Archive for March, 2010

History and Benefits of Internet Marketing

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

 

The commencement of first Internet marketing was is early 1990s with simple, text-based websites, which offers product information. As the time passed Internet marketing evolved into more than just selling information products, now there are people who are selling advertising space, more software programs, business models, and actually many other products and services. Today companies like google, yahoo and msn leveled the playing field of internet marketing. They offer local advertising to small to medium sized businesses; ROI has also grown while the bottom line has been lowered. This type of internet marketing is a backbone of modern capitalism, permitting anyone with a though, product or any service to reach the widest possible audience.

Houston Internet marketing is gaining popularity day by day. Actually, the internet marketing could cover any face of outline marketing as described above; latest used term internet marketing commonly refers to the use of direct response marketing strategies, which were conventionally used in radio, direct main, and TV infomercials, have applied to internet business space. This ability for careful analysis has become quite general now, that is why you would commonly see terms such as ROI, conversion rate, and sales letter generally come up when discussing about internet marketing.

Benefits

Some of the advantages related with Houston Internet marketing comprise the availability of information. Consumers could simply log onto the Internet and know about products and as well as buy them, at any hour. Companies, which use Internet marketing, could also save money because of a reduced need for a sales force. Overall, Internet marketing could surely assist in expanding from a home market to both national as well as international marketplaces. Unlike established marketing media (such as print, radio and TV), entry into the kingdom of Internet marketing could be a lot less expensive.

Compared to the other media marketing (such as print, radio and TV), Internet marketing is rising extremely fast. It’s also earning fame among small businesses and even consumers when attempting to monetize their blog or website. The calculation of the internet marketing as a media makes it very easy to experience ground-breaking e-marketing tactics, which would prove a better Cost of Acquisition than other media. However, in most urbanized countries, internet marketing and advertising spending is about 5% only, while TV, radio, and the print are far more.

 

Seo Premium Wordpress Theme

Friday, March 19th, 2010

 

Let’s face the facts; there are a gazillion websites on the internet. You don’t have the luxury of publishing a mediocre site when, at most, you have only a few seconds to capture the reader’s attention. Your site design is the web with which you catch your fly. Whether they stick and stay is up to your content. One of the main reasons Thesis Wordpress Theme has become so popular, is that it provides a clean, elegant design with enough flexibility to allow you to tailor it to any need.

Design - Thesis Wordpress Theme Version 1.3

thesis wordpress theme, thesis v1.3.2, thesis version 1.3.3

Thesis Version 1.3 continues where previous versions left off, by providing stellar typography, user accessibility, interface design and search engine optimization. The overall look is professional, with sufficient gravitas to lend authority to your content. Elements of the overall design are endlessly customizable through the easily navigated user interface. Layouts and fonts are controlled without the need to fiddle with the site’s core code. Everything is laid out in an intuitive manner which doesn’t require an advanced degree in computer science to navigate. This attribute alone makes it a perfect choice for anyone deploying a site for the first time. The interface abounds with nice ergonomic touches such as the inclusion of an asterisk next to web-safe fonts on the selection menus. And let’s not overlook the “B.A. Save Button”! But even this trademark item is customizable, although Chris Pearson, Thesis’s creator, doesn’t advise it.

Changes from Thesis Wordpress Theme Version 1.2

Many improvements were added to version 1.3 however, there are three additions that deserve special mention. The new Thesis Layout Constructor allows you to mix and match the column order any way you like, maximizing the possibilities between one, two or three column layouts. Content can be located in the middle or either side of the sidebars, all with the click of the mouse. This is possible due to a new HTML module structure creating six new possible layouts. In addition to this added flexibility, Thesis Wordpress Theme now adds a Framework Selector which allows you to select between a page framework and a full-width framework. In full-width mode, your headers and footers carry to the edge of the browser’s viewable space. Again, the concept is flexibility without having to touch the underlying core code. The third major improvement over version 1.2 is a more robust hook system. Previously, if you wanted to customize your theme, you hacked away at the HTML for each individual template file. This process was time consuming at best, and a recipe for disaster at worst. Once you worked out all the bugs, you were off and running, but what if you decide at some point to change your theme? Guess what? You get to do it all over again. The hook system, which was introduced in version 1.2, solves that problem by creating one of the most critical ways to customize your theme without touching the underlying code. Even more importantly, hooks do their work while assuring forward-compatibility. Thesis Wordpress Theme now has thirty-one hooks which allow you to add and subtract content such as ads, pictures, design attributes etc.

Thesis Wordpress Theme And Search Engine Optimization

The whole point of a website and/or blog is to drive traffic to it so that you can share your unique content. To do so, you must optimize your code for search engines, without landing in the dreaded Supplemental Index. To begin with, Wordpress is designed to be very amenable to SEO, but even with that on your side, the way your theme(s) are built have an enormous impact on how search engines view your site. Thesis Wordpress Theme includes code that is optimized for search engine retrieval without any customization. With Thesis Wordpress Theme you can easily optimize the content of a page and manage keywords for better pass-through. Of course Thesis plays well with plug-ins like SEO Title Tag for more control, but out-of-the-box, Thesis handles SEO well.

Thesis Wordpress Theme - Pricing And Support

Thesis provides purchase options to fit the needs of every level of user. The basic package, or Personal License, sells for $87 and includes a single seat license for one production site and one development server. The catch with this package is that the footer information must remain intact, although this is truly a small nit to pick. For a little less than double the price of the basic license, or $164, you get the Developer’s License which gives you unlimited use of the theme on any number of sites and the ability to remove the footer link. If you’re unsure, and just want to dip your toe in the water, you can opt for the Personal License and then upgrade to the full-up Developer’s license later for an additional $77. What do you get for your money? Well, as it turns out, quite a lot: Theme upgrades are free for life. You get total access to Thesis Forums, free tidbits to customize your theme such as styles, images and the like, all available for download, and unbelievable support. This touches on an itchy subject. We all know that claims of superior user support are, more often than not, marketing hype designed to make you feel better about putting forth the green. Except that in this case, it happens to be true. The creator of Thesis, Chris Pearson is often the one providing support, often within a day of posting your question. But you don’t need to take my word for it, just check out the testimonials page.

Thesis Wordpress Theme : The Conclusion

Yes, there are thousands of free themes out there available for download, and yes, you can create your own with Wordpress template functionality, but why? If you’re a novice webmaster or just starting to blog, then you probably don’t have the requisite skills to do all the hard-core coding. On the other hand, even if you have god-like coding fu, why bother? You have far more important things to spend time on such as researching and writing content and managing your ad revenues. Especially if you are in the latter classification, Thesis Wordpress Theme will pay for itself rather quickly. There simply is no other Wordpress theme available that delivers so much for so little. That is why Thesis is one of the best choices of Wordpress theme available today. And for the same reasons, I use Thesis Wordpress Theme for my blog. :)

Thesis Wordpress Theme Version 1.3.2 is already out. And the newest version of Thesis includes more fantastic features that makes blogging more efficient. Some of the added features are: more SEO options and improvements, fixes on SEO plugin compatibility, improved multi-media box functionality, new page template functionality and hooks, design and layout changes, and MANY MORE!

What do you think of Thesis? :)

 

What You Need To Know About WordPress Podcasts

Friday, March 5th, 2010

 

WordPress is a blogging platform that has podcasting support. A podcast is a pre-recorded audio program, very much like a radio program that is listened to on the computer. Podcasting is distributing audio or video content via RSS 2.0 or atom as WordPress creates all the necessary links for the site.

Using WordPress for Podcasting

WordPress works for podcasting. It starts with the creation of a video or audio that is intended to be shared. The file is uploaded to a server and the line to the file is posted in the weblog. WordPress automatically includes a link to the file in the RSS/Atom feed. Listeners will then subscribe to the feed where new files are downloaded automatically.

Podcasting is supported by WordPress 1.5. Linking to an audio file in one of the posts will result to WordPress automatically adding the enclosure tag to the RSS2 feed to make it usable as a podcast. It is important to use a complete and absolute URL when linking to an audio file or WordPress will not be able to make an enclosure for it.

The RSS2 feed should be made available by putting a linking somewhere on the page. As of WordPress 1.5, the RSS 2.0/Atom links are located at the bottom of the page by default. This only works for posts and not for static pages. When a linked file is inaccessible upon publishing of the post, WordPress will not be able to collect the information it needs from the linked files.

A change in the linked file would require refurbishing of the posts so that WordPress can update its file size information about the file. In order for WordPress to recognize m4a and m4b files as podcast, the web server has to be configured to serve the right content type. An XML at the end of the RSS/Atom URL may occasionally be needed for it to work properly.

Dedicated podcast feeds can be made by creating a category in the Admin>Manage>Categories panel for the audio files, and a post containing an audio link must be assigned to every category. If audio file are being hosted on http://archive.org, a custom field called “enclosure” should be added and the full URL is posted for the MP3 file in the value field.

Podcasting allows anyone to create his/her own audio programming and deliver it via the web. The usual way of distributing podcasts are through RSS enclosures as it allows the reference of binary data from within the RSS feed. Podcast readers subscribe to the RSS feed and download the audio files contained in the enclosures. The downloaded audio files are then moved to a portable audio player for later consumption.

Of WordPress Plugins

There are resources that will help in getting to know the WordPress blog platform better. The WordPress podcast features easy and understandable commentaries about WordPress plus a couple of plugins. It is a great learning resource for any skill or experience level. The Diagnosis plugin presents the detailed information about the server, operating system and the database. It is presented in a way that could be understood by the least technically-inclined person using it. Most will be able to appreciate its rich tech content.

The PodPress plugin is designed to make podcasting with WordPress as easy as possible. It has several features that will make its use fruitful to the user. It has full featured and automatic feed generation as well as auto generation of enclosure tag. It provides a preview of what the podcast would look like on iTunes. The podcast is able to download stats and there is support provided for premium content for pay accounts. This plugin makes adding a podcast to a post very simple and makes possible the viewing of MP3 files’ ID3 tag information. The contents of the ID3 tags can even be copied into the post.

It likewise provides control where the player will display within the posts. Support for various formats including video podcasting is given while it facilitates support for unlimited number of media files. It has automatic media player for MP3, MP4, MOV, FLV, ASF, WMV, AVI and others. It also includes in-line and Pop-up Windows support and provides preview image for videos.

The Mechanics of Podcasting

Podcasting’s publish/subscribe model makes use of the push technology wherein the information provider chooses which files to offer in a feed and the subscriber chooses among available feed channels. As a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program which is made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player, podcasting makes use of an automatic mechanism that transfers multi-media computer files from a server to a client. Podcasts are generally analogous to a recorded television or radio server.

The content provider starts by making a file available on the Internet usually by posting the file on a publicly-available web server. However, it is not technically necessary that the file be publicly accessible but it is required that it be accessible through some known URL or a general-purpose Internet address. He then acknowledges the existence of the file by referencing it in another file known as the feed.

The feed is a machine-readable list of the URLs by which episodes of the show may be accessed. One episode refers to the originally made file while the list provides other information such as publish dates, titles and accompanying text description of the series, and each of its episodes. This list can either be published in RSS format and less frequently in atom format.

Feeds may contain entries for all episodes in the series but are usually limited to a short list of the most recent episodes. A feed from one author is commonly used for standard podcasts but the practice of having multiple authors contribute episodes to a single podcast feed is fast becoming popular. The location known as the feed URI or feed URL at which the feed is posted by the content provider is expected to be permanent. This is to be made known to the intended audience.

The user enters the feed URI into a software called a podcatcher or aggregator which retrieves and processes data from the said feed. A podcatcher is a program which starts when the computer is started and runs in the background. A set of feed URIs is managed by it which is added by the user and downloaded at a specified interval. Any substantive change in the feed data from the time it was previously checked will trigger automatic downloading of the location of the most recent item to the user’s computer. Some podcatchers make the newly downloaded episodes available to a user’s portable media player. Downloaded episodes can be played, replayed, or archived like any other computer file.

 

Working From Home by Starting your Own Website Design Business and Designing Chicken Arks

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

If you are looking for a legitimate work from home job, consider Web Site Design. The beauty of this business is that it requires low start up costs. The only office equipment you would need would be a good computer, an Internet connection and website design software. You can also set the hours you want to work which suits me as i have already designed a chicken ark I want to market.

The web design software I recommend are Macromedia Dreamweaver (html editor) and Macromedia Fireworks (graphics editor). Microsoft Front Page and Adobe Photoshop are also excellent choices. If you lack web site design skills, don’t fret. The Internet is jam packed with free tutorials and advice on everything you would need to know about web site design and development. You would only be limited by your desire to learn. You can also purchase professional website templates to give you a jump start on designing web sites for your customers.

Have you ever thought about working from home? If you have, you know that the majority of the so called “work at home” jobs are scams. After being laid off from my telecommuting job I found myself looking for another at home job to replace it. After you’ve worked from home for a while, it’s hard to go back to the corporate 9-5. In my experience, most of the work at home jobs out there appeared to be scams. You shouldn’t have to pay an employer to work from home.

I thought I’d be smart and sign up with a website that specialized in work at home jobs. I Googled a website that promised to give you leads from employers who were looking specifically for people to work from home. The home page listed a lot of national companies (Bank of America, American Express, etc.). It appeared that these companies routinely posted jobs on the web site. All I had to do was buy a yearly membership and I’d have access to those awesome jobs. Those national companies may have been known to hire people to work from home but I quickly found out that they did NOT post any jobs on this website. The membership was a total waste of my money. To sum it up, it was a scam. Were there jobs posted on the web site? Yes, but the jobs were for telemarketers and sales. Nothing for a computer professional. It bugged me that the same stale jobs would be listed each day as if they were fresh!

That being said, web site design is a very exciting field to be in. The technology rapidly changes so there is always something new and exciting to learn, it’s a great outlet to release your creativity, you can make a lot of money quickly, and the best reason of all is that you can work from any location including at home in your PJs.

Given all of these reasons, many people wonder how to get started designing web sites for profit. As I said before, it takes very little money to start a successful online business. Once you learn how to design professional web sites (or use web templates), your only obstacle will be to market your business and win jobs. Sounds easy, but it’s not. There are many web site development firms out there who never win bids on projects. You could search the Internet for advice on winning web site design jobs. You can search for advice from business owners who are out there running successful web site design companies. This is a good approach but it does take time. I highly recommend visiting forums. Some of my favorite are Digital pint (http://forums.digitalpoint.com/) and Sitepoint (http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/).

 

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