Completing a job correctly requires selecting the right tool.  Sometimes you need a simple hammer, while other times a nail gun is a must.  Similarly, you have options in the tools you select to maximize your effectiveness on the web.  We’d like to briefly discuss two different website tools available to help you achieve the best results:  (1) dynamic website, and (2) static website.   The better you understand your goals, the better you’ll be able to select the right website tool. Here are three very important questions that will help you select the right website tool:

What are the basic differences between dynamic and static websites?

The differences are pretty simple.  When building a static site, the web developer will construct the pages as they will be retrieved by the browser, usually in basic HTML and CSS.  With dynamic sites, the pages are constructed “on the fly” by scripts ran by the web server.  As a result it’s much easier to add additional pages and functionality to the site.  A correctly programmed dynamic site will enable the website administrator to easily edit or change content through a Content Management System (CMS).  On the other hand, changing or updating a static website requires building a file transfer protocol (FTP) process, downloading pages, making changes to the pages, then uploading to the static site.

Which is the best tool for me, dynamic or static?

Static website: A static website is simple.  It is best when you never (or seldom) desire to change content or functionality.  Search engine optimization (SEO) should not be your goal with a static site.  It’s primary purpose is to provide information on your business or service (often referred to as an online business card).

Dynamic website:  Your desire is to add or update information; the site can be managed and edited by one or several people.  You can add new and different functions, while improving search engine recognition.  A dynamic site is essential when seeking to sell products and acquire new customers.

What should I do to receive a high rank from Google, and increase visits to my website?

Frequently updating your website is extremely important to achieve sustained recognition from Google, but more is required. Having well placed words is crucial, whether you have a dynamic or static website; well placed keywords in your content will definitely help to improve your Google ranking. Generating additional traffic to your site is also very important for improving your Google rank, and one of the best ways to increase visitors is to keep updating and changing content.  A dynamic website provides a great advantage because you can keep visitors coming back for updated information, and you’ll have others wanting to link to your site.

Most importantly, be persistent.  Your success will increase as you learn to interact with your website visitors.  Understand your goals, then select the appropriate tool.

There are many things that your site designer can do to help your site be as optimized as possible. But AT LEAST 50% of your search engine optimization is up to you, I think it’s more like 75%. Here are some of the basic things we do to make sure your site is optimized:
- build sites in DIVs with CSS
- include a keyword relevant, reasonable title for each page
- include text links to all main pages of the site
- include a site map
- place ALT tags on all images
You don’t have to understand what the heck we just said.  There are many more that we do but won’t go into here. Those are just some of the basics.

Honestly, that paragraph is far less important than this one. Here are some of the things that YOU can do to improve your SEO that will outweigh the things mentioned above:
- UPDATE YOUR SITE FREQUENTLY
- Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, whatever Social Network you use – post updates there about your site and provide links
- UPDATE YOUR SITE FREQUENTLY
- Ask friends with sites, or companies that provide complimentary but not competing services to link to you
- UPDATE YOUR SITE FREQUENTLY

All of this stuff is explained further in the Blog Post – Committing to Your Website, take a look at it.

Both are valuable and both are part of your web presence. In this series we will define what they are, how they can help, and how to utilize them.

Search Engine Optimization is defined as all the things you can do on your site, and for your site to make it more appealing and indexable by Search engines (google, yahoo, bing, etc.). For our purposes we will use Google in referencing search engines, since it is by far the most prominent and widely used (boasting over 2-3 billion searches a day)

Search Engine Marketing traffic that you pay for and control directly. This is essentially purchasing a link to your site, and then controlling exactly who sees it. You can specify your purchased ad to appear for people who search for something specific. For example, if you sell shelves, you can specify that your ad will appear on googles paid listing when people type in “cabinet shelves chattanooga” or “closet shelves tennessee”.

Below are graphics depicting paid listings and regular or “organic” listings.

Some people say that SEO encompasses SEM and some will argue the opposite. They are both valuable to your overall web presence though.

1. It is a key component in Search Engine Optimization—A relevant domain name is one of the primary ways search engines know how to find and index your site.

2. A unique and/or easily remembered domain name will enable your customers/clients to remember your site long after their initial visit.

How do you select an effective and memorable domain name? First, consider the name of your company. If you have a long company name such as Donatello’s Hydroelectric Philanthropic Acquisitions, you’ll probably need to abbreviate your company name with something like, www.DHPA.com.

It is ideal if you can use your company name as your domain name. People remember short names and often they will remember your company’s domain name even if it seems somewhat long. For example: Piper’s Pizza provides an excellent domain name that might seem long, but is easily remembered (www.PIPERSPIZZA.com).

Additionally, when customers fail to remember the domain name, and they will, they’re likely type the company name and hope it matches the domain name. Bingo. Piper’s Pizza will be forever remembered as the company name and the domain name. Another advantage is that the search engine robots know exactly how to index the site, because the domain name is relevant to the content of the site.

What do you do when your company name is not available for use as a domain name? Often, you can create a domain name with a slight variation such as, www.PIPERS-PIZZA.com, or www.PIPERSPIZZA.net, or www.PIPERSPIZZANIGHT.com. Even though these names may not be as ideal as your company name, you can still achieve the advantage of a domain name that is “search engine friendly.”

It’s important to remember, it is NOT essential to have a short domain name.
The domain name www.PPRS.com would NOT be a good domain name for Piper’s Pizza. It’s short, but it is not memorable, and not helpful to search engines.

Following are a couple links to sites where you can check on the availability of potential domain names:

Register.com
Yahoo Small Business

If you have questions or need assistance choosing or registering your domain name, contact us at email or call 423-779-7172.