Oh wait, it’s April 1 – April Fool’s Day – they almost got me though – I was like ‘Whaaaaaaaattttttt!’ I was on to them the minute I saw the guy with the snorkel and goggles.
Link: Google TiSP
I installed Google Maps on my own website today just to try it out. It’s fairly simple and Google provides a lot of examples on how to do it.
1. API Key
First you have to sign up for an API key – a Google account is required. This key can only be used per domain and has to be used in the Javascript code to verify ownership.
2. The “Hello, World” of Google Maps
Next, create a new file on your server and copy and paste this code into that page. Make sure to use your API key.
3. Test your page on your server.
Link: Google Maps API and Examples
If you don’t have time to figure it out I can install it for you for a minimal fee.
I was doing some SEO research the other day getting prepared for my SEO seminar at Specialty Engraving of Wilmington NC.
I came across Webconfs.com which has a ton of cool, free SEO tools. Here is a sample of what you will find on the site:
Similar Page Checker
Search Engine Spider Simulator
Backlink Anchor Text Analysis
Backlink Builder
Backlink Summary
Keyword Density Checker
Redirect Check
Reciprocal Link Check
Check Yahoo WebRank
Domain Stats Tool
Domain Age Tool
Website Keyword Suggestions
Keyword-Rich Domain Suggestion Tool
Link: Find out more info about our SEO/Search Engine Optimization Package in Wilmington NC
Link: Webconfs
Impulse Web Solutions will be redoing the website for Daniel Looman of Looman Photography.
Looman is currently serving as local director of the Christian Surfers chapter in Jaco, Costa Rica.
The goal of the new website is to be plain, simple and uncomplicated with fast loading images. Future plans are to implement a Flash photo gallery such as Simpleviewer and minimal navigation items on a white background.
Impulse will be doing an SEO seminar at Specialty Engraving, located in Wilmington NC. Specialty Engraving has just launched a new website and is looking to make expand their client base by reaching a broader audience via the world wide web.
Specialty Engraving provides employee recognition, motivation and retention programs to a wide array of clients throughout the nation such as Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s, Chili’s and Target to name a few.
The SEO seminar will primarily be focused on ways to improve the new website and make it more search engine friendly for popular search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
For more information on our SEO services, please visit the main site at Wilmington NC SEO Firm.
Link: Employee Motivation, Recognition and Awards – Specialty Engraving
Here is a breakdown of the web design and development process so you know what to expect:
Communication
This is the most crucial step of the whole project and needs to be documented correctly before any work is done on the site. It is important for us to listen to you and your needs as a client. It is important for you to accurately communicate your goals for the website. Sometimes clients don’t always know what they want, so we often ask some questions to help begin effective dialogue.
Website Quote and Pricing
Once we know what you do and don’t want, we can provide you with an accurate quote on how much the project will cost. Once the site budget is approved and all documentation has been signed and approved, we require 50% of the site cost up front. Pricing a website is sort of like buying a car, the more bells and whistles you want the more the car will cost. Therefore, the more information about the project we have and know up front, the more accurate the quote will be.
Web Design
Your website design speaks volumes about your business. Think of your website as the billboard on the side of the internet highway as thousands of web surfers cruise the internet on a daily basis. Will they stop and take a look or keep going? The quality of your site will determine if they stay or go. Be sure you have taken a look at the past work of the web design firm you choose and that they can produce the kind of quality your site deserves.
Web Coding and Programming
If your site requires any PHP programming, this is done once the design has been approved. PHP is a dynamic programming language we use to do tasks such as email contact forms, application form processing, content management, e-commerce and database development.
Delivery
Once the site is complete and has been approved by the client, we are ready to ‘go live’ and put the site up on the web for all to see and explore. To make a site live, you will need a domain name and someone to host the website. We recommend GoDaddy.com for purchasing domain names and we provide hosting for $15/month. Read more about our web hosting plan.
And then….
Well, the site is done, but the relationship is not. Many clients like to do site upgrades in the future, like to purchase other services like search engine optimization or will need technical support. We often check in with clients on a monthly basis to make sure things are still running smoothly and to offer any support they may need.
“Impulse gave us the design we were looking for. Our project was finished on time, and our employees and clients have given us great feedback on the new site. We will use Impulse for future projects.”
Duane Hixon
Neighborhood Networks Publishing
“My experience with Impulse Web Designs has been nothing short of great! We’re very happy with our website, the design and all the time taken by Impulse to work with the customer until satisfaction was met. I think it’s obvious by their work, they are professional and picky when it comes to representing someone’s work. The work speaks for itself. Thanks and pura vida!”
Daniel Looman
Christian Surfers Costa Rica
“Our old site was completely out of date and obsolete. Impulse Web Solutions did a great job of turning our high-level vision into a great finished product. They also did a good job of being flexible with the input that they received from our numerous stakeholders. We are confident that we will now be in the running for one of the best Surfrider Chapter web sites in 2007.”
Adam Shay
Cape Fear Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
“We have had many different websites. Impulse Web Designs has out done
them all! Jonathan at Impulse has been a blessing. We have never had a
site that was so easy to navigate, manage, and easy for us to update. I
would highly recommend Impulse Web Designs.”
Chris Jackson
Aussie Island Surf Shop
“Thanks again for your help. By the way, my Brigade trip this July served 2620 medical patients, adults & children, and the dental team saw some 1239 patients and pulled almost three thousand teeth. You helped make that happen!!”
William Casey
Propapa.org
“Thanks impulse web designs for the great job. It is my first website and if I had known you were going to be so professional and helpful accomplishing my goals, I would’ve done it a long time ago. I will recommend you to everyone. ”
Was checking my stats this afternoon and saw that someone had come to my site after searching for ‘web hosting in wilmington, nc’ on Google.
I was ranked number 2 baby!! Right under the corporate giant that is Sage Island – the biggest web design firm in Wilmington NC.
Link: My Ranking as of 11:15 pm on 3/11/07
I recently designed and developed a website for AValive/Triangle Visual Interactive and the owner of the site was getting frustrated with all the comment spam he was receiving. The website has several forms and people were either wasting their time, visiting the site and putting in junk, or the site was being hit by a spam bot. Spam bots crawl the internet looking for sign up forms, comment forms, blogs, etc., and put in junk data and submit them. Junk data is usually in the form of some advertisement for Viagra, Real Estate deals and porn.
So I did some research on the net to try and find out how to prevent comment spam. I’ve often signed up for things on the net and been required to type in a text field some numbers or letters that I see in an image.
Luckily, I came across a great site that described how to implement this Captcha image in like 10 minutes. It also shows you how to do an audio clip so that site users could listen to a recording and then they would type in what they hear.
To use this technique, you need at least PHP 4 compiled with GD 1 or 2 (Image Generation) and FreeType text support. It should work fine with Linux, Mac OS X or Windows based systems although you will need to change the default temporary file storage directory specified when using with Windows. PHP session support is also required. The audio CAPTCHA requires the Flite text to speech synthesis engine – more details on set up below.
Some other features of this technique:
Hope this helps somone else.
