WebMastersLoom

Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash — Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually DECREASED the response from prospects and customers by as much as three-hundred-and-seventy percent?

Here’s why: Your prospects and customers are most likely visiting your website using all types of different computers, connection speeds and internet configuration settings…

What may look GREAT to one visitor, may not even appear for another! You could very easily have shelled out hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website created using the Flash technology, only to find out that some of your visitors will never see it! (not to mention the loading times can cause your visitor to close your site, never to return again.)

Huge Mistake #2: The “Internet Catalog” Approach — You see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking businessmen and women get online to sell their products or services, and have a site created for them that contains a link to just about everything they offer on one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of, “…well, I don’t want to leave anyone out. If they come to my site, I want to make sure I have what they’re looking for…” — This way of thinking could not be further from the truth.

Here’s why: There’s an ancient rule that goes back to the very beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet marketers of all time…

“When you give your prospects too many choices, they become confused and aren’t sure what to do next. Confused people never buy anything.”

Huge Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the Search Engines — You’ll see this taught in nearly every “internet marketing” course, manual or eBook out there… “You must optimize every page of your website for the search engines!” — In fact, this false teaching is accepted as ‘gospel truth’ so often, that most web designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little extra cost…

What they DON’T understand is that certain words and phrases must be either re-worded (to make it “keyword rich”) or taken out completely, just to be looked upon highly by the mighty search engines — and this could KILL your sales, literally overnight.

Here’s why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your SALES page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your products and services) to get a higher listing in the search engines, you’re going to have to sacrifice the pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this can bring you more traffic — but what good is all the traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your website and aren’t compelled enough to read why they should order your product?

For years, it has been taught that you should always try to find a “balance” of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your products and services…

WRONG AGAIN! — The truth is that you should NEVER optimize your sales page for the Search Engines. Instead, you should create tiny “entry pages” for each keyword related to your product or service, (highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them link to your main sales site! (we can show you exactly how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive* targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever *touching* your sales site!)

Huge Mistake #4: Having a “Graphics-Based” Website — Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a particular situation or circumstance, product or service… But did you know that having a graphically-driven website can actually DISTRACT your visitor away from your sales message?

After all, your sales message (or “web copy”) is THE #1 most important factor in a website that makes money. If your visitors are paying more attention to your “professional graphics” than your sales message… you’ve just lost another sale.

Here’s why: You’ve got approximately seven seconds from the time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they decide whether to buy your product, get more information or LEAVE. If you’ve got a graphically-intensive website, your website will most likely still be loading past your seven-second time limit.

That’s a “customer-killer” in and of itself - however, the real reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will distract your visitor from your sales message. And if your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a customer.

Huge Mistake #5: Designing a Website with ZERO Marketing Experience — Most web designers have no idea how to make money on the internet, with anything other than their design services. It’s not their fault - they simply have no or very little marketing and sales experience. After all, they’re just website designers…

However, having your website designed by someone with ZERO internet marketing experience is like buying a street-car without an engine… it won’t go anywhere, and it’ll just waste your time and money!

For more information on how to have your website designed (or re-designed) by a well-known expert in the field of direct-response internet marketing, go here: http://www.ImmWebDesign.com

There are many different traffic analysis tools, ranging from simple counters to complete traffic analyzers. Although there are some free ones, most of them come with a price tag. Why not do it yourself? With PHP, you can easily create a log file within minutes. In this article I will show you how!

Getting the information

The most important part is getting the information from your visitor. Thankfully, this is extremely easy to do in PHP (or any other scripting language for that matter). PHP has a special global variable called $_SERVER which contains several environment variables, including information about your visitor. To get all the information you want, simply use the following code:

// Getting the information
$ipaddress = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
$page = "http://{$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']}{$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']}";
$page .= iif(!empty($_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']), "?{$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING']}", "");
$referrer = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
$datetime = mktime();
$useragent = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
$remotehost = @getHostByAddr($ipaddress);

As you can see the majority of information comes from the $_SERVER variable. The mktime() (http://nl2.php.net/mktime) and getHostByAddr() (http://nl2.php.net/manual/en/function.gethostbyaddr.php) functions are used to get additional information about the visitor.

Note: I used a function in the above example called iif(). You can get this function at http://www.phpit.net/code/iif-function.

Logging the information

Now that you have all the information you need, it must be written to a log file so you can later look at it, and create useful graphs and charts. To do this you need a few simple PHP function, like fopen (http://www.php.net/fopen) and fwrite (http://www.php.net/fwrite).

The below code will first create a complete line out of all the information. Then it will open the log file in “Append” mode, and if it doesn’t exist yet, create it.

If no errors have occurred, it will write the new logline to the log file, at the bottom, and finally close the log file again.

// Create log line
$logline = $ipaddress . '|' . $referrer . '|' . $datetime . '|' . $useragent . '|' . $remotehost . '|' . $page . "\n";

// Write to log file:
$logfile = '/some/path/to/your/logfile.txt';

// Open the log file in "Append" mode
if (!$handle = fopen($logfile, 'a+')) {
	die("Failed to open log file");
}

// Write $logline to our logfile.
if (fwrite($handle, $logline) === FALSE) {
	die("Failed to write to log file");
}

fclose($handle);

Now you’ve got a fully function logging module. To start tracking visitors on your website simply include the logging module into your pages with the include() function (http://www.php.net/include):

include ('log.php');

Okay, now I want to view my log file

After a while you’ll probably want to view your log file. You can easily do so by simply using a standard text editor (like Notepad on Windows) to open the log file, but this is far from desired, because it’s in a hard-to-read format.

Let’s use PHP to generate useful overviews for is. The first thing that needs to be done is get the contents from the log file in a variable, like so:

// Open log file
$logfile = "/some/path/to/your/logfile.txt";

if (file_exists($logfile)) {

	$handle = fopen($logfile, "r");
	$log = fread($handle, filesize($logfile));
	fclose($handle);
} else {
	die ("The log file doesn't exist!");
}

Now that the log file is in a variable, it’s best if each logline is in a separate variable. We can do this using the explode() function (http://www.php.net/explode), like so:

// Seperate each logline
$log = explode("\n", trim($log));

After that it may be useful to get each part of each logline in a separate variable. This can be done by looping through each logline, and using explode again:

// Seperate each part in each logline
for ($i = 0; $i < count($log); $i++) {
	$log[$i] = trim($log[$i]);
	$log[$i] = explode('|', $log[$i]);
}

Now the complete log file has been parsed, and we’re ready to start generating some interesting stuff.

The first thing that is very easy to do is getting the number of pageviews. Simply use count() (http://www.phpit.net/count) on the $log array, and there you have it;

echo count($log) . " people have visited this website.";

You can also generate a complete overview of your log file, using a simple foreach loop and tables. For example:

// Show a table of the logfile
echo '<table>';
echo '<th>IP Address</th>';
echo '<th>Referrer</th>';
echo '<th>Date</th>';
echo '<th>Useragent</th>';
echo '<th>Remote Host</th>';

foreach ($log as $logline) {
	echo '<tr>';

	echo '<td>' . $logline['0'] . '</td>';
	echo '<td>' . urldecode($logline['1']) . '</td>';
	echo '<td>' . date('d/m/Y', $logline['2']) . '</td>';
	echo '<td>' . $logline['3'] . '</td>';
	echo '<td>' . $logline['4'] . '</td>';

	echo '</tr>';

}

echo '</table>';

You can also use custom functions to filter out search engines and crawlers. Or create graphs using PHP/SWF Charts (http://www.maani.us/charts/index.php). The possibilities are endless, and you can do all kinds of things!

In Conclusion…

In this article I have shown you have to create a logging module for your own PHP website, using nothing more than PHP and its built-in functions. To view the log file you need to parse it using PHP, and then display it in whatever way you like. It is up to you to create a kick-ass traffic analyzer.

If you still prefer to use a pre-built traffic analyzer, have a look at http://www.hotscripts.com.

A powerful way to convey your communication messages to your audience is to be able to have your promotional video available on your website.

Yet, we have probably all experienced visiting a website and clicking on a video only to have to been irritated that the content is not viewable or that the sound is inaudible. The result is we leave the website in frustration.

So how do you make sure the video content on your website can be watched by your audience? It all boils down to how you want your viewers to access your video file and the level of video quality you want your movie to be played at.

There are two different ways of sharing your video file on the web:

1. Streamable Video

This is where the viewer is able to download sections of your video (otherwise known as “streaming”), while the video is playing. The main benefit of this method is that the user does not have to spend time downloading the complete video before viewing.

There are three major streaming video formats – RealVideo (RM), QuickTime (MOV) and Windows Media (WMV). These are playable on Real Player, QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player respectively. Windows Media Player is widely available on most PC’s as it is part of Windows Operating System. The other players need to be installed.

The only negative with streamable video is that the quality of the video is dependent upon Internet connection. In addition, it has the annoying habit of dropping video frames because the streaming software has to adjust the data rate based on the speed of your Internet connection, in order to keep playing the video.

2. Download and Play

This is where the viewer needs to download the entire video first, then play it on their video player application. The main advantage is that the video quality is not affected by Internet connection speed.

However, it can take some time for the video to download if the file is large.

So which format do you choose?

In a world where first impressions always count, it is ??? important for companies to appear professional and trustworthy at all times. Marketing videos with poor picture quality are likely to reflect a poor quality company in the mind of the viewer. Consequently, we always recommend the download and play option. This is because it allows for high quality video content to be viewed.

However, as you don’t want viewers to give up on downloading your video, we only recommend that short video clips are inserted onto your website.

This means your website users will be able to download a short video at a high quality picture resolution that will portray your company in the best possible way.

When building and getting a site online you have to think of a number of things. Some of these include the following:

1. What is your site going to be about

If you want to get a site online to make money then you need to do some good research before you choose what your site is going to be about. This is because there is no point in you choosing a topic for your site where other people have no interest in. If no one has any interest in the topic of your site then you will find it very had to get a good amount of visitors to your site. So the best thing to do is to choose a topic that is likely to interest a large number of people and is also likely to make you some good revenue online.

2. What web hosting provider are you going to choose to host your site with

Choosing the right Web hosting provider is very important when choosing it to host your site. This is because there is no point in choosing a Web hosting provider that is likely to be unreliable just because it is cheap or just because you don’t know enough about it. The article at: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/a00033/854.html gives you a better idea on how to choose a good Web hosting provider to host your site with.

3. How can you add more content to your site

Once you have your site up and running, you will then need to think of ways of making your site bigger and also updating your sites content on a regular basis so that your visitors don’t get bored of your site and so that they will have a reason to keep visiting your site on a regular basis. Some ways of adding content to your site could include the following:

• You could add some free reprint able articles to your site that is on the same topic as your site. You can find well over 800 reprint able articles at: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/articledir.php
• You could add some free to play games on your site so it becomes stickier. You can find a load at: http://www.miniclip.com
• You could add a forum to your site so people can keep informed of current events and updates on your site and also chat amongst each other. You can find some good forum scripts at: http://www.hotscripts.com where some of these are free with the GPL.

4. How are you going to earn from your site

Once you have built your site and have found a good web host to host your site with, you will then need to think about how you are going to earn from your site.

If you are selling your own products or offering your own services, you may also want to add a few affiliate programs to your site so that you can produce a little extra income from these programs as well as earning the money from selling your own products or offering your own services. You can find well over 800 affiliate programs at: http://www.affiliateseeking.com. These include pay per click programs, pay per lead programs, two-tiered programs, pay per impression programs, residual income programs and more.

5. How are you going to promote your site to get visitors

Now that you have your site up and running with maybe a few affiliate programs included within your sites content, you will now need to promote your site so that you can start getting noticed on the Web. The article at: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/a00000/197.html gives you some of the best ways of getting visitors to your site.

Once you have done the above five things, you should now have your own site online. The amount of visitors that your site will receive and the amount of money you will make from your site will all depend on the amount of work and effort you put into your site. The more work you do with your site, the more money you are likely to make.

When building your first site the main things that you will probably think about is what types of content you will be adding to your site, how you are going to get visitors to your site and how you are going to generate good revenue from your site.

Well, all of the things mentioned above are crucial things to consider, but then again, what’s the point in thinking about them if you can’t even get a good Web host to host your site with. If you choose a Web host that has a poor service then it can do more damage to your site than good. If your sites host goes down often then your site will also go down and your visitors will get annoyed and will go elsewhere. Your sites earnings will decline and many people online will ignore your site, as people will start to think that your site is down more than what it’s up.

So now you are probably thinking to yourself, “where and how can I find a good Web host to host my site with, which is also reasonably priced?”

If you need a Web host that is reasonably priced so that you can make more profit from the turnover of your site, then a good place to start looking is by using a few Web hosting directories. You could start by using http://www.1hostseeking.com.

Ok! Now your probably think “why would I want to use a Web hosting directory as they contain many Web hosting providers and not all of them are likely to be good.”

The main reasons why you should use a Web hosting directory to find a Web host is so that you can easily find and compare a large amount of Web hosting providers that offer the services that you need to run your site successfully. You can also compare each Web host’s prices against each other and then you will be able to find a reasonably priced Web host.

Once you have narrowed down your search to a few Web hosts from the Web hosting directory, you could then go to your chosen Web hosting providers sites and check them out to have a better understanding to what they offer. If they look good, then the best thing to do is not to purchase any hosting from them until you have checked them out more virally. Checking a Web host out to see if they are reliable can be done by searching through some of the major search engines for reviews on your chosen few Web hosts and also you can check through some of the larger forums that discuss Web hosting topics. If you can’t find any information about the few Web hosts that you have narrowed down and chosen within any of the forums that you use, then you could always bring up that topic yourself and ask others what they think about your chosen Web hosts and if they have had any experiences with the them.

Once you have received other people’s opinions about the Web hosts and you have also read a number of reviews about them, you will then have a better understanding of what Web host should be the best to use for you Website.

Introduction

PHP can be used for a lot of different things, and is one of the most powerful scripting languages available on the web. Not to mention it’s extremely cheap and widely used. However, one thing that PHP is lacking, and in fact most scripting languages are, is a way to update pages in real-time, without having to reload a page or submit a form.

The internet wasn’t made for this. The web browser closes the connection with the web server as soon as it has received all the data. This means that after this no more data can be exchanged. What if you want to do an update though? If you’re building a PHP application (e.g. a high-quality content management system), then it’d be ideal if it worked almost like a native Windows/Linux application.

But that requires real-time updates. Something that isn’t possible, or so you would think. A good example of an application that works in (almost) real-time is Google’s GMail (http://gmail.google.com). Everything is JavaScript powered, and it’s very powerful and dynamic. In fact, this is one of the biggest selling-points of GMail. What if you could have this in your own PHP websites as well? Guess what, I’m going to show you in this article.

How does it work?

If you want to execute a PHP script, you need to reload a page, submit a form, or something similar. Basically, a new connection to the server needs to be opened, and this means that the browser goes to a new page, losing the previous page. For a long while now, web developers have been using tricks to get around this, like using a 1×1 iframe, where a new PHP page is loaded, but this is far from ideal.

Now, there is a new way of executing a PHP script without having to reload the page. The basis behind this new way is a JavaScript component called the XML HTTP Request Object. See http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html for more information about the component. It is supported in all major browsers (Internet Explorer 5.5+, Safari, Mozilla/Firefox and Opera 7.6+).

With this object and some custom JavaScript functions, you can create some rather impressive PHP applications. Let’s look at a first example, which dynamically updates the date/time.

Example 1

First, copy the code below and save it in a file called ’script.js’:

var xmlhttp=false;
/*@cc_on @*/
/*@if (@_jscript_version >= 5)
// JScript gives us Conditional compilation, we can cope with old IE versions.
// and security blocked creation of the objects.
 try {
  xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP");
 } catch (e) {
  try {
   xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
  } catch (E) {
   xmlhttp = false;
  }
 }
@end @*/
if (!xmlhttp && typeof XMLHttpRequest!='undefined') {
  xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
}

function loadFragmentInToElement(fragment_url, element_id) {
    var element = document.getElementById(element_id);
    element.innerHTML = '<em>Loading ...</em>';
    xmlhttp.open("GET", fragment_url);
    xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200) {
            element.innerHTML = xmlhttp.responseText;
        }
    }
    xmlhttp.send(null);
}

Then copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ’server1.php’:

<?php
echo date("l dS of F Y h:i:s A");
?>

And finally, copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ‘client1.php’. Please note though that you need to edit the line that says ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/server1.php’ to the correct location of server1.php on your server.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Strict//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Example 1</title>
<script src="script.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
	function updatedate() {
		loadFragmentInToElement('http://www.yourdomain.com/server1.php', 'currentdate');
	}

</script>
</head>

<body>
	The current date is	<span id="currentdate"><?php echo date("l dS of F Y h:i:s A"); ?></span>.<br /><br />

	<input type="button" value="Update date" OnClick="updatedate();" />
</body>

</html>

Now go to http://www.yourdomain.com/client1.php and click on the button that says ‘Update date’. The date will update, without the page having to be reloaded. This is done with the XML HTTP Request object. This example can also be viewed online at http://www.phpit.net/demo/php%20on%20the%20fly/client1.php.

Example 2

Let’s try a more advanced example. In the following example, the visitor can enter two numbers, and they are added up by PHP (and not by JavaScript). This shows the true power of PHP and the XML HTTP Request Object.

This example uses the same script.js as in the first example, so you don’t need to create this again. First, copy the code below and paste it in a file called ’server2.php’:

<?php

// Get numbers
$num1 = intval($_GET['num1']);
$num2 = intval($_GET['num2']);

// Return answer
echo ($num1 + $num2);

?>

And then, copy the code below, and paste it in a file called ‘client2.php’. Please note though that you need to edit the line that says ‘http://www.yourdomain.com/server2.php’ to the correct location of server2.php on your server.

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Strict//EN">
<html>
<head>
<title>Example 2</title>
<script src="script.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
	function calc() {
		num1 = document.getElementById ('num1').value;
		num2 = document.getElementById ('num2').value;

		var element = document.getElementById('answer');
		xmlhttp.open("GET", 'http://www.yourdomain.com/server2.php?num1=' + num1 + '&num2=' + num2);
		xmlhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
			if (xmlhttp.readyState == 4 && xmlhttp.status == 200) {
				element.value = xmlhttp.responseText;
			}
		}
	    xmlhttp.send(null);
	}
</script>
</head>

<body>
	Use the below form to add up two numbers. The answer is calculated by a PHP script, and <em>not</em> with JavaScript. What's the advantage to this? You can execute server-side scripts (PHP) without having to refresh the page.<br /><br />

	<input type="text" id="num1" size="3" /> + <input type="text" id="num2" size="3" /> = <input type="text" id="answer" size="5" />

	<input type="button" value="Calculate!" OnClick="calc();" />
</body>

</html>

When you run this example, you can add up two numbers, using PHP and no reloading at all! If you can’t get this example to work, then have a look on http://www.phpit.net/demo/php%20on%20the%20fly/client3.php to see the example online.

Any Disadvantages…?

There are only two real disadvantages to this system. First of all, anyone who has JavaScript turned off, or their browser doesn’t support the XML HTTP Request Object will not be able to run it. This means you will have to make sure that there is a non-JavaScript version, or make sure all your visitors have JavaScript enabled (e.g. an Intranet application, where you can require JS).

Another disadvantage is the fact that it breaks bookmarks. People won’t be able to bookmark your pages, if there is any dynamic content in there. But if you’re creating a PHP application (and not a PHP website), then bookmarks are probably not very useful anyway.

Conclusion

As I’ve shown you, using two very simple examples, it is entirely possible to execute PHP scripts, without having to refresh the page. I suggest you read more about the XML HTTP Request Object (http://jibbering.com/2002/4/httprequest.html) and its capabilities.

The things you can do are limitless. For example, you could create an extremely neat paging system, that doesn’t require reloading at all. Or you could create a GUI for your PHP application, which behaves exactly like Windows XP. Just think about it!

Be aware though that JavaScript must be enabled for this to work. Without JavaScript this will be completely useless. So make sure your visitors support JavaScript, or create a non-JavaScript version as well.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long and complicated process that can be highly rewarding if done correctly. SEO is not a waste of time, but can be if your site doesn’t appeal to visitors or function properly. Your potential customer will be turned off if your site lacks trustworthiness, an eye pleasing color scheme and easy to use navigation. Why lose visitors and possible sales because of a small design flaw or unappealing color scheme? Those visitors could have resulted in sales if those small imperfections were fixed.

As I arrive from your high position in the search engines looking for your product, I want to be able to trust the company I am buying from. People are very leery with making purchases on the Internet, and even more so from sites they don’t know a great deal about. You want to gain trust from the visitor with guarantees, a professional design and color scheme, testimonials and by any other way. If your site doesn’t boast its trustworthiness and make me feel secure, do you think I will purchase your product? No. Visitors are especially leery when they are required to give credit card information. Make them feel protected, boast about your privacy policy, encrypted servers and whatever else you have set up. Be enthusiastic about your site’s security.

I need to be able to find what I want and navigate to where I need to go FAST after I arrive at your site via the search engines. Some visitors get lost and frustrated with poor navigation and will leave your site without a second thought. Do not leave your visitor with a bad taste in their mouth! Allow them to flow through your site with ease and comfort. If your navigation is confusing your potential customer will likely leave and travel to one of the other three billion web sites on the Internet. Speed is also a factor in navigation. Visitors don’t want to sit there for twenty or thirty seconds while your page loads. Don’t make them wait. Cut down on the size of your pages and graphics.

The colors you choose for your site also impact on whether the visitor will make a purchase. A color scheme that hurts the eye will turn visitors off which will lead to lost sales. Visitors may also question how accountable your site is. You cannot have a black background with white, yellow or neon green text. It hurts the eyes. Color schemes such as that scare visitors away. With professional colors visitors will likely feel more secure and relaxed while surfing your site, which will lead to more sales.

A top position in the search engines can provide huge amounts of sales, if your site can be trusted and appeal to visitors. With a defective design and color scheme, slow loading pages or lack of trustworthiness all of the time spent performing SEO could go to waste. So get out, fix those flaws and discover more sales!

I took a look at a new Website recently in response to a request for a site review on one of my favorite forums. And, while the appearance was pleasing, there wasn’t really much there. Too often, new folks to the Internet marketing world make this crucial mistake. They think that if they build a stay at home job website, customers will automaically show up and start buying stuff. When those customers don’t materialize, the site owner often gives up and quits.

In order for any stay at home jobsite to attract quality visitors, there are some things that need to be done. In this article, I will give you a small list of objectives, along with brief hints on how to go about meeting them. If you follow through, your site will advance in the search engine rankings, and before you know it the visitors will be showing up faster than you can count them.

Search Engines Love Content

Involve yourself in an ongoing process of collecting and/or producing articles for inclusion on your site. There are many sources of articles on the Internet. Some of them charge a small fee, while others are free. Look for articles that are relevant to the subject of your site, and add them. If these articles are rich with the keywords that you wish to target, so much the better.

You can also write your own articles. This allows you to concentrate on the keywords that you wish to target, and establishes you as an expert in your field.

By adding your resource box, with your URL, to the end of your articles and then submitting them to other sites and Ezines, you can generate additional traffic to your site. More about this later.

Invite your visitors to submit articles to your site for publication. This helps to build visitor loyalty, because eveybody likes to see their name in print;)

Search Engines Love Links.

The second thing that you need to do is exchange links with other websites. Search Engines look to see how many links point to your site and use this information to gauge the importance of your site. The more links you have, the better, but look for links that add value for your visitors. Make sure that you link to quality sites that are somehow related to what your visitors are looking for. In this way, you will get traffic that is targeted to what you are trying to sell. This will increase your chances of making sales or signing up affiliates who have a good chance of being successful in your business.

There are two basic types of links; reciprocal links and one way links. Reciprocal links occur when you trade links with another website. These are important because not only do they help in your rankings, they also generate traffic from the sites that you link to. One way links are a bit different. These are links that point people to your site, but do not point your visitors away from your site. As a result, they are more valuable. Not too many webmasters are willing to give away one way links, but there are a couple of good techniques that you can use to get them.

1. Write articles and offer them for publication. You will be pleasantly surprised by the number of sites and Ezines that are looking for quality articles to use for content. By placing your resource box at the end of the article, and including a link to your site, you can generate dozens, if not hundreds of one way links to your site. To find sites that accept articles, simply do a search for ‘Free Website Content.’ You will find several good sites. Also think about joining the Directory of Ezines. Many of the publications listed there accept articles, and some of them will even invite you to write for them on a regular basis.

2. Visit several forums and bulletin boards that deal with stay at home jobs. Especially, those that are directly related to your field of expertise. Many of these allow you to include your URL in your signature block. By participating in these forums, you will be able to create many more one way links to your site. Just make sure that you offer sound advice, and make relevant posts. If you don’t, you could be considered a nuisance or worse, a spammer.

The addition of content in the form of articles and links to your site should be an ongoing process. If you concentrate on these two things and continually add to your site, you will not only move up in the search engine rankings, but you will end up with a site that has great value to your visitors. Add to your site every day. Remember, you are in competition with a lot of other related websites, and chances are,they are already be doing this.

An accessible Web site is easily approached, easily understood, and useable for all. There are accessibility standards set forth by the World Wide Web Consortium, which all sites should adhere to as much as possible.

Web site owners should be aware of accessibility standards, because most designers and developers often ignore them. It is a waste of your investment to develop a great site that many Web surfers may not even be able to use.

While personal sites can get away with more innovative technologies, most commercial sites should not go overboard. If you do business internationally, or with customers who are located anywhere but in a city, the user’s bandwidth is a big issue. If it takes longer than a few seconds to open a document from your site, users are likely to move on, to another site that will work faster. Sites that receive a large amount of traffic will also save on hosting fees by keeping downloads to a minimum.

Not all browsers are created equal. Check your site for compatibility on as many computers as you can. It’s wise to consider that some people don’t allow JavaScript, cookies, images, or Flash and some people use text readers. By viewing your site on many machines, you often will find issues with the way your site operates or looks.

Search engine spiders will have an easier time indexing your pages when the links are standard HTML text. Text links also improve your positioning on search engines. If the text in your site is within a graphic or a Flash movie, most search engines won’t even be able to pick it up, and you may never show up for the phrases you wish to be found for.

If your site takes away the ability for a visitor to utilize certain browser functions, you will lose more than you will gain. Removing tool bars, not allowing text resize, and functions that automatically redirect a user to another page and then do not allow for the “back” function, are all tactics to avoid.

These are but a few examples of accessibility issues. Ultimately, a Web site can never be accessible enough. Awareness is step one.

Whatever type of website you want to host, choosing the correct host can be tricky. Most hosting companies offer you more than you will ever use, their sales staff recommend high-end packages for small websites.

Be careful when choosing, you will need room to expand but before you contact a company’s sales department; take a look at the size of your website. If it’s 10MB you wont need 1&1s Home package with 800MB for £4.99 a month!

Price and disk space aren’t the only factors to consider when choosing a host. Monthly transfer is how much information can be moved by both visitors and you; this may be from uploading and downloading files. Monthly transfer is also know as bandwidth and is slowly eaten up by every visit. I have seen many hosts offering more space then transfer! Don’t get caught out.

If you’re planning to install a forum or a content management system, they will both require a database. Linux and windows based hosts both handle MySQL databases, but Linux is usually praised as being the more efficient. Your host should allow you to add an extra database to your account with only a small fee, but you need to find out how many are included and how much upgrades cost before you decide on whom to hand your money too.

It is usually a good idea to use a company who you know is trustworthy, whether you know someone using them or have heard of their good services.