Here is an excellent article that gives a Checklist of items you should use when you set up a new website.  I agree with the author.  Even if you have an "old" website these items are essential.  Credit to the Author is at the bottom of the article.

A great read.  Enjoy!

-Loren

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Stop! Before you push your fledgling site from the nest, here are 8 simple steps to ensure a successful launch.

In fact even if your web site is already live, there is no harm in going thru the checklist.

Marketing Value for You – Value for Your Web Clients

The 8 Point Pre Flight Checklist can easily be turned into a spreadsheet based checklist and applied to all your new sites. Then after all checks are complete, you can mail the checklist to your new site owner(s). This small marketing effort will demonstrate to your new customers that you are serious about giving them value for the money that they just spent on their new site.

The 8 Point Pre Flight Checklist

1. Page Title (the very first line in your browser)

From a SEO (Search Engine Optimization) point of view, this is the most important piece of text on any web page. Check each page and make sure that:

Remember that the first 60 odd characters of your title text is what really counts. Remove all unnecessary stop words like and, the, a etc.

Important:  as part of your title check, it is also a good idea to check that each page’s keywords and description text are loaded.

2. Cross Browser Testing

It is surprising how often a user will point out to you that one of your sites does not work properly in such and such a browser. I once had a client with a site that did not work at all in Firefox. He took a year before giving us the go-ahead to fix it, because he was not too concerned about Firefox (lol!).

There are two ways to do cross browser testing.

i)  You can use a cross browser test system (various are available) – we use crossbrowsertesting.com

ii)  You can do the task manually after loading the various browsers onto your PC.

At very least check your site in Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox and Chrome. Go thru all links and check all pages work as advertised. Don’t forget to check any pages that have forms with validation.

(If you have the time check multiple versions of the browsers – like IE 7 and IE

3. Check Links

It is best to make use of an automated link checker tool, such as the free W3C Link Checker too. The tool can be found at http://validator.w3.org/checklink. After pointing it at your site (you can usually ignore the options), it will detect and check all links and then return with a report of all broken or redirected links.

You can also of course, as part of the above (Cross Browser test) – manually click on each and every link on the site to make sure that they open properly.

4. Check Forms Work

Check all contact forms actually work. This means that the validation works and that the requisite emails get fired off and arrive in the correct mailboxes. Most forms send a copy of the input to the site owner/webmaster/support person and also a thank you to the person who filled in the form.

Make sure that this process works. There WILL be a war with your client if contact mails are not firing as they should be.

5. Proofread All Content

Try and re-read all text content on the site. Check for misspellings and syntax errors.

(If you are the site owner, now is a good time to make sure all the words make sense and do try to cut out any text that looks superfluous. Less is always more with text)

6. Sitemap

The site should be using an automated site map creation script. Although it is possible to do this manually, this is not advisable. Manual site maps quickly become a high maintenance and are prone to unnecessary errors.

Check that the sitemap works.  Look to see that all your pages appear in the automated XML output.

7. Analytics Code

Make sure that any code required for the analysis of web stats is loaded on every page. Also make sure that the stats are actually being collected by checking to see if your testing gets recorded.

Google Analytics is a good system to use. It is low cost (free!) and produces brilliant results. Irrespective of your choice of analysis system – make sure it is working and recording stats.

8. Favicon

The site icon is an important part of the visual branding of your site. (It is often found as favicon.ico in the root folder of a site) Check to see if it is showing. This is a small but important part of a site’s branding, which also appears as part of the site bookmark in most browsers.

Suggested Options

1)  Add the site to Google Webmaster Tools (also Bing), there are many tools that deliver great value that are included in the tools.

2) List the site in various important directories. Especially Google and Yahoo and any popular local directories.
 

Search Engine Optimization or SEO as it is widely know is a key concept that all webmasters and bloggers need to understand.  TheTeachingBox is proud to present a 5 Part Tutorial series on SEO. 

I came across these videos a while back, and thought that they would be a good fit for Technology and Education.  Granted SEO Optimization is a bit more on the advanced side, but everyone could learn from these videos.

As with my other video series, I will present the 5 videos one at a time so that you are able to focus on the content and think about how you will implement the information on your own website.  As we cover each of the videos, I will make sure to include the links to all previous videos so that you can easily go back and review.

The presentation of these video tutorials is well done, and I was able to learn a quite a few tips on how to make my Blog Posts pop to the top of the online Search Engines.  They are all in Flash (.swf) format and will open in a new browser window.  You should have the latest flash viewer to watch them, but if not, your browser should prompt you for the appropriate plugin download.

Search Engine Optimization – Video 1

In this first video you will get an introduction to the Top 10 On Site SEO Fundamentals and how to implement them on your site.  They include the types of HTML formatting, and content you need to make your pages and posts search engine friendly.  The running time for this video is around 24 Minutes. 

In this tutorial I learned about the Traffic Travis tool for Keyword Research and SEO.  He spends almost half of the tutorial talking about it.  It is free and could prove to be a very valuable tool in your webmaster arsenal.

The author of this video knows his stuff, and gives evidence.  Let me know what you think about this series in the comments, or send me an e-mail.  What are your favorite SEO tips and tricks?

If you are interested I can make the set available to you.  They are in .swf format and the .zip files are still quite large.  Drop me an e-mail and we can work something out.

-Loren

Much of the discussion surrounding Web 2.0 comes from internet marketers.  The opinions and input of the internet marketers is valuable because they are the ones seeking to reap the potential benefits of this technology.

I will provide a short but concise piece from my perspective as an Education Professional.  My thoughts about Web 2.0 are different because my goals are different.  I hope to provide an additional perspective which I hope adds to the available information and enhances the discussion of Web 2.0.

Tim O’Reilly is the indisputable authority on Web 2.0 and any discussion should refer back to the original scripture so to speak.  As I ponder the O’Reilly documents there are a number of points that I feel akin to as a Teacher and Educator.

I agree with O’Reilly that the web is a system.  His major points that define Web 2.0 show the web as a complex machine that consists of programs and applications all interacting with the people using the internet.  I feel that this is the “cold hard” mechanics of the internet.  Don’t get me wrong they are a valuable part of the internet, because without these mechanics it all doesn’t work.

As an Educator and Trainer I choose to focus on the Collaborative and Relationship aspects of Web 2.0.  For me, education is about learning, and collaboration is a large part of the teaching methods currently that I like to use.  Web 2.0 components enhance the collaborative way of learning.  For example the ability to share documents through Google Docs, and the use of Forums are tools that educators employ to help students learn in a collaborative environment.  Blogs are another tool that when properly deployed can provide valuable collaboration among peers.

The other part of Web 2.0 that interests me are the components that enhance relationships.  The relationships I form with my students in my role as a teacher are absolutely critical to the learning process.  Some argue that relationships are difficult to form in the online community.  I agree with this.  Relationship building online is Difficult, but NOT Impossible.  I feel that building relationships takes longer online due to the medium.  E-mail is the traditional and probably the slowest.  Applications like Twitter are the second tier, and the fastest is IM or online chat.  Nevertheless whichever application you choose to use to build relationships it takes time.  If you are not ready to dedicate the time it won’t happen.

My websites tend to be mostly informational, and I don’t sell products or information.  For me Web 2.0 is a hobby that I really enjoy.  I am an anomaly, as most of my friends online are business people.  They use the web to make a living.  My hope is to assist them and others in the quest for knowledge.  At this point in my life that’s all I want to do.  A wise friend told me, “build the relationships and the rest will follow”.

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About the Author:
Loren is a Principal Manufacturing Engineer by day, and an Education Professional by night. His engineering career has allowed him to have the roles of both engineer and Educator. He enjoys the study of instruction and training methods. He has a blog where he shares his thoughts on education and technology. Stop by and take a look at his latest projects. – http://www.theteachingbox.com.

Add Cool Visitor Statistics to Your Blog – With ClustrMaps

Visitors to your Blog Come from all over the world.  I realize this, but didn’t really comprehend it until I installed the ClustrMaps widget to my blog.  http://www.clustrmaps.com

Upon visiting the site you do need to register an account.  You put in your website address, e-mail address, and they immediately send you a password.  Go back and log in to the Admin area.

Installation -
Adding the graphic was simple, as it is straight HTML code.  My blog is Word press, and the Recommended HTML code worked fine.  Just copy and paste it to your sidebar.  If you have a traditional web page it should install just as easily.  The widget will begin collecting data immediately and you will begin to see red dots from around the world.  Just click the widget graphic to be taken to the ClustrMaps web page for the collected stats.  It is called a clustr (intentionally spelled wrong) because the dots increase in size as you get more visitors from a specific location.

Administration -
The Admin area has a statistics tab that will give you a snapshot of your visitor stats, but it seems to be the same one you get when you click on the graphic embedded in your website.  Not much else is available, just to change your password or personal details.

Final Thoughts -
I only experimented with the free version, they have a Pro Version available, but I didn’t look into it.  Overall ClustrMaps (the free version) won’t change your world.  They aren’t collecting any more sophisticated data than many of the other statistical programs out there.  It is just a cool graphical way for you and your visitors to see who visits your website.    I rate ClustrMaps an A for ease of installation and compatibility.

I have it installed in my sidebar so you can click and see an example of the stats you get.  It is so simple to get and install I recommend that you give it a try, and let me know what you think.  What do you use or recommend?

-Loren
http://www.theteachingbox.com

Education and Collaboration – Why I Use Google Docs

Google is THE place to go for searches.  Is there another search engine?  I am just kidding of course.  My first exposure to Google was way back in the early days of gmail.  Even if you are not interested in a gmail account, you need to get a Google account just to experience all of the wonderful applications that Google offers.

My favorite application of late is Google Docs.  It is simply an amazing suite of programs. (http://docs.google.com/).  This short article will outline some of the great features available (the ones I like) and I hope to interest you into further exploration of this versatile web based application.

A note of caution on “Free Things” on the internet.  As one blogger said, “Google giveth, and Google taketh away.”  I did get burned on Google Notebook.  Just as I was really getting into it, they announced it’s demise.  I am thinking that Google will keep Docs around for quite a while.

What is it?

Google Docs is advertised as a Microsoft Word Replacement.  I have to admit that I really haven’t used the Presentation or Spreadsheet applications.  I don’t do many presentations or spreadsheets, but I do write a lot of documents, as well as cut and paste quite a bit from the web.  I have recently noticed that they have added “writely” which is a drawing program.  Obviously Google is marketing this as a Microsoft Office Killer App.

Features I like –

1.  Availability – I like the availability of Google docs.  When it first came out many of the critics didn’t like to use it extensively because you had to be ON LINE in order to use it.  For me that wasn’t a show stopper because I am almost always online anyways whether at home or on the go.  This need was met with the addition of Offline Access through Google Gears.  Problem solved.

2.  PDF conversion – I like to use Adobe .pdf files for documents that I send out or make available on my website.  For a long time I relied on various internet sites to convert my documents to .pdf format for free.  They worked great, but normally you have to upload the document to their server, they convert it, and e-mail you a link to download.  Now I can just download the file as a pdf.

3. Sharing and Collaborating – As an education professional I love the ability to share my documents with others easily.  This works well in the classroom whether it is traditional or virtual.

Please leave me some comments as to your favorite features, and why you like or don’t like Google Documents.

I could go on and on discussing the myriad of features offered by this online application.  This short article tells you what I like about this offering from Google.  Yes it is free, and yes maybe Google is about to take over the world, but while they are doing it I will be using Google Docs.

- Loren
http://www.theteachingbox.com