June 16

What Should be the Topic of Your Website?

 

Here's an article from PowerHomeBiz regarding picking the topic of your website. As you start your Office Live site or thinking of revamping the look and feel, I think it's a good idea to start at the bottom before getting to the design process and consider the following:

 

1. What is your objective of your site?

 

2.What are your interests?

 

3. What are your skills and resources?

 

Source: Read more at PowerHomeBiz. 

 

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June 29

How To: Make Your Own Logo

A logo for your small business is important to have for your business because it serves as a visual representation of what your business stands for. Logos help to establish your brand identity, and adds a professional appeal to your business.

 

There are essential three kinds of logos. 1)Font based logos are based on the treatment of font types. 2) Illustrative logos which illustrate what a company does such as house painting company that uses an illustrate a brush in its logo. 3) Graphical logos are abstract graphic symbol logos like Nike's swoosh.

 

If you're not graphic designer, you can easily create your very own logo via LogoYes. LogoYes is a online provider of DIY logos.

 

To begin creating your logo via LogoYes, go to logoyes.com.

1.  Select a Image for your company. LogoYes, gives you three types of Images to choose: 1)High-Tech, 2) Bold, and 3) Flair.

2.  Choose Your Industry

 


3.  Choose the type of logo. Abstract or Font type (letters)


4.  Enter your company name and pick a font

5.  Layout your logo design by customizing the colors, size and arrangement of your logo

6.  Follow the prompts on the screen to checkout

 

To get started with building you own logo click the banner below.

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August 14

15 Desktop Blogging Tools Reviewed

 

Some time ago, we posted a blog post about using Windows Live Writer as a tool for writing and managing blog posts. In addition to Windows Live Writer which by far is one of the best blogging tools out there, Glen Stansberry reviewed 15 desktop blogging tools which help facilitates  the blogging process. 

 

 

Here’s a list of blogging tools reviewed by Glen that you should consider for your main blogging tool:

 

1. Windows Live Writer

 

2. MarsEdit (Mac)

 

3. BlogDesk (Windows)

 

4. Zoundry Raven (Windows)

 

5. Ecto (Mac)

 

6. w.bloggar (Windows)

 

7. Thingamablog (Window, Mac, Linux)

 

8. Qumana (Windows, Mac)

 

9. Scribefire (Firefox)

 

10. BlogJet (Windows)

 

11. Flock (Mac, Windows, Linux)

 

12. Post2Blog (Windows)

 

13. Bleezer (Mac, Windows, Linux)

 

14. AirPress

 

After giving several blogging tools a twirl, I still think Windows Live Writer is the best blogging tool. However, if you’re on a Mac you want to download MarsEdit.

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October 11

Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web

 

 PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business summarizes the common pitfalls and mistakes people make in developing content for their business. 

 

 

Success on the Web starts with the quality of your content. It is your content that engages the visitors, and turns these visitors to buyers for e-commerce sites. Your site's traffic depends on how well you write your content, and how well you understand what search engines look for in a site content.

 

One common mistake I see from small business entrepreneurs, particularly the newbies, is that they are always on the lookout for shortcuts to get huge traffic. They look for programs or banner exchange schemes that can give them 100,000 visitors quickly. Many even turn to the dark side and spam the search engines, thinking that they can trick Google and other search engines. They overlook the simpliest secret to success on the Web -- content.
If you want your website or blog to succeed, grab a copy of Jon Wuebben's new book "Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web." This is the best book I've read on the topic of writing on the Web in a way that search engines love (afterall, what's the point of writing on the Web when your website is nowhere to be found?). The author provides an excellent guide on how to present your product and teaches you how to use the right keywords in your site copy, among other important tips.

I interviewed Jon Wuebben (JW) on the importance of writing copy that search engines love and compel visitors to buy, and here are his tips:
How important is writing optimized, compelling and keyword-rich copy on the Web, particularly for small businesses?
JW: It’s critically important because it can help your site move up to page 1 in the search engines for your keyword phrases, which in turn gets people to click on your site, which means more leads and more sales. It’s that simple. And it’s the most affordable marketing option you have. It will pay dividends for years to come.

 

What are the top 5 tips to remember when writing content for the Web?

1. Use keywords
2. Use a call to action
3. Write lots of different things – web pages, blog posts, press releases, articles and more
4. Write about benefits
5. Write often!

 

 

How can writing well on the Web enable small businesses to compete with the big boys?
JW: The web doesn’t discriminate between large and small companies. Your site can rank above a Fortune 100 brand simply by writing compelling, keyword rich content – it happens all the time. That means you have a fair shake at the business. And that never could have happened before the web. Plus, many people like to give business to young, growing companies. So, positioning yourself well can be huge.

 

What are the most common mistakes in SEO copywriting?
JW: Most businesses don’t understand how important their “meta” tags are in the code of their web pages. This is an important place for keyword content. There are two tags that are critically important> the title tag and description tag.
The title tag is what appears at the very top of your browser window and should be a string of 2 -3 keyword phrases or a “headline” that incorporates an important keyword phrase. Its also what appears first in the search engine results pages when people search for you, hence the “headline” concept – you want to them to click on your title tag so they will come to your site and find out more about you.
The description meta tag explains what the page is about and is also a place where you want to use those same keyword phrases that were in the Title tag.
Also – and here’s a biggie - Every page should have unique title and description tags. This is probably the biggest offense that websites make, I see it all the time.

 

What other lessons can you share to small businesses regarding copywriting Web content?
JW: Look for a good niche and start a blog. It’s the single best thing you can do right now to maximize your online presence through the power of words.

 

Source: PowerHomeBiz Small & Home Business Blog: Content Rich: Writing Your Way to Wealth on the Web

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April 20

SharePoint Designer 2007 is Now FREE!!

SharePoint Designer 2007, formerly known as FrontPage, is a web design program from Microsoft used exclusively for SharePoint and Office Live sites.  Microsoft recently made SharePoint Designer 2007 available as a license-restricted freeware. For SharePoint and Office Live designers and developers, SharePoint Designer is a powerful tool to quickly build workflow-enabled applications and reporting tools.

Download SharePoint Designer today.

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