By Robert Lockard
Submit Solution has four new Squidoo lenses, all focusing on different aspects of the Internet-marketing company’s services. Web pages on Squidoo are called lenses, I suppose because they give you a view into someone’s mind, life or company.
I’ll give a brief description of all of the new lenses below. Be sure to check them out and rate each of them, if you like.
One lens focuses just on Submit Solution’s Internet-marketing blogs. As you can tell, each of these blogs has a different focus: search engine optimization, paid search, social media and Web design. You can find it here: Submit Solution – 4 Internet Marketing Blogs.
Another lens gives you more information about Submit Solution’s services, including Web design, SEO, PPC and website content. You’ll find it here: Submit Solution – The Best Internet Marketing Services.
Submit Solution’s website launch is spotlighted on another lens. It includes the news release announcing the updated website’s release in September 2009 and the company’s new features and services. You can find that news release on Submit Solution’s website under “Press.” It’s entitled, “Submit Solution Launches New Web Site with Web and Logo-Design Services.” The lens can be found here: Submit Solution Online-Marketing Website Launch.
The final new Submit Solution Squidoo lens is short and sweet. It includes some of the newest blog entries from the site’s four ecommerce blogs, as well as Submit Solution’s contact information. If you want to get a hold of a Submit Solution representative, that’s a good place to go. Check it out here: Submit Solution: The one-stop hub for internet marketing.
Don’t forget about our four other Squidoo lenses for Submit Solution, eHarbor, Inc., Magellan Commerce and Real Estate Promoter that we built back in March. I talked about them in the eHarbor Blog back when we created them. Learn more about them in my blog entry, “eHarbor, Inc. launches Squidoo pages.” We recently updated these lenses with additional information about our companies’ history and high-tech services.
You can find them at the following links:
Submit Solution - Search Engine Optimization Tools
eHarbor, Inc. - eCommerce and SEO Experts
Magellan Commerce - Website Design & SEO
Real Estate Promoter - Website Design & Marketing
This is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog post: “Submit Solution’s four new Squidoo lenses.” The Submit Solution logo is the copyright of Submit Solution.
By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)
For many people who are just starting an online business, blog, or other type of website, they use Do-It-Yourself web design in order to save money. While this often works for blogs, which often come with free themes, e-commerce sites are far more complex and require an intimate knowledge of computer languages.
However, if you need to be your own web designer, this post is aimed at helping you proofread your website or blog to make it the as easy-to-use and successful as possible.
DIY web design and proofreading is a lot like self-editing your own writing: it’s hard to see the mistakes when you are so invested in the work! Therefore, I suggest that you enlist the help of a friend, coworker, family member, the stranger sitting at the library computer next to you… anyone will do.
1) Do a quick look-around: Ask your help-mate to look around your home page. See if they can easily navigate through your pages, categories, archives, etc. Ask them to find the “Contact Us” page, or to sign up for your email newsletter. This will help you understand if your site layout and navigation is successful!
2) Check the text: Ask your helper to read some of the main text content on your home page: is it easy to read? Are the fonts and colors easy to see? Are there any spelling errors that jump out at you? This will tell you whether or not your content will translate to your visitors or if you should make some changes.
3) What annoys them most? Nobody likes an annoying site design, like pop-up ads, flashing banners, etc. Ask your helper what part of your website they would change if they could. This will help you avoid a high “bounce rate” of visitors leaving your site.
These steps are designed to help you proofread your own web design. Of course, there are thousands upon thousands of companies who provide services like this, but if you use DIY-web design, you will probably use DIY-proofreading as well. Good luck!
By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)
Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites have become a major tool for bloggers around the world. These sites help bloggers increase awareness, loyalty and traffic to their blogs. How do they do this? By posting tweets that describe a certain blog post and include a shortened link in the update. Here is an example of a tweet that was in my home stream this morning:
This type of update is called a teaser. It entices your followers to click on your link to read more about whatever it is you’re talking about. Your teasers should be carefully crafted in order to create the most effective tweets.
Here are some qualities of succesful twitter teasers:
They ask a question (i.e. “What’s the deal with Twitter Lists anyway?”)
They use strong words that catch the eye (i.e. vampire, CNN, H1N1, bacon… use your imagination!)
They talk directly to individuals (i.e. “Do you have a custom logo to brand your business?”
They’re weird, original, personal and quirky (i.e. anything that @s***mydadsays tweets about–[insert profanity warning here])
Once you start crafting some teasers and trying them out, you should keep track of which links receive the most clicks. This will tell you how you’re doing and what type of teasers are most enticing to your followers. You can do this by using a third-party Twitter application like CoTweet or HootSuite, which use URL shorteners like bit.ly and ow.ly.
As a final tip, make sure you leave some space leftover in your teasers (including the link) so that your followers can retweet you. When someone retweets you, your entire username (plus @ and “RT”) will need to fit in the tweet, so make sure your teasers are short enough to allow this!
By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)
In web design, especially for blogs, the header is extremely important! This is the place where your readers will look first, the place where your logo is displayed, where your site navigation and other information can be. One should not underestimate the power of a well-designed header to increase reader awareness and visitor loyalty.
This is especially relevant for blogs, whose primary goal should be to generate subscribers and loyal readers. For e-commerce and other websites, the header is still important, but will most likely cater to a different feeling or need than a blog header.
Here are some things to think about when designing your blog’s header section:
1) What’s the point of your blog? What do you usually write about in your blog? Are you focusing on creativity, technical skills, or professionalism? Your header should reflect your niche and should inspire your readers accordingly. For example, if your blog is about something creative, your header should also be creative, and should inspire your readers, for lack of a better word, to create something! Likewise, if your blog is about something technical, your blog header should reflect a crisp, clean and modern design to show this to your readers.
2) What is your blog about? Now that your header’s style reflects the type of mood you want to create around your blog, you need to think of a creative and effective way to communicate what your blog is about. This can be done with a smart, memorable slogan displayed in the header, or creative graphics. Either way, your header should show your readers immediately what your blog is about, and should do so in a way that will be memorable!
3) What do your readers need to know? Now that your readers are inspired by your header and know what your blog is about, what else do you need to convey to them through the header? Use the rest of your header space wisely in order to display the most necessary information about your blog. For example, you should consider site navigation, categories, pages, search bar, social media icons, etc. What option would best suit your blog? What would contribute to the ease of use and ingenuity of your blog?
Once your header is redesigned according to these simple guidelines, you will see the difference it makes with how your readers become more involved in your blog. Remember, the header is the first place your readers will look… make sure you give them a good first impression!
The good example of blog header web design in this post are from Vectips and Web Designer Wall.
By Britnee Nguyen
Here’s the new marketing technique: Companies using top bloggers to write, blog, and talk all about their product. How do they convince bloggers to willingly do this for free? They give them goodies.
Ford Motor created a new model “Fiesta” that is set to launch next year. Instead of spending money on expensive advertising, they got 100 top bloggers to talk about the product for six months. Bloggers were enticed to do this because they received the “Fiesta for the entire six months.
Not just large corporations are taking advantage of the power bloggers have, but local companies have taken advantage of this also. For example, a small jewelry shop in Utah was giving away free pearl necklaces for a few weeks. How did they get the word out? They invited the top Utah women bloggers to the shop and gave them free stuff then asked them to talk about their experience and post the free coupon on their blog. Their turnout was more than expected through this campaign.
Next time you read on someone’s blog about a product, think twice. They might have been given the actual product or other freebies to get them to talk about it, so it might not be a completely true opinion about it. Nonetheless, companies have found a great way to tap into the on-line community to get the word out about their products in a cheap way.
