Here's Your Chance... Ask CWS

We receive emails all the time asking about various topics. Should I register a .com domain with a hyphen in it or should I go with a .net one? What is more important for SEO... on-page optimization or my PageRank? How many projects do you work on at a time? The list could go on and on.

In fact, we receive so many questions it was one of our reasons for joining the Post Bulletin's Ask An Expert program. We enjoy answering questions and educating users about the Internet and it's one of the ways we "give back" to the local community.

So, we've decided to promote this topic as part of our blog. Do you have a burning question about one of our designs? Are you wondering what we think about your website design? Here is your chance to ask... anything goes! We'll do our best to answer your question(s) and post them here on a regular basis.

Have a question for us?
Got a question about design, business, marketing, etc? We would be honored to provide some insight into how we'd tackle the issue. Send an email to support [at] cws dot net with the subject "Ask CWS".

100,000 visitors and counting

Today we reached the 100,000 visitor mark for the "Everything Internet Blog". Thanks to all who view our blog and listen to what we have to say. Hopefully you find our articles on search engine marketing, our clients, and Google interesting and worthwhile. Here's some detailed stats:


Intersting fact: We started the blog on 1/29/2006 and have posted 197 articles. Thanks for visiting!

Alan De Keyrel = "Person of the Year"

It's official... Time Magazine has selected Alan De Keyrel as the 2006 Person of the Year.

Well, sort of.

As much as I really like the ring of "person of the year" next to my name, it didn't happen exactly like that. What they really said was that "YOU" are the person of the year and I took it personally. Let me explain.

America loves its solitary geniuses-its Einsteins, its Edisons, its Jobses-but those lonely dreamers may have to learn to play with others. Car companies are running open design contests. Reuters is carrying blog postings alongside its regular news feed. Microsoft is working overtime to fend off user-created Linux. We're looking at an explosion of productivity and innovation, and it's just getting started, as millions of minds that would otherwise have drowned in obscurity get backhauled into the global intellectual economy.

Who are these people? Seriously, who actually sits down after a long day at work and says, I'm not going to watch Lost tonight. I'm going to turn on my computer and make a movie starring my pet iguana? I'm going to mash up 50 Cent's vocals with Queen's instrumentals? I'm going to blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street? Who has that time and that energy and that passion?

The answer is, you do. And for seizing the reins of the global media, for founding and framing the new digital democracy, for working for nothing and beating the pros at their own game, TIME's Person of the Year for 2006 is you.

Isn't that cool? The article goes on to talk about Web2.0 as a "massive social experiment" with no clear purpose in sight. In the meantime, we all continue blogging, podcasting, and commenting back and forth. Many of us spend countless hours developing "thoughtful content" with no real monetary gain or benefit. We simply do it to participate in this "social experiment" we now call Web2.0.

For what it's worth... we'll give ourselves a pat on the back and keep on blogging. We started this blog almost a year ago with no clear vision or purpose other than to entertain and inform. As of today, "Everything Internet" blog is ranked in the top 100,000 of all blogs (15 million are in the United States alone). It's nice to be recognized every now and then and every blogger should be proud of his/her contribution to this "experiment".

Digg "Hooligans" Take Over Website

Digg is a news website with an emphasis on technology and science articles. News stories and websites are submitted by users, and then promoted to the front page through a user-based ranking system. However, rumors have recently circulated that many of the stories are planted and users are paid to move them to the top of the charts.

As a regular visitor, I enjoy checking out the most popular stories and the comments from other users (even if they are planted). If you're looking for a crazy story, a funny video, or breaking news... you can always find something interesting at digg.com.

But, I've noticed that user comments have gotten out of control. These days, it's hard to find an article submission that isn't full of offensive comments and blatant disrespect for other users. Some threads are more about bashing other users than they are about commenting on the articles itself.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid that use of foul language and hooliganism might be exactly what the average Digg user enjoys. But, in my humble opinion, Digg really needs to eliminate this type of behavior if they want to become a mainstream source of information for all ages and all types of users.

Average users no longer post comments because they fear being ridiculed or "dugg down" for a logical statement. This leaves many stories littered with unsophisticated banter among those who find humor in making fun of others. Unless something is changed, such as implementing conduct standards, the comment system will forever be doomed to this childish behavior.

[Update]- This story has been Dugg. Click the link below to view comments.

MyBlogLog.com Increased Our Subscribers by 34%

You may have noticed that our blog has started to display the popularity of various links. In addition, we've added pictures of the most recent "registered" visitors to the right sidebar. This has all been made possible by a new blog tracking website, www.mybloglog.com.

I first noticed the link tagging on Emily Chang's eHub Blog a few days before we implemented it here. If you're a blogger, you should become familiar with their service as soon as possible. Even popular blog sites like TechCrunch have gotten on board, so you know they might be on to something.

MyBlogLog started out as a service to track where your visitors were coming from, which posts they were reading, and which links they were most interested in. All handy things to know if you're a blogger.

But it quickly evolved into a new blogging community and it's taking the net by storm. Thus far, I am very impressed with the service they offer and I think they will continue to prosper. For too long, blogs have been one-sided with very little feedback from visitors. This new service helps solve that by connecting bloggers with their readers in a community environment.

If you have a new blog, getting involved in the MyBlogLog community could increase your readership substancially. Within a few days of joining the community, we've become one of the "Top 50" blogs in the "E" directory. OK, I understand that there are 26 letters in the alphabet, but it's nice to feel loved. :) If you'd like to join the Everything Internet community you can do so here.