web design belfast

How to get good a Website Ranking for Google Penguin

Google Penguin is the most recent update to the Google Search algorithm, and it was made in an attempt to crack down on websites that use illegal means to beef up their page ranking. Many people deliberately manipulate search engine indexes in order to generate more hits to a non-legitimate website. These websites may look like your average, reliable website, but upon closer inspection you can usually tell which websites are fraught with spam. The content is often poorly written, everything you click on links to something else, and pop up ads are often abundant. What is Google Penguin? Google Penguin was released on April 24, 2012 as an update to the last algorithm released in February 2011, called Navneet Panda. Penguin's algorithm determines if a website uses these faulty page-ranking methods, and down-ranks them. If you are looking to maintain a high page ranking with Google Penguin, you can start by avoiding any of these tactics at all costs. These so-called 'black hat' search engine optimisation techniques will bring down one's page ranking. They are so notorious because they illegitimately manipulate the searching process in order to promote their website, however lacking it may be in relevant content. There are many popular fraudulent link schemes that one would have to avoid participating in in order to maintain a high page ranking in the era of Google Penguin. Since page ranking is partially determined by the amount of reputable webpages the site was linked to, people would exploit that quality in order to have a high page ranking. They would needlessly link to unrelated websites in the hopes that their website would become highly ranked. Sometimes, a group of webpages would support each other, which

What is Google Panda and Google Penguin?

What is PageRank? PageRank, the algorithm used by the Google Search Engine that ranks every document in a hyperlinked set, essentially determines the top results of a Google search by calculating the probability that a user randomly selecting a page would end up on each individual page. In other words, the websites that appropriately matched the keywords of the search, that also have the most references on other parts of the web, end up higher in the list of results. Google's system, while extremely effective, and widely seen as the best search engine algorithm, however, is not perfect, and undergoes numerous modifications and changes in order to improve its performance. It is not uncommon for Google to make 50 small changes to its search algorithm in single month. Most of these changes are miniscule, however, and have no real impact on the majority of searches. They do, however, release a "major" update several times a year. What is Google Panda? Google Panda is the code name for one such modification to the Google PageRank algorithm. Panda, specifically, was first released in February 2011. The purpose of the Google Panda project was to lower the ratings of irrelevant or lower quality sites. Since the ranking was originally determined mostly by a site's popularity, many of the top results in Google searches were undesirable websites. After the implementation of Google Panda, there was a noticeable increase in the number of news websites and social media websites in the top results. At the same time, sites plagued with enormous amounts of advertisement that was accompanied with little or no content were moved very far down in the ratings. Panda was revised several times after its release to tune

Using Facebook to Promote your Website and Business

Using Facebook as a means of promoting your Website Content & Business Facebook is a very popular, if not the most popular social networking website in the world today. This makes it a great avenue for promoting websites and generating traffic to them. Many people check their Facebook accounts several times a day and use this social network as one of their main sources of current information. Anything showing up on their news feeds has the potential to catch their eye and pique their curiosity. If they see that one of their friends has shared something interesting from another website, they are very likely to check it out themselves, and maybe even share it again with their friends. As more and more people share information from a website, more and more traffic is generated. In reality, using Facebook as a means of promoting your website content has never been easier. There are many great websites out there and it is easier than it ever has been for anyone to set up their own website without much hassle or work at all. The most creative ideas and unique content are generally the most appealing to the general public; however it is impossible for people to find every website out there by chance. Promoting a website is ultimately a great deal more important than designing one. Websites are only successful if they have traffic and people who keep coming back to read new content, browse and buy products, or participate in any other activities offered by the site. If no one visits a website, updating it is pointless, and it slowly dies. It is up to the site creator and web designer to keep it going and

Why your business NEEDS to have its own website

In today's current competitive market, businesses need to stand out and be noticed, in order to retain existing customers and to attract new customers. Social media has emerged as a burgeoning area for marketing and promotion of businesses; in part because it allows for broad exposure, increased frequency of visibility, and the ability to capitalise on interactivity and social engagement, often at little or no expense. However, having a Facebook page to promote your business is not enough; your business NEEDS to have its own website to maximise the effectiveness of advertising, outreach, and promotion. Why do I need a website? While there is a certain ease associated with maintaining a Facebook page for your business, one notable liability of relying solely on social media for advertising and promotion is that Facebook pages do not allow for providing extensive product and service information, conveyed quickly and clearly to potential customers. Without organised, searchable, detailed, accurate, and clear information about the products your business offers, potential customers may be enticed to look elsewhere for the items or services they seek. A website allows for this type of product information dissemination, in a manner that is easy to navigate, simple to use, comprehensive and designed specifically to meet your needs to engage and inform your consumer base. Savvy consumers have a desire for a breadth and depth of product information that is not easily provided or conveyed via social media, but is particularly well suited for communication via a website. Advantages of having a website over a Facebook page Another advantage to maintaining a website for your business relates specifically to dollars and cents or pounds and pennys for some customers, being able to quickly and easily

The basics of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

What is Search engine optimisation (SEO)? Search engine optimisation (SEO) allows an organisation to increase the visibility of their website by ensuring that more keywords will produce a search result that includes the company website, whether it is the homepage or a specific webpage within the domain. Optimisation can also occur when the organisation gains a better understanding of how the target audience chooses a search engine and what keywords they use to complete the search. This information can then be used to target the right audience by choosing the applicable search engines and keywords. Search engine optimisation is an important revenue-generating tool or organisations, especially small businesses. SEO provides free additional marketing for the organisation! This is an important step in today’s society, where information becomes popular because of “going viral” on the internet. How does SEO work? SEOs are based on algorithms that are developed by the respective search engine; for example, Google, Yahoo, and Bing are all search engines that use these algorithms. Some search engines use a human-based aspect as well to ensure error-free, all-inclusive results for users and to ensure that the master directory is as accurate as possible. organisations should consult the web developer to discuss all available HTML coding options that can be used to optimise keywords, as well as allowing the site to bypass indexing (if applicable) and reduce the likelihood of crawling in certain instances, concepts that are explained below.   What basic steps should I take to optimise my website for better search engine rankings? Organisations should always take the opportunity to incorporate search engine optimisation into the HTML coding of their website. The benefit is widespread exposure through increased local search engine rankings, which means

What is Link Building? What are the benefits of Link Building?

So you finally have a new website but how do you get people to view it? Sure your site may be on Google but there is a good chance it is not on the top page and thousands of people a day will not even get to see your newly built website. That is where link building comes in handy. So the next logical question is, what is link building and what are the benefits of it for your website? That is an excellent question and it means you are willing to learn and help your business grow. Link building can be a cheap way to start growth from a little hard work. What is Link Building? Link building is an strategy to help the search engine optimisation of your website and is essentially a way of forming incoming links that all lead to your site thus allowing your site to rise on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Think of it like this, every time you have a link on another website that leads to yours and someone clicks on it, it’s promoting your site! It’s essentially as simple as that. If you write an article that is posted onto a popular news site that then provides the source (your website) many people visiting will then click on that link and go directly to your site! The more ways you can think to get linked the better off you and your site will be. How does Link building work? You may be asking yourself the next logical question, how do you get listed on these sites to allow this link building process to occur? The cheapest and simplest way is to start to

Web Design Trends | Responsive Web Design

Even five years ago, it seemed enough to have an attractive header and a layout that looked acceptable in all the available desktop browsers. Since then, people’s usage of the web has changed - a lot. As developers spend more time analyzing what keeps people engaged in their content and community, they are discovering that web design is more important than ever - and more complicated. It’s not just to look pretty or professional anymore. Web design needs to be functional. The most obvious web design trends in 2012 are centered around just that. Responsive Web Design Responsive web design is probably the most critical trend that is emerging this year. The emergence of fast, Internet-connected mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones in recent years has provided an untameable number of display sizes and browser types to test designs with. There is no universal design that will work and you simply can’t develop a different design for every possible combination of device properties. Now, using a clever combination of Cascading Style Sheets and JavaScript, it is possible to have the design reformat itself to fit whatever browser it’s in. Usually, the designer begins by creating a simple design to be displayed on a small smartphone display. Then, from there, the designer can begin working his way toward larger screen resolutions until the design will look good on the largest screens. One of the key aspects of responsive design is that if you resize your browser, the site will also resize. This makes it an excellent tool for taking notes and doing web browsing side-by-side with other work. If the person doesn’t have JavaScript enabled, a non-JavaScript version is served instead. Typography and website design

Web Design Trends in 2012 | Responsive web design

Benefits Of Hiring A WordPress Designer

Over the years, blogging has become a popular way for people to share information with the world. There are many different kinds of blogs and a great number of people who write them. One of the attractions to blogging is that you do not have to have any special training in order to create and maintain a blog, and you are free to write about whatever you want. Many people have personal blogs, and many businesses have blogs as well. Anyone can write a blog, but in order to make yours really stand out you might want to consider hiring a WordPress designer. There are millions of blogs online today. WordPress is an open source tool that bloggers can use to create and manage their content. It contains a plethora of features, including many plug-ins and a system for creating templates. Anyone who knows how to use it can do so without charge, but it can be confusing for people who are just starting out. If you do not wish to learn the system or you simply do not have enough time, it can be worthwhile to hire a designer to help you get the most out of your site. What is WordPress? WordPress software is one of the most popular blogging tools around. It allows you to have a website and a blog at the same time, if you choose. No matter what kind of business you're in, when you have a website the goal is to get as many people as you can to visit. Using this content management system allows you to easily manage and update your site, thus making it a more enjoyable place for viewers to spend their time. If

Why Small Businesses Need a Website

Small Business Web Design Northern Ireland | Why is it important for a small business to be online? The internet has become one of the main and most important sources for marketing and staying connected with consumers. Therefore in todays business market it is very important to develop a valuable online presence. Effective planning and research into your website design and promotion of your business online is incredibly important for achieving good online success. A large number of smaller businesses are unaware of the tremendous benefits which are provided by the creation of a good quality website which can massively boost the promotion of their products and services. A good online presence can help with the promotion of products and services and can contribute to increased profit. It can also provide a more efficient way to advertise your products and services. The result is the creation of an online system which your customers are able to visit at their leisure and thus browse through and purchase products or services. Dependent on your business type this can mean your business can take orders or at least let people get in touch with you 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Meaning when you are at home relaxing customers can be buying your products or sending you their information requesting your services out of working hours. With advances in technology, more individuals and business owners are conducting their business over the internet and likewise more consumers and purchasing products or services over the internet. More recently this includes the use of web enabled hand-held devices which may be transported virtually anywhere and accessed at any time, so that people are browsing and buying online while on the