Blogs are now becoming a must have in today’s World Wide Web. It’s a common practice to create a website then create a blog for you new site and company. So what is this blog all about? A blog is where you can post anything and everything you care to blog about: whether it is a story, article, or just a thought. So why is a blog so important?
Let me ask you a question. When you are browsing around on the web looking for something in particular and you come across a site where the home page looks outdated and it shows it was last updated in 1997 what do you say to yourself? You say to yourself, is this website still reliable? The answer is no. Your new viewer is gone in a flash. So, how can we stop this? With a blog that is. With a blog you can constantly update your website. You can sign in and in seconds you will be able to post your new article. After you create your post it automatically goes into your archives. This comes in handy if you want to leap back to a certain date or article. Your past articles will never be lost. That’s the best thing about it! Another great thing about a blog is your viewers can post a comment sharing their views and ideas. With a blog, your site is always changing and updating drawing your consumers because, your website isn’t sitting on the web waiting for a new update in 2010, it’s changing now! This shows that your company is up and running, making improvements, and is there for the people. You can link your blog to your website or can even view your blog in your website with a little coding.
So why not just have a blog and not a website? Well, there are some big draw backs if you just use a blog to represent your company. For one, if you want to have a shopping cart for your products, or have personal and contact information, you probably wouldn’t want to use your Blog to post these. You can’t add a shopping cart to your blog for one and if you want to change the layout and customize it you can’t unless you know HTML.
If you decide to download a blogging system to your computer without using an online system you will also need to know PHP and have a MySQL server.
So the best bet for you, is to have both a website and a blog. That way you can update frequently using your blog which is attached to your website while also having a secure website you can post your contact and personal information on.
Blogging will be around for a long time. So next time you are bored at home jump on your computer and start blogging. Your customers will appreciate it!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Feng Shui your Website
Feng Shui, what is it, how did it begin, and how can it make your life more harmonious?
What is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui is bringing about a more harmoniuos life. One way to use Feng Shui is with your home. The Chinese believe that if you set your home in the right location your life would be filled with happy, success, wealth, health, and abundance. We all want to lead our lives down a greater path to success so why don't we investigate this a little further.
Where did this Feng Shui all begin?
Feng Shui arrived about five thousand years ago in ancient Chinese time. There is an old Chinese story that talks about its origin.
The first of the five emperors, Wu, was into irrigation work on the Yellow River. On one special day, Wu and a couple of other workers were out by the River working as usual when they noticed a tortoise crawl out of the river. This was a magnificent omen to them for they believed that gods lived inside their shells! But, this tortoise was especially different. Unlike other tortoises and turtles this tortoise had a perfect spell bounding square on its shell. Day in and day out, they studied this wonderful creature. They were bewildered of how this creature could have such a fortune as this. In the end this one of a kind tortoise became the bases of what we now know as Feng Shui, the I Ching, Chinese astrology, and Chinese numerology.
That tortoise, they say, was there that fine day to show us a way to harmonize our lives. Let's talk about how we can bring about Feng Shui into our websites. Our goal is to create a positive energy that people feel as they enter our site but also feel throughout their entire experience. That positive energy is good Chi'i. Chi'i is energy that must be capable of flowing well if you want a positive environment. When ch'i stands still, you get bad feng shui.
How to make your website Feng Shui.
The main ideas for creating positive Chi’i within your website is aligning web pages, and using easy clean navigation throughout the whole website. Also, making your webpage bright and clean instead of dark and dreary will activate positive chi'i. Dark energy is more likely to be processed when you use all dark colors because it feels like you are underground or in a cave where the bad energy can’t escape and the good energy can’t get in and flow around.
Bold colors and clear jpegs images are to be brought about. If you have colors that don't go together or images that are greatly compressed you will create bad chi'i.
Another thing to think about is putting natural real life images into your website. This distracts the annoyance of the computer screen and creates a feeling a nature and being around life outside.
Also, areas of stillness is a must, you don't need to have everything on your website active. This actually created bad Chi'i if used wrong you need the stillness to keep you grounded.
Other things to think about is simplicity, straight lines, and an appealing main page that will strike your visitors with positive energy right off the get go.
Feng Shui is here to stay. Here to bring about a better way of life. And, here to solve your negative chi'i that affects your life. You can also use Feng Shui in your home and other parts of your life. Even I have started to use a little Feng Shui myself .What can it hurt right?
What is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui is bringing about a more harmoniuos life. One way to use Feng Shui is with your home. The Chinese believe that if you set your home in the right location your life would be filled with happy, success, wealth, health, and abundance. We all want to lead our lives down a greater path to success so why don't we investigate this a little further.
Where did this Feng Shui all begin?
Feng Shui arrived about five thousand years ago in ancient Chinese time. There is an old Chinese story that talks about its origin.
The first of the five emperors, Wu, was into irrigation work on the Yellow River. On one special day, Wu and a couple of other workers were out by the River working as usual when they noticed a tortoise crawl out of the river. This was a magnificent omen to them for they believed that gods lived inside their shells! But, this tortoise was especially different. Unlike other tortoises and turtles this tortoise had a perfect spell bounding square on its shell. Day in and day out, they studied this wonderful creature. They were bewildered of how this creature could have such a fortune as this. In the end this one of a kind tortoise became the bases of what we now know as Feng Shui, the I Ching, Chinese astrology, and Chinese numerology.
That tortoise, they say, was there that fine day to show us a way to harmonize our lives. Let's talk about how we can bring about Feng Shui into our websites. Our goal is to create a positive energy that people feel as they enter our site but also feel throughout their entire experience. That positive energy is good Chi'i. Chi'i is energy that must be capable of flowing well if you want a positive environment. When ch'i stands still, you get bad feng shui.
How to make your website Feng Shui.
The main ideas for creating positive Chi’i within your website is aligning web pages, and using easy clean navigation throughout the whole website. Also, making your webpage bright and clean instead of dark and dreary will activate positive chi'i. Dark energy is more likely to be processed when you use all dark colors because it feels like you are underground or in a cave where the bad energy can’t escape and the good energy can’t get in and flow around.
Bold colors and clear jpegs images are to be brought about. If you have colors that don't go together or images that are greatly compressed you will create bad chi'i.
Another thing to think about is putting natural real life images into your website. This distracts the annoyance of the computer screen and creates a feeling a nature and being around life outside.
Also, areas of stillness is a must, you don't need to have everything on your website active. This actually created bad Chi'i if used wrong you need the stillness to keep you grounded.
Other things to think about is simplicity, straight lines, and an appealing main page that will strike your visitors with positive energy right off the get go.
Feng Shui is here to stay. Here to bring about a better way of life. And, here to solve your negative chi'i that affects your life. You can also use Feng Shui in your home and other parts of your life. Even I have started to use a little Feng Shui myself .What can it hurt right?
Monday, June 16, 2008
How And Why Branding Is So Important
Every company wants Brand Recognition. They want people to take one good look at their company’s logo and instantly feel and know exactly what their company is all about. The trick is to get them to feel like they NEED to check your company out and WANT to buy your products. This is where good branding comes in. Branding is the practice of influencing who and how people experience your company over time.
Branding all of your media and communications together with the same look and feel will create a recognizable company that people will come to notice. Once they see your logo more and more they become familiar with your company and that brings about their trust in you.
To get started with creating this magical branding ordeal you need to decide who your target audience is going to be and what appeals to them.
Then you need to find your unique and different feature. What makes your company different from a similar company you are competing against? Maybe your company ships in product in one day if you order out of their catalog compared to 7 days. Or maybe your company strives to be lower in price than the other or will match the price of any product from another company with similar products. The key here to setting your company a part from the others is that uniqueness making you stand out above the others.
Now that you have your two goals in site you can create your visual appeal. There are three main parts to creating a great visual appeal.
Branding all of your media and communications together with the same look and feel will create a recognizable company that people will come to notice. Once they see your logo more and more they become familiar with your company and that brings about their trust in you.
To get started with creating this magical branding ordeal you need to decide who your target audience is going to be and what appeals to them.
Then you need to find your unique and different feature. What makes your company different from a similar company you are competing against? Maybe your company ships in product in one day if you order out of their catalog compared to 7 days. Or maybe your company strives to be lower in price than the other or will match the price of any product from another company with similar products. The key here to setting your company a part from the others is that uniqueness making you stand out above the others.
Now that you have your two goals in site you can create your visual appeal. There are three main parts to creating a great visual appeal.
- Your Logo - This is the most important part of branding if you don't have this then your business will be as small as a pea in a pod. You need a logo! Whether it is a symbol or your company’s name. You can contact a company to help you out with designing your logo so it appeals to your ideal target audience.
- Colors - Colors develop instant gratification in a person. You may want to use warm colors for a friendly and cozy feel, cool for formal and long lasting company, and bright for bold and trend setting company.
- Font - The font you pick tells a lot about your company. Stick with the same fonts for all your media marketing needs. This will create a uniform that people will notice again and again so your company will become more familiar and recognizable to the public. Use a font that everyone knows and is used on their computers for an example Arial or Verdana.
If you decide to use the radio to help market your company, keep in mind what you used to brand all of your media. If you choose a cold color use a formal voice to sell your company. If you used warm friendly colors then use a warm and friendly casual voice. Make sure that every time you decide to update an advertisement to use the same tone that is recognizable with your last to create that uniform and consistent tone, look, and feel.
Overall branding is your business and brings about a greater good for your company.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Create Great Landing Pages
Landing pages are those that potential site visitors reach when they click your PPC advertisement. They are not usually connected to your web site in any way.
Landing pages are designed for two things: first, it is designed to specifically reach a goal . The second , they are designed to keep track of how well your PPC ads draw converting traffic.
When creating landing pages you want them to be an extension of the PPC ad for which they are designed otherwise it'll confuse your visitors. It should also provide what is promised. Finally, as you would use a call action with your PPC advertisement, you'll also want to use such a call on your landing page.
Here are some other tips. Quickly orient the visitor with purpose of the landing page by using direct headlines. Another tip is not to overcrowd your landing page. This can make it difficult for users to load your landing page. The last suggestion is to test, test, and test some more!
Landing pages are designed for two things: first, it is designed to specifically reach a goal . The second , they are designed to keep track of how well your PPC ads draw converting traffic.
When creating landing pages you want them to be an extension of the PPC ad for which they are designed otherwise it'll confuse your visitors. It should also provide what is promised. Finally, as you would use a call action with your PPC advertisement, you'll also want to use such a call on your landing page.
Here are some other tips. Quickly orient the visitor with purpose of the landing page by using direct headlines. Another tip is not to overcrowd your landing page. This can make it difficult for users to load your landing page. The last suggestion is to test, test, and test some more!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)