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Maximizing Your Website - Entries written by TriplePixel

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MonMondayAugAugust30th2010 Better Web Writing Part 3: I Like Your Style
Posted Monday, August 30 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment
Now that you have found your voice and learned how to beautify your text, it's important to set some rules for your content. You wouldn't teach your child to speak, dress them in their Sunday best, and then let them run amok. You shouldn't do the same to your content.

Creating rules for yourself (and others who create content) helps to guide your content in the right direction. Like bumpers on a bowling lane, content rules help keep you from throwing gutter balls. Take the steps below to set up your guidelines.

Incorporate links into the text.

Avoid making links out of just "click here." Instead, build the links into a sentence. So, if I wanted you to check out a previous blog entry, I would add a link to the underlined text in this sentence.

Be consistent.

Pick a style and go with it. Not only will this promote a clean, uniform feel on your site, but it also improves its look.

There are many established styles (AP, Chicago, MLA, APA). But you don't have to use one of these. You can create your own by making stylistic choices and utilizing that style throughout your content. What will you capitalize or abbreviate? What will you call reoccurring events? What will you name your ministries?
Here are a few decisions to get you started:
  • 9:00 A.M. or 9 a.m. or 9am?
  • Colorado or Colo. or CO?
  • October 25 or Oct. 25th
  • 5th Graders or fifth grade students?
  • Children's Ministry: Jesus and Me or Kid's Club?
  • small groups or Small Groups?
  • address your visitors as "loved ones" or "friends"?
  • New Believers Class or First Steps or Theology 101?

Avoid Cliches and Jargon.

Keep your articles free of overused or ambiguous words and phrases from . Think of something fresh that visitors, churched and un-churched, easily understand. A good rule of thumb to use: if you have to explain it, get rid of it.
Start by purging your content of the following:
  • "food, friends, and fellowship"
  • "come alongside"
  • "lift up" as "in prayer" or "in song"
  • "God put it on my heart"
  • big theological words like: "dispensationalism," "parousia," and "transubstantiation"

SOURCES FOR THIS BLOG/FURTHER READING ON WRITING FOR THE WEB

The 10 Commandments of Internet Writing: Web Pro News
Better Writing for the Internet: Ask Oxford
50 Free Resources That Will Improve Your Writing Skills: Smashing Magazine
Copywriting 101: Copyblogger
MonMondayAugAugust16th2010 Better Web Writing Part 2: Words As Pictures
Posted Monday, August 16 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Writing for the Web 0 comments Add comment

Writing Compelling Content for Your Organization or Business Website.

There's a saying that "pictures are worth a thousand words." On the Web, because attention spans are so brief and space is so important, words have to be pictures. Confused? Use the advice below to start crafting your text into word-pictures.

Care how it looks.

Web content is a visual medium. Visitors like text that looks good on the page. If a page is not attractive, why would someone stay on that page, let alone read its content? If the text is distracting, visitors move on without reading what you have to say.

Use white space to break up chunks of text to allow the reader to scan the content. Use lists, bullet points, and tables to organize your blocks of text. Use bold and italics to make important words, phrases, and headings stand out. Limit the use of all caps and exclamation points. Include images whenever possible.
Instead of this...

Help us serve those in our community by providing for their needs and DONATE TO OUR ORGANIZATION!!
Our current needs include: cereal, instant potatoes, canned vegetables, baby formula, and pasta.
Please help us by dropping off your boxes or bags of NON-PERISHABLE foods in the Food Pantry bins in the lobby at our headquarters!!

Do this...

Help us serve those in our community by providing for their needs. Donate to our Food Pantry.

Our current needs include:
  • cereal
  • instant potatoes
  • canned vegetables
  • baby formula
  • pasta

Drop off your boxes or bags of non-perishable foods in the Food Pantry bins in the lobby at our headquarters.

Shorter the better.

Use short, choppy sentences. Chunk these sentences together into brief paragraphs of 2-3 sentences so as not to intimidate the reader with long blocks of text.

Like a newspaper article, answer all the important questions at the beginning (who, what, when, where, why, and how) and explain in more detail as the article continues. Cut out unnecessary information, adjectives, and adverbs. Adhere to the "Keep it Simple" attitude.
Example of short and choppy:

Calvary Baptist Student Ministries:

Impact is our ministry for students in High School. Impact students are committed to a single purpose: living for the glory of God. They meet three times a month in home groups and at a large group meeting twice per month.

Xtreme for Christ is our ministry for students in Junior High. They meet each Thursday at 7:00 P.M. in the Youth Room. Each week is filled with small discussion groups, worship, and hang out time.

Jesus And Me (JAM) is our Children's Ministry. JAM meets every Sunday morning and evening during our main worship services. Each child is given a Bible-based lesson, activity, and memory verse every week.
MonMondayAugAugust2nd2010 Better Web Writing, Part 1: Finding Your Voice
Posted Monday, August 02 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Writing for the Web 0 comments Add comment

Writing Compelling Content for Your Organization Website.


Visitors will come to your organization or business website because of flashy imagery, but they'll keep coming back for fresh, well written content. Writing for the Web is different than writing for other mediums. Web visitors have shorter attention spans than any other medium, so it is important to know how to write to keep their attention as long as possible and keep them coming back for more.

Over the next several blogs, we will give you tips for improving your Web writing. The first step to becoming a better Web writer is finding and developing your writing "voice." Your voice, like your speaking voice, is the tone projected by the words you use and how you use them.

Here are three keys to developing your voice:

Know your audience.

Before you begin crafting the words directed toward your website users, it is important to understand their expectations and wants so you can meet them.

Your clients or members want to feel in touch with your company and want to sense being cared for by staff from the minute they walk in your door. They want to interact with you and not feel like a number. You want them to feel at home, too, so when you greet these visitors to your business or organization, you smile, welcome them, and give them your undivided attention. Your writing voice should do exactly the same thing.

Be friendly.

Your tone has the power to invite people in or turn people away. Use informal language. Say "we" and "you" instead of "our clients" or "organization leaders" to make yourself more relatable. Use your page as a handshake and your text as a "welcome."

Example of friendly voice:

If you are interested in learning more about , we invite you to attend Meet the Pastors.

Meet the Pastors is a great first step towards becoming involved at Calvary. If you are investigating or have recently decided to make Calvary your church home, then we welcome you to join us at Meet the Pastors.

Please register for Meet the Pastors today. We would love to see you there!

Be firm and use active voice.

Use active voice when writing news articles or blogs to energize the content and involve the reader. Use strong commands when writing ad content to promote action. Use the present tense and confident words to give your text authority.

Example of firm, active voice using present tense:

Join us at one of our two Sunday services. We meet at 9:30 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. each week. We invite you to engage in Christ-centered worship and an application-filled study of God’s Word with us.

Visit our "What To Expect" page to find out more about our services and our beliefs. If you have a question or comment, fill out a Contact Us form.

SOURCES FOR THIS BLOG/FURTHER READING ON WRITING FOR THE WEB

The 10 Commandments of Internet Writing: Web Pro News
MonMondayJulJuly19th2010 Why Add Highlights?
Posted Monday, July 19 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment

How Highlights improve the look and function of each page on your organization website.


Each page, news item, and event on your organization website has five "slots" to insert highlights. Highlights are other pages, blog entries, news, events, or content that you select as a highlight when you create it. To maximize your website's potential, it is important to fill each page with as many relevant highlights as you can.

Look

Although you may have heard that empty space is a good way to break up text on a page, allowing too much space can make your site look empty and unimportant. Each inch of space is valuable real estate--don't waste it by forgetting to add highlights.

When creating a page and selecting it to be a highlight, add a thumbnail. Thumbnails provide you a chance to be make your site pop by breaking up text with images (people love images!).

Be creative. Choose a theme for your thumbnails and run with it. Have all your thumbnails feature:
  • People from your organization or business
  • A consistent color scheme
  • Symbols and imagery from your organization or business (ex. Dentist websites: toothbrushes, floss, teeth, etc.)
  • A similar look-and-feel
  • Or a mixture of all

Function

Highlights help your users find related information as they explore your website–content they might not otherwise have found. For example, on your About Us page, highlight your Contact Us page so visitors can easily navigate there to send you a comment or question. On an news item about your new location, highlight the page with your map, directions, and location information. On your upcoming donors event, highlight a page where visitors can donate online.

Using highlights as links to other content on your organization website makes it easier to keep your menu clutter-free. Partnering highlights with hyperlinks, resource pages, and widgets keeps you from adding every page into your menu. Your users will thank you for this ease in navigation. Not necessarily in verbal (or e-mailed) praise, but definitely in repeat visits to your site.

OTHER RESOURCES ON HIGHLIGHTS

What Is A Highlight? – Support Document
Adding Highlights (Video) – Support Video
What is a Thumbnail? – Support Document
MonMondayJulJuly5th2010 Using Your Website to Promote Your Brand
Posted Monday, July 05 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment

Bad News, Good News

Bad news: The amount of time spent by visitors on your organization or business website can be measured in a few short minutes. And because of the modern Web-surfer's short attention span, it has become critical for organizations to focus more on building and maintaining their brand on their website in order to keep visitors there for longer.

Good news: TriplePixel's Skin feature makes developing and maintaining your brand on your website a few easy clicks away.

Your organization has undoubtedly spent countless hours building and protecting your brand: a logo, colors, imagery, and key words and phrases that convey what you're "all about." Carrying this brand over to your website is just as crucial as the initial building process.

Your website is often your bridge to prospective clients or members and is your best way to broadcast your vision and how you go about achieving it. You want people to know what you're all about from the moment they see your homepage and to remember your site long after they’ve left. To accomplish this, you have to establish your brand identity on your site.

Establishing Brand Identity on Your Website

1. Logo and Colors
Think of your organization's focus. Think of the words, phrases, visuals, and colors to help convey this theme. Create or use your existing logo as a symbol for your mission.

Keep these colors and themes in mind when selecting a TriplePixel skin or when developing a custom skin for your site.



Acucare Total Health had us create a custom skin to incorporate their new logo and to convey the same holistic, natural feel of their services. To do this, they used earth tones, wood textures, and nature images throughout their site.

2. Logo Use: Size and Position
Now that you have your logo to represent your organization, it should be the first thing users see when they visit your homepage. Display the logo large and prominent, usually in the top left corner of your homepage and continue that pattern on each page of your site.

With TriplePixel's Skin feature, the majority of the work is already done for you. You can add your own header, and inside of it you can place your logo so that it appears on each page.
Acucare Total Health used a custom skin and header to display their logo prominently in the upper left corner of their homepage and throughout their website (see image above).

3. Consistency
Use your logo, colors, and visuals to envelop your site with your mission. Use the same fonts, graphics, relative positions, and proportions for each web page on your site. A uniform navigation scheme coupled with a good color scheme can also help reinforce your brand image.

Pick a style and go with it. Be consistent in your content voice and style.

The use of Headers, Ads, and Thumbnails can help to achieve stylistic consistency. All of these features are included when you choose TriplePixel for your website needs.



Acucare Total Health relies on their website's branding to gain new clients. To achieve this, they needed to use consistent imagery, keywords and phrases (as seen in their website header), and theme (as seen in their skin).



They used closeup images of their herbal treatments, and tied it together with their wood textured skin, to continue their "natural" feel.



And chose closeup images of doctors with patients to establish a trust factor with their clients.

Sources for this Article/Other Resources Regarding Branding:

The Significance of Establishing a Prominent Brand Identity for Your Website: OneExtraPixel
MonMondayJunJune21st2010 Shortcuts to Success
Posted Monday, June 21 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment
Throughout your TriplePixel site, you are able to add shortcuts to practically any page. A shortcut allows you to give your visitors a direct, easy-to-remember reference to a page. For instance, if you create a shortcut to your products page which is "products," your visitors can access that page by simply typing "http://yoursite.org/products".

For your organization or business, this can lead to a dramatic change in your promotional materials. You can be relieved of providing every bit of detail and can now offer a small introduction while directing the curious straight to more information on your website. Our research shows that people use these shortcuts a lot.

Here are a few tips to using shortcuts:

Keep them short but descriptive
People can only remember so much. A shortcut like "ourmissionstatementandyearlygoals" sort of defeats the purpose--"mission" is probably better.

Avoid acronyms unless they are very well known
If your organization or business holds a fund-raising dinner every year, it's probably not as benefitial to give your event the shortcut "FRD". Instead, use something memorable, like "dinner," "gala," or use the name of your event.

Shortcuts can only be used once
One customer has already run into "overlap" with their shortcuts. Last year's New Year's Eve event had the shortcut "newyears" and had to be removed before that shortcut could be used on this year's event. We'd suggest "newyears2008" as a better practice for something you do regularly.

Feel free to drop the WWW
Your site is most certainly reachable at both "www.mysite.org" and "mysite.org." When you write your shortcuts, save space and leave off the "www." The URL "mysite.org/shortcut1" is simple to type and takes up little of your valuable marketing space.

Don't miss out on using this feature.
MonMondayJunJune7th2010 Spring Cleaning for Your Website
Posted Monday, June 07 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment
One of the premier web usability books on the market today is abruptly titled, Don't Make Me Think. The premise of the book is based on the title. No surprise.

The author asserts that web users not only don't want to think, but that they won't. Your site's visitors will lose patience if they are made to work too hard.

With that said, we'd like to make a suggestion. Maybe it is time for a website "spring cleaning." There are certainly ways you can simplify your organization or business website. Here are some suggested places to look for improvement:
  • Navigation
    Can your menus be simpler? Are you using breadcrumbs and do they make sense to the user? Are items titled what people would expect? Can they find items in the search? For most sites, each level of your menu should offer 4-7 options––does yours?
  • Combining/Splitting
    Are there pages on your site that could be combined for simplicity? Are there items which would make sense as two items?
  • Highlights
    Are you routinely using all five highlights? Depending on your site's size, this may or may not be appropriate. Bigger sites should probably use highlights as much as possible to help users get to information more easily. For smaller sites, don't allow highlights to clutter your site too much. Two or three highlights may be enough.
  • Purging
    Are there items on your site that are out of date or just need to be refreshed? Is all your content relevant? Is your staff directory up-to-date? Are you using expiration dates?
As with any communication, try to put yourself in a visitor's shoes. Can they find what they want? Are they finding what they want with help from your site or in spite of it?
MonMondayMayMay24th2010 What RSS is and Why You Should Care
Posted Monday, May 24 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment
What is RSS?

RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, is a standard created to enable sharing of content across the Internet. The goal is to make it easier for people who created Internet content to distribute the content.

There are several ways to "consume" RSS content and different content types are consumed in different ways. Text content is read, audio content is heard, video or image content is seen. The most common way to consume RSS content is using an RSS reader (sometimes called an RSS aggregator). These software applications allow users to consume RSS in a similar way to the way email programs present e-mail. Typically, these applications indicate which items have been read and which have not. There are many very good RSS readers which are distributed free.

Interestingly, there are a number of other novel applications of RSS. For instance, Podcasting is a technology which uses RSS to distribute audio. Soon we'll start hearing more about videocasting which will distribute video files. Another novel application is to allow sharing between websites. For instance, My Yahoo now allows users to consume any RSS feed on their My Yahoo homepage, putting any RSS content next to the latest headlines, weather, stock prices and horoscopes.

Why You Should Care?

Your organization's website should serve as one gateway to your organization--connecting people with events and news that will help them get connected. RSS makes that information easier to get to. Users who are already using RSS (and there are a lot of them out there and more each day) may decide to subscribe to your RSS feed using their favorite RSS reader. In this case, as soon as new news or events are added to your site, these readers will know.

The great news for TriplePixel customers is that RSS feeds are already available on your site. Your site's blogs, news, and events have feeds already available. It is possible that users of your site are already consuming RSS and staying up-to-date with your organization.

Get Started Now

You can get started right now. How? Follow this link and subscribe to this blog right now.

For More Information:

See Wikipedia
See this listing of RSS Reader applications
MonMondayMayMay10th2010 Under Construction is Assumed
Posted Monday, May 10 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment
Apart from animated images, nothing says "this website is lame" better than "Under Construction" pages. The dirty little secret of the web is that every site is under construction. Websites are meant to constantly change. This is what makes websites a valuable method for distributing information.

The best way to build a website is to do it a little at a time. We recommend to our clients that they only add a page to their site once they have the information to fill out that page. This saves users from the frustration of following a link just to find out that the information they are looking for is not available.

Don't worry if you've created "Under Construction" pages before. It happens to the best of us. I've done it. But, we become responsible for what we know. And now you know.
MonMondayAprApril26th2010 Bounce Rate and How to Reduce It
Posted Monday, April 26 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites 0 comments Add comment

What is Bounce Rate?

A bounce occurs when a person visits your organization website and leaves without visiting any other pages on your site. This is the equivalent to a potential client walking in your front door, turning around, and walking out. The problem with this is obvious.

Bounce Rate is a term used in website traffic analysis. It represents the percentage of visitors to a site who "bounce" away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site. The formula used to calculate bounce rate is: Bounce Rate = Total Number of Visits Viewing One Page ÷ Total Number of Visits. 

Just as you want potential clients to stay longer than 10 minutes, you want your website visitors to stay on your site long enough to learn about who you are as well as get connected to your business. Lowering your Bounce Rate is the key to achieving that goal.

A high Bounce Rate from any page means that your site's pages don’t give visitors any reason to stay, so making your homepage and other pages as relevant as possible to your visitors is crucial.

Ways to Reduce Bounce Rate and Keep Visitors on Your Site

  1. Streamline Your Menu
    2. Your menu is the most important tool to navigate your site. Visitors want to find information quickly and easily, so don't bog down your menu with too many choices. Limit your main menu categories to the 6-7 most important, and only include relevant pages (five or less) as sub-categories.

    Use the example menu below as a good rule of thumb:

    • Home
    • About Us
      • Our History
      • Our Mission
      • Staff
    • What We Offer
    • Contact Us

    Simplifying your site's menu is easy by combining items and making it easier to navigate by using breadcrumbs--all great advice for helping your users find information.

  2. Add Highlights with Thumbnails
    3. On the sidebar or footer of each of your site's pages, news items, events, and other items is a space to include up to five highlights--links to other content on your site. Adding highlights that relate to the content on each page is an easy way to entice users to explore your website. For example, on the home page, you might include highlights for your "What We Offer" page, your blog, "About Us", and "Our Mission" page. (See this help file to learn more about highlights.)

    Include a thumbnail with your highlight to make it "pop" off the page. Read this help file to find out how to add thumbnails to your items.

  3. Add Recent News or Events with Widgets
    4. With widgets, you can embed content from your site inside other content. To let your visitors see the latest happenings in your organization, use widgets to display the most recently added news and upcoming events. Here is an example of a page with events embedded within it.

    You can also embed recent blog entries inside of other pages--so on your staff page, you can include the latest entries from your blog and connect with visitors on a more relational level.

    Learn more about Widgets by clicking here.

  4. Create Ads Which Link to Other Pages/Site Features
    5. Ads on your site act to promote the content within. Use flashy images and compelling text to advertise other pages, blogs, photo galleries, or media.

    Have a Podcast of your weekly sermon series? Create and ad which links to it and display it on your home page. Don't make visitors hunt for your features. Lead them there. Click here to learn how to create an ad.

  5. Sign Up for Google Analytics
    6. Utilizing free Google Analytics is an important step in understanding how your site traffic works. Analytics allows you to chart your Bounce Rate on individual pages or site-wide, creates reports that show your hits per day, month, or the change over the course of a year, and tracks clicks on individual links or ads. And that's only the beginning.

    Once you plug your Google Analytics number into your iMinistries website, check out your bounce rates on this page. To learn more about statistics like this and how to use them, read this help file on adding your Google Analytics number to your iMinistries website.

Sources for This Blog and More Reading on Bounce Rates

What does Bounce Rate Mean? - Google Analytics
MonMondayAprApril12th2010 Make Your Location Map Interactive
Posted Monday, April 12 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged About Us Best Practices for Organization Websites Widgets 0 comments Add comment

Use the Google Map Widget to Embed an Interactive Map on Your Business Website

To make it easier for your organization website users to visit your business in person, consider embedding a map, like the one below, from Google in your About Us section.


To make a map like what you see above, follow these steps:
  1. Edit or create a news item, page, or event.
  2. Select the Widget button from the Editor's toolbar.

  3. Click on the Google Map link to expand the feature.
  4. Enter in your location's address, the size you want your map, and your desired zoom level and Add.

  5. Change the status of your page to Published and Save.
  6. Bask in your new found knowledge as well as how you now are providing an interactive map to the users of your church website!
After you save your changes, navigate to your new page and insure you like what you see. If you would like for it to appear differently, go back through the steps that you have just taken and adjust the map accordingly. When users of your website visit this page, they can interact with the map getting very detailed directions.
MonMondayMarMarch29th2010 Improving Search Results, Chapter 3: Directories and Social Media
Posted Monday, March 29 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 comments Add comment

Make Your Organization Website More Visible By Using Directories and Social Media Websites.

Now that you have conquered Google by increasing your PageRank, and other search engines by adding Meta Tags, you can still improve your search engine results. By adding your site to directories and social sites, you can improve your organization website’s credibility which will move your site up the chain of search results.


Directories

Directories are man-made lists of websites. Each site that is added to a directory is evaluated and deemed one of high quality. So being added to one or more of these directories is seen by search engines as a thumbs up from peers, which influences the order in which they list sites in query results.

Three directories you should add your site to:
  • DMOZ
  • Yahoo Directory
  • ZoomInfo
DMOZ
A volunteer-run directory hosted by Mozilla, only sites with quality content will get listed here. New sites are less likely, and since it is managed by volunteers, it can take time to get added. DMOZ is the largest human-edited directory of the Web, so if you aren't listed here, search engines will be given a reason not to list your site at the top of results. Add your site to DMOZ.
Yahoo Directory
Yahoo's Directory unfortunately is not free, it costs you $299 per year. But its size and name recognition might make it worth your while if you care deeply about improving your search results. Add your site to Yahoo Directory.

ZoomInfo
This directory and search engine is geared more toward businesses, but allows you to create an informative profile. You can add a searchable profile for your organization and link to your website. ZoomInfo has profiles on more than 37 million people and 3.5 million companies, so it can be valuable to have on your site's "resume." Create a profile on ZoomInfo.

Social Networking and Media Sites

These sites can be used to drive more traffic to your website. More traffic means more respect from search engines and a better search ranking.

Three social networking and media sites you should add your site (and its content) to:
  • Facebook
  • Del.icio.us
  • Digg
Facebook
We all know that Facebook is great for keeping in touch with old friends from the past, but it can also help you increase your Web traffic and boost your search engine results. You can create a free group and allow people to become a "fan" of your organization. You can also link to your website and post news and event updates (which you can link to news and events on your site) to drive more visitors to your site. We thought that we should take our own advice and recently created a group. If you are an existing client or are thinking about becoming one, why not join the iMinistries Facebook Group?

Del.icio.us
If you create compelling content on your site, your users will share it with others on this web-based bookmarking site (learn more about Del.icio.us here). The best avenue for creating the kind of constantly changing content people share is in our blog feature. Here you can discuss your weekly sermons more in-depth, and allow your visitors to add comments. You can share your insights on relevant topics or events. If you haven't started a blog, visit this help file to find out how you can do so today.  

Digg
Digg is a site that allows you or your visitors to submit and rate articles. Each article can receive diggs, or votes, from Digg.com users. More diggs means articles move closer and closer to the Digg homepage or its topic homepages. If you or visitors to your site submit articles and they are compelling enough to become popular, this could mean increased traffic to your site--and we now know that high-traffic sites get listed higher on search results. To submit articles, you must first create a free account.

Sources For This Blog and Further Reading on Directories and Social Media

Man Still Better Than Machine for Some Things - HubSpot
MonMondayMarMarch15th2010 Improving Search Results, Chapter 2: Utilizing Meta Tags
Posted Monday, March 15 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

Make Your Ministry Website More Visible With Meta Tags

What are Meta Tags?

Meta Tags are keywords and phrases hidden in the background of your organization website to describe your page to search engines. These tags help them determine if your site is best for a search query. They also appear as the title and description of your site in the results of those search queries.

 
If you have not added Meta tags to your site, search engines will use the first lines of your page as your description, so you can see why Meta tags are an important tool to ensure that users find you. Meta tags give you control over the first impression you present to searchers.

For example, Calvary Church and Grace Bible are two ministries in suburban Boston. Calvary has added Meta title and description tags to their site. Grace Bible has not, so the search engine has grabbed its menu bar as its description. Below are the search results for “Bible church in Boston suburbs”:
Calvary Church - Welcome
Calvary is a Bible-believing church that has faithfully served the Boston suburbs since 1974. Calvary offers diverse ministry for men, women, children, and students…

Grace Bible – Home – Grace Bible Church
Home – Ministries – Contact Us – FAQ – info@gracebible.net 123 Main St., Suburbs, MA 12345…
You can see how these small tags can make a big impression on search engine users. Calvary Church’s website jumps out as more relevant, simply because they added a brief summary of their ministry as a Meta Tag.

What Content Should I use in a Meta Tag?

Concentrate on creating three types of Meta Tags, using the analogy of a book:
  • Title (book title): Summarize your ministry in a few short words. Obviously, you ministry name should come first. But adding two or three words after the ministry…
  • Description (back cover summary): In a few short sentences, describe your ministry. This description will be displayed under your site's title in search results (like above) and is often called a "snippet." To read more about how to create more effective snippets, check out this article from Google.
  • Keywords (subject, genre, author): List words and phrases that relate to your ministry. Like your location, your senior pastor or founder’s name, and even “church.” Google has decided to help you out with keyword development. Their Keyword Tool allows you to generate suggested keywords by entering in your website's URL.

How can I add Meta Tags to My iMinistries site?

Adding a Meta Tag to your iMinistries site is easy. Just follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to your Site Administration.
  2. In your Site Controls, select Site Preferences.
  3. On the General tab, click [Meta Tag Administration]
  4. Click Add Tag
  5. Name your tag (ex. “Description”), fill in the Content field, and save.
You can also add Meta Tags to individual pages. When you edit any page, event, news article, or other content, navigate to its SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tag. Add your descriptions and keywords in the fields provided.
MonMondayMarMarch1st2010 Improving Search Results, Chapter 1: The Google Monster
Posted Monday, March 01 2010 @ 9 AM byTriplePixel Tagged Best Practices for Organization Websites Improving Google Search Results 0 comments Add comment

Make Your Site More Visible on Google Search Results By Improving Your PageRank.

How Does Google Determine Search Ranking?

Many new visitors to your organization website find you through search engines. Whether they type in generic terms like “businesses in downtown Louisville” or your exact organization name, you want your website to be the first in lists of search results. To make this a reality, you should know about search engine optimization (SEO).
 
Dominate among search engines is Google who utilizes its own system for the order of how websites are listed in search results. Their PageRank formula is a important part of that system.

Simplified, the formula Google uses to determine whether your organization is the first site listed when someone enters in a search query that relates to you is this:
Search Ranking = Relevance x PageRank
Relevance
To determine your site’s Relevance, Google looks at your site’s content and compares it with other sites similar to yours, in both quality and quantity. So, for example, if another “business in downtown Louisville” uses those words and phrases less than you do on your site, your Relevance is likely to be higher. If the title of your site’s pages all include your name and someone searches that name, your Relevance will be higher than other sites.

PageRank
Google assigns a number from 0-10 (10 being best) to each website to measure its credibility and overall quality. This number is determined primarily by how many other websites link to your site, with links from sites with higher PageRanks counted as much more significant because their links are more valuable. Think of it this way, a job reference from the President carries much more weight than one from the lunch lady.

Here is a summary of PageRanks and the sites that make them up, from HubSpot.com:
0-1: New sites; sites with not many other sites linking to it
2-3: Sites with minimal links
4-5: Popular sites with a fair amount of other sites linking to it
6: Very popular sites that have hundreds of links, many of them quality links
7-10: Usually media brands (NYTimes.com), big companies, or A-list blogs.
To find out your PageRank, use one of the free tools below:
PageRank Checker
WebSiteGrader

How to Bump Up Your Google Search Ranking

Here are a few easy steps you can take you improving your PageRank:
  1. Spell-check the content on your site. Visitors can't find you if you spell Muscle Cars “Mussle Cars.”
  2. Include words that people might enter in their searches in your content. If your business is in Louisville, make sure it says so on your site.
  3. Make sure each page on your site has a title in the top toolbar.
  4. If you have partner organizations, include a page on your site where you link to their sites, and encourage them to do the same. The more sites you can get linking to you, the better.
  5. Be picky about who you link to. Only link to quality sites who update their content regularly.
  6. Update your home page and other pages constantly with fresh content, news items, blog entries, and/or events. Use our Widgets Feature to do the work for you.
  7. Sign up for Google Analytics and use it. Using this free tool will let you see traffic to your site and give you insights on how to improve your content.
  8. Link to other content on your site using hyperlinks. In the text of a news item, link to an event so visitors can register. In a blog, link to a photo gallery. These links help balance your PageRank over your whole site.
  9. Take pride in the quality of your content. Avoid duplicate pages and information. Make text clear and brief.
  10. When you link to other pages or sites, use keywords. Instead of writing "click here" and making it a hyperlink, use text that relates to the item you are linking to, like "View our quarterly report."

Sources for This Blog and Further Reading on SEO

The Importance of Google PageRank - HubSpot.com
12 Things to Do to Improve Your Site's Google Page Ranking - Stason.org
SearchSearch
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