When scrolling over any image, a preview box pops up with detail about the size, name, and URL link to the image. Having this information only visible when scrolling over the image allows them to be grouped closely together so you can get a much bigger overview of what is available based on your search query.

Doing a test query for the term ‘caribbean‘ will show you an example of how new results are displayed.

Tip for seeing more results: Use the zoom feature on your web browser by hitting Ctrl + – (CMD + – on a MAC) this allows you to zoom out and see more results without scrolling.

For Web designers and content creators, this new release is fantastic for finding images to use on your site, concepts, etc. Copyright laws are still in effect however.

According to Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience, the image search technology of Google has not been updated since 2001. Many competitors such as Bing have capitalized on the ability to search for images faster and more conveniently. Google’s new release however has reset the bar on image search.

To create an FAQ page, you first need to determine what the top 10-20 most frequently asked questions about your business. The key is to make the questions very simple and generic. Polling some of your current customers and recording what they ask on a regular basis is another way to determine the most common questions.

Important questions that you will want to answer for your customers in the FAQ include things like defining the terms that are relative to your business. For example:

Q: What is internet marketing?
A: Internet Marketing is the marketing of products and services over the internet including things like websites, blogs, email marketing, paid advertising, search engine marketing, and video marketing.

As you can see in the example above. the question is very simple… as users scroll through the questions in the FAQ it should be very easy for them to decide whether it is important to them. Short questions allow them to find what they are looking for faster and easier.

After your FAQ page is created, it is important to give it the proper placement in your site structure and navigation. One of the most common places is in the top or side navigation on your website, but it also can be linked in the ‘About’ section of your site. If there are specific FAQ pages for various products or services, than it should be linked from the corresponding produce page.

If your FAQ section will be more than 20 or so questions than it is recommended that they are separated in sub-categories and divided into several pages. It is also a good idea to incorporate a search feature so that specific questions can be easier to find.

For more information on designing FAQ pages for your website, please contact CPD.

A brief comparison of Google Profile and Facebook, followed by the 1,2,3 strategy Google can employ to take over the social networking world.

How GoogleMe Can Win “Web War III.0″

Let’s start by looking at both Facebook and Google from an overall utility perspective. Almost everyone agrees that of any tool that is available online, search engines are by far themost widely and extensively used. With that in mind, Google is considered the Cadillac of search engines. It is fast, runs clean and has all the geeks wanting to work on its engine. Facebook on the other hand, can arguably be described as the Mazda Miata of the web… It has sold very well for a few years running now, looks kind of nice, girls love it, boys love girls so they love it too and it to top it all off it is easy enough for grandma to drive.

The problem for Facebook here is that short of its chintzy retractable roof and great sales figures, there is nothing really special about it. Google can and almost certainly will use this lack of broader utility to launch a loud beta of their own social network, recently dubbed GoogleMe. With this product, Google has the opportunity to make its network’s users entire web experience more social, seemless and informative. Here’s how:

Imagine you are trying to find information on effectively marketing your business online. As of today, most of your searches lead you to company websites and blogs that are vague, incomplete and ultimately try to make you buy something. Now imagine that when you were a member of GoogleMe and searched for this information, you got relevant data from members of your social network and found out that your best friend from High School is an internet marketing expert. Touch of a button later you are connecting with an old friend in a meaningful way that is not really practicle today.

This would not only improve Google by making searches social, it would also represent a major improvment to social networking as a whole and provided there are no major buckles in the nuts and bolts of their regular social networking interface sign the eventual death toll for what is currently the largest social club in the world. Barring Google being nice and partnering with Facebook, there is really little that can be done to save it if the rumor of Google’s latest project is true. 2-4 years from now Facebook will look like MySpace, Google will be bigger than the Catholic Church and I will hopefully be sipping hurricanes on a beach somewhere here in sunny San Diego.

Want to learn more about Google Profiles? Click Here.

Your Google Profile

Creating & Verifying Your Google Profile in 7 Easy Steps:

1. Sign into your google/gmail account or get one here:https://www.google.com/accounts
   Note: If you are creating a new account, remember to uncheck “enable web history” this is a feature that is on by default and has always bothered me.
2. Once you sign in or create your account, navigate to “My Account” via links in the top right corner of most google.com pages.
3. Click Create A Profile (see pic below)
   

   Step 3: Create your Google Profile



Step 5: Set Privacy Options

4. Fill out all the information you want to share  click here if you are lost.
5. Read the privacy policy and set your Privacy Options. They are very easy to understand, broken down by your contacts.
6. Choose a profile URL, sooner the better. They will likely go fast.
   

Step 7: Verifying Your Google Profile – harder than it sounds.

1. WHILE SIGNED INTO YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT visit http://knol.google.com
2. Click sign in if you ignored step one, or it didn’t work for some reason.
3. Click Preferences
4. Click Name Verification

   

5. Verify by method of your choice.

That is it, you should now have a verified Google Profile! cheers.

WHY ITS IMPORTANT TO DO SET THIS UP SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

For starters, you can get a better url/username for public profile pages (wish they could lose /profiles/ from url). Second you’ll be ahead of the curve on the new thing on the internet. Third, Google is just a better company. Their model is to make the internet better and they make money from doing so. Facebook makes money off of data generated and collected from its users online social lives.

The way to test is easy, pull up your website in each of the 4 major browsers and look for any differences in the page design. A well coded website should not display any differences. If you come across major elements of a page being out of place, it is directly related to a poorly coded website.

Another great testing tool is a new free product put out by Adobe called Adobe BrowserLab. This service allows you to look at any website as it would appear on multiple browsers at the same time. This gives you a great visual of how your site looks across all the major web browsers.

Changing any issues involves the knowledge of a web designer or developer that is familiar with the standards set up the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). For more information on correcting website browser issues contact CPD.

This tutorial outlines 5 simple On-Page SEO strategies. Anyone that has experience surfing the web should have an understanging of the topics covered.

The second type of sitemap is the XML file refered to as the Sitemap (capital S) and labeled Sitemap.xml in the root of your website. A Sitemap is a list of the pages on your website, but has some other benefits to search engines like Google. You can provide Google with additional informaion about your pages including:

• How often pages on your site are updated. (ex. your Products page or News page may be updated daily, while your Contact and About pages are only updated periodically)
• Last modified info on each page
• The relative importance of each page on your site. (ex. your Home page may have an importance of 1.0, category sections have an importance of 0.8, and blog entry pages have an importance of 0.5) *Note this does not impact the rankings of your pages within search results

Sitemaps allow Google and other search engines to crawl your website faster and more effectively. As you know, we want to keep Google happy:) It is also important to know that sites are never penalized for submitting a Sitemap.

There are also other types of sitemaps for Video, Mobile, News, Code Search, and Geo.

More information can be found on the sitemaps.org website.

This video was created by Mike Wesch, a professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University. Since its release on YouTube it has been viewed over 7.5 million times by users who have not paid a single penny for the information. This supports the very message of the video.

The tutorials are very short, anywhere from 5-20 mins. They also range in terms of experience. Some are very introductory level, while others provide an advanced knowledge of graphic design. It is strongly recommended that you follow along by mimicking the tutorial (dual monitors works best.) This will help you to get more hands on with product and increase your skills.

Your graphic and web design skills will be improved in no time, and oh, did I mention that all the tutorials are FREE!

The best strategy for SEO is to consider it a marathon, not a sprint. Google and other search engines work like spiders, crawling your website looking for updated content, relative links, and a flurry of additional best practices. Eventually, if you constantly prove to Google that you are providing up-to-date information and additional resources; you’ll build credibility. As time goes on, search engines recognize your efforts and increase your page rankings.

In addition to best practices, one of the top criteria for increasing your website’s page rank and traffic is by incorporating inbound links from other credible resources. As search engine spiders crawl the web they’ll come across your link and notice where it’s from. The spiders then store your site in the bank and continue on their way. Over time, as the spiders find your site in several places, they begin to realize that it must be pretty important and therefore increase your page rank. The underlying theme here; however, still is patience.

Another criteria for page rank is the tenure of your website. Google, as well as other search engines, recognize a website’s longevity. Simply put, the longer your site has been up… the more credibility it gets. This is a major advantage to companies that have had a longer web presence. Additionally, search engines reward companies that have invested for the long haul by registering their domain names for extended periods of time. Instead of spending $5.99 per year on your web domain; why not spend an extra 10 bucks and have it registered for five years? Coughing up the extra money will help your SEO!

All SEO techniques and strategies share a common theme, ‘patience is a virtue.’ Invest in your website SEO now to build web traffic for the future!