- Best of the Web Blog Search La Crem de la Crem, Best of the Web’s Blog Directory is very selective and only lists aged and valuable blogs. A link from here is majestic and well deserved.
- EatonWeb Blog Directory is a real jewel with many aged inbound links and a blog rating system. You may have to pay a fee for your blog to be reviewed, but like Yahoo, the review fee is well worth the few dollars.
- Blog Hub offers a drop down category and member blog list. With its “new blogger” list and hot topics, Blog Hub is a great directory to list your site.
- Upon visiting Bloggernity, you find a crisp, clean, and easy to navigate site. Scrolling down, you find the new blogs. As there is little advertising on the home page, it is pleasant to the eye of the reader as well.
- Blogarama has an impressive listing of over 65,000 blogs. The site is well designed and follows the same content categories as many other sites.
- One of the most selective Blog Directories on the web (and Wordpress powered), Blog Search Engine is owned by Performancing’s parent company and serves search results powered by IceRocket.
- Blog Catalog features a vast directory of categories, from academic to writing, while offering the ability to search by country, language, or user. It has a no frills design, but offers convenient member access through simple blog registration.
- Globe of Blogs has too many features to list. In order to be listed on the site, the blog must not be commercial. The site may appear to be busy, but I like the features of being able to search by title, author, or subject. Narrowing the search becomes easier on this blog.
- The ultimate directory of British blogs connotes all things British. It is not directed by location, but by the culture! It is asked that bloggers be genuinely “britished.” Being listed in this blog reaches readers all the way across the pond!
- Blog Universe is the perfect place to promote your video or podcast themed blog. Its layout is easy to navigate. Although the content is limited, it is an all around good directory site worthy of submission.
- Bigger Blogs is a relatively new blog directory with only a few blogs registered. The blog is intertwined with a business directory. The blog section is difficult to find, and it is located through a link on the right side of the business directory page. However, the benefit is that the earlier you are accepted on a blog directory, the more exposure your blog will obtain. In addition, a back link is indeed a back link, so this can help with your search engine placement.
- Bloggeries has the best categories and subcategories home page on the internet. The layout is clear and concise, and readers are able to find what they are looking for in a snap!
- Bloggapedia has an interesting and eye catching homepage. Readers are easily connected to the top blogs and newest posts. Innovative categories and a colorful design make this blog directory a hit.
- Spillbean is a well-designed blog directory site with categories such as health, society, internet, and personal. The site is aesthetically pleasing, but there are not many listings yet.
- Blogging Fusion is a blog with over sixty categories. These categories include photo blogs and family focused blogs. Blogging Fusion has an good amount of blog listings within the directory, and it also has visitor stats available.
- Blogflux is not only a tool for bloggers, but a directory that has the listings in alphabetic order. The blog listings are organized and clear. It is definitely an effective blog directory in which to be listed.
- The blogs on the top listings of Bloglisting are fun, colourful, and catch the attention of the reader. Bloglisting displays the page ranking blogs, which is a helpful tool when determining with whom you want to exchange links.
- Blogio may be a small blog directory with few listings, but it worthy of a submission. Despite its small size, there are quality blogs and a solid ability to search on this site.
- Blog Explosion claims to be the largest blog promoter on the internet. They have a vast directory but do not seem to have direct links. However, the listing in the directory can still show up in SERP’s, So keep this in mind.
- Super Blog Directory is a great site that offers tools to posters that others do not. You can see the latest submitted links and blogs on the site, which is a perk that draws traffic into the directory.
20 Blog Directories Sites To Submit Your Blog
5 Reasons Why Bloggers Fail To Make Money
Do you make serious money from your blog?
Do you make any money?
About 90 percent of bloggers will answer no to the first question, and many of those will also answer no to the second. Making money online has never been more difficult. All of the methods we used a few years ago have become incredibly ineffective, leaving bloggers scrambling for new ways to earn. Many of them have stopped blogging completely.
You don't want to stop blogging, do you?
The good news is that you can, indeed, earn a decent income while blogging. In a recent guest post I talked about getting people to buy from your blog, which is a great way to turn traffic into money. But today the focus is not on how to make money from your blog, but rather why you're not making money right now.
1. Your Design Is Terrible
The old adage claims that content is king, but that's not necessarily true. It is at least prince, but there is one element that is probably more important: design. Think about it this way. If you visited a site that was poorly designed, would you even bother to read the content? Chances are you'd just leave and think that the page was spam. If your site isn't well designed, it doesn't matter what kind of content you have.
2. People Can't Navigate Your Site
Navigation falls partly under design, but it is also a category unto its own. A website is not just a single page, but rather a series of pages that link together -- which is why they call it a web. Yet too many bloggers make the navigation process far too difficult. If people don't know how to get around your site, how are they going to become regular readers or customers? When people can't find their ways around, they tend to leave.
What irks me most about poor site navigation is that it's so easy. The WordPress engine allows you to add a full and robust navigation menu, complete with drop-downs, on every single page of your blog. So why not take advantage? Create navigation bar entries for your most popular pages. Add drop-downs for categories and tags. Make sure there's a clear and click-able "home" button. In other words, make sure that you can get essentially anywhere on the site, no matter your current page.
3. You Don't Make It Easy To Pay You
To repeat, selling stuff is probably the most effective way to make money blogging these days. Your readers are your potential clients. You can use your blog in large part to inform and entertain them, and in small part to steer them towards your products. It is a balance that has worked for many a blogger seeking to make more money than is available through CPM advertising. Yet even bloggers who get the balance right sometimes don't execute the sale correctly.
The No. 1 rule for any sales process is to make it as easy for the customer as possible. Don't make them fill out extra forms. Don't make them hop around to different sites. The fewer steps between adding an item to a cart and successfully completing an order, the better. Offering more ways to pay also helps. Sure, PayPal might work for some, but not for all. Offering mobile payments is another way to make things easier for your customers. Ease leads to sales. It's the one lesson any online businessperson should never forget.
4. You Created Your Site To Rank In Google
In the mid-00s there was a gold rush on the internet. Google had risen to prominence, and by 2003 or 2004 it was driving obscene amounts of traffic. If you ranked highly for a commercial search term, you were almost guaranteed sales. That's when SEO really took off. Of course, when Google realized all the money people were making within its ecosystem, it decided it wanted a larger slice of that pie. In recent years they have made it much more difficult to rank for highly commercial search terms.
This is a problem for bloggers who create their sites with an eye on ranking. Those practices have been flagged by Google. Bloggers who used them in the past have been penalized, and those who continue to use them will continue to get penalized. While you might not rank as highly as before, it is highly recommended that you follow Google's guidelines for high quality sites. Google shouldn't tell you how to make your site, but you should also recognize Google for the potential sales it can bring -- if you do it right.
5. You Don't Make Yourself Visible
When people buy something, they want to know the source. Big brands have a huge advantage here. They're instantly recognized, and so people trust them more naturally. When you're a blogger trying to sell products or even services on your site, you have to be forthcoming with people. So smile for the camera and be prepared to divulge a lot about your self. The more people get to know you, the more likely they will be to trust you with their money.
Do you make any money?
About 90 percent of bloggers will answer no to the first question, and many of those will also answer no to the second. Making money online has never been more difficult. All of the methods we used a few years ago have become incredibly ineffective, leaving bloggers scrambling for new ways to earn. Many of them have stopped blogging completely.
You don't want to stop blogging, do you?
The good news is that you can, indeed, earn a decent income while blogging. In a recent guest post I talked about getting people to buy from your blog, which is a great way to turn traffic into money. But today the focus is not on how to make money from your blog, but rather why you're not making money right now.
1. Your Design Is Terrible
The old adage claims that content is king, but that's not necessarily true. It is at least prince, but there is one element that is probably more important: design. Think about it this way. If you visited a site that was poorly designed, would you even bother to read the content? Chances are you'd just leave and think that the page was spam. If your site isn't well designed, it doesn't matter what kind of content you have.
2. People Can't Navigate Your Site
Navigation falls partly under design, but it is also a category unto its own. A website is not just a single page, but rather a series of pages that link together -- which is why they call it a web. Yet too many bloggers make the navigation process far too difficult. If people don't know how to get around your site, how are they going to become regular readers or customers? When people can't find their ways around, they tend to leave.
What irks me most about poor site navigation is that it's so easy. The WordPress engine allows you to add a full and robust navigation menu, complete with drop-downs, on every single page of your blog. So why not take advantage? Create navigation bar entries for your most popular pages. Add drop-downs for categories and tags. Make sure there's a clear and click-able "home" button. In other words, make sure that you can get essentially anywhere on the site, no matter your current page.
3. You Don't Make It Easy To Pay You
To repeat, selling stuff is probably the most effective way to make money blogging these days. Your readers are your potential clients. You can use your blog in large part to inform and entertain them, and in small part to steer them towards your products. It is a balance that has worked for many a blogger seeking to make more money than is available through CPM advertising. Yet even bloggers who get the balance right sometimes don't execute the sale correctly.
The No. 1 rule for any sales process is to make it as easy for the customer as possible. Don't make them fill out extra forms. Don't make them hop around to different sites. The fewer steps between adding an item to a cart and successfully completing an order, the better. Offering more ways to pay also helps. Sure, PayPal might work for some, but not for all. Offering mobile payments is another way to make things easier for your customers. Ease leads to sales. It's the one lesson any online businessperson should never forget.
4. You Created Your Site To Rank In Google
In the mid-00s there was a gold rush on the internet. Google had risen to prominence, and by 2003 or 2004 it was driving obscene amounts of traffic. If you ranked highly for a commercial search term, you were almost guaranteed sales. That's when SEO really took off. Of course, when Google realized all the money people were making within its ecosystem, it decided it wanted a larger slice of that pie. In recent years they have made it much more difficult to rank for highly commercial search terms.
This is a problem for bloggers who create their sites with an eye on ranking. Those practices have been flagged by Google. Bloggers who used them in the past have been penalized, and those who continue to use them will continue to get penalized. While you might not rank as highly as before, it is highly recommended that you follow Google's guidelines for high quality sites. Google shouldn't tell you how to make your site, but you should also recognize Google for the potential sales it can bring -- if you do it right.
5. You Don't Make Yourself Visible
When people buy something, they want to know the source. Big brands have a huge advantage here. They're instantly recognized, and so people trust them more naturally. When you're a blogger trying to sell products or even services on your site, you have to be forthcoming with people. So smile for the camera and be prepared to divulge a lot about your self. The more people get to know you, the more likely they will be to trust you with their money.
Top Reasons Why AdSense Is Not Accepting Your Request
Copied Images :- This is being a common things to disapprove applications by Google AdSense because if you have copied some images from Google image Search then Google will disapprove your application stating "Sites Does not Comply With AdSense Policies". So, I recommended you to add only those images which are made originally by you. Well I understand that every blogger is not a designer itself so you can post your posts without adding images. Once you are approved then if you copy images from Google image then it does not matters.
Too much Ad networks :- This can be a big cause for getting your AdSense disapproved because if you already have too much advertising networks already on your site then there is no chance that AdSense will give even the first approval to you. So, If you want to get approved you must remove all the ad networks when applying for AdSense. So that these things do not come between to approve your AdSense account. One more thing if you have added any ad-fly website entry script or any other script then that is highly recommended to remove it before applying for Google Adsense.
Less Number of Posts :- Well as said in the starting of post bloggers just starts their blog and try to apply for AdSense and gets disapproved and AdSense stats the problem as "Insufficient Content". So, you must have around 10 genuine written posts on your blog so that AdSense might approve you. If you have less posts then 10 then it might be difficult for you to get approved.
Domain Type and Age :- Well, If you are using blogspot blogs and don't have it older then 6 months then it proved to be difficult for you to get approved. Even with 6 month old blogspot blogs it is much harder to get an AdSense account approved. So you must buy an .com domain for your blog. With .com domains there is no need for your domain to be 6 months old.
Blog Content :- Yeah, your blog content matters more than anything else. So you must have genuine posts on your blog that are originally written by you else you won't be approved because you might have heard that Content is the king. So you must have genuine content on your blog to get approved.
Age Verification :- You should be above 18 years to apply for Google AdSense. So before applying for Google AdSense make sure that you are shown as 18 years or older in your Google+ profile else you won't get approved by Google AdSense. If you are not 18 years old and wants to get an AdSense then you must have the payee name of your Father or any body else that totally depends on you.
Address not Formatted Correctly :- If you have not filled your address correctly while applying for Google AdSense then do not think that you will get approved because AdSense also takes the address of the users because the payment of your AdSense account will be send to your address that you fill. So fill out your address correctly when applying for AdSense.
Traffic :- Traffic plays an major role for you to get approved you must have around 50 page-views/day to get approved. Well sometime AdSense also approves the sites with less traffic but only sometime so be on the safer side and have some good traffic before applying. This will increase the chances of getting approved.
Too much Ad networks :- This can be a big cause for getting your AdSense disapproved because if you already have too much advertising networks already on your site then there is no chance that AdSense will give even the first approval to you. So, If you want to get approved you must remove all the ad networks when applying for AdSense. So that these things do not come between to approve your AdSense account. One more thing if you have added any ad-fly website entry script or any other script then that is highly recommended to remove it before applying for Google Adsense.
Less Number of Posts :- Well as said in the starting of post bloggers just starts their blog and try to apply for AdSense and gets disapproved and AdSense stats the problem as "Insufficient Content". So, you must have around 10 genuine written posts on your blog so that AdSense might approve you. If you have less posts then 10 then it might be difficult for you to get approved.
Domain Type and Age :- Well, If you are using blogspot blogs and don't have it older then 6 months then it proved to be difficult for you to get approved. Even with 6 month old blogspot blogs it is much harder to get an AdSense account approved. So you must buy an .com domain for your blog. With .com domains there is no need for your domain to be 6 months old.
Blog Content :- Yeah, your blog content matters more than anything else. So you must have genuine posts on your blog that are originally written by you else you won't be approved because you might have heard that Content is the king. So you must have genuine content on your blog to get approved.
Age Verification :- You should be above 18 years to apply for Google AdSense. So before applying for Google AdSense make sure that you are shown as 18 years or older in your Google+ profile else you won't get approved by Google AdSense. If you are not 18 years old and wants to get an AdSense then you must have the payee name of your Father or any body else that totally depends on you.
Address not Formatted Correctly :- If you have not filled your address correctly while applying for Google AdSense then do not think that you will get approved because AdSense also takes the address of the users because the payment of your AdSense account will be send to your address that you fill. So fill out your address correctly when applying for AdSense.
Traffic :- Traffic plays an major role for you to get approved you must have around 50 page-views/day to get approved. Well sometime AdSense also approves the sites with less traffic but only sometime so be on the safer side and have some good traffic before applying. This will increase the chances of getting approved.
How To Protect Your Blog From Being Copied
Table of contents
- Put thieves on notice
- Mind your images
- Set up RSS footers
- Hire a monitoring service
- DO NOT prevent right clicks
- Conclusion
Put Thieves On Notice
When people take content, do they even understand that they are stealing? The internet's propensity for copying has blurred the concept of ownership.
Information wants to be free, right? Sure. People want to be free too, but that doesn't mean we don't demand wages for our labors. It seems that people have confused the different definitions of the word free.
Still, this raises a relevant point. If people don't think they're stealing, it becomes incredibly difficult to stop them.
Even the simplest of measures can deter thieves who don't understand that they are stealing. Consider adding some of the following to your site.
Copyright footer. These are common and easy to add to your site. You can place the notice right in your footer. © 2014 YourSiteName.com. It's that simple. Note: make sure you keep the year up to date.
DMCA badge. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act lays out pretty strict copyright rules for digital content. No one wants to receive a DMCA takedown notice. Use this WordPress plugin to place a DMCA badge in your sidebar, in a prominent position so everyone can see it.
Terms and Conditions page. The problem with a copyright footer: many people will never see it. That's why the DMCA badge is a nice addition. Another great addition is a terms and conditions page. You can state, in no uncertain terms, that you own the content on the site and that is not available for reproduction. Don't know the legalese to create a T&C page? Check out this T&C generator.
Trademark symbol. Did you know that anyone can use the ™ symbol? It is not reserved for registered trademarks. That's the ® symbol, which you absolutely cannot use unless you own a federal trademark registration. If you didn't know that, chances are many people also do not know that. (Even if you did know that, it still holds true; most people do not know.) Slap the ™ symbol on your blog title. It lends you a sense of authority and could deter thieves.
Mind Your Images
Here's an oddity about copying on the web. Many people know that copying text is wrong. Teachers dedicate entire class sessions to plagiarism. They remind students before every paper that it is wrong to steal other people's words.
Because we didn't include images in papers, we never learned that it is wrong to steal them, too. Perhaps that's why people think it's OK to take anything found in a Google Images search and use it. But just as copying and pasting text is wrong, so is using someone else's image.
If this practice is so widespread, how can you protect your own images? If you host original photography on your site, it is in your interest to protect it. Images have become paramount on the web. Yours gives you an advantage, and you shouldn't give away that advantage to anyone else.
Here are some resources that will help you manage your website's images.
Preventing right clicks. If you've scrolled down you already know that I don't prefer this method. Right clicking on the web is natural. You can do much more than just copy stuff with a right click. This WordPress plugin prevents right clicks only on images, so it's not as bad as blocking right clicks in general. But it's still not preferable. Why treat your readers like thieves?
Watermark your images. If you work with Photoshop or Illustrator, watermarking your images is easy. You can even use a WordPress plugin. The downside: watermarking doesn't prevent theft. People will be less likely to reuse a watermarked photo, at least. The problem is the practicality. If you place a watermark in the corner, as the WordPress plugin does, users can just crop it out. If you place it in the middle, the image gets distorted.
Hotlink blocking. Sometimes people get really lazy. Instead of downloading your image and uploading it to their own servers, they will just link to your image. So not only are they stealing your work, but they're taxing your server. How rude. There is a WordPress plugin that prevents other sites from hotlinking your files. I recommend this in general, beyond image protection.
Run image searches. If you have a handful of original images on your site, run them through Google Image Search By Image every so often. It can get to be a tedious task, especially if you have a high volume of original images, but you can identify content thieves on the spot.
Set Up RSS Footers
So far I've mentioned "people" who steal your content. Truth is, humans only directly steal content in a fraction of instances. It is more common for them to set up automated scrapers to steal your content. And someone else's content. And someone else's. It's quite easy to steal massive amounts of content.
The bad news: there isn't much you can do to stop scrapers. There's no magic code that will send them away from your site. You can put in place deterrents, but many of them hurt your human readers. For example:
Truncated RSS feeds. Sure, they might increase click-through rate. But if you go from a full feed to a truncated feed, you'll upset your readers. Subscriber numbers will fall. Is deterring scrapers worth hurting the people who enjoy your site?
If you're starting a new site, perhaps setting the tone with a truncated feed will work. Even then, good scrapers can get by that. Back in the days of Google Reader, there were plenty of plugins that could turn a truncated feed into a full feed. You think scraper bots don't have the same ability?
Unfortunately, another popular deterrent isn't much of a deterrent at all.
Add an RSS footer. Since the late 00s bloggers have added some kind of RSS footer to their feeds. It hasn't deterred many scrapers. The good news is that while scrapers can, and often do, remove links from posts, they have a tougher time from feed footers. Try a WordPress plugin like this one. It's worth a try, at least.
You can try other methods, such as watermarking your photos. This blogger saw a reduction in the number of sites that would scrape his content once he watermarked his images. As described above, watermarking isn't a cure-all. It has its own problems. But if it deters a few scrapers, perhaps it is a worthwhile practice.
Hire A Monitoring Service
Let's get real. If you want to protect your content, you will have to pay. No, this isn't some mafia-type job where people steal your content and demand payment to stop. There are plenty of services that can help you keep track of your content and put thieves on notice.
Before you move on, this isn't for hobbyist bloggers. If you don't make money from your blog, then you probably can't afford to pay for a monitoring service. But if you're reading BlogTipsNTricks.com, chances are you make money. If you don't, that's your goal. If so, you have a huge interest in your content. Investing in monitoring and protection will prove worthwhile.
You can try a few different options. I have my own preference, which I'll share in a minute.
Copyscape. If you want to know when people copy your content, you can sign up for Copyscape's copy protection services. It will cost you a bit: 5 cents per search, or you can sign up for their weekly service. But again, if you value your content, you'll have to pay some fee to examine duplicate usage.
Mention. An alternative to Copyscape is alert service Mention.com. It costs $30 per month for the business grade, which is what you'll need. You can set up 10 alerts, which notify you when another website has mentioned you. Set up certain phrases within your post, which you know are unique, to see when someone has copied your work verbatim.
Virtual assistant. Here is the most expensive option, but also the most useful. As you know by now, you can outsource administrative tasks to a virtual assistant. It will cost you a fraction of what you'd pay a full-time assistant. (And good luck finding a part-time one who can do the job well.) An assistant can do a more thorough job of monitoring stolen content. Unlike Mention and Copyscape, a VA can find images, send out takedown notices, and file the proper DMCA paperwork.
I prefer the virtual assistant path by a mile. I've enjoyed working with Worldwide101 virtual assistants, because they do more than admin tasks. Not only will they look for stolen content, but they can take action. After all, what good is knowing that people stole your content if you do nothing about it? A good VA can draft takedown notices, file DMCA paperwork, and handle outreach on your behalf. It might be more costly than Mention or Copyscape, but the investment is worthwhile.
DO NOT Prevent Right Clicks
Before wrapping up, I want to impart one important lesson. Getting your content stolen can be a frustrating experience. No one enjoys it. Sometimes we can overreact and do things we'll later regret.
Please, for the love of your readers, do not prevent right clicking in general. It's bad enough if you do it for images. If you prevent right click on your entire website, I'm leaving. Many others are leaving. Not only are we never coming back, but we're going to a competitor.
Even if you are unique in your industry, I'll find an alternative. Barring right clicks is downright offensive. You're saying the only reason to right click is to steal. That's ridiculous. Maybe I want to open a link in a new tab -- so I can stay on your site. Maybe I want to use the many plugins I have with right-click capabilities. Maybe I want to do any of the dozen things you can do with right click that don't involve copy and paste.
And you know what? Maybe I want to copy/paste a sentence to share. If you prevent me from sharing your content except on your exact terms, then I'm not interested. There are too many sites on the web. I can spend my time in a million different ways. Why would I spend it on your site, if you're treating me like a criminal the moment I visit?
Conclusion
No matter how much work you put into protecting your work, people and computers will steal it. The internet is a copy machine. That's the nature of the beast. You can only accept it, and then take measures to make it less harmful for your blog and your business.
(Though this should tell you a lot about the nature of business on the internet. If you base your business on things that others can easily copy, you might be in trouble.)
When you're starting out and small, undertake these tasks yourself. Let people know that your content is not free to take. Use free tools to see who has used your content. Install the necessary plugins.
As you grow, you'll need more power. Sign up for alert services. Or better yet, hire a virtual assistant to take care of that task. You'll need some help anyway -- no one can do it alone.
Your content is your advantage in business. Don't let others take away your advantage. Stay on top of content theft.
Horrible Mistake That You Make With Your Blog Design
1. Bad Fonts:
Without a shadow of doubt, font is the most important thing by designing point of view because font is something that readers have to constantly look at and keep looking.
Selecting bad fonts make your blog look horrible. Bad fonts include extra large or extra small size font, too much stylish font that is hard to read and too bold fonts etc.
Without a shadow of doubt, font is the most important thing by designing point of view because font is something that readers have to constantly look at and keep looking.
Selecting bad fonts make your blog look horrible. Bad fonts include extra large or extra small size font, too much stylish font that is hard to read and too bold fonts etc.
2. Eyes Hurting Background:
For most of niches, simple white background works just fine. But some bloggers try to go over the limit and put some color or even picture as blog background.
This mostly annoys the readers because it splits their mind into looking at many things at the same
time and readers feel pain in their heads and eyes after staying at such blogs for few minutes only.
3. Inappropriate Logo:
Logo represents you a lot more than you think. Writing the name of your blog in style with combination is not all what a logo needs. Logo needs to be relative to your blog's niche.
For example, if you are a news blogger, keep your logo's color light while bloggers in gaming niche should make that same logo's color as strong as possible.
Remember: Logo is your identity and the important thing in your blog. Spend some time in designing a cool logo or else hire someone to design it for you.
4. Horrible Font Mixing:
It is suggested that you use more than one font at your blog so it looks as much professional as it can be. Now the crucial point is selection of fonts. This is because those two fonts should not only be different from each other, but they should also look professional and handy when placed together. I see countless bloggers who don't understand this thing and make horrible combination of fonts which really kills a blog's design.
5. Images Size:
Images play a vital role in making any article more interesting and appealing in first look than it actually is. But in order to get most out of images, you need to focus on their quality and not size.
Better quality will make things better and not higher or lower resolution. So avoid using extra large images and save yourself, your blog and your readers from getting in trouble.
Also, don't copy any other blogs images instead create your own or find some royalty free images from images sites like Depositphotos.
5. Font Color:
Font color is something that is mostly set default, but some bloggers take it to the next level and change the colors of their H1 or H2 headings and that's exactly where they mostly kill everything.
The best thing that you can do is to let the theme the way it is, but in case you really want to change, ask an expert for suggestions.
Make sure to avoid such mistakes, they can kill your blog reputation and thus losing your visitors when you promote your blog
Nine ways to improve your business on online with Google+, it can help your business to promote through internet
Why should you try Google+ -- especially if you are already using Facebook and Twitter for social media marketing? Following are nine ways Google+ can help your business.
1. Improves your search engine ranking. Which company do you think is going to get ranked higher on Google's search engine, the one using Google+ or the one just using Facebook? (That would be a rhetorical question.) "When you Google our company name - Brandignity -- the Google+ profile appears right at the top of the search results, which really helps," says Maciej Fita, SEO Director, Brandignity, LLC, an SEO and social media marketing company. "Clients and potential clients will often search a company name before inquiring further, so this has helped us spread our digital voice that much more efficiently."
2. A plus for collaboration. "Google+ is a must for CIOs trying to encourage collaboration," states David Politis, founder, BetterCloud, which provides third-party products for Google Apps. "In a flat world, social tools like Google+ support fast and easy domestic and cross-border sharing [of documents, images and so on], enabling productivity at a fraction of the price of conventional meetings" or videoconferencing.
3. Video chat with customers, colleagues and media -- for free. Speaking of collaboration, one of the most buzzed about features on Google+ is Google Hangouts, Google's video chat tool. "Google Hangouts works well for video conferencing with members in your circle," says Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO ofWebiMax, a search engine optimization (SEO) company, who has used Google+ to video chat with up to six people (the service can host up to 10 parties currently). "The 'screen share' feature works great," he notes. However, "ensure you have a secure and fast internet connection, otherwise the video can be low quality and lower resolution."
Google+ Hangouts is particularly useful for those organizations with workers in different offices. "I manage employees and freelancers in North America, Asia and Europe," explains Casey Armstrong, partner and COO, webbbROI, an online marketing business. "Through Google+ Hangouts, we are able to collaborate in real-time through screen sharing, on Google Docs, and via video chat. In addition, even if I'm on the move, I can video chat through my iPhone on Google+. Talent is everywhere and Google+ removes the location barrier."
4. Get your message to the right audience with just a click. "Circles are invaluable," state Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson, co-founders of crowdSPRING. "Think of circles as your customer groups. Most businesses will have a variety of different customer groups and sometimes you want to communicate separately with each group," they explain.
With Google+, you can put customers into different groups or "circles" (by geography, by age, by interest) and then easily communicate with each circle separately, or with multiple circles at the same time. "For example, we created a group of loyal customers. We can customize offers and deals specifically for those customers without sending the same offers generally to the rest of the world or to other customers."
5. Free focus groups. Why pay for focus groups when you can use Google+ to get answers to questions or elicit customer feedback? That's what SEER Interactive, a search marketing firm, recently did. SEER used its Google+ page to host an hour long Q&A session covering SEO and PPC topics. "The result was a lively conversation on Google+ with more than 100 comments over the course of an hour," says Wil Reynolds, founder, SEER Interactive.
6. Good for B2B marketing. If you are looking to connect with other businesses, Google+ Your Business is designed to help. "We have found Google+ to be useful for acquiring new customers," explains Mike Rheaume, co-founder, SnapKnot, an online wedding photographer directory.
"Google+ is visual and participatory, meaning that photographers can easily share and comment on others' work. For us, this means it's easy to share photography-related content and connect with individual photographers [SnapKnot's target customers] beyond the major social media tools like Twitter and Facebook." Since using Google+, SnapKnot has achieved a high member conversion rate - and Rheaume considers it an excellent B2B marketing tool, especially for visual- and/or content-heavy businesses.
7. A potentially powerful PR tool. Using Google+ circles, you can target your public and media relations. "If we deliver a message, we know that it is going to be picked up by users who are more likely to respond, including key industry personalities and publishers," states Mike Essex, online marketing manager at Koozai, a U.K. digital marketing agency. Indeed, because Google+ allows users to tailor their message to a specific group (or circle), Essex has found Google+ to be a more effective PR tool than Twitter.
8. Can help promote brand awareness. "With the emergence of the social web, it has become essential for brands to build their reputation online," states Karim Guessous, founder and CEO of Tradepal, a peer-to-peer trading network. "Google+ gives a unique opportunity for an emerging product, such as Tradepal, to assert our personality and engage our user base." Through its Google+ page, Tradepal shares original content and tips, and has had dialogues with users, helping to solidify and promote its brand.
9. Another way to advertise promotions. With Google+, it's easy to offer promotions to those in your circles. For example, Arby's recently offered a coupon to Google+ users for a $2.99 Fish Sandwich & Small Curly Fries
1. Improves your search engine ranking. Which company do you think is going to get ranked higher on Google's search engine, the one using Google+ or the one just using Facebook? (That would be a rhetorical question.) "When you Google our company name - Brandignity -- the Google+ profile appears right at the top of the search results, which really helps," says Maciej Fita, SEO Director, Brandignity, LLC, an SEO and social media marketing company. "Clients and potential clients will often search a company name before inquiring further, so this has helped us spread our digital voice that much more efficiently."
2. A plus for collaboration. "Google+ is a must for CIOs trying to encourage collaboration," states David Politis, founder, BetterCloud, which provides third-party products for Google Apps. "In a flat world, social tools like Google+ support fast and easy domestic and cross-border sharing [of documents, images and so on], enabling productivity at a fraction of the price of conventional meetings" or videoconferencing.
3. Video chat with customers, colleagues and media -- for free. Speaking of collaboration, one of the most buzzed about features on Google+ is Google Hangouts, Google's video chat tool. "Google Hangouts works well for video conferencing with members in your circle," says Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO ofWebiMax, a search engine optimization (SEO) company, who has used Google+ to video chat with up to six people (the service can host up to 10 parties currently). "The 'screen share' feature works great," he notes. However, "ensure you have a secure and fast internet connection, otherwise the video can be low quality and lower resolution."
Google+ Hangouts is particularly useful for those organizations with workers in different offices. "I manage employees and freelancers in North America, Asia and Europe," explains Casey Armstrong, partner and COO, webbbROI, an online marketing business. "Through Google+ Hangouts, we are able to collaborate in real-time through screen sharing, on Google Docs, and via video chat. In addition, even if I'm on the move, I can video chat through my iPhone on Google+. Talent is everywhere and Google+ removes the location barrier."
4. Get your message to the right audience with just a click. "Circles are invaluable," state Ross Kimbarovsky and Mike Samson, co-founders of crowdSPRING. "Think of circles as your customer groups. Most businesses will have a variety of different customer groups and sometimes you want to communicate separately with each group," they explain.
With Google+, you can put customers into different groups or "circles" (by geography, by age, by interest) and then easily communicate with each circle separately, or with multiple circles at the same time. "For example, we created a group of loyal customers. We can customize offers and deals specifically for those customers without sending the same offers generally to the rest of the world or to other customers."
5. Free focus groups. Why pay for focus groups when you can use Google+ to get answers to questions or elicit customer feedback? That's what SEER Interactive, a search marketing firm, recently did. SEER used its Google+ page to host an hour long Q&A session covering SEO and PPC topics. "The result was a lively conversation on Google+ with more than 100 comments over the course of an hour," says Wil Reynolds, founder, SEER Interactive.
6. Good for B2B marketing. If you are looking to connect with other businesses, Google+ Your Business is designed to help. "We have found Google+ to be useful for acquiring new customers," explains Mike Rheaume, co-founder, SnapKnot, an online wedding photographer directory.
"Google+ is visual and participatory, meaning that photographers can easily share and comment on others' work. For us, this means it's easy to share photography-related content and connect with individual photographers [SnapKnot's target customers] beyond the major social media tools like Twitter and Facebook." Since using Google+, SnapKnot has achieved a high member conversion rate - and Rheaume considers it an excellent B2B marketing tool, especially for visual- and/or content-heavy businesses.
7. A potentially powerful PR tool. Using Google+ circles, you can target your public and media relations. "If we deliver a message, we know that it is going to be picked up by users who are more likely to respond, including key industry personalities and publishers," states Mike Essex, online marketing manager at Koozai, a U.K. digital marketing agency. Indeed, because Google+ allows users to tailor their message to a specific group (or circle), Essex has found Google+ to be a more effective PR tool than Twitter.
8. Can help promote brand awareness. "With the emergence of the social web, it has become essential for brands to build their reputation online," states Karim Guessous, founder and CEO of Tradepal, a peer-to-peer trading network. "Google+ gives a unique opportunity for an emerging product, such as Tradepal, to assert our personality and engage our user base." Through its Google+ page, Tradepal shares original content and tips, and has had dialogues with users, helping to solidify and promote its brand.
9. Another way to advertise promotions. With Google+, it's easy to offer promotions to those in your circles. For example, Arby's recently offered a coupon to Google+ users for a $2.99 Fish Sandwich & Small Curly Fries
Useful JQuery Forms and AJAX Forms . submit without page load or refresh the page
JQuery Form Wizard is a jQuery plugin for creating form in wizard format to submit form without refreshing /loading the webpage, This JQuery form wizards plugins help you to create different routes to be taken in the form depend on user input, also its support AJAX request while posting the form so its will help to save time to send data to server and loading page again
there are lack of features on these each JQuery plugins to modify the form...so user friendly and developer friendly ,also css friendly..so its will be stylish..all the JQuery Form wizards having documentations and examples too.. so if you have any doubts also no problem...
here im going to give you some JQuery Form Wizard Exmaples and links... i test each links and list here based on my rating...start from my 1st choice..
1. http://thecodemine.org/ - soo simple and very easy to understand..with documentation and 21 examples .. all are once live and downloadable..stored in github too @ https://github.com/thecodemine/formwizard
2.http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex16/formwizard.htm - collections of java script and css files with examples.. they have simple , quick and understandable script and can edit simply..
3. http://www.jankoatwarpspeed.com/post/2009/09/28/webform-wizard-jquery.aspx Similar to Dynamic Driv.
there are lack of features on these each JQuery plugins to modify the form...so user friendly and developer friendly ,also css friendly..so its will be stylish..all the JQuery Form wizards having documentations and examples too.. so if you have any doubts also no problem...
here im going to give you some JQuery Form Wizard Exmaples and links... i test each links and list here based on my rating...start from my 1st choice..
1. http://thecodemine.org/ - soo simple and very easy to understand..with documentation and 21 examples .. all are once live and downloadable..stored in github too @ https://github.com/thecodemine/formwizard
2.http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex16/formwizard.htm - collections of java script and css files with examples.. they have simple , quick and understandable script and can edit simply..
3. http://www.jankoatwarpspeed.com/post/2009/09/28/webform-wizard-jquery.aspx Similar to Dynamic Driv.
Web Based Excel Spreadsheet , alternative to Google, Microsoft
There are several excel/spreadsheets alternatives you can download and install on your server or signup for services , here are the best picks, that do their job well
dhtmlxSpreadsheet open source Ajax spreadsheet widget written in JavaScript and PHP also available as a plugin for WP, Joomla, It allows you to quickly add an Excel-like, editable data table on a web page.if you need to display some data in a table view and would like to put it on the web for sharing or further editing, you might consider using online spreadsheet services. However, what if you want to keep data on your own server? With dhtmlxSpreadsheet, you can store the data on your side and show it in a web-based spreadsheet in edit or readonly mode.
http://dhtmlx.com/docs/products/dhtmlxSpreadsheet/index.shtml
Simple Spreadsheet is a web-based spreadsheet program written in Javascript, HTML, CSS and PHP. It features formulas, charts, numeric formats, keyboard navigation, etc. Javascript is used for the default data format and for the macros and formulas. Simple Spreadsheet is Free Software, released under the GNU GPLv2 License.
Simple Spreadsheet is bundled within the Simple Groupware package, but can be also run as a standalone program.
http://www.simple-groupware.de/cms/Spreadsheet/Home
EditGrid is an online Spreadsheet service delivering Data on Demand. With majority of Excel features, EditGrid allows you to start working easily. With sharing, collaboration & publishing features, EditGrid serves a big set of use cases better than Excel. Connected to live data sources, EditGrid delivers data on demand.
dhtmlxSpreadsheet open source Ajax spreadsheet widget written in JavaScript and PHP also available as a plugin for WP, Joomla, It allows you to quickly add an Excel-like, editable data table on a web page.if you need to display some data in a table view and would like to put it on the web for sharing or further editing, you might consider using online spreadsheet services. However, what if you want to keep data on your own server? With dhtmlxSpreadsheet, you can store the data on your side and show it in a web-based spreadsheet in edit or readonly mode.
http://dhtmlx.com/docs/products/dhtmlxSpreadsheet/index.shtml
Simple Spreadsheet is a web-based spreadsheet program written in Javascript, HTML, CSS and PHP. It features formulas, charts, numeric formats, keyboard navigation, etc. Javascript is used for the default data format and for the macros and formulas. Simple Spreadsheet is Free Software, released under the GNU GPLv2 License.
Simple Spreadsheet is bundled within the Simple Groupware package, but can be also run as a standalone program.
http://www.simple-groupware.de/cms/Spreadsheet/Home
EditGrid is an online Spreadsheet service delivering Data on Demand. With majority of Excel features, EditGrid allows you to start working easily. With sharing, collaboration & publishing features, EditGrid serves a big set of use cases better than Excel. Connected to live data sources, EditGrid delivers data on demand.
Powerful and Best Tools to check your WebSite WebPage Performance
There are many online performance check service providers out there. all are providing Free web-based service that is great to hear , just see what they do. most of their services are similar and simpler that checking page loading speed , each images,html, css and js files loading time, they are advising and suggesting to improve the files and images once they complete the loading time checking. its a good point for all developers that they can improve their site even more and easy loadable. its good enough for web developing service provider to deliver good and best web pages. here we go for the List of Useful Tools.
1.PageSpeed Tools
Analyze and optimize your website with PageSpeed tools to implement the web performance best practices.
Fast and optimized pages lead to higher visitor engagement, retention, and conversions. The PageSpeed family of tools is designed to help you optimize the performance of your website. PageSpeed Insights products will help you identify performance best practices that can be applied to your site, and PageSpeed optimization tools can help you automate the process.
Google Chrome Store : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gplegfbjlmmehdoakndmohflojccocli?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
2.YSlow
YSlow analyzes web pages and suggests ways to improve their performance based on a set of rules for high performance web pages. Feature highlights:
Google Chrome Store : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ninejjcohidippngpapiilnmkgllmakh?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
3.Neustar Web Performance
Traditional load testing is done inside the firewall. But many of today's applications are found externally—ad servers, news tickers or Web analytics engines. That's why Neustar takes your customer's perspective and tests from the inside out. It's the best way to see if your website is ready for peak usage.
Link ; https://browsermob.com/free-website-performance-test/
4.WebPageTest.org
Run a free website speed test from multiple locations around the globe using real browsers (IE and Chrome) and at real consumer connection speeds. You can run simple tests or perform advanced testing including multi-step transactions, video capture, content blocking and much more. Your results will provide rich diagnostic information including resource loading waterfall charts, Page Speed optimization checks and suggestions for improvements.
Inline image 5
Link : http://www.webpagetest.org/
5.GTmetrix
GTmetrix can help you develop a faster, more efficient, and all-around improved website experience for your users.
Link : http://gtmetrix.com/
6.
We built this Full Page Test tool to help you analyze the load speed of your websites and learn how to make them faster. It lets you identify what about a web page is fast, slow, too big, what best practices you're not following, and so on. We have tried to make it useful both to experts and novices alike.
In short, we wanted it to be a free, easy-to-use tool to help webmasters and web developers everywhere optimize the performance of their websites.
Link : http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/
7.site-perf.com
With Site-Perf.com, you get an accurate, realistic, and helpfulestimation of your site's loading speed. The script fully emulatesnatural browser behaviour downloading your page with all the images, CSS, JS and other files – just like a regular user. Spot bottlenecks, reach perfect performance and balance your site load with Site-Perf.com, a smart and flexible testing tool. Focus on important things while Site-Perf.com delivers the speed facts straight to your screen. Try it right now!
Link : http://site-perf.com/
8. The page analyzer analyzes your web page performance by emulating how a web browser would load your page and all resources referenced in it. The page and the referenced resources are loaded and important performance metrics are measured and displayed in a waterfall diagram along with other per-resource attributes such as URL, size, compression ratio and HTTP status code. Each load time bar has parts of different color corresponding to a performance metric
Microsoft MCTS Free simulations & Cisco CCNA free simulations, Exploration
Microsoft Certifications- MCTS, MCITP Free Simulations & Cisco Certifications CCNA
Click here for Get Free Microsoft Exams
Click here n navigate for Microsoft , Cisco , A+. N+ Certifications ..
its a total solutions blog for IT Network Professionals and Who have interesting to Learn All kind of Networks and Related Studies to Networking..
http://itprofesionals.blogspot.com/
http://www.mctsguide.com/mctsfreeexam/
Special for Cisco Exams and Training
http://ccnaexam4u.blogspot.com/
Windows7, Windows Server 2008
A multiple desktop on a PC/Laptop.. just with VM Ware workstation. windows 7, windows server 2008, google chrome OS, Linux. keep going multi work environment management. just track this links
just step by step tips n tricks about VMware in installing screen shots. click n go links to get to know about more ...VMware
Testing Windows Server 2008 in VMware
http://www.svrops.com/svrops/articles/Win2008VM.htm
Installing Windows Server 2008 inside VMware Workstation
http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/Installing-Windows-Server-2008-inside-VMware-Workstation
Setting Up Windows Server 2008 VMWare Virtual Machines For .Net Development
just step by step tips n tricks about VMware in installing screen shots. click n go links to get to know about more ...VMware
Testing Windows Server 2008 in VMware
http://www.svrops.com/svrops/articles/Win2008VM.htm
Installing Windows Server 2008 inside VMware Workstation
http://searchvmware.techtarget.com/tip/Installing-Windows-Server-2008-inside-VMware-Workstation
Setting Up Windows Server 2008 VMWare Virtual Machines For .Net Development
- http://keithelder.net/2008/06/30/setting-up-windows-server-2008-vmware-virtual-machines-for-net/
- http://www.sysprobs.com/setup-windows-2008-cluster-vmware-workstation
12 Free Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop
Gimp
gimp 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Gimp works across several different platform (Linux, Mac, Windows, FreeBSD, Sun OpenSolaris) and is perhaps one of the best free alternatives out there so far. Gimp has a large user community, with great list of tutorials on the official sites.
http://www.gimp.org/
Paint.Net
paintnet 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] This photo editor runs on Windows. It has a large and growing community of users, with lots of tutorials and plugins.
http://www.getpaint.net/download.html
Pixia
pixia 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] This free photo editor originates from Japan, with English versions to download. Supports layers, masks, and some basic tools of Photoshop.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mighty/knight/download.html
Seashore
seashore 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] Seashore is an open source image editor for Mac OS X’s Cocoa framework. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP’s technology and uses the same native file format.
http://seashore.sourceforge.net/The_Seashore_Project/About.html
Inkscape
inkscape 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.
https://inkscape.org/en/download/
Xara Xtreme
xaraxtreme 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Xara Xtreme for Linux is a powerful, general purpose graphics program for Unix platforms including Linux, FreeBSD and (in development) OS-X. Formely known as Xara LX, it is based on Xara Xtreme for Windows, which is the fastest graphics program available, period.
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/download.html
ChocoFlop
chcoflop 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] ChocoFlop is an image editor for Mac OS X, based on the CoreImage technology. It is currently in beta stage and available freely.
http://www.chocoflop.com/download_en.html
Photoplus
photoplus 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] PhotoPlus is the amazing photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create stunning bitmap graphics and even web animations.
http://www.serif.com/photoplus/
CinePaint
cinepaint 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools.
http://www.cinepaint.org/
Krita
krita 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Linux only] Krita is an image processor for KOffice, which should be suitable for all your image creation and editing needs.
https://krita.org/
Mac Preview
mac preview 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] You may think this is just any normal image preview tool, but the fact is Mac’s Preview can perform more. Folks at Usingmac describe how you can use Mac’s Preview tool to perform basic image editing.
PhotoFiltre
photofiltre 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve.
http://photofiltre.free.fr/download_en.htm
gimp 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Gimp works across several different platform (Linux, Mac, Windows, FreeBSD, Sun OpenSolaris) and is perhaps one of the best free alternatives out there so far. Gimp has a large user community, with great list of tutorials on the official sites.
http://www.gimp.org/
Paint.Net
paintnet 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] This photo editor runs on Windows. It has a large and growing community of users, with lots of tutorials and plugins.
http://www.getpaint.net/download.html
Pixia
pixia 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] This free photo editor originates from Japan, with English versions to download. Supports layers, masks, and some basic tools of Photoshop.
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mighty/knight/download.html
Seashore
seashore 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] Seashore is an open source image editor for Mac OS X’s Cocoa framework. It features gradients, textures and anti-aliasing for both text and brush strokes. It supports multiple layers and alpha channel editing. It is based around the GIMP’s technology and uses the same native file format.
http://seashore.sourceforge.net/The_Seashore_Project/About.html
Inkscape
inkscape 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.
https://inkscape.org/en/download/
Xara Xtreme
xaraxtreme 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
Xara Xtreme for Linux is a powerful, general purpose graphics program for Unix platforms including Linux, FreeBSD and (in development) OS-X. Formely known as Xara LX, it is based on Xara Xtreme for Windows, which is the fastest graphics program available, period.
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/download.html
ChocoFlop
chcoflop 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] ChocoFlop is an image editor for Mac OS X, based on the CoreImage technology. It is currently in beta stage and available freely.
http://www.chocoflop.com/download_en.html
Photoplus
photoplus 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] PhotoPlus is the amazing photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance digital photos, create stunning bitmap graphics and even web animations.
http://www.serif.com/photoplus/
CinePaint
cinepaint 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
CinePaint is a deep paint image retouching tool that supports higher color fidelity than ordinary painting tools.
http://www.cinepaint.org/
Krita
krita 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Linux only] Krita is an image processor for KOffice, which should be suitable for all your image creation and editing needs.
https://krita.org/
Mac Preview
mac preview 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Mac only] You may think this is just any normal image preview tool, but the fact is Mac’s Preview can perform more. Folks at Usingmac describe how you can use Mac’s Preview tool to perform basic image editing.
PhotoFiltre
photofiltre 11 Free Adobe Photoshop Alternatives (Softwares)
[Windows only] It allows you to do simple or advanced adjustments to an image and apply a vast range of filters on it. It is simple and intuitive to use, and has an easy learning curve.
http://photofiltre.free.fr/download_en.htm
Install IIS 7, PHP5 and MySQL 5.1 on Windows Server 2008
Adding Internet Information Server 7 Role
IIS 7 is now a server role in Windows 2008 Server as opposed to previous versions of Windows Server (2000 and 2003) where IIS was installed as a component.
To add the IIS7 server role, launch the Server Manager: Start => Programs => Administrative Tools => Server Manager
Right-click on Role from the left panel and select Add Roles from the contextual menu. From the Add Roles Wizard, check the Web Server (IIS 7) checkbox. Click on Next until the Roles Services screen.
Adding IIS 7 Role On Windows 2008 Server
Here are the options I’ve selected:
Web Server
Common HTTP Features: Static Content, Default Document, Directory Browsing, HTTP Errors and HTTP Redirection.
Application Development: All options.
Health And Diagnostic: HTTP Logging.
Security: Request Filtering.
Performance: Static Content Compression.
Management Tools: IIS Management Console, IIS Management Scripts And Tools, Management Service
IIS 6 Managament Compatibility: IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility.
FTP Publishing Service: All options.
Click on Next again and then on Install. When the installation is completed, you can now access your new IIS 7 web server.
IIS 7 On Windows Server 2008
Stay tuned as I’ll post how to install PHP5 and MySQL Server 5.1 on Windows 2008.
IIS 7 is now a server role in Windows 2008 Server as opposed to previous versions of Windows Server (2000 and 2003) where IIS was installed as a component.
To add the IIS7 server role, launch the Server Manager: Start => Programs => Administrative Tools => Server Manager
Right-click on Role from the left panel and select Add Roles from the contextual menu. From the Add Roles Wizard, check the Web Server (IIS 7) checkbox. Click on Next until the Roles Services screen.
Adding IIS 7 Role On Windows 2008 Server
Here are the options I’ve selected:
Web Server
Common HTTP Features: Static Content, Default Document, Directory Browsing, HTTP Errors and HTTP Redirection.
Application Development: All options.
Health And Diagnostic: HTTP Logging.
Security: Request Filtering.
Performance: Static Content Compression.
Management Tools: IIS Management Console, IIS Management Scripts And Tools, Management Service
IIS 6 Managament Compatibility: IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility.
FTP Publishing Service: All options.
Click on Next again and then on Install. When the installation is completed, you can now access your new IIS 7 web server.
IIS 7 On Windows Server 2008
Stay tuned as I’ll post how to install PHP5 and MySQL Server 5.1 on Windows 2008.
Import Excel Data into MySQL in 5 Easy Steps
To import data from Excel (or any other program that can produce a text file) is very simple using the LOAD DATA command from the MySQL Command prompt.
Save your Excel data as a csv file (In Excel 2007 using Save As)
Check the saved file using a text editor such as Notepad to see what it actually looks like, i.e. what delimiter was used etc.
Start the MySQL Command Prompt (I’m lazy so I usually do this from the MySQL Query Browser – Tools – MySQL Command Line Client to avoid having to enter username and password etc.)
Enter this command:
LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE ‘C:\\temp\\yourfile.csv’ INTO TABLE database.table FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘;’ ENCLOSED BY ‘”‘ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\r\n’ (field1, field2);
[Edit: Make sure to check your single quotes (') and double quotes (") if you copy and paste this code - it seems WordPress is changing them into some similar but different characters]
Done!
Very quick and simple once you know it
Some notes from my own import – may not apply to you if you run a different language version, MySQL version, Excel version etc…
TERMINATED BY – this is why I included step 2. I thought a csv would default to comma separated but at least in my case semicolon was the deafult
ENCLOSED BY – my data was not enclosed by anything so I left this as empty string ”
LINES TERMINATED BY – at first I tried with only ‘\n’ but had to add the ‘\r’ to get rid of a carriage return character being imported into the database
Also make sure that if you do not import into the primary key field/column that it has auto increment on, otherwhise only the first row will be imported
Save your Excel data as a csv file (In Excel 2007 using Save As)
Check the saved file using a text editor such as Notepad to see what it actually looks like, i.e. what delimiter was used etc.
Start the MySQL Command Prompt (I’m lazy so I usually do this from the MySQL Query Browser – Tools – MySQL Command Line Client to avoid having to enter username and password etc.)
Enter this command:
LOAD DATA LOCAL INFILE ‘C:\\temp\\yourfile.csv’ INTO TABLE database.table FIELDS TERMINATED BY ‘;’ ENCLOSED BY ‘”‘ LINES TERMINATED BY ‘\r\n’ (field1, field2);
[Edit: Make sure to check your single quotes (') and double quotes (") if you copy and paste this code - it seems WordPress is changing them into some similar but different characters]
Done!
Very quick and simple once you know it
Some notes from my own import – may not apply to you if you run a different language version, MySQL version, Excel version etc…
TERMINATED BY – this is why I included step 2. I thought a csv would default to comma separated but at least in my case semicolon was the deafult
ENCLOSED BY – my data was not enclosed by anything so I left this as empty string ”
LINES TERMINATED BY – at first I tried with only ‘\n’ but had to add the ‘\r’ to get rid of a carriage return character being imported into the database
Also make sure that if you do not import into the primary key field/column that it has auto increment on, otherwhise only the first row will be imported
Most wanted and Useful PHP Scripts
This PHP script has become a very hot item ! so learn it n keep it in ur mind always.
http://best-php-scripts.com/
http://garcya.us/85-useful-php-scripts/
http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/20/50-extremely-useful-php-tools/
http://desizntech.info/2011/02/must-have-most-useful-php-jquery-code-sinppets/
http://webdeveloperplus.com/php/21-really-useful-handy-php-code-snippets/
this is for beginners..
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/30-php-best-practices-for-beginners/
http://best-php-scripts.com/
http://garcya.us/85-useful-php-scripts/
http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2009/01/20/50-extremely-useful-php-tools/
http://desizntech.info/2011/02/must-have-most-useful-php-jquery-code-sinppets/
http://webdeveloperplus.com/php/21-really-useful-handy-php-code-snippets/
this is for beginners..
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/php/30-php-best-practices-for-beginners/
PHP Frame Work
A PHP Framework is a basic platform that allows us to develop web applications. In other words, it provides structure. By using a PHP Framework, you will end up saving loads of time, stopping the need to produce repetitive code, and you'll be able to build applications rapidly (RAD). Without a PHP Framework in place, it gets much more difficult to produce applications since you'll have to repeatedly code a lot of PHP. You'll also have to execute the connection between your database and whatever application you develop from scratch. Meanwhile, using a PHP Framework makes it easier for you to ensure this connection.
PHP operates on the Model View Controller (MVC) fundamentals. MVC is an architectural pattern featured in various popular programming languages which breaks apart your domain logic from your user interface. Thedomain logic is the function that handles information exchange between your database and your user interface. Therefore you're able to modify the domain logic and most importantly for designers, the user interface separately. This removes a lot of confusion and simplifies the entire developmental process. When we refer to MVC we generally perceive it as this: The M stands for the raw data, the V (view/user interface)represents what's actually being viewed, and C (controller) is in fact the domain logic as seen above. Once you're able to make sense of how MVC works, then PHP Frameworks become much more clearer and easier to use.
What to Look for When Choosing Your Frameworks?
When you're searching for a PHP Framework it can get a bit confusing with what you need your framework to do, and with what your framework already comes bundled with. Not every PHP Framework offers the same support for databases, communities, and an easy to follow user guide. That may be fine if you're looking for something extremely simple. However, if you find a PHP Framework that you're comfortable with, there should be a variety of options and advantages that come along with it.
Database Support
Database support is very important. For example, CodeIgniter supports MySQL, Oracle, and SQLite, while the Kohana framework doesn't support Oracle or SQLite. Depending on which database you prefer to use or choose for your project at hand, you will also need to consider whether your database server supports this database type.
Community Support
Your framework should have a strong community, not just in terms of size but also in activity and helpfulness. Even if it's a small community, as long as you're able to find support, then that's a plus point.
Documentation Support
You should also be weary of frameworks that don't have any documentation and absolutely no user guide. Make sure that your PHP Framework has good documentation that's kept up-to-date, and that the user guide its relatively easy to follow.
Model View Controller Architecture
Your framework should also use the Model View Controller architecture. If you haven't, take a quick look above at the previous section and see why. Most of the good frameworks you'll find also offer libraries, plug-ins, helpers, and extensions. It's good to find a framework that has at least two of these options.
Common Mistakes Made When Choosing a Framework
Anyone can make mistakes when choosing a framework, however, we must learn how to limit these mistakes so that we're able to develop web applications that run more smoothly. When choosing your framework, make sure that it isn't small enough for it to not offer any support. Small or inconclusive frameworks are usually created by individuals whose knowledge of PHP is limited. All the above mistakes could cause various issues to arise with your applications and ultimately prevent them from running properly.
Utilizing a PHP framework that's easy to use and understand is vital, unless you're a pretty advanced PHP programmer. You should always make sure that your database and web server is compatible with the framework you've chosen. This is a common mistake especially when we find a framework that we believe is perfect, and because of the excitement we may forget to check its technical requirements. PHP 4.3 is the minimum, and PHP 5 along with its later versions work fine as well. When it comes to MySQL versions 4.0, 4.1.x and 5.0 are all supported.
If the above requirements aren't in place, you will not be getting the best performance possible out of your chosen framework. Another common mistake is derailing from the recommended installation process of your PHP Framework. If you setup your framework in the wrong way, you'll have more problems at hand than you can probably fix. Keep your eye on the prize and take your sweet time setting up your framework. Follow your frameworks instructions thoroughly, and avoid distractions.
When Should We Use PHP Framework?
There's so many possibilities with PHP Frameworks that it really depends on the developer. If you're an advanced PHP programmer, you're more than likely to use a framework different from one who’s a beginner. PHP frameworks help eliminate repetitive coding and systemizes our building process. If and when you're working on an application that can benefit from this building process, then a PHP framework can definitely be used. PHP Frameworks are a powerful tool for an even more powerful programming language which helps you tweak your code in an organized and clean manner. If this is not something you're looking for, then working with a framework is more than likely not for you.
PHP Framework
Everyone has different preferences and needs. What may seem as implementing a framework for speeding up the coding process to one developer, may seem like a waste of time to another. Most of the time this depends on what level of skill you possess; be it advanced or beginner, PHP frameworks have been put into place to save time and reduce the work load.
Below you will find 20 of the best PHP Frameworks to use in order to build your web applications. Snoop around, target a few, test, and see which one works best for you.
Reviewing the Frameworks
After conducting some research, and reading some relative feedback on which frameworks "give" the developer more in terms of usability, speed, and stability, we found 20 frameworks that we think fit the bill.
Kohana
Being a PHP 5 Framework, Kohana offers flexibility and community support, an easy learning curve, is nicely structured and comes with multiple session drivers.
CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is another PHP framework that brings versatility to the table and has a very small footprint. It's developed primarily for PHP coders with all sorts of experience who need a more simple solution to building web applications.
Akelos
Akelos is very similar to a Ruby on Rails (RoR) framework only for PHP. It makes building web applications less complex and benefits a more simpler web server.
CakePHP
CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP that provides an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying applications. Using commonly known design patterns like MVC and ORM within the convention over configuration paradigm, CakePHP reduces developmental costs and helps developers write less code.
Zend Framework
The Zend Framework is an object-oriented framework written strictly in PHP 5. It's simple, easy to work with, and has a loose architecture that lets you use various Zend components to enhance your applications functionality.
Symfony
The Symfony PHP Framework holds a library of various classes written in PHP 5. Architecture, useful components and excellent tools are provided for creating complex web apps.
Prado
PHP Rapid Application Development Object-oriented; PRADO is a component-based and event-driven programming framework that helps you build applications based on PHP 5.
Solar Framework
Solar is a PHP 5 framework for web application development. It is fully name-spaced and uses enterprise application design patterns, with built-in support for localization and configuration at all levels.
Yii PHP Framework
Yii is a high-performance component-based PHP framework that's a good choice for developing large scale apps. It's loaded with great features and was written in OOP (which requires PHP 5 and above).
Maintainable
The Maintainable PHP Framework was formally built to host its creators personal projects. However, it was further released to open source. Like any framework, it's certainly not appropriate for every application. It's designed primarily for use with small-to-mid-sized applications.
Seagull
Seagull is a mature OOP framework for building web, command line and GUI applications. Licensed under BSD, the project allows PHP developers to easily integrate and manage code resources, and build complex applications quickly.
Fuse
FUSE is a Model View Controller framework for PHP. Taking influence from other web frameworks; such as Ruby on Rails (RoR) and CakePHP, then adding in custom, intuitive features of our own design, FUSE has developed into a robust, stable platform for MVC development using object oriented PHP.
AjaxAC
AjaxAC is an open-source framework written in PHP, used to develop/create/generate AJAX applications. The fundamental idea behind AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is to use the XMLHttpRequest object to change a web page state using background HTTP sub-requests without reloading the entire page. It is released under the terms of the Apache License v2.0.
Phocoa
PHOCOA (pronounced faux-ko) is PHP framework for developing web applications. PHOCOA's primary intent is to make web application development in PHP easier, faster, and of higher-quality.
Limb
Limb is an OpenSource (LGPL) PHP framework mostly aimed for rapid web application prototyping and development. The current actively developed branch of framework is Limb3 (there is also Limb2 but it's not maintained anymore).
Zoop
Zoop has been in development since 2001 and in use for the last 6 years in a number of different production environments. While it predates the recent proliferation of PHP frameworks, it's based on solid MVC principles, including separation of display, logic, and data layers. It's designed to be efficient, modular, and extensible; striking a balance between lightweight and fully-featured.
BlueShoes
BlueShoes is a comprehensive application framework and content management system. It is written in the widely used web-scripting language PHP. BlueShoes offers excellent support for the popular MySQL database as well as support for Oracle and MSSQL.
Qcodo
The Qcodo Development Framework is an open-source PHP framework that focuses on freeing developers from unnecessary, tedious, and mundane coding.
Recess
Recess is a RESTful PHP framework that provides a fun and enjoyable developmental experience for beginners and seasoned developers alike. Recess is fast, light-weight, and has a very small footprint ideal for LAMP development and drag-and-drop deployment to shared hosts.
PHPDevShell
As the name suggests, PHPDevShell provides a shell for your code to run in. It was developed from the ground up to be fast, secure and to provide immediate results for the developer using it. Simply plug your own PHP scripts into PHPDevShell’s secure menu system, or take the extra step and develop your own plug-ins for PHPDevShell.
Conclusion
Overall, no matter where you stand experience-wise, implementing a PHP framework allows us to reduce our workload by speeding up the coding and developmental process, along with eliminating the need to code repetitively. The above suggestions should be used as a great start for choosing and using the right framework that will help make sure your applications are running smoothly.
PHP Frameworks also allows our applications to run on a more secure platform and reduces security risks. Even though some developers may feel as though using a framework isn't the case for them, they should keep an open mind, as the time may come when a situation arises and they'll come to find that they can benefit from Rapid Application Development.
PHP operates on the Model View Controller (MVC) fundamentals. MVC is an architectural pattern featured in various popular programming languages which breaks apart your domain logic from your user interface. Thedomain logic is the function that handles information exchange between your database and your user interface. Therefore you're able to modify the domain logic and most importantly for designers, the user interface separately. This removes a lot of confusion and simplifies the entire developmental process. When we refer to MVC we generally perceive it as this: The M stands for the raw data, the V (view/user interface)represents what's actually being viewed, and C (controller) is in fact the domain logic as seen above. Once you're able to make sense of how MVC works, then PHP Frameworks become much more clearer and easier to use.
What to Look for When Choosing Your Frameworks?
When you're searching for a PHP Framework it can get a bit confusing with what you need your framework to do, and with what your framework already comes bundled with. Not every PHP Framework offers the same support for databases, communities, and an easy to follow user guide. That may be fine if you're looking for something extremely simple. However, if you find a PHP Framework that you're comfortable with, there should be a variety of options and advantages that come along with it.
Database Support
Database support is very important. For example, CodeIgniter supports MySQL, Oracle, and SQLite, while the Kohana framework doesn't support Oracle or SQLite. Depending on which database you prefer to use or choose for your project at hand, you will also need to consider whether your database server supports this database type.
Community Support
Your framework should have a strong community, not just in terms of size but also in activity and helpfulness. Even if it's a small community, as long as you're able to find support, then that's a plus point.
Documentation Support
You should also be weary of frameworks that don't have any documentation and absolutely no user guide. Make sure that your PHP Framework has good documentation that's kept up-to-date, and that the user guide its relatively easy to follow.
Model View Controller Architecture
Your framework should also use the Model View Controller architecture. If you haven't, take a quick look above at the previous section and see why. Most of the good frameworks you'll find also offer libraries, plug-ins, helpers, and extensions. It's good to find a framework that has at least two of these options.
Common Mistakes Made When Choosing a Framework
Anyone can make mistakes when choosing a framework, however, we must learn how to limit these mistakes so that we're able to develop web applications that run more smoothly. When choosing your framework, make sure that it isn't small enough for it to not offer any support. Small or inconclusive frameworks are usually created by individuals whose knowledge of PHP is limited. All the above mistakes could cause various issues to arise with your applications and ultimately prevent them from running properly.
Utilizing a PHP framework that's easy to use and understand is vital, unless you're a pretty advanced PHP programmer. You should always make sure that your database and web server is compatible with the framework you've chosen. This is a common mistake especially when we find a framework that we believe is perfect, and because of the excitement we may forget to check its technical requirements. PHP 4.3 is the minimum, and PHP 5 along with its later versions work fine as well. When it comes to MySQL versions 4.0, 4.1.x and 5.0 are all supported.
If the above requirements aren't in place, you will not be getting the best performance possible out of your chosen framework. Another common mistake is derailing from the recommended installation process of your PHP Framework. If you setup your framework in the wrong way, you'll have more problems at hand than you can probably fix. Keep your eye on the prize and take your sweet time setting up your framework. Follow your frameworks instructions thoroughly, and avoid distractions.
When Should We Use PHP Framework?
There's so many possibilities with PHP Frameworks that it really depends on the developer. If you're an advanced PHP programmer, you're more than likely to use a framework different from one who’s a beginner. PHP frameworks help eliminate repetitive coding and systemizes our building process. If and when you're working on an application that can benefit from this building process, then a PHP framework can definitely be used. PHP Frameworks are a powerful tool for an even more powerful programming language which helps you tweak your code in an organized and clean manner. If this is not something you're looking for, then working with a framework is more than likely not for you.
PHP Framework
Everyone has different preferences and needs. What may seem as implementing a framework for speeding up the coding process to one developer, may seem like a waste of time to another. Most of the time this depends on what level of skill you possess; be it advanced or beginner, PHP frameworks have been put into place to save time and reduce the work load.
Below you will find 20 of the best PHP Frameworks to use in order to build your web applications. Snoop around, target a few, test, and see which one works best for you.
Reviewing the Frameworks
After conducting some research, and reading some relative feedback on which frameworks "give" the developer more in terms of usability, speed, and stability, we found 20 frameworks that we think fit the bill.
Kohana
Being a PHP 5 Framework, Kohana offers flexibility and community support, an easy learning curve, is nicely structured and comes with multiple session drivers.
CodeIgniter
CodeIgniter is another PHP framework that brings versatility to the table and has a very small footprint. It's developed primarily for PHP coders with all sorts of experience who need a more simple solution to building web applications.
Akelos
Akelos is very similar to a Ruby on Rails (RoR) framework only for PHP. It makes building web applications less complex and benefits a more simpler web server.
CakePHP
CakePHP is a rapid development framework for PHP that provides an extensible architecture for developing, maintaining, and deploying applications. Using commonly known design patterns like MVC and ORM within the convention over configuration paradigm, CakePHP reduces developmental costs and helps developers write less code.
Zend Framework
The Zend Framework is an object-oriented framework written strictly in PHP 5. It's simple, easy to work with, and has a loose architecture that lets you use various Zend components to enhance your applications functionality.
Symfony
The Symfony PHP Framework holds a library of various classes written in PHP 5. Architecture, useful components and excellent tools are provided for creating complex web apps.
Prado
PHP Rapid Application Development Object-oriented; PRADO is a component-based and event-driven programming framework that helps you build applications based on PHP 5.
Solar Framework
Solar is a PHP 5 framework for web application development. It is fully name-spaced and uses enterprise application design patterns, with built-in support for localization and configuration at all levels.
Yii PHP Framework
Yii is a high-performance component-based PHP framework that's a good choice for developing large scale apps. It's loaded with great features and was written in OOP (which requires PHP 5 and above).
Maintainable
The Maintainable PHP Framework was formally built to host its creators personal projects. However, it was further released to open source. Like any framework, it's certainly not appropriate for every application. It's designed primarily for use with small-to-mid-sized applications.
Seagull
Seagull is a mature OOP framework for building web, command line and GUI applications. Licensed under BSD, the project allows PHP developers to easily integrate and manage code resources, and build complex applications quickly.
Fuse
FUSE is a Model View Controller framework for PHP. Taking influence from other web frameworks; such as Ruby on Rails (RoR) and CakePHP, then adding in custom, intuitive features of our own design, FUSE has developed into a robust, stable platform for MVC development using object oriented PHP.
AjaxAC
AjaxAC is an open-source framework written in PHP, used to develop/create/generate AJAX applications. The fundamental idea behind AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript And XML) is to use the XMLHttpRequest object to change a web page state using background HTTP sub-requests without reloading the entire page. It is released under the terms of the Apache License v2.0.
Phocoa
PHOCOA (pronounced faux-ko) is PHP framework for developing web applications. PHOCOA's primary intent is to make web application development in PHP easier, faster, and of higher-quality.
Limb
Limb is an OpenSource (LGPL) PHP framework mostly aimed for rapid web application prototyping and development. The current actively developed branch of framework is Limb3 (there is also Limb2 but it's not maintained anymore).
Zoop
Zoop has been in development since 2001 and in use for the last 6 years in a number of different production environments. While it predates the recent proliferation of PHP frameworks, it's based on solid MVC principles, including separation of display, logic, and data layers. It's designed to be efficient, modular, and extensible; striking a balance between lightweight and fully-featured.
BlueShoes
BlueShoes is a comprehensive application framework and content management system. It is written in the widely used web-scripting language PHP. BlueShoes offers excellent support for the popular MySQL database as well as support for Oracle and MSSQL.
Qcodo
The Qcodo Development Framework is an open-source PHP framework that focuses on freeing developers from unnecessary, tedious, and mundane coding.
Recess
Recess is a RESTful PHP framework that provides a fun and enjoyable developmental experience for beginners and seasoned developers alike. Recess is fast, light-weight, and has a very small footprint ideal for LAMP development and drag-and-drop deployment to shared hosts.
PHPDevShell
As the name suggests, PHPDevShell provides a shell for your code to run in. It was developed from the ground up to be fast, secure and to provide immediate results for the developer using it. Simply plug your own PHP scripts into PHPDevShell’s secure menu system, or take the extra step and develop your own plug-ins for PHPDevShell.
Conclusion
Overall, no matter where you stand experience-wise, implementing a PHP framework allows us to reduce our workload by speeding up the coding and developmental process, along with eliminating the need to code repetitively. The above suggestions should be used as a great start for choosing and using the right framework that will help make sure your applications are running smoothly.
PHP Frameworks also allows our applications to run on a more secure platform and reduces security risks. Even though some developers may feel as though using a framework isn't the case for them, they should keep an open mind, as the time may come when a situation arises and they'll come to find that they can benefit from Rapid Application Development.
It’s telling that when the Google+ social network launched in June, businesses clamored to get on the service as quickly as possible. For most businesses, being active on social media is now a requirement. Although Google+ is still dragging its feet on creating pages for businesses, getting your company page started on Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter takes just minutes.
Choose a Name
When you try to register your business's name on a social network, you may find that it's already taken. Both Facebook and Twitter have an appeals process to which you can turn if your business name has been claimed, but they offer no guarantees. Businesses that have been through the appeals process say that Twitter tends to be a bit more generous than Facebook, which usually requires a trademark and a decent amount of poking and prodding before it allows you to have your name.
You can always ask the current owner to hand over the Facebook or Twitter page, but be prepared: The other party may want a payout in exchange for giving up the name. If all else fails you can register a slight variation on your business's name, but make sure to remain consistent. Appearing under one company name on Facebook and another name on Twitter makes it hard for customers to find you.
In addition, prepare a company tagline for Facebook’s About section, LinkedIn’s company description, and Twitter’s bio. This text should simply be a short description of what your company is and does. If the length is right, your existing slogan or tagline might do the trick. Even if you’re trying to seem fun on your company's social media pages, it's best to keep this text short and to the point. Your posted content can convey your tone; the description is just to let visitors know who you are.
Select an Image
Although you should try to keep your logo graphic as consistent as possible among Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, you may need to make some tweaks. All three services will automatically resize images for you, but each one resizes to slightly different dimensions. For instance, Twitter pictures must be perfectly square and will show up at sizes as small as 25 by 25 pixels, and that can cause problems if your logo has different proportions.
As you can see, the text in the larger Daw Industries logo got cut off when I tried to upload it to Twitter. (That’s probably for the best, though, since the text was too small for anyone to read.) Instead of using this image, I uploaded a square version that contained just the globe part of the graphic.
Get Started on Facebook
Creating a page on Facebook can be a bit involved, but it's still a fairly quick process. Just go toFacebook’s Pages app and click the Create a page button. Next, you’ll see a list of options.
A Facebook business page
Facebook pages are much more visual, so be sure to have some graphics ready.
Depending on what your company does and what you want to promote, you might choose the local business, brand, or corporation button. After you enter your company’s name and industry, Facebook will prompt you to upload a photo for your company. Facebook is unique in that it allows images of variable size. It’s still best to stick to an image with roughly square dimensions, however, as the profile photo will be the basis of your much smaller thumbnail image (which, like Twitter’s picture, is small and perfectly square).
While you’re on Facebook, you should also pick up the vanity URL for your business. Your best bet (if it’s available) is probably facebook.com/yourcompanyname. Once you've created your page, you can start sharing it with customers and friends. For more details on this process, see our guide, "How to Make a Facebook Page for Your Small Business."
Mobile Web Design Tips and Tricks
Having a mobile-optimized web site can really make your site stand apart from the pack. Even though smartphones like the iPhone and Google Android devices can display "the full web," having a web page formatted for smaller screens and with features that can take advantage of a touch screen, geolocation, or address book functionality can make the mobile web browsing experience that much better.
Even just a few years ago, optimizing websites for mobile browsers was a painful and difficult process, in part because of the limitations of most mobile browsers. Today, thanks to the proliferation of WebKit (which powers the browsers on the iPhone, Android and webOS devices, with BlackBerry expected to join the mix next year), it's much easier to decide on a strategy for making your website pop on mobile platforms.
Services for Optimizing Your Content for Mobile Browsers
If you don't have experience with HTML and CSS (or you don't have the time), there are a number of services that can create mobile versions of your website for you.
MoFuse and MoFuse Premium — MoFuse has been offering a simple way for bloggers and businesses to easily create mobile versions of their websites for quite some time. For bloggers or smaller sites, the company offers MoFuse for Blogs, which is a free and easy way to quickly mobilize your web site (it uses your RSS feed to generate the new site) whenever it is accessed by going to "m.yourdomain.com." For businesses or larger sites that want a little more control, MoFuse Premium offers more customizable options.
Disclosure: MoFuse powers Mashable's mobile website.
Mippin — Mippin is another free service that can create a quick mobile version of your website using your RSS feed. The options aren't extensive, but the version that Mippin creates should be viewable on almost any WAP compatible mobile phone.
mobiSiteGalore — mobiSiteGalore can create quick mobile versions of websites, offers users some customization options, and can take advantage of the .mobi TLD. mobiSiteGalore will let you create your mobile site from a computer or from your phone.
Plugins for WordPress and Other Publishing Systems
Having a WAP-formatted site is fine, but if you want to be able to offer visitors from an iPhone or Android device some really great optimized mobile features, you want to consider creating a separate stylesheet for your website. For users of WordPress and other publishing systems, there are a lot of plugin options available that make adding a mobile theme to your site extremely easy.
WPtouch — WPtouch is a fantastic plugin available for WordPress.org users (WordPress.com users can also take advantage of WPtouch with the recent addition of mobile themes) that automatically makes your site easy to read and access from an iPhone or Android device.
The plugin is extremely robust and even offers backend features like the ability to set an iPhone Favicon (so that when users add your web page to their iPhone's home screen, it has a great looking icon), the ability to work with other WordPress plugins like FlickrRSS and Blip.it, support for AJAX, customized headers, and more. What I really like about WPtouch is that users can choose to turn it off and access the full version of a website at any time by flicking the mobile on/off switch at the bottom of each page.
WordPress Mobile Edition – Crowd Favorite created this plugin that allows users to easily define what type of devices should be shown a mobile web page (and what shouldn't — for instance if you want BlackBerry users to see your mobile page but you want iPhone users to see the full site) and it comes with Crowd Favorite's Carrington Mobile Theme which is easy on the eyes and also fully customizable.
WordPress Mobile Pack — The WordPress Mobile Pack is from the dotMobi team and it is a whole suite of tools for mobile web optimization. It includes a base mobile theme, which is very attractive, a mobile admin panel, mobile ad support and the option for visitors to switch between the full and mobile versions of a website.
WPtap — WPtap is a plugin for WordPress, and the site also offers up some alternative themes for users who want a more customized look and feel to add to their sites. WPtap looks very similar to WPtouch, but the emphasis seems to be on offering pre-built mobile styles.
WordPress Mobile by Mobify — This is a plugin for the Mobify service (see description in the next section). It handles automatic redirection of mobile clients to your Mobify mobile view page.
Mobile Plugin for Drupal — Mobile Plugin offers Drupal sites a mobile optimized view, comes with a mobile version of the standard Drupal Garland theme and includes device detection, hooks for adding mobile-specific features and automatic YouTube mobile replacement.
OSMOBI — OSMOBI is a service and plugin for Joomla and Drupal users that makes it easy to customize your blog for mobile visitors. The service is free for 150 page views every day but premium plans are also available.
Tools for Designers
Mobify — Mobify is a really interesting service because it makes it easy for designers or users who know HTML and CSS to painlessly modify and optimize their website for mobile access. The service is free (though paid monthly plans are available for more features) and it works extremely well with systems like WordPress, Drupal, ExpressionEngine and any other system that has predictable URL patterns and well formed HTML.
Mobify has a visual editor that lets you see what your content looks like on different device types and you can then modify the CSS and see the changes in real-time. Some sites that have used Mobify to create mobile optimized versions of their content include A List Apart and revered web developers and designers, such asJonathan Snook and Veerle Pieters.
iPhoney — iPhoney from Marketcircle gives Mac users a pixel-accurate web browsing environment that is powered by Safari. Why does this matter? Because when crafting the mobile version of your site, it's important to be able to see how the final product will look on your phone. iPhoney hasn't been updated in a while but is still a really useful tool.
iWebKit — iWebKit is a framework of sorts for creating iPhone-optimized websites or web apps that can take advantage of the iPhone's UI elements and other features.
jQTouch — jQTouch is a really innovative jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone and iPod touch. With it you can create websites or web apps with animations, support for forms, customized UI elements, additional extensions, swipe controls, and more. The developer is really active with the project and some of the stuff you can do with it is amazing.
iPhone Compatible CSS Layouts — Matthew James Taylor created a bunch of liquid CSS layouts that are iPhone and iPod Touch compatible and free for anyone to use. If you're looking for a starting point for building a mobile optimized site, you might want to give these layouts a look.
Other Resources
Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll — This is a really great book (available in print or as an ebook) with tips, best practices, and examples on styling and optimizing your site for mobile content. If it suffers from anything it is that it was written before the iPhone explosion really took off, thus it isn't as up to date as it could be. Still, for mobile web enthusiasts, there's a lot of great information here.
Craig Hockenbery's "Put Your Content in My Pocket" — In August of 2007, Craig Hockenberry (from the Iconfactory and one of the brains behind Twitterrific for the Mac and the iPhone) wrote a great article for "A List Apart" and although some of the technologies have evolved, much of what Craig wrote then still applies today. A great read.
Smashing Magazines's Mobile Design Showcase – Need some inspiration? Smashing Magazine did a great roundup of iPhone optimized designs in September.
Even just a few years ago, optimizing websites for mobile browsers was a painful and difficult process, in part because of the limitations of most mobile browsers. Today, thanks to the proliferation of WebKit (which powers the browsers on the iPhone, Android and webOS devices, with BlackBerry expected to join the mix next year), it's much easier to decide on a strategy for making your website pop on mobile platforms.
Services for Optimizing Your Content for Mobile Browsers
If you don't have experience with HTML and CSS (or you don't have the time), there are a number of services that can create mobile versions of your website for you.
MoFuse and MoFuse Premium — MoFuse has been offering a simple way for bloggers and businesses to easily create mobile versions of their websites for quite some time. For bloggers or smaller sites, the company offers MoFuse for Blogs, which is a free and easy way to quickly mobilize your web site (it uses your RSS feed to generate the new site) whenever it is accessed by going to "m.yourdomain.com." For businesses or larger sites that want a little more control, MoFuse Premium offers more customizable options.
Disclosure: MoFuse powers Mashable's mobile website.
Mippin — Mippin is another free service that can create a quick mobile version of your website using your RSS feed. The options aren't extensive, but the version that Mippin creates should be viewable on almost any WAP compatible mobile phone.
mobiSiteGalore — mobiSiteGalore can create quick mobile versions of websites, offers users some customization options, and can take advantage of the .mobi TLD. mobiSiteGalore will let you create your mobile site from a computer or from your phone.
Plugins for WordPress and Other Publishing Systems
Having a WAP-formatted site is fine, but if you want to be able to offer visitors from an iPhone or Android device some really great optimized mobile features, you want to consider creating a separate stylesheet for your website. For users of WordPress and other publishing systems, there are a lot of plugin options available that make adding a mobile theme to your site extremely easy.
WPtouch — WPtouch is a fantastic plugin available for WordPress.org users (WordPress.com users can also take advantage of WPtouch with the recent addition of mobile themes) that automatically makes your site easy to read and access from an iPhone or Android device.
The plugin is extremely robust and even offers backend features like the ability to set an iPhone Favicon (so that when users add your web page to their iPhone's home screen, it has a great looking icon), the ability to work with other WordPress plugins like FlickrRSS and Blip.it, support for AJAX, customized headers, and more. What I really like about WPtouch is that users can choose to turn it off and access the full version of a website at any time by flicking the mobile on/off switch at the bottom of each page.
WordPress Mobile Edition – Crowd Favorite created this plugin that allows users to easily define what type of devices should be shown a mobile web page (and what shouldn't — for instance if you want BlackBerry users to see your mobile page but you want iPhone users to see the full site) and it comes with Crowd Favorite's Carrington Mobile Theme which is easy on the eyes and also fully customizable.
WordPress Mobile Pack — The WordPress Mobile Pack is from the dotMobi team and it is a whole suite of tools for mobile web optimization. It includes a base mobile theme, which is very attractive, a mobile admin panel, mobile ad support and the option for visitors to switch between the full and mobile versions of a website.
WPtap — WPtap is a plugin for WordPress, and the site also offers up some alternative themes for users who want a more customized look and feel to add to their sites. WPtap looks very similar to WPtouch, but the emphasis seems to be on offering pre-built mobile styles.
WordPress Mobile by Mobify — This is a plugin for the Mobify service (see description in the next section). It handles automatic redirection of mobile clients to your Mobify mobile view page.
Mobile Plugin for Drupal — Mobile Plugin offers Drupal sites a mobile optimized view, comes with a mobile version of the standard Drupal Garland theme and includes device detection, hooks for adding mobile-specific features and automatic YouTube mobile replacement.
OSMOBI — OSMOBI is a service and plugin for Joomla and Drupal users that makes it easy to customize your blog for mobile visitors. The service is free for 150 page views every day but premium plans are also available.
Tools for Designers
Mobify — Mobify is a really interesting service because it makes it easy for designers or users who know HTML and CSS to painlessly modify and optimize their website for mobile access. The service is free (though paid monthly plans are available for more features) and it works extremely well with systems like WordPress, Drupal, ExpressionEngine and any other system that has predictable URL patterns and well formed HTML.
Mobify has a visual editor that lets you see what your content looks like on different device types and you can then modify the CSS and see the changes in real-time. Some sites that have used Mobify to create mobile optimized versions of their content include A List Apart and revered web developers and designers, such asJonathan Snook and Veerle Pieters.
iPhoney — iPhoney from Marketcircle gives Mac users a pixel-accurate web browsing environment that is powered by Safari. Why does this matter? Because when crafting the mobile version of your site, it's important to be able to see how the final product will look on your phone. iPhoney hasn't been updated in a while but is still a really useful tool.
iWebKit — iWebKit is a framework of sorts for creating iPhone-optimized websites or web apps that can take advantage of the iPhone's UI elements and other features.
jQTouch — jQTouch is a really innovative jQuery plugin for mobile web development on the iPhone and iPod touch. With it you can create websites or web apps with animations, support for forms, customized UI elements, additional extensions, swipe controls, and more. The developer is really active with the project and some of the stuff you can do with it is amazing.
iPhone Compatible CSS Layouts — Matthew James Taylor created a bunch of liquid CSS layouts that are iPhone and iPod Touch compatible and free for anyone to use. If you're looking for a starting point for building a mobile optimized site, you might want to give these layouts a look.
Other Resources
Mobile Web Design by Cameron Moll — This is a really great book (available in print or as an ebook) with tips, best practices, and examples on styling and optimizing your site for mobile content. If it suffers from anything it is that it was written before the iPhone explosion really took off, thus it isn't as up to date as it could be. Still, for mobile web enthusiasts, there's a lot of great information here.
Craig Hockenbery's "Put Your Content in My Pocket" — In August of 2007, Craig Hockenberry (from the Iconfactory and one of the brains behind Twitterrific for the Mac and the iPhone) wrote a great article for "A List Apart" and although some of the technologies have evolved, much of what Craig wrote then still applies today. A great read.
Smashing Magazines's Mobile Design Showcase – Need some inspiration? Smashing Magazine did a great roundup of iPhone optimized designs in September.
Use Full Information and powerful tools for Web and Internet SEO
This list is mostly free and power full web based tools to check your site profile and errors . make use of it.
http://www.socialseo.com/the-top-15-free-seo-tools.html
http://www.socialseo.com/the-top-15-free-seo-tools.html
Easy Ways to Promote Your Website
This article is designed to introduce you to website promotion, getting visitors to come to your website. It gives you the basic information, which you can then explore through dozens of links to other resources, much of it entirely free. As one of our most popular articles, this was revised most recently on April 19, 2011.
How can you get more visitors to your website? What can you do to stimulate traffic? Here's a checklist of 37 items you need to consider. Many of these may be doing already; others you meant to do and forgot about; still others you've never heard of. Of course, a great deal has been written about this. You'll find links to thousands of articles about website promotion on our website.
While I'm not breaking any new ground here, I've tried to summarize some of the most important techniques.
Search Engine Strategies
Perhaps the most important -- and inexpensive -- strategy is to rank high for your preferred keywords on the main search engines in "organic" or "natural" searches (as opposed to paid ads). Search engines send robot "spiders" to index the content of your webpage, so let's begin with steps to prepare your webpages for optimal indexing. The idea here is not to trick the search engines, but to leave them abundant clues as to what your webpage is about. This approach is called "search engine optimization," abbreviated as SEO.
1. Write a Keyword-Rich Page Title. Write a descriptive title for each page -- rich in keywords you want people to find you with -- using 5 to 8 words. Remove as many "filler" words from the title (such as "the," "and," etc.) as possible, while still making it readable. This page title will appear hyperlinked on the search engines when your page is found. Entice searchers to click on the title by making it a bit provocative. Place this at the top of the webpage between the <HEAD></HEAD> tags, in this format: <TITLE>Web Marketing Checklist -- 37 Ways to Promote Your Website</TITLE>. (It also shows on the blue bar at the top of your web browser.)
Plan to use some descriptive keywords along with your business name on your home page. If you specialize in silver bullets and that's what people will be searching for, don't just use your company name "Acme Ammunition, Inc.," use "Silver and Platinum Bullets -- Acme Ammunition, Inc." The words people are most likely to search on should appear first in the title (called "keyword prominence"). Remember, this title is your identity on the search engines. The more people see that interests them in the blue hyperlinked words on the search engine, the more likely they are to click on the link.
Competiton for search engine ranking occurs every day2. Write a Description META Tag. Some search engines include this description below your hyperlinked title in the search results. The description should be a sentence or two describing the content of the webpage, using the main keywords and keyphrases on this page. Don't include keywords that don't appear on the webpage. Place the Description META Tag at the top of the webpage, between the <HEAD></HEAD>tags, in this format:
<META NAME="DESCRIPTION" CONTENT="Increase visitor hits, attract traffic through submitting URLs, META tags, news releases, banner ads, and reciprocal links.">
The maximum number of characters should be about 255; just be aware that only the first 60 or so are visible on Google, though more may be indexed.
When I prepare a webpage, I write the article first, then develop a keyword-rich title (#1 above). Then I write a description of the content in that article in a sentence or two, using each of the important keywords and keyphrases included in the article. This goes into the description META tag.
Next, I strip out the common words, leaving just the meaty keywords and phrases and insert those into the keywords META tag. It's no longer used much for ranking, but I'm leaving it in anyway. I think it may have some minor value. So to summarize so far, every webpage in your site should have a distinct title and META description tag. If you implement these two points, you're well on your way to better search engine ranking. But there's more that will help your ranking....
3. Include Your Keywords in Headers (H1, H2, H3). Search engines consider keywords that appear in the page headline and sub heads to be important to the page, so make sure your desired keywords and phrases appear in one or two header tags. Don't expect the search engine to parse your Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) to figure out which are the headlines -- it won't. Instead, use keywords in the H1, H2, and H3 tags to provide clues to the search engine. (Note: Some designers no longer use the H1, H2 tags. That's a big mistake. Make sure your designer defines these tags in the CSS rather than creating headline tags with other names.)
4. Position Your Keywords in the First Paragraph of Your Body Text. Search engines expect that your first paragraph will contain the important keywords for the document -- where most people write an introduction to the content of the page. You don't want to just artificially stuff keywords here, however. More is not better. Google might expect a keyword density in the entire body text area of maybe 1.5% to 2% for a word that should rank high, so don't overdo it.
5. Include Descriptive Keywords in the ALT Attribute of Image Tags. This helps your site be more accessible to site-impaired visitors(www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/glance/) and gives additional clues to the search engines. The ALT attributes do help get your images ranked higher for image search (see #12 below).
6. Use Keywords in Hyperlinks. Search engines are looking for clues to the focus of your webpage. When they see words hyperlinked in your body text, they consider these potentially important, so hyperlink your important keywords and keyphrases. To emphasize it even more, the webpage you are linking to could have a page name with the keyword or keyphrase, such as blue-widget.htm -- another clue for the search engine.
Promoting your website through search engine optimization (SEO) helps business.
7. Make Your Navigation System Search Engine Friendly. You want search engine robots to find all the pages in your site. JavaScript and Flash navigation menus that appear when you hover are great for humans, but search engines don't read JavaScript and Flash very well. Therefore, supplement JavaScript and Flash menus with regular HTML links at the bottom of the page, ensuring that a chain of hyperlinks exists that take a search engine spider from your home page to every page in your site. Don't set up your navigation system using HTML frames (an old, out-dated approach); they can cause severe indexing problems.
Some content management systems and e-commerce catalogs produce dynamic, made-on-the-fly webpages, often recognizable by question marks in the URLs followed by long strings of numbers or letters. Overworked search engines sometimes have trouble parsing long URLs and may stop at the question mark, refusing to go farther. If you find the search engines aren't indexing your interior pages, you might consider URL rewriting, a site map, or commercial solutions.
8. Create a Site Map. A site map page with links to all your pages can help search engines (and visitors) find all your pages, particularly if you have a larger site. You can use a free tools, XML-Sitemaps.com(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/xml-sitemaps.htm) to create XML sitemaps that are used by the major search engines to index your webpages accurately. Upload your sitemap to your website. Then submit your XML sitemap to Google, Yahoo!, and Bing (formerly MSN), following instructions on their sites. By the way, Google Webmaster Central(www.google.com/webmasters/) has lots of tools to help you get ranked higher. Be sure to set up a free account and explore what they have to offer.
9. Develop Webpages Focused on Each Your Target Keywords. SEO specialists no longer recommend using external doorway or gateway pages, since nearly duplicate webpages might get you penalized. Rather, develop several webpages on your site, each of which is focused on a target keyword or keyphrase for which you would like a high ranking. Let's say you sell teddy bears. Use Google Insights for Search (www.google.com/insights/search/) or the free keyword suggestion tool on Wordtracker(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/wordtracker.htm) to find the related keywords people search on. In this case: write a separate webpage featuring the keyword "teddy bear," "teddy bears," "vermont teddy bears," "vermont bears," "the teddy bears," teddy bears picnic," "teddy bears pictures," etc. You'll write a completely different article on each topic. You can't fully optimize all the webpages in your site, but for each of these focused-content webpages, spend lots of time tweaking to improve its ranking, as described in point #10.
10. Fine-tune with Careful Search Engine Optimization. Now fine-tune your focused-content pages and perhaps your home page, by making a series of minor adjustments to help them rank higher. Software such as WebPosition allows you to check your current ranking and compare your webpages against your top keyword competitors. I use it regularly. WebPosition's Page Critic tool provides analysis of a search engine's preferred statistics for each part of your webpage, with specific recommendations of what minor changes to make. The best set of SEO tools is Bruce Clay's SEOToolSet(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/clay_seotoolset.htm). You can find links to many SEO articles (www.wilsonweb.com/seo/) on my site.
Frankly, this kind of SEO fine-tuning is time-consuming, painstaking work that takes a lot of specialized knowledge. For this reason, many small and large businesses outsource search engine optimization. If you'll explain your needs to me on my online form, I can refer you to appropriate SEO firms that I know and trust(www.wilsonweb.com/recommendations/seo-services.htm).
11. Promote Your Local Business on the Internet. These days many people search for local businesses on the Internet. To make sure they find you, include on every page of your website the street address, zip code, phone number, and the five or 10 other local community place names your business serves. If you can, include place names in the title tag, too. When you seek links to your site (see #15 below), you should request links from local businesses with place names in the communities you serve and complementary businesses in your industry nationwide.
Also create a free listing for your local business on Google Places for Business (places.google.com/business), Yahoo! Local(local.yahoo.com), and Bing Local Listing Center(https://ssl.bing.com/listings/). That way your business can show up on a map when people do a local search. For more information, seearticles on local marketing (www.wilsonweb.com/local/) on my site.
12. Promote Your Video, Images, and Audio Content. Google's "universal search" displays not only webpage content, but also often displays near the top of the page relevant listings for images, videos, local businesses (see #11 above), and audio clips. Therefore, consider creating such content appropriate to your business and then optimizing it so it can be ranked high enough to help you. For example, if you were to get a top-ranking, informative video onYouTube (www.youtube.com) that mentions your site, it could drive a lot of traffic to your site. For more information, search on "optimizing images" or "optimizing videos." You can see how I use videos to promote my business on my Web Marketing Today YouTube Channel(www.youtube.com/WebMarketingToday).
Linking Strategies
Links to your site from other sites drive additional traffic. But since Google and other major search engines consider the number of incoming links to your website ("link popularity") as an important indicator of relevance, more links will help you rank higher in the search engines. Google has a measure called PageRank that reflects the quantity and quality of incoming links. All links aren't all equal. Links from trusted, popular sites help your site rank higher than links from lower traffic sites. You'll find articles on linking strategies(www.wilsonweb.com/linking/) on our site.
13. Submit Your Site to Key Directories, since a link from a directory will help your ranking -- and get you traffic. A directory is not a search engine. Rather, it is a hierarchical listing of sites sorted according to category and subcategory. Be sure to list your site in the free Open Directory Project (www.dmoz.com), overseen by overworked volunteer editors. But if you don't get listed right away, don't be impatient and resubmit, or you'll go to the end of the queue. A link in this directory will help you a lot.
Yahoo! Directory (dir.yahoo.com) is another important directory. Real humans read submission, so be careful to follow the instruction given. Hint: Use somewhat less than the maximum number of characters allowable, so you don't have wordy text that will tempt the Yahoo! editor to begin chopping. Yahoo! Directory Submit(https://ecom.yahoo.com/dir/submit/intro/) requires a $299 annual recurring fee to have your site considered for inclusion within seven business days. Other paid business directories that might help areAbout.com and Business.com.
14. Submit Your Site to Trade Organization Sites and Specialized Directories. Some directories focused on particular industries, such as education or finance. You probably belong to various trade associations that feature member directories. Ask for a link. Even if you have to pay something for a link from the organization, it may help boost your PageRank.
Marginal directories, however, come and go very quickly, making it hard to keep up, so don't try to be exhaustive here. Beware of directories that solicit you for "upgraded listings." Unless a directory is widely used in your field, a premium ad is a waste of money -- but the (free) link itself will help boost your PageRank and hence your search engine ranking.
SubmitWolf (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/submitwolf.htm) is a directory submission tool I've used with good success . You complete a listing form in the software interface. Then they submit your listing to all the appropriate directories they know of, plus links to sites that require manual submission. It's a timesaver and works well. Just be careful to submit only to actual directories, not "linking sites."
15. Request Reciprocal Links. Find websites in your general niche and request a reciprocal link to your site (especially to your free service, if you offer one, see #24 below). Develop an out-of-the way page where you put links to other sites -- so you don't send people out the back door as fast as you bring them in the front door. Your best results will be from sites that generate a similar amount of traffic as your own site. High-traffic site webmasters are too busy to answer your requests for a link and don't have anything to gain. Look for smaller sites that may have linking pages.
Check out Ken Evoy's free SiteSell Value Exchange(sales.sitesell.com/value-exchange/). It (1) registers your site as willing to exchange links with other sites that have a similar theme/topic content and (2) searches for sites with similar topical content. Additionally, two automated link building software programs stand out -- Zeus (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/zeus.htm) and IBP Link Builder(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/arelis.htm). Both of these search the web for complementary sites, help you maintain a link directory, and manage reciprocal links. However, use these programs to identify the complementary sites, not to send impersonal automated e-mail spam to site owners.
When you locate sites, send a personal e-mail using the contact e-mail on the site or to the administrative contact listed in a Whois Directory(www.networksolutions.com/whois/). If e-mail doesn't get a response, try a phone call. Warning: Only link to complementary sites, no matter how often you are bombarded with requests to exchange links with a mortgage site that has nothing to do with your teddy bear store. One way Google determines what your site is about is who you link to and who links to you. It's not just links, but quality links you seek. Reciprocal linking as hard, tedious work, but it doesn't cost you a dime out of pocket! Keep working at this continuously, a little bit at a time. Patience and persistence will get you some good links, so keep at it.
16. Write Articles for Others to Use in Websites and Newsletters. You can dramatically increase your visibility when you write articles in your area of expertise and distribute them to editors as free content for their e-mail newsletters or their websites. Just ask that a link to your website and a one-line description of what you offer be included with the article. This is an effective "viral" approach that can produce hundreds of links to your site over time. You'll find lots of information on how to do this from the most popular article marketing site,EzineArticles.com. When you create a free membership account, they begin sending you instructions and ideas each week.
17. Issue News Releases. Find newsworthy events and send news releases to print and Web periodicals in your industry. The links to your site in online news databases may remain for several months and will temporarily improve traffic to your site and increase link popularity. Use a online news release service such as PR Web(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/prweb.htm). Placing your website URL in online copies of your press release may increase link popularity temporarily.
Two additional linking strategies, discussed below, are to ask visitors to bookmark your webpage (#20) and to develop a free service (#23), which will greatly stimulate links to your site.
Social Media
Our next type of website promotion comes from the mushrooming field of social media, in which people are encouraged to interact with each other, and respond to each other's blog postings and comments. You should be aware of four types of social media: (1) blogs, (2) social networking sites, (3) social bookmarking sites, and (4) forums. Don't be upset if the distinctions between types of social media tend to blur. Social media help promote your site by sending direct traffic, producing links to your site, and generating awareness. The subject is too diverse to go into detail here. You can learn more in our social media articles (www.wilsonweb.com/newmedia/).
18. Begin a Business Blog. Want links to your site? Begin a business blog on your website, hosted on your own domain. If you offer excellent content and regular industry comment, people are likely to link to it, increasing your site's PageRank. Consistency and having something to say are key. If you have a blog on a third-party blog site, occasionally find reasons to talk about and link to your own domain.
19. Become Part of a Social Media Community. Some of the best online communities for business include Facebook(www.facebook.com), LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), and Twitter(www.twitter.com). In addition, you may want to participate in a social bookmarking community in which members share with each other information about websites, articles, or news items that they like (or don't like). These include Digg (www.digg.com), Delicious(www.delicious.com), StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com), andGoogle Bookmarks (www.google.com/bookmarks/). Search engine spiders troll these sites looking for links to something new and relevant. You can usually place a link to your website in your profile, but the biggest gain comes when other people mention you (which generates traffic to your site), link to you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic), or bookmark you (which increases your PageRank and brings traffic,
! Thank you!
20. Promote Your Site in Online Forums and Discussion Lists -- "old school" social media. The Internet offers thousands of very targeted e-mail based discussion lists, online forums, and groups made up of people with very specialized interests. Use Google Groups(groups.google.com) to find appropriate groups. Search online for blogs or other forums.
Don't bother with groups consisting of pure spam. Instead, find groups where a serious dialog is taking place. Don't use aggressive marketing and overtly plug your product or service. Rather, add to the discussion in a helpful way and let the "signature" at the end of your e-mail message do your marketing for you. People will gradually get to know and trust you, visit your site, and do business with you.
21. Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site. It seems simple, but ask visitors to bookmark your site or save it in their Favorites list. I use a widget called AddThis (www.addthis.com). When you put the AddThis JavaScript on your webpage, it automatically determines the title and URL of that page. When visitors click the button on your page, they are automatically taken to a page that allows them to choose which bookmarking service they prefer, and then pre-populates the appropriate form with the title and URL of your webpage. I use AddThis throughout my website, as well as in my newsletters. If you have good content that people want to bookmark, this can generate hundreds of links to your site and significantly raise your rankings.
While you're at it, would you be so kind as to bookmark this pageusing the button below? Thank you!
AddThis Social Bookmark Button
Traditional Strategies
Just because "old media" strategies aren't on the Internet doesn't mean they aren't effective. A mixed media approach can be very effective.
22. Include Your URL on Stationery, Cards, and Literature. Make sure that all business cards, stationery, brochures, and literature contain your company's URL. And see that your printer gets the URL syntax correct. In print, I recommend leaving off the http:// part and including only the www.domain.com portion.
23. Promote using traditional media. Don't discontinue print advertising that you've found effective. But be sure to include your URL in any display or classified ads you purchase in trade journals, newspapers, yellow pages, etc. View your website as an information adjunct to the ad. Use a two-step approach: (1) capture readers' attention with the ad, (2) then refer them to a URL where they can obtain more information and perhaps place an order. Look carefully at small display or classified ads in the back of narrowly-targeted magazines or trade periodicals. Sometimes these ads are more targeted, more effective, and less expensive than online advertising. Consider other traditional media to drive people to your site, such as direct mail, classifieds, post cards, etc. TV can be used to promote websites, especially in a local market.
24. Develop a Free Service. It's boring to invite people, "Come to our site and learn about our business." It's quite another to say "Use the free kitchen remodeling calculator available exclusively on our site." Make no mistake, it's expensive in time and energy to develop free resources, but it is very rewarding in increased traffic to your site -- and a motivation to link to the site! Make sure that your free service is closely related to what you are selling so the visitors you attract will be good prospects for your business. Give visitors multiple opportunities and links to cross over to the sales portion of your site.
E-Mail Strategies
Don't neglect e-mail as an important way to bring people to your website. Just don't spam, that is, don't send bulk unsolicited e-mails without permission to people with whom you have no relationship. Many countries have anti-spam laws.
I'll mention just a few important elements here. You can learn more from our articles on e-mail marketing (www.wilsonweb.com/email/).
25. Install a "Signature" in your E-Mail Program to help potential customers get in touch with you. Most e-mail programs allow you to designate a "signature" to appear at the end of each message you send. Limit it to 6 to 8 lines: Company name, address, phone number, URL, e-mail address, and a one-phrase description of your unique business offering. Look for examples on e-mail messages sent to you.
26. Publish an E-Mail Newsletter. While it requires a commitment of time, creating a monthly e-mail publication is one of the most important promotion techniques. It could be a newsletter ("ezine"), list of tips, industry updates, or new product information -- whatever you believe your customers will appreciate. This is a great way to keep in touch with your prospects, generate trust, develop brand awareness, and build future business. It also helps you collect e-mail addresses from those who visit your site, but aren't yet ready to make a purchase. You distribute your newsletter inexpensively using e-mail marketing services such as: iContact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/icontact.htm),Constant Contact (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/constantcontact.htm), and AWeber (www.wilsonweb.com/afd/aweber.htm). If you have a very small list, some of these services let you use their services free until you grow larger. Blogs are very popular, but don't really replace e-mail newsletters. You have to go to a blog to read it, while an e-mail newsletter appears in your inbox asking to be read.
If you haven't already, would you please sign up for my free newsletter,Web Marketing Today (www.wilsonweb.com). It is published weekly and will keep you up-to-date in the fields of Internet marketing and e-commerce. Thank you!
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27. Aggressively Ask for E-Mail Sign-ups. If you want to get subscribers to your e-mail newsletter, you'll need to work hard at it. Include a subscription form on every page of your website. Promote sign-ups through free whitepapers, e-books, or other products. If you have a local business, ask customers to sign up for your e-mail list to get "special Internet only offers." Also ask other businesspeople when they give you a business card if you can send them your e-mail newsletter. While only the e-mail address itself is necessary, I always ask for a first name also, so I can personalize the newsletter and the e-mail subject line with the recipient's name.
28. Send Transactional and Reminder E-Mails. A transactional e-mail is sent to an existing customer to initiate, remind, confirm, or thank the person. Be creative. If you keep careful records, you can send e-mails to customers on their birthday to remind them to return to your site. Subscription confirmation e-mails can also mention several popular products. You might remind customers that it has been three months since their last order and ask if it's time for a refill. Thank you for your purchase e-mails can offer a coupon to bring your customer back for a future sale. Use your imagination, but don't pester your customers. You're there to serve them, not the other way around.
29. Send Offers to Your Visitors and Customers. Your own list of customers and site visitors who have given you permission to contact them will be your most productive list. Send special offers, coupon specials, product updates, etc. They often initiate another visit to your site. If you have a regular newsletter, you can include many of these in your regular e-mailing.
30. Exchange E-Mail Mentions with Complementary Businesses. You might consider exchanging e-mail newsletter mentions with complementary businesses to reach new audiences. Just be sure that your partners are careful where they get their mailing list so you don't get in trouble with the anti-spam laws in your country.
I'll mention renting e-mail lists in #37 below under Paid Advertising approaches.
Miscellaneous Strategies
Here are a couple of strategies that don't fit elsewhere.
31. Announce a Contest. People like getting something free. If you publicize a contest or drawing available on your site, you'll generate more traffic than normal. Make sure your sweepstakes rules are legal in all states and countries you are targeting. Prizes should be designed to attract individuals who fit a demographic profile describing your best customers.
32. Devise Viral Marketing Promotion Techniques. So-called viral marketing uses existing communication networks to spread the word exponentially. Word-of-mouth, PR, creating "buzz," and network marketing are offline models. Promotion strategy #16 above, "Write Articles for Others to Use for Website and Newsletter Content," is a kind of viral approach.
The key to the best viral marketing, however, is create something that generates buzz and is so cute / fascinating / fun / bizarre that it gets passed by viewers to their friends via e-mail and social networks -- thousands of times -- so that it propels more and more people to your website, and, hopefully, helps enhance your brand, produce sales, and ultimately boost profits. Internet marketers often seek to launch viral campaigns on Digg (www.digg.com) or YouTube (www.youtube.com). Digg is a social bookmarking site with such power, that if enough people "Digg" you, you appear on the Digg front page and receive a huge number of visitors in a few hours. If your video goes viral on YouTube, you could get tens of thousands of visits to the site you promote in the video. However, viral marketing is difficult to do well.
Paid Advertising Strategies
None of the approaches described above is "free," since each takes time and energy. But if you want to grow your business more rapidly, there comes a point when you need to pay for increased traffic. Advertising is sold in one of three ways: (1) traditional CPM (cost per thousand views), (2) pay per click (PPC), and (3) pay per action (PPA) or cost per action (CPA) approaches. Examples of the latter are affiliate program and lead generation programs. Banner ads get such a low click-through rate (0.2%) that I don't recommend paying much for them. Banner ads typically cost about 50? to $1 per thousand page views, except on targeted sites. Do some small tests first to determine response. Then calculate your return on investment (ROI) before spending large amounts. Here are some methods to explore:
33. Advertise in an E-Mail Newsletter. Some of the best buys are small text ads in e-mail newsletters targeted at audiences likely to be interested in your products or services. Many small publishers aren't sophisticated about advertising and offer very attractive rates.
More effective (and more expensive) is to send out an appropriate solo e-mail to the targeted list's subscribers. These often get a good response.
34. Begin an Affiliate Program. Essentially, a retailer's affiliate program is a CPA program that pays a commission to other site owners whose links to the retailer's products result in an actual sale. The goal is to build a network of affiliates who have a financial stake in promoting your site. If you're a merchant, you need to (1) determine the commission you are willing to pay (consider it your advertising cost), (2) select a company to set up the technical details of your program, and (3) promote your program to get the right kind of affiliates who will link to your site. Software and service companies are available to facilitate the process. The problem is getting enough affiliates who will actually work hard to promote your products or services. These "super affiliates" will probably consist of only 1% to 3% of your total number of affiliates.
35. Purchase Pay Per Click (PPC) ads with Google AdWords(adwords.google.com/select/), Yahoo! Search Marketing(www.wilsonweb.com/afd/overture.htm), or Microsoft AdCenter(adcenter.microsoft.com). This strategy is way down the list, but it is vitally important. Most Internet businesses will want to explore using Google AdWords to drive targeted traffic to their websites.
These PPC ads appear on the search engine results page, typically both above and to the right of the organic or natural search engine results. Since they are keyword-driven, they can be quite relevant to what a searcher is trying to find. Your ranking in this list of paid text ads is determined by (1) how much you have bid for a particular search word compared to other businesses, (2) the click-through rate on your ad, and (3) your Quality Score, which reflects the relevancy and quality of your ad and the landing page it points to.
PPC ads can be a cost-effective way to get targeted traffic, since you only pay when someone actually clicks on the link. But I strongly recommend that you study this carefully and expect a learning curve before you invest large sums of money in PPC advertising. You can findarticles on Paid Search on our site (www.wilsonweb.com/paid-search/).
36. List Your Products with Shopping Comparison Bots and Auction Sites. If you're an online merchant, you'll want to consider this. Shopping bots compare your products and prices to others. Some work on a PPC (Pay Per Click) basis, others on a CPA (Cost Per Action) basis, perhaps with a listing fee. Bots to consider include mySimon(www.mysimon.com), BizRate (www.bizrate.com/), PriceGrabber(www.pricegrabber.com/), and Shopping.com (www.shopping.com). Shopping sites that include comparison features include: eBay(www.ebay.com), Yahoo! Shopping (shopping.yahoo.com), andAmazon Marketplace(www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161232). You pay to acquire first-time customers, but hopefully you can sell to them a second, third, and fourth time, later on.
37. Rent targeted, commercial e-mail lists. The last website promotion technique I'll mention is renting targeted e-mail lists. We abhor "spam," bulk untargeted, unsolicited e-mail, and you'll pay a very stiff price in a ruined reputation and cancelled services if you yield to temptation here. But the direct marketing industry has developed targeted e-mail lists you can rent -- lists consisting of people who have agreed to receive commercial e-mail messages. These lists cost $40 to $400 per thousand or 4? to 40? per name. Do a smaller test first to determine the quality of the list. Your best bet is to find an e-mail list broker (www.google.com/search?&q=e-mail+list+broker) to help you with this project. You'll save money and get experienced help for no additional cost. Realize, however, that due to the high cost of renting lists, many businesses won't generate enough businesses to justify the cost. Run the numbers before you invest.
Whew! That's it. We certainly haven't exhausted ways to promote your site, but these will get you started. To effectively market your site, you need to spend time adapting these strategies to your own market and capacity. Right now, why don't you make an appointment to go over this checklist with someone in your organization? Make this Checklist jump-start for your new Internet marketing strategy.
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