Heideldesign: Movable Type Consultants

Follow us on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter or RSS

Current Blog Posts View archives Subscribe

Your Hosts

The Heideldesign Blog.

Movable Type tips, video tutorials, behind the scenes of our latest projects and more.

Mobile Design for Real Estate Websites

Ginger

Posted by Ginger in Mobile Web & Apps on Apr 24, 2013 | No Comments

homeforsaleillustration.jpg
If you're a realtor, you already know how important it is to have an online presence. Home buyers and sellers have been turning to the internet to perform searches and get property information for many years now. But potential clients are increasingly using mobile devices when they access real estate sites. Does your site provide a good first impression to smartphone users?

The National Association of Realtors and Google recently joined forces to study consumer and market trends in real estate. We're not surprised by what they found - new home shoppers are using mobile search engines to hunt for their next house.

And not just a few new home shoppers - the survey entitled "Digital House Hunt" states:

"89% of new home shoppers use a mobile search engine at the onset and throughout their research."


Eighty-nine percent! It's easy to see why mobile is so important in this particular industry. I've been a house hunter before and I know how this works. You drive through a neighborhood and spot a home you like. Immediately you want information: What's the price? How many bedrooms? Bathrooms? How can I get a showing? You pull the car over and pull out the smartphone.

When users access your website this way, you don't want them pinching, zooming and squinting just to read info about the house. You want to give them a mobile-optimized experience. And you want them to convert into a client.

This graphic from the study illustrates how new home shoppers on mobile devices often turn into qualified leads. 

Mobile-realestate.jpg
If you're ready to take your real estate site the next level, offering a mobile responsive design for all those house-hunting smartphone users, then Let's Talk. 

Leave a Comment

Music Festival Apps

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Mobile Web & Apps on Mar 15, 2013 | No Comments

Music Festival App Example

Music Festival App Development

We've been very proud to partner with the Savannah Music Festival over the past few years to bring their website to life. The 2013 season marks the third year of their 5-star rated iPhone app and the debut of their Android app. 

The continued evolution of mobile app development finally has us at a place where there is some degree of parity between designing for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android (devices from Samsung, Amazon's Kindle and many more). In short, we've been able to leverage much of what we've learned about designing responsive websites and apply it to building dedicated apps. Where many developers see the fragmentation among Android devices as an obstacle, building fluid layouts means that no matter what the device's screen size, aspect ratio or form factor, the app will look great and function the way you want. 

Read More Leave a Comment

Website Advertising Strategies

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Blogging on Mar 05, 2013 | No Comments

If you're a writer or publisher looking to monetize a website or blog, advertising is a natural fit. With services like Google Adsense and affiliate programs from companies like Amazon, it's easy to get professional looking ads running quickly. 

Ten Years of Google Adsense

Ten years into its existence, Adsense is still the biggest player in the personal publishing advertising space. It relies on the content surrounding the ad as well as a user's personal browsing history to send targeted ads that (hopefully) turn into clicks and commissions for the site owner. More clicks = more revenue. If you have highly targeted and specialized content on your site for high dollar advertising words, that equals even more revenue. 

This realization led to many spammy blogs in the mid 2000s on healthcare topics (like specific cancer drugs) and a firesale of good websites that created solid content and earned those advertising dollars legitimately (like PVRBlog). With the ubiquity of these ads in today's web, it's hard to make them stand out. So, some publishers are turning to extreme measures to make sure their ads are seen, often at the expense of their content.

Recently, a friend sent me a link to check out an article on 3D printing technology. When I opened the link, my first instinct was that I had been duped by a phishing scam. Everything about the web page looked spammy and it took a solid 20 seconds for me to find the article. 32.3% of the initial screen load is absorbed by advertising. The featured article is 614 pixels from the top of the screen and takes up only 11% of the screen, with no text other than the headline.

too many ads

In fairness to the source site, I've blurred out their logo and tagline because I know it's tough out there for independent publishers. I write for several niche sites myself and realize that you're lucky if Adsense dollars cover a month's hosting bills. But is this the only option? Plastering your site with ads and making your content - the truly valuable part of your website - an afterthought?

Read on for some of our most popular ideas on how to monetize your website.

Read More Leave a Comment

Migrating from Movable Type 4 to 5 on Pair Hosting

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Movable Type on Feb 26, 2013 | No Comments

Movable Type Nut LogoIf you're a Pair.com hosting client and use their Software Installation Manager you know that getting up and running with Movable Type is quick and easy. However, if you want to migrate from Movable Type 4 to Movable Type 5 it's a different story.

Pair has one-click installation and upgrading available for Movable Type 4 and Movable Type 5 on separate "tracks". This means that you can upgrade within that version number (from 4.36 to 4.38 or 5.1 to 5.2 for example) but not from 4 to 5 directly. If you'd like to upgrade your version 4 blog to version 5, follow these steps. Continued on the permalink...

Read More Leave a Comment

The End of an Era: Saying Goodbye to Typepad Anti-Spam

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Blogging, Movable Type, Web Services on Feb 19, 2013 | No Comments

Typepad Antispam RIP

When the personal web was still new, actual real honest-to-goodness people left insightful, constructive and supportive comments on these new-fangled things called "blogs". Search engines saw the value in these personal communiques and drew a spider web of lines across the internet connecting personal publishers with like minds producing interesting, useful content. Blogs rose to the top of the search results pages. But like so many good things, it was short lived. 

Over time, spamming became de rigueur and comments were no longer left by people but malicious machines eager for inbound links. These comments were often nonsensical and made the source material look unprofessional and unmaintained, an easy target for distributing malware or worse: bad information. To combat this threat to blogging, anti-spam plugins and services sprung up. Wordpress users had Akismet. Movable Type and Typepad users had their own savior in Typepad Anti-Spam. Today, we say goodbye to the latter.

After Typepad's acquisition by Say Media, it seemed inevitable that assets would slowly be weaned from the portfolio. Their innovative spam blocking software has gone to Impermium. For now, requests from the Typepad Anti-Spam plugin will be auto-routed to Imperium's system and no immediate changes need to be made. If you're looking for another solution, Akismet has a Movable Type plugin that works very well and is a worthy replacement candidate for Typepad Anti-Spam. 

Spammers keep getting smarter. It's up to content creators to leverage the strengths of their CMS software to fight back. Plugins like Akismet, CAPTCHAs and Movable Type's own Spam threshold settings can be used in concert to build the strongest wall possible. If you need help enabling a new Spam protection strategy, let's talk.

The full text of the Typepad to Imperium switchover announcement is after the break. 


Read More Leave a Comment

Adding Endorsements on LinkedIn

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Social Networking on Feb 11, 2013 | No Comments

Has your inbox been flooded with messages from LinkedIn lately? The subject line goes something like this:

Larry has endorsed you!
Once you click through, you'll see which of your amazing qualities they've highlighted. If you're in our line of work (building websites and apps) you've hopefully seen HTML, Social Media and Web Development pop up. We've also had a few oddball endorsements (Research? I guess we do some of that, too!). If you're a good samaritan, it's nice to return the favor and let the world know what your colleagues and clients excel in as well.

LinkedIn is the social network for professionals. It's a great place to research potential business partners, clients, customers or employees. While their legacy "Recommendations" area is still the best place to get in-depth examples of how a person conducts themselves professionally, the new endorsements are great quick at-a-glance overviews of what a person knows. 

linkedin endorsement

To endorse someone, visit the profile page of an existing connection. At the top, there is a large box prompting you to endorse with some suggestions based on their work experience and prior endorsements. Simply remove the labels you don't agree with and then click "Endorse." Move on to the next contact and repeat.

By endorsing someone else, you're encouraging them to endorse you back. This is more than just patting each other on the back as these skill tags increase your perceived value as a service provider, employee or ally. Endorsements are a great boost to the usefulness of LinkedIn. Where many people wouldn't take the time to write a full recommendation, it is quick and easy to make an endorsement (as little as one click!). 

How do you use LinkedIn? If you're interested in how it can benefit your business, employees or professional organization, let's talk.

Oh, and just in case you ever get an endorsement request like this, go ahead and click "Endorse." Trust us on this one.

its bootsy baby - linkedin


Leave a Comment

Do You Really Need to Upgrade Wordpress?

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Wordpress on Jan 30, 2013 | No Comments

wordpressupgrade.png

If you are a Wordpress user, you know that updates to the popular content management system (CMS) come out very frequently, sometimes with explicit, scary warnings to upgrade immediately. Often these updates pertain to security issues and timing really is of the essence. Less often they reflect core changes in how Wordpress deals with themes, plugins or assets like images. 

Wordpress Upgrade Strategies

Wordpress is known for their "5 Minute Installation" process that allows web development novices to get a website up fast. The wealth of user-submitted free plugins and themes makes it easy to quickly move past the default styles and functions to have a unique web presence without ever hiring a professional Wordpress designer. However, the more you customize, the further you stray from that famous ease of use and lack of maintenance concerns. When you get an upgrade message, how do you know that the update won't cause a problem?

Should You Upgrade Wordpress?

That's easy: YES, you should always upgrade Wordpress. Upgrading Wordpress and the active plugins on a regular basis is essential for keeping your website usable. If you don't upgrade WP, your server may be exploitable by spammers, hackers or other malicious individuals attempting to run code from your server. That maliciousness may make you liable for any damage caused to your site visitors. Google has even started notifying users through their Webmasters Tools service when Wordpress installations are out of date. It includes a warning that your website's search exposure may be limited if you don't upgrade. Once you're blocked in Google due to a malicious code warning, it is very hard to get re-listed. Keeping Wordpress updated is an important part of maintaining your web presence, whether you're looking at it from a security, usability or SEO angle.

How To Upgrade Wordpress

Wordpress has expanded upon their reputation for being easy to use by adding an auto-upgrade feature as a one-click link. However, it is still highly recommended that you disable plugins and create a backup of your database before upgrading. Further, you may find that after an upgrade, some of your plugins may require updates or be incompatible with the new version. That can also happen with specific bits of code in your templates. Having a plan to roll back to your previous version is just as important as your resolve to upgrade. The more customized your website, the more potential for damage from an upgrade is possible.

Heideldesign maintains Wordpress websites for dozens of clients in Savannah and around the country. That maintenance includes upgrading Wordpress, managing plugin updates and making sure templates and themes are fast and up to date. If you need help with a Wordpress project or upgrade, let's talk. 

Leave a Comment

Three Ways to Use Tags on Your Website

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Search Engine Optimization on Jan 25, 2013 | No Comments

tag.pngWebsite content management systems like Wordpress, Movable Type, Joomla and Expression Engine offer tags as an option for grouping your content - be it entries, pages or assets like images, audio and video. If you're wondering how these can be used on your site to boost search engine optimization (SEO), or how they differ from traditional hierarchies like categories or folders, then read on!

1. Make Alternative Archive Pages

The most common usage of tags is for grouping related content in a less rigid way than categories or folders. For example, you may have a press release that discusses a particular product or service. Its main category is "Press Releases," but wouldn't it be nice if it could also appear alongside other documents, like schematics for your product or FAQs? With tags, you can output a list of all of your related content, regardless of category or folder to which the individual pieces are assigned. Website entries can have as many tags as you like, so the opportunities to cross-reference are endless! These super-targeted pages can be great for SEO and for helping people discover new content on your site that is directly related to their topic of interest.

2. Fresh Content with Custom Page Layouts

Another way to use tags is to aid in your website's layout. For example, you can use a tag of "Featured" to update a special callout box on your home page. Or, "Slideshow" could be used to send a page's title and main image to a carousel of promotional content. For e-commerce, a tag like "Sale" can make your product title turn red and apply put a strikethrough to the old price. This makes it easy for content authors, editors and non-programmers to highlight different website pages on key areas of the website (such as the home page) on demand, keeping your layout from getting stale. 

3. Increase Time on Site and Get More Clicks

Keeping visitors clicking through your website is a key piece of any SEO strategy. Tags can be used to deliver related pages at the bottom of articles. They can also collate and display videos or image galleries of similar topics inline with your content. By making sure your interactive content is relavent, you drastically increase click through rates and keep people on your site longer. Publishers can even associate tags with their advertising management system to make sure that the most appropriate ads are being delivered alongside their content.

For more ideas on how to use Tags on your website, Let's Talk.

Leave a Comment

Wordpress Development for Nonprofits

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Wordpress on Jan 17, 2013 | No Comments

Another of our favorite projects from 2012 was a revamp of Inveneo's online presence. Inveneo is a nonprofit that works to improve the lives of people in developing countries through technology.

inveneo

Inveneo came to us with a clear direction for functionality and a great set of mockups from an outside design agency. While we often prefer to use our in-house design talent, we certainly don't mind when the source material is this good! 

We translated those graphic design files into a working website powered by Wordpress. As a CMS, Wordpress has a solid, battle-tested core for publishing static pages and posts for blogs and press releases. We extensively tweaked Wordpress with plugins and function enhancements to create easy to manage sidebar widgets and display related content areas. Wordpress was further extended with custom post types for the slideshow and the interactive mapping element. The map allows Inveneo to effectively showcase their global presence by allowing the site visitor to filter their work by country and/or sector. 

inveneo map

From simple tools for updating your nonprofit's website to complex extensions of a widely adopted platform, Heideldesign is a proven partner for nonprofits that will deliver on time and on budget. Want to learn more? Let's talk.

Leave a Comment

Website Design for Health and Education

Lee Heidel

Posted by Lee Heidel in Movable Type on Jan 11, 2013 | No Comments

At the beginning of 2013, we're looking back at some of our favorite website launches of the last twelve months. One of those projects was the Cochlear Implant School Toolkit. It combines e-commerce and online learning tools with a traditional content management system backbone.

ci school toolkit

For the CMS we chose Movable Type 5. This was largely due to the ease of cloning blogs under the umbrella of one main website. Our extensive experience with Movable Type made it a simple setup process and allowed development to move quickly once the design was approved. The graphic design phase was interesting in that the site needed to appeal to teachers, parents and also students. That's a wide-ranging demographic set! We settled on a fresh palette of light blues and lime green and using vibrant color photographs. The text is large and easy on the eyes, bridging the gap between fun and professional.

In addition to static pages, the site uses quizzes to ask questions of the site visitor and provide immediate feedback to guide them in the right direction. The linear nature of the site is meant to educate like a traditional book, with segmented chapters, and then reinforce learning through these short questionnaires. 

The site also features a Paypal-powered store which makes listing and purchasing virtual and physical products easy. Social sharing buttons are found throughout the site to facilitate promoting website content on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and via email. There's also a forum/message board for parents and teachers to ask questions with full featured user accounts allowing registration, log in and profile updates.

If you're looking to update an educational or health industry website for 2013, we're here to help. Let's Talk. 



Leave a Comment

Create Entry
Archives

Recent Images

Flickr Stream

Blog Search

About This Blog

The Heideldesign blog is a repository of Movable Type tips and tricks as well as information about the Heideldesign web design and development firm, located in Savannah GA.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.