A

Asynchronous

When two things happen 'asynchronously', this means that they're not required to happen at the same time, i.e., they're not required to happen synchronously. The two things occur independently, so one doesn't have to wait for the other, and they can even both happen at the same time.

 

Websites with an older design require all files that will ever be needed by the web page to be downloaded completely before the web page finishes loading, becomes live, and can be viewed and clicked on by clients.

 

But advanced websites download graphics files that are not yet needed asynchronously, i.e., behind the scenes, after your web page is live and your clients are already viewing and clicking on it.

 

The net result is faster downloads and happier clients.

 

B

Built-To-Order

Our website designs are either Pre-Built or Built-to-Order, i.e., custom built for a particular client and practice.

 

In short, whereas our Pre-Built designs are semi-custom, our Built-to-Order designs are full-custom, and give you complete flexibility to select any theme, layout, navigation, visuals, colors, and fonts you want.

 

Browser

See Web Browser

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CallerID

A telephone service that lets a called party (e.g., your client) see the caller's phone number and in some locations, a business or personal name associated with that phone number (e.g., your business name and phone number).

 

When calling clients from your home, home office, or personal cell phone, it's important to make sure your business name and phone number appear on your client's phone, not your private information. And our Phone.com service can do just that.

 

Copy

In the world of business, the word 'copy' usually means the text or wording of promotional materials, for example the text or wording of an advertisement or marketing brochure.

 

Here at the Counseling Consultant, we write the Marketing Copy for you, and we edit the Detail Copy you provide as well.

 

Copyright

A copyright is essentially the exclusive right to copy, adapt, or distribute a created work, usually for a specific period of time. A copyright is typically granted automatically to the work's creator at the time of creation.

 

Unlike 'cookie-cutter' design firms which copy visual designs from client to client and use them over and over again, we guarantee uniqueness by transferring the copyright to the client upon payment.

 

Copywriting

Literally, writing copy. The artful process of creating the ideas and wording necessary to properly and appropriately promote a good or service.

CSS

CSS is an acronym that stands for Cascading Style Sheets. Like HTML, CSS is a 'markup language', a computer language that is interspersed with the text and graphics of a webpage which tells a browser how to display or 'style' that content. But unlike HTML, CSS can't contain or define any content; it can only define how to display already-existing content.

 

Because of this, most designers consider it good practice to put the contents in the HTML file (the text and graphics) and the styling or display instructions in a CSS file.

 

Also, a single CSS file can be imported into many HTML pages, which allows a web designer to change the styling in one place (the CSS file) and yet affect all the pages on a website (all the HTML files).

 

In summary, a webpage typically contains three separate technologies: HTML to define the content, CSS to define the styling, and JavaScript to define the behavior.

 

D

Detail Copy

In a business context the word 'copy' refers to the text or wording of a document. So here the term Marketing Copy refers to the text or wording of your website that is promotional in nature, whereas the term Detail Copy refers to the text or wording that is informational.

 

The Detail Copy is what you want to say to your potential clients about yourself, your practice, and your services.

 

We collect this information from you and then edit it for you, to make sure it: is consistent with the rest of the website; is clear and easily understood; employs the proper search keywords; and - most importantly - fits within the available space.

 

Direct Mail

Also known as 'junk mail' or 'advertising mail', Direct Mail is the delivery of advertisements to prospective clients via the postal system.

 

Direct Mail is a great way to keep in touch with your client base, or to notify them about a new office location, new website, or new service.

 

Download

Your website is just a set of HTML and graphic files sitting on a hard disk drive in a computer at your webhosting vendor, e.g., at GoDaddy.com.

 

When your clients view your website, their web browser requests these files, which are then transferred or 'downloaded' from the server computer at GoDaddy.com to your client's computer for viewing.

 

As such, the bigger these files are, the longer it takes to transfer them down to your client's computer, and more likely the client is to grow impatient and leave.

 

So to keep from losing interested clients, we optimize your website so that it's small in size and downloads fast, despite the beautiful graphics.

 

Dreamweaver

The Counseling Consultant uses only the latest Adobe CS5 Dreamweaver products to create your website.

 

Adobe's Dreamweaver product is an HTML editor: it's a software program that lets you create and update HTML files, i.e., webpages. Dreamweaver lets website designers view and edit an HTML file as either a webpage or as HTML source code.

 

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Favicon

A Favicon, or Favorites Icon, is that small graphic that is displayed next to the URL in your web browser's address bar, and in your bookmark list next to the URL you've bookmarked. For example, our favicon looks like this:  

Footprint

Your website's 'footprint' is its size, i.e., how big it is in kilobytes or megabytes. The bigger your website, the longer it takes to download, and the more likely your prospective clients are to give up waiting for it.

 

That's why we optimize your website to be typically less than 250Kb, so that it downloads fast despite the beautiful graphics. A fast website means happy clients; a slow website means lost clients.

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Generic-Template

Many hosting firms supply generic website templates with their hosting packages, and YOU are expected to fill in that template with pictures and text.

 

Although the layout of the template is fixed, often there are many templates to choose from, and you can change the fonts, font size, and colors. Also, many hosting companies provide a library of free stock photography for your use.

 

But the problem with generic-template websites is that YOU have to do all of the marketing and graphic-design work to fill in the template. And since the webhosting company owns the template, in general you can't move it elsewhere, and they make you pay for it FOREVER.

 

Plus - although they do have some very nice looking templates - there's just something about these sites that looks, well ... generic!

 

Google AdWords

AdWords is Google's main advertising product. Generally speaking, AdWords ads are those little four-line text ads that appear in the right column of Google's search results (or on top of the results).

 

Here's how it works. If you want to advertise marriage counseling services in Los Angeles, you'd write your four-line ad for that service, and then tell Google to run that ad when someone searches on certain keywords, for example, 'marriage counseling los angeles' or 'couples counseling los angeles'.

 

Now when someone Google-searches on those terms, Google runs your ad. And typically you don't pay anything until someone clicks thru that little ad to your website. This is what is called Cost-Per-Click (CPC) Advertising, which is AdWords' specialty.

 

Google Alerts

Alerts is Google's business notification service. With Google Alerts, you tell Google to monitor certain keywords, and then Google notifies you when any new reference to those keywords shows up anywhere on the web.

 

For example, you could ask Google to monitor your name and your practice name. Then if either of these two are mentioned on the web, Google will send you an email with a description of the new reference and a link to the webpage on which it appears.

 

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free service that provides a rich set of 'website statistics', i.e., detailed information about visitors to your website.

 

For example, you can find out how long your visitors stay, what webpages they do or don't look at, where they're located geographically, and so forth.

 

Here's how it works. Google supplies free snippets of tracking code, which we install and configure on each of your webpages. Then when one of your prospective customers visits that webpage, the tracking software on that page sends a message to Google with information about the visitor.

 

Finally, to see what is happening with your website, you log onto your Google Analytics account to check the various charts and graphs Google creates for you.

 

By the way, we train you in Phase V: Training and Final Delivery on how to access and understand your website statistics.

 

Google Webmaster Central

Google Webmaster Central is a free service that provides detailed information about how Google views your website. This information is critical, because if Google is having trouble scanning or indexing your webpages, those pages may not show up properly in Google search results.

 

So to avoid any issues with Google, we register your site with Google Webmaster Central, check it using the various tools they provide, and then fix any errors found.

 

Graphics

The term 'graphics' refers to the pictures and artwork that breathe life into your visual design.

 

Most web designers have a love-hate relationship with graphics: we love them for their beauty and power, but we hate them for their size and download time. Here at the Counseling Consultant we specialize in creating beautiful visual designs that also download quickly.

 

Also very important to consider when discussing graphics is the emotional impact they make. While this is true for all graphics, it is especially true for photographs that will appear on a counseling website. That's why we closely examine the body language expressed in each photograph, to make sure that the right message is being sent!

 

The graphical elements of your website are contained in separate files, the file names of which are embedded in your webpages, i.e., in your HTML files. Common graphical file types are JPG, PNG, and GIF files.

 

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Hosting / Hosted

Your website is just a bunch of HTML and graphics files that are stored - or 'hosted' - on the hard drive of a big server computer at your webhosting vendor, e.g., GoDaddy.com or Yahoo.com.

 

HTML

HTML is an acronym and stands for HyperText Markup Language. It is the predominant language of the world wide web.

 

A markup language is a computer language that is interspersed with the text and graphics of a webpage, and in fact tells the web browser how to structure or display or 'style' that content.

 

For example, to make the word 'referrals' print on the screen in bold, you enclose the word in markup tags like this: <b>referrals</b>

 

The first tag, <b>, says "let's start printing in bold". The second tag, </b>, says "let's stop printing in bold".

 

So when your web browser displays this HTML, it follows the instructions in the markup, and the line <b>referrals</b> shows up on the screen as referrals.

 

Incidentally, today HTML is mostly used to contain or define the content of the webpage (the text & graphics), and another markup language known as CSS is used to define the styling of the webpage (how that content is displayed).

 

Also, to see the HTML code of a webpage, in Internet Explorer simply select 'View' and then 'Source'.

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JavaScript

A webpage is typically an HTML file with CSS and JavaScript embedded in it. But whereas HTML and CSS display things, JavaScript does things. JavaScript is the webpage's brain.

 

For example, consider a simple currency converter webpage. In general, the HTML structures the items on the page, the CSS styles how they'll be displayed, and the JavaScript does the calculations.

 

On a practical level, JavaScript is what lets your webpage have graphics that move, buttons that change color when you put your mouse over them, definitions that pop-up for glossary words, and so forth.

K

Keywords

When you go to Google.com and search for something, the words you use to search are called keywords. They're the 'key' words that describe a particular subject or object.

 

Keywords are very important for website design, because embedding the right keywords into your website will help you get a higher ranking in Google's search engine results for those keywords.

 

And the right time to embed those keywords is during the design and construction of the site, not after the fact. That's because we place the keywords not only in your website's marketing and detail copy, but also in your URL, page names, image names, image alternate text, link names, and headers.

 

 

L

Landline

The term 'landline' refers to your good old-fashioned phone line that comes out of the wall in your home or office. A landline is a telephone line that travels through wires or optical cables on land, instead of through radio waves in the air, as with cellphones.

Logo

From the Nike swoosh to the Nazi swastika, there's just something in the human mind that makes a powerful visual icon the perfect place to hang repeated associations. Advertisers understand this, and work hard to build a powerful brand or icon to rally around.

 

That brand or logo serves as a visual summary of everything we know about a company; it's literally a memory hook that triggers our mind to bring up all of the positive associations advertisers have worked so hard to put there. A logo is essentially Pavlov's silver bell.

 

As such, to effectively market your practice, the Counseling Consultant will work hard to do three things:

 

First, we'll want to make sure your brand or logo itself sends the right message and has the right associations in the minds of your target clients. A good logo should be strong enough stand on its own two feet.

 

Second, we'll want to make sure it is unique enough to serve as a trigger or memory hook for your target clients.

 

And third, we'll then want to build positive associations around that brand, using your website, business cards, statements, client mailers, and so forth.

 

On a pragmatic level, a good logo prints well in black and white, can be embroidered, and can even serve as a favicon.

 

The Counseling Consultant can design your logo for you, and in fact a certain number of hours within our website packages are earmarked for just that. We can't promise you a Nike swoosh, but we'll definitely get you started in the right direction!

 

 

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Marketing Copy

In a business context, the word 'copy' refers to the text or wording of promotional materials, so the term 'Marketing Copy' is essentially a bit redundant. However we use the term to mean the headlines and copy that are specifically marketing-oriented versus the more informational Detail Copy.

 

For example, if you provide marriage counseling services in your practice, on your website we might have a (hopefully) intriguing, clever, or memorable headline that resonates with how the prospective client is feeling; a small blurb or subtitle or paragraph of the same ilk below that; and then finally the main body of Detail Copy describing your services in a more informational versus promotional way.

Meta Tags

'Meta Tags' are just special lines of HTML code that typically don't affect the functioning or appearance of your website, but can be used to provide information to search engines.

 

For example, meta tags can be used to supply a title and description of a webpage to search engines like Google, so that Google knows how to title and describe your webpage in its search results.

 

Also, 'Meta Tags' do still have some influence on how high up search engines rank your website for certain keywords or searches, so it's important to make sure the right keywords are embedded in these tags.

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Navigation

In the world of website design, 'navigation' refers the the scheme used to help your clients go from web page to web page. For example, you could have a row of buttons, one for each page, across the top of the page, just as this site does. Or you could have a left menu column, like so many websites do.

 

A good navigation scheme is consistent throughout the website, so that your clients instinctively know how to get around. A good scheme also is easy to understand and makes finding information easy as well.

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Personas

In the world of marketing, the term 'personas' refers to the demographic characteristics of the kinds of clients who seek your services or to whom you'd like to appeal.

 

Understanding who your clients are is very important when it comes to marketing your practice, because - just as you do everyday in your office - you need to tailor what you say and how you say it to match who you're saying it to.

 

Phone Menu

When a prospective client calls your practice, the recording they hear is your phone menu. For most practitioners, this recording is a simple "Leave a message at the tone", and the menu has only one option, namely recording a voice mail.

 

However a professional practice will have a more welcoming and helpful phone menu. A good phone menu should:

 

• Be professionally recorded and include some subtle musical elements
• Utilize voice talent and not the therapist's voice, with the possible exception of the emergency voice mailbox extension
• Have a clear navigation scheme with shortcuts to bypass recordings
• Offer informational options, e.g., directions, office hours, etc.
• Offer promotional options, e.g., your free initial consultation, your upcoming seminars, etc.
• Offer on-hold music and messaging
• Include a different, after-hours menu and a schedule that switches to that menu automatically

 

After your website, your phone system is the next most important client touch-point, because it's the second interaction your prospective clients will have with your practice. Make it professional and helpful, and you'll make a good 'second' impression!

 

Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is the premiere editing tool for digital images. Often the images we purchase for your website need editing, for example, to crop out unwanted elements or to change the color scheme to match that of your website.

 

As a part of all of our website and marketing products you will receive the original Photoshop files used to create the finished graphical elements.

 

This is important should you ever wish to modify or reuse those images later, for example to make them smaller so that another element can be inserted onto the webpage, or to use them in a brochure or other marketing document.

 

Pre-Built

Our website designs are either Pre-Built or Built-to-Order. By Pre-Built we mean that the visual design and sometimes even the marketing copy have already been largely completed, which makes implementation much faster. Plus, you get to see the design before ever spending a penny.

 

However in either case you will OWN the copyright for your visual design. The question is simply whether you want to go with a semi-custom, Pre-Built design that you can see up front, or go with a full-custom, Built-to-Order design that takes a bit longer to create.

 

 

Print Advertising

Advertising in printed material such as magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc.

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Scenarios

In marketing parlance, the term 'scenarios' refers to the set of circumstances that lead your prospective clients to search for your services.

 

Understanding your clients' mindset and the circumstances that commonly cause them to seek counseling is critical, because it helps us reach out to them and appeal to them more effectively.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is the process of boosting the visibility of your website within the search results of search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The higher your practice shows up in the search results, the more prospective clients will see your listing and contact you!

 

To optimize your website for maximum visibility, we'll first interview you to determine the Personas and Scenarios and overall demographic characteristics of your practice and clientele. This will give us an initial set of keywords that describe your practice.

 

Then we'll use specialized software from Google to see what people in your area typically search on when looking for your practice. This will give us a new, expanded set of keywords.

 

Finally we'll build these keywords into every part of your website, including your website's marketing and detail copy, URL, page names, image names, image alternate text, link names, link text, headings, and meta tags.

 

In general, we do everything we can while building your website to make it search engine friendly, which includes embedding keywords and ensuring that search engines like Google can properly read your website.

 

It can take a month or more to see where your website will show up on Google, so during that time we recommend that you register your website and practice with the various counseling directories. This will create links to your website, which will help boost its search engine position.

 

Beyond that, based on where your website shows up in the search results, you may want to engage the services of an SEO specialist that we can recommend.

 

Signage

The term 'signage' refers to signs of any kind, from the small sign on your office door to a large 3'x5' sign on an easel at the registration table for a seminar you're giving in a hotel conference room.

Sound

You can look at website after website and never hear a sound, which is why we recommend that your website have a simple, subtle, and SHORT introductory sound file that plays when your home page is first accessed.

 

This helps you stand out from all of your competitors, and helps your clients notice and remember your website.

 

Although we do have some music and sound files for which we own all rights, typically we'll recommend a particular sound design, and then license the sound files for you under your name as a part of your website package. That way YOU own the sound files and can use or reuse them however you wish.

 

Standard Terms

'Standard terms' are our normal purchasing terms, as opposed to our Ten-Month, No-Interest terms.

 

For our website packages, standard purchasing terms are an initial, nonrefundable deposit of $99 due at time of purchase, and the remainder plus any tax on delivery.

 

For ala carte work, a 10% non-refundable down payment is due at purchase, and the remainder plus any tax on delivery.

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Tagline

Your 'tagline' is your motto; it's that all-important bit of marketing copy that describes your practice in one short sentence and in the most compelling way possible.

 

If your practice were a book, your business name would be the title, and your tagline would be the subtitle. It's that important.

 

For example, our tagline is "We Help Our Clients ... Get Clients". It's short and to the point, and yet communicates clearly the value our clients can expect from us.

 

Tagline development is included in our website packages.

 

Template

Definition

Ten-Month Terms, Ten-Month No-Interest Financing

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URL

Definition

V

Validate

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Visual Design

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Visuals

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Voice Menu

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Voice Talent

Definition

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Web Browser

Definition

Webhosting

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Webmail

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