Author Archive

CiaoWeb Support Forum

Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010

I am pleased to announce that starting today a support forum has been added to our website.

It is a only member forum.  Registration is only for CiaoWeb clients(*). Currently there are two forums:

  • WordPress Forum:  with free video tutorials at beginners level to learn the basic use of this powerful content management system.
  • Hosting Forum: free video tutorials to get the most from your hosting account

Registration is very easy just click on the “Register” link on the top right of the screen and insert a user name and your email, you will then emailed a password go back to the forum page and click on “Logic” just insert your details and enjoy the forum.

This is the link to the forum page: http://ciaoweb.co.uk/forum

(*) Registration is only for active clients who bought at least a Small Business Hosting Package. More info on hosting offers here:  http://ciaoweb.co.uk/hosting/hosting-plans/

Categories : News
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6 Tips for Writing for Web Readers

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Most of the rules and tips that are associated with writing for eZines and newsletters also apply to writing blog entries, though there are some truly important differences as well. If you keep these top ten tips for writing a blog entry in mind, you will be creating excellent blog content in no time at all.

1. Headline is important – The first thing that your visitors will notice is your blog post titles. While it\’s great to use clever titles sometimes, make sure you have enough clear and concise titles, so visitors don\’t have to search very far to know what your blog posts are about.

2. Dont take a too-formal tone – Blogging is a more informal medium than print, and your writing style should reflect that. Blogging allows you to write in a casual, face-to-face tone, as if you were sitting down for a cup of coffee with your readers. One way to begin to develop your blog \”voice\” is to read blogs that resonate with you and study the ways in which those bloggers choose words that maintain a professional tone while still being warm and accessible.

3. DON\’T use tired clichs. – A clich is a phrase that has been coined for so long that it has become boring. An easy way to turn off readers and make them move on to another site is to pepper your posts with clichs like \”right as rain\” and \”easy as pie.\” Take a minute to prune those phrases out and replace them with something fresh and original.

4. Make Lists – Bulleted and numbered lists work equally well in turning text that could be published as long paragraphs into easily scannable content. Use lists whenever you can to break up long blocks of text.

5. Be honest – Blogs that are written in an honest voice and truly show who the writer is are often the most popular. Remember, a critical component to a blog\’s success is the community that develops around it. Represent yourself and your content honestly and openly and reader loyalty will undoubtedly grow.

6. Keep it short and simple, sweetie. (KISS) – Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.

Following what works will only get you so far. Experiment with new styles, even if it means taking criticism. Without moving forward, you\’ll be left behind.

Nik Imran is the writer of IMakeABlog, a blog that provides guide on how to make a blog. He also reviews blog products in his site. You can check out his review on blog mastermind review, the most recommended blog coaching program. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Categories : Web Development
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How To Write Your Best About Page

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Who are you? This is not a philosophical question. It\’s the question every visitor to your blog asks you. Can you answer it and be clear, engaging, and open? The place where you need to answer this question is in the About page. Writing an About page is one of the most difficult tasks facing a blogger. I know – because I\’ve struggled with my About page a number of times. It\’s hard to write enthusiastically about oneself.

What should a basic About page include?

1. A picture of yourself – Having a picture of yourself in the \”About\” page is important for two reasons. Firstly, it helps your readers connect with you on a more personal level. Secondly, your readers will be able to trust you more.

2. An overview of what your blog is about – Share your elevator pitch (the short explanation of what your blog is about) and then expand the explanation. This is the perfect opportunity for you to explain why you\’re different from the other bloggers who write in your niche. What makes you special?

3. Contact information – If your blog does not include a \”Contact\” page, I recommend including your contact information in your \”About\” page. Some big blogs even provide their address in the \”About\” page. This is a good way to show to your readers that you can be trusted.

4. Share your story – The way to capture not only the mind but also the heart of your readers is to tell your story. After all, telling a story is an ancient way of communicating. The easiest way to find your story is to ask a simple question; Why do you blog?, What made you start blogging?, What\’s your aspiration? These are just some of them.

5. Write in first person – I recommend writing in first person rather than third person to be more personal with your readers. Also, writing in third person is rather weird, if your blog is still small. This is because most readers would assume you have written it yourself.

6. Write your goals – Goals are great motivation for many. This is also true when reading the goals that others set for themselves. If you have a goal which is related to your blog, it would be a good idea to share them with your readers as well, so they can relate to you.

\”A frequent offense we witness with bloggers is an outdated, useless, lame or ugly \”about\” page. When people visit websites, a shortcut for their getting to know you is to click on your \”about\” button, so this is your opportunity to capture them. Your about page needs to be catchy and capture the essence of who you or your company is, it should contain some sort of contact information and it should be like a handshake at a party with a quick introduction as to who you are and what you do.

Nik Imran is the writer for IMakeABlog, A blog that provides guide on how to make a blog. Besides blogging tips, he also provide blogging tool reviews. You can check out his thesis review to learn more. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Categories : Web Development
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Add Interactivity To Your Web Pages

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

JavaScript is a well-established scripting language which creates code that can execute both an HTML page loads and after it has loaded. It is very efficient since it can run independently on the computers of the visitors to your web site. Thus freeing up your server to do other things. It is so widely used on web sites that, though it is possible for a user to disable JavaScript within their browser settings, most people will need to leave it active if they are to interact with the sites they visit. Adobe Dreamweaver allows web developers to add JavaScript to their pages by using what it refers to as \”behaviors\”.

A Dreamweaver behavior is an automatically generated JavaScript function which is activated by a given user or browser action. To use behaviors, choose Window – Behaviors. Before attaching a behavior, you must highlight one of the elements on your page such as a hyperlink or image. Then you need to choose a behavior by clicking on the plus sign in the top left of the Behaviors window.

Whenever you attach a behavior to a web page element, Dreamweaver attempts to guess what the event which should trigger the JavaScript (mouse click, rollover, etc.). If Dreamweaver fails to assign the event that you actually want, simply choose a different event from the drop-down menu next to the event name.

Dreamweaver contains several types of JavaScript behaviors. Some relate to images, others display windows and messages, others can be used on forms and form fields and still others can be used to manipulate CSS attributes. To get a flavour of how behaviors work, let us examine a behavior in each of the above categories.

The classic example of an image manipulation behavior would be the \”swapImage\” behavior. This venerable JavaScript function causes the source of a given image to change when the mouse passes over the image and back to the original when the mouse leaves the image. This behavior can either be explicitly applied to an image or can be generated automatically by inserting a rollover image.

As far as alerts and windows behaviors is concerned, as well as the simple \”Pop-up Message\”, which just causes a system alert box to appear, Dreamweaver also offers the more sophisticated \”Open Browser Window\”. This Dreamweaver behavior allows you to create a pop-up window of any specified dimension and allows you to choose the attributes of the window: the HTML file it displays, the presence or absence of the title bar, scroll bars, etc.

The most important and useful form-handling behavior is \”Validate Form\”. This can be triggered either on submission of the form (\”onSubmit\”) or when a given text field loses focus (\”onBlur\”). When you assign the behavior, you choose the type of validation you wish to perform: ensuring that the field has not been left blank, contains a valid email address, contains a number or contains a number between two specific values.

Dreamweaver contains a couple of very useful behaviors which manipulate the content of HTML elements. To use these, you need to give the element and ID (for example). The DIV element offers the greatest flexibility when using this behavior since it can contain just about anything you want. You highlight the element which will trigger the behavior and then choose Show/Hide Elements from the Behaviors panel menu. Click on any listed element then click either the Show or Hide button.

Each behavior that you choose will create one or more JavaScript functions within the head area of your page. Part of the process of optimising your website (both in terms of accessibility and search engine compatibility) is to transfer this code to an external JavaScript file and then link the web page to the JavaScript file. To do this, you need to be in Code view and locate the function(s) generated by the behavior(s) you have used on your page. Cut all of the code between the opening and closing SCRIPT tags and place it in a text file which needs to be saved with a .js extension. Next, enter an src attribute inside the opening SCRIPT tag, for example \’SCRIPT src=\”scripts.js\”\’.

The writer of this article conducts Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 training courses and HTML/XHTML training in London and throughout the UK.

Categories : Javascript
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Jonathan Mizels Traffic Evolution, A Review On This New Source Of Traffic.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

In the wake of Google being so damn unfriendly to affiliate marketers and banning thousands of adwords accounts, it\’s becoming really important not to have all of your eggs in one basket, and to make sure that you\’re getting traffic, not just from the search engines, but from several sources. Of course, where do you find those sources of traffic, which are good value for money, and which are crap?

Enter Traffic Evolution from Jonathan Mizel.

So How Does Traffic Evolution Work?

Traffic Evolution gives you the skinny on getting stacks of cheap paid traffic. If you\’re looking for a course that will get you natural search engine traffic, then this isn\’t the place for you.

Jonathan Mizel takes you on a tour of all the ad networks that he uses, how to start an account with them, and how to set up your first campaign. He then goes on to tell you about all of the pitfall, so that you won\’t make too many rookie errors.

One real advantage of looking into alternative sources of traffic is that there is less competition for the ad inventory and so you\’ll often pay a lot less for the clicks than you would on Google Adwords or Overture. When you think that the difference between a profitable campaign and a losing campaign is often just a few cents per click, then this information becomes all the more important.

So What\’s Good About Traffic Evolution?

There are two main parts to Traffic Evolution. The first is a series of twelve videos that run you through all of the ad networks that Jonathan Mizel is using, how to sign up, and how to make the most of the traffic that you get. The second thing that you get is access to the members only forum. Generally with a forum of this type (an addition to the main product) the guru in question just lets their members run it, with little interaction from themselves.

Not so on this one. Jonathan Mizel is active in this forum and takes care to answer nearly every thread that asks for a response. This is NOT COMMON in the internet marketing world, where everybody seems to be tending towards outsourcing so that they have to do minimal work.

Also in this current world of continuity programs (where you get charged monthly) Jonathan Mizel in his infinite wisdom has decided to charge a one off $197 for the product.

I\’m at the point where i\’m about to boycott monthly continuity programs because they cost so much, an generally most of the products that now charge monthly could have been bought with a one of payment a year ago, so to see a product with just a one off payment was great!

What I Don\’t Like About Traffic Evolution.

This is a pretty specialised product, so it\’s only about alternative sources of paid traffic. It doesn\’t show you what to do with the traffic once you\’ve got it, or how to make sure that the traffic that you do get is really targeted towards your ideal customers. That\’s not really a bad, it\’s just something that you should know. It doesn\’t go into keyword research or demographics at all.

Thankfully, that\’s it for the Bad!

So Who is Traffic Evolution For?

**Traffic Evolution is for EXPERIENCED marketers ONLY!**

You really need to have a product that is currently making you some money, or at least be running campaigns on adwords that are making you some money.

Check out Google Cash, or maybe Perry Marshall\’s Perry Marshall\’s Definitive Guide To Adwords. Go to the video review link at the bottom of this article to find out where to get those or for reviews on those!

If you\’re a marketer who is already currently working with adwords, or if you\’re one of the poor buggers who had their accounts banned for life then this is a fantastic product that will get you more traffic at the best prices.

Is Traffic Evolution A Good Buy?

With the forum that\’s actually frequented and participated in by Jonathan Mizel, I think Traffic Evolution is well priced at $199. If there wasn\’t a forum then i would consider Traffic Evolution to be ever so slightly overpriced. This is mitigated by the fact that you can\’t really get the information elsewhere, and so for the moment a premium can be charged. In any case, I have never regretted getting Traffic Evolution myself.

How Does Traffic Evolution Look Overall?

In my opinion, you really need to be an experienced marketer to use Traffic Evolution. And if you fit this category, then it\’s an excellent buy, and you should get it asap. If you\’re not an experienced marketer then you should give this one a miss, or at the very least understand that Traffic Evolution won\’t be a stand alone course for you, and you\’ll have to use it in conjunction with other courses.

Traffic Evolution Rating:

1. Usability: 4 stars out of 5: Great videos, Awesome Forum, Good info. 2. Usefulness: 4 stars out of 5: This is a great source of info for getting new paid traffic. 3. Value for money: 4 stars out of 5: Not Cheap by any means, but $199 is okay considering the scarcity and timeliness of the information, and with the forum factored in, is actually pretty good value. 4. Overall: 4 stars out of 5: An excellent course, well priced overall, with great presentation.

Some alternatives to Traffic Evolution would be GoogleCash or Perry Marshall\’s Definitive Guide To Adwords.

John Detlefs is a life coach and internet marketer from Sydney, Australia. For an in-depth video review of Traffic Evolution on Traffic Evolution then just click on Traffic Evolution Video Review. Of course if you would like to have a look at Traffic Evolution yourself, the just click Check Out Traffic Evolution

Categories : Web Development
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Blogging The Whole World\’s Doing It ?

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Forum discussion helps a lot of people on how it conveys new thoughts and opinions from different user around the globe. It allows user to share his belief on a specific topic or thread. It also aids in making a virtual community that has common interest of hobby. Thus, it invites more members to participate on discussion threads and more funds due to further site traffic.

Several people around the globe benefit from reading and participating on forums. You can get new opinions about a specific subject, thus, it acts as a center of information that you can depend on. In addition, you can trade ideas, giving out tips or just sharing a day-to-day experience. Forums aid in creating a virtual community through constant communication between users. Users share new knowledge with one another to invite more people to participate on the ongoing interaction as well as increasing number of discussion threads.

If you give specific information in a thread, it will build a significant back links to your main site. It will generate more traffic as well as reverting readers to your site because of well placed information on both portals. You can create your own forum directly into your site – which can be effective if your customer base is strong. But it will extremely consume your time as well as your money. Without a doubt, the best way to host your forum off site. It will also generate traffic to your main site. Boardster.Net, offers a free and high standard forum hosting service. They use fully scalable and customizable Open Source bulletin board package. It will help you to build a special look of your forum using your own style on their stable servers.

PhpBB is another forum hosting provider that offers a free and accessible hosting service. Their system is adaptable, high-powered, plus, an open source software forum package. It is very simple to install and it support multiple database management servers. It\’s also capable for multiple-language interference with strong password encryption and authorization. You can post a lot of forums, either private or public, to have more users participating in your discussion threads. Its search facility works fine, as well as the private messaging tool. Template can be altered; messages can be format, image posting, and automatic URL linking. You must visit and read their FAQ section if you have more queries about their service.

Forums are truly a remarkable tool on websites today. It does not only serve as a new source of knowledge, but it can help a site to have more traffic, as well as money. Forums users and readers enjoy sharing and learning from the advices they get on forums. In this way, it helps in creating a back link to a main site, thus, a good traffic for a site. Do not hesitate participating in forums. It\’s proven helpful for both site owners and forum users.

Winnipeg Website Manitoba Canada Website Design websites designersdesign, and Developers develop. Marketers market. Who would you rather build your website? At Hep, we are marketers first. Our top priority is creating a website that converts visitors to action, and then to customers. We create a tool that will get you more of what you want. online Why Are We Different than the average Search Engine Optimization setup ?

Categories : PHP
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Split Testing and its Impact on Internet Marketing

Monday, January 11th, 2010

The Internet is the only source available that has the option of throwing millions of different subjects at you with the click of a mouse. Because of the wide spectrum of information, the marketing world is taking full advantage. Ever get annoyed with those pop-up ads? Somebody paid good money to advertise that product on the site.

An effective internet marketing campaign as opposed to one that fails is very small in difference. Because the details are so tiny between a marketing concept that works and one that fails, marketers often conduct ?split testing.?

Split testing is a sales tactic that tests two different sales pages, keywords, PPC copy and other online sales tools using an equal number of impressions/views to see which one converts more effectively. Split testing is one of the few research tools marketers can use and boy do they use it!

For example, suppose you have two ads with minor differences. This could include a different color or small phrase. You want to test the two, which is known as split testing. You run the test for a few days.

The ad campaign will run for a few days. At the end of the campaign, the marketer studies the two ads and breaks down which one was more effective. The marketer selects the more effective ad and then makes another minor change to the ad. Another split test is conducted. This process continues several different times until an ideal ad is discovered.

Split testing is also used for newsletters, sales copy, and many other forms of writing that promote sales. A lot of marketers use software to help rotate their sales pages, and examine which technique works the most effectively.

Split testing is very important in understanding which ad works best, ultimately maximizing your chances for profit. Split testing is the only real effective, true type of online marketing test. It?s an internet marking science in a way.

Split testing is one of the few effective research tools that marketers can afford to use. However the process of split testing never ends and it?s the marketers who constantly use it that have the greatest success.

Graham McKenzie is the content Syndication Manager for the splittestmasterguide.com teaching webiste owners how to split test for increased profits.

Categories : Web Development
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Overview of XML Technologies

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Core XML

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a specification by the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) for creating markup languages such as XHTML. The XML specification is being used in an increasingly wide range of applications for exchanging data between different environments, platforms and media. One of the main reasons for its rapidly growing popularity is its flexibility. It allows developers to define their own hierarchy of tags which reflect the structure of their data. In addition to the core XML specification, a number of other technologies have been developed for working with XML projects.

XML Schema

XML schema documents and schema languages are used to validate and document XML markup languages. They allow developers to explicitly lay down the syntactical and structural ground rules for particular classes of XML documents. A number of schema languages have been developed but perhaps the two most important are those defined by the W3C: Document Type Definition (DTD) which was built into the original XML specification and the more XML schema language developed a few years later.

XSL, XSLT AND XSL-FO

Next we have XML technologies for transforming XML. Extensible Stylesheet language (XSL) comprises two parts: XSL Transformations (XSLT) and XSL Formatting Objects (XSL-FO). XSLT stylesheets are essentially XML documents which transform a given class of XML document (referred to as the source tree) into a different class of XML document (referred to as the output tree). XSLT documents can be compared to CSS documents but are much more powerful. XSL-FO documents are written in XML and control the formatting layout in an output document in a very detailed manner. It allows the definition of layout masters from which are derived page sequences for generating the final document pages. Flow objects are then used to bind data to the various regions of pages.

XPath, XLink, XPointer and XQuery

XPath, XML Linking Language (XLink), and XML Pointer Language (XPointer) are all provide solutions for linking and addressing when working with XML documents. XPath is a declarative language which uses expressions that resemble the directory paths used to describe locations in computer file systems. XPath expressions are used in XSLT documents to address specific nodes within the hierarchy of the XML source document.

XLink is essentially a method of creating hyperlinks within XML documents. It overcomes some of the limitations of the hyperlinks used in XHTML, such as the fact that each hyperlink has only one source and one destination. XPointer allows you to create links which point to very specific points within the hierarchy of an XML document by including XPath expressions in its syntax. XQuery is designed to query XML data in much the same way that SQL is used to query databases. It uses XPath expressions to extract elements and attributes within the structure of an XML document.

Author is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Training, an independent computer training company offering XML training courses in London and throughout the UK.

Categories : Web Development
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Weighing the Different Options in Small Business Opportunities

Friday, January 1st, 2010

If you are an entrepreneur out looking for a small business opportunity, it is certainly a good time to be alive. Since the rise of internet businesses, there have been fewer and fewer limitations for someone with a great idea. No matter the type of business you are considering, you should be sure to do your homework and avoid the mistakes common to many startups.

Like many people venturing into business for the first time, you may be following a lifelong dream. There are a couple of questions every entrepreneur should ask him/herself at the outset. For example, is this business the type of thing which comes naturally to you? Is it one of the first things on your radar at the start of the day? Finding the right match for your personality type is important, as is gauging the level of your commitment. Would you drop everything else in life to see the business through? If the answer is no, that isn’t necessarily bad news, as your emotional commitment will be less demanding.

As for a business which you consider the realization of a personal dream, there are many advantages. You will most likely remain enthused by the focus of your business as long as you run it. Furthermore, you won’t have trouble explaining concepts to anyone interested. The expertise you have in the field will come easily. Still, it may be hard to be flexible. Perfectionists are notorious for their inability to compromise. While this may be a useful characteristic for a specialist in a company, the customer service side is completely different. People skills are essential to the success of any small business, so make a clearheaded assessment of yourself and adjust accordingly.

In terms of a business opened for strictly financial reasons, investing in a franchise may be a good fit. Instead of designing the structure and focus of your business, the model is delivered whole to you, with its strengths and weaknesses already well known. If business comes easy to you, you’ll probably get the operation going without too many headaches. The challenges will come from other directions, such as becoming an expert in the product itself. With fast food restaurant franchises, for example, if you are inexperienced in the kitchen, you will have much to learn.

Even if you are willing to take the plunge in a small business venture, don’t dive in without a safety net. Keeping just enough savings to start over – or to weather an unforeseen storm – is advised.

There are many places to find out about small business opportunities. You will see options online, but you may also see the need for a new business in your community on your own.

Even if your first project doesn’t have the type of success you expected, there is no reason to be discouraged. Every successful business owner has had his/her share of failure.

The bottom line about starting a small business is you can realize the dream of independence. Imagine waking up each day as the boss and watching a project succeed under your own banner.

Damian Papworth, a small business owner also, delights in offering small business web design advice. He adores helping his customers get their website on Google. Don’t reprint this exact article. Instead, reprint a free unique content version of this same article.

Categories : Web Development
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The Role Of SEO Copywriting In Ranking Your Website

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

You may have listened to the term SEO by now. It has become rather a common jargon for the Internet-savvy. SEO actually stands for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimizer.” Numerous companies are now employing search engine optimizers in order to advertise their website and reach out to a wider market.

Many SEO consultants provide useful and tested services for web owners. Their services include a review and analysis of your live website contents and structure; extending technical advice on website development; content development; keyword mining and research; management of numerous online business development campaigns; and in-house SEO training.

Now let us focus on the content aspect of SEO. SEO copywriting is a technique of writing a text on the web page that permits the viewers and visitors to read it clearly, while targeting the demands of search engine robots. The goal of search engine optimization copywriting is to get the website rank highly in search engines using the particular keywords. Copywriting also optimizes other on-page aspects such as Title, Description and Keywords tags, headings and alt text.

So what truly is the concept behind SEO copywriting? Search engines expect genuine content pages with relevant texts that are associated with certain keywords. It is made for the unique intention of achieving high rankings. When it comes to SEO copywriting, it is recommended to have about 250 viewable words per page and strategically laid keywords within the text. However, SEO copywriting works for suitable websites and suitable search terms. It is also very important that the writer knows how to avoid the deadly sins of copywriting, with keyword stuffing on top of the list. With these factors, SEO copywriting can attain great results which can direct a website to have higher rankings across many popular search engines.

A page that is successfully optimized by copywriting however, has no warranties. There may be rivals with better SEO strategies. If your website keeps on sliding in the rankings, then SEO copywriting must be redone.

Discover how SEO Copywriting and SEO Strategies can help increase the traffic to your website and thus boost your business!

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