Archive for House Of Websters
June 11, 2008 at 1:11 am · Filed under House Of Websters
Keep your site fresh with new content every day!
There are plenty of great reasons to keep your website filled with fresh content and sticky topics that keep visitors coming back for more.
Who wants to read the same old thing, not the public and surely not the Search Engine Spiders. Fresh content and updates are some of the keys to keeping any website in the public view.
Keeping your website or websites updates with new material can be a chore. It is important to keep your website updated with the latest and newest information, otherwise your competition will gain ground and your audience will not return.
So how do you keep fresh content? There are several ways.
- RSS Feeds with articles that are relevant to your websites theme. Probably the best way to do this is to have a second website that you control that generates these RSS feeds. Article-engine, offers a great script that you have ton’s of categories and topics - each with their own RSS feed. If you have never dealt with RSS feeds you can hire someone to install them or use either the script or the service found at rss2html.com. If you have even a little experience with scripts you will find it works like a charm.
- Open a Forum on your site, for open discussion. If you are using Phbb2’s open forum script there is an add-on that allows you to have a Search Engine Friendly Archive. Services like Stmadeveloper can install these for you and provide you with a feed from your forum on your main site. It’s a great way to keep both your forum active and fresh sticky content on your website.
- Create a Blog and post theme related events and allow outside comments. One of the best things about most Blogging Scripts is that they actually generate RSS or XML feeds for your topics. Wordpress does this but so do many other Blog Scripts. You will still need to install the feeds onto your main site using something like rss2html.com or hiring a programmer to insert them into your site for you. Again - it’s worth learning how to do it yourself.
- Hire someone to write theme related topics, and manually place them on your website. Your still doing some work but you sure don’t have to work as hard. We use Stmacontent.com to write both our articles and to provide us with full products and websites. Outsourcing can be a very lucrative way to get your content.
There are numerous ways to keep your website up to date. It’s just a matter of picking the right combination of ways that suit your individual style and needs. Don’t let a few technical aspects of website development keep you from achieving your Online goals and aspirations. There is a wealth of information available on every subject imaginable.
So go get some RSS Feeds. Learn to display them on your site using the free script from rss2html.com
Create your Blog, again learn to use rss2html.com to dislplay them on your site.
Make a Forum and install the archive script and make sure you link back to it - also set up the syndication plug in’s if they are available.
Hire a writer if your not a great writer. Services like Stmacontent and even places like rentacoder.com can get you all the original content you need.
Eric Gehler
Eric is a Business Analyst and Consultant. Co-Owner of
http://www.StmaDeveloper.com
and
http://www.stmacontent.com
Eric recommends that you join http://www.nichesitespecial.com if you want to totally automate your website creation. Eric is also available for business consultation and website development via http://www.eric-gehler.biz
May 19, 2008 at 7:22 pm · Filed under House Of Websters
When you first start out trying to get a site on the Internet
everything seems so confusing. Obtuse acronyms flow freely
through the ‘Beginner Friendly’ information sites and
definitions can be hard to come across. The main reason for this
is that the Internet and the process of getting a website online
is really very simple, and once people get past the first
stumbling steps they rarely remember the difficulty they once
had, which leads to them being unable to understand the next
wave of dot com newbies.
So let’s begin with defining some of the basic terms that are
commonly thrown around when looking for a web host. You’ll
quickly realize that computer geeks like using big words for
simple concepts. What do you expect from a group of people that
decided to call half a Byte a Nibble?
Web Host: These are the people that supply your website with
somewhere to sit and be accessed from. They’re often a wealth of
information, so when you’re trying to find your feet it will
often be worthwhile to contact their tech support and get your
questions answered. Because of this, it’s important to contact
them BEFORE you sign up for any packages to ensure that you’ll
receive a timely response. Just fire an email their way and see
what happens.
Disk Space: This is the same as the space on your own PC’s hard
drive. Web Hosts will allocate a certain amount of space to your
website, usually in Megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). This
determines how much you can store on your site.
Bandwidth: Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be retrieved
from your site within the bandwidth period. The bandwidth period
is the length of time before your bandwidth gets reset once
again, usually about a month. Bandwidth is measured in MB and
GB, like disk space. Always find out the consequences of
exceeding your allocated bandwidth before you purchase a hosting
package.
Domain Name: The domain name is your personal identifier on the
Internet. This is what gets typed into a web browser’s address
bar to reach your site. Some hosting companies will offer a
domain for free, while others will have the facilities to
provide one for a minimal cost.
SQL (MySQL, SQL Server etc.): Structured Query Language. This is
the language used to interact with databases. Chances are that
if you don’t know about it when you start looking for web
hosting, you’re not going to need to know about it for at least
a little while longer.
HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. Basically, how the Internet
works. It is the protocol governing the transfer of web pages
from one place to another.
HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language. This is (usually) what you’ll
be using to make your website, whether directly or indirectly.
Don’t be scared by the name, the ‘language’ is very easy to
learn.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol. This is a method for sending pages
and files from your home PC to a server. It is quite simple to
use and your host will provide login information if this is the
method that they use for file access. Typing “FTP://
details>” into My Computer on a windows box allows you to use
FTP as if your server were a regular windows folder.
POP3: This is a common email ‘post box’ system. It is use to
store emails for retrieval.
SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. A common protocol used to
send emails.
The beginner will not really need to know too much about the
above two email technologies. If they’re listed, good. It means
you have email accounts with your website (i.e. the email
name@yourdomain.com will reach you, somehow)
There are many ‘languages’ used to enhance websites, such as
Java, Perl, ASP, .NET, PHP, etc. If you’re just starting out you
should try to learn simple HTML first before you worry too much
about these more advanced languages. In general they’re not too
difficult to learn, but you’ll want a solid grounding before you
tackle them.
The Internet is a wonderful source of knowledge, so whenever you
want information just fire up your favourite search engine and
type in your problem. The Internet is full of sites about the
Internet, so the information you want shouldn’t be too hard to
find.
Building professional websites takes a lot of time and skill, so
many companies hire people to do it for them. If this is the
situation that you’re in, talk to the designer you’re hiring
about hosting, as they may have struck a deal with a webhost to
provide clients with cheaper hosting packages. Also, the
professional designer will know what features you’re going to
need in a hosting plan.
The world of web hosting is not as complicated as people would
like to make out. Just make sure you do a little bit of research
before diving in and you’ll be less likely to get burned by a
shifty ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ company. Check out the host’s
rankings on a few Web Hosting Directories, do a search for
reviews of the company, contact the support staff before signing
up and enjoy the world opened by having your own online
presence.
May 16, 2008 at 5:37 am · Filed under Business, Consumer Kicks, House Of Websters
Salehoo: Wholesale Designer Sunglasses Accessories
Make sure the wholesale company has a phone number in which you can call for support. It is amazing how many large companies don’t have live support. When your business starts getting bigger you will want live support from your wholesalers so make sure you can get it upfront. Ebay has become a very competitive market and in order to profit from it you have to think outside the box and do things differently otherwise you will pay a heavy price through financial loss simply buying a list like Salehoo is not the answer, so learn all about Salehoo wholesalers.
Then check completed listings searches on eBay to see what the item generally sells for and the sell-through rate for each one which is the real benefit of Salehoo dropshippers. It has to attract wholesale buyers that are specifically in the market for the wholesale products which you offer and also the Salehoo Suppliers. They also provide uninterrupted effective and efficient connectivity in between buyers and suppliers
Salehoo Wholesale Cell Leather Bags:
Wholesale clothing distributors purchase cloth, apparel, trimmings, home furnishing and accessories from manufacturers in large lots and resell them in smaller lots to retailers. Wholesale distributors usually work from warehouses or offices with no display of their merchandise. They interact with their customers through salespeople, over the phone and using the Internet. Ebay powersellers trust Salehoo dropshippers and Salehoo prices.
Their website is updated daily so not the problem of half the wholesalers being either no longer active and the links not working anymore, so try to join the Salehoo forums. Finding a wholesale supplier on your own can be a difficult task as there are many pitfalls along the way, which will be the Salehoo customers. See Salehoo Reviews.
May 1, 2008 at 10:01 pm · Filed under House Of Websters
If you’re doing business on the internet, secure hosting is an absolute necessity. There are so many security threats in today’s online world - and so much personal information stored online - that security is not an option.
When you are looking for a web hosting company for your web site, here are a few things to keep in mind regarding security…
First, ask the hosting company whether a cage structure has been put into place on the server. A cage structure gives each website on the server complete privacy from all the others. None of the sites can interfere with another, or with the underlying server.
Ask your host whether unproven code is permitted on the server. The better hosts do not allow unproven code to be installed on the server, in case it compromises security for other sites on the same system.
Find out what kind of maintenance and upgrade schedule the host uses. Operating system and server software updates should be installed on a regular basis, to plug new security holes and keep the system as secure as possible.
Security audits should be done regularly as well. Good hosting companies will audit their own systems to ensure that they are secure and hackers are not able to bypass the security.
The server should be behind heavy duty firewalls - much more than the “consumer grade” firewall that most people run on their own computers. These firewalls will also prevent other websites on the server from initiating attacks.
What You Can Do To Secure Your Site
One of the simplest ways to improve your security is to use strong passwords. Your passwords should be at least 8 characters and use a combination of letters, numbers and symbols.
Avoid common words as much as possible and especially avoid things such as familiar names or other personal information that could be easily guessed.
Make sure you are running anti-virus and firewall software on your own computer to be sure that nothing gets transferred from your system to your server when you are working on your website or with email.
John Lenaghan writes about the best web hosting for ecommerce and other website hosting topics on the Hosting Report website. Find out more at http://www.hostingreport.org
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April 28, 2008 at 12:56 pm · Filed under House Of Websters
If you’ve been
studying online marketing for awhile you’re familiar with the
term ‘AIDA’ since it’s the standard formula for creating a sales
or signup page.
But just in case
you’re not here’s what it stands for:
-
Grab the reader’s Attention.
-
Get the reader’s Interest.
-
Create a Desire for your
product or service.
-
Call for Action. (Tell your
reader what to do.)
So you write a catchy
headline and try to use 1 or more of the latest ‘buzz’ words.
Then you write
something you hope will get the reader’s interest and describe
the ‘benefits’ of your offer.
And of course you’ve
put a signup form or a payment link on your site.
But …
Nothing’s happening.
No sales - No signups.
Well the first thing
you have to check is to make sure you’ve got some traffic to
your site.
Ok, you’ve got some
decent traffic so what’s the problem?
There are lots of
possibilities and I am going to list 4 of the biggies.
-
Your page loads so
slow people don’t stick around to read it.
True, a lot of people have fast connections but they’ve also
gotten used to fast loading web pages so your landing page needs
to come up quickly. Because my homepage takes too long to load,
I’ve created several fast loading pages to promote my site and
newsletter and you should consider doing the same.
If you don’t want to create smaller landing pages you can also
divide your page into sections by using tables. Have the top
portion of your page in 1 table so it will come up quickly and
give the reader something to read while the rest of your page
loads.
- Your site is hard to
read.
When you’re picking the colors and fonts for your site make sure
you pick ones that are ‘easy on the eyes’ and show up well on
the monitor.
You should also write short paragraphs with empty space between
them.
And one of most effective things you can do is create bullet or
numbered lists. Be sure to put some space between the bullet
items and if the list is really long you should alternate either
the color or bold style of the list items. (Changing fonts or
font size is not recommended.)
-
Your page requires
special software to be seen or heard.
Now maybe you’ve got all the extra downloadable software to make
all your banners, ad boxes, audio and video work but a lot of
people don’t. In fact, I’m one of them.
Almost every day I come across sites that tell me I need to
download something to see or hear a page properly. While I know
how to download these things, a lot of people don’t.
So if you’ve got something on your page that requires special
software make sure the software is easily attainable, free and
most visitors already have it.
Don’t rely on the part of your page that requires extra software
to do most of your selling because a lot of visitors will never
see or hear it.
-
Your page is full of
extra clutter.
In your attempt to build a list you’ve created a signup form.
Then you wanted to add content so you did. Next you need to sell
something so you’ve put up a few ads. You need traffic so you’ve
added several banner exchange banners to your page. And lastly,
you’ve added a popup.
With all these things going for you, your visitors will surely
find something to click on. Right?
Wrong. You’ve given them too many things to click on. Now when
they see your sight it looks like a flashing sign that says “I’m
new at this and trying anything that will get your attention.”
Remember the other marketing acronym - KISS. (Keep It Simple, Smarty!)
Ok, I changed the last word but you get the point.
Don’t clutter your page with so many things your visitor is
overwhelmed with choices. Focus on 1 thing.
Sure, your homepage may be a content page with a signup form and
some ads. But what’s it’s focus?
If it’s the content then that’s what fills most of the page and
the other things are smaller and unobtrusive.
If it’s primarily a signup page then the content is promoting
your mailings and the signup box is bigger and included in or at
the end of the content. Any ads on the page are smaller and
unobtrusive.
Now I don’t use banner exchanges but know the banners have to be
shown for you to get credit. Rather than have several on you
home page, use 1 at the bottom and maybe 1 at the top of your
main page. To get exposure for your other banner exchange
programs, try splitting your main page or creating some other
page that most visitors will visit and then you can place 1 or 2
more on that page as well. (You could create a text link that
promotes free traffic and points to your page full of banner
exchange banners along with some words saying that by joining
these programs they can get more traffic for their site.)
There are other
things that can cause your response rate to be less than
acceptable so you should be testing different headlines,
wording, formatting, etc. while you’re making sure you’re not
committing 1 of the above biggies.
Creating a page that performs well doesn’t mean you have to use
a lot of images, make it unique with unusual fonts and colors,
use all the latest technical gadgets or promote everything
you’ve joined.
If your landing pages are simple; fast loading, easy to read,
readable by everyone and focused on 1 thing, you’re on the right
path to getting a good response rate.
To Your Success,
Susan
Susan Carroll owner of http://www.friendswhocare.us has formed a global community of online business people through her weekly newsletter.
Although designed to help those just getting started, her community of friends
include both newbies and experienced internet marketers.
Her Circle of Friends free membership area contains many free resources and
tools for online marketers. You can get a free membership at:
http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm.
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.
April 27, 2008 at 12:40 pm · Filed under House Of Websters
Are you a sport fanatic? Do you like working on cars? What about cooking?
Unless you were born yesterday or are a complete moron you have
a phletora of knowledge inside your head. This is exactly what the Search Engines want!
The Internet is still largely a text based medium. And all of the search engines know this. Your keywords should be based on this.
Build a website with lots of good original content….this is what almost all “Internet Marketing Guru’s” will tell you. It’s also called Niche Marketing.
Now get yourself a domain name and a good webhosting company. A good domain will cost you as little $2.00 bucks. And webhosting as low as $5.00 bucks a month. When looking for a domain name be sure to use the .com extension and not the .net or the .org extensions. The .com is what most people will remember. What would you rather have? repairyourcar.com or repairyourcar.org? Most folks will remember repairyourcar.com.
If you already have a website concentrate on good content….. Because it is still King!
You should learn html, ftp, php, css, graphics, how to ebooks and a phletora (there’s that word again) of other programming tools to help you succeed with your website. There are also thousands of websites to help you, just do a search on your favorite search engine for html help, ftp programs, ebooks, and niche marketing.
You must also read everything, read until your eyes bleed, consume all that is positive, if you have any doubts cast them aside. Read the forums, blogs, websites, articles and anything that you consider helpful.
Make it easy for the search engines to crawl your site. No tricks, or disappearing acts. Try to keep your webpages on the same level as your index.html page. Stay away from yoursite.com/info/moreinfo/good-info.html. The search engines love straight one level websites.
Get good quality links from other website similar to yours. Do NOT trade links about cars if your website is about gardening.
Stay away from get rich quick programs, stick with what you know and you will succeed. Believe me I know this first hand.
How long will it take? 2-3 weeks….I doubt it. 2-4 months maybe…. 1 year or so….absolutley!
Paul Guzman is the author of the above article.
You can email him at mgr@guzmansgreenhouse.com
Or visit his website http://www.guzmansgreenhouse.com
April 8, 2008 at 4:35 am · Filed under House Of Websters
This morning, the Internet connected me to my friends, although
today the News was mostly bad. Firstly, some friends of mine and
I are planning to get together tomorrow and I was figuring out
what time to meet. I emailed my friends at ten twenty two am, to
say ‘Let’s meet at six pm’. At ten thirty five am, one of them
emailed me back that he’d been downsized, and so could make it
as early as we liked. I emailed my condolences, glad for the
speed and ease when connecting with my friends via the Internet.
His email at quarter to nine am said nothing about being
downsized so he must only have found out about it this morning,
less than two hours before he told us.
Before telephones and computers came to be, swift communication
would have been reserved for only those who could afford to send
letters to each other and employ messenger boys. Although on the
other hand, before England had telephones I gather the mail
service was so efficient that you could send an invitation at
breakfast, and expect a letter in response the same day. Even
that doesn’t compare with getting an answer in thirteen minutes,
and learning about major events in a friend’s life in less than
two hours.
After receiving that bad News, and then my small consolation of
joy at being so connected to my friends, I read more bad News in
another friend’s blog and discovered that I’m less connected
than I thought. My blogger friend is worried he suffers from
depression and might be an alcoholic. According to his blog he
can’t talk to his friends about it, including me. I wonder if he
knows that some of his friends read his blog. Like most blog
pages this one allows comments so I anonymously offered some
advice and encouraged him to talk to his friends. I’m curious if
what I said will give away who I am. Later on I had a discussion
about him and his blog with another friend over a messenger
program.
Sadly the world is both kind and cruel, filled with both joy and
sorrow. So, if you can connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime,
you will get bad News as quickly and clearly as you get good
News. Although you will, I hope, always get good News more often.
March 30, 2008 at 11:45 pm · Filed under House Of Websters
Most of us at times need advice on different aspects of life and the thought of obtaining a website can be quite a daunting task for many people. There are so many people offering cheap web design services, therefore how do you know who to choose and what to look for.
In reality you should be able to find some great deals out there due to the competitive nature of website design. You should be able to get a good looking, search engine friendly website built for between £50 and £100. The websites mentioned at the bottom of this article were designed and uploaded for under £50!
Where do you find these web designers, willing to build a website for this affordable price?
These are the places I would be looking:
internet search engines
yellow pages
asking family and friends
newspaper advertisements
shop window advertisements
internet auction websites such as ebay
When you have found a designer who is going to build your website, you need to find the content for your website, choose colours and graphics and think of the page titles for each page. The page titles could be the key phrases people are likely to search for in your product area or even better the niche phrases.
Once the website is built you then have to think about promoting your website. Building up your backward links is becoming increasingly important and will eventually lead to higher search engine positions and therefore more traffic to your website.
Writing articles like the one you are reading is also of value as people are able to use them for free on their website, thus creating you an additional backward link.
If you would like to earn a little extra money from the website you could try google adsense. These are ads that the search engine google will place on your website. When a visitor clicks on the ad you earn money.
Stephen Hill has a number of websites including:
http://www.attention-deficit-disorder.co.uk
http://www.herbal-health.co.uk
http://www.natural-health-cure.co.uk
