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================================================================ 

 

The Promotion World Informer 

Issue #56   February 9, 1999 

 

================================================================ 

 

This issue of the Informer is sponsored by: 

 

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Contents Of This Issue: 

 

        - Editor's Notes 

        - Cool Quotes 

        - What Now? 

        - Sponsor Message 

        - What's New At Promotion World 

        - The Discussion Board 

        - Sponsor Message 

        - Website Usability 

        - News Headlines 

        - A Small Request 

        - Misc. Information 

 

=========================== Editor's Notes ====================== 

 

Just wondering... how many of you have visited Promotion World in the last 

month? I know, I know, I haven't added as much as I would have liked, but 

there are hundreds of pages worth of information there that I am sure you 

haven't ever investigated. 

 

For example... have you taken the "net famous" promotion tutorial for 

beginners yet? Judging from the comments I receive, it has been very helpful 

for hundreds of webmasters. http://www.promotionworld.com/tutorial/ 

 

What about the Expert Interviews section? There are many very interesting 

interviews here, and with some highly renowned experts. 

http://www.promotionworld.com/interviews/ 

 

How many of you have looked back through the archives of this newsletter? 

There is a wealth of information in there that most of you probably haven't 

ever seen before! http://www.promotionworld.com/informer/archives.html 

 

I am sure that is enough to keep you going for now. When you are done, just 

visit http://www.promotionworld.com/map.html for some more highlights 

around Promotion World for you to visit! 

 

The Informer is sent only to those who have expressly requested it. If you 

no longer wish to receive it, simply follow the simple unsubscribe 

instructions at the end of this newsletter. 

 

============================ Cool Quotes ======================== 

 

Mr. Bell, after careful consideration of your invention, while it  

is a very interesting novelty, we have come to the conclusion that 

it has no commercial possibilities. 

        - J.P. Morgan to Alexander G. Bell   

 

I stopped believing in Santa Clause when I was six. Mother took me  

to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph. 

        - Shirley Temple 

 

But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that  

all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they  

laughed at Fulton, the laughed at the Wright brothers.  But they also  

laughed at Bozo the Clown.  

        - Carl Sagan  

 

Download all the past Cool Quotes by sending any email to 

quotes@promotionworld.com. Enjoy! 

 

========================== What Now? ========================== 

 

What Now? 

By Jennifer Johnson 

 

You've designed a great site, have been listed with the big search engines and 

directories, joined a banner exchange or two, started a reciprocal link 

program, and maybe you've even sent out a press release. In short, you're 

finished with Round 1 and now all that's left to do is to wait for the flood 

of visitors soon to be arriving.  

 

That lull between the first phase of site design and promotion and the period 

when your traffic really picks up can seem like a time when there's nothing 

left to do but sit back and wait. You couldn't be more wrong. It's a 

webmaster's mirage.  

 

During the design and initial phase of promotion your "To Do" list looked more 

like a novel. You probably couldn't even conceive of a time that you'd have 

nothing to do, but here it is...so what now?  

 

It's at this point when the *real* job of site development begins.  

 

So, what do you think I'm going to advise you to do? I bet I can guess what 

around 80% of webmasters think should be done in this time period. Do you 

know? C'mon, if you think about it, I'll bet you do.  

 

I think once the site has been completed, once the search engine submissions 

have been sent, and all that's left to do is wait for the barrage of visitors, 

most webmasters think that what they should do at that point is to work on 

improving their search engine positions.  

 

In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with trying to better your ranking 

with the various search engines. You can play with META tags, page content, 

whatever you think will boost your relevancy. Before you do, however, I think 

you should put some thought into whether or not your site is going to live or 

die by search engine rankings.  

 

Sometimes I think there is too much emphasis placed on playing the search 

engine game. Everybody wants a top ten listing; that goes without saying - but 

only ten (duh) sites will be ranked in the top ten, right?  

 

I feel your time (and mine) would be better spent if we devoted a little more 

effort into developing our site content and a little less effort into 

obsessing over our site's position in a particular search engine.  

 

There's been a lot of talk about how to identify and develop a unique "selling 

point" for a given site. What's the unique thing about your site? What do you 

do differently and/or better than your competition? When you identify this, I 

believe you should shape your content and presentation around it.  

 

People venture onto the Web for lots of reasons. One of the major ones is 

information. If you don't have at least some original content on your site and 

if that content isn't updated on a regular basis, what incentive does a 

visitor have to return? Or, for that matter, to visit in the first place?  

 

If your site is just a collection of links or a thinly veiled way to hawk your 

goods, I think you should seriously consider developing some content that sets 

you apart from the crowd.  

 

If you're selling products or services, show how your item is different that 

the rest of the world's version. Perhaps you could add a few articles or facts 

related to your product/service that would interest your visitors.  

 

While you're catching your breath after the sometimes exhausting flurry of 

activity surrounding site design and the first phase of your promotion plan, 

why not put some time and effort into refining and improving your content? 

Show us what *you* can do, how *your* product is unique, how *your* service is 

head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Give visitors a reason to do 

business with YOU.  

 

ASPiRE Internet Marketing 

http://www.PromotingYourSite.com 

Articles, tips, tools, tutorials, and other resources to help you effectively 

design and promote your site. Free newsletter. To contact Jennifer directly, 

send email to: jenny@promotingyoursite.com 

 

========================== Sponsor Message ========================== 

 

How would you like to get thousands of visitors to your website from the 

search engines? 

 

Yes, it is possible with a little work and with the help of WebPosition. 

 

Try out the free trial now: 

http://www.webposition.com/cgi-local/index.pl?DS1=RP&DS2=89R-55CB 

 

================ What's New At Promotion World ================== 

 

~ Review: Website Garage 

  This free service will check your site and give you a valuable free  

  report on many different critical areas. However, how many of their  

  services are original? 

  http://www.promotionworld.com/reviews/wgarage.html 

 

Sorry about the lack of updates lately everyone... I have been down with yet 

another fun head cold. I hope to get back into things as this week progresses. 

 

===================== The Discussion Board ====================== 

 

This week's quote from the discussion board: 

 

"Internet Service Providers (aka ISP's)....who should you go with? I'd 

highly recommend ones that offer high speed access T1 or more, no one wants 

to wait for pages to load. Go with ones that allow you to use CGI (Common 

Gateway Interface), SSL (Secure Sockets Layers), and FrontPage support. If 

at all possible go with the companies that offer their services for around 

$20. Go with the ones for $8 or so a month, you will most likely get what 

you pay for, and let me tell you, you probably won't get much. Look for 

ISP's that allow unlimited visitors and unlimited uploading. There is 

nothing worse than finding you met your quota in visitors for the month and 

can't have any more, or to find that you over did your uploading on the FTP 

site. It is also good to pick hosting services that 

provide 24 hr support. Just a few tips, anyone else have any suggestions? 

 

Regards,  

Jim Conley II  

CVP Webmaster  

Accept & process credit card transactions on your web site! Visit our site 

at http://www.cvpservices.com for more info!" 

 

Visit the message boards to comment on this quote or just to catch up on the 

other exciting discussions going on!  

http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/ 

 

========================== Sponsor Message ========================== 

 

                    Did someone say FREE SAMPLES? 

 

 Someone did. Get free samples of Webcards mailed right to your house!  

 

           http://www.printing.com/promo.asp?site=prowor4 

 

========================== Website Usability ======================== 

 

Strategic Linking Techniques 

by John S. Rhodes 

 

Let me cut right to the conclusion: Utilize hypertext to maximize the 

interactive experience of your site. Above all else, hypertext should be 

used to help your users find what they want, when they want it. You want 

your users to be able to get more information at just the right time and 

place in your pages. This isn't easy. Poor linking is a major problem on 

almost all Web sites.  

 

Let's start with something that should be obvious. You don't want too many 

links, and you don't want too few. However, many sites have giant lists of 

links with no context. It is impossible to tell what a link will do if you 

click on it. Many sites also only have one or two links per page. This is 

generally not enough links to satisfy click-hungry users. You need to find 

balance. 

 

Learning to balance is a struggle. I argue that you must weigh the number of 

links on a page versus the value of that page. The greater the value of your 

own text content, the fewer the links you will probably have. However, and 

this is important, when you can add links that augment the quality of the 

content, be sure to add them.  

 

Never add a link just for the sake of linking. Only add a link if it adds 

value to your content. Need to call in an authority? Use a link. Need to 

refer to an article that expands on a topic? Add a link. In contrast, adding 

a general link to say, Yahoo! is a bad idea in most cases. Why send your 

users to Yahoo! or Microsoft or Netscape? They get enough traffic. If you 

need to send users to these sites, do it. But, only do it because it helps 

your site. That means that if you have to make an error, make a selfish 

error, and don't link.  

 

You must be strategic in your linking. Give your users content and 

interactivity through links when they want it, and only when they want it. 

Don't link frivolously; every link is precious.  

 

You should try to test your pages with users to know what works best. In my 

experience, most large (usually corporate) sites test things like navigation 

and download time. This is good. However, very few tests are designed to 

understand the effectiveness of simple text links in the general body of a 

page. (If you have some feedback about this, contact me please.) 

 

Obviously, some pages such as navigation pages and index pages require heavy 

linking. This is fine. But remember that these pages should use clearly 

defined links. Make sure they make sense and try to give your users context 

to work with. Don't just use generic links to other pages. For example, if I 

just had a link to "memory", you would have no idea where you'd go if you 

clicked on it.  

 

Here is a short list of some good linking strategies:  

 

~ Request permission to link to other sites. When requesting, you should  

  do two things: Convey your interest in their site and what they have to  

  offer and also give them a reason to provide a link to your site as well.  

  This is good business and it encourages reciprocal linking.  

 

~ Look for information, products, and services that provide extraordinary  

  value for your users. Try to supplement your content. If you can't provide  

  (or don't want to provide) content, help your users with a link. Be sure to  

  ask your users where else they visit online. Gather feedback about sites  

  they like and visit often. Use it to create better links.  

 

~ Consider grouping links together by subject matter or integrate them within  

  the other content of your site. I do this on my Hot Web Sites page at  

  http://www.webword.com/hotsites.html and my Recommended Books page at  

  http://www.webword.com/books/booksindex.html.  

 

~ Remember to link to email addresses, autoresponders, newsgroups, and FTP  

  sites. These links can go a long way. If you are asking for feedback,  

  e-mail links are critical.  

 

~ Be liberal about linking to your own pages. If you are going to link, link  

  to yourself first. Keep users at your site if you can. Otherwise, be sure  

  to send them where they can find what they want and need.  

 

~ Provide more than the name of the site when you link. Describe the link in  

  such a way that your user doesn't have to waste time guessing. Context is  

  the key; this is why having links in sentences and paragraphs is so much  

  better than "stand alone" links or generic lists of links.  

 

~ The best place to link to is usually not the home page of the other site.  

  Send your user directly to the information they want: an article, an index,  

  a page of interest. Don't make them guess where they should go from the home 

  page of another site.  

 

~ Always include a link to your Web site in your e-mail signature. This is a  

  great way to send folks to your site with very little effort.  

  http://www.webword.com/moving/sig.html 

 

Here is the list of bad linking strategies: 

 

~ Don't link to other sites "blindly" or without their knowledge.  

  Similarly, make sure that the other site is adding value to your  

  site and your content. Make sure that there is a strategic match.  

 

~ Don't link to every Web site that interests you. Your links should  

  not simply represent "cool stuff". You want to add value and  

  interactivity.  

 

~ Don't be afraid to link. If you have a good site, it is smart to  

  provide both internal and external links. If you are creating a useful 

  experience for your users and your content is good, they will come back.  

 

========================================================================= 

John S. Rhodes  --  mailto:john@WebWord.com 

Human Factors Engineer and Usability Professional 

Internet Usability and Web Site Development:  http://www.WebWord.com/ 

 

=========================== News Headlines ========================== 

 

~ AOL adds another million to membership  

  http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32180,00.html 

 

~ Lycos stock takes a beating  

  http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32173,00.html 

 

~ Online presidential ads a certainty 

  http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2204211,00.html 

 

~ Forrester Forum: Day 1 Preparing for Dynamic Trade in an Internet Economy  

  http://www.searchz.com/Articles/0209993.html 

 

~ Measuring One-to-One Efforts  

  http://www.searchz.com/Articles/0209991.html 

 

~ Internet2 to go live 

  http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,388868,00.html 

 

More Internet related news headlines at  

http://www.promotionworld.com/news.html 

 

========================= A Small Request ======================== 

 

If you enjoy reading this newsletter each week, why not tell a friend about 

it? Even better, why don't you recommend The Informer on a discussion list? 

After all, you wouldn't want to keep all this free information to yourself. 

 

Just tell 'em all to subscribe by sending a message to 

informer@oaknetpub.com with SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of their message. 

 

======================== Misc. Information ======================= 

 

To comment on the issues covered in this week's newsletter, use the 

appropriate forum on our Discussion Boards. 

http://www.promotionworld.com/discus/ 

 

Browse the archives at http://www.promotionworld.com/informer/archives.html 

 

If you are looking for some good advertising deals, you might like to 

consider Promotion World and the Informer as places to advertise. 

http://www.promotionworld.com/sponsor.html 

 

To subscribe put SUBSCRIBE in the BODY of an email to 

informer@oaknetpub.com 

 

To unsubscribe put REMOVE in the BODY of an email to  

informer@oaknetpub.com 

 

I appreciate all your mail with your comments and suggestions! 

webmaster@promotionworld.com 

 

Newsletter Credits: 

 

Joshua Reimer, Editor 

webmaster@promotionworld.com 

http://www.promotionworld.com 

 

Jennifer Johnson, Feature Writer 

jenny@promotingyoursite.com 

http://www.PromotingYourSite.com 

 

John S. Rhodes, Usability Specialist 

john@WebWord.com 

http://www.WebWord.com/ 

 

Ryan Adams, Affiliate Program Specialist 

webmaster@clickquick.com 

http://www.clickquick.com 

 

Hayden Mitchell, Search Engine Specialist 

hayden@webthemes.com 

http://www.webthemes.com 

 

And now for the mandatory legal stuff: 

 

This newsletter is copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 Joshua Reimer. No part may be 

reproduced in any way without prior permission.

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