Google making search more interesting
Search results are changing. Homestead users need to understand how the changes will effect their copy writing in order to gain the full potential of the way Search Engines are pulling results.
Posts tagged ‘Homestead’
Move Over SiteBuilder Here comes Plus
Change is something that either makes us giddy with anticipation or sends us off screaming and pulling out our hair. It’s also the one constant in life … the one thing we can count on to happen. And so it seems that change is looming on the horizon in regards to the desktop SiteBuilder from Homestead/Intuit.
In recent conversations with various Tech Support staff and responses to Help Tickets it has become clear that Intuit is transitioning away from the (beloved) desktop version of SiteBuilder. Many of you are already familiar with SiteBuilder Lite, the rather watered down version of SB that allows limited online editing – SiteBuilder Plus, the replacement for the (did I mention beloved?) desktop version will operate much the same as Lite, only it will be a full-blown editor.
Website Maintenance – Keep It In Good Shape
Spring is here! It’s a good time to get your Homestead-Intuit website in tip-top condition.
When was the last time you took a good close look at your website? We make quick changes now and then, but don’t usually pay attention to the big picture. A website can always use a bit of maintenance because errors tend to happen. A website that is error free is not only important for visitor retention, but is part of good search engine optimization as well.
Common Errors:
- Spelling errors – spell check is great but won’t pick up homonyms (two words pronounced the same, with different meanings); weather/whether, break/brake for example.
- Alignment errors – a misaligned list can make a site look sloppy and unprofessional
- Overlaps – the border and bullet elements in SiteBuilder add padding and can throw off the placement of elements. Finding these requires checking the site in different browsers as each browser handles coding a bit differently.
- Grammatical errors – Poor grammar can reflect negatively on your service or product.
- Outdated information or events that have passed scream site neglect.
- Broken links – they happen to the most diligent of webmasters.
- The dreaded red X – this happens too. An image name is changed or it’s moved from the original location breaking the link to the image/graphic.
- Stray element boxes should be eliminated. It’s easy to create a text box, get distracted and forget you made one. Using the Select All option will show all the elements on a page – including ones that shouldn’t be there.
- Check the spelling in your Meta Tags. Page titles, descriptions, and key words often contain errors. Copy and paste them either to Notepad or directly onto the page to check them.
We tend to see what we know/think should be there rather than what actually IS there. If you have a really good friend, willing family member or co-worker who has time on their hands, enlist them to help proof your site. A fresh pair of eyes can help pick out those errors that you might be overlooking. If you don’t have someone who can assist then look at your website in a different way when you proof it.
Proofing Your Site:
- Start at the back (last page) and work forward.
- Read from bottom to top.
- Copy the page content and paste it into notepad or Word and increase the font size.
Keeping your website in good shape will show visitors and the Search Engines that there is webmaster activity on the site making it more credible to both.
Download the free Website Design Guide to refresh your memory on the do’s and don’ts for websites and incorporate necessary changes when you are tuning up your site.
Google shaking up search results
Besides the school-yard spitting match going on between Google and Bing (For more on the spitting match just do a search for Google and Bing click fraud – everyone has jumped on that posting bandwagon.), the latest news concerning Google is that they are about to shake up search results in an effort to reduce the incidence of spammy sites coming up prominently in those search results.
Beware! If your Homestead – Intuit site or article or post is essentially duplicate content, either something ‘borrowed’ from another site, or an article you’ve written and submitted on multiple sites you could well wake up to find it non-existent in searches. Sites that are predominantly links with little original or useful content are also apparently on the hit list – FINALLY
I’ve longed for the day when sites that offer visitors little in the way of original content and consist of nothing but links and clickable ads that will bring the site owner in $$$ and webmasters who copy and use other’s work, would end up in the nether-world of the www. Perhaps that day is coming.
Google’s Matt Cutts quoted on his blog, “The net effect is that searchers are more likely to see the sites that wrote the original content rather than a site that scraped or copied the original site’s content.”
It’s time to take a good, hard look at your Site Builder website to be sure it is going to stand up to the new search standards.
- Does the site have informative content? A bunch of links and ads are not informative content.
- Is it original content? Have you duplicated that content elsewhere? On a blog or in articles posted to different sites? Or perhaps it is content taken from another site?
- Does the site employ black hat techniques?
- Has the content been written for the human reader or the search engines? Sites written for search engines tend to lean toward keyword stuffing
Keep an eye on your site placement over the next several weeks. There are no absolutes and nothing to say that the new algorithm won’t make mistakes and drop a good site. How to request reconsideration of your site.
Intuit – Homestead Site Builder Design Tips
How to use the border element in SiteBuilder – it can be problematic if not done correctly.
How’s your integrity quotient?
Don’t settle for copycat information when it comes to optimizing your website. SEO Building Blocks ebook is the original book on SEO and offers users of the Intuit – Homestead website building software original, quality and insightful help with optimizing a website.
Is it Homestead or Intuit?
Whether you are a Homestead or Intuit customer help is just a click away …
So you think you’re a website designer …
Being a website designer is about more than just putting up a template and adding a few pictures and text. To be successful you need to know the in’s and out’s of good design, usability standards, search engine optimization and what does and doesn’t work with the SiteBuilder program …
Continue Reading November 11, 2009 at 4:53 pm Leave a comment
The Homestead Connection Forum has moved
The Homestead Connection Forum has relocated. Please join us at the Forum dedicated to helping users of Homestead Technologies sitebuilder software …
What’s in a name? Choosing a good domain name.
Your domain name should identify your business, be search engine friendly and simple for visitors to remember. Being able to get a short, easily remembered domain is becoming more and more difficult. There are certain things to keep in mind when choosing your domain name that will help both viewers and the search engines …
