1) Clean up badcode and unused images and files.

Ok, so maybe cleaning the bad  and unused code is not something you can do on your own, so you may need to hire a developer to do this. Since code is not large in file size it really is not going to free up much disk space, but bad/unused code can cause your site to slow down so it may be worth your while to have a developer look into it. However, unused images is another story. Many times websites have old unused photos that are just sitting and not being used, consider finding these pictures and removing them.

2) Don’t store emails  on server

One of the first things that I look for when trying to clean up disk space on a web-server is emails. This is only relevant if you are using the email from the website control panel. I looked at one clients website to clean out and noticed that over 90% of the disk space was from old emails sitting in the trash bin. Do not forget to clean out the trash bin every now and then

3) Optimizing images and mp3 files

Ever been to the website when you can actually see the graphic load from the top to the bottom? What the usually means is that the webmaster uploaded a very large picture file and just lowered the dimensions to fit into the webpage without changing the image size. Most of the time this is from someone taking a photo from a digital camera and uploading it to the website without optimizing the photo for web use. You should try to keep the picture file size to below 50 kb. This will free up web-space, and also enhance the users experience on your website.

Do you also have more ways that you use to optimize your website? Post the comment below.

First, you may be wondering “What is Organic traffic?” Glad you asked

Web traffic which comes from unpaid listing at search engines or directories is commonly known as “organic” traffic.

1) Keep Adding Content:
Google loves content. Let me rephrase that, Google loves unique content. If you want Google or any other search engine to keep coming back to your website you need to keep adding unique content. If you want people to come back, you need a reason for them to come back. Nobody likes to look at stale content so keep things fresh.

2) On-site SEO
If I build/developed your website you do not need to worry about this, it was designed to be user and Google friendly right out of the box. Some designers and developers charge extra for this, but it should be standard. I even know one developer that does not design websites Google friendly at first, then later on when the client asks about it,  he them charges them thousands of dollars to fix what they should have done in the first place. That is just wrong. That would be like Ford selling a brand new car that needs a tune-up (input Ford jokes here) . If you are stuck in this situation, here are a few on-site SEO tips for you. There are plenty more, but here are a few to get you started:

• Google Friendly URLs – Drop these: http://www.example.com/index.php?id_sezione=360&sid=3a5ebc944f41daa6f849f730f1, And use these: http://www.example.com/I-can-put-keywords-in-here.html
• The Meta Keywords, Description and Robots tag. – Google uses this description in its search results. Use this to market your website. Use a different title tag for each page.
• The Title Tag- This has to be the most important part of on-site SEO. Again, add a different title to each page, and use relevant ”keywords” in the title tag. Also, keep it the title short. No more than 50 characters
• Use H1 and H2 tags. -Some will say it is a Myth, but it never hurts using the Heading tags. Google does look for these so, omitting this tag isn’t good SEO practice. Add relevant content after the heading tags.

3) Backlinks
Why you ask? Because backlinks is the road that leads to your website. Backlinks is simply a link from another website to yours, and is the cornerstone for SEO optimization. Write articles that are relevant to your website with links back to your website. Use websites such as Squidoo, HubSpot, Xomba, and Weebly to write articles and link back. Also use websites like Digg, and news feeds to submit your content to.

4) Blogging
Blogging is a great way to get people to your website. First it keeps fresh content on your website, and it also keeps readers coming back. The best way to blog is directly on your website. If you are just using  facebook,  blogger or WordPress hosting blogs, you are bringing visitors to those websites and not directly to your own website. What you really want is Search Engines to point directly to your website.  Think about it for a second, If Google brings a visitor to your blog on a WordPress hosted site, they would then have to find your website link and then click on it to see your website. You can get that traffic directly by having the blog on your website. The longer people stay on your website, the greater of a chance for a sale.

There are plenty of other ways to generate traffic, so this list is more of a starting point than anything else. As always feel free to ask me any questions. I’m here to help make your website a success for you.

1) Google Analytics

Here why Google says you should use it.

Google Analytics provides powerful tracking for anyone with a web presence, whether it be a small hobby website or a giant online enterprise. It’s one of the most powerful web analytics solutions on the market – and it’s free for anyone to use.

A rookie mistake most website owners make is not monitoring the stats on their website. I’m not just talking about how many hits you have, I’m talking about monitoring your bounce rate (visitors that do not view more than one page), viewing what page is ranking high in Google, and many other areas. With careful monitoring, Google Analytics will help show you how and where your visitors are coming from, that in return can help you determine what pages on your website need some TLC.
http://www.google.com/analytics

2) Typetester

This sweet little tool will help you find the right font to use for your website. Just type the text  in the box, choose your 3  fonts, color, and background, and you can compare side by side what each font will look like. Sweet free tool, check it out. It will then give you the css code to add to your style sheet.
http://www.typetester.org

3) Free stock photos

Sometimes you are just looking for that one special picture to make that page stand out. There are many paid stock photo websites out there, but the thing that stands out the most about RGBStock.com is that it is free registration and you can download your pictures royalty free.
http://www.rgbstock.com

4) Pic Resize

Ever been to that website where the  picture takes forever to load because the file size is huge? Don’t be that person or that website. Resize your images with this free online tool. Having images that are smaller size will make your visitor more likely to stay around and view more of your website.
http://www.picresize.com

5) Online Photo Editor

Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications that you can use right in your web browser.  This is a nifty tool that will let you edit photos online. You can sharpen, whiten, blur, flip and crop your photos all from your browser. The best online image editor that I have found.
http://www.aviary.com

There are many other useful tools out there, and in no way are these tools to compete with paid software. Sometimes you just need something simple and do not feel like shelling out hundred of dollars for software you will not often use. That is when these nifty little tools will step in.

Thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment.

The 404 or Not Found error message is an HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server, but the server could not find what was requested. 404 errors should not be confused with “server not found” or similar errors, in which a connection to the destination server could not be made at all. A 404 error indicates that the requested resource may be available again in the future. Wikipedia

What does all of that mean? Simple, the page that you are trying to access does not exist. A few reasons why this can happen.

• The end user typed in a wrong address in the URL bar
• The page was deleted, renamed, or moved.
• Google/Search Engines still has these pages listed in search results.

There are two rules of thought on creating custom 404 error pages. First from the users point of view.  A custom 404 error gives them the same layout of your website so they are more likely to stay on your website and continue browsing. For the website owner, than could mean a sale just for them staying on your website. The second reason is for Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The better your site flows without broken links will help in SERPs. Search BOTs can smoothly search your site without being interrupted with broken links.

Ok, so now you are sold on a custom 404 error page, so now you may be wondering what do you put on a custom error page. First off this custom 404 page should have the same look and feel as the rest of your site. Logo, menu, and website colors should all be located at the same location as they are on other pages on your website. Also a search box is a nice touch for users to try and search again for content that is on your website. The rest of the text is up to you. Some custom 404 errors are simple while others are humorous.

To get an idea you can view our custom 404 error page here.

Now you can see how a custom 404 error page is beneficial for your website. Contact us today if you need help with a custom 404 error page.