Google Chrome SEO Toolbar with Page Rank– An Easy Way

A while ago, Google launched smart, stylish and faster web browser, Google Chrome, and after its launch, many more users downloaded it, and considered switching to it.

Being an SEO Consultant so I needed an SEO toolbar for web browsers like Firefox and IE. But unfortunately (and surprisingly), Google did not launch its toolbar for Google Chrome.

So here is a very easy way to have SEO toolbar for Google Chrome.

• Download and install Google Chrome developer version. If you have installed, ignore this step.
• Learn how to change Chrome to Chrome Developer Version.
• Add -enable-extensions parameter:

1. Right click the Chrome icon in your desktop, and then click Properties.
2. Click Shortcut tab.
3. Add '-enable-extensions' parameter in the Target field.
   

• Download these two files from the following address and save them at your desktop.

1. http://www.2shared.com/file/6242345/4c394a8f/Bookmarks.html
2. http://www.2shared.com/file/6242381/e7e1c19a/Bookmarks.html
   

• Just go at following address:
• In WindowXP : "C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default" {Replace username as per your profile name}
• In Windows Vista : "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default" {Replace username as per your profile name}
• Copy both the downloaded files and just paste them in Default directory.
• Then just refresh it and open Google Chrome.
• Make sure your Google Chrome browser always shows the Bookmarks bar. If not, click menu: Tools -> Always show bookmarks bar.
• Your chrome bookmark bar (See red blocks) will become SEO toolbar.

[searchenginejournal.com]

Choosing a Web Hosting Company that’s Right for You

A few years ago, choosing a company to host your website was an exercise in frustration and confusion. But now, with so many web hosting companies competing for your business, you're assured of finding more than one company that will meet your needs. Your biggest problem will be choosing among the candidate companies. With free web hosting and packages starting at $1.95 per month, the money you spend getting your website up and running can go much further than it could a few years ago.

You'll need to do some research on web hosting companies first. While most companies offer generous bandwidth, disk space, and email accounts, variables such as cost and availability of technical support increase in importance. Here are some ways to begin your search for the perfect web host.

First, determine what you need. You probably wouldn't walk into a shoe store and say, "I need shoes." You'd give some specifics, like your shoe size, what type of shoes you want, how much you're willing to pay. The situation with buying website hosting is similar. Are you a one-person shop, or do you have a dozen employees? Will you be selling things on your site, or is it purely informational? Will visitors to your site download large files? How many visitors do you expect or hope to have on a given day?

There's nothing wrong with asking someone you know who runs a website how they went about it. In fact, it's an opportunity to learn from others' mistakes. But there are also plenty of resources online. The home pages of web hosting providers should give you some ideas, and there are user forums where you can read and learn some real world experiences with various hosting companies. If you are able to join these forums, it's OK to ask questions, such as, "I see you chose Company X for your web host. Do you think they would work well for my site? My site will offer downloads of video training materials, and I'll need quite a bit of bandwidth." The user forums are where people tend to tell it like it is.

Speaking of bandwidth, while that and disk space are important considerations, you should know that most hosting providers will offer sufficient resources unless you will have a bandwidth hogging application, or a 10,000 visitors per day. It is important, however, to make sure that you will be able to upgrade your service if your business outgrows its original website. The answer is almost always "yes," but it’s a good idea to make sure.

If you plan to have extra features, like extensive photo storage, database support, or other add-ons, ask up front if your hosting package will accommodate these things.

One thing that you should never consider as an "extra" is live tech support by email, live chat, and phone. Web hosting companies are coming around to the fact that there are no "regular business hours" for online businesses, and that their clients want to talk to an actual human regardless of time or day. Again, don't take it for granted; make sure upfront that you’re getting true 24/7/365 support services.

Many clients enjoy having a web based control panel. This will allow you to add or modify email accounts, tweak your site's configuration, and do basic file editing. These control panels often are graphical user interfaces that make it easy for you to make changes to your site without having to know HTML.

Round the clock FTP (file transfer protocol) access is another very handy thing to have. This will allow you to make changes to your site no matter what time it is. Web based email is another near necessity in today's business environment. This will allow you and your employees to check their email anywhere – not just from their own computer.

Beyond these basics, here are some other questions to answer before signing on with a hosting company.

Will you share a server or will your site have one dedicated to it alone? For most businesses, shared hosting works fine. But larger businesses may need to flexibility and control that comes with having an entire server devoted to their website. Fortunately, shared hosting can now be quite generous with disk space and bandwidth, and security measures between websites hosted on the same server minimize the chances of technical problems. And shared hosting costs much less than dedicated hosting.

Does your hosting provider have e-commerce capabilities? Many come with ready-to-use shopping cart programs and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protection for online credit card transactions. These features allow you to configure your retail site quickly and with minimal costs.

Some hosting companies provide other goodies, like blog software, content management, and picture galleries. Fantastico is the name of a package of software that contains over 40 free programs that are easy to install from your site's control panel.

While price is still important in determining which webhost you choose, tech support and a good reputation are more important factors. You need to get your site up and running, and you need to be able to grow on the web as your business takes off.

[ghacks.net]

Five tips on good Web design

By TASHA CUNNINGHAM
Special to The Miami Herald

Whether you have decided to hire a professional Web designer or use one of the template services mentioned in mylast column to create your site, good design is essential to running a successful business on the Web.

Google the term ''good Web design'' and you'll find myriad websites devoted to the topic with advice on how to create perfect Web pages. Web design is largely subjective. While many experts differ on what really makes good Web design, there are a few fundamentals most can agree on:

• Think before you design -- Create a blueprint of the site you want before you pay that Web designer you've just contracted or begin working with favorite templates you've found online. Sit down, get out a piece of paper and actually sketch what you want your site to look like. How would it function? What would your site's key pages look like? Where will your navigation bar be? What colors will you use? What content areas will be on your site? This is a valuable first step. Your sketch will serve as a road map and quick reference guide as you implement your design.
• Choose content carefully -- Whether your site will be used to sell products or not, the content on it is important. It has to be high-quality and informative, particularly if you are promoting yourself as an expert in a particular field. Don't let misspelled words, shoddy grammar and poor sentence structure be the reason you lose a reader or customer.
• Color your site with care -- People respond to color. Choose soothing earth tones, such as forest green and gray, for your design.
• Name your pages properly -- To optimize your site's pages, be sure to name the URLs for each page correctly. Don't use symbols and numbers, which aren't search-engine friendly. Instead, use the name of the page, which will rank your site much higher in search results. A good example of a properly named page is www.Miami Herald.com/business, which indicates it's the business page of the Miami Herald. A poorly named page would look something like this: www.miami herald.com/?54=27#8=617, which tells you nothing about the page and is hard for search engines to index the site. I'm guilty of this with www.Chick Centric.com, but I'm working to fix it.

Most services that allow you to design a site using a template will generate URLs for your pages that have letters and numbers, but a fair number of them allow you to rename your pages.

• Get free expert advice -- Take advantage of the wealth of free information about site design available on the Internet. You want to get your site indexed by Google, so start there by using their free Google Webmaster Guidelines, which give you everything you need to create a site that Google will love. Other good resources are www.SitePoint.comand www.SiteProNews.com.

You've got a lot of work to do, so get started! In my next column, I'll show you how to make extra money with your site and give you a slew of great tips on how to market it for maximum profit.

Tasha Cunningham is a pioneering Web entrepreneur and a principal of The Cunningham Group.

[miamiherald.com]

Title tags, anchor text 'most vital in SEO'

The most important ranking factors in search engine optimisation(SEO) include title tags, anchor text, unique inbound links and use of social media and mobile advertising.

This is according to Rand Fishkin, a speaker at the recent SMX Advanced event, and Mike McDonald of WebProNews, who also concluded that the least important ranking factors are H1 tags, keyword density and W3C validation.

When it comes to using title tags in an effective way, it is advisable to insert key terms as early as possible into each tag and to ensure every website page has its own relevant title tag, Mr McDonald and Mr Fishkin stated.

"It's 2009 and a lot of today's fundamental ranking factors are very similar to the same stuff that worked in 2005, 2006 [and] 2007," Mr McDonald remarked, adding: "A lot of the basic things have been pretty consistent."

Earlier this month, a poll by Forbes.com found that SEO, pay-per-click ads and email marketing are seen as the most effective online marketing tactics when it comes to influencing brand perception by senior marketers.

[directnews.co.uk]

SEO is the best way to generate online sales, Forbes

The best way for marketers to generate sales online is to start with search marketing techniques, according to a new study from Forbes.

The study reveals that 48 per cent of marketers believe that search engine optimization (SEO) was the best method for generating conversions online.

More than one-half of marketers with budgets up to £1 million agreed. For both small- and large-budget marketers, site or page sponsorship and SEO were considered the most effective ways to build a brand online.

The next-most-effective conversion tactic for smaller marketers was e-mail and e-newsletters, followed by pay-per-click and search ads, behavioural targeting and page sponsorships.

For larger marketers, the list of effective online tactics was nearly the same, except search and e-mail were flipped. Pay-per-impression ads were also more effective for larger marketers.

To build, maintain or change brand perceptions required different tactics, however. Pay-per-impression ads came next on the list for big spenders, while the more budget-constricted focused on e-mail newsletters, pay-per-impression and viral marketing.

In anticipation of the end of the recession, marketers are changing their spending priorities in the six months after March 2009 to feature more viral marketing, SEO, behavioural targeting and pay-per-click, according to the study.

Jon Smith, head of Aedgency Cashback said, "Smith said, "Search Engine Optimisation takes time and effort, but the rewards of a successful strategy are more customers, more revenue and dominance over your market.

"Web users seldom search beyond the first results page and if you don't have at least one of the coveted twelve positions you can bet your competitor will have. From this perspective, investing in effective SEO is business critical."

Source:[utalkmarketing.com]