Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

Google Webmaster Tools is a way for webmasters to get their site properly web index by Google. There are also other features that this tool offers that make this a hub for any webmaster.

Getting a site indexed is important. What is web indexing?

Indexing is as:
“collects, parses, and stores data to facilitate fast and accurate information retrieval”
from Wikipedia on Index(search engines

Simply creating a page and leaving it ‘as is’ will not index a site. It deals with several factors like content, design, and using resources to direct a search engine to recognize a website easier.

The tools Google uses address these factors and allow a webmaster to see what they see when they find and crawl your site.

1. Content: They list a section generalizing the spread of a site’s files whether are images, or even text.
2. Keywords/ Resources: Google lists keywords from both the site’s content and what is being searched in the search engine itself. This is a nice attribute as it will allow the webmaster to see exactly what is searched in regards to their website.
3. Design: The design of a site is important, including the hiearchy structure. A website that is easily to surf is one that gives the visitor a way to go from one page and page without getting lost. A sitemap is an excellent addition to any site that lists the content of a site and its navigational structure.

Check it out an try the tools. Google offers it for free and it offers a lot of information for webmasters to be able to get the traffic they need. This will also allow any webmaster to develop any site and watch its progress while tweaking and applying new and unqiue content.

Do you use Google Webmaster tools?

Originality is what most people look for in a site, along with a way to maneuver around easily. Let us be real, as most people will be lost without a way to surf any website. One way to help, is to focus on cleaning up your design to make it more user-friendly. There are many ways you can do this, but in this article, it will illustrate the main to achieve this. Please do remember, this is not an article from a woman that is boastful or is even a know-it-all, but one who has been around the block when it comes to designing a website.

In achieving a more user-friendly site, please do note that design does not always have to be lost along the way. There are thosewebmasters who like the very minimal in things on their site, but even sometimes putting up the bare minimum can might be hurtful. On the other hand, something chock full of widgets, and graphics for a site that has next to nothing in content could also be hurtful.

The way to do this is very simple and taught to web design students. Basic web design courses illustrate that one of the most important ways to make things user-friendly is using your whitespace. Whitespace is defined as:

Whitespace is the empty spaces in a design. Whitespace is used to separate disparate design elements and group similar ones. Whitespace is the lack of graphics or text in the layout.

Whitespace is not always “white” – it is the empty parts of the page, but if the page has a different background color that would be the color of the whitespace.
Defined by About.com

In simple terms, whitespace helps break up each part of the blog in a clear way for the user to be able to read and understand. Doing this will help greatly with your blog or actually, any type website. With thousands of blogs and websites created daily, you can reap awards with the following tips:

1. Clean up your content:

• Divide each post with a simple line or fast loading divider images.
• Define your header with the right tags. The search engines index sites better that use their header tags in an orderly manner.
• Make sure hyperlinks are noted by an underline or something like another color to differentiate it from the normal text.
• Possibly post related links in articles. WordPress has great plug-ins for this ability.
• Make sure your font is clear and large enough for visitors to read.
• Make your contact information easy to find. If it is merely a form to fill out, then put a link to it, even if it is on a sub page. This is important if the visitor has any questions. If it is a matter of email security, use the Dagon Design Formmailer plug-in for WordPress. They even have a non-WordPress version too!

2. Clean your sidebar:

• Get rid of all those graphics and banners. A few are okay, but it is important while pleasing your advertisers, to not overdo it for your readers. Of course you want to make some money to pay that hosting bill, but it can be a hindrance on load time and cut down that whitespace.
• Add a search bar in an easy locale on your page so visitors can find on your site what they want.
• Add clean navigation. Whether you have categories for your blog posts or even pages, organize it. For pages, use the Subpages Widget by Alpar Haytabay and for categories, try using the drop down box.

Just remember, even if you think your blog design looks okay, always ask for another opinion. You may not see what may be annoying to another person while it is cute in your opinion. If it seems cluttered, consider adjusting your whitespace or using the suggestions in cleaning the content and sidebar. Remember, you do not have to totally take away the information from your website. You can simply create another page.

Outside of Blondish.net Related Articles:

• The Importance of Whitespace in Web Designs
• Blog Design: Keep It Clutter-Free and User-Friendly

Are splash pages really necessary? Well, first off, in order to make a valid case, what is a splash page? A splash page is a website’s entrance page. The splash page contains words or images to briefly convey the mood of the site, like a first impression or like in a business, a calling card. Some splash pages alert visitors on what the website best works in whether by a specific browser or size of screen resolution. There are no particular rules to making a splash page, and it is not always necessary. Not all websites contain a splash page. It is usually the Webmaster’s choice to use one.

In a personal website, which is one that mainly revolves around the Webmaster, a splash page is really not necessary. When assembling a website, the Webmaster should decide what type of navigation will make their site functional in the most expedient manner. Any information put into the site can be organized, particularly into three main categories: Webmaster, Visitor Content, and Site Information. Of course, this is for a personal website. The Webmaster section deals with everything that involves only information on the Webmaster. For example, it should be a brief bio or perhaps pictures. The Visitor section contains information for the visitor to be able to take with them, whether it is graphics or perhaps an interesting article to read. The Site Information section is strictly about the website. This is where a Webmaster would put their link exchanges, site credits, disclaimer, history, and much more. Of course, these three main categories are not official names and sometimes can be broken down into five categories like: Webmaster, Visitor, Domain, WWW, and Exits. These are most common in websites. Some website owners use frilly alternative words to suit their personal style, but the concept is all the same.

In having these sections, the splash page becomes redundant. Recommendations for browser information and screen resolution can be placed in the brief site welcome paragraph or even in the Site Information section. The layout for the website should suffice as a calling card for what the visitor is to expect.

Efficient navigation is essential for any website. Some splash pages can be bulky on load time due to large images, and even people using the wonders of DSL and cable might be dissuaded from entering. On the other hand, sites that contain content not suitable for younger crowds may find it best to use a splash page for their website. This splash page would act as a way to deter younger viewers from entering. A simple page with a site disclaimer, in which two links would suffice. One would say if you are under the age of 18, then to click and it would direct you elsewhere, like Google. The other link would say if you are over 18, then click, and it would direct you to the main part of the website. An excellent example of this is Adultfanfiction.net. In exercising this option, it covers the site owner’s back from being sued or shut down due to its easy access for younger viewers. This acts much like the ‘At Your Own Risk’ sign, so the viewer is without a doubt warned about the content within.

It is difficult to decide whether a splash page is really a necessity. The decision should be based on the on how the splash page is portrayed. If the splash page is bulky in content, whether it be in images or in text, or both, then it is best to do away with the idea and add the information to the main part of the website. On the other hand, if the information on the splash page is sparse, then it is not needed. The visitor only needs to see the gist of the website, but not the other frivolities like links out, sites reference links, buttons or links to sites the Webmaster has joined, and so forth. The splash page really becomes like an illustrated cover of a book and these extras make it tacky.

If having a splash page is a must, keep it simple; a simple and tasteful image to fit the layout of the main part of the website, a few words like resolutions and browser requirements, then perhaps a counter or a small site disclaimer. In the end, any visitor will appreciate visiting.

So, are splash pages necessary? For the majority of sites, a resounding no. However, for adult content sites, that is up to the Webmaster and should be considered seriously.

What do you think?

I think as the debate on using tables or not, the use of iframes has been second to that.

Inline frames, also known as iframes as described by Wikipedia:

An inline frame places another HTML document in a frame inside a normal (rather than frameset) HTML. document.

The use of iframes for years has been much of a beginner’s fad in designing. It allows the user to make a small website and put all their content in a small area. However, as time passed, people were abusing this more than using frames. An iframe calls another page to load, so instead of 1, you will have more than one depending on how many iframes you have placed on your layout. Some web page newbies decided to place their content in a larger window, so now only did their content scroll, but their page, even in larger browsers.

Why not to use them?

1. Well, often the page is not indexed correctly by the search engines. Search engines will often overlook the iframe and then the design is broken. This is not good for the designer.

2. Some browsers may not show the iframe properly or at all.

3. Using the iframe could take more load time for your users. Remember, even though there is broadband, there are still people out there that only have access to the Internet via dial-up, and even if the modem handles 56K, it does not always connect even that close.

4. Using the iframe as a means to place content is not exactly a good excuse if you are allowing the window to be large in length. Rather than use the iframe, you can place your content in division layers. It is just as easy to code and makes your layout more flexible if one page is longer versus another page.

There are more efficient and better means to coding layouts than using iframes. What other reasons are there? If you are one that supports iframes, why?

This is the first week I am introducing a WordPress blog showcase to the site. I will choose 8 sites each week in that are tied together somehow whether by the blogger’s profession, the layout design, or topics discussed. This week the theme was for Web Designers who have blogs on their sites.

Cozmos Labs has a blog run by Cristian Antohe includes topics on WordPress and other blog tools.

Devthought is the site of Guillermo Rauch. If you view the layout and hover over the moving clouds, they will rain for you.

Douglas Menezes has a unique site that is mostly a portfolio, but occasionally he does blog too.

Elite Nick is owned by Nick Morris, and contains quite a few freebies and contains many subjects including tutorials, free templates for MySpace, WordPress, and then even music.

Justin Cline – It takes a lot to put a pic of yourself on your site. This web designer does it tastefully.

Loon Design is a Very unique and welcoming website by Chan Kai Loon.

Snilesh, no it is not my site even if it has ‘Nile’ in it – do not get the name confused with me. This guy is named Nilesh and shares a wealth of tutorials on his blog.

Super Girl is the personal site of Mimi who blogs about her daily life, but she can really whip up a creatively colorful site too!

Go give them a visit and check around. Also, if you have a site suggestion for a future showcase, feel free to comment or use my contact form as there will be 8 more next week. Please remember to only submit sites using WordPress.

A lot of people I have heard from like the idea of using a framework to use as a base to design their website. There are quite a few free and premium frameworks out there available that are great. However, it might not be for everyone.

The pros for using these are that these frameworks work and have been developed carefully. They can be applied to themes, however, if your has a big difference, you might have to move code or even add code to get what you want. Premium frameworks usually have become commercially GPL supported (at least that has been all the rage this year) – meaning that you have someone that can coach you through and help you if you run into problems. Freebie frameworks, you might be able to get some forum support with the developer.

However, the huge con that you might run into is that if you choose a framework, your site might look like another cookie cutter layout. It is kind of like two actresses wearing the same gown to the Oscars – not cool and you definitely want to change right away.

If you have a layout design you want to convert to WordPress, frameworks might not always work in your best interest. You may need to apply certain WordPress functions and some frameworks might interfere with your coding or even plugins. Of course, you can always get the framework, alter it and use it how you want. You could browse the WordPress theme directory, choose a theme that best suits what you are looking for, leave the credits intact. There are perfectly good layouts there.

However, if you are a designer, you may want to create a fresh theme with a fresh framework that you can personally market to those who are looking for a framework. Be unique! Make sure your framework offers different types of choices in navigation or features for the content. Offer different alterations of your framework to show your potential clients the flexibility of your layout.

Do you like to use a particular framework when designing a WordPress-based site or do you like to code as you go? What frameworks do you like best and why? What frameworks would you tell people to avoid, and of course – why?

More and more ezines are surfacing. Even individual bloggers are choosing to use the magazine type design for its ability to show multiple posts in a unique manner. Whether a slideshow, tabbed sidebar navigation, or designing posts in colummns, this style is definitely a new trend. There are a lot of free WordPress themes out there for download – some are premium and cost $40 to over $100, and some are free. Here are just a few I thought I would share that are worth the time to use. And just in case I need to re-emphasize – these ARE free to download, customize and use. However, please remember to leave credit for the designer.

Arras Theme
This layout features a slideshow for featured posts, and a tabbed sidebar.

Magazine Basic
This layout is simple, but also looks like a newspaper with its columned structure.

The Morning After
Another simple layout, that includes several sidebars and features like thumbnails for recent posts.

Hybrid News
This theme packs a punch with slideshow for featured posts, carefully navigation for parent and category links, tabbed navigation, and thumbnails for recent posts. Hybrid News is a child theme of the Hybrid theme framework.

Scarlett Theme
This sleek layout has a slideshow carousel for featured stories at the top, slideshow in the sidebar for recent themes as well as a dropdown menu for categories. An added bonis is a photo stream for flickr or whatever gallery you use.

Centric
The Centric theme is simple and allows users to post their most recent articles in certain categories to display on the main page, as well as a featured post. The theme also features thumbnails for recent posts, and a sidebar that runs on right right side.

Of course, there are a lot more magazine themes. You can either do a Google search for free WordPress magazine themes or go search for the term magazine in the WordPress theme directory.

What free WordPress magazine themes do you like and recommend?

I am as much a Facebook addict as I am a Twitter addict, and it did not take TechCrunch in their article Facebook Tweaks Design, Drops Rounded Corners to tell me the notices about Facebooks design tweaks.

Already with every application and module a person adds to their profile, along with all the followers (I currently have over 1600 followers/ friends at Facebook), load time can get a bit bulky. Sometimes I even get the Facebook timeout connection too. Kind of reminds me of the Twitter Fail Whale. Yay, and I say congrats to the person who though rounded corners in Facebook would really be an asset, but really – keep it simple.

With the ridiculous and non-relevant advertisements, plus the applications, it is insane. Just in case those of you were not aware, there was an application to be able to change your Facebook background, but you had to download a toolbar. There are others than ask you to add a person, invite your friends to the group, and go to some chatroom to get the link to add your background. That is insane. It should be simple and not involve anything but adding the application itself. I decided to avoid that application like the plague because I really do not want another toolbar on my computer and I am really afraid of what the load time would be even though I have cable internet.

Although I would love to pretty up my Facebook, I am content with what it looks like. Getting fancy with a product like Facebook will degrade it and make it look like MySpace, the immature reject of Facebook.

What kind of design tweaks do you think Facebook should consider trying? What should be added? What should be removed?