Archive for June, 2008
What is a Page View
June 30th, 2008
MatthewA “page view” is the standard unit of Web traffic. Each time a webpage is viewed, it counts as one page view.
In the early days of the Web, the “hit” was the standard metric for traffic. A “hit” and a “page view” are two very different things. A hit is registered for every file requested from the Web server. That includes images, stylesheets, Javascript files, and so on. A page view is only registered when someone views a full webpage. Since one webpage typically has several elements (multiple images, etc), often one page view equals many hits.
Page views are important for online marketing and advertising. When you run a marketing campaign, you may want to know how many additional page views the campaign brought in. A website’s monthly page view total is also commonly used to determine the site’s reach. A personal blog might have monthly page views in the thousands. A large mainstream media site like yahoo.com counts monthly page views in the hundreds of millions.
For online advertising, page views are used in determining a site’s CPM rates and available ad inventory. The more page views your website serves a month, the more ad space (inventory) you can sell.
Impression or page view based online advertising is bought and sold in 1,000 page view blocks. The CPM (Cost Per Mille) is the rate an advertiser pays for every 1,000 page views that display their ad. So if the website charges $10 CPM, and the advertiser spends $100, their ad will be shown on 10,000 page views. (They’re buying 10 blocks of 1000 impressions at $10 per block. That’s 10,000 impressions.)
To figure out how many page views your site gets, you can use free Web analytics software like:
Choosing a Domain Name
June 30th, 2008
MatthewChoosing your domain name (otherwise known as your website address) is one of the most important things you will do for your online business — so careful attention should be paid to ensure you select the perfect domain for you.
Wendy Kennedy, editor of Register.com’s Learning Center, offers a few tips on choosing a good domain name for your business. She discusses the importance of “.com” names, lists some things to keep in mind when registering a domain name, and offers tips for getting a good name when your first choice is taken.
Photoshop 101
June 12th, 2008
MatthewPhotoshop promises great power, but can be more than a little challenging when it comes to clarity and patience. New users can easily get frustrated at how daunting some of the challenges can be when it comes to getting the job done, and even those who are a bit more familiar with it still find points of frustration that impede both production and creativity. A workspace is an arrangement of palettes that suit your needs. There are a few pre-arranged options in this menu, and selecting one will alter the layout of Photoshop’s palettes—and it even colorizes some of the primary menu options needed for this arrangement.So for those who barely know Photoshop, but would like to become more familiar with it—find out what sort of things to look for when it comes to the palette system, layers, styles, effects, various tools, and saving or exporting their work—let’s look at the basics.
What are all these palettes used for?
As soon as Photoshop launches, you’re greeted with a whole slew of small windows called “palettes”. Understanding how each one of these work is the key to knowing where to find the critical information you need. Sorting them out will make your workflow smoother and more enjoyable. Although some palettes seem to have a very obscure purpose (Histogram, I’m looking at you!), there are a few palettes that I suggest you keep a close eye on at all times:
- Info – I watch this one constantly, as it monitors everything from the size of your current selection marquee, the x and y coordinates and color mix directly under your cursor, and even the efficiency of performance (found by looking into the many other options for this palette).
- Character and Paragraph – this left/right combo is a must-have palette for anyone that edits text in their designs.
- Layers – certainly an obvious one to keep open, but I’ve seen the perils of beginners trying to master Photoshop before they master layers. Get to know it better than you do now, and you might just find some hidden secrets buried within.
Finally, if you want to explore a little deeper into the inner-workings of Photoshop, check out the options under the Window > Workspace menu. A workspace is an arrangement of palettes that suit your needs. There are a few pre-arranged options in this menu, and selecting one will alter the layout of Photoshop’s palettes—and it even colorizes some of the primary menu options needed for this arrangement. If you feel up to the challenge, you can even create your own arrangements and save them under this menu.
What’s the best way to sort my layers?
I’ve seen a lot of Photoshop files throughout my years as a designer, and one of the biggest problems I see is how amazingly unsorted the Layers palette can get. Let’s look at a bad example first:
What do these Layer Blending Modes really do?
At the top of the Layers palette there is a drop-down menu with a value of “
- Multiply – like a pair of sunglasses, this will darken everything below it (any white pixels will disappear, since white cannot add to a dark value).
- Screen – exactly the opposite of Multiply, the layer will lighten everything below it.
- Overlay – is a strange hybrid of both Multiply and Screen, where the neutral non-effective color is grey. White brightens, and black adds darkness, but with a different calculation that adds more color than the other two values.
What are Layer Styles?
Layer Styles are live, “non-destructive” effects that you can add and remove without altering the original layer’s art (unlike many filters). Bevels, drop-shadows, gradients, color effects, and textures can all be mixed-and-matched for a variety of visual effects.
- By double-clicking the layer to the right of its name, to open a Layer Styles dialog window
- By choosing the options in “Layer Style” in the Layer menu
- By selecting a new style from the Styles palette (though this will only add a preset, rather than opening the Styles dialog for you)
What other tools are available?
As you experiment in Photoshop, you’ll eventually want to move beyond Marquee selections and the Paintbrush. There are a wide variety of other tools available that can provide you with a well-rounded set of abilities. These include the Magic Wand (for selections), Healing Brush, Pencil, Blur & Sharpen, Dodge & Burn, the Pen for creating paths, and a tool that allows you to drop in custom shapes.
The Hidden Tools
How should I export my image for the web?
When it is time to export your images in a format suitable for online use, you might be tempted to simply save a copy of your file as a jpeg. Although technically there’s nothing wrong with this approach, Photoshop does have some built-in features that can make this step a little easier.
Save for Web & Devices…
If you look under the File menu, you’ll see an option to “Save for Web & Devices…”. Choosing this option will activate a rather large dialog that may seem a bit daunting for those unfamiliar with the feature.
- I never use Photoshop’s slicing tools. Adobe still hasn’t (in my opinion) got this down quite as well as Fireworks, and it tends to make things a bigger mess than necessary. Also, avoid having the export generate HTML.
- There’s no need to use the “Progressive” option for jpeg files anymore—it’s a throwback from the days of a far-too-slow internet, and photos had to slowly crawl their way through the tubes to your browser.
- ICC Profiles should also be turned off. Color matching is one of those things that sounds like a great idea, but until browsers can all get on the same page regarding the issue, it doesn’t really help us like it was meant to.
- It’s a well-known fact that Adobe’s PNG gamma support is faulty. If you have to export a PNG file, do it in Fireworks, or track down a freeware application that can “slam” the gamma from the image (and sometimes even compress it a little tighter).
Google Ranking
June 12th, 2008
MatthewHow Google views your site does matter if you want to succeed online because Google has become the dominant search engine on the web. It now has over 60% of the
If you’re a webmaster, you will already know how vital Google is to the success of your site, especially if you rely upon organic keyword rankings for your traffic. This free organic traffic from Google is highly desired by webmasters because it is extremely targeted and delivers high conversion rates.
In trying to reach the highest rankings possible, I (like most webmasters) have to be constantly aware of what Google thinks of my site and content. As a webmaster and marketer I have always geared my onlíne marketing towards Google. I have spent years building my keyword rankings within Google; if you take out the fact that it has nearly driven me insane, it has mostly been a positive experience.This experience has also shown me it is indeed important for anyone to know how Google views and rates your site or content. The more knowledge you have, the better able you will be to tackle any obstacles and challenges that will come your way.
SERPs Is The Only Opinion That CountsAnd like most webmasters, I try to find out as much about Google as is humanly possible, but Google doesn’t give up its secrets easily. In fact, many webmasters would argue the only true opinion Google has of your site is shown in their SERPs - if your keywords/pages are ranked in the number one spots in Google’s “Search Engine Results Pages” then Google must think your site or content deserves to be there.
However, there are other ways of finding out how Google is viewing your content. Below are several Google webmaster tools and things you can do to discover just how Google views your site or pages. They will give you a better picture of what Google thinks about your site.
Checking Your Content/Keywords In GoogleOne handy tool that will show you what Google thinks your pages consist of is located here:
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternalJust type in your URL and tick off website content and you will get a listing of the major keywords Google has for your content. If your targeted keyword or keywords are not listed, then you have to do some re-writing.
Checking Your Backlinks In GoogleIf you want to find out how many backlinks your site has in Google, just open up Google Search and type in:
link:yourURLand it will show you the number of backlinks you have.
Since Google doesn’t give you all your existing backlinks, many webmasters also use Yahoo! to find a more exact number of links your site has on the web.
Just open Yahoo! and type in:
linkdomain:yourURLNow whether Google is using or considering all these backlinks is the big question? Finding the exact number of backlinks you have in Google has always been a problem because Google is not giving you the exact number or at least this is the general opinion of most SEO experts.
Another way I monitor my links in Google is to place quotation marks around my site name or my name “bizwaremagic” or “titus hoskins” and do a search in Google. This gives me the pages containing references to me or my site. This is usually 50,000 to 100,000 pages, I have also noticed my online income usually correlates as this number goes up or down.
Checking Your Indexed Pages In GoogleObviously, it is very important for you to know what content the search engines have indexed from your site. You can also check to see how your links are displayed and to see if any titles or descriptions are missing from your pages.
You can see how many of your pages are indexed in Google by using the site command.
Just type into Google Search:
site:yourURL
A little while back, having your pages indexed in Google’s Supplemental Index caused webmasters much stress as it seemed Google was judging these pages as “second class” pages. Since then, Google no longer uses the Supplementary Label in grading pages but that doesn’t mean a supplementary index doesn’t exist; just that Google has promised to crawl and consider these pages as well in any search query.
Checking Your Google CacheYou can also check to see the Google Cache of your site by using the cache command. You will also discover when it was last retrieved.
Just type into Google Search:
cache:yourURL Checking Your PageRank Within Google
Another tricky issue is PageRank. This is supposed to be the heart of Google’s ranking system created by Larry Page and Sergey Brin; each link is considered a “vote” for your page and the higher the number of “votes” you have, the higher the PR your page receives. However, again Google is using “smoke and mirrors” to conceal your true PageRank mainly to cut out abuse and manipulation of their results. Some experts say PageRank still counts, other say it doesn’t.
From my own experiences, I have receíved more traffic when my site was at PR4 than I receíved when it was at PR6. What’s important is getting high rankings for your targeted keywords… if you get top spots, it doesn’t matter if your main index page (site) is PR4 or PR6, you’ll still get the same amount of traffic. In other words, don’t become too fixated on PageRank because Google in many cases is not letting you see the true PR of a webpage.I would like to add one point to the whole PageRank issue and that has to do with perception. If you’re running an online business, then having a PR8 site does matter for it will bring in more business and customers (especially if you’re in the SEO industry) mainly because of the “perceived value” of your site or business.
What Google thinks does matter!
In other words, what Google thinks of your site can play a major role in your success. Mainly because, like it or hate it, Google has become the supreme authority on the web and what they say, counts. Therefore, you should always be paying special attention to just what Google is saying about your site and acting upon that knowledge accordingly.
New iphone
June 9th, 2008
Matthew
Apple CEO Steve Jobs today introduced the second-generation iPhone with new pricing and with 3G and GPS capabilities.
An 8GB iPhone 3G will sell for $199 — one-third of what the 8GB iPhone sold for at launch. A 16GB model will sell for $299, and will come in white and black versions. Sales of the new handsets will begin on July 11.
Jobs made the announcements in his keynote speech kicking off this year’s Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.
Conspicuously missing from today’s announcement was any mention of how much the corresponding 3G wireless services will cost. AT&T Wireless currently is the iPhone’s exclusive provider in the United States, but 3G services are not part of the existing iPhone plan since the original phone doesn’t support that. The iPhone 3G will be introduced in 22 countries at launch.
The iPhone 3G, as its name implies, will feature support for 3G cellular networks. The original iPhone’s lack of 3G support was widely criticized when that model launched last summer.
GPS capability
In his announcement of the new device, Jobs provided precious few details about the phone. And much of what he did announce was already expected. The biggest revelation about the new phone is its inclusion of GPS location tracking, a feature that many iPhone users insisted on for the next-gen device.
Jobs was relatively quiet on the phone’s physical dimensions. He made a point of calling out the iPhone 3G’s thinner edges and plastic back, but he did not mention anything about its thickness (rumors pin the 3G model as being thicker than its predecessor, in order to accommodate the 3G radio and other components).
The headphone jack is now flush with the upper edge of the phone — a huge improvement over the design of the previous version, which required a kludgy plug to connect a headphone.
Another enhancement over the first-generation iPhone is a boost to the device’s battery life. In spite of its faster broadband data speeds, the device will offer up to 300 hours of standby time, up to 10 hours of 2G talk time (compared with eight hours on the previous model), and up to five hours of 3G talk time.
“That’s actually a very large amount of 3G talk time. We’re very proud of this,” said Jobs. The phone will run for five to six hours of high-speed Web browsing and seven hours of video viewing. Music playback is good for up to 24 hours of battery life (which puts the new iPhone right alongside stand-alone iPod audio players).
Software improvements
Many of the iPhone 3G’s improvements will be found in its software tweaks, dubbed iPhone 2.0. For example, the phone will now support a slew of core features for enterprise security (including VPN and WPA wireless encryption). In addition, you can search through contacts, display iWork documents and Microsoft Office files, and save images received in e-mail to your photo library. It also offers batch delete and move support while in the e-mail app, and multilingual support.
Las Vegas trip
June 9th, 2008
MatthewAs some of you are aware my wife and I went to Las Vegas on Thursday thru Sunday. It was a strange trip. First off, I could not win anything. Usually I will lose some and win some while in Vegas. This trip. I had absolutely no luck. Then on Friday night we ate at Tao and Paris Hilton came in to eat. A lot of people began to take pictures so I waited until we were finished and tried to take a picture of her. After taking the worst picture possible due to low light and the fact that I used my iphone,
the security asked me to leave. Not sure why but I left and did not have to pay the bill. On Saturday we went to Tao beach, a pool with nightclub music and atmosphere. There we ran across the nicest old guy dancing with the ladies in bikinis. I am not sure why but I took a picture:
I am somewhat concerned about the fact that we paid $9 a beer here. That is extremely overpriced for a can of beer and I must have a drinking problem for paying that . Anyways, I am back and so is everybody else here at 7 day web design.
The Cure
June 4th, 2008
MatthewThis is a picture I took last night of Robert Smith at the show in San Diego. I thought I would share it.
New iphone
June 3rd, 2008
MatthewJune has arrived and for Apple fans and investors that means just one thing — a new iPhone.
The encore to the original iPhone, which launched nearly a year ago amid unprecedented industry buzz, is widely expected to be the main attraction when Chief Executive Steve Jobs takes the stage at Apple’s developers’ conference next Monday.
The new iPhone will be accompanied by support for corporate e-mail and a slate of new programs that could help boost sales of the devices, which sport a touch-sensitive screen, wireless Internet access and iPod-style media functions.
“The thing for Apple is to be able to leverage the iPhone for further innovation, or they run the risk of being the next (Motorola) RAZR, which was iconic in its own way, but for which innovation did not come fast enough,” Shiv Bakhshi, director of mobility research for market research firm IDC.
Apple has declined to comment on what Jobs will announce, but analysts are betting he will show off a long-rumored phone running on a so-called 3G, or third-generation, network.
That would address one of the chief complaints about the current iPhone: the speed at which it calls up Web pages on AT&T Inc’s pokey EDGE network.
That is a particularly important concern in Europe, which is ahead of the United States in building new networks and where sales of the iPhone have lagged.
“I see 3G as important for the U.S. but essential for overseas,” analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said of a faster iPhone.
“It will be appreciated by technology enthusiasts and anybody who wants to get fast Web browsing outside the hot spots.”
A new iPhone may be a catalyst for Apple stock, which has risen 50 percent over the past three months. Investors have regained confidence that demand for the company’s computers and iPod media players is holding up amid fears the U.S. economy is headed for recession.
Inexpensive iPhone?
There is also speculation Apple could bow to a cellphone industry practice and offer a subsidized iPhone, an arrangement where AT&T could kick in a couple hundred dollars to make the devices more affordable. AT&T already gives Apple a slice of the monthly service fees it gets from iPhone subscribers.
“We think that actually Apple could talk about a very disruptive business model, or a change in their business model, embracing subsidies where necessary, multiple carriers to help get the iPhone into more hands,” Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes told a conference call last week.
But more important than the actual hardware will be new services and programs that can tap the increased power.
Some reckon that will include the ability to download songs from iTunes using the cellular network. IPhone users now have to be connected to a Wi-Fi network to get music from Apple’s online store.
Apple also likely will roll out its highly anticipated support for corporate e-mail, a capability it showed off earlier this year and that is expected to give iPhone a push into business, which now overwhelmingly use Research In Motion Ltd’s Blackberry devices.