=> 1. News From the Net => 2. Feature Article-"Ten Tips For a Better Website" => 3. Webmaster Resources => 4. Promotional Resources => 5. Other Ezines of Interest => 6. Just for Fun or Useful => 7.E Books and Things of Interest to Publishers => 8. Freeware and Shareware to Download => 9.Subscribe/Remove Information *************************************** Hi Kids, Are you ready for April Fools Day? It's tomorrow you know so if you haven't planned any devilish pranks better put your thinking caps on now and get busy. come on, I'm sure there's someone in your life you'd like to shake up just a bit. It's fun! So what if you're a grown up who says the fun has to be over just because you're adults. I want you to promise me you'll pull a prank then write to me and let me know how it turns out. I love "messing" with people <grin> At the risk of offending every male that subscribes to this newsletter I have to say it. I hate men this week. My boyfriend is driving me absolutely nuts lately. He has children from a previous marriage who never learned the meaning of the word no and have no idea what discipline is. I shouldn't call them children as two of them are 21 and 19 now. The 19 year old refuses to hold a job or drive his own car which is causing a lot of fighting in our household. Instead of my boyfriend allowing him to grow up and stand on his own two feet he persists on handing him everything including his brand new 3/4 ton Dodge Ram Hemmy Truck. See anything wrong with this picture? My boyfriend, Jim, keeps telling me he's helping his kid, I'd say it's more like spoiling. So tell me all you Men out there, what is going on in that head of his. If you can explain it to me I'd be forever in your debt. I'm through trying to figure out the male species. (LOL) Can you believe it's April tomorrow? Where did March go? I had all these big plans for the month that I swore I would have finished by now but nope. I guess I need to work harder at that time management thing. It just seems so hard to juggle multiple tasks and do them all well. Have any tips for me? Don't forget to bookmark the Blog. You'll want to pay an occasional visit for extra goodies I find. http://merlesworld.blogspot.com/ I'd love to hear your comments over at our discussion board. This week's winner for a free ad is...Gwyneth McNeil. For your own chance to win fill in the survey. You'll find the link at the very bottom of this ezine. A winner is pulled twice a month. Enter now. Thanks for joining me, let's get to the good stuff. If you have any comments you can send them to Me. Merle http://www.MerlesWorld.com http://www.EzineAdAuction.com http://www.MCPromotions.com

Google Unveils New Look
http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=6701
--------

Get your Business Listed with Google Local Search
To add your business listing to the Yellow Pages,
send mailto:local-listings@google.com

------

Apple Sells 50 Million Songs
http://www.bizreport.com/article.php?art_id=6479
--------

Yahoo Is Looking For A Few Geniuses, & A Lot Of Idiots
http://www.precommerce.com/blog/archives/001092.html

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"Ten Tips For a Better Website"

By Merle http://MCPromotionsPress.com

There are just some things that need to be included in every website. If you integrate these tips into your site your visitors will thank you for it later:

1) Navigation: Keep it simple (KISS), and make sure it's
consistent from page to page. No matter where you place
your menu bar -- either at the top or down the side --
always include a small text menu at the bottom of every
page. Don't use Flash as a component of navigation. There
are still some people who don't have or want the plug-in,
so you will make it difficult for them to navigate your
site. Besides, search engine spiders can have a hard time
spidering your site and some can't index the Flash at all.

2) Privacy Policy: With all of the concern over privacy
on the Web, you need to include a privacy policy - even
if the only information you collect from your visitors is an
email address. There are many online templates that will
help you to create one easily. Once made, post a link to it
on every page of your site.

3) Contact Information: Nothing drives me more insane
than having to search through an entire website just
to send the owner an email. Post your contact info at
the bottom of every page of your site, along with your
email address.Don't make me fill out a whole form when
I just want to send a simple comment. Include your
email address, hotlinked and ready to go.

4) Logos & Graphics: Please keep your graphics down
to a reasonable size. No one wants to wait two minutes
while your huge, beautiful logo loads onto the screen.
If you must use a lot of graphics to get your point
across, I've got one word for you: Compression.

5) Fonts: Remember if you stray from using the standard
fonts that everyone has installed on their computers
(such as Arial, Verdana, Times New Roman) the viewer won't
see your fonts as intended. Your users' computers will
display your site in their default fonts. Stick to standards.
If you must have a certain font used you'll have to turn it
into a graphic to maintain its look.

6) Make It Sticky: Include interactive features if
possible, such as live news feeds. Check out
http://newstrove.com/cgi-bin/newsfeed.pl for tons of
free news feed topics you can paste into your site.
Use chat rooms, discussion boards, etc. You want to
create a sense of community where people will want
to return.

7) Newsletter: If you're going to have a website you
need to offer a newsletter, even if it's strictly
going to be about sale items, specials or site updates.
You need to start collecting a list of your visitors'
email addresses so you can keep in touch with them.
Ezines help to keep your site fresh in the client's
mind while establishing trust and credibility. For
more on how to start your own ezine see
http://www.ezineuniversity.com

8) Browsers: You'd be amazed at how differently your
website appears in different browsers. Make sure you
take a peek at your site in Netscape and Internet
Explorer. Recent stats show IE has about 90% of the
market share, but you'll still want to make sure the
other 10% can view your site without any problems.

9) Resolution: This is a highly debatable subject. "
What resolution should I design for?" The norm these
days seems to be between 800X600 and 1024. Look at
your site in different resolutions to get an idea of
what I'm talking about. In my opinion you should design
your site so it works in 800X600 which will keep your
visitors from having to scroll right and left and
should satisfy the majority of your site users.

10) Index Page: This may seem like a given, but I'm
going to mention it anyway. On the very first page of
your site (the homepage) the first paragraph should
answer the "5 W's"; basically telling them who you
are and what you're offering. You'd be amazed at the
number of websites that leave this out; making me
think "what do these people do, and what's in it for
me?" You need to answer these questions and do it fast.
Surfers are a very impatient group. Stop them before
they click away.

If you remember the above 10 pointers when putting together
your next website, you'll create a destination that visitors will
want to return to, and not run away from in frustration.

**********************************************
Merle http://www.EzineAdAuction.com
"Where some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made"
Buy & Sell Ezine Ads in a live auction setting!
Publishers sell off your excess inventory and Buyers
pick up some Fantastic bargains. Free E-book on how to
write "glowing" ezine ads.....Download Now at
http://www.ezineadauction.com/ebooks/greatezineads.pdf ************************************************

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1st Page 2000

A professional HTML editing software which lets you
create great websites fast! The visually appealing
program comes bundled with over 450+ Javascripts and
supports all the latest web languages. Fr.e to download.

http://www.evrsoft.com/

--------

Website Goodies

Free tools to use on your website. Stats, guestbooks,
even an ad rotater. You'll have to register first.

http://www.websitegoodies.com/tools.php

------

CM Simple Content Management Software

A simple content management system for smart maintenance
of small commercial or private sites. It is simple -
small - smart! And it's free! This is Open Source
software.

http://www.cmsimple.dk/

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***********************************
Useful Tips
***********************************

How to Clear Your Documents Menu on the Start Bar

The Start menu always contains a list of your most recently
opened files. If you'd like to clear those docs out follow
these steps.

1) Right click anywhere on the task bar
2) Pick Properties from there
3) Click the Start Menu Programs Tab
4) Click on the Clear Button

Targeted Visitors

Ever think about buying traffic? Dan Grossman who's
got a great reputation online recently launched Targeted
Visitors. When you purchase hits your website will be
seen in full size pop under windows not mini pop ups
as some traffic delivery services use. Buy in lots
of 1,000 targeted or the cheaper untargeted category.
They don't promise you sales but you will get traffic
and hopefully some of that will turn into customers.

http://www.targetedvisitors.info/

Go Back Up

If you'd like to swap ads with this ezine please send your
requests to mailto:adswap@merlesworld.com Please include
your ezine name and the number of subscribers.
-------------------

ATTENTION: Small Online Biz Owners!

If you're trying to market your Website and are not
sure where to turn, subscribe to MC Promotions Press
Newsletter and get the information you need to be a
success online. Sure-Fire Promotion/Marketing Tips.
Sites that will help you. Little known advertising
tricks.....and much more. Start increasing traffic
to your site Now http://www.MCPromotionsPress.com

Go Back Up

Googlism

"Googlism.com will find out what Google.com thinks of
you, your friends or anything! Search for your name
here or for a good laugh check out some of the popular
Googlisms."

http://www.googlism.com/

--------------

Your Wallpaper

Want to liven up your desktop? Choose a new desktop
wallpaper by resolution. Nice selection. All free.

http://www.yourwallpaper.com/

------

Free Printable Calendars

We are a free service that provides professional-
looking printable calendars in a matter of moments.
Every download is a perfectly formatted Microsoft
Word ® document that contains the finished calendar
- you'll never need to fill the dates in yourself.
Generate any calendar between the years 2000 and 2030.

http://www.printablecalendar.ca/

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Do You Write Articles?

If so why not submit them to one of the largest article
databases online today. Imagine Free exposure of your
work, as it's reprinted in ezines and websites across
the Internet. Be seen by thousands by submitting your
writings now to...

http://www.Family-Content.com

------

Free Ebooks

If you've been looking around the Net for some ebooks
you can use at no charge as bonus items or to give away
from your website this site has a nice collection. PDF's
and exe are available. If you have a fr.e ebook yourself
you can submit it for possible inclusion in their directory.

http://www.ebooked.co.uk/free/index.htm

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Hotbot Desktop

"The HotBot Desktop allows you to easily search the
web while not losing the context of where you are in
the results. Quickly visit all 10 results with half
the clicks! Easily adjust the language, number of
results as well as other preferences through web
settings. After customizing what and when to index,
you'll be able to search local files, email
(Outlook & Outlook Express), browser history, and
RSS subscriptions."

http://www.hotbot.com/tools/desktop/

---------

ViewPoint Graphical Toolbar

This is way cool and brand new. A graphical toolbar
powered by Yahoo that allows you to search then
shows the results in little thumbnail screenshots
of the actual websites. Visit them within the toolbar
itself,just click on each picture to visit the site.
Different and sweet! Fr.e to download.

http://www.viewpoint.com/pub/index.html

------

Amaryllis Software

Selida is one of the most advanced HTML editors on
the planet. Selida features a very effective WYSIWYG
editor, Code Completion and a complete HTML 4
reference. Selida was engineered to be complete and
capable - all with the decidedly best price on the
planet - 00.00 ! That's correct. Free. Selida does
differ from many 'free' HTML Editors in that it is
truly full featured and easy to understand, while
remaining powerful enough for the advanced user.
Selida users range from the beginner to the professional.

http://www.amaryllis.8m.com/

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Well, that wraps it up,once again thanks for joining me.
If you have any comments please send them to comments@merlesworld.com or visit the site.

For advertising rates for this ezine visit http://www.merlesworld.com/advertising.htm

Current subscriber base is over 4,000- My list is clean as all email addresses are removed the very first time they bounce.
Back issues can be reviewed here...http://www.MerlesMission.com

If you are not a subscriber and would like to be send mailto:subscribe@merlesworld.com

For great web hosting or if you're in need of a programmer contact mailto:DavidBlack@SiteDesignandHosting.com .He's wonderful and an expert at what he does. Tell him "Merle" sent ya.

P.S. I am currently in need of testimonials for this ezine.If you enjoy it please let me know. Send to mailto:testimonials@MerlesWorld.com
«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»

If you haven't yet filled in the subscriber survey, get your free gifts by doing it now..and be entered into a drawing for a free ad in this ezine. Winner pulled twice a month. You'll find the survey at:http://www.advancedsurvey.com/ when there put 8243 into the survey number box at the right hand side to take the survey.

I'm now offering my articles for syndication on your website All you have to do is paste SOME code where you want the article to appear and every 10 to 14 days when I update it on my end it will display a fresh article on web design/ maintenance on your site. Easy to do and gives you fresh content without any work whatsoever. For more info and to get to the code Click Here.

Thanks for being a subscriber and I'll see you next time!

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Disclaimer: Merle's World does not accept any responsibility for any liabilities as resulting from any claims in this newsletter or by the advertisers in it. This newsletter is for informational purposes only. We respect your privacy and do not share our mailing list with anyone. All content provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Comments in this ezine are strictly the opinion of the publisher. Merle does not endorse, and is not responsible for, the above ads. Please use your own discretion when responding to ads in this ezine. Copyright 2001-2004 All Rights Reserved. View our Privacy Policy and our...Site Disclaimer

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