This is one of very few legitimate programs for making money on the internet.

Netbooks are small, netbooks are cheap, so why are netbooks being treated like the proverbial “red headed stepson at the family picnic” these days? I am not sure exactly why. If you don’t like them, and don’t want one for yourself, why not just keep quiet about them and let them die a slow death if that is what you think will happen eventually anyway? I think the reasons for all this negative attention may have a couple of underlying causes.

Bigger is better?

The "bigger is always better" category is one such reason. This may also be related to some type of compensation, like bigger trucks, or larger boats, or any one of the multitude of toys that seem to offer some type of indication of the status of the owner. Some people seem to see the size of their laptop as an ego extension, and any thinking that might say that a smaller laptop is more efficient, or might be more suitable to some purposes, is in some way, threatening. Just a note here: don't worry guys, no one is going to force you to buy a little pink netbook!

Comfort zones

It may be that people are afraid that business as usual is no longer business as usual, and that these small computing devices are the wave of the future, a future where most document storage is done at another location online, and the gargantuan drives and the huge batteries needed to run them are becoming a thing of the past. This begins to take power from the hands of institutions to which we have become accustomed, and takes many of us out of our comfort zones.

Those are the causes that look like normal human reactions. I have others in mind, but they are not quite as pleasant, or generous.

In short, it would seem that the only reason for lashing out against these smaller versions of the traditional laptop would be fear. This seems odd, because the people who once took the lead into the laptop versus the desktop, have now become the establishment, just as the desktop versus all other forms of office equipment were before them. The revolution has gone full circle, several times. Each new advancement in any field brings with it some human trepidation. So, netbooks are transitory. So what? What in the fields of computing and electronics is not?

Last night I spent a good bit of time looking over a few pages of the ever controversial John Chow’s blog, particularly his list of the major adsense money makers. Today I went back, hoping to look at the info again, and it had vanished!

After being once banished from the kingdom of Google, and having returned, he seems to have disappeared. Has John Chow  temporarily vanished, or has he been banished?

Is this a temporary thing, or is it another round in the continuing battle between the guru and Google? If anyone knows, please let us know.

Mike McDonald of Web Pro News recently wrote a “grouch piece” about netbooks. It was titled:
“Netbooks: Moving in Right Next Door to Useless”

He offered the same old arguments about how useless these diminutive devices are but nothing really new.

My response was typical of many others, and went something like this:

“Netbooks are not perfect, but they are larger than the tiny little phones, and smaller than the big heavy laptops, and have more battery life. mine reaches a high temp of about 95 degrees, and works pretty well in a pinch. Net books and phones are probably going to meet somewhere in the middle as far as size is concerned, and that suits me just fine, because the phones are already too small to use, and sometimes to small to find! I suspect that no one suspects that they are the last word in this resizing of technology, just a step in that direction, and it is a step that has to be taken, just like automobile technology will someday have something between the tiny motorbikes with four wheels, and the big mobile living rooms we once drove.

When we reach that point, something better will come along, and we will start over. Why do we need netbooks? Because we need the changes they bring.”

There are a lot of other reasons why netbooks are gaining in popularity, their small size is a big draw, as is the battery life, and of course price is a major part of the trend. I got my Dell Inspiron Mini 9, shipping and all for a little over $200.00. Battery life is 4 and a half hours. One of the big draws is, that my system was set up to be Linux based, using “Ubuntu” as it’s operating system, without a hint of Microsoft in the device! It is a great little system!

The truth is, tha Mike McDonald probably has no real issue with netbooks. The piece was probably written as link and traffic bait. The bait seems to have worked gauging by the number of reader responses, and the fact that there are probably about a million blog responses like this one!

To read Mikes original story: Netbooks: Moving in Right Next Door to Useless

I have been helping a few small businesses with their website problems lately. Many of the problems I encountered were not the result of bad webmasters, but of bad hosting. In 3 recent cases, my answer to the bewildered business owner was simply to change hosts.

When a brick and mortar business is trying to get a website launched in as economical fashion as possible, with limited budgets, and limited knowledge, the last thing they need is an obstinate, difficult host with outdated packages, and outdated tools!

What a host should offer

I have been reluctant to recommend a particular host in the past, but from all I have seen lately, I am changing that policy.

The less you know about website building, the more you need to know about choosing a good host. There will come a time when you will learn the ins and outs, but in the mean time, you need to be able to work and produce while you learn. Latter, you will realize that you need to write some new URL’s and redirect some of the older ones to them, and this is made much easier if you have a host that offers a simple, easy interface to work with.

That is just one example of hundreds of considerations, and a host which offers simple use for beginners, and tools suitable for a pro for the more advanced user is what you need for success. I have found just such a host.

The best hosting package I have found

The best hosting I have come across for the average sized website is Lunar Pages, hands down! Let me give you some examples: Even in the cheapest package they offer unlimited domain hosting, unlimited space, and a huge number of extras that a webmaster can really use. The “Fantastico” installer is itself worth the price of the package.

The WordPress installation example

WordPress as we all know, is a very versatile, highly respected open source blogware package. It is also one of the best content management systems on the market. WordPress powers some real heavey hitters like CNN, and Ford Motor Company websites, and it is just one of many powerfull tools which can be added to your website with the fantastico installer.

If you have ever spent hours  installing  “Wordpress” by hand using the “5 minute” install, only to find you have to start over because you somehow missed a file, you will know what I mean.

Fantastico is fantastic

With this installer, you simply point and click a time or two, fill out the passwords, and it is there! There are more than 100 scripts available to be installed, including blogs, forums, wiki’s, shopping carts, and almost anything else the budding webmaster needs to develop a cohesive, functional site. It comes free with the package.

C-Panel

The Fantastico installer is itself installed in the c-panel (if you have ever had to deal with any other control panel, you will easily see c-panel’s superiority) which is a marvel of simplicity. Building a website with these tools has lowered my blood pressure several points, and saved me more time than I can explain.

I have had no downtime problems, quick responsive answers to questions, and easy use with the cpanel. After suffering much at the hands of many other hosts, I can recommend this one without reservation!

If you are considering moving to a new host, or just wading into the water you should at least take a look at what they offer.

Search and Design Does Design Influence Placement?

I have been seeing advertisements for web site developers who create some very nice sites. They have lots of pretty designs, lots of bells and whistles, splash and flash, the trouble is, you can’t find them in an Internet search with any search engine unless you type the name of the website into the browser. Even then, they may not be listed first for their own name. That’s just sad.

Most of this problem is not related to design, although some of it is. Most of the problem is that a lot of attention was paid to the look of the design, and very little to how the design interacts with the world it exists in, and the people who would potentially use it, if it could be found in the first place.

If the website can’t be found, it won’t be used. If the website is found, it needs to be usable. Search engines seem to prefer sites that are people friendly, and use that usability as a means of determining search position.

Some design options slow down load time with lots of gimmicks. This does not help the user, and most searchers will click on the next link on the list if the first link they click is slow to load. Even if the promoters have manipulated enough links to get some decent search positions, they will lose the user before they even have a chance to view the site.

Need confirmation of this fact, well, you are reading this page, not theirs!

Getting Found And Getting Paid

There are two issues when marketing on or through the internet. The issue of getting found, and the issue of getting results. Fortunately, the two are compatible.

A lot of people, even those with websites, don’t think that the internet is a viable tool for selling. This is usually because they do not have a website that functions as it should. When I talk to a business owner who tells me that he gets little or no response from his website, I know why without even looking. Some site owners say that they get sporadic traffic, but the sales fall through. In all cases where I hear this, it is the same problem. The site is not being found where it needs to be found.

Online Consumers

Online consumers, responding to well organized, well built sites are normally the best customers. They have done their research, they have decided they like what you offer, and they are ready to buy, that is,  IF you have convinced them that you are the authority!

Getting found

To be found, there are several factors, like the ones mentioned above. Basicly, you have to convince the search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN Live that you have something to help people if they visit your site. Search engines are trying to serve accurate results so that people can find the information they need . If the information is there, and presented in a reasonable way, the engines will index it, and place it where they think people who are looking for that information can find it, in the order of it’s perceived importance.

Converting

The second part is conversion. To convert, you have to be found, and you have to have something interesting enough on a site that looks professional, and can hold the visitors attention long enough to convince them that you are the authority, and that they should buy from you.

Usability

One conversion problem is usability. If the site is difficult to maneuver, and confusing, people will leave, and probably never return. Good usability comes from good planning. Sensible layouts and navigation that naturally flows leads to a good user experience, and conversions.

Paid ads

If you have paid ads appearing in places where the website could, and should appear on it’s own, that is money wasted.

Most ad companies sell you what they are selling your competitors, and  by doing so, drive the price of these key words up. You end up competeing with yourself. It is the perfect set up, for them.

If you want more contacts, the best way is through the internet. Internet contacts, who find your business on local searches, are usually ready to get serious about buying. The internet has surpassed newspapers, and radio, and will pass TV by 2012 as the way people learn about businesses.

The best way to get internet visibility is to optimize for local organic search results. Buying ads is more costly, and less profitable than organic results for two reasons. You have to pay for the ad, and most internet searchers have developed ad, or “banner blindness”, a disease that causes people to turn off their trust when they see an ad or a banner ad.

The secret to getting organic search supremacy:

Getting to the top for a generic term takes a lot of time. Targeting the generic term for a local audience and getting to the top can be done pretty rapidly if you understand how it operates. Local sellers of goods and services want to target local audiences. The internet is global, but most sales in such businesses are local.

Finding the right terms.

There is no one special secret to getting these results. There are many steps, and they sometimes require a little testing and tweaking. The best place to start is by learning what terms people are using to find your type of business. It may surprise you. professionals who install lawn watering systems call the part of the system that contains the nozzle from which the water exits the system an irrigation head. The average person who needs a system such as this installed, or repaired will probably call this item a sprinkler. If your irrigation company sits at the top of the page for the term “irrigation systems”, but not for the term sprinkler system, then you are missing most of your customers!

Using the terms.

After you have discovered the best terms for your business, that term should be used in your page title. The title tag is one of only two html tags which can boost your search. The title tag is the first thing that search robots find when they find your page. They use it to determine the pages meaning, and then check to see if it is accurate and relevant to the rest of the page. if it is, then you get better placement. The other ‘head” tag of importance is the meta description. The meta description will often be displayed in Goolgle’s search results, therefore, it is important to your readers. It is of little importance to the robots.

Adding local flavor.

Getting to the top for a generic term takes a lot of work, and a lot of time. Targeting the generic term for a local audience and getting to the top can be done pretty rapidly if you understand how it operates. Local sellers of goods and services want to target local audiences. The internet is global, but most sales in such businesses are local. How do you go local? add some local flavor. Use such qualifiers as your state, your county, your city, your street, and any other thing that is a distinguishing factor for your area.

You might have the best widgets in the world, and specialize in purple widgets, but you will probably not be able to immediately rank for “widgets”, or even “purple widgets”, you probably can rank for “purple widgets Eastern Road Island”, or some other such local qualifier.

Top Widget Manufacturers Press Congress For Bailout!

Well, of course I am just joking, at least I think I am. It wouldn’t surprise me much. It isn’t any more of a stretch than the auto makers asking taxpayers for a few billion, or the banks who got a few billion of our tax dollars which they will loan back to us at inflated rates!