Is Your Website Really Working For You?

Is Your Website Really Working For You?

 by: Ajay Dhunna

The telephone does not begin ringing as soon as a website is operational. It is quite simple to identify how many enquiries flow from a website; however, it’s impossible to calculate how many visitors have not even reached your website, because it has not been marketed effectively. 3 basic steps you must take to make your website work for you are:

Step 1

Look critically at how easily and quickly visitors on your website can find what they are looking for. Web users are notoriously impatient and move to an alternative site at the least excuse. Some of the most important things you should ensure about your website are: Your website should be easy to use, and information should be easy to locate. Try to reduce the amount of effort people have to make before they find the information they are looking for, i.e. minimise click-through’s. Condense textual content to fit the time and attention constraints of today's busy Web users. Your web site should be quick to download. Studies have indicated that visitors will quickly lose interest in your web site if the majority of a page does not download within 15 seconds.

Step 2

Plan a marketing campaign to draw the right kind of visitors into your site – and implement it. Your marketing plan must address the following points: Who will your audience be? How will you use this information to make it the focus of your website? Where do you want to be? Define your goals. Up-to-date content. How will you keep your website content up-to date? What online marketing methods will you use? Many are available such as Search Engine Marketing, News groups, Affiliate Marketing and Sponsored Listings.

Step 3

Monitor the results of your campaign, recognising failures and reinforcing successes. If you’re worried that half your marketing budget is being wasted on ineffective campaigns, do you really know which half? If you're nodding in sympathy, then you're probably not measuring and maximizing the return on your marketing investment. It is critical to understand whether or not you should keep, quit or change your marketing campaigns. Run your campaigns in a way that they can be measured. By continually monitoring your campaigns you can decide which ones are providing you with maximum returns on investment (ROI), and which ones are not. Example's of monitoring your campaigns are: Email campaign: You can measure how many people visited your website immediately after the campaign, or how many people made an enquiry/bought items from the website.

Search Engine campaign: Record the average number of unique visitors to your website as well as information such as where they came from (Easily done using tools such as www.VisitorLogs.com which we will discuss next month).

Tradeshow brand awareness: Difficult to measure but you can measure the number of people exposed to your message and compare the cost of the tradeshow to a newsletter campaign which you may have previously carried out. What next?

Why not apply for a free website health check by visiting www.KeywordMarketing.com where we will create a FREE report detailing what changes, if any, need to be made to your website. We can also provide you with a competitor analysis and ranking report, as well as specific information on how we can help you. Alternatively, you may want to download our FREE Website Traffic Guide - a popular guide on how to make your website work!

About The Author Ajay Dhunna is a Director at www.keywordmarketing.com Copyright 2005 Ajay@aimprouk.com

Microsoft Great Plains 8.0 Brazilian version – overview for international consultant

Microsoft Great Plains 8.0 Brazilian version – overview for international consultant

 by: Arthur Ferretti

Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA plus due to the marketing efforts of former Great Plains Software (now part of Microsoft Business Solutions) in Spanish Speaking South America, South Africa, United Kingdom, Middle East, Poland – we see strong position of Microsoft Great Plains in these regions (on these markets MBS promotes two mid-market ERP: Great Plains and Navision). In Brazil situation is the following. Brazilian market has long story of local mid-size accounting/ERP systems – Microsiga is one of the major – it was developed in Brazil for Brazilian market. Great Plains Software marketing campaign was getting very strong resistance from local market commitment to Microsiga and other local ERP application. Currently MBS officially promotes Navision on the Brazilian market, however localized version of Microsoft Great Plains is available as well.

We’ll describe you in this small article the technical side of the localized Brazilian Portuguese version:

• Translated Interface and Reports. Great Plains is written on Great Plains Dexterity programming shell with several types of resources, one of the types is Strings – localization requires you to translate String resources to have windows and ReportWriter reports show Portuguese text.

• Tax Engine. This is more difficult. If you look at the tax code of the country of the size of Brazil: such as Russia, France, China, India – you will find that it has nuances, making such a tax code very unique and this is probably why in the above countries we find local accounting applications being very successful – these applications were developed mainly for the specific large country tax code, government tax reporting and other regulations. In Brazil this is Microsiga. Great Plains Dynamics was designed for US tax code with US Social security, later on it was adjusted to comply VAT (Value Added Tax) rules to promote it in UK and other countries. Microsoft Great Plains version 8.0 Brazilian Portuguese version was adjusted to comply Brazilian tax and government regulations

• Payroll-related filings. These are W-2 or like in US. Brazil has its own rules and accounting application should pass certain government certifications in the country of this size

Of course, midsize accounting application requires local support, when it has adapted local version. You can imagine all the issues, related to upgrades, data conversions, customizations, integrations. Somebody should stay behind and serve local clients. Don’t worry, MBS does support it in Brazil via local partner.

Happy implementing and we are always available to help you in Brazil. Call us in São Paulo: 55-11-3826-3449, 55-113825-2586! help@albaspectrum.com

About The Author Arthur Ferretti is Great Plains specialist in Alba Spectrum Technologies ( http://www.albaspectrum.com ) – Microsoft Great Plains, Navision, Microsoft CRM Partner, serving clients in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Recife, Manaus, Lisboa, Coimbra, Porto, Cascais and having locations in multiple states and internationally help@albaspectrum.com

Motorcycle Parts Touch Time

Motorcycle Parts Touch Time

 by: Maricon Williams

TOUCH TIME! Yeah! Its touch time once again. It’s the time to polish maintain and accessorize our bikes. This is the moment when we can have quality maintenance and repair time with our bikes. We’ve got to feel the mean and affable machine up close..

To lay our very hands to our loyal companion make us certain that the motorcycle parts are great and in good shape. It makes us secure and confident of our every ride.

Motorcycle parts play a critical role in the motorcycle’s performance and safety. It does not make sense if you try to save a few bucks on cheap motorcycle parts in lieu of an accident. The savings is not that valuable compared to your life. Thus, you must purchase the best quality motorcycle parts at your most trusted motorcycle parts store.

There are several reasons why you have to select the best quality motorcycle parts. So do not be tightfisted in buying motorcycle parts. They can save you from an otherwise complicated and terrible ride.

The best choice of motorcycle parts are those of OEM parts. They are same as those originally attached to your bike. However, if you want to deviate from the ordinary, aftermarket motorcycle parts can be resorted to. Aftermarket parts are those that you can utilize when you customize your bike to achieve a more stylish and unique look. Some of these parts have same quality as OEM parts. However, there are also some that are of lesser quality. Be careful with your choices. They can harm you and your bike if you mishandled them.

OEM motorcycle parts feel and look different than aftermarket parts. Taken in that perspective we can form query like - do they perform differently? Well, the answer goes back to their level of quality. Quality motorcycle parts perform excellently. On the other hand, in so-so parts expect a lesser quality performance. Thus, if you want to have a unique and stylish motorcycle look, be meticulous about the quality. Next to quality, you can now consider the price.

In ordering motorcycle parts and accessories, make sure that you order the right ones. Better yet, just visit your motorcycle parts store to personally throw queries and examine the parts. That way you can be sure of its quality plus the chance of being enlightened.

As a passionate rider, you must spend necessary touch time to make sure everything is exactly what it is expected to be! Then you can expect a fine performance.

Get your hands to work...

About The Author Maricon Williams Please visit Motorcycle Parts and Accessories site at http://www.motorcyclepartsbin.com/list/OEM-Motorcycle-Parts.html for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

Catching Spyware to Avoid Identity Theft

Catching Spyware to Avoid Identity Theft

 by: Mitch Johnson

Arming your computer against spyware is an important move to make to protect your personal security and private information. Statistics on the number of identity theft victims continue to rise as do the number of computers being infected with spyware. Some numbers have shown nine out of ten computers are affected by spyware, many on computer whose users are unaware of the infection. Identity theft and spyware are connected in that spyware has become a common method for intruders to gather your personal information and bank numbers so they can commit identity theft.

Spyware installs itself or comes installed with freeware and shareware programs. Once embedded in your computer it tracks your internet and software usages, records sent and received email and instant messages and logs keystrokes to identify passwords and credit card numbers. The information is sent out to advertisers or other intruders who will use it to bombard your computer with ads or at worst steal and use your accounts.

You will often lose complete control over your computer once spyware has been installed. The spyware can cause browser crashes and other unauthorized changes in your computer. The unwanted pop up ads that result from spyware can cause the computer to work slower and possible destroy some programs from being able to run. Spyware specific tools are needed to rid of and protect against spyware because normal anti-virus software is not designed to detect spyware, as it is unique from viruses. Spyware programs should also be able to detect adware, a similar application that runs on your computer by sending a constant stream of pop ups. Adware can be dangerous to the proper functioning of your computer.

About The Author Mitch Johnson is a successful freelance author that writes regularly for http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/, a site that focuses exclusively on spyware removal software, as well as tips on how to prevent spyware from popping up on your computer. This site articles on has spyware guard, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_guard.htm as well as spyware scanner, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_scanner.htm.

Are You PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Prejudiced?

Are You PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Prejudiced?

 by: Bonnie Kotch

I was reading an article one day, that ironically I found while searching through Google for subject matter to write about. I wish I had bookmarked the page, but I didn’t. I do remember the content of the article:

Pay-Per-Click Fraud.

Now, being in and out of PPC advertising off and on as the mood strikes me, the title of the article hit me in the forehead like the snap of a strategically aimed wet towel. I believe I still sport the welt.

The article led you to believe that PPC was not only fraught with fraud, but the fraud was growing at an alarming rate with no controls to keep it in check! I read about instances of Competitors for keywords setting up “farms” of clickers to run out the PPC budgets of smaller businesses, ad copying, hackers using “click bots”, and link spamming. The two giants (Google and Yahoo), who also offer a way for people to earn by placing those same PPC ads on their sites to get paid for each click and cheating abounds! There is no way to stop it or track it! Well, there are ways to track it, but little is being done to stop it. And it will only get worse before it gets better.

The article definitely gave the impression that pay-per-click search engines not only had no effective way to stop click-fraud, but had no INCENTIVE to stop it. It’s money in the bank for them and unless you as the advertiser, are vigilant in closely monitoring and analyzing your traffic (looking for too many clicks from the same domain, for example), you are high and dry with as much as 35%-50% of your traffic possibly being fraudulent! I don’t have time to baby-sit their business, do you?

After reading this article, I went searching for others (after pulling my PPC campaigns) and found the same consensus . . . PPC providers, especially the big guys, really did not, and will not care unless they start losing MANY advertising dollars. One site even estimated as much as $1 billion in click fraud across all search providers combined! Bill Gates could probably afford to lose that much but Google and Yahoo won’t refund that to advertiser/victims.

It was also popular belief that PPC fraud-eliminating technology (if the search engines had any incentive to research it) is way behind the brilliant, bored and malevolent hackers and their motivation to “stick it” to the “man”.

Will Pay-Per-Click die in the throes of key word competition and click bots? Not anytime soon. I can tell you that I, as an advertiser, just can’t wrap my mind around the need to use a marketing method that is that rife with fraud. That’s MY money! There ARE better and more effective ways to make it work for me. PPC is not the only means to accomplish the desired end!

Do not despair. Although the popular and quickly visual advertising method that it is, there is still the good old fashioned site submission. You remember! The FREE ones! Google still takes free listings and many of the popular directories still take free listings and guess what? If you bone-up on keyword phrases and place them strategically on your web site, get some good back links with other web sites with similar keyword concentration, you can STILL get on the first page of the search results! It takes time and there is an art to it, but given some patience, you can benefit two ways . . . Traffic from those sites, and link popularity ranking in the search engines.

I’ve also noticed a few interesting alternatives popping up on the internet that should make some smaller businesses very happy. Let’s take a look at some of those:

1. Articles, if you write them, can still bring in traffic. I watched a brand new site of mine practically dominate 8 pages of Google search results for my chosen keywords within days. And every one of those articles had a link to my web site in my byline.

2. Affiliating your site. Do you sell a product or a service? Set yourself up as an affiliate manager. There are many sources out there to get affiliate manager software, or set it up through an affiliate network like CJ.com or Commission Source. Have hundreds or thousands of other people with a link on your site and pay only per sale or per lead. You will have much better ROI and it’s faster than writing web site owners asking them to exchange links to build up link popularity.

3. CPA advertising – There are tons of list owners, e-zine owners, newsletters, membership websites and the like that offer CPA (cost-per-action). Some of the most profitable campaigns I’ve ever run were through a list owner. Pay a deposit to get the campaign started, then a percentage of each sale.

4. Ad Swapping – Many think this is limited to e-zine advertising . . . it is not. It’s along the same lines as link exchanging. Dating sites and Horoscope sites do it all the time. Endorsement swapping is another way. Find a complimenting web site or business and agree to endorse each other. No money spent, and a lot of possible profit!

5. Something I’d like to see more of, like Snap.com’s approach. They have pay-per-click, but they have also implemented a CPA alternative to search engine advertising that currently does not cost you anything to start your campaign. You are charged only when you have a sale or a lead and they don’t bill you until you reach your first $100 dollars in campaign cost. (This may change and they may require a deposit as Snap has new owners, but currently, you can start your CPA campaign free).

6. Press Releases are a lot more cost effective than PPC advertising. It could also help you with link popularity.

7. RSS Feed is currently free to submit to most search engines and web sites picking it up will help you in search engine ranking.

8. Leads – Many of the big marketers buy leads and import them into auto responders. I personally don’t like the spam ramifications of doing this, but many lead promoters now offer to send them to a landing page, where the interested parties opt themselves in. Many top earners I know ONLY market this way.

I can remember as little as six years ago, PPC search engine advertising was just getting started. In six short years it has grown into a revenue monster for the search engines. There are currently over 500 of these “pay-per-click” search engines and amazingly, except for the top tier search engines, most of them have very little of their own traffic.

I have also talked to people who LOVE PPC search advertising and swear by it. However, if more noise is not made about PPC fraud, less is going to be done about it. It is your advertising dollars at stake. It is getting harder and harder to get good key word ranking and it is getting more costly. The millions they generate from it should be invested in better security. As it stands now, they will not even admit there is a sizable problem. Just my opinion, but I’d rather go with an advertising source that has better regard for it’s customers money. Until they do, consider me PPC prejudiced.

Copyright 2006 Bonnie Kotch

About The Author Bonnie Kotch is the owner of http://www.trinintyonlinemarketingschool.com and publishes the newsletter "Trinity Affiliate Marketing Review", focusing on affiliate marketing and web site optimization and promotion.

How To Think Through Writer&#39s Block

How To Think Through Writer's Block

 by: Sophfronia Scott

In his book, On Writing, Stephen King says, "We are talking about tools and carpentry, about words and style…but as we move along, you’d do well to remember that we are also talking about magic." When something is really well-written we tend to think it was effortless for the writer, that it seems magical. We wonder, "Did that author ever have to deal with writer's block?" Yes, he or she probably did. Pretty much every writer does. But how do you work through a block when the inside of your brain feels so foggy? These tips will show you how to clear things up.

1.) Work Consistently

When I started my first novel I joined a class to help get me going. After it was over, I took a few more workshop sessions with the instructor, but when those ended all my work ground to a complete halt. Why? Because from then I was only working on the book a day or two a week, mostly on weekends. If I got stuck that meant I wouldn't write for two or even three weeks. Then I went out and got a place to write. I committed myself to going there 3-4 times a week to work on my book. Suddenly the writing got easier! I thought it was because I was putting in more time--and that's partly true--working consistently helps to build momentum. But that wasn't the whole answer. Here's the rest: I was thinking about the book all the time! Which means...

2.) Don't Leave Your Book on the Desk

When I started working consistently I found that I was still thinking about my character and plot issues when I went home at night on the subway. That thinking continued in the shower the next day and on the streets as I walked to work. Once I was flying to Cleveland to visit my family and during the flight I figured out the answer to the problem I was having with a flashboack in my novel.

So write at your desk and do your figuring out everywhere else throughout your day. Ideally you are thinking about your book while you drive, while you shower, while you watch a baseball game. In fact, Stephen King has said he has worked through a chapter or two in his head while at Fenway Park watching the Boston Red Sox. When you think about your book away from the desk, it ensures you'll have something to write when you get back to your desk.

3.) Ask Yourself Lots of Questions

Okay, you might be asking, "What am I supposed to be thinking about?" Your book, of course, but I understand how difficult it is to just have generalities floating around in your head competing with all the media we're flooded with already. To focus your thinking, ask yourself a series of questions related to the issues you're stuck on.

For instance, "What story or incident can I create to best highlight my character's strength and/or weakness?" Possible answer: a party where most of the guests snubbed my character's party which took place few weeks earlier. "How would my character be responsible for that situation?" Maybe she told a secret and everyone is upset with her because of it. "What behavior will my character display that will reveal her true essence to the reader?" Maybe she quietly vandalizes people's belongings throughout the evening, ripping coats in the closet, "accidentally" breaking glasses, spilling drinks on someone's designer dress. You can keep going that way, with each question leading you further down the path until you complete a picture in your head of what you want to write when you sit down again. No more writer's block!

4.) Remember Why You're Writing

When you do get stuck, it helps to remember why you're working on the project in the first place. As I mentioned before, I got stalled many times working on my first novel. But I was motivated by several things including my sincere desire to be a published author and my devotion and commitment to my characters. (Once, when going through a period of non-writing, I had a dream where the main character of my book was screaming at me--I knew it was time to get back to work!)

So, why are you writing? And is the reason powerful enough to make you do what it takes to get through the difficult times of the writing process? If it's not, perhaps you need to re-think your reasons and your project. But if your motivation is strong, go with it and allow that sheer force to help you break down the walls in your work.

© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

About The Author Sophfronia Scott, "The Book Sistah," is author of the bestselling novel, All I Need to Get By. If you liked today's issue, stay tuned for more because The Book Sistah also offers FREE audio classes, FREE articles, workshops, and other resources to help aspiring authors get published and market their books successfully. http://www.TheBookSistah.com.

Laptop Security: How to Protect Your Laptop When Traveling

Laptop Security: How to Protect Your Laptop When Traveling

 by: Jonathan Chase

Most business people who travel these days have a laptop in tow. Since the workflow doesn’t stop when the need to travel arises, these are necessities that connect them to the rest of the world and allow them to take care of whatever business comes up during the time that they’re away. That being the case, there are certain guidelines that should be followed in order to ensure the safety and protection of your laptop when you get called away from the office.

One of the first considerations that should be made is in regard to the laptop’s security. Since thieves will target these as often as they will cash, jewelry or other valuables, it’s critical to put as many security measures into place as possible when traveling through airports, bus terminals, train stations and any other form of public travel. Of course, it’s never wise to leave your laptop unattended. It’s a sad testament to the way of the world, but you can be fairly certain that when you return, your equipment will be gone.

When packing for your trip, place the laptop in a case that’s different – and less obvious – from its standard carrying case, and make sure that it’s checked in as carry-on luggage. This will not only ensure that it doesn’t get stolen, but will be in the pressurized part of the plane, rather than the baggage compartment, which doesn’t have pressure or climate controls that are needed to ensure the integrity of the laptop.

If you’re planning to take a nap while you’re en route via public transportation, be sure to secure the laptop before going to sleep. Some people go so far as to cuff the unit to their wrist, but there are other measures that you can take, which include placing it in its case and putting it between your feet or between yourself and the wall if you’re sitting by a window. In the event that anything should actually happen to violate the integrity of the laptop – or if it should be stolen, despite your precautions – it’s to be expected that you’ll have backed up all critical information onto disks before beginning your travels.

When you arrive at the hotel, speak with the front desk clerk to be sure that their phone jacks are compatible with your unit. If they happen to use a digital phone system which differs in voltage from that of a standard phone jack, your modem will most likely be damaged when you try to plug it in and dial-up to get an outside connection. The best approach is to call ahead and check on these accommodations before making the trip, so that you’ll know what to expect and not be left with any nasty surprises.

In addition to the laptop itself, it’s always a good idea to bring an extension cord and extra batteries. Even though you may plan to use electricity, you should also include a back-up plan, and batteries may only give you a few hours’ worth of power at a time before needing to be recharged or changed. When possible, cut down on the use of those things which need large amounts of energy, such as CD-ROMs, and reduce the number of auto-saves on your machine.

By using your common sense and taking simple precautions, as well as including some back-up cords and batteries, you should be able to travel safely and simply with your laptop without a lot of hoopla.

About The Author Jonathan Chase runs and Internet marketing business and is a contributing author to All Cheap Laptops. Read more about traveling with your laptop at http://www.all-cheap-laptops.com/Travel.htm