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jamesray50
11-16-2010, 06:44 PM
Hi everyone,

I have read the reviews you have posted for the other websites and you have offered good and objective advice. That is what I need for my website. I have had other groups of friends look at it and made some changes, but I need people who don't know me or who are not in the same business as me to look at it. I also read the thread on what annoys you all about websites so I feel that you will give me some good constructive criticism.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

GoingLocal
11-16-2010, 08:41 PM
Hi Jo,

The structure is generally good. I'm sure the content is too, but who really reads a webpage? get in, search for info/sign-up, get out. that's what most people do.

few things...

I have a hate on for anything Microsoft. they don't follow any standards and have bloated code. If you want a free websource checkout wordpress.com

When I first go to the site there is nothing that draws my eye, and they glaze over. You need a Title or Headline that gives the reader a place to start.

Unless you think you can make a sale from a first time visitor (err, almost never happens), you need to get people to subscribe to your newletter. Your front page should have an opt-in box for this above the fold (seen without scrolling). You need to give me a good reason to give you my email address, everyone and their mother has a newsletter... without selling me the free emails they'll just collect in my inbox and start getting filtered out.
"Ethical bribes" is the catch term, but any report that makes sense to excite your target audience. Maybe something like "FREE - The best kept time saving secrets that reduce costs with that boring part of every business ($47 value!)" ...or something like that... maybe you have some freeware software you can give away? People sign up for free stuff they don't even want, but once they're in you can do your followup marketing.

For the best Google love, add a "Bookkeeping Tips" tab and add to it like a blog with regular, relevant posts. (optional)

You webpage doesn't have a title (It says "Home" on the top bar of window). You have no SEO of any kind on this page.. this will make it tough to get decent Search Engine Rankings. You need to read a lot or hire someone to fix this. Google "SEO guide" to get thousands of free reports (one per page ;).
- wordpress does this very well "out of the box"

If this is an independent business, that's not the impression I get. It looks like you're an Intuit affiliate. Was that the goal?

with you're email on the page the way it is you're going to get spammed at lot.

You have 2 like buttons. (why??)

The services page seems a little awkward (column text starts at different heights, etc). I might consider horizontal blocks for this rather then the vertical ones you're using. either that or ensure everything lines up with the other columns so it's more visually pleasing. (surfers constantly look for reasons to find a different page to read)

the 'contact us' form spans the entire page... this looks a little odd.

What are you using for a mail service? Your opt-in box is a little "old" looking. not the end of the world, but something other people will notice, especially when (if?) you move it to the front page. aWeber has a form builder with simple pretty graphics.

:)

GoingLocal
11-16-2010, 08:43 PM
oh, the kitty picture is a little cute, but out of place. is this a business page or a vanity page?
make the choice.
Cheers!

jamesray50
11-16-2010, 09:40 PM
These are the kind of comments I am looking for. Please keep them coming.

Spider
11-16-2010, 10:23 PM
I liked it, Jo Ellen. It was clean and tidy, just like a bookkeeper's site should be. I also liked the colors.

I didn't see the point of the Quickbooks ads. If you are selling this product as an affiliate or a reseller, that is part of the your service and needs to be on an inside page, not on the front page. Don't show your visitors a way to leave - it's tough enough to keep them without showing them a door as soon as they arrive.

I think it is generally accepted that serif font is easier to read on paper and sans serif is easier to read on a computer screen. It certainly is that way for me, and I would have liked to see a sans serif font for your text. The title looked fine in serif font, though, and I liked the modest size.

For emphasis, I would have made the opening paragraph slightly larger or bolder than the column text.

As a potential client, I would have liked to see a little more confidence in your copy. Instead of "we want to take that burden from your shoulders..." I would have preferred, "We will take..." ... "we can pay your employees..." could become, "we will pay..."

Setting your text in columns is fine by me but don't let me scroll down to finish one column then make me scroll back up to start the next column. Make your columns short enough so that doesn't happen.

Altogether I thought it a credible offering.

jamesray50
11-16-2010, 11:41 PM
GoingLocal - I have gone over what you wrote. First of all I don't understand why I would use WordPress. This is not a blog and I thought WordPress was for bloggers. I did look at it and it appeared that it was for bloggers and not for just a regular website. Besides, at this point I would rather not start over, but try to make what I have better. I tried several web builders before I settled on this one, and I liked the ease of use and the templates available. Maybe it isn't the best one to use, but it was what I could do and afford. I also realise because it is free it doesn't have all the bells and whistles and maybe when I can afford to upgrade I will.

On my service page I know the center column is not lining up correctly and I'm not sure why. I have worked on it. All the fonts are the same but for some reason the line spacing is off. I'll keep working on that. I like the vertial columns so my visitors can see my services without having to scroll down the page. I think I have fixed the SEO stuff, I wasn't sure what you were talking about. Someone else had also mentioned that to me, but I think I figured it out. If not, please let me know.

The mail service is through Office Live. I haven't decided if I will move it to the front page. The subscribe to and contact us are their forms that I just added to my site. As for the cat, it is just a background image and I am going to leave it. But I do appreciate your comment on it.

jamesray50
11-17-2010, 12:04 AM
Frederick - thanks for reviewing my website. I had all the fonts in serif font, which was the default, but someone suggested that I change it to Times New Roman. So I did and thought it looked okay. I need to rethink my affiliate link for QuickBooks. I am an affiliate for QuickBooks, but you are right, I don't want visitors to leave my website before they have a change to see what I will do for them. Should I have a separate page for the affiliate links? I hope you don't mind if I take you up on your suggestions about changing my content to sound more confident. That was a very good suggestion, just what I am looking for. The other suggestions I will work on. Thanks again.

Spider
11-17-2010, 08:33 AM
Times New Roman is a serif font, Jo Ellen. Serif refers to the little embellishments to the characters - look at the 'm' especially - see the little feet. Now look at the 'm' in this forum - no feet! Sans serif is French, I think - sans meaning without. So with a serif font, the characters have feet, sans serif (without serif) means the characters have no feet.

Serif fonts - Times, Times New Roman, Courier, Georgia, Baskerville....

Sans serif fonts - Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Tahoma, Trebuchet....


What to do with Quickbooks? If, as a bookkeeper, you don't do balance sheets and then you decided you could do balance sheets without breaking the bookkeeper-accountant divide, how would you handle that? Do the same with the selling Quickbooks software - it's an added service, just the same. I would be inclined to add it to your services page.

KristineS
11-17-2010, 01:48 PM
Jo Ellen,

This is a good basic site. I think there are a few things you can do to make it better though.

I agree with Frederick that you should lose the Serif fonts. Most web sites don't use them because they are a bit harder to read. Also, make sure your font is uniform. Some of your pages use one font and a bigger font size than the others. Font type and size is one way to pull your site together.

Another thing you need to do is tighten up your copy, particularly on the home page. Your home page is the first glimpse a lot of people will get of what you can do. It needs to sell you a little better.

Take, for instance, the text in black type at the top of your home page. It doesn't really grab me right now. It needs to be shorter and to the point. You want that text to be a hook that draws people to read further. I'll mull it over and see if I can come up with an example of how I would rewrite that text.

Also, you might want to consider dividing your page text with headlines. Use headlines and questions to lead the reader into the next section of text.

jamesray50
11-17-2010, 08:56 PM
Frederick - After I posted what I did about the fonts I googled it and knew I was wrong in what I had written. I am going to change everything to Arial. I have already started and it does look better. I have also added a page for the QuickBooks products and will remove them from my other pages.

KristineS - I am going to work on changing the content on the home page. I am not a very good writer, even though I know what I want to convey, I don't know how to put it into word. I do like the idea of the titles. I am going to make the service page shorter and will probably use some of the content from that page for my home page. I am also going to remove the QuickBooks links and in the third colum add a bookkeeping tips colums that will be something will be changed frequently.

Thank you for your help and suggestions and I will let you know when I am through with these changes so that you can review it again if you don't mind.

Spider
11-17-2010, 09:20 PM
Yes - the page looks much better already.

Harold Mansfield
11-17-2010, 09:29 PM
Just a quick aside jamesray50, Wordpress is used for all kinds of websites from small businesses to fortune 500 companies. That is of course self hosted Wordpress, not Wordpress.com..but that is beside the point of what you asked.

Given that this platform provided you with what you needed and was the easiest for you to use and set up, I think it looks clean. No it doesn't blow my socks off, but I haven't used a site builder in years so I don't know what is even possible or what control you have over anything except picking a template and adding content.

I always say that you take what you can control and make that the best it can be. I have to agree with Frederick that you content lacks confidence. You seem to be asking for the sale, instead of assuming it.
I was also put off by the statement "you have better things to do than worry about your books".
While it may be true that I would rather be doing something else, taking care of the books is an important aspect of running a business.
I think you should come at it a little differently and promote your experience, reliability and readiness because people should only trust their books to the professionals.


That's right! Just a few steps on your computer and your files and paperwork are securely transferred to us, we work on them and then we securely transfer your files and paperwork back to you in a completed product.

We can also log on to your computer to work directly on your files. Just send us the paperwork, we log on to your computer, complete the work on your computer, then we log off.

That's a pretty big and neat thing. It seems that it is the cornerstone of what you businesses is. I would lead with that. "Top Notch Bookkeeping is your virtual payroll and bookkeeping solution", and I would also provide a little more information about how the whole "logging into my computer" thing works and explain why I should trust you to do that. Maybe not in the same paragraph, but you get the picture.

You seem to have the experience and knowledge, but you are not expressing the confidence in the delivery. If you know anyone that is experienced in writing promotional copy, I would consult with the to clean it up a bit and drive home the main points right away to entice them to read on.

Just my 2 cents.

GoingLocal
11-19-2010, 10:32 PM
Hey guys, I've been out for a while...

The site is looking much better now. Good work!

I think eborg9 summed up the Wordpress thing well enough, it's not just for blogging, but for anyone who wants to build a website with ease of use, has descent SEO, and is probably one of the easiest platforms to work with out there. The learning curve is very short.

When I read that you're comparing one MS service for another.. err.. well, it's your choice. You're just starting this and considering non-MS solutions is something I highly recommend. Coming from someone with an (old) MCSE I hope that holds some weight.

The on page title is better too, but I think "Welcome to your payroll and bookkeeping solutions company." should be on a line of it's own rather then running into the following text.

Some SEO issues:

"alt" tags are very useful for SEO, but the only one on your site is the MS logo on the bottom. This does nothing for you but does help MS.

Your 'meta keywords' list is a little long. "payroll" may be too vague and not be worth using. it's generally best to limit yourself somewhere between 5 and 12 phrases. ...with your site builder can you change the keyword and description meta's on a per page basis? if you can, most should still be used just not on every page, and you'll see better results by tightening this up.

other header items missing like <link rel='index' title='Business Bookkeeping Services' href='http://top-notch-bookkeeping.com/default.aspx' /> (helps with robots)

Image names are calculated for keyword search rankings, none of your images have useful names.


It's nice you have have a title now :), but that's only a start for optimizing. While I don't know the inner working of this MS live thing, I suspect you'll never have good control on these aspects there without manually editing the code (if you can even do that...).

Your anchored links are a little off ...
on the bottom right column, "Top Notch Bookkeeping" links to your 'affiliate' page, when that keyphrase should be used for your home page. for this page I think "Bookkeeping with QuickBooks" would be way better.
on the bottom left there is a "services" link that goes to your services page. that's sorta good, but should be something like "bookkeeping services" for the link text.
Links are important, even "in site" links. near the bottom where your location is started, "Top Notch Bookkeeping" should link to your home page. (I know this is the page it's on, but it helps 'brand' that page.)



I like the bookkeeping tips on the side but, the "bookkeeping tips" should be an "h2" tag, and the items below that should be an "h3" tag making it look like "All Businesses Need an Accounting Program" is an item your tips. As it looks to me, there are no tips and an text snippets follows.
again, "Hx" tags are valuable for SEO.


breaking up the front page with titles makes it much easier to read. As the others has stated the copy is a little weak. Your headers should use Header tags (H2, H3) and be more descriptive. ie: "Accurate bookkeeping" and "Local business Bookkeeping". Being redundant in the right places isn't a bad thing, and helps the search engines (and readers) find what is relevant to them.

The RSS feed on the right of the home page is wonderful, but unless you are going to make frequent updates in "blog" style, that should be replaced with your newsletters optin box. (otherwise what's going to get sent into the feed?)

I'm sure your Services page was misaligned before because of the longer title on the first column. It does look much better now.

billbenson
11-20-2010, 01:45 AM
On the word press thing, there are a couple of good reasons to switch. First, it can be used either in a blog format or a standard site format. It is by far the most popular CMS out there so you can easily find web developers for custom development should you so desire. There are several on this forum. Also, Wordpress is based on php / mysql (programming language / database language). There are again far more programmers / developers that know this language. That means again for customization you will have a lot more resources available to you. Finally, Wordpress is open source, not proprietary. Because of this anyone can develop specialized add ons (plugins) to it. One, for example, is a SEO plug in which makes SEO much easier. As mentioned above, SEO is important if you want your site to appear at the top of the Google and other search engine ranks. Oh, and another finally: You should be able to figure out Wordpress in a weekend. There are tons of tutorials etc out there to answer your questions. Also, people here will be able to better help you because there are plenty of Wordpress users here and probably zero people that use the program you are using.

On the font, I'd reconsider selecting Aerial. It is a proportional font. that means an "i" takes up less space than an "a" for example. It can be hard to read. With a fixed font such as Veranda all of the letters take up the same space and are easier to read.

jamesray50
11-20-2010, 02:34 AM
Now my head is spinning. I like the looks of my website. By that, I mean I like the template that was available and the colors. There were some things I didn't like. It does have some limits, but since I don't really know a lot it didn't really matter. But, I want my website to be picked up by Google and other search engines and if I can't if it can't be optimized like it should then maybe this website isn't the right one for me. But, I sure do hate the thought of starting all over again. I might mess around with it this weekend and see what I thing. I did write a blog, I though I could add that to my website. I wanted to put in on my homepage, but it won't fit. So I already have an account with wordpress. May as well see what else I can do with it.

Harold Mansfield
11-20-2010, 10:11 AM
You know, even though I am biased and love Wordpress, I hate when a review thread turns into a "You should be using Wordpress" thread because it gives off the impression that we all think you did something wrong. You didn't. It's just that most web professionals have a prejudice against site builders because of the limitations.

But regardless of our feelings, the bigger picture is does it do what you want it to do? That's more important than anything because if it doesn't, there is no reason to keep it because it's not doing you any good.
It seems you are savvy enough to understand that you need to optimize it and you want the capability to blog. You can do that and more with Wordpress. It is by far naturally more SEO friendly than any site builder, prepackaged solution or doing it by hand.

Of course we are talking about Wordpress.org (http://wordpress.org), not Wordpress.com.

Some things to keep in mind...
You will need a hosting account to run your own website using Wordpress. You can usually get something cheap for around $10 a month.
You will probably want to use a predesigned, professional template/layout and that can run anywhere from $20-$100..but the average cost is around $45. There are literally 1000's of designs for sale, and even hundreds that are free (I'm not a big fan of free ones)

Most of the tools and add ons ( called plug ins) that increase functionality that you will want or need are going to be free.
The publishing software itself, Wordpress is free as well as any updates.
There are articles and tutorials everywhere online for anything that you want to do with it, but most everyday functions are one click install and drag and drop.

It's not completely easy at first and if you want to switch and get it up quickly you will need help. Once you get it up and get a few tips and tutorials about running it, you will be much happier with it than any site builder, with a lot more control over your website.
There are millions of users and plenty of places to get help should you hit any snags.

I'd think about it, do some reading on it and ask around before you make any rash decisions.
I think what you have is fine for the moment, but it is not a long term solution and doesn't look as if there is much control over anything except basic stuff and I think very quickly that you will want to do more.
Of course you can always ask any questions here. there are quite a few knowledgeable Wordpress users on the forum.

Spider
11-20-2010, 11:26 AM
Let me throw in something for you over Wordpress, Jo Ellen. Everyone here loves Wordpress. Everyone, that is except me. I grant that it is popular and I'll further grant that is must be popular for a reason. I just don't know what reason is. I'm not saying I find it bad - not at all, I haven't used it much. I'm just saying that I don't find a reason to be as in love with the thing as everyone else here. Make your own choice.

You don't need Wordpress to work SEO. And, unless you are going to build a large site (many pages, articles, etc.) you don't need a CMS - content management system. So, you don't need Wordpress. You can get to the top of your search engine categories without it just as easily (if not easier) than with it.

I'd say focus on learning SEO (search engine optimization) and apply that to your site as it is. You can improve things as you go along and consider Wordpress, if you want to, at some later date.

Harold Mansfield
11-20-2010, 11:58 AM
See, this always happens. We turn a review thread into a Wordpress thread because there are so many points to be made. Bottom line, it is what most people use to self publish their websites. It is used by small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. It's not just for one kind of website and it's not just for a blog. It is capable of being pretty much what ever you need it to be and can be designed to look anyway you want.

It's popular and used enough in business that I make a business of doing nothing but working with it.


And, unless you are going to build a large site (many pages, articles, etc.) you don't need a CMS - content management system. So, you don't need Wordpress. You can get to the top of your search engine categories without it just as easily (if not easier) than with it.


I have plenty of one page and small websites using Wordpress. It is not limited to one thing or another, but it is easily capable of running everything from a simple landing page, to a multi user network of 1000's of websites.

I do agree that you can SEO anything. And if what you have is all that you need, then I see no reason to change. And no I don't recommend that everyone use Wordpress, but I do recommend it for do-it-yourselfers without advanced HTML, or design knowledge.

billbenson
11-20-2010, 12:40 PM
Spider, your situation is different than Jo Ellen's. You can write in html. Comparing what she is doing (site builder) with coding as you do has a much longer learning curve than anything we have discussed here. What we are really comparing is a site builder with the next easiest option.

Spider
11-20-2010, 02:26 PM
Bill, What we are doing here is comparing one site-builder application with another site-builder application. Perhaps Wordpress is a more sophisticated site-builder but, really, that's all it is. As to which is easiest can only be determined by what one wants to do with it - a more sophisticated website will require a more sophisticated site-builder, a less sophisticated website can be created with a less sophisticated site-builder.

Spider
11-20-2010, 02:47 PM
Jo Ellen, Either your site was already in Verdana or you changed it due to the recommendation here. That's fine. I feel you would gain much in appearance if the text in the righthand column was slightly smaller than the text in the main column. Your opening paragraph is Verdana size 4, the main body is Verdana size 3. I think Verdana size 2 would be too much of a difference, ie Verdana size 2 might be too small, but you could try it and see. What I really suggest, though, is to use Arial size 3 in the righthand column. Arial is slightly smaller than Verdana but of the same "family" and go well together. I think you will like that better.

If your font size controls are not numbers, 3 = normal, 4 = big and 2 = small.

Harold Mansfield
11-20-2010, 02:50 PM
Wordpress is not is site builder. If all you have ever used is Wordpress.com, I can see why you would think that. That would be the only configuration that you know.

It's a publishing platform. It's a CMS. It can be configured to run a network. It's capable of doing many things if you know how to configure it properly, but it is far from being merely a site builder.
Although you can create a site builder with it.

Spider
11-20-2010, 03:10 PM
If one uses a Hummer with overland options, oversized knobbly tires, bumper-mounted winch and limited-slip differential, with a 45mm cannon on the roof, to commute back and forth to the office, it is a commuter vehicle, never mind its capabilities. I really wasn't imagining Jo Ellen running a network, creating a site-builder or managing any amount of content - not as a bookkeeper, anyway. If she intends to get into these more technical areas, then Wordpress would clearly be ideal for her!

Harold Mansfield
11-20-2010, 03:15 PM
If she intends to get into these more technical areas, then Wordpress would clearly be ideal for her!

She doesn't have to be running a network or any other technical issue. I would consider that advance use.
It's simple enough to use to publish your own website which is how most people and companies use it.

Based on what she said about wanting more control and options for optimization, and wanting to have her blog integrated...this is the option that makes the most sense.

Spider
11-20-2010, 05:10 PM
I wasn't commenting about Jo Ellen getting technical, I was commenting about you smarting because I called Wordpress a site-builder. The option that makes most sense, in my opinion, is to do as much SEO as she can on her present site and worry about additional capablilities when she has this bably up and running and winning her some business as a bookkeeper.

Wordpress is not her only option and won't be her only option even if she decides to get technical at some later date.

billbenson
11-20-2010, 05:49 PM
Semantics a bit here Frederick, but I disagree with classifying Wordpress as a site builder. Wordpress when installed is a website. Its on its own domain, you have access to all the code (open source remember), and you have as much control as the host you host with allows. A better way of looking at it is - a bunch of php scripts designed to manage your website content ie content manager. Additionally you have complete flexibility for the look and feel including making your own template should you so desire. None of these capabilities are available with a site builder.

Additionally, with a site builder, content backups are generally very difficult if not impossible. Even on Yahoo's ecommerce site, if I recall correctly, you can't get a copy of your cart to move it somewhere else. In the case of your own CMS, you have control of the database to move your data (pages) to another CMS or to a custom site. You will generally have to reenter all of your pages on a site builder which is a strong negative.

Even if the site builder sites are as well done as possible, from everything I have read, Google rarely places them well in the SERPS.

So no, a CMS is not an advanced site builder any more that a car is an advanced childrens bike with training wheels. They are different animals.

billbenson
11-20-2010, 06:37 PM
Jo Ellen, to put this back in perspective. Below are some of the things you want to be able to do with your website.


A nice clean design which you have.
SEO friendly
hosted on your own domain - You appear to have your own domain
Transferable to other web hosts - Site builder sites aren't generally easily transferable. You will probably at some time want to move your site. Hosts get sold or other things. Its a good security precaution to have control of your site so you can transfer it or do other things.
Easy to edit and add pages
flexibility in design
easy to use
etc

Harold Mansfield
11-20-2010, 07:37 PM
I don't see any reason to stick with it if it doesn't do or have what she wants when a solution is available that covers all of her basses.
Why waste time optimizing something that you already know you are going to change?

No Wordpress is not her only solution, but it is easiest to use and learn, cheapest and most powerful all in one, well coded, compliant solution that she is going to find to do everything that she wants to do.
I am confident that if she asks around to well versed web professionals or other experienced small business people, many will recommend the same thing for anyone who wants to self publish a full fledged website and have full control and tons of options.

If Joomla, Drupal, Ruby On Rails, MS Front Page (which no one should use) , or PHP Nuke were the best option I would recommend them. But they are not.

I have no problem with what she has now, but based on what she has written it's not all that she wants.
But we can argue it all day long. It's up to what Jo Ellen wants.

I think that she can determine from the way that the thread has taken itself that many of us have a real problem with site builders and think that she can do much better for her business website.

jamesray50
11-21-2010, 03:32 PM
Spider - I did change the font to Veradana. I have also gone back and changed the right column to Arial 3. As for WordPress, I have read your all discussions and found them interesting. I always thought WordPress was for bloggers, people or companies who always changed their content frequently. I tried several site builders before I chose Office Live and I only chose that because it was easy. I thought SEO was the same for all of them. I Googled the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org and the only major difference I can see is that I would have to host my site with someone if I went with WordPress.org. But that's not a problem if I knew who a good hosting company was. But what my goal is, is to have a good website that will be picked up by the search engines. When I run it through a web grader I get a grade of 26. That is not good enough for me. One of the problems is the there are no alt tags on the pictures. I don't know where to put the alt tags. I don't know if I can. If this is not available with this site builder, then this is not a good web site for me. My business is a virtual business so I need it to be visible everywhere.

For now I am going to work on the content and leave the website where it is. If anyone can add any other comments that might make it more appealing or search engine friendly I would appreciate. I have some certificates that are about to expire that I need to concentrate on renewing and some new ones to take and then I will get back to work on my website.

Thanks for everyones help.

Harold Mansfield
11-21-2010, 03:51 PM
The problem with suggesting what and how to do improvements are I really don't know how much freedom and control you have with what you are using. Is there away to add title, tags, and descriptions to each page or to the site as a whole? Because it doesn't seem that you have any.

Do you have any control over your URL structure? Because it looks like it just takes the first headline to create one, which is not what you need.

Can you add files like a sitemap? A sitemap helps Google and other search engines see your pages and discover your content.

Do you have any access at all to edit the files or is it a closed system? If you have no access, there is only so much that you can do and you have probably maxed it out and done it.

All of these things can make a huge difference with your on site optimization. Without any control over them, your only SEO option is basically to link build.

That is the difference between using a closed system like a site builder or hosting your own site. When you host your own site you have control over all of those things and are not merely limited to what they give you or let you do. No site builder or hosted solution lets you have complete control.

Just to clarify the difference between WP.com and self hosted WP.org. WP.com is a hosted blog solution. You are limited to what they offer for designs, plug ins and you have no access to your files and are bound by their terms of service which limit what kind of content and monetization you can have on your site.

WP.org is (self hosting your site using the Wordpress software) and completely yours and you can do what ever you want and need to do. There are no limitations and you can add all of the SEO plug ins and functions that you want. Design it how ever you want. Promote it however you want. And there are no terms of service that you have to abide by. It's your site on your host. No middle man. Your rules. No limits. Complete control.

Spider
11-21-2010, 10:02 PM
... I tried several site builders before I chose Office Live and I only chose that because it was easy. I thought SEO was the same for all of them. ...That is an excellent reason for choosing something. SEO is the same no matter how you built your site. Although the way each Search Engine works is different and they keep changing the criteria on which they work, the principles are the same - they each want to deliver on their SERPS (search engine results pages) what they think the searcher is searching for. The trouble is, we never really know what the searcher is searching for! And neither do they!



... But what my goal is, is to have a good website that will be picked up by the search engines. When I run it through a web grader I get a grade of 26. That is not good enough for me. ...i have no idea what 26 means, nor how they graded your site. In any case, the only grade that counts is - Is your site bringing you business? The first step of that is - Is your site appearing high enough in the results for appropriate searches?

I searched Google for - top notch bookkeeping - and what did I find? #2 on the first page -
Top Notch Bookkeeping - We provide virtual solutions for bookkeeping, payroll & QuickBooks for small businesses. Do you need help with your monthly financials, daily data entry, ...
www.top-notch-bookkeeping.com (http://www.top-notch-bookkeeping.com)

See?! SEO isn't so hard, after all!



... One of the problems is the there are no alt tags on the pictures. I don't know where to put the alt tags. I don't know if I can. If this is not available with this site builder, then this is not a good web site for me. My business is a virtual business so I need it to be visible everywhere...Alt tags are one of many, many things the SEs (search engines) look at. If you can add alt tags to your images, fine, but I think they are generally quite low in importance. The alt tags are there to be a brief description of the image and the purpose of that is so people visiting with graphics switched off can still get a sense of what is supposed to be in that space. Also, blind people can use text-to-voice translation so they can surf the web and the alt tag can be read to them, a picture cannot. Using the alt tag for SEO is not why they are there, and therefore, not considered important for SEO purposes by the SEs, in my opinion.

Another thing I think is over-emphasized is links. Sure, it's good to get lots of other sites linking to you but you have reached a very high rating on Google for a major search term without them. Many people go about getting inbound links by swapping links (you link to me and I'll link to you.) Unfortiunately, the SEs can see this and discount these reciprocal links, making them virtually useless for SEO purposes.



... For now I am going to work on the content ...And that's all you really need to do for SEO. Once you start getting high placements for other terms that prospective clients might search for, then you can start working on getting them to contact you after they arrive at your site. For now, focus on what keywords you want to be found under and insert those keywords in your text.

There's more to it than that, but you will pick it up along the way. You're doing fine, Jo Ellen. Don't let the technology intimidate you.


ADDED:

I continued searching Google---

For the search term - quickbooks bookkeeping solutions, lexington, KY - you were #3 on page 2.
A search for - quickbooks bookkeeping, lexington, KY - produced your Meetup profile on page 2. and your profile at LinkedIn on page 3.
quickbooks bookkeeping in lexington - had you half way down page 1.
quickbooks bookkeeping in kentucky - had your Meetup profil near the bottom of page 3.
Local Business Bookkeeping, lexington, ky - had Top Notch half way down page 2.

That's not bad, at all!

nowms
11-22-2010, 01:21 AM
Jamesray50,

I think you’re on the right track and getting a lot of valuable advice. You may want to consider adding a few stock photos to spice up your site just a bit. A few well placed photo’s will help keep your visitors engaged. You may also want to consider placing a company logo on the site as well for branding. I put together a few ideas for you.

http://www.nowms.com/topnotch/topnotch1.png
http://www.nowms.com/topnotch/topnotch2.png
http://www.nowms.com/topnotch/topnotch3.png

You are free to use them if you wish. Best of luck!

Matt

Harold Mansfield
11-22-2010, 10:50 AM
That is an excellent reason for choosing something. SEO is the same no matter how you built your site. Although the way each Search Engine works is different and they keep changing the criteria on which they work, the principles are the same - they each want to deliver on their SERPS (search engine results pages) what they think the searcher is searching for. The trouble is, we never really know what the searcher is searching for! And neither do they!

True, SEO is the same no matter what platform you build your site on. Some platforms make SEO easier than others, and non-compliance or poor coding can greatly affect your SEO, If you can't apply the basic principles because you don't have access, then that is going to make things harder.

Search Engines definitely know what people are searching for on any given day at any given hour and track trends and popular search terms. You can also get information on the most searched terms in your niche by using tools like Google's Keyword Tool. You can see competition. Track popular search terms geographically, as well as related terms. It's not a guess. It's almost an exact science.



I searched Google for - top notch bookkeeping - and what did I find? #2 on the first page -
Top Notch Bookkeeping - We provide virtual solutions for bookkeeping, payroll & QuickBooks for small businesses. Do you need help with your monthly financials, daily data entry, ...
www.top-notch-bookkeeping.com (http://www.top-notch-bookkeeping.com)
See?! SEO isn't so hard, after all!
That's a given. Everyone should be number one for the exact words that make up their domain. There is no big skill in that.



Another thing I think is over-emphasized is links. Sure, it's good to get lots of other sites linking to you but you have reached a very high rating on Google for a major search term without them. Many people go about getting inbound links by swapping links (you link to me and I'll link to you.) Unfortiunately, the SEs can see this and discount these reciprocal links, making them virtually useless for SEO purposes.

Links are extremely important. They are a major consideration on how Google and other search engines rank your site. The best links are naturally occurring (meaning that others have linked to you because they find your information relevant and wanted to share with their readers...which is why blogging is such a big help) , or from related content sites. One link from a well trafficked page of the Quicken website is worth more than 100 links from unrelated websites and blogs.

No, reciprocal links aren't as good as one way links, but, links aren't just about SEO. Links are also a great way to get traffic. No matter how well, or poorly you rank...traffic is the name of the game and well placed links can give you traffic.

Spider
11-22-2010, 11:09 AM
Jo Ellen, I am not going to let Harold, or anyone else, put you off working on your site because you may or may not have access to certain things the technorati want you to have. You have what you have so work with that. You'd go crazy in this world if you focussed on the things over which you have no control. Best to focus on the things you can control, and control them to the best of your ability.

By far the most important element for optimizing your pages for the search engines is the text. By far! And you have complete control over that. These other things are nice to have, can help but it is only help, and if you don't have access or arranging for them is too time-consuming, then they are no help at all.

Seeing as people search using words, and the search engines sort the pages to show by the words they contain, you will benefit most by working on the words displayed on your site.

Harold Mansfield
11-22-2010, 11:52 AM
Jo Ellen, I am not going to let Harold, or anyone else, put you off working on your site because you may or may not have access to certain things the technorati want you to have. You have what you have so work with that. You'd go crazy in this world if you focussed on the things over which you have no control. Best to focus on the things you can control, and control them to the best of your ability.

By far the most important element for optimizing your pages for the search engines is the text. By far! And you have complete control over that. These other things are nice to have, can help but it is only help, and if you don't have access or arranging for them is too time-consuming, then they are no help at all.

Seeing as people search using words, and the search engines sort the pages to show by the words they contain, you will benefit most by working on the words displayed on your site.

That's a little unfair. I don't see where anyone has been discouraging. Quite the opposite, but she should be armed with the proper information not just one side based on opinion.
There is no one thing that is more important than the others when it comes to SEO, it is all important. Links are just as important as the words on the page. Tags, titles and descriptions on individual pages are also important. The more you do, the better you will fair. If you only choose to do certain things you will only get so far.

Google, Bing, and Yahoo make the information readily available for free to webmasters, you don't have guess at what works. They tell you how to rank in their search engines.

Just doing the bare minimum may work if there is no competition for your chosen keywords, or long tail phrase, so it is not complete to tell someone that other things are not important, they only help. If there is competition, then just the words on the page will get you nowhere.
Yes, it all helps. And SEO is time consuming. There are no shortcuts to that. It takes time. It's a steady race, not a sprint and you don't just "set it, and forget it".

I can take any obscure term or long tail phrase and rank number one for it, but is that what potential customers are searching for? It's not guess work. The statistics are readily available for month to month.

The bottom line is, when it comes to your website, you can have control over anything that you want. You are not forced or locked into anything that is not delivering the functions and service that you want. There is enough free information and open source solutions out there that anyone can do what they want without breaking the bank, or in some cases not even spend any money. She has options and help is available.

I don't think it's fair to tell people that certain things aren't important because you don't do them, or choose to ignore them.
Every site is going to be different. Competition is going to be different. And how and where her site ranks is going to be different than yours.
2 sites can do the exact same thing and will never achieve the same results, so it is irresponsible to tell someone to ignore certain things just because you don't do them.

SEO is a full picture and if you are going to do it yourself, you need to be aware of all aspects of it that are proven principles, not just ignore the things that you don't feel like doing because you haven't gotten them to work the way you want them to.

But this isn't supposed to be an SEO discussion.

billbenson
11-22-2010, 12:02 PM
Jo Ellen, I am not going to let Harold, or anyone else, put you off working on your site because you may or may not have access to certain things the technorati want you to have. You have what you have so work with that. You'd go crazy in this world if you focussed on the things over which you have no control. Best to focus on the things you can control, and control them to the best of your ability.

By far the most important element for optimizing your pages for the search engines is the text. By far! And you have complete control over that. These other things are nice to have, can help but it is only help, and if you don't have access or arranging for them is too time-consuming, then they are no help at all.

Seeing as people search using words, and the search engines sort the pages to show by the words they contain, you will benefit most by working on the words displayed on your site.

I have to disagree with this as well. Spider, you are suggesting driving across country on a skateboard when a car is available. Jo Ellen is just starting out. Why start out with a platform that won't do what is required when one that will is available and free! She will almost certainly want to change from the site builder at some point in time. It's a lot easier to do that now than down the road when her site is much larger.

jamesray50
11-22-2010, 12:08 PM
Thanks for the logos. I like them. I had a logo that a friend had made for me and it's on my business card, but I like this one better. But I couldn't figure out how to put it on the web page. I think I can do it if I do a custom header, so maybe I'll do some reading and try to figure out how to do that. I had also wondered about the stock photos. I had originally started a website in another site builder and had picked out some stock photos to use. I wasn't really sure how important they really were. Why would pictures keep people on my page? I have looked at a lot of accounting and bookkeeping websites and they all have the same type of pictures - calculators, pens and paper, ledgers, tax forms, etc. Is this the type of photo I need so that visitors will know what type of website they are visiting before they read?

Thanks.

Harold Mansfield
11-22-2010, 12:10 PM
I will further add that you will not rank as well with a site builder as you will by using an SEO friendly self hosted solution. You just won't. I have never seen an example of anyone who has. Site builders are not created to be search engine powerhouses, they are created to get something up without having to learn anything. They are limited in creativity, functions and control.
It is basically the equivalent of renting a website because you really don't own it. You can't take it with you.

I'm not saying they aren't a viable solution if that is all that you need, but Jo Ellen has clearly expressed a desire to do more than just the basics and throw up a template and all we are doing is offering her some solutions to do what she has said that she wants to do over the life of her business website, not just get by for today.

A lot of the work I get to redo sites, are from small business owners that didn't know what was out there in the beginning, so they ended up with what was sold to them.

Harold Mansfield
11-22-2010, 12:20 PM
Thanks for the logos. I like them. I had a logo that a friend had made for me and it's on my business card, but I like this one better. But I couldn't figure out how to put it on the web page. I think I can do it if I do a custom header, so maybe I'll do some reading and try to figure out how to do that. I had also wondered about the stock photos. I had originally started a website in another site builder and had picked out some stock photos to use. I wasn't really sure how important they really were. Why would pictures keep people on my page? I have looked at a lot of accounting and bookkeeping websites and they all have the same type of pictures - calculators, pens and paper, ledgers, tax forms, etc. Is this the type of photo I need so that visitors will know what type of website they are visiting before they read?

Thanks.
I think images are a very important part of the over all appearance of the website. They not only enhance the design, but they illustrate the words and ideas on the page, and break up the text so that it doesn't appear to be too much to read.

You really have a few seconds or less to make an impression, and provide credibility. well placed, quality images along with the over all design, colors and layout of your site go a long way in providing that level of credibility and comfort for people stick around. I'm not a big fan of all text. I think it gives the assumption that the site is boring or requires a lot of reading to get to the point. I think it also shows a lack of creativity, unless you are creative with how you display the rest of the content.

Based on my experience, quality images can make of break a site. Nice images can make a $10 website look like something more expensive just as well as bad images can totally blow your first impression.
You don't necessarily have to do the same thing as everyone else, and you are not limited to stock photos. You don't have to be limited to anything.

GoingLocal
11-22-2010, 01:18 PM
It's great that Jo Ellen's meetup group and LinkedIn profile are showing up, but neither of those are relevant here. They rank well because the SEO works for those pages. Good job Jo Ellen for making other avenues to be reached (and found!)

I can agree with Spider to this point: if you like your results then keep things where you are.

There are 2 sides to this equasion:
1. Traffic.
2. Conversations.

If your website doesn't convert, who cares how much traffic it gets. So on this note, you must be willing and able (or comfortable) working/testing what's going on with it.

Can you add Google Analytics to track your page results? If the answer is yes then you need to do that (now) so you know what's really going on with your site, if no then you need to re-evaluate things. You can't really improve something you can't measure --- that would be guessing.

One simple reason why you're score is a 23 is because your subheads are <strong> rather then <h2>, ect. Can you change that? 'H' tags make a big difference.
what site are you using to measure this?

As for knowing what people are looking for.. Google knows enough these days to publicly predict search volume in the future for exact key-phrases. This is very little guessing these days. Google Insights for Search (http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=bookkeeping%20services&cmpt=q)

GoingLocal
11-22-2010, 01:29 PM
couple things you might want to add/change...
bring the FB like button above the fold.
Add a "share it" button for bookmarking
Add a twitter button (2 options on this page: Twitter Tweet/Retweet Button - TweetMeme (http://tweetmeme.com/about/retweet_button))

above the fold to assist with "social proof" for new visitors and to make those interested more inclined to provide you some free marketing.

Spider
11-22-2010, 02:30 PM
Bear in mind with the logos, Jo Ellen, that they are graphics and SEs cannot read graphics. Alt-tags, if you can enter them, are not as effective for seo purposes as displayed text. Your current title is all text and thus readable by the search engines.

Regarding pictures on your site - If you need pictures to keep your visitors engaged when they came looking for a bookkeeper, there is something wrong with the message. I'm not saying don't have any pictures - I am saying if you use pictures they need to be there for a purpose - and keeping people engaged is not the purpose of your site, I think.

Harold Mansfield
11-22-2010, 02:46 PM
Bear in mind with the logos, Jo Ellen, that they are graphics and SEs cannot read graphics. Alt-tags, if you can enter them, are not as effective for seo purposes as displayed text. Your current title is all text and thus readable by the search engines.

Regarding pictures on your site - If you need pictures to keep your visitors engaged when they came looking for a bookkeeper, there is something wrong with the message. I'm not saying don't have any pictures - I am saying if you use pictures they need to be there for a purpose - and keeping people engaged is not the purpose of your site, I think.

I'm not here to solely disagree with you Spider, but your alt tags don't have to be "picture 1" and "picture 2"..they can also be "Top-Notch Booking image" or what ever you want and they are helpful. Google images is also a source of traffic, especially since images come up at the top of the search results.

But I do totally disagree with you on

If you need pictures to keep your visitors engaged when they came looking for a bookkeeper, there is something wrong with the message.
I don't know where you read that or learned it, but it is completely short sighted. Images go a long way to keep people engaged and show a certain amount of creativity, and professionalism and I would argue that the top trafficked websites on the web do not subscribe to the notion that they take away from the message. They enhance it. That is the purpose.

They strongly reinforce the message. It's in everything around us from the design of a car, the architecture of a building, right down to the colors and logo on a pizza box. They package the message and the product. They have a very important purpose. Not too many people would be drawn to a DVD player on the shelf in a plain white box that said "DVD Player". It may very well be the best player on the shelf, but most people will walk right by it. Or in the case of your website, hit the back button.

As I stated before, unless you are writing a wiki, images and graphics are part of the message. Again, it's not all of one and none of another. It all matters. Graphics are part of the overall impression and design of your web page. People are not technical. They like to see. They like to visualize. They want to imagine themselves using your service or buying your product. They also want to see your professionalism. How your website is designed is the first indication of what kind of job you will do. Technically, one should have nothing to do with the other. But it's the impression that matters.

Unless you are a proficient copywriter and can grab people by the short hairs with merely the prose of your words ( and they come looking for creative writing) you need to style the message and get on the level of what people respond to.

Even the most technical of websites understand that you can't just throw up a bunch of text if you want people to stay. If they are looking for your services they are probably looking at many websites. They aren't going to stay and read through yours just because it's you if you don't attract and intrigue them to find out more. You literally have a second or two and you have to make that impression visually before they will even consider reading anything.

The web is not a book, a cheap flier or neighborhood newspaper printed on recycled paper bags. It is a colorful, high definition, digital, visual medium. And people spend good money on hardware to get all that they can experience out of it. If it wasn't important we would just surf on black and white text readers. But we don't. We want better a picture, brighter colors, a larger monitor, dolby sound, speed, memory and easy to use tools. People don't just read the web, they experience it. You need to get with the program because there are a billion places to go, which they will if you bore them.

That needs repeating: You have to make an impression visually before anyone will consider reading anything. If they are not attracted to your page, your content could be the greatest in the world, but they will never stop to find out. That only works if you are a well known, respected professional in your field. Seth Godin can post on plain white paper and people will read it. We aren't him, so we have to work harder and do what is necessary to be noticed.

None of us are the only game in town where we are the only source for service and information. We all have 100's if not 1000's of competitors that will go the extra mile to attract new clients.

I keep saying this and you apparently disagree with me, but people don't like all text on the web. They respond to the overall feel of the page...images, buttons, colors, fonts, layout, structure, bullet points, headlines...it all matters. And they don't even consciously know that they are responding to it.

Even books, which are all text, take great care in creating a cover that will make people stop and take a look. They don't just assume that they don't need it because the message is so great. CD's, Movies, Video Games, Album Covers, Newspapers,..they all attract with a great first impression..not just a table contents and a track listing.

Your first responsibility is to actual people, not SE's. SE's don't fill out contact forms, don't call on the phone and don't hire you. People do. You can do both, design for people in a way that is noticed by search engines. You can't just ignore the things that you don't like and call it gospel.

If how you style the message wasn't important, all you would need is a blank white page, with information on it..but none of us do that, do we? We all style our message. It's marketing 101. You may choose to style yours differently than other people but the packaging is important.

nowms
11-22-2010, 04:27 PM
Spider I somewhat agree with you. Pictures should not be the only source of content on your site. Some sites make the mistake of using too many pictures and not enough content. There needs to be a good balance between the two. Without pictures to emphasize the content you risk visitors will losing interest for a number of reasons.
1) You lose credibility if your site does not look “top notch”. Just as someone interviewing for an office job showing up in jeans and a t-shirt. Needless to say, unless the boss is “really cool” you’re just not getting the job.
2) Pictures help to add depth to your content by visually engaging them in and training their eye where to look or conveying what emotions to feel.
3) SEO is great and a top priority, but the truth is, as a business your number one sources of clients will always be from referrals, that unless you do terrible work. So there is a need to make a good impression by having a website/business card that your clients are excited to spread the word about or pass around to friends, coworkers and family.
4) Bottom line, help tell the story with pictures. By having some pictures on your site you are psychologically appeasing the inner child of your clients.
What problems are you having with the pictures? You may just need smaller pictures, I will post a few sizes at this link Top Notch Logos (http://www.nowms.com/topnotch). Just right click and hit "save picture as" to download them.

Matt

Spider
11-22-2010, 09:58 PM
... Images go a long way to keep people engaged and show a certain amount of creativity, and professionalism and I would argue that the top trafficked websites on the web do not subscribe to the notion that they take away from the message. They enhance it. That is the purpose...I haven't said that all images take away from the message. In the first place, I have only been talking about pictures - as in photographs - and pictures per se do not enhance the message. The *right* pictures can and the wrong pictures won't. I'm sure you agree with that.

You seem to be saying that images - a blanket statement "images" - keep people engaged. I am simply saying that people don't go to a bookkeeper's website to be entertained, nor to be engaged by pictures. If they do, Jo Ellen probably doesn't want to cater to them, anyway. They go for whatever purpose they may have - I would think that purpose - or, at least the purpose that Jo Ellen would like - is to consider hiring this bookkeeper. Any image that does not add to the purpose "hire this bookkeeper" has no reason to be there. And pictures that do not serve that purpose will detract from that purpose. Not any image and certainly not every image, just the images that are not serving the purpose.

I am having difficulty feeling persuaded that pictures, for such sites as the one under discussion, are all that important. As you have pointed out, there is a great deal of emotional involvement in deciding which car to buy or which Caribbean island to choose for a vacation or which nightclub to visit for a night on the town, but I cannot accept that the same level of graphical content is necessary to decide which brand of duck tape to buy or which concrete mix to use or which bookkeeper to hire. if Jo Ellen were to add a headshot, I think that would be a useful picture to add, because it supports the message "hire THIS bookkeeper." But pictures of spectacles, fountain pens and filing cabinets do nothing to enhance the message, especially as Jo Ellen probably doesn't use any of them as an online bookkeeper.

Spider
11-22-2010, 10:20 PM
I have to disagree with this as well. Spider, you are suggesting driving across country on a skateboard when a car is available. Jo Ellen is just starting out. Why start out with a platform that won't do what is required when one that will is available and free! She will almost certainly want to change from the site builder at some point in time. It's a lot easier to do that now than down the road when her site is much larger.I think Jo Ellen has already answered that, Bill. She has a website, this one. She has said that she doesn't feel inclined to have to start all over and do it all again. If this conversation was going on before she had created this website, I would agree wholeheartedly with doing it in some more advanced application, if she felt up to it.

Jo Ellen is a bookkeeper. That's what she wants to do. How her website is created has to take second place to bookkeeping. This forum has many peple who create sites full time. Jo Ellen is not one of them, and how she uses her time will be determined using different criteria. As to changing her site in the future - well, she will be changing her site in the future no matter what program she uses now. Even Harold confessed to changing several of his websites over the past year, and I think he remarked that he would be changing another site in the very near future. Nothing is static, these days, and - who knows - something even better than Wordpress may be getting ready to be launched, even as we speak!

It just seems to make sense to me for Jo Ellen to keep what she has for now, seeing as it is pretty well complete for the moment. She can then take her time learning some other application, if she wants, and not be without a website while she is learning that AND trying to get on promoting her business.

billbenson
11-22-2010, 11:34 PM
I think Jo Ellen has already answered that, Bill. She has a website, this one. She has said that she doesn't feel inclined to have to start all over and do it all again. If this conversation was going on before she had created this website, I would agree wholeheartedly with doing it in some more advanced application, if she felt up to it.

Jo Ellen is a bookkeeper. That's what she wants to do. How her website is created has to take second place to bookkeeping. This forum has many peple who create sites full time. Jo Ellen is not one of them, and how she uses her time will be determined using different criteria. As to changing her site in the future - well, she will be changing her site in the future no matter what program she uses now. Even Harold confessed to changing several of his websites over the past year, and I think he remarked that he would be changing another site in the very near future. Nothing is static, these days, and - who knows - something even better than Wordpress may be getting ready to be launched, even as we speak!

It just seems to make sense to me for Jo Ellen to keep what she has for now, seeing as it is pretty well complete for the moment. She can then take her time learning some other application, if she wants, and not be without a website while she is learning that AND trying to get on promoting her business.

Then, from that perspective, I think you need to look at how much of her business is going to be coming from the web. If its 25% I buy your argument. If its 100% I don't. You are "a business coach" but yet you decided to learn html. In part, I suspect, because you wanted to. but I doubt you would have ever taken that road if you didn't put your website fairly high on your marketing strategy.

Harold Mansfield
11-23-2010, 12:05 AM
I haven't said that all images take away from the message. In the first place, I have only been talking about pictures - as in photographs - and pictures per se do not enhance the message. The *right* pictures can and the wrong pictures won't. I'm sure you agree with that.

You seem to be saying that images - a blanket statement "images" - keep people engaged. I am simply saying that people don't go to a bookkeeper's website to be entertained, nor to be engaged by pictures. If they do, Jo Ellen probably doesn't want to cater to them, anyway. They go for whatever purpose they may have - I would think that purpose - or, at least the purpose that Jo Ellen would like - is to consider hiring this bookkeeper. Any image that does not add to the purpose "hire this bookkeeper" has no reason to be there. And pictures that do not serve that purpose will detract from that purpose. Not any image and certainly not every image, just the images that are not serving the purpose.

I am having difficulty feeling persuaded that pictures, for such sites as the one under discussion, are all that important. As you have pointed out, there is a great deal of emotional involvement in deciding which car to buy or which Caribbean island to choose for a vacation or which nightclub to visit for a night on the town, but I cannot accept that the same level of graphical content is necessary to decide which brand of duck tape to buy or which concrete mix to use or which bookkeeper to hire. if Jo Ellen were to add a headshot, I think that would be a useful picture to add, because it supports the message "hire THIS bookkeeper." But pictures of spectacles, fountain pens and filing cabinets do nothing to enhance the message, especially as Jo Ellen probably doesn't use any of them as an online bookkeeper.

I don't know why you look at images as one thing and one thing only. I don't agree with any of that. Images can and do go a long way to enhance the message and ignoring that is just silly. It's been a proven principle of communication, design and marketing since B.C. The first form of written communication ever in the history of human existence were images. Before there were even words.

I can see that you are stuck into thinking that there is no way that people associate images as a visual reinforcement of the message, but that is exactly what they do.

Of course not just any image. Choosing the right image and graphics is just as important as choosing the right colors or fonts. I've spent hours searching out one image.
It all works together. I think that is what you are not getting. It all works together.
Content alone will not get you anywhere today. "Content is king" is only a part of the equation and pertains to one aspect of it. You need to study the entire philosophy and all of the principles, not just one catchy, memorable line.

It's amazing that you argue against this point with people who get paid to build websites, are graphic designers or have marketing knowledge. You can argue all day long about the way things should be, and I will continue to remind you of how things are.

I don't know where you get this design philosophy but it is obviously not anything that you have read (not even 50 years ago) because it is not correct. If you don't want to use images or graphics on your site, then don't..but don't tell others that they are a waste of time and do nothing to enhance the message because that is just plain wrong and you will not find any reputable design blog, author, or book that will back up that train of thought.

Images are an extremely important aspect that visually reinforces the message. It's just that simple. That is what they do. That has been an accepted, proven principle of design and marketing since before you were born.

It doesn't matter what the industry is. You would never see Price-Waterhouse, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Ernst & Young, or KPMG..who are all big time corporate accounting firms, ignore the basic principles of design and marketing on their website. Just go and look at their sites. They are corporate bookkeepers. Huge corporations and if you look at their sites they use plenty of creative imagery to reinforce the message. It's not entertainment. It's called marketing and design. Are you going to tell me that they are doing it wrong and wasting space with images?

There is so much more that separates just a website that anyone can build, and a website that converts readers into contacts and customers than just the words on the page.

I'm not saying that you must use images. You don't have to use anything. No images. No graphics. You don't have to coordinate your colors. You can do just enough to get by. You can stick your head in the sand as if you are the only website on the web like it's 1999...and your competitors will kill you, no matter how well you rank in the serps.

In order to change the rules and "shake things up" you first need to understand how people behave and react to the medium. And that change needs to be beneficial to you. You don't just make stuff up with no reason or basis just for the sake of doing it. You don't ignore things that are proven to work unless you have a better idea. That's not thinking outside the box, that's just being stubborn.

And if you want to reinvent the wheel based on personal feelings, then be prepared to get left in the dust. Your opinion of use of images is not recognized or documented anywhere that I have ever read about design, which leads me to believe that you just made it up based on personal feelings.

I think that you actually used this quote a while back, "Don't dress for the job you have, Dress for the job you want." The same principle applies on the web. You can design just for the customers that you think you can get, or design for the customers that you want. Don't design for your friends. Don't compare yourself to the worst site in your niche on the web and be satisfied that you are better than them.

If you have ever uttered the phrase, "That's good enough." you may as well just give up.

Please read some articles about the use and importance of images in design and marketing.
Web Design and Use of Image (http://www.quality-web-solutions.com/web-design-image.php)
The Importance of Images in Web Design | Thought Mechanics LLC (http://www.thoughtmechanics.com/the-importance-of-images-in-web-design/)
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words; Importance of Images Within a Blog | The Blog Herald (http://www.blogherald.com/2010/11/08/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words-importance-of-images-within-a-blog/)
A snippet:

When you write online, there is more to think about than just the words on the page. Whether you like it or not, people get bored, and they get bored quickly. With the instant-gratification world we now live in, people (especially internet users) don’t have the patience to give anything a chance without some visual stimulation.

If you can't grasp that simple concept, you will miss the boat of a lot of others that can be the difference between a struggling site that doesn't work for you and one that does.

jamesray50
11-23-2010, 01:29 PM
Once again I want to thank everyone for your comments. Matt - I tried to put the logo in my header. I had to use the custom header feature but couldn't get it to work. It placed the logo where the picture of the calculator was. There are only a limited number of header sytles to choose from and on some of them it cut off part of the logo and on all of them I had to delete the text where I had typed my company name so it wouldn't show up twice. And by doing that it left a big empty space in the header. I don't know if I can put an image in that space or not, but I may try that. I also tried to use it on my Face Book page. It shows up as a square and not as a rectangle. Do you know if there is a way to fix that on FB?

I am going to work on my content and adding images to my website. Hopefully I will choose images that will enhance my website. I will have to think carefully on what I want readers to see when they come to my website. Most of the bookkeeping websites I look at have images of the person who owns the business, but my picture is on my About Us page. I don't want my picture on my home page. But, maybe that would be the best picture? I don't know. Do I need images on just the front page or other pages as well?

I can add Google Analytics if I use the custom footer features, I just didn't do it since this program has reports that shows me visitor information. I just assumed it would be the same as the Google Analytics. If it's not I will add the Google Analytics.

Please keep the comments coming. I love reading them and the links to additional reading. You people are great! I am so glad I found this forum.

Harold Mansfield
11-23-2010, 01:34 PM
I can answer the Facebook question. The profile picture is approx 200px - 230px wide, but it can be as long as you want it (within reason). So you have to scale, edit or display your image in a way that is going to fit in that area.
You can't change any display settings in Facebook you have to alter what you have to fit what they offer.

You can create your own HTML pages, but that's another thing altogether.

Spider
11-23-2010, 11:07 PM
Just to let you know, Harold, that I am not the only one with a healthy caution regarding images, even though you clearly think I am. Even one of the experts you quoted said --

It is point of great discussion over the significance of the content or image. Content is King is a hype which has grounded itself surrounding the web arena for a long time. The very phrase brings home the fact that content is much more superior[sic] to other elements in web design. ... Erroneous usage of images and unnecessary or inadequate content will end up in ruining a website. ...

Here are a couple of other dissenting voices, in case you are interested --

To the graphical-designer crowd, images are the whole purpose of the Web, and they can't imagine that the Web ever existed without them. Actually, when HTML was first developed, it was a text-only medium, and the use of inline graphics was a later addition. The innovations that made the Web a novel, useful medium were not the graphical interface of browsers or Web page layouts, but rather, the creation of a universal addressing syntax for net-wide resources (the URL system), the creation of a simple hypertext language allowing documents with embedded links (HTML), and a simple protocol to transmit these documents (HTTP). All of these things came about prior to the existence of graphical browsers. Believe it or not, one can actually create an interesting, useful Web site with few or no graphics...

Dan's Web Tips: Images (http://webtips.dan.info/images.html)


Rant — Web Fluff
So what's so bad about images, animations, plug-ins, Javascript, frames and cookies? Read on to find out …

Images
In a nutshell, they are often a waste of bandwidth. As a visitor to a web site which is riddled with unnecessary images, you waste your time, money and hard disk space downloading that junk.

All things in moderation: use images carefully and wisely, not to excess, and consider how your site performs when it's on the other end of a 33Kb/s modem connection.

When you do use images — and most sites will want to use some — take time to ensure that the operation of the site doesn't depend on the images. As a web user who is conscious of how much bandwidth is being used by a "busy" page, I like to "surf" with loading of images turned off (if your browser gives you this option, you should try it some time — it can speed things up quite dramatically). What I don't then want to come across is a page which just makes no sense without the images, when it would have taken just a small amount of effort to rectify this...

Rant &mdash; Web Fluff (http://djce.org.uk/rant)


I'm not looking to prove you wrong, Harold, just to let you know that there is another side to the discussion, even though you don't agree with it (and seem to think it doesn't exist.) I'm happy to see that Jo Ellen has decided to add more images to her site (even though I think it looks good with the decorative material she has) and I further hope this debate cautions her to choose those images carefully. As we both recognize, not just any image will do - it must be the right image.

Harold Mansfield
11-24-2010, 12:35 AM
That's great. Some of that is old, from back in the day when bandwidth was a problem. You don't really hear anyone complaining about bandwidth anymore.

But for the most part it says that you need to know some basic principles of web design to know when to use what.
No one is suggesting to just throw images around all over the place because they are pretty. Just like every other aspect of designing a web page, you have to know when to use what and where.

The same is true of everything else on the site. Navigation, Colors, Fonts, Content, Graphics, etc. There is a time and place for all of them. Images aren't any difference than any other element.
Your argument sounds more like, "I can't figure out how to do it correctly, or what to use, so therefore I deem it not important."

I stand by this and so will many people..Content alone won't get you anywhere and if you think that you can overcome all of the experts and proven principles just because that's the way you want it to be, you are kidding yourself and your competition will pass you by.

There is a certain science to it. I'm not just sitting here throwing out guesses just to disagree with you. These are things that most people who do web work or some kind of design learn. And it's really not that difficult to grasp unless you are just hell bent on doing the opposite just to be different.

I am comfortable using images and I don't have to think twice about using them to reinforce a message, for artistic flavor, or as part of a design. So having to argue for the use of them seems as strange as arguing against un-leaded gasoline.
I don't know why anyone would purposely avoid using them, but to each his own. I don't see anything scary in them at all.

I'll be honest with you, if I'm not doing the work, I could care less who does or doesn't use images on their site. None of my business. All I can do is make suggestions and tell you what I know based on experience, what I've learned and what works for me and the people that I work for. Doesn't mean you have to like it or agree.

If you ask me what I think the problem is, I'm going to tell you. If you don't like the answer. Nothing I can do about that.
If you look long enough you will find the answer that you want to hear.

I was really hoping that you would take the opportunity to learn about how images can help you, not look for excerpts out of context to try and back your outdated point. And I'm sorry, but you are thinking as if it is 10 years ago. And in looking at some Business Coaching websites ( and I actually have a client that is a business coach), people are passing you by, while you stubbornly hold on to outdated concepts and ideas.

I know I for one have been trying to get you into the 21st century for some time now and you just keep fighting against us as if we don't know what we are talking about or can't help you...almost as if you think the people on this forum that actually do web work, design and marketing for living couldn't possibly know more about it than you..it's like a slap in the face that you ask us and then continuously disagree with us..about our jobs!

You spend more time arguing against the things that we try to share and teach, than learning anything.

billbenson
11-24-2010, 01:02 AM
I fail to see how this thread has helped the original poster in any way. She asked for a review of what I suspect is her first attempt at a site. It was brought up that her site lacks SEO and may not be able to do a very good job of SEO using a site builder. Wordpress was brought up as an easy and cheap solution to add SEO as well as many other capabilities down the road. It was not stated as the only solution.

Boom, this thread became yet another discussion about the value of wordpress, then image optimization, image quality, only content matters and Tag SEO doesn't matter (which no webmaster will support). How is arguing about the semantics of whether wordpress is a site builder or not of value to someone just starting out.

Because of the way this thread has turned out it has had very little value to Jo Ellen. Has anybody noticed that she has only had a handful of posts here.

Harold Mansfield
11-24-2010, 01:11 AM
Yep, I agree and I should apologize for letting myself get dragged into yet another circular devils advocate discussion.

jamesray50
11-24-2010, 04:29 AM
I have once again made changes to my website. It doesn't look like it did at first, but I don't know if it looks any better. I am really anxious for feedback. I changed the text in the header to the logo that Matt gave me (I finally figured out how to do it), but I had to use a different header image. I also moved the Linkedin and FB to the top of the page, but have not added any other social things yet, like email or twitter, but I will. I had to change the font in the first paragraph back down to 3 after I added the Linkedin and FB cos they took up an extra line and on my computer I couldn't see my next paragraph.

I also added three images. They are not very big and I don't like that they have the lines around them. I had to use a table and insert the image in a column in the table, but I can't figure out how to delete the lines. I did the same thing with the Linkedin and FB, but they were HTML codes and there was a property link in the table that had an option on what color you wanted the line to be. I don't understand why the property link for the images is not available. But it's late now and I'm too tired to look through support for an answer.

I also tried to resize the logo to fit on FB and could not get to to work. Fooling around with pictures in photo shop programs in not a strong point of mine. Maybe I can get a friend of mine to do it for me.

I can't wait to hear what you all have to say. I still haven't changed my content yet. Oh, and alt tags are not available with this program. And they are going to a paid version sometime next year. Oh, I don't know what H2 tags are. I looked it up on Google, but didn't understand it, expecially compared to my website.

Thanks everyone and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Spider
11-24-2010, 11:13 AM
Yep, I agree and I should apologize for letting myself get dragged into yet another circular devils advocate discussion.I object to your comment, Harold, and to your attitude. I'm sorry that you find my opinion silly, wrong, out-dated, short-sighted, stubborn, and whatever else you said. I think it is valuable for any discussion, including feedback requested for a particular website, to embrace varied opinions and not have one side dominate by dispensing disparaging remarks.

I see no need to comment further on this thread.

Harold Mansfield
11-24-2010, 11:43 AM
I figured you would object. So how about we just return to helping Jo Ellen, instead of arguing something as ridiculous as whether or not images have any place in web design? I don't think your opinion is silly, I think the argument is. It just seems like a constant disagreement about things that are common knowledge, instead of things that are yet to be discovered or proven. The validity, and purpose of using images is not in question, their importance is common knowledge and has been for some time, so I just don't see the need to go back a thousand years and try to re-prove or disprove it. It's not that important and has nothing to do with the OP's questions anymore.

I just think it's irresponsible to tell people that need answers that they are a waste of space and effort and take away from the message. That is clearly not correct according to any documentation written about design since Da Vinci. It's a given that you need to use them properly. Common sense. They are important. They do serve a purpose. And no one should be discouraged from using them. Just look at your own site(s) and see how you yourself use them to reinforce or style your message.
Here: http://frederickpearce.com/wealth.html
Here: http://frederickpearce.com/biggergame.html
Here: http://frederickpearce.com/mentorplans.html
and Here: http://greatmoneyclubs.com/want-to-be-a-millionaire/

I'm particularly drawn to this one which is clearly an artistic attempt to reinforce the message. A visual representation of what is written on the page. This image is setting a mood. This image is a visual representation of success and happiness. and I am sure that you chose it carefully and use it proudly because it communicates visually what you are saying verbally on the page.
Exactly what I have been saying all along, and what you have been strongly arguing against...and yet here you are actually doing it. Arguing just for the sake of it.

http://frederickpearce.com/jump3.jpg

How about we just a agree to disagree and move on?

I'm more than willing to discuss images in a different thread, but not hijack someone elses.

KristineS
11-24-2010, 03:39 PM
I fail to see how this thread has helped the original poster in any way. She asked for a review of what I suspect is her first attempt at a site. It was brought up that her site lacks SEO and may not be able to do a very good job of SEO using a site builder. Wordpress was brought up as an easy and cheap solution to add SEO as well as many other capabilities down the road. It was not stated as the only solution.

Boom, this thread became yet another discussion about the value of wordpress, then image optimization, image quality, only content matters and Tag SEO doesn't matter (which no webmaster will support). How is arguing about the semantics of whether wordpress is a site builder or not of value to someone just starting out.

Because of the way this thread has turned out it has had very little value to Jo Ellen. Has anybody noticed that she has only had a handful of posts here.

Actually, Bill, I was debating saying something, and didn't and I should have. Thank you for saying something. While I believe that the discussion that was going on had merit, you're right, it had strayed from the original purpose of this thread, which was to review a specific website and make suggestions regarding how it could be improved.

Next time, we'll just move the off topic discussion to a new thread.

nowms
11-24-2010, 09:58 PM
Jamesray50,

The site is looking good. You are definitely on the right track. Keep up the great work! I love google analytics, some people don't. I like how quick and easy it is to set up and the ease at which you can set the reports to auto fire off in PDF to an email address on a daily, weekly or monthly schedule. You can really target down to see who, where & when. If you have any other questions feel free to get in touch.

nowms
11-24-2010, 10:01 PM
One more thing, I noticed that your FB page has www in the link to your website. Because you are no longer using the www on your site, I'd suggest taking it out on FB and any other links to your site that you have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

nowms
11-24-2010, 10:17 PM
I am not too concerned with the use of images and the effect on bandwidth. With the evolution of 4G technology and the rapid decline in pricing for high speed internet, technology with catch up quickly with your website. Instead of designing it for obsolete technology we need to start thinking about tomorrows. To many small business websites are only redesigned every 3-5 years. If you are starting on a new website now, you need to be planning for the next 3-5 years.

jamesray50
11-25-2010, 12:48 AM
One more thing, I noticed that your FB page has www in the link to your website. Because you are no longer using the www on your site, I'd suggest taking it out on FB and any other links to your site that you have.



I don't mean to sound stupid, but I don't understand what you mean.

billbenson
11-25-2010, 01:32 AM
Google will view http:// domain.com and http:// www.domain.com as different sites. This can affect your search engine ranking among other things so its best to be consistent.

And its not a stupid question. There is a ton of this little stuff which you need to learn to market successfully online. Its not difficult, but it takes time.

I don't want to scare you, but seasoned webmasters generally plan on one year for a site to start making decent money. But then, it takes time for most businesses to make money. But plan on a lot of research to be successful online. And the research never ends because the internet is still in its infancy. Stuff keeps changing.

nowms
11-25-2010, 11:14 AM
What I was explaining is that with the bandwidth usage and optimizing your site for dial up users is irrelevant. In a 2008 study it was found that only 10&#37; of users in the United States still use dial up. Being almost 3 years later that % is less than 5%. So designing your site with limited graphics in order to make it load faster for those still on dial up seems futile considering that you should be targeting as large a population as possible. I would also assume that your target market being businesses that the 5% even far less with business owners.

Bottom line, don’t be discouraged from adding photos that are relevant to your industry and that are pertinent to the content of your site just because you may have a few people that still use dial up. If they can’t afford the extra $15 per month for DSL or Cable internet, chances are they will not be able to afford your services anyway.
For your website, keep moving forward with your current direction on design. It is looking better and better by the day.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Harold Mansfield
11-25-2010, 11:42 AM
Bottom line, don’t be discouraged from adding photos that are relevant to your industry and that are pertinent to the content of your site just because you may have a few people that still use dial up. If they can’t afford the extra $15 per month for DSL or Cable internet, chances are they will not be able to afford your services anyway.
For your website, keep moving forward with your current direction on design. It is looking better and better by the day.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

That's the way I see it too. For pete's sake, these days a smart phone has more processing power than the whole Apollo 11 spaceship. As I tell my clients..everything can be done. There are no limitations anymore. You are only limited by your effort and dedication.

How successful your website and overall web program is, is completely up to you..the information, training, software (much of it open source), tutorials, blogs, and articles are freely available from multiple sources, and, if you aren't bound by financial restraints...you really have no excuse. If you are truly serious.

When I was a Bartender, I was never satisfied to just do the job adequately. I always wanted to knock people's socks off and pull the maximum tip out of their pocket that was possible...and make them come back to see me. After I was in Vegas a few years and I started getting customers that remembered me from the last time they were here, and made it a point to come and see me (or hire me when I drove limos) no matter where I was working..that's when I knew I was doing it right.

That's the stuff I'm talking about.
The web is the greatest game changer in the history of business and marketing. Ever. It's accessible, loved, and relied on by pretty much the entire free world, and a lot of the third world. It has allowed businesses access to an unlimited customer base that was previously impossible. As business people, we are lucky to have this available to us right now. Don't waste it.
There is no reason not to capitolize and be as fantastic as the medium allows.

jamesray50
11-29-2010, 02:19 AM
I ended up taking the pictures off my website. I'm wasnt' sure I liked the way they looked or lined up. I also added some gradient color. I like it. Not sure if it adds anything or not but I think it is athestically pleasing. I only did it to the home page, not sure I need to do it to the other pages. All this is only temporary until I swith over to WP. I tried to install WP the other night and found it hard to do, so I gave up. I'm sure you all think it's easy, but I had trouble. I'm not computer savy, I did read the directions first, but I hate to admit this, I had to look up the definition of root directory. I'm sure I will be able to figure it out, but I sure wish I could afford to have someone install it for me.

Harold Mansfield
11-29-2010, 08:53 AM
All this is only temporary until I swith over to WP. I tried to install WP the other night and found it hard to do, so I gave up. I'm sure you all think it's easy, but I had trouble. I'm not computer savy, I did read the directions first, but I hate to admit this, I had to look up the definition of root directory. I'm sure I will be able to figure it out, but I sure wish I could afford to have someone install it for me.

There is a learning curve if you have never done anything like it before, but it is going to end up being really easy for you.
Don't feel bad, it took me 2 days to get my very first installation correct. I had never heard of an SQL database, nor knew what the host name meant (I was putting the company's name) or had I ever had a hosting account and knew any of the terminology used in the backend. I was completely in the dark.

I'd like to see you get it right just once, because you will never forget how to do it once you do get it and you really will b able to do it in 5 minutes or less, but , if you have your FTP information, or at least the log in for your hosting account I can give you a hand, just drop me a PM.

Or if you want to do it yourself, just tell us what about the installation you are having a problem with, or don't understand and we'll tell you what it means and how to do it.
In the meanwhile, here's a video tutorial on installation:
http://www.wp101.com/how-to-install-wordpress.php
It doesn't cover 1-click installs if your host has that. You really don't need a tutorial for that because it's one click.

Even the video can be confusing if you don't know anything at all about having your own website. But that is going to be a learning experience no matter what you use.

jamesray50
12-03-2010, 01:25 AM
I have changed the home page on my website with the content that Patrysha wrote for me and added some gradient background color. The new content she wrote is in the left column. In the right column I have also changed the content. I was hoping for feed back. I hope you all are not getting tired of me asking for your opinions. I have a WordPress.org site, but have not figured out how to use it yet. So for the time being I will leave my current website where it is until I learn WP. I need to concentrate on getting some certifications before the end of the year. I have messed around with WP without reading anything on how to use it and find it confusing so far. Maybe in January I can afford to have someone build the site for me.

Harold Mansfield
12-03-2010, 08:27 AM
I'm starting to like the layout a little better now. The copy is much more engaging and I'm a big fan of buttons for call to action links. It looks much more organized.
The new changes have moved me from, "Would never consider" to , "Let me see what's going on here".

If you take what you've learned and done here and apply it to your new site, you will have a very decent and professional website.

By the way, you don't have to struggle with Wordrpess. There are some very capable people here that can bang out answers relatively quickly. Don't be scared to ask.

Spider
12-03-2010, 09:17 AM
1. Double negative.
...you're only doing it because you don't think you can't afford professional help or...Should be either,

...you're only doing it because you don't think you can afford professional help or...
or
...you're only doing it because you think you can't afford professional help or...


2. The two subheadings are complete sentences, therefore they need proper punctuation - ie. an ending period.


3. Verb must match subject--
drop off files and papers that works with your busy schedule Should read ... drop off files and papers that work with your busy schedule ...


4. The entire first paragraph is a single sentence. Suggest break up into 2 or 3 sentences.
5. Likewise, second paragraph is a single sentence. Break up into two sentences. Needs other punctuation.

6. Conventional writing rules dictate that numbers under ten should be written out, numbers over ten can be in numerals. Especially for a title, I think it would look better as -- All you need is two minutes & a smartphone...

7. Hyphenation -- "make file transfers push button simple." Should be -- "make file transfers push-button simple."

8. "Seamlessly & securely arranging.." Ampersand is fine in titles but in the body should be "and"


9. Grammar --
Seamlessly & securely arranging to pay your employees, write your checks, invoice your customers and send you all the financial statements and reports you will need.Incomplete sentence - needs a subject.

10. "...transition from unorganized mess ..." Unorganized or disorganized?

11.
Not ready for a consult yet?Consult is more commonly used as a verb - better to use the more accepted noun - consultation.


I hope this helps.

Patrysha
12-03-2010, 09:59 AM
1. Double negative. Should be either,

...you're only doing it because you don't think you can afford professional help or...
or
...you're only doing it because you think you can't afford professional help or...

yeah, that one was supposed to be can but somehow the apostrophe t jumped in to the mix, silly spellcheck can't read my mind.



2. And, the two subheadings are complete sentences, therefore they need proper punctuation - ie. an ending period.


Disagree because the are highlight subs and a period would stop the eye and interrupt the flow. It's not proper English correct, but it's copy correct.


3. Verb must match subject--

should read ... drop off files and papers that work with your busy schedule ...


The word it is matching is way though, way that work with your busy schedule doesn't work...

Spider
12-03-2010, 10:08 AM
The word it is matching is way though, way that work with your busy schedule doesn't work...Ah, yes. You are correct. I guess the long sentence distracted me. Sorry.

Patrysha
12-03-2010, 10:33 AM
Ah, yes. You are correct. I guess the long sentence distracted me. Sorry.

Yes, I am bad for those when the words start rolling out. Probably because I talk too much :-)