Net Results
Helping your business succeed online.
Published by nrichmedia (www.nrichmedia.com)
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Volume 2, Issue 2 – Summer 2006
In This Issue
Welcome
Now this is summer! I couldn’t come out with my summer issue
until the weather fully cooperated. After weeks of variable weather,
the sun is here to stay for the next couple of months. I’ve decided.
This is certainly the time of year to be thinking about holidays and
just being outside. But, since it’s also a slow time of year
for many businesses, this is the perfect time to be tackling the stuff
that you didn’t have time for during the really busy seasons.
While I strongly believe that it’s important to keep up with
some form of marketing no matter how busy you get, summer is generally
a good time to take on the big marketing projects, such as starting
or revamping your web site. Hey, you can even do some of the planning
while sitting outside, sipping a cold drink!
FAQ: Do I Need to Use Text Links in My Menu?
I should clarify one thing before answering this: We’re talking
about actual HTML text here, as opposed to text graphics – i.e.,
ones generated using something like Photoshop.
Most menus these days use one or the other form of text links. Some
combine them with icons, but almost all have text for the visitor to
read, rather than just guess what the icons represent. That’s
one reason to use at least some form of a text menu.
Now, it’s true that search engines can’t read graphics,
so if your text menu is made up of text graphics, Google et al won’t
be able to tell what they say, which could hurt the ranking of the
pages being linked to. So, if you do use some form of a graphic menu
system, make sure to use the ‘alt’ attribute with each
graphic, so the search engines know what the pages linked to are about.
The other thing I highly recommend is adding a duplicate pure HTML
text menu, at the bottom of each page. This is a good idea, even if
you are using a pure HTML text main menu, as it saves your visitors
from having to scroll back to the top of the page to jump to another
page.
Featured Article: Advantages of Splitting Up
Long Pages
In creating pages for your web site, there’s a balancing act
you’ll likely become involved with: writing for your visitors
(potential clients) or writing for the search engines (Google, etc.).
If you focus solely on the former, you’ll have great content,
but not many people who will actually see it. Focus on the latter and
you may have many people finding your site, but few who stick around
long enough to do anything (i.e., take action toward making a purchase
or contacting you).
In selling your services or products on the web, you are certainly
wise to elaborate on their benefits, in detail, in a compelling manner,
with plenty of testimonials. If done properly, this often requires
a fair bit of copy (text).
If you offer several products or services, theoretically each of those
can have their own detailed page, which the search engines can find
and index separately. This means there are many more ways that potential
customers can find your site. It also might mean that Google will consider
your site more “important” thus bumping up the site’s
rankings.
Here’s a practical example:
Say you are a massage therapist, who offers several type of massage:
acupressure, reflexology, shiatsu, Swedish massage, etc. Your site
could have one page (“Services”), which talks about all
of these types of massage that you offer. If someone were to do a Google
search for “massage” and your geographical location, that
page should appear in the results pages. But, it might not rank very
high, especially if there is a lot of competition in your geographic
location.
But… if you split each of your individual services into separate,
detailed pages – linked either from the menu or from a main Services
page – then you would have one page talking specifically about
acupressure, one talking about reflexology, one talking about shiatsu,
one about Swedish massage, and so on. By “detailed” I don’t
necessarily mean that they have to be very long. Even a couple descriptive
paragraphs, the cost, perhaps a photo, and a “call to action” for
people who want to book an appointment for that type of massage would
suffice.
What you’ve got now are several “ins” to your site.
So, if someone does a search for “Swedish massage” plus
your geographical region, that page of your site should appear (hopefully,
fairly highly) on the search engine results pages. Same for each of
the types of massage you offer.
See what’s happening? Instead of one way for potential clients
to find you, you have several. Google will see each of these specific
types of massage pages as a specialized page, so they’ll have
high weight for their specific keywords. If you dilute your page by
talking about all your services, that page won’t get much weight,
if any, for the specific types of massage you offer. Individual, detailed
massage pages should.
There’s no reason why you can’t also include on your site
a main Services page, speaking in general terms about the types of
massage you offer, with links to each of the detailed massage pages.
It’s always better to have too much (even repeated) information
than not enough. Just make sure to have as many of those well-written,
individual detailed pages as you can.
Try this with each type of product or service you offer and I’m
willing to bet you’ll get a lot more quality traffic to your
site.
Want more valuable information like this to help your socially responsible
business become an online success and get the results you've been looking
for? Subscribe to Net Results, our FREE
quarterly newsletter by filling in the form at the top left of this
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About nrichmedia
nrichmedia creates innovative and unique web sites and other multimedia
for ethical and socially responsible businesses and organizations.
We also offer green web hosting, web site maintenance, CD-ROM production,
and more.
nrichmedia was founded by Nathaniel Richman in 2000. Nathaniel graduated
from the Vancouver Film School with a Certificate of Recommendation
in Multimedia Studies in 1997 and has been working in the web design
and new media industry ever since. He previously received a Bachelor
of Mathematics degree (Honours Actuarial Science) from the University
of Waterloo and worked in the pension consulting field.
Nathaniel works with several other designers and programmers, according
to the needs of the project, to provide the client with the most professionally
designed web site or presentation possible.
"It has been my distinct pleasure to have commissioned nrichmedia
to design and implement three new web sites for organizations I have
been connected with over the last decade.
I have returned to nrichmedia each time I have required web development
services because of the professionalism, knowledge and creative flair
of Nathaniel and his team of associates. I have also chosen to return
to nrichmedia because of the unbelievably positive feedback I have
received from my employers and colleagues on the results of that association.
I have certainly looked good in the eyes of my superiors because
of my choice of web designer and the reasonable costs that I have
incurred for such a service. I highly recommend nrichmedia for both
the inexperienced as well as the seasoned web developer."
- Keith Liddiard, Partner/Technical Advisor, Premier Soccer Experiences
(www.premiersoccerexp.com)
To learn more about nrichmedia’s services, view
our online portfolio, and read glowing
testimonials from many satisfied clients, please visit www.nrichmedia.com.
Web Site Design and Promotion Blog
For plenty of tips and tricks on designing, marketing, and promoting
your web site, have a look at www.websitedesignandpromotion.com,
a blog co-authored by nrichmedia and Juliet
Austin.
Recent postings include:
Getting
Your Site Indexed in Search Engines Before It's Launched
Search
Engine Lingo
The "How
To..." Headline
Websites
More Convincing Than Celebrities
Feel free to place a comment on any of the posts there. It’s
an easy way to get a link to your site, which can increase your exposure
and help your site’s search engine rankings.
Charitable Causes
nrichmedia donates 5% of proceeds on all projects of $500 and above
to charitable organizations. We are pleased to have supported and continue
to support several worthy causes. To see a list of the organizations
we support, please visit www.nrichmedia.com/causes.htm.
The Not-to-be Missed Link: Zerofootprint
www.zerofootprint.net is an excellent resource for green products,
green events, and green stories. The tagline, “Connecting people
who care about the environment” pretty much says it all.
Archives
To view previous editions of Net Results, visit www.nrichmedia.com/archives.htm.
Pass it on and Enjoy
Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone who might find
it useful.
Want more valuable information like this to help your socially responsible
business become an online success and get the results you've been looking
for? Subscribe to Net Results, our FREE
quarterly newsletter by filling in the form at the top left of this
page.
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 nrichmedia
is located in Courtenay (in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island),
British Columbia, Canada, and thinks and works globally! Thanks
to the Internet, we're able to create web sites and other multimedia
for clients all over the world. You can contact us by
or by telephone, at 250.871.7424.
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