Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Phillip Manderson - Ch.13 Web Research

Web Research One

         An affiliate program, also known as associate programs, are arrangements in which an advertiser gets paid to send traffic to a marketing website. Anyone with basic internet know-how can be an advertiser. However being successful at it requires practice and experience. There are three types of common payment options, and are usually decided by the marketing website.
  • Pay-per-click: With PPC, advertisers are paid a predetermined amount of commission each time someone clicks on a link to the marketing website. There is no purchase necessary for the advertiser to get paid.
  • Pay-per-lead: With PPL, advertisers are paid a predetermined amount of commission each time someone clicks on a link to the marketing website AND completes an action (ie fills out a form/survey, signs up for a newsletter, etc.).
  • Pay-per-sale : With PPS, advertisers are paid a predetermined amount of commission each time someone clicks on a link to the marketing website AND purchases a specific product from the marketing website. The sale is necessary for the advertiser to get paid.
  • There are at least three parties in an affiliate program transaction: The customer, the affiliate site(advertisers), and the merchant site(the marketing website).
  • There are many different ways of getting traffic to the merchant site. Some of which are: text links, banner links, search links, home-page links, product-specific links, storefronts, co-branding, and registration.
Here are some useful sites to help:
  • http://money.howstuffworks.com/affiliate-program.htm
  • http://webdesign.about.com/od/affiliateprograms/f/what_is_an_affiliate_program.htm
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affiliate_marketing 


 Web Research Two

          Search engine and search directory submission rules are constantly changing.
Research a search engine or search directory and determine the following:

Are free submissions accepted? If so, are they restricted to noncommercial sites?
         Free submissions are accepted to Yahoo, however they must be noncommercial.
         Resource

What types of paid submissions are accepted? How do they work—what is the
fee structure, listing guarantee, and so on?
          All commercial submissions are charged a $299 initial fee. This fee doesn't guarantee that you will be listed, only that you'll get a yes or no answer about being accepted within seven business days. However, the vast majority of most decent sites are accepted. If accepted, you'll be reevaluated after a year and charged the submission fee again (the $299), if you want to stay in Yahoo's commercial area.
          Resource

What types of paid advertisements are available? How do they work—what is
the fee structure, for example?
         Display, search, targeting, analytics, mobile, video, and connected TV are available. The main one they sell is search, which is where people pay to have their advertisements placed in related search results. You set up a daily budget and a monthly budget. The maximum spent is entirely up to you. However because you are charged based on the amount of traffic sent to your site, that also directly determines how many people
see your ad. The cost per click varies greatly by keyword.
         Resource

Is there any information about the usual time frame for the submission to be
listed?
         It is usually roughly 2-3 months for the submission to be listed, however it can be as soon as 7 days or as long as never (for the free submissions).
          Resource

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Phillip Manderson's Ch.10 Web Research and Hands On

Web Research #2
Search for information about available jobs in your geographical area. Search for technology jobs with your favorite search engine or visit a job site such as http://monster.com, http://dice.com, http://hotjobs.com, or http://careerbuilder.com and search for your desired location and job type. Find three possible job positions that interest you and report on them. Create a blog post describing the job role you chose, a description of the 3 positions available as well as the experience/education required.

Web Designer for DecoNetwork
(I chose this positition because I have some two years prior experience in online marketing and it would be a great first job after graduation.)

A Web Designer (DecoNetwork calls them DecoCoach) responsibilities include supporting the customers in building better websites and making them more successful selling products online.​ As a DecoCoach I would work closely with clients to gain an idea of what their DecoNetwork site should look like.​ A DecoCoach should ideally have some marketing skills, since the goal of almost all websites is to make them attractive to customers, especially the client’s target audience.​ A DecoCoach needs to be able to create websites that are user friendly and attractive using coding such as HTML and CSS, while creating content such as text, and insert images, such as graphics and photos.​ Since I must be able to manipulate images and incorporate video and audio into websites, I also must be familiar with Corel or Adobe design products.​
Technical understanding of the internet, HTML, CSS, creativity and strong communication skills are essential for this opportunity.​
Requirements:
  • Strong understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript
  • Creative with a flair for user design
  • Strong understand of modern UI a/​ UX design
  • Strong understanding of SEO, SEM and eCommerce
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to read and create technical instructions
  • Experience providing technical support to end-users
  • A team player and willing to teach and to learn

Senior Web Designer for IM Solutions
As the Senior Web Designer, I would be responsible for the creation of entire web sites and web brands from start to finish.​ Contributing to concept, design, copywriting, coding, integration with existing database functionality, implementation of conversion tracking software for various platforms, conversion optimization, and branding of various sites.​

Job Responsibilities:
  • Fast turnaround of websites from concept to implementation
  • Development of design and copywriting with emphasis on conversion rate optimization
  • Coordination of code required to allow websites to function with existing database functionalities, CRO products, conversion tracking systems and various tracking systems
  • Troubleshooting and verification of proper functionality of websites
  • Brand development and creation of alternate traffic generation paths
  • Manage website modifications related to search and CRO
Qualifications:
  • 2-4 years experience in  full-scale development and implementation for websites
  • 2-4 years CRO experience with split testing measurement systems
  • 2-4 years design experience with emphasis on CRO
  • Copywriting skills with emphasis on sales and CRO
  • 2-4 years experience implementing and troubleshooting multiple conversion tracking methods
Web Designer for DecoNetwork
A Web Designer (DecoNetwork calls them DecoCoach) responsibilities include supporting the customers in building better websites and making them more successful selling products online.​ As a DecoCoach I would work closely with clients to gain an idea of what their DecoNetwork site should look like.​ A DecoCoach should ideally have some marketing skills, since the goal of almost all websites is to make them attractive to customers, especially the client’s target audience.​ A DecoCoach needs to be able to create websites that are user friendly and attractive using coding such as HTML and CSS, while creating content such as text, and insert images, such as graphics and photos.​ Since I must be able to manipulate images and incorporate video and audio into websites, I also must be familiar with Corel or Adobe design products.​
Technical understanding of the internet, HTML, CSS, creativity and strong communication skills are essential for this opportunity.​
Requirements:
  • Strong understanding of HTML, CSS and JavaScript
  • Creative with a flair for user design
  • Strong understand of modern UI a/​ UX design
  • Strong understanding of SEO, SEM and eCommerce
  • Excellent communication skills
  • Ability to read and create technical instructions
  • Experience providing technical support to end-users
  • A team player and willing to teach and to learn
Web Designer for Physicians Interactive
    Physicians Interactive, a division of Skysape.​com, Inc.​, is the leading resource for healthcare information, medication samples and mobile decision support tools to medical professional everywhere.​  They are looking for a Web Designer with an exceptional portfolio, representing diverse media, and excellent design skills to be responsible for the design and production of targeted email and mobile campaigns using proven marketing techniques to create a positive response from our target customers.​ Online Portfolio and HTML coding examples are required for consideration.​

Qualifications & Requirements:
Demonstrate recent and strong experience with Web development, graphic design, and the following skills:
  • Hand-coding of HTML
  • Hand-tuning of style sheets, inline styles, and class inheritance
  • InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and text editing skills
  • Design and layout for cross-browser compatibility
  • Interest in evolving Design technologies and trends
  • Experience designing and optimizing pages for mobile devices a plus
  • Have the ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative team environment with good written and oral communication skills
  • Must exhibit the ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously with extreme accuracy, uncompromising flexibility, a strong commitment to excellence and a professional demeanor and positive attitude

Experience:
  • Proficiency with Adobe CS5, CSS and HTML
  • Knowledge of HTML and CSS coding
  • Solid understanding of the capabilities of Web browsers and the constraints involved in designing for online media
  • Typographic excellence with exemplary accuracy
  • Clear understanding and implementation of marketing objectives for email campaigns
  • 3 plus years solid corporate or agency design experience and 1 plus years interactive design experience
  • Bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design, Multimedia or Interactive /​ Web Design

Hands On #8
Pretend that you are on a job interview. Choose a role on a Web project team that interests you. In three to four sentences, describe why you would be an excellent addition to a Web development team in that role. Choose one of the 3 available positions you found and complete the assignment as if you are interviewing for that particular position. You may make the assumption in your interview that you are no longer a student at Southern Crescent and have obtained the skills from this and other courses necessary to be an asset to the organization.

The job role I chose was Web Designer for DecoNetwork. I would be great addition to the team because of my prior experience with internet marketing, and because of my education in web development at Southern Crescent. It sounds really fun to work directly with the customers and bring their ideas for a website to reality. I am good at following directions and I pride myself on doing the job right. I have also worked in a customer service industry before so I am well acquainted with dealing with customers.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Focus On Web Design (page 344)

  Focus On Web Design (page 344)
 
  1. What is the URL of the Web site?
     
  2. Does this page use tables? If so, for what purpose—page layout, organization of
    information, or another reason?
     
  3. Does this page use CSS? If so, for what purpose—page layout, text and color configuration, or another reason?
     
  4. Is this page appealing or unappealing? List three reasons for your answer.
     
  5. If this page is unappealing, what would you do to improve it? 
 
 
  1.  http://www.vimeo.com/
  2. Yes, Vimeo uses tables for page layout.
  3. This page uses CSS for page layout, text configuration, and color configuration. 
  4. This page is appealing because:  It has a good contrast; It has easy navigation; All of the important items are "above the fold". 
  5.  This page is appealing, and not unappealing.
 
  1.  http://www.shmarketing.co.uk/
  2. This page does not use tables.
  3. This page is Flash based. 
  4. This page is unappealing because: The navigation is really bad. It's "navigation" area is a series of circles arranged randomly on the left of the screen, mixed in with other similar circles that are not links at all, and nothing is labeled; The entire page only takes up about one half of the space above the fold; The contrast is mediocre at best. It has white text on a white and purple background and most of the items are jumbled together. 
  5. To improve this page, I would label the navigation links, remove the extra circles around them, improve the overall contrast (by changing the colors around and spacing out the page), and make the whole page slightly larger.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Web Research - Page 306

I found this tutorial very helpful in creating CSS sprites. 
The main website is From The Couch and this is the actual tutorial.

     This tutorial shows a very detailed, step-by-step explanation of how to create and use your own CSS sprites on your own webpage. It allows you to create image links that show a different image when someone hovers over them or clicks on them. You must first take the images that you created or plan to use for your site and group them onto one canvas, and then export them as a .gif with a transparent background. Then place the "a href " links to the images in your html pages. After that you must write the CSS to configure the height, width, (display: block), and use the background image with no repeat and hidden overflow. After that you must set the 'normal position' of the buttons in the X and Y axis (example: -10px by -10px). Then you should do the same for the 'hover position'. Note that these values determine which part of the single image is actually displayed. After that you are finished! For an example of the finished image links, look at the menu on the left of the tutorial page.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

JavaJam Assignment for Web Dev. Class

Chapter 5: JavaJam

1.           Examine the site map in Figure 2.26. What type of site organization is used for
the JavaJam Web site? Is it the most appropriate organization for the site? Why
or why not?

Figure 2.26
The JavaJam Web site uses hierarchical organization as its type. It is the most appropriate organization because hierarchical organization offers the easiest to navigate website when using a small number of webpages. It is best used when there is a home page and several (5-9) topic pages.



2.          Review the recommended Web page design practices from this chapter. Use the
Web Design Best Practices Checklist (Table 5.1) to evaluate the JavaJam site that
you created in earlier chapters. Cite three design practices that have been well
implemented. Cite three design practices that could be implemented in a better
way. How else would you improve the Web site?

               Design Practices that have been well implemented:
  1. Consistent site header/logo -------------------------------[x]
  2. Consistent navigation area --------------------------------[x]
  3. Color has good contrast with associated text --------------[x]
               Design Practices that could have been implemented in a better way
  1. All navigation hyperlinks work: There is not a page for the "Jobs" link yet.
  2. Page footer area - copyright, last update, contact e-mail address: Does not include the last update.
  3. Content provides links to other useful sites: There are no links to external sites.

 



Design Principles - They don't have them

Two Bad Websites 

Sixties Press Poetry Magazine  &  Richards Brothers Seafoods
         The overall design of these two webpages are bad - really bad.
Checklist for these sites?
Organization ------------ [  ]
Presentation ------------ [  ]
Matching colors -------- [  ]
Overall "ugly site" ------- [x]

         The first of the two is the Sixties Press Poetry Magazine's Website. The header is nearly unreadable. The graphics on this page are random, and the colors seem to have no correlation to each other at all. There is no clear organization. The navigation menu is using all different colors and is not well presented.
         As far as the design principles go:
  • Repetition of visual elements: The only element that is repeating on this site is the complete lack of repetition.
  • Contrast: There are a few blocks of text that contrast well with its background. However, there are very few of these. Also, there are several that are nearly illegible. See "Barry Tebb's Mental Health Blog Site" navigation link and the entire "Feature Articles" section for examples of this.
  • Proximity: So the good part is related items (as in the heading and related paragraphs) are actually near each other as they should be. The issue is, nearly everything is at this same proximity. "Reviews" and "E Magazine" are two separate sections, yet they are spaced the same distance as the line breaks in the paragraphs!
  • Alignment - Align Elements to Create Visual Unity: Sixties Press seems to have tried this within the main section of their site; however, they seem to have failed. While the sections and paragraphs are aligned in vertical columns, the text is all centered. It sort of makes sense being based on poetry, but this is not a poem. This is a website. The navigation menu seems to have ignored alignment altogether. 
So overall, its a pretty bad site. 

         The second site is Richards Brothers Seafoods. To be honest, I am still not sure what the point of this website is. I see contact information, very generic information about the company in question, and the companies name (not in that exact order). After that all I see is products and news placed randomly in a centered column. What is this sites goal? Who is their target audience? What are visitors supposed to be looking for? There is not much of an introduction, and the website creator seems to have never heard of "above the fold" before. 
         Design principles:

  • Repetition of visual elements: The only repetition here is text color. There are all different text sizes and types.
  • Contrast:  The contrast is actually decent on this website. White or yellow text on a black background makes the text stand out decently. But that is where it ends. Attention is not drawn to anything specific. The images below the fold are simply placed on the black background without any borders or reason.
  • Proximity: What proximity? Nearly every line is spaced the same distance, regardless of topic or location. The only thing here right (proximity-wise) is the navigation menu.
  • Alignment - Align Elements to Create Visual Unity: The only alignment here is centered. Everything is centered. The whole page is one centered column of text and images.
         Richards Brothers Seafoods is not quite as bad as Sixties Press Poetry Magazine. However, that is like saying getting shot in the leg is not as bad as getting shot in the stomach - Both choices are painful.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A Review of LifeHacker

LifeHacker.com
      The overall purpose of this site is to give users simple and effective ways of controlling their life. The purpose of this specific article is to instruct people on how to use their computers more comfortably over long periods of time.
 
     The intended audience of the site is anyone with problems in daily life. The intended audience of this specific article is people who use their computers for long periods of time, and experience discomfort because they have to position themselves around the keyboard and computer screen. I believe that this site definitely reaches its audience. If this type of information is what you are looking for, then it is easy to find this website. This site was actually quite useful to me. I found several quick easy solutions to some minor frustrations in my life. I would also be willing to recommend this site to others.

     The colors of this website are very simple and easy to see. It has a plain white background, with black text, and a simple font. There is nothing too fancy or complicated. The images were all on topic to what the posts were about, and the links were in a contrasting green for easy navigation. The color use overall made the site much easier on the eyes than other similar sites, and it also allowed much an easier navigation.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Web Sites That I Find Interesting

Facebook.com
This site is one of the most well-known out there, and its features are top-notch.
  • Easy to navigate
  • Very user-friendly
  • Simple Design
  • Has forum-like qualities, but with several extra options - such as a friends list, status updates, and following others statuses.
  • It is a great place to communicate with friends and family.
Google.com
This is the most widely used search engine, and with good reason.
  • Extremely simple to use
  • It was put together brilliantly
  • You can find nearly anything you are looking for through Google. (If it exists on the web, Google will probably find it)
Funnyjunk.com
This site is absolutely hilarious at times, but I would NOT recommend it to minors.
  • It has all the links you need in plain view, and has a very simple look and design.
  • It is a great site to relax and have a good laugh.