DigiWeb

Why are Usability and Accessibility Important? The web design and development industry has undergone a number of radical shifts over the last few years - in fact, many industry experts claim that it is the most rapidly changing industry in the world. What these changes have led to though, is increased potential - "anything is possible". The inevitable side effect of this is that software and web sites have become so feature-rich and complex that they are practically impossible to use.   This matters to individual website owners because, if they are not careful, their website project or website content management solution can easily suffer functional overkill. When launching a web design project, be sure to ask yourself and your web site vendor the following questions: How does your software meet accessibility standards? How do you implement usability best practices? Can users with disabilities use my website? How readable will my website be by visitors

What is RSS? RSS, an acronym for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, is a format for syndicating content from web sites. More technically speaking, it is an XML-based protocol that allows for the automatic distribution of Internet content from via RSS aggregators or readers. RSS allows you to receive free updates by subscribing (or clicking on buttons labeled 'RSS' or 'XML') to information from sites that publish content (e.g. news outlets or bloggers). Think of it as an easy way to get a summary of "What's New" from all of your favourite web sites. Lewis Media uses RSS feeds to syndicate a variety of information including: LMI Blog LMI News and Press Releases Software Updates

Critical Reading about E-Commerce & Credit Cards Security Standards Background PCI is an abbreviation for the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, an organization made up of payment card providers that sets the security standards and requirements for merchants and merchant account providers. PCI-DSS refers to the PCI Data Security Standards which was created by the Council to reduce payment card fraud. These standards form part of the merchant agreement signed by every merchant who accepts any type of payment card (credit, debit, etc.) directly, by telephone, or online. Both the level of security required by the standards and the consistency of enforcement of those standards have increased in recent years. There are clear indications that the standards will continue to be tightened in the coming years. As of December 31/07, all merchants must adhere to PCI Data Security Standards - or face substantial fees, fines, and penalties. These fees, fines, a

An Introduction to Writing RFPs A Request for Proposal is a crucial stage of the client/supplier relationship. Guidelines for an RFP are only now starting to become standard in the relatively new industry of web-related technologies. However, an RFP can help establish a line of communication and clarify the needs and requirements of your development project. This document can help you create a RFP. The proposal that Lewis Media and other proponents will prepare in response will attempt to cover, in detail, the time line, scope, technical requirements, and budget of the project. Therefore, the initial RFP should be as detailed and clear as possible; any budget limitations and time constraints should be initially established. This will help us all be on the same playing field from Day 1. Often a client can be daunted by a perceived need to approach a RFP from a technical perspective. An RFP should define your needs - Lewis Media will then interpret these needs into te

The Meaning of Common SEM Terms Aggregator An aggregator or news aggregator is a type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content that is supplied in the form of a web feed (RSS, Atom and other XML formats), and that is published by weblogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites Anchor Text This is the actual text part of a link that you click on to follow a hyperlink. Used by search engines as a ranking factor in their hypertext algorithm. For example, in the following link, the words " Anchor Text " are the anchor text. Blacklist Lists compiled by either search engines or vigilante users of search engine spammers. These lists may be used to ban spammers from search engines or to enforce boycotts of them. Bid Management Tool Software or an ASP service used to manage bids on pay-per-click search engines such as Overture. Bidding Placing a bid price that you are willing to pay as an advertiser on a pay-per-click search engine. The hi

Tools for Building your Business Online Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the process and strategy of using search engine results as an advertising vehicle. This may include improving rank in organic listings, purchasing paid listings, or a combination of methods all designed to increase visibility, clicks and, of course, leads and orders. Search Engine Marketing involves balancing a number of different work streams including Search Engine Optimization, Advertising Campaigns (pay-per-click, pay-per-impression, or pay-per-performance) and Paid Listings. The Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing industries have changed greatly over the last few years. Some highlights of the current state of the art are: Search engines publicly acknowledge penalizing marketers that do not adhere to recommended best practices Search engines are attempting to better engage marketers and developers Everything can and should be measured, including traffic, bid costs, conver

Building Your Business Through Networking The best way to build your business through networking is....network! Half the battle is just showing up at the networking events. Of course showing up and avoiding interaction won't do much for your business either. The second half of winning with networking is making sure that people remember who you are and what you do. Some people think this means pushing into every conversation, and repeating their "elevator speech" a thousand times to a bunch of disinterested people who are desperately doing the same thing. Good networking does not work that way. Here are three tips for making the most of your networking activities and ensuring that people will remember who you are and what you do. 1. Be consistent show up regularly wear only one "business hat" with the same group of people to avoid confusion share a consistent marketing message 2. Be aware know who your ideal target customers are and ho

Start by Defining What You Stand For! Your brand is not your corporate color scheme, or your logo, or your jingle. Your brand is the way customers and potential customers feel about your company when they encounter it in the market place. So, it is the specific reactions you would like those customers and potential customers to experience when your company hits their radar that must drive your branding activities. For example, Sir Richard Branson includes "fun and a sense of competitive challenge" in his description of what the Virgin brand means. Over the years, his approach to the market has definitely reflected that brand mindset from brand name selection, to off-the-wall publicity stunts, and guerrilla marketing tactics. Trevor Schoerie's PharmOut, on the other hand, had a different brand objective. Schoerie needed to build awareness of his company in a niche market with fewer than 100 potential clients. He knew that the nature of the regulatory com

When we talk about usability in web design, we are talking about the overall ease and comfort with which site visitors can complete the tasks associated with a given website. From simply finding the information they are looking for, to completing a purchase - how easy is it for visitors to do what they need to do on the site? Various elements contribute to site usability, including: Familiarity - does the website use common, familiar navigation - will the user find the site easy to move around in? Easy to learn - is the site designed to make it as easy as possible for new visitors to figure out? Efficiency - is the site logically designed so that users can quickly complete desired/required tasks? Memorable - does the site design make it easy for a returning visitor to remember how it works? Error Frequency - how often do site users make mistakes - how much of a problem does an error create and how difficult is it for the site user to recover and get back on track after m

Staying Competive in Changing Markets There are a lot of forces impacting the business of web design today: from do-it-yourself software packages that allow anyone to build a website, to the proliferation of Software as a Service (SaaS) models that offer template websites for a low monthly fee. In effect, what is now happening to the business of website design is the same thing that has occurred in the hosting industry over the past few years. The big players are becoming massive through consolidation, while the smaller players are being absorbed or gradually squeezed out of the marketplace entirely. And everyone is caught up in a mad dash for that last, rapidly shrinking dollar. Similar forces are being brought to bear on website design. It is no longer enough to have the best creative talent and a killer portfolio. You must offer a complete package of design and functionality...and do it faster and more economically than ever before, just to remain competitive. The

Content managed websites have been around for a while now, but this particular area of Website Design has not been tapped to its full potential. The ability to keep content fresh, and easy to change, update or edit is becoming increasingly important as search engines continually upgrade the criteria they use to rank websites. A search engine friendly content management solution is fast becoming a must-have as opposed to a nice-to-have service for Website Designers and Marketers. Why Your Customers Need Content Management Content is King Search Engine Optimization - it's all about being found - good content helps you get found Content from your site can be posted on other sites with link-backs which improves SEO ranking Content lets you take advantage of RSS feeds to proliferate your message. Control Content management allows them to maintain control over the message they put in front of the world make changes as they need to, and keep their content c

What makes a web design prospect a good candidate for a Content Management System? Imagine that you are in front of your prospect. They love your portfolio and the previous work you've done and they recognize the value that a web site can provide their business. How do you determine whether a CMS is a good option for their organization? Showing a prospect an online demo of how easily they can take control of their web site content can be a powerful "oh, wow" factor. For some prospects, they can connect the dots and immediately see the value that a CMS can bring to their business. For most though, you'll need to build a business case and demonstrate the "What's in it for me?". Here are a few quick questions you can ask your client to see if a CMS is an applicable tool for your prospect: What makes you different from your competition? If the answer to this question is the quality of work they do, then wouldn't their web site visitors w

Successful Website Upgrades Once your clients get beyond the basic ability to add pages, edit text, and insert media into their web pages, they will often begin to think about the many other things they'd like to do with their websites... The accountant wants to display personal tax tips on the front page of her site at pre-determined times of the year. The photographer wants to add a photo gallery/slideshow to his site. The electrical component manufacturer wants an online catalogue that allows customers to build a shopping list and request a quote. The lawyer has a library of legal articles that she'd like to make available for download. As the person who is creating their website, the most valuable thing you can do for your client when they want to add a new function is to ask good questions . Taking the time to clarify your client's objectives and expectations will ensure a good match, a successful upgrade, and a happy customer. Find out exactly what

What is a Website CMS? In short, a CMS is a Content Management System. In more detail, a CMS is a system that separates the publicly viewable content of a web site (the text, images, etc.) from the administrative tasks of linking pages together and controlling how the pages appear. In most cases, this is done to make a site easier to maintain than it would be if it was built exclusively out of hard-coded html pages.   The value to the owner of a website is that, because a content managed website can be updated more easily and more frequently, the website owner is better able to communicate with the target audience. More frequent and timely communication improves the level of service and helps generate customer loyalty.   Furthermore, because the owner of the website has control over the content, there is no longer a need to contact the website developer or designer for every update. In short, the website owner can stop sinking money into the site on an on-going ba