While conducting research for a dating site, one of our web writers came across these popular search terms in Google, reflecting the state of modern relationships (and perhaps society at large):

While it’s generally known within the SEO industry, few business owners are aware the amount of years you register your domain name impacts its search engine rankings.

Need to renew soon? Look at it as an opportunity.

The logic is based on the view that most spammy sites are fly-by-night operations. They show up, scam people, and disappear (either by choice or they get knocked of Google’s index). On the other hand, legitimate businesses plan on sticking around for a long time, and register domains accordingly. One of the reasons might be to ensure the domain name doesn’t lapse and become available on the open market.

Rest assured this isn’t a rumour. In fact, it’s documented in patent applications filed by Google. Here are some relevant claims taken directly from the patent #20050071741:

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When you’re creating or revamping your web content, be sure to periodically ask yourself: “Does my audience care?”

If the answer is no, you’re headed down a slippery slope. That’s because web content should speak to and cater to the visitor – not the business owner, designer, developer, programmer, or your spouse. Indeed, the consumer is the true king of the Web.

To help achieve useful web content, you need to define not only what content will be published, but why you’re publishing it in the first place.

Self-centric jargon just gets in the way. Visitors want to know how you can help them. So tell them.

Don’t waste their time with we-driven copy. Respect your online guests.

The colours you choose to represent your business say a lot about you, suggests Juliette Schmerler of SPECTRAMEDIA Strategic Design Solutions.

“Politicians, fashion designers and brand managers pay serious attention to colour trends and colour psychology,” she said.

And so should you. After all, she explained, colour can play a large part in how your audience reacts to you. But be aware choice of colour isn’t just about personal preference.

“There are some colours that are rather obviously associated with particular industries, such as blue for water companies and green for environmental agencies,” noted Schmerler. “However, the choice of warm versus cool colours can also play a part in our perceptions.”

As an example, the Vancouver website and graphics designer explained owners of a bed and breakfast could opt for the coziness of browns, burgundies and mustard yellow in their marketing materials. In contrast, they might want to create an ultra-modern, sleek look with silver, teal blue and crisp white — all very cool colours.

“It is also important to find colours that reflect your company image while differentiating you from your competition,” she stated, making reference to major banks. “Chances are most of us could quite easily tell you which colour each one is associated with: CIBC, red; Royal Bank, blue; TD, green.

“It’s no coincidence that they have chosen very distinct colours to differentiate themselves,” she said. “Ultimately, your choice of colour will be influenced by your company’s goals, philosophy and the image you want to portray.”

So her number one rule when it comes to colours in design? Do not use colour without a specific plan or goal.

Colour Symbolism and Psychology

Assorted sources suggest these interpretations of colour:

• RED: urgency, passion, heat, love, blood
• PURPLE: wealth, royalty, sophistication, intelligence
• BLUE: truth, dignity, power, coolness, melancholy, heaviness
• BLACK: death, rebellion, strength, evil
• WHITE: purity, cleanliness, lightness, emptiness
• YELLOW: warmth, cowardice, brightness
• GREEN: nature, health, cheerfulness, environment, money, vegetation

Dreamweaver is dying, or so suggested Tom Arah in a PC Pro blog.

He wrote: “The problem is that Dreamweaver is dying…to be fair it’s not Dreamweaver’s fault. Nor is the problem Adobe and its development team — the last Dreamweaver CS4 version was the most impressive release in years.

“The real problem for Dreamweaver and for its users is that the nature of the Web is changing dramatically. Dynamically-generated web applications, from Amazon right down to the humble blog, all offer much more — in-built commenting, voting, RSS feeds, etc. — than the best sites built on static HTML can ever hope to provide.

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Planning to launch or overhaul your website, but can’t figure out what software to use? If you want to take control of your website and its content, a Content Management System (CMS) might be for you. But what then should you look for in a CMS?

Features are an important element of the CMS selection process, but per an informative CMS article in Smashing Magazine, you should also consider items such as licensing, support, accessibility, security and training.

“Don’t let your list of requirements become a wish list,” warns author Paul Boag. “Keep your requirements to a minimum, but at the same time keep an eye on the future.”

You can go with the most popular CMS systems, such as Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress. Or, you can hire programmers to build a special custom-made CMS that specifically caters to your business model. Web information authority Alexa reveals most of the top 100,000 websites use custom CMS solutions.

Many web developers snub the general one-size-fits-all CMS route, but when open source communities offer you free and powerful solutions, it can be alluring. Perhaps, in rare circumstances, businesses don’t have to ‘pay to play’.

Your brand on the Web goes far beyond logos and colours. The digital experience your website provides visitors heavily shapes perception.

In fact, your brand is what your visitors talk about to friends, family and peers after they use your website, products or services. And it can be negative or positive.

The scary thing for businesses on and off the Web is that people tend to talk a lot more about negative experiences than the positive.

Consider all the times you’ve dined at restaurants. How many times have you or others around you complained to a manager? And now think about how many times you or the people at your table asked to speak to the manager to give praise?

Your online brand is created with every single click, image and word. So be sure to treat your visitors with respect.

At the end of the day, their perception is reality.

RegistryPro, the exclusive operator of the .Pro top-level domain (TLD) on the Internet, reported recently it has seen momentous growth in the total number of .pro domain name registrations, thanks to expanded eligibility guidelines.

.Pro domains comprise the first and only domain name extension catered to professionals and professional entities worldwide.

“We effectively made .pro available to tens of millions of professionals and entities worldwide,” said Catherine Sigmar, general manager of RegistryPro. “And, we have had some excellent partners like Network Solutions join us. Given Network Solutions’ position in the top echelon of registrars worldwide, they are in a unique position to maximize the penetration of the .Pro TLD.”

So, your shiny new website marketing copy is finally in place. Congratulations! Even better, that same marketing copy is starting to bring in business. (Must be all those precise keywords and cleverly phrased calls to action.)

Before you amortize your investment, consider how those carefully crafted words can work for your business in other places. Repurposing your website marketing copy will:

• Reinforce your brand identity
• Establish consistent messaging
• Increase customer recognition

It will also give you more than your money’s worth.

Here are 10 possible ways to repurpose your website marketing copy so it works overtime for your company, online and offline.

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Pepsi reportedly spent $1.2 billion over three years to give its products a facelift, including Pepsi’s new logo, which promotes the message ‘hope’.

It piggybacks on President Obama’s widely celebrated message of hope. And, per Michael Scherer’s article in Time, Pepsi’s hope messages are plastered throughout America’s capital.

Ironically, as the article reports, President Obama and his team are not necessarily fans of Pepsi.  They prefer Coke.

Perhaps Pepsi’s hoping the ads — created by Arnell — will steer Obama and his administration to “the new generation” of the colas.