Custom Web Designs by Bay Area Web Design Company MJS Web Solutions Building Websites That Can
   Actually be Found		 Contact Us | Our Company | Home
510.523.7312
MJS Blog
Thoughts :: Opinions :: Trends

Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Patience

Hope you had a great weekend.

I woke up this morning to find out I couldn’t connect to the Internet (good thing I have a dial-up backup). I called tech support, and of course, they couldn’t give me a time when the network would be back up or what the cause was…only the symptoms. The tech support person apologized and thanked me for my patience.

Patience - That’s something we all need to have a little more of. In these immediate - have to get it done now - times, we expect everything to be taken care of NOW. Unfortunately what we want done usually requires the assistance of others or there’s an indirect correlation between the two.

In Donald Trump’s new book, “How To Get Rich“, he devotes a whole chapter on being patient.

We also need to be patient about the success or level of traffic to our website. A high amount of traffic is our dream, but it may take more time than expected. The main objective is to get the word out that you have a website and to ask (or tell) people to visit. If you don’t tell anyone about your service, business or website, how will anyone know about it?

With any marketing endeavor - websites included - a plan needs to be enacted, the plan needs to be put into practice and the results need to be measured. This takes time and patience. It can’t happen overnight. If it did, every website would be a success.

Anthony Robbins put it best in “The Ultimate Success Formula”:

  1. Know your outcome.
  2. Get yourself to take action by deciding to do so.
  3. Notice what you’re getting from your actions.
  4. If what you’re doing is not working, change your approach.
Success doesn’t begin from the top down, you have to work you’re way up to it. This takes time and a fair amount of patience.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to find out why it’s taking my ISP so long to get me back online. ;-)

’til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 12:03 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO


Friday, June 25, 2004
Playing or Studying?

On a lighter note…

Has everyone seen Headlines on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno? If not, Jay Leno, shows various headlines from newspapers, magazines, etc. that obviously have made it past the copy editor.

I found an amusing one that slipped by.

I clipped this picture out from the San Francisco Chronicle a few weeks ago. The picture shows a woman from the Vanni Institute of Technology playing a race car game on the computer, but if you read the caption, it tells a slightly different story.


< Click picture to enlarge >

The caption reads:

“Students at the Vanni Institute of Technology use a computer to study database programming, computer networking, Web Development and electronics.”

Yeah…it looks like they’re getting a lot of studying done.

Have a great weekend.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:48 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Uncategorized


Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Increase Your Website Traffic

One of my customers yesterday asked about ways to increase traffic to their website. I wanted to share a few ideas that have helped us increase our website traffic.

  1. Participate in Online Forums – Find out which online forums your prospective customers frequent and begin posting messages offering your expert advice. When posting always make sure you include a link back to your website.
  2. Add a News Feature – Adding a News/Press Release section on our website has helped us generate new traffic and has allowed us to keep our visitors informed and up-to-date about our company.
  3. Start a Blog – Our website traffic has doubled since I’ve started this blog. It keeps our site up-to-date (which the search engines love), we’re providing worthy content, and it helps position us as experts in our field.
The suggestions above are real life examples of our success.

The best advice I can give is to make sure you utilize the web medium more. It’s always good to use traditional methods of promotion – newspaper, business cards, etc. - but if you want to quickly drive more traffic to your website, promote where most of your traffic is…on the web.

‘til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 8:57 am

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO


Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Virus Prevention

I don’t know if this was a coincidence or just plain irony (or both), but just as I was finishing up writing an article on virus prevention for the Alameda Chamber of Commerce Newsletter, our email servers were hit with the PE_ZAFI.B virus (TrendMicro, as of today, rates PE_ZAFI.B virus as the #1 top threat).

The email servers were not actually infected, but they were inundated with numerous emails being sent from client based computers, acting as email distributors, thus slowing down the delivery process significantly. See our News section for more info.

I thought it was fitting to post part of the article (with a separate download), seeing as how other people may have been affected or who wanted to take more precautionary methods to avoid other viruses.

Listed below are the three most important ways of preventing virus outbreaks on your computer.

  1. Use a hardware firewall system - This would include a router and personal firewall software. Utilizing a firewall system keeps your computer or home network separate from the Internet and creates filters to block unsuspecting virus threats.
  2. Keep your operating system updated - PC/Window users use Microsoft’s Windows Update feature. Configure your system to automatically download the latest updates.
  3. Install antivirus protection software - Purchase and install immediately to all of your computers.
You can view the complete Virus Prevention article here.

’til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:24 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web General


Monday, June 14, 2004
Teamwork

Hope you had a great weekend.

Mine was vigorous. My friends and I went river rafting (our annual tradition) down the Cache Creek River, two hours out of San Francisco.

Whitewater Adventures sponsors the rafting experience. These guys know how to travel down the river. For around $100, you get 2 days of river rafting, breakfast, lunch & dinner, and all you have to bring is yourself, a tent and sleeping bag - they handle the rest.

The day begins with a bus ride up the river; you’re dropped off and given a worthwhile and educational orientation about river safety before plunging into the river.

Each year we’ve always paired up and traveled down the river in a two man, inflatable canoe. This year we were uneven and had to use the 3 man raft, which required more cooperation from each of us. We elected Charles to man the raft and Chris and I took the sides.

While traveling down the river, teamwork is crucial. Each person has their own task of steering the raft and the task of cooperating with the others in making sure the raft doesn’t flip over. That seems to be the overall goal - to travel down the river without flipping the raft. We accomplished that goal - both Saturday and Sunday. Other rafters and members of our group were not so lucky. Some fell out more than once or ended up hugging the rocks with their rafts.

Our job, Chris and I, was to navigate for Charles and locate any rocks, rapids, bushes or trees that were approaching. This started to get a little confusing, since the whole river was filled with rocks. The running joke around camp and on the raft was, “Watch out for the rock!” Which rock? All of ‘em.

Designing a website also requires teamwork. A general website team usually consists of the following:

  • Web Page Designer
  • Copywriter
  • Graphic Artist
  • Programmer
  • Internet Marketer
  • Project Manager
Each team member is as significant as the whole team. Establishing your selected team, you can ensure a successful website that is safeguarded from tasks falling through the cracks. Or in river rafting terms - rocks.

’til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:18 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design


Friday, June 11, 2004
The Email Advantage

I am always anxious to read new material, whether books, magazines or Internet articles, on business or any kind of web related topics.

One book I picked up, called “101 Ways to Promote Your Web Site“, has some very good suggestions on improving your website traffic using email. Though the book is a few years old, the same principles still apply.

  1. Use an email signature - Nothing is more simple than creating a signature file to attach to all of your emails. The file should include your name, company name, slogan, phone, email address and website address. You should also announce any new developments within the company, new products or services.
  2. Keep your email message focused on one topic - Not really a traffic generator, but it will help get your message across. If you include too many subjects in one email, your main message may get lost in the mix. Keep each email focused on one topic and you’ll find your email response rate increase.
  3. Use your company’s email address (This is my own suggestion) - I’ve seen people who are using their Yahoo or Hotmail email accounts when they have perfectly good website email addresses they could use. Instead of bob@yahoo.com, setup an email account that includes your website: bob@yourwebsite.com. Promote your website, not Yahoo’s.
Email is one of the most crucial forms of communication we have with our clients, prospects, suppliers and colleagues. Use it to your advantage.

Have a great weekend.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 2:59 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Web General, Web Marketing


Monday, June 7, 2004
Web Planning

I hope you had a good weekend.

Mine was great! My brother got married on Saturday and I was honored to be the best man.

The wedding was in Yountville, a small, quaint town in Napa County. The ceremony was very emotional which accompanied the very emotional and fun-filled reception. Everything went incredibly smoothly considering the anxiety most of us felt days and minutes before the wedding. But good planning ahead of time prevented any major catastrophes.

How does the saying go?

Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.

Planning a wedding and planning a website - you could say - are similar in respect to preventing poor performance. At MJS Web Solutions we adhere to a 5 phase development system when designing websites.

These 5 phases ensure a successful website:

  1. Strategic Planning – Or defining the project, is the first phase where goals and objectives are set and all necessary and critical content - both text and images – are gathered.
  2. Developing Site Structure and Information Design - At this stage, only the content is constructed. No pictures or colors are represented at this stage. The content-view, site-view and page-view are all addressed at this stage.
  3. Visual Design - At this phase the visual look of the site is created, including colors, fonts and images. This is where the graphic designers have a chance to shine; incorporating the site structure in phase 2 and the goals represented from phase 1.
  4. Production and Quality Assurance - During this stage, the actual building process of the site takes place: Creating HTML pages, implementing scripting, integrating backend technology and testing the site before the official launch.
  5. Launch and Beyond - At the final stage of development, the website is prepared and launched, registered with the search engines, ongoing maintenance is scheduled and the success of the site is measured.
Good planning, whether a wedding or website, will ensure everything goes smoothly without any surprises or major disruptions.

’til next time.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:15 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design


Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Blog For Money

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Bloggers find ways to profit“, mentions how bloggers (people who write blogs) are cashing in by utilizing new advertising techniques on their websites.

For those who do not know, a blog is an online journal, usually written by an individual, about single topics, such as pets, fishing, business, etc. See my first blog on the subject.

The reason I mention the article is because blogging has become popular enough to warrant advertising space on blogging websites.

Statistics don’t lie. The Pew Research Center estimates that between 2 and 7 percent of adult Internet users write a blog, and 11 percent visit blogs. Visits to some blog websites reach over 100,000 visits a day.

The article mentions three advertising techniques:

  1. Blogads - Advertisers can visit blogads.com and choose which blog website they want their advertisement on.
  2. Google Adsense - Google’s Adsense program gives bloggers an add-in advertisement tool so they can earn money when users click on AdWords ads displayed on their website.
  3. Amazon Associates - Bloggers can sign up with Amazon Affiliate program and generate 10% in referral fees.
Advertisers who were not there before, are realizing the significance of blogs and their overwhelming popularity.

MJS Web Solutions can setup a blog for your website. Call (510) 523-7312 or email us.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out!”

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:09 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Blogging


Support  |  Partners  |  Site Map
Alameda Chamber of Commerce Member
West Alameda Business Association Member (WABA)		 © Copyright 2008 MJS Blog. All rights reserved.
Powered by WordPress.
Login