February 15, 2012
Website Readability - Serif vs Sans Serif
All pages on your website can benefit from easy-to-read text. If a visitor has a hard time reading your content or finding your contact information usually they will just leave. To allow your website to be read more efficiently, use fonts correctly.
For web safe text, the fonts can be broken down into 2 simple categories, Serif and Sans Serif.
Serif fonts
These have been around for hundreds of years. The serifs actually help guide the eye from one letter to the next. That being said, this is only effective if the text is large ( print material ). At smaller sizes this text becomes too squished together and whitespace is lost between letters. Examples of these fonts are Times New Roman and Georgia.
Sans Serif Fonts
These fonts are typefaces such as Helvetica, Arial, and Verdana. They are more modern and work better on pixel based displays. Unlike Serif fonts they have enough white space between each character and flow easier. They work well even at the smallest type setting.
The Winner?
For your website content, hands down, choose a Sans Serif font. Your visitors will thank you.
Posted by: Sean Sanderson at 14:46 PM
February 13, 2012
REM Staff Bio - Ryan Covert
Role at REM: Software Developer and resident gaming addict.
Education: Attended the University of Guelph (U of Moo!) for a degree in Computer Science.
Previous Work Experience:Software Developer at InsightU, Software Developer at Punch Integrated Communications Inc. and Software Developer at Ronneberger Computing Inc.
Something That Makes Me Smile at Work: Each and every time I'm delivered a fun and challenging project to work on. At REM, that happens every day!
Something I Find Fascinating: Quantum mechanics and all things computing (was that ever any wonder?), especially emulation.
Hobbies: Gaming (console, PC and on my custom-built, stand-up arcade), home improvement projects and discovering new things to enjoy with my son
App: ScummVM for jailbroken iPads. It enables you to play the old point'n'click adventure games (think “Day of the Tentacle” or “Indiana Jones”) of the 90s on your iOS device.
Words to live by:“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.” - Albert Einstein
Posted by: Ryan Covert at 11:17 AM
February 8, 2012
REM Staff Bio - Jillian McBurney
Role at REM: Customer support. I train customers and then provide continued support for our software, WebWiz@rd. I am also the first point of contact for general email, website and hosting questions.
Education: Mohawk College – the 3 year Applied Music program. The trumpet was my instrument of choice.
Previous Lines of Work: How far back do I go? Babysitting (which I couldn’t stand), Retail (which I tolerated), Landscaping (which I loved), self-employed wedding photographer (which I found very rewarding), REM Support (which I thoroughly enjoy).
Something That Makes Me Smile at Work: The quirky nature of my co-workers.
One of the Things I Find Fascinating: The Universe. How do astronomers know it is never ending? How can that be proven?
FAVORITE
Web site: http://www.wpja.com/Wedding Photojournalistic Association Books: Anne of Green Gables. I just joined a book club at the beginning of 2012 so I’m sure I’ll add to this list down the road. Food: Sushi, Pizza, Toast with Peanut Butter and Honey TV Show: I don’t watch a lot of TV but I do like Hell’s Kitchen. Musical Artists: Jann Arden, Pink, Lorenna McKennitt, Melissa Etheridge, Eric Clapton and Harry Connick Jr. (His arrangements and band are incredible!), Staind. Time of Day: Depends on the time of year, but mostly, the morning. Season: Spring Places in the World: My home, my family’s homes and my friend’s homes – anywhere I’m having good conversation. Recreational Activities/Hobbies: Scrapbooking, walking, playing board games and cards. Sport: I don’t follow sports and I’m not part of a team either but I think that swimming laps is really cool. App: I don't have one.
LEAST FAVORITE
Food: Anything spicy. Activity: Driving. Time of Day: Between 12 and 3pm on a hot summer day. Season: Summer Place: Hospital
Best Thing Someone Said to You: “Mommy, I love you.”
Life Motto: Try to be empathetic but do not be taken advantage of.
My Hero: My husband.
Most People Don’t Know This About Me: I once said, “I like animals more than I like humans.” I sometimes still feel that way!
Posted by: Jillian McBurney at 14:09 PM
February 6, 2012
REM Staff Bio - Rob Matlow
Role at REM: General Management and Sales
Education: Business from the University of Western Ontario, Post Graduate with Distinction in Information Technology from Information Technology Institute.
Previous Lines of Work: Sales Engineer, Instructor, Project Manager and Inside Sales Manager for ATG (Canada)
Something That Makes Me Smile at Work: Getting a new client --I'm in Sales-- what do you expect :)
One of the Things I Find Fascinating: My wife (she is standing next to me as I write this).
FAVORITE
Web site: MSN.ca is the one site I look at every day to get news and interesting information. I think they do a good job in laying out a lot of information.
Food: Pizza, Chinese, Mexican.
TV Show: Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Sopranos
Musical Artists: Pink Floyd, U2
Time of Day: Evening-- when I am doing work, and I can play and relax.
Season: Summer
Places in the World: Italy, Grand Cayman, Bermuda (as far as place I have been and like, many I didn't).
Sport: Skiing!!!!
App: I'm still hooked on Angry Birds. These games are dangerous to me and my lack of time.
LEAST FAVORITE
Food: any seafood
Activity: Shoveling (can you tell I wrote this in the winter?)
Time of Day: Morning
Season: Winter (unless I am skiing)
Place: Hospitals
Best Thing Someone Said to You: "When I come home and get a big hug and kiss from my son and he tells me he loves me"
Life Motto: Work hard and you shall succeed.
My Hero: My grandpa was.
Most People Don’t Know This About Me: Apparently I tell everyone about me (as far as my wife is concerned)
Posted by: Rob Matlow at 16:11 PM
February 1, 2012
Google Maps API
As discussed previously, in this series of blogs I will be discussing various APIs and what uses they have. To recap from my previous post, API stands for Application Programming Interface which we can refer to as “widgets”. These “widgets” allow a website or service to communicate with another website or service. So, they basically give you the power to embed media or information from another website or service into your website.
In today’s post I’ll be discussing the Google Maps API which many of you will already be familiar with and might already be using on your websites. Google launched the Google Maps API in June 2005 so website developers and website content managers could integrate Google Maps into their websites. The API is a free service for any website that is free to consumers.
More than 350,000 [1] websites use the Google Maps API, making it the most heavily used web application development API. From corporate websites wishing to display their location from their contact page, to dating websites, to smartphones using the application as a built in GPS unit, this is definitely one of the most popular and widely used APIs out there.
This is probably mainly due to its ease of use. You go to Google.com, click the "Maps" tab then enter the address, click the link tab then copy and paste the location embed code into your site. Of course it can be taken up another level where developers can customize the map using JavaScript or Flash to display several different locations as well as other custom details.
The Application is now going many steps further offering up-to-date traffic conditions in many major cities across North America, as well as maps also appearing when people do business searches on the net. Then there is good old fun like Street View.
After doing your search, simply drag and drop this guy from his default position to the area where the location pinpoint is located on the map. This is an amazing feature which allows you to view the actual area in 3D. Obviously there were some privacy issues raised when Google initially began documenting areas for this service but that is beyond the scope of this blog.
If you haven’t already, give the API a try on your website, you won’t be disappointed!
Posted by: Joe Labrie at 11:52 AM
January 30, 2012
A Keen Eye For The Obvious - Part 4 of 5
3. Sites should be relevant
Being relevant is about making people care about what you have to say.
Some information can hold up longer than other information but time has a nasty habbit of slowly chipping away at the importance of what you have to say (today).
Often website owners will bulk load massive amounts of content into a new site hoping that search engines and users will flock to them. They often look at short term analytics, see an increase in both users and search hits, and innacurately conclude that they've "done their part".
As time moves along, general interest in what you said inevitably wanes because without constant injections of new and interesting information the general attitude of most users is "So what? Do you have anything else to contribute?".
Because the Internet ecosystem generally favours new information it's obvious that site owners who want increasing amounts of new traffic should give increasing amounts of new information on their site. It's also obvious that increasing your information flow will give old users reasons to come back, and more importantly, new reasons to send their friends to your site.
Relevance isn't a "set and forget" endeavor. You may be relevant today, but to stay relevant you need to be relevant tomorrow too. What will you say tomorrow? It should be obvious.
Posted by: Jamie McBurney at 10:52 AM
January 25, 2012
REM Staff Bio - Sandra Nador
Role at REM: Accounts Payable and Receivable, and anything related to accounting; helping with client support; client relations; blogger; social media amateur; and a plethera of other day-to-day tasks that keep my job interesting and fun!
Education: Some college. Computer Programming just wasn't my thing, but I have found a good fit here at REM!
Previous Lines of Work: 'Document Control specialist at Erb Transport;' 'TD Canada Trust Branch Service Center Data Entry Clerk'
Something That Makes Me Smile at Work: When I help a client or coworker out-- the sense of pride from seeing that person happy when the problem is solved.
One of the Things I Find Fascinating: How I keep getting Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck mixed up.
FAVORITE Web site: any women's clothing/accessory web site- I love to shop online! Books: The Bible, The Story Girl, Little Women, Redeeming Love Food: Pizza! TV Show: How I Met Your Mother Musical Artists: Nirvana, Tiesto, Radiohead Time of Day: When the sun is setting-- I guess you call that dusk? Season: Summer! Places in the World: Anywhere there is camping and gorgeous scenery Recreational Activities/Hobbies: Ridin' on the back of my boyfriend's motorcycle, hawkwatching, camping Sport: Gymnastics App: Right now I'm really liking "Words with Friends" but I think it's only available to Apple Users. Sorry BB users!
LEAST FAVORITE Food: anything with onions Activity: Running Time of Day: Morning! Season: Winter Place: Outside in Winter
Best Thing Someone Said to You: "I could TOTALLY see you riding a motorcycle!!"
Life Motto: Worrying never solves anything-- that's a tough motto to keep in mind.
My Hero: My grandpa-- he's the strongest, toughest person I know.
Most People Don’t Know This About Me: I have watched all 10 seasons of "Friends," in order, at least 40 times in the past 10 years. Yup, that's 4 times per year! Sad, I know.
Posted by: Sandra Nador at 11:16 AM
January 23, 2012
... And Now For Something (P)interesting!
You may have heard about it already, but if not I'm sure you will soon. Pinterest has been taking the “social linking” scene by storm. My wife is literally hooked on it. Since starting to use it just less than two months ago, she has convinced quite a few people in her social circle (including friends and family members) to sign up for an account on Pinterest.com. It couldn't have been easier, either! You see, my wife's circle is all on Facebook and they already share a link or two on their social feeds every now and then. Of course, that all changed once they started using Pinterest. Since Pinterest lets users sign up by simply linking their Facebook account with Pinterest, getting started with social linking in Pinterest couldn't be easier and soon enough my wife's circle were all posting links -- complete with those schnazzy preview images -- on Pinterest and their Facebook feeds.
So, you might be wondering where I'm going with this. Yes, I am impressed with Pinterest at the moment. They've managed to take one of the most basic aspects of the World Wide Web and break it down into a bite-sized process that non-technical web surfers can enjoy and benefit from. Micro-blogging and link sharing are now a no-brainer. However, being the software developer that I am, I'm always interested in how these types of sites -- and their underlying features -- work.
At REM we have the capabilities to build sites like Pinterest that interface with today's most popular social-networking sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the list goes on) and we're always excited to work with our clients to take their vision for the perfect, online hangout and make it into a reality.
In the end, this is a callout to our existing and potential new clients: if you have a crazy idea for a new curve on the social-networking scene, don't be shy; we can help you build something Pinteresting!
Posted by: Ryan Covert at 15:03 PM
January 18, 2012
A Keen Eye For The Obvious - Part 3 of 5
2. Sites should use technology that is accessible to the masses
As my trusty lead developer Ryan pointed out in one of his previous posts, lots of websites that were buzzword compliant 3 years ago (i.e. Macromedia/Adobe/Shockwave Flash heavy) are now feeling the true burden that those technologies have placed on those sites.
At best, those websites do not have their content indexed properly by search engines and at worst they are not viewable by mobile browsers.
Most people would agree that being accessible to the largest possible audience is critical to the success of most companies, but that obvious fact is often overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of the latest web bobble and companies can inadvertantly walk down a path of increasing exclusion.
People love to hear the sizzle, but they come to eat the steak.
The site's content is that steak.
Our method at REM is to take a judicious approach to all of the available technologies at our disposal to create sizzle for a site, while allowing easy access to the steak.
We LOVE jQuery.
We LOVE HTML5 too.
In contrast, we've created sites completely in HTML4 with small javascript footprints becase it was the best solution for older intranets in larger corporations.
We take a look at the obvious truth that sites should use technology with the largest accessibilty footprint and build our solutions in ways that help accomplish that.
Posted by: Jamie McBurney at 14:41 PM
January 16, 2012
Your Website + Meta Tags = Better Website Traffic
How many websites are there out there in the world wide web? Well, according to a variety of sites, here are some answers that I found.
February 2007 – 108,810,358
April 2008 – 182,000,000
November 2009 - 20,340,000,000
December 2010 – 266,843,493
Today – upwards of 80,000,000
I’m not convinced that these numbers are accurate. I’m not sure that anyone could even give an accurate answer given how quickly things change on the internet today. But then, when you are dealing in the (at least) tens of millions, I don’t think that having an exact answer really matters. What we can take away from these staggering numbers, is that there are a lot of websites out there, and that means a lot of competition.
One of the common questions we are asked is, “How do I get more people to find my website?” There isn’t just one answer to that question. There are a number of actions you can take to increase your website traffic, but today I’m going to discuss Meta Tags.
Meta Tags are key words that are added to an entire website or individual pages of a website to help describe the content of the site. These tags are hidden behind the scenes and help web indexing robots better understand your site. The website is then given a ranking in the search engine database under specific search terms. This in turn helps users find the website.
There are a few important notes to mention in order for your Meta Tags to be effective.
Be aware of the length of your key word lists. If your list of key words is too long and filled with irrelevant and unnecessary words, the indexing robots, may consider the information spam. Do not repeat the same words over and over again, as this will be considered spam. However, if your list of keywords is too short, the list will not be effective. You may want to do some research for some further advice on choosing your key words wisely. You can even go on line and pretend that you are searching for your own type of business and/or product. Take note of what you type into the search bar when you begin your search. Chances are, others are searching with those key words as well.
Avoid including multiples of the same word. For example, flower, flowers, Flower…. Again, this will be considered spam.
Make sure that your Meta Tags are relevant to what is on the page that they are describing. For example, on a Contact Us page, include the cities/provinces that you service, perhaps your street name, and/or specific names of those who work at your company. Do not include what you sell, manufacture or services that you provide as that is unrelated to the Contact Us page.
We encourage our clients to purchase the Meta Tag module when they purchase WebWiz@rd as it is an easy and inexpensive tool to use. If you are already using WebWiz@rd without the module, it can certainly be added on for you. This upgrade includes the page by page version of the module and the cost is $200*. If you currently have the site-wide Meta Tag module, you can upgrade it to the page by page version for $60*. As I mentioned above, the WebWiz@rd Meta Tag module is very user friendly and is a great tool to be able to have further control over your website. It allows you to change or add to your lists as your company and/or industry changes. The one-time cost is well worth the investment.
