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Why Use Keywords and Keyword Phrases?Here is another valuable article from Cody Moya on how to improve your website..:FEATURED ARTICLE:. Why Use Keywords and Keyword Phrases? By Cody Moya Keywords are a venerable institution on the web. Long ago, when AOL was one of the lone pioneers (along with Compuserve - remember them?), they catalogued websites by using keywords. At first, you told AOL what you wanted your keyword to be; later, they sold keywords to you. That keyword, whether it was roses or dogs or computer software, was the most important search method on the Internet. Then Alta Vista, the web's first search engine, came along. It catalogued pages by the phrases it found in the metatags in the header of the web page. (Metatags are places you can put keywords and descriptive phrases and not have them show up on the web page itself.) This worked pretty well for a while Then people found out you could abuse the metatags. Webmasters who ran adult sites would simply look for the most popular search terms online and put them in the metatags. No matter that dolphin, cooking equipment, and running shoes had little or nothing to do with the content on their pages - they'd use them simply because it caused their rankings in search engines to go up. This was the birth of keywords as we know them. Keywords and Keyword Phrases Keywords and keyword phrases are words and/or phrases the search engines look for when they catalog your site. Search engines only work if they can return relevant content to the people who are using them to search, so it's very much in their interest to find articles that go well with the search terms people insert in the search box. Search engines look for keywords in several places: - In the metatags at the beginning of a web page - Within the header tags of a web page - In the body of text on a web page, especially in the first paragraph and the last paragraph If your page is about cooking, for instance, you want to look for keywords like cooking, recipes, utensils, ingredients, etc. to trigger the search engines to properly catalog the web page. And you want to put in enough keywords that the search engine will understand that this is an important page on that topic, not just mentioning the keyword; yet not so many keywords that your content is unreadable for the people who browse to it. Most keyword article writers think between 3% and 7% of your words being keywords or keyword phrases is optimal. If you have trouble doing this yourself, you can always look at purchasing private label rights articles. These are articles produced in bulk about topics you can share with customers visiting your website. When you purchase private label rights articles, they're already keyword optimized, and you have the option of modifying them in any way you please. It's also an inexpensive way of getting good content on your website. Even specially-optimized keyword articles aren't perfect, though. You may optimize content, only to find that your site is not ranking high at all with the keywords you want. There are several other variables that can affect search engines (though the exact recipe they use to determine where your page falls is a closely-guarded secret, and it changes periodically anyway). How Search Engines Work Search engines use a text-based algorithm to determine where your site falls in their rankings, part of which depends on the keywords you use, where in your document you use them, and how they're used. But they look at keywords in another place as well: the links that connect to your site. If you've participated in link exchanges with other webmasters or if you've donated articles to article directories, search engines will observe and record these links. If your main keyword is not in these links, you've wasted your time developing the links and the content. But if your keyword is included in the links in some way, it will strengthen your website's relationship with that keyword. This is one of the most powerful search engine tools you have. Use it. In addition, search engines check to see if you've updated your content recently, and whether the content you're providing is very similar or the same as content on another page. Frequent updates will raise your search engine ranking. Content that looks like another site, whether you've been plagiarized or not, can lower your ranking or eliminate it entirely. Private label rights articles are a good way to maintain a bank of continually-fresh content for your page that's pre-optimized. Even if you like to write content yourself, it's good to have a few around for heavy times like Christmas season, when you may run out of your own articles. And that's really about all there is to it. One More Thing When you optimize your site for the search engines, be certain you retain its ease of use for humans, too. That's who it's written for. And a number 1 rated site, no matter how content-rich or how hard you've worked to improve its ranking, is absolutely worthless if your viewers look at it and then click away. Here For Your Success Cody Moya P.S. Get Your Private Label Articles Now http://www.yourownarticles.com P.P.S. My free courses http://freeinternetmarketingcourses.com ================================================================= Article Re-print Rights Information You may re-print the article published in this email as long as you comply with following terms: Article must be published "as is" (unedited). Article must be published with below the author's bio paragraph (resource box) and copyright information included. URL in the resource box should be set as hyperlinks. Article cannot be used in spam communications Bio paragraph (resource box) below: ---------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cody Moya writes about Article Marketing in his free 50 parts course on Article Marketing. You can sign up for his free Article Marketing Course and get additional information at his website: http://www.articlemarketingcourse.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- 10:41 PM - Friday, October 19, 2007Using Clean Content Design to Improve Your Website StickinessHere are some pointers from Cody Moya on how to improve your website..:FEATURED ARTICLE:. Using Clean Content Design to Improve Your Website Stickiness By Cody Moya Have you ever watched someone use your website? Do they seem to find what they want right away and either click it or start scrolling down? Or do they get distracted, sidetracked, have trouble and ultimately get bored? If your answer is the second, you've got a problem. Fixing Your Website Whether your website is hard to read, too wordy, too laden with images, or just laid out poorly, you can fix it. Website stickiness is the quality to a website that holds viewers there, encouraging them with one-more-interesting-item to remain at your website; the longer they stick to your website, the better your chances of making some money. Just like with tape, your website's stickiness is better if it's not cluttered with other stuff. If you're running other people's banner ads on your site, now is the time to stop. Banner ads are distracting and often unpredictable. With slow computer speeds, the ones with multiple animations (you know who you are, Low Rates!) will lock up a page so that it doesn't load at all. Worse, if you're selling ad space on your website to a service that sends up ads to random but similar services, you may be advertising competitors on your website without knowing it - even if the service promises this won't happen! So eliminate the banners now. If you have large graphics (anything that is larger than 50 K is large), animations, or Flash, lose them now, or move them off your home page. Use the simplest possible web design: a menu across the top, a menu across the bottom, and three columns between the menus, keeping the bulk of your content in the center column, where most people look. Don't use huge graphics at the top of the page. Newspapers have a philosophy called above-the-fold. This means that the real estate of the paper on the front page above the fold should hold the best and most important stories in the paper. Similarly, you should keep your most important real estate above the fold - in the part of your page that shows up on the screen after the page has been downloaded, and before any scrolling happens. This is why people like banner ads - that's the most valuable part of your page. Don't give it away. In that crucial top part of your page, you should have: - A navigational menu - Your logo, kept small and preferably in the top left corner - A title that will hook your viewer - The first part of your site's content Besides this content, you should have - white space. Look at the bulleted points above. They stand out nicely against the rest of the text, right? You see them long before the items in the middle of any given paragraph. That's because bullets are designed to take advantage of white space. Your most important points should always be surrounded by white space. Color and Design White space doesn't necessarily mean your site should be white; in fact, white backgrounds are sometimes harder to read. Choose light colors for the background of your site, and make sure your font is legible on more than one computer with more than one browser. If you've done everything recommended up to this point, your home page should consist of: - A menu at the top of the page - Content right down the middle - A second menu or more information down the left side of the page - Room for a sidebar or ads down the right side of the page - A second menu or room for information about you and your business along the bottom of the page. Each of these items should be separated from the others clearly by significant white space or by a graphic line. You shouldn't get any fancier than that. If you have items or sidebars you want to offset from the rest of the site, you can use a different background color that doesn't contrast harshly with your main color - yellows often work well for this. Break up long articles, and if you have big chunks of paragraphs, try to break them into smaller paragraphs. Most importantly, you don't need any bells or whistles for your site at all. Keep it simple. Once your site's been cleaned up, have someone try to browse it while you watch. If they have an easier time finding what they're seeking, you've done your job right. Keep Them Coming Back: Fresh Content Every Week Once you've got a pretty site, though, customer loyalty still isn't guaranteed. Why? Because what people are looking for is content. The Internet is all about information. But if you're the average busy webmaster, you don't have the time to write tons of fresh content on a weekly or even monthly basis to post to each site you manage. The answer to this: private label rights articles you can get for example at www.YourOwnArticles.com . These are articles purchased in bulk that contain good content for your website, and that are pre-optimized for your keywords. Once you purchase them, you own private label rights rights. You can add or delete text, change text, customize it for your website, even publish them on your site or others with your name listed as the author. The cleanest website won't get your customers to keep coming to you. But great, regularly-published, fresh content will. Here For Your Success Cody Moya P.S. Get Your Private Label Articles Now http://www.yourownarticles.com P.P.S. My free courses http://freeinternetmarketingcourses.com ================================================================= Article Re-print Rights Information You may re-print the article published in this email as long as you comply with following terms: Article must be published "as is" (unedited). Article must be published with below the author's bio paragraph (resource box) and copyright information included. URL in the resource box should be set as hyperlinks. Article cannot be used in spam communications Bio paragraph (resource box) below: ---------------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cody Moya writes about Article Marketing in his free 50 parts course on Article Marketing. You can sign up for his free Article Marketing Course and get additional information at his website: http://www.articlemarketingcourse.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- 10:38 PM - Friday, October 19, 2007Seven Questions Your Website Must Answer by Charlie PageHere is some good advice from an experienced marketer about your website and how it should be set up.Seven Questions Your Website Must Answer © Charlie Page http://www.RealWorldTactics.com ------------------------------------------------------ Most of us pay a considerable amount of attention to our own websites. We look at the wording on the site, wondering if we got it just right. We look at the graphics and overall look of the site, wondering if a prettier site would translate into more sales. Our visitors look at our sites too, but not in the same way that we look at them. In fact, looking at our own sites through our visitors' eyes can reveal some rather startling ways in which we can improve. Let's look together at the seven questions that most visitors ask in their mind while they are on your site. Answer these questions correctly, and visitors will reward you with an order. Miss one or more and your site will simply not sell as well as it could. NOTE: Most of us will discover that our site does not answer all of the questions. At least, that was true for me. To help you fix your site, after each answer, you will find a quick and easy way to fix the problem and answer the question. WHY SHOULD I SPEND MY TIME ON THIS SITE? I'm not sure where the figure comes from, but people say that we have three seconds to grab the attention of our visitor or we lose him or her. I believe that figure is correct. People are in a hurry, have short attention spans, and are distracted easily by having multiple programs open at one time, other people in the room where they are surfing, and much more. If all that wasn't bad enough, there are now billions of web pages out there, all vying for attention. The best way to answer this question is with a compelling headline. There are three ways to ensure that your headline grabs attention. 1. Be emotional. People buy based on emotion, and then defend their purchase with logic. (I HAD to buy a new car honey; the old one needed new tires!) If your headline doesn't pack an emotional punch, add one today. 2. Make your headline short. Today we find the gurus teaching us to use pre-heads, post-heads, and paragraph long headlines. Yet, over the years, we've seen that the best headlines are short and to the point. Short is good. Short is simple. Short is easy to understand. 3. Be sure your headline clearly conveys your #1 benefit. If you help people save money, say so. If you help them save time, say that. But never write a headline that fails to tell the reader that you can solve their problem. CAN YOU SOLVE MY PROBLEM? As we have said, people are in a hurry. What that means to you is that they need to know that you can solve their problem - and they want to know that as fast as you can tell them. This is why it is vital that you tell them what you can do for them, and how you will solve their problem, in the first two paragraphs. My experience has been that people will read your first paragraph just because they are on the site. Then they will glance at the second paragraph. If they don't see something there that draws them in, they are usually gone. If you follow the advice of this article, you will already have told them that you can solve their problem in your headline. Now follow that up and tell them how you will solve their problem in the very first paragraph of your sales letter. WHAT IS YOUR OFFER? << AND REMEMBER - I'M IN A HURRY! >> You may have heard about people who 'scan' your page. The term 'scan' simply means someone (and most of us have done this) who reads the headline, then scans the page - looking mostly at the bolder or larger sized text - then checks the price and makes a decision to buy or not buy. The fact is, most people scan. They do this because they are in a hurry, and because most sales letters are so darn long! The way to answer this question is to make sure that your page includes sub-heads that tell the entire story. Sub-heads are simply words in larger type that introduce a new thought. Scan your page today and see if you can get the whole story by simply reading the bold words or the sub- heads. If you can't, edit your copy until you can. WHAT IS YOUR PRICE AND WHY SHOULD I PAY THAT MUCH? Ah, the price. How do you convince someone that your price is right, and that they should buy now? While there are no pat answers, here are three tips that will help. 1. Don't hide the price. People are in a hurry, so tell them your price and don't make them try to figure it out. I suggest putting your price at the bottom of the page, near your signature. 2. Relate the price to something real. If you sell a $20 item, it's easy to compare the $20 they will spend with you to something like a meal, something from everyday life. Would they benefit more from a fast food lunch, or from owning your product? I'll bet it's the latter! ;) 3. Tell the truth. Most marketers seem to think that inflating the price of something just to show a lower price creates sales. Does that type of garbage work on you? Case closed. WHAT MUST I DO TO ORDER NOW? When people want to order, they want to order now and get their product now. So, don't make them work for it - show them how to order with one easy click. Here are two tips that will help. 1. Go through the process of ordering your product and count the clicks. If it takes more than three clicks to finish the process, change something until it takes no more than three. The best process is this: Click the 'buy now' button, click once more to confirm your intention, and then give your payment information. 2. Make your order button obvious. Some sites use 15 'buy now' links, but they are so hidden in the text that you can't find them. When it comes time to ask for the order, there is no need to be shy. If you have a graphic, use that. If not, put the words 'click here to order now' in 18-point type. WILL YOU SUPPORT ME IF I NEED HELP? An often-forgotten aspect of selling online is customer service. I've heard people say that offering great customer service is a bad idea because you're not making any money while you are supporting a customer, and there are so many customers that it doesn't matter if you make them unhappy. Of course, the people who said that are now out of business. ;) The point here is obvious - like you, people have questions in their mind when they buy, especially when they buy online. If you want to make more sales, then ease peoples' minds about buying from you before they buy. WILL YOU REFUND MY MONEY IF I DON'T LIKE WHAT YOU SELL? The value of a guarantee has been debated many times. I sometimes hear people say that they won't give a refund at all. This is a big mistake on two levels. First, people can get a refund anytime they want it from their credit card company. Second, not offering a refund policy makes you look bad. There's just no way around it. Testing has proven that a clear and strong refund policy increases sales, and does not increase refund rates substantially. We all have to deal with the bottom-feeders who buy our product, download the product and the bonuses, they immediately ask for a refund. But the fact remains that this is a small part of the Internet population, and you will get more sales with a strong refund policy. One tip: Word your refund policy to make it seem as strong as possible. If you are not going to ask the reason of the refund, say "No Questions Asked". If you offer a one-year policy, saying 365 days seems stronger than saying 1 year. Remember this, people come to our sites for one reason - to solve a problem they are having. They don't come to buy, to sign up for our ezine or information, to recommend their friends, or any other reason at all. They simply want solutions to their problems - answers to their questions. The more your site answers the questions above, the more it will sell and offer you the freedom and lifestyle you want from an Internet business. And that's a beautiful thing! -------------------------------------------------- Charlie Page helps people succeed in their Internet businesses. Visit Charlie at http://www.RealWorldTactics.com ____________________________________________________________________ http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ 10:20 PM - Friday, March 16, 20075 Common Web Hosting MistakesWhether you are struggling to build a website or have one that just doesn't get traffic, perhaps you are making some mistakes in building your website. Hopefully this article will help you.
___________________________________________________________________ http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ
11:02 PM - Tuesday, March 6, 2007How To Find The Right Keywords For YouThis article was written by a fellow community member of Adlandpro. I hope you find it helpful.
How To Find The Right Keywords For You Finding the right keywords for your own website or articles is not easy. In fact it can be quite daunting a task, especially if the keywords or keyword phrases you do choose never get searched for by anyone using the popular search engines through Google or Yahoo searches for example. So how do you know if the keywords you’ve chosen or are considering for your site or article is actually searched for by anyone? Do I simply guess? You ask, or is there some magical way of getting a free helping hand from somewhere, that could help you to determine what keywords or phrases to actually use, ones that are at least being searched for by real people. There is a little known webmasters tool that can go a long way to helping you choose your Keywords and it’s actually totally free and provided by Google itself, and is called Google Suggest.
http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en How Does It Work
Ø auto repairs………… 17,600,000 searches Ø auto repair manual...… 2,900,000 searches Ø repair manual auto …... 3,080,000 searches Ø repair manual automotive 1,600,000 searches Ø automotive repair… 7,870,000 searches Ø automotive repairs… 1,800,000 searches You can quickly see how, from the resulting suggestions presented by Google anyone can begin to develop a substantial list of keywords in a very short time for any given base idea, which you can then easily include into your website meta tags or within your articles knowing that these terms are actually searched for by real people, so chances are that by utilizing these keywords or phrases regularly, into everything you publish, you may in fact get ranked higher for these terms over the longer period. This is only one method of finding and using good keywords. There are many other ways, far beyond the scope of this article, but it should have given you a quick and free insight into the whole daunting process, and show you that armed with just a basic free tool like the Google Suggestion tool, keyword finding just got a whole lot easier from now on. Here’s to your continued success Luella May About the Author Luella May is the co-owner and editor of The Corner 4 Women http://thecorner4women.com that is sponsored by DipetaneSoutheast.com http://DipetaneSoutheast.com This Article may be reproduced provided it remains intact with author info and all links active 12:31 AM - Monday, October 9, 2006Google Adsense InformationI just read this article and was impressed with the advice. While other marketers keep trying to sell us tons of Adsence sites to make a few dollars a day from each one, this marketer has a different viewpoint.It is better and more profitable to work hard on creating one
Does IMNewswatch offers high quality, in-demand information? Yes. Will it get banned or dropped out of search engines? No, not Will it last long? Yes, as long as there is internet marketing IMNewswatch is an online business. It gives people what they want I had an SEO expert tell me that IMNewswatch could be making $1000 That's around a solid $730,000 a year. Not bad for one site. You would need over 600 cheap sites, making $3 a day for a whole IMNewswatch Advice: You can make a lot more with Google AdSense If you really do want to create those cheap sites, then it wouldn't You know something? Ultimately, it's all about giving people what Consider this as the most important lesson. Mike Mograbi *** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners *** Feel free to reprint this article in your ezine, blog, autoresponder, or on your site. Reprint it in its entirety, leave all links in place, and do not modify the content. _________________________________________________________________ http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ What is your opinion of Adsense sites? 1:20 AM - Sunday, September 24, 2006Want To Get Into The Search Engines? Listen UpIf you want to be noticed by the search engines and get traffic to your website you can follow the advice in this article...get it the old-fashioned way by having relevant content, keep adding content regularly, and you will slowly be noticed. This is good advice now that Google is penalizing cloned websites or websites without changing relevant content.Want to Get Into the Search Engines, Listen Up. by Hodges Hines In the early days of the internet, in order to get listed into search engines, it was a pain-staking process that required that you go to a few of the major search engines and manually place your site information in their databases. Of course you would also want to go to the lesser known 'engines' and there also input your site information. The next step was to write articles of relevent information to the theme of your site. You would then post that article to your site. More specific into a directory that included your other articles and the articles of others that you have placed in that directory. You then placed your ezines on your site in another directory which had an abundance of different topics and themes. You then created a resource directory where your affiliate banners,links and site directory were placed. One of the best ways that I know of to get Google to consistently crawl your site is Google Site Maps. http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login A lot of the newcomers like to show you how to use software and gimmicks to come to your site but let me just interject here. If the company tells you how to do things the way they want wouldn't you do it that way? The worst thing that is happening to a lot of sites right now is that they get caught implementing all the newest tricks and then get penalized by the company that they are trying to attract. Quicker, folks, ain't always better. Please don't be fooled into thinking that these gimmicks and tricks work. I have gone to sites where they are listed in the top ten for a week and totally disappear altogether within that same week. Why? There is no content on the site. You want the engines to notice you and permanently? Create relevant content for your site. Index your site manually the first time. Add more content slowly each day or week. Use what the search engines tell you to use. Create resource pages and site maps. Link with your other partners that have similar content on their site. If you will do the above then you will most certainly get listed and permanently. Maybe your page rank won't shoot to number 1 within a week but I can almost guanrantee you that if you follow the outline above when all the 'jack- rabbits' hit number 1 and drop off the charts you will consistently either remain at the level you are, if you do not add content, or rise above them as you consistently add more content. --------------------------------------------------- Like this article? Pass it along or post it to your site as long as the reference box below remains. --------------------------------------------------- Get more information like this by becoming a subscriber. http://aplusflashreview.com/ezinesubscribe.htm --------------------------------------------------- http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ Relevant comments are welcome. 11:19 PM - Wednesday, September 20, 20065 Facts That Will Have You Re-Writing Your Web SiteThis is a good article on how to design your website to capture the interest of visitors.
http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ 10:31 PM - Friday, August 11, 2006Why So Many People Ruin Their WebsitesThree basic values to consider when designing your website...good advice from Joe Robson.3. Article ... "Why So Many People Ruin Their Websites"
From Joe Robson ================================= ==================== http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ Do you have any helpful hints for building a profitable website? Please share below. 1:55 AM - Tuesday, August 1, 20066 Life or Death Factors For Any WebsiteHere is some good advice for anyone trying to sell anything on the web. Check your website to see how many of these factors you have used.6 "Life or Death" Factors For Any Website! - by Jim Edwards http://www.TheNetReporter.com (c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved ===================================== Not a week goes by that half a dozen people don't ask me what separates a great, money-making website from a bad one. In response, I surveyed of a number of different websites, large and small, to find what they share in common to make them so successful. With few exceptions, every extraordinarily great website contained the following elements. ** Testimonials ** Every great website has testimonials from satisfied customers. These testimonials help set the potential customer's mind at ease that the products or services sold online will perform as promised. Truly great testimonials not only endorse the product, but clearly state how the product increased sales, saved money, or benefited previous buyers in very specific and tangible ways. Testimonials should present real benefits others can readily identify with, understand and, more importantly, want those same results for themselves! ** Headlines ** Headlines capture visitors' attention and get them involved in the website. How do you read the newspaper? If you read like most people the headlines first catch your attention and determine whether you'll actually read a story. Similarly headlines on a website determine whether visitors get involved in the information or surf away never to return. My own experience has shown that the proper headlines can easily and quickly double, triple, or even quadruple a website's sales almost overnight. ** Bullets ** Bullets communicate various and subtle bits of information about a product or service without making readers plow through paragraphs of information to get to the meat of a website's offering. Bullets arouse interest, build excitement, and convey a lot of information very quickly to time-starved web surfers. ** Bonuses ** Every great website offers bonuses to people who buy, apply or fill out a form. Nothing induces someone to do business with you online like offering them something extra for taking the action you want. Offering a bonus report, tape, extended membership, extra quantities of product at a deep discount, coupons, or just about anything makes people more willing to go ahead with the purchase decision. ** Guarantees ** Everyone takes a risk whenever they buy anything from anyone. The risk centers on whether or not the product or service will perform as promised. In a retail store most people feel pretty confident the store will still exist if they need to make a return or exchange in a few days. On the web, however, that risk in making a purchase seems much higher than in the "offline" world. Every great website makes a point of specifically telling customers about their return policy and truly exceptional sites offer 100%, no-questions-asked, money-back guarantees. People rarely take advantage of such guarantees and I have personally seen a website's sales increase by 45% just by extending the guarantee period an additional 30 days. ** Phone numbers ** Every great website has a phone number with a real live human being on the other end who can answer questions and provide product support. So there you have it! With few exceptions this represents the formula for creating or identifying a truly great website. =============================================== Jim Edwards is the co-author of the NEW "eBook Secrets Exposed": How to Make MASSIVE Amounts of Money - In Record Time - With Your Own eBook! WHY are some people getting positively RICH selling ebooks? Click Here Now ==> http://www.ebooksecretsexposed.com _____________________________________________________________ http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ _____________________________________________________________ Please feel free to comment below. 11:48 PM - Thursday, July 13, 2006Image Is EverythingThis is an older article about building a website but still pertinent today.Image is everything (c)copyright 2002 Terry Telford According to a very popular soft drink commercial, image is nothing and thirst is everything. If your thirsty for something to drink, this may be true. If you are thirsty for online sales, this theory will leave you parched! Online, image is everything. If your website looks homemade, takes ages to load, and doesn't display properly in almost everyone's browser, you're in trouble. Your sales will be slow or non-existent. On the other hand, if you design a clean site, make it easy to navigate, display your products in an organized manner, and use professional graphics, your site will make you more sales and more profit. But don't forget content. Content will bring your visitors back again and again. If your site doesn't offer something that your target market needs or wants, your image won't help you. Right now we are assuming that you have a site that offers valuable content. Now let's spice up your image. Take a look at these simple techniques to improve the image of your website. 1. Consistency. Make sure that each of your pages has a red thread that ties them together. Your red thread can be as simple as using the same template for each page. If each page looks the same, you develop continuity throughout your site. 2. Font Style. Choose a font or fonts that are easy to read. There are some pretty fancy fonts on the market, which may look appealing, but are almost impossible to read. The majority of the surfing population won't stick around to decipher your message if it isn't easy to read. 3. Font Size. On screen, a comfortable font size is 12 pt. If you choose a smaller font size, you risk alienating the segment of your market that requires a bit larger print. 4. Graphic Style. This is the easiest way to create your image. An old-fashioned map and globe in a library setting creates a completely different image than a bikini clad surfer girl on a beach. Your choice of graphics must mirror your content. 5. Layout. A portal style site is an ordered chaos. A lot of information is presented in a minimum amount of space. An ebook sales site, on the other hand, has become a single page mini site that concentrates on one product. Your image can be at either end of the spectrum, but most likely somewhere in between. 6. Colour. Your colour choices are important to your image. A deep blue gives you a business feel, deep green gives you an executive, money feeling, red gives you a good stop effect, but is irritating to look at for long periods of time. Make sure you put some thought into your colour choices before you just pick a random colour. These are just the basics, but they will get you started on your image check. Second only to content, your image is your greatest asset. A clean, clear image that mirrors your content will make you more sales. Good luck and God Bless Yours successfully, Terry Telford http://www.bpcpublishing.com ============================================================ Turn your online business into your cash cow. MOO !! Get your free report by visiting : http://www.bpcpublishing.com/moo.htm aol click here ========================================================= Feel free to add your comments about the appearance of websites. _______________________________________________________________ http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ _______________________________________________________________ 12:03 AM - Thursday, June 8, 2006Tips On Creating A Site MapIf you have your own website do you have a site map? This article points out the need for one. It also includes links for free software on the net that can be used for this purpose.Tips on Creating a Site Map Rachel Gawith runs her own homebased bu.siness website at http://www.bizzyblogz.com/DonnaZ Please feel free to leave comments here concerning site maps. 12:17 AM - Monday, May 15, 2006The Secrets To Building A Successful WebsiteThis article is long but full of good content. If you are building a website or have already built one that needs improvement, check out this article for some very good pointers.It is by Shelley Lowery. If you're doing business on the Internet, one of the most important aspects of your success is your web site. If your web site doesn't look professional, no matter what product you're offering your chances of success are minimal. Before you begin, if you've never designed a web page, it would be wise to become familiar with HTML. (Hypertext Markup Language.) A great place to start is NCSA Beginner's Guide to HTML: http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/General/Internet/WWW/HTMLPrimer.html 15 Tips for designing a successful web site: (1) The main page of your web site should load in 8 seconds or less with a 56K modem. According to two recent surveys, conducted by Forrester Research and Gartner Group, ecommerce sites are losing $1.1 to $1.3 billion in revenue each year due to customers click- away caused by slow loading sites. If a page takes too long to load, your potential customer will not wait. Ultimately costing you business. (2) Make sure you include proper META tags in the HTML of each page of your web site. META tags are HTML code that enable the search engines to determine what keywords are relevant to a specific site. About 80 percent of all web site traffic originates from the eight major search engines. It would be a good idea to make sure you've done your homework and fully understand how to optimize your web pages prior to designing your site. This will save you a lot of headaches in the long run. For further information on META tags read the tutorial entitled, "Building Your Site." http://www.web-source.net/building.htm (3) Be cautious when selecting your background and text colors. Busy backgrounds make text difficult to read and draw the attention away from the text. Always be consistent with your background theme on each page of your site. Your site should be nicely organized and uniform throughout. Keep in mind, colors affect your mood and will have an affect on your visitors as well. Bright colors such as yellow and orange, cause you to become more cheerful or happy, while colors such as blue and purple have a calming effect. Dark colors such as brown and black have a depressing effect. A good rule of thumb would be to use colors based upon the type of effect you're trying to achieve. (4) Use minimal animated graphics. These can be very distracting and can cause your page to look unprofessional. In addition, animated graphics cause your page to load more slowly. Fancy graphics won't make the sale. (5) Your main page should specifically let your visitors know exactly what you're offering. How many times have you visited a site and never figured out exactly what they were selling? If your potential customer can't find your product or service, they definitely won't waste a lot of time looking for it. They'll go on to the next site and probably never return. They're visiting your site for a specific purpose. They want something your site offers. Whether it is information, a product or service. (6) Try to avoid placing banner exchange banners at the top of your page. These can instantly take your customers or even be indexed by search engine robots. Limit the number of banners on your site to no more than two per page. One is ideal. (7) Always, include your contact information on each page of your site and try to reply to all comments and suggestions within 48 hours. This will help promote good business relationships. Your business relationships are the key to your success. (8) ALWAYS check and double-check your site for spelling errors and make sure your images and links are all working properly. If you have several errors, this will make your site appear to be unprofessional. If you are designing your site using an HTML editor, use spell check. Proper grammar is also very important. If you've been out of school for a while it's probably a good idea to refresh your memory. Visit any of the following sites for a crash course in writing and grammar. Guide to Grammar and Writing http://webster.commnet.edu/HP/pages/darling/original.htm A Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation http://www.grammarbook.com/ Exploring English http://www.shared-visions.com/explore/english/ Simpler Words And Phrases http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/arts/tpl5.htm (9) Design your site to be easily navigated. Place your navigation links together at the top, bottom, left or right side of the page. Use tables to neatly align your links. If you are planning on using graphic buttons to navigate your site, keep in mind that with each graphic you add to your page, it will take that much longer for your page to load. If you only have a handful of navigational links, using graphic buttons will be fine. If you have over six links, it would be wise to simply use text links to keep your load time down. (10) If you must use frames, use them sparingly. Frames, if not properly used, can make your site look unprofessional. Avoid making your visitors have to scroll from side to side to view your content. This can be very irritating and cause your visitors to leave. If you must use frames, offer your visitors a choice. Frames verses No Frames. (11) Try to keep the number of clicks required to get from your main page to any other page on your site down to four. Keep in mind, your visitors may enter your site from pages other than your main. Always have good navigational links on every page and place your company logo on each page. (12) If you must use Java on your site, use it sparingly. Offer your visitors a choice. Java verses No Java. Java can be slow and has a tendency to crash browsers. Try to avoid using those pop up boxes asking for your visitor's name, etc. Those pop up messages are very unprofessional and can be very frustrating to your visitors when they're trying to view your site. (13) Do not set sound to "autoplay" when someone visits your site. This can be very distracting. (14) All web browsers are not created equally. View your site through different browsers and screen resolutions so you will see how your visitors will view your site. Visit: Site Inspector - Check your web pages for HTML validity and browser compatibility. http://www.siteinspector.com/ NetMechanic - Provides a variety of free services for your web site including; browser compatibility testing, graphic file size reduction, link check, HTML check, load time check, spell check and more. http://www.netmechanic.com/ (15) Continually add new content to your site. Give your visitors a reason to keep coming back. * Design a quality e-book to give to your visitors. It's not as difficult as it sounds. If you can create a web page, you can create an e-book. The focus of your e-book should compliment your web site. Simply write about your passion. If your passion is sales, then you could share some of your knowledge and experience by designing your e-book to provide a complete sales training guide. If your passion is home based business, you could write an e-book about how to start your own home based business. If you're writing about your true passion then you shouldn't have any trouble coming up with something to write about. For further information on e-books, read the article entitled, "How to Create an E-book and Drive Massive Traffic to Your Site by Giving It Away." http://www.web-source.net/ebook_creation.htm If you'd rather not write your own e-book, you can pick up some free e-books to add to your site here: http://www.web-source.net/free_ebooks.htm * Provide your visitors with quality, informative articles. Everybody loves free information. It's the top-selling product online, so use it to your advantage. Write your own articles or you can pick some up at the following sites: Web-Source.net http://www.web-source.net/free_articles.htm Marketing & Advertising Supersite http://www.drnunley.com/ BizWeb2000 http://www.bizweb2000.com/articles.htm Success Doctor http://www.success-doctor.com/archive.htm Before using any articles, make sure you view the author's copyrights and make certain the article may be published. If you're not sure, contact the author and request permission to publish their article whether it be on your web site or in your e-zine. Most articles for publication can be used free of charge as long as the authors credits or resource box is included. The best advice I can offer is to Keep It Simple. The simple, well-designed, professional looking web sites make the sales. Always strive to learn. Knowledge is the key to success. Copyright © Shelley Lowery About the Author: Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, Web Design Mastery. http://www.webdesignmastery.com And, Ebook Starter - Give Your Ebooks the look and feel of a REAL book. http://www.ebookstarter.com Visit Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to Etips and receive a copy of the acclaimed ebook, "Killer Internet Marketing Strategies." http://www.web-source.net You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included. Please leave comments here on your efforts to build a website. Was this article helpful? 10:05 PM - Thursday, May 11, 2006Website Design: There Is No Such Thing As Webpage DesignWhat exactly is webpage design? How about website design? What about template website design or custom website design. Confused now? Here is an interesting article I found that addresses this topic.Do you know why I just mentioned "web page design"? Simple. If you're talking with a "professional web designer" and he's telling you that he can "design you a web page" - cheap, of course, - get the heck out of there. It's a first criterion shouting to you out loudly that you're talking to the newbie. In current world, there is no such thing as a "web page design". There is a "template web site design" and there is a "custom web site design", but there is no "web page design". In a lame terms, website is the set of properly inter-linked webpages with the same design and structure. And while "template design" can be treated as a synonym for a "webpage design", the difference is that the same template is used for all web pages of a web site, not just for one page. Have you tried to find one-page "websites" highly ranked by search engines? Don't bother. You won't find them. Only real websites with at least 4-5 pages (and usually much more than that)can be found on the first positions. One of the reasons - search engines are looking for quality, content-rich sites. Another, more technical reason - to rank high, you need good PR. And your PR depends on your content, the number of pages indexed and authority sites linked back to you. And don't confuse web logs (blogs) with one-page "web sites". Each post that you see on the blog is essentially different page that is archived, thus blog is a web site with constantly growing number of pages that can be into thousands. Oleg Ilin - Web Tester from http://www.web-feed.com Feel free to comment on this article. 7:31 PM - Friday, April 28, 2006Where Is Your Phone Number?To increase your credibility consider adding your phone number to your web site. The following article addresses that issue.Where is Your Phone Number? by Jeff Mulligan (C) 2004 There is probably a major problem lurking on your sales page right now. And it could be hurting your profits. Experts agree that one of the most important factors in a successful website is credibility. This frequently translates into the credibility of the site owner. People are more likely to buy from somebody they believe in. Is your website as credible as it could be? People judge credibility by many subtle factors. Does the design of the site look professional? Is the site well written? Are there typos and grammar errors strewn throughout the site? Is the author believable? Does the author have experience in this market or with this product? These are all important factors. We also know that a strong guarantee is a key part of a successful sales page. Taken one step further, the reader needs to believe he will actually get a refund if requested. And herein often lies a major inconsistency. Look at your sales page and ask yourself: Who is standing behind the product? What do you provide for contact information? If there is only an e-mail address, or worse yet, no contact information at all, then you do not have a believable guarantee. If you want someone to believe that you stand behind your product you need to be reachable. Put your complete contact information on your web site. I'm not just talking about an e-mail address. Consider adding your snail mail address and even, dare I say, your phone number. At first, I worried about using this approach. I feared getting calls at all hours of the night. I worried about getting overwhelmed. But, I reasoned, I could always remove the phone number if it became a problem. Turns out, having my phone number on the site is a blessing. I have made dozens of sales because I have been available to answer one or two simple questions from a prospect. I now look at each telephone call as an opportunity to help someone solve their problem and, frequently, earn their business. I have received numerous comments from customers saying that one of the reasons they purchased is because they can tell there is a "real person" standing behind this business. The fact it is, I only get about one or two phone calls a day. And my sites have thousands of visitors every day. In summary, take a look at your own sales page or contact page with a critical eye. Do you look like just another anonymous web site? Or is there a person there; ready, willing and able to help. The answer to these questions may have a lot to do with your conversion rates. At the very least, test putting your phone number on your web site. Even if your web business is part time, with a good voice mail system you will sound professional and you can return phone calls when you are able. Try this credibility improvement. And see if it doesn't improve your sales. Resource Box: Jeff Mulligan has an MBA and 20+ years of marketing experience as an ad agency Senior VP and VP Marketing for two software companies, one of which was publicly traded. Jeff owns CBmall, a site that provides 15 different ways for ClickBank affiliates to earn income on thousands of popular InfoProducts and affiliate programs. http://www.cbmall.com/15ways.asp?storefront=topace1051 ===================================== Feel free to comment on this topic. Do you feel comfortable listing your personal phone number on your website? 9:39 PM - Monday, April 24, 2006Link Building StrategiesThere are three types of links that will increase the link popularity of your website. Here is an interesting article explaning these links.Link building strategies Author: Matt Bacak Well, an effective link building strategy is not building some 50-100 back links with sites with 'X' PR. It is more of getting links from the informative websites that is visited often by the people who could be your future customers. In broad sense the websites related to your focus industry. Link popularity refers to the number of links pointing to and from related sites and is an extremely important method of improving your site's relevancy in search engines. There are three types of links that will increase the link popularity of your site; internal, incoming and, to a lesser extent, outgoing links. Let's take a look at each one in more detail. Internal links Internal links are amount of links to and from pages in a site. Cross-linking your important related pages is recommended for a better search engine visibility. This assists search engine spiders to find and index your most key pages faster, particularly if some pages are hidden deep within your site. Site maps Site maps or sitemap are visual models of your site's contentthat enables users to find exact content or page on your website. Site maps are like interactive table of contents, with links leading to most or all the pages on your website. Site maps are organized hierarchically, breaking down the site's information into progressively more specific subject areas. Incoming links Incoming link popularity refers to links pointing to a site fromother related sites. In addition, there are two types of incoming links: 1. Linking from your own sites Crass linking as we discussed above is very much recommended for a better crawl of your site by spiders. You must select keywords that describe the site you're linking to. You have to do this because some of the major search engines, such as Google, place a great importance on the text used within, and close to, links. 2. Linking through other sites There are two ways of finding sites to link to yours. The best way to get other sites to link to yours is to ask them politely. And the best way to find likely candidates is to ask web sites that link to your competition. To find out which sites are linking to your a particular competitor, visit a search engine such as Google and enter, "link:" followed by the competitors domain name (with and without "www"). For example: Link:google.com link:www.yahoo.com To check the link popularity of your own sites, simply use yourown domain name. Once you got the list of related sites, add a link to these on your site. Follow it by sending an email to each web site owner acquainting them that you have linked to their website and request them for a link back to your site. Another important way to find list of sites that accept site submissions. To find such sites, visit a search engine, such as Google, and search for: "add url" "your keywords" Quotation marks are must as it ensures the search engine only return pages with the exact search phrases you search for. Also try replacing, "add url" with one of the following sets of search phrases: add site, add link, submit url, submit site, submit link Outgoing links Outgoing links refers to links pointing to other related sites from your site. Search engine spiders will crawl your site's outgoing links and determine that the content of the sites you link to are related to the content of your own site. Link keywords It is important to name your internal and outgoing links carefully. Since keywords play a major part in determining the relevancy of a Web page, it is essential that they are also included in link text. Link quality The quality of the links is just as important, if not more, than the number of links to your site.The types of sites you should concentrate on getting links from include major search engines (Google.com), popular search portals (MSN.com), web directories (Yahoo.com and Open Directory Project - dmoz.org), high trafficked sites (eBay.com and Amazon.com), news sites (CNN.com), and sites related to your site's theme. The most important link building strategies includes: Marketplace understanding First try to understand your marketplace. Make a list of all the market sectors you service, ranking them in terms of their importance. Choose a minimum of 3-4 niches and make a list of 250 websites under each niches. Go for link exchange only after this list is complete. Content is king... Content is what your potential customers will look for. It is content that will give your search engine rankings and would also help in getting links. There is no substitute for a good content, so unavoidable. Content and proper optimization Make sure the contents on your website is optimized properly with proper focus on keywords and nice heading, title and description. If you lack time then better hire someone to do the same. online press releases Issuing online press releases is more of a one-to-many approach. You submit your release to a newswire and they distribute your news to thousands of journalists and editors on their database. Such releases can be picked up and covered by both national and local media and are certainly worth. Try Prweb.com or in the UK, Sourcewire.com. But perhaps the best way of getting media coverage quickly is to use the knowledge, experience and contacts collected by others. Eric Ward's URLWire.com service is the best.. Through many years of online promotion for clients, Ward has built an impressive opt-in list of over 19,000 journalists, website reviewers and writers. Monitor and evaluate At the start of this article, I said that link building was not about the number of links you could get. Likewise monitoring and evaluating is not simply a matter of counting how many links you manage to get. What is really worth measuring is the benefit those links bring your business. So as a minimum you should measure: * How much increased traffic comes from links * Which links bring the most traffic * How much does your search engine traffic * How much your sales increase as a result. About The Author: Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. Recent Entrepreneur Magazine's e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com Feel free to leave comments about this topic. 8:52 PM - Thursday, April 20, 2006How to build a NIche Website in 9 Simple StepsNiche websites are reportedly good ways to sell products on the internet. How do you go about building a niche website? Here is an article on that topic.How to Build A Niche Web Site in 9 Simple
Steps Maybe you’ve been wondering how to go about setting up a niche web site. Well, here’s a quick little article that will show you how to create your very own affiliate web site. Please note: this is the cheat sheet version. There is a lot more information you should learn about this subject before you get started. Step 1. Pick a Niche Subject This may be the hardest part of your web site project. There’s literally tons of subjects to choose from. People are interested in a variety of things – from parrots to pilots. You don’t have to necessarily pick something you’re interested in, but it helps. You’re more likely to do a better job at building your site when you have some interest in the subject matter. It’s like taking a high school or college class. Some subjects are more interesting than others. Make sure you choose something that a reasonable amount of people are actually searching for online and want to find out more information about. Here’s a free tool that will help you check the popularity of specific subjects: (http://www.nichebot.com) Step 2. Do Keyword Research This is a part that many people skip. I’ve made that mistake myself and suffered the consequences – a failed web site. Even though it’s nice to think that you can write anything you want and have total creative freedom, not using keyword rich content is a BIG mistake. I’d rather lose some creative freedom and attract visitors to my site, than have a lot of flowery prose that zero people will see. You MUST include targeted keywords in your web site copy. Also, make sure you use your targeted keywords in the upper third portion of your web site pages. This is also called optimizing your web site for the search engines. Use the Overture Keyword Tool for research: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion Note: keywords must be relevant to the THEME (subject) of your site. Be careful not to over use them. Search engines don’t like keyword SPAM. Step 3. Get A Domain Name Having a unique domain name is important, although some don’t agree. However, a unique domain name makes your site look more professional and trustworthy to visitors. I use BuyDomains (http://www.buydomains.com). They are not the cheapest, but I stick with them because I like their easy interface and good customer service. Nameboy (http://www.nameboy.com) is also good. Step 4. Write Keyword Rich Content This may be a hard step for those of you who don’t consider yourselves writers. But, writing web site copy is not as hard as it seems. Just think of it as having a conversation with a friend about a product or service you’re really enthusiastic about. Don’t think you can extol the benefits of your subject? Tune your TV into QVC or one of the other shopping networks to see how they can spend several minutes talking about the benefits of all kinds of mundane products. This is what you’ll be doing for your web site. Your copy should feature a good balance of friendliness and professionalism. Remember, you’re passing along useful information to your visitor. Put yourself in their shoes. What would you want to know about xyz subject if you were them? Now, write that down. Don’t forget to sprinkle targeted keywords throughout your copy. I print out a list of them to use for my sites. If you simply can’t put words onto the page and find yourself staring at a blank screen, then visit Internet marketing forums like Willie Crawford’s (http://www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi) for suggestions on finding writers. Or, visit Elance (http://www.elance.com). Step 5. Build Your Web Site Ok. You’ve created your copy. Now it’s time to build the actual physical web site. I use Homestead (http://www.homestead.com), but there are many good point and click web site builders out there. You have a lot of creative freedom on how you want your site to look (I prefer black copy on white backgrounds with photos), but remember that people are looking for attractive, easy-to-navigate sites with useful information. Step 6. Sign Up for Matching Affiliate Programs You’ve created a web site about xyz subject. Now look for affiliate vendors who perfectly match the theme of your site. Integrate your affiliates attractively into your web site copy. Don’t confuse your visitors by giving them too many choices. If you want to list a lot of affiliates on the same page, you can create a helpful “resource guide” page. Step 7. Include Google Adsense Ads Google has a great program for web site owners who wish to make a little extra money for simply displaying google ads on their web site. It’s easy to sign up and free. Just visit google (http://www.google.com/ads) and sign up for their Adsense program. They’ll give you some html code to copy and paste on your site. While google decides which ads will actually appear on your site, you can decide how the google ads will look – choose colors, borders, etc. and where to put them on your pages. Step 8. Find Link Partners I found out that exchanging links with other web site owners is a MUST if you want to improve your search engine rankings. Google especially will consider your site more relevant if your site has other sites linking to it. Also the ad copy from other sites, if relevant, can add more valuable keyword content to your own site. I use Linkmarket (http://www.linkmarket.net) to find credible web sites to exchange links with. It’s free to join. Step 9. Write Articles to Promote Your Site Oh oh. Here’s that writing thing again. Well, you better get used to it, because writing articles like this one (normally your articles will be about the subject matter of your web site) will help give your affiliate web site much needed exposure. It doesn’t matter if you write them yourself or hire others (ghostwriters) to write them for you. You’ll find that the best Internet marketers all write articles to promote themselves, their newsletters, and products and services. Remember, there’s a reason the Internet is called the “information” super highway. After writing your articles, you can post them to an article directory site like Article City (http://www.articlecity.com). People can easily find your articles to use as free content for their sites. Now, I suggest that you print this article out and refer to it often as you go about creating the next great affiliate web site. Good luck!
Please feel free to comment on this topic. 9:49 PM - Wednesday, April 19, 2006Write Better Web ContentI found this article to be pertinent even though it was written in 2004. There are good pointers about your web content.Write Better Web Content If you’re reading this article, chances are that you, like most professionals these days, understand the value of the Internet. It may be where you go to buy movie or concert tickets, browse restaurant menus, or plan your vacations. Most likely, you also turn to the Web to research business strategies, vendors and other companies. But what about those surfers who are researching your company? When they visit your Web site, will they find what they’re looking for? Does your site provide the information they need in an interesting format that will keep them there long enough to convince them to do business with you? While an attractive, professional-looking site is an important start, content is king. (What else would you expect from a copywriter?) But seriously, your site will never be truly effective without well-written content that answers visitors’ questions and creates enough interest to keep them coming back. So how do you create effective content for the Web? It may be easier than you think. With all the bad writing out there on the Internet, even minimal effort can help set yours apart. Here’s a start: Good Web content can always be described by these four adjectives. 1. Consistent. There’s nothing like inconsistency to make your Web site appear amateurish. Some businesses spell their own company names two or three different ways right on the home page. If your company name is written in all lower-case letters or with unique spacing, be sure you write it the same way every time. But don’t stop there; strive for consistency in all your content — from the use of abbreviations, fonts and numerals to the tone, style and voice of your copy. Having one person write all the content helps keep it consistent, but when this isn’t possible, at least try to have one person serve as editor. If several people are contributing to your site, develop a style guide to inform them of your rules for consistent content. 2. Clear. As in all writing, the goal of Web content is to communicate with an audience, and clarity is essential. Try reading your copy aloud before posting; hearing it out loud can help you determine whether it all makes sense. If possible, have one or two others read copy before posting it to the Web — and if your subject matter is technical or complicated, consider using an outside editor to help eliminate techno-speak. 3. Casual. The nature of the Web is more informal than many other marketing venues, so make sure your copy fits the medium. Your Web content should probably be more conversational than your traditional brochure or company presentation, and because many readers scan Web copy rather than reading it word for word, subheadings and bullets are helpful. In most cases, Web content should also be brief, making your points quickly without losing readers’ attention. However, many effective sites contain brief copy on the front pages with more detailed information available through additional links, which works to keep the attention of the general readership while offering more for those who want it. 4. Correct. Don’t confuse “casual” with “sloppy,” however. Correctness is still important, even on the Web, and errors in spelling, grammar, or facts will give most readers a negative impression of your company. Don’t just use spell check; read and re-read your copy before posting it, and if possible, get second opinions from those who know what they’re doing. There’s nothing wrong with being a bad speller, but there’s no excuse for refusing to double-check your work. Copyright 2004 Nancy Jackson About The Author Nancy Jackson, owner of The WriteShop, helps companies better market their
products and services with powerful written communications including Web
content, newsletters, brochures and publications. Subscribe to her free monthly
newsletter at www.writeshoponline.com. Feel free to comment on this topic. 11:24 PM - Monday, April 17, 2006The Importance of Website DesignAre you trying to build your first website? Or have you done so but are not making sales? Check out this article on tips for designing your website.The Importance of Website Design By Desmond Mantor ====================================== Getting visitors to come to your website is only half the battle. The crucial thing is to convert those visits into a sale. If you have invested countless days trying to make your dream a reality, you can be demoralized if people who come to your site leave before exploring what is on offer. Many failed ecommerce ventures owe their failure to website design that is poor. If you want the visitors to your website to spend enough time on the site to truly know the benefits you are offering, make sure your website design keeps some of these essential points in mind: Consistency and simplicity is perhaps the most crucial quality of any good web design. The majority of people who land up at your site would no doubt be using a dial-up connection. If your page takes more than 15 seconds to load, most people will get frustrated and leave, perhaps to visit a competitor's site. Make sure you keep it simple: don't load the page with too many complicated graphics and large files. You can use a combination of smaller graphics and more text on your pages, so that the blending of visual elements and text is appealing to the eyes, yet does not negatively impact the load time. Give your visitors a pleasing experience but don't test their patience! You should have easy-to-use navigation tools on your site. Provide a link back to the homepage on every page in your website, and make sure that it is located in the same place on all pages. Plus, you can have links to all the main sections of your site. It helps visitors get to the point easily without getting lost or running into dead end pages. Sufficient bandwidth to handle the traffic coming to your website is another critical element. This may not be so important in the beginning when your site is not getting much traffic. However, as the traffic grows, you must ensure that your site does not get slow and bogged down because of insufficient bandwidth. Make sure your hosting plan allows you to add bandwidth to accommodate the growing needs of your site. While sufficient bandwidth is provided by most web hosting services for start-ups, you need to compare plans and shop around for a package that also takes into account your growth plans. Web design is the unseen variable in Internet marketing but ultimately the most important. All of your marketing efforts are designed to get people to just come and see what you have to offer. If all they see is some slow loading site with dead end pages all over the place, you will no doubt be perceived as unprofessional and they will move on to your competition. Take the time to plan and organize your website so that your marketing efforts have the best chance for success. =============================================== Desmond Mantor is the Director of Sales and Marketing for http://www.havetraffic.com a company specializing in providing pre-qualified traff1c for commercial web sites, proven to convert to sales at higher rates in comparison to other major pay per c1ick sources. For further information on how to drive highly responsive traff1c to your site today visit: http://www.havetraffic.com 1:33 AM - Sunday, April 2, 2006Great Multi-Purpose WebsiteThere is a new multi-purpose website that you can purchase for yourself and have customized with your links. It includes the clickbank marketplace which has hundreds of digital products you can sell as an affiliate.It also has ebay auctions right on your website. You sign up as an affiliate and make money when someone purchases something from your link. Google adwords are included in relevant areas so you make a profit when customers click on the links. That is not all! There is an article database that includes relevant articles. Every time the page is refreshed new articles appear. Check out this website at: http:// www.ebizparadise.com. You will be impressed. If you want one of your own click on the link at the top of the page. The website will be set up for you. You don't need to know HTML or any of that gobblygook, so it is perfect for newbies. DonnaZ 10:01 PM - Wednesday, March 8, 2006Building a websiteDoes anyone have a very good free website builder to recommend that doesn't require knowledge of HTML? I am finding it difficult to figure out how to build a website from scratch. I tried a host's template and website building software with absolutely no idea of what to do. There were very few directions. Any ideas for an easier way for a newbie to build a first website? I don't know how to make tables or insert anything but text. DonnaZ 11:51 PM - Sunday, February 26, 2006 |
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