Top 5 Website Maintenance Tips to Prepare for the Holidays

1. Update Your SEO - Make sure your hot keyword terms are integrated into your website and the pages that are relevant to these keyword terms are optimized to their full potential

2.  Content Updates/Additions - Now would be a good time to update any content that needs refreshing.  Search engines like refreshed content and this can give your site a boost in search engine rankings.  Make sure all your contact info is correct.

3. Fix Website Glitches - Make sure all of your website pages are completely consistent from page to page - Even if something so small as an image shifts a bit on certain pages, this can have a negative sub-conscious impact on visitors to your website.  Every page should flow seamlessly and layout should be identical and without errors to promote professionalism.

4. Check for Broken Links - Make sure all linkage is up to date and pointed to the correct locations.  Chances are you will lose a website visitor if they click on a link and get “Page Cannot be Found”.

5. Fix functionality that may be hindering search engine optimization.  If you are running frames, you may want to convert your site over to standard html pages….frames do not work well with search engines.  If you are running a website that is dynamically-driven, make sure to have an xml feed set up for the search engines to visit these pages since it is possible the search engines cannot find them otherwise.

 All of these updates will help promote your website in the search engines and I would recommend implementing these changes within the next week or so to benefit from it over the holidays.  If you have any questions, please feel free to visit our website at www.shadomedia.com

Sanger Boats - Featured Website Design Client

Since I was brought into the world in 1973, I have spent parts of my summers riding in a Sanger boat.  The first boat my dad built was a 19ft. semi-V hull.  Even though I was only 2 years old or so, I have some solid memories of my mom covering me with a beach towel as we buzzed along - the main reason being the noise and vibration of the nasty blown-427 in it.   After a couple runs on his own around 100 mph without venturing too far into the pedal, he decided it was a little too radical as a family boat.

The next boat was off the showroom floor.  A sanger 21′ mini-daycruiser.  Bumble-bee yellow and brown.  I still have the boat and it is in pristine condition - all original.  Sure it has a couple tiny knicks and scratches, but other than that, it still has the brown shag carpet, original upholstery in perfect condition.  The paint on the bubble-deck is almost flawless still.  All the running gear is original.  A Healthy 454 big-block just as it came from the factory.  The boat has probably around 100 hours of run-time on it.

I have also had the pleasure of owning 2 dlx’s - One of the best wakes for wakeboarding in my opinion - especially after adding a couple fat sacks.

So all this history and I end up with the opportunity of designing their website… take a look at www.sangerboats.com  

More info about the website coming soon…

Premiere Bay Area Web Designers - Shadomedia

If you are looking for a quality web designer in the Bay Area, then look no further.   We’ve been in business for 8 years and have a number of prominent companies as clients including Sanger Boats, Butterfly Life Franchises, Armstrong Painting/Roofing, Rodandcycle.com, Reinell Boats and many more.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.  Visit our website at www.shadomedia.com

Flash Websites and Search Engine Optimization

A very common question from potential clients of mine is “What do you think about a flash website and should I build my entire site in flash?”

As their search engine optimization consultant, I immediately respond with “No”.   Flash definitely has its benefits (animation, interactive, etc), but a major drawback is the lack of ability for search engines to crawl content in flash and index a flash site in search engines. 

I could go on for hours about this, but in a nutshell, our preferred method for building a website utilizing flash is a hybrid approach.  The main shell of the website itself is HTML, with flash embedded and integrated into the design of the page.  This way we are able to present your valuable content via standard html and the search engines can easily crawl and index this information. 

A fully animated flash website might be visually appealing, but what’s the point if no one interested in the products or services you have to offer can find your site.

Your Bay Area SEO Consultant,

Shad