 |
 |
October 26, 2001 Welcome to Issue 002 of the Fortress E-Newsletter! Life is always a continuing journey of experience and discovery, and when your life revolves around the internet it's non-stop! This month we continue our two-part series on building your web site right! If you missed our first issue, it's available on our web site. Building it right, and giving the right impression, is something that cannot be stressed enough. Most of our future articles will focus on some aspect of creating or improving your web site. Our spotlight this month is for our first client in Africa. The beauty of what we do is that we can design for anyone from just about anywhere. The flip-side of that of course is that you can reach anyone from just about anywhere with your web site... so expand your reach. Our services section this month contains something new we're doing that's taking off like wildfire! Discovering something new about ways to send e-mail has been the key here, and you may want to take a real hard look at using this for your electronic correspondence. Enjoy the issue. |
|
In This Issue Feature Article Build it Right (pt 2) Internet News Web Spotlight Fortress Services
|
|
 |
|
Building it Right Part 2 Last month we began our series on the 10 essential rules to remember when designing your site or talking with your design team. We've covered the rules of making your first page count, knowing your target audience, interacting with your visitors, keeping them from getting lost, and keeping the message and medium in balance. This month we will cover the final 5 essential rules for making a better Web site. 6) Make headings and sub-headings strong Always make your headings and sub-headings clear and concise. This can be done with bolder and brighter text, or the use of banners, bars and other graphics. Beware of using inside jokes or what you think is a clever heading. Chances are your reader won't get it. By creating clear, not cute headings, the information on your site is presentable and accessible to everyone. 7) Edit, edit, edit Here's a good rule of thumb - whatever is used in the printed world should be cut in half. Visitors will most likely scan the text rather than read it word for word. This is perhaps our biggest challenge as I have a real love for the written word and tend to get overly verbose at times. Content should lose most literary embellishment and should present itself in clear blocks of not more than 500 words. Keep paragraphs short and use sub-headings or other tools to draw the reader's eye to the key points. If detail is required then provide it, but make sure they can find the next point of interest if the current one doesn't apply to them. 8) Organize your content If your headings and sub-headings are strong, then it follows that your text is organized into logical and coherent pieces. That said, how much content should be on a page? This is one issue that is very much under debate. The point is to keep all relevant information to a topic together via a single page or logical links. Do not try to put 15 pages of text on one page because your visitors will become overwhelmed by it. Keep it as clean and neat as possible. 9) Use friendly language Always try to keep a bit of a conversational tone with your visitors. Your web site should not read like a book of stereo instructions. Don't drop down to the familiar or crude level and always avoid the use of swear words or slang phrases, but remember that you're communicating with real people on the other side of the monitor. Also don't forget that for all you know your visitor is surfing naked at 2:00 in the morning. 10) Keep it fresh You don't need to update your site daily, but be sure to refresh important information on a regular basis. It gives people a reason to come back and generates word of mouth traffic. If you've returned to a web site six months after your first visit and find the content identical to your last viewing... when is the next time you'll drop in? Ever? Update it or hire a professional to manage it for you, but don't let it go stale! When you understand what makes a web site work and what your visitors will appreciate you've gone a long way towards creating a web site that works for you. |
|
 |
|
E-Mail me baby.. one more time. AOL has signed a contract with Britney Spears to be the official spokesperson for their
Internet services. If you are an AOL subscriber you will now be able to get special sneak peeks at Britney songs,
see Britney Videos, read Britney news, oogle Britney photos and even hear Britney say "You've got mail."
Thankfully there's a way to bypass all of this if you're not 14 years old and fixated on this gyrating singer.So why did AOL do it? Britney Spears, love her or hate her, is marketable! She's a product that people will buy. My guess is that AOL will experience a surge of sign-ups just from the pre-teen and early-teen demographic alone, let alone anyone else. But a celebrity for a web service? Where is the web taking us? As high-speed internet becomes the common connection, we're going to see more and more of this sort of thing. Internet web sites and the world of film and television are starting to merge and the line between them is getting thinner and thinner. So why not have a celebrity spokesperson? AOL is anything but stupid and they've seen the future.. and for now it's Britney. In a year or two her contract will probably get shredded and the next hot property will take her place. But that's hardly the point is it? In the meantime they've just leveraged some serious marketing muscle. What about the little guy? Is there a way that small web sites can benefit from this sort of thing? It's unlikely that you'll be able to sign Britney Spears to promote your site, but what about some sort of spokesperson? There are local 'celebrities' that may be experts in the field you're promoting. Why not have their endorsement? Why not a non-human spokesperson? There are several virtual supermodels on the runways already, so why not one for your site? A good animation and modeling package and you've got your own celebrity, and one that will be a lot easier to let go in the future. It's something to think about. |
|
 |
|
Glad Tidings Bible College is situated in Africa and trains men and women to minister, encourage and instruct their fellow countrymen. Since most students are unable to raise all the required funds for their schooling, we created this site to allow supporters from around the world to pledge their support and financial assistance to specific students on an on-going basis. We wanted to see a clean site with some unique imagery. The warm colours in the menus and background are to make the site feel inviting. The use of the lion has a place both as an African animal and as a religious symbol. The lion also has a very non-threatening posture and facial expression.
Visit the Glad Tidings Bible College Web Site at www.gladtidingsbiblecollege.org
|
|
 |
|
Look good with some eStationary As Technology continues to evolve, so do the ways and means in which we use it. We've all
watched the integration and wide-spread use of cellular phones, pagers, fax machines etc. and now e-mail. So what's
next?Most of us use e-mail on a daily basis for communicating to our clients and friends. We send out our text messages and attachments of photos. But isn't there some possible evolution or change to this technology? After all, plain text is rather boring. If our web sites can be flashy and eye-catching, why can't our e-mails? Well, they can. Using a custom template design, you can send out electronic 'stationary' with every e-mail message you send. Just like regular printed letterhead, this layout can contain your logo, photo, personal information, and even marketing messages and links. Using this option, your e-mails leap off the page and detach themselves from the hundreds of others that are just plain and boring text. When e-mails get noticed, they get read. How does it work? The integration of an eStationary package depends on the mail program you are using. For those using Outlook or Outlook Express, the features needed to use a stationary package are built right into the program. Simply have the design installed, click on new message, and your layout is there ready for you to type your content or message into. For those using a different email system, or using a web-based system such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Excite Mail, or some other, the process is almost as easy. Using a basic web program you can edit your content in your design, copy and paste the code into your email program and voila.. an eStationary ends up in your recipient's mailbox.  Taking it farther What else can you think of? Well, did you ever send a thank you card to a client? What about an electronic one with your logo and a photo of your choice? As a template, it's easy to put on a custom message and send it along. So where do you go from here? If you're excited about the potential of this, then you need to talk to us about how you can have your own eStationary, eNewsletter and ePostcards designed and ready to go. technology is always changing... and so should we. |
|
|