An Internet Marketing, Social Media, SEO, and Web Design Blog by Christine Marie

An Update

Posted in Misc., Personal Experience on 01/19/2010 07:07 am by Christie Marie

Hi Everyone!!

Sorry I haven’t posted any articles or tutorials in a while. I am in my last semester of college and it has been extremely hectic for me. I graduate in April with my bachelors in IT. I am sooo excited, I can’t wait!!

I am going to try and post something soon but I wanted to see if any one has any suggestions on what they would like to see here.

Please feel free to email me or to comment on this post so I can have an idea on what to post next.

Thanks Everyone!! I hope everyone had a Great New Years!!

-Christie

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Twitter Lists Guide

Posted in Social Media, Social Media Tools, Tutorials, Twitter on 11/20/2009 04:06 pm by Christie Marie

Twitter Lists Guide

For those of you interested in the Twitter world, you have probably come across Twitter’s new feature: Twitter Lists.

And what exactly is a Twitter List? Well, Twitter lists are a feature that allows you to group the Twitter accounts you follow. You see, when you start following many accounts it can get very hard to keep up with your feed that contains everyone’s tweets. So, Twitter lists help you organize the Twitter accounts you follow by category. Brilliant, huh?

For example, let’s say you follow people that are in the marketing business, restaurant business, flower business, and your close personal friends. What if you only felt like reading your close personal friends tweets and no business ones?

Well before Twitter lists, you had to click on each of your personal friends profile because the feed would include everyone else’s tweets. But now you could create a Twitter list and add only your personal friends to it. When you only want to read up on their tweets, you simply click on the Twitter list you created and you will see a feed with only their tweets.

Take in mind that you are able to create as many Twitter lists as you want and name them whatever your heart desires.

Now, here is another reason why Twitter lists are so wonderful. People can choose to follow your Twitter Lists and vice versa. So why is this so great? I will get to this in a minute. First, I am going to list some benefits you can get with creating Twitter lists:

Benefits of Twitter Lists:
- helps drive people to your website
- gives you a way to narrow down feeds by category (filtering)
- gives you more control
- helps your marketing plan

Now that you know what benefits Twitter lists provide, I can get back to explaining why people following your Twitter lists is so great, which will also answer the question, “How can marketers use this list to generate traffic back to your website?”

By people following your Twitter lists, you can gain more followers because you are able to reach more people. This is indirect follows. For example, let’s say you create a Twitter list that one of your followers find interesting and starts following it. If you provide useful, helpful, and relevant Twitter lists, people are going to view you as a good source to go to for information, in which you gain a follower.

You should create Twitter lists that contain useful information about your type of business. Become a source of information for your industry; people will start to view you as a thought leader.

So who do you add to your Twitter list? If you are a jewelry business, you can add people that contain useful information about jewelry. I bet you are asking if you should add your competition. Well, this one is a little tricky. It is a case by case situation. Sometimes it might seem beneficial whereas other times it should be avoided. But remember, you want to create a good useful, helpful Twitter list. So, if you sell jewelry, you can add people that sell nice jewelry boxes or people that have jewelry cleaning products or even people that have good jewelry tips. Do your research! You want to build such a great Twitter list that you’re competition will want to follow you!

Now that I’ve explained what Twitter lists are all about, let me give you a quick “Twitter List Tutorial” to setup your first Twitter list.

Steps to Creating a Twitter List:

1. Sign into your Twitter account and it will open up to your homepage.

2. On your right hand side you will see a section named “Lists”. Click on “New List”.

3. Once you click on “New List”, a box will pop up. It will ask you to enter the name of your list and it will automatically create your twitter list URL. It will also ask you to enter a description of your new Twitter list (this is optional but I do recommend you add some text so people know a little more). You can also make it “Public” or “Private”. You can make your personal ones private but make your business related ones “Public” so that others can follow your list.

Once you fill out the fields, click on “Create list”.

4. This will create your list and take you to a page where you can add users by searching for them using the search box or you can add users that you already follow. To add users that you already follow, click on “Following” under the search box.

5. This will take you to your list of followers and when you see a user that is relevant to add to your list, click on the list symbol (on the right hand side to the user) and it will open up a small box that you can check off to add to your Twitter list or create a new list.

6. Do this for every user you want and you are DONE Remember you can create as many links as you please.

7. You can share your Twitter lists by providing people with the URL that was created for you. To view your lists, go to your homepage and on the right hand side column you will see it.

If you have any other questions regarding Twitter lists, please feel free to contact me. I would be glad to help!!

Tags: Social Media, twitter, twitter lists, twitter tutorial
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How To Setup and Customize a Tumblr Blog

Posted in Tumblr, Tutorials on 11/09/2009 08:55 pm by Christie Marie

How To Set Up a Tumblr Blog and Customize It

This tutorial will show you how to setup and customize a Tumblr blog.

Download this tutorial for easy print out!!

1. First, you need to open up an account with Tumblr at http://www.tumblr.com

2. Tumblr’s homepage will have an easy form for you to fill out.

Input a valid email address, password, and choose your Tumblr’s blog link. The ending of the link will always be “.tumblr.com” and you cannot change it. You can choose what goes before the default. It is best to choose your company’s name or a name that relates to your business. It will be easier for your clients to associate it with your business. If you don’t want to use your company’s name, then I suggest you choose your name.

3. Once the form is filled out, click “Sign up and Start posting!”

4. Your blog will now be created and wizard boxes will automatically open up. You want to click out of them because we are not going to customize the blog in the order Tumblr is presenting it. To click out of these wizard boxes, hover over the top right hand side of the box and you will see an “x”. Click on it.

After this wizard box, two more similar boxes will open up. Click out of them the same way.

5. Once you have clicked out of all 3 wizard boxes, Tumblr will leave you on the “Goodies” page.

6. On the top main links, click on “Dashboard”. This will take you to your homepage.

7. Now, let’s begin customizing! In the downward links on the right hand side of the page, click on “Customize”. This will take you to the edit page.

8. Once on the edit page you will see the main links on the top. Click on “Info” to edit your blog information.

9. Fill out the text fields with your information.

In the “Title” text field, write the name you want to give your blog. You should write the name of your company or give it a unique name that associates with your company. In the “Description” text field, give your blog a small description so that people know what the point of your blog is. Try and keep it short but descriptive enough. In the “Portrait Photo” upload a picture that you like. This will be your default image on your homepage. The “URL” is your blog’s address. You can change it to whatever you wish. Do not click the “custom domain” check box because this is for advanced users and another tutorial all together. Also, I recommend using Wordpress if you would like a blog platform used on your website. If you have any questions on how to do this, let me know and I would be more than glad to help you out (Christine@mychristinemarie.com).

10. Once you have filled out the “Info” form, click on “Save” on the top right hand side of the page.

11. Now, click on “Theme” to choose a layout for your blog. It will open up a box with different themes you can choose. If you do not like a theme from the list, you can “Browse more themes” on the bottom of the box.

12. A prompt will open saying that this link will take you to more themes and if you haven’t saved then you will lose your changes. Make sure you have saved everything. If you are sure you have saved your changes, click on “ok” to proceed to the themes page.

13. Once on the themes page, browse for a theme you like. Once you have chosen one, click on “Install”.

It will ask you if you are sure you want to install the theme you have chosen. Click on “Install Theme”.

14. This will install your theme to your blog. It will open up your blog so that you may be your fresh new theme. Click on “Customize” to go back to your editing page. This button is found on the top right hand side of the page.

15. Once back on the editing page, click on “Appearance”. Please Note: Not every theme supports this feature. However, if you do have this option, I suggest you do not modify it as it will change certain aspects of your theme. This is where you would change fonts, header and background images, and have the option to show the people you follow. If you have a Disqus account, you can include your short name in the appropriate text field.

16. In the “Services” tab is where you can set up your blog to feed into Facebook and Twitter. To setup Facebook, click on “Setup” in the Facebook box.

This will open up a window that will have you sign into your Facebook account. Once you have signed in, it will have you write your Tumblr blog URL and then click “Start importing this blog”.

Please Note: This will import into your personal Facebook account, if you have a Facebook business page linked to your account, it WILL NOT import to it. In order to have it import into your Facebook business page, you must set it up from your Facebook account. To do this, follow my last tutorial – http://www.cli.gs/FacebookBusinessPage.

17. You can also import your feeds to Twitter by inputting your username and password. Before clicking on “Start Importing this feed”, make sure you do not have a Feedburner account you also want to input.

18. If you have a Feedburner account, you can enter it in its appropriate field and your blog’s RSS feed will redirect to it. If you don’t have an account, you may create one by clicking on the “Feedburner” link provided. You can also input your “Feed URL” into its appropriate field.

19. In the “Advanced” tab, you should only modify it if you want to change detailed information.

You can choose your time zone and add custom CSS if you are advanced in this area. The options you should check off are: Enable High-Res photos, Open links in new windows, Use descriptive URLS, Allow search engines to index your tumbleblog, and Promote me on Tumblr. You can also enter your location in the last field of the “Advanced” box.

20. Click on the “Save and Close” button on the top right hand side of your page and this will take you to your blog.

21. Click on “Dashboard” on the top right hand side of the page to return to your homepage.

22. You are now done customizing your blog. You can start posting to it now. The picture icons on your homepage are your main links you will be using to post to your blog.

You can add a post to your blog using all these different categories. If you want to add a post that only includes text, then use the “Text” button. If you have pictures you want to add to your post, use the “Photo” button. If you want to include a quote and cite it, then use the “Quote” button. To include links, use the “Links” button. If you want to set up a chat post, use the “Chat” button. If you want to include an audio file, use the “Audio button”. To include a video, use the “Video” button.

If you have any other questions regarding Tumblr, please feel free to contact me at Christine@mychristinemarie.com

Download this tutorial for easy print out!!

Tags: blog tutorial, how to tutorial, Tumblr, tumblr blog
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Easy Guide to a Successful Facebook Business Page

Posted in Social Media, Tutorials on 11/03/2009 12:25 pm by Christie Marie

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Successful Facebook Page for Your Business

Creating a Facebook Page for your business is a great way to interact and build relationships with current and potential customers.

Below is a step by step guide I have created to show you an easy way to create a Facebook Page for your Business (The first 8 steps are how to create an account. If you already know how to do this then you can start in Step #9):

Download the tutorial for easy print out!!

1. You need to open up your browser and go to http://www.facebook.com.

2. Under the sign up form, you need to click on “Create a Page for a celebrity, band, or business”.

3. That will take you to a page where you must choose your line of business.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I chose to open up a Facebook page for a local clothing store. So, that is why I chose the option “Local” –> “Store”. If you own a local business, then choose the option “Local” and look for your line of business. If you own more of a corporate business (or bigger business) then choose “Brand, Product, or Organization” and choose the line of your business. The last option you probably won’t use, unless you represent an Artist, Band, or Public Figure.

4. Next, you must input the name of your business in the “Name your Page” textbox. Make sure you DO NOT check off the check box below. We do not want to make the page publicly visible at this time. We will do that later on.

5. The last steps of this page are to input the letters that are shown in black in the textbox and once you have done that, click on “Create Page”.

6. You must now choose whether or not you have a current Facebook account. If you have a Facebook account, then you must choose “I already have a Facebook account”. If you don’t have an account, then you must create one.
Please Note: When you create a Facebook Page for your business, this will not be your main Facebook account. It will create a Facebook account (like a personal one) and that will have a link to your Facebook Page. However, you do not have to set up your personal account for people to view your business page. This concept will be more understandable once we have everything setup.

7. If you do not have a Facebook account, then create one. You need to input a valid email address, a password you will remember, your birth date, and the security check phrase. Click on the check box to agree with Facebook terms and click the button “Sign up Now”.

8. This will take you to a page that will have you confirm your email address. Click on the button and it will take you to your email account. Open up the email that Facebook sent you and click on the link that it provides. This will confirm your account and it will take you to your Facebook business page so you can start editing.

9. Now let’s spice up your page! To edit your content in Facebook, click on “Edit Page” underneath your default picture (Until you upload a picture, your default picture will be a question mark).

10. First, we are going to edit your “Settings”. Click on the little pencil inside the Settings box, then click “edit”. Once you click on “edit”, it will show you a box like this:

In “Country Restrictions” input any country that you want to restrict from viewing your Facebook business page. “Age Restrictions” lets you restrict a certain age group. “Published” is where you can publish your page to the public. For now, choose “Unpublished” (visible to no one but admins) until we finish editing the entire page. Once you are done, click on “Save Changes”.

11. Next, let’s edit your “Wall Settings”. Click to edit it and you will see a box like this:

In the “View Settings” portion you can choose a default view for the wall. I recommend you choose “Posts by Page and Fans”, so that all the information is available to all your current and potential customers. You can choose any page as your “Default Landing Tab for Everyone Else”. I chose “Info” so that customers can see my company’s information first. Click on “Comments on stories will be expanded by default” so that all information can be easily viewed by everyone. In “Fan Permissions”, you can give your fans certain permissions. (“Fans” are people who subscribe to your Facebook business page. When they subscribe to your page, they will receive all notifications that you post). Wall Settings will save by itself. Just click on the little pencil again, and click on “Hide”.

12. You can choose to setup your “Mobile” phone to receive alerts through text message to notify you when certain activity has occurred on your Facebook business page. You can set it up by clicking “Register for Mobile Facebook Texts” once you have clicked on the little pencil. I do not recommend you signing up for this feature because it is not necessary. Checking your Facebook account at least 2-3 times a day is enough.

13. Now we will move on to the “Applications” category, underneath “Mobile”. “Discussion Boards” and “Events” do not have to be modified.

The “Discussion Board” is an application that is shown on your Facebook business page that
allows you or your Facebook fans to post different topics to start a discussion. The “Events”
application allows you to create an event and invite your Facebook fans.

14. The “Links” application allows you share links on your Facebook business page. You can also allow your Facebook fans to share links with you and other members. To edit this setting, click on the little pencil and then “edit”. This will take you to a page to choose your preferred setting. I recommend you let your Facebook fans post links as well.

Click on “Save” and then on the upper left hand corner of your screen, click on “edit” next to your Facebook business page name.

15. The “Notes” application let’s you create as many notes as you want, in which you can write anything you like so that people can see. It is sort of like a blog. If you already have a blog, you can have all your blog posts automatically imported to your Facebook business page. Click on the little pencil and then “edit”. This will take you to a page where you can import an existing blog. On the right hand side you will see a box named “Notes Settings”, click on “Import a blog”.

This will take you to a page where you must fill out the necessary fields.

Enter the website URL of your blog or the RSS feed address of your blog. Make sure you check off the agreement and then click “Start Importing”. Now go back to the editing page.

16. The rest of the applications you do not need to worry about modifying. We will cover “Photos” and “Videos” in a little bit.

17. Now we are going to input information about your business. In the edit page, click on the small default picture (at the moment it is a question mark) so that it can take you to your Facebook business page.

18. Once you are on your Facebook business page, click on “Edit Information” on the right hand side.

19. This will open up a box for you to edit with information about your business. The box is “Basic Info”. Fill it out with all of your information.

20. Once you click on “Save Changes”, it will close that box and open “Detailed Info”. Please enter your information into the proper textboxes.

21. Click on “Save Changes” and now you are done editing the information page. Click on “Done Editing” above both boxes.

Now you can view all the information how your customers would.

22. Now we are going to upload a default picture to get rid of the current question mark. I suggest you choose your company’s logo as the default image. Hover over the question mark and click on “Change Picture” and then “Upload a Picture”. Browse your computer for the desired image file and once you choose an image, it will automatically upload it and you will then see your image instead of the question mark.

23. Now let’s edit your blurb. In this case, your blurb will be a sentence describing your business (or you can write anything else you want). Your blurb is located a little under your default picture. It should say “Write Something About..”.

24. Now I want to show you how to post on your wall. Click on the “Wall” tab and you will see a textbox. You can write anything you would like to share with your fans. Your fans will also be able to post to your wall.

You can also attach links, photos, events, and videos to your post by clicking on the proper icon next to “Attach”.

25. You can upload pictures to your Facebook business page by clicking on the “Photos” tab and then clicking on “Create a Photo Album”. You can organize your pictures by album so that fans can easy view them.

26. Now your Facebook Business page has been set up and it is time to publish it. On the top of your Facebook business page, you will see a box that says you haven’t published your page yet. Click on “Publish this Page”.

This will automatically publish your Facebook business page. If the above textbox does not go away once you have clicked to publish it, refresh your page.

You have now completed the tutorial on how to setup a successful Facebook business page. Now, you must start adding inviting people to become fans of your page.

Some Tips:

1. Under your signature in your emails, add a link to your Facebook business page.
2. Add a link to your Facebook business page to your business website.
3. Create a targeted Facebook advertisement in Facebook that can attract people to your page.
(If you would like to learn how to create an advertisement in Facebook, please email me at Christine@mychristinemarie.com and I would be glad to give you a step by step explanation).

Download the tutorial for easy print out!!

Tags: facebook, facebook business tutorial, social media tutorial, tutorial
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Social Media for Your Small Business

Posted in Social Media, Social Media Tools on 10/16/2009 03:04 pm by Christie Marie

If you own a small business and have not yet jumped into the social media bandwagon, then maybe it is a good time to start now. Using social media to promote a small business and using it to interact with customers is much easier than you think (at least a lot easier than using social media in the corporate world – there are many guidelines and approvals you must pass). So, take advantage of it! You can set your own guidelines, writing styles, online presence, software, etc.

You can start implementing social media in your business by starting out with a Twitter account. This social media site is powerful and can help your business in numerous ways.

1. Gives your business an online presence
2. Helps create relationships between existing and possible clients
3. Gives you the power to target the exact audience you want
4. Helps you promote different products and offers
5. Customers can easily find information on any questions they might have
6. AND MANY MORE!!

Twitter can be set up fast and is easy to use. Other powerful social media sites are Facebook, LinkedIn, and Wordpress (this is not really a social media site, it is a blog in which you can post useful information and articles. It goes really well with social media!)

Starting a Twitter Account for Your Small Business

1. You can create an account at www.twitter.com. Make sure to choose a username that fits your small business well. The name of your business is a great choice but if the name is already taken then use specific keywords that corresponds to your business.
2. Once you create an account, personalize it in a unique way that sets you apart from every other business twitter account out there. The more personalized you get; the better customers will remember you when the time is right. If you would like to learn how to personalize your twitter, you can refer to my post – How to Personalize Your Twitter Background.
3. Now that your account has been personalized, start tweeting! (Tweets are posts no more than 140 characters) However, don’t just tweet anything. Designate a specific person or a group of people that will be responsible to update twitter several times a day (at least 5 -10 times a day). It is very important not to constantly tweet about your services and company. People do not want to be advertised to constantly. You should post useful information that people can benefit from. For example, if you are a jewelry business you may want to post information on ways to keep your jewelry clean. I recommend for posts to be 90% relevant information that is useful to your customers and 10% about your company.

If you have any other questions on how to create and/or maintain a twitter (or Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress, etc.) account, please feel free to email me.

I can also set up any social media account for you at a minimal charge. Just send me an email to Christine@mychristinemarie.com and I will be glad to help!!!

Tags: facebook, linkedin, small business, Social Media, social media for small businesses, twitter, Wordpress
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How To Customize your Twitter Background Yourself

Posted in Social Media, Social Media Tools, Tutorials, Twitter on 09/30/2009 01:08 pm by Christie Marie

This tutorial will show you how to create a personalized twitter background for your personal or business account. All you need is: 1) An active twitter account and 2) An image editor, such as Photoshop or Paint.Net (a free software similar to Photoshop). I will be using Paint.Net for this tutorial and if you would like to use this free software, please visit – Paint.Net to download. Once you are on the Paint.Net website, click on the download icon:

Now, to begin the Twitter Background Tutorial:

1. Sign into your twitter account. Once you have signed in, right-click anywhere on the background and click on “Save background As”. Save the background to your computer.

2. Open up your image editor (Photoshop, Paint.Net, etc.) As I said before, I will be using Paint.Net and the instructions on how to download this software is provided at the beginning of this tutorial.

3. Open the Twitter background you saved on your computer in Paint.Net. You will do all the editing here. Please be aware that the entire background you see on Paint.Net when you open it, are not the actual measurements of the Twitter background. The measurements that appear are larger. Also, I recommend you only add text, images, etc. to the left side of the background, as the right side seems to get a little messy (however, it is possible to create on the right side).

4. In Paint.Net, click on View and select the “Rulers” and “Inches” option so that rulers surround the entire background image. This will help with viewing the exact measurements of the background.

5. Start personalizing your background with text, images, colors, etc. Be as creative as possible so that your twitter account can be unique and people could remember it better. Measurements when editing: No more than 8 inches in height and 2 inches in width from the left. These measurements will assure you that everyone will be able to see your background using any browser/dimensions. (not all computers show the background the same; some will cover parts of the background with the twitter content in the middle).

6. Once you are done editing your background, save it to your computer. Now, the trial and error period begins.

7. In your Twitter account, click on Settings > Design , scroll to the bottom and click on “Change background image”. Browse for your saved background and upload. Please make sure that you DO NOT check off the “Tile Background” option. (Unless you want your background to repeat throughout the page). Then save your changes.

8. You can now see if you like how your background looks. If you would like to edit it again, please follow all of the steps above and try again

If you have any other questions on how to personalize your twitter background or on how to use Paint.Net, please let me know and I will be happy to answer.

Tags: how to, Social Media, twitter
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My Citrix Internship

Posted in Personal Experience on 09/27/2009 11:07 am by Christie Marie

Sadly, my marketing internship with Citrix has come to an end. I can’t believe how fast these ten weeks went by! It feels like only yesterday I came in for my interview and met all these wonderful people.

In my last Citrix blog post (written about a month ago), I talked about my experience so far and some of the projects I had been working on. Well, how things have changed! I’ve been exposed to so much more since then.

The Citrix Education department rolled out a campaign targeted at college students and professors by offering free XenServer training. Luckily, I was able to be a part of this. It’s amazing how much work goes into a campaign. I helped out with creating the email templates sent out to thousands of students and professors informing them of the promotion, tracking the applicants, validating their proof of eligibility, and sending them their voucher codes. However, there was much more done than just this. My boss, along with my co-workers had to create the micro site, rules and regulations, press release, etc. There is definitely a lot of planning involved!

Other than the campaign, I was able to help with other various projects and I couldn’t be happier. Although I was unable to stay there permanently, I am grateful for the wonderful opportunity and for all the knowledge I am taking with me. Citrix is truly an amazing company and the people are wonderful. As I said in my last Citrix blog post, if you have the opportunity to work at this company, don’t hesitate because you won’t regret it.

These are some Citrix links if you are interested:

Citrix Website

Citrix Education

Citrix STEP (wonderful opportunity for college students and professors)

Follow Citrix education – @citrixeducation

Follow Citrix STEP – @citrix_step

Become a fan of Citrix Education – Facebook

Tags: citrix, citrix education, citrix experience, citrix internship
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Feedback Form Tutorial – HTML & PHP

Posted in HTML, PHP, Tutorials on 09/23/2009 10:41 am by Christie Marie

I have created a feedback form tutorial that shows you how to create a simple form in HTML. It then goes on to show you how to create a PHP script that allows the form data to be sent to an email address. I have provided a video tutorial on how to do this step by step and have included the example files for download.

Click here to download the sample files used in the tutorial

To view the feedback form tutorial better, click here

How To Create a Feedback Form tutorial Using HTML & PHP:

Before you get started:
1. Make sure that your host runs on at least PHP 5.0
2. You can use Dreamweaver, Web Expression, notepad, etc. to create these files.

**I will assume that you have some HTML knowledge since if not, then that would be a separate tutorial all together.**

First, you create the form in html. I created an html file and named it “form.html”. I inserted a form in the body of the html:

I used a table to give it a nice format. I also used css to give the entire page a unique look (it is linked externally). The input tags are all type=”text”, however, you can change the type to be radio buttons, checkboxes, etc. The last input tag is the submit button. The value attribute is the name that appears on the actual button. You can name this anything you want. Once you have created the html form, you must create the php script that will allow the form data to be sent to an email address.

I created a php file and named it “sendform.php”. This is the code below:

Every field in the html form needs to have a variable assigned to it in the php script. As you can see, all variables must start with the “$” sign. You can give it any name you like. The variable must be followed by: = $_REQUEST['name']. It is very important that inside the single quotes you use the same exact name (it is case sensitive as well) you used in the name attribute of the input tag for that specific field. Once you have created a variable for each field, you create one last variable that will contain all the variables inside. This is what will be seen in the body of the email once it has been sent. I named this variable “$message” but you can name it whatever you want. Give it a nice format as you see above so that it can look like an form when it is sent to the email. (The “\n” is a line break so that the information does not get written all together).

The “mail” code is very important and is basically the life of the script. In the first parameter you need to specify the email address that the data will be sent to. The second parameter is the text that will appear in the subject line of the email. The third parameter is what will appear in the body of the email. Notice that the variable “$message” is in there. Lastly, the fourth parameter is the last nice that will appear in the body and it is set to the person’s email address (the person who filled out the form).

The “header” specifies the page that the user will be sent to once they click on the submit button. This is typically a “Thank You” page. I have created a thank you page in html named “thankyou.html”. However, it can be set to transfer the user to any page. If you do create a thank you page, I suggest adding a link back to your homepage or another page.

If you have any questions on this tutorial, please feel free to leave me a comment or email me (my information is on my contact page). And pass this along!!!

Click here to download the sample files used in the tutorial

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Tags: feedback form tutorial, how to, html tutorial, php tutorial, tutorial
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Meta Tags – Are they neccessary?

Posted in HTML/XHTML, Web Design on 09/15/2009 10:59 am by Christie Marie

Meta-Tag-Chart
Download the Popular Meta Tag Cheat Sheet – Different from the chart above!

Meta Tags were highly regarded by search engines in helping them collect information on what a certain website was about. However, this is no longer the case for most Meta Tags. For those of you who do not know what a Meta Tag is, it is an HTML element used to specify a page description, keywords, title, or any other metadata provided in the head tag for search engine optimization. Below are the most popular Meta Tags and their importance.

Types of Meta Tags:

The Title Attribute:
This Meta Tag is the highest regarded by search engines and should never be left blank. This tag contains the name of your page, which appears in the title bar. When choosing a title for your page, remember to use specific keywords relevant to the webpage. This will help you rank better in search engines.

The Keywords Attribute:
This Meta Tag has completely lost its significance in search engine optimization. The keywords Meta Tag was used by search engines to collect information about a certain web page; however, people started abusing this tag by adding keywords that were considered popular at the time in order to increase their ranking. Search engines picked up on this little trick and slowly depended less and less on the keywords Meta Tag. Although some people might say that this tag still has some importance, you can completely leave out this tag and it wouldn’t make a difference. But, it’s up to you!

The Description Attribute:
This attribute is not an important factor in search engine optimization; however, you should include this tag in your web pages. The description tag is a short description about your webpage which appears in search engine results underneath the title. This gives search engine users a better understanding of the page they are about to visit.

The Language Attribute:
This attribute is not regularly used and it does not provide any aid in search engine optimization. Its purpose is to specify the language of web page content. It is mainly used when a website is written in different languages and this tag helps the web browser understand what language is used in a specific web page.

The Robots Attribute:
This Meta Tag prevents search engines from crawling into your website. Only use it when you don’t wish for a certain web page to be indexed or links to be followed by search engines. Be careful when using this tag because it could make you’re website invisible to potential customers in search engines.

Download the Popular Meta Tag Cheat Sheet – Different from the chart above!

Tags: HTML/XHTML, meta tag sheat sheet, meta tags, Web Design
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Christine Marie

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