Digital Marketing by Patrick LaJuett

Dancing with WordPress We are finishing up a new local website for Rochester Dance Lessons.  The Website was designed and developed using WordPress 4.5.2. WP Plugins: Visual Composer - Drag and drop page builder Wordfence - Security, anti-virus, firewall JotForm - Contact form UpdraftPlus - Secure site backups Yoast SEO - Organic search optimization Sassy Social Share - Sharing tool Photo Gallery - Responsive image gallery   http://rochesterdancelessons.com Patrick LaJuett manages a website design agency  where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.

Create an HTML5 Ready Google Sites Slideshow using Joomeo Since Google suddenly pulled the plug on Picasa , it left me scrambling to find a replacement for the old Google+ / Picasa Flash-based slideshow gadgets. I found a great solution to replace the "retired" Flash-based Google+/Picasa slideshows. Joomeo  features and benefits: Insert via Google Sites iframe gadget Mobile-friendly Device Responsive Non-Flash based HTML5 ready Hosted in the cloud HD capable See example below   Patrick LaJuett manages a website design agency : + LaJuett.com , where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.

Rockin' with WordPress We launched a new local website this morning for Rockbridge Realty Group.  The Website was designed and developed using WordPress 4.4.2. WP Site Specifications: Hosting: GoDaddy Theme: Spacious (Mobile-friendly) Plugins: WP Property, Yoast SEO, UpdraftPlus Backups, HungryFEED, Header and Footer Other: Dedicated IP   Optimization and Metrics: Google Search Console Google Analytics Rockbridge Realty Group is a real estate brokerage firm.  Patrick LaJuett manages a website design agency : + LaJuett.com , where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.

Responsive menus, adapative columns, and 100% width images One of the biggest benefits of a Google Site is it's built-in RWD (responsive web design) feature. Be sure to enable the general settings... mobile checkbox: "Automatically adjust site to mobile phones". The adaptive rendering maybe not as elegant as some WordPress themes, but the ease of set-up and rapid development is a benefit to small business owners with modest budgets. Update: I forgot to mention a feature that I haven't seen with other platforms.  Google Sites allows you to "Preview page as viewer" and toggle between mobile | desktop views.  Very cool UI tool. Google Sites pass the "mobile-friendly test" Patrick LaJuett manages a website design agency : + LaJuett.com , where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.

Google Sites is a great collaborative web development tool for colleges and universities. Here's a project we worked on with Mount Marty College in South Dakota. Requirements: Rapid development Match existing branding Incorporate document library pages Set site-level permissions Take a look at the "policy portal" screen capture below: Integrated with Google Apps and mobile friendly. Patrick LaJuett manages a website design agency : + LaJuett.com , where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.

I have done quite a few website redesigns over the past decade or so.  When taking on a new project, I suggest to customers that they utilize a content management system (CMS).  The ease of updating content (versus traditional code editing) is a huge winner for clients. My favorite web CMS platforms are WordPress, Google Sites and DNN.  See the benefits of each here . The Project: This project was for a local home builder looking to modernize and expand their online presence. Out With the Old: The old site was something I designed a while back using MS Expression Web (html 4, CSS and JavaScript).  It was functional, but not very easy to update. BEFORE REDESIGN - HTML4 Website before being redesigned. In With the New: For the new website I opted for Google Sites (, with embedded Google Drive documents, Picasa Web albums and YouTube videos. AFTER REDESIGN - GOOGLE SITES Google Sites for local home builder after redesign. Let me know w...