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Marketing Tips Newsletter - February 2nd, 2010

Editor's Message
Top 12 Web Design Mistakes and How to Correct Them
Web Hosting Plans from $30/year
Professional Web Design
Why is Content of a Web Site Most Important?
Web Site Promotion Package
Webmaster Tools

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Dear Friend,

Are you currently using any of the social media
applications (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc)?

It's hard to avoid social media applications these days
because you see it being used everywhere, especially
if you have teenage kids (I have 3). I created Twitter
and YouTube accounts some time ago to add to my
marketing arsenal.

If you submit articles to Ezinearticles.com you can set
up your Twitter account so your article title appears on
it automatically when the article pproved.

I use YouTube to create video slide shows of my articles.
This helps build backlinks to my web sites and enables
visual learners to watch instead of read the content.

One of the best things you can do as an online marketer
is build a list. You can then build long term relationships with
your subscribers to gain their trust and recommend products
to them that you use yourself.

If you want to know how to use Social Media to easily create
a list building funnel pick up this Social Media List Building Report

It's well worth the $7.00 investment.

Warm Regards,
Herman Drost
Web Design, Hosting, SEO

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1) Top 12 Web Design Mistakes and How to Correct Them
© 2010 Herman Drost - All Rights reserved
http://www.iSiteBuild.com

There are many websites on the Net that are highly
ineffective in terms of attracting business because
mistakes were made in the original design. You may have
paid a lot of money for a beautiful design but it’s useless
if it’s not profitable.

Top 12 mistakes in web design

1. Unclear purpose

You may have been pressured to build a website for your
business but failed to clearly define its purpose. Here are
some questions to ask yourself in order to clarify your
website’s purpose:

Do I want to generate leads? Do I want to display or sell
products and services? Do I want to interact with my
visitors? Do I want to build a relationship with my website
customers? Do I want to offer tips, articles, coupons, etc
from your website?

2. No long term plan

You may have heard the saying “if you fail to plan your
plan will fail.” The purpose of your website should
integrate with your business plan. For example if you want
to generate leads, determine how many new leads you want
each month, how you will acquire and build a relationship
with them. You’ll also need to create a marketing plan.

3. Unclear navigation

Visitors need to easily access all parts of your website
from the home page. If not they will click away to your
competitors. Avoid using images, flash or javascript if
possible. Search engines can’t index these files. Use CSS
navigation instead. It contains clean code, loads fast and
can be spidered by the search engines.

4. Cluttered pages

Web pages filled with images, videos, flash objects and
text makes it difficult for visitors to read the page or
understand what is most important. Web pages should contain
plenty of white space between all the objects and be clear
what you’re offering. The images should enhance the value
of the content. Separate your content into short
paragraphs. Use numbers or bullets to clearly define your
ideas.

5. Inconsistent appearance

All web pages should have a consistent appearance so the
visitor is not distracted from the purpose of the website
or thinks he or she is on a different one. All the website
components (ie images, text, navigation) should be in
harmony with each other.

6. Poorly written web copy

Visitors arrive at your website to read what you have to
offer. For example your home page should clearly state the
purpose of your website. If you sell products, write good
descriptions about them. If you sell a service try to
pre-sell the visitor by talking about the benefits of your
services.

7. Not optimized for the search engines

Most site owners want to generate traffic to their
websites. One of the main strategies for achieving this is
to optimize the web pages before the site is active. People
find your website by entering keywords in the search
engines. These keywords should be included in the content,
meta tags, links, heading and subheadings of your web
pages. Do your keyword research first so you can
incorporate them into the design before the site goes live.

8. Slow loading

Typical visitors will only wait 3 seconds for your website
to load. Many site owners want to fill their pages with
lots of images, videos, flash objects and javascript. This
may dramatically slow web page loading times and cause you
to lose visitors. Reduce the amount of content on your web
pages if your site has slow loading times.

9. Too much scrolling

Avoid horizontal or long vertical scrolling. Horizontal
scrolling shows the site was not created professionally and
will annoy visitors. Most visitors do not want to scroll
down 10 pages to view information. Instead use links to
direct them to another page. This helps break up the
content and makes it easier to read.

10. Code errors and broken links

Errors in html, xhtml, php, javascript can influence the
appearance, usability, loading and indexing of your website
by the search engines. Make sure the code correctly
validates before uploading it to the server.

11. Broken links

Broken links prevent visitors from correctly navigating
your website. Search engines will not be able to find your
content. A large site contains lots of images and links. It
will be easy to miss some of them. Run the website through
a link checker and repair them before it goes public.

12. Doesn’t render well across major browsers

Your website may look good in the browser on your own
computer (ie Internet Explorer) but look terrible in
browsers (ie FireFox, Safari, Google Chrome) your visitors
are using. Check if your website renders well in all the
major browsers before uploading it to the Web.

If you want to build a successful long term business online
you need to get a professional website designed that
doesn’t contain top 12 design mistakes. Use this list when
hiring a web designer to help you make an informed decision
before spending your hard earned money.

Highly Recommended
e-Books

"Highly Effective
Article Marketing Strategies"

Generate 1000s of Visitors
to Your Web Site..Continuously!

Click here for more information

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2.) Web Hosting Plans from $30/year

Basic Plan
5mb of disk space (most small web sites only use 3mb)
500MB Bandwidth
Add-on domain option available
Site Statistics
POP Email, CGI-Bin, PHP4
Mailing List
Web Mail
Fast, friendly, reliable service
Comprehensive support
No Set up Fee
30 day money back guarantee

Go to: http://www.isitebuild.com/hostingplans.htm

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3.) Professional Web Site Design

Does your Web Site Sell?
Is it in need of a makeover?
Get a Free Evaluation from:
info@isitebuild.com or visit
www.isitebuild.com

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4). Why is Content of a Web Site Most Important?
© 2010 Herman Drost - All Rights reserved
http://www.iSiteBuild.com

Do people visit your web site to view your graphics or read
your content?

People seek information when surfing the Web therefore
content is the most important aspect of your web site.
Without it your web site will not attract visitors or
retain their interest. Graphics are used to enhance your
content. Even if you have a very simple design but have
great content you’ll attract lots of interested visitors.

For example an offline store allows visitors to see, touch,
smell, taste and hear their products whereas online the
content on your web site must persuade visitors to buy your
products mostly with text and images but may also include
video and audio.

Types of content

Text
The written word is the most commonly used type of
content. Expert copywriters write copy that captures the
thoughts and emotions of their readers. It prepares the
mind of the visitor to subscribe to a newsletter or
purchase a product. Keywords placed strategically within
the content attract the search engine spiders thus boosting
your web site traffic.

Audio and video
Some of your online audience prefer to
listen and/or watch content rather than reading it. Most
people are familiar with watching television, listening to
music or playing video games. Using audio or video content
will attract a wider audience.

Images
You’ve probably heard the phrase ” a picture is
worth a 1000 words.” This is also true on the Net. Images
are used to add value or illustrate content. Site owners
use images to create slide show presentations, portfolios
or photo galleries.

How to correctly display content on a web page

Design

* Use headlines, sub headlines and bullet points to
organize your content

* Use the same font for the main
content of all your web pages so it looks consistent
throughout the web site.

* Only use commonly used font found on most computers
ie arial, times roman, georgia, verdana

* Use large or bold font for headings and
subheadings

* Arrange your content in short paragraphs of
5-10 lines

* Keep your lines short (15-20 words) it makes
them easier to

* Use plenty of white space between
components on the page ie text and images

* Don’t allow visitors horizontal scrolling..it annoys them

* Don’t make your page too long so visitors have to scroll
down several pages to read it.

* If your page is gets too long link the
content to another page

Navigation

* Use text links instead of images, flash or javascript so
the search engines can spider your content

* Place your navigation bar at the top or side of your web page

* Include navigation at the bottom of your web page if it’s a
long one to visitors won’t have to scroll back up

* Navigation links should change when moused over so visitors
know it’s a link

* Don’t make the link colors the same color as your content

* Use textual links within your content to navigate to other
areas of your website

Search engine optimization

* Include your main keywords the meta tags, headlines,
navigation, links and content

* Use h1, h2, h3 tags for headlines and sub headings

* Use anchor text to link to other sections of your web site

* Use the alt tag to optimize your image descriptions

* Reduce page loading times by reducing image size and
amount of images on the page

* Validate your code to check for html, xhtml errors

* Repair broken links

* Use cascading style sheets (CSS ) to style your content

Tip
To attract a constant stream of visitors to your web
site, add fresh, unique content on a regular basis in the
form of articles, blog posts, comments, video and/or audio.
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5). Web Site Promotion Package

Search engine optimization (SEO) and submission is an absolutely
essential marketing strategy to attract traffic to your site.
Without people visiting your web site, no sales can be
generated.

Just submitting your site will not guarantee a place in the
search engines. You must first optimize your web site for the
search engines before it is submitted.

This promotion package eliminates the need to learn all the
strategies and the great amount of time it would take, if you
would do it yourself.

Here is what you will receive in the package.

1. Search Engine Analysis, research appropriate keywords, Check
Link Popularity, Link Validation, Keyword Density

2. Recommend Changes - you make the recommended changes based on
the research above.(if you wish me to do it, I would need
access to your host to download the web page, make the changes
and republish it - extra costs involved with doing this).

3. Hand Submission to all Major Search Engines (this does not
include Paid inclusions), plus 30 or more smaller search
engines using submission software.

4. Generate a report of all submissions

5. Monitor Site Rankings

6. Suggest other strategies you can use to gain more traffic to
your site.

Side note:
Your site should be monitored on a monthly basis to
stay listed and gain higher rankings. Search engines
take several weeks (or months) for web sites to get listed.

Disclaimer:
Your site will gain a greater search engine presence,
however top rankings are not guaranteed due to the changing
nature of search engine ranking formulas and the popularity of
competing sites.

Please contact me for a free quote or review
my SEO Plans

Herman Drost
info@isitebuild.com

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6.) Webmaster Tools

Web Site Design | Domain Name Registration
Affordable Web Site Design Packages

Web Hosting
Web Hosting Plans to suit your budget

Marketing and Promotion
Search Engine Optimization Packages

Tracking, Testing and Monitoring Your Ads
Adtrackz

Article Submission
Article Architect - software that stores, formats
and publishers your content to article directories.

Free Web Site Traffic Generation Strategies
101 Highly Effective Strategies to Promote Your Web Site

Link Building System
Easily Generate Loads of Links to Your Web Site

Passive Income Online
20 ways to Make $100.00 a Day Part-Time On the Internet

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If you found this newsletter valuable, please forward it to
a friend to help them with their online business.
Tell them they can subscribe by visiting:

http://www.isitebuild.com

Thank you,
Herman Drost
Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
President of iSiteBuild.com
Site Design, Hosting and Promotion
http://www.isitebuild.com
http://www.drostdesigns.com

Author of “Marketing Tips” Newsletter and his ebooks:
101 Highly Effective Web Site Promotion Strategies
Article Marketing Strategies

iSiteBuild.com (240) 334-3271

info@isitebuild.com

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