Category: Web Design Tips

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Sharing Files

There is often a need to share files … easiest way is usually to just send an email. Many times, however, you may need to send multiple very large files. In these cases, you need a better solution … and a free one is the great!

Store Files in the Cloud - photo by fotosearch.com
Store Files in the Cloud

Google Drive.
If you have a google account, and most of us do, you can use Google Drive to share files. Just go to http://www.drive.google.com , login with your normal google login. Just need to share files? Click the upload button (the arrow pointing up on the left hand side), click Files, browse to the file to upload (hold down the ctrl key to pick multiple files), click on open. A new window will show up showing the upload is complete. If you want to share these files, immediately click on the share button next to your file. You will then get the link to share the file or, you can enter in email addresses of people you want to share it with. This email address should be in their Google account.

Want to use Google Drive to store important files? You can do that too. Download the software to your PC, follow the instructions and you can have files on your computer synched to your Google Drive account. This creates a backup if you will of your files and also lets you access them from other computers. For more help on Google Drive, visit the Google support center: http://support.google.com/drive/?hl=en .

DropBox.
DropBox.com offers a service where you can upload images to a cloud directory and then share that directory with others via email. Similar to Google Drive, an additional feature of DropBox is that you can download their software and actually have DropBox sync to a directory on your computer in essence creating a backup of your data. If you change a file locally, then DropBox will also get a copy. To, take the tour, you can start here: https://www.dropbox.com/tour . You can join with this link: http://db.tt/Fn8tRRPb .

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Social Media Share Buttons vs Follow Buttons

Often I get asked to “put Facebook & Twitter  buttons” on a  clients website.  However, there are a couple different kinds and it is good to understand which one you might want to use.
social media
Share vs Follow
Share: The share buttons direct visitors to THEIR own account to post about you.  This can be done with facebook, twitter, pinterest, etc … most of the social sites have code to do this. How does this help you?  This gets your visitors to do some advertising for you! Their followers see that they like your site and then hopefully it drives traffic to your site. A great way to get the word out about your site.
Follow: Follow buttons are used if YOU have an account that you want visitors to go to.  So for example if you have a facebook, twitter, pinterest account that you want them to visit.  Keep in mind, this WILL take them away from your site. So you only want to do this if you feel it is valuable for them to visit your social site and not just your website.  You may have a small business website but a personal pinterest site so there would really be no need for a customer to “follow” your personal pinterest site.
It is best to have a mix of these two options on your site.  You should definitely have the Share buttons.  The follow buttons should only be included if they provide additional, important information about you, your products or services.
So what is the easiest way to add these buttons?  ww.addthis.com .  Addthis has done all the work for you, and it’s free to use.  Pick share or follow, pick the social media buttons you want to include and they will provide the code for you.  One downside, you cannot customize the look of the buttons if you are using Addthis.  If you want to have your own buttons that match your site, you will have to code them separately.  Most of the social networking sites have instructions on doing that.
Here are two Addthis links to help you get started:
Need help getting started, just let us know.
(photo from fotosearch.com)
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Stock Photography – Find the Perfect Photo Fast!

Have you ever been in need of an image for brochure or website but thought you couldn’t afford a professional image?

Think again!  There are many online options that make professional images an extremely attractive option these days.  Think how much time it would take to set up your own photo shoot, not to mention the hassle of dealing with legal requirements like “model releases.”  Would you really be saving any money?

Fotosearch Stock Photography provides a portal where users can search through all the top photography publishers at one site.  Not only do you get a first-rate images at a reasonable price, but you also save a LOT of time.  And, how much is your time worth to you?

Users can find either royalty-free or rights protected images through the portal.  (Royalty-free images are cheaper;  rights protected images tend to be more exclusive.)  Image quality varies from low resolution, web images to high- and super-high resolution suitable for magazines or billboards.  Many images offer a variety of resolutions, so you can pick what is most appropriate – and cost
efficient – for your use.

In addition to photos you can find clipart, illustration and medical illustration, stock footage/video clips, and stock music.

Why waste your valuable time when you have professional-grade, top quality images at cost efficient prices, just a click away?

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Featured Client – Nelle and Lizzy

Nelle and Lizzy Home Page
Nelle and Lizzy

Nelle and Lizzy is now a member of Google Trusted Stores!  Took some time and a lot of work, but their trusted stores banner is now active!  Means buyers can get protection for their purchase and Google is proud to stand behind them.

Nelle and Lizzy sells personalized jewelry … you can customize and create your own pieces or choose from those already created for you.  They specialize in Mother’s gifts so are a great find for Mother’s Day!

Nelle and Lizzy Google Trusted Stores Badge
Now a member of Google Trusted Stores!

Let us know if you are interested in becoming a Google Trusted Store.  You can review the requirements HERE and we can help get you on your way!

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Attaching Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics

A new feature of Google analytics is that you can now enable webmaster tools data within analytics. This data will then be available in your Search Engine Optimization reports in Analytics.

To set it up, you need to have both a webmasters tools account and an analytics account.  If you are one of our clients, just let us know you want them attached and we’ll do it for you.  To do it yourself,  click on Search Engine Optimization reports and follow the instructions.

Directly from google:

How to use Webmaster Tools data within Analytics

Webmaster Tools provides data about what users see in Google search results before they decide to click to your site (or some other site). You can use this data to identify opportunities and prioritize development effort to increase the number of visitors to your site. Examples:

  • Identify  landing pages on your site that have good clickthrough rates (CTR), but have poor average positions in search results. These could be pages that people want to see, but have trouble finding.
  • Identify search queries (keywords) for which your site has good average positions, but poor click through rates. These are queries for which your pages get attention and improved content could lead to more visitors.

For more information, please go here:  http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1120006

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Google Fonts Available for Web Design

In the olden days, there were only about 7 websafe fonts.  This was because in order for a visitor to your site to see the font you used on your site, it had to reside on the device they were using.  Thanks to google fonts, there is a free option to let you pick from hundreds of fonts.  The fonts are stored with google so you don’t need to have it and neither does the visitor.

Any drawbacks … afraid so.  This may slow your site down slightly.  Check google analytics ( http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1205784 ) to see how quickly your site downloads before you change it and then check it again after to be sure it isn’t a huge drain.

If your site is using a style sheet, the change to a new font is easy!  If it does not, then it may take a little longer to incorporate the change, but shouldn’t be too bad.  If this is something you wish to do to change the look of your site, just let us know.