Tips Database
The MindMaps ZA Tips database is a service to our clients and guests. So many tips and tricks are being offered out there. Some for sale, some free. As we explore the Internet a collation of those tips and tools will be updated here. Visit us often to discover what the “gurus” say about Online Marketing, Internet Marketing, Web Hosting, Web Site Design, Social Media and Networking, Facebook, Twitter and much more.
Keyword Subject Description Link
Appearance Web Site Design - Appearance You need a quality website. A website is an essential business tool. This is your image. The website is not the place to cut costs. The public will judge your company based upon what they see. If you want to be professional you must look professional. Link
Consistency Web Site Design - Consistency Make sure the site is consistent in look, feel and design. Nothing is more jarring and disturbing to a customer than feeling as if they have just gone to another site. Keep colors and themes constant throughout the site. Link
Contact Detail Web Site Design - Contact Detail Make your company easy to find. Your telephone number should be on the Contact page. When a consumer is shopping, they want answers now, not an email tomorrow. Many consumers hate to fill out online forms. By providing a direct email link and a telephone number, you are making it easy for a potential customer to contact you, which will greatly increase the odds that someone will do business with you. Link
Content Web Site Design - Content is (still) king Good content sells product. Ask yourself the following questions. Does your copy convey the message you wish to get across to your visitors? Is it compelling? Does it lead your visitor through the sales process? Have others review, critique and edit your copy to insure it is delivering the intended message. Always double check your spelling and grammar. Link
Credibility Web Site Design - Credibility Is Crucial The most professionally designed site won't sell if your customers don't believe in you. The impersonal nature of the Internet breeds a certain level of mistrust. For your web site to be successful you must overcome this tendency.
A clear privacy statement is one way to build your credibility. Every commercial web site should have a privacy statement posted on line. Provide a prominent link to your privacy statement from every page on the site as well as from any location that you are asking your visitors for personal information. Provide legitimate contact information on line. Your contact information should include an email address, mailing address, phone number and a fax number, if applicable. If you are unwilling to provide this information to your customers, how can they trust (or buy from) you?
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Domain Name Web Hosting - Choosing a domain name Your domain name must be easy to spell and remember. A domain name should also contain your most important keywords. If you are a golf course in Houston, Texas the best domain name is not the name of your company. The correct domain name would be GolfHouston.com or perhaps HoustonGolf.com. If someone if looking for a place to golf in Houston, which two words would you expect them to type into Google? Link
Focus Web Site Design - Focus The Site Make certain your web site is focused on the goal, selling your product or service. A site offering many unrelated products is not necessarily unfocused, but this is often the case. If your business does offer many products, dedicate a unique page for each instead of trying to sell them all from one page. Upselling or cross selling is vital but don't dedicate so much to it that the customer feels caught in a bait and switch. Make mention of other products but do so subtly. Link
Google AdWords - Article Top 12 Tips To Writing Effective Google AdWords Ads In this article I show you my top twelve tips for creating effective Google AdWords ads.
I've been testing the Google pay per click advertising system for a while, with much success. These tips will help you create ads that generate higher click through rates, and lower cost per click.Link
Guarantee Web Site Design - Offer A Guarantee Offer an ironclad, no exceptions money back guarantee. This item is really a credibility issue but it is important enough to warrant its own mention. What better way to establish your customer's trust than to eliminate any risk for them? If the customer sees that your are willing to assume all of the risk, they will immediately be more inclined to trust you. Link
Indexing Web Site Design - Design for indexing 85% of all web users find what they are looking for via the top search engines. Make sure that your page is designed to maximize your placement. Focus on your keywords and keyword density but don't sacrifice your message. Utilize the meta tags keywords, description and title. Use your keywords when naming your pages.
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Load Time Web Site Design - Build It For Speed It's a fact of modern life - people are in a hurry. Nowhere is that more true than on the Internet. It seems that no matter how much the technology improves, nothing is ever fast enough. In fact, several studies indicate that the fast technology advances, the faster people expect things to be.
So what does this mean for your website design? It means that you have between 10 and 30 seconds to capture your potential customer's attention. If they can not at least begin to read about your product in that much time, they will be headed elsewhere. To minimize your load time, keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Use flashy technology (Javascript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video, animation) sparingly and only if it is important to your presentation. Link
Navigation Web Site Design - Simple Navigation Make site navigation easy and intuitive. While it may be artistic to make your index page all black and hide the link to continue, will that generate business? If your customer can not navigate your site to find what they want, they will go elsewhere. Limit the choices and direct your customers through a sales process. Link
Payment Web Site Design - Make Payment Easy Offer a variety of payment methods for your customer. If you don't currently take credit cards, start immediately. You can either set up a merchant account or use one of the many credit card clearing houses. Take checks on line. Provide an address for those who prefer to pay by cash, check or money order. Make sure the payment process is clear, easy to access and intuitive to use. Eliminate as many steps as possible. Do not ask for any more information than is necessary to complete the transaction. Nothing frightens a customer off faster than feeling that their privacy is being invaded. Link
Search Engine Listing - Article Three Ways To Get Listed In Google In this article I show you three ways to get listed in Google, including one method that is virtually guaranteed to work. I'm constantly surprised by what I find when dealing with search engine optimization clients. One of those "surprises" is coming across sites that aren't listed by Google, even though they have been live for many months. For most Web sites, Google refers more traffic than any other search engine. So it's imperative that your site is indexed in Google. As of September 09, 2003, Google claims to index Searching 3,307,998,701 web pages. Yet somehow sites still fail to make it into the Google index! There are three simple methods to getting listed in Google, but only one of these is guaranteed... well almost. Link
SEO Web Site Design - Appearance Your website must be optimized for the search engines. What good is a website if no one can find it on the Internet? You do not need to “register” with search engines and you should never pay a company to “submit” your site, but you do need search engine optimization. This can be done by some top level web designers, but do not assume that a great artist is also great at search engine optimization. If your web designer lacks experience in this area, look for a search engine optimization firm in your community. Link
Strategy - Article Learn the Ultimate Internet Marketing Strategy If you’re still struggling to finally reach your financial independence & make a nice living from your home, then listen... The only reason why you’re failing is because you don’t have a good website marketing strategy.
If you ask any successful offline world entrepreneur how it’s possible to build a great business without a proper strategy, he’ll start laughing. But many internet marketers are trying to make money without even realizing what on earth they’re doing online…
If you believe that you can jump in, create a website, submit it to a few directories or blogs, sit down, relax & watch those thousands of dollars (that you’ve seen in many marketers’ checks) to come, then you need to stop right there. It ain’t gonna happen. You need to think: who you are and where do you want to be in the future. Whether offline or online, there are only two things that matter: “Buying” and “Selling”. Basically, to simplify, it all comes down to this:
* Who is your customer?
What is he or she specifically looking for? You must know their problems or desires. You must be in their shoes and find out what is that would make them feel better (an offer).
* What is your offer?
Why should they buy from you? How come you’re better than the rest? Why should they trust you? Are you offering your own or someone else’s product? How will you create an irresistible offer so they beg you to sell it to them?
Think about it… There are millions of people buying online every single day. If they’re not buying from you then whose fault is that - theirs or yours?
Before you even start creating internet marketing strategy for your website(s), you need to do a research. That’s where it all begins actually. Just like in any business, you have to understand where you are and what can you do.
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Target Marketing Web Site Design - Target Your Market Know who your market is and make certain that your site caters to their needs. It is critical that your site reflect the values of your potential customers. Is your market mostly business professionals? If so, the site must be clean and professional. Is your product aimed mostly a teenagers and young adults? Then your site could be more informal and relaxed. The key here is to know your market and build the site to their preferences. Link
Web Hosting Criteria for selecting a host Selecting a professional web host is a very important decision. Make sure you do your homework and ensure the host you select offers exactly what you need. - Your own domain name (www.yourname.com)
• Your own True POP email account - name@yourdomain.com
• Your own unrestricted cgi-bin
• Access to SSL Encryption for secure transactions
• Java, C, C++, Tcl support
• Autoresponders
• htaccess Password Protection for your files or directories
• At least 1 GIGABYTE (1024 MB) of Monthly Transfer
• Design (and upload to) your site using Netscape or other HTML editing software
• Microsoft Frontpage (98) Server Extensions for those utilizing Frontpage
• Unlimited free access to your server via Telnet/FTP
• Online invoices, account tracking, and payment history to enable you to check your account balance, monthly invoices, past payments, etc.
• Complete daily server backup
• Easy access to your log files
• Statistics on visits to your site
Free web hosts are great for hosting a personal web site, but not recommended for a business site.
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Web Hosting Selecting Your Web Page Host When selecting a professional web host your first consideration should be the company. Check out their background. Talk to some of their customers and ask them if they've been satisfied with their service.
• How many customers do they serve?
• What is their uptime percentage?
• Do they require you to make payments in advance?
• Do they charge set up fees?
• How is their customer support? Test them.
• Do they offer fast connections?
• Do they offer shopping cart software to process your orders?
• Can you upgrade free of charge?
Web hosting prices vary greatly. When selecting your host, make sure you're getting exactly what you're paying for. Keep in mind, a lower monthly rate will not benefit you if your site is down a lot, slow, or customer service is poor.
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Web Hosting - Article Selecting a Quality Web Host "The page cannot be displayed." Have you ever encountered this message while surfing the net? Of course you have. We all have. Think it can't happen to you? Think again. If you're hosting your business on one of the free hosting services, you're literally placing your entire business in the hands of a complete stranger.
Our recommended hosting provider - NTC Host
200 MB hosting with 5 GB traffic for $4.95 per month.
Greate custome serivice!
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Free hosting services don't need to have a reason to shut your site down. You may get up one morning, try to access your site and instead of your site loading, this message will appear, "The page cannot be displayed." There goes all of your hard work, your web site, your traffic, your search engine positioning, your customers, all gone.Free hosting services aren't interested in your business or how hard you've worked to design your web site and create a steady stream of traffic. Their main concern is
their business. That's why they're doing it. They display banner ads on every site they host. Pop up ads are not only irritating, but they make your site appear to be unprofessional. In addition, many Search Engines will not allow free host URLs to be listed.
If you're serious about your business and you have a sincere desire to succeed, having your own domain name is a must. It's not a luxury; it's a necessity. Businesses using the free services are not taken seriously. Having your own domain name is just as important if not more important than a professional looking web site. They go hand-in-hand.Link
Web Site Design - Article 10 Tips For Better Web Sites What are the secrets of the super sites? Why do some sites suceed while the majority of others fail? More and more Internet business owners are asking themselves these questions. The answers are frequently more obvious than you may think. Below are 10 tips for better, more successful web sites. Link
Personal Development - Listening 7 Powerful Tips To Becoming a Better Listener When people speak, do you listen? How much of what's communicated do you internalize? Link
