Everyone would like to have his or her presence felt on the internet 24/7. Some would also like to have their details displayed when a search is made under their name in a search engine. Getting your website name suggested as one of the best is truly a matter of pride.

Now the question is how one exactly starts over his dream website.

• The first thing that a person needs to do is to think of the current in demand thing that would sell like hot cakes. Carry out some research over the topic and gather some details regarding the same.

• Now what you need is a name for your website. Search for the domain names that are available and would very well suit your website contents. You could use any of the names available ending with either of the following .com, .net, .org, .edu, .in, and so on.

• The next most important step is to get your contents properly arranged in the webpages:

1. Check each and every link and see to it that it leads to the appropriate pages. Also make arrangements for the addition of contents later on.

2. Leave enough spaces and wisely choose these spaces to place your advertising contents.

3. The contents that would be added should be unique and eye-catching. So that the visitors keep returning to your website again and again. Such websites are called as resonant websites.

4. Avoid using copyright material of the other websites. Some websites may report this to your web hosting administration and your website could be blocked whereas some websites allow publishing of their contents after their permission is sort out. Some websites allow publishing only a part of their contents with proper links directing to their website. Some websites also allow republishing of their contents after editing the contents properly and making it appear unique and different compared to their original content. All these information, whether the website allows the publishing of their contents is available in the Terms & Conditions link , Privacy Policies link, etc. in their website or you could also contact the website owners and ask them regarding their copyright materials. Their contact information is generally published in the contact us link available on their website.

5. Images could also be added to your website to make it appear more attractive. You could also make use of flash banners to display certain contents of your website. Videos and audios could also be used on a website as per the requirements.

6. Their are various free codes and scripts available on various websites which could be simply copied from their website and pasted onto yours to have that program or feature run on your webpage . For eg : If you would like to run a program on your webpage that would display the current date and time on your website then just visit the website which provides such codes and simply copy paste the given code onto your webpage and preview the webpage in order to see the program work.

• After your website is fully functional, find a good hosting company (eg : yahoo web hosting) to buy your required webspace and register your domain name. Now both these activities could be done from the same company or from different companies, where one is a dedicated host server and the other for registering domain name (eg : Domain registration Yahoo)

• Once this is done you will be provided an ftp username and password. Eg: [ftp://yourwebsite.com] will be the address which leads to your webspace given to you by your ftp hosting server. There you will be asked to provide the username and password given to you. This password could be changed later on. In this webspace you will then find a few folders out of which one will carry the name as www, inside which all your webpages should be copied from your computer or from some external storage device. Now to confirm that your website is online and running open your internet browser and type your website name and surf through your website to clarify any errors.

• Now you need advertisements to be displayed on the website, if your website is meant to display advertisements to collect revenue from the website. But if your website is set up just to advertise your product and service and you do not wish to publish any other advertisements then you do not need to follow this step. Otherwise sign up for advertisements that you could display on your website Eg: Google AdSense. After joining their program they will notify you through email whether your account has been activated or not. In case you apply for Google AdSense, which is considered as one of the best online advertising company which will assure you maximum profit, all you need to do is sign up for the Google AdSense account and once this is done you will be notified through email when your account gets activated. After that you can enter the AdSense login using your username and password and view your account details. To set up Google advertisements on your website you require the Google AdSense code. For this just click on the AdSense setup tab to get a page that displays whether you would like to have content ads, link ads or referral ads to be displayed on your website. Choose as per your wish and proceed further till you get the ad code. Just copy paste the entire code in the place where you want it to appear on your website. Relevant ads will then appear on your website when your webpage is uploaded on the internet.

• To attract traffic to your website, do the following basic things:

a. Submit your website in the popular search engines.

b. Search for the high paying keywords that you could use in your website content to simply occupy these keywords. This will not only assure you a top position in the search engine but also get high paying ads to appear on your website. Getting clicks on which may give you a good share of money (H > $5). Generally the price per click is $0.05.

• Try getting your website placed in that website which has a higher page rank. This would in turn increase your page rank and get you a top position in the search engine and get you maximum profit from the traffic experienced thereafter. For this you need to place their URL in your website and send the URL link of the webpage where you have placed their link and explain how it would be useful for them if they link to your website. There are also various websites which have a higher page rank ad they link to other websites with a lower page rank by asking them to pay a certain amount in return i.e. they literally try to make money directly out of a high page rank of their website. There are also various websites which will ask you to submit you website title, website URL and description and will then suggest a few websites that would like to trade links with you, these websites may or may not have a higher page rank. It is always advisable to link with a website having a higher page rank. Scrutinize the website with whom you will be linking to. Trading links is just one of the ways to increase your page rank by linking with the websites having a higher page rank and finally get a top position in the search engines.

• Keep updating your website from time to time and add as many pages you would like to add to your website.

• You even add an RSS feed to your website which gets updated automatically. The feed content could be anything which would be useful for your visitors. Adding an RSS feed will also ensure the search engines that your website is updated regularly and thus get you a higher position in the search engine results.

• Also make sure that you submit your website information in alexa.com and once the site displays your site rank and traffic details, place an alexa widget on your website which displays you website rank. This everyone may not agree upon, if the website ranks way too behind, but let me tell you that it is one of the tested methods used to increase the alexa rankings. Once you have a good alexa ranking you could get websites with a high page rank linking to your sites and thereby increase your page rank too.

• Always keep checking the statistics of your websites i.e. no. of unique visitors per month, no. of clicks per month, for where was the maximum crowd pulled to your website, what is your average click per unique visitor and what were the keywords used to find your website through search engines. The page displaying such data is usually provided by the web hosting company itself.

[http://www.inovins.com/making_a_successful_website.htm]

Just what is the difference between a bad site and one that is truly outstanding? You'll know when you see them. I'm sure you've seen examples of several great websites on the internet - and also remember examples of those you'll never want to revisit. If you want your visitors to come back then you've got to do a lot to impress them in an extremely short time. First impressions are really important. You only have about 20 seconds to make that first impression count so you want to do the best that you can.

Many individuals or small business owners often opt to design and build their own websites. Without proper experience or website design background many mistakes are made. If you are a beginner then there are several things you should keep in mind to avoid before designing your website.

Here are several common mistakes which should be avoided when designing your new website.

1. Slow Loading Pages

Problem: Have you ever gone to a website and waited and waited for it to load?

Solution: Optimize your images at a lower resolution to achieve faster loading pages. Keep your page sizes well under 60 KB.

2. Page Layout

Problem: Websites that have the navigation in different places throughout the site. It looks cluttered and unprofessional.

Solution: Be consistent and be organized in your websites layout. Make sure all your web pages look the same and the websites navigation is in the same location on each page.

3. Wild and Crazy Color Schemes

Problem: Have you ever visited a website that has a background with a bright, neon color and can't read the content because the colors are so loud? What's the point?

Solution: Think "easy to read." Avoid dark backgrounds with light colored fonts. White background with black text is best for the general public.

4. Spelling and Grammar Errors

Problem: Spelling and grammar errors just jump off the page.

Solution: Always spell check.

5. Text on the Page

Problem: Most internet users don't read web pages - they scan them.

Solution: Make sure your page is easy to read. Break text into manageable pieces, use sub-headings, short paragraphs, highlighted keywords and bullet points.

6. Font Styles and Sizes

Problem: Serif fonts such as Times New Roman are more difficult to read on a computer monitor. Also, text that is too small or way too big are hard to read.

Solution: It's a good idea to use non-serif fonts such as Verdana or Arial for web pages that will be read online. Your page will look much better, more professional, and will be much easier for your visitor to read.

7. Not Enough "White Space"

Problem: Too many words on a web page can be overwhelming.

Solution: Make your page easy to read by breaking the text into smaller, more manageable pieces. Also, use sub-headings and bullet points.

8. Cheesy Music that the User Cannot Control

Problem: Bad background music on a site. Next, not being able to shut it off.

Solution: If you think you need to use music on your website for some reason, then make sure you offer your visitors the option to turn it off, or on, quickly and easily.

9. Poor Layout and Design

Problem: Have you ever been to a website that is simply just "too much"? It's like they are trying to fill every available pixel of space on the entire page.

Solution: Don't overdo it when designing your pages. Just because you can add something doesn't mean you have to. Leave plenty of white space between your text and images.

10. Overly Long Pages

Problem: Ever been to a website with a page that just scrolls down forever?

Solution: Most people will never scan down to the bottom of really long pages. It's better to have several short pages vs. a few really long pages.

11. Non-Standard Links

Problem: You go to a website and aren't sure which words are really links because the link colors have been changed.

Solution: Don't confuse your users. Keep the link colors as they are.

12. Under Construction signs

Problem: Have you ever been to a website and found a page with no content of any type but a big "Under Construction" sign instead?

Solution: Don't use "Under Construction" signs on your website.

13. Didn't Test Your Web Site

Problem: Ever been to a website that just looks like a mess? Maybe you saw text overlapping images, weird alignment, etc.

Solution: Always check to see what your site looks like in multiple browsers and change accordingly before uploading your site to the web.

14. Unclear Navigation

Problem: You don't enjoy broken links, error pages or too many moving objects - neither do your websites visitors. If navigation is too difficult to follow, visitors won't return.

Solution: Make sure that your navigation is easy to read, find and to follow. Also, make sure that it is in the same spot on all of your websites pages.

15. Sloppy Web Site Copy

Problem: Have you ever visited a website with missing words, bad grammar, or it just didn't make sense?

Solution: Always remember, "Content is King" on the internet, so make sure there is plenty of good, focused information for your visitors.

16. Never Updating Your Site

Problem: Ever go to a website that hasn't been changed at all over the last few times that you've visited it?

Solution: You should always update the content on your site frequently.

17. Too Many Clicks

Problem: Have you ever gone to a website, found something you're interested in checking out, and then had to click, click, click before you found the item you were looking for (if you didn't give up first)?

Solution: Don't test the patience of your visitors. Make sure that everything can be found on your site within 3 clicks or less.

18. No Privacy Policy

Problem: No Privacy Policy page is listed on a website.

Solution: Post a Privacy Policy on your website. Make sure that your customers know that you will not share their addresses with anyone.

19. No Company Contact Information

Problem: A company with no address or contact information is not one you necessarily want to give your money to.

Solution: Email addresses or phone numbers are most often seen as contact information on websites, however, having a physical mailing address on your web site adds another key credibility factor.

20. Using Free Web Hosting

Problem: You visit a web page that has a name so long you'll never remember it because it is from one of those free website hosts.

Solution: If you want to be taken seriously as far as your internet business is concerned, avoid using free web hosting. This all adds to the issue of credibility.

21. Using Free E-mail Addresses

Problem: You visit a website and try to send an email to them, however the email addresses are not associated with the domain name.

Solution: Using a free email address, such as Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail, is never appropriate for your website. On your website it is a good idea to always use an email addresses that is associated with your domain name for your business.

22. Advertisements

Problem: You've come to a website where the pages are cluttered with a lot of different advertisements.

Solution: A lot of people are using advertisements to earn extra money. That's fine, just don't overdo it.

23. Bad Images

Problem: How many times have you seen a web page with missing graphics files or misshaped images?

Solution: Always optimize your images and use the height and width attributes of the image tag. Additionally, save the files in the right image formats: JPG for Photographs and GIF for artwork.

24. This Website Best Viewed on .....

Problem: This is often seen on many beginner websites.

Solution: Simply don't use this on your website.

25. No Prices

Problem: Websites that don't have product prices listed clearly.

Solution: If you're selling a product on your website, ALWAYS include a price with the item description.

Last but not least, here's a list of things that you should just avoid, simply because it's the right thing to do concerning website design. And here they are:

Frames, Hit counters, Orphan pages, Anything "Cutesy", Pop ups, Fancy Fonts, Don't overuse Flash, Avoid Javascript links, Blinking text , Animated GIFs, Missing Meta Tags, Horizontal (sideways) Scrolling, Don't underline or color normal text, Don't forget functional links on your footer, Don't forget about your Marketing Strategies, Don't forget to include anchor text on your links, Never subscribe a visitor for anything without his consent, Don't leave the home page title as "Welcome to Mysite.com", Avoid using all the "Bells And Whistles" simply because you can, Not Taking Advantage of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on your website

Whether you have created your own website or are working with someone else on creating your website, I hope all these ideas above will help you build a better website that steadily attracts visitors. If you've never built a website on your own, I hope the tips above help you design the best site that you can and help you to avoid all these issues in the future. Knowledge is critical.

Debbie Ray is a lifelong animal lover, dog enthusiast and internet business owner and also owner of http://www.the-website-doctor.com , http://www.pedigreedpups.com and http://www.total-german-shepherd.com . Want to learn how to build a website? More about dogs? Thinking about getting a purebred dog? German Shepherd Dogs? Promote your dog related website? Check out all my sites for more info.

How does a domain name work?

Many new people to the internet often confuse a domain name with web hosting. Registering a domain with an (ICANN accredited registrar) will not instantaneously cause your Web site to appear when someone enters your domain into the Web browser. You must also upload your Web site (the group of files that make up your site) to a computer (server) that hosts the site and assigns a numeric address, called an IP address, to your domain. Your domain and related IP address are stored in a Whois database with every other registered domain and associated IP address. When visitors enter your domain into a Web browser, your domain works like an address forwarding service by forwarding visitors to the IP address where your Web site is stored. We use domain names instead of IP addresses because most people find it much easier to remember a name rather than a series of numbers. This system also helps businesses online establish a unique identity that creates brand recognition.

However, when you register a domain, you do not always have to create a website and upload the files to your hosting server. You can also:

Sell Your Domain Later. They can be a great investment! If you have registered a domain that you are not using, someone else might want to use it. Depending on where you registered, you can log in to your Account Manager and set up a For Sale parked page for your domain and sell it to the highest bidder. Don't forget to include your contact information.

Protect your identity, and brand online. Obviously, more domains you register, the better. This will help to prevent others from registering a similar domain to yours-just to pilfer away your customers. What can you do with all these names? Forward them to your main domain that way you will capitalize on all the names.

Hold on to it for a while. Perhaps you have a great domain name but you haven't decided what to do with your new domain. Don't worry about it, there's no big rush. You can leave it parked for the length of your registration until you decide.

For new .COM and .NET domains and updates, it can take up to eight hours for the changes to become effective. It can also take up to 48 hours for changes made to all other domain extensions to become effective. This reason is because of the number of networks and agencies involved in the process. These delays apply to all domains and registrars. In many instances the delays aren't nearly this long, but please allow for this delay when planning Web sites or configuring a domain to work with your email.

Tips for registering a domain name

If your preferred domain is obtainable, you can register it for a period of time that you will specify during the checkout process. You can use your domain to build your business and assist you in creating a dynamic online identity. You may also want to seriously consider registering multiple domain names to:

" Keep your competitors from recording a similar domain name that draws customers to them instead of you.

" Promote a specific product and/or service you provide.

" Help to drive more quality traffic to your Web site.

" Create more ways to market to customers, and be listed on various search engines.

" Develop strategies that reach different target markets.

" Give your customers even more ways to find you when searching the Internet.

" Capture common misspellings of your domain name, instead of sending visitors to an error page.

" Safeguard your brand and identity online from others who may have objectionable purposes.

To generate a good name on the web for our site, you will have to do a little research. Choose an authorized domain registrar that is approved by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) the authority that manages the international Domain Name Server database, and ensures that all domain names are unique and map properly to a specific IP address. While selecting the domain registrar scrutinize their trustworthiness through various means, such as their prices, special offers, twenty-four hour support services, etc. You should select only that registrar who is giving you complete control over your domain. There are many registrars who hide some critical information from the customers and secure the rights to some very important settings in a domain such as changing the DNS servers, forwarding, masking, etc.

Brainstorm numerous names, and don't get your heart set on one particular name. In the event that the desired domain name under the TLD you wanted has already been taken, other options are available. Most domain registrars have an intelligent interface that will automatically check to see if the same name is available to register with a different TLD extension like (.net, .org, .biz, .us, .name, .ws, etc.), and offer you the option of registering your preferred name with one of those extensions instead. It is also recommended that name be short if possible. Leave out dashes, dots, things that may confuse customers and certainly does not aid with search engines. Also, give some consideration to purchasing several other similar domain names, based on your individual or business needs, in order to protect your name, your brand, and your identity on the internet. This often helps to prevent others from stealing the identity you have worked so hard to establish. The need to do this will vary depending on your website and its intended purpose.

What if I misspelled my domain when I registered it?

Please be careful when registering your domain and make sure your spelling is correct before you secure a purchase. Unfortunately, registrars are unable to change or edit the spelling of a domain once it has been registered. They try to register the domain exactly as you enter it in the search box. If the registration succeeds, then you are charged, even if the domain you entered was not the one you actually intended to type.

You do have the right of canceling the domain you registered so that it is no longer registered to you. However, canceling it will not entitle you to a refund of any part of your registration fee due to all the processes involved in registering it. Once you cancel the domain it is a permanent action and cannot be undone.

We are committed to providing the general public with up-to-date useful information that will assist in helping to make informed decisions regarding web hosting, domain registration, SSL certification and other services necessary to create a high-quality online presence.

Visit us and get a Get A Great Domain Name Now

The public domain is a range of abstract materials-commonly referred to as intellectual property-which are not owned or controlled by anyone.The term indicates that these materials are therefore "public property", and available for anyone to use for any purpose.

The laws of various countries define the scope of the public domain differently, making it necessary to specify which jurisdiction's public domain is being discussed.Furthermore, the public domain can be defined in contrast to several forms of intellectual property; the public domain in contrast to copyrighted works is different from the public domain in contrast to trademarks or patented works.

The public domain is most often discussed in contrast to works restricted by copyright.Under modern law, most original works of art, literature, music, etc are covered by copyright from the time of their creation for a limited period of time (which varies by country).When the copyright expires, the work enters the public domain.
About 15 percent of all books are in the public domain, including 10 percent of all books that are still in print.

The public domain can also be defined in contrast to trademarks. Names, logos, and other identifying marks used in commerce can be restricted as proprietary trademarks for a single business to use.Trademarks can be maintained indefinitely, but they can also lapse through disuse, negligence, or widespread misuse, and enter the public domain.

It is possible, however, for a lapsed trademark to become proprietary again, leaving the public domain.

The public domain also contrasts with patents.

New inventions can be registered and granted patents restricting others from using them without permission from the inventor.

Like copyrights, patents last for a limited period of time, after which the inventions covered by them enter the public domain and can be used by anyone.

Intellectual property law, Primary rights, Copyright, Patents, Trademarks, Industrial design rights, Utility models, Geographical indication, Trade secrets, Related rights, Trade names, Domain names, Sui generis rights, Database rights, Mask work, Plant breeder´s rights, Supplementary protection certificate, Indigenous intellectual property.

A creative work is said to be in the public domain if there are no laws which restrict its use by the public at large. For instance, a work may be in the public domain if no laws establish proprietary rights over the work, or if the work or its subject matter are specifically excluded from existing laws. Because proprietary rights are founded in national laws, an item may be public domain in one jurisdiction but not another. For instance, some works of literature are public domain in the United States but not in the European Union and vice versa.

The underlying idea that is expressed or manifested in the creation of a work generally cannot be the subject of copyright law (see idea-expression divide). Mathematical formula will therefore generally form part of the public domain, to the extent that their expression in the form of software is not covered by copyright; however, algorithms can be the subject of a software patent in some jurisdictions.

Works created before the existence of copyright and patent laws also form part of the public domain. The Bible and the inventions of Archimedes are in the public domain. However, copyright may exist in translations or new formulations of these works. Although "intellectual property" laws are not designed to prevent facts from entering the public domain, collections of facts organized or presented in a creative way, such as categorized lists, may be copyrighted.

Collections of data with intuitive organization, such as alphabetized directories like telephone directories, are generally not copyrightable.

In some countries copyright-like rights are granted for databases, even those containing mere facts. A sui generis database rights regime is in place in the European Union.
Works of the United States Government and various other governments are excluded from copyright law and may therefore be considered to be in the public domain in their respective countries. They may also be in the public domain in other countries as well.

All copyrights and patents have always had a finite term, though the terms for copyrights and patents differ.When terms expire, the work or invention is released into public domain.
In most countries, the term for patents is 20 years.

A trademark registration may be renewed and remain in force indefinitely provided the trademark is used, but could otherwise become generic.

Copyrights are more complex than patents; generally, in current law, the copyright in a published work expires in all countries (except Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Samoa, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) when any of the following conditions are satisfied :The work was created and first published before January 1, 1923, or at least 95 years before January 1 of the current year, whichever is later;The last surviving author died at least 70 years before January 1 of the current year;No Berne Convention signatory has passed a perpetual copyright on the work; and neither the United States nor the European Union has passed a copyright term extension since these conditions were last updated. This must be a condition because the exact numbers in the other conditions depend on the state of the law at any given moment.

These conditions are based on the intersection of United States and European Union copyright law, which most other Berne Convention signatories recognize. Note that copyright term extension under US tradition usually does not restore copyright to public domain works (hence the 1923 date), but European tradition does because the EU harmonization was based on the copyright term in Germany, which had already been extended to life plus 70. United States law all or part of this article may be confusing or unclear.

In the United States, copyright law has changed several times since the founding of the country.
Rural that Congress does not have the power to re-copyright works that have fallen into the public domain.

"After World War I and after World War II, there were special amendments to the Copyright Act to permit for a limited time and under certain conditions the recapture of works that might have fallen into the public domain, principally by aliens of countries with which we had been at war.
Works created by an agency of the United States government are public domain at the moment of creation.

Examples include military journalism, federal court opinions (but not necessarily state court opinions), congressional committee reports, and census data. However, works commissioned by the government but created by a contractor are still subject to copyright, and even in the case of public domain documents, availability of such documents may be limited by laws limiting the spread of classified information.

Before 1978, unpublished works were not covered by the federal copyright act This does not mean that the works were in the public domain. Rather, it means that they were covered under (perpetual) common law copyright The Copyright Act of 1976, effective 1978, abolished common law copyright in the United States; all works, published and unpublished, are now covered by federal statutory copyright.

The claim that "pre-1923 works are in the public domain" is correct only for published works; unpublished works are under federal copyright for at least the life of the author plus 70 years.
For a work made for hire, the copyright in a work created before 1978, but not theretofore in the public domain or registered for copyright, subsists from January 1, 1978, and endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication, or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. If the work was created before 1978 but first published on or before December 31, 2002, the work is covered by federal copyright until 2047.

Works published with notice of copyright or registered in unpublished form prior to January 1, 1964, had to be renewed during the 28th year of their first term of copyright to maintain copyright for a full 95-year term.

Until the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, the lack of a proper copyright notice would place an otherwise copyrightable work into the public domain, although for works published between January 1, 1978 and February 28, 1989, this could be prevented by registering the work with the Library of Congress within 5 years of publication. After March 1, 1989, an author's copyright in a work begins when it is fixed in a tangible form; neither publication nor registration is required, and a lack of a copyright notice does not place the work into the public domain.

Sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, were generally covered by common law or in some cases by statutes enacted in certain states, but were not covered by federal copyright law.
The 1976 Copyright Act, effective 1978, provides federal copyright for unpublished and published sound recordings fixed on or after February 15, 1972. Recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are still covered, to varying degrees, by common law or state statutes. Any rights or remedies under state law for sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972, are not annulled or limited by the 1976 Copyright Act until February 15, 2067.

Critics of copyright term extensions have said that Congress has achieved a perpetual copyright term "on the installment plan.

British government works are restricted by either Crown Copyright or Parliamentary Copyright.
Published Crown Copyright works become public domain at the end of the year 50 years after they were published, unless the author of the work held copyright and assigned it to the Crown.
In that case, the copyright term is the usual life of author plus 70 years Unpublished Crown Copyright documents become public domain at the end of the year 125 years after they were first created.

However, under the legislation that created this rule, and abolished the traditional common law perpetual copyright of unpublished works, no unpublished works will become public domain until 50 years after the legislation came into effect.

Since the legislation became law on 1 August 1989, no unpublished works will become public domain under this provision until 2039.

Parliamentary Copyright documents become public domain at the end of the year 50 years after they were published.

Crown Copyright is waived on some government works provided that certain conditions are met.
These numbers reflect the most recent extensions of copyright in the United States and Europe.

Canada and New Zealand have not, as of 2006, passed similar twenty-year extensions
Consequently, their copyright expiry times are still life of the author plus 50 years.

Australia passed a 20-year copyright extension in 2004, but delayed its effect until 2005, and did not make it revive already-expired copyrights.
Hence, in Australia works by authors who died before 1955 are still in the public domain.

As a result, works ranging from Peter Pan to the stories of H. Lovecraft are public domain in both countries.(The copyright status of Lovecraft's work is debatable, as no copyright renewals, which were necessary under the laws of that time, have been found.

Also, two competing parties have independently claimed copyright ownership on his work.
As with most other Commonwealth of Nations countries, Canada and Australia follow the general lead of the United Kingdom on copyright of government works.Both have a version of Crown Copyright which lasts for 50 years from publication.

New Zealand also has Crown Copyright, but has a much greater time length, at 100 years from the date of publication.

India has a government copyright of sixty years from publication, to coincide with its somewhat unusual life of the author plus sixty years term of copyright. According to Thai copyright law, the copyright term is the life of author plus 50 years.When the author is a legal entity or an anonymous person, the copyright term is 50 years from the date of publication.

Works of applied art (defined as drawings, paintings, sculpture, prints, architecture, photography, drafts, and models) have a copyright term of 25 years from publication.

Republication of works after the expiration of the copyright term does not reset the copyright term.
Thai state documents are public domain,but creative works produced by or commissioned by government offices are protected by copyright.

Japanese copyright law does not mention public domain. Hence, even when some materials are said to be "in the public domain" there can be some use restrictions. In that case, the term copyright-free is sometimes used instead. Many pre-1953 both Japanese and non-Japanese films are considered to be in the public domain in Japan.

Examples of inventions whose patents have expired include the inventions of Thomas Edison.
Examples of works whose copyrights have expired include the works of Carlo Collodi, Mozart, and most of the works of Mark Twain, excluding the work first published in 2001, A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage.

In the United States, the images of Frank Capra's classic film, It's a Wonderful Life (1946) entered into the public domain in 1974, because someone inadvertently failed to file a copyright renewal application with the Copyright Office during the 28th year after the film's release or publication.

Although copyright law generally does not provide any statutory means to "abandon" copyright so that a work can enter the public domain, this does not mean that it is impossible or even difficult, only that the law is somewhat unclear.

The ultimate goal of Bringing more traffic to your website is to make money online.
We classify the website promotion strategies into four ways.

 Online Advertising.(which involves continuous running cost)

 Online Promotion

 Offline Advertising. (which involves running Cost)

 Offline Promotion.

Online Advertising:

1. The Fastest Way to reach online audience is through Online Advertising. Google Adwords is the best Pay-Per-click Engine which brings targeted audience to your website efficiently. Webmaster has to identify the niche area his website belongs to and has to bid on the keywords to get traffic.

2. Banner Advertising is the other way of getting traffic to your website. Try to create good looking banners and promote them in related websites on CPM basis.

3. If one has to save the cost and doesn’t want exceed his budget, can go for flat fee based banner Advertising. Some of sites charge a daily fee, weekly fee, and monthly fee for various sizes of Banner Ads. One such third Party Service is Provided by Adbrite.

4. Instead of having Static Images as banners try to provide more animated or Flashy Ads which makes drag the attention of people to your ads.

5. Try the Context sensitive Textual ads from Google Adwords which can have a greater CTR.

6. Visualizations can provide a complete understanding of your website in a short span of time. Try to develop video ads for your website and promote them with Google Adwords.

7. If You are trying to sell a product , then advertise with Product promoting Engines like chikita which can reduce your cost.

8. Really Simple syndication (Rss) is the new way of advertising and promoting your website. One can advertise their website with help of feeding vendors like feed burner or feedster .

9. One visits a website to explore good content needed for him, not for the advertisements Or the banners. So he can easily shift his attention.

From banners and advertisements. Instead of Providing them with separate links, banners, Images, try to advertise u r links directly embedded into the content which
can bring great traffic.

10. Advertise on search engines for a flat fee. (sites like Exactseek.com provide this facility)

11. Promoting your website by Pop-ups, Pop under ads.

12. Advertising your website as content in other content related websites.

13. If your website is marketing a product or a service, then u can start affiliate programs to make more sales and traffic.

14. Investing in optimizing your website to have a good traffic from search engine.

15. Some high Ranked websites can also provide a link to your website on a monthly basis for large fee (Highly useful in Link Building Campaign)

Online Promotion :

1. The best way for your website to generate traffic exponentially and regularly by optimizing your website for search engines. Almost 70% of the today’s search engine
Traffic is generated by Google. More number of people reach their desired website only by search engines. If you can optimize your website for search engines, U can be assured of regular traffic.Optimization involves Many steps. But the preferential step to make your website popular is link building in almost all the search engines. Popularity factor differs between different search engines.

In a short way we can say that your website will be the most populous if many other websites have a link to your website.

2. Promote your website by Newsletters and e-mail campaigns.

3. Promote your website by social networking websites like myspace.

4. If you are a good expert on some topic, U can improve the traffic by answering various queries in various forums.

5. You can also put a link next to your response in forums which can help in link building campaign.

6. Promote by writing various articles related to your website and submit them to free e-zines which can result in traffic and link building campaigns for your website.

7. Submit your website to free online directories.

8. Submit your website to Most populous directories on the web like Yahoo, Dmoz, Botw(best of the web) which can help your website in ranking as well as bringing
small traffic.(Dmoz is free, Yahoo , botw requires annual fee).

9. Join in some of the webring companies to improve search engine traffic. A webring in general is a collection of websites from around the Internet joined together in a circular structure. When used to improve search engine rankings, webrings can be considered a search engine optimization technique.
Visit http://www.webring.com

10. Post about your website in the some of the groups like yahoo groups, Google Groups, Msn Groups.

11. Improve the SEO BY creating pages of your website on blogger.com, squidoo ,wordpress e.t.c

12. If your site is a media site , Post some of the graphics, Pictures on Photo sharing Websites like flickr.

13. You can also promote your website by creating information videos and submitting them to social networking websites like youtube.com

14. By Providing some sweepstakes, freebies one can also get good traffic to his website.

15. Design a toolbar with some goodies and make it available to download for the users visiting your website.

16. One can bring huge amount of links to his website by developing some themes, tools, Plug-ins for the webmasters.

17. Write Some e-books on the topic that interests you, and is of immensely helpful to people . By having a link on the e-book to your website can improve traffic.

18. Inform your friends, family and co-workers about u r website through e-mail.

19. Provide some contests on your website which can get u recurring visitors .

20. Make u r website user friendly and a way to express their feelings about ur website by comments, Polls, feedback e.t.c

21. Having your website link in your e-mail signature can also improve the traffic.

22. Participating in some traffic exchange programs can also bring some traffic. This is not a good way of generating traffic as it violates many policies to earn income from your website.

23. Announcing the launch of your website in various news portals, Online Magazines e.t.c

24. Providing Highly demanding content for the users freely by asking them to refer their friends and family called as viral Marketing.

Offline Advertising

1. Advertise about your website in newspapers classifieds sections.

2. Advertise about your website in your regional and local news papers.

3. Promoting your website in local radio stations.

4. Prepare an good looking funny ad about your website and advertise in the television channels.

5. Distribute T-shirts having your website name freely.

6. Conduct some contests on your website name.

7. Announcing your website through brochures, Pamphlets.

8. Advertising about your website through wall posters in Platforms, Bus Stations, and some public areas.

9. Even having your website name in your visiting card is also a way of promoting your website.

10. Promoting your website in Hugely employee oriented companies.

For More Articles relating to Making money Online, Search Engine Optimization, Google Adsense, Website traffic [http://www.blog2money.com] visit [http://www.blog2money.com]

Website redesigning can be as simple as you make it. However, it can also be as difficult as you make it. There are a number of things which you can do in order to make your website redesigning goes excellent. Here, we will take a closer look at some of the things that you can do in order to make sure that the website redesign process goes a whole lot smoother.

Pick A Reputable Website Designing Company

In order to get the best website redesign, it is important to make sure that you choose a reputable, well liked company. Not only is it important for them to have previous experience with website redesigning, but it is important for them to be able to cater to your needs.

They should be worried about what it is that you are looking for, rather than what they feel. Finding a website redesign company which is not only well known and liked in the company but that will also put your values before their own is very important to your website's success.

Think of Increasing Your Success

If you know anything about website promotion, chances are that you know that the most important thing is for you to be successful. Increasing your company's overall success can be a very important key to your company's overall success.

There are a number of things which can be done in order to increase it, but the main key is to keep this goal in mind. You want your website promotion to be as successful as possible.

Develop a Good Style

One of most important things about website designing in general is the overall appearance of the website. Whether you decide that you want your website to have a white background with basic black writing or if you want it to be rainbow multicolored, having an overall style is very important to the look of our website.

It can determine several different things, such as the font which you decide to use and the graphics which you want to include on your website. Developing a style which you would like to have should be one of the first things that you do.

Think About Content

Although the appearance of your website is very important, the content which you want to include is very important. It can have an effect on both your website promotion and website optimization, which makes it very significant to your website redesign in general.

Making sure that the information that is available for people to read sounds very legitimate, believable, easy to read and easy to understand can be a major key to how well liked and effective your website will be in general.

Make it Very Keyword Rich

One of the most important keys to your website's overall success and effectiveness is how well its website optimization is. How will you be able to improve the website optimization of your website?

Well, it is simple really. All that you need to do is make sure that you website is keyword rich, in order to increase its optimization within search engines.

Compare Websites in Search Engines

As previously mentioned, in order to develop the best website optimization for your website, you need to make your website keyword rich. But, what do you do if you are not sure which keywords will be the most effective for you?

One of these ways is to use search engines to find similar websites and see what keywords all of these websites have in common. This will give you a good idea of what types of keywords are popular for the type of website that you have.

Know it is Up to Date

One of the most important things that you need to keep in mind when you are in competition with another company is staying up to date. You should make sure that you check out the content that is on some other websites. This will give you an idea of whether or not your content is good enough, as well as whether or not your content needs to be updated.

Making sure that your website is up to date with the times can be a very big key to how successful your company will do in the future. If your website hasn't been redesigned in years, chances are that it is very important for you to do.

Make Sure it is Easy to Navigate

One of the main keys to having a successful website is making sure that it is easy to navigate. If you have a business website which people do not understand how to use, chances are that they will not even try to use your services or buy your products.

When you go through the website designing process, it is important to make sure that your website is put into simpler navigation form. The website designing company which you choose to use will be able to do this for you, as this is something which they are very familiar with.

Make Sure it Grabs the Eye

One of the most important things that any website needs to do is grab attention. If you feel that yours does not grab enough attention, a website redesign may be necessary for you. Not only should your website contain some really nice graphic designs in order to increase how appealing it looks to the eye, but the fonts and overall design should also be perfect.

This is just one of the many things which website redesigning can do in order to increase your website's overall appearance.

Develop Credibility

One of the most important things that you need to do in order to increase your websites sales through website promotion is make sure that your products or services are credible. How do you do this? Well, a number of ways. You need to make sure that you give as much information about your website as possible.

If possible, you can consider adding a discussion forum where all of your customers can recommend your services and share the experiences which they have had with your services.

About the Author:

Rajesh V. Tavakari, Senior SEO of Website-Promotion-Ranking-Services.com/. Offering affordable website promotion and natural optimization services since 1998. Website : http://www.website-promotion-ranking-services.com/ . You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice, author name and URL remain intact.

Not since Columbus discovered the New World in the 15th century have such vistas of real estate been opened to humanity. Now that we have exhausted the frontiers of our planet, we created a virtual "New World" in the 20th century. The Internet opened to commercial businesses in 1988 and our lives have never been the same. It is virtually impossible to market and promote your business in modern commerce without a commanding and increasing Internet presence. As with physical expansion, cyber real estate arises as the most basic and vital requirement to Internet marketing. Domain names are cyber real estate. While realtors understand their holy mantra to be "Location, location, location," domain names have unique qualities which promote marketing value and increase business presence on the Web.

Simplification

Nobody would go to a Wal*Mart in the boondocks. Don't make access to your website difficult because of a complex domain name - keep it simple. Technically, domain names may have up to 67 characters, but you should keep things simple and acquire a short domain name. Christopher Heng advises, "If you manage to get a short domain name though, the key is to make sure it's a meaningful combination of characters." [1] In other words, the random combination of "tk421.com" may be short but not simple!

Anyone trying to market their business on the web needs to have a memorable domain name. Of course, simple domains will be memorable. Avoid complexity or obscurity at any cost. Some companies choose abbreviations in their domain name. Unless your company is normally associated with abbreviations, these domains may be short but not easily remembered.

Much Internet traffic originates from people typing in a Web address or searching a given word in search engines. This human element involves the common mistake of misspellings and typos. The complexity of the domain name increases the risk of error on behalf of the average buyer. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson reports about Art-U-Frame.com who bought "art.com" and consequently doubled their sales. [2] Simple domain names are simply invaluable to Internet marketing.

Relation

Names represent specific objects. We all know Mickey is a mouse and Fido is a dog, so you don't want to confuse potential customers by having a domain name that has nothing to do with your company or business. A strong relationship between the domain name and the business creates a strong marketing tool. Again Heng points out, "In the modern world of the Internet, where people automatically turn to the Web for information, it pays to have a domain name that reflects your site or business." [3] Individuals who are looking to start a new business on the Internet have the opportunity to choose an identical business and domain name (e.g. Travelocity.com). For companies who have already worked hard to establish a company name, the challenge of finding a precise website address may be more challenging.

The debate over specific or general domains may be secondary to real Internet success, but it is central to a marketing strategy. If your company name is precise and adequately describes your business, then acquiring an identical domain name has proved to be a worthy investment. However, significant amount of traffic arises from buyers who generally search for a product or category. For example, people may broadly search "shoes" or "footwear" as opposed to "Ugg boots" or "Aasics Nimbus Crosstrainers." Different strategies may encompass one or both of these approaches to draw in the most buyers. Generic domain names with keywords are another strategic element for marketing with a Web address. While hyphenated domains are typically stronger in keyword searches, you should be careful not to overdue it and sacrifice simplicity as in "p-a-t-t-e-r-n-s.net." Essentially, a domain name needs to accurately reflect the business it represents and effectively relate it to the market.

Extension

All domain names have an extension. The domain extension is simply the letters which follow the dot. The most common extension is ".com," but because the Internet has been established as an essential marketing tool, most of the good domain names with a ".com" extension have been taken. The availability of quality domain names as they have been defined has almost disappeared with the ".com" extension. This lack of real estate has generated the availability of several alternative extensions with different prospects and values.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was established in 1998 to assist the government in overseeing issues related to the Internet. ICANN has approved of several top-level domain extensions over the past decade to broaden the horizons and possibilities for quality domains as have been defined. (To view a complete list of TLD's, visit http://www.icann.org). Top-level domains are defined by ICANN as, "The right-most label in a domain name." [4]

Periodically, different companies will offer a new domain extension to the public for registry. Network Solutions has recently offered the extension ".us.com." This extension is a country-specific alternative domain name. While not yet recognized with a top-level domain status, it is likely to be approved as such by ICANN in the future.

This extension provides unique possibilities in two ways. First, it is a country-specific domain name. Several countries around the globe have domain extensions that promote businesses from or for their particular country. This does not mean that people from other countries can not access this website or do business with these companies. Rather, web addresses with country-specific extensions are making a concerted marketing effort toward their particular countries.

Some country-specific extensions exclude the ".com" and might appear simply ".us" or ".uk." However, because ".us.com" retains the familiar ".com" in its extension it is not as unusual to the average person. After all, ".com" will always be the most common domain extension, so a complete break with its popularity is not necessarily the best choice. The new .us.com domains will open up domain names long ago taken by the early-adopting .coms, and could be a windfall for many businesses.

Simplification, Relation, Extension - These three qualities define a good domain name. The realm of domain names is ever expanding with the demand for increased presence on the web. Companies should not settle for obscure domain names that don't relate to their business and are difficult for the populace to remember. The value and relevance of alternative domain extensions are being recognized by ICANN and other businesses offering these new domains for registry. Any business concerned for effective and competitive Internet marketing should acquire and develop good domains with quality websites. Anything short of this will leave a business in the dust of its competitors.

Paul Galla, President

[1] http://www.thesitewizard.com/archive/domainname.shtml

[2] http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmta/domain-name.htm

[3,4] http://www.icann.org/tlds

Paul Galla, President

buydomains.us.com

sales@buydomains.us.com

Everything on the Internet starts with a domain name!

I know that may come off as a bit over reaching - but its true. From email to news, search, video or anything else on the Internet - you have to know where you're going which is only achieved by a domain name.

The ABC's of domain names, which as a title may come off as a little corny to you, is an exercise that makes you think about your industry or business, what you're doing in it, and how you go about doing what you do as it relates to domain names. The use of the ABC's format is to provide a simple, back to basics approach to deliver fundamental concepts that provoke thoughts, ideas and questions on domain names and how they are a part of your world.

So, whatever all of that means - lets dive into the ABC's of domain names and find their relevance in your line or work, personal life, hobbies, educational background, experience or special areas of interest to see what jumps out and comes naturally to you:

A: Advertising - domain names offer the perfect venue to advertise your product or services or to provide potential revenue by domain parking and/or affiliate programs.

B: Branding - the brand is in the name. Having a great targeted domain name can really build a brand, or can actually be the brand (ie: Google.com)

C: Community - the Internet is all about an interconnected community. Through domain names, you create a real destination and an identity for what can become a community.

D: Direct Search - having a generic word based domain name is your best path to direct search traffic. Direct Search is here to stay and will likely take an increasing share of the overall search marketplace. Direct search bypasses the likes of yahoo.com and google.com as the user types in the destination site directly into their browser (ie: http://www.computers.com).

E: Ecommerce - want to conduct business online - you need to start with one primary thing - a domain name. Ecommerce is one of the leading uses of the Internet.

F: Friends & Family - connect with your friends and family with domain names - either by email, your favorite websites, or photo sharing sites and videos, etc.

G: Global - synonymous with the Internet - domain names (particularly .com) have mass broad appeal on a global basis, with global potential.

H: High Returns - where else can you buy a piece of virtual real-estate for $8.00 and sell it within a matter of weeks or months for over $1000? Fund.com just sold for $9.99 Million in March of 2008.

I: Investment - domain names are appreciating more than any investment for the price. Similar to investing in stocks, bonds, real estate or insurance - domain names offer what I believe to be stable long lasting appreciation with the potential to create astonishing returns. Want to learn more about domain investing - you can always check out http://www.domainprofitsbook.com.

J: Justify - Justify your web presence and online business with a great domain name that demonstrates who you are and what you do.

K: Keywords - domain names can be based upon major key words for your industry or target market. Just the same, the key words you use in your Internet marketing can be generated from the domain name you choose and how it relates to your target industry/product/service/noun/verb.

L: Localization & Location - targeting niche audiences by location and a specific geography has proved to be a very strong, identifiable marketing opportunity for anybody online. Embracing localization for your domain investment objectives is a great path to consider.

M: Monetization - making money and creating multiple sources and streams of income are the cornerstone to the potential and reason why people buy savvy domain names.

N: New Markets to seize - new products and services are always being launched, just as new companies and markets are being formed. Finding with a good strong domain name to capture the essence of your business or target market for your online presence is always a great starting point.

O: Organization - a domain name is the perfect way to identify with your organization. Whether it's a product, service, or brand - your domain name is your face on the Internet.

P: Profits - Domain are a great way to make money and profits. Invest wisely and you can find yourself with a great windfall.

Q: Quest - Like any business venture, you are on a quest to explore, learn and make money.

R: Revenue - domain names offer a myriad of ways to generate revenues. There are numerous ways and avenues to generate revenues with domain names, however, in some cases are closely held ideas and resources. Becoming educated about domain names and being focused on creating a long lasting business is a great path towards generating revenue.

S: Search Engines - Search engines are the gateway to choices on the Internet and essentially, a directory of domains classified by the type of information, product or service they offer. Search engines are a powerful marketing tool and a source of traffic for the domain name owner.

T: Technology - simply, without technology, there are no domains, websites, search engines, email or the like. The beauty of domain names is that you really don't have to understand or learn too much technology to get started, or to make money.

U: Unique Users - people coming to your website/domains generate traffic. The more unique users that visit your website - the more traffic they create. The more traffic - the greater the value. The best way to create long lasting value with domain names is creating a venue where a consistent and growing base of unique users visit your domain name/website.

V: Virtual - Domain names are virtual real estate. Some represent ocean-front property while others can represent sky scrapers, apartments or vacant land in the middle of a barren desert. Build your portfolio of virtual real estate for the longer term or flip your domain name for a quick sale and profits.

W: World Wide Web - The world wide web and its beginning started with domain names and/or their underlying numerical identities. With the advent of the world wide web, email, search engines and the increasing convergence of communications and media - business and industry has created high demand and appreciating values for good domain names.

X: The X Factor - there is a mystique and certain unknowns regarding the true value of domain names, how to create revenue and profits, and what strategies are best to create traffic to your domain name or website. The more knowledgeable and prepared you are to dive into the domain name world - the better off you are in managing the X Factor when it rears its head.

Y: You - buying, selling, and owning domain names is a reflection upon you, what your goals are, where your interests lie, and how you want to make money with this virtual real estate. You need to decide what your objectives are and how you are most comfortable in approaching your investment and dedication towards making money with domain names.

Z: Zeal - approach your domain activities with passion and enthusiasm. The more positive your thinking and focus is with domain names - the better you will be able to manage it, be prepared, and have an open mind to seize new opportunities and make money with your domains.

We hope you enjoyed this article and find that each time you read it you take away something new and different that can add value to your world of domain names.

This article is written by Chris Kern. Chris has been a serial entrepreneur, corporate finance specialist and domainer for the past 13 years and is the author of the authoritative resource book on domain name investing "How To Make Money With Domain Names" which can be found online at: http://www.DomainProfitsBook.com

"Everything On The Internet Starts With A Domain Name" is a Service Mark of Chris Kern

Everyone Has An Agenda
When we watch our favorite television programs like 'CSI' or 'House', we knowingly and even gladly allow ourselves to be manipulated. When we watch the evening news we are also being manipulated, knowingly or not, by the selection and presentation of stories that have been filtered through a series of network agendas ranging from the benign time constraints of a thirty-minute broadcast to the more suspicious dictates of network and sponsor interests.

Websites are vehicles for communicating content to an audience as well, and like your favorite television show, or evening news, that communication is not neutral; it comes with an agenda and that agenda should be yours.

If your website designer is not developing your site within a framework created to communicate your marketing information, then you are not getting the website you need. If your website designer is merely a technical programmer and not a communicator then you have picked the wrong supplier.

Whether you are selling an idea, a product, or a service doesn't matter; what matters is you are trying to convince your audience that what you have to offer will benefit them in some way. You are manipulating your presentation to your advantage. That does not mean that you should be dishonest or deceitful, but rather just skilled in getting your message across.

To manipulate, as defined, in part by wordreference.com, means to 'control or influence skillfully, usually to one's advantage'. Like it or not that's the job of a professional website designer: to skillfully influence an audience to the website owner's advantage.

Bad Websites Use Technical Solutions to Solve Communication Problems
Website designers constantly hear complaints from business owners and marketing executives that their websites are underperforming and their ROI is anemic. This is not surprising when so many websites are developed based on attracting traffic rather than skillfully influencing audience opinion. You can attract all the traffic your server can handle but if your message is lost in a labyrinth of search engine-friendly requirements it will not influence, persuade, or convince anybody of anything.

It used to be that technical agendas formulated by IT departments where a significant cause of website communication deficit, but today that torch has been passed on to the SEO guru promising to deliver the multitudes but more likely creating a severe case of information and performance anxiety. Technology is not an end; it is merely the means to an end, and when it comes to websites that end is communication.

The technical aspects of website design are fairly easy to learn for anyone who is willing to take the time to learn them - let's face it, it's not rocket science. As a consequence there are lots of technical website programmers creating ineffective communication solutions. Professional website designers must be expert communicators practiced in the art of skillful message manipulation and communication delivery.

Defining An Appropriate Website Agenda

In order for your website to be an affective marketing communication vehicle it should be build around an agenda that accomplishes the following tasks:
1. Attract interest
2. Focus attention
3. Convey attitude
4. Enhance understanding
5. Generate confidence
6. Stimulate desire
7. Motivate action

Attract Interest
If you check your website logs and find that people are leaving your site as fast as they are arriving, then you have an problem. All that time and effort you spent on optimizing your site for the search engines to attract visitors is wasted if those visitors don't stay long enough to get your marketing message. Visitors will leave your site within seconds if your splash page is confusing or irrelevant to their needs. Your initial contact with your audience must capture their attention by quickly establishing that you are the source of the information, products, or services they are looking for.

Focus Attention
Once you've established that your site has the information your audience wants, you must make it easy for people to find it. Information, products, and services must be organized for quick access and easy navigation between options and alternatives.

Visitors are focused on finding what they came for; once they have found it, they will be more receptive to paying attention to the items that you want to direct them to; this is what Jared Spool of User Interface Engineering calls the 'seducible moment', the moment when visitors are ready to focus on your pitch.

Enhance Understanding
Rather than designing the presentation of your information for search engine robots, design it for human understanding. People absorb more information; have better comprehension; and retain more of what you want them to when information is presented by a real person.

Wyeth's KnowmMenopause website provided visitors with the option of going to a text-based version that is index-able by search engines and where visitors can print-out the material; and a multimedia version that features video presentations by doctors discussing the medical issues, and interviews with ordinary women discussing their personal experiences.

Generate Confidence
Since the Web is a remote environment, it is important to create confidence in your company and the products and services you provide. The easiest thing you can do to create this confidence is to provide visitors with not just email addresses but phone numbers, physical locations, and contact names. It never fails to amaze me how many websites fail to provide this kind of information. If you don't provide proper contact information, it looks like you have something to hide.

As mentioned in 'enhancing understanding', relating to people with people is critical in building confidence. The Wyeth knowmenopause.com site does a brilliant job of providing expert video advice from qualified professionals as well as video commentary from average people relating their personal experience with the subject matter. And you don't have to be a multinational pharmaceutical company to do this. Every business has access to expertise and knowledge. If you stop pitching and start informing, you may find you're further ahead.

Convey Attitude
Every business has a personality that is conveyed to clients through their experiences with that company. If you are relying on your website as your main point of customer and prospect interaction, then your website has to present an attitude that is appropriate for your audience. This attitude can be conveyed through the graphics, copy, and multimedia presentation of the information, products and services you provide. When it comes to 'attitude' the medium is very much the message and since the Web is such a impersonal environment, it is important to design your presentation so that it delivers the attitude and personality that your audience will relate to.

Stimulate Desire
The desire to buy a particular product or service is based on more than functional utility; after all, nobody really needs a Rolex or a Lexus. People buy much of what they buy based on emotional and psychological desire rather than functional need. Functionality often comes into play merely as a justification for the purchase. Part of your website's job is to create the emotional and psychological desire for the product in question.

Motivate Action
Your website should also be designed to motivate people to action but don't construct your site to limit that action to a sale or nothing. Too many sites are obviously designed to get you to buy something with little or no attention to enhancing understanding or generating confidence. This 'all or nothing' approach is severely anti-productive and conveys an impression that you can't be trusted. Customers need to have confidence in you and your offering and sometimes they need some reassurance that you are legitimate.

What you want to do is get website visitors to do something, anything that demonstrates some interest. That demonstration of interest could be a phone call to ask a question, signing up for an e-newsletter, requesting a catalog, responding to a survey, poll, or promotion - anything that displays they have some interest in what you are offering. If you can motivate your audience to action, even if that action is not directly sales related, you are on your way to building a relationship with that prospect.

Communication: Turning Content Into a Memorable Experience
In order to achieve your marketing goals you need to know how to manipulate, or if you prefer, 'seduce' your audience to your advantage using the seven tools of website persuasion.

1. Position
Web-pages are usually made-up of similar types of information. Standard page elements include:
i. Header information - such as logo, company name, address, and basic contact information;
ii. Navigation elements - so visitors can find what they need;
iii. Content - such as text, graphics, audio, and video;
iv. Sidebar information - that might include additional information or links that relate to the content or advertisements, and;
v. Footer information - that might contain further contact or copyright information.

The positioning of these elements is critical to the comprehension and retention of your information and marketing message. Various usability studies carried out in the USA and Great Britain have tracked the eye movement of website visitors. These studies help the designer place the various page layout elements on the screen to produce the maximum effect.

Most studies are fairly consistent with their eye movement tracking results:
i. Middle-Center: Visitors first focus on the center of the page searching for content that is anticipated;
ii. Top-Left: Eyes then move to the top left corner where a logo or company name is expected;
iii. Down Left-hand side: Eyes then move down the left-hand side of the screen where navigation is commonly placed;
iv. Top-Middle to Right: Eyes then move back to the top of the screen and move from the center to the right scanning for further navigation elements or additional company identification information;
v. Middle-Center: Eyes then move back to the middle of the screen scanning for relevant content;
vi. Right-hand side: Eyes then move to the right side of the screen looking for additional information or sidebars;
vii. Middle-Center to bottom: Finally eyes go back to the center and down the page towards the footer scanning for additional content.

It should be noted that these studies also suggest that website visitors will quickly determine where any advertisements are located and then proceed to ignore or avoid them when moving on to other pages of that website.

Size
The size of the various elements will obviously draw attention to, or away from particular information. Logos, graphics, headers, and body-text should all be balanced and proportionate, and the use and amount of white space is as important to readability and comprehension as any of the other elements.

Color
The use of color is another obvious feature that draws attention to particular information; color also conveys personality, mood, and image. Blue, silver, and green are calming colors that convey a cool if somewhat remote image. Reds tend to convey a sense of excitement and boldness, while yellows are bright and friendly. Browns and beiges are earthy, warm and rich, while black, white and gray convey a sense of sophistication.

Of course these are all generalizations and colors can be mixed and matched to provide a variety of moods and personalities. What's important is that a color palette is chosen with care, not only to convey personality but also to direct and focus attention on particular key elements.

Shape
The shape of elements is another way to draw attention to particular information or content. Traditional computer monitors with their 4:3 ratio and the new more extreme 16:9 ratio monitors create particular challenges when trying to present substantial information above the virtual fold, by that we mean the visible area that does not require scrolling. Sometimes vertical scrolling can't be avoided, but if you have a lot to say, think about adding an audio or video option that only requires the click of a button to present your information with no scrolling required.

Sound
Web-audio is the most cost-effective multimedia-format for delivering large amounts of complex information or instructions to website visitors. Web-audio not only delivers the information in a meaningful, compelling, entertaining, and memorable way, but it also helps establish a corporate personality and image.

Movement
Movement will also help attract and direct attention to certain aspects of your website. By far the best way to incorporate some action on your site is with Web-video that uses a Web-host to present information or direct visitors to where they want to go.

Style
The visual style of your site not only directs attention and focus but it also helps establish your personality and how it relates to your target audience. Styles range from conservative to funky to downright bizarre but what really matters is the style you choose tells visitors who you are and what you're all about. Your website style will help create the attitude aspect of your website presentation.

Conclusion
Designing a website is more than programming and search engine optimization; it is how you communicate to your future customers - a job that is too important to leave to someone who doesn't understand how to use the Web and it's full arsenal of presentation elements to communicate your marketing message.

Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a Thornhill, Ontario based website design firm that specializes in delivering their North American clients' marketing messages using the latest audio, video, and interactive Flash presentation techniques to create compelling, informative and memorable Web-experiences that enhance brand personality and increase sales and profits. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com and http://www.136words.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

Choosing the right keywords for a website is an important and informative research task. In the process of improving your website you’ll learn a lot about your industry and your competitors.

Keywords are one the main factors that come into play in the algorithms used by major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Windows Live Search. If a web surfer is looking for home decorating tips and types ‘home decorating’ into a search engine, it will search its database for websites that contain that phrase and those individual words.

Selecting the correct keywords

If you are an expert in your field, you know what your customers are looking for. Specifically, you know many of the words and phrases your customers would use to describe your products and services. Start with what you know.

Write out a list of phrases and words that describe your business. If you have a home decorating business you may think of words like ‘interior design’ and ‘furnishings’. Sort your list so that the most common phrases are on the top of your list.

You will now want to cross-reference the list of keywords that you have compiled with other lists generated for your industry. This will bring to mind other keywords that you may not have thought of. I recommend using a popular web-based keyword research tool named Wordtracker (http://www.wordtracker.com). Wordtracker helps identify additional keywords and phrases and offers a free trial of their service. It provides only a limited number of related words, but is still a great starting point. Searching for related keywords for ‘home decorating’ with Wordtracker produces a list of keywords like 'home', 'decor', 'decorating', 'home decor', 'furniture', 'design', 'interior', 'interior decorating', 'art', 'wall', and 'fabric'.

Other keyword tools, which produce similar results, are also available. These include, among others, the web-based tools provided by Yahoo (Overture) (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/), and Google (https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal).

After compiling and merging the various lists of keywords, you’ll be ready to move on to the next step.

Using the correct keywords on your website

Now that you have a clear picture of which keywords web surfers may type into their search engine to find your business, you need to be sure your website contains these important keywords.

A strategy is required when updating your website to include the keywords in your list. Starting at the top of your list, quickly review the keywords. Think about which keywords would naturally be present on your website and which keywords you probably wouldn’t use. Using the first list of keywords, you may now start reviewing the different sections of your website.

Your selected keywords should be placed in various areas of your site with the proper frequency. Your website content should focus on making sense to your visitors, not fed with keywords that will hopefully improve your search positioning. Search engine algorithms can detect the over use of keywords, which can negatively affect your positioning. Let’s now look at different areas of your website.

Website Title

Every website has a title. This is not a website logo or a bold heading found on the top section of a website. The website title is displayed in the web browser’s title bar. This is the top most area of the window located to the far left of the window’s minimize, maximize, and close buttons. The website title is also the text that is displayed in search engine search results, which is often in a larger font and underlined. The website title is the first thing that a web surfer sees when performing a search. Web surfers quickly scan through search result website titles to evaluate which website will meet their needs. This is your first opportunity to grab their attention.

A website title should contain as many of your keywords as possible, while maintaining easy readability. This will do two things for you. First, the search engine will find your website in its database and display your website in their results. Second, the website title will catch the surfer’s interest as they see their search criteria matching your website title. Over-stuffing the title with keywords makes the title difficult to read and may be seen as abuse by search engines. The website title is updated by changing the text located between the opening and closing title tags, in the header of the HTML code. The title length should be kept to handful of words. The website description allows more space for describing your products and services.

Website Description

As with the website title, the website description should also contain a variety of keywords. Unlike the website title, the website description is not visible on any part of the website itself. The description is the summary information you see in search engines results, displayed below the website title. The website description gives you a little more space to describe your website and your products and services. Again, be sure that your description is easily readable for your visitors, in order to attract them to click your site title. The website description can be updated by changing the text in the description meta tag, in the header of the HTML code.

Website Keywords

Along with the title and description entries in the HTML code, there is also an area to define a set of keywords that you’d like to associate to the page. This is called the keyword meta tag. Keywords are entered as a comma separated list. The industry consensus is that the keyword meta tag is currently of little or no use with today’s major search engines. However, search engines continue to recommend their usage.

Website Content

This brings us to the meat of our website, so to speak. Our chosen keywords should be used throughout the website content where it makes sense. Again, over-stuffing page content with keywords so that the message is unnatural can be detected by search engines. A good practice is to use the keywords to make the page content more descriptive. For example, a pet store may sell a variety of pet foods. This can be written in a descriptive manner, such as, ‘dog food and cat food’, instead of using ‘dog and cat food’. In this example the keyword ‘food’ is used twice.

Headings and Hyperlinks

Special attention should be given to the usage of heading tags and anchor tags. Keyword usage in page heading is more valuable than keywords used in a paragraph of text. The same can be said with anchor tags (a.k.a. hyperlinks). Using keywords as the clickable text of a hyperlink is very valuable.

Keyword Density

Keyword density refers to the percentage of occurrences of your keywords compared to the other text on the web page. Keyword density tools such as Webconfs.com’s Keyword Density Checker (http://webconfs.com/keyword-density-checker.php) provides a visualization of the main theme or message on a chosen page. This tool counts the number of times each word is repeated on the page, which is a good test of how you’ve done at inserting keywords to optimize the content. It is also a good representation of how search engines will see your page. ‘More is better’ is not the most effective keyword density goal. Although the optimum keyword density is much debated, having some balance is definitely in order. A density below 1% makes it difficult for a search engine to understand your main message, where a density over 5% will start to make the content appear unnatural. At this stage in website optimization, the page content can be continually edited while the keyword density is being re-checked. Continue this process until your keywords are among the words with the highest density.

Conclusion

Choosing the correct keywords for your website is a must. Website keyword optimization is not rocket science, but it must be implemented carefully. By using the correct keywords, not only will your site be positioned well in search results, but it will draw visitors to your website.

Chris Haney is the founder of The Coding Studio http://www.TheCodingStudio.com, a custom web site development company serving businesses in Calgary, Alberta, specializing in dynamic, data-driven web sites, ecommerce solutions, web-based applications, and search engine optimization.