Today, I thought I would share with you how I make graphics for my hyperlocal blog. I’m of the opinion that graphics, and photos and bright colors attract attention like bees to honey. I try to do that with with hyperlocal web site, Monroe Scoop, Monroe, NC. I do not have any formal training in graphics or art. I design what looks good to me. If I’m satisfied, that’s all I can do.

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Today, I thought I would share with you how I make graphics for my hyperlocal blog. I’m of the opinion that graphics, and photos and bright colors attract attention like bees to honey. I try to do that with with hyperlocal web site, Monroe Scoop, Monroe, NC. I do not have any formal training in graphics or art. I design what looks good to me. If I’m satisfied, that’s all I can do.

I work 99% from my Mac for all of my video and graphics. I have a MacBookPro 17″ and I use a program that is part of the Apple iWork Suite of programs called Keynote. I’m using iWork 08 but there is a newer version now available, Apple iWork ’09.

In my opinion, Keynote is sort of like Power Point on steroids. I”m not a PowerPoint user, but there is no way it can be as powerful and user friendly as Keynote. I have found Keynote to possible be the most useful application on my Mac. To say I love it, would be an understatement.

I have not made a screencast like below in a long, long time. I’m going to show you some of the steps I do using Keynote to create graphics for my hyperlocal blog. If you work primarily on a Windows PC, this screen cast will not help you. If you own a Mac and you are not using Keynote, this screen cast should open your eyes to the wonderful possibilities for design using Keynote. What you will observe in this screencast is just the tip of the iceberg for Apple Keynote. It does so many wonderful things. You can even make movies, but I’ll cover some of those details in a future post. I hope you enjoy it. If you have not added the Apple iWork Suite of software to your Mac, you should do so right away. It’s incredible what this user-friendly powerful software can do.

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I wrote about time commitment in my last article. Once you clear this hurdle in your mind you can move forward. I believe an important consideration will be what to call your site and selection of a domain name. I do not believe a domain name will make or break your site but I think it can be helpful. I would look for something as short as possible and catchy.

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I wrote about time commitment in my last article. Once you clear this hurdle in your mind you can move forward. I believe an important consideration will be what to call your site and selection of a domain name. I do not believe a domain name will make or break your site but I think it can be helpful. I would look for something as short as possible and catchy.

I’ll use the name of my site as an example. Monroe Scoop. I didn’t spend a lot of time determining what I would call my site. I came up with something I liked rather quickly. This will not always be the case. The selection of your domain name could be frustrating because your image will be set around the name. I live in Monroe, NC. I knew I would be targeting the keyword of Monroe, NC to take advantage of search engine traffic. The word Scoop also came pretty natural to me. Whenever I hear the word “scoop”, I either think of ice cream or a breaking news story. Monroescoop.com felt natural and it rolled off the ol’ tongue easily. I imagined how people would be telling their friends, “Did you read that story this morning on the Monroe Scoop”? I imagined a simple logo design. I made my decision. I only hoped the domain was available and fortunately it was.

I live just outside of Charlotte, NC and their are several small townships that are almost little cities by themselves. During this naming process, I envisioned a network of “Scoops” that included several of the local townships as well. Do you live in a town surrounded by smaller progressive communities? You need to think of each of these communities as a hyperlocal niche unto itself. After a quick Google keyword search for these little towns, it was easy for me to determine which of these communities receive a fair amount of search engine traffic for the keyword of the town name. I selected the 3 or 4 that would compliment my flagship site and I went ahead and purchased those domain names also. Now I have a little network of local town domain names just waiting to be built and I don’t have to worry about someone taking my idea and feeding off a name I have built.

A domain name only costs around $10. Buy a name you want today. Don’t wait. By the way, if you have not bought your own personal name, check on it while you are at it. If it’s available, buy it. Don’t be frugal and think it will be there forever. None of us have any idea where the internet will be in 5 years. Owning your own domain name could prove to be very valuable.

To start this process, I use BLUEHOST.COM to buy my domain names and to also host my web sites. There are many companies that do the same. Godaddy is probably a popular one that comes to mind. I find Go Daddy a little clunky and confusing at times. I’m not particularly happy with their interface. It’s a personal thing for me. Bluehost is easy to navigate and their customer service is top notch. I will say this about Go Daddy, they also have excellent customer service. You get to talk to human beings that speak english.

Go ahead and give your domain name some thought. Start checking the availability of the names that you favor. If you find one that you like and it’s available, I wouldn’t wait. Go ahead and make the purchase. You can sit on it as long as you like. It’s only $10 a year. I promise that there are others in your community with the same thoughts and they are trying to come up with a name also. Beat your competition to the punch.

If you have never taken out a domain name in your life and feel a little intimidated, don’t be. It’s an extremely easy process. A while back I made a screen cast for monroescoop.com explaining just how easy buying a domain name is and giving you step by step video instructions. Check it out below.

All comments are moderated. Spammers go somewhere else, you are wasting your time.