If you are interested in learning how to make a website for kids, then there are a few tips to get you started.

Step by Step Instructions on How to Make a Website for Kids

Learning how to make a website is the same regardless of which topic you choose, but in this case we are building a kids website. The general instructions will be the same, but the content of a kids site would vary greatly.

1. Register a Domain – The first step making a kids website is registering a domain. The domain (or url) is the place where your visitors will find you online, similar to an address – www.yourdomain.com. Domains typically cost around $10 to register and they need to be renewed each year. Domains cannot be owned outright, they are leased. If you fail to renew your domain registration every year, someone else can register your domain name. Domains should be purchased at the same time as your hosting (step 2). For more information on domains, tips on domain selection and a little bit of domain history, go to Register a Domain or Go Register Your Domain at Hostgator Now!
2. Purchase Hosting – Hosting refers to the computer (or shared server) owned by a hosting provider, which houses all of the necessary files you need to have your website shown on the web. The files needed to run your website (e.g., html, images, videos or audio) are stored on a shared server and when a visitor types in your domain name, the files are populated in their web browser, so they may view your content. Hosting costs around $5-8 dollars a month. You can pay each month or annually. If you have any trouble with your website, it gets hacked, or your website is down you would contact your hosting provider. Sign up for Hosting at Hostgator Today! Discount Code: If you sign up today at Hostgator for hosting and a domain, use the code ‘brandbuild‘ and receive almost $10 off your first payment!
3. Build a New Website – There are several options to building a new website. You can learn to hard code html yourself, pay a web designer to design a site for you, or use a free and simple cms (content management system) like WordPress or Joomla. For the beginner starting out, I would suggest WordPress. It’s easy to setup, there are tons of great FREE WordPress themes available, and it only takes a few minutes to get started. Here are a few tutorials to get you going.

What cool features should I include?

Kids like to be “wowed” and entertained. Their minds are moving a mile a minute and need to be stimulated every step of the way. Your new kids website should have photos, tons of pictures of kids, drawings, animations, videos, flashy graphics, sound and definitely games.

What topics do kids care about?

Kids are interested in many different topics, so you really could build a website about anything under the sun! Here is a list of possibly topics to consider while making a kids website.

• Animals/Pets – Great for kids who like all kids of animals and love to share photos, stories and information.
• Arts/Crafts – Especially great for children who like drawing, painting, scrapbooking, pottery, designing, sewing, drawing cartoons or writing.
• Books/Stories – Children who love to read can list their favorite books or even write their own stories with drawings included.
• Dinosaurs – Some kids love anything related to the prehistoric era. They are amazed at dinosaurs and how huge and powerful they were. This site can share stories, exhibits and books related these prehistoric creatures.
• Music – Create a website for kids who love playing instruments, singing or performing. You can gather information on local concerts, clubs and even equipment to rent.
• School Subjects – Many kids love to learn. Create a website on science projects, math problems or history lessons to stimulate their brains.
• Outer Space – Topics for kids would include space camps, history, photos from the moon, astronauts and even aliens!
• Physical Activities – This kind of website for kids is geared around outdoor activities like skateboarding, rollerblading, bicycling, hiking and walking. You can give tips on the best equipment, the best places to go and share photos or videos.
• Coloring – Kids love to color. A great website idea is to allow kids to create pictures online, add color and print the final results.
• Comics – Favorite superheroes like Spiderman, Superman, Ironman, the Transformers and much more!
• Girls Interests – Makeup, dressing up, sleep overs, hairstyles, dancing, clothes, gossips, and BOYS are all topics which girls are interested in.
• Boys Interests – Sports, baseball cards, skateboards, video games and afterschool activities could be some possible website topics for boys.
• Online Games – Online gaming sites are just as popular as traditional gaming systems. Create a site where kids can come, play games and record their scores.
• Reviews – This could be a kids website about their favorite books, movies, video games, pets and hobbies.
• Sports Teams – You can create a website around kids sports teams, upload the team schedule, contact info, weekly scores and photos from recent games.
• Television/Movies – Create a website for kids about their favorite tv shoes, movies and cartoons. Kids love watching tv and love swapping stories with friends.
• Video Games – A kids website  on the latest Wii, Playstation, Xbox or NintendoDS games. You can even create a place to sell or exchange games with other users.

5 Tips on What NOT to put on a kids website

1. Confusing language – Kids need information that’s easy for them to understand. Use language and jargin they can relate to without jumping into different topics on one page.
2. Large animations or graphics – Don’t overload your website with too many animations or flashing objects. Not only do they take time to load, depending on how fast a visitors internet speed is, the website may not load at all.
3. Pop-ups – Kids are unaware of how pop-ups work and don’t realize they maybe opening up their home computer to viruses and/or inappropriate content. Don’t confuse kids by tricking them into clicking advertising.
4. Broken links – Kids are savvy with computers, but having broken links on your website is confusing and will eventually cause a new visitor to leave your site. Be sure that all internal and external links are in working order and send users to the correct pages.
5. Loud music or sounds – Music can add to the excitement of your website, but just in case a visitor doesn’t want to hear it, always have a mute or stop button visible.

5 Tips to Keep Kids Safe Online

There are many ways to ensure kids safety while visiting your website. With all the news about kids being harmed via the internet, you always have to make sure you are doing everything to keep them out of harms way.

1. Always make sure they have their parent permission to sign up at your website, by entering their parents email address for confirmation.
2. Do not ask for a child’s full name, address, phone number or the name of their school. Keep personal information private while online.
3. Do not allow kids to post photos of themselves which can be viewed as in appropriate and don’t have anything to do with the purpose of the website.
4. Monitor conversations, chat and comments posted by kids and report any harmful  or potentially threatening messages to authorities.
5. It’s hard to verify the real ages of people online, so try to limit personal and private chats between underage visitors, which may include instant messaging and chat rooms.

Great Kids Examples of Kids Websites

American Girl

Sesame Street

Disney Playhouse

Lego Games

Nick Jr.

Cartoon Network

When entrepreneurs what to archive results and make sales, the most effective way is to build a landing page.

What is a Landing Page?

A landing page is similar to a website (or web page) but has a completely different purpose than a standard website.

A typical website would include information about your services or product and information about your company. It will usually have an easy navigation that would help guide a new visitor through your website to explore and learn as much about your offering as possible.

On the other hand a landing page only has one function, a call to action and nothing else. Everything on this one page would focus on a visitor completing one specific task – making a sale. This might include, watching a video, reading a testimonial, giving your their email address or visiting an affiliate website.

Landing pages most likely will not have a navigation, except a link to whatever it is you want them to view. The less options a new visitors have to click away from the message of the landing page the better. This way you would be laser targeting your audience to focus on one track and one track only.

Having a landing page with little to no options, is an effective way to generate leads for a specific product. Many times a new visitor will be offered a free gift on this page for filling out a form, completing a survey or joining a mailing list. If any of those options are your goal, then the main focus of the page would be to provide supporting evidence and compelling information about that free gift and the benefits of signing up.

Types of Landing Pages and Examples

So now that you have a basic understanding of the purpose of a landing page, lets discuss a few types. There are 7 basics types of landing pages with examples of each type.

Click Throughs –  This is a the simplest type of landing page. The purpose is to provide details about an offer or product, explaining the benefits and features with the hopes it will convince a prospect to make a purchase.

Lead Capturing – Also referred to as squeeze pages, the purpose of these types of landing pages is to gather personal information for the visitor (e.g name, email address, phone number, etc.) Normally there are no links or navigation, only a form to submit your details and often an incentive is offered in exchange for this data.

The Infomercial - Just as the name states these are considered the equivalent to infomercials in the online marketing world. They tend to be narrow and extremely long so that a visitor has all the information they need to make an informed purchased all on one page. The more a person reads, the more they get sucked into the sales message, which ultimately ends with a call to action (BUY NOW!) button at the bottom.

Viral – Often created by large companies in order to create an internet buzz about a new product or service. This type of landing page in done in order to build brand awareness and usually include flashy games or funny videos.

Microsite (or Minisities) – A microsite is a small and supplementary website which provides specific information to a larger campaign or business. Its usually more than a single page, but is still considered a type of landing page. You will often see this type of landing page utilized by car manufactures and motion pictures.

Product Information – This is a common style of landing page used in the retail industry. This the main page of a website that houses all information related to the product for sale. This kind of landing age will also come come with a navigation, links and well designed graphics.

Website as a Landing Page – This is the least effective type of landing of of all the options listed above. Why? Because it has way too many distractions and can often confuse a first time visitor. It often has link, videos, features, graphics, advertising and maybe even a few interactive elements. When a new visitor arrives to your homepages it easier for them to become overwhelmed by the choices and leave the page without viewing your intended message.

Which Type of Landing Page is the Best?

Well, that hard to answer because it really just depends on the nature of your business and your ultimate goals. While some may argue sending visitors to your homepage may be less effective than a standalone landing page, the product you’re selling and your audience should really be the deciding factor.

1. Find a Goal – Before even considering creating your first landing page you should figure  out your ultimate goal. Whether it’s to sell a products, collect personal information, increase mailing list subscribers or visiting an affiliates website – the goal should be highly focus, so your visitors won’t get lost in an array of unnecessary information.

2. Design a Direct Path to the Call to Action – The last thing you visitors to do is visitors wandering off to another page before completing the call to action. It’s best to remove all distractions include links to other pages or outside advertisers.

3. Stay Consistent – Your message, style of writing and overall design should be the same across all forms of media – whether it’s print, email or online. New visitors don’t want to guess if they are on the right website because it’s looks completely different than the flyer they saw on a bulletin board. For the best results, be sure to reuse the same headlines, snippets of the content and graphics, so that people know they’ve arrived at the right place.

4. Keep the Message Simple and Direct – It’s best to keep the message of your landing page simple and above the fold – meaning at the top half of your website. If a user has to scroll down too many times to figure out what your offer is about, or than likely they will get frustrated and leave.

5. Make the Content “Scan-able”- Most readers want access to information quickly and often don’t have time read each and every word on your website, which is why making websites scan-able is so important. Make sure headlines, sub-headings, graphics and other multimedia quickly lead to the call to action so visitors can learn about the offer, how it will benefit them and take action.

6. Use Graphics and Other Multimedia – Minimize the use of empty white space by adding graphics, videos, and other multimedia. Also use various font sizes and colors (in the headings) to show the importance of certain content and increase “scan-ability”. It’s best to stick with a color scheme of no ore than 2 to 3 colors (including black) to reduce the busyness of the page.

7. Use Forms to Collect Personal Information – Using web forms helps engage a website visitor to complete the form, by keeping it brief. Online forms are typically the first step of the sales process, not to scare your visitor or deter a potential sale. Start by asking for a person’s name and email address in order to keep in contact in the future.

8. Use a Privacy Policy – If you decide to collect personal information through your landing page, it’s important to let your visitors know how their information will be used. The last thing a person wants is to sign up for future updates on a product or service, to find out they have just been added to the national junk mail list. Provide a link to your privacy policy so that users can be reassured that their personal information won’t be sold or shared with another company.

9. Track Your Results – Implement a website analytics program, Like Google Analytics (which is free). These types of program allow you to understand how your website is performing. It gives you a birds-eye view of who came to your site, what pages they visited and what links they clicked on. This information will have you determine which areas of your landing page need to be improved.

10. Develop a Test Plan - Add and remove different elements on your landing page, including multimedia and copy to learn which placements work best.

The designs were both created for WordPress, but because of their simplicity I thought they would be great options to convert into Tumblr Themes. So stay tuned, They are both about 50% completed and should be done soon.

WordPress Versions: Rio Theme & City Dreams

Below are screenshots of my working designs. They may differ in the final version, but will essentially look just like these.

Rio Tumblr Theme

City Dreams Tumblr Theme

** disclaimer – disregard the nudity in this theme, all images are owned by Amy & Pink **

So I finally got around to updating my Be Original Tumblr theme. The pagination is simple, but fits with the design of the theme and the color can be changed within the Customize/Appearance section of you Tumblr’s admin section.

Feel free to comment below if you have any issues, I will try and get back to you as soon as possible! Thanks!

Download Latest Version

View Demo

Theme Information

What is Posterous?

Posterous is the dead simple way to put anything online using email. If you can use email, you can create your own website instantly. Simply compose an email using your preferred email service (i.e. Gmail, yahoo, AOL, etc.). Attach photos, music, videos or documents and send an email to post@posterous.com. The folks at Posterous will do all the rest for you!

Posterous includes a unique FREE service which will autopost your posted emails to all the other services you use, like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr and much more.

It’s also great for group or family related blogs. You can add multiple contributors to a site by using their email address. Once the invites are sent, those users don’t have to register – they can email photos directly to your group blog.

Posterous is NOT a micro blog. There’s nothing micro about it! There are no limits to what you can post. There’s nothing Posterous can’t do.

You can try it now by emailing post@posterous.com without even setting up an account! How awesome is that!

My Posterous Review

Posterous is a great option for individuals and groups who want an easy to use interface for blogging. Although the available free Posterous themes are limited (compared to Tumblr), I’m optimistic about the growth and expansion of this feature. Below is a list of popular features you might be looking for with choosing a free blogging service.

• Documents – Emailing documents to Posterous is easy. Create and email and attach the file you would like to post. Posterous accepts doc, ppt, pdf, jpg, gif, png and much more! Posterous will host everything and publish it online immediately.
• Photos – You can attach one photo (of any size) and Posterous will resize to a web friendly and post it. If you attach more than one photo in the same message, they will automatically create a good looking image gallery.
• Music - Attach a mp3 and Posterous will drop your file into a web mp3 player so that your readers can listen to it right there in their web browsers.
• Video – This is one of the best features of Posterous. No more uploading videos! Email your video directly to Posterous and they will transcode your video so that you can see it in a flash player right there in your browser. It will even play on an iPhone without flash.
• Links - Any links emails to Posterous will be posted as direct links. If you post a link to a Youtube Video, Posterous will automatically turn it into a YouTube embedded player for your new post. As well as embed players for the following sites: YouTube, Google Video, Hulu, Funny Or Die, Omnisio, MixWit, Justin.TV, Fliggo, Vimeo, motionbox, TED Talks, Viddler, Dailymotion, Blip.tv, Revver, TeacherTube, GodTube, seesmic, and Brightcove.
• Autoposting - If you also have accounts on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, or other networks – with Posterous you no longer need to post to them manually! Post to Posterous by email and we’ll update all the other communities you are a part of. Posterous supports Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, Movable Type, LiveJournal and Xanga.
• Privacy – Sure your site can be private, which is especially useful for family related websites/blogs. By using Posterous, you can set a password on your site so only the readers you want can see it. They don’t need to create an account to see your site, just enter the password you give them. You can also make a single post private by emailing it to private@posterous.com. We’ll send you back a secret URL to that post. (see more on privacy)
• Groups – Posterous can be used for group sites. You can add your friends or Family’s addresses to any Posterous site you control. Posterous groups are useful for families, sports teams, etc. to share photos and video. No registration required, no software to learn, no hoops to jump through.
• Tags – To tag and organize your posts, simply create them in the subject of your email, by using the syntax ((tag: apple, gadgets)).
• Bookmarklet - Posterous has a bookmarklet that is very intuitive. It automatically extracts photos, video, music, and text from the sites you are on. Get started and install it now.
• Custom Domain Names – If you have already registered a domain name (they are only $1.99 at RocketFireHosting.com) and would like to use Posterous for hosting your blog, it’s no problem with Posterous. Just set up the DNS and run with it. More info is here.
• Mobile Access – Just like many other free blogging services, Posteruos offers the ability to post on the go using their mobile service. Whether you have an iPhone, Blackberry, Palm, or Windows Mobile device, you have an internet enabled camera in the palm of your hand.
• Storage Space – With Posterous you get up to 1 GB of space for personal use, which is more than enough to get you started. However if you need more, you can always email them. However they will be rolling out more space and unlimited premium accounts in the months ahead.
• Google Analytics – Posterous offers a quick and easy Google Analytics integration in order to monitor who is viewing your website. They have 5 easy steps to get you started.

Posterous vs. Tumblr

Tumblr and Posterous are very similar free blog hosting services. They have many of the same overlapping features, but the two that stand out are:

1. The ability to email posts directly to your account.
2. Autoposting to various social networks. (Tumblr does offer something similar, but the list of supported sites is limited).

Posterous Themes and Customization

Now out of all the wonderful features I mentioned about Posterous, this is the one that is the most lacking, but I’m sure we will see a surge in free Posterous themes soon. I tried to Google “free Posterous themes” but wasn’t able to locate relevant results. In this case Tumblr is the clear winner. You can free Tumblr themes almost anywhere and more are being added to their Tumblr Theme Garden every week.

I plan on learning to make a few Posterous templates myself and adding them to my free templates section, but in the meantime you also get some from Obox-Designs. They were the only place I found that had quality Posterous Themes.

Posterous is FREE!

Like Tumblr, Posterous is a free service. Later, they will be adding premium features, but there will always be a useful free version you can use. In addition, Posterous is working hard to make their service better every single day. But if you need something that they don’t have yet? Just send them an email at help@posterous.com.

How to Delete a Posterous Account

This is probably the biggest downside of using Posterous. Posterous doesn’t make it easy for you to delete your account. They are currently working on adding a delete button inside you account, but until then feel free to email Vincent Chu directly vince [at] posterous [dot] com or help [at] posterous [dot] com and they’ll remove your account of it ASAP.

Whether you choose Posterous or Tumblr for your free blogging service I don’t think you will disappointed. I think both services has their pros and cons. However, not being able to remove an account always gives me an uneasy feeling, so I’m hoping this is resolved soon.

Happy Blogging!

About a week ago  NetTuts posted a FULL video series called Tumblr Theme Design: Start to Finish. I can’t tell you how excited I was! This is what I’ve been looking for.

**Update: Check out my review of the new Theme Tumblr Like a Pro eBook, by Jeffery Way. In Theme Tumblr Like a Pro, NetTuts+ manager Jeffrey Way shows you just how much you can do with Tumblr, while still maintaining its core principle: simplicity. I think this book a better option than paying for the subscription to NetTuts, but feel free to read the rest of this article anyway!

What is NetTuts?

Before I give you details on the video series, let me give you a little background on NetTuts. NetTuts is a membership website which costs only $9 (and I am a very proud and satisfied member). They offer some of the most detailed and easy to follow video tutorials available online.

I initially signed up because I wanted more tutorials on building WordPress Themes from scratch and was delightfully surprised when I saw the Tumblr Theme Design video series appear in my Google Reader feed.

NetTuts not only gives you tutorials for the web, but also includes a membership to Psd Plus (cool Photoshop tutorials), Ae Plus (Illustrator tutorials), Audio Plus (audio editing and effects tutorials) and Vector Plus (vector based tutorials).

NetTuts has over 5,000 happy and loyal customers. As a member of NetTuts each week  brand new videos are posted to help expand you skills as a developer. The Plus tutorials is an investment in your skills as a web developer and they want to make sure it pays off. Because of this, each Plus tutorial teaches skills that professional web developers can use to add extra value for clients (or personal projects) and, in doing so, add extra value to your business.

What does it Cost?

Plus membership is $9 a month, or $22 for three months, or $78 for one year. For the cost of a magazine subscription you can get access to all of the following:

• Weekly video lessons by industry leaders;
• Access to all past and future video lessons;
• Sought-after techniques in web development across a range of common coding languages and frameworks;
• Access to our Tuts+ Dashboard, bonus content and features.
• Full access to Net Plus, Audio Plus, Ae Plus and Vector Plus.

Is it Worth it?

Well heck yeah NetTuts is worth it! And if you’re not satisfied, you can get your money back, in full. It’s their 100% money back guarantee. They even offer easy to follow instructions on how to cancel your subscription.

What’s included in the Tumblr Video Series?

• A downloadable zip file containing all the associated files
• 8 excellent quality video screencasts
  • Intro
  • Slicing
  • Markup and Tumblr Tags
  • Coding the CSS
  • Configuration Options
  • Custom Fonts
  • Slideout Panel Html and CSS
  • jQuery and Complete Project
• Associated Fonts
• All images

From the NetTuts Website:

Tumblr’s popularity, over the last year, has increased exponentially. The reason why is quite simple: Tumblr is flexible, powerful, and – most importantly, a pleasure to work with. Unfortunately, there aren’t many training resources available for the platform yet. In this video series, we’ll go through the process of taking a Tumblr theme, designed in Photoshop, and converting it into a fully working theme. Download this mammoth video training series!

Why should you pay for the membership?

Well there are two reasons:

1. There is NO OTHER TUTORIAL available online like this. Sure Tumblr offers a free help page for building custom themes, but honestly it was just too hard for me to follow.
2. If you don’t want to continue. Pay NetTuts the measly $9, download the tutorial and cancel your membership. Simple right?

Who is this video tutorial is good for?

• You have a good (but minimal) general knowledge of CSS/Xhtml
• You already have a psd ready for slicing
• You are familiar with Tumblr themes but would like detailed information on how to customize it
• You are a beginner, but have the desire to broaden your skillset

If none of these reasons apply you to, consider downloading a free Tumblr theme.

My First Tumblr Theme

I blew past the first few NetTuts videos in just a few hours. Whats’ great about the video is that I was able to pause or rewind when the Jeffery (the host) was going too fast.  The instructions were organized and well planned that even a beginner keep up. I am a web designer but my coding experience is limited. I am comfortable editing CSS, but building a website on my own is another story.

I was so inspired by what I learn I decided to jump in and create my own Tumblr theme. It has taken me a little more than a week, but it’s about 95% finished and I will be submitting it to the Tumblr Gallery when it’s complete. It’s called Be Original and was inspired by my favorite desktop wallpaper designed by Adam Betts.

What do you think? The tutorial even teaches you how to create this cool sliding panel on the left (where the See More button is) that gives a visitor access to additional information.

So what are you waiting for, sign up at NetTuts and getting started!

** Update: The Be Original Tumblr theme is now complete as has been submitted to Tumblr. I am hoping it will be added to the theme garden soon.  But in the meantime you can get it here –> Be Original Tumblr Theme .

Also, don’t forget to check out my review of the new Theme Tumblr Like a Pro eBook, by Jeffery Way. In Theme Tumblr Like a Pro, NetTuts+ manager Jeffrey Way shows you just how much you can do with Tumblr, while still maintaining its core principle: simplicity. This is a great resource to add to your web designing library.

Try It Here and let me know how you like it.

More About Picmeleo

Picmeleo is a free online photo editor that any third-party developers can integrate to their website. They offer the smartest way to let  users upload and edit images.

Picmeleo was created in order to provide a better tool for online photo editing. Third-party developers can easily add Picmeleo to their web service and launch the light-weight yet powerful photo editor whenever their users need to to upload or to edit an image. By adding Picmeleo to your web service, you can now engage your users with even richer content. Unlike other photo editors, Picmeleo opens within your site and your users never leave your service.

Custom Tools – Unlike other photo editors, you can customize the tools of Picmeleo any time you want in the online admin interface. Sometimes photo editors can be overwhelming. Picmeleo allows you to pick the tools your users really need. Choose from a growing list of tools including Crop, Scale, Rotate, Auto-fix, Filters and many more.

Multilanguage Support- Picmeleo has built-in multilanguage support and you can easily set the language in the online admin interface. We are still working on different language options at the moment, stay tuned for more.

Picmeleo can be utilized in numerous places. Think of these examples:

There is no right side. All blogs are websites. Even if your blog only has one photo and a link to an email address, IT’S A WEBSITE! It would be a crappy website indeed, but a website none-the-less.

WordPress is considered blogging software, but in actually it’s not. WordPress is on the framework and core set of files which allows you to manage a website without an technical knowledge. To help better understand this concept and (of course prove a point), below is a list of 15 completely awesome websites that are powered by WordPress, but don’t resemble a blog.

Many websites online are quietly running the WordPress content management system in the background that aren’t typically categorized as blogs. Why? Because WordPress is free and the most popular open source platform to date. It’s easy to use with hundreds of tutorials online, quick to set up, there are thousands of good looking and free themes available.

Cara De Poker

Champagne Warehouse

Computer CC

eRate360

Flamanville

Frameworx

InboundPass

International Screening Solutions

Network Solutions

Quasar

Ript Apparel

Sanguine

StudioPress

Verio

Watersports Guru