Writers Still Need Websites

Blogs on the way out? Do writers still need Web sites? Do established, successful businesses need to have a Web site (I can't imagine why anyone is still asking that question, but I saw it yesterday in a mini-poll somewhere online.)

The answers are: maybe, yes! and "are you kidding?"

So, while you are establishing your freelance writing career or writing the next great American novel, you still need a website. I've seen several trusted recommendations that an author start plugging a book on the Web at least six months before it is due to come out. Some agents also like unpublished authors to have blogs or sites, at the least.

I'm not going to tell you that you must be "out there" to get noticed by agents or publishers. "Out there" used to mean "too weird for words." The most effective out there anyway is in the real world, meeting the people who can help you achieve success. Attend conferences, seminars, workshops, book festivals and network and build relationships with influential living beings.

But back to the Web site matter, or, cleaning out A Writer's Edge garage. Neatly stacked at the curb for the virtual charity pickup are some sites to help you if you must DIY:

In addition to the basic standbys: A List Apart and CSS Zen Garden

PulsePoint Design offers custom web and graphic design and promotion services. This site contains many good ideas and tips you can use. See the Author Marketing blog with the great post on book trailers/videos, which I've mentioned previously.

I hope you aren't struggling with HTML 4. And if you're learning to use XML (XHTML) good, but look out, we're about to Dive Into HTML 5. Still struggling with CSS? Try something from Free CSS Templates.

Then there's that icky matter of SEO (optimizing your site for search engines). Yeah, it's still important and I'm not talkin' keywords in the meta tags. That went out long ago. Get a good overview at Website Design Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips | Sproul Creative Graphics and Website Design.

And finally, a couple of places to jazz up your offerings:

Open Flash Chart - Home
Webfetti™ | Free Layouts, Graphics for MySpace, Zwinky, Hi5, eBay, more!

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Bag of Writing Tips

Here's a nicely mixed bag of tips for successful writing.  These links comprise some of the fundamental resources I've hoarded throughout this blog's life.  Before I delete them from the "Drafts" I will gather them into posts. Make note of these resources and mine them for yourself:

Ed 2010 is the place to go for, as Ed says, "your magazine dream job." The WhisperJobs is it's great feature, and now a message board is functioning. Ed's blog seems to have died out a couple of years ago, possibly around the time Ed joined Twitter as @Ed2010news. Do we see a what's what here? BLOG Twitter.

Allen & Unwin is an Australian book publisher with a very useful service called The Writing Center. I especially like the Writers on Writing section.  They currently feature a Q & A with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Committed and Eat, Pray, Love.

Chris Gobel's Writing Help Page displays his to ten list of "no-no" hints for writing in general.  Some of the links may be outdated, but the easily- understood guidance is evergreen.  This is part of his website, HUMDINGER LITERARY E-ZINE: All kinds of writing for all kinds of readers. This site is now an archive, nay, a treasure, to be plundered systematically for all it's worth.

Another deep, deep resource is the English Usage FAQ Home Page of http://www.yaelf.com/ -- also housing the FAQ page for the old alt.usage.english Usenet group (anybody here old enough to have belonged to Usenet groups?  Waaaay back, predating the World Wide Web.) It might be easier to use this huge website via its site map.

Just as the classics become references to have at hand, while experts and authorities take up more techy methods to communicate, A Writer's Edge Blog will remain right here, while I continue on Twitter. Also available via RSS.

GLHancock 4,801 tweets

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Google Demotes PageRank

Last Thursday, as I lay sleeping, I guess, Google quietly removed PageRank from its Webmaster Tools. Oh, the gauge is still in the browser toolbar (if you have it installed) but Google employee Susan Moskwa says webmasters are not to pay attention to PageRank:

We've been telling people for a long time that they shouldn't focus on PageRank so much; many site owners seem to think it's the most important metric for them to track, which is simply not true. We removed it because we felt it was silly to tell people not to think about it, but then to show them the data, implying that they should look at it. :-)

It's true, Google has long stated that, "We only update the PageRank displayed in Google Toolbar a few times a year; this is our respectful hint for you to worry less about PageRank, which is just one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked. PageRank is an easy metric to focus on, but just because it's easy doesn't mean it's useful for you as a site owner."

Uh huh. Would you mind telling that to advertisers? How about removing page ranking altogether?

*still smarts from demotion from 5 to 0 to 2*

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Content for Writing Sites

Thinking of setting up a blog or site about writing? I've found just the place to obtain content. At the iSnare articles marketing site are 2,330 (their count) articles on writing. No kidding, I found 78 pages of approximately 20 links each to full length pieces. I estimate about 1500 offerings, woven with numerous Google ads.

The site offers RSS feeds that will automatically populate a web page with the articles. Consequently, someone who knows absolutely nothing about writing and editing can set up a blog or a site on writing. I recognized few of the bylines, and the ones I did are not top tier writers.

The way I found the source was by visiting a new Twitter follower's site and backtracking through layers of links. Makes me wonder why I bother to whip up these original postings.

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Ad Network Apocalypse?

What if they gave an apocalypse and no one came? Riffing on an old anti-war slogan, Advertising Age asks What Happened to the Ad-Network Apocalypse? If you're unfamiliar with what ad networks are, they're companies that partner with advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads on sites they don't own themselves, similar to Google AdSense.

Warren Lee thinks only 15-20 of the 300-400 ad networks really matter, but the decimation predicted last year has not occurred. Some factors he cites include a growing but fragmented audience for increasing numbers of sites and the economical aspect of online advertising.

I thought this was interesting for bloggers who are always looking for ways to "monetize" their blogs (websites, web pages). That means make some moolah to help defray site costs, at least. And most bloggers start out with Google's AdSense, only to discover they aren't allowed to use any other ad system on a page that displays Google's. Until now.

A couple of weeks ago, Google notified AdSense clients that you will

soon be able to allow multiple ad networks to show on your pages, which means that advertisers from external Google-certified networks will be able to compete with AdWords advertisers for your ad space.

There are a few restrictions, and the email didn't list the "certified networks", but ads from these networks will compete with Google ads to show on sites, and the ad generating the highest revenue for publishers will be displayed, Google says. Since pictures (with audio) speak louder, here's a video on the subject:

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F + W Violating Copyrights?

Is F+W Publications violating copyrights of contributors to the Writer's Digest forum?

When I checked out a Twitter notice about BingTweets.com, I found a new way F+W Publishing displays contributions to the Writer's Digest forum. The search returned an image, "Printer friendly copy of thread," not the interactive forum page itself.

See: http://forum.writersdigest.com/forums/printer-friendly.asp?tid=1676&mid=, an image of a conversation about freelance contracts. The posts are not editable by the contributors. Even if we deleted our comments within the forum, this file would still be available (as in search engine caches which are occasionally purged or updated).

Discovery process: Twitter.com --> "Bing Tweets n. a nifty way to track Twitter trends and Bing updates," --> "Georganna Simmons" (pretty cool results at http://bit.ly/scs2d) --> WD static page. The returns are also cached.

The WD Forum explicitly states on its home page:

Writer's Digest also reserves the right to reproduce material from the Forum in Writer's Digest magazine, in the Writer's Digest e-mail newsletter and on WritersDigest.com for promotional purposes.

Once an item is posted, it is considered published and public information. Use caution when deciding to post personal information.

To that writers must agree, before being allowed to post, but the contributed content is editable--at that point. Something about copyright is nags at me, ownership of one's writing. More digital fuzziness. Undoubtedly attorney Ivan Hoffman has an article on his website covering the situation. Published does not mean "Public information" or that anyone can reprint an entire piece of writing just because it is published online. That would seem to override copyright law if true. Mr. Hoffman? Did we agree to commit our words to be used as linkbait forever?

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Action Buttons

Twitter in action: chat > improvement + follower > resource. In a Twitter chat about marketing with blogs, Amy Africa suggested my site needs a "contact button", a.k.a. "Call to Action" clickable image that triggers a form or email. The same evening, Jay Eskenazi signed up to follow my Twittering, and I reciprocated because I liked the cut of his tweets. The next day that move rewarded me with a link to Strong Call to Action Button at XDXY eMarketing Tips. These free button images fill just about any site need. You can improve your site's appearance, usability and utility in furthering your writing career. Look them over and think how you could use one in a new way to build community with your site's visitors, potential clients, fans.

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Being Yourself Everywhere

About 15 years of Web design is under our belts. Although I'm the same girl geek, I cringe when I see my first crude attempt. I created it from an MS Word document and a third-party program from England. It was basically a three-row table: header with title, center body and footer with a copyright notice. In color. The page also had a background color and the text was centered. Eventually graphics appeared. I upgraded the version the image above links to around 2001.

Back then, three pages linked together with the same menu (a basic navigation strategy that beginners still often miss). The best pages have a continuity of design that helps the users know they are still in the same site. This might mean the same colors and graphical style for all navigation buttons or bars on the various pages, as well as the same page design, a practice I heartily endorse.

This is one advantage of using templates provided by "free" hosting services. You can't screw them up much, but you must also put up with their limitations. Some don't allow any HTML tweaking, so text butts right up against photos, and you can't get the title and subtitle to line up right. When you want what you want the way that you want, it's time to turn to a professional designer.

Yes, everyone needs a "presence on the web", but it must project the quality you want to be known for. Sloppy copy? Misaligned text? Fuzzy photos? Is that who you are? Some turn to a Web 2.0 or social media services as a surrogate site. They are an improvement over the free hosting, but still limit your ability to make the most of Web pages devoted to your writing career. Use them to your advantage in conjunction with your main website.

One word of warning: don't be a different person in each of the web sites or services you participate. Be who you are at all times, in all places. It's called authenticity and transparency when applied to the Internet. As I wrote in a LinkedIn discussion, "Everywhere I go, there I am. Everywhere you go, there I am, too, if I'm doing it right."

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Writing Valuable Content

"Indispensable" was a feature of the Twitter #editorchat topic recently. I queried "like 'rich content'?" Now I find 6 Steps to Valuable Internet Content by Yann Gourvennec, originally published at BNET UK. I'd call the post indispensable reading for anyone serious about website/blog writing and about monetization of a site. Consider that

"...Marketers are now finally waking up to the idea that pre-formatted communications aren’t the right way to engage with customers...by valuable content? I mean content that brings value to your visitors, which could possibly initiate discussions, questions and comments (I’m talking about articulate comments, not cyber-babble)."

In short, the six "steps" are:

Step 1: Short text is a myth

Step 2: Spice up your text with images, not the other way round

Step 3: Hypertext, hypertext, hypertext

Step 4: Good content shows in the title

Step 5: Keywords mean a lot

Step 6: Writing with a reader in mind

Whether you're a content writer or writing content for your own promotion or marketing use, this article is a condensed learning experience (or a great reminder for some of us). The slide show version is from the article version at the Marketing & Innovation blog, a team effort which includes Yann Gourvennec.

6 steps to valuable Internet content

View more OpenOffice presentations from Yann Gourvennec.

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Housekeeping @ A Writer's Edge

If you've noticed problems with the RSS delivery of this blog in the last week, it was a combo of me changing the template and rearranging posts, as well as some Blogger problem that is supposedly now fixed, FeedBlitz announced. Online viewers, notice the difference? O.K., but the page should be easier to read, less cluttered, and provide for slightly longer posts.

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NYT, IHT, PW Zap Links, Lives

Now this is just plain scary: NYT-IHT and PW link zaps, today's post by David Rothman at TeleRead: Bring the E-Books Home. Careers are deleted as The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, The International Herald Tribune are erasing or changing links and even pulling articles by former writers.

Sooo....maybe my little hissy fit about the NYT broken link to my post wasn't so paranoid after all. They are out to get me--an it's my own family members! It chills me to recall what I wrote, all unknowing, just last month:

My paranoid side suggests they deliberately mangled the link because I criticized Times' policy.

It also plays havoc with Wikipedia links, Rothman points out [that's a bad thing?] See Thomas Crampton's piece on this. Rothman asks:

Is the above a preview of the damage that Google and Amazon could do someday to e-books when interbook linking becomes common but profit motives and corporate politics win out?

More chills and shivers.

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Ethics in Media

Two newspaper articles trigger questions of contemporary ethics. One explores how the Gates Foundation attempts to influence the public by paying to embed social messages in entertainment, e.g., stay in school, prevent AIDS. The other concerns unauthorized use of Associated Press stories on websites (including blogs).

What's the difference between taking money to include material from someone else in your production and taking someone else's material without paying for it to include it in your production?

As the LOLcat would say, "Ethical or nawt?"

No matter how politically correct or socially magnanimous, I resent deliberate attempts to influence my attitudes and actions in advertising-supported entertainments. It's like the rants some stars indulge in when accepting major awards. Perhaps I'm super-sensitive to the efforts because of my mind's analytical bent. Maybe most others don't even notice. Do you? Do you resent/appreciate the efforts?

I must admit to having used (and credited) snippets of AP material occasionally. I could never find an AP website with the stories, but I did notice the AP's copyright/licensing legalese. I didn't realize, however, that when I quoted part of an AP story and cited a newspaper's site, that the site may have been using it without paying, especially if the source was a search engine feed or other news aggregator. I felt uncomfortable in the past. Now I feel bad. How do you feel about this situation?

Musing about these ethical dilemmas, I realize that the points would be moot if everyone were creative enough to deliver original content. It would also cut down the noise.

Source: New York Times News Service via The San Diego Union-Tribune

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Text Analysis Tools

We don't always say exactly what we mean. This is a problem for a website owner who wants the site to be readable and search engine friendly. Enter text analysis. Topicalizer is a free service that automatically analyzes a document specified by a URL (a web page) or plain text.

It spits out a report regarding word, phrase, and text structure and provides a variety of useful informational tidbits including the following: word, sentence, and paragraph counts; collocations (a sequence of words or terms which appear together more often than would be expected by chance); syllable structure; lexical density; keywords; readability; and a short abstract on what the given text is about (supposedly). The abstract part works less well when analyzing a web page because the tool also reads the semantic portions of images and advertising from the code that makes up the page.

You might think it's only useful for buzzword bingo (search engine optimization), but the main page contains a window into which you can paste any text. If your writing is online, you can direct the analyzer to a particular web page. It returns quite a bit of information on readability, including the usual indexes.

Using such a tool to develop keywords for your website, however, is an ass backwards approach that won't really help at the front end. You want to know what keywords people use in search engines to look for the type of information your site could offer.

Hint: peek at the metatags for your strongest rivals to get a better idea of what to use. Another tactic is to play with search engines, plugging in various keywords and combinations and noting which ones bring up the kind of company you'd like your site to keep or your strongest competition. Then tinker with your site and Topicalize it again.

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Blog Bloat

Here it comes again, like when I forget to take lactase before drinking milk. BLOAT is overtaking the main page of this blog. Like Miss Marple's Nurse said in Murder by Death, "I can't help it. I'm old!"

The longer I blog, the farther the Archives list extends. There must be some alternative to omitting it entirely. Omitting it partially? (A very little joke on myself there. Avoid adverbs.)

I realized this problem, creeping up like the rising tide, as I pondered where to put the latest bling, the badge for the Blogger's Choice Award nomination. Don't worry, I'm not going to mention it every day. Would once a week be too much? Monthly? Should I check the stats daily? Am I obsessed? No, overjoyed!

Seriously, if I try to follow the advice I give others about a web page not forcing readers to scroll down more than two screens, I wouldn't be able to fit in all the Reciprocity listings, let alone everything else I want. Too much blog bling? How do you feel about blog pages that just go on and on?

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Amazon Omnivoracious Widget

I'm not sure this will display, but I'm going to attempt to show a new (to me) Amazon Widget that I just stumbled across. It's called Omnivoracious and reveals snippets of book reviews from the Amazon blog on books. You can put it on your website, a web page, into the template of your blog (it comes in different sizes). Here goes:

If nothing shows above, then JavaScripts still doesn't work inside a post, and I'll try to insert a screenshot. (I have no place in my template to put it.)

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Writing Content

This is the third follow up article in the series Better Websites for Writing. Two of the key components mentioned in that first piece were "goal-directed content" and "highly targeted copy". Both fall under the rubric of Content Strategy as recently delineated by Kristina Halvorson in "The Discipline of Content Strategy", an article at A List Apart, one of the best websites on websites.

For Halvorson, writing for the web is one of the elements of content strategy:

Web writing is the practice of writing useful, usable content specifically intended for online publication. This is a whole lot more than smart copywriting. An effective web writer must understand the basics of user experience design, be able to translate information architecture documentation, write effective metadata, and manage an ever-changing content inventory.

If all that is too esoteric and complicated, just try to keep your site's viewers in mind. They all want to know WIFM? "What's in it for me?" You must dangle a little somethin' to keep them reading.

Visitors come to your site with a purpose in mind. It could be to learn more about your work or you, to find more information about the subject of your writing, or maybe to buy something. A few will come for the entertainment value, or to check out your web designer's skills--but those are a minority of viewers.

At the same time, and this is like juggling, you must also direct the content toward your targets: hire you, buy your book, love you madly, whatever it is that you hope to accomplish by having a website. Incidentally, "having a presence on the web" is too vague a reason. Personal websites are so yesterday.

The content spans the gap between viewers' needs and yours. Halvorson thinks web designers have ignored content way too long. She asks, "Do you think it’s a coincidence, then, that web content is, for the most part, crap?"

Don't fill your site with mealy-mouthed weasel words--more crap--make every word count, just like you do with your non-content writing. It's the content that fulfills the promise of a pretty design, just as the book must measure up to its lovely cover. Otherwise, they won't come back again, and that's one of the three overarching goals for your site: to attract and retain visitors and to induce them to return.

This article is an extension of Better Websites for Writing.
Previous articles in the series:
Writing Websites: Critical Listings
Writing Websites: Current Practices

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Editing Off the Hook

You may have read it first here, but Maria Schneider, former editor of Writer's Digest magazine, has her blog up and racing off with a series of posts logging her experience building her WordPress blog/website. Take a look at the Editor Unleashed for Maria's overview. I found interesting this tidbit about choosing the site's name:

I wanted to build a community site for writers with all kinds of resources. editorunleashed.com wasn’t the first or second or even tenth name I came up with for this site. In fact, it took me weeks to secure a URL that communicated what I wanted to do with my site ...

What image does Editor Unleashed conjure for you? I see a rabid, frothing pit bull dog racing around nipping at split infinitives and taking a bite out of passive sentences. Not for nothing did they call Maria the "pit boss" of the WD Forum, which she managed. She even had a whip, some said.

And people are intimidated to show me their writing!

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Writing Websites: Current Practices

Last month when I wrote about how to have better websites for a book, yourself and your writing, I listed some of the components that enable attracting visitors, capturing their attention to keep them browsing, and causing them to return to your site. I promised to explore each of these components more in depth. This is the second follow up article. Today we'll consider current practices for your designing your site. One of the first sets of elements writers usually consider makes up the pages' appearances. In my opinion, this can be a mistake, but it is irresistible to do so. Let's consider some basic guidelines:

Don't use a background that interferes with the message, text or other information on the page. Horror writers are notorious for desiring black backgrounds. The only text that is readable is white, bright yellow or screaming red. All these combinations are hard on the eyes. Stick with a white or light background and dark text in a sans serif font like Arial or Verdana.

Avoid the temptation to upload an "Under Construction" graphic as soon as you acquire a parked domain page. Ideally, no one but you and your designer need to know the URL of your potential site. If the news has escaped, or you're worried that others will find it by accident, a tasteful welcome and request to return is sufficient. Really savvy developers will add a sign up form to begin capturing visitor information, especially the ever-desirable email address. Offer to send visitors a notice when the site is up and running.

Need I add, don't have a link to a page that just says "Under Construction"? That's quite unprofessional and frustrating for viewers. Similarly, using dead links in a menu to indicate future sections or pages is equally counterproductive. Don't let your site "go live" until is is fully ready -- as a beginning. You can always expand the navigation menu as new sections go online.

Cutesy horizontal bars and animations, scrolling banners, flashing or sparkling images, site visit meters, and update listings are out of vogue. They may be amusing, but they can also be annoying and are inappropriate for a professional Web page. You don't want any element that takes the eye away from the page's content.

Similarly, pass up graphics that are nor relevant to your writing or to a link's function. Ensure a connection before you use an image. Acquire permission or a license to use someone else's graphics. If you "deep link" (simply point to it instead of hosting a copy on your site) be careful that it won't disappear, and again seek permission. Deep linking is a drain on another's resources.

Be sure to provide ALT tags on images and text equivalents for audio files, text only versions of pages, and information about videos for the visually impaired visitors. Try to comply with the standards of the Web Accessibility Initiative.

This article is an extension of Better Websites for Writing.
Previous articles in the series:
Writing Websites: Critical Listings

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Do Blogs Need To Be Social ?

Continuing yesterday's consideration of blogs and social networking, perhaps Wallace's views reflect the position taken by Om Malik, when he wrote last August at Giga-Om, Why Blogs Need To Be Social. His post extends my mini-history on the evolution of blogs and sees a logical development of them into the social networks/nightmares that some advocate.

This is what makes life interesting and the never-ending source of writing material! How boring our existence would be if everyone agreed and all birds sang the same song.

In the world of Wallace and Malik, blogs are only one stage of communications development. I can see that, and I can agree with it. I even rejoice at each new invention in the ways of the Web. For example, I think being able for writers and others interested in books to display their current or favorite reads via Shelfari, Googlereads, etc., and perhaps update them via Twitter and Ping are just super.

But require us to use blogs as a "digital life aggregator"? That's fine for the social engineers, maybe, but it is perfectly acceptable for those who wish to stop here or pause at this level and to use writing blogs just for that purpose, blogging (and writing, of course). After all, how many connections or "friends" can one person handle? I like my connections one-to-one, not one-to-many or worse yet, lost in the crowd of many-to-many. That's not connection, that's swishing around in the shallow end of the pond.

My Vanity Validator score was 61 out of 100 as I wrote this piece. What if the post went viral, and my score shot up to 91 ... so what?

How Famous Are You Online?

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Writing Blogs Wrong or Right

Joe Wallace, over at The Freelance Zone, recently wrote about Writing Blogs: Why We’re Missing the Boat. It's an interesting article that highlights several active websites with Web 2.0 features such as forums, chat rooms and instant messaging services. These are all great communication modules that do indeed foster community and almost instant connectivity. Joe said:

What is the number one rule about building a successful blog? The most important thing a blog needs is a growing community. Blogging is not just one person’s voice, it’s a collection of voices.

And here I digress to disagree. This is Joe's definition of a blog, illustrated by the websites he chose to write about. When Internet logging began, it was in the form of text messages (there was no Web). A visitor dialed into a site and read messages. Then bulletin board service (BBS) evolved, and visitors could "talk back" by leaving a text message that others could read -- not unlike current forums. When email became a possibility, special interest groups formed that enabled someone to send a message to all members at once. Conversations carry on in that method to this day.

But the offshoot blogs began on the Web as a platform for one voice (or a small collective in the case of the first group blogs). When commenting ability arose, we all rejoiced. We could know if our words moved anyone else. Well, maybe they do, but only a small fraction of a blog's readers motivate themselves to expend the energy and brain power to comment. Often the comments come from people who are trying to lure readers to their blogs.

I've considered adding more interactive features like a chat or forum, and rejected pleas for instant messaging (I can't keep up with my email!) But other than a little chat box in a side column for occasional interchanges, adding those features would require an immense amount of time, both building and especially monitoring. They would be additions to a website, not a blog. Where is it written that a blog must be a full-fledged Web 2.0 site?

I'm content to limit A Writer's Edge participation in social networking to the BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog plugins. I've tried out and discarded many other similar "community" features. Holding or hosting regular chats or managing a forum would be too much like real work! It would be managing a different kind of site. Tarring us all with the same brush of apple juice when we are oranges, just doesn't cut it with me.

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Blog House Cleaning

Renting a bull dozer and steam shovel helps to pick up the mess in my house every so often. Books pile up. Clippings accumulate. Filing takes a back seat. And the ironing pile threatens to topple. The blog equivalent of such housekeeping chores includes purging nonfunctional links. (This applies to any website, of course.) And the corner for first attention is the Reciprocity list in the right column.

For a link to remain on the home page of A Writer's Edge, it must connect to another home page where this blog is listed. The permanent link can appear in a list or in every post (preferable but unlikely) on a web page. At my discretion, I also delist blogs with no posts in the last six months. Purely arbitrary.

This cleanup doesn't apply to the noble souls in the Blog Action Day Chain. Their links will remain until the party's over -- October 15 -- only a week away. There's still time to climb on board and post against Poverty next Wednesday.

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Writing Websites: Critical Listings

Last month when I wrote about how to have better websites for a book, yourself and your writing, I listed some of the components that enable attracting visitors, capturing their attention to keep them browsing, and causing them to return to your site. I promised to explore each of these components more in depth. This is the first follow up. Today we'll consider critical listings for your site.

Directories: Listing your website on The Open Directory (DMOZ.org) is neither simple nor automatic. Many people are unaware of its existence, but it is important to attempt to obtain a listing with it because many other directories (including Google's) feed from it. In fact, the only difference between Google's Directory and DMOZ is that Google allows the sites to be displayed by Page Rank order or alphabetically. One trick to getting a listing at DMOZ is to first study its structure and carefully choose which category you want you site listed in. You must submit your application ("suggest URL" link in the grey bar at the top of the page) while you're on the page of that desired category. Craft your description carefully, because this is not a place where changes are easily made, if at all. Do not try to list your website in more than one category!

The Yahoo! Directory is primarily commercial, and you can buy a listing. If your site is definitely noncommercial, you may "suggest a site" similar to the DMOZ process, although it currently kicks you back into the paid submission page, and the link about noncommercial submissions goes to the search help section. Not useful!

If you have a blog, multitudinous directories exist for them. See some of the ones A Writer's Edge is listed in for ideas. To find directories on your topic (e.g., book subject, type of writing, ones just for authors) search Google with the topic word and "directory" or "directories".

Search Engines: Google and Yahoo! control most of the web searches. MSN Live Search has a small part and others, tiny fractions. I think it is worth the effort to submit your site to the top two or three. Google and Yahoo! also have a sitemap service by which you can direct search engines to scrutinize the exact pages you want. I think these are also beneficial, especially if you have a large site with many web pages. They do require some degree of web expertise, although HTTP uploading helps.

The practices I've outlined above are part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for a website and web pages. It's all about getting you, your site, your book, your writing in front of people's eyes. If you build it, they won't come unless someone or something tells them about it and where to find it.

This article is an extension of Better Websites for Writing.

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Beware When Writing Website Content

More and more writers recognize the need for a website if for nothing other than displaying a portfolio to which to direct agents and editors. See my Credits page, for instance, with the link to an example of a published magazine article. I could also scan many articles into .PDF files or .HTML pages and send interested parties the links to particular clips.

This is all well and good, including displaying a resume on your writing site. Unfortunately some people get caught up in the joys of blogging and mingle the professional site with the 'personal' blog. I understand at least one free blogging software even facilitates building a website, although I'm not certain it hosts such sites too. Any WordPress readers care to comment?

Beware, too, of using recognizable templates. Design your site to mirror the professional writer that you are or want to become. That means a clean layout and sharp content focused on your writing and career. Resist the lure to include stories and photos of your cute, talented children and pets or personal rants and enthusiasma. Think about whether or not every subject has anything to do with your writing.

Avoid cutesy animations and graphics or free hosting without a domain name for your site. Using a "free" host says you are an unprofessional penny-pincher, unwilling to invest in your career. This indictment does not apply to having a presence on one of the major free social networking services. They are advantageous to establishing credibility and identification as well as networking for clients or jobs. Just make certain the information you offer matches up at all sites that pop up when someone performs an Internet search on your name. You do Google yourself regularly, don't you?

Study websites you admire and where you do business. Notice the level of professionalism they display. Your writing career is also a business, and your site must be part of your platform as a professional writer. When you add content, ensure that it is related to your career, book, services or products. I would further include what some consider a separate 'personal' blog. It's separated from your professional website only in your imagination. It is all part of the package that represents you to potential clients or employers. They also use Google (and more). If you want a career in the media be very circumspect about how you use the media to present yourself.

DON'T MISS OUT! JOIN THE BLOG ACTION DAY CHAIN.

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Publicize Writing & Book Websites

What if you build it, and no one comes? No one you want, anyway. A previous post offered some good reasons for writers, especially authors, to have websites. You want to connect with fans and potential readers or employers; provide more information about your, your services, your book; and the site is a badge of professionalism and sincerity, dedication to a career in writing.

All those functions are fulfilled when you let people know about your website. They need to know the correct web address or URL, which is the domain name. That's why I put a lot of emphasis on choosing a short, memorable name. To get the people you want to visit your site, you have to give them that address, probably several times and in every way possible. Here are some methods to use:

• on book covers
• in signatures online
• after signatures to emails
• in every piece of publicity
• mentioned in every promotion
• on business cards, stationary
• in all advertising
• included on letters
• repeated during interviews
• revealed during signings
• announced to groups

Begin to think of your website address as a vital part of your professional identity. In your mind, associate it with your name (as a signature) and email address, so that you start including the web address, too, when filling out forms or providing your contact information. For example, if you do book signings and give away bookmarks, be sure the website address is on the marker -- and any other give-away items.

You can find many more articles on websites here on A Writer's Edge.

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Better Websites for Writing

Today is "back to" time. Back to school. Back to work. Back to business. Time to tackle that project you've put off: your website. Whether it is starting a new one, fixing a broken one, or revamping a site you've had for a while, now is the time! Writers' websites can have several purposes, but three overall goals always apply to visitors. A website must:

1. attract
2. retain
3. return
   

Bringing viewers to a site is usually the function of the major search engines: Yahoo! and Google. Most site visitors arrive from clicking on a link in the returns of a web search. Good writing will keep them engaged in scanning your site, then maybe reading, buying or otherwise participating in what's offered. Enticing people to return to your site is mainly a function of how easy it was for them to find what they wanted, whether it was interaction, information, a product, or something else you've offered.

Attaining those goals requires coordinating many aspects of website design and development. Some are clearly visible, like the layout, colors, decorations and navigation signals. Others are more subtle, such as the logical structure of the information on the web pages and how they are linked together throughout the site. Many of the critical components, however, are hidden from view, but evident by analysis of the entire project. Some of these include:

highly targeted copy
interactive features
optimized meta tags
current practices
high level back links
critical listings
easy ordering/sales
goal-directed content
keywords placements

Future posts will consider each of these components in more detail. Recent posts on purposes of websites are Against Author Websites and Too Soon for Author Websites?

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Against Author Websites

A good journalist presents a balanced picture of an issue. Here's the flip side about authors and writers having websites: a few reasons not to do it.

Don't start a website with the intention of making money, especially if you're beginning from scratch on the Internet. That means, just starting out with no existing presence or platform by which you are known in the electronic media. In order to make money with a website, you need to be able to attract visitors in the thousands from Day One. Why? So that you can quickly justify charging advertisers enough to cover your expenses and make a profit. Don't think that you will make such an income with click-for-pay ad services or affiliate links. Only straight out ad sales bring in that kind of dough.

Another common mistake authors and writers make is desiring a website to stroke enlarged (or depleted) self-images. Yep, I'm talkin' EGO, just like John Edwards getting a big head and thinking he could do whatever he wished and people would still adore him. Putting up a site in praise of yourself with loads of personal photos, tons of testimonials, and TMI about yourself eventually gags even the most ardent fans. They want to know facts about your life, not adulations from other admirers.

Finally, the last faulty reasoning for establishing a writer's or author's website is to sell a book or books. You won't make diddly-squat trying to sell your book only from a website. People don't often buy at top dollar from an author's site, unless they can obtain the (very desirable) material nowhere else. This is mostly because anywhere else is probably cheaper. Visitors will love learning all about your production, right down to the ISBN, which they can plug into a major online retailer's database, usually finding remaindered editions or even new copies a cost considerably less than you think you can charge. Don't forget the time, effort and expenses of fulfillment, too. You either have to pay someone else to ship the orders or do it yourself.

In case you've forgotten, here are some good reasons for authors and writers to establish websites.

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Too Soon for an Author Website?

This week I read a plea from a small publisher for help with the Amazon listing for one of his books. Two pieces of information were incorrect, and the author was frantic to get them changed. Getting changes made to an Amazon listing is akin to steering a supertanker. I thought, "This is an excellent reason for the author (and the publisher) to have a website just for that book!" The book or writer's website is the authoritative last word, a place readers can find accuracy about what was written and published, obtain a sample of the writing, learn more about the author, and discover exactly what they need to buy the material. A website can direct buyers to the point of sale that provides the best return for the author.

Another use for a writer's website is to provide interaction among the author and readers. Perhaps this is nothing more than an email address where inquirers can send questions or fans can send praises. The writer controls the amount and rate of personal data released. As it feels more comfortable, add a newsletter, a forum, a chat (escalating to real-time communications). Readers these days expect to find a website address on book covers, a place to learn more about the writer and published works, even works in progress and a meeting point to find other enthusiasts. Think of it as a digital fan club.

Writers' independent websites also help establish credibility. Everyone is expected to have one. For authors, a different site dedicated to each book or series of books is a huge aid for crossing genres, even for those who write under pen names. Seldom are the limited spaces allowed by publishers sufficient (and sometimes, even they are also inaccurate or out of date.)

Although it's never too late to add a website to your marketing repertoire, it is recommended that the site precede publication by at least six months. Add another six months for website construction and content development, and you'll see why it's also seldom too soon to start a site.

See other posts here on websites for writers, or consult Hancock Websites.

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Hancock Websites

I'm having a down day--caught a "summer cold", URI, a.k.a. in some circles as the "[Insert Ethnicity Desired] Creeping Crud". I'm not sure I can make sense. So I thought I'd just give a boost to the newly-remodeled Hancock Websites It's already listed on MyBLogLog with a page of it's own, but not much is there because the site doesn't really have a blog ... yet. The site's all there, though, rather slimmed down.

I hope to add a form for prospective clients to fill out concerning their aspirations and wants for their websites. So many don't know what is available. None know the amount of work that goes into a custom-designed site. I think many don't even know what having a site can do for their careers. I just heard of a novelist whose agent advised her to put up a website with a blog for more visibility to publishers. Yes, times are changing. We are already in the Digital Age.

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Writing Website Advice

Ordinarily I don't dis others' contributions to make the world a better place for freelancers and other writers. Usually, when I run across an article that makes dubious claims in the guise of expertise, I just try to counter with a positive piece of my own. I'm going to make an exception for an article that Jeff Wuorio wrote for ConnectIT, a newsletter for small and medium businesses.

Wurio has written several books and articles on personal finance and business. He has a free email account with Roadrunner, a free blog design with content loaded by Blogger, hosted on the free server site Blogspot, and as far as I could find, no website. While I might voraciously read his works for help battling reluctant early retirement, life in an era of inflation with a fixed income, and other personal financial crises, why should I trust his views on Nine Things Not to have on your website? I ask because I see the link being passed around among writers and publishers.

Most people might heavily salt such advice or perhaps seriously consider it--if it were backed up by heavyweight site design experts, but those quoted in the article are all in public relations. Some of the tips are, indeed, common sense issues, like not giving away trade secrets or confusing viewers. But c'mon, don't have your photo on the first page? Don't get personal or provide communication information? The opposite are basic tenets of site design according to guru Jakob Nielsen and many other professionals in businesses like A List Apart, SitePoint, Mezzoblue/css Zen Garden. Even good ol' Web Monkey offers free credible web design tutoring (by Wired.com).

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Websites for Writing

ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT IN THE QUESTION CONTEST

In answer to a question about marketing, Jim Cox, owner/editor of the Midwest Book Review, wrote in his July newsletter that a crucial key is "a dynamite website that is more than just the cyberspace equivalent of a broadsheet so as to induce visitors to return again and again and again."

What, exactly, is a "dynamite website"? Some think it is all in the appearance or the design, the content, or the site's functionality. The truth is that the most effective website is custom-tailored to the specific needs of the writer or author or book. Some items for consideration:

database of products
search engine for the site or database
video trailer (more on this later in the week)
specialized web pages
podcast
marketing logo/slogan
photo album/gallery/slide show
live chat feature
downloadable documents
a little Flash
shopping cart and ecommerce
blog
form (signups, voting, contact)

Don't be dismayed, though. You can start with a simple site, like Black October, which I recently releases to the universe. Note that the author also promotes an upcoming book, still in the writing stage. When it is published, it will already have a web presence. The author's fans can also find this site by searching on his name (two variations) and the name of his publisher, Abyss Publications. The magic of the Internet!

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Ranting in Writing Blogs

Those who read A Writer's Edge at the website will see some of the changes I've made in the home page -- and resulting construction problems. Yes, as much as I advocate using Blogger for your ordinary blogging needs, sometimes it sucks like Electrolux. Until I drag the page into DreamWeaver, I won't be able to fix the bottom that, I suspect, visitors seldom view anyway.

I've included a "recent visitors" box from Blog Catalog now, mainly because it's the only way I can see more than ten visitors from there to thank and entice to leave a shout on my Profile page or a Comment or Review or to join The Neighborhood on the blog's page. I may expand the features from MyBlogLog, too, currently in the left column.

This must be the Week of the Blog for email, because I've received several nutty messages, including a request to remove a link to a news article because someone is unhappy with what the article says. I don't even mention the person in my post! He writes to me, "Yes, I am the subject of the slander in the article." His logic goes like this: my link causes the newspaper article "to show up highly on the search engines...what is happening as a result of the hyperlink in your post that is objectionable to me." I"d much rather that my links cause my blog to show up highly in the search engines, but maybe there's a lesson here, somewhere.

Then a Google Alert alarmed me when I found one of my recent posts appearing in toto in someone else's blog, but WITHOUT links or attribution. Jeez! If you're going to steal my work, at least leave the link or use my name. I wasted an hour or more trying to track down an email address for the hacker jerk (he has several sites on Blogspot), found none, so settled for wading through Blogger's complaint system, only to receive a lengthy email from them, saying that I had to put a full DMCA complaint in writing. Sheesh! Shall I post his name, this Indian student? Let you visit his sites and leave nasty remarks? Would you? Or would he welcome the attention?

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Blogging Changes

As I meticulously stepped through a link check of the home page for A Writer's Edge, I discovered a few boo-boos. Now both Blue Ribbon Blogger images are connected to the current Blue Ribbon Bloggers blog. Another link was scrambled (I swear gremlins live in the grid!), and that got me to thinking about all the reciprocal links that I displayed before the PageRank brouhaha.

According to the people who pay close attention to such matters, PageRank is no longer the behemoth image-maker for websites that it once was. Google typifies the Peter Principle in action. They've tweaked their algorithm out of pertinence. Thus, I'm considering an experiment: bring back the reciprocals and see if traffic picks up.

Or was it something I said that put people off the last few months? A writer must accept the fact that someone will always be offended by a piece of writing. I have difficulty believing that something I wrote was bad enough to drive away a significant number of visitors, and other blog/website owners have noticed a drop, too. If you were offended and left, well, you're not reading this, but if you can remember something I wrote that you found questionable, please let me know in a private email to writer [AT] writers-edge.info.

In the meantime, let the links begin!

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Awesome Editing

A Writer's Edge, is one of "100 Awesome Webmaster Blogs by and for Women" listed by Web Hosting Database in the section for "Social Media, Organizations, and Writing Skills". According to the article, I'm a "strong, talented, innovative and resourceful" web woman.

"She’s a widely published writer who provides classes and coaching to beginners who want to write for magazines and journals, news mediums and more. Ms. Hancock’s blog reflects her coaching skills as she imparts information about every type of writing imaginable."

Here's the latest incarnation of my new avatar from BitStrips.com. Can't get the hair right. Mine's graying from what my mother called "dishwater blond". It's not salt and pepper, more like gold and silver, I like to think.

The eyelids are droopy from overuse. I debated a squint and bloodshot, but opted for this tired appearance. I'd love to stick a red pencil in my hair and a book or keyboard in those large hands.

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Submit your Site for Success

As the image from Compete Blog shows, searches on the major engines are slowing down. It also explains why you need to submit your site to only the three that have nearly all of the U.S. search market. In April, Google had almost 70%, followed by Yahoo at 15% and MSN at about 8%. Many other search engines derive results from these three. Submitting your site is free and not too complicated.

If your target audience uses a particular specialty search engine and expects your site to be listed there, be sure to submit your website to that specialty engine.

Also submit your site to The Open Directory Project. This is a human-edited directory. Search engines index that content too and display results. DMOZ is a volunteer project, and it does not accept all sites that are submitted. When you sign up, it is up to you to first find the category that best fits your site. As with the top search engines, the Open Directory feeds many others.

However, Yahoo! has the best known directory, and it was the basis for their early success. It is not free, though. Don't confuse Yahoo’s directory with their search engine. You may submit your website to both.

Another step you can take to get your new website showing up in search results sooner is to prepare a sitemap and submit it to Google (especially) and to Yahoo. This special file is a bit tricky and complicated to create, but gives the search engines a heads up that your site exists and which pages to spider and how often. A good, free service for automatically generating a sitemap is SitemapsPal.

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Writing Website Maintenance

After almost four years of preaching about writers needing websites, it's time to move on to the next logical step to success: maintaining websites. It is debatable if a static site is worse than none at all. Visitors who return a few times and find nothing new, seldom come back. More importantly, fresh new content keeps search engines spidering your site and sending people who search on your keywords to your little corner in the vast web.

A professional also keeps up with developments. If you're going to use new media, be thinking about podcasts and video. Do as I say, not as I do, too. Interactive sites are also "stickier" (keep visitors longer and returning more often). You can achieve the interactivity by participating in at least one social networking service (LinkedIn and Facebook are examples) and integrating it with your website through appearances and links. Much better, however is to develop similar features for your own site.

A third aspect of website maintenance is to analyze your site's statistics. Every host gathers information about website visitors and "logs" them into files that can usually be downloaded and analyzed. Some provide a simple service as part of the hosting package. For the free Cadillac of analysis, sign up for Google Analytics. If you include a blog with your site, many of the blogging services also offer data analysis. Some are initially free, with more data considered for a fee. I use several of these because each tweaks the information a bit differently. Do not depend on Alexa figures, however. Those reports are so bogus, based entirely on data Alexa retrieves only from users of the Alexa tool bar.

Yes, websites are complex to construct and complicated to keep going. If you'd rather spend your time mostly writing and submitting, hire a professional for website maintenance. Accept that it's an ongoing expense, just like your hosting fees and domain registration fees. This is part of what I mean when I urge you to invest in your writing career. No free lunches, remember?

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Keywords for Writing Websites

Did you ever wonder how many search engines scan the Internet? The search engine optimization (SEO) company Trellian claims to gather data on 36 billion searches performed on 200 search engines worldwide. Scroll down the referenced web page to see a list. Impressive, huh? Only three really matter, though, when it comes to fiddling with keywords.

If you have a website to promote yourself and/or market your writing (and every writer and book needs one), you should be concerned about keywords. They are are the text that search engine users type into the little rectangle next to the Search button. Part of the secret to raising your site's rank in search engine returns is knowing what keywords are most pertinent to your site's content.

Most new visitors to websites arrive via keyword searches. Once your site is up and running, don't take much of a break from optimizing. Frequently test your old and new keywords with the three top search engines. In July 2007, these were Google, Yahoo and MSN, according to Search Engine Watch, comprising 87% of all searches performed.

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Google Rank Returns, Other Rises

The Google Gods restoreth PageRank to A Writer's Edge! Apparently 3 is the new 5. That's the site's ranking in Google's new scheme to weed out Pay-Per-Post/Click bloggers and websites. I have never participated in those marginally unethical practices, however, to the Google Search system my page looked suspicious enough for them to pull MY rank last fall. (No one knows what formula was used to de-rank and re-rank sites.)

When Google dropped the rank, I cast about furiously for another ranking system and found a good one at SEOmoz.com. In that service's view, the page was a 4.5 to Google's 0. I'd hoped for the covet 6. Well, I have it now with SEOmoz! So, a Google 3 = SEOmoz 6? What does it really mean? A return of advertisers, I hope -- unless that's what Google was punishing me for, not using AdSense on the front page, but displaying ads from others. Call me cynical, but do call.

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The Editing Process

Several requests for information about editing services are flowing through my email lately. Often people ask about the process or, as one gentleman put it, "Can you tell me a little more about your mode of operation?" I'm always stumped as to what they are really asking. Do they want to know that I need to see a sample of the material, to know exactly what they want done with it, or that I ask for a down payment before starting work and use PayPal and accept local checks?

Or do they want to know that a document with more than ten pages must be on paper as well as in an electronic file, and that I use my brain and eyeballs as well as certain MS Word features (with or without comments and changes tracking as required); and that I make "notes to self" which become incorporated into a report at the end?

Maybe they are actually asking literally how to perform editing, especially a complex one with several aspects. In my style of work that means multiple passes through the text sometimes concentrating on the mechanics, other times for grammar and syntax, perhaps once searching out repetitions and another for the flow of the writing or concept and again for continuity.

I could design an entire website devoted to all the nuances of editing. In fact, the Bay Area Editors' Forum has done just that. Especially useful are the pages connected with What Do Editors Do? Incidentally, it is a very well-designed website, too, clean in appearance, logical in structure, and with excellent navigation.

When you ask an editor to tell you about how they work, what exactly do you mean? If you're an editor, let me know how you interpret such general questions or what information you think people are usually requesting.

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New Features at AWE

Allow me to direct your attention to the right column on this blog's web page. First you find a gold box asking you to vote for A Writer's Edge in the 2008 Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers competition (just click on it to open an outgoing email message to WD). Many thanks.

Below that is a nifty feature by which you can subscribe via FeedBlitz to receive posts automatically by email. I must admit, I'm seeing how many people might be interested in receiving writing help this way. I'm still contemplating starting a newsletter. Signing up for the email feed won't, however, automatically put you on any mailing list.

The third box in the right column is something new. I finally wrestled Yahoo!'s intricate code into a search box that barely fits in the column. Click on the Yahoo! logo and enter a keyword or phrase, then click on the grey Search button. Yahoo! wanted it to take up 300 pixels. I wanted no more than 175. I win, for now! Better yet, it works much better on this website than the leading search engine. I discovered Yahoo!'s more thorough indexing as I searched for all my posts on Writer's Block and Creativity. Soon I hope to have them gathered into an eBook to add to the others. It just seems to me to be a natural companion volume to Be a Successful Writer.

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Defeat Content Thieves

Sigh! I'd hoped the "plagiarism"/copy stealing might be over for a while, but when I happened into the Technorati listings for this blog, I found my post on searching yourself partially scraped (probably from the RSS feed) and posted at an ambiguous site aptly named "spiderspro.com". A spider is an automated computer program that crawls around web pages, seeking whom it can devour.

This blog-style website is new and maybe thrown together by an amateur. Its illogical blogroll leads to an endless train of identical blogs that lead to the same. Maybe the whole thing is automated. Anyhoo, it reminded me of this super article sent in from the folks at Virtual Hosting: Take it Back! 100 Tips to Defeat Content Thieves. Especially important is the section on what to do once you've found the jerks stealing your stuff "Going in for the kill".

I'll also be perusing the white paper for leads on preventing Google and Yahoo's image searchers from accessing the graphics on my website. I'm tired of seeing all the top hits being people looking to swipe others' art. I'd rather know what writing topics people are searching for when they come to A Writer's Edge. That way, I can better serve readers' needs.

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Web 2.0 Unravels for Writers

Somewhat amusing to me was the Business Week article Generation MySpace Is Getting Fed Up because the local chapter of American Pen Women just asked me to talk with them about using such social nets, as well as websites, to promote members' work.

The average amount of time each user spends on social networking sites has fallen by 14% over the last four months ... MySpace, the largest social network, has slipped from a peak of 72 million users in October to 68.9 million in December.... The total number of people on such sites is still increasing at an 11.5% rate, but that's down sharply from past growth rates. "What you have with social networks is the most overhyped scenario in online advertising," says Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Specific Media, which places ads for customers on a variety of Web sites.

I had always had the impression that the Web 2.0 is a phenomenon for people in their teens to about 35. While many of my clients fit into that demographic, an equal number are seniors, too. The youth factor is what I found participating in Google's version of social networking, Orkut. I think I'll explain to the ladies of the pen that unless they write for the YA (Young Adult) category, they may be wasting their time and efforts with social networks. Better to focus on a website and real networking.

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More Widgets for Writers

About a month has passed since Liz Cohen wrote to tell me about the Answers.com Widget Gallery. Although I almost immediately adopted the Word of the Day widget for this remodeled site, time to blog about the new gizzies escaped me. I love that they are customizable for a wide variety of platforms. That saves tinkering time and is mandatory for people who don't know how to modify HTML or XML code. The widgets available include two feeds from WikiAnswersTM, Answer Boxes and Tips, and four "of the day" services: word, birthdays, quote and history. Beaucoup info is available describing and illustrating each device and its installation.


As long as we're on widgets today--Amazon Widgets now have more features such as the option to shuffle products each time they're displayed, forcing a default term in the Search widget, and the ability to designate custom identification numbers for each widget. Amazon has also made it easier to get rid of unused widgets on your My Widgets page. You can learn more about them at Amazon. I'd love to be able to use these inside posts. Maybe I'll widgetize my Wishlist.

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Vote for AWE for WD 101

Please help us join Writer's Digest's "101 Best Sites for Writers". Vote by sending an email to writersdig@fwpubs.com with "www.writers-edge.info" in the body of the email. You could also add "A Writer's Edge" if you want, but that's not necessary. Make sure the subject line reads "101 Sites". The management thanks you deeply!

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SmartLinks Amazing Technology for Writers

A new-to-me company, Adaptive Blue, is offering "smart links" and SmartLink Widgets to enhance blogs and websites. They come in a variety of flavors (stocks, music, wine, movies), but we'll focus on the one for books. SmartLinks for Books shows an example (image to the right) of the results of clicking on a blue arrow (like this one ) embedded in your text, using the widget to:

* Get a preview of the cover and description
* Choose from book sites like Amazon, B&N, etc.
* Find it in the local library via WorldCat
* Bookmark using a favorite service
* Post book link to Facebook or Twitter
* Access the best reviews from around the web
* Find similar books by subject and customer picks
* Find more books by the same author
* Lookup author's bio and web links

If you scroll down to the lower part of the page, you'll see a visual of a different type of book widget and a link to the widget page itself. Prepare yourself to be amazed, confused, and perhaps overwhelmed at first. The versatility of this technology blows me away! Two other resources on using this tool are the BlueBlog and the Book Widget Gallery.

To Fraser, whomever you are, thanks for the email introducing me to this amazing service.

If any of you readers are already using a SmartLinks widget to enhance your online writing, please let us know about your experiences and implementation.

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Writers Falling Behind

The life of a freelancer strongly resembles the cliche about feast or famine. Jobs seems to come in packs of three and similarly problems arrive in duplicates. When both coincide, a kind of madness ensues. I know I'm behind in harvesting the goodies from my email box. Please be patient Fraser from Adaptive Blue, Alexander at Freelance Writing Career, Liz at Answers.com's new Widget Factory (see one down in the right column, delivering a word of the day ... see the new right column!) I'll write about all of your services soon.

Today I wanted to direct readers' attentions to a new but hidden feature at A Writer's Edge. In the Profile at the page top is a much reduced navigation menu for the site. One selection says "Subscribe". Clicking on the link takes you to a sign-up page at FeedBurner, a service that delivers an RSS feed modified to your particular feed reader. (You can also just sign up at your reader service for "http://feeds.feedburner.com/writers-edge/EElx".

Even more exciting, and I blush to reveal I was unaware of this, FeedBlitz also makes this blog available by email. I discovered this when I scoured a sample of the FeedBurner version of a post and found a link that says "Subscribe by email", which took me to this page where you can also sign up to receive posts by Skype, AOL and Twitter! I think I am supposed to put a sign-up on the main page ... something else I'm behind in doing.

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Silly Billing

Sorry if you came for a laugh on Silly Saturday. Nothing struck me funny this week, especially the payment demand received by snailmail from a company which shall remain nameless (because I don't want to inadvertently send them any business by mistake). This NAMELESS.NET company purports to be a "domain listing service". The bill uncannily resembles the monthly statement from my water company. It purports to cover:

"DOMAIN NAME SUBMISSION TO 25 MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES
EIGHT KEYWORD/PHRASE LISTINGS
QUARTERLY SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSIONS"

We were neither amused nor impressed at the audacity of these people to bill a website design firm for such simple SEO activities that would actually harm a website's search engine placement.

The kicker is this phrase from the payment instructions: "Submission instructions will be sent to you when payment is processed." I can tell you how to submit a website to Google, MSN and Yahoo, which is all you need to know! And only do it once or risk your website being delisted for the nuisance factor.

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Writing on the Bloggy Knol

Last month Udi Manber, VP Engineering for Google, revealed in the company's official blog a new project aimed at authors. Still in beta, and apparently nonpaying, the megatech is Encouraging people to contribute knowledge in the form of articles on their specialties. Clicking on the image below takes viewers to an example of a "knol". It's only an image, however, so don't bother clicking on anything that looks like a link. The very hush-hush beta testing is also by invitation only.

At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word "knol" as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we'll do the rest.

Exactly which sector of the Internet this new project threatens is unclear and a matter of great speculation among industry watchers. One theory is that the company's "Pages" project is flagging, and "Knol" will simply prop it up with more tools a la Blogger. After all, a web page is just a web page. Or perhaps Blogger is losing out to Word Press, which offers more plug ins and flexibility in blog design as well as easier integration into complete websites.

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New Year, New Look

Obvious to those who visit the website, we have a new layout. Finally! It looks a bit vacant, compared to the previous one jam-packed with ornamentation and excessive linkage. Speaking of links, the reciprocal ones are still around and the link to them will reappear soon. The list will be updated as before with the oldest friends at the top. However, newer ones will first appear on the main page before being added. I've still a lot of tinkering to do, adding in necessary material (hang on WebRing, the code is coming!)

Another change illustrated in the previous graf is more linkage within posts instead of in the sidebars where viewers' eyes tend to just slide across, and readers by feed and email never see. Have no fear, page readers, I refuse to insert those annoying pop ups for keywords, really more ads than advice.

Tell me how you like the new look: more space, less clutter. Better? Miss the mess?

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Tips for New Bloggers

[Groan!] I think I broke my new blog layout. However, in the process, I've discovered a great new resource, Tips for New Bloggers. As usual, I don't recall how I arrived on Kumar's blogstep, begging for direction, but there it was, step by step, slowly I turn into a more competent writer of xhtml. I should add that the term "New Bloggers" refers to Blogger.com's "new" templates which are long out of beta and now de rigueur there.

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Another Writer's Block Repair

I see I've managed to lose the background to this page. What a challenge! I'm trying to switch from a two-column to a three-column template, HTML to xhtml markup language, and Old Blogger to New Blogger--all in One Swell Foop! Unfortunately, I avoided learning xhtml, seeking to hone my CSS skills, then resting on my fat assets. Wrong! A writer, even those who write the behind-the-scene coding for web pages, must keep learning. So, here I grow. And although little shows on this page yet, like the duck floating serenely on a pond, I'm paddling madly below the surface!

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Google Crap Continues

According to the SmartPage ranking and evaluation service, as of a few minutes ago:

Website Value

The estimated value of www.writers-edge.info is: $20,043

This value is represents the approximate value of the website entered. Of course, this value does NOT include the worth of the company behind the website but rather is an estimated value of the website itself. Some of these valuation factors include: PageRank, traffic, backlinks, age of the domain, directory listings, and other items not shown in the summary above.

I've watched this value rise steadily since I began using the service a few weeks ago. It rises along with the number of viewers. Still Google doesn't restore the PageRank on any page in this website! I suspect that people who use Google to search for writing help or an editor don't find A Writer's Edge listed toward the top of the returns, either, as it used to be.What a slap in the face of someone who has promoted Google and it's various features for several years.

What's really telling is the dramatic drop in the number of backlinks Google lists compared to Yahoo's figures:

The total number of pages that contain links to:
writers-edge.info www.writers-edge.info
449 Google: 449
35,800 Yahoo: 35,700
85 AltaVista: 33,000
84 AllTheWeb: 32,200

There's not much I can do except encourage readers to boycott Google and all its products and perhaps complain, if you can find a place to do so. Here's their address:

Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
Phone: +1 650-253-0000
Fax: +1 650-253-0001

I know A Writer's Edge is not alone in being unfairly demoted and punished by Google. How about deluging them with complaints by phone and especially fax.

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