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Web Marketing « MandarinMusing.com

Archive for the 'Web Marketing' Category

Best Web Hosting Companies

When you are new on the world wide web, and ready to choose your first web hosting provider, the first question on your mind would be to know as to which web hosting is the best web hosting for your company?

If you have just started with a new website, and it’s your first time online presence, you may want to know how to choose a domain name, followed by choosing a web hosting provider. I would recommend that you start off with a web host provider that provides you only as much disk space as you may require initially and then gradually provides you additional disk space as your website grows in terms of the content with time. No point spending extra amount on space that remains unused. So first identify whether your site is graphic-intensive because that could take away a lot of disk space.

Try to get some experience first and you can always move to another web host later. In order to be able to do that, you would require a web hosting company service that does not force you to sign up for more than a year. You may get discounted prices for signing up for a longer period, but if you say shut down your site in less than one year, that discount would be a loss. Basically you don’t want to pay extra unless your site is popular. When your website generates huge traffic, you could consider longer periods to pay. Now that would be a value-add!

For beginners, BlueHost and HostMonster offer reasonable prices with a good service. Headsetoptions.org now provides an attractive web hosting package along with your custom WordPress Themes and Web Design. Contact us for more details.

BizFive.com Business Directory and Resources

Bizfive Business Directory ResourcesEarlier, we wrote about free article submission, this time it’s about directory submission and here’s BizFive.com for your adds with some distinct features. On the outset, this business directory looks professional, less cluttered than most web directories and the layout structure also seems SEO friendly.

The interesting features of this business directory are business articles including business basics, business issues, business finance, design and development, monetization, SEO and marketing and web hosting, and of course, you can add your site to the directory.

Also, you will find business documents with enhanced business features, how-tos, details, checklists, techniques, standards and information catering to the increasing web trends of Business-to-Business (B2B) services and exponentially increasing demands for web-based resources and information. Current categories available are Board of Directors and Shareholders, Business Planning and Management, Credit and Collection, Customer Service, Employment and HR, Finance and Accounting, Internet and Technology.

Some of you might be particularly interested in Design and Development. Here are excerpts from Seven Design Principles I found on this site.

Copy: Scannable, try using bullets, highlight your keywords for specific information your readers might be looking for.

White space & text design: White space is easy on the eyes. Fonts should be large enough for even the older ones to read. Clutter free and yet space optimization is a must.

Pictures: Pictures create a mood and interest, choose an appropriate picture for your post. Keep them light, so that they do not take too long to load.

Graphics: Plan your graphics well, a haphazardly arranged graphics reflects an amateur site, so do it right and within the requirements.

Be easy to navigate: Keep few links in your main directory, arouse interest interest instead of choice fatigue. Maintain hierarchy.

Be credible: With constant skeptics around you, ensure your site looks professional, your stats reliable, and content original.Testimonials, warranty, guarantee, secure credit card processing, privacy policies, disclaimers are the way to go.

Never Be Finished: Google likes fresh content, so do readers. Keep adding new information, tweak your site design keeping SEO in mind.

This PR5 directory seems to be doing great… from concept, to content, to usability, to visibility, to SEO to making money online to business how-tos, browse through hundreds of articles. Great info, free downloads!! If you like this directory, please leave a comment and we will soon find more PR5 and PR5+ Directories for you!

10 Tips to Increase Traffic with Alexa Web Marketing

TrafficAlexa.com if the #1 Traffic Ranker in the blogosphere.

1. First and foremost, add the Alexa Site Stats Button to your site, if your site ranking is high, flaunt it in a visible spot. Even if your site ranking is not high, the toolbar will act as a constant motivator for you to be a active blogger.

2. Add Alexa Toolbar to your own site and let your readers know that it also blocks pop-ups!

3. Find out your competitor’s ranking. If yours is higher, display a comparative traffic graph proudly on your site with Alexa’s free traffic graph banner.

4. Alexa is owned by Amazon. The reviews done on Alexa can be a part of your Amazon profile. If you don’t have an Amazon profile, get it now!

5. If you have an associate ID, Amazon will include your ID in your link. Also, any purchases made at Amazon using the new Alexa toolbar will earn you commissions.

6. Thank your customers and well-wishers for writing good Alexa/Amazon reviews for you. You can also thank your customers by providing them a discount or a free gift. This might encourage them to be a repeat publisher for you!

7. Once you establish a friendly base with your new customers, you could request permission to re-publish the review on your own site as a testimonial. Even better if the individual/site who reviews your site is more reputed than yours, or at least as good as your own.

8. If your site traffic increased by adding affiliate products to your site, highlight it with the free dynamic Alexa traffic graph and encourage others to be your sub-affiliates. High traffic could translate into high sales.

9. Keep a track of the upcoming and current trends by visiting the global top 500 sites on Alexa’s homepage. If you want to capitalise on the difference in economies in different countries, I would recommend a thorough study of country-specific top sites.

10. Last but not the least, do visit Alexa at least once or twice a day!

If any of you have tested any of the Traffic Booster softwares online, do leave your comments here!