newsletter

September ABCs of Web Design Newsletter

Introductory comments

I was very excited to receive the following email from Bob Baxley of (link this) Boxes and Arrows. I have admired this site for a while and visit regularly. “Theresa, Thank you for mentioning my Boxes and Arrows article in your recent piece for Intercom (Introduction to Interaction Design). It's good to see the field of Interaction Design getting more exposure. When you consider the amount of time we all spend figuring out Word, our cell phones, and our voicemail systems, it's a wonder the field hasn't received more attention or been held to greater accountability. I suspect there are more than a few frustrated users who would like to beat the proverbial stuffing out of some folks. As the profession becomes more mainstream, hopefully users and the companies producing interactive products will become more aware of the importance of design and thus more demanding of designers. Thanks again...Bob”

I love helping. On to the question…

Question of the month

Question This month’s questions comes from Andrew White, he writes “Theresa, When I do a search on Google for w-edge design, I've noticed that the contents in your meta name description tags are displayed in the search results. Google search results: “... seo? W-edge design specializes in affordable search engines placement, internet marketing and seo as well as web site design. We ...” Description: Specializes in search engine placement, Internet marketing and website design.

However, when I do a search for CrossRoads Church of Fort Worth, the description in my meta tag data does not show up….Some other text form God knows where appears. Google search results: Description: Provides introduction to the church's vision and contemporary services, missions, devotions, and weekly...”

This is what I've got in my meta tags: “ CrossRoads Church of Fort Worth is a contemporary, non-denominational, multi-cultural church located in the Haltom City area. Whether…”

Answer: Great Question. It looks like the search engine is pulling the description from somewhere else, perhaps your old site (he recently redesigned this site)? When you redesigned the site, did you register with search engines again? You should not do this until you have all the SEO squared away and where you want it. Your description is very long – consider shortening it. And you have a space by the comma, which could pose a problem. I would suggest you rewrite your keywords, Title, and META info then re-register with search engines. This will cause the spiders to come out and re-index your site. Then it should show the new stuff. Good luck!

Wrap up

September is my favorite month so I am just predisposed to being happy. At my full-time gig, I am finally starting the redesign and planning of the new corporate site. I still get a thrill when I do this stuff: Every site is different and brings with it its own set of challenges. Web sites are the best!

I am also doing a presentation on SEO overview for DigitalEve Columbus called “Boost revenues with good Search Engine Optimization.” Stop by if you are in the area. I will also be doing a how-to class on SEO later this month. I will list this info in the What’s New section of my site when we have our date and location confirmed.

I think my next article will be about SEO -- keywords and site text. For some reason people I talk to are just not getting the keyword thing. So I am wondering if I did not explain it well enough in my articles.

Please send all questions to theresaw@columbus.rr.com.

To see the articles from my print web column, go to http://www.w-edge.com/articles.htm

Feel free to forward this email in its entirety to anyone you feel might be interested in it.