Review of SubmitEaze Software and SEO

Having purchased SubmitEaze directory submission software several years ago for seo or search engine optimization reasons, recent updates and enhanced functions make this a good time for another look at SubmitEaze. Part of website optimization strategy for search engine optimization involves backlinks which are links to your website from other sites. These are like votes when found by Google, so by acquiring more votes your site is more likely to increase its rank.

Two methods of acquiring those backlinks are "Website Directories" and "Article Directories" featured in my series of do-it-yourself seo reports released in 2007. Follow that link to download your free copies of the PDF reports (no email or registration required).

In a hurry to learn how? Visit their site to watch the SubmitEaze demo videos.

In summary, you acquire backlinks by getting listed on other websites. The Website Directory lists businesses by category with links to those sites, and the Article Directory sites accept advice articles for syndication that includes links in the resource (About the Author) box. Get listed, or write helpful articles about your business niche and submit to 100's of directories.

Prior to SubmitEaze, the submission process was VERY time consuming. Each site you visit meant doing copy and paste of content over and over, so submitting to 100 sites could take 2-3 days. SubmitEaze is a very fast and semi-automated software program with a system to submit your site or articles to directories in minutes, not days.

First released for web directories only, SubmitEaze now handles article submissions, too. My advice is to review the SubmitEaze software and watch their demo videos before you buy. I started out doing manual submission of my website, and then bought other software before discovering SubmitEaze and making it my standard.



TAGS: advice seo search engine optimization articles directories review submiteaze

Firefox v3.5.7 and v3.6rc1 Review

Here's a review of the latest Firefox release candidate browser. I took the leap and chose to test out and review the latest BETA version of the Firefox browser earlier today. See the download and release links below if you decide you want to help out and be a BETA tester, too.

I stumbled across the option when rebooting Firefox resulted in a message Want a sneak peek of the newest, fastest version of Firefox? which included a link to download and test Firefox v3.6rc1 BETA. The RC1 release candidate versions are language specific with over 70 choices and you may select from Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.

Download link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html
Release notes: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.6/releasenotes/

A disclaimer on the splash page states: This is pre-release software: you may encounter compatibility problems with some websites and add-ons. If you find a problem please let us know or file a bug. For more details, read the release notes and known issues.

The installation was remarkably fast, and first tests of typical load problem files like videos in full screen and large audio mp3 files was very impressive. I did notice the overall look was different, so checked themes and discovered 1 out of the 3 themes which included the default was not compatible from v3.5 to v3.6, so that was a minor disappointment.

My second choice and even the default theme were fine, yet I decided to search an alternative and tried the recommended theme found here https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/7517 and entitled Sivermel. It's simple yet not cramped, and an excellent choice considering my work in web design keeps me at the computer 12 plus hours a day.

Taking a closer look at add-ons, I discovered that ColorZilla, CoolPreviews, FoxTab, and ScreenGrab are not compatible in v3.6rc1, so ceased to function. The add-ons I use the most are web design related and all were compatible, so other than missing ColorZilla I'm very pleased.

As far as an indepth review, I don't use many add-ons, so readers are cautioned that the warning about compatiblity of add-ons should be considered before becoming a BETA tester.

In conclusion, my recent experience with Firefox upgrades had been disappointing because browsing speed seemed to drop to a crawl. That explains why I was anxious for what they called "the fastest version" and decided to see if the difference was noticeable. From my initial experience which was subjective and not scientific, I am very pleased with the performance of the Firefox v3.6rc1 browser and glad I took the plunge.



TAGS: advice browser firefox review web design

DupeFree Pro Software Survey Taken

The developers of DupeFree Pro software for checking duplicate content and testing article keyword density, just to name two great features, are asking existing users to reply to an online survey of possible new features. If YOU have taken my advice for downloading their free program and receive their survey request email, please take the time to comply. Here are some of the comments I included in my submission.

For me DupeFree Pro is used mostly for keyword density and article word count. It might be nice to have the option to set a target density for a keyword, ie 4 percent, then test and if the density is low, have a value displayed in DupeFree Pro for the number of times to add that word to achieve my target percentage.

That's easy to achieve by trial and error yet with a number it would be easy to copy/paste that key word X number of times in appropriate places within the article while maintaining human readability. Otherwise, with trial/error and copy/paste I compromise the target and stop while thinking "good enough".

In addition, I made the following comments

You have a great product which I am happy to promote and suggest people use. Many have. A 50 page PDF tutorial I wrote on custom cms web design and do-it-yourself seo makes reference to free resources for research and testing of website content.

The free ebook has been downloaded 1000's of times, and includes DupeFree Pro as recommended for testing keyword density. The 4 percent target keyword density mentioned earlier in the survey is what I suggest within the 1.5-6.5 percent in your documentation. It has worked very well for me.

My core business is custom cms web design. I truly believe holding my position on Google page one at #1 and #2 for custom cms web design for the last 2 years is due in part to your fine software. Thanks!

Finally for my readers, given the opportunity please take the DupeFree Pro survey to help them in deciding on future developments and enhancements of their software.



TAGS: advice content DupeFreePro seo web design writing

TimeStamp Date and Time Code Converter

The challenge of the day was learning new php and mysql related terms involving a web design upgrade, and then finding a timestamp date and time code converter. The research began without knowing the right words to describe what was needed! It's time to share the solution for novice designers facing the same mystery.

Searching the date and time code 1190073600 plus php or mysql, and then words like translate or convert, did not explain how that timestamp code translates to midnight on September 18, 2007. Knowing how to create similar dates and specific times in a proper 10 digit code was a variable necessary for importing updates to a searchable database being considered in a web design project.

Don't even try to find a date or time in that code. 1190073600 is more cryptic than the 07 meaning 2007. The code 0000000000 translates to midnight on Thursday, January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 (GMT). That timestamp is the unix epoch, or reference date for unix based servers, and time is calculated in seconds from that "zero" time and date. Therefore, the mystery time code definition of 1190073600 is that moment in time 1,190,073,600 seconds after the unix epoch.

Noontime today when converted to a unix timestamp would be human readable as Thursday, November 5th 2009, 12:00:00 (GMT) and translates to 1257422400 as the unix timestamp. Without an understanding of how that 10 digit date and time code was created, it took persistent and stubborn research before finding this online timestamp (date and time) code converter.

With the solution and clearer terminology in hand, Google "standard time to unix online tool" and the first tool in search results today was this standard time and unix timestamp converter which converts the code or datetime either way. The linked 4webhelp.net version interface and display was nice, yet others in the top 10 results were adequate online tools, also.

Will I be disappointed if I can integrate and update the database without needing that date and time code converter? No. The solution was fun to research and will hopefully help others as curious or stubborn as me.



TAGS: advice design database tool timestamp unix web design

Twitin Twitter Online Tool Review

Frustrated or overwhelmed managing large numbers of followers and people you follow on Twitter? The Twitin Twitter online tool from Buzzom.com may be the solution you need to get back in control.

A novice Twitter user may look at the stream of tweets flying by 24/7 when they have 1000+ friends and think it's like a freight train passing at 100 mph and you're expected to read the grafitti on each train car. Strategies for following, unfollowing, reciprocating, and then communicating with Twitter friends in your new social circle will be easier using an online tool like Twitin.

There are many tools you could review and choose, and after trying several I am most impressed with the Twitin Twitter online tool. As shown in the graphic above, you have choices that are automated to figure out people you follow who do not follow back, who follows you that you may have overlooked following back, and a bunch of other tools for very advanced Twitter account management.

Besides automating the routine functions just mentioned that allow you to match up people to follow or unfollow, another option suggests a list of Twitter people that are very likely to follow you back. After using their tool for about an hour, I permanently blocked a handful of people following me who tweet content that I found too offensive. I reciprocated with 200+ followers who I didn't realize were following me unnoticed because that freight train is moving so fast. In addition, I unfollowed about 100 people who I chose to follow who did not reciprocate after several months.

Next, a real cool online tool at Twitin that I recommend is their "Cross Follow" option. Input the ID of a person on Twitter who you know and respect with similar interests for your niche, and Twitin allows you to review the unique people in their followers and following lists for consideration. The list leaves out known matching contacts to those you already follow.

Review 50 names at a time that include data on followers/following and other detials, and then select check boxes for ones you want to follow. When done, press the follow button to automatically follow persons on the list. When that task is complete you get instant feedback on the success rate.

Finally, Twitin has a locking tool that allows you to selectively lock people on your lists. You can set IDs that you never want to follow as well as those you will never unfollow to prevent deleting them by mistake later. Twitin is great. Don't get too carried away because Twitter does have API call limits, yet if you do get an error message in Twitin you can likely return an hour later and continue.



TAGS: advice examples online tools reviews twitin twitter

Website for Hispanic Small Businesses

Hispanic small business owners represent nearly half my clients for custom web design. I'm pleased to announce a valuable resource by Juan Silvera including his Hispanic Small Business Blog at HispanicSMB.com. El Blog de Juan has been online since 2006 providing valuable insight for Latino small businesses.

Some of my clients contact me for a quality custom website that is designed with bilingual content. Once the English version is launched, site owners have the option of translating all pages for visitors who prefer reading content in Spanish.

In addition to announcing the HispanicSMB site, a link has been added to the Small Business Resource Center blogroll for the benefit of my clients interested in learning more about business trends for US Hispanic businesses. Visit their main site for more content including a Latino small business forum, how-to videos, directory, and library for Latino small business owners.



TAGS: advice blog Hispanic small business small business advice web design

Cross Browser Compatibility in Web Design

Here's a link to a 2008 blog post on testing cross browser compatibility of your web design with links to the current version of 4 of the 5 major browsers including some advice and 2007 usage stats by browser for my site for all of 2007:

It's good to know the setup of site visitors to know pages in your web design display well for the majority while 100% is the real goal. I can't wait for IE6 to get below 10% as it continued to plunge in 2007 and 2008. This post is an update of IE6 based on visitor statistics for 2008. IE6 is at 22% of visitors now, and down from 42% a year earlier. You can download all 5 to test and remove desktop icons of ones you don't use.

Forget Netscape. They're defunct and no longer supported. However, be careful where you download. There are phishing sites (scams, virus trojans, spammers) that offer "downloads" that may be malicious and infect your pc. My advice is always going to the official sites as listed in the blog post linked above. They should be current.

A new browser from Google branded "Chrome" was introduced in September 2008. It has made gains yet not as well as I predicted at the time of the release. They made initial inroads for about a month then stalled. It had minor problems and resources to improve beyond the initial release though minimal have increased their share to 4% since last September. That is significant for a newly released browser brand.

My Sept 2008 review of Google Chrome includes a link to the Google Chrome download page.

For small business owners who contract to have their custom web design outsourced, my advice is requesting evidence of cross browser compatibility testing to the latest version of major browsers as a minimum.



TAGS: advice browsers small business advice testing web design

GoDaddy Makeover and Email Tutorials

With the recent GoDaddy web design makeover for a revised look including new navigation, their email tutorials provide a great tool for customers who favor this very popular domain registrar and hosting service company. Follow this link to the list of GoDaddy email tutorials to learn how to setup email service on your personal computer.

Often my web design clients opt for the free email forwarding included with a new domain or hosting purchase. While you may easily have email for info@(your domain) forward to your free email account at services like Google GMail, Yahoo!, or AOL, there is a downside. For small business owners in particular your image as a professional organization will be enhanced if your return emails are sent directly from an email account that matches your domain name.

Customers emailing you from your website where an info@ or sales@ email link includes the domain name may feel you lack sophistication, or even be unpleasantly surprised, if the return message uses a free email service provider. The GoDaddy email tutorials make enhancing your corportate image easier than ever. The strategy of creating a favorable first impression will be reinforced with a gorgeous web design and matching email to your domain, and then make sure to send return emails from that same address.



TAGS: advice email setup GoDaddy web design

Pro Podcaster Interview and Advice

A new podcast episode entitled Low Budget Podcast Production released earlier includes an interview with pro podcaster Fred Greenhalgh of FinalRune Productions and Radio Drama Revival. FinalRune produces audio theater drama recordings in live settings to recreate the feel of old time radio programs predating television. Listen online. The quality is excellent.

In the interview Fred mentions cost effective products for small business podcasts that he uses for audio field production outside the studio, plus a condenser mic with outstanding quality at an affordable price. The product brands and item numbers were not spelled out in the podcast, so I took a closer look and was very surprised at the high quality and affordable price of the C01U mic and Zoom H2 recorder.

The podcast episode explores FinalRune's portable recording equipment and suggestions for microphones for small business podcasters. A shoutout was given to one of his favorite suppliers, SweetWater.com, and a closer look shows they carry the two products he mentions during the show. Readers who listen to the podcast, may want to visit Sweetwater.com for a closer look at the Samson C01U USB podcasting mic, and the Zoom H2 4-mic portable hand held digital recorder.

Now I have some podcast equipment "toys" to add to my Christmas wish list.



TAGS: advice audio equipment interview podcast review

Google Chrome Stats on StatCounter

Checking stats for custom cms web design related searches for my site at StatCounter.com I noticed a link to their blog with a post about the new browser Google Chrome stats on StatCounter for the first 8 days since its release.

Comparing my visitor browser stats to the relatively low number of 1.02% tracked by StatCounter as now using Chrome as their browser of choice, my count was over 5% on one day that I checked. The global numbers on StatCounter indicate growth in that 8 day period for Chrome and "numerous browsers including Konqueror, Opera, Playstation, Blackberry, Iphone, Seamonkey etc." and a decline in IE, FireFox, and Safari.

These are very early numbers, yet as predicted in my review of the Google Chrome browser 10 days ago, "Trust Google to consider your input and then stand back and watch them conquer another internet niche with leading edge technology that responds to what users really want."

For average internet users the Chrome choice may be an easy one. My personal favorite is still FireFox because of the add-on plug-ins and extensions for web developers, yet that attitude may change as more programmers step up and assist in enhancements for Chrome. People employed in web design and even site owners, need to add Chrome to their list of browsers to test for cross browser compatibility. A quality custom web design will display well in all browsers.



TAGS: advice browser Google Chrome review stats web design

Review of Google Chrome Browser BETA

This review of the Google Chrome browser BETA features the latest Google venture from this dominant internet giant. The intitial release is for Windows users only and runs on Vista and XP SP2, so Mac and Linux web surfers must wait for future development.

Visit the Google Chrome browser download page to download your copy, or follow their links to learn more including a series of video presentations by Google staffers. Here is a screenshot of a sample startup window showing recent history thumbnails as displayed in the Google Chrome browser.



As a web developer working full time in custom web design, my interest is more about performance than aesthetics. The Google browser development strategy was start from scratch to create a browser with forward looking concepts rather than build on architecture that evolved over 12 years from text only pages through a series of more complex stages. Thinking outside the box meant considering current leading edge advanced web design multimedia features and aps, and then projecting future needs to include now in the Google Chrome browser software in preparation as the internet becomes more sophisticated.

Unique features include a dual purpose address bar that acts as a search bar, also. As you type a url or search phrase a dropdown list of prompts appear. View a screenshot of Google Chrome browser history here. View the first graphic in this post and the multiple thumbnails display recent history of websites visited. Selecting "Show all history" brings up a list of history in text, and I really liked the layout and level of detail which helped recall more about those websites from recent visits.

The Google Chrome BETA version browser is open source, and they welcome comments and feedback from users and programmers. This attitude is a welcome change from the pretense and arrogance of at least one browser software provider criticized for broken promises.

The Google Chrome browser is excellent, yet as expected there are likely minor defects in this preliminary BETA release. Trust Google to consider your input and then stand back and watch them conquer another internet niche with leading edge technology that responds to what users really want.

In testing some of my more advanced custom web designs a minor problem was encountered from this page of RBO Vacation Ads rental owner resources including videos when accessing this vacation rental owner tutorial link featuring a wide screen flash video (6.5mb file size).

Attempting to follow the link resulted in a delay and then the following popup window with a statement that the page was unresponsive and then options to either "Kill pages" or "Wait". Kill? There must be some dark humor on staff at Google because that option had me wondering if I should risk destroying a web page that I designed.



I tried the "Wait" option first, and that didn't work and I somehow ended up back on the home page. Deciding to risk killing pages (why plural when I was accessing just one page?) the result was the following new window that filled the entire screen with a dark background with the message "Something went wrong while displaying this webpage. To continue, press Reload or go to another page".



The page began loading on the second try, yet the audio track with music and narration began while the video screencast was stuck on the first slide, and it took 15-20 seconds for the audio to synchronize with the video. Once the entire video played through and was stored in cache, the third attempt worked perfectly. To my delight, and despite the ominous "kill pages" option, the page survived and was online the last time I checked. Phew!

Returning to the page of vacation rental tutorials I decided to try right clicking a different video tutorial for new agent signups and then selected "Open link in new tab" and the Google Chrome browser functioned flawlessly. Return visits to test those links a day later allowed left clicking with instant display of each video tutorial.

Note: After clearing cache and returning to the tutorial video listings page to try to duplicate the "unresponsive kill pages" and "something went wrong" error messages, navigation and performance of each video tutorial worked flawlessly with either left click or right click on the hyperlink.

All other video and audio tested from other custom web sites loaded and played without problems, so the anomaly may have been from external factors outside the Google Chrome browser BETA.

Pro (very positive):

• Rendering excellent with clear text and graphics
• Standards compliance met as tested in complex web designs
• Speed of accessing and displaying simple content exceptional
• Usability with basic essentials without being overly complicated
• History shown as thumbnails with superior text history listing
• Browser status bar at the bottom invisible until needed
• DOM inspector access built-in for web developer code and css

Con (very minor):

• Flash video (6.5mb) locked up on standards compliant page
• The "kill pages" popup and "went wrong" screen result on compliant page
• Favorites history drop down uniquely placed on right of screen

Overall Opinion: The Google Chrome browser BETA is excellent and provides a peek at the future of internet browsing. The initial release deserves high marks for quality, compliance, and usability, and I strongly urge users and web developers to download a copy and actively provide feedback to the Google team.

With the demise of support for the Netscape browser, Google Chrome joins Firefox, IE, Opera and Safari as the new top 5 list of browsers for web designers to utilize for testing cross browser compatibility.

Finally, check out the single sheet icon in the upper right that displays "Control the current page" on hover, and then left click to select from the drop down menu and follow "New incognito window" for further evidence the programmers at Google have a sense of humor. Google Chrome BETA can be practical and fun.



TAGS: advice browser Google Chrome review software

Blog and Ping Tutorial Download

Today's podcast episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag was released earlier and included a free download pdf tutorial for adding a do-it-yourself desktop blog pinging service. The motivation for the podcast episode entitled DIY Desktop Blog and Ping is recent trends with online pinging services, and the need for an alternative method of announcing new blog posts.

In addition, the audio program explains the basics of using blog and ping to easily contact blog tracking services of new blog posts. You may view the DIY Blog and Ping PDF Tutorial online here, or right click to save your copy now. You may want to listen to the podcast episode, and then read along with the tutorial as I follow the step by step process of downloading free software, custom program the software to load your blog info, program a list of ping services, and finally set up an instant one click ping service on your desktop.



TAGS: advice blog blog and ping review software

Trends in Blog and Ping Services

The topic for the next episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag web design podcast will cover trends in blog and ping services. From personal experience, and after feedback from a custom cms web design client for custom blogger template design, some ping services for broadcasting new blog post announcements may be in trouble.

Some have closed their websites, and others have been offline for weeks or provided sporadic service. One blog pinging service website changed their home page to a simple announcement that they closed after 4 years due to the time and effort required to track millions of blogs. A free service depends on sponsors or ad revenue to provide an incentive to stay in business. Do-it-yourself blog and ping may be the best alternative.

In addition to the review of trends in blog and ping services, I will introduce a do-it-yourself desktop solution for adding a blog and ping icon on your computer. This is an open source program that I have modified to update the list of target blog tracking services, and podcast listeners will receive links and a blog and ping tutorial that allows them to directly ping services from their desktop.

This blog and ping desktop solution for broadcasting updates to your blog eliminates the middleman, so bloggers may announce blog updates in less than 60 seconds after posting. The software download and custom modification instructions included in the tutorial should take less than 5 minutes to install. You ping 8 major services with a single click, and then a text report lists each blog service with a pingback confirmation that the ping was received successfully.

Check the title and show notes later this week to listen to the podcast episode about do-it-yourself blog and ping for DIY blog promotion.



TAGS: advice blog blog and ping review tutorial

CMS Web Design and Swiss Army Knives

One of the most prominent open source names for CMS web design systems is Joomla. My commercial website design was converted with a much simpler cms package earlier in 2008 rather than Joomla, and I use an analogy of CMS web design and Swiss army knives for comparing both. You can get either with 100 gadgets and use 10% of them, or get a simple knife (or website) with just what the average person will use. With the custom cms package I offer the learning curve for web design clients isn't steep, and the "package" size difference is considerable.

The latest Joomla release v1.0.15 unpacked is 11.4mb with 1,740 files in 255 folders. The system I offer clients is 1.17mb with 102 files in 12 folders. For the average small business owner a universal cms website with options they will never use is overkill. In addition, the custom cms templates that I create using my custom cms web design are xhtml and css compliant without tables for layout.

Ease of use is another advantage. I reprogrammed the backend so users can use plain text boxes to enter meta title, description, keywords, and assign a friendly url file name for every page, and of course new pages are created in plain text using NotePad. Owners of this custom cms website design can modify text and upload images, too. More importantly, everything just described including the automated method for entering META code and friendly URL file names is done from one page in the backend admin panel.

Ease of use, just like the simple Swiss army knife, is one more reason to consider design services for the unique look of a fully custom cms website template. Retrofit or redesign of existing websites to this new cms website design method is an option, also. Visit the custom cms web design page to learn more.



TAGS: cms cms web design custom cms web design

Joomla Articles Website Launch

Great resources for do-it-yourself small business website owners using a Joomla content management system may be found at the recently launched Joomla articles website.This brilliant one-stop-shop for everything Joomla is the creation of Ric Raftis, a fellow custom web design expert in Australia.

For now the site is in beta pending the formal release, yet the site is already loaded with valuable information for Joomla based site owners. The official Joomla forum contains nearly 1.3 million topics. By comparison, www.JoomlaArticles.com features only the best and current resources for making the most of your small business Joomla 1.5 installation.

My advice for small business website owners is bookmarking JoomlaArticles.com to stay on top of the latest developments from a neutral expert with an eye for collecting only the best online resources. Best of luck to Ric Raftis with the growth of this site.



TAGS: advice cms content management system joomla joomla articles reviews small business advice

Prompt! Teleprompter Software Review

Quite often professional voice talent creating video or audio production use a teleprompter. For small business website multimedia production, there's a low cost alternative to expensive dedicated teleprompter solutions when adding video or audio to your web design or podcast.

After considerable research of teleprompter software reviews, the Prompt! software from DataWay Multimedia Canada, Inc for $44 USD is my recommended choice. A free lite version may be downloaded, also. Here's the list of features from their website, MovieClip.biz:

• Text can be imported and exported
• Simple text editing is available
• Native files can be saved
• User customizable controls
• Macintosh or Windows playback
• Control over font size
• Mirrors text display on screen
• Mouse or keyboard control
• Lite version available
• Multiple resolutions
• Works with most remotes (not included)
• Cheap!

Prompt! version7.0 is a standalone application that allows keeping multiple windows open during recording. My advice is preparing your audio script in NotePad and then load it into Prompt! with copy and paste. The scrolling text may be adjusted by size, color and background, and scroll speed. The Lite version is limited to 2500 characters, so you may want to do a test drive with Lite before making a purchase.

Using a teleprompter for short clips or full presentations allows readers to focus on content to eliminate gasps, oohs, or aahs during recording. Speaking extemporaneously is very difficult for most small business owners, and a prepared message is more likely to enhance the multimedia production. Reading from an audio script will be faster and more professional when adding audio or video to your website, blog, or podcast. Download Prompt! here.



TAGS: advice audio small business services software review video

McAfee Green Website Testing Service

I was surprised recently while checking my site visitor statistics to find a link to a green rating from McAfee. Following one visitor's search in Yahoo returned results including a link to a report about this website at the McAfee online SiteAdvisor green website testing service, so I couldn't resist checking it out.

One report displayed a green rating for JimDegerstom.com zipped downloads plus an overall green rating including links they follow from my site. I'm certain the majority of commercial sites tested by McAfee show positive results, yet it's nice to know they report truly deceptive websites that attempt to appear legitimate.

The green rating for this site was no surprise, yet still important. I offer many free to download resources for small business owners including seo reports, how-to PDFs, free design templates, mp3 podcasts, and more. Each information product for download on my site is original content that I write, design, produce, and distribute.

Unlike some websites, visitors to this site may download without registering or revealing their email address. Offering advice without any strings attached is especially rewarding when those visitors take the time to email me a thank you note explaining how my free resources helped their small business.

You may want to learn more about SiteAdvisor. McAfee has a search function for checking domains for suspicious activity, and most notably phishing, malware, or spyware risks in downloads. In addition, their purpose is to rate websites for safety, so readers may be interested in the McAfee green website testing service and how they uncover spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.



TAGS: advice small business services reviews website advice online scams

Browser Popularity Stats Change and Update

Since my January 2008 post of statistics comparing the percentage of users by browser, Internet Explorer IE7 and Safari have made significant gains. Based on visitors to this website, IE7 has surpassed IE6 and FireFox, and the number of Safari browser users went from 1.7% to nearly 8% of my site traffic.

You may view the Cross Browser Website Testing post to view stats from January, or read the Safari Browser Review here.

While my preference is still FireFox because of the FireFox web developer add-on extensions that suit my work in custom web design, IE7 or Safari are excellent choices for everyday users. Otherwise, IE7 seems to overload and slow down my system performance, and Safari has superior rendering but not much third party support for extensions.

The excitement building over the launch of Internet Explorer IE8 bears watching. Microsoft has softened their stance on browser backward compatibility with the aim of the new IE8 to more closely meet W3C worldwide code standards. For web developers, the Internet Explorer IE8 launch later this year is highly anticipated.



TAGS: advice browsers IE7 IE8 Safari browser

Keyword Advice for SEO in Web Design

The latest podcast episode of the Small Business Website Mailbag features free resources for keyword advice for seo in web design. Tools for small business owners linked in the podcast include the websites of Key Word Discovery and DupeFree Pro.

Listen to Optimize Your Website Keywords here to learn about free methods for search engine optimization of key words and phrases on your small business website, and then consider this software review of DupeFree Pro.

The features in this quick review of DupeFree Pro software were not covered in the podcast episode. Besides the value of being able to easily calculate keyword density, DupeFree Pro may be used to test for duplicate content, also. Imagine doing copy and paste to insert content from your website, and then quickly finding out if any other site owner is using your content without permission.

Perhaps you write advice articles published online, and just want to check if others are giving proper credit when they choose to republish your articles. Maybe you have several articles on one topic and want to check the percentage of duplicate content between two versions. DupeFree Pro allows you to do this easily, also.

Duplicate content is a major problem trying to achieve positive seo results, so you may want to test for duplicate content within your site, also.



TAGS: advice keywords podcast review search engine optimization small business advice web design

Article Review of IE8 Internet Explorer 8

The latest website advice article for small business owners was published earlier today, and you may read the full review Internet Explorer IE8 Doom or Joy for details.

Last year Microsoft announced an updated browser scheduled for release by the summer of 2008 with Internet Explorer 8, IE8, and the news was met by most web developers with apprehension. After following the news releases from Microsoft and an announcement earlier this week on March 3rd, it was time for an article and preliminary review of IE8.

Backward compatibility and cross browser compatibility are important to site designers and owners. One of the resources mentioned in the review and article is a website for testing page display in current and older browsers from BrowserShots.org. Visit their site to see what your website looks like in more than 50 browsers including Mac and older revisions of major and lesser known brands.

To the joy of web developers worldwide, Microsoft reversed a previous decision from December 2007 and announced that IE8 will incorporate the most standards compliant interoperability possible. This should be good news for small business website owners, as well.



TAGS: advice article browsers IE8 review small business advice website design

Browser Review of Safari by Apple

The Safari browser from Apple, Inc. is one of 5 browsers that I now use to test custom website designs for small business clients. The Safari browser received some attention in 2007 as the recommended browser for web developers to create and test website designs for the new iPhone when it was first released. I took another look at Safari after a recent inquiry to review the display of a small business owner's website. I was impressed with the rendering of Safari.

The site mentioned for review had problems because when viewed in 2 out of 5 browsers the layout fell apart with graphics out of place and text overwriting text. The site was designed for IE which looked fine, yet any site with a disclaimer "Best viewed in (insert browser name)" usually points to an amateur designer. The goal should be "Best viewed in any browser you choose" so that no disclaimer is required.

The following graphic compares the rendering of FireFox (left) to Safari (right) using a screenshot from this blog as viewed in each.



The rendering in Safari has enhanced headlines and text that may not be apparent in the reduced size graphic here, but it was impressive and immediately noticeable. The Google search box button was rendered as an oval whereas it was the old standard grey rectangle in FireFox. The layout and default options of Safari take getting used to, yet the experience for casual users should be excellent. As a web developer, my first choice is still FireFox because of third party extensions and tools used for technical reasons.

Pro: Excellent rendering with Safari as tested on a few dozen websites from a desktop pc
Con: Minor - Power users may be disappointed with lack of add-on tools and extensions

My advice to small business owners is testing your website in all browsers as posted previously with links to download all 5 major browsers. You may want to follow this link to download or read about the Safari browser here if you want to try it immediately.

The new Internet Explorer 8 browser, IE8, is due for release in the summer of 2008, so it will be interesting to see the tradeoffs Microsoft makes in IE8 between code standards and backward compatibility which has caused grief in the past with most web developers.



TAGS: advice browsers review safari small business advice website design

Small Business Podcast Listener Reviews

With the release of episode 002 of the Small Business Website Mailbag podcast, feedback and customer reviews from listeners has been positive and encouraging. USA and international email comments were received from two professional web designers and existing clients which included the following:

Just listened to your podcast. I found it to be excellent, clear and informative; your voice inflection is awesome. I'll be tuning in regularly.

Excellent job, precise, direct to the point and informative. Who could ask for more?

Enjoyed the podcast very much. Actually I think it’s a much better idea than video in a way because it can be totally scripted and read. You just can’t do that with video.

Looks like a home run Jim!! I would like to set up something for people that have questions, too.

The podcast show topics cover websites for small business owners and each episode features a tip of the day, plus a catchy opening and closing theme song. One reply included a tutorial request for a new custom video production as featured on this blog, also.

Feedback is certainly appreciated, and I'll be sure to give serious consideration to listener requests taken from the website mailbag. Thanks.



TAGS: small business podcast podcast launch news podcast customer reviews

Evaluation Tips for Website Visitor Stats

For readers who viewed my review of StatCounter and installed this free tool for analyzing website visitor stats, here are some tips for the evaluation of your weekly results. The following chart shows one week taken from December 2007 for my commercial site:



The average daily new visitors, first time visitors, and ratio of unique visitors to page loads is well within my expectations for my business. Unlike in the past when most new business was from client referrals, new traffic driven to my site by Google and Yahoo for custom small business website design is a bonus considering my work is sole proprietor. I do not have a large staff to support, so business is comfortable.

Some businesses could not survive with these numbers. If your site is new, it requires time and adding fresh content often to push numbers upward, so be patient. The results for my site are not inflated with overloaded traffic from disinterested casual visitors, but has attracted real prospects and new business worldwide. Unlike my business model, people selling low ticket items require high volume of traffic and sales to succeed.

Keep in mind a million visitors per day is meaningless if they stay less than 5 seconds and never convert to paying customers. The real measure of success is getting traffic from your target market and then conversion. Even then, you must accept that often a large majority of visitors have casual interest and are simply surfing for information without an immediate need.

If you do not track statistics, be careful of service providers who brag about the volume of traffic to your site. The difference between hits, page loads, and visitors needs to be understood. One visitor to a page with 10 graphics on it records 10 "hits" (10 requests sent to your server for each graphic) for just that page. If that one visitor goes to 5 similar pages, your hits become 50 just for the graphics, so ask for visitor and page load data instead. 50 hits does not mean 50 visitors.

In summary, consider these points as you evaluate my visitor statistics for comparison to your small business website.

1 The peaks are during the week, especially mid-week, and then less traffic on weekends
2 The average of unique visitors and return visitors converts and sustains my business
3 The ratio of page loads to visitors shows 2:1 so people go beyond the landing page

Return visitor numbers are a sure sign of interest. Most likely they were favorably impressed and bookmarked your site. It will be time to reevaluate your small business website design and content if you are not getting return visitors or new business through your website. Beyond the design, direct marketing and advertising may be required to help drive traffic to your site.

Use your stats to check trends, adjust product focus by revising content, and then look at search terms that brought people back to your site to determine if you need to emphasize a product or service. If you need advice or assistance installing StatCounter on your small business website or blog feel free to contact me.



TAGS: advice small business advice statistics website advice website traffic

Top 20 Article Directory Release

Following my Top 50 List of Article Directory sites a few months ago, the list was revised to the Top 20 and released today. Selection to this list is based on overall design and performance including approval time, reputation as a trusted authority site for article publication, and personal positive results using their services. The list is in alphabetical order:

www.advisor.com
www.amazines.com
www.articlealley.com
www.articlecity.com
www.articleclick.com
www.articlecube.com
www.articledashboard.com
www.articlegarden.com
www.articleonramp.com
www.articlerich.com
www.articlesbeyondbetter.com
www.buildyourownbusiness.biz
www.ebusiness-articles.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.goarticles.com
www.iwantcontent.com
www.niche-content-articles.com
www.positivearticles.com
www.searcharticles.net
www.theleadingarticles.com

Follow this link to the complete Top 20 Article Directory List and reasons for the shorter version. Time can be an enemy for small business owners, so if you avoid writing articles perhaps the short list of top syndicates will help you. The seo, or search engine optimization, value of published articles is an important aspect of small business website promotion.



TAGS: advice article writing article directory articles seo search engine optimization small business advice

Rough Video With Excellent Advice

Ric Raftis from Australia launched a sales and internet marketing video on YouTube that is spot on with advice about relationships, although admittedly a rough production. I've known Ric for years and made the following comment under his video.

Ric, Your insight is an often oververlooked "secret" to success. 9 out of 10 salespeople don't understand that to succeed you sell nothing. You build relationships and solve problems. That was my reply when asked how I created $4 million profit in one year after joining a company that lost $600k a year for 3 years straight. Excellent information.

Missing from the comment that I made is insider info about Ric, and an important point to consider when selling. You must deal with absolute honesty and integrity. This describes Ric Raftis to a "t" and I believe he will enjoy the same level of internet marketing success online that he has established in his website design business at Bushsong. I expect he will shave the rough edges from any future video productions after this great start, as well.



TAGS: advice reviews sales advice advice video

Free Resource for Favicons

You may have noticed the very small icon in your browser address bar as you visit some websites. This is called a favicon as in "favorites icon". When you bookmark a site, the tiny logo, or favicon, remains next to the listing in your favorites as a reminder of the website.

These are not complicated to create and add to your website. You can easily create a JPG in Paint if you don't have a graphics editor, and then you will need to convert it to the ico extension. Fortunately, there's a free resource for doing just that at www.chami.com.

From their browse button search your My Documents folders for the graphic and then select "Create Favicon" to have yours done instantly. Their page displays the favicon as it will appear on your page. Download the zip file, extract the new favicon, and then upload it to your server. You will need to add a line of code to your META tags on every page in order for the favicon to actually appear.

For HTML use <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico">
For XHTML use <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" />

Upload your revised files and check your site. You may need to do a hard refresh CTRL-F5 to see it.



TAGS: advice website design favicon

Photograph Optimization Tutorial

Small business website designs that depend on uploading photographs for online stores or sites like real estate will be more effective with photograph optimization. Too often site owners upload original digital photos taken at high resolution, and then the load time is intolerable for visitors on dialup because of the file size. They won't stick around waiting for pix to load.

Fact: More than 50% of USA internet users are on dialup. This number dwindles as high speed options become more affordable. Why disappoint half your visitors with slow loading photographs and increase the chance of losing a potential sale?

For this tutorial you may want to read the IrfanView photo edit freeware review previously posted on this blog. The owner of the recently launched e-commerce website for Mainstream Memorabilia downloaded IrfanView and learned this lesson in about 15 minutes total, and was very pleased with the ease of use. The online store is easier to manage, and IrfanView will be used on the Mainstream Memorabilia advice blog, also.

You should consider downloading the free software for this photograph optimization tutorial from IrfanView if you don't already own it.

Once installed, go to any large photo in My Documents and right click on the file name and select "Open with..." and then select "IrfanView" from the menu list. Here's a sample photo and screenshot of the open window.



In the main window menu (see top arrow) select "Image" and then "Resize/Resample" or use the shortcut keys by holding the CTRL button and pressing the letter R. The next window as shown below summarizes the file information, shows the current photo width in pixels, and the resolution in dots per inch, or dpi. Enter the desired width to match what you want on your site, and then select "OK".



When you select "File" and then "Save as" a new window appears as shown below. The sliding bar controls the quality of the final photo, and may be adjusted from lowest to best with 100 being the highest quality. Experiment with the bar in this last step until you have the smallest file size which still displays well on your screen and use that on your website.



To summarize, the steps are as easy as 1-2-3 within IrfanView. Select image-resize/resample, enter the width before doing save-as jpg, and then experiment with the slide bar until the file size is reasonable. Anything less than 50Kb file size will display well on your small business website, so taking your 1 meg photos and reducing them may keep visitors on your site longer and help make more sales.



TAGS: advice small business advice software reviews photo tutorial photo edits website design

SubmitEaze Software Program Review

My recent report for do-it-yourself small business website promotion introduced SubmitEaze for submitting your website to web directories. The strategy of listing your site in public directories that sort websites by category is one way to gain backlinks to your website.

Each link TO your site is like a vote when found by search engines, so small business website owners are encouraged to take 30 minutes a week to submit to 5 sites. For more natural linking over an extended period of time, pick one day a week to submit to 5 sites, and continue the weekly project for 6 months instead of spending 2-3 days of intensive submissions.

The free seo report Web Directory Top Resources listed my top 150 sites, and some may be outdated. The SubmitEaze software is preprogrammed with current sites and their future updates are free for life. This has been a great time saver because of the auto fill feature. As of August 2007 it is available in your choice of Pro License for $64.95 or Standard License at $39.95. View SubmitEaze features or download a trial copy here.

Here is the list of features and benefits displayed on the opening window of SubmitEaze version 4.0.

• Find directories that link to your website using Directory Detective.
• Full control over the auto-fill feature, so you can add your own fields.
• Sort directories on Google PageRank, Alexa Traffic Rank, or number of Incoming Backlinks to the directory.
• Setup rotating link title text and description text for each project.
• Full range of directories: Free, Reciprocal Link Required, and Payment Required.
• Project Briefcase so you can import / export projects between different computers.
• Full web browser navigation to display the current URL, move backwards, forwards, stop and refresh.

Pros: Ease of use, updated free for life, great time saver, excellent help files with video tutorials
Cons: A few outdated sites because directories changed from free to free with reciprocal link

This is software that I have purchased and use, and I recommend SubmitEaze for small business owners.



TAGS: advice small business advice software review submiteaze

iPhone Display Test Website Review

The team at AT&T have put up a test site for the iPhone at iPhoneTester.com for the benefit of web developers to sample test their designs to simulate how well they display on the new Apple gizmo. For sites done in XHTML with CSS, which is my standard technique and the recommended method according to Apple, "the look" on the iPhone should be just fine.

The page features a graphic simulation of the iPhone with an open space for displaying content, and then an input box to enter your www domain name. After testing several sites, I'm satisfied the designs I've created don't fall apart. They do, however, require horizontal scrolling which is not the case for laptop or desktop models. The XHTML with CSS sites I have designed are flexible and stretch to fill the screen regardless of screen size without any horizontal scrolling.

The recommended browser on the AT&T site is Safari which some perceive as a distant 5th behind the other 4 major browsers, so it was a curious exercise and recommended standard. Sites in XHTML with CSS that do not use tables for layout tend to display very well on cell phone screens without scrolling, and I can't help but be disappointed by any design that has a "displays best on..." disclaimer.

Have fun and try your www domain on the iPhone Display Test Website here.



TAGS: iPhone simulator reviews website design

Article Post Robot Software Review

Take a moment to learn why I recommend Article Post Robot for submitting original articles to article directories. It’s no secret that backlinks from other sites to your website are like votes when found by search engines, and writing articles for syndication is an easy way to create these votes.

The next free pdf report in my series of search engine optimization techniques covers this subject with My Article Writing Top Resources. Planned for release in July 2007 this report includes my Top 50 Article Directory list which was already published on my blog last month.

Article Post Robot will be featured in the new report, and after using this software for 2 months, I highly recommend this program to streamline submitting your articles for syndication. At the time this was written in 2007 they have over 450 sites preloaded in their software.

Select this graphic image to visit their sales page.



The problem with most programs used for automatically submitting articles is the potential for rejection due to being placed in the wrong category by the script running the program. Article Post Robot allows you to select up to 5 categories to help offset this approval issue. It’s not perfect, but close to it by comparison to other programs evaluated.

Note: Some article sites require prior registration and activation from a link in a confirming email to be registered as an author. Others require that you create a pen name on their website after registration. You may visit each site from within the list of over 450 article sites displayed in Article Post Robot with one click on each site name. The registration process takes time, but do that first, and expect to spend 1-2 days just setting up user names with passwords for the sites you select.

The option in Article Post Robot to manually submit articles is the ideal solution for me. Before buying this software the process of submitting new articles to over 50 websites was tedious. You visit each site, enter your username and password and then enter the submit articles area. Next, and with your article content open in NotePad, you copy and paste your article title, return to your file, copy and paste the intro, and continue back and forth for the article body, resource box, and key words. Argh! After an hour your wrist is ready to fall off and you’re cross eyed from bouncing back and forth between screens.

With Article Post Robot you complete these same steps, except you copy and paste just once because you enter these same blocks of text into fields within the program! Automatic mode will visit each directory site and post your article in an appropriate category based on what you input earlier. The software posts and submits, and then automatically goes to the next until it’s done. From experience the category selection is less than perfect, at least for my niche.

In manual mode you input your article details just once into the program to begin, and then it logs on each article directory, selects the category, inputs your article details in each appropriate box for title, intro, body, resource box, and key words, and then pauses for you to manually select the “submit” button. I prefer manual submission because I can verify fields are properly completed, and then change the category if I feel another is more suitable before I hit "submit". In automatic mode you click start and walk away.

Note: The layout and requirements to submit may vary by article directory, and some have additional manual only fields to enter, or correct. You can only see these if you use manual mode. Almost all articles are reviewed before approval by a human editor. Manual mode may result in more article editor approvals.

In manual mode you pause at each, so you must monitor progress, yet the autofill feature means you no longer have to copy and paste 5-6 blocks of text individually on each site. This time saving function allows you to post to more sites in a much shorter period of time with very few clicks for each. You can do in 30 seconds what used to take 3-5 minutes, so the process of submitting is much easier on you, and especially your wrist.

Important Note: In either mode you may notice an error or page not found if the target directory is temporarily offline. There may be a significant pause as if the software locked up. It probably didn't. Wait several minutes if necessary because as I found out it is still working and will advance to the next site.

Article Post Robot was less than $130 at the time this review was written. I feel that the cost savings in time from submitting just 2 articles more than offset the price in time savings and convenience. The documentation is written in less than perfect English grammar which is easily dismissed because the basics are there and sufficient to effectively use the software to your advantage.

Pros: Reliable, fast, cost effective, great time saver, value for money
Cons: Category selection for some niches and documentation less than ideal

Overall I highly recommend this software. You may purchase Article Post Robot here.



TAGS: advice articles software reviews article writing article post robot

Forum and Message Board Software Review

Considerable time and effort was spent evaluating freeware for creating an integrated forum and message board for a custom website design project. My choice for ease of use and feature support is Simple Machines LLC free forum software.

The setup was simple one-click installation after creating a single blank MySQL database on the server. Most hosting plans will likely include the minimum basics for proper functionality. The SMF Community Forum is extremely helpful with over 1 million posts and nearly 100,000 members as of June 2007.

For the project currently in work a secure members only environment was a requirement that is easily met with the SMF freeware. The administrator's functions allow access by admin approval only, so this closed community can avoid problems with public access. In addition, category and subcategory setup of boards from the admin panel was easily done.

While the custom project is still in development and confidential, I created a new public forum for one of my oldest personal sites. The Degerstrom International Family Page began in 1996 as an introduction to the genealogy and history of persons with the Degerstrom surname, and includes six known branches in the US and Scandinavia. This (neglected) project was due for a makeover, so the home page has been redesigned in XHTML and the balance of pages will follow.

The forum is in place with very few posts or members, however visitors may view the basic layout and color scheme now. Visit the Degerstrom International Family Forum here. While the SMF software has limited color schemes, their forum community has many add-on features developed by members. My choice was recreating graphics to match the family site, so it has been customized for a familiar look.

Finally, I almost installed another open source freeware brand before finding SMF, and in retrospect the other option seemed behind the times though functional. I recommend SMF for anyone considering adding a forum or message board to their website.



TAGS: advice freeware reviews forum software reviews website design

Xara Xtreme v3.2 Software Review

Small business owners interested in do-it-yourself graphic design would do well to consider a free trial download of Xara Xtreme v3.2. My choice for vector graphics software has evolved from Xara X to Xara X1 to Xara Xtreme, and the recent release of Xara Xtreme v3.2 is loaded with fantastic enhancements with many new features added based on user feedback.

The first time I downloaded a 30 day trial of Xara software, I made my purchase within 48 hours!

Unlike some larger or otherwise arrogant software companies, the team at Xara Group Ltd encourages and acts on feedback from designers. The latest upgrade to Xara Xtreme proves their commitment to enhancing the end user's experience. Much of my day is spent designing custom graphic artwork and then hand coding websites in XTHML code in a word processor. You do NOT need more expensive software to create professional results.

Xara Xtreme, starting at $79USD, is what I use for all the professional design examples displayed throughout my main site. The limousine business card design and photo tutorial was done entirely in Xara Xtreme and shows the steps used to create a stunning effect.

The ability to integrate my photo editor to launch, edit, and save changes to photos from within my Xara drawings is one of the great new options, and a real time saver. If you're like me and detest flash animations on websites because of the large file size, you should be impressed with the new flash option added by Xara.

I created a 720px by 140px banner with a beach background and a huge jet flying into the frame from the left, across the banner, and then disappearing to the right. I was completely shocked that the animation was just over 200kb when I expected the file to be 10x that size.

Pros: price, performance, ease of use, professional results, and excellent tutorials
Cons: none (the great help files and demo movies shorten the learning curve for new users)

View the full list of features for Xara Xtreme v3.2 here to help you decide. Unlike some download trial software, and because of many years using Xara products, I purchased the upgrade first before downloading and installing it. After just 2 days using the new features, I have no regrets.



TAGS: advice review software review xara xtreme

Must See Screenreader Video Demo

After viewing and listening to a screenreader demonstration video by Victor Tsaran, I strongly suggest that readers visit www.last-child.com to observe first hand how blind or vision impaired persons experience the internet. Here is my blog comment left for Victor concerning his video:

Victor,

Your accessibility video was especially interesting and informative. As a website developer I downloaded and tested a screenreader in May 2007 in an ongoing effort to educate my small business clients and others to accessibility issues. Not being vision impaired, using a screenreader was daunting so doing the test run gave me a greater appreciation for the need to educate people about this subject. I've written accessiblility posts with advice and another with a freeware review on my blog at the following links:

Advice for testing websites for accessibility and Review of Thunder freeware screenreader.

Thank you for this great introduction to accessibility and screenreaders.

Jim

P.S. A new post and backlink to your video will be online later this evening.

Once my readers experience this must see screenreader video demo, I believe you will be very impressed with Victor Tsaran and how efficiently he navigates the internet. Very complex websites are easier to explore if the designer uses techniques that accommodate handicapped persons, vision impaired and others.



TAGS: video review screenreader screen reader accessibility website design

My Top 50 Article Syndicate List

This list of what I recommend as My Top 50 Article Syndicate sites is taken from a reply earlier today to members of the Small Business Forums considering writing articles for publication by free article directory websites. I decided to share this list here for the benefit of my readers.

I began a quest just over a year ago to promote my commercial site. Writing articles was one of 4 methods that I worked to develop and improve seo and backlinks. The results of the overall plan were an amazing surprise.

Search Google for "small business article directory" and out of 44 million results my site is #4 on page one after the sponsor listings as of the date of this post. It's easier to spot if you look for the "Small Business Resource Center" title in the listing which is what I use for my site, even though as you'll see the domain is my actual name.

EzineArticles has the top spot. If you follow the link for my listing you will find 15-20 articles and 1 author (me)... LOL. Compare that to sites that are free article directories with 30,000 articles and 5,000 authors and then it's time for the question "why?". Steve at the Small Business Forums had the answer when he commented that the value of being in an article directory has changed significantly in the last year.

In deciding to write articles I actually visited over 500 sites and based on what I felt was important like first impression, ease of use, and approval cycle, the list dwindled to around 150 top sites. Of those, I have the final list of top 50 article syndicates based on their performance over the last 12 months.

I spent 100's of hours of research, and at first thought about selling an ebook and have kept the list and results under wraps. Instead I began a series of 6 reports in PDF and offer them for free download from my site (no obligation... no email registration or first-born requirement); I'm giving it away because it's my nature, plus I'm very busy with actual design work.

The next free PDF report to be released (#3 in the series) is about article writing. The value of submitting articles to directories is different compared to a year ago, but it is still worth your time IF you provide quality.

Broadcast services that promise to place your articles in 1 million directories are a complete waste. The best directories still have editors who read and approve articles. If you do not control how each is submitted, the chances of approval diminish rapidly.

The issue of duplicate content is still hotly debated; however, you will not be penalized if your article (with your resource box) shows up as duplicates and you're the author on each one. Instead, what has changed in the last year is the SE's will only show your article in the SERPs from the top authority sites, ie EzineArticles.com.

It's no secret that the major SE's hide results. Each article you have published will be indexed wherever it is found, yet the majority will be "hidden" deep in the results. I stopped submitting to my top 150, and only submit articles to my list of top 50 now.

People are more likely to find you on the top authority article directories, and the value (for me) is traffic and new business based on establishing a reputation as a writer freely giving quality advice. Give first and success will follow. Backlinks are fine, but the real value is reaching people who are presold based on what you wrote before they actually visit your website.

Finally, I have purchased and reviewed software for automating the process of submitting articles, and the next PDF report is on hold pending my final results about software before I make a recommendation. Each has flaws despite claims of being fully automatic. I am convinced that semi-automated can work because of autofill features, but manual submission is still critical to get approved by the editors.

My top 50 (actually 52) is included below.

http://www.acmearticles.com/
http://www.allaroundsuccess.com/
http://www.amazines.com
http://www.articlealley.com
http://www.article-content-king.com/
http://www.articlecrazy.com/
http://www.articlecube.com
http://www.articledash.com/
http://www.articledashboard.com
http://www.articlegarden.com
http://www.articlekarma.com
http://www.articlelocker.com
http://www.articlemaniac.com/
http://www.articlemotron.com/
http://www.article-planet.com
http://www.articlerich.com
http://www.articlesbeyondbetter.com/
http://www.articlescorner.com
http://www.articles-galore.com
http://www.articleshelf.com
http://www.articleson.com/
http://www.articlesphere.com
http://www.articles-submit.com
http://www.articlestreet.com
http://www.articlesupplier.com
http://www.articleteller.com
http://www.articlevista.com/
http://www.bluearticles.com/
http://www.buildyourownbusiness.biz
http://www.dwarticles.com
http://www.dxarticle.com
http://www.eArticlesOnline.com/
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.ezine-articles-planet.com
http://www.findmorearticles.com
http://www.free-articles-zone.com/
http://www.goarticles.com/
http://www.goodinfohome.com
http://www.indemandcontent.com/
http://www.iwantcontent.com/
http://www.myarticlepub.com
http://www.mycontentbuilder.com
http://www.mywebauthor.com
http://www.neoarticle.com/
http://www.newarticlesonline.com
http://www.positivearticles.com
http://www.postarticles.com/
http://www.publisherscloninghouse.com/
http://www.readyarticles.com/
http://www.submityournewarticle.com
http://www.upublish.info/login.php
http://www.websitecontentarticles.com



TAGS: advice article writing article directory articles search engine optimization small business advice

Royalty Free Music Review

After searching long hours for quality sources for background music I discovered royalty free music from The Music Bakery for an upcoming custom website project that will include audio. Looking ahead, I may launch a weekly podcast within the next 30 days, and online radio is much more interesting if there's a musical theme to your show.

If you are unfamiliar with podcasting and wondering why you would need royalty free music, you may want to visit the How to Podcast Tutorial by Jason Van Orden. He's done an excellent job explaining how in easy to understand language.

The Music Bakery, Dallas Texas, offers a vast selection of music including many with live recordings by studio musicians playing real instruments versus so many other choices that I reviewed with cheaper sounding synthesized tunes. The staff was especially helpful by phone, and the price range for a license is modest in my opinion. Selections include single songs that have the full version averaging over 2-3 minutes, and mixed clips around 60 seconds, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds.

In addition, their website features album collections of mixed genres that offer a variety of moods and style to fit your audio needs. Each song has a low-fi sample of each selection for preview. The products I purchased were shipped by priority mail the same day ordered. The 2 albums arrived in individual cases with detailed labels, and the envelope was well packaged in bubble pack.

Pros: Quality, variety, service, and pricing
Cons: None

I recommend The Music Bakery when you are considering quality sources for royalty free music.



TAGS: advice reviews royalty free music