Not all web developers understand search engine optimization. The process is actually easy yet complicated at the same time, but these 3 steps I’m about to tell you will get you started right away.
1. Fill Your Site With Quality Unique Contents
The best thing you can do to prepare your site for search engine optimization is to fill your site with quality contents. Write articles, how-to’s, and other informational contents and post them at your site. Not only you will optimize your site for search engine optimization purposes, you will also entertain visitors and keep them coming back. If your site is an online store, you can still add a blog that discuss products you are selling as part of your site. Remember, the contents have to be unique; if you don’t have time to write them hire freelance content writers to do the job for you instead of going to online article directories and copy stuffs.
2. Update, Update, Update!
One of the key to successful SEO campaign is regular site update. Yes, you still have to cope with maintaining updates according to sets of keywords you are using to keep your site optimized, but you should update regularly. Again, this simple step can also be done with the help of freelancers if you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, and it will keep your visitors entertained while your search engine rankings improve.
3. Use Keyword Phrases In Your Title Tag
This may sounds simple, but pages with keyword phrases in their title tags will enjoy better search engine rankings. Don’t push your efforts too far by spreading keywords all over the content or page; just add it as part of the title tag and present some in the actual content. Don’t worry about keyword placements too much, and keep your contents — and pages — readable to visitors.
Simple, right? Go right ahead and optimize your site for search engine crawlers.
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List based drop down menu is one of the most popular site ornaments, and a lot of sites are using it as their primary navigation tool. If you want to use list based menu on your site as well, follow this tutorial I’m about to present to you and create your own with CSS/HTML in a matter of minutes.
Let us start with making the list to work with. Use the following HTML code as your guide.
<div id=”nav”>
<ul>
<li class=”first”><a href=”#”>Home</a></li>
<li><a href=”#”>Blog</a></li>
<li><a href=”#”>Services</a>
<ul>
<li><a href=”#”>SEO</a></li>
<li><a href=”#”>Internet Marketing</a></li>
<li><a href=”#”>Web Contents</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href=”#”>Contact Us</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
You should notice the “nav” id that will be used in your CSS codes as identifier. Let us continue with setting up some basic CSS codes for your menu. First, set up the basics for #nav to lay down some ground formatting for your list based menu.
*{ margin:0px; padding: 0px; }
#nav {
font-family: arial, sans-serif;
position: relative;
width: 390px;
height:56px;
font-size:14px;
color:#999;
margin: 0 auto;
}
#nav ul {
list-style-type: none;
}
Add the following piece of CSS code to make your list based menu float. This will make integrating the menu to your site a lot easier.
#nav ul li {
float: left
position: relative;
}
Add the following code to your CSS to make the list clickable as a whole — instead of just the text — and add separating borders to the design. Of course, you can change colors and border settings used.
#nav ul li a {
text-align: center;
border-right:1px solid #e9e9e9;
padding:20px;
display:block;
text-decoration:none;
color:#999;
}
The following CSS codes will allow you to format child nodes properly and create a smooth dropdown effect.
#nav ul li ul {
display: none
}
#nav ul li:hover ul {
display: block;
position: absolute;
}
Last but not least, add the following code to your CSS to set the hover state of the nodes.
#nav ul li:hover ul li a {
display:block;
background:#12aeef;
color:#ffffff;
width: 110px;
text-align: center;
border-bottom: 1px solid #f2f2f2;
border-right: none;
}
#nav ul li:hover ul li a:hover {
background:#6dc7ec;
color:#fff;
}
When it comes to integrating the menu to your site, all you have to do is insert the CSS codes into your CSS file and add the HTML list code wherever on the page within a container. The new list based dropdown menu will be a nice addition to your already intuitive design.
The Observer is back with another great post, just for you! We at Review of Web are participating in Daniel Scocco’s Daily Blog Tips Group Writing Project: 2009 in Review, and we took our time to pick 20 of the best web applications available in 2009. Let’s get crackin’ shall we?
1. Adobe Photoshop Online | https://www.photoshop.com/
Photoshop has been the most intuitive photo editing software for years, and Adobe is now launching an online version of this amazing software to help you edit, manage, and share photos online. You can upload images to your account and edit them using web interface very similar to the offline version of the software, and then share them with friends and colleagues.
2. CurdBee | http://curdbee.com/
If you are looking for a solution to manage invoices without hassle, CurdBee is the place to go. You can create and send invoices to customers and input confirmed payments as you go. The site offers easy, fast and secure online billing experience.
3. MediaFire | http://www.mediafire.com/
Looking for a reliable place to host your files? MediaFire is definitely worth checking out. This web app is very simple for everyday use but offers a lot of features even advanced users would really love. Use it to host your files and share them with visitors or friends.
4. ReInvirogate | http://www.reinvigorate.net/
ReInvirogate is the new way of tracking your site’s performance. Forget about old-school tracking scripts; ReInvirogate will give you so much more than just the amount of visitors coming to your site.
5. HowCast | http://www.howcast.com/
Publishing you own how-to videos or looking for one about any particular topic? Visit this video streaming site specializing in how-to videos.
6. Moodstream | http://moodstream.gettyimages.com/
Moodstream by Getty Images is an online collaboration platform for designers and creative workers. You can brainstorm ideas and search for images, footages, and audios at the same time.
7. AWebber | http://www.aweber.com/
Email marketing is definitely one of the oldest tricks in the book, and what could be best than managing your entire email marketing campaign from a single intuitive and comprehensive web application, right?
8. Wufoo | http://wufoo.com/
Need web forms but don’t have HTML coding skills? Wufoo will build them for you in no time at all.
9. Carbonmade | http://www.carbonmade.com/
Carbonmade is basically an online portfolio platform that you can use to show off your work. It is probably the easiest way to display your portfolio online and attracts more clients.
10. Backpack | http://backpackit.com/
Share information with your team using Backpack’s online intranet platform allowing you to manage your documents, discussions, and schedules in one place all the time.
11. Google Wave | https://wave.google.com/wave
Although the app is still in preview, Google Wave is definitely one of the best future online collaboration platforms available.
12. Celoxis | http://www.celoxis.com/
Another online collaboration and project management platform designed to help you handle big projects with ease.
13. Evernote | https://www.evernote.com/
Need to carry your notes all the time? Visit Evernote and find your problem solved instantly; the iPhone and mobile interface of this web app will enable you to access your notes anytime, anywhere.
14. Meebo | http://www.meebo.com/
Multinetwork instant messaging platform is the new hype, and Meebo is definitely offering one of the best web-based IM available.
15. Emusic | http://www.emusic.com/
Care for some nice tunes? Visit Emusic and find virtually any song you are looking for.
16. Netflix | http://www.netflix.com/
If movies and TV series are what you love, let Netflix stream them to your computers instantly.
17. Ask.com | http://www.ask.com/
No more unanswered questions; you have Ask.com hosting answers to countless possible questions you may be asking.
18. Zoho | http://www.zoho.com/
Zoho has transformed from a simple collaboration platform into a full-featured web productivity suites; you can do virtually anything with Zoho’s line of web applications.
19. Backpack | http://basecamphq.com/
Project management, collaboration, and task software provided by Backpack are definitely one of the best available.
20. Google Docs | http://documents.google.com/
This web app may seem simple, but simplicity has always been Google’s strong suit. Edit documents and share them with colleagues swiftly.
What is a virtual agent?
A virtual agent sometimes called a virtual smart agent, or an intelligent agent, is a script which is programmed to be able to perform a wide variety of tasks such as providi
ng information regarding the services on offer, or respond to user query, or as in a large number of cases, provide sales services.
One major advantage of using such scripts is that they eliminate the need for a human representative to be available for customers’ needs. These scripts are completely automated and therefore, once installed successfully, they work independently of any kind of human involvement towards running the script or moderating it. This also helps service providers by the way of reducing costs that could have been otherwise incurred on hiring individuals to perform the same task.
There are various vendors of such scripts with the effectiveness and features provided by such scripts varying widely across vendors. Almost all of the scripts available have features such as having custom agent for your site, log un-answered queries on your website among many others.
Which virtual agent service we prefer?
Virtual Sales Assistant (VSA). The VSA, along with providing all features like its competitors, also provides some additional features which are unique to it.
The VSA allows you to train the virtual agent to handle various types of queries. Once the training is completed, you can analyze the performance of your virtual agent by making use of the in-depth statistical data provided by VSA. Incorporating HTML in chat windows is also an option provided by the VSA. This helps in providing better support in the form of links or web addresses of related information.
VSA also has the ability to integrate videos into your chat script which can help in understanding the concept of the sales agent. It also allows you to customize the script and insert and/or edit the default names provided by the script. VSA is superior to most of its competitors in the sense that it allows for an unlimited installation of the script, which translates to the fact that once the script has been bought, you can integrate it to any number of your websites. This essentially helps you in case you sell more than one product or are involved in marketing the same product through different websites.
VSA provides all these features and facilities along with a lifetime money back guarantee at a minimal one time price of $97. The price also includes a variety of “How to” videos and source files of the script. At its price, VSA offers the best value for money among its competition.
Check out Virtual Sales Assistant
Related article: How to integrate chat box within a website?
I will be attending Google SearchMasters conference ‘09 going to be held at Bangalore,India on 28th/Feb/09. 
I have attended and spoken at many conferences earlier that are related to my profession – Software Engineering. But this is the first time, I will be attending conference related to webmasters. I am pretty excited about it. Do let me know if you are coming.
For those who were not able to register earlier or are unable to come to this conference, don’t worry. Google India will be posting the conference videos and updates at its official blog.
I "ll also try to come up with the details here soon after the conference. Subscribe Now to not miss any further details.
If you are a small to mid-size blogger or an online entrepreneur, in all probability you must be taking services of a webhost to host your blogs/websites. These web hosting providers put your sites on a server that is already hosting dozens of other sites. [Unless you opt for a premium plan with a dedicated server]. This may result in your sites getting down frequently or sites running very slow.
If that is the case, you may want to check whether it is because of other sites hosted on the same server as yours, eating up your shared space.
Enter YouGetSignal – This online free service lets you know about other websites that are hosted on the same web-server as your site – using reverse IP check. To start checking simply, enter your site name and hit ‘Check’. You will see all shared sites on one page. Check out alexa and or traffic stats of those sites. If their traffic stats makes you feel they might be the culprit, ask your host to move onto some other less cloggy server.
For more creative souls amongst us, this tools can also be use to check where and how big companies like google store their sites and what other sub-domain are hosted on the same web server. The screenshot below shows that there are 1053 domains hosted on the same web server as www.google.com
