Creating your own banner for a blog or website...

Okay, branding is a HUGE thing when it comes to business, charities or even people. If I show you a yellow smiley face, what do you think? WalMart? Yeah, me too. So why? Well, because they know how to brand! Now it's your turn. Once you have a blog or website set up your next step is to create a banner that you can exchange with other, similar blogs or websites - or with forums or anyone else that will post it... But how do you do it??  It's much easier than is sounds - I promise!

Step One - Creating Your Banner
If you have a logo for your company, business or site, you don't need to worry about creation, but you do need to make sure it's the right size.

If you don't have a logo already, you can easily make one. Start by taking a photo or finding a picture that will go with the theme of your site or blog. You can easily do an image search on most search engines or you can look on Photobucket.

Once you find one that you like, right click and choose "Save Image As..." on the menu that pops up. Make sure you know where you save it and what you call it. - just makes things easier...

Open the file in your Paint (or comparable) program and use the "Letter" option to put the title of your site or blog on to it. Once that's done, resize your logo to 125 X 125 pixels.

Your Button is now complete!

Step Two - Creating an HTML code for your Button
Upload your Button to Photobucket. If you don't have a Photobucket account, open one.

Once you have uploaded your Button to Photobucket you will see a number of choices for Sharing it. Choose the one labeled HTML code and copy it.

Open a Note Pad, NoteBook or other word processing program and paste it there so you can make changes to it. It should look something like this:

<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/?action=view&amp;current=Banner-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Now you simply need to change a few things and you'll be good to go.
First, remove the current Photobucket web address and replace it with your own.

BEFORE:
<a href="http://s608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/?action=view&amp;current=Banner-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

AFTER:

<a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Next you just need to change the title from Photobucket to the name of your site or blog.

BEFORE:

<a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

AFTER:

<a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Financial Fitness"></a>

And you're done! You now have your HTML code for your button! Remember to save it so you can give it to banner exchange sites or use it as an ad.

Step Three - Creating a Code Box  (so others can snag and share your button)

In that same NotePad/Word processor page where you have your Button Code, skip down a few lines and copy and pastes the following:

<textarea cols=”15″ rows=”4″ wrap=”VIRTUAL”>YOUR BUTTONCODE HERE</textarea>

 

Now, simply copy and paste the Button Code your created before in to it.

BEFORE:

<textarea cols=”15″ rows=”4″ wrap=”VIRTUAL”>YOUR BUTTONCODE HERE</textarea>

 

AFTER:

<textarea cols=”15″ rows=”4″ wrap=”VIRTUAL”><a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Financial Fitness"></a></textarea>

 

Save this code, and the Button Code together (this under that) in your word document for future use.

 

Here is an example of what it will look like when finished and saved together:
(note, this is for this blog if you should choose to - take and use it!)

<a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Financial Fitness"></a>

<textarea cols=”15″ rows=”4″ wrap=”VIRTUAL”><a href="http://howyoucanchangeyourlife.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt169/SabrinaMBowen/Banner-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Financial Fitness"></a></textarea>

Final Step - Using your codes!

Now that you have your codes you cam use the HTML "Gadget" option on Blogger or your website to add this to your blog or site. When you visit other blogs or sites similar to your own, contact the owner and offer to exchange buttons! Now you're reaching not only your readers, but theirs as well!

**NOTE: If you use WordPress.com, you will not be able to display the codebox. WordPress.com does not recognize the code! To get around this I recommend doing a blog post announcing your new badge and providing the code to your readers that way. Then you could create a widget on your sidebar, linking to that post.

 

AND YOU'RE DONE!!!  

How To Choose a Domain Name (part 2)

Here are some other things to pay attention to when selecting domain names...

1. Domain Extensions
Many webmasters wrestle not only with choosing the best domain name, but also with the decision of what domain extensions to select for their website. The following is a general guide to what the most popular domain extensions represent...

.com - commercial (by far, the most popular domain extension)
.net - network host (often used by hosting companies)
.edu - educational institution
.org - organization
.info - informational sites

If your primary focus is in a local market, you may find value in a local domain as well.

There are also country-specific domain extensions, such as ".co.uk" for England and ".com.au" for Australia. A country-specific domain might be valuable to you if you have, for example, a Russian version of your software. In that case, you might want to register the ".ru" version of your chosen domain as well. Some studies show that country-specific domains perform better in that country's search engine results. In other words, google.com.au will give preference to domains that contain .au results.

2. Be Different
Distinguish yourself from competitors with a unique and easy-to-remember domain name. Choose a domain that is different. Select a domain that will not cause marketplace confusion.

3. Keyword-Rich
Including keywords in a domain name is often helpful in ranking well for those specific keywords or phrases. If you find one available, definitely consider purchasing a keyword-rich domain. Keyword domains are particularly useful for content-based web sites.

4. Domain Name Spacing
There is a lot of talk about whether a hyphenated domain (i.e. this-domain.com) is better than one that runs the words together (i.e. thisdomain.com). While hyphenated domains allow search engines to distinguish the keywords, they also make it more difficult for customers to remember. Do not struggle with the decision of which domain to register, as both have their benefits -- just register both if possible. Domains are relatively inexpensive and worth the money.

5. Number Of Characters
Obviously, shorter domain names are better. Eight to ten characters in a domain name is considered ideal, but not always realistic. Choose a domain that is easy to remember and not excessively long.

More Info on Choosing a Domain - http://www.small-business-software.net/ ... part-1.htm

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

How To Choose a Domain Name (part 1)

So, you have an idea or a product.... now you need a domain name for a website. How do you choose a great domain name? Here are a few ideas...

Brainstorm
Create a list of words or phrases that relate to the product, service, information, or brand that will be promoted on the website.

Experiment
Experiment with variations of the words in the above list. Change the order of words in phrases to create unique combinations for possible domain names.

Check Availability
Check the availability of the potential domains, using Network Solutions or a similar domain registrar. If the desired name is already taken, most domain registrars will provide a list of alternative similar domains that are available.

Check Trademarks
Search to see if a trademark exists for a specific word combination. The USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) has one of the largest searchable databases of trademarked words or phrases.
http://www.uspto.gov/

Check Search Engines
Enter the potential domains in the various online search engines and examine the results. Do the desired domains already have existing websites? Will the selected domain result in any marketplace confusion?

Test It Out
Pose the potential domain to friends and acquaintances. Ask how the name makes them feel, and ask for their initial reaction to the names. Ask people from other countries, too! Remember: words do not always translate well into other languages, or not as you might expect. If you sell in a global marketplace, you do not want to unintentionally alienate or insult your audience with an offensive or confusing domain name.

Purchase It (And Variations)
Once you have settled on a domain name, purchase it... before someone else does! Domain names are relatively inexpensive, so we recommend that you also purchase variations of the domain name, in order to lock them up as well. You can then redirect the any traffic from the variations to you primary domain.

How to Choose a Domain: Part 2

Tools For Selecting Domains
Domainr - http://domai.nr/
Dot-o-mator - http://www.dotomator.com/
Bustaname - http://www.bustaname.com/
Domize - https://domize.com/
DomainsBot - http://www.domainsbot.com/
dnScoop - http://www.dnscoop.com/
StuckDomains - http://www.stuckdomains.com/
Nameboy - http://www.nameboy.com/
dyyo - http://dyyo.com/search_form.php
DomainTools - http://www.domaintools.com/
Ajax Whois -http://ajaxwhois.com/
DomainTyper - http://domaintyper.com/
Instant Domain Search - http://instantdomainsearch.com/
Make Words - http://www.makewords.com/
PCNames - http://www.pcnames.com/
Domain Pigeon - http://www.domainpigeon.com/
ChoiceBits - http://www.choicebits.com/
Wordoid - http://www.wordoid.com/
Squurl - http://squurl.com/
Unwanted Domain Names - http://unwanted-domain-names.co.uk/

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Website Set Up How Too...

If you have your own business of any kind, be it Avon or Massage Therapy, your business should have a website at this point. Many people, myself included, want to come home and check out a companies site before actually calling for an appointment. If I like what I see on the site, it ups my chances of calling because I am already comfortable with the business...

For many people the thought of building a website is terrifying. They hear words like Java Script and HTML and want to run screaming. At one point you needed a college degree to build a fully functional website. Today, that's just not the case! I have personally build a number of websites, none of which required a lot of headaches. In today's world the idea of creating a website shouldn't be scary at all.

Websites like FreeWebs and Yola all by walk you through the process. My personal favorite is Yola, but I have used others as well. It really is very simple to do. Once you sign up for an account you will pick a style. There are a number of free options and some more complicated ones that you have the option to pay for. Go through them and find one that fits your needs. If your website is more about jewelry than it is trees, don't pick one that is covered in forests... It's really that simple.

The next "challenge" is actually creating content, or the stuff on the page. Again, this part will vary a bit depending on what your business is... But generally you will need the following pages in a good website:

1. Welcome/Home Page - This page will be the first thing that visitors see when they type in your web address. It should be colorful and eye catching as well as have a simple and informative message that welcomes new and old visitors. 
2. Business Overview - This can be combined with the Home Page, but that can get to be a bit overwhelming. So I generally recommend a second page for this. You'll want to write a few informative paragraphs to introduce your business or company. Make sure to include your mission statement (if you have one) as well as a little about how you got started. The more people know the better and safer they will feel using your business over another.
   
3. Product or Service Overview - This page is exactly what it sounds like. You will want to review your products or services in detail. If you make jewelry, talk about how it's made and what you use, if you clean houses make sure to cover how you got started, what area you cover and what you can do for a person's home. Of course these are examples, so, make sure that you tailor your page to your business.
4. Business/Employment Opportunity - If you are someone that has started a business from scratch and isn't looking for employees, skip this one. But if you have a franchise style business, will be needing employees or are looking to expand through others this is a must have page. Explain what you are looking for in potential employees or business partners and how they may contact you if interested. What are the benefits of working with you? And why should they choose you over a competitor?? These are very important things to include!
5. Contact Us - No matter if you have a multi million dollar corporation or a small home based business visitors to your site are going to want some way to contact someone be they have questions. On this page you'll want to thank them for visiting and invite them to contact you with questions or comments. List whatever contact information you are comfortable giving out. This should include at least a business email and or business phone number. You could also list the business address if you have a store front.

Of course these are simply the "should haves" for a website. You can include as much or as little as YOU want. Remember to keep it colorful with lots of pictures. You'll also want to do your best to keep it informative without being to bulky... A new potential customer wants to be able to visit your website and get comfortable with you and your business, they don't want to read a novel.

Generally I also advise against listing any prices on your site, unless they will be ordering directly from it. The reason for this is simple. If your cost goes up and your prices change you don't want to be loosing money because you listed a price six months ago...  You'll want to show some examples of your work if you are selling things or describe the services you provide. But I generally suggest a "call for pricing" notice. Offer a "free consult" or "free estimate" which will leave them the option of calling, listening to your prices and still saying no without feeling like they are cheating you. If people feel like they are roped in to buying something just by calling with questions, they won't call.

Once your website is set up and ready to go you will have just a few things to do before you are ready to list it on your business card. FreeWebs, Yola and most other website creator sites will give you the option of a free web address. This will look like www.YOURSITENAME.yola.com, it's long and hard to both remember and refer to... They will also give you the option of buying a "domain name" through them. However, I do not generally suggest doing this. Instead you'll want to go through a site like GoDaddy to purchase your domain name. Again, it's a very simple process.

You'll want to visit www.GoDaddy.com and sign up for an account. There will be a box where you can search for a domain. This is where you will type in what you want your site name to be. However, there is a chance that someone else has already taken it, and you will have to try again. You will also have the option of having a .com, .org, .biz, .info and more. Choose the one that best fits your business. Although .info tends to be the cheapest, .com tend to be the easiest to remember.

Your cost for a domain name will vary from as little as must $1-$2 to as high as a few hundred depending on what you want. Obviously I suggest finding one that's not already owned this way you can get a .com for about $10. This will give you the highest amount of views.

So, once you have built your site and purchased a domain name you will need to connect the two. If you are using Yola this is very simple. You will simply click on the Publish My Site button in the top right hand corner of the site builder.  It will give you 3 options, the last of which is I already own my domain name - choose that. Then it will ask you to "Please make sure your domain name is pointing at Yola" and you can click "How do I do this" that will walk you through it. It's very simple to do.

Once you have built your site, chosen and bought a domain name, linked the two and published the site it will take about an hour for everything to show up...  You will have the power to update and add to your site at any point, so don't worry that it may not be perfect. Just remember that after you add content or change anything in the future that you remember to click the update button (which is where the publish button was) so that visitors see the changes.

And you're done. Feel free to use your new business website on business cards, signs, ads and more... You will be surprised to see the growth!