Martin Dixon
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Links that can help you Searching the Web
Website Names (URLs)

Netcraft
www.netcraft.com

Searches a database of most web names. Find out if your name has been taken or you can only partly remember a website URL: use "*" wildcards to find all websites containing your name e.g. "www*martin*". See "SearchDNS" or http://searchdns.netcraft.com/?host.

URL availability

Netnames
www.netnames.com

Use this to make sure your new URL is still available - shows selection of .com, .co.uk etc. or who owns an existing URL.

Common Web Search Engines

Google
AltaVista
AskJeeves
HotBot
Lycos
Dogpile

Infoseek/Go
Looksmart
MetaCrawler
WebCrawler
Msn
Yahoo

Google is really the only one to worry about!

Google has a secret algorithm, but common sense seems to prevail. It certainly factors in the number of linking websites the text content of the page, as well as the qualituy of website construction. I suggest you use Google toolbar which shows page ranking of the sites you visit.

For pay per click, Judicious use of google AdWords is worth loking at - I do this for several clients.

Sometimes I use AltaVista for more complex searches, e.g. "link:www.lcsc.org.uk" shows a list of websites with links to the LCSC website - a loose indication of how good the site is.

Sadly, other search engines seem to be getting worse not better. Many are charging for listing, hence you can't always find what you are looking for and most are taking many months to register new sites. Most searches in fact use a number of search databases underneath.

You may want your site registered on these search engines - try looking for your site with different relevant keywords.

Submitting a new site.
All search engines take time to list your website, sometimes many months even if you keep on at them, unless of course you are willing to pay.

Free Sites: Google (Dmoz) is based on a human edited list, submitting sites is free. Altavista, Lycos & HotBot are free, AskJeeves accepts e-mailed suggestions free. Google and AskJeeves will let you supply your own short description.

Pay Sites: Yahoo is now $299/year for a business with no guarantee of a listing. Other sites often charge per keyword and/or per click-through or charge in the region of $40 to $200 for a simple listing - pricier options are available. Most use underlying databases that you can pay to be included on, via Overture, Kanoodle, Inktomi and others.

Multiple submission services: No clear figures as to the effectiveness of these.

I have written a short Web Marketing Guide which I can supply for a small fee.

Website Design
Usable Information Technology
www.useit.com

Jakob Neilsen explains how intranet and internet webpages should be designed. He is a champion of the simple and effective use of text as opposed to the flashy graphics and complex layouts that slow and distract the user in his search for information.

The World Wide Web Consortium
www.w3.org

The authoritative HTML standards

Legal
Out Law
www.out-law.com

It and e-commerce legal advice and support from international law firm Masons. Some very valuable information here.

Accessibility
UK Law: Disability
www.disability.gov.uk

Includes acts of Parliament which introduce and provide a means of enforcing rights preventing discrimination against disabled people: - The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) Act 1999.

UK RNIB Accessibility
www.rnib.org.uk

Practical accessibility advice and help. The web access centre aims to provide everyone involved in the design and build of websites with the tools and resources needed to plan, build and test accessible websites.

Information
What Is ?

www.whatis.com

A useful way of finding out what the IT jargon means with lots of links to related subjects. I find it best to stay within their "whatis.com Terms"

 
 

Martin Dixon         5-b Julien Road, Ealing W5 4XA
Martin@M-Dixon.com     +44 (0)20 8354 0510    +44 (0)79 0099 1905     11th Jul 2008     www.M-Dixon.com