The Effects of Google’s Above-the-Fold Penalty

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Nov 172011
 

Google has long been one of the most dominant names in the worldwide web; anything this giant does, from the seemingly insignificant to the groundbreaking, will always start a chain reaction and its after-effects be felt everywhere the internet is available, whether it is for companies doing web design in Reading, Pa or random online browsing in Oslo, Norway.

 

Matt Cutts of Google has released major news regarding Google’s above-the-fold algorithm update: as of the third week of January, 2012, Google has initiated an algorithm change that checks the amount of content and ads “above-the-fold” on a website. According to Cutts’ statement, sites that have gone overboard with ads and are deemed lacking in content will be penalized but on the upside, only 1% of websites will actually be adversely affected. He said that this is in response to heavy complaints from users who expect quality content upon clicking on a website, but instead are bombarded with ads and have to navigate through a tangle of these before finally reaching the content they initially searched for. In an effort to make user experiences better and more efficient, Google seeks to minimize the volume of such intrusive ads.

 

Ifultech, a Reading Pa web design firm, gets the idea of “above-the-fold” from the printed newspaper that refers to the top half of the page. According to studies, it is this portion that first draws a reader’s eye and holds attention, therefore it is here where the biggest headlines, the splashiest photos and in the case of websites, the most explosive ads are put in order to maximize readership or online time.

 

This new information from Google has left mixed reactions from both sides of the web. In lay-out and web design,  specialists and web owners have long relied on above-the-fold advertising to bring in more web traffic and as an effect, thoroughly cash in on their established sites. Though Cutts has said that only 1% will be affected, a lot of website owners and those in SEO have expressed concern that their rankings and ratings have dropped significantly since Google imposed the aforementioned algorithm. In addition, owners and experts have stated their annoyance at the lack of quantifiable standards regarding what Google considers “too many ads or too much ad space,” if there is a specific resolution that determines where the above-the-fold mark really is, how Google intends to determine which are ads and which ad networks are being targeted.

 

On the other hand, this news is heralded with a breath of relief from online users. In various reactions to posts related to Google’s algorithm change, users say that it would be good not to be forced to see dozens of ads upon immediately opening a website and it would make the browsing experience yield more satisfactory results in less time. Cutts has additionally cleared the issue on “too much ads” by explaining that the algorithm looks at ad space and how it is utilized, not the number of ads.

 

In light of this, our SEO specialists are now encouraged to make certain their work is not just customer-centered but user-friendly as well in order to avoid whatever penalties over stuffing websites with ads might entail. In the end, it’s the millions of online users that matter.

 Posted by at 1:07 am

Doing More With Less When Designing A Grid Layout For Your Web Design

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Nov 032011
 

Although CSS grid systems can significantly simplify website development, a few problems arise when using these as a tool.

Traditionally, CSS grid frameworks have not allowed for a full separation of presentation and mark-up. To use a grid system, it is necessary to add .grid_x CSS classes to HTML elements, which results in a mixture of presentation and semantic information in an HTML document.

 

Another problem with CSS grid frameworks is the complications that arise when working with fluid percentages. Although grid systems provide the opportunity to work with fluid percentages, when nested columns are introduced, the percentages must all be recalculated.

Finally, although new tools are being created to assist users to change a page’s layout based on device or screen size, grid systems are not responsive.

But now, thanks to LESS CSS, traditional CSS can be extended with impressive new features such as operations, functions, variables and mixins.

The improvements that LESS brings to CSS lay the groundwork for a new innovative approach to building page layouts. This approach, called the Semantic Grid System can be either fixed or fluid, is semantic, is responsive and permits the number of columns and column widths to be altered instantaneously straight into the style sheet.

 

Now with LESS it is possible to specify a variable just once, and use it again through the style sheet by defining variables. Traditionally, to simply change the color in style sheets, it was necessary to utilize long selectors all dedicated to that single color. With LESS, you are able to specify variables in one place then reuse the variables in another place in the style sheet.

 

When using variables, it is often necessary to reuse more than single values. Repeating this type of code can add up quickly if you use a lot of CSS3. LESS offers a solution to this problem by permitting you to reuse whole classes by referencing them in your rule sets. These reusable classes, called mixins, are able to be manipulated by variables, and grouped into separate bundles by nesting them inside a rule set.

 

Unlike traditional CSS, as a way to show hierarchy, LESS lets you nest rule sets within other rule sets. With LESS, it is not necessary to repeat selectors repeatedly, all you have to do is nest the pertinent rule inside of another to designate the hierarchy. Also, it is a fantastic way to keep your code ordered and organized because visually, it groups related items together.

 

Additionally, multiplying, dividing adding and subtracting values and colors are now possible using operations. Finally, learning LESS is easy because it already uses existing CSS syntax. That way, if you are in doubt, you can always fall back to CSS.

 Posted by at 1:06 am
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