Last month we took a look at when to use 301 redirects (and when NOT to use them). Many times, a 404 not found page / response is the better option.

However, a generic 404 not found page is not a good thing. Sure, the search engines don’t care either way, but your website is not built for the search engines, it’s built for your visitors…

Something as simple as a file name can easily cause problems with a website. Whether it’s an image that appears to be missing, a web page that shows HTML code, or an error on the website – these problems can all stem from a file name.

Many computer users are familiar with backing up their files, whether it’s photos on their home computer, or files on their website – but usually the urge to back up files occurs just after you lose something. It’s just like saving all the phone numbers on your cell phone – when does the thought about saving them come to mind? That’s right – just after your phone turns into a paperweight!

This article will touch on a few tips regarding how to easily back up and restore some of the most edited files on a ShopSite store – the templates.

Google loves to make the web a faster place. They are obsessed with fast websites. So obsessed that they’ve made page speed one of the ranking factors for their search index (but remember there are over 200 ranking factors, so it’s not the end-all and be-all of search ranking).

And now Google has released an add-on for web servers (Apache) that aims to make websites even faster.

Meta Tags. Those bothersome tags in the header region of every html page. Are they important? Which ones should you use? How does Google view them?

Just about every website has some form of a “contact us” page. They can range from a simple email address, a web form, or full blown contact details. Many times they are lacking crucial information that customers and potential customers require in order to make a purchase, ask a question, or obtain customer service.

Here are a few tips to make your contact us page as good as it can be.

For the last few years, it’s been a two man race between Internet Explorer and Firefox. The two web browsers have been the heavyweights in terms of the most popular browsers that people use on the net.

That’s all starting to change, thanks to Google…

Facebook has recently announced their new “Like” button that can be added to any page. This is BIG NEWS in the Social Media arena, and since Facebook is on the same level as Google in terms of its popularity and use, it would be silly to ignore these new developments.

Merchant Corner, a web design and development company that specializes in ecommerce and ShopSite websites, is currently running a Promotion for their Sprout Commerce ShopSite solution. Merchant Corner works with a number of our clients, and I had the chance to ask Eamon Rodeck a few questions about design and how it relates to ecommerce…

Ever since Google announced they are measuring site performance as a test in Webmaster tools, site owners have been preoccupied with how Google will use this data in terms of SEO. Last week a prominent Google employee stated it’s not really a ranking factor. But don’t ignore this important factor, as Google is not the one paying the bills…