Blog Feed: Web Design, SEO and More from Pleasanton CA

I put together this quick video using animoto – a free video production tool that can help you create short promotional videos for your business. You can use these videos on your website, blog, Google Places listing, Youtube, and anywhere else

Pleasanton Web Design 2012 Wrap

Published on 2012-12-22 12:39:22

This year has seen a lot of changes in the world of Web Design and promotion. Some of the biggest changes have been: Google search engine ranking and results pages Google continually rolled out major changes throughout the year that changed the lands

Local Citation Building Replaces Link Building for Small Business SEO

Published on 2012-12-08 13:41:14

Link-building has long been a primary task in the process of improving the rank of a small business website and increasing targeted traffic. That has changed with the implementation of the Panda and Penguin modifications to Google’s ranking alg

Average Keyword Costs for Google Adwords

Published on 2012-11-10 09:44:42

I ran into a couple of nice articles detailing some average costs per click for various industries. If you are researching whether or not to get into Google Adwords Advertising, this data will be helpful in determining whether or not Adwords costs wi

5 Common Misconceptions About Search Engine Results

Published on 2012-10-20 13:09:42

The following are some common misconceptions I’ve noticed that non-technical people tend to have about search engines, and the process of gaining search engine exposure for their business. Clearing these up prior to any project is essential in order to realistically set expectations. 1. Misconception: Getting on Page One of the search results is a matter [...]

Staying Logged Into Multiple Twitter Accounts

Published on 2012-09-22 11:57:50

It’s common to have multiple Twitter accounts, but besides the Twitter iPhone app, it’s difficult to use them on the Twitter Website. Sure, you can sign up for services, like TweetDeck and Hootsuite, but what if you are just a casual user rather than a hardcore social media marketer? The best approach that I have [...]

Adding Fields to Joomla 2.5 Registration Form

Published on 2012-09-08 11:43:32

I am working on a project that requires a customized registration form for Joomla 2.5. On first glance it didn’t appear that Joomla 2.5 had much too offer. The closest think I could find in the documentation was an article on how to create a profile plugin. With additional research I found information on a [...]

iGoogle Replacement – Netvibes

Published on 2012-09-08 10:31:59

If you are an iGoogle user, one of the many things you’ve been nagged about lately is the discontinuation of iGoogle itself. Google cites the erosion of the product over time, and modern apps running on platforms like Chrome and Android being better alternatives. I don’t know about that, but I do know I will [...]

How Google Detects “Spammers”

Published on 2012-08-24 10:17:25

Peter Da Vanzo posting on SEOBook pointed to an interesting post on another blog, SEO by the Sea. It analyzes a recent Google Patent for a system designed to both confuse and detect “spammers.” I should mention that if you are trying to improve the ranking of your webpage using on-page SEO techniques, it is likely [...]

Create Quick and Easy Video Tutorials for Free

Published on 2012-07-29 10:42:19

If you are a Webmaster and support clients who are not good with computers, this tip will save you a lot of time and trouble. Here’s how: 1. Sign-up for a free Screencast account with Techsmith. This will allow you to share your video by pasting a link in an email, instant message, or whatever [...]

How to Tell if an SEO Company is Trying to Scam You

Published on 2012-07-14 12:03:22

As a website designer and promoter who works closely with a small number of businesses, I get to hear second hand about SEO scams that shady business are using to target my clients with. Although most of the scammers seem to be individuals working from their home, some are actually huge brands that are household [...]

Google Algorithm Changes for May 2012

Published on 2012-07-08 12:33:08

By far the most significant change Google has made in their algorithm since the now infamous Panda Update of February 2011, has been Google Penguin(which hit the SERPS on April 24 of this year). The biggest change brought by Google Penguin was that it penalized sites for what was, up until it was unleashed, the common practice [...]

Google Webmaster Tools Shows “Duplicate Title Tags,” With Canonical Tag on WordPress

Published on 2012-06-11 23:04:34

Google Webmaster Tools is a nice, FREE service that can give webmasters clues about what needs to be fixed on their websites. Like all free services I am aware of, it is not perfect. For Example: The “Duplicate Title Tags” section in Webmaster Tools for this website always shows duplicate title tags for the most [...]

Pleasanton Free Concerts in the Park – Summer 2012 Line-Up

Published on 2012-06-04 13:29:50

Free Concerts on Friday evening are a summer tradition in Pleasanton. They are put on by the Pleasanton Downtown association and sponsored by various Pleasanton Businesses. The concerts are held at Lions Wayside Park, at First and Neal Street. Here’s the line-up for Summer 2012: June 1: The Bacchus Brothers and Lisa Marie Johnston - Country [...]

Another Google SURPRISE! Google Places are now Google+ Pages

Published on 2012-06-04 09:15:05

Late last week Google transitioned the Google Places listings local businesses use to promote their services to Google+ Pages. The rankings don’t seem to have changed as far as I can tell at this point, although I’m still trying to sort out the changes brought about by the Google Penguin Update, both positive and negative (this [...]

Goodbye Google Website Optimizer – Moving to Google Analytics

Published on 2012-06-01 21:01:35

So Google is discontinuing its Website Optimizer effective August 1, or two months from today, the day of the announcement. Hope you don’t have too many experiments running! Or market software specifically integrated with Google Website Optimizer. We’re saying goodbye to Google Website Optimizer. Many marketers and publishers have improved the web by using insights [...]

Google Penguin Algorithm Update

Published on 2012-04-30 09:18:43

Google has reportedly name it’s latest algorithm update. Google “Penguin” is aimed at over-optimization. Here are the key points to consider: 1. Avoid hidden text or hidden links. 2. Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects. 3. Don’t send automated queries to Google. 4. Don’t load pages with irrelevant keywords. 5. Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, [...]

Google Over-Optimization Penalties – Announcement Pending

Published on 2012-04-22 11:23:49

There’s been a lot of talk recently in the SEO world about over-optimization penalties that Google has apparently been rolling out over the last month or so. Many sites have already lost ranking or have been de-indexed altogether. Google hasn’t announced anything officially yet, but announcements from them generally come shortly after a major change [...]

No. 10: Improved ranking for queries using “site:” operator – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-04-15 11:39:16

In late February, Google gave webmasters a rare treat by supplying a detailed list of updates to their search engine algorithm. Continuing with item-by-item analysis: 10. “Site:” query update [launch codename “Semicolon”, project codename “Dice”] This change improves the ranking for queries using the “site:” operator by increasing the diversity of results. The “site:” operator [...]

No. 9: Minor tuning of autocomplete policy algorithms – Google’s 40 Feb 2012 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-04-05 09:00:25

Continuing with analysis of Google’s search quality updates back in February with: 9. Minor tuning of autocomplete policy algorithms. [project codename “Suggest”] We have a narrow set of policies for autocomplete for offensive and inappropriate terms. This improvement continues to refine the algorithms we use to implement these policies. Google’s search “autocomplete” is an import tool in driving [...]

Why Website Templates Don’t Work

Published on 2012-04-03 09:50:26

With so many nice looking website templates available, why can’t you purchase a template, pay someone to install it, and paste in your text content, rather than designing a website from scratch? A template design may be appropriate in a very narrow range of circumstances. Before you decide to go with a template, ask yourself [...]

Best Practices for Small Business Email Management

Published on 2012-03-31 11:47:06

I work with many small businesses with varying levels of technical capability at their disposal. Businesses with few employees often have no IT support. The problem is that today’s business environment virtually requires the use of email. On the surface email is simple. You sign-up for a Gmail, Yahoo or AOL account. You send and [...]

No. 8: Expand the size of our images index in Universal Search – Google’s 40 Feb 2012 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-25 13:23:45

Continuing with analysis of Google’s recent (February 2012) search quality updates, now referred to as Google Panda 3.3: 8. Expand the size of our images index in Universal Search. [launch codename “terra”, project codename “Images Universal”] We launched a change to expand the corpus of results for which we show images in Universal Search. This is especially [...]

No. 7: Refreshed per-URL country information (Google longdew and country-id Updates)

Published on 2012-03-20 10:49:09

Continuing with analysis of Google’s recent (February 2012) search quality updates, now referred to as Google Panda 3.3: Refreshed per-URL country information. [Launch codename “longdew”, project codename “country-id data refresh”] We updated the country associations for URLs to use more recent data. A translation from this French SEO Expert points out that Top Level Domains (TLD) are the [...]

No. 6: More accurate detection of official pages (Google WRE Update) – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-18 10:27:24

Continuing with analysis of Google’s recent (February 2012) search quality updates, now referred to as Google Panda 3.3: More accurate detection of official pages. [launch codename “WRE”] We’ve made an adjustment to how we detect official pages to make more accurate identifications. The result is that many pages that were previously misidentified as official will no [...]

IE throwing JavaScript Errors using ITF Toolbar: Joomla 1.5

Published on 2012-03-17 23:18:43

Just a quickie! I’m using the ITF Share toolbar, which is a cool Joomla extension that displays social networking icons on one of my Joomla Websites. The extension is a module. It worked great, but with IE set to display JavaScript errors, I was getting and error from the code in that module. A quick [...]

No. 5: More locally relevant predictions in YouTube – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-12 19:04:04

Google “Suggest” is one of the 40 search quality updates Google implemented last month. 5. More locally relevant predictions in YouTube. [project codename “Suggest”] We’ve improved the ranking for predictions in YouTube to provide more locally relevant queries. For example, for the query [lady gaga in ] performed on the US version of YouTube, we might [...]

No. 4: More consistent thumbnail sizes on results page – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-08 23:35:40

Continuing with analysis of Google’s recent (February 2012) search quality updates: 4. More consistent thumbnail sizes on results page. We’ve adjusted the thumbnail size for most image content appearing on the results page, providing a more consistent experience across result types, and also across mobile and tablet. The new sizes apply to rich snippet results [...]

No. 3: Less Duplication in Expanded Sitelinks – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-04 00:49:09

Continuing with analysis of Google’s recent search quality updates: #3. Less duplication in expanded sitelinks. [launch codename “thanksgiving”, project codename “Megasitelinks”] We’ve adjusted signals to reduce duplication in the snippets for expanded sitelinks. Now we generate relevant snippets based more on the page content and less on the query. This update is closely related to [...]

No. 2: Tweak the Categorizer for Expanded Sitelinks – Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates

Published on 2012-03-02 09:45:12

Continuing with the series of posts covering Google’s announced Search Quality Updates in February 2012: Tweak to categorizer for expanded sitelinks. [launch codename “Snippy”, project codename “Megasitelinks”] This improvement adjusts a signal we use to try and identify duplicate snippets. We were applying a categorizer that wasn’t performing well for our expanded sitelinks, so we’ve stopped [...]

Google’s 40 Search Quality Updates – No. 1 -More Coverage for Related Searches

Published on 2012-03-01 12:36:38

Google has recently announced 40 updates to it’s search functionality that are supposed to improve the quality of searches and provide added value to searchers. Anyone who has followed Google’s updates for any length of time is aware that the real reason behind updates is generally to make more money for Google. If improving quality [...]

What “Looks Good” is Subjective

Published on 2012-02-02 22:22:48

We are all aware of the sayings “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” “Different strokes for different folks” and “There is no accounting for taste.” Unfortunately, although these sayings are universal, the associated insights don’t seem to be. This is nowhere more apparent when designing something for someone else. What looks “professional” to [...]

Criminal Attorney Web Design

Published on 2012-01-12 22:20:26

I designed this website for a criminal defense attorney.

Photographer Web Design – Custom WordPress Theme

Published on 2012-01-11 22:17:30

This custom WordPress Theme was designed for a Wedding Photographer’s portfolio blog.

$100 Google Adwords Gift Card – Free Trial

Published on 2011-12-04 11:27:41

UPDATE: I am out of gift cards for now. Will be getting some $75 credits soon, so check back. Please note that I need your mailing address, not your email address. Businesses in the U.S. get priority. Sorry – SEO and Web design companies are not eligible. As a Google Engage partner, Google gives me [...]

Beware of Google Adwords Strategists!

Published on 2011-11-28 15:00:15

I had my first experience with a Google Adwords Strategist recently. As a Google Engage partner, Google issues me Adwords credits to pass out to my clients. The credits are only good for first time Adwords users. I had just started to set up an Adwords campaign for one of my clients and issued them [...]

Freight Company Web Design

Published on 2011-11-27 22:25:52

This website was design primarily as a sales tool that features shipping software video tutorials. The website is available in English and Spanish versions. The Flash video features a custom player with full screen capability, as well as custom overlays that display calls to action when the video is paused, and when it completes. �

Non-Profit Website Design

Published on 2011-11-25 22:19:15

This project was a website redesign for a non-profit organization that works children, parents and teachers to promote a character-building methodology. The key function of the website is to provide educational document downloads. The site also includes an events calendar, an online shop and photo galleries of the organizations numerous events.

Non-Profit Web Design

Published on 2011-11-23 22:11:27

This website was created for a non-profit organization dedicated to feeding the hungry. Key components of the website are a custom interactive map feature, the ability to publish news articles to multiple categories and the ability to accept donations.

Damage Repair, Home Detailing Company Web Design

Published on 2011-11-21 22:05:34

This Website was created for a company offering a wide range of services including damage repair, home detailing, general contracting and much more. Key features of the website include project galleries, coupon downloads, and a mailing list manager that allows the company to send mass emails to their customers.

Google Removes Keyword Referral Data – UPDATE

Published on 2011-11-19 19:14:43

Almost a month ago Google removed the keyword referral data for searches made by logged in Google users. At the time Matt Cutts estimated that the overall effect as a percentage of the overall keyword data would be in the single digits. WRONG! At least for me. My initial test for the couple of days [...]

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Blog Feed: Web Design, SEO and More from Pleasanton CA

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