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Monthly Archives: May 2010
WS – Do You Need a Web Designer Or a Web Developer?
Look and Feel Hooks the Visitor Your website literally has only seconds to make a good impression on your site visitor. Whether they realize it or not, people surfing the Internet are quick to judge. They are ready to jump ship – so to speak – at a moment’s notice. That is precisely why you need to know if your web professional has design skills. Web designers have the skills and knowledge it takes to create attractive layouts and color schemes that lead the site visitor through the material on the page in a predetermined manner. By using a variety of design techniques, design professionals draw attention to specified areas of the web page according to a hierarchy. So, if your website had a primary goal of signing up members for a newsletter and a secondary goal of contacting you with questions, the web designer would design the web page to draw the attention of the visitor to those areas of your site in that order. As you can see, the designer’s skill set is directly related to keeping you visitor on the site and directing attention to the proper place. Accomplishing this in a subtle manner takes creativity, something that designers possess in abundance. Functionality and Ease of Use Keeping someone on your website is great, but if they have a hard time getting things done, they’ll get frustrated and leave. This is where the developer comes in – well, sort of. Because ease of use is subjective and programmers are usually more objective in nature, you may have a different view of what is “easy” to use. But the key is whether your web professional can make the website do whatever it is you’ve determined “easy” to be. An example might be a sign up form. You decide that it is not very practical to have your site visitor fill out 30 fields only to have it display an error and require that the form be completed again if they enter an improper zip code. You determine that the solution is to have the website check each field as it is being filled out. “If an invalid value is typed in”, you say, “I want the visitor to be notified immediately”. Well, a developer can make this happen. Web developers are programmers and their job is to make the website do what you want it to do. These type of individuals usually are trained in following specific protocols and are not as free thinking as designers. The bottom line is that you’ll want both skill sets. A web designer to help you direct the visitor to a specific goal and make them feel good about doing it, and a web developer to make your site serve the wants and needs of the visitor to make it easier for the visitor to use the site. Some individuals are familiar with both aspects of building a website. However, if you find out before the project begins, you’ll be in a better position to make your hiring decision. Matt has been using web technologies for over ten years and continues creating websites for small businesses in Missouri and through out the country. He also maintains information websites for Branson vacations and Tri-Lakes business directory listings in an effort to assist visitors to the Branson area. Source: Ezine Continue reading
Posted in Social Marketing, Web Business, Website Templates, Website Tools
Tagged Website Tools
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SEO – 6 Traits of Websites That Generate Business Leads
What makes some websites attract prospects and generate business leads while others languish? One thing is certain, it’s no accident. Regardless of the product or service being offered, great lead generating sites typically share these best-practices: 1. They Burst With Good Content When ready to buy, prospects search the web for informative “good content” — information they can use to make the right choice. When a site offers “how to” booklets, instructional videos, or tips and techniques from a firm’s subject matter experts, prospects gladly provide their contact information to receive it — generating solid leads. 2. They Are “Content Optimized” Search engine optimization can get prospects to a site, but if there is nothing to keep them there, it’s a short visit. That’s why every page of lead generating sites is both optimized and packed with solid informational content that gives prospects a reason to ask for more. 3. They Are Simple and Easy to Use The best lead generating sites read like highway signs, not reference libraries. Sites that use simple language, sparse graphics, and put their good content right up front attract and hold prospects long enough for them to reach out for more information and become leads. 4. They Provide Real-Time Information Marketing, sales, and top management need to know what’s happening on their website in real time. They want to know who is visiting the site, what they are interested in, and why — to create new content to keep a steady stream of fresh leads flowing. The best sites provide this information through an easy-to-use dashboard available to all management levels. 5. They Can Be Easily Changed Lead generating sites need to change frequently to reflect prospect interests. Yet all too many websites sit behind a “Chinese Wall”, where only a technical person can change the site. When the time needed for changes stretches into days or weeks, these sites fall hopelessly behind more nimble competitors. 6. They Also Reach Out to Customers Each new website blog post is a great way to stay on the radar of both prospects and customers. By getting permission to email each new post to their house list, lead-savvy firms insure that past and present customers get the same good content as prospects. Download FREE eBooklet A FREE eBooklet titled “How To Turn Your Website Into a Lead Machine” is available now. It explains how Content Marketing can convert a “brochure-ware” website into a lead machine. To download, go to http://www.leadsource.com/ezine Source: Ezine Continue reading
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, SEO Tips, Social Marketing, Web Business, Website Designe, Website Templates
Tagged SEO Tips
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SEO – Search Engine Optimization – A Simple Way to Get on The First Page of Google
Here’s the basics of the strategy: – pick a domain rich keyword – build a website around one keyword (a “mini website”) – make a few posts about that keyword – build a few links to the site – the site ranks on Google Basic, I know, but I’ve been seeing really cool results with it… I’ve found that the sites absolutely crush the search engines. And there’s one little trick – you have get the keyword in the domain, because that ranks super high on the search engines. This was a big revelation and I always believed the theory that having your keywords in the domain didn’t matter… well… * MYTH BUSTED * In fact, I’ve looked at a bunch of different examples, and they all have had the same results – when the keyword is in the domain, getting it to the top of Google is a piece of cake. Here, let me tell you about my friend’s site… The keyword she is targeting is “Voice Lessons Online” and the website is VoiceLessonsOnline.org – you can take a look if you want to see an example. Anyway, she bought the domain name VoiceLessonOnline.org because it had her key phrase in the actual domain. You see what I mean? You’ll notice that there’s barely any content on that site… there are three or four good posts, and an affiliate product is being sold. What is on the site isn’t really that important, because not much money is being made from the site, so some “tweaking” is probably in order, but that site is ranking #4 for the term “voice lessons online”, which gets over THREE THOUSAND searches per month. That’s great stuff… especially when you haven’t been doing this for very long at all. So here’s what she did: – Step One: She bought a domain with her key term in the domain. – Step Two: Installed WordPress on the domain and made a few good, quality posts (notice that she used YouTube videos and such for content, as well.) – Step Three: She pinged the articles and submitted the site to Digg.com – Step Four: She hired somebody (paid him $35) to build some social profile links to the site – you can build whatever types of links that you want – this is just what I did. – Step 5: She waited. VERY QUICKLY, the site ranked in the 10-12 spot on Google for it’s key term, and about eight weeks later (without ever touching the site since), it jumped to position #4. Imagine if she had been actually WORKING on the site! This was very encouraging. This strategy just WORKS. So I’m just gonna be honest with you – the site isn’t making like a full-time income or anything… but heck, she hasn’t touched the site since it was built. And a few more links could probably help it get even higher in the search engines… I mean, if she can get to the top of Google without even really doing anything – just because the keyword was in the domain… heck, that’s like, instant traffic, right? So imagine how easy it would be to build a list when the traffic is coming in? Or put AdSense on the site? You see what I mean? My friend was super encouraged. So anyway, I just thought maybe that would help you out… keyword in the domain + good quality posts + a few links + some time = rankings! Again… imagine if she had actually been “working” on the site! Brittany has been writing articles for nearly 1 year. Come visit her latest website about bedspreads coverlets and find sales, specials, and deals on bedspreads coverlets . Source: Ezine Continue reading