wizely

But surely SE-O is only for regional searches around London? It would depend on where your target audience is. I see regional spheres like NE-O if you're targeting Newcastle, SW-O for Plymouth etc.

I hate American spelling so the 's' rules. But if my client's site is targeting Americans guess what? I go 'z' crazy. It's what the audience wants not what we do. Of course there's nothing wrong with going round their houses one-by-one and beating them to death with a dictionary. Takes a lot of time for popular sites but well worth it if you can avoid being caught.

Amateurs all of you. Eight sides? My God... what do you hope to achieve with just 8 sides? Real SEO professionals use 90 sides, oh yes... 90 as any guru will tell you SEO in fact stands for "Single Effect Octacontagon". That's why true SEO gurus can actually fold space and time to pack all these sides in a two dimensional space. Only an idiot would try to make sites that were 90-sided. Learn to fold space and time first, then SEO is relatively simple from there... it's the foundation of the "Theory of Specific Relativity in SEO".

Something I've been asking folks for a long time... are you sure it's your client that's stupid? Read the following excellent article before you're so quick to wade in on that egotistical bandwagon and ask yourself honestly who really is being the stupid one - the client who might not know better or demand too much, or the designer who should know better or let's himself be taken advantage of. LINKY

Ooh... I don't come into this part of the forum which is no surprise given my following question! OK,so I have a copywriting client who's a nice fella and he's asked for advice on how to take credit cards on his site. Now I'm obviously not going to be doing any nasty design work but I'd like to be able to point him in the right direction as to what he might need... it'd be interesting for me to understand it too! Apologies if this has been answered before, I did read through several threads here, but am still confused. Right, so here's what he wants: 1. To take credit/ debit card payments! 2. For that to happen as seamlessly as possible 3. He's only got 3 or 4 products with some 'bolt on' options 4. An all-in-one solution that doesn't need a separate merchant account, too fiddly a set up or the need to store customer's credit card details. Seamless means preferably onsite, or if not, as unobtrusively and smooth as possible keeping under his branding. Wants something like 'buy now' buttons but with a little more ability to add options... no real need for a 'shopping basket' as such and definitely not a whole ecommerce site. He's not expecting free - he wants the best, simplest, smoothest and reliable. Does that make sense? Sorry if it's obvious and already been answered. Any guidance I can tell him about what he'd have to do to set it up (not technical details, rather plain English generalities) would also be muchly appreciated. I might even be able to talk him into getting one of you to implement it!

Good man and good advice... see, I knew you'd prove your inherent goodness.

Yes... thanks guys for that insightful opinion! How about some constructive suggestions, pointers or possible resources to help a beginner out? You are good people, now rise to it!

Right decision - for $1 each design would have to take you 2mins to make it worth it! Except maybe the England design.. considering the short life span of the product maybe that would only be worth a dollar!

There's another one then! Scott was having trouble the other day. I posted an image to show him I could and I see Lev has here for you. Give it another go... try with a small image you know should work and in the mean time I'll see if anyone more technically-minded than me (so pretty much anyone) can find out what the problem is.

I'll share the love and give Lev another +1 just for the "They don't whine comment"! Plus he just helped me by spotting a broken link on one of my sites so I'm giving back in my own way!

Shouldn't it have been the Nigerian lottery?! I think the problem you had was probably, because it's a tweetpic url the link doesn't pass the forum software's filters as the link isn't to an actual image file if you get me (it doesn't point to 'blah.com/blah.jpg' or whatever? Or maybe it's all the porn you usually post means you're blocked from uploading more smutty pics! Look, an image!:

Ah yes... brilliant! I believe that's the same toolbar where you'll find these buttons: 1. 'Calculate how much I should charge for this' 2. 'Auto keyword stuffifier' 3. 'Generate high bounce rates' 4. 'Copy latest trend' 5. 'Stuff the blind' I'm sure there are more...

I can't remember which button it is that creates it in Dreamweaver but I'm sure someone will be able to tell us.

So you're saying 'content matters'? Interesting... I might look into that!

Read that one... but didn't finish it - the pyramid should be 80% 'graphics' and, well, who cares about the rest?! And all those words? Couldn't get past that first image. When will these experts stop banging on about content being the most important aspect of a successful web strategy? Don't they read WDF?

Not say something if it's funny, despite the consequences. Keep plants/ pets safe and healthy. Care about anything Apple do.

The PayPal buying process is a major turn off... it majorly damages credibility - it's not how I expect to pay and the way it pops-up in a separate window with some random email address across the top. Do you see lots of abandonment at that stage? Another major factor is there's nothing selling on the site. Nothing draws me in and products just have a picture and their dimensions listed - there's no sales copy, nothing appealing to me, making me want the product or giving me a reason to buy. The design is way better than a lot of the osCommerce-based sites out there - the only thing that jumps out is the block of text on the home page could do with some styling tweaks to make it easier and more attractive to read (especially looking at the bolding - it looks a bit spammy). Change the buying system and get some sales copy written is my advice.

Think I spotted Kevin Rudd cruising the 'Looking to Hire' thread.

With the sentiment I really am, but unfortunately that's the way the world rolls. With regards to job postings I've no doubt the OP gets bombarded with responses so it's understandable if they can't respond individually. But it would be good if they let folks know they've successfully found someone (or at least one of us mods so we can close the thread). With 'normal' posts we do try to weed out the spam-and-run posts where the OP never had any intention of replying and is only trying to drop a link, but some will always get through as, let's face it, sometimes it's hard to tell with some of the things you lot post! Then there are always going to be the folks who, once they've got what they want, disappear into the ether until they need something again. Just keep being who you are and don't let the minority tarnish your view of the great folks you know you can depend on round here. PS. Sorry I was so long in getting back to you that time... I'm a bad man, a very bad man!

I've gotta say 'link-building' as most people seem to see it is not the best way to get a site high in the SERPS. Before anyone (especially those 'SEO gurus' who run link-building services) get outraged... I'm not saying getting links aren't vital, I'm saying running around submitting to ****ty directories that no one actually uses, blogs that no one actually read etc. is inefficient, less effective, prone to algorithm changes and does nothing else for the business. The BEST technique for appearing high in SERPS is promoting a site that has something visitors want to consume. Depending on the site it could be valuable/ entertaining/ unique content, functionality or service etc. And then of course having a site that works hard to convert those visitors. Target the right visitors in the right places at the right time with the right message and it's NOT a numbers game. Why chase more hits if your bounce rate is through the roof? It means you're not getting the right visitors or doing enough to convert them. Too many times 'link-building' is a sign of desperation, penny-pinching or mis-information. And by that I mean... if Charlie here came up with a killer concept, promoted it well and it went viral (and he will coz he's clever) then it will generate thousands more links than 'link-building' could AND create a buzz that builds brands like nothing else. Of course that's much harder to do and takes marketing/ advertising expertise. Which is why 'link-building' is much more prevalent and why Indian outsourcers don't spam me daily offering effective marketing, just "the providings of link buildings". Even without the good fortune of something going viral, the best method of getting customers and links is through having a good business in the first place, promoting it and ensuring the website converts visitors to customers. 'Social media', articles, blogs, forums... don't just drop a link - build a name for the business, build relationships, have conversations with potential punters... Sorry Charlie for turning this into 'Online business 101' - it's not directed at you guys, just time for my annual "God I hate SEO threads"! PS. I haven't used the term 'SEO' because marketing, promotion and quality content are NOT created by the process of SEO or for SEO. You can optimize certain things about these key ingredients but SEO isn't an ingredient in itself. Again I have to say you have to optimize something. And that's enough for another year - it's why I stay away from SEO threads!

The All Whites are the success story of the World Cup! In NZ there is only ONE professional football team and it plays in the Australian A-league seeing as the NZFC isn't exactly a professional league and has only 8 teams in it - no lower divisions, no relegation or promotion, just the 8 teams. Not bad that the All Whites have so far drawn both their games 1-1, and one of those was against the current world champions, Italy. And not bad for a team ranked 78th in the world! Go you All Whites!

Best thing to do is come up with some killer piece of 'link bait' (in the good sense of the term). By that I mean put that clever marketing cap on I know you've got hanging up on your hatstand and think of what would draw not only potential punters but also traffic/ links from other relevant places. Some kind of resource - don't know what market you're looking at but it could be anything from some kind of online tool that offers some useful functionality, a report/ data/ analysis that's usually hard to find or costs, an app or some cracking 'viralesque' type piece of content. Could a blog/ forum/ other community with a specific purpose be created - is there something potential punters want to talk about? Is there a community just begging to be formed? I don't know what the market is so can't be specific, but (and I always think this is the case) the best SEO results come from promotional activities not 'SEO' ones... that's organic. I know you know this! What I'm suggesting is thinking about the situation as a marketing problem not an 'SEO' one. Get it right and who says it's slow? If something catches on, goes viral then that's quicker than all the spammy link-building in the world.

Well, I have the much harder job of focusing entirely on those first steps! Actually figuring out what the site should do, who it targets, what it says and what the whole point of it is! I need to know all that before I can create the right structure, architecture, message and 'sales pitch'. The fundamental first step is cutting through the vague "I need a website" and any flouncy marketing spiel to get to the "what must the website do, how does it fit into your business' strategy and what are it's objectives". Most important is getting a clear understanding of who the best potential customers are, what turns them on, what are they looking for and how the business in question will make them happy bunnies. You need to know what will attract, engage and convert punters given what the client offers. That means understanding the client's business, it's products/ services, competitors, the marketplace, the brand... as well as how the site will fit in with marketing and promotion. I get the ball rolling with a questionnaire that I tailor to the individual client - it's designed as much to get a feel for the right tone of voice, expectations and understanding of their own business as it is to get specific facts. From there I'll go off and do some research to be able to come up with a proposed plan of attack. The research will uncover new questions to ask and, most of the time, it's a key point where I will help shape (or entirely define if the client doesn't have a good one) the site/ marketing/ branding strategy. The plan lays out a blueprint of the 'whats, hows and whys' of achieving what's needed. It's not a wireframe, there's no details of the copy or the site structure etc. - just the key objectives. From that things like tone-of-voice/ branding, structure and core messages evolve "on the fly" in the drafting stage. Too often this stage is skipped in a rush to create the answer before folks have nailed the question. That's not so critical in the design phase, but it's vital in creating the content. Much in the same way I guess it is for developers - until you've nailed the requirements and got a clear vision of what's needed it's no good starting programming? (Handy that I used to be a business analyst eh?!)

Ah... that's got it then! But I still think that because the guy can get freebies it's definitely a major contributing factor to why he can't see the value in it. It's a mistake a lot of small business' make (big ones too) - seeing something as a cost rather than an investment that will go on to generate more profit. Some folks just won't figure that out and do it again and again. You've tried to advise the right course... you can't save everyone! Ooh, an anecdote thread would be good... as long as it doesn't turn into a "Designers are God-like and all clients are stoopid" thread!

I didn't misinterpret a thing! I didn't say you said working for free was bad, just people expecting work for free. You're dumbfounded that people expect to get a lot of free work. I just pointed out the irony. When you did free work maybe there was a designer thinking "How come people expect designers to do so much free work?" when he/ she got an email saying "Actually I've found someone to do it for free"? It is ironic. I didn't mean it as a dig at you, it's just when there are plenty of 'designers' out there willing to devalue their own industry then it's not just a case of "those silly clients". I see the trolls that lurk around the looking to hire thread (which I wish didn't exist) throwing themselves at every job for peanuts. Folks usually like to bring in a plumber metaphor about now to describe how people wouldn't expect one to come out and fix your plumbing for free. But then I'm pretty sure if you put an ad out for "Plumber needed, no money, just kudos and practice" you wouldn't get a stampede of plumbers responding. I don't expect a plumber for free (in fact I expect and know they're expensive) because they just don't do it. In web design they do. That was all.