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Why do you need a web hosting service, or why do companies need web hosting?

A website hosting service is a way to allow companies a means to introduce their website to the Internet. A web hosting provider serves their clients with technologies that they would require to access of the website online. A web hosting company gathers the website requirements from the client and then allocates the required space on the appropriate server. To get the optimal advantage of this service, it is critical that clients do research. Clients should find out what web hosting needs they have and what services a web hosting companies offer that match.

Types of Web Hosting

Generally speaking, there are four kinds of web hosting that are available.

Website Hosting by TurkReno Incorporated in Mobile, Alabama

Website Hosting by TurkReno Incorporated in Mobile, Alabama

The first type is free web hosting. As the name suggests, this free service provides the clients to create a web page or small websites that they can communicate as an introductory site completely free. Since it is free, most of the services will be restricted. But it is a very good first step into the world of web hosting.

The second type is shared web hosting. Here again, clients access a shared space with other users. It is very cost effective and easy to maintain but everything you get comes with a fair share of pros and cons. If the server suffers any problem or errors, your website can run slow and maybe even shut down without notice.

The third type of web hosting is VPS hosting. This type of hosting uses a dedicated server but divides resources in a way that multiple tenants can be on the machine. This kind of web hosting also suffers from the same problems that shared web hosting has since resources are shared.

The fourth type of web hosting is dedicated hosting. With this type of hosting, you should expect to have full control over the server your site is on. You need this kind of service when your business is big and needs to demonstrate many more of its services on the World Wide Web. Here clients need to use help from a web hosting company to maintain this kind of technology.

Why choose TurkReno Incorporated for Website Hosting?

The advantages of taking the advice of a professional web hosting company like TurkReno Incorporated is that clients can rely on us to be right. We strive to use the most up-to-date technologies and services that suits businesses the best. The next point is that is customer service. Small web hosting companies are not that experienced in handling big clients but that’s never the case with TurkReno. Research, experience, and set rules and strategies keep a company like TurkReno at the top. The client has full access to the data or content of the website. Nothing is hidden. Clients have their say in the web design and development stage and every suggestion is more than welcome and taken into consideration.

We’ve also written a handy article on different terminology that you may find when researching web hosting. Read that article here.

We offer website hosting starting as low as $159.99 a year.

Contact us today to get a free analysis on your hosting needs.

Four years ago, if you would have asked me to sign up for Twitter I would have refused, laughed at you and mocked it as the next MySpace. So what was it that stopped us four years ago? Privacy concerns? Not wanting to play into what we thought may be a fad? Refusing to adopt new technology (weird to hear here, I know.)? It’s obvious we’re on Twitter, enjoy ourselves being there and interact with a pretty entertaining number of people and brands. So I’d say it’s probably a mix of all of the above. But we just keep Tweeting!

As I sit here writing this, I have two memories come to mind “before Twitter”. The first is a radio broadcast on NPR, I believe. It was about the growing concern of Internet privacy discussing how we were becoming a culture of over-sharers – letting complete strangers into our innermost thoughts. The broadcast went on talk about Facebook’s polices, how people weren’t able to actually delete their profiles and how the content when shared became a part of Facebook. Then the talk became more centric around a younger audience who were already sharing everything in their lives and already feeling the sting of being fired because of what they posted they did last Friday on Facebook. And how Facebook’s policies were already longer than the constitution. It put me on edge and I joined in with the rest of the people who reacted to the media and committed “Facebook suicide“.

Before you go off the deep end and think that “Facebook suicide” is actual suicide, it’s not. It’s actually the process of completely removing everything that you shared, posted, linked, removing every tag you were tagged in – virtually vanishing and removing your face from Facebook. Since I already had a pretty good feel for Social Media and was seeing Digg and Mixx die, I knew as an advertiser I had to do something to drive traffic and attention to gain business on the Internet. Reddit was a no-go. At the time, I certainly wasn’t inspired to do what I do on Facebook today. Google Wave was horrible. I had no choice; I had to join Twitter. And it was awesome.

The second memory is one that comes from about 2,500 tweets in to participating on Twitter when I was being asked to teach a group how to use and market with social media platform. The same philosophy that I taught then I still have to this day. Be real and engage people. No one sits in a dark room actually expecting people to come to them and be social. You have to go outside, do things that you enjoy and engage others that enjoy those things, too. For me, a lot of my time was spent playing video games or doing introverted things. But I learned some valuable lessons. Talking to people can open doors. And if you don’t know how to converse, it makes it even more difficult. I don’t have any of my notes from my lecture, but several thousand tweets later, following and un-following lots of different types of personalities, the notes have pretty much become embedded.

Twitter still is a confusing platform. The searches people do to find you are all based off of what you say. A human search engine, sort of. I remember people being baffled about hash tags and know some who still are or who will complain about what the top trending topics are. You see, Twitter is contextual and somewhat like Facebook, you start to meet people you have similar interests in. A hashtag in 2008 could connect you with likeminded people pretty quickly and to this day still does. But then there was the even more baffling limit of 140 characters. People began shortening their thoughts, seeing it as a restriction. I saw it as a challenge. What better to do than mix hash tags with a topic that interests you. Conversations were abound and people were sharing what was happening and what they thought instantly. The pressure to share “what’s on your mind” was and is still there, but it, as the broadcast predicted, became easier and easier to do.

I decided to jot down some thoughts that I came to know as truisms for Twitter over the years, hence this post. To some, you may disagree and to others, it may be exactly why you seem to be beating your head against a wall and what you can do about it to soften those hard knocks.

1. Follow Friday is a Twitter tradition. Participate in it. You may have someone you’re following who you’ve seen using the hashtags #FollowFriday and #FF with a list of @ names following. Quite simply, this is how you participate in Follow Friday. My business partner at the time and I came up with a not-so-unique idea since Twitter has evolved called TWIFF (TWItter Follow Friday) that generated a list of your followers in a random order and in no more than 110 to 120 characters a list of automated tweets. In less than 10 minutes every Friday we ran our scripts, tweeted out the entire list of people we followed back and who mutually followed us as well in nice organized tweets. The key was to be random every time since duplicate tweets at the time were frowned upon. Nevertheless, instant Twitter karma, more followers mentioning us, new followers every Friday and it brightened someone’s day every time to be mentioned. Eventually Twitter’s staff got pretty mad and didn’t like the volume of traffic we were creating and suspended us and probably would do the same if you recreated TWIFF. Today, the API restricts us from really going about Follow Friday in a not so annoying way, but at least Twitter has stopped frowning upon “scheduled tweets” or automation. I digress. Follow Friday is a tradition and a way to show your followers that you remember talking to them and want to engage them. So why not tweet more than 120 characters?

2. Try not to tweet using more than 120 characters. In short, you’re taking up room that someone could use to reply and quote you. When we joined Twitter, being mentioned was king. It somehow ranked you higher in their algorithm to be seen the more you were talked about — the more you were engaged. You still can easily spin a topic or subject into a conversation or cut yourself out of one just by re-wording what you said into something shorter. But why not just say what you’re thinking?

3. Don’t share irrelevant information; Be concise and informative. For example, no one wants to read what the weather is like unless they ask. Sure, you may love the sunny day or hate the hurricane you’re living through, but that’s what The Weather Channel is for. Try to talk about something that excites you. And if the weather really does excite you, share it and engage them with it. And preferably with a hashtag so other people who enjoy talking ’bout the weather get to know you. But if you’re a brand or business, how do you share your products and services?

4. No one wants to be sold something on Twitter. Do you remember the last time you went to a car dealership and wanted to have an annoying salesman engage you for the purposes of luring you into his office to buy a brand new vehicle? If you said “Yes” to that, we should have a chat. Soon. No one wants to be haggled, annoyed, told how great one service or good is over and over…and over. It comes across the same way the bastardized idea of a used-car salesman is. Sure you can be excited for a product or brand, and if you follow us you know we have one in mind we love to talk about. The difference is that we use those products or services to engage in a conversation with people we’ve gotten to know over the years. Or maybe we find something that we love at the office, like our Keurig coffee machine. The coffee machine is worth talking about because it’s cool and we like it! The difference is we’re not trying to sell you one. Perhaps we are losing a potential market by not tweeting about what we can do for Web Design or what we’ve done for our clients in the past, but Twitter is a “right here, right now” social media platform. And what about those people who won’t shut up?

5. Chances are the people who won’t stop talking, who are generally annoying or honestly don’t get Twitter have a disproportionate follow-back ratio. People are not engaging them for some reason. If you scroll down their timeline and take a moment to read what they’ve had to say in the past, you may find instantly that you’re not going to enjoy engaging them. One really good reason is because they’re a feed, or rather they have linked their Facebook profile to Twitter thinking they can knock two birds out with one stone. No one wants to read Facebook when they’re on Twitter. Why talk to someone or interact with a brand you don’t like. If you like Deadmau5, it’s probably likely that you’re not going to get along on Twitter with someone who likes to talk about Justin Bieber constantly. Proportion of follow-backs, I said? Yes, I did. Before you hit that follow button, look at how many people someone is following and more importantly, how many people are following that tweeter back. One of the most important things I’ve learned is NOT to follow others on Twitter who are following way more people than are following them back. Easily 9 out of 10 times within a week, I’ll unfollow them. What about celebrities and huge corporate companies?

6. Engage those you find interesting! If I didn’t make my point clear enough, this is the part where it becomes crystal clear. Sure, celebrities may have hundreds of thousands of followers and are only following a few dozen back. Most of them followed the people they’re following back because they are relevant, concise, don’t over share, don’t try to sell them something and have engaged them in conversation — or at least attempted to — on more than one occasion. And most of the time they’ll have a cute little sticker showing they’re “verified” when they’re actually who they say they are. Unlike the account @Apple, which at one point simply had “I like apples” as the only tweet, it’s not actually Apple in Cupertino. Occasionally you’ll engage a celebrity out of dislike, which someone here at the office did, and they responded. Jimmy Kimmel. I don’t find him funny and neither did who tweeted at them. It was one of his very first tweets and apparently it “bruises his balls“, but it got some interesting attention and engagement. Here’s the thing: when a famous personality engages you, the most important thing to do is be yourself. After all, that’s what Twitter is all about.

So I’ll end this with two sites that I’ve found extremely helpful in managing the numbers game of followers on Twitter. The first is a site simply called Friend or Follow. You don’t have to sign up or sign in. Simply type in your username and it will show you who you’re following that’s not following you back. That annoying tweeter who you want to get rid of, I can almost guarantee you he’s probably already un-followed you as Twitter has made it pretty difficult and not so obvious for the average user to know the status of being followed back.

The second site I give high kudos to. It’s called TwitCleaner. You sign in, allow it to scan who you’re following and it will give an analysis of your followers back to you that’s surprisingly brutally honest. The site was created by a New Zealander named Si Dawson. (Just to nail the other point home, he’s following less people than are following him back. Quality usually comes from people who show this proportion.) I’ve yet to find a more accurate tool on Twitter to gauge just how many people you’re following are really just trashing your timeline up. It will tell you if they never engage others, if they are nothing but app abusers, if they have been inactive on Twitter for a period of time and so much more. Invaluable information to someone who is serious about quality and not quantity. Go use it, we promise it’s amazing and tweet that TurkReno sent you for good measure.

Branding for Internet MarketingNo matter what form of business you are branding online, it is important that your online presence is represented with a consistent brand and marketing message that clearly describes your business. To determine your “Online Brand” you must first evaluate your Niche Market. It is important to have a marketing statement that reaches multiple groups of people but also do not forget to target a smaller focused group called a Niche Market. Reaching millions of people may not mean that your sales will increase. Targeting a Niche Market, an audience that is truly interested in your services, may increase your conversion dramatically. You must always think of your audience and place yourself in their shoes. First, think about the overall design of your website. Is your website professional or suitable enough for the clients that will be interested in your services? Is the message clear in your content about your products and services? There is a lot of hard work that goes into Branding your business online; however once you evaluate every factor and thoroughly research your market, you can then begin to truly reach your audience.

First, start by defining your business in as few sentences as possible. If you are creating profiles on the top social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, you want to have a consistent description of your business on each site. Evaluate what categories or industries you most likely fall under. This is the beginning of developing your personal online brand. Develop a list of 10 descriptive keywords that you can consistently use to describe your business and that match up with your websites content. You have to think of yourself as a client who is searching for your service information online. If you were the customer what keywords would you type in a search engine to find your products and services? If you offer more than one service it is important to develop a list of keywords relevant to each service.

This may seem simple however it takes a lot of planning and developing to determine what keywords are most beneficial to use. You have to consider what keywords your competitors are using, what the monthly search rate is for your keywords (Are the words to broad? Do you have a chance to rank well for these words?), if you keywords not searched often enough, and so on. It is important to find the appropriate keywords most suitable for your business that you have a chance of ranking high for and optimizing those words throughout you’re online marketing campaign.

Thorough descriptions, professional web design, relevant content, optimized keywords and content, targeted niche audience, these are all important factors to evaluate for your online brand and must always remain consistent across the board. If you are in the beginning of developing your Business Website then TurkReno can help you focus on Website Development, Website Design, and Online Marketing, such as Search Engine Optimization or Pay-Per-Click Management. Choosing one business to help develop all three categories will be best for your online branding to stay consistent. Luckily, there are companies, such as TurkReno, that focus in great depth on Online Branding and can truly bring success to your website through online marketing.

Facebook Statistics GraphFacebook can be used to promote your business by building an Official Page. You can open a Facebook business account that has limited privilege or you can use your personal account to create a Company Page, such as the TurkReno Facebook Page. Facebook only allows an individual one account and it is a violation subject to your account being terminated if you create more than one account.

If you choose to attach a business page to your personal page, you can promote your business to your friends by suggesting that they “like” your page.  Whether you use a personal or business account, you can promote your business with ads.

You can mix your personal and business page by sharing posts, photos and sharing with friends or you can keep them completely separate. This is determined by your security settings, how you post information and who you confirm as a friend. If you worry about what family or high school friends are going to post on your wall, consider keeping your accounts separate by not sharing information between them. For more information on business accounts, go to Facebook Help Center.

Now let’s get down to business promotion:

  1. Create your Official Page. This page can be linked to your personal page or can be created as a business account. Business accounts have limited privilege. In order to make an official company page, you’ll have to have a Facebook account business or personal.  If you currently use your Facebook account to connect with family and personal friends, consider keeping the pages separate. It is possible to have all your “friends” under the same Facebook account by managing security settings, but it requires that you manage your account. You don’t want items posted to your wall that are not appropriate for your business friends.
  2. Create your Official Page for a local business, product or group. Keep in mind your brand as you add character to your page. Your business summary and logo are essential to branding. You can add more detailed information and photos to give more personality. You can be formal, keep it light-n-lively or anywhere in between. If you need ideas, go to some other Official Pages of businesses in your industry or area. Don’t try to be just like another page or site, just use as a way to spark you own creativity. If your page will be a group effort, make sure you establish the ground rules and that one person is charged with brand monitoring.
  3. Post to your Company Wall. If you have a blog, you should link or add your posts to Facebook using a Facebook application such as NetworkedBlogs.  If you have decided to post photos, upload flattering photos of company events individually or in albums.  Keep it interesting and mix up the types of  posts to appeal to your fans.  The frequency of posts is up to you, but once you start make sure you are consistent.  Start with once or twice a week to test the required time commitment.
  4. Promote your Company Page by suggesting to your friends.  Facebook recently replaced the “Become a Fan” button with the “Like” button.  Not everyone likes the new terminology and the debate continues on what it is to be a fan or like a page.  For your Company Page, the important point is to get people to like and visit your page.  Provide useful information and use as a way to drive visits to your blog or website.
  5. Promote your Company Page with an ad.  You can purchase impressions or clicks and choose your target audience. You can create variations of ads to test your marketing campaign using different logos, text and demographics.

These are 5 easy steps to start promoting your business with Facebook.  Experiment to see what gives you the best interactions. The Insights box, visible to administrators, gives you an indication of the amount of interaction with your business “friends.” You’ll also begin receiving weekly e-mails with updates that give helpful insights. And one good like, deserves another. Go to the businesses you know, favorite their pages and like their posts to get the ball rolling.

On this day, one year ago, in the midst of economic chaos and one of the worst financial crises the world has seen in at least a generation, CEO and Founder, Mr. Taylor S. Ripley, laid the foundation to what would become one of the most successful web development and design companies in the State of Alabama. His passion for technology and his belief in the market’s need for a reliable service provider focused on excellence led him to take an incredible risk, which many would not have taken in an economic downturn let alone during such an uncertain time. Yet, his faith was well placed because what the market lacked was a business that applied a long-forgotten model, that of offering valuable services and the creation of a network of long-lasting partnerships. And so TurkReno Incorporated was born.

It has been a bumpy but exciting ride and TurkReno Inc. is living proof that a business that is client and service oriented can be successful under any market conditions. The company has become one of the most reputable providers of IT services with satisfied clients all over the world. We have risen through the ranks of our competitors and have become the #1 Eastern Shore IT service provider in our area by maintaining and expanding on the excellence we consistently achieve in the projects we undertake in the name of our clients.

We understand that our success hinges on the success of our clients and we know that reliability and dedication are the most the important qualities of any partner. TurkReno’s service packages are designed with you, our client, in mind. Service packages that consist to be a complete, custom solution that is adaptable to any project or requirements. Some of the services we offer include:

  • Website Design – Increase your business’ exposure and revenues with a custom designed website created by talented and certified professionals. With the added support of our complete web development solutions, we can create any solution that works.
  • Website Hosting – A reliable and fast service to house your website – second to none in this area guaranteed;
  • Print Advertising – A good advertising campaign targets your potential customers through numerous channels and one efficient and effective way is by using our print advertising service. We can provide you with any type of printing or publication that you may need, be it 1000 business cards or 1,000,000 flyers, we can take care of it;
  • Computer and Server Repair – Our licensed, certified and experienced technicians will keep your company running and efficient by taking care of all your IT maintenance needs;
  • E-commerce Web Site Design – Let us design your custom e-commerce website so your products can reach the whole world. Increase your sales by being available to potential customers 24/7.

We, at TurkReno Incorporated, believe in growth and innovation, which has positioned us as an industry leader. We are constantly expanding our range of services to provide the best and most complete solutions to our clients in Daphne, Spanish Fort, Fairhope, Point Clear, Foley, Orange Beach, Bay Minette, Gulf Shores, and Mobile, Alabama.

We celebrate one year of existence, growth and progress; of creating hundreds of successful websites for businesses worldwide; of undertaking amazing projects and consistently delivering results. We celebrate one year of creating a family of clients that will withstand the tests of time and the harshest market conditions under our wings. We know not what the future may bring, but we are confident that the only way for us to move forward is together as partners.

Most importantly, we want to thank each of our loyal clients and customers who have helped us become who we are today. Without you, we would not be here and our services would not be needed. Thank you so very much. We look forward to several more years to come, providing you each with outstanding and service that is superior to no other IT company in this region.

Cordially Yours,

Taylor S. Ripley

President and Chief Technology Consultant

TurkReno, Inc.

It is based from fact that Apple’s iPhone 3GS has made a remarkable trademark for phone users worldwide with its amazing new features. Now, another innovation for the Apple iPhone is launched today with the use of MMS on the AT&T network.

The iPhone 3GS White Edition with a 32 GB of memory is what we use at TurkReno and in the field. One word sums it all up: “Amazing”. This innovation has outdone the first Apple iPhone 3G and 2G because of its improved features from calling contacts, playing music, camera, video and video editing, surfing the internet down to mapping different places. All these features are possible with the newly introduced Apple iPhone 3GS. Now, we have MMS to add to the features making the iPhone superior to the Blackberry paperweights worldwide! The camera in the 3GS edition is far better than the first iteration because of its automatic still-life capture feature and auto-focus. This allows the photo to balance the contrast and color of the moment an individual wants to capture with the help of Apple iPhone 3GS technology. Another good feature of this smartphone is its voice control. You can command the Apple iPhone 3GS by voice on who to call or what music to play. For example, one can tell it whom to call whether it is straight from the contact list or a new phone number, what play list or album to play, whether to repeat or toggle similar songs or artists. Recently, this was expanded for Bluetooth headset support with OS 3.1.

The 3GS series of Apple iPhone also has a built-in compass and GPS system. Mapping locations has never been this easy. With an app such as WiFiFoFum, you can even map out your WiFi Connections for research. It will provide almost perfect and accurate data of where one is heading to or where you are located. Another feature is the cut, copy and paste feature where one can literally cut, copy and paste message from Safari, e-mail, and text messages and send it to friends with little to no effort. If you make a mistake or something needs to be corrected, you can just shake Apple iPhone 3GS to undo your last action. Stay connected with the app IM+. This is an advantage for a person who would like to share an event with friends or would just like to post something interesting.

Another great feature is the Search feature. If one has a long list of messages in his or her inbox, this feature is useful. All one has to do is to type the word that he or she wants to search, then a list of messages will appear containing the keyword that the person is currently searching. Screening out all the messages will make the search easier and faster. One can do the same thing with contacts, iPod or notes. Another way to search on Apple iPhone 3GS is to use the spotlight search, typing the letters alone, a list of similar post or saved items will appear making the search a lot easier, faster and more convenient.

Regarding MMS, the Apple iPhone 3GS has included this feature. Now, one can receive a text message with videos, pictures or contact information in it, all at the same time. If one wants to view the MMS message, all he or she needs to do is to tap on the video or picture sent to him or her to see in full screen, and he or she can even save it straight to his or her photo library. Apple iPhone 3GS also includes Voice Memos application which lets the user record a meeting, class or any important conversation which can be shared through email, MMS or synchronize it with a Mac or Personal Computer. To get MMS working on your phone, you must have an authentic iPhone (not jailbroken) and update to 3.1 in iTunes. Then follow these steps:

  • Sync your iPhone with your computer’s installation of iTunes
  • iTunes will prompt you for a carrier update. Say YES!
  • Allow the update to finish
  • Powercycle, or restart, your phone.
  • Once you restart your phone, when you begin to message someone, there will be a small camera icon to the left of the text input field. Touch that and you can take a picture immediately or send a photo from your camera roll

A special thank you goes to AT&T for releasing this on time as promised! If you don’t have an iPhone, go to AT&T or your local Walmart and pick one up today! They WILL change your life!

I recently read this online and really felt like it spoke to me directly.  I know that parts of it are a bit catchy, but it serves a very good purpose and point.  Read it, comment, all kudos go to the original author though.

Imagine you’re a master at making money online, that you’re passionate, and excited during almost every hour you spend working. Visualize people coming to YOU for answers to their most important Web-related questions. Envision emails and phone calls flooding in every day with eager, prospective customers. Read on to learn the secret to achieving all of this.

If I could show you how to become a Web design, development or marketing expert without spending a dime, would you want to learn?

Imagine you’re a master at making money online, that you’re passionate, and excited during almost every hour you spend working. Visualize people coming to YOU for answers to their most important Web-related questions. Envision emails and phone calls flooding in every day with eager, prospective customers. Read on to learn the secret to achieving all of this.

First, discernment and discretion are vital. There are many programs online, many e-books, many self-proclaimed Web gurus and so much information today that it’s overwhelming and could send you to the poor-house faster than the speed of digital communication.

Where should I go to learn Web marketing? How should I spend my time? Who should teach me? What websites offer the best information? How do I make money using the Internet? What are the most important things I should learn? Should I learn Java or PHP? What are the fundamentals? How do I write effective copy online? How long will it take me before I can start my own business? The answer to all these questions can is . . .

Before I explain, let me tell you a brief story of my inchoate professional life. I barely knew what a computer while in college. It was only after living on both coasts playing live music did I conclude that a career in computers may make me a few more dollars than a career in music. It was then I decided I wanted to become a Web expert.

I had first considered attending a high-priced computer school that a programmer friend had recommended. But I had no money, and the school required all its students to attend full-time. I needed to eat and provide a roof over my head, and for that I needed to work full-time, so this expensive computer school was out of the question for me.

Although my options were limited, but I diligently looked in the Want Ads till I found a job that I could possibly do that was related to computers. The job title was “Internet Exploration Specialist”. I know that sounds slightly strange, but if you had met my chair-throwing, screaming and eccentric boss-to-be, it would make a little more sense.

I got the job and outlasted the most optimistic office pool prediction for how long I would remain working for the perpetually livid CEO. Looking back, it was probably one the best things I could have ever done (minus the maniacal boss, that is). I learned how to surf the Web. I became an expert Internet peruser, a digital explorer, a website connoisseur, and a professional information superhighway surveyor.

At around the same time I learned one of the secrets to becoming an expert at something. You have to put the time in. People who remain working in careers that they hate don’t put in the extra time to develop a career in something they love. Pure and simple. So while I had down time at work, I read books and found websites that taught me how to do things Web-related tasks. More importantly, I spent time after work and on the weekends reading, practicing and developing my Web skills.

Back when I began developing my Web career, the Internet wasn’t as big as it is today. There weren’t as many options for learning Web-related skills. Since I had no money, I simply searched for free online tutorials, primers and how-to’s. They became my staple for learning. Since I had seriously developed my Web surfing skills, I inevitably found many highly educational websites. And there weren’t as many scams back then either, there weren’t as many “gurus”. Web marketing or e-marketing hadn’t even become terms yet, so I had a lot of success getting reliable information.

Today it’s different. This is both good news and bad news. I’ll start with the bad news.

You can’t throw a rock into the Internet ocean now and NOT hit a get-rich-quick plan, a Web marketing curriculum, or an e-marketing “expert”. You’ve got StomperNet, Portal Feeder, Pipeline Profits, The Rich Jerk, Strategic Profits and Traffic Secrets to name only a few. There’s too much to choose from and they all come for a steep price. Now many of these programs may teach you a lot, but it will cost you. I’m here to say that you don’t need to spend any money. You’re reading this for free, aren’t you?

But here’s the good news.

Because of the way Google ranks websites now, because the very nature of the Internet as man’s most prolific and complete resource on everything, and because of human nature being curious and information-driven, the Web has massive amounts of extremely useful, high-quality, free information. People are falling all over each other trying to produce and publish high-quality Web content all at no cost to you.

Again, Google is one reason. One main way Google ranks a website is by how many authoritative sites link to that website. The best way to get new links pointing to your site is by creating useful content that anyone can access. If the content is fresh, original and high-quality, people will link to it.

And here’s more good news. Of all the subjects there are in the world, and therefore all of the subjects discussed online, the Web is the most popular.

Of course this has to be true. Think about it. Who’s doing all the posting? Webmasters. And what do webmasters know best? The Web. So you’re going to find a huge amount of tutorials, primers, articles, forum posts, blogs and websites that offer tons of useful information on how to become good at all kinds of Web-related things, and all at no charge.

Here are a few tips for effectively searching online.

  • Open up two or three browser windows at a time. One should have Google, the next Yahoo or MSN Search and the third should be your working browser. Use all three browsers when searching by toggling to each of them. By using different search engines, you’ll get a wide range of different results.
  • Use quotes around your phrases to find exact phrases. This will give you results that have the words in your phrase only in that order.
  • Use long tail search phrases when using a search engine. Long tail means many words. The more specific your search phrase is, the more relevant results you’ll get. For example, searching in Google for “free tutorials for beginner web marketers and expert career advice” instead of “web marketing tutorials” will yield more relevant results for you.
  • Use the minus sign to weed out superfluous results. For example, if you’re looking for event tickets and you type in “Boston tickets”, you’ll end up with lots of airline related results. Instead use “Boston event tickets” “airline flights”.
  • Get creative in contructing your search phrases. Combine multiple concepts.
  • Don’t just use search engines. Join forums like WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint, SitePoint, HighRankings and SEOChat, visit blogs, and read how-to’s and tutorials found in article directories. Regularly visit authority webmaster sites like DevGuru, Developer.com, TheNetGazette.net, HTMLprimer.com and WebKnowHow.net.
  • Go to and participate in Web 2.0 sites such as PlugIM, FreeIQ, Digg, Technorati, Simpy, Del.iciou.us, MarkTD, BibSonomy and Squidoo.
  • Become good friends with your Favorites or Bookmarks feature in your browser. Set it up so you develop a well-organized, useful list of websites, Internet destinations and Web pages and posts that you can constantly refer back to.Becoming an expert Web marketer or Web programmer can be done by putting aside time every day to learn your craft and by becoming good at finding the right information online that doesn’t cost anything. The more you search for useful information, the better you’ll become at it, and it will soon take you less and less time to find what you want.Therefore, the answer to all the questions above is: you’ll need patience, discipline, time management skills, and Internet searching skills. The searching skills come to you by simply practicing, by putting the time in online. Everything you need to know to become a Web expert without spending a dime is literally a few clicks away online and most of it is free. Get to work.

Copyright: Copyright © 2007-2008 Jason OConnor

Jason OConnor is President of Oak Web WorksThe
synthesis of Web design, technology
and marketing

Jason is an expert at Web design and programming, e-strategy, and
e-marketing

http://www.oakwebworks.com

mailto: joconnor888 @ hotmail.com

Drop us a line! Web Site Design, Web Development, Web Hosting, Web Everything from TurkReno Incorporated in Mobile, Alabama.

Doing keyword studies of your business a the key factor when your strategy follows Search Engine Optimization or niche advertising concepts. Of course, the page itself is what makes the reader choose to click, but the correct search engine optimization is what puts your business in front of the readers. The internet keywords must fulfill these criteria: they must be related with your niche, they must be realistic, and they must have a moderate competition. The target is to rank high on the search engine result page with the researched keyword, i.e. to rank better than the competing ones in the eyes of the search engines.

1. Use the Google Internet Keyword Tool
This is what makes it possible to make the research for your business. I have always used free tools, like SEO Book or Google. It is effective to pick long tail keywords, which have around 100 daily searches and to research the present top sites from the search engines result page.

2. Check Backlinks, PR and The Competition Of Each Site

These figures tell you whether you have chances to rank high with your business. Backlinks are the main figure, i.e. your site must have more or better backlinks than the site, which you want to beat. PR is the Google figure, which is usable but not accurate. The number of keyword results in the result you can have by typing quotes around your term and if the figure you will get is lower than 10,000 you have a winner.

3. Build A Keyword Matrix

First your business keywords must be long tail ones and highly related ones. The keyword set can contain both low and high demand keywords and you can start by typing some general keyword into your tool. Then add some words in front and after that term and you will get a nice list of terms. Then do the competition research.

4. Use a Keyword List

First, put all the keywords into your keyword list. Most article directories accept long keyword list. Then put your main keyword into the headline, teaser, many times into the body of the text and hyperlinked into the Author Box.

Use your secondary keywords at least once in the copy. You can pick the main keyword so that it includes all the other ones, i.e. the main keyword is the longest long tail keyword. This way your headline keyword includes all the other keywords, which helps your article to rank high on many result pages.

It is effective to use long keyword list with many keywords, because the keyword software figures are not accurate, so in this way you can guarantee that your business gets the biggest exposure.

The keyword research is very important. When you follow the development of your rankings, you will get a better understanding of which search terms respond to your efforts and which are non-working ones.

This is a really interesting article that I stumbled upon by a gentleman named Matt Siltala.  All credit for this material goes to him.  The original article can be found here.

Sneaky SEO

I am calling it sneaky SEO, cause I am tired of hearing it referred to as SEO Overkill. In my opinion Search Engine Optimization and Overkill should never be used in the same sentence. Let me explain why. I have been involved in SEO and internet businesses for the last 9 years and I have never stopped implementing good SEO on my websites. It is not OVERKILL its just good marketing practices.

I know why it is refered to as SEO Overkill, but I want to re-define it and call it what it is SNEAKY SEO.

Lets get more familiar with how users view webpages first. 79% of users scan a web page and 16% read word for word. What are readers looking for?

  1. Headlines
  2. Meaningful sub-headings (not keyword spam)
  3. Bulleted lists
  4. Headers
  5. How the Content is Arranged
  6. Worthless text (for density) or informative text worth reading?

When you have a site that is professionaly designed and full of content worth reading you gain credibility and web browsers will stay longer on your site. Random people I survey tell me the most important things to them on a website are:

  1. Is the layout easy to understand
  2. What kind of font style? (is it the same on all pages)
  3. What kind of font color? (again, needs to be the same-don’t fall into the rainbow text trap)
  4. Font size all the same?
  5. How is the navigation of the site?
  6. Does the site have a site-map?

Write for humans not search engines, and remember that search engines rank pages not websites. Getting back to the SNEAKY SEO, lets list the things we need to avoid on our websites:

  1. Hidden text (any kind, anywhere)
  2. Domain Stuffing (example – www.HowToGetRichUsingTheInternet.com)
  3. Don’t try to get rankings for 400 keywords all at once.
  4. Keyword stuffing folder names
  5. Keyword stuffing page names
  6. Keyword stuffing the title tag (keep it to about 5-7 words long)
  7. Keyword stuffing the meta tag description (keep it to about 25-30 words)
  8. Keyword stuffing the meta tag keywords (keep them to about 10-15 words)
  9. Skip misc. meta tags (they do nothing for you search engine wise)
  10. Don’t over-do visable text with so many keywords its not readable. (write for humans not search engines)
  11. Dont keyword stuff or overuse header tags
  12. Don’t include visible text in places it does not belong.
  13. Don’t keyword stuff your site maps. (site maps are essential, but avoid stuffing keywords and limit the site map to 50 links max.)
  14. To much visible anchor text.
  15. Don’t keyword stuff your link title attribute with keywords.
  16. Don’t keyword stuff your alt tags.
  17. Don’t built up links to fast. (avoid link farms)
  18. Avoid duplicate content by avoiding gateway, or doorway pages.
  19. Don’t stuff your div tables with keywords

Make sure to avoid these tactics of SNEAKY SEO’s, and do your part to keep the term SEO clean. If you play nice, the major search engines long term will reward you. You may find some using these tactics have good rankings, but it will catch up to them so please do everything you can to avoid any kind of SNEAKY SEO practices. You started an internet business for the long term and remember that any time you get tempted to fall to the dark side.