Quick Online Tips

Posted: 30 Sep 2010 09:54 AM PDT

Guest post by Cheri M.
How to write for the web? Whether you’re a web designer tasked with creating a website, a business owner trying to flesh out what content to put on your site, a blogger writing for your many followers, or a geek with something important to share, there’s something important you should know – the average person’s retention level on the internet is much lower than when reading something printed.

Where to begin

How can you ensure that your site’s visitors will read your content, stay for a while on your site, and come back again to visit? Here are a few tips that will help:

1. Use a conversational style

Website content is different from printed matter in that you’re trying to create a relationship with your reader. The tone of your language, therefore, should be more conversational and not as if you’re writing a press release or a scholastic essay. On saying that, keep in mind that your company has an image it wants to portray and you should maintain this. If you’re a legal firm you won’t want to sound like a teenage blog.

2. Don’t overload the page with text

It’s all very well that you want to pack your site with useful information, but think of your visitors’ attention span. Reading something on the computer monitor is not as easy as reading a newspaper so don’t overwhelm your readers with a sea of text. Instead, limit your page content to about 300 to 500 words per page.

3. Break up your text into manageable chunks

Imagine seeing a web page that has a single paragraph of 500 words. Your first thought would be to move on to a different page without bothering to read what you just saw. In order to prevent your site from looking like a scholarly journal and scaring your viewers away, break up your content into several paragraphs. How to do this: when you start talking about a different concept or idea, start a new paragraph. Keep your paragraphs to about 100 words each.

4. Use layman’s language

Try to keep your technical terms to a level that the average person will understand. A topnotch lawyer’s website is useless if its viewers can’t fathom what he’s trying to say. If you’re a geek, tone down the technical jargon. You want your viewers to stay for a while instead of scooting away as soon as they see the lingo on your first page. If you must use technical terms, explain what they mean.

5. Tailor your language to the culture of your targeted audience

Certain words in the English language take on a different meaning when you put them within a cultural context. If you’re targeting a US audience, then write using American English and not British or Australian English.

Here are a few examples:

potato chips (American) = crisps (British)
apartment (American) = flat (British)
elevator (American) = lift (British)
pants (American) = trousers (British)
slippers (American) = flip-flops (British) = thongs (Australian)
undershirt (American) = vest (British) = singlet (Australian)

6. Get to the point

When writing for the web, you’ll need to cut out the unnecessary words. Prolonged introductions, extraneous words in your adjectives and adverbs, overly long descriptions, and the use of words mined from a dictionary and which people hardly ever use anymore are pointless. The viewer will neither have the time nor patience to read all the fluff.

7. Watch for words that mean the same thing in different places

Keep your terms consistent in order not to confuse your readers. For example, don’t refer to a “FAQ” page as such on your homepage and then title that page “Knowledgebase.” What may seem stark clear to you may be confusing to readers.

8. Maintain consistency in your writing style

Most inconsistencies in websites are found in product descriptions, instructions, button labels, page title, and link text. Make sure these are consistent throughout your site. For example, if you start by using nouns for your tabs and links, maintain that and don’t switch to verbs midway. If you put in a listing and end one line with a comma, put a comma at the end of each item you’re listing until you reach the end, which you should end with a period. Inconsistencies in writing style may not seem very important but they speak a lot about the company that owns it.

9. Proofread your writing

Never upload content unless you’re sure it has been edited for both grammatical and typographical errors. If your English isn’t perfect and you’re not sure that what you wrote would pass an editor’s eyes, run your document through Microsoft Word’s Spelling & Grammar checker. Make sure too that you proofread the text on your website menu and button labels. Poor writing and sloppy proofreading will turn off your readers.

Guest author Cherie M. is a writer and marketing specialist working with Phases Design Studio out of Denver, CO. Visit Phases Design Studio for tips and tricks related to web and graphic design. See our guest post guidelines.

Original article: How to Write Great Content for the Web
Copyright 2010. Quick Online Tips. All Rights Reserved.

5 Essential Principles to Make Money Online

Posted: 30 Sep 2010 09:22 AM PDT

Guest post by Peter Garety.
How to Make Money Online? Whether it is because of the flagging economy or the lure of being able to produce some extra cash to augment their income, more and more people are trying to find ways to make money online.

Many will undoubtedly succeed, but the fact is that the majority of Internet marketing newbies who have no real clue as to what they are doing will give up before they have even begun to do the work required to generate a decent online income.

Which is a shame, really, since there are so many money making opportunities available on the Internet. The main reason why most newcomers to the arena of online marketing fail to meet the expectations they have set for their businesses is that they have the wrong ideas on how online marketing is supposed to work.

If there is anything that I have learned while plodding through this business as a newbie myself, it is that I will never achieve anything if I stick to certain misconceptions and don’t make the effort to try out ideas that are supposed to work. The online marketing arena is a huge jungle and if you don’t have the right mindset to make things work for you, then you will only meet failure in the end.

There are five lessons that I have learned the painful way as a newbie in this arena, and these are what I shall impart to you right now.

1. Start with the Right Mindset

The biggest mistake that newcomers to the business typically make is thinking that it doesn’t take a lot of work to make money online. Sure, the sales page of the online marketing e-book you just bought says generating wealth with an Internet business is very simple. However, you should never let yourself believe that it is not going to take a lot of work at all. In fact, you’d be amazed at just how much time and effort you need to spend just to get things up and running.

The thing is that if you want to earn some serious income with an online business, you had better be prepared to work for it. The first six months will be the most crucial for the long-term survival of your business, and the amount of effort you put into it will determine just how successful your business will be in the long run.

2. Never Work Alone

Working online sometimes gives you that sense that you’re all alone in this game. It may certainly feel like it, but that is one trap that you must avoid at all costs. With all the work that you need to do to establish your online business, you will not be able to get much done if you work on your own.

First, you need to find a mentor. If the Internet marketing guru from whom you bought the system that you are using offers one-on-one mentoring, you should make a beeline for it. You will never know what gems you can pick up from that kind of personalized mentoring. But if you cannot avail of that one, you should scour the Internet for other learning resources as well as connect with other Internet marketers like you. You can profit a lot from the exchange of ideas you will get from these interactions.

Second, you should hire people to do some of the work you need to do. For example, if writing is one of your weaker points, then you should hire a freelance writer to do your writing for you. With all the work that you need to do to get your business going, you should learn to leverage your time by using other people’s time to get those tasks done. Focus on what you can do and delegate the other tasks to the people you hired.

3. Don’t Expect to Earn Something Out of Nothing

All businesses require some sort of capital. This is a business we are talking about, after all, and so you will need capital to get your business running. If you are really serious about your business, do not hesitate to shell out some cash for the essential stuff. At the very least, you should invest some $10 on a website domain and some more on the fees and salaries of the freelancers you will hire.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. I don’t deny that the idea of being a bum marketer, where you can earn money online without spending a lot as business capital, does work from time to time. But the money that you will earn from being a bum marketer will come in trickles, not serious enough to make you wealthy but enough to get you some extra change from time to time. If you’re only after some extra cash, then you can be a bum marketer. However, if you want to generate a really decent income, prepare to make an investment in return.

4. Don’t Spend for What You Can Get for Free

Having said that you have to spend some to make some, you should also know that there is also some stuff that you can benefit from for free. It is up to you to find out what these things that you need for your business that you can get without spending a dime.

For example, if you want to make money online through blogging, you do not have to pay for a webhost provider for your blog if you cannot afford it. You do not have to hire a web designer to make you a blog template, either. Instead, you can try out free hosting services like Google’s Blogger and download some free templates. Just buy a unique domain name for your blog and then point it to your Blogger account.

5. Always Deliver Quality

The most important lesson that you must bear in mind is that at all times, you should deliver quality – to your customers, to your team, and even to yourself. Needless to say, you have to make sure that the products you have to offer your customers are impeccable in quality. They should be worth the money you are asking as payment for them. In addition to that, you should treat your team with fairness as well. Pay them according to the effort they have given the work you assigned them; also, a little kindness goes a long way.

Lastly, you should expect quality for yourself. Remember that the success of your business lies in your own hands. Give your business your all if you expect to get a lot out of it. Never settle for less.

Guest author Peter Garety is passionate online marketer and blogger who help people to quit their 60 hours per week job within 90 days and double their income simultaneously. You can find out about his work on Auto Traffic Avalanche. See our guest blogging guidelines.

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