Nate Covington

Note: The software demonstrated below can be adapted to power any existing Web site or customized to specification. For more information, contact us.

I just made a bunch of these nifty tutorial videos to show how easy it can be to update your own web site without any programming skills.  

Schlosser Steel Buildings came to us with an existing web site and wanted to know about making updates, sprucing it up, and reorganizing the content. We started by converting the site from a standard HTML site to a content management system. We proceeded to fine-tune and build content. Then, we made the overall page wider to better fit today's larger wide-screens.

a.  Case Studies, not Projects
Originally, all of the featured projects were contained under "Projects."  Each project had a few pictures, and you would need to visit 5 or 6 different pages just to see all of the projects.  During the site renovation, we changed "Projects" to "Case Studies."  A slight tweak in the menu makes a big change in overall perception.

b.  Tabbed Content
For the "Case Studies" and "Products" sections, we added a nifty feature called "AJAX Tabs" to help organize and present the content.  These tabs allowed us to add lots of content without making you scroll 3 or 4 miles down the page to see it all.  Nice!

c.  Search & Site Map
Let's make it as easy as possible for people to navigate the site.  For those who can't manage the newly simplified navigation menu, let's add a quick and easy site search function.  Studies show that half of all web surfers use Search instead of menus - is your site this easy to navigate?

d.  Client Login
We also added a "Client Login" capability to the site.  For starters, having a client login on your site will impress people.  Even if it's not functional.  However, the SS Buildings client login IS functional, and it's a great tool for collaborating with clients and partners - sharing files, information, and more.   A small investment in your company's technology can improve productivity and deliver a great ROI.

 

View Site:

www.ssbuildings.com

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"It was time for the Lambertville House to update its web site. After listening to a presentation by Nate Covington at the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, I decided to break with tradition and work with a new web builder. My objectives were quite clear, I wanted to streamline the site and increase search engine optimization. After meeting with Nate I was confident that he was going to work hard to understand what was needed to communicate our message to our customers. Nate was a patient listener and it was obvious from the start of the project that he wanted to make sure the finished product would exceed my expectations. The professionalism, attention to detail and overall quality of work has been a pleasure. Nate has provided guidance and useful tools to enhance and promote our site in an easy to understand format. I highly recommend Covington Creations and Nate who is reliable and creative. We look forward to a long standing working relationship."
- Mary Ellen Mason, Proprietor, Lambertville House

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We felt the first thing that had to go was the daunting navigation menu because was too long and wordy to let people make easy choices.

Before:

After:

We wanted to keep the existing look & feel, but made a few changes:

a.  Breadcrumbs
We added "breadcrumbs" to the top of every page; that way, visitors have a quick and simple way to navigate the site.  Plus, it gives plenty of extra text links for the search engines to enjoy.  Best of all, the breadcrumb menu is automatically generated by the custom-tailored content management system that powers the site.

b.  Lightbox (Thumbnails)
Throughout the site, there are small thumbnails that enlarge to show a full-size picture.  The best part?  They're also automatically generated by our fancy control panel.  Want to swap out the pictures?  Just upload new ones to a folder on the web server and, bang.  Done.

c.  Blog.  RSS Feeds.  Social Bookmarking.
We added an Announcements section to the Lambertville House site and equipped it with all of the latest goodies.  First, adding content regularly to the site will feed Google wonderful content to chew up and help gain exposure for the site.  Second, social bookmarking links on all of the new articles allow viewers to share the articles through services like Facebook, Digg, Technorati, and Del.icio.us.  The best part?  You guessed it.  Automatically generated by the CMS software.

d.  Search, Site Map
Let's make it as easy as possible for people to navigate the site.  For those who can't manage the newly simplified navigation menu, let's add a quick and easy site search function.  Studies show that half of all web surfers use Search instead of menus.  Also, the site map gives visitors a hierarchal view of the content while feeding Google some more links.

View Site:
www.lambertvillehouse.com

This is part 2 of my "Maximizing Google's Free Services" series. In case you missed the first one, it was about Google Alerts.

Did you know that you can often use Google's "Cached" feature to look at an archived version of a web page? It often comes in handy if you accidentally delete something from a site that needs to be recovered. To use the feature, simply click on the "Cached" link below any Google search result:

Since I spent most of last night reinstalling Windows XP on my MacBook Pro, I figured I'd toss a friendly "how to" article on here to possibly help other people out who find themselves in the same situation: In order to use SP3 with Boot Camp, you need to install Boot Camp 2.1 (Drivers, etc) on the Windows XP Installation FIRST. Note: This does not affect the "Boot Camp Assistant" which is loaded on OSX.

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bootcampupdate21forwindowsxp.html

Last week's post about using Google Alerts was a great lead-in for today's post: A real-life example of how using Google Alerts can keep you ahead of the curve:

I've decided to do a bunch of articles on how to use Google to build your business.  And this article is applicable for any business; it doesn't matter if you have a web site or not...

This first article will explain Google Alerts - how it works, how you can use it, and why you should have been doing it months ago.  

Google has started suggesting searches on their home page, as well as their new browser, Chrome:

The Power of Suggestion:

1. Less spelling issues - If you can't spell a word, enter the first few letters and Google will probably spit out the word you're thinking of.
2. More Generic Searches - Now that the popular search phrases are going to bubble to the top, people will be less likely to actually think of their own searches.
3. More Money for Google - Since people aren't thinking of their own searches, businesses who advertise on Google are going to be forced to bid on the most popular keywords, paying inflated prices for clicks.  This is examined in detail in this blog post.

(I've been using this feature in Firefox for quote some time now...)

[edit: 08-09 CBCC Ambassadors are featured in the W4 March-April edition - click here]

I'm honored to have been chosen to be an "Ambassador" for the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce. If you're not yet a member, please put my name in the "Referred by" field at the bottom of the form. (Here is a PDF with my name already on it for your convenience.)  Also, sign up between 9/17 and 10/31 and they will waive the $30 processing fee.

Joining the Chamber in May '07 was a great idea for me.  Initially, I did it for the health insurance coverage, but after getting involved by attending workshops, business card exchanges, and even helping out with a few seminars... the $200/year membership fee has paid for itself many times over.