Updates
SEO…It really isn’t hard
October 4th, 2010Search Engine Optimization (SEO) really isnt a new concept although the buzzword is fairly new. It is basically the process of ensuring your site has on it that which search engines (e.g. Google) index, hence making your search engine rankings higher and presumably driving more traffic to your website. I still remember doing this in the mid-90′s when we had a huge number of search engines ranging from Hotbot to Alta Vista to AOL that mattered and each one needed to be submitted to and then your site massaged in order to get anything resembling a decent ranking.
Times have changed, the index bots are much more sophisticated than 10+ years ago, and are far less likely to be fooled by the tricks (like using keywords hidden in your background by using the same color for both).
I often get asked, “How can I improve my search results?”. I usually try to resist rolling my eyes for two reasons: 1) the sheer amount of resources out there covering this topic are just overwhelming and 2) it isnt that hard! So, to those hosting with me and everyone else reading this, here are a few short tips on how to get your site SEOized!
Content, Content, Content
The more content you have, and I dont mean junk, I mean actual meaningful content, the higher your rank. So sharpen your pencils and start writing.
New Content, New Images, New Stuff
Daily blog posts or news releases will really help you get noticed by the bots. But again, dont post junk, otherwise your ranking will drop due to noone visiting.
Network
You must network your site. Join a few groups, post on them, use WordPress or similar software, embrace RSS, use MySpace or Facebook and link to your site. These will only drive traffic to your site, increase the relevancy of your keywords and get you the rankings you want.
Use decent HTML/CSS
I say decent, since I still think the entire validation thing is a scam (I will post more on that later). Your page should work in all major browsers, use alt tags in your images, name your pages something relevant, and avoid a lot of Flash or Images (for now) since they still aren’t fully indexed. Do not use an image for text blocks, it will not index!
See, not hard. Enjoy adding quality content, dont overuse images or the other spiffy technologies (Silverlight, Flash, etc…) and have fun watching your traffic come to you for a change.
Web Design at its Worst
September 28th, 2010I admit, I like to find gigs on Craigslist. There are horrible things on there, and some stupid requests (“I need a PMP certified Project Manager with 12 years industry experience that can start today for $12/hr.”), but every now and then, something decent appears.
I was browsing, wondering about competition and stumbled on this website : LeoScorp, LLC . What a bad name for a company, but when you first look at the site, you are amazed they claim to be in the website building business. Bad use of colors, background image is distracting, and let’s face it, picking something like Astrology to base your company name/theme/logo on could actually turn people off, especially down here in the Bible Belt.
Assuming you make it past all that, check out their About Us. Does anyone care they swam together at a public pool? Does that make them better developers/designers? If this was their homepage, sure knock yourself out, but on a business site, keep it professional.
Then go to the Services page, where they have a stupid little computer extremely slowing typing out the content. First, it is slow, I type much faster than that and read WAY faster. Let’s go already. I don’t have time to sit there and be annoyed at a little graphic you thought was cute. Furthermore, doing that stuff isn’t even close to SEO helpful, so maybe it is a good thing you are on Craigslist looking for jobs since Google just isn’t working out for you.
But let’s face it, no matter how bad a site is, it could always be worse.
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Programmers, do you have Insurance?
September 25th, 2010Calling all programmers, those of you that do it professionally at least. Do you have your own personal errors and omissions insurance? Should you? Probably.
I have been in development for a long time time, about 12 years, and for the web development world I live in, that makes me ancient. I carry my own errors and omission insurance for personal projects, just in case the GPL can’t protect me well enough. What is this insurance you ask?
There is a good article over at Insurance Journal that goes over exactly what it is and why you might need it. My question is a bit more complex though. If you are a professional programming, working on someone else’s payroll, do you need this insurance? If you are fired for incompetence, or laid off, and the company you used to work for finds a bug that has cost them $1M a week since it was implemented 2 quarters ago, do they have the right, or abililtty, to sue you for that loss? Perhaps. It all depends on where you live, what company, and the situation.
Being sued for something you did on the job, in the best interest of the company, under the leadership of someone else, is extremely rare. Most likely because it requires the company to admit they were less than diligent, didn’t do a very good job managing, and then makes them liable to their stakeholders since they are basically admitting an agent of their company screwed up. Companies don’t like to do that.
However, if you are working on a 1099 or a third party W2, you need to make sure you are covered. If you are on 1099 or doing corp-to-corp, you had better have insurance. You are liable in that case, in the absence of another contract, for everything you do and write. While you probably wouldn’t be found guilty of anything (I hope), it would be expensive to fight it, and better let the insurance company do it.
If you are on a third party W2, make sure the folks you are actually workign for have E&O insurance as an add on or rider to their general liablity. You could need them to protect you for something you did in their employ on behalf of one of their clients.
So, do you have insurance? Do you need it? I am not a lawyer, so none of this should be taken and blindly run with, but, ask yourself if you are covered, and if you have questions or doubts, find someone that knows and ask. It never hurts and could save you a lot of trouble later.
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Types of Programming Bugs
September 23rd, 2010In a recent project I have been working on, I took over another’s code base, based in Drupal, and have been working to both fix issues and add functionality. It has been a lot of fun learning Drupal, and working with this interesting application. And finding different types of bugs. If you are a programmer, you know there are bugs that are different and behave oddly. Here are some types of programming bugs I have come across recently.
Heisenbug
Named for the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, this type of bug is only appears when you aren’t looking. You know the kind, the kind you swear you can’t replicate, but yet, the users day after day report them happening. If you try to measure this type of bug, you will inevitably alter your results. They are the worst to track down, because a lot of the time you end up making changes just to hope they go away, even though you still aren’t sure exactly what caused them.
Keyser Söze Bug
These actually arent even bugs, but they make you think they are, and are a complete pain in the neck. Basically, it is a “bug” that is causing a huge problem for you, but as you learn, and dig and dig, you figure out it isnt a bug, just a “feature”. It may be stupid, illogical, or incorrect, but the code itself is working just as design and written. So, in essence, it isnt a bug, only made you think it was.
WTF Bug
This is one of those that you swear up and down you have fixed, several times, yet is still there. The most common one of these is when a customer’s ISP or internal firewall have cached old versions, so the damn thing is still cropping up on you, but you know it isn’t there anymore. Another time these happen is when you change one part of the code, only to figure out that those methods were depreciated 8 versions ago, and now all that logic is somewhere else. Yes you changed it, yes you committed it, but the bug is still there.
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Website Redesign & Shuffle
September 13th, 2010As we have worked to spin off the various parts of the company based on their core roles, we have redesigned and shuffled the content on this website to more closely reflect what it is we do here.
These changes are to better serve our customers and clients through our various companies. The old Oil & Gas Division is now XM Tek Energy Services and can be found at http://www.xmtekenergy.com.
This website, xmtek.net, is for our digital agency clients to get a better understanding of how we work with technology to better their businesses and bottom lines.
BookX 1.5 Released
September 1st, 2010BookX 1.3 Released
August 24th, 2010BookX 1.3 is now available for download. It is a fairly major bug fix, so go get it, now!
BookX 1.2 Released
August 13th, 2010BookX 1.2 contains two bug fixes, one of which is a fatal error due to B&N changing the way they displayed books. It has been resolved and I highly recommend updating. In fact, to be honest, you dont have a choice, since all previous verisions do not work after B&N’s change.
As usual, Download Here
Office Closure
August 11th, 2010Our Dallas Office will be closed from Friday, August, 13th until Tuesday, August, 24th for our employees to take vacations before school starts.
All functions will resume on Wednesday, August, 25th.
XM Tek Closed on July 5th
July 1st, 2010In observance of Independence Day, XM Tek offices will be closed on Monday, July 5th. They will open at 9a CDT on July 6th.