2007 Oct 03 - Wed
Image Maps with CSS, Plus 20 CSS Tools, Plus other Free Tools
Marketing Technology Blog has a
How To: Build An
Image Map with CSS entry. Pretty simple and straightforward.
In CSS TOOLBOX: 20+
Tools For Working With CSS, there are links to a bunch of sites offering up quite a
number of tips, tricks, and techniques for working with CSS.
This site isn't necessarily CSS, but I thought I'd include it here anyway. Emma Alvarez
Blog has an entry called
Top best 50 free tools for your website. She references:
- Color Selectors
- Logo Makers
- Button Generators
- Rounded Corner Generators
- Background Makers
- Custom Games for Blogs
- Avatars
- Free Scripts
- Visitor Maps
- Public Domain Photos
- Free Fonts
- Widgets
- Statistics
- Firefox Extensions
- Inspiration
- Optimization Tools
- Image Tools
More Code Coloring Capability for HTML
Google Code
Colorizer is one to add to the list.
2007 May 09 - Wed
Redirecting a Web Page
I've encountered a number of ways to redirect a web page. If all you have access to is a web page, then
a meta tag is the way to go:
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3;url=/liveprobe/index.html">
</head>
<body>
You will be redirected to <a href=/liveprobe/index.html>/liveprobe/index.html</a> in 3 seconds.
</body>
</html>
More meta-tags can be found at http://vancouver-webpages.com/META/.
If pages are being dynamically created, then executing the following code before anything else on the page is generated should do the trick (I haven't
tried it out myself yet):
print "Status: 302 Moved Temporarily\r\n",
"Location: $url\r\n",
"Content-Type: text/html\r\n\r\n",
"$url\r\n";
2007 Feb 08 - Thu
Perl based Code Colorer
In another article, I was looking at various batch oriented code colorization routines.
In looking for Perl Modules for another take, I found that there is a Perl module that will
do such a job, inline. It can be found at Colorer Library with another similar CPAN module at Syntax Hightlight Universal. I think that second supports about 200
different languages.
2006 Dec 05 - Tue
Google Webmaster Tools
I cover a number of different topics in my blog. I'm interested in finding out how people arrive on those
pages. From a Google perspective, they have a convenient tool for analyzing some of this information.
Google has a site called Google Webmaster Central.
On that page is a link for Webmaster Tools (including Sitemaps). I've added my web site to the tool. As part of
that process, they generate a verification key. I've installed the verification key in the footer file that gets
included on all generated webpages on my site. This verification key is part of a script that talks to Google
each time a web page is rendered by a web browser.
As part of each rendering, information is sent to Google that logs the queries used to get to the specific
page. Google summarizes this information and reports this to me each time I visit the Google Webmaster
Tools.
I've also uploaded a simple site-map so Google knows which pages to visit.
Now that I've provided some basic information to Google, I can now get an idea of how pages are crawled, when
they are crawled, and how the pages are ranked within Google's system.
I also have the ability to download a spreadsheet of queries Google has recorded for reaching each page set.
This will help me to optimize the keywords in each document. It also gives me an idea of people's interests, and
thereby provide additional content focussed to those topics of interest.
I have a Google search tool at the top of my pages. The searches entered in that box are also recorded so I
can tell for what people are searching once they reach my site.
There is also a set of index statistics provided which include: the pages indexed by Google, sites that
Google knows that link to my site, and presents a list of sites related to my site so I can have an idea of who
my competition might be.
I've found the Google 'link:' not quite as detailed as I think it should be. Google has maybe twelve sites
showing
information for link:www.oneunified.net. On the other hand, Alexa
shows around 74 sites linking.
Anyway, for a high level view of what GoogleBot thinks about my site, Google Webmaster Central provides a good summary.
2006 Dec 04 - Mon
Keywords for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engines like keywords, keywords that are balanced, not overused, not underused.
Both copy writers and site designers need to be involved in optimization of keywords and
phrases. Once appropriate keywords and phrases have been determined (more about this in
another entery), copy writers need to work them into the text of the website. In
addition, the keywords and phrases can be incorporated into meta-tags of the page, but I've
heard that you can't overboard here, nor can you rely only on meta-tags to carry the day.
Another trick is to incorporate the keywords into web site structure and navigation. For
example, on one my pages I discuss a set of HD-600 headphones by Sennheiser. The page references the word
AudioPhonics and the directory structure in which the article rests has that word as part of
the path.
That article has a Google rank of 7 or 8. It has reached that rank within a few weeks of
posting. However, that page is actually about the Sennheiser HD 600 headphones, and if I do
a search on that phrase, page rank is very very low. It is somewhere between 140
and 745,000. So, in effect, people will land on that page due to a search of the nebulous
topic of AudioPhonics rather than the more specific topic of Sennheiser HD 600 Headphones
about which I wrote.
Because there are so many other pages out there that have Sennheiser HD 600 in the title
bar, which my page doesn't (I'm going to have to move to different blogging software to make
that happen), they probably enjoy higher rankings. However, an appropriate title is only
one of many attributes a search engine will use to compute a page rank.
Those other pages also probably use meta-tags.
Those other pages may also have inbound links of one form or another to gain
them extra visibility.
Those other sites may also have related content that helps a search engine's related
content matchers. (I'm still finding out about this one to see how true it is).
But you'll also note that when doing a search on the phrase 'Sennheiser HD 600', a bunch
of other kind of related pages show up: ones that have a portion of the phrase repeatedly,
ones that include the phrase in passing but related to similar equipment, and ones that have
them in the url somewhere.
So, after having mentioned what search engines like, we'll see what happens with this
page in the page rankings in a few weeks for the search topic 'Sennheiser HD 600'. I've
mentioned the product multiple times within the
text of this document, which is what Search Engines seem to like. I'm still missing the
text in meta-tags, the title, and the url, but we'll see how things go. It will be form of
double irony that people come here because they searched for 'Sennheiser HD 600' when in
fact this page is actually is about Search Engine Optimization, in another form:
Optimzation for Search Engine Findability.
In summary, if you are looking for visibility and findability, each page you write needs
to be hand crafted with these various techniques in mind. And even if you've crafted a page
for a certain phrase, you may find a search engine likes it differently based upon user's
search patterns and preferences. But if you watch these patterns, you can use them to your
benefit to further enhance your findability.
Book Review: Ambient Findability by Peter Morville
As I've been adding content to my blog, I've also been looking into methods and
mechanisms of promoting it .
Over the last few years, I've been receiving JIll Whalen's High Rankings Advisor Newsletter. She devotes her time to
educating her readers in the subject of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I've been reading
the newsletter ever since the time that meta-tags had significant meaning. Now they
represent only a portion of toolset needed to successfully promote a web site.
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Web site promotion is really all about 'findability'. Peter Morville presents this topic
in a very readable book called 'Ambient Findability' available from O'Reilly Press. The
sub-title of his book is 'What We Find Changes Who We Become', which I think is very apt,
based upon the research he presents within the pages of his book.
We as Blog authors and web page developers provide content so that we can share it with
others, and perhaps make some money from it, if not for other altruistic reasons. As they
say, content is king. But if no one knows about the content, what good does it do? So the
key question is: how does one get others to visit?
Obviously, other's can't visit if they don't know where to visit. One concept that comes
immediately to mind is a one called viral marketing. Marketing
Terms defines it as a 'marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to
pass along a marketing message'. If you can get a snowball of a message rolling, people
will come.
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On the other hand, in order to build a base of respectability and long term associations,
any number of ideas and philosophies need to be considered. No one promotion gimmick will
yield results. Around 175 pages of book can be boiled down to this meaning laden quote:
Semantic Web tools and standards create a powerful, enduring foundation. Taxonomies and
ontologies provide a solid semantic network that connects interface to infrastructure.
And
the fast-moving, fashionable folksomonies sit on top: flexible, adaptable, and responsive
to user feedback.
The book is much more readable than what is found in that exerpt, but hopefully the
exerpt provides a desire to find out more of what it takes to build a successful web site. Search
Engine Optimization is part and parcel of semantic content. Tag building through such sites
as Flickr and Del.icio.us provide the folksomony, or user ratedness of a site. And search
engine classification schemes provide accessibility.
Many different topics related to finding things are presented within the book. It is an
excellent first book for those involved with the multi-role task of making web sites
findable, as well as usable.
2006 Nov 27 - Mon
Code Colorization
Here are a few sites that will format and colorize code for use on web sites:
If you know of Perl Code Colorizer, please let me know.
2006 Nov 11 - Sat
CSS Resources
Here are some resources for using CSS in web sites. The big thing is that one should be
able eliminate the need for <table> tags. I have more research and tinkering to do
before I can convert this site over to a predominately <div> flavour.
favicon.ico
thesitewizard.com has a description of what to do with
the favicon.ico and where to put it. It seems there is some sort of link problem with the link ref as it is not showing in my browser.
More research is needed.
Here is a good Pixel Editor.
2006 Nov 06 - Mon
Definitive Dictionary on HTML and CSS coding:
Index DOT Html
2006 Nov 05 - Sun
HTML Escape Codes
- For the < type <
- For the > type >
- For the © type ©
- For the & type &
- For the " type "
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