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	<title>Grassroots Internet Strategy</title>
	
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		<title>Do you have Consent from your Subscribers?</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/XHyKilBAukk/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/consent-from-your-subscribers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2012 14:39:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Karen Vien</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Email Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mailchimp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[terms and conditions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8631</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Your subscriber database is one of your most important assets &#8211; allowing you to send important information to a large group of interested customers with the click of just one button. But do you have consent from your subscribers or are you sending them ‘spam’? Australia has very specific laws protecting consumers from unwanted commercial<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/consent-from-your-subscribers/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/consent-from-your-subscribers/web-peeps-blog-consent-image/" rel="attachment wp-att-8632"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8632" title="Do you have Consent?" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Web-Peeps-Blog-Consent-Image.jpg" alt="" width="279" height="279" /></a></p>
<p>Your subscriber database is one of your most important assets &#8211; allowing you to send important information to a large group of interested customers with the click of just one button. But do you have consent from your subscribers or are you sending them ‘spam’?</p>
<p><span id="more-8631"></span>Australia has very specific laws protecting consumers from unwanted commercial electronic communications (otherwise known as spam). Specifically, the Spam Act 2003 sets out the three main rules that apply when sending commercial electronic messages:</p>
<ol>
<li><em>Consent:</em> In Australia, commercial electronic messages may only be sent to a person if they have consented to receiving these messages.</li>
<li><em>Identity:</em> Any commercial electronic messages that you send must include clear and accurate information regarding your identity and how people can contact you.</li>
<li><em>Unsubscribe</em>: Your messages must include an unsubscribe facility, including instructions on how to opt-out of receiving messages from you. Note that, by law, any ‘unsubscribe’ requests must be actioned within five working days.</li>
</ol>
<p>For a more detailed explanation of the Spam Act requirements, read my article ‘<a title="Who wants some spam?" href="http://www.diysmallbusiness.com.au/who-wants-some-spam/" target="_blank">Who wants some spam?</a>’<br />
<strong></strong></p>
<h3>What does this mean for you?</h3>
<p>There are a few things that you need to do to ensure you are complying with the anti-spam regulations.</p>
<h4>1. Make sure you do have consent from all your subscribers</h4>
<p>The easiest way to ensure you have consent from your subscribers is to obtain that consent at the point at which they join your mailing list. Most subscribers get onto your mailing list by either subscribing via your website, purchasing a product or service, or accessing an e-product such as a free eBook download.</p>
<p>Here is a simple way to obtain consent:</p>
<p>STEP 1: Your Terms and Conditions should include a section about Subscriptions that explains what it means to ‘subscribe’. For more information on Website Terms and Conditions, have a look at <a title="Protect your website with the right Terms and Conditions" href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/protect-your-website-with-the-right-terms-and-conditions/" target="_blank">this article</a>.</p>
<p>Here’s what I have in my <a title="DIY Small Business" href="http://www.diysmallbusiness.com.au" target="_blank">DIY Small Business</a> Terms and Conditions relating to Subscriptions:</p>
<blockquote><p>By providing your email address and/or contact details to us either through this website or otherwise, you agree to be added to our database and to receive communications from us, including electronic messages, about our services and products and to receive regular updates from us.</p></blockquote>
<p>STEP 2: Above the &#8216;Subscribe&#8217; button, include a statement saying something like, “B<em>y subscribing, you agree to our Terms and Conditions</em>”. Make sure you include a link to your actual Terms and Conditions. For an example, check out my <a title="DIY Small Business" href="http://www.diysmallbusiness.com.au" target="_blank">subscription form</a> on the DIY Small Business website.</p>
<h4>2. Check your information on your email marketing templates</h4>
<p>Review all of your email marketing templates to make sure that they do in fact contain your identifying information (i.e. your name and/or your Business Name) and accurate contact information.</p>
<h4>3. Review your Unsubscribe Facility</h4>
<p>Check that you have an unsubscribe facility embedded in your email marketing template and that the facility is working properly. For example, if your email is a simple Outlook template, you may include a statement at the end of your email stating: “<em>To unsubscribe, please reply with the words “Unsubscribe” in the subject line</em>.”</p>
<h4>4. Have processes in place to manage unsubscribe requests</h4>
<p>By law, you have only five working days to action any unsubscribe requests &#8211; so make sure you have appropriate processes in place to manage this obligation.<strong><br />
</strong></p>
<h3>How to keep it simple?</h3>
<p>All of these obligations can sound a bit overwhelming at first, but don’t despair! There are several email marketing programs that can be used to manage these obligations. My favourite program is <a title="MailChimp" href="http://mailchimp.com/" target="_blank">MailChimp</a>.</p>
<p>MailChimp is an online email marketing program that can be used to manage the entire subscription process: including subscribing, updating member information and unsubscribe requests. In addition, MailChimp has heaps of email templates that already have the contact information and unsubscribe links embedded into the template &#8211; and they look great too! The best thing about MailChimp is that it is free to use if you have less than 2,000 subscribers and send less than 12,000 emails per month.</p>
<p>If you’re new to MailChimp and would like some help, get in touch about my <a title="Mastering MailChimp Workshop" href="http://www.diysmallbusiness.com.au/services/workshops/" target="_blank">Mastering MailChimp</a> Workshop.</p>
<h3>How do you manage your compliance obligations?</h3>
<p>Managing a business can be complicated enough without having to also worry about the many compliance and legal requirements and risks. The good news is there are some simple things you can do to manage some of those obligations, especially through ensuring you have the right Terms and Conditions for your website.</p>
<p>When was the last time you reviewed your Terms and Conditions? Do you have the right processes in place to manage your anti-spam obligations?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.diysmallbusiness.com.au/special-offers/ "><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-8651" title="Terms and Conditions Special Offer" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Terms-and-Conditions-Special-Offer2-1024x595.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="337" /></a></p>
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		<item>
		<title>Boost your search engine ranking with a word cloud</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/-rV2a8ElQ-I/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/search-engine-ranking-word-cloud/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2012 10:54:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Belinda Weaver</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Search Engine Optimisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Copywrite Matters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seo copywriting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web copywriting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wordle]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8588</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My name is Belinda. I am an SEO copywriter and a Wordle addict. What’s a Wordle? Wordle is a free online tool that generates word clouds from any text, blog or RSS feed. In the word cloud created, the most frequently used words are bigger and more prominent. You can find it at http://www.wordle.net/ Word clouds<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/search-engine-ranking-word-cloud/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wordle-word-cloud.png" rel="lightbox[8588]"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8591" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wordle-word-cloud-300x170.png" alt="Wordle word cloud" width="300" height="170" /></a></p>
<p>My name is Belinda. I am an SEO copywriter and a Wordle addict.</p>
<h4>What’s a Wordle?</h4>
<p><strong></strong>Wordle is a free online tool that generates word clouds from any text, blog or RSS feed. In the word cloud created, the most frequently used words are bigger and more prominent.<span id="more-8588"></span> You can find it at <a href="http://www.wordle.net/" target="_blank">http://www.wordle.net/</a></p>
<h4>Word clouds aren’t just cool, they can help you improve your search engine ranking</h4>
<p>You see, search engines aren’t really that clever. They rely on certain signals to work out what your web page or blog post is about. One of these signals is the most frequently used words. As an SEO copywriter, that’s exactly what I need to ascertain and if you are writing your own content, it should also be on your radar.</p>
<p>I write my first draft of copy without focusing on SEO too much. It sounds counter intuitive, doesn’t it? I do look for opportunities to use my specific keywords but <strong><em>I always write for readers before search engines.</em></strong></p>
<p>Once I’m finished writing, I plug my copywriting into Wordle.</p>
<div id="attachment_8590" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wordle-menu1.png" rel="lightbox[8588]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8590" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wordle-menu1-300x191.png" alt="Wordle word cloud tool" width="300" height="191" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Wordle.net</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">I get an instant feel for the words being referenced most often and whether or not I need to go back to my copy and look for ways to use my specific keywords more appropriately and more often.</p>
<p>Wordle doesn’t take into account the strategic positioning of your keywords (which matters) but it’s a great litmus test on whether or not your page is a jumble of topics. Remember that<strong> search engines need clear signals about the topic you are writing about.</strong> If you do nothing else as part of your search engine optimisation process, run your copy through Wordle and make sure your main topic displays as the biggest words in that cloud.</p>
<p>Once you try Wordle, I bet you’ll be as addicted as I am.</p>
<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~4/-rV2a8ElQ-I" height="1" width="1"/>]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>3 Ways To Write Useful Subheadings That Will Draw Your Readers In Like It’s The NY Times</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/yF7iY0INHF4/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/web-content-writing-subheadings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2012 02:27:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Miss Sassy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Content Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Peeps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ginny Redish]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[headings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web copy subheadings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web usability]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8667</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Web usability doesn’t sound very sexy. And writing web content for your readers isn’t always easy. One of our biggest challenges is to write content that is read and understood by web visitors. I recently wrote a post about how to organise your web content to accommodate different online reading patterns. The key is for<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/web-content-writing-subheadings/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/woman-reading.jpg" rel="lightbox[8667]"><img class="size-medium wp-image-8868 aligncenter" title="woman reading" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/woman-reading-300x228.jpg" alt="woman reading newspaper" width="300" height="228" /></a></p>
<p>Web usability doesn’t sound very sexy.</p>
<p>And writing web content for your readers isn’t always easy. One of our biggest challenges is to write content that is read and understood by web visitors.</p>
<p>I recently wrote a post about how to <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.sassywebwords.com/3-simple-ways-to-engage-your-readers-online-reading-patterns-website-usability/" target="_blank"><strong>organise your web content to accommodate different online reading patterns</strong></a>.</span> The key is for people to quickly digest the information you share with them and for your readers to read your content with ease.</p>
<p>One way to do that is to break up your text with subheadings. Well-written subheadings in well-organised text help readers to get a quick overview of the page and make the information less dense and more readable.<span id="more-8667"></span></p>
<p>Ginny Redish is the author of<em><strong> <a href="http://www.redish.net/books/letting-go-of-the-words" target="_blank">Letting Go Of The Words – Writing Web Content That Works</a></strong></em>. This book is  a fantastic resource and provides simple, useful tips on how to organise and present your content for an online audience. She is a consultant in usability and clear communication who has helped many corporations in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. In this article I share with you three ways from her book to enhance the readability of your subheadings.</p>
<h4>1.  Use Action Phrase Subheadings For Instructions</h4>
<p>Many people come to websites with questions. A common type of question people bring to websites are “How do I…?&#8221; If you have only one such question with many other questions on a web page, it’s fine to keep that as a question.</p>
<p>However if you have a series of questions all of which would start “How do I….?” people may have a hard time finding the one they want.</p>
<p>Which set of subheadings below is easier to scan and use?</p>
<table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">How do I set up an account?</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">    Setting up an account</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">How do I get help?</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">    Getting help</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">How do I change my information?</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">    Changing your information</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ginny says two good ways of writing action phrase subheadings are with <strong>gerunds</strong> (the form that ends in “ing”) or with <strong>imperatives</strong> (the “Do this…” form of the verb).</p>
<p>It&#8217;s best to use the “-ing” form when dividing web content into different tasks. For example, the list of tasks in the right-hand column above. A subheading such as &#8220;Setting up an account,&#8221; would probably link to its own web page and the specific steps on that page would probably each start with an imperative.</p>
<p>If you write “how do I….” over and over, take away the repeated words and start each heading with the action word.</p>
<p>Action phrases make great subheadings when providing instructions or procedure type articles , for example the classic &#8220;How To&#8230;&#8221; blog post.</p>
<h4>2.  Limit The Use Of Nouns And Noun Phrases in Subheadings</h4>
<p>Your subheading should be descriptive and provide context. So if you use nouns as subheadings, you risk alienating your readers because site visitors don’t know the nouns, don’t connect to nouns and don’t give nouns the same meaning as you probably do.</p>
<p>Not only that, a noun has to carry all the meaning of the headline in a single word, which makes it difficult.</p>
<p>Take this example:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Screen-shot-2012-04-17-at-10.44.46-PM1.png" rel="lightbox[8667]"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8683" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Screen-shot-2012-04-17-at-10.44.46-PM1.png" alt="Use Nouns In Headings Sparingly" width="594" height="238" /></a></p>
<p>The subheadings Order Confirmation and Tracking Numbers use nouns and there is so much information stuffed under each one that they should be in separate sections. Using nouns as labels doesn&#8217;t help to meet the needs of busy people who <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html"><strong>skim and scan</strong></a> for information.</p>
<p>So how should you write these subheadings?</p>
<p>Order Confirmation could be written as:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong> Getting Email Confirmation Of Your Order<br />
</strong>If you gave us your email address when you placed your order, we&#8217;ll send you confirmation of the order by email within two hours. This confirmation will give you:</p>
<ul>
<li>the order number</li>
<li>the total value of the merchandise</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<p>This is one of the three topics that were in the long first paragraph of the original. It is now split into three separate sections. You&#8217;ll also notice that the heading has been rewritten as an action phrase (gerund, &#8220;ing&#8221; form).</p>
<h4>3.  Exploit The Power Of Parallelism</h4>
<p>Parallel structures refer to word or phrase patterns that are similar. When ideas in a sentence or paragraph are similar, you can reinforce these similarities in meaning by creating parallel structures. Ginny says people are pattern-oriented. It&#8217;s faster and easier to read content when the same sentence structure is being used. Using the same sentence structure for subheadings helps people to scan and grab information &#8211; perfect for the busy web user.</p>
<p>Subheadings with consistent grammatical structure help your readers remember and compare successive portions of your web content. You want them to remember <strong><em>your</em></strong> content right?</p>
<p>Consider this example straight from Ginny&#8217;s book:</p>
<table width="633" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Do It Yourself: Wallpaper</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Do It Yourself: Wallpaper</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Everyone loves wallpaper</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Getting ready</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Preparation</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Preparing the walls</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Removal of wallpaper</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Removing old wallpaper</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Straight line marking</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Marking a straight line</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Cutting the wallpaper</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Cutting the wallpaper</h2>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>Wallpaper soaking</h2>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<h2>    Soaking the wallpaper</h2>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The subheadings on the right are quicker and easier to scan and remember.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s another example:</p>
<blockquote><p>Not parallel:     <em>They rode to the shop, the market, and to the town hall.</em><br />
Parallel:            <em>They rode to the shop, the market, and the town hall.</em><br />
Parallel:            <em>They rode to the shop, to the market, and to the town hall.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Ineffective parallelism is the result of mixing up tactics and the result can be unsettling to the reader. Parallelism can relate to just about anything: nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, articles, and prepositions as in the example above.</p>
<p>These are just some tips to writing better headings but there are a lot more. If you want to know more get <a href="http://www.redish.net/books/letting-go-of-the-words"><strong>Ginny&#8217;s book</strong></a>. It&#8217;s full of simple and easy to remember tips (not an affiliate link).</p>
<p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=987">Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>
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		<title>7 Inspiring Ideas for Creating your own Images to use on your Website or Blog</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/cjuNXwVeqz0/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/creating-your-own-web-images/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2012 03:37:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tessa</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Picture Images]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Website Resources]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8349</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my last post, I talked about why and how to resize images to the optimum size for your website. For this article, I wanted to take a step back, and talk about the best ways to actually get images to use on your site. Sure, there are many sites to find stock images online.<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/creating-your-own-web-images/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8354" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/polyvore.png" alt="" width="390" height="361" /></p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/resize-images-blog/" target="_blank">my last post</a>, I talked about why and how to resize images to the optimum size for your website. For this article, I wanted to take a step back, and talk about the best ways to actually get images to use on your site.</p>
<p>Sure, there are many sites to find stock images online. These vary from free (which are generally lower-quality) to paid stock images (generally higher quality). These sites are perfect for quickly sourcing images for your website and blog, but sometimes you might not be able to find the exact thing you have in mind, or you want a more unique image that nobody would have used before.</p>
<p>Below are some of my ideas for creating your own website images:</p>
<h3>1. Digital camera</h3>
<p>This one sounds obvious, but how many of us actually carry around a digital camera wherever we go? You can be on the lookout for interesting textures, patterns, and objects as you go about your daily business.</p>
<h3>2. Smartphone</h3>
<p>While not as good quality as a standalone digital camera, every smartphone has the capability to snap a picture. And the best camera is the one you have with you! Luckily, your images don’t need to be high quality to use on the web. And there are loads of cool photography apps to make your pictures look more unique. Try <a href="http://instagr.am/" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a title="Hipstamatic" href="http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html" target="_blank">Hipstamatic</a> and <a title="PictureShow" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pictureshow/id324243655?mt=8" target="_blank">PictureShow</a> to get you started.</p>
<h3>3. Screen grab</h3>
<p>Sometimes, you might be blogging about something you’ve seen online, you might be writing a tutorial to demonstrate how to do something with software, or you want to capture your friend’s funny expression on your Skype call. A quick and easy trick that everyone should know is how to capture a screen grab (or screen capture).</p>
<p>If you’re using a Mac, take a screen grab of the whole screen with the key combination Command-Shift-3. Or, use Command-Shift-4 to take a grab of a selected area of the screen. To grab a whole window, use Command-Shift-4, then when you see the crosshairs hit the Space bar, then click the little camera on the window you want to grab.</p>
<p>If you’re using a Windows computer, hit the Print Screen key to copy a screen grab to the clipboard, then open an image editing program and paste the image in. To capture just the active window, hold Alt before hitting Print Screen.</p>
<h3>4. Creative websites</h3>
<p>Websites such as <a title="Polyvore" href="http://www.polyvore.com/" target="_blank">Polyvore</a> and <a title="Pinterest" href="http://pinterest.com/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> also have potential for creating web images. Put together an outfit on Polyvore, then save the resulting composite image to use on your blog. Or, capture a snapshot of your Pinterest boards using the screen grab methods outlined above.</p>
<h3>5. Scanner</h3>
<p>Another way of getting interesting images, patterns, and textures onto your computer is through using your scanner. You might have newspaper or magazine clippings, hard copies of photographs, objects, or books that you can scan and edit with your computer to upload to your website. Which brings me to…</p>
<h3>6. Image editing software</h3>
<p>Learning how to use an image editing software package, such as <a title="Photoshop" href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopfamily.html" target="_blank">Adobe Photoshop</a>, will catapult your images to the next level of professionalism. Learning how layers work opens up a world of collage. Learning about removing dust and scratches from old photos makes them come alive. Some of these packages can be quite daunting at first, but there is a wealth of information online to learn them. Try doing a Google search for the particular effect you want to achieve, or look on YouTube for video tutorials.</p>
<h3>7. Vector graphics software</h3>
<p>As with image editing software, knowledge of how to use a vector graphics software package, such as <a title="Illustrator" href="http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html" target="_blank">Adobe Illustrator</a>, opens up a new world of image creation. These programs allow you to create illustrations and scalable vector images to use in your blogs. Try tracing a photograph to create a stylised version of it, or drawing a quick line drawing to get your idea across. As with image editing software, look online for tutorials and other help to learn how to use this type of program.</p>
<p>So there are some of my ideas for creating your own web images. Please share your own ideas in the comments!</p>
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		<title>Why Google + is a must, and how to make the most of it: Interview with Wendy Moore</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/ZS2lM9sv2yA/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/google-plus-wendy-moore/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Apr 2012 02:56:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Melinda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Search Engine Optimisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media marketing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8770</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google + has been widely available for a few months now. If you already have a profile set up and you&#8217;re using it regularly, give yourself a pat on the back.  But if you&#8217;ve been wondering whether or not you need to add to Google + to your social media mix, read on to find<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/google-plus-wendy-moore/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_8771" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 560px"><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Google-+-getting-started.png" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="size-full wp-image-8771" title="Google + getting started" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Google-+-getting-started.png" alt="getting started on Google +" width="550" height="413" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The Google search page showing where you can set up your Google + account</p></div>
<p style="text-align: left;">Google + has been widely available for a few months now. If you already have a profile set up and you&#8217;re using it regularly, give yourself a pat on the back.  But if you&#8217;ve been wondering whether or not you need to add to Google + to your social media mix, read on to find out why Google + is a must. And get some top tips to help you make the most of your Google + time.<span id="more-8770"></span></p>
<p>I must admit that even though I&#8217;m a Google-girl, initially I resisted Google +. In fact, it wasn&#8217;t until I attended a webinar presented by Wendy Moore that I started using it effectively. Because I found Wendy&#8217;s Google + tips so valuable, I interviewed her for this article.</p>
<p>Here are the questions I asked and the fantastic tips that Wendy provided.</p>
<h4>What is Google +?</h4>
<p>Google + is Google&#8217;s social media platform. Similar to LinkedIn and Facebook, it allows you to create a profile page and share status updates, videos and photos.</p>
<p>In Google + speak, you &#8220;add people to your circles&#8221;, similar to adding friend on Facebook, following people on Twitter and connecting with people on LinkedIn.</p>
<h4>If businesses are already using social media like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, what advantages does Google + offer?</h4>
<p>Google is now placing more emphasis on websites that use social media. So it makes sense that they would care whether or not you are using their social media platform.</p>
<p>And let&#8217;s face it, they are Google. They control what information is returned in the Google search results. So although use of Google + is not a factor in where your website ranks in search engines right now, one day it could be.</p>
<p><a href="http://diysocialmediaforbusiness.com/what-is-google" target="_blank">Read more about the importance of Google +</a></p>
<p>Added to that, &#8220;Google Search, plus your world&#8221; (currently only available in the US) gives an option for your search results to be influenced by the people you are connected with*. Websites that you are socially connected to will show higher up in the results; I&#8217;d say that&#8217;s a pretty good reason to start getting connected to more people.</p>
<p>* Note &#8211; this is only applicable when you are logged in to Google.</p>
<p><em>Mel&#8217;s note &#8211; You may have noticed how when you are logged in to Google, your own website appears high up in the results, but once you log out it&#8217;s not in the same position. This is an example of how search results are personalised.</em></p>
<h4>What are your tips to help users get maximum value out of the time they spend on Google +?</h4>
<h5>1. Add information to your profile</h5>
<p>It&#8217;s important to realise that if you use any Google products (like Gmail, YouTube, AdWords or Analytics) then your profile already exists, but you need to add information to it.</p>
<p>Key information to add to your profile:</p>
<ul>
<li>A photo of you</li>
<li>Photos across the top of the page (for example, the Australian Small Business awards images that you can see in Wendy&#8217;s profile below)</li>
<li>As much information about you and your business as possible, and don&#8217;t forget to include keywords</li>
<li>Links to your other social media profiles like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn</li>
<li>Links to your websites and blogs, and any websites that you contribute content to.</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_8778" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 560px"><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wendy-Moore-Google-+-page1.png" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="size-full wp-image-8778" title="Wendy Moore Google + page" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wendy-Moore-Google-+-page1.png" alt="A Google + profile page" width="550" height="310" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Wendy&#39;s Google + profile page</p></div>
<h5>2. For business owners, have a business profile as well as your personal profile</h5>
<p>Like Facebook, Google + allows you to create a business profile as well as a personal profile. In fact you can create multiple business profiles.</p>
<p>Put energy into your personal profile because, like any social media, people want to engage with the person behind the business. Like on Facebook, you probably find there is more interaction on your personal profile than on your business page.</p>
<p>But, you need to have the Business Profile as well because it is another way that people can find your business in search engines.</p>
<h5>3. Add people to your Circles</h5>
<p>Create your own Circles (Google will step you through how to do this when you set up your profile) and find people to add.</p>
<p>Similar to other social media, to find people to add to your circles you can:</p>
<ul>
<li>Specifically search for people by name</li>
<li>Search your Yahoo or Hotmail address book</li>
<li>Review Google&#8217;s suggestions for people you may know or want to connect with.</li>
</ul>
<h5>4. Start engaging</h5>
<p>Social media doesn&#8217;t work if you take the approach of &#8220;set and forget&#8221; so start sharing content on Google +.  Also engage with other people&#8217;s content by sharing it, commenting on it and giving it a &#8220;+1&#8243; (which is similar to when you &#8220;like&#8221; an update on Facebook).</p>
<p>A great tip is to keep your Google + profile open in a tab on your computer. If you&#8217;re already in the habit of updating your Facebook page, simply share the same information on your Google + page.</p>
<h5>5. Promote your Google + profile</h5>
<p>As part of the set up process, Google helps you create a badge to add to your website to promote your profile. Add a link to your Google + profile where ever you promote your other social media profiles.</p>
<h5>6. Create a vanity URL</h5>
<p>Go to <a href="http://gplus.to/" target="_blank">gplus.to</a> and create a vanity URL.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Mel&#8217;s note: I turned my profile link from this</em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>https://plus.google.com/u/0/103444702622251663441/posts </em></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>to this </em><em>gplus.to/MelindaSamson</em></p>
<h5 style="text-align: left;">7. Add the App to your Smart Phone</h5>
<p>If you have an Android phone or iPhone, add the Google + app so you can easily access your profile and update your status while you&#8217;re out and about.</p>
<h5>8. Add the +1 button to your website</h5>
<p>If you have a WordPress website and you&#8217;re already using a PlugIn like &#8220;Share This&#8221; then you may already have the +1 button, or you may need to go into the PlugIn settings and add it.  Alternatively you can add the WordPress PlugIn called &#8220;Plus One&#8221;.</p>
<p>For websites not built in WordPress, ask your web developer if it&#8217;s possible to add  &#8221;+1&#8243; button.</p>
<h5>9. Start &#8220;+1&#8243; ing pages</h5>
<p>Here is an example of what happens when you click a +1 button, which also give you the option to share the content on Google +.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Example-of-a-+1.png" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8784" title="Example of a +1" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Example-of-a-+1.png" alt="Example of a +1" width="550" height="294" /></a></p>
<p>In the Google search results, you will see which people in your Google + network have +1&#8242;d or shared articles on Google + (providing that you&#8217;re logged in to Google).</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an example of how one of our articles that Serena has shared looks in the search results. I can see Serena&#8217;s information because I have added her to a Google + circle.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Personalised-search-results.png" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8786" title="Personalised search results" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Personalised-search-results.png" alt="" width="550" height="152" /></a></p>
<p>Another nice touch is that if someone in your Google + network has +1&#8242;d an article, you have an opportunity to &#8220;thank them&#8221;.</p>
<h5><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Google-+-thank-you.png" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8787" title="Google + thank you" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Google-+-thank-you.png" alt="Google + thank you" width="550" height="157" /></a></h5>
<h5>Like anything new, Google + takes a bit of getting used to. Do you offer resources to help people get set up on Google + and using it effectively?</h5>
<div id="attachment_8791" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 160px"><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wendy-Moore-sitting-side-on1.jpg" rel="lightbox[8770]"><img class="size-full wp-image-8791" title="Wendy-Moore-sitting-side-on" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Wendy-Moore-sitting-side-on1.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="225" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Wendy Moore</p></div>
<p>Yes. With a <a href="http://www.wendymoore.net/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=276_0_3_3" target="_blank">www.diysocialmediaforbusiness.com membership</a> you get access to &#8220;step-by-step&#8221; how to videos showing you what to do simply, easily and in plain English.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m continually adding more &#8220;how to&#8221; videos to the website to show you how to use social media. Each video is easy to understand, outlines what to do step-by-step and is recorded using plain English.  You can literally choose a video, click play, watch to see exactly the steps to follow, log into your social media account (such as Facebook) then apply what you learned straight away.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s that simple.  Being a member of <a href="http://www.wendymoore.net/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=276_0_3_3" target="_blank">DIYSocialMediaforBusiness.com</a> will save you a ton of hours searching and googling for what to do.  Chances are, we&#8217;ve already recorded it and shown you.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wendymoore.net/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=276_0_3_3" target="_blank">Get a 10 day trial membership for only $1.</a></p>
<h4>About Wendy Moore</h4>
<p>Wendy is a sought-after speaker, International Best Selling author and online engagement strategist who is passionate about showing business owners how to better understand social media. She has a unique ability to decode the “geek speak” and “techno-babble” using simple, plain English.</p>
<h4>Connect with us on Google +</h4>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/103444702622251663441/posts" target="_blank">Mel aka Melinda Samson</a></p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/103809794831824323883/posts" target="_blank">Serena aka Serena Star Leonard</a></p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/104855153544454618705/posts" target="_blank">Wendy Moore</a></p>
<p><em>I found Wendy&#8217;s information invaluable in helping me get more out of Google +.</em></p>
<p><em>I&#8217;d love to hear your feedback on whether or not you&#8217;re using it, and what your experience has been like. Please let me know in the comments below.</em></p>
<p>Mel</p>
<h5>P.S. Do you like what you read and now you&#8217;re wondering &#8220;How can I get more awesome info like this delivered straight to my inbox every week?&#8221;<strong><br />
</strong></h5>
<p>We&#8217;re glad you asked! Simply <a href="http://eepurl.com/kxho" target="_blank">sign up here </a>and we&#8217;ll send you an email every week that&#8217;s chock-a-block full of practical information on how to make the most of your website.</p>
<p>And wait&#8230; there&#8217;s more&#8230; <a href="http://eepurl.com/kxho" target="_blank">once you sign up</a> you&#8217;ll also get a copy of our free eBook on &#8220;Top 11 Website Mistakes and How to Avoid Them&#8221;.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Are you reaching your website goals? It’s time for a website review!</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/5guxloURDSs/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/website-goals-website-review/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:53:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Serena Star Leonard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Website Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Revenue Generation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website goals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website success]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8500</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When was the last time you objectively reviewed your website goals and the actions that you take to achieve them? A website is one of those things that is always evolving, it is never done and so it is important every once in a while to take a step back and review what is working,<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/website-goals-website-review/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: left;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8506" title="Website goals" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/football-goal.jpg" alt="" width="243" height="242" />When was the last time you objectively reviewed your website goals and the actions that you take to achieve them?</p>
<p>A website is one of those things that is always evolving, it is never done and so it is important every once in a while to take a step back and review what is working, what is not working and what the next steps should be so that you are sure to reach your goals.<span id="more-8500"></span></p>
<p>Here are some questions and activities that will help you review your current status and help to direct your next actions.</p>
<h3>Website goals</h3>
<p><strong><em>Do you have clear goals for your website?</em></strong></p>
<p>If not create some!</p>
<p>If so, are they still the right goals for you? (Either recommit or create new goals).</p>
<p>Your website goals may have changed along the way, or perhaps you lost sight of them with all that blogging and marketing! Make sure your goals are clear as they will direct your actions, and help you recognise what you have achieved. Be sure to celebrate all achievements, even the small ones.</p>
<h3>Size</h3>
<p><strong><em>Are you growing fast enough to reach your goals?</em></strong></p>
<p>If not, get creative and consider what actions you could take to speed up the growth of your website. We often get caught up in the daily doing and stop thinking outside the box for those things that will really create momentum on the website &#8211; like new campaigns, partnerships, products and networks.</p>
<p>Brainstorm some ideas for jumps in growth and activity on your website.</p>
<h3>Income</h3>
<p><strong><em>Do you have clear income goals?<br />
If so, do you have a strategy for reaching those goals?</em></strong></p>
<p>You have two choices for income generation, either start a website with a specific strategy for income generation or build a community and then monetise it based on what your community wants and needs. Both have pros and cons.</p>
<p>Review your strategy if you have one. Consider if it is working for you and how you can tweak it for better performance.</p>
<p>If you don’t have an income strategy, it’s time to create one! This is an evolving process and you should be always looking for new opportunities for your website. Depending on your time and interests you may look at more passive forms of income generation like affiliate marketing or advertising, or more active options like the production and sale of services or products.</p>
<h3>Community</h3>
<p><em><strong>How engaged is your community?<br />
Are they active participants or just passing by?</strong></em></p>
<p>The level of engagement amongst your community will determine how big an audience you need to reach your goals. The more passionate they are about your website the better.</p>
<p>Think about what it is that makes people want to read your content or visit your website.</p>
<ul>
<li>Do they return often?</li>
<li>Do they stay for long?</li>
<li>Are they participating, commenting or generating their own content?</li>
</ul>
<p>The more value you create on your website the better, so evaluate how involved your community is and then consider ways you can improve that or build more momentum.</p>
<h3>Personal Fulfilment</h3>
<p><em><strong>Are you getting what you came for?<br />
</strong></em><em><strong>Are you excited about your website?<br />
Are you still doing everything you can to make it a success?</strong></em></p>
<p>With blogging there is often an initial lull before you start to gain traction. This is where many people bow out. Suddenly there are a million other things to do and your baby website stops getting all the attention it needs to thrive. This is exactly the time when you need to recommit to your success and prioritise your content, marketing and networking.</p>
<p>If you notice that there is a lag in activity or that you are frustrated with your progress, take a deep breath and then get creative with three new things that will take your website to the next level. If you need help get it, running a website can sometimes be a lonely task so network like crazy, learn from others and ask for help every chance you get.</p>
<p>When it comes to website success it is important to have a good understanding of where you are right now and where you want to be. This way your actions will be dictated by your goals and not your to do list!</p>
<p>Doing mini reviews throughout the year will keep you on track and give you the best chance of success.</p>
<p>Happy reviewing!</p>
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		<title>Have you got a blog marketing checklist? Get the most from your posts!</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/LdtHo_9g7II/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/blog-marketing-checklist/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Apr 2012 11:57:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Serena Star Leonard</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Email Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8270</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the main reasons why blogging is so important for website owners is that every blog you post gives people a reason to come back to your website. So instead of visiting once, they may be interested in visiting once a week, or if you are useful and you market your blogs maybe even several<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/blog-marketing-checklist/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8274" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial;" title="Blog marketing checklist" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/green-ticks.png" alt="Have you got a blog marketing checklist" width="540" height="164" /></p>
<p>One of the main reasons why blogging is so important for website owners is that every blog you post gives people a reason to come back to your website.</p>
<p>So instead of visiting once, they may be interested in visiting once a week, or if you are useful and you market your blogs maybe even several times a week.</p>
<p>To make the most of all the work you put into your content make sure you spread the word for each blog far and wide.</p>
<p>To get the most out of your blogs, I suggest creating a blog marketing checklist. Here are some of my suggestions, and I would love to hear what you do with your own marketing.</p>
<h3>1. Facebook</h3>
<p>I post links to each new blog in my personal profile and my business page. The little link field has now disappeared in Facebook and so for tidy links insert the link, wait for it to upload and then delete the link. This way you don’t have an unsightly link in with your more personal comments.</p>
<p>Facebook have tidied up the main newsfeed so if you share from different accounts they round up to one update which saves you from saturating the feed.</p>
<h3>2. Twitter</h3>
<p>I post each new blog to Twitter at least once, and sometimes twice over a couple of days. Unlike Facebook, a large percentage of tweets get lost in the “noise” and so it is worth mentioning your blog again at a different time.</p>
<h3>3. Triberr</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.triberr.com">Triberr</a> is a blog sharing community where you connect with likeminded bloggers and tweet each other’s links. Simple and beautifully effective! Generally it makes sense to have a different group for each style of blog I write for. As a blogger you need to be invited to join an existing tribe, once you are “in” you can set up another 2 tribes for different topics.</p>
<p>To make the most of Triberr you need to be generous in sharing your fellow bloggers tweets/blogs. The more active your group the better for everyone involved, so part of my checklist includes checking Triberr and tweeting my tribes tweets.</p>
<h3>4. Tweet Adder</h3>
<p>I use Tweet Adder to keep my “evergreen” blogs in circulation, every so often it will automatically tweet posts from the past that still have relevance.  It has other features and functions too but I am happy for it just to run in the background and post in addition to my live tweets.</p>
<p>If you feel like checking out Tweet Adder and giving us the credit here is our <a href="http://tweetaddergo.com">affiliate link</a>.</p>
<h3>5. Email database</h3>
<p>Our new blogs are sent weekly to our email database and will round up the one or two posts that have been published since the last email.</p>
<p>Although we automate the upload of the posts to the email we also manually include other information and snippets including (not surprisingly) links to other popular posts on certain topics. This way our readers get the newest ones as well as a selection of other useful blogs they may have missed in the past.</p>
<h3><strong>6. Keywords</strong></h3>
<p>When starting a new blog I consult with Googles <a href="https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__c=1000000000&amp;__u=1000000000&amp;ideaRequestType=KEYWORD_IDEAS">free keyword tool</a> to see what people are looking for when searching for that topic, I use the tool to see if there is any keyword string that would be worth optimising for. Once I have the keywords in mind I use the string when appropriate in the title, and of course in the blog itself. I also will use them for tags and the blog description (All in One SEO plugin).</p>
<p>That is my simple blog marketing checklist that helps get the word out there and create a buzz for every blog. At the moment I am finding that the most visits to new blogs are coming from Facebook and the email list, which is no surprise as that is where I am putting in the most effort!</p>
<p><strong>What other ways do you market your blogs? What do you find are the most effective tools?</strong></p>
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		<title>5 Sparkly Ideas for Making your Website Feel Special this Easter</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/z4_qyHI49pY/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/website-special-easter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:05:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Melinda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Web Content]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Website Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web traffic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[website goals]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8362</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hoorah, Easter is here already! Then my next thought is &#8220;wow, Easter is here already &#8211; where has the year gone!&#8221;. It seems like just last week we were putting together our online marketing plans for 2012, setting out goals and deciding what updates were needed for our websites. If you find yourself with a<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/website-special-easter/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sparkly.jpg" rel="lightbox[8362]"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8363" title="sparkly" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/sparkly-300x225.jpg" alt="sparkly website ideas" width="300" height="225" /></a></p>
<p>Hoorah, Easter is here already!</p>
<p>Then my next thought is &#8220;wow, Easter is here already &#8211; where has the year gone!&#8221;. It seems like just last week we were putting together our online marketing plans for 2012, setting out goals and deciding what updates were needed for our websites.</p>
<p><strong>If you find yourself with a little spare time over the Easter break and you&#8217;d like to use it to regroup re your online marketing plans, here are some sparkly ideas for how to make your website feel special.</strong></p>
<h3>1. Plan ahead</h3>
<p>Plan your blog topics for the next few months. When I get ideas for new topics, I like to create a new draft post with the topic described in the headline and then &#8220;brain dump&#8221; some dot points about what I&#8217;ll include in the article. That way it&#8217;s all there ready to go when I&#8217;m ready to write the article.</p>
<p><em>Need ideas? </em></p>
<p>Check out <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/ideas-for-blog-content/">7 ideas for awesome blog content</a> and if you have a little more time, you can also do some <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/free-online-market-research/">free online market research</a></p>
<h3>2. Review your existing content</h3>
<p>Depending upon how long you&#8217;ve been adding new articles to your website, and how frequently you add them, this might take a bit of time. If you do have a lot of content, start reviewing a few articles each day until you&#8217;ve been through them all.</p>
<ul>
<li>Make sure all your content and Call to Actions are still relevant and up-to-date.</li>
<li>When you&#8217;ve written several articles on a similar theme, think about how you could turn them into a new piece of content, like an e-book, or a &#8220;master article&#8221; that links to existing articles. Our article on <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/how-to-use-google-analytics/">How to Use Google Analytics</a> is an example of this.</li>
<li>Think about how you can share your past content with new subscribers and people in your social networks.</li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Check your web traffic statistics for the year to date</h3>
<p>Log in to your web analytics tools and check your web visitor numbers over the past few months. If your aim is to grow your web traffic, are your visitor numbers increasing?  Think about what else you can do in the next few months to expand your reach.</p>
<h3>4. Make sure your branding is consistent</h3>
<p>Take a fresh look at your email template, your social media pages and other places that your branding appears to see if it is consistent and to check that all your key messages are up to date.</p>
<h3>5. Review your goals and set some new ones</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>Revisit the goals that you&#8217;ve put on the back burner &#8211; is it time to do those things you had been meaning to do?</li>
<li>Refocus on what you want to get out of your website, are your actions in line with your goals?</li>
<li>Choose one new thing to learn or improve on.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>And if you&#8217;d also like to get up to speed with the new Facebook Timeline over Easter, this article will get you on the <a title="The Facebook Timeline Fast Track" href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/facebook-timeline-fast-track/">Facebook Timeline Fast Track.</a></p>
<p>Once you have done all that, here is a lovely Easter treat from the Grassroots team, no calories&#8230; we promise!<br />
<a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/golden-egg.jpg" rel="lightbox[8362]"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8365" title="golden egg" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/golden-egg-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="100" height="150" /></a></p>
<p>What other aspects of your online marketing plan do you review regularly?</p>
<p>Top <a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1556">Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>
<p>Bottom <a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=879">Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>
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		<title>The Facebook Timeline Fast Track</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/LE0L_buOIBw/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/facebook-timeline-fast-track/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Apr 2012 03:41:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Karen Vien</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business Tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[social media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[timeline]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8286</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So&#8230; the new Facebook Timeline is here and there’s no going back to the old Facebook that we all know and love. If you’re like most people, you don’t like change &#8211; and if you’re like many of my colleagues, you probably don’t like this change. But don’t despair, here’s a quick guide to help<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/facebook-timeline-fast-track/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So&#8230; the new Facebook Timeline is here and there’s no going back to the old Facebook that we all know and love. If you’re like most people, you don’t like change &#8211; and if you’re like many of my colleagues, you probably don’t like this change. But don’t despair, here’s a quick guide to help you get to know your new business page Facebook Timeline.</p>
<p><span id="more-8286"></span></p>
<h4>The New Cover</h4>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-8294 alignright" title="Full Cover" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Full-Cover-300x226.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="226" /></p>
<p>One thing I love about the new timeline? &#8211; the Cover <em>(see below for my special offer!)</em>.  You now have this fantastic space to create an eye-popping image to really engage Facebook users and keep them on your page.</p>
<p>But be warned, this space is purely for branding and not for selling. Facebook has some pretty strict guidelines about what you can put on your cover; this space is not meant for advertising, direct sales/marketing or contact information.</p>
<ul>
<li><em>No contact information:</em> the cover must not contain contact information, such as any web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page&#8217;s ‘About’ section;</li>
<li><em>No specials or offers:</em> your cover cannot include statements like “40% off” or “Download from our website”;</li>
<li><em>No ‘calls to action’:</em> do not include calls to action such as “Like”, “Share”, “Get it Now” or “Tell your Friends”;</li>
<li>No references to user interface features or any other Facebook site features.</li>
</ul>
<p>You are also prohibited from encouraging people to upload your cover image to their personal timelines.</p>
<p><em>Tip: To get the best quality image and fastest load times for your Page, your cover image should be an sRGB JPG file that&#8217;s 851 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall and less than 100 kilobytes. </em><strong></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Your Thumbnail</h4>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-8289 alignleft" title="Thumbnail" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Thumbnail-300x84.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="84" /></p>
<p>Your thumbnail is the little square image that appears beside every post that you publish.</p>
<p>Previously, your thumbnail image was derived from your profile pic.  Now, your thumbnail image is a separate image that can be specifically tailored to be your thumbnail, giving you excellent flexibility to create a unique design that best represents your business.</p>
<p><em>Tip: Make sure your thumbnail is meaningful, as on certain devices (such as when using the iPhone Facebook App) users will only see your thumbnail and not your cover.</em><br />
<strong></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Highlights</h4>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-8290 alignleft" title="Highlights" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Highlights-300x97.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="97" /></p>
<p>You now have a ‘Highlights’ bar at the top of your page, which gives a brief description of your page and highlights the things that are important for your page such as your photos, ‘Likes’, Email Signup, your map etc.</p>
<p><em>Tip: Make sure you edit your description to give visitors to your page a really clear idea of what your page is about. This is also where your contact information will appear, so make sure it&#8217;s complete and accurate.</em><strong></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>Control what people see on your Timeline</h4>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-8291 alignleft" title="Star" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Star-300x219.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="219" /></p>
<p>The Timeline highlights stories in the order in which they happen.  However, using the “star” you can highlight a story by making it wider, or using the “pencil” you can decide what stories to hide, pin to the top, edit or delete.</p>
<p><em>Tip: Use this great tool to highlight posts about special events or promotions. Be sure to change your highlights periodically to keep the highlighted posts &#8216;current&#8217;.</em></p>
<p><strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4>All you need at your fingertips (the Admin Panel)</h4>
<p><img class="size-medium wp-image-8292 alignleft" title="Admin Panel" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Admin-Panel-300x231.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="231" /></p>
<p>The new Admin Panel helps you keep track of what’s happening on your page. There is a notifications panel so you can see:</p>
<p>- new activity on your page,<br />
- your new ‘Likes’,<br />
- you can also view your latest insights,<br />
- any private messages for your page.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h4></h4>
<h4></h4>
<h4></h4>
<h4>Other features:</h4>
<ul>
<li><em>A more personalised experience for visitors to your page:</em> When someone visits your Facebook Page, your timeline will show them which of their friends also ‘Like’ your page. Facebook will also highlight how their friends have interacted with your Page, for example if a user has been tagged in a friend’s post on your page the people they originally shared their post with will see these stories highlighted for them on your Page’s timeline.</li>
<li><em>Featured:</em> Your timeline features the top five pages that you ‘Like’. You can decide which pages to feature by adding them to your ‘Featured Likes’. You can also choose to add a featured Page Owner.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>What do you think of the new Facebook Timeline Pages? Do you have any tips to share about how to make the most out of the new look Facebook?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="mailto:karen@diysmallbusiness.com.au"><img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-8377" title="Facebook Cover Sepcial Offer" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Facebook-Cover-Sepcial-Offer-1024x401.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="227" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
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		<title>5 Website Mistakes That Still Happen Way Too Often (and How to Fix Them)</title>
		<link>http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GrassrootsInternetStrategy/~3/H0bCj77GyxQ/</link>
		<comments>http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/5-website-mistakes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:06:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Melinda</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Content Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google Analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet Marketing Strategy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Website Plan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[keywords]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[page title]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web analytics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[web copywriting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/?p=8191</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you first get a website the learning curve is huge. In a lot of respects you rely on the people that you are working with to give you good advice, and tell you what you need to know. But, the reality is that it takes a lot of different skills to create a great website<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/5-website-mistakes/">Read more &#8594;<p>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/website-mistakes.jpg" rel="lightbox[8191]"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-8195" title="website mistakes" src="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/website-mistakes-300x300.jpg" alt="how to avoid website mistakes" width="250" height="250" /></a></p>
<p>When you first get a website the learning curve is huge. In a lot of respects you rely on the people that you are working with to give you good advice, and tell you what you need to know. But, the reality is that it takes a lot of different skills to create a great website (web design, web development, web copywriting and online marketing to name a few) and sometimes things get missed. In other cases, due to time and money limitations, some things are left until later.</p>
<p>In the long run, if you want a website that gets results for your business, here are five mistakes you need to avoid.</p>
<p>If your website isn&#8217;t suffering from any of these mistakes, give yourself, and your web team, a pat on the back.</p>
<h2>1. Using &#8220;Welcome to&#8230;.&#8221; as your Home Page Headline</h2>
<p>The headline on your home page is an opportunity to capture the attention of your web visitors and make a good impression.</p>
<ul>
<li>Your headlines should include your main keywords, so that your readers knows straight away that they have found what they were searching for</li>
<li>Your headlines should be written in a way that compels your readers to keep on reading.</li>
</ul>
<p>If your headline reads &#8220;Welcome to <em>{Insert Company Name}</em>&#8221; it&#8217;s unlikely to achieve anything other than letting people know they are on your website, and you are pleased they are there. As nice as that is, your headline is capable of serving a higher purpose.</p>
<p>Take a fresh look at your Home Page headline and see if it needs editing. Then do the same for the headlines on the other pages of your website, and your blog articles.</p>
<p>To learn about editing your headlines yourself, review Copyblogger&#8217;s comprehensive information on <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/magnetic-headlines/" target="_blank">How to Write Magnetic Headlines</a> or contact a web copywriter who can do the editing for you.</p>
<h2>2. No strategic use of keywords in your Home Page Title</h2>
<p>The Title of your Home Page (aka the Title Tag) is part of the code of your website. It is an important place to include your keywords to let search engines know what your website is about.</p>
<p>The Title appears as the top line of text when your home page appears in a search engine results page, and it is the text that appears when that web page is shared on Social Media like Facebook or Twitter.</p>
<p>If you use a browser like Safari or Firebox you can see your Page Title at the very top of the browser, above where you see the URL eg on this page, look above where you see www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/5-website-mistakes</p>
<p>If the Page Title of your Home page hasn&#8217;t been optimised, it might say &#8220;Home&#8221; or your Business Name or Website Name.  Try Googling your business name to see what the top line of text in the search results says.</p>
<p>To add keywords to your Home page title, if your website is built in WordPress you can install the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/" target="_blank">All in One SEO Pack plugin</a>. If it&#8217;s not a WordPress website, speak to your web developer.</p>
<p>The next step is knowing how to write effective Page titles.  Read the Copy Detective&#8217;s article on <a href="http://www.copywritematters.com.au/how-to-write-meta-tags/" target="_blank">How to Write Meta Tags</a> and you can also find out more by reading <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/website-google/" target="_blank">Does your website look good in Google?</a></p>
<p>Once you&#8217;ve reviewed your Home Page, look at all the other pages of your website. Each page can target a unique keyword which is included in the Page Title, Headline and other strategic places.</p>
<h2>3. No web analytics tool installed</h2>
<p>Without a web analytics tool you have no way of finding out how your website is performing and whether or not it&#8217;s helping you achieve what you set out to do.</p>
<p>Google offer a free web analytics tool called Google Analytics. You can find out more about it in <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/how-to-use-google-analytics/" target="_blank">How to Use Google Analytics to Improve your Website.</a></p>
<p>Or ask your website company if they offer a web analytics tool. If they do, make sure they can show you how to use it!</p>
<p>Another mistake that&#8217;s commonly made is that Google Analytics has been installed but it has been set up the wrong way.  Ideally you should have administrator access to your Google Analytics account so that you have full control of it.</p>
<p>If your web developer tells you it&#8217;s not possible for you to have Administrator access to your Google Analytics account, it&#8217;s possible that your account has been set up as a Profile, rather than an Account.</p>
<p>This video on <a title="The New Version of Google Analytics: How to Give Access to Another User" href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/google-analytics-user-access/" target="_blank">how to add a user to your Google Analytics account</a> shows you how to see what level of access you have to your Google Analytics account.  If you don&#8217;t have administrator access, find out more in <a href="http://www.grassrootsinternetstrategy.com.au/google-analytics-account-vs-profil/" target="_blank">Who really has control of your Google Analytics account?</a></p>
<h2>4. Not tracking results of marketing campaigns</h2>
<p>Once your website is live, if you have budget available, it&#8217;s tempting to jump straight in and throw some money at your marketing and see what happens.</p>
<p>A better option is to be clear about the results you want to get from your marketing activities, and how you will measure those results. This will allow you to evaluate the Return on Investment of your marketing activities and determine whether you should continue committing time and money to them in the longer term.</p>
<p>Some examples are:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you run a paid Google AdWords campaign to increase your web traffic, think about what you want to achieve (for example, more sales or enquiries) and how you will link the results back to your advertising spend.</li>
<li>Set up &#8220;Goals&#8221; in Google Analytics that allow you to track key actions that your web visitors take, such as signing up for your newsletter or making a purchase.  Once Goals are set up, you can link the completed actions back to the traffic source; for example whether the web visitors came from Organic traffic, referrals from Facebook or click throughs from your MailChimp newsletter list. This will give insights into which sources of traffic are most valuable.</li>
</ul>
<p><em>If you need help or more information about the two examples above, please leave a comment and let me know.</em></p>
<h2>5. Not adding new content regularly</h2>
<p>If web traffic is important for the success of your business it&#8217;s critical that you keep your website up-to-date and have a strategy for regularly adding new content.</p>
<p>Each new article that you add to your website:</p>
<ul>
<li>Makes your website one page bigger, adding to it&#8217;s authority with search engines.</li>
<li>Adds new keywords to your website which increases the chances of getting traffic from search engines.</li>
<li>Gives your readers, and search engine robots, a reason to re-visit your website.</li>
<li>Can entice other website owners to link to your content and links like these help to optimise your website so that you get more traffic from search engines.</li>
<li>Gives you something new to share on social media, which increases your web traffic when people click through on the link.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are the 5 website mistakes that I still see far too often. I left out two of my &#8220;old favourite&#8221; website mistakes. One is making it incredibly difficult to find out what the website is about. For example if a website for a health provider has a huge image of a waterfall on the home page. My other &#8220;old favourite&#8221; mistake is when your contact details are really hard to find. Fortunately I don&#8217;t see either of those mistakes anywhere near as often as I used to.</p>
<p><em>What else still frustrates you when you visit a website?</em></p>
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