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Internet marketing should be your first priority when looking to create a strategy for marketing your business as opposed to a large spend in the Yellow Pages. Have a look at the facts and statistics about Yellow Pages directory before you shy away from investing in search and paid marketing options.

To most companies, advertising in Yellow Pages is the unshakeable cornerstone of their annual marketing spend and they would no more think of cancelling it than they would hire David Brent as office manager.

Surely Yellow Pages is established, recognised everywhere and enjoys strong distribution. It’s expensive, but is there any alternative?

A moderately sized quarter of half page ad is looking at 3 -5K a year. A whole page? That can be anything from 5K to over 8K for the year. There’s no negotiation; take it or leave it - and that’s with the regulators on their back capping and indeed cutting rates by 3.4%.

How surprising is it that more and more of my clients are cutting back expenditure on Yellow Pages?

Not surprising at all really. If you think about it, search is not new and it has played a major part in marketing activity for decades in the form of phone books and directories. Effective search engine marketing simply takes this a giant step further, unlocking as is does the incredible introductory potential the web medium provides between supplier and consumer to connect and do business.

This trend is reflected in Yellow Pages own market analysis, which shows a downward trend in client retention from 78% to 75% year on year. Interestingly, it is newer customers who are leaving.

Yellow Pages ads are viewed by people who have all ready made a decision to buy. Don’t emphasise why your product or service is needed but rather why it should be obtained from you. Consumers need and want two types of information from Yellow Pages adverts.

Firstly, they need to know why they should purchase from one company and not another.

Secondly, they need information that facilitates making their purchase ie they need to know how to make the purchase or have a call to action.

If you really focus and see things through your customers eyes then your Yellow Pages ad copy should virtually write itself.

The use of colour and how Yellow Pages charge for it is pretty unbelievable.

The book is now printed on white paper (think about it you can’t have white ink)

Yellow Pages charge more for white in your adverts - 40% in fact.

But, Yellow Pages actually have to take an extra step to print a yellow coloured ad ie they overlay white paper with a yellow ink but this is cheaper than a white ad.

Our surveys show that colour is not the most important factor in selecting an advert. In fact, it is well down the list.

Yellow Pages sales reps often argue:

“It’ll only cost you £800 a year to move up to the next largest ad size and ad colour. Don’t you believe that the increased sales you’d obtain would more than offset that expense?”

This is a bad argument for a number of reasons….

It assumes that the business generated by your original ad pays for itself

It assumes that you make a 100% profit on each sale (nice work if you can get it)

It assumes that the use of £800 for additional Yellow Pages advertising would generate more business than would the use of the same £800 in another media

Nonetheless I see many of my clients putting all their eggs in one “Yellow Pages” basket without obtaining effective proof that their adverts are actually working.

The secret is to monitor the response to each and every advert you place.

If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.

I know from my experience as a former Yellow Pages sales rep that one had to continually create a false sense of urgency. Typically Yellow Pages reps only work two directories ie they are in each area for six months at a time. The reps are paid a commission on signed orders so it’s no surprise they go in for the kill…….

This article is free to republish provided the authors resource box remains intact.

This article was written by David Clarke a partner at DBS and an internet marketing consultant who offers 0845 to mobile and 0845 number services.

To legally trace a phone call is easy these days. I’ll show you how on an everyday example - you are receiving scary prank calls and start to feel nervous. You probably have wondered if this was really a prank caller or if it was someone that wanted to get you hurt. If you were threatened in any way, you didn’t take it ligthly. You have a right to be afraid for your loved ones and yourself.

The problem is that the police aren’t able to help you, unless you are being threatened in person. It’s frustrating to know only the phone number of person but not who they are. However, you can immediately take action and take measures to stop the annoying caller. Whether it’s an unlisted home phone (land-line) number or a cell phone number, you don’t need help from the police to trace the person behind prank calls. But when choosing a service that provides reverse phone call lookup you have to be careful that they search for information through real public records and just some glorified link directories. Many free services are offering legit personal info but honestly their databases are worth nothing. Besides that, you aren’t able to trace cell phone numbers becase they are not listed in landline directories.

With all the records being available to public, you can trace a phone call all by yourself. You will need to enter the phone number and wait for the search results, that are being pulled out of the records database. You can get the number from your phone bill or the caller ID. You can ensure yourself that they are not dangerous, or get enough information for the police to search their criminal records, which are also provided. Yes, it is possible for you to find out if they have ever been involved in a crime, locally or nationally. At this point I must remind you that accessing detail telephone calls information (dialed phone numbers and received calls) from a person is considered ilegall and companies that offer this kind of service are scam or are involved in illegal actions. In any case, avoid them! Only your telephone company and government agencies have access to such information. Still, you are provided with ton of information (for example: Full Person’s Name and Address, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Age, Gender, Current and Previous Names, Properties and Ownerships, Professional Licenses and Associates List, Family and Neighbors, …).

Next time when someone suspicious calls you, inform them that you have their name and address. Don’t be afraid to say it back to them. They will probably freak out and never call you back again. However, if you feel threatened and even find out that they have a criminal arrest record, you should not answer the calls. Don’t hesitate to inform the police and let them to do their job. They will consider the calls a priority and a serious threat if the person has a criminal record.

If you are ready to finally identify that mysterious caller, visit this page: http://traceaphonecall.wordpress.com/

If you use the correct search engine optimization strategy, and use SEO to your advantage, you can get listed on Google, Yahoo and MSN within two days and have the potential, if you do it right, of achieving a top ten listing within two weeks.

How’s that for a statement! You think it’s bullshit? Well stop bitching and try it – it is absolutely impossible to fail to get listed in the top search engine indices if you use the correct and logical techniques. Those who fail to do so simply do not understand how to use SEO and are swayed by the ranting of others who read all the forums but never put into practice what I do.

Here are some tips for you, though I have no intention of giving away all of my secrets in one article. I have nothing to worry about from the so-called SEO gurus who have to use PPC adverts to promote their websites. I stopped using PPC over a year ago. So let’s look at some of the ways to design a proper SEO strategy to get you listed on the top search engines quickly.

Firstly, you have to determine what kind of website you want: an expert site or just a sales site. If you decide on the former, you will rapidly achieve a listing on Google and have a good chance of a high listing for the search term for which your home page is optimized. If you decide on a sales minisite, with between one and three pages, then you will not get a high listing quickly, but you can still get listed in two days, or even less. You can still get listed highly with a 2 – 4 page website, but you will have to build a few back-links for that.

Consider what a listing on the index of any search engine entails. It requires at least one page of your site to be visited by a search engine, and then any internal links on that site will also be crawled. Usually the first page to be visited by the spiders will be your home page, and that is what you should first of all aim for. Eventually you will want all of your pages crawled and indexed, but, in the meantime, deliberately focus on getting your home page listed on Google, Yahoo and MSN. The rest will follow.

To achieve that you have to design your website so that the home page leads to every other page on the site, but not necessarily directly. In return, each page on your site should lead to your home page. The way that you achieve this is critical to your success, and if you are to succeed in internet marketing through website design, then you should try a variety of alternative ways of doing this. The results will be illuminating and help you to achieve success with any website you design, irrespective of the niche or subject involved.

You then have to make sure that your home page can be accessed by the search engine spiders without you having to register or submit your site to these search engines. If you rely on submission, then it can take several weeks or even months before your website is listed. You can also forget about top 50 listings, let alone top ten.

If you use your intelligence and use the search engine spiders to crawl your site as you want them to, and then show them exactly what you want to show them, then there are few reasons why your site should be not be listed in a high position in the indices for specific search terms (keywords) use by Google customers seeking information that you can provide.

That is the whole purpose of your website, so learn how to do it properly and you will never ever fear a search engine or its little robots ever again. You will be able to manipulate these robots and spiders, and use a search engine optimization strategy to suit your needs any time you want. SEO can be used any way you want. Be Confident!

If you want to get your site listed in 2 days, check out SEOcious where you will be shown step by step how Pete?s website reached the top 5 in Google Yahoo and MSN in 2 weeks. SEO is a skill, so learn it and throw away the PPC bills.

Co-location most commonly refers to running or installing data into a single computer, data centre or process. For example, virtualisation happens when a host server uses virtual software and hardware platforms to run more than a single instance of a piece of software on a different platform. When it comes to website hosting, co-location involves co-locating the network equipment that keeps your website up to another location. There are a number of facilities that exist specifically for the co-location of equipment. The gear may be co-located to a brand new location, but the end result is essentially the same and does not necessarily impact your website’s capabilities.

The biggest decision to make when it comes to your hosting is whether or not you should go for data centre hosting or co-location, however they are actually one and the same for the most part.

Co-location facilities are data centres, but not all data centres are co-location facilities. Some data centres may not allow for any equipment to be co-located, but may still allow for purchase of dedicated servers so that essentially the same thing can be achieved. Data centres are brick and mortar facilities; equipment is housed that allows for remote user access for web hosting and other computer related services. Co-location is the process of housing this data and information someplace else other than in these data centres owned by the hosting company in question.

Some of the benefits of co-location are listed below:

- One benefit to co-location is an increase in security, as data centres offer strong server security and confidence for your most critical data. Data centres used in co-location are monitored all the time, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week which means that your data is safe.

- Your web host benefits from co-location because they do not have to shell out the costs associated with building and maintaining their own in house dedicated servers, therefore they can sell hosting to you and co-locate your hosting equipment to a more inexpensive option.

- Co-location allows hosting clients to have their own bandwidth, ram and other important hardware without being forced to share. What this means is that systems and servers can run at their highest possible capacity.

- Because co-location involves dedicated servers that are regularly monitored and located in the highest quality facilities, hosting clients can rest assure that the services they purchase will be 100% reliable and trustworthy.

- The concept at the core of co-location is location independence, which means that you are not required to have your data or equipment hosted by a specific data centre. Instead, you have independence to host your data and equipment wherever it is most feasible for the smooth operation of your business website or data.

By co-locating your server, your physical business can run efficiently and effectively.

- Another benefit of co-location is an increase in flexibility because you will be able to grow and upgrade your technology as your company grows without ever having to make additional investments.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For Business Internet Services and Co-location, he recommends Iconnyx.

The focus behind the concept of managed hosting is to give website hosting clients an option that is cost effective for them whilst providing a superior level of service beyond traditional website hosting services.

Managed website hosting essentially means that a large portion of the server side work is done by the hosting company, rather than the client themselves. This takes a lot of weight off the client’s plate, giving them more time to focus on their business or the client side’s aspect of the hosting.

There are a number of different options available when it comes to managed hosting, this is due all hosting companies having a unique offering when it comes to the level of services, support, benefits and features that they offer.

Pricing will vary significantly from hosting company to hosting company, and from plan to plan, meaning that there is plenty for a potential client to do before they select the right managed hosting plan for their needs.

Here are some of the options that are available for your consideration;

Unmanaged Hosting - With unmanaged website hosting, the client is expected to manage the majority of his or her account alone. While unmanaged website hosting does offer support services, data monitoring and back up services and disaster preparedness are usually handled by the client rather than by the hosting company. Some unmanaged hosting accounts do offer hosting services, but they will cost extra in addition to regular monthly fees which makes them less than a cost effective service for most business clients.

Semi-Managed Hosting - This is exactly what the name would suggest, a website hosting plan that offers some management by the hosting company without their services treading in fully managed territory. Semi-Managed hosting for business clients may include a certain amount of system admin time per month, monitoring of data, data backups, automatic notification for events, scheduled backups of the server, kernel and OS updates, virus scanning on the server side, spam filtering and so on.

However, most semi-managed hosting plans only offer some of these features, requiring extra fees for a more complete managed hosting solution.

Fully Managed Hosting - This, as the name suggests, is website hosting that offers a fully managed solution on the server side for clients. This is a cost effective solution as it means clients do not have to worry about server and data backups, disaster preparedness, constant monitoring of data, event notification and so on.

Fully managed hosting solutions usually include a predetermined number of hours available for system admin time, along with a myriad of other services which keep the data and server side of things effectively managed and out of the hands of the client.

Depending on your knowledge, expertise and experience with website hosting and the server and data side of things, different levels of managed hosting may be more or less ideal for your purposes. If you want to save time and money by forgoing the hiring of a system admin, allowing your hosting company to handle the server instead, then managed website hosting may be the level of service that you have been looking for.

If you feel comfortable handling the server and have the time and energy to monitor your data and to plan and prepare for disaster and data loss, then managed hosting may be an expense that you can pass on.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For Business Internet Services and Managed Hosting, he recommends Iconnyx.

Managed hosting is one of several different kinds of website hosting available to individuals and businesses that is intended to offer a more personalised level of service for clients. Managed hosting plans, simply put, are hosting plans that are personally managed by support staff with the hosting company taking away some of the responsibility that the client would normally have to focus on. There are a number of benefits that make this type of hosting an advantageous option for individuals and businesses.

1 - Clients with managed hosting accounts can expect a much quicker and more powerful connection because managed hosting plans involve the use of dedicated servers. In other words, rather than sharing hosting space and bandwidth with other clients of the hosting company, managed hosting plans allow clients their own 100% dedicated hosting server to work from.

2 - Managed hosting accounts mean that there is always an additional level of support beyond what a normal web hosting company would offer. The hosting companies offer hands on specialist experts that aid in the administration of the website.

3 - Managed web hosting is cost effective due to the level of administration offered can free up the time of clients and their employees, allowing them to save wages and make better use of their time.

4 - Most managed web hosting plans offer additional security, including plans for disaster recovery, data backup and so on and so forth. Businesses that rely on their website presences will benefit from hosting that protects their data and ensures that disaster recovery procedures are in place.

5 - Managed website hosting plans are managed and monitored on a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week basis. This includes monitoring and management of both the network and all equipment used by the client.

6 - The equipment used by hosting companies for managed web hosting clients are usually a great improvement on what shared hosting clients tend to experience. Because managed web hosting involves the use of a dedicated server, clients can expect high quality and dedicated equipment.

7 - Clients who try to host their websites on their own dedicated servers often find themselves with an awful lot of down time. Making use of a dedicated server that is managed by a top hosting company means that you should never have to worry about down time ever again. This is simply because someone is always monitoring.

8 - While all web hosting plans offer varied features and benefits like hosting space, bandwidth allowance, tools, scripts and support, the level of services offered by managed hosting plans are usually much greater than with shared hosting plan options.

9 - These hosting plans are time saving plans as they eliminate the need for a full time website administrator. By allowing the website hosting company to handle a large amount of the administration tasks, clients can spend more time worrying about their business and less worrying about their website.

10 - With a managed hosting plan, you should never have trouble reaching support staff or services when you need them. If you ever need assistance, someone who can help you will be available all day every day, making it easier than ever for you to get the assistance that you need.

Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who writes for a number of UK businesses. For Business Internet Services and Managed Hosting, he recommends Iconnyx.

Early preparation, according to the National Hurricane Survival Initiative, is the key to facing hurricane season. By starting early, residents avoid the rush at home supply stores, grocery stores and other venues that typically get crowded and sometimes chaotic when hurricane watches and warnings are issued. The Initiative is comprised of organizations and businesses including the National Hurricane Center, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), The Salvation Army, and AT&T, to name a few.

To date, the National Hurricane Survival Initiative has generated more than 370 million media impressions overall, with media coverage in newspapers, radio and television nationwide, including CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, New York Times, Orlando Sentinel, and the Palm Beach Post, among otheres.

Three conditions need to be in existence for the formation of a hurricane: pre-existing disturbance of thunderstorms, warm ocean temperatures up to 80 degrees to a depth of approximately 150 feet, and light upper level winds that speed throughout the depth of the atmosphere. Even with today’s sophisticated computer-forecasting models, a hurricane’s path, strength and potential for damage can not be precisely predicted. That is why preparing for the worst possible situation is a smart move.

In preparing for a hurricane or disaster, families should identify ahead of time where they will go if they need to evacuate. Choose a home of a friend of family member show home is well away from coastal areas. Other options include a motel or approved hurricane shelter. Following a disaster, it’s often easier to call long distance. Consider asking an out-of-state friend to be the “family contact” - someone everyone in the family knows to call to tell him or her where they are. Locate important papers and documents and have them ready to take with you should you need to evacuate. These include driver’s license, Social Security cards, proof of residence, insurance policies, wills, birth and marriage certificates, and tax records. Exterior and interior photos of your home should also be included.

A hurricane plan must also include the things you have to protect and secure your home against during the storm. Do everything you can to minimize the danger to your family and damage to your house.

Outside of house:

Keep trees and shrubs trimmed

Remove loose branches

Clean out gutters and downspouts

Clear the lawn of furniture, potted plants, and any other items that can become windborne.

Secure windows and glass doors by using shutters or installing plywood

Brace garage doors

Leave swimming pools filled and add extra chlorine

Secure trailed boats

Fill vehicle fuel tanks

Inside house:

Locate water valves, gas valves, and main electric breaker. Have instructions on how to turn of electricity, gas and water if authorities advise to do so.

Unplug all but essential appliances and electric equipment.

Turn refrigerator and freezer to coldest setting

Secure and waterproof your home office. Back up computer files on disks.

Stay indoors, away from windows.

Locate a safe room in the center of your home, without windows, such as a bathroom or closet.

There are six basics you should stock for your home: water, food, first aid supplies, clothing and bedding, tools and emergency supplies, and special items. It’s important to have certain items on hand to make you and your family as safe and comfortable as possible in your home or when you evacuate:

Important papers, in waterproof container

Water - figure on at least one gallon daily per person for five days

Ice

Water purification tablets (halazone)

Food - non-perishable foods that do not need cooking such as canned meat and fish, canned fruits and vegetables, canned soups and puddings, dried fruits, cereal, bread, and instant tea or coffee, to name a few

Special food for pets, babies or the elderly

First Aid Kit

Radio and extra batteries

Toiletries

Useful tools such as hammer and nails, screwdrivers and screws, all-purpose cleaner, shovel, duct tape, ladder, and portable generator, to name a few.

Other hurricane and earthquake preparation sites recommend safety knives as part of self-rescue kits because of their small size, long shelf life, and multiuse capabilities. Many rescue personnel after Hurricane Katrina carried safety knives for quick-access cutting ability without having an exposed blade at all times. This cost-effective item can be replaced cheaply, lessening incidences of contamination. Forward-thinking companies are planning ahead for disaster operations and ordering supplies of utility knives to issue on demand along with flashlights and other items.

Here are a few things NOT to do in preparation for, or during a storm:

Don’t put masking tape on windows - it won’t keep the windows from shattering

Don’t crack a window - this will not equalize pressure atmospheric pressure inside/outside the house

Don’t buy a chainsaw - Sleep deprived and distraught, after the storm is not the best time to use a dangerous power tool.

Don’t buy candles With roads out and the fire department grounded, do you really need a house on fire? Invest in battery-powered sources of lights and a battery-powered radio.

Safecutters Inc., provides an online store of utility knife box cutters for opening shipping boxes and shipping packages, as well as safety knives to open moving boxes and packages. For more information about Klever Kutter and other Safecutters products contact us!

A basic requirement as a merchandiser, accident prevention is the responsibility of a store owner who is expected to assist management in any unsafe behavior as outlined by the company’s established safety regulations and procedures. Employees should never be expected to work in an unsafe environment.

And while most people blame accidents on unsafe conditions, most accidents are caused by unsafe behaviors and the best way to eliminate accidents is to avoid unsafe practices.

To begin, housekeeping is a continuous process needed to keep the workplace free of debris and other hazards. Periodic inspections should be performed to review housekeeping practices and identify workplace hazards. Some housekeeping tips are:

1. Keep work areas clean and orderly. While working, employees should keep aisles open to customers.

2. Store tools, equipment and supplies in their proper place. When box cutters or safety knives are not in use, the blade must be kept in the closed position, locked with the guard in place.

3. Wipe spills up from the floor immediately. Notify a supervisor if additional help is needed.

4. Do not stack totes more than four high. Use dollies or flat-tops to transport heavier totes of more than one at a time.

In the retail business, some of the more common accidents include falling on a slippery surface or stairs, lifting injuries, sprains and strains, and cutting injuries as a result of the incorrect use of box cutters.

Slips, trips and falls are among the most serious accidents that occur in a retail environment. It’s important, therefore, to wear proper shoes that enable you to move comfortably and maintain firm footing. Make sure the soles of your shoes are designed for the surface you are working on. The wrong type of sole can actually add to the hazards you face on the job. If you see a spill, make sure it is cleaned up immediately. If you fail to clean the spill up or notify someone that the spill exists, someone else may slip and fall. Always keep aisles and doorways clear of boxes, product, fixtures, and tools.

Improper lifting is the greatest single cause of back pain and injury. It’s very important that merchandisers learn and practice good lifting techniques. If you think you need help lifting, don’t hesitate to ask. Some common mistakes employees make when lifting include twisting and lifting at the same time, reaching for objects instead of using a ladder, bending and overextending, and lifting cartons that are too heavy.

Consider the following techniques for proper lifting:

1. Stand close to the object that you are lifting and plant both feet firmly on the floor. Point your toes out.

2. Squat down close to the object with your back straight, knees bent and stomach muscles tight.

3. Grip the object firmly with both hands, not just your fingers.

4. Stand up slowly, keeping your back straight and letting your legs do the lifting.

5. Avoid bending from the waist. Keep your knees bent and back straight when lifting from the ground.

6. Reverse the above procedures to put the load down.

7. Never jump. A jump from a short height, such as the back of a trailer or loading dock, can cause serious injury.

Protecting yourself from the potential hazards of your work environment can be achieved by using personal protective equipment (PPE) while working in your merchandising position. For instance, while working with chemicals, always read the container label. Even small spills in the retail environment can lead to harmful human exposure. For those who are unloading, handling or assembling any heavy-duty fixtures, gloves should always be worn, as well as when working with refrigerated/frozen food products.

The incorrect use of box cutters not only accounts for personal safety, but also damaged or unsaleable goods. Employees might consider wearing gloves when using box cutters. Use one-sided blades with safety handles. Sharp blades should be stored in a safe manner when not in use and employees should never leave a sharp blade unattended on the sales floor.

Unsafe behavior in the retail workplace depends on correct training and diligence. To avoid injury to yourself or damage to merchandise, follow these simple instructions:

1. Place the box on the floor, setting it at such an angle that you will not be pulling the box cutter toward you. Make sure that the line of tape is horizontal, not vertical, in relation to you.

2. Place your hand on the opposite side of the box.

3. Make a series of small, smooth cuts rather than cutting straight across all at once.

Safecutters Inc., provides an online store of utility knife box cutters for opening shipping boxes and shipping packages, as well as safety knives to open moving boxes and packages. For more information about Klever Kutter and other Safecutters products contact us!

Despite the popularity of RSS technology, only about 20% of internet users actually use it. In fact, many internet users don’t even know what it is or how to use it. But there are three reasons why we should expect that to change very soon. Just as many devoted “snail mail” users eventually came around to the idea of using email, many email users will probably become avid RSS users.

Three Reasons Why RSS is The Way to Go!

1. RSS Allows the Use of Embedded Audio and Video:

Let’s say that you’re an internet marketer who wants to send an email to established clients. You envision this email containing a YouTube-like preview that the client can click on to see your expertly-crafted video. But guess what? You can’t do that with email. The best you can hope for is to include a preview image that opens up a web browser to play the video when the client clicks on it.

You may wonder why that’s so bad, but just think of how much easier it would be to view the video right there in the email without being bounced around. And then remember that RSS easily and conveniently allows for embedded video and audio.

2. RSS Guarantees 100% Deliverability

If you’re an internet marketer, listen up. Even if you legitimately obtain the email address of a potential client or an established client, there is only a 60% chance that they will receive an email that you send to them. That means that if you have a list of 100 emails that you’ve worked hard to obtain, 40 of those customers won’t ever get the email. What a waste!

But RSS is different. If someone has subscribed to your RSS feed, you are guaranteed that they will receive every single message.

And the advantages aren’t limited to internet marketers! Customers also win with RSS. No more whitelisting senders, and no more signing up for email lists only to find a spam box filled with old email. Once users realize how convenient and efficient RSS really is, RSS will grow by leaps and bounds.

3. RSS Means NO SPAM!

Industry analysts and internet marketers are acutely aware of the possibility that email may not be free forever, particularly for large corporations that send out significant numbers of emails. Why? The answer is spam. It’s time-consuming to delete, it often contains inappropriate messages, and large corporations are often burned by it. Before you dismiss the idea that email may no longer be free, know that some email providers are already researching ways to make email like cell phones that impose a sending quota.

And won’t RSS be popular then for marketers and consumer alike!

If you are one of the 80% who uses RSS feed regularly, you may be stuck for awhile checking both email and your feed reader because a few key things need to happen before RSS completely eclipses email. First, users need to be able to send messages to select RSS subscribers instead of everyone who subscribes to the RSS feed. Second, users will need to have the ability to share some identifying information with the publisher so that the publisher can send content that matches the needs of the user and can utilize RSS similarly to email.

So What Will This Look Like?

Quite honestly, it will probably look a lot like email, except that instead of publishing your message to a blog, you’ll actually publish it to a private spot on the internet and to your client’s RSS reader. When your client checks his feed reader, he’ll see that you’ve posted a message to him and reads the message online or in the private space where you’ve published the message.

Sounds easy, right? Although RSS technology has a way to go before this is a reality, it never hurts to prepare for the possibility. If it all sounds overwhelming, consider the possibility of consulting with an SEO expert to talk about how your company can prepare for the widespread use of RSS as an alternative to email.

Seomul Evans is a senior SEO Services with “SEO 1 Services” a Dallas firm providing SEO Marketing and free internet marketing articles .

Every SEO expert know that no matter how high your website is ranked, if it’s full of fluff or superficial information it’s not going to motivate a potential customer to return. One of the most important ways to market yourself and your business is to ensure that your website contains quality content. Why? Because good content motivates people to stick around your website and recommend it to others. Good, authoritative content inspires potential customers to trust you. It causes other experts and professionals to link to your site, and it helps improve your search engine ranking. Here are 5 hints for writing high-quality content:

1. Choose a Good Topic

If your business only sells one or two products or services, then your content will obviously focus on those products or services. But instead of offering cut-and-dried information about what you’re selling, try first creating a FAQ sheet. Imagine what kinds of questions your potential customers will ask about your product or service, or start with questions that current customers have asked. Then use your content to answer those questions. While you may be passionate about passing along the ins-and-outs of your product, your customers will be far more interested in what it can do for them and what results they can expect.

If your business is large, your main focus will be on organizing your content well. If your content is poorly organized, customers will rarely stick around your website for long. Create a separate page for each product or service rather than filling a page with information about several products at once.

2. Choose a Good Author

Remember that the best person to write the content for your website is not necessarily the person who knows the most about it. Choose someone who can write non-technically and who can effectively communicate with the average consumer who may know next to nothing about your company and what you’re selling.

3. Explain, Explain, Explain

When you’re writing your content, pretend that you’re talking to someone who has never even heard of your product or service before. Give them all the information they need to know to make an informed decision about purchasing your product or service. If they can’t get their questions answered by reading your content, they’re going to go somewhere else. If you’re concerned that your pages will be too long and laborious, use links!

4. Make it Visually Appealing

A page full of text can be intimidating, especially if your potential customer is unfamiliar with your product or service. The first way make your content more palatable is to add graphics and images. Images draw the reader in and make him believe that your website is a friendly place. They also reinforce your message.

The second way to make your content easier to swallow is format the text in a user-friendly way. Use short paragraphs, lots of bullets and number, short sentences, headings, etc.

5. Use Links Liberally

The key to creating high-quality content is to create articles and information that will serve to make you an authority in your field. Create content that will garner respect from other experts and motivate them to link to you. Make sure that your documents include plenty of links to sources both within and without your website. People are more likely to trust your information if they can see that other professional concur with you. When others link to your documents, your page ranking will increase, and that’s what every small business owner wants and needs.

Writing high-quality content takes time and effort. While many small business owners insist on writing content themselves, others find that they simply don’t have the time given all of their other responsibilities. If you find yourself in the latter group, don’t hesitate to contact an SEO expert internet marketing specialist who can point you in the direction of good content, or can even complete the writing for you. You won’t regret that small investment!

Seomul Evans is a senior SEO Services with “SEO 1 Services” a Dallas firm providing SEO Marketing and free internet marketing articles .