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December 2006: End of Year Roundup.

The MANOVERBOARD Telegraph, No. 22.

Hello. It's been some time since the last MANOVERBOARD Telegraph. Too long. However, this short but sweet Telegraph will attempt to make it up to you, somehow.

In this month's Telegraph, there's a big set of thank yous, a summary of websites we've created in the past six months, an update about the annual Holiday Calendar, and some helpful hints about your own website in the New Year. Oh, and MANOVERBOARD rebrands.

Thank you.

It's been a very busy and very productive six months at MANVOVERBOARD. I've been extremely grateful and fortunate to have kept all of my clients and to have added many new ones over the past year. So, thank you and thank you.

Recent Sites.

Michael Barrish and I have been very busy continuing to build standards-compliant, accessible and highly usable websites. In the past six months, we've launched the following sites (and a number of others):

2007 Holiday Calendar.

For five years now, I've created an annual calendar for every new year. The idea was a simple one—put the entire year's dates on one half of a sheet of paper, make it pretty enough to display, and give it out for free. Oh, and put a bird on it! If you would like us to mail you one (or even a few) calendars, let me know. The 2007 ones are pretty special. Just email me your postal address. You can also download it now.

Year-End Website Maintenance.

If you currently have a website, now is the time to start thinking about its effectiveness in 2007. Here are a few tips:

  • Microsoft is releasing to the general public its new operating system at the end of January 2007. Called Windows Vista, it promises many new tools, including an upgraded browser, Internet Explorer 7. Many of you may already be using IE7. It's been reported that a number of sites "break" in IE7: forms don't work, borders fall apart, text looks funny, etc. Make sure to look at your site in IE7 when you have a chance.
  • Change your copyright date. This is a no-brainer—but sites with that say (c) Copyright 2001 at the bottom are starting to look pretty old in 2007.
  • Put up new content. Search engines like to see that people (and their websites) are busy. Make a plan to put up some kind of new content on your site regularly. This could be new photos, new news, revised product or service offerings, or anything applicable to your organization.
  • Look at your search engine results. Go to Google or Yahoo! and type in a few keywords (and perhaps your geographical location) and see where you come up. If it's not high on the list, there may be ways to remedy this. Increasingly, MANOVERBOARD is providing search engine optimization consulting to clients. I'll address this in the next Telegraph.

MANOVERBOARD Rebrands.

The same, albeit good, logo has been part of MANOVERBOARD for the past five years. While I liked it, it was a time for a change. Since last week, you'll see our new logo on the website. And a brand-spanking new MANOVERBOARD.com website will be launched in January April.

I look forward to bringing you more news and ideas from MANOVERBOARD in the 2007. A very happy and healthy one.

Best wishes,

Andrew Boardman, Principal