Website Marketing - Ideas and solutions for everybody.

Webmaster Services page updated

2012-01-25T14:18:00.000+01:00

The normal Virtual Webmaster website has a lot of information suitable for Webmasters and skilled Internet users. The problem is the company or business owner who does not have the time or knowledge to do what is necessary to maintain and market a business website.

A small site called Webmaster Services is targeted at this business owner, and hopefully presents ideas and solutions to help grow the company. Let me know what you think.

Regards

Drachsi

More and more people work away from the company base

2012-01-24T11:49:00.000+01:00

There are many times being able to see another persons monitor screen can be useful. I new product/service which is free for the basic set-up is available from www.join.me Worth considering if you need to collaborate.

Let me know if it works for you.

Drachsi

I happy today. Google likes me at last.

2012-01-10T13:07:00.000+01:00

Just did a check on Google UK and both of my websites are in the top 10 for Virtual Webmaster. Now you know who to turn to when you did website support. The images are links.

Drachsi

Managing Groups on LinkedIn

2012-01-06T12:36:00.003+01:00

I have created two Groups on LinkedIn to understand the interaction between a Group owner and members. Both of the following Groups serve an important area.

The first is for members of any Chamber of Commerce member that does not have a Group to join. the url is Chamber of Commerce

As a Squidoo Lensmaster, you can now join a Group dedicated to all types of Squidoo Lenses.

These Groups enable you to make posts and interact with other members. See you there?

This months very special free offer, is now on the home page

2012-01-03T15:25:00.000+01:00

Spreading the word in exchange for a something which has value, has been used many times. Today I am using a very new idea that lets you have the item free of charge, in exchange for using your Twitter or Facebook account. The home page is www.drachsi.com

Drachsi

An easy way to add a poll or survey, and it is free

2011-12-27T12:53:00.000+01:00

The time between Christmas and the New Year are often a time to relax and play around. I found this free service from Google, which is suitable for web pages and Blogs. Expect to see many more used over the coming months.

<p>Loading...</p>

I will be creating more examples and showing on the Drachsi website.

Drachsi

Don't forget to update your copyright year

2011-12-27T09:51:00.000+01:00

Just a quick reminder to update all your copyright years to 2012 on 1st January, are as soon as possible. This is a great time to make other update changes and then create all new website sitemaps for your site.

Happy New Year

Drachsi

Why do SEO companies not practise what they preach?

2011-12-22T07:22:00.000+01:00

Bit of free time today so I thought I would research SEO companies. Most of them state all the things they can do for you, but why don't they do it for their website? A classic is the html and xml site maps. It seems like a forgotten item for most webmasters, but it is very very important. Don't you forget.

More info at Website Sitemaps and examples.

Drachsi

Have you tried Disqus yet?

2011-12-18T07:35:00.000+01:00

I visit a large number of websites every day as part of my research and marketing for companies. You will now often see a link to Disqus. This is a community resource that has significant benefits for marketing. I would suggest you first create your profile, then when you make posts your details are available to all other viewers, which has link direct to your website.

For this and other marketing ideas please see the Business Networking page on my site.

Drachsi

How Google treats your information

2011-12-09T13:05:00.002+01:00

Google Uk has created information about how they use your data and what you should know. The link is Google UK

Drachsi

Drachsi is now a "Featured Website"

2011-12-05T13:48:00.003+01:00

Being featured in an important online newsletter is very satisfying. Naturally there are still many steps to been taken, but it is a vote of confidence that the site meets certain standards.

This is publicity that you cannot purchase.

Drachsi

Additional links

2011-11-17T07:06:00.000+01:00

New exciting additions have been made to the Business Networking page. If you use these resources, why not make a comment.

Drachsi

Drachsi back on-line

2011-11-13T10:15:00.002+01:00

The website has been down due to hosting problems, sorry if you had problems. More information on business consultancy services at www.drachsi.com

Have you heard of WebberID ?

2011-11-02T09:54:00.000+01:00

You may have heard and used LinkedIn for placing details about yourself on the employment market. Now there is an alternative, based in Europe. Check out www.webberid.com to see if it is for you. I recommend it.

Drachsi

Providing a focal point for all suppliers of Small Business Services, B2B

2011-10-27T13:24:00.000+02:00

A group Forum now offers the opportunity for companies that provide services and support as a B2B, to join, is now on-line. The address is Small Business Group

New YouTube video. A working example of what is possible with limited resources

2011-10-20T10:22:00.000+02:00

With the minimum of resources it is possible to produce a short video using a few pictures and text. sound is also possible. This 1.15 minute video provides and addition link from YouTube and can also spread throughout the net as other people link to it and pass comments. A viral marketing idea.

Not for every company, but as links are one of the most important things a webmaster has to do, every day, then this is an easy solution.

New website format now ready

2011-10-10T16:41:00.000+02:00

It has taken some time to convert and modify the layout and style of the Drachsi website. Still work to be done adding the missing pages, and creating a new YouTube business video.

Drachsi

I would like to recommend a useful book

2011-08-15T08:21:00.000+02:00

Sometimes a book comes into your hands that you wondered how you every lived without it. If you own or maintain a website this book is packed with up to date ideas, solutions and is a great reference source. Hope you enjoy.

PayPal and Ebay Address problems

2011-06-30T16:20:00.000+02:00

If you change address and do not update your address records with either PayPal or Ebay, they conduct a credit card to address detail check, and if after 3 attempts, it does not match. Your credit card is blocked for EVER. There is no way to request the card to be re-activated, you just have use another card, or get a replacement.

Make certain your PayPal and Ebay profiles are up to date.

Web Mystery Shopper Blog launched

2011-06-21T08:11:00.000+02:00

A Blog for website mystery shopping has been launched today.

Now you have the opportunity to follow all three blogs.

Drachsi Website Blog
Ideas and Solutions Blog
Mystery Shopper for websites

Drachsi

Consider for a moment, would you buy this product?

2011-06-04T14:16:00.000+02:00

We provide a personal service to business customers requiring maintenance of their company website sitemap. A site map is considered vital for successful indexing. We conducted a small survey and found more than 90% of the sitemap providers did not even use their own product on their website. So why purchase from them?

Press Releases do work

2011-06-02T08:48:00.002+02:00

As part of our plan to encourage more companies to use their website sitemaps more effectively, we have submitted a short press release to PressBox. Here is the release 50% don't have a sitemap This is an excellent method to publicise useful information.

Drachsi

Drachsi is offering to create 12 sitemaps for £45

2011-06-01T08:57:00.000+02:00

You need a sitemap for your website. There are 12 different types, if you don't have the time, you can purchase all 12 on the current date for £45 UK pounds. This is a major reason why the search engines index some websites better than others, they know what is in the site, what it is about and when it was last updated. A good investment and early benefits. A quick sitemap application form is here

Drachsi

Website mystery shopper, reviews and audit

2011-04-23T09:35:00.000+02:00

Now, more than ever, it is important to know how a visitor sees your business website. This is a very neglected part of most company Internet plans. Sometimes this is called a website review or website audit.

In reality what is important, is how a potential customer locates the information they are seeking, and proceeds to the point of sale if applicable.

Mystery Shopping of departmental stores, restaurants, hotels, etc. is common, but most company websites nearly always gets forgotten. There is more than just reporting broken links, it is the whole customer experience, and then there are practical ideas, solutions, not forgeting the very important sitemaps.

If you need a resource to review your website, here is the link to addition information on Website Mystery Shopping.

Management need to talk to the Webmaster or design company urgently

2011-04-15T11:30:00.000+02:00

Senior management including Sales and Marketing, depend on the full operation of the company website, but there is a problem.

Maybe Management is not interested in the Internet, and leaves it to the web design department or outsourced to a web design company. The design company is too busy to check if there are visitor problems, anyway they don't get paid for it. A small survey of 60 websites I visited, every one from small to global had a problem. Problems mean potentially lost business.

You may have seen the earlier posts about Mystery Shoppers. If the same care was taken by companies of their website, both the company and customer would benefit. Need an independent reviewer of your website, often takes about an hour, and you as get suggestions and recommendations included. The contact form is here.

Drachsi

Mystery Shopper information updated

2011-04-10T10:09:00.000+02:00

Additional information has been added to the Mystery Shopper page. See the ethics guide and the general guide for all Mystery Shoppers.
Drachsi

Mystery Shopper

2011-03-28T09:00:00.000+02:00

There are many great websites which work perfectly, but some fail the mystery shopper test. What is a mystery shopper? In the normal sense, it means a person checks out a store or shop, and reports back to the shop how the customer services works, sales staff actions etc. The shopper is not visually known to the store.

The same thing happens to websites. See Mystery Shopper. I visited a very well known company website which is for channel crossings between France and the UK. The menu only allows you to book from the UK, not from Europe. So I guess customers go to another website. Could be 30-50% lost sales.

Maybe you have designed your website and are really pleased with the results, but what are the experiences of your visitors?

Increasing the chances of your pages being list higher in search results

2011-03-22T09:14:00.000+01:00

You can increase the chances of your pages being listed higher in search results by moving your optimised pages into the main root directory of your website. Both Google and Bing favour these pages more than pages deeper down in your website. Between 40%-50% of results are pages listed in the root directory, down to 6% for pages 3 levels deep.

Drachsi

The UK is planning changes to "Summer Time"

2011-03-02T08:23:00.000+01:00

The UK Government is planning to add one hour to the traditional "Summer Time" as reported in the Guardian newspaper. I am a member of a business Forum and have set up a poll, if you have time, worth visiting.

http://forums.internetbusiness.co.uk/18714-summer-time-changes-planned.html

Drachsi

Now you can use a lot more Fonts on your Blogs and web pages

2011-02-19T11:01:00.000+01:00

Here is an example of a Google font that is available direct from the Google Font Directory, and embedded into a Blog post. You can do the same with your webpages. To see what is available, here is the Google Font Directory.

Enjoy

Drachsi

Open a shopping cart on your Facebook page and sell

2011-02-16T07:42:00.001+01:00

With 500 plus million users, there has to be the opportunity to sell. Now you can have a shopping cart built into your Facebook page. For small businessess and large companies, the extra opportunity to push your products and services should not be missed. www.drachsi.com can help, or you can do it yourself by visiting the Facebook shopping services provider at http://www.payvment.com/facebook/ There are examples of companies using the cart in multiple currencies.

Enjoy
Drachsi

Free website from Microsoft now live

2011-02-05T14:14:00.000+01:00

Spent an interest few days creating a free website from a range of Microsoft modules. The site is now live, and I look forward to monitoring the website reports which are part of the package. If need a free advert website see my example here. Business Services.

Drachsi

The Microsoft Office Live Small Business is a must have tool

2011-01-25T15:56:00.002+01:00

Have you heard of the free Microsoft Office Live small business website creation tool? Worth all the effort to get an excellent web design tool for the smaller company. The site I have just registered is at http://business.services.officelive.com Still early days, but I am very impressed with the standard of modules and the flexibility offered. More later.

Drachsi

Free business website if you are based in the UK

2011-01-24T16:37:00.000+01:00

You might be interested in setting a free UK business website. The information for webmaster and web promotion companies is at Free Business Website. Enjoy
Drachsi

Flash embed code for Firefox and Explorer

2011-01-17T15:08:00.009+01:00

I've just created a 60 second video and saved as a Flash file. The normal embed code did not work, so I found this one on the Internet. You need to change the file name, and Directory to suit your file. Having a Flash file is great for a business video, if you need to have a link. I have embedded the file in this blog. You can see how this loads in a normal website at www.drachsi.com/business-video.htm

The code is here Enjoy

Drachsi

Boost your search engine results

2011-01-14T07:39:00.001+01:00

Most web designers know that adding an "alt" tag to images on web pages is very important, did you know you can increase your page ranking by add a "title" tag as well?
I use Microsoft Expression for page designing, and it does not have this opportunity to add, so it is a hard code job. Here is the code you need
title="Title text will show up when mouse is over the image" Add this after the "alt" code. This provides more information about your page, and information for the visitor to your website.

Here is a working example.

Hope it helps.

Regards
Drachsi

New Website Directory launched

2010-12-25T13:14:00.001+01:00

For many companies it takes a lot of time building links with suitable companies, that really make a difference. www.drachsi.com/website-directory.htm has just launched a Directory which is suitable for companies specialising in Website Design, Graphic design, SEO, Internet marketing and website promotion.

It is recommended to apply as soon as possible as the effort can make a difference.

Important you claim your Google Places page now

2010-11-03T08:36:00.000+01:00

Many companies still have not opened a Google Places account. This is considered a vital step in promoting your business on-line. Most people purchase from a local supplier if possible, so you need to be listed to maximise any vistors searching locally for your product or services.

We have help some companies do that and they have seen benificial results ina short time.

Drachsi

PS if you want to do it yourself here is the link to get you started. Google Places Guide

Free website review results available

2010-11-01T08:46:00.000+01:00

As part of our upgrade to our UK website promotion site, we offered a free website review of other people's websites. The results are now available at http://www.drachsi.com/ We plan to offer something else free from the Drachsi website when time permits.

Drachsi

Results from the free October website survey will be ready shortly

2010-10-31T09:46:00.000+01:00

We have been running an offer, limited to UK companies of a free website review, during October. The results will be on-line first week of November, and show a range of results found. We were not surprised, but you might be.

Our next free offer will be listed on the main page of our website shortly. Stay tuned for details.

Drachsi

When culture and knowledge matter for website development

2010-10-16T11:16:00.000+02:00

I have been receiving many emails which originate in India, offering website promotion services, and website development. Whilst these companies often have enough staff and resources, they don't have the local culture and knowledge that is so important for successful website development.

If you need to hire a company to work for you, it is better if they are based in your country, and can show they talk the same language.

Drachsi

Super article explaining what SEO is and how it works.

2010-10-06T12:50:00.003+02:00

You might like to read this excellent article on SEO in the Small Business online community If you need assistance with any form of SEO or Internet Marketing Support, just follow the contact link in the menu bar.

Drachsi

Have you heard of the Amazon Customer Communities?

2010-10-04T09:03:00.000+02:00

There would seem to be an excellent opportunity to build customer relationships, spread details of your brand, support customers and make recommendations using the Amazon Customer Communities. Check it out worth the time and effort. Come back and make a comment if you have any problems.

Drachsi

New Brand image

2010-10-03T10:25:00.000+02:00

We have finally completed much of the new website designh and have launched our new brand image. You should now see this on Squidoo, Blogs, Forums.

You will then know that we have made the posting or comment.

Drachsi

Customer Newsletter Service now on-line

2010-09-03T09:29:00.001+02:00

As one of our range of customer services, we have added a customised newsletter facility. If you already have an existing Newsletter template, we can use that, and integrate into the process. Fees are very reasonable from $0.014 cents, €0.012 cents or £0.01 penny per email address, plus small campaign fee.

Full reporting on the effectiveness of your Newsletter are available. You can also register with us and do everything yourself. Don't let that collection of customer emails go to waste. To view more information please visit Newsletter Login

Drachsi

Working Examples now live

2010-09-01T17:20:00.000+02:00

The updated http://www.drachsi.com/ website now has working examples of a ticketing system, a Blog feeding a webpage, and how to load a YouTube video into a webpage.

Many small companies do not fully understand the possiblities for sales and growth when using a wide range of Internet technology. Hopefully the examples will give you some ideas. Drachsi is available for companies needing a virtaul Webmaster, without most of the costs.

New Drachsi website now open

2010-08-22T08:38:00.000+02:00

The re-designed website for Drachsi is now open. This will be updated over the next few weeks, stay tuned for more.

New Website to be launched end of August

2010-08-17T09:57:00.000+02:00

Long overdue

I have been extensively involved with a companies existing website and on-line services. This has delayed the update. There are still resources to add, but as it is designed to explain the type of customer support services I provide, the basic structure should work ok. Any comments?, please use the contact form. The full address will been announced on launch day.

Drachsi

Using Google Analytics to track pdf files

2010-07-19T13:35:00.001+02:00

Many webmasters use Google Analytics, but if you are like me, you would like to know how many people download certain pdf files. This answer is applicable to the latest version of Analytics.

Your normal code will look like this,

< script type="text/javascript" > (spaces added)
var _gaq = _gaq []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXXXX-X']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); < /script >

This should always be but just above the < /head > (spaces added)

On the page with the link to the pdf put this in the main body text,

< a href="yourlink/20-297.pdf" onclick="javascript: _gaq.push(['_trackPageview','yourlink/20-297.pdf'])"target="_blank">Download as a pdf file< /a > (spaces added)

When you access your Google account you will start to see the page info after 24 hours.

Drachsi

Using visualisations to buiild an infographic

2010-06-26T07:30:00.000+02:00

Visitors and customers expect more from a modern website. You may have a wide range of data or text which can be turned into an infographic using a free tool hosted by IBM. The link to get you started is at Infographics, have fun, let me know if you use this solution on your website.

Drachsi

With Google Caffeine, you need to update more often

2010-06-09T13:00:00.000+02:00

Today, Google announced the launch of Caffeine, a new web indexing system. To quote from the information received,

"With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before — no matter when or where it was published."

To see how Caffeine looks, here is the Google diagram.

To maximise your Page Ranking and to ensure your Website, Blog, Forum posts are found, you must update often. For more information please visit the Google Blog at http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/

Drachsi

How to find out if you are being talked about

2010-06-02T07:57:00.003+02:00

I use the pseudonym Drachsi, the reasons are listed at Drachsi. One of the problems is how to locate sites that find your comments and views interesting. There is a way which I found very useful. It's free, simple to use and very effective. SocialMention The other well known alert service is provided by Google Alerts.

Hope it helps

Drachsi

Using a Feedback Widget to help your visitors

2010-05-13T07:10:00.003+02:00

A simple method to help customers and visitors ask questions, make comments or send a private email is to use a Feedback Widget. You can see the version I have integrated into this Blog, this can also be used on normal websites.

This creates a better visitor experience and shows you are interested in them. Here is how the ideas and comments looked when posted by the feedback widget. Community-powered support for Europe This is using the free BTTradespace service.

A resource for all Blog owners

2010-05-08T07:45:00.001+02:00

Building a Global Internet Brand is mainly for large companies, but that should not stop you from building your very own infrastructure. If you own one or more Blogs, a great resource for adding your Blog information can be located at http://www.postrank.com/ First step is to add your Blog url, when this has been indexed, you can then claim it as your Blog, and add the Meta code supplied. Just another small step to building your internet brand. Here is another great resource Link exchanges Linkorado is a link exchange directory where you can find websites related to your site and request link exchanges

Regards

Drachsi

Using PDF files, can increase Page Ranking

2010-04-04T08:12:00.002+02:00

Most people are familiar with pdf files, and many programs are capable of turning an existing document into a .pdf version. A number of different readers, like the ubiquitous Adobe Reader and Foxit Reader are available. There is a current security issue with pdf files that could run executable code. So always be careful which file you read. A fix maybe available soon, so always get the latest versions. What I like about a pdf file is that it is cross platform and widely accepted as the standard for Internet documents. Whilst .pdf is open source, the very basic root coding is still managed by Adobe. For more information on the security issue check out The Register

For my customers, I like to convert any existing document, and turn it into a useful pdf document, that is easily index by Search Engines. This is just another part of SEO work. Setting the correct Metadata in a pdf ensures it is indexed correctly, and increases your overall Page Ranking. Sound, video, interactive forms can be included

YouTube can be your best marketing decision this year.

2010-03-15T07:11:00.003+01:00

One of the problems of creating a professional video for YouTube is the cost. But many companies already have images, photographs and existing copy. Now there is a professional way to turn this into a YouTube video and show a link back to your existing website. You can also create a Flash file which allows for interactive buttons and much more. Worth considering if you are a tight budget.

Here is a link to a Squidoo page called Your YouTube or get yourself this software Software Download (Opens in a new window). Trusted and safe software from a major software company. A YouTube video contains, a Title, Description and Keywords, so make certain these are set, so that search engines can easily index the information. Great for your Page Ranking. No video? use text and images, here is a simple YouTube environmental message.

Cloud Computing for SEO work

2010-03-10T07:56:00.000+01:00

Cloud computing basically refers to the technology of using resources hosted by service providers. But Cloud computing can also refer to the use of multi resources for Search Engine Optimisation. Nowday's it is not enough to format the web page correctly for Bing, Google etc, to get a higher page ranking. I have assembled some information how to use Cloud Computing in your company.

Have you visited the Bank of Industry yet?

2010-03-03T12:04:00.003+01:00

Many companies large and small, are suffering at this time from lack of credit. With central bank lending rates low, national and international banks can borrow at low cost, but then they either do not lend at all, or lend at 15% or more. Now every government should think how it can supply the funds needed by the companies which employ people, reduce unemployment and get exports growing again. Existing banks need a competitor. The answer is the Bank of Industry

How good is your companies "Shop Window"

2010-01-13T16:54:00.000+01:00

I have been looking at a large number of international websites lately, and have noticed many of the pages are years out of date, copyright dates from as far back as 2002, menus that don't work, images which do not exist and email addresses which do not work. Then firms and organisations wonder why there is no business.

On a recent trip I visited a small company and was impressed with their product. On arriving back home I went to the website and sent an email, and nobody has bothered to reply. Do the management know this is happening? or do they just don't care.

My advice is to get an independent person, with web experience, to go through the site and make a report, so that things can be updated. If you own a shop, would you leave it full of rubbish and no lights on?, well you should take care of your website, which is your shop window to the world.

BT Tradespace. My advice, Wait

2010-01-04T13:56:00.001+01:00

A good example. Tradespace is international, and there are many users from all over the world. But now, if you are located, i.e. Miami, Paris, Berlin, all are listed as in the UK, because that is the only choice available. So at the moment I would not recommend anybody from joining.

Why have the company considered pilot testing with a small number of users? This definitely hurts the companies reputation.

Drachsi

Time to update your Copyright date

2009-12-29T16:37:00.000+01:00

Now is the time to plan changing all your copyright dates from 2009 to 2010. Create the 7 types of sitemaps, and upload. This is very important, as the search engines use this information to verify page changes. You should update sitemaps at least once a week.

If you need help, please make contact.
Drachsi

BT Tradespace has problems on migration

2009-12-07T09:52:00.000+01:00

I have a number of sites on BT Tradespace and on 20th November, BT started migrating over to their new system. As of today all of my information, images are "Lost" I have reported the problem and will update with information when a reply is received.

I would suggest not starting a website until the problems have been resolved.

BT Tradespace. Not certain how long it will take

2009-11-08T13:59:00.000+01:00

November 8th. With more than 200,000 websites to migrate to the new version, this will take time. Naturally like anything new, there will be small problems, but it would seem the new version has incorporated most of the wishes of the existing customers. I will post an up-date when possible.

Drachsi

Looks like BT Tradespace is up grading this week-end to the new version

2009-11-07T09:50:00.001+01:00

Finally the upgrade seems to be happening. At the moment you cannot access your Tradespace area, but soon, maybe on Monday the new version will be ready. It seems there are many exciting new facilities and additions. I will try to update my Tradespace Lens on Squidoo as soon as possible.

Drachsi

Have you every wondered about email addresses?

2009-11-01T06:46:00.001+01:00

I checked my email address book recently and found that the majority of companies used the style info@somecompanyname.com For spammers it is easy. Take any company address, add the info@ and it is almost certain to be delivered, support@ is almost as bad.

Selecting a more appropriate name will reduce the unwanted emails, and ensure you have time to answer real customers.

Drachsi

A resource for individuals and companies

2009-10-24T08:13:00.001+02:00

It is important to have as many opportunities as possible to promote yourself and your company. Here is a great resource which is indexed by the major search engines and is complimentary to your other on-line links. You may have heard of Linkedin but this is the link. Great for publishing your skills and helps in finding employment. You can link to your website and Blog. Recommended.

Have you heard about Brownbook?

2009-10-21T07:10:00.000+02:00

I read an item on Tradespace about a free directory that "Anyone can edit" The address is Brownbook There are already more than 27 million members. This looks like a great idea for spreading your message and building quality links.

I report back as things progress.

Drachsi

Communities, the new way to provide customer support

2009-10-17T13:15:00.000+02:00

Just a quick update to inform you that the Community Lens on Squidoo has been published. Owning your own Community, which provides help, support for visitors and customers is a great way to provide customer service. Need help?, please send an email with details. The link is Communities

When did you last check your website?

2009-10-09T13:07:00.001+02:00

Today, I wanted to post to DIGG, but they use an image to verify I am human, but the image would not load. Their "report a bug" also has an image that would not load. So I could not post a great link or report a problem.

Do you have somebody checking out your links and website as a typical user? Visitors and customers only give you 20 seconds to interest them or they leave. All that effort, it only takes one small error to lose your visitors and customers.

Some great websites but why don't they use a favicon?

2009-10-05T08:19:00.000+02:00

I save many great sites to favorites, and to the desk top, but many websites don't use a favicon, so every thing has the same image. Create and use a favicon and make your website stand out from the crowd.

Drachsi

Just added a great, free SEO tool to the list

2009-10-05T07:50:00.001+02:00

There are many free and paid for tools to find out how your website is seen by search engines and how you are rated in the indexes. I have added new resource to the "Internet Support List" in the menu bar, where you will find a growing selection of top quality links, tools and solutions.

Rated one of the best tools you can use in realtime.

Drachsi

Tradespace on Squidoo updated

2009-09-17T12:38:00.000+02:00

I have updated my Tradespace Lens on Squidoo. When you have created your own Tradespace site, you can add a free link to your url. The address is Tradespace There is information and ideas for newbies.

Drachsi

Sending and Receiving Emails

2009-09-15T08:55:00.004+02:00

If you need to send or receive emails from anywhere in the world, on any computer, there is a solution. All you need is your email address and password. Remember to delete the history file in the Browser if you are using a public computer. The link is Mail2Web.

Create a free community for your company website

2009-09-09T08:06:00.003+02:00

I have just started a free online community, which provides a great method of proving customer support at low cost. If Microsoft and British Telecom used it, it could be good for you as well. My community is here.

Adding a Bookmark button is a good idea

2009-08-31T13:02:00.002+02:00

It is a good idea to add a Bookmark button to you Blogs and Web pages. Here is my version which is free.

Get you own free version

Drachsi

New Squidoo Lens about BT Tradespace

2009-08-30T11:16:00.003+02:00

I have created a new Lens about the business portal BT Tradespace If you want to create your very own business profile, this is the place to do it, and it's free.

I joined Tradespace, but it is early days yet

2009-08-28T15:55:00.003+02:00

A free site to promote your company or business is at Tradespace, part of BT, a British Teleco. Anybody can join for free, you can see my listing Tradespace here. Get in with your name now, before the best names are gone, there are already more than 200,000 listed, worldwide.

Drachsi

Having a "favicon" is important

2009-08-26T07:40:00.001+02:00

Many companies have still not understood that having a "favicon" associated with their web url is important. You know, if you save a link, how easy it is to find, if it has it's own icon. 5 minutes of work is all it takes, but great for the user.

Here is the definition from Wikipedia and here is a quick method how to make them FavIcon

Drachsi

Another super resource to tell you about

2009-08-25T08:26:00.004+02:00

Normally, when you find a great resource, you keep the information to yourself, as it gives you a strategic advantage. Not my way. Here is a great company that provides Hosting Services, Domain Registration and a great deal more. I use them for private websites, and for my customers. Great customer support, and if you are on a minimum budget, you can use a holding page. Here is my example. Drachsi

Creating and using a unique name can be harmful

2009-08-22T09:44:00.003+02:00

Posting on Blogs and in Forums is very common, you can use this if you are company to promote product and services. If you are an individual, you should be aware that your name and it's postings are index by the major search engines, and can still be available years later.

Employment companies now do searches of user names to find more about you, interests, hobbies, politics. It has a good and a bad side.

Joining Forums, and the name you should use.

2009-08-11T09:35:00.003+02:00

Joining Forums related to your business or interests is a good idea, but plan ahead when selecting your Forum name.

Try to use your business name or a keyword. If you type the name into Google, it will list all postings and links where you have used this name, a great link building solution.

Maybe a better way to search?

2009-08-08T07:40:00.005+02:00

There are so many solutions to searching for information, most people stay with their favourite. Sometimes there is an idea which is worth considering. This solution takes normal searching to a new level as it combines voting by the people, for the people. Check it out here. Worth looking into, it is free.

New Virtual Office resource added

2009-08-02T10:19:00.005+02:00

You can find a link in the menu bar (Internet Support List) to a great, free online resource using "Cloud Computing" This is a virtual office which you manage and can be accessed from any browser in the world. (Naturally with Login and password control). Great if you are travelling, storing info., etc. You get 15Gb for free, worth joining, My selected resource of 2009.

A description of a "Virtual Flyer"

2009-07-27T16:27:00.006+02:00

Wikipedia has an excellent description of the word Flyer, and most people know what it means. So the virtual Flyer has all the same benefits plus some extra ones. An online Flyer is cheaper to produce, can be distributed worldwide for zero cost and contains important links to additional information.

To help you get the most from your next Flyer, I have created a help Flyer at Virtual Flyers

New Forums added

2009-07-25T09:58:00.002+02:00

I am now a member of a number of UK Forums. Some are easier to use than others. All offer the chance to post messagees, but promotion work varies. What is normal on all Forums, is that you have to post a number of times before you can add a link to other information. (This is a good method as Google is able to follow such links).

The idea is to prevent the serious spammer. We all want to get our message out and have to find a way of working within the rules. To see the latest information added to the free resources Blog, see the Internet Support List in the Menu.

Using Forums to learn and promote

2009-07-17T07:19:00.006+02:00

One of the great ways to "Talk up" your business is to join suitable Forums in your specific area of interest. Not a lot of benefits in joining a Forum which is US focused if you are based in Scotland.

Searching for Forums on Google is easy, typing in "uk business forum" finds 98 million, but the first few pages have enough. Most Forums have restrictions on your early posts and often you have to make 10 to 15 posts, which are sensible before you can post a url link. This is to prevent spammers flooding the Forum with links.

I have joined a number of UK Forums and will report on progress. The best Forums will be listed in the *Internet Support List" in the menu bar. This is a second Blog I maintain, which has information and links to useful information. The links are provided free of cost.

Regards

Pete

.eu Special Offer web address

2009-07-02T07:18:00.003+02:00

For many companies, another website means more expense and time, maybe I can help. Only a registered address in Europe is allowed to register an .eu web address, so you need somebody in Europe to do it for you, if you are outside of this area.

A European website is great for feeding back into your existing website and or shows that you are really international. Please use the Contact form to send details.

Adding icons in front of a link

2009-06-29T08:37:00.003+02:00

When creating lists, I always think it is nice to show a descriptive icon before the link. I know you can do this using images, but this technique uses css. See how it looks from the "Internet Markerting List" in the menu bar.

My Lens is number 1 in Page Rankings

2009-06-26T08:15:00.005+02:00

A search on Google for "creating lenses" which is one of my many Lenses on Squidoo produced the result number 1 from over 4 million. This is the goal of all websites, Bloggers and Squidoo'ers for their creations. Creating Squidoo Lenses make a lot of sense, and should be part of your on-line efforts.

Just imagine if I did this for you. All the knowledge, know-how, commitment and time I have, to make your Internet resources work for you.

40 years of marketing, with 12 years in the Internet sector is available.

Use the contact form to send details of your requirements

Squidoo Lens updated

2009-06-24T09:41:00.006+02:00

The Squidoo Lens I created about the "Bank of Industry" has just been
updated. No selling just an opportunity to promote a banking idea and let you
discuss the issues. A Blog is a great method to update all links simultaneously.
The address is Bank of Industry Please visit and see what is possible with Squidoo.

Time, have you noticed, nobody has time anymore

2009-06-21T09:32:00.006+02:00

Remember when you were young? the long days, waiting for something to happen took ages. Now as we are older, there is not enough time in the day. If you manage a company, there is even less time available, as staff cut-backs mean there are even more things to do.

If you need some help, it's time to contact me. Maintaining your webpages, updating sitemaps and running a Blog are all things that should be done every week, and then there is creating new stuff. Why not see if my broad international marketing and Internet skills can help you.

New Squidoo Lenses created

2009-06-19T14:21:00.002+02:00

I have just published a new Squidoo Lenses about One to One Marketing. The
address is One2One

If you have never heard of Squidoo, there is information available and a simple
step by step guide to get you going. If you need help, please use the contact
form.

Regards

Pete

The benefit of an outsider checking your website.

2009-06-16T18:20:00.000+02:00

This is a true story and ongoing at the moment.

There is a very well known airline with an extensive range of customer features, but still it has a major customer problem.

A service was requested, which required payment by credit card. The airline uses an outside company to process the payment, but when the form is completed, a message is displayed "card not accepted". A couple of long phone calls produced the response, it's not the Airline, but the Card Processor. Contacting the Card Processor produced the reply, "Not us" it's the Airline.

I tried 3 times and on checking with my card company, they have 3 payments outstanding, and provided the authorization code. Back to the Airline, not us it's the card company. This is still on-going.

If there is a customer problem, everybody passes it on to somebody else. There is no-way anybody accepts the problem is theirs.

The website should have been evaluated by an outsider, as a potential customer, and there should be a process internally, that flags any technical problem a customer has.

The customer should never, never, have to try solve a problem with the website.

Have you had your website checked from the outside? if not maybe you should contact me.

Pete

Have you heard about Bing? (Not Crosby)

2009-06-10T11:53:00.004+02:00

Bing is the new search engine from Microsoft. For Web masters it is important that you register and add the Meta code to your website. This makes it more certain that your site will be index. Need help looking after all the things you have to do and have no time?, contact me, I can help.

Pete

Google Page Ranking video

2009-06-09T10:29:00.003+02:00

Everybody is trying to get the best Page Ranking, here is a short Google video that explains the benefit of server location.

Some much information, which one to pick

2009-05-29T15:50:00.002+02:00

I did a search for "online marketing help" and could not find this Blog, why?, there are more than 181 million pages with this registered at Google.

But where do you find a One to One online help. Searching for "UK one to one online marketing help" still finds over 13 million. So if you found this Blog, we are both happy.

See my other posts and see if you think I can help.

Regards

Pete

Web resource added to the support Blog

2009-05-29T10:47:00.001+02:00

New resource added for Web page ranking optimisation in the support Blog

You can do a lot with YouTube

2009-05-23T13:09:00.014+02:00

Using YouTube to your advantage

YouTube is a great method to launch new products, visual backup to operating instructions, run a marketing campagne, the list is extensive.

Below are 3 examples of YouTube.

Princes Charles Rainforest video. A powerful message seen and viewed around the world.

http://www.youtube.com/v/CUQ1K284Ip4

Here is an example of a German company showing step by step instructions how to assemble a DIY fly screen.

http://www.youtube.com/v/zFylAxQHL-A

An example of using multiple YouTube videos in on frame.

Drachselsried YouTube videos from the Bayerischer
Wald

Drachselsried

Benefits of using YouTube for your company.

It is free and available worldwide.

The YouTube link url provided can be used in all types of marketing from Blogs, Websites and printed material.

The original video can be created using everyday video editing software, Flash can be used as well. 5 to 6 minutes is recommended as the maximum time.

Easy for anybody to view or add to their Blogs or websites.

This is work that I do, need help? please use the contact form

Have you updated your website or Blog this week?

2009-05-21T07:25:00.005+02:00

Your website or Blog already has a "Page Ranking", it is important to keep it or even improve the level, because you need sales now and in the future. The problem is always, "I don't have the time", or "I'm not interested, as I have to do more important things". You need help with marketing your company or services.

These small insignificant actions are necessary and I enjoy doing them, it's my hobby. Use the contact form and lets see if we could work together. See the marketing tips in the menu bar.

Pete

Internet Marketing Support list now operating

2009-05-18T10:46:00.004+02:00

We have now created an expanding resource of marketing support help files. If you need information, this a good source, if you have marketing information, this can be added free of charge. See the link Internet Marketing list in the Menu.

Pete