Yahoo! Answers a new service lets users post questions on the web.
The free service works like a huge forum, where you are most likely to find the answers to your most burning questions!
It lets you get your questions answered in a personalised way and share the knowledge with other users.
All questions and answers will be archived and categorised by topic, and are fully searchable.
Its been put “better search with people”.
After @media 2006, Internet world and AdobeLive! it is clear we have a better understaning of what Web 2.0 is.
Rather than a word which defines an application or new language it covers all new applications which now are becoming more and more web based. Compared to the traditional closed programs offered by Microsoft. New applications like Google Spreadsheets.
A rebalance of the mix of media types used today. These aim to not only give better results, but a better customer journey.
Web 2.0 is about a creation of tools that make things easier to do on the web.
Web 2.0 is about a faster response of user generated content, with increased flexibility
Web 2.0 Flexibility like
Using APIs and open source code is becoming easier and cheaper to develop web applications.
In summary, Web 2.0 is still in its early years. Sites like blogs, wikis and community web sites are becoming more common because of the tools on the sites for the visitors to use.
Not everyone knows what a Web 2.0 application looks like, however continuing use of these will lead to a differentiated service where people will tell other people about.
The best way of telling a Web 2.0 Web site apart from the others is by the logo www.web2logo.com
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is all about the technical enhancement of your web site code. Also link building – The process of creating inbound links to owns website. This can be done reciprocal links, being listed in e-zines, newsletters, directories, search engines, etc.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is pay per click (PPC) sponsored adverts on search engine results pages. In which payment is based on the number of times the website is selected (clicked) from the results list. Is used in paid placement advertising and paid inclusion. Also known as cost-per-click listings (CPC).
They are quite different types of marketing, ultimately both though draw users and prospective business to your web site.
To increase your organic search engines listings as well as getting users driven to your site:
Get links from press releases and focus on relevant business directories. For example, Google News and NewsNow
The Search engines are changing their alogorithms very often, which means the way they rank web sites can be different depending on varying factors, such as web content, backlinks, etc. This can very often be very complex to understand.
To deal with new alogorithm patterns, resubmission and reoptimisation is required of your web site. With a keyword review for example.
SEO: is an ongoing process, rather like the myth build a web site and they will come, you can’t just do a one off initial campaign and leave it. If you are selling a product online, it is in your interest to invest time in reporting to see whether you are listed higher than your competitors.
SEM: Up to 60% of users to a Google results page do not click on sponsored PPC links. They trust more in natural search results. Therefore, natural/organic SEO is more cost effective than PPC in the long term strategy.
If you have a strong brand it would be more cost effective to choose 3rd position in the sponsored ads as people tend to compare the top three.
To aid success in an SEM (PPC) campaign:
The key for both SEO and SEM is understanding the strengths and weaknesses in the keywords you have selected for web content and sponsored advert text.
Ask yourself every month “so what?”, and “what do these results mean?”.
Perhaps there are any keyword phrases that your competitors are not using that you can take advantage of.
In conclusion, if you have both good organic listings and good PPC position for keyword phrases it can be very effective and a good strategy to follow.
An SEO package from Callender Creates not only advises you of the best practices, we can also track and report on the position of your web sites. To make sure you stay on the first results page.
A new group in Brighton has been setup to share the talent of flash developers in the area. www.flashcodersbrighton.org
As well as skillswap and the Brighton freelancers evenings it is a usefull addition for people wanting to take their skills in flash further. Especially with guest speakers like Aral Balkan.
I was able to attend the Flashcoders second meeting where Aral presented Flash Platform: The Next Generation
Where he gave an overview of ActionScript 3, the Flex 2 SDK and Flex Builder 2.
Building web applications using flex is built in MXML (XML format) and outputs them as SWF files. Its usefulness is a product enhancement tool. And also a complier for XML and Actionscript.
He showcased a “Hello World” example right up to an interactive game using Flex Builder.
I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on Adobe Labs and osflash.org for ongoing developments in this exciting environment.
The Flashcoders events take place at City College in Brighton. Every fortnight at 18:30hrs.
A report on the seminars and the nice people I met in London for @media 2006.
It was the second year for this event, the audience grew to a large 800 people to come and learn about the new and emerging web applications and new accessibility guidelines for web 2.0.
>> Eric Meyer started the event with a historic look at the last ten years of the web, there were a few hands up for “who remembers netscape 3?”.
His main point was “Sharing information is the only way to move a new technology forward”. and “with every problem in web language you should write an essay or report to share this and help others move forward”.
and reconfirming that CSS is a simple and powerful language which is increasingly helping to push the web forward. For example at: CSS Destroy and CSS Playground
Full transcript for Eric Meyer’s Keynote
>> Good Vs. Great Design with Veerle, Jon Hicks and Cameron Moll – showed that that design is not just about pretty design, it’s about the effective communication of content too, and there is no one solution.
They discussed individually typography, colour and grid design. And how some colours and type work with some web themes, where as others are just wrong!
Download the presentation slides (PDF file – 3.5 MB)
>> Chris Wilson of Microsoft reported on the new IE7 browser. And whats in store for the future. It’s been five years since a new version of Internet Explorer, and he explained what they had been up to all this time!
Full transcript for IE7 and Beyond
>> WCAG 2.0 – The new web accessibility guidelines by the W3C, was relevant to new web technologies. The panel mentioned a new book on this subject and referred to PAS78 being a way to implement accessibility and not guidelines themselves. Web pages compliant to WCAG should be POUR:
Full transcript for WCAG 2.0
>> Jeff Veen is always a good speaker. His topic “The next generation of web apps” showed that powerful tools in the hands of people with passion for the web is changing the way we view the media now. Blogs, wikis are all diverting our attention away from mainstream media.
He also covered what the elements should be for a Web 2.0 application – “Surface – Skeleton – Structure – Scope – strategyâ€?
Full transcript of The Next Gen of Web Apps
Download the presentation slides (PDF file – 18.5 MB)
>> Dan Cederholm carried on his excellent hands on topic of Bulletproof web design. He mentioned his 10 second usability test where you: take away the CSS, images > can you still read the page?. An unscientific way, but easy to add to site analysis workflow.
He also covered validation techniques and new bulletproof concepts such as link and bullet list examples.
The bulletproof concept.
Means >> Great Web design.
Full transcript Bulletproof web design
Download the Presentation Slides (PDF File – 20MB)
>> And finally a superhero panel – Hicks, Holzschlag, Celik, Meyer and Keith (see pic below) discussing “Hot” Topics.
Full transcript of Hot Topics
All in all a great conference for the front end web developer and any web team who wants to increase their learning and experience with web standards and Web 2.0 applications.
I should have taken more photos, how ever there are some good pics up on Flickr.
Meanwhile the speaker list has just been added to this years d.construct 2006.
Have you ever wanted to see what people are searching for over a period of time?
Well, now you can – As well as viewing some demographics on Google
Google Trends you can compare multiple phrases by entering several phrases separating the words/phrases by using a comma.
Here’s a list of what makes any web site a success, meaning more business for your company.
Follow these tips and you will have a site that is guaranteed to get more attention than a web site that chooses to ignore them!
Make sure your site looks professional
Take a hard, cold look at your site – or ask a friend who will be brutally honest to look at the site. Does it look professional? Are the graphics professional-quality and clear? Are the fonts, font sizes, and font colors used in a consistent way?
Don’t use the name of your company as the web page title
Every web page has a windows-style title bar. The title that appears in that title bar is determined by what you include in the title “tag” in the html code for the page.
Focus the home page and product pages on your customers’ interests, not yours
It’s tempting to write a lengthy description of your business accomplishments and run it on your home page with a big photo of yourself. But prospects and customers have come to your site to find out what you sell and how it will help them.
Avoid a cluttered look
If you sell multiple products, you want them all to be found. And if you are being billed by the number of “pages” on your web site, you may want to keep costs down.
Minimize graphic sizes to make sure your pages load quickly
Photos and other graphic images make your pages look appealing and help illustrate what you sell. So, they are important to include. But don’t let the size of graphics slow down your web site.
Make sure it’s easy to place an order
Imagine how annoyed you’d be if you ran into the supermarket to pick up a container of milk, and couldn’t find the checkout counter? Website visitors are no different.
Be sure your contact information is easy to find
Customers not only want to know what you sell and who you are, they want to know how to reach you.
Share links with other businesses in your community
The tips above will help you get found in search engines and help make your pages more appealing to potential customers.
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