WebMastersLoom

How you write and design your links is crucial to your visitors clicking them or not. Write them badly and they leave, write them well and they stay. Who knows, they might even do exactly that what you created your site for. Following are 7 guidelines how links should be written to improve the usability of your site.

Do it consistently

Visitors learn for example how a website marks the links or where the “related-content box” can be found. Consistently adhering to these established “codes” will make it easy to navigate and read the site.

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When it comes to building a website, most individuals and small business owners think you either have to do it yourself or hire someone to do it. Web builder software is often the better option for this group by far.

Even if you’re a seasoned web professional, you should know what web builder software can offer private individuals and small businesses. Designers regularly waste time fielding inquiries from small-time website owners who don’t realize the time, effort, and therefore cost involved in making a website from scratch. Or your brain may be picked endlessly by a would-be developer. Recommending a good web builder program is a great way to help this group–you can even monetize these non-prospects by reselling web builder software or referring it as an affiliate.

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This hands on PHP Programming article provides the knowledge necessary to design and develop a search engine for your website using PHP version 4.0 and above. Making a search engine for your website with PHP is really easy and provides substantial functionality required by most of the small to medium websites. This article introduces every steps of the development, including both design and PHP programming. Basic computer skills and knowledge of HTML fundamentals are required. Ok, let’s begin now.

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If you are thinking about, or you are in the process of creating a new site, you will most definitely find this article interesting and maybe even inspiring. Actually the term ?interesting? is not quite what I thought as I slowly and painfully reconstructed the pages on my mother?s website several times over.

I wanted to create a site that was going to be both incredibly user friendly and informative, and at the same time earn a bit of revenue from Google Adsense! Why not?

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Are you going to design or redesign new website or thinking for it, then first read below given points, which google likes in a website, Google Information for Webmasters. There are more than 80 factors of your website that are taken into consideration when determining the ranking of your website, Following these guidelines will help Google find, index, and rank your site. Basic principles:

1) Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don’t deceive your users or present different content to search engines than you display to users, which is commonly referred to as “cloaking.”

2) Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is whether you’d feel comfortable explaining what you’ve done to a website that competes with you. Another useful test is to ask, “Does this help my users? Would I do this if search engines didn’t exist?” 3) Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.

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For new internet marketers, your immediate goal is to get your website into as many search engines as possible. These services can charge a tremendous amount of money and require recurring monthly service fees. Very tempting to new internet marketers with all the hype “Instantly submit your websites to 1000’s of websites” and “Get Your Website Listed in 24 hours.” Stop! Let me show you a few ideas, so you can achieve the same success and save yourself some money better spent on pay per click campaigns.

Its true many services can submit your website to over 1000’s of websites. According to various online statistics: Google, MSN, and Yahoo provide nearly 90% of all Search Engine Traffic. First and foremost, if 90% of the Search Engine Traffic comes from only these major search engines, I want to focus on these just these three. But if you are so determined to submit to as many websites as you, these same services are available free online, a simple search for Free Website Submission will provide you with many opportunities to submit your website for free and the major search engines all offer free website submissions.

Wait! Any Search Engine Optimization Expert will tell you, NEVER submit your website to the Search Engines!? So, how do I get my website listed?

Accordingly to recent online information any website that has a Google Page Rank 7 or above will get your website listed in 24 hours, or Page Rank 5 or 6 in 48 hours. Most of these services that offer a 24 hours Listing already have websites that have PR5 or above and simply temporarily add your link so that your website can be quickly crawled by the search engines for a nice fee.

So, how can I get my website listed in the major search engines in 24 hours?

First start submitting your website to several SEO Friendly Directories:

a. http://directory.ezweb-tools.com at EZWeb-Tools, SEO Friendly Directory

b. http://info.vilesilencer.com/main.php?rock=seo-friendly-list.php - Offers over 150 Free SEO Friendly directories in a list to submit your websites to of various Page Ranks.

After submitting to all the above directory listings your website will begin to appear in the next 24 ? 48 hours. Search Engines will be crawling these websites daily, and once your website link is posted it will soon crawl your website and be included in their index.

Why are there so many Web Design and Search Engine Optimisation myths on the internet? The following article exposes some of the most common SEO myths effecting web design and looks at the reasons why they have become widely accepted as the truth by many web designers and Webmasters.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a complex and diverse topic that?s both never constant and constantly changing. There are hundreds of myths about SEO, some were once true but no longer apply (outdated information), while others were simply never true to begin with (disinformation).

The large amount of different opinions and tactics used by both Web Designers and SEO Consultants (which can be completely contrasting) has also helped to create myths. Combine this with the large number of web forums and blogs that allow people to share their views, and you have the perfect environment for not only creating myths but for them to spread like a viral epidemic. Here are some of the most common myths explained.

Myth Name: Build it and they will come

Myth Description: The belief that a website will receive large quantities of targeted traffic as soon as it goes online.

Truth: The biggest myth I still come across most days is the aptly named ?build it and they will come myth?. The cause of the myth is a combination of outdated information, a non realistic, over optimistic site owner or a lack of understanding of the web. Back in the old days of the internet you could ?build a site and they would come?, just by submitting to the main search engines of the day (to a degree). This was largely due to the lack of web sites around at the time, meaning top positions were that much easier to secure.

Nowadays a site must be advertised just like any business. A good analogy is your site is shop and a search engine is a high-street. The only problem is your shop is not on the high-street, so some kind of sign is required to inform passers by where you are and what you do.

Myth Name: Search Engine Submission Myths

Myth Description: The belief that a website needs to submit every page to the search engines. The belief that regular or monthly submissions will result in better search engine rankings. The belief that a website needs to keep on submitting to search engines or they will forget about the site. The belief that if a website submits to thousands of search engines its traffic levels will go through the roof.

Truth: While some of these myths used to have a bit of truth to them, nowadays search engine submission is not required at all. The myths have been caused mainly by companies who provide submission services. This is because it?s financially in their interest for people to believe the myths are true.

It doesn?t hurt to submit to the major search engines but indexing can be achieved simply by getting links to a site (as long as the page where the link is on is known to the search engines).

There is also no point at all submitting to thousands of search engines. There are only a handful of search engines that people actually use. Many of the other search engines have been created to obtain the submitters email address which is then added to email lists (which spammers will pay money for).

Myth Name: Meta Tag Optimisation

Myth Description: The belief that search engine optimisation is just about Meta tags.

Truth: Meta tags used to be very important to rankings until search engines became more complex. While some Meta tags are still important like the description and title tags which most search engines will display on their results (so they can influence click through rates drastically). Most tags like the keyword tag are obsolete.

I believe the cause of this myth is twofold. One, because it?s outdated information (to a degree) and two, because people want to believe there?s a secret magic formula that only SEO?s know about. That way a lack of rankings is not their fault, plus it keeps the conspiracy theorists happy.

Myth Name: Ethical Search Engine Optimisation

Myth Description: The belief that there are two types of SEO, black hat and white hat (the old good verses evil).

Truth: Quite simple this one but nearly always over looked. Any attempt to alter the search engines results and obtain more traffic is against most search engines guidelines. While there are tactics that may get you banned and others that may not or are not widely known about (yet), all of them are trying to influence the results and therefore are against the guidelines. SEO is neither black nor white, but many shades of grey. Just try to know what you?re doing and more importantly the associated risks.

Myth Name: Google’s PageRank (PR) is the most important aspect of a sites ability to rank

Myth Description: Self explanatory this one, the belief that PR is a god like entity we must all worship in order to obtain rankings.

Truth: It is widely believed by expert SEO?s and even been stated by Google Guy (a Google employee) that the PR we see on the toolbar is out of date as soon as we get to see it. Google update PR constantly but only update the toolbar PR now and then. PR is also only one part of a complex ranking system. How big a percentage it plays in rankings, only Google knows.

One thing for sure, it doesn’t matter how good your PR is on the toolbar, it’s not going to get you anymore traffic from Yahoo or MSN (you heard it here first).

There are many more web design myths about SEO, most of which can be spotted if you read between the lines and think about whether it would make sense for a search engine. One of the most important parts of SEO is finding a reliable source of information. If you want to learn more, a good place to start is one of the numerous SEO Forums on the web.

SWAP

In last week’s article: “The Secret Behind the Internet” (http://www.msomedia.com/results/gr00006.htm) I discussed the vital role that linking has to play in your Internet marketing campaign. This week I’m continuing the linkage theme, concentrating on outbound links and reciprocation.

THE STORY SO FAR

We already know that the text that people click on to get to a site (the “anchor text”) has a vast impact on the way Google ranks sites. We also know that more links equals a better PageRank, but there’s more to it than that.

NO FREE LUNCHES HERE

I’m sure you know that you can’t get anything for free these days, without someone wanting to sell you something or get something in return. This mindset forms the ethos behind reciprocal linking. Very simply, I link to your site, you link to mine.

Unfortunately however, it’s no longer that simple. As we discussed last week, Google’s getting cleverer. It used to be the case that any old bunch of inbound links would improve a site’s ranking. This is no longer the case. Now, links have to be relevant. This is the watchword for search engine optimisation when it comes to Google.

If you have a bunch of random sites linking to yours, Google won’t be impressed, because the target has nothing to do with the source. One of the oldest examples is the American casino link: a site - owned by, let’s say a management consultant working in Scotland - places a link on his site that goes off to this American casino site. The casino site has a generic “links” page - known as a “link farm” - which has hundreds of links with no order or categorisation, and somewhere in the midst of all this rubbish is the management consultant’s link. Viz:

“These pages with countless links to other websites were created during the fervor of link popularity when it was thought that the more links that linked to your website, the higher your website ranked in search engines such as Google. It was also thought that a reciprocal link between sites, any site, counted in your favor”

Kimberly Krause Berg, Search Engine Guide (http://www.searchengineguide.com/krause/2002/1219_kk1.html)

Kimberly’s nailed it there. Link farms have existed for a good while, and are starting to die down now because people know better.

TIDY UP

No-one’s saying that having a good number of links is a bad thing. It simply boils down to two important questions:

1. Are they meaningful?
2. Are they relevant?

The first question can be addressed by categorising your links. If you run your own website (ie: have access to the HTML code) you can do this by splitting up your links into different categories, effectively making a directory. For one thing, this reduces the number of links that are displayed on each single page, making Google happier because it looks more like a list of useful resources rather than a link farm. For another it means that human beings, ie: the people you want to actually view your site and therefore more important than search engine robots, can really make use of your directory. Another good point is it means more people will be inclined to request link exchanges if they see that their link is placed within a meaningful list.

But that’s not it. The second point is equally, if not more important. Google is built on relevance. And when I say Google by the way, I don’t just mean the site, I mean the many other sites that use the Google database (AOL Search for one). If someone is looking at the “Links” page of a management consultants firm in Scotland, why would they be interested in an American casino? Listing relevant resources for your visitors to look through is not only logical and good web practise, it’s also how Google thinks. Search engines aren’t made for webmasters, they’re made for web users, so the guys who write their software try to make them think like web users. Therefore, if your links aren’t relevant, Google will not be likely to rank you highly. Also, if you link to disreputable sites, your PageRank will be adversely affected.

FINDING A PARTNER

If you’ve got in mind the two questions from the previous section, you’re probably going to have to throw out a tonne of links. I can wholeheartedly sympathise. After gaining “The Knowledge” not long ago, I decided it was time to reorder my links. That meant getting rid of the irrelevant and the disreputable, the link swap sites and the free-for-all directories, and effectively starting from scratch. I needed to find people to link with, and they needed to be relevant.

So, how do you find good link partners? Simple: just remember the word “relevance”,. and try and ask yourself: “what other companies are relevant to mine?” Don’t think about the competition, think about the buying cycle. For instance, someone looking for management advice might want team building exercises, IT training, accountants, discussion forums and possibly office space. None of these are competing with you, but they’re part of the cycle.

HERE ENDETH THE LESSON

So just remember: are your links meaningful and are they relevant? If so, you’re sorted. If not, and you need some more advice on how to spruce up your links page(s), or even if you think you’re part of the multimedia design buying cycle and would like to swap links, e-mail me via mark@msomedia.com and we’ll chat.

Mark Steadman 26/10/05

There are a lot of applications and software that most printing companies use even for those who print at home. This software makes designing and editing easier and faster. One of those applications is the Microsoft Publisher which is widely used by computer users. This makes it easy to customize, create and come up with effective design in postcards, brochures, flyers and even design in websites.

Microsoft Publisher provides you with the right tools you need for editing and layout designs. This helps you to come up with the most elegant style in designs that will surely help you go the extra mile in designs. You can even do it at home yourself. You just need dedication and concentration and you are on your first step. If you do not know how to use Microsoft Publisher, that is not really a problem. You can learn it by all means.

Learning Microsoft Publisher will not eat up all your time since this program has already some ready to use choices ad ready application since you can make use of the publication wizard which guides you all through out the design process.

Most printing companies have engaged in using Microsoft Publisher because of its easiness and comfort in using it. Errors and inconveniencies are less encountered and mistakes are prevented. Microsoft Publisher has been an advantage even though there are a lot of programs that arise in the technology. Having just the basic skills can be enhanced to come up with good designs. You really don?t need to be a professional in order to use it.

Not only can you use it in your printed materials. You can also use it in designing and updating your web pages. Microsoft Publisher is so helpful in all applications. That is no wonder that most printing companies have relied upon its use.

Brochures and catalogs are the perfect printing application that it covers. If you notice one of your brochures having an elegant feel and stand, definitely it could have been used with Microsoft Publisher.

So to have a new experience in printing and newest strategy in your designs, you should not think twice to choose Microsoft Publisher. No matter if you are a beginner or not, you are sure that what turns out in your printing is absolutely perfect.

For more related articles, you may visit http://www.catalogprintingexperts.com

I’m pretty sure that once in your life you have seen a brochure or a postcard. Well correct me if I?m wrong but these things are not new today and they are all over the place. Business talks so much and they are considered the best means for a clear promotion. Some brochures and other printed stuffs may appear to be deceiving. Just one glance at it and you?ll know it is expensively made and processed. You might be wrong with your thoughts because printing nowadays is offered in the most affordable prices if you have knowledge of how and where to find it.

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