Today was proof that Google has no bounds when it comes to punishing web spammers.

It punished itself.

Google Chrome was punished for paying another company to promote Chrome through a series of videos when paying ANOTHER company to blog about it and link to Google Chrome. This is yet another example of why companies have to be on the ball when it comes to paying for links and content. Having a SEO Consultant who is up to date with the ins and outs of SEO is very important.

For a full analysis take a look at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/04/google-chrome-browser-search-rankings

Our latest web design client is thePokerSaver. The website that we designed for them was created 100% for the consumer by using the latest programming in CSS3 and HTML5. Offering poker bonuses to nationwide poker players, thePokerSaver needed a current, modern design, which would be both visually appealing and easy to use.

How we created thePokerSaver’s website?

HTML, CSS/3, jQuery, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, PHP, Affiliate integration, Twitter feed, Facebook plugin Contact from.

See their website for yourself by going to thepokersaver.com

How to add the CSS3 text-shadow

Just add the following line of code to your existing CSS file:

h1 { text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em #000; }

Easy!

Ecommerce web design – Latest Magento installation, graphic and banner design, PayPal integration.

Why Magento?

With Magento ecommerce add unlimited products, offer special prices and choose from 100′s of plugins.

The Pagerank Debate

There’s still an ongoing debate on what pagerank means, is it important, should you take any notice of it? Well, everybody has their own opinions and there are many pro’s AND con’s relating to Google’s page ranking system. Our opinion is that pagerank can be very useful but there definitely needs to be more frequent updates because new websites are at a major disadvantage and have to wait months to say goodbye to their default PR ZERO or N/A.

Some critics say that pagerank has no relation to search engine rankings, but in many ways it does. Well ranked websites are usually ranked at the top for good reasons, a) strong inbound links, b) quality content, c) good on-page seo, now how do you think Google decides on a websites pagerank? Do you not think that Pagerank is based on similar lines to the above points? Of course. There are always going to be examples of websites with high pagerank, which don’t make it to page one for their keywords and there will be a reason for this i.e., the websites on page one also have pagerank, along with better content, links and optimisation – we have a PR4 website that’s sat all the way back on page three for its keyword…

Anyway we hope that you enjoy your new pagerank and don’t be too disheartened if some of your websites lost some of their pagerank. The important thing is to carry on concentrating on building quality links, adding good related content and keeping your website’s coding clean, tidy and fast.

Brandable Domains

If you’re looking for a brandable domain name that is highly memorable and will stands your company out from the rest, then it is more than likely that you will have to sacrifice having ‘searched for’ keywords with your domain name. This may mean that you won’t get that extra strength when it comes to ranking towards the top of search engines, but choosing a good domain name over a domain name containing keywords could be the right choice for your company in the long term because it means that you can create a more powerful and trusted brand.

Keyword Domains

Looking for domain names containing highly searched keywords will provide the perfect platform for starting an SEO campaign to get your website to the top of the search engines. By limiting your domain name choices to ones that only contain your chosen keywords does mean that you may have to sacrifice a long term brand. We recommend keyword domains to online independent companies that aren’t too concerned about building a catchy, well recognised name.

Lastly, you need to check if your chosen domain is available. You can do this by going to any domain name provider and performing a quick search to check that it hasn’t already been registered. We regularly use 123-reg.co.uk to register our domains and we would recommend them to anybody looking to buy their first domain name.

We’ll update you with our review soon.

To get you started we recommend webdesignerforum.co.uk for web design help and seoforums.org for search engine related queries.

SEO Benefits

If you’re a developer and have a few moments to provide answers to those looking for web related help then there is also a strong SEO benefit to take advantage of. If you’re contributing  good information on the forums then you are rewarded with the ability of including a signature on each of your posts, which is perfect for containing a link back to your website or to any other websites that you may be optimising. Perfect!

Magento or osCommerce? We have to go with Magento simply because we feel that the software is just that tiny bit ahead at the moment, meaning better quality / functionality for our clients. Magento is great visually and is very efficient to work with. For more information about ecommerce web design go to our ecommerce page.

Free, Reciprocal and Paid Links

In our SEO campaigns we focus on quality rather than quantity. You can gain the same benefit (if not more!) by researching authorative and relevant premium websites rather than wasting time and effort pumping out 1000′s of links to your website from unrelated, less powerful sites. In fact, by publishing your website using spammy anchor text on unrelated websites which link out to hundreds of other unrelated websites, may even have a adverse effect. This may see your website drop down the search engine rankings.

Not all premium websites cost the earth to add your website to, you can find several premium blogs, directories, forums and websites, which offer reciprocal and even free submissions. To find these websites you need to take the time to research relevant and industry specific websites, which provide useful information and are already well established in search engines. Sometimes it’s also necessary to contact the websites Webmaster to inquire about advertising rates, etc.

The general message that we are trying to explain in this post is that when it comes to link building for your website, quality is better than quantity. Build your links slowly and take extra time to find partner websites that 100% compliment the industry that you’re competing in.

For more information visit our SEO Services section.

Thanks for reading,
Professional Web Design