2.27.2012

Website for a Pet Care Professional




This past January, Erica Harmon of Sunnyside Pet Care contacted The New York Website Designer. Erica is a licensed veterinary technician and pet care professional. She was looking to have a website built for her pet sitting, dog walking and other pet related services.

Erica left a 5-star review on Yelp. This is what Erica had to say about working with Andrea Bertola, The New York Website Designer:

"Andrea has amazing vision - she is not just excellent at the technical and artful aspects of website design, but is also business savvy and able to help you take a broad, scattered vision into a plausible and effective reality. You get the whole package when you get on board with The New York Website Designer!"
- Erica Harmon

Thanks, Erica. Best of luck with your website!

The New York Website Designer





2.21.2012

20 Types of Blog Posts



What kinds of posts should I write to get more links and traffic?

It’s a question every blogger asks themselves. Below you will find 20 different types of blog posts that seem to work wonders on social media while also generating a lot of grassroots in-bound links.

1.    Instructional – Instructional posts tell people how to do something. These tend to be the most popular both in the short term (ie loyal readers love them and will link up to them) but also in the longer term (ie one of the reasons people search the web is to find out how to do things and if you can rank highly with your tips post you can have traffic over a length of time).

2.    Informational – This is one of the more common blog post types where you simply give information on a topic. It could be a definition post or a longer explanation of some aspect of the niche that you’re writing on.

3.    Reviews – Another highly searched for term on the web is ‘review’ – Clients considering buying a new product head to Google and search for a review on it first. Reviews come in all shapes and sizes and on virtually every product or service you can think of. Give your fair and insightful opinion and ask readers for their opinion – reviews can be highly powerful posts that have a great longevity.

4.    Lists – One of the easiest ways to write a post is to make a list. Posts with content like ‘The Top Ten ways to….’, ‘7 Reasons why….’ ‘ 5 Favorite ….’, ‘53 mistakes that bloggers make when….’ are not only easy to write but are usually very popular with readers and with getting links from other bloggers. If you start with a brief list (each point as a phrase or sentence) and then develop each one into a paragraph or two you’ll end up with a series of posts that lasts you a few days.

5.    Interviews – Sometimes when you’ve run out of insightful things to say it might be a good idea to let someone else do the talking in an interview (or a guest post). This is a great way to not only give your readers a relevant expert’s opinion but to perhaps even learn something about the topic you’re writing yourself. One tip if you’re approaching people for an interview on your blog – don’t overwhelm them with questions. One of two good questions are more likely to get you a response than a long list of poorly thought through ones.

6.    Case Studies - Sometimes these are more like a review post but with some instructional content is added to them. There are many opportunities to do case studies in different niches.

7.    Profiles – Profile posts are similar to case studies but focus in on a particular person. Pick an interesting personality in your niche and do a little research on them to present to your readers. Point out how they’ve reached the position they are in and write about the characteristics that they have that others in your niche might like to develop to be successful.

8.     Link Posts - The good old ‘link post’ is a favorite of many bloggers and is simply a matter of finding a quality post on another site or blog and linking up to it either with an explanation of why you’re linking up, a comment on your take on the topic and/or a quote from the post. Of course adding your own comments makes these posts more original and useful to your readers. The more original content the better but don’t be afraid to bounce off others in this way.

9.    ‘Problem’ Posts – Another term that is often searched for in Google in conjunction with product names is the word ‘problems’. This is similar to a review post (above) but focuses more upon the negatives of a product or service. Don’t write these pieces just for the sake of them – but if you find a genuine problem with something problem posts can work for you.

10.  Contrasting two options – Life is full of decisions between two or more options. Write a post contrasting two products, services or approaches that outlines the positives and negatives of each choice. In a sense these are review posts but are a little wider in focus. People actually search for ‘X Product comparison to Y Product’ quite a bit.

11.  Rant – get passionate, stir yourself up, say what’s on your mind and tell it like it is. Rants are great for starting discussion and causing a little controversy – they can also be quite fun if you do it in the right spirit. Just be aware that they can also be the beginnings of a flaming comment thread and often it’s in the heat of the moment when we say things that we later regret and that can impact our reputation the most.

12.  Inspirational - On the flip side to the angry rant (and not all rants have to be angry) are inspirational and motivational pieces. Tell a story of success or paint a picture of ‘what could be’. People like to hear good news stories in their niche as it motivates them to persist with what they are doing. Find examples of success in your own experience or that of others and spread the word.

13.  Research –Research posts can take a lot of time but they can also be well worth it if you come up with interesting conclusions that inspire people to link up to you.

14. Collation Posts – These are a strange combination of research and link posts. In them you pick a topic that you think your readers will find helpful and then research what others have said about it. Once you’ve found their opinion you bring together everyone’s ideas (often with short quotes) and tie them together with a few of your own comments to draw out the common themes that you see.

15.  Prediction and Review Posts – We see a lot of these at the end and start of the year where people do their ‘year in review’ posts and look at the year ahead and predict what developments might happen in their niche in the coming months.

16.  Critique Posts – ‘Attack posts’ have always been a part of blogging. Some people make a name for themselves very well by attacking others.

17.   Debate –Debates do well on blogs and can either in an organized fashion between two people, between a blogger and ‘all comers’ or even between a blogger and… themselves (try it – argue both for and against a topic in one post – you can end up with a pretty balanced post).

18.  Hypothetical Posts – A ‘what if’ or hypothetical post can be quite fun. Pick a something that ‘could’ happen down the track in your industry and begin to unpack what the implications of it would be. ‘What if….Google and Yahoo merged?’ ‘What if …’

19.  Satirical –Well written satire or parody can be incredibly powerful and is brilliant for generating links for your blog.

20.  Memes and Projects - write a post that somehow involves your readers and gets them to replicate it in someway. Start a poll, an award, ask your readers to submit a post/link or run a survey or quiz. 

This is not an exhaustive list but rather just some of the types of posts that you might like to throw into your blog’s mix. Not every one will be suitable for all blogs or bloggers but using more than one format can definitely add a little spice and color to a blog. Lastly-- another technique is to mix two or more of the above formats together – there are no rules so have a bit of fun with it! Happy Blogging!

Are you ready to start your own blog?

2.17.2012

Website for a Dietitian / Nutritionist



This past July, Amanda Bontempo contacted The New York Website Designer. Amanda is a registered dietitian and certified dietitian/nutritionist. She was looking to have a website built that would showcase her nutrition consulting services. She was interested in creating a beautiful site that clearly represents her aesthetics while illustrating that her website and services are an insiders guide with expert advice to all things food. She needed a logo, a website, a blog, as well as social media integration.

I asked Amanda how she envisioned the 'look' of her site and this is how she responded, "I think if I were to describe what I'm looking for visually, it would be stylish, modern, maybe a little New York. I want to showcase healthy natural food in all it's glory but with a young sexy contemporary edge."

Here is the logo I designed for Spill the Beans Nutrition:



Here are some graphics The New York Website Designer designed for each section of Spill the Beans Nutrition:

This image appears on the ABOUT page of Spill the Beans Nutrition

This image appears on the BLOG page of Spill the Beans Nutrition

This image appears on the CONTACT page of Spill the Beans Nutrition

This image appears on the SERVICES page of Spill the Beans Nutrition

This image appears on the HOME page of Spill the Beans Nutrition


Amanda also wanted to have custom designed social media icons to match the aesthetics of her site. Here is what I came up with:




Best of  luck to Amanda Bontempo and the launch of her site: www.SpilltheBeansNutrition.com


Are you looking for a web designer?
Contact The New York Website Designer for a free consultation.


2.16.2012

Holistic Health Website


This past October, Adam Jay Miller contacted The New York Website Designer. Adam is a personal nutritionist and holistic healer. He was looking to have a website built for his Holistic Nutrition practice. He wanted to create a personal website promoting his nutritional consulting, holistic solutions, fitness plans, and health advisory services. He needed a logo, a few basic web pages as well as social media integration.

Adam didn't have a domain name selected, so during our first consultation we focused on finding the perfect name. Using keyword tools, I assisted Adam to find a business name that not only fit the aesthetics of his company, but the combination of the words we chose were  also search engine optimized to drive the appropriate traffic to his website. 

Pure Soul Diet was created! It reflects his holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle and diet. The key words "pure diet" and "pure soul" also happen to be search terms that garner over 20,000 searches per month!

Here is the logo The New York Website Designer created for Pure Soul Diet:



Adam was thrilled with his logo and website and posted this glowing 5-star review on Yelp:

Working with Andrea was amazing! She is extremely talented and will patiently listen to all of your needs and concerns to create exactly what you're looking for. I spoke with several web designers and after meeting with Andrea I was instantly sold; going with anyone else would've been a terrible idea. Look no further....THIS IS YOUR NEW WEB DESIGNER. -Adam Jay Miller (12/22/2011)


Are you looking for a web designer?


2.15.2012

The New York Website Designer's 2011 Clients

Here is a list of clients The New York Website Designer worked with in 2011. It was a great year and I was so inspired by the passion of these business owners and professionals. If you have a moment, check out their websites. They are great people with such unique services and talents!

2012 is already off to a booming start and I'm looking forward to working with even more EntrepreneursStart-ups and Professionals in the year ahead! Did you know: According to Google, 97% of Americans use the Internet to search for local products and services., but only 52% of NY’s small businesses actually have a website, making it extremely difficult for online shoppers to find them. Make sure you have an impressive online presence!   From the creation of your logo, to business cards, social media sites, blogs and (of course) your website...The New York Website Designer strives to be your one-stop-show for all of your online marketing needs.


Website for Jewelry Designer, Lindsay Lee

Flyer for a NYC theatrical production

Logo Design for real estate advisors, ColgateREA

Web design for non-emergency transportation company, Express Medical Transporters

Logo Design for arts advocacy website, First Online with Fran

Web Design for a financial communications consultant, MFD Communications

Logo design for MFD Communications

Web Design and Online Store for New York Surf, UNLTD

Web design for Top Hat Home Services (coming soon!)


Logo Design for Katye Stanzak, yoga teacher

Graphic Design for a Wedding Invitation


Logo Design for Yoga Mama, a yoga studio

Logo Design for Desi Dermatology, the leading authority for South Asian and Ethnic skin

Logo concept for a premiere dating service based in Los Angeles, CA

Web design for actor and arts advocate, Frances McGarry

Website Design for actor and director, Steve Shaw

Logo Design for holistic healer and personal nutritionist, Pure Soul Diet

Web Design for holistic healer and personal nutritionist, Pure Soul Diet

Website design for registered dietitian, Spill the Beans Nutrition


Logo design for registered dietitian, Spill the Beans Nutrition

Business cards!





Ready to make the dream of starting your own business a reality? 2012 is the year to do it!
Contact The New York Website Designer