Mousewife Competition Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered our competition to find the ultimate Mr Site “MouseWife”, an entrepreneurial mum who has used Mr Site to set up a successful website from home. We had so many fantastic entries and were amazed and inspired by your many different ventures. There are some very talented women out there. The new "Mouse Wives" phenomenon was revealed last month in a survey by Kodak. The survey revealed that half of all stay-at-home mothers now use computers to earn extra cash, with one in 20 earning at least Ł200 a month from the using a computer at home. After much deliberation, we picked one well deserved winner and two runner ups. Our winner gets a luxury hamper and our runners up mini pamper hampers. Well done ladies!

Winner: Nicky Johnston, www.nickysart.com.au

Runner Up: Nicola Rumsey, www.angelswithdirtyfacesuk.com

Runner Up:Jane Maddern, www.janemaddernsoaps.co.uk

Competition: Is your website helping you beat the credit crunch?

Is your website helping you beat the credit crunch? Or has the recession spurred you to follow a dream and start your own business? We're searching for the ultimate credit crunch busting Mr Siter, so if you fit the bill we want to hear from you! We'll feature your story on the Mr Site website and in the next Mr Site newsletter. Tell us about yourself and your website by emailing stories@mrsite.co.uk

Website of the Month

www.londonirishso.org.uk

With St Patrick’s day coming up on March 17th, it’s time to celebrate all things Irish. This month’s classically simple WOTM belongs to the London Irish Symphony Orchestra. It is the only ensemble in the UK working solely to promote classical music of Irish origin. They showcase the talent of young musicians and composers of Irish birth, descent and origin and work to encourage peace and reconciliation through cultural exchange and interaction. The orchestra offers a taste of modern Irish culture.

We have now created a ‘Website of the Month’ rosette for all Winners which they can add to their homepage – an official internet seal of approval!

How to write web content

How and what you write for your website is entirely up to you, but here are a few tips on writing for the web to get you started.

Are you saying too much? Your average internet user is an impatient one, so think about communicating in short, logical phrases and sentences.
Who are you writing for? This is one of the golden rules of web copywriting: write for your reader, not for yourself. Keep in mind who your audience is and what they want.
Are you making it clear? People want to know the purpose of your site – make sure you make this as easy to understand as possible, right from the homepage.
Is it easy to read? ‘Readability’ is not just about using simple language. Try to make it easy for a reader to ‘scan’ the page to find what they are looking for. Make good use of the tools available: if you have a lot of information on one page, split it up with headings, sub-headings, lists or tables, and put key words and sentences in bold.
How can you increase traffic? If you want your site to be found on search engines, one way is to ensure that you use words on your website that your target audience uses. Before you begin to write, sit down and think carefully about what keywords you could use, then weave them into your content.
What’s your opinion? Think about how you use the web and how much time you spend reading other sites. Try to remember those sites which made an impression on you, and why.
How to keep people’s attention? Write about benefits, not features. People want to know what they can gain from using your product or service, so you should focus on ensuring you describe what's in it for them.

Google Adsense

How it works

If you want to earn money through your website, Google’s AdSense application is a good place to start. It matches advertisements to your site's content and audience and, depending on the type of ad, you can earn money from clicks (how many people actually click on the ad) or impressions (how many times the ad appears on your page).

AdSense looks at the content of your website, and places ads on your pages that are relevant to your audience. You can customize the appearance of the ads so that they fit with the look of your site. Alternatively, you could choose to provide a Google search bar on your website, and earn money from any clicks on Google ads on the search results pages.

Getting AdSense

All you have to do to get AdSense on your site is fill out the application form. Once your application is approved, you can access your account, choose how you want the ads to appear, then copy and paste a block of HTML code into your website. Google has a huge advertiser base, so it can deliver ads for pretty much any business and for practically all types of content. However, you can also control what appears on your site: for example, the Competitive Ad Filter enables you to filter out anything you don’t want appearing, such as adverts for competitors.

Payment

How you’re paid depends on whether the advertisers have bid for their ads on a per-click or per-impression basis; therefore, you'll be paid for either valid clicks or impressions. How much you earn depends on a number of factors, but the main thing to know is that advertisers bid to appear on your site, and you receive a portion of what they pay. Good luck!

A-Z of Internet Terms

Check out the final part of our A-Z series of Internet Terms to help you jargon bust the crazy world of the internet. This month we cover S-Z.