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30 Jul 2009

Windows Live Messenger Combines 30 Social Networking

Online social networks has been growing rapidly for several years, as evidenced by the many users who now participate in a number of online social networks such as Windows Live Messenger, Flickr, My Space and Facebook.
Each online social networks have unique features of each. Some online social networks are often busy with a number of log-in with the keywords that should be included. As the user must log-on to five to ten social networking online each day, users are often made difficult and must spend the time to keep in touch with various online social network that is different.



Windows Live has been successfully building online social networks that much easier. You can quickly develop your online community partners and connect with the world. Windows Live users can now incorporate online social network contact with the capability of 30 online social network that includes various features such as music, video, photos and reviews, including Facebook, Hi5, and My Space to applications in their favorite Windows Live. This means users can now integrate applications from various online social networking and other communication network, which does not need more participation in online social network to another.

Five key activities that can be consolidated by the users of Windows Live, among others ;

• Windows Live User can easily invite their contacts from third-party sites such as MySpace, Hi5, Tagged clan to Facebook in Windows Live. This means that the user contact list consolidation and simplified.

• Windows Live User can receive the latest information instantly from their contacts that come from various social networks only associate with this network address in the address of the Windows Live. For example, if a contact to put new photos on Facebook, or update their status, these changes will automatically appear in the 'What's New' in their Windows Live.

• Users share photos online now can add the latest information in the Windows Live from: Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, SmugMug, Metroflog, Bilddagboken and many more.

• Users who have a blog can add content in the Windows Live from: WordPress, LiveJournal, TypePad, Overblog blog or another public event which is being used by Blogger and more.

• Users who access the sites below to find information, music, video and radio impressions, can add information to the Windows Live from: MSN, the Zune Social, iLike, Pandora, Last.fm, Dada, dailymotion and so on.


What this means for consumers ?
• User of Windows Live does not need to go to all the online social network sites to check their status, the impressions blog or photograph posted. Everything can be done through the Windows Live Home Page. The important issues will be displayed through the main Windows Live Messenger.

Windows Live Messenger Partners :
• Arto
• Bilddagboken.se
• Dada
• Dailymotion
• Daum
• Digg
• ILike
• Facebook
• Flickr
• Flixster
• Fotolog
• Hevre
• Hyves
• Last.fm
•Live Journal
• MClub
• Metroflog
• Overblog
• Pandora
• Photobucket
• Smugmug
• StumbleUpon
• Triplt
• Twitter
• Typepad
• Wordpress
• Yandex
• Yelp
• Zoo.gr

Additional features simple to combine all the contacts that come from a variety of online social network partners.

Design Mozilla Firefox 4

Not yet old launched Firefox 3.5, Mozilla has started installing square off for Firefox 4. Some images design Firefox 4 is expressed at the start Mozilla Wiki. From some of the design shown, one of the designs have similarities with Google Chrome. Among other changes in the location of the tab control the position of the top.Design is in fact also be used by Apple Safari 4, but removed when the final release.
Other changes that are visible is the standard menu bar is missing from the circulation, and the location page and tools that are on the side of the search fields. For a design similar to this one in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.



In addition to lost or moved to the old bar, Mozilla also include new things that actually is not too significant given the name of the Combo Stop / Refresh / Go Button. On one of the designs shown, see the box on the right side of the search fields that will change color according to the action taken. For example, if we want to go to a site, then the box will change color so green, if you want to exit akan changed so red.



Of all the changes that are indicated, one of the changes the most is the loss be pitied bookmark link bar. Changes that have got this one protest from the Internet because users can not be reset if need to find a long-web web who want to visit.

Although it looks a lot of changes, not the means designs that indicated the design is final. All design is just the beginning of the design course, a mockup, and not necessarily used in the design end.











Related Post :

1. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 - Installer Offline
2. Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1
3. Dangerous Rift in Firefox 3.5
4. Firefox 3 Spectacular, 8 Million Downloads in 24 Hours
5. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 Juli 2009
6. Safari 4, The Faster Browser

A Dangerous Rift In Firefox 3.5

Has not been released long time, the latest version of Firefox 3.5, is facing a new problem. US-Cert (Computer Emergency Response Team) released a warning, on Tuesday (14 / 7), the browser that Firefox 3.5 has a defense system is vulnerable attacked attacker remotely (remote attacker) to smuggle malicious code.
More details, the vulnerability of the Firefox 3.5 related to how Firefox process JavaScript code. Examples of malicious code itself is shown Monday (13 / 7) on the site Milw0rm, com, a site about the exploitation of dangerous code. This raise the possibility that rentannya Firefox 3.5 has begun empowered. The Mozilla has its own issues of vulnerability akan know this and start making improvements to the pilot. However, until now not yet finished patch developed cover. Therefore, Mozilla released advice to reduce the risk of attack.
"Vulnerability can be exploited if the attacker he trepan computer users to view sites that have malicious code," say the Mozilla Security Blog at them. However, Firefox's vulnerabilities can diperingan how to turn off the JIT in the Javascript engine.
To turn off the Javascript engine can be done with three steps. First, type about: config in the Firefox browser your search. Second, type in the JIT in the filter that is located on the config editor. Third, double-click the line javascript.options.jit.content to change value to be false. As an alternative way, noscript plug-in can also be used to turn off all JavaScript in the browser.
Vulnerability of this problem have also got many responses from some computer company in the world. Secunia, a company in the field of computer security and is based in Denmark for example, assessing the vulnerability of Firefox 3.5 is very critical and can even affect an older version of Firefox.
F-Secure, a Finnish company's origin in the same field with Secunia also add Exploit Shield software that can prevent the use of code-malicious code to attack Firefox 3.5.

Related Post :

Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 - Installer Offline
Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1
Design Mozilla Firefox 4
Firefox 3 Spectacular, 8 Million Downloads in 24 Hours
Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 Juli 2009
Safari 4, The Faster Browser

Safari 4, The Faster Browser

Apple's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2009 in San Francisco, the U.S. also became the campaign momentum Safari 4. Latest browser versions claimed that Apple made a lot more faster to access the website from the Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3, and Chrome.
This is due to an increase in Nitro Engine features in Safari 4 which has four times the capacity of the preceding version of Safari to access the web pages more quickly.
In fact, Apple said the feature, the browser can execute JavaScript safari around 8 times faster than IE8, and 4 times faster than Firefox 3 and based on the SunSpider test iBench.
In addition to speed execution question, Safari 4 also offers several new features that simplify and speed users to choose which website will be visited. Safari 4 ways to re-create the web pages that have been opened more quickly and easily. These features, among other TopSites, CoverFlow, and Full History Search.

TopSites provide preview pages for your favorite sites on one page. Safari 4 will track the sites visited most often and the user will put the 24 most favorite site thumbnail page TopSites.
CoverFlow even show the home page view all websites that have been visited and stored in history and bookmarks. Made a similar form of books and to open the home page, simply move the cursor with. This is easier for users to re-visit the page that had visited. Features such as the previously introduced iPod and iPhone.
If users forget what the page is never seen and will be visited again, use the Full Search History TopSites page. Safari 4 store all data in the text all the web pages stored in history.
Some features are in fact similar to that made ditaarkan Google Chrome or Opera latest. However, always distinguish the software made by Apple is a matter of appearance. 3D effect is very thick in Safari 4. So, try it if you want to prove. Safari is available in versions for Mac and Windows. This software can be downloaded free at the Apple page.

Related Post :

1. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 - Installer Offline
2. Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1
3. Design Mozilla Firefox 4
4. Dangerous Rift in Firefox 3.5
5. Firefox 3 Spectacular, 8 Million Downloads in 24 Hours
6. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 Juli 2009

Firefox 3 Spectacular, 8 Million Downloads in 24 Hours

Mozilla Firefox, a popular web browsers used by internet users released version 3 of the application. Version of label awaited by the fans waiting for this record for the highest download an application.
Campaign Firefox 3 is "removed" to the public on 18 June 2008 successfully carried out yesterday by Mozilla. Through 8 million downloads within 24 hours, the Mozilla successfully pass their initial target is 5 million downloads. This strengthens the Mozilla to get the award from the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as the most applications in the download in 24 hours.
According to latest data, from the amount of 8 million users who download Firefox version 3, and 2 million of which is the users who come from the United States, followed by Germany, Japan, and Spain. Mozilla is also making the campaign "the party download" in which a number of countries to create an event for the Firefox 3 version of this with the gathered together.
Firefox version 3.0 is one of the applications that wait-awaited and discussed in many discussions on the Internet. According to several sources, Firefox version 3 is a significant change compared with previous versions, especially in the areas of performance of the browser itself. According to the claims Mozilla, Firefox 3 has a feature-such as the main feature is better security, performance parsing HTML and Javascript which is faster, and decrease memory usage significantly.
Successful campaign "Download Day" from Mozilla is not irrespective of their strategy to reach users at the grassroots. Mozilla is a self-inclusive for everyone to participate and contribute to the development of Firefox. This is different from the open-source projects in general, where only a number of developers, software developers are contributing. SpreadFirefox through the portal, users can become an important part of the project in Firefox.

Related Post :

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2. Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1
3. Design Mozilla Firefox 4
4. Dangerous Rift in Firefox 3.5
5. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 Juli 2009
6. Safari 4, The Faster Browser

24 Jul 2009

Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 Juli 2009

Chrome Browser from Google has released new version, Google Chrome 3.0.195.1. There are some changes made to improve the performance of chrome. For you hear the new Google Chrome Browser can try this from Google. Features offered are very good.
Ability does not lose the Google Chrome Browser with others such as Firefox and Opera. Chrome on the features there are also Speed Dials, Private Browser, Tab to the dynamic, the view that easy and light, there are also features of Google Safe Browsing where you will get a notification if the site is dangerous as a phishing site or contain malware.
Not only that, there are many more capabilities of the Google Chrome browser this. At the time this update is not only for Windows OS only, but also for the Mac and Linux.

Changes for Windows :
* Form suggestions now shrink properly as the list of suggestions gets shorter.
* Extensions can now auto-update.
* Set the default minimum font size to 12 for Chinese and 10 for Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Thai.



Changes for Mac :
* Mac now supports drag and drop of URLs, plain text, and HTML into and out of the content area, as well as within text fields and the thumbnails on the new tab page. URLs can be dragged to and from other apps, the Finder/Desktop, and the Dock.
* Fix for download shelf crash when clearing all downloads.
* First cut at infobars.
* Add JavaScript Console menu item to View > Developer submenu.

Changes for Linux :
* Allow dragging a link from the web contents to the bookmark bar to get a named bookmark.
* Add additional hotkeys (Ctrl-Enter, Shift-F5, Shift + Scroll Wheel).
* Dock development tools.

If you are interested and want to download Google Chrome 3.0.195.1, please click here:

Google Chrome 3.0.195.1

Related Post :

1. Google Chrome 3.0.195.1 - Installer Offline
2. Mozilla Firefox 3.5.1
3. Design Mozilla Firefox 4
4. Dangerous Rift in Firefox 3.5
5. Firefox 3 Spectacular, 8 Million Downloads in 24 Hours
6. Safari 4, The Faster Browser

23 Jul 2009

List Friends On Facebook


For the Facebook users who want to see his name is always top of the other users see when the Friend List, there are a few tips. With these tips and your name will always appear top of the Friend List. Tips may be useful for those who want a lot of friends on FB. Only by adding a character in the name of your name then you will always see the top. Of course this will increase the likelihood you will be more frequent in the add / added as a friend by other Facebook users.
* Once you open the Facebook site and log in, go to the settings
* Add a character in the name of your settings. Ex: - "or” like the example below :



* Save the settings
* Now open one of your Facebook friends. List Friend and see your friend on Facebook.
* Now your name will always be visible over most :

19 Jul 2009

A Good Design Elements

One resoundingly negative consequence of the amazíng advances in computing power over the last 25 or so years is the notion, still popular despite constant debunking, that all you need to be a designer today is to buy a computer (usually a Macintosh).
When over-caffeinated pundits were first promoting the term "desktop publishing" in the mid-1980s, many said the new technology would result in so many great new print publications (this was before the Internet boom) that it would put the First Amendment into overdrive. What really happened, of course, is that entirely unqualified, untrained and untalented people got hold of a Mac, a LaserWriter and some software and proceeded to crank out a few metric tons of 300dpi landfill.My, how judgmental, you may think. Oddly enough, for all the counterculture tendencies of some, artists in general are among the most judgmental and elitist folks around, and have no problem observing (and saying) that people are not "equal" when it comes to design talent.
A clever advertisement from that bygone "DTP" era promoted a graphic design firm with the tagline, "Using Picasso's paintbrush doesn't make you Picasso". Since this is a principle and not a value judgment, it is as true now, and will be as true in 2050, as it was then. Fact is, there are elements of a good design that must be attended to and contended with, no matter the medium print, broadcast, web, even mobile phone displays.

Classic Components
Think of the elements of design as the basic building blocks. These elements will be part of everything you design, from consumer products and furniture to magazine pages and billboards, whether you know that or not.(For now, we will restrict our discussion to the layouts that are common to print and web publishing.) It should go without saying, but very little does anymore, that understanding these basic elements will enable you to create more powerful pages for your packaging, ad, magazine or website.
At the most basic level, there are five elements in any design:

1. Lines and Linework
These terms do not refer to pen-and-ink or pencil sketches, but to borders, frames and rules. Horizontal or vertical, thick or thin, regular or irregular, they help define and delimit spaces around various elements on your pages. Good linework increases both the readability and "directionality" (see 5, below) of the design as a whole.

2. Shape
Any enclosed area, form or contour in your design is a shape. Shapes in most layouts are square or rectangular, but nothing says they must be, and circles are useful, too. You can also use images to create other, regular or irregular shapes.

3. Texture
Texture imparts a "surface" feeling, and is tactile in printed matter, so choosing the paper stock-matte, weave, coated - is a design decision, too. Textures on layouts meant for broadcast or the Internet are visual only, but still key.

4. Color
Color is probably the element that most designers are at least acutely aware of, if not schooled in. However, color is not required in many designs, and some art educators suggest creating designs without any color first. The artist, in this view, should then add only as much color as needed to enhance or complete the design. Another school of thought holds that color should be one of the first elements determined. Experience and experimentation will help every artist develop a good color sense and strategy.

5. Direction
Effectively designed layouts, in magazines or on your computer screen, usually have a sense of motion. A good design will lead the reader's eyes through the design deliberately, using color changes, shapes, linework and copy placement to direct viewers' attention to what the designer wants them to see.

Balance and Interest
Other considerations enter in to the process of making good design choices, such as the feelings of space, balance, action and even excitement. The important thing for young, inexperienced designers to remember is that "less is more". One can often identify the design work of a beginner by a lack of open (or "negative") space, an overdose of motion or color contrast, the proliferation of different typefaces and conflicting directionality. Rather than pull every tool and trick out of the bag, the designer needs to remember the ultimate aim of the layout, which for pages in print or on the web is quite simple: Draw the reader in so you can deliver your message.
It seems much simpler after, say, three or four years in a fast-paced, high quality, well-managed design studio. One of the simpler ways of judging a page design is to ask, Does it say "read me" when you look at it? Frankly, some print and web pages look like the backside of a rental agreement, while others seem designed to confuse the readers or test their reactions to optical illusions.
The bottom line of good design is, quite simply, to attract readers' attention, direct it in a particular way and, in concert with the copywriting, make a positive impression. It is, after all, "commercial art" at which most artists work. It becomes much easier for them to do as they learn to leave their egos out of it and simply do what is necessary, proper and effective. If they are unable to do so, perhaps they should go get one of Picasso's paintbrushes and be a different kind of artist entirely.

Effect In Online Marketing

Many people struggle with their day to day routine. From the time they sit down in their home office with a fresh cup of joe, and are plagued with the anxiety created by the day's marketing events. One of the best ways to avoid "paralysis of analysis" is to write out the next days activities before you go to sleep. This will help you to avoid the morning feelings of "I don't know where to start". It also helps to imagine yourself completing all the tasks with ease. Allow your thoughts to bring you visions of how you will feel when you complete these tasks and the fun things you will get to experience when you are done. If you are having a hard time figuring out how to do something, i.e. getting information from someone or a great price on a product you need, ask yourself throughout the day, "where or how can I most easily get x"? and then let it go and move on with your day. You'll be surprised how the answers will pop up when you are at the gym, the grocery store, or where ever.When it comes to internet marketing, there are many paths one can take to make their marketing efforts successful.

However, many of them can be costly.
If your budget is tight, article marketing can be a very helpful source to get your message out. We've all had experiences and many folks are experts in certain niche fields. People are always looking for new and improved ways to do the things they are doing. By writing articles, you will simply share much needed advice to people actively looking to be helped. This is also helps get your message and name out to the communities you are looking to target.
Branding is now becoming even more paramount as website marketing becomes flooded with competition. Just having a company landing page that looks like everyone else's just won't cut it anymore. People are even more skeptical these days, and they want to be able to connect with the someone attached to a certain product or service. Landing pages or "squeeze pages" have been proven more successful when there is a specific person they can connect to. A simple picture with a nice introduction about who you are and how you can help is great.
Even more effective, is to shoot a video about you and the product or service you are recommending. Your conversion rates will be much higher using the video method.
A strong marketing plan is always valuable and it must be written down on paper. Otherwise you have ethereal wishes that continue to take up space in your mind and annoy you from time to time. To be successful, you must plan your work and then work your plan. It is helpful to be able to cross off "money getting" activities as you go. This will also help you keep a log of your progress. There is no way way to track the effectiveness of what you are doing without this. If you don't make note of it, you will continue to spin and recreate the same madness that is holding you back.
Buy or journal or a notebook. Type it in a file you will save online. Just make a record of it so you can chart your progress and move towards making money online.
How effective is your marketing? Only you will ever know this. But taking some baby steps in advance, like the night before, will allow you a sense of peace as you tackle the days events.

Social Bookmarking

Someone sent me the question "Why Social Bookmarking?" And I thought to myself: "Um. Why not?"
Since I'm not really sure what they meant by that, I'm going to assume that this person mean "Why should I use social bookmarking in my business?" With a full understanding of all the risks associated with "assuming". I figure that if you're reading this, you have that question, or a similar one. There are three reasons:

1. More links
2. More traffic
3. More credibility

More Links are Always a Good Thing
Think of links as the road traffic that moves through the web. If there are no roads to where your business "lives" online, namely your website, it's far less likely that the visitors you want will end up getting to you. That's true whether you're talking about search engines or links from other sites. Search engines use a mysterious cross between the number and quality of links to your site in their determination of whether you should be number one or number 701 for your desired keyword. In addition, the "nicer" the road, the more traffíc will flow through it think of an authority site linking to your site as a highway that leads directly to your site, and one from a reciprocal link or link exchange scheme as a back street in a sketchy neighborhood full of potholes.

Improved Traffic, also Good
From social bookmarking, this traffic is often targeted. Through tagging, the description someone writes, or the title they assigned to your link, the person who discovers the submitted link on a social bookmarking site knows exactly where they're going, and why they're interested in getting there.
It's like seeing the cover of a magazine on a rack. That's what pulls them in, they see a headline and to get to the story they are compelled to take another action. The more credibility thing is a bit harder to explain, so we'll go with another analogy.
Let's say I made a movie and I thought it was fantastic. If I hadn't met you before, and I tell you, "hey, I made a kick-ass movie, come see it!" you may come see it, you may not.
It depends more on how much time you have and if you're interested in that kind of movie, or even how nice of a person you are, than my opinion.
Why?
Because I'm the one who made it, so you can't know whether to trust my opinion, at least in relation to how much YOU might like it. Of course I think it's great, but I have no way of knowing whether you will.
Now, if you knew me and my taste, and how alike our tastes are, you may be a bit more inclined. So if I'm, say, Michael Bay, and you liked my last movie, and my new movie is on the same type of thing, you might go see it based on the trailer alone. You know you're taking a gamble but it's a safe bet.
Your best buddy, the one who likes all the same things you like, the one you hang out with and trust the most, calls you on the phone and says:

"I've just seen the best movie I've ever seen in my entire life. I have to see it again. When are you free, I'll come pick you up."

The only thing that could make that deal sweeter is if your friend has also said "My treat." At least as far as recommendations go, the person who knows what you like the most is likely to be the person whose advice you'll follow.
If you know that friend, and that person has similar tastes, or at least knows what you like, you're more likely to see the movie.
My sister and I have similar tastes in movies, but I'm a little more patient with beginnings and endings and like more indie-fare. Yet, no matter how many times I have suggested we watch a movie together that she ends up not liking as much, if I rave about a movie, she'll at least give it a chance.
Now, let's take that back to social bookmarking. Imagine you can find hundreds of people, all over the world, with tastes similar to yours, sharing information you wouldn't find yourself.
Or maybe you can just connect faster and more frequently for suggestions from people you already know. Wouldn't you be more likely to follow their suggestions than some stranger?
That's the power of social bookmarking. It's put a technology behind word of mouth sharing of web sites that anyone can use. Now all you have to do is learn how to be the person or company everybody is spreading the word about. Which is another conversation altogether.

13 Jul 2009

Do You Hear Me..? 'SEO IS NOT SCIENCES'

Search engine algorithms are shrouded in total secrecy. So what works in SEO and what does not is merely the result of an analysis of sites that make it to page 1. Some times the keywords show up sooner than expected, at times they do not. It's very difficult to measure the effectiveness of an SEO campaign because the time frame for results is prolonged. With the mushrooming of SEO companies and the vagueness of operations, finding the right company can be an issue.
True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but results should be visible after 3 months into a program. Give or take a few months for the vagaries of Search Engines that like to alter their algorithms just when your site is all set to take off!
The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.

1. Well optimized code
2. Well Optimized Metatags
3. Header Tags, Alt tags
4. Keywords in the URL
5. Backlinks to the site

If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these together, chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1 increases proportionally with every position. There are two ways in which you can check if your company is really working on your website.

1. Set Up Google Alert on Your Company's Name
Once an alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press release, Google will pick it up and deliver it into your mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO company is working.

2. Use a Tracking Account
Google Analytics is free and is improving with feedback. Ask your SEO company to set up tracking in analytics and get your account id and password so that you can check occasionally.

SEO is unfortunately a long drawn out process. How long should one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and you face any of the following scenarios it's time to fire your SEO company.

Scenario 1
Six months into the campaign there is no improvement in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24 months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI, professional SEO companies choose a mix and match of low competition, moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your SEO company did not take this approach, it's time to fire them. How to Check ? Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free tool) to your site and visit it regularly.

Scenario 2
Your traffic has increased but you are not getting conversions Maybe it's a genuine mistake which can be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic because the company has posted the site at improper places just to show stats of increased traffic. Believe me this happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets taken in.
How to Check ? Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources. Check all the traffic types Referral, search engine and direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just SEO.

Scenario 3
You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword. Maybe the targeted keywords are too competitive OR Maybe all the aspects of SEO are not being covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the company is doing.
How to Check ? Simply type your keyword in the search bar. Check page 1 for your URL. If it's not on page 1 it should be on page 2 after 6 months of the campaign for at least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn't there, call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.

Scenario 4
The company's report shows a lot of increased links, but there is hardly any improvement in rank. Maybe the ranking will improve gradually or maybe the company is trying to impress upon you that it has increased your links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from the company.
How to Check ? Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the following to see the number of links to your website links: www.domainname.com. Analyze the relevancy of the site linking back to your website. If the links are from spam sites, fire the company.

Scenario 5
Your keywords are stagnated where they were. Suppose you were already on page 3 or page 2 for the keywords and approached a company to take you to page 1. But you haven't moved. Maybe the company's taking you for a ride or there is no other reason. Just fire the company. They are showing no results. There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in this article. It's very difficult to know if the company is working hard enough to get you on page 1. Keeping constant contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly comparative report and track the improvement in links, traffic and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by the company. Track the action plan. You will see results soon enough !

The Truth Behind The Hype

In recent month, we've noticed a surge in clients calling us to ask questions like "what's up with Bing?" Or, "are you optimizing for Bing?" Even "are you taking advantage of Bing?" In other words, people want to know that their search engine optimization company is taking special steps to ensure adequate representation on the newly created, much hyped search engine. And to answer the first question, what's up is MSN's umpteenth attempt to create a search engine that garners a significant amount of market share from its more formidable rivals namely Google and Yahoo!. Microsoft has not been shy to promote the new engine; the current advertising campaign is estimated to cost around $100 million. How is it going so far? It depends on who you listen to. The metrics vary wildly, depending on the source you consult. In a recent analysis of statistics, Hitwise ranked Bing as the seventeenth most popular website out of 450,000,[1] while StatCounter noted that the engine was in third place behind Google and Yahoo!. ComScore's ratings showed that Bing increased MSN's average daily searcher penetration by 1.7% (from 13.8% to 15.5%). These numbers and ranking criteria are enough to make anyone's head spin. But, when you get down to it, the event everyone is looking forward to is what will happen when the budget runs out, and the promotional period ends. Will searchers remain loyal or return to Google and Yahoo! and not look back? No one can really tell if any positive results are sustainable over a long term period.
Most reviewers put Bing in a good light, noting its ease of use and searching options, and some are even scrutinizing the accuracy and relevancy of Google and Yahoo! results against Bing. In the June 08, 2009 edition of B to B magazine, for instance, one reviewer appreciated the shopping comparison tool while another stated that searchers seeking refined results will be more likely to take advantage of Bing. Admittedly, the engine's clean, streamlined look is pretty exciting; the home page features a new, interactive image each day; searchers click on certain parts of the image and trivia, facts, or additional links pop up. But after that, a simple search will provide users with results similar to its counterparts images, video, maps, news, and the like.

Another Iteration, This Time with a Pretty Bow
But there are a few reasons not to get so excited. Number one we have no idea where the market will settle and if the market share for Bing will continue to grow. Without this data, there's no way to say if tailoring a website specifically for Bing is worthwhile, especially if it negatively impacts existing Google and Yahoo! rankings. Number two no matter which stat you look at, Google still owns the lion's share of the search market; add Yahoo! to the mix and Bing is dwarfed. Number three Microsoft has no track record of success in the search world; its developers and visionaries have tried many different search iterations, so far to no avail. The company is banking on two things: the quality of the engine and a willingness to spend money to promote it.
And, finally, number four is a byproduct of MSN's past explorations into search engines; the brand name is construed by many as a liability that carries a somewhat negative connotation.
Possibly, a good option would be to take the MySpace/NewsCorp route. When MySpace was bought by NewsCorp in 2005, business went on as usual; MySpace was just MySpace. NewsCorp understood what made MySpace 'cool' was its reputation of independence. Yes, it was crushed by Facebook down the road, but that's a different story. Microsoft chooses to end every Bing commercial with blatant 'by Microsoft' wording and logos as if this is a positive. I'm not sure that it's necessary or even wise. In light of this information, what's a search engine optimization company do?

Two Ways to Approach the Situation
Irresponsibly :
1. Optimizing for Bing at the potential expense of other engines that have long-term records of market share is foolhardy. At the end of the day, Bing may be new and exciting, but it still possesses a tiny amount of market share in comparison. A prudent search engine optimization company will likely recommend waiting until the numbers stabilize before charting a course of action.

2. Compromising for Bing at the expense of Google and Yahoo! is not wise. A search engine optimization company can certainly optimize for Bing, but hopefully not at the sacrifice of current rankings on more popular engines.

3. Assuming that Bing will have a static algorithm is foolhardy; if Bing does indeed gain market share in the coming weeks and months, black hat practitioners will try to "game" the system, meaning that we can expect the algorithm to change and evolve rapidly. What works on Bing right now may not work in a matter of weeks.

Responsibly:
1. However, a forward-thinking search engine optimization company can be prepared by creating test sites that are optimized specifically for Bing and learning as much as they can about the algorithm.
2. If ideal rankings are achieved, then your search engine optimization company can determine how these rankings translate to Google and Yahoo!. Obviously, it will be important to follow these statistics closely to see if Bing can gain and maintain ratings or if it will mimic Microsoft's history of poor engine performance.
3. Your search engine optimization company should also locate specific pieces of the Bing algorithm that do not compromise rankings in Google and Yahoo!, but that may help rankings in Bing. Finding attributes of the Bing algorithm that can be applied to your website that will garner higher Bing ratings is obviously in the best interest of the site; we just want to make sure that existing rankings aren't compromised on the road to success.

The Proof Is in the Pudding
Not surprisingly, this is not the first time we've had clients calling us because of some new search engine. And like any other search engine optimization company, we've certainly seen this hype before. There was a time when people were asking us if we were optimizing for the search engine iWon. (Anyone remember that? Didn't think so) To a lesser extent, when Ask.com launched a media blitz a couple years ago touting its new features, many of our clients asked (no pun intended) what our course of action was. With a historical 3% market share, the answer was "not much." We watched as the numbers blipped upwards for a very brief, but stellar moment, and then fell back to previous levels. Of course, any good search engine optimization company will follow these types of numbers closely, but they won't take the reliable engines that they've been driving for granted.

10 Jul 2009

May Not Be As Hard As You Think About SEO

Being found on page one of the major search engines is one of the number one marketing techniques you can use. It's all about bringing targeted traffic and visitors to your site for your niche. Not only that but it is often one of the least costly kinds of advertising even if you hire an expert to do it for you.
For example a Toronto search engine optimization company may charge a few hundred dollars a month for their services. In comparison you would easily spend upwards of a thousand dollars trying to get similar results from paper ads. And optimizing your site can give it much a broader exposure. You don't always need to hire an expert because you can do a number of things yourself if you are willing to put in the effort.
Before you even begin to optimize your site you need to think about which keywords you wish to rank for. Think like a customer to discover keywords phrases they might use to find a similar product or service. The more you can think of the better. These may then be plugged into on-line tools like Google's keyword research tool or on sites such as Wordtracker or Wordze.
These sites can give you an estimate on how often these terms are searched for. If you find some terms that have a great number of monthly searches then it is a good indication that being on page one for that phrase could equal a large number of site visitors.
Remember that frequently the keyword phrases with the most amount of searches are often the most competitive also. That does not mean that you can never rank for them, only that it may take quite a lot of time. A good strategy is to select a mix of difficult and easy to optimize terms. This will help get you a short term and long term focus.
The content contained on the pages of your site should be your next focus. Try to use your chosen keywords into the various web pages. Despite the fact that one of the reasons for using your keywords in your site is for the search engines don't forget that actual visitors will be viewing it.
The greater the number of pages you can add to your site the better. Every time you add new content you are attracting the search engines to frequently return and reindex your web site. This can increase the chances of getting you to page one for many more terms than the ones you are specifically focusing on.
Finally comes what is definitely the most critcal part. Every time another site points to your web site you are one step closer to being on page one. That does not mean getting just any kind of link from any site. They need to be from sites that are of the same theme to yours.
For example if your site is real estate oriented site then you will need to have a real estate search engine optimization strategy. This may include getting links from various real estate agent sites, blogs, or anything related to that topic. You should be more concerned with quality, not just quantity.
One of the premier ways to accomplish this is with article marketing. You create content in the form of articles. These can then be submitted to various directories for inclusion like Article Alley. Your site will get a link pointing back to it in return for handing out free content. This is step you should be doing a minimum of once a week.
You will slowly begin to see your site's traffic and ranking soar. The greater the time period you optimize your site for the better your results will be. It could take some time and work however it is well worth it.

Content With A Good Spelling and Grammar

Just how important is spelling and grammar in online content? It is well known that not everybody in the world speaks English as their primary language. It is also well known that while the first fact is true, the vast majority of all websites and especially websites about Internet Marketing are written in English. Not everybody can be an expert in English but you really should consider the importance of spelling and grammar in your online content.
Would you allow an auto repairman to work on your car after he described such technical issues as "fixing the thingy there" or talking to you about "doo-hickers" and "thingamabobs"?
The fact is that if you are going to allow someone to work on your car, you want them to know a carburetor from distributor and you want to know what they are working on and without a bunch of generic talk or worse yet... gobbledy-gook involved in the discussion. In all likelihood, you would probably leave running and never go back. It may be that they are the greatest mechanic in the world but you would never know that because they could not establish your trust. How many sales pages have you seen where you were almost compelled to buy something that sounded really good but had second thoughts?
I personally know of one very admirable product that is nearly complete in every sense of the word and it really is an awesome product. The sales page is long, involved, detailed and laid out in all the right ways according to the copywriting gurus but conversion rates still hover somewhere around one to two percent. Why is that? Well it could be because it is an expensive product but somehow I doubt that is the case.
It happens to be a very in-depth and informative informational product for Internet Marketing that leads you by the hand from start to finish where you can get enough going to at least get started creating your virtual online empire.While it is actually an incredible product and you would definitely be interested if you saw it, most people will never actually see it.
The fact remains that when somebody is going to "plunk down" their hard-earned cash for an informational product, they want information. "Well Duh!" you say. Still, how are you ever going to trust someone to provide you with valuable and timely information that will actually help you if they can not even get a sales page up without a massive number of errors?
Are you going to trust them or are you going to run whether consciously or not, because you are just not convinced that they know what they are talking about? Nearly everybody is judgmental to a degree. If a fat, smelly, homeless looking person cut in front of you in the line you would be much more likely to get upset than you would if an extremely attractive person graciously intervened and thanked you for your kindness, beguiling you with their charm and good looks.
Facts are facts and no amount of discussion can change reality. The same principles hold true in website copy. If your website is full of errors that could have easily been avoided, it is costing you more than just a little lost ad revenue.
How important is spelling and grammar in online content? Do you want your readers coming back from more or running away without even giving you a chance?

7 Jul 2009

How to People Back to Your Site

One of the biggest measurements of a website's success is the stickiness of its visitor base. Generally web masters would rather have 1,000 visitors who return regularly (they are "stuck to the site") as opposed to 3,000 visitors who only visit once or twice. These days the web is massive, carving out a niche for your site and gaining a following within that niche is the key to success.
There are many reasons why you should try to make your website as sticky as possible. Visitors who return regularly are more likely to purchase some of your products or content. If you have a membership site, then retaining your member base is critical for growing your íncome and long term success. Also, a faithful following will encourage viral promotíon of your site.
Search engine optimization can be a costly and time consuming task and your site's listing can be hammered down by the powers that be (Google) in the blink of an eye. If you gain a faithful user base though, they will tell their friends and family about your site and encourage them to use it as well. Viral marketing is the cheapest and most effective type of marketing there is and making your site and content desirable is the only way to achieve this phenomenon. There are "five C's" of stickiness to remember, and they are:

Content
Regardless of the site's design, without good content, the visitor will not come back or stay at the site for more than a few minutes. "Content is King" is a cliché, but true. High quality content is far and away the most important factor in attracting people back to a Web site consistently, and keeping them there for more than a few minutes when they do visit. It is said, in fact, that content is what drives 75 percent of consumers to return to their favorite sites.
In addition to your site being content rich, try to also keep it fresh. At least part of your site will be regularly updated, preferably at least once a month. This is why web sites which resemble online brochures fail. Delivering the same content in a blog, posted in installments, can be much more effective. This will encourage users to come back regularly, as they check in to see what new content you've added lately. This is stickiness in a nutshell.

Community
When a site attracts enough visitors with similar interests it has the potential to develop into a "community." That can be very powerful for the site owner. Providing message forums, chat rooms, podcasts, user profiles, blogs, etc. are all tools to allow your visitors to interact with both you and each other. This also makes your site VERY sticky if you are able to develop a thriving community.
Rather than visiting your site once a month people may begin to visit it multiple times a week. Having a thriving community can be viewed as developing a site which is constantly developing its own content. Rather than requiring you to spend hours developing content, you can instead monitor the postings on your site to ensure they retain the kind of atmosphere you want for your site. As time goes by you may also be able to appoint some of your more responsible members to monitoring positions to do this job for you as well.

Communication
Communication is equally important as content and community. Communication includes building and maintaining your list, reaching out to people on it and interacting with visitors to your site. Try to respond to any question, comments, or feedback you receive promptly. This builds relationships with your visitors and will keep them coming back.
One of the best ways to reach out to customers is to provide quality, free information. This is basically a sample of what your site has to present, and should always help address the questions your visitors came to your site for answers for. The very nature of the web stresses that you consider offering more free content to your customers than most other mediums do. You have too much competition to be stingy. One of the most effective means of providing content to customers and developing a slate of potential customers at the same time is to give a free guide to visitors who provide you with a name and email address..
For example, if you run a site teaching real estate tips and tricks, after your visitors have seen your "foot in the door" content located on your "splash page," provide them the first lesson of your course on real estate for free in exchange for their name and email address. You benefit from this by having names to attach to the IP addresses of your visitors. This provides you with more information about who is being drawn into your site. It is also important you use a quality auto-responder for this step, as communication is a critical part of your site and must be handled professionally.
One last note on communication: Be sure to provide your name and contact information clearly throughout your site. It will frustrate and turn away visitors if they have a question or comment and cannot figure out how to reach you. By providing a name and place to reach you it also helps contribute to the last two "C's..."

Commerce and Consumer Confidence
These are perhaps the two most important things that get overlooked in websites. First, effectively promote your site by using professional marketing and search engine optimization for the niche your site seeks to fill. Provide reliable, safe, and secure means for your customers to purchase your for-pay content. If your ordering method does not look safe, all your efforts working to sell your content to your visitors will be lost if they get to the order page and you look like an unprofessional, fly-by-night operator. Always use a secure ordering form. Offering a monëy back guarantee can be extremely helpful to reassure customers.
Lastly, respect your customer's privacy. Make it clear you will not sell their names, personal information, or email addresses. People hate spam and will be hesitant to identify themselves to you out of fear of having their information sold if you do not provide some kind of assurance against this. A clear and easy to locate privacy policy is necessary.

6 Jul 2009

A Problems Can Stop Your Success

Anyone interested in online marketing knows that web optimization is critical to a successful business. Web optimization comprises a number of different ideas, including search engine optimization, website analytics, and design factors, among many others.
However, optimization is more than just a standard set of practices. As every good interactive marketing agency knows, it is different for each business, and within each industry.
Those differences are one of the primary aspects that make 'do it yourself' optimization without an interactive marketing agency such a risky prospect. An interactive marketing agency keeps abreast of the ever-changing landscape in order to implement best practices to achieve good positioning and visibility for a website they are also able to conduct in-depth research to understand what your competition is doing as well. If you are learning from scratch and implementing as you go, you can be put at a disadvantage compared to competitors who hire professionals.
In this article, we'll walk through some of the most common misconceptions about optimization. We'll also look at what your company can do to see real optimization success.

Problem 1: Seeing Optimization as a Project With An "End Date"
Optimization, and online marketing in general, isn't a destination. Rather, it's a road, one that must be constantly traveled for optimal levels of success. There is no time when your optimization is "complete", in fact, even once your initial online marketing plan sees success, there will be other ways that you can improve your online presence. The process can always be improved.

Problem 2: Not Planning For Optimization In The Long Run
Because online marketing is a process, wise companies will plan for optimization in the long run. Don't think of it as a short term investment, and don't divert resources you are only comfortable diverting for a few weeks. Think about it more broadly, and give your optimization plan the time and support it needs to be successful. Like any company initiative, if the program is understaffed or underfunded, it won't be able to thrive as it ought to.

Problem 3: Not Monitoring Progress
In the old days, it was next to impossible to know if your agency's plan was doing the job. But now, tracking online marketing results are easy. Think of it like cooking: you have to test the food every so often to see how it's going. If you need to make a change, you learn about it early on, and if the food is great, you know more about how to make it the next time around.
Web optimization is exactly the same way. Keeping track of what policies bring success and which don't will help you in the short term and in the long term. You will have more to work with when you start additional campaigns, and you'll have real results that you can point to. So much depends on customer preference, and only when you start to get a feel for that preference will you see the best outcomes.

Problem 4: Working Alone
It is the rare person who can successfully design and implement an online marketing optimization strategy without the help of an interactive marketing agency. Optimization is a very particular process, with a number of techniques and strategies to learn. Articles like this one can help, but it takes years of experience to become a real optimization expert.
Does it really make sense for you to spend your time learning, rather than hiring the expertise of an interactive marketing agency? In almost every case, focusing on what you do best running your business is the best idea.

Putting it All Together
Now you know some of the most common pitfalls that make optimization programs fail. Do any of them sound familiar? If so, then you're now equipped with the knowledge to change the problem. You can start fresh, and get the optimization results you're looking for. You might not see them overnight, but with time the effect will be noticeable.

2 Jul 2009

Recognize a Bad SEO Company

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about getting potential customers to visit your website. It is also about building a quality website full of great content. It uses keywords appropriately and gets links "naturally" because people love what you have on your site. SEO companies can provide very useful services including keyword research, site review, providing technical advice on your website development and also management of online business marketing campaigns. They can also help with content development, article marketing and article distribution. Although it's not brain surgery, it is hard to do and usually requires a lot of thought and real work.
Some unethical SEO firms attempt to manipulate search engine results in unfair ways. These practices could get your website ranked lower or even banned. When looking at SEO either to optimize yourself or if you are looking to hire a company, here are some things to take into account.

Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Say They Will Get Thousands Of Links To Your Site
It is not the number of sites that make the difference it's the quality of the sites. When firms promise huge numbers of links, or say that you will become part of their "network of sites", it usually means a link farm is involved. A link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to every other site in the group. Search engines don't like this and it can lead to penalties. Instead, practice reciprocal linking with legitimate and related websites for better search engine ranking.

Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Guarantee A High Ranking On Google
No one can guarantee a high ranking on Google. Some SEO companies provide a guarantee on their services. This is fine. What's not fine is guaranteeing high ranking in an incredibly short period of time. When these unrealistic results fail to happen, the company will balk at giving a refund, suggest other services instead and start to become unreachable or disappear.

Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Send "Spammy" Emails
These emails are unsolicited and usually begin with "We've noticed that you are not lísted in some search engines..." You should be searching for a high-ranking SEO company; they will not be searching for you. Spam means scam. You don't buy your medications from spammers so why buy SEO services from them?

Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Are Secretive Or Don't Clearly Explain What They Are Going To Do
Most reputable SEO firms are upfront with their clients and like to share their knowledge. They are confident that even if their clients understand their process, they won't leave them. If the SEO firm claims it's too complicated for you to understand, or if they say they have trade secrets and proprietary technology, it's a sign that they may not be ethical in dealing with your website.

Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Say They Will Submít Your Site To Thousands Of Top Search Engines And Directories
Besides the small fact that there aren't that many search engines, consider that the guidelines of the search engines themselves tell you that it doesn't do any good anymore. Search Engines are good at what they do - searching for sites - and you don't need to pay someone to submít your site to a search engine. If they make this claim, they will probably use Free For All (FFA) junk sites that might damage your site's standings.

Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That Say They Can Optimize And Promote Your Site For A Low, Low Monthly Fee
Not all monthly SEO or SEM (Search Engine Management) service contracts or monthly fees are a scam. There are real reasons to pay a monthly fee to an SEO expert. These would include conditions when you would require SEO management: when you or someone else is constantly generating new content or new features for your site; implementing link-building campaigns; implementing PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns; or starting a brandcasting campaign. Press release distribution, email campaigns and article marketing campaigns could also require a legitimate monthly fee.
Not so legitimate fees could include monthly re-submittíng of your site to search engines, "tweaking" your code to keep up with changes and regularly submitting your site to hundreds of useless free-for-all directories. The worthwhile companies that charge a monthly fee will usually be able to tell you exactly how much it is per month to generate blog entries or generate and distribute articles or press releases.

Choose Your SEO Company And Services Carefully
Do your research and don't make the decision lightly. If you were hiring a contractor to remodel your kitchen you would want to see other kitchen projects they've done and speak with the owners about the company's business practices. You should do the same thing when hiring an SEO company. Get referrals and really speak with them.
There are many online tips about choosing and hiring SEO firms that you can check out as well. Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy and you should take the time to do your research before buying or you'll probably be buying again.

Trends To Watch Out For In Search Engine Optimisation

If you know anything about the fundamentals of search engine optimisation, you will know that the experts' opinions on what to do, what is now considered redundant and recommendations of the absolutely necessary elements you must put in place on your website, change with mind-spinning frequency. However, the bigger trends in search engine optimisation are easier to keep up with and most seem to be here to stay, as business owners become more attuned to just how important SEO is to their success.

SEO Trends 2009 And Beyond
The industry and 'bigger picture' trends have become relatively easy to identify as the SEO world becomes more established - increased awareness of SEO in general being the first major trend. Search engine optimisation used to be an exclusive world, with only those practising it really knowing what it entailed and how it boosted a website's visitor stats.
Now, most people know what it means, and most business owners are aware of just how important the internet is and how SEO can help them gain more customers.

The next major trend and one which is definitely here to stay, is the rise and rise of Google - they have dominated the world of search engine optimisation for years, and their lead over competitors such as Yahoo and MSN is only getting bigger. When Google speaks, SEO consultants listen and if your business is not being found on Google, it's almost certain it's not being found at all around 70% of user searches are done using Google.
SEO tools and automated processes are becoming an important part of the reporting of website results - individuals are focusing on developing these tools for companies to buy, who may be struggling to find or afford a good search engine optimisation agency. Such tools can offer good basic data, but it's worth remembering that it's still what you do with the data that's important.
Dipping into the actual technicalities of good SEO practice, good content has been king for a while and remains so. As a business owner, if you write, or employ an SEO copywriter to write good quality articles and press releases, this will benefit your search results hugely, encourages links to and from your website and links are extremely important as the 'currency' of good quality SEO.

Finally, a trend clear to all not just those operating in the search engine optimisation world is the rise and rise of social networking sites. Facebook and now Twitter are educating people to communicate in a whole different way, and business owners should be engaging these people in order to develop a whole new audience.

Keep Up With SEO Your Business Will Benefit
There are many more trends in search engine optimisation, too many to mention here, but one thing remains clear - business owners small and large cannot afford to ignore SEO and must become well-versed in good SEO practice if they want to keep up with the ever-changing world of consumer web behaviour.