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If you’re like me, you type in the address to your favorite search engine over 20 times a day. (Research, research, research and the occasional nosiness). That’s why a recent article caught my attention. Every search carries with it a little bit of risk. Read the article linked below to see what you (and I) can do to prevent problems.
THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF SEARCH ENGINES
by Piter Gursky
With the popularity of one-click web publishing, the Internet has never been the same. Even individuals who lack technical background can make professional-looking web pages in no time. Thanks to web templates, you can forget about the hard part of web designing.
Web templates provide ready-made codes that you can customize with ease. Now, you can forget about hiring a web designer that can cost you more or less a $100 per design. You can save a lot of money, plus you can give your creative juice some needed exercise.
Cost of Web Site Templates
It’s a good thing that you can get simple web templates for free on the Internet. These free templates are suitable for beginners. You can use them for your personal page or small business. Paid templates can also be very helpful and you can get awesome templates at just around $25-$75. These templates are reusable and can give your site a professional look.
Choosing Web Templates
When you are deciding on which web template to pick, keep these three things in mind:
1. What is your website for? (business, personal, community site, etc.)
2. Who are your would-be visitors? (students, adult, shoppers, etc.)
3. What do you want to project? (informative, funky, serious, etc.)
If your website is for your personal page, then anything goes. That’s the easiest type of website to make since most of the design would largely depend on what you want it to be. The only thing to consider is if your website is a mirror of you, it is YOUR site anyway. If you have a hobby, say fishing, then you can go for a naval theme. Adding your personal style to your site would simply do the trick.
Types of Web Site Templates
There are two basic types of web site templates. They can be either coded in Html or in Flash. Html templates can be edited either in notepad or FrontPage. Html templates are simple and static but they are very efficient because they can make fast loading pages compared to flash templates. If you want some moving graphics or even animation in your web page then you might want to choose flash templates instead. These kinds of templates can really catch attention.
Also remember to add in an eye-catching header to your site. Remember that a good web site should have a branding on its own that would make your visitor recall your site and drop by your site more frequently. Make it an enjoyable place to stay for your online guests. With all these things in mind, you would surely maintain your online presence for a long time. For more info you may want to visit http://www.LogicTechnologies.com
About the Author:
Piter Gursky is Internet marketing expert who writes for LogicTechnologies.net (web design company). Don’t miss your chance to subscribe to their newsletter and learn how to turn your website into money making machine. Subscribe now at http://www.LogicTechnologies.net
by Allison Nazarian
What websites need is better writing. And I don’t say that because I’m a writer.
The sad truth is that - in very general terms - the quality of web writing is mediocre. I’m not calling for elegant prose. What I’m saying is that what your website reveals - in clear, well-placed words - influences what people think of you, your product, your company.
Here are the top five ways to tell you’re NOT ready for prime time web writing.
1. Your ego knows no bounds. Leave your arrogance at the door and talk about the needs of your target audience instead, or leave your audience saying “so what” and moving on to the next site.
2. You always wished you had written War and Peace. Good web copy should be short and snappy. If, for some reason, you feel compelled to write tons of words on a single topic, it better be compelling! A good rule of thumb is: make your point, then stop.
3. You were the first one eliminated in the 3rd grade spelling bee. If your spelling and grammar leave something to be desired, it may be that writing for the web isn’t for you. It’s tough, calls for a lot of experience and if done carelessly or incorrectly creates a very bad impression. Ensure that your web content is free of spelling and grammatical errors and is punctuated correctly. And never upload it without proofreading. 4. You have many strong points…writing headlines isn’t one of them. Headings are critical to web writers - and readers. The rules: keep them short, keep them clear and don’t worry about being clever. In fact, don’t even try. Web headlines aren’t about a quick wit; they’re about placing the most important keywords for your content.
5. You place good design or “bells and whistles” far ahead of content. When you come right down to it, content is everything. It not only makes your company look great, it sells and - when given the care and importance it deserves - it can establish (or squash!) your brand.
About the Author:
Allison Nazarian is president and chief copywriter of Get It In Writing, a Florida-based company that helps businesses nationwide harness the power of words to sell, inform and publicize. Allison can be reached at 561.487.3917 or anazarian@getitinwriting.biz.
Copyright© Get It In Writing, Inc. May be reprinted without permission of Get It In Writing, Inc and Allison Nazarian if in full, unchanged format and with complete attribution to author.
by Jim Edwards
Copyright 2006 Jim Edwards
In a bold move, online advertising and search giant Google.com announced it will start selling online video ads this week to distribute across its partner network.
Curiously, Google will reportedly not display the ads on their main site, Google.com.
The company states that it’s their effort to deliver richer content demanded by advertisers and consumers that drives this latest advertising venture.
On the surface, it makes sense.
Video represents the hottest trend online right now and advertising revenue made Google the darling of Wall Street and restored investor confidence in viability of the Internet.
But once you get beyond the euphoria of another Google success in the making, some serious questions need addressing before we all mortgage the house and pour the cash into Google stock.
As I just stated, when Google starts displaying video ads, they will not play on their main portal site.
The video ads will only display on partner sites most likely displaying AdSense.
AdSense is the commission driven advertising distribution system the propelled Google to financial stardom.
When a partner site displays the AdSense code, Google pays a percentage of ad revenue to the site owner displaying the ads.
Now it appears, those sites will also, at Google’s option, display video ads.
Actual details of how the program will work and how advertisers include their videos in the system or display them remains sparse.
A search of the Google.com site, the AdSense.Google.com advertising section, and even the http://www.google.com/press/ site yielded very few clues to the actual inner-workings of the new video ads.
But, over the next few weeks, I’m sure the details of the program will become apparent to all.
Despite the excitement over the video ad buzz, I have two very real concerns about how video advertisement will play out with this new system.
First, the fact that Google.com will reportedly not display the video ads on their own site really bothers me.
Why would they do this?
If the advertising method means such a boon to advertisers, why wouldn’t they exploit it on their own site?
The answer: despite all their testing on Video.Google.com, they don’t know how video ads will play out.
Rather than experiment on their main “cash cow” site at Google.com, they want to work out the kinks on other people’s sites.
If you ask me, that’s not a very nice way to treat the people who made you multi-billionaires.
Second, considering the fact that most advertisers who choose to use video will simply play regurgitated TV commercials, video ads on Google will debut with mixed results.
Why?
Because standard TV commercials don’t wok for producing measurable results that online advertisers can track.
A whole new world of direct-response video advertising must emerge for advertisers to successfully exploit this new opportunity.
The real winners at the start of this expansion in video advertising will be the businesses with products that sell best when people can see a demonstration or before and after pictures.
These require the least skill in direct-response copywriting and create the most impact when viewed by potential customers.
About the Author
“Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU To Painlessly Create, Post and PROFIT From Your Own Money-Making Online Videos… Without Being a Computer Geek or Paying Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!” => http://www.WebsiteVideoSecrets.com
Increase Sales By Flying Under Your Prospects’ “Radar Defenses”
- by Jim Edwards
(c) Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved http://www.thenetreporter.com =====================================
How do you persuade someone to do what you want them to do?
A whole world of marketing exists around us trying to do that every minute of the day. Do you even notice it anymore or, like your prospects, have you subconsciously set up a system of “radar defenses” against the daily bombardment of marketing messages?
Take a minute and count up the advertising methods which fight for your attention (and money) every day. Just the basic list includes:
· Yellow page ads
· Newspaper and magazine ads
· Postcards, catalogs, and direct mail circulars in your “snail mail” box
· Radio pitches interrupting the flow of your favorite songs
· TV ads - about 20 minutes worth per hour now
· Hundreds of storefronts, “mega” malls, and strip malls
· Highway billboards by the thousands
· Circulars hung on your doorknob
· Illegal signs on stop signs and telephone poles
· Legitimate email messages
· Spam email or UCE (unsolicited commercial email)
Just these 11 sources can overwhelm your brain with marketing messages. Like trapped rats, people develop defenses against this never-ending onslaught. They throw up a wall or a “radar defense” that goes into action the minute they smell a “pitch” or a sales job. Don’t blame them. We all do it!
So how can you get around this psychological wall against the constant sales and marketing messages? Well, the answer does NOT lie in hitting people with more frequent and obnoxious advertising or sly, sneaky tactics. You might get them to trust you for a minute, but it will backfire in the long run.
You must do two things instead:
1. First, you must establish credibility for yourself and your business as an expert.
2. Second, you must reduce their fears about doing business with you.
Doing these two things will get you past their defenses and allow you the opportunity to persuade them to buy your product.
So how do you accomplish these two “simple” things? What will win someone’s attention, raise your credibility, and lower their fear factor all at the same time? The one-word answer really applies to most everyone.
Trust!
If a seller can get behind your defenses with information which makes you trust them, then that credibility will carry over into a sale much of the time.
How can you get this credibility?
Well, take this next fact as online marketing “gospel,” for many people have proven its effectiveness.
Fact: Publishing and promoting with free articles gives you one of the most powerful opportunities available to tip the buyer’s credibility scale in your favor.
How can we prove this works? Quite easily actually. Take a break from reading this and go check out a newspaper or magazine for a minute.
Which do you trust more, the ads or the articles? Most people will choose the articles hands down. Why? Because the articles don’t try to “sell” you anything. Instead, they hand out useful information for educational or other practical purposes.
Most of us grew up in a culture which says we can believe and “trust” what appears in the standard “news” or “information” format. In other words, if it appears in print, then we can believe and trust the author.
So go ahead! Use this lifetime of conditioning to your advantage in selling your products and services!
Very few things will create an atmosphere of trust and confidence in people as reading one of your articles on a subject that greatly interests them. It shows you know your business. It also demonstrates you will do more than just try to sell them something.
Publishing articles literally lets you fly under their advertising “radar defenses.”
So remember these points when deciding whether or not to use articles to promote your business:
1. Few things create as much trust and confidence in the minds of potential customers as reading an article you wrote on a subject which specifically and intensely interests them.
2. Articles establish credibility quickly because, right or wrong, we’ve all been trained to trust the “news.”
3. An article, or series of articles, will differentiate you from the competition, who bombard people with nothing but sales messages.
4. Providing content-rich, non-sales-oriented articles will also help build and solidify your relationship with existing customers so they give you repeat business.
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About the Author
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the co- author of an amazing new ebook, “Turn Words Into Traffic,” that will teach you how to use free articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted visitors to your website or affiliate link! Click Here ==> http://hop.clickbank.net/?gemgem20/ezarticles
There’s a great article, 5 Ways Blogging Can Help Your Business - Just in case there’s anyone out there who hasn’t jumped on the blogging bandwagon yet!
Be sure to check out the “Related Links” to the side too. Good stuff, sure ’nuff.
Joi
The crazy, wild popularity of MySpace.com has caught everyone’s eyes. And not just those of teen-aged girls and boys who want to show off their pics.
Top marketers are planning to try to create their own versions of the teen-oriented social network. Nothing like the thought of 66 million users to launch dollar signs and corporate plans.
Click HERE to find out what Coca Cola and other giants have in mind.
