What Kind of Web Page Generating Technology are you using?
Be real careful about fill in the box sites. I don’t recommend them.
They are cheap, sure. They are easy to fill in the boxes, sure. They often look like crap and they can leave you with hidden aggravation.
They can be a mortal blow for good SEO. And your data is stuck right where you put itThere are a lot of variations on fill in the box sites. Add a picture. Add your text. Opps, now you want to add a video. Can you?
I have a client who has had fill in the box technology for several years. He had to ask for help to add a picture. So what happens to your fill in the blank site in the future? It just might be running on the equivalent of wagon wheels and you want to travel in the new fast lane.
Opps, what do you do? Too often it is start over… from scratch.
They often don’t search well because your content is at the end of a database call. They can leave your favorite search bot confused and your data is not cataloged and nobody finds you on the Internet. I don’t think that is what you wanted to have happen.
You really don’t want conditional calls in your URLs Stuff like www.mysite.com/page.php?action= This is not ideal for search. You like a nice sensible static link like you see above.
Template sites are a trap- sort of like being a crustacean. Don’t get caught in a system which must be shed when you outgrow it or want to change how it looks or works. Ouch!
Make sure you get a system that can grow and accommodate what you want to do. Make sure your technology is flexible to absorb and grow with the technology of the future.
What do I recommend? I recommend WordPress.
Actually, the easiest web building technology today is WordPress. You might know enough to associate WordPress with Blogging software. Well it works great to build a website.
WordPress is open software that you can build with and then export when and if you want to move your site. Here is more information on website technology and WordPress
I also recommend your own server on GoDaddy or Gatorhost.
There are other great choices. Cpanel is nice as a resource for uploading software. This does take some effort to understand the technology, but you can find just the right amount of freelance tech support to make this work.
Make sure you have control of your own domain. Responsible people wouldn’t have it any other way. But make sure if you buy a new domain, you are the named owner.
I recommend that you avoid flash sites.
Flash is useful on occasion. It works for an ad as a widget. If is not blinking incessantly. Demure in the word.
Otherwise, flash technology interferes with the search bots and interferes with your visitor finding the answer for which they came.
They did not come for entertainment. Is that why the pictures on the front page morph back and forth like bad cartoons? And then some people add in sound effects for clicks. I don’t like this either.
Simple design is best. I have the data to prove it. Or at least Google does. They like simple. They do everything they do with real data.
A complex flash design put an extra check in the mailbox for the ad agency creating the website, and it gives good brain exercise and good healthy glow on the face of the creator. Mission accomplished- a piece of complexity works.
I submit that no one who must traipse the webscape enjoys the flash. It distracts. It annoys. It costs you money as people give up and go elsewhere. That is my perception. I have seen the loss of flash lower bounce rates but other changes were make also.
Conventional wisdom is that Flash websites are a liability. But that is not definitive. I recommend moving towards the side of elegant and simple.
Was there some question not answered by this page? What do you feel needs to be added? Do you need some advice or recommendations for help here? Let me know.
This level of technology is not complex but a little help pointing in the right direction at the right time helps keep you out of the deep brush. Leave a comment or get in touch directly.
