Getting Started

If you are planning to go online with your first website, here are some steps to get you started:

 Select and Register a Domain Name

Select a domain name that is easy for people to remember and spell. Avoid domain names with dashes in them. For example patricia-fripp.com would be difficult to give out in a conversation, from the platform, in radio and TV interviews, etc.

Register your chosen domain name online with a reputable domain name registrar. We are currently using http://www.godaddy.com for Fripp's domain name registrations. GoDaddy.com prices are very reasonable and thus far we have had positive experiences with their customer services. There are many, many more domain name registrars to choose from. ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) can provide you with a list of accredited registrars: http://www.internic.net/regist.html Get recommendations from others who have registered domain names.

 Research, Brainstorm, and PLAN

Visit other websites, especially speaker websites, to gather ideas for your project. Suggested sites:
http://www.fripp.com
http://www.summitconsulting.com

Visit the National Speakers Association website's "Find a Speaker" section for more speaker websites: http://www.nsaspeaker.org

Make a list of the sections, pages, features, and functions you know you will need in your website: i.e. home page, biography page, articles section, shop, secure ordering, downloadable pre-program questionnaire, newsletter sign up page, free e-postcards, video streaming, etc. Fripp.com has a good example of speaker video and audio online: http://www.fripp.com/frippclips.html

If you plan to have a shopping cart, research this thoroughly. It can be very time-consuming and difficult to move your online store from one cart system to a new cart system, so do your homework and make sure you get one with the features you need. Internet marketing pro Tom Antion has an excellent free downloadable ebook on this subject:
http://www.public-speaking.org/ebook.htm

You might "draw a picture" of where you want your navigational links and in what order you want them to be in.

 Organize Your Content

Begin writing or compiling the text for your site in electronic format; this means writing and organizing the text for each of your pages as Word documents, or plain electronic text documents. If you have your text copy-ready and in electronic format, you will save time and money on edits and help shape the structure and organization of your site in a logical way.

If you are working with a graphic designer for any type of print work (logo, brochures, book covers) request that your designer provide you with high-resolution electronic copies of your custom graphics. Keep your own copies of these types of graphics on file in your system; do not give your only copy of anything to a web developer.

 Select a Website Host

Ask others with websites for hosting recommendations. The host is the "server" that "broadcasts" your site on the Internet. Make sure they can support the type of features you desire, for example: email accounts and options, secure server for secure ordering, site statistics, video hosting. A host with good technical support (24 hours or extended hours - by phone and email) and little "down time" can save you time and money. (If you work with a web developer, he/she should be able to make a helpful recommendation.) Fripp.com is hosted by: http://www.tierranet.com We are also using http://www.godaddy.com to host our smaller mini-sites. For example: http://www.frippandassoicates.com.

 Building Your Website

 Do It Yourself

If you have the time and interest in creating your own custom website, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with basic HTML and web development tools before you get started. We use the web-authoring program Macromedia Dreamweaver http://www.macromedia.com/software/Dreamweaver. I also recommend Adobe GoLive for professional results http://www.adobe.com/products/golive/main.html Microsoft Front Page is nice if you like the Microsoft user interface and has improved since it was first introduced. If you are not a born "computer person," take a short community college or university extension class in web design, otherwise you can teach yourself using the tutorials that are built into most web-authoring programs.

 Hire a Pro

If you plan to hire a professional web developer to create a custom website, check references and ask to see samples of his/her work. Communication is key in achieving your goals for your website. Choose a web developer who you can communicate with. Clearly state your goals for your site and list all desired functions. Share your printed materials with your web developer so he/she has a clear picture of the type of feeling and purpose you are trying to convey. Have mutually agreed project goals, rates, project quotes, and a timeline before you get started. Keep an open mind to your web developer's suggestions for making your website vision work best on the web.

 Another Option

Another option in creating a custom website: do part of the work yourself and leave the difficult parts to a professional. If you like the idea of being a part-time "do-it-yourselfer," ask your web developer if he/she is willing to work with you in this way.

 Prefab Websites

There are also services that allow you to simply paste your information into prefabricated websites. These prefab sites do not always provide the flexibility and search engine optimization of custom sites, but they are relatively inexpensive. As always, it is a good idea to research and shop around.

There are several key considerations you should include in any web design project:

Avoid slow-loading pages. With more and more people using broadband (fast) Internet connections, loading time for pages has become less of an issue; however, slow-loading pages are frustrating to visitors. Visitors might choose to exit your site rather than wait. Avoid excessive animation, heavy graphics, excessive page lengths, etc.

 Optimize all of your website graphics. Learn to do this yourself or make sure your web developer is doing this for you. Aim for a balance between the highest qualities with the fastest loading time.

 Check for browser compatibility. Browsers are the "windows" used to view web pages. Internet Explorer and Netscape are the most commonly used browsers. Pages can appear differently on different computers and in different browsers; some designs will not "work" or even appear in certain browsers. Test your site in the most common browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape) on both platforms (PC and Macintosh).

 Keep search engine placement in mind as you develop your websites. · Avoid site designs that are not favored by search engines, for example: splash pages (pages with little text that quickly redirect visitors to another page) and redirect pages (pages that quickly redirect visitors to another page), and frames (websites that use a "frame" that stays in place as content within the "frame" changes to bring up a new "page.")

· Include essential key words in the text of your main pages.

· Avoid anything that might be considered keyword "spamming." For example, white text on a white background repeating "keynote speaker, keynote speaker, keynote speaker, keynote speaker..." dozens of times can get you banned from some search engines. Also, very tiny text is considered spam by some search engines.

· Make sure that the title (between the "title" HTML tags) is keyword-rich. For example, on the home page of Fripp.com: http://www.fripp.com/index.html we use: "Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE: Professional Speaker, Author and Presentation Skills Coach". Avoid a keyword-poor phrase like "Home Page."

· Include "keyword" and "description" metatags (behind-the-scenes tags for search engines) on every page.

· Make use of a "robots.txt" file; this should be set up to tell search engine robots, "Yes, look at my website and include me in your search engine."

· Include "alt" tags on all of your images. These are the hidden words that will show up if someone has images turned off on their browser. Some search engines consider these.

· Provide a site index or site map. This will also help some search engines find all of the pages within your site. Here is a good example: http://www.fripp.com/frippmap.html Fripp.com also provides visitors with an alphabetical site index: http://www.fripp.com/alphasiteindex.html

· You also can help people find their way around with a simple keyword search on your site: http://www.fripp.com/frippmap.html#search Fripp.com uses a reasonably priced search service from PicoSearch.com. (We learned about this from Internet marketing genius Wally Bock: http://www.bockinfo.com.) Some hosts also include a site search feature in the hosting package.

· A customized 404 File Not Found error page is an excellent idea. It helps direct visitors who type in a bad URL or hit a bad link and prevents people from leaving your site in frustration: http://www.fripp.com/404.html

· Check for broken links and correct them. You can check electronically in most web authoring programs. Broken links make your site look unprofessional and frustrate visitors. If something is "under construction" put up a temporary page with a "coming soon" notice.

Give visitors added value with your content. Rather than making your site a simple pitch for your sales and products, include free articles, tips, a free newsletter, an "ask the expert" question and answer service, a self-assessment quiz, etc. With added value you will give them a reason to come back again and tell their friends. A great example is the extensive selection of free articles on fripp.com: http://www.fripp.com/articleslist.html

 Make your visitors feel comfortable with security and privacy.

· Do not take credit cards over the web without a security system in place. Here is an example of a shopping cart with secure ordering: http://www.fripp.com/publicspeakingresources

· If you cannot provide secure ordering, accept credit cards only by phone, fax and conventional mail.

· Post a privacy policy and reassure visitors that their information will not be sold to other parties. It can be as simple as the one-sentence privacy statement we use for the SpeakerFrippNews subscription form: http://fripp.com/professionalspeakers.html#newsletter

· Above all, follow your own privacy policy and honor customer trust.

 For more detailed information on key considerations in setting up an effective, money-making website and search engine strategy we recommend Tom Antion's Internet Marketing products and workshops:

Internet Marketing Consultant
One-on-one - inside secrets from a pro:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/consulting.htm

Internet Marketing Teleseminars
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Electronic Marketing Butt Camps
Essential for anyone serious about Internet marketing success.
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Butt Camp Tapes
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Butt Camp CD
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Great Internet Marketing Private Membership Site
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Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers - CD
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Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers - Ebook
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How to Be a Kick Butt Publicity Hound - Ebook
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Sample a chapter and table of contents:
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 Is Anyone Visiting My Web Site?

  Check your website's traffic statistics to get an idea of the number of visitors your site has. You will have a baseline for tracking improvement if you are taking steps to increase your site traffic. If your host does not offer a useful statistics interface, you may want to consider a third party statistics interface like Web Trends, http://www.webtrends.com

  Great search engine placement can bring new visitors to your website. If you're not sure if your site has been optimized for search engine placement... it probably hasn't been! You or a professional should evaluate your site for:

· relevant keywords in text

· "description" and "keywords" metatags

· "alt" tags for all images

· search engine-friendly design.

These qualities are essential for "crawler-based" search engines like Google. (Some search engines, like Yahoo, rely on human beings to evaluate and rank your site, and others use a combination of both crawler and human evaluations.)

There is no single magic formula to great search engine placement. The most successful websites use a variety of techniques in an ongoing effort.

Here are some additional techniques for search engine placement:

· Get other sites to link to you whenever you can. Inbound links not only bring in visitors through other sites, they can also help with search engine rankings. Publish articles on other websites and make sure they include a link back to your website: http://www.tech4speakers.com/presentations/whitepaper.htm

Take advantage of any organization you belong to that can provide a link from their website back to yours: http://www.ewomennetwork.com/faculty/fripp.html Have your website listed as a resource on a resource link page: http://www.webmasterpaste.com/freearticles.html has a link to: http://www.fripp.com/articleslist.html Link to other sites. Some search engines favor sites with outbound links. Visit: http://www.fripp.com/links.html for a good example of how to do this. (You need to include some descriptive text; some search engines will reject a list consisting entirely of links.) Use a site map or index with links to all of your pages. This will help visitors and search engine crawlers find pages within your site: http://www.fripp.com/frippmap.html These types of pages are sometimes called "doorway pages."

Create individual pages with similar content geared towards different search engines. You can study search engine variables and customize pages accordingly or you can use Web Position Gold http://www.webposition.com/d2.pl?r=LK7-55DC is a professional web placement tool that can critique your current pages, generate new search engine specific pages, and assess your position in individual search engines. These pages are ALSO sometimes called "doorway pages."

Find out what key words people are actually typing in when they search online. Overture has an area of the site where you can check to see how many times a word searched on their system in the last month: http://www.overture.com click on "Search Term Suggestion Tool." Overture moves this tool around periodically so you might have to look for it.

Establish mini-sites that drive traffic into your main site. These mini sites add to your inbound links, are listed in search engines in addition to your main site, and will help increase traffic all around. Patricia Fripp's mini site http://www.makemoneyspeaking.com helps bring traffic to http://www.fripp.com .

Web crawlers will automatically visit your site. You can sit back and relax and wait for them to come by, or you can take some active steps in getting your site indexed in search engines. á You can speed the indexing process up a bit by manually submitting individual pages of your site to search engines. (Do not repeatedly submit the same page to the same search engine in the same day. The search engine might consider this to be "spam" and ban your site from its index.) á Many search engines still welcome free submissions, but the trend is to charge a fee for consideration and/or expedited consideration. It is a good idea to find out what kind of pages a search engine accepts and favors before you pay for consideration. This information is available on the search engine websites, on search engine news sites and through search engine positioning systems like: Web Position Gold http://www.webposition.com/d2.pl?r=LK7-55DC á You can use pay-for-placement programs. With these programs you bid on search terms and pay per visitor who clicks through. Some pay-for-placement programs partner with other search engines to feature your listing in more places as a premium listing (at the top!)

· Overture (formerly GoTo)
http://www.overture.com

· Google AdWords
https://adwords.google.com/select/

· Enhance Interactive (formerly Ah-Ha)
http://www.enhance.com

· Kanoodle
http://kanoodle.com/

· Find What
http://www.findwhat.com

For more information on search engines, visit Tom Antion's Great Internet Marketing site:
Great Internet Marketing Mentorship Program

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm Internet Marketing Consultant

One-on-one - inside secrets from a pro:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/consulting.htm

Other articles on search engines:

"Search Engine Submission Tips" by Danny Sullivan
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/

" The Major Search Engines" by SearchEngineWatch.com Staff
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/major.html
Here are some more effective ways you can increase web traffic to your site:

· Print your URL (web address) on every piece of printed material you produce or send out.

· Include your URL in your email signature.

· Include your URL in your answering machine message.

·Anytime you are interviewed try to get your URL out.

· Advertise.

· Send out a free "ezine" (email newsletter) including useful information with text directing recipients back to your website. This is one of the most effective ways that you can keep people interested in your website!

SpeakerFrippNews http://www.fripp.com/speaking_newsletter.html and FrippNews http://www.fripp.com/business_newsletter.html drive traffic to http://www.fripp.com

We have tried other newsletter services in the past and have been disappointed. Our newsletters now use a great and easy to use system Savicom: Home page: http://www.savicom.net

We have found Savicom to be an easy and cost-effective solution for online newsletter publishing. A user-friendly interface makes website integration, mailing list management, subscription and unsubscription, and message sending and archiving simple and easy. The pro plan offers advanced database capabilities, the ability to deliver HTML messages, and the option to run multiple mailing lists from the same account. A free trial version of the Standard plan is available for a "test drive."

Sign up: https://db.savicom.net/dm/cgi-bin/pmg_signup.pl?affiliate=fripp

Do not send unsolicited email. This is called "spamming" and can result in your website being shut down. Send newsletters only to recipients who have requested or agreed to receive your newsletter.

For the best expert information on increasing your website traffic and building your client base through ezines visit Alezandria K. Brown's "Ezine Queen" website. http://www.ezinequeen.com Subscribe to her free and information-rich, bi-monthly newsletter on ezines. Alexandria is THE expert on ezines.

 Stay Up-to-Date

Because Internet and electronic marketing technology is constantly changing, it is important to keep updating your electronic marketing strategy and to stay in touch!

Visit other speaker sites. Start with: http://www.fripp.com It is constantly being updated and upgraded. We are currently redesigning the look and functionality of Fripp's site and transitioning to a new and better shopping cart.

For more detailed information on key considerations in setting up an effective, moneymaking website we recommend Tom Antion's Internet Marketing products and workshops:

Great Internet Marketing Mentorship Program
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/mentorprogram.htm

Internet Marketing Consultant
One-on-one - inside secrets from a pro:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/consulting.htm

Internet Marketing Teleseminars
Visit for latest schedule:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/teleseminars.htm

Electronic Marketing Butt Camps
Essential for anyone serious about Internet marketing success.
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/buttcamp.htm

Butt Camp Tapes

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.GreatInternetMarketing.com/buttcamptapes.htm

Butt Camp CD
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/buttcampcd.htm

Great Internet Marketing Private Membership Site
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.GreatInternetMarketing.com

Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers - CDhttp://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/click.htm
Click: The Ultimate Guide to Electronic Marketing for Speakers - Ebook

http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/click.htm

How to Be a Kick Butt Publicity Hound - Ebook
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/publicityhound.htm

Sample a chapter and table of contents:
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?
AFID=43183&u=www.antion.com/publicityhoundTOC.htm

Sign up for ezines (email newsletters) and stay in touch with trends. Most good ezines are free with minimal advertising. Here are just a few useful ones for technology news:
Ezine News

Alexandria Brown the "Ezine Queen" has two great ezines on marketing through your own ezine.

Publish for Profits will show you how to publish a wildly successful ezine that attracts new clients, boosts sales, and makes you famous. FREE REPORT with your subscription: "Top 10 Websites to Promote Your Ezine for FREE."

Straight Shooter Marketing the no-nonsense guide to marketing your micro-business online. Learn how to increase online sales, get more Web traffic, and more.

http://ezinequeen.com

  Technology/Internet News with a Speaker Focus

Rebecca Morgan & Ken Braly's Speaker Net News for professional speakers often includes technology tips and website ideas: http://www.speakernetnews.com d
Tom Antion's Great Speaking regularly includes Internet marketing ideas for speakers. Email him at tom@antion.com. Publishing News
Dan Poynter's Publishing Poynters ezine tracks trends in electronic publishing: http://www.parapublishing.com Search Engine News

Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch provides a great analysis of the search engine industry and help to site owners trying to improve their search engine positioning. http://www.searchenginewatch.com/
Search Engine News from Planet Ocean Communications, Inc. provides inside information that defines the cutting edge search engine strategies to score your sites at the top. http://www.searchenginehelp.com/pfripp/

For more information and resources visit:
http://www.fripp.com
http://www.fripp.com/links.html

2004 Odd Couple® Seminar attendees are welcome to hire Fripp's Webmaster, Aylene Rhiger Aylene@Rhiger.com for a site evaluation or consultation. At this time she is not taking on any new clients, however, will point you in the right direction for:

Web Site Development, Updates, and Maintenance
Ecommerce Solutions
Electronic Newsletter List Management
Search Engine Optimization and Positioning

"Aylene Rhiger prepared this handout for Odd Couple® Seminar attendees on her own time as a service for you. It took several years and lots of training to be able to gain the knowledge that went into it. She has my 100% endorsement. I had not met Aylene in person until the 2000 Odd Couple. It is possible to have a good working relationship with a webmaster you have never met!! Take her up on her offer. You will not find an easier person to work with. She really is one of my secret weapons!!! "
—Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE  Speaker Marketing Seminar