Opensource CSM is an awesome website that easily gives you demo access to the front and back end of various opensource cms projects out on the web. I am a big fan of open source projects and this is like a playground for me!

I was curious about how Magento worked but didn’t want to go thru the trouble of installing it on my server just to try it out.

Opensource CMS had a live demo copy of Magento that I could access as if it were installed on my own server without having to do all the work.

Each featured CMS on the website has a commenting system and a rating system to allow web designers and developers to interact and make suggestions to one another.

If you happen to be a developer and are building  an opensource project and would like to get the word out about your project you can request to have it include in the website.

Give OpenSource a look, its a fun place to waste time and maybe find a CMS you may fall in love with!

Open Source CMS-CMS Demos and Information | Website Review

While looking for menu soulutions for a new website client of mine, I happened to stumble upon a cool looking concept called OpenMenu.

What is OpenMenu? OpenMenu™ has created the first standard to regulate the way restaurants store, share and use their menus over the Internet by standardizing the menus’ structure and format. A powerful global menu platform allowing a restaurant to manage a single menu which powers their entire online presence.

- http://openmenu.com/

Think, Facebook Open Graph for Restaraunt Menus!

With the power of OpenMenu, you can create an OpenMenu account for FREE! Why should you create an OpenMenu Account?

• Your menu from OpenMenu is connected eveywhere! Change your menu from the OpenMenu account and it gets changed everywhere! Twitter, Facebook, Your Website, Your QR Code, etc…
• You get  a free generated QR Code for your menu
• You get a free mobile website of your entire menu
• You get a free restaurant listing on the OpenMenu website
• Your restaurant is included in the OpenMenu Search Engine
• A free menu cloud which allows you to see which menu items are most popular
• Easy Social Network Sharing of your Menu
• OpenMenu can be used on HTML websites, Worpdress Websites, Joomla Websites and More!
• Don’t have to ask your web designer to change your menu items
• Live analytics of your restaurant menu. See detailed information about who is viewing your menu, what items they are viewing and from where they are viewing it!
• The OpenMenu Creator is easy enough for a web designer or a restaurant owner to use
• OpenMenu is FREE!!

Here are various tools for the OpenMenu

• Twitter Integrator-Automatically Tweet out if your menu has changed
• OpenMenu WordPress Plugin
• OpenMenu Joomla Module
• OpenMenu Drupal Module
• QR Code-Scan the QR Code with your smart phone to view the menu
• OpenMenu Mobile Restaurant Website-Free mobile website for your menu
• OpenMenu Search Engine-Find a Menu Near You!
• OpenMenu Tab for Facebook-Add your menu to your Facebook Page!
• OpenMenu Embed-Embed the restaurant menu on any website
• OpenMenu Template-Embed OpenMenu on a PHP website
• OpenMenu Cloud-Text link cloud with popular menu items

I have a great feeling if website developers get more involved and get their clients educated and signed up for OpenMenu, that this will be one of the standards for restaurants on the internet in the near future.

Please help spread the word about OpenMenu and either share this post with your friends and family (on the left), Like OpenMenu On Facebook, Follow OpenMenu on Twitter or learn more about getting involved as a developer with OpenMenu.

OpenMenu – The Future of Restaurant Menus Online

When I first started teaching myself how to use WordPress, I was in love with the Thematic theme. Thematic was simple enough to customize and seemed to work with most every plugin I installed. Thematic is a great starting point for creating your own themes.

After a while, I desired a different look, but I didn’t have much of my own time to dedicat on extending thematic to work they way that I wanted. So I started looking at different WordPress themes at Themeforest. I probably spent a good 5 days investigating all the different features each of the WordPress themes included and how easy they were to manipulate with my own custom CSS.

I finally found versatile feature rich theme that would work best for my personal website. The Striking Theme by Kaptinlin.

Striking WordPress Theme uses Valid HTML5 and is cross browser compatible. Here are a list of features that caught my attention.

• 4 different slider options that can be used on as many pages or posts you desire
• Over 100 Shortcodes  for various functions.  I try not to use plugins if I don’t have to. So if a theme provides me with most of the essential elements, I’m very happy.
• 13 Custom Widgets designed for the Striking Theme
• Unlimited Sidebars with Header, Footer and Sub-Footer Widget Areas
• 2 Custom Menus
• Auto Upgrading, Thank God!
• 5 pre-generated page templates and 3 homepage layouts
• Author Box
• Sort-able and Paginated Portfolio
• Breadcrumbs
• Translation Ready
• JS and CSS optimizer
• Copy and Paste shortcode examples on the demo page making setup a breeze

The customer support is superb. I have always gotten a fast response and am always treated with respect no matter how stupid my questions may be sometimes. I believe there are just 3 guys who have worked together to build and improve the striking theme on top of handeling support forums and keeping up with thier other projects and personal lives.

I highly recommend using the Striking WordPress Theme as your worpdress framework. Its a small investment for an incredible WordPress theme.

Find out More and view Striking Theme Demo at Themeforest

WordPress Striking Theme Review | Premium WP Themes

Learn the truth right now about ranking #1 on Google. Matt Cuts, software engineer at Google, explains the undying question every client ask’s their web designer.

Can you make my website number one on Google?

Learn How To SEO | 1st Page Google Ranking

According to Matt Cutts at Google, domain age does play a factor in SEO, but quality content and links play a much bigger role. Google bot has been using historical data in the search engine results since 2005. Google determines domain age after the site has been published or if links are found elsewhere pointing to that website.

Learn How to SEO | Domain Age

EASY WAYS TO HELP YOUR WEBSITE RANK WELL IN GOOGLE AND BING

Just because you have posted your website online, doesn’t mean that people will automatically be drawn to it. You will receive very few visits unless you make an effort to tell the world who you are, what you do, and where they can find your site.

Add your website URL…

Add Website URL to Bing
Add Website URL to Google
Add Website URL to Yahoo
Add Website URL to The Open Directory Project

If you have a local business…

Google Places
Bing Local
Yahoo Local Listings
Yellow Pages
DexOnline
SuperPages
Yelp
City Search
MapQuest
Thumbtack
Local.com

If you have a blog…

Google Feedburner
Technorati
153 Other Places
Ping several websites alerting them that you have just created a new blog post. This will tell them to crawl you site for the new information.

Every website sitemap should be submitted here…

Google Webmaster Tools
Bing Webmaster Tools
Alexa

Everything else

You may have a specific trade. Search google for “your trade directory/listing”. For example, a restaraunt owner would want to submit thier site to
Urban Spoon
Trip Advisor

Quality Back Links

Now that you are prepared with some of the information to help your site gain exposure, you should know, that where ever you decide to submit your site, what’s most important is that websites page rank. Your websites search engine rank is determined by the quality and popularity of the website containing links back to your site. You can check the page rank of a site by using the tool below. The higher the page rank of that site, the higher the quality of the link back to yours. Quality back links are one of the essential factors determined in your websites search engine rank. Learn more about page rank and how to avoid linking mistakes.

Note: Google™ search engine and PageRank™ algorithm are the trademarks of Google Inc.

Learn How to SEO | WebSite Submission

1. Login to Facebook and become a Facebook Developer.

2. If you are not automatically brought to apps page, you can choose apps from the top blue bar navigation

3. Click grey button that says create a new app

4. Give it whatever name and namespace you want and agree to facebook policies

5. Click “opengraph” link on the left

6. Define actions in the text boxs. Write anything you want. “People can ____ a______” could be “People can upload a picture

7. Click Get Started

8. Change some default settings like “upload” to “download”. whatever, no big deal. We are just messing around to be able and get an invite

9. Don’t worry about changing anything else and click thru all the pages. Until your finished

10. Go back to your profile in a few minutes and you should see an invite above from facebook to try out Timeline!

No one else will be able to see your Timeline. I think timeline is super cool. There are awesome features like a map that displays where you took your pictures, and dedicated well organized pages for your about info, friends, likes, and more. Its different and new and will take a day or two to adjust, but I think if you give it a chance and look at it with positive wonder, you will enjoy the new Facebook.

Facebook is currently in a legal battle with Timelines Inc over the use of thier trademark “Timelines”. The exact date of Timelines official release is still unknown.

Take a look at my timeline!

Facebook Timeline | Enable Your Timeline Now in 10 Easy Steps

EASY WAYS TO HELP YOUR WEBSITE RANK WELL IN GOOGLE AND BING

Here is a video from Matt Cutts, a software engineer from Google. He explains very simply and quickly how Google search works. Knowing how Google search engines work will help you to understand why SEO and Keywords are an important part of the development of your website.

Learn How to SEO | How Google Search Works

Easy ways to help your website rank well in Google and Bing

Choosing a domain name is not only the most important part of your online presence, its also one of the tools that will help you rank well in search engines. Choose wisely and your website will prosper well.

Purchase a domain name with relevant keywords included

Example: If you’re an attorney who specializes in one field, you are more likely to be found by the domain name www.divorcelawyercity.com instead of www.yourname.com. Although, if your known for your name, than purchase a domain name that contains your name.

Yes, you can purchase as many domain names as you like and have them all point to your website.

When people search Google or Bing for divorce lawyers, they are going to type “divorce lawyers” or “divorce lawyers seattle,wa”. If you want your website to show up in Google before all the other divorce lawyers, it helps significantly to purchase a relevant domain name.

A divorce lawyer who also specializes in adoptions and other family law related terms could buy
familylawlawyer.com and adoptionlawyer.com or yourcityadoptionlawyer.com

Including a city will help localize your business. Including all your skills will help narrow down searchers.

Purchase powerful domain names

Domains should include

• Include a city, state or country
• Include skills
• Include services
• Include products
• Include your name
• Include your brand

Choose domains names that…

• Are easy to remember
• Roll on the tongue easy
• Sound silly, cool, or interesting
• Are easy to spell
• Has the “.com” ending
• Do not use hyphens, dashes or numbers. The shorter the name, the easier to remember.
• Don’t conflict or sound similar to another website as they can easily be confused for one another.

Learn How to SEO | Choosing a Searchable Domain Name

Download The PDF: “Hire a Web Designer/Developer Ultimate Checklist“

Be prepared.

Before you receive a quote, you should know somewhat of what you want for the website. You want to make sure what your quotes are apples to apples for the most part. What one designer offers can be different from what the other offers on many occasions.

The following list will help you and your future designer create exactly what you want. Knowing what you want is an essential part of the design process.

Preparation for your Website Quote

• Put together all kinds of information about your business, such as all the services and products you offer, industry information and history.
• Make a list of your competitors online and offline.
• What kind of information do you want your visitors to receive from your website?
• What kind of colors do you prefer/dislike?
• What sites do you find attractive and easy to use?
• Will people purchase items on your website?Would you like social networking? (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc…)
• Would you like internet marketing? (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, etc…)
• Do you want users to find your website on search engines like Google?
• Do you have a domain name and/or hosting yet?
• Will you need photography? Or do you have all the pictures you need for the website?
• Will you write your own content information? Or would you like a professional to write your information for you?
• What is your budget? (sharing is optional)
• Will you want to maintain/update your own site, or hire someone to maintain it?
• Geographical area you would like to target users to coming to your site.
• What pages do you require for the site?
• What features do you NEED and what features do you WANT for the website? (Animations, contact forms, image gallerys, etc…)

SEO, Web Design and Development, for a business these 3 elements are essential. Why build a website that you can’t find on Google or Bing? Most businesses do want to be found. They also require attractive, easy to use websites that function correctly. This is why you should always receive a minimum of 3 quotes.

Don’t make a decision right way. You are investing a good amount of money and everything should be done right the first time. Who you choose to hire should be someone who is always dependable, effective, and reachable. There is nothing more infuriating than hiring someone who never returns your calls.
 

Choosing your Web designer/developer

1. What does their online portfolio look like?
1. Do you like what they have designed and developed for past clients?
2. How does their site look? Can you navigate it with ease? Find what you are looking for?
3. Are there references, testimonials or recommendations?
4. Can you find good contact information about them?
2. Will the design company/freelancer build your website with SEO in mind?
1. How much do they understand about SEO?
2. Do they do SEO in house, or hire a third party?
3. Ask them what their on-site SEO and off-site SEO strategies are.
4. Ask if they are Google Adwords Certified
3. Ask them how they plan to build your website.
1. Will they build it in a CMS? If so, what CMS are they using?
2. Sometimes they may not know this answer right away…
4. If the company/freelancer does not provide other services, who do they recommend?
1. Do they offer photography?
2. Do they offer copywriting?
3. Do they offer hosting and domain purchasing?
4. Do they offer custom programming?
5. Do they offer custom logo branding?
6. Do they offer custom graphics?
5. Will you be able to work with them?
1. Do you enjoy their personality?
2. Do they communicate well with you?
3. Are they too pushy?
6. Does the work proposal look professional?
1. Does it detail exactly what they plan to do with your website
2. Is there a sitemap included?
3. Is there an estimate of completion?
4. Is everything you requested in the proposal?
5. Does it enlist how many revisions you are allowed to make?
7. What are their maintenance and updating options?
1. What maintenance plans do they have?
2. Do they have a CMS option so you can maintain/update it?
3. Did they include maintenance in the proposal?
8. What do they offer for Pricing
1. Did the proposal fit within the realms of the budget you set?
2. Is the pricing fair in comparison to what you will receive for work?
3. How do they charge? Do they charge hourly? By Package?…
9. GO HOME AND SLEEP ON IT. Don’t let anyone push you to make a decision right away.

At the end of the day, you are equipped with enough knowledge from speaking with at least 3 different designers to get a good idea of who you would like to work with on your business website design. It’s one of the most important decisions you will make for your business, make sure its the last decision.

Hire a Web Designer/Developer Ultimate Checklist