8 Ways to Build a Really Bad Web Site for Search E

8 Ways to Build a Really Bad Web Site for Search Engines

by: Gareth Davies

Some web sites receive hundreds or thousands of unique visitors a day, whilst others only get a handful or none. The reason is often because the web designers or Webmaster has built the site in one ‘really bad way’ or other. This can end up hindering the potential success of the web site. If you want to make sure your site is not a ‘traffic flop’ then here are some simple rules to follow.

Bad Move 1: Build the site using a frameset.

Framesets may save designers time but are bad news for search engines. They can struggle to follow links into the web site or read text on the page unless you use a no frames tag effectively. In addition to this, if an engine does keep a cache of a site with frames it will often pick up the individual frames/ pages and not the complete frameset. The downside of this is that you may lose your navigation for many of your pages, which is likely to turn visitors off. Whilst one or two partial fixes to framesets are out there, it’s still no wonder that many web site promoters still cry ขPlease No Framesข. For more information on why framesets can cause problems visit http://www.htmlfaq.com/htmlframes/

Bad Move 2: Build the site purely in flash.

Flash intros and web sites can be visually stunning, but at the same time they can be rather limiting when it comes to search engines. If your main site is all one flash site it will typically play in just one html page. Some search engines simply can’t read Flash and so your web site to them is just one relatively empty HTML page. If your competitors web site has 15 or 20 pages in HTML talking about their good sand services then they will have a big advantage on you. If you must have a Flash site for graphical reasons then it would be wise to budget for a separate HTML web site to have along side the Flash so your site content can be read and indexed by search engines.

Bad Move 3: Decide that graphics are more important than words

Be careful. As great as some images can be, try not to let designers convince you that you don’t need copy on your web site or that a few lines is enough. Only very occasionally is there ever an excuse to fill your web site with graphics at the expense of text. If the graphics look great, then match them with great copy. Sales copy is important to tell your audience why your goods and services are important. Search engines also like to index plenty of useful copy too. 250500 words is a sensible starting guide for most pages or ½ of the amount you would place in a brochure. Text copy is important and will always be so make sure web site has some!

Bad Move 4: Leaving out the Meta tags

This is a bad move as Meta Tags are important to search engines. Clear and concise title tags should be written for every page reflecting what it contains. Avoid writing things like ‘Home’ or ‘welcome’ as it’s fairly meaningless. If you page is selling blue widgets then get ‘blue widgets’ in the title and keep the title to 10 words or less.

In addition to this create a wellwritten objective Meta description for each page, and list your Meta Keywords. These keywords should also reflect the content on your web page. Leaving these 3 things out, or doing them badly can be disastrous. The impact of Meta tags on rankings may vary from engine to engine, but without them your pages could be ignored. Most HTML editors allow you to easily insert Meta Tags into your web page and it only takes a few moments to add to a page. So there are no excuses. Make sure you have good Title tags, Meta Description and Meta Keyword tags on your pages today!

Bad Move 5: Use lots of JavaScript

Search engines have a few problems understanding JavaScript in pages. At the best of time they struggle with it, at worst they may even ignore it. On its own, it can be an unreliable way to make web site navigation. If you must use JavaScript for your navigation make sure you have some alternative ways to get to pages by using HTML text links at the bottom of the page. If you have a large amount of JavaScript think about linking to it as a separate JavaScript file.

Bad Move 6: Don’t have sites linking to yours

Unless you want your web site hidden from the outside world you want to be found right? Well search engines ideally find a new web site by following a link from another site. This happens when people link to you and this kind of underpins the Internet. By having sites link to you search engine crawlers will find your web site and you never need to submit your web site to the likes of Google. It is still the case that web sites that rank highly on Google and Yahoo for relatively competitive key phrases often have scores if not hundreds of web sites linking to them Google help to explain the importance of linking here http://www.google.com/technology/. So ขthink linksข and be sure to get your site listed in some quality web directories as part of the process.

Bad Move 7: Focus on submitting your web site to thousands of search engines and forget the ones that matter

Now and then you will see some companies attempting to promote this idea often by using Bad Move 8! It is true that there are thousands of search engines but the highest volume of traffic comes from less than 10 major search engines. The logic of ขIf I get one hit a day off each of the 1000 mini search engines I’ll get a 1000 visitors a dayข unfortunately in practice does not ring true. It is a fact that a huge volume of search engine traffic comes from a small handful of search engine: most notably the Google, Yahoo and Msn.

Bad Move 8: Using unsolicited/ Spam email

This may seem obvious that this is not the best way to promote your business but is always worth stating. If you’re in any doubt simply ask yourself: ขDo I like getting Spam emails?ข It’s common sense to avoid using techniques that annoy people or damage your brand. Using unsolicited email campaigns could result in complaints and at worst your ISP could ban you. If you want a successful email campaign it is advisable to target genuine opted in newsletter subscribers and to always offer an optout button in every email.

About The Author

Copyright Gareth Davies 2005. You are free to reprint this article with both disclaimer and copyright notice in tact. Gareth Davies is a web promotion consultant working for GSINC Ltd based in North London, UK. For feedback on how to build better sites for search engines email Gareth via garethskettyATyahoo.co.uk or visit http://www.garethsketty.com.

This article was posted on April 09

by Gareth Davies

Create Your Own Business Cards, Part 1

Create Your Own Business Cards, Part 1

by: Jane Fulton

In this lesson, we will create a business card, using Microsoft Word. I created a new template for my business card. It can be viewed at: http://janesplace.com/bus_card.htm

Choose the information you want to place on your card before beginning.

Hereกs how I did it:

Go to กstartก กMicrosoft Wordก กfile menuก กpage setupก. Choose the กMargins Tabก. Type in 1.25 for the Left and Right margins. That way, two cards will fit on a 8 1/2 x 11in. sheet, side by side. Click กokก.

In the กFormat Menuก choose กColumnsก. Where it asks for the number of columns, use the arrows to go down until the number ‘twoก is in the box. Go down to กWidthก and type in 2.75in. The กSpacingก will adjust automatically. Be sure the กEqual Column Widthก and the กLine Betweenก boxes are checked. Click กokก.

Letกs save it, at this point. Go to the กFile Menuก and choose กSave Asก. You can save it in the same folder we saved the Letterhead, if you choose. I saved mine with my letterhead in กBusiness Stationeryก. Give the file a name. I named mine กMy Business Cardก. Click กSaveก.

Go to the ‘table Menuก and choose กInsert Tableก. Set the number of กColumnsก and กRowsก to กoneก. Click กokก.

A long, thin box will appear. Move your mouse cursor to the bottom line, until it turns into a doubleheaded arrow. Click on the doubleheaded arrow and drag it down to the 2in. mark on the left hand side ruler. If the ruler isn’t visible in your document, go to the กView Menuก and click on กrulerก.

Click inside the box and add your picture. You have two options here:

1) You can use กClipArtก, by going to the กInsert menuก กPictureก กClipArt. Choose your category and find the graphic suitable for your business, click กokก. The image will appear in your document.

2) You can use your company logo, if you have one, or another picture on your hard drive, by going to the กInsert Menuก กPictureก กFrom Fileก. The pictures on your hard drive (saved in กMy Documentsก กMy Picturesก will appear). Scroll down the list until you find the one you want to insert. Click on the picture you have chosen, to highlight it. Then click on the กInsertก button. The picture will appear in your document.

To move the picture around inside your table, click on the picture. You will see a four arrow symbol. This allows you to move the picture up, down, right or left, by dragging it to the position you want. I wanted my picture to appear in the left, top position, so I moved it to that position. If you want your picture centered, click on it and click the กcenterก button on the tool bar. [The center tool will be lines of text centered. It is the second picture of text shown.]

To change the size of your picture, click on it, then on one of the corners and drag it to the desired size.

About The Author

Jane Fulton is Owner & Webmistress of http://janesplace.com กHome For Newbies & Beginning Marketersก. She has been helping them for almost 4yrs now. She publishes a newsletter, Newbie & Affiliate SOS Newsletter. It appears online twice a month. If you like these กHow Toก type of articles, subscribe to her newsletter at: http://janesplace.com/sos.htm

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 22, 2004

by Jane Fulton

Why Laptops are Different than Desktops

Why Laptops are Different than Desktops

by: Bonnie Archer

Laptops are different from desktops in the these ways;

1. Power supply: As desktops can be plugged in an outlet in the wall (AC Power) so can laptops with an AC adapter. But how a laptop is different from a desktop is that it is portable because batteries can also power laptops. The batteries are rechargeable; lithium, nickelcadmium, or nickelmetal hydride.

2. Display: Also like desktops, laptops have some type of LCD display screen. Modern Laptops have 800 x 600 pixel resolution. This gives it a very clear screen and anything less should be avoided.

3. Input Devices: On a desktop computer you usually use a mouse and keyboard to enter data and navigate. With laptops keyboards are built in but since they are portable so they don’t have a mouse. Instead they have one of three input devices in place of the mouse. A trackball, rotating the ball allows you to move the cursor. A trackpoint allows you to push your finger over the point to move the cursor. Lastly, a laptop may have a touchpad that you move your finger across to move the cursor.

4. Docking Connections: Many laptops come with a docking connection to make it more comfortable to use at a desk. You just plug your laptop in and use it as a desktop. The docking station comes with many peripheral devices: full size computer monitor, full size keyboard and mouse, disk drives and printer.

About The Author

B. Archer

A successful author and publisher of http://www.A1computers.net. A great source of information about computers and computer accessories.

http://www.A1computers.net/laptops.html

http://www.A1computers.net/desktoppc.html

Check out our Blog!

http://a1computers.blogspot.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 17

by Bonnie Archer

OptIn Email Marketers: How to Deal With a Growth

OptIn Email Marketers: How to Deal With a Growth Pain of Internet Success, the Email Glut

by: Marty Foley

There are certain Internet business problems that have a positive side: They come as a byproduct of growth and success.

This article can help you cope with a very common growth pain: that of being swamped with email. Some of it junk, some of it helpful reading material, some of it important correspondence that you must reply to and/or file away for future reference.

The email glut can cost you dearly. Hereกs your first tip on dealing with it:

Start with a good email program.

This is a foundation stone of efficient Internet business operations. Here are some top email programs that can help you automate much of your email operations, based on the collective opinions of many experienced cyberpreneurs:

Pegasus: http://www.pmail.com/

Eudora Pro: http://www.eudora.com/

MS Outlook: http://www.microsoft.com/outlook/

Learn and use the automation features of a good email program.

All the above programs help automate various email activities to one degree or another, through features generally referred to as กfilters.ก If you’re not using an email program with automated filtering capabilities, or if you have one but aren’t taking advantage of filters feature, seriously consider it.

Arrange wellorganized email folders.

If too much email sits in the กIn Boxก of your email program, it can get overwhelming, and itกs very easy to overlook the highpriority messages. You can reduce that by using filters to move certain messages to folders specifically set aside for them.

(With Pegasus, you can also set up a series of กQuick Folderก keys, which allow you to quickly copy or move messages to certain folders with just a couple of keystrokes.)

Periodically assess your email flow.

Subscribing to too many email lists can also contribute to your email deluge. If overwhelmed, periodically step back, assess which lists are delivering you true value and which aren’t and unsubscribe from those that don’t make the grade.

To save time, you can temporarily move those you want to cancel to a folder named ‘to Unsubscribe,ก and cancel several at once.

Reduce spam.

This wellworn topic gets old sometimes, and there aren’t any miracle solutions, but here are a couple of quick tips:

Use email filters to move spam (or potential spam) to a folder set aside for it.

Spam often (but not always) has an email address other than one of your own in the ‘tOก line of the email message.

If you use a filter to delete all such messages outright, thereกs a chance youกll miss some important email. If you move it to an email folder set aside for it, then you can scan through it quickly on occasion and make judicious use of your delete key. After a while youกll be able to accurately detect most spam messages without opening them.

Be careful giving out your main email address(es).

Some people willingly hold people กhostageก to their email lists. Itกs frustrating (and sometimes seemingly impossible) to unsubscribe. Thatกs certainly not a way to foster good business relationships, but it happens. (Iกm not talking about other problems leaving a list that aren’t the fault of the list owner; thatกs another story.)

If you’re a bit wary about giving out your main email address due to this or other problems, you can either set aside an กaliasก address within your domain that you only use for situations like this (and use a filter to send those messages to a special email folder).

You can also use one of the free email addresses available online that forwards messages to your main email account. If worse comes to worse and that address starts getting overwhelmed with spam, you can stop the flow by cancelling it.

Note: Some list owners prefer that you do not subscribe using a free email account, due to various issues.

Well, there you have it: Some practical tips for dealing with a common กgrowth painก that often comes with Internet success. May these tips contribute toward your own Internet success story, while bringing some relief to a common กgrowth pain.ก

More Helpful Resources…

LeadFactory is a proven กpay per subscriberก or กpay per leadก service that EXPLODES the size of optin email lists! ==> http://ProfitInfo.com/cf/leadfactory.htm

Want to boost your optin email profits? Sign up now for ProfitInfoกs free Email Profits ECourse:

==> http://ProfitInfo.com/cf/ecourses.htm

About The Author

Marty Foley is a successful home business owner and the founder of http://ProfitInfo.com/. His Internet marketing techniques and resources have helped set the standard in ecommerce, and have often been imitated by other famous Internet marketers. They can truly help you succeed online: http://ProfitInfo.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 3, 2002

by Marty Foley

10 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

10 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts

by: Steve Robson

Time is money. And when you constantly have to divide your time between your mouse and your keyboard, your workflow rate really slows down.
Thatกs particularly true when you’re working on a laptop, where the pointing device is even slower.
The answer short of growing another arm is to learn a few กhandyก keyboard shortcuts. Here are 10 of the best:
1. Make a quick exit:
ALT F4 will terminate any program immediately.
2. Flick don’t click:
ALT TAB to flick through open programs.
3. Make a quick selection:
CTRL SHIFT and move cursor with left / right / up / down arrows to quickly select areas of text.
4. Cut, copy and paste to the chase:
CTRL X / C / V to cut, copy and paste selected text.
5. Undo what youกve done:
CTRL Z will undo anything. (And to redo: CTRL Y although this varies between programs.)
6. Page don’t scroll:
In MSIE use Page Up & Page Down to save time fiddling with the scroll bar.
7. E for explorer:
WINDOWS KEY E to open windows explorer. Use up and down arrows to quickly navigate through folders.
8. Rapidly rename:
F2 rename a file or folder in Windows Explorer
9. Find it fast:
CTRL F to find text on a page (And CTRL H replace it).
10. Fly through forms:
Use TAB to move forward through forms and SHIFTTAB to move backwards
After a little practice, your fingers will be flying across the keyboard like a shortcut pro.
And youกll save a huge amount of time too.

About The Author

Steve Robson is a successful technical author and contributor to http://HowToBuyALaptop.com For more computer tips and advice, visit the following web page: http://howtobuyalaptop.com/laptopcomputertips.htm

This article was posted on May 23, 2004

by Steve Robson

How Secure Is Your Security Deposit?

How Secure Is Your Security Deposit?

by: Dan The Roommate Man

During the exhausting process of moving into a new apartment, the last thing on your mind is movingout day. But since your landlord is probably holding a sizable chunk of your money in the form of a security deposit, itกs awfully risky not to prepare for the end of your tenancy right from the beginning. So before you start unpacking dishes and hanging prints on the walls, take a few simple steps to avoid the misunderstandings and disagreements that have made disputes over security deposits legendary.

Looking Under the Hood

Giving your unit a thorough inspection when you first move in is essential. (Better yet, do it before you sign the lease!) Don’t neglect to check out things that might not be readily apparent, such as water pressure and sink drainage in the kitchen and bathrooms, or operation of appliances. Itกs best to inspect the premises before you move in; it will be easier to spot problems while the place is bare.

Make a detailed inventory of what you find. The best way to do this is with a good checklist. The more you record about the unit when you move in, the better position youกll be in when moving out to show that certain problems already existed before you moved into the unit. In some states (see list), landlords are required to give new tenants a written statement on the condition of the unit at movein time, including a comprehensive list of existing damage. In other states, many landlords provide a checklist to new tenants, but some do not. You can always draft one yourself.

Ideally, you and your landlord should fill out the checklist together to prevent any disputes or disagreements. Otherwise, itกs smart to bring along a roommate or a friend so that thereกs at least one other witness to the condition of the unit at movein time. If you spot problems, describe specifically what is wrong. Rather than simply noting กdamage to carpet,ก for example, state กcigarette burns, frayed edges in carpet next to picture window.ก The more detailed you are, the clearer it is that you’re not responsible for those damages. You and your landlord should both sign the checklist after completing it. Make a copy so that each of you has one.

At the end of your tenancy, youกll make another inspection of the same items, noting their condition at moveout time. If items that were okay at movein are now damaged, your landlord may hold you responsible for fixing them. But youกll be protected from being billed for damage that existed before you ever moved in.

States where landlord must provide movein statement:

Arizona

Georgia

Hawaii

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Montana

North Dakota

Washington

Wisconsin

A Picture Is Worth…

Besides completing a checklist, you may also want to document the condition of your unit with photographs or video. If you take photos, have doubles of them developed immediately, write the date they were taken on the backs and send your landlord a set as soon as you get them back. That way your landlord won’t be able to claim that they were taken later than they actually were. If you can, use a camera that automatically datestamps each photo. If you videotape the premises, clearly state the date and time while you are taping, make a copy and send it to your landlord right away. Repeat this process when moving out.

Getting Your Deposit Back

If youกve taken all the measures described above, youกll be wellprotected when you move out. Still, until you get back your money thereกs always room for disagreement. Thankfully, most states hold landlords to strict guidelines as to when and how to return security deposits. Landlords who violate these laws can be held to stiff penalties.

Landlords are typically required to return security deposits from 14 to 30 days after you move out. The landlord must send to your last known address either:

Your entire deposit (plus interest, in some states) or

A written, itemized statement describing how the deposit was applied to back rent, cleaning or repairs, plus the remainder of the deposit.

The general rule is that you are not responsible for normal wear and tear. If you cause damage by your unreasonable carelessness or deliberate misuse, however, you must pay for it. And you must leave a rental at least as clean as it was when you moved in. For example, if an entryway carpet must be replaced because it has simply worn out, thatกs the landlordกs responsibility. But the cost of replacing the dining room carpet because your fish tank sprang a leak will properly come out of the deposit.

Because กnormal wear and tearก can be interpreted many different ways, disputes often arise. The bottom line is that the better you itemize and document the condition of your unit when you move in, the better case youกll have against a landlord who tries to gouge you on the way out.

About The Author

Since 1989 Dan The Roommate Man has helped 1000กs of people find roommates. Need help? Contact him at 8004878050 or www.roommateexpress.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 09

by Dan The Roommate Man