WDI

Content Management Systems Resource

While looking for good resources to write a lengthy article about CMS (Content Management Systems), I came across the CMSWire site. Their website has a ton of useful information and links about anything and everything related to CMS. If this is a service you are looking at providing as a web designer, I’d recommend that you spend some time perusing CMSWire’s site.

About CMSWire

CMSWire is a rapidly growing web magazine dedicated to all things content management and a few other things we considered related. The CMSWire.com title is published by Simpler Media Group, LLC, which was founded by Brice Dunwoodie.

The CMSWire audience consists of technologists, decision makers, vendors and analysts with a focus on Web and enterprise content management, enterprise blogging, document management, collaboration practices and related technologies.

The content management marketplace is rapidly consolidating, yet remains a dynamic and broad field of great innovation and one of interest to many disciplines. We at CMSWire do our best to keep you informed of the latest twists, turns and trends this industry presents.

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Finding A Great Writer For Your Content

In a previous article, we discussed the need for good written content that works well with the design, form, and function of the website you created. But, as a designer, what’s the best way to find a good, qualified writer to produce the content you need? Do you know where to look? Do you know how to choose a qualified writer? Let’s discuss some ideas of how to secure the services of a good, qualified writer.

Content is king. Everyone agrees that content is what keeps a site visitor in place and coming back time after time. So, how do you find a writer to create the content that will “establish dominion over the domain” that you have designed? One of my first recommendations is to ask for referrals. Ask a fellow designer that you admire who he/she uses to write their content.  Another thing I recommend is to try and use someone locally. If you can find a writer locally that you can work well with, it will be advantageous to you in the long run. Having the ability to meet face to face if needed, easily, can be a big plus on larger, more detailed projects. It’s not a completely critical component when searching for a writer…just an added bonus if you can find one locally.

Where’s the best place to look? Beyond word of mouth referrals, one of the best places to search out good content writers is by using several good websites: Craigslist, Elance, Guru, and Online-Writing-Jobs.com. These three are at the top of my list for find good writers. There are a lot of freelance writers who use Craigslist to advertise their services (it’s a free ad for most of them, why not use it!).

While you’re looking for a writer, do you know what type of content you need to have written? Make sure you have defined exactly what you need. Make sure you know what makes up good web content. In a nutshell, it’s written content that does four things:

• Grabs the readers attention
• Builds their interest in the topic being discussed
• Creates a desire for the reader to engage
• Motivates the reader (call to action)

The content on any webpage (primarily the home page) only has seconds to implement those four components!

Once you have found a writer that is of interest to you, ask for samples of their writing. When reviewing their previous work, look at it with those four aspects in mind. It’s okay to ask for samples and links to articles or websites where their work can be viewed. If they don’t have a way for you to read their previous work and you want to give them a chance, ask them to write a sample article for you. BUT, make sure you pay them for it. It’s rude to ask someone to work for free. You wouldn’t design two or three web pages for free would you? Just ask them to write a sample article for you and offer to pay them a flat rate for it.

Make sure that the writer in question can deliver your desired content in the proper time frame too. Keep in mind that most freelance writers have multiple clients and other projects they are working on simultaneously. Generally speaking, the more time you allow a writer for a project, the better it will fit into your budget.

Outline what you want written and accomplished, be specific in your details, be clear with your deadline, and ask for a specific price. It’s also a wise idea to ask the writer to include at least one round of revision in their pricing too. This allows you to be able to modify and adjust the content once the writer has delivered it to you without incurring additional costs. Once your price is set and agreed to, it’s not uncommon for a new writer to ask for a 50% deposit. It’s a safety net for the writer since he/she hasn’t done work for you previously. If things go well and you start using the same writer over and over for multiple projects, this shouldn’t necessarily have to occur each time. But, for the first project, it’s not an unreasonable request.

Following these recommendations will set you on a good course for procuring the services of a good content writer. We’ll delve into this subject more over time in future articles. There are certain pitfalls and dangers that need to be avoided when using sites like Guru and Elance. We’ll discuss those as well as define in detail what makes up good web content. If you have other recommendations, as always, please let me know and we’ll discuss them!

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Hot Cosmo Title Examples

It’s hard to come up with goot catchy titles or headlines when trying to put together a nice piece of content. From reading a lot of blogs online I see that many suggest using the headlines on the cover of the Cosmopolitan magazine as examples. Take the title they have and modify it to apply to your article. Well actually I guess you’re suppose to do this the other way, create a catchy title first and then write the article accordingly. Many cases however, don’t turn out this way. I, many times, already have the article and need to create the title afterwards, so it becomes a bit harder.

Today I went through a handfull of Cosmopolitan magazine covers and picked out these headlines that can be modified to fit your content. Just fill in the blank.

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What Web Designers May Not Know About Links

A Successful Home Page is a Link Rich Page

Recently I read an article about the rise and success of link rich home pages over the past several years. After reading through it and processing the information, I thought it would be a good idea to highlight some of the ideas that were brought forth in that article. It’s especially useful for web designers because we are in the business of building successful websites for our clients. So, this article and the following discussion about it could really be classified as one of those ‘magic lanterns’ I referred to in an earlier article. I don’t think that David Ogilvy will mind if we adopt his term for classifying this useful information.

Mr. Spool, the author of the original article used Dove soap’s home page as a ‘link poor’ example. He then alluded to how well their site map was arranged so that visitors could “find their way” to the information they were seeking. In essence he was saying that Dove’s home page should be more like their site map page. We have previously emphasized over and over again the need for simplicity in a site’s form and function. While the suggestion of creating a link rich home page may seem to go against that concept, it doesn’t have to at all.

“Nobody starts their design with the objective, ‘We need our home page to be as complex as we can possibly make it.’ On the contrary, everybody wants to build simple designs. Yet, somewhere along the line, simplicity translated into ‘Provide as few links on the home page as possible.’”

This quote sums up the problem well. It also targets exactly what we need to do to make a site successful for the end users. This is another one of those cases where we need to make sure that our focus is on what is best for the site users. It’s a complex negotiation between pleasing the client you are designing the website for while at the same time ensuring that the end user has a website that will work well for them too.

News websites have long understood the need to provide multiple links on their home pages. The majority of news sites are loaded with links designed to deliver in-depth information to users. CNN, Fox and many major newspaper sites have hundreds of links displayed on their home page. Is it too many? Take a look at the sites listed below and check out their standings.

*The Bureau of Labor and Statistics website isn’t a news site. However, it is a good example of a home page that is comprised entirely of links. While this site is very narrow in its appeal, it is heavily used as you can see from its rankings.

Judging from the rankings shown above for these link rich sites, it’s a good choice to include many links on your homepage. However, my advice would be to take a look at the manner in which links are displayed on these sites. They are done tastefully. So essentially what I’m saying is that you can still maintain the simplistic design approach while at the same time creating a ‘link rich environment’ which will perform well for the end users of the website.

This is also good reference material for you to use when discussing site creation with a potential client. Please feel free to use the information in this article to point out the need to create a great looking, link rich home page on your client’s website. Hopefully this information will help them understand just how important it is for them to allow you to create a home page that will grab a user’s attention and provide them with a wealth of information at the same time in an easy to use, easy to navigate format.

If you have other examples of good, link rich home pages for other websites, please let me know. I’d like to take a look at them and possibly review them here in the blog.

What Web Designers May Not Know About Links by
Web Design Ideas Blog is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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Hot New Website Killed By Poor Content

Web design is a great occupational field. It’s full of opportunity. At times it’s overwhelming due to the high demand for good, quality driven web designers. But I’m just wondering…doesn’t it ‘irk’ you sometimes when you have put together a great looking, customer oriented, feature packed website only to see the client fill their web pages with junk? They paid for a great website and killed it with poor content. What can you do about it? One suggestion is to add the ability to create web content for your customers too.

When you do a search on Google for ‘web content’, it generates close to 200,000,000 results. It’s obviously an important topic. Because of this, my recommendation is to seek out and team up with a good copywriter. Look for and secure the services of a qualified writer who can create relevant, readable, well formed text that will complement your web design services. Keep in mind that the text they create needs to assist in keeping customers on the website. I’ll discuss some of the critical components of content in another article soon. Add appropriate pricing and encourage clients to let you help them create verbiage and content that works well for their company. There are a myriad of companies out there that post their prices for creating content on their websites. Make sure your pricing is competitive and ensure the customer that putting together an entire package all at the same time is beneficial to them.

As an example of how well great design and great content work together, I wanted to use a friend’s site to point out the effectiveness of this approach. PrintBusinessCards.com is a site that has been around since 2000. This site re-launched in 2006 with a completely new design. At the same time, they immediately started publishing good, relevant pages full of good content related to their industry…business cards. Over an 8 month period their page rank has increased, their Alexa ranking has dramatically increased…breaking them into the top 100,000, and their pages come up higher in Google searches across the board. All of this is a result of huge organic growth and has ultimately boosted sales dramatically at the same time. This site is a prime example of filling a website with great, relevant content. At the same time, they also launched a blog where they have consistently published good business cards related articles, relevant tips, announcements about new pages, and press releases. The blog has become another good contributor for attracting customers to their site. The blog is well written and always points readers to various features of their main website. Again, this is a prime example of creating good content that benefits the customer. Blogs are a great way to build long term results for clients. It takes time though. The general consensus is at least a year of good, consistent articles on a blog before the main site starts seeing results. This is true for PrintBusinessCards.com too. Their blog now has a page rank of 3 and is climbing on its own through the rankings while at the same time funneling quite a few potential customers every day to the main site. Design, function, and content. These 3 critical components are all displayed on this site. Their presence on the web is increasing everyday. It’s a great example of how teaming up with a good copywriter can enhance the design and function of a website.

So, as web designers, my recommendation is to include the creation of good, relevant, quality content as part of your pricing and services. In doing this, you should attract more customers while creating more satisfied customers at the same time. Again, as I mentioned before, I plan on discussing some of the critical components that are comprised in quality content for any website. If you have other examples of websites where content, function, and design work together very well, please let me know. I’d like to check it out!

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Another Sweet Tool For A Web Designer - Instant Article Wizard

Website: Instant Article Wizard

Alright designers, check this out. I posted the ad on the right and thought this should get them to check it out but it looks like everyone’s ignoring it. And I don’t blame you, it is an ad after all, I do get commission for it but the reason I chose to promote this program is that it seriously, is an awesome tool. I want to tell you about it so more of you at least see what it does before you deside that it’s not for you. I know their website is not much to look at but it’s hiding within it self a priceless tool for every web designer or developer.

There are times when you have to write an article about something and you just don’t have the words, it’s just not flowing, nothing, like it dried up. Then this tool comes along and makes it all better. It is a program that will concoct an article for you. It will look and sound like an expert did the research and wrote it, has infinate subjects and topics and is easy to use.

Here is an example of what an article on Home Theater Systems will look like, and there are several more examples like this on their website:

Theater Systems Are No Longer the Sole Domain of the Audiopiles

To some, home theater is simply a big television, but a home theater is really a combination of video and audio components that achieves a theater-like experience. Many people view home theater systems as a luxury. However, home theater is not just for audiophiles anymore. There are many simple home theater systems that are easy to set up. Home Theater is quickly growing hobby and the results that you can achieve even with a modest budget are quite remarkable.

DVD players are a “must have” in any home theater system. You may prefer an all-in-one DVD home theater system. This way, you don’t have to unplug your main DVD player from your current home theater system. High definition DVD is growing in popularity, so find out whether it’s time to buy HD-DVD or whether you should wait for the next generation. All DVD players also play audio CDs, so you can have a single component do the work of two units.

Speakers are the heart and soul of any sound system. Any audiophile will admit that a good set of speakers is what makes or breaks a quality home theater setup. Good speakers don’t have to cost a bundle, though it is easy to spend a lot. Audio/Video Receiver Speakers give you the most flexibility and full range of sound for surround sound home theater and music, as well as stereo audio.

Speakers vary a great deal in performance, as well as price. Good speakers and the components for a home-theater system cost less than ever. Determine what you can spend for speakers and then search out the best possible home theater speaker collection that will fit your spending limits. Wireless surround speakers are now available as well and save the hassle of running all of the wires through your home theater room.

A simple home theater is easy to set up, making home theater systems not just for audiophiles anymore. The future of home theater is going to be simplicity. These systems are becoming increasingly popular and are a great alternative to a night at the cinema.

This is an amazing piece of software. I recommend it for everyone in the web design industry. It is a tool that will pay it self off many many times over and over.

See for your self: Instant Article Wizard

I hope you had a chance to check it out.

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