MS Word Tip for Article Marketers.

Works with Microsoft Word 2000 and 2003


Writing articles is an excellent way to boost your search engine position. (For additional information on article writing as a SEO strategy, see my class Using eMarketing to Grow your Business.)

Whether you submit your articles to print or online publishers, a publisher will usually give you a word count limit.

Here are a couple of ways to count the number of words in your document.

The traditional way.

Go to your Tools Menu, and click on WordCount.



This works great, however, wouldn't it be more helpful to have that word count right in your document, so you could easily see it as you're working on the document?

Here's another way to update your word count, frankly, it's the method I prefer.

Click the Insert menu, and choose Field.

When the dialog box pops up, select the NUMWORDS code. This box shows the MS Word 2003 version, Word 2000 is slightly different.



This pops a field into your document that shows the number of words in your document.

Here's the key to making this work -- make sure the code is at the bottom of your document. You'll soon see why this is important.

Whenever you want to update the number of words in your document, put your cursor anywhere in the field and hit F9. Since the NUMWORDS field is the last item in your document, you're always only a couple of keystrokes away.

MS Publisher / WordArt Tip

To quickly change the fill or outline color of a WordArt object, select the object, and then click the fill or outline color buttons on the toolbar. The buttons are shown below.

Spell Check WordArt (Publisher)

Works with Microsoft Publisher 2000 and 2003


Publisher is a Microsoft desktop publishing software program used to create flyers, brochures, business cards and other marketing materials. I stumbled on Publisher in my local office supply store several years ago, and have not regretted the money invested in purchasing this program.

Microsoft Publisher comes with a feature called WordArt, which is also available in Microsoft Word. WordArt allows you to make special effects for text -- it ssentially turns text into a graphic. The WordArt gallery is shown below.



WordArt is often used to create headlines in flyers, brochures, etc.

Those of you who use Publisher know that Publisher will spell check your regular text, but not WordArt.

Here is a quick way to spell check your WordArt items in Publisher.

• Type the text you want to use to create a WordArt Object as regular text.
• Run spell check and make the corrections.
• Highlight the text.
• Click on the WordArt button on your toolbar. The button is shown below:
  
  
• Publisher automatically creates a WordArt tem out of the selected text.
• Complete the process by editing the style of your WordArt object to fit your requirements.