SnapVision Blog
December 5, 2007 - As you can probably tell, this isn't really a blog. Too much time elapses between entries.I suppose this is one of the hazards of self-employment.
March 11, 2007 - As it turns out, the day-to-day demands on my time don't allow for too much blogging. Slide shows and video, are the latest "must have" in Web design.Here is a Flash slide show with zooms and pans. It works using a progressive stream from the server. I hope you enjoy my digital pictures! |
August 24, 2006 - A good friend from New York recently said that this site wasn't exciting enough. My excuse was that its purpose was to showcase standards compliant Web design. Well, she was right. This morning I updated the site and it is much better for it.
February 1, 2006 - Some think you need to have a blog entry every day for your blog to be, well … a blog. I don't know about that. I do know that a Web designer should never stop learning. This is especially true with respect to search engine optimization (SEO), the goal of course being a page one listing on what you feel are your key word phrases. The new SnapVision Web site, placed #3 on page 1 on the keyword phrase "standards compliant web design cleveland" about a week after the site was completed. Of course, it's a too-long search phrase. I'm still working on positioning a shorter phrase, When you build a Web site, make sure your Web developer is going to be able to do iterative changes needed to fine-tune your SEO effort.
January 12, 2006 - I have achieved what I previously thought represented the highest Web standard … a Web site that passed W3C HTML and CSS validation and opened in IE and Firefox on a PC, and IE5.2 and Safari on a Mac, and didn't look so bad on a Blackberry, either. Now I realize that it isn't the highest standard, but the only standard that makes sense today. I am now a standards compliant evangelist.
January 2, 2006 - Since I last wrote, I've been "enlightened" to standards compliant Web site design. I hope you will visit the Design Philosophy page on this site. Standards compliant means that the code running your Web site is compliant with the rules established by the W3C Web Consortium. Why is this important? The W3C-developed HTML code and your browser determines how browsers behave when they read and display your Web site. Fully implemented, a standards compliant web site will display on the most number of browsers and platforms, including hand held devices and accessible to the disabled, among other things. Check back for further comments as the new SnapVision emerges.
November 2, 2005 - Today, I attended "Smart Ways to Market your Home-Based Business," sponsored by the Solon Chamber of Commerce. As you would expect, there was a lively discussion about the value of having a Web site. The general opinion was that having a Web site was necessary to be competitive. Some were still waiting for their site to "pay for itself," others felt it already had, and some just wished their site was more usable, both for themselves and their customers. As the only Web developer in the room, I observed everyone wanted to check-in with their own experience. Like desktop publishing a generation ago, which made it possible for everyone to produce their own brochures and newsletters, anyone can, and many do build a Web site. It is clear to me however, that while the marketing considerations should drive need for a Web site, accomplishing business objectives requires more than the ability to "put up a Web site."
October 31, 2005 - As I rebuild my business Web site, I am very much aware of how complex Web development can be. In many ways, a Web site cannot ever be completed. What happens is that you look back and see how a site can be improved, but you must decide whether the change is "just a change" or whether it makes the site better. Assume it is an improvement. Should you make the change? Only if the benefits of making the change,outweigh the cost of doing it. Far too often changes are just different … but not necessarily better.
October 20, 2005 - There are still a lot of reasons why "brochure sites" are still useful. Especially to answer customer's and prospect's questions about your company — at their convenience rather than yours! When you take into account the costs and benefits of a Web site, weigh the production cost against the benefits.
