Q&A: How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Q&A: How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Question:
How do you get your website to appear on the first page, at the top, of a Google search?

Answer:
Short answer, you don't. Most people when they think of searching will type in something very broad and very generic like "karate" or "training" or even a little more precise like "self defense" and see millions of results. Trying to tackle that amount of competition for the top spot is really a losing battle, unless you have very deep pockets. A better approach, and one that has a better chance of being successful for you is to focus your attention on specific search phrases.

For example, many of my martial arts clients are in the Western New York area. They aren't looking for someone in London England to hit their site, but for someone in the WNY area. So, a smart searcher will type in something like "Buffalo martial arts" (which results in 3 of my clients, and 5 of my sites on the 1st page) or "wny martial arts" (4 sites, 1 client on page 1), or "wny karate" (3 sites 1st page). Typing in something like "modern arnis seminar training" has 2 of my clients on the 1st page. Another example is "natural resource consulting" which has 1 of my clients on the 1st page of results.

It's important to think in terms of search phrases when you optimize your site, and focus on those. A combination of proper key words, solid descriptions, and appropriate text will greatly enhance your chances for high placement. Also, be certain all of your images are captioned using ALT tags. Those are an often overlooked place for extra optimization.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

Conflicker Eye Chart

http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org/infection_test/cfeyechart.html

If you can see all the images, you're probably ok.

Conflicker

Make sure your firewall is up.
Try to manually run a windows update.

If both work, you're probably clean.

In the mean time, make sure that your antivirus is up to date, and actively running.
Spyware/Malware protection also is good to have running.

There's alot of hype about this one, but 3M out of 1B pc's isn't that big a deal.

There's over 100,000 worms, viruses, etc out there.

The same precautions count for all of them:
- Use a reliable antivirus, and keep it current
- use a reliable malware shield, and keep it current
- use an on system firewall, and verify it's on.
- use a hardware firewall and make sure it's working
- make sure your system is up to date software wise.

Also
- don't open strange email attachments
- scan your email
- use a spam blocker to cut down on your spam
- don't visit bad websites
- don't use bootleg software from crack sites that may open holes in your armor or install nasties. .

See also: iant Internet worm set to change tactics April 1

Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?

Q&A: How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?


Question:
How do you get people to volunteer work for your money-making on-line business without complaint and with consistent, quality performance?

Answer:
My experience has shown that when people care about something, they will often put in the time to make it a success. Convention presenters have known this for years, and are often run by volunteer staffs in the hundreds, all working towards a common goal of a successful and entertaining event. Many of the same reasons apply when looking for staff for online communities. Treat your people right, stand behind them, give them guidance so that they know what is expected of them, and train them in how to do their job well. Don't treat them like slaves, or free help. Let them know when they are doing well, and show the your gratitude. A little appreciation shown can go a long way towards keeping god people happy. All of that however is useless, unless you have a purpose for which they will put in the time and effort. Make your enterprise one that people can feel a part of, that they can feel ownership of, and a part of, and you will find good people willing to help you build your dreams, together.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?

Q&A: How fancy and how big should your opening page be?


Question:
How fancy and how big should your opening page be?

Answer:
There are several different views on this. Some will recommend long and wordy, others hort an terse, others flashy, others simple. My suggestion is to tailor the page toward your goals for the site.

I recomend using a couple of graphics, 2-3 paragraphs of good descriptive text, loaded with strong keywords for the search engines to latch onto. This gives you a good starting point. You can add more paragraphs, but be mindful of how many graphics you place. Each one adds to the overall size of your main page, and slows down it's loading, especially for dialup users. A slow page detracts from the user experience.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.

Flush the crap out of your PC!

Quote:

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. Additionally it contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Friend recommended this to fix some issues I'm having. First pass through it cleared out over 300 megs of orphaned drivers and bits.

Remember to back up your registry before doing changes!

Q&A: How many different colors should you use on a webpage?

Q&A: How many different colors should you use on a webpage?


Question:
How many different colors should you use on a webpage?

Answer:
Finding proper color balance for a website is crucial to having a pleasing look. To many clashing colors makes your site look amateurish and often childish. I usually recommend using a minimum of different colors, looking instead for an easy on the eyes background, with a clearly contrasting color for fonts. Black text on a white or off white background for example. I then use other colors to compliment the design. Red on Blue gives a weird 3D like effect and is very hard on most peoples eyes. Shades of blue, green and brown, as well as darker reds seem to work the best. For cues on what colors compliment, I refer to traditional graphics tools like color charts.

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Bob Hubbard, is the CEO of SilverStar WebDesigns Inc. and an Administrator at MartialTalk.com and KenpoTalk.com. He can be reached through those sites.