There’s a new slice of Google code written for Apache called mod_pagespeed which apparently trims the excess fat off your website and makes it a mean lean speedy beast. But better than that it’s also a quick, easy process to make it happen.

A Google exec has said “…any webmasters can use mod_pagespeed to quickly and automatically optimize their sites. It can reduce page load times by up to 50% – in other words, essentially speeding up websites by roughly 2x.”

Considering how much emphasis Google have recently placed on webpage speed this new module will do your website no harm in terms of SEO. I’m not quite sure how much I believe the Google optimiser when I run sites through the webmaster tools and it unveils my pages are faster than 60% of all other sites, meaning 40% are faster than my web page that loads in 1.5 seconds! But there is no doubt that site speed is heavily weighted by Google in terms of website rankings. Even more important for me though, is how there is no doubting users certainly lose patience quickly when it comes to loading web pages. If this mod means just a few % use my site instead of leaving, then it’s a good thing.

So how does mod_pagespeed work? It works by rewriting resources using filters. these filters optimise JavaScript, HTML and CSS, JPEG’s and PNG images to conform with best practices. If you’ve already optimised these files the results will be less dramatic, but may still make a difference.

mod_pagespeed currently only supports Apache 2.2 and is available as a down-loadable binary for i386 and x86-64bit systems and as open-source code.
After instilation it will still take some fine-tuning of the configuration to get the maximum benefit in terms of page performance, but once set up for your website your away.

For full instructions on how to use mod_pagespeed visit http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/docs/using_mod.html

and to download the necessary binary’s or open-source code visit http://code.google.com/speed/page-speed/docs/module.html

How a domain travels is often not considered. Even many small start-ups have ambitions of “going global”, but how many would really consider this when purchasing their domain name? Not many.

Recently Logo.com sold for half a million dollars, that’s a lot of money on a domain name. However, the justification for $500,000 on logo.com was actually one of the best I’ve heard. New owners of logo.com and E-commerce developers Adam Strong and Alan Townsend said…

The word logo translates the same in English, German, French, Italian, Polish and other languages.

As the services they are going to offer will include logo design, web design, business card and letterhead design and printing services, the domain will be applicable globally and as “logo” translates into so many languages, as far as the url is concerned their search engine optimisation will be assured in all of the search engines various language portals.
This is after all the number one consideration when purchasing a domain.

Of course if you have $500,000 to spend on a domain, you may also argue that a unique domain name could be purchased and you would have funds for marketing a new memorable name. Like “moonpig” really has nothing to do with cards, but is a unique memorable name that once marketed correctly ensures web users will find it.

Many established brands with their domains already sorted, often use their .com as a portal and then sub-domains, or extended alternative domains to convey the region. This often works well, but has still backfired in some cases… powergenengland, powergenspain, powergenitalia!

If you’re about to buy a domain and there is any chance it might go global. Consider the options.

• Buy a domain that translates, at least partially into various languages. Although as the case above proves – this may come at some cost.
• Buy a domain that targets your largest audience, most probably your local audience first. Then use sub-domains.
• Think of a unique, memorable name that you can market to your audience. But be careful. Get your unique name translated into various languages first to make sure it doesn’t mean something innapropriate in a different language.

Most will pick the second option due to the costs involved with the first and last.
If this is the case then consider this last point. You could still purchase an existing domain that has some history in search engines. This will still come at a cost which varies depending on the domain (DiscountVouchers.com just sold for $160,000) but will give you an instant boost in terms of search engine optimisation that may otherwise take you a long time to build up.

I want a Pinterest invite. Simple. How do I get one?
I think the new social-flickr-type-site looks really interesting and want to get started on my pinboard asap.

Pinterest is a new social network in the making and is currently only available by invite only. With just over 17,000 users at time of writing it is early days, but the fact it has already had almost 1 million pins placed on its users boards shows how engaging this concept is.

As I don’t have an account as yet, I’m hardly well placed to review the new “stealth start-up”. But if it’s first impressions that count then I’m willing to bet on this beauty. What most people will notice is it’s creative design and fantastic engaging concept, but what I think will make Pinterest a winning website is the possibilities that will open up when they have developed the inevitable APIs that will allow any website to incorporate “Pins”.

Just how Facebook traffic ballooned when they launched their “Like” button and Twitter’s audience grew massivly when “Tweet this!” appeared on virtually every blog, you can easily see how “Pin this” will work brilliantly for extracting small snippets of info from websites (pics, videos, quotes) and storing them on your pinboard. As these interests are all search-able and can be discovered though the people you are following it will propagate the content for sure.
If you get a snippet on a board and you can view the full content on the source through a link – it will be in the website owners best interests to include the new “Pin this” code.

There’s a lot going on at Pinterest and like I said, it’s early days. From their blog http://blog.pinterest.com/ it looks like the staff are having a cracking time developing the new social site, so good luck to them.

If you currently search on info surrounding Pinterest you will be overwhelmed with stories of the new myspace ripping off their design. If this is the case or not, I don’t really care. This PR story will not be the making of Pinterest. The making of Pinterest will be the creativity of this new concept, the hard work of some talented developers and hopefully the invention of some usable APIs that us webmasters can integrate to help propagate good quality content online.

So within the next 24 hrs we are going to be witnessing the dawn of a new era, the phoenix rising from the flames, the revenge of a scorned facebook victim! Well, maybe nothing quite so dramatic. But we will be exposed to the all new myspace.

With an all New logo (which i’ve already blogged about) and what is promised to be a new cleaner design to “showcase you and your interests”, the new myspace will apparently be more magazine-like for content and more tv-like for video. This all sounds good to me as I felt the current design was a mishmash of widgets and content you were interested in was too hard to find.

I hope that myspace has found something of a middle ground between control of the design and flexibility of allowing customisation. In comparison to the current mobile os’s, a sort of in-between an ios platform and android. If they have they will be on to a winner.

Myspace will let you add friends and then make it as easy as possible to share your discoveries of music, games and tv shows. This will be building a massive pool of data in the background which will be analysed to push you recommendations based on your interests.

The new myspace will also let you Sync all your social accounts for simple sharing across networks. Myspace are obviously hoping you will use their website as your hub rather than leaving to talk about your interests.

To me this all sounds very impressive and a much needed step in the right direction for myspace. What has surprised me though is the marketing, or rather the lack of it, surrounding the launch. A fair amount of coverage online was made of the logo change, but apart from that nothing much has been announced about the new myspace. Certainly not when you compare the coverage a new feature like “Facebook Places” received.

This just goes to show how much ground myspace has lost over the last few years. I only hope this new site can help it grow once again into the powerful online presence it once was. This will only be a good thing for the Internet as too much emphasis is now put on facebook and google – we need some competition!

This could be the shortest blog post I’ve ever made. It’s simple just visit www.neilsmithdesigns.co.uk your best choice for a local Leicester web designer! …

Seriously though, how do you go about choosing a good trustworthy web designer that will suit your individual need.
It’s one very difficult decision and not one that you can take lightly. This new investment you are about to make is your shop window for the world to gaze into.

Before you start researching who to use, first ask yourself why you want a website? What is the objective? This is the single most important factor that will make or break your website. There are some fantastic web design agencies that can provide pretty much any solution you throw at them. But some will have a particular flair for certain areas, so it’s best to pick one that’s a good match with your objective.

All web design agencies have to build up a portfolio of websites to be successful and just like an actor that plays a certain role very well, they can get typecast. Therefore an agency that starts off building a website for a restaurant for example are more likely to be exposed to others in the same marketplace. It makes sense. If you’re a restaurant looking for a new website – you’ll look at other restaurant websites and the agencies that have built them. Therefore when you visit the agencies website – look at their portfolio and see if they have developed anything in your field. After all, there’s no substitute for experience.

The next point to consider is the DIY approach. Depending on the complexities of what you need, i.e. if you just want your company contact information online or you want to start up a blog. With just a little bit of technical know-how and time, there is no reason you couldn’t give it a go yourself. Blogger is fool-proof if you want the simplest solution for blogging and wordpress is a fantastic tool for setting up a simple website that looks good quickly.

If you don’t want to get your fingers dirty though, then ask any friends/colleagues that have had websites designed, do the research and see a few agencies before making the choice.

Try picking an agency that’s local. This way you can have meetings easily at the crucial stages of the project. The initial meeting is vital – the agency should put you at ease and should instill confidence in you from the outset. If they look like they are glazing over at your input, it’s probably best to avoid as they are probably missing the point.
They should also ask you why you want a website, what you want to do with it and how you would like it to grow.

Think about the long-term. Some agencies will make it impossible for you to update the website yourself, therefore forcing you to use them again… for a cost. Think about the parts of the website you need to be dynamic, maybe database driven. This may cost a little more initially, but long term will pay you back.

Finally, make sure you keep records of all your details. Login usernames, passwords, ftp access, hosting providers and domain registrations. This way, if the agency ever goes under your website doesn’t go down with them.