If you are somebody who has an idea for a website, however are unsure about what to do next, then this article could be for you.
I am going to explain about website development ang give some tips about website design.

Content is all important when building a website and if you have a good idea however you feel you need additional content you can use other people articles for free as long as you make all the links on the article live.

There are three article websites I regularly use for this purpose:

http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.searchwarp.com

These websites contain articles on most subjects and the articles themselves will include lots of keywords to enable search engines to pick up your site.

There is a very competitive market in website design services at the moment so you should be able to obtain a good deal.

Once you have your website you need to promote it and to gain a high page rank. To do this you need to build up the number of backward links you have.

A good way of doing this is by writing articles. There are number of reasons for this, firstly other people may want to use your article on their website. At the bottom of the article you are able to include a link to your own website, therefore when somebody includes it on their website this gives you a backward link.

You also obtain a backward link when you submit all of the articles to the websites mentioned above. Whats more all of these are one way links which have a much higher value than two way links.

As we are all aware the number of backward links a website has is becoming increasingly important and the more links you have, the more visitors to your website you are likely to get and the higher page rank the website should attain.

Many people also read this articles on the article websites which could in turn result in more visitors to your site.

Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:

http://www.stammering-stuttering.co.uk

http://www.free-reflexology-chart.co.uk

http://www.reiki-symbol.co.uk

Remember the student in school who complained (or even cried) because they only got a ninety-nine percent mark on an assignment or test. Meanwhile, some of us were relieved (if not ecstatic) to have merely passed.

I actually witnessed one case where the math student insisted that he was not wrong. On rechecking the test, the teacher realized the answer sheet was wrong and not the student. The student got one hundred percent correct.

Realistically, however, most of us lesser mortals can’t expect to get a perfect mark or score every time.

First of all, none of us are perfect. We all make mistakes.

Secondly, unlike math, some subjects are more subjective in nature. In certain subjects, the answer to a question may not be simply right or wrong. The teacher may have more latitude in how your grades are calculated. The teacher may even (consciously or subconsciously) increase or decrease your grade based on whether they like you (or your attitude) or not.

Similarly, in business, you can’t please everybody all of the time.

In eBay or other Internet auctions, you will not be able to satisfy everyone. Even if you have one hundred percent positive feedback on eBay now, eventually it must fall.

Not all of your customers will be happy with you all of the time. You might make a mistake resulting in an unhappy customer. Sometimes factors beyond your control (such as a lost shipment) may result in a negative feedback.

Occasionally, you might even get a customer who is unreasonable. If he leaves you negative feedback, sometimes all you can do is leave a negative feedback in return. This is not so much as an act of retaliation; it is more a matter of presenting your side of the story.

Sometimes, a customer has a legitimate complaint. Other times the customer has jumped the gun and hasn’t given you a fair chance to resolve matters. It is even possible that your customer is a sadist who takes delight in tormenting others.

Regardless, you can make the offer to mutually agree to withdraw negative feedback from each other.

If you both agree and follow eBay’s procedure, the negative feedback will be removed from both of your total scores (thus improving both feedback ratings). The negative comments themselves won’t be removed by eBay but neither will your response to defend yourself.

Even if this tactic to remove negative feedback is not successful, at least you tried. Don’t let your pride stand in the way of trying to make peace with the customer and reversing any negative feedback.

If the customer won’t agree, at least you’ve told your side of the story. Let your prospective customers decide if they want to do business with you or not.

I personally like it when I see an eBay seller with a perfect feedback rating. Realistically, however, I realize that you simply can’t please everyone. Even if you did everything perfectly, there are still people who are just not reasonable.

Thus, even if a seller has some negative feedback, if the overwwhelming majority are pleased with him, I tend to discount the few dissidents. I suggest you do the same in evaluating others as well as yourself.

About The Author
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc., has been helping clients to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years. To learn more about Internet auctions and other profitable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/auctions.html.

Google: Yes, You Can Find Just About Anything
————
Hackers and security experts use various custom and open
source tools to complete their tasks. In fact, one of the
tools they use you probably use every time you browse the
web, the Google Search Engine.

I remember the first time I used the Google Search Engine
years ago. I was amazed at how quickly it fulfilled my
search request. Google’s huge index of systems /
information and it’s ability to perform complex searches
have evolved over the years. When we performed security
assessments and penetration test, we regularly use Google to
locate information that organizations typically want to keep
private and confidential.

The reason for me writing this article is to give you
several examples of basic and complex Google search terms
and queries. As a disclaimer, it is not my intention that
you use this information to invade the privacy of someone
else or access data and files on systems that do not belong
to you. It is strictly educational information and a way to
make people more aware of what kind of information they may
be exposing to the rest of the world.

Using Google To Locate Password Files
————
One of the most common remote web authoring tools is
Microsoft’s Front Page. Front page extensions and WebDav,
the services on the web server that allow you to remotely
connect and author web pages, can be configured with a
certain degree of security. However, in certain
configurations, the userID and password are stored in local
files on the server. Using a Google query, you can easily
locate thousands of these files and dump the contents.

The query form is quite simple: “inurl:(filename).pwd”,
where (filename) is the name of the .pwd file. This query
can be expanded to be very specific and target a specific
site by using a command to search for a specific site or
domain. The results of a specific search like this would
list hundreds if not thousands of these files that would
contain something like “# -FrontPage-
dmiller:I1KEaH1TZqxEw”. Basically dumping the userID and
password.

This type of basic query can be used to find all kinds of
interesting information such as using the “intitle:”index
of” (name of directory you want to locate)” which not only
reveals many web directory structures of “index of/”, it
also reveals how many web servers on the Internet do not
have even the most basic forms of permissions and directory
security. You will find that once you access a particular
directory, that you can then move up the directory tree and
you never know what you may find.

More Complex Search Queries
————
The Google Search Engine supports very complex query types.
For instance, if you were to construct a query like “”parent
directory ” Gamez -xxx -html -htm -php -shtml -opendivx -md5
-md5sums”, the query would result in lists upon list of
systems that have a /Gamez directory off the root of the
“parent directory” of the web server. Or, to locate music
files of type mp3 you could issue a query like
“intitle:index.of mp3 (name of band/song)”.

The bottom line here is that it is possible to locate very
specific types of files. It is also possible to perform
queries for inline passwords from various search engines by
performing a query similar to “http://*:*@www”.

What Else Can Be Found With Google Search Queries
————
One of the things we do when we are performing a security
assessment is perform a quick review of the various web
servers to determine what types of scripting is being used.
For instance, a lot of people use PHP code to create dynamic
content. Many people install PHP example code and
administrative tools to help them manage their site.
Unfortunately, most of the time these files are not secured
and contain login ID’s and passwords. We then use Google
search queries to locate these specific files on the servers
in question. I’d say we are successful in finding files like
these that help us gain access to systems approximately 60%
of the time.

We recently learned of a financial institution that was
taking credit card information from one of their partners
using a web based upload service on their primary web
server. The problem was this file was being indexed by the
Microsoft Index Service, the information was being spidered
by search engines, and the file itself did not have
effective security permissions on it. The result, the file
was indexed by Google and someone performing a Google query
found it and was able to open it in the browser, revealing
hundreds of credit card numbers, names, and other personal
information. This happens all the time.

Conclusion
————
The Google Search Engine is a powerful tool that can be used
by people with ill intentions just as it can be used for
basic web searching. If you are setting up a web server at
home or the office, you need to understand that you may be
publishing information on the web that no one but you should
see. This could include financial files, credit card
information, and other private / personal information. There
is a lot more to setting up a “secure” site than just
following the Microsoft setup wizards.

You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long as the bylines are included.

About The Author
————
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with
over sixteen years experience. He has written many
technology & security articles, some of which have been
published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals.
If you would like to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know
more about computer security please
visit us at http://www.defendingthenet.com.

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Affiliate Marketing - An Excellent Choice for Your First Home Internet Business 

Promoting affiliate programs is the least costly and least stressful of all types of home Internet businesses and makes an excellent starting point for Internet marketing novices. It is also one of the best ways to earn revenue from your web site if you don’t have a product of your own to sell. In fact, there are some ’super affiliates’ out there that make their living online doing nothing but promoting other online merchant’s products or services through affiliate programs.

So, just what is an affiliate program? An affiliate is someone who partners with another online merchant to help drive targeted business to that merchant’s web site in order to increase sales. An affiliate program is an inexpensive marketing strategy used by an online merchant in which a monetary incentive is offered to webmasters (affiliates) to drive traffic to that merchant’s web site. The monetary incentive is usually in the form of a percentage-based commission or a fixed dollar amount. Affiliate programs are sometimes referred to as associate programs or referral programs. Affiliates are also referred to as publishers in many cases.

Sponsoring an affiliate program makes sense for an online merchant because it helps to

 
• Increase online exposure
• Increase traffic leading to greater sales
• Generate more targeted leads

For an Internet entrepreneur there are many more reasons it makes sense to start an Internet affiliate business. Here are just some of them:

 
• Low cost set-up
• Affiliate programs are free to join
• 24×7 passive income
• No employees
• No inventory
• No order processing
• No product shipping
• No merchant account needed
• Minimal risk
• Large income potential

There are three general types of affiliate programs:

• Pay-Per-Sale (PPS) - in which an affiliate earns a commission or fixed dollar amount based on each sale made through links from the affiliate’s site.
• Pay-Per-Lead (PPL) - in which an affiliate earns a fixed amount every time a customer directed from their web site fills out a survey, requests information, joins a program, etc.
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) - in which an affiliate earns a fixed amount every time a potential customer clicks on a link from the affiliate’s site to the merchant’s site.

Once you are affiliated with a merchant, you may place their ad(s) on your web site. When a customer clicks on one of these ads and is taken to the merchant’s online store, if they then make a purchase, fill out a survey, etc., you get a commission for that sale or referral based on the merchant’s payout structure.

The ‘million dollar’ question that I had when I first started, and that you may be wondering about right now, is “How does the merchant know that the sale/referral came from my site?”

When you join an affiliate program, you are assigned a tracking number or code, usually referred to as an affiliate ID. This ID is unique only to you. When you create a link from an ad on your web site, you simply include this ID in the link.

Once a customer clicks on your link, a tracking cookie with your affiliate ID is placed on the customer’s computer. If that customer then makes a purchase, the tracking cookie will identify them to the merchant as being referred from your web site. Depending on the affiliate program, the tracking cookie may be valid for just that one visit, up to a lifetime for that customer.

Most merchants realize that a customer may not make a purchase during the same visit in which they were directed from an affiliate site. As an incentive to the affiliate, if a customer returns directly to the merchant site within the time specified by the cookie duration and makes a purchase, the affliate will still get credit for the sale.

While a normal link to a page that is selling product ‘abc’ at merchant ‘XYZ’ may look like:

http://www.xyz.com/products/abc.html

Your affiliate link may look something like:

http://www.xyz.com/product.asp?
PID=1234567&AID=9876

where your affiliate ID is ‘9876′ and the product ID or SKU for item abc is ‘1234567′.

This example is a hypothetical link to a specific product or product page. Most merchants also permit you to link to their home page, or any other page on their web site. Most of the ads you will place on your site are in the form of banners, text ads, images or text/image combinations. Many merchants also supply you with more advanced linking options such as data feeds, storefronts, virtual stores, search boxes, and the like.

If you’re contemplating starting a home internet business, then promoting affiliate programs is the best way to test the waters. Affiliate marketing is a proven win-win-win scenario for online merchants, internet marketers, and consumers alike.

Bob Davis is a professional database consultant, web designer, graphic artist, and Internet marketer.
If you’d like some solid tips on starting your own legitimate internet business, then read his free ‘Home Internet Business Guide for Beginners’ at http://www.internetbusiness-home.com.

Here are some of Bob’s other sites you may enjoy visiting:
http://www.petsnfamily.com
http://www.cats-furniture.com

Defining broadband can get complicated

There are many different takes on how to actually define the word: broadband. The first and most obvious way to define it is a transmission medium that allows for multiple pathways and types of data, far exceeding simple voice communication devices. Simply, put it is the ability to access a variety of data through one connection at a reasonable speed.

Where a phone line severely limits the amount of information it can transmit, a broadband line, which has bandwidth greater than 2 mbps, unlike a standard dial-up connection which will only have 56kbps, can allow for a variety of different frequencies and channels to travel down its wide pathway. This makes it optimal for those who play video games on the Internet or are involved in heavy graphics work that they need to import, send and receive along the information superhighway.

The minimum width of a broadband line has become a matter of debate. While initially, the broadband definition was a line that was greater than 2 mbps in width, other experts began asserting that it should be at least 3 mbps wide. Still others complain that at least 20 would be appropriate. But now, broadband services start as low as 1 mbps, for those who are trying out broadband for the first time. So who really knows what the minimum level of bandwidth is needed in order for it to be called broadband? One thing is certain though. DSL service which an range from 256 kbps capacity on the downstream and upstream side up to 1.5mbps, or even higher, is considered a broadband service as well. So are cable television modems, which have similar speeds. So, in reality anything with greater capacity than a narrow line, like a telephone line, which can only hold up to 64 kbps, is technically considered a broadband service.

Broadband services have become all the craze in the past few years. When the Internet started to become more mainstream in the 1990s people were content with simple dial-up Internet services, which used only narrow lines. But as the need for speed became important, especially as files and Web pages became more elaborate, requiring more computer storage space and memory, the need for larger bulks of information being able to be sent and received at a quicker pace became essential. Hence, we have the broadband revolution. Today, hardly anyone uses narrow band service, or dial-up. Broadband Internet access is the name of the game. And if you work in an office it is absolutely essential, as larger chunks of information are frequently sent to and from businesses on a regular basis. Simply put, if you don’t have broadband today, you are probably a person who does not need the Internet for a living. With the number of telecommuting jobs available today, the need for broadband services is only likely to expand greatly.

About The Author:

Neil Shevlin is the owner of
UK Cheap Broadband which is a great place to find broadband links, resources and articles.

For more information go to:
UK Cheap Broadband

http://www.ukcheapbroadband © Copyright 2005

Please feel free to copy and paste this article and it’s resource information.

What is next? I’ve been in marketing for many years, and just when I assume I’ve seen it all, I get shocked all over again. Every new trick I see causes me to laugh at the beginning. But then results come in the picture. You get to believe it. I’m talking about Pixel Ads.

So, what is pixel page? Or what is pixel advertising? Or what are pixel ads?
Pixel Ads, sometimes referred to as Micro Ads, are little advertisements that only slot in the space of a pixel on a web page. These ads range anywhere from a penny to a dollar per pixel and several sites are offering free Pixel Ads.

“Selling the ads on the front page of a site has been easy because they are attractive to watch and easier for site owner to get lots of traffic towards his site”, InnovativePixelPage, one of the companies selling pixel ads said. If an advertiser buys a 10×10 pixels or block or slot, it appears as a small square in the grid of small squares on the site’s front page.

It is kind of strange. The site also makes advertising fun, instead of a “big, serious thing.” IPP. It’s no secret that banner advertising has been gradually declining in popularity and effectiveness, and everyone has popup blockers installed to keep those annoying popup ads from screening. Pay-per-click advertisers are becoming increasingly frustrated with click scam, the high rate of unqualified clicks.

In pixel page, when visitors click on the ads that link to the advertiser’s Web site, they are on these sites for hours. Already, the guys that bought the ads are reporting fabulous amount shifts.

Crazy Advertising Schemes

You’ve all probably seen innovativepixelpage.com by now; this is a website where pixel ads are displayed free in for site promotion. The site uniquely features pixel ads, periodic theme change, free monthly site status or report, new mouse rollover option to boost site rank, categorized advertisement, faster site loading supporting jpg format instead of other time consuming picture formats, real time site clicks, etc.,

So enjoy pixel site, happy surfing!

Ken John interviews several ‘guru’s’ on online advertising tactics and even made them available online for free.

Many successful eBay sellers have two things in common:

• The way they got started on their individual paths to success, and
• The number of additional sales they COULD have made if they had just learned a little more about one other subject…internet marketing.

eBAY SELLERS ARE MADE, NOT BORN

Almost everybody selling things for a living, or at least for a recognizable income, on eBay started the same way…by intentional accident. Usually, they have become intrigued by the phenomenon, looked around their house and found a few things to test the waters with, and after that, they were hooked! That’s the birth. After that comes evolution.

Once they run out of things to sell, but have been struck by the business opportunity lurking on eBay, they have to find other sources of eBay merchandise. This problem is solved in various ingenious ways. Some link up with a wholesale drop ship operation, some find merchandise elsewhere, such as at auctions and estate sales, while some create their own products.

Having gotten a product source, they still had to learn…learn…learn. In general, becoming a success at selling on eBay is comprised of varying amounts of research, study, trial-and-error, failure, success…and luck.

WHAT eBAY SELLERS DON’T KNOW

Many eBay sellers arrive at this particular internet business niche independently of a previous internet marketing experience. As a result, while successful in their own area of expertise, eBay, they often miss cues and opportunities that an experienced internet marketer would pick up on or take advantage of. They lack knowledge of ways that they could expand the auction success by applying some standard internet marketing techniques.

BEYOND EVOLUTION

eBay has now been such a successful internet phenomenon for long enough that the evolutionary path of eBay selling has produced experts. In true entrepreneurial spirit, some of these experts are now sharing their hard-won knowledge by publishing courses on the subject. As in many things, there are good courses, there are not-so-good courses, and there are plain awful ones. Their prices range anywhere from a few dollars to a great many dollars, and the process is still new and fluid enough that few, if any, can truly claim to be major players.

ONE BENEFIT MOST eBAY SELLING COURSES OFFER

Many people do not take the plunge simply because of an uncertainty and fear of failure due to ignorance. If they have visited the eBay site, they have often be over-whelmed by all the links, warnings, and terms specific to eBay. It seems as if they have wandered into a meeting of a secret organization and lack the password and handshake, and they feel that anything they do will be greeted with derision, if not complete animosity.

One thing that almost any course about selling on eBay can do is familiarize you to some extent with the experience. That will erase some of the fear and uncertainty. A GOOD course on selling on eBay can cut your evolutionary time considerably because the author will have already been there and can guide you past some of the pitfalls and help you mutate more quickly than you could grow through simple evolution. The lag time between first eBay auction and the point where you consider yourself to at least be skilled at the process, if not yet wealthy from it, can be cut considerably.

Although not immediately necessary to learning the eBay process, learning something about internet marketing as well can help you expand your opportunity beyond just the auctions. Fortunately, there are eBay selling courses that cover at least some of the internet marketing aspects as well.

HOW TO GET STARTED

The easiest way to get started selling on eBay, with or without a course, is to do what so many others have done. Look around the house and find a couple of things you think SOMEONE will possibly want to buy. Remember, the purpose here is to learn the process, not to get rich. In fact, even if the item doesn’t sell, you will have benefited from the experience. Be aware, however, that you will have fees to pay even if your item does not sell. This is not a terrible thing because, unless you have bought every possible option, these costs should be minimal. Chalk it up to tuition. Anyway, if this test develops into a real internet business those expenses become tax deductions.

RECOMMENDATION?

Give eBay a shot with a couple of sales of things you already have just to see what’s going on and how you feel about it. If you believe that this might be a business you want to get involved in, get yourself a course and learn a little bit more about the business before you leap in with both feet…or with your wallet in your hand. It’s better to spend a few bucks up front and realize the experience is not for you, than it is to spend a lot of bucks and experience a great deal of frustration only to learn that you should have let this opportunity pass you by.

Donovan Baldwin is a Dallas area writer. A graduate of the University Of West Florida (1973) with a BA in accounting, he is a member of Mensa and has held several managerial positions. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, he became interested in internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has blogs on the subjects of weight loss and health, and internet marketing and related business topics. He has a wholesale dropship program at http://donovanbaldwin.com/ebay

If you’re marketing your own product on the Internet, you can dramatically increase your sales with an affiliate program.

An Affiliate program will enable you to recruit an unlimited number of individuals to sell your products. The key to obtaining affiliates is to offer a nice commission for each sale. The higher the commissions, the more affiliates you’ll recruit.

There are thousands of affiliate programs on the Internet. In order to be successful you must sell your affiliate program just like your product. In other words, your affiliate letter should be written like a sales letter. You must persuade your visitors to join your affiliate program by packing your affiliate sales letter with benefits. Tell them exactly what your affiliate program will do for them, how much commission they will receive and make the sign-up process simple.

One Tier Verses Two Tier

One tier affiliate programs pay commissions on one level. For each sale an affiliate makes, they will receive a commission. For example, if you offer your affiliates 30% commission and your product sells for $39.99, for every sale your affiliate makes, they will receive a $12 commission.

Two tier affiliate programs pay commissions on two levels. Affiliates will receive a commission for each sale they make and for each sale their recruits make. Two tier affiliate programs usually divide the commissions over the two levels. For example, if you want to give your affiliates a total of 30% commission for each sale, you would offer 20% commission on their first level sales and an extra 10% commission for second level sales. If your affiliate makes a $39.99 sale, they would receive a $8 commission. If one of their recruits makes a sale, they would receive an additional $4 commission.

Increasing Affiliate Sales

Nobody knows more about your product than you do. Provide your affiliates with banners, sample ads, articles or anything that will assist them in making sales.

To further increase sales, create an ebook that is directed towards your target audience and allow it to be freely distributed. This ebook should be packed with valuable information and, at the same time, used as a sales tool for your product. Customize a copy of your ebook for each of your affiliates and allow them to freely distribute it. You can customize the ebooks yourself or purchase an ebook compiler that enables your affiliates to customize your ebook themselves. Not all compilers will allow customizations. I highly recommend Ebook Edit Pro.

To keep your affiliates motivated, set up an opt-in list to enable them to subscribe and receive new promotional methods, sales letters and articles to assist them in making more sales. This will not only increase their sales, but it will also enable you to keep in contact with your affiliates and introduce new products.

Setting Up Your Affiliate Program

When you’re ready to set up your affiliate program, there are basically two options. The first option is to purchase an affiliate software program. Affiliate software will track your affiliate sales and enable your affiliates to view their stats. This option requires that you run your affiliate program and you are responsible for accepting payment and sending out commission checks.

The second option is to use a third party affiliate tracking company to run your affiliate program for you. These companies will track your affiliate sales, enable your affiliates to check their stats and send out commission checks for you.

Affiliate Tracking Software

AssocTRAC- A great affiliate tracking software that features real time tracking of stats. It tracks both visitors and sales for each associate to determine not only the quality of visitors, but also if your sales copy is turning visitors into buyers. It includes an easy sign up process that instantly creates accounts for associates so they can be up and running within five minutes. An autoresponse email message is instantly sent out with linking instructions and other detailed information. This powerful software tracks through the use of cookies and CGI scripts.

Pro-TRACK - A great affiliate tracking software that will enable you to keep track of sales and which affiliate the sale originated. Although the standard version won’t compute any sales data (owners manually keep track of sales), it is an excellent way to track and compensate your affiliate sales. The Pro version will not only track where your sales originate, but also provide you with the statistics you’ll need to track how well your affiliate program is doing.

Affiliate Tracking Companies

ClickBank - This Company will not only enable you to accept credit cards, but they will also run your affiliate program. Over 60,000 affiliates can choose to sell your products for you. ClickBank enables any web seller to automatically pay sales commissions to affiliates. They will bill your customers, pay you, and pay your affiliates a commission. They charge a one-time $49.95 activation fee, and a $1 + 7.5% fee per sale. There are no monthly fees.

Click Trade - Lets you create your own affiliate program to allow others to send paying customers to you. Your business can reach new customers by being featured on thousands of affiliate sites. They have over 120,000 affiliates already interested in participating with your affiliate program.

Take your time and select the best affiliate option for your business. If you’re just starting out, you may want to use one of the third party affiliate companies, as this is the easiest route. You won’t have to worry about anything, as everything is taken care of for you. This will enable you to concentrate on making more sales and developing new products.

Copyright © Shelley Lowery

About the Author:

Shelley Lowery is the author of the acclaimed web design course, “Web Design Mastery” (www.webdesignmastery.com) and “eBook Starter - Give Your eBooks the look and feel of a REAL book” (www.ebookstarter.com)

Visit www.Web-Source.net to sign up for a complimentary subscription to eTips and receive a copy of Shelley’s acclaimed ebook, “Killer Internet Marketing Strategies.”

You have permission to publish this article electronically, in print, in your ebook, or on your web site, free of charge, as long as the author bylines are included.

When designing or redesigning a website the most important part of the project happens before any graphics or code are created.

Start by determining the primary goals of your website. Are you using it to sell your products or services? Maybe it’s intended simply to advertise your offline business, provide support to your existing customers or build your company brand. Whatever the goals are, clearly defining them ahead of time will better guide you in the actual creation process.

Next, remember that first impressions mean everything. Your website design must be professional and portray the right image for your business. Most web surfers decide within seconds of reaching your main page if they will browse deeper into your site or click away to another. Studies have shown that this decision is usually made based on the appeal of the design rather than the text copy. This means that your site design has to grab their attention and convince them that you’re offering something of value fast.

Chances are you’re not a graphic designer or web coding guru, so how can you develop a professional design? We get asked this question a lot by potential clients at BanPro NET, especially from owners of home-based or new small businesses.

You basically have two options, hire a professional designer or firm to create your website or purchase a website template. Templates are pre-made designs that allow you to just add your text and product graphics. Templates have the advantage of being able to go live with your website quickly and usually for a very low cost, however they also have the disadvantage of being seen on numerous websites, so you won’t stand out from the crowd as well.

Either way, keep in mind that your website design is what most online visitors to your site are going to judge your company on, regardless of your industry, so it must be as professional as possible.

About the author Chrissy operated her own Web Design business for 6 years prior to joining BanPro NET. She now leads the BanPro NET design team and provides her expertise and talents to clients on a daily basis. In addition, Chrissy provides free webmaster resources at WebCodingHelp.info

RSS is rapidly becoming a “must have” for a proper search engine optimization. But what exactly is RSS?

RSS or Rich Site Syndication (or Really Simple Syndication, depending on who you ask) is a file format similar to XML, and is used by publishers to make their content available to others in a format that can be universally understood. RSS allows the display of articles on third party websites, RSS newsreaders, and the like, enabling easy distribution of a website’s content across the Internet. It is a form of content syndication, using distribution lists, hyperlinks and the like to generate interest in (and traffic to) your website.

RSS has existed for several years, but with the advent of spam filters and online blogging, it is fast becoming the choice of ezine publishers who want to get their message across to their subscribers.

However, not much attention has been given to the advantages RSS provides for search engine optimization, until now.

Why Search Engines Love RSS

Many SEO experts believe that sites optimized around themes,or niches, where all pages correspond to a particular subject or set of keywords, rank better in the search engines.

For example, if your website is designed to sell widgets, your entire site content would be focused around widgets.

Search engines like Google seem to prefer tightly-themed pages.

But where does RSS figure in all this?

RSS feeds, usually sourced from newsfeeds or blogs, often correspond to a particular theme or niche.

By using highly targeted RSS feeds, you can enhance your site’s content without having to write a single line on your own.

It’s like having your own content writer - writing theme-based articles for you - for frëe!

How can RSS improve my Search Engine Rankings?

There are three powerful reasons why content from RSS Feeds is irresistible bait for search engine spiders.

1. RSS Feeds Provide Instant Themed Content

There are several publishers of RSS feeds that are specific to a particular theme.

Since the feed is highly targeted, it could contain several keywords that you want to rank highly for.

Adding these keywords to your pages helps Google tag your site as one with relevant content.

2. RSS Feeds Provide Fresh, Updated Content

This is perhaps the most important feature of RSS. RSS feeds from large publishers are updated at specific intervals. When the publisher adds a new article to the feed, the oldest article is dropped.

These changes are immediately effected on your pages with the RSS feed as well. So you have fresh relevant content for your visitors every hour or day. Major search engines have determined that the relevancy algorithm historically used to rank pages does not result in the most accurate results - and as such have added to the equation an algorithm based on a website’s “freshness”.

A simple analogy helps explain the logic behind this recent change in ranking algorithms. If you were to do a search for the keyphrase “war on terror”, you would likely pull up a huge amount of articles. Let’s take two articles for the purpose of simplification. Let’s say both articles contain the phrase “war on terror” the same number of times, have the same number of inbound links, and all else is the same between the two articles. The only difference between the two is that one article was written a year ago and the other was written yesterday. Which one would be more likely to contain the information for which you are looking?

Well, using the relevancy algorithm, both articles appear equally relevant. However, they really aren’t, because obviously the newer article is more likely to contain the information which you seek. This is why the search engines have added a freshness component to their ranking schemes - in an effort to provide the best results to their users, they should provide not only relevant articles, but “fresh” articles as well. Therefore, nowadays, the most recent article (or most recently updated website) would be listed before the less recent article (or less recently updated website), all other factors being equal.

Does this make sense? It should - and you should now be able to understand why a proper search engine optimization will include the use of fresh content such as an RSS feed, in addition to an optimization for keyphrase relevancy.

3. RSS Feeds Result in More Frequent Spidering

One thing I nevër anticipated would happen as a result of adding an RSS feed to my site was that the Googlebot visited my site almost daily. To the Googlebot, my page that had the RSS feed incorporated into it was as good as a page that was being updated daily, and in its judgement, was a page that was worth visiting daily.

What this means to you, is that you will have your site being indexed more frequently by the Googlebot and so any new pages that you add to your site will be picked up much faster than your competitors.

How does this benefit you as a marketer?

Well, for example, let’s says a top Internet Marketer comes out with a new product that you review and write up a little article on, and that your competitors do the same.

Google generally tends to index pages at the start of the month and if you miss that update, you will probably need to wait till the next month to even see your entry in.

But, since your site has RSS feeds, it gets indexed more frequently. So the chances of getting your page indexed quickly are much higher.

This gives you an advantage over the competition, as your review will show up sooner in the search results than theirs.

Imagine what an entire month’s advantage could do to your affïliate salës!

Why Javascript Feeds Are Not Effective (as well as frames and iframes)

Some sites offer javascrïpt code that generates content sourced from RSS feeds for your site. Others will offer you an RSS feed display via the use of frames or iframes.

These are of absolutely no value in terms of search engine rankings, as the googlebot cannot read javascrïpt and has difficulty reading frame and iframe content, and as such the content is not interpreted as part of your page.

What you need is code that parses the RSS feed and renders the feed as html content that’s part of your page. This cannot be overemphasized.

This is achieved using server side scripting languages like PHP or ASP.

An excellent PHP scrïpt is CARP, which is the one that we recommend to our clients. This PHP script converts the RSS feed into HTML code that is easily readable by the major search engines.

For more information, or to implement an RSS feed into your website as part of a thorough search engine optimization, please visit http://www.arteworks.biz.

About the Author:

Matt Foster is President and CEO of ArteWorks Business Class, a company which specializes in search engine optimization and search engine friendly website design and ecommerce solutions.

Portions of this article taken from “Get Better Search Engine Rankings with RSS” by Satyajeet Hatangadi. Satyajeet Hattangadi is the CEO of Novasoft Inc, a software solutions provider, that specializes in affordable customized software solutions. Get the Fr-e-e Email Course “RSS Riches” and learn how to use RSS to get high search engine rankings and monetize your website at http://www.novasoft-inc.net/traffic-turbocharger.

VSAT broadband is similar to cable and DSL services for your computer. It is Internet service through a satellite dish that is placed on your home or business. It is another option for a high-speed Internet connection that is considered to be one of the best technologies available today.

One of the greatest advantages of VSAT broadband is that you do not need any special software, hardware or networks to use it. It works with nearly any email provider and uses a satellite dish that is like the ones used for satellite TV. A person or business can use what they have and not have to digest and learn a lot of new information before being able to use their computer.

Many people are curious about weather issues with a satellite Internet connection. Although the weather can impact your satellite TV use, this does not happen with VSAT technologies. The dish is larger, which makes weather problems almost nonexistent. The only requirement for this dish is being able to place it so that it faces the southern sky to access the satellite. The satellite coverage of the planet is also quite extensive, so that you can have the high-speed access you desire almost everywhere.

There are many other advantages to using this type of Internet connection. It is very easy to use, the connections are extremely fast, and the service is flexible and always reliable. For both companies and individuals, this is very important. You can connect to the Internet anywhere, at any time. This includes customer service, as well. It does not matter what time you have a question, there is someone available to answer it. The possibilities with this technology are endless.

VSAT broadband offers top of the line VPN encryption for the security of your personal information and data. They also offer full services for things like web hosting, net meeting, etc.

This type of Internet connection is also great for areas that are rural or are perhaps underserved by reliable Internet Service Providers. In areas like this, new Internet service capabilities are often not cost-effective. Many of these areas cannot afford to have Internet service that does not have outages. Internet services in these types of areas can also be expensive and the ISPs do not often have the latest technology to offer to their subscribers. Dial-up service is the norm in rural areas or small towns. VSAT broadband is a way to have the latest technology without having to go through a local ISP.

For companies, VSAT broadband offers a single vendor for all of their services. The convenience of this service is a great time saver for both small and large businesses. This makes paying bills easier, sending emails a quicker process, and allows for easy understanding among employees.

The cost of VSAT broadband service is comparable to other types of service. It takes only 14 days to get the service, and the installation of the dish can be done in about 3-6 hours. VSAT broadband is definitely a wave of the future.

Bob Hett offers simple and concise information for the sometimes confusing world of Internet service. Get the answers to all of your questions at http://www.dslinternetcenter.info

Small mortgage companies need to conserve cash flow with cost effective marketing, but how do you get the most bang for your buck? The trick is to know your marketing possibilities and to know them well.

Buying internet leads has become a common practice. Websites like GetSmart.com which is owned and operated by LendingTree offer lenders who purchase mortgage leads the opportunity to expand business through the internet. These high traffic websites have easy to fill out forms that entice consumers to get more information about mortgage products. Their refinance leads and second mortgage leads go to you and four other lenders. When you purchase leads that are exclusive like this, you pay more, however. Many companies cut costs by buying leads in bulk.

Buying online leads in quantity may be less expensive and get you a greater number of loan leads, but they not be of quality. Bulk leads have often been recycled, shared and may be a year old. Buying mortgage leads based on quality will be more fruitful as they are from a direct source, meaning they are immediate and new. This can make a difference in debt consolidation leads and other home equity loan products that will be secured quickly. You would be receiving the leads hopefully the same day the prospect applies. There is a lot of question, as well, about how useful internet leads really are to lenders. You may want to consider some other marketing options.

In a sea of mortgage leads being bought and sold, you may want to consider inexpensive ways to stand out from the crowd to secure the still booming home equity leads. Radio advertising can get to your local market, but may be pricey. With the new generation of buyers coming on board, you may even want to consider a podcast. Gen Yers are hungry for information that can be easily accessed on the internet, but they’re savvy about how they get it. Listening to a radio podcast is appealing. You can have your own web radio show with no more equipment than a computer, internet connection, website and an inexpensive microphone.

Your best bet to staying on top of the most effective form of mortgage marketing is too read the latest new and information. Websites like nationalmortgagenews.com can help you understand what products are currently hot with consumers, so that you can tailor your marketing plan.

Rebecca is a web editor and author of 9 books on a variety of subjects. When she is not writing books, she produces fresh financing articles for mortgage industry publishers. If you are a mortgage broker, lender or loan officer looking to purchase Online Mortgage Leads, please visit the Leadplanet.com. If you are a homeowner looking for a second mortgage refinance or a home equity loan quotes, please go to MyLoanQuote.com, and get the answers for your lending questions.

Wireless broadband is a general term used for the technology that is able to gain access to the internet wirelessly, and at high bandwidth speeds. Wireless broadband is available on virtually any digital device, so long as it has the proper connectivity hardware. Such hardware can easily be attached to most PDAs and laptop computers.

One of the most popular and well known wireless technology standards is Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), which allows users to access the internet over a wireless Local Area Network. The speed and range of Wi-Fi, however, is severely limited. There is another wireless connectivity standard, called WiMAX, which is considerably more advanced.

WiMAX is a protocol by which signals are sent to wireless broadband users. A WiMAX base station can theoretically beam a signal as far as 50km (31 miles), meaning that a single station could potentially cover an entire city (unlike Wi-Fi, which is only available in “hotspots”).

Although WiMAX are networks are available in several major metropolitan areas in the US, base stations are very expensive to build, and aren’t cost effective in less densely populated areas. Because of this limitation, WiMAX technology is not yet available in most non-urban regions.

Although WiMAX has been a major technological achievement, wireless broadband certainly doesn’t stop there. There are a number of other cutting edge wireless protocols currently in development. The most notable of these is a new protocol called xMax, which is similar to WiMAX, but a lot more efficient. It can cover a broader range at a lower cost, by piggybacking on radio frequencies. Although xMax is not yet available to the public, it will most likely be launched within the next couple of years.

Jeremy Maddock is the owner of a successful telecommunications news website.

Successful affiliate marketers share an almost uncanny capacity to differentiate themselves from the great mass of anonymous internet marketers. They do this by developing unique programs, eye-catching lead capture pages, innovative products or creative marketing strategies.

One of the key strategies that these “gurus” have in common is that they consciously build their Internet profile. They do this because it has a direct bearing on their capacity to earn affiliate income and indirectly supports and reinforces their other differentiating strategies.

Here are six great reasons why you should build your own Internet profile as an affiliate marketer:

1. Buyers will gradually develop a positive image of you

You can create some form of “virtual” rapport through the development of your Internet profile. This means that potential customers become positively disposed towards you because they have seen you associated with something they value and/or admire. Of course, the reverse is also true if you have been associated with “scams” or illegal programs or you fail to deliver as promised.

2. Potential customers will buy from people they trust

When you think about it, you are more likely to buy from someone you know and trust than from someone you do not know. The presence of trust tends to be even more important the larger the purchase involved. When you make very small purchases you are not concerned about the identity of the seller. However, if you are committing to a large payment or ongoing monthly payments, your perception of the integrity and credibility of the seller will affect your buying decision.

3. Buyers are interested in the quality of the service that goes with the product

Increasingly today, there is a blurring of the boundaries between product and service. Customers are concerned not only with the value for money of the product, but also with the quality of the service and support provided. If, for example, you have built up your reputation as a visible, energetic sponsor, you will attract more affiliates because you are seen to add value to the product.

4. You can develop a relationship with your customers through the profile you create

People come to trust you when you develop a relationship with them. Affiliate marketing is very much about building a relationship with your affiliates and potential buyers. If potential customers know about you and have experienced your generosity or consideration in action, they will feel they already have a relationship with you.

5. Your credibility grows as you develop your profile

As you develop your profile as a knowledgeable and helpful affiliate marketer, your credibility grows - which means you are seen as “believable”. Potential customers will value your advice and recommendations and will be willing to purchase affiliate products and services from you.

6. You can demonstrate integrity - a real source of competitive advantage in internet marketing

Much of the writing about effective leadership these days highlights visibility and personal integrity as key success factors. The same is true with internet marketing and affiliate marketing. If people have never heard about you, they know nothing about your integrity - your capacity to be a positive influence is diminished. If you can demonstrate your integrity through your visible actions on the Internet, you will create a positive profile that will lead to success. Dishonest dealing or “doing anything for a buck” can impact negatively on people’s perception of you and their willingness to purchase from you.

Your Internet profile can create customer awareness, build buyer trust and establish credibility. You can demonstrate integrity through your visible actions and the affiliate programs you choose to promote. Your Internet profile is a way to establish “virtual” relationships.

This article is written by Ron Passfield, PhD, affiliate marketing coach, who is developing his affiliate business through the step-by-step coaching provided by the Affiliate Classroom:

http://www.affiliate-marketing-coach.blogspot.com/

Enrol today in the FREE affiliate marketing course offered by the Affiliate Classroom:
http://tinyurl.com/ar9ta

Copyright 2005 - Ron Passfield. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

I’m here to teach you about how RSS Feeds can boost traffic for your website. You may have heard of it, but I guarantee you are not harnessing the full power of the tool. RSS Feeds are very hot, and the marketing pro’s are getting their websites listed in Google within 2 to 3 days.

What is an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Think of RSS this way: Whenever a writer who belongs to a syndicate writes a column, they don’t just write it for their local paper, every article goes up on the newswire and any paper who belongs to the syndicate can reprint it.

First, you have to download an RSS Reader, a program that combines all the news online in one place. You can download a reader for free at www.RssReader.com. Once you’ve downloaded a reader, you can click any topic that suits your need, and only those topics will be delivered right to you..
Why would I put RSS on my website?

An RSS feed can be thought of like this. Let’s take five news sources (Yahoo, MSN, CNN, ESPN, FOX). An RSS reader would scan all five news sources and take each headline and create a summary of the article. Now, you can actually sort the news stories and have only the ones you are interested in delivered right to your website from all five news sources.
Search Engines are crawling websites and looking for fresh content. If you have an RSS Feed, you are getting up to the minute news stories. These constantly change whenever a new story comes out. The Search Engines will give you a higher Page Rank because it thinks your page is updated on a regular basis.

How do I add one to my website?

I tried an RSS Feed for the first time, and it took less than five minutes. Here’s what it looks like:

Bush Celebrates Shuttle’s Launch (AP)
NASA sends shuttle back into space after long pause (Reuters)
Shuttle Discovery Blasts Into Orbit (AP)
NASA’s aging workhorse returns to space (AFP)
NASA Returns to Flight as Discovery Reaches Orbit (SPACE.com / LiveScience.com)

As you can see, this is my very first RSS Feed. All the news stories within the last hour regarding the shuttle launch are now listed for me and my visitors to read. Guess what? It took less than 5 minutes, and I instantly have an RSS Feed.
Why do I need one?

Search Engines are crawling your site and if you are not providing quality, up to the minute content then you are getting placed further down the rankings. Your competition who has this information is getting FREE advertising from the Search Engines who are placing their page 1st or 2nd when users search for a particular keyword.

How do I put an RSS Feed on my site?

You can now place an RSS Feed on your website in THREE easy steps.

• Step 1: Search for topics that you are currently interested in (use Yahoo).

When you see an orange RSS or XML box like the one above, you know that article is compatible with a feed. Copy the URL of the webpage.

• Step 2: Go to http://www.feeddigest.com and paste the URL in the digest for them to create a two line code for your webpage. You can also copy and paste the long page of code if you understand programming.

• Step 3: In Frontpage, Go to Insert - a web component - html markup and paste the two or three line script that RSS Digest gave you. Check it out! Your first RSS Feed!
Try it yourself right now, create your first RSS feed in under five minutes, FREE! The only way you can truly learn about them is for you to JUMP in FEET FIRST!

Kit Elliott is the author of The Traffic Toolchest. His ethical approach to marketing makes him one of the top experts in his field. His highly anticipated book Super Affiliates Guide to Riches is expected to launch by mid-August 2005 at http://www.superaffiliate.com . Check out The Traffic Toolchest at http://www.thetraffictoolchest.com to get over 70 valuable marketing tools.