Net Results
Helping your business succeed online.
Published by nrichmedia (www.nrichmedia.com)
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Volume 1, Issue 3 – Fall, 2005
In This Issue
Welcome
Well, fall has definitely fallen upon us. Few leaves left on the trees
and the brace for winter is well underway. This always seems like a
good time of year to take stock of how well I’ve done in reaching
goals I set at the beginning of the year and to start thinking of how
next year can be even better.
In general, I’m very pleased with how the year’s gone so
far. I’ve enjoyed continuing to work with my existing clients
and all the new clients, partners, and projects that have also come
my way. Lots of fun and exciting stuff!
I’m also very pleased with the amount I’ve been able to
donate to the charitable causes nrichmedia supports (www.nrichmedia.com/causes).
Although I haven’t totalled the donations up yet, I know it’s
a significant number. Many thanks to everyone who’s helped make
the 5% initiative possible.
Coming Soon… Chance to Win a Free Web
Site Critique
Juliet Austin
and I will be conducting a draw to win a free professional critique
of your web site. Details will be emailed out soon and posted on our
blog (www.websitedesignandpromotion.com).
FAQ: How Long Should My Web Page’s Title
Tag Be?
Title tags are what show up as the first line (and link) in a Google
search result. They also appear at the very top (and I mean the very
top!) of the browser window. Search engines (Google, etc.) pay attention
to this information as a valid description of what the page is about.
So, it’s wise to make that text relevant to your page.
Google won’t pay attention to hundreds of words in your title
tag, so you need to be pretty concise. The rule of thumb is to keep
it to 10-12 words. You can make it longer, but the excess will probably
be ignored. So make sure you’ve got the important terms at or
near the beginning of the tag.
Hope that helps!
If there’s a web-related question that you’ve been wondering
about, feel free to send me an email (). Chances are you won’t be the only person to find the answer
useful in improving your web site.
Did You Know?
On your PC, if you press control-enter in your browser’s address
bar, the “http://www.“ and “.com” are automatically
entered, saving you a few keystrokes!
Featured Article: Keeping it Fresh
Too often I witness businesses spending a lot of time and effort putting
together a brilliant web site only to leave it as is for two or three
years – an eternity in Internet time. They figure, “If it
ain’t broke, why fix it?”
Well, it may not be broke, but it’s just not doing as much for
your business or organization as it could be. You need to keep the content
of your site fresh. This is important for both visitors to your site
(especially repeat visitors) and search engines.
Let’s look at the first of these. When people come to your site
for the first time, if they see dated material, they’ll probably
not take you too seriously – not a good first impression. If you
went into a grocery store and saw milk in the refrigerator that was
past its expiry date, would you go back to that store? (Okay, not all
of us drink milk, but you get the point.)
Repeat visitors will be even more critical if they keep seeing the
same material each time they visit your site. The reason they’re
checking back is to see… what’s new?! What if the radio
station you listen to never played new songs. How long would you keep
listening to it? Probably not very long. True, we do like some degree
of familiarity and to be able to see/hear our favourites, but if there’s
never anything new, we lose interest quickly.
As for search engines, they look at your site in a similar manner.
If there’s nothing new in a while, they’ll start dropping
your rankings, as your site is considered not that important. Makes
sense, really.
So, does this mean that you need to obsess about changing your page
copy every day or to even hire someone to do that for you? Not at all
(do I hear a collective “phew”?). There’s no rule,
but the more often you can do it the better. A realistic plan for most
small to medium sized businesses is to freshen at least some of the
content every two or three months. If you can to do it more often, great.
If you can only manage every six months, well that’s still better
than nothing.
We’re not necessarily talking about rewriting the content on
every page. Again, it’s up to you and your schedule as to how
much you’re going to do, but at the very least have a news section
on your home page or a top ten list that you can easily update on a
regular basis. If you have the time/inclination to update more of your
site or add new pages, even better. Just do something. If it helps,
schedule the first day of every even numbered month to update whatever
you have time to. Trust me, your site visitors (potential customers)
and the search engines will like you for it!
Want more valuable information like this to help your socially responsible
business become an online success and get the results you've been looking
for? Subscribe to Net Results, our FREE
quarterly newsletter by filling in the form at the top left of this
page.
About nrichmedia
nrichmedia creates innovative and unique web sites and other multimedia
for ethical and socially responsible businesses and organizations.
We also offer green web hosting, web site maintenance, CD-ROM production,
and more.
nrichmedia was founded by Nathaniel Richman in 2000. Nathaniel graduated
from the Vancouver Film School with a Certificate of Recommendation
in Multimedia Studies in 1997 and has been working in the web design
and new media industry ever since. He previously received a Bachelor
of Mathematics degree (Honours Actuarial Science) from the University
of Waterloo and worked in the pension consulting field.
Nathaniel works with several other designers and programmers, according
to the needs of the project, to provide the client with the most professionally
designed web site or presentation possible.
"Nathaniel's professionalism, sense of style and ingenuity were
a perfect match for my vision of a website. I recommend nrichmedia’s
services here and wherever I go. As a perfectionist, it was wonderful
to work with someone who cared about each and every detail. As a small
business in the Comox Valley I was thrilled to work with another small
business that is dedicated to our community and beyond. My website
is wonderful to look at, easy to navigate and loved by all who visit.
Thanks Nathaniel!"
- Arran Sherbourne, Breathing Room Organizing Solutions (www.breathing-room.ca)
To learn more about nrichmedia’s services, view our online portfolio,
and read glowing testimonials from many satisfied clients, please visit
www.nrichmedia.com.
Charitable Causes
At nrichmedia, we donate 5% of proceeds on all projects of $500 and
above to charitable organizations. We are pleased to have supported
and continue to support several worthy causes. To see a list of the
organizations we support, please visit www.nrichmedia.com/causes.htm.
The Not-to-be Missed Link: Responsible
Shopper
I came across a great website – Responsible Shopper (www.responsibleshopper.org).
It contains the ‘dirt’ on several of North America's largest
corporations, from clothing to car manufacturers, and rates them on
their social and environmental responsibility. Not surprisingly, most
of the companies come out at the negative end of the spectrum or neutral
at best.
The site is a wealth of information for the concerned shopper. It breaks
down each corporation on their past and current issues, such as human
rights, child/sweatshop labour, discrimination, cultural impact, health
and safety, and environmentally friendly initiatives. I found it to
be very fair in that it acknowledges positive efforts as well as negative
impacts to allow you to make an informed decision about what you're
supporting with your purchases.
Pass it on and Enjoy
Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to anyone you feel may
find it useful.
Want more valuable information like this to help your socially responsible
business become an online success and get the results you've been looking
for? Subscribe to Net Results, our FREE
quarterly newsletter by filling in the form at the top left of this
page.
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 nrichmedia
is located in Courtenay (in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island),
British Columbia, Canada, and thinks and works globally! Thanks
to the Internet, we're able to create web sites and other multimedia
for clients all over the world. You can contact us by
or by telephone, at 250.871.7424.
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