September 7, 2009
The Search for the right ISP
The search for the right ISP includes a number of factors. Cost is obviously important. So is the quality of the connection. Other features that are included can also be good. It is also important to know if it is available in your area. There are a variety of ISPs to choose from. Because of this, it is important to choose the best ISP for you.
For most subscribers, cost is the most important thing about an ISP. Even though cost is a big issue, many people are not willing to have the poor quality and voluminous advertising that comes with free ISPs. With free ISPs not worth considering, most people then begin looking at lower cost ISPs. As with most things, if there is a lot of flashy advertising, the ISP is probably going to be more expensive. Lower cost ISPs tend to have less advertising. A good way to find them is by searching on the Internet.
Even if the price is right, you don’t want to go with an ISP that has a weak connection. This can be a recurring problem with ISPs that use cable or phone lines. It can also be a problem if your ISP has too many people trying to access the Internet at the same time, usually during peak times. This happens mostly with dial-up ISP’s that do not have an adequate number of phone numbers. It is also smart to make sure that the tasks you do online are compatible with an ISP you are considering using. AOL users sometimes experience problems with some websites and Internet tasks. This is a result of the AOL program being so dominating. Many frequently visited sites have a listing of ISP’s that have difficulties with the site. However, this tends to apply to sites that feature music, video and graphics effects but it doesn’t usually apply to straight text sites.
The features offered by an ISP are an added bonus. Do some research to find the ISPs that address your needs. If you don’t want the hassle of pop-ups you will want to look at ISPs that offer pop-up blockers and virus protection. Most parents have concerns about their children surfing the web. If so, you will want a feature that blocks adult sites. All ISPs offer a variety of features, and often come up with new ones, so finding one that is suitable for you is really not that difficult.
Always check for availability. It would surprise some people to know that there are ISPs that are not widely available. Free and low cost ISPs are notorious for this problem. You also need to make sure they have a local number in your area, because if not, you could be hit with costly long distance charges. Also, if the ISP doesn’t have enough local numbers, you can find yourself not being able to connect during peak hours.
Robert Michael is the owner of Best Broadband Review which is a great place to find Broadband Links, Resources and Articles. For more information go to: www.bestbroadbandreview.co.uk © Copyright 2005
July 28, 2009
Are you looking for some inside information on SEO? Here’s an up-to-date report from SEO experts who should know.
A ‘Page Rank’ is a number Google gives to a web page that represents how important Google thinks the page is on the web. When one page links to another, Google considers it to be effectively casting a vote for the other page. The more ‘votes’ there are for a page across the whole web, the more important that page must be. But that’s quite an assumption, isn’t it?
The importance of the page that is casting the vote determines how important the vote itself really is, meaning in Google calculations a page’s importance comes from the votes cast for it. These votes are then taken into account when the page is ranked.
As a general rule of thumb, Google Page Ranks along with Alexa ratings are the best indicators of how well your SEO work has been going. Granted, the ranking that you appear in on the results for your most important key words is the real indicator, but a strong Google Page Rank will help to boost this position substantially. The more links that you have pointing at your site, the better off you are. That’s a basic rule that will apply throughout your SEO operations.
Page Rank matters because it’s one of the most influential factors that determine a page’s ranking in Google’s search results. If you want to have good Page Rank, you’d better make sure people are linking to your site.
Well, don’t jump the gun and try to get your site linked from everywhere you can, because Google doesn’t count every link. They have started filter out links from known ‘link farms’ (sites that are nothing but big lists of links), and being linked to or from these kinds of sites will get you penalized by Google. Be careful out there. They have also implemented a new relevance calculator that (true to its name) tries to determine how relevant the links into and out of your site are. The most important factor here is that Google considers long lasting links as more meaningful than a recently published link.
The best way to increase your page rank is to contact people with relevant and complementary content (that is, content that does not compete with your own but that enhances it). These links are most likely to last and they will not only increase your Google Page Rank, but they will also provide relevant hits via the links themselves.
The more authentic information about SEO you know, the more likely people are to consider you a SEO expert. Read on for even more SEO facts that you can share.
How is PageRank Calculated?
Google calculates the PageRank PR of all pages it indexes, taking into account all the links to and from each site. When a page ‘votes’ for other pages by linking to them, it shares out some of its PageRank value amongst these pages.
This algorithm means that a link to your site from a page with PR4 (i.e. a Page Rank of 4) and five outbound links would be worth more than a link from a page with PR8 and a hundred outbound links. It’s not just the Page Rank of the page that’s important, but also the number of links it has.
The more links there are on a page, the less Page Rank value your page receives from them. You should also remember that it takes progressively more Page Rank to move up a level. It is generally pretty easy to achieve a Page Rank of three. Once you achieve a Page Rank of four, your site is getting formidable. Increasing past this mark may prove difficult and will require very important content. Reaching 8+ is very difficult. These ranks are usually reserved for sites that are crucial for the functionality of the internet.
Each time you add a link, or a page that links to you adds a link, you run the risk of lowering your PageRank. Make sure that you have as few links as possible, and so do any sites that are associated with you.
Google repeats its PageRank calculatons many times at each update, and each time the calculation is made it gets more likely to be accurate. Total accuracy can never be achieved, however, because one site’s PageRank is entirely relative to the others’. You should understand that the results searchers end up with can really only be properly worked out by Google, because they’re the only ones with access to the whole index.
Is there really any information about SEO that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.
May 26, 2009
Government Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, censorship should not be encouraged.
The internet is a world wide computer network, The U.S. government is now trying to pass bills to prevent “misuse” of the Net.
The problem that concerns most people is offensive materials such as pornography. One reaction to this inapplicability has been the “Censor the Net” approach (the censorship bill), but how does this affect the average user who is merely surfing the net for their own information seeking or pleasure? it is not fair to exclude the freedom and class everyone the same way, or even to force ones ideas on another in the vain hope that they are protecting the masses.
Most internet users are enjoying their freedom of speech on the Net, which is supposed to be protected by the First Amendment. Additionally, only a very small portion of the Net contains offensive material, most people do not use the Net for pornography. It must also be understood that censoring the Net is technically impossible. While people are concerned about Internet pornography, it should be recognized that pornography is sometimes legal; for example, pornography is legal in video and magazines.
There are many alternative measures to government censorship which would prevent misuse of the Net and would have the same effects as censorship. It is of course, very important for parents to provide moral guidance for their children, and parents should have this responsibility and the parents alone.
An alternative to government censorship is the technological fix, which would prevent the so-called misuse of the Net and would have the same effects as government censorship, example’s of technological fixes are the “SurfWatch” software. And similar which are designed for parents to deceide exactly what their children are able to access during their surfing time. Also, there are commercial Internet service providers that allow parents to control what Internet relay chat (IRC) sessions are available to their children. Another technological fix is for parents and guardians to have a separate “proxy server” for their children’s web browser. There are no computer programs to automatically and reliably classify material; only people can do this. As a result, while practicing technological fixes, the classification of the contents of the material when posting is very important.
Nowadays, most internet users classify their postings with standard categories, and leave signatures at the end of postings. The combination of the installation of censoring software and the classification of materials is a much better solution than government censorship.
The Internet is a wonderful place of entertainment and education but like all places used by millions of people, it can be a hive of activity with many directions to travel.
Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same
As a bonfide eBay expert and junkie, I read every eBay book that comes down the pike. Some, like Tim Mina’s new book, “The Online Auction Expert’s Bible to Selling on eBay,” are excellent and should be read by anyone interested in selling on eBay.
Others are not so excellent, and that’s putting it kindly.
I really can’t say which one is the best selling eBay book of all time, but I can tell you there is one book in particular that I have been recommending for over a year now and the reason is that it is, quite simply, packed full of useful information that will not only increase your eBay sales, but bring more customers to your website, as well.
That ebook is ‘The Silent Sales Machine Hiding on eBay’ written bymy good friend and eBay guru, Jim Cockrum. Jim has just completed a major update of the ebook and added almost 100 pages of new content.
If you sell on eBay or are thinking about doing so, I strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of Jim’s ebook. Despite the increase in content, Jim hasn’t increased the price…. yet, but I am sure he will do so very soon like he always does. This is the fourth major update of this best seller and the price goes up every time!
Jim’s ebook has been a top seller on Clickbank pretty much since he published the first edition back in 2002, so if it’s not the best selling eBay book of all time it’s certainly in the top 5.
Jim offers a ‘no questions asked’ money back guarantee so this really is a ‘no risk’ purchase.
For more information just click on over to:
– http://hop.cli ckbank.net/?powerpak/silentsale
For Tim Mina’s new book visit:
– htt p://www.dropshipwholesale.net/powerseller-toolkit.php
April 3, 2009
Don’t be fooled! Are you considering making money with your own Internet business? If so, read very carefully…You Must Have a Website.
There are tons of marketers trying to convince would-be entrepreneurs that you will be able to make money online without a website by purchasing their product.
Sure, you can make a few dollars here and a few dollars there, but I’m talking about serious money – the big leagues.
Even successful eBay sellers use their own websites as a companion to their eBay business.
One reason that marketers tell you that you don’t need a website is to make it sound as though running an Internet business is easy. They want you to believe it takes very little effort to run an Internet business to convince you to buy their product. If you want to make serious money with an Internet business, it will take more effort than these marketers are telling you.
If you know nothing about developing your own website, do not let what I’m telling you scare you. You can always hire someone to develop your website for you. But, learning to develop your own website is not that difficult. There are literally thousands of resources on the Internet that will guide you through the process. There are also many software packages that make developing your own website as easy as creating a Microsoft Word document.
Having your own website requires basically three things: your own domain name (www.yourcompany.com), content (what you have on your website), and hosting space (where your website physically resides so Internet users can find it). Not having your own website requires that you find another source of income.
Starting and running your own Internet business can be a daunting task that requires great effort. Don’t be fooled into believing you can do it without a website. If you’re serious about making money online, you must have a website.
Find many great tips including the Website Creation Toolbox – absolutley FREE- by visiting http://www.internetprofitmentor.com
March 26, 2009
1. Choose a Niche – Today, anyone can have a website and sell merchandise or services on the internet. The choices are endless and only limited by your imagination. If you are already in a business and don’t currently have a website, then it’s simply a matter of deciding what name to chose.
If you are thinking about setting up your first website and aren’t sure what niche to chose, you might consider a favorite hobby. I’ve always liked to collect & repair antique radios, so I setup a website called http://RadioExchange.net
The fastest way to achieve success and a high ranking on the internet is to build a website around a theme and niche which does not have a large amount of competition. For instance, if you were to start a web hosting site, it would be an uphill battle because there are thousands and thousands of hosting websites already on the internet fighting to be seen in the top 10 or 20 listings of the major search engines like Yahoo, MSN and Google. The more competition, the more costly and time consuming it is to get your website seen.
I know of a guy who used to drive a van for a courier delivery service for a living. He started a expedited transportation website on a shoestring budget several years ago. Today his website is one of the most successful in the US for the expedited transportation industry. Another guy I know loved to collect scale model steam engines, so he built a simple website with photos of his collection. Before long, he started getting inquiries from other collectors as to where they could buy some like his and where to get parts. He began selling parts and hard to find steam engines to collectors around the word. He also added a paid ad section to his site. These are two examples of how you can turn a job or hobby into a successful, money making website. There are still many untapped, niche markets available. You can do the research on your own or a detailed report on 109 Untapped Markets is available for download. The price is only $33. and it’s well worth it. To get your report go to Niche Topics at http://UntappedMarkets.cashflowsystem.biz
2. Purchase a Domain Name – Think of a domain name which uses the words which describes your business or what you will be selling. If your domain name contains the keywords which describe your business, you may rank higher than with names which do not. For instance, if you are a realtor located in Orlando Florida it would be a good idea to register the domain name OrlandoFloridaRealEstate.com/net or org or Orlando-Florida-Real-Estate.com/net or org. A scientific way to determine the best name to use is to run keyword popularity searches by using Overture’s Keyword Tool at http://inventory.overture.com When you type in keyword phrases, the tool tells you how many times any given keyword phrase was searched across the internet for the previuos month. Once you determine the name you want to use, you can search to see if it’s availabe and register it at a domain registration / hosting service such as http://Website-Supermarket.com
3. Set Up Web Hosting – Web Hosting is what connects your website to the internet so it can be viewed by people around the world. Prices for hosting service range from free (I would not recommended a free service – you get what you pay for) to $39.95 per month which is on the high end. Some hosting companies charge a setup fee and demand a year commitment. I would not use any hosting service which charges a setup fee or demands a year commitment because there’s so many which does not. http://Website-Supermarket.com offers excellent hosting services for only $4.95 per month which includes 24/7 live customer service and no set up fee or annual commitment.
4. Design Your Website – If you have no experience or limited experience designing a website you can choose from thousands of professionally designed templates for as low as $20. at http://Website-Supermarket.com and they are available for immediate download. Just browse through until you find a template you like, then click “Buy this Template” and download to your computer. They also offer 1000’s of clip art and photo art ideal for customizing a website. Unlike many of the other template websites, after you’ve selected the site you want, if you need help customizing your template, they offer complete set up services to get you up and running quickly.
If you choose to customize the template yourself you will need web design software such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Front Page.. You will also need image software such as Adobe Photoshop or Macromedia Fireworks. A new alternative web development software which is rapidly become the tool of choice for Internet Marketers is XSitePro. To learn more you can visit their website at www.XSitePro.wsone.net .
5. Upload Your Web Site files to your Hosting Service’s Server – Most Web creator software such as Front Page and Macromedia Dreamweaver has built in FTP (File Transfer Protocol) capability. A super program I recommend for uploading and downloading files is Cute FTP by GlobalScape. You can download a copy from their website at http://Cuteftp.com It’s especially handy for managing several sites.
6. Submit Your Website to the Search Engines – I recommend Submit-It which is a Free service that Submits your URL to all of the major Search Engines such as Yahoo, MSN & Google. Their website address is http://www.submitplus.com. Also, don’t forget to make a sitemap and submit it to google. This makes it easier for google to index your web site pages therefore increasing your website’s ranking. Just go to Sitemapbuilder.net, type in your URL and their online sitemap program will create a sitemap for you which you can download and then upload to google. Complete instructions are given on Sitemapbuilder.net’s website.
7. SEO / Search Engine Optimization – This is the final step and an ongoing process to achieving success with your website. Search Engine Optimization involves having as many pages of articles and text as possible containing keywords phrases which describe what services or products you are offering in your website. You can get articles about almost any topic you can think of from many of the Ezine websites with reprint rights. Articles written about your niche on your website vastly increases the value and ranking of your site to search engines because they reinforce your keyword word count.
Another very important step is to trade links with other sites and get as many inbound links as possible. Publishing your own articles to Ezine websites will help increase your inbound links. I highly recommend the Article Money System. It’s comes pre-loaded with 163 article directory sites. For each article you write (if accepted) you can get up to 163 incoming back links to your site thus improving your page rank. For more info, go to http://articlemoney.wsone.net
You might also want to purchase links to your website which have a high Google PR. Link Directory Submitter is a software which submits your website link to over 300 directories, with more than half ranging from PR4 to PR7. For more info, go to http://LinkSubmitter.wsone.net
To learn more about SEO / Search Engine Optimization, just type in the search phrase “SEO” in your browser and you’ll find numerous articles and info to help you with this process.
Copyright by Ray Rice 2006
Ray has been a Internet Business owner & web site designer since 1995. He writes articles for several websites including http://www.website-supermarket.com
March 18, 2009
Web sites can contain hundreds of pages,
even thousands. You have spent your time making a look and brand
for your web site, using different font sizes, colours, margins
etc all within each web page.
Later on you decide that you want to change the background
colour of the website, and then realise that you will have to
edit every single web page and change the background color in
the body tag…….
This is
where stylesheets come into play, by simply putting all the web
page formatting into a single file and then called upon by each
web page, you are able to make changes to your web sites layout
in just a few seconds!
To do
this, include the following piece of code inside your
tags.
href="stylesheet.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
This tells the browser that
to display the page with the proper formatting to use the file
called stylesheet.css. So any changes you want to make to the
page, you simply edit the stylesheet.css file, save and then
voila! All your pages using that stylesheet have now changed.
A typical stylesheet might look
like this :
cols="50">.heading { font-size: 16pt }
March 1, 2009
A website should be a dynamic, changing, and growing creation. Although many people simply set up websites and then forget about them, websites should not be forgotten or neglected. As time passes, information changes and there are undoubtedly modifications taking place in your market, company, or business. If your site is a static entity, the world will pass it by. Rather than being a one-time consideration, your site should be constantly evolving.
Accuracy and professionalism should always be top considerations. When updating a site, always be sure to double and triple check everything. Even if you think everything is okay, you may be overlooking errors that visitors may immediately pick up on. There is nothing worse and more unprofessional than things like spelling errors and typos. It is often helpful to have someone else look over your work.
Dead links are also a bane of any site. Any time you update your site, be sure to check all of your site’s links. All of them, not just the new ones. You must always be sure that every link is taking visitors where it should be. Again, this not only speaks to professionalism, but if a visitor is on your site, wants to buy something, and encounters a dead link, that is costing you potential revenue. Also be sure to check outgoing links from your site. Other sites may be down or have changed, so check those links as well.
Visitors like information that is current and up to date. The rate of change in the modern world is exponential. A lot of times information that is just months old can be wrong, inaccurate, and outdated. Visitors respect sites that update often, so consider putting forth the effort to update your site atleast 2 times a week (if not more). This kind of contemporaneous timeliness pays off. Furthermore, when visitors know that new information will be added often, they will be more likely to visit your site on a recurrent basis.
Maintenance is possibly the most crucial element of any site. As I said, visitors like sites that are updated on a regular and frequent basis. Also, it is ever-important to be sure that your site is fully functional. The internet is as a dynamic an entity as the world is. Think of your site as a shark. To remain static is to die.
Cameron Ashwood is an Associate Partner at Madison &
Monroe, the internet’s premier source for online
moneymaking information, products, and reviews.
Visit us at: http://www.madisonandmonroe.org
Getting your business online is not a luxury anymore and is definitely more of a commodity. Without a website or an Internet presence of some sort, your business is potentially throwing away thousands, or even millions, of customers. The Internet offers you a global marketplace to sell your products or your service, something that no other method can provide. However, if you aren’t a programmer and you have no working knowledge of the Internet you may find it difficult to establish your online presence.
First things first, you should conduct some form of market research. Ascertain any niche corners of the market that may still be available and aim to take advantage of them. There are fewer niches now than there once were, but there are still some. Look at your competitor’s websites, in particular the value added services they are offering or any special offers. Try to match, or preferably beat, these offers when you do set up your website. Offer Internet only deals.
You should have your site designed by a professional; only this way can you ensure that your website will be appealing to visitors and to search engines. You may also want to consider having a logo and some advertising banners designed.
There is an alternative to paying somebody else to do all of this. There are many different Internet software packages available to help you with each step of this process. There is Internet software that will help you design your site quickly and easily; there is Internet software to help you design your own logo. In fact, there is even software that will help you to market your website once it is established. If you are opening an e-commerce website you should look for shopping cart software that can be integrated into your website too.
John Rivers is the owner of Computer Software Center. A comprehensive resource for computer software and computers for corporate users with extensive links to technologies, manufacturers, and news.
February 28, 2009
There are thousands of Web hosting companies that claim to be the best deal on the Net or the cheapest deal for the money. So how are you supposed to know what ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host with?
Support Issues
Recently I dealt with three very big, well known hosting companies who hosted (past tense), my clients’ Web sites. I put the question to them, “How do I tweak a CGI-Bin Perl script to point to a custom confirmation page?” They stated, we don’t provide script support. I asked another company, “Do you support ASP upload scripts?” They replied, “Our windows servers are physically in San Francisco and the technician who supports these servers does not work weekends.”
I made another request to a hosting company to resolve a domain pointer issue. They said, “We will create a support ticket and have someone get back to you.”
I work 24/ 7 to get the job done because my clients expect me to resolve Web site problems in a fast, expedient fashion. You should expect no less from a Web site hosting provider.
Bells and Whistles
Hosting companies sometimes offer add-ons or additional services as part of their hosting plan. If you’re a Web novice when it comes to technical aspects, you may have no idea what these add-ons are all about, much less how to take advantage of them. Some helpful add-ons to look for when shopping for hosting include:
* Automated form-mail creator – Creates a contact form on your Web site.
* Blogs by Word Press or Mambo – A template-based system where people can post their rants, raves and feedback.
* Web Statistics – Real time feedback on a variety of statistics issues such as: number of visitors, search engine data, keywords, key word phrases, Web site hits, Web site visitors and much more.
* Web Mail – Access to your email via a Web browser.
* Bulletin Board – A controlled forum where your Web site visitors can post feedback and respond to each other’s posts.
* Google Site map generator – A relatively new way of generating an XML code whereby providing the Google search engine a way to find and record all your Web pages within your site.
* Web Template Creator – An automated way of creating a basic Web site.
Recommendation
Since 2000 I have referred and recommended a hosting company based in Delaware called HostMySite.com. I do not resell their services, although they have a reseller program. I recommend them because they are the best. They make it easier for me to do my job and they provide my Web site clientele a powerful base on which to grow their online presence.
They also have great bandwidth for speed and 24/7 knowledgeable support people who go the extra mile when it comes to resolving technical issues.
I have dealt with 30 or more local and national ISP’s across the U.S. and Canada and no one comes close to their level of support, expertise and service. Mention my company “Visionefx,” and ask them to waive the $19.95 setup fee. Their hosting packages are surprisingly low and extremely competitive.
Whether you have a $150,000 monster Website running Java and Oracle, or a $300 site with Front Page extensions, choose a good ISP. It’s well worth it.
Happy hosting
About the Author
Virginia
Web Design Company- VISIONEFX – President Ricardo Vidallon
has been in the creative business of advertising, cable broadcast, animation and the World Wide Web for more than two decades. His work has been featured on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., Fox News and NBC Entertainment. His career track in Web consultancy includes the global companies of Reynolds and Reynolds, CMGI Solutions, and Automark, Inc.
