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C O N C E P T H O R I Z O N
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Building your business through your web site.
Tricia Farin, Editor, editor@redhorizon.com
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WHERE IS MY WEB SITE?
by Lisa Pecunia, Principal, Red Horizon
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I can't tell you how often people have asked me "Why doesn't
my web site show up in search engines?" You could have the
most beautiful, technologically advanced web site, but it
doesn't get any visitors because people can't find it.
Using a search engine is the number one way in which people
find new web sites. There are several things you need to do
in order to get your site listed.
- Have a basic understanding of how search engines work.
Search engines use different methods for listing sites
in their results. The tasks involved in getting your
site listed will be different depending on the method
used by the search engine. Searchenginewatch.com has
some articles and links that explain the "under the
hood" workings of search engines in plain language.
- Focus on the most popular search engines. This list
changes occasionally so you need to keep up with it.
Searchenginewatch.com also contains a list of the
major search engines and highlights those which are
updated regularly. As of this writing, the last
update was January of this year.
- Submit your site to each search engine's directory
listings. Every major search engine will have some
sort of "submit your site" link. For the most part,
these listings are either free or very low cost. Re-
submit your site directory listing at least once per
year, preferably more often. Directory listings get
"stale," and many search engines will push the more
popular listings to the top of the list.
- Optimize your home page properly so that search
spiders will find it and list it correctly. There are
several things you need to consider in order to
accomplish this:
- Specificity: When you are coming up with your
list of keywords, make sure that they are
specific enough. For example, if you have a
site that sells hair accessories, using the
keyword "hair" is too general. Examples of more
accurate keywords are barrettes, bobby pins, and
scrunchies. You can use both the singular and
plural version of each keyword. Keywords can
also be phrases, such as "organic shampoo" or
"hair bands for kids."
- Meta Tag: Once you have your list of keywords,
enter them into your web page using the meta
tag. An example of how to use the keyword meta
tag is:
<meta name="keywords" content="barrettes,
bobby pins, scrunchy, scrunchies, organic
shampoo, hair bands for kids">
You should also use the title tag and the
description meta tag to insure that when
your site does come up in search results,
it displays the proper title and description.
- Hot spots: Search engine spiders check to see
if the keywords you used in the keyword meta tag
is also used in other places, such as the title
tag, header tags, and the first few paragraphs
of copy. The keywords that are used in those
places will receive higher list rankings.
- Validity: Search engine software has ways of
knowing when web pages are trying to "stuff"
themselves into search list results. You may
have noticed that some web pages have large
amounts of blank space at the end. Sometimes,
html writers will use white text on white
background to "stuff" their keywords into their
web page. They will repeat their keywords many
times over in this invisible section on the page
in an effort to get higher rankings. Search
engines can now tell when a web page has this
keyword stuffing on it, and will completely
remove that web page from their list. So, the
lesson here is... don't stuff your keywords :-).
- Repetition: When properly placed, repeating
your keywords is an effective method to prepare
your site for search engine listings. For
example, if you want people to find your site
using the phrase "Yellow Submarine" then make
sure you repeat that phrase in your title tag,
keyword meta tag, description meta tag, and in
the first paragraph of your copy, including any
page headers (<h> tags).
- Be patient. Sometimes it takes several weeks for your
site to appear after you have completed all these
tasks.
There are some alternatives to consider: one is to pay for a
search engine service and the other is to purchase software.
Search engine services generally will make guarantees that
your site will show up in some top number of listings on all
the major search engines. There are many advantages and
disadvantages to hiring one of these services. The biggest
disadvantage is that there are literally thousands of these
services out there - you need to do your research and find
one that is reputable and will deliver on their promises.
Unfortunately, the reputable ones are usually the most
expensive. The primary advantage is that once you've done
your homework and chosen a service, the service will do the
rest of the work.
Search engine software comes in many styles and flavors,
however the basic purpose is to optimize the pages of your
web site for you so that your site will show up on search
engines. Keep in mind that many of these software packages
require a significant amount of investment of your time in
setting up and configuring the software to work best for
your specific site. Make sure you know the requirements
before making any purchase.
Lisa Pecunia is the Founder and Principal of Red
Horizon. Lisa is a technology industry professional
with 17 years of proven people and project management
skills, serving both large and small software development
organizations. With full software development lifecycle
expertise, she has successfully planned, built, and
managed software application development efforts and
client service-oriented functions. Lisa can be reached at
lpecunia@redhorizon.com.**
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British Telecom to Offer Web Meeting Services Powered by WebEx Communications Network
Conferencing Division of Europe's Largest Telecommunications Company Teams with Web Communications Leader to Offer Web Meeting Services
SAN JOSE, Calif., September 4, 2002-WebEx Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBX), the leader in Web infrastructure for business communications, announced today that BT Conferencing Inc., a division of European telecommunications company British Telecommunications plc (BT), will provide Web meeting services powered by the WebEx network. By combining the visual communications capabilities of the WebEx network, BT Conferencing is able to offer its customers a seamless data, voice and video communications service. With more than 6,400 corporate customers and agreements with the world's leading telecommunications companies, WebEx is the standard for business meetings on the Web.
"Web meetings are quickly becoming a standard part of business communications," said Robert F. Moore, CEO of BT Conferencing. "We are committed to offering state-of-the-art audio and visual communications services, and teaming with WebEx is an integral part of fulfilling this commitment. WebEx's switch-based global network enables us to provide our customers with the most reliable, scalable and secure Web communications services."
"BT has always been quick to identify and integrate the breakthrough technologies that drive business and we are proud to have them as a partner," said Subrah Iyar, chairman and CEO of WebEx Communications. "Our relationship with BT further solidifies our position as the world's leading provider of Web communications services. The flexibility and power of our communications network has made WebEx the standard for corporations and telecommunications providers worldwide."
WebEx is the only company to develop and deploy a global network designed specifically for multimedia Web communications. The WebEx Network supports visual communications and has the unique ability to support multiple languages within a single Web meeting.
"WebEx designed its switch-based network to meet the rigorous communications demands of the world's telecommunications leaders," Michael LeBlond, vice president of Telecom Business at WebEx Communications. "BT Conferencing and WebEx have created an offering for business users that delivers the best in audio, data and video conferencing."
WebEx provides communications services to corporations, technology companies and telecommunications providers worldwide. All of WebEx's services are built on the WebEx's MediaToneTM platform and delivered through the WebEx Interactive Network, a fully redundant, high-performance private global network specifically designed for real-time Web communications. WebEx's MediaTone™ technology allows the WebEx platform to manage complex media types including 3-D objects, streaming media and multi-point video. With hubs around the world and a carrier-class information switching architecture, WebEx provides a superior level of performance, reliability and security.
About BT Conferencing
BT Conferencing is a division of BT Retail, BT's consumer facing business based in the United Kingdom, while BT Conferencing Inc. is its US subsidiary. BT Conferencing Inc. will provide audio, video and web-based remote meeting services, supported by BT's global networking infrastructure, ensuring reliability and scalability. Audio conferencing services will be available in three main offerings: reservationless service, operator-assisted service and premium service. Web-conferencing services will include web collaboration and web presentation, while video conferencing services will provide custom-tailored video conferencing.
BT Conferencing services enable customers to share presentations, documents, applications, voice and video spontaneously in a seamless environment. Additional information is available at www.btconferencing.com.
About WebEx Communications, Inc.
Founded in 1996, WebEx Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBX) is the leader in Internet infrastructure for interactive business communications. WebEx provides Web-based carrier-class communication services using its multimedia switching platform deployed over a global network. WebEx's services enable end-users to share presentations, documents, applications, voice and video spontaneously in a seamless environment. WebEx's services are used across the enterprise in sales, support, training, marketing, engineering, and various other functions. With its modular framework, standards-based APIs and unique MediaTone technology, WebEx's multimedia communications platform is the "dial-tone" for meetings on the Web. Please call toll free (877) 509-3239 or visit http://www.webex.com for more information.
H O T T I P |
USE TRANSPARENT GIFS
Graphics are usually stored as rectangular images. If you want to present a graphic image with an irregular outline shape, consider using transparent GIF images.
Most graphics packages support transparent GIF images, and have an options dialog box for controlling the storage of the image. When you use a transparent GIF image, you can specify a single color as the background color. When a Web browser paints the image, it does not paint any of the pixels of this color. The effect is that the Web page background shows through, and the image appears to float or be drawn on top of the page background. This is a cool effect, and it adds interest to any Web graphic.
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Guest Columnist - Jamie Epranian, Principal
CE Proactive Technologies, Inc.
.NET or .NOT
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Why do we need Microsoft .Net?
Answer: We don't. But...
The long version is probably worthy of several volumes of
discussion and argument. The short version is that the trend
toward web services is probably the most significant change
in the way computers are being used, and will be used in the
foreseeable future. .NET is just one way to get there, but
the bottom line is: That's where we're going.
For the longest time we've struggled to make diverse
products work with each other, and share valuable chunks of
data between divergent applications. First we crunched
everything into fixed width and then delimited text files.
Then came the promise of ODBC compliance. Microsoft's OLE
automation made big moves toward integration, and the
resulting software "suites" grew better at working
together…but not necessarily with anyone else's suites.
Enter the web and the move toward common language
development. The history is interesting enough, but the
present and future are even more so. Standard protocols like
XML, SOAP, and HTTP are beginning to open the door for
universal (or potentially so) data sharing and access
regardless or platform. This is big stuff, and we need to
keep an eye on the trends if we aim to stay competitive.
I've cursed the evil empire in Redmond and the Gates of hell
over the years for many reasons. Mostly the forced
obsolescence and incessant need to make us upgrade this,
that, or the other thing. No sooner do we grow comfortable
with one platform than we need to implement changes to
accommodate the next. I suppose I should revel in it,
knowing that my clients will soon need an upgrade ($ Cha-
Ching!). I don't however, because I understand that their
REAL goal is to operate their business and increase
revenue…not lead the bleeding edge in technology spending.
I've spent most of my career in the frustrating pursuit of
integrated systems, so I have to cut the Micro-squirrels a
bit of slack. Here we have an opportunity to bring divergent
development platforms together in a way that creates a
universally (or potentially so) consumable product. Cheers.
Oh, but don't try to integrate any open source product or
portion thereof into your .Net project... you'll breach your
EULA. Jeers.
We may not all need .Net. But if you're already paying
tribute to the high priest in Redmond for the privilege of
using MS products to earn a living, be glad you have a tool
that will help you compete. Developing applications will
soon be synonymous with developing web applications (it
already is really) and services, and it's about time
Microsoft came up with a tool for the job at hand.
**Jamie Epranian is the Principal of CE Proactive
Technologies, Inc. and has been an Information Technology
professional for over sixteen years. He is experienced
with networking, PC's, support, project design and
application development for over 16 years. Jamie can be
reached at Jamie@ceproactive.com.**
If you would like to be a guest columnist, please send
an e-mail to editor@redhorizon.com. Include your full
name, your company, your title, and a brief description of
your intended topic.
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This Month's Usability Tips
By Greg Gage - Project Manager, Red Horizon, LLC
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WEB PAGE TEXT - PROVIDING THE MOST WITH THE LEAST
Just like the browser has to wait to download a minimum
amount of information before it can display a picture, users
have to "download" information in the form of reading text
before they can determine that the article or other text
item you are presenting is what they want to see. If they
have to read too much of your content in order to get the
picture, they may leave before they finish. Here are a few
basic tips to help you improve your content so your audience
can find the information they want as quickly as possible.
- Make it easy to scan - Visitors will usually scan
headlines, bolded lead lines and the first few lines
of text (at the most) when searching through online
articles before moving on. This means that these first
elements should get the point across. It's also a good
idea to put the conclusion of your piece in the first
paragraph. You can always follow it up with the
reasoning in subsequent paragraphs. On the web you
need to provide the "punch" up front.
- Use Bullets - Breaking the text up with bulleted items
when possible also helps your users to scan for
salient information with greater ease. Large, solid
blocks of text can seem daunting and not worth the
effort to a user in a hurry.
- Break it up - One good trick is to put a summary of
your article giving the "hook" with a link to the rest
of the article after the first few lines or the first
paragraph. This will help save on valuable real estate
that can be used to present other important
information to your user.
- Be concise - Articles on the web should be about 50%
the length of their print brethren, since research
shows that users' attention spans are far shorter when
reading online.
- Sesquipedalians need not apply - Keep the text simple
if writing for the general public. Displaying your
extensive vocabulary skills may show intelligence but
your audience will much better receive the use of
plain language.
- Don't use all caps - IT IS HARDER TO READ ALL CAPS.
The average person can read mixed case text
considerably faster so try to avoid using all caps.
That's it for this month. Check back in October for the next installment of Usability Tips.
** Greg Gage is a Project Manager for Red Horizon. Greg brings a
broad mix of experience in Project Management, Product Management and Business Systems
Architecture to the team. In addition, his technology experience spans over ten
years and includes web site development and basic accounting application development.
Greg can be reached at ggage@redhorizon.com. **
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REVIEW: A Look at Voice Recognition Software
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Computer magazines-such as PC World, CNet and PC Magazine-do the best job of evaluating voice recognition software; in fact there are really only two main competitors in this arena, ScanSoft's Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM's ViaVoice. These publications get picky with each title, testing for accuracy, speed and ease of use-no small consideration when it takes up to 30 minutes just to get the software up and running, and more if you want to improve accuracy.
Read the full story:
http://wsj.consumersearch.com/computers/voice_recognition_software/
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Track, manage, and resolve all your software issues online,
with SourceAction, The Ultimate Issue Tracking System. Visit
http://www.sourceaction.com for more information
and to sign-up for a FREE 30-day trial.
************
Red Horizon develops dynamic, database-driven
Internet and intranet applications. Whether
it's designing your public web site or
developing powerful intranet applications to
help make your people and your company more
productive, we deliver what few others can,
Solutions That Work. Visit
http://www.redhorizon.com for more information.
************
Jantris Marketing Services offers marketing
advisory services including market plans,
newsletters, brochures, copywriting, and
more. We also offer a full service, custom
market research division to help you get
the answers you need to run your business.
Visit
http://www.jantris.com for more information.
************
CE Proactive Technologies is a provider of
Information Technology Services. We specialize in
system integration, development, support, and
training. We enjoy sharing our knowledge and
experience, teaching others to get the most out of
today's powerful information tools through:
* Full Project Management Support
* Planning to Implementation
* Procurement and Estimating
* Subcontractor Management
Visit ceproactive.com for more information.
To place a classified advertisement, please send an e-mail
to editor@redhorizon.com.
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Copyright © 2002 Red Horizon, LLC
The C O N C E P T H O R I Z O N newsletter is compiled and distributed
by Red Horizon, LLC, Where Concept Meets RealitySM.
editor@redhorizon.com
www.redhorizon.com
111 Church Hill Rd | Sandy Hook, CT 06482 | 203.270.3363
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