The most important thing about a website is…

Performance! Of course! If you think about it what is the number one thing that stops people from visiting a website or a web page? Most time you’ll hear your customers or audience saying “The site is too slow!” and then they never come back. One potential customer lost forever. I thought that I would take a moment to highlight a tool that I use when testing the performance of a website. It’s a Firefox add-on called “TamperData ” and what it does is measures page load time and the elements (JS, CSS, HTML, images, etc.) to give you a better picture as to why your site is slow and give you a chance to optimize your website further.

Build Better Links to Track in Google Analytics

Now I am long time user of Google Analytics (about two years or so now) and I just recently stumbled on a tool to help you build URLs that are friendly to Google Analytics tracking. It’s a pretty cool tool that takes almost know time to learn but it will help any users out there looking to gain better control over tracking where and how people are coming into your website using a wide range of sources including email, PPC, banner ads, etc. Check it out and enjoy…

Google Analytics URL Builder Tool

Attended the IIBA Networking Event in Mississauga Recently

Over the past little while i’ve been researching Business Analysis and for anyone in the information technology field i recommend learning a thing or three about Business Analysis decided to become involved with an organization devoted to the understanding.  But where to find such an organization?  I searched high and low and found an organization devoted to promoting the Business Analysis skill set.  The organization is called IIBA or "International Institute of Business Analysis".  Anyways, I decided to get out there and go networking at the Mississauga Chapter which started up in January of this year.  The evening that i attended they had a panel of experts who shared their experiences of starting off in the career of business analysis and what it takes to become a business analyst.  It was a fun evening and my first networking event that i have ever attended.  I really enjoyed it and i think i will do more of this "networking" in the future.  The one thing that they really don’t emphasize in College when you are studying Computer Science is the idea of networking and it is really a great thing because it opens up new doors and perhaps things that you never really thought about.  At least that has been my experience with networking.  So if you are in IT and wondering how to get out there and meet likeminded people why don’t you go join an organization and get away from the computer for a little while… it will be there when you get back

What Does Great SEO take?

So many people try to sell Search engine Optimization as the ultimate fix for a web based business. So what does great SEO really take? I’ve dealt with customers in the past on a wide variety of SEO concerns. The thing about great search engine optimization is that there is no tried and true method that guarantees success because great SEO is practice, experimentation, measurement and research. What works for you may not work with someone else. I’ve decided to split it into a few areas to make it easier to understand…

Understanding the technologies involved – This is a biggie when it comes to search engine optimization. Understanding how robots and spiders work, how certain search engines rank your site, how your site’s architecture may conflict or work with search engines to build a “search engine friendly” website.

Understanding your customer’s behavior – How do your customer’s use your website? What do they want from your online business? Do they have problems searching your website or e-commerce site? Where do they drop off in the conversion process? These questions and more will shed light on what needs to be done to optimize your website and this separates the big time players for the small fish in online business.

Researching & knowing your business – You’ve got to know your business and understand the need that it meets. This will provide insight into what needs to be done next. Where is your business? Where are you going in using a website, e-commerce site, portal or some other web presence as a part of your business systems?

I do a lot of ‘techie’ type stuff when it comes to search engine optimization and what I’ve noticed about SEO is that companies think it’s the be all and end all solution to their web business. The simple truth is that with planning and understanding you can reach achievable goals in online web business systems but you need to monitor and plan in order to see long term results. Be wary of any company or individual claiming first page results and simply look for someone who has your company’s best interests in mind.

Luc

What is WIA-ARIA?

I came across this methodology of designing online while interviewing a web designer for the main site that I run, SpicyWebDesigners.com and I had no clue what WIA-ARIA (aka. Accessible Rich Internet Applications) stood for or even meant. After Alex Gewessler explained its meaning I was intrigued to know more so I decided to check out w3Schools and found the following…

“WAI-ARIA, the Accessible Rich Internet Applications Suite, defines a way to make Web content and Web applications more accessible to people with disabilities. It especially helps with dynamic content and advanced user interface controls developed with Ajax, HTML, JavaScript, and related technologies.”

Source: W3C: WAI-ARIA Overview

I am glad to see that organizations like W3C (world wide web consortium) are taking steps to ensure that disabled persons can access the internet as well. I haven’t found many web designers who specialize in this particular understanding of Accessible Internet Application development but I am sure that in the coming years we will see more standards related to this type of consideration being made when planning and implementing a web site or business system that runs online. Just thought I’d share.

Luc