Sista_web: Black Web Design Advice

Web Design Packages Starting $250 : Small Business Holiday Special

2007-12-10T10:18:00.001-08:00

You don't need to spend hundreds or even over $1000 plus to get the site design that you want. Let LaShanda Henry, founder of Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools design or re-Design your website at a price you can afford.

I am currently offering my web design services to those interested in setting up a small website with great design and quick service at a low price. I just finished working on Simply Exquisite Events (http://www.simplyexquisiteevents.com), an elegant wedding website. The site looks great and I finished it in under a week!

Though I have experience working with a variety of companies, I specialize in working with Small Black Businesses interested in developing quality websites. I offer 2 Web Packages at $250 and $350; the difference is the smaller package includes design for upto 8 pages and the latter package is for upto 16 webpages. These packages do not include shopping cart design.

In addition to site design my web packages include 4 custom graphics including banner design, inclusion in the Search Urban Directory, Urban Dynamics Black Business Web tools - 1 Year premium account membership, and 2 site updates (simple text editing/image inclusion) after design completion, along with a complimentary consultation on setting up web hosting/domain registration if needed. I require a partial payment of half the total fee before starting a project, and then other half after completion. All service fees are paid through paypal.

I also provide graphics design, custom banner services starting at $15. All custmers recieve a 50% Discount for the Urban Dynamics Black Banner Rotator (read about the ad rotaion here) or inclusion on the Urban Chique Afro-eBoutiques Site. Click here to read more about my graphics design services or visit http://bwomen.blackgirlclick.com.

Recent Banners Include:

This offer is for a limited time only so reserve your web design slot before the holiday rush. For more details email me: lhenry@msoyonline.com

LaShanda Henry
Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud

Want to learn how to improve your website. Get a copy of my e-book: Building your Black Business Online ( http://bwomen.blackgirlclick.com/biz-tools/)

$7.95 - Black PR Post Opportunity

2007-11-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

Want more clicks? Get a Black Buzz PR Plug...

Quite a few of my readers have asked me to help them generate more online traffic to their websites and from time to time I try to feature various Black Businessess on my websites and blogs. This being the holiday season, everyone is online right now so it is a great time for online businesses to take advantage of innovative ways to be seen.

For the next 3 days I am offering a website plug opportunity for those who are interested in tapping into my growing network. For $7.95 I will post your site summary, article, press release, or product promotion on the following pages:

This offer expires 12/1/07 so take advantage of it while there is time. This is a great opportunity for those looking to connect with Black Professionals who might be interested in their services AND adding your links to relevant pages is a great way to help improve your search engine optimization. The RSS Feeds for these sites search engine friendly and are featured on various yahoo groups and social groups like: Black Business Women Connect [the group] and Networking Black Women Who Work at Home [yahoo newsgoup].

Essentially I am offering you the opportunity to have your submission posted on multiple pages, to increase your online exposure.

How does the Black Buzz PR Plug Work?

Send your submission/website info to: lhenry@msoyonline.com
Subject = Black Buzz PR Submission
Submit your site to the Seasrch Urban Directory

If your submission is approved it will be posted online and you will recieve a paypal invoice. All submissions will be screened, and not all will be accepted. I will only approve content that is relevant to African American online viewers and that does NOT include profanity, violence, or pornography. I also am NOT accepting submissions that include large images or consist of more than 1, small, tasteful relevant image.

Take advantage of this and take care!
lh.

------------------------
Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud

Moving Up In The Ranks: Google Page Ranks

2007-11-16T10:42:00.000-08:00

Getting to the top of the search engine pool requires more than good content. Even the best sites have to do their fair share of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). What does that mean to you?

This means that you should be regularly checking your site stats, visiting website analyzers like quantcast.com to see if your site is generating less than 2,000 unique hits a month, and most importantly regularly searching google using keywords related to your website. Now if your website does not come up on the first 3 google search result pages, if your site doesn't even come up if you search for your webpage name, then you have some serious Search Engine Optimizing to do.

Why is SEO so important? Well, if you can't see your site at the top of Google search engine queries, you need to find out if Google can see you. For starters check your Google page rank, which goes from 0 - 10. Having a page rank above 6 is a good indication that your site is quite popular online. After all, Google page rank was developed to let you know how many people are linking to your site, and frequenting it on a regular basis.

Of course there is more to it than that, but that's the nuts and bolts of the equation. If you would like to improve your page rank (ie your web visibility) you should take advantage of Google's marketing tools. The Google site map is a great tool for getting more of your pages indexed on Google. If you have a decent budget, sign up for Google's Adwords ad campaign. You can tailor your maximum spending per day, to get the advertising package that meets your needs and your budget.

If you are looking for a cheaper alternative, doing a link exchange with sites that have higher pageranks, helps to boost your own. Also remember that creating a lot of regularly updated, quality pages also helps. The more content the better, so keep that in mind.

Plus it doesn't hurt to hit the streets or in the case of the internet, popular social groups, and let other know about what you are doing. Word of Mouth marketing is an age old technique that never goes out of style. Plus, it helps to get more people interested in linking to your site and the more links you have, the better your search visibility will be. Search engines love to love the pages that get lots of links. You can up your link game by creating a myspace page and adding friends with similar content or a similar audience to yours. Remember to ad a text signature consisting of your site name, catchy keyword phrase, and url to the end of forum posts, email posts, and article submissions. And don't forget to add a tell a friend script to your website so that viewers who like your site can share it with others.

So take these tips into consideration and DO your SEO research. But don't just research, remember to actually put these techniques into action. It takes time, work and dedication, but you can make it happen.

lhenry

Urban Dynamics Black Business Web Tools
Black Business Women Online

SEO and Search Urban: Black Directory

2007-11-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to SEO, one of the most common techniques for optimizing your site for search engines, is getting your site listed on other websites that:

Have Related Web Content
Generate Strong Web Traffic
Reach your target Audience
Have High Goolge Page Rank (a Page Rank of 4 or Higher
Provide Relevant Banner Exchanges or Ad Packages

The Search Urban Directory was created to do all these things and more, with the primary goal of promoting Black Websites while providing African American online viewers with access to the best, quality Black pages online and highlighting new, websites and information that is relevant to the Black Community at Large. From Black News and Commentary to Websites for Black Women and support for Black Business, Search Urban aims to spread the word about all that is Hot, Positive, Quality, Educational, Entertaining, and Innovative as far as Black Online Content.

The best part of the Search Urban Directory is that it is featured on several sites, so that site submitters get the most exposure possible. Review the directory or submit your black website today.

Search Urban Directory:
http://www.msoyonline.com/msoyonline_black_search_directory.php

Do you need Black Clipart?

2007-10-17T08:35:00.000-07:00

istockphoto.com

A great place to find professional African American photography, clipart, and flash movies to add to your website *Please note: The images in this post are not free clipart, they are simply illustrations of the quality clipart you will find on istockphoto.com, so do not copy them. Go to istockphoto.com and purchase these and other African Amerian clipart images.

The Black Clipart Directory
For a complete listing of black clip art and free clipart sites, visit multiple shades of you online and reviewe the black clipart section.

-lhenry
-Search Urban: Black Directory

The Secret to Creating Your Own e-books

2007-10-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

I love writing, and when I discovered that I could turn my personal howtos into e-books everyone could enjoy, I went nuts! If you want to create your own e-book or if you are interested in why they are becoming so popular, let me fill you in on my e-book howto success.

First and foremost, creating e-books is are great for several reasons:

Sharing Your Knowledge, Skill Set, or Experience with Others
Generating Extra Income
Generating Traffic to Your site
Marketing Your Product or Service
Building a Network of Interested Readers

I create my e-books for these and other reasons. My first collection, Mahogany Momma eGuides, is special to me because it allows me to share my advice and resources with other African American mothers. It also always me to have total control over creating a Mommy Magazine that fits my interests and reader circle. In addition to Mahogany Momma, I also have a series of Black Business eBooks available on Urban Dynamics: The Web Resources for Black Busiess Owners and Entrepreneurs. I've created over 10 African American e-Books this year, and I'm looking forward to working on the next one.

Now Down to the HowTo Part

Pick a topic of interest to you that you know you can research and successfully write about
Create an Outline of Your eBook, separate your points into chapters and focus on finishing one chapter at a time. Breaking up your text into smaller parts makes it easier to write about
Do your research, write, edit, repeat (continue this process until you create something that's professional, quality, and what you envision it to be)
Now I'm an MS Word fanatic but if you do not have access to word another processing program to take advantage of is Google Docs and SpreadSheets, this is Free Online Software and great for creating documents
If you are trying to creating an e-book with special features like embedded tables, a calender, etc., take a look at the free downloadable templates that Microsoft Office provides.
Once you have created your e-book you will need to design a book cover. Now here is my biggest of secrets.... I use istockphoto.com for great high quality African American images, Black clipart, and stock photography. You can get an istock image for between $1 and $5. It's so cheap and the quality is so great, if you didn't know this is one of the best kept net secrets there is.
Now open your grapics program and design that cover! Or pay someone to do it for you.
After the book and the cover is done, convert your e-Book into .pdf form. I use the software: pdf995, it works and its free.
The best place to sell your e-book is Payloadz.com, this site provides free and affordable services for those who want to sell downloads like e-books or software. You can even create your own affiliate program to boost traffic and generate more revenue.
When I go to events like Black Expos or Book Fairs, my e-Books provide great merchandise for extra sales and also promotional giveaways or trades. Now you are probably wondering how I promote my e-books offline. I burn them onto cds! You can by a pack of 100 cds and cases and sell your e-book cds for as much as you like. And if you want to go for a more professional look, sometimes I get my CDs professionally printed by Kunaki.com. Again, this is another great, cheap site to take use of. It is even a great resource for those who want to put their songs or movies on cd or dvd.
If you want to find out more about how to market your e-book visit Urban Dynamics Black Business website and read this post on Tips for Advertising Online.

Now there you have it, this is how I make me e-Books and how you can make some too. At first it will take awhile to get out all the kinks, but I'm sure you will figure it out. And for added inspiration take a look at all my African American e-Books.

Related Topics

Good Luck! And Happy Writing...
lhenry [www.msoyonline.com]

Do Check Out My:
Black Business E-Books | Black Business Books | Sistas Making Money on Myspace | Sistapreneur Social Group

Learn How I Built My Black Businsses Online

2007-10-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

I often receive emails from individuals interested in expanding their online business. Some people want to know how to generate more traffic, others are looking for web design advice, and most are looking for ways to make money. A few years ago I developed Urban Dynamics, web tools for Black Business Owners and Entrepreneurs. I recently updated the site to better answer the questions of those who would like to better build their business online.

Urban Dynamics is packed with information. It includes:
- Marketing Advice
- Traffic Generating Tips
- Web Howtos
- Black Business News and RSS Feeds
- Black Business Networking Links
- Business Book Recommendations
- Banner and Advertising Campaigns
- Web Design Packages
- And More

The official url: www.msoyonline.com/ud

Do Check Out My:
Black Business E-Books | Black Business Books | Sistas Making Money on Myspace | Sistapreneur Social Group

Join the Sistapreneurs Network

2007-05-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Sistapreneurs Network is up an running, this is a new forum for Women Professionals of Color with a specific focus on Black Women Entrepreneurs, Work at Home Moms, Small Business Owners and Corporate Women.

This site is a brainchild of mine. For the last few months I've been working hard trying to develop a true space for my fellow sistapreneurs to socially network and I think the Sistapreneurs Networking Forum is it. So logon, say something, and tell me what you think.

Oh and please remember the Sistapreneurs Network is a work in process sooooooo the more you contribute the faster it will grow. Suggestions and feedback are very much welcome, so do tell me what you think and how WE can make it better.

Official Website URL: http://msoyonline.com/sistapreneurs/

-lhenry (www.blackmomsclub.com)

Howto Build Your Black Business Online

2007-02-21T00:38:00.000-08:00

A Black Online Entrepreneur's Web Guide: Build your Business Online

If you are interested in expanding your business online the Black Entrepreneur Web Guide Series is for you. These guides are great resources for Black entrepreneurs and business owners. They include some of the best links online with topics ranging from:

-African American Online Networking

-Write your way to Free Publicity

-Black Business News in Print and Online

-Afro SEO: Search Engine Optimization for Black Entrepreneurs

-Black Sticky Content: Tools to Create a Site worth Coming Back To

-Clicks to Cash: Popular Affiliate Programs

-Low Cost Ethnic Marketing and Advertising Portals

-Selling African American Products Online

-Resources for Black Business Women

-Resources for Black Entrepreneurs and Black Business Owners

Find these guides and more on Black Professional Web: A Web Guide for African American Professionals, Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Mompreneurs and Teenpreneurs. Find Black Business links, books, news, and more.

Black News, Celebrity Gossip, Rss Feeds, and you!

2007-02-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

Looking for Black Celebrity Gossip? African American Headlines? Black Culture Commentary or advice? Visit..

Black People News: a site for those interested in finding and subscribing to Black Interest feeds.

You can even add Black RSS Feed Headlines to your website, myspace page, or blog. Here a just a few of the Black Blogs / News Sites featured on Black People News:

Add Black Movie Trailers to Your Site

2006-12-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

Looking for something fresh and new to add to your website? Add the Black Movie Trailers Flash Player. It rotates the latest and greatest African American trailers offering fun, free, quality entertainment for your online viewers. Simply cut and paste a few lines of code into your website and in seconds you've got a fresh addition.

Click here to visit Black Movie Trailers today:
http://www.msoyonline.com/search/images/movies/black-movie-trailers-downloads.php

------------

Want more Afrocentric content? Visit Black People News, a premiere site for African American RSS feeds from the most popular Black websites and blogs on the internet.

Fresh content is only a click away - 'The Official Black People News' Website:
http://www.msoyonline.com/ud/blackpeoplenews.php

Brought to you by: Multiple Shades of You Online - www.msoyonline.com

Boondocks Icons [set 1]

2006-12-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

*Please notes: These images were found from various sites online. If one of these images belongs to you and you would like it removed, feel free to let me know.

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Originally Posted on Real Black Clipart

Urban Sticky Widgets

2006-12-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

I love Black Content! I love it, I love it, I love it! And so with that said, I've decided to start a new series called 'Urban Sticky Widgets', which will be devoted to creating and promoting cool widgets, gadgets, and random sticky content stuff for you to put on your site. The cool part about this is that most of the content will be focused on Black Sites from Entertainment to News to Everything Black in Between. So look out and enjoy.. Urban Sticky Widgets starts ... now!

View all: Urban Sticky Widgets

Create Your Own African American Weather Pixie

2006-08-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

The WeatherPixie is a little graphic that shows a representation of the weather using data reported (mostly) by airports and aerodromes around the world.

As the weather in a particular location changes, the characters clothes will reflect the weather and the graphic will show rain, snow, airborne particles and changes in cloud cover. Daylight, sunset and current moon phase are also displayed.

To find your local Weatherpixie, you can use the search page or the map or the text based directory.

Official Site: http://weatherpixie.com/

Keywords: black avatars, animated gifs

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Originally Posted on Real Black Clipart

Real Black Clipart

2006-08-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Real Black Clipart is a new blog, featuring the African American Clipart resources online. Recent Clipart posts include:

-African American - Ethnic Stock Photography Images
-Icons of Color
-Create Your Own African American Weather Pixie
-The Boondocks Icons [set 1]

Official Url: Real Black Clipart

Internet Howto Books: From Web Design to SEO to Online Promotion

2006-08-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Looking for an Internet Howto Book? Here is a list of some of the most popular web topics in books today. Click on a topic and find the book you've been looking for.

Web Design HTML Internet Marketing

PHP XML Search Engine Optimization

myspace ebay Google Search Engines

Cascading Style Sheets

Blogs Website Promotion Affiliate Programs The Internet

e-Commerce

Macromedia Flash
Adobe Photoshop

Dynamic HTML Web Advertising

XHTML Adsense ASP Java Scripts

mySql Perl

What People Search For?

2006-08-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

I found this great article on what people search for "The Most Popular Keywords" It explains what resources webmasters can use to find out the most frequently searched keywords online. I got back to the article all the time, it's very helpful.

Click here to read: What People Search For - Most Popular Keywords

What is your link popularity?

2006-08-16T11:01:00.000-07:00

A message from Search Bliss: Link popularity is one of the best ways to quantifiably check and independently measure your website's online awareness. Use this link popularity tool to check your site's overall visibility. Click Here for link popularity tool.

keywords: Search Engine Optimization Tools

Myspace Layout Help?

2006-07-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

Looking for some help with your mspace page, but you don't know where to start. Fortunately for you, you don't have to be an html or a css guru to pimp out your myspace page, but you do need to know the right search terms to find what you are looking for.

Here is a list of popular search terms that people use when looking for myspace code. Click on the terms and start your search today.

Searches done in June 2006
COUNT ------- SEARCH TERM
2162485 ------- myspace layout
876851 -------- myspace background
397627 -------- myspace code
379969 -------- free myspace layout
238465 ------- myspace graphic
173849 ------- pimp myspace
169827 ------- myspace editor
148704 ------- myspace music
142945 ------- myspace icon
95182 ------- myspace survey
89180 ------- free music code for myspace
85955 ------- myspace quiz
70684 ------- myspace music video
67976 ------- myspace video code
66589 ------- myspace glitter graphic
46034 ------- myspace picture
32951 ------- myspace help

Search Engine Low Down

2006-07-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Looking to boost your traffic? Visit SearchEngineLowDown.com. This site provides Search marketing in the new media era. Here is one of many interesting articles on Social Search Optimization, for those of you looking for new low cost ways to get clicks and increase traffic to your site.

Check out SearchEngineLowDown.com for other SEO articles.

The Black Web Awards

2006-07-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

The BlackWebAwards are the first and only organized effort to recognize African, African American and Caribbean excellence online. The BWA's celebrate Black creativity and entrepreneurialism by highlighting Internet content from the Black perspective.

Official Site: www.blackwebawards.com

*Remember to vote for Multiple Shades of You Online: six years of positive content for People of Color Online (www.msoyonline.com)

African American Avatars

2006-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for African American Avatars, Ghetto Dollz, or other types of Black Clipart check out my listing of Black Graphics sites here.

Moving Up the Google Ranks

2006-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Drum Roll Please ... after several months of serious SEO research and implementation, I have succesefully navigated Multiple Shades of You Online (www.msoyonline.com) up the page rank system. MSOY has moved from a not-so noticable 3 to an impressive 5. Now the skys the limit, the sky being a page rank of 10! Improving my site rank has not been easy, and its going to get even harder from here. However I strongly believe that continueing to work on my SEO Skills essentially is the key. If you would like to learn more about how I've moved up in the rank keep reading sista_web and visit Urban Dynamics (http://ud.msoyonline.com) my official Black Business Web Solutions site. There you will find all my SEO Tips, Marketing Tools, and more.

Keep Moving (up the ranks that is)
sista_web

Find Black Technology News on Black People News

2006-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Black People News is a site for those interested in finding and subscribing to Black Interest News. This site currently includes feeds from over 100 Black websites. Do you have a Black feed to share? Let me know about it.

Current BPN Categories:

Black People News brought to you by Urban Dynamics

Free Blogs Site Submission

2006-03-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

Get your website listed in the Urban Dynamics Directory. Urban Dynamics is a new, black business website brought to you by Multiple Shades of You online www.msoyonline.com. Add your site and SITE THUMBNAIL to UD and it will be accessible on every site that utilizes Urban Dynamic webtools.

Here are a few featured sites where the UD Directory is accessible:
-Search Black on msoy
-Search Urban
-Black Online Entrepreneurs Blog
-The Black Business Spot
-Black People News

To submit your site to Urban Dynamics visit: check out my list of ways to advertise on black sites.

Black RSS Feeds Revisited

2006-03-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

With the ever present buzz of rss feeds / article syndication, I'm always trying to create web applications that help promote Black News feeds. I've found several really interesting Black News Sites and Black Entertainment Blogs that aren't incredibly well known, but would serve as great additional content on other pages relevant to African Amerian online viewers. So in yet another attempt to expose more people to some really interested black news sites, and also help promote these sites, I have created Black People News, my new and improved African American RSS Feeds Aggregator. Its a great place to read black interest news, and its also I great place to subscribe to feeds as well as add feed content to your site without prior knowlege of php or javascript. Its a win win site for everybody.

My Work in Progress
sista_web

Black People News: African American Interest News Feed / Syndicated Articles

Help, I've been Hacked!

2006-03-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

I've always been fond of the movie Hackers, until recently when an entertaining film became a disturbing reality. Last week / early this week my mysql database was hacked. I logged on to my site as usual only to find my images switched to random urls outside my site, and text fields rearranged for somone one's disruptive amusement. To say the least I was pissed, but not broken! I've spent a good portion of my week looking up php-mysql security and php protected pages. I'm locking down my database for secure access only, which is a tedious task but as this recent event has shown, a much needed one. So the moral of my story is, if you are a php programmer with a few scripts on your site take the time to make sure there are no holes / security issues with your web applications. I used to think 'no body is gonna hack my site', but how the simple have fallen. Be safe and think ahead.

Hack-Proof Newbie
sista_web

Submit Your Article Here...

2006-03-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Urban Dynamics has recently launched 'A Little Black Know How', a free article submission site for African American writers. This site is currently looking for Black News, Reviews, Commentary, Short Stories, Events, Poems, Self Help articles and Spiritual Testimonies. If you have something you would like to share visit A Little Black Know How and sign up for a free Urban Dynamics account. This site does not include Black Press Releases. If you have a Black Press Release, please submit it to Black PR Posts, which is acessible through Urban Dynamics Web Tools.

Official Site url: http://www.msoyonline.com/ud/alittleblackknowhow.php -

lhenry
ud.msoyonline.com

Create your own Amazon Store

2006-03-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

If you have Amazon product links on your site, or are interested in using Amazon Associates links to generate revenue online then you might be interested in my latest web application: an Amazon Store Builder Application featured on Urban Dynamics (ud.msoyonline.com).

I think the Amazon Associates program is one of the most popular Affiliate Programs Online, which is why I signed up a few years ago. The only problem I had with it was that when you used Amazon's Link Generator every link had big Amazon logos all over it, which didn't allow for subtle integration into my site. I wanted to embed Amazon links without looking like every other website with a bunch of banners that no one clicks on. Plus I wanted to create my own e-store with Amazon products, but I knew it would take forever to individually create product links on the Amazon Associates Site. Given the limitations of their program, I figured there had to be something out there that would give me the look and feel I was going for.

The solution I found was Amazon Web Services, for anyone with strong programming skills Amazon allows you to connecte to their database and design your own links / stores from scratch. You get quality content that looks like its perfectly embedded into your site. You get cash for all products purchased. And Amazon gets free publicity on your site in addition to being able to tap into a larger customer base. It's genious I tell you. Share Genious.

So anyway I came up with several web applications which allow you to extract product images and details in different formats using ISBN/ASIN numbers in conjunction with your Amazon Associates ID. Its quick and easy to use and only offered in the Urban Dynamics Premium Package, which is $10 a month and includes other types of Urban Web Tools. It's a pretty cheap package with a lot of quality web solutions, you would definitely be saving web design time and increasing your potential earning power if you gave UD Web Tools a try.

Urban Dynamics Web Tools are designed with the Black Business / Black Web Designer / Black Web Audience in mind, but they can be used for any type of web development. The Amazon Site Builder is a great tool for adding something like a books section to your site, amazon product links on a side bar, or creating an entire e-store. I used it to create Shop Amazon on MSOY and also to add amazon links to blog entries. You can do just about anything with it, and I'm developing new formats, so the possibilities are endless.

If you are interested in learning more about the Amazon Store Builder and other Urban Dynamics Web Tools visit Urban Dynamics: ud.msoyonline.com. The site is a work in progress, but it's getting there.

lhenry
ud.msoyonline.com

What is Urban Dynamics?

2006-03-21T12:01:00.000-08:00

Urban Dynamics, a new Black Business website aims to be one of these much needed positve spaces for people of color; its founder Lashanda Henry is in the business of helping Black businesses grow. "I created Urban Dynamics because I have a particular interest in Black Community Outreach Initives and Online Entreprenuership. Though the Dot Com days are a thing of the past, the web world still offers the type of creative freedom and mass marketing potential that can help Black Businesses grow. The key is having quality resources and genuine support, which is what Urban Dynamics is all about.

You won't find any crabs in this barrell; what you will find is an intricately designed network of tools, tips, and proffessionals who focus on the Black Business Market.

Urban Dynammics consists of an ever growing collection of free and afforble services for individual entreprenuers and small businesses.

The UD site includes:

-web tools and urban sticky content.
-black rss feeds
-amazon store builder application
-black business directory
-black business networking
-black business news
-web marketing and cheap advertising
-black press releases
-urban web development tips
-making money online
-and more ...

Check out Urban Dynamics: ud.msoyonline.com

What is SAIO?

2006-03-21T11:54:00.000-08:00

While I was thinking about how to create new web features for Urban Dynamics, I asked myself what do people like to look for online. One of the first things that popped into my mind was 'Other People'. I thought wouldn't it be cool if you could take all the most popular search results, images, video, and audio on a particular celebrity, or just about any 'thing' and put it ALL In One place. So you know me, I got to coding and came up with SAIO, a search all in one webpage on where else "Multiple Shades of You Online". The code isn't particularly complicated, just a bunch of well placed iframes. But it's so useful that I thought I would share it.

-lh: SAIO

New Black Banners

2006-03-09T19:32:00.000-08:00

Today I bottled up all my creative juices and created some new Black Banners for Multiple Shades of You Online. *hint* *hint* Now go look at my banners, and put a few on your site. Support this hardworking woman and her e-Community for People of color. ... *sigh* ok I'll give you something in return. You can submit your Banner to my Black Link Exchange program, which is accessbile from Urban Dynamics, Black Business Web Tools. Arg, there I go pluggin another one of my sites. I'm shameless today. Absolutly Shameless.

Love Me,
l

HTML / Web Design Howto Help

2006-03-07T16:43:00.000-08:00

I created Multiple Shades of You Online to be a helpful resource on multiple levels. One of msoy's key mini-projects is the Sistweb blog (http://sistaweb.blogspot.com/), which aims to provide web support specifically for African American Web Designers and Do-It-Yourself Entrepeneurs. If you have any questions about web design or html feel free to email me:

email - lhenry@msoyonline.com
subject - Sistweb HTML Howto Support

The advice is free to read and free to try. I'm not responsible for how you use it, but I would like to give any helpful insight that I can. In return for my help, all I would like is to post my response to your questions on the sistaweb blog to serve as a guide for others.

Take Care,
lhenry
www.msoyonline.com

Sizing up your Web Competition

2006-02-09T17:33:00.000-08:00

In my race to have the best website (www.msoyonline.com) I've learned that in addition to creating good content, I have to know what some of the 'Best Black Websites' actually look like. It's important to know where your online viewers are going when their not quite getting to your site. It took a while for me to figure out what types of Black Sites are most popular to online browsers, and I'm still working on that. I have discovered a few things that help a long the way.

Whatever your area of interest is, do a google search on your keywords, and see what comes up. Browse through the results, taking note of those webpages that have a page rank of 5 or better. You can find pageranking tools all over the web, I am particularly found of the one at www.seochat.com.

Once you know who the Big Playas are analyze their content and compare it to yours. See what's working for them, and how it could work for you. Look if they have a link exchange program or advertising packages. Placing your link on their site is a great way to reach your target audience and help boost your page rank.

Also, visit alexa.com and run a search for your site. Once you find it, click on your 'site info' link and review your traffic details page. On that page you will find a graph that displays your monthly traffic. Below that graphic is a nifty little tool that I recently discovered. You can plug in the url of one of your competitor sites and review their traffic stats in comparison to yours on the same graph! This is great way to size up the competition and see which sites are REALLY as popular as they say they are.

That's all for now, go forth and do Big Things!

-lhenry
www.msoyonline.com

Black Freebies

2006-01-28T20:04:00.000-08:00

Black Freebies is a new yahoo group, created to keep African American Web viewers in the know about free stuff online. Free downloads, games, software, information, contests, give aways, etc. The best part about this site is that most of the content IS Black Stuff, made by Black Folks, made for Black Folks, or useful to Black Folks. Feel free to join and share.

Black Freebies: http://blackfreebies.msoyonline.com

Problogger.net

2006-01-21T12:36:00.000-08:00

Great site!

Black Clipart

2006-01-12T13:30:00.000-08:00

Multiple Shades of You Online just added new and improved listings of African American Clipart. Find more websites than you thought existed that feature African American Clipart, African American Stock Photography, African American Sticky Content, and African American Graphics Tools.

Here is a preview of the MSOY Black Graphics list:

For these and other Black Clipart links click: African American Clipart Links

One Search Engine Savvy Sista

2006-01-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

Dedicating more of my time to researching Search Engine Optimization is enlightening and nerve wrecking because I’m figuring out to make my website ranking better, I’m understanding how I made my website ranking worse! First off, for those of you who love the design aspect of web development, don’t get blinded by the fun stuff! The growth of my website thus far has been completely backwards. I started off on the design, forced myself to enhance the content, and now finally I’m taking the time to evaluate the structure. Had I started my site the other way around my hit crowds would be infinitely greater than they are today. Before you get bit by the design bug, clearly develop your site’s foundation which should include – clear navigational links from your home page, content specific title tags on every page, and keyword dense content.

If your web development process has been as backwards as mine, here are a few tips to move up in the ranks.

1. Find out if you are indexed on Google and yahoo by doing a search for your site. If you are listed, be sure to click the link that says something like “More from this Site”, so you have see how many of your pages are indexed in each search engine.
2. Find out what your page rank is. Before you can improve your status, you need to know what it is.
3. Create a Google sitemaps account, create a sitemap, and submit it to Google. Sitemaps help Google find pages on your site that it might have missed, or can not access from your home page.
4. Your home page is the key to any WebCrawler’s door. It should content a good direct links to the additional pages on your site that you want search engines to see. If your homepage includes these links, you will have a better chance of these pages getting crawled by search engines.
5. I personal have read and can state from experience that a blog helps improve your visibility. Create a blog, blogger.com being a good service to use, and include direct links to pages on your site. Then submit your blog’s RSS Feed to Yahoo (http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request). Once Yahoo starts to crawl your feed it will find links to your site and also crawl those pages!
6. If there are any terms here than you can not understand, do a Google search and find out more information. The more you research SEO the better your chancing of increasing the number of pages you can get indexed.

Here are a few articles to look into:

Top Ten Search Engine Ranging Factors (posted on Search Engine Smarts)
1. Title Tag
2. Anchor Text of Links
3. Keyword Use in Document Text
4. Accessibility of Document
5. Links to Document from Site-Internal Pages
6. Primary Subject Matter of Site
7. External Links to Linking Pages
8. Link Popularity of Site in Topical Community
9. Global Link Popularity of Site
10. Keyword Spamming (not doing it)

Also read: 21 Top Reasons Why Your Webpage May Not Be Indexed by Search Engines

Web Things I learned Today

2006-01-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

Rather than use an online Google Site map Generator, it's better to download a Generator tool and edit your sitemap locally. Having taken the time to review my first sitemap.xml file, I now see that half the pages I was giving google to crawl were not the pages I wanted listed in the Search Engine!
I'm getting into taking my meta-tags seriously, and now make sure that every new html page I create has a descriptive, keyword dense title, which is great. Only one thing I forgot to do.... update my old pages! I'm sitting here thinking that some google conspiracy is over looking my webpages and all the while all my webpages have the same generic title "msoy online://web projects for people of color." I'm smacking myself as I go through webpages thinking, why didn't I include a more specific description of the content in the title! Oh how slowly we learn.
It's going to take alot more that hope to get people to visit my search engine. Equally important to making my site accesible to African American online viewers, is making my site crawlable for google, yahoo, and all search engines galore. It's slowly starting to sink in that I have to take the time to analyze my stats, formulate relevant keywords, and master Search Engine Optimization - a term I didn't even know existed till a few months ago.
Reading really IS fundamental. Had I took the time to better understand web development five years ago, my online visibility would be infinitely better than it is today. Creating a great site is more than just designing a great site. One must understand what it takes to be at the top of search engines. There is no sense is laboring over a site than your ideal audience will never find.

Bigs Tings for Two Thousand Six

2006-01-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

I'm a young old G in this web game. After five years of playing around on msoy I've decided to take this B-otch straight to the digital top, so I'm doing my research and making some changes. 2005 ended with the development of several new msoy original blogs, one of my favorites being sistaweb, one of many new places for me to edu-tain (educate and entertain that is) I hope some one out there is keeping an eye out on msoy and taking notice of my progress. The New Face of msoy is just a small part of all that I have in store for this year. If you haven't already done so sign up to the new MSOY Web Community (e-Blocks), which is going to be like myspace.com meets yahoo.com for black people.

Google Page Ranks

2005-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

I just read this great article entitled: Tips to Improving Your Google Search Engine Ranking. It had several clear, and concise suggestions. Of them all 4 stood out to me the most:

The more sites the link to your site the better.
Google takes your Title Tag, very seriously and so should you.
Dynamic pages are indexed in google (if you are a php fanatic like myself, this works to your advantage)
Keyword dense links are gold minds - eg. a link that says 'Black Search Engine' is better than a link entitled 'msoy online', google picks up on the keywords better because if someone then searches for black search engine, my site has a better chance of coming up

sista_web

crawling my way to the top, one click @ a time

Black RSS Feeds

Confessions of a Webmistress

2005-12-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

At some point in my persuit for Web Stardom I signed up for Izania - a premier black networking site. I posted once or twice, but nothing major. It wasn't until today that I realized all the untapped potential I was missing out on, or rather not taking advantage of on this site. First off, my profile allows me to include information about my personal website, as well as list my business(es) in the Izania Black Business Directory for free. Not to mention the fact that Izania has a forum on which black proffesionals and entrepreurs chat it up and plug their sites. I think today is the first day of a loooooooooooong relationship with me and Izania. In my effort to find more marketing strategies for Multiple Shades of You Online: www.msoyonline.com, I think I will soon purchase an Izania marketing package. There network includes over 2,5000 Black Business Proffessionals, a great pool to tap into!

TTFN
sista_web

10 Rules for Web Startups

2005-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Summary of a great post: 10 Rules for Web Startups

1. Be Narrow- keep you content niche specific - dont try to conquer the world
2. Be Different - duh!
3. Be Casual - lots of people are loggin on nowadays - create content that appeals to day to day activties and the average person
4. Be Picky - don't jump at the first gift horse or freebie - if it ain't quality let it pass - always maintain your standards
5. Be user-centric - if it ain't user friendly it ain't gettin' used
6. Be Self-Centered - produce / promote the thing that interests you most
7. Be Greedy - if you got something to sell than sell it
8. Be Tiny - hmm... read the original post on this one
9. Be Agile - role with the winds, if you must change a bit - do it - don't stay stagnant in the web game
10. Be Balanced - workaholics eventually crash and burn - enjoy the job but don't become it

African American Advertising Online

2005-11-30T15:46:00.000-08:00

Multiple Shades of You Online (www.msoyonline.com) is quickly becoming a premier site for African American content. Advertisers interested in targeting the Black Online Market are highly encouraged to take advantage of msoy's free and affordable Advertising Packages available on the msoy original site: Urban Dynamics (ud.msoyonline.com).

For more details visit Advertising on msoy

The Key to Keywords

2005-10-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

For a long time I thought I understoond how to integrate Keywords into my site design only to find out that I didn't have a clue! MY SEO (search engine optimization) skills were put to the test when I decided to ad google adsense content to my site. Adsense always you to generate site revenue by included relevant ads onto your site. Its a great concept, but if you don't take the time to figure out your keywords, you will end up with a bunch of random ads on your site that no one will click on, which is what happened to me.

I unproductiviely used adsense for a few months. I simply didn't understand how you tell the adsense tool, what your keywords were. Initially I assumed there was alittle textbox on your account that you simply plugged your keywords into, but google has far more sophisticated technology than that. Once I started actually READING about the adsense program, (now understanding that doing your research can help to triple your progress) I came to learn that the adsence program scans your site for frequently used buzz words (keywords) and displays ads that reflect those terms. But if you uses words that are simply not common among advertisers, google adsense is still going to generate generic advertisements, so when developing keywords they must be popular among online users and advertisers.

Once I learned the adsense basics, I figured I was one the right track with keywords like "African American" on my site. And yet someone my assumption did not match with google's ad selections. Upon printing and reviewing my pages, I came to some starteling relevations. The biggest was that I was using keywords at all! I assumed I was because my site was all about African American content, but once I reviewed each page excluding images and iframes I came to see that my actually text was limited and lacked any real keywords at all. No words, not even "African American" were consecutively used on my pages, which meant that google was picking up any catch phrases from my content.

After my shocking revelation, I started spending more time on the textual components of both my sites and blogs, AND I was became aware of how often I used a particular term and how relevant that term was to my content. Like I said google adsense is a sophisticated tool if you try to plug in irrelevant keywords or saturate your site with keywords google with figure it out and you will be penalized. Those google designers are smart!

Today my keywords are on point and my clicks are too! Of course my web traffic could always be better, but I'm working on it. There are actually a bunch of keyword tips and tricks that even I haven't figured out yet. You just have to see what works for your site and do RESEARCH! There is a ton of information online, so design and read @ the same time.

Google Publisher Tools

2005-10-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

If you are interesting in generator more traffic to your site I would highly recommend reviewing googles list of publisher tools.

With Google's suite of publisher tools, you can focus on creating your content while they help with everything else, from smart analytics to driving traffic to your site.

Lessons in Web Development: Google Site Maps

2005-10-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

As a sistah with an interesting in online entrepreneurship, I've spent a great deal of my time trying to figure out how to move up in the google ranks. Though I have a lot of good webpages on my site (www.msoyonline.com) , only a small percentage of my pages are indexed in google. Most of my stuff get's lost in cyber space, because I'm stuck doing the same old things - submitting links to a hundred search engines and sending one or two emails.

My marketing skills are improving, but it's taken alot to teach this old dogs new tricks. Truth be told, my online marketing has improved over the last year. In a few months my web traffic went up 150% because of a renewed committment to research and planning. Google, the big wigs of search engines, is of course on the top of my affiliates list. I've been going in circles trying to figure out how the google machine works, all the while ignoring some of the key strategies I dismiss everyday.

Sitemaps is the biggest key of them all. A sitemap is basically a file that lists all the web pages of your site. Google scans your website as best it can, but having a file that actually tells it where all your files are, is a great help. Moreover, in your site map you include how frequently you update your site, so google knows how often to come back and scan your site again. Best of all it's free. I just finished my site map and I have to say it's quite easy. All you need to do is find a website that will scan your site and create an xml file for you that meets all of google's protocol. Google has a list of such sites, so there is no need to search for them. Once you create a google sitemap account and upload your sitemap, you just have to sit back and let googles robots do the rest. I'm confident my ranking will go up once I put a few more marketing strategies in place.

As for the rest of my black online entrepreneurs out there, don't sleep on the fine details of search engine optimization. Make sure your page tags are straight, your headers look clean, and your on top of the lates SEO Technology. If you can't afford to buy a bunch of books - which I cant, sit in the bookstore, the library, or search the web. Don't just put up a site and hope it get's noticed. It's taken me 5 years to realize that's the stupid way to be seen. If you can learn from my mistake, you save your self a whole lot of wasted time in the game of Online Marketing.

For more details:

Adding Black RSS Feeds to your Site

2005-10-15T15:51:00.000-07:00

Multiple Shades of You Online (www.msoyonline.com) now offers an extensive listing of Black RSS Feeds . Now you can read the latest articles from Essence Magazine to Black Conscious News, with a variety of other great African American publications mixed in between. Black RSS Feeds on msoy is powered by the Library of Urban RSS Feeds Generator, which is an Urban Web tool offered by Urban Dynamics. Web developers looking for black articles and sticky content, use this easy tool to add sticky content to their websites. To find out more about the the Library of Urban RSS Feeds, visit Urban Dynamics Web Tools.

The Black Times

2005-10-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

The Black Times
Add TBT to your site today

iStock Photography & Clipart: A Web Developer's Dream

2005-09-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

iStock photo is a great resource for web site developers. For web masters of color istockphoto.com is a dream come true, because you can find affordable, quality photography, and clipart that reflect African American, Asian, and Hispanic culture. When I say it's affordable I mean it. Unlike other stock shops online, you will pay between $1 and $5 per image or flash content. It doesn't get much cheaper than that! Not only can you find great images, you can also earn revenue by submitting your own photos to istock. Just be advised that there is an online exam you must take and you must be able to create quality commercial images / photography. iStock isn't in the business of taking unprofessional work, so if you are not a great artist this isn't the right program for you. With free membership, low-cost graphics, and opportunity to make money, istockphoto.com is truly a dream come true.

Keywords: african american clipart, black images, photography, web development, web design

Blogger Help

2005-08-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Graphics

2005-07-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

Your complete guide to cliparts - African American Clipart

Web Alert

2005-07-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

If you or someone you know has a website that is relevant to online viewers of color consider submitting to Urban Dynamics: the new search directory for people of color. Plus Urban has free web tools / sticky content for site developers catering to an African American audience.

mini-Urban Search Box

2005-07-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a neat little tool to add color/content to any site. The mini-urban search box randomly displays the thumnail image and link of a website featured on Urban Dynamics, under the category of your choosing. The UD Directory has an extensive list of categories, so you can customize this tool to feature content relevant to your site. Best of all it's free.

Urban Dynamics

2005-07-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Keep your viewers coming back for more with the help of Urban Dynamics. UD offers webmasters free and affordable web content designed specifically for African Americans and other web viewers of color.