Social Media Integration and why blanket posts are a bad thing

Let me start this posting with admitting something most may not to want to admit, I'm a WWE Fan! That may have you wondering what this admission has to do with Social Media, so allow me to explain.

A while ago the WWE started putting out official pages for their talent on both Facebook and Twitter.  At first this sounded like a great Idea, for as a Fan I could follow up on The Undertaker of AJ Lee and see specifically what is happening in their part of the Sports Entertainment world.  In theory this sounds like a great idea, in practice it fell short quicker than a malfunctioning Firework!

You see the WWE made a major error in how they manage these pages, instead of the material being unique to each page, they used a "Copy and Paste" protocol that resulted in every page producing the same content word for word.

This problem is not just a WWE issue, for I also belong to a fan group for the musician Prince on Facebook and at least once a week I found myself having to hide a post from one specific member of the group who was using Hootsuite to cross post the same message to multiple services and groups, the result being a post that many times had nothing to do with the subject matter of the group I am part of.

As a content provider, or even a Web Designer, the above two examples are something that really should be learned from and avoided at all costs, as, much like myself, many users can end up deciding to discontinue following your content because it does not feel real, instead feeling like replicated bot postings.  This is why its wise to never consider blanket posting as a quick solution to your promotional posts.

What Really Does Slow Website Deployment?

Website development leading to live Deployment, can be a very exciting and fulfilling process, but sometimes the process gets slowed down, or down right ends up stalling in its tracks.  So what causes this slow down in the design and deployment process anyway?

The fact is the primary slow downs in web design come down to usually one of two things. Either the Site has very high usage of JavaScript coding or there is a lacking of content to be worked with. Lack of content is the primary issue that is usually ran into.

Websites can be coded quick enough with layout and design done, however if your Designer does not have access to your content this prevents the Designer from being able to start placing things into their proper positions, this also delays the long process of Search Engine Optimization research, which can bring your Site better results on services like Google and Bing Search.

To help our clients in preparing the content they wish for their site Inertial Zen Designs offers up the Pre-Design Interview, a set of questions that allow you to map out your content before the Design Process begins.  This Pre-Design Interview worksheet can be found on our Website at

http://www.inertialzendesigns.com

Syntax and coding it is labor intensive

Like almost every programming language in the known world, HTML, JavaScript, Flash and CSS have their own respective syntax, which if coded incorrectly can result in your project either not displaying correctly or at worst not displaying at all.  but just what is meant by Syntax and why can it bee considered so Labor Intensive anyway?

Merriam-Webster describes Syntax as a noun meaning

1 a : the way in which linguistic elements (as words) are put together to form constituents (as phrases or clauses)
b : the part of grammar dealing with this

2: a connected or orderly system : harmonious arrangement of parts or elements <the syntax of classical architecture>

3: syntactics especially as dealing with the formal properties of languages or calculi

with the origin of the word being either of Middle French or Late Latin and likely evolved from Sintaxe (Middle French) or Syntaxis (Late Latin)

So, now that we have established the history and meaning of the word, just why is coding it in each of the languages so labor intensive anyway?

Well the fact is, with basic combinations of HTML and CSS Language a person has to use the two to communicate with each other, HTML telling the Web Browser where to put a detail, CSS telling the Web Browser how the detail is supposed to look. for example, look at the code below ( in order to position an image)

with the HTML, a web design keys in the following:

<img src="folder/file.ext" alt="filename" height="size in pixels" width="size in pixels">

this breaks down as telling the browser to look for a image file (img) at the source (src) location  with a specific title and extension (file.ext) and that the file should be a specific size height and width wise with a name that displays if the image can not be found.  Depending on the location of where this line of code goes the Web Browser will display the image on that area of the screen.

Now with the CSS File we can add style to this image, for example:
#sidenav img{background:#000000; padding: 5px; margin:auto; float:left:}

this information tells the Web Browser that our image file (img) is located in an are called the sidenav.  It goes further into detail by telling the Browser to put a black background behind the photo with 5 pixels of spacing around the image on each of its 4 sides and to align the image in relation to everything else but if there is text the image will flat to the left wrapping the text around it.

This syntax has to be 100% correct in it's Syntax or errors can be returned and hours of recoding needing in order to properly display the items correctly.

The Negative effects of "Click Bait"

Click Bait (Noun) 

An eye catching link on a website which encourages people to read on

In the traditional print world, this practice would be likened to a Newspaper leading with a headline and picture that in reality has nothing to do with the stories that are of public interest at the given moment.  In Television, this practice was actually showcased in a episode of The Simpsons where a paper boy, following a performance by the B-Sharps on the roof of Moe's Tavern shouts out

"Extra Extra, B-Sharps perform on rooftop" (or something along this line)

This prompts a bystander to purchase a copy of the paper only to find that the story itself is not even printed in it.

When working with Online content this practice can give a Web Site high numbers of clicks, which can translate to being able to promote a site to advertisers, but what is the cost to the business itself?

People are becoming very unforgiving with the practice of Click Bait, in fact just in the past couple weeks of the time of publishing this post a Canadian website, owned by a group called Open Media, published to their website and their facebook page a image and story link showcasing a half quote from a Mobile Service Provider's Vice President.  The reaction was actually a backlash by the followers for this group as the users felt that the group sunk to lows people associate with the Mobile Service Provider.

A reaction from your viewership and user base can actually cause a Web Site more harm than good as, while the  Web Site can sell their level of clicks to potential sponsors, what happens when they lose their creditability with the public that built them up in the first place.  Something to consider when looking at the content for your Web Site.

Designing Websites to display on Video Game Systems, Set Top Boxes and why your site should be

There was a time when it was given that if a person was accessing the World Wide Web, they were going to be using either a Mac or PC computer.  Times have, however, very much changed.  Mobile access through devices like Smartphones and Tablets have taken off.

But what about the forgotten potential market, the Set top Box and Video Game Systems? at the time of writing this, existing systems on the market with Web Access broke down as follows

Roku: 5 Million 

Apple TV: 13 Million 

     Playstation 3: 75 Million

  Xbox 360: 77.2 Million

Nintendo Wii:99.84 Million 

                 Nintendo Wii U: 3.45 Million

and while the numbers were not available for the newly released Ouya system (which runs Android), Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's Playstation 4, there is a potential of another 140 Million + Web enabled systems coming online in the next few years.

The Fact is access to the World Wide Web, is no longer simply a Mac and PC World, as a content provider, looking to get your information to the public it may be time to ask yourself if your Website is ready

The negative impact of Auto playing content

We have all been there, you type in a URL or click on a link and the first thing that ends up coming up, embedded in the Webpage you land on is a loud audio file, or an auto playing  youtube like video advertising this product or playing that song, and if we can't turn it off in 10 seconds the usual reaction is to hit your back button in order to find a different site for the information you were looking for.

For the Consumer, it's annoying enough, but for a business online, it could lead to a disaster when it comes to your bottom line profit.  In an article on the website fouronthe4.com (Link Below ) published just over a year ago the following five reasons were given for why a website should NEVER auto play sound

1. It is an arrogant abuse of the visitors browser
2. Don't assume you know that your visitor wants to hear it
3. It is against all the rule books
4. You're forcing data down somebody's connection
5. You're driving people away from your website

Honestly, even if you are a musician, actor, or your website is promoting a new product or service, the question should be asked "Does this need to play on arrival or should the visitor be given the choice to play this content?"

The fact is, your Web presence represents, for many, the first interaction with your Corporate Identification and if your visitors are digitally pushed back out the door by auto playing content it may also become the lasting impression they have.  That impression may be enough to have them not recommending you to others.

http://fourtothe4.com/2012/5-reasons-your-website-should-never-autoplay-sound

The Rule of 3 when it comes to Web Design

I'm sure many of you have heard of the rule of 3, where you can have 2 out of 3 items on a list of requirements, but not all 3 as one has to be precluded due to the other two.  The image below actually was taken from a MEME about Web Designers, and is actually very true

Point: SEO gets lost if it is done fast

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is in itself a fairly complex science. are users searching for your site via Yahoo or Microsoft's Bing search (Yahoo currently uses Bing for their search results) or are they searching for you using Google?  What wording are they using to search with? SEO is very much like using a Thesaurus tied to a data base of links to find the information being searched for. (See the previous post on the importance of Search Engine Optimization for more details)

Point: You don't want a cheap looking website from the visitor's standpoint

In the posting on reasons to Avoid using Wordpress and Tumblr like services as your primary Web Site, the point was made that because all sites end up looking the same, customers can feel like the company has taken no pride in their Web Presence and that they are unwilling to put the financial backing behind having a custom site designed.  This can of course turn off your potential customers and see them go to the competition in order get their consumer needs covered.

The fact is a well designed Web Site is much like spending the extra money to step up from the off the line base model of a car to the Custom package, fully detailed model of the car.  sure at the core it's the same car, but people are going to be more impressed with the extra attention to detail put into it and will most likely be drawn to your car as opposed to the one belonging to Jones.

What is Search Engine Optimization and why is it important anyway?

Search Engine Optimization is the practice of using the most commonly used words keyed into a search engine in order to return high ranking results for your Web Site in order to produce traffic to your Site.

From the Technical side, Optimizing a Web Site involves using details like Title Tags in order to identify the topic of any given page of a website, for example if you were searching for pages on Hockey and typed the term into google a site like whoscored.com could return high on the list if the title tags for the page said "Only the best goals from the world of hockey"

The next thing that the search engine would look at is what is known as Meta Data, meta data is the Description of the content the Web Site covers.  The description in these tags can be used by the search engine in order to create a summary write up or snippet of the Web Site when displayed in the returned results.

Important details when it comes to writing the names for each Page in a Web Site also comes into play as a page's name becomes part of the Uniform Resource Locator or URL of the Web Site and as such, using our example for whosscored.com the odds are that a quicker return will be reached by having a page address being

whoscored.com/stats.html

than what would return by the address reading

whoscored.com/numberspertainingtoperformance.html

Between using the proper tagging for pages, knowing other words that people could use to search (Example Knee Brace could also be searched as Knee Orthopedic or even ACL Brace) allows the customer better chances of your Website being the top of the results especially if details like location are factored into these tags

Why using Wordpress and Tumblr as your Website is not a good idea

There have been times when I am looking around different forms online, or overhearing a conversation in public and get stopped in my tracks by a comment many say in a very matter of fact delivery

"Wordpress is the new Website"

in a lot of ways this hits me like someone making the statement "Red is the new Black", as if it is the basis of all that there is. Well lets look at some of the reasons why this can actually be a negative when it comes to getting your Website's vision to the public shall we.

Point: Companies discontinue product or go out of business

Anyone this past July 1st get effected by Google discontinuing their Reader service, or years ago had to scramble because everything you had was on a service like Yahoo 360? Hands up if that has been you.

Companies discontinue services all the time, either the host company gets purchased, declares bankruptcy or just decided to go in a different direction.  The problem is your entire online image is on their servers and linked to a specific service.  Depending on the amount of notice you are given it can become a scramble to secure your information and move it to "Plan B".

Point:Your  Website looks like hundreds of other Websites

Usually a service like Tumblr or Wordpress, offers up the use of pre designed templates, so that your information is simply a "copy and paste" or "drag and drop" update process, and while this has advantages from the standpoint of getting your information updated quickly it also carries with it a very large drawback

YOUR WEB PAGE LOOKS LIKE HUNDREDS OF OTHER WEB PAGES!

This can be a problem when you want your business, service or event to stand out to the public eye. Customers begin to ask themselves "well what makes Joe's Widgets any better than ABC Widgets anyway?"

The other problem that templates create is the risk of customers perceiving the attention to your Digital presence as being "Lazy" and start thinking "if this business is not putting the effort into this aspect of their public profile, what type of service can I expect from them in store?


Point: Ability to have a definitive backup should  your host's server fails

This actually goes hand in hand with the first point about discontinued products and companies going out of business and is the "plan B" mentioned in that point.  By having a fully designed Web Site stored on a USB drive, DVD Disk, the  Company's computer server or any other number of backup options, a Company's website can be back online in a matter of a half hour's time frame should "Plan A" ever fail on you.  All it takes is to transfer the server information for where the files are stored to the dashboard of your domain name and you are back online, no muss, no fuss.

Point: Dedicated Website can be coded to properly display 99% of the time on any platform

Websites can actually be effected by the platform the user is viewing them on, a Standards compliant modern website views through something like Internet Explorer 6 will not, by default, display properly, but code can be added in that accounts for these type of problems.

Moving to Mobile platforms has also brought along specific sets of challenges, as Elements that used to be designed with may or may not be supported (example Flash is not supported on Apple's iOS running devices like the iPhone and iPad) and while Java and Javascript are in fact two different programming languages the end user may have ended up disabling Javascript on their machines when following security warnings to disable Java (which has even been suggested by the Department of Homeland Security in the United States)

On the other hand, a Web Site designed for you by a Professional Designer will attempt to take all of these details into account, and while Tumblr, Wordpress and even Blogger (which this blog is hosted) are all wonderful tools to accentuate the positives of your Web Site project, they really can come up short in putting the right impression out for your potential customers.

Reducing image size to increase download time

in most cases the saying has always been

"Bigger means Better"

However in Web Pages, this is not 100% true when it comes to images.  The modern digital camera has allowed us to push more information per inch into a image file and while this brings out strong detail in a print it actually can be a negative when it comes to keeping a user's attention on the content of your Web Page.

Users can access a Web Page from any number of forms of technology and with each one there are different concerns for the user.  If dial-up is the means of connection (and yes there are still users in the connected world that access the internet via dial-up access) then the larger the file the slower it is rendered onscreen.  for users accessing content via Mobile devices, like Android and iOS phones and tablets, there becomes the concern over how much of their data package will accessing one website use.


The Generally accepted solution for Web Designers has been to reduce the quality of the file to a resolution of 72 DPI (Dots per inch).  By reducing the quality, and through the use of CSS and properly formatted HTML code, the Web Browser can format surrounding information onto the screen so that if an image is slow in being accessed the user can still look through content and information without feeling that their experience is being held at a stands still due to one image.  Through doing this users become more accepting of content that maybe downloading unusually slow, as they still have material to interact with.

The Basic Terms of a Web Page

For this entry I thought it would be helpful to look at some of the basic terms related to the elements of a Web Page's design.

HTML: Hyper-Text Markup Language the main language in which Web Pages is written, elements are written anchored between < > brackets

Example:
 <img src="title.extension" alt="description of file here" height="size in pixels" width=""size in pixels">
 -- The Code to display a image file, areas in quotation marks would be swapped out with respective information.

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets, Written with the elements usually placed inside { } brackets, CSS allows for the creation of styles and layout of how the Web Browser Software displays the HTML code. areas this covers include a page's color, font and position of elements onscreen

JavaScript: A dynamic language that allows for the creation of Web Page features pertaining to areas such as searching for information, password logins, the creation of Web Cookies and Auto updating features like time and date.  It can also be used to allow effects like zooming into an image when the user's input device hovers over the file.

Flash: Created by Macromedia and eventually purchased by Adobe, Flash has been the go to standard for the creation and deployment of interactive multimedia.  Apple actually did not include support for Flash in the operating system for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iOS devices, citing support for the use of HTML 5 Standards. Adobe discontinued support for Flash on the mobile platforms after version 11.1, instead wrapping the content in a deliver system called Adobe Air

Image Formats: JPEG, PNG and GIF: These are the three primary types of Image files used in most Websites, with JPEG meaning "Joint Photographic Experts Group", PNG standing for "Portable Network Graphics" and GIF (pronounced "jif" according to format creator Steve Wilhite) stands for "Graphics Interchange Format.  PNG and GIF files permit for transparent backgrounds when displayed and GIF files allow for small looping animation

Media Files MP3 Audio and MP4 Video: These formats permit for compressed Audio and Video files that can be incorporated into a Web Page for streaming content. As Adobe Flash becomes more out of favour with designers MP4 Video is becoming the current standard for uploaded video as it allows for the including of still images and subtitles in with the video,

Your Web Designer is like a Music Conductor

As a Web Designer, one of the first questions I am asked by potential clients is

"Why do I really need a Web Designer?"

and while this is a valid question, I have actually thought a fair amount on how to address this question.  The answer actually came from my roots in music.

Picture that your Website is a Symphony Hall and the viewer is a member of the audience for a nights performance.  The Symphony is of course made up of all the instruments you expect to find in a well laid out performance.  Every portion of the Symphony knows their expected duty and where their place is in the presentation of song to be performed, you have your percussion , Brass , woodwinds  sections of the performance, and one man brings them all together, he is the Conductor!

The Conductor keeps everyone in the symphony in focus, bringing the volumes of the performance up or down, controlling the speed and releasing the emotions enclosed in the notes on the page.  

A Web Designer works for you in very much the same way. The score being worked with is the information to be presented, Your Web Designer takes his or her knowledge of the different sections of they Symphony and brings them into an harmonious blend that when well presented allows the audience to enjoy the experience, and return for future performances.  

The sections of the Web Designer's Symphony may have been replaced with HTML, CSS, Javascript and other programming languages, but the finale presented to the public is one that comes out of hours of fine tuning the presentation for public consumption.