Digitup challenge was to create the GUI, write the business logic and develop an outstanding web application. The site was launched in the begining of January. Please feel free to check the online site at http://www.pharmabiomedic.se

There is a lot you and your team can do to improve your placement on search engines. These fall into three broad categories:

- Improving your site’s build

- Improving your site’s content

- Encourage quality links

Improving your site’s build

I have written before about how accessibility can also improve search engine placement. By avoiding content types that search engines find hard to access (like Adobe Flash), marking up content semantically and using appropriate ALT and title attributes, we make our sites easier to index. However, although these techniques ensure content is indexable, it does not mean search engines will discover that content in the first place.

The following will ensure Google (or other search engines) discover your content.

Create a clear hierarchy – Every page should be reachable from at least one other page of your site.

Use text links – Links between pages should be textual rather than use images, Flash or other unaccessible technologies.

Use short URLs – Some web addresses created by dynamically driven websites (such as those built using content management systems) cause problems for search engines. Shorter web addresses with less parameters (characters after the ? in the address), the more likely to be found.

Add a site map – Add a site map that includes links to the important content. However, try not to exceed 100 links on a page as this can cause problems.

Submit your site – A search engine will find your site through those who link to you. However, speed up the process by submitting your site for indexing. You can submit a site to Google here. You can also submit a site map using Googles Webmasters tools. This helps Google learn the structure of your site and increases the number of pages indexed.

Once search engines can access your website, you need to address the content.

Improving your site’s content

The most important consideration when writing copy for search engines is the inclusion of search terms. Before writing a page have a clear idea of what it is about and what search terms might use when searching for that subject. Next, incorporate them naturally into copy, headings, image alt attributes and the page title.

Be careful not to use too many search terms. Two or three per page is adequate. If you use more, copy may become hard to read and the ranking of each individual term will be reduced.

Do not stuff a page with search terms as you may be penalized. They should be incorporated naturally into your copy. Try reading your copy out loud. If it sounds like you are forcing the use of keywords it will require some rewriting.

Ultimately all you need to do is write good copy. If it is well written and engaging it will also attract links.

Encourage quality links

If you already run a website, you will have probably received an email from somebody wanting to ‘exchange links’. The email may have explained that Google ranks pages by the number of incoming links.

There is some truth in this claim. Google does partially rank pages based on the number of sites who link to you. However, this is not the whole story.

In reality nobody but Google knows how they rank sites. Links are a factor but it is not just the quantity that matter. Google states that: The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating.

Google looks at a number of factors:

- The subject matter of the site linking,

- The copy that appears in the link,

- The popularity of the site linking,

- The reputation of the site linking.

It is rarely worthwhile responding to link requests, unless they come from a high profile website with appropriate content.

It is however worth seeking links from relevant sites. Which sites would you like to appear on irrespective of the benefits to your ranking? Which sites do your target audience frequent? Getting featured on such sites provide benefits of their own, independent of the benefit to ranking.

Will the above techniques get you to number one on Google? Possibly. It will certainly do your site no harm unlike many of the other techniques out there.

- Uptime

- Support

- The control panel

- Limitations on growth

- Hidden charges

Let’s take a look at each, starting with uptime.

Uptime

The last thing any website owner wants is for their website to be unavailable. Many hosting companies therefore provide uptime guarantees. Figures range from 95% uptime right through to 100%. But what exactly are they guaranteeing and is it something you should worry about?

In most cases uptime guarantees are worthless. They do not actually guarantee that your website will be available 100% of the time. This is merely a figure they are striving for. If they fail, they will compensate you. However, the nature of this compensation varies. In most cases it involves refunding a portion of the money you pay for the hosting. However, this could be insignificant compared to the losses in sales. You should always clarify what compensation is being offered.

Remember that even the largest organisations have downtime. It is a problem that can never be entirely avoided. Websites can be unavailable due to connectivity issues, poor code or any number of reasons beyond the control of your hosting company. As a result they often specify exclusions from compensation in their terms of service.

In short uptime guarantees are meaningless. They are simply a marketing tool. Instead, search for reviews of the hosting company or look at their support forum. If their are lots of complaints about downtime think twice. However, in most cases the service offered in regards to uptime is fairly universal.

Instead of asking how often your site is likely to go down, ask what happens when it does? What kind of support can you expect?

Support

Support is arguably the single most important factor in choosing a hosting company. Whether it is your website going offline or a piece of functionality not running, it is inevitable you will have problems with your hosting. You will need to quickly reach somebody who can help.

But how can you tell if a hosting company offers good support? Look for the following things:

24/7/365 support – When your website is offline you need to be able to get help instantly. Check that your hosting company offers support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year.

Telephone support – There is an increasing trend towards email only support. However, technical problems can be hard to diagnose and prolonged conversation via email are time consuming. When your site is offline you need the immediacy of a phone call. Ensure that option is available to you.

Speedy response – Whether contacting your hosting company by email or phone you should expect a speedy response. It is unacceptable to be sitting on hold while your site is down or waiting days for a response to an email query. I recommend calling the technical support telephone number before you sign up for their service. How long do you have to wait before you get to speak to a real human being? Also, send a question via email and see how long it takes to get a reply.

In country support – Personally I prefer speaking to local support staff. Being put through to call centers in far flung locations can be frustrating when discussing complex technical problems. If you do not share the first language of support staff misunderstandings are easier. By calling the support number before signing up you can establish whether there will be communication problems.

Knowledgeable staff – Another drawback of call centers is that they are often manned by individuals with limited technical knowledge. This can be frustrating when endeavoring to resolve technical issues. Ideally you should be able to speak directly to the individuals manage the web servers. If you are not technical ask your web developers to speak to the support staff at the hosting company before signing up. They should be able to judge their technical competency.

Technobabble free support – Talking to technical staff can be equally frustrating if support staff are overly technical. Being confronted by technobabble when you want to find out is why your site is down can be extremely annoying. By calling the support line before purchasing you should be able to get a sense of their communication skills.

Self service support – Contacting technical support is the last resort. In most cases you should be able to find the answer to questions yourself through your hosting companies support site. Look at their site and see if they have frequently asked questions, a knowledge base, forums and most importantly a list of current known issues. Facilities like this can save time so make sure they are available.

Self service should also extend beyond support. Most hosting companies also provide a control panel for managing your site.

The control panel

Calling technical support every time you want to change the password will become frustrating. That is why most hosting companies provide a control panel for basic maintenance. This includes, managing email, changing passwords, uploading files, backup and accessing site statistics.

Evaluate the control panel and discuss it with your developers. If the hosting company does not have a demo available on their site, call and ask for access to an example. If nothing else this will demonstrate how responsive their customer service is.

Once you have access, ask yourself whether it provides all the functionality you require? Is it easy to understand and use? For example, how does it handle the management of multiple sites? This is particular important as your online presence grows.

Limitations on growth

As your site becomes more successful you will become more ambitious in your plans, and visitors will flock to it in ever larger numbers The question is, will your hosting company keep up with this growth?

In order to answer this question you need to understand three things:

Can you manage multiple websites centrally? – You may start with a single site but if it is a success you could want to launch more. It could be a sub-site that supports a marketing campaign or a site dedicated to a subset of your audience. In either cases the site will need managing. You will want to avoid multiple logins to administer multiple sites. They will need to be managed centrally. Check with your hosting company that they provide a single interface to manage multiple sites.

What is the upgrade path? – As your site grows in terms of visitors and complexity you may find the need to migrate from shared hosting to dedicated. You may even need to upgrade your dedicated box to something more powerful. It is important to understand how this process works. You want to avoid the need to backup your entire site and install it all over again. A good hosting company should make this a seamless transition.

What happens if you exceed your bandwidth limits? – The more successful your website the more expensive it will be in term of bandwidth. Most hosting plans come with a bandwidth limit. This is because the hosting company has to pay for each piece of data a user downloads from your site. They therefore have to cap how much data they allow to be downloaded. Normally this is more than adequate for most site. However, what happens if you exceed your bandwidth limit? How much extra is it going to cost you and what happens if you exceed your limit unexpectedly without a higher rate package in place? Will it costs you even more? Does the control panel provide a way to monitor current bandwidth use?

It is not just bandwidth that can become expensive. You may discover there are other hidden charges too.

Hidden charges

Some hosting companies can appear to be inexpensive on the surface but have a hidden cost. Establish what is included in the monthly charge and what is not. I have encountered hosting companies who have made additional charges for:

- More than a predefined number of email accounts

- Advanced email functionality such as exchange server or spam filters

- A technician to physically restart your web server

- Add-on technologies

- The ability to run databases

- Access to website statistics

The list could go on. There is nothing wrong with hosting companies using this form of modular pricing. In fact it can keep the price down if you only require basic functionality. The problem comes when they do not clearly communicate these additional costs and they therefore come as a surprise.

Except…

What if you’re looking for a browser that does just the things you want to do online? What if you’re sick of all the browser-war hubub and want something that’s truly unique and different (and, maybe, works better than the mainstream options)? What then?

Well, there’s good news. There are more than a dozen excellent alternative browsers out there if you’re looking for something distinctive. Below are ten such web browsers, along with why you might want to consider using them.

1. Stainless

Stainless is a browser created in response to Google Chrome. It utilizes multi-processing architecture like Chrome (which, at the time of inception, wasn’t available for OS X), but also has some excellent features not found in other browsers. One of the most interesting features is the ability to log into one website using two different accounts in separate tabs.

Why you should consider it: The ability to log into a site with different credentials in different tabs makes this an excellent option for many. It’s especially useful if you have, say, work-related Gmail accounts and personal Gmail accounts.

Current release version: 0.7.5

Operating systems supported: OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard.

2. Maxthon

Maxthon is a highly configurable browser that places an emphasis on security. It has a built-in Ad Hunter that blocks most ads, as well as security features to prevent spyware, malware, and viruses. It lets you fully customize your browsing experience (you can choose between using menus, hot keys, word aliases, toolbars, or mouse gestures, plus there are more than 1,400 plug-ins to add functionality). It has filters available to block irritating or offensive content.

Other Maxthon features include a built-in screen capture tool, URL aliases for faster surfing, a built-in feed reader, an online favorites service, advanced proxy rules, and an anti-freeze feature.

Why you should consider it: If you want a customizable browser, Maxthon might be what you’re looking for; it’s built specifically for power users. Between plugins, skins, filter packs, and other customizable features, it truly lets you personalize your browsing experience. For parents concerned about their children’s’ activities online, the filters for blocking content can be reassuring.

Current release version: 2.5.11 (the Classic Version is also available: 1.6.5)

Operating systems supported: Windows

3. Sleipnir

Sleipnir is very popular in Japan with a majority share in the country. It’s a profoundly customizable browser that maintains speed and performance despite customizations. There are skins and plugins available for it, letting you change the design and settings of the browser to suit your needs. And as all good browsers should, it stresses on security and usability, and allows for tabbed browsing.

Why you should consider it: Sleipnir is an option if you want a highly customizable browsing experience.

Current release version: 2.9.2

Operating systems supported: Windows 98 and newer

4. Swiftfox

Swiftfox is an optimized build of Firefox that’s faster and more cutting edge than the regular Firefox distribution. It works with Firefox plugins, making it remarkably extensible. The overall user interface is similar to Firefox, but is a bit more minimalist and clutter-free. Most other features are in line with what Firefox has to offer.

Why you should consider it: If you love Firefox but want something faster and lighter, then Swiftfox is your best bet.

Current release version: 3.5.6

Operating systems supported: Linux

5. Lunascape

Lunascape is the world’s first and only triple engine browser. That’s right: it’s a hybrid browser that runs on Gecko, Trident, and WebKit. It supports plugins and add-ons from Firefox, Internet Explorer, as well as their own plugin platform. It’s touted to be faster and lighter than many other browser options.

Why you should consider it: If you find yourself constantly switching back and forth between browsers (either for cross-browser testing of web designs or because of add-ons available only to Firefox or Internet Explorer), Lunascape is a perfect fit for you.

Current release version: 6.0.1

Operating systems supported: Windows

6. Konqueror

Konqueror combines web browsing, local and remote file management, and a universal viewing app that lets you view documents without having to launch other programs. It’s open source and HTML 4.01 compliant. It embraces Netscape plugins (like those for Flash or RealVideo). Konqueror also has a built-in FTP and WebDAV support.

Why you should consider it: If you’re a Linux user who wants a browser that can multitask, then Konqueror is definitely something to look into. It’s especially useful for those who want to be able to manage files right from within their browser.

Operating systems supported: Linux

7. SeaMonkey

SeaMonkey is developed by Mozilla and is an "all-in-one" internet suite of apps. While the browser within SeaMonkey is pretty standard (and not unlike Firefox), what sets it apart is that it has integrated email, newsgroups, an HTML editor, IRC Chat, and web development tools. The mail feature offers tabbed reading and supports tagging and alternate views for better email finding and reading. The HTML editor renders CSS and gives you dynamic image and table resizing. For web developers, you can take advantage of the JavaScript debugger and a DOM inspector.

Why you should consider it: For developers and designers, SeaMonkey has a plethora of useful built-in features. It’s also a great option for people who like to run the bare minimum number of apps.

Current release version: 2.0.1

Operating systems supported: Windows 2000 and newer, Mac OS X 10.4 and newer, and Linux.

8. OmniWeb

OmniWeb is a WebKit browser created by the same people who created OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner. It aims to be fun and easy to use (like other Omni products) and shares a similar user interface. It has all the standard browser features we’ve come to expect (including tabbed browsing, bookmarks, and ad blocking), but also includes Workspaces, which lets you save browsing sessions to open later and includes an auto-save option and a built-in RSS reader.

Why you should consider it: For Mac users who want a browser that’s efficient and easy to use, OmniWeb might be just what you’re looking for. It’s appropriate for power users too, and the Workspaces feature is especially handy.

Current release version: 5.0.1

Operating systems supported: Mac OS X 10.4.8 or newer

9. Camino

Think of Camino as a Firefox build specifically for Macs, built on the Gecko 1.9 rendering engine. It includes phishing and malware protection, tabs (including a tab overview function that lets you see all your open tabs at once), "annoyance blocking" (which blocks ads, pop-ups, and Flash animations), Keychain support (to save your browsing credentials), and download notifications. It also includes AppleScript support, feed detection, session saving, recently closed tabs, and full keyboard access.

Why you should consider it: Camino is a great browser for Mac users who like Firefox but want something built specifically for the Mac.

Current release version: 2.0

Operating systems supported: Mac OS X 10.4 or newer

10. Flock

Flock is probably better known than many of the other browsers above, especially if you’re a social media addict. Flock was created specifically to make managing your social media activities easier from within your browser.

Flock focuses on staying connected through social media by making sharing and publishing things easier. It integrates directly with Facebook, Gmail, Digg, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, WordPress, Blogger, Delicious, Bebo, TypePad, Picasa, and more. Special features include a People sidebar, a Media bar (to browse photos and videos from your favorite sites), a built-in feed reader, a photo uploader, a blog editor, and more. There are also extensions and custom themes available for download.

Why you should consider it: Flock is a great choice for social media power users who want to be able to connect with all their social media accounts from one place.

Current release version: 2.5

Operating systems supported: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X

Cameron Chapman
– web and graphic designer

So what’s next?

Technology is always evolving – and none quite as fast as the Internet. Here are some predictions for what may be yet to come!

A quick preface

OK Internet, let’s call a truce for a minute or two.

As anyone who has spent time on a site’s comment section knows, the Internet can be a cruel place. Articles with the word "Prediction" in the title can invite some pretty terrible and/or amusing flame wars, but I want this article to be just friendly enough that you, the reader, are feeling comfortable enough to jump in with some predictions of your own! There are no wrong answers in a brainstorm.

1. Audio web surfing

Building the web with standards and accessibility in mind brings the Internet to as wide an audience as possible. With the importance of accessibility getting the recognition it deserves lately, I think screen readers will soon take a front seat as a common means for surfing a site for a much broader audience.

I’m calling it: people on the train with headphones attached to their mobile device while Text-to-Speech reads them the latest articles from their favorite sites. HTML5 is a step in an awesome direction with regards to easy reference points; header, footer, nav, section, and article could be logical jump-to points by audible instruction. Rather than reading and clicking, the audience can tell the browser where they want to go with spoken commands.

From an input standpoint, speech recognition has come a long way in the last decade. Bell Canada has been playing with the audio-attendant "Emily" since 2003. When you call, Emily will give a familiar greeting and ask how she can be of assistance. By simply telling her what you want – it can range from simple commands like "Billing" to more complicated sentences like "I want to talk about my Long Distance package" – she will direct your call accordingly.

It’s not perfect: about a quarter of the time, she’ll reply that she didn’t understand my request. While it can still be awkward, it works. Six years after first encountering this on the phone, I can actually say I prefer telling "her" what I want to the old "Press 1 for…" menu. It’s not an Internet application; but it shows that audio navigation works well, and can be efficient.

When it comes to output, Text-to-Speech is getting better all the time, a vast improvement over the last decade or so: Speakonia 1997 vs. the more modern Kindle and OSX. It has gone from lifeless and robotic to something a lot more palatable in the last few years, and seems to continue to improve.

Audio surfing could be perfect for the aforementioned commuters, children learning to read, step-by-step tutorials as well as the casual multitasking user. While it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, any traffic to a site by an audience who cares is welcome.

For web developers, there may be new accessibility opportunities especially for multi-lingual sites. Who knows, this might be another nail in the Flash coffin.

If you think audio surfing could hit the mainstream say "amazing" now – and don’t forget to add my site to your playlist.

2. Web surf on any device

It seems the tech industry is eager to integrate the Internet into every device these days. It’s the equivalent to adding a digital clock to a coffee maker. Why not? Adding a touch-screen to your fridge and other appliances might create new opportunities and challenges for interfacing.

Content is king – no matter what. As seemingly redundant or over the top it might seem to have a screen built into the kitchen counter – if it doubles as a cutting board, all the better.More widespread Internet delivery will mean reaching a wider audience – like the elusive "Mom" demographic. An issue keeping some users away is that the Internet can be a vast and scary place. These everyday devices married with technology don’t have to serve all of the web’s content though. They are niche items, and as such, they can deliver relevant niche content. The cutting board doesn’t need to be able to easily reach unrelated sites like LOLCats or Ebay, if it had a cooking oriented home screen complete with grocery list, meal suggestions, links and unit conversions, it would be less daunting and far more appealing to the target demographic of the product – even to those who don’t consider themselves to be Internet savvy.

The major weakness to the increase of connected devices comes in the same flavor as the raging Net Neutrality issues being discussed today. If the Internet is tied into content devices like televisions, broadcasting companies might start pulling more of their annoying control-freak shenanigans in an attempt to capture a greater audience. This will be temporary; the battle of old-media vs. the Internet has only one ending (hint: the loser starts with the letter "o" followed by the letters "ld-media").

I hope that with the advent of new devices comes an easier way for developers to "browser sniff" their traffic and serve up the appropriate content. If device manufacturers adhere to accessibility standards, the results could be amazing.

3. Input revisited

The recent boom in smartphone devices has shown us that tiny screens and suddenly awkward digits can sometimes make for a cumbersome user experience. Our traditional concepts of input applied to the next generation could be confounded more as the devices and environments change. At 6′ 4", I don’t relish the idea of hunching over a wall-mounted screen that has my 5′ 2" coworker in mind.

Recently, Clayton Miller shared his concept for multi-touch computing, the 10/GUI (here’s a video). This video bears watching, drooling over, and retweeting with the word "Want".

He quickly illustrates the point that a mouse, as ubiquitous as it is, weakly offers only two sets of coordinates, while the users are capable of so much more. Touch screen technology is only scratching the surface on intuitive approaches to interfacing. There is lots of room for growth here. Simple Gesture implementation on the trackpad in OSX is so good that using gestureless laptops becomes unthinkable. The new Magic Mouse may be just the beginning.

I think we’re all ready to compute better, but this could easily be a disaster. If the new input technology is universal like the mouse was, everyone wins. I think it’s more likely that many hardware manufacturers will try to invent their own GUIs. This would mean many learning curves, and would be generally painful to deal with.

4. Mobile networking

Bluetooth is known for allowing wireless communication, like with hands-free systems in cars, and the some of the latest mice and keyboards (like the aforementioned Magic Mouse). It also may be the future for mobile networking and P2P interactions. Check out this Android 2.0 "Pong" demonstration:

Does that blow your mind? Imagine interacting on a website with a friend, or with the advertisement at the bus shelter. The possibilities become staggering.

Some non-gaming applications come readily to mind:

- Simultaneous dual login for greater site security

- Online training sessions and remote-access troubleshooting

- On location interactions with stores, tourist attractions or public services

For years, the Internet has been about serving the singular user. With the growing need and importance of online community, multiple-user experiences seem like the next logical step.

5. The end of .com domination

For as long as the Internet has been around, .com has been the assumed default extension for websites (regardless of whether or not the site was "commercial" or not). For a while, there was almost a negative stigma to not having the .com for your brand, company or personal site. How many times has traffic meant for your site ended up at the .com equivalent?

With all common words and combinations taken (even just parked on), people turn to other extensions, invent words, or turn to crazy spelling.

In the very near future new extensions will be popping more often. Not only that, but I think trending may follow in that vein. I also predict that Domain Service giants like GoDaddy will start selling "Extension Subscriptions" where you can guarantee yourself the various extensions for your domain name.

More extensions have some definite advantages, and some drawbacks. On the plus side, when adding a link to some print materials, maybe we’ll be able to drop the "www", which is often used now as a cue that "this is in fact a URL". One silly drawback could be the increase in convoluted sub-domain cleverness like "del.icio.us".

I would also like to raise the question, how long will we need these addresses? Remembering and using URLs to point at sites works well, but doesn’t seem the most efficient way to bring site users to websites. One day, search engines, RSS readers, communities and networks may reduce direct traffic to a trickle, making the .com even less important.

6. IE6 stops being used

I’ll admit this seems like the most unlikely out of all the other predictions. Maybe it won’t happen in our lifetime, but it is somehow feasible that it could happen.

Here’s how it could go down: in the distant future, some impending disaster will cause mankind to have to abandon Earth and head for a planet light years away. The question of who and what can go to the new planet will of course be a major issue, and sadly IE6 won’t make it off of the doomed Earth. The escaping web designers and developers will enjoy a short-lived period of joy as there will always be some misfit version of Internet Explorer to support.

Today the Internet is about consuming and creating information. How do you think we will use it in the years to come? Make your predictions known in the comments.

Arley McBlain
– web designer

In this article, I’ll share a 4-step process to approaching web marketing in a positive and effective manner.

The steps:

1. Make something of value

2. Tell people about it

3. Ask people to do something

4. Repeat.

There is also an honoree step 5: tracking eyeballs and conversions.

Step 1: Make something of value

Our goal is to get views, eyeballs (i.e. people looking at your stuff), and people talking about your stuff. In the process, you have to make something of value. It’s the easiest way to get eyeballs.

Make something that’s new and worthy of attention: a blog post, pretty pictures, a tweet. Make something, and then do it again, and again, and again. You can’t make too many things. The more you make, the better you will get at making. Better maker equals more eyeballs.

Example

Maybe you are a handcrafted T-shirt maker and you might be selling your stuff on Etsy. A great way to promote your stuff is to blog about your process. How do you make your shirts? Where do you source your products from? What you do is probably of interest to other T-shirt makers and people who enjoy handcrafted t-shirts.

You could also use other media to promote your products. Create a video of how you make shirts. You could go into crafting forums and help answer craft questions. At all of these touch points, link back to your main website, or even to your Etsy store.

In this way, not only do you create more ways to show off your product, but you will have contributed knowledge and information that people will find useful.

Tools

Blogs

- Blogger

- Vox

- WordPress

Videos

- Vimeo

- Youtube

Other things to do

- Find forums about your topics

- See if there are any “StackOverflow” clones in your area

- Find Twitter lists about your stuff on Listorious.

Bottom Line

Make stuff about your stuff, and keep doing it.

Time

A note about time: time is an integral part of any venture and it might take years for a project to get to a level that you want. It might gain traction in a couple months, but to get to your goal might take years. You must realize this process takes time and determination. Both are almost more important than whatever else you are trying to do.

Step 2: Tell people about it

You’ve made something – now what? Now it’s time to tell people you’ve made something, it’s the easiest way to get people to look. There are millions of communities and niches online, find yours and engage them in a conversation. Help answer their questions, make things they want to see.

Ask these people to look at your stuff. They will be the most helpful. They can make your stuff better.

The point to keep in mind here is this: if you make something good, people want to see it, and they’d love it if you notified them about what you’ve made. And here’s where you differentiate positive and effective web marketing and simple spamming and other deceitful tactics to get page views: if what you provide is of value, people will want to read, see, and/or hear about it.

Example

If we continue our Etsy store idea: you might be making new blog posts, and new t-shirts every other day. You might want to establish a couple of touch points in the area of social media. A Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter account for your blog, a Myspace page. Wherever you want.

Every time you do something, send out a pointer to what you did. You are making something of value, right? People will want to know when you publish something new. You should also invest some time in networking with people in your area of interest.

Tools

What social networking is really good at is letting other people know about things you are doing. Here are some places you should keep in mind:

- Twitter

- Facebook

- Myspace

- Friend Feed

- Google Reader

One meta-tool in this space is monitoring your brand. There are a couple of new ways to do this, but the simplest way to do this is using a feed reader. A prerequisite is getting a feed reader. Google Reader and Netvibes are good places to start.

- Create a Google news search page and grab the feed

- Search Twitter for your brand and grab the atom feed

Periodically search Google for your brand and see where it’s popping up. On a semi-regular basis, look at your feed reader for new mentions. Then you should respond to all mentions of your brand. People really enjoy being contacted by the people they are writing about and it’s a great way to give people a good experience with your brand.

Bottom Line

Its not “Build it, and they will come.” its, “Build it, tell people about it, and they will come”.

Step 3: Ask people to do something

This is also referred to as a “Call to Action”. You need to ask your audience to do something. Sign up for your website, subscribe to a newsletter, buy your new CD. If you don’t ask people to do something, they won’t do anything.

Some people might feel that this is untoward, even dirty, but it’s not as long you’re truthful about your calls for action.

Example

Let’s say that you are in a band. You want to sell more music. At shows, you might get people to sign up for a weekly newsletter. You use your newsletter to let people know about your upcoming gigs and new music releases. In each newsletter, you might want to put something at the bottom that says, “If you have enjoyed our shows, you should buy our music. Buy it now from XYZ”, where XYZ is a link to a page where you sell music such as TuneCore or Amie Street, or even your own custom store.

Tools

Any helpful tool should be easy to use and it should work within your existing process. If you are trying to create a better newsletter, check out some of the email campaign sites.

- Campaign Monitor

- Mail Chimp

If you are looking for a quick and easy way to have people buy your stuff, check out payment processors from Google and PayPal. Both offer easy to use one-button shopping carts. Google even has an example of using a Google Doc spreadsheet to manage an entire store, with inventory and everything.

- Google Checkout

- PayPal

The Bottom Line

People won’t do something unless you ask them to. “Ask, and ye shall receive”.

Step 4: Repeat

Keep doing the process, over and over until you are sick of it. You might even come to feel that the process is the product, for others who are looking for a map to a goal, you might become sick of it. You can’t give up because as the movie Remember the Titans exclaims, “It’s like novocaine. Just give it time, always works. “

Bottom Line

Anything good and fulfilling usually takes time to build – online marketing is no different. Put the work in, and I promise you will benefit from the work.

Bonus Step: Keep track of your stats

It’s hard to work without feedback. In the beginning, the conversation may be non-existent, or as you get better, you might want to test ideas. The only scientific way to determine which is better than the other is statistics. There are only two things you need to track: how many people are looking at you and how many conversions you’re able to create.

You want to know how many people have seen it, and how many followed the call to action. This will give you all you need to test your ideas.

Example

If you have a blog, track your visitors and track what percentage of your visitors click on a link to buy something. That is a conversion. If you are using Twitter, track how many people click a link on Twitter, and then signup for your newsletter that is a conversion.

Tools

Right now, there are two good tools for tracking visitors and conversion, there are others but these two I think are the easiest to get started with.

- Google Analytics

- Bit.ly

Wrapping Up

It might seem too simple, a little too… dreamy, but it’s true. This is a process to get better at something, besides just marketing something.

And that is the real story here: you need time to get better at anything before you can become successful. So, in some ways, this guide is a little bit like telling you that if you want to clean your dishes, use soap. Even I didn’t know I had the answers to my questions until I started this journey.

Alex Kessinger

– Yahoo! front-end engineer