1) Don’t use sound on your site

If your visitor is going to stay on your site, reading your content, you will need to be sure they’re not annoyed by audio looping on and on. If you insist on adding audio, be sure they have a proper control of it — volume or muting controls would work.

2) Have an easy to use navigation system

You have to provide a basic and straightforward navigation menu so that even a young child will know how to work with it. Hold off on using difficult Flash based menus or multi-tiered drop down menus. Even If your visitors do not know how to navigate i guarantee they will still be able to find there way off your site.

3) Let the user know where they are

When visitors are deeply engrossed in browsing your site, you will need to be sure they know which component of the site they are in at that moment. That way, they will be able to browse related information or navigate to any section of the site simply.

4) Don’t use ‘welcoming’ splash pages

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. They typically have a pretty pictures with words like “welcome” or “click here to enter”. In truth, they are just that — pretty with no real use. Don’t let your visitors have another reason to click on the “back” button! Pull them straight onto your site.

5) Don’t use excessive numbers of banner advertisements

Even the least net savvy people have hardened themselves against banner advertisements so you will be wasting website real estate. As an alternative, provide more valueable content and weave related affiliate links into your content, this will encourage your visitors to feel that they ‘need’ to pay for instead of being pushed to pay for something.

Web Design from Blogzeal.com

Mistake #1 – Failure To Provide Search Functionality

Blogs should be searchable. Include a search function on the blog so that website visitors can easily search your blog content for the things they are interested in or looking for.

Mistake #2 – Failure To Offer Syndication

Failure to provide an RSS feed for blog content is a common mistake. RSS feeds will significantly increase the number of blog followers. Many blogging platforms will automatically create an RSS feed for the content — if your current content management system does not have that ability, you can manually create the RSS feeds yourself, or use software like FeedForAll ( http://www.feedforall.com ) to create the feeds. RSS feeds will increase your blogs exposure and readership.

Mistake #3 – Failure To Personalize

Blogs are meant to be personal. Blogs that consist mostly of impersonal, factual news clips will not attract as much interest as a blog with a distinct personality. Add character and personality to your blog by personalizing your blog posts. Readers tend to enjoy blogs that contain personality and character.

Mistake #4 – Failure To Subscribe To Your Own Blog

Be sure to subscribe to your own blog and RSS feed, so that you can see exactly what your readers are seeing. Click through the blog posts to ensure that your linking schemes are functioning properly. Sometimes you might be surprised by how your blog content is being displayed to your readers, so be sure to subscribe to your own blog in order to quickly correct any errors.

Mistake #5 – Poor Navigation To Archives

It is important that you provide clear navigation to older blog posts. You can often categorize blog posts or list related blog posts beneath your main blog posts, which gives the reader access to additional related material if they found your blog post interesting.

Mistake #6 – Lack Of Consistency

Blog postings should be consistent, both in frequency and in tone. Blog readers will expect consistency in blog posts, and straying too far from the established and expected frequency or tone could sour some readers.

Mistake #7 – Lack Of Theme

Blog posts should be united by a common theme, simply because subscribers will follow blogs that contain an ongoing topic they are interested in. If the blog is simply a collection of random and unrelated posts, your subscribers may lose interest and wander away.

Mistake # 8 – Failure To Use Stable Hosting

Hosting should be reliable and stable. Nothing is more frustrating to a reader than being unable to click through on a blog post they are interested in. Use a stable web host and platform, even if it means you have to spend a little more money.

Mistake #9 – Changing Half-Way

Many people will try blogging initially, using a 3rd-party for hosting, and once they realize it is successful they decide to host and manage their blog locally. This means that any followers they’ve managed to obtain prior to that point must then resubscribe to the RSS feed or go to a different URL for the most recent blog posts. If you are going to blog, don’t do it half-way and then change things in mid-stream. As they say: go big or go home — meaning that you should do it the right way from the beginning, or not bother.

Mistake #10 – Lack Of Monitoring Metrics

View your blog logs on a regular basis, so you know which articles your viewers enjoy the most. Then you’ll know how to give your readers more of what has already been of interest to them. Analytics are critical in determining what people like and dislike, so don’t rely on assumptions… rely on numbers.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Blog Design from Blogzeal.com

1. Definitions
In order to quickly find the definition of a word, simply type “define: word” in the search box. Google will then provide the definition of the word.

2. Area Codes
Enter a US telephone area code in the URL box to see a map of the area covered by that telephone area code.

3. Calculator
Type a math problem into the Google search box, and Google will calculate the answer. Google acts as a calculator when mathematical calculation is presented. Google recognizes the following mathematical symbols: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*), division (/), to the power of (^), and square root of a number (sqrt).

4. Movies
In order to locate reviews and show times for movies playing near you, type “movies” or the name of a current film into the Google search box. If you have already saved your location on a previous search, or if you are logged into a Google account, the top search result will display show times for nearby theaters for the movie you entered.

5. Weather
To see the weather for many US and worldwide cities, type “weather” followed by the city and state, US zipcode, or city and country. Google will provide a current weather forecast.

6. Current Time
To see the current time in any city around the world, type “time” and the name of the city. Google will display the current time for that city.

7. Patent Search
To search for US patents, enter the word “patent” into the Google search box, followed by the patent number. Google will display the details of that particular patent.

8. Track Shipments
Shipments can easily be tracked using Google simply by entering the tracking number for your UPS, FedEx, or USPS package directly into the Google search box. Google will return the tracking results and status of the shipment.

9. Stock Quotes
Google can help investors keep an eye on the changing stock market. To see current market data for a given company or fund, simply type the ticker symbol into the Google search box. The resulting webpage displays financial data from the Google Finance service.

10. Maps
Looking for a map? Type in the name or US zipcode for a location, along with the word “map” and Google will display a map of that location.

11. Convert Currency
Google also has a built-in currency converter. Simply enter the conversion you would like to see performed in the Google search box, and Google will provide the currency conversion.

12. Flight Status
To view the flight status for arriving and departing US airline flights, enter the name of the airline and the flight number into the Google search box. Airport delays and details can be found by typing in the name of the city or three-letter airport code, followed by the word “airport”.

13. Synonyms
If you want to locate search results for a word, along with any synonyms for the word, just enter the tilde sign (~) before the search term. Google will display results for that word and will include any related synonyms.

14. Population
To see trends for population and unemployment rates of US states and counties, type “population” or “unemployment rate” followed by a state or county. You can click through to a page that lets you compare different locations.

15. Spell Check
Google even has a built-in spell-checker. Google automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word. If Google thinks there may be an alternate or better spelling, it will be listed as: ‘Did you mean: (alternate spelling)?’

16. Conversion Calculator
You can use Google to convert units of measurement. Google will convert height, weight, and volume measurements. Simply enter the desired conversion into the search box and Google will calculate the conversion.

17. Earthquake Activity
Google even tracks earthquake activity. Enter “earthquake” followed by the city and state or US zipcode into the Google search box to see the seismic activity in a specific region.

18. Related Websites
Google will display webpages that contain similar content. Include “related:” followed by a website address in the Google search box for a listing of related websites.

19. Linked Websites
When “link:” is used in the Google search box, and followed by a URL, the search results will include a listing of all webpages indexed by the search engine which contain links to the specified URL (i.e. to see how many websites are linking back to your site, or to a competitor’s site).

20. Indexed Pages
When “site:” is entered in the Google search box, followed by a domain name, the search engine locates all documents within a specific domain, including all of its sub-domains. This is an easy way to get a rough idea of the number of pages indexed for a given domain.

True to Google’s mission of making sense of information, Google has made specific and unique information very easy to find.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Blogzeal for SEO

Myth #1 – SEO Is A One-Time Deal
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process that requires attention and effort over an extended period of time. To do it properly, it is an ongoing process, and definitely not a one-time action.

Myth #2 – Quantity Is More Important Than Quality
When it comes to backlinks, quantity is simply not as important as quality. Attracting a huge number of backlinks is simply not as important as obtaining relevant links from related and trusted sources.

Myth #3 – Meta Tags Are No Longer Relevant
While meta tags are not the be-all and end-all of search marketing, they still matter. Including a unique and keyword-rich title and description on each page of a website will help the site rank better in organic search results for those terms. Meta tags may not be as important as they once were, but they do still matter in the world of search optimization.

Myth #4 – PPC Will Help Search Ranking
There is no association between PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising campaigns and how well a website ranks in organic search results. There is simply no evidence to suggest that advertising via AdWords will help improve an organic search ranking.

Myth #5 – Submit Your Website Early And Often
Submitting your website to search engines is no longer a necessity. Search engines use spiders to follow links on a website.

Myth #6 – SEO Is A Scam
Search engine optimization, when done properly, is quite effective. In fact, a website may have a difficult time ranking well at all if it is not optimized adequately.

Myth #7 – SEO Is A Guarantee
As the old saying goes, the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. When properly implemented, SEO can very likely improve your organic search rankings. But be leery of any search marketing company that makes guarantees. There are simply too many factors and variables for SEO success to be guaranteed.

Myth #8 – Build It And They Will Come
Once upon a time, before the Internet became so cluttered, you could build something new and interesting and it would attract attention without any effort. But now, with the noise ratio so high on the Internet, you must work to draw attention to your innovation. Do not assume that people will find it simply because it is cool!

Myth #9 – NoFollow Links Are A Waste Of Time
Acquiring links that are tagged as “NoFollow” are not a waste of time. A mix of both DoFollow and NoFollow links looks far more natural to the search engine algorithms than a website that has all DoFollow or all NoFollow links. Additionally, some search marketing studies suggest that not all search engines pay attention to the NoFollow attribute, and they do in fact value a NoFollow link the same way that they would value a DoFollow link.

Myth #10 – Google Is The Only Search Engine
While it is true that Google is by far the largest search engine, a decent volume of web traffic can still be generated by achieving a high ranking in other search engines for competitive search terms.

Base your search optimization on facts, and not on myths or misconceptions! And always remember that nothing about SEO is ever an absolute.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Blogzeal for SEO

Use Twitter for the following…

Branding
Twitter can be used to secure a brand. Establishing brand identity is important to most businesses, and Twitter gives a business control over their message.

For example, the avatar used in a Twitter profile can reinforce a company’s brand. Use the image normally associated with your company’s brand as the avatar for your account. The Twitter profile webpage can also be customized to reinforce the company’s brand identity and message.

Marketers can also monitor what is being said on Twitter about their company and brand. Simply search http://search.twitter.com using the company name or brand name. When a query about the company or service is tweeted, reply to the tweet with an offer of assistance. To make it easier to follow such mentions, you can subscribe to a Twitter keyword search RSS feed, which will then notify you each time the company or product brand is mentioned on Twitter.

Marketing
Twitter can be used to let customers and potential customers know about new products, services, and promotions. Marketers can also conduct searches for questions where the company’s product is a possible solution. Marketers can then reply to the queries, offering assistance where it is appropriate.

Viral
Twitter, by nature, is a viral tool. New, innovative, and interesting items are quickly broadcast and re-tweeted, helping to spread the word. Consider what elements of the company or product are interesting or unique. The more out-of-the-box they are, the more likely they will appeal to Twitter’s viral audience.

Even The Playing Field
Twitter can be used to even the playing field between large companies and smaller ones attempting to compete. Small companies can personalize their customer interaction much more easily. Twitter also makes it easier to gain the attention of others. The Twitter community helps to even the playing field.

Press
Twitter can be used to attract the attention of the press or news media. Many bloggers and media personalities participate on Twitter. As a result, the posting of your new announcements may grab their attention, and result in unexpected press coverage. Public relations professionals should tweet when they issue press releases.

Instant Feedback
Twitter can be used to get instant feedback on just about anything. If a company’s development team wants to know what customers think about a potential new feature, Twitter is a great way to receive instant feedback.

Get Ideas
Twitter can be used to develop ideas for new projects or needs that people have. Monitor the Twitter stream for the types of products or services people are routinely asking about.

Connect
Twitter can be used to connect to others in your industry. Follow professionals in the same niche or market, in order to stay in the communication loop.

Respond to Criticism
Twitter can be used to respond to criticism in a constructive and professional manner. Watch for mentions that contain criticisms of your product or service, and then reply in a helpful and professional manner. How you respond often says more than the actual criticism itself.

Communicate
Twitter can be used to communicate and promote your participation in industry events, conferences, and trade shows.

Customer Service
Twitter can be used to provide customer service and assistance.

Personalize
Twitter can be used to personalize customer interaction.

Promotion
Twitter can be used to market things like special offers or time-limited discounts.

Twitter is surely a trend, but probably not one that businesses can afford to ignore.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Web Promotion by Blogzeal.com

Here are the setup steps for both Business and Personal usage…

For Business Use:

1. Choose A Name
Select a name for your Twitter account. If the Twitter account is going to be for company use, you should use your brand name as your account name.

2. Create A Profile
Write a business profile that includes a description of your company, products, and services.

3. Add An Icon/Avatar
Upload a customized avatar that will reinforce your company brand, such as a version of your company logo. Twitter icons that are eye-catching will draw more attention to your posts.

4. Customize A Landing Page
Customize a landing page for your profile, and reinforce your brand and company message there. Use the profile space to provide additional information.

5. Follow
Follow friends or others with similar interests, products, or company focus. You can also follow industry leaders.

For Personal Use:

1. Choose A Name
Select a name for your Twitter account. This can be a nickname or your real name.

2. Create A Profile
Write a profile that reflects your personal interests. This will help people with common interests to locate you.

3. Add An Icon/Avatar
Upload a Twitter icon/avatar. Eye-catching Twitter icons will draw more attention to your posts. You can use a photo of yourself, or another image that reflects your personality.

4. Customize A Landing Page
Customize a landing page that reflects your personal interests or passions.

5. Follow Friends
Follow friends or others with similar interests, media personalities, or just about anyone you are interested in.

Engage
Keep in mind that Twitter is not about shouting your message — it is about engaging in a two-way (or more) dialogue. Begin tweeting by interacting with those that you are following.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Web Promotion by Blogzeal.com

1. Custom 404 Pages

Create a custom 404 web page, so that any time your website visitor mistypes or misspells a URL on your site, they will still be provided with navigation options for your site (instead of getting nothing but a “Page Not Found” error message, which is neither friendly or helpful).

2. Redirect Non-www. To www.

Website visitors will often leave out the “www.” portion when they type a URL or link to your website. Set the website up so that it automatically redirects any non-www version of your domain urls (http://domain.com) to the www version (http://www.domain.com) of your website.

3. Properly Sized Graphics

Size and define all graphics and images on your web pages properly and correctly. Web pages will load quicker if the graphics contained on each page are properly defined so they don’t require the web browser to re-size them. Properly sized and defined images can reduce the web browser workload and speed up the page loading time.

4. Favicon

Add a Favicon (favorite icon) to your website, so that your company or product logo appears in the URL box. This icon will also show up in a bookmark list, and gives the web site an added level of professionalism.

5. Include RSS Auto-Discovery

If you offer an RSS feed for any content on your website, be sure to include auto-discovery code in the header of your website. This will allow many browsers and RSS readers to automatically detect the presence of an RSS feed and alert the visitor that it is available.

6. Alternate Domains

Domain names are relatively inexpensive, so you should register multiple domain versions and extensions in order to protect your brand. The varied domains can be parked on the main website, simply to prevent others from obtaining them. Registering alternate domain versions will help protect your brand.

7. Consistent Navigation

Navigation should remain consistent on a website. As a website visitor moves through the website, the navigation bar should remain in the same place on each page. This will make it easier for visitors to navigate your website, and become more comfortable as they move through your site.

8. Home Goes Home

The main graphic, company logo, or “header” at the top of the site should be included on every page in the site, and should always return the visitor to the home page of the website. This has become a web standard, and most visitors now expect to return to the main page of the site simply by clicking on the main top graphic from any page within the site.

9. Copyright Notice

Include a copyright notice on the bottom of each page contained on the website, and keep it current! It may seem trivial, but an out-of-date copyright notice can send a message to your visitors that the website and its content may be out-of-date as well.

10. Meaningful File Names

Use meaningful file names for any files, graphics, or web pages. Many search engines look at file names as part of their search algorithm, and using keywords in file names may help to improve search engine rankings.

11. Hyphens vs Underscores

When naming files and webpages, use hyphens (i.e. web-page.html) rather than underscores (i.e. web_page.html) for the file names. It is much easier for search engines to separate and index the keywords when hyphens are used.

12. Alt Tags

Use ALT tags to describe what images represent on web pages. ALT tags not only assist visually-impaired visitors in knowing what the images are, but they also help with search engine ranking.

13. Spell Check

Use a spell-check feature on the text of all web pages in a website. A website that contains mistyped or misspelled words just shouts “unprofessional”. Take the extra few minutes necessary to check the spelling of text on each page of your website.

14. Test

After making changes to a website, test it! Many times, a webmaster will upload changes, confident in their abilities, only to later discover that in their attempt to fix one thing, they have “broken” something somewhere else. Make testing a habit after making even the most minor changes!

15. Keep It Simple

Simple is good. Remove unnecessary clutter and distractions from a website and navigation menu.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

Web Design from Blogzeal.com

These sitemaps are not difficult to create. Google, Bing, and Yahoo all use a standard sitemap protocol. The larger search engines accept sitemaps in an xml file, and Google goes a step further by accepting them as .txt files or as an RSS feed (which essentially contains a list of URLs on the website).

Webmasters need not struggle with the creation of a sitemap, as there are a number of freely-available tools that will spider their site and create a sitemap in all the accepted formats. One such product is the free “GSiteCrawler” which can be found at http://gsitecrawler.com/ .

If you would prefer to create the sitemap manually, simply open WordPad or any other text editing program, and create a new document. Then, enter the following at the top:

[?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?]
[urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"]

(in all these examples, replace the square brackets [ ] with greater than and less than signs < >)

After that, for each URL in the website that you want the search engines to spider, create a set of [url] [/url] tags, and between them enter a single, full URL inside a set of [loc] [/loc] tags. The subsequent 3 fields shown in the example below are all optional: the [lastmod] tag refers to the last time the webpage was modified; the [changefreq] tag refers to the frequency that the page is changed; and the [priority] tag refers to how important the page is. If you are using software to create the sitemap, the software will automatically populate these fields. If you are manually creating the sitemap, you can choose not to populate them…

[url]

[loc]http://www.domainname.com/[/loc]
[lastmod]2009-09-09[/lastmod]
[changefreq]daily[/changefreq]
[priority]0.5[/priority]

[/url]

Repeat the above for each page URL you want included in the sitemap. After all URLs have been added, close the [urlset] tag as follows:

[/urlset]

Save the file as an XML file. An example of a sitemap file for a site with 2 URLs should look similar to this:

[?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?]
[urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"]
[url]

[loc]http://www.domainname.com/[/loc]
[lastmod]2009-09-09[/lastmod]
[changefreq]daily[/changefreq]
[priority]0.5[/priority]

[/url]

[loc]http://www.domainname.com/[/loc]
[lastmod]2009-10-09[/lastmod]
[changefreq]daily[/changefreq]
[priority]0.8[/priority]

[/url]

[/urlset]

(again, remember to replace square brackets [ ] with greater than and less than symbols < > which are standard in the tags of any markup language)

Submitting A Sitemap
There are a couple of different ways to submit your sitemap to the various search engines. If you have an account in Google Webmaster Tools or Bing Webmaster Central, you can submit your sitemap through your accounts there. Additionally, you can ping the sitemap using the following syntax for Bing, Google, MoreOver, and Ask…

Bing: http://www.bing.com/webmaster/ping.aspx?siteMap=http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml
Google: http://www.google.com/webmaster/tools/ping?sitemap=http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml
MoreOver: http://api.moreover.com/ping?u=http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml
Ask: http://submissions.ask.com/ping?sitemap=http://www.domain.com/sitemap.xml

Sitemaps are simply maps for search engines to follow, and will ensure that all the important pages on your website are spidered and included in the various search engines.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

SEO from Blogzeal.com

There is no agreement on exactly what Web 2.0 means. Depending on who you are speaking with, you may receive different explanations. At it’s heart, Web 2.0 is about the maturity of the Web. While many refer to Web 2.0 as companies that employ powerful web technologies, the key components of Web 2.0 are said to include: the Web as a platform, collaboration, and syndication.

Here are the “ABC’s” of Web 2.0…

A – Ajax

Ajax is an abbreviation for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, and is a web development technique for creative interactive web applications. Many Web 2.0 websites use Ajax to interact with website visitors.

B – Blog

Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In many cases, blogs are used simply as daily diaries about people’s personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be.

C – Collaboration

Collaboration is a hallmark of Web 2.0. Building communities and developing content from multiple contributors is part of what is unique about these second-generation websites.

D – Dynamic

Content Dynamic content refers to content which is obtained from another source, and which is automatically updated whenever the source content changes.

E – ECommerce

Ecommerce comes from the phrase “Electronic Commerce”, which basically means selling things over the Internet. Many websites now conduct financial transactions over the Internet. Ecommerce is simply a vehicle for collecting payments online.

F – Folksonomy

Folksonomy is a means of classifying and categorizing data on the web through collaborative efforts from the online community. While not strictly synonymous to the term, this is more commonly known as “tagging”, where keywords are associated with items or links. The keywords are used to classify the items.

G – Global Navigation

Global navigation refers to a somewhat standardized navigational menu structure that encompasses all the main pages on the website. Regardless of the particular web page you are on, you can navigate to any other part of the website using the global navigation system.

H – Hosted Application

Hosted applications are typically interactive programs that reside on the Internet, and are designed to run on the Internet rather than being downloaded and installed on the user’s computer.

I – Information Architecture

Information architecture describes the structure and methodology by which information (such as website content) is organized.

J – JavaScript

JavaScript is a cross-platform, object-based scripting language developed by Netscape for client and server applications. It is commonly used in web pages to add interactivity and to dynamically update content.

K – Knowledgebase

A knowledgebase is a collection of facts, rules, and procedures that are organized into a searchable format. In Web 2.0, website knowledgebases are usually interactive.

L – Long Tail

The phrase “long tail” pertains to search engine results. The “long tail” of search follows the thinking that the combined total results of multiple less-popular terms will exceed the results of a single more-popular term. Many webmasters have given up their hope of ranking well for the extremely popular terms, and instead are focused on ranking well for the less-popular but more abundant terms or phrases.

M – Mashups

Mashups are the result of merging content from a variety of different sources, and thus creating new content based on the merging and filtering of the resulting content.

N – Newsreader

A newsreader is a software tool or web application that is used to read and manage RSS feeds.

O – OPML

OPML stands for Outline Processor Markup Language, and is a standard for people wishing to import or export their RSS feed subscriptions.

P – Podcasting

Podcasting is online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed. Many people equate podcasting to “radio on demand”. However, in reality, podcasting offers far more options in terms of content and programming than radio does. In addition, podcast listeners can determine the time and the place of their listening, meaning that they decide what programming they want to receive and when they want to listen to it. Listeners can retain audio archives to listen to at their leisure. While blogs have turned many bloggers into journalists, podcasting has the potential to turn podcasters into radio personalities.

Q – Query

A query is a phrase or a group of words, possibly combined with other syntax, used to pass instructions to a search engine or a directory in order to locate web pages.

R – RSS

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and is a standard for syndicating content online. RSS feeds are used to provide real-time information to interested parties.

S – Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking and social networks are collaborative efforts that use democracy and voting to influence the importance of items that are bookmarked.

T – Tags

Tags are descriptive keywords that are used to classify and categorize items or URLs on social networks.

U – User-Generated

Content User-generated content refers to website content that is created by the users themselves. It can be in the form of message posts on discussion groups, blogs, comments on blog postings, wiki entries, etc.

V – Vlog

Vlog comes from the phrase “video blog”. This is a blog that mainly publishes video content rather than audio content. Video podcasting is sometimes called vodcasting.

W – Wiki

Wikis are a collaborative environment that is built around input from community users.

X – XML

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language. XML is often used to update dynamic web content.

Y – YouTube

YouTube is a highly popular Web 2.0 video hosting website that allows users to submit, view, and rate videos.

Z – ZeeEnd

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

blogzeal.com

There are few things that you can do that will result in virtually “free” traffic, and therefore SEO deserves both time and attention.

1. Unique Titles

Every page should have a unique title that relates to what is included on that specific webpage. Do not make the mistake of using the same title on every page on a website.

2. Unique Descriptions

Each and every webpage within a website should contain a unique meta tag description. Audit web pages and develop summary descriptions of the page’s contents; including critical keywords and phrases.

3. Robots.txt

Check the webpage’s robots.txt files. An incorrectly formed robots.txt may prevent search engines from properly spidering web pages within a website.

4. Link Building

Participate in link building opportunities. Building links will increase a website’s popularity and search engines use this as a factor when they weigh search rankings.

5. Integrated Keywords

Integrate the appropriate keywords into the websites header tags. There is no point in optimizing a website for keywords that will not convert. Evaluate keywords and phrases that are most effective, and then integrate them into the website.

6. Participate

The online conversation is no longer a quiet hum. Find related forums and blogs and become part of the community. Participate in the discussion and post thoughtful comments that relate to your industry.

7. Log Analysis

Evaluate your logs to determine the habits of website visitors. If there are pages that a high percentage of potential customers leave your website, be sure to make changes. Evaluate the keyword that attract the website traffic and improve on them.

8. Get Social

Social media is a burgeoning market. Develop a comprehensive plant to integrate social media into your 2009 marketing and promotional campaign. Leverage social media websites to increase your websites popularity and exposure.

9. Usability

Add alt tags to images on your website. This will increase the searchability of your website. Additionally, these types of tactics will make your website easier for the visually impaired to navigate.

10. Go Web 2.0

Add tutorials, podcasts, RSS feeds, and videos to your website as a part of your marketing strategy. All of these interactive elements and mediums can attract new traffic to a website. Additionally, many web 2.0 elements can be promoted in alternative channels, increasing your website’s incoming links.

For the coming year be sure to develop a comprehensive strategy to improve your search engine exposure in 2009.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

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