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How to Write a Press Release Press releases have short and long term results and can bring in great exposure from print magazines and bloggers. If your press release is well written and properly distributed you will see results online within 24-48 hours of the distribution. The release will likely be picked up by news search engines (ie. Google news, yahoo news) and possibly industry bloggers, who monitor press release websites for topic specific press releases. It will take significantly longer to see results from print media (sometimes as long as to 2-6 months). Most press distribution websites also archive press releases, so in general press releases have a long "shelf life". The best way to get "ink" is to write a good press release, but remember the item in the release must be newsworthy. News that is not newsworthy will get little play time. Use the standard inverted pyramid format in the press release. In this format the most important information is listed f

How to Select a Company or Product Name When building a business there is little more important than selecting an appropriate company or product name. Names can be distinctive, unique or descriptive. The problem with descriptive names is that they are very difficult to legally protect. For example you could call your software "word processing software" or "text editor" but neither are distinguishing or unique. A competitor could enter the market and use the same name funneling your traffic and benefiting from your product reputation. Distinctive names can be trademarked and protected. As a result many developers combine distinctive and descriptive by adding a company or brand name: "Brand Text Editor" or "Brand Word Processing Software". Tips for finding a name that is just right. Brainstorm - Spend time making a list of words. The words might be generic or descriptive. If the words are descriptive use words that elicit a positive image or respon

How to Select a Company or Product Name When building a business there is little more important than selecting an appropriate company or product name. Names can be distinctive, unique or descriptive. The problem with descriptive names is that they are very difficult to legally protect. For example you could call your software "word processing software" or "text editor" but neither are distinguishing or unique. A competitor could enter the market and use the same name funneling your traffic and benefiting from your product reputation. Distinctive names can be trademarked and protected. As a result many developers combine distinctive and descriptive by adding a company or brand name: "Brand Text Editor" or "Brand Word Processing Software". Tips for finding a name that is just right. Brainstorm - Spend time making a list of words. The words might be generic or descriptive. If the words are descriptive use words that elicit a positive image or respon

How to Establish a Brand Brand is all about perception, and how others perceive your product or service. You have a brand whether you want it or not. Customers form impressions about products and companies. Strong brand builds customer loyalty and enhances the lifetime value of the customer. With the emergence of numerous communication channels, the power of the consumer has swelled. Online communication either hailing a good experience, or a blog post detailing a bad one, mean that consumers have more power than ever. User generated content and the expansion of communication has affected brand development and loyalty. A user in Australia can post a forum message about a specific product or brand and that message can be read by people in Canada. Consumers realize their voice (i.e. opinion) has power and they use it to share their experiences. Customers want value, customer service and a quality product. Demanding a premium for superior customer service has become more difficult. The

SEO Images When optimizing your website to perform better in search engine results, do not overlook or neglect the images on your website. Graphics play an important role in web design, and they can also influence organic search rankings. Take care to make your website graphics search-friendly. Here are some tips for better image optimization... Image Compression Compress the website images using graphics software. A graphics-heavy website will be slow to load, so stick to smaller high-quality images. You only have a few moments to make an impression on a website visitor, and a slow-loading website may cause visitors to click away. Proper Size Make sure the image is sized appropriately for its position on the webpage. If the visitor's web browser needs to re-size the image each time the image or page is viewed, it will take additional load time. Name Graphics Use keywords in the naming of the graphic files. The filename should contain keywords related to the image and website. If y

The old adage, "keep your friends close, and your enemies closer", is applicable not only to personal relationships but business relationships as well. While I'm not suggesting that you befriend your competitors, it is important that you are cognizant of your competitors' business ventures and methods. It is important to realize that while monitoring your competitors is essential, it could easily become an obsession. Therefore, it is crucial that you strike a balance when incorporating it into your business plan. There are several ways to conduct successful stealth competitive intelligence operations. While it is fanciful to imagine yourself as a secret agent or spy, none of these techniques are difficult, hidden or secretive. In fact, most of them are tools or services available to all businesses. 1. Ego Searches What are ego searches? Ego searches are keywords or keyword phrase searches for a specific brand, product, or company name. Ego searches are a great way to

Logos represent a company's identity, and logos are typically part of a larger concept. Logos are an integral part of establishing brand recognition which is a very time consuming process. For these reasons, particular care should be taken when designing or selecting a logo. Think of a logo as an iconic symbol or graphical representation of your corporate image. Simplicity - Logos should not be overly complex, while unique is important, simple logos tend to stand the test of time far better than complicated logos. Colors - Select only a few colors to use in the logo. It is rare that successful logos have more than 3 colors as an integral part of their design. Scalable - Logos should be easily scaled. Scaleability will allow the logo to be reproduced in multiple mediums. Memorable - Logos should be easily remembered. Ultimately the image selected for a logo should evoke positive emotions from customers or potential customers. Regards Gerald Crawford Webcraft.ws Stellenbosch PO BOX 1

Website Navigation Eye tracking studies show that website visitors use "F" eye tracking patterns to scan the content of a website. Few website visitors take the time to read a website more often than not website visitors scan its content. So, rather than creating a book, use bullets and headings to make your website more easy for visitors to scan. Many webmasters approach navigation as a map, but it should really be laid out to lead visitors to the actions that the webmaster wants. 1. Scanning The most important information therefore should be located in the "F" of your website. 2. Choices Do not offer too many choices in the navigation menu. 3. Clear Terms Use clear terms to lead visitors down the path that you want them to take through the website. 4. Above the Fold Provide the most important content above the fold. The website visitors should not need to scroll to view important content. 5. Action Buttons Use action words on navigation buttons to encourage w

Actionable tips for software developers writing web copy. Scan Web site visitors read websites very differently than they might read a book or a newspaper. Web visitors scan the text, rather than reading each and every word. As a result, the web copy should be designed to be easily scannable. That is not to say the copy should not be well written, but it should be broken into small "chunks" so that the visitor can easily scan it and take away the main idea. White Space Avoid dense copy. Copy should be broken into readable, digestible "chunks" and surrounded by a good amount of white space. Font Type Font size matters. Avoid using micro fonts. Studies have shown that the easiest type faces to read on the Internet are san serif fonts. Popular sans fonts include Helvetica, Avant Garde, and Arial. Popular serif fonts include Times Roman, Courier, and Palatino. Sans-serif fonts have become the de facto standard for "body" text on-screen, because monitors pr