I'm really proud of our latest site launch: www.sbfilmfestivals.com This is a companion site to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, one of the top film festivals in the world. Attendees [...]
Traffic prediction websites have been around for years now. Alexa is probably the most visible of them, but there are actually several out there. They’re routinely used in a wide range of endeavors,[...]
Look, I'll be honest. I don't think there are any shortcuts to building great content. Not all of us are media savvy, look good on camera, or have a way with words. But I can provide a little [...]
For companies hoping to take advantage of the “world wide” aspect of the World Wide Web, translation is probably the first thing that comes to mind. Sure, English might be the internationa[...]
In a previous post, we touched on the topic of localization rather than just translation. We talked about how localization ensures that you’re reaching your audience in other countries in the la[...]
SEO continuously evolves as Google, Bing and other search engines strive to provide consumers with a better experience and more accurate search results. While there have been several new consideration[...]
Google’s become a fan of taking serious action when necessary, and the search engine giant’s latest such move had a massive impact on businesses across the country (and around the world, t[...]
A great deal of focus is given to optimizing your website content, and that’s as it should be. However, there are many other elements that go into building a strong online presence for your busi[...]
Businesses hoping to build a successful online presence should definitely understand SEO best practices, but given that they change from year to year, just keeping up with the times can be difficult. [...]
As mobile continues to grow in importance, more and more people have questions about how to best design for the platform. There is, of course, a lot of nuance to the subject; however, there are &ndash[...]
Unless you take direct action to control how your website appears when it’s linked to on Facebook, you’ll be at the mercy of whatever Facebook decides to do. However, taking control of how[...]
Keywords are funny things. Obviously, they’re important when it comes to attracting the right kind of traffic to your website through search engines, but so much attention is paid to them that p[...]
Since it’s usually the last piece of writing you’ll add to a bit of content, sometimes the call to action gets short shrift. Sometimes it even gets skipped altogether! Instead, try to come[...]
Ultimately, the goal of writing content is to grow your readership. It seems simple enough, but it’s not exactly the easiest thing to accomplish. There are, of course, a number of different ways[...]
Once I was out to dinner with some friends and their son, who was about to graduate from college. He was getting a degree in English literature, and was looking for a job in advertising after graduati[...]
Search engine optimization is tricky, tricky work. Even for those who have been in the field for many years, staying on top of all the latest developments and getting every little thing right can be q[...]
Everyone keeps saying it, but are you truly listening? Mobile is the future. The rate of growth in mobile users, and, in turn, their use of the Internet, is absolutely staggering. And, it only seems t[...]
How did you feel about the last three myths that we explored? Were they ones that you’ve fallen victim to, or are they ones you know some of your colleagues believe? We’re in the business [...]
Search engine optimization happens to be a topic where there are a lot of opinions drowning out the facts. Because of this, there are a number of myths that have cropped up in the SEO community. Some [...]
First thing’s first. If you’re currently duplicating content across your domain in order to improve your search engine ranking, then this is a practice that you will want to discontinue immediatel[...]
Have you been dragging your feet about getting your website ready for the mobile world that we’re entering? Well, you’re running out of time! Mobile isn’t just becoming important for[...]
This week's post is aimed more at Wordpress users, but the principles apply to every platform. If the terms are unfamiliar, just send me an email and I'll see if I can help sort it out. Wor[...]
If you are using Wordpress, Weebly, Wild Apricot, or another platform with a built in blog function, you’ve likely already taken more than a few steps to ensure that your on-site optimization is[...]
Advertising through Facebook is becoming an increasingly important part of every business’s online strategy. Not only can advertising through Facebook help to sell more of your products and serv[...]
Every week I send out a genuine tip that will help you improve your site's search engine visibility. If you would like us to review your web site, please feel free to contact us. The initial consu[...]
Google and other search engines are always updating their algorithms, and they are increasingly shifting toward privileging “quality content”. Because of this, it’s getting harder an[...]
Perhaps moreso than Facebook, Twitter provides an excellent venue for boosting your business’s visibility and for gaining social media traction. On Twitter, it’s simply easier to share you[...]
Of all of the plugins available for WordPress blogs and websites, “SEO All-In-One” is perhaps the most popular. It makes optimizing your WordPress blog or website for search engines much e[...]
Following up from last week, it's not enough to have a Facebook page for your business; you need to tend to it as well. Having an effective Facebook page shows that you're engaged with your cu[...]
More than ever, having a presence on social media is important for businesses. Simply, if you’re not managing your business’s reputation on social media, then you can bet that someone else[...]
WordPress may be the most popular platform for making SEO-friendly websites, but any technical errors with your site's code may penalize your site's ranking. Go through the following 7 s[...]
Backlinks are well known as one of the best ways to boost your WordPress page’s ranking on search engines. Businesses, however, all to often go about this the wrong way. More than ever, search e[...]
If you do business on the Internet and participate in social media, at some point you will field reviews and comments from your customers: both good and bad. Often however, businesses run into the tro[...]
The Santa Barbara Artist Directory has officially launched: http://www.sbartistdirectory.com This is a new searchable online directory that is open to all artists who reside in Santa Barbara Cou[...]
The Santa Barbara County Psychological Association (SBCPA – www.sbcpa.org) is a client of mine in Santa Barbara. They were having problems with their previous developer and they hired me to, amo[...]
Note: This post was updated on January 10, 2014. Last year the videogame industry faced stark financial realities in light of the shift toward free or low-cost games available for download from App[...]
Note: This post was updated on January 6, 2014. One of my web design clients wanted my help finding a cheaper web hosting option. Her colleague, also a client, had recommended she try hosting with [...]
Like any art form, web development takes practice, skill, training, and focus. Wait a minute, you say. I’ve got a team for that and they really know what they’re doing? Don’t kid you[...]
Back when I edited Portable Computing magazine, I met often with representatives from the different tech companies to discuss new products. There was one memorable encounter with HP. This was ar[...]
Professional academic writers often use style guides. These guides help the writer ensure that every paragraph and every page follows the same rules for formatting and for citing information. Followin[...]
When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years. Let’s face [...]
NEW: Check out our new web site package for community banks! Click here. At POP, we understand that marketing is certainly not a one-size-fits-all industry. In order to have your ad campaign see th[...]
Logo design used to be a well-paid, honorable, even memorable profession. But these days, for about the price of a 16GB memory upgrade, you can get a logo designed for your business. Logos have not be[...]
The short answer is yes, a little. If you think back to ten years ago, you will remember that web sites had interesting animations and other functions that made the pages more fun, useful, and excitin[...]
When the search engine and marketing goliath, Google, announced the launch of a social media platform in 2011, people were understandably excited. The hype surrounding Google+ was monumental, and mill[...]
Many businesses are wondering if it makes sense to advertise on Yelp. Yelp is a very unique site that combines reviews with social networking. It has become progressively important for consumers to be[...]
This is yet another entry into the POP profile series. While this edition does highlight a famous icon, the individuals profiled will not always be well known. The primary purpose of this series is to[...]
The videogame industry has experienced a steady decline since the start of the recession, but the economy is not solely to blame. There are actually many different factors that have shaped this downwa[...]
You may have heard in the past about Google implementing the Penguin update or the Panda update, which sounds adorable, but could actually be disastrous for your search rankings if your website does n[...]
Have you every brainstormed for hours trying to think of the perfect domain name for your new venture? When you finally come up with a catchy, searchable, brand-able domain name are you crushed to lea[...]
While the creative brief provides direction and guidance to your design agency, the positioning statement clarifies your value proposition: the unique quality that sets your offer apart from others. C[...]
It seemed like a natural choice for me to create an interactive Flash dress-up game for the Isabella and Friends license, given the fact that the target demographic would be young girls, but this expe[...]
Having your own websites provides you with amazing business opportunities around the world; it only makes sense to take advantage of those opportunities in the fullest ways possible. While having your[...]
When it comes to locating valuable information on the Internet, you may come across terms like search engine or web directory. While both terms refer to platforms that help locate relevant information[...]
They may not have invented social media, but Facebook is certainly the most popular platform by any metric. Even though this social media network attracts the most users, their investors are far from [...]
California has certainly been at the forefront of the green movement, with the government and the citizens always striving toward renewable and sustainable resources, but could their be a way that we [...]
This will be the first in a series of profiles. I'm not interested in rich famous celebrities, or deceased legends. When choosing a person to profile, I do not consider whether the figure is alive or [...]
Move over Flash and Dreamweaver; Tumult’s Hype is living up to its own hype. Many creative professionals, such as animators and designers are switching from Adobe’s Flash to this newer program to [...]
A few months ago, I wrote a post asking "Does Social Media Marketing Work?" While it doesn't always, there are cases when it does work quite well provided you approach it as part of a vital brand stra[...]
The short answer to this question is yes. Any way that you can improve your visibility to users of mobile devices is a plus because this is a demographic that is growing substantially every year. The [...]
Great advertising can make a positive and indelible impact on your customers. But when compared to search engine optimization and public relations, does paid advertising achieve better results? The an[...]
Designing a website is a very creative and imaginative process. But to ensure a successful outcome, it helps to write down the structure, style, content, strategy and other requirements in clear langu[...]
We are awash in data and like a town hit by a tornado we don't know where to begin. In the past few years, the volume of unstructured data — video clips, blog posts, forum threads, social media [...]
The idea that video games are a complete waste of time is being proven wrong in the world of science. When scientists and mathematicians are struggling with a difficult problem, they are turning to a [...]
Whether you choose to believe it or not, the colors you use in your designs can have a major psychological impact on your customers. This science is called color psychology. Color psychology is the id[...]
It can be quite disheartening to launch your new web site and watch it go unnoticed. Your website showcases all of your hard work, your brand, and your business. But instead of receiving an explosion [...]
Social media marketers believe that you need to build a dynamic and ongoing presence on Facebook and Twitter to build awareness and attract new customers. There are definitely some success stories, bu[...]
Recent studies have shown that mobile web searches have experienced explosive growth over the past few years alone. Google, along with Cisco, Gartner, and Compuware, have all released similar reports [...]
It's sobering to see how much money is spent every year on advertising. Through Google I found estimates in the realm of half a trillion dollars. General Motors alone spent over $4 Billion on advertis[...]
Google is always making changes to its algorithm. As a business owner with a website constantly dropping in the search rankings, you might find these changes quite the nuisance. In reality, these chan[...]
Literally billions of YouTube videos are viewed every single day. Viral videos are an online phenomenon that attracts thousands to millions of viewers. Can you imagine the amount of traffic that could[...]
Almost every single business has their own website now. No matter what industry you are in, it is next to impossible to stay ahead of your competition without having at least a decent web presence. No[...]
The advantages that accompany moving your business online are certainly bountiful. By using Ecommerce, you can open a virtual business that is not only open 24/7, but it is also capable of reaching cu[...]
With the vast and growing popularity of smart phones, tablets, and other mobile web devices, web designers have certainly had their hands full developing sites that will look great when accessed from [...]
If you have written Wordpress off as just a site for the casual blogger, it is time to take a closer look. We have been creating websites for many clients, throughout all industries, using Wordpress b[...]
We live in an age of remarkable technological advances. The microchip keeps getting smaller and more powerful. Flat-screen TV's keep getting sharper and less expensive. Smartphones keep getting smarte[...]
I think there's a tendency among designers to create design concepts before they've spent enough time getting to know the client's business. They get so fixated on an idea that they start throwing tog[...]
Adding video to your site can enhance the experience your clients have when they visit your site and engage your visitors with something memorable. Video can create a lasting impression for your compa[...]