CONTENTS
News : Blues : Reviews

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1.  WEBSITE TIPS
2.  BLOGLINES
3.  COMMENTS FROM THE BLOG
4.  TELL ME - WHAT'S YOUR BIZ or WEBSITE CHALLENGE?

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1. Website Tips

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If you have a website, when was the last time you REALLY looked at it?

I'm going to ask you to try something - bear with me on this, as it's really important.

Pick a morning where you can put aside an hour or two and write the Appointment with yourself in your diary.  It's best if you're fresh and alert, so first thing in the morning is a good idea.

Make a tea or coffee, feel relaxed, turn off the email announcement, turn off the cellphone, put your normal phone on voicemail, and commit yourself to looking - REALLY looking - at your website.

Pretend this is the first time you've visited it, so let's do a search on the internet, and pick any page which isn't the Home page.

What do you see?

>> Can you tell immediately what this website is about?


>> With a quick glance can you work out what product or service is available on this website?


>> Without jumping to the Home page, do you think other website visitors might KNOW what the site is all about - if they landed on any one of the 'internal' web pages?


>> If your answer is 'Yes!', that's fantastic! Give yourself a chocolate biscuit.


>> If your answer is 'No.', then you've got work to do ... and fast!


>> Start making notes about the page you're on

1. Is it obvious what this site does or sells?
2. Is it easy to see HOW to buy or find the product or service?
3. Is there a 'call to action' asking you to buy, read, click or do something?
4. Is the navigation easy to understand and follow?
5. Is there an easy way to contact the website owner [or Support Team] - by phone or email - within one click?
6. Is the information fresh and up-to-date, or has it been on the webpages for a couple of months or more?
7. If there are photos or images, are they sharp and clear and relevant?
8. Is the font size easy to read?
9. Is the design pleasing, and not too cluttered?
10. If this WASN'T your site, would you think it was great?

I want you to consider all these questions, and be honest with yourself.  Could your site do with a bit of housekeeping?  Just so you won't think that yours would be the only one, most websites need a bit of tidying up quite regularly.  The website owners who never bother to look at their websites with fresh eyes are really missing out.

If you've got lots of regular clients and visitors, you'll be amazed at the difference a change of photo or background colour can make.

It pleases the visitors - and most importantly - it lets them know YOU care about your own website enough to make it welcoming.

So go make that appointment now, and let me know how you go!  I'd love to hear about the changes you put in place.

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2.  BlogLines

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Here are some recent posts - feel free to post a Comment on any one of them:

>>  smARTist Telesummit 18-26 Jan 2007

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2007/01/smartist-telesummit-18-jan-2007.html

>>  What IS a Sub-Directory?

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2007/01/what-is-sub-directory.html

>>  Where to Announce Your Blog

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/12/where-to-announce-your-blog.html

>>   How to make great passwords

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-to-make-great-passwords.html

>> Easy Peasy SEO -

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/12/easy-peasy-seo.html

>> Add mini website snapshots to your site! - http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/12/add-mini-website-snapshots-to-your.html
>> BuildAWebsiteTonight's new store online! - http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/12/buildawebsitetonights-new-store-online.html
>> High tech umbrella - Pileus

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/high-tech-umbrella-pileus.html

>>  28 Top Web Tips

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/28-top-web-tips.html

>> RSS feeds - I finally did it!

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/rss-feeds-i-finally-did-it.html

>> Proofreading booboos on websites - http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/proofreading-booboos-on-websites.html
>> Free PDF booboos to avoid

http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/free-pdf-booboos-to-avoid.html

>> Does your image need to go on a diet? - http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/does-your-image-need-to-go-on-diet.html
>> Five Tools for Spying on Your Competition - http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/11/five-tools-for-spying-on-your.html

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3.  Comments from the Blog

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Has someone stolen your content?
http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/07/website-has-someone-stolen-your.html


Hi Teena!

This is great!! I knew about one or two of the links you list, but will have a look at the new-to-me ones.

I find my material on a new website at least once a week, and the thing that annoys me is they just 'farm' my sites for content so they can it on their own ad-laden sites.

from, 'Tired of being an Adsense Cow!'

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Websites : What will they think of next?
http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/07/websites-what-will-they-think-of-next.html

While I am not so sure about the site content, I have to admire the way you show how to better market it!

Thanks for giving me a few ideas, though none of them include painting with *any* part of my body.

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Blog :: Bring visitors to your site
http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/07/blog-bring-visitors-to-your-site.html

Does this work for comments too? Or just new blog posts?

How often do you post a new blog story?

My reply : Post new blog entries daily, weekly, whatever you can, as long as you do it for as far into the future as you can.

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Teena, Further to your article http://buildawebsitetonight.blogspot.com/2006/08/marketing-using-articles-to-get.html - My Pantihose have been Googled! [http://snipurl.com/ugnt], I wanted to mention this tip.

I do volunteer web work for a Canadian charity - http://www.starthrowerfoundation.org - Starthrower Foundation that works in Haiti, and post regular updates intended mainly for subscribers. As well, the charity takes its name from a popular poem/story "The Starthrower".

The updates content is varied, as the founder mentions various shipping lines, airlines, schools and local products and produce, as well as fundraising events. Consequently, and inadvertently, we get visitors to the site who are looking for that poem, or looking for the price of pork and beans in Los Angeles, or for Caribbean transportation schedules.

But when it comes to driving unintended traffic to this site, the No. 1 position has always gone to the photos. (Picture being worth a thousand words and all that.)

So for what it's worth, if you can logically incorporate original photos into your site design, you will likely get traffic from those who wouldn't otherwise be aware of your site or services. If even a small percentage of those visitors are converted to sales, that's a bonus.

Cheers!
Karen
http://www.snapshotjourneys.com - Snapshot Journeys.com

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BLOG TIP :

Psst:  If you comment on my blog posts, your url [website name] will have an additional link back to your site, and if any of the stories get picked up or talked about, you'll have the added bonus of extra traffic!



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4.  TELL ME - WHAT'S YOUR BIZ or WEBSITE CHALLENGE?

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Whether you're already in business, thinking of going into business, have a hobby business 'on the side', or just starting to think about owning a website, everybody has different things along the way they'd like help with.  I try to cover all the topics I receive from the Newsletter sign up, and I thought it might be a good idea to ask if you have anything you'd like to know more about, which will be of interest to our other subscribers.

If I haven't covered your topic, or if you have a new one, I'd love to hear from you. Simply pop over to the online form:

http://buildawebsitetonight.com/contactform.html

and make the SUBJECT : Biz Challenge [so I can filter the responses].

I'll pick a couple to work on for each upcoming Newsletter, and will publish your questions.

Let me know if you have any other ideas to make the Newsletter more beneficial to you all.

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I hope your holiday season was full of joy and laughter, and I hope you're ready to devote quality time to your dreams for this coming year!

Ciao for now,
Teena!