February 2005

The Net Gazette
Helping You Help Your Site

                   
In this issue of The Net Gazette we are going to explore some more great techniques in e-marketing, discuss an advanced Web design topic and look at a few tips to help you on the Net. So let's get started on our way to improving your Web presence.

Web Tip #3:
On a PC, if you hold the 'Ctrl' key down and press the letter 'A', the document on your screen will be highlighted. You normally highlight things on a page by clicking and dragging your mouse, but to do it more quickly and highlight the entire page, use 'Ctrl' + 'A'.

Now, to avoid getting your email address grabbed by unscrupulous spammers, make your email address on your website an image instead of text.

Compare my two email addresses below by trying out the 'Ctrl' + 'A' trick I just taught you.

jason @ oakwebworks.com

Notice how the first email address is text when you highlight the page and the second one is an image. I suggest you make any email addresses on your website an image, like the second one above. There are software programs that spammers use to "scrape" the Net by visiting random websites, locating text email addresses, and then storing them in an ever-growing database to be mined later for sending out spam. If your address is an image, the software can't read it.

E-Marketing - Incentives
As my mother used to always say to me, "ya gotta give to get". This is one of those really simple, yet very wise pieces of advice and it holds true in any situation. Marketing is no different. If you want to turn your website into a lead-generating machine instead of just 'brochure-ware', then you ought to consider asking your site visitors to fill out an html form or two.

However, people generally don't love to give you their personal information, privacy is a big issue on the Web. Furthermore, people are notoriously impatient on the Web and really don't want to take the time filling out forms. Therefore, offer your site visitors something of value in exchange. For example, if you run an online flower shop, write an article about how to decorate parties using floral arrangements. Offer this article for free on your website, but ask that people fill out a brief html form before they download the article. If the article is well written, choke full of useful information, devoid of marketing pitches and you can communicate this to your site visitors, then they will perceive it as valuable. A good percentage of them will think it is worth it to trade their time and personal information for a free and useful article.

This is called an incentive, and we see them all the time. Coupons, "buy one, get one free", a free toy with your Happy Meal, and contests are all incentives. If you use them on your website, you will turn many anonymous site visitors into leads. And leads are only one step away from customers.

For a good example of this, visit our website to get your Free white paper,
'One-To-One Website and Email Marketing'.

I recommend that you download and read this white paper. It is a fairly extensive tutorial on one-to-one marketing. Notice the questions I ask the site visitor in the form. However, I only ask three questions. If you ask too many, you run the risk of the site visitor just leaving. The three questions I do ask will help me qualify each person to help me begin a 'conversation' with them and hopefully make them into an eventual customer.

E-Marketing - Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
In the last issue of The Net Gazette we discussed why strategic link development is so important for ranking well in the search engines and how to develop quality links. This is called off-page optimization. In this issue I want to discuss the other important factor, on-page optimization.

Again, the topic of SEO is very involved and cannot be fully explored in one newsletter. So I will take one piece of it at a time. There are many factors in on-page optimization that determine rankings. Among the most important are what you put in your Title tag and your Description tag, your headings and your main page content text.

• Title tag: <Title>put the title of your page here</title>
• This is what a Description tag looks like: <META NAME="description" CONTENT="put your description here"/>
• Heading tags: <H1> through <H6> (the larger the number the smaller the font)
• Main page content: <body>put the main content of your page here</body>

Search engines have complex algorithms that put weight on each of the on-page elements. If the keyword phrase you want to rank well with is "black widgets", here's what these tags should look something like:

• Title tag: <Title>Black Widgets </title>
• Description tag: <META NAME="description" CONTENT="We sell a wide range of widgets, including black widgets and green widgets. "/>
• Heading tags: <H1>Why We Are an Excellent Choice for Buying Black Widgets</H1>
• Main page content: <body>Widgets are our business. We have a wonderful variety including black widgets, green widgets, blue, yellow and any other color too. Please take a moment to shop our online store to find the right widget for you.</body>

Web Design - The World of 3D
If you've got the time, patience and desire, learning how to create 3D graphics can be an invaluable tool for bringing your website to life. 3D image creation is not for the faint-hearted however. It is another dimension (excuse the pun) in art and graphics, and its concepts and software have a relatively high learning curve.

So before you set out to conquer the world of 3D, first determine if the results are worth the time and energy. Unless you have a real need to have 3D images on your website then it may not be worth the time and effort. One question to ask yourself is, "Will 3D images help me sell my product or service better through my website?" If you are selling books, then you probably don't need 3D images. On the other hand, if you're selling jet fighter planes or even furniture, 3D graphics may allow you to stand out from your competition.

The good news is, I have figured out a way to learn and create professional-quality 3D graphics for free. Yes, that's right, for free, including the software. Most 3D rendering software (for images or animation) cost in the thousands of dollars. But I found a gem on the Net and it is free, and I am not talking about a free trial version, it is free for good once you download it. It is called Blender and you can get it now at http://www.blender3d.com/cms/Blender.31.0.html

The image above is taken off the Blender website homepage. Pretty cool, huh? You're looking at the software graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI is unlike most other popular software programs out there, thus the high learning curve. Here's where you can learn how to use the software:

http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/Blender-3d/1

And here are some excellent 3D websites with free downloads, forums, examples, and everything else you wanted to know about the world of 3D:

http://www.3dkingdom.org/index.php

Web Tip #4:
You get what you pay for. If you are considering building a new website, think twice before you hire your 18-year-old niece to save a few bucks. Just because she took a Web design class in school doesn't qualify her for building a successful Web presence. When you're transmission is beginning to break down, you generally don't roll up your sleeves and tackle it in your garage, do you? No, you bring it to a professional mechanic. "Honey, I'm going to be late for dinner tonight, I gotta drop a new trannie in the Buick."

If your website needs an overhaul, hire a professional to do it. There are so many things that need to be considered when building a next-generation website. The last thing you want to do is produce a bad website that actually makes you look like an amateur. A great website that talks all about this is http://www.websitesthatsuck.com/ - check it out, it's hilarious!

Some of our potential clients have asked me why they can't just use a Web template for their business. They're cheap, easy, and offered all over the place on the Web. Again, you get what you pay for. This is why you shouldn't purchase and use Web templates from anyone:

Compare the two websites on this page: http://www.oakwebworks.com/compare.htm
Would you like your business website used by an entirely different company?

Web Technology Article
If you are interested in learning more about great software tools to use to administer your website, read my latest article by clicking the link below:

A Webmaster’s Toolkit and Tricks
If you own a website, operate or run a website, or you’re a webmaster, this article is for you. A successful website is created and managed by a person with an effective toolkit who knows how to use each tool.

In the next issue of The Net Gazette we're going to look at more ways to improve your search engine optimization, more Web design suggestions, and maybe we'll get into some technical programming stuff as well, all in the name of improving the Web, one site at a time.

To learn more about these subjects or if you have a need for e-marketing, design or programming services, please visit www.oakwebworks.com.

Also, if you have a moment, take a look at another site I run, http://www.getredsoxtickets.com. Who knows, you may find a great show or game to attend.

Happy Webbing.

- Jason

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