North Carolina SEO Extends Online Offerings

For several years the North Carolina SEO, Michael D. Hudson, has been working on the web designing and developing quality eCommerce and news sites for himself and a few select customers. More recently, Michael has opened My NC SEO (http://myncseo.com) making it easier for businesses to find him as well as others who need a well known and respected search engine optimizer to handle placing their business website for all to find.

Why My NC SEO?

Often existing clients of Michael were asked how they achieved top 10 rankings on both Google and Yahoo. When asked each would answer "My North Carolina SEO".

If interested to learn more about search engine optimization and/or contact Michael D. Hudson directly, please visit the new search engine optimization website at http://myncseo.com today.

Google Blog Search

Unless you have been on a different planet or completely away from the internet for these past few years, you realize how dominant Google is to online searches. Now you can add blog searching to that list.

According to Google Blog Search (http://blogsearch.google.com/) is:

Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs. Google is a strong believer in the self-publishing phenomenon represented by blogging, and we hope Blog Search will help our users to explore the blogging universe more effectively, and perhaps inspire many to join the revolution themselves. Whether you're looking for Harry Potter reviews, political commentary, summer salad recipes or anything else, Blog Search enables you to find out what people are saying on any subject of your choice.

Your results include all blogs, not just those published through Blogger; our blog index is continually updated, so you'll always get the most accurate and up-to-date results; and you can search not just for blogs written in English, but in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese and other languages as well.

see Google Blog Search Help for more...>

What this means for you?

If you have a blog that publishes a feed for the public, you should seriously consider adding blog search to your list. Visit the help feed linked above for more details about how to get listed, how the search works and what additional search options are available specifically within the blog search section.

Google is the dominant search engine and blog search is just one more tool for them and for you to enhance your position in the online marketplace.

Google Index Adds Antiques, Collectibles and Auction News In 2 Weeks

For quite some time (years) there has been a great deal of discussion among SEO's, website developers, website owners and hosts about the Google "sandbox". The sandbox is a very real thing that has caused many new websites to drop from the higher rankings.

On August 14, 2007 the domain for Antiques, Collectibles and Auction News was purchased and shortly afterwards the site was developed and unveiled on Lunar Pages since they have proven to be a top quality, reliable web hosting company. Between that start and August 28, 2007 (approx. 2 weeks), the site showed 28 pages indexed by Google (see Antiques, Collectibles & Auction News site pages indexed on Google) and Yahoo! showed approximately 280 webpages outside of the Antiques, Collectibles and Auction News site with links pointing to at least one of its pages.

These types of results are achievable through diligence and a planned rollout of your business website. The above referenced website is a news blog with no pre-existing content, limited resources and limited staffing.

We shall keep an eye on the progress of this site to demonstrate how a site can succeed on a limited budget with a focus on search engine optimization to include quality content for its readership.

New Sneads Ferry North Carolina Blog News Site

There have been a ton of things happening in our little community called Sneads Ferry. Some are pushing for incorporation and some are vehemently against.

To make it easier to learn what is going on, we have created the Sneads Ferry North Carolina News Blog at http://sneadsferrynorthcarolina.blogspot.com to include articles with the facts about what is going on as well as a calendar for the community along with the county wide calender for Onslow as well.

Our intent is to provide "the rest of the story" for those who really want to know.

How can you help? Please select the Digg option here and complete the process to help raise awareness.

What is Web 2.0?

Recently, there have been a ton of references to "Web 2.0" and how you can take advantage of it to make money by the handfuls! As with so many other overhyped statements, this is only partially true. Maybe with a little more information we can clarify...

First, a definition of Web 2.0 might be in order:

• Web 2.0 - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  
  Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a supposed second-generation of Internet-based services — such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies — that let people collaborate and share information online in previously unavailable ways.

By the way, Wikipedia would easily be considered an example of Web 2.0 along with many other notables like: Flickr, MySpace, etc. Some personal examples using the services of Web 2.0 would be: http://www.myspace.com/beachmick, http://www.flickr.com/photos/seawitchantiques/, and http://del.icio.us/carolinaseo.

Even using free blogging tools can take advantage of Web 2.0 such as the following: http://gardeningandhorticulture.blogspot.com, and http://sneadsferrynorthcarolina.blogspot.com {note the links for Digg and Del.icio.us at the top). Making it easier for visitors to control their own destiny is a primary factor of Web 2.0. Whether it be bookmarking, leaving comments, organization in a personal area or "Digging" and leaving notes for others, Web 2.0 is much more social than prior internet tools and therefore growning exponentially!

Hopefully this give you a better understanding of Web 2.0 and where the Internet as a whole is headed for the future.

Web Hosting to Write Home About

A few months ago, I switched web hosting companies on a few sites of my own as well as some clients. Now that those months have passed, I am breathing a little easier...

The company I switched to is Lunar Pages which has been ranked either #1 or very near number 1 as long as I have been monitoring them.

Some might ask why the change? Stability of a website is critical to long term success with both search engine optimization as well as user satisfaction. People are unwilling to wait or come back to a site that is down or hard to access. Considering this is how I make my living, it is fundamental that any site I work on or for must be stable.

I would suggest anyone wanting to improve their position on the web at least take a look at the offerings of Lunar Pages {see graphic link above} before using another web hosting company, or worse yet, doing nothing at all.

Seafood Plus Info: Complete Site Redesign

Seafood Plus Info has been online for over a year now providing quality seafood selections for:

• Clam Recipes
• Crab Recipes
• Flounder Recipes
• Grouper Recipes
• Oyster Recipes
• Scallop Recipes
• Seafood Soups and Stews
• Shrimp Recipes
• Snapper Recipes
• Tuna Recipes

The new site design is based on phpWebsite originally developed by Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. The site now features many more options for users and management plans to continue offering more features and recipes for their visitors.

Stop by http://www.seafoodplus.info today to see what all the hoopla is about and maybe find the perfect seafood dinner recipe along the way!

Taking North Carolina by Storm

Tropical storm Ernesto stopped by yesterday to leave a reminder that change is inevitable and being prepared a necessity. It can be comforting to know that even when challenges like a tropical storm or hurricane drop in, your business can still be doing business as usual online.

Having a disaster preparedness plan is important to most any business. On the web, having a web host that is prepared for the risks along with programming that can handle life's trials and tribulations, can mean the difference between being profitable versus dead in the water.

As more and more of your business depends on online shopping, it is ever more critical to foresee the challenging risks and how to prevent or minimize their impact on your business. The better you deal with this issue, the more likely your business will continue to grow and thrive over the long haul on the Internet.

Washington North Carolina

Recently, I was asked to look into a new website about the town of Washington North Carolina and the surrounding region. Washington NC has often been referred to as "Little Washington" as compared to Washington DC of course.
Being in close proximity to the Pamlico Sound and Pamlico River, Washington NC has become a favorite tourist destination for those enjoying outdoor activities such as: fossil hunting, searching North Carolina Civil War Relics, and taking in the Summer Music Festivals.
There are a number of arts entertainment options as well as just taking in the beauty and tranquility of this beautiful part of North Carolina.
The http://www.visitwashingtonnc.com site is a very nice representative of Washington North Carolina and one I gladly recommend anyone to check out to learn more about this lovely reminder of beauty.

Sea Witch Antiques Repositions Business Online

Sea Witch Antiques has closed the doors to the storefront and now is one of the online only antique stores. This restructuring of the business was due to the number of sales occurring online as well as allowing the owners, Jean and Dean Hudson, the time to search out the best in top quality antiques and collectibles.

Focused on name brand antiques and collectables, Sea Witch Antiques has redoubled their efforts to bring you the best in: Lladro, Fenton, Fostoria, Heisey, and so much more. Additionally, there are a number of major antique categories that customers have come to expect from Sea Witch including: Flow Blue, Depression Glass, Carnival Glass, and Bavaria China.

Visit Sea Witch Antiques today to learn how a small business can focus on quality and service outperforming the "big boys" through that personal touch. Maybe that is why so many customers say, No One Does It Like The Witch!

Blue Water found on BlueTopsail.com

Recently, a new community has begun development in Surf City on Topsail Island North Carolina. That new community is called Blue Water and can now be found on Blue Topsail (www.bluetopsail.com).

Blue Water, a mixed-use residential and commercial community, is located in the heart of Surf City, NC, and offers a lifestyle opportunity unique to Topsail Island and the East Coast. Luxury villas and condominiums in this waterfront development are now being offered for sale.

The community is unique due to its location and accompanying amenities. Blue Water is centrally located just across the historic swing bridge, in Surf City, N.C. Views overlooking Topsail Sound and the Intracoastal Waterway offer miles of breathtaking splendor. Add the fact that Blue Water is within walking distance of a full-service marina, area restaurants, a grocery store, plenty of shopping and you begin to understand the “feng shui” of living in Blue Water.

Along with the panoramic views at Blue Water, residents will enjoy a soundfront pool, ample parking, exterior storage, elevator accessibility and boat slips availability (with priority purchase.)

Blue Water offers three residential alternatiives for the selective buyer.

Villas offering three levels of living space accessible by private elevator, ground level parking, five bedrooms, four and one-half baths, and breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean and Intercoastal Waterway,

Condominiums offering three bedrooms, two baths on a single level on the second and third floors of a five story building. All floors are accessible by elevator and have open and spacious floor plans with outdoor decks overlooking the Intercoastal Waterway and salt marshes.

Penthouses offering four bedrooms, three baths including two master bedroom suites on two levels. These units are the the epitome of luxury with views compared to no other on Topsail Island.

Boat Slips
Blue Water offers buyers a chance to purchase a deepwater boat slip with access to the Topsail Sound and the Intra Coastal Waterway on a priority purchase basis. Blue Water is located on a protective cove with a private floating dock system, including water and electric power on all slips within its "no wake" zone. Boat slips will be located directly in front of Blue Waters Villa Homes.

Commercial
Blue Water is an interconnected mixed-use community with over 6,000 sq.ft. of available commercial space for working and shopping all in one place. The friendly atmosphere and central downtown location of Blue Water make it the perfect location for shops, offices and cafes…whatever your destination. Owning a business in Blue Water will be both fun and convenient…for both you and your customers.

For more info visit the following links:

• Topsail Island Town Homes
• Topsail Island Condos
• Topsail Island Rentals

Sea Witch Antiques Over 1 Million!!!

Sea Witch Antiques reached over 1 million requests to their website between March 1, 2005 and March 1, 2006! From their early beginnings as a small retail storefront located in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, Sea Witch Antiques has quickly grown into a significant presence on the Internet.

Carrying the finest in Flow Blue & Transferware, Depression Glass, and other name brand antiques and collectibles, Sea Witch Antiques has grown into an online ecommerce retailer receiving hundreds of visitors each day. Whether people want to sell whole or partial estates, or they want to purchase from Sea Witch Antiques, the flood of calls and emails clearly show that the quality service and merchandise brings them back time and again.

Examples of major name brands carried by Sea Witch Antiques include: Fenton, Fostoria, Lladro, Rookwood, and Royal Doulton. As you can clearly see, they offer the finest in antiques and collectibles. What you would soon learn is the great customer service you get each and every time you contact or purchase from Sea Witch Antiques.

Stop by sometime or call them at (910) 539-4949 to get that first hand experience for yourself. You too will be saying "No One Does It Like The Witch!".

The Whole Greater Than the Sum of the Parts

Over the past 2 months, H2 SEO is been primarily dedicated to a new venture involving the best the local region has to offer in web development, hosting and overall customer service. The purpose of this joint venture was to create a top notch firm with the ability to design, develop and promote the best of breed applications for businesses wanting to shine on the internet.

OK, so?

The new company is called Topsail Publishing, Inc. which brings together a number of well known news writers from the Topsail Island region along with staff from Beacon Webs, Topsail Internet Cafe and more. Each of these companies has developed a reputation for top rated customer service in their respective fields.

One of the very first projects for Topsail Publishing has been the new news site Topsail Island Info. The new site is already ranking quite well on MSN for a variety of phrases including Topsail Island, Topsail Island Real Estate and many others. With over 200 people visiting the site on several days, there are a number of businesses taking a new look at marketing on the site as well as getting the Topsail Publishing group to develop a site for them.

Recently, Topsail Publishing has added a new events calendar and working to implement classifieds to compliment the other advertising opportunities already available. The overall design of the site makes each of the primary pages a "mini portal" containing: articles, links, calendar events, etc. for each major topic covered. These topics include the towns, sports, real estate and more.

Considering how quickly this has all occured, the upcoming "face lift" slated for the beginning to middle of December should prove quite interesting to see. Stay tuned here or visit the Topsail Island Info site to see for yourself.

Setting the Gold Standard in Link Promotion

Coastal Gold hires H2 SEO for Search Engine Optimization and Link Building services

Coastal Gold (http://www.coastalgold.com/) has hired H2 SEO to perform the services of Search Engine Optimization and Link Building to enhance their business by placing them on the first page of the major search engines.

Realizing that before a business can be profitable online, people must find it, the management of Coastal Gold decided to work with the Wilmington SEO that had demonstrated the ability to rise above the competition. Being that Coastal Gold deals in high quality precious metals, they wanted to maintain the "gold standard" on the web.

Coastal Gold is a premier scrap gold buyer. When you want to sell scrap gold or any other precious metals, contact Coastal Gold. They are the professionals that will handle your request no matter how large or small with the customer service for which they are noted.

Sometimes Adsense Just Makes Sense

After all the email you receive with all the false promises as well as the overexaggerated sales hype on TV and radio, it is difficult not to be put off regarding the marketing of business websites especially when it comes to profit potential.

Being a professional SEO, I decided to perform a little test of my own to determine how a brand new site could become profitable and what timeframe for this achievement is within reason. Of course, I wanted to make this profitable for me as well.

Rather than develop some laboratory experiment that would provide results that others might find difficult to repeat, I set out a plan to build rather basic websites using topics I was already familiar with and include Google Adsense advertisements on each to allow visitors to click on the ads which causes me to get paid on a monthly basis (provided the revenue exceeds $100 US at some point).

Google Adsense Websites for My Test

The 2 sites I created were Seafood Plus Info at http://www.seafoodplus.info/ and Topsail Island Info at http://www.topsail-island.info/. Each of these sites were created with a "standard" look and feel using PHP coding that uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and the new Google Sitemap Protocol.

Being that I wanted the sites to gain recognition and usage quickly, I wanted the largest of the major search engines, Google, to find each site and index all of their pages quickly. The Google Sitemap Protocol, which is still in beta testing, enables that to happen.

Results So Far...

Not to violate the Google terms of service for participation within the program, I will not disclose exact amounts of revenue. Instead I will provide results in relation to other expenses involved in creation and maintenance of a "standard" business website.

Thus far, the Seafood Plus Info site has already paid back the full amount expended to register the domain and host the site for a year. This occurred within the first 4 months online!

As for the Topsail Island Info site, it has already started getting revenue within the first 9 days of being online (from date of registering the domain and purchasing hosting)!

This is rather amazing as so many other web design and SEO "professionals" say it should take 6-9 months to see results. Oh well...

What Does All of This Mean?

To me this means that link building, my favorite form of website promotion, is still quite effective on the major search engines. It also means that through careful consideration and proper planning, a business website can be developed to become profitable in a reasonable period of time. Similar to running a storefront business, online business does take time and effort.

The rewards can be outstanding!

Google Adwords Helps Pay the Bills

A little over two months ago, my wife and I decided to create a website focused on Seafood including how-to handle and prepare as well as recipes. Like so many others with an idea for a new website, we wanted to find a means to financially support the site while providing quality content for users to enjoy without having to pay.

Along Comes Google Adwords

For those not familiar, Google offers many services beyond just the search engine. Adwords is the service available to those who want to purchase online pay-per-click advertising to obtaining visitors searching for your product or service. Unlike organic results, pay-per-click is quick to begin bringing leads and quick to drop off when your account runs out of funds.

Adsense is the display side to Adwords. For those who have a website and want to build revenue by "selling" advertising space, Adsense can be an option. Adsense uses the content of your site to determine what ads to display that were purchased through Adwords. As a website owner/manager, you have the option to filter out unwanted ads (e.g. competition, those you just do not like, etc.). If there are no relevant paid ads as determined by Google after the filter, public service ads can be displayed.

Example site: Seafood Plus Info

The site my wife and I created has the Google Adsense ads along the right side of the pages as well as categories on the bottom. To see how this can work or to learn more about both Adwords and Adsense by Google, please visit the links from this page.

There may be something in it for you!

Need a Referral?

Ever wonder how so many businesses do so well?

Ever wonder why so many people recommend shopping at one place over another?

Getting a good reputation in business has long been the key for brick-and-mortar retailers through the years. Word of mouth advertising is generally the most sought after form of marketing for the local neighborhood store. Can the same be true online?

The internet works very similar to the real world in many ways. When people want to learn about the better places to live, work or play, they often start with looking it up on the web. Over 85% of American internet users begin with a search engine to start the process. So how does this relate to referrals?

Google is considered by most experts to be the largest and most often used search engine in the world. Most expert search engine optimizers ("SEOs") acknowledge that you cannot get to the first page of Google's Search Engine Ranking Positions ("SERPs") without quality and volume of inbound links to your site. These inbound links are, in essence, referrals from other websites such as: news, directories, search engines and site related to your subject matter (hopefully!).

Obtaining these "referrals" from other quality sites is very similar to getting a word of mouth referral in the "real world". The better the quality of the referral, the better it is received. The more often you hear or see the referral, the more it sticks with you. The same holds true for getting the inbound links and their relationship to your SERPs on the major search engines like Google, Yahoo!, MSN and AOL.

Of course, there are more elements to make the referrals do the most for you but, that is another topic which we can discuss later. For more about online referrals or about SEO and Link Building, please visit http://myncseo.com today!

Online Businesses Need to Prepare for Christmas

We have all heard "the early bird gets the worm" and "a stitch in time saves nine". These sayings point to the fact that getting prepared and being in front of your competition makes a significant impact on our sales. The same holds true to online marketing.

It never seems to fail. Every year businesses talk about how important the Christmas shopping season is to their profits and yet, these same businesses find it less important to prepare in the mid to late summer. Early August is the prime time to get started working on the marketing projects for your business website so they may be in place and effective when you need them most.

Marketing Timeline

Let's back into the schedule issues related to marketing your business on the web. First, most businesses realize that the day after Thanksgiving Holiday is the biggest retail shopping day of the year. With business websites, this can begin even the actual holiday itself or slightly before so we can use this as our rough target date that the promotion must be completed not later than.

It is generally recognized that Google is the largest and most used search engine in the world. In the SEO business we also know that it often takes two (2) full cycles of updates for the search engine giant to get your search engine ranking positions ("SERPs") to be in place. Each of these updates takes approximately 4-6 weeks which puts us needing 8-12 weeks before the Thanksgiving Holiday deadline to have all links in place and ready for Google along with the other search engines.

September 15 - September 29

Our schedule now has up needing to have all the SEO of the business website completed, all the links pointing to our website on other websites, directories, search engines and news publications completed and fully functioning. This means that we cannot still be waiting for other webmasters to put our links in place or someone to take another 4-6 weeks to decide to place the link in their directory. Doing so would cost our SERPs dramatically when we need them most.

August 1 through September 15

As you can now see, this only leaves us approximately 6 - 8 weeks to work on the SEO of the site, build links and get everything ready to improve your business website sales during the Christmas shopping season. That is approximately the same amount of time many businesses state it takes to ship you a single product!

Don't Delay!!!

If you want to improve your Christmas season sales, do not wait another day. Whether you choose to go with SEO and Link building through H2 SEO or any other website marketing firm, now is the time to get started. Waiting any longer can be a very costly prospect indeed!

10 Best Resources for CSS by Mark Daoust

The 10 Best Resources for CSS

By Mark Daoust (c) 2005
reprinted with permission from Mark Daoust

If you have been paying attention, you certainly have noticed an increasing number of websites that are employing CSS and an increasing number of resources talking about how great CSS is. If you have not yet jumped on the CSS bandwagon, you may want to consider doing so immediately.

CSS has many different benefits for website owners. The most obvious is the pure, raw design capabilities CSS brings to websites. CSS can control everything from the size of your font to the very layout of your page. A site designed with proper HTML and CSS can avoid incorporating almost any design elements into the actual HTML. This means a website owner can change the entire look of their whole site without changing a single HTML page. For owners of sites with dynamic content or sites that have a lot of content (blogs, forums, stores, etc), this becomes a huge time saver.

CSS also allows a website owner to build their HTML in a nice, logical order. Often when using tables to layout a website, the HTML that powers the website is not laid out in a logical order (this is referred to as the 'code flow'). This can hurt website owners in two ways. The first, and more important way, is to recognize that not everyone who uses the Internet is viewing your website
through a visual browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. There are a whole group of people who are viewing websites using web readers and other tools which rely on well-organized code. Secondly, a well-organized website can actually help your search engine rankings. When a spider discovers a page that is well organized and not filled with a lot of extra HTML code, it can determine more accurately and quickly what that page is really about. Let's face it, we all
want to help the spiders, right?

It is in the spirit of CSS that this article is written. There are hundreds of websites offering CSS tutorials, CSS examples, competitions, and showcases. There may be some that we are not aware of which are not displayed hëre, and if so, we encourage you to let us know in the Site Reference Forums.

With that said, we must offer a word of warning before going to any of these websites. These sites can become very addicting if you enjoy web design in the slightest way. Some of these sites link to literally hundreds of other sites which will catch your interest.

Now that the warning has been issued, we present to you a list of our favorite CSS websites.

CSSZenGarden

If you have any doubts over how powerful CSS really is, then you need to visit CSS Zen Garden. CSS Zen Garden is a display of the power and beauty of CSS. The concept is simple: see how many ways designers can take the exact same HTML code and produce completely different looking pages. As you browse through the various designs, you will find that the only thing changing the way each page looks is the CSS file. The HTML is exactly the same.

CSS Zen Garden is a great showcase of creativity and technical expertise. It is also important to point out that CSS Zen Garden does not use any tables for their layout. Everything is done in pure, simple HTML and CSS.

The Web Developer's Network

Any of the sites that make our favorites list are certainly listed on this extensive resource page. Be warned, this page has so many resources listed it is easy to get lost for hours exploring them. Some of the resources are just fun to explore while others offer some very practical advice on practical matters.

The page is not limited to CSS resources, but also delves into areas of good website design and creativity, along with anything else you could possibly want for your design needs. Our only criticism of this site is that it might be too extensive to find a specific tutorial or help guide.

Official Cascading Style Sheets
Level 2 Specification

This is the place where it all starts if you want to learn CSS. Hëre you will find the official documentation on how to use CSS and what CSS is used for. Many novice website owners are scared away from this site because it is written in very technical language and they fear that they will not be able to understand it. If you feel this way, be careful not to sell yourself short. The
specifications are actually much easier if you know how to read them.

When going over this document, keep in mind a few things. First, CSS was built for more than just the Internet. CSS can be used in print media and broadcast media as well. So when you are reading some of the instructions in the official manual you may find some aspects that do not apply to what you are doing. Secondly, do not worry if you do not understand a certain chapter or bit
of information. The trick to learning CSS is to get a basic understanding of it first, then practice, then go back and re-read what you have already read (things will make a bit more sense this time around), then practice, then go back and re-read again, and so on. Every time you practice what you learned and go back to re-read some of the specifications, it will make more and more sense
to you.

As a point of reference, if you want to just go over the most important chapters in the manual, be sure to read these chapters: Chapters 8-12, 14-18, and 4-6.

CSS from the
Ground Up

Ok, so you have tried the official manual and it is just too difficult to understand. That is fine. There is a lot of information included in the manual, and they certainly do not work at entertaining you with the manual. If you want a bare bones tutorial on CSS, the people from Web Page Design for Designers have put together a pretty good basic tutorial which should get you started on your
first CSS pages.

Listamatic

One thing you will learn as you begin to work with CSS powered layouts is that lists are extremely powerful tools. Lists are a vital part of building a website with good code flow. Getting lists to appear correctly in different browsers, or to appear in new, original ways, however, can be quite challenging.

Listamatic offers several examples of lists that use simple CSS. The examples cover nearly everything that you could possibly hope to achieve from an HTML list. Of course, if you are working with a nested list, they have examples of those as well.

CSSVault

This site offers a little bit of everything. They offer a great gallery for you to stop by and gawk at, as well as a number of resources on everything from lists to building layouts that do not use tables. Definitely a good overall resource on CSS.

CSS Layout Techniques

No CSS guide would be complete if we did not address the issue of building a layout that does not use tables. This is certainly the most challenging aspect of CSS, learning how to build a nice layout. The people over at Glish.com have put together examples of several different types of layouts. They may not offer every layout you could possibly use, but looking over their guides will
certainly help you learn different techniques to learning how to layout your page.

Ruthsarian
Layouts

There really cannot be enough resources on how to work with layouts using CSS. Ruthsarian Layouts offers several very good examples of popular layouts.

PositionIsEverything

And yet again, we offer another site dedicated to learning layouts and the little quirks that each browser brings into your CSS design. This site may just have the most information on position with CSS than any other site.

StyleGala

This is another site that goes a bit beyond CSS and into some other aspects of design, but still offers so much to learn from that it is highly worth putting in your favorites file. Included in this site is an impressive gallery, some forums, a collection of bullets that you can use on your site (where has this been for the past several years?), and a great collection of resources.

Using These Resources to Learn

Whether you are a code junkie or are a person who relies on FrontPage to do all of your design, moving in the direction of CSS and properly formatted HTML is the future of the Internet. For many, beginning the process of learning CSS may seem like a useless and overly-difficult venture. However, if you are responsible for the look and feel of your website you should begin to explore
this technology which is being used more and more.

The best way to learn CSS is to start using it. Experiment with different parts of CSS. Try and accomplish different tricks that you have nevër done before. If you have nevër created a page without tables, try and do so today. If you have nevër worked with a list to format it in a completely different manner, experiment with that. Browse through some of the sites in the many different gallerïes offered to us and get inspired. Use these sites and these resources to imagine what your website could look like.

Your website is your salës pitch to your visitors. When they arrive at your website, it should be your goal to present to them the best looking page you can possibly provide. A well designed page will provide your users with the comfort that you are invested in your business, and you will be invested in them as a customer and visitor.

The Internet is a rapidly changing environment, with new technology and new tools being made available to enhance your site every day, and thus enhance your visitor's experience. It is your responsibility to make sure that your website sells, and that requires using the modern and powerful technologies that are available to us.

About The Author
Mark Daoust is the owner of Site Reference and TowerSearch.

Sneads Ferry booming these days

Sneads Ferry booming these days

Reprinted with permission The Daily News - Jacksonville, NC
July 18,2005
JOE MILLER DAILY NEWS STAFF

SNEADS FERRY - For about 200 years, Carl Duff's family has made Sneads Ferry home. So it seemed logical when Duff opened Tom Dooley's Cafe and General Store on N.C. 210 last year.
Duff, 48, remembers growing up in the 1960s, when his father operated one of only two stores in the area.

"You felt like you were a long ways from anywhere," Duff said.
But that's not the case anymore. The once tiny fishing village of Sneads Ferry is reeling in more and more residents and businesses. Builders are constructing new homes at a fever pitch as people want to reside next to the water. The Four Corners area, at the intersection of N.C. 172 and 210, is increasingly becoming the business hub with a mix of stores, restaurants and even a topless club.

Yes, Sneads Ferry is growing up, and rapidly - nearly matching a similar boom on nearby Topsail Island.

"You got subdivisions that are going to be retirement homes, and you also got there along Highway 210 leading to the beach, there's a lot of commercial development supporting the beach," said Onslow County land use administrator Angie Manning. "North Topsail Beach is predominantly residential, so those people that are staying on the beach will come to the Sneads Ferry area for the (businesses)."

Local real estate brokers said demand for land is high, which is driving the price way up.
"You've got a doubling in the price of land because of all the builders that have come in," said Richard Baker, president of Treasure Realty. Baker estimates home sales are up 400 percent in the last two years.

He said new homes in the area typically go for $185,000 to $275,000.
One reason for the residential boom: Troops stationed at Camp Lejeune are moving into Sneads Ferry, a community without city government or an infrastructure.

"Our officers and captains wanting to be near the beach are paying to be on our waterfront properties," Baker said, noting proximity to Jacksonville and Wilmington is part of Sneads Ferry's appeal.

"It is the last developable waterfront area on the coast that's got major road access," he said.
With more residents come more businesses. People don't have to travel to Jacksonville or Wilmington to do the bulk of their shopping like they did decades ago.

You can buy groceries at Food Lion, eat a sandwich at Subway and fill your gas tank all at or near Four Corners - an area largely vacant more than a decade ago.

"Basically, the center of Sneads Ferry is starting to move away from down here by the water and out that way," said Mike Gallagher, chief of the Sneads Ferry Volunteer Fire Department.
The rampant growth concerns Gallagher. He said about 600 lots are being added to the fire department's coverage area, which is in an unincorporated section of the county.

"I don't know how I'm going to service them," Gallagher said. "At the funding we're getting right now, I do not see how we're going to provide the level of services that we provide right now."
Gallagher said his department gets about $64,000 per year from the county with the rest from private donations. He said if funding doesn't improve, the department's fire prevention program may have to be cut.

"We cannot stop putting out fires, so we have to save money other places," he said. "The county's going to have to decide what level of fire protection they want."
Business in the area isn't limited to strip development. Several "mom and pop" stores line N.C. 172.

Dean and Jean Hudson grew up in Sneads Ferry and came back two years ago from Virginia. They opened up Sea Witch Antiques.

Jean Hudson said their business has grown tremendously, especially in 2005.

"A lot of new people are coming in here every day looking for houses and property, places to live, and we're getting a lot of that business," she said. "We get people from all over, not just the United States, but the world."

Dean Hudson said Sneads Ferry is appealing to a lot of people because it is a neat community.
"It's near the water," he said. "It's a great vacation place. It's a great place to live all year long."

Contact staff writer Joe Miller at jmiller@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 236.