The latest episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast features an updated tutorial for adding blog social bookmarks and matching graphics to blog posts done in Blogger whether hosted by them or hosted on your server. Each version includes a separate tutorial with bonus graphics, step by step instructions, and the actual code to add to your Blogger template.

This updated tutorial replaces one done a year ago that covered revised templates for the old Blogger and new Blogger (beta), and provides advice for alternate formats for WordPress, TypePad, and others. As usual, you do not have to register or give an email address to get your copy of the free download tutorials. Each zipped folder is 12Kb and includes a text tutorial, actual code for revising your Blogger template, and a set of free graphics of my top 12 social bookmarking services.

Readers are invited to listen to the Blog Social Bookmarks Tutorial episode and then download the free Blogger tutorials.



TAGS: advice blog template podcast Blogger small business advice tutorials

Labels: advice, blogger, podcast, templates, tutorials

                       

The latest episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast was released earlier and includes a bonus SEO Report in PDF for immediate download. The podcast episode Tracking Website Statistics gives a tutorial on setting up an account at StatCounter, and includes the free PDF download with step by step advice to add and track visitor website statistics to enhance SEO benefits.



Visit the podcast to listen to the small business website advice, and then download the accompanying PDF with no obligation. Visitors do not have to register or reveal an email address to receive the PDF report.

The benefits of knowing site traffic behavior, and how it relates to your core business, may allow owners to make adjustments in site content. SEO, or search engine optimization, is an added benefit of adding site visitor statistics.

You may want to read my detailed review of StatCounter services here, also.



TAGS: advice podcast search engine optimization small business advice tutorials websites

Labels: advice, podcast, seo, tutorials, websites

                       

Number 6 in my series of 6 free PDF SEO reports with advice for do-it-yourself website promotion for small business owners was released today. It is entitled How and Why of Google Sitemaps, and this free download has no strings attached. You do not have to register or reveal your email address to get your copy of the PDF report.



This report is 652kb with 13 fully illustrated pages and packaged in a zipped folder. You may download it now. Just "Right-click and Save Target As" for the How and Why of Google Sitemaps report.

If you missed any of the six volumes in the series visit the free search engine optimization PDF reports to download all of them beginning with Google Page One in Just 9 Months. This completes my commitment to release all 6 as time permits before the end of 2007.

UPDATE: The first report referenced a single page one search phrase. As of the last two months of 2007 the following may be added: list of best commercial website designers, commercial business website design, small business custom web design, business advice blog, customized blogger templates design, custom web videos, commercial web page design, small business website video, business advice usa, small business custom blog design, commercial web design, and business card artist.

These generic phrases and Google page one results confirm the value of the advice in the free pdf seo report series. Readers are welcome to comment and share their results, also.



TAGS: advice reports seo search engine optimization free download sitemaps small business advice

Labels: advice, seo, tutorials, websites

                       

Number 5 in my series of 6 free PDF SEO reports with advice for do-it-yourself website promotion for small business owners was released today. It is entitled Blog Your Way to Fresh Content, and this free download has no strings attached. You do not have to register or reveal your email address to get your copy of the PDF report. Here's the intro taken from my main site with the complete list of free SEO reports in PDF:

Learn how to set up and post to a blog to add content to your website. Blogs can be more than an online diary, and templates are free. Fresh content like news, press releases, or advice related to your niche provides value to your site. Maximize the benefits with this guide. One post a week will add 52 pages to your site in 1 year.

This illustrated report is 671kb and 17 pages and packaged in a zipped folder. You may download it now. Just "Right-click and Save Target As" for the Blog Your Way to Fresh Content report.

Can't wait for volume 6 in the series? Download the short course for search engine optimization which was #2 in the series and entitled 30 Minute a Day Free Methods. It includes the subject of sitemaps if you want a head start. The full version, and last in the series, will be released before the end of 2007.



TAGS: advice reports seo search engine optimization free download small business advice

Labels: advice, blogger, seo, tutorials, websites

                       

Custom website video production services for small business owners are now offered as part of custom website design from the Small Business Resource Center. These dynamic and affordable videos and screencasts are perfect for product demos, site introductions, new product or service intros, company training, or even real estate virtual tours.

Watch this latest video tutorial about free methods to produce voice narration for your custom website video, and then consider the value of a permanent advertisement on your small business website.

Title: Video Narration Using Audacity
Play Time: 3 minutes, 14 seconds



Imagine the positive first impression made with a custom video on your website. Combine voice, music, and video to enhance the visitor experience and memory retention of your message. Compare the price of custom videos that I produce to made for television ads, and the cost of adding a quality video on your website becomes very affordable.

Unlike print ad costs that are paid every month or week, your video ad reaches your audience forever without a recurring advertising budget.

Learn more about custom website video production services on my main site including custom video content tips for small business owners. Contact me for more details.



TAGS: advice small business services video video production website video advertising

Labels: tutorials, video, websites

                       

By popular demand, yesterday's text tutorial for masking photographs in Xara Xtreme has been recorded as a video, so now visitors can watch and listen to me present the lesson. Play time is 5 minutes and 25 seconds. In that time I mask and clip a photo of my dog to remove the background, and then pull in a sample new background. Yes! Just 5 minutes!

The technique shown in my video tutorial is a fast method for cropping part of a photograph using Xara Xtreme. The amazing part is the effect starts with a rough outline using straight lines. This simple method should be easy for all skill levels including novice graphic designers.

You may view the photo masking tutorial on YouTube, or watch and listen here.



Practical ways to use a cropped photo include business cards and other printed materials, or for website graphics. My previous lesson for techniques using error diffusion to create clean transparent gif graphics may become a video tutorial soon.



TAGS: advice video photographs tutorials photo edits xara xtreme graphic artwork video tutorial

Labels: advice, artwork, photographs, tutorials, video

                       

After an inquiry from another Xara Xtreme user who needed help cropping the background of a photo, I decided the reply would make a good tutorial. Here's a lesson for masking and deleting photo backgrounds with Xara Xtreme to use for creating custom graphics for online or in print.

Update: Hate to read? This tutorial is a featured video lesson on YouTube or watch this lesson in masking a photo with Xara Xtreme on my blog.

To summarize the technique, I begin with the Freehand Pen Tool to remove backgrounds and have become quite proficient at tracing complex shapes to create the mask. Next, I use the Shape Editor Tool to drag the straight lines into precise curves going point by point around the border of the mask area. Finally, once traced you select the mask and photo (hold shift+click on each), and then crop what you outlined with the shortcut command CTRL-3. Here are the detailed steps for this tutorial.

For a small photo enlarge it 400% to make it easier to trace. Use the Freehand Pen Tool and hold the ALT key to make a perfectly straight line from two points on a curved shape on the photo. Continue with connected straight lines for each curve to the next point before it begins to curve in another direction. You'll end up with a lot of straight lines. I usually set a contrasting line color depending on whether I have a dark or light photo.

I don't use the handles to pull the straight line into the shape of the curve except for minor adjustments. Instead, once all the straight lines are done going around the object I use another tool, the Shape Editor Tool. Here's more about drawing the straight lines.

Basically you trace the object you want to keep completely with straight lines until you return to your starting point and connect the ends. This fills the traced object with your default fill color to create the mask. The filled shape confirms you have a continuous line without any breaks. Next, and with the filled outline active (selected), find the small white square with diagonal cross lines in the lower left of the work area of the Xara screen. Right click on it and select "Clear Fill Color" so you're back to just the outline of straight lines that you just drew around the object.

Next, select the Shape Editor Tool which is the next one below the Freehand Pen Tool and use it to form curves out of the straight lines you've drawn. With the Shape Editor Tool your cursor turns into a plus symbol until you actually move it over a line, then it turns into the standard pointer cursor. If you left click on a line and release the mouse, it adds a new point. You don't want that. Instead, press the left mouse button down and hold it onto the first line you want to change to a curve without releasing the mouse button. This allows you to drag the line into a curved shape. Depending on the shape you need to outline, you learn over time the best spot for "connecting" on the line before you drag. If you make a mistake just press CTRL+Z to undo the error.

Once a curve is added to one straight line segment in the outline, continue dragging each straight line segment to fit the shape you want to keep as you move around the object. With experience you can do this quite quickly. Experiment with the point of contact on the straight line where you want to drag. Connect on the straight line close to the curve you just created, try the middle of the straight line, and connect away from the last curve to the opposite end before the next point. In time you will be familiar with the best point to drag for a given curve, and in what direction. Once the outline has been dragged to precisely trace the object, select the line and photo (hold shift+click on each) then use the CTRL-3 key combo to cut the traced object.

Once the object you want to keep is cropped, I usually hold the CTRL button and drag a dark color (usually black) onto a blank place in the work area. The default white background becomes all black and any errors in the tracing jump out at you. You can easily pull and push the outline of the cropped object using the Shape Editor Tool, also. If you see a piece of background that didn't get cropped properly, you can use the cursor to "push" the offending line in towards the object you intend to keep. With the dark background you can see immediately when you've pushed the line just right to remove the unwanted segment.

This may seem complicated at first. The person who inquired about how to mask and delete photo backgrounds in Xara Xtreme initially had problems, but eventually solved it and contacted me again within 24 hours. They successfully created their custom graphic, and it didn't take weeks to learn. It was done in a day.



TAGS: advice photographs tutorials photo edits xara xtreme graphic artwork

Labels: advice, artwork, photographs, tutorials, video

                       

If you are considering the latest release of the Joomla 1.5RC2 content management system (cms) for a new site, here is an installation procedure if you host on GoDaddy. Like many new open source programs, the documentation and help files are slowly being developed to help users, and a site hosted at GoDaddy is unique compared to some others.

The GoDaddy "Metropolis" installs stable versions only, and if you are a novice you may want to use an older stable version of Joomla 1.0x. Otherwise, instead of RC2 you could wait for the next RC3 revision of v1.5, or just wait for the stable release which is due in the coming months.

The advice here uses GoDaddy for reference because the Joomla instructions do not cover how to specify an external MySQL database address which is required for the installation. The only difference for other hosting services will be how you create your database and where is resides, so use their help files if you have any questions.

Short Tutorial: Download and unzip to extract Joomla 1.5RC2 files on your computer. Upload all the folders inside the main folder on your computer to your server using FTP. These files and folders begin with admin folder and all those listed under that. Go to GoDaddy to create a database in the hosting area of your GoDaddy account and then follow instructions beginning with Step 4 below.

Full Tutorial: Once downloaded and extracted, all unzipped files and folders under Joomla-1.5RC are to be uploaded to your server. To avoid the default Joomla favicon being displayed, replace it before uploading the files.

Replace the Joomla favicon in the /templates subfolders "beez" and "rhuk_milkyway" with a NEW favicon designed for your website.

Note: If you already have a favicon for your site, this should be easy. If you need one, I made a blog post about a free resource for favicons from www.chami.com.

After you complete uploading all your files, you need to create the database in preparation of activating your installation. You will need the hosting user name and password for your site. Here's how to create the database on GoDaddy.

1. Create a database on GoDaddy hosting (will need different user name and password)
2. Upload all files (perhaps 30 minutes or more)
3. Return to GoDaddy to retrieve the database hostname (needed later during install)
3.a Log on to GoDaddy hosting
3.b View listing for database (should be setup now, not pending)
3.c Next to the database name select the link "(Open Manager)"
3.d The database hostname will be listed, so highlight and do CTRL-C to copy
(For the GoDaddy database your MySQL will end with secureserver.net)

4. Follow instructions at http://help.joomla.org/content/view/39/132/ which will tell you how to access your new site for the first time and finish the installation.

NOTE: See 3.d above. When entering Step 4 (Database) of the installation the username and password are for the database, NOT your hosting, so the entries for user and password in (1.) above must be used.

5. For the FTP data, use the actual FTP user and pw for your hosting account.

6. Under configuration, enter email address (I prefer admin@) and make up a password for the super administrator.

7. Final Step: You must remove the installation folder contents from the server for security reasons. You cannot complete the installation until you do.

This is time consuming, but you must drill into each folder and delete the contents before you can return up a level and delete the empty folder. Go through every one which may take 15-20 minutes.

Once done, return to Step 7 above and select either Site or Admin to proceed. The site takes you to the dummy content and default layout by Joomla. Check the favicon. It should be your favicon in the address bar at the top.

Do this successfully and you are ready to begin adding content. Below are links to more help files that you may want to view if you still have problems. With a successful installation these are in the welcome page of your admin backend, also.

Absolute Beginners Guide to Joomla
Admin Security Center
In addition, you may want to visit the Forum, FAQs, and Help Center.

Good luck installing your new Joomla content management system. If this seems daunting or you want a unique look, you may want to consider my custom website design services, also.

Update: Please don't overlook the point about the coming RC3 revision and final stable release. The current RC2 has had issues reported by users in the forum almost daily with ongoing fixes of bugs. You may want to consider using the current version for test only in preparation of actually launching your new cms site after upgrading with the stable release.



TAGS: advice small business advice custom website design content management system cms Joomla

Labels: advice, tutorials, websites

                       

Small business website designs that depend on uploading photographs for online stores or sites like real estate will be more effective with photograph optimization. Too often site owners upload original digital photos taken at high resolution, and then the load time is intolerable for visitors on dialup because of the file size. They won't stick around waiting for pix to load.

Fact: More than 50% of USA internet users are on dialup. This number dwindles as high speed options become more affordable. Why disappoint half your visitors with slow loading photographs and increase the chance of losing a potential sale?

For this tutorial you may want to read the IrfanView photo edit freeware review previously posted on this blog. The owner of the recently launched e-commerce website for Mainstream Memorabilia downloaded IrfanView and learned this lesson in about 15 minutes total, and was very pleased with the ease of use. The online store is easier to manage, and IrfanView will be used on the Mainstream Memorabilia advice blog, also.

You should consider downloading the free software for this photograph optimization tutorial from IrfanView if you don't already own it.

Once installed, go to any large photo in My Documents and right click on the file name and select "Open with..." and then select "IrfanView" from the menu list. Here's a sample photo and screenshot of the open window.



In the main window menu (see top arrow) select "Image" and then "Resize/Resample" or use the shortcut keys by holding the CTRL button and pressing the letter R. The next window as shown below summarizes the file information, shows the current photo width in pixels, and the resolution in dots per inch, or dpi. Enter the desired width to match what you want on your site, and then select "OK".



When you select "File" and then "Save as" a new window appears as shown below. The sliding bar controls the quality of the final photo, and may be adjusted from lowest to best with 100 being the highest quality. Experiment with the bar in this last step until you have the smallest file size which still displays well on your screen and use that on your website.



To summarize, the steps are as easy as 1-2-3 within IrfanView. Select image-resize/resample, enter the width before doing save-as jpg, and then experiment with the slide bar until the file size is reasonable. Anything less than 50Kb file size will display well on your small business website, so taking your 1 meg photos and reducing them may keep visitors on your site longer and help make more sales.



TAGS: advice small business advice software reviews photo tutorial photo edits website design

Labels: advice, photographs, reviews, software, tutorials, websites

                       

Here's a free testing resource for small business website owners that deserves your attention. In most cases the need for this test will arise rarely, or never. At times clients will contact me about their website after one of their customers phones them to report the site is not online. In most cases I can view the website and when asked, my client can, too, so what's going on? The internet is called the "web" for a reason.

Flawless site access depends on connected threads from numerous chains of computer systems and internet service providers that point visitors to pages on the hosting server. Sometimes a local thread can be broken. Before becoming alarmed that your website is missing in action, here's some advice for how to test for broken threads.

My choice is using a proxy server like www.megaproxy.com. These online services can confirm the presence of pages of a given www domain on the hosting server, so you can find out immediately if your small business website is truly online.

Visit www.megaproxy.com and look for the try it free option and follow the link. Type your www domain and select the surf button and the megaproxy server will keep you on their site yet present the target web pages IF they are accessible. If your pages show on megaproxy, the site is online and connected, so the customer who reported the site offline has a local problem. The best advice is apologize, explain that your site is confirmed online, and ask that they try again later in the day.

If your site cannot be viewed through the megaproxy site, contact your designer or internet service provider for answers.



TAGS: advice small business advice website design server problems

Labels: advice, tutorials, websites

                       

The coffee mug shown in the photograph below was in a surprise package received from Chris Knight of EzineArticles.com in recognition after they promoted me as a platinum author. I once mentioned this item to a client who said they'd love to see the mug and then suggested I post it on my website.

The customer is always right, so a smaller version of the photo is now featured on my Directory of Small Business Articles Published Online, and the graphic art tutorial that follows explains how the coffee mug was edited using Xara Xtreme to create the dynamic look and special effects.



By combining graphics and digital magic, this is how a photograph of a simple item like a coffee mug can be enhanced. The photo edit took less than an hour using Xara Xtreme which is perfect for creating professional illustrations for your small business website or advertising artwork for print.



The left photo (A) is just the mug held at arm's length outdoors, and the center photo (B) was a recent Florida sunset that I snapped and chose to use for the background. I took each photograph with a Canon PowerShot A80 digital camera in auto mode. The right photo (C) shows the 6 elements that were combined as layers in Xara Xtreme, and then placed on top of the golden sunset photograph for the finished illustration. Here's the tutorial showing how the 6 elements were created:

1. The coffee mug was precisely traced in Xara Xtreme and the background removed
2. The glass table top effect was done using a black rectangle overlay with 75% transparency
3. A clone of the coffee mug was cropped and flipped to create a partial mirror image
4. The shadow of the mug and handle was applied in Xara Xtreme at 38% black
5. The shadow under the mug was done as a black ellipse with 4.4px feathering
6. Part of the sunset photograph was cloned, cropped, and flipped to create the reflection

If you are interested in a cost effective vector graphics software program, Xara Xtreme is my choice for custom graphics and photo edits. Download a free 30 day trial of Xara Xtreme here.

UPDATE: Download this illustration as free desktop wallpaper here (250kb JPG zipped folder). Readers do not have to register or reveal their email address, so just right click the link and "save target as" for your copy.



TAGS: advice graphic artwork photo edit tutorial xara xtreme

Labels: advice, artwork, examples, photographs, tutorials

                       

The next pdf download in my free series of search engine optimization reports is available. Unlike some free reports, visitors do not have to register or provide an email address to download any of these free SEO advice reports.



Visit my main site to download the "Web Directory Top Resources" PDF report and learn the process for submitting your site to website directories to gain backlinks. This is #4 in the series of 6 Do-It-Yourself Website Promotion reports for small business owners, so get the others if this is your first visit. Bonus information includes my list of Top 150 Web Directories.



TAGS: advice reports seo search engine optimization free download small business advice

Labels: advice, articles, seo, tutorials

                       

The next free pdf download in my series of search engine optimization reports is available. Unlike some free reports, you do not have to register or provide an email address to download any of these free SEO advice reports.



Enjoy the "Article Writing Top Resources" PDF report and learn the process for submitting articles to article directories to gain backlinks to your website. This is #3 in the series of 6 Do-It-Yourself Website Promotion reports for small business owners.

Content includes bonus information with an overview of the SEO value of writing articles, a tutorial for overcoming writer's block, plus a list of my Top 50 Article Directories.



TAGS: advice reports seo search engine optimization free download small business advice

Labels: advice, articles, seo, tutorials

                       

Do-it-yourself small business website designers are sometimes graphically challenged, and the pixel trash around logos or text in their GIF website graphics is not uncommon. This short tutorial for website design and online graphics is a lesson in overcoming that problem. There is an easy solution once you understand a technique called "error diffusion" for creating transparent graphics that blend into the background.

We've all seen examples of tiny jagged off color squares around the edge of logos or clipped photographs used for websites. First impressions are critical to keeping visitors interested in staying on your website. Taking care to create professional graphics without the pixelated trash may be the only difference between you and a competitor, and fixing the problem is not really difficult.

Here's a portion of a customer's logo done with and without error diffusion. Both graphics were created in Xara Xtreme which allows selecting error diffusion during the export to GIF process. The difference in quality is subtle yet obvious.



You will need a vector graphics software program. Some are expensive. Xara Xtreme is my choice for professional designs for print or online, and their program is perfect for novice designers or full time pros. The price starts at less than $100 and you may download a free 30 day trial of Xara Xtreme here. As your skills advance, you can use Xara to create animations and smooth flash graphics, also.

Error diffusion is an option for exporting graphics to GIF format that intentionally picks up a small amount of the background color so that the finished display is crisp and clear. The secret is placing the graphic over a block of color that will not be exported yet it is the same color as the background. This explains why the same logo shown above looks so much crisper when error diffusion is applied.

I recommend investing in a vector graphics program so you can create cleaner graphics to display online. The improved look in your website design could repay the modest software investment with just one decent sale of your products or service.



TAGS: advice artwork graphic artwork tutorials website design small business advice xara xtreme

Labels: advice, artwork, tutorials, websites

                       

The artwork in this custom door tag photo edit tutorial was created using Xara Xtreme, and illustrates how combining techniques allows designers to get some interesting special effects for printed marketing materials.

For this client a plain photograph of their truck and trailer was received after I designed their custom logo, and before the new logo was added to their fleet.

The vehicle is typical for their business which is lawn service, power washing, and landscaping. They were anxious to order a custom door tag immediately, and I suggested using this photo and letting me add the logo digitally.

Here's how the finished photo for the ad was designed with the final look displayed in the photo of the last step.

Step 1 - Original photo received from the client. A duplicate clone was created so I had two copies in Xara Xtreme.



Step 2 - Using one copy of the photo I precisely traced the truck and trailer to create a clipping mask, and removed all the background leaving the truck/trailer only.



Step 3 - Using the second original photo I applied a 20% blur so it would fade into the background when the clipped truck and trailer were added later.



Step 4 - Next, the logo vector art was imported and placed on the clipped art along with the phone number in several areas, and then the Xara handles were used to warp the perspective to match the photo for a more realistic look.



Step 5 - A 55 pixel wide portion of the entire left side of the blurred version of the photograph was removed to create an illusion and add a 3D effect when the final step was completed.



Step 6 - The clipped truck and trailer were placed precisely over the blurred version of the truck/trailer in the photo so the truck front protruded off the photo to the left and appears to be driving out of the photograph and onto the page.



The effect was a success and used immediately for the printed custom door tag, and will be incorporated into the custom website design next for a consistent look in print and online. Designing with Xara vector graphics software makes creating professional results so easy that I've been using their programs for almost 4 years.

Novice designers looking for a cost effective alternative to the $500 to $1000 software packages will appreciate the price of Xara Xtreme starting at just under $100USD. Download and try Xara Xtreme free for 30 days, and you're welcome to send me samples of your work, too!

You may want to view the complete custom door tag here to see how the photo was integrated into the advertising piece.



TAGS: artwork tutorial photo edits door tag design xara xtreme

Labels: advice, artwork, examples, photographs, tutorials

                       

Graphic artists are welcome to download this custom door tag template created in Xara Xtreme (4Kb zip folder, right click and save target as). This is another in the series and it's the large standard half page size of 4.25 inch by 11.0 inch. No registration, email capture, or signup required. This download is another in my series of free resources to help individuals or small business owners with do-it-yourself custom artwork.

Short tutorial: The template is color coded to identify the safe area for text, the bleed area, and margins. Standard guidelines are in place for easier layout. You may use the entire area for the background, but limit text within the green safe area.

The red box in the template is the doorknob hole section and nothing significant like text or important photos should be placed here because they will be hidden once the door tag is placed on the customer's door knob. The dotted outline is the centered placement of the die cut for the hole, and most printers will slit the tag at a 45 degree angle to the edge.

Once you understand the safe area for text and other limitations you may want to remove all the reference colored blocks from the template to begin your design. Email me with any questions or requests for any special templates.



The above illustration is a reduced size low resolution version of a 2-sided full color door hanger artwork done for a landscaping, lawn care, and pressure washing service company in Orlando. The large blank area near the top is to accommodate the die cut 1.5 inch hole for the door knob and the 45 degree angle slit after printing.

The portion lost in the die cut explains why the top of the front and back do not have real content. One third will be cut out, but I chose to add color in what will be left in the finished door hanger.

Note: You may want to view the photo edit tutorial here to see how the truck and trailer effect was created.



TAGS: xara templates door tag door hanger free download xara xtreme

Labels: artwork, templates, tutorials