Web Site Tips (pg. 2 of 2)

STRATEGIES, DESIGNS AND ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET

Getting Attention on the World-Wide Web

The following suggestions include hyperlinks to active examples throughout the Internet. World-Wide-Net invites clients and non-clients alike to review these tips on effective Internet exposure.

Contents:
Watch Your Language!
Search Engines and Directories
Your Own Web Presence
FREE E-Mail, Newsgroups, and - yes - Web Sites!
Basic Terms
Feedback Form

Watch Your Language!
Recent statistics show that English-speaking users of the world-wide web comprise about 40% of all web users, and that percentage is decreasing. If you want your message to reach 100% of the world, consider duplicating your pages in different languages. To translate (roughly) any word, phrase or web page, visit Alta Vista's Babelfish program or use a service like WorldLingo.com.

In mid-2002, this was the primary language break-down of web users world-wide:

40% speak English
10% speak Chinese
9% speak Japanese
7% speak German
7% speak Spanish
5% speak Korean
4% speak French
4% speak Italian
3% speak Portuguese
2% speak Dutch

Search Engines and Directories
The very best way to let the world know about your site is to register it with Search Engines. There are currently more than 500 such Search Engines (see SearchEngineWatch for the complete list), but the top 15 are used by 95% of the world's web-surfers.

World-Wide-Net registers your site with these top 15 Search Engines and Directories as part of your Web Site's Set-Up, and refreshes these registrations as part of our Maintenance service. Further registration is actually automated by many Search Engines themselves, which scan the text of your Web Site and/or special keywords written into your Web Site's HTML code.

There are several niche Search Engines and Directories for specific industries or special interests.

Also, there is a site at Broadcaster.co.uk which registers your site to scores of Search Engines and Directories at once.

Here are a few of the world's most popular Search Engines and Directories:

Make Your Presence Known
There are countless ways to promote your site on the Internet / World-Wide Web. Here are some (which World-Wide-Net can help develop for you):

Buy ads. If you see a place - on or off the web - where you would like your ad to appear, contact the sales department for terms and prices.
Sponsor gifts. You can offer your product or service as a prize in your own - or someone else's - promotional give-away.
E-mail address. If you own or rent server space, you may want to give away free e-mail accounts. This could attract attention, and your Domain Name (as in username@DomainName.com) would appear anywhere any of these e-mail addresses are used.
Re-direction Web Sites. You can put up several Web Sites which automatically forward - via programming - the viewer to your primary Web Site.
InterNIC registration. You can have a simpler URL with your own registered Domain Name (www.yourname.com) than with a sub-domain (www.myname.com/yourname).
Use Hybrid HTML. There are many Web Browsers out there (Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, Opera, Mozaic, etc.) and HTML works a little different on each one of them. Be sure to have your Web Site programmed in a hybrid HTML which will maximize your potential audience.
Publish a digest, also known as a list. This is a periodic (often daily) bulk e-mailing to a list of "subscribers" (those who have asked to be on the list). The content of the digest is usually comprised of the e-mailings from various subscribers, and can become quite informative or even provocative.
Host a chat session (tech, fan, special event). Such chat sessions can originate from your own web site, or can be hosted by you - free of charge - from a service such as Yahoo.
Maintain a bulletin board. There are many "canned" bulletin board programs available, and World-Wide-Net can even create for you a customized - even interactive - bulletin board system.
Update your material frequently. If visitors know that your content changes, they will be more likely to return to your Web Site.
Entice visitors to leave their e-mail address. Offer free information updates, articles, contest entry, etc. in exchange for e-mail addresses.
Use simple design for quick downloads (use a service like WebsiteGarage to test your site).
Offer a web-hosted video game. Even though your Web Site may have a serious message, a customized interactive game may be able to attract repeat business as well as new visitors.
Conduct a contest, such as requiring visitors to search your Web Site's content in order to accurately answer a quiz.
Write articles. The Web is hungry for fresh material; your article may entertain and inform, while attracting interest to your Web Site.

FREE E-Mail, Newsgroups, and - yes - Web Sites!
There are plenty of free services on the Web, and each of them can prove valuable in their own way as you try to draw attention to your product, service or message.

E-Mail is free or nearly-free from all ISPs, and many Search Engines, Web Site servers, and independant companies and services, quite often sponsored by advertising (just like network TV!). You can establish free accounts at these locations:

Newsgroups are special-interest bulletin boards through which members communicate about their chosen interest. Once in text-only format, many Newsgroups now privately trade video, music, pictures and software. Many of the Search Engines and Directories listed above will also search Newsgroups. There are over 100,000 Newsgroups that you can join for free; many services like MegaNetNews or AthenaNews charge a small monthly fee to help you organize large amounts of information.

Web Sites for free! There are several sources of free Web Sites which you may wish to try out before you "go pro." These Web Sites are limited in size, design and function, and impose some form of advertising content onto your pages.
However, if well-written and well-maintained, such free sites may get your message across quite effectively.
Many Internet Service Providers (including AOL) offer "free" web sites to their subcribers. Some of the more popular free-for-all Web Site sites are:

Basic Terms
The following are frequently-used terms when referring to the Internet and World-Wide Web:

Chat - live, interactive e-mail between two or more users via the internet.
CGI - common gateway interface, an interactive programming technique.
E-Mail - electronic mail, the most common form of information exchange on the Internet.
Hit - viewer click within a Web Site or individual page.
HTML - hyper text mark-up language, the programming language with which all Web Sites are written.
Internet - the connection via telephone lines of computers world-wide.
ISP - internet service provider, a company which interfaces your computer (via phone lines) to the Internet via their own bank of high-power, high-speed computers.
Link - hyperlink, a one-click activation of a URL.
Net - internet, the free-form connection of computers throughout the world.
OS - operating system (Unix, Macintosh, PC-DOS, PC-Windows, etc.).
Page - screen view.
Scroll Bar - if the web Page (or part thereof) is larger than the computer screen, these bars appear at the right and/or bottom of the screen so that you can scroll (move) to the unseen part.
Server - host computer, the actual hard disk on which the html (and CGI, and sound, and graphical, etc.) programs and files reside.
Site - place, location of information.
URL - universal resource locator, the address of a Web Site.
Visit - viewer arrival to a Web Site or individual page.
WWW - world-wide web, the graphical depiction of Internet content.