Tag Archives: wordpress

Further Notes on H1 tags

Just a quick update on this subject. I would like to preface this with, I am by no means an SEO “guru” or marketer. However, I believe that to develop websites you have to to understand SEO and follow the best practices outlined by Google. So I try to incorporate current standards of optimization into both code and structure of the finished product, as well as in any content development of course.

One of the most important components of a page structure is the proper use of the “H” tags.  H in this case stands for headers and its just a delightful coincidence that they are hierarchical, which is indicated by the numbers 1-6 assigned to the H (H1, H2..H6) .  H1 being the most important header, and H6 being the least important.  Traditional page structure has been one H1 tag per page which is followed by content that. supported by varying headers (and supporting content) of lesser importance.

The changes in the rules on the H1 tag are due to the “new” structure and elements being used in HTML5, such as article,section and aside, as this article from tutsplus.com so eloquently explains.

Perhaps along with the new algorithms being released, there will be adjustments made, but it seems that mixing up a bunch of H1 tags on the same page, might still dilute the strength of what was explained to me by a real life SEO guru, as “the funnel” focus of the search engines on link and and page structure. It would seem that when evaluating a site, the search engine moves from point one to point two and if your structure isn’t clear, the crawler might not see your site or return results the way you would prefer. If you are wondering what the Hubub is about H1, another great article, by Kelsey Jones over at Search Engine Journal to help you further understand the importance of the H1 tag in the search results and the relevance of the related content to your visitors engagement, and your stats.

Finally, If you are like me, and wish to remove the H1 tags from widget titles, you will need to override the twentyfourteen sidebars in your child-theme function.php using “unregister_sidebar”, “remove_action”, and add_action, and then re-register them with the tags that you want:

function remove_twentyfourteen_widgets(){

unregister_sidebar( ‘sidebar-1’ );
unregister_sidebar( ‘sidebar-2’ );
unregister_sidebar( ‘sidebar-3’ );
}
add_action( ‘widgets_init’, ‘remove_twentyfourteen_widgets’, 11 );

function twentyfourteen_cms3_widgets_init() {

register_sidebar( array(
‘name’ => __( ‘Primary Sidebar’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘id’ => ‘sidebar-1’,
‘description’ => __( ‘Main sidebar that appears on the left.’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘before_widget’ => ‘<aside id=”%1$s” class=”widget %2$s”>’,
‘after_widget’ => ‘</aside>’,
‘before_title’ => ‘<h3 class=”widget-title”>’,
‘after_title’ => ‘</h3>’,
) );
register_sidebar( array(
‘name’ => __( ‘Content Sidebar’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘id’ => ‘sidebar-2’,
‘description’ => __( ‘Additional sidebar that appears on the right.’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘before_widget’ => ‘<aside id=”%1$s” class=”widget %2$s”>’,
‘after_widget’ => ‘</aside>’,
‘before_title’ => ‘<h3 class=”widget-title”>’,
‘after_title’ => ‘</h3>’,
) );
register_sidebar( array(
‘name’ => __( ‘Footer Widget Area’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘id’ => ‘sidebar-3’,
‘description’ => __( ‘Appears in the footer section of the site.’, ‘twentyfourteen’ ),
‘before_widget’ => ‘<aside id=”%1$s” class=”widget %2$s”>’,
‘after_widget’ => ‘</aside>’,
‘before_title’ => ‘<h3 class=”widget-title”>’,
‘after_title’ => ‘</h3>’,
) );
}

remove_action( ‘widgets_init’, ‘twentyfourteen_widgets_init’, 11 );
add_action( ‘widgets_init’, ‘twentyfourteen_cms3_widgets_init’, 11 );

Content Management Systems

Let’s just say everything on your website is content (pictures, videos, articles, links, products, etc.).  A “Content Management System” (often referred to by the acronym “CMS”) is software that helps manage content on your site.  You could just use static or custom-built pages to build your site, but for most companies, a uniform look and easily updated content is preferable to the expense, time and risk of having someone editing site code every time an update is needed.

There is an almost endless list of programs to choose from, some of my favorites to use are Drupal, WordPress, and for ecommerce Zen-Cart.  I use them because they deliver flexible, secure platforms.  All of these software solutions are open source projects, and provide the framework and tools for the social media interactions, articles, products, pictures, slideshows and videos on your website. “Open-source” refers to their licensing rights and generally means that they are free to use, even for commercial use. Those of you who have doubts about using open-source for your business might be surprised at the major enterprises who have embraced it.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the programs mentioned are established, well-documented open-source platforms, supported by communities of developer gurus. Each of these programs also represents different approaches to content management, and requires varying levels of technical expertise to use them.  All of these factors of support, reliability, technical expertise and functions that you need are important considerations whether you go with an open source or proprietary paid solution.

Technically speaking, Zen-Cart is actually an example of “Ecommerce” software (sometimes called a catalog or online store) rather than “CMS” software. There are also “message boards” or “bulletin boards” such as phpBB that are not technically considered a CMS.  Most major CMS’ also have ecommerce or message board plugins. If this is not confusing enough, any of these types of software can be used to make a website independently of each other, or with the use of plugins or some coding, be integrated with each. The right developer can help make one or more program appear seamless to your site visitors while maximizing the features from the different programs.

So, how do you decide what content management solution is best for your business?


First, you will need to do some brainstorming and try to create a list of everything you want your website to do for your business, now or in the future.  It is important  to  ask yourself, what you want your web site to actually do for your business or organization.  This will help to not only determine which functions or features you’ll need to use to  maximize your websites potential, but also what your budget might be.

 

To determine your CMS needs, start with the easy questions:

  • Are you selling a product or services online? Will you need to track inventory or assets?
  • How do you want to you engage with your visitors? Some examples might include:
    • Social media
    • Chat/Help Desk
    • Videos
    • Newsletters
    • Contact Forms
  • Do you want to offer subscription services or other pay wall publications?
  • How much do you have in the budget for maintaining the website?
  • How will you or your employees use information that is gathered or published on your site to improve sales and customer satisfaction?
  • Will you or staff be updating the content on a regular basis?
  • Will you want to track your traffic and / or develop online advertising campaigns?

After you’ve taken stock of your needs, talk to a developer or three, or even ten.  Ask them specifically what programs that they would use in building your site. Ask them how much they would charge to develop and or maintain your site. Ask them for bids. Ask them to show you examples of their work.  You will probably find that you will get a wide range of variance in prices, experience and expertise in your survey.

With careful review, you can narrow down the field considerably to find the right solution for you and your organization. The real trick is recognizing your needs are and which programs can fulfill them. Just because WordPress or any other program is a popular choice and has ecommerce plugins, doesn’t mean that you can manage stock levels, or generate the sales and tax reports you need to manage an online store. Asking and answering these questions not only helps to choose a CMS (or developer) for your site, they also help plan your budgets and marketing strategies.

Cheeseman Insurance Agency

Cheeseman Insurance

Part of the flexible heading for Cheeseman Insurance

WordPress  Custom responsive theme, logo, and graphics. Directory of companies represented with contact and payment information created with custom post types and meta-data. Social networking integration, SEO optimized content and Google Maps for geographical location and to boost visibility.

www.cheesemanagency.com/