Google Acquires SocialDeck - What Does This Mean For Google’s Future?

It seems that in recent times, Google has made some mistakes when coming up with new programs. Google Accelerator, Google Answers, and Google Wave are all examples of programs that flopped. And with the recent merger of Yahoo and Bing, Google might be losing its grip on the search engine monopoly. However, it seems that Google may have something up its sleeve. Recent acquisitions reveal that the Internet giant has big plans for their social network platform that is currently under development. And it seems they are taking every measure to ensure that this next project of theirs won't be a flop, and can even rival social media giant Facebook.

This is evident by the fact that Google recently purchased social gaming developer SocialDeck, which is one of five acquisitions made in August. The popular games created by SocialDeck, such as Pet Hero and Color Connect, are available across a variety of platforms, including Blackberry, iPhone, and Facebook. SocialDeck uses their own social gaming platform technology, which enables simultaneous game play across mobile devices and social networks.

With the acquisition of SocialDeck, Google will be able to integrate SocialDeck's games into their future social network. In addition, Google is looking to either purchase or work out deals with other social gaming companies which work over multiple platforms, such as Zynga, Playdom, and Playfish, which all currently produce games popular on Facebook, such as Mafia Wars.

It seems Google may have some big plans in store. Chris Morrison of InsideSocialGames.com mentioned the possibility that Google is working on a viral platform for the web and its own mobile devices, like Android. Earlier this summer, Google purchased social application developer Slide, and also has purchased other companies involved in social gaming and other aspects of social networking. Just days before acquiring SocialDeck, Google purchased Angstro, which developed Knx.to, an address book that combines a user's connections from social networks. Google also has acquired Jambool, which makes "virtual currency," and visual shopping engine Like.com. Each acquisition is another piece to the puzzle of what Google is planning.

Google's activity has been generating a lot of buzz over the Internet. Many speculate, "Will this social network," rumored to be called Google Me, "be the ultimate social network? Will it dethrone Facebook as king of social media?" While the growing popularity of Facebook caused many people to flee from MySpace, there is no guarantee we’ll see people fleeing from Facebook to join Google Me in the same manner, but it's certainly a possibility. With confusing and ever-changing privacy policies, some Facebook users might be eager to make the transition to a new social network. There are also rumors that the way Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was negatively portrayed in box-office smash The Social Network might turn away Facebook users if they have another option for social media.

While some are predicting success for Google, others are not so optimistic. Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land, has taken note of Google's unsuccessful attempts at social media, such as Google Buzz, and doesn't foresee Google Me as an instant success. He states, "So far, Google's failed to have a hit in the social-networking space, swinging and largely missing with both Orkut and Buzz. It's unclear whether a third, new service (or a renamed Buzz) will do that much better."

Negative press regarding Google Buzz alone has caused some to be doubtful that Google can gain a foothold in the realm of social media. Harry McCracken, the founder of tech site Technologizer.com, believes that the failure of Buzz shows that people may not want their relationship with Google to be a foundation for social networking.

When Google's social platform emerges, possibly later this year, we'll see how these applications integrate and whether or not Google will achieve the success it's after. If Google has made wise choices and can provide a social site that provides users what they want, and has features not found on Facebook, including clear-cut privacy policies, Google Me just might prove to not be another Google Wave.
Read More..

Internet Explorer 8 Can Be Uninstalled In Latest Windows 7 Build

You might have noticed the legal battle between Microsoft and the European Union about the integration of Internet Explorer in the Windows operating system.The European Union is pressuring Microsoft to provide alternatives or ship the next installment without Internet Explorer much like the Media Player-less installations that are available in the European Union as well.


It should also be noted that uninstalling Internet Explorer 8 from the Windows 7 installation will not remove all of its components from the computer system. Microsoft has integrated Internet Explorer into the Windows operating system that it would practically require a full rewrite to get rid of it completely.



Only the actual Internet Explorer executable will be removed from the Windows 7 build if the option to remove Internet Explorer 8 is selected. Here are the steps to undertake to remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7:

* Enter the Control Panel and look at “All Control Panel Options”
* Click “Programs and Features”
* In the left sidebar, click “Turn Windows Features On or Off” (you will be thrown a UAC prompt if you elevated UAC)
* Wait for the list to load.
* Look for Internet Explorer 8 in the list and uncheck it.
* Click OK. You will see a prompt notifying you of a reboot.
* The machine will reboot once, configure things, and reboot again.

There is no word yet if the uninstallation of Internet Explorer in Windows 7 affects any other areas of the operating system. Several components but also third party tools use the rendering engine of Internet Explorer.

Read More..

7 Winning Search Engine Optimization Tactics

Search engine optimization should always be considered long before your website structure, colors, layout, and overall site design. But, the majority of people usually get caught up "in the moment"... thinking of riches instead of "how" they're going to attract more website visitors. This article is meant to get you back on track, and provide you with 5 winning search engine optimization tactics.

Identify Keywords
1. The single biggest mistake that most business owners make is trying to think of a "cool name" for their website, when they should have chosen a keyword-rich site name like 'prevent-corporate-bankruptcy.com' instead of SmithLawOffice.com' (as an example). Your potential customers search for keyword phrases... not business names... unless you're already a household name like Wal-Mart, eBay or Apple. Facing reality, many business owners gave up on websites ever helping their business a long time ago... usually because of a poor website name choice. And, it doesn't have to be this way.

Simply, discover what terms people are searching for. Identify the "action" keywords and phrases that people are actually using when they are searching Google, Yahoo, MSN or any of the other major search engines. I highly recommend looking for keyword phrases that incorporate the following keywords: buy, want, need, order, download, etc. I'm sure you're getting the idea now. Then, you need to purchase website names that are centered around the most popular keyword phrases. And, redirect these visitors to your current website. And, I promise that you can setup a website redirect in less than one minute... even if computers scare you. You just need to have access to your website hosting interface, with cPanel being the most popular choice.
Optimizing Your Web Page

2. After identifying a minimum of 10 keyword phrases, I recommend optimizing your current website pages' title tags, meta tags, image "alt" tags. You need to start using these keywords within your webpage content in bold text, underlined text, and as text links. Do not overuse these keywords though. These keywords should only comprise 4-6% of each page. So, if you have 500 words on a webpage, limit your keyword usage to 20-30 words. Most of the major search engines index every word of your page and compare them to your title META description and META keywords. So, you should never hide or add non-related keywords to your webpages: like Anna Kournakova, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, etc. This is a "black hat" tactic and should never be used, unless your want your website to be permanently banned by the search engine directories.

Most of the major search engines don't even consider the META keywords anymore, which is why the actual content of your webpages is becoming more and more important. Excessive repeating of keywords is considered as spamming, which will get your website penalized with a lower ranking. And, be sure mix your keywords in different combinations throughout the page and in your ALT tags, instead of using the same phrase over and over again.
Link Popularity

3. One of the most important factors to achieve a high ranking in the search engines is link popularity. The overall number of links to your web site is important, but the quality of the links are even more important. All the search engines are very fond of "on topic" links. Links from sites that contain your same keyword content and are focusing on the same topic as your site, are known as "on topic" links. Three of the best ways to get "on topic" quality backlinks are to comment on other industry-related blogs, make comments in industry-related forums, and to submit articles to article directories. Just make sure that you're adding comments or articles to high pagerank sites, avoiding low page rank sites.

Misspellings

4. Adding misspelled keywords within your META tags can also boost your website traffic, because many people are likely to misspell your keywords when browsing the search engine directories. As an example, here are several popular misspellings I found people making when they searched for a site submission service, as follows: "free search engine submision", "sumit", "subit", "search egnine submission", "submition", and "saerchengines".

Add Fresh Content

5. Adding fresh content to your website on a regular basis is another key factor that plays a critical role in your search engine rankings. Adding new content regularly gives your visitors a reason to come back. Search engine robots will also visit your website more often, once they notice that you update regularly. This is one of the main reasons why WordPress blogs are so popular right now. When visitors leave comments about blog posts you have made, the search engine bots see this as new content. And, it really helps your site rankings when a visitor makes a comment with a permalink back to their high pagerank site. This helps website owners save time, by allowing website visitors to create content for them.

Don't Kill the Search Engine Crawlers

Avoid using flash intro pages where it says "Click Here to Enter Site", because the search engines have a very difficult time indexing (seeing) anything beyond the intro page... unless you've submitted every webpage of your site to the search engine directories manually, which is very time consuming. Even if you use the alt attribute to specify alternate text for flash images, that text will not be anywhere near as important as real text on a main index page.

Provide Relevant Title Tags

7. Making your page titles simple, descriptive, relevant and "keyword rich" makes it easier for search engines to know what each page is about. Keyword rich titles help the search engine directories provide consumers with more relevant search results, helping them determine whether your website contains what they are trying to find. The title description is the most important element of your website design, after you have chosen your website domain name.


About The Author
Lee Kendrick has been featured by numerous magazines & article directories as a successful internet marketer, search engine optimization expert, and aspiring writer. Visit http://get-more-website-traffic.com to discover the tools, tips & "white hat" tactics that Lee uses to dominate Google on a daily basis. I also recommend registering for his 'Insane Website Traffic Tips' newsletter at http://leekendrick.com/internet-expert too.
Read More..

Website Sales Purpose

When designing a website, it is important that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin the design process...

What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?

Many companies use websites to establish their brand. Others use websites as a communication tool. Some companies see websites as sales vehicles and "billboards". Still others use their website as an educational tool. And some may be any combination of the above. The website must have a purpose in order for it to be effective.

What Is It That You Are Trying To Accomplish With The Website?

A strong understanding of the website will allow a webmaster to emphasize the action they want the website visitor to take on the website. By defining and understanding the purpose of the website, webmasters and publishers can better structure the information on the website. Information can be provided with the appropriate emphasis and navigation. An ideal website will lead the web visitor to take the action the webmaster wants.

Who Is Your Audience?

You must identify and understand your target audience. Understanding your demographic will allow you to cater content specific to that group.

What Are The Objectives Of The Website?

You also need to determine what the objective of your website is. What are you attempting to accomplish? Are you trying to sell something? Are you looking for downloads, or is sales your real objective? Is your website trying to promote a specific product or service? Do you want your visitors to take a specific action? Is the intent to profit from ad space in general or to have website visitor's click on specific ads? Are you trying to build a brand? Do you want visitors to purchase a product, or provide an email address?

When attempting to solicit a specific action, there are some general guidelines that you should follow. Your website should be designed to solicit the action you desire, so the navigation should intuitively lead the visitor to take the desired action. If clicking a link is the goal, then that link should be clearly indicated and prominent on the page. This will not only help insure that the maximum number of visitors will be able to adequately view and navigate your content, but it will also help prompt those visitors to take the action you wish to have occur.

For example: Many software companies struggle with the action they wish to solicit from the website visitor. Software companies and eBook publishers are often guilty of pushing users to download, at the expense of the actual sale. Some companies prefer to have users download prior to making a purchase decision, while others lose impulse purchasers by only pushing the download rather than the sale.

In Order To Maximize The Websites Sales Purpose And Objectives, Follow These Simple Steps...

Address Compatibility Issues

If a website visitor is unable to view the website's content, they are obviously going to be unable to complete the desired action. The compatibility issues could be related to technology or usability. Avoid using technologies that require the website visitor to download a plug-in before they can view the website content. If providing content using flash is important to you, you should also provide a flash-free version as well. Also, do not alienate website visitors who might have a disability -- use proper web construct, provide alt tags for images, and avoid using a color scheme that will cause confusion.

Define A Clear Navigation Path

A website's navigation should provide the visitor with a clear path. Information architecture is the organization and categorization of online content -- the process of creating clarity and organizing online information in a purposeful, and logical way. Prioritize and emphasize the most important items on the website. Give visitors a clear path to what they are seeking. Each and every page should intuitively provide them links to additional information and purchase options.

Minimize Distractions

Minimize choices and other website distractions. Website visitors should be provided a clear path of action. Do not provide the website visitor an abundance of choices -- studies show that a large number of choices often puts the consumer off. It is generally recommended that you provide no more than 3 choices. Keep your message concise and on-topic. Website visitors will often just scan a webpage rather than reading it, so bulleted lists and headlines might be used to emphasize your message.

It may sound like a cliche, but it's the little things that can make the biggest difference. Pay attention to all aspects of your website. Defining the specific website objectives and purpose will help to encourage the desired action or behavior from your website visitors.


About The Author
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.
Read More..

Google Web Search Basics

Whenever you search for more than one keyword at a time, a search engine has a default strategy for handling and combining those keywords. Can those words appear individually anywhere in a page, or do they have to be right next to each other? Will the engine search for both keywords or for either keyword?


Phrase Searches
Google defaults to searching for occurrences of your specified keywords anywhere in the page, whether side by side or scattered throughout. To return the results of pages containing specifically ordered words, enclose them in quotes, turning your keyword search into a phrase search , to use Google's terminology.

On entering a search for the keywords:

to be or not to be


Google will find matches where the keywords appear anywhere on the page. If you want Google to find you matches where the keywords appear together as a phrase, surround them with quotes, like this:

"to be or not to be"


Google will return matches in which only those words appear together (not to mention explicitly including stop words such as "to" and "or"; see the section "Explicit Inclusion" a little later).

Phrase searches are also useful when you want to find a phrase but aren't quite sure of the exact wording. This is accomplished in combination with wildcards, explained later in the chapter in "Full-Word Wildcards."

Basic Boolean
Whether an engine searches for all keywords or any of them depends on what is called its Boolean default . Search engines can default to Boolean AND (searching for all keywords) or Boolean OR (searching for any keywords). Of course, even if a search engine defaults to searching for all keywords, you can usually give it a special command to instruct it to search for any keyword. Lacking specific instructions, the engine falls back on its default setting.

Google's Boolean default is AND, which means that if you enter query words without modifiers, Google will search for all your query words. For example, if you search for:

snowblower Honda "Green Bay"


Google will search for all the words. If you prefer to specify that any one word or phrase is acceptable, put an OR between each:

snowblower OR snowmobile OR "Green Bay"

(Make sure you capitalize OR; a lowercase or won't work correctly.)

If you want to search for a particular term along with two or more other terms, group the other terms within parentheses, like so:

snowblower (snowmobile OR "Green Bay")

This query searches for the word "snowmobile" or phrase "Green Bay" along with the word "snowblower." A stand-in for OR, borrowed from the computer-programming realm, is the | (pipe) character, as in:

snowblower (snowmobile | "Green Bay")


Negation

If you want to specify that a query item must not appear in your results, prepend a (minus sign or dash):

snowblower snowmobile -"Green Bay"

This will search for pages that contain both the words "snowblower" and "snowmobile," but not the phrase "Green Bay."

Note that the symbol must appear directly before the word or phrase that you don't want. If there's space between, as in the following query, it won't work as expected:

snowblower snowmobile - "Green Bay"
Be sure, however, to place a space before the - symbol.

Explicit Inclusion
On the whole, Google will search for all the keywords and phrases that you specify (with the exception of those you've specifically negated with , of course). However, there are certain words that Google will ignore because they are considered too common to be of any use in the search. These words"I," "a," "the," and "of," to name a feware called stop words .

You can force Google to take a stop word into account by prepending a + (plus) character, as in:

+the king


Stop words that appear inside of phrase searches are not ignored. Searching for:

"the move" glam


will result in a more accurate list of matches than:

the move glam


simply because Google takes the word "the" into account in the first example but ignores it in the second.

Synonyms
Every so often, you get the feeling that you're missing out on some useful results because the keyword or keywords you've chosen aren't the only way to express what you're looking for.

The Google synonym operator, the ~ (tilde) character, prepended to any number of keywords in your query, asks Google to include not only exact matches, but also what it thinks are synonyms for each of the keywords. Searching for:

~ape


turns up results for monkey, gorilla, chimpanzee, and others (both singular and plural forms) of the ape or related family, as if you'd searched for:

monkey gorilla chimpanzee


along with results for some words you'd never have thought to include in your query.

Google figures out synonyms algorithmically, so you may be surprised to find results that your garden-variety thesaurus would not have suggested. (Synonyms are bolded along with exact keyword matches on the results page, so they're easy to spot.)

Number Range
One of the more difficult things to convey in an Internet search query is a rangeof dates, currency, size, weight, height, or any two arbitrary values.

The number range operator, .. (two periods), looks for results that fall inside your specified numeric range.

Looking for that perfect pair of Prada pumps, size 5 or 6? Try this for size:

prada pumps size 5..6


Perhaps you're looking to spend $800 to $1,000 on a nice digital SLR camera; Google for:

slr digital camera 3..5 megapixel $800..1000


The one thing to remember is always to provide some clue as to the meaning of the range, e.g., $, size, megapixel, kg, and so forth.

You can also use the number range syntax with just one number, making it the minimum or maximum of your query. Do you want to find some land in Montana that's at least 500 acres? No problem:

acres Montana land 500..


On the other hand, you might want to make sure that raincoat you buy for your terrier doesn't cost more than $30. That's possible too:

raincoat dog ..$30

[Google normally does not recognize special characters such as $ in the search process. But because the $ sign was necessary for the number feature, you can use it in all sorts of searches. Try the search "yard sale" bargains 10 and then "yard sale" bargains $10. Notice how the second search gives you far fewer results? That's because Google is matching $10 exactly]

Simple Searching and Feeling Lucky
The I'm Feeling Lucky™ button is a thing of beauty. Rather than giving you a list of search results from which to choose, you're whisked away to what Google believes is the most relevant page given your search (i.e., the first result in the list). Entering washington post and clicking the I'm Feeling Lucky button takes you directly to http://www.washingtonpost.com. Trying president will land you at http://www.whitehouse.gov.

Case Sensitivity
Some search engines are case-sensitive; that is, they search for queries based on how the queries are capitalized. A search for "GEORGE WASHINGTON" on such a search engine would not find "George Washington," "george washington," or any other case combination.

Google is case-insensitive. If you search for Three, tHRee, THREE, or even THREE, you get the same results.


Read More..

Steps to take for optimal Google indexing of your site.

The cornerstone of any good search engine is highly relevant results. Google's unprecedented success has been due to its uncanny ability to match quality information with a user's search terms. The core of Google's search results is based on a patented algorithm called PageRank.

There is an entire industry focused on getting sites listed near the top of search engines. Google has proven to be the toughest search engine for a site to do well on. Even so, it isn't all that difficult to get a new web site listed and begin receiving traffic from Google.

Learning the ins and outs of getting your site listed by a search engine can be a daunting task. There is a vast array of information about search engines on the Web, and not all of it is useful or proper. This discussion of getting your site into the Google database focuses on long-term techniques for successfully promoting your site through Google, helping you avoid some of the common misconceptions and problems that a new site owner might face.

Search Engine Basics

When you type a term into a search site, the engine looks up potential matches in its database and presents the most relevant web page matches first. How those web pages get into the database and, consequently, how you can get yours in there as well, is a three-step process:

A search engine visits a site with an automated program called a spider (sometimes called a robot). A spider is a program similar to a web browser that downloads a site's pages. It doesn't actually display the page anywhere; it just downloads the page data.

After the spider has acquired the page, the search engine passes the page to a program called an indexer, which is another robotic program that extracts most of the visible portions of the page. The indexer also analyzes the page for keywords, the title, links, and other important information contained in the code.

The search engine adds your site to its database and makes it available to searchers. The greatest difference between search engines is in this final step where ranking or result position for a particular keyword is determined.

Submitting Your Site to Google

The first step is to get your pages listed in the database, and there are two ways to go about this. The first is direct submission of your site's URL to Google via its "Add your URL to Google" page. To counter programmed robots, search engines routinely move submission pages around on their sites. You can find Google's submission page linked from its Help pages or Webmaster Info pages (http://www.google.com/addurl.html).

Visit Google's add URL page, enter the main index page for your site into the submission form, and press Submit. Google's spider (called GoogleBot) will visit your page, usually within four weeks. The spider will traverse all the pages on your site and add them to its index. Within eight weeks, you should be able to find your site listed in Google.

The second way to get your site listed is to let Google find you based on links that point to your site. Once GoogleBot finds a link to your site from a page that is already in its index, it will visit your site.

Google has been updating its database on a monthly basis for three years. It sends its spider out in crawler mode once a month, as well. Crawler mode is a special mode in which a spider traverses, or crawls, the entire Web. As it runs into page links, it indexes those pages in a never-ending attempt to download all the pages it can. Once your pages are listed in Google, they are revisited and updated on a monthly basis. If you frequently update your content, Google may index your search terms more often.

Once you are indexed and listed in Google, the next question for a site owner naturally is, "How can I rank better under my applicable search terms?"

The Search Engine Optimization Template

This is my general recipe for the ubiquitous Google. It is generic enough that it works well everywhere and is as close as I have come to a "one-size-fits-all" SEO (Search Engine Optimization) template.

Use your targeted keyword phrase:

In META keywords. It's not necessary for Google, but it is still a good habit. Keep your META keywords short (128 characters max, or 10 keywords).

In a META description. Keep your keywords near the left but as part of a full sentence.

In the title at the far left, but not as the first word.

In the top portion of the page in the first sentence of the first full paragraph (plain text: no bold, no italic, no style).

In an H3 or larger heading.

In bold (second paragraph if possible and anywhere except in the first usage on the page).

In italic (anywhere except in the first usage).

In a subscript/superscript.

In a URL (directory name, filename, or domain name). Do not duplicate the keyword in the URL.

In an image filename used on the page.

In the ALT tag of the image.

In the title attribute of the image.

In link text to another site.

In an internal link's text.

In the title attribute of all the targeted links in and out of the page.

In the filename of your external CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) or JavaScript file.

In an inbound link on the site (preferably from your home page).

In an inbound link from off the site (if possible).

In a link to a site that has a PageRank of 8 or better.

Other search engine optimization issues to consider include:

Use "last modified" headers if you can.

Validate the HTML. Some feel that Google's parser has become stricter at parsing instead of milder. It often misses an entire page because of a few simple errors; we have tested this thoroughly.

Use an HTML template throughout your site. Google can spot the template and parse it off. (Of course, this also means it is pretty good at spotting duplicate content.)

Keep the page as an .html or .htm extension. Any dynamic extension is a risk.

Keep the HTML below 20 KB; 5 to 15 KB is the ideal range.

Keep the ratio of text to HTML very high. Text should outweigh HTML by a significant amount.

Double-check your page in Netscape, Opera, and Internet Explorer. Use Lynx if you have it.

Use only raw hrEFs for links. Keep JavaScript far, far away from links. The simpler the link code, the better.

More traffic will come once you realize that 1 referral a day to 10 pages is better than 10 referrals a day to 1 page.

Don't assume that keywords in your site's navigation template are worth anything at all. Google looks for full sentences and paragraphs. Keywords just lying around orphaned on the page are not worth as much as when they are used in a sentence.

Brett Tabke

Read More..

Web Development And The Big Time Out

One of the great debilitators in online business is simply the perceived (or real) lack of time. Business owners are used to moving forward. An online web presence can make them feel tied to an office chair learning skills they aren’t sure they want to know.

It’s not uncommon for those who deal in full time web design to have individuals contact them for a site design, but have absolutely no idea what they want. Furthermore when the designer questions them the response might be, “I don’t know, just make it look nice.”


Let’s not forget the core values or mission of the business. Many business owners have no idea how to answer those kinds of questions. They may stare blankly for a moment or two and there’s no more time for further deep thought so they go back to action – without answers.

In many cases it is possible to answer some of the questions needed, but it may require taking time away from a familiar setting. It may also require more time than you think you want to give.

If you can get to a place of concentrated contemplation you are likely to find yourself stripping ideas to their core to find out what your business is trying to accomplish and what your ultimate goals might be.

As with almost any project you can turn frustration around if you will just take the time to come to terms with your vision.

Sometimes we spend so much time ‘doing’ we never stop to ask the question, “Why?”

This process can be a bit like taking a bus that drives around the park. You keep looking at the flowers and the park bench and long to sit in the quiet shade of a tree and just absorb the calming atmosphere. You know they will have a positive effect on you, but for some reason you just can’t seem to find the energy to get off the bus.

It seems to me there are some sites that are misguided or rarely guided that could benefit from the process of self-evaluation. These sites may look nice, but there is a sense of disconnection that may not be easy to identify, but it’s fairly obvious to visitors.

Creative energy is at a minimum while business owners simply tackle what seem to be the most urgent details.

As more people gravitate to online business there needs to be a shift in the thinking of how one goes about doing business online. In many ways it can’t be approached in the same way a traditional business is developed, yet that is typically the way many new web commerce ventures choose to tackle the subject.

You may discover your business will be more successful if you take some time for rigorous reflection. The time set aside can be a bit like an architect that takes the time to develop plans for a new building. You wouldn’t expect the architect to simply tell a construction crew to, “Go out there and build – something.”

Work at ‘building’ your online business in a comprehensive way. Your effort can develop a firm foundation for long-term success.


About The Author
Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. Make your own website in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com or Build A Website at: http://www.buildagreatsite.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com
Read More..

Web 2.0 And Why You Shouldn't Fake Reviews

The latest offering from Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares aired on Channel 4 last night, followed the somewhat disastrous adventures of ex-boxer Mike and his wife Caron Ciminera as they struggled to run the Fish & Anchor, a restaurant in Lampeter, West Wales. Whilst the couple's arguing appeared to better the food they were originally sending out (a mix of jarred sauces and home cook book trophy dishes) they did let slip on a fantastically poor bit of black hat optimisation, which I hope made all white hat SEOs laugh out loud.


If there was one lesson to take away from the show, it would be - Don't fake reviews!

In order to gauged the feeling of the local community for the failing restaurant come sports bar, Ramsay conducted a search on Google for the Fish & Anchor, to which he was presented with a range of reviews, two of which were rather suspiciously from a character calling himself Michael or Mike Burns.

On the Wales portal of the BBC website Burns had posted "Well i don't get excited about food too often, and having dined in Rick Stein's, and Gordon Ramsay's,I think i have found a better restaurant in West Wales". On the SugarVine website he also posted "what a fantastic restaurant for couples, and families. it seems to have everything, the food has to be the best i have eaten (home or abroad) this place will go far". Other online reviews echoed what has already been said, but with the dire state of the restaurant, its food, its reputation and its perception from both the local community and Ramsay itself, would it not be right to question who was telling the truth?

The restaurateur confessed to posting the reviews, his rational pointing to stimulating custom, however with any reactive strategy it requires a degree of foresight - and I am not sure he really thought through the wider ramification of posting these "inaccurate" reviews.

Firstly, a warning must be expressed. For example, if someone finds your restaurant or hotel via a positive (fake) review and they have a bad experience, there is a chance that they will post a true review to assist fellow users and generally have a rant. The initial seeding of this true review has the potential to lead to an onslaught of further reviews from other visitors who might not have otherwise posted. Don't forget the saying "people don't lead... they follow".

But how can you manage your reviews and ultimately what your customers are saying about you? Well first and foremost, address the problem(s)!

You wouldn't put a sticking plaster on a gun shot wound, so why think that a positive review about the quality of your food or the softest of your sheets is going to counteract the adversities of your customer service?

The customer is king, a point stressed by Ramsay, and one that should ring true for any business, after all, without them, where would we be?

By rectifying or at least making plans to manage any failings within your business, regardless of its size, will be the first step in managing your online reputation, but this is an area I will not going into comprehensive detail for this post. Instead, I will offer some simply pointers as to how to harness online reviews for good.

Sites like Trip Advisor, which boasts over 10,000,000 user generated reviews of various hotels, holidays and restaurants is gaining increasing weighting as an resource for honest and unbiased review and via its system of community recommendation it really has the power to drive custom, and in many instances, divert customer - the key factor being positive, and consistent reviews.

But if you do run a successful hotel or restaurant and wish to harness these social spaces, but wish to do so in a more ethical way than that demonstrated in Kitchen Nightmares than why not encourage your diners of hotel guests to post a review after their stay.

When the customer is paying their bill or even booking their hotel room why not take their email address, or even ask them to submit their business card in return for entry into a monthly prize draw for a free meal in the restaurant?

In addition to building up a client database by collecting this data - for use in promotional mailings including notifying customers of events, promotional and the launch of a new menu - you can also harness it to stimulate online reviews by dropping your customers a short email after their stay / meal, which might look something like the following example...

"Good afternoon Simon, and thank you very much for your booking at the Leapfrogg Restaurant, we hope you had an enjoyable meal.

We pride ourselves on the quality of our food and our attentive staff however we're always striving to enhance and improve what we do, and as such we would appreciate you taking two minutes of your time to write a review for us at Trip Advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com), a free travel guide and research website that allows users to post review and ratings.

Your comments are important to us, and will be used to improve the Leapfrogg restaurant.

Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to welcoming you again to the Leapfrogg restaurant in the near future.

Sincerely,

A Restaurateur
Leapfrogg restaurant
Brighton
Tel: 01273 669 450"

Of course, many of your requests will be ignored, but providing you are personal in your emails (a point we at Leapfrogg have mentioned previously in this blog) then you are more likely to get a response, and even if you only have a 5% success rate, this is still 5% of valuable customer feedback.

A point to which I will conclude this article is one which has stuck with me from London's SMX, and one that I will most certainly be repeating from here on out is that "Yesterday's news no longer wraps today's fish and chips". Online news and online content, including user generated reviews do not simply get binned like a newspaper at the end of the day, but they remain live, and can even appear within the search results for a brand keyword search... so isn't it worth paying attention to what your customers are saying?



About The Author
Simon Dance is the link and social media executive at Leapfrogg, a Brighton SEO and Search Marketing agency who specialise in best practise and ethical search marketing solutions. Website: http://www.leapfrogg.co.uk/Contact © 2008- This article is free for republishing - One link must be active.

Read More..

Rapidshare files

Rapidshare files
Rapidshare hasn’t lost its touch with the masses as their favored file hosting solution on the internet but most of the people are peeved over the fact that they have significantly minimized their download-quota. They are chiefly indignated over two points. Firstly, they feel that free Rapidshare download quota should not have been reduced for premium users. Secondly, they believe that free users should not have faced the hard-hitting speed decrease.

Users worldwide can find files hosted on Rapidshare in myriad ways. One of the techniques is to include the various parameters of Google search which will only look for Rapidshare files for the entire file and its subcategories being asked by a user.


There are many other brilliant options just as well. Another one deals in Rapidshare search engine. These engines have their own information base of files that is hosted at the file hoster. The databases are attached to the latest upgrade and links to Rapidshare files directly to feasibly reach out for files.

Sites which maintain their own databases are considered to be the most effective. Apart from this, there are other passable sites which offer Rapidshare file searches.

Google custom search engine only amalgamates the concept of Google search directives with a personalized search engine that generates moolah for the creator of the search engine. A search button can help with the identification. A search button presenting “Google search” is far from being a website worth its personal database. It is just a custom google search instrument.

As mentioned earlier, many Rapidshare files utilize their personal database. Few instances of such files are:

RS find

RS Rapidshare

Rapidshare Data

Rapid TVPHP

File tubes

Apart from this and few other names, most of the Rapidshare search engines are no different than Google search engines.

No one can be foolish enough to give Rapidshare premium accounts for free Rapidshare downloads. After all, it is the very best file sharing program doing the market rounds. For this purpose, we need software that makes us feel like Rapidshare members. Let’s find out a few free Rapidshare download tools.

Rapidshare Link Grabber

Rapidshare golden pack

Rapidshare Harvest

Many people provide with their own alternatives to Rapidshare. They promote their own file sharing space with unlimited download possibility and 150 MB space. They still fall miserably short. We hope that Rapidshare just finds some way to bring back the irritated customers back to their folds.

Find out more about rapidshare files at www.rapidsharese.com.

Read More..

Directory Submission Strategies

Directory Submission Strategies

1. Research each directory and categories that will fit your domain/sites. Another reason why manual directory submissions are far much better than automatic blasters or auto submissions is that you need to think through very carefully what categories fit your sites. Disregarding this important research about your site will not save you from millions of unrelated commercial messages (spam) done on your email.

Careful research of your site's category will prompt you to write a concise, accurate description that relates to the directory's description.

2. Determine the best description for your web site in each category. Since manual directory submission is one of the core promotions that you can do for your web site, it's better to hint the webmaster or owner of the directory that you mean serious business and that your keywords and descriptions are the fruits of your careful study of your web site.

If the directory doesn't have your desired specific category it's better to suggest it to the owner of the directory rather than be sorry.

3. Make sure your (USP) unique selling proposition is included in your site's description. Your description should be unique even though it resembles description style of other web sites in your targeted directory. So if you're company has specialties in 3 services, mention those 3 specific services in your description. If your site targets a specific audience, include that as well.

4. Write descriptions of varying lengths and keep it in a .txt file for cut-n-paste submissions. Directories are not similar in the number of characters it accepts so better be prepared submitting the ones they approve. Make sure there are no repeat keywords on the description and don't try to "stuff" it with too many unrelated keywords. Remember that your site is a work of "art" in the eyes of the "human" editors of these directories so appeal to them not to the software-backend of their directory.

5. Whenever budget allows, use the paid or premium listings of a directory. Most free listings are often listed very slow like in after 4 weeks and doesn't have any guarantees, remember since most of the search engines measure link popularity in the quickness your site appears in a given high - pr directory so better invest that kind of money long term on the directories rather than be sorry.

6. Verify your site manually by visiting the directory itself to see your listings. If your site is not yet listed in the given amount of time, it's healthy to resubmit it to the directory let's say an ample wait time of 4 weeks is acceptable and does not appear that you are actually "begging" the directory owner. Keep track of your dates of submissions, categories, descriptions, titles and so on. If your site is not yet listed after so much wait time on it, it's better to contact the directory owner to know and for you to act what stuff your site contains that prohibits them from listing it.

7. Always submit your domain name and not a page. This will limit the directory you can submit to, but it's better to have quality visitors rather than so many that will only consume your bandwidth.



About the author:
Human-edited general web directory of quality and spam-free web sites, offering free and paid submission into our directory. 100% SEO Friendly Web Directory.

So the next time you do your daily submissions, prioritise going to http://www.seoreign.com/
Read More..

Website Sales Purpose

Website Sales Purpose
by: Sharon Housley

When designing a website, it is important that webmasters ask some general questions before they begin the design process...

What Is The Purpose Of Your Website?

Many companies use websites to establish their brand. Others use websites as a communication tool. Some companies see websites as sales vehicles and "billboards". Still others use their website as an educational tool. And some may be any combination of the above. The website must have a purpose in order for it to be effective.

What Is It That You Are Trying To Accomplish With The Website?

A strong understanding of the website will allow a webmaster to emphasize the action they want the website visitor to take on the website. By defining and understanding the purpose of the website, webmasters and publishers can better structure the information on the website. Information can be provided with the appropriate emphasis and navigation. An ideal website will lead the web visitor to take the action the webmaster wants.


Who Is Your Audience?

You must identify and understand your target audience. Understanding your demographic will allow you to cater content specific to that group.

What Are The Objectives Of The Website?

You also need to determine what the objective of your website is. What are you attempting to accomplish? Are you trying to sell something? Are you looking for downloads, or is sales your real objective? Is your website trying to promote a specific product or service? Do you want your visitors to take a specific action? Is the intent to profit from ad space in general or to have website visitor's click on specific ads? Are you trying to build a brand? Do you want visitors to purchase a product, or provide an email address?

When attempting to solicit a specific action, there are some general guidelines that you should follow. Your website should be designed to solicit the action you desire, so the navigation should intuitively lead the visitor to take the desired action. If clicking a link is the goal, then that link should be clearly indicated and prominent on the page. This will not only help insure that the maximum number of visitors will be able to adequately view and navigate your content, but it will also help prompt those visitors to take the action you wish to have occur.

For example: Many software companies struggle with the action they wish to solicit from the website visitor. Software companies and eBook publishers are often guilty of pushing users to download, at the expense of the actual sale. Some companies prefer to have users download prior to making a purchase decision, while others lose impulse purchasers by only pushing the download rather than the sale.

In Order To Maximize The Websites Sales Purpose And Objectives, Follow These Simple Steps...

Address Compatibility Issues

If a website visitor is unable to view the website's content, they are obviously going to be unable to complete the desired action. The compatibility issues could be related to technology or usability. Avoid using technologies that require the website visitor to download a plug-in before they can view the website content. If providing content using flash is important to you, you should also provide a flash-free version as well. Also, do not alienate website visitors who might have a disability -- use proper web construct, provide alt tags for images, and avoid using a color scheme that will cause confusion.

Define A Clear Navigation Path

A website's navigation should provide the visitor with a clear path. Information architecture is the organization and categorization of online content -- the process of creating clarity and organizing online information in a purposeful, and logical way. Prioritize and emphasize the most important items on the website. Give visitors a clear path to what they are seeking. Each and every page should intuitively provide them links to additional information and purchase options.

Minimize Distractions

Minimize choices and other website distractions. Website visitors should be provided a clear path of action. Do not provide the website visitor an abundance of choices -- studies show that a large number of choices often puts the consumer off. It is generally recommended that you provide no more than 3 choices. Keep your message concise and on-topic. Website visitors will often just scan a webpage rather than reading it, so bulleted lists and headlines might be used to emphasize your message.

It may sound like a cliche, but it's the little things that can make the biggest difference. Pay attention to all aspects of your website. Defining the specific website objectives and purpose will help to encourage the desired action or behavior from your website visitors.

Read More..

Pinging Tricks

Pinging Tricks
by: Len Hutton

You’re a blogger and are constantly hearing about pinging. The thing is, you don't know what it is and what it can do for your blog. Well that's fine because a lot of bloggers don't quite understand pinging. In this newsletter, we will explain what pinging is, how it helps your blog, and what the best pinging services are. After you've read this newsletter, you'll know exactly how to use pinging to make your blog popular.

What is pinging?

When a blog is pinged, it essentially tells a web blog tracking system that the blog has been updated. Thus, pinging is the process of telling tracking services that a site has been updated.

So how does pinging work? Well, a ping service scans regularly blogs for updates. Whenever there is a new update for a particular blog, that is reported back to the pinging service’s site. You can almost think of ping services being just like search engine spiders—both scan sites looking for information, and both report that information back to their specific site. The difference is, a ping service only reports back new blog posts.

Why is pinging useful for my blog?

Pinging, in effect, tells people that there is a new blog posting available. Those who are loyal followers of your blog will see the ping and want to visit your blog. Those who haven’t read your blog before will see the ping and perhaps think “hey, there’s a new blog I haven’t been to before, I think I’ll check it out”. Pinging helps to increase your traffic because it tells people when your blog is updated. Those who visit sites with pinging services will see this information in the form of a scroll on the left or right side, or top of the page. The scroll is usually in XML format and typically includes the title and URL of your blog, as well as the date and time of the update.

OK, so now I know what pinging is. Who offers pinging?

The answer is, there are several pinging services available which you can use to have your blog pinged. We’ll go over some of them right now.

Weblogs.com

Weblogs.com is probably the most well-known pinging service. Weblogs.com monitors sites for updates and then pings whenever there is an update to report. Virtually every blog software is available to use Weblogs.

Yahoo’s Blo.gs

Another popular pinging service. This one is offered by Yahoo and has a built-in integration with movable type and other tools. One cool thing about this service is that it offers the ability to give out updates via Instant Messenging services like AOL and ICQ. It is a direct pinging service, so those who sign up for subscriptions to your blog will be sent an email anytime your blog is updated.

Blogrolling.com

Blogrolling allows its bloggers to manage their blogrolls (updates) through a web-based interface. Recently updated blogs are also highlighted on Blogrolling’s web site. Data is automatically retrieved from other sites like blogger.com and weblogs.com every 5 minutes. Often times your blog is already being pinged by Blogrolling, so you might not have to sign up for it. Search on the site first for your URL before signing it up.

Technorati

Available at http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping, Technorati is another service that pings blogs. It gets its data from a variety of places and is definitely a site you should go to for blog pinging.

These are just 4 of the many different blog pinging services available. A quick search on Yahoo or Google will reveal many other possible blog pinging services to use for your blog. It is best to sign up for as many as you possibly can to ensure that your blog is well-pinged. A well-pinged blog will definitely help your blog attract more visitors. So sign up for as many as possible and watch your blog traffic increase.

Pinging tells people when your blog is updated. It is an incredibly useful, and easy to sign up for service, so be sure to sign your blog up for pinging
Read More..

Remote Blog or Self Hosted Blog?

Remote Blog or Self Hosted Blog?
by: Len Hutton


So you’ve decided to blog, but aren’t sure whether you should host the blog yourself or sign up for a free service like blogger.com. It’s a dilemma that many bloggers face. There are pros and cons to both, which makes the decision difficult for many. Neither is perfect, and neither is for everyone. Fortunately, you should be able to make the best decision for you if you are armed with adequate knowledge of both. In this newsletter, we’ll go over services like blogger.com and others, plus software that allows you to host your own blog. We’ll also go over the pros and cons of each. After reading this, you will know which is best for you.

Who offers free blog hosting?

Many sites offer free blog hosting. Among them are Forumer, Blogger, BlogEasy, Aeonity, BlogThing and Blogates. A quick search for “free blog” on Google reveals many possibilities.

What software can I use to host my own blog?

Like free blog hosting, there are many possibilities for software that makes hosting your own blog easy. Most of them are free to use. These include:

WordPress(the most popular software)
Apache Roller
Blosxom
Geeklog
Textpattern
LifeType

There is also blog software which you can purchase for use on your site. These include:

Community Server
Movable Type
Radio UserLand

One negative about using software and hosting your own blog is that the process can often times be complicated. You have to download the software and install it to your server, which doesn’t always go easily. It’s particularly hard for those who don’t have a lot of experience installing things on servers.

Why should I remotely host my blog at a place like Blogger?

Places like Blogger allow you to host your blog there. It’s a good option for many people.

The Pros

• It’s easy to set up and maintain a blog. You don’t have to go through the trouble of installing software and configuring it to work on your server. All you have to do is sign up for an account and start posting.

• It’s friendly for beginning bloggers. Sites that host blogs offer good tutorials on how to make your blog postings, so that even someone who is completely new to the concept of blogging can do it easily.

• Most blog hosting sites are completely free to use. There is no need to pay for things like a domain name and hosting.

• Monetizing your blog is easy. Rather than having to manually put HTML/Javascript codes on your blog to manually set up things like AdSense and Pay Per Click advertising, you can select an option on most blog hosting sites that does much of the work for you.

The Cons

• You don’t have as many options to customize your blog. Remotely hosted blogs are admittedly somewhat limited in terms of what you can actually do on them. You have to stick with what is provided to you in terms of look and features.

• The URL you get is always yourname.BLOGSITE.com. You don’t get to have a custom domain name like YOURNAME.com. This can possibly hurt traffic to your blog.

• Blogs hosted on free blog sites don’t look as professional as self hosted blogs.

Why should I self-host my blog?

The Pros

• You have more options and more flexibility. You are able to tweak the blog to your liking.

• Your URL is your address for your blog. Rather than having go to where your blog is hosted to read it, they can read it right from your site.

• The ability to make your blog look professional. Blogs that are hosted on sites of their own tend to look a lot better than those hosted on free sites.

• More space for your blog. Free blog sites usually place a restriction on how much space you have for things like photos and music. By hosting your own blog, you are able to use as much space as you need.

The Cons

• There are sometimes problems with setting up blog software to run on your site and server. If you aren’t experienced when it comes to working with mySQL, the process will be hard.

• Updates aren’t as easy to post.

• You have to manually set up programs to monetize your blog. However, if you are good with HTML/Javascript, this shouldn’t be too hard.

• You have to pay for your own hosting and domain

As you can see, there are pros and cons to both. Which should you choose? Well, it depends on who you are and what you intend to use your blog for. If you intend to use it for business, then a self-hosted blog is the best idea. If it’s a personal blog, then a free hosted blog will probably be fine for you.

Closely examine all of the pros and cons mentioned above. That way, you’ll be able to make the best decision for you!

Read More..

A Guide on RSS Tool

A Guide on RSS Tool
by: Terry Leslie


RSS is an abbreviation that has evolved into the following, depending on their versions:

• RDF Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.9; the first version of RSS)
• Rich Site Summary (also known as RSS 0.91; a prototype)
• Really Simple Syndication (also known as RSS 2.0)

Today, RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication', and it has the following 7 existing formats or versions:

• 0.90
• 0.91
• 0.92
• 0.93
• 0.94
• 1.0
• 2.0

RSS tools refer to a group of file formats that are designed to share headlines and other web content (this may be a summary or simply 1 to 2 lines of the article), links to the full versions of the content (the full article or post), and even file attachments such as multimedia files. All of these data is delivered in the form of an XML file (XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language), which has the following common names:

• RSS feed
• Webfeed
• RSS stream
• RSS channel


They are typically shown on web pages as an orange rectangle that usually has the letters XML or RSS in it.

RSS feeds can be used to deliver any kind of information. Some of these 'feeds' include:

• Blogs feed - each blog entry is summarized as a feed item. This makes blog posts easier to scan, enabling 'visitors' to zoom in on their items of interest.

• Article feed - this alerts readers whenever there are new articles and web contents available.

• Forum feed - this allows users to receive forum posts and latest discussion topics.

• Schedule feed - this allows users (such as schools, clubs, and other organizations) to broadcast events and announce schedule changes or meeting agendas.

• Discounts or Special feed - this is used to enable users (such as retail and online stores) to 'deliver' latest specials and discounted offers.

• Ego or News Monitoring - this enables users to receive 'filtered' headlines or news that are based on a specific phrase or keyword.

• Industry-specific feed - used by technical professionals in order to market, promote, or communicate with current (and prospective) customers and clients within their specific industries.

RSS feeds enable people to track numerous blogs and news sources at the same time. To produce an RSS feed, all you need is the content or the article that you want to publicize and a validated RSS text file. Once your text file is registered at various aggregators (or 'news readers'), any external site can then capture and display your RSS feed, automatically updating them whenever you update your RSS file.

RSS tools are useful for sites that add or modify their contents on a regular basis. They are especially used for 'web syndication' or activities that involve regular updates and/or publications, such as the following:

• News websites - as used by major news organizations such as Reuters, CNN, and the BBC.
• Marketing
• Bug reports
• Personal weblogs

There are many benefits to using RSS feeds. Aside from being a great supplemental communication method that streamlines the communication needs of various sectors, RSS tools and feeds can also have tremendous benefits in your business, particularly in the field of internet marketing.

RSS tools and feeds provide Internet users with a free (or cheap) and easy advertising or online marketing opportunity for their businesses. Below are some of the RSS features that can help make your internet marketing strategies more effective.

1. Ease in content distribution services. With RSS, your business can be captured and displayed by virtually any external site, giving you an easy way to 'spread out' and advertise them.

2. Ease in regular content updates. With RSS, web contents concerning your business can now be automatically updated on a daily (and even hourly) basis. Internet users will be able to experience 'real time' updates as information in your own file (such as new products and other business-related releases) is changed and modified simultaneously with that of the RSS feeds that people are subscribed to.

3. Custom-made content services. With RSS, visitors can have personalized content services, allowing them total control of the flow and type of information that they receive. Depending on their interests and needs, visitors can subscribe to only those contents that they are looking for (such as real estate or job listings).

4. Increase in (and targeted) traffic. With RSS, traffic will be directed to your site as readers of your content summary (or 1 to 2 lines of your article) who find them interesting are 'forced' to click on a link back to your site.

These are just several of the many things that you can do with RSS. The possibilities are endless, and they are all aimed at providing you with an effective internet marketing strategy for your business.

In the mean time, Good Luck on your journey to success…

OR if you would like to succeed immediately to create financial freedom working only 4 hours a week, check out www.secrets2internetfortunes.com.

AND for a Limited Time, you will also receive a FREE copy of a limited number of the amazing 60 page eBook “52 Highly Profitable Instant Online Business Ideas That You Can Steal As Your Own And Start Today On A Very Tight Budget!”, which is jam packed with so many ideas you can use to instantly create an automated income for life! That’s my GIFT to You as a way of saying thank you for reading my articles.

Read More..

Search Engine optimization

Search Engine optimization - 10 steps to follow

The art to successfully increase the rank of your website is a true science with no overnight solution. Some people believe you have to pay to be listed in the top of the search results. This is not true for the majority of search engines. The websites listed on the top are listed there because they are ranked higher and more relevant to a particular keyword search, by that search engine, than the websites listed below.

There are however separate areas for advertisers such as Google AdWords and Yahoo Sponsorship Ads that you can pay for, but the main search area is normally free to be listed and one can increase their page rank by effectively performing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for their website.

One thing you must understand is that it takes time to find what works for your site. If you make a change, you'll have to wait until it has been indexed in each search engine in order for you to effectively assess if the change has positively or negatively affected your page rank.

Below are ten steps to follow in order to increase your page rank in the major search engines. If these are followed, you will be sure to increase your rank. For help or more information on increasing your page rank, contact Hudson Horizons today.



Be Legitimate – Most search engines analyze your website to determine if you are trying to manipulate their engine in any way. Do not do this. I repeat, do not do this. Be legitimate about your search engine optimization otherwise you will be penalized and your page rank will decrease, no doubt about it. The following Search Engine Optimization tactics should be avoided at all costs.
Do NOT do the following:



Keyword Stuffing
Hidden Text
Cloaking
Doorway Pages
Redirects
Duplicate Sites
Interlinking


Manage Page Titles - A page title is the heading of the page that will be listed in the search results when your site is located. It is also the title that will be displayed on the top of the browser window. It is important that each page contains its own unique title that is relevant to the content of that page. Having the same title on every page will not do you any good. The search engines might not properly index each page if they see your pages all have the same title. But on the other hand, if the engines see that each page has its own unique title, then it will realize each page is different and will index them accordingly. Also, make sure that the title is relevant to the content within that page.


Manage Meta Tags – Meta Tags are information placed in the HTML header of a web page, providing information to a search engine that is not visible to a user. The two most common Meta Tags, relevant to search engines, are the keyword and description tags. It is very important that each page contains separate keywords and descriptions that are relevant to the content of that page.


Google and Yahoo Sitemap Submission - Google and Yahoo Sitemaps offers a way for you to submit all your site's URLs to their search index to improve the visibility of your pages. With Google and Yahoo Sitemaps submission you can keep them informed of all the pages in your website and if done on a regular basis, provides fresher search results and a smarter crawl of your website.


Content Development – Content is the key to success with SEO! With good-quality content, that's relevant to your products and services, you will be liked by the search engines. When a search engine crawls your website, it analyzes the content on each page and saves a copy to their index. When a search is performed it will lookup your site and determine if its relevant to the keywords being searched for. With short, poorly written content it will be difficult to be listed on the top few pages of a search engine.


Write Articles – Writing articles and adding them to your website is a great means to providing more relevant content on your website. This will help your customers by providing them will relevant information in your industry while helping to index your pages. Be creative with you articles and be sure to list keywords and key phrases together that you feel prospective customers might search for.


Good Internal Linking – It is vital that the internal links of your website are search engine friendly. Search engines easily pick up basic HTML links unlike links generated by fancy scripting, commonly used in drop-down menu navigation. Also, to help a search engine crawl every page, all sites should include a sitemap page, which categorically lists your page names and an HTML link to each page within the site, providing the search engines with a page to easily get to and crawl every page in your site. If you have over 150 pages, you should create separate categorized sitemap pages for each set of 150 page links.


Reciprocal Linking - Exchanging links with other websites is an ok way to help increase your rank. It's not the best way but it may count. It's important to try and exchange links with more popular websites. A search engine will analyze the links on other websites that point to yours and determine the ranking of their website. If a poorly ranked site has a link to yours, it will not affect your ranking. But if you have a link on the homepage of a popular site like Yahoo pointing to your site, then it will definitely have a positive impact on your page rank.


Patience – Patience is very important. It takes time for a change that you've recently made to be indexed in the search engines. You must be patient to see how your recent change or addition has positively or negatively affected your page rank. Submitting a sitemap of your URLs to Google and Yahoo will greatly increase the rate at which your changes get indexed.


Do Not Overdue It – Sometimes it's better to do less than more and in some cases more will harm your page rank because search engines may see you as trying to manipulate their search engine and penalize your site. Follow all of these Search Engine Optimization tactics but start small and do not overdue it.

Read More..

Directory Submission Strategies

Directory Submission Strategies

1. Research each directory and categories that will fit your domain/sites. Another reason why manual directory submissions are far much better than automatic blasters or auto submissions is that you need to think through very carefully what categories fit your sites. Disregarding this important research about your site will not save you from millions of unrelated commercial messages (spam) done on your email.

Careful research of your site's category will prompt you to write a concise, accurate description that relates to the directory's description.

2. Determine the best description for your web site in each category. Since manual directory submission is one of the core promotions that you can do for your web site, it's better to hint the webmaster or owner of the directory that you mean serious business and that your keywords and descriptions are the fruits of your careful study of your web site.

If the directory doesn't have your desired specific category it's better to suggest it to the owner of the directory rather than be sorry.

3. Make sure your (USP) unique selling proposition is included in your site's description. Your description should be unique even though it resembles description style of other web sites in your targeted directory. So if you're company has specialties in 3 services, mention those 3 specific services in your description. If your site targets a specific audience, include that as well.

4. Write descriptions of varying lengths and keep it in a .txt file for cut-n-paste submissions. Directories are not similar in the number of characters it accepts so better be prepared submitting the ones they approve. Make sure there are no repeat keywords on the description and don't try to "stuff" it with too many unrelated keywords. Remember that your site is a work of "art" in the eyes of the "human" editors of these directories so appeal to them not to the software-backend of their directory.

5. Whenever budget allows, use the paid or premium listings of a directory. Most free listings are often listed very slow like in after 4 weeks and doesn't have any guarantees, remember since most of the search engines measure link popularity in the quickness your site appears in a given high - pr directory so better invest that kind of money long term on the directories rather than be sorry.

6. Verify your site manually by visiting the directory itself to see your listings. If your site is not yet listed in the given amount of time, it's healthy to resubmit it to the directory let's say an ample wait time of 4 weeks is acceptable and does not appear that you are actually "begging" the directory owner. Keep track of your dates of submissions, categories, descriptions, titles and so on. If your site is not yet listed after so much wait time on it, it's better to contact the directory owner to know and for you to act what stuff your site contains that prohibits them from listing it.

7. Always submit your domain name and not a page. This will limit the directory you can submit to, but it's better to have quality visitors rather than so many that will only consume your bandwidth.

Read More..

Internet And Business Online

Internet And Business Online – The Act Of Interdependence
by: Scott Lindsay

The best role of business online is that of interdependency. We’ve all heard the old saying, “No man is an island.” When it comes to online business this is especially true.

If a business owner who takes their business into the online world determines they will be self reliant and never accept the help of anyone then that individual will not be in business long enough to change their minds.

It is accepted fact that the greatest tool for long-term exposure to your website is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Without it potential customers can’t find you. It is unreasonable to expect that you can adequately develop a website without optimizing your website for the best possible search engine ranking.

Search engines also place a high value on sites that have links placed on existing sites. These ‘backlinks’ demonstrate to search engines that others trust your site. By placing your link on their website these other businesses indicate a trust and recommendation for your site.

In effect the two strategies listed above rely exclusively on what others can do for you when it comes to your online business.

Shirley Temple once proclaimed in her movie Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, “I’m very self-reliant.” American westerns are filled with lines dealing with pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and holding down the fort. Many of us have grown up to believe if we want something done right we have to do it ourselves.

This thinking is in opposition to the rules associated with an online business.

The online world can only exist because people share. Individuals share technology, but the also share links, reviews, blogs, forums and a wide range of other marketing strategies that find a commingling of interdependency.

In online business you are as dependent on others as they may be on you. Unlike the word ‘dependent’, the term interdependent indicates a mutual dependency. In other words you are depending on others to help provide links back to your site while they are equally dependent on you (or others) for the success of their business.

Have you really taken a proactive approach to networking? It’s possible you are reading this today and you’ve never considered asking someone else to place a link to your site on his or her online business site.

It can feel awkward depending on others to achieve online success especially if you’ve been lead to believe reliance on others is also a sign of imposing on their otherwise brilliant generosity.

I suppose it could be a deep-seated sense of pride that makes it hard to consider the need to ask others for help. However, the truth is depending on others is really what has made the Internet possible. The growth of this online world is comprised of a link of computers, networks and servers that are connected in a way that provides the maximum benefit for all.

Building an online business can feel a bit like trying to build a house of cards. Without the ability to rely on the other ‘cards’ around you it is virtually impossible to build.

Interdependence. This is the essence of online business.

Read More..

Telecommunications

Back to Back User Agents for Telecommunications
by: Danny Loeb

Today’s telecommunications networks are a delicate blend of clients and servers that together offer virtually endless possibilities when it comes to services and applications. For every new client developed, there seems to be a score more on the way — from mobile handsets, PDAs, terminals, telephones, video phones, IP set-top-boxes, and so on.

There are essentially two types of servers that connect between clients on large networks: Proxy servers and Back-to-Back User Agent (B2BUA) servers. The more prevalent Proxy servers feature predictable behavior — simply connecting between clients. Effectively, B2BUA servers are much stronger and intelligent entities that perform actions which Proxy servers cannot. Moreover, B2BUA servers provide a flexible solution for a wide range of applications and services and are becoming the primary engine for more and more SIP servers in NGN and IMS networks.

The difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers is sometimes not fully understood. In this article, we will explore what makes B2BUA servers such an appealing alternative to standard Proxy servers. Better understanding of B2BUA servers can help managers understand the value, and the tradeoffs, of choosing a B2BUA server, as well as the frameworks needed to develop a wide range of SIP applications and SIP services using it.

Figure 1 - Architectural difference between Proxy servers and B2BUA servers

B2BUA Server Defined
B2BUA servers are used to provide value added features for point-to-point calls and manage multi-point calls. The power behind a B2BUA server is derived mostly from the fact that it has a very generic definition, which gives it almost unlimited power. However, this same characteristic is the root of the controversy surrounding it.

IETF standard (RFC 3261) defines a back-to-back user agent as “a logical entity that receives a request and processes it as a user agent server (UAS). In order to determine how the request should be answered, it acts as a user agent client (UAC) and generates requests. Unlike a Proxy server, it maintains a dialogue state and must participate in all requests sent on the dialogues it has established.”

B2BUA servers have capabilities that far exceed those of other types of SIP servers, and answer the need for developing sophisticated value added SIP applications that cannot be implemented as Proxy applications.

Some of these capabilities, which are unique to B2BUA servers, are outlined below:

3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) Features
3rd Party Call Control (3PCC) is the ability of an entity (usually a controller) to set up and manage communication between two or more parties. 3PCC is often used for operator services and conferencing.

3PCC actions are important capabilities, exclusive to B2BUA servers since “passive” non call-stateful elements, such as Proxy servers, cannot initiate these types of activities. Some examples of 3PCC services are online billing, QoS, resource prioritization, call transfer, click-to-dial, mid-call announcement and more.

3PCC actions can be initiated automatically by B2BUA server applications, like disconnecting a call following credit expiration in an online-billing system. Or they can be initiated by remote administrative control (OSS), e.g. invite parties to a multi-point conferencing session.

Figure 2 - Schematic outline of B2BUA server offering 3PCC functionality

Inter-working Function (IWF) for Interoperability

SIP was designed as a highly flexible and extendible protocol. The very strength of this flexibility is also an inherent weakness, since the vast array of client types in the market still need to connect.

B2BUA Inter-working Functions (IWF) defines a wide range of powerful SIP servers that connect SIP clients that “speak” in different protocol dialects, or support different capabilities. This Inter-working function is very important in enabling connectivity between clients with different capabilities and/or protocol dialects. Or even between clients and networks – where the B2BUA server actually acts as an access device.

Examples of what IWF can do include:

• Connecting SIP clients to IMS networks by adding and removing IMS SIP protocol extensions (AKA P-Headers) that are essential for connecting to the IMS network
• Connecting clients with different Session Timers settings
• Connecting clients with different media capabilities and with distinct Session Description Protocol (SDP) messages by relaying between the two types of control sessions
• Connecting to different types of networks (e.g. IPv4, IPv6) and support for different transport types, such as TCP/UDP/SCTP/TLS

Figure 3 - Schematic outline of a B2BUA Inter-Working Function

Multi-point Call Management

B2BUA servers an also implement multi-point call scenarios where multiple CPE devices connect to the B2BUA, and the B2BUA provides services to all CPE.

Due to these unique capabilities, B2BUA servers are widely used in the communications industry. A few examples are listed below:

• Online-billing/prepaid functions
• Servers supporting Resource Prioritization (RP) and/or Quality of Service (QoS) features
• Multi Point Conferencing servers
• IVR servers
• PBX Applications and Softswitches
• Application Layer Gateways (ALG)
• FW/NAT Traversal applications
• Privacy servers
• 3rd-Party Call Control Applications (3PCC)
• Service Creation Environment (SCE) runtime engines
• Session Boarder Controller (SBC)
• IMS S-CSCF, P-CSCF, I-CSCF
• SIP Inter-work Function (IWF) Gateway
• Security Gateway (SEG)
• Voice Call Continuity (VCC) servers

In addition, B2BUA servers play an important role in emerging IMS networks. Recent releases of 3GPP IMS specifications (3GPP TS 24.229 V8.0.0) indicate that an increasing number of IMS network element servers, such as P-CSCF, IBCF,SBC etc., are B2BUA servers. The reason for this is that value added services are usually session stateful, and feature capabilities that go beyond basic call proxying. Applications written on top of B2BUA Application servers fulfill several roles, such as SIP User Agents, SIP Proxy servers and SIP Registrars.

B2BUA Server Challenges

B2BUA application developers face many challenges, such as achieving rapid time-to-market, conformance and interoperability, offering customization for proprietary services and support for High Availability (HA) and redundancy. A comprehensive B2BUA framework can help developers overcome these challenges.

A solid B2BUA framework should have modular application building block architecture for increased flexibility, abstraction and short delivery time. Traditional architecture, which features a single configurable state machine, is not flexible enough. Also, a B2BUA framework should facilitate developing B2BUA applications by flexibly linking “pluggable” high-level Modular Application Building Blocks (MABB). Developers should have the ability to combine these MABBs and they should be designed in a way that allows developers to further customize their behavior if needed. This type of architecture complies with contemporary Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) concepts, and is suitable for powering flexible business communication platforms. This modular architecture can save months of work. With a set of MABBs in hand, developing the application is a matter of combining existing MABBs to produce the required business logic. In addition, this architecture enhances efficiency; development of new MABBs can be done concurrently.

A B2BUA framework should facilitate developing applications that fully conform to standards and are interoperable; without restricting developers from customizing protocol behavior for special cases. Moreover, it should conform for non-standard implementations, as well as to mediate between two versions of the same standard. This type of framework allows developers to focus on their proprietary application with the confidence that their final application will be fully interoperable.

And finally, a B2BUA framework should provide the ability to configure, amend and replace application building blocks to create proprietary features. With this ability, developers can maximize existing code – significantly reducing development time, shortening testing cycles, and reducing overall time-to-market.

Figure 4 - Traditional architecture of a B2BUA framework

RADVISION’s B2BUA Application Framework http://www.radvision.com/Products/Developer/SIPServer delivers these capabilities and more. The B2BUA Application Framework module is a part of the RADVISION SIP server Platform, a software framework that offers the essential building blocks for the development of a wide variety of high performance SIP and IMS servers. The rich set of components and modules can be flexibly combined to match customers’ requirements for developing SIP servers that offer both standard and advanced SIP services.

Applications written on top of RADVISION’s B2BUA framework are developed by combining customizable modular application building blocks. This is effectively large chunks of functionality that can be strung together to form ad-hoc applications, enabling developers to focus on the high-level business logic and use building blocks that hide low-level details.

As one of the most popular IM applications, Yahoo! Messenger was the first large consumer player that adopted B2B UA. Yahoo! Messenger combined its backend scalable platform with RADVISION’s B2B UA to serve millions of monthly unique messaging users around the world. Yahoo selected RADVISION’s B2BUA due to its robust performance and scalability features.

Figure 5 - The architecture of RADVISION B2BUA Application Framework


RADVISION also offers automatic High Availability (HA) and Redundancy support. The B2BUA framework automatically replicates the run-time state of the different Services and B2BUA framework core. In the event of a server outage, a redundant server takes over seamlessly and provides uninterrupted service continuity.

B2BUA framework benefits in a nutshell

• Significantly reduces time to market developing proprietary B2B applications and services.
• Allows adding advanced services easily to retain competitive advantage and evolve to meet growing customer demands.
• Focuses on the business logic and hides low level operator communication intricacies.
• Delivers off-the-shelf conformance and interoperability.
• Enables rapid development of applications that can interoperate with different vendors.
• Enables adding high-availability features easily. Read More..