Website Design, Development , eCommerce, SEO Sarasota Bradenton Venice Florida - Webtivity Designs

5 Ways Not to Lose Out on the Web

2008-09-18T14:55:00.005-05:00

How many times have you had a great idea for a business or service that you just know would do great on the web? Many of us have had at least a fleeting idea during one of those insomniac moments at 3 in the morning. Blurry eyed and drowsy,
a monumental idea races through your mind. In the morning, you make some calls to get the ball rolling, but getting the idea from your head to the web is far harder than you ever imagined. Where do you start and what steps should you take? Here are 5 steps to begin your success on the web.

1. Don’t get ahead of yourself. After having been up for most of what should have been our sleeping time with this amazing idea bouncing around in our head, we have the urgency the next day to get this idea started and finished right away. There are two important first steps you should do with your idea:
· First, it is good to take action on the idea right away. Studies show that the longer a person just lets an idea sit about, the less likely they are to act upon it.
· Secondly, start by researching. Look up related content about your idea, look into businesses that may be your competition, and ask knowledgeable friends what insight they might have to offer.

You’ll get out what you put in. With the desire to get this idea off the ground as quick as possible, many people just go for the easiest, cheapest, and fastest options available at the time. But remember:
· You most often get what you pay for. If you look for the cheapest, you will find it, but it’s likely no more and instead much less than what you pay for.
· Quality can be seen. A website that has been thrown together quickly and without much thought sticks out like a sore thumb, while a well thought out website can engage a visitor and guide them along a path that leads to increase your business.

Balance visual with functional. The internet is an ideal venue for art, photos, videos, and any digital media, however if you over populate your website with a colors, photos, and flash most users will bounce. Keep in mind:
· Many users are more attracted to a feeling of consistency across your website.
· The internet is a great place for digital media. Use it correctly and you can increase user interaction and interest. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

Provide quality information, services, or goods. There is a surplus of websites that offer no quality, but are just there littered with froth. The majority of users turn away from these sites in disgust, looking for a site that actually provides information, services, or goods they are looking for. Don’t just try to trick the user, provide them what they need:
· Real substance, not just fluff.
· Get the content taken care of. If you can’t come up with the content needed for part or all of your website, contact a copywriting service that can help you.

Realize that once the site is built, it won't take care of itself. Once a house is built, is it maintenance free? A website is very similar. It needs upkeep, refreshing, and optimization if you want to be seen. With more than 162 million active websites, your chances of building a website and having traffic flow to it have diminished substantially. The good news is that those 162 million sites are not all aiming at the same market and they have not all taken the steps to optimize content for search engines. What steps should occur after the website is built and launched live?
· Content needs to be kept as fresh as possible.
· Keep people involved with you and your business through a blog and newsletter.
· Search Engine Optimization! People need to wade through all those websites out there and primarily use search engines to do so.

I trust that your aim is not to lose out, so take this insight and put it to good use. If you need help along the way, contact a professional web design company that can help you with consultation, build, implementation, and search engine optimization.

Organic SEO and PPC = Buying and Leasing

2008-08-20T22:18:00.002-05:00

By Jason Hagelberg

When researched, you can find many explanations of the difference between Organic Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click (or paid search services). Many individuals highlight one over another, toting it as the key to your website's success. However, let's take away some of the mystery and compare it to a situation most of us can relate to…purchasing a vehicle.

When looking for a vehicle, a great amount of research can be done quickly due to the volume of information available online. Once you’ve selected the type of vehicle, you then have to decide whether you intend to own or lease. Here in lies the great correlation to SEO and PPC.

Organic SEO (Purchasing):
Organic Search Engine Optimization can be related to buying the vehicle. Every bit of that vehicle will be solely yours. Upon full payment you make all the decisions and hope that your research will payoff in light of your investment.

Organic SEO is much the same. All of your changes made during the optimization of your website are yours to keep and do not disappear or decrease once you’ve completed payment. You have paid to optimize your website (which should include your technical structure, on-page and off-page content, and your internal and external link profile) to directly influence the search engine results displayed in the main area of the results page.

If your site is optimized well, you will be reaping the rewards in search results for some time to come, however, keep in mind that just as a vehicle manufacturer continues to upgrade with new models, so to search engines continue to change their algorithms and methods to deliver the best results.

Here lies the limitation for organic SEO - it can not last forever. Just remember that you get what you pay for, and as in buying a car, researching to find the best search engine optimization services will allow your investment to last longer.

Paid Advertising (Leasing):
Pay Per Click and paid advertisement services in general are very similar to a leasing agreement. When leasing a vehicle you can often get more short term bang for your buck than with purchasing. Often times the leasing payments can be lower, and you can generally afford a better vehicle.

This same concept applies to PPC and other paid advertisement services. These can usually produce a higher ranking faster than Organic SEO with a better short-term bang for your buck. Beware, just as many leasing agreements have limitations, so do Paid Advertisement services. Pay Per Click advertising is just what the name describes. You are paying a certain amount for every time someone clicks through the ad to your website.You are not leasing the space for a set amount of time with PPC, but rather leasing for a set amount of clicks. Once those clicks have been used up, you are no longer represented in these results, similar to having nothing at the end of the lease (although you may have nothing after the end of two weeks depending on your PPC advertising budget).

When to use what:

Organic SEO:

For a website you want to rank well for the long-term.

With limited funds – Organic SEO gives you a larger return on investment over a longer period of time.

To give your website a great foundation to build on.

Will force you to have great content. This by itself should increase any conversions you are aiming for.

When done by a good professional SEO Company, will last longer and give you a better return on your investment.

PPC and Paid Advertisement Services:

Are best for short term pushes - feature a limited product or advertise seasonal items.

As a great way to get a new site with a new domain seen quickly.

To help determine interest in a product or advertisement.

Will generally attract more traffic in a shorter amount of time.

What's best for me?

Most sound financial experts will recommend that it is usually better to purchase than lease. It saves you money in the long run and gives you something material for your investment. However, many of these same financial experts will say that there are times when it would be right to lease. The same is true of SEO experts. Without a doubt, if you are looking for longevity in the rankings, it is recommended to go with Organic SEO. The only people that disagree are the avid salesmen of the Paid Search Services. However, it is again important to realize that there are times when paid search services are the perfect thing for a website to use.

The choice comes down to what you are looking to do for your site. If you are trying to get your site to be seen by people in the long run with the best return for your investment, than Organic SEO is the best choice for you. If you are looking for some quick traffic with a new or seasonal item, PPC can be great, but leaves you nowhere when your advertisement dollars are gone. Most websites should start with the base that a good and solid SEO Company can give them through Organic Search Engine Optimization and then target intermittent or seasonal audiences with Paid Advertisements.

In the same fashion as car shopping, do your research. Check out the company that is offering services and find out their results and achievements. Don't get stuck with a “lemon” or nothing to show for your money. Whether going for the lease or the purchase, check into them and do some research. That one small step can usually save you agony in the long run.

If you are interested in learning more about a company that has a solid SEO and PPC background, look into Webtivitydesigns.com, a leading Sarasota SEO Company.

Sharks in Gold Fish's Clothing

2008-07-28T09:25:00.005-05:00

By Jason Hagelberg

You have probably heard it said to be watchful of wolves in sheep's clothing? Well, the same can be said of being aware of sharks in gold fish's clothing in the sea we call the internet. I am referring specifically to Search Engine Optimization companies that dress themselves as gold fish, promising to deliver you the top spot and more, and yet use shark-like tactics to do so. These companies prey on people's lack of knowledge of best practiced SEO methods recommended by the search engines themselves. Everyone likes to hear of new methods and techniques to gain on edge on the competition, but what many of these companies are truly offering are merely “black hat” or half-truth methods that use unethical means to try and rank you, and often end up getting you banned or severely penalized. Here are 5 offers I have recently seen from gold fish clothed sharks.

Exciting New Offer #1
PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns are the best way to increase your organic ranking.

Truth: Whether you choose to take part in a pay per click campaign will neither help nor hinder your organic search results.

Some basics: Sponsored search results are those that generally appear at the top or down the side of the page on the search results page. These links have been bought and they pay a per click price in order to show up in the position that they do. Organic search results are the natural search results that follow and are determined by the search engine's best matches.
What some SEO companies are promising is that if you spend the money to buy these positions in the sponsored results, it will pay off in the non-sponsored search results. This is not even remotely true. Google themselves state that the use of paid advertising will neither help nor hinder the organic search results (article here). This also carries over into the desire by search engine to provide the most accurate results in their organic searches, not merely given top spot to those companies that have more resources. Your organic ranking has to do with best practice Search Engine Optimization methods that optimize your site for better ranking. Although paid advertising campaigns do not hinder your site, they do not help your organic rankings. Be wary of this scheme of getting better natural rankings through pay per click advertising. It is just that, a scheme.

Exciting New Offer #2
We guarantee #1 ranking...

Truth: No one can guarantee you #1 ranking in organic search results.

Again, Google states that NO ONE can guarantee #1 ranking in the three largest search engines (article here). This is an empty promise. Either they mean they can get you a high ranking using more money through a pay per click, which is not the organic search results you are probably thinking of, or they will rank you for a very obscure keyword term or a very long-tail keyword term. These keywords they decide upon are not be terms that you are going to want to rank for, but rather ones that have very little competition.

Exciting New Offer #3
We have secret methods that can outsmart the search engines.

Truth: An SEO company does not need to outsmart the search engines, or have to use secret methods. “Best practice” methods are clearly outlined and just take effort.

These tend to come in the form of secret techniques that some SEO companies claim are not known by others, but guarantee you great rankings. They fail to mention that most of these secret techniques are “black hat”, or unethical, practices that are against search engine optimization best practices. They call them secret often times because they do not want to explain these unethical practices to the customer and can get away with just calling them secret exclusive techniques. These will often include the use of “link farms”, shadow pages, keyword stuffing, and other practices which directly go against the best practice methods that search engines ask you to use.
On the flip side it is important to realize that many SEO companies do have certain good methods that they use and may not be willing to tell the world every step of their process. However, as a customer, you should be aware of the steps being taken to optimize your website. A good SEO company has no secrets to keep from their clients and should be ready, willing, and able to explain any action they take on your behalf.
Also, search engines are not evil or out there to be “defeated”. It is important to realize that most search engines have one main goal and that is to make search engine results ever more accurate. Yes, they want to make money and pay their employees, but they can only do this by having the best ranking system. Therefore, generally, the better a site is optimized by “best practice” methods, the better it should rank. Scammers may rank well for a short time, but they are often knocked back significantly over time. This is not a position that a company paying for these services should ever find themselves in.

Exciting New Offer #4
We can perform all of your SEO needs without even touching your pages.

Truth: A well Optimized site is essential for best practice SEO.

It is always intriguing to see advertisements that claim they can rank you with little or no changes to your original site. On the flip site, a site overhaul is generally not needed either. However, there are many little changes that can be made to a site to give it well optimized base. These practices do include making sure that your Meta data is accurate, giving good titles to pages, creating a well-formed site structure and page names, giving your keyword or phrase the proper weight in your content, and optimizing your link flow. All of these changes are made to the site and lend weight to your ranking. These changes also help in advertising your site. Meta tags are used less and less by search engines in terms of ranking, but can make a huge difference in getting people to visit your site because most search engines use your description meta tags and title as your introduction to your website. You need to optimize these to catch people’s attention and bring them into your site.
There are also SEO companies who only concentrate on inner site optimization without focusing on “off-page” factors. These “off-page” factors, that a good SEO company will take into account when optimizing your site, include good editorial links pointing into your site, external articles that can link back to your site, and association with other websites that are in your same line of work.

Exciting New Offer #5
We guarantee you top rankings no matter what your keyword or key phrase, for a low set price.

Truth: Keyword and key phrase selections make a difference in the amount of work that needs to be done to rank a site well.

You may say then, that they have it figured in doing whatever needs to be done for any keyword and still include it in that low price. The fact is that they either have a very high set price, will have hidden charges for more difficult keywords or phrases, or have a cookie cutter list of “black hat” practices that they use for every site. These “black hat” practices may get a ranking for a short time, but more times than not, the site that is using these methods will be banned or severely penalized. And where are these companies when your site is banned? They are long gone with your money.
A well researched set of keywords and phrases, on the other hand, will make a great difference. It is important to realize that more descriptive key phrases will not only give you areas to rank better in., but will also give you better customers that are searching for what you have to offer. Research shows that people interested in buying generally have longer and more definitive search terms, whereas “window shoppers” tend to have shorter search terms.

What are you to do?
Be wary of those that promise you great things for little or no investment. More times than not, you get what you pay for.
If it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is.
If they don’t have past clients to show you work done for, be concerned.
If they guarantee overnight results, it’s not going to be pretty.
Look for companies with experience, a well laid out plan, and open communication.

If you want to see what a good SEO company looks like, visit Webtivity Design’s Search Engine Optimization layout. We describe our methods for getting people ranked and we are available to further explain our best practice methods. We have been working in the Web Design field for over ten years and have constantly strived to make our services the best available.

Continue to check back to our blog for more information regarding Search Engine Optimization techniques and principles.

How You Can Make Web Design Attractive to Your Audience

2008-06-27T11:57:00.000-05:00

By Rebecca Star

In order to make your web design stand out, you must have a concept and a plan. Along with that, it's important that the design is compatible with the web browser that you're using. A web design is used to create a web site with web pages.

Before the design goes on the website, you need to know what information will be on it. You should know what the target market is going to be. In addition to that, you should know what the purpose is going to convey. Having the right content is very important. The purpose of this is to attract as many visitors as possible.

Having a purpose will also show what the website is going to focus on. It will convey what benefits the visitors will get from it, which is the main focus anyway. You should also set goals as what you want and plan for future content. This may include an overhaul of the site with a new design.

You must know who the information is directed to. For instance, if you have a website for vegetarians, you can't have information that is talking about fried chicken.

These people will be visiting your website in hopes of finding information that's relevant to what they're looking for. So if they're looking for information on vegetarian dishes, then they'll stick around. It's important to understand and convey what your visitors want.

The content that goes on the site must be understandable and concise. The visitors will want to read and print any information available about the related subject. Don't make the content technical where they have to get a dictionary to look up every other word.

That will turn visitors off in a heartbeat. Another thing is not to have a lot of items posted on the website. This can make for a confused person. They'll feel it's too much to navigate through and find somewhere else to go.

To get a little more fancy, graphics, animations, sounds and videos can give the web site and web pages a boost. If using these, you will have to use plug-ins such as QuickTime, Flash or Java run-time environment. You can also find plug-ins with web pages that have XHTML or HTML tags.

Whatever images or graphics that you use, make sure that they are compatible with the current web browser. There's nothing more frustrating than having a slow web page load because of graphics or other stuff.

With practice and careful skill, you can have a great web design that you visitors will like in not time.

Three Ways to Make Your Online Business Unique

2008-06-23T15:06:00.000-05:00

By Scott Oliver

Setting yourself apart from the crowd is something that's becoming more and more difficult. With the ever increasing number of online businesses, it seems like everything has already been done and it seems like you will never make yourself stand out to customers. But is this the truth? There are always new ways to identify yourself in relation to your competition, if only you take the time to consider your options. Here are three ways you can make your online business unique - and they will certainly grab the attention of your customers too.

High Quality, High Quality, High Quality

While this seems like something that's a given, you would be surprised at just how many online businesses are selling inferior products. At first glance, their product selection might look appealing, but when the customers receive the items, they realize that they paid much more than they should have. Instead of starting out with a cheaper product (like many new online businesses do) and then upgrading to a high quality product once you have a customer base, start off with the best. This will not only bring in customers that feel quality is important, but it will also establish you as the leader in quality in your market.

Before you even begin to sell your product, be sure to order the items for yourself to see what the customer will be receiving. This is going to help you see whether or not you need to be looking for a new vendor or if you should possibly be selling something else that's more appropriate for your customers.

Choose a Unique Logo or Symbol

When you want to stand out from the rest of the competition, you need to establish yourself as something that can be easily identified. Many companies will accomplish this by choosing a simple logo or a symbol to identify their company - for example, which company do you identify with a set of golden arches? Try to find something that is related to your business or something that is slightly outrageous in order to grab someone's attention. And then be sure that you are incorporating it into everything related to your business - marketing, advertisements, etc.

If you are selling a certain kind of product, try to choose a generic form of the product to be your logo or your symbol. Brainstorm for a bit about what designs might work best for your company and then test them out on your friends and family to see what they think too.

Choose a Certain Price for Everything You Sell

There's a reason why dollar stores are so popular - the prices. If you can, try pricing all of your products with a certain price or price ending. This will create an immediate advertising focus, while also making it easy for your customers to see what you are selling your products for. For example, you might want to sell things that all end in 99 or perhaps you can sell everything for $7, but sell 3 for $7 and then 1 for $7, depending on the actual value of the item.

You might also want to have specific sales in which you price everything the same. This will help you be unique, but won't cause you to overhaul your pricing scheme.

Uniqueness is something that only you can choose, but there are plenty of opportunities to set yourself apart from the crowd. Find the one thing that makes your business different from everyone else and be sure to point it out to your customers. Even if it's not 'new,' it will still help you stay in the minds of your future customers.

Effective Website Copy - Simple Strategies That Work!

2008-06-19T10:59:00.001-05:00

By Pamela Jacob

Where do I start? What do I do, I am so overwhelmed...

This is what I hear from clients time and again. Just trying to structure the pages/copy that is needed when you are trying to develop your website can seem difficult a best. As humans we can make the simple seem really complicated, I do this myself - but it doesn't have to be.

Sit down and really look at your business goals and what you want to accomplish with your website.

There are really very few things a website can do. Think about it a website can:

1. Market you or your business

2. Provide the image that you want for your business (brand you and/or your business)

3. Sell a product or service

4. Provide information

5. Collect information

It can do one or a combination of all of these things depending on what is needed.

Pretty simple right!

Most of us have one of two types of businesses a service to render or a product to sell - and we believe or should believe that what we have to offer is better than the competition.

You do believe that what you have to offer is better than your competitor's right?

If not your are at a dis-advantage -- Note: You need to be authentic, if you are just going through the motions guess what? People will get it, they will be able to sense that even you don't believe in what you are trying to sell them. IF you don't believe in what you are doing, stop right here and find something else you believe in. Don't waste your money in building this business. Spend some more time and find your passion...

IF you do believe you are unique and offer something that is superior then move on and answer these questions.

Why are you superior, what makes you or your product(s) unique?

The answer to these questions should be the basic text for all your marketing material(s) be it your website - brochures - flyers or anything that you are putting together to market your business.

Research your competition - see what you like about what they have to say and notice what you don't think is so great. Do not steal from them, do take away ideas that you think can help you in forming the text you will be adding to your website.

Now go back to the original question:

Why are you unique - why is your product unique? What makes you head and tails above the rest?

Make a list - some examples can be:

• Superior Quality

• Amazing Talent

• Unprecedented customer service (in my opinion all businesses should offer this no matter what!)

• Free shipping

• 24/7/365/ Service

• Money back guarantee

• Higher Quality - You get what you pay for...

• Better Price

• Unique Items

• Free support after the contract is finished

• Free Consultation

• Experience in your field

This is truly step one and once you have this step down then you need to start the process of writing the copy/text of your website and all other materials needed to market your business.

Make sure you have your visitor in mind.

Do not, I repeat do not worry about how great or grand you are frame the text in what you can do for your potential client/customer.

Asking questions when starting out on the web page is a great way to engage your visitors they will actually start thinking about what you can do for them.

What is the pain that a prospective visitor may be feeling?

What problem(s) are they having, how can you solve those problems for them with your products or services?

A good example to show you how this works is below: fill in the blank with your own product or services

Ask Questions...

Are you frustrated with _____________?

Did you have a ____ who just couldn't get the job done?

Are you disappointed because your (product/or service) isn't giving you what you wanted?

Show them you know the frustrations they are feeling...

So many businesses hire a _____ who will promise them the world and then disappear when the contract just doesn't go as promised.

Some businesses hire a so called _______ only to be let down by bad advice and a ___________ that doesn't work.

Give them a solution to the problem...

Well worry no longer, Don't let any of these examples stop you _______.

I will pick up and ____________, or adjust it to give you the results you're seeking.

Simple - Concise - To The Point

That is what you need to do when putting together the text for your web pages.

Of course their are exceptions to every rule and if you are putting together medical advice or Questions and answers for your clients write on - you get the point...

No pun intended!!

This article should help you in pulling together your website and making it a really effective tool for your success.

Memory Refresher: What is the one other thing you absolutely have to have on your website - I cannot stress it enough??

An opt-in box - give your visitors something of value so that they have something to remember you by and you have a targeted potential database: name and email(s) for future campaigns, sells and promotions - your database is gold...

To Your Success!

Tips When Choosing a Server Hosting Plan For Your Online Business

2008-06-17T10:32:00.002-05:00

By Mike Selvon

If you have thought about creating a website for your business so that you can expand your market, then you most likely already know that one of the first things you must arrange for is your website server hosting. There is a huge variety in web hosting plan options that you can choose from, from free webhosting to expensive managed dedicated servers, and in the coming months and years there will, no doubt, be even more choices.

Having web server hosting for your website provides your online business with the exposure it needs in order to reach your target market. Web hosting plan packages offer a wide array of options and are a very flexible and convenient way of choosing the exact web hosting services that your company needs to be more effective and successful.

Fortunately, for the internet entrepreneurs who want to compete and grow their web businesses, server hosting plans are constantly getting better, the servers are getting faster and the services are getting less expensive all the time. But, it is important to realize that not all of the hosting companies and hosting plans offer all the tools and services that you might need; so shop carefully.

One of the most important things that must be considered when choosing a company to provide your web server hosting is reliability. This is often referred to in terms of "uptime" or "downtime."

If you decide to choose low cost hosting, then there is a good chance that your web hosting company will have more downtime, which means periods of time when your website will not be accessible to your site visitors. This is why it is important to choose your host based more on their track record of reliability for uptime instead of strictly basing the decision on cost alone.

Consider how it will appear to your website visitors if they follow a link to your site only to receive an error message, instead of being able to view your website. Many people make the mistake of spending a great deal of money, time and effort to drive traffic to their websites, but then use cheap or free webhosting.

When their cheap, web server hosting company is down, all of their efforts to send traffic to their sites is wasted and often companies find it hard to recover from such problems. Your site will lose credibility, not the web host.

The best advice for people who are just starting out in a new, online business venture is to choose server hosting with a dedicated hosting service company that has a very good reputation and track record. Even if you don't need dedicated server hosting to start out with, and few companies do, you will at least know that you are with a hosting service provider that will be able to keep up with the growth of your company.

See what Webtivity Designs can do for you »

Looking for a website?
Need a Domain Name?
Did you know that on some websites if you search for a domain name (like bobshouseofbeer.com) if you don't register it right then they will buy it from under you? Not us, Search for available Domain Names free at Webtivity Domains

Tips When Finding a Domain Name

2008-06-09T11:05:00.001-05:00

By Mike Selvon

If you have arrived at the stage where you have a business that you would like to present online, then you will need to build a website and take care of domain name registration. The domain name that you choose will be your unique website address and you will use it in your advertising and marketing to attract visitors to your site. Right now, because there are so many people starting internet businesses, it can be challenging to find the right domain for your site.
There are many domain registration companies that provide name registration services for domain names. The registrars all have access to and search through a centralized database that contains all of the records of current domain names.
This database includes basic information about who registered the domain, or hostname, and when the registration will expire. When registering a domain, the minimum period of time is one year, yet most registrars allow the domain to be registered for up to ten years.
Most people will choose a domain name that reflects the theme of their website that they plan to build. Their domain web hosting also uses that website address. Others prefer to register a domain that includes all or part of their name, making it very personal.
Choosing a domain or hostname, is an important part of starting a web-based business. The name you choose for your domain it is the main thing that people need to remember so that they can find your website and it is what you will be promoting through your advertising and marketing efforts.
In essence, the domain name for a website becomes the "brand" that is most visible through marketing strategies. As anyone who has been around marketing can attest to, branding is a very important and fundamental element in building a name and reputation for any kind of business entity. This is why it can be a challenge to find the perfect name for your site, and why there is so much competition to register names that are descriptive, short and memorable.
Once you have found a good hostname that is available and you have had it registered, be sure to keep your contact information current with the registrar that you used and make a note of the date that your registration will expire. If you have been able to secure a good name, then be careful not to let it expire.
If you don't renew it because you didn't receive the renewal email notice from the registrar, then someone else could easily come along and register your domain. When that happens, all of the marketing and advertising you have done will no longer benefit you and your website, but will go to the new owner of the domain.
After the domain name has been registered, the next thing you will need, if you don't have it already, is a domain web hosting package that will provide the server space where your site files will reside. Your new domain needs to be forwarded to the web servers of your hosting provider, then in short order your site will be live and ready to receive visitors.

The Power of Using Web Analytics

2008-05-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

By Karra Maxim

Who are your customers? Who is coming to your site and how are they getting there? How many of them are purchasing services or products? How do you know?

If you don't use web analytics to track the behavior of traffic to and on your site, then you won't know the answer to any of these questions! If you don't know the answers to these questions, then you won't know if you need to change your advertising sources, upgrade your products or services, or rearrange the content and pages on your site. In order to know what is effective and what isn't, you have to analyze your traffic.

How do you analyze traffic? The best way is through tracking software. Tracking software will let you know some key information about your traffic. One of these is 'bounce,' that is, when a visitor comes to one page on your site and doesn't explore further before leaving. If most of your visitors bounce right off your site, it doesn't matter if you get 10,000 visitors a day. What you need is targeted traffic, visitors who land on your site and stay there, exploring what you have to offer.

You may find that your bounce rate on one page of your site is extremely high, while other pages exhibit a lower rank. Now, not only do you know that this is happening, but you know exactly where it's happening and you can fix that page so that it entices people to stay.

The next thing that your web analytic software can do for you is check out where your visitors are coming from. How many typed in your address directly? How many came through a link on a search engine? How many linked to you through another site? You may be paying for advertising on a site that is creating any traffic for you. Now you know and you can cancel that advertising subscription and save yourself some money. You may see that you are getting a high amount of traffic from another site. Perhaps you will choose to target similar sites for link backs in hopes of getting the same results.

Where do your visitors go once they get to your site? Are they landing on the pages you want them to? Are they filling out your forms or purchasing your inventory? How many are returning and how many come just once? It is with this information that you will be able to use web analytics to further figure out what it is that your site needs in order to convert visitors into buyers. This is called a conversion rate, the percentage of visitors to your site who make a purchase or subscribe, and it is critical in building a successful website for your business. In fact, it is the entire point of web analytics and the reason for carefully and accurately tracking your visitor's activities: to raise your conversion rate as much as possible.

Improving your conversion rate starts with tracking and web analytics. Without the accurate information, you cannot analyze the activities of your visitors. When you analyze the activities of your visitors and compare the results to what you would like to see happen on your site, page by page, then you can make changes to achieve those goals. After you make changes, check your numbers and use web analytics again to figure out what needs to be changed next. In this way, you can stop wasting your time and money on advertising and SEO techniques that aren't drawing or maintaining traffic and stick to what works, pulling targeted traffic and turning customers into repeat customers.

10 Unmistakeable Signs Your Website Needs an Overhaul

2008-04-22T07:29:00.000-05:00

By Cathy Goodwin

Most business people know they need some kind of web design. Learning HTML and CSS means learning a whole new language (and if you don't know what those initials mean, you probably hired a designer).

But many people are convinced they know how to speak and write. So, they reason, why bother with a copywriter? They'll just write their own words.

Sometimes that works. But if you're making one of these 10 mistakes, your copy -- the words on your website -- are killing your business.

1.Your headline says, "Welcome."

Hey, come on. Visitors who come to your website know they're welcome. You created the site. You bought a domain. You're paying for web hosting. Of course they're welcome! Let's cut to the chase.

In fact, if your headline does say welcome, don't bother with the other tips. Move directly to find yourself some copywriting help.

2.Your sign-up box is hidden at the bottom of your page and/or you don't offer an irresistible freebie to motivate visitors to leave their contact information.

No sign-up box at all? Ouch. Read no further. You're using the web like a billboard, not a means to interact, communicate and build relationships.

3.Your home page doesn't communicate what you do and why you're different.

Never mind the vague stuff like, "I help people reach the dreams their souls yearn to find." How about, "If you're huffing and puffing to climb a flight of stairs, you may be climbing directly to a heart attack. I specialize in clients who think "exercise" is a 4-letter word and couldn't tell you where to find the nearest gym. Ask me about my 90-Day Fitness With Finesse Program."

4.You keep getting compliments on a beautiful site, but nobody's calling you.

Congratulations! You've got a work of art, but you really need a direct response advertisement.

5.You've got something at the top of your home page that isn't a headline.

A nice photo? A logo? Are you making visitors scroll down to get to your message?

6.You haven't created a path for visitors to take through your website.

Menus are great but you also need to suggest a logical sequence, from your home page to your "free stuff" and "contact" pages.

7.Your bio reads like a history lesson: where you've been, what you did, and where you went to school.

Sure, those features are important. But your bio should demonstrate why you are the best person to provide your service. Show, don't tell.

8. Your testimonials say you're "interesting" and "helpful."

Get convincing, results-oriented testimonials signed by real people. If you're a b2b, get URLs. Edit your testimonials to show how you got results.

9. No success stories.

Unlike testimonials, success stories showcase your process and need not refer to specific, identifiable people. Often this section will be the strongest client attraction magnet on your whole site.

10.You keep getting queries for the wrong service.

You're targeting HR managers. But you keep getting calls from individuals who just got handed a pink slip or the performance review from hell. Or you now offer marketing communication services and you still get calls about the time management service you offered five years ago.

When you overhaul your target market, mission or position, your copy deserves an overhaul, too. Confusion rarely leads to customers.

Bottom Line: Coy isn't what you learned in school. Your English teacher might faint dead away if she saw what you're creating. Copy for websites comes from direct mail copy -- those long mail pieces you like to toss. It's called "direct response" because people either ask for more info immediately -- or wander away forever. With TV and magazine ads, you can win customers through repetition: you're in their face.

Not so with direct response: you get one shot. And copy helps you make the most of it.

The Importance of a Website When Starting a Business

2008-04-18T09:11:00.001-05:00

By Adam Webster

The Internet is one of the first places that most people turn to when trying to find information on almost anything. Search Engine Research has shown that more and more people are using search engines in place of phone books. This is evidenced from the type of searches being made. One of the best uses of the Internet is to look for a business that will satisfy a need or provide a service. It is necessary to have a website for your business if you want to take advantage of this change in people's search habits. Of course you would also like to take advantage of the potential profit from this different market.

Do not feel overwhelmed. There are easy ways of creating a website for your business that will not break the bank.

First, it is necessary to do some homework. You must establish goals for your website. Look at other websites of potential competitors and see what is included on the website. However, sometimes cheaper is not always better. It is important that the website is searchable and will show up on major search engines. Sometimes it is necessary to pay a little more to ensure exposure. Many web desigers will tell you upfront that they do not know how to optimize a website for the search engines. This may seem unusual, however, it is the truth. Search engine optimization is a whole catagory in and of itself. Look for a web design company that will take your design, hosting and optimization into account when they build the site. This will save you money in the long run.

The next task at creating a website for a new business is to find a Webmaster. This is the person who is responsible for designing the website and is also responsible for the upkeep. This is where some serious cash can be doled out. There are solutions to this problem, however. There are web-hosting companies that are designed to be very easy to customize, allowing someone to be their own Webmaster. Do not attempt this unless you are somewhat accustomed to the Internet, otherwise you run the risk of having a website that looks unprofessional and may not be found by the search engines.

When designing the website for a new business, it is important not to go overboard. Listen to the Webmaster, but don't do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable. Make sure that the site is easily navigable. It should include a little history about the business and what goods or services are provided. If you are accepting orders for products online, then it is necessary to supply payment options and include the right forms to be filled out, including the name and address of the customer. Functionality is essential. Have the site built for the visitor not for you.

The thought of setting up a web site to promote a new business can be overwhelming. It does not need to cause undue stress. A lot of the legwork can be left up to the Webmaster. Find a Webmaster that you can trust and outline what it is you need and sit back and wait for the customers to roll in.

Why Should You Have A Web Site

2008-04-15T07:13:00.000-05:00

By Glen P Jon

An email address may have been enough at one time, but now you're ready to consider owning a website. You may be an author or an affiliate marketer who uses the given links to your major associate's website. Amazon, Ebay, Youtube, MySpace etc. don't require owning a private or company website. There is much value to owning your own website. Your product and or service(s) become more personal and you have more control over the sales operation. You automatically gain a higher status with your own web site. You gain clout. A web site is like an office. It saves you money. You can actually sell things from the site.

Statistics have proven it takes an average of seeing an ad at least 7 times or more before a prospect is convinced enough to purchase what is available. With a web site the customer can either come back to you or you can continually email them. You have the capacity to harvest email addresses when you have a web site. This allows you to be in contact with your customers and prospects.

You can actually sell your product at a lower price if you own it on your own web site. Parent sites usually give you 50% of the profit. When you operate your own website and own your product, Much more of the money comes to you. After what ever website costs, you come out with a higher net.

You get a better cost per click when advertising on paid per click search engines, if you own a web site. Provided your domain name has something to do with what you are selling, search engines will actually favor your domain. You pay less money for a click to your link when that happens. Another example would be as follows: You're an affiliate for Charlies Sweet Potatoes. You could create a site called "SweetPotatoesOfCharles Dot Com" and get all of the clicks to your site. Your prospects would be "pre-sold on the potatoes" before they clicked the parent Charlies Sweet Potatoes affiliate link. Having your own web site is truly cost effective. When you're an affiliate marketer it behooves you to keep all the clicks instead of advertising the parent company's url. It makes you the center point and everything else branches off from you.

10 Rules Of Thumb To Select A Great Domain Name

2008-04-08T09:38:00.001-05:00

By Patrice Rhoades-baum

Having a hardworking domain name for your website helps you clearly communicate with your prospects and clients. A great domain name makes it easy for prospects and clients to find your website, says something specific about you and your business, and helps protect your brand.

Here are 10 rules of thumb to select a great domain name:

1. It's easy to say.
This also means your domain name must be easy for teleclass, workshop, and radio show listeners to accurately hear.
Poor: TeamSpecialists.com
Better: TeamExperts.com

2. It's easy to spell.
Poor: PhenomenalMnemonicDevices.com
Better: GreatMemoryDevices.com
Best: MemoryDevices.com

3. It's easy to read, even when all letters are lowercase.
Poor: theenglishpoets.com
Better: englishpoets.com
Note: Make it easy for readers by capitalizing each word in your printed materials.

4. It's catchy and easy to remember.
Example (one of Taco Bell's actual domain names): FourthMeal.com
This example comes with a caveat; I don't advocate eating a fourth meal of fast food late at night!

5. It's clear, not cryptic.
Do you have a favorite phrase or industry jargon that's meaningful to you? Put yourself in your prospects' shoes: Would they have a clue what your clever domain name means?

6. It's only 1 or 2 words long (3 words is acceptable; 4 is generally too long unless the words are short).
Acceptable: WritingTipsForKids.com
Acceptable, but confusing when stated verbally: WritingTips4Kids.com

7. It has the fewest syllables possible.
Poor: ExperiencedCareerAdvisors.com
Better: CareerExperts.com

8. It communicates your business or brand.
Acceptable: JaniceJones.com
Better: JonesCPA.com

9. It ends with .com.
Let's say you want to purchase LeadershipStrategies.com, but it's already taken. Don't buy LeadershipStrategies.net. This will just confuse your clients and website visitors. Keep researching-you'll come up with a domain name that fits these criteria. Also, let's say you live in Canada; your best choices would be .com and .ca.

10. It may use hyphens but not underscores.
Poor: Janice_Jones_CPA.com
Better: Jones-CPA.com
Note: In this example, Janice Jones is wise to own at least two domain names: JonesCPA.com (her main website) and Jones-CPA.com. The latter helps protect her brand and is easier to read in printed materials. However, she must be sure to "redirect" visitors from Jones-CPA.com to her main site, JonesCPA.com.

More tips to select and purchase domain names:

Buy various versions to protect your brand-Our fictional accountant, Janice Jones, might decide to use JonesCPA.com as her main website. However, she should also purchase JonesCPA.net, JonesCPA.biz, JonesCPA.info, JaniceJones.com, JaniceJonesCPA.com, JJonesCPA.com, JonesAccounting.com, etc. This might seem expensive, but it will protect her brand if another Janice Jones exists, especially if she happens to be a CPA.

Purchase your business's tagline and book titles-If possible, purchase the tagline of your business, since this is foundational to your brand. And purchase the domain name that reflects any books or information products that you've created. You can use these domains as sales pages to sell your product as well as protect your brand.

Use redirects-If Janice Jones's main website is JonesCPA.com, all her other domain names can be set up to automatically transfer visitors to that main site. Using redirects enables visitors to arrive at your website, even if they accidentally type a slight alteration. You can also redirect your product domain name to the correlating page on your main website.

Buy common misspellings of your domain name-What if our fictional accountant's name is Janice Kavanaugh? She would be wise to purchase the domain names KavanaughCPA.com and CavanaughCPA.com.

Buy domain names with hyphens-In print, domain names with hyphens are easier to read. Also, buying versions of your domain names with hyphens can help protect your brand.

Use www.webtivitydomains.com to brainstorm and find available names-This website offers an easy tool to quickly brainstorm oodles of potential domain names for your business. You can purchase domain names at WebtivityDomains.com, GoDaddy.com, and multiple other websites.

Make the investment now, don't wait-If you have an idea for a book or information product that you may someday create, be sure to snap up the available domain name now. Great domain names are rare and precious commodities!

When selecting a great domain name, explore lots of possibilities, think about what various domain names might communicate to prospects and clients, and have fun!

Choosing a Web Site Development Firm - What you need to know

2008-04-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

By Jayna Lowe

Start with collecting a list of design firms by searching online and asking friends for referrals. Theoretically you could locate any web development firm in the world to produce your website, however there are some advantages to choosing a local firm, especially if you are less experienced with the process. You will have the benefit of meeting and discussing ideas face-to-face, and if you require other services such as photography and video production, you have the option of doing everything 'under the same roof.'

Once you have generated a list of web design firms, narrow your options down to the best 3 - 5 firms you feel suit your requirements by doing a little more research. First, check out each design firm's portfolio for consistent quality in the projects they have produced. Have they provided solutions for other companies in your industry? By examining their portfolio, you should be able to grasp a better understanding of styles and variety that they will be able to offer. What technical applications will your website require? Check out if the design firm has provided solutions to the challenges you are facing. Do they provide ecommerce solutions? Do they offer hosting?

Determine what other products / services the company can offer for your future covenience. Does the design firm offer printing solutions that will enable them to deliver your print needs from concept to completion? Do they offer e-mail marketing software for email marketing campaigns? Photography, video & audio production and copywriting are all value-added services that could be considered.

The more defined your website ideas and marketing objectives, the smoother your project will run. To further define your companies goals and objectives take the time to consider and answer the following:

Who is your target audience?

What is your intended goal for the project?

What is your message?

What are the technical requirements for your website? (Ecommerce, SEO, video?)

Timeframes?

Budget?

Think about your favorite styles, and collect a list of your favorite websites. A good development firm will be able assist you in developing your ideas further and give you feedback on attaining your objects.

Review and compare proposals and presentations. How was their response time? Did the firm demonstrate an understanding of your objectives? Are they able to meet all your needs? Can they deliver on time? Once you are satisfied the web development firm can meet all of your requirements - contact the firm and get started!

Dress Your Sales Pages For Success - 5 Tips For Creating Appealing Sales Pages

2008-04-03T07:28:00.000-05:00

By Elizabeth Adams

You can dramatically improve the effectiveness of your sales pages by dressing up their visual presentation.

When you do this, your sales pages will be:

easier to read,
easier to understand, and
aesthetically pleasing.

If, on a an effectiveness scale of 1-10, your sales page ranks somewhere between 1-3, you can quickly and easily improve them by applying 5 simple design tips. When you do, the effectiveness of your sales pages can take a quantum leap.

The 5 tips you will want to apply to every sales page are

1) Line Length:

Shorten your line length to about 60 characters.

Beyond about 60 characters, the human eye has a hard time finding its way back to the first letter of the next line. People tend to simply stop reading rather than to continue the struggle.

2) Font Type:

Switch to Verdana or Tahoma because they have rounder letters and a more "open" look that makes them much easier to read on the screen.

A "squeezed-up" font like Arial is difficult to read on the screen because the skinny letters seem to run together, especially in large blocks of text. People will leave it and go on to something else.

3) Font Size:

Increase your font size to 16-pixels so that it looks like 12-point Verdana in an email. This makes your sales copy easy and inviting to read.

Characters that are too small cause eye strain for many people, and a whole long scrolling page of itty bitty characters is just simply too daunting for them.

4) White Space:

Increase your margin/padding so that the overall effect looks like a regular letter with a 6-inch line and a 1½" margin on the left and a 1" margin on the right, laying on a desktop of deep blue, for preference, but other colors are all right, too.

White space is actually a "design element" and web pages with too little white space appear cramped and constipated.

5) Micro Headlines:

Bold the first few words of each paragraph as a way of leading the eye into reading the rest of it.

Many paragraphs of text without a break tend to intimidate readers to the point where they'll scroll right past it. In order to get them to *read* each paragraph, you've got to catch their attention and *sell* them on the idea of reading the rest it.

These 5 "dress-for-success" changes will make a big difference in how inviting your sales page appears to the person who has just landed on it.

Why Should You Invest in a Good Design For Your Website?

2008-04-02T09:05:00.002-05:00

By Ryan Ginster
For most people, their website is their shop-front. This is where they conduct their businesses from. The website plays a significant role in deciding the impression for their business, and gives people evidence that your business really exists. If you are operating online, people will not know you are for real unless you have a good website laid out for them. In the online world, the cover is just as important as the book. That is the reason why your website design must rock.

This is quite analogous to the brick and mortar companies. No one will want tumbledown premises for their office or their employees to be dressed in shoddy wear. Just as looks are important in physical offices, website design is important in online businesses. The message you are sending out with a great website design is - we care about quality!

Your website must not look like Frankenstein's monster that has been put together in bits and pieces. This is akin to standing on the tallest steeple in your town and proclaiming to everyone that you are unprofessional and you care two hoots for quality and impressions.

Rather, if your website is professionally designed, people will know that you give attention to everywhere. This means you are professional. It means that you are well-organized and you are here for real business, and not just a college-time hobby.

Good design extends to everything related to your company. All your stationery must be great to look at - this includes your business cards, letterheads, promotional brochures and everything else. These are the representatives of your business. You cannot afford them to be shabby and shoddy and malign your business where it really matters - in the eyes of your potential customers.

Ten Things You Should Know About Search Engine Optimization

2008-04-01T07:37:00.001-05:00

By Sandra Lightowler

Studies have shown that e-mail is the most popular Internet application, followed by search. With the profusion of websites that deal with the similar topic, the competition to get to the top of search engine ranking is very intense. After all, the higher your website is ranked the more traffic you are likely to get; and higher traffic ultimately translates to higher income.

The techniques used for achieving high search engine ranking are called search engine optimization, more commonly known as SEO. Because SEO is still in its infancy, there is still a lot of trial and error in finding the perfect strategy. There are however, a few techniques that are popularly used by website owners to help enhance search visibility and achieve a higher search ranking for their websites.

Here a few factors to take into consideration when deciding on a strategy to improve your search engine ranking:

1. All major search engines including Google have their own different search algorithms for ranking web pages. It is almost impossible to get to know what these secret algorithms are and even if you did, it would be impossible to satisfy them all.

2. Do a fair bit of research before choosing your keywords. Using the keywords as your major competitors may be an exercise in futility as they obviously have more resources and have already established themselves. Employ tools such as Wordtracker which is excellent for helping with keyword research.

3. Focusing on increasing your traffic is more financially rewarding than working to simply increasing your search engine rankings. You may succeed in getting a higher ranking with some ambiguous keyword, but that definitely does not guarantee traffic.

4. Don't get taken in by SEO firms that offer to submit your site to different search engines. Search engines have their own spiders that crawl the internet, following different links that take them from one site to the next. They do not require any site to be submitted.

5. Remember that what counts with links is that they should be from related sites. Getting links from sites that are not related to yours are detrimental to your site ranking and should not be sought after.

6. Avoid seeking links from Link farms. Cottoning on to the fact that several websites were using link farms to increase the number of links to their site, major search engines now penalise those websites that get large number of links using artificial means.

7. Create your content for your users. Developing gateway pages that are crammed with keywords is sure to have a detrimental effect on the quality of your content. And content that does not meet certain standards is not going to entice your readers to come back for more.

8. Text links fare better than images, primarily because search engines are incapable of determining the contents by scanning the images. Instead, your site will be assessed by the words that are present in the source code.

9. Search engine crawlers are also incapable of indexing Flash. This means static HTML text usually fare better than sites that are flash based and should be used whenever possible.

10. It often takes time to climb to the top. A lot of patience combined with following some of the basic rules of search engine rankings is sure to pay off in the end. Don't be deterred by rumours of Google sandbox, where new sites are barred from achieving a high ranking for several months. These are just baseless rumours and nobody has proven whether or not it really exists.

Should You Use A 'Splash Page' For Your Website?

2008-03-25T07:32:00.001-05:00

By Fabian Tan

Some people say that using a splash page as your home page is a bad idea. And that's true. You shouldn't use a splash page as your home page for search engine optimization purposes. Search engines love content, and having a splash page as your home page defeats your purpose of ranking well in the search engines, if that is one of your goals.

A splash page actually is a good idea - if you don't use it as your home page.

For example, a splash page on a traffic exchange is an excellent strategy and it's actually one of the best ways to eke out results from traffic exchanges.

You can set your splash page as an extension. For example, yourdomain.com/splash.html. Then use that for appropriate marketing channels. A splash page works well to get a visitor interested in a site because it's consistent two-step marketing. Get someone to do something, and he is likely to follow-up on whatever you tell him to do next!

So go and create a simple splash page now and use it for marketing channels like traffic exchanges, classified ads, pay per click ads etc. Splash pages are uncannily effective when the situation calls for something less cluttered and more attention grabbing. For the traffic sources mentioned above, splash pages definitely fit the mold.

Hire a graphic designer to create a snazzy graphic for you to use on your splash page. After all, the goal of your page is to capture immediate attention! You can even create a simple Flash movie or even include a video there.

Web Site Maintenance Essentials

2008-03-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

By Stacy Hensley

We all know that the design of any site is a key factor to building traffic that keeps coming back. Another key factor to keeping people interested is web site maintenance. When a site isn't maintained regularly it becomes obvious to your visitors and they won't continue to return. If you don't take the time to update the site then they won't waste their time visiting. Below you will learn a few simple maintenance steps to keep your site updated.

First, always keep your contact information updated. If you change email addresses remember to update this on all your sites. Nothing looks worse than when someone tries to contact you and the email is returned or they get an invalid email error.

Secondly, be sure and keep any copyright notices updated. If I visit a site and see the copyright is from 2006 then I know the webmaster doesn't spend much time updating the site. Small things such as this will be noticed by many people. So to keep the site looking professional be sure to do the small updates as well as the bigger ones.

Finally, update your content regularly. Fresh information will keep people coming back to see what's new about any subject. Visitors will see that you regularly add new content and they will come back often to check it out. If it's possible add dates to your content. This let's them see how frequently you update.

Maintenance is just 1 of many key factors to running a successful web site. I find it helpful to set aside a couple of hours on a certain day each week just for updating. This way it is on my schedule of things to do and it doesn't get overlooked. Scheduling web site tasks makes it easy to keep up with what needs to be done at certain times. Running a web site is not always easy, but by putting in the time and effort required you get rewarded with great results.

10 Common Mistakes In Naming A Website

2008-03-20T09:31:00.001-05:00

By Andy Greider

A website by any other name, would not be so sweet....or so says the cyber-bard. Many times when we're picking a site url, we fall prey to classic mistakes - here are the most common pieces of advice people fail to heed:

1. If you buy a .net instead of a .com - you will likely send more than 15% of your potential repeat business to the .com - often a huge competitor.

2. Not buying the .net, .org, .info, etc of your own name - to protect it on down the line. Serious online businesses should own all, and all should point to the .com. This is simple and the cost upfront is minuscule compared to the cost of lost sales on down the line. In addition, buying only the singular or plural of bikes.com or bike.com - try for both and again stop sending your clients to the competition.

3. Using a number in your domain name, such as FreeAdvice4Life.com, but not purchasing the freeadviceforlife.com address. Be sure to buy as many variations as you can afford, at least of the .com.

3. Keep it short and sweet - urls of less than 7 letters or digits work well. Others are very forgettable. Phone numbers are 7 digits for a reason - and the world isn't getting any better at paying attention to details or retention. So keep it short, keep it simple.

4. Companies often choose a name and begin to branch out to other countries with a name that doesn't translate well. Nothing worse than being an url that gains traction here and then becoming a whole new entity in another country - or finding your name insults someone's mother in another language. It is, after all, the world wide web.

5. Do not use two different names - one for your company - one for the web address. A big mistake many folks make is doing something like: Consultants R Us as the name, then CRUS.com as the web address...or worse yet - with hyphens consultants-r-us.com.

6. Be sure you aren't getting too close to the bone on a new name - or too closely emulating a trademarked name with cache value - and a large legal department. Doing so can crush a young company. Just when you gain momentum, they notice you - and you go away.

7. Coming up with a word without a current meaning and then expecting people to recall it without spending millions on new ads or finding you as clever as you did upon naming the company.

8. Forgetting that a name online has to "paint a picture" - Sam's Bikes On Main doesn't work online. Trying for something that is online oriented works much better than simply transferring a brick-n-mortar name to the internet.

9. Working on a new company name without first checking for the url availability. There is nothing worse than hitting paydirt on a great name to find out the url isn't available. Check all of them before presenting.

(check your url's availability: webtivitydomains.com )

10. Not buying potential misspellings - especially if your web address is something easily misspelled. Most people count on the average web surfer to be a deft typist, and it simply isn't the case.

Trust Is Everything in E-mail Marketing

2008-03-19T12:41:00.000-05:00

By John Bradley Jackson

Trust is hard to define, but we know it when we see it or feel it. And this is particularly true with e-mail marketing. The truest measure of trust in commercial e-mail marketing may be the "reputation score" which is calculated by all the individual ISPs.

A reputation score is a complex algorithm used by the ISPs to calculate a score that reflects the sender's deliverability. This reputation score can determine whether your e-mails will be delivered to the inbox, the bulk email folder, or not delivered at all. The reputation score criteria can include the frequency or history of email campaigns, bounce back percentages, opt-in abuse, spam complaints, sender authentication, accreditation services, and many others.

The major ISP spam filters care less and less about how your subject line reads or the words used. Instead they focus on the sender's reputation. This applies to Hotmail, Gmail, EarthLink, Yahoo!, and AOL. I have read that subject line words may account for less than 80% of sender reputation score.

And this applies to unsolicited e-mails and to e-mails from trusted senders which were opted-in. Instead of hitting the unsubscribe key to opt-out of a newsletter, as many as 20% of e-mail recipients hit the spam key. Why? It is an easy way to end the relationship. This finding is per recent survey by eMarketer in 2007.

This means is that increasingly companies and individuals are growing less tolerant of unwanted and irrelevant e-mails. The key to maintaining a good reputation score may be keyed to relevancy. If your e-mail provides value or desired information to the recipient you will be considered relevant. If not, you are just spam.

Emails - Why Do You Hit Delete?

2008-03-13T08:18:00.000-05:00

By Peg Baron

We all do it.

We open an email, start reading a few words and then think, "I don't have time for this." We hit the delete button and go on our merry way. Sometimes we don't even open up the email before we get trigger happy with that delete button.

The next time you stretch your right pinky finger (or pointer finger for the hunt and peck types) over to the delete button, stop and ask yourself why. Why are you deleting? If you can see the "whys", then you can turn it around to see what not to do when you send out emails to your own list.

What time of the day is it?
You might think this is a silly question at first blush, but it is important. Do you find yourself consistently deleting emails between the hours of 10:00 am and 4:00 pm? If you do, maybe it's because this is the time when you need to accomplish something, whether it's at a real JOB or with your internet business. I think you might find that most people read their emails and are more likely to buy first thing in the morning, or in the evening after dinner time.

Too many promotions and no real content from this person?
There are times when you look at the sender's name and groan... not another promotion. Since it's easier to resist their pitch if you don't open their email, you hit the delete as fast as you can. Don't be that guy. Send some useful info just for the heck of it, without strings attached.

Too many emails from this sender.
Some people just won't leave you alone! Even emails that aren't trying to sell us something become intrusive when they come way too often. It's like your mother calling you twice a day. You like her, but not that much. Decide what is right for your list and your niche; even once a week may be too often, and twice a day definitely is!

This sender has lost your trust.
Maybe it's all the hype words in their email - "killer!", "this will make you an overnight gazillionaire!", "he's the real deal!", etc. Perhaps you bought into the hype and bought the product only to be disappointed big time. Now you have a hard time believing anything they say. Make sure you're not one of these types by really reading through and perhaps testing out a product you want to promote. Sure it takes a little time, but your credibility has a price tag and you can't be bought, right?

Who the heck is this person?
Sometime we get emails and don't recognize the signature line at all. "Do I know him?", "Did I opt-in for something that I don't remember?", "Is this a virus?" We've all gotten plenty of unsolicited email and it's maddening to spend precious time on these. The point I'm trying to make here is that you have to send emails to your lists regularly so they remember who you are. You can't send out a couple emails right after they sign up and then not send anything for 2 months. As unflattering as it sounds, people won't remember you.

These are only a few reasons why you might delete an email. Only you know for sure. The next time you hit delete, take a moment to think about why. When you have reasons for the "whys", you can take a good hard look at the emails you send. That way you can do your best not to have your emails be a delete statistic.

Website Marketing Basics - Getting Seen

2008-03-12T12:23:00.001-05:00

By Eric Menzies

It is absolutely crucial to have a detailed and informed marketing plan for any website connected to a business. Online business is still a brand-new concept that has brand new rules. Some site are connected to real-space businesses, some have no presence except what you see on the net, but all need to have strong and achievable goals motivated by marketing keys. These foundational concepts follow directly from 'old' media ideas, and while they need to be implemented differently, the constructs of attention, interest, desire and action still need to be incorporated into your plan. This article will focus on getting attention.

No matter what the media, nothing happens unless you attract the attention of prospective buyers. This a foundation of the successful marketing of any business. In internet marketing this concept is often evaluated by the traffic that you receive to your web site. However, the factors that determine how much traffic you can generate are only somewhat related to the actual content of your web site. The amount of traffic you can generate to your web site comes down to how skillful you are at the two fundamental ways one gets attention in any media. You can earn it, or you can buy it.

On the internet earning your traffic results in you being found in what are called the 'free' or 'organic' search results on the major search engines such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo. When your prospective customers do a search on terms of interest to them using one of the major search engines they will be presented with a list of web pages found that the search engine believes is the most relevant to them. These are the 'free' or 'organic' results. They will also see ads, but that will be discussed below. Many people are under the assumption that the highest raking results they get on a search engine are the 'best' in some way. In this game it really is winners take all! If you are not on the first page of results the attention you attract is greatly diminished. In fact, if you don't make it to the second page of results, then you often might as well not even be in the listings at all because folks usually won't search past the second page at most. This type of web site marketing is often referred to as 'search engine optimization.' You can hire a search engine marketing firm or learn how to do it yourself. Winning at this game is not rocket science, but it is part science and part art that requires a constant work and attention to maintain your success.

Buying your traffic on the internet is usually done by purchasing some form of advertising from someone who already has high traffic to their web site or email contact list. The most widely used forms of advertising are the banner advertisement and text advertisements. Banner advertisements were all the rage when the internet first became popular. However, their effectiveness diminished greatly to a point where many people began to see them as a waste of money. However, they can be used effectively as long as you have a plan and clearly track your return on investment. More common now are text advertisements which were largely brought into the forefront by Google. You can see Google text advertisements on their search results pages and on millions of individual web sites across the internet. If you want to generate traffic fast, and are willing to pay the money to do so, text advertisement are the most popular method. Google, MSN, and Yahoo are the major players in this market, but Google is still clearly the big dog in this pack.

As you can see your web site marketing strategy must first be focused on getting attention. Attention first requires that someone is exposed to your message. You can earn the exposure, you can buy it, or like many businesses you can do both. Earning the attention is a long term focus and requires skill and consistent commitment of resources. However, it pays off almost indefinitely and likely much cheaper in the long run than buying it. Buying the attention is much faster to get results and allows you to test ideas without committing the resources to earn attention. Any comprehensive web site marketing strategy is likely to include both methods.

Web Development - Boon for Small Businesses

2008-03-10T11:03:00.000-05:00

By Rob Bertholf

Nothing has revolutionized this earth so much as the wide world of web. This invisible technological and digital force has made this whole world as one small global village through its amazing inter personal communication skills. Nobody ever imagined that what started off as a military program could revolutionize mankind in such a large scale. Internet has made a very steep and quick leap and it has become a part of every household and business concerns world wide.

So how did this wide world of web grow into such a big network? Initially the internet was used for email purposes and for general information purposes for the government policies and other things. Slowly this utility started growing into personal web sites and business promotion web sites. Then the social web sites increased the viewer traffic and today the whole world communicates laughs and even cries over the internet and not to mention the online weddings and divorces.

Today internet serves as the universal shopping mall and an open arena for all business concerns. Web sites serve as their formal office room through which they open up to the whole world. These web sites like the real offices are designed and equipped according to the individual preferences. Just like business promotion web promotion is done to popularize the web sites to get many viewers to see and appreciate it or for that matter purchase the products or services promoted by it. Some of the main web development tools are web design, client side coding, server side coding, web server, content management and development and e-commerce shopping cart for business development etc. so web development is a combination of multiple functions and generally a team work is need to accomplish the task of promoting and developing a web site. A web master is usually the one who is into this web development work.

Many online web development tools are available to facilitate and quicken the task of the web masters. Today anyone with very little web designing skill can design the layout of the web page, the content and extra features and actually start rolling it out in the free domains with no cost at all. But when you really want to start a proper and profitable business online a professionally designed web site can be the best bet.

Professionally designed web sites might be a very costly affair but it is a good one time investment. Many web designers undertake to even maintain the web site and so there will be very little work for you regarding the maintenance of the site. Online business is fast catching up and more and more people turn to shop online as it is time saving and cost effective. Moreover they are exposed to a wide range of products and it is easy to compare prices and the quality. Thus web promotion has also become a very good money making business opportunity for all who have both the skill and creativity to provide the client with the type of design he needs and also what the viewer might possibly like.

How do you develop a strong internet presence?

2008-03-06T08:17:00.001-05:00

By Andy Eliason

Website design and maintenance, in their respective ratios, are key ingredients to developing a powerful Internet presence. These items are interwoven with each other because one element of the recipe alone isn't enough. The greatest website designs can quickly fall into disrepair and all the maintenance work in the world won't save a fundamentally flawed website. Only when they work together can you count on establishing yourself online.

Website design and maintenance begins with a few important questions about the site. These are important because if you aren't sure about these things, there's no way your customers will be sure about them either.

First: What is the point of your website? Is it to build brand awareness? Provide product or academic information? Sell advertising space or facilitate the selling of your products or services? Whatever it is, make sure that your purpose is clear and distinct.

Next: What are your goals? You've decided on a purpose, now you have to settle on exactly what you want to accomplish. You have to know what you consider a success and what you consider failure.

Now when you are settling on your design concepts you need to ask yourself what image do you want to project? Are you being consistent from page to page? And are you presenting your message clearly?

Usability is a major part of website design and maintenance. This starts with your site navigation, which could include sidebar navigation, tabs, search fields, site maps, bottom links, or any combination of the above (without overdoing it, of course). But the only way to really get a sense for the usability of a site is to actually test it. Real people. Real tests. This is the only way to discover those little glitches that are just laying in wait for an unsuspecting customer to stumble into it. The Mighty Glitch can chase away or devour more customers than you might like to think.

Once you've discovered the glitches and decided on a course of action to correct the problem or problems, it is vitally important that you actually implement the changes. You can't let the action get lost in the plans. The follow through is possibly one of the most important aspects of website maintenance. Until something is done about your site you're just going to simmer in the same place with the same ranking, never reaching your full online potential.

Another important aspect of website design and maintenance is the content. You've heard that content is king a million times, and with good reason. Content is what a search engine can read, categorize, and rank. So if you want to succeed online, you've got to have content and it's got to be search engine friendly.

Search engine "friendliness" doesn't stop at content, though. Properly used hyperlinks, meta tags, keyword density, title tags, and other items all figure in to your search engine visibility.

Now you've built a nice website that presents a clear message and will likely help you achieve your goals. What's next?

Remember that the Internet is inherently an interactive medium. Consumers turn to the Internet because they expect at least a certain level of input. So when you design your site you ought to include at least some type of customer communication. Ideally this will include you complete contact information and a "contact us" form.

Finally there is the Extended Maintenance Plan. Once all the design issues are in place you have to be willing to commit to keeping the site in peak condition. The Internet is nothing if not intensely competitive, and if you start to let it slide down that slippery slope there's no telling where it will end.

The good news is that you can plan for a lot of this in the beginning of the process. As you build your site and your web presence you can build in scalability and ease of updating. Make sure that your great content can be changed or updated quickly and easily. This includes the ability to add new pages to cover new products, services, or topics.

Always remember, website design and maintenance are two parts of a greater whole. Keep this in mind and you can build more than a simple website. You will create a powerful web presence.