Hosted Web Tools That Make a Difference

As the number of incoming calls and e-mails increase related to Microsoft's Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007, we've had to come up with creative ways to help customers, since we don't really support Microsoft, nor do we claim to be experts with their programs.  However, since we do know our way around the program we have helped hundreds of users set up their e-mail accounts and configure their Outlook to their needs.   Some would argue (especially LOAD) that we've gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping users learn how to use their own computers and configure their Outlook.  Unfortunately, this will soon cease to be the purpose of our customer support and will force the user to actually get support from the company that built the program.  (We know...that's just crazy talk.)

Now, available online at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/default.aspx are training tutorials complete with video and sound.  Simply watch along and use the  most effective way to configure Outlook for you and your needs.  It appears that a number of tutorials are FREE and it may be that training will cost the user something in the future, but we recommend checking this website out.  We think this could prove to be much more effective than going to Google.com or Ask.com and searching for "Outlook support".

LoadMail works extremely well with Outlook, but depending on your needs, your configuration may vary.  We hope the training will help you to better understand how to use Outlook as a tool to more effectively run your business.  We also hope that it will help you to become more familiar with the Outlook application and some of the junk-mail features automatically included.  We recommend becoming familiar with the Rules and Alerts function in Outlook, which may help you more effectively manage your e-mail and combat junk-mail and [SPAM].

CompanyWebsite is a great content management system because it gives site managers full control over their website and also gives them the ability to create hundreds of pages of content quickly and easily.  Most often, these pages are created to populate a Products/Services section or to simply maximize search engine optimization, also known as SEO. However, since most CompanyWebsite templates are designed specificpally to keep a clean, consistent look across all franchisee websites, site managers are limited with what they can place in the normal website navigation area.

But thanks to the flexibility of HTML Content Items, site managers can easily create sub-navigation areas with unique links to any page created within CompanyWebsite.  Simply Add the HTML Content Item to a designated content area and create links to pages as shown below:

STEP 1:  Using the HTML Editor, enter the text how you would like it to appear in the selected content area.  In this example, we've chosen to enter the text using standard paragraph breaks. Another common display option to accentuate links are bulleted lists, which can be easily created using the HTML Editor.

As shown, the word Services is highlighted because we want to link it to the Services page which was created earlier by the site manager.  

STEP 2:  In Step 2, we have clicked the Custom Links drop-down menu to display the list of pages created in the CompanyWebsite service.

STEP 3:  As shown, the site manager chooses the Services pages to create the active link in the list.

Once all 3 steps have been completed, be sure to click Save to apply the changes to the HTML Content Item and update the selected content area.

Reusable Content Items:
Load.com recommends using Reusable Content Items if/when you want to create a secondary navigation in a selected content area.  The main reason for this is to make sure you do NOT have to duplicate your work.  If you plan on using the links as a way to quickly and easily move between products or sections on your site, you'll absolutely want to make your HTML Content Item re-usable.  This is most notably needed when placing links in a content area that is located in the right-hand or left-hand margin area on your site, as shown below.

If you have any questions about CompanyWebsite, or how to use specific functions in the service, be sure to view the Guides and Tutorials in the CompanyWebsite service.

The Press Release manager is very useful because it allows many site owners to create news for their site easily in an organized format.  The Press Release manager also allows site managers to archive content on their site while displaying the content in the proper format to maximize search engine optimization rules.

So...what sort of content can you use the Press Release manager for?  We recommend using this control to announce News-worthy content such as new clients, or recently completed jobs, or even things as simple as new hires within your organization.  The primary goal is to create content that identifies your company, what you do, and what you specialize in.  The bottom line is that your content should be written to emphasize key phrases or terms that might be used to find your site in search engines.  However, please make sure your press release content is relevant to the Title of your press release. (See Search Engine Optimization Techniques: Content, Content, Content.)

 Adding the Press Release Manager to your site:

1. Identify which page you would like to have the Press Releases control included.  If you don't have a page already created, we suggest creating a NEW page called PRESS to help you organize your Web pages in an easy-to-understand format.
2. Click the Add New Content Item button.
3. Click the Applications tab.
4. Click Press Releases from the left-hand menu.
5. Click the Add This Control button.  You will be redirected to the Web page with the Press Releases content item now added to the page.
6. Click Edit to begin adding content to your Press Release manager.