W3C: Don’t Use HTML5… Yet.

The W3C, which guides the standard for web development, is urging developers not to use HTML5. At least, not yet.

Development of HTML5 began in 2004. While some of the proposed specifications can already be found on the web, it won’t receive final approval for two to three years. Once ready for prime time, HTML5 should slowly replace Adobe’s Flash.

Until then, however, the W3C still has a lot of work to do, including figuring out what to do for a video codec.

IE Browser Share Drops Under 50%

According to StatCounter, Microsoft Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market dropped to 49.87% in the month of September. This should not come as a shock to StatCounter, at least, as they have been watching IE’s share gradually fall over the last several years.

Firefox checked in second in September at a steady 31.5%. Google’s Chrome continued to grow to 11.54%, three times what it was last September.

Happy Birthday, Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation is 25 years old today. Founded by Richard Stallman, the FSF promotes the creation and distribution of free software, allowing software users four basic freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study, change it, and to redistribute copies with or without changes.

Even if you have never heard of the Free Software Foundation, chances are you have benefited from their work today. The vast majority of websites, this one included, are located on computers running Linux, an operating system that was released under version 2 of the GNU GPL as free software. Another great piece of free software is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), an image editor that functionally is, in my opinion, every bit as good as Photoshop with one important difference: GIMP is 100% free and can be downloaded from their website.

Happy 25th Birthday, Free Software Foundation!

What’s a domain name, anyway?

Well, one example would be 10t.co. Simply put, a ‘domain name’ is just a fancy name for a website address.

Special computers called DNS servers change every domain name into an IP address, which is how your computer actually access other computers on the internet. There is a certain cost and amount of work associated with registering your domain name, which can either can be taken care of by us or you.

Does my business need a web site?

Personally, I think that every business can benefit from a web site. Depending on your business, the web site that benefits your company could be a relatively simple, informational site, or it could be a huge, full e-commerce site. Just off the top of my head, here are the reasons for your business to have a web presence.

• With search engines, customers from all over the world, or just a few towns over, can find your business. By focusing on search engine optimization, people who are looking for products you are selling can find you through popular search engines like Google.
• Customers that already know about your business can find out more information. Most formats don’t provide enough room to highlight all of your products and services. With a web site, any amount of information can be provided, including complete lists of products, services, and examples of work completed.
• A web site is much less expensive than other forms of advertising, such as television, radio, or regular newspaper ads. If you are already advertising in other mediums, add up what your business spends in a year and compare it against the cost of having a web site for a year. The difference is stunning.
• Professional email addresses leave a big impression. If you are currently using a personal email address for your business, you are missing a chance to increase your brand image with a professional email address.
• A web site can answer your customer’s frequent questions for you. How many times a day do you answer phone calls about hours of operation or products you sell? With a web site, many of your customers will find out this information online, leaving you free to answer the really tough questions.
• Web sites provides instant validity. Customers want to know that they are working with a legitimate business. A professional web site can provide confidence to your customers, especially if your business does not have a storefront.
• You will have more ways to interact with your customers. Information can be posted to the site, delivered to your customer’s email inbox, or fed to them via an RSS feed.
• You can sell your products or services online Many businesses now operate exclusively online. If you sell products that can easily be shipped, you are a good candidate for an online storefront.
• Customers are more likely to buy from a business, even if they don’t sell products online. Just because you have a web site, doesn’t mean you have to sell on it. Customers who can find out information about your products from your web site are more likely to buy from you than someone else, even if they offer the same product at the same price.
• You can survey your customers. Setting up surveys online can be a great way to get information from current or prospective customers, allowing you to better serve them.
• The Internet is always on. Virtually everyone has access to the Internet, either in their home or at their local library. When your customers are looking for information, your web site can be there to give it to them.
• You can gain an advantage on your competitor. If your competitor does not have a web presence, having one provides an advantage to your business. If your competitor does have a web presence and you don’t, your competitor already has an advantage over you.
• A web site doesn’t have to just be about direct advertising. News update can provide information about changes in your companies industry, provide insight, and talk about internal company affairs. They can also be used to attract high quality employees.

phillipsandsoncarpet.com Goes Online!

Just added another member to the 10T Family, this time Phillips and Son Carpet Installation and Sales. Owner Monte Phillips and son Kevin have been doing fantastic flooring work for as long as I have known them, and I have known them for as long as I can remember.

We had hoped to get a few sample pictures of that fantastic work onto the web pages before officially launching the site, but seeing as how Google has already found the site, we’ll just launch a little early and do some updating as the pictures get taken.

10T Web Design goes online!

I am happy to announce the creation of the website of my new business, 10T Web Design.  I am currently hard at work on all of the legal disclaimers, service listings, and general building of the website.  Feel free to look around and tell me what you think.