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The article, featured in the "That's Life" column by Author Emily J. Minor is titled: "SO HAPPY TOGETHER - How To Merge Mairrage and Career - Without Killing Each Other"
http://www.bocaratonobserver.com/index.php?reqpage=the-observer-online&issue=45 The article begins on page 40 (printed as page 39).
We hope to post it online soon!
Green Group Studio partners Allen Borza (pictured) and Clara Mateus are all smiles today after receiveing a pre-production copy of a new design book that includes 5 of their designs. Upon submitting a handful of designs, Harper Collins Publishing contacted GGS to notify us that one of our pieces have been selected for a case study. A month or so later, Allen and Clara discovered that 4 more pieces that they submitted have also been selected for inclusion in the book. This design book "The New Big Book of Design Layouts" will be published in over 20 countries and will hit the shelves in October.
“What should I implement into my site?” is a common question that I am asked. Obviously this will vary by industry, but there’s a cost/benefit analysis that you will need to consider before jumping into anything. While social networking links are a must (if you actively socially market), there are many other items one can include on a website.
Website add-ons go by many names: widgets, plugins, components etc. Each of these add-ons involve some sort of script to enhance your website. Many of these items allow your website to have “Web 2.0” functionality (the fancy buzzword that describes interactive websites).
What can I add? While links to social networking sites are pretty standard nowadays, dynamic feeds like RSS news feeds and blogs can add value and cohesiveness. You can now have your Twitter account post your tweets on your website, and show your Facebook status on your website - and even show thumbnails of your Facebook fans directly on your site. If you take photos or video, you can integrate your Flickr and YouTube (or Vimeo) accounts separately and stream your content to your website. If you have one of those cool pocket-sized Flip video cameras, you can record HD video, upload it to your YouTube account, and have that feed into your website – pretty cool, eh? When looking for web features to implement, it’s just like the iPhone phrase “there’s an app for that.” You can implement weather, stocks, forums, audio players, podcasts, multilingual translations, video feeds and the kitchen sink!
What should I add? Determining what to add can be as simple as defining what your site is lacking. Bear in mind that you don’t have to work in a vacuum – check out your competition; ask your clients what they would like. Heck, you can even install Google Analytics and track what sections get the most traffic on your website, and beef up that content.
Where do these plugins come from? Because necessity is truly the mother of invention, programmers around the world are developing plugins for their clients, many of which are being developed as open source projects. Other applications and components are developed by for-profit companies that are selling software. Many add-ons are developed for implementation via a content management system (CMS). In many cases, components are programmed for multiple CMS platforms, like Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal to name a few. This process keeps costs down on the development of a plugin, and allows programmers to edit and customize existing code instead of reinventing the wheel (at their client’s expense).
Trick it out with customizations Custom add-ons like Flash animation can also add a real benefit to a website as well. While Flash is not search engine friendly (SEF), it does offer some unique multimedia features, such as animation, video, dynamic XML data feeding (think realtime charts & graphs).
With all add-ons, it is a good idea to make sure that you take search engines into consideration - if being found on the web is of importance to you. While an entire website can be created in Flash (and some are because it creates unparalleled interactivity) the Flash portion of a website is only viewed as a single object in the eyes of a web crawler. In other words, a web crawler will see the flash object and say “Oh – here’s a big box of stuff. I can read the label on the box, but I can’t look inside to see what is really inside.” If a web crawler can’t read the content of your website, it can’t index all of your website’s information, and therefore cannot report it and get you higher on a web search. In order to make sure that your website is able to be indexed, (in most cases) we recommend using Flash sparingly as a part of your website. Flash used well can be really effective when done properly. Another SEF recommendation that we make is to have descriptive titles and descriptions for all videos and images – this also makes it more cross-platform and handicap accessible.
The possibilities are endless, and can have a serious impact on your website’s ROI, so if you are interested in a multimedia upgrade, talk to your web professional to see what meets your needs and budget.
-Allen Borza aborza@greengroupstudio.com
Your website is a key marketing tool these days and the virtual brochure of the 21st century. These days, anyone can look like a Fortune 500 business on the web - without spending a fortune.
The latest buzzword being thrown around is “Web 2.0.” In short, going from a basic html website to Web 2.0 is like trading in a megaphone for a cell phone – your audience can communicate back with you. These days, companies need to focus on price, quality and delivery. A website that properly allows for “user feedback” can address each of these concerns: Price – web is a proven low-cost method to receive feedback. Quality – listening to and addressing your customers’ needs and requests will increase the quality of your service and/or product. Delivery – by responding to customer requests faster (say from an online questionnaire), you can get them what they need in a shorter amount of time.
A fine-tuned system can help you sell your product or service while you are sleeping – even if it only acts as another touch point to answer a customer’s frequently asked questions.
Do’s
Target your market Do understand your target market demographics. It is important that the design and colors of your web presence (and other marketing materials) are targeted towards your audience – not you as an individual. Leopard print may be your favorite pattern, however it may be inappropriate for a financial consultant company.
Do your homework Check out your competition to see what sections and features you want to incorporate into your website. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel; statistically, you will have a competitor that is one step ahead of you as you read this.
Browse portfolios Do select a website development company with a portfolio you like. Odds are if they have created something you like for someone else, they can do the same for you.
Get it in writing Make sure that you and your web company both understand exactly what is to be delivered with regards to work and payments, to avoid conflict and/or delays.
Dont’s Don’t trade your time for experience Don’t use a free website builder unless your needs are minimal, and you have a lot of time to learn about creating and testing your site. An experienced web developer will have a far more robust system that will allow for many more features. Just because you hire someone to create your website doesn’t mean you can’t edit it in the future by yourself. Content Management Systems (CMS) allow for a developer to deliver a user-editable website that can be edited in an ordinary web browser, not unlike editing a Microsoft Word document.
Don’t have stale content Once your website is up and running, make sure to keep your content current. Not only will it keep your customers coming back for more, but it will also increase your search engine rankings.
Don’t forget to track your traffic All too often, web traffic analysis is overlooked. By reviewing the statistical data of your web traffic, you can steer your online content towards the interests of your audience. Google Analytics offers one of the best free web statistic tools available. While it requires the setup of a free Gmail account, these user friendly tools are worth their weight in gold if you want to see how your visitors are finding your website. This is also a good tool to track any online advertising campaigns, and their effectiveness.
While there are many more intricacies that will contribute to a successful website, these guidelines should point you in the right direction. Your website is the welcome mat to your company, so be sure it’s representative of your image and branding, in order to deliver a consistent customer experience.
Malware, hackers and phishing, oh My!
H1N1 is a walk in the park compared to identity theft. If you are like me, a significant portion of your life is on your computer. Hopefully by now, we all have basic security features in place (and we have our operating systems constantly reminding us about updates). The fact remains that there are more viruses today than ever - literally. That coupled with the fact that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes, makes it quite clear that we all have our personal information at risk. So with the odds stacked up against you, how can we move into 2010 with confidence? The answer is an ounce of prevention, and a pound of common sense.
While many companies claim to have the best protection out there, the truth is that your system is always somewhat vulnerable. You can have the best antivirus software on the planet installed, but if you download that one attachment from an unknown sender that is questionable, you could end up digging yourself out of a hot mess. Even if you delete any suspicious emails, and you don’t give out your bank account number to “collect unclaimed funds” from some overseas country, the threats that we face today actually mimic websites, URLs, and email “from” addresses. Being fooled by these modernized scams is easy, so your best defense is to be smart about info that you give out. Don’t be afraid to call the person asking for your info, and don’t provide them with any information until they can verify their own legitimacy.
If you have a PC, then you need an antivirus program and a firewall. Some software packages offer these together as an integrated suite. Personally, I am not a huge fan of some of the larger programs (both in software popularity and usage of system resources). I’ll give you a hint - it rhymes with “Snore-ton”. If you have it and are happy, then great – you are protected. However, I would think twice before renewing my subscription, as there are free options available; AVG Free is a great free antivirus program. Do a Google search for “AVG Free” and then click the link “AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition” and be sure to download the free edition. They offer a paid upgraded version, but the free one works great (I have been using it for years). This program, run in conjunction with “Zone Alarm Free” (a firewall program) work wonders on your personal security. This firewall, like many, allows for you to set the internet connection permissions based on program (and set it to remember your preferences). While there are a bit of confirmation windows at first, your software will soon learn which programs to allow internet access. Should another program try to access your internet connection, there will be a “red flag” popup asking you for internet usage permission.
Don’t be afraid to “Google” (yes, Google is a verb too).
If your firewall is telling you “whatever.exe wants to access the internet, do you want to allow it?” – don’t be afraid to run a Google search on “whatever.exe” to learn if this is a malicious program. The good thing is that these days, people love to blog about good and bad software, so doing your homework is really some light reading.
Internet Explorer has competition for a reason. A while back, Microsoft created a web browser called Internet Explorer (IE). This web browser was integrated tightly with the Windows operating system - so much so that in 1998, antitrust laws forced the software giant to ensure that IE could be uninstalled as not to have a monopoly with their web browser (http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/press_releases/1998/1764.htm). Although Microsoft complied and made it so IE could be uninstalled, IE has a bit more integration with the operating system than any 3rd party browser (it also shares the same interface as Windows Explorer – the interface you see when you go to “My Computer” on your desktop). This integration, while it can be convenient, is also very dangerous. Enter the 3rd party browsers: Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome are great, lightweight, expandable, secure browsers. In fact, I only use Internet Explorer for “Windows Updates” and the occasional website that requires IE. Other than that, Firefox is my go-to web browser. These web browsers are free, and way safer than IE, so be sure to check them out.
Warning - stay away from other free programs unless they came recommended from someone you know and trust (and who hopefully has a decent amount of computer knowledge). There is a lot of crap out there (like the free game installations that install something called Wild Tangent – avoid at all costs). That being said, as a New Year bonus, I have also included some cool links to other useful tools. Enjoy and have a great 2010!
www.pcpitstop.com/internet/bw.asp
Good internet speed test for high speed connections.
www.google.com/voice
Free phone number from Google that can be used for all kinds of cool stuff.
www.logmein.com
Free program to remotely access your computer from anywhere
www.voipo.com
Super cheap phone service over the internet with tons of features.
Microsoft Security Essentials
Blocks malware, like spyware, from coming in.
Malwarebytes
Excellent tool for removing most spyware and malicious programs.
CutePDF
Utility to create PDF files from any program.
AUSLogics
Free, MUCH faster, disk defragment utility
CCLeaner
Quick utility to clean up garbage files on a computer.