Your search engine ranking for your website is about to change – again. And this time, most business owners are going to get a piece of bad news that I have been warning about for a long time now. This Wednesday, Google launched a new search algorithm, called Caffeine, and they masked this by simultaneously launching a new feature that lets you add a background image to the Google homepage – whoopee. This change to Google is a huge fricken deal. I’ll explain why after the jump. » Read more: Google Changes Search Algorithm – You’ve Been Warned
Archive for the ‘Web Design’ category
Google Maps Builder added to CMS Logic
May 17th, 2010We just launched our new Google Maps builder in our CMS-Logic product. This allows our customers to build their own Google Maps in their websites, and add pushpins to the map automatically. We added a search to the map builder, so that you can build a searchable map for your website in minutes. A great use for this new feature would be to add a “Dealer Locator” feature to your website.
The Google Maps module is now live for all Delaware.Net CMS/Ecommerce customers as a free, automatic upgrade. These automatic feature upgrades come about once per month (or more frequently), and this is one of the major benefits of using our CMS over other open-source solutions. Free upgrades, free support, free training, and better integration.
Training videos for the new Google Maps builder are being uploaded today, so you will be able to see training videos directly in our on-demand help system.
Please, Please, Please stop using Internet Explorer
January 18th, 2010In the web design world, web design professionals HATE HATE HATE Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser. Its the one topic that even feuding web designers agree on. Typically, our customers look at us funny when we suggest that they stop using Internet Explorer. It feels to me as though the customers think we are being tech snobs because we use web browsers that might have a few more toolbars and tools than Internet Explorer. Or they might think that we use the other browsers because they are open-source.
These are not the reasons we want you to stop using Internet Explorer!
» Read more: Please, Please, Please stop using Internet Explorer
City of Harrington, Del., Chooses Delaware.Net
October 21st, 2009The City of Harrington, Delaware recently awarded Delaware.Net the contract to rebuild their website. Harrington researched web design companies from around the country. The proposal from another competing municipal website design vendor for the city’s website was over $30,000 and a included a 3-year contract commitment for hosting the site. By contrast, Delaware.Net prepared a strategy for the city to prepare a new website interface, install our proven content management system for cities, a request tracking system, a city Intranet, a new police department website, a mass emailing system, live training, and much more. Delaware.Net saved the city over $15,000 with the project, and was able to offer more features and better support. » Read more: City of Harrington, Del., Chooses Delaware.Net
Alternative to CivicPlus for City Websites
October 18th, 2009ICON Enterprises (doing business as ‘CivicPlus’) is a company in Kansas that specializes in building municipal websites. My company (Delaware.Net) competes with companies like this from around the country when we bid on municipal website design projects. We lost a couple of prospective new projects to CivicPlus in 2007 when we were in the middle of producing our own Content Management System (CMS) for government websites. But in 2008, we had completed building and testing our CMS system for eGovernment websites, and we have won many municipal projects from around the USA ever since. Our new system is called CivicLogic. In this article, I will explain why our solution is better than some of the other options out there, and how we can help municipalities to migrate to our solution.
Here are some of the differences between us and our competitors;
15 ways to tell if you are ready for ecommerce
August 2nd, 2009Anyone can setup an ecommerce store online. There are many ways to post products for sale in minutes, even using sites like ebay. I speak with people that want to sell products online every day. While many people want to make lots of money and come up high in Google, most of them aren’t ready to commit the time and resources that a true ecommerce store takes. Those who understand the demands and that are willing to commit the resources are the ones that have the most success.
Online Bill Presentment and Payment (OBPP) for Municipalities
August 12th, 2008Delaware.Net has built many websites for municipalities, and one of the major reasons why we are chosen for projects is our integration of the public website with complaint systems, content management systems, mass emailing systems, intranets, project management and – online bill-pay systems (or OBPP). A solid municipal website design effort requires all of these components to be successful, and an online bill-payment is one of the most important features that municipalities need. In this article, I will provide an overview of what is involved in building one of these systems, so that your city/town can plan how to integrate a bill-pay system. » Read more: Online Bill Presentment and Payment (OBPP) for Municipalities
City of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Chooses Delaware.Net
July 21st, 2008Since I was a kid, I have fond memories of going to the Delaware beaches. Rehoboth Beach has always been a special place for me. The boardwalk, the shops, restaurants, all of it. It still has that charm that brings a flood of Pennsylvanians and Delawareans to the beach. Rehoboth IS the beach for many folks.
» Read more: City of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Chooses Delaware.Net
Team-Logic CMS – Better than Drupal
July 19th, 2008There are many Content Management Systems (CMS) software packages on the market if you want to manage your own website content. Some are very inexpensive or free, and other enterprise CMS suites can cost over $100K. Delaware.Net offers our own system, called Team-Logic. It is neither costly nor free, and it is incredibly powerful but still easy to use. Prices start at $50 per month for the whole system.
There ARE cheaper open source solutions out there, and on the low end you have systems like Drupal, PHPNuke, PostNuke, .netNuke, Joomla, and others. These can be made to work if you have the time and patience, but for the most part they are solutions for non-profits and companies that don’t want to spend a lot on their website design work. I would never recommend them for a growing business that really cares about their website. Especially if they don’t have an in-house IT team. These low-end systems are well suited for a website where it is OK to use design templates for someone that wants to get up and running quickly. But there WILL be problems when using these systems, and like everything else – there is a trade-off.
Alternatives to FrontPage
December 5th, 2007Microsoft FrontPage is a web design program designed for beginners. In early 2006, Microsoft reported that they will not release any further versions of their web design tool. They decided to stop making the product for several reasons:
