Godaddy Promo Codes

Good morning, people of the blogosphere! You've heard me talk about getting a yourname.com if you're an author and today I'm going to talk about one of the places you can register, Godaddy.com, and some of the awesome promo codes available to you. So, buckle in and let's get going!

NaNoWriMo is upon us in its fifth day (oh my) and many of you will be producing your first novel. When I created my posts examining your web presence, I talked about the reason you need a website and how it should look similar to the other items in your online arsenal of presence. You might want to consider a website to promote that awesome novel you just wrote.

Godaddy is one of the places you can register a .com, .org, etc... There are promo codes you can use to save money on your domain registration. Promo codes = less cash out of your pocket to grow your online presence and get more attention.

As you can see from the promo codes listed below, you can register yourname.com for $7.99. That's a pretty good deal. Registering my own domain cost me $14.95 per year.

Anyway, I urge you to check out these promo codes and get to registering yourname.com. This is actually a pretty good deal. You can use the links below to navigate.

Godaddy.com promo codes:

Register .Com domains for 7.99$

Save 10% off your order-no minumum-

Save 20% off hosting orders

Save 5$ off your order 30$ or more

Save 10$ off your order 50$ or more

Save 15% off your order 75$ or more

Web Hosting from just $1.99 per month for 3 months! Plus, GoDaddy now offers unlimited bandwidth on all hosting plans!

These codes are valid every time. For more codes check http://www.domainpromocodes.com/coupons/godaddy/

If you're already a proud Godaddy member, you can use these codes to renew:
Godaddy .Com domain renewal promo code
Godaddy .Net renewal promo code
Godaddy .Co renewal promo code

You can also find Godaddy on Facebook and Twitter @godaddy

This is a sponsored post. All opinions remain mine. If you want to know more about following FTC guidelines when promoting a product or service, come on back Wednesday. I've found some useful information for you.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Static vs Dynamic

Happy day, good people of the blogosphere! Today I'd like to talk with you all about phenomenons called static elements and dynamic elements. Remember last week on lOOk at YoUr xXx when I talked about websites? This is the answer I promised you. Grab that pen and notebook you keep handy when you visit 'round here and let's get going, shall we?

Static elements are elements that don't change on your blog or website no matter what page you're on. Elements like navigation bars, background images, or indicator icons.

Why don't those elements change? Because if your navigation links jump all over the screen, it'll cause your reader a headache trying to keep up with where they are on your site and how they should return to the page they were on five clicks ago. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) your visitor every time. You have less than ten seconds to hook the average web surfer, make the most of it. Don't lose them after you catch their attention.

You want them to stay and browse around a bit, right?

Dynamic elements are those that do change page to page. These elements would be things like images, text, information, or navigation relevant to the topic.

Why do these elements change? Because each page of your website should desire to impart different information to your visitor.

For example:
I click on your button about your upcoming releases from your home page. The home page button, new release button, contact me button, buy my books button, and/or bio button don't move so I can visit a new page without back-browsing or hunting down the menu because it jumped to the bottom of the screen from the top. These are static elements.

On the bottom of your upcoming releases page, you may have a menu that appears for just that set of information. Book A, Book B, Book C, etc... These are dynamic elements. They won't appear on any other page but the ones nested under upcoming releases. They should, however, appear at the bottom of every page that talks about an upcoming release.

Each page within upcoming releases will have content. Either a blurb about the book, a release date, or a cover image. Dynamic elements.

Your background should be a static element. Don't have me looking at bunnies on the homepage and an axe murderer on the upcoming releases page. I'll probably leave thinking you're a schitzo and not buy your book.

Last, but not least, have a theme. If you write romance novels, your website should reflect that. I should get a sense of romance when I visit. If you write horror, be scary. If you write children's books, be fun and whimsical. You see my theme, it's just a balance of colors that don't instill fear. I write fiction: Historical, fantasy, paranormal, middle grade. If you visit my website, it looks like my blog. You know you've found the Write Jo Michaels.

Look here for theme examples: THEME EXAMPLES

I hope this helps some. Question of the day: Have you ever designed a website or blog? Have you found these elements giving you a headache?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

lOOk at YoUr fAceBoOk

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about FaceBook pages. No, not your personal page that you add your best high-school buds to. Your business or fan page.

Go grab those pencils and paper and let's dive right in. You know the drill, right? First, let's see how you measure up.

Answer these questions about your FaceBook page:

1. Is your cover image all about you or your titles?
2. Are your links easy to find?
3. Do you know who you are at a glance (without clicking around)?
4. If a visitor leaves FaceBook after a glance, do they know what you're selling?
5. How many posts do you make per day?
6. Where can visitors find your promotions?
7. Does your cover image fit or is it cropped?
8. Is your FaceBook page branded to match your blog/website/twitter? 
9. Are you using Timeline?

Based on your observations, answer the following:

1. Can you rebrand your cover image and icon(s) so people know more about what you do?
2. Where can you put your links so they're easy to find?
3. How many places can your name go?
4. What kind of content could you include to let visitors know what your products are?
5. How many posts could you make per day?
6. Are your images the best quality they can be?
7. Why aren't you using Timeline?

Now, go check out this post by Liberty on how to add things like cover images for your tabs, install apps, and size requirements. Then come on back and let's implement those ideas.

A few tips on fixing the above:

1. Upgrade to Timeline. Please. It will give you a million more options.
2. Design your cover image in some kind of software (Liberty mentions Gimp and it's a good alternative) that allows you to specify size. Create a new image per the requirements and brand that puppy. On a side note, I've heard authors say their book covers are their brand and they couldn't be more correct. However, what happens when you have more than one book? I strongly suggest branding yourself with either: your face, a logo, your name in a specific font, or a font + a color scheme. If you use your face, have a professional photograph taken, please!
3. Put your links on your about page or add your url to your cover image in a way that's not annoying. For example: If you use YourName in large letters, you can add .com in smaller letters on the end.
4. Make sure your name either appears in your cover image OR your icon. Even if your icon is your face, add your name to it. Won't hurt, will help.
5. Make sure folks know what books you've written or what you're selling at a glance. You have ten seconds to make an impression. Please make one that lasts.
6. How can you add valuable content via posts to your timeline? When you see something you like while browsing with your personal page, share it on your business page as well.
7. Add apps or icons with your promotions. This can be as simple as a rafflecopter embed. Trust me, just do eet!
8. Make sure your images are at least 72dpi. No one wants to look at a blurry photograph.
9. Once you have your name, book covers, and logo or image on there, consider your branded color scheme and add elements of those as well. Remember your icon will overlap your cover image a bit on the lower, left-hand side. Design accordingly.

Remember, you can get tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book. For just $2.99 I talk branding, formatting, and design for indies.

Don't forget to enter the blog party giveaway! There's three copies of The Indie Author's Guide in there just waiting for you to win!

If anyone noticed, I added ten signed Mystic/WSTW bookmarks to the giveaway! Enjoy and good luck!

Question of the day: Did you know everything above? Are you interested in learning more about branding?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

lOOk at YoUr wEbSitE

Hello, lovely people of the blogosphere! This week will be a designer's look at what you're doing on different platforms and will be called lOOk at YoUr xXx. Follow along and learn! Today I'd like to talk to you all about your website. If you don't own yourname.com, you should. There are a lot of easy and free website building platforms out there, just Google it.

If you have a website, let's look at things that you're currently doing you might want to change. Grab that pencil and paper and let's get going! If you don't, read through anyway and take notes on what to do and what not to do when you design one.

Examine the following:

1. How long does it take your page to load?
2. Do you have obnoxious music blaring?
3. Would someone who didn't know what your site was about be able to tell in just a few seconds?
4. Is your page interactive or nicely colored?
5. Is your page easy to read?
6. Can anyone navigate easily?
7. Contact information easy to find?
8. What is your ultimate goal?
9. More than two fonts?
10. Do you know what page of your site you're on at a glance?
11. Can you get to another page without back-browsing?
12. Does your visitor have to scroll at all? 

Now answer these with your observations:

1. Can you remove clutter or downsize items so they load faster?
2. Is that Beethoven's 9th really necessary?
3. If no tagline, where can you put one to tell a visitor why they're on your page?
4. What interactivity can you add or colors can you change?
5. Do you really need a blue, purple, or red font on a black background?
6. Are visitors hitting a splash page or your main site when they click (do they have to click again to get to the actual site)?
7. Can you add dynamic links to make navigation easier? Where?
8. If someone wanted to contact you, how would they? Can you make it easier?
9. Ultimate goal is a sale or a return visit?
10. What two fonts are your favorite (one serif and one sans serif, please)?
11. Think about highlighting the page the person is on in the menu.
12. Can you resize elements to eliminate the scroll?

Try these tips to fix those common errors:

1. Resize your images to 72dpi. All of them. Use thumbnails when you can.
2. Delete the music track. A lot of people listen to music as they browse and will shut your page down quickly if it interferes with their mojo.
3. Change the title and add a tagline. If you're an author, tell folks this is your official author site and who you are or why they should poke around/buy your books.
4. Change your fonts so they are either all the same or there are only TWO. More than one in the same family looks like a mistake. So, choose either a serif and a sans serif, a script and a serif, or a script and a sans serif. But be consistent!
5. Watch your colors. Try for no more than three plus black (headline color, text color, link color, visited link color). Be consistent. If links are in blue, make them all appear in blue.
6. Highlight the page title in the menu when a person is on that page of your site. If they're on the contact page, it should be showing up a different color than the other page links.
7. You'll have page links that either take you to a splash page for additional content or directly to the first page of the additional content. Add some dynamic links here so folks can navigate easily. I'll go into the difference of static and dynamic elements and how to use them in a post next week.
8. Is your ultimate goal a book purchase? Make it easy for folks to get from point A to point B and buy your book. A follow? Give them an easy way to follow with only a click or two. 
9. Everything should show up without scrolling. Resize everything you can and leave nothing hanging off the edges of sidebars or content areas.
10. One bonus tip: Use the X and Y axis numbers so things line up. You'll be surprised how much better it makes your site look. 

Overall, your site should be clean, not need ten minutes to load your content, state clearly who you are, not blare music at your visitor, and be easy to navigate without the use of the back button. KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid) your visitor every time and they'll be happy as larks and want to return often.

Find more tips like these in my book The Indie Author's Guide to: Building a Great Book and take your future to new heights. It's just $2.99 on Amazon. Don't want to buy one? Enter my great giveaway to win one! Three are available.

Question of the day: Did you find any of these common errors on your site? Did you take steps to change your content in some way?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo