Using hidden keywords to increase SEO

Bad idea!

These pages are visible only to a search crawler and contain keywords hidden within the body of a web page, sometimes in a small font and in a colour that perfectly matches the websites background.

If you have a website and it contains hidden pages, it's just a matter of time before the crawler figures out that the content is part of a hidden SEO strategy, and once that's determined by the crawler, your site ranking will drop drastically.

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Using Flash and its effect on SEO

Flash is a nightmare with it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Although Flash is very cool and visually pleasing, it can stop a web crawler in its tracks, and once it is stopped, the crawler won't resume indexing your site. Instead, it will simply move on to the next website on its list.

The easiest way to avoid Flash problems is to simply not use it. If, despite all this, your client needs to implement it in their website, then you can code the Flash in HTML and an option can be added to test for the ability to see Flash before it is executed.

There is some debate about whether this is acceptable SEO practice, so before you implement this strategy to improve SEO take some time to research the method.

Visit http://www.savantcreative.co.za and find out how to build an effective SEO website.

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Free Photoshop Brushes

Needing to spruce up a background in Photoshop I cam across this awesome site. http://www.brusheezy.com a place for artists to download and vote for the best custom Photoshop brushes and Photoshop patterns on the internet! This site is updated every day with new brushes for Photoshop so check back often and submit your own!

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Stopping Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement can happen to you, too. If you are writing original content on your site it is very likely that someone will come along and copy your content without your permission.

It is important for you to spend a little time checking for copyright infringement on your original articles. One way to do this is to pull a unique phrase from your article and search for it on the web. If other people are using your copy, it is likely that your unique phrase will pop up in the search results.

This manual method is very time consuming if you have a large amount of content and articles. One web based service http://www.copyscape.com is a free service to search for content found on a specific URL. The results are usually accompanied by links to search other pages on your site.

Another service you can use to monitor or search for copyright infringement is CyberAlert http://www.cyberalert.com.

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Invest in yourself

Think about it... how great a painter do you think you could become if you painted a still-life, even a simple one, six out of seven days per week for one year? How skilled an artist could you become if you spent that time drawing a self-portrait or creating abstract works of colour? How far could your skills evolve if you made it a firm goal design one logo per day. Dare you imagine?

What might happen if you committed yourself to a determined amount of time that was invested solely to improving your graphic design growth?

Could you? Should you? When? Now!

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Design that inspires

Keeping your designs fresh, interesting and original is an integral part of growing as a professional designer. Make time to view other designers works in the form of design magazines, publications, exhibitions or even workshops.

I find it extremely inspiring to go down to my local book store where I head straight to the art section and page through the many awsome publications in new media and contemporary design.

This interaction not only keeps me up to date with design trends and thoughts but the quality of work published inspires me to grown and be better as a professional designer.

Make note of the use of space, the use of typography, colour combinations, flow of direction, textures, photographic effects, moods, feelings and layout. You may find one or more elements in the works viewed, will inspire you when you tackle your next project.

Thanks to all the great designers out there that produce the quality work that inspires!

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The connection of website design

The future of design definitely doesn't lie in discipline such as web design alone. I believe it lies in the connection of design, architecture, moving images etc...

The web doesn't allow for many things due to its limitations of the screen and browser, but what it can do is to combine many different things and turn them into one and that's the strength of it.

No picture on a site will ever be as impressive as a printout of the same design on large format. It's movement, interaction, the idea of being connected and sound that make the web special.

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Vector vs Rastor

When designing a corporte identity - logo - there is no cardinal rule in what software package you should use to get your concept to something visual.

For some logo examples goto http://www.savantcreative.co.za/index.php?option=com_digifolio&catid=5&Itemid=5

I am more old school and believe in the term "less is more" so my initial concepts for the logo are one dimentional and usually consist of two complementary colours, which are drawn up on a 'vector based 'programme, such as Freehand. This programme uses points, lines and curves and are best used in CAD work. Being a vector file it can easily be scaled up without losing any quality.

On occasion I feel the need to take the logo a step further and assign some form of 3D. In this instance, I import my vector file into a 'rastor' programme such as Photoshop. This programme works as an array of pixels and is best used in photographic work. Bear in mind when designing or enhancing a logo in this programme, it is best to keep your pixels/inch resolution 300 pixels or above. By implementing this hi resolution you will keep your detail of your logo when scaling up.

There are instances when working with 'vector based' programmes is best practice, and instances when working with 'raster based' programmes is best practice. There are times when both formats come together.

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Selling to an audience of experts

Every time you design a logo, brochure, poster or advertisement, remember this: You are selling to an audience of experts. That's right, no matter how simple or complex the subject matter is, a large portion of the audience for that piece will know their product top to bottom, inside and out. It's their thing.

When you begin a project, take the time to familiarise yourself with the product being presented. Learn about it's history, its projected future, it's success and failures. Ask your client for links and literature.

This process will not only give you the background you need to communicate to the target audience, it can also provide you with a depth of visual and conceptual possibilities that you can access when it comes time to create.

For more information goto http://www.savantcreative.co.za or skype:savantcreative

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Blog from your iPhone

How to post an article to Twitter, Facebook, Tumbler, Blogger, FriendFeed, to name a few - simutaneously - while using your iPhone?

Impressive and so simple to setup and not to mention the impact it can generate in your websites SEO marketing strategy.

By integrating Posterous http://www.posterous.com and using any email enabled phone, this seamless update of information can be implemented in the palm of your hand.

For more handy hints visit http://www.savantcreative.co.za

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