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(CMS) Content Management Systems, SEO and Link Building

07 2008 Friday

By Jeffrey Smith in Featured

Here is a brief synopsis of integrating SEO, Link Building and a (CMS) Content Management System for optimal results. After studying the top ranking sites in multiple niches, one thing is resolute regardless of the industry.

The introduction of consistent, fresh content.
A pliable content management system
Intricate naming conventions supported by a logical semantic infrastructure
strong internal linking
A method to encourage external links (RSS, Social Media, Forum participation or large user base) external link popularity.

7 Strategies for Reducing your Website Development Costs (and headaches)

07 2008 Friday

By Kishau Rogers in Featured

Completing the following steps prior to starting a new website development or enhancement project can ensure that your project stays on budget and on schedule.

Identify the person(s) that will assist you in developing a detailed plan for your site. Before starting your project, ensure that you and your team are on the same page concerning the final vision for your site. This will minimize (eliminate) any mid-development confusion between your team members and ensures that once the development/design activities begin, they can proceed with a clear definition of the end product. Website projects that are less defined can incur unexpected expenses due to “scope creep”. Generally, scope creep occurs when unexpected tasks are added to a project. This leads to higher than planned project costs and an extension of the project deadline. When new tasks are added to your project, determine if these are necessary items to complete during this phase or if a second phase is needed. If you decide to increase the scope of your project, be sure to ask your website developer for a printout of the additional costs and an indication of how the new task will affect your deadline.
Identify the person responsible for communicating with your website developer. Also, identify how often you need to communicate with the developer during the development process. Generally, the more meetings you have with your website developer the more it will cost you. If you have a well defined project, your meetings will be shorter meetings to determine if you’re on schedule. Particularly with short web development projects or projects with budget constraints, you want to avoid ongoing requirements gathering meetings. If the project is not well defined, you risks staying in the “requirements gathering” phase for the duration of the project. This is always more costly than identifying, approving and finalizing your requirements before any work is performed. For larger (and longer) projects, you should identify a requirements gathering phase at the onset of the project to ensure that the deliverables and phases are well defined.
If your website project involves a site design or redesign, have a vision before you contact a website designer. Having a vision of your preferred site design reduces the number of revisions required. Design revisions can add to the cost of your site if you are unsure of what you want. Starting a design project with an “I’ll know it when I see it” approach can increase your project cost and timeline due to an excessive number of revisions or increased scope. If you absolutely do not have a vision, make a list of comparable websites that appeal to you. Be sure to note any required elements that you’d like to include on your website.
Finish writing your content or have someone write the content just as you would like it to appear on the site. You can not (should not) launch a website with incomplete content. If your content is not ready, consider a brochure site (one page) website instead of investing in a larger inadequately defined website project. A website is meaningless without effective content. If your content is not ready, your website is not complete.
Once your content is written in web-ready format, organize your content by function or section (e.g. company information, services, testimonials etc.). This will help determine the scope of your project (i.e. # of pages, navigational items etc.).
Identify how you would like your visitors to interact with your website. This ensures that you and your website developer have a clear understanding of the overall scope of the project. A five-page static website is much different than a five-page website with interactive or dynamic features or a five-page website integrated with a third-party shopping cart. Generally, any feature that requires advanced scripting, programming services or integration with a third-party application will add to the cost of your project. Therefore, it is important for you to be clear about your requirements prior to signing the contract.
Before you request or approve any new features, revisit your original scope and answer the following questions:
1. Does this new tasks fall within the original scope of the project?
2. How does this addition contribute to my final product? Is it important?
3. How does this affect my deadline?
4. What are the additional costs?
5. Do I need to include this activity in a second phase?
6. How does this addition affect other tasks? Does this eliminate another task or duplicate a previously completed effort (e.g. going back to drawing board on a completed and approved redesign)? If you find that the new task is a duplicate of an already completed effort, before any further work is done, take some time to rethink your project and ensure that money is not being wasted on an ill-defined product.

Performing these activities ensures that everyone at the table shares the same vision, allows your web professional to provide an adequate quote for your project and helps everyone stay on schedule.

Kishau Rogers - For additional articles, advice and resources for your small business website, subscribe to the Websmith Group Blog, Resources for Small Business Websites: http://www.websmithgroup.com/blog/

How to Sell More Books Online with a Professional Online Shopping Cart

07 2008 Friday

By Dan Janal in Featured

I was absolutely shocked when I checked out a new client’s website. He is an author who wants to sell more books.But he doesn’t have an online shopping cart!

He expects people to call his 800 number and give him their credit card number over the phone.

He also asks people to send checks to his post office box.

While both calls to action might seen normal, they are so 1980!

In today’s world, people expect to pay online. And you as an author should have an online shopping cart in place to take their money.

Here Are 7 Reasons to Use a Professional Online Shopping Cart & Stop Taking Orders by Phone

People live in dozens of different time zones. Do you want to answer the phone at 2 a.m. your time because someone in England is having her first cup of coffee and wants to order your book?

People shop on weekends. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be out in my kayak on a weekend than sitting by the phone waiting for a book order.

Telephone tag. Let’s say you just appeared on a talk radio show and people are calling to order your book. They will get a busy signal since you can talk to only one person at a time. You’ll find that you have to call back a dozen people. If this happens, you run the risk of playing telephone tag - and possibly never connecting with them.

Expensive phone charges. When you return phone calls, you risk paying long-distance rates including international phone calling rates. Your cost of taking the order just jumped through the roof.

Too much time, not enough money. When you take orders over the phone, you have to be nice. There’s nothing wrong with being nice, but you have to engage people in a conversation: How’s the weather? Where are you calling from? How long have you been interested in this topic? If you don’t ask questions like this, people will think you are rude and might not want to buy your book! This all takes time. Is your time worth money? Well if you take 10 minutes to call someone and accept the order, you could be out $20 if you charge $120 an hour for consulting services. Now, if you have to make a lot of book order sales calls, you can be out hundreds of dollars.

When you only take order over the phone, you have to sell the person, not just take the order. Many authors are not comfortable selling on the phone. Or they are bad at asking for the order. You could blow the sale.

Too many mistakes. It is all too easy to misspell the person’s name, mailing address or credit card number. I call this unintentional dyslexia. You think you typed in “54″ and you said “54″ to the client, but you really wrote “45.”

If you had an online shopping cart, like MyEasyOnlineStore.com which is used by many authors including myself, you’d solve all these problems!

5 Reasons to Get a Professional Online Shopping Cart Now

Online shopping carts take orders 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without you being present.

It can handle multiple orders simultaneously. So if you get flooded with orders, your buyers won’t get a busy signal on the phone. Instead, they’ll get a confirmation note from the shopping cart that the order has gone through.

You can spend your time make money and creating new products, or providing services to your clients. You won’t spend time verifying orders.

No mistakes. People will type in their information correctly. If the credit card info is wrong, or if information is missing, the shopping cart will alert the buyer immediately.

Online shopping carts protect you from fraud. If the card isn’t valid, the shopping cart won’t let the order go through. On the other hand, if you get a bad check in the mail and you deposit it, your bank will charge you a fee. If you already mailed the product, then you will have lost the price of your product as well as the postage - and your time.

Add an online shopping cart to your website today and you will `sell more products and services while protecting your time and energy. And, it’s very easy to get started. Just go to www.prleads.com/meos for a special report on how to choose a shopping cart. You’ll even find information on how to get started today!

About the Author:

Author and Serial Internet business entrepreneur, Dan Janal has built multiple six-figure income businesses using MyEasyOnlineStore.com. Now, for the first time ever, he’s revealing the hidden truth behind automating your business, making more money online & enjoying the entrepreneur’s lifestyle. Get his free special report, “How to Choose an Online Shopping Cart” now at: http://www.prleads.com/meos