Category Archives: HTML5

Avoid Cookie Cutter Sites

By Just A Web Company Staff | Published April 26, 2013
Avoid Cookie Cutter Websites

Avoid Low Quality Sites

Low quality can mean different things to different people. When we talk about low quality websites, we are specifically discussing the areas of back end code and cookie cutter websites. There are of course other areas which can deem a site low quality, but these two areas rank high in terms of effects in search engine results, and more importantly in corporate brand perception.

Corporate Branding and Trust

There are thousands of sites that offer “free templates” or “low cost” templates that many people choose to use on their websites. On the surface, this appears to be an excellent choice from a cost perspective. The problem is these website templates are not unique to one particular company or brand, and over time you run into many sites that look alike. We refer to this as the “cookie cutter” technique. If your site is not distinguishable at first glance, you have lost your opportunity for branding impression.

Many web developers who are starting out, or come from other areas such as a marketing background with little to no technical expertise will advocate the use of these free templates. They will swap out logos with your company brand, and change some header and footer colors, but in the end, the final website still comes across as a cookie cutter website that was based off of a free or low cost template.

Low Quality Code

A very important, but often over looked issue with free template based websites is low quality code. While the code that drives a website is often the furthest thing from a customers mind, it is actually one of the most important parts of a successful website. You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if the code used to drive that website is not using the latest standards, chances are you are loosing out on valuable search engine ratings, causing un-pleasant user experiences for certain types of vistors, and in the big picture, you are de-valuing your brand, company, or service.

Importance of validating.

W3C HTML5 Validator

One of the quickest ways to determine the code quality behind your website is to use the W3C validator. This tool allows you to enter your website address and click the check button, and receive almost instant results of your websites code errors. Keep in mind this tool is only checking the home page of your website. To check the other pages you need to enter each unique page address one at a time.

At the top of the results page you will see something titled DOCTYPE. If the result is anything other then HTML5 then you are loosing out on search engine ratings, and run the risk of having a site that is not accessible to certain visitors. If your website was created within the last 3-4 years then this should not be an issue, this will mostly pertain to older websites.

The next thing to look at is the errors, and chances are you will see errors being reported. Each one of these errors results in missed index opportunities for your website. The more important factor is certain viewers will not be able to view your website as intended depending on the device they are using at the time.

Ask Questions

When choosing a web developer for your web project it is important to ask these questions.

  • Can you write your own HTML5, and CSS3 Code?
  • Do you use free templates or create your own from scratch?
  • Do you outsource your web development work?
  • Do you validate your work in the W3C Validator?

This list is just a sampling of a much bigger picture, but is a quick way of weeding out who should not be working on your web project.

Remember when choosing a web development company to work on your project, do your research, and definitely do not go with the lowest price, it will cost you more in the long run.

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SEO – TRUTH, MYTH, and LIES – Part 4

By Just A Web Company Staff | Published March 28, 2013
HTML5 Logo

Semantics and SEO

What do Semantics and SEO have to do with each other? EVERYTHING!. Let’s define semantics in regards to the web. Semantics is short for Semantic Markup, which is what provides meaning and context to webpages.

Imagine if you had a web page full of outstanding content, but there was no separation of paragraphs, headings, indentations, font spacing, etc. A visitor to a site like this would have no idea what should be a heading, a beginning of a new thought or subject, what was quoted from someone else, you would quickly loose your vistors interest, despite having great content.

HTML5 Semantic Tags

Semantic Markup is a bit like providing content separation for web browsers, even if all of the graphical content, styling, and effects were taken out of a website, the readability would remain, it is apparent what is a heading, what is paragraph, what is a list, etc.

According to Google, advatnages of semantic markup are as follows:

  • It’s the professional thing to do.
  • It’s more accessible.
  • It’s more maintainable.

The TRUTH

A website that passes validation checks, and uses semantic markup will out perform a website that does not posses these features. Your site will index better, rank better, perform better, and be more accessible.

The Myth

Anyone can post a blog and succeed.

This is not entirely true. There are great blogging platforms such as WordPress, which make it very easy for non-technical people to add content. The problem is, WordPress is a content management system, not a website creation system.

A Content Management System by its very definition is a tool for adding content, it does not alleviate the author from ensuring that proper HTML semantics are applied. It simply offers a way to quickly add and manage content, and the corresponding semantics.

An example would be to make sure your paragraphs are wrapped in the <p> tags, and make sure your headings are wrapped in <h1>, <h2>, <h3> tags, etc.

The huge problem being overlooked here is accessibility. Yes we want the search engines to correctly index our websites, however, people that are using screen readers, i.e. the blind, depend on our websites having the proper semantic markup, other wise our sites are useless to them.

Case in point, Target Stores settled a 6 million dollar lawsuit because their website was not accessible to the blind. This is because their website was not coded to standards, i.e. using Semantic Markup. You can read more about it here.

The Lie

You can create a website using some free software on the internet, why would I pay a professional do this for me?

Well, this is isn’t entirely a lie, because you can, however, the software that is available creates sites that are not Semantically correct. This means that websites being created use outdated coding techniques that will cause issues with your website and at some point will make them un-usable..

Some quick tools to find out how your site fairs in the issue of semantics are http://validator.w3.org/ and http://www.w3.org/2003/12/semantic-extractor.html

In addition we highly recommend reading Googles write up on The Semantic Web and their recommendations Here

Remember, there are no quick fixes, and you get what you pay for. If you are using free development software, or quick development software there is a 100% chance your end product will be full of errors, and although it may look okay, it will not perform okay and will cost you money in the long run.

We will pick up the rest of our series, SEO, THE TRUTH, THE MYTHS, and THE LIES on Monday April 1st.

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More on Adobe (flash) and Apple (iOS)

By Just A Web Company Staff | Published November 17, 2010
[image title="Adobe vs Flash" width="600" height="315"]http://www.justawebcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Adobe-VS-Apple-the-Flash-war1.jpeg[/image]

More on Adobe Flash and Apple iOS

Adobe says the company really isn’t at war with Apple — the two firms are “just on different sides”. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen – “creating content for multiple platforms”. “We’ve demonstrated that we’re on Android and HP WebOS and RIM. Adobe is such a diversified company, but the news is only about that one issue,” he said, referring to Apple’s decision not to support Flash until Adobe makes a decent working mobile version of the once popular multimedia software, a report explains. The company states their is one war, — a battle to attract developers and entice them into creating the best applications for different platforms. “There’s a war happening for developers; there’s a war to try to get the best applications for a particular platform and to keep that lead,” Narayen said. In a separate report Adobe attempts to characterize proprietary Adobe as open, in comparison to Apple. “Adobe’s always been about helping people create content for multiple different devices and multiple platforms and bringing the power of that rich media, so I think Apple and Adobe are on different sides of this struggle for control,”. “Apple would like to create a closed and proprietary system, for developers to make applications that only work on ‘i’ devices, and continue to just operate on ‘i’ devices.” Adobe argues against characterization of there being a ‘war’ between HTML5 and Flash. “Adobe makes its money by creating authoring tools … It isn’t about the format, but about what the customer wants to do,” he says.
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