Please note that I will no longer be posting on this blog, as I have transferred it to a better place.
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The Importance of Referrer Logs
Referrer logging is used to allow web servers and websites to identify where people are visiting them either for promotional or security purposes.
You can find out which search engine they used to find your site and whether your customer has come from a linked site. It is basically the URL of the previous webpage from which your link was followed.
By default, most hosting accounts don’t include referrer logs but may be subscribed to for an extra monthly fee. If your web host does not provide a graphic report of your log files, you can still view the referrer logs for your website by logging into the host server using free or low-cost FTP software, like these FTP Explorer http//www.ftpx.com/ LogMeIn http//secure.logmein.com/dmcq/103/support.asp SmartFTP http//www.smartftp.com/ FTP Voyager http//www.ftpvoyager.com/
The log file is available on your web server which can be download into your computer later. You can use a log analysis tool, like those mentioned below, to create a graphic report from your log files so that the files are easier to understand.
Abacre Advanced Log Analyzer http//www.abacre.com/ala/ Referrer Soft http//www.softplatz.com/software/referrer/ Log Analyzer http//www.loganalyzer.net
You can view the files using Word, Word Perfect, txt or WordPad files even if you dont have the right tool. This information is very crucial to your business and marketing plans and is not advisable to neglect it.
In addition to identifying the search engine or linked site from where your visitor arrived, referrer logs can also tell you what keywords or keyword phrases your client used for searching. As referrer information can sometimes violate privacy, some browsers allow the user to disable the sending of referrer information. Proxy and Firewall software can also filter out referrer information, to avoid leaking the location of private websites. This can result in other problems, as some servers block parts of their site to browsers that dont send the right referrer information, in an attempt to prevent deep linking or unauthorized use of bandwidth. Some proxy software gives the top-level address of the target site itself as the referrer, which prevents these problems and still not divulging the users last visited site. Since the referrer can easily be spoofed or faked, however, it is of limited use in this regard except on a casual basis.
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Web Hosting Companies
With thousands of web hosting companies in the market it can be difficult if not impossible to know which web site hosting companies truly provide an excellent hosting solution at an excellent price.
When you have an established domain name with a good web hosting company, you can get reports on your traffic and which of your pages your customers are visiting most often, as well as many other statistics.
Your web host will charge you a fee for monthly service that ranges from 10 or 20 to the more expensive 50.00 per month. Plan to pay between 300 and 500 per year to your web host. Always avoid free or very inexpensive web hosting services, because you may experience bouts of server downtimes and you are likely to have significant limitations in storage, number of email addresses, FTP upload etc.
Be sure your web host can accommodate e-commerce and storefronts, wireless capability, bogs, forums, chats, online interactive helps and anything else you want to add onto your site.
Estimate what your growth needs are and ensure that this web host can serve you as you grow. The last thing you want to do is change host mid way unless you absolutely have to do so. Check your bandwidth capability to be sure that, if your website traffic grows rapidly, your customers will not have to wait to download or view information.
Three things to look for in a web hosting company are
1. Excellent Customer Support Your hosting provider should be there for you 24/7 and give you instant access to the technicians you need to solve your problem. Ask them how long it takes for them to typically respond to your problem. A good test is to call them in the mid night to check if you get to a live, level 3 support.
2. A Sound Infrastructure Check whether they offer a multi-homed network powered by multiple bandwidth providers to ensure redundancy. Some offer a 100 guarantee on its network availability or network uptime.
3. Financial Stability If youre running very critical operations, you cant afford to be with a hosting company that may not be in business in a few months.
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We are Moving!
Just a quick note to let you know that I am in the process of transferring this blog to http://profitonlinefromhome.com
Hope to see you there.
Release the Power of Strategic Thinking “John Maxwell”
Strategic thinking helps me to plan, to become more efficient, to maximize my strengths, and to find the most direct path towards achieving any objective. The benefits of strategic thinking are numerous:
- Strategic thinking simplifies the difficult. Strategic thinking is really nothing more than planning on steroids. Strategic thinking takes complex issues and long-term objectives, which can be very difficult to address, and breaks them down into manageable sizes.
- Strategic thinking prompts you to ask the riht questions. One of the ways to break down complex or difficult issues is to ask questions. Strategic thinking forces you through this process.
- Strategic thinking prompts customization. All good strategic thinkers are precise in their thinking. They try to match the strategy specifically with the problem, because strategy isn’t a one-size-fits-all proposition.
- Strategic thinking prepares you today for an uncertain tomorrow. Strategic thinking is the bridge that links where you are to where you want to be. It gives direction and credibility today and increases your potential for success tomorrow.
- Strategic thinking reduces the margin or error. It lines your actions up with your objectives, just as lining up a shot in golf helps you to put the ball closer to the pin.
- Strategic thinking gives you influence with others. If you practice strategic thinking, others will listen to you, and they will want to follow you.
Using EMail to Profit Online from Home
A lot of successful internet marketing is done via email, and a lot of entrepreneurs have been very lucrative with this type of marketing, even though it is one of the most difficult forms of marketing on the internet today.
The trick is to build up a subscriber base by having people opt in to receive your information. To build up your list it is best to use an auto responder such as Aweber to control your list and to send out broadcast messages and other forms of advertising to your list. The trick in Email marketing is to always supply quality content that will add value to your subscribers lives and keep them happy and subscribing.
Internet marketers must avoid spamming their customers or they will find their subscriber base diminishing. Spamming is the sending of more than five emails in bulk to people that you do not personally know, or sending unsolicited commercial email. This should become the number one no no for all internet marketers. It is very irritating to keep getting junk mail that doesn’t interest you and just takes up space on your email server.
Email is primarily there for communicating and not for advertising. If you get too many complaints about spamming, your email server could get shut you down all together. At worst you could have your domain blocked. So use common sense in all your email marketing.
Here are a few basic rules to follow to ensure you stay within the law and acceptable methods of internet marketing.
Always supply an opt out mechanism on your emails, so people have the choice whether or not to continue receiving your email. Make sure that the opt out mechanism works properly, and you must be certain to obey any opt out requests.
Never use email for advertising, unless you have a clear opt in event. There are a great many effective ways to use your websites to market on the internet with, so promote it in the signature of the email that you are sending. Make sure that the content in the email is relevant and beneficial, as well has having good follow on links.
Never mislead anyone. Don’t advertise something for free in your title if it isn’t actually free. Also don’t talk about one thing, and then link them up with something that doesn’t add up to what the email is about.
Don’t annoy people with empty promises. I get a lot of Emails where the subject is responding to your advert, and when you go in, the sender is just shoving his advert in your face and clearly hasn‘t even seen your advert.
A good rule of thumb is to use your email campaigns to build up quality relationships with your leads and prospects. Do this with quality information and interesting quotes. Not every broadcast that you send should be to sell something. A good rule to follow would be to promote something every 4 – 5 Emails.
Did you Know?
Did you know that over the course of a day, your brain uses the amount of energy contained in two large bananas. This is about 12 Watts of power at any given moment. That is actually less power than your refrigerator light, but even though your brain is only 3 percent of your body’s weight, it consumes around 20 percent of the body’s total energy.
Most of it’s energy goes into maintenance, so the additional cost of thinking hard barely makes any difference!
