Site Development – Promise Media

Content Authority Depends on Journalism Rules

In an era of fake news, content trust and authority depend more than ever on a few basic journalism rules.

One of the top 100 sites on the Internet in terms of audience has a message board section with quite a few posts about politics. One poster refers to many sites as sources of information. Most of the sites have the following characteristics:

Private domain registration, meaning the owner is hidden.
No contact page.
No privacy policy.
No terms of service.
Fake bylines: ZeroPointNow, Knave Dave, Kim DotCom.
No attribution of sources. In fact, no sources at all.
No apparent editing based on the quality of the writing.
No labels for opinion and advocacy.

Continue reading “Content Authority Depends on Journalism Rules”

Product Strategy Balances Desktop and Mobile

A site product strategy that balances desktop and mobile versions will improve time management and return on investment.

Websites rarely have the same amount of desktop and mobile visitors. Likewise, they rarely have the same amount of desktop and mobile ad revenue, transactions or other forms of income. But large differences can reveal weaknesses in either platform, especially mobile.

So the first step in developing a site product strategy is research by the publisher into the two platforms that identifies how much audience and revenue each one is producing. Continue reading “Product Strategy Balances Desktop and Mobile”

Website Navigation’s First Priority is Prominence

Site navigation gets the same benefit from prominence as advertising, content, functionality or any other element on a site.

The more prominent the site navigation, the more likely people will click on the links.

Prominence increases or decreases in navigation with a few simple design techniques: Continue reading “Website Navigation’s First Priority is Prominence”

YouTube ‘Suggested Videos’ Hint at Good and Bad Titles

YouTube publishers who look at the “suggested videos” report in their analytics may find some useful insights about their titles.

YouTube recommends — YouTube also recommends videos on its homepage.

YouTube publishers who look at the “suggested videos” report in their analytics may find some useful insights about their titles.

On the main analytics page, scroll down to the list of the videos and click on the video title. The link goes to a metrics page for that one video.

Scroll down to the bottom and look at Traffic Sources in the lower left. It will show percentages of traffic under various categories such as:

Continue reading “YouTube ‘Suggested Videos’ Hint at Good and Bad Titles”

‘Mobile First’ Depends on Total Mobile Audience

When Google announces, online publishers jump. When Google announces that “mobile first” is the new mantra for high search rankings, should publishers jump again?

The answer is yes and no.

The answer is yes because all site publishers with a desire for high rankings should spend more time optimizing their sites for a pleasant mobile viewing experience.

The answer is no for sites that have strong desktop traffic and weak mobile traffic. Continue reading “‘Mobile First’ Depends on Total Mobile Audience”

10 Simple Website Building Tips

Website building is a creative process that is easily crushed by too many ideas.

So many building tips are available for a one-person publishing company to major media businesses that the person in charge can end up trying to do too much, too soon. The sheer volume will leave a site too diluted to be good at any one thing on the list.

In no particular order, here are 10 basic tips for website building that result in reader interest and natural search engine optimization. Continue reading “10 Simple Website Building Tips”

Free Webmaster Tools Improve Site Results

The two major search engines as well as other sites offer free webmaster tools that make it easier to improve site performance.

Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools both provide a wide array of services that identify problems that hold a site back from higher rankings in search results. Continue reading “Free Webmaster Tools Improve Site Results”