I finally had a chance to expand on and input the strategies from two out the three handouts I provided at my presentations on Web Site Content.
The first is titled Must Have Content and the second is How Content Affects Your Search Engine Listings and Ranking.
Check them both out in my Articles section on Creating a Web Site.

I am often asked about email newsletters or mailing lists, how to manage them, or what software is needed. You can find several articles on newsletters in general in the ‘Conversion” category of my Article archives. I have also intended to write more in depth reviews of the mail list service options, but haven’t yet had time. Since the question came up again this week at a networking group, I am going to post some of the options now and worry about the in depth information later.
Here are some links to newsletter or mail list services:
Constant Contact - You can run the trial unlimited with under 50 subscribers, but it starts to get pricey after that. I’ve gotta say, its probably the most user-friendly service though.
Express Email Marketing- this is one you can buy through the YNot Shop(under Marketing tools). There’s now a $9.95 per YEAR (not per month like Constant Contact) option (under 250 emails) which you can upgrade to the $29.95 per year for 5000 html newsletters (has templates etc). For a strict newsletter, its a really good deal.

I’d actually recommend AUTORESPONDER services instead because they do OH sooo much more. These are my top three of those:
AWeber Unlimited Autoresponders . I use this one for my “YNot Succeed Online” Newsletter and other things. Unlimited autoresponders and mail lists, has html templates, lets you bounce subscribers from list to list, have up to 10,000 subscribers. They have a trial offer and the yearly price is really good.

My second choice was: GetResponse. Aweber eeked by them with one minor feature I wanted for my list, but probably would not concern most people. GetResponse is actually somewhat cheaper than Aweber for some really cool features. They also have a trial offer.

Here’s a new One I haven’t been able to check out as much yet, but has good reviews and was recommended to me:
Email Aces. Its $8.95 per month for up to 2500 subscribers/1 list which is better pricing than a lot of them. Believe it or not, most these types of services charge $20 per month and UP (waaaay up).

Then here’s the list of other companies I send for comparisons, as they each have features or pricing that may work for someone in certain circumstances:
Internet Mail Manager-pay per email sent
MailOut- okay prices for bigger than small list but not big lists
MailChimp- cool name, pay per email sent- They have email templates to download no charge!
MailerMailer - pricey except you get 200 emails per month No Charge in their trial (where Constant Contact limits to 50 subscribers but doesn’t count how many times you mail them)
Trident- has a kind of funky ‘points’ system, but may work for some needs.

** See our 2007 update on Mail List Services and rates.

This week I will be speaking at two different local business groups about “Web Site Content: What to Write for your Site to best promote your business and get targeted leads.”  Once I have completed the presentions, I will be posting most the content somewhere within my site.

Specifically, I will talk about the “Must-Have” content, what to say and where to say it on your site, how your content impacts your search engine listings, and how writing content for your web site can promote your business AND get you FREE website traffic (visitors and leads).

See Comments link below for links to handouts and expanded information.

Understanding that people read web pages differently than other media is key to writing and laying out copy that will promote your business or product.

Reading a web page is closest to reading a newspaper. When you pick up a newspaper, do you start with the first word and read all the way down to the bottom of the page and then move on? No, not at all. You scan the front page for headlines that stand out to you, stopping on the ones that seem interesting and then reading through the article. Or even spotting a Headline for a story on Page 2 or the “Scene” section and turning to that story immediately.

People approach your website the same way– no matter what page they enter on your site- they scan the page for something that will keep their interest. Headlines, bullet items, text formatting and clear navigation all help the scanability of your page. If they came looking for a particular service or product- they are immediately on the lookout for more information about that topic of interest.

Make sure all the main pages of your site are easily scanable. Keep your visitors interest by making your headlines and navigation items obvious and relevant. Use appropriate text formatting, such as bolding and italics to draw the eye to important points. Don’t hide your links to other content on your site by changing the color or removing the underline.  These queues help visitors quickly find what they are looking for.

Many clients and business colleagues have heard me use the term “Above the Fold” as well as quoting stats for screen sizes and resolutions. Why do I care so much and why should all web site owners care about this?

I care because it can mean the difference between success and failure.  If your most important sales tools are hidden, you are unlikely to make the sale. Its a dog eat dog world and you have about 5 seconds when someone comes to your website to grab their attention.  If attention grabbing details are not on that first screen, bye bye- your prospect is gone.
We’re a little bit lazy- we web surfers.  We don’t like to scroll.  So pitch your most important stuff up at the top of the page.  Make it easy for us to find.  And no, my screen is not the same size as your screen.  Just because you have yours set up to fit an entire encyclopedia volume, doesn’t mean the rest of us do.

Current stats:  78% percent of web users have screen resolutions of 1024×768 or less.  How big is that?  Well, if you have 10 icons or more down the left side of your computer desktop on your monitor– you are in the minority.

Screen resolutions obviously continue to advance as new technology and bigger screens comes out, but you might notice- there is still a practical limit. We can only read words that are so small! In fact, if your target audience demographic consists of people of more advanced age, they will be skewed toward the bigger elements and larger fonts– therefore LESS fits on their screen- maybe an 800×600 resolution (16% of web users).

So keep this in mind when you’re writing web copy, placing promotions, placing your contact information– anything that is necessary to make the sale!