Google API + Code Thievery

Just recently while scrolling through the blog of David Mihm (another Portland based web designer) I decided to look at his source code. David was using some AJAX code that I had never seen before and it seemed that he got it from the Google API. Now the Google API is a kind of repository of knowledge for programmers and web designers alike. Much of it has to do with how to create better applications and making the web much more interactive. Yay for Google.

What intrigued me about David’s use of the Google API was that he was pulling feed sources from other sites and services with his Google supplied AJAX code. Well in true web designer fashion I stole his code and learned how to manipulate it (eventually going through the API process with Google myself and getting my own feed code) and add it to my own site. In the end I pointed the AJAX code towards my RSS feed and there you have it, a ‘Recent Blog Posts’ in the footer section on becomeunleashed.com right next to my Twitter feed.

This handy little AJAX snippet not only will entice my viewers/potential-clients to read my blog, but it also (inadvertently) might cause them to click on the Google AdSense adds or the affiliate programs that I have set up. The only down-side that I can see is that the AJAX code does not validate with the W3. I like to keep all of my sites W3 friendly, however, I’m willing to give a little on this one.

So the benefit of code stealing is learning quickly, however you really should go through the process of finding how to do it yourself. Here’s to you David Mihm!

Feed Your Site

The web has been evolving for sometime now. The implementation of different kids of ‘feeds’ is commonplace. You might have a flickr feed that streams to your website or have your RSS feed linked directly to your site, maybe even twitter streams off site via the Twitter API. Having feeds run through your site allows search engines to see that your page is being updated whenever you update the feed. This is just one of many ways in which a feed from an off site can help your search engine ranking.

Having an off-site feed stacked with relevant content that links back to you and and your organization can pay off huge. For instance, David Mihm has the system down perfect. By having the Google getFeed API, David has managed to stream three important off site feeds directly into his website. In those feeds he writes articles about how to improve search engine optimization and search engine ranking.

The idea behind a feed is to show the world that you have a lot of knowledge about what it is that you do. If I were a baker, my feeds could consist of recipes, ingredients, and foods. By streaming a feed into your site you give your audience more opportunities to not only experience what it is that you have to offer but to become part of your ever growing web of influence.

Now you might ask, isn’t that what I have my blog for?

You are absolutely right. However a few off-site feeds might be able to increase your ranking because major search engines will see that off-site traffic, which is relevant to your business, is linking back to your site. It’s really just that simple.

Local SEO

Recently there has been a movement in the web community to SEO their clients sites for Google Maps local business center. The local business center is a list of 10 business names, sorted by search criteria, at the top of a Google search result. Getting to the top of this list is a long and hard road. This list represents the top ten businesses in a geographical area based on a viewer’s search criteria.

Ways to Improve Local SEO

Begin Your Listing ~ Its very easy. Just log into the Google Local Business Center with your own personal ID and password and fill out the form.

Relevant Title ~ Try to get a relevant title in your Google Local Business Center listing. For instance, when listing my business I entered it as ‘Unleashed – Portland Web Design and Development’.

Geo Meta Tags ~ Add Some Geo Tags to your site. This allows Google Maps to further pinpoint your business geographically.
You can read up on Geo Tags so you can understand where to put them and what information to put in them.

Complete the Listing ~ When you’re filling out the information in the Google Local Business Center, make sure you mention some of the benefits of dealing with your business. These fields are meant for customers to learn a little something about your business. For instance, I mentioned my hourly rate, whether or not there was parking available, and a little something about web design.

There are similar local business solutions on Bing! and Yahoo! Following these steps should help increase your online visibility and drive more local searchers to your business, shop, or office.

The Future is Here: HTML5

I’ve just finished writing this wonderful article about HTML5 (which will not be entirely support until 2021) and I realized that technology moves waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too fast. However, communication between people and various contents was sped up with the beginning of the ‘word-wide-web’, so its up to us as developers to stay ahead of the curve.

I think there are some really great new applications for web and web browsing (both on and off-line) to warrant a gradual shift to a new web standard. Although, most of us don’t really have the time to stay ahead of the constantly moving curve.

So stay sharp developers, search engine optimizers, and designers, the future has arrived and we have to make the time to keep up with it.

Really Useful CSS Tools

If you’re even the most novice of web designers you know that CSS is our bread and butter. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are what we use to apply graphics and layouts to XHTML, PHP, and .NET. I learned how to write CSS by hand however, there are some pretty amazing tools that can help you with your coding:

• SpeckyBoy.com: 50 Useful Tools for Generating CSS
• SmashingMagazine.com: 50 Useful Tools for Generating CSS
• W3Avenue.com: List of Really Useful Tools for CSS Developers

However, I must caution that you shouldn’t let a CSS tool replace your practical coding abilities. I’ve seen many a developer that was asked to custom build something when the relied too heavily on a tool for too long.