Sorry for the delay in writing – last month we got an ENORMOUS pile of work (yay!!!) and I'm just now getting caught up. Thanks to all who contributed! We really appreciate it a lot.

Today's featured site is a wonderful resource for pictures. At Creating Online you can download (or buy) professional quality photos for your web site. It's easy to browse their collection by category, too.

http://www.creatingonline.com/stock_photos/

Today I found an interesting article on CNN, regarding hard drives in copy machines . Apparently some copy machines keep a copy of your copy, and it may end up… well, who knows where? Once it's digital, it's up for grabs. Who's to say a smart hacker won't learn which copiers do this, pose as a repair man, and take copier hard drives from busy places, the day after taxes are due? Maybe it would be too much work, but you never know how desperate people are or what they'll do for a little money. So be careful where you get your tax returns copied this year. Better yet, save a tree and file electronically!

Also today I learned (via ScamBusters.org) about a service to protect your identity. It's called LifeLock and they basically make your sensitive information useless to hackers and thieves, by putting blocks on your credit reports. Their CEO proves it works by posting his own social security number on the home page. Brave guy!

Have you ever done a search and found just the info you need and then when you click, it says you have to register? How annoying. Here's a site where you may be able to get a user name and password for the site. It's quick, easy, and you don't have to register!

http://www.bugmenot.com/  

Of course, we would never recommend this be used to bypass areas where you have to pay to get in or anything like that. But for cases where you just want to read an article, it's a nice way to avoid giving away your personal info. 

Lifehacker.com has a great blog… I'm always finding interesting things on their site. Too much, sometimes! Here's a very useful post which gives links for different web sites you can use to opt-out of marketing databases, both online and offline. We have done most of these steps and get very little junk mail, so it does work.

http://websitecleanup.com/go/fbe7de

Today's featured resource is a wonderful collection of tips that are easy to do and can pay off big with the search engines.

http://www.pearsonified.com/category/seo_for_everybody

The January 4th posting is very interesting, especially for people who run ads which generate revenue just for having visitors. And the other articles are great, too. As always, contact us if you would like help with any of these kinds of projects, we're here for you!

Recently I came across a good article discussing the top issues to consider when developing and marketing your web site. Being so close to the new year, you may be making plans to work on your web site. If so, keep these tips in mind:

pawprint.net/internet-marketing/small-business-web-site.php

I especially like points 6 and 7 regarding accessibility and the quality of the underlying code… very important and something we're happy to help with, along with anything else you might need for your site. Thanks for reading! 

Best wishes to you for a prosperous 2007. Rather than try to go back and fill in the missing issues of Web Bytes, I've decided to just move forward from today. I only got behind twice last year and will try very hard to not be late any more this year.

This week's resource is a free report from the fine folks over at Acorn Creative. It's about making your company stand out from the pack by promoting your unique brand.

http://www.acorncreative.com/gonutsin2007/  

Writing succinctly seems to be a challenge for most of us (I know it is for me!), and I admire people who can write to make every word count. I found this great article about writing good headlines, and realized it can apply to much more than just advertising. Headlines are found in your blog posts, the titles of your web pages, and the subject lines of your emails, so being able to capture the gist of a thing in just a few words is very valuable.

http://websitecleanup.com/go/f814c2

Thinking about all this makes me remember a quote by Blaise Pascal… "I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter."

Recently a client asked about adding a site map to his site, and while researching a bit more info I came across this article. It explains what a site map is and why you might need one , and how it's useful to your web site visitors. Page 2 is more technical but the rest of the article is great – very informative and easy to understand:

http://websitecleanup.com/go/356fb5

If you want a site map, just let us know… we're happy to help! 

With the holidays coming up, we're sharing another great article from Kim Komando about safe online shopping:

websitecleanup.com/go/3300f6

I especially like the tip about using an alternate email address for shopping… in case the store shares your email address, it won't junk up your regular email.

Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones – we wish you much joy and peace.