What does RSS stand for?

RSS stands for ‘really simple syndication’ – quirky but accurate.  It provides a mechanism whereby web users can keep up to date with content coming from a particular source, such as a blog or newspaper.  The content is delivered automatically when it’s published (i.e. it’s automatically syndicated to the user’s RSS reader), and is presented in an easy-to-read way within one central reader application, which allows the content to be viewed.

What’s the point?

RSS is actually quite a useful tool. By feeding content updates as they happen, you never miss out on what’s going on, and it brings full coverage to you, rather than you having to go searching.  RSS is also a quick way to publish content on your own website, related to your interests and the interests of your visitors, for free from some of the web’s most respected sources.  Added to that, it is the web standard for syndication, allowing users to collate content from a range of sites in the same format through their RSS reader, so it’s pretty handy all round.

How can it benefit me as a user?

Imagine checking even 10 blogs or news-sites everyday for the latest stories and updates.  If this sounds like you, you could benefit from using RSS.  RSS presents all the information you crave in an easy to handle, single location so you simply head on over to your RSS reader rather than checking out website after website.  It also presents updates in chronological order so you can quickly identify new content, outwith the ‘noise’ of the website on which it originates.  Syndicating stories from the BBC News website for example will provide the content you desire without the need for you to go looking for it.

Are there business benefits?

Yes.  As a content publisher (or even a website owner with a news-section or blog), the ability to have your content automatically seen by a number of users is very valuable.  Say, for example, you had over 10,000 users subscribing to your RSS feed – imagine the potential of promoting a special offer, or publishing a coupon code on your blog.  It’s almost as good as guaranteed traffic, and gives you influence and the ability to command attention as and when you choose to publish.  Many of the world’s top bloggers and news sites rely on RSS as a substantial proportion of their value to prospective advertisers, and you too could benefit from this captive (and usually responsive) audience.

One of the biggest limitations facing DIY-web designers is a lack of technical know-how.  Anyone can FTP an HTML file and a few images, but it takes something a bit more special to create an attractive, professional website that functions as it is intended. The chances of effectively conveying what you intended with your own web design skills are much less than expressing your intentions to a professional web designer – have faith in the abilities of your designer and you’ll be able to create a much more effective and attractive website.

Of course, a professional web designer isn’t just a ‘code-monkey’ sitting putting your plans into action – they can also add an extra dimension to your web design that you didn’t think possible.  Because of their professional expertise and industry knowledge, your web designer is probably the best person to consult with regard to how your website should be set up and optimized for both users and search engines.  When you fly solo, however, you’re limited by your own knowledge and perception – when it comes to web design, two heads are almost always better than one.

Working with a professional is by far the most time-efficient solution.  What’s the point in personally spending hour upon hour learning how to design websites if that isn’t your desired career path?  In a fraction of the time, you can have a website designed by a professional designer who has years of experience in addition to the technical expertise necessary to create the website you desire.  Also, as a business owner, your time can be spent much more effectively than designing your own website, and the opportunity cost of taking time out of your schedule to learn and effect your website design should be factored in as an expense when weighing up the most cost-effective solution.

Ask anyone who has fallen foul of a terrible website the impact it can have on their business.  You wouldn’t put out a marketing brochure to prospective clients that you’d cobbled together yourself with pages missing and an unattractive design – it just looks unprofessional and simply doesn’t deliver the right message for you and your brand.  By choosing to work with a professional not only do you end up with a more functional site, but you also end up saving money in the long-run through retaining customers you’d otherwise lose, in addition to expanding your customer base as you convert visitors into clients.

Poor website navigation will have an adverse impact on conversions.  It’s common sense – if users can’t find their way to your checkout, or they get lost along the way, they’re simply going to go elsewhere.  In online business, and business more generally, it makes commercial sense to ensure it’s as easy as possible for customers to see what you have to offer and subsequently make a purchase – good, sensible website navigation makes that possible, and anything else is neglecting the needs of your customer and frankly detracting from your business.

The user experience is all-important online.  Unlike a physical shop, there’s no face to face interaction online so you need to make sure you’ve got your best foot forward – it’s too easy to click the back button if a customer feels confused.  Incidentally, providing a satisfactory user experience is also a good indicator to clients of competence and customer service, and by getting these right from the off you’re giving yourself at least a fighting chance of converting your visitors into customers.  One of the easiest ways to ensure this is the case is to provide an easily accessible sitemap, which links to every page on your site – this is helpful both for users and search engines, and is certainly a worthwhile add-on to improve your site’s navigation.

When planning your website navigation structure, try and stick as closely as possible to the web standard.  Most websites have a ‘contact us’ page – some are quirky and call it something else, but the safest option is to have your contact details on an individual page labelled ‘contact us’.  Why?  Because it has become the web standard, and your visitors are in the habit of finding contact details on the contact us page.  If you hide these details elsewhere, you make your website less logical and simple to use – the easier it is for the user, the better, and by sticking to conventional navigational practices you can ensure your navigation is as smooth as possible.

A logical, consistent approach to website navigation is a critical component of good website design, and without it your visitors will quickly desert for your more usable competitors.  A professional web designer should have the ability and experience to advise and create a navigation system that is both orthodox and accessible, to make it as easy as possible for your visitors to get around.  By putting yourself in their shoes and trying to navigate to every corner of your site, you should quickly spot any problems with the navigation system, and hopefully make the necessary amendments to improve the overall usability of your website.

Selling online is largely a numbers game.  A standard website converts at 2-3%, according to research conducted by Business Week.  That means on average for every 100 visitors you send to your site, roughly 2 or 3 will convert into sales.  The implications of this are massive – if the numbers stack up (which, from experience, they do), you are virtually in control of your own destiny online, limited only by the extent to which you can drive traffic.  And with pay per click advertising, SEO and viral traffic generation all more than possible for small business owners, the power of selling online quickly becomes apparent.

One of the beauties of selling online is the ability to track your results and test the effectiveness of different strategies. Forget second-guessing what works and what doesn’t – with the Internet on your side you can see an unbelievable depth of data and information on which you can base your marketing and selling decisions to improve profitability.  By being able to track every click, every search term, and even the exact path through your website a buyer took, you can see what’s working and what isn’t, and make changes accordingly to streamline your selling operation.

Additionally, by selling online you are no longer restricted to your local area, or even to the country in which you live.  While some businesses will be inherently geographically limited, others will be able to expand their horizons quickly and effectively into the global marketplace, offering their goods and services online to customers from around the world.  And because your e-commerce website is open for business 24/7, you can quite literally sell as you sleep, bringing your business round the clock, global coverage.

Even closer to home, many of your existing would-be customers will look for a website first before making their buying decision, and like to ponder over your marketing materials before making their purchase.  If you don’t have a website that’s selling what you have to offer, you’re missing out on the impulse buys, and the chance of convincing marginal cases that what you have to offer is worthwhile having.

The power of selling online is tremendous, and it makes good commercial sense for businesses in all markets to consider openings up online distribution channels for their products and services.  And by leveraging the advantages of the global marketplace online, marketers have scope to significantly boost their revenues and rapidly increase their customer base, business owners can realize the true potential of doing business online.

The statistics alone are impressive, with users spending more time on Facebook than any of its Web 2.0 competitors, and thanks to the decision to open up the Facebook platform to developers, it has effectively become the web’s hottest property.  But how does this translate as a marketing and traffic generation opportunity?

For business owners, this provides a world of opportunity for advertising and promotion, and on the basis of the pay per click model, it’s possible to drive direct, targeted traffic to your landing page with very little effort.  Facebook is monetized primarily by ads, and websites big and small have integrated its advertising platform into their marketing campaigns to good effect.

In addition to offering PPC advertising, Facebook also allows the option for advertisers to choose to pay per thousand impressions (CPM).  While this might be a more preferable option for certain campaigns designed to generate exposure rather than directly drive traffic, the heightened tracking and direct costs element to the pay per click model make it arguably a more attractive and more malleable option.  Ultimately, having these two options open to you as a marketer allows you to figure out which method works best for you, and to capitalize on that accordingly – by testing both and analyzing the raw numbers, it should be easy to see at a glance what’s working best for you.

One of the key benefits of advertising through Facebook is the ability to segment your target market by demographic, providing advertisers with the opportunity to tightly target ads to those most likely to be interested.  Because Facebook collects an extensive body of data on those that use its service, it’s possible to target only woman from Manchester that like cats – if that’s your niche, you can narrow down the users to which your ads are shown such that you maximize the effectiveness of your through-traffic.

Couple this ability to segment with an image-based ad (which will enjoy a greater click-through rate than a plain text ad), and a conversion-optimized landing page and you have the makings of a highly effective advertising campaign, and one that can be tested and tweaked to achieve the optimum set-up for your promotion.

With an Alexa traffic rank of 2 behind only Google, Facebook is a modern day Internet phenomenon, and an absolute essential tool for any website owner looking to target his marketing efforts and drive quality traffic.  Whether you’re currently marketing via PPC or you’re simply enjoying the benefits of good search engine placement, Facebook’s advertising platform provides an additional, low cost way to boost your website traffic and drive more enquiries and leads through your website.

The key to maintaining your own motivation to be creative is actually a long term effort. Starting out can be tough, and in most cases the most difficult part. But with the right methods and consistency you will be able to reach a point where staying motivated is easy. It is a simple case of knowing when to make the right choices at the right times.

Obviously everyone is unique and each of you will have your own methods and actions into being creative. But here is the chance to read something that offers some possible methods and solutions when getting motivated and staying motivated.

The main things to take into consideration are:

Set goals

You will find it is a lot easier to stay motivated when you feel like you’ve reached a target. Give yourself something to achieve and break the work load down. If it is a large website project you are working on, set yourself mini goals so you are reaching targets every few hours or days rather than spending weeks trying to get the lot done.

Small bite-sized objectives

As mentioned briefly above, set yourself up for more success than failure by being realistic in goal setting and come up with small, bite-sized tasks to start with. As you complete more tasks, start making your goals more ambitious.

Build a creative workstation

Whether you design websites at your desk, in a dark room or a home office, you need to assign a place to yourself where you can be creative. Once you’ve decided on that place, use it! Each creative task and success you achieve in your ‘creative workstation’, will slowly train your mind to be creative within it. When I first set up my creative workstation it took me about 3 months for it to click in my mind that it was actually my workstation but as soon as I enter now, I can focus my mind that I’m ready to work.

Walk away, but don’t quit!

Whatever you do, you must always remember to never give up on a website or problem. Put them to one side for a while but always come back it later on, even if it means coming up with a theory for solving the problem. These problems build confidence and develop a nice portfolio.

Find your creative time zone

Just like your body’s sleeping and eating times, there is also a best time when your body can be most creative. For me, the best time to be creative used to be late at night, now-a-days it’s usually between midday and late evening. Although I do have a creative burst where I get most work done after 9pm. Your main objective is find out when you are at your most creative side and start using that time to your advantage.

Using the right tools

When being creative designing websites you need to ensure that you are using the right tools for the job. The ‘right tools’ doesn’t necessarily mean the best tools but being creative can be difficult enough, therefore, the idea is to make the job / project as easy as possible. For example, my best choice design software has got to be ‘Photoshop’, you may make this more difficult by trying to use ‘mspaint’ to come up with some amazing graphics. It’s something you just don’t do!

Following progress

One of the key points in being creative is to follow your own progress. As mentioned in step 1; the main objective is to break the task down into smaller parts. Therefore, after a few weeks working on a project look back and see how far you’ve come. If you don’t stop every so often to see where you were a couple of months ago, and where you are now – do it! You might just surprise yourself on how much progress you’ve made and how your creativity has grown.

Get out of the house

This may seem a bit like the step where you walk away from your work and come back to it later, but there is a fine line between setting aside some work and actually taking a break from your workstation. Whilst a creative workstation can often be the best practice, it sometimes helps to go somewhere different to work. It can provide a different level of ideas and influence your creativity and work.

Work through it

You may think that it’s pointless trying to force yourself to be creative when you’re ‘not in the mood’ but often it can work in your favour. It may feel difficult to start with but as you gain momentum you’ll find your motivation returns almost every time! After all, you have nothing to lose; you get the job done and you’re still producing quality work / websites. It may not seem like they are of good quality but you may still be working the same as you usually do, you’re just in the wrong state of mind to realise.

Another essential and distinguishing attribute of CSS, which is already entirely formulated, is that one can witness the World Wide Web as a functional and developing database. This entails that we can acquire a file from one web site and put it into another. Just like you wish to upload your video in the You Tube and you put it on your My Space page. This can be done by implementing CSS tools. Now there is a greater charge to the internet users as compared to the older age of web, i.e, web 2.0.

Although many advancing skills in this era of web growth are only restricted to a few group of persons enjoying superior intellect who take up training in formulating this progressing web, still it’s a great thing that websites have materialized advanced information on the internet growth particularly when this very benefiting CSS is available to all. What people want is the aim of website developers these days, keeping their convenience in mind and this aim is the real source of information for them.

For such developers of web, who have nothing else but designing their web sites on their mind, it will be most beneficial to see CSS site and the gallery there. Here we can find some really fascinating descriptors of CSS designing which have been put up in a very organized manner and to this description everyone would agree.  Such a thing will not be available in a regular web site.

In this section, we can find a great deal information, all about web and web designing. CSS can not be taught in just one place in this section, so all the beginners have to take up studying CSS themselves to reach that expert level in web development.

If still one’s wish of finding related information is not satisfied, one has the option of joining the interactive mode in this section of this forum. Since these days there is a great competition, this forum has become very famous because of its outstanding features. Since this has been made possible here, you can find even more related information on many more subjects from more skilled elite. And moreover, all this is absolutely free of cost. Furthermore, this forum also analyses the community to which you belong and gives your kind of information, i.e, the variety you like. And for this it provides you help from others.

But creating websites is not a very easy task. It requires the expenditure of both time and money, if you want a really well ordered and successful website which is accepted readily in the market.

What goes into making and setting a website and to make it operative are the following costs:

1. The direct cost of website creation. Whether or not you do it yourself, you have to pay for it because in the world of business, time is money.
2. Direct cost of successfully introducing and running the website in the market. A good pre-promotion for your website marketing is very important, regardless of the fact that you find any return on what you invest.
3. Direct and indirect costs for updating your websites with the latest technology.  Now bringing the most previous bits of information and content to your website is beneficial to you. All web developers update their contacts, special offers, prices, etc. But if you feed your website with that ‘something extra’ which obviously calls for more effort, then you will be more benefited.

After all this it’s for us to decide as to how much to spend and how smartly one spends. Often business starters tend to become thrifty and wasteful with their resources.

What all can happen if one is hesitant in investing and hence being unable to design a good website. If your website has been done ‘on the cheap’, the detrimental effects may be:

1. We discover that the content and quality of the website on the whole is very low, the graphics are badly designed, poor in function and layout. Your company obviously leaves a very spoilt expression.
2. Sometimes some green web designers design the entire site on ‘Java script’ and  also provide navigation with this. This renders the site useless for search engines because search engines are unable to access such sites.

So we get to infer that not wisely investing money can not help you being successful. If time and money is what it demands, then so give it, at least as a starter in business.

Nonetheless, we know that website designing is a really complex task. It calls for high degree of understanding and all sorts of latest technologies and updates to realize the dreams and wishes into realities. One needs to be extremely careful while designing websites, be it yourself or by employing some professional.  One can not think of designing a website without its good technical knowledge. In that case it will be better you hire some professional web designer who can design a customized website with the best quality.

1. Youtube videos: Strong videos with a humorous or interesting twist can be a great way to drive traffic, and previous examples have shown us they have the potential to become rampantly viral.  Don’t fall into the trap of assuming any video you post will go viral – only good videos that actually provide value, entertainment or interest to the viewer will go viral, but it is possible.  A viral Youtube video should be supplemented with social bookmarking to get the video seen and hopefully start the viral cycle.
2. Link bait blog post: Bloggers and journalists constantly trawl the Internet for interesting articles and features to pick up and cover, particularly within similar interest areas to their media. An interesting, share-worthy article can quickly do the rounds, and not only brand you and your website very positively, but also spread backlinks and send streams of new visitors.  A great deal of this process comes down to trial and error, and learning what works best for the media within your niche.
3. Free giveaways: Free giveaways and prize draws are a really cheap way of getting coverage.  Rather than investing in driving the traffic, the prize is effectively the only major outgoing, other than incidental expenses such as PR syndication. Invest in a decent prize – the better the prize, the more coverage and exposure your competition is likely to get and thus the more your campaign will grow.  Follow it up with a press release published through a high quality online newswire, and send details to local media and related bloggers.
4. Refer-A-Friend Coupons: An often-underused viral marketing strategy is the refer-a-friend coupon.  This helps transform your current clients into a mobilized sales team, referring friends and colleagues to your website or service in return for some future discount or prize.  Subtly, this strategy is actually forcing the viral process rather than allowing natural viral growth, but nevertheless is a good way of building up referrals and sending your marketing campaigns to the next level.
5. Social media: Web 2.0 and social media websites are the birthplace of so many viral campaigns. Free downloads, funny videos, interesting articles and exclusive stories and polls work very well on social media sites.  Such is the instantaneous nature of these sites, good content will be picked up and passed around and around very rapidly, increasing the exposure of that content and consequently your website.  You should above all try to ensure the content is worth sharing, and assuming that’s the case, social media platforms are probably the quickest way of achieving your goal.

Social media is one of the best ways to build links for your website.  From blogging to Twittering to Facebooking, engaging in social networks and the online community can provide your site with real high quality backlinks from a diverse range of credible sources.  Focusing on getting a good, diverse range of keyword anchor text for your links, this should help very quickly get your site off the mark.  Additionally, the marketing benefits of participating in online communities can also be profound, making it a doubly profitable way to spend your marketing hours.

There is also the option of purchasing links back to your site from other related websites, as a quick way to acquire backlinks.  There is a liquid market for links with highly variable prices, but investing too heavily runs the risk of a penalty from the search engines, so should be handled with care. It may be better as an alternative to opt for high quality, paid directory links from trusted domains, which would carry more credibility and weight in the eyes of the search engines without being seen as dubious.

Doing public relations can be good from a marketing perspective, but also from a link building point of view, gathering high quality natural links by virtue of the coverage of your angle.  Whether it’s with the media or bloggers within your area of interest, a strong public relations campaign can see both coverage and links from credible editorial sources, doing your rankings the world of good. Similarly, viral marketing strategies designed to get exposure can also help spread backlinks far and wide, building up a more diverse link profile and ideally driving a ton of traffic in the process.

Building links should be considered an ongoing process, the more links you acquire (assuming they are natural and of sufficient quality), the more likely your efforts will be rewarded with a solid search engine ranking.  Persistence is the key, and constantly engaging in PR and viral marketing campaigns can give a powerful boost to your overall performance in the search engines.  And provided you stay away from the easy way out with spamming and building poor quality links, you should enjoy growing returns on your time investment as your domain ages and becomes more respected in the eyes of the search engines.