==========================================================
Webmaster Tips Weekly / AC Designer * ISSN: 1526-2235
==========================================================

** Now Combined with AC Designer ***
* http://www.andersoncreations.com *
* Providing you with useful quick **
** tips to improve your Web Site ***

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Article - "The Saga of the alt tags..." - J. Stewart
2. Webmaster Tips Weekly Award - GreatDomains.com
3. January Special(s) - 1/2 Price Media Kit & More!
4. Tip(s) - "Promote To Local Media" by Dr. Nunley
5. Webmaster Selections - Free Web Building Tools
6. Featured Ezines - you'll have to see these
7. Subscriber Link - Secrets2Success
8. Discreet Classifieds
9. Who We Are - Contact Information


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>From the Editor...
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Welcome to Webmaster Tips Weekly!

Hello all and welcome to the year 2000 AND welcome
to our new domain - http://www.webmaster-tips-weekly.com!

We are not quite fully "up" yet - still have some work
to do, but we are hoping to go beyond just an archive
center for this ezine, and become a useful webmaster
free resource site too. Got a suggestion? Drop me a
line at mailto:webmaster@...

Til next week - y'all take care now

Deborah mailto:webmaster@...


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1. Article - "The Saga of the alt tags..."
by Jennifer Stewart
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Six months ago, my experience with PCs was limited to
basic word processing, and the most technical term I
knew was, "Load game".

Today, I maintain my own simple website and I roam the
internet with confidence.

In the months in between, I gained more worry lines and
lost more sleep than I ever did when my children were
teenagers!

Most of my frustration was due to the lack of any
simple instructions on how to do the most basic things.
Allow me to illustrate with the Saga of the alt tags....

After creating a killer of a website, complete (or
should that be "replete"?) with dancing raisins,
goldfish swimming in bowls, bounding panthers, five
different fonts on every page and a flock of birds
that flew from one side of my page to the other (is
that cool, or what?!) - I decided that I'd log on to
one of those sites that offered a free assessment of
web pages.

I couldn't understand 90% of the report, but one point
did penetrate, and that was the warning that I should
use "alt tags".

I was convinced of the need to use alt tags (I'd
received so many "warnings"); I was willing to use
alt tags; I was desperate to use alt tags - but what
on earth were alt tags?

I scoured the Help files on all my programs; I visited
all the message boards and help forums I could find; I
instigated searches on the internet's finest search
engines .....

Every source told me that I should definitely use alt
tags, without explaining what they were.

As the time decreased and the frustration increased, I
finally found out that alt tags were the alternative
names for images and that they should provide a
description of the image.

I dutifully went through, typing in names for every
image on my site..."red bullet; black square bullet;
black round bullet; black squiggly bullet ......."

This seemed totally pointless - but I'd been told by
the web's finest to include the name of each image and
who was I to argue?

A couple of weeks later, I happened to be viewing the
source code for a site that was number one in a search
listing, when I noticed that their alt tags included
the name of their site.

Clever!

I spent another few hours, changing all my alt tags to
read, "mysite red bullet; mysite black square bullet ...."

This nagged at me, however; it seemed a bit too close
to trying to fool the search engines for my comfort.

It wasn't until another month had passed that I read
yet another article that explained why alt tags were
necessary. It seems that many people turn off the
images on their browsers and the alt tags show up in
place of the missing goldfish, birds etc.

Suddenly, it all made sense - there was actually a
logical reason to include alt tags - they weren't names
or descriptions, they were captions. (I have to confess,
that I haven't added 'captions' to all my bullets this
time - I know it's possible to use "invisible tags"
- alt=" " - but I haven't quite had time to do it ....
it's next on my list ...)

So, now when you visit my site, you'll notice that my
alt tags are phrases that tell you something about what
the site has to offer, "Professional writing services,"
"Home study tutorials," "Improve your writing" and so
on.

And it only took me four months to discover this!

How many millions of hours have been spent in fruitless
searches for such simple problems? We could have found
the answer to the meaning of life in less time!

If you're struggling to get started, email me now.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Jennifer Stewart offers professional writing services -
copy writing, editing and proof reading your: web pages,
press releases, technical booklets, newsletters, business
proposals, reports or any other writing projects.

Jennifer has a degree in English and History and taught
senior High School for over twenty years. During that
time, she was Head of Department, responsible for
devising and implementing teaching programs, and for
supervising young teachers. After leaving full-time
teaching, she wrote (and now markets) writing courses
for students and adults who want to improve their writing
skills.
-----------------------------------------------------------


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2. Featured Webmaster Tips Weekly Award
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This week's Webmaster Tips Weekly award goes to
GreatDomains at http://www.greatdomains.com

The criteria used to determine award winners is grouped
into two categories:
° Content (including relevance, usefulness, etc.)
° Design (including ease of navigation, user-friendly,
etc.)

In addition to our criteria above, I couldn't help but
also apply the template for a Site That Sells as taken
from Ken Evoy's book "Make Your Site Sell." Mr. Evoy
indicates that the criteria for a Site That Sells is:
° Product or Service
° Traffic
° Web Site Design

Product ==>
GreatDomains.com has a great service - enabling buyers
and sellers of domain names to congregate. This is
definitely a growing field of interest for internet
marketers and webmasters alike.

Traffic ==>
In surfing through GreatDomains.com you will see that
they are very effective in their advertising and search
engine submissions (that's how I found them), thereby
creating traffic.

Design ==>
Well anybody who is able to read could navigate this
site and find what they are looking for here. The
inclusion of their successful sales of domain names
also lends itself to credibility. As it relates to
design and content - this is a beneficial asset.

Note: For more information about the book referenced
above "Make Your Site Sell" you may follow this affiliate
link ---> http://www.sitesell.com/andersoncreations.html)

==========================================================
3. Subscriber Special - 1/2 Price Media Kit & More!
==========================================================

1/2 Price on any and all Media Kit Prices for
Anderson Creations and Webmaster Tips Weekly.
To view the current media kit, send a blank
email to mailto:mediakit@...

Then, simply divide any price you see in half
and that is YOUR cost as a valued subscriber!

When you decide on a media package or ad, contact
me at mailto:webmaster@...

--------- A N D ---------

I have a "surprise" special for you starting next
week :)


==========================================================
4. Tip(s) - "Promote To Local Media" by Dr. Nunley
==========================================================

Media are constantly looking for new stories and
information that will interest their audiences.

Chances are, your town has at least one major newspaper,
several smaller papers, a few TV stations, a bunch of
radio stations, and at least one cable company.

Local media like to cover local stories. You have a
much better chance of getting free publicity from a
reporter in your area than from national media.

Send media a press release when you have something new
to announce: a new product, service, public service
program, or alliance with another business.

Small businesses often make good feature stories. Work
up a sheet of helpful tips related to your business.
Make sure they are things the media audience will be
interested in.

Local talk radio stations and programs are constantly in
need of interesting guests. Watch for times when your
area of expertise fits with a breaking story, holiday, or
issue the media is covering.

Work with local charities and blow your own horn.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Kevin writes your press release and sends it to 5,000 media
contacts nationwide. Even one story can be worth $1,000s
in FREE advertising. See Kevin's low-cost package at
http://DrNunley.com/. Reach him at kevin@....
-----------------------------------------------------------


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5. Webmaster Selections - Free Web Building Tools
==========================================================

The Editor of this ezine would like to thank Mr. Karl
Resch of Free Webmaster Tools Ezine for introducing us
to these valuable web sites. Visit his site at
http://www.freewebmastertools.com

Hand Made Web - The Free Web Graphics Library
http://lightning.prohosting.com/~hmweb/

Free web graphics by Art for the web
http://www.webpagedesign.com.au/bg.html
Get your free web page template(s) in exchange for a
link to their web site.

Free News Pages, Journals, Weblogs and More
http://www.velocinews.com/

JanSoft Freeware and Shareware
http://members.xoom.com/JanVee/freeware.htm

123Utilities
http://www.123utilities.com/
HTML Table Generator and more


==========================================================
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===========================================================
7. Featured Subscriber Link(s) - Secrets2Success
===========================================================

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Learn how to make at least $5,000 a week. Simple & easy
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===========================================================
8. Discreet Classifieds
===========================================================
Anderson Creations does not claim any responsibility for
any other companies, ads, or what is represented here.

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===========================================================
9. Who We Are
===========================================================

------------------
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ | Resource Links | @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
------------------
To submit
° Reader tips, articles, ad-swaps, suggestions, etc.
° Considered for a possible Webmaster Tips Weekly Award
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http://www.andersoncreations.com/ezines/wtw.html
mailto:webmaster@...

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mailto:web_tips_archives@...


Webmaster Tips Weekly and the occasional
AC Designer Issue

Anderson Creations * Ezine Publishing
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Deborah Anderson, Editor
PO Box 393 * St. Francis, MN 55070
mailto:webmaster@...

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ISSN: 1526-2235 - Library Of Congress, Washington D.C., USA
© Copyright 1999 by Anderson Creations * All Rights Reserved
http://www.andersoncreations.com