Blog Usability – How to Reach Your Blogging Happy Place
Congratulations! You’re a blog owner. It has a catchy name. After submitting a blog post, you’re amazed at the inbound traffic. The ads in your sidebar are paying your mortgage. People recognize you on the street as that “Cool Blogger”. Next year, you’ll retire to some tropical island because your blog success is like winning the lottery. Or not. A focus on the usability of your blog can help create a happy picture much like the one you’ve just read. First, let’s begin with the...
Read MoreOn a WordPress Kick
I’ve been teaching myself new things lately and one of them is getting away from the Thesis theme I traditionally use, and trying out other blog themes. That’s why this site looks different. So does Cre8asiteforums. The new forums home page is in limbo and not finished yet, but it looks far better than the previous home page did. Not only are themes interesting to get to know, but so are new CSS3 tricks. I’m not much a designer. Other people have artistic talent. For me,...
Read MoreA Nice Email
I received an email today that some folks might have been upset to get. It was one of those, “Do you know you have something in your teeth?” moments. Only this note was about a web site. It was brief and to the point. I don’t think I know the person. They had discovered that some images on one of my web sites isn’t rendering properly. It’s my first attempt at table-less CSS and indeed, there is an issue with some photos and how they “sit” inside the...
Read MoreCre8pc Blog: Tank Not Empty Yet (Just Busy)
When I started the Cre8pc blog, in 2002, blogging was nowhere as popular as it is today. Back then, blogging was still related to diaries and journals and often of a personal nature. Mine has evolved as trends change. Today, it’s the leading communication device that allows me to stay in touch with readers and friends. I used to post here every day and then a few days a week and now, if I’m lucky, a few times a month. In some ways, I’ve just run out of things to write...
Read MoreTeetering on the Blogger’s Ledge
As a consultant on Search Engine Marketing and Web Site Usability, one of the suggestions I often make to companies who want to establish their online presence is to create a blog. Is this still a good idea? The seeds of blogging began in the late 1980′s when early adopters of the Internet used bulletin boards to find people and talk with them. Chat rooms and topic focused email lists came next, followed by “groups”, forums and now, blogging and social networking sites. The...
Read MoreWith Social Networking, Above All, Be You
When someone sets up a web site, blog or online business, meeting the Web for the first time can be perplexing. How do we go from face to face interaction to techno-keyboard, static image, wordsmith-dueling communicators? Lately I’ve had a group of folks coming to me for web site rebirth help. Their old web sites have grown old, grumpy and forgotten. A few have chosen to add blogs, sign up for Facebook and try out Twitter. Each of them had the same question: “What do I...
Read MoreRanting in Corporate and Professional Business Blogs
While procrastinating at Sphinn, I came across a response I made the other day in a discussion where I disagreed with an article called All 13 Types of Blog Posts – Which Ones Are You Missing?. The article is nicely written and has excellent advice, especially for beginning bloggers. What rang my gong was a casual comment made by a reader who said: I challenge anyone who reads this to try to use all 13 types of posts in this article in 1 month! I disagree. I wrote: If a type of writing...
Read MoreThe “Try It On” User Experience Method
One of my favorite moments is when my kids take over the kitchen. Last night, my 18 year old daughter and her boyfriend decided to make chocolate covered strawberries after we’d made a big dinner for everyone. They’d never done it before. They went out to the store and bought chocolate chips and big, fat strawberries. Back at the house, they dumped the chips into a pan and melted them. However, it didn’t have right consistency. It was too thick. So they put in some milk and...
Read MoreDoes Your Online Store Make Customers Sing?
There’s a scene in the movie version of “Oliver” where merchants walk along the street outside his bedroom window peddling their wares. They sing out “Who will buy?” this or that, holding up samples for passersby to see. Oliver has never witnessed such a thing before. He sings, Who will buy this wonderful morning? Such a sky you never did see! Who will tie it up with a ribbon, And put it in a box for me? I visited a web site today that sells dessert products. ...
Read MoreThe Fussy Woman’s Guide to Online Travel Sites
I have “free spirit” roots that began in the middle 1970′s when I would just take off. It didn’t matter where I ended up, as long as I was having an adventure. My fellow flower children left-over friends and I never had enough money and we didn’t fuss over the details. Nothing was planned. Most things I did were spontaneous. Today, my kids love my stories because I’m so different (and boring). They can’t imagine me with a crew cut during the punk rock...
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