Archive for the ‘Tools’ Category

As a person trying to promote your website, the Google Toolbar can be your friend and your enemy at the same time.

Here are some things to be conscious of. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been focusing a lot on optimization lately.

If you think about it, there are 2 ways that you can increase business results on your website. You can pay more to throw more traffic and more eyeballs at it. Or you can optimize its content so that visitors are more likely to become customers.

One of the key benefits of web content optimization is that it has long-term results. When you pay for an advertising campaign, that only lasts for so long. Optimization efforts produce results long after you’re done.

Here are a few tips in getting started in optimizing your website.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ahh, the good old saying, “If you can’t measure it, then you can’t manage it.” Google’s FeedBurner service helps solve this problem with your RSS feeds (What the hell is RSS?), and it adds some really cool features along with it. Read the rest of this entry »

Now you can provide your graphic designer with your own color palette, using Adobe Labs’s Kuler. Kuler makes creating a color palette easier than you can imagine. Hell, you may even find yourself having fun with it! Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve become all narcissistic and decided to release a list of online tools that I find very useful. The good part: most of them are free!

Recommended online business tools

Software companies like Google and 37signals are lowering the cost of starting a business. You can sign up for free or low-cost software to track Internet marketing activities; draft documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations; and even invoice your customers.

One caveat. Be wary of what you are paying in exchange for free software. I’d argue that 37signals offers free trials in order to “hook you” into signing up for paid versions. But what is Google’s motivation for providing free analytics software? Are they using your data in order to make Search better? What does that mean for your site?

I’ve made the trade-off in all of these cases to get my free beer. But always remember these possible implications and their impact on your strategy.