Search engine optimization can take a long time to show results.  Proper listing on search engines can take anything from 6 weeks to several months.

 So, what can you do to get traffic while you wait?

Pay-per-click [“PPC”] campaigns fill the time gap. A PPC search engine allows you to bid for placement in search results.  Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and most others bolster their organic search results with sponsor advertisements.

If you search on Google, links in blue across the top and the little ads down the right side of the search results are PPC listings.

You will bid for placement in the search results under particular keywords. Instead of optimizing your site to appear high in the listings, you simply pay for the position. While this may sound great, keep in mind you are paying for the listing and have to watch the return on investment closely.

Ideally, your ad should be in the top 3, but never below the 10th position. This has to be balanced, however, by the return on investment of the campaign.

Allthough it is not very complicated to manage there area number of pitfalls and it is best to let someone assist with the initial setting up process.

For your web site to be found it needs to be displayed on a search engine, ideally prominently enough not to be lost in the haystack. Read the rest of this entry »

There is a much more to a site than a visually stunning presence on the internet. Read the rest of this entry »

Why have  a web site?

A web site is an invaluable tool and, in some businesses,  an essential one, for advertising your products or services.  Why? Read the rest of this entry »

Should I use a free e-mail address, for instance fred@hotmail.com, for my business? Read the rest of this entry »

Question:  I receive requests for links.  What should I do with them?

Forward them to your webmaster.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a quite clever way to try and obtain your banking particulars.  You will receive an e-mail purporting to come from a bank - it may even be your own bank.  It will usually be well done, with the bank’s real logo, colour scheme etc and an e-mail address that looks correct.  It will contain some plausible message explaining the necessity for you to confirm your account details with the bank and helpfully suggesting you click on the e-mail link to do so.

Two things to Remember

1.  Your bank will never ask you to confirm your particulars over an insecure medium like e-mail.  When you conduct internet banking by contrast, you initiate the procedure by going to your bank’s website and logging in.  Once logged in, you are in a secure system.  To repeat, your bank will never e-mail you for your account details, so anything that appears to do so is Phishing.

2.  There is an easy way to check the validity of the e-mail address they give you.  If you place the mouse over the hyperlink so that the pointing finger appears, look at the bottom left of your computer screen.  Just above the “start” button is a beige bar right across the screen.  Here you will see the actual address of the hyperlink as opposed to what appears in the phishing message.  You will see that either it has nothing to do with your bank at all or, if it does contain your bank’s name, you will see that there is a variation that should not be there.  For example, if you bank with FNB and you see an e-mail address accountqueries@fnb-zawebs.ru you will immediately realise that (1) the website address (fnb-zawebs) is incorrect and that (2) the extension (.ru for Rumania) is wrong too.

Never respond to a phishing e-mail.

What is an e-mail scam?

An attempt to part you from your money by means of an e-mail asking you to provide your banking particulars so that you can be credited with an unbelievable amount of money.

Two common examples are the e-mail which informs you that you have won millions on some lottery in which you have never taken part or a letter purporting to be from some government or bank official who has illegally salted away a huge sum of money and has selected you to launder his money for a fat commission.

These are typical examples in that they are rather childish and easily seen through (although, to be fair, when they claim to be a corrupt government official from another African country this does add verisimilitude!).  I mean, do you seriously expect to win a lottery prize when you don’t even have a ticket?  Or are you going to trust someone who has openly admitted that he is a thief?

Do not waste your time responding - the only money in the transaction will be yours (assuming you have any!).  These are just criminals (or attempted criminals).

Far more sophisticated and threatening is “phishing”.  Read our post about it.

Spam is an unbelievable nuisance for many internet users and is generally hated and resented.

Why do people spam?

Because they believe they can make money by selling something over the internet.   Spam is the internet’s version of direct mail promotion.  Lists of e-mail addresses are sold as part of a “business from home” opportunity.  The suckers who buy these lists are either hoping to get rich quick without doing any real work or are desperate to make any sort of income at all. Read the rest of this entry »

How do potential clients find your web site? Read the rest of this entry »