Sista_web: Black Web Design Advice

Web Design Packages Starting $250 : Small Business Holiday Special

2007-12-10T10:18:00.001-08:00

You don't need to spend hundreds or even over $1000 plus to get the site design that you want. Let LaShanda Henry, founder of Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools design or re-Design your website at a price you can afford.

I am currently offering my web design services to those interested in setting up a small website with great design and quick service at a low price. I just finished working on Simply Exquisite Events (http://www.simplyexquisiteevents.com), an elegant wedding website. The site looks great and I finished it in under a week!

Though I have experience working with a variety of companies, I specialize in working with Small Black Businesses interested in developing quality websites. I offer 2 Web Packages at $250 and $350; the difference is the smaller package includes design for upto 8 pages and the latter package is for upto 16 webpages. These packages do not include shopping cart design.

In addition to site design my web packages include 4 custom graphics including banner design, inclusion in the Search Urban Directory, Urban Dynamics Black Business Web tools - 1 Year premium account membership, and 2 site updates (simple text editing/image inclusion) after design completion, along with a complimentary consultation on setting up web hosting/domain registration if needed. I require a partial payment of half the total fee before starting a project, and then other half after completion. All service fees are paid through paypal.

I also provide graphics design, custom banner services starting at $15. All custmers recieve a 50% Discount for the Urban Dynamics Black Banner Rotator (read about the ad rotaion here) or inclusion on the Urban Chique Afro-eBoutiques Site. Click here to read more about my graphics design services or visit http://bwomen.blackgirlclick.com.

Recent Banners Include:

This offer is for a limited time only so reserve your web design slot before the holiday rush. For more details email me: lhenry@msoyonline.com

LaShanda Henry
Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud

Want to learn how to improve your website. Get a copy of my e-book: Building your Black Business Online ( http://bwomen.blackgirlclick.com/biz-tools/)

$7.95 - Black PR Post Opportunity

2007-11-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Want more clicks? Get a Black Buzz PR Plug...

Quite a few of my readers have asked me to help them generate more online traffic to their websites and from time to time I try to feature various Black Businessess on my websites and blogs. This being the holiday season, everyone is online right now so it is a great time for online businesses to take advantage of innovative ways to be seen.

For the next 3 days I am offering a website plug opportunity for those who are interested in tapping into my growing network. For $7.95 I will post your site summary, article, press release, or product promotion on the following pages:

This offer expires 12/1/07 so take advantage of it while there is time. This is a great opportunity for those looking to connect with Black Professionals who might be interested in their services AND adding your links to relevant pages is a great way to help improve your search engine optimization. The RSS Feeds for these sites search engine friendly and are featured on various yahoo groups and social groups like: Black Business Women Connect [the group] and Networking Black Women Who Work at Home [yahoo newsgoup].

Essentially I am offering you the opportunity to have your submission posted on multiple pages, to increase your online exposure.

How does the Black Buzz PR Plug Work?

Send your submission/website info to: lhenry@msoyonline.com
Subject = Black Buzz PR Submission
Submit your site to the Seasrch Urban Directory

If your submission is approved it will be posted online and you will recieve a paypal invoice. All submissions will be screened, and not all will be accepted. I will only approve content that is relevant to African American online viewers and that does NOT include profanity, violence, or pornography. I also am NOT accepting submissions that include large images or consist of more than 1, small, tasteful relevant image.

Take advantage of this and take care!
lh.

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Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud

Moving Up In The Ranks: Google Page Ranks

2007-11-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Getting to the top of the search engine pool requires more than good content. Even the best sites have to do their fair share of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). What does that mean to you?

This means that you should be regularly checking your site stats, visiting website analyzers like quantcast.com to see if your site is generating less than 2,000 unique hits a month, and most importantly regularly searching google using keywords related to your website. Now if your website does not come up on the first 3 google search result pages, if your site doesn't even come up if you search for your webpage name, then you have some serious Search Engine Optimizing to do.

Why is SEO so important? Well, if you can't see your site at the top of Google search engine queries, you need to find out if Google can see you. For starters check your Google page rank, which goes from 0 - 10. Having a page rank above 6 is a good indication that your site is quite popular online. After all, Google page rank was developed to let you know how many people are linking to your site, and frequenting it on a regular basis.

Of course there is more to it than that, but that's the nuts and bolts of the equation. If you would like to improve your page rank (ie your web visibility) you should take advantage of Google's marketing tools. The Google site map is a great tool for getting more of your pages indexed on Google. If you have a decent budget, sign up for Google's Adwords ad campaign. You can tailor your maximum spending per day, to get the advertising package that meets your needs and your budget.

If you are looking for a cheaper alternative, doing a link exchange with sites that have higher pageranks, helps to boost your own. Also remember that creating a lot of regularly updated, quality pages also helps. The more content the better, so keep that in mind.

Plus it doesn't hurt to hit the streets or in the case of the internet, popular social groups, and let other know about what you are doing. Word of Mouth marketing is an age old technique that never goes out of style. Plus, it helps to get more people interested in linking to your site and the more links you have, the better your search visibility will be. Search engines love to love the pages that get lots of links. You can up your link game by creating a myspace page and adding friends with similar content or a similar audience to yours. Remember to ad a text signature consisting of your site name, catchy keyword phrase, and url to the end of forum posts, email posts, and article submissions. And don't forget to add a tell a friend script to your website so that viewers who like your site can share it with others.

So take these tips into consideration and DO your SEO research. But don't just research, remember to actually put these techniques into action. It takes time, work and dedication, but you can make it happen.

lhenry

Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
Black Business Women Online

SEO and Search Urban: Black Directory

2007-11-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to SEO, one of the most common techniques for optimizing your site for search engines, is getting your site listed on other websites that:

Have Related Web Content
Generate Strong Web Traffic
Reach your target Audience
Have High Goolge Page Rank (a Page Rank of 4 or Higher
Provide Relevant Banner Exchanges or Ad Packages

The Search Urban Directory was created to do all these things and more, with the primary goal of promoting Black Websites while providing African American online viewers with access to the best, quality Black pages online and highlighting new, websites and information that is relevant to the Black Community at Large. From Black News and Commentary to Websites for Black Women and support for Black Business, Search Urban aims to spread the word about all that is Hot, Positive, Quality, Educational, Entertaining, and Innovative as far as Black Online Content.

The best part of the Search Urban Directory is that it is featured on several sites, so that site submitters get the most exposure possible. Review the directory or submit your black website today.

Search Urban Directory:
http://www.msoyonline.com/msoyonline_black_search_directory.php

Do you need Black Clipart?

2007-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

istockphoto.com

A great place to find professional African American photography, clipart, and flash movies to add to your website *Please note: The images in this post are not free clipart, they are simply illustrations of the quality clipart you will find on istockphoto.com, so do not copy them. Go to istockphoto.com and purchase these and other African Amerian clipart images.

The Black Clipart Directory
For a complete listing of black clip art and free clipart sites, visit multiple shades of you online and reviewe the black clipart section.

-lhenry
-Search Urban: Black Directory

The Secret to Creating Your Own e-books

2007-10-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

I love writing, and when I discovered that I could turn my personal howtos into e-books everyone could enjoy, I went nuts! If you want to create your own e-book or if you are interested in why they are becoming so popular, let me fill you in on my e-book howto success.

First and foremost, creating e-books is are great for several reasons:

Sharing Your Knowledge, Skill Set, or Experience with Others
Generating Extra Income
Generating Traffic to Your site
Marketing Your Product or Service
Building a Network of Interested Readers

I create my e-books for these and other reasons. My first collection, Mahogany Momma eGuides, is special to me because it allows me to share my advice and resources with other African American mothers. It also always me to have total control over creating a Mommy Magazine that fits my interests and reader circle. In addition to Mahogany Momma, I also have a series of Black Business eBooks available on Urban Dynamics: The Web Resources for Black Busiess Owners and Entrepreneurs. I've created over 10 African American e-Books this year, and I'm looking forward to working on the next one.

Now Down to the HowTo Part

Pick a topic of interest to you that you know you can research and successfully write about
Create an Outline of Your eBook, separate your points into chapters and focus on finishing one chapter at a time. Breaking up your text into smaller parts makes it easier to write about
Do your research, write, edit, repeat (continue this process until you create something that's professional, quality, and what you envision it to be)
Now I'm an MS Word fanatic but if you do not have access to word another processing program to take advantage of is Google Docs and SpreadSheets, this is Free Online Software and great for creating documents
If you are trying to creating an e-book with special features like embedded tables, a calender, etc., take a look at the free downloadable templates that Microsoft Office provides.
Once you have created your e-book you will need to design a book cover. Now here is my biggest of secrets.... I use istockphoto.com for great high quality African American images, Black clipart, and stock photography. You can get an istock image for between $1 and $5. It's so cheap and the quality is so great, if you didn't know this is one of the best kept net secrets there is.
Now open your grapics program and design that cover! Or pay someone to do it for you.
After the book and the cover is done, convert your e-Book into .pdf form. I use the software: pdf995, it works and its free.
The best place to sell your e-book is Payloadz.com, this site provides free and affordable services for those who want to sell downloads like e-books or software. You can even create your own affiliate program to boost traffic and generate more revenue.
When I go to events like Black Expos or Book Fairs, my e-Books provide great merchandise for extra sales and also promotional giveaways or trades. Now you are probably wondering how I promote my e-books offline. I burn them onto cds! You can by a pack of 100 cds and cases and sell your e-book cds for as much as you like. And if you want to go for a more professional look, sometimes I get my CDs professionally printed by Kunaki.com. Again, this is another great, cheap site to take use of. It is even a great resource for those who want to put their songs or movies on cd or dvd.
If you want to find out more about how to market your e-book visit Urban Dynamics Black Business website and read this post on Tips for Advertising Online.

Now there you have it, this is how I make me e-Books and how you can make some too. At first it will take awhile to get out all the kinks, but I'm sure you will figure it out. And for added inspiration take a look at all my African American e-Books.

Related Topics

Good Luck! And Happy Writing...
lhenry [www.msoyonline.com]

Do Check Out My:
Black Business E-Books | Black Business Books | Sistas Making Money on Myspace | Sistapreneur Social Group

Learn How I Built My Black Businsses Online

2007-10-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

I often receive emails from individuals interested in expanding their online business. Some people want to know how to generate more traffic, others are looking for web design advice, and most are looking for ways to make money. A few years ago I developed Urban Dynamics, web tools for Black Business Owners and Entrepreneurs. I recently updated the site to better answer the questions of those who would like to better build their business online.

Urban Dynamics is packed with information. It includes:
- Marketing Advice
- Traffic Generating Tips
- Web Howtos
- Black Business News and RSS Feeds
- Black Business Networking Links
- Business Book Recommendations
- Banner and Advertising Campaigns
- Web Design Packages
- And More

The official url: www.msoyonline.com/ud

Do Check Out My:
Black Business E-Books | Black Business Books | Sistas Making Money on Myspace | Sistapreneur Social Group

Join the Sistapreneurs Network

2007-05-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Sistapreneurs Network is up an running, this is a new forum for Women Professionals of Color with a specific focus on Black Women Entrepreneurs, Work at Home Moms, Small Business Owners and Corporate Women.

This site is a brainchild of mine. For the last few months I've been working hard trying to develop a true space for my fellow sistapreneurs to socially network and I think the Sistapreneurs Networking Forum is it. So logon, say something, and tell me what you think.

Oh and please remember the Sistapreneurs Network is a work in process sooooooo the more you contribute the faster it will grow. Suggestions and feedback are very much welcome, so do tell me what you think and how WE can make it better.

Official Website URL: http://msoyonline.com/sistapreneurs/

-lhenry (www.blackmomsclub.com)

Howto Build Your Black Business Online

2007-02-21T00:38:00.000-08:00

A Black Online Entrepreneur's Web Guide: Build your Business Online

If you are interested in expanding your business online the Black Entrepreneur Web Guide Series is for you. These guides are great resources for Black entrepreneurs and business owners. They include some of the best links online with topics ranging from:

-African American Online Networking

-Write your way to Free Publicity

-Black Business News in Print and Online

-Afro SEO: Search Engine Optimization for Black Entrepreneurs

-Black Sticky Content: Tools to Create a Site worth Coming Back To

-Clicks to Cash: Popular Affiliate Programs

-Low Cost Ethnic Marketing and Advertising Portals

-Selling African American Products Online

-Resources for Black Business Women

-Resources for Black Entrepreneurs and Black Business Owners

Find these guides and more on Black Professional Web: A Web Guide for African American Professionals, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Mompreneurs and Teenpreneurs. Find Black Business links, books, news, and more.

Black News, Celebrity Gossip, Rss Feeds, and you!

2007-02-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

Looking for Black Celebrity Gossip? African American Headlines? Black Culture Commentary or advice? Visit..

Black People News: a site for those interested in finding and subscribing to Black Interest feeds.

You can even add Black RSS Feed Headlines to your website, myspace page, or blog. Here a just a few of the Black Blogs / News Sites featured on Black People News:

Add Black Movie Trailers to Your Site

2006-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Looking for something fresh and new to add to your website? Add the Black Movie Trailers Flash Player. It rotates the latest and greatest African American trailers offering fun, free, quality entertainment for your online viewers. Simply cut and paste a few lines of code into your website and in seconds you've got a fresh addition.

Click here to visit Black Movie Trailers today:
http://www.msoyonline.com/search/images/movies/black-movie-trailers-downloads.php

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Want more Afrocentric content? Visit Black People News, a premiere site for African American RSS feeds from the most popular Black websites and blogs on the internet.

Fresh content is only a click away - 'The Official Black People News' Website:
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud/blackpeoplenews.php

Brought to you by: Multiple Shades of You Online - www.msoyonline.com

Boondocks Icons [set 1]

2006-12-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

*Please notes: These images were found from various sites online. If one of these images belongs to you and you would like it removed, feel free to let me know.

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Originally Posted on Real Black Clipart

Urban Sticky Widgets

2006-12-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

I love Black Content! I love it, I love it, I love it! And so with that said, I've decided to start a new series called 'Urban Sticky Widgets', which will be devoted to creating and promoting cool widgets, gadgets, and random sticky content stuff for you to put on your site. The cool part about this is that most of the content will be focused on Black Sites from Entertainment to News to Everything Black in Between. So look out and enjoy.. Urban Sticky Widgets starts ... now!

View all: Urban Sticky Widgets

Create Your Own African American Weather Pixie

2006-08-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

The WeatherPixie is a little graphic that shows a representation of the weather using data reported (mostly) by airports and aerodromes around the world.

As the weather in a particular location changes, the characters clothes will reflect the weather and the graphic will show rain, snow, airborne particles and changes in cloud cover. Daylight, sunset and current moon phase are also displayed.

To find your local Weatherpixie, you can use the search page or the map or the text based directory.

Official Site: http://weatherpixie.com/

Keywords: black avatars, animated gifs

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Originally Posted on Real Black Clipart

Real Black Clipart

2006-08-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Real Black Clipart is a new blog, featuring the African American Clipart resources online. Recent Clipart posts include:

-African American - Ethnic Stock Photography Images
-Icons of Color
-Create Your Own African American Weather Pixie
-The Boondocks Icons [set 1]

Official Url: Real Black Clipart

Internet Howto Books: From Web Design to SEO to Online Promotion

2006-08-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Looking for an Internet Howto Book? Here is a list of some of the most popular web topics in books today. Click on a topic and find the book you've been looking for.

Web Design HTML Internet Marketing

PHP XML Search Engine Optimization

myspace ebay Google Search Engines

Cascading Style Sheets

Blogs Website Promotion Affiliate Programs The Internet

e-Commerce

Macromedia Flash
Adobe Photoshop

Dynamic HTML Web Advertising

XHTML Adsense ASP Java Scripts

mySql Perl

What People Search For?

2006-08-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

I found this great article on what people search for "The Most Popular Keywords" It explains what resources webmasters can use to find out the most frequently searched keywords online. I got back to the article all the time, it's very helpful.

Click here to read: What People Search For - Most Popular Keywords

What is your link popularity?

2006-08-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

A message from Search Bliss: Link popularity is one of the best ways to quantifiably check and independently measure your website's online awareness. Use this link popularity tool to check your site's overall visibility. Click Here for link popularity tool.

keywords: Search Engine Optimization Tools

Myspace Layout Help?

2006-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Looking for some help with your mspace page, but you don't know where to start. Fortunately for you, you don't have to be an html or a css guru to pimp out your myspace page, but you do need to know the right search terms to find what you are looking for.

Here is a list of popular search terms that people use when looking for myspace code. Click on the terms and start your search today.

Searches done in June 2006
COUNT ------- SEARCH TERM
2162485 ------- myspace layout
876851 -------- myspace background
397627 -------- myspace code
379969 -------- free myspace layout
238465 ------- myspace graphic
173849 ------- pimp myspace
169827 ------- myspace editor
148704 ------- myspace music
142945 ------- myspace icon
95182 ------- myspace survey
89180 ------- free music code for myspace
85955 ------- myspace quiz
70684 ------- myspace music video
67976 ------- myspace video code
66589 ------- myspace glitter graphic
46034 ------- myspace picture
32951 ------- myspace help

Search Engine Low Down

2006-07-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Looking to boost your traffic? Visit SearchEngineLowDown.com. This site provides Search marketing in the new media era. Here is one of many interesting articles on Social Search Optimization, for those of you looking for new low cost ways to get clicks and increase traffic to your site.

Check out SearchEngineLowDown.com for other SEO articles.

The Black Web Awards

2006-07-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

The BlackWebAwards are the first and only organized effort to recognize African, African American and Caribbean excellence online. The BWA's celebrate Black creativity and entrepreneurialism by highlighting Internet content from the Black perspective.

Official Site: www.blackwebawards.com

*Remember to vote for Multiple Shades of You Online: six years of positive content for People of Color Online (www.msoyonline.com)

African American Avatars

2006-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for African American Avatars, Ghetto Dollz, or other types of Black Clipart check out my listing of Black Graphics sites here.

Moving Up the Google Ranks

2006-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Drum Roll Please ... after several months of serious SEO research and implementation, I have succesefully navigated Multiple Shades of You Online (www.msoyonline.com) up the page rank system. MSOY has moved from a not-so noticable 3 to an impressive 5. Now the skys the limit, the sky being a page rank of 10! Improving my site rank has not been easy, and its going to get even harder from here. However I strongly believe that continueing to work on my SEO Skills essentially is the key. If you would like to learn more about how I've moved up in the rank keep reading sista_web and visit Urban Dynamics (http://ud.msoyonline.com) my official Black Business Web Solutions site. There you will find all my SEO Tips, Marketing Tools, and more.

Keep Moving (up the ranks that is)
sista_web

Find Black Technology News on Black People News

2006-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Black People News is a site for those interested in finding and subscribing to Black Interest News. This site currently includes feeds from over 100 Black websites. Do you have a Black feed to share? Let me know about it.

Current BPN Categories:

Black People News brought to you by Urban Dynamics

Free Blogs Site Submission

2006-03-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

Get your website listed in the Urban Dynamics Directory. Urban Dynamics is a new, black business website brought to you by Multiple Shades of You online www.msoyonline.com. Add your site and SITE THUMBNAIL to UD and it will be accessible on every site that utilizes Urban Dynamic webtools.

Here are a few featured sites where the UD Directory is accessible:
-Search Black on msoy
-Search Urban
-Black Online Entrepreneurs Blog
-The Black Business Spot
-Black People News

To submit your site to Urban Dynamics visit: check out my list of ways to advertise on black sites.