Here’s something just for some fun on a Friday. (Not responsible if you get caught playing at work)
Bored.com has many really great time wasters on their site and one of the pages I like best is Falling Sand.
It’s kind of a create your own science experiment/hypnotize yourself/just have some fun kind of thing. You can build walls to catch the sand and then watch them fill up and overflow. Then, you can napalm the whole thing when you are done. Plus I’m going to the beach soon and this game really appeals to me on that level.
One of the things that I mention to my clients that want to start a blog and allow others to add content to their site is that besides blog spam you probably will get some commenters that don’t like you or what you say. I usually say that instead of just deleting the negative comments the best policy is to let the comments stay and just honestly answer their criticism.
By allowing their comments and then answering them you look like you are not afraid of talking about all aspects of your business. Just about everyone knows that no matter how good you are you can’t please everyone. So a blog that doesn’t allow any negative comments will apprear strict and censored. Open conversation not only makes you look better and fair there’s a good chance that if you keep an open mind you can learn from complaints. I have always believed that listening to a couple of honest complaints can help you improve your business much more than a thousand praises.
Of course on your own site you do have the option of just deleting negative comments, but what can you do if they are not on your site? I recently read a great post on the aimClear Search Marketing Blog by Marty Weintraub that really offers some great ideas about what you can to to help you recover and even benefit from damaging negative comments about you or your business posted on the web.
Here’s something just for some fun on a Friday. (Not responsible if you get caught playing at work)
I’ve been very busy this week and haven’t had time for posting like I would want to, but I couldn’t miss Friday Fun!
Every year, Working America runs a national competition for America’s worst boss. I have even encouraged some people I know to enter (you know who you are).
You can enter your boss or just read the horror stories from this year and years past. Just don’t let your boss catch you doing it at work.
I have tried several different ways to have my meta title tags. Those are the descriptions that you see at the very top of the browser window that describe the page that your on.
Search engines use these tags in different ways, including the text on the results page for your site and I have never been sure if I should Lillicotch.com in them. Some people say it’s much too valuable of a space to waste on your domain name when everyone already sees that.
I have gone back and forth on this issue. Currently I have my name int the title, then today I read Stoney deGeyter’s post on Search Engine Guide and now I’m torn again. There is no real answer here, but this post is good food for thought. Maybe I’ll sleep on it.
Read Does Your Company Name Really Belong In Your Title Tag?
I have a page on my site with some of my favorite site designs that are showing up on the web. These are not my sites, but they are the kinds of designs that I like in a website. There are different reasons that I picked these site designs, they all look good and are clear and easy to use. The graphics are good, but not overpowering. Sometimes I just like a picture or the name. Some of the sites are not in English and I still know what they are about.
The newest one is called Langkawi Nature, Wildlife and Birding Tours.
I think that you can probably see from just the thumbnail here that that’s what the site looks like. Jungle looking, very green and lush. Nice use of shadows.
The navigation is right below the header and is easy to use.
I like that you see a new first page header picture every time you visit.
It really makes the site seem fresh
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There are many things about designing web sites that have changed from the beginning of cyber time and many things that haven’t. I try to point out a well done site every week in my Favorite Site Design category.
The truth is that while the look of well done websites has gotten cleaner, easier to read and interact with, the main goal of a website is still to please the visitor. It doesn’t matter whether you are trying to sell, entertain or educate them, you need to offer something that is pleasing to the eye of most human visitors, as well as, offering something that interests them.
Business Week has a nice article on what to do when designing a site today and I noticed it’s almost the same good advice that worked well ten years ago.
I’m a T-Mobile customer and have been for quite a while now. When I was shopping for a new smartphone I went to quite a few stores and spoke to many salespeople. When I finally found Ian Hoover at the Mall at Robinson store (lower level) I knew that I had the right guy.
Ian answered all of my questions right away and corrected the misconceptions that I got from some of the other people. He convinced me right away that he knew what he was talking about and he was more interested in helping me get what I needed than what he wanted to sell me. He also didn’t pressure me when I told him it would be at least a week before I was ready to buy.
Being a good salesperson Ian also let me know about some of the things that T-Mobile would be introducing in the future that I might want to check out. One of them was called T-Mobile HopSpot @Home.
It seems very cool. You get a router/modem and they port your current phone number to it. Then you get unlimited VOIP Internet US calling for $10 a month. All I do is to keep my DSL which I would do anyway. I think it’s a great idea since I plan to keep my home phone and I will probably try it, but I’m not ordering on the Internet. I’m going back to visit Ian.
I probably will still advise not using Flash for making the navigation for your pages, but Google is starting to look at your Flash pages with new eyes.
They still probably won’t see your site like your human visitors do, but it looks like things are getting better for them being able to know what’s on your page.
I believe that even though I don’t use much Flash anything that helps people find exactly what they are looking for is a good thing.
I have a page on my site with some of my favorite site designs that are showing up on the web. These are not my sites, but they are the kinds of designs that I like in a website. There are different reasons that I picked these site designs, they all look good and are clear and easy to use. The graphics are good, but not overpowering. Sometimes I just like a picture or the name. Some of the sites are not in English and I still know what they are about.
The newest one is called Lucy Blackmore.
Lucy is an artist and crafty person living in the Harrogate UK. Her site is a blog and it’s designed in way that lets you know exactly what she’s in to.
The site really shows off her paintings well, which is exactly what it’s purpose is. There are only a couple of links to her site pages and they stand out right at the top. I also like the date and comment tags that look like tabs on the sides, a very nice touch.
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Here’s something just for some fun on a Friday. (Not responsible if you get caught playing at work)
In the spirit of the 4th of July holiday (Independence Day) here in the US and all of the “Green” incentives going on these days I give you way to cook your meal without the air poluting charcoal. There are quite a few to choose from.
