Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
I’ve gotten email asking about how to leave comments so that they are full of SEO goodness.
Blogs and forums have the best potential for leaving comments.
Blogs
In blogs, they usually ask for your name, email address, your web site address (URL), and your comment. When the comment is approved, they link your name to your web site, next to your comment.
If they do not ask for the website URL, they can’t link to it and you don’t get any goodness from the comment. Look at other comments on the site and check if any of them are linked to external sites.
It is possible to put your URL in the comment itself. Sometimes it automatically becomes an active link and sometimes it just sits there looking like text. At least someone could copy and paste it, but that’s 3 steps harder than a real link. Check other comments to see how it works.
If you just throw your URL in the comment, it looks kind of spammy, so I wouldn’t do that. If there was a legitimate reason to put your URL in there, you might get away with it.
In order of effectiveness: 1. a blog that links your name, 2. a good reason to put your URL in a comment that is linked, 3. a good reason to put your URL in a comment that is NOT linked, 4. no reason to put your URL in a comment that is linked, 5. no reason to put your URL in a comment that is linked, 6. writing your comment on a piece of paper and leaving it on the sidewalk.
The 10 for 10 Challenge
One thing you might be tempted to do, if you’ve read my SEO book, is use your keywords as your “Name”. The good thing is that your site gets the benefit of not only getting a link, but the link is for your keywords. The problem with this is that everyone knows you are playing the system if you say your name is “Handmade Jewelry”. You lose credibility with the readers and the blog owner probably won’t even approve that comment, so you’ve wasted your time and annoyed the owner.
If you are a FireFox user (and why wouldn’t you be?), there’s a plug named “easyComment”, for the browser that populates common blog comment forms automatically. Install it, fill out the preferences with your name and URL, then any time you are on a blog post with a comment form, click the button and your name and URL are put into the form.
easyComment can be downloaded from here: easyComment https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9095/
Forums
Forums are a bit different. Again, check to see what others are doing and how the links work. Usually, you will have to create a profile with a “signature”. The signature is a bit of text that is inserted at the bottom of each of your posts, like a signature. Put your URL in there. Link it using your keywords if possible.
It’s possible to put your URL into the body of your post, but again, don’t just throw it in there. Have a good reason for mentioning it. “I was just discussing that very issue yesterday on my blog. See my post here: http://www.yoursite.com/post.html”. That’s a reasonable thing to do.
Try to use your keywords, but not too blatantly. Make sure they are giving you a real, working link. Check the other comments and posts to make sure you understand how that site works. Be interesting, genuine, authoritive, humble, and helpful.
You do want links for their SEO goodness, but you also want real people to be interested enough to come check out your site and start a conversation. Write for real people first, then review for keywords for the search engines second.
Now, go out there and leave some comments!
Posted in web traffic |
Friday, May 14th, 2010
A couple weeks ago, I asked which book I should write next. I was considering a book on Etsy specific marketing or a more general Internet Marketing book.
It will look nothing like this.
I offered a $10 discount coupon for anything in the walton.com store for anyone who responded. Those coupons have been sent, so if you answered the survey and didn’t get your code, send me an email and let me know.
Etsy has put a lot of people on the mailing list, so I figured that would be the clear winner, but there are people who have never heard of Etsy on the list.
There are also a surprising number of people who have Etsy shops, but are tired of the fees and lack of control, so they are looking for other ways to market their product.
The clear winner is the book on Internet Marketing.
It was split evenly between people who like “step by step” instructions and those who like “general principles”. I guess I’ll have to write it from both perspectives and do both!
I will be working on the book over the next couple weeks, so if you have any suggestions or specific questions you want addressed, please leave them in the comments below.
Thanks to everyone who responded. You guys rock.
Posted in marketing |
Thursday, April 1st, 2010
I’m sitting at my computer, working away on a client’s new web site and I see a bunch of downloads of my SEO book in my email. I also see an email from Etsy. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Sure enough, they mentioned the forum thread about SEO help written by Warmth’s Felt Mice and Mouse Ornaments about her positive experiences with the book (for which I am eternally grateful).
If that’s you, welcome! Please stay and look around a bit. After you read the book, come back and check out some of my other articles here. There are plenty on the home page and you can search for more.
If you are interested in having your very own web site, here’s a new page that I just published days ago about a new web site deal.
$50 Off – Gain Control With Your Own Web Site.
In the last newsletter, I gave out a coupon code worth $50 off the normal $150 price of a web site installation. If you email me and can tell me how many other forum posts were mentioned in the email from Danille, I’ll give you the same $50 off.
Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you enjoy the book and the site.
If you have any specific questions, please leave a comment below.
Posted in crafts |
Thursday, March 18th, 2010
My wife looking for sea glass on a recent trip to Jalama Beach
If you read “The Care And Feeding Of Search Engines, A Simple Guide To SEO“, you know that there are many, many things that you can do to increase your search engine optimization and get more traffic.
The very easiest way to get traffic is to comment on other people’s blogs and leave a link to your site. They usually link your name to your site. Don’t be obnoxious about it. Don’t oversell yourself or be rude, but leaving a link is common and acceptable.
The other benefit of commenting on other people’s blogs is that they usually read your comments. If you are witty and relevant enough, they might even come check out your site. If you have great content on your site, (and you do, right?), then they might even become a fan of yours. Maybe they become a friend. Poof! A relationship is born.
The hard part of commenting on other people’s site is that it takes time. You don’t see results right away.
I nagged coached Deborah, my wife’s friend with the sea glass jewelry site, to leave comments. (Did you notice that? I linked to her again. Darn, she’s good.) Her attitude was “Yeah. Yeah. Whatever…” but I kept after her. She tried hard, but it was difficult to keep up the energy when the results don’t come quickly.
She checks the number of inbound links to her site using Site Explorer, a tool I discuss in the book.
I got this email from her recently.
We’ll today I’m officially over a thousand. Am I supposed to put this in a diary of something? I remember in late October when you were on me about having 46…It was drudgery to even think about posting comments, etc. Now it’s the 1st thing I do for work every morning. Thanks for the push.
-Deborah
It warms my little heart. Yes, she went from 46 inbound links to over a thousand. It took her 5 months. She achieved it. Along the way, she’s made new friends and her site is better known to the community.
I’m so proud.
Posted in SEO |
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
I'm sorry for everyone who doesn't live in Los Angeles,
but this was the sunset on New Year's Day.
This is my New Year’s post, as required by the Federation of Internet Marketing Bloggers.
Looking back over the last year, it’s shocking to me to see how my goals for the business have changed. When I started out, I was a web developer, building small businesses web sites. That was working well, but it was, well, work. Find a client, sell a client, build a site, be done with it.
I was looking for more of a partnership with someone. I wanted to be able to share what I’ve learned about Internet marketing and building web sites with someone who would benefit from it. I have the tools and I needed someone who needed the tools.
Then I found Deborah at Mermaids Purse Sea Glass. She was a friend of my wife’s who needed some help on her web site. She had a product that was very cool, that people would buy if it was marketed well. At my wife’s urging, we built her a site.
I always thought that everyone was just like me and knew this Internet stuff, but it was all new and exciting stuff for Deborah. I was as excited to show her as she was excited to learn it. As I talked to her about strategies for selling her stuff on line, I realized that a lot of people want to sell their products on line, but don’t know how.
They want to avoid spending too much time or too much money on building and promoting their web site. They want avoid common mistakes. I get all of that. I can show people how to accomplish all of that. The light went on in my head.
I’ve been learning how to put together a training program, an “integrated learning environment” or ILE, so that I can easily show people how to do this stuff. The forum was the first visible part of that. Videos and audios and web pages and PDF files are coming. We’re working on the course outline right now.
The new year will see the launch of this new site. I’m still working on the details of it, but I expect it to launch at the end of February.
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or feedback that you want to share about this idea, maybe what you’d like to see in it, please leave me a comment or send me an email with the form to the left.
And that s’up.
Posted in business |
Friday, November 13th, 2009
I got an email from a client the other day. They had hit a wall and needed help. They didn’t know what to do next. They found themselves sitting at the computer, staring at the screen, not knowing the next step, frustrated.
Every business, every website is a journey.
It’s not something that you create and then put on the shelf, waiting for the money to roll in.
What do you do when you hit the wall? We could talk about productivity and organization. I hate those words. I just want to know what to do next.
It’s time to take a deep breathe. Site back. Relax. Talk to someone. The goal is to get a plan and figure out what the next step is.
I like to make a list and prioritize it. I like to talk to my wife. Sometimes, just explaining something helps you figure out the next step. My wife is good at nodding and smiling when I explain technical stuff. Just the act of putting it into words helps me gain perspective. “Glad I could help” she says, as she wonders what that was all about.
Sometimes, you just don’t know the next thing to do, the next step to take.
If you’re at a complete loss, then just take some step, any step. If you start to move forward, you’ll soon figure out if it’s the right direction or not. If you get frustrated and stop, you will fail. If you take the wrong step, at least you know it’s the wrong step.
Just take a step, any step, and you’ll be fine.
PS – This photo was taken at dawn, as the sun peeked over the mountains behind me. This road goes to a point, overlooking Palm Springs and the entire lower desert area of Southern California. A couple hundred yards form this location, you can literally see for 100 miles. It doesn’t look like much here, but just around the corner…
Posted in business |
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
I’m doing some research into what the best way to sell handmade and unique products online. I’m hoping that everyone wants me to build them a web site, but I’m afraid that Etsy and other similar sites have advantages that a single site doesn’t have.
Do You Use Etsy To Sell Handmade or Unique Products Online?
The fully owned individual site also has advantages that the large sites can’t match. What works best? What is a waste of time?
If you would be interested in answering some questions, here’s what I’d like to know. Feel free to skip any that you don’t want to answer. If you want to copy and paste these into an email and send them to me that way, please do so. You can also use the Contact page.
Depending on the responses I get, I may group the results and report only the composite information, or I may want to publish individual responses if they are interesting and valuable.
I may have follow up questions, based on your responses. I promise to not do anything with your name and email that you don’t give me permission to so. It’s just so that I can follow up with you.
Please tell me if you give me permission to publish your responses in my blog, either with or without your name. I can link to your Etsy store if you want me to. Entirely up to you.
Thank you very much for your time and patience.
1. How long have you been selling things on Etsy?
2. Have you tried selling any place other than Etsy, online or in person?
3. What venue works the best for you and why?
4. What tips do you have for people who want to sell on Etsy? What is the best way to sell there?
5. How technical would you rate yourself, on a scale of afraid of computers to building your own web site?
6. What do you like the most about Etsy?
7. What do you like least about Etsy? (You knew that was coming.)
8. Any advice about things to watch out for when selling on line?
9. Have you ever tried using your own web site? Did it work? Why? Why not?
10. Any advice for a person just setting out to sell their own handmade products?
11. Any other stories, advice, or comments that you’d like to make?
Posted in sell on internet |
Friday, December 5th, 2008
Many small business owners will use their old generic email address when doing business, even after they’ve spent money to buy a domain name. Sending an email to someone with a HotMail, Yahoo, or Gmail domain name is a sure sign that you don’t know what you are doing, that you are second rate, that you are not professional.
You should set up addresses like support@ and sales@ and information@, just to look professional.
Make sure that the web host that is hosting your web site can do email also. All of them should be able to. It’s not that hard. Take the time to go in a get it set up. Find out what the host name is there and set up the account.
Set up your email application to log into that account, then use it to send and receive email.
You should also have a “catch all” account that will probably get filled with spam, but you’ll also get those emails with misspelled email addresses that you might otherwise miss.
You should set up addresses like “support@” and “sales@” and “information@”, just to look professional. You, or someone, should be able to log in and send and receive email at each of your custom addresses.
Also, don’t let any address lay dormant. Make sure that someone is logging into every account, every 10 minutes. “I sent you an email last week. Did you get it?” is not the question you want to hear.
Posted in web host |
Sunday, November 30th, 2008
All local business should have these 4 things on every page for people and search engines to read. Most sites these days are built on templates, so it’s easy to put in a footer or side bar containing all of these essential elements. All of these should be in text so that search engines can easily read them.
Your business name, a description of what you do, where you do it, who you do it for.
1. Your business name, a description of what you do, where you do it, who you do it for. Be short and to the point. They have other pages on the site for in depth information if they want more detailed information. This is for people to know at a glance what they are looking at.
2. Your address, phone number and email address. Be sure to put all of this information in full, including the street address, city, state and zip code. Put the area code with the phone number.
3. Hours that your business is open.
4. A list of cities you serve. If someone searches for the type of business that you have plus the city name, they can find it in the search engines.
Posted in marketing |
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Here are the three most critical questions to ask when you are shopping for a web hosting company. Support is the main one. Do they answer their email? Are they helpful? Do you get shuffled around?
Unlimited bandwidth and server space are not that critical. Don’t be swayed by those claims. Price and support. Again, I recommend Powweb. Click the button on the right to get more info about them.
The Shared Hosting Checklist | Web Hosting Articles & Tutorials – © Web Hosting Rating
Support
Customer service is a critical element of web hosting, especially if you are creating your first website. To make sure you get the benefit of quality support, you should find out if the company has a phone number, email address or live chat. You can take this one step further by making contact before signing up to judge their response time. If they take days to reply or blow you off completely, there is no need to waste your time.
Reviews
One way to find yourself a good shared host is to read reviews online. This should give you a good idea about who you will be dealing with and what to expect. At the same time, you shouldn’t rely solely on web hosting reviews. Some could be written by internal sources at a particular company while others could be written by competitors. If you want helpful reviews, try to get them from somebody you can trust to provide honest opinions.
Status
Every web host had to start somewhere, but it’s always a good idea to sign up with a company that has been in the business for a while. Several providers have crumbled despite seeming as if they were off to a good start. By doing business with trusted names with documentation to back up their claims, you can better assure that your experience with shared hosting will be a positive one.
Read the entire article at The Shared Hosting Checklist | Web Hosting Articles & Tutorials – © Web Hosting Rating
Posted in web host |
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
A lot of times, a developer will register your domain name for you as a service and charge you the fee every year to renew it. That’s great if they are honorable people and there are no problems.
The real owner of any domain name is the Administrative Contact in the whois record
The real owner of any domain name is the “Administrative Contact” in the “whois” record. They are the person or business that has the legal ownership. You can go to court and prove ownership with this.
If your developer is listed as that admin contact, then they are the legal owner. Again, this is nice that they are helping you out, but be aware that you are vulnerable to having your domain name held hostage, or worse, stolen from you.
This is the “whois” that I use. It’s from an old registrar that I no longer use because they quit responding to all communication from me. They were horrible. But, I still use their whois look up because they are no flashing ads or captchas to slow me down. I’ll share their secret look up page with you.
Check who owns your domain name here.
If you are not listed for your domain name, take steps to change that or have it changed. Make sure that your email address is also listed. If someone hijacks your email account, they can have your password sent to them, log in and change the admin contact to themselves and steal your domain name.
Send me email if you want any help with checking on this.
Posted in web host |
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
This is one of those questions that will get a complicated technical formula from the web development engineers, but it’s really not that hard.
If you have to ask, then you don’t need very much.
Don't be seduced by the flashing neon signs screaming *unlimited* at you.
If you are just starting out, you probably won’t have much traffic. Sorry, but it’s true. You can calculate the page files sizes and multiply by the page views you get a day or a month, but you won’t be able to do that without knowing how many people hit your site. If you have no history, then you can’t calculate, but it won’t be very much at all for a while.
Start out with the cheapest, least amount of space and bandwidth. Don’t be seduced by the flashing neon signs screaming “unlimited” at you. Don’t upgrade until you have to.
You will be surprised by just how little bandwidth you really need. If the average page is 100k, which is not unreasonable, then 100,000 pages a month is one gig. That’s over 3,000 page views a day. Do you have that many? If you have 10,000 views a day, then you’ll want 3 or 4 gig. I think “unlimited” bandwidth would probably cover that.
I really, really mean that you shouldn’t get more than you really need and you probably don’t need as much as you think you do. Really. Don’t do it.
Much more important is the reliability of the company. Do they answer emails quickly? Put in a support ticket and see how long it takes them to answer. Ask the sales people technical questions about redundancy and latency. See how long it takes to answer and does the answer make sense to you. Just tell them that you were told to ask about “redundancy and latency” and please explain what that means. If you are happy with the answer, then great. If you have no idea what this technical jargon they give you means or it takes them 3 days to answer you, then move along and find another web host company.
Posted in web host |
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
I don’t know how you can be sure about your web host without going out and trying them all, which I’m not going to do.
I’ve been through a few web hosts. Some have been good. Some have been bad. Price is usually not the issue that makes one “bad”. The problems that you’ll have with web hosts have to do with service, both technical and customer support.
Find out what unlimited bandwidth really means by reading the fine print.
I own a very popular web site,
survivor.com. I would get huge spikes in my traffic on Thursday nights, when the show was on. One host saw the spike and extrapolated that out over a month and decided that I would be in violation of my bandwidth for the month, since every day was Thursday night, so they shut me down.
No warning. No email. I came home from work one day and checked my days stats. I had no traffic. Poof. Just like magic, it all went away.
I emailed them and got a notice that I was in violation. I begged and promised and they turned me back on again. I bought a second account and linked things back and forth to balance out the load. What a load it was.
So, look for reasonable terms of service. Find out what “unlimited bandwidth” really means by reading the fine print. Ask around and see if they have good customer service. Do they answer emails quickly? Getting along with them is key. You hope it’s like a good friendship and that you’re not dating a psycho who’s going to steal your car.
Oh, and my personal recommendation? That would be the web host that I use now, Powweb. There’s a button over there on the right that you can click and sign up with. If you use my button, I get a commission. I could have a lot of other affiliate links over there, but I only have the one. They are the only one I’d recommend. They advertise “unlimited bandwidth” and it’s not, but it’s probably more bandwidth than you’ll ever need. I like them.
Posted in web host |
Monday, November 17th, 2008
I just got a new domain name. I actually bought it and had to transfer it to my own registrar.
In order to transfer domain names these days, you have to log into your account, get a couple of codes, a transaction code and a security code, from your domain name registrar and make the request to transfer. The codes are emailed to you so they can confirm that you have access to the email account listed in your registration.
Usually the transfer of a domain name is pretty straight forward, as long as you jump through the hoops they set up for you.
Then you have to go to the other registrar, and get an EPP code from them. That one is emailed to you as the current owner of the domain name.
That works if you are the owner that you are transferring from. If you are getting the domain from another person, then they have to get that EPP code and send it to you. You have to put the EPP code into your account and that will complete the transfer request.
Then, the fun part is waiting for the other registrar to get around to sending you the actual domain name.
If you are trying to get a domain name out of Network Solutions, you have to make a phone call and talk to their high pressure salesman, support person. After they try to sell you on staying, they will finally allow the transfer. If there is any way possible to not have anything to do with Network Solutions, stay as far away from them as possible.
Usually the transfer of a domain name is pretty straight forward, as long as you jump through the hops they set up for you. The hassle is actually for your own good. (I sound like my mother.) It it supposed to make it harder for bad guys to steal domain names away from you.
The latest scam that I heard of is if they get your email account log in, which is sometimes not that hard to do (Sarah Palin), then they can have your registrar send your password as a forgotten password. With your email account and your registrar password, they initiate the transfer, send the codes, approve the transfer, and wait for your domain name. Then you get an email asking you for $2000 to get your domain name back.
Keep your email account secure. Use obscure passwords, like my email password is w958hd)… Ha! Did you really think I would give you my password?
Posted in web site build |
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Now, back to the WordPress page. See where it says “Username”? Type in your three keywords, in order of importance. Now put in a password. No, not the name of your cat.
Bam. There it is.
Use numbers and letters and make sure you can remember it. There. That’s good. Put it in again, to make sure you didn’t make a typo, not that you would ever do that.
Put in your email address so they can send you a confirmation email to activate your account. They want to make sure you are a real person. Check the legal flotsam, tell them you want your blog and click “Next”. Bam. There it is.
Posted in web site build |
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
They will send you an email with a magic URL in it. Wait for that email to show up and click the link to tell them you are really at that email address. Is it there yet? How about now? OK, go get something to drink then.
Are you back? Did you get the email yet? If you don’t get it within 30 minutes, tell them to send it again. There should be a link right there to do that. Check your spam filter. Wait some more. It’ll show up.
After you clicked on that link, your account should be activated. Go to your “dashboard” and I’ll give you a tour around the place.
Posted in web site build |
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
DO NOT USE NETWORK SOLUTIONS FOR ANYTHING, EVER!
Registering a domain name is pretty cheap and easy. There are a couple pitfalls that could kill you if you’re not careful, but if you watch out for them, it’ll all be fine.
First, you should understand how the whole DNS thing works. You don’t need to, but it helps to know what you’re doing.
Manage Your Own Domain Name
You might have a technical guy handling all of this computery stuff for you, and that’s cool, but you need to make sure that you have the domain name registered in your name, on your account. You need to have control over the domain name registration as much as you need to have the key to the front door of your house. You need to have the userID and password to the account that manages the domain name.
I’ve heard of people having their developer manage it for them, then running into a conflict with the developer some how and the domain name gets held for ransom. You don’t need to do much with the domain name registration, but when you need to make that one critical change to move to a new web host or a new developer, then you need the keys to that kingdom.
If you set up the registration account, then make sure that your email is the one on file with them. When you share the password with the developer, so he can manage it for you, he’s able to change the password. The only way to protect yourself from that is if you can hit that “Forget your password” link and have the new password emailed to you. Make sure you own everything. Don’t let anyone else help you out with this one. Do it yourself.
Make Sure You Can Transfer It
The other area where you can be vulnerable is with the ability to transfer your domain name to another registrar. The reason that Network Solutions is so evil is that they make you actually call them and listen to a sales pitch before they will release your domain name for transfer. It should be a simple process of logging in, asking for the transfer, responding to some emails and being on your way. It should take 5 minutes to transfer.
My nightmare experience was with JumpDomain. They were great in the old days. They were the cheapest that I could find and the admin interface was powerful adn easy to use. I registered probably 100 domain names with them over the years that I was with them. I recommended them to friends also. (Sorry!)
The trick to transfers is that the registrar has to approve it. They have to send you a code for each domain name. This rule was put in place to prevent unauthorized transfers by bad guys. I appreciate that, but the system better work.
Then, one dark and stormy night, I had a problem with one of the domain names. I opened a help desk ticket on it, asking them to fix the error on their end. No answer. I opened another ticket. No answer. Waited and waited. Sent email. I looked up their WHOIS contact info and sent emails. No response. Over all, I waited a couple months for any kind of response. I did some research and decided to move them all to GoDaddy. I had about 40 names to move at that point.
I finally did some research and found that they were using Enom for their registration. I emailled, then called Enom and explained the situation. They finally emailed me the codes and I was able to transfer them to GoDaddy. Total time to transfer: 3 months.
I learned that prices change and you should always shop around instead of just renewing every year. I learned that the registrar can kill you if they want to, so pick wisely. Admin interfaces can improve, so get the easy to use interface. If you don’t like it, transfer to somewhere else.
GoDaddy seems to be the best and the cheapest, right now. That may change in the next month or two. Network Solutions is horrible. Never, ever, use them. Enom was helpful to me, but they have had some questionable stories told about them. Ask a friend. Ask on line. Ask in forums. Ask me.
Shop around and don’t get bit.
Posted in web site build |
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines – Stanford University
How can you boost your web site’s credibility?
We have compiled 10 guidelines for building the credibility of a web site. These guidelines are based on three years of research that included over 4,500 people.
1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site.
You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site.
Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site’s credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.
Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.
The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
A simple way to boost your site’s credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).
We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site’s purpose.
7. Make your site easy to use — and useful.
We’re squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently).
People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed.
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers).
If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don’t mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.
Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running.
Read the entire article at The Web Credibility Project: Guidelines – Stanford University
Posted in content |
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
They will grab any name you search for. I’ve had a client go look for names for a new site we were building. They had some ideas and wanted to check them out. 2 days later, they came back and said that the one they wanted was available, but was now taken.
We're Waiting...
I asked her where she looked for them and she told me she used Network Solutions to search. As I checked into it, I found that Network Solutions had registered the name and would gladly give us the registration IF we registered with them.
That means that we had to pay $36 a year to register instead of $8 at GoDaddy, who we wanted to use. It cost us $28 more just because she used Network Solutions to search for available domain names.
In the past, I used a great small service for registration. They were great until they quit responding to emails and their help desk. I’ll tell that horror story in another post, but they did have a nice, easy to use “whois”, the tool you can use to look up domain name registrations. There’s no captcha. No advertising. There’s just the form.
If you want to look up domain names, use this WHOIS form.
Posted in web site build |
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Why The World Isn’t Listening – Small Business Branding Written by Ed Roach
How many of your clients believe they are an apple ripe for the picking? They believe in the old adage, “build it and they will come” – literally.
Based on a comment to the post written by Krishne De entitled, Getting Your Website Found Online, I was inspired to write this post. The point of the comments were that there are a great many businesses who believe that having that website or blog is all you should have to do to get an audience.
I'm Not Listening To You!
The actual post told of businesses who want that magic bullet to success. You know – the – what is the tricks and techniques to instant results? What is it, that would lead any of us to believe that this solution exists? In the many years I’ve been in business, nothing comes easily. It takes work and perseverance.
How in the world is anyone supposed to find you if you do nothing to tell anyone that you are there? Googling is not enough, don’t bet the farm on SEO (but don’t ignore it either). You have to get out there. Do your research. You can’t generate an income without some sales effort. There are some great books on promoting yourself on and offline. Read them and FOLLOW THEM. Having your base marketing in place is a great start, but you have to realize that you must consistently and repeatedly push your brand out into the world. Take every opportunity to develop your brand so that it returns a respectable income for you and your company.
Posted in web site build |
