All Merchant Services

Search engine optimization

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 05:24:57 -0400

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. SEO efforts may involve a site's coding, presentation, and structure, as well as fixing problems that could prevent search engine indexing programs from fully spidering a site. Other, more noticeable efforts may include adding unique content to a site, ensuring that content is easily indexed by search engine robots, and making the site more appealing to users.

Email is dead

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:51:00 -0400

Email is dead; it just doesn't know it yet. As of now, email is in its death throws, and I can hear the rattle of its last breath.

Once the savior of the business world, email communication has slipped down the ladder below even traditional snail mail. What has signaled the death of this wonderful method of communication? One word. Spam. The inundation of spam and junk mail has turned what was at one time the chosen method of business contact into a communication pariah.

Efforts such as CAN-SPAM, Bayesian filters, blacklists and whitelists, all attempts to thin out the garbage, have in actuality killed the best method of communication since the invention of the telephone. No sooner does a new method of filtering and spam blocking come out, than the creators of all this garbage develop a method to lick those filters, inundating us with even more. And once you get tagged as a spammer, even if you're not, how do you correct the error and get "unflagged" so your communications can get through? Should it be easy? Or should it be as difficult as getting erroneous negative credit removed?

So how serious is the junk mail problem, really? Well, I'm just one person, and on a daily basis I get in the neighborhood of a thousand emails a day, 99.5 percent of which are junk and spam. Imagine if you were the public relations representative for a company like Microsoft, IBM, Nikon, Canon, or palmOne. Even using the strictest of junk mail filters, the majority of the mail that makes it to your Inbox is still going to be garbage.

The problem with email in its current state isn't the junk mail itself, but the filters designed to get rid of it. Of those thousands of emails a day that get filtered into the Junk box, how many are actually valid, legitimate communications that for one reason or another are labeled as junk? Herein lies the problem. In an effort to remove the annoyance of spam, we've relegated legitimate contact attempts to the junk bin, making email useless.

In a recent discussion of this problem with a PR associate, I was informed that people aren't even bothering to read their email anymore. Then what's the point in even having an email address if you aren't going to bother checking it?

I have seen and experienced firsthand the damage spam has done to email communication. Recently, multiple attempts to establish contact with one company went unanswered, until as a last-ditch effort I initiated contact from my personal email account. Finally, success in penetrating the inner circle of their spam filters.

In another recent incident, my contact attempt was labeled as junk and only caught when the recipient was cleaning out their Junk folder. Fortunately, my email caught their eye and we now have the relationship I was attempting to establish.

FROM THE SENIOR EDITOR
Is email dead?
By James Booth

MyOwnSocialClub.com is the world's ONLY MySpace-styled social network created for YOUR CLUB

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 06:13:17 -0400

MyOwnSocialClub.com is the world's ONLY MySpace-styled social network created for YOUR CLUB - and custom-branded to be uniquely yours!

Your members can create their own web page/profile, join forums, meet other members and make friends, write articles (blogs), upload photos, upload and listen to music and video, invite friends to grow the club network, join and create groups, place classified ads, chat in "real time," email and instant messaging with other members, and search for friends and events by location or interest. Member pages can be kept private, like an online scrapbook, only for invited family and friends, or they can make their pages public, for the whole world to see...

Social networks are changing the way the web is "done," allowing your club member, visitor or guest to build his own world online, and to interact with YOU, YOUR COMPANY, or YOUR special interest group in an environment that supports the things that are most important to YOUR unique group.

How can a social network help YOU? Build your brand, grow your church, bring your friends and family together, give your Scouting group a safe place to meet online, get your activists more involved - the possibilities are limitless. IF YOU HAVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH A COMMON INTEREST - YOU NEED A SOCIAL NETWORK.

MyOwnSocialClub.com can help you reach your goals, beat the competition, and create an amazing, user-built community that supports your efforts. We create a branded environment and an elaborate system of exciting features for users, and give it to you ready-to-go, at a price you can afford.

What will YOUR social network be about? Here are just a few ideas:

Fan clubs

Safe social networks for kids

Private social networks for church fellowship

Family social networks to stay in touch across the country

Industry or company networks

Classmates, Armed Forces, Teams

Civic clubs

Support Groups (Cancer survivors, quit smoking, etc)

Special interest clubs

Brand Enthusiasts

Lifestyle clubs online (Single mothers, homeschoolers, work-at-home)

Activists groups

Sports Enthusiasts

Political headquarters

Consumer networks to reinforce brand loyaltyIf you can envision an online community for YOUR group - get a FREE quote and create your own universe - the only limit is your imagination...

Check it out today, clck here.

Affiliate Software

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 05:26:00 -0400

Amazing New Affiliate Management Software.

Now available to download.Start building your affiliate network and increase your website sales and traffic.

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Announcing Crossword puzzles

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:10:00 -0400

Introduced today is our new crossword puzzle area.

Practical Uses for RSS in Business

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:09:00 -0400

View some reasons one would want to dispaly RSS in there business model..

Practical Uses for RSS in Business

Use Your Own Content
Almost ANY web based content can be transformed into an RSS feed. The only real requirement is that the information changes regularly.

News Headlines
Typically, the main use of RSS is to present headlines and a short introduction to "newsy" stories. Create an RSS feed on your site featuring your company press releases, site updates, etc.

Are you wondering what you can use RSS for right now? Here are some practical examples of RSS at work.

Upcoming Events
RSS is a great way to let people know of events and activities that may be happening soon. It's easy to turn an "events" page into an RSS feed.

Thoughts/Commentary
You've probably heard of the term "blog" or "weblog". It's a page that displays (in chronological order) a series of writings on whatever the author wants to write about. While a normal blog also allows others to add their comments to yours, you don't have to offer that functionality.

Set up a page where you regularly add your thoughts on all sorts of issues - or just one issue - with the most recent post at the top of the page. Include these items in an RSS feed, and you've got a whole new audience for your pearls of wisdom.

Articles
Share your knowledge. This is a more "formal" type of writing, where you write a series of articles on a specific topic. Add a new article on that topic every week or so. Set up several topics and you've got several new RSS feeds to attract even more interest in what you know.

Don't forget to include a resource box in the article which allows others to reproduce your article on their site, with an obvious link back to you.

New Products
Got an online store with new inventory added regularly? Add details about your newly added items to an RSS feed to let people know what's just come in.

Weekly/Monthly Specials
Do you regularly make special offers on different products in your inventory? Again, RSS is a great way to tell people what's on special this week... or this month.

Newsletters
If you regularly produce an email newsletter, then consider converting it to RSS format as well as continuing to email it. After all, your newsletters ARE also shown on your web site... aren't they?

New Links
If you have a links directory, considering creating an RSS feed of the new links added to your directory in the last week or so. If you have a category structure within that directory, with links added often, you can create a feed for each category.

New Members
Do you run a public membership site? Recently joined members could be listed in an RSS feed with links direct to their profiles. What a great way to welcome new members!

Note: Aim to have up to 15-20 items in each feed if possible. You can have more items if you want. Just remember that most feed reading software will NOT display all the items. Many may only show the first 5 or 10.

Once you've got your feed going... remember to submit your feed URLs to the various RSS Feed Directories.

Finding Your Place on the Web

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:07:31 -0400

Finding Your Place on the Web Before you begin to think about the kind of site you�re going to build (either for yourself or for your organization), you should consider each of the following questions carefully. Doing so can help you target your site to an appropriate audience and prepare yourself for the work ahead. Consider your content: What is the content going to be on your site? Is it unique? How often will you be updating this content? Are there any other sites that already do what you want to do? If so, how will you differentiate your site? Consider the early explosion of sites during the dot-com boom. At one point, more than five pet sites were all trying to hawk their wares to users. Only one survived, and that was because it was a traditional retailer first. Market saturation is a sure way to spell doom for your venture, so be sure to check out the competition first! Select a format and interface: In what formats will your content be delivered? Will you just use text and graphics, or will you also need animation and/or forms that respond to user input? Know your audience: What audience or audiences are you trying to reach with this content? Do they need or want it? Is there any other place they can get this content already? What are the demographics and technical capabilities of this audience?

What Drives People to the Web

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:06:29 -0400

What kinds of services, you may be wondering, are people looking for on the Internet? Eight or nine years ago, the Internet was largely a research medium, meaning that people would hit the Internet to try to find information about something fairly academic or obscure. This is not surprising, given that universities were the first groups to start putting their content online. Today, the number of reasons people head to the Internet has grown dramatically and includes the following: To research, compare, and purchase products To find and interact with other people (business colleagues, friends, romantic interests) To get daily news and information delivered in real time To search for and find information about any topic or organization of interest To deliver and promote their own messages and products to others on the Web To watch or listen to events, online and otherwise, delivered in a variety of audio and video formats To educate themselves via online classes and enrollment in universities To play games and entertain themselves To complete all sorts of personal and professional tasks that can now be done securely online, such as online banking, personal finance, investing, tax submission, travel, donating, and procurement These items run the gamut of professional and personal, and they cross demographic lines. What is common among most online users, though, is that they begin their online usage with a focused purpose, and that focus then bleeds over into surfing for things that interest them throughout the Web

The Right Type of Web Site

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 08:04:41 -0400

Choosing the Right Type of Web SiteFor all its diversity in content, the Internet really doesn�t have that many different types of Web sites.

Why do so many Web sites look alike? The main reason is that people want their sites to be easy to use, free (or close to it), and similar to other sites they�ve seen or experienced. This has resulted in the emergence of some standard types of Web sites. A number of components for these sites can be found in ColdFusion. Where applicable, we�ve noted it in the following list. The most common types of sites include

The Product Site: The most common type of site. Generally, the site offers some basic information about a company, its products, staff members, perhaps a product demo, and a way to contact the organization to get more information. Examples of this kind of site would be www.symantec.com, www.amf.com, and www.nadelectronics.com.
The Commerce Site: A storefront on the Internet. Whether it�s a single company that carries just its own specialized products or a retailer that sells a wide array of products, these sites are geared toward selling products and offering accessories to complement those products. An example of this kind of site is www.macys.com. ColdFusion offers tools that can help you add a shopping cart, a search function, and more to your site easily.
The Portal Site: A site that aggregates content from a wide variety of sources. Portal sites tend to be rich in content and links but short on graphics. The idea is to provide users with a launching pad to other destinations on the Internet, though in recent years, many of these portals are adding features to try to keep their users on their own site. An example of this kind of site is www.yahoo.com. ColdFusion includes robust search capabilities that enable you to have more content-rich sites that are easily indexed and searched.
The News Site: A site that, in general, mirrors an offline counterpart, such as ABC News. These sites provide a lot of the same information as their offline counterparts through the use of text, video, audio, and graphics, and also provide services geared toward the online audience, such as chat sessions, newsletters, and personalized content. An example of this kind of site is www.cnn.com. ColdFusion includes tools for adding chat to your site as well.
The Application Site: A type of site that offers perhaps the greatest diversity of all the sites. Application sites are geared toward a specific purpose, such as banking, investing, automobile purchasing, travel planning, photo galleries, event planning, or online greetings. Some of the commonalities among these sites include user accounts, password protection, and the widespread use of e-mail campaigns to try to keep users coming back. Examples of this kind of site include www.egreetings.com, www. imotors.com, and www.bankofamerica.com.
The Personal Site: Personal sites also offer a great deal of variety in their design and function. Personal sites usually include some of the designer�s work, opinions, and rants; links to other sites; and pictures. Examples of this kind of site are www.loungeboy.com and www.katswindow.net.

RV Web Blogs Here to stay.

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 11:27:17 -0400

Features of Our Weblog Personal Web Publishing Communities Powered by PHP and MySQL. It allows you within minutes to set up a fully functioning dynamic website, and has many features to get you started. The site you are viewing now is a fully operational Weblog. A weblog is personal -- it's done by a person, not an organization. You see a personality. It's not washed-out and normed-up, the bizarre shows through. That's why weblogs are interesting. A weblog is on the Web -- it doesn't get printed, it can be updated frequently, it's very low cost to produce, and it can be accessed and edited through a Web browser. A weblog is published -- words flow through templates, the process is automated, the writer and designer are elevated. There's also a possibility of using advanced writing tools, and syndication through RSS. In other words, technology applies to weblogs, publishing technology. And finally, a weblog is part of communities. No weblog stands alone, they are relative to each other and to the world. The same can be said of most weblogs that gain audiences, they connect people together using the Web through common interests. User-system, allowing members of the public to register for your site and submit stories. Comment system, allowing users to comment on posts made to your site. Block system, allowing you to put information anywhere on your site. Plugin system that allows you to extend your website, without having to code any new PHP. Theme system that allows site owners to select what layout they want to use. Excellent security model that allows you to give users control over certain aspects of the site with no need to worry. Site Statistics that show you the most popular areas of your site. Link system that allows users to add links to the site. Calendar System that lets you and your user add up-and-coming events. Allow users to email stories to their friends. All Merchant Services can set up a Weblog for you as a low cost solution for all your web design needs. We can do this at your server as long as you have database capablities,(MYSQL & PHP), We can also transfer your site to our server in most cases at a price far less than what you are already paying! You can also start a brand new domain name and start fresh with a NEW site. For questions, comments, and pricing details click below and tell us what we can do to assist you! http://www.allms.com/site/staticpages/index.php/weblog