The latest blogs from oddity software. http://www.odditysoftware.com/webmaster-blogs_1.html 2008-09-05T18:42:51+01:00 text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/what-can-seo-and-content-do-for-your-website_43.html With all the hype about SEO or Search Engine Optimization, many Website owners think they need a degree in Computer Science and years of study in the algorithms that search engines use to pull their Website into the top 10 search results. There are many SEM or Search Engine Marketing firms that claim they can get you in the top 10 results on Google. This claim is becoming less and less advertised. Why? Simply stated the search engine algorithms change every few weeks to every few months.... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/ineedhits-site-and-service-review_42.html <a target='_blank' href='http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=87025&U=166291&M=6133'>Ineedhits.com</a> is a company that was founded in 1996. Its goal was to help small businesses become more productive by increasing the amount of traffic that came to their websites. Clay Cook, the founder of the company, realized that simply building a website and waiting for traffic did not create success. To solve this problem, Ineedhits begin offering a service that was commissioned based. Today, Ineedhits.com... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/public-records-search-idaho-state-archives_41.html The Idaho State Historical Society can be reached by visiting <a href='http://www.idahohistory.net'>idahohistory.net</a>. From here, Idaho’s Public Archives and Research Library may be accessed along with Idaho Historical Museum, the State Historic Preservation Office, The Idaho Penitentiary, and other historic sites. Idaho has created this agency to preserve, house and make available archival documents to the public. The following text explains how to access, search and request these public... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/roi-explained_40.html In the financial world, ROI simply means Return On Investment. ROI is the most commonly used method that business organizations use to determine the feasibility of a particular investment opportunity presented to them. It basically means the possible annual return of money invested on a business deal or a project. ROI is very much similar to the calculations that are used on a bank account’s interest rate and on most stock investment profits. ROI is quite easy to understand, and this must be... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/developing-a-consumer-marketing-strategy_39.html Developing a marketing strategy with your customers as the main focus is a good move to attain better sales figures and market performance. Undoubtedly, the consumers are the force that can turn your business around, either into a big success or a sorry failure. To penetrate your target market in the right way, it is always best to first consider who really your consumers are. Before the companies had seen the need to move to go consumer-oriented, marketing activities were developed solely... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/another-buy-for-google_37.html As Google Inc. continues to capture and keeps its lead of advertising in the world of the Internet and dot-com’s, they have added a new addition to make their domination even stronger. DoubleClick has been bought by the King of the Internet and is just one of the newest acquirements by Google, Inc on April 14, 2007. This sale marks the highest cash deal by Google, doubling the price it paid for YouTube last year. According to the New York Times, the $3.1 Billion sale of DoubleClick involved... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/how-to-be-a-successful-affiliate-marketer_36.html Affiliate marketing corresponds to the method of advertising a website, an online business, or e-commerce sites by following a certain affiliate program. An affiliate program in turn, involves the granting of reward or compensation to a website or a person who refer a customer, a visitor, or a subscriber to the sponsoring party. Most of the time, the compensation is given out only when a sale is realized through the efforts exerted by the member Getting into affiliate marketing can actually... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/how-to-pick-the-perfect-domain_35.html Choosing the perfect domain name is one of the most crucial decisions you have to make when you set up your own online business. If you are very picky and particular in choosing your business name, same goes when you select your domain name. When choosing a domain name, make sure that it identifies with your business. Domain name are not just a mere URL address, it should definitely be part of your branding. To give you an idea on how to start your quest in picking the perfect domain name,... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/what-makes-the-perfect-logo_34.html A logo is not just a mere symbol, it is a representation of your company and all it stands for. A lot of well-known products are popularly known for their logos. The perfect logo makes up for good merchandising and can help you with your advertising. Louis Vuitton’s monogram logo (the signature icon of the overlapped letters L and V) is much acclaimed in their monogram canvass bags, which is one of their best sellers. The 3 bar logo of Adidas and the Nike’s swoosh are equivalent to quality... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/developing-a-successful-web-marketing-strategy_33.html The Internet has brought about a whole new world for millions of people to live, work, and play in. There are literally over one billion Internet users worldwide. That is an astonishing amount of people using one interactive medium. Communication has never been simpler. The problem with easier communication, however, is the fact that everyone is competing for attention. Whether it’s a software-based company or a band on MySpace, it’s a battlefield overflowing with fighters attempting to... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/how-to-get-a-trademark_32.html If you are serious about your business and want to penetrate the current market and compete with other players in your chosen industry, then you should be serious about advertising and creating a strong branding for your business. One of the first things that you should do is to create a representation of your company (this would usually mean a logo or a slogan) and apply for a trademark registration. <b>What is a trademark?</b> A trademark is anything that identifies your business and... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-godaddy-checkout-process_31.html A number of users have made a lot of complaints about the service offered by <a href='http://www.godaddy.com' rel='nofollow'>GoDaddy</a>. Chief among these complaints is the checkout process. Many of the people who have used the service have complained that the administration is low in quality, and the process for signing up is tedious at best. One reason for this is because of the heavy advertising the company does when a user is trying to sign up. It has been said that the company will try... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/using-live-support-software-to-bolster-visitor-confidence_30.html Want to offer your customers a little something extra for their e-commerce websites? Something that will increase the quality of their website, impressing their customers by providing direct contact with your sales and support teams? <a href='http://www.providesupport.com/partner/odditysoftware'>Provide Support’s</a> live chat program offers an outstanding return on the initial investment – both for you and your clients. What’s more, it is incredibly easy to sell, as the benefits are obvious to... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/how-to-reduce-your-spam-emails_29.html It is not a secret that spam has become a prevalent problem on the Internet today. If you are like most webmasters, there is a strong possibility that you have a lot of spam in your inbox, and you're trying your best to get rid of it. I've had so much spam placed in my Hotmail account that it is no longer useful, and I've been forced to switch to new email accounts. While it may seem simple to change your email address when it becomes flooded with spam, this may not always be easy. If you... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/why-you-should-avoid-using-splash-pages_28.html There are a number of reasons why using a splash page for your website could be a bad idea. The search engine will scan the text on a page to find out the topic, and if the page is completely composed with a multimedia app such as flash, the search engine may not be able to spider the text. Webmasters who do this may find that they are not ranking for important keywords and terms. As you can see, this will reduce the amount of traffic you will get to your site. Many webmasters try to get around... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/why-quality-content-can-be-compared-to-a-good-movie_27.html If you are like many webmasters, you have probably read a large number of blogs that talk about the importance of having good content. While it may seem simple to some, getting good content for your site/blog can be challenging. To really show you the importance of having quality content, I would like to make a comparison between quality site content and films. Believe it or not, there are a number of things they both have in common. First, there are a large number of films being produced on a... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/earning-revenue-with-the-shareasalecom_26.html The history of <a href='http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?B=70&U=166291&M=47'>Shareasale.com</a> goes back to the year 2000, when the idea of providing high quality tracking software to merchants at the lowest cost in the industry came into fruition. Add to that idea the benefit of being connected to an immense network of high quality affiliate sites, and you start to see what Shareasale.com is all about. Maintaining a strong relationship between the salesperson, or affiliate, and the merchant is... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/securing-domain-names-via-backorder_25.html When considering a domain name for your website, there are many factors to take into consideration. Believe it or not, buying a pre-owned domain name can be an incredibly smart choice when launching a business on the web. As so many of the best names are already taken, what surfers often fail to remember is the fact that each week, hundreds of thousands of sites disappear. There are many ways to go about acquiring one of these expired domains, and if you’re smart, you can get one for next to... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/newbies-your-responsibilities-as-a-webmaster_24.html Webmasters have a lot of responsibility when it comes to their websites. Besides from actually creating it, they have to keep up to date with new developments, market the website so it reaches its target audience, and maintain the website so it stays up to scratch. A Webmaster will typically have some people in his or her organization that devote their time to helping with the several aspects mentioned above. The Webmaster though is the one that is ultimately responsible and in control of... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-importance-of-seo_23.html If you are a webmaster who doesn't think SEO is important, it is apparent that you haven’t had your site tailored from an SEO company. These could be people that haven’t yet had the pleasant experience of having their website SEO’d, or those that believe their site is better without. Search engine optimization has become an important part of building a successful website. There many companies that offer SEO services to their clients, but it is also possible for you to perform SEO on you own... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/company-plans-to-combine-wifi-with-cell-phone-technology_22.html While many people have debated it with me, I have always believed that there would eventually be a marriage between Wi-Fi technology and cell phones. It is pretty logical when you think about it. Cell phones are responsible for transmitting information without wires, and Wi-Fi functions in the same manner. The primary difference between the two is that Wi-Fi currently deals primarily with the Internet. A company called <a href='http://www.arubanetworks.com' rel='nofollow'>Aruba</a> has recently... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/microsoft-challenges-google-earth-with-3d-city-maps_21.html I was personally amazed when I used Google Earth for the first time. The concept of creating a digital 3D map that allows you to look at various cities and structures around the world is pure genius. When Google released Google Earth, they took another step towards information dominance as well as the dominance of the Internet. Microsoft has now challenged Google by announcing that they will introduce a 3D function that will allow users to get detailed maps of major cities around the United... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/phishing-filters-in-browsers_20.html There are a number of new features being introduced in browsers which promise to enhance the level of security that users will be given. Perhaps one of the most impressive features is the introduction of anti-phishing technology. Many people are using the Internet only to find that certain websites they visit are quick to steal their personal information. This is a source of frustration to everyone, and if you are not concerned about it, you should be. Website that attempt to steal the personal... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-rapid-adoption-of-voip_19.html VOIP, or Voice Over Internet Protocol, is a technology that has taken the web community by storm. While there are many people who still have not heard of this powerful tool, it is very likely that it will be commonly used in the near future. For those of you who are not familiar with the subject, VOIP is a tool that I believe is the replacement of current telecommunications technologies. It basically allows users to make phone calls over the Internet without having to use either a standard... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-european-union-targets-bloggers-and-the-internet_18.html The governments of many countries within the European Union have agreed to target those who "spread propaganda" via the Internet in the form of blogs and websites. Home Secretary Reid is one of the figure heads in this proposal. Even though it would cost the European Union billions of dollars to attack bloggers, it is a strategy that is steadily pushing forward. While the proposal is supposedly made to fight against terrorists, many users feel that it can also be used to stifle the progress of... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/my-analysis-on-the-purchase-of-youtube-by-google_17.html Most people are aware of the fact that Google recently purchased YouTube for 1.65 billion. While that is a fantastic amount of money to virtually everyone, some have wandered if it was in the best interest of the founders to sell the business. Granted, they are now rich beyond their wildest imaginations, but what exactly does Google have up its sleeve? Why would they purchase YouTube when they could have simply used Google Video as a competitor? One of the reasons for this is because YouTube... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/newbies-map-out-your-design_16.html So you are about to create a new website design? Are you in doubt that you will be able to maintain such a large number of files in an orderly manner? Well, this is where you should begin to map out your design. Now, I am not talking about your ordinary map; this map will be the map to your whole website structure plan. While you may be put off due to what seems to be the ‘added up front work’ this is a time proven practice that always save countless hours in the end, and cuts down on revisions... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/newbies-buying-and-selling-text-links_15.html So you are looking into the text link market, and aren’t too convinced that you are chasing the right deals? Well, this can be a problem for buyers and sellers in this market. When buying and selling text links you have to pay attention to the traffic, content, and price. Now let’s not waste any time and get you started right away! Traffic is the number of people who are visiting the site; however traffic can be a confusing issue. The two types of traffic unique and not unique; in theory a... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-online-video-revolution_14.html With the advent of YouTube and Google Video, it has become clear that video is the next stage in the evolution of the internet. As many of you already know, much of the history of the internet has been comprised of text and images. While this still makes up a large portion of the internet, the increasing bandwidth and web technologies have made videos common. Google has recently added to its arsenal of paperclick advertising by introducing Adsense video ads. The advent of video has a lot of... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/stop-relying-on-the-search-engines_13.html When I go into webmaster forums, a frequent topic of the discussion is the search engines. Yes, I know that 80% of all internet traffic flows through them, and I also know that getting your website listed in the top 20 search results is the most important thing. However, the reason I'm writing on this topic is because I feel that many webmasters are placing too much emphasis on the search engines. Some webmasters have even said that the internet is "risky." Are you kidding me? If you want to... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/analyst-claims-that-youtube-is-headed-for-a-crash_11.html A number of organizations are saying that YouTube, the popular video website, is headed for a large crash. These people claim that it will eventually become like Napster, and its popularity will gradually decrease. One of the many organizations that are making these claims is Forrester Research. However, I don't agree with them at all, and I'll explain why. First, the statistics I've found show that YouTube is a $650 million dollar company. This means that the founders will be rich for the rest... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/microsoft-releases-expression-web-beta-1_10.html Microsoft has released their <a href='http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=85CC55CD-F68E-4669-85B4-8600441CFA0D&displaylang=en'>Expression Web Beta 1</a>, and this is a high end web design tool that was designed as a replacement to FrontPage. Oh yeah, and it's free, yes, free, and from Microsoft... who would of thought? Microsoft has announced that they will be retiring FrontPage, and users that are familiar with this software will need to learn Expression Web Beta 1 if they... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/why-webmasters-must-work-together-to-save-the-net_9.html At this very moment, the issue of net neutrality is being hotly debated by governments, independent organizations, and corporations. In my opinion, the issue of net neutrality is all about control. A small group of people have decided that they want to take control of the internet for their own selfish purposes. Multinational corporations like AT&T argue about the reasons why they should be given control over the net, but they are invalid. The internet has historically been the ultimate... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/how-to-succeed-with-adsense_8.html A common topic of discussion in webmaster forums today is how to succeed with Google Adsense and other pay per click programs. It is not uncommon to see novice webmasters complaining in forums about their inability to earn serious amounts of revenue from the ads they have placed on their websites. It is first important for you to realize that success with Adsense won’t come easy. Just like anything that is worthwhile, you will need to put forth a large amount of effort if you wish to become... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/200-year-google-search-archive_7.html Google has truly established itself as being a world leader when it comes to content management. The recent announcement from Google that they are creating an archive of historical data related to news is absolutely amazing. The company has stated that it will allow users to search through approximately 20 decades worth of historical information. In addition to this, articles will be offered that can currently not be found in the search engine. This is a powerful tool, because it will allow... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/the-truth-about-education-in-the-face-of-the-internet_6.html Many people fail to realize that the internet is changing more than just the way we get our information. It is literally changing the way we learn. A number of changes are taking place in technology that will change the face of education for years to come, and those who take advantage of these changes are very likely to find success. When you talk to most people about education, most of them will automatically assume that you are talking about going to college and getting a degree. However,... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/why-it-is-important-to-find-role-models-for-your-websites_5.html If you are like most webmasters, there can be no doubt that you wish to gain the same success that has been achieved by the likes of Monster, Amazon, or MySpace. Just as aspiring military generals study the greatest military generals in human history, it is also important for you to study the greatest websites to understand the key factors that allowed them to become so successful. While this sounds simple, many webmasters today aren't following this procedure. Many webmasters make the... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/why-placing-too-much-emphasis-on-seo-can-hurt-you_4.html A frequent topic of discussion on webmaster forums today is the use of SEO, or search engine optimization. Some webmasters are obsessed with finding the latest SEO techniques to get their websites to the top of the search engine results. Unfortunately, placing too much emphasis on SEO can actually hurt your chances of success. As I write this, I can visualize SEO people scoffing at the previous statement I made. However, before you attack this statement, let me elaborate on the logic behind it.... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/my-must-have-applications-list_3.html I have seen many blogs and pages over the years with lists of "Essential Applications" that people claim they cannot live without. Most of these lists are feeble attempts at getting people to click an affiliate link, or nothing more than a Googled list of applications and an attempt at adding a content post. But the idea behind it is a good one, so I thought I would take a minute to post my list. At the beginning and end of the day the most import thing for me is productivity. So my list... text/html 2008-09-05T23:42:51+01:00 http://www.odditysoftware.com/blogs_1.html OdditySoftware.com http://www.odditysoftware.com/blog/importing-data-into-mysql-with-navicat_1.html Importing data into MySQL can be challenging if you don't have a MySQL GUI which is simple to use. When this happens, you may feel frustrated and wish you had access to a tool which does this. If you are trying to import Excel spreadsheets into a MySQL database, <a rel='nofollow' href='http://www.navicat.com/' target='_blank'>Navicat</a> is a program which can help you. It will help you save time, making the data entry process much easier. When data is manually entered, various errors can...