Category Archives: Guest Post

Apr 20

Internet Safety Is An Important Issue in Today’s home

Posted on by

The Internet today is filled with billions upon billions of websites. Whatever you need to know about, chances are you’re going to get the answer. The only downfall to this is that this answer can sometimes be something that you don’t want to see or hear.
With the Internet becoming more and more social, chances are that your children will want to surf the web in their free time. While there is nothing wrong with this, every parent should be well aware of the dangers that the Internet can impose.
The Sexual Predators

The Internet is a breeding ground for sexual predators. They lurk in chat rooms, roam Facebook and even hang around popular children websites. Sexual predators can pose a very large danger for children of all ages. Most predators know what they are doing, oftentimes winning your child over. Once your child becomes too friendly with this particular individual, serious things can happen such as a face to face meeting.
Inappropriate Material

One of the main reasons that children want to hop on the web is to chat with friends from school or even around the neighborhood. The problem with this is that many children don’t have parents that are watching them like they should. Because of this, they can often share videos, pictures and even audio that your child shouldn’t listen to or see.
Addiction

The Internet is a fun place to hang out. The downfall to all of this fun is a child can often get sheltered and find themselves addicted to games, watching videos, surfing websites and even chatting it up in chat rooms. Addiction can be a very serious threat to your child’s life often leading to social problems, anxiety and even depression.
Bad Behavior

Games are a big part of any child’s life and while there is nothing wrong with playing games, but parents have to realize that the Internet is a lot different than your Atari from the early 1980s. With most online games, players will often be able it interact with people of all ages. While most chats are related to games, there are players that often curse, harass and even attempt to humiliate other people such as your child. The last thing that you want is to have your child exposed to adult conversations that he/she shouldn’t be looking at.
The Internet is a hard place to filter. While you can set restrictions for your child and tell them where they can’t go, can you really trust them? If you truly want to be safe with your child’s Internet activity, highly consider investing into software that can monitor their activity and even block websites that aren’t suitable for them.

Brian Lawson is an Internet safety and security expert that has been on multiple national and local media outlets.  Together with his team, they have created Action Alert – a 100% free parental control software solution to help parents keep their kids safe from Internet dangers.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Dec 22

Four New Year’s Resolutions You’ll Never Accomplish

Posted on by

This year when the clock strikes 2012, millions of people will make a New Year’s resolution. It’s a popular thing to do – to envision a better start to the new year; to imagine that this year will be better than all the others prior because you’ll do something differently. But how many people ever actually accomplish their New Year’s resolutions? The reality is not many people end up making the changes they said they would. Why? Because their goals are unrealistic and ill-managed.

 

It is possible to accomplish your New Year’s resolution, but you have to be smart about it. If you truly want to make a change, why make it so hard on yourself by setting a goal you can never truly reach? It is important to structure the wording of your New Year’s resolution so that it is actually something you can achieve. Here we will examine some of the most common New Year’s resolutions that always fail and why you will never be able to accomplish them.

 

To Lose Weight

It’s a nice thought, but too many people fail at this resolution every year. Some even go backwards and gain weight, simply because they’ve set an undefined goal for themselves. If you want to resolve to lose weight, you’re going to need to be a little more specific or it will never happen. Exactly how many pounds or inches do you want to shed? This should be a reasonable, healthy goal. Also, if you’re obese, don’t resolve to lose it all at once. Start with smaller goals that will be easier to reach. And how will you do this? Your resolution should be about the things that will actually bring you to your goal, such as resolving to work out four times a week.

 

To Quit Smoking

Smoking is an addiction. Addictions cannot be stopped just by resolving to stop them. No matter how strong you think your will power is, you are doomed to fail if you rely on inner strength alone. To quit smoking you need help. You also need a realistic plan. Slowly cutting back is a much more attainable goal. It may also require a stop smoking aid, such as medication or a Nicotine patch. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness – it is a realistic approach to something you probably can’t do on your own.

 

To Be a Better Parent

This is a very noble resolution, but once again impossible. It is impossible because there is no way to measure what being a better parent truly means. How will you know if you’ve accomplished this? A better idea is to set specific, tangible goals, such as resolving to spend an extra hour of one-on-one time with your kids every weekend, or going over homework before bed every night. With these goals you can keep track of your progress and create a real difference in your child’s life that they will see.

 

To Make More Money

Wouldn’t we all like to do this? You’ll never accomplish this resolution because money doesn’t fall from trees or get handed to you just because you want it. If you don’t have a plan for how making more money is actually possible, you’ll fail. Are you resolving to work more hours per week? Are you resolving to ask for a raise? Start your own business? Take on more clients? Again, a measurable, attainable goal is necessary for your resolution to be possible.

 

 

From the creative desk of writer Lisa Hann. All of Lisa’s work is edited using Grammarly grammar checker. Lisa also makes regular use of the Grammar Rules Handbook.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Jun 01

Five Easy Steps to Improve Your Company’s Website

Posted on by

For those of us who work in SEO, copywriting or website design, there are plenty of chances in our day to day working lives to see what makes successful business websites and what prevents average sites from becoming great. As someone who writes copy for a living, for me the most frustrating thing is seeing people obsess about SEO or link building without putting half as much care and attention into the actual content on their site. Many site owners are so concerned with what they see as the magic bullet of search engine optimisation that they ignore all of the traditional and sensible rules of marketing and selling. This article will suggest five simple things that companies should bear in mind when they are working on their company websites.

(1) Write page titles that are exciting and actionable.

Yes, it’s useful to get keywords into the page title, but better still is a page title that draws in the reader and brings people to the site. Make that page title something that you would want to read if it was in a magazine. What’s more, try to make many of the titles actionable. In other words, use words like search, explore, learn, discover, find, try or buy. As you’re writing the page title, try to tell the reader and potential customer what they will be doing on that page.

(2) Make sure the content and product descriptions are well written.

This might seem obvious but you’d be amazed how many sites there are out there selling products or services with content that would make you wince. You’ve never seen them? That’s because the content is so bad and they are sitting in the bowels of the search engine, hidden from site. If you’re selling products, make people want to buy them. What are they, why do I need them? Why is my life not complete without them? How would they benefit my life? What are there unique features?

(3) Don’t go overboard on the content and product descriptions.

Having said all that in point 2, you also need to remember that your content and your site need to be precise, concise and not put off people with a short attention span (there are a fair few such people out there).  Strike a balance between good, well written content and not wasting your time on over-the-top language or marketing speak. You’ve got a minute or two to grab your visitor’s attention and convert that to a sale, don’t waste it. Instead be precise using an old fashioned system of headline, content and description and then your sales call to action.

(4) Make sure each page has a way they can get in touch with you.

People like to be able to get more information. Have an email link on every page. In addition they like some assurance that there is someone at the end of the phone, that you are a business made up of real people. Have your phone number on the page too. The same goes for access to all your social media links. Put them in as many places as possible too. It reassures the customer and keeps lines of communication open.

(5) Make sure your site runs well.

Forget SEO and backlinks, how about checking your site is fast enough in its actual day-to-day operating and in its click through speed. Test it from as many computers and as many locations as possible. If the site is slow, people will go. If you find it is slow, talk to your hosting company and also look around the internet for a number of tools which will help you speed everything up.

Once you’ve done all this, by all means think about search engine optimization and backlinks – they are important too. Just don’t forget the old fashioned marketing basics.

Alex is a freelance copywriter based in the UK. He contributes to a number of blogs on everything from cricket to search engine optimisation.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
May 27

Boost Traffic to Your Site: Use Wikipedia’s Popularity to Your Advantage

Posted on by

If you’re spending any amount of time on the Internet, you would have already stumbled upon a site called Wikipedia. As indicated on the website itself, Wikipedia is a free, web-based encyclopaedia which has more than 18 million articles. These are written by volunteers from around the world through a collaboration – and they can be edited by those who have access to the site.

As popular as Wikipedia is to online users, can it actually be used to boost traffic to your site? These days, it is virtually impossible for business owners to not have an online presence – which is where search engine optimization or SEO techniques come in. Can Wikipedia be used for the purpose of boosting your site’s rankings in the search engines? That is exactly what we will try to discover here.

Frequently Asked Questions about Using Wikipedia to Boost Traffic to Your Site

Take a look at our list of some frequently asked questions about the role that Wikipedia plays in boosting traffic to your site:

  • How are Internet marketers using Wikipedia to get traffic to their site?

On an almost annual basis, you will see a notice on Wikipedia about how the founder asks users for donations to keep the site running. As useful as this online encyclopaedia is, it is actually not for profit. Although millions of users from around the world are utilizing the site on an almost daily basis, there still people working behind the scenes to keep the site up.

Now, from the point of view of an Internet marketer, Wikipedia may not necessarily be the answer to their SEO problems, but can it really help in giving your traffic a boost? What you need to know is that it is the editing part which Internet marketers use to advertise their business. Read on to find out exactly how this is done.

  • Is it possible to advertise my business in Wikipedia?

Wikipedia may not necessarily be a venue for online business owners to promote their wares, but it does play an important role in how they can provide important information to online users. This does not necessarily mean that there’s no way for you to take advantage of Wikipedia in promoting your site: you just need to go about it the right way. First, make sure that you are addressing an online user’s need for information. Make sure that your articles are highly informative and be detail-oriented.

  • How about linking the Wikipedia articles to my website?

After coming up with substantial articles, that is when you can link your site to Wikipedia’s. Links from Wikipedia are considered authority links so they would go a long way towards boosting your site’s ranking in the search engines.

  • Are there any disadvantages to using Wikipedia in boosting traffic to my site?

The downside to using the popularity of Wikipedia to boost your site’s traffic is that the articles on this site can be altered. Direct competitors can mess with your marketing efforts by removing your links or worse, creating articles that will put your business in the wrong light. Close monitoring is the best way to prevent this from happening.

Lyuben georgiev works for one of the leading search engine optimization companies (in Denmark, where the company is located, the term is søgemaskineoptimering) in Europe – Outrider. You can find some of his SEO tips on popular blogs such as Technorati.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
May 21

Fix Slow Computer

Posted on by

Working with a slow computer is very much frustrating. There tweaks and tools which you can use to fix slow computer. There are various reasons which can lead to poor performance of your computer. If your computer has any harmful applications, it can be slow. If there is any spyware or virus in your computer, this can lead to its poor performance. There are antivirus software programs which you can install in your computer. The software’s will scan and get rid of the virus. If there applications in your computer which you are not using, you should get rid of them. More than enough files in the hard disk of your computer overload it, leading to a slow performance.

You should inspect the hard drive of your computer regularly. If there are any errors in the drive, it leads to a slow performance of your computer. You should also make sure that the hard drive is updated. Maybe you don’t know how to fix your computer, the latest tools and tweaks can assist you. The tools feature the latest technology. The PC keeper is one of the tools which you can use to speed up the performance of your computer. You can also use the optimizer. You should always make sure that your computer is placed in a cool place.

A computer which is slow leads to a poor productivity.  Incorporate the latest tools and tweaks to fix slow computer. Cleaning your registry regularly speeds up the performance of your computer. When using your computer, you should avoid opening several documents at the same time. Whether it’s a new or old computer, you can easily optimize the speed of your computer. All the applications in your computer should be firmly installed .If the speed of your computer has gradually become slow, use the latest tweaks to fix it. If you notice any abnormal performance in your computer, scan it immediately.

Make sure that your registry is well rearranged. This speeds up the performance of your computer. Use the latest procedures and they will assist you if do not know how to fix your computer. Make sure that the recycle been is empty, this speeds up the computer. When using your computer, always use lower resolution. Using a plain color speeds up computer. Clearing your internet explorer speeds up the performance of your computer. By using all the various applications, the speed of your computer will increase. An improved performance of your computer saves time and money.

Fix slow computer and enjoy an improved performance. A computer with   high speed increases your computing ability. Upgrade the speed of your computer by using the new tweaks. So long as you follow the procedures, it becomes easy to fix a computer

Written by F.L.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
May 12

SMS vs. Twitter: Advantages and Disadvantages of Both

Posted on by

The short messaging service most commonly known as SMS or text message has been the buzz lately, especially among the younger generation.  It allows you to send messages from your mobile phone, to another mobile phone.  On the other hand, Twitter is a social networking platform and micro blogging site and has been tagged as the short messaging service of the Internet.

Twitter and SMS both allow users to ‘tweet’ or send messages of up to 140 characters.  The basic difference is that short messaging service is provided by the mobile service provider while sending messages through Twitter is done through the internet.  With the introduction of smart phones and internet ready phones, however, most mobile phone users can now send and receive Twitter updates though their phones.  The other difference between these two is the intended audience.  When sending messages using SMS, the intended recipient is only one user, while messages sent through a micro blogging site may or may not be directed to anybody in particular, but can reach a wider range of audience because almost everybody can read the “tweets”.

The advantage of using a social networking platform or micro blogging site is the fact that its free.  With Twitter, all you need to do is sign up, create your profile and start tweeting away.  Another advantage of social networking platform is the fact that you only need to write and post your message one time, and all your friends and subscribers, and even your extended network can see it. 

However, it also has its disadvantages.  For one, there is no guarantee that your messages will be read right away because one has to be online before they can see the tweets.  Even those who have phones with Internet capabilities still have to access the site in order to read the messages.  At the same time, although Twitter now offers an SMS feature, studies have shown that not all tweets are being sent as a text message simply because this is an optional feature that not all users subscribe to.  Lastly, not everyone has a twitter account, and majority of Twitter users are mainly 25 years old and below.  In essence, even if sending messages through social networking platform can potentially reach a wider range of audience, there is no guarantee that you’re actually reaching your target audience.

In terms of SMS, you have to pay your service provider for every message you send and  some providers even charge the recipients for messages recieved.  The advantage of using short messaging service is that almost everyone has mobile phones and can receive a text message.  In fact, older people prefer this over Twitter for its simplicity and convenience.  SMS can be sent and received even while on the road, and without the need for an Internet connection.  Finally, when you send a message using SMS, you are almost assured that your target audience will read your message.  In the marketing perspective, this means a bigger ROI.

Both SMS and Twitter are important, and have their own advantages and disadvantages.   Which one should you use?  It all depends on what your intentions are, the audience that you are targeting, and your budget.

 

 

Finding people via SMS is next to impossible. Finding people on Twitter is easy. Take a look at these people search engines if you want to get started in finding your friends on this social network.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
May 02

Internet marketing – Understanding it as a Whole

Posted on by

I have been there, done it but somehow unconvinced about everything. The main reason I suspect is the fuzziness of it all – beginning with Google search algorithm. In my normal world, I need concrete proof with adequate research and a few scientific papers thrown in for good measure, if I am to believe anything. But surprises of surprises, I have to work in a sort of illogical ether, in the online world. Google is really of no help, since they seem to work in a different universe with their own brand of logic, which no one seems to know about. There is no proof, nothing. How do you cope with this fuzziness?

Eating it whole

If you are looking at different parts of internet marketing separately, you are likely to be misled. It is like four blind men describing an elephant. The first, calls it a rope because he catches the tail, while the second declares it to be a tree trunk by holding a leg, third likens it to a wall by touching the body and the fourth thinks it to be a snake because of the trunk. Obviously all four are totally way off the mark. It is the same when you think of internet marketing. We look at it differently, because of our own personal experience, rather than looking at it from a holistic view. What you need is to understand the big picture.

How does the whole look like?

It depends on what is your end objective. If you are into affiliate marketing, the internet needs to be looked at from a unique perspective. If you are into reputation building, the same stuff assumes a different view. You have to build a complete, whole image of yourself on the internet to meet your unique objectives. The set of tools you would require are different. This is what I call a top down approach. Instead of starting with keywords research, PPC, search marketing etc. you would begin with the end result – What do I need to achieve? What are my objectives? I call it discovery. You must dig deep into yourself; I mean your mind and discover the true objectives. You must then drill down to the basics, not the other way around.

For example, say I want to sell a health product. This is my objective. Drilling down, I may decide to go the affiliate way or to sell directly through my website, or both. This decision will ultimately drive my internet marketing strategy. From this objective, I will smoothly move into the technicalities – keywords, link building, affiliate development, landing page design and so on. This is what I call eating it whole.

Conclusion

A bits and pieces approach means you will remain thoroughly confused all through your life. There are thousands of approaches and many lead you down a blind alley. On the other hand, a top down holistic view would quickly take you to salvation. 

 

 

 

This article has been contributed by Nitin Aggarwal. He owns the company Offshore Ally, the best source for talented Virtual assistants and link builders online. Nitin has a passion for blogging and loves everything technology. Connect with him via Twitter

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
Apr 22

Understanding The Sales Funnel Concept

Posted on by

Online marketing has quite a few benefits when compared to its traditional counterpart. The most prominent one is, without doubt, the ability to know at every point what a user is doing and gather statistics that will show you how to improve the sales process.

This advantage must be leveraged though and the best way to do that is through the sales funnel methodology. The critical part that differentiates this paradigm from others is the understanding that a sale is not an action, but a process. The goal is to take leads, turn them into prospects, make them committed and finally transact the sale.

Each step in this work flow is by necessity “leaky”. Not all leads will transform into prospects and not all prospects will actually purchase your product. This is how the sales funnel metaphor emerged: high level input, low level output.

The benefit of this approach is that it allows us to optimize each step to ensure the maximum possible output and thus sales. We will now try to cover the various methods and best practices that ensure this optimal path.

Step 1: Converting leads to prospects

Typically, this step is realized through the use of landing pages. It doesn’t matter whether you get the traffic from pay per click (PPC) campaigns or banners. The basic idea is the same. You want to ensure  that there’s consistency (as in the message of the ad is the same with the message of the offer) and that you only ask for a relatively low commitment. This can come in many shapes and sizes. Most of the time it involves an exchange between contact data and a freebie. While the freebie part is self explanatory, contact data can be quite diverse. It can be an e-mail address, establishing an account for a membership site or something as simple as pressing “Like” for a Facebook page.

The basic idea is to select those people that are genuinely interested in your niche (although not necessarily your product) and at the same time get the possibility to pitch them later on.

Step 2: Converting prospects to committed

This is basically the art of salesmanship in its traditional form. Persuasive tactics, special offers, discounts, testimonials and so on, each have their place. The current trend is to take this step as a process of its own. The basic idea behind e-mail marketing for example is to take the vertical paradigm of the sales letter (high amount of information in a short period) and transform it into a horizontal one   (take the benefits, testimonials and special offers and show them in bit sized mode over a longer period). Usually this translates into higher conversion ratios and obviously is the best route to take.

Step 3: Converting committed to sales

Perhaps one of the most ignored steps, this is actually critical in the success of an online venture. The truth is that shopping cart abandonment is quite high, regardless of the niche. There are several ways to tackle this problem.

The first and most important aspect is to ensure that the transaction is easy to accomplish. You must support as many methods as payment as possible and make it clear of what each method entails.

The second aspect that is worth considering is the addition of a bonus, unspecified anywhere else. This appeals to the greed mentality and should give you a significant increase of the conversion rate.

Step 4: Don’t forget the upsell

Again, one of the steps most marketers forget. Think about it. You have someone that has just purchased your product. You have overcome several barriers to do that. Isn’t it easier to sell again to that person, rather than convert another lead? That whole infrastructure designed to build prospects now shows its real value. You can tap your customer base again and again.

This is a Guest post by Neil Jones, who Specializes in launching ecommerce sites, he is currently plying his trade as head of marketing for eMobileScan. With 18 websites based all around Europe they are on course to be one of Europe’s largest online retailers of Industrial handheld computers like the Motorola MC9090 or Motorola MC75. Neil has been an online marketer for the past 6 years and in that time he has owned and run a range of sites all built around the ecommerce platform.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)