Easy That’s how you’d like life to be, right? Especially when you’re creating a website on your own. But that doesn’t mean you want the site to look severe and just functional. you want it to be pretty , smart and also respond and move when you interact with it, while saying all that you want to say to its visitors . There are little tips and Features incorporated into software just for people like you.

Love what Flash can do but don’t know how to use it ? Macromedia thought of you and built a feature into Dream weaver that lets you create cool animated Flash buttons just by entering parameters. Want to have button respond to a mouse-over but have no idea or patience to create one with graphics software? You can make a quick and easy mouse-over button right from within FrontPage. What do you do if you need to optimize 150 images within an hour? No need to panic, image ready can help you out with a little droplet. Check out the different tips that make life easier or better for you as a Web designer.

• Animated Flash Button & Macromedia Dream weaver:

Dream weaver lets you create some custom vector graphics from within the software. You can make Flash and embed them into your Web pages. There are different kinds of style that you can choose for these from the available set-play back type of buttons .Arrow shaped button, shopping cart button And so on, or make some of your own.

Making a smart interactive button is simple in Dream weaver, select insert-interactive Image-Flash Button. Form the window that opens select different button style by looking at the preview image below. Customize the button the way you want it by adding the name of the button, the Font color and font size , then specify the URL that the button has to link to . The button is saved with SWF extension you can preview the button in your browser to see if it looks the way you want.

• Easy Mouse-Over Buttons :

Mouse-over and Front Page? Oh Yes. The software has quit a few convenient features up its sleeve, one of which is “Hover buttons.” Granted, these buttons don’t have snazzy graphics they look like typical button blocks, but they react to mouse-over and you can archive it very simply. Here’s how.

Select Insert -Web component. in the window that opens , select Dynamic Effect in the component type and select the Hover Button effect on the right . Type in the text that should appear on the button, choose a font for the text, specify the URL to link to on clicking, and select the size and color of the button. In the drop-down menu for Effect, Glow is the default selection. Try it - you can select the color of the glow-check the button in preview mode-the button light up when you move your mouse over it. There are several other effects available that are worth checking out, especially the bevels quite neat!

• Cool Effects With DHTML :

DHTML or Dynamic HTML offers some cool effects that could make your Web pages stand out click? Or your page to load with a transition Effect? DHTML will do this for you along with other little tricks. After you’ve built your Web page, from the menu bar, select Format-Dynamic HTML Effect. A tool bar appears in the work area. Choose an event from the first drop down list. This could be on ‘click’ double-click.’ Mouse over or page load. Depending on the event selected here, the next Drop-Down list offers the possible effect that can be achieved , This could be a change in the color and style of the font if it is text, a border added around it , or in case of an image , you can replace the image with another one by a swap .

Most of the effect toggle Meaning if there was a font change on click, another click will change the font back to what it was before. However, some effects are one-time like the disappearing act of an image or button .you select ‘fly out’ from the effects list for this . On ‘page load’ you could have the selected text drop in word by word, or hop in, spiral in, zoom out, and so on. This is especially useful for advertisements or parts of the page that you want to draw the user’s attention to.

• Animation In Reverse :

You’ve made an animation using image Ready-may be a tween of position, opacity or effects or a manually placed and manipulated animation backwards? No need to re-tween or manually place the frames backwards; simply click on the little arrow in the animated palette and select Reverse Frames. You can also create a rubber band effect by copying the forward sequence (small arrow > copy Frames), pasting it at the end of sequence (small arrow > Paste Frames > ‘Paste after selection ‘) and then, by selecting the newly pasted sequence and applying Reverse Frames on this.

• All It Takes Is A Droplet :

Want to optimize several images with the same settings? Create a “droplet “and save time.

Open the optimize palette in Image Ready with your image open. Set the optimization to what you want-file type (JPG, GIF or PNG), quality (low, medium, high), lousiness, dither and so on while previewing the result in the “optimized” tab of the main in the Optimize palette. This creates what is called a “droplet” that contains your optimization settings. Save this droplet anywhere you want, say on your desktop.

Now drag the folder containing the images to be optimized onto this droplet. All the images in the folder will get optimized the way you specified. This may take a while depending on the number and size of the images in the folder. You can also drop images one at a time onto the droplet.

• Precise Hot Spots :

Want to link different parts of an image to various URLs? You can do this by slicing the image and assigning links to the relevant slices, but the disadvantage of this is the lack of precision: slice is necessarily rectangular. Also, slices are pieces of the image.

Say you’re working on a Web page for children about the different parts of ancient castles. You would like the parts-dungeons; moat, guard towers, and so on-to have precise rollovers and links so that the information is conveyed correctly. Rather than slices such an images and allot links, use image maps, select the polygon Image Map tool in Image Ready and outline the part you want to talk about precisely . Even circular image maps work fairly well in some areas. You can adjust points of the map edge after finishing the shape, too .in the image map palette, you can specify the URL to link to along with ALT text. To preview your work, save Optimized as a HTML file and check it in a browser.

• Optimize Your Web Graphics Easily :

Despite the cable Internet connections and high-speed modems, Web graphics are still limited speed-wise. The sites that load fastest and work most efficient have well-optimized graphics .GIF images are generally good for line drawings and illustrations while JPG ones are best suited for photographs. Besides file format, there are various factor that affect the optimized image like the ‘lousiness’-the amount of data in the image that you’re willing to sacrifice for smaller file size-the number of colors you need minimum, whether you can have dithering or not, so on .

In Photoshop, to try out different optimization settings, click Save for Web . A window opens up showing the current image along with various options and menus on the right . in the image window itself, you can see two tabs: 2-up tab to see two versions-the original and the optimized-for comparison along with time needed to load the image according to various modem speeds . The 4-upshows you 3 versions against the original. These previews are useful and convenient, rather than having to manually save the image repeatedly in different ways and comparing each of them.

• Making A Banner Ad:

We’re all familiar with banner ads that we see all over the Web: a strip with an image and text that changes into another and another conveying some information. Clicking on this ad takes you to the site that the company is advertising for. You don’t have to use GIF Builder or any other graphics software to animate such an ad. You can make it easily using Front Page. Select Insert-Web component-banner ad manger. In the window that opens, specify the size of the ad, the transition effect, the number of seconds to display each image, the URL to link the ad to and add the images you’ve prepared. That’s it.

This feature could also be used you want to share a few photographs coiled also be used when you want to share a few photographs or images but don’t want the images to be save-able on the cline’s side; right-click will not work on these images. Although the images may be found in the cache, at least they won’t be able to be copied directly.

About The Author

Pawan Bangar,
Technical Director,
Birbals, (Hbirbals,Seobirbals,Ebirbals,Ibirbals)
#1047,Sector 42-b,
Chandigarh.
Cell:+91-98153-52253

email:

www.ebirbals.com

www.birbals.com

www.hbirbals.com

www.seobirbals.com

Once you have your company’s web site up and running, it is vital that you do everything possible to keep it that way. Nothing sets off alarms in a customer’s head faster than a non accessible web site or one that has features which do not work. A web site is literally your company’s window to the world and every aspect of the site; including the design, content, accessibility, ease of navigation, and uptime, says a lot about your company.

A fully functioning, attractively designed, feature-loaded web site spells professionalism and expertise, while a poorly designed and inaccessible site reflects very poorly on your business. Still, the best designed site on the web; one loaded with impressive features and clever design tricks means absolutely nothing if your customers can’t get to it because it is down. Unfortunately, if your site is hosted by some other company and resides on their servers, downtime may be largely out of your control. When your host’s servers go down, your site goes down and there’s not a thing you can do about it. There are a few things you can do, however, to ensure that your site stays up as long as possible.

Choosing Your Web Host

There are thousands of low cost web hosting services out there and they are all offering a thousand different deals for web hosting. Choosing the right one can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t know a lot about internet hosting and what you should be getting for your money. There are a few things you should look for in a web host - some of which will help you get the best deal and others which will help you determine whether you should expect to have a problem with downtime.

To cover the business end of web hosting, find out how much bandwidth and storage space you get for your monthly fee. Bandwidth is especially important because the more popular your site becomes the more visitors it will have and the more bandwidth it will use. If you are using too much bandwidth, two things will happen. You’ll be charged for anything over the amount you’re contracted for and the site could easily experience downtime due to receiving more traffic than it can handle.

You will also want to look at the host’s server information. Most web hosting services will post the specifications of their web servers on their own web sites. This allows customers to get a good idea of the host’s stability. If you don’t understand the technical jargon that these informational pages contain, get someone from your own IT department to look at with you. They’ll be able to tell if it looks like the host has a stable server system.

Check Your Site

To help ensure stability, you should check the site yourself (or make sure someone in your company is checking it) several times per day. This is the best way to make sure that everything is in working order and to resolve problems that do occur as quickly as possible. If you find that the site is down, a quick call to the host can often resolve any issues or at least let you know if there’s a problem with just your site or their entire server.

John Michaels is a freelance author for WebHostPacks.com where he regularly publishes articles on how to find a cheap web host and reviews of low cost web hosting services.

Whether you’re looking to create an infoproduct or you’re
looking to learn about a topic for your personal enrichment -
anything from scrapbooking to buying a home - using ‘discovery
keywords’ can be one of the best ways of finding tons of
quality content on the Web.

Using them is easy, and they work on almost any search engine
you like to use.

This is such a simple trick, one you’re going to be so thankful
for learning about.

So, what is a ‘discovery keyword’?

It’s nothing more than a special keyword that, when used in
conjunction with most general keywords, can help you quickly
find extremely useful search results related to your topic.

Here are some ‘discovery keyword’ examples:

tutorials

secrets

tips

articles

guide

checklist

FAQs

resources

So, instead of searching for ‘paris travel’(which will return
over 100,000,000 results), search for ‘paris travel tips’,
‘paris travel articles’, ‘paris travel guide’, and so on.

Instead of searching for ‘buying a home’, search for ‘buying a
home tips’, ‘buying a home secrets’, or ‘buying a home guide’.

Here are a few more examples:

scrapbooking

scrapbooking tutorials

scrapbooking secrets

scrapbooking tips

scrapbooking articles

scrapbooking guide

scrapbooking checklist

scrapbooking FAQs

scrapbooking resources

dog training

dog training tutorials

dog training secrets

dog training tips

dog training articles

dog training guide

dog training checklist

dog training FAQs

dog training resources

Hopefully with these few examples you can begin to see how the
quality in your search results will begin to improve as soon as
you begin using discovery keywords

Great web site design, heaps of content. But do you know which areas may be totally ignored. How can we avoid these blind spots and get the page viewers to concentrate on important information relating to the web site.

The first stage of any web site design is the most important, planning the site layout page by page. Taking as read that we have all the information we need to construct the site, now we need to fill the pages. We have the content, but is it all going to be read? Are the viewers going to get your message or are they going to exit in less than 5 seconds?

The internet is a fantastic medium to present all kinds of information but differs greatly from many other forms of medium. As opposed to the print medium for example, where readers take in most the information relayed to them, a web page is predominantly scanned, whereby one or two key phrases are identified and read thoroughly. So how do we ensure that these key facts are read?

One common design principle that is often ignored in the planning stage is to identify where the viewer will read or is more likely to concentrate on. This is known as a viewing hotspot. The area in question is the centre of the monitor. Viewers are more likely to view here first and decide to either read on or exit the site. To ensure maximum impact in this area, careful consideration of what to put into this space and more importantly how to format the content must be given.

If using text, formatting is vital, highlight key phrases using font format tactics such as bold or italic style fonts. Attempt to lead the viewer by the hand into your website. Direct them to where you want them to go. Keep the text clear and concise, tantalise them, and attempt to make them interested and hungry for more. Break up your paragraphs and above all, keep it pertinent. Using active text, such as links within the text, is a tactic that is also proved to be effective. But do try not to over use this; we do not want to make the navigational structure of the site complicated.

The second most viewed area is the banner space. Using this effectively can ensure important messages, branding and contact information is spotted almost instantly. Use this space badly and your viewers will leave rapidly. One of the main factors for bad viewer feedback (or a sharp exit) is to have an over elaborate banner. Using animated images or flash is fine, but they must be optimised effectively by minimising file size (dial up is still the most common form of internet usage). Using this tactic, you may well run the risk of running into banner blindness. People either block these using their firewalls and thus all they will see is your alt text or indeed they will not look at it at all and just leave your site.

Concentrate on these two areas and your site will be well received. The remaining areas of your page space are best described as incidental. So the best practice here would be to conform to design standards such as left side for static or navigational material, right side for news items or changing content and finally the footer, a great place to present your privacy statement, terms and conditions and of course your copyright statement.

There are many other areas of web site design tactics to employ but overall, if you concentrate on where the viewer will look, you will not go far wrong. Always remember to pay respect to your viewers, keep the text short and simple, keep the content optimised and above all, try to avoid the ‘bells and whistles’. Internet viewers do not like too much change so stick to a tried and tested formula.

Daren Jephcote. BSc. Is the owner of Leicester Office Solutions and has over 5 years experience in his chosen field. With professional qualifications in design and website applications, he has chosen to provide ground breaking service levels in the internet industry that has been shrouded in mystery for far too long.

Visit his business website at http://www.losdesign.co.uk to find out more about his services and products.

Almost everything is available on the web… products, services, e-books, software, audios, videos, membership sites, or newsletters. Regardless of what you’re promoting, there’s a never-ending supply of prospects and customers on the world-wide-web. Your goal is to capture and turn those prospects into paying customers.

Perhaps the best avenue is by the use of graphics. Three important sections of graphics that should be used for a compelling website are 1) header graphics 2) product cover and 3) background graphics.

Let’s start at the top with the header graphics. Without excellent quality header graphics it won’t much matter what’s on the rest of the page. Here’s why. Once a prospect clicks on your site you’ve got approximately 8 seconds to convince him to continue with the information you’re providing. You only get one chance to make a dynamic first impression.

The next area is your product cover. No matter what you’re selling you should have a product cover. Even if you’re promoting services you should still have a graphic image. People want to see what they are getting for their money. There’s no better way to do it than with a picture. There’s an old saying, ” You can’t judge a book by its cover.” Guess what? Most people do exactly that! Their opinion is based upon a visual image. Even as you read, your mind creates visual images of the perception of the words. Make sure your product cover fits the bill. Don’t sell this area short!

The last area is background graphics. Most people will spend very little time considering the background graphics for their website. This can be a major mistake. Properly crafting the background will have subliminal, almost magical effects on the overall potential of the entire website. It’s like the glue that pulls every other aspect of the site into a uniform, well functioning profit-making machine. This area is the major play in helping to create the overall flow and unity to your site. Again, don’t sell it short!

In the creation of each 3 areas of your graphics special consideration should be given to the overall theme of your site. The theme will help with continuity of branding and marketing. Today, the Internet surfer is often bombarded with look-alike products and services. Your key to a successful website lies in being faster, more imaginative, and more unique to get your prospect fired up. Simply put, you must stand out from the crowd. The theme of your site will help you do just that. This is not to say every aspect of your graphics should look alike. Far from it! Each area should however, complement the work of the other.

Color, size, tone, relativity, and uniqueness are all important attributes to consider when designing your graphics.

Copyright 2005 Andrew Eaton

Andy Eaton is one of the most sought after graphic designers on the web, not only does he create quality graphics, but he also teaches you how to create them step by step in his video membership site, Right now you can get access to some FREE quality videos by signing up to his action packed ezine Visit http://www.graphicsecretsexposed.com/ezine

If you want your visitors to come back again and again, you’ve
got to get them to add your website to their favorites (also
known as bookmarks in some browsers). That’s the menu where they
can save websites that they want to use again, clicking them
easily to get to them. Being added to a user’s favorites is like
getting an ad for your website right there in their browser’s
menu, for nothing. But how can you do it?

Make it Easy

The option to add a website to the favorites menu is quite
hidden, and people don’t often think about it. You’ll get far
more people adding you to their favorites if you offer them a
quick and easy ‘Add this Site to my Favorites’ link somewhere
towards the top of the page. Even if they don’t actually use the
link, it still draws attention to the browser’s favorites
function and makes the user think about it, increasing the
likelihood of them adding the site to their favorites sooner or
later.

Pay Attention to the Title

Once your site is in people’s favorites, of course, it’s not
going to do you much good if they can’t find it again later. You
need to make sure that the name and purpose of your site is
clearly stated in its title, as that’s all they’ll have to go on
when they’re looking through their favorites. Make it long
enough to be specific, but not so long that it looks
self-important or information gets lost off the end.

Tracking Who’s Done It.

It can be difficult to know who’s coming in to your site using a
favorite they saved. Usually, you would look at the referrer to
see where they came from but if they type the web address or use
a favorite the referrer will be blank. There’s no way of telling
which of those two things they did unless you send people who
use your bookmark link to a special address for example
www.example.com/bookmark. However, this method is not foolproof
because not everyone who adds your site to their favorites will
use your link to do it.

Promise Updates

If you want people to add your site to their favorites then you
need to give them a reason to come back. The best way to do this
is to make it clear exactly how often your website is updated.
You might write at the top of your website ‘updated weekly’ or
you might simply write the date when you last updated the
website. The second way only works if you update your website
often.

Could You Be Their Homepage?

Of course, if you want to go even further than just getting
people to add your website to their favorites then you should
consider trying to get people to make your website their
homepage. That is, the website that loads automatically when
they first open their web browser and that they get back to when
they click on their home button. If you can get your website as
someone’s homepage even for a relatively short length of time
then they are likely to see your website dozens of times in a
day.

So how can you get people to set your website as their homepage?
It’s a little more difficult than just getting them to add your
site to their favorites as it works differently in different web
browsers. In Internet Explorer you can give people a link that
makes your website their homepage automatically. For other web
browsers, however, you will need to give the visitor a set of
instructions. This will require some research on your part but
will generally be instructions on how to open the web browsers
options or preferences menu and use the section that allows the
homepage to be set manually.

Before people will make you their homepage, though, you need to
offer them the kinds of things that they might want on a
homepage. You can’t just expect your own content to be enough,
you need to give them other things too, such as local weather or
a box that they can type searches into to search the whole web
using a popular search engine.

In today’s age of fast food and high-speed Internet, a business
may be tempted to take the “more convenient” route in launching
a website - buying a template and customising it.

Website design templates are like off-the-shelf websites and are
targeted at people who believe that launching their own, unique
and differentiated website is costly and time consuming, which
need not be the case.

But what happens when you buy a template, and when looking up
your competition on the web, you find that they are using the
same template as you! A good example of this happening is the
highly competitive real estate business - I have personally
discovered 6 (six) South African real estate businesses using
the same design template for their website.

Using the example of the real estate business, let’s imagine a
guy called Adam wants to look for a new home by looking at
several websites.

1.After browsing a few sites it occurs to Adam that the
interface of some of the sites was the same, although the colour
scheme may have been different.

2.After looking at, say six different web sites, he’s decided
that he is highly interested in one particular home.

3.However, poor Adam is at a loss - he can’t remember which real
estate company was offering this home! The layout and navigation
structure of all the websites are the same and all the websites
feature homes for sale in the same format.

None of these real estate businesses benefited from Adams
interest in buying a new home - they simply wasted his time and
made him feel frustrated. On the bright side, at least Adam
won’t remember which real estate businesses made him feel this
way!

Chat or Instant Messaging (IM) hasn’t been Google’s forte till
Google Talk came along six months back. With giants like AOL,
Yahoo! & Microsoft walking tall in the IM arena, each enjoying
tens of millions of users, it’s no wonder Google realized that
IM is a vital piece of missing link in its armor for dominating
search industry. So when Google Talk came into being, there was
palpable excitement in air.

Six months later, the buzz around Google Talk has been steadily
on decline. Though full of sophisticated features like voice
calls, messaging and automatic Gmail check-in, there was
something amiss. Given my penchant for all things Google, I for
one didn’t find Google Talk a necessary requirement for my life
on net.

In comes Gmail Chat. And what a wonder! Taking over from where
Google Talk left, Gmail Chat is a perfect example of engineering
skill harmonizing with ease of use. The two complement each
other in perfect unison.

So what is it Gmail Chat offers that is unique? Well, to put it
in short, Gmail Chat merges the functionalities of messaging and
emailing under one single umbrella. Look at this pictorial
presentation here. In essence, one never needs to leave Gmail
to do either messaging (IM) or emailing, or both. Want chatting
only? Just pop up a new window and forget you’ve ever been in
Gmail.

What’s more, your chatting history is automatically stored in
Gmail account, available any time to forward as well as search
for any keyword. That’s done by Google Talk in background while
you’re still in Gmail, but are you bothered? Not really. It
shouldn’t concern you a tiny bit so long you get the unified
service at one place.

Trust Google to spring marvels now and then. I’ve learnt not to
doubt Google’s ability to work wonders. On the way, if Google
rules the search industry as uncrowned king, so be it.

It’s an acknowledged fact that internet users, by and large, and especially those who shop online, are savvy, and becoming increasingly so with each passing day. But what is less acknowledged, mostly to the detriment of advertisers and sellers pushing their wares, is that they’re also fed-up with the petty annoyances that obstruct their direct path to the information and products they seek. Whereas previously these internet devotees merely shrugged aside that which was marketed to them against their will, they now vehemently cleave in twain all which intrudes beyond their Spam filters and Pop-Up blockers.

Their weapon of choice, however, is less gruesome than the previous sentence imagines. Rather the means unto an end (of sites pushing Pop-Ups, that is) relies more upon the speed of their motor reflex skills than the force any show of strength might level with a mighty blow. Simply put, as clickly… I mean, as quickly as Pop-Ups pop in, float down, or follow a scroll like some scraggily stray mutt, internet enthusiasts flick their click, and click, click away not only the Pop-Up but the collaborating site that allowed the Pop-Up to slip in through the backdoor.

As much as email users distrust unsolicited email, i.e. Spam, so do the majority of internet addicts distrust not only Pop-Ups, but also the sites that make the mistake of utilizing them as a principal marketing technique. Research already demonstrates that internet users make final aesthetic decisions about a website’s worthiness, either yea or nea, a mere 1/20th of a second after it fully loads on the browser. First impressions are, for better or worse, everything online. Digging deeper, such research increasingly demonstrates that Pop-Ups, once even a staple in AOL’s, Amazon’s, and eBay’s advertising arsenals, are primary culprits torpedoing a site’s potential for providing a visitor with a pleasing aesthetic experience. The result: 1/20th of a second after a condemning judgment passes against those websites bearing Pop-ups, the clicking finger is already in motion, clicking closed every conspiring window.

If you, as a seller, have a legitimate producti.e. something you believe in and trust for your personal use as much as you desire a buyer to trust in and use itthan why sacrifice such confidences in the eyes (with synapses constantly firing with the mind) of said buyer by harboring an immediate and lasting distrust. Nothing, in fact, negates your chances of closing a sale with more finality than creating suspicion as to the legitimacy of the claims you make about your product. And, if, rather than even making claims, you immediately attempt to incite shoppers to buy, than in all likelihood, you in turn incite them to find fulfillment of their needs elsewhere.

An online marketing expert I know recently likened the sharp decline in the effectiveness of Pop-Up advertising to the negative reactions people have toward someone who goes door to door proselytizing. She said, “the first time a proselytizer knocks on your door, you greet them, perhaps with confusion, but nonetheless amicably. You smile as they preach, you accept their literature, and sometimes you even invite them beyond the threshold and offer them something to drink.

Maybe you consider their pitch, but 99 times out of 100 you’re secure enough in you’re beliefs, you’re not looking for answers, or you simply don’t trust them, and when they’ve gone you dismiss their pitch and forget their person. Not long after, they, or another of their ilk, knocks again.

Maybe this time its on the weekend, your one chance to sleep in; or maybe you’ve just stepped out of the shower; or sat down to dinner with your family; regardless, the last thing you want in any of these moments is to be interrupted, told to change who you are, and commit yourself to a new product (in the case of the proselytizer, their specific brand of religion). You dismiss them a little more abruptly this time. But, not getting the subtle, harsher tone behind your seemingly pleasant excuses, they keep coming, always with the same thing you don’t want or need, regardless of whether you share their beliefs or not.

Finally you reach the point where enough is enough. You slam the door in their face. That,” she says, “like the door to door proselytizer, is the fate Pop-Up advertising has brought upon itself. It’s been shown the door once and for all, and if internet users could, they would surely show it the dumpster instead.”

Her analogy, is no doubt long, and perhaps not the strongest imaginableconsider substituting telemarketers in place of the proselytizer, or whatever other annoyance you encounter frequently, but wish you encountered never againbut ultimately it speaks the truth of both statistical evidence demonstrating internet users’ antipathy and distrust of sites advertising with Pop-Ups and the non-quantifiable negative emotional response such advertising generates. In short, in a world where we demand informationon products, anything reallyquickly, without distraction, and only from sources we can rely upon and trust, there isn’t space remaining on our computer screens for an extra, uninvited Pop-Up window.

Alas, in this very pitch I turned myself into the proselytizer preaching against the use of Pop-Ups, perhaps in many instances to readers who previously advertised using Pop-Ups with great success. To past success I can only raise a glass in toast”I commend you good fellow or fair lady”but it is to the future that I implore you to set your sights. There upon products you believe in, to consumer confidences you wish to earn, cultivate and retainbe they won without overt intrusion, like a cyber handshake, not a Pop-Up window, provoking internet users like a cyber slap in the face.

Copyright 2006, Robert K. Blanc. All Rights Reserved.

Robert Blanc is a frequent traveler and freelance writer, covering current events, niche markets and subjects of personal interest for both online and traditional print publications. Recently enamored by the eBook phenomenon and the booming self-help industry, he regularly turns to http://www.ebookreviews.net to begin his searches for the latest information and eBooks currently on the market.

A search engine operates, in the following order: 1) Crawling;
2) Deep Crawling Depth-first search (DFS); 3) Fresh Crawling
Breadth-first search (BFS); 4) Indexing; 5) Searching.

Web search engines work by storing information about a large
number of web pages, which they retrieve from the WWW itself.
These pages are retrieved by a web crawler (also known as a
spider) — an automated web browser which follows every link it
sees, exclusions can be made by the use of robots.txt. The
contents of each page are then analyzed to determine how it
should be indexed. Data about web pages is stored in an index
database for use in later queries. Some search engines, such as
Google, store all or part of the source page (referred to as a
cache) as well as information about the web pages, whereas some
store every word of every page it finds, such as AltaVista. This
cached page always holds the actual search text since it is the
one that was actually indexed, so it can be very useful when the
content of the current page has been updated and the search
terms are no longer in it. This problem might be considered to
be a mild form of linkrot, and Google’s handling of it increases
usability by satisfying user expectations that the search terms
will be on the returned web page. This satisfies the principle
of least astonishment since the user normally expects the search
terms to be on the returned pages. Increased search relevance
makes these cached pages very useful, even beyond the fact that
they may contain data that may no longer be available elsewhere.

When a user comes to the search engine and makes a query,
typically by giving keywords, the engine looks up the index and
provides a listing of best-matching web pages according to its
criteria, usually with a short summary containing the document’s
title and sometimes parts of the text. Most search engines
support the use of the boolean terms AND, OR and NOT to further
specify the search query. An advanced feature is proximity
search, which allows you to define the distance between keywords.

The usefulness of a search engine depends on the relevance of
the results it gives back. While there may be millions of Web
pages that include a particular word or phrase, some pages may
be more relevant, popular, or authoritative than others. Most
search engines employ methods to rank the results to provide the
“best” results first. How a search engine decides which pages
are the best matches, and what order the results should be shown
in, varies widely from one engine to another. The methods also
change over time as Internet usage changes and new techniques
evolve.

Most web search engines are commercial ventures supported by
advertising revenue and, as a result, some employ the
controversial practice of allowing advertisers to pay money to
have their listings ranked higher in search results.

The vast majority of search engines are run by private companies
using proprietary algorithms and closed databases, the most
popular currently being Google, MSN Search, and Yahoo! Search.
However, Open source search engine technology does exist, such
as ht://Dig, Nutch, Senas, Egothor, OpenFTS, DataparkSearch and
many others.

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