Google is looking for test communities to deliver ultra-high speed Internet service.  Through March 26th they are accepting nominations from government officials as well as the general public.

Help us make sure this initiative comes to Arkansas communities.  Use the nomination link below to nominate your community with Google.

Here’s a video from Google about the project, http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/

Here’s the nomination site, http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/options

Here’s an article THV recently wrote about the project, http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=99751&catid=2

Here’s the site for Connect Arkansas, who will be an integral part of all this for Arkansas, http://connect-arkansas.org/.

You've realized the importance and value of your business having a great online presence. Now you're faced with the question of how best to make that a reality.

You want to keep costs down but you need to present a professional, credible image to your prospects and customers. In general you have two options. Hire a custom web design company or use an out-of-the-box website template. Below are some pros and cons of both options that can help you make the best decision for your particular situation and needs.

Custom web design and development pros:

1. Unique design. A professional web design company will create a design specifically for you. Your website will be different from anyone else's.
2. Built search engine friendly. Most professional web designers not only understand aesthics but also what actually makes the Internet and search engines work. Using a custom web design company should improve your chances of success in the search engines.
3. Adaptability. By definition, a custom developed website will be fitted and targeted for your company's specific needs and goals.
4. Compatibility. Your website should look and work just fine in any of the several most popular web browsers.
5. Scalability. Not everyone gets everything they want right away. A professional web design company can help you create a plan for starting on time and within budget but still add version 2 and 3 features down the road without starting all over again.
6. Customizable. They should be able to build whatever you can dream as far as your website's functionality.
7. Technology. Professional web designers use programming software that will be around and supported for many years to come instead of using less costly but uncertain platforms.
8. Ownership. Typically using a professional web design company is a contract for hire relationship, which means when they're done you should own everything outright.
9. Experience. They didn't become professionals overnight and have usually completed many different types of projects. You can benefit from this experience by asking quesitons about options and their opinions on how best to accomplish certain goals.

The downfalls of using a custom web design company are:

1. The overall price will probably be more than using template software
2. It may take a little longer to get your site from concept to live online
3. You're dealing with people. This means personalities and customer service will come into play (although this could exactly be a positive thing as well)

Website templates can be useful for:

1. Cost. You have a very minimal budget but for some reason just have to have something, anything online
2. Time. Your website needed to be up yesterday and you can't wait another day.
3. DIY. You like to do whatever you can yourself but just can't code. Templates can let you do it yourself without the need to know any programming languages.

The negatives to using website templates are:

1. Lots of other people will have the same look and feel
2. You will be limited in what you can customize and the features and functionality you can add to your site
3. Some website templates are not built search engine friendly
4. Some website templates are not build compatible with all the popular web browsers
5. Do it yourself means just that. So if you ever get too busy to make necessary changes or updates to your website then they just never get done
6. Most websites templates require their smaller fees to be paid forever. You may own the domain name but in essence you just rent your website from them. If you ever stop paying their monthly or annual fee then you'll no longer have a website online.

The right choice between these two options really depends upon your business needs and goals. As with most things, you get what you pay for. But regardless which method you choose, a great online presence that gets found in the search engines, stands out from the crowd to your prospects and customers, and allows them to interact with your company like they and you want is a great asset that really adds value to your business. 

Little Rock, Arkansas web design firm, 1011 Web Solutions, announces the launch of a new website for The Toggery.  The new online store offers stylish baby, girl and boy clothes that are unique and high quality.  In addition, The Toggery offers school uniform programs for schools across Arkansas and the country plus they have a great line of children shoes, accessories, books and toys.

For over 60 years The Toggery has offered Arkansas parents and schools both performance and style for their children's clothing at great prices and with a 100% product satisfaction guarantee.  Now the most honored children's boutique in Little Rock is opening their online doors to bring the customer service that has kept them in business since 1948 to online parents and schools everywhere.

Web services provided by 1011 Web for The Toggery include custom web design and development, ecommerce, online marketing and website hosting. 

Little Rock, Arkansas web design firm, 1011 Web Solutions, announces the launch of a new website for Mountain Valley Spring Water.  The new site offers simplier and more targeted navigation and showcases the company and product's high quality, commitment to the environment and where you can find healthy bottled spring water that meets your needs.

Since 1871, Mountain Valley has been America's premium bottled spring water and a badge of pride for Arkansas.  No other bottled water has the taste and quality of their natural spring water, proven by the fact they have twice received awards for the best-tasting water in the world.  In addition to offering healthy bottled water, Mountain Valley also is a leader in using recycled packaging and creating sustainable, environmental friendly operations throughout their production and distribution processes.

Web services provided by 1011 Web for Mountain Valley Spring Water include custom web design and development, online marketing and website hosting.

Do I own my website?  That's a simple question often overlooked by business owners regarding their web design and development.  Despite its simplicity, getting an answer can be like trying to pin down a politician on a sensitive topic.  

The grayness primarily stems from how many web companies make a profit.  The traditional "software" approach is build a system once then sell it over and over again.  Typically with this scenario you "rent" your website through a license but do not "own" it.  There are pieces they still may let you have, such as the content you write.  However, like any landlord, stop paying your rent and see what happens.

As a business owner your online presence (which includes your domain name, website, content, images, code, traffic, reputation, etc) are an asset to your company.  If the company ever sold, these are things that would add to the purchase price and the better they are the more they add.  Having someone else control these pieces and being locked into a relationship that you will forever pay or lose what you have is a liability.

How can you tell if you own your online presence or not?  Hopefully you have something more than a handshake that spells it out and protects you.  If not, simply ask whoever handles your website to tell you what would happen if you ever moved.  If they turn politician and can't give you a simple straight answer then it may be time to do some soul searching.  Building a house on land you don't own may not be the best proposition for your business.

Not many places are better at connecting people than the Internet.  In a relatively short amount of time someone can find and make deep, quality connections with their target audience.  Whether it's about selling products, promoting a cause, spreading an idea or whatever else, the ones who find and connect others become leaders.

Here's a good video with Seth Godin discussing tribal leadership in the new world.

Apple's app store is about to hit the one billion download mark.  Just think of how much we've all personally helped prove Steve Jobs a genius!  But regardless your feeling towards Apple, they are a consistent example of how powerful something can be when it's targeted correctly and made available in a form people will actually use.  There's no freakin box for Steve to get out of because he's making the darn things. 

While we haven't had the pleasure of working with Apple just yet, 1011 Web is a media agnostic marketing company in Little Rock that's helping some businesses in Arkansas and outside the state create their own little iWorlds.  And we build some pretty kickawesome websites along the way too!

To celebrate their billionth download Apple is giving away some nice products.  Here's a link to the no purchase entry form: Apple Countdown Sweepstakes.  Do me a favor, even if you don't like Apple go register at least once and just use my name.

My consumption of public news would never be considered higher than average.  However, I believe something interesting happened in 2008 that I never caught a glimpse of until now (of course it probably just got lost in all the election hype).  Google indexed its TRILLIONTH web page.  Here's a New York Times article that was recently sent to me.

Most of us have trouble at grasping that number.  It's OK, we're all human.  Here are some pictures that put it in perspective.  Warning: these images may also shed some unwanted light onto just how much our country is spending on bailouts!

That's a dude standing next to a stack of $100 bills totaling one million dollars, $1,000,000 (isn't that guy on American Idol this year?)

  That's the same stylish dude standing next to $100 bills on a standard pallet totaling one hundred million dollars, $100,000,000

That's our boy (bottom left corner) standing next to $100 bills totaling one trillion dollars, 1,000,000,000,000

Those pictures make an impact.  Combine that with the Times article research about search engines still not even scratching the surface on the true amount of data that's on the Web.  The only logical conclusion is "dag gum there be A LOT of websites out dare"!  And we would agree.  (Hopefully you also imagined that last statement being said by some long lost Vulcan hillbilly cousin of Spock's like I did when writing it)

Everyday the importance of having a website becomes more of a given while the importance of getting your website found sharply rises.  It's an awfully deep well.  How is your message going to get seen or heard amongst all the clutter and noise?

1. Professional image.  Just because it can be easy to initially get online doesn't mean throw your branding in the trash.  If your website looks homemade or half-hearted then that's how YOU are coming off to your visitors.  Well done website design and development is the first step in setting you apart.  (Hasn't this always been true with the TV, paper and other types of advertising you see?)
2. Search engine optimization (SEO).  That's the fancy term for getting your site to rank high in the results for the words people type into search engines.  There are basic fundamentals you should do for this.  A lot of these are FREE (i.e. they take time but you don't have to drop any quarters in the Google machine).  I've got a pizza in the oven so I won't go into specifics right now.  But, at least do the basics.
3. Search engine marketing (SEM).  People who would be interested in your website are online, even if they're not searching for or coming to your website.  Search engine marketing is about going out, finding those people and getting them to the site.  It's not too unlike online cold calling.  So whether it's viral video, social networking, pay per click, etc. you're going out to get the traffic.

These aren't new or life altering revelations.  However I do speak to a lot of business owners who need help with even these very basic fundamentals.  So they're at least worthy of a blog post.

If you need any assistance with these please let us know.  Now I'm off for a slice of pepperoni.

In school our teachers taught us not to plagiarize or to at least footnote your source for giving credit where credit is due.  But let's be honest, we all took that Encyclopedia Britannica paragraph, rearranged a sentence or two and then pawned it off as our own.  Now the web has made content more readily available than ever.  Fortunately we're no longer receiving grades because I fear many would have to repeat the course. 

Copying someone else's written content and using it as your own is still wrong, whether it's online or offline.  If you or your business have proprietary website content and have ever wondered how to protect it, then let me share with you three kind of cool ways to catch someone stealing it.  And to make my teachers proud please let me first give credit to my source, Dennis Gaskill writing for Website Magazine, February 2009 edition, page 35.

Brillant website content thief snare #1: Identify a unique sentence, phrase or word string from your website then Google the content with quotations around the phrase.  Only pages with the exact wording will be returned and you can study the results from there.

Brillant website content thief snare #2: Hide a link in the middle of some content.  Be sure to check with your website developer to be sure this is done in a manner considered "legal" by the search engines and does not appear as a broken link.  You can periodically use Google to check what web pages are linking to your hidden page.  (Insert sound of jail door slamming shut here)

Brillant website content thief snare #3: In the middle of some content, use a transparent image (like a GIF) to separate two words instead of a space.  If someone has copied your text, that file will be called from your server when the thief's page is displayed.  (Insert dramatic dum-dum-dum-dum).  From this point just check the log files and you can see exactly where that file has been used.