• ISBN13: 9781556527562
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
For both internet gurus and online novices, this handy mini-encyclopedia explores the useful and interesting sites—big and small, popular and obscure—that make up Web 2.0, the new online community. From YouTube and Flickr to eBay and Facebook, each website and online application is explained through step-by-step screen shots and examines what each site does, why people use it, how to get started, and any special features. Simple yet thorough definitions for comm… More >>

Blogs, Wikis, MySpace, and More: Everything You Want to Know About Using Web 2.0 but Are Afraid to Ask

• ISBN13: 9780545168342
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
Knowing the best and easiest ways to use dynamic digital resources helps teachers and students alike thrive in today’s classroom. This book of quick tips and practical ideas shows how to fuse technology with everyday teaching. Readers will learn ways to use presentation software, e-portfolios, digital cameras, interactive whiteboards, and other teacher-tested tools to enhance learning and motivate students. Other tips include guiding students through a productive … More >>

Teaching With Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts & More: Dozens of Easy Ideas for Using Technology to Get Kids Excited About Learning

Internet Article Writer – what makes a good one?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what makes a good Internet Article Writer so I thought I’d clear up a few simple points and myths.

Myths

A good article writer must have an English degree and be journalist trained.

Why is this a myth?

Most people who surf the net are neither of the above and thus they are unfamiliar with the rules of grammar or how journalists are trained to lay out text. Many have English as a second language. Thus while being grammatically correct is valuable, it is not the deciding factor when it comes to what makes a good article writer for the Internet.

It is the user that determines how we write on the Internet not the editor!

A good article writer must lay out text the same way it’s laid out in magazines.

Why is this a myth?

There has been a lot of scientific research done into how people read content on the Internet. These results show that people largely scan text.

Internet users are looking for specific information and so often won’t read the full text they will scan for the information they’re looking for. If it is not quickly apparent, they will click away to another page on the Internet to see if they can find it faster.

This is not how readers of magazines behave. They don’t have the luxury of duplicate topics in the same magazine. So how you lay out an article for the Internet requires different ‘rules’ to how you lay it out in a magazine.

For example: short paragraphs and bullet lists are essential ingredients to ensuring Internet users ‘scanning’ requirements are met.

A good article writer should use keywords in great abundance to attract search engines.

Having content picked up by search engines is of course important but keyword stuffing and writing nonsense articles as a result is counter productive. It is also in dispute as to how effective keyword stuffing is in terms of attracting search engines. Word on the street (and in Wikipedia) is that Google penalises content that appears to be keyword stuffed.

Also keyword stuffed articles are rarely read as they don’t read well.

So what does make a good article writer if none of the above?

Interesting, engaging content laid out in a manner which satisfies the scanning needs of people who surf the net.

If you fill your niche website /blog with engaging, relevant content often, the search engines will favour you and readers will enjoy what you write and return for your latest contribution.

Keyword optimisation will help. Keyword optimisation is not the same as keyword stuffed.

Summary
There a many ‘qualified’ writers on the Internet but not all of them attract a regular following or high volume traffic. This might be due to their inability to write in the manner required for Internet surfers, or it might be due to dull content.

Tip

As an article writer myself, when writing for pleasure I nearly always try to inject a rhythm into my writing, so it is almost poetic. I take the reader on a ride and I believe this rhythm is what keeps them reading my articles from start to finish.

I started writing a novel the same way a while ago and I was told by those that reviewed it that they couldn’t put it down. It was far from a great work of literary genius. But I believe the way the content flowed and the almost poetic way I used words is what kept them moving through the pages.

If you want to write articles for your own website or blog, give that small tip a consideration.

acmepeoplesearch.com Use Acme People Search to make money online plus grow your GDI downline (even if you aren’t in Tissa’s GDI downline!)

This article was written in a simple language so you can learn on how google is manipulating the pagerank. Pay attention.

Recently Google did a major PageRank update where a lot of sites were downgraded. Many experts believe this PageRank update was Google’s response to link selling – sites which sell links lost points in their PageRank.

Google measures all web pages on a scale of importance from 0 to 10, which is shown in a small green pixel bar on browsers carrying the Google Toolbar. PageRank is “supposedly” measured by the number of backlinks to your site.

Online democracy in action, a link is a vote for your site. The more votes you have the higher your site is ranked. At least that’s how it was supposed to work until a lot of high PR sites started selling links and put a monkey wrench into the whole system.

The latest update may be a smart move on Google’s part to curtail this practice; who’s going to buy a link from a PR2 or even a PR4 site? Besides this could be more than a warning that your site will go down even further if you continue to sell links.

Now this is more of a cosmetic change in PageRank than a real change in your true rankings in Google. Just because your PR goes down doesn’t mean your keyword rankings or traffic from Google also goes down.

I saw some of my sites go up, some stayed the same, but my major site took a big hit – falling from PR6 to PR4. This was more of a devastating blow than I expected mainly for psychological reasons than actual consequences. After years of building the best content you can muster and constantly getting quality one-way links, to see that PageRank drop was very disappointing and hits to the core of your online work.

Google sometimes just slap you at the face without any apparent reason. but lets keep it up.

I have been around for a while so I have experienced many Google Updates – anyone remember the Florida Update? I also keep my ears peeled to discussions of the latest updates in Webmasterworld and Stompernet, and I even read Matt Cutts when I get real nervous… so I knew not to panic just because of the sudden drop in PageRank.

I also knew what most of the SEO experts were saying was true because my major keywords stayed the same and my Google traffic actually went up. But that’s little comfort when you’re talking about Google; you immediately go into overdrive and try to figure out where you went wrong. What caused the drop – because whether PageRank is meaningless or not, you’re still going in the wrong direction.

I saw many of my competitors drop too, but many stayed the same and even a few increased in PageRank. What are they doing right; what am I doing wrong? I don’t sell links but does Google think I am selling links was my main concern? I even moved one external link from my main page to another part of my site, just in case Google is mistaking that as a paid link.

Welcome to webmaster’s paranoid hell! Well, i believe that every webmaster has becamed paranoid about google one day.

For SEO reasons I have very few external links on my main page. Can’t see why Google downgraded my main site. I have been at PR6 for years.

Herein lies my main beef, with Google you never really know where you stand; you are constantly walking on eggshells. No matter how good your content or your site is – one misstep and you could be in the doghouse. All your hard work can be taken away in a heartbeat.

It wouldn’t matter so much if it was one of the other two major search engines downgrading your site but this is Google.

Free organic traffic from Google is vital to any online site or business. I would take traffic from Google over any other source of traffic on the web, except for traffic coming from my articles on other sites, and even that traffic probably originated from a search in Google.

Google and Google PageRank have always been important to me – that’s one of the reasons a sudden large drop causes so much concern. There’s another important reason Google PageRank is important to me.

Most SEO experts mistakenly believe PageRank is meaningless because Google is not giving us the true ranking of any site or revealing all the backlinks, which is supposedly one of the major factors in how Google ranks sites. While this fact is obviously true, it has caused many to jump to another conclusion.

Because Google is not giving us the real ranking, many webmasters have dismissed PageRank as a vital element in their sites. Don’t make the same mistake.

Google PageRank is extremely important if you’re doing business on the web. The higher PR you have, the better. But it has nothing to do with keyword rankings or first page SERPs.

What many SEO experts fail to realize (not really their business) is the whole “perceived” value of PageRank.

Google, hate it or love it, has become the most respected company on the web in the eyes of the majority of the web’s users. It carries enormous weight and prestige. The “perceived” value of a high PR7 or PR8 is extremely valuable.

We are not talking about link selling; we are talking about how a perspective business partner or customer will treat your site or business.

Say you have two identical sites you want to do business with online and you discover one is a Google PR2 site and the other is a Google PR8 site – which one would you choose to do business with? Honestly?

From first-hand experience, I know any online company or marketer will get more business offers and be offered more partnerships/joint ventures if you have a high Google PR site than a low one. It will make a difference to your bottom line.

PageRank is important. PageRank has meaning. Even if it has little bearing on your SERPs rankings or Google traffic, PageRank can greatly influence the success of your online site or venture. Don’t ignore or dismiss PageRank as a meaningless relic that didn’t quite work out as Google had planned for it in the first place.

High PageRank will always be valuable.

The day Google gives its own site a PageRank of PR1 or PR2 instead of the current PR10 – that’s the day you can dismiss PageRank as truly meaningless.

There are many reasons why online marketing fails. It is crucial to decipher the chief reasons. Online marketing helps you to build a successful internet business at the same time it also aids in building a brand. But if wrong online marketing strategies are applied then your internet business can fail. Let us take a look at the top 10 reasons why online marketing fails:

1) Not incorporating new techniques

This is a foremost out of the top 10 reasons online marketing fails. You must understand that using SEO, Digg, Lenses, Mixx, Hubpages, E-zine or anything related to Web 2.0 technique will get you required success. However, some online business owners ignore it and stick with the outdated techniques that result in no results.

2) Not taking your work seriously

It is essential that you don’t treat your internet business like a hobby. When you are in a direct sales business or any internet business commitment is a necessity. You cannot compromise on commitment and ignore putting in efforts. You need to constantly plan new goals and complete them within time.

3) Not building a relationship with consumers, jumping to make sales

Forcing your readers will not make them your consumers. If you need to get subscribers to your mailing list or e-zines then provide required and accurate information. Always be available to answer their queries. The most common mistake that the online business owners make is of forcing their viewers. People hate any kind of compulsion. If they are reading your content then they need authentic information and removal of their doubts. Instead of resolving their doubts if you try to force your products upon them then you will get a negative response.

4) Not putting in hard work, wanting fast success

Many people start or join a direct sales business looking out for easy money. There is no such thing as free lunch therefore, there is no such thing as free money. Hence, effortless online marketing won’t fetch any positive results.

5) Not having your own domain name

You need to get your own domain name. Getting a free domain name that is by becoming a member of a web hosting service won’t give the same benefits as owning your own domain name will. People refrain from purchasing their own domain name due to high costs. However, cheaper domains are becoming available day by day. Getting a monthly scheme will also prove to be beneficial for the beginners. So, buy your own domain name as it will help you to build your own identity. This domain name will become your brand name in a certain period of time. Having your own domain name will give you a permanent place on the internet acting as your internet office.

6) Not having a user-friendly website

You must have an easy to understand, uncomplicated and simple website. This is the real key to success. Many times online marketing fails because of disorganized websites. A website that is crowded with products, having too many pop-ups and imperfect instructions is a bad website. People need a user friendly website that interacts with people and looks hassle free. Simplicity will gain trust easily rather than too many sales elements.

7) Not following your subscribers or consumers

Somebody brought a product from you or subscribed to your newsletter or emails and you didn’t even bother to follow-up. Is this the way to generate sales? No, it isn’t. ”Who cares,” attitude is not for internet business or for that matter any business that demands growth. As online business owners you MUST maintain a special relation with their subscribers or clients. More healthy relationship will yield high success.

Not having your own e-zine or newsletter

You don’t have your own e-zine or e- magazine. Then you have a strong reason for the failure of your online marketing strategy. If you are afraid of writing then you can get many writers who will give good quality articles for free. You can also hire paid writers for good quality newsletters.

9) No Secure Ordering pages.

Non-investment will give you no gains. Lack of efforts is a one of the essential reasons online marketing fails. You must have secure ordering pages for people who wish to place the order. It is the convenient option. Other than this, it gives an authentic look to your website. There are some internet sites that provide free secure ordering pages.

10) No content on the website

This is a very frequent mistake that most online business owners make. When readers rush to a site feeling excited, they find nothing on the site. It frustrates people and they don’t wish to see the site anytime in the future. In this way, you lose out on prospective customers.

You hear all the time about bad SEOs. Bad SEOs are offering worthless services, failing to deliver on their internet marketing promises, polluting the search engine results—well, a lot of bad things. But how much ever gets said about bad SEOs’ spiritual counterparts: bad SEO clients?

As an SEO, I can see things from the other side of the table. You see, despite trying hard to make it clear I’m a good, ethical, results-oriented, smarter marketing, white-hat SEO, I have gotten no end of inquiries from bad prospective SEO clients. Sure, no one who gets cheated is ever entirely to blame, and some cheated businesses are entirely blameless. But the bad SEOs would have too small a market to stay in business if it weren’t for almost-as-bad clients.

Shades of Bad SEO Clients

First, let me make clear what I mean by “bad” SEOs. Bad SEOs are bad because they either do unethical things to get e-marketing results, or because they consistently fail to deliver results. A good SEO delivers results and does it without trampling over other people’s rights (like submitting automated comments to their websites or trying to get good sites de-indexed).

A bad SEO client, in turn, is someone who will only be satisfied (albeit temporarily) with a bad SEO. Because they refuse to consider ethical web consultants or smarter marketing strategies, they are creating markets for the e-marketing charlatans and black-hats. There are two basic types of bad SEO clients: crooks and fool–oops, I mean, ethically challenged and judgmentally-challenged.

Ethically-Challenged SEO Clients

I haven’t gotten so many inquiries asking for out-and-out unethical services. Still, I’ve been asked about blog-sp@mming software and other shady internet marketing tactics a couple times. A colleague shared this gem with me: “Have you thought about just scanning a book from the library and using it for web content? Or is that too high-risk?” (Seriously, someone asked him this.)

Of course, judging from the amount of comment sp@m and SEO-motivated hacking on the web, there is plenty of demand for this stuff.

Judgmentally-Challenged SEO Clients

A much larger group of bad SEO clients are simply those who insist on putting themselves in the way of fraud. Yes, that’s right: I’m blaming the victim. Someone who goes looking for a $5 gold watch can’t cry too long if the watch turns out to be fake or hot. With SEO, there are a few more nuances, but it’s the same essential idea.

The overwhelming majority of these judgmentally challenged souls are private individuals whose only business is the business-in-a-kit variety. Yet they are also sometimes representatives of actual successful companies. The real businesspeople tend to be quicker to let their misconceptions go (after all, they can afford the real SEO alternatives), but not always. Let’s look at some representative types of this group, straight out of my own inbox (note: these are inquiries from prospects, not actual clients).

1. Something-for-(Little More than)-Nothing Clients

Really, I tend to think these people should be in the ethically challenged group, but maybe that’s just the remnant of my work ethic making me be mean There are actually two kinds of these clients:

* The ambitious but cheap client: “I’d like to get to the top of Google for the keyword, ‘mortgage’ so I can turn over $100,000/month in revenue. I can spend up to $1,000.” * The Adsense-is-my-business-plan client: you wouldn’t believe the numbers of inquiries I get from people who only plan to make money off Adsense or other on-site advertising—they don’t even have a plan for getting repeat traffic, nor do they have content to synergize with the SEO effort. By buying promotional services, they would essentially be buying advertising in order to make money off advertising—you see where that could be a problem?

Another way of looking at it: why wouldn’t I just create a site myself and keep all the profit from my efforts? In fact, most SEOs do have their own project sites, which are often monetized by Adsense. The money we could otherwise get from Adsense is one very low baseline for pricing our services. Legitimate SEO clients are typically selling goods or services at a profit rate that works out to ten or more times what they could get from Adsense.

In addition to the greedy, I also see a few other kinds of less common, but still problematic prospective SEO clients:

2. SEO-Starry-Eyed Clients: “Search engine traffic is definitely the best way for me to get pet-sitting clients in my tiny Himalayan village.”3. The Little-Knowledge-Is-a-Dangerous-Thing Client: “Don’t tell me about keyword research, content, anchor text, or natural linking strategy, just get me the PageRank (or links, keyword density, or whatever the fad is).”4. Gullible-and-Not-Letting-Go Client: “I know of at least two services that will submit my site to thousands of search engines for $29.95. If you can’t do that, I’ll take my business elsewhere.”5. I-Will-Never-Trust-SEO-But-I’ll-Consider-It-Anyway Client: “No one can guarantee a good search engine ranking so this is all pointless—I’ll just go with that $29.95 search engine submission package someone just emailed me about. At least it’s cheap.”

In short, if you are going to find good SEO web consultants, you need: 1) realistic expectations; 2) a realistic budget; 3) solid information. Don’t expect something for nothing, do a little reading, and it’s much less likely you’ll fall victim to bad SEOs.

What does RSS mean?

RSS may mean three different things. The original RSS (RDF Site Summary RSS 0.9) was developed by Dan Libby for Netscape. After a couple of months, they produced a simpler and easier-to-use version called Rich Site Summary or RSS 0.91. But they later lost interest, leaving it without an owner. As more and more users were using RSS, Winer made an adapted version of RSS 0.91 for Userland, claiming it as his own. Later in 2005, Microsoft developed Really Simple Syndication in relation to its Simple Sharing Extensions.

What is RSS?

RSS is a XML file format for syndicating content and news in the web. It is usually used by websites that constantly need to update their content regularly such as news websites (CNN, BBC and Reuters) and weblogs. Since it essentially gives one’s webpage more traffic, it is now more widely used in marketing, web publications and virus reports. Today, large and small websites alike are usually RSS-enabled.

For example, you’re an avid fan of baseball and you want to share something recent about one of the players. Other than content, you can also attach multimedia files, like videos or pictures. By using RSS feeds, other Internet users subscribed to RSS-enabled sites can read your “headline” for free. They can also track for changes and updates using news aggregators, which will be discussed later on.

How does RSS work?

To be able to use RSS, you first have to download a software (content management system), by which XML format can be read. The title and, excerpt of the article, and a link to the full article are shown. Other than just text, you can also insert multimedia files in RSS feeds like pictures, videos, mp3s and others. Broadcatching, picturecasting, photocasting, and podcasting are some features you can incorporate into your feed, but will not be discussed in this article.

For users to access a RSS feed, they need to use an aggregator or a feed reader. An aggregator searches for updates on RSS-enabled webpages then displays it. It can either be a standalone program or a web browser extension, depending on your operating system. Search engines for web content broadcasted over RSS feed are also available such as Plazoo and Feedster.

How can I make an RSS feed?

It is definitely easier to make an RSS feed if you know HTML. If not, you could sign up for a blog (there are hundreds out there), some of which automatically creates RSS. If you’re using a personal webpage building system, you need to understand more about RSS. Making an RSS feed from scratch is relatively easy.

A RSS feed should always contain an “item”, whichever version of RSS you might use. If you wrote about a recent event in your city or a book review, the contents of this article can form an item. An item is essentially composed of three things: a title, its description, and link (where they can find your webpage). In choosing a title and description, use something that will describe the web content best. Although it will be easier for you, it doesn’t follow that the title tag of your webpage and the item title are the same.

An item will look like HTML tags. First, you need to put an opening channel tag that defines it as an XML file. Then, label the tag as an item by putting after the channel tag. After this, you can now insert the three essentials of your item: , , and . Just like HTML, we need to close the tag by writing and at the bottom.

An RSS feed that contains multiple tags looks like this:

Anne Rice’s Belinda: A Book Review

If you haven’t read any Anne Rice books yet, you will be greeted with shocking romantic relationships forming between unlikely characters…

http://allaboutbookreviews.com/belinda

Harry Potter IV: Darker with More Deaths

The recently released Harry Potter installation has proved dark for its younger readers…

http://allaboutbookreviews.com/harrypotterandthehalfbloodprince

Now, if you’re still having a hard time understanding these tags, look for HTML tags tutorial to further grasp the concept. Have fun!

Tell me what is your PR, and I will tell you where you are. (old saying, slightly rephrased)

PR – you have probably have seen this abbreviation before.  It stands for PageRank, it varies from 0 to 10 and it can be assigned to any web page.  According to Google, which adopted this concept originally developed at Stanford University, PR is an importance of web page.  Now other search engines use the same principles in their algorithms. 

PR essentially is a figure of merit of link popularity of a page.  The more inbound links are coming from other pages (external and internal) and the higher PR of these referring pages, the higher will be PR of the page.  This is more or less the basis for determination of PR (actual algorithm is more complex).  The utility of PR is: if the site is getting a lot of inbound links from high-quality sites, then this is also a good, high-PR site, and the customer directed to this site by search engine will be most certainly satisfied.

Also, PR of your pages depends on the quality of linking sites. 

Consider the following example.  Index page of Site 1 has PR 4 and 40 outbound links, of which one leads to your index page.  While index page of Site 2 has PR 3 and 3 out-links, of which one points at your site index page.  Which site passes to your home page higher PR?  Site 2, because in spite of a lower rank, PR of this site is divided by only three links, and hence more PR will be given to your site from this link.

Usually index page carries highest PR in the site, because the majority of in-links point usually to that page.  Exceptions are possible, for example, when site contains some highly visited article or graphics.

The higher PR of your page, the higher is chance that your page will be listed on top of search results.  To check your pages PR you can use Google Toolbar in your browser, or you can check it (for free) with any PR serving site.  My favorite is MyGooglePageRank.  Check them out, (I am not affiliated with them in any way, I just like the site).  Here are some high-PR pages: Wikipedia home (PR 9), Amazon home (PR 9), eBay sitemap (PR 7), and finally, Google home (PR 8).

PR is important, but for the same time it is only one of several critical parameters used in search algorithms.  From my own experience a site with PR 4 devoted to a narrow niche can already steadily keep all first positions in search results of Google and Yahoo on practically all major keywords.  If you will find that your pages are assigned modest 0 – 2 PRs, don’t fret, it is just an indicator that you need more work on your site.  Posting articles in blogs and directories, adding unique content to your site and collecting inbound links from related to your niche sites will do the best for improvement of your pages PR.

Good luck on your SEO!

RSS is a format for syndicating content and metadata over the Internet. It is commonly used to share headlines and links to news articles. With news articles, the actual article isn’t usually shared, but metadata about the article is; this metadata can include a headline, a URL, or a summary. RSS is an important tool for publishers because feeds can be used to syndicate content, and to integrate third-party content into your site.

Article about RSS Feeds; RSS is a form of eXtensible Markup Language or XML. Viewing an RSS feed in a web browser generally produces code that is not easy for website visitors to decipher. As a result, webmasters use tools to display the content contained in an RSS feed.

Benefit to the Webmaster:

As the web has become more crowded webmasters have been striving to provide fresh and up to date content for their website visitors. Many webmasters have discovered they can easily utilize the information in RSS feeds to provide fresh web content.

RSS Allows Webmasters:

Provide fresh and relevant content on their website, which encourages users to return.

Constantly changing content means that search engine spiders will visit more frequently.

Automate content delivery.

Benefit to Web Surfers:

The beauty of RSS is that readers can quickly scan headlines (titles) and read articles of interest. Because the information is condensed and provided in a single location users can generally review more information in a shorter time frame. Additional information is only a click away. Best of all readers choose the feeds they wish to see, there is no spam with RSS. If you are not completely thrilled with the content appearing in a feed simply remove it from the newsreader.

RSS Allows for Users:

Easily locate information.

Read condensced information or ’soundbytes’ with clearly marked and dated topic material.

Classify and categorize information in an easy to navigate manner.

Maximize their time without having to deal with spam.

RSS feeds can be viewed in a news aggregator or reader, which constantly updates and shows unread feeds. I found the functionality of the newsreaders to be similar to a simple email client. Consumers generally enter the URL of any RSS feeds that interest them.

RSS Allows for Content Developer:

Increase exposure in niche markets.

Communicate with user bases and reach potential customers via an alternate communication method.

Disseminate relevant information.

Define themselves as an industry expert.

Automate content delivery.

RSS has effectively standardized the format for content delivery and has effectively defined the accepted standard for content distribution and syndication. RSS will likely rival email as a means of content distribution in another few years. The shear simplicity makes the technology very appealing.

How RSS is used:

A publisher has some content that they want to publicize.

They create an RSS channel for their content.

In this channel, they include items for Web pages they want to promote.

This channel can be read by remote applications, and converted to headlines and links. These links can be incorporated into new Web pages, or read in dedicated readers.

People see the links on various sites, click on them, and go to the original publisher’s site.

While headline syndication is the most common use for RSS, it is also used for many other purposes. RSS is a very popular format in the weblog community. It’s also used for photo diaries, classified ad listings, recipes, reviews, and for tracking the status of software packages.

Benefit of Using RSS:

RSS is an easy way for you to be alerted when content that interests you appears on your favorite Web sites. Instead of visiting a particular Web site to browse for new articles and features, RSS automatically tells you when something new is posted online.

Click on the section title link to obtain the RSS URL, which you will see in the “Address” field of your browser. Simply copy this URL and follow the instructions for your particular news reader to subscribe.