High Wired: Basic websites made easy and other tips

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BY ERIN PHEIL
timeforcake.com
June 6, 2007

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Question and Answer of the Week:
“When I go to google.com to do a search, I always see that button below the search box that says ‘I’m Feeling Lucky.’ I’ve even clicked on it before, but I really have no idea what it does or why it’s there. Can you please explain what’s up with this button? Thanks.”

When I first started using Google many years ago I asked myself the very same question, for the answer is far from obvious. Luckily though, the answer is an easy one.

If you click the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button instead of the “Google Search” button when you’re doing a search at www.google.com, you’ll simply skip the results page altogether and jump straight to whatever the No. 1 result was. That’s it. So only press the button if you are, indeed, feeling lucky.

Websites of the Week: Three of ‘em
1) Though the site may be a bit too purple for your liking and though some of the content may be a bit outdated, the ideas page at KindActs (which lists over 120 different ways to be kind) is definitely worthy of a bookmark. Take a look here: http://tinyurl.com/244u55.

2) Surprise.com was recommended to me by a friend when she learned of my concern regarding not being able to find a nice gift for a certain relative of mine who has everything she needs (and more). It’s a good resource to check out and offers plenty of gift suggestions for most major occasions. www.surprise.com

3) As more businesses feel the need to have even a basic website these days, many business owners find themselves required to write the content that ends up being displayed on those websites.

Writing website content sounds like a straightforward task, but there’s definitely more to it than meets the eye; if a business owner is hoping to have an effective website, for example, he can’t simply dump the text from his business brochure onto the homepage of his new site.

If you’d like to educate yourself a bit on what makes successful copy on the web, try this link for the absolute basics: http://tinyurl.com/yszkzt, and this link if you’re looking for something a touch more advanced or if you’re ready to have your copy actually do a small bit of legwork for you: http://tinyurl.com/8ldkm.

Tip of the Week: Well, here’s several, actually, for IE7 users.
If you’ve upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 and have found that the changes in your browser (button positioning, etc.) to be frustrating or time-wasting (or both), have a look at the this article by Sandy Berger. She shares a number of great tips and tricks on making the new version of Internet Explorer work for you, instead of having to work in order to use Internet Explorer. http://tinyurl.com/2jclza

See you next Friday, everyone. Have a great weekend.

Based in Frisco, eRin pheiL is the primary creative force behind timeforcake (www.timeforcake.com). She can be reached via phone at (970) 668-0709 or e-mail at info@timeforcake.com.