NEWS+BLOG

"Build it and they will come", sorry but this doesnt apply on the internet.

Nowdays even more important then the website itself is the publicity of the website. Wide publicity and public exposure of your website is the only way to build more exposure and back links into your website.

I have had great success using Localised directories to draw relevant local traffic to my clients websites. For example: Stellar LifeStyle Management has seen fantastic results from both Gumtree and Craigslist with a number of qualified enquiries being received very soon after publishing a listing on both directories. Submissions are completely free and are extremely easy to create.

Hitwise have also just released a list of Local Australian directories in their article Grass-Roots Classifieds Momentum.

Whilst directory submissions are not fantisticlly brilliant for search engine optimisation, they are perfect from drawing in local traffic. For assistance in finding relevant directories for your website please contact us.

 

Stix Catering are a multi award winning Sydney based corporate caterer.
Their list of awards is almost as long as your arm having taken out;

• Caterer of the Year 2006
• National Caterer at an Event 2006
• "Caterer at an Event" of the year 2004/2005 & 2006
• "Corporate Caterer" of the Year 2005/2006
• Resturant & Catering - Awards for Excellence

With over 7 years of operating experience Stix Catering currently provides catering for up to 20 off-site functions every week, at different venues with tailored menus for varying numbers of people utilising the full gamut of facilities available.

Cyberdesign Works have been maintaining the Stix Catering website since 2004, making regular updates and amendments to the existing website. As part of this regular maintenaince we have also begun an Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign to try and boost the number of website visitors via the major search engines.

 

When it comes to finding information on the Internet, there's more than enough to go around. But when you want to get specific information to specific people, this can become a little more complicated. If you're in a business that you'd like to advertise to customers, this action falls into the category of article marketing, and here's what you need to know.

Readers on the Internet are more skeptical than ever. It seems that no one really believes what he or she is told. They believe even less that someone actually wants to help them find the answers they're looking for. However, knowing this, you can begin to re-establish the trust that is missing. You can do this by making sure that any article marketing you're involved in includes quality content with information that will show the reader your authority regarding the subject as well as the connection to your business.

Another concern with article marketing is presenting factual and compelling information. When you're looking to entice new customers, you need to present yourself in the most positive light possible. This means that you need to know what customers are looking for, and do your best to provide the information. Try to keep up to date with the latest trends in your industry and know what customers are talking about. You can go to article forums or business message boards to look around at what customers are saying. Any articles that you write for your business website can then be tailored to addressing these issues. You might even want to post on these forums, directing people to your website for more information.

Along with your article marketing plan, you'll want to ensure that your readers can contact you for more information, if needed. Try to include your website address as well as email address so that you show that you genuinely care about following up with their concerns. You might want to set up an autoresponder function on an email account to answer these queries immediately and show that you are willing to interact with customers and future contacts.

Establish continued contact with those that have read your articles by offering free reports, newsletters and other valuable information from your business. The only trick is that this information needs to be useful and not all sales-related. The key to successful article marketing is to inform your readers so that they want to take action – that is, buy your service or product. But when a reader feels pressured into the sale, they can be hesitant to do so. Offer valuable information and mention your business occasionally, which allows the customer to feel like they have the final decision.

Here are some key points to remember with article marketing:

• Introduce information rather than pitch sales items
• Establish your credibility and authority
• Offer free and useful information
• Create actions that the reader can take such as signing up for newsletters, free reports, etc.
• Give the reader your contact information.

Article marketing goes beyond getting your article to as many people as possible. You need to provide interesting and factual information that your customers and potential customers can use. And once they realize that you are trying to help them, they will begin to look at what else you can offer. It will be the beginning of a beautiful business relationship.

Original article posted by isedb.com

 

Tim Hedger over at ISEDB.com has just posted a nice little guide containing 3 easy steps to refresh and update your website. A website update doesn't need to be a complete overhaul. It can be as simple as replacing a homepage image, or updating your introduction text or posting a piece of news.

Here are Tim's three tips which are almost weekly rituals that I follow for our website.

1/ Sign up for social media. Get involved with colleagues and communities found at Linked In, Flickr, MySpace or some other such social network. It only takes a few minutes to sign-up and establish an account. Adding to your profile can take an hour or two at the beginning but will take less time as time goes on.

The benefits from being involved in social communities are two fold. You can research, contact and collaborate with others in your field quickly and easily. You can also use your profile to promote your business.

2/ Provide more contact and address information. There are two primary places contact information is expressed on most websites. The first is the obvious contact us page and the second is in the footer section found on most sites. Adding more information to both places is beneficial for search placements and for site visitors. Detailed contact information is especially useful for placements in local search engines.

The contact us page should offer as much information as possible, including full street addresses with postal or zip codes. It should also include a map from Yahoo, Google, Ask or MSN. The footer section of each page should, if applicable, provide full postal and telephone contact information including zip, postal and area codes.

3/ Perform a gentle audit of the website. This should be done at least four times a year. Go through the site and make notes of all the little things that require changing. You are most likely looking for minor alterations, not a full scale redevelopment.

Does your website say all the things you want it to say? Is there any information or references that could be updated? Do all links lead to active pages or sites? Are the staff or executive bios up to date?

Website updates needn't be a scary or time consuming thing and the payoffs for keeping the site relatively fresh and updated can be immense.

By simply updating our contact page with direct contact information we have already noticed an increase in enquiries. The map link in our footer has also received hits, therefore sites that are backed up by a retail presence will certainly gain value from having a map.

So sit down, take a look at your website, make a list of small things that need updating and get too it. It''s time definitely well spent!

 

So far two of my regular search engine optimisation reads have been hacked.
The culprit, whose own blog has now been taken offline has launched a scathing attack on a number of authoritive Search Engine Specialists and has threatened to hack and deface quite a number more specialists sites. [UPDATE: The hacker has now moved his site over to BlogSpot]

Matt Cutts from Google made the top of the hit list however it is GrayWolf and Stuntdbl that have been served the first blows.

Claiming to be a moderator of the popular webmaster haunt Webmasterworld, you have to wonder what has finally tipped this guy over the edge?

Heres an extract from the GrayWolf attack:

What I’m going to do?

I’m going to crack all the SEO related sites/blogs/forums that I can… Maybe once in a while a non-SEO site will slip into the list but what the hell! Who cares anyways?

I will publish here detailed information on how I did it and maybe the juicy stuff that I find on their sites - Backups, sql dumps, secret stuff… who knows :)

Actually no, I’m so sorry that was my WH side speaking… I will not publish the juicy stuff, I will trade it for stuff that I need & e-gold. If the owner acts like a biatch, the juice will end up at the little green demon

Why I’m doing this?

1. Because I want

2. Because I can

3. Because lately the SEO industry is LAME and BORING - Want a proof of that?

- The SEO industry is just a bunch of self-proclaimed gurus making more money from their “guru” status than from SEO.

- The blogsphere (God I hate that word) is filled with countless “SEO blogs” syndicating what other “SEO blog” syndicated from another “SEO blog” that syndicated some bullshit guru.

Discussion threads hav been setup over at Digital Point and Threadwatch
I am so glad i don't claim to be a Search Engine Guru!

 

I’d be feeling a little blue too, if I were competing against the world's leading electronics and media giants that include Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson).

All of these manufacturers will be bringing to market Blu-ray also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD), the next-generation optical disc format developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA).

This super high capacity format provides rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. The format offers more than five times the storage capacity of traditional DVDs and can hold up to 25GB on a single-layer disc and 50GB on a dual-layer disc.

It may prove to be an effective and efficient way to back up artwork files, our small web and graphic design studio process can manage to generate up to 25 GB of data each week. I’d be happy pay up to $2.00 or more to back up the week’s works – “cheap insurance”, as Matt would say! (by the way, Matthew is one of our highly regarded designer’s, an established member of the Cyber team). Sorry!, I digress, back to the story.

Backward Compatibility a big +

Most players will be able to read/write CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs using a BD/DVD/CD compatible optical head, so you don't have to worry about your existing DVD collection becoming obsolete. In fact, most of the Blu-ray players coming out will support upscaling of DVDs to 1080p/1080i, so your existing DVD collection will look even better than before. While it's up to each manufacturer to decide if they want to make their products backwards compatible with DVD, the format is far too popular to not be supported. The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) expects every Blu-ray Disc device to be backward compatible with DVDs.

Blu-ray v/s HD-DVD

Although both Blu-ray and HD-DVD are similar in many aspects, there are some important differences between them.

The first is capacity. Because Blu-ray utilses a lens with a greater numerical aperture (NA) than HD-DVD, the laser spot can be focused with greater precision to fit more data on the same size disc. This allows Blu-ray to hold 25GB per layer (50GB on a dual-layer disc), whereas HD-DVD can only hold 15GB per layer (30GB on a dual-layer disc). Blu-ray has also adopted a higher data transfer rate for video and audio (54Mbps vs 36.55Mbps). The greater capacity and data transfer rates for Blu-ray will allow the movie studios to release their movies with higher quality video and audio than the HD-DVD format.

The second is content. The Blu-ray format has received broad support from the major movie studios as a successor to today's DVD format. Seven of the eight major movie studios (Warner, Paramount, Fox, Disney, Sony, MGM and Lionsgate) have already announced titles for Blu-ray, whereas HD-DVD only has support from three major movie studios (Warner, Paramount and Universal). This is an important difference because some of the studios might only support one of the formats, so you won't be able to get your favorite movies in the other format. Choosing the format with the most content support minimizes this risk.

The third is hardware support. The Blu-ray format has broad support from the world's leading consumer electronics, personal computer and media manufacturers, including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Pioneer, Sharp, JVC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, TDK, Thomson, LG, Apple, HP and Dell. The Blu-ray format will also be supported in the next-generation PlayStation 3 (PS3) video game console. This means that you will have a lot of choice when it comes to players and hardware. The HD-DVD format has far less supporters, so the amount of players and hardware will be very limited. So far, Toshiba is the only company to officially announce a HD-DVD player and it will only support 1080i output, while the announced Blu-ray players will support 1080p.

Anyone remember Betamax?

In the early eighties, there was a stoush between two video formats Betamax and VHS, Betamax proved to be the better format, however, I recall, Sony and Toshiba were the only manufacturers that provided this format, where as the VHS format was offered to the market, by the likes of JVC, Phillips, NEC, Panasonic, Sanyo, Sharp, Pioneer and Hitashi, resulting in Betamax (the better format) losing out, it simply couldn’t get market penetration.

At this stage it appears that Blu-ray will have the leading edge over HD-DVD, it also appears it will have longevity due the vast amount of electronic manufacturers in the market providing the same format.

But there’s one thing I know for sure, I will not be paying $1,300 for a unit, I’d be happy to wait for a year or more when I’ll be able to buy one for a tad over $200.00 or maybe less.

 

Cyberdesign Works is pleased to announce that it has been appointed to the task or re-designing the AAFOnline.com.au website as well as the design of a number of new branding logos for the AAF Aluminium Finishing and Anodising products.

AAF (Australian Aluminuim Finishing) is an Australian market leader with a range fo innovative products for every construction project.

Stay tuned for the Launch of the new aafonline.com.au website powered by Cyberdesign Works own sanscode2 CMS.

The web site will feature a dynamic colour selector which allows users to define their Aluminium Finishing requirments hit search and receive a comprehensive list of the available colours, finishes, warrenties and brands.

 

Earlier today, I was pointed towards what may become the best friend of shot-snappers the world over: the MonsterPod mini tripod. The item in question certainly isn't a tripod in the traditional, literal sense; rather, it appears to be a nifty, pocket-sized doodad that allows you to attach a camera to pretty much any surface, whatever the angle, anywhere.

By pretty much any surface, I mean tree bark and, well, even rougher tree bark for the love of all that's holy - and walls and glass and metal and... oh, you get the idea. Interestingly enough, it uses Van der Waals force to achieve adhesion, which is probably better known for being the reason geckos don't fall off things, generally speaking.

Of course, the camera can't be too heavy, but if you're the kind of person who lugs around big, heavy lenses for recreational purposes, you probably have a tripod in the car anyway. And a rug. Possibly even a wicker basket full of delicious sandwiches and a thermos of coffee, but I digress.

If this 'MonsterPod' is half as good as it looks, I won't regret having ordered two of the damn things (yay, Amazon). You can 'read all about it', as they say in the news industry, at MonsterPod's awful website. Which we didn't work on, so don't blame us.

 

And why should I care?

Good questions. First, here's why you should care.

Unlike getting website updates or ezines by email, RSS feeds give you absolute, 100% complete control over the situation.

You don't have to reveal your email address. If you want to stop receiving content, you don't have to request to be "taken off the list."

One click, and poof! the subscription is gone.

Plus, since there's no email address involved, there's no way a publisher can sell, rent or give away the means to contact you.

That's right! no more spam, viruses, phishing, or identity theft. And best of all, no reason to put yourself at the mercy of the publisher's intentions.

You won't need to suffer through the legalese in the privacy policy (if there is one) looking for loopholes that will send you deeper into inbox hell. No more setting up dummy Hotmail accounts "just in case."

Again, if you don't like the content, you can make it disappear as fast as you can change a TV channel. With just one click.

Pretty cool, huh?

That is cool! Umm.. What the heck is RSS?

Alright! Now we're ready to get to that part.

RSS is a simply an Internet technology standard that allows busy people to receive updates to web-based content of interest.

You might have figured that much out by now. But basically, that's the essence of an RSS feed , you subscribe and then receive new content automatically in your feed reader.

If you actually want to know how RSS works, click here.

What the heck is a feed reader?

You may already be using a form of feed reader, and not even realize it. If you use personalized home page services like My Yahoo or My MSN, you've got RSS capabilities built in. That's how syndicated content like news, weather and stock quotes appears on your personal page. You can also add content from any blog or other site that uses RSS to provide updates.

Other web-based tools are primarily dedicated to feed reading only. One of the most popular web-based feed readers at this point is Bloglines, and it's also free and easy to get started with.

If you use the Firefox browser, you can also receive RSS feeds from your tool bar by using the Live Bookmarks function. The next version of Internet Explorer will add this feature as well.

Finally, there are desktop-based feed readers. These function somewhat like an email program for feeds. Examples include Newsgator and Feed Demon.

If it sounds complicated, it's really not. And things will get even easier when the next version of Outlook integrates feed-reading capabilities. So, you'll have the same convenience that email subscriptions offered in the old days, without any of the terrible consequences of giving out your email address to potentially unscrupulous characters.

Sounds good. So how do I subscribe to a Feed?

First of all, look for the subscription or feed options (some bloggers make this difficult for some odd reason). You might see a variety of buttons (amusingly called chicklets).

If the site you want to subscribe to uses FeedBurner to aid in the subscription process (like Copyblogger and many other popular sites), you'll likely see the standard RSS icon, which takes you to a page that will give you an array of the most popular feed readers so you can select yours, and you'll go from there. This is the new standard RSS icon:

Sometimes there will be a chicklet for your particular reader right on the blog that will take you to the appropriate subscription page. You may see these (among others):

Finally, you may also see little orange buttons that say XML or RSS. Often these chicklets will take you to a page that looks like code gibberish. In this case, you simply cut and paste the page URL from your browser window and manually paste it into your feed reader subscription function.

Hopefully this last method will soon disappear, never to be seen again.

In summary: RSS solves BIG problems.

So there you have it, RSS is being adopted at a phenomenal rate, because it's a good thing for everyone.

The benefit to readers is obvious. And it's good for publishers too, because we want to make sure that people feel comfortable subscribing, and that our message is not nuked by an overzealous spam filter.

If there's anything here that is confusing, or you have a question, please contact me and I'll be happy to help!

Thanks to Copyblogger for a helping hand with this tutorial.

 

Cyberdesign Works would like to welcome Platinum Packaging to the Cyberdesign Works family.
Stay tuned for the March launch of the Platinum Packaging website which will feature full web design and e-commerce, including online payment processing, product catalogue and more.

Platinum Packaging will be tackling the niche market of Watch Winders (something i had never heard of before) and jewelery packaging.

From the description I have been given so far these Watch Winders sound intriguing.