Blog #5
HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY JORDAN!
Jordan is my, now 9 year-old, nephew and I am including as many legos as possible in this post for him
SEO
SEO is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines. It stands for Search Engine Optimization (obtained at Wikipedia).
The first step to SEO is to learn how to select keywords. Try to figure out what words your clients will be typing in to find your services. Also keep in mind your competition as well. Research more about SEO at Bruce Clay.
Tid Bits
- Include key words in your Root Domain Name to help the search engines find your site. Also use them in the Title Tag, the H1 Headline Tag and in Links. This information and more can be found at seomoz.
- Anticipate what your clients will be searching for on the web and make it easier for them to find your site.
- Do not use Black Hat SEO This is a set of techniques used to get higher search rankings in an unethical manner.
- Quote to live by "You can't regret what you have done, only what you haven't."
Useful Web Sites
- Throughout my posting process I am constantly researching and coming across many links that are helpful and even some that are not.
However, I always learn something about the web in general. It is also a great idea to ask fellow designers about what sites they like to visit as well.
- The two sites that I have included this week were suggested by one of my peers, Joe Ingalls.
The first site is
Logo Pond. This site is a great source for inspiration. It contains thousands of examples of logos that other designers have created. You can also post comments if you like. It is always a good idea to see what is already out there and learn from others. - Another one he mentioned was 99 designs. On this site you can submit work for contests and other
projects too. Once again you can also see what others are creating and review winning entries.
In Other Graphic Design News
I learned about another website in my intermediate photography class. It is a blog site for amateur photographers who want to learn how to light their subject(s). Just visit Strobist. It has many different archives, discussions and seminar info that could be helpful to some of us interested in doing a lot of our own photography.
I found a brilliant example of a lego photo shoot that utilizes some mad lighting skills. It is at the very bottom of this page. This one is dedicated to my nephew, Jordan, who absolutely loves legos. His birthday is today.
Happy 9th Birthday Jordan Taylor Glover!!!
Another site that could be useful is Just Creative Design. This is a site created by Jacob Cass, a graphic designer. This site has links to popular articles that are useful for new designers. Be sure to read the article on what makes a good logo. It is straight to the point and a good reminder of the basics.
Happy Birthday Jordan!
ReplyDeleteVery nice post Jai. A few things to point out, because I know you love feedback:
* An excellent place to use the ABBR tag would be with the SEO term you used at the beginning.
* The wikipedia link would be best if it linked directly to the wikipedia article, instead of the wikipedia home page, to save your readers some time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seo
*You have BR tags between each of your LI tags. This will create extra, blank bullet points in RSS readers.
*There is quite a bit of controversy over sites like 99designs. "Crowd Sourcing" or "Spec Work" are the terms usually used to describe site where clients are given submissions from 3 or more designers who are paid next to nothing, usually in competitive form. Most professional designers steer far away from crowd sourcing as it tends to destroy the industry. Here is a website dedicated to educating the community about spec work.