Start with your standard HTML page, make sure you have a head, body etc. I won’t spend any time on this part as you should be able to do this.

Next, you need to link to the JQuery library that you will be using.

I’ve included one with the source files, but you can also download the latest at http://jquery.com/.

<script src="the-location-of-your-jquery-library" type="text/javascript"></script>

If you don’t add the JQuery link, your code will not work.

Next, we have 3 parts. The JQuery, the CSS, and the HTML. The JQuery and CSS need to go inbetween your tags, while the HTML goes within the body.

The JQuery: <script type="text/javascript"><!-- // initialize the jquery code $(document).ready(function(){ //close all the content divs on page load $('.mover').hide(); // toggle slide $('#slideToggle').click(function(){ // by calling sibling, we can use same div for all demos $(this).siblings('.mover').slideToggle(); }); }); // --></script>

The CSS:

<style type="text/css">
/* normalize margin, padding */
html, body, div, dl, dt, dd, ul, ol, li,
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, pre, input,
p, blockquote, th, td, img {
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}
html, body {
height: 100%;
}
/* normalize font-size for headers */
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
font-size: 100%;
font-weight: normal;
}
/* remove list-style from lists */
ol, ul {
list-style: none;
}
/* normalize font-style and font-weight to normal */
address, caption, cite, code, dfn,
th, var {
font-style: normal;
font-weight: normal;
}
/* remove table border spacing */
table {
border-collapse: collapse;
border-spacing: 0;
}
/* remove border from fieldset and img */
fieldset, img {
border: 0;
}
.container .pusher{
cursor:pointer;
padding:3px 10px 3px 7px;
font-weight:900;
font-size:14px;
margin:0;
}
.container .mover{
padding:3px 10px 3px 7px;
margin: 0;
}
.container {
background-color:#fff;
border-bottom:thin solid #333333;
}
</style>

The HTML:

<div class="container">
<div class="pusher" id="slideToggle">Show/Hide Container</div>
<div style="display: none;" class="mover">
<p>Here you can place any text, HTML, images or other code.
</p>
<img src="logo.png" /></div></div>
<div>
<p>Text or code placed here, will shift down below the opened container.</p>
</div>

Add these components to your page, and you will have a unique and easy JQuery slider.

Click here for a demo.

Click here to download source files.

Step Away from the Clutter

Clear your workspace, the desk, the walls around you, the floor. All too often creative minds gather clutter around themselves, in our never ending search for inspiration we gather bits of paper, magazines, trinkets and then when it comes to web designers we accrue modems and printers, scanners, tablets and gadgets like there is no tomorrow. I always find a good clear-out of the space around me helps the idea’s flow more freely.

Step Away from the Screen

Try working through your project with good old fashioned ink and paper. Write down your idea’s, have a brainstorming session, work through your site map and schematic. All sorts of ideas can be explored on paper and it takes less time than actually creating those pieces on the computer. If you think an idea is bad you simply crumple a piece of paper.

Some tips that I find help me when brainstorming and working on paper include following step 1 and clearing the clutter, then work on as large a piece of paper as you can reasonably work with and work with a big bold color pen, ideally 2 or 3 colors to help you map out various idea’s.

Step Away from the Office

When you are really stuck try simply walking away, literally. The idea here is to get your mind off the project completely. Thereby enabling your subconscious to work through the problems completely unobstructed. A walk in the park I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to sleep and woken up in the morning with the ideal solution completely formed in my head.
Give your brain a rest from the work of idea generation and organization. Think about something else, take a walk, watch your favorite TV show, get away from the site. When you come back, chances are you’ll have some new ideas for more notes, and the organizational structure might change.

Step Away from the Clock

Try working at different times. If you find that your more creative later in the evening try and arrange your day so that you start much later, getting things out of the way that you may usually done in the evening. Vary your eating patters, if you usually try and work on a full stomach try working before lunch, metaphorically speaking, being ‘hungry’ certainly helps me become motivated to work. For some a literal reminder is also helpful, as crazy as it may sound, these little things, like changing your work times and eating habits can make a huge difference.

Step Away from the Project

If you are really truly stuck and can’t move forward then it makes no sense to blindly continue looking for inspiration in a project you are not ready for so try switching to another project. There are always other things that can get you into the work frame of mind, following up small administrative tasks you have been putting off, updating your own website and getting back to client requests or even tidying your email. Something, anything as long as it is productive.

Step Away from the Norm

Try taking your work somewhere else. Take your laptop somewhere else. Try working at your local library, a cafe or if the weather is good maybe an outdoor location. Somewhere that allows you to concentrate whilst providing enough distraction to allow your creative juices to flow.

Well I hope these simple idea’s do not seem too radical and that if you find yourself suffering with the dreaded web designers block that they might help.

I would love to know what helps your creative blocks, feel free to leave your comments.

So before you ‘waste money’ on Google, follow some very simple steps to check whether you should go forward and how much you can afford to bid on a per-click basis.

Of course, before you start your advertising you will need a product. I will assume you have a product in mind already, In which case your first step will be to ascertain whether there is enough demand to make this viable. You could also off course go around this slightly different, first identifying a demand and then creating a product or service. However, for the sake of simplicity I am going to assume you have your product in mind already.

This could of course be your own unique product, my preferred method, or you could be an affiliate selling products or services to others, and many people have success doing this as well.

Here’s my top 3 checklist.

1. Do the Net Earnings Math

Work out how much you can afford to spend on advertising. To do this you need to identify:

<A> The price of the product

<B> Your commission or profit margin (this will be a percentage)

<C> Estimate of your CPC (cost per click) x100 (That is, use an assumption that 1 out of 100 people will buy your product. Thus, this number is 100.)

Here comes the math - don’t worry, it’s super easy:

A x B = P (Your Profit on the product)

C - P = Your net earnings per product sold (Cost minus profit)

This simple calculation is assuming the standard 1% conversion rate. That is, it will work if 1 out of every 100 people buy your product or service. Once you have run the campaign you can amend this accordingly for more accurate forecasts.

Make your initial estimates based on a 1% conversion and then see if the profit per sale is worth the effort required to do the marketing.

2. Identify the Demand For Your Product or Service

To gauge whether there is enough demand, there are a couple of tools you can use. We will discuss Google’s tool.

Using the Google AdWords Keyword tool (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal), enter the description or descriptions of the product you wish to sell, and click “Use Synonyms.” This will give you a vast list of search terms people type in when looking for your product or niche. Use the Broad match type for now to get a feel for the numbers. (Use Exact in your actual campaigns to target your audience.) Finally, select Average Estimated CPC to learn how much you will likely have to spend per click. (As a side note, this number is a great way to search for high-paying keywords if you are building pages with AdSense ads!)

Is there enough demand to ensure that it is worth the effort required to market the product? Is the CPC too high to make a net profit? The level of demand for the product combined with the estimated profit per sale that you got ‘doing your math’ should be a fair indication of how much you can make.

3. Increase Your Converstion Rate

Testing is what separates the amatures from the professionals. Test, test, test! Keep testing. Use Google Website Optimizer to split-test your pages. Keep changing small details (like a single word in the header) to see which landing page version converts better. Think of it this way - you can spend more to get more traffic, or you can spend the same and potentially double your sales if your conversion rate goes from 1% to 2%! How about 5%? You can imagine the net earnings you can make by constantly testing and tweaking your pages.

Affiliate Marketers and Web Publishers

If you’re selling or marketing someone else’s products, you have to go through two hurdles - the visitor has to click through your landing page, and then actually buy the item on your merchant’s website.

Do all your research first. Search on affiliate marketing forums and see what the feedback is on your target website. Does the site perform poorly at converting visitors? How much support will you get? What are their bidding restrictions?

You must get in touch with the affiliate manager by email and phone to get a dialogue going. They exist to help you get the most out of your marketing. They may very well have additional materials, information or support for you, from their top-selling products to average conversion rates to future promotions. If they do not give this information to you, or do not even return your call, do not deal with the company, at least as far as using a CPC campaign

Keeping this top 3 checklist in mind will help you focus on your campaign and give you a better idea on how much money you will spend on Google Adwords and, more importantly, how much money you can make (or waste.)

When it comes to graphics and web design many website owners try to keep away from using templates of any kind, whether it is graphics or website templates, ebook covers, layouts or promotional banners. This is because many people are entrenched in the idea that using templates is unprofessional and may damage their credibility in some way.

Templates utilized badly can indeed tarnish your image — obviously you have spent some time coming up with a unique identity and therefore it makes sense for your website to be unique as well.

That does not discount the ability for you to utilize templates however, they can be a beneficial aid to design and also provide a much faster route to market by speeding up the development process.

The Right Way to use Web Templates

A template should not be seen as a finished or complete solution. You are able and should customize your template to suit your needs and to match your branding. Some customization work can be so extensive that you could consider the finished piece a totally new and stylish design.

The template is used as a base for your web design and development work, as it provides the framework for you to work within and inevitably saves you time and money. This time can be used more productively generating content or additional marketing collateral.

Of course, it isn’t necessary to completely redesign a template for it to be both unique and retain your corporate identity. Changing just a few elements, a couple of key graphics, updating a stylesheet to retain your corporate colors and you can have an original site that is functional and well designed.

Hiring a professional designer to create an online identity for your from scratch can be a time consuming and extremely costly process. Consider the benefits of having a template customized to your requirements by a professional, or if you’re confident with Photoshop, HTML and CSS why not give it a go yourself?

Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Template

Website templates are extremely affordable and, as we have already discussed, can save you a lot of time and effort when it comes to creating a new layout for your website or blog. However, not all graphic templates are suitable, so you have to be careful when choosing one. So let us consider some of the mistakes to avoid and considerations you should have in mind when choosing a website template.

The first thing to consider is whether you are using a CMS or a Blog System, such as WordPress, Joomla or osCommerce for example. If you are then it’s probably a good idea to find a template pre-designed for your system and then customize that. You can of course get a website template designed and then ask an expert in the field of your particular CMS or Blog to convert your template to a theme, however this can sometimes be costly.

The other obvious mistake people often make is choosing a great looking but extremely popular template. The problem here is unless you invest a significant amount of time into customizing your template, then your website is in danger of appearing a little generic.

A great way to choose a theme is to find one not specifically designed for your sites’ topic. For example, if your running an online florist, consider utilizing a template created for a webhost. Replacing images of servers and computer cables for flowers and bouquets to create your own unique design is one suggestion. This way, you do not have to make major changes to achieve a unique design in your niche.

Another important point to remember is to choose a design with your audience in mind. The template needs to suit your purpose and meet the requirements of your audience. Do not simply choose a template based on looks — a black-background web template designed with online gamers in mind would not look right for your floral business, for example! While design will always remain a subjective issue, there are fundamental elements that make for good design.

There is at least one site selling the ’secrets to a TOP MSN’ position for well in excess of $50. Well, it isn’t really a secret or a loophole, its not even particularly a new technique, but it is completely real and true. If you know how, then for less than an hour effort and $20 you can get yourself a top position on MSN.

Should I Care About MSN?

Now you might say that MSN has only a small percentage of total search traffic, and you should therefore be concentrating on Google. If you are in the B2B game that is most certainly true, but if you are a B2C, (ie selling to consumers) then think about your demographic - you may well find that MSN traffic converts far better than your Google traffic. In fact, some studies have shown a close to 100% better conversion rate from MSN traffic over Google.

Whilst it may be true that the MSN market share is small, it still drives millions of visitors on a daily basis. As such, it is still a valuable marketing tool, especially when combined with our ultra simple 5 step process to a number #1 Listing (well, to be fair, a position between 1 and 6 is usually the norm using this method).

I am not offering a magic pill which will fix all your SEO worries, and as I said, if your market is business to business then this is probably not even worth pursuing. However if you are targeting the ‘bingo mum’ or the ‘average joe’ then it is well worth considering using this method to rank high on MSN Searches.

Before I go further, I should make the following clarification: whilst people still refer to MSN search it is in fact now “Windows Live Search” from Microsoft. With news earlier this month that Sun Microsystems will be distributing a Microsoft Live Search-powered toolbar as part of Java Runtime Environment, you can be sure of an increase in user numbers and searches per day.

Currently, MSN or Live Search is the third most used search engine in the U.S., after Google and Yahoo, according to Nielsen Netratings.

The Secret to Gaining the #1 Position in Live Search

So I know you are itching to know the secret! How do I get my top MSN Live position? Well, it is relatively straightforward, economical and takes very little time.

You do not need a massive site or Portal, huge amounts of content or hundreds of inbound links to get this to work for you. Basically, you need to identify a key phrase to rank for - this does not have to be a 5 word long-tail search query either. It can be simple 2 or 3 word phrase.

Step 1 - Choose Your Key Phrase

Choose your key phrase, for example, “poor credit rating.” Now, go out and register the domain name “poor-credit-rating.com”

Yes, I am afraid it is really as simple as this. Your key-phrase split up by hyphens. You see, Live Search decides if that if your domain name is the same as a user’s search phrase, it must be highly related and highly relevant.

Step 2 - Choose Your Title

That in itself does not guarantee you a top position of course, so Step 2 is to title your page. The page title *MUST* start with your keywords (no hyphens this time) and then match the number of keywords with additional words, so for example “Poor Credit Rating - Your financial problems solved”.

Step 3 - Your Meta Tags

Step 3 is your meta-tags. Include your key phrase as your keywords, for example:
<Meta Name=”keywords” Content=”poor credit rating”>

You should also include your key phrase in your meta description.

Step 4 - Build a Web Page

Step 4 is to create your web page - yes it need only be a single page site. Be sure to include a few graphics, and the key phrase a couple of times within the text. Every time your key phrase is used on your other pages, hyperlink them back to your own page.

Step 5 - Let Live Search Know About It

Step 5 is to publish your site and let Live Search know about it, you can do that by going here: http://search.msn.com.sg/docs/submit.aspx

Give it a week or so and witness the results - they are indisputable. If you are not happy with your number 3 or 4 position, then get other sites linking to you (they can be your own) using your key phrase as the anchor, this will improve your ranking even further.

The theme is completely free to use, and you can even re-distribute the zip file on your own site (intact). Gingerbread Man 1.0 Theme is valid XHTML. We have two versions for you, so download what you like!

Gingerbread Man Christmas Theme

• Download the above theme

Gingerbread Man 2 Christmas Theme

• Download the above theme

Download and unzip into your themes folder, and activate!

Originally, blogs were highly personal in nature, maintained by highly opinionated or verbose individuals with something to say. Sometimes this was focused on a particular subject but more often than not they just followed the whimsical choices of the blog’s author.

Since ‘joe public’ so readily adopted the blog format, commercial organizations have spotted the marketing potential for their products and services through others blogs. We have even seen born a niche-advertising sector, offering delivery through widgets and the like.

We then saw the advent of professional bloggers, those blogging for profit, and there have been a number of success stories. More often than not individuals gained financial reward as a result of being offered work in the mainstream media. It has however only been a relatively recent occurrence for business to realize the potential of launching company blogs for marketing potential.

Blogging is a practice that has been around for at least 5 years. It began with average, but opinionated people with something to say, who wanted to share their opinions with anyone who would read them. While it has been popular with the general public, it hasn’t caught on with many businesses until recently. Blogging can be a powerful tool for marketing and exposure for any business, if done properly. This article will cover the first steps businesses will need to take to set themselves up for successful blogging.

Setting Up Your Blog

The benefits should be obvious - a well written blog that is regularly updated attracts targeted visitors, that will often become subscribers, resulting in a highly targeted marketing channel aimed directly at your niche.

To get started, your first step is to choose a blogging platform, and here you have two initial choices:

1. You can choose to install blog software on your own server - ie Wordpress.org;
2. You can go for a free or cheap hosted solution with the blogging company - ie Blogger.com.

The benefits of the hosted solution is the fact that it is very quick to get up and running. The downside is less control, and you often do not have your own domain name.

If you choose to host your own blog then which application you install will depend very much on which additional functionality you would like to see on your blog. I highly recommend WordPress. If your web host has a control panel (and which web host does not offer one these days?), then most will include an ability to auto-install a blog. Usually this includes or is WordPress. It can sometimes be a little confusing as they will not always call it WordPress - for instance, Globat calls it GloBlog, but it is indeed WordPress.

Visual Design, Look and Feel of Your Site - Install a Template

Once you have installed WordPress or another blog application (and this should be a one-click operation on the vast majority of shared webhosting providers) the first thing you will need to do is configure your blog, and that will be done through a web based control panel. The next big step is the design, or skin, or template, of your blog - basically, the visual design of your site.

You will need to find a template to use or customize, and ideally this will not be one that came with the default installation, as there will be literally a million other sites with the same design. Stylish blog design generally follows the same format, and this is part of what makes them so popular. Through the years designers know what good, usable design is, so when you pick a brand new blog for the first time, the interface is familiar.

So, What Do You Write?

Finally, we come to your content, the single most important factor in the success of your blog. It is important that you regularly update your site, so if you do not have the resources to maintain your blog there is little point in getting started. It is not like a regular web site, where to some degree you can ’set and forget’ it. You need to begin a conversation with your viewers.

Whenever you create and post content, your article becomes syndicated to your viewers and various blogging channels. This ability is known as RSS, and some would say this is the single most powerful feature of your blog, and the reason for the success of this tool. With RSS, you can quickly and easily spread your message around the world - everybody who is subscribed to your blog will receive a notification, either in their reader or via email.

If you do not have time to constantly update your blog, there are shortcuts you can take. You do not have to write (or have written) lengthy, original articles - such as the one you are reading now - to have a popular and well trafficked blog. There exists another style of blogging, and this is the collection of news, articles and snippets from around the web, centered on a single topic. Blogs often collate such information, offering comment and analysis relevant to their readers. You can simply read and collect the RSS feeds from other blogs and place them on your site, commenting on them in your own site, reviewing any new products, etc. Many bloggers have large followings basically because they are skilled at finding interesting topics from other sites and saying “Hey, check this out!”

Whichever route you take, you can be assured of success if you stick with a formula of regularly updated, and high quality content that is relevant to your readers (i.e. your customers). Once your blog is up and running you will have started a truly organic marketing vehicle, and you will not have to concern yourself too highly with keywords and the like as they will naturally happen as a result of your attempts to deliver relevant information.

If you have not already launched your first blog then now really is the time to do so. StylishDesign.com will have a number of upcoming articles and features that will help you along the way - so check back soon!

If you are still reading I can assume you know the fundamentals about RSS and appreciate the tremendous marketing potential of syndication. We touched on the ATOM feed in the previous article, and if you have opted to use the ATOM method of syndication then this article will on the most part still be of benefit.

RSS and Blogging

RSS (or indeed ATOM) feeds are widely being utilized by blogs and news sites of all sizes. There are astute etailers that also broadcast and publish information using these feeds. Although sites are usually using RSS to syndicate news headlines and summaries, you do not have to stick to the conformed norm - instead, you can always try and be more stylish! Think syndication of product information, whether these are special offers or driver updates or images of new products, even help videos.

That is not to say that there is not a tremendous amount to be gained by simple syndication of news headlines, or ideally summaries, to keep clients, partners, resellers and potential customers abreast of your corporate news. If that is your primary aim I assume you already have a blog for your site, and if not then I highly recommend you get one. There are many self-hosted or free web-based service options, and blogging should be part of your basic online marketing strategy.

If you have a CMS driven website or alternatively a Blog application then they will usually either have an RSS feed as a fundamental feature or there will be a module or component available to make it easy. I will cover various applications in more detail in a moment. Getting your blog in place would be ’step one’ in the process.

See You Later Aggregator

However, there is more to marketing your feeds than simply publishing them online. Just as you need to submit your website to Google and others, you need to submit your site to a variety of ‘aggregators’. They will essentially help get your RSS found and publicized and enable your users to have your updates provided to them right on their desktop or RSS reader application.

If you are looking for end users and real eyeballs then there is one clear leader in the field of RSS/ATOM integration, and as an added benefit of using their service, they give you the ability to track your subscribers. That service is Feedburner.com, and having been acquired by Google in 2007 it is sure to continue to be a leader for a long time to come. However you should take a look at what else is out there and potentially promote your feeds through some of those services too.

There are comprehensive lists available, so get the links to your feeds and start publicizing them at the sites of aggregators. The following are two very good lists:

• http://www.newsonfeeds.com/faq/aggregators
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_feed_aggregators

If you are running any of the following applications then we have some additional tips on getting you started:

WordPress

• Offers RSS Feeds as a standard feature.
• For information on customizing your RSS feeds read this article here
  http://codex.wordpress.org/Customizing_Feeds
• If you wish to use feedburner to promote your rss feeds then read-up here on an additional module that you will need: http://www.google.com/support/feedburner/bin/topic.py?topic=13252

Joomla

• Basic syndication as a standard features, although limited to the front page items.
• It is set to “on” as standard, and you will find the configuration in Components → Syndicate.
• You are limited to the homepage or one category for syndication (you can control the length of excerpts however). If you want more control then you should take a look at the “Feed Manager” a component you can download here: http://www.run-digital.com/mehr_zum_rss_feed_manager_2.html

Typepad

• On your Weblogs tab, click the “Configure “link for the weblog you want to edit, then click the “Feeds” link to open the Syndication setup page. Select whether you’d like to provide a Post feed. If this selection is enabled, readers will be able to subscribe to your weblog’s feed.

Blogger.com

• Basic RSS and Atom syndication are offered as standard on blogger.com
• You can access your sites RSS and Atom feeds here:
  Blogger.com RSS feed: http://[blogname].blogspot.com/rss.xml
  Blogger.com Atom feed: http://[blogname].blogspot.com/atom.xml

Postnuke

• RSS feeds are available by default on a postnuke site. The default feed is www.example.com/backend.php

PhpNuke

• Still running Phpnuke? First, activate ultramode in the Preferences section of the Administration panel. then your rss feed will be available at www.example.com/backend.php

Other CMS Systems

• Please review your vendors website for details, search for “RSS your software” on Google

Remember to validate

Remember to validate your RSS feeds, just to make sure there are no problems. There is a free tool available here: http://feedvalidator.org/

If that is the case then you are missing out on an extremely powerful free marketing tool. When publicized properly and combined with a blog that has good content, you are on a guaranteed route to ‘viral’ success. There is no marketing more stylish than organic marketing, and this is organic marketing at its best.

As DeWitt Clinton states “RSS, as a representation of an idea, is perhaps the single most influential cultural shift of the post-2001 technical and business community. RSS is the embodiment of the notion of sharing and syndication. Businesses will do well to heed the lessons being taught by people like Dave Winer and Robert Scoble.”

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary depending who you ask. What no one argues about is that it’s a means of providing content syndication to others. It gives you the ability to automatically republish an article, possibly just a headline or even an image, by another application such as a website, online newspaper or blog.

You can include all manner of applications including audio and video in your syndicated content. This puts you in control, and hundreds of thousands of sites are already providing headline, article summaries, sound and video clips under all sorts of licensing agreements utilising this technology.

Having an RSS feed is a means of creating publicity for your website, and its power should not be underestimated. It may simply be a headline as I stated previously or it may include a summary and photos of the latest posting. The term Rich Site Summary comes from the fact you can provide a rich multimedia experience via rss, providing not just a summary of content but include images or video too.

An RSS document, often called a “feed”  or “channel,” includes meta-data such as publishing dates and authorship. Therefore web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content quickly and automatically with certain information. The originating publisher maintains complete control of content at all times.

The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website, and it’s normal practice for the website displaying your content to a include a link to the source website.

RSS and Internet Marketing

The RSS concept was born at Netscape. They developed the system, intending it to be used for customization of personal homepages - creating links to web pages that interested them as a kind of advanced website bookmarking tool.

The use of RSS as an Internet marketing tool was the last thing on the mind of RSS technology developers. That does not in any way denigrate their power as marketing medium.

Major Corporations intending to use RSS for marketing their products and services would consider partnering with email account providers, (e.g. Hotmail, Yahoo etc); networking websites (e.g. Myspace, Multiply, Bebo, Hi5); websites of newspapers and television network websites (e.g. FT.com, CNN) and the like. That does not mean small business cannot harness the power of rss.

Small business owners and e-tailers should also consider social media and networking websites, as well as creating blogs on free networks (e.g. Blogspot, Blogger) and websites of clubs and organizations that would probably make use of their products or services. For example, a sports shop can look for the website of their local running/athletics club for possible RSS marketing.

RSS & Beyond

There is a slight deviation from the RSS standard, and that is the Atom Feed. The differences are somewhat technical, however if you are in the web publishing business for financial profit, looking to syndicate a lot of rich multimedia content then you may wish to consider the Atom standard.  Technically it offers everything already covered in this article, however there are a few small variations in the standard, that I would personally consider improvements especially for the commercial sector.

Not least of which is the ability to include copyright/licensing information with your feed. There are some other fundamental differences if you want to see a ‘feature comparison’ table then check out Noori’s blog post here: http://mindboosternoori.blogspot.com/2006/08/feeds-rss-vs-atom.html

Getting started

Check back in the next few days for the next part of this article telling you how to get started by implementing RSS feeds on your site and then promoting them online. SO whether you are running a Blogger blog or hosted wordpress, Joomla or still have a nuke based site we will point you in the right direction for syndicating your content and getting your content the widest possible coverage.

Admittedly, Macromedia (now owned by Adobe) is increasingly cramming more functionality and incredible features into Flash and making it ever more attractive to web designers looking to create something a little different. However, it is important to remember that those ‘funky cool features’ come at a price, and I am not just talking about the 19 year old emo-flash-guru you hired at Elance, but the other factors you need to consider.

First however, before I get an onslaught of email from Fans of Flash, some of the benefits:

Interactivity

Flash’s Actionscript opens up a vast array of possibilities, including..

Animations - These include banner ads, online greeting cards, and cartoons. Many other types of Flash applications include animation elements as well.

Games - Many games are built with Flash. Games usually combine the animation capabilities of Flash with the logic capabilities of ActionScript.

User interfaces - Many website designers use Flash to design user interfaces. The interfaces include simple navigation bars as well as much more complex interfaces such as online hotel or airline reservation systems.

Flexible messaging areas - These are areas in web pages that designers use for displaying information that may change over time. A flexible messaging area (FMA) on a restaurant website might display information about each day’s menu specials.

Rich Internet applications - These include a calendar application, a price-finding application, a shopping catalog, an education and testing application, or any other application that presents remote data with a graphically rich interface.

A standardized site

With Flash, you do not have to worry about cross-browser compatibility. No more worries about how your carefully crafted css code will render in Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera. Wherever you place a component or element in Flash, that element will always appear exactly as you intended long as the user has Flash Player installed.

Better expression through animation

In Flash, one can make use of its animating features to convey a message in a much more efficient and effective way. Flash is a lightweight option for animation because it is vector-based (information is saved as mathematical lines, not pixels, and hence are smaller file sizes) as opposed to real “movie files” that are raster-based and hence much larger in size.

But Remember . . .

The Flash player

People have to download the Flash player in advance before they can view Flash movies. If you utilize Flash as the only means for accessing your site, you will notice a drop in visitor numbers.  Not everyone is willing or able to download the Flash player. You’ll also have to put in additional work in redirecting the user to the Flash download page if he or she doesn’t have the player installed.

Site optimization

If your content was presented in Flash, most search engines wouldn’t be able to index your content. Hence, you will not be able to rank well in search engines and there will be less traffic heading to your site.

Loading time

Users have to wait longer than usual to load Flash content compared to regular text and images.

To Flash or Not to Flash?

Unless you absolutely need the interactivity and motion that comes with Flash, avoid using it, especially if you are more concerned with search engine optimization. If you want some interactive graphical elements, use a combination of Flash and HTML with alternatives for those users that do not have Flash. If you wish to create an exciting interface but are worried about Flash, there are great alternatives, such as utilizing AJAX programming (asynchronous JavaScript).

Flash is excellent as a stand-alone program within your site. If you own a paint store and wish your users to experience a virtual showroom where they can paint their walls online, Flash is perfect for this. If you have an automotive showroom, using Flash to showcase your models in 3-D is another great idea for Flash.

As always, consider your audience. If your website is aimed at 25 year old web designers in New York, it is a fair bet they have flash installed and will be accessing your site using broadband or better, so go for it . . .

Flash is like any other tool. Used wisely, you can have an excellent and stylish website. Used wrongly, and you will only frustrate and turn away your online visitors.