Using HTML Descriptions Tags in Your Web Design Project

HTML Description Tags: Do You Use Them to Best Advantage?

Description Tags Explained by Web Hosting Provider
Let's start at the beginning. A conversion is a sale. You, the web site owner, convert a visitor to a buyer. Point one.

Point two: Conversion rate or conversion ratio (same difference) are measures of the percentage of total visitors who actually make a purchase, opt in, request sales information of perform some other desired action from the total pool of visitors who reach your site.

The whole objective of a website is to convert and site owners spend hours and days tweaking their sites to optimize for conversion. But are they using all of the conversion opportunities available to them. Many aren't.

Your First Chance to Convert is the Search Engine Results Page
A lot of marketers believe that the first chance to convert is the access page the visitor reaches via SERPs or links. Not true. If there's a link on the SERPs to your site, and the search engine user didn't click on it, you didn't convert. Heck, the visitor never even saw your site.

There are a couple of suggestions for improving SERPs conversion, i.e. getting more people to click on your organic links. One is your site's HTML tag. This tag is part of a site's Meta data and usually appears between the tag and the tag, though the actual placement is less important than what the tag contains.

The HTML syntax for creating a Meta description tag is:

Why the sales pitch? Because the content in your description tag is what appears below the SERPs link on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. Now, you'll see some web owners stuff these description tags with keywords. Which link would you click on?

Or

Stuffing description tags doesn't make a sale. In fact, most smart web shoppers avoid these links because of the gibberish contained below the SERPs link.

The Real Functions of Description Tags...
... and how to use them to best advantage.

There's disagreement within the SEO ranks on everything. Part of it is due to a lack of reliable science. Sure you can test, but the rules of the game change every time Google tweaks its SERPs.

One point SEOs disagree on is whether search engines give any credence to the content of description tags. In an excellent, un-cited post on HighRankings website, the writer states:

"I used to believe that the purpose of the Meta description tag was twofold: to help the page rank highly for the words that were contained within it, as well as to provide a nice description in the search engine results pages (SERPs). However, today it appears that, similar to the Meta keywords tag, the information you place in this tag is *not* given any weight in the ranking algorithms of Google, and only a tiny amount of weight in Yahoo's."

Conversely, Danny Sullivan posts on Search Engine Watch:

"The meta description tag allows you to influence the description of your page in the crawlers that support the tag... "

Two SEO professionals with polar views. And, if you want to take the time, you can find divergent opinions on virtually every SEO topic, despite the desire of many SEOs to create a science out of something as amorphous as search engine optimization.

However, the point isn't which SEO is right and which is wrong. The point is that there is little hard science to back up any aspect of SEO. The best way to determine the effectiveness of description tags is to conduct simple, single-variable testing that will deliver empirical results - irrefutable metrics. Something you can rely on.

Simple A/B Testing
While the focus of this post is description tags, the application of A/B testing is useful in determining which tactics and strategies work and which don't. There are means for multi-variant testing in which several variables are changed, but if you're just starting out and metrics analysis isn't all the fun you thought it would be, stick with single-variant, A/B tests on any changes to your web site. You'll get understandable, utile results and you'll get them quickly.

Start by using a couple of top tier keywords in your description tag. These will be highlighted on the SERPs pages as a direct hit. However, avoid description tag stuffing. Bots don't much care for any kind of keyword stuffing because it dilutes the relevance and usefulness of the SERPs. Still, you see lots of site owners who use their description tag to stuff with keywords. (See beading examples above.)

There's Bot Territory and Human Territory
Bots crawl the HTML or XML code used to create a web site. It's all letter strings to these data collector agents. This is where search optimization (designed for search engine bots as the name suggests) takes place. Below anything that will be seen by a human.

Humans only see the description tag on SERPs - but they do see it. Yes, the SERPs were machine generated, but a human is looking over those links now. An attractive, two-line description and welcome will draw many more site visitors than a tag filled with keywords.

Want proof? Don't take my word for it. A/B test it.

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Why Your Business Needs A Web Designer

Website designers play a big role in the overall effectiveness of any website. If you're a business owner looking to launch a new website for your company or to retool your existing site, you definitely want to consider hiring a professional designer to help you. Hiring a full-time website designer may not be practical for a smaller company, but that doesn't mean that you can or should scrape by without one.

Website design is a broad field that encompasses all of the different skills necessary to construct and maintain an effective website. Although it's an easy field to get into, it takes a great deal of time and effort to cultivate and maintain truly professional-caliber website design skills. When you're looking for a designer to handle your business's website, the stakes are simply too high to leave your site in an amateur's hands. The speed and convenience of working with a real professional will easily justify the expense of hiring one.

If your business is, like most small companies, tightly focused on your area of expertise, it's unlikely that you have anyone on your staff with real website design expertise. If you have an employee dedicated to handling your IT needs, he or she just might possess enough web design knowledge to handle your company's site. Otherwise, you're looking at hiring an outside consultant. This is by far the most cost-effective way to secure the diverse skill-sets that a professional website designer can offer you.

When you go looking for a web designer, you'll soon see that it's a very busy marketplace. Because all of the work can be done online, there's nothing stopping you from a hiring a designer who's based in a different hemisphere. Be cautious about outsourcing your website design work across national and cultural boundaries, though. Being able to communicate your needs to your website designer clearly and unequivocally is vital. If you're not certain exactly what you need from your website, working with a local web designer might be worth the minor added expense. Being able to discuss your concerns with your designer face-to-face can save time and prevent confusion.

In order to determine how much good web design is going to cost you, you have to look at many different factors. Your decision to hire local or long-distance, as discussed above, will make a big difference in the cost. So will the amount of work you demand out of your website designer. If you need many revisions and alterations to get exactly what you want out of your website, expect to pay more. Also, you need to keep maintenance expenses in mind. Having a broken or out-of-date website is little better than having no website at all. You should expect to have an ongoing relationship with your designer, although maintenance costs will be far less than the cost of initial set-up.

Choosing the right web designer takes some real time and effort. Hopefully, this article has given you a good framework for making that decision. The more you understand about the web design process before you go looking for a designer, the faster and better your selection will be. Here's hoping that you end up working with a real professional!

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Website Design Errors You Should Avoid

Creating a website for your business is a great way to put your company name out there and display your business model to potential clients almost anywhere in the world. But before spending all that time and money on a website design company, you need to make sure you are getting your money's worth. You want your website to attract customers, increase website traffic, and draw in more business. Here are a few blunders you should avoid when planning out your company's web presence. Keep these in mind when consulting with your website design company.

Give the viewer some room to breathe:

Cool images, videos, and fonts can be good for your company's web presence; however, you need to know when enough is enough. Don't have too many animations or widgets that take a long time to load--people won't want to wait. Too many images and videos can also distract the viewer from the actual content of your website. Remember, the goal of your website is to promote your business model. Some fancy web design features are good, but keep the main focus on the content of your website.

Spelling and Grammar:

Speaking of content, you want to make sure you have good spelling and grammar. This may sound like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many errors appear on company websites. Take the time to proofread and edit your content. If you have typos, your readers won't find you credible or trust the quality of your service.

Don't Be Afraid of White Space:

You may have the urge to take up every square inch of white space on your web pages. But stop and think about using the white space to your advantage. White space can make images pop and make your content clearer. Too much color can distract the viewer and be too overwhelming. Contrast between content and design can be a good thing, forcing the reader to appreciate the design and still focus on the content.

Don't Forget About SEO:

You want to make sure you content is search engine friendly. Create an SEO plan and figure out how you want to incorporate your website design and content. High quality content with key words related to your business will help put you higher on the search results page.

Your company's website should do its job of informing people about your business and projecting your company name on a global scale. It's important not to make these blunders so that your website can be effective, alluring, and informative.

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What Is Occam's Razor Principle And How Can It Be Applied To Web Design?

Occam's Razor is a philosophical principle named about William of Ockham, a 14th century logician and theologian. According to the principle, the simplest explanation is usually true. In terms of web design, Occam's Razor implies that we should do something in the simplest manner possible because simpler is, usually, better. So, how can you use Occam's Razor to design better websites, whilst at the same time enhancing the user experience? You've come to the right place to find out how:

Simple design for the internet is basically all about removing barriers. These days, designers are too focused on creating a website that is "cool" - they forget about the goals they are trying to achieve and whether their navigation is easy to understand or not. This leads to an endless cycle of expensive tweaking and even complete redesigns.

Coding

There are actually a number of reasons why simple coding should be a primary focus in web design - it loads much faster and, generally, encounters very few problems. Developers, however, tend to bloat their code out due to a lazy mentality or lack of knowledge. Both of these habits need to be squashed, as slow loading websites greatly affect the user experience - who wants to wait around for pages to load?

E-Commerce

Simplicity is key when it comes to e-commerce websites, as trying to sell visitors your products will be completely irrelevant if they cannot figure out the purchasing process - they'll take their business elsewhere. The process can be simplified by: making the search box a prominent feature of the web design, avoiding asking visitors to duplicate information, and spacing out your products for readability.

Copy

As most web designs will rely on their content to explain their services, products and other ideas, it really does make sense to ensure that this text is phrased in a way that is easy to understand. Try saying what you need to as briefly as possible - don't worry about trying to sound intelligent by cramming in big words and dictionary definitions. Make sure that your copy is interesting and engaging and your visitors will read on anyway.

As you can see, applying Occam's Razor principle to web design can be achieved without even thinking about it. All you need to do is focus on simplicity in your work - better websites and an improved user experience will flow naturally from this practice. The next time you are working on a design, ask yourself whether the code has been simplified, whether the shopping cart is easy to use, and whether the copy is understandable.

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The Must Have Features For Any Mobile Website Design

There are a number of differences between designing a website for a desktop computer and a mobile device - the web access between the two is completely different, the screen sizes are worlds apart, and even the situation of the user is unique (as in, the user of a mobile device is generally on the move and cannot browse at leisure). If you work extensively with mobile website design, there are four features that you should ensure you include in every project you tackle:

Auto redirect

This redirect should take users to your desktop computer website. All mobile websites should have the functionality to detect what sort of device is being used to access it and be able to send the user to the most appropriate site. If they are using a desktop computer, you will be able to provide the user with a very different experience than they would receive with a mobile site.

Call to contact button

This is the name given to a certain type of functionality that allows a user to press a button that automatically dials the number of your business. If a user is on the road, they may not have a pen and paper to jot down your contact information or be able to memorize your phone number, so this makes it easier than ever for users to contact you.

Driving directions

This should be something that is included on all mobile websites, but it is often the feature that most designers leave off. By not including driving directions, you are going to send users away from your website (to other sites like Google Maps and Melways) to find you. By including directions on the website, they can remain on your page for longer.

Location map

Posting a Google Map on your mobile website design can be critical in helping users to find your business. Whilst posting your address can be helpful, being able to actually see where you are located in relation to nearby streets and landmarks can mean that they get to your store or office much faster than if they had to pull over and plug your address into their GPS.

If your business is just branching out into the world of mobile website design, it is important that you ensure the four features outlined above are included in every project that you work on. This will ensure that users are given the most rewarding experience possible, as well as making it easier than ever for them to contact and locate you. And, if you have already created a number of mobile sites, you should go back and make sure that each of these features has been included.

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The Top 5 Web Design Trends of 2012

It may seem as if the trends of web design never stop changing. New applications and design schemes are being developed and tested constantly to the point that it is hard to tell what trends are most effective. To stay on top of your website and take advantage of all the web traffic, you can follow the top five trends of web design for 2012.

Maintain function and visibility on mobile devices. There is no denying that people are accessing the Internet from a variety of devices nowadays. With the influx of smartphones and tablets, it is no surprised that more users are more likely to log on to websites with an iPhone instead of an iMac anymore. Too often businesses do not have a functioning and visibly attractive mobile version of the website and users turn to sites that are more friendly for mobile devices. Be careful to only include low-resolution images and videos to ensure that the site loads quickly even over a 3G network. Streamline the content to get information to your users on the go.

Integration with social networking websites is a must. By now, you should have at least set up a Twitter and Facebook account for your business, but there are many other social media sites to consider as well, including Pinest, one of the latest sites to emerge. These social networking and media sites can generate serious revenue, but only if done correctly. You must directly connect your website to your pages on sites like Facebook to keep the user active and interested. Your customers are looking for opportunities to share your content and feature your website, but you have to make it easy for them.

Keep browsing focused with fixed navigation. Too often, users have a tendency toward impatience and end up scrolling and clicking all over the website and before long they are lost in a web of pages. By using fixed navigation, the logo as well as the top and left navigation tabs will remain visible regardless of scrolling up or down or clicking on a new page. Fixed navigation keeps users focused on the most important things about your business and presents the content in the best light possible. Be wary of how much screen space the fixed navigation takes up, however, because they can claim much of the viewable space.

Allow for easy navigation with a multi-column menu. The debate is finally over about which type of navigation menu users prefer. Many studies have shown that users spend more time and find more value in websites that use a multi-column menu. The single column menu does not allow the user to browse through the content as quickly and does not provide the user an overview of the website. For this reason, users are showing a strong preference for the multi-column menu despite any concerns about the submenus becoming too burdensome.

HTML5 and CSS3 are the new tools in web design. Although these coding languages are still being developed and evolving as you read this, web designers everywhere are already in love with the advantages and applications of HTML5 and CSS3. Now you can feature complex animations without all the messy lines of code that ultimately limit the load time of your website. Features that are now possible with HTML5 and CSS3 include creating shadows around boxes and text, rounding corners and rotating through multiple background images.

As you consider updating your web design in 2012, you must implement these five top trends. With all of the advances in web design, this list is just scratching the surface of possibilities but all great websites need to have these elements.

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Top Most Important Tips for Selecting a Graphic Designer

There are various graphic design studios that are willing to work enthusiastically for businesses dealing in different sectors. The design companies take a note of all the requirements in advance and make sure to follow the same path to give the right look. The businesses are using highly specialized graphic design services to give a new look to their business stationary, website and other marketing materials.

While the options are many, it is important for you to make the right selection to work with a designer. The top most important tips for selecting a graphic designer are mentioned below:

1. Previous Work Samples: It's important to judge the degree of detailing in their work. If you find their previous work appealing to your eyes, you will surely able to achieve the desired results to engage your target market. You can pay attention to the styling, visual appeal and color combination to make the final decision.
2. Reference Check: Only work samples will not give you the clear idea about their work. It is important to check few references about their working pattern during the project. The satisfied clients will, of course, be a relief to you that you will get quality results without any botheration.
3. Ready to Experiment: The main idea behind working with professional graphic designers is that they have a fresh and unique approach. So, you shouldn't hesitate in experimenting with your project. When you have a chosen a good graphic designer, you have better chances of a successful experiment with your design. So, wear a positive attitude and go ahead with your deal.
4. Sign the Deal: A professional design studio will never worry to sign the deal with your company. It can be your deciding factor while looking out for a reliable company. Be clear about your requirements and sign a written agreement for clarity. This will assure you peace of mind and harmony with the design studio.

While you are sure about your option, you must start working on your project. In this tough competitive world, it's important to impress the target group with the first impression. So, be ready to engage your target group with the right approach and appeal.

A professional graphic design company will make sure to include your personal touch to the graphic design material so that you can relate yourself with the end-results. So, don't worry much and use the above tips to make your search successful.

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Why Your Business Needs A Web Designer

Website designers play a big role in the overall effectiveness of any website. If you're a business owner looking to launch a new website for your company or to retool your existing site, you definitely want to consider hiring a professional designer to help you. Hiring a full-time website designer may not be practical for a smaller company, but that doesn't mean that you can or should scrape by without one.

Website design is a broad field that encompasses all of the different skills necessary to construct and maintain an effective website. Although it's an easy field to get into, it takes a great deal of time and effort to cultivate and maintain truly professional-caliber website design skills. When you're looking for a designer to handle your business's website, the stakes are simply too high to leave your site in an amateur's hands. The speed and convenience of working with a real professional will easily justify the expense of hiring one.

If your business is, like most small companies, tightly focused on your area of expertise, it's unlikely that you have anyone on your staff with real website design expertise. If you have an employee dedicated to handling your IT needs, he or she just might possess enough web design knowledge to handle your company's site. Otherwise, you're looking at hiring an outside consultant. This is by far the most cost-effective way to secure the diverse skill-sets that a professional website designer can offer you.

When you go looking for a web designer, you'll soon see that it's a very busy marketplace. Because all of the work can be done online, there's nothing stopping you from a hiring a designer who's based in a different hemisphere. Be cautious about outsourcing your website design work across national and cultural boundaries, though. Being able to communicate your needs to your website designer clearly and unequivocally is vital. If you're not certain exactly what you need from your website, working with a local web designer might be worth the minor added expense. Being able to discuss your concerns with your designer face-to-face can save time and prevent confusion.

In order to determine how much good web design is going to cost you, you have to look at many different factors. Your decision to hire local or long-distance, as discussed above, will make a big difference in the cost. So will the amount of work you demand out of your website designer. If you need many revisions and alterations to get exactly what you want out of your website, expect to pay more. Also, you need to keep maintenance expenses in mind. Having a broken or out-of-date website is little better than having no website at all. You should expect to have an ongoing relationship with your designer, although maintenance costs will be far less than the cost of initial set-up.

Choosing the right web designer takes some real time and effort. Hopefully, this article has given you a good framework for making that decision. The more you understand about the web design process before you go looking for a designer, the faster and better your selection will be. Here's hoping that you end up working with a real professional!

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Using HTML Descriptions Tags in Your Web Design Project

HTML Description Tags: Do You Use Them to Best Advantage?

Description Tags Explained by Web Hosting Provider
Let's start at the beginning. A conversion is a sale. You, the web site owner, convert a visitor to a buyer. Point one.

Point two: Conversion rate or conversion ratio (same difference) are measures of the percentage of total visitors who actually make a purchase, opt in, request sales information of perform some other desired action from the total pool of visitors who reach your site.

The whole objective of a website is to convert and site owners spend hours and days tweaking their sites to optimize for conversion. But are they using all of the conversion opportunities available to them. Many aren't.

Your First Chance to Convert is the Search Engine Results Page
A lot of marketers believe that the first chance to convert is the access page the visitor reaches via SERPs or links. Not true. If there's a link on the SERPs to your site, and the search engine user didn't click on it, you didn't convert. Heck, the visitor never even saw your site.

There are a couple of suggestions for improving SERPs conversion, i.e. getting more people to click on your organic links. One is your site's HTML tag. This tag is part of a site's Meta data and usually appears between the tag and the tag, though the actual placement is less important than what the tag contains.

The HTML syntax for creating a Meta description tag is:

Why the sales pitch? Because the content in your description tag is what appears below the SERPs link on Google, Yahoo or other search engines. Now, you'll see some web owners stuff these description tags with keywords. Which link would you click on?

Or

Stuffing description tags doesn't make a sale. In fact, most smart web shoppers avoid these links because of the gibberish contained below the SERPs link.

The Real Functions of Description Tags...
... and how to use them to best advantage.

There's disagreement within the SEO ranks on everything. Part of it is due to a lack of reliable science. Sure you can test, but the rules of the game change every time Google tweaks its SERPs.

One point SEOs disagree on is whether search engines give any credence to the content of description tags. In an excellent, un-cited post on HighRankings website, the writer states:

"I used to believe that the purpose of the Meta description tag was twofold: to help the page rank highly for the words that were contained within it, as well as to provide a nice description in the search engine results pages (SERPs). However, today it appears that, similar to the Meta keywords tag, the information you place in this tag is *not* given any weight in the ranking algorithms of Google, and only a tiny amount of weight in Yahoo's."

Conversely, Danny Sullivan posts on Search Engine Watch:

"The meta description tag allows you to influence the description of your page in the crawlers that support the tag... "

Two SEO professionals with polar views. And, if you want to take the time, you can find divergent opinions on virtually every SEO topic, despite the desire of many SEOs to create a science out of something as amorphous as search engine optimization.

However, the point isn't which SEO is right and which is wrong. The point is that there is little hard science to back up any aspect of SEO. The best way to determine the effectiveness of description tags is to conduct simple, single-variable testing that will deliver empirical results - irrefutable metrics. Something you can rely on.

Simple A/B Testing
While the focus of this post is description tags, the application of A/B testing is useful in determining which tactics and strategies work and which don't. There are means for multi-variant testing in which several variables are changed, but if you're just starting out and metrics analysis isn't all the fun you thought it would be, stick with single-variant, A/B tests on any changes to your web site. You'll get understandable, utile results and you'll get them quickly.

Start by using a couple of top tier keywords in your description tag. These will be highlighted on the SERPs pages as a direct hit. However, avoid description tag stuffing. Bots don't much care for any kind of keyword stuffing because it dilutes the relevance and usefulness of the SERPs. Still, you see lots of site owners who use their description tag to stuff with keywords. (See beading examples above.)

There's Bot Territory and Human Territory
Bots crawl the HTML or XML code used to create a web site. It's all letter strings to these data collector agents. This is where search optimization (designed for search engine bots as the name suggests) takes place. Below anything that will be seen by a human.

Humans only see the description tag on SERPs - but they do see it. Yes, the SERPs were machine generated, but a human is looking over those links now. An attractive, two-line description and welcome will draw many more site visitors than a tag filled with keywords.

Want proof? Don't take my word for it. A/B test it.

ExperTrans language - multilingual services
ExperTrans voice-overs services
ExperTrans interpreting translation services

Website Design Errors You Should Avoid

Creating a website for your business is a great way to put your company name out there and display your business model to potential clients almost anywhere in the world. But before spending all that time and money on a website design company, you need to make sure you are getting your money's worth. You want your website to attract customers, increase website traffic, and draw in more business. Here are a few blunders you should avoid when planning out your company's web presence. Keep these in mind when consulting with your website design company.

Give the viewer some room to breathe:

Cool images, videos, and fonts can be good for your company's web presence; however, you need to know when enough is enough. Don't have too many animations or widgets that take a long time to load--people won't want to wait. Too many images and videos can also distract the viewer from the actual content of your website. Remember, the goal of your website is to promote your business model. Some fancy web design features are good, but keep the main focus on the content of your website.

Spelling and Grammar:

Speaking of content, you want to make sure you have good spelling and grammar. This may sound like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised how many errors appear on company websites. Take the time to proofread and edit your content. If you have typos, your readers won't find you credible or trust the quality of your service.

Don't Be Afraid of White Space:

You may have the urge to take up every square inch of white space on your web pages. But stop and think about using the white space to your advantage. White space can make images pop and make your content clearer. Too much color can distract the viewer and be too overwhelming. Contrast between content and design can be a good thing, forcing the reader to appreciate the design and still focus on the content.

Don't Forget About SEO:

You want to make sure you content is search engine friendly. Create an SEO plan and figure out how you want to incorporate your website design and content. High quality content with key words related to your business will help put you higher on the search results page.

Your company's website should do its job of informing people about your business and projecting your company name on a global scale. It's important not to make these blunders so that your website can be effective, alluring, and informative.

ExperTrans language - multilingual services
ExperTrans voice-overs services
ExperTrans interpreting translation services