A lot of successful websites depend on returning visitors to account for a major part of their traffic. Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because the more often they return to a site, the more trust they have in that site. The credibility issue just melts away. Hence, keep your visitors coming back to your site with the following methods:
1) Start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox
When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are providing your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with their peers -- all of them are visitors of your site. As conversations build up, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site almost religiously every day.
2) Start a web log (blog)
Keep an online journal, or more commonly known as a blog, on your site and keep it updated with latest news about yourself. Human beings are curious creatures and they will keep their eyes glued to the monitor if you post fresh news frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website.
3) Carry out polls or surveys
Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results.
4) Hold puzzles, quizzes and games
Just imagine how many office workers procrastinate at work every day, and you will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. You can also hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize.
5) Update frequently with fresh content
Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors come back, they will have something to read on your site. This is the most widely known and most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this is also the least carried out one because of the laziness of webmasters. No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
5 Important Rules in Website Design
When it comes to your website, extra attention should be paid to every minute detail to make sure it performs optimally to serve its purpose. Here are seven important rules of thumb to observe to make sure your website performs well.
1) Do not use splash pages
Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!
5) Avoid using audio on your site
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
1) Do not use splash pages
Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They normally have a very beautiful image with words like "welcome" or "click here to enter". In fact, they are just that -- pretty vases with no real purpose. Do not let your visitors have a reason to click on the "back" button! Give them the value of your site up front without the splash page.
2) Do not use excessive banner advertisements
Even the least net savvy people have trained themselves to ignore banner advertisements so you will be wasting valuable website real estate. Instead, provide more valueable content and weave relevant affiliate links into your content, and let your visitors feel that they want to buy instead of being pushed to buy.
3) Have a simple and clear navigation
You have to provide a simple and very straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to use it. Stay away from complicated Flash based menus or multi-tiered dropdown menus. If your visitors don't know how to navigate, they will leave your site.
4) Have a clear indication of where the user is
When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will want to make sure they know which part of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse relevant information or navigate to any section of the site easily. Don't confuse your visitors because confusion means "abandon ship"!
5) Avoid using audio on your site
If your visitor is going to stay a long time at your site, reading your content, you will want to make sure they're not annoyed by some audio looping on and on on your website. If you insist on adding audio, make sure they have some control over it -- volume or muting controls would work fine.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Making Money Online - Feb 13th - Entry 2
Making Money Online - My Attempts
Ok, so just a second short post today to outline the second effort that I'm doing to bring in a little more money. Web site creation and monetization. I've done Web before, but that was when I wasn't worried about making money online from the efforts. So, a logical extension for me personally was to combine my web authoring interest with those of content creation. So...in the last week, at the cost of my AC writing (since that would be the least impact on my pocket book), I decided to go there over the past week...
Making Money Online - Finding Start-Up Websites
So, I read about sitepoint.com online and decided to save a little money, that I would go ahead and buy a few start-up websites vice starting from scratch. The first one that I bought was www.appleipodcheap.info. Now, I know what you're saying...you bought a .info site? Well, the developer selling it had it at the right price and did some neat .php scripting to pull in Google Answers Ipod q/a's, had Amazon and Ebay affiliate information on there, and had done his homework on keywords. Now will I see a ton of money from there? Probably not. But just the re-education in php and being exposed to the Yahoo API has been worth it for me personally. The next two sites that I found throug Site Point were www.watchmenmoviesite.com and www.spiderman-arcade.com.
Making Money Online - Hosting Your Website
So, the first gentleman that I bought appleipodcheap.info from turned me on to HostGator.com. HostGator offers three tiers of service, basically one that offers single site hosting (Hatchling), one that allows you to host multiple domains (Baby), and a third tier for those requiring additional resources. You can get started for way cheap for the single site option, I'm paying about 10 bucks a month for multiple domains and really love the customer service with them. I've had techs on chat at 3 am to help me really fix problems with content I bought as well as configuration issues. THey were absolutely fantastic.They also offer Linux or Windows servers for hosting which I like alot...I normally choose Linux to stick with Open Standards as much as possible...so, if you need a host, I can't talk them up enough. If you sign-up through the link below, then I think I get 50 cents or something similarly small and will owe you coffee! :)
Making Money Online - Ads and Affiliates
Ok, I'll write more on this on my next update, but to keep things short, I'm monetizing my sites two ways: Google Adsense, and Amazaon Affilate retail sales. I've mucked with Adsense before and its straightforward. Amazon, I hadn't, but I had a long of fun making my eStore for the WatchmenMovieSite.com site. Amazon is free to setup, and unlike Ebay accepted my application (I still don't know why Ebay didn't!). Check out the store here if you're bored: WatchmenMovieSite.com Store.
That's all for today. More when I have a break!!
Ok, so just a second short post today to outline the second effort that I'm doing to bring in a little more money. Web site creation and monetization. I've done Web before, but that was when I wasn't worried about making money online from the efforts. So, a logical extension for me personally was to combine my web authoring interest with those of content creation. So...in the last week, at the cost of my AC writing (since that would be the least impact on my pocket book), I decided to go there over the past week...
Making Money Online - Finding Start-Up Websites
So, I read about sitepoint.com online and decided to save a little money, that I would go ahead and buy a few start-up websites vice starting from scratch. The first one that I bought was www.appleipodcheap.info. Now, I know what you're saying...you bought a .info site? Well, the developer selling it had it at the right price and did some neat .php scripting to pull in Google Answers Ipod q/a's, had Amazon and Ebay affiliate information on there, and had done his homework on keywords. Now will I see a ton of money from there? Probably not. But just the re-education in php and being exposed to the Yahoo API has been worth it for me personally. The next two sites that I found throug Site Point were www.watchmenmoviesite.com and www.spiderman-arcade.com.
Making Money Online - Hosting Your Website
So, the first gentleman that I bought appleipodcheap.info from turned me on to HostGator.com. HostGator offers three tiers of service, basically one that offers single site hosting (Hatchling), one that allows you to host multiple domains (Baby), and a third tier for those requiring additional resources. You can get started for way cheap for the single site option, I'm paying about 10 bucks a month for multiple domains and really love the customer service with them. I've had techs on chat at 3 am to help me really fix problems with content I bought as well as configuration issues. THey were absolutely fantastic.They also offer Linux or Windows servers for hosting which I like alot...I normally choose Linux to stick with Open Standards as much as possible...so, if you need a host, I can't talk them up enough. If you sign-up through the link below, then I think I get 50 cents or something similarly small and will owe you coffee! :)
Making Money Online - Ads and Affiliates
Ok, I'll write more on this on my next update, but to keep things short, I'm monetizing my sites two ways: Google Adsense, and Amazaon Affilate retail sales. I've mucked with Adsense before and its straightforward. Amazon, I hadn't, but I had a long of fun making my eStore for the WatchmenMovieSite.com site. Amazon is free to setup, and unlike Ebay accepted my application (I still don't know why Ebay didn't!). Check out the store here if you're bored: WatchmenMovieSite.com Store.
That's all for today. More when I have a break!!
Making Money Online - Feb 13th Entry
Making Money Online. The primary reason that I got back into the Web business after being mostly out of it for the past 4-5 years. This past summer, I was able to predict a shortage of money for various reasons, so turned to the Web to start bringing in extra money to help ends meet. As a result, I started to freelance write for AssociatedContent.com, then have expanded my efforts since then to a decent degree of success. Unlike what you will read from other folks on the web, I don't make a killing doing web-based freelance work or web authoring...mainly it helps me get by. I'm still in the just over 1K a month range, and trying to get to 2 phase. One of the things that annoys me with many on the web today is the lack of sharing about how the normal person has success without having to buy an e-book, etc. So...that's why I've decided to start posting at least weekly what I'm doing, what works for me, and what doesn't. If it helps one other person save some time or make more money freelance writing or web authoring than me, so much the better!! Since this is the first post, it will likely be more general to catch the 2 people besides my mother who read this blog up to speed....
Making Money Online - My Freelance Writing Efforts to Date
First a shameless plug for two related articles on the subject:
Making Money Online - Freelance Writing for Demand Studios
So, I was a bit intimidated after reading several articles on writing for Demand Studios about the rigors of AP style formatted articles, moody editors, lack of topics to write on, etc. Well, I shouldn't have been. I put together a resume, applied and got accepted within a few days. Since then, I would have to say 95% of my editor comments are very valid feedback, and the only two that weren't were on technical topics with editors that were of the say Poet background...
In 2009, the content availability has significantly expanded on DS. I'm shooting for 20 articles a week for them. So far I hit my high at 18 last week ($270). For a point of ref, to-date I have made about $320 on AC (writing since 36 Oct 2008). One of the things that I tell say the less technical friends is that you have to be willing to research a little bit to write for DS. If you've owned a home or played sports you should have a niche on there...let alone if you know things about car repair, business, and so forth....now I would have to say, that I get burned out some with DS. You are basically writing EHow articles for the DS branch of the company who owns Ehow. That's why you won't see me leave AC..can't beat the freedom there even with the lesser amount of pay realized!
Making Money Online - Writing Directly for Ehow
Now, about 8 days ago, I decided that I would make writing for Ehow my third publication forum. Primarily because I didn't want to make Textbroker.com my third outlay any longer (low pay, boring topics...1cent a word though others I know like them). To date, I've written 13 articles for them in the 8 days I've been on there. My profile there is: http://www.ehow.com/members/javanx3d.html. Now, one complaint that I've seen from folks on eHow is that they keep the compensation formula secret so you don't know how much you're going to make freelance writing for them. I don't really know either, 1 week on there (I think they updated the money you've made weekly), 615 views, 13 articles, $.10... needless to say, if the dinero doesn't increase then I'll shift those efforts to other areas. Common feedback for Ehow is that you need to make a lot of friends and burn time on reading and commenting on other freelance authors material in order to make money online in that forum. We'll see. I'll keep you updated. I'm playing nice in the sandbox there (reading, commenting, etc), and hope it comes out to at least a little bit a month!!
Thats all for this post on my efforts on making money online. My next post will cover my efforts on web site hosting with content creation for creating more passive income streams. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
Making Money Online - My Freelance Writing Efforts to Date
First a shameless plug for two related articles on the subject:
Making Money Freelance Writing - My Experience
Freelance Writing Jobs - My Top Ten Producing Article TItles
Now, I'll try and not repeat much of what I wrote in those two if you felt like reading them. But, to catch you up...in late October 2008, I started writing for AssociatedContent.com. I covered all manner of topics on there at first, some good, some bad if you read my old stuff. Really, just learning how to freelance write and structure articles for SEO. For those who don't know Associated Content is a freelance writing website which pays money upfront (1-4.50 USD) as well as a going rate per thousand views (1.50 to start with a max of 2.00). I don't think that I've read of anyone who has had a bad experience with AC. THey pay regularly on the 2nd Wednesday of every month for page views, and twice a week for up-front money articles. Sometimes the editors can be a little inconsistent as well as take up to a week to review up-front payment articles, but once you have 3 published the author can self publish for page views-only to the web! Now, after I wrote for AC for about a month, I figured out that the 60 bucks I made writing freelance articles for them wasn't going to get me from here to there. After conducting some research, I decided to apply to Demand Studios who pay $15 USD an article, but you don't get moeny from page views.Making Money Online - Freelance Writing for Demand Studios
So, I was a bit intimidated after reading several articles on writing for Demand Studios about the rigors of AP style formatted articles, moody editors, lack of topics to write on, etc. Well, I shouldn't have been. I put together a resume, applied and got accepted within a few days. Since then, I would have to say 95% of my editor comments are very valid feedback, and the only two that weren't were on technical topics with editors that were of the say Poet background...
In 2009, the content availability has significantly expanded on DS. I'm shooting for 20 articles a week for them. So far I hit my high at 18 last week ($270). For a point of ref, to-date I have made about $320 on AC (writing since 36 Oct 2008). One of the things that I tell say the less technical friends is that you have to be willing to research a little bit to write for DS. If you've owned a home or played sports you should have a niche on there...let alone if you know things about car repair, business, and so forth....now I would have to say, that I get burned out some with DS. You are basically writing EHow articles for the DS branch of the company who owns Ehow. That's why you won't see me leave AC..can't beat the freedom there even with the lesser amount of pay realized!
Making Money Online - Writing Directly for Ehow
Now, about 8 days ago, I decided that I would make writing for Ehow my third publication forum. Primarily because I didn't want to make Textbroker.com my third outlay any longer (low pay, boring topics...1cent a word though others I know like them). To date, I've written 13 articles for them in the 8 days I've been on there. My profile there is: http://www.ehow.com/members/javanx3d.html. Now, one complaint that I've seen from folks on eHow is that they keep the compensation formula secret so you don't know how much you're going to make freelance writing for them. I don't really know either, 1 week on there (I think they updated the money you've made weekly), 615 views, 13 articles, $.10... needless to say, if the dinero doesn't increase then I'll shift those efforts to other areas. Common feedback for Ehow is that you need to make a lot of friends and burn time on reading and commenting on other freelance authors material in order to make money online in that forum. We'll see. I'll keep you updated. I'm playing nice in the sandbox there (reading, commenting, etc), and hope it comes out to at least a little bit a month!!
Thats all for this post on my efforts on making money online. My next post will cover my efforts on web site hosting with content creation for creating more passive income streams. Comments and feedback are always welcome.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Product Review: The IPod Shuffle - 2nd Gen
Product Review: The IPod Shuffle - 2nd Gen
Ipod Shuffle - MP3 Player. With all of the press on the iPod Touch, iPhone, and other higher end Apple products, the iPod shuffle remains one of my favorite MP3 players on the market.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1462394/product_review_the_ipod_shuffle_2nd.html
Ipod Shuffle - MP3 Player. With all of the press on the iPod Touch, iPhone, and other higher end Apple products, the iPod shuffle remains one of my favorite MP3 players on the market.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1462394/product_review_the_ipod_shuffle_2nd.html
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Top 5 Overall New York Yankees Rookies - 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide
Top 5 Overall New York Yankees Rookies - 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide
Despite the number of free agent signings in the offseason, the Yankees have a number of great rookie prospects to consider for the 2009 fantasy baseball draft - Andrew Brackman, Brett Gardner, Michael Dunn, Juan Miranda, and Francisco Cervelli.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1417069/top_5_overall_new_york_yankees_rookies.html
Despite the number of free agent signings in the offseason, the Yankees have a number of great rookie prospects to consider for the 2009 fantasy baseball draft - Andrew Brackman, Brett Gardner, Michael Dunn, Juan Miranda, and Francisco Cervelli.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1417069/top_5_overall_new_york_yankees_rookies.html
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Stafford, Monroe, Sanchez and Crabtree to Go in First Four Picks
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Stafford, Monroe, Sanchez and Crabtree to Go in First Four Picks
We're down to the Super Bowl being left to wrap up the 2009 NFL playoffs, so its time to forecast the 2009 NFL Mock draft.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1414711/2009_nfl_mock_draft_stafford_monroe.html
We're down to the Super Bowl being left to wrap up the 2009 NFL playoffs, so its time to forecast the 2009 NFL Mock draft.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1414711/2009_nfl_mock_draft_stafford_monroe.html
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Stafford, Monroe, Sanchez and Crabtree to Go in First Four Picks
2009 NFL Mock Draft: Stafford, Monroe, Sanchez and Crabtree to Go in First Four Picks
We're down to the Super Bowl being left to wrap up the 2009 NFL playoffs, so its time to forecast the 2009 NFL Mock draft.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1414711/2009_nfl_mock_draft_stafford_monroe.html
We're down to the Super Bowl being left to wrap up the 2009 NFL playoffs, so its time to forecast the 2009 NFL Mock draft.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1414711/2009_nfl_mock_draft_stafford_monroe.html
Sam Montgomery Signed by LSU on National Signing Day 2009
Sam Montgomery Signed by LSU on National Signing Day 2009
LSU coach Les Miles pulled another coup with the signing of Four-Star, defensive end prospect Sam Montgomery of South Carolina today.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1447709/sam_montgomery_signed_by_lsu_on_national.html
LSU coach Les Miles pulled another coup with the signing of Four-Star, defensive end prospect Sam Montgomery of South Carolina today.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1447709/sam_montgomery_signed_by_lsu_on_national.html
Guide to Fantasy Baseball Scoring - 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide
Guide to Fantasy Baseball Scoring - 2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide
There are two common types of fantasy baseball scoring once the drafts are done, teams are formed, and it's time for play to start: 1 - Rotisserie and 2 - Head to Head contests.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1427799/guide_to_fantasy_baseball_scoring_2009.html
There are two common types of fantasy baseball scoring once the drafts are done, teams are formed, and it's time for play to start: 1 - Rotisserie and 2 - Head to Head contests.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1427799/guide_to_fantasy_baseball_scoring_2009.html
Drafting Strategies and Tips - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide 2009
Drafting Strategies and Tips - Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide 2009
Fantasy Baseball Draft Day Tips. In order to help the novice; or even expert who needs to bone-up on tips, I've put together some strategies and tips to consider using for your 2009 fantasy baseball draft this year!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1426750/drafting_strategies_and_tips_fantasy.html
Fantasy Baseball Draft Day Tips. In order to help the novice; or even expert who needs to bone-up on tips, I've put together some strategies and tips to consider using for your 2009 fantasy baseball draft this year!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1426750/drafting_strategies_and_tips_fantasy.html
National Signing Day 2009: Florida Gators
National Signing Day 2009: Florida Gators
National Signing Day 2009. The Florida Gators enter the 2009 national signing day with the seventh-rated recruiting class as listed by Rivals.com.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1447459/national_signing_day_2009_florida_gators.html
National Signing Day 2009. The Florida Gators enter the 2009 national signing day with the seventh-rated recruiting class as listed by Rivals.com.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1447459/national_signing_day_2009_florida_gators.html
Monday, February 2, 2009
2009 Super Bowl XLIII Commercials - Peta Ad Banned by NBC
2009 Super Bowl XLIII Commercials - Peta Ad Banned by NBC
Peta Superbowl Commercial. Although a bit racy, PETA's 2009 ad would definitely had a shot at making the various 'Top Ten' Super Bowl commercial lists if it had aired
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1441946/2009_super_bowl_xliii_commercials_peta.html
Peta Superbowl Commercial. Although a bit racy, PETA's 2009 ad would definitely had a shot at making the various 'Top Ten' Super Bowl commercial lists if it had aired
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1441946/2009_super_bowl_xliii_commercials_peta.html
Freelance Writing Jobs - My Top Ten Producing Article TItles
Freelance Writing Jobs - My Top Ten Producing Article TItles
Making money freelance writing. Insights gained by the author while producing online content for the freelance writing website Associated Content.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1405886/freelance_writing_jobs_my_top_ten_producing.html
Making money freelance writing. Insights gained by the author while producing online content for the freelance writing website Associated Content.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1405886/freelance_writing_jobs_my_top_ten_producing.html
Making Money Freelance Writing - My Experience
Making Money Freelance Writing - My Experience
Making Money Freelance Writing. It takes time to get income streams started and into one's bank account. This is an account of how I made my first $1000.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1405535/making_money_freelance_writing_my_experience.html
Making Money Freelance Writing. It takes time to get income streams started and into one's bank account. This is an account of how I made my first $1000.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/1405535/making_money_freelance_writing_my_experience.html
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