Archive for the ‘Websites’ Category

At least use a nickname…

Some users of the popular video website YouTube start getting a little bit cocky when uploading certain footage to the site – a good example is the man who got nicked by the police after he made a number of videos about the cannabis crop he was growing in his house.

Shane Burfield, a 25-year-old man living in Bridgewater, Somerset, made a collection of short videos that showed off his cannabis plant, however without doing so under an assumed name.

The police, who had been told about the videos, were said to be “amazed” that the man behind the videos didn’t think about using a different name in order to protect his identity.

“Extremely surprise”…

However, it would seem that the cannabis grower wasn’t expecting to be a priority for the police either as he said that he was “extremely surprised” that the officers had even seen the YouTube videos which eventually led to his house being searched and the plant being seized.

According to PC Adrian Peck, the cannabis grower was documenting the growth of his plant over a number of months apparently providing the officers with a great amount of evidence to use against him.

“He had been videoing the growth of the plant over a number of months and uploading his horticultural endeavours onto the site to document it - providing us with fairly conclusive evidence.

“The cultivation of cannabis is illegal. If you break the law and are foolish enough to then advertise your criminal activities on the Internet, it makes it very easy for the police to catch you.”

£500 plant to be destroyed…

The man was lucky to get away with an official warning, although it is being said that he will be in court in March over the matter.

The officers have announced that the street value for the plant could have been around £500 through the one plant alone which is now being taken away to be destroyed.

Cannabis recently received a bump up the ladder to a Class B drug again, although when law-breakers are flaunting their activities in the faces of the officials of course they’re going to get caught!

Treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em green?

What do you think about the whole green ordeal?  Do you think the whole cannabis debate is a load of old nonsense and Burfield’s videos should have been taken with a pinch of salt?  Or maybe you agree with the police and Burfield got exactly what he should have?

Let us know!

Is Facebook killing you?

It would seem that the world’s recent attraction to the popular networking site is actually bad for our health and could eventually lead to cancer.  We are now being urged to cast aside our online social lives in exchange for a simple hug at least.

Dr Aric Sigman has noted the recent fall in social interaction, in the real world that is, and has placed the reasons down to sites such as Facebook and MySpace.  He is claiming that because we are shunning our lives in the real world and foregoing the formerly enjoyable acts of bonding we are endangering our lives.

According to Sigman face-to-face contact between people has flopped by a staggering two-thirds over the past twenty years and claims that this could be responsible for us not getting our daily dose of the “cuddle chemical” oxytocin which he claims could eventually lead to severe health issues such as cancer, strokes, heart disease and dementia…is that in the terms and conditions of Facebook?

Social networking sites to blame for stupidity?

Sigman also notes that too much time spent on the social networking sites could effectively damage our immune systems as well as altering how our arteries work eventually leading to poorer mental performances.

Sigman isn’t only placing the blame on the poor old social networking sites but is also citing the boost in time the general public spends in front of the television, whether playing games or simply watching the device.

8 hours a day in front of the television…

According to Sigman the time spent in front of televisions, games and surfing the Internet has doubled over the past two decades to a mind-blowing 8 hours a day - no wonder we’re in a recession…

“One of the most pronounced changes in the daily habits of British citizens is a reduction in the number of minutes per day that they interact with another human being,” announced Sigman.

“Britain’s disinclination for togetherness is only equaled by her veneration of communicating through new technologies.

“This is now the most significant contributing factor to society’s growing physical estrangement.”

When I was 5 I had a stick…

Sigman also noted how the younger generation are allocating more time to spend with a computer as a quarter of 5 year olds actually own their own computer.

“Whether in or out of the home, more people of all ages in the UK are physically and socially disengaged from the people around them because they are wearing earphones, texting, Twittering or staring at a BlackBerry screen.

“Eye and ear contact between people of all ages and relationships is declining.”

Sigman has attacked television before…

However, this isn’t the first time the worried Dr Sigman has hit out at popular media.  In 2005 Sigman wrote an article in the Daily Mail about “how television was killing us”.

In his article Sigman blamed television for possibly leading to “damaged brain cell development and function”.

What do you think?

Sigman obviously has his issues with popular media in today’s society, but what do you think?  Will you be rushing to Facebook to close your account or does the whole theory just make you want to stay online for longer?

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There are hundreds of reasons why you may want to sell your website, a few examples could be to invest in a car/holiday/home, invest money into other ventures or just because you simply could do with the extra cash.

Whatever the reason, there are certain things you should ensure to increase the chance of finding a potential buyer.

?Backup what you are claiming

When you are advertising your site for sale you will want to let everyone know how it?s currently performing in the leading search engines.? A good starting point it to collate all of details regarding revenue for as long as possible, try to aim for at least 6 months if it has been running that long.? If your website makes an income in a number of ways try to list each one with how much it makes in the average month.

Be sure to remember to create screenshots to prove anything, simply saying that it earns ?5,000 a month isn?t enough to bring in honest and genuine buyers.

You should also provide traffic details.? Take a screenshot from your tracking software to show how many unique visitors and page impressions you receive as this can be a major deciding point for people in the market to buy a website.? It helps if you can state which search engines your traffic comes from, the length of the average visit, countries they come from and anything else you feel may be beneficial to potential customers.

If your website ranks well for any keyword or phrases be sure to include them into your sales pitch.? Ranking high for competitive terms can add value onto your website because it shows that you have put in the time, effort as well as money to make it succeed.

If your website requires very little maintenance make sure that you mention it.? If you wanted to buy a website and couldn?t pick between two very similar sites in regards to revenue/profit and potential, you would let the level of maintenance be the deciding factor ? everyone loves websites that you can leave running which is guaranteed to make money each and every day without doing any work.

Where to advertise your website

One of the key factors to successfully sell your website is to get the right exposure, the more places you can list it for sale the more chance of finding a genuine buyer.

There are two main types of places you could attempt to sell your website.? Firstly you could visit webmaster forums such as DigitalPoint and go to the buy, sell & trade section of the forum and list all of the relevant details.

You could also sign up to websites like sitepoint and list your site for sale in the marketplace.? It doesn?t hurt to do both but ensure that you mention it?s listed elsewhere so you have the right to stop the sale at any point if you find a buyer from the other source.

You would be best off auctioning your website for sale as you may get more than expected, set yourself a realistic starting bid that you would be happy to sell it for and anything over ?that amount is a bonus.? You could set a BIN (buy it now) price so if someone decides they want the website now they don?t have to wait until the auction ends, just make sure you set a realistic BIN.

If you want to get into the ?making money online? industry then now is a great time to start.? With the increase of internet users there is literally an infinite amount of money that can be made ? providing you know how to.

One of the main reasons that will prevent many webmasters from making websites is the amount of time it takes to actually see a return, talking from experience it can be very disheartening to keep spending money on a website that gives nothing back.? There is a solution that can eliminate the time it takes for the search engines to index your website?s pages and rank you in the results pages.? It does require an initial investment when you are looking to buy an aged website, you should always do thorough research before you send any money to ensure that you are buying a website that will perform well in the search engines and produce a good return on your investment.

You can often find a good deal if you know what you are looking for because there are a number of factors to consider when valuing a website.

Check indexed pages

One of the first things you should check is how it?s performing in the search engines already, start by checking how many pages are indexed in Google, Yahoo and MSN.? While you are doing this you should check that the content on each page is unique, you will be heavily penalised for having duplicate content on your website.

Depending on the age of the site you cannot assume something is wrong if all of the pages are not yet indexed, it doesn?t hurt to look into it in more detail just to stay on the side of caution.

Check any backlinks

One of the most important factors to increasing your traffic is to build quality backlinks, there are different tools on the internet that allow you to check how many backlinks there is to the site within minutes.? You should also perform a little background check to see if they actually add value to the website, you are looking for links from trusted sites with high page rank in the same of similar niche.

Don?t just assume that the more backlinks it has the better it will perform, you can buy blog post packages which generates hundreds of backlinks relatively cheap so don?t be fooled by them.

Check traffic statistics

You should always ask for proof of traffic, they will be using some kind of tracking to monitor how many page impressions/unique they receive on a daily basis.? Don?t be scared to ask for a screenshot, if they are planning on selling their site they will no doubt have already made one to save time in finding a buyer.

Ask them what keywords the website ranks well for and where the traffic comes from, if it?s organic you should ask which search engine it mainly comes from so you can get an idea of how you can improve your ranking for those keywords.

Check revenue/profit

One of the main deciding factors for many sites is the amount of revenue it makes each month.? You could also take into account poor blending of advertising, you could simply rearrange the website and double the income instantly if you know which layouts work.? Again, ask for a number of screenshots proving anything that they are claiming to ensure that you will not invest in a poor site and regret doing it.

There are hundreds of different methods when it comes to monetising a website.? Be sure to read part 1 to view some of the most common techniques used in today?s world.? You should try out each method to find what works for you, below are a few more techniques that you can attempt.

Sell links

If your website ranks well in the major search engines, generates mass amounts of traffic on a daily basis and has a high Google page rank then you may be able to sell links for a set price each month.? These links can either be site wide (every page of your website) or on specific pages if you have a number of different topics within your website.

You often get the best response if you visit popular webmaster forums such as DigitalPoint or Wicked Fire, state your website and your asking price to see if anyone is interested.? Try selling links for monthly, quarterly or yearly slots or allow customers to choose how long they wish to buy it for.

Why not try auctioning a few links to see what the outcome is, you could potentially get more than you expected which is a nice bonus.

Offer a service

If you have a strength, you can be confident that it?s someone else?s weakness.? You can use this to your advantage and make a nice amount of money from it if you target your audience correctly.? For example if you are great at search engine optimisation you could get your website to rank well in the search engines and offer SEO help to people who are not as fortunate as you.? There is a high demand for people taking the easy route and getting other people to help make your website successful.

Practice and expand your skills and you could potentially offer people a whole package which would give more reasons for people to choose you when it comes to the creation and management of a website.

Sell blog posts

Many people create a network of blogs and make a steady income from them, if you are fortunate enough to own a series of successful blogs you can actually get paid to post other peoples content on them.

People have seen the increase of performance for simply buying a number of blog post packages, resulting in a number of backlink to their website.? You can offer different packages depending if you are prepared to write the post yourself or simply update your network with premade content written by your customers.

Be sure to read the post before submitting it, ensuring that it won?t decrease the value of your blogs or give them any penalty.

A great place to advertise this type of service is in the popular webmaster forums.

Online shops

If you own a business, you can promote your products on a website to increase your exposure and potential revenue.? Many offline businesses have converted to online stores as more people are buying on the internet in today?s world so you are losing out on potential customers simply by not having your companies range online!

Once you have your website indexed by the leading search engines and a regular flow of traffic it?s time to see some return on your investment.? There are various different techniques you can implement to enable your website to start making money, don?t be afraid to combine a number of methods, appealing to a wider market and hopefully increasing the profit margin.

Below are the three most commonly used methods to make money from a website.

CPC advertising (cost per click).

Cost per click advertising is probably the most popular technique as it?s very simple and straight forward to get working and if done correctly you can earn a great deal of money instantly.

The first thing to do is research the available companies to find the most suited based on payout, reliability and relevance.? Google Adsense is no doubt the best option for the majority of people, closely followed by Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN).? You are only eligible to use YPN if you reside in the USA as it?s still in the beta stages so be sure to keep up to date with their progress so you don?t miss out on the opportunity of working with them.

Once you have signed up to these companies you generate coding which you integrate into your website, this will then generate advertisements relevant to your page content.? Each time they get clicked on by your users, you will get paid.? How much depends on the niche you have chosen.

CPM advertising (cost per thousand impressions)

This method is very similar to the previous but instead of getting paid when a user clicks on the advert, you get paid per thousand impressions.? In the same way you would with CPC, you need to do the research and find the best company to do business with.?? You should only be thinking of this method if your website generates a good amount of traffic on a daily basis or you will not be receiving the full potential from your website.

These companies tend you have a set of minimum requirements before you can even submit your website for consideration.? This can be a good indication to whether it will be worthwhile using CPM on your website.

Affiliate sales

It is very common to combine affiliate sales and another form of making money from a website.? If you plan on making an affiliate site from the beginning you should research your target audience to ensure that there is a market before you spend any time and money making the website.

A site which is focused on affiliate sales is basically selling products on behalf of the merchants, for every sale they received which came from your website you will receive a small percentage of the total value.? You will have no extra hassle with the after sale or customer service, once they click through to the merchant it?s out of your hands.

You can generate a good income if you find an open niche and get your website to rank well in the search engines.? Think about putting Google Adsense or any other PPC marketing on your website to increase your revenue and profit!

Technology today has made many things easier, creating websites is a good example. A few years back you would have to learn HTML (hyper text mark-up language) and code the actual website, testing and editing it along the way to ensure that it is working as intended. You would then have to ensure that you don?t have any cross browser errors which may deter your visitors.

Programmers have been creating content management systems to make a webmasters life much easier. Not only are they great for beginners but you will find experienced webmasters using them to save a great deal of time when making a website.

The most popular content management systems such as wordpress, joomla and drupal are capable of creating a search engine friendly website within minutes. Don?t assume that using a CMS is just a case of uploading it to your server and away you go. Although they do make it much easier there often is a small learning curve in order to receive the full benefits of it. The learning curve will depend on the chosen content management system, be sure you read the installation instructions and any ?read me? files so you can be confident you can get it working and easily manage/create your website.

Below are some of the main reasons people choose a content management system over creating their website the old fashioned way.

Simplicity

The most popular systems are very easy to get working, you only require basic knowledge of your servers operation. An installation manual is provided for those who haven?t got any ideas how to get started.

They are perfect for webmasters who are just starting out and have very little to non understanding of HTML. You can download a number of free templates and install them in one click.

Plugins

Content management systems allow you to download various plugins that enable you to create sitemaps, contact forms, working calendars, slideshows and many more with ease. Before you make your final decision you would be best of researching the available plugins to ensure that the chosen content management system is capable of meeting your specific requirements.

SEO (search engine optimisation)

One thing that many people struggle with is getting their website to perform well in the major search engines. Content management systems have plugins that will help you get the best from your websites search engine optimisation, they will allow you to edit each of your pages titles, descriptions and keywords so you can get it right from the very beginning.

Easy management

No one enjoys going through hundreds of different tasks to get a website up and running, especially when it comes to managing it. CMS?s such as wordpress allow you to create posts/pages with one single click, you can also view every page you have created on one screen and make any changes with ease.

Many people still use the traditional methods of creating a website by hard coding it, which ever method you choose you should perform a little research in order to find the technique that suits you the most.