Professional Web Services, Specializes in Internet Marketing, Online Advertising, SEO - Search Engine Optimization, and B2B & B2C Web Marketing and Online Branding.

Is it best to use the color black in creating the home page. . or is it alright to use gold or purple for the search engines?

Is it better to make a lot of uppercase words?

When making a site 'sticky' does that apply for the most part to the Home Page?

Let me answer your second question first about using all UPPERCASE words.

If you are going to use all uppercase words, do it in extreme moderation. All uppercase words looks like shouting to most people, and in my opinion the search algorithms tend to categorize all uppercase words as shouting too. What I am saying, is the engineers at Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft Search are always tweaking the algorithms to get the best search results possible. They don't want search results pages that look like they are shouting at people either. Now, that doesn't mean that the search results pages are not going to pick up any (all uppercase) pages in the search results, it is just a guideline to think about when you are designing your website and performing SEO Best Practices.

Try to use good writing techniques in all your published writing on the Web. I am of a strong opinion, that the search algorithms are actually being engineered to analyze writing styles, proper writing syntax, and text semantics. If you write and publish on your website using good sentence structures, then the search algorithms will tend to give your website higher marks. It's just like a writing rubric grading system at school, but this grading system is truly color blind to unjust prejudice.

Don't fret if you are not a literary genius, or have a tendency to misspell words, or have other dyslexic writing tendencies. Use web browsers that have automatic spell checkers, like Firefox, or write using Microsoft Word or equivalent word processors, and have these programs do automatic spell checks and syntax checks for you. If you want additional writing help, there are automatic programs such as WhiteSmoke that will help analyze, proofread, spell check, and edit your text to make it much more palatable to your visitors and the search engines too. The WhiteSmoke writing program has various writing modules available for help with general, business, creative, Hi-Tech, Bio-Tech, and executive writing styles. In addition, it is wise to have others check your published works. Don't take constructive criticism personally, and continue learning from mistakes. The best way to improve your writing skills is with practice; there is no other way.

What color should I make the home page for the search engines?

I'm convinced that color schemes in the website pages are not so much as an important factor for the search engines, as it is for your readers, and people that are likely to link to your website in the future. It you have body text, that is not hidden in the page, the search engines can read it regardless of what color your page is. An important point here is, don't make your body text hidden by doing some form of Blackhat SEO tactics. The search engine algorithms are getting much more sophisticated, and will likely give your website a search ranking penalty if you use Blackhat SEO tactics. You however do need to make the page easy to read for your online readers. Typically white on black is harder to read than dark on light colors. Once again this is just a guideline. I have used both at various times. If I have a lot to say, and I expect my readers to be able to spend a lot of time on the website, then I would make the pages as easy to read as possible. If I have a little bit to say, and I want to use a little bit more creative license in my web designs, then experiment with other color schemes.

For example: My Backflag site that I use for Internet shorts, is light on dark backgrounds which in my opinion is harder to read. On the other hand, my According to Jim site is mostly dark on light backgrounds, for easier in-depth reading. See Marketing-101 for an overview.

Now, if you look closely, you will see that I actually use both, dark on light, and light on dark backgrounds, at www.jimwarholic.com. The header area is a dark background and the body is a light background.

Does making a site "sticky" apply, for the most part, to the Home Page?

The term "sticky" generally refers to the ability of a website to capture the attention of a reader in order to draw that reader back to your website, and the ability to empower your reader to interact with the site by having them explore the website pages and read more content. How well you do this through out the website will determine how sticky your website is. Different types of websites have different degrees of stickiness. As far as how sticky your Home Page should be is concerned, it all depends on what you intend to do with the site in the first place. In my opinion, the Home Page should be an overview guide about your website. If someone comes to your website the first time through the Home Page, and you have very little information, they will have no idea what it really is about.

The example you gave, about the "Company of Winners" books is an example of an overview Home Page. This one is a graphic, which generally speaking, an all graphic home page is not the best from a search engine optimization perspective to be search engine friendly, but it does however show the point I am trying to make about the home page being an overview guide.

Hope that helps you.

Best regards,

Jim

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Labels: Business, Internet_Marketing, Online Marketing, Search, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines, SEO, Websites

  

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Local Home Builders are Tapping into the Internet to Increase Home Sales

This story reflects the true nature of what is happening with the Internet and sales generated. Other homebuilders need to look at the following results of what has happened with Lennar and apply those lessons learned into their own home building domains.

For example, in June, Lennar had 251 Internet generated leads and 255 live chat sessions (roughly 7.5 per day). By the end of the month, the internet team helped drive 20% of the total homes sold. In July, the number are even more impressive with internet leads reaching 439 and roughly 25% of sales impacted by one of the internet avenues of communication. The most recent results indicate that the internet channel played an active role with just over 40% of home sales in August.

Read more Local Internet Marketing for Home Sales

In the age of the Internet that we live in, all businesses would be wise to consider the importance of using Internet marketing to get their message out. Local, National, or International searching for products or services provided by your company may be missing the buyers' eyes in the search engine results pages.

What is your business about? Business Services, Consumer Services, Electronics, Technology Services, Biotechnology, Industrial Equipment Supplier, Manufacturing, Computer Products, Medical Equipment, Health Care, Real Estate, Wholesale and Retail, B2B or B2C, or Small Business; if your pages are not found online, how will customers discover your business on the Internet?

Contact Professional Web Services for the Internet marketing solution.

Labels: Internet_Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing

  

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Make a Major Marketing Impact With Video On Demand

Make a marketing impact for your business with a video. If a picture tells a thousand words, then a video is magnitudes greater, if done in a creative and smart marketing way. The business website is a great place to incorporate the essence of your business and share it with the online world. An unveiling of a product, with a video introduction of the actual product in use, is a cool way to spice up a website and provide a reason for customers to come back. As is common in the B2B, Business to business world, the process of making a sale is many times, significantly longer than the B2c (business to consumer) counterpart. Various levels of management typically get involved with large machine purchases or any type of major capital investment. Having a video of the capital equipment in action can help make the sale.

A video can also be used to highlight the importance of your product or services provided. There are many videos online that make a stunning marketing impact to provide the detailed understanding of what your business is all about.

Here are a few websites with videos that I think capture the essence and ideas of what online marketing is all about.

Actually, I am a little biased on some of these websites, because they are related to Professional Web Services, Inc.

First off, the design and customization group, that has taken great designs, and customized them for various customers to promote their brands. Many times simply changing a heading picture on many of the professional open source designs will set the business apart. Take a look at our Professional Web Services designs for a creative marketing video that has been incorporated into the website.

Second, we have our Marketing Forces in force. This particular website has been incorporated with another video that we discovered that is really cool animation. The creator put a lot of time and effort into creating a super quality artistically designed video using another open source program. It is simply amazing at what can be done.

Last But not Least From a Business Industrial Perspective

This website incorporates several marketing concepts that provides information in a particular market segment, just by viewing the short video online. The clip is educational about the circuit board industry and how PCB CNC drill machines actually drill holes in the circuit boards. It also provides an inside look to show other related industries of the types of CNC machines and electronic equipment serviced and maintained by Probe Industries.

Consider using video on demand marketing for your company. For more information, contact Professional Web Services today to have powerful marketing strategies make an impact for your business online.

Labels: Business, Internet_Marketing, Marketing, Online Marketing, Video, Websites

  

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