Macko's Rants

Who Loves Money

2007-04-28T14:19:00.000+01:00

If you are new to internet marketing I encourage you to take a look at this brand new ebook called Who Loves Money.

It's an ebook by a couple of guys, Kyle and Carson who have been making a fortune on the internet.

They already have a great membership site called Wealthy Affiliate and they have written a couple of other bestselling ebooks.

This book is highly recommended and will help any beginner or advanced marketer make some decent money on the internet.

See more details here..

Who Loves Money

Software For Designing A Website

2006-11-27T02:03:00.000Z

If you would like to design a website and you don't know much about html I have posted a review on my other blog that outlines a couple of great web building software packages.

These packages are great for beginners and experts alike.

Click here to view the Web Design Software Packages.

Top Search Positions

2006-10-17T03:30:00.000+01:00

I am now able to get your main keywords listed in the top of the main search engines.

What we do is work with you to find the best keywords for your site. Once we have done that we get to work and have a good look through your site sorting out code errors. We then do reciprocal linking campaigns and articles etc - and in a few months your keywords will start to appear in the listings. It's worth doing if you have a product that people want to buy.

Top Search Positions - for more info

Google Video is Fantastic

2006-07-14T01:54:00.000+01:00

Gosh, as a web developer I spent ages looking at how to put video online. I had known about Google Video and Youtube etc but never really looked at it as a way to add a video to a website.

During my research I found many programs selling for $50 to $150 showing how, after you have made your video, you have to convert it to flv - then upload it to your webserver bla bla bla. The reason it should be in flash (flv) format is that most of the computers online can read flash these days. If you do it in streaming windows (wmv) format or streaming quicktime (mov) format then some viewers might have to download extra plugins before they will be able to view it. So by doing it in flash then there is no extra software that some viewers might have to install OK not rocket science but all a tad fiddly.

I was looking at google video where they have a bit where you just upload your video and get the code to put on your website. What put me off before was that I read that you might have to wait days to get your video verified by google. OK so I thought I may as well give it a try.

I made up the video below, if you can't see it click here, in Ulead Video Software - I did the video mostly with photographs. Takes a little while to do but good fun ... and yes I know I won't be winning any prizes :)

I uploaded the video to google video and to my surprise it was verified in under an hour. You then just click on the video from your account page to get the embed code. Very simple. Just copy the embed code out and paste it into the place on your page where you want your video and upload the page. What could be simpler and no uploading large files and tons of different pages to the webserver.

But get this. If you have a Blog - From Blogger, Typepad or Livejournal
there is a button on the embed code page where you can post straight onto your blog from the google video page. Absolutely amazing. That's what I did with the video below.

So there you go. Simply make your video in some video editing software and save it as something like a wmv file. Open an account at google video and upload your video. Once verified just go and get the embed flash code or post it straight to your blog in about three clicks. Great stuff and no need to spend $$$ or time for new software or uploading large files to your own server.

Farm For Holiday Rent Scotland

2006-07-14T01:41:00.000+01:00


Here's a video I made for one of my design clients. Bankhead Farm situated in central Scotland and is available for rent all year long.

Finding Keywords For Your Web Site

2005-06-25T14:02:00.000+01:00

Here's a greet freeware tool for finding the best keywords for your website or for your pay per click advertising.

Good Keywords is completely free. No registration, no payments, no nag screens! It is a small 500Kb download, digitally signed and safe to install. They don't even ask for your email address.

Good Keywords makes use of various tools provided by search engines like the Overture Search Suggestion Tool, Search Engines Like Yahoo, Google, Teoma and other services like Alexa.

You can also use Good Keywords as a meta tag creation tool. Keep adding the keywords you need into the Keyword Pad available within the software. Once you are done, a simple click will get you the required keyword meta tag... ready to be pasted into your HTML file.

A brilliant piece of software for all sorts of research into finding the best keywords.

Download it here

How to Write Title Tags For Your Web site

2005-06-24T15:01:00.000+01:00

When it comes to search engine optimization, the single most important sentence that you will write for your website is the title tag of your main page. If you write it properly then you will have taken a big step towards getting your site well placed in search engine queries for your important keywords.

Before I give you a step-by-step guide to writing title tags, let's define what they actually are and see why they are important. When you look at a web page in your browser, the writing in the blue strip above browser's commands (file, edit, view, etc.) is the title tag. On your actual html document the title tag is in the head portion between the notation .

The title tag is important because it "tells" the search engine what the page is about, and in the case of your main page, what your website is all about. I remember back in my school days that we used to take standardized examinations in which we had to read a story and then answer the question: "What would be the best title for this essay?" Choosing a title tag is something like answering this kind of question. You've got to pick out the gist of your enterprise and highlight it in a sentence. So, take a look at your web page and get ready to begin, following these steps:

1. Make sure your three or four most important keywords or keyword phrases appear in the title tag. The most important words should appear near the beginning of the sentence, and they can be repeated within the sentence for added emphasis. For example if I am offering low-cost web design, then my title tag might look like this: "title" Web Design: Affordable, Low Cost Web Design from the Acme Web Design Company "title"

2. Leave your branding and salës pitch for another part of the web page. Although it is a natural tendency to want to put your company name at the beginning of the title tag, you should remember that unless you are very famous like Coca Cola, people are not searching for you. So, put your most important keywords at the front of the title tag, and establish your brand name with your logo and other elements of the web page. If your company name includes your keywords, like our hypothetical Acme Web Design Company, then put it in the title tag, but not necessarily at the beginning.

Similarly, the title tag is no place for your salës pitch, so keep out flowery or extraneous adjectives, unless they are actual terms used in searches for your product or service.

3. Place your geographical or niche-defining term in your title tag.

If you are trying for a top ten or top twenty position for a term such as "web design," then you are really in for a difficult struggle. However, suppose the Acme Web Design Company is located in Columbus, Ohio. Then instead of attempting the almost impossible task of getting the top rankings for the term "web design," it would be far better to get a high ranking in the geographical niche using a title tag such "Web Design, Columbus, Ohio: Low Cost Web Design in Columbus, Ohio by The Acme Web Design Company".

4. The title tag can be longer than you think.

Some guidelines say that the title tag should be no longer than 70 characters. It is true that only the first 70 characters will show in the top bar of the browser, but search engine robots will read the rest of the tag and the search engines will not penalize you for going over the 70 character mark. Take a look at highly ranked sites in heavily competitive categories and you will see examples of long title tags. Write the tag according to your need to get your important words and phrases included in a sentence that best describes what your product or service is about.

5. Vary the title tags on the inner pages of your website.

Even with a long title tag, it is not possible to highlight all the possible terms which someone might use to find your website. This is not a problem if you make use of the other pages of your website. Instead of simply having a title tag that says "services" our web design firm could highlight "low cost, web design services..." on that page. The "contact" page could be used to emphasize the geographical location once again, and so on. Many websites make the mistake of repeating the same title tag on each of the inner pages of the site. Avoid this and use each of your page's titles to target important keywords and keyword phrases.

So, take a look at your website's title tags, and see if you can improve them. The effort that you make will be well rewarded.

About The Author
Donald Nelson is a web developer, editor and social worker. He is the director of A1-Optimization, a firm providing affordable search engine optimization, website copywriting, reciprocal linking and other web promotion services.

Control Spam and Check All your Email Accounts With One Program

2005-06-24T14:48:00.000+01:00

Here's a fantastic free software program to help you control spam and keep track of all your email accounts. Keeping track of several e-mail accounts can be annoying. Thankfully, ePrompter's bare-bones yet effective approach helps you solve this hectic problem.

Utilizing an uncluttered interface and stone-simple setup, ePrompter does one thing and does it well. You can set the application to check up to 16 password-protected e-mail accounts, including Hotmail and AOL. Notification consists of a flag in your system tray--color coded for each different e-mail account--and a choice of five screensaver options. When you get a new message, you simply click the icon and start reading. Composing a new e-mail or responding is just as easy.

ePrompter automatically and simultaneously checks and retrieves your e-mail messages from e-mail accounts, such as AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, POP3, Earthlink, Excite, Juno, GO, Gmail, Email.com, Mail.com, Mindspring, MSN, MyWay, OneBox, Rediffmail, USA.net, and hundreds of other e-mail domains.

ePrompter not only lets you compose, forward, and reply to your retrieved messages, but also gives you the ability to delete unwanted spam or suspicious-looking mail without having to launch your e-mail program or having to go to your Web mail's site.

ePrompter notification features include a unique rotating tray icon and a choice of five screensavers that let you know at a glance the number of new messages in each account, as well as audio alerts for new messages. ePrompter also includes autodial for automatic message retrieval.

Version 2.0 build 2 adds supports for Gmail.

Download it free here

or visit www.eprompter.com

Clean Out Unused Files and Speed Up Your Computer

2005-06-24T13:50:00.000+01:00

Here's a great little piece of software I just found for cleaning out all the unused files on your computer.

I just used it on mine and I found that I managed to free up nearly 800 mb on my hard disk.

What they say on their website

"CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and FREE!"

You can download you free copy here.

Title Tags - How to Make Them More Effective

2005-06-24T13:33:00.000+01:00

Number One In Your Niche: Title Tags - How to Make Them More Effective: "By Kempton Smith

Pay attention to the title tags of your web pages. They are more important than most web authors realize. Once you understand why the title is so important, you can easily write more effective title tags.

What is the title tag?

In your HTML code, the page title should be placed between the beginning and closing HEAD tags, ideally just after the beginning HEAD tag and before the first META tag.

Why is the title tag important?

The title tag is important for a variety of purposes.

- Most browsers display your page with the title at the top of the browser window.

- If someone bookmarks your page in their browser, their bookmark list will show your page using your page title. So if the title of your web page is 'Home Page', as many are, your visitors' bookmark lists will contain a lot of 'Home Page' listings. How will they determine which 'Home Page' is yours two months from now?

- Google and other search engines present the results of a search by displaying page titles as links in the first line of each query result. Search engines doesn't like to display 'Home Page' as the best they can do for a user searching for 'purple people eaters,' for example.

- Most search engines will order the results of a search engine query based on the relevancy of your page to the keywords used for the query. One of the factors in determining this relevancy is how closely your title matches these keywords. If your small startup company makes purple people eaters, don't give your home page the title 'Unknown Business, Inc.' It's not relevant to the search. Of course, many people will consider 'CNN' or 'Time, Inc.' as relevant for the keyword 'news.' When you get to be well known, you can use your name as your title.

You can see that the title of your web page is highly visible to others, and it can impact the search engine ranking of your web page. It is therefore worthwhile to spend some time carefully writing each page title.

Practial tips for writing title tags

Here are some practical tips you can use for crafting an effective web page title.

- Start by thinking hard about how your potential visitors will search for your site. What keywords or keyword phrases will they use for a search engine query? Use one or two of the most important keyword phrases for your title. In our example, the home page title could be 'Purple People Eaters.'

- Don't just use the same title for all your web site pages. Your About page title could be 'About Unknown Business, Inc., your Source for Purple People Eaters.' Your Order page title could be 'How to Order Purple People Eaters.'

- Don't include your company name in the title unless it is a commonly recognized name or the page is about your company. Use the limited real estate in a title for relevant keywords. You can include your company name in the description META tag of your web page.

- Make sure the title does not exceed 66 characters. Google will not display more than 66 characters of a title in the search results page. Truncated titles irritate search engine users.

- Don't use more than 7-10 words in your title.

If you understand what the title tag is, why it is important, and follow these practical tips for writing your web page titles, your internet visibility will be improved, you will improve your search engine ranking, and you will get more visitors to your web site.

Copyright � 2005 by Kempton Smith, All rights reserved.

About the author:

Kempton Smith is a web specialist who helps internet businesses increase their site exposure and gain more visitors. He operates the Ad Buddies banner exchange network. Visit http://adbuddies.com"

Number One In Your Niche: Fresh Content Improves Search Engine Optimization

2005-06-24T13:31:00.000+01:00

Number One In Your Niche: Fresh Content Improves Search Engine Optimization: "Copyright 2005 ArteWprls Business Class

Many search engine optimization companies will sell you a search engine optimization package that addresses many of the major aspects of search engine optimization.

These aspects include, but are not limited to, use of file names, alt tags, h1 tags, keyphrase density, meta tag optimization, link analysis and the like. These are all key aspects of a good search optimization.

However, one problem is that the major search engines (especially Google) not only rank pages upon relevant content (which is determined by the factors listed above, and more), but by fresh content as well.

What this means to you is that, even after your site has been 'optimized to the max', your rankings will increase to a certain level and then not go much higher.

To get to the top and stay there, your site should deliver fresh, relevant content on a regular basis. Depending upon the nature of your business, your competition, and targeted keyphrases, the rate at which you should add content to your site can vary from monthly to daily.

The delivery of fresh content to your site, in a form that is readable by search engines (i.e. not through the use of javascript, iframes, or the like) requires a dynamic, database driven content management system.

The most cost effective way to achieve this is through the use of a weblog that sits on your server and resides under your domain name. Updating the weblog with rich articles or commentary, broadcasting this information to the internet, and allowing users to post comments, achieves the following:

1) Increases the number of inbound links to your website

2) Increases the frequency at which major search engines will spider or crawl your site

3) Increases interactivity for the web user

4) Improves your search engine ranking

About the Author:

Matt Foster is the President and CEO of ArteWorks Business Class. Mr. Foster has been providing search optimization solutions since 1995. Please visit http://www.arteworks.biz for further information. You may also call toll free 877-336-8266"

Transfer Huge Files Fast and Free

2005-06-15T15:05:00.000+01:00

Here's another great article from Jim Edwards on how to transfer huge files

© Jim Edwards - All Rights reserved
http://www.thenetreporter.com
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

If this problem hasn't hit you yet... it will.

With the ever-increasing popularity of sharing home-videos, mp3 audios, and other large files online, actually transferring those files to your customers, friends, and
family presents a problem.

Most email systems limit the size of the files you can send, and often completely restrict some file types, such as .exe, from passing through their email servers.

Most computer geeks say, "Just ftp it to your server and I'll download it from the Web."

Unfortunately, that solution often proves too much of a hassle, and actually rates impossible for those without ftp access to a website and the knowledge to use it.

To solve this problem, a new breed of website file transfer service has emerged to help the technically or time- challenged masses share their huge files online.

** http://www.YouSendIt.com **

I discovered this website as most people discover new sites, I saw someone else using it.

A friend wanted to send me a 10MB "zip" file while he traveled from San Francisco to Boise.

He couldn't use his ftp program to upload it to the Web, and his ISP wouldn't let him send such a huge file.

So, he logged on to www.yousendit.com and completed a 4-step process.

(1) He entered my email address, (2) chose the file he wanted to send by browsing his hard drive, (3) entered his email and typed in a brief message, and (4) clicked the "send" button.

The service uploaded the file to the web and sent me an email message with a link to download the file from their website.

After I downloaded the file, I clicked a link to delete the file from their server.

If I didn't bother to click that link, the server would automatically delete the file after 7 days.

A few things make this service unique.

First, it allows you to send files without forcing you to register as a user; it's totally anonymous.

Second, it allows you to send up to a 1 gigabyte file.

This enables you to send virtually anything you can think of to anyone with an email address and Internet connection.

The site appears to make its money from advertising revenue generated by popup ads and Google AdSense (where they earn a commission every time someone clicks a link).

Third, like Hotmail.com did when first starting out, YouSendIt.com encourages message recipients to turn around and use the service to send files to their friends.

This "viral marketing" effect should help them spread the word quickly without a huge marketing budget.

** http://www.DropLoad.com **

DropLoad.com also enables users to send large files, though they restrict file sizes to 100 MB.

However, DropLoad.com offers one extra feature lacking in YouSendIt: delivery confirmation.

Dropload enables you to know when the person you sent the file to actually clicks the link to download the file.

This cuts down on the "I never got the file" claims and acts like the Post Office making them sign for registered mail.

You can't prove they read it, but you can prove they received it.

DropLoad.com does require you to register for a username and password, but the service is free.

Overall, both services do an excellent job of solving a growing problem for a huge audience worldwide.

Also, if you sell information products customers download from the Internet, the link expiration and confirmation features can come in handy (such as giving out free samples or preview copies to potential joint venture partners).

--
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the creator of an amazing course that will teach you step-by- step and click-by-click how to finally create your own
money-making mini-sites...

-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"Finally! A Quick and Easy Way For YOU to Painlessly Set Up
Your OWN Moneymaking 'Mini' Websites... Without Being a
Computer Geek, Buying Expensive Software, or Paying
Outrageous Fees To A Webmaster!"

Click Here => http://www.MiniSiteCreator.com
-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

How To Avoid Spam Robots

2005-06-09T22:56:00.000+01:00

- by Jim Edwards

Despite the fact that Federal legislation (the CANSPAM act) made it illegal, harvesting email addresses from the web using automated robots remains alive and well.

Spammers who need fresh email addresses release software spider programs that comb the Internet and suck email addresses off Web pages, guest books, and anywhere else you might post your email address.

Once they get your email address, spammers will trade it around like 5th graders with a new pack of Pokemon cards at recess and you can expect the avalanche of email to begin flooding your inbox.

In order to combat this still rampant practice of stealing email addresses from websites and sending people email they don't want, the following tips should help protect you.

** Break It Up **

Obviously the best way to avoid getting picked up by an email harvester is not to post your email anywhere on anyone's website (including your own).

If the only way someone can get your email is if you give it to them, that creates a similar situation to operating with an unlisted phone number.

If telemarketers can't get your phone number, they can't call.

If you must post your email address, post it in a way that a robot won't recognize it as an email address. Instead of posting YOURNAME@YOURDOMAIN.COM, you can put YOURNAME (AT) YOURDOMAIN.COM and then, in parenthesis, put (replace AT with @ to email me).

Though it seems like an extra step for legitimate email, you'll find it a very effective technique.

** Use An Image **

Currently, online spiders (ANY spider, including search engines) cannot read text that appears in a graphic or picture. If you must display an email address on a page, then do it by typing your email address into your favorite graphics program and saving the image as a .gif or .jpg. Then post the image onto your web page so people can see the email, but spiders cannot. This too creates an extra step for people because they must type in your email address, but it's an effective solution if you must display an email address on your own website.

** Use An Email Form **

Another way to cut down on spam originating from your own website is simply not to display an email at all.

Instead, allow customers and prospects to contact you through a form where they fill in fields, click a button, and your website emails you their message.

A note of caution: make sure the form script you use does not keep your email address visible in the form code.

If the form code contains the email address, spam robots can find it even though you don't see it on the page.

** Make It Hard To Guess **

Sometimes you'll get unsolicited email because a spammer guessed your email address.

It's not a far stretch to imagine that someone probably has the email Jim@yourdomain.com, so spammers will do a "dictionary" attack on common usernames.

One way to defeat this is to place a "dot" (.) in your email address, such as Jim.Edwards@yourdomain.com. The dot makes it virtually impossible for spammers to guess your email address.

--
Jim Edwards is a syndicated newspaper columnist and the
co-author of an amazing new ebook that will teach you how
to use fr^e articles to quickly drive thousands of targeted
visitors to your website, affiliate links, or blogs...

-=-=-==-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Need MORE TRAFFIC to your website or affiliate links?
"Turn Words Into Traffic" reveals the secrets for driving
Thousands of NEW visitors to your website or affiliate
links... without spending a dime on advertising!
Click Here> http://www.turnwordsintotraffic.com
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Test Post

2005-06-08T22:33:00.000+01:00

This is a first test post to see if it works