JVHM, Inc.

We’ve moved

Jeff — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:21:01 +0000

Our blog has moved to our main company site. Look for us there.

Keywords Make the Difference

Jeff — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:22:27 +0000

So, you now are full steam ahead on your blog, that’s great. What’s next? Well, if you are trying to drive traffic to your site and have not yet jumped into the fray that is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), then you need to start reading up.

Educational SEO Resources

There are a lot of these out there and I don’t presume to know the best ones, but I do know some very good sites for learning more about Search Engine Optimization. The first is Wordtracker, with Wordtracker Academy being their primary section for educational information on the subject of SEO keywording.

Another good site for finding more SEO topic coverage is HubSpot. If you would like to get some WordPress specific SEO information, check out the Yoast website by master WordPress plugin author Joost De Valk.

Tools and Methods for Selecting Keywords

So, how does one research keywords? Well, one free tool is the Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool. It will generate statistics around the keywords you provide as well as provide related keywords that may be applicable too. Information is provided on the number of searches the keyword is specified in within a given month (on Google) and the advertiser competition for those keywords.

Another tool available for selecting keywords is that provided by Wordtracker. This service is a subscription service but trials are available so you can get a feel for its utility.

What else is there? Well, remember you can use Word’s thesaurus if you want to think of other related words and then maybe run those through Google. You also can do some searches that you think would be applicable for your content and review some of the pages that pop-up on the front page of the search engine. Look to see what their content contains as well as how they defined their meta title, meta description and their URL. Meta data is available when you select “View Source” or “Page Source” from your browser’s menu, typically the View menu. Then look for the and tags.

Selecting the right keywords is really a skill that one develops over time and is important for driving traffic your way but don’t forget your message. It is still critical that the content you are providing is interesting, informational and helpful. Generating inbound traffic still relies on good old word-of-mouth. You want to bring your visitors back for more and also have them bring you to the attention of their social network by generating links back to your Posts. Inbound links are really what is going to drive your search engine page rank higher.

Web Design – Color Considerations

Jeff — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:00:25 +0000

I’m not going to go into an art lesson and teach you what colors work together or what emotions certain colors prompt, but I do want to make certain that one takes in the human aspects of color selection on their viewing public.

There are many examples of web sites where colors and fonts are all over the place, which results in a site visitor’s immediate response to be that of hitting the button; so very easy to do. We create a web site for a reason; to get a message across, to share our interests, to promote services or products. It is important, then, to ensure we get this message across by making simple decisions when it comes to the use of color. It is certainly worthwhile to research color selection from a creative perspective but it is equally important to ensure that, once we have decided on a color palette, that it works for everyone. What do I mean by this?

There is a significant percentage of the population, somewhere around five percent, that don’t see colors the way the majority of the population does. That is, a variety of color vision issues exists amongst our viewing public. So, what can one do about this? Well, there are two sites in particular that I think are worth noting and that can help you ensure your web site is presentable to all.

Vischeck

The first site is Vischeck. In particular, this site has a tool available where you can specify a particular web page, click and follow the resulting links to what the specified web page would look like to someone who has one of three different types of color blindness. I’d also recommend poking around this site to learn more about color vision issues.

Luminosity

Another aspect of color selection is the contrast between colors. In order to make a page generally readable, it is important that the contrast between any background and foreground color is sufficient enough that everyone can see and read the content you are presenting. There are times when one might feel that two colors work well together when, in fact, the contrast may actually not be great enough to present a pleasing and readable site. What to do…. Well, what I would do is use the Luminosity Colour Contrast Ratio Analyser tool. With this tool you simply specify two colors, click the and see how your colors stack up.

Obviously there are many aspects of web site design, but keeping in mind that you may be leaving out some of the people who can benefit from your message if certain basic color selection steps aren’t taken, is an issue easily handled.

Web Development Must Haves

Jeff — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 17:00:45 +0000

If you do any amount of web development, professionally or personally, then you should definitely be using these:

Firefox

This is simply the best browser out there. Both in terms of it’s W3C compliance and the many add-in’s available. It took me awhile to learn this as I was stuck in corporate America where Internet Explorer is used simply because it is already installed. This said, even if you become a convert, if you do any web development where you are customizing the graphical presentation of your content, then you owe it to the folks you are trying to reach to always test your output in a variety of browsers and versions. Wondering what these would be? Well, visit W3 Schools to find out. Keep in mind, however, that the statistics presented are based upon fellow developer and web technologist browser utilizations and may not be representative of general or corporate use.

Developer Toolbar

Okay, now that you have installed and are using Firefox, it is time to get the one toolbar you will never be able to do without. It is the Web Developer Toolbar. Whether you are a seasoned professional web designer, someone just learning or just enjoy web development as a sideline, this toolbar is a “must have” tool. It will take awhile to check out the many features but I whole heartedly suggest you nose around. From turning off all style sheets to see what the “empty canvas” actually looks like (CSS>Disable Styles), to outlining various page elements, to displaying rulers, you won’t be disappointed with all the useful features. In fact, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.

Great Web Research and Collaboration Tool

Jeff — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:09:10 +0000

Ever wish you could remember why you created a particular bookmark? Ever wish you could search your list of bookmarks because you can’t remember which one it was that contained information you found of interest? Well, here is a tool that lets you do just this, and more. It’s called Diigo.

Not only does this toolbar add-on let you tag and enter comments about your bookmarks, it lets you highlight and annotate content on a web page. It even allows you to share this with other people that you collaborate with or with whom you simply share a common interest. To put it in Diigo’s own words,

Diigo is two services in one — it is a research and collaborative research tool on the one hand, and a knowledge-sharing community and social content site on the other.

So, check it out. I think you will find it to be an extremely useful tool.

http://www.diigo.com

JVHM can create, sharpen and polish your ePresence

Jeff — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:16:21 +0000

The crew at JVHM are here to help you on the path to advancing your presence on the Internet. Not only will we build a site that will reflect your organization’s professional appearance and leadership in the industry, we will create a site that will drive business your way and, once there, allow visitors to navigate and easily get the information they need. Pretty is good but clean, smooth flowing, inbound traffic generating is better. For more information, contact the crew at JVHM, Inc.