Blog
Sifting through SEO
As web developers, we get dozens of questions about SEO, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization. SEO experts and consultants have nearly become their own service profession on their own and certainly many SEO experts can deliver results, but typically, results come at a price.
Everybody wants to be #1 on a Google search, but there is a set of complex reasons--some that can be controlled and some that can't be--for how and why people end up in that enviable #1 position.
The truth of 'optimization' is that it's important for your site to be indexed, searchable, and found by your audience. The truth that often overlooked, however, is the basic principles of what it means to be indexed, searchable, and found by your audience.
When we advise clients on this front, we start with a couple of princples in mind:
- Design is function. If your design inhibits your site to be indexed and searched properly, it is poorly designed.
- Content is key. If your site doesn't say what you do in concrete terms and with language that reflects what people search for when trying to find you, you haven't used your text effectively.
- Marketing is still required. If you have no marketing strategy but to be #1 on Google, you don't have a good marketing strategy.
For a sensible article that echoes many of our opinions here at Third Sun Productions, read the full article on Entrepreneur.com.
Facebook Tips and Tricks
Over the past few weeks, I've been running across some interesting Tips and Tricks for Facebook, especially as it pertains to business and nonprofit organization fan pages.
Building a custom Facebook landing page
This article explains how to use HTML to create a customized landing page for organization, rather then the default Wall posts. Read more here
How to Import a Blog Feed unto your Facebook fan page
You can automitically have your blog posts feed to your Facebook page. Nifty. Read about it here.
Scheduling Facebook and Twitter posts
Control your message timing by using third-party applications to schedule and post messages to Facebook and Twitter. A few to look at include HootSuite, PingFM and Sendible. These services will also let you post to multiple accounts or networks at once, saving you all kinds of time and steps.
Putting a Facebook Module on your Joomla site
A nice module exists to show a Facebook Fan module on your site, but it can be somewhat complicated to set up. Facebook requires an API key to make it work. To get a key, go to http://www.facebook.com/developers/ click on "Set Up New Application," give it a name, select your page, and save. You don't need to set anything else up with it, just grab the key. Of course, Third Sun clients can ask for help getting this on their site.
Other site interactions with Facebook and Twitter
Contact Third Sun if you want to discuss other options for intergrating your website and social networks.
Fix those Facebook Links
Have you ever linked a website on a Facebook post, only to find the image Facebook puts next to it is odd, or just wrong? Maybe you've seen your website linked on Facebook pages with an image that doesn't make sense.
When a site is linked on a Facebook post, it searches the page for available images. Often, those posting will just use the first one, or Facebook just can't find any appropriate images.
But, with one simple line of code, you can tell Facebook exactly which image you want to use. Here's how:
- First create an image that you want to use to represent your site on Facebook links. It may be your logo or some other representative image. Upload this image to your webserver.
- Next add code like this to your webpage or template (replace the image name with the image you created in the first step) somewhere between the <head> and </head> tags.
<link rel="image_src" href="http://www.yoururl.com/facebook.jpg" />
That's it! Now whenever anyone links your site on Facebook, it will use the image you want.
If you are a current Third Sun customer and need help with this, just email support@thirdsun.com and we'd be happy to assist!