Thread: 8 Months to Get this

Thank you kindly for your viewing and constructive comments.

This is the culmination of 8 months of BV exposure and is my first website. I had no idea it would grow into 34 pages, and counting (as we are aiming for the Russian market as well).

Most of the content is from my brain (logos, banners, all flash goo-gahs, text, appearance, etc.) I did not use a template but tried my own flair. I am also designing the company logo and ID program. Actually, the boss had me quit teaching English and hired me as a full time General Manager for Marketing and Website care. That's okay by me! No more visa runs, yipee!

As to using my index page as a flash intro, I addressed my concerns about being crawled by the Google bots by adding a text menu at the very bottom in an indiscreet way, but so not as to appear like I was cheating (hiding it under a layer, etc). Additionally, I disagree with anyone who says that flash intros are caustic to a web site's ranking potential simply because people do not like being subjected to the intro each time they visit. That is why I added a "skip intro" button.

Two or Three pages have yet to be completed, but go ahead and look at the others. The Gallery and Testimonials page will probably draw some comments due to its large content, but I did not add the "cache limiter" html code since I want people's hard drives to remember it for a quick upload the next time they visit it. And so...

Have at it and please ask questions if something seems out of sorts. I appreciate errors being pointed out, but also like to explain things from an artistic point of view if that be the case.

I will be most interested in how I did the html codes, filing them in the correct places, and my public_html folder, etc.

Thanks all...

John

http://www.progresslanguage.com

Hello again

I wanted to add that since Google will take a bit of time to crawl my pages, I am in the careful but hurried up process of optimizing things I am becoming aware of, such as:
-Changing the page names to reflect the actual content of that page, which about.com states is more important than text keywords since your page name is the leading item in a Google search results page.
-Adding my Russian page for my Russian visitors to get informed about our Student Visa processes and great price. This will require a modified menu bar, which will in turn require a modified text menu, etc etc.
-checking to remove any "click here" items in my texts and embedding them instead for smooth, relevant text flow that is uninterupted by the "click-me's".
-Later to get down to the lengthy and meticulous process of renaming all images to be relevant to the page they are on. This will take some time, but Google apparently give me that time, so I may as well be doing this while waiting. I just hope that re-submitting does not place me at the back of the queue, although better late and in tip top condition than early and tattered.

I am discovering that it is not simply the human viewers that I need to give attention and thought to when creating and publishing and optimizing a website, but also the Google algorithms that I need to learn how to please when I go through the motions to form a dynamic and fluid chemistry between my web site and Google's system of acceptance and approval and ranking.

Next I hope to get these sorted out and re-submit to Google with a new sitemap that takes my new page into consideration.

'hope this makes sense

Hi, Site looks fine but a bit slow on the loading on some pages
Would reduce the background image from 200 to around 70kb if this is what you need to use. “Progress - Home to Your Educational Needs” as a title? Not sure anyone would enter this as a search in google. This is the same on most pages.
Far too many distractions flashing & blinking on the pages if you want a visitor to read the page. (7 just on the front page)& 12-13 on this one.
But it will get there.

Thank you for the comments, C.I. I am curious if the "Text Art" is seen as legitimate text by the Google bots, or simply as shapes, etc? Anyone know?

I plan on reducing the size of the left hand items by about 1/3 once I get other things settled in. From an artistic standpoint, this will have to do for the time being, yet your comment on the "busy-ness" is noted and I can understand your frame of view.

Good point on the text header as well. I plan to go back in on another wave of attack and re-do all of the text per SEO specifications as laid out in this forum and Google and about.com, etc. Good stuff no doubt but I am finding that most of my learning happens after the fact. Best way, I suppose since there are so many variables. I kind of feel like General McClellan, who never felt quite ready to go into battle, and was quite over-prepared, and it was finally Lincoln who told him to get off his duff and go fight. I hope that makes sense.

Think of all the variables that a visitor would enter to find your site A use this in your headers & keywords. (Assuming they are also within the pages text)

Sorry John, but your Gallery & testimonials page took so long to load that I didn,t wait....
david

Thanks, ahimsa! This appears to be an issue that will haunt me. I think I will divide the two items into separate pages in order to reduce the load content. I will also cut back on the songs as background entertainment. 1st time all all that, eh wot?

Thanks also to CI for the added keyword ideas. This is good stuff, and I appreciate the time you are taking to give your thoughts.

Regards,

John

Hi John,

Beautifully done.

Comment:

The font color of your menu bar at the bottom of the page is too dark and not very visible. It will stand out with a light pastel color.

Your progress tag line at the bottom of the page does not sound right or catchy enough.

Patience has it's rewards. Waiting 8 months to be different and unique is not a wasted waiting period.

Originally Posted by John K.

As to using my index page as a flash intro, I addressed my concerns about being crawled by the Google bots by adding a text menu at the very bottom in an indiscreet way, but so not as to appear like I was cheating (hiding it under a layer, etc). Additionally, I disagree with anyone who says that flash intros are caustic to a web site's ranking potential simply because people do not like being subjected to the intro each time they visit. That is why I added a "skip intro" button.

As a matter of fact, the very reason you question in later posts in this thread about the time being taken for your site to be properly indexed and evaluated is a direct result of your inattention to your site Index page entirely: your site is deemed in 'non-compliance' by the current Google standards, not because you delineated the Flash into to a lesser role of "Flash element" (due to being embedded rather than precursor to the index page itself), but because you have improperly stacked simple 'META' without any bearing relevance whatsoever.

For instance, this is what you have currently entered into simple page META:
<title>Welcome to Progress Language and Computer School</title>
<meta name="KEYWORDS" content="student,visa,language,school,pattaya">

Because the only real text on the Index page is "Language and Computer School" located in the header (the use of the BV Logomaker for "Progress" has transformed this into an image, which is not valued by the SE's according to the labels BV creates them with), even your Index Page Title is weakly established and falls well below the 40% threshold.

NONE of your Key Word entries are anchored or relevant, and immediately defaults the SE's into a punitive mode.

Your Page Description is completely irrelevant without any minimal standard constructs being present in other (preferred, simple 'META') entries, and only aggrivates any potential penalties.

Since the SE's cannot get past the Index page of your website without finding any acceptable valuations of compliance, your entire site suffers as a result, and the longer it goes without correction, the harder it will be to resolve satisfactorily .....

I suggest you add an Introductory paragraph under your Flash intro area with the composed Content to provide anchors and real relevance for any simple 'META' you are allowed to identify as soon as possible!

Why squander "8 months" over simple Core Standard compliance?

Thank you Vasilli! I really appreciate this. I will get right on it!
John

Okay. I added the intro paragraph and modified the meta info to correlate with it and got it published. This should not affect my sitemap since I haven't added or deleted pages. I hope this is per Google spec/compliance standards. I also hope I beat the bots to the punch!

I sure do feel like a thick brick at times. This has been a humbling experience, but please keep the critiques coming. I sure was proud of this when I posted it, and now I am getting all sorts of feedback I was not expecting (boo hoo... LOL). Seriously, thank you all and especially Vasilli. I know you are busy beyond belief.

John

Originally Posted by zuriatman

Hi John,

Beautifully done.

Comment:

The font color of your menu bar at the bottom of the page is too dark and not very visible. It will stand out with a light pastel color.

Your progress tag line at the bottom of the page does not sound right or catchy enough.

Patience has it's rewards. Waiting 8 months to be different and unique is not a wasted waiting period.

Thank you so much, zuriatman! It is a reward in itself to get a compliment, yet the medicine without the sugar coating is just as welcome. I am an old-timer and my mother and grandmother used to shovel the spoon of ipecac in my mouth when I was ailing. I hated it, but I always felt better afterwards, although the cherry flavor was tops for me as a kid.

"You'll Be Okay With PROGRESS" is a slogan that my boss likes. She wants the "Okay" word to go with the hand symbol. Funny thing is; here in Thailand almost every ad sign and business does not have a symbol; only words. I've got to go with what she wants in order to keep the rice and chicken on the table.

I like your light pastel color idea and I will incorporate that when I make my next wave attack on the pages. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

John

OK, John, as an English Teacher building a language school website, you're going to love this:

Home page: This is a required course for anyone from Thailand wishing to immigrate and live in The Netherlands.

IMMigrate = coming into a new country
EMigrate = leaving your home country

ergo I believe you should be saying: ..."wishing to emigrate..."

...stay cool...
david

that is one good looking site!

Originally Posted by ahimsa

OK, John, as an English Teacher building a language school website, you're going to love this:

Home page: This is a required course for anyone from Thailand wishing to immigrate and live in The Netherlands.

IMMigrate = coming into a new country
EMigrate = leaving your home country

ergo I believe you should be saying: ..."wishing to emigrate..."

...stay cool...
david

Eksalint poynt! I emeedeeatly fikst its! LOL

Seriously, though, thank you, ahimsa, for the heads-up! I forgot my em/out - im/in rule!

Keep'em rolling!

And, thank you, rivast, for your kind words!

John

hi john,
your website looks excellent, i am just building my own but i need it to look professional like yours, can you please tell me what program or software you used for the picture flash and the text flash thank you.

regards
vinsworld

Hello vinsworld! Thank you for the kind words. I believe that both of the items you are mentioning came from coffee cup flash firestarter. It is a neat little tool and very intuitive. The cost is fair for its usefulness. I hope it is ok to mention things we use. It has been awhile since I read the rules. Oh well! I mean well. Good luck!

thanks john the info realy helps.

You are quite welcome. You may also want to look into Xara 3D6 for very nice possibilities on Text and Text logo animation. I created my Inburgering Examens logo (Atlas holding a sphere with gyrating logo inside) using Xara 3D6. Have fun and good luck...

Hey John, nice site. I like the look and feel of it. Maybe you are interested in somehow working along side my new site since they are somewhat related but not in competition. Your site seems to be aimed more at Thailand while mine is aimed more towards China. Let me know, maybe we could work something out.

Thank you, Robert. I will keep your offer in mind for the time being. I will note it and contact you via PM later. Right now I am wrestling on another thread about getting a clear answer for having some copy/pasted Russian language correctly published through the BV system and it is galling me because I have no clear answer yet. But thanks nevertheless, and I will be in touch.

Originally Posted by John K.

Thank you, Robert. I will keep your offer in mind for the time being. I will note it and contact you via PM later. Right now I am wrestling on another thread about getting a clear answer for having some copy/pasted Russian language correctly published through the BV system and it is galling me because I have no clear answer yet. But thanks nevertheless, and I will be in touch.

>> http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/blu...languages.html

Cyrillic = UTF-8, Windows-1251 and ISO 8859-5

As a request to those who review my site; would you mind giving me a bit of feedback on how quickly the gallery and testimonials page loads?

I am still going forward with separating the two, as well as reducing the amount of music to choose from for enjoyment listening.

Much appreciation!

Originally Posted by John K.

As a request to those who review my site; would you mind giving me a bit of feedback on how quickly the gallery and testimonials page loads?

I am still going forward with separating the two, as well as reducing the amount of music to choose from for enjoyment listening.

Much appreciation!

Long time!

Yeah! I thought so. LOL. This brings me to wonder how many developers, who are new to the game, publish and subsequently discover that they have to go back to the drawing board. Hmmm! I think I am beginning to fit into that category. Being OCD doesn't help much unless I know exactly what is going on and know exactly what I need to do to fix it. On the other hand, publishing may be the best way to get the direct attention that one needs in order to discover the glitches and errors one needs in order to make those necessary improvements. I may let this thread slip into anonymity and come back in a few weeks with the new and improved version if that is acceptable(?). I think I will do that. The helpful comments I am getting are diamonds.
Thanks all!
John