’s not delivered to web site visitors. Some web sites try to trick search engines by delivering specific content that only the search engines will see.
Avoid Using “Doorway” Pages
Doorway pages, are web pages or domain names that are stuffed with keyphrases and submitted to search engines. Usually no meaningful content, just high value keywords meant to lure visitors into a website that may have no such relevant content. Search engines hate these tactics and so do visitors.
Stuffing is for Thanksgiving not your Website
Make sure your web site’s most important keywords are in every description, but don’t stuff too many keywords into it! Directory editors don’t like descriptions that basically read like a list of keywords.
SEO Takes Work
When it comes to optimizing your web site for search engines, there is no one single, magic solution. It takes time and patience to achieve high rankings, but you can work to boost your search engine rankings by following tips from SEO industry experts, using the checklists above, and remaining diligent about optimizing and promoting your web site. Don’t use artificial techniques.