Posts

New NC Business Directory Launched

Image
  Shop local NC, save jobs, feel good. The NCBizList.com mission is to help support locally run companies throughout North Carolina. They recognize that small businesses are the lifeblood of the NC economy. Keeping money in nearby neighborhoods by shopping locally will help ensure a thriving community. The site is now accepting requests for free listings as well as featured listings.  All companies must be verifiably located in North Carolina. NCBizList was built using Google's updated WYSIWYG website design tool "new Google Sites". The directory features a security certificate, fully responsive design, and an internal site search. Patrick LaJuett is a digital media architect in Charlotte, North Carolina. Patrick has more than two decades of experience in visual communications, information technology and brand marketing.

New Google Sites - Fast, Easy, & Responsive

Image
The New Google Sites is great for quickly building mobile friendly (responsive) websites.  I have migrated three sites in the past few weeks.  The drag and drop GUI makes it super easy to get a website up and running.  Here are a few examples below. Patrick LaJuett is a digital media architect in the Lake Norman area of North Carolina. Patrick has more than two decades of experience in visual communications, information technology and brand marketing.

My Portfolio Website - Built Using New Google Sites

Image
My portfolio website - built using the new Google Sites Patrick LaJuett is a digital media architect with more than two decades of experience in visual communications, information technology and brand marketing.

Monthly & Weekly SEO Task Checklist

Doing a bit of searching this morning, and was quite surprised to not find a succinct weekly SEO checklist.  So I decided to take a few minutes to outline my approach.  Hope it helps! Monthly SEO Tasks 2019   Research: Industry, competition, target audience, target keywords. Tools: Google, Answer the Public, Word Tracker, Ubersuggest, Excel. Website Maintenance: Create backups, check for broken links, fix spelling errors. Tools: Plesk, Expression Web Weekly SEO Tasks 2019   Monitor Performance: Traffic analysis, CTR, keywords, sources, devices, demographics, funnels. Tools: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Data Studio by Google Website Audits: Check for valid HTML structure, URLs, metatags, mobile friendliness. Tools: Screaming Frog, Google Search Console, Varvy, Siteliner, Think with Google Create Content: Create core site pages, write Blog posts Tools: Blogger, Grammarly, Expression Web, Notepad, XML sitemap Social Sharing: Spread your company mess

Logo Design Process for New Brands

Image
The logo design process includes three main phases: Discovery Phase: Learning about the client's product or brand. It's important to also know the target audience.  The more you understand about the brand, the easier it is to visualize a logo concept. Conceptualization Phase: This is the fun part, in this phase you put "pen to paper". I like to rough in 3 different concepts for the client to choose from. Here are the applications used: Google Chrome (industry research) Sketch pad (a.k.a. pencil and paper) Adobe Illustrator (vector based illustration) Gmail (email communication) Google Fonts (downloadable typeface) Adobe Fireworks (drop-shadows, bezels) Refining Phase: After determining which style the customer prefers, it's time to finalize the logo. This includes experimenting with color combinations, and minor position tweaks, letter kerning, etc. Cost: Typical small business logo design cost is $200-$400, this is ballpark estimate

WordPress Site for Rochester Dance Lessons

Image
Dancing with WordPress We 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 : + LaJuett.com , where he supports clients as a Web technology consultant and search marketing strategy adviser.