I’ve noticed many Newark, Ohio blogs are either on Blogger or there are sister websites for companies that are done with the Blogger system. Blogger.com has everything needed for a great blog and they rank very easily in the search engines. The problem is that the themes are limited and it’s difficult to brand your blog with your own graphics. Artisteer allows you to design your own Blogger theme using their suggested graphics or your own photos and designs.

There is a free trial version. You will be amazed how you can create a template with the point and click interface. The professional result is nothing short of amazing. If you have ever tried coding a template or paid the price for a developer to create one, you’ll fully appreciate the ease Artisteer provides at such a reasonable price.

Artisteer is a Windows program. Templates can be created for;

• Drupal
• Joomla
• WordPress
• Blogger
• DotNetNuke
• Microsoft Created Software Packages
• CSS templates for other systems

Publishing a template with Blogger is very simple. Simply use Artisteer’s built in upload function with your username/password and blog title, and Artisteer takes care of the rest. The other system require the normal procedure for uploading a theme.

The price is low enough that even the casual Blogger can afford to make their blog unique and professional.

Another use for Artisteer is creating a theme that is very close to what you desire. If there are any limitations with Artisteer, you save the designer time getting close to what you want. This saves you money, time, and frustration. Many designers can take your Artisteer file and tweak it to your specifications.

Give it a try! The trial version is free to explore unlimited design ideas. There are watermarks created by the trial version, but they are removed as soon as you purchase and license your copy.

Why would everyone need a website? Sounds crazy right? For example, let’s say you are a car mechanic and you’ve been employed at the same auto dealership for 15 years. You can probably translate this situation to many other professional fields. Your company gets all of your clients for you and you only focus on providing the best repairs that you can. When you go home at night, you want to enjoy your family life. What in the world are you going to use a website for?

Defense is the best reason to have a website. The best reason for a website is the exact opposite that the pundits warn you about. “Don’t put information on the web and your safe!”, is the idea we would all prefer. Ok, so you bury your head in the sand and never worry about the Internet. You never even search your name in Google to see what others are saying about you. Then, a customer requests that any mechanic but you performs work on their car. You’re stunned! You’re put an enormous amount of effort into doing your job well and you don’t understand. You find out that a competing business has an employee that posted numerous false statements about you on the Internet. So many that people are believing it! You have absolutely no place to explain the accusations and there is nothing else available that explains the bogus posts. If you had maintained a website, you could explain what people are seeing and you’re website would stand a good chance of being top on any searches for you.

Popularity is another reason. You’re a great mechanic and responsible family man and you want people to know it. You don’t have to brag, just some information about what you have accomplished and that you do this work for your family. A simple website like this will win over many people. You don’t have to give any details about your family or detailed credentials. ASE certifications, years on the job, specialties, etc. will go a long ways and a few personal things like, “Here’s my prized Mustang.”, let people know that you enjoy life and have some wholesome interests.

Employment advancement can silently occur from a website alone. Your boss or future employer may look at your website and realize that you are a proud and professional person. It may give a current boss a reason to strike up a conversation and get to understand you as a person in a way that might be awkward otherwise. A future employer notices you at least have the tech skills to put up a website, so you’re not afraid of a keyboard. He also sees that you put effort into your image to others.

There are more reasons, like networking with others in your profession, but I would say those are side benefits. This article addressed why you need a website. So long as you keep all of your information positive, there’s nothing to fear by using a website. You struggle to decide what to put on it, but there are professional web services that can help and you can refer to other similar websites to get started. Prices range from free to many thousands, but free and inexpensive offerings are what most people need. By far, my favorite free way for anyone to have a website is Google Sites.

The first problem was traffic. Few visited the website and when they did they left quickly. I tried every method I could think of get gain interest, but no results. This is not the first time this has happened to a website that I designed. My first time this happened, I was crushed. All of that work for nothing, and the ads said it was a sure way to riches! Then I found the problem. The website was not interesting and lacked focus. A huge link directory is bound to lack focus, so I had the same problem again. I’ll resolve this with focus.

The next problem was that the site was slow. The design I used was new and innovative, but untested. As soon as the website reached some traffic volume and contained a high volume of links it slowed down. I’ll resolve this with a well tested design.

A few lessons any website owner can learn from this are:

• Redesigns are ok. Websites are nothing more than sophisticated brochures. If you designed a brochure that had little response, a redesign would be expected. A redesign of your marketing materials should happen on a regular basis just to spark interest in your steady customers. Websites are no different. New technologies are making a redesign of many aspects of a website very affordable.
• Website start-ups are tough. Everyone gets excited about the new technology and stories of fortunes coming from a website. Many times fortunes are made! Unfortunately, the stories about great Internet success rarely include the failures that occurred along the way. Be patient. If you have a good product and/or information success will come in time.
• Content management system preference can change. WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, and even a few others are all great systems. Fierce debates over what is best rage in vain. The truth is they are all very good tools, but none of them do every web function well. If your website is complex, chances are that you will find flaws in whichever CMS you choose. Don’t be try different systems.

I will be covering other basic ideas as I redesign the website. My focus during my redesign will be investigating the Internet offerings and activities concerning our local area. I hope these posts help everyone discover more ways to leverage the local web scene.