Search Engine Optimization

Whats SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

Search Engine Optimization is how you show up on sites like Goole, Bing, and Yahoo. The better your SEO rank, the more your website or blog is going to show up. The two basic options for SEO, doing it for free through the website (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) and the second option: paying for it through a company like Go Daddy, Network Solutions, and many more! I highly recommend paying for it if you want to take your website or blog to the next level.

Setting Up Your Website for SEO
Setting up SEO for your site consists of a couple steps that most likely include, generating keywords (let's say you put your keyword as: example keyword, when people search the term example keyword, it will show up somewhere in the list of search results). Next it's optimizing tags (lets say you want your page to show up as: Example Website | Example Page, then you would set it to that, as well as giving it a search description). Next you create your sitemap, this is just a way for search engines to read your website. Generally the company that you have purchased the SEO account with will give you a sitemap. If not you can get one for free at Snap Sitemap.

Featured Companies (to register SEO with):

1. Go Daddy
2. Network Solutions

Getting Your Site Out There With Social Buttons

A great way to get your site out there into the world is adding social sharing buttons to your website. This will enable to share your content. Once shared maybe someone else will share the content and it's a chain reaction. Once people know about your website more and familiarize themselves with it they'll began to come more often and maybe even tell their friends about it. You can get social buttons from a lot of places. Theirs also a ton of different types like standard ones, sidebar buttons, and much more! I have worked with ShareThis and it has been a great service! They offer more options than any other service that I have ever checked out on the web.

Featured Companies:

1. ShareThis
2. AdThis
3. Nifty Buttons

Please comment below if you have questions with any of the companies, integrating the buttons on your website, or anything else! I have experience with ShareThis and some with AdThis. If you have any questions about Nifty Buttons I will try my hardest to get you a good answer. Please feel free to ask anything, I will reply as soon as possible.

Creating a Blog or Website

Website Creators

Their are many ways to create a blog or website. Some are easy and some can be very difficult. If your just starting out and this is one of the first websites that you have ever made I recommend trying Weebly. Weebly offers a great drag and drop type website builder when can you drag elements (such as text boxes, videos, picutes, etc.) directly on to the page where you want them. With Weebly however you are limited as to what you can do and the themes around a 5/10. Weebly is a great product for beginners. If you are a beginner blogger or a pro blogger, Blogger (Blogspot) is a great way to start a nice blog. Blogger not only features a ton of posting options but also has great options for editing the appearance of your website. You can easily add gadgets (elements such as text boxes, videos, pictures, etc.) to your website. These gadgets will apear on on every page and/or post page. Blogger offers their gadgets which include some of the more simple and basic things like html elements, text boxes, pictures, Google Adsense, and much more. Also what's great about blogger is their are tons of third party gadgets as well. Third party gadgets are generally more creative, like social buttons, intricate search for your website, daily facts, and all kinds of things!







As well as easy website creators there are many hard ones but ones that enable you to do more with your website. Wordpress is harder than Weebly and Blogger but can get easy once you get the hang of it. Unfortunately the problem with Wordpress is that they do not offer any support lines or support emails. That gives third party Wordpress support lines the power. Most of them charge you when you ask a question. I recommend not paying for that, if you have any questions about Wordpress (or anything else) please post them in the comments box below and I will get back to you shortly. Wordpress, like Blgger offers third party plugins (same as Blogger gadget)  and has a ton more than Blogger. Getting new plugins with Wordpress is a great way to better your site. Wordpress also offers their own themes (how your website looks, the appearance), but those themes are not that great. There are also many third party theme providers, some themes are free but most cost money. The ones that cost money are generally better. If you find a theme that is perfect for your site, buy it! It is very worth it. Some great third party theme providers are Themeforest and Template Monster. A great way to find help and learn about Wordpress are the Wordpress for Dummies books (there are multiple variations to help you!)

Creating Your Own Website

This is where the hard part comes in. If you are a big business and need more than a website creator (and Wordpress doesn't work out) your only option is to create a website from scratch. Creating your own website enables you to do pretty much anything you want. Pretty much every big business, like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Twitter, and a ton more, creates their website from scratch. Creating a website from scratch requires a great amount of knowledge about HTML, CSS, and other forms of coding. A helpful tool to learn about creating your website from scratch is CSS Web Design for Dummies.

Easy Website Design Programs:

1. Weebly
2. Webs
3. 1&1

Easy Blog Design Programs:

1. Blogger

Intermediate Website/Blog Programs:

1. Wordpress
2. Joomla

Coding Programs (places where the code would be inputed):

1. Ruby On Rails

Please comment below on your past experiences with website creators! Please voice your opinion!

Getting Advertisements on Your Site

Advertisements are a great way to provide rich content on your website and make revenue. There are many great advertisement programs out there like. Google Adsense although is the most popular. Google Adsense is great, that is until they most likely deactivate your account. Google Adsense has very strict policies, especially when it comes to clicking on your own ads. Also sometimes Google Adsense will deactivate your account for no reason at all. Saying that you are posing a risk to their advertisers. How Google Adsense, and all other advertisement programs work is there are two sides. The side for publishers, and the side for advertisers. The advertisement program is the middle man. Advertisers sign up and submit their ad to the company, then publishers sign up and receive the ad to place on their website.There are also other programs similar to Google Adsense and others.  Affiliate marketplaces are a great way to receive advertisements from big companies. Also you can choose wich ads you want because Google Adsense and other advertisement companies like that just rotate ads randomly. Commission Junction is by far the best affiliate marketplace. All the big companies are there. Find anyone from Best Buy to At&t to Bank of America. Affiliate marketplaces are very similar to programs like Adsense. Publishers create an account and apply to certain companies to be able to place that companies ads on their site. Commission Junction then notifies the advertiser that someone has applied to their affiliate program and the advertiser has the authority to approve or disapprove the publisher who is applying.

Where should I sign up to start placing advertisements on my website?

1. Commission Junction
2. Google Adsense
3. Yahoo! Publisher Network

SSL Certificates

Use an SSL Certificate to help secure your website and make your viewers feel safe.

What is an SSL Certificate?

An SSL certificate is a product that you can register through many websites like Go Daddy and Network Solutions. An SSL certificate scans your website daily and protects against any hackers or malware. When you get an SSL for your website a green lock or green lock and a green bar will apear next to the website url in your browser depending on the level of SSL that you get. The (usually called) Standard SSL provides a simple green lock to let viewers know that your website is secured. The (usually called) Premium SSL gives a green lock and a green bar to let viewers know that not only is your website secured but so is your company. Also many companies provide you with different type of seals to place on your website to verify that it is secured.

Example: Standard SSL 

 Example: Premium SSL

Should I get an SSL Certificate?

You should get an SSL if you currently have an online store or have a website that accepts credit cards. SSL Certificates' are used to protect clients of your website against hackers hoping to get their credit card. Also many viewers shy away or don't feel safe at online stores that don't have an SSL Certificate. If you are running an online store or accept credit cards online, an SSL would be a great way to boost online sales!

Where can I get an SSL Certificate?

1. Go daddy
2. Geotrust
3. Thawte
4. Verisign
5. Network Solutions

Domain Names

Buying a registered domain name is one of the first steps to taking your website to the next level.

Why should I pay the money?
Getting a domain name:

1. Boosts your SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
2. Viewers remember the website easier and are more likely to return
3. Helps to legitimatize your website where viewers feel more comfortable

Viewers are going to able to to remember you website a lot better, e.g.: example.com is easier to remember than example.coolexample.com. 

Where should I register a domain name?

When you register a domain it is important to feel comfortable with the website that you are registering with. Also you should do some background info on the website and try and find customer reviews. On all of my websites I have used Go Daddy. Go Daddy is by far the simplest and best domain register. Also what is great is there 24/7 customer support line for all your questions.

So ready to get the domain name? Start searching for yours below!

About Go Daddy:  (the following is from godaddy.com)

Go Daddy offers everything you need to make a name for yourself on the Web, from domain names and website builders to complete eCommerce solutions. We've earned our place as the world's #1 ICANN-accredited domain registrar by delivering world-class products at competitive prices and supporting them with industry-best service, delivered 24/7/365. We're proud to serve our customers from locations around the world, including Arizona, Iowa, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., India, Singapore, and The Netherlands.

• Go Daddy is the world's largest domain name registrar and Web hosting provider *
• More than 55 million domain names under management
• Go Daddy registers, renews or transfers more than one domain name every second of every day
• Go Daddy is larger than the next 8 closest registrar competitors combined
• Go Daddy is the largest hosting provider of secure websites in the world
• More than 11 million customers
• Go Daddy is the world's largest provider of net-new SSL certificates
• Go Daddy has more than 40 product offerings
• Founded in 1997 by Bob Parsons as Jomax Technologies
• the Go Daddy group of companies includes three ICANN-accredited domain name registrars: flagship registrar GoDaddy.com, LLC, membership-based Blue Razor Domains, LLC, and reseller Wild West Domains, LLC
• Private domain name registration services through Domains By Proxy, LLC
• More than 3,400 employees and 600 in-house developers
• 24/7/365, round-the-clock Customer Care operations
• 9 facilities, including Arizona, Iowa, California, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and India

Feedback Button

If there is one thing for sure that you need, it's a feedback button. Have your viewers help you by having them provide you feedback. They can report an error on your site and sometimes just a simple suggestion. Almost every single one of my websites has a feedback button. Feedback buttons have helped my adjust and fix my sites. So the big question is, "where can I get the feedback button?". On my websites I chose Voicewith because I liked the appearance of the button and the html was simple and easy to place. Unlike many other buttons you only need to place just one snipped of code in just one place.

Featured options:

1. Voicewith 
2. The Feedback Button
3. 123 Contact Form

Welcome

Welcome to Developer Genius. Developer Genius is a new site built to help you build your website. You will be able to find useful tips and tricks that will give you site good rich content that it needs to become something truly great!