Google Sites Web Design News

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post...this time of the year is always hectic.  Anyways, happy to quench the thirst of readers with this next topic. SEO.  If you are new to the game, it means search engine optimization, that in turn means "Why isn't my website on Google?"  There are a couple beginning tips I have for those making their websites public: Make it Public!   Make sure you Google Site is set to viewable by the public.  This is an option, More Actions > Manage Site > Share this Site > Change to Public. Buy a Domain!  This is the biggest step in SEO you take make for your website.  For just $9 - $12 a year you can own a domain, and it is not as difficult as you may think.  I recommend GoDaddy.com, but bypass all the bells and whistles, just buy the domain. Submit to Google!   I don't mean bow down to the power of Google.  If you simply type into to google "submit url to google," click on the first real webpage and fill out the

Google has released, as part of the their Webmaster Help Youtube channel , information that can help the Google Sites webmaster improve search engine optimization.  The new video discloses that Google now considers social sites in page rankings.  So, your efforts on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz, will get you noticed by Google.  "In what capacity?" you might ask. Google Realtime is a search engine that processes all the most recent social data, while not the most visible avenue it could grow.  Backlinks are still important to Google and remember, it's their goal to properly rank what's relevant and popular.  I've provided the video below. How can I get my Google Site noticed by Google Search? It's one of the most frequent questions on the Google Sites help forum.  You want to be on the front page of a Google search entry, or at least somewhere.  Look forward to my next post on this hot topic.

Let's jump right in! Google Places Combine Google Maps with your local phonebook and you get something akin to Google Places.  Any business can claim their business listing based on their address.  Recently, Google Places has seen some major activity, like Google Tags and Google Boost. Tags let's you promote your website (among other options).  Boost lets you claim an advertisement slot for a local search.  Overall, it is to your benefit to promote the website you've made with Google Sites with Google Places.  It is a great avenue to help the small business in town.  So, when you make someone a website, be sure to throw this in as a bonus feature. Google Places provides easy visibility for small clients Blogger Most websites nowadays have a complementary blog along with their website.  Blogger is basically push-button publishing and it has a lot more features than Google Sites' Announcement Page.  It's too bad that you can integrate Blogger in Google Site

My latest video tutorial for Google Sites.  We've been creating this sample website for a bakery quite steadily. Here's what you an expect to learn in this video: How to insert images by URL How to format images horizontally How to create images as links How to find free icons for your website I hope you enjoy this latest video.  Any suggestions or ideas can be submitted as comments.  Thanks for tuning in.

It has been quite some time since the last significant Google Sites upgrade.  That upgrade made possible the horizontal navigation and drop down boxes that users had been clamoring for. Google's Last Big Upgrade: Horizontal Navigation and Dropdown Boxes, but that was so long ago... So, what is Google cooking up next for us?  Visit the Google Sites forums and you'll see a lot of speculation, and I've summarized and accumulated that information here for you.  Ultimately, Google's direction for Google Sites will determine priorities and we'll analyze the trends Google is promoting. Trend: Intranet Google, it seems, has been targeting businesses and schools for aggressively.  Google renamed their Google Apps Premier Edition to Google Apps for Business.  Evidence that they want to reach an audience that will pay for their product ($50/user, actually). Recent webinars like, Improving Team Collaboration and Productivity with Google Sites , tailor the suggested u

Learn to embed those important tools like Google calendars and Google Docs. See the progress made to our sandbox website http://sites.google.com/site/numsbakedgoods  A Bit of a Summary This video focuses on important elements to any Google Site, that is, using the inherent interactivity of Google Docs and Calendars, etc, to convey and gather information.  Google Doc's forms are fairly simple and I show you where the input information shows up and how to be notified via e-mail. Note: Remember it is important to make your Docs and Calendars public for them to be seen on a public website.  Also, make sure that your Calendar has a relevant time zone, this setting is available in..."settings!" Google Sites makes it wonderfully easy to implement these practical applications.  Love Google Sites and the Google Apps package.

When I have proposed building a website for a business or organization, there are several selling points I try to drive at.  That is, I focus on the advantages of using Google Sites to build their website.  Let's look at some of these: There are no initial investments to build a Google Site - The designer doesn't have to purchase any software, have taken any classes, or even provide hosting.  The customer is able to buy at cost your time and effort.  You can undercut the competition!  Custom sites can cost $400+, you can do better than that. Visit the Links Page for a bunch of free resources like GIMP , Dafont.com , and Stock Exchange . GIMP, Free Photo Editing and Design Program   The customer is not out of the loop, they can participate in uploading and creating content.   Since you are using a very user-friendly medium, the customer can learn to get involved instead of always paying or bothering the webmaster.  Share you site to the customer as a collaborator, if they

Here are the main points of my latest video: Planning Images/Pictures Inserting .GIF Animations Selecting Page Layout Formatting Text and Horizontal Lines (HTML) If you would like a topic specifically covered in next week's video please comment.  Thanks for tuning in and please follow my blog for updates.  You can visit my youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/kirksvillewebdesign .