I am constantly getting asked about cheap Web hosting. I have a few favorites, but I also like to point out that cheap isn’t always best. In the dozen or so years I’ve been hosting sites I’ve dealt with some great hosting companies, some ok hosts, and some really bad ones. To help those of you that need a good host here is a page for cheap web hosting that I created with my top picks. These are affordable companies that are also of excellent quality.
I’ve been busy building landing pages and testing ideas for affiliates. I do really well with Google Adsense but would like to branch out into other areas for several reasons. One is simply to protect my ASSets and the other is to, of course, increase my income.
If anyone has any good landing pages or tips please share. I’m always looking for a better converting landing page.
I finally finished my most recent Website. This one I worked on with the help of my brother and cousin. I’m quite proud of this family effort. So, if you are thinking about visiting the South anytime soon, or are just interesting in visiting the South check out my new South Carolina Tourism Website. This site has about thirty pages of goodies on SC. If you’ve never been to the South Carolina coast you really don’t know what you’re missing. There is nothing like Charleston in the world. Well, except maybe for Savannah.
If you check Wordtracker’s list of top searched for terms you’ll see that “SEO” is showing up in the top 100 now. That’s wild to me because it should have been there a long time ago, but only in the last few months has it gotten the respect it deserves. Executives and Web managers are just catching on and wanting SEO. Of course, few of them really understand it.
I worked as an SEO manager for about five years at two different firms. One was a private company that was based solely online and the other was an interactive marketing agency. I dealt with a lot of the same issues then as current SEO gurus deal with now like why isn’t the client’s site ranking number one after only six weeks of SEOing?
I’ve tried to separate myself somewhat from SEO in the last year or so. Not because I have a problem with SEO, but just because I wanted to explore some other areas like Web management. Despite my efforts I keep getting pulled back in. There are few that have the natural talent for optimizing Web pages and those of us that have it are in high demand and the powers that be refuse to let us out. It’s a lot like the mafia.
Now that SEO is finally on the radar the demand is going to increase even more. If you are looking for and SEO technician be careful because I’ve seen a lot of resumes that list SEO as a skill set when all they did was create a few Meta tags. If you want to learn SEO I say go for it. It looks like they’ll be work for you for several years to come.
Emory Rowland of Clickfire just posted a very interested, and entertaining, bit about the new Google Bedroom. I wish they had Google Girlfriend when I was young and single. I’m sure it would have been cheaper and more fullfilling than many of the relationships of my youth.
http://blog.clickfire.com/google-bedroom/
I haven’t posted in a while because my life has been turned upside down - but in a good way. Back in December I became the proud father of a baby boy. He’s bringing great joy into my life but also cutting into my “Internet Time.” Until I get a chance to post more I hope you’ll check out my ringback tone guide that I created not too long before the baby was born. It is a guide to help you learn about ringback tones and where to get the best deals on ringback tones for your cellular phone.
I’ll post again soon and we can get back to talking about .mobi, Internet marketing, and the future of Internet technology.
.Mobi - The Birth Of A Mobile Internet Revolution?
The recent announcement that .mobi domain names had been released for general sale caused very little stirring on the Internet. It has been heralded as the dawn of a new era for the mobile Internet but many believe that once the initial land rush for domains has passed, it will become just another top-level domain like all others. .Mobi domains have already been purchased by a lot of companies. Initially, from May of this year, trademark holders from within the mobile communication world were given the opportunity to secure the domain associated with that trademark. Then in June, all remaining trademark holders were given the opportunity until finally this month, September, domain names go on general sale.
Why Has The Mobi Domain Been Introduced?
The principle behind the mobi domain name is that it will make finding websites designed for use on mobile or cell phones easier. It is also hoped that the release will herald a new age of mobile Internet with the inclusion of industry standards. Above all else, though, the hope is that mobile Internet browsing and surfing will become as commonplace as the cell phone itself.
Guidelines And Suggestions
As well as having to apply and adhere to guidelines before you can register a domain name, the .mobi domain raises certain questions in terms of accessibility, design, coding, and optimization. Style guides have been released by mTLD that contain a combination of enforced guidelines and advised best practices. Again, though, this only accounts for a portion of the user experience.
The Rise Of The Mobile Internet
Running a .mobi website could potentially be very profitable. So far the mobile Internet simply hasn’t grown as many expected. While this has partially been because of the high and difficult to understand tariffs it is also because the mobile Internet offers very little in the way of a valuable user experience. There are very few sites with mobile compatibility and even those that have attempted have struggled because of a lack of well-worked guidelines.
Mobile Search Engines
As you can probably imagine the main focus of all guidelines concentrates on ensuring that websites load quickly and accurately and that the content and site is easy to navigate. The major search engines already have mobile search engines in some cases; probably the most notable expectedly being Google’s own addition.
.Mobi Sites Should Be Short And Succinct While Still Offering Value
From a user perspective, the most important thing is having quick access to relevant data. Humans do not have the capacity to read as quickly off screens as they do off paper. When writing standard website content it is important to reduce the size of pages, the length of paragraphs, and the structure of sentences. When transferring this onto a mobile screen, which is potentially very small, the need becomes even more pronounced.
Some General Guidelines
Among the mTLD guidelines there are several important factors you must look at when creating page content for a .mobi domain. These rules are enforceable and this means that if you are found to break them you could potentially lose the right to use the domain name. A lot is fairly common sense. If you use color elements on your page, ensure there is a non-color equivalent. Limit the amount of content to specific details regarding the user’s requirements. Limit the amount of graphics that a page uses and ensure that the graphics themselves are not too large. These are just some examples.
Specific Text Content Guidelines
There are actually surprisingly few guidelines that look specifically at the actual word content of the .mobi page. Use clear and simple language, use introductory and relevant text before you progress a subject, and keep the number of keystrokes to a minimum. It really is quite basic stuff and more care should be taken to ensure that you really are giving your users the most valuable experience.
Accurate And Informative Page Content
Every page should be tightly channeled towards the topic it is based on. A cell phone screen is not the place to be injecting surplus words or sentiments. Similarly, just because the page will be read on a cell screen doesn’t mean everyone can understand “text talk”. Only very few sentences should be used per page and each must provide value.
Being Part Of The Revolution
The mobile Internet is virtually untapped and even though a land rush to register the most popular domains is predictable it doesn’t look likely to be as popular as similar releases like the .eu domain. However, as the price war wages between mobile Internet providers and the quality of the mobile network increases, there is a very real chance that the majority of the population that owns a cell phone will start to regularly access the Internet through their cell phone browser. You could be one of the first to take advantage.
By Matt Jackson from WebWiseWords
WebWiseWords is a new media or web site content writer. As such they have invaluable experience of writing specifically for digital media. Whether you’re interested in taking advantage of the .mobi landrush or simply want top quality website content for your website then WebWiseWords is the copywriter you need. WebWiseWords is planning on further enhancing the section of their website that gives information on optimizing and marketing .mobi website content so bookmark and check often or join the free newsletter.
If you have a Website that collects leads, sells a product or service, or needs visitors to submit info for any reason you know how difficult it is to get form fills. Internet users are cautious with their personal information and have short attention spans, both contributing to low form fills. Below are some simple steps to increase form conversions so your visitors don’t end up like the frustrated visitor pictured above:
1. Make sure your Calls to Action leading to the form are clear
a. I’ve seen too many sites with no clear Call to Action. Don’t just use a link. Use a strong Call to Action button and a link.
2. In the Call to Action make it clear what the user is getting
a. “Click Here” isn’t good enough. Try “Start Saving Money Now” or “Get Info on HDTVs” or whatever works for your site.
3. Keep the form short
a. Users don’t want to fill out a 20-field form. The fewer fields the better. Can you cut it back to two fields?
4. Add an images of a trustworthy looking person to the form page
a. For some reason an image of someone that can be trusted increases form fills. I guess it makes the form feel more human.
5. Include a Thank You Page or confirmation email after the form fill
a. Don’t leave your new lead wondering if the form submitted correctly. This will cut back on multiple submissions from the same user and offers a second chance to build your brand and up sale.
Share with others what tips you have for increasing lead form conversions.
I like Google. At least for now. Everyone likes Google until they get banned. What I don’t like about Google is how easy it is to get banned and how vague their reason is for banning you. I just read an interesting article by Robyn Tippins about Google making more enemies. It’s worth checking out.
In 1998 I bought almost all of my Christmas presents online. Retailers were offering free shipping and other incentives for those that were willing to buy online. It was a tremendous success. Everything arrived on time and I saved a bundle on taxes and shipping fees.
I was so happy with the results from 1998 that I decided to buy everything online for the 1999 Christmas season. 1999 wasn’t as successful. In one year thousands upon thousands of consumers learned about online shopping and decided to give it a try. The online retailers were not ready and orders got backed up. About a third of the gifts I ordered didn’t arrive on time. Even though there have been huge improvements since 1999 in online buying I still make sure to order everything early instead of trusting the last minute guaranteed shipping offers.
Online shopping is a norm now with retailers pulling in large portions of their annual revenue during the months of November and December. I bought about half of my Christmas gifts online this year. I ordered an iPod Shuffle from the Apple site and some CDs and books from Amazon. Online shopping has become sophisticated and much simpler than the early days of the popular Web and I expect it to get easier in the coming years as usability improves and becomes a must-have for all sites.
What are you buying online this year? Share your online buying experiences?