I have not written much on this blog in quite a while.

That’s because I’ve been very busy working with clients. In fact, I’ve finished several dozen projects in the last year.

As much as I enjoyed it, it was also exhausting. I worked during the day and then came home, put the kids to bed and went to work building web sites.

I’ve decided it’s time to take a slight break. I’ve been winding down the freelance stuff in order to get a bit of a breather.

Also, I’d like to devote more of my time and energy to my new employer, the Mother Nature Network.

I really enjoy working with the good folks over there. It’s only been three months but I’m very pleased with the way things are going. With any luck, it will continue.

I plan to use this blog to continue writing about Web design and search engine optimization.

Stay tuned to pick up a few tips from what I learn during my Web adventures.

If you’re so inclined, you can also follow me on Twitter (@stevepollak).

If you’re nervous about making a good first impression, there are several things that can help inspire confidence: a nice haircut, a fresh shave and a smart new outfit.

If you’re looking for a job and you want to boost your confidence, you’ll need all of those things plus two more items: a polished resume and a thoughtful cover letter.

Indeed, there are very few things I can imagine that can give a job seeker a better pep in their step than a good-looking cover letter and resume.

But putting together a cover letter and resume yourself can be a chore. A real chore. My mother-in-law has been to my house I-don’t-even-know-how-many times to borrow my computer so she can try and get her resume just right.

So it is with that introduction that I’d like to let you all know about one of my most recent clients, Rachael Kaplan of Right Your Resume.

I helped build that Web site and from what I’ve seen of her business model, I think Rachael will fill a much needed role in helping people put the story of their careers down on paper (or, in an email, I suppose). She’s very easy to work with and her rates are very reasonable.

So, do yourself a favor and boost your confidence with a smart looking resume and a cover letter you can be proud of.

You’ll thank yourself when it helps you get a job interview. Then, you’ll have to get the haircut, shave and outfit. I’m sorry to say that’s something Rachael’s Web site can’t help you with. Not yet at least.

For more information, please check out Right Your Resume.

I recently had a potential client ask me what travel-related Web site I liked and what I like about it the most.

I immediately thought back to a recent timeshare sales pitch I sat through for Wyndham Rewards. I did not purchase a timeshare and, to be honest, it was a dreadful experience except for one thing: I got a peek at Wyndham’s well-designed Web site.

I say well-designed because the site greatly helped me understand the timeshare concept. As I explained to this potential client, the site gave me a 360-degree view of the process:

I’d say I’ve been impressed with the Wyndham Rewards site. (http://www.wyndhamrewards.com/).

From a design standpoint, I like the compact structure. Even though there’s not a whole lot of space, the canvas does not appear to be too crowded. At the same time, it offers the site’s visitors an impressive amount of information.

From an ecommerce standpoint, I like the site because it gives the site’s visitors something I call a 360-degree perspective of the process.

Notice the “Enroll Earn Redeem Book” links in the upper-right corner of the page. That’s a pretty strong visual cue to the visitor that Wyndham has what appears to be a simplified process for enrolling in the program and booking a trip.

You can also click on each of those links to jump immediately to that step in the process. So, for instance, if you’re already enrolled, you could go straight to ‘Book’ if you’re ready to go on a trip.

That’s what I really like about those links: they quickly give the visitor an understanding of the process and they help visitors easily navigate from one section of the site to another.

I’ll keep you posted to let you know if I got the job.

How important is a domain name? Will the right one catapault you into the top five search results for your most coveted keywords?

Probably not.

Over on the Bank of America’s Small Business Resources forum, I answered a question from someone looking for advice on choosing a domain name. Actually, the original question came from someone who was wondering if their search engine optimization efforts would be boosted significantly by choosing a different domain name:

I have been doing quite a bit of SEO research over the past few weeks, and come to find out, I’ve been doing things wrong! It seems that one of the most important elements to SEO is having your main keyword or
phrase in your domain name! When I did my initial research 5 years ago when we were first building our web site, I actually read that this may be a plus–but now I think it is being quite a huge deterrent from us
truly maximizing our web traffic.

What do you all think? Is this important or not?

I chimed in with my two cents’ worth and said a good domain would help but it’s not enough :

Content is king. If you have great content, you will rise in the search rankings.

A good domain name is a plus but I don’t think it will land you on the first page of results.

Look at it from Google’s perspective: if someone finds your site through a keyword search, Google keeps track of whether the visitor looked at your site for a second or two and then bounced back to the search results to find something else. They also keep track of whether the visitor stayed on your site and clicked around on a bunch of pages.

A good domain name might help you bring in a visitor to your site but obviously it won’t be enough to keep them there.

Google interprets the bounced visit as a sign that your site does not have much useful information for the person searching for those keywords. Therefore, they will adjust your ranking accordingly because Google believes that your site is not useful to people searching on those keywords.

Keep in mind that I don’t work for Google and of course I have no intimate knowledge of all the stuff that goes into their alogrithms. But, in my experience, the above scenario helps explain why some sites do better than others in the search rankings. Inbound links, descriptive title tags and alt tag descriptions are other items that appear to be important as well.

I invite you to read the rest of the thread. Lots of people posted interesting thoughts on SEO strategies.

What better way to kick off the new year than to start a new blog!

All kidding aside, I’m proud to begin a new chapter in the life of Pollak Web Design. We’re a young company but we’ve got years of experience behind us and a blog is the perfect way to share what we’ve learned.

Here’s what you can expect: tips on marketing your Web site, observations on the state of the online economy (i.e. who’s making money and how), advice on planning an ecommerce venture and ideas for finding your niche audience. I’m also a web design aficionado who loves to check out unusual layouts and online composition.

Seen a site you think I should check out? Drop me a line or post a comment below.