NetSecrets Blog : Web Design and SEO

Web 2.0 - The Technology

The sometimes complex and continually evolving technology infastructure of Web 2.0 includes server-software, content-syndication, messaging protocols, standards orientated browsers with plugins and extensions, and various client-applications.

 

The differing yet complimentary approaches of such elements provide Web 2.0 sites with information storage, creatin and dissemination challenges and capabilities that go beyond what the public formally expected in the environment of "Web 1.0"

  

Web 2.0 websites typically include some of the following features / techniques, refered to as SLATES by Andrew McAfee:

  

1. Search - the ease of finding information through keyword search making the platform valuable.

 

2. Links - guides to important pieces of information. The best pages are more frequently linked to.

 

3. Authoring - the ability to create constantly updating content over a platform that is shifted from being the creation of a few to being the constantly updated interlinked work. In wikis, the content is iterative in the sense that the people undo and redo each other's work. In blogs, content is cumulative in that posts and comments of individuals are accumulated over time.

 

4. Tags - categorization of content by creating tags that are simple, one-word descriptions to facilitate searching and avoid rigid, pre-made categories.

 

5. Extensions - automation of some of the work and pattern matching by using algorithms e.g. amazon.com recommendations.

 

6. Signals - the use of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) technology to notify users with any changes of the content by sending e-mails to them.

Domain Names Are Important

We all know you can get a domain name for anything from about £5 per annum upwards but despite this many businesses and individuals limp along with wholly inadequate names.

I see quite large companies who have a website of www.theirdomain.com but insist on using theirdomain@aol.com as their corporate email address. Or senior consultants with jbloggs22@btinternet.com on their business cards. Are they mad? Or just ignorant?

Firstly they are locking themselves into what may be a low quality service just because they can't risk losing their AOL or BT email address. Secondly what does this do for their image?

Anyway rant over for now. If you want to learn more about domain names there are a series of articles on the NetSecrets website as follows:

• What is a domain name?
• Why are domain names important?
• Why buy both .com and .co.uk versions of your domains?
• Should you include keywords in your domain?
• How does the domain registration system work?
• What happens once you have registered a domain name?

There should be something of interest there and if you want any advice on what to register and how to make best use of it then call us on 01386 792972 or email helpdesk@netsecrets.co.uk.

Chutes and Shields for Plastic Injection Moulders

Really pleased to announce the launch of Chutes & Shields - a new website and online store devoted to a range of patented products for plastic injection moulding companies. This range of products reduces scrap and wastage in the production process quite significantly for little cost. The products are :

• Mould Shields
• Mould Chutes & Skirts
• Tie Bar Covers
• Drum and Gaylord Covers

Now this stuff is great but it's meaningless unless you are involved in plastic injection moulding. It has no relevance to anything else whatsoever. Talk about a niche product.

What is interesting though is that this is a NetSecrets business. Before I got into the internet I was heavily into the plastics industry and this product range came to us as a result of that. So this is truly a bit of genuine diversification. NetSecrets - experts in web design, search engine optimisation and plastic injection moulding. What a mixture!    

Corporate Blogs - Managed Blogging For SME's

Big business is making great use now of Web 2.0 in general and blogging in particular to serve several purposes. These include building brand image and awareness; getting news stories "out there" quickly and boosting traffic to their main websites.

SME's see the benefit but find it difficult to put in the time required to do this properly as routine posting doesn't fit in well with the demands of being a business owner.

NetSecrets new corporate blogging service takes the pain away. We'll set up your blog, make it match your website and configure it to make it look good and attract visitors. You can post to it as frequently or as infrequently as you want or can manage, and it'll still work fine! We will add to your efforts by getting our copywriting team to learn about you and your business and then post regular news and industry stories to your blog - so you don't have to!

You can read about Managed Blogs on our website or download a PDF, Corporate Blogging , to read at your leisure.

To find out more call NetSecrets on 01386 792972 or email blogs@netsecrets.co.uk.

New Pay-per-Click Guide

Google Adwords is a great way of giving an immediate boost to the number of visitors coming to your website. We are all encouraged to believe that anyone capable of tieing their own shoelaces can do it for themselves which means lots of website owners have a dabble at it, lose a load of money for no results and join the ranks of the cynically disappointed.

The truth of the matter is that just because you run a great lawnmower repair business or because you are a genius litigation lawyer it doesn't automatically follow that you have the skillset to make the most out of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Yet there's a whole industry encouraging you to think the opposite!

Just like any other activity setting up and optimising PPC campaigns relies on knowledge, skill, experience and aptitude. NetSecrets developed these through many years of successful campaigning for our own businesses and have now achieved equally impressive results for several third party clients.

You can download our "Pay-per-Click Advertising Guide"  or go to our main website to read about pay-per-click. Once you have read that you'll have a better idea of what is involved and likely costs. If you want to take it further just call us on 01386 792972 or email ppc@netsecrets.co.uk.

Web 2.0: An Introduction

 No doubt in recent times you have been hearing a lot about Web 2.0, but find yourself asking "What does it mean, and how does this effect me?". At NetSecrets we often find ourselves answering such questions so over the coming months we will be taking you through Web 2.0 and explaining how the various changes can help you and your business.

The term "Web 2.0" came from O'Reilly Media at a conference in 2004 when discussing new technologies and web applications that were beginning to revolutionise the way the Internet was used.

The shift in the use of web technology and design was intended to enhance creativity, communications, secure information sharing, collaboration and functionality. This has lead to the evolution of web culture communities and hosted services, inclusive of which are social-networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis, blogs and folksonomies.

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform"

(Tim O'Reilly)

Web 2.0 encapsulates the idea of the proliferation of inter-connectivity and interactivity of web-delivered content. It is about the way that businesses embrace the strengths of the web and use it as a platform, building applications and services around the unique features of the Internet.

Web 2.0 technologies tend to foster innovation in the assembly of systems and sites composed by pulling together features from distributed, independent developers. Utilising applications where users can contribute to and take ownership of website content creates network effects (or network externality).

In editions that follow we will be covering the technological aspect of Web 2.0 as well as the economic and business implications leading on to social networking and how to use this to benefit not only your business but your personal web experience.