Web Design

By: Jamila White, "The E-Commerce Diva" (TM)

In the rush to keep up with technology, many African-American business owners are so busy trying to add the latest bells and whistles to their Web sites, get to the top of the search engines, and learn the latest database technology that they often forget this simple fact: people do business with other people, not computers. Understanding the importance of relationships is key to attracting African-American buyers online. Here are a few practical tips to getting Black customers to buy more from your Web site.

Here are a few practical tips to getting Black customers to buy more from your website.

Step 1: Make a personal connection... put a face on it.
Adding photos of realistic-looking people to your Web site will increase your sales. Photos jump out from a page, so even if someone just skims over the words, the photo will create a lasting impression. If you don't have photos of your actual employees or customers, use stock photography.

Here are a few of my favorite sources for photos:

Royalty-free images start at around $19-35 per image and are much less expensive than rights-managed images. If you have a bigger budget, you can purchase CDs with entire collections of African American stock photographs and illustrations.

Step 2: Establish trust.
When you walk into an establishment, you usually can tell right away if you feel comfortable doing business there. You can see if the place is clean and well maintained, brightly lit, and whether someone friendly is available to greet and help you. On the Internet, your Web site has to do all the talking and all the handholding. If this is a potential customer's first visit to your Web site, they may be uncertain if you're a legitimate business and if they can trust you.

There are a number of ways to alleviate these fears and give your customers peace of mind. First, provide full contact information - including a telephone number - on your Web site. Second, show a picture of your location and employees, if applicable. Third, if you are a member of any professional organizations, such as the Better Business Bureau and/or professional trade organizations, this is a great time to display your membership logos. Most importantly, display quotes and testimonials for your current happy customers to show how what great quality products and service your company provides.

Step 3: Use the "word of mouth" network.
From the griots of Africa to barbershops and hair salons to the chat rooms on BlackPlanet.com, at the center of African American culture is the oral tradition. Use this ready-made network to your advantage, and give people the tools to tell their friends and colleagues about your products. A great way to do this is with an instant "Tell a Friend" button on your Web site. Constant Contact (see Step 6) includes this service as part of it's e-newsletter management program.

Step 4: Network with other Black Web sites.
One way to jump-start the flow of traffic to your Web site is by recruiting customers from other high-traffic sites. You can buy ad space on a well-trafficked site that also attracts a high percentage of your target market. A cheaper alternative is to swap ads with a business that offers products or service that complement, but don't compete with, your own offering. For example, if you offer Web site design, look for someone who offers Web site hosting or network services. This strategy can work both with ads on a Web site, but don't overlook swapping ads in each business' promotional e-mail newsletter.

(NOTE: Do not swap customer databases or lists of email addresses unless you have specific permission from your customers to do so.)

Step 5: Give your customers a reason to act now.
How many times have you visited a Web site and thought to yourself: "What a great product! I'd like to buy it, but I think I'll come back later." Did you actually go back and buy it? Perhaps not. Help your customers make their decision today: make them an offer they can't refuse. For example, use promotions like "limited time only", "this week only", "act today and take $10 off," etc.

Step 6: Keep in touch.
Remember, it's about relationships. Did you know that customers who buy online usually do so on the fourth to eighth visit to your Web site, and not the first visit? So you'll need to come up with a strategy to get them back to your Web site a second, third, and fourth time. The easiest, simplest, and cheapest method, hands down, is an e-mail list. It isn't enough just to collect e-mail addresses on your Web site and at your vending events - you have to actually write and send messages to the list! Strive to get your newsletter out at least twice a month, but if you're just getting started, do quarterly, then build up to monthly, and then build up to every other week.

Here are a few e-mail list services I like: Essentially, what successful online marketing boils down to, regardless of ethnicity, is relationships, relationships, relationships. Find meaningful ways to connect with your customers, and they will not only reward you with their loyalty, but they'll be happy to spread the word about your Web site as well.

Author Bio
Jamila White, "The E-Commerce Diva", is an Internet Strategist, Web Designer, and E-Commerce instructor in the Washington D.C. area. Reach her on her Web site, www.ecommercediva.com
NOTE: You are welcome to forward or "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end and the copyright notice), and you send a copy of your reprint to articles@ecommercediva.com.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com

By: Robin Eldred

One of the hot new website promotion tips du jour is the Google Sitemap. This is a small XML file that sits on a website and provides information for Googlebot when it comes to visit. Is this file useful? What does it do? How do I create one? How do I get Google to find it? Well, let me tell you.

Firstly, the general consensus on whether or not a Google Sitemap is useful is that, well, the jury is still out. The official stance from Google is that this entire program is in Beta so there are no promises or guarantees. Perhaps by understanding what this file is for we can infer its usefulness.

A Google Sitemap is, essentially, an XML file that contains information on all the web pages in your site. You create this file, submit it to Google, and Google will read it. What Google does from there nobody really knows. You can specify certain parameters in the file such as the location (URL) of your web pages, when they were last modified, how often the pages are updated, and what each page's "priority" is.

Perhaps Google is relegating these Sitemap submitted results to a secondary index where they compare the results to their live index. This might let them know how people use (and abuse) the program. It is my opinion that the vast majority of participants in this program are website designers and marketers who are trying to give their clients a teenie-weenie leg up on the competition within Google. That's not to say that there isn't any value, though.

It is possible that by telling Google where all of your web pages are you can improve your web page saturation in their index. This may indirectly improve your rankings by getting an unlinked or deeply linked page into the index that wasn't previously there. But as I mentioned earlier, it's difficult to know if Google is even using Sitemap information in their live index.

So now that you've decided that you want to create and submit a Sitemap of your own, here's how:

Google is also touting their Mobile Sitemap program. This one, I believe, may be of greater significance. I believe that Google is building an index of mobile-phone friendly websites (Mobile Web Search Beta) and they are using these new Mobile Sitemaps as a way to get the public to help them seed the initial directory. The mobile web is in its infancy right now, so it wouldn't surprise me if creating a Mobile Sitemap gave mobile sites a significant leg up. But again; no guarantees here - just opinion.

Happy Sitemapping everyone!

Author Bio
Robin Eldred is the president of Apis Design, a Web Design and Promotion company located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Apis specializes in building and promoting eye-catching, user-focused websites that work.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com - Free Website Content

Author: Stephen Johnson

We've come across a number of website owners wanting to create significant revenues from their websites but approaching the task the wrong way. They've tried to solicit the revenue stream before the other parts were in place.

The concept was good, but the steps to monetisation were wrong.

For instance, one website product providing entertainment information wanted venues to subscribe up-front, and was having difficulty convincing venues to hop on board. Another providing information to a category of employment seekers wanted job placers to subscribe and advertisers to come aboard

The models had great ideas behind them but the model chosen was not quite right.

Websites have four main components or opportunities for components...

• 1. Content
• 2. Content Consumers
• 3. Content Providers
• 4. Advertisers

And there's a definite chronology to these that helps you develop your website faster, even though it might at first seem to delay revenues.

Content... is read by Consumers... and this attracts Providers... and Advertisers.

And it's the latter one or two that can provide the revenues... at least in the beginning.

But it all starts with Content. Without compelling content that is differentiated from other competitive or substitute sites, your website risks being irrelevant.

Content should therefore be sourced, produced and provided as quickly as possible. The faster you have it, the faster natural and marketed searches will find and value that content.

That attracts the Content Consumers. These people will value your site. The more of them you get, the more your true asset grows... visitors.

So consider deferring fees for accessing the content. The easier it is to access, the easier it will be to ramp up your visitor numbers.

When your visitor numbers are up, you'll start to see the monetisation opportunities emerge. Content providers will want to provide material. And they'll pay for the privilege. Advertisers will want to advertise on your site.

And these will be the source of revenue of most importance.

Keep up the content, to keep up the visitors, and you'll keep up the contributors and advertisers.

Down the track, though, something interesting will occur. It'll be both the start of yet more revenues and the start of your vulnerability.

You'll realise that Content Consumers are dependent on you, and you'll be in a position to introduce fees for your content.

This will add an entirely new income stream to your website. But it'll also be the moment a new competitor seizes the day and introduces a source of content that is a substitute to your own.

Balancing the provision of value with the opportunity for leverage will be a challenge. But that's a nice challenge to have.

Stephen Johnson, Director, Strategy and Action www.strategyandaction.com.au

About the Author:

Stephen Johnson is the director of Brisbane based consultancy, Strategy and Action. For more information please call (07) 3808 5366 or visit www.strategyandaction.com.au

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/how-to-monetise-your-website-803669.html

Author: Jenny Pilley

It occurs from time to time, you don’t know where from and you don’t know how to get it you haven’t got it where to get it. Inspiration is a funny thing.

There are many ways people gain inspiration for web design or content. Some use a process and others merely just hope inspiration comes when they need it. Ultimately there is no set process to become inspired, which leads to mental blocks and many headaches.

Borrowing Ideas:

A method some people take to designing and writing is to borrow ideas from things they have seen or previously written. This is a useful way of gaining ideas when time is short and work is plentiful. If previous work has been a success, then as long as the principle is different and there is enough distinction between the two designs or content, there is no harm in gaining inspiration from some of your own previous work.

Research:

Sometimes looking at other people’s methods of inspiration can trigger an idea and therefore create something from scratch. All ideas come from somewhere and it essential to know of a route to finding these ideas. Researching in different methods, whether that is searching for images, text or just brain storming ideas, can lead to fresh ideas sprouting from nowhere. These spur on the creative process and therefore give ground works for your writing or designing, whether that leads to something is never known till development.

Peoples Requirements:

Talking to customers and having a second input can make all the difference when making a decision for a design. Sometimes having guidance can accelerate the inspiration because you have an aim and a set of requirements to follow, therefore do not need to spend time finding information and filling through designs.

The Mental Block:

The most dreaded aspect of being a designer or writer is ideas drying up and the feeling that you will never become inspired again. The feeling that every idea you ever had was the last fills you with frustration and annoyance.

It is unavoidable, yet when it occurs, the frantic look for a spark to ignite the inspiration flame seems to burn out quicker than it can stay lit. However, returning to other projects or distracting your self from the task in hand, even for a minute, can start the process again, giving a clear indication of what is expected.

When the blockage is free, producing a piece of work seems to come naturally, until the next project ends up in your tray.

About the Author:

Written by Jenny Pilley, Content Writer for Creare SEO specialists.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/where-do-you-get-your-inspiration-805220.html