The next Websitetology seminars will be held, Tuesday Dec 11, 2007
8:30am to 5 pm
Location Nehemiah University, 750 S. Main Street Dayton OH 45410
If you are wondering if you should take this seminar: http://websitetology.com/?p=91
Sign up for it here: http://websitetology.com/?page_id=247
You often get what you pay for- and Microsoft is now so desperate to gain users and traffic for it’s Microsoft live search- that they are willing to host your site for free as long as you get hooked on their advertising keywords business.
Design tools, Web hosting, and business e-mail for small business | Microsoft Office Live – Microsoft Office Online
Microsoft Office Live Basics is the easy way to get started on the Web. If you have always wanted your own Web site, Microsoft Office Live Small Business has just made it easier — much easier.
- Free domain name and Web hosting
- Easy-to-use Web site design tools
- 500 MB of Web site storage space
- 25 company-branded e-mail accounts
- Web site reports
- Search advertising tool with $50 credit
Get Microsoft Office Live Basics for FREE
and get a $50 search advertising credit
As Johnny come lately to the world of search and even the Internet, Microsoft is so desperate to compete with Google that they will try almost anything- and spend good money doing it. A cursory look at the sample sites show that as always, Microsoft still doesn’t get the idea of easy-to-use- since the small business sites I looked at were still missing normal data: like a page title other than “Home”
Neither site had RSS, or the search engine friendly features that come in the true Open Source solution we recommend that are built into Word Press. When you elect to go with a closed loop system like Microsoft office live’s free hosting- you will be forever locked into whatever feature set Microsoft chooses to support.
There are inexpensive hosting packages out there, and there is also www.wordpress.com where anyone can build a highly effective WordPress site for free- but in the end, you still get what you pay for.
We don’t demand you host with us after taking our seminar- although we do believe our $159 annual hosting fee with URL registration is reasonable, considering we provide support- and give you true Open Source solutions to support maximum flexibility and adherence to W3C standards.
If you want to see sample sites from our websitetologists, take a look here: Websitetologists.
Compare the amount of content on their sites to those of the sample Microsoft Live sites- and remember- content drives traffic for smart people. Paid ads drive traffic for, well, stupid people.
Besides all the other great reasons to use WordPress as a Content Management System- here’s yet another: You won’t have to worry about getting sued for not being accessible to the blind. Because WordPress adheres to W3C standards- and uses clean CSS, if your theme is done correctly- your site will meet all ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements- something that Target is learning the expensive way:
Judge Allows Class action Lawsuit over Target web site
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge in California has allowed a class-action lawsuit to proceed against Target Corp brought by plaintiffs claiming the discount retailer’s Web site is inaccessible to the blind.
The ruling allows blind individuals, who say that many other retailers have designed their Web sites to be accessible through special software that vocalizes online content, to join collectively in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs contend that the company does not allow them full and equal access to Target stores because they cannot obtain online product and sales information.
The decision, made public on Tuesday by Judge Marilyn Patel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, also rejected Target’s motion for summary judgment in the case.
“This is a tremendous step forward for blind people throughout the country who for too long have been denied equal access to the Internet economy,” Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation for the Blind, said in a statement following Tuesday’s ruling.
The federation, which has more than 50,000 members, says that the Web sites of many other retailers, including Target’s larger rival, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, have been made accessible to blind shoppers who use screen reading software to access the Internet.
If you want to business with the Federal Government- they also require your site to be ADA compliant. If you don’t know how a blind person uses the Web- I highly recommend watching one- and learning how screen reader software works. Also, if your site works for blind people, it also has a better chance at working with mobile devices as well.