Here's a cheap magic trick for you - I bet you I can guess the answer you will give to the following question:

What do you usually do when you click on a link or button and get the classic "404 File Not Found" page?

1. You click on the "Back" button of your browser (with disgust) and go somewhere else?

2. You look at the address field and erase the text right until the next "slash" and try again?

3. You look at the address field and try the domain name, hoping to get to a home page and navigate your way to ....

Have you ever noticed that some people have really nice error pages when a page doesn't exist on their site? Wouldn't it be nice if you could make your error page match the rest of your site? Don't fret; you can do it! All you'll need to do is use a handly little file called .htaccess.

First thing you need to know is that .htaccess is a very powerful file that controls a lot of important parts of your site. Before you change anything, make sure to make a backup copy. If anything goes wrong, you can revert to the backup. ....

To be successful with your online business, whether you are selling your own product, services or are selling for other merchants as an affiliate, you need a Web site that focuses on that subject alone. The site must be easy to build, maintenance-free, low cost, credible, and a powerful traffic-builder and customer-converter.

Having the right tools or product alone will not insure the success of your website. There are many factors to be considered when designing your site. And unfortunately, most of these are usually ignored by Internet business owners. Here are eight simple steps to enhance your site and ....

Author: Sydney Johnston

Most of my students are Internet novices and ask many apprehensive questions about how to design a website. They worry about their ability to design an attractive site and are anxiously seeking the quickest and best alternative.

After years on the Net, I believe you need to learn how to design your sites yourself, and here's why ...

The Internet is made up of two elements:

1. Text
2. Pictures

Yes, audio and video technologies are growing fast. But if you hope to sell on the Net, it's critical to appeal to your audience, those folks who are willing to pull out ....

What are Meta tags? Meta tags are simply small pieces of information that can be attached to a web page. They are invisible to the user, but visible to the search engines.

Meta is the Greek word for "over", and the "meta-tags" were initially designed to carry all sort of meta-information, meaning "information-about". Using meta-tags for specifying keywords or a description for a webpage is not an HTML standard convention, but it is a widely accepted use of the meta-tags.

There are many meta-tag types, but from the search engines' perspective, the most important are the "keywords" meta-tag (carrying keywords associated with ....

If you're just starting out in your career as a web designer, you likely have a lot of work left to do before you have an established portfolio. After all, it's hard to convince potential new customers that you have the talent and skills to create a website if you have no portfolio to show them. You're caught between a rock and a hard place - you need clients to build a portfolio, and you need a portfolio to gain new clients. On the other end of the business is the solo web designer who has been successful for many ....

Author: Cindy Kelly

The Internet is full of web design companies pleading for your business. They
all look great! Not sure which company to select? By following these simple
steps, you'll be able to select the perfect designer for your business.

1. The search for a web
designer. Unless you really feel that face-to-face
meetings are a priority, there is really no reason why you can't
hire a web designer outside your local area. Most people turn to
search engines on the internet for their search.

2. The designer's portfolio. Once you stumble on a website
that catches your interest, look for samples ....

Do you have to sacrifice all of the creative and artistic elements of your web site to rank in the search engines? Later in this article I'll show you a real case scenario and the design and SEO approach used.

Thanks to the birth of professional search engine marketers the top ranks are saturated with the pages of companies that can pay for such insight. That said, it's certainly possible to employ high ranking tactics in your own website. Actually, the most basic tactics can move you up from an 800 position to a 300. However, it's the top of the ....

So, you've decided that your company needs a web site. Now what? Since we are ultimately talking about your "online business image", unless you yourself have web design experience, finding that perfect web designer to create your company site is a very important next step. If you've never had a web site created before, you will find that there is quite a lot to consider if you want your site to be successful, and you may have to do a bit of homework to find the right person for you.

Regardless of the type of site you want, to be successful, ....

The web started out its life as a collection of simple HTML pages which were, by nature, accessible. Many people with disabilities latched onto the web as a revolutionary new way for them to communicate. However, since the commercialisation and diversification of the Web, it has gradually become less and less accessible with many sites relying on the use of a particular browser, broadband connection speeds or proprietary software.

Some people with disabilities use Assistive Technology like magnification software, screen readers (speakable browsers) and desktop Braille displays to access the Web. Many more others simply modify their browser settings to their ....

Many people mistakenly think that they have to hire a hot web designer for thousands of dollars in order to create an eye-catching website. This is not true, especially for the do-it-yourselfer who wants more control over the look and feel of a website.

Most websites are based on only one web page template. That's right, just one. This means that all you have to do in order to get started is to buy a web page template that will work well for your web business and use software such as Macromedia DreamWeaver or Microsoft FrontPage in order to modify the ....

For the past year or so, there's been lots of chattering about this Web 2.0. The term came to life when Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media brainstormed with MediaLive's Craig Cline.

Is it just another term that Web experts and personalities are spreading to drum up followers and business? If nothing else, many (resources at the end of the article plus we'll skip quoting the ones that have been quoted a hundred times already) agree the Web is still maturing and it's changing from "I go get" to "come to me," says Thomas Vander Wal[1].

The term is hype. That is all ....

How To Make Sure Your Visitors Read What You Write!
- A Lesson From Journalism 101

When most people open a newspaper, they look for the most interesting, bold and colourful images on the page. There is no time to read a whole newspaper from cover to cover, just as there is no time to read every single word on a web page, especially if it is really full of text.

Readers today are generally referred to as "scanners" because that is what they do. They scan the page looking for the most interesting item on the page, which often makes the contents ....

Hosting and Domain: Most people do know about web hosting and domain names are these days, but every now and then some confusion might arise as to whether they are independent or one in the same. Basically, your web hosting is the space you "rent" on the internet to place your website. Your domain name, also called your URL is www.your_website.com. Some hosting companies will offer the purchase of your domain name at the same time you purchase your hosting account. Often times however, you purchase a domain name separately from a company such as Register.com or GoDaddy.com.

FTP or Login ....

Author: BluEnt eSolutions

You spent countless hours designing a site with fantastic colors, attractive images and beautiful layout but it failed to click, did this ever happen to you? Many of the apparent reasons could be lack of planning or inappropriate design elements. A well thought site never fails to click. To avoid this kind of situation it is very important for a web designer to plan things in advance and foresee the impact of the site. Ask a couple of questions:

Who is the target audience?
What is the purpose of the site?
What all functionalities are to be included?

If ....

Author: Robert Rogers

Building content rich 1000+ page SEO optimized websites in 2 days.

Here is the bare bone - no hype information and a link to the website I built using these techniques. So I'm not gonna lie to you about how much money you can make or how much I made. This article assumes you have a basic knowledge of HTML, Google Adsense, and Affiliate Advertising.

We've all heard the phrases "Content is King" and "If content is King, then relevance is Queen!". So I'm going to share with you how to build a site based on these principles for profit! ....

Author: Adam Senour

On September 1, 2005, I was contacted by Ivan Schneider of Award Kitchen Refacers. Award had confirmed participation as an exhibitor at the National Home Show in Toronto at the end of the month and wanted to have a website, logo and set of business cards that could be presented to the public to support their offline marketing efforts at that time.

Ivan and I sat down the next week and went through the various materials and sketches that Award had come up with for use on the website. Some of the sketches contained layouts and rough copy for ....

Author: Halstatt Pires

There are numerous choices when it comes to building web sites. One of the first choices you will have to make is whether to use an online or offline site builder.

Site Builders

Site builders can be divided into two categories, online and offline. An online site builder creates a web site with web forms over the Internet. With an online site builder, there is no need to install any special software. You only need an Internet browser.

An offline site builder is a program that you install on a computer from a disc or a download. This type of site ....

Author: Halstatt Pires

Okay, you are ready to join the masses and put up a web site. You’ve put a lot of thought into the design and are ready to go. Perhaps you should give more thought to using a web site template.

Web Site Templates

For many people, it makes more sense to use a pre-designed web template instead of creating a site from scratch. Using a pre-designed site template allows you to get a professional design at a fraction of the price a custom design would cost. A good template is automated or has HTML tags to show you exactly where ....

Author: Halstatt Pires

Every visitor to your web site is a precious potential client. It was hard work to get that site visitor there in the first place, so you should make every effort to encourage the potential client back.

The bottom line is that if the visitor found what they were looking for quickly and easily, they are much more likely to come back to your site. Here are six additional techniques you can use to help bring visitors back to your site. They are:

1. Email Newsletters

2. Bookmark Buttons

3. Periodic Updates

4. Games

5. Contests

6. Message Boards

A newsletter is perhaps the best tool ....

Author: Halstatt Pires

Some wise human once said "Learn from the mistakes of others. There isn't nearly enough time to make them all yourself." Hence this article. Here are five of the most annoying and common web design mistakes.

1. Slow download time - Don't be that site that is filled with the coolest gizmos in the world. You know, animation, music and other "cool" things. Why? Because nobody is going to go to it because it takes too long to download. A nice clean site that downloads quickly will get you much further than a site with all the fixings that ....

Author: Halstatt Pires

Once a visitor gets to your web site, you want to make sure they can find what they are looking for quickly and easily, or they will just go elsewhere. If a web site is easy to use and understand, visitors will come back time and time again.

Using intuitive navigation techniques will greatly improve the usability of your web site, and therefore user satisfaction and return rates. By intuitive navigation, I mean some sort of menu, map or list that is instantly understandable to most visitors to your web site.

One of the first points to making a site ....

Author: Jay Moncliff

Remember the color wheel? Colors arranged in a circle, similar to a rainbow, and all of the colors related? Red combines with yellow to make orange, yellow and blue combine to make green, and red and blue make purple, remember? Visit your local craft store and invest in a simple color wheel to get you going. Most of the art departments will have one, and EK Success now makes a fancy one just for scrapbooking. Any color wheel will allow you to use these simple ideas.

Let your picture be your guide in choosing a color scheme for your ....

Author: Tom Antion

There is nothing wrong with making your own website if you are looking to save some money. Be prepared however, for your finished product to resemble an after school project cutesy, homemade touches and all. It is pretty hard to make your own website and have it look professional but, there is an easier way that will leave you with fewer headaches in the long run.

You must first do some web research. Click around and find websites that have the look you are going for. Make some notes and jot down what it is you do and ....

Author: Peter Wise

Even nowadays, too many companies are essentially cutting up their printed brochures and pasting them online as the prime content for their website. It seems like the cheap and easy option – but actually it’s the very expensive one, and it will cost them countless customers and almost guarantee low search engine rankings. Here are the main reasons why you need to create content for your website from scratch – and not recycle existing print copy.


1. Your brochure is primarily aimed at one audience – customers. Your website is aimed at two – customers and search engines. People ....

Author: Raamakant S.

In the physical world you can easily sell a product by your interacting behavior
and your marketing tactics. But in the e-world where there is no face to face
interaction and all marketing is totally a game of your site's interaction with your
visitor which may desperate them to turn into your healthy customers. While
designing your site you must know who your target people are and what are their
needs and will your website turns to be beneficial for them. A website's form and
content is what will determine if a visitor will stay just a visitor ....

Author: Anthony Jewell

If there is one thing we have all suffered through is waiting for a site to download online. It seems like it is the worse thing in the world and will never end. We actually either click off of the site or after the initial download of the frontpage completes, we then click off of the site because the subpages take too long to load. We have all been here and this article is to help make sure your visitors don't go through it as well.

The reason why a websites speed of download is important is actually very ....

Author: Anthony Jewell

As important as the design and the way a websites work, another important issue can actually have negative results on not only your customers but your business. Site speed is a very important topic and should not be overlooked when having your website designed or re-designed. It can actually directly hurt your sales and cut into your profits as people do not have the time to sit there and wait for your website to load. This is something that good sites take advantage of only having very small load times and bad sites seem to ignore(because they seem ....

Author: Terry Carter

Would you buy meat from a grocery store that left the
bad meat in with the good meat or wasn’t clean? Would
you buy a car from a sales lot that had totaled
automobiles on the front lot? I wouldn’t and neither
would you. Your website is your grocery store; your
car lot. You must have an atmosphere that is pleasing
to buyers. One that tells that buyer that you are not
an amateur, but instead a trained, seasoned
professional. Your site is a direct reflection of
your product and that is why that having a well
designed ....

Author: Joel Walsh

Can you really get a website even without knowing anything
about code, and without paying a fortune? Find out.

The days when websites were primarily distinguished by their code are long
gone. Nowadays, the web is a true publishing medium that favors well
thought-out ideas. You can get a professional-looking website online in
minutes with many website building services and software. But what should
you look for? What are the features you really need and which are just
clutter?

CONTENT EDITING

Some website authoring software packages only allow you to entire plain,
unformatted text. Some of them allow you to entire ....

Author: Joel Walsh

A nostalgic look back at 90s web design, and a warning to
anyone whose website is an accidental anachronism.

Remember the days when every PC was beige, every website had a little
Netscape icon on the homepage, Geocities and Tripod hosted just about every
single personal homepage, and "Google" was just a funny-sounding word?

The mid-late 1990s were the playful childhood of the worldwide web, a time of
great expectations for the future and pretty low standards for the
present. Those were the days when doing a web search meant poring through
several pages of listings rather than glancing at ....

Author: Michael Knowles

Do you have your own website? Yes, great then you know some of the benefits it brings you. No, Then let me show you some reasons why you need a website.

If you don't have a website, then you might not realize all the great things it can do for you. Maybe you think that because your business is too small – or maybe you don't even have a business there wouldn't be any point! Perhaps you think it'd be a lot of work for little reward. Or maybe you spent a lot of money for a site back ....

Author: Michael Knowles

How To Build A Content Site… Fast!

In this day and age of online marketing, content has been heralded as king, and for good reasons. People flock to sites not because of the flashy graphics, the astounding features or the witty domain name of the said pages, but because of the information contained on the pages. They are looking for content they will answer their question of the moment.

Content is even more potent in winning visitors than, say, search engine placements You may derive a tremendous amount of traffic from the search engines, but if your content is junk, ....

Author: Ronald Gibson

All Internet business owners want their websites to be profitable.Here are a few tips that could help you make your website a profitable one.

1. Address your targeted audience on your business site.
Example: "Welcome Internet Marketers" or "Greetings Fellow
Dog Lover". If you have more than one, address them all.

2. Make sure your content and graphics are relevant to your website's theme. You wouldn't want to use a bird graphic on a business web site.

3. In order for a website to be profitable, it must have
repeat visitors. Offer your visitors incentives to get them
to return to your website. You could ....

Author: Robert Evans

Setting yourself up to earn a steady monthly income has to
be a pre-requisite to your success online. There is no
doubt that large sums of money can be made (and indeed are being made) from selling products or services online.

With over 500,000,000 internet users (and that figure is already obsolete even as I write this) the potential for long term wealth is very high indeed.

This fantastic new medium has brought untold possibilities
for the small trader operating in a niche market. In fact
the
internet is made for just that type of marketer. It
therefore goes without saying that anyone ....

Author: Andrew Eaton

Almost everything is available on the web… products,
services, e-books, software, audios, videos, membership
sites, or newsletters. Regardless of what you’re
promoting, there’s a never-ending supply of prospects and customers on the world-wide-web. Your goal is to capture and turn those prospects into paying customers.

Perhaps the best avenue is by the use of graphics. Three important sections of graphics that should be used for a compelling website are 1) header graphics 2) product cover
and 3) background graphics.

Let’s start at the top with the header graphics. Without excellent quality header graphics it won’t much matter what’s on the rest of ....

Author: Gerrick W

What is a landing page

That’s been a lot of talk about landing page these days. So, what’s a landing page? It's the page your website visitor arrived at after clicking a link. The link could be on any page on your website or pay per click advertising or
banner ads or keyword search.

The goal of landing page is to cause your visitors to take definite action. You don't want your visitors to leave until you get them to do what you want them to do. To click on the buy button, to sign up for an affiliate ....

By Shelley Lowery

When you're ready to launch your web site and you're trying to select a good domain name, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Select a Domain Name that Reflects Your Web Site

Above all else, your domain name should reflect what your web site is all about. For example, if your web site is about grooming a dog, you certainly wouldn't want to select a domain name like 'mybusinessname.com,' as this would have nothing to do with your web site's focus. You would want to select a domain name that tells the world ....

By Shelley Lowery

If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use.

Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

The easiest and most popular web design language is Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML. This language is so simple you can type ....

Author: Martin Boyd

Is Your Website Designed to Sell?

Why do some websites sell better than others? Do you need a
marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much
impact or is web copy the key?

You may not realize this but many of the successful internet
marketing businesses realize that design, or layout of the
website should be a marketing decision based on research done by
internet marketers - not designers.

This is in no way a reflection of the incredible talent that
website designers have. You will clearly have a much more
professional looking site when an ....

Author:Florie Lyn Masarate

With all the emergence of graphic designs nowadays, how can you assure that yours will stand out among the many beautiful creations?

There are basically four C’s to remember on how to ensure success in your designs.

Commitment. The first C. Once the design process is already set, commitment takes action. This is all about carrying on the missions and goals. It is crucial that the designer should rise above all the challenges that he will encounter in the whole process. Every commitment seems to be challenged, so commitment has to come out victorious.

Clarity. Or the ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

If you'd like to create and publish your own web site on the Internet, your first step should be to decide what type of web site you would like to create and what web design language you would like to use.

Although there are several web design languages to choose from, make sure you take some time to research your options to ensure you're making the best choice for your project.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

The easiest and most popular web design language is Hypertext Markup Language, better known as HTML. This language is so simple you can type ....

Author: Chrissy Miller

When designing or redesigning a website the most important part of the project happens before any graphics or code are created.

Start by determining the primary goals of your website. Are you using it to sell your products or services? Maybe it’s intended simply to advertise your offline business, provide support to your existing customers or build your company brand. Whatever the goals are, clearly defining them ahead of time will better guide you in the actual creation process.

Next, remember that first impressions mean everything. Your website design must be professional and portray the right image ....

Author: Nelson Bort

Looking to establish an online presence? Then, your most affordable solution is to buy a web template. It is important to determine what kind of templates are there in the market before you proceed to but one. The following is a brief explanation of the most popular templates that you expect to find on the market analyzing the degree of expertise to develop them, the required tools and their functionality.

Flash Templates

Flash is a registered trademark of macromedia studios. Flash has really modified the way that web pages look. It has allowed for movement and interactivity ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, better known as PHP, is a highly popular, server-side scripting language that can be embedded directly into HTML coding.

PHP can do anything that CGI can do, such as process form data and auto generate dynamic content, but PHP can do much more.

It can be used on all major operating systems and supports most web servers.

PHP is used by inserting PHP code inside your web page's HTML code. When the page is called, your server automatically executes the code. What's more, your visitors don't need any special plug-ins for the code to run, ....

Author: Andre Best

If you're the least bit serious about promoting your website(s) online then you have probably heard the recent cry that one's website needs links coming into it. Lot's of links. And without these many, many links one is the proverbial billboard in the desert waiting to be seen by those thirsty for sustenance.

Well after these several years that I've been on the internet I too heard the call and have followed the many internet bandwagons that have rolled into e-town touting the next 'latest and greatest' snakeoil software to get one traffic that they won't believe.

You know the ....

Author: David Hennebery

Firstly the truth, you do not need some miracle to get listed in google in less than 24 hours. Getting listed in google in under a day can actually be quite easy and in this article I’ll show you exactly how to do it.
Firstly what we mean by your site getting indexed is when it shows up on the google search engine. To find out if you website is listed enter www.yourdomain.com into the search box. You will see “no results” appear, which means our website is new and its not in google’s index. Google doesn’t know your ....

Author: Joe Borges

Oftentimes, the most important facets of SEO are overlooked, even by webmasters and seasoned SEO experts. Why? Because somehow all the emphasis gets put on the importance of keywords, leaving all other SEO elements in the dust.

Equally important aspects of SEO include:

1. Reciprocal Link Exchange (Linking Strategy)

2. Page Rank

3. Avoiding getting penalized by the Search Engines, and more importantly, avoiding getting banned.

I am an online business owner and SEO specialist. I have seen people put emphasis on the wrong things, to the detriment of equally important elements.

So, how can you build a website that is completely ....

Author: Scott Buresh

While professional SEO (search engine optimization) is becoming increasingly recognized as an extremely effective component of an overall marketing mix, the SEO industry itself is still very much in its infancy. Because SEO is a relatively new industry, many key decision makers are not even aware that professional SEO exists, or they simply believe that it could not work in their industries or with the existing marketing mix. This is not because these decision makers are ineffective or backward thinking, but rather because, in most companies, marketing efforts are focused upon activities that have already been proven effective ....

Author: Sam Barns

There are a good number of web link types, named depending upon the way in which the various web pages are connected to each other. A common term that is heard of when talking about the SEO web links is a ‘Reciprocal Web Link’. A reciprocal web link is a normal web link in which there is an exchange of two pages through the web link. Another web link is the ‘One-Way web link’, where one web page is linked to another without a web link back to the same page. Web pages can also be linked in ....

Author: Glenn Murray

If there's one thing that Google loves, it's content. Done right, a content rich website is almost guaranteed to rank highly. But how to get that content? You can write it yourself, but that takes a lot of time. You can pay an SEO copywriter to write it for you, but that takes a lot of money. If only there was another option...

What if you could get your content for free? And not just a little bit of content; a lot! What if you could get an almost unlimited supply of keyword rich, expertly written content, specific ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity for all of us. With the vast amount of information available at your fingertips, it has never been easier to communicate your message to the world.

A web site will enable you to create your own home on the World Wide Web. Your home may be as simple or dynamic as you'd like and is only limited by your imagination.

Although designing a great web site is an important part of developing a successful online business, it is only one small part of an overall plan.

Although many new ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

There are millions of web sites on the Internet today with thousands more being added each day. The competition is fierce and in order to be successful, you must stay one step ahead of the game.

Although designing a professional web site is an important part of your strategic plan, it is only the first step. Before you begin the actual design process, you must first determine your overall strategy and design your web site accordingly.

Internet marketers have basically two choices:

-> Design a mini web site that focuses on just one product or service, with no other content ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

The appearance of your web site is one of the most important aspects of your success. Your product or service will literally be judged by the appearance of your web site.

Poor web design is one of the leading causes of small business failure. There are literally thousands of home-based Internet businesses struggling to make a living online. Most, make very little or no money and end up closing their site in defeat.

I have received many messages over the years from struggling Internet marketers wanting to know if I could look at their site and tell ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

Although the Internet has provided a wealth of opportunity for all of us, it has also created a breeding ground for scam artists. Internet users are very reluctant to make purchases online, and share their personal information.

For this reason, you must take every opportunity to convey your professionalism -- from your web site, products and services, to your customer service, each will play an important part in your success.

The moment your site loads, your visitors will have an instant reaction -- your site will either convey your professionalism or your amateurism. If your site doesn't look ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

Developing a successful web site takes a great deal of planning and preparation. An important part of your preparation is obtaining the essential tools of the trade.

HTML Editors

An HTML editor is a software program used to create and edit HTML documents.

Although some Internet marketers prefer to write their own HTML code, most prefer to use an HTML editor, as it can greatly simplify a somewhat difficult process. However, using an HTML editor has its disadvantages, as some editors have a tendency to add a lot of unnecessary coding and may not support the latest technologies.

Whether you will ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

An important part of developing a successful web site is attracting a steady stream of targeted traffic.

A significant amount of web site traffic originates from the major Search Engines. A Search Engine is a web site that indexes web pages. These sites run software programs called "Spiders" or "Robots" that continuously crawl the Internet in search of new web pages to index.

When you visit a Search Engine and you're looking for something in particular, you type in a few words that best describe what you're looking for. These words are known as keywords. The Search Engine will ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

An important part of developing a successful web site is attracting a steady stream of targeted traffic.

A significant amount of web site traffic originates from the major Search Engines. A Search Engine is a web site that indexes web pages. These sites run software programs called "Spiders" or "Robots" that continuously crawl the Internet in search of new web pages to index.

When you visit a Search Engine and you're looking for something in particular, you type in a few words that best describe what you're looking for. These words are known as keywords. The Search Engine will ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

Selecting the right keyword phrases for each page of your web site is the first step towards ranking high in the Search Engines. However, it is only the first step.

In addition to selecting targeted keyword phrases, you must also strategically optimize your page including:

• META description tag
• META keyword tag
• Title
• Image ALT tags
• Heading tags
• Image names
• Hyperlinks
• Body text



The META description tag will contain a description of your site. This description will be visible in some of the Search Engines when your site is returned in ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

A professional looking web site is a very important part of developing a profitable Internet business. However, your sales copy is just as important -- each will play a major role in your success.

The key to writing effective sales copy is simply learning how to write persuasive words specifically written for your targeted potential customer. You must feel their needs and write your copy with passion, excitement and benefits. Tell them exactly what's in it for them by writing copy that evokes a specific emotion and stresses your product's benefits.

Use the following formula when writing your ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

When you're ready to launch your web site, you'll need to make two very important decisions -- what your domain name will be and where you will host your new site.

A domain name is used to locate a particular web site on the Internet. It is a part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and instructs the browser as to where to find a particular web page.

When a web address (http://www.domain.com) is typed into the browser, the web server will look for a page called index. This page may have different extensions, such as .htm, .html, ....

Author: Shelley Lowery

Creating a successful Internet presence involves much more than designing a great web site or having the "perfect" product. Listing your web site with the Search Engines is your first step; however, you must not solely rely on the Search Engines to bring you traffic.

You must design a complete promotional strategy and work it every day. If you're launching a new web site, your first step will be to submit your site to the Search Engines and Directories.

Although there are many auto-submission software programs available on the Internet, make sure you manually submit your site ....

Author: Glenn Murray

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become an essential weapon in the arsenal of every online business. Unfortunately, for most business owners and marketing managers (and even many webmasters), it's also somewhat of an enigma. This is partly due to the fact that it's such a new and rapidly changing field, and partly due to the fact that SEO practitioners tend to speak in a language all of their own which, without translation, is virtually impenetrable to the layperson. This glossary seeks to remedy that situation, explaining specialist SEO terms in plain English...


AdWords


See Sponsored Links.


algorithm


A complex mathematical ....

Author: Glenn Murray

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a foreign field to a lot of people. Rarely does a day go by when I don't get asked a few questions on the subject. So I've decided to post this FAQ article in the hopes that it will help people understand the basics, and make them a little more comfortable with the whole domain.

Q: Why are search engines important to me?

A: 85% of all website traffic is driven by search engines. The only online activity more popular than search is email. 79.2% of US users don't go to page 2 ....

Author: Glenn Murray

Recently I wrote an article discussing the merits of using free reprint articles on your website to increase your search engine ranking. (The article explained how Google loves lots of content on your site, how it loves that content to be regularly updated, and how you can get lots of keyword rich content for your site, absolutely free.)

A few days after publishing, I received a 'please help' email from Loren, a small business owner. Her website is all about glass art, and she wanted some clarification on some of the points I made in my previous article. Loren's ....

Author: Glenn Murray

From the perspective of a business owner, webmaster, or marketing manager, the change exhibited by the Internet is profoundly exciting, yet profoundly disturbing. The information (and misinformation and disinformation) it offers, the business benefits it promises, and the rules it is governed by change at such a rapid rate that it’s almost impossible to keep up.

These changes have led to a growing appreciation of the value of quality web copy. This appreciation has, in turn, led to an influx of opportunistic ‘copywriters’ promoting themselves as website copywriters or SEO copywriters. Don’t get me wrong, there are quite a ....

Author: Glenn Murray

As websites and electronic commerce are becoming more and more common, business owners and marketing managers are realising that quality web copy is every bit as important as impressive design. And with the ever increasing importance of search engine presence, the role of web copy has never been more critical.

But in such a relatively new field, customers are still coming to grips with what they can expect of their website copywriter. The question a lot of people are asking is, “How do I know I’ll get what I pay for?”

Before engaging a website copywriter for your next project, ....

Author: Glenn Murray

As soon as you register your domain name, submit it to Google!

Even if you haven’t built your site, or written an copy, or even thought about your content, submit your domain name to Google. In fact, even if you haven’t fully articulated your business plan and marketing plan, submit your domain name to Google.

Don’t wait!

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, getting on the search engines has always taken a long time for a new site. Even assuming you do everything right, it takes months before your site is even indexed, and more months before it starts ....

Author: James Anderson

Why are there so many Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation myths on the internet? The following article exposes some of the most common SEO myths effecting web design and looks at the reasons why they have become widely accepted as the truth by many web designers and Webmasters.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a complex and diverse topic that’s both never constant and constantly changing. There are hundreds of myths about SEO, some were once true but no longer apply (outdated information), while others were simply never true to begin with (disinformation).

The large amount of ....

Author: John Lynch

As a result of search engine changes, linking with other sites is becoming an increasingly iportant way to generate traffic to your website. Links done properly will repay the effort and not be subject to the whims of the search engines. No more need to be concerned unduly about algorithmn changes and the "Google dance".

Why have a Links Page ?

A links page should give your visitors a choice of quality information and resources, not just a web page to improve your search engine rankings. Quality information on a links page is the best long-term strategy ....

Author: Justin Robinson

A .htaccess file is a file that works on Apache and other NCSA-compliant webservers. The name is actually a bit of a misnomer due to the fact that hyper-text access is only a small function of what it's capabilities are.

The .htaccess file affects the directory it is located in and all directories below it on the directory tree unless there is a .htaccess file contained within a directory, in which case it will take priority for that directory and all directories located below it in tree. Thus if a .htaccess file is contained within the root ....

Author: Ramdayal Yadav

Are you going to design or redesign new website or thinking for it, then first read below given points, which google likes in a website, Google Information for Webmasters. There are more than 80 factors of your website that are taken into consideration when determining the ranking of your website, Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Basic principles:

1) Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as "cloaking."

2) ....

Author: John Lynch

Untill recently, building a web site was not much fun. You had to know HTML, FTP and have good design skills. When it was finished you had to register a domain name and choose a web hosting service.

The alternative was to get a web site designer to do all of this for you but at a price. Generally a good price!

That was how things used to be done.

However, now the technology has moved on and anybody who is prepared can learn how to create a web site themselves. Today, we have all-in-one packages that ....

Author: Tony Smith

There are a lot of web hosting companies around the web that offer many hosting plans. Before you choose one you should consider a few things before purchasing. A few things that you should consider are how reliable the company is, how much space are they giving, and do they have the features that I need.

Reliability should be the main focus when looking for a web host. The host that you’re considering should have a guarantee uptime of ninety-nine percent. If your host is not reliable then you’re losing traffic to your web site that you ....

Author: Erich P Sweaney

For new internet marketers, your immediate goal is to get your website into as many search engines as possible. These services can charge a tremendous amount of money and require recurring monthly service fees. Very tempting to new internet marketers with all the hype “Instantly submit your websites to 1000’s of websites” and “Get Your Website Listed in 24 hours.” Stop! Let me show you a few ideas, so you can achieve the same success and save yourself some money better spent on pay per click campaigns.

Its true many services can submit your website to ....

Copyright Herman Drost

Are you always looking for new and better ways to market
your web site? Search engines are always on the look out
for fresh content. When doing a search you don't want old
content popping up, you want to have the most up to date
information. Search engines will generally reward those
sites which provide new content on a regular basis ie daily
or even bi-weekly.

One of the best ways to provide fresh content is to create
an RSS Feed.

What is an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for "really simple syndication". For example I
write articles every 2 weeks and place them on my web site.
I ....

Copyright Herman Drost

It's getting increasingly difficult to reach your targeted
audience these days by simply using email. Even if you have
a large ezine list there's no guarantee your message will
be read. This is because today’s' spam filters and
firewalls may block or delete your email before it even
reaches your intended audience. A great alternative
solution is to use RSS.

In this article I will discuss:

1. What is RSS?
2. Benefits of RSS
3. What are RSS Feeds and Why You Need a RSS Reader?
4. RSS Tools You Need
5. How to Get Started With RSS

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's a new way
for ....

Copyright Herman Drost

One of the most time consuming aspects of online marketing
is finding the most effective strategies to attract
visitors to your web site. If you set up a viral marketing
campaign correctly, you have the opportunity of gaining
1000s of visitors for years to come.

Definition of viral marketing

This is the online term for word-of-mouth advertising. You
provide something that encourages others to spread the word
about your product, quickly and inexpensively with little
effort on your part. This potentially creates exponential
growth in the message's visibility and effect. The message
spreads in a viral form in a manner similar to the
spreading of a common cold virus ....

Copyright Herman Drost

When visitors arrive at your web site you want them to find
the information quickly otherwise they will lose patience
and move on. A great way achieve this is to add a search
engine or search box to your web site. Since most visitors
are already familiar with using search engines such as
Google, they can easily use the search feature on your
site.

In this article I will discuss:

A. The benefits of adding a search engine
B. Types of search service providers
C. Where to place a search box on your site
D. How does the search engine work

A. Benefits of adding a search engine and ....

Herman Drost

If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.

Benefits of building database driven web sites

* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....

Herman Drost

If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.

Benefits of building database driven web sites

* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....

Author: Dan Foley

Brothers and sisters I have sinned! I have been a sinner! I didn’t know I was sinning but the great Search Engine Spirits didn’t care. Don’t let this happen to you!

In reality, I didn’t commit all Seven of the Deadly Sins, but you don’t need to commit more than one to get banned.

The First Deadly Sin – Don’t Hide Text

When I first started one of my websites, I used a template from a large template company. There was nothing wrong with it. I just didn’t have everything in place to put into some of the Read More >> ....

Copyright Herman Drost

You've got a brilliant idea for selling products online
that's been festering in your mind for a long time. This
means you need to build an ecommerce web site or online
store as others would call it, but have no idea what is
involved and how much it is going to cost you.

This article will put your mind at ease as I will try to give you
the necessary knowledge for creating, building and promoting
your ecommerce store.

Steps involved in building an ecommerce website:

1. Do the necessary online research - you first need to see
if your product is in demand. It's no point ....

Copyright Herman Drost

You've got a brilliant idea for selling products online
that's been festering in your mind for a long time. This
means you need to build an ecommerce web site or online
store as others would call it, but have no idea what is
involved and how much it is going to cost you.

This article will put your mind at ease as I will try to give you
the necessary knowledge for creating, building and promoting
your ecommerce store.

Steps involved in building an ecommerce website:

1. Do the necessary online research - you first need to see
if your product is in demand. It's no point ....

Copyright Herman Drost

Google Sitemaps is a simple and fast way for your site to
be constantly indexed and updated by Google.

This article will discuss the benefits of implementing this
new technology, who should use it, how it works and how to
create a Google Sitemap for your web site.

Benefits of having a Google Site Map

1. Speeds up the discovery and addition of your web pages
in the Google index.

2. Enables Google to quickly find web pages that have been
recently changed.

3. A method for your site to be listed and appear quickly
in Google.

4. Helps Google to keep search content fresh, so people
have the most ....

Copyright Herman Drost

Part One I discussed the Benefits of HTML Validation.

For Part Two I will discuss:

A. What to validate your web pages for
B. The validation process
C. Validation Tools
D. Common validation errors

A. What to validate your web pages for:

1. Doctype
2. HTML or XHTML document ( or other coding languages you
have used)
3. CSS style sheet
4. Links
5. Browsers
6. Screen Resolution
7. Connectivity

B.The validation process

1. Use the correct DOCTYPE ( Document Type Definition, or
DTD)

This defines which version of HTML or XHTML your document
is actually using. It's needed by browsers or other tools
to process the document correctly.

Using an incomplete, outdated or no DOCTYPE at all, ....

Copyright Herman Drost

You may not bother with html validation or writing simple
and clean code when designing your web site. Later you may
find your site is slow loading, appears incorrectly in the
main browsers and does not rank well for the major search
engines.

Now there are sites that still do rank well even though the
html code has many errors. This is because most of the
current major browsers are still very forgiving of html
mistakes, however future browsers will become more html
compliant as the Internet advances. Sites that have not
bothered with html code validation will then fall by the
wayside or take time and money ....

Herman Drost

When I purchase something from a web site I first check who
is behind this site. If there is no contact information or
anything about the owner of the site or his/her company I
move on.

Unfortunately the Internet attracts some people who are
dishonest and prey upon unsuspecting people to make quick
money for themselves.

Therefore your web site must put your visitor immediately
at ease and convey honesty and integrity about it.

Here are 7 great ways to accomplish this:

1. Provide contact information � visitors will easily become
frustrated if they have a question to resolve but can�t
contact you. At least place an email address or contact
form ....

Herman Drost

Then most difficult aspect of marketing a new product or
web site is to find enough people that are interested in it
so that they are ready to buy. Mastering Google AdWords
will enable you to drive traffic to your web site and start
making sales immediately. You can create a Google AdWord
campaign in a matter of minutes and be making sales within
24 hours.

Benefits of Mastering Google AdWords

1. Test Products - with Google AdWords you can quickly
test a product to determine if there is a demand for it.
If you generate a lot of clicks, this may mean you have
a winning product.

2. Generate sales ....

Copyright Herman Drost

The problem with a new web site is that it often takes a long
time before it is indexed by the search engines. This means
you are missing out on getting traffic and making sales.
Google places new sites in the "sandbox" which means
they are on "hold" for a period of time before they rank.

Here are some ways to generate immediate traffic to your
web site:

1. Start a PPC (pay per click) campaign – you can begin a
Google Adwords campaign and start generating visitors the
same day you set it up. Of course it is going to cost you
some money but you ....

Copyright Herman Drost

Have you spent a lot of money on advertising with the
expectation that you would get many sales from the 1000s of
web site visitors that read your ad?

Have you poured money into driving traffic to your web
site, only to have no one buying your product?

Maybe you have seen the ads, “Get 10,000 visitors to your
site, for only $20” . Wow, you think, that’s a great
bargain, I’ll go for it. The result – 10 people visiting
your site and no one buying. What’s the problem? You have
not effectively targeted your customers. Your field of
customers is too large. Most of them ....

Herman Drost

A search engine optimization maintenance service plan will
ensure that your site will continue to increase in its
rankings, attract more visitors and make more sales. It's
not enough to simply design your web site, have it
optimized for the search engines and expect it to
continually rank well. If left alone, you may soon lose the
business your web site initially generated.

What should be included in a SEO maintenance service plan?

1. Monitor search engine rankings - there will be many
fluctuations in your search engine rankings. This may be
due to search engines changing their ranking formulas, or
competitors trying to get ahead of you. More sites ....

Herman Drost

You can easily get confused by all the search engine
optimization companies and SEO experts that offer
SEO services. It's hard to know who to trust or what
should be included in a SEO proposal. I will endeavor
to clarify some of these points for you in this article,
so that you can make the best choice when looking
for SEO services. I don't profess to be a search engine
optimization expert but have attained top rankings for
my own site plus some of my web site design clients.

What a SEO proposal should include:

SEO objectives
Site Analysis
Keyword Research
Competitive Analysis
SEO Copywriting
Creation of Meta Information
Site Map Creation
Link Popularity Building
Web Site ....

Herman Drost

Writing effective web copy begins with an understanding of
what the goals of your web site are. Are you trying to get
your visitors to purchase something or have them sign up
for your newsletter? Remember you are trying to get someone
you can�t see and have never met take a step towards
building a relationship with you or your company.

1. Create a customer profile � try to find out what are the
needs and desires of your visitors. Here are some examples
of questions you could ask:

Are they young, middle aged or senior?
Are they primarily male or female?
Are they financially secure or budget-minded?
What gets him ....

Designing without tables by using CSS layouts is fast becoming the new standard on the Web because of the benefits of CSS mentioned in my previous article. Web browsers used these days are now able to render web pages more proficiently. In this article I will endeavor to create a basic 2 column CSS layout which you can use for future design projects.

1. Divide your page into sections - the

---

Author: Herman Drost

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allows you to create fast
loading pages, increase your search engine rankings, and
modify your whole site with one style sheet. So why don’t
more people use them? This is because they got so used to
html design and are afraid or too lazy to upgrade their
skills. Some will also use ready made templates that
contain flashy graphics, bloated code and sometimes
even contains hidden code embedded in the page.

In this series of articles I will show you how to create a
simple web site using CSS, so you will have no excuse to
begin incorporating them into your future designs.

What are ....

Author: Herman Drost
Have you ever received the dreaded " 404 error page not
found " message when you surfed to a web site?
This is usually due to typing the wrong URL or clicking
on a page link that no longer exists. If you are the site
owner, you lose the visitor and a potential sale. Creating
a custom 404 error page on your site will prevent you
from losing visitors and increase your web site traffic.

Benefits of creating custom 404 error messages

1. Stop link rot - as your site becomes larger, it's more
difficult to keep track of pages that once existed,
resulting in link rot.

2. Redirect ....

By Herman Drost

When I surf the Net, I often see web sites filled with
beautiful graphics that strive to capture my attention.
Well, they do so for an instant, however I click away when
I don't immediately find relevant content. The content you
add to your web site needs to attract both visitors and
search engines.

Part I - How to add content to your web site to attract
visitors

Part 11 - How to add content to your web site to attract
the search engines

14 ways to add content to your web site and attract
visitors

1. Get into the mind of your visitor. Brainstorm all the
ways your visitor would ....

Herman Drost

If you ever want to create a link directory, state directory,
article directory or a dating site you need to know about
creating database driven web sites. This may seem like a
daunting task at first, if you have never done it, however
I was in the same boat as you. It is not as difficult as
you think.

Benefits of building database driven web sites

* Store vast amounts of information about your products or
services.
* Efficient data sorting and retrieval
* Complex queries and statistical analysis performed relatively
easily.
* Separate site design from site's content.
* Create new pages on the ....

Herman Drost

Wouldn't you like to take a vacation whenever you want, or
have your wife stop working so she can look after the kids
and still keep up the payment of your bills? Well, if you
wish to achieve this, you need to build a passive residual
income.

Definition of passive residual income:

The definition of traditional passive income is "Income
generated with minimal work from your investments such as
interest, dividends, or real estate rentals." However in
this article we are discussing creating a passive income
online. Investment of time and money is initially required
to build a passive income online, then possibly minimal
work thereafter.

The benefits of generating a passive ....

Herman Drost

When surfing the web, you often find websites with large or flashing graphics to grab your attention. While this may "wow" you initially, it does not pull the visitor through the site to get the order and make a sale. This should be the ultimate purpose of your site if you are trying to sell something.

On the other hand, writing effective sales copy will generate a much more favorable response, whether it is long copy or short copy.

16 steps on how to effectively write sales copy:

1. Research keywords - use wordtracker or the overture suggestion tool to find keywords ....

Herman Drost

If you are looking for a fast way to market your products
or business, then Google AdWords is a great solution. You
can set up an AdWords campaign within a few minutes and be
making good money within days.

What is Google AdWords?
These are small pay per click ads that are displayed on the
right side of Google search results. The ads provide highly
targeted text or image ads based on what words people use
to search for your product.

Steps involved in setting up an AdWords campaign?

1. Read an overview of Google AdWords to become familiar
with how it works.

2. Find a product, service to promote that ....

By Herman Drost

A few weeks before Christmas of 2003, Google suddenly
changed its formula for ranking web sites. Sites which for
years had relied on Google traffic to make consistent
sales, suddenly lost their rankings. Many site owners were
very upset because it was the only marketing method they
were using.

How could they have prevented this?

5 ways to instantly lose business and how you can prevent it.

1. One product - if you have only one product or service
that accounts for most of your sales, you make yourself
vulnerable to your competition. Your competition may undercut
your prices, your product or service may lose it's demand.

Create multiple products ....

Herman Drost

After running an online business (web site design) for a
number of years I built a reputation online that helps
me to gain and retain a continuous flow of customers. I had
no online reputation when beginning my business, but was
able to build it up step by step over the last few years.

Why is building your reputation important for your
online business?

People tend to purchase services or products only from
people they trust. For example you may have hired a
contractor do a repair on your house, that did not deliver
on what was promised leaving you very disappointed in his
service.

So how can you build a ....

Herman Drost

One of the most effective ways to passively promote your
business is to create an email signature file. People don't
often put much thought into this powerful passive marketing
tool and therefore lose out on an opportunity to gain new
customers.

What is an email signature?

This is usually a few lines of text placed at the bottom of
an email message, forum or newsgroup that identifies you,
your company and your product or service.

How to create an email signature file

This should include your name, company or web site title,
your web site address, your phone number, email address or
other contact information and a short message advertising
your web ....

Herman Drost

If you don't create a successful strategy for marketing your web
site, you can't build a profitable online business. It's
therefore imperative to drive thousands of visitors to your web
site, then convert them to paying customers.

How do you accomplish this?

Use several marketing strategies

Don't put all your eggs into one basket by only employing one
marketing strategy. You could see evidence of this during the
latest Google update in which many commercial web sites which
once had top rankings, dropped out of existence, thus instantly
losing sales.

By creating more than one strategy to market your web site, you
can soon see which one works the best by ....