Types Of Websites And Recognisable Designs

By Owen A Barron

Who among computer users hasn't heard of websites? They're the portal to cyberspace where information is shared more freely, where communication can take place without hindrance, and where we see evidence of advancements in IT.

Because we rely so heavily on the internet the number of websites has shot up to over 500 million today. That's a massive figure and gives you an idea of just how useful these virtual pools of information have become.

Now, more than ever, businesses, governments, organisations and individuals alike are turning to the Web to display core information, objectives, ads and much more. Since so many types of users exist, websites too have had to cater to these various categories. Here's a look at the types of websites today and the designs they typically feature.

Entertainment websites: Dedicated to the entertainment world, these sites host information on celebrities, the arts as well as game portals and similar interactive programs designed to stimulate and entertain. They're one of the most popular types of websites not because they contain such important information but because we as a species are attracted to entertainment and drama.

Informational websites: These are the more 'serious' sites where information consists of particular topics useful for ordinary and professional researchers. Where entertainment sites are among the most popular, informational sites are the most common. They're also extremely useful and epitomise the original idea of public websites where information sharing was the objective.

Transactional websites: Transactional sites possess features to facilitate transactions. eCommerce sites are an example where products and services can be purchased online. Today, such sites have gained a strong foothold in the virtual world as businesses realise the importance of taking their offerings to cyberspace in a bid to connect to a larger customer base.

Community websites: Community websites centre on particular topics or figures and aim to bring likeminded individuals together. The topics could be any number of things and don't necessarily have to be subjects of extreme importance or even relevance. The point is to connect people with similar tastes and give them a platform to discuss ideas and express opinions.

Tried and trusted designs for different websites

Since different sites cater to different needs, appearance varies and is carefully chosen to reflect what a site stands for. So, entertainment sites will typically feature bright colours, large images, playful fonts or large headlines and similar elements designed to attract attention and make content seem more interesting.

Informational sites, meanwhile, have a cleaner look which is nevertheless far from boring. Colours are rich without being glaring, content is presented in an easy-to-read manner and offers, if any, are featured in such a way as to appear more subtle compared to the same offered by an entertainment site. Transactional websites, on the other hand, feature large images laid in a left to right, top to bottom manner along with text regarding price, size etc. A shopping basket figures prominently on the top right side of the page.

As for community websites, they can feature virtually any design but typically follow a theme. For example, a hobby site centering around collecting model cars will sport elements regarding cars as well as patterns mimicking popular liveries. The same principle applies to any chosen topic.

If you want to improve your business drastically, there is no reason for not having your own website and a creative web designer who can do it for you. Contact a designer for your website here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Owen_A_Barron

Too Bashful to Boast? How to Gain Media Attention for Your B2B Business

By Jeremy Durant

In today's media, the name of the game is "content." Releasing regular, relevant content about your industry will spread awareness among the clients on your current mailing list as well as garner local or national attention. Many B2B companies mistakenly think that their business isn't doing anything press-worthy, so they assume that they're locked out of the media game.

However, with the right mindset and a clear plan of action, your business can start to generate interesting, noteworthy content to release to relevant media outlets that can help your business increase brand awareness.

Here's how to do it.

Quit Hiding

Get the word out about your business! In today's marketplace, content marketing (communicating with your customers by providing relevant, useful content without a hard sell) gives readers a reason to pass along the info to their circles and establishes a word-of-mouth bond that can be great for your business. If you're not blogging regularly, you're already behind.

Take a Stand

Businesses can't afford to be wishy-washy with their brands. Write your own content or work with a reputable PR or marketing agency to generate content that informs your readers but also posits a clear business position. Unless your company is in the encyclopedia business, there is no need to remain completely impartial. Stay away from incendiary topics like politics or religion but establish a clear position or recommendation when creating content for your blog or press releases.

Alert the Press

Press releases also play an important role in generating "earned media," which is attention you receive through publicity efforts that aren't paid advertising. In 2013, Nielsen determined that earned media and word-of-mouth recommendations are some of the strongest ways to connect with clients, so doing something press-worthy is worth it to your business.

Blog and Reblog

Traditional news outlets aren't the only available resource to spread your message. Industry forums, blogs, and newsletters are already targeted to the clientele with whom you most want to share your message. Besides a content marketing plan that generates original content for your business website and newsletter, reach out to other industry bloggers to exchange content with them. It will generate fresh content for your site and also get your message out to groups to whom you might not otherwise have access.

Rework your content

You can re-purpose each of your business blog posts into a press release, provided that your PR angle is interesting and worthy of publication. Many B2B publications are starving for great content and getting your messages to as many outlets as possible ensures that you're not only getting eyeballs on your content, but also fusing your message with reputable online publications.

Press-worthy is as Press-worthy does

Approach the day-to-day that everything your business does is press-worthy. And if it isn't, find a timely topic it can relate to. Stay up to date with current industry news and release content with topics that are trending now.

Work with a Professional

Quality is the most important part of content marketing, so working with a public relations firm, marketing agency, or other professional copywriting service can be a huge boost to your business. Professional content writers know how to take your blog ideas and write compelling, attention-grabbing headlines and body copy that will appeal to prospective clients. They are also well versed at re-structuring blog posts into press releases and white papers, so your content marketing strategy can be executed without a headache on your part.

Be Regular

Blog posts and press releases take time to generate interest (and returns) but with regular continuity, they will eventually begin to take hold. Frequently releasing information also makes it easier for your business to chart the effectiveness and results of your messaging. Tracking the impact of your PR and content marketing efforts is more difficult if your posts and press releases are sporadic.

Don't be bashful about your business's content marketing plan. Spreading your brand message across a wide range of media outlets will generate awareness and affinity for your business. The hardest part is getting started.

Wondering how content marketing can improve your business? Read our blog post on what makes valuable content.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeremy_Durant

The Most Profitable Niche - How to Earn $50 an Hour in 2014 Doing Work You Love

By Alexa Ross

Who else has struggled to pick the perfect niche? Have you found yourself struggling to earn what you are truly worth... while actually working IN a niche, market, industry or vertical that is meaningful to you? The truth is, so many online entrepreneurs waste weeks, months or even YEARS trying to identify the ideal niche... only to find there really isn't one in the abstract sense.

The BIG secret to becoming successful online?

The most profitable niche for just about 98% of online entrepreneurs is one that they love... and turning it into a service that can be sold.

There is an old saying that the HAPPIEST entrepreneurs and professional people are those that have "outward facing" careers.

In other words... anything that allows you to focus on CONTRIBUTION as much as cash, and PROGRESS as much as profit, and SERVICE as much as sales, is guaranteed to make you happier than getting ferociously focused on doing something for financial rewards alone.

If $50 an hour sounds like too much to earn online for someone just getting started, the truth is, it's NOT. As a matter of fact, everyone reading this right now SHOULD be able to earn $400 a day, or 8 hours at or about $50 per hour in income, without too much of a stretch.

Want some supporting stats?

The average full time business coach, according to the ICF, earns about $300 per HOUR.

The average generic life coach earns about $160 an hour per the same study.

There are several other independent studies which have published similar... but slightly lower numbers, and account for tens of thousands of people who are in the coaching or consulting service industries.

Even if you want to be totally pessimistic, and say that these numbers are TRIPLE what they should be (in other words... 300% too high) you still arrive at a figure of $100 an hour for business coaches... and over $50 for generic life coaches.

The point is, do something that you LOVE, and that allows you to help other people dance in the direction of their own dreams... and you'll be paid more money, to have more fun, and to do really meaningful work, than anyone ought to be allowed!

Want a really BIG tip?
If you think about doing business coaching, and turning your love for online entrepreneurial into a fun and profitable business, start LOCALLY. Every community has hundreds, if not thousands of real professional people, right now... who need help building BUZZ for their brands, blogs, businesses and bank accounts. Over 75% of those people are paying for that sort of help right now, and NOT getting the types of BUMP they need, want or deserve.

All YOU need to do is be a little bit better... and bring more energy, enthusiasm, ideas and INNOVATION to the table, and you can literally build a 6 figure business from the comfort and convenience of home, starting right NOW!

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexa_Ross

How To Sail Through Troubled Waters With Smart Keyword Choices

By Kenneth Dockins

In regard to sluggish online sales, drooping page ranks, or dips in visitor activity, the feeling that myriads of site owners get is much like entering into troubled waters.

Usually, it is hard enough to navigate even past the standard amount of difficulties you may encounter when running an online campaign or website business.

Yet, when Internet waters get rough, focus begins to change in a very unique way. That is, without knowing the exact CAUSE of online sales or traffic discrepancy, the site owner often begins to guess about it.

Online solutions applied as a result of guesswork are likely to fail because the true problem may be something that you often NEVER even imagine.

It helps in times like these, to ask SMART questions. For example, the number one question now coming to SEO and online marketing consultants, in one way or another, takes the following form:

"How do I find keywords?"

If this issue was simple, then its answers would also be highly straightforward. However, there is a much BETTER question to ask.

With a smarter approach in mind, you can clarify the above question in the following way:

"How do you find keywords that you actually WANT to promote?"

In other words, even a standard Google keyword planner tool phrase analysis inquiry will produce for you about 600 keywords. Yet, each of these phrases has varying degrees of:

• Actual RELEVANCE to your particular skill set, unique product, or online services offer;
• Direct COMPETITION, along with "search engine optimized" competitors;
• Visitor INTEREST or levels of readership.

The fact is that you can neither CREATE nor INVENT keywords, and the BEST ones are 99.99% occupied by previous or long-standing web authority sites.

What is the solution to this problem? Two new occurrences are now in place, which SHOULD give you STRONG clues about keyword selection.

First, Google's recent establishment of the "Hummingbird" algorithm speaks toward the demotion of keyword value. Rather, it focuses upon giving readers pages with better content from the most directly related sources.

Secondly, the Google administration much more strongly recruits HUMAN editors to read the actual content of each page before it can reach the top-level search engine results roster.

This gives the adage that "content is king" even more monumental meaning. Put simply, keywords now FOLLOW content, rather than leading the march.

Thus, the most SOLID answer is to spend your time in the RESEARCH process, especially finding authoritative facts that support the reasons why your online offer deserves merit.

Even for new visitors to read further into the gist of your online product or service, it will not be keyword stuffing that wins their intellectual favor. Rather, it is likely to be the sincerity, enlightenment, and new informational twist that you present.

Search engines, as well, now work in a much similar way. Consider, for instance, one of the top online factual sources, Wikipedia.org. On this site, even the content descriptions of historical achievers must contain documented citations, endorsements, and references before they get published for worldwide reading.

The best sites in the world now desire plus "demand" QUALITATIVE facts. Basically anyone can stick a keyword into an article or advertisement, simply because that phrase is a popular one.

However, resulting content can easily miss the mark, both for readers and search engines alike, because excellent WRITING nearly automatically contains the best MATCH of keyword meaning and intention for the searcher.

Thus, the ULTIMATE question to ask today is, "Does your written content live up to the NEWER set of Google high quality standards?"

If so, then your logical keyword choice can also follow, PLUS support you during times of trouble and prosperity.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenneth_Dockins

Legitimate Work From Home Jobs That You Can Get Started With Today

By Tyrael D Alston

If you're currently unemployed or you are simply trying to find a way to earn supplemental income, then one of the ways you can make money is through online work. There are numerous legitimate work from home jobs that are available that will allow you to earn a sustainable income online. The problem is that it's hard to find those companies among the sea of scams that are online. You will need to always do your due diligence and trust your instincts when deciding to get involved with an online opportunity.

One of the most popular ways of earning money online is to become a freelancer. When you do freelance work you are becoming your own boss. You set your own hours and you only accept jobs that you believe you are capable of completing. A freelancer usually handles the following types of jobs.

Web Design/Graphic Design

A web or graphic designer will be expected to be highly skilled and before hiring you for the job your employer will need to review your portfolio. Before you start advertising your services or placing bids on projects you need to ensure that your online portfolio is in place. Even if you've had no prior clients you will need to have projects of your own that you've completed that can be publicly displayed as part of your portfolio.

Content/Article Writing

If you are a competent writer then you can make money providing content for websites. There are many internet marketers who are always looking for high quality content for their websites. Just as with graphic design you will need to provide samples of your prior work. You can write a few articles on varying topics to allow your potential employers to get an idea of your writing style.

Always be sure that you proof read your work for spelling and grammatical errors. Of course it should go without saying that your work will also need to be original content. Do not copy any articles from other sources and claim that they are yours as there are easy ways to detect plagiarism.

Programming Related

This is perhaps the most difficult form of freelancing since it will require a very high skill level. If you have a programming background then this will be a great option for you, but for others who do not have the skill set, the only way you can get started with providing programming services is to actually study online courses. You can decide on the web programming language you'll want to learn such as PHP or.NET and from there develop your own sample scripts.

When you are confident in your abilities then you can start bidding on projects. This is something that will take time to develop, so only venture this route if you have the time needed to study or if you are already an experienced programmer.

Marketing Solutions

Another form of freelancing is becoming a provider of marketing services. This can range from being an SEO expert, PPC consultant or a Social Media provider. You will need to be able to explain to your potential clients how you can grow their business using the specific methods you will be implementing. Of course you will also need to provide proof of successful campaigns you've done in the past.

These are just a few of the legitimate work from home jobs that you can get started with. Each of them are viable but will take time and some effort to get started.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyrael_D_Alston

Software Development Tips for Building Business Apps

By Simmar Kumar

At a time when more and more consumers are walking around spending more time on mobile apps than on personal computers, it will be foolish for organizations not to have a business app fitting their business requirements. A couple of useful tips for developing a smart and efficient business app are as follows.

Spot the Appropriate Coding Platform

There are three major stores to sell business apps: iOS App Store, Google Play Store or the Windows Store. Since every platform has its own set of required coding skills it is important to determine in which store the app will be published. Once this is known, the appropriate coding platform can then be used for developing the business app. For example, the business app can be coded in Objective C if it is for iOS, or in Java and XML if it is for Google Play. Getting it right the first-time in terms of the coding space helps to ensure high performance and the latest API support.

Focus on the Target Audience

Before starting with the development of the business app, it is important to identify the target audience. This helps in defining the style and the branding of the app. Business apps should ideally serve a niche and solve a problem. Defining the target audience helps in determining the look-and-feel of the app. Identifying the target audience also helps in determining what content, graphics, buttons, icons and fonts are to be used for the app. The process also helps developers to integrate strategies that would boost customer loyalty and engagement.

Leverage New Tools

App development is known to require development knowledge for different platforms. However, new tools have now emerged in the market that simplify the process of developing an app and eliminate the costs associated while doing so. Developers can now use templates to create audience-specific apps. They can even go for multi-platform business mobile apps by using some really great multi-platform developer tools. Examples of these tools include Appcelerator, PhoneGap and Whoop.

SEO

As more and more business apps are being submitted to the mobile app market, competition to rank higher also gets tougher. It is now imperative to integrate analytics in the business app while it is being developed. That is the only way to track the visitor stats and keep on improving once the app is published and launched. It is a good idea to have as many back links to the app as possible from as many quality sites as possible. Taking a look at the apps which are at the top of the niche and emulating their keywords and descriptions is another way to make the app search-engine friendly. The very fact that Google Play's app ranking system now takes into consideration how many Google+ likes (or +1's) an app has, underlines the importance of SEO for a mobile app.

Location and Push Notifications

These features are the latest in mobile app development technology that can benefit a business app. Mobile app developers are now gradually waking up to these sophisticated features. When push notifications are integrated with a business app, the user is informed through alerts that some update has happened on the app, even when the app is switched off. Incorporating geo-location during the software development phase of the mobile app is highly suggested. Location technology is another extremely valuable mobile app feature for businesses. Geo-location allows a smartphone user to check-in socially (similar to Foursquare check-ins) when visiting the business. This allows organizations to deploy targeted advertising.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Simmar_Kumar

5 Tips For Organizing Your Business Online

By Robert Stanek

People love to do business online. From shopping and paying bills to purchasing car insurance and applying for a home loan, everyone seems to have a website and/or mobile app for their business these days. But unlike a traditional brick and mortar company, you can't smile and say hello to prospective clients, read the expressions or body languages of your shoppers, or visually inspect the displays of products being offered. This can make attracting customers, selling products, and keeping things organized quite challenging. Here are five simple tips to help you keep your online business or storefront organized, accessible, and looking fabulous to visitors!

1. Balance

When organizing a website or online business e-commerce page, it is important to balance your offerings and information carefully. Many sites overwhelm people with too much content, busy pages that contain excessive media, or annoying pop-up boxes requesting surveys, chats, etc. While it is important to give a consumer the information about a product or service that they desire, ask yourself if the site is informative, yet balanced.

2. Relevance

One mistake that many online businesses make is offering too much content that is not relevant to the consumer or that doesn't add value to them. While it is OK to include a history of your company somewhere on your site, for example, this is probably not the best content for a main homepage. When deciding how to organize your online business, put yourself in the shoes of the customer and, using this perspective, decide what content is most important and creates the greatest value for a buyer.

3. Navigation

Another organizational mistake that some online businesses make is trying to make their navigation too fancy or different. While setting yourself apart from competitors is generally a good idea, be sure to organize your online business in a way that is familiar to patrons in the area of navigation. When people land on your page or open your app, they expect to see a certain format for browsing. If you stray too far from this, it can confuse, frustrate, and scare away shoppers.

4. Optimization

Search engines send a lot of traffic to online businesses, and so it is important to organize your website so that it is optimized for search engines to find and recommend. One way that this is done is by selecting certain keywords or key phrases and making sure they show up regularly in your content. As search engines browse your page, they see these words or phrases and place your business in results that match these.

5. Trustworthiness

Finally, when organizing your online business, be sure to include all necessary security elements and take sufficient safety precautions so that your consumers trust providing personal or financial information to you online. If you use a particular security feature, consider adding an emblem, sentence, or seal to your page letting buyers know where the protection for the site is coming from. Links or emblems showing Better Business Bureau membership, feedback from past customers, or independent reviews of your company are also a good idea if available.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Stanek