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ISSUE #4
Date: Jan 18 1999 08:54:52 GMT
From: WebWord.com Usability Newsletter <WebWord-owner@listbot.com>
Subject: WebWord.com Newsletter #4
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WebWord.com Newsletter
"Usability & the Internet"
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List Owner
John S. Rhodes
John@WebWord.com
Sponsored by
The Internet Marketing Center
<http://www.marketingtips.com/t.cgi/11535/>
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January 18, 1999 Newsletter #4
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Table of contents
1. A New Expert Interview is Online
2. Get A Free Web Site (through VirtualAve)
3. Better Internet Bureau (revisited)
4. How to Create Effective Links in E-mail
5. WebWord.com Friends Program: Picking Up Steam
6. Why Should You Care About Web Cards?
7. Visit WebWord.com
8. Your Site, Usability, and Search Engines
9. Reader Feedback
10. Pass This Newsletter On and On and On
11. Classified Ads (2 advertisements)
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ITEM #1
A new expert interview is online
<http://WebWord.com/interviews/gronich.html>
Bruce Gronich is the Webmaster of BingNoseBird, a
site dedicated to creating interactive Web sites.
The focus of this interivew is on CGI (common
gateway interface). Read the interview to find out
how CGI can improve the usability of your site.
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ITEM #2
Get Your Own Free Web Site
I just found out about this a day ago. You can get
your own free Web site in about one day through
VirtualAve. The deal is excellent:
- 20 MB free disk space
- Full CGI access from your own cgi-bin directory
- Full access to Perl
- Server Side Include
- Free domain name registration or transfer
- FTP and FrontPage support
- Unlimited email aliasing and forwarding
- 99% uptime
As a test, I created a site dedicated to cars.
<http://CarsCarsCars.virtualave.net>
Visit it and
let me know what you think. (I'm going to use it
as usability test site.)
So, why is VirtualAve free? As you can see on my
Cars Cars Cars site, they make you place a banner
ad at the top of your page. This is a small price
to pay in my opinion.
If you are interested in getting your own free Web
site, visit VirtualAve. <http://www.virtualave.net/>
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ITEM #3
BETTER INTERNET BUREAU (revisited!)
<http://better-internet-bureau.org/welcome/bib63int/>
In the last newsletter (#3) I asked you what you
thought about the Better Internet Bureau (BIB). I
thought that I'd tell you a little bit more to get
you to visit the site. They have a rather good
associate program that you can join. Here are
the details...
Regarding the associate program commission structure,
the efforts you put in now could result in many years
of residual income.
When a new Web site is certified, from your BIB Web
site, you receive a $10.00 U.S. commission. What
you may not know is that you also receive a
$10.00 U.S. commission each and every year that your
new customer renews their certification.
The same rule applies when a new BIB Web site is
created, from your BIB Web site, you receive a
$4.00 U.S. commission on each site certified from this
new associate site. You also receive an additional
$4.00 U.S. commission each and every year that the new
customers site remains certified. A little extra effort
now could return many years of residual income.
Now you have TWO reasons to visit the Better Internet
Bureau: (1) evaluate the usability of the site and
(2) you might be able to earn some money. :-)
Here's my MAIN QUESTION again: Do you think that a
service like the Better Internet Bureau increases
(or decreases) the usability of a Web site?
Here's the URL once more:
<http://better-internet-bureau.org/welcome/bib63int/>
--
By the way, you can learn about other about associate
programs by reading my interview with Allan Gardyne:
<http://webword.com/interviews/gardyne.html>
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ITEM #4
Creating Effective E-mail Links
I wrote a small article on how to put links into your
e-mail messages. I hope you find it useful.
<http://webword.com/867link5309.html>
By the way, there are only TWO ways that you can read
this article. First, if you subscribe to this
newsletter, you can read it for free using the link
I gave you above.
The other way to read this article is to pay $3.95
through a link on the home page of WebWord.com. As you
can guess, I want people to subscribe. (This free
article is a "THANK YOU!" for subscribing.)
By the way, this bonus article explains why I keep
putting <>'s around my URLs.
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ITEM #5
The Friend's Program: Picking Up Steam!
Two more friends have added links to WebWord.com,
and so I have links to *their* Web sites.
Here are the most recent additions:
Phil & Moke's Secret Free Place
<http://www.maxpatch.com/resource.html>
Velocity Motorsports
<http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4085>
Are you interested in getting free promotion too?
Visit the WebWord.com Friends page to find out more.
<http://webword.com/friends.html>
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ITEM #6
What are Web Cards and why should you care about them?
Web Cards are like postcards, but with a high quality,
full-color picture of your site - or any page in your
site - on them. Dentists use Web Cards to remind
patients of appointments. Churches use Web Cards to
promote online newsletters. Colleges use them to
announce new courses. You can hand out your Web Cards
at trade shows and send them to your customers,
suppliers, contacts, the news media, friends and
relatives. They're are an excellent way of announcing
your new site or new information.
Joseph Haedrich, the friendly, helpful President of
Web Cards, says: "Most of our clients report a much
better response to mailings of postcards than to
e-mailings. Perhaps it's the fact that there is
something to hold on to or the full-color images
that make a difference."
Get your FREE samples by following this link...
<http://www.printing.com/affiliate.asp?site=WebWord>
Offline promotions can be user-centered, and Web Cards
can help. If you can get something into your clients'
hands, they will be able to remember your site better.
Also the association of the cards to your site makes
good marketing sense.
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ITEM #7
Visit WebWord.com!
Don't forget to visit WebWord.com <http://WebWord.com>.
There are MANY things that you can find there that you
can't find here. There are many old interviews and
articles that can help you improve your site's
usability.
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ITEM #8
WebPosition -- your site, search engines, and usability
When a would-be customer goes to a search engine and
does a keyword search for your products or services,
does your site appear in the top 10...or does your
competition? WebPosition is the first software
product to monitor and analyze your search positions
in the top search engines.
Of course everyone can't be in the top 10 in search
engines. But this software gives you an excellent
chance. Many thousands of people have already
downloaded it. So if you haven't, the competition
is probably ahead of you.
To learn more about WebPosition, and to download your
own FREE trial version of the software, follow this
(long) link...
<http://webposition.com/cgi-local/index.pl?DS1=RP&DS2=BJJ-55DD>
I am currently using the trial version of the product.
It is rather easy to use (which is one reason why I
mention it), and it also is giving me invaluable
information about my site. WebPosition not only
gives you an indication of where you stand in relation
to your competitors, but it can also help you use more
effective wording on your site. For example, WebPosition
can help you improve your title tags. As I mentioned in
the last newsletter, this is important.
Try it out and let me know what you think.
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ITEM #9
Reader Feedback
Here is what Shane Pitkin had to say:
"You made an interesting point in the newsletter (#3)
about time zones and language which is not "global"
-- this very point struck me when I was updating my
title GIF for the holidays. I initially had "Merry
Christmas" on there, then changed it to 'Happy
Holidays.' It's absolutely right."
Visit Shane's (graphics-intensive) site:
Velocity Motorsports
<http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4085>
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ITEM #10
Pass this Usability Newsletter on...
Subscribing is easy. <http://webword.listbot.com/>
If you enjoy reading this newsletter why not tell
a friend about it? Even better, why don't you
recommend The WebWord.com Usability Newsletter
on a discussion list?
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ITEM #11
Classified Ads
(1) Get FREE information about AUTOMOBILES. Visit our
excellent listing of the best products and services
available. Selling your old car? Buying a new one?
Need financing? Visit CARS CARS CARS now!
<http://CarsCarsCars.virtualave.net>
(2) Need help with that JOB INTERVIEW? Planet Interview
is your source for effective interviewing tips.
Read our FREE advice on what to do before, during,
and after your important interview.
<http://PlanetInterview.com/>
[Rates: $15 per newsletter. You get 4 lines (about 30
words), plus your URL gets listed. I keep the rates
high to discourage advertisers. Contact john@webword.com]
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