Here are a few reasons why maintaining your website is important:

# Attracting the search engines – Search engines are important to the livelihood of your online business, but they don’t like “dead” websites. Websites which have been left static without updates or fresh content are a no-no in the online world. Another thing search engines don’t like is broken links.

As you build your web pages it’s easy to miss broken links. A good strategy is to double check every link you add to your website. Inevitably you may miss some or some may become broken with time (as web addresses change and so on). Regular maintenance and “check-ups” for your website will help you spot these broken links and keep your customers and search engines happy in the process.

# Updating information may increase your sales – Regularly looking over your website will also help you make changes and adjustments as necessary. For example, you may have started promoting what was a great product two years ago but now that product may be outdated and not so great anymore. By updating your website you may find products and promotions which are a better match for your visitors. This means more money in your pocket and more satisfied visitors.

Look through your old web pages to see if there are any promotions which can be updated or given a little extra “oomph.” Times change and on the internet time moves at a faster speed – keeping up with the times is important and you can do this by simply looking over your pages and tweaking as you go along.

# Keeping track of your stats is important – Another part of your basic web maintenance is keeping on top of all your visitor statistics. It makes sense to regularly go through your website and check how many visitors you have on a monthly basis, where they’re coming from, how they’re finding you, what pages they’re accessing and so on.

A running log of these statistics will help you quickly identify any potential problems such as loss of traffic or reduced income from sources such as Google AdSense and so on.

Regular web maintenance for your website is important. It can help you keep up with changing times, help to attract more visitors and ultimately make you more sales. If you find this task difficult to squeeze in, try scheduling it in for a set time each month or every few weeks. It shouldn’t take long and the time investment may make all the difference to your business. And finally, if you don’t have time to do the web maintenance yourself you can always think about hiring an assistant to help you with this task.

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Here are a few things to bear in mind when building your first website or blog:

#1 – Forget the bells and whistles – keep it simple

Design on the internet needs to be easy on the eye, user friendly and make sense to the average user. Never assume your customers will be as web savvy as you – many may just be familiarizing themselves with online surfing while others may simply have come to expect traditional navigation on a website.

Simplicity always rules on the net. Let your website stand out by making it easy for the visitor to find what they’re looking for, and most importantly by providing great value and content within your site. Then simply follow a few basic good design rules and you’re set to go. Here are the most important rules to follow:

* Don’t use color for the background. Keep the background of your website or blog white. In some instance a light color will work but avoid dark colors. Black can be especially difficult on the eyes. When in doubt, go with a white background and black text.

* Don’t use too many graphics or flash images. Flash images can make a website slow to load and be downright annoying in some cases. Use images sparingly and make sure you use Alt tags in your images to make them search engine friendly. A few well-placed graphics can make a good impression and add to the actual content of the website – graphics should always enhance your text, not take away from it.

* Don’t use music or audio without controls. An audio welcome can be a great addition to your website but always give visitors the option to click to hear the audio if they choose to. Otherwise, you may startle or annoy your customers when they suddenly hear a message they weren’t expecting.

Music in most cases is just not necessary and will distract from the message of your site. If you feel that music is a good addition, again, give your customers the option to click to listen to the music rather than taking that choice away from them.

* Don’t use too many text colors. As with the background and design of a site, text color should be kept simple. At most use three colors within your site, preferably two – one for the standard text and one for headlines. This will make reading easy on the eye and look more professional. Using two colors also means that your headlines will stand out to the reader and draw them into the text.

* Break it up. Text can be very difficult to read online. Make it easy on your visitors’ eyes by breaking up the text into small, manageable sentences. It also helps to add bullet points and sub-headlines throughout the text as many readers on the net skim pages rather than absorb them in full.

#2 – Don’t forget the content

Good design is important but great content can make all the difference to your internet success. The best approach is to gel good design with stellar content and you’ll have a sure winner on your hands.

Always give a little more than other websites and keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Add interesting stories, articles, downloads, videos and information that will help your visitors achieve their goals.

#3 – Don’t avoid feedback

Feedback – good or bad – is important to your business. Ask visitors to fill in a poll, reply to your newsletter or give them feedback in general. Use this feedback to improve your site further and to help your visitors achieve their goals. This will pay off nicely for you too in the long run.

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Most people click away. They’re searching for information and we’ve become accustomed to instant gratification, at least online. So what’s an internet business owner to do? Make sure your webpages load quickly!

Here’s how to design your webpages for fast loading.

#1 Graphics are the biggest culprit. Graphics are the biggest problem when it comes to slow loading web pages. The general rule of thumb is to make sure a graphic takes up no more than 10K on any given page and the rule of thumb is to make sure each page takes up no more than 30K so you can see where your graphics play an important role and why optimizing them is so important.

However, before you take that 500X500 jpg and minimize it to 100×100 in the html code of your page, stop! Reduce the size of the image before you put it on the page. Forcing the server to recognize the code and reduce the image size every time it loads, slows down the loading time significantly.

And steer clear of flash, it generally loads quite slowly. If you do use flash make sure you optimize the files before you load them onto your server and page.

#2 Watch tables and colors too. Tables and colors can also be big files and take up a lot of space. Use tables sparingly, when they make sense and fit into your overall plan. Colors on the other hand are a necessity, right? Use simple design and background images and fills for the best loading, and probably the most user friendly, webpages.

It’s predicted that as we move into the next decade, beyond 2010 that websites are going to become even more streamlined than they are now. Part of the reason is that more and more people are accessing the web from their mobile devices and a streamlined and simply designed website is much easier to use.

#3 Clean up your code. Often there are bits and pieces of broken code. Cleaning it up will help streamline loading times.

#4 Optimize your page for content. Content is the biggie here, it’s why people are going to your website so rather than spending all that time and energy on graphics and colors, make sure your content loads quickly – try to skip tables and frames, is easy to read, and takes a prominent position on your page – there are no distractions.

#5 Use gadgets and plug-ins sparingly. Yes, these are fun tools that can enhance your user experience however they can also clutter a page and slow down loading time.

These five strategies are applicable regardless of the tools and language you use to create your website however, as you or your developer delve further into the website building process there are certain things you can do within each tool or language to increase loading time. Learn the rules and specifications of your chosen website builder and learn how to optimize images and files. Accomplishing this will take you a long way toward achieving a lightening quick load time and happy prospects and customers.

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Here are our top tips:

#1 – Write and distribute articles. You may have heard this tip already, but it is without a doubt one of the absolute best ways to drive traffic to your website. Each article you distribute to the directories could mean many potential one-way links back to your websites.

This means more visitors who read your content and click over for more information. But it also means higher ranking within the search engines themselves. Search engines love incoming one-way links, and the more articles you distribute the more back links you’ll get.

#2 – Optimize your website. Search engines are sophisticated but they still can’t find your website unless you optimize it fully. Ensure all your pages include a title tag, the appropriate keywords and a short description about your website. A clear navigation structure as well as a thorough site map will also help both the search engines and your human visitors find you.

#3 – Write great content. Great website content is to search engines what honey is to bees. They absolutely love it. The content on your website should be helpful, informative and as up-to-date as possible. Adding regular fresh content will be appreciated by your human visitors as well as the search engines.

#4 – Do your keyword research. Search engines and human visitors use keywords to find your website. Your keywords are the lifeblood of your business. It pays to take a little extra time to get this step right. Some keywords can bring thousands of repeat customers to your website for years. Other keywords won’t be found or rated at all.

Use a good keyword tool like Word Tracker to find the ultimate keywords for your market. Then use them on your website intertwined with fantastic quality content.

Getting quality search engine traffic does take a little work, but it’s very well worth it in the long run. Taking the time to set up your website properly from the start will pay you back over and over again.

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What is a Favicon Exactly?

Favicon stands for ‘favorites icon’ and they’re little icons or graphics associated with a website and generally positioned to the left of the URL in your browser bar. Generally favicons come in a few basic sizes including:

* 16×16,
* 32×32,
* 48×48,
* 64×64,
* And 128×128

So How Do You Get These Little Icons to Attach Themselves to Your URL?

Well the easiest way to get one is to first use a Favicon generator. These handy little tools will help you convert an image, or your logo, into a favicon. You can also create your own favicon from scratch by drawing it with an icon drawing program.

The new icon will be saved as favicon.ico. 

From that point you will save the icon on your computer.

Next, upload the saved image to the root directory of your web space. If you have a webmaster, send them the image so they can upload it into your root directory.

The last step is to add a line of HTML to the header of your web pages. You’ll want to position it between your and tags.

It’ll look something like this. This identifies your favicon to web browsers so they can display it whenever someone visits a page on your website.

The last step is to visit your URL in your browser and make sure the favicon is there. If not, double check your html for errors.

So Where Can You Find Favicon Generators and Icon Drawing Tools?

There are many free generators available online. Simply search using the terms “favicon generator” and you’ll find a number of them. And if you want to draw or create one yourself from scratch simply search for “favicon drawing tools” or “icon drawing”. If you have Photoshop, you can use Photoshop to create a favicon too.

Adding a favicon to your website is a wonderful way to brand your business. And it’s simple and easy to do. Have fun with it, research other favicons on your favorite websites and your competitors and get creative.

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Here are seven effective strategies to guarantee targeted website traffic.

#1 PPC ads. Of course, not all PPC ad campaigns generate targeted traffic. You have to study your prospects and design keyword-specific ads that send traffic to a web page related to the ad. For a website about dog training where they have to dig to find your potty training information, you’re not sending the right kind of targeted website traffic to the right place. Send them directly to your potty training product page.

#2 Classified advertisements. Use the same advice and strategy as with PPC ads above.

#3 A squeeze page, opt-in list and targeted email messages. A squeeze page is essentially a way to capture the email addresses of people who are actually interested in receiving your information. True, they may be after your giveaway but that’s okay – they’re still a qualified prospect. Once you have their email address, you can begin sending them informative, entertaining and slightly promotional messages, all of which are designed to send them directly to your website – targeted website traffic.

#4 Article marketing. Article marketing is one of the most effective ways to generate targeted website traffic. When you publish quality content, and it gets published online on article directories and republished on other websites, you’re reaching a wider audience. The link(s) in your article and in your bio box can all send targeted traffic right back to your website. The more articles you publish, the more targeted traffic you generate. It’s a simple equation.

#5 Blog and guest blog. Use the same advice and strategy as with article marketing above.

#6 Social networking. Social networking can send tons of traffic to your website simply because people are curious about you and your business. However, if you’re strategic about your social networking strategy you will occasionally include links to your website with attention-grabbing posts or headlines. The result: targeted traffic.

#7 Comment on blogs and forums. On most forums and blogs when you participate and comment you can post a link to your website in your signature. This does generate curious folks who just want to know “who said that?!” However, when you participate in forums and blogs that are relevant to your website and industry niche, you’re sending targeted traffic to your website.

You can also try unique approaches like posting reviews on websites and directories for products related to your industry and include a link to your website in your review profile, for example reviewing on Amazon.com. You can post answers on Yahoo! Answers and you can post videos or podcasts on directories and drive traffic to your site much like you would with article marketing.

There are a number of creative ways to drive targeted traffic to your website. Targeted traffic is where the money is. Analyze your traffic-generating strategies and tactics to ensure you’re sending the right kind of traffic to your website.

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#1 Change font colors. Font colors have more impact on your visitors and sales than you may think. Use this opportunity to test the effectiveness of a few different font colors. It’s an easy way to change your website, give it a new look, while at the same time maintain a high degree of continuity and perhaps increase your sales and conversions.

#2 Update your photo, or add a photo if you don’t already have one on your website. A personal touch, like a photo or a personal audio or video message, is a wonderful way to connect with your visitors. People like to see who they’re doing business with, who created the website and a photo or an image of you helps them make that connection. Spring is a perfect time to update your photo or update your audio or video message. Refresh it and add new life to your website.

#3 Add a social networking tool. You can add a twitter feed, a connect with me on twitter, facebook or whichever social networking sites you have a profile on. These small feeds help boost your followers and again they can be a personal connection – people are able to see what you’re posting.

#4 Update your banner ads. If you’re like many affiliate marketers or website owners, they find a few good banner ads relevant to their niche, paste the code in the sidebar and let them be. The trouble is, these banner ads become stagnant. Now is the time to evaluate the success achieved from these banner ads and to update the ones that are working and replace the ones that aren’t.

#5 Add a new technology. News feeds, as they relate to your industry, are a fun and valuable technology you can add to your website to add a spring lift. You can also add a new survey, contest or other small bit of interest that also serves to engage your audience and/or provide you with valuable information about your customers.

#6 Update and make sure all of your links are working. This can be a tedious task if you have a lot of links however, it’s important because one broken link can send a visitor away. The goal is to keep them on your website, right?!

Spend some time reviewing your website to see where it can be improved. Explore technology available and analyze your customer’s needs and problems. If you can enhance the user experience on your website and add value, go for it.

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Embrace standard SEO procedures. For example, it’s important to tag your site in a relevant category so StumbleUpon can find you. Additionally, you’ll want to insert the StumbleUpon integration code to pages in your site. However, you also want other people to stumble your pages, so don’t list every page yourself.

Embrace standard copywriting procedures. People are going to stop and review your site if you have attention-grabbing headlines and relevant and valuable content. Some experts suggest making sure your site is extremely content rich with information that cannot be read in one sitting. That way you’ll receive repeat visits from StumbleUpon.

Build a community. In addition to becoming actively involved with StumbleUpon so you know how it works and how better to optimize your content for the site, you’ll want to build a community around your website. This way you’ll be able to actively promote StumbleUpon on your website and in your communications, and visitors will naturally visit StumbleUpon, install the toolbar and start giving you the thumbs up!

Always give something away for free. You know the drill – to build your opt-in list and traffic to your site, give them something for free. This technique drives traffic from visitors that come to you via any medium, and StumbleUpon is no different. And they’re more likely to give you a thumbs up if they’re getting something for free – reciprocity.

Embrace standard website procedures. For example, make sure your site URL is easy to remember. Make sure your site is easy to navigate and make sure it’s also appealing to the eye. People sometimes give a thumbs up just because they like the way your site looks.

Finally, ask people to rate your site. Ask friends and family to give you a StumbleUpon thumbs up. Ask current list members, customers and even associates to get on StumbleUpon and rate your site and actively promote StumbleUpon on your website(s).

StumbleUpon is a great social tool to build your website traffic, community and profits. Use it, promote it, and follow general optimization, content and website design recommendations. Once you’re doing well on StumbleUpon, experts say your traffic can increase by as much as 800-1000 visitors each day. That’s nothing to stumble over!

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What is Yahoo Answers?

Yahoo answers is essentially a forum where anyone can post questions and anyone can answer. Questions are posted on just about every topic imaginable from “how do I change the oil in my car,” to “what should I wear on my date tonight?” And of course the answers are just as broad.

To post a question or an answer on Yahoo Answers you must have a yahoo account, which is free and easy to obtain. And as a member of this forum you can earn points for the number of questions you answer and the quality of your answers because here’s the kicker, people can vote on your answer. Best answer wins.

How Can Yahoo Answers Drive Traffic To Your Website?

Yahoo answers questions and answers turn up quite frequently in the search engine results. In fact, search engines just love yahoo answers. This means your answers, which will include a link to your website, will also show up frequently and high in the search engine results. Instant traffic to your website, which is now viewed daily by hundreds or thousands of viewers each month.
 Additionally, Yahoo Answers has a dedicated group of followers. According to Yahoo Answers “There are simply around 90+ million global users on Yahoo! Answers. This site got about 60 million users just after a year it first launched.”
Finally, when you post an answer on Yahoo! Answers, you’re generating a back link from a quality website, which means better page ranking for you.

How to use Yahoo! Answers?

Step #1 Visit Yahoo! Answers and sign up with Yahoo. Create your profile and include links to your website in your profile along with any other relevant information.

Step #2 Become a knowledge partner or you can simply start using Yahoo! Answers. Using the search bar, search for questions by keywords commonly used in your niche industry – keywords for questions you’ll have the answers to.

Step #3 You’ll see a list of “resolved” questions and “open” questions. The open ones are still waiting for an answer that satisfies them. Answer the questions and when appropriate, include a link to your website.

Voila! You’re all set. The more questions you answer the more awareness you’ll build for your business and the more traffic you’ll generate to your website.
When it comes to generating traffic, organic and free traffic is often the most preferred. Yahoo! Answers generates that kind of traffic. Use it and find out for yourself!

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How Audio Motivates Purchases

# Liking – One of your biggest assets as the owner of a small business is your personality, and audio makes it extremely easy to communicate that personality to your audience. If people like you, and we’re assuming they do, then they’re more likely to purchase from you. You can use audio messages to connect with your audience and influence liking. Even a simple welcome message is a great start.

# Authority – People buy from people or companies they consider to be an authority in their industry. Audio is an exceptional tool for you to use to demonstrate your authority on your niche topic. How to audio messages, interviews and lessons are all tools to demonstrate authority.

# Social Proof – We often make purchasing decisions based on the opinions of others, particularly if those “others” are people we respect, admire, or want to be like. You can tap into this social proof trigger by interviewing an expert or posting audio testimonials on your website.

How to Use Audio on Your Website

We’ve already touched on a few ways you can use audio on your website to influence buying triggers. There are essentially two paths you can take – you can use audio as a product in your catalog or as a marketing tool.

Product Creation – Audio lends itself to many profitable products which you can sell or give away as a thank you or bonus, for example:

* Email training courses, workshops, and seminars
* Tutorials
* Podcasts
* Guest interviews

Marketing Tools – Many of the above items, which are mentioned as products, can also be used as marketing tools when they’re given away as freebies or thank yous. In addition to the above, here are some other possibilities for using audio in your marketing strategy:

* Product reviews
* Personal message
* Sales content
* Viral marketing
* Testimonials
* Advertisements

Audio lends itself to a whole new audience which of course is good for you because the more followers you have, the better. When creating your content strategy or looking to the future, begin using audio in your product catalog and to market your business. Then watch your business grow.

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