Version 2.0 of the Ultimate Heatmap includes new single column layouts. These have proven to be excellent revenue generators when used for video, or content curation sites. The trouble is bending Thesis, or one of the other WordPress themes, to make them look how you want.

What I’ve prepared for you here, is a review of the top three drag ‘n drop WordPress themes. They make it easy to replicate any layout in the Ultimate Heatmap research.

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Battle of the Drag ‘n Drop WordPress Themes

Until recently, like many of you, I’ve had to rely on web developers to customize my WordPress themes. Back in the day Thesis was my first choice, because it was so widely supported by the developers.

Now I don’t have to rely on developers anymore. The moment new data comes in from my Heatmap tests, I can make changes to my layouts, across dozens of affiliate sites. And I can do it myself, thanks to this new generation of drag ‘n drop WordPress themes.

But, I wanted to test the three most popular drag ‘n drop themes in a head to head battle, before deciding on which one to use. I tested Pagelines, Headway and Builder.

A quick disclaimer though, none of them were given to me. I purchased all three. So I didn’t receive any special treatment, or bonuses. Here’s what I discovered…

Pagelines Theme Review

Of all the visual drag n drop editors tested, Pagelines is the quickest to get up and running. Install the theme and within moments, you can choose columns, their position and widths. You can choose a base font – but not the size – plus headers, footers, social icons and more.

Other than creating the bare bones design though, Pagelines is the least intuitive of the three. It took a while to find and test the drag and drop functionality. Although its an interesting approach, and somewhat simple looking at the outset, the more you get into it, the more cumbersome it gets.

The sites that Pagelines creates – out of the box – are square looking, reminiscent of Thesis. You can purchase a premium theme at the store, but there’s only a handfull of choices available. That means if you’re on a budget, you’re stuck with a square looking site.

In addition, to give Pagelines the same functionality of the other two themes, you need to buy each piece separately from their store. This means getting your site to look and behave as you want, could cost as much as the theme did in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong though. Pagelines – although square – is an elegant design. It’s also the fastest to set up with the least learning curve for the basics.

It does give more control over fonts, layout and widget areas than non drag and drop themes, but its layout flexibility isn’t as good as the other two in this shootout. Click here to find out more about the Pagelines theme for WordPress.

iThemes Builder Theme Review

Builder from iThemes takes a little getting used to. It doesn’t look like much out of the box.

You have to install a Builder child theme before it starts to look good. Depending on which option you purchase, you can get dozens of themes and some plugins, so you can get started without needing anything else.

The more you get into Builder, the easier it gets. The training video mentions that its easy to change fonts, but you have to install a plugin to add that functionality. Once you do get into the Style Manager plugin though, it is easy to change fonts, colors, backgrounds, borders and more.

The Builder layouts section, lets you create a “stacking order” for the design elements on each page. You can design top to bottom, adding a custom headers, nav bars, content areas, widget areas, footers and more.

It makes it easy to save a different look, or layout for each page on your site. You can also use this functionality to show different footers on each page. (Very handy if you’ve been link sculpting using my Pumper Linking method from the Dynamic Media Vault.)

One of the few downsides, is that the widget areas are specified in terms of percentage of overall width. So to get a widget area to line up with your post and sidebar, it means setting up two column widget and eyeballing a percentage (say 30/70) and lining them up manually.

Overall the theme feels very strong and stable. Although it does allow drag and drop, it’s not a true liquid layout like Headway. But that said, it can create great looking sites that are easy to edit and undo. You just need to get over the initial learning curve of creating layouts and adding styles to the child theme.

The more you use Builder – and get used to the interface – the easier it gets. Having created a couple of new sites using it, I’m really enjoying the flexibility and getting exactly the looks that I want. This lets me test layouts in the Ultimate Heatmap without compromise. Click here to find out more about Builder theme for WordPress.

Headway Theme Review

Headway is by far the most complex and powerful of the themes in this battle. It has a very fluid layout, where you just drag and drop wireframes onto a grid. You then tag the block you created with a type, such as header, breadcrumbs, widget area, content, footer and more. It’s a great concept.

Headway makes it possible to get the exact look you want, for each type of page on your website and blog, through the use of reusable templates. You can change the column widths, block locations, fonts, colors and more. Each element can be specified right down to the nitty gritty pixel.

On the downside, Headway comes with a massive learning curve and less than stellar documentation. There are settings for the same items in a couple of places, meaning that it can be frustrating, when trying to make rounded corners, but the settings are being overridden elsewhere in the editor software.

Last but not least, it’s not completely stable. Reverting to earlier saved versions leads to unpredictable results. The changes aren’t always accurate in the preview window. And the user interface is oddly squished in a small window at the bottom of the screen, so you’re almost forced to work on a big monitor.

Having said all that, Headway can make your site look however you want, if you’re willing to invest a few hours into the nuances of the editor. It doesn’t feel as polished or stable as Builder, but if you can put up with the shakiness of this early release (version 3.0.4 at the time of writing), you can be rewarded with any design that you want.

I purchased the “Standard” option, which they display as the best value on their order page. Having experienced the value of Child Themes with Builder, I know how valuable they can be when updating your site. As soon as the Headway Child Themes become available, you will be able to redeem your child theme credits. Click here to find out more about Headway theme for WordPress.

Winner of the Drag & Drop WordPress Theme Battle is…

In third place is Pagelines. Although it creates an elegant look, it’s square looking and not very intuitive to learn the drag and drop functionality.

Pagelines offers very few child themes. You need to purchase them and all the other add ons in their store. And on top of that, several hours into it, I still couldn’t figure out how to change the font sizes in their layouts.

In second place is Headway. It offers true design flexibility with it’s grid interface. The new 3.0.5 version – which was just released – promises a more intuitive grid, better stability and SEO functionality.

Headway’s poor documentation though and flaky revert – to previous saved version – means some changes can’t be undone. So I’ve bumped it to second place. Overall though, I think its a good choice, especially if you’re creating a new site from scratch. I love the look of the sites this theme creates, and will continue to use and support it, as it will only get better with time.

The winner of this contest is iThemes Builder. It comes with excellent documentation and offers flexible layouts, so you can replicate any of my Ultimate Heatmap templates with ease.

Builder comes with dozens of child themes to get you started. It also includes plugins like Style Manager to change your design. Billboard for putting ads and images into widgets. It also has Rotating Images, Feedburner, Contact Forms, BuddyPress, SEO and more.

And finally, this may tip your decision in favor of a drag and drop WordPress theme like iThemes Builder… once you get it and learn how to use it, you can stop paying a web developer, every time you want to change the look of your site. Doing so brings the freedom and flexibility to test new layouts, the moment you want, without having to rely on someone else.

Wishing you all the best for success,

Michael

P.S.

Did you like this review? You can get dozens more just like it when you join the Dynamic Media Vault. Oh, and the link sculpting method that I mentioned called Pumper Linking, it’s in there too. So is version 2.0 of Ultimate Heatmap. You can get them all inside Michael Campbell’s private site, Dynamic Media Vault.

15 Tips to Increase Your Productivity

We must work hard and produce more. That’s what Mark Carney – the head Canadian financial guy – said in a recent speech.

He said we’re in great shape as a country. Even though our friends may be hurting a bit, we can get through this, like we have any other rough time, by working hard and producing more.

I think it’s great advice for any country, or people in general. It’s foolish to consume and be lazy. We’ll, maybe for two weeks of the year on vacation, but not as a lifestyle.

It makes economic sense to work hard, and produce more than you consume, both personally and as a nation. So with that in mind, here are my top 15 tips for being more productive.

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15 Ways to Increase Your Productivity

1. Get enough sleep. Contrary to pop culture, sleep deprivation is not a status symbol, or sign of virility. Research with arctic scientists proved they were more productive, more focused and got their work done faster, if they slept at least 9 hours per night, as compared to getting only 6 hours per night.

2. Don’t multitask. Cognitive neuroscientists have proven that humans cannot multitask. It’s merely fast switching from one thing to another. Every time you switch tasks you lose concentration and momentum. The older you are, the harder it gets.

3. Turn off distractions and focus. Disconnect yourself from the grid. The world will continue to spin without you. Shut off the pings, tweets, instant messages, etc and focus your attention. Get off the grid for days at a time if you need to, and get the project done.

4. Make a stop doing list. There are so many addictive behaviours in life. So put down that video game. Stop yourself from doing them by making a list. If what you’re doing is not moving you closer to your goals, stop it.

5. No whining or complaining. Moaning about your situation doesn’t do anything to help it. Nothing changes until you decide to change it. It’s not about having enough resources. It’s about your resourcefulness.

6. Make less more often. Attention spans are down. People are gleaning facts, not looking for deep understanding. Make your content shorter. Make videos under 3 minutes and posts under 250 words, but do them more often, with one key point in each.

7. Hire the talent. If you’re an expert in something, get others to write for you in the form of guest articles or posts. Since you know the field well, you’ll know good content when you see it. Getting more content, produces more authoritative pages and grows your website quickly.

8. Upgrade your equipment. It’s frustrating waiting for machines, uploads, or having to sneakernet data around between computers. I got a Thunderbolt based Mac laptop. Now one computer can hook to the big monitor for production work, or slide into the backpack. All the data is in one place.

9. Repurpose your content. You may have heard it called transmedia, multimedia, or intermedia, but its all the same thing. Shoot a three minute talking head video, extract the audio for a podcast, and get it transcribed for text and slides. Now you can take one message and share it, in different forms, in hundreds of places.

10. Protect your assets. Although not technically a production booster, it will prevent down time, headaches and legal hassles. Get the proper legal pages up on your site, like terms and conditions of use, privacy policy and the rest. It shows that you’re running a serious business and they protect it. Plus as a bonus, its proven to boost consumer confidence.

11. Focus on your core competencies. Learning a new skill is great, so long as you can apply it immediately to what you’re already doing. It’s better to cultivate deep understanding of one thing, than it is to flit from idea to idea, looking for the next quick hit, that never comes. Put down roots and do something you love.

12. Go analog. When it comes time for planning, go low tech with pencil and paper. Research has shown that thoughts are more complete if you write them out by hand. You’re also more connected to them, more likely to complete them and remember them.

13. Make a to do list. This idea has been around for 100 years and its still great advice. Make a list of the 5 top things you want to achieve tomorrow, and number them in their order of their importance. Then do at least one of them and make progress towards your worthy goals, or ideals.

14. Plan in quarters. Divide a piece of paper into four columns. List in each quarter what you want to achieve. Once you have your list, transfer it to a whiteboard within plain view. Then you can keep yourself on track as you aim for your quarterly goals.

15. Quit. Have the courage to quit, or delegate, everything you’re merely average at doing. Good enough isn’t good enough anymore. Everyone’s a channel, a content provider and a brand. What we lack is trust. So make a commitment to be the best in the world at what you love to do, or sell the farm and move on.

I hope this inspires you to take massive action. With massive action comes massive results. If you build on the positive results, it leads to increased belief in yourself and your abilities. Then you can take even more action and continue to build your momentum.

The time for laziness and consumption are over. Like the #1 Canadian financial dude said, its time to work hard and produce more. That’s how you’ll weather the storms, get through the dips, and emerge best in the world at what you love to do.

Wishing you all the best for online success,

Michael

P.S.

Did you like this article? You can get an abundance just like it when you join us in the Dynamic Media Vault.

Cause based advertising can increase sales by up to 70% in some markets. So what exactly is cause based advertising?

When done correctly, it can be a portion of net proceeds, that get donated to a registered charity. When done in poor taste, it can be a loose association, showing that the use of your product, will in some way, benefit a charity or cause, but it does not do so directly.

In the first example it’s pretty clear. If you get my product, I’ll donate X amount to a charity, say SPCA, and help save puppies.

The second example is currently exploited by a handful of advertisers, and is in very poor taste, in my opinion. I won’t even explain it, because I don’t want more people – especially ad agencies – doing it. So lets look at the first example where a donation gets made.

Let’s say we’re promoting a 49.95 ebook as an affiliate and get a 50% commission. In normal every day sales, a 49.95 product after Clickbank fees, leaves 45.20 to split between you and the publisher. That’s 22.60 apiece.

Now let’s say you sold 100 units.

22.60 x 100 = 2,206

Not bad. But lets see what happens when we add cause based advertising into the mix. Let’s say that because of our noble cause, we get modest 40% increase in sales (a total of 140), but give a generous 20% of the net proceeds to charity.

22.60 – 20% = 18.08 (our new net proceeds because 4.52 from each sale goes to charity)

140 x 18.08 = 2,531

So if we compare our original sales to the charity one, you can see that we actually increase our net profits by $325.

2,531 – 2,206 = 325 further ahead

Now image you were playing with big numbers and sold 10,000 units. Imagine huge numbers, like a major shampoo brands, or greeting cards, where you’re dealing with millions of units sold.

You can even do this with PPC or CPA ads, selling pet supplies and bypass the search engines altogether. You can put the ad on an ad network like Plenty of Fish, and link direct to the advertiser’s offer, or send traffic to a landing page first.

For example, let’s say you’re an affiliate selling doggie supplies, but in the ad you show a sad puppy saying, “All he wants is a home.” Then say something like, “When you shop with us, 10% of all net proceeds go to the local SPCA shelter. You could save a life, if you shop now.”

That’s powerful stuff. But before you start using this style of advertising, there are a couple of caveats.

Don’t overuse this tactic, or like any other it will quickly lose its effectiveness. Be sure that you actually do donate your net proceeds to the charity that you specified. And that you have the receipts to prove it.

Not only will having the receipt keep you out of hot water with the FTC – because you have to prove all claims – it also provides a return on the back end. That’s right, donations to registered charities can be tax deductions for you, or your corporation.

The bottom line is, cause based advertising increases sales. Up to 70% in some markets. This increases your profits and helps out registered charities at the same time. Plus there’s the added bonus of getting tax deductions on the back end.

Just don’t overuse this advertising tactic and it could serve you well for years to come.

Wishing you all the best for online success,

Michael

P.S.

The affiliate program for Ultimate Heatmap 2.0 is open. If you’d like to join us, you can get a 50% commission on every sale. Direct endorsements leading to the sales page are converting at 11.71%, because this product appeals to such a wide audience, not just the internet marketing crowd.

Every website owner, blogger, designer, advertiser and affiliate can benefit by applying this research. It has a powerful tag line, “Triple the ad revenues without additional traffic.” Plus, there are dozens of banners and ads, ready for you use right now.

You’re the first to know about it. And you can the be first to promote it, starting right now.

When people say something stupid, mean, or evil about you, smile and laugh out loud in five seconds or less.

You can’t control what other people think, or say about you.

The sooner you stop caring what other people think, the happier you’ll be.

Even if they’re talking trash about you in a public place, like a blog, or forum. You can stop a forum fire the same way you’d stop a real fire. Starve it of fuel and it will go out.

Don’t drag your friends into it and pour fuel on it. Be bigger than that. Turn the other cheek. Doing so is not an act of cowardice. It’s an act of defiance.

Reacting is only agreeing with the strength of the attacker. By doing nothing, forgiving, forgetting and moving on, you can stay at peace.

Same deal if someone cuts in line, or cuts you off in traffic. You can choose to get angry and flood your body with toxins, or you can choose to laugh out loud and stay at peace.

Try letting off steam by laughing, instead of yelling, and you’ll notice a big difference in your life. You’ll be happier. And when you’re happy, all sorts of good hormones get released, that make you feel great.

Your job is to smile and laugh out loud in five seconds or less… no matter what.

Go ahead and try it. You’ll feel great.

Even if it’s a fake laugh. Your body doesn’t know the difference.

Why not make it a big belly laugh. Go ahead.

Do it. I dare you.

Laugh out loud right now.

LOL

Wishing you all the best for success,

Michael

P.S.

Want more inspirational material just like this? Stuff that will pick you up, boost your day and help you be more productive? It’s waiting for you inside the Dynamic Media Vault.

P.P.S.

I know you’re super busy this week, so I’m having a sale next week. Lifetime Membership to the Dynamic Media Vault will be 25% off from November 28 to December 2 2011. Go ahead and mark it on your calendar, but don’t worry, I’ll send you a reminder. In the mean time, smile and keep laughing, especially when times get tough!

Did you know that limited choice and features leads to happier customers?

Think about three match sticks for a second. Now close your eyes, and imagine three of them in a row. It’s pretty easy, but most people can’t image more than five.

Go ahead and try it. Imagine a row of six match sticks in your mind’s eye. Not two groups of three, but six in a row. Most people can’t.

We have trouble seeing large groups of items. We have trouble deciding.

That’s why waiters never give a kid a menu. They give the adults a menu and ask the kid if they want the hamburger or hotdog.

The number one reason that consumer goods get returned, is because they have too many features. They are too hard to use. Most people want and use only a fraction of what the device is capable of doing.

The same conclusion was reached in a famous Stanford University study, where they sold jam to the public. (The stuff people spread on toast.)

When 20 flavors of jam were sold, people had a hard time deciding what to buy. They bought less, and were unhappy with their purchase decision.

When only six flavors of jam were available, people decided easily. They bought a lot more and were happy with their purchase decision.

(The notable exception to the “too many choices” dilemma is ice cream. When it comes to frozen treats, more variety is always better.)

Based on this research, I ran extensive tests for over two years on my cellular sites. After collecting and analyzing the data, I finally decided on four items, or buttons, on the home page… phones, accessories, customer service and about us.

Even Google recently announced fresh test data, that confirms all our findings,

“We’ve actually found that link units with four terms almost always perform better than five. As a result, we’re reducing the number of topics in all link units to four for horizontal orientations and three for vertical orientations.”

Limit the amount of choices on each webpage, or group the items into batches of six or less. Four or less if you can do it. All the data, including my research and Google, say you’ll make more sales and have happier customers because of it.

Wishing you all the best for success,

Michael

P.S.

Want more research like this? Become a Dynamic Media member and download dozens of results just like it.

How to see into the future and scoop affiliate revenue before anyone else.

Do you sieze opportunities when they appear? Did you know that you can prepare for them in advance?

Let me share a quick story…

I know what’s going to happen in advance. I can be prepared with ads and landing pages, before new products get launched. As an affiliate marketer, it means I get an advantage over everyone else.

Here’s one way that I do it, using two bits of advice.

“Luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity.” ~ Earl Nightingale

“Figure out where the people are going and get there first.” ~ Mark Twain

I mashup the two. Find out where the people are going, then prepare for it, so you can get there first, take advantage of the opportunity and have great success.

Let’s take the music business for example. But it really doesn’t matter what market, as long as they publish magazines on the topic.

All the major music gear manufacturers have newsletters. By reading them, I know what products will be coming out in the next month or so. I create ads and landing pages for some of the products I’m excited about.

I go to the book store and ask what day the new music magazines arrive. This gives me a target date.

Sure enough, the date the magazine hits the racks, the product will be for sale in the music stores. I go to the book store and check the inside back covers and flip through the magazine, looking for full-page ads on the new products.

So long as its a major product manufacturer, they will advertise in the magazines. The ads spark interest and searches for the product. My ads and landing pages are switched on and ready to scoop as much affilate revenue as I can.

I knew the new products were coming, because I subscribe to the product manufacturers’ newsletters. Thanks to them, I’m able to figure out where the people are going, prepare for it and get there first.

So instead of watching TV next week, why not prepare for opportunities. They’re all around us. As entrepreneurs, small business owners and decision makers, we don’t need permission, we can take action whenever we want.

And pay no attention to what the small, unsuccessful people say. They’ll always try to belittle your success, mumbling something about you being lucky, or in the right place at the right time.

But you and I know better. It’s matter of figuring out where the people are going and making a conscious effort to get there first.

carpe diem,

Michael

P.S.

Did you like this idea? Become a Dynamic Media member and download hundreds more just like it from the Vault.

Sorry this is a bit late. I was a little too shaken to write it yesterday.

Back in the mid 1980′s I was broke and destitute. I was drowning in desperation, 20,000 dollars in debt, living in a single room with a shared bath, one rent payment away from skid row.

I had been out of high school for a decade. Hating my career as a cook by day, and burned out from playing blues in bars at night, I realized that I needed to go back to college.

Sniffing around the federal employment office I noticed a job posting for VidTex operators. (It wasn’t called desktop publishing just yet.) After reading the job description, I knew it would be something I’d love to do.

My training was on a state of the art Mac SE20. Graduating in 1988 at the top of my class, I was given 21 dollars an hour to start, at the first place I applied at. Thanks to Adobe Postscript, Aldus Pagemaker and most of all, Steve Jobs’ Apple Computer and Laserwriter, I was in top demand.

I spent the next few years evangelizing the Mac, training print shops and traditional film strippers to make the jump to digital. By 1993 I was head of prepress and lead designer for a large commercial printing plant.

In 1994 the commercial internet began. While at the Seybold Publishing show in San Francisco, I picked up the local newspaper. The difference being, this edition was published on CD with HTML 1.0 and read using the Mosaic browser.

I realized at that moment, power had shifted. This was the most important invention since Gutenberg’s printing press and movable type. My mind sparked, remembering Mark Twain’s advice, “Find out where the people are going and try to get there first.”

I began to moonlight as a website designer using my Mac in 1994. By 1996 I left my full time job at the printing plant and began my career in SEO. I was so successful at it, that I wrote a book about it – using a Mac – in 1999 called, “Nothing but ‘Net” which became an instant success, having been downloaded to date over 1/2 a million times.

The rest – as they say – is history. But I wouldn’t have the freedom and lifestyle that have today, without the Apple products, that made it possible to live my dream, starting with that Mac SE20 back in 1988.

Besides my faith in God, I owe my success and career largely to one person, Steve Jobs. I am forever indebted and grateful, for making my career possible, so I could spend my life, doing what I love to do.

Thank you Steve Jobs for giving your life to Apple, so I could have mine.

Michael

P.S.

I’ll leave you with a snippet from the original Steve Jobs Stanford commencement speech from 2005…

The full commencement speech is here:

You’ve got to find what you love. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied, is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work, is to love what you do.

If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. ~ Steve Jobs

Thank you Steve. May you rest in peace and may God bless.

Just a short announcement today. My affiliate program is now open. You can sell Lifetime Memberships to the Dynamic Media Vault.

Here is a quick overview…

* Runs through iDev and Paypal
* 100 dollar commission per sale
* Dozens of ads to choose from
* 90 day cookies + remarketing
* 25 dollar bonus for signing up

If you’re interested in more details please read on. If not, please disregard this post, or forward it to your favorite internet / affiliate marketer, who may be interested. I appreciate your support. Your regular Internet Marketing Secrets will resume in a couple of days.

The product is a Lifetime Membership to the Dynamic Media Vault. It’s all my internet marketing products, research, experiments and test data, stashed in one place for one low price. You can read about the Lifetime Dynamic Media Membership here:

The selling price of the membership is 197 dollars. You get 51% per sale. That means over 100 in commission per sale.

There are dozens of ads to choose from. Some can be downloaded from the affiliate control panel. An email with a link to a zip file, with dozens of Universal Ad Sizes, will be sent once your application is approved.

There will be a remarketing campaign to boost the conversion rate. That means, I’ve purchased ads that follow people around the internet. When they purchase, your original cookie will get credit for 90 days. So mail early and often.

You can join the Dynamic Media affiliate program here.

Now lets go make some sales!

Michael

Michael Campbell, CEO
Dynamic Media Corporation

Increase Website Conversion Rate

I apologize for not writing or tweeting lately. I had been meaning to write this post on how to increase conversion rate of your website, when I was suddenly hit with debilitating illness called gout.

I thought it was reserved for old geezers, who got a sore toe, if they ate too much meat. Nope, it’s actually a severe form of arthritis.

I’ll spare you the gory details, but it’s like having shards of glass slicing into your flesh every minute, 24/7, for a couple of weeks.

The anti-inflammatory pain killers didn’t help much. I didn’t sleep, or do much of anything during those weeks.

I’m on the mend now, and happy to say, that I don’t need to take any special medication. I can control it through diet, because my doctor suggested becoming vegetarian – which I did immediately – instead of relying on pills.

So far, so good. I’m still very tender, but as of yesterday, I’m hobbling about without the use of a cane, which makes me very happy.

Even if you have everything in life, if you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. So I wish every one of you good health, that you never have to experience anything like the pain that I’ve endured.

May you all be blessed with happy, healthy and prosperous lives.

I’d also like to thank everyone for their birthday greetings. There were so many of them, that I couldn’t possibly say thank you to each one of you. I’m very grateful for all the wishes that you sent my way, and I’d like to say THANK YOU for thinking of me.

Dozens of you asked me about the Ultimate Heatmap theme for WordPress. Yes, we’re still working on it. There’s a whole year of fresh data that’s been pumped into version 2.0 of the UHM Report, which I’ll have uploaded to the Vault by next week.

Simply pick the template that you want from the report. Then log into your WordPress dashboard, pick our theme, and click to activate any layout you want. One click is all it takes, to get your ads into the best converting spots.

You can upload your own masthead. There’s a choice of fonts and colors for each element, like post, title, background, etc. There’s also a few core designs to pick from, like square corners, round corners and granite.

As new features and templates get added, you’ll never have to download, or install them. They’ll just appear for you, ready to use, because they get pushed to you in the UHM Dashboard.

Just recently, we’ve added several single column templates, simple ad rotation and ad tracking. You can upload your own ads, use pre-made ones from affiliate programs, or just use AdSense ads on your entire site.

So as you can see, I’m pretty excited about getting UHM on the market. I can hardly wait, because I’ll be switching all my affiliate sites to run on it.

Also, over the past few weeks, many of you asked how to get coaching. Yes, I still do coaching, but only until the end of the year, and it’s only for Vault members.

The only coaching I offer at this time, is a service I call PPT (Ping, Pay, Talk). I don’t set up appointments, so here’s how it works…

Send me an IM on Skype that you want to talk. Paypal the funds. And we talk for the amount time that you purchased. It’s a simple and easy way to get marketing advice the moment you want it.

(Just don’t call me about SEO stuff. I’m so bored of that schtick, that I won’t waste your time, or my energy on it. All the critical SEO stuff is in the Vault. Chances are, after you go through it, you won’t need a session about it.)

Speaking of the Dynamic Media Vault, I’ll be opening an affiliate program for it next week. It will be using iDev Affiliate Software and paying out 100 per sale.

If you’d like to start promoting the Vault, I’ll be sending a reminder about it next week. All the banners and ads will be ready by then. The remarketing campaign will be in place. Overall it should be a good revenue source for anyone with decent traffic.

And finally, before I give you a juicy “Internet Marketing Secret” I want you to know that this is the last long newsletter. I’m changing it to a short format featuring “Secrets” only. Here’s why…

The past six weeks have given me plenty of time to think. This newsletter has had a good run. I’ve been writing it for 12 years in one form or another. The online world has changed to short format publishing, and its time for me to change with it.

So in the spirit of change, I’m going to try a short format. Not a newsletter, but one concept or idea per issue. Short and to the point, containing one secret, takeaway, or piece of actionable advice.

Here is a sample of what’s to come in future editions. I hope it fits well into your busy schedule. As always, your comments, thoughts and ideas are appreciated.

Using Color to Increase Your Website Conversion

Earlier this year, I wrote a research paper called Color Persuasion. It’s the Science and Influence of Color on Purchasing Decisions.

Did you know, that women like purple 30% more than men? That red is not a favorite color anymore. That blue improves mental tasks. Or that teal converts best for certain types of insurance?

The one thing that really surprised me is the power of orange. Even though it’s the least favorite color, it’s the highest converting color for call to action buttons.

Skeptics can run a test and try it. On average, you can get anywhere from 8 – 20% more conversions, by simply changing the color of your order and buy buttons.

The trick is to use orange sparingly and only on your calls to action. If you use orange anywhere else on your page, it will loose its effectiveness.

I dare you to try it in a couple of split tests. If you’re like the majority, you’ll be amazed at the power of orange.

Dynamic Media members can login to the Vault and download “Color Persuasion” and dozens reports just like it.

Not a member yet? Come join us today, because the only regret you’ll have, like all the others have said, is not joining us sooner.

“Inside the Vault, I found one simple page layout idea, that instantly increased all my website revenues by 32%. Not bad for a couple hours of work.” ~ Ken McCarthy

Ken’s revenue went up “instantly” by 32%. Not a bad raise. What treasures will you find inside?

There are hundreds of nuggets waiting for you. Just come pick them up.

You’ll make better web pages, improve your conversion rates, and get more customers because of it.

Come Join Us inside the Dynamic Media Vault.

Michael

Michael Campbell, CEO
Dynamic Media Corporation

The average conversion rate is 2%. Thanks to remarketing, you can get a 12% conversion rate? That’s a 6X increase.

Would you like that? Me too. Here’s how we do it.

Now, this may seem weird, but have you noticed ads following you around the internet? You may have searched for a product two days ago, and all of a sudden, ads for the exact same product are popping up everywhere.

It’s called retargeted advertising. You may have heard it called remarketing, zombie cookies, Flash cookies, or some other name. The bottom line is, it works.

Retargeting is the single most powerful marketing tactic that you can “legally” use. I say that in “quotes” because the EU (European Union) has decided to go back to the stone age and make cookies illegal – at least for them – in about a year’s time.

Here in America, cookies are perfectly legal and were ruled not to violate any privacy rights. (Seems to me the EU would be wiser, if they just told people how to clear their cookies, if they’re concerned about being tracked.) LOL

But any way, I digress. I don’t want to waste your time on a cookie debate. The point is, retargeting works.

Let’s look at the numbers…

The average conversion rate hovers around 2%. Retargeting boasts 12 – 19%, depending on who you ask, and which campaign they’re talking about. That’s a whopping 6X – 10X increase in conversion rates.

Now, there have been a few high end courses around that teach this stuff, but unless you have deep pockets and a few weeks to spend, it’s not going to help.

What I’d like to introduce, is a new course in retargeting, called Bounce Back Remarketing. It’s under 30 pages, you can read it in 30 minutes, and within 30 more minutes, you’ll have your first remarketing campaign set up and ready to roll.

Bounce Back is fast and easy to set up. It uses freely available tools. And it has screenshots showing you how to do it.

There’s a video on how to install it in WordPress. And the course costs less than a pint and a pizza. (That’s takeaway food for my UK pals.)

This is without a doubt, the best value and biggest secret I’ve seen in a long while. Maybe ever. You should get it, and start using it, because if you don’t, you can bet that your competition will.

You can get the Bounce Back Remarketing Course here:

What? Still Reading?

Go get the Bounce Back Remarketing Course and put it to work, before your competition finds out. Then sit back, relax and watch your conversions skyrocket! They’ll never know what hit ‘em.

Wishing you all the best for success,

Michael

I’d like to extend a warm personal welcome, to all the Search Engine Academy faculty, staff and graduates, that have recently become lifetime members of my Dynamic Media Vault.

In case you don’t know them, few SEO brands have been around as long as the Search Engine Academy. That’s why it’s always my first choice, when I refer people who want hands-on SEO training.

Even though we’re in an era of constant change, it’s nice to find people who remain the same. People who are dedicated to helping others and sharing knowledge with one another.

I also love the fact, that the Academy instructors never stop learning. They stay on top of the changes in the SEO world, and continue to adapt and evolve in their training methods.

I can’t say how many dozens of people I’ve referred to the Academy for training over the years. But one things for sure, I’m proud to send people their way.

Discover how SEO can improve your organic search engine rankings, with guidance from the Search Engine Academy.

Introduction to Fonts

Fonts come in several categories like serif, sans serif, script, ornamental, monospaced, symbols and more. You can start your journey learning about typography by looking in Wikipedia.

Traditional Font Usage

Serif fonts like Times New Roman have little extensions on the ends of their strokes. This makes them easier to read in print and in long passages of text.

Sans serif fonts – meaning without serifs – like Arial and Helvetica were designed for signage. This makes them easy to read at a distance, or while traveling at high speed on a train.

Some modern sans serif fonts – like Verdana, which is classified as humanist – are more legible than the old ones. They can be used for both headlines and text.

Script fonts like Comic Sans mimic calligraphy and hand writing. They are best suited to headlines, logos and greeting cards.

Ornamental fonts are highly decorative. They are usually used to create themes for posters, parties, invitations and logos.

Monospaced fonts like Courier mimic old typewriters. They are not widely used anymore except in programming, or coding, as they are difficult to read on screen.

Symbols like Webdings are made up of graphic symbols. They can be used to dress up a page with simple graphic elements.

Design for the Computer Screen

Traditionally serif fonts were used for lengthy text passages. Sans serif fonts were used for headlines. Most magazines, books and print publications are still designed this way.

Our focus though, is on the computer screen, not print. We want people to stay on our websites as long as possible.

That means clean, simple, design and layouts. It also means choosing fonts for readability and legibility, in addition to how they look.

Fonts like Times, Arial, Helvetica and Courier were designed for print. They can be used for headlines, but best avoided for text on the computer screen, because they tire the eyes quickly.

Fonts like Impact and Comic Sans have special uses. For example, Impact works for slide shows when you want to make a point. Comic Sans and other cursives mimic hand writing, so they work for signatures and greeting cards.

Some fonts like Georgia, Verdana and Trebuchet were designed specifically for the computer screen. Any of them would make an excellent choice for use on your websites. The easier it is on the reader, the longer they’ll stay.

Readability Do’s and Don’ts

Don’t use more than three fonts on any one website as a general rule. Choose one font for text and links. A second for headlines, subheads and everything else. If you do need a third, use it for testimonials, pull quotes, call outs, or captions near photos.

Your website design – as a general rule – shouldn’t have more than three or four colors. It’s the same with text. You want to minimize the use of colored text.

When you do use colored text, make it match the color harmony of the rest of your site. For example, you could make the headlines and post titles match the background color of your site.

Some colors like red, should be used sparingly, or avoided altogether. If you need to draw attention to certain areas of your site, consider using bold or italic versions of the font, instead of adding more colors.

Avoid putting light text on dark, or black backgrounds. It can be used for effect, but not for any length of text, because it tends to sparkle, hurt the eyes, and tire the reader quickly.

Keep in mind that people with glasses and older readers, may have a hard time with small font sizes. Whereas 12 point might be good in print, consider using 16 pixels or larger for screen text.

Avoid double spacing after periods. It’s an old habit, carried over from the typewriter days and mono spaced fonts like Courier. All serif and sans serif fonts are proportionally spaced and do not need a double space after the period.

Never use ALL CAPITAL letters, as it makes the text 10 times harder to read. The only time all caps should be used, is in certain legal passages, where you want the reader to slow down, and read every word very carefully.

Be sure to use headlines to help guide the eye. They break the text into logical chunks and act as teasers, pulling the reader into different sections of the story. It also helps improve your on page SEO.

Choose a text font with plenty of line spacing between the lines (aka leading). You want the reader to be comfortable, which means they’ll stay on your site a lot longer.

Never justify, or hyphenate your text. It’s a bad habit that’s been carried over from the metal typesetting days. Always use a ragged right edge, as it’s proven to help readability.

My Top Picks for Web Fonts

* Indicates a core font for the web. These fonts are stored locally on your computer. They are called up by your web browser when viewing a web page that uses them.

# Indicates a Google web font. These fonts are stored on Google. They get sent by Google’s servers, when viewing a web page that uses them.

@ Indicates a best choice for web design.

Serif Fonts
* Times New Roman – For newspapers and economy of space.
* @ Georgia – Designed for text clarity on computer monitors.
# EB Garamond – A famous design for books and readability in print.
# @ Quattrocento – Classic and elegant, it’s very legible for body text.
# Droid Serif – Slightly condensed, designed for screen reading.
# Cardo – An elegant old style text font based on classic literature.

Sans Serif Fonts
* Arial – Very similar to Helvetica. Good for signage.
* Arial Black – A bold, extended version of Arial.
* @ Trebuchet MS – A humanist sans serif made for web design.
* @ Verdana – Humanist sans serif designed for clarity on computers.
# Oswald – A gothic style for ads and newspaper headlines.
# Ubuntu – Designed for clarity on desktop and mobile screens.
# Cabin – A humanist sans serif based on the Gill Sans font.
# Droid Sans – Optimized for user interfaces and mobile handsets.

Script Fonts
* Comic Sans – A casual script made to look like comic books.
# Architects Daughter – Inspired by technical hand writing.
# Cherry Cream Soda – Bubbly and enthusiastic retro teen feel.
# Lobster – A thick display script for restaurant headlines.
# Permanent Marker – Fun and whimsical handwriting with felt pen.
# Schoolbell – Playful handwriting from a 2nd Grade student.

Ornamental Fonts
* Impact – When you want to make slideshows and bold statements.
# Bangers – Inspired by comic books and super heros.
# Cabin Sketch – Inspired by camping trips and teenage doodles.
# MedievalSharp – A gothic style inspired by stone cutting.
# Bevan – A bold slab serif display face inspired by the old west.
# Corben – Nice looking curvy display font for bold titles.

Monospaced Fonts
* Andale Mono – Designed for software development but rarely used.
* Courier New – Made to look like an old typewriter.
# Anonymous Pro – A fixed width font designed with coding in mind.

Symbols
* Webdings – No letters, just decorative dingbats and symbols.

References

Core Fonts for the Web

According to Wikipedia, core fonts for the web was a project begun by Microsoft in 1996 to make a standard pack of fonts for the Internet. The Core fonts were designed to:

1) Be highly legible on screen.

2) Offer a wide range of “timbres” within a few typefaces.

3) Support extensive internationalisation.

Google Web Fonts

Google Web Fonts are available through the Google Web Fonts API. All fonts in the directory are available for use on your website under an open source license and are served by Google servers. You can learn how to add Google fonts to your webpages and view the entire Google web font library.

Conclusion

I hope this “Web Fonts” Guide, will help you make better decisions when choosing type. You want to deliver maximum comfort, legibility and readability. You want to keep people reading, once they land on your site. If you follow these few simple guidelines, you’ll do just that.

Wishing you all the best for success,

Michael

P.S.

Did you like the “mountain of research” that went into this informative article? Get hundreds of hours and more just like it, when you join us in the Dynamic Media Vault.