DQSupport » Web

Solutions for Content Heavy Websites

David Quigley — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:35:43 +0000

A while ago I read this article entitle, 25 Content Heavy Websites with Beautiful Structure, Layout and Hierarchy. Unfortunately it wasn’t as helpful as I had hoped, given the title of the blog post. Most of the pages he referenced in the article are no where near the volume of information on the most content heavy page I work on www.moody.edu, so I wasn’t able to quite get much helpful information as I wanted to get.

Are there any other articles or books on designing content heavy websites out there that are worth a read?

An idea for a website template – SHIPPED!!!

David Quigley — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 03:42:11 +0000

Here is an idea I had for a website template. After working on it for a while and being dissatisfied with it I put it aside. But as I’ve been reading Linchpin, I’m realizing that it’s important to ship, even when it’s not perfect because at least then I’ve done something, I can learn from it, and I haven’t completed wasted my idea and time. So with out further ado, here it is: (full size image here)

Beginning Web Optimization 101

David Quigley — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:30:06 +0000

I sent this post out a few weeks back in my newsletter, but I thought it would be worthwhile to re-post it here.

Optimization deals with making or choosing the best of something, and with Web Optimization that’s what we are aiming for, the best of web pages.

It’s very possible to improve your conversion rates, ROI, and customer satisfaction through the process of Web Optimization, and in this newsletter we’re going to begin to talk about that process and the first step.

Measure…Test…Improve…Repeat!

Measure

The first step in Web Optimization is being able to measure several important details of the web page or website you are trying to improve. That’s what we are going to cover in this edition of our newsletter.

Google Analytics

While there are many tools for doing this, Google Analytics is the most comprehensive free tool that will get you going with the most crucial ingredients to successful Web Analytics and then Optimization.

Step 1: A Google Account

If you don’t already have a Google account (i.e. gmail) you’ll need to get one from here. You can register an external email account (i.e. info@dqsupport.com) as the username, so you don’t necessarily have to get a gmail account to do this. Additionally this is a free account, so you don’t have to worry about paying for any of this.

Step 2: Get the tracking codes from Google Analytics

This part is really self-explanatory if you just follow the instructions once you log into your Google Analytics account which can be found here.

Step 3: Insert the tracking Codes from Google Analytics in your page

This part is the most complex part, and it’s best to follow the instructions that Google gives, or find someone to help you with it. We do these kinds of setups for our clients frequently and it’s not a complicated process, it’s just different for each website. If you’re using a self-hosted WordPress blog, you can check out this blog post we did about how to get it to work with WordPress easily using 2 plug-ins here.

Step 4: Wait for results from Google Analaytics to appear

Getting results back from Google Analytics will take a little time. I usually recommend giving it about 24 hours, and then look back for the information.

Step 5: QA

Start looking through the results for any interesting information or outplace information. Now the fun part begins. First you should check to make sure the traffic they are showing seems reasonable with any other information you may have on this already. This would also be a good time if you use Google Adwords, to make sure that information is being pulled in so you can do some advance testing and measuring later. And just take the time to look around the tool because there’s a lot to take in and learn!

Enjoy!!!

Migrating between versions of mySQL

David Quigley — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 03:56:24 +0000

I’ve just updated this site from mySQL 4.0 to mySQL 5.0 in order to update WordPress to the newest version. If you notice any problems with the site, I’d love to know about it!

You can always email me at dquigley@dqsupport.com

Thanks!

Comments are back on

David Quigley — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:56:51 +0000

Per the request of one of my great friends, Chuck, I’ve turned comments back on in this site. I had turned them off for some time, because I didn’t feel they were necessary, but I’m relenting and turning them back on again.

Chuck, you got your wish!

Google Analytics and WordPress

David Quigley — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:42:07 +0000

I was just sharing with a friend today the two tools I’ve found most useful for using Google Analytics with WordPress.

1. Google Analytics for WordPress

The title of this one says it all. Just insert your tracking code and you’ll be working in no time!

2. Google Analytics Dashboard WordPress Widget

This tool is great because it intergrates the information from your Google Analytics account directly into wordpress so you can get the overview of your site traffic on your dashboard as well as page details when you look at each page in the listing. Great for keeping your eye on page and site traffic quickly as well as putting it in front of everyone.

Tools I’m looking for…

Now if you know of a good plugin for these tools I’d love to know (I’ve tried several, so it’s not that I haven’t looked for all of them already).

Google Web Site Optimizer tool (easy integration of Google multivariant and A/B testing in WordPress
A plugin that will allow me to modify the entire page layout of the site, not just content like Google’s tool does
An excellent calendar tool
A registration tool that allows downloads based on a password, but not using any login/username. Just the password. And the ability to track downloads would be great too!

Any ideas or suggestions, let me know, and i hope my short list points you in the right direction for your next or current wordpress project!