To follow our adventures starting in May in the beautiful state parks of Virginia, watch for our newsletters and follow our blog or Facebook page!

Is your website “clean” of malware?  Go to sucuri.net for a free check-up.  If the check-up shows your website is clean and not blacklisted, crack the bubbly!  If not, contact your webmaster ASAP! Even if your website is clean, here are some steps you can take to make sure it stays that way, for you and whoever else administers your website:

1. Scan all computers that have admin access to your website.
2. Run more than one virus scanner.  Malware Bytes, SpyBot Search and Destroy, ComboFix and Microsoft Security Essentials are good ones. Update your virus scanner before performing a scan.
3. Scan your startup directory. In Windows, go to Run>msconfig and scan each item.
4. Through your Registry Editor (Windows), scroll through each “Run” entries to look for suspicious items.

For more tips and advice, email us, or give us a call at 757-250-3197 (Williamsburg) or 804-744-5400 (Midlothian).

Tip 1: Don’t get “Pandified”!

It’s been two years since Google unleashed its Panda algorithm change, and 20+ Penguin updates since. In short, websites not meeting Google’s new search engine standards, could get slammed or “Pandafied” (yes–this is what it is called).  Here’s a short list of what can get a website Pandified:

•High percentage of duplicated content
•Little original content (i.e. content copied from another site)
•A lot of pages with little original content
•A lot of inappropriate or unrelated advertisements
•Page content that does not match what is being searched for
•Unnatural overuse of a word on a page (“keyword stuffing”)
•High bounce rate (visitors leaving shortly after “landing”, resulting in low visit times)
•Low percentage of return visitors
•Backlinks from low-ranking, poor quality sites

Is your website not showing up in searches, or does it receive little (or no!) traffic?  Or do you even know?  Email us or give us a call; we’ll show you what you need to know!

Backlinks

Google and other search engines use the number of backlinks your website has from high-ranking websites as an important factor for determining your website’s search engine ranking, popularity and importance.

How to build good backlinks to your website?

The fastest ways to build backlinks to your website is to take advantage of free basic listings in high-ranking online directories, such as Merchant Circle, LinkedIn, Manta, Yellow Pages and Yelp.  Since each listing is like a mini website for your business, you should optimize it like a website, using keywords in the description, and alt text in your images.  And make sure you enter the entire URL of your domain–including the http://, otherwise the link won’t be active!

How to start? 

First, do a search for your business name, to see where you are already listed.  Unless you’re a brand new business, chances are you’re already listed in a number of directories–you just need to claim your free listings!

Claiming your listings isn’t just important for the optimization of your website–it’s a big part of protecting your brand, as well as getting your website ranked higher in searches. Bypass directories that charge a fee or ask for a reciprocal link.

Before you submit your website to any directory, however, make sure you’ve done everything you can to make it a quality website, with lots of good content and keywords related to what your website is about.  Directories can reject poor quality websites.

It’s also important to claim and thoroughly optimize your free business listings in Google Places Map, Bing Local Listings and Yahoo! Local, as these listings generally show up first in a search.

Ready to start or learn more?  Contact us for a free list of 50 high-ranking directories, or to schedule a free 1-hour private consultation to learn how to add your business to these and other directories.

The first video production below is the latest. It features custom animation and original music bed.

LEONI Fiber Optics in Williamsburg, VA – Vertically Integrated Fiber Optics from Smellycat Productions LLC on Vimeo.

This next video production features custom animation.

LEONI Introduction Video from Smellycat Productions LLC on Vimeo.

Special thanks to camera operator / animator Lew Fraga, video editor Mark Peasley, and grips Robert Alley!

There is a very good chance that if you’ve worked with us at Smellycat Productions at some point over the course of the last the year, that your website was built on the WordPress platform. For those whom we haven’t had the pleasure and opportunity to work with, WordPress is an open source (free) community driven project and platform that originally gained popularity for Blogging back in 2003 when it was first released. Over the course of 9 years and a whole lot of sleepless nights, billions of energy drinks, and trillions of cups of coffee it has become so much more and continues to grow each and every day. Currently WordPress is roughly about 20% of the internet, which is really quite a large share given just how big the web has become.

WordPress is great because it allows our Customers to actively participate with their website(which we definitely recommend), which in the old days was not the easiest thing in the world to do if you didn’t understand html, css or php. You can easily create new pages with content, as well as blog posts to engage and inform your customers and followers. The possibilities are endless and if you can dream it, there is likely already developers making it into a Plugin. If you’ve heard of WordPress before, there is likely a chance you’ve heard this word. To keep it simple, a Plugin is a way to extend WordPress and its abilities beyond the basics of what comes on the base install. Plugins come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and functionalities. They can range from something as simple as some simple social icons added to your site to complex Shopping Carts for E-Commerce. Sounds like serenading harps, magical unicorns, and rainbows with pots of gold at the end right?

The answer currently, is Yes and No (probably not the answer your were hoping for). WordPress is open source and community driven(99.99% are unpaid and donating their free time to the project), so it’s hard for core contributors to monitor each and every thing submitted to the repository, especially older plugins. Things have certainly improved over the last couple years, and huge strides have been made, but some cautions and considerations should be taken, before you “just download and install” a plugin. The state of the current system is beginning early revisions and will continue to improve, but for now what should you do?

For a Beginner, the WordPress Plugin Repository, can be overwhelming (Check It Out Here). Start by doing a search for what you’re thinking your site could really use, like perhaps a calendar for your website, or anything you might find useful. Once you do so, here are some steps we recommend, and down below I’ve attached an image highlighting(arrows and #’s) the various areas I’m speaking about.

1. Always a good place to start when seeing if a plugin is right for you, is to read the  tabs just below the photo(if there is one). Scan through that and just see if there is a live demo or screenshots. I use these tabs first just to get a feel for the plugin.
2. Next, I like to make sure that the plugin is compatible with the version of WordPress you are running(which hopefully is the most recent!!), and that it’s compatible with the latest version of WordPress, because that also shows it’s being actively developed(see blue arrow).
3. Check also when it was last updated again to see that it’s actively being used and curated to be compatible moving forward (Although some Devs forget to update this sometimes).
4. Check the number of downloads. This is often a pretty good indication that it’s well supported as well. That being said, just because what you’re interested in doesn’t have millions of downloads, doesn’t mean it’s not a solid plugin to extend your site. In these instances, it could just be that it’s new or the word hasn’t spread like wildfire just yet, but by no means does it make it a bad plugin. My recommendation is to consult with Smellycat Productions or your developer to review it further. You can also see what a Google search will pull up as well to see what comes up (use your best judgement in that case).
5. Lastly, another important step I usually take is to check out the plugin author. It won’t necessarily stop me from trying something, it’s always nice when it’s an author of other great plugins that I know work great, there is a good chance this one will play nice!

There are two more things that you may want to be aware of as well, but again should not necessarily turn you away or in favor of using them.

1. The Star Ratings which you can see I highlighted in Magenta. I am not a huge fan of this, because it’s essentially a popularity contest and not a true measure if something is good or not. Because WordPress is globally contributed to, sometimes plugin instructions are not super clear or can be confusing because the author’s first language in not English. So it could be great and do exactly what you want and need, but because it was only 2 stars you went right on by to the next one. Of course on the contrary, there are plenty with higher ratings, that could be doing more harm than help.
2. The one last thing to be aware of is, sometimes, you’ll come across an older plugin(see image), that was built to last and built to scale. It may do something relatively straightforward. Just be aware when you see this message alert, it doesn’t mean you should necessarily run away from the particular plugin, but you may want to consult with us before adding it to your site.

There are lots of new and exciting things happening with developers and there are discussions on how we can, as a Community, make the WordPress Plugin Repository even better. Right now the system is far from perfect. Keeping some of these things in mind can really help when adding plugins or functionality to your own sites. This is in no way intended to scare, but rather educate clients/users/designers/developers on best practices with the Repository in its current state. WordPress will continue to grow and gain popularity, so this will hopefully make your journey an easier one.

For over a year I’ve heard about these events called WordCamps from my co-worker Will. Throughout my time working with him, he has attended several WordCamps, both live and through online stream. When he told me that he would be attending an event fairly close to our area, he asked me if I wanted to go. I hesitated at first, and then after some verbal arm-twisting by Will, I figured I might as well go. This turned out to be an excellent decision.

Taken straight from the website, WordCamps are informal, non-profit, community-organized events that focus on everything WordPress, put together by local WordPress enthusiasts. Each allotted time slot has several tracks, different speakers from multiple perspectives; in this case, there was a Developer track and a User track. Speakers on the Developer track spoke about ways to work on the backend, the behind-the-scenes of a website, and how to make it easier for clients to use WordPress. Speakers on the User track spoke about ways to improve and better optimize their website on the front, from visuals to content to search engine optimization.

This event in Baltimore was one of the smaller attended events, which works for me as I am not one for a large crowds and sitting 50 rows high in an auditorium. I learned a ton at WordCamp Baltimore from the Developer tracks on ways to make WordPress easier for clients to use. I also learned from the User tracks on ways to help clients improve upon their site with SEO keywords and videos. Learning from both tracks has helped me, as a developer, improve my work with a client. My improvements have helped make the clients happy and even more excited about their new website as they embark on their journey.

It has been a few weeks since WordCamp Baltimore and I have already applied what I learned from it to my work. Though I normally would not hesitate to say “Nah, not this time,” I could not be happier that I went to the event. I learned quite a bit and feel inspired to give back to the WordPress Community at large. Next time there is an event close by, I won’t be so hesitant, as they’re a fun way to learn new or different techniques for improving my skill-set.

To find out more about WordCamps, visit the site at http://central.wordcamp.org

We continue to offer all our marketing services in both locations – web design, website redesign, graphic design, SEO (search engine optimization), social media and networking, videography, photography, and private and group workshops that teach you how to manage your own website and get it to the first page of Google searches, and now we have teamed with two established Richmond area companies that share our philosophy of client relationship-building: Fraga Studios and Iconograph Studios. Fraga Studios owner, Lew Fraga, is a product and architectural photographer with 20+ years experience. His images have been published in Time, National Geographic, Newsweek, Playboy, Popular Photography, and Southern Living to name a few. Iconograph Studios, owned by Steven Burks, Lew Fraga, Mark Peasley and David Hindelang, is an entertainment company that creates and delivers thought-provoking, eye-catching entertainment for multiple media formats, from motion pictures to comic books.

Together, we’ve positioned Smellycat Productions as a full-service advertising agency, with emphasis on outstanding customer service and results. Contact us at either location, and let us show you how to put the Internet to work for YOU!

The “Jacks” made the first commercially available, down, hammock under quilt. They also sell light weight, high quality down filled quilts, the unique Bear Mountain Bridge Hammock (the worlds only lay flat, lay straight hammock), and assorted other hiking gear and accessories.

Jacks ‘R’ Better states that one of their primary goals when they started their business was “to make hammock camping a year-round activity. Through our personal experiences while backpacking and our efforts to reduce our pack weights and improve our comfort we discovered hammock camping and then developed a way to efficiently insulate the underside of the hammock to enable hammock camping year-round. We started the business because we wanted to offer that opportunity to the rest of the backpacking/camping community.”

Jacks ‘R’ Better has the best reputation and are the premier ultra light camping gear specialists and suppliers in the US, and carry everything you will need in order to stay dry, warm, and comfortable while camping.

You can visit and shop at the Jacks ‘R’ Better’s eCommerce website (built by Smellycat Productions of course!)  at JacksRBetter.com.

Here at Smellycat Productions, we ran across a funny and relative explanation of these media – explained by donuts. Yes, delicious donuts. We found the blog here, but we’ll do a little more explaining with each.

Facebook – I like donuts

Google+ – I’m a Google employee who eats donuts