How to Choose a Web Host?

Once you decide that you need web page either for your business, non-profit organization or simply a fun personal page, you then have the Herculean task of choosing a web host. Hopefully, the host you choose will be easy on the pocket, and offer maximum uptime, enough bandwidth support, appropriate web-space, and excellent customer service and support. Most web hosting services will not excel in all areas, however if you take the time to make an informed decision you can have it all!

The type of web services you desire and the purpose for which the web site is being created plays a major role in the choice for a web host. If the web site to be hosted is a commercial website, checking uptime period of the considered server is vital. Anything less than 99.5% uptime would be unacceptable for most commercial web sites. This is because search engines may be indexing your site at any moment of time and if your site were down it would lose its chance to be indexed on that particular search engine and hence lose probable business. Also, existing customers who would be visiting your site and are unable to load your web page may develop a negative impression about you that could harm business reputation. If the site is for a non-profit organization, a club or any personal page intending to only keep related people informed about certain aspects, a requirement for 99.5% uptime might not be a major criterion in your decision.

Another important aspect is the amount of file space that host offers. An average commercial web site normally contains not more than a few hundred web pages, some java or php scripts and image and multimedia files. All this information ordinarily does on not require web space more than 50-100 MB. Some hosts will charge a lot for additional space, while others will provide much more than 50-100 MB at a minimal cost.

Bandwidth is another issue you should carefully consider. If your site is just a personal homepage, it is unlikely you will get much traffic. However, if your site is an ecommerce site and you are expecting upwards of a thousand visitors a day, you should check the monthly bandwidth allowance that the host offers, since you will be charged if your site goes over this amount.

Make sure to check what “extras” the host offers. Does it give you up to 3 email accounts, or up to 100? Does it allow you to setup subdomains? What technologies does it support? For instance, if you plan to use PHP, make sure that server actually has PHP installed!

Finally, you should check out the web host’s reputation. Have they been in business a long time? Do they have a good reputation within the industry? Are they known for customer service? If your web site is a critical piece of your business, it would be wise to entrust it to a reputable hosting service.

by: Paul Herbert

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Basic Survival Tips For Printing Companies

For printing companies to survive and make a permanent mark in this complicated and continually evolving industry, they do not need magic tricks and special powers in order to do so. Having the most modern of modern machines and a large number of staff does not also guarantee success. The technique is only boiled down to three things:

Generating more sales. Compare the output that they are making and you will see that they it is way higher than other struggling companies. This simply means that they are selling more and have more customers and orders. Economics state that being busy is always equal to more results. So these printers try to do more work and production and lessening the problems that may hinder that cause.

Being both work effective and cost efficient. It does not matter how small or insignificant the work is as long as it comes in big numbers. What matters is the profit it will give in the end. Big profits. Doing the work properly and meeting the standards required should also be considered first before the bulks. Maintaining the equipments used and the knowledge of persons needed for the business should also be maintained to prevent would-be factors that would bring poor result.

Thinking of new ways and things that are of value to customers. Change is the trend and it always happen. What may the big thing today is an outdated one tomorrow. Knowing what would be valuable and the changes in the printing needs of the customers will make you a treasure to them. Not all have the capacity to anticipate what the needs and preferences that people have. Doing some research or surveys about them would surely help a lot for both your advantage.

There is really no big secrets in having a permanent landmark in the printing industry. It just takes some basic business strategies and a know-how about life in general. In the printing industry, as well as business industries, it does not always take complicated measures to ensure success. Some of the simple strategies are even more effective than comprehensive ones. Sometimes the more simpler things tend to be the best solution.

Successful printing industries are not magicians or miracle workers for that matter. They are just at their proper places at the right time and doing the right things too. Many businesses can learn from the strategies that these companies use.

by: Florie Lyn Masarate

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How does Google see SEO's?

The current buzz for the last few years has been Search Engine Marketing. Everyone wants to know what it is and how to do it. Much in the same way that web design was the thing to learn in the late 90’s. Now, almost all web design agencies offer this service, and have been offering this service to their customers. There are Internet Marketing experts all over the world, but is this something that Google sees as unnatural and unethical – as it is a blatant manipulation of Google search results? This depends on the application.

If you are a spammer and your sole goal is to add duplicate content, door way pages, and other black hat content, then this will be seen by Google as bad, because it does not benefit the user in any way and just adds to the growing list of thousands of pages that are irrelevant and have no value. But if you are adding relevant and original content on a regular basis, this can be quite useful, especially if you are writing for the user in mind, as it holds a certain value and will carry more chance of being picked and displayed in the search engine results pages.

Google only cares about presenting the users with the results that they are looking for, the more relevant the result, the better. Google has numerous algorithms in place whose sole job is to sort out relevant content and display it in the index of websites held in datacenters all over the world.

Also, if the content that has been created engages the user in some sort of way then this can also earn you extra brownies points as it makes your site sticky and get users visiting more often and for longer. Google wants websites to have some sort of function and not just sit there becoming stale and obsolete. If this rule can be followed, there is very little chance of Google ever having any problems with so called “SEO’s” and they can continue to add quality to the growing number of websites that are online and being accessed as we speak.

by: Nick Singh

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How to Get Indexed by Search Engines?

Why Can't I Get Indexed by the Search Engines? Unfortunately, this is an all too common question. If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one frustrated about the length of time it takes to be indexed, or the many pitfalls involved. It often takes anywhere from two days to as much as six months to be listed on a search engine. For example, last month Excite finally updated its index for the first time since last August! Luckily, Excite is the most extreme case lately, but waiting several weeks to a month can also be extremely frustrating.

A Web Position Submitter report will give you current time estimates for each engine so you'll know what to expect. However, an engine at any time could choose to delay their indexing beyond the "norm" for maintenance or other reasons. On the flip side, you could get lucky and submit just a couple days before an engine does a complete refresh of their database. Therefore, submission times can never be an exact science since we're all ultimately at the mercy of the engine. If you've submitted your site and have waited the estimated time to be indexed and there's still no listing, what do you do now?

Here are 16 tips that should help you solve this problem:

1. First, be sure you're not already indexed but just don't know it. Unfortunately, none of the major engines are kind enough to e-mail or notify you as to if and when you've been indexed. The method to determine if a page or domain has been indexed varies from one engine to another, and in many cases, it's difficult to tell for sure. Never assume that you're not indexed just because you searched for a bunch of keywords and you never came up in the first few pages of results. You could be in there but buried near the bottom. In addition, it's not very practical to check the status of a number of pages on each major engine each week. Fortunately, Web Position has a URL verification feature in the Reporter that makes this process much easier. Each time you run a mission, it will report which URLs exist and do not exist in each engine.

2. Make sure you have uploaded the pages to your site before submitting them. This one seems obvious, but submitting a page that does not exist or submitting with a subtle typo in the URL is a goof we might all make at one time or another. If you're using Web Position's Submitter, there's a checkbox on tab 2 that forces Web Position to verify that all your URLs are valid before submitting them.

3. If you have information inside frames, that can cause problems with submissions. It's best if you can create non-framed versions of your pages. You should then submit the non-frames versions of your pages which can of course point to your framed Web site. Alternatively, you can enter your relevant text within the “no frames” area of a framed page which most search engine spiders will read.

4. Search engine spiders cannot index sites that require any kind of registration or password. A spider cannot fill out a form of any kind. The same rule applies regarding indexing of content from a searchable database, because the spider cannot fill out a form to query that database. The solution is to create static pages that the engines will be able to find.

5. Dynamic pages often block spiders. In fact, any URL containing special symbols like a question mark (?) or an ampersand (&) will be ignored by many engines.

6. Most engines cannot index text that is embedded in graphics. Text that appears in multimedia files (audio and video) cannot be indexed by most engines. Information that is generated by Java applets or in XML coding cannot be indexed by most engines.

7. If your site has a slow connection or the pages are very complex and take a long time to load, it might time out before the spider can index all the text. For the benefit of your visitors and the search engines, limit your page size to less than 60K. In fact, most Webmasters recommend that your page size plus the size of all your graphics should not exceed 50K-70K. If it does, many people on dial up connections will leave before the page fully loads.

8. If you submit just your home page, don't expect a search engine to travel more than one or two links away from the home page or the page that you submitted. Over time they may venture deeper into your site, but don't count on it. You'll often need to submit pages individually that appear further down into your site or have no link from the home page.

9. If your Web site fails to respond when the search engine spider pays a visit, you will not be indexed. Even worse, if you are indexed and they pay a visit when your site is down, you'll often be removed from their database! Therefore, it pays to have a reliable hosting service that is up 99.5% of the time. However, at some point a spider is going to hit that other 0.5% and end up yanking your pages by mistake. Therefore, it pays to keep a close eye on your listings.

10. If you have ever used any questionable techniques that might be considered an overt attempt at spamming (i.e., excessive repetition of keywords, same color text as background, or other things that the WebPosition Page Critic warns you about), an engine may ignore or reject your submissions. If you're having trouble getting indexed in the expected amount of time, make sure your site is spam-free.

11. If your site contains redirects or meta refresh tags these things can sometimes cause the engines to have trouble indexing your site. Generally they will index the page that it is redirecting TO, but if it thinks you are trying to "trick" the engine by using "cloaking" or IP redirection technology, there's a chance that it may not index the site at all.

12. If you're submitting to a directory site like Yahoo, Open Directory, NBCi, Looksmart, or others, then a human being will review your site. They must decide the site is of sufficient "quality" before they will list it. I recommend you read the submission guide on the directory tab of the WebPosition Submitter. It contains tips to improve your chances of obtaining a good listing on these directories.

13. A number of engines no longer index pages residing on many common free web hosting services. The common complaint from the engines is that they get too many "junk" or low-quality submissions from free web site domains. Therefore, they often choose not to index anyone from those domains or they limit submissions from them. It's always best to buy your own domain name (very important) and place it on a respected, paid hosting service to avoid being discriminated against.

14. Some engines have been known to drop pages that cannot be traveled to from the home page. HotBot has been rumored to do this. You may want to consider submitting your home page that links either directly or indirectly to your doorway pages.

15. Make sure you're submitting within the recommended limits. Some engines do not like more than a certain number of submissions per day for the same domain. If you exceed the limit, you may find that all your submissions are ignored. Fortunately, WebPosition's submitter will warn you regarding current limits and recommend you stay within them. Some submission consultants feel it is dangerous to submit more than ONE page a day to a engine for a given Web site. For those who wish to be ultra-conservative in their approach, the WebPosition Submitter includes a checkbox to limit submissions to one URL per day per engine.

16. Last but not least, sometimes the engines just lose submissions at random through technical errors and bugs. Therefore, some people like to resubmit once or twice a month for good merit in case they do lose a submission. Certainly if you've followed all the "rules" and are still not listed, re-submit! Sometimes a little persistence is all that's needed.

If any of the above scenarios apply to your submission, you should make the necessary adjustments and re-submit. If that still does not work, you should consider e-mailing or calling the search engine and asking them politely why you have not been indexed yet. Sometimes they will reply back with "Sorry, there was a problem with our system and I've now made sure you'll be indexed within the next couple days." Or, sometimes they'll tell you why you were not indexed. In other cases, they will ignore your e-mail and you'll have to keep e-mailing or calling them until they respond. Still, it's definitely worth the effort to get your site listed with the major engines assuming you also take the time to optimize your pages so you'll achieve top rankings. I hope this helps in your future marketing decisions.

Help with website design and Smarter Marketing options can be found through Online Web Consultants SEO Firm. The specialist here are experienced and certified in search engine optimization and search engine marketing.

by: Lee Rummage

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SEO Provides A Big Help For Most Internet Users

SEO or the search engine optimization is the way of creating web pages eye-catching to most of the search engines. This is the way of altering a web site in a course of a plan and writing methods that will improve your site on the main search engines.

Search engine optimization is simply assuring that the web pages are available in all search engines. And this is also centering on the means that will make them enhance the probability that internet users will find the page using search engines.

A page that is well enhanced optimized will become the top placing in the search engine result lists. This is very significant because most people who use the search engine would tend to only look at the first page. Since a well optimized pages is located at the first or second page of the search engine it is very possible that the researcher will read it.

The main aim to become a search engine effective is to have the pages available at the first two pages or first pages (if possible) for specific key terms. They are five crucial rules for search engine optimization and they are:

1. Keep in mind that each page of your website is a detach unit. Each page should relate to the fundamentals of an efficient search engine optimization.

2. Select for a suitable key words or phrases that you will use for each web page. It is important that the key words or phrases relates to the topic.

3. Provide every page with a proper and suitable title that contains the key word or phrases even once.

4. Once you are choosing the key words or phrases, place it in the page’s title tag, Meta key words and Meta description. The Meta description should be interesting if necessary since most search engine utilize the description in the search engine results pages.

5. Make it certain that the key words or phrase you have selected is reiterated sensibly all through out the page’s content. If you did not do it, there is a possibility that it may be considered as spam and be rejected.

Some may tell you that these are only the five fundamentals to effective search engine. However when you utilize these five basics, surely it will provide your page chances of appearing in the first page of the most search engines or else at the second (which is still good).

Below are listed search engine optimization tips when it comes to its importance:

• Possible site plan
• Selecting the right keywords
• The title tag
• The copywriting
• The Meta tag
• The descriptions alt quality
• Things that should be avoided
• How long will it take to be programmed

Most people are easily gets upset when the articles that they are looking for are unavailable in the internet. Sometimes it would take them hours and hours looking for the articles. And since most people would rely on the articles of the search results first page, chances are the articles at the latter pages will likely be noticed as much as the first pages.

This is what makes the search engine optimization important this time; it helps the internet surfers find their researches the easiest way possible. Especially at this era of computer oriented lifestyle, most people know how to use computers and most people uses the internet for some important matters. By the help of the search engines, it will be simple for them to locate data on keywords that they are looking for.

by: Dana Goldberg

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Are Directories Losing Popularity?

First off, Directories are mainly used to create backlinks for websites aiming for high rankings on Google, maybe a high Page Rank too. Directories aren't normally used to create traffic because it’s mainly only Google and other Search Engines who look through the directory.

Directories have been used for a long time even by the professional Link building Services because they are a simple way of getting backlinks. However, with Google trying to reduce the Page Rank of any directories it can find, is it worth submitting to directories?

Recently, a lot of Webmasters owning Directories have seen their directories go straight down to Page Rank 0. This could be because of the number of outgoing links in a directory; it could also be if there is featured links in the directory because as well all know, Google doesn't like paid links.

When directories go down to Page Rank 0, it means less people want to submit to their directory because the link isn't as valuable, that is why people could charge quite a lot of money in a Page Rank 7 directory but not in a Page Rank 0 directory. When a Webmaster goes down to Page Rank 0, they know they will make very little money from it.

In my opinion, I think directories are losing popularity when it comes to featured links, because people have worked out that their link could soon be worthless after a few months and it would be a waste of money. They have also worked out that even if there is a Page Rank 7 directory, the page their link will be on will probably be Page Rank 0 anyway.

I think that directories are getting more popular when it comes to free links because everyone is looking for any type of backlinks, and directories are the quickest way.

It means that directory owners have to find different ways of making income from their directory. This could be using a Pay-Per-Click Program such as Google AdSense, or making even a more unique method of making money.

by: Jeyanth Watson

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Are You Blogging Effectively?

Perhaps blogging isn't such a graceful word. For me, personally, it sounds like a worded drudgery the way cereals can be soggy, skies can be foggy, and the way minds can be groggy. But for now, it's too late to rename this shortened word for web-logging. Widespread blogging is nevertheless one of the most engaging Internet developments of the past few ages. As a medium it gives rise to many new and worthy voices and plays a new and vital force in shaping thoughts, political realities, trends, and even our language.

I believe that a blog is simply a tool to use for someone who's got something to say. Let me be clear in saying that a blog is a poor choice for someone who needs a megaphone to scream out to cyberspace in order to elicit a meaningful response from Internet users. If you want attention and want it now and expect blogging to bring it to you, then this will surely be a disappointment. However, if you like to write and engage others on subjects of which you have a few command or experience, then it's a wonderful application with which you can interact with people who share similar interests as you. The hype is well founded.

Anyway, here's a list of blogging tips

1.) Be topical.

Cohesiveness in message is not optional. Readers may or may not be interested in your topic, but if your message is haphazard that few will bother remembering to return to your blog because it essentially would offer nothing to remember. This doesn't mean blogs can't jump from subject to subject. For instance, a blog with a humorous focus has all the leeway in the world for subject matter, but it would be foolish for such a blog to turn the humor on and off. In such an example, the aspect of humor would be content's glue, the strength of the blog. The beauty of staying on point and on topic is that eventually, due to the nature of the Internet, you will find those interested solely in your topic. (as opposed to online diaries. There are millions of them on the internet, few have any readers. Email me with examples if I'm wrong and I'll be able to show you why you're showing me a blog and not a diary.)

2.) Refresh your content

Create a schedule and stick to it. Realizing that blogging requires time and effort, don't create unrealistic expectations and be unable to deliver. An occasional lapse or holiday is generally understood but readers returning to find stale, out-dated content are going to find another blog with similar content. New blogs and RSS feeds are popping up on a daily basis. If you have worked hard to develop an audience and a community you don't want to lose them due to lack of communication.

And remember, what's old is not new and, for blogs, thusly not interesting. 2006 isn't the time to rail against Enron or Vanilla Ice. Insight doesn't matter much to yesterday's news.

3.) Clear Language Counts.

Blessed is the blog with a clear line of logic. Write without inside jokes, clique-y catchphrases or ambiguous logic. Initially time readers need to be close to your message. They are more likely to return to blogs that strike them positively. If the initially read is confusing there will not be a second read.

4.) Feed the Spiders.

Search engines take notice of active blogs and blog search engines are especially sensitive to activity. If nothing else, search engines are smarter today than they were yesterday and are only getting smarter. In constantly improving they are seeking to aggregate quality; quality blogs are updated several times a week, if not daily, as opposed to once or twice a month. I don't mean to scare you but a big spider is watching, so dance for them.

5.) RSS.

Think of RSS like a magic to blogging world, because that's the effect it's had. RSS feeds are a way to exponentially sound your voice to the interested. These feeds are a great means to increase the distribution and readership of your original content.

6.) Spell check.

Hey man, use the spell-check. I do if I didn't you probably wouldn't have made it to #6. It only takes a minute and can save you from looking like a hack.

Your weblog audiences will be small at initially. And, frankly, that's the way it should be. Who are you to think that half the internet will flock to you after three or four posts of your blog, anyway?

If you tough it out while maintaining quality, readership will materialize. You will link to cool, relevant blogs and, in turn, they will to you. While your voice may be unique, your niche likely isn't and if your content is emitted smartly to the Internet those relevant readers will respond through readership and interaction. That I guarantee.

by: Blogger-Bruce Andrews

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