Maps of Cyberspace

Maps of Cyberspace

by: Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

กCyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts…A graphical representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkablecomplexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding…ก (WilliamGibson, กNeuromancerก, 1984, page 51)

http://www.ebookmap.net/maps.htm

http://www.cybergeography.org/atlas/atlas.html

At first sight, it appears to be a static, cluttered diagram with multicoloured, overlapping squares. Really, it is an extremely powerfulway of presenting the dynamics of the emerging epublishing industry. R2 Consulting has constructed these eBook Industry Maps to ‘reflect the evolving business models among publishers, conversion houses, digital distribution companies, eBook vendors, online retailers, libraries, library vendors, authors, and many others. These maps are 3dimensionaloffering viewers both a highlevel orientation to the eBook landscape and an indepth look at multiple eBook models and the partnerships thathave formed within each one.ก Pass your mouse over any of the squaresand a virtual floodgate opens a universe of interconnected and hyperlinked names, a detailed atlas of who does what to whom.

eBookMap.net is one example of a relatively novel approach to databases and web indexing. The metaphor of cyberspace comes alive in spatial, two and three dimensional maplike representations of the world of knowledge in Cybergeographyกs online กAtlasก. Instead of endless, static and bichromatic lists of links Cybergeography catalogues visual,recombinant vistas with a stunning palette, internal dynamics and an intuitively conveyed sense of interrelatedness. Hyperlinks are incorporated in the topography and topology of these almostneural maps.

‘these maps of Cyberspaces cybermaps help us visualise and comprehend the new digital landscapes beyond our computer screen, in the wires of the global communications networks and vast online information resources. The cybermaps, like maps of the realworld, help us navigate the new information landscapes, as well being objects of aesthetic interest. They have been created by กcyberexplorersก of many different disciplines, and from all corners of the world. Some of the maps … in the Atlas of Cyberspaces … appear familiar, using the cartographicconventions of realworld maps, however, many of the maps are much more abstract representations of electronic spaces, using new metrics and grids.ก

Navigating these maps is like navigating an inner, familiar, territory.

They come in all shapes and modes: flow charts, quasigeographical maps, 3d simulatorlike terrains and many others. The กweb Stalkerก is an experimental web browser which is equipped with mapping functions. The range of applicability is mind boggling.

A (very) partial list:

The Internet Genome Project กopensource map of the major conceptual components of the Internet and how they relate to each otherก

Anatomy of a Linux System Aimed to ก…give viewers a concise and comprehensive look at the Linux universeก and at the heart of the poster is a gravity well graphic showing the core software components,surrounded by explanatory textก

NewMedia 500 The financial, strategic, and other interrelationshipsand interactions between the leading 500 new (web) media firms

Internet Industry Map Ownership and alliances determine status, control, and access in the Internet industry. A revealing organizational chart.

The Internet Weather Report measures Internet performance, latency periods and downtime based on a sample of 4000 domains.

Real Time Geographic Visualization of WWW Traffic a stunning, 3d representation of web usage and traffic statistics the world over.

WebBrain and Map.net provide a graphic rendition of the Open Directory Project. The thematic structure of the ODP is instantly discernible.

The WebMap is a visual, multicategory directory which contains 2,000,000 web sites. The user can zoom in and out of subcategories and กunlockก their contents.

Maps help write fiction, trace a userกs clickpath (replete with clickable web sites), capture Usenet and chat interactions (threads), plot search results (though Alta Vista discontinued its mapping service and Yahoo!3D is no more), bookmark web destinations, and navigate through complex sites.

Different metaphors are used as interface. Web sites are represented as plots of land, stars (whose brightness corresponds to the web siteกs popularity ranking), aminoacids in DNAlike constellations,topographical maps of the ocean depths, buildings in an urban landscape, or other objects in a pastoral setting. Virtual Reality (VR) maps allow information to be simultaneously browsed by teams of collaborators, sometimes represented as avatars in a fully immersive environment. In many applications, the user is expected to fly amongst the data items invirtual landscapes. With the advent of sophisticated GUIกs (Graphic UserInterfaces) and VRML (Virtual Reality Markup Language) these maps may well show us the way to a more colourful and userfriendly future.

About The Author

Sam Vaknin is the author of กMalignant Self Love Narcissism Revisitedก and กAfter the Rain How the West Lost the Eastก. He is a columnist in กCentral Europe Reviewก, United Press International (UPI) and ebookweb.org and the editor of mental health and Central East Europe categories in The Open Directory, Suite101 and searcheurope.com. Until recently, he served as the Economic Advisor to the Government of Macedonia.

His web site: http://samvak.tripod.com

This article was posted on February 2, 2002

by Sam Vaknin, Ph.D.

Testimonials Can Increase Your Web Traffic

Testimonials Can Increase Your Web Traffic

by: Elizabeth McGee

Weกve all seen and read product testimonials. They’re a very valuable tool for merchant sales and can often tip the scales in determining a customerกs decision to buy. But testimonials offer another superb benefit. Itกs the benefit to you and your marketing strategy.

When Iกm on a site offering a product or service I like to click on customer testimonials because they are generally short and easy to read. People typically point out exactly what they like about a product and how they used it to their benefit. Testimonials come from real users, they’re not some ad written by the company.

Now, letกs take the testimonial concept and think about it as a marketing strategy for you and your business.

Website testimonials describe how buyers feel about the products they have purchased and used. If you, as a buyer, offer your testimonial with your name and website address this now becomes a very valuable marketing tool for you. It will expose you and your business to everyone looking at that merchantกs website. If the merchant site happens to be a wellknown site offering a high demand product, this could mean huge exposure for you.

Note that many merchant sites will display your website address but will not put an actual link to it. While itกs ideal to have a link to your site itกs not always necessary. I often investigate sites of testimonial givers whether there is a link attached or not. As long as your website address is displayed, that is good enough.

Testimonials can also double as a great linking strategy as well. If your testimonial includes your link and is displayed on the front page of four or five high ranking merchant sites this can increase your link popularity tremendously. By doing this you have also just eliminated the concern of linking to competitor sites and youกve avoided the hassle of reciprocal linking.

Testimonials don’t only need to be addressed to merchants you buy from. You should also send your testimonials to ezines or free online services that you use. Send them in the form of complimentary notes. Compliment their products or services and describe how you find them useful. Websites interested in boosting sales will often use them and you are much more likely to get printed if you are delivering a compliment.

About The Author

Elizabeth McGee has spent 20 years in the service and support industry. She has moved her expertise to the world wide web helping businesses find trusted tools, enhance customer service, build confidence and increase sales. You can contact Elizabeth at [email protected] or visit her website at http://www.promarketingonline.com.

[email protected]

This article was posted on October 20, 2004

by Elizabeth McGee

1,001 Deals and Steals: A Guide To Online Classifi

1,001 Deals and Steals: A Guide To Online Classifieds

by: Donald Lee

Some naysayers way back in the 1990s predicted that online shopping wouldn’t last. Sure, and they said television was a passing fad, too! As we all know, just the opposite has occurred. There’s a television in every household, and more than likely, the homeowner bought their television online—along with his books, music CDs, clothes, and maybe even his home.

Internet shopping is bigger than ever. You can find anything and everything for sale online. Many times, you can find it cheaper online than anywhere else. Internet shopping offers so much more than a discounted price tag, though.

Imagine a shopping mall where there are no lines, where there are no jammed parking garages, and no pushy sales clerks. This is no land of make believe. It is the Internet, where you can discover unprecedented selection, convenience, and opportunities. Online shopping gives you the luxury of browsing hundreds of stores from your living room, while saving on time and frustration. It provides you the chance to compare prices to your heart’s delight on a near limitless selection of brands and models.

For even more benefits, try your hand at classifieds and auction Web sites. These sites are like yard sales and flea markets rolled into one. Unlike retail shopping sites, they offer:

Access to super secondary markets. Take your pick of secondhand or brandnew wholesale goods at steeply discounted prices. The vendors at classifieds sites can get away with it because they aren’t paying high rent for a storefront or a warehouse. And in many cases, you’re not paying taxes.

Tools to locate unique and rare collectibles. Imagine a classifieds site to be like a sunken pirate boat, laden with cultural artifacts, hardtofind heirlooms, and priceless antiques. The Internet is your deepsea vessel, sonar, and oxygen tank all in one.

Reach beyond your neighborhood. Search through the inventory of a vendor from your home town, or if you don’t find what you’re looking for there, try that fellow in California, Texas or Canada for that matter.

Close relationships with vendors. You deal with real people—not big, impersonal corporations—when you buy on classifieds sites. They can provide more details about the product, which you can then use to bargain for a reasonable price.

Despite this bounty of benefits, you might still be hesitant to dive into Internet shopping. Don’t be embarrassed. You have good reason to take your time and weigh your choices. According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Internet fraud tops the list of the thousands of fraud cases that happen every year. In some ways, WWW could stand for the Wild West Web, in that anything goes. Vendors can be villains in disguise, and there aren’t any online Wyatt Earps to protect you from these bad guys. You’re on your own.

But give yourself some credit. You have the common sense it takes to survive the WWW. It is the same commonsense that helps you make the most of your money on your standard shopping trips. Become familiar and comfortable with an online vendor before jumping into a purchase. Ask questions and do a bit of research.

After doing your research, you’ll feel more confident in searching for your online booty. To refine your findings and whittle your list to only the exceptional sites, look for these additional qualities:

A focus on local shopping, so you can feel more confident buying from neighbors.

Free education and advice on safe purchasing.

Nocost and easy browsing through available merchandise.

Search tools that let you prioritize items by category, location, and distance.

A straightforward pricing system that avoids the haggling and risk of auction bidding.

Quick price comparisons among different vendors.

Unbelievably, a few trustworthy, practical, and exciting Web sites exist that have all of these features. To find these websites, simply browse through Yahoo’s directory under the classifieds category. The best of the online classified sites offer these services free to buyers such as you. Some of these sites can link you at no charge to your neighbor selling the antique lamp that you’ve been hunting for or that retiree looking to unload an incredible piece of real estate—or the cowboy looking to sell his bigscreen television.

Copyright 2004 Donald Lee

About The Author

Donald Lee is a public relations manager at BSCCOM Inc. BSCCOM Inc. provides free online advertisement services for Canadian and U.S. regions. For more information please visit: http://www.buysellcommunity.com.

This article was posted on November 25, 2004

by Donald Lee

Top Things You Must Realize When Searching

Top Things You Must Realize When Searching

by: Andrew Malek

For the uninitiated, searching for web pages can seem a slow, obscure process. Unless you have a highspeed Internet connection, web pages may seem to take days to load. And the searching itself – you have to admit it looks weird typing in bunches of plus signs, asterisks, parenthesis, and other funny symbols and operators to find what you want.

To help you in this process and show that you are not, I’ve compiled a top five list of things you must realize when searching the web for information. No pencils will fly, no drums will roll, but you just might learn something.

5. Search Engines Have to Make Money

Before you grumble over the growing number of advertisements and sponsored links that appear in search engine results page, remember that most search engines are free. You’re not paying anything for a very costly service. Thus, these sites have to earn income somehow to stay afloat (computing power and bandwidth isn’t cheap!) So, to put it bluntly… live with it.

(Yes, I know some types of advertising are much more obtrusive than others. Popup ads, dancing animations, and other larger advertisements may make it harder to use some search engines that support these types of ads. If you don’t like it, vote with your mouse clicks and move to another search engine).

4. Sites Go Down

Worse yet, you’ve entered in your perfect search query, looked at the results page, and the first site you see no longer exists!

The Internet changes all the time. Unfortunately, search engines and directories are not able to constantly query every site on the Internet to see if they are still online. Occasionally (in other words, probably frequently) you will find links to web sites that no longer exist. It is just a part of life. Especially with the dotcom bust, many web site owners can no longer afford to host free resources. If they could not convert their traffic to paying customers, they just took their sites down

So when you find a link that is dead, don’t pump your fist in anger … just go back to the results page and move along. Or, better yet, if you’re using a search engine that caches pages, such as Google, just look at the cached version of the now defunct pages and find the information contained therein. It’s like stepping through a time machine!

3. Your Web Browser Will Crash

On a related note, not only do web sites go down – but so may your web browser. Sometimes it will be due to visiting a multimediaintensive web site. Sometimes it will seem to happen for no reason. But it will happen, and when it does, don’t go blaming yourself saying that you did something wrong.

Web browsers, like just about any other type of computer software program available on the market, are not infallible. They can and usually do contain bugs. These may predictably rear their ugly heads when visiting sites containing a lot of multimedia and advanced interactive elements, or they may appear completely at random.

If your web browser crashes, do what I do. Just restart it. Don’t say you did something wrong. Don’t think that you must be so bad with computers that you crashed the Internet. Just restart your browser, and if you have to restart your computer to do so, then do it as well. Most likely the crash is not your fault.

2. The Internet Can Be Slow

No matter how fast your onramp to the Internet may be, there will be times where it seems to take forever to load a web page. This is just the nature of the beast.

As the Internet is a loosely connected network, if certain connections go down, computers may not always be able to route information via other networks. Thus access speed will suffer and your web browser will start to crawl. If this seems to be happening often, step away from the computer, go outside and take a nice, long walk (unless it’s 30 degrees below). You can run your search another time when the speed is back to normal.

And the #1 thing you must realize when searching…

1. The Best Result Just May Be On Page 10

Most people only look through the first page of search engine or directory results, usually the top ten listings. Others may visit the second page, but relatively very few people venture to the higher numbered pages.

This is a shame – sometimes the best results to a search engine query are not in the first ten listings as they may only contain links to commercially driven sites or sites run by web owners who know how to manipulate listings. In some cases web sites containing perfectly good information may not be listed in the top 10, 20, 50, or even top 100 results.

Obviously searching through the many pages and pages of resulting sites will take extra time, especially if you do not have a highspeed connection to the Internet. But, this time spent may well be worth it if you find some gems in the rough! So if you have the time, speed, and patience, browse through the deeper results pages. You never know what you may find!

And that’s it – my top five list of things you must realize when searching. This covers slow access time, results not on page 1, browser bugs, web sites popping up and down and changing management, and the need for sites to make money, causing advertisements to become more obtrusive. Gosh, that just makes you want to go out and search right now, doesn’t it? .

About The Author

This article was written by Andrew Malek, Internet Search Guru and author of Find Stuff On the Net, an ebook that can show even beginning computer users how to navigate the Internet without fear. Gain confidence using your web browser. Master search engines. And more! For further information and free snippets of the book, visit http://www.findstuffonthenet.com/

[email protected]

This article was posted on May 1, 2002

by Andrew Malek

Easy Content Building For The Lazy Webmaster

Easy Content Building For The Lazy Webmaster

by: JP Lafferty

Free content builder.

Articles are the best way to add free content to your site. Thereกs hundreds if not thousands of article sites out there on the web that can be searched for free information.

The only problem I have with free articles is that you have to add the writers resource box to your site. Now this in itself is not a major problem. You could read several articles and then make your own in your own words.

This works well and is a quick and easy content building strategy that I would recommend to anybody. Also if you write your own content this way you should definitely consider posting a few of your own articles to the free article submission sites. This generates oneway links to your own site and over time can really build traffic to your site.

Just google กfree article submissionก or กarticlesก or anything of that nature to start building a list of article sites. The more you have the better.

Building content with ebooks

Free ebooks are a great source of free content and there is no shortage of them out there. Most free ebook sites have ebooks that were at one point being sold across the web. These are generally an excellent quality source of information.

To really benefit from ebooks you must first read them and take note of the main topics discussed. One way I find that works well is to write up a short report after reading the ebook and then building on that as I go through the ebook a second time. When I find something interesting I add it to the report in my own words. This is great for developing a better understanding of the material.

Of course after all this you may want to write a few articles about what you just read. As always you should share these articles with the rest of the web by submitting them to article sites.

This isn’t as tedious and time consuming as you might think. After your first or second go you will find yourself becoming more confident and this may well lead to you taking a more creative approach to your writing. In time you will be very efficient at writing your own reports and using them to create more articles and content for your websites.

I would advise you save every ounce of work you do. The more you write the more content and personal resources you have to pull from this makes it quicker and easier to create your own material. After a while you may realize you could put all your work into a ebook of your own and sell it:)

What should I write?

In short anything you want. Every human on this planet is a powerhouse of information. Even if your young you still have alot of experience to pull from.

Some people find that coming up with ideas of what to write about is quit easy but actualy writing it is the hard part. Others find the writing the easy part and the brainstorming the hard part.

If you fall into either camp then there is still hope for you, due to the fact that most humans will fall into either camp! Your not any different from me or anybody else out there. The best way to over come either problem is to get comfortable and just start writing. It is not hard!!

Pick something and start writing about it. What did you learn after a tragic event in your life is a great way to get your brain setup in the right direction. Pulling from personal experience realy helps to get you thinking and once that starts you will find it hard to turn your mind off.

Keeping it fresh.

The only way to keep information fresh is to write it in your own words. Add your persona to your material. Play with it before you publish it. Try to write as if you were explaining something to a friend. It comes across more respectful and easier to understand.

Also no matter what your writing about make sure you explain everything down to the letter. You may understand what your talking about but your reader wont always be as interested as you might think.

Always remember no matter where it is you can generaly go back and change it later. For instance if you have published a 5 page report to the web and your not happy with certain aspects of it well then you can take it down later and add in or delete whatever you want.

About The Author

JP Lafferty

To gain a helping hand in building content for your site head to http://imcontent.blogspot.com/

New content added daily. All content free of copyright.

[email protected]

This article was posted on August 12

by JP Lafferty

Tips and Tricks To Getting Top Money for your Doma

Tips and Tricks To Getting Top Money for your Domain Names

by: Dayne Herren

Would you like to be that lucky person who sells their domain for thousands or even a million dollars? It IS possible to find quality domains and resell them for huge amounts of money. The time is ripe for acquiring top domains and selling them. Now that the Internet Boom is behind us, valuable names expire everyday. The best way to find these domains is to use services on the Internet such as DomainsBot to weed out the bad names. Or just check out Hot Lists on sites like Namewinner or Pool.
So what makes a กgoodก domain name? Usually short, single word domains and 23 letter .coms, .nets, and .orgs are the best. The more specific the better. These can be hard to come by but when you find them, you can almost guarantee that you can make good money from them. Once you have purchased a nice domain name, get a good appraisal of the name to get an idea of the possible worth (see AppraisalBlast.com). In order to sell your newly appraised name, you have to find a buyer. Here are your basic options for selling your domain name in a nutshell:
1. Sell it on Ebay
This is the easiest and quickest way to sell your domain name. There are several tricks to landing a good sale at Ebay. One is, start your price low. People want a bargain. Once you have received an initial bid, it will draw peoples attention to your name and create more bids. You may want to set a reserve price if you want to make sure you get X amount of dollars. When selling your domain on Ebay, make sure your domain name is in the title of the description. Also, include an appraisal to show to possible buyers the value of the domain. Keep your description short, clean, and really emphasize how important and rare your domain is. For example, if your domain is 3 letters and ends in กIก, stress how most 3 letter domains that are highly valuable end in กIก because it usually stands for กIncorporatedก. If it ends in กEก it could stand for กEnterpriseก. A little bit of marketing saavy can go a long way. I once sold the domain 0pp.com for over $200. It even has a number in it making it worth very little. But I emphasize its possible uses and potential. Also, spend the extra $1 for the Bold Listing and make sure your auction ends on a Sunday afternoon or evening. This is when most people are browsing Ebay. It will make a big difference.
2. Sell it on Domain Sites
The only sites you should even consider putting your name up for sale is on ebay.com, Afternic, or Sedo. These are the most popular and where some huge sales have taken place. The only downside is that there are high numbers of domains already for sale and usually the site will get a commission of something around 10%. There also may be a small fee to join. Appraisal Blast charges a minimal fee but no commission. Your domain will get more exposure there just because there aren’t hundreds of domains for sale. You may also have luck selling it on forums such as DomainState. The prices of sales there seem to be lower.
3. Contact Large Businesses with Deep Pockets
This approach takes some time and patience. Letกs say you have acquired a great domain name that would work great for any business in the field of the stock market. You may want to locate some of the bigger sites or businesses and make an offer to sell your domain name. Make sure the name you own doens’t have any elements that are already trademarked because you may be forced to give up the name. You may want to go on the Internet and look up current websites that deal with stocks and find ones that don’t have the greatest domain names. Make offers to these sites stating how your domain is much better and will HELP them. If you get a company to bite, the rewards are usually very generous!
In summary, selling domains for high amounts of cash depends on two key elements. First you must have a quality domain, one that doesn’t have numbers or isn’t too long. It must be clear and easily recognizable. ก.comก is the best, but even domains such as the ก.usก are gaining popularity. The second key is Marketing, Marketing, Marketing! I can’t stress that enough. You have to create a good reason for someone to buy your domain. How can THEY benefit from it. When these two steps are fulfilled, a sale is almost guaranteed!

About The Author

Dayne Herren is a domain seller and buyer, web developer, and artist.
Professional Domain Name Appraisals http://www.appraisalblast.com

This article was posted on May 14, 2004

by Dayne Herren

Success Starts with Articles

Success Starts with Articles

by: Jason A. Martin

No one can logically argue against the fact that content is king. Web sites that are nothing more than glorified link farms or ad spiels must work harder and invest more money to gain visitors—almost none of them return. To keep users returning, there must be a reason. Articles can serve two major roles in maintaining a successful website—content and promotion. Just minutes from now you could be on your way to building a more successful business. Article creation and submission is one of the greatest promotional tools ever.

CONTENT

Every web site that wants to succeed at competing for eyeballs must have solid content to offer. Otherwise, the visitor is off in mere seconds—never to return. Make the visitor glad they visited and you have potentially created a loyal user.

Think about some of the more popular web sites on the Internet. Why would you visit them? Why would you return? Let’s look at a popular news site, FoxNews.com. I visit Fox News to read the latest news stories. I go back because I know there will be fresh articles waiting for me. I visit my favorite writing web site because I know there are great articles there and new ones appear often.

Do you see a theme? I am not going to a web site that is about other web sites or is a link farm—I am going to the source of what I desire. These sources not only receive my attention but have a good chance at selling me something. Over time, my trust in these web sites increases and I am more open to what they have to offer. It is important to offer quality content to hook the visitors in and update often to give them reasons to return. Your web site is an extension of you and your company. How visitors perceive your web site is how they will perceive you. This is why it is important that articles be well written. Anything less will compromise your perceived image.

PROMOTION

There is no easier way to establish links and incoming traffic to your web site than writing articles—or having someone write them for you. It could take months or longer for a web site owner to gain a significant amount of relevant links on other web sites. However, it can take days, with no effort, to accomplish the same feat with one well crafted article. The process is extremely simple.

Write the article or have it written for you.

Submit the article to article distribution services.

Start working on the next article or have a writer do it for you.

Once your article is out there it will work itself onto web sites across the Internet, which will end up generating incoming links for your web site. Moreover, this will increase your link popularity, which is very important for great search engine rankings. It would be wise to write articles that pertain in some way to your own web site. The odds of people, who are reading an article on engine rebuilding, being interested in your web site about quilting is rather slim. There are many article submission web sites and groups on the Internet. Some good article submission web sites are: articlefactory.com, ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com, and ideamarketers.com. Don’t forget to use the article on your own web site.

The promotion world is waking up to this article creation technique and in time the competition will be fierce. The time to get started is right now. One well crafted article can easily be worth thousands of dollars in promotional efforts. Don’t let not being able to write great articles keep you from getting ahead—visit JasonAMartin.com to have articles written for you. You simply can not put a price on the possible results from article distribution. Just wait until you experience it for yourself.

©2005 Jason Andrew Martin LLC

About The Author

Jason A. Martin has been conducting business on the Internet for 11 years. He is a freelance writer on many topics and is currently working on obtaining a degree in Journalism and Law.

His official blog, which contains more articles you can use for your web site, can be viewed at: Jason A. Martin

jasonamartin.com

This article was posted on February 24

by Jason A. Martin

Summer’s Internet Traffic Jam

Summer’s Internet Traffic Jam

by: Rob Young

Summer is finally here, and while for many, summer implies barbeques, schoolbreak, vacations and trips to the beach; for most Internet businesses, summer implies slower traffic.
For an online business, traffic is paramount. Without it, conversions drop off, ROI’s dwindle and businesses can fail. In the United States, netScore reported that seventyfour percent of the top 50 Internet properties experienced less traffic between May and June of 2001. A big reason for this huge reduction is the decrease in atschool Internet traffic. Visitor traffic from atschool computers, which represented almost 8% of U.S. Internet traffic in May, began declining as summer vacations started and decreased 40.5% in June compared to May. Traffic doesn’t see an increase until midAugust. This means that for nearly four months, online sites are not seeing the traffic they so desperately need.
International Web usage is seeing declines in the summer months as well. Between midMay and July of 2002, Russia reported a twentypercent decline in summer Internet usage. Sweden saw its summer traffic stifled by eighteenpercent as early as July 1999, and many other countries around the world are feeling the hit of summer traffic reductions as well.
Seasonal traffic fluctuations are a recent phenomenon. The first few years of Internet usage saw such rapid growth in both the number of users and the number of pages visited, that seasonal variations were hardly noticeable. In recent years, however, Internet growth rates have slowed dramatically as the United States and the rest of the world crawls towards the user saturation point.
While most sites see drastic reductions of traffic from May to August, certain summeroriented sites tend to be protected from the summer burn. May, June and July kick off the blockbuster movie season, drawing millions of visitors to Cinema sites. According to movietickets.com, traffic to their site rose 66% to 600,000 visitors and Twentieth Century Fox Film reported that web site traffic jumped 26% to 372,000 visitors. For the lucky few online Cinema sites, summer’s heat fires up traffic.
Weight loss and travel sites have also seen increased summer usage in the past as people try to slim down before venturing to the beach.
As noted above, Internet traffic regains strength beginning in midAugust. Ecommerce and apparel site usage increases dramatically with backtoschool sales, and by September, vacationing begins to decline and general Internet usage rises to normal levels.
The important thing to note for online businesses is that decreased traffic doesn’t necessarily have to mean decreased profits. Make the most out of summer Internet traffic and prepare your site for fall and winter traffic increases. Now is the perfect time to update and optimize your site.

About The Author

Rob Young, Manager of Natural Optimization and Creative Director of fullservice interactive marketing and advertising agency UnREAL Marketing Solutions, has been with the company since its inception in 1999. Young oversees the Natural Optimization and Creative departments. www.unrealmarketing.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 12, 2004

by Rob Young

Who Else Wants a Shot at 16,000+ Links Partners?

Who Else Wants a Shot at 16,000+ Links Partners?

by: John Gergye

Sick and tired of wasting hours tracking down link partners?

Sure links can work wonders for search engine ranking. But after awhile all the dead ends can get to you, right? Maybe even leaving you ready to chuck this whole link trading thing right out the window.

I know the feeling. Then I discovered link trading directories.

Now if you believe the hype you may begin hyperventilating. Or feel you’ve died and gone to linking heaven. I know I did since these directories are basically lists of eager link traders. Which should cut the time to find tons of sites to trade links with. While landing you lots of links. Especially since all of these directories tout the quality of the sites listed.

Okay to me high quality to means higher page rank (PR) and decent traffic. But is that what these directories deliver?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Mostly I found a few cherries hidden in a bowl of pits.

Yes, you will find decent linking partners.

Yes, you will pick up some PR.

But this is probably not a shortcut to a PR 6 web site. That causes traffic to pour over you like maple syrup. While bringing your server to it’s knees.

But hold on. Let’s not throw this idea under the bus just yet. Because it might be just the ticket for newer sites looking to get into the linking game. As long as you’re willing to put in some time to eliminate the riffraff.

Anyway having duly alerted you to the downsides, let me give you a list of the five best link trading directories I found. Along with a game plan to tease the best linking candidates from each fairly quickly.

The Directories

After compiling a list I eliminated those with sparse listings. Or that let people submit multiple times to any category they felt like. Or charged for submission. Which left me with 5 keepers totaling over 16,000 potential link partners.

http://www.123exchangelinks.com/browse.htm

Link to Links Page: Yes

# of Listings: Over 1300

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.webmasterlinkexchange.com/

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 450

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.linkmarket.net/link_directory/index.php

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 10,000

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://www.linkexchange.ws/linkexchange/index.php

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 800

Shows Date Added: Yes

http://alllinksite.com/

Link to Links Page: No

# of Listings: Over 4,000

Shows Date Added: No

Now you’re ready for

The 6Step Game Plan

So hitch up your wading boots and wade on in.

Step 1) Know Your Site Types

You have to know what types of sites you’re looking for. So come up with a list of the types of sites you’re willing to swap links with.

Step 2) Set Minimum PR.

I’d recommend you ferret out link partners that can give you at least a PR 3 link back. Since most run of the mill webmasters can offer that with just a modest effort.

Step 3) Engage Tools

Access each directory in Internet Explorer with the Google toolbar activated.

Step 4) Pick Your Poison

Pick a category matching one of your target link partner niches.

Luckily one directory, www.123exchangelinks.com, links directly to the site’s links page. At least most of the time. Just run through those listings looking for PR 3 or better.

With the rest click to the site. Typically sites that have at least PR 3 links pages have PR 5 or better home pages. So click as fast as you can seeking sites that come up PR 5 or higher. Just don’t expect to be overwhelmed with the possibilities.

Another trick? If the directory shows the date added go for the older listings first. Reason being older listings are more likely to have more PR. Assuming the webmaster has done more than sit on her hands.

Step 5) Attempt to Link Up

If it passes PR muster find the Add URL page or an email to send your linking info to. I use the linking info found in the link exchange directory as their linking info to put on my site.

Repeat steps 4 and 5 for all appropriate categories.

Step 6) Add Me

Finally you can add your site. With the five directories I gave you the price of admission is a link back. Otherwise I wouldn’t pay to play. Just don’t think it’s worth it. Because most of the requests from your listing won’t have at least PR 3 links pages.

Anyway there you have it another way to find linking partners. Use the five link exchange directories, follow the game plan I’ve laid out, and you should be able to separate the wheat from the chaff fairly quickly. Making link trading directories another tool in your linking tool box.

Copyright 2004 John Gergye

About The Author

John Gergye shares more ideas like this in his recently updated eBook ‘traffic From Google in 35 Daysก. Find out more here: http://www.traffictesttube.com/j/tfg35cl.shtml/ Or test your search engine IQ by taking his seo quiz http://www.traffictesttube.com/searchenginequiz.shtml/ and get the free special report กComing Out On Topก.

This article was posted on December 21, 2004

by John Gergye

Effective Online Advertising Tips

Effective Online Advertising Tips

by: Lisa Maliga

Helpful Tips for Increasing Your Online Sales

Once you’ve launched your eCommerce web site, you’ll need to show it off to the online world. Whether you’re paying someone to submit your site to all the major and minor search engines and directories, it’s still up to you to continually advertise your eCommerce site in order to keep attracting business.

Many online business owners will tell you that within six to nine months of your launch date you’ll start seeing increased orders for your products. However here are 8 things you can do to lure people to your site now!

Advertise on http://www.Craigslist.org . This entry will only last for 10 days and you must submit to only one city and category at a time. You can include photos and/or advanced HTML in your ad.

Write a press release and send out for free to the following sites:

http://www.prweb.com [this one has been around for several years]

http://www.prbot.com

http://www.openpress.com

http://www.expresspressrelease.com

http://www.freepressrelease.com

http://www.prleap.com

http://www.prfree.com

Paid submissions will get you more views, quicker listings in the search engines, and the ability to post photos and keep track of your statistics.

Submit your site[s] to http://www.isedb.com/html/Web_Directories [You’ll discover loads of directories here, from the highly specialized to the mainstream. Many of the sites have ratings; indicate whether they’re accepting new submissions, and if there’s a fee for submitting].

Search engine positioning. When advertising your eCommerce site, always have the following information on hand: A. Your Web site title. This should be approximately 712 words.B. Description. Have 3 different descriptions of varying lengths. 15 words, 25 words, 100 words. Have them summarize the essence of your site. C. Keywords. 10 – 50 of your most important keywords arranged in order of importance. Again, some online directories will allow you to contribute more keywords than others.

Write articles about your products/service. Be an online expert. What makes your site so unique from the thousands of others in your chosen category? Is it your customized service? Your low prices? Your high quality? Don’t over promote your product, but concentrate on what will help others. It’s highly recommended you include at least two or three testimonials.

Exchange links with other sites that have quality information and are related to your field in some way. For example, I sell a lot of soap so I link with mostly gift basket, crafting and candle sites.

Free classifieds. While these can sometimes get you sales or your listed in the search engines, don’t expect too much response from them.

Offer a freebie. For example, if you have an eBook for sale, you won’t give the entire book away, but having a chapter or two online will increase interest – and sales. If you make or sell a product, offer a free sample with a paid order. Or free shipping on sales over a certain amount.

Contests reel ‘em in! Not only will you get their email address for future offers, [but ask that they opt in to your mailing list first], but you can give away a product or service of yours and look good doing so. Also, this is a good time to send out a press release and let the online community know about your special contest that runs for only a short time, thus generating more publicity.

Follow one or more of these helpful tips and watch your online business bloom!

About The Author

Visit Lisa’s Library of Writing, home of writer http://www.lisamaliga.com and receive tips on free web promotion, read articles on webrelated topics and get library news on a variety of subjects.

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 10

by Lisa Maliga

Googleกs New SEO Rules

Googleกs New SEO Rules

by: John Metzler

Google has recently made some pretty significant changes in its ranking algorithm. The latest update, dubbed by Google forum users as กAllegraก, has left some web sites in the dust and catapulted others to top positions. Major updates like this can happen a few times a year at Google, which is why picking the right search engine optimization company can be the difference between online success and failure. However, it becomes an increasingly difficult decision when SEO firms themselves are suffering from the Allegra update.

Overoptimization may have played the biggest part in the dropping of seoguy.com from the top 50 Google results. Filtering out web sites that have had readability sacrificed for optimization is a growing trend at Google. It started with the Sandbox Effect in late 2004, where relatively new sites were not being seen at all in the Google results even with good keyword placement in content and incoming links. Many thought it was a deliberate effort by Google to penalize sites that had SEO work done. Itกs a few months later and we see many of the กsandboxedก web sites finally appearing well for their targeted keywords.

With 44 occurrences of กSEOก on the relatively short home page of seoguy.com, and many of them in close proximity to each other, the content reads like a page designed for search engine robots, not the visitor. This ranking shift should come as no surprise to SEO professionals as people have been saying it for years now: Sites should be designed for visitors, not search engine robots. Alas, some of us don’t listen and this is what happens when search engines finally make their move.

One aspect of search engine optimization that is also affected in a roundabout way is link popularity development. After observing the effects of strictly relevant link exchanges on many of our clientกs sites recently, weกve noticed incredibly fast #1 rankings on Google. It seems Google may be looking out for links pages designed for the sole purpose of raising link popularity and devalues the relevance of the site. After all, if a links page on a real estate site has 100 outgoing links to pharmacy sites, there has to be a lot of content on that page completely unrelated to real estate. Not until now has that been so detrimental to a siteกs overall relevance to search terms. It goes back to the old rule of thumb: Make your visitors the top priority. Create a resources page that actually contains useful links for your site users. If you need to do reciprocal linking then keep it relevant and work those sites in with other good resources.

Keeping up with the online search world can be overwhelming for the average small business owner or corporate marketing department. Constant Google changes, MSN coming on the scene in a big way, and all the hype around the new Become.com shopping search function can make heads spin. But just keep things simple and follow the main rules that have been around for years. Google, as well as other search engines, won’t ever be able to ignore informative, well written content along with good quality votes from other web sites.

About The Author

John Metzler is the cocreator of Abalone Designs, Inc. www.abalone.ca, a Search Engine Optimization company in Vancouver, Canada. He has been involved in web design and web marketing since 1999 and has helped turn Abalone Designs into one of the top SEO companies in the world.

[email protected]

This article was posted on February 28

by John Metzler

Google Takes Care of Idiots Too

Google Takes Care of Idiots Too

by: Alexis Dawes

Thereกs an old saying that goes, กGod takes care of babies and idiots.ก

Truly this statement applies to me, because when it comes to my search engine optimization skills, Iกm on the idiot side of scale. But thatกs okay because idiots are loved, and can easily survive in the search engine game too.

Let me explain.

Although NONE of my 6 web sites rank in Googleกs top 10 (or top 20 and 30 for that matter), and I only advertise 2 of my sites using AdWords, Google still helps me make a lot of money.

Thatกs probably because I went into this search engine optimization ‘thingyก with a grain of salt. I don’t keep any secret arsenals of software tools that reverse engineer web sites to figure out why their ranking high. I haven’t read any of the latest musthave volumes on search engine optimization. (Although they’re on my todo list when and IF business ever slows down.)

And still my MVP Google does its best to make me happy. And I do my best to give its searchers relevant content. But not in the way that most SEO savvy webmasters would recognize.

กItกs actually very easy to get traffic from Google if you think outside the box.ก

My strategy for getting traffic from Google is quite simple.

You see I don’t go out of my way looking for link partners. My sites are basically 12 page sales letters, and nobody wants to link to me, unless they’re getting paid.

Nor do I put a tremendous amount of effort into onpage optimization. I sprinkle my targeted keyphrase here and there, and Iกm done with it. I write for my paying customers.

What I do is follow this process:

I find other established sites that already have good PageRank and adequate incoming links.

I make sure these sites add new content every day. Sites with frequently added content get visited by the Googlebot often… sometimes every day.

I then place an advertisement on these sites, promoting my actual web site. When the Googlebot pays these sites a visit, the ad itself (NOT my web page) is ranked in Google for the keyphrase Iกve used. On many occasions my adกs have reached the #1 position in Google for my targeted keyphrase, in as little as 48 hours.

กWhere can you readily find such sites?ก

Believe it or not, a handful (literally a handful) of classified ad sites fit the description to a tee.

Backpage.com (http://www.backpage.com/) is one of them.

Backpage.com is a free classified ad service run by New Times, a publisher of alternative news weeklies. They offer classified ad listings for 14 US cities. However even if you’re not in one of their specific cities, you may still place an ad.

Certain advertisements placed through Backpage.com have reached top 10 positions in Google. The adกs that get favorably indexed in top 10 positions normally have less competitive keywords in the title. My personal synopsis is that these are keywords that receive fewer than 3,000 searches a month, according to the Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool.

An example is กmobile pc repair.ก

This is a lowtraffic, but extremely targeted keyphrase.

If you do a search on Google for กmobile pc repairก youกll notice an ad placed on Backpage.com is featured in the #5 position. Okay, so itกs not the best advertisement in the world, but thatกs irrelevant.

The point is

The ad got indexed in a top 10 position in Google.

Backpage.com allows advertisers to include web site links in the advertisement. So even though this particular advertiser didn’t include his/her URL, they very well could have. This wouldกve generated traffic to their site.

กMy point?

This is cure for getting targeted traffic while waiting for your actual web site to get ranked.ก

Early February 2005 webmaster forums around the world were abuzz with groans, gripes and periodic fits of happiness.

Why?

Because Google was doing a major update (dubbed Allegra).

Sites that had ranked in the top 10 for years were being mercilessly tossed around. Other sites that hadn’t gotten any decent rank in the past were beginning to see the light. And still others didn’t notice any changes.

As for me… well my actual sites still didn’t rise much in the ranks. Iกm still hovering somewhere around #50+.

But that hasn’t phased me one bit.

I look at the big picture and understand that getting traffic from Google is much more than having my site reach the top 10.

If I have 50 advertisements (similar to the oneกs from Backpage.com) that are in top 10 positions, and they’re all delivering traffic from targeted keyphrases, I haven’t lost anything. All those keyphrases delivering trickles of traffic equal a flood of clicks and orders at the end of the day.

Not a bad deal for somebody whoกs SEO illiterate. I guess the old saying is true… God really does take care of babies and idiots.

Copyright 2005 Alexis Dawes

About The Author

Alexis Dawes is the author of ‘taking The Back Road To Get On Googleกs First Page.ก This report offers details on several more loopholes you can use to get a top Google ranking. You can find more information at (http://www.GetInGoogleNow.com).

This article was posted on February 16

by Alexis Dawes