Don’t worry!

There is no need to waste time worrying about what type of website you need or what type of website is best for your business, because there are really only two different types of websites:

1. Standard Website

A standard website is built using plain HTML or XHTML and CSS and maybe some additional coding types such as Flash, JavaScript, Drupal, or PHP. It is the typical type of brochure style, sales website you think of when you think of a business website.

Typically, HTML editing software such as Dreamweaver is needed to make changes and update the site. Usually a webmaster or website designer is in charge of making all of the updates for the business. This style website is typically a more static site, not changing very often. In some cases content management systems like Joomla can be integrated to allow the user to edit the site themselves.

2. Blogsite

A blog site is the combination of a website (pages) and a blog (posts). This site is a sample of a blogsite. The blog feature can be on the home page of the site, or like this site, on an interior or sub page. There are platforms online that allow you to create a blogsite like WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad. Some blog platforms can be integrated into custom, self hosted websites as well.

Blogs are becoming increasingly popular due to their strong search engine optimization features, flexibility, and content management systems that allow uses to update their own websites themselves at anytime.

Some people refer to the type of content management system used in a website as the type of website. When in reality, it is instead a feature of a website. As mentioned above, some popular options for content management systems are WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla.

Bourn Creative offers the integration of the WordPress CMS WordPress into our Websites. WordPress is our content management system of choice because with WordPress, you can update your website anytime you want without knowing any HTML! It is easy to use, effective, and when used properly can yield massive results for your marketing efforts!

Basically, if you can dream it, we can create it with WordPress.

NOTE: mass-hosted blogsites are hosted with the blog system and usually include their name in the domain. An example of a hosted blog site is: www.yourdomain.wordpress.com. Self-hosted blogsites on the other hand, are hosted in your own hosting account with a web host like Dream Host, Go Daddy, and Blue Host. An example of a self hosted blog domain is: www.yourdomain.com.

Blogs, with features like trackbacks, pingbacks, and leave a comment, offer a whole new level of interaction with site visitors, allowing your content to start and participate in online conversations. The archiving options (by date or category) that blogs offer are also a great way to organize articles on websites.

Another popular blog feature is the options for feed syndication. The most common forms of feed syndication are RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and Atom. Blogs publish feeds of their content, usually in XML, so that users can subscribe or sign up to have the content sent right to them by email or in a feed reader. Visitors can add the RSS feed links for their favorite blogs to their feed reader, and it will inform them whenever there are new posts.

What is WordPress?

Here is the definition from the www.wordpress.org website: WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress websites and blogsites can be completely custom built from scratch, or an existing WordPress theme or template can be used as a based and then customized. Basically, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your blogging software, not fight it.

WordPress is an Open Source project. That means hundreds of people all over the world are working on it and creating applications and plug-ins that work with it. It also means you can use WordPress for any website you want without being required to pay anyone a license fee. It was originally designed just for blogging. But because it is so powerful, many developers have created functional and helpful plug-ins that work with WordPress, making it a great tool for the development of business websites as well.

In a standard HTML/CSS website, each page and all of its content is a separate file and in most cases, the page files contain the code for the design and layout as well as the content. Anytime you want to make a change, you have to make it to each page it affects and re-upload the updated files to your server through an FTP account.

With WordPress, all of the content for each page is stored in a single database. The design and aesthetics of the site are stored in separate files that define the theme (template/skin) of the blog site. This makes updating the design and layout of the site much easier, because you only have to make revisions to the theme files, not the content. Likewise, it means all of your content changes can be made in one place.

You can learn more about WordPress in my blog post: 6 Reasons WordPress Is Perfect For Your Business Website.

With WordPress as your business website content management system, you have flexibility in your setup and there are thousands of plug-ins available for you to integrate into your site. The trick is choosing the right plug-ins for your website and online marketing needs, and making sure you don’t select plug-ins that conflict with each other.

If you are blogging for business, here is a quick list of ten plug-ins we recommend using in your small business website:

1. Platinum SEO Pack– makes it easy for you to optimize your website and set the title tag, meta description tag, and meta keywords tag for your posts and pages, as well as set the “index” and “follow” properties individually for each of your pages and posts
2. Akismet – Protects your blog from spam comments
3. Sociable or Sexy Bookmarks – Adds social bookmarking icons to encourage your visitors to share your content on sites like Digg, Technorati, Stumbleupon, Del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
4. Google XML Sitemaps – Updates your sitemap each time you edit your site and submits the new sitemap to Google
5. XML Sitemaps - Updates your sitemap each time you edit your site and submits the new sitemap to search engines such as Yahoo and Bing
6. Google Analyticator – integrates Google analytics into your website
7. Post to Twitter – auto-syndicates your blog posts to Twitter and allows you to include text in the post such as “New Post:”
8. Similar Posts – Serves up other blog posts that are similar to the one they are reading to encourage visitors to stay on your website longer
9. W3 Total Cache and WP Super Cache – Speeds up website performance
10. Dagon Sitemap Generator – Generates a blog archive that can be displayed by both month and year, as well as by post/page title

Whether you want to add a photo gallery to your site, serve up daily quotes, or syndicate your Twitter feed on your blog, there is more than likely a WordPress plug-in available that can make it happen for you.

Just remember to do your homework and read the reviews for each plug-in. Sometimes plug-ins can conflict with each other and cause problems with your website and sometimes the plug-in you find hasn’t yet been tested for the version of WordPress your website is running.

When it comes to plug-ins, do your homework and ask people you respect if they use it and what they think about it.

Here’s the problem. Your website needs to be a whole lot more than just pretty and attractive. It needs to be a 24 hour a day lead generating machine that makes your life easier and helps your increase your profits.

Don’t get me wrong, high quality design is very important to your branding, image, credibility and professionalism, as well as the flow of information in your website. But, you website needs much more than high quality web design.

Your website needs to be planned strategically to help you achieve your goals and objectives. It needs to accelerate your progress toward achieving your big vision.

But how do you do that?

There are several ways you can build a more functional website that gets results, such as:

• Consistently adding fresh content
• Distributing press releases
• Writing articles
• Advertising online
• Optimizing your site and content
• Giving away free reports and audios
• Integrating email marketing and CRM software
• Utilizing auto responders
• Adding a shopping cart

With that said, there is one thing you can add to your business website that will get you faster results than any of the items listed above.

It is adding a blog to your business website, more specifically, adding a WordPress blog to your business website.

A blog is the number one way to increase your online visibility, increase your search engine ranking, and drive more traffic to your website.

Here are a few other reasons your business should have a blog:

Google loves blogs. Posting fresh, valuable content to a blog at minimum once a week will have you soaring to the first page of Google. In fact, in some cases, where the sites have been optimized for a specific niche, they can get to Google’s first page in less than 24 hours.

You retain total control over your website. With a blog-based website, you don’t have to ask your web designer or web developer to make changes for you. You can log in to your website at any time from any place and make the changes yourself.

Blog Sites are easily customizable. With a website based on a blogging platform like WordPress, you can change the elements and the look of your site relatively easy. You have access to the back-end programming if needed, and you can install and activate a plug-in for pretty much anything you may need.

You can reach your target market faster. Blogging increases the speed at which your content appears in the search engines. This means your target market and people searching for your keywords will find your website faster and more often, which translates into more sales or list conversions.

Blogging facilitates interaction. Allowing comments on your blog and responding to comments left by your blog visitors, shows your audience that you care about what they have to say and what they think. It raises your credibility, it builds stringer relationships, and it builds their trust in you.

Have you added a blog to your business website? What results have you seen?

If you’re thinking about adding a blog to your website, what question do you have? Let me know below and I’d love to help!

Whether you want a completely custom site designed and coded from scratch, or you want to customize a wordpress theme (template), WordPress, provides all the benefits and flexibility of a standard website combined with the ultimate functionality and benefits of a blog.

Here are some of the reasons WordPress is a great choice for your next website project

1. Open Source Software
   WordPress is Open Source Software, which means it is available to use on any type of website or blog for free.
2. Easy To Use
   You don’t have to know a tons of HTML or be super web savvy to be able to update your content with WordPress. The administration area/dashboard for WordPress sites are fairly simple and easy to navigate. And, because most hosting providers offer simple one-click installs of WordPress sites, getting setup is easy too.
3. Themes Galore
   There are a ton of different themes available for WordPress that you can choose from. Some themes are available for free, some charge a nominal fee. I currently own a developer’s license for the StudioPress Themes, Woo Themes and the Thesis Theme. When working with Bourn Creative, you are welcome to use any of those themes, or you can search online and find a another theme. If you select a premium theme, additional licensing fees may be incurred.
4. SEO Options
   WordPress naturally provides good search engine optimization (SEO) right away with very few tweaks needed. WordPress provides such strong seo benefits for free that Google’s Matt Cutts recommends WordPress in this video: Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners.
5. Plugins Rule
   From linking your blog to facebbok and Twitter, to rss subscriptions, to SEO, photo galleries, to stats and tracking features, to social bookmarking, etc. WordPress plugins give you the ability to do pretty much anything you want and to do it quickly.
6. Community Support
   WordPress has a huge community backing the development of the software and there is a huge amount of information and support available. This means that whenever you face any problems, you get answers to your questions in the available WordPress forums and communities.

Each day, more and more entrepreneurs are using the power of the Internet to launch a new business, grow an existing business, or change the way they are doing business.

These entrepreneurs are tired of following the status quo and doing things the old-fashioned way. They are tire of doing things the hard way.

Today Internet savvy entrepreneurs are stepping into and embracing a whole new emerging business model that gives them the freedom to do what they love, to make more money, and to have more time to live their dream life. Internet marketing is what is giving some smart entrepreneurs the ability to as they say it, “Make money in my sleep.”

Are you one of these entrepreneurs?

• Are you ready to stop trading hours for dollars and start trading knowledge for dollars?
• Do you know that you are meant to do more and be more? Are you ready to step into your true purpose?
• Are you ready to use your expertise to create and affect social change and help improve the lives of others?
• Do you need to get your name and your brand in front of a bigger audience who wants to buy from you?
• Are you committed and focused on changing the way you do business to leverage the power of Internet and automation tools?
• Do you want to start living the life you dreamed of when you started your business, but hasn’t quite yet become a reality?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, the wide variety of Internet marketing solutions can make difference for you and hiring Bourn Creative as your Internet Marketing Implementation Action Team is the perfect choice.

It doesn’t matter if you are experienced Internet entrepreneur or you are just starting out online, my team and I can help you:

• Get your projects done quickly
• Build a stronger, more professional and credible brand
• Generate more qualified leads
• Convert more prospects into paying customers
• Automate your marketing to give you back your valuable time

What that means for you is that you experience less stress and feel more relaxed. I can say that confidently because I have created sales and landing pages, squeeze pages, ezines, websites, and blogs for countless entrepreneurs who are rocking the online business world in a huge way!

Bourn Creative offers services on a project-by-project basis, or on monthly retainer. Depending on your level of engagement, my team and I may be:

• Writing and scheduling social media posts
• Designing your custom Twitter background
• Designing and building a website or WordPress blog
• Adding audio and video to your website or blog
• Posting new content and images to your blog
• Optimizing your website or WordPress blog to increase your search engine ranking
• Writing blog content
• Designing and setting up your ezine templates
• Planning a custom online marketing strategy
• Designing and setting up your sales and landing pages
• Adding custom squeeze pages to your sites
• Setting up your shopping cart and autoresponders
• Coordinating and implementing your ezines issues

If you are interested in working with my Team and I as your Internet marketing implementation partner,
please contact me directly or check out my a-la-carte Internet Marketing Services.

Have more questions about Internet marketing? Check out theanswers to the most commonly asked Internet marketing questions.

If you already have a marketing plan in place, I will use your plan as a guide to take action and get things done, moving you closer and closer to your goal. But, if you don’t have a plan for your online business marketing, I can work with you to create a customized, strategic marketing plan and then take action to implement each step of your plan.

Here’s the bottom line.

When you work with other consultants, you spend a lot of money and only get a piece of the puzzle locked into place. For example, a traditional marketing consultant will tell you what you need to do and maybe even write a plan for you, but then you’re left to your own devices to find someone to implement it, or worse, you are forced to use their web designer and pay marked-up rates! And, I’ll bet their web designer isn’t an Internet marketing implementation expert.

When you work with my team and I, you get the completed puzzle. Not only can I work with you to determine what tools and approach would be the best fit for you and your business, but I can help you:

• Figure out what you need to include on your website or blog
• Identify ways you can automate and streamline your online business
• Create compelling marketing messages and materials that attract your ideal clients
• Build your brand and communicate your message online through social media and social networking
• Decide which tools and marketing tactics are the best fit your you and your audience
• Examine your current strategy and discover the weak spots where you are potentially losing prospects and business
• Establish a step-by-step plan of action that will empower you, not overwhelm you

Whether you need a membership site, wordpress blog, website, ezine template, sales page, squeeze page, or 3D product graphic, etc., when you hire Bourn Creative as your Implementation Action Team, I guarantee you will receive:

• Results because we’re getting things done, making things happen, and checking things off your business to-do wish list
• High quality design and programming
• A trusted partner whose own success and reputation is invested in your success
• The opportunity to provide input and make revisions
• A strategic plan of action for your individual project or long-term marketing goal
• Education on the tools we are using to ensure you are always in total control of your brand
• Years of inside trade knowledge and expertise applied to your business

If you are interested in working with my Team and I as your Internet marketing implementation partner, please contact me directly or check out our Internet Marketing Services.

Have more questions about Internet marketing? Click here to get answers to the most commonly asked Internet marketing questions.

Both apply to each other because they are both extensions of your brand, they both thrive off engagement and interaction with readers, and they are used to promote each other. For example, many bloggers are using their blog to promote their Twitter account and gain new followers and they are using their Twitter account to promote new blog posts. Today I thought I’d share some questions I have been asked recently and provide some answers.

Blogging

Should I have my blog on my site or should it be separate?
I say do what is best and easiest for you. The benefit to having it on your site (as long as you’re posting regularly) is that is will help drive traffic to your site and increase your search engine rankings. The benefit to having it in a blogging community is that there is more visibility in that community and it then becomes another website of value (active blogs are viewed as high-value by the search egines) that is linking to your main website.

I have a blog that is separate from my website. How to use my site and my blog together?
First, make sure you avoid any disconnect with your visitors by making sure the design of your blog is complimentary to your website. Make sure the theme, color scheme and imagery on your blog are consistent with your branding on your site. They should not be exactly the same, but they should clearly be identified as elements of the same brand. Link them together and talk about your blog on your site and in your newsletter and talk about or reference resources on your site in your blog. For example you could have a feed of recent blog posts on your website, and a list of resources available on your website in a widget on your blog.

What domain should I use for my blog?
Make sure the web address of your blog matches your site address. If it is on your website, use www.mydomain.com/blog. Don’t use a blog address with wordpress, blogger, blogspot etc. in the address if it is separate from your website – it is unprofessional. Get your blog on a custom domain. For example if your site is www.freejewelry.com, then your blog could be www.freejewelryblog.com or www.blog.freejewelry.com. Hosting your blog on www.yourname.com is also a popular solution for many entrepreneurs because it is their thoughts, expertise and insights being shared.

Can I put my opt-in box on my blog?
YES! You can put your opt-in on your blog, you can link your social networking profiles, you can add recommended resources, pretty much anything you want to add, you can. Some may just take a little more time to integrate than others. WordPress in particular has a huge variety of plugins available that gives you a huge amount of flexibility to customize your blog.

Tweeting (My handle: @jenniferbourn):

What is Tweeting?
Tweeting is the action you take on the social media site Twitter. What is Twitter? If you use Facebook, Twitter can best be described at status updates. When you post an update on Twitter, it is called a Tweet and it must be less than 140 characters long. Although, if you want other people to retweet (forward) your tweet (post), you should keep your tweet to about 120 characters in length to allow room for their twitter handle (user name) to be added. Twitter is a quick and easy way to get out a message, tip, trick, quote, link, message etc. Twitter is being used by many entrepreneurs to foster new relationships, share information, and learn new infomation as well. Instead of friends, on Twitter you have followers. If you sign up to follow them, you are signing up to receive their tweets

What else can Twitter do?
The cool thing here is that people can reply to your tweet, retweet (forward) your tweet to their followers, send direct (private) messages to specific people and more. You can send in your tweets from a variety of third party sites, by SMS on your mobile phone or right on the Twitter website. Twitter is being used for market research, surveys, quick feedback on an idea, customer service, crisis communications, publica relations, marketing, social enjoyment, and learning.

How do you brand twitter?
Well there are a few ways to do this. First, you can customize your Twitter profile page design. A designer can create a background for your profile that represents your brand, matches your website and blog, includes your photo, website links, info about you, and more. Second, you can stay on topic (for the most part) of what service and product. You can tweet valuable content and links, reinforcing your expert status. You can also group tweets using a hashtag (#). For example #Designtips could be a hashtag I’d use. If I did, I would put that tag (#Designtips) in each tweet I send out with a design tip. Other Twitter users can then do a search on your hashtag and see all of the Tweets you have posted.

How to I manage all this social networking stuff?
Third party applications baby! Here are my three favorites:

• With Tweetdeck using Twitter is a breeze. Download the app onto your desktop and get Twitter organized! It breaks up all of the tweets into categories, like tweets, replies, direct messages, popular topics and more, making it easier to tweet and connect. TweetDeck will also notify you when someone you follow has posted a new tweet or someone has sent you a reply or direct message.
• At Ping.fm you can create an account and link it to all of your social networks – facebook, linkedin, plaxo, twitter, etc. The idea is that you can log into Ping.fm and post one status update/post/feed and it will automatically broadcast that post to your social networks. So When I post to Ping.fm, it updates my facebook status, my linked in status, my plaxo update, and my Twitter tweets.
• Hootsuite allows you to track multiple Twitter accounts, preschedule tweets, search keywords, and more. You can also link your Ping.fm account to Hootsuite with your Ping.fm API key, making it easy to preschedule your posts to hit all of your social networks.