Janice Schwarz's Blog, page 2
January 29, 2019
Tips, Do’s, Don’ts, Best Practices, and Useful Information for Your Facebook Timeline & FaceBook Likes
Got the new Facebook timeline and have no clue what to do with it? Frustrated with it? You don’t have to be. Personally, I love it. You will too, once you discover all of the awesome things you can do with Facebook timeline. I’ve got what you need to know to get started. While this post is primarily aimed at business, non-profit, and other pages, there are still plenty of how-to’s that apply to personal timelines. Optimising FaceBook timeline is free marketing, unlike buying AppSally FaceBook likes, which can cost quite a bit.
1. Don’t panic!Take a deep breath. And look at all the goodies. They give us a lot more room to really personalize our walls and you have to like Facebook for that. This is a good thing. From a marketing standpoint, it’s an excellent thing. Open your mind and get ready to make use of it. Businesses that survive, adapt. You can do it!
2. Update all Facebook page likes informationKeep it up-to-date. Fill in any blanks. Get it all in there: contact info, about the business, and all that useful stuff. You do that by looking …
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Tips, Do’s, Don’ts, Best Practices, and Useful Information for Your Facebook Timeline
Got the new Facebook timeline and have no clue what to do with it? Frustrated with it? You don’t have to be. Personally, I love it. You will too, once you discover all of the awesome things you can do with Facebook timeline.
I’ve got what you need to know to get started. While this post is primarily aimed at business, non-profit, and other pages, there are still plenty of how-to’s that apply to personal timelines.
12 Steps To Get You On Your Way
1. Don’t panic!
Take a deep breath. And look at all the goodies. They give us a lot more room to really personalize our walls. This is a good thing. From a marketing standpoint, it’s an excellent thing. Open your mind and get ready to make use of it. Businesses that survive, adapt. You can do it!
2. Update all page information
Keep it up-to-date. Fill in any blanks. Get it all in there: contact info, about the business, and all that useful stuff. You do that by looking to the top-right of your Facebook page, and using the Manage button.
3. Go over old Facebook posts
Before digging into the new timeline, go through old posts. Remove anything you don’t want.
4. Pin posts
If there is a post you always want at the top of your page, you can pin it. Just go to your timeline
look to the top right of the postmove your mouse so the cursor hovers over the right-hand cornerand you’ll see a star and pencil appear.Click the pencil icon.
Once your post is pinned, it will appear at the top of your wall. And you’ll see a yellow flag on the top-right corner. It will look similar to this:
5. Highlight posts
If there are some posts you just really want people to see, you can now highlight them. Just
go to your timelinelook to the top right of the postmove your mouse so the cursor hovers over the right-hand cornerand you’ll see a star appear.
Click the star and the post will expand across both rows. Hooray! Just remember that this will be moved further down the page as you make new posts. This is not the same as pinning a post.
6. Move, organize, re-arrange tabs and apps
While we can’t have a custom Facebook landing page on Facebook like before, you can still use apps. Those boxes underneath the cover image? Those are apps. You can also link to apps from your own website.
To use them, look at the string of apps, and click the arrow to the far right (yours may not have a number on it):
Now the row will expand. You’ll see empty boxes, with plus (+) signs. Click one. Once you add something, when you move your mouse over the app box, you’ll see a pencil. Now you have more options for what you added, including re-arranging your apps. You can also add apps by going to the Manage button at the top-right of your Facebook page.
7. Tell your organization’s story
If you look at the top right of the page, you’ll see your timeline.
See the line that says Opened? Click it. Give some information there. People want to know about your and your organization. This is a good place to tell that story. Facebook gives you the ability to go back in time, before Facebook existed (if your organization has been around that long) and tell them how you came to be. Take a look at mine for an idea of what you can do. (Click the image below to enlarge it.)
8. Choose a profile picture
Haven’t updated it in a while? Now is a good time to do so. Use your logo. Use your face. Use any image (within legal defintions) that is uniquely YOU.
9. Upload a good, branded cover image
Make sure you have an image that reflects your organization. Your timeline header photo (cover image) should probably not be your logo, but that’s up to you.
For example, a landscape business may use their logo as their profile picture, and the header image could be a quality photo of a well-landscaped lawn. Remember I used the word “quality”. Avoid blurry or pixelated photos. These are large and are the first things your visitors see.
Not sure what to put up? You can contact me and request a consultation or we can set up your Facebook timeline header for you. Here’s an example of a great cover image, from my husband’s site, WeaselPants Productions that is selling their new game, RedShirts:
10. Facebook Timeline Cover Image Don’ts
No 3rd party ads: you can’t sell your Facebook header as advertising spaceKeep your ads off the cover image: you can’t run your own ads there eitherKeep your contact info out of the cover image: this includes website addresses, email, and phoneNo contests: your cover image is not to be used to promote contestsNo calls to action: “sign up now”, “buy now”, “tell your friends”, etc.No price or purchase informationNo asking people to Like or Share your page
Facebook also says, “Covers must not be false, deceptive or misleading, and must not infringe on third parties’ intellectual property. You may not encourage or incentivize people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.”
11. Facebook Timeline Cover Image Do’s, Tips, Ideas, and Best Practices
Use a good quality imageUse a branded image (imagery that is in line with the look/style of your organization)Use photos of your products and servicesUse a taglineTry a quoteYou can add photographer/artist creditsHumor can is memorable and can go a long way (for businesses: keep it professional and appropriate)
12. Know the Facebook image specs
Note: px = pixels
Profile pic: 180px x 180pxCover image: 851px x 315pxApp thumbnail image: 111px x 74px
Did I miss anything? Still have questions? Want to share what you’ve done with your Facebook timeline?
Go for it!
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Part 3 of WordPress Plugins: 8 Awesome Anti-Spam WordPress Plugins
If you didn’t read the prior posts, definitely check out the 2 prior posts in the WordPress series:
Part 1 of WordPress Plugins: Do’s and Don’ts for WordPress PluginsPart 2 of WordPress Plugins: 14 Awesome WordPress Plugins
To keep this post short, from a security standpoint, for now I’m going to focus on spam and blocking various IPs from your WordPress site. I’ll address other security issues in a future post.
As before, I’m going to give you 2 links: one for the WordPress plugin repository, one for the plugin author’s site. You can get the plugin at WordPress.org plugin repository, or via your installation of WordPress by going to Plugins > Add New and putting the name of one of these plugins in the search box.
I link the author’s site for those who want to do further research for the plugin, and as a bit of SEO love for these WordPress plugin developers.
This is not a comprehensive list of all plugins. This is just a list of those I have the most experience with or people I know have recommended. Feel free to join in the comment section with any WordPress anti-spam plugins you have found.
Sometimes, just one plugin isn’t enough. Sometimes plugins fight with each other. So installing all of these is not a good idea. At the very least, installing plugins that do the exact same thing is not always a good idea.
Because of that, I’m going to group the plugins below by how they prevent blog spam. So if one doesn’t work in your theme, or with your current plugins, or for whatever reason, you’ve got an alternative to try.
Admittedly, I have combined plugins that do the same thing, in a few cases, and having both helped.
Comment Checking and Moderation
I have 3 I recommend. All 3 of these services require you to sign up with their website, and then copy and paste a special key, or userid and password, to your plugin setup page. So don’t just install these and think you are set. Definitely read the instructions any time you install a plugin.
Akismet is very popular. It is free for personal use. For businesses, there is a fee for it though. WordPress author plugin site
The free alternative to Akismet is TypePad AntiSpam. This is great for smaller businesses on a budget, and with lower site traffic. WordPress author plugin site
Another way to deal with comment spam is to install a third party comment system, like Disqus. Some sites used Disqus in addition to either Akismet or TypePad AntiSpam. Disqus can play nicely with the other two plugins. WordPress author plugin site
IP Checking
On one of the sites I work with, we use AVH First Defense Against Spam. They check visitor IPs against those at by Project Honeypot, Stop Forum Spam, and Spamhaus. WordPress author plugin site
We have successfully used AVH First Defense Against Spam with Simple Trackback Validation. This is also very nice and, as the title says, simple plugin.WordPress author plugin site
A friend, Christine Gregory, recommends http: BL WordPress Plugin, another plugin that makes use of Project Honeypot. WordPress author plugin site
Site Registration
Sometimes, you’ll have individuals or bots trying to register for your site, that you just don’t want. Then bring down the Ban Hammer! WordPress author plugin siteLove this plugin (and the name)!
Sabre is another one used for controlling site registration. We’ve actually use this successfully with Ban Hammer. I know I’ve discussed my dislike of CAPTCHAs, but if things are getting really bad and you need a bit of help locking down a bot trying to repeatedly register for your site, they have a few different CAPTCHAs you can enable. One is a simple math problem that is solved (such as 3 + 7 = ). The nice thing is, the CATPCHA is optional; you do not have to enable that function. Sabre has a number of ways to deal with spam registration, the CATPCHA is only one of the methods. (I can’t seem to locate this author’s site.)
Not sure which plugins to use for your site? Not comfortable installing them? Hire me to handle your WordPress plugin installations for you.
Don’t see a plugin you use on here? Tell us about it! Which anti-spam plugins have you had success with?
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The Impact of Advertising on Search Engine Rankings and Website Visitors
Google has made another change to how its search engine works. If you own a website, it’s good to be aware that all search engines make changes like this regularly. They don’t always tell us when they’ve done it though, or what they’ve done, or what will be affected. This is one of the times they’ve told us.
If you haven’t subscribed to Google’s Official Search blog “Insider Search”, point your RSS feeds there now. (If you aren’t sure what an RSS feed, you can learn what an RSS feed is here.)
For most of you who have ads located at the upper areas of your site, this is probably not an issue. Google has made this change primarily to impact sites that are almost nothing but ads. You’ve probably seen them before: you click a search result on Google and end up on a page that has a ton of advertising and nothing looked like what Google said it was.
If you do have a site that is more advertising that useful content, or are considering it, rethink it. You’re considered a spammer by search engines. You think this is going to be fast cash, but a web page of nothing but ads is probably not going to make you a lot of money. Odds are good that to do that successfully, you’ll need more time, know-how, and money than you have to start with.
For the rest of you, if you plan to cram more advertising on your site, especially to be “above the fold,” weigh that carefully. As it is, advertising slows your site down, and page load times impact your Google rankings as well.
Also, remember that one of the points of a website is to have people come to it, stay on it (and want to be there), and come back later. If your site is too ad-heavy, website visitors may hit the back button before the page loads up. At the very least, they may decide coming back isn’t something they want to do again.
Another important thing to consider is this: just because the page loads quickly on your computer doesn’t mean it does the same for all your visitors. Some are still on dial-up. What about your smart phone visitors? Have you ever looked at your site on your phone?
So consider your ads carefully. Are you making enough off of them to warrant the number of them, the size of them, and their location? Or is it time to consider if you have other, more important goals for your site, such as selling a service or product?
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Websites Unwoven Website Wonders Made Easy: Websites Unwoven – A Guide to Creating a PROFESSIONAL Website, in Plain English
Janice Schwarz, CEO of GeekArtist Web Solutions, LLC has written a handy reference guide for website owners. It is written in as non-technical language as possible.
The books is geared toward:
New Site OwnersCurrent Site OwnersSmall Business OwnersBig BusinessesNon-ProfitsIndividualsWeb DesignersWeb Developers
Yes, even web designers and developers can benefit from several of the chapters in this book. Many focus so much on their speciality, they don’t know as much about law or site promotion as they should or would like to know.
Description
Chapters include
Terminology and Definitions
Your Site and the Law
Setting Realistic Expectations
Time and MoneyRealistic Timing/SchedulingHow Much Does a Website Cost?How to Make an (Experienced) Website Creator LaughTo Sum Up Time & Cost
Common Myths and Misconceptions
Make a Plan
Things You MUST HAVE to Have a WebsiteQuestions to Ask YourselfWebsite Checkliste-Commerce Website Checklist
Buying Services to Get Your Site Started
Styling Your Content
Getting the Site Made
Doing it YourselfHow to Find a Web Designer/DeveloperHow to Choose a Web Designer/DeveloperHow to Work with a Web Designer/Developer
What To Do When Things Go Wrong
Website Promotion
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)Social Media
Useful Resources
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How to Set Up Domain Mail in Gmail
Yes, you can have you@yourdomain.com (or whatever) in Gmail. They allow up to 5 accounts.
NOTE: This is not a tutorial for Google Apps mail, just the standard personal Gmail accounts.
First, log into Gmail (of course).
Then look to the top-right, and you’ll see a gear icon. Click it, and you’ll see a drop down menu where you can click Settings
Click the Accounts tab
Now look down a bit for Send Mail As and click the Add Another Email Address You Own link:
A pop-up window will appear. Make sure you’ve disabled your pop-up blocker, or check to see if your browser is asking if you want to allow the pop-up, if you do not see the pop-up.
On the next screen, just use the default Send through gmail option and click Next:
Now Google would like to verify that you have access to that account. Just follow the next steps Gmail walks you through, and then I’ll show you how to check that email address for email, even if it’s not set up yet.
Now, to check that email. If you host with us, or if your web hosts uses cPanel, here’s what you do (if you are with Dreamhost, GoDaddy, or any other host that doesn’t use cPanel, check their instructions. If you are our client, use our ticketing system and we’ll give you a hand if you are still stuck after this tutorial.
For GeekArtist Hosting clients
Log into cPanel. Use the welcome email message you received for the address and your logins.
From there, look down the page a bit for the Mail section and you should see the Email Accounts icon on the left.
Now look for the email address you are setting up. To the far right, you’ll see a More link.
Click More then Access Web Mail
Now, login into that account:
From there, you can choose from any of 3 mail applications to check mail. You can use any. Just click one, go to the Inbox, open the email from Google and click the link provided. That verifies your address.
You’re not done yet! Back to Gmail!
Go back to the gear icon and click Settings again.
Click the Accounts tab again.
Scroll down the page, and look for Check mail from other accounts (using POP3):
Another pop-up appears. Enter your email address and click Next Step.
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS ARE FOR CUSTOMERS WHO HOST WITH GEEKARTIST. If you host elsewhere, get your outgoing mail server settings from your web host.
Make sure you enter your login as your full email address:
Enter your password.
Pop Server is: yourdomain.com. For example, since my domain is geekartist.com, I just enter: geekartist.com
Leave everything unchecked. Click Add Account.
You’re done! Go to your inbox and send yourself a test message to ensure your email is set up correctly.
Didn’t work? Still stuck? If you are our client, use our ticketing system and we’ll give you a hand. No extra charge for email setup; it’s one of the many services we provide as a web host.
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January 28, 2019
Web Hosting
When you have a website you need a web host to serve it up so people can see it.
Rather than go to another host and have us authorized to contact the host on your behalf, let us host for you. This way, you’ve got one-stop shopping for your website needs.
You’ll get to know your support staff by name, and that we’re always happy to answer questions.
Experienced staff can provide convenient hosting and support, saving you time and headache. If you are a do-it-yourself website owner, we have hosting service available for you too!
Need your own domain (something.com)? We can help with that too. Order your domain now. Get in touch to make sure you’re ordering the right domain for your needs, and getting all the domains you need to cover your bases.
One hosting package, one price
Most web hosts offer far more storage space, bandwidth, and other options than most of their customers will ever use. And each package offered is progressively more than their customers will need. Rather than give you a bunch of confusing options to pick from, we’ve made it simple: one package, one price.
If you do begin actually using more than the allotted bandwidth, storage, email, databases, or other options, we can talk with you about your options. Depending to what degree your site is growing, we will either just up your allotment or, in extreme cases, suggest your own server. Again, these are rare and extreme cases. Most people will never need to move beyond the hosting package we have.
Pricing Options
No setup feeFirst month is free (using coupon code 1STMONTHFREE)Discounts for paying quarterly (every 3 months) or annually (once a year)Annual Payment (1 Year): $102.00Quarterly Payment (3 months): $28.50Monthly Payment: $10.00
Package Features
Give us a try! Get your first month of hosting FREE (with coupon code).
At GeekArtist, You Get
Customer Service
Personalized serviceEmail setup on your serverAssistance setting up email on your computerTraining on how to do-it-yourself
Security
SSLMulti-Homed ConnectionsGnuPG PGP Secure Email EncryptionMulti-firewall ProtectionSSH/SFTP Access
Just What You Need
Disk space: 5 GigsBandwidth: 25 GigsAdd On Domains: 40Parked domains: 40Subdomains: 40MySQL5 Databases: 40Email Accounts: 40Internal Email Aliases: unlimitedFTP accounts: 40
Speed
Uncrowded ServersDual Processor Quad Cores
Convenience
Customer Web PortalWebmail AccessEasily Accessible SupportPersonable, Personalized ServiceBlogging SoftwareContent Management SystemsShopping CartsFantastico InstallerSoftaculous InstallercPanelSite BackupsMailScanner Spam Protection
And More
Ruby on RailsHardened PHP5PerlApache 2Raid DisksImageMagick/GD Library
Still Not Convinced?
You may be saying: “But X Web Host is offering a lot more for a lot less”.
Sort of.
They are also offering a lot more than you will ever need or use. Most web hosts do. Even we are.
What you are really paying for, with every web host, is quality of service. And sometimes, you get what you pay for. Isn’t it worth it to know you have a web host with systems that your web designer knows well, and has reliable, convenient, personalized service? Peace of mind can be worth the price.
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Website Copy
Written Text For Your Site
Not comfortable writing? Are words just not your thing? That’s ok, writing is fun for us!
We can let you know what information we need from you to craft the text that will appear on your site. Our job is to make website messages clear and easy to understand. We’ll write your copy by sending you a list of questions. All you do is answer the questions and we will take that to create the text that will appear on your site.
Want a blog but have no time to write?
We have professional, experienced, ghostwriters on staff that can blog for you. You give us the topics you want addressed, we learn about your tone, style, and business image. You also provide any thoughts and other notes you have on each subject. Then we craft the words to go in each blog post. You may have final approval on each post if you prefer or we can post without it if you don’t have the time to check each post.
Just let us know if you need this service either as part of your web design package or if you are hiring us to freshen up text on an existing site. Get to know our writing abilities by surfing through this site. You can also view our business blog.
We Have Two Writers on Staff to Help You Craft the Perfect Pages and Posts
Leah Bellamy has spent 11 years writing ad copy and magazine articles for real estate agencies, and is also well-suited for writing site copy for attorneys too. Leah has 35 years experience as a legal assistant, and has ghost-written a column for the Environmental Law Journal!
She has spent years writing contracts, court pleadings, wills, real estate documents, correspondence, and other content for lawyers and real estate offices. We know busy lawyers don’t have time to write all copy for their site. Leave it to a professional and relax, knowing it is in good hands.
Her extensive experience writing ad copy comes in handy for writing blog posts, website banner text, or copy for your own print ads.
Janice Schwarz has 14 years experience writing website copy for pages and blog posts. She knows how to craft text that will grab your audience’s attention while using the right key words and phrases for search engine optimization.
Due to 13 years writing for a variety of industries, she’s at ease researching your industry and your competition. In addition to having spent years teaching adult education, she has also written all of the helpful website guides and tutorials on the GeekArtist site, as well as written all content on the GeekArtist Web Solutions website.
She edits a wide variety of client sites too, including the popular humor site Skippy’s List. She is just as comfortable writing informally for blogs or for writing formal documentation for sites due to her extensive academic career.
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Social Networking, Web Software, and Web Design Training
Get help learning how to use:
TwitterFacebookGoogle+LinkedInPinterestInstagramWordPressWeb DesignPhotoshopIllustratorAnd more!
Janice Schwarz has been a software instructor since 1999. In addition to teaching in private homes and businesses, she has also taught at:–
University of Texas at Austin Adult Education on behalf of The Wizard of Austin
– Kerrville Independent School District Adult Continuing Education
– Deitert Senior Center, Kerrville, TXShe has worked with many different levels of experience, small groups, and individuals. She has a passion for teaching and sharing knowledge. Computer skills are vital in the world today and my job is to help you succeed!
NOTE ABOUT WEB DESIGN INSTRUCTION: Anyone claiming you will be an amazing designer in 3 easy sessions or in just a few months are full of it. Learning web design takes time. This is just like learning any new profession: practice, practice, practice!
If you are interested in learning it, I will teach you. However, do not expect to be at a professional level in only a few days, weeks, or months.
Web design instruction is available for the Garland and DFW (Dallas/Fort Worth) areas in Texas. Training on-site in your home or business for much of the Denton, Dallas, and Coppel County areas.
Serving Carrollton and surrounding areas, such as: Dallas, Carrollton, Plano, Lewisville, Coppell, Farmer’s Branch, Flower Mound, Frisco, The Colony, Grapevine, Richardson, Bedford, Euless, Addison, Rowlette, Irving, & Denton.
Don’t see your town listed? Contact us and just ask.
Classes typically run for 2 hour stretches for 6 weeks. However, customized instruction is available if you only need an hour or so to ask questions instead of obtaining formal training.
Instruction is available for:
Web Design
HTMLXHTMLCSSDreamweaverWeb design conceptsWebsite optimizationWebsite accessibilityIncreasing website traffic
Graphic Art
PhotoshopIllustrator
Don’t see your subject listed? Contact us and just ask.
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Social Networking
Twitter! Facebook! MySpace! StumbleUpon! delicious! And so much more!
Feeling overwhelmed by it all? Do you feel like you just don’t “get it”?
Let us walk you through the process. We can teach you how to get the most from social networking and how to make the experience more efficient and pleasurable.
We also provide services to customize your social networking branding, such as custom Twitter backgrounds and Facebook business page customization.
We offer:
Social networking account management (let us do it so you spend your time doing YOUR work!)Social networking instructionAssistance with account setupCustom Twitter backgroundsCustom Facebook timeline imagesCustom Google+cover imagesAnd More!
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