Links and Articles
One thing that sets Circuit Riders apart from the majority of other business and technology consultants is our commitment to teaching our clients as much as possible about their websites. We always explain what we're doing and why, in terms of its significance to your business, and in the language of your industry and your field of expertise. It's one of the cornerstones of our company.
The following resources are for our clients and anyone else who finds them useful. We'll be adding more over time, so check back once in a while!
How To Develop a Website
- How to Learn Website Development, by Mary Ecsedy
- Why the Source Code Matters, by Mary Ecsedy
- The Bare Bones Guide to HTML – This is *THE* classic HTML reference lookup by Kevin Werbach. Although it references HTML 4.0, which is slightly out of date (HTML elements are now all lower-case, for example), this is still a great quick lookup reference.
- Getting Started with HTML, by Dave Raggett – This and the following two articles by Dave are also classics.
- More Advanced HTML, by Dave Raggett
- Adding a Touch of Style, by Dave Raggett
- HTML Beginner's Guide
- HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 Reference – Another good tag lookup reference
- W3C Markup Validation Service
- Google's Webmaster Help Center
How to Use Cascading Style Sheets
Cascading Style Sheets ("CSS") are used to maintain the styles and page layouts of your website instead of frames, nested tables, or doing it all in Flash. This is the only rational way to work, and it's surprisingly easy and fun once you get the hang of it. CSS allows you to be creative and expressive with website designs, while staying within technical limitations and creating valid source code. It's also economical: you can update the design and layout of your entire website by updating a single file.
- CSS Tutorial – Learn how to use CSS for layout, and be free forevermore of using nested tables!
- CSS Layouts
- Flexible Layouts with CSS Positioning, by Dug Falby
- CSS Zengarden – Be inspired by these beautiful designs, and see what's possible with CSS.
- HTML and CSS Working Example, by Mary Ecsedy
This is a working draft that you can use to learn how to create website HTML and CSS.
How to Use This File: When you click on this link you'll see the rendered version of the page in your browser. It's all colored boxes. Save your own copy of the underlying source code into a new file, and jump right in!
About Website Graphics
- Color Profiles for Website Images – If you are a graphic designer, this article describes why images viewed on the web may look different than they do to you on your color-managed monitor, and what to do about it.
Search Engine Optimization ("SEO") Basics
- Understanding SEO Basics,
by Mary Ecsedy
Provides an overview of Search Engine Optimization, including a Basic SEO Checklist. - What's a "bot"?, by Mary
Ecsedy
aka "spiders", "crawlers", etc. - Introduction to
Search Engine Optimization ("SEO") – Carnegie
Mellon University Lecture Notes, by Mary Ecsedy
This is Mary's SEO presentation from her SEO lecture on 10/12/2009 at Carnegie Mellon University.
Website Issues for Business Owners
- Common Business Website Problems
- How Much Does a Website
Cost?, by Mary Ecsedy
Answer: It depends. For a more detailed discussion, read this article. - Website Analysis for Business Intelligence – an Example – This is a real-life example that illustrates what we mean when we talk about taking your website to the next level, by analyzing your SEO data for its significance in terms of your business, and incorporating it into planning and operations.
- Using SEO for Business Intelligence – This article describes how to start analyzing your website and search engine data for business intelligence and competitive advantage.
- FREE DOWNLOAD: Website Owner's Log – Avoid Common Business Website Problems! Use this free Owner's Log to keep your Domain, Host, Analytics, and other website account login and password information organized and up-to-date. Courtesy of Circuit Riders, LLC
