What were you able to make using...

User 1862423 Photo


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3 posts

I am not a customer yet. I have read some great reviews, but if possible would anyone be willing to share what they were able to create with coffeecup? I figure the proof is in the pudding, so if you are willing to post you web address I would like to browse to see what can be made.

Thanks!!!
User 597929 Photo


Registered User
1,332 posts

I've made a couple of sites thus far using VSD, Web Site Font, Form Builder, Image Gallery, and Jukebox (off the top of my head). Here's one:

http://www.spinland.biz
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
User 37670 Photo


Registered User
2,138 posts

I made a site that displayed National web-based training in 15 different programs, for several divisions of a large company in Canada. The site is password protected and I can't give out the URL, but it's true.
I used many CoffeeCup tools and some programming that can be done in the CC HTML editor. It takes more than just the software to make a large site like that. I had to learn lots of coding and database stuff, but the main tools of the trade have always been CoffeeCup tools.

My personal site is 100% Coffeecup, and that can be seen here:
http://www.mainsites.ca

If you want an example of my online training ability, please use the contact form (CC Form Builder) on the contact page and I will reply to your email with a username/password to explore that part of the site.
E-Learning Specialist
www.mainsites.ca is my website, and yes, some of it is crappy.
User 1862423 Photo


Registered User
3 posts

Cliff Main wrote:


My personal site is 100% Coffeecup, and that can be seen here:
http://www.mainsites.ca



Ha from your site:
Your on-line training could include any of these, or more:
W.H.M.I.S.
Back Safety
Fall Protection
Winter Driving
Transportation of Dangerous Goods
Preventing Slips and Falls


Transportation of dangerous goods is what we do!!!
www.specializedshippingllc.com

We are adding an online store and need to add much more content. Plus we are having problems with our search engine ranking, so we are hoping to improve that also.

User 37670 Photo


Registered User
2,138 posts

specializedshipping wrote:


Transportation of dangerous goods is what we do!!!
www.specializedshippingllc.com

We are adding an online store and need to add much more content. Plus we are having problems with our search engine ranking, so we are hoping to improve that also.


Well go figure...That is so cool. Just having a look at your site now. Did you make big changes recently? It kinda looks familiar to me.

For SEO optimization....
I had a quick look. Note that keywords and description are supposed to be 2 different things. Repeating ANY keyword more than 3 times can hurt your search engine ranking, and repeating keywords in the same way/order/frequency in a meta "description" is not a good idea.
The description should be in sentence form or short phrases, often including the first line of the first paragraph on that page, which should also hold the meaning of the entire page.
Your keywords and description meta tags will be more effective if they truly reflect the content of the page. Having the word 'hazmat' in the keyword meta tag, and then never using it even once on the web page could hurt the ranking, as it may be seen as an extra added word to trick the search engine.

There used to be a time when the tdg website that had the keyword "tdg" repeated 100 times got the best "tdg" search results, but now it will get the worst.

I count the word "hazmat" at least 13 times and the word "dangerous" 15 or more times between the two meta tags.

The next real BIG ISSUE is that all of your content and text on your home page are images. Although you can read the text on the screen, it's only an image. A search for the words "hazmat" and "dangerous" show up nowhere in the <body> of your entire web page. That means that NOTHING in the web page content matches ANY of your meta tag keywords and descriptions.....owwww

Don't take my word for it. Look up on the Internet and check for yourself what helps or hinders search engines. Maybe this forum isn't the place for all the details. If you like, email me from my contact form on mainsites.ca and maybe we can set asside some time and see if I can do more to help you directly.
E-Learning Specialist
www.mainsites.ca is my website, and yes, some of it is crappy.
User 471275 Photo


Ambassador
1,130 posts

Cliff, Very good seo tips.

Another point with keywords is to check the popularity of the keywords you are using. A good tool for this is to use Google Adwords keyword checker. Not only can you see the popularity of the keyword but it can also give you an idea of maybe other or better keywords then you are using. Here is the link https://adwords.google.co.uk/select/KeywordToolExternal You don't need to sign up to google adwords to use this tool.

Very important and not to under estimate is your title tag in your header. You can put up to maximum 70 characters and it should reflect what your website is about in a few words.

Also you can change keywords for different pages depending on what the top of the page is. So if your website is about insurance and you have a page for car insurance then you can change your keywords for that page to car insurance keywords and on a page for home insurance use home insurance keywords. The idea is that if someone is looking for car insurance through your keywords they may find your website home page and also your car insurance page.. Your title and description tag should be different for each page (related to the page content).

I would also adivce anyone once you have finished your website to have your website google verified and add the google verification link in the header. Also do not forget to submit your site map to google. The CC site map creater is perfect for this.

I have a great link where you can check your website for your title tag, meta tags etc. It is free and very handy. Here is the link:

http://www.rankingtoday.com

User 597929 Photo


Registered User
1,332 posts

Something that I realized last night: when you use "advanced text" options and add bevels or shadows or what-nots, often VSD apparently converts the text to images. Instant loss of search engine visibility.

Just something to ponder: is the visual effect worth the loss?
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
User 37670 Photo


Registered User
2,138 posts

That is where being able to code the page yourself comes in handy. I think VSD allows for the "alt" tag, or alternative text for images that are imported? If so, can that be added for text that is coverted into images?
The alt="" inside the image tag is used to give a text description of the image. Search engines can see that text and index it accordingly. It's the text that shows up when you move the mouse over the image AND the text that a screen reader would read in lieu of being able to view the image.
E-Learning Specialist
www.mainsites.ca is my website, and yes, some of it is crappy.
User 597929 Photo


Registered User
1,332 posts

Yeah, VSD gives you an alt field to fill in, but only for images you import explicitly, as in graphical elements you bring into your design. The images it creates for special text are made automatically when the HTML is exported and you have no control over how those are handled. The best you can do is go into the HTML after the fact and manually add in the alt tags--but they'll be overwritten every time you save your VSD work.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer." -- Frank Zappa

Visit Spinland Studios: http://www.spinland.biz
User 37670 Photo


Registered User
2,138 posts

Knowing that it can cause an issue with search engines is at least better than not knowing why your site might have a bad rating with search engines. If used sparingly, it should be fine.
I guess that's the big difference between having someone who can code your website and using a wysiwyg editor.
As those go, CC Visual Site Designer is still a great tool for the 'do-it-yourself-er' when it comes to creating a website without the learning curve of html, css, php, xhtml and so much more.
E-Learning Specialist
www.mainsites.ca is my website, and yes, some of it is crappy.

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