The Schlott Company

Registering a domain name - what you actually do

2008-05-05T21:04:00.000-04:00

When you want to get an internet domain name for a new hobby site or online business, or to reserve your own given name as a dot com, the steps are very straightforward.

To begin with, decide on the name you want. Many of the domain registration services, like Host Monster, have various tools which you can use. You enter any domain name, and they will tell you whether the domain is owned by someone or not. If it is not yet taken, you can get it for yourself. If it is already owned by someone else, then the domain name registration service will offer you different versions of the domain name to think about, or you could consider other suffixes, such as .info or .org.

Although .com domain names are still the most popular, the amount of traffic you will get to your new web site will be due to your web promotion efforts and will have little to do with the domain extension, so don't be to concerned if you cannot get the .com version of the domain name you wanted.

So, you have found the name you love, and it is not already owned by someone else, what do you do next?

Using a service like Host Monster, and having performed the search for a name and checked that it is not already taken, you will then click on a 'Buy Name Now' button or a similar option.

Next you will select the length of time you want to register for – from one to ten years. If you have big plans for the domain, or want it as an investment, go for a longer registration. If the registered domain is just for your indulgence, choose a lesser period.

You will then have to give things like your name and address and email contact details. If the domain is for a company, you can also insert the company name. All this is used for the official domain name registration process – the domain is recorded as legally belonging to you, for the period you have registered it for. In technical terms, you become the 'registrant' of the domain, and no-one else can own it.

Following on with the registration, you should select if your registration is to be a public or a private one. A public registration will mean that anyone using the Whois lookup service can in future look up the domain name and see who owns it. Depending on the nature of the web site you are going to create, you may believe paying the extra small fee for a private registration which hides your details will be worthwhile to avoid spam or other unwanted contact.

After having made your choice, you can give your credit card or Paypal details, make the payment, and the domain becomes yours, for the period of years you have selected. The best registration services like Host Monster will remind you, using the contact details you registered with, when the time arrives to renew the registration of your domain name.

Internet domain registration is really as easy as that!

Ready to get your new domain name, or just check if the name you want is still unregistered? Click here - register a domain - where we make it easy. Good luck!

The Schlott Co

Need For Web design!

2008-05-05T21:02:00.000-04:00

In today’s business ambience, an online business presence is essential element of e-commerce. An online presence gives extraordinary power to customers, who can access your products and services 24x7 from any part of the globe. The Internet is a resplendent way to reach the market. Knowing that you have an effective online presence round the clock, accessible from everywhere in the world and that too at a low cost gives your business a competitive edge. An impressive and effectual web design, one that is informative and captivates the attention of the visitor is the only way to establishing a great presence online.

Understanding Web Design

Web design may be defined as a process of conceptualization, planning, modeling and execution of electronic media content delivery via Internet. To put it simply, web designing is the arrangement and creation of web pages that make up a web site. The primary purpose of a web design is to create a website that presents content to the user in the form of web pages.

Steps to Create a Successful Web Design:

* Designing a unique website requires an optimal combination of art, technology and communication skills. It is therefore very important to approach a professional web designer or solicit the services of an established web design company.
* Do essential spadework and learn a little about the business and its specific requirements. Know the target audience and make sure that your site caters to their needs.
* Remember first impression is the last impression. Your company’s home page is the first opportunity to introduce clients to your business.
* Focus on the appearance and visibility of the web site. Your site must be search engine optimized, easy to locate and the graphics and text should be professional, appealing and relevant.
* Your site should be user-friendly; it must be easy to navigate and offer a reliable interface.
* The content and information displayed on your site should be relevant to the site and deliver the intended message to your target customer base.
* Update and check all links. Check links regularly and make sure that your site works!
* Opt for SEO. Optimize your website to get the best results.

The Schlott Co

Be an Online Superstar

2008-05-05T21:00:00.001-04:00

What’s the whole reason we invest the time, money and resources into building a website for our company? An increase of sales. And how do we increase our sales via our web address? More visitors. That’s where many companies deploy and SEO strategy. But most companies don’t realize there is more to the SEO equation than just a banging site or the most attractive keywords. Another key ingredient is promotion. Don’t shy away, it’s not as hard as it seems. The only thing to keep in mind is that search engines are increasingly able to detect natural, organic link building processes.

Below are ways that we, in a matter of a week were able to grow our page views form 4 to over 3,000. Our techniques were not only implemented to improve search engine rankings but also strengthen the natural growth of users that find us through systems other than search engines, ultimately visiting our site via bookmarks, links and direct type-ins.

ADVERTISMENT
GOOGLE ADWORDS
While google adwords is not the magical medicine for a low ranking site, it does offer valuable perks for improving your ranking. Apart from placing ads on Google it gives you unique tools that help you check and test the progress of your efforts from how many people are visiting your site, how long they are staying on your pages, which pages they are viewing the most, but also from where they entered your site. This invaluable information pinpoints your losses and wins to help you target the most effective efforts.

COMMUNITY BUILDING
Community building can be the e-marketer’s dream come true. It is very hard to implement a full-scale community that develops into a central reference and gathering point for your industry.

Communities can be formatted in such systems as blogs, forums, wiki, and other multi-user interfaces. Once a community is established, it’s imperative to have frequent updated content and invitations. It is up to you, not the community to keep the forums and discussions rolling. If achieved your community can become the gold mine of your marketing success naturally building sources for unlimited links.

PRESS, PRESS and more PRESS
It can cost pretty penny to get the press involved in your site and business You must have note worthy news and something a reporter can get excited about. But this can be highly effective. PRNewsWire and PRWeb are great resources for submitting your stories and news as they feed into Yahoo! And Google News. We have also submitted stories and articles to ArticleAlley, an online community of free content. The purpose of this is to compel the community to snag your article and/or content and place it in their blogs, sites, newsletters and the likes with links embedded in the article pointing back to your site. Setting you up as not only an online resource and authority on said subject, but builds natural links back to you for optimization of your website. Bottom line, improving your rankings

COMPETE FOR YOUR LINKS
There are methods for investigating where your competitions are obtaining their links and visitors. With this information you can vie to compete on listed sites for your competitors viewers. Below is a list of systems that allow you to research the link power of your competitors.

Using Yahoo! Search:

Linkdomain: url.com
Link:http://www.url.com/page.html
Linkdomain:url.com word
Linkdomain:url.com – term
Linkdoamin:url.com –site:url.com

FRIENDS IN CYPERSPACE
In all marketing the number one resource of leads and more leads is always networking. In our digital age, online networking comes into play just as important as face to face networking parties. Through places like myspace, online forums, blogger, twitter, chatrooms, googles groups, hi5, facebook and so on can generate excellent opportunities for sales as well as additional venues to connect with your potential clients. To view a list of online social networks to get you started, visit www.schlottco.com/resource.html

Keep in mind that no matter where your customers see you, be it on the street, in your store or online that you keep a consistent image, presence and personality in order to increase your online popularity and become a SUPERSTAR.

Written by: Sarah Schlott
The Schlott Co

8 SIMPLE STEPS TO COLLECTING TESTIMONAILS

2008-05-03T22:21:00.000-04:00

And what the heck to do with them once you’ve got them

8 SIMPLE STEPS TO COLLECTING TESTIMONAILS

1. Rely on Current Kudos. If you have received positive feedback from your active clients, then you may have some great testimonials hiding within to post on your site. If you know that an active client was pleased with your business, product or service then simply send an email, make a call or make a visit and get something in writing.
2. Include a link or form on your site next to a testimonial you have already posted to encourage more positive feedback. Offer your guests a chance to comment.
3. Create an auto responder that contact your clients within your specified time frame (i.e. after they have purchased something, a week later or even a month after implementation) and ask them how they are enjoying your product or service and offer a chance for them to give feedback on their experience with your company. Need help creating an auto responder? We can help you visit www.schlottco.com/resources
4. Ask for feedback, good or bad on newsletters, website, emails and during phone conversations.
5. Offer a service or product at a reduced price or free in exchange for a testimonial. You could even offer a testimonial for them in exchange for the same!
6. An of course, when you receive a letter or email from your customers with positive feedback post it up, that is after receiving permission.
7. Feature a client once a month online, in newsletters and in any communication, they must provide you a testimonial to be featured. The added bonus for them is free cross promotion
8. Have a links or customer page in which you list your most valued clients and a link to their site, in order to be on this page they must provide you with a testimonial

And what the heck to do with them once you’ve got them

Put best testimonials front and center on your homepage to establish credibility in that first 30 seconds

Place a testimonial in the middle of your about us or sales copy in order to back up the claims that you make upfront

Dedicate an entire page to testimonials, make the page personal and interesting, and maybe add pictures, events, links and/or a comment area for others to post positive feedback as well.

Include testimonials on every page, or at least your most viewed pages so that no matter what page your guests visit you are establishing and re-establishing your credibility.

Include testimonials in your newsletters in the sidebar or feature a short liner in your email signature. To get your customer to agree to having their testimonial as part of your signature, include a link back to their website for cross promotion.

Feature a client, along with their testimonial once a month online, in newsletters and in any communication. They must provide you a testimonial in order to be featured – another way to collect testimonials as well – cross promotion is the added bonus for those participating

Dedicate a page to links back to your clients, in order to be on their page, they must submit a good testimonial to you.

Don’t edit your testimonials or make up testimonials. If you can’t post a comment or testimonial as your client as written them then don’t post it. You can’t establish credibility without honesty; the two go hand in hand.

And never use a customer comment or testimonial with out permission

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The Three HECKS of SEO

2008-04-17T22:23:00.005-04:00

THE 3 HECKS OF SEO!
What the heck is SEO?
SEO is all the rave in web development and e-marketing, however many businesses don't really know what SEO is or what it can do for their company. SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is the proactive practice of optimizing your website so that it is read, catalogued, and then listed in various search engines (i.e. Yahoo!, AOL and Goggle.) In simpler terms, the more optimized you website is the more aware of your website the search engines become, the higher you list when someone searches for anything relevant to your site, the more traffic you get to your website

WHY THE HECK do I need SEO?
When you or your client is looking for locations, services, products, communities, information, etc. where is the first place a search beings?
That's right, the search engine!

The majority of web traffic is driven by these major search engines - Yahoo!, MSN, Google, AskJeeves (AOL being powered by Googles's results.) If these search engines cannot find your site or your content cannot be catalogued into their databases, your site becomes a fallen tree in the forest that nobody hears - does it make a sound?

A beautifully crafted, well written, perfectly organized and easily navigated website does little for your company if potential clients and repeat clients can't get to your site due to low ranking in the search engines or no ranking at all!

Studies have shown that proper SEO can make or break your e-marketing success.

With over a billion sites registered on the web, you can't afford for yours to not even be listed by search queries conducted by your potential clients, BECAUSE Targeted visitors to a website provide publicity, revenue and exposure producing an exponential return on investment.

As the World Wide Web continues to expand with increasingly useful as well as useless information, search engines are consistently working towards improving their technology to yield relevant, informative results to it's users. Search engines accomplish this with a short list of critical operations:
1. Crawling the web with "bots" or "spiders" reading content and the hyperlink structure of the web to classify a sites relevance and importance.
2. Search engines will then index the contents of a site's pages in a massive database, meticulously managed so that a search through billions of documents can yield the most relevant pages in fractions of a second.
3. A match for a search queries is determined if the phrase or words on the page indexed match the phrase or words searched for.
4. These results are then ranked in order of importance and relevance determined upon by time on the net, phrase match, relevant documents, popularity, community networking, visitors, accessibility, programming, navigation, functionality, content and design.

Make the wrong move or no move at all and you’re invisible to the search engines, and therefore invisible to searchers. Therefore simply uploading your website and listing it with a search engine here and there is no longer sufficient when your competitors are optimizing their sites and reaping your rewards.
WHO THE HECK should do my SEO?
If you feel comfortable and have the time to devote to optimizing your website, then by all means do what is necessary to help your company. However there is a plethora of information that is both helpful and destructive concerning SEO, without prior knowledge of optimizing a site, it can be very difficult to yield the results you are aiming to achieve.

Many companies that practice SEO vary in knowledge, experience, and amount of time they are willing to spend optimizing your site. At the Schlott Co. we have a highly specialized focus, while others take a more broad and general approach. We focus on all aspects of SEO and are consistently educating ourselves on the latest "spider" trends, keyword popularity and SEO practices. Trusting a company like the Schlott Company to handle your SEO will yield a high return on your investment.

Search Engine Optimization Basics

2008-01-31T00:34:00.000-05:00

By: Martine

In today’s world the amount of websites is increasing at an enormous rate. As mostly visitors find the desired sites with the help of search engines, fine rankings are must for the sites to grab the visitor’s traffic. In this scenario SEO becomes must for the different sites to rank themselves high on different search engines.
Firstly we will have a slight look on the SEO basics. Search engine optimization is a technique for improving the website’s ranking in different search engines as google, MSN, Yahoo etc. so that when someone searches these popular search engines, your website will be a top return. By this your website will be more accessible and definitely the number of clients will increase. To help your business grow, search engine optimization is a great way.
SEO Techniques:
The basic point that should be kept in mind regarding SEO is that each and every page of the site is a unit and should be treated rightly for search engine rankings. The process of search engine optimization includes the good design of sites, content that is proper and also should be user friendly.
Basically there are two techniques practiced in SEO: On-page optimization and Off-page optimization. In the On page optimization basically the SEO techniques, specially applied directly to the webpage are used for specified search keyword. On the other hand off page optimization techniques are applied to "Off page" means on the websites of other people. It involves the inbound linking structure to the website so that the search engines recognize your website more important than others.
Steps for Lucrative SEO:
By lucrative search engine optimization steps you can increase your success in search engine market. First we have to understand the importance of keywords for the selected website.
Meta-tags also play an important role in the lucrative search engine optimization. Also the domain name for the website should be chosen with great attention. In lucrative search engine optimization you have to also add some keyword enriched articles to the site.
SEO London
SEO Company in London is growing rapidly and over 300 companies are doing SEO there. Mostly companies in London usually employ SEO professionals from countries like India and China and other Asian developing countries. Not only in London, in other cities also the Liverpool SEO services and Birmingham SEO services are growing rapidly. Sussex SEO companies are also in focus of the SEO professionals

How to import Adsense into your affiliate marketing

2007-12-29T21:31:00.000-05:00

A lot of people are lured by affiliate marketing because it can be financially rewarding, even if you just stay at home. Affiliate marketing programs are the best alternatives to those who are sick and tired of their arduous daily work just to climb up the venerated corporate ladder. You don’t need products to sell, you just have to market them on your own web site and you don’t have to worry about processing the customers’ payments and the shipment of the products. If you are already into affiliate marketing, you probably were thinking about these benefits, too, before deciding to join an affiliate program.

Of course you want to earn a huge commission. Who wouldn't? Keep in mind, however, that affiliate marketing cannot guarantee you instant success if you don’t work on it. There are a lot of ways of maximizing your income. The Internet is a huge library of information, use it to learn of other opportunities and ways to increase your income. You can partner with several merchandisers and promote different products on your website; thereby, increasing your chance to earn a commission.

The easiest way for you to rev up your revenue potential is by incorporating Google AdSense into your marketing campaigns. What is Google AdSense? What are its advantages? How can it boost my revenues? These are some of the questions you might want to ask. Let’s try to probe into Google AdSense, so you would know how it could help you in your affiliate marketing program.

Merchants place their ads in Google, which is one of the most popular search engines or tools for locating various resources in the World Wide Web. Now the Google AdSense program allows you to display these ads in you website and when your visitors click through them, you earn. The advertiser, which is the merchant pays Google for every click-through made by the customer and you as a partner of Google, gets a share from that payment.

What’s great about the Google AdSense is that the ads are relevant to the content of your web page. Most likely, visitors of your web site are interested on the theme of your site and specifically, on the content of your web page. So, seeing ads related to their interest would definitely drive them to click through the link or the ad. Using state-of-the-art technology, Google scans your web site and matches the content of your pages to their large database of advertisers; this way, Google is able to find ads that are targeted by the users of your site. In addition, Google changes the ads in your site as you change the content of your pages, so you can always expect the ads to be relevant to your site.

Having Google ads in your website is also a way of convincing your users to return to your site. Repeat customers multiply your income without having to exert extra effort to convince them again to click through your links. And your potential to earn doesn’t depend on them alone. Since you already have their confidence, they can be your endorsers as well. They could refer your site to family and friends who probably share the same interests with them.

Advertisers in the Google AdSense program range from large international brands to small-time domestic and local businesses, so the targeted market for the ads can range as well. This adds variety to your site; thereby, attracting different kinds of users. As you attract more users, you increase your earning potential as well. If you are targeting a specific nationality for your site users, don’t worry because AdSense can be used in different languages.

In order to boost your revenues through Google AdSense, you must pay attention to making web pages of high value topics. Make contents related to high-paying ads, so you can earn more. Some ads pay only a few cents while some ads pay you dollars just for a single click. You would need to do a little research on this so you can come up with a more relevant content. Join affiliate marketing forums and get tips from experienced affiliate marketers.

Becoming an Adsense affiliate marketer is easy and fast. You just have to apply online and once your application is approved, you can instantly set up Google ads in your site. All you need to do is copy and paste some codes in your web pages and in no time the ads will appear in your site.

Strike while the iron is hot! Take advantage of the favorable circumstances the Internet is offering you. Make the most of your affiliate marketing opportunities, use Google AdSense!

Ebay Success - Buy that item for a Bargain Price

2007-12-27T16:13:00.000-05:00

Ebay Success - Buy that item for a Bargain Price

The internet has opened a whole new world for the astute shopper. It's now pretty easy to find rare items that in the past could have taken months or even years to source. Now, thanks to Ebay and other online auction sites, you have instant access to a massive range of new, used and collectable goods, all from your own home with the click of your mouse.

However, this means that an item that once would have gathered dust in the back of a second hand store now has global exposure, and collectors worldwide have the opportunity to get their grubby mitts on it. This could mean a bidding frenzy on Ebay. So here's a few tips to get you on the right path to snagging a bargain.

1 - Search for misspelled items. With the thousands upon thousands of items listed on Ebay each and every hour worldwide, chances are that there are a lot of sellers that accidentally misspell keywords in the title that will prevent the item from showing up in a regular search. If few people can find the auction, then few people will bid and the final price will likely be much lower than it's correctly spelled cousin. Tools like The Auction Engine provide search capabilities to help find some of these misspelled gems.

2 - Don’t bid on a 99c item – watch for later. Sellers list items for 99c for two main reasons. One, the Ebay listing fee is cheaper if it starts under $1, and two, items with a low starting price usually attract a lot more attention. Say for example, two sellers list an identical Nikon SLR camera. One starts at 99c, the other at $100 and usual selling price is around $130. The average buyer browsing the SLR listings will probably just ignore the $100 item, but will be exited by the 99c one, open it up, have a read, watch the item and maybe make a bid. The $100 camera may slip away unsold and unwatched without a single bid, but because of the traffic that the 99c starter gets, the final price may well exceed $130. By all means, don’t ignore the 99c items, but stick them in you watch list for later. The item with the higher start price may be the real bargain.

3 - Sniping – Just nasty, or a handy buyers tool? When I first started buying on Ebay, I couldn’t understand how I could have the winning bid and then seconds before the auction close, someone would outbid me by a few cents. Then I discovered sniping tools. So if you can’t beat them, join them. They provide some nice features which improve your bidding experience, such as the ability to set bidding limits across multiple items and the option to cancel a snipe if you find something better – much easier than trying to cancel a winning bid. My favourite sniper is called JBidWatcher, which I like for a few reasons. One, it’s a program that runs on your own PC, so you don’t have to sign up to a web site and hand over your Ebay password. Two, it’s Open Source, which means it’s free and the program code is available to be scrutinized by any nerd. If there was any dodgy spyware in it, the whole internet would know! And Three, you can setup bidding limits so that you can set up to bid on many of the same item from different sellers, but if you win one, then it won’t bid on the others. Nice. Just make sure you get the real Open Source version from http://sourceforge.net/projects/jbidwatcher/ (Sourceforge is where all the Open Source programmers hang out) - the downside to the open source code is that anyone can take it, alter it for their own benefit such as adding spyware, and then make it available from software search sites.

4 - Check out the bidding history and then research the other bidders. This can be a lot of work, but for big ticket items, it may be worth it. At the top of the item details, there will be a History link. Open it up to see how many other people are bidding and how many bids each person has. If the highest bidder has made lots of bids, this probably means that the maximum price they've set isn’t much higher than the current bid as they've eased their way up a few dollars at a time to just push the previous high bidder off their perch. The next thing you can do is view the other bidder 's feedback and have a look at other items they’ve won. They may purchase similar items regularly giving you an indication of how much they’re willing to pay for an item, which will give you a guide on what you should set your maximum bid to.

5 - Beware shipping and hidden insurance costs. Always be sure to factor shipping and insurance costs into your final maximum bid. Some sellers, particularly those from overseas, will list the item at a low price but have a ludicrous postage amount. In addition to this, they may also have a compulsory insurance amount set too. Unlike the postage amount, the insurance amount is only displayed at the very bottom of the listing so you’ll need to go and hunt for it. I was stung buying an MP4 player from Hong Kong – I thought I was getting a bargain until I won the item, went through the checkout process, and discovered there was a $40 compulsory insurance charge attached. It was in the listing so there was nothing I could do about it, but it was buried right at the bottom where I didn't notice it. Beware!

Most of all have fun. Ebay and other auction sites are a great way to find collectables as well as new and used household items. The convenience of shopping from home is wonderful, and the thrill of snagging a bargain is always exhilarating. Best wishes and happy bidding!