Successful online business owners know the importance of providing updated website content. When you add helpful interactive online tools and resources, visitors are more likely to bookmark your site and return to it more often.
There are online tools that enable you to add informative interactive content to your website relatively easily. No programming skills are required and it doesn’t take long to create a databased application or even a full presentation like those found in Power Point. For example, Blox.com offers hundreds of free templates to get you started.
Using dynamic HTML, you won’t have to download any software or use JavaScript. There is a short sign-up to go through before you get access to the goodies, then you can pick and choose from any or all of the 16 categories of tools.
There are two applications at Blox.com: BrainStorm and BrainMatter.
BrainStorm is an application that allows you to create online slideshows and presentations. BrainStorm slide shows can be built and then viewed by anyone with a modern browser. BrainStorm can be used to present proposals, training, sales pitches, demos, earnings announcements, portfolios and business plans.
You can even build an entire website as a BrainStorm presentation or instantly distribute web publishing to non-programmers by letting them create and serve the content through BrainStorm.
You can upload your own graphics and customize your presentation to fit your website design. Save it to your Blox.com account and it will be stored in your user area on the Blox.com servers and backed up daily. You and your visitors can access it from anywhere in the world from any browser. Extra security measures ensure that your data is protected by Blox.com’s firewall so your data is safer than it would be on most servers.
BrainMatter is Blox.com’s spreadsheet and calculator application.
The spreadsheets are databases that can be modified easily so you can create something unique for your website. With hundreds of templates to choose from you are likely to find something already developed that will add value to your site.
Not sure what this is all about? Well if you have ever seen sites that have calculators for dieting or figuring out your mortgage rate, you may have already tried out some of these neat little tools. You will find templates for keeping track of personal, home and business goals and activities and custom create them for your own website.
For instance, if you have a family site there are neat applications like: Baby’s Vaccination Record, Rate Your Kid, Rate Your Folks, or games like Tic, Tac, Toe. Your visitors can use the calculator to enter their own information and calculate the answer to just about any question you can think of that requires a numerical calculation.
Even if you decide not to use one on your website, there are many helpful templates for your own personal use. For example, if you create a spreadsheet to record income and expenses, all your calculations are made automatically. When you are finished, you can email it to your accountant. The recipient of your email will receive your message with a link to your spreadsheet. It is an efficient and secure way to exchange financial information online.
If you follow the stock market you can create your own spreadsheet and have it updated from the Web. Each time you view it, your figures will automatically update to give you up-to-the- minute information on your portfolio.
The best way to see how these applications can enhance your website is to sign-up and sample a few of the ready-made templates. They take a few moments to load, but it is worth the wait. You just might find something that will give your website added value and add opportunities for your visitors to interact.