and look down
through the categories until you find the one that is most
appropriate for your site and then hit the "add URL" link
at the top of the page - instructions will be given from that
point on. Read those instructions carefully.
Also - if you're not in yet, try to get
listed there, as well. LookSmart is the directory which feeds Excite.
It seems that more and more search engines are hopping on the directory
bandwagon - that is - they are trying to get more relevant searches by
adding directories to their sites. I'm not sure yet how closely intertwined
ODP will be with the search engines. In otherwords, I am not
sure how your listing in ODP will affect your ranks in the "search"
part.
I do know that getting listed in the "Go Network" at Infoseek will
definitely increase your ranks in Infoseek. To get listed in Go -
you can become a "Go Guide". For more information on what is
involved in becoming a Go Guide and what it entitles you to,
there is a little link at the top of http://infoseek.go.com/ called
"Go Guide".
If you are not interested in becoming a Go Guide -
but you are interested in getting your site listed,
you may send me your URL, the title you would like (keep it
brief and to the point) and a short description (also keep it brief). Also,
tell me the category that you feel best fits your site.
I have recently become a Go Guide - and I can submit your site for you.
I am not guaranteeing you will be listed in Go - but I will guarantee
that I will submit your site to be reviewed.
And yes, I do profit from this - not monetarily - but the more sites I
contribute that get listed - the higher on the rungs of Go I can get.
Write on....
Renee Kennedy
rkennedy@thewritemarket.com
One more thing - if you are recieving this newsletter twice
in your email box - it is because you signed up twice.
Just send me your email address, tell me that you are
getting it twice and I will remove one of your email
addresses.
__________________
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___________________
A FOOL FOR A CLIENT
By Bob Cortez
In the legal profession it is said that a lawyer who represents
himself has a fool for a client. Sometimes if we are too close
to a project we can't step back to get the perspective we
need...seeing the forest for the trees and all that.
I've just had one of those "aha" experiences: a rare moment
when all of sudden your entire world shifts a little. You get a
flash of clarity and focus that allows you to see things with
new eyes.
I consider myself pretty good at seeing the big picture, but I
had become myopic in my own business, regarding my web
site. I was so focused on providing tools and resources for
visitors, I lost track of the fact that the main reason for my
site was to create business for myself...Duh.
Now, others had told me that my site had lost focus. People
that I respect and admire like my friend and coach Billi Perry
(http://www.cashflow-solutions.com). When I revamped Billi's
site, she asked why I didn't do the same with my own site.
If it was good enough for her, why wouldn't the same thing work
for me? I went back and looked at my site again, and while
there were things that I could change, overall I thought it was
pretty good.
I had a fool for a client.
The opening act of my most recent revelation came when Billi
baited me into revealing my attitudes about good spelling and
grammar on my moderated discussion list. I figured most people
didn't think it was all that critical. Wasn't it the content that
mattered? Surely a few spelling and grammatical errors would
be overlooked if the information was solid.
Billi and others argued quite effectively
(http://www.onelist.com/archives.cgi/homebiz) that spelling and
grammar are absolutely critical to online success...that a site or
article containing stupid errors (either through ignorance or
sloppiness) reflects poorly on the author, and is "a" if not "the"
determining factor on the choice to do business with them or not.
At this point another good friend, supporter, and member of the
Homebiz Community, Judy Vorfeld (http://www.ossweb.com)
stepped forward and volunteered to proof and edit my site.
Of course after the severe drubbing I took on my discussion list,
I immediately accepted and was looking forward to cleaning up my act.
Now comes the "aha."
Part of what I do for my clients is to focus their site presentation
on what they do. I counsel them to use the first paragraph of their
site to clearly identify what they do, and how what they do benefits
the visitor. Simple, huh?
When I turned Judy loose on my site I expected to have my writing
cleaned up. Spelling corrected. Grammatical errors and run-on
sentences eliminated. What I received was much more. Judy could
see the forest for the trees. She saw that I had failed to follow my
own first rule and took the time to demonstrate to me what I should
have already known. (http://www.ossweb.com/cortez1.html) .......WOW!
Sudden clarity and focus.
What I could do for others, I could not (or did not) do well for myself.
Can you identify your own blind spots? Or have you gotten too
close to some areas of your site or your business, and simply
can't see the forest for the trees?
Do you have a fool for a client? If so, consider consulting a
professional to provide you with a new perspective.
For organizing, time management and cash flow solutions
contact Billi Perry at mailto:billi@cashflow-solutions.com
For Copy editing, Web Site Coordination, and Translation
Corrections contact Judy Vorfeld at mailto:oss@ossweb.com
For marketing, promotion and web consulting let me give you
an "aha" experience like the one I received.
mailto:bobcortez@tqm-online.com
Visit Bob's site at: http://marketing.tqm-online.com/morefool.htm
for "The Rest of the Story". You will also find a link
in his article to another wonderful article called "Cluetrain Manifesto".
__________________
SPONSOR MESSAGE
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_________________________________
NAVIGATION - LEAD 'EM TO THE SALE
Go look at the navigation on your website.
Answer these questions:
a. Is it clear from the home page what your products and/or services are?
b. Is it clear from the home page how to get more information on
your products and services?
c. When they get to the "more information" pages - is it clear how
they can order or how they can move to the next level - communicating
with you?
d. Have you analyzed your "target response"? In otherwords - what
are you trying to get your visitors to do - does your navigational system
clearly lead people to your target response?
Navigation will be made up of three different strategies:
1. Web Copy
2. Hierarchical Structure
3. Directories
1. Web Copy
Your web copy needs to "lead" your customers to the sale. It needs
to pull them down the page, forcing them to scroll, because they want
to read what comes next. And at the bottom, it must make them want
to click to the next page.
If you use buttons or graphics as part of your navigation strategy also
include a text link that gives a hint of what is going to be next. Do not
underline text unless it is a link.
Before you begin to think about your navigational structure - be sure
to have a good idea of what you are going to say on your web pages -
of what each page will do and say. Perhaps your first page will discuss
benefits and then they will move off to other pages that discuss features.
The navigational structure will be developed as you write your web copy.
2. Hierarchical Structure
I will outline a very simple structure, for one product:
a. Opening Page - emphasis on benefits
b. Secondary Page(s) - more benefits, features and pictures of the product
c. Testimonials
d. Guarantee and/or Warranty
e. Closing Page - Ask for the Sale (This is where you want to include the
prices.)
If your site is more complex than one product:
a. Include a maximum of 8 links in your "main" directory.
b. Organize in a hierarchical fashion - if you have more than 8 pages -
think about using sub directories. Can you divide your site into
sections? Your "main" directory might link to "sub" directories.
For instance, at The Write Market we have several sub directories.
Our main links are: home, services, products, webmasters,
newsletters, and about us. From there we break down even further and
lead people to more directories. For instance, "webmasters" is a
second level directory. "Articles" is a third level directory off of
"webmasters". Try to avoid going beyond third level directories.
c. You might consider keeping your product or services pages separate
from the rest of your site. This means - not linking to anything
else on your website that might confuse the navigation of your product
and services pages. However, include one link back to your
home page so that they can get out of that section if they don't want
to be there.
3. Directories
You will see that many sites use graphics - either buttons or bars - to
create a uniform or consistent navigational directory on every page
of the site. You don't need graphics to create directories.
However, if you do choose graphics - they should look professional!
You can create all of your navigational directories with text links.
A. Your navigational directory or may be placed
on the left or right side of each of your pages.
We recommend the left rather than the right for two reasons:
1. Surfers are used to having the directory on the left hand side.
2. Right aligning your directories can cause problems in older
versions of some browsers.
B. You may have "navigational bar" that runs across the top and
bottom of your pages they might look like this:
Home | Features | Testimonials | Guarantee | Order Now
C. You may use a combination of both left or right hand directories and
top and bottom navigational bars.
In any of the above scenarios - it is recommended that you include
a link back to your home page or your "main directory" page on every
page of your site.
Tips:
1. Layout the flow of your site on paper before attempting to put it on
the web.
2. Write your web copy first. At least have a general feeling of what
it will say before you attempt a navigational structure.
3. Continually go back and re-examine your navigation - as your site
gets bigger you may fall into the trap that we did - not clearly outlining
the purpose of the site on the home page. For our site - it is next to
impossible to outline our "target response" on every page - so we
have to settle for outlining it on the home page.
4. Understand that as search engines begin to index your pages -
people may end up coming into your site from various pages - not
necessarily your home page. Can people still find their way around
if they come into your site from any page? Do people still understand
the purpose of your site if they come in from any page? (This is a tough
one.)
5. Make sure you have links to and from your home page or wherever
you keep your "main directory" on every page of your site. (This will also
help the search engine spiders find their way around.)
6. Always offer a link to the target response on every single page in the
section that you are trying to sell something or get some kind of response.
For example - "Order Now" or "Free Consultation".
__________________
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________________________________
WHAT'S NEW AT THE WRITE MARKET
We've added another section to the Free Graphic's Mine.
It is called "holidays" and you will find some Thanksgiving
clip art - free for your website:
______________________
FREE MONTHLY DRAWING
Congratulations to last month's winner of our
free monthly drawing - 2Virgos:
Here's where we placed their banner:
http://www.thewritemarket.com/Gallery/backgrounds.shtml
Sign up for the monthly drawing
for a free banner!!
Send an email to mailto:freebanner@thewritemarket.com
Also include the text you'd like
to see on the banner and the link to your website.
The free banner will be standard banner size -
480x60. So you can use it in any banner
exchange program. Plus we'll put it on our site,
for one month, in the graphic's mine.
Please, keep sending us your 5 line ads:
mailto:freead@thewritemarket.com
We will publish three ads per month in
this newsletter - it's free!
_________________
PSSST - PASS IT ON...
If you liked this newsletter you may forward it to
anyone you like. Tell people about us, ask people to
subscribe simply sending an email to
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mailing list.
___________________________
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