Free website promotion tutorial

Free website promotion tutorial
Welcome to A Promotion Guide. If this is your first visit, you might want to take the time to read through this page. It contains a free step-by-step website promotion tutorial
that also serves as a "User's Guide" to the site. Reading it will give you a good idea on what you need to do, when you need to do it and how the articles on this site will help you.
This tutorial is split into three phases that each have two, three or four steps. It is highly recommended that you start from the first phase and move forwards only after you have completed all of the steps in it.
We'll begin with the assumption that your site is brand new and that you haven't done any website promotion work yet. However, that doesn't mean that you can't use the tutorial if you have submitted to a few search engines or registered your site with a couple of directories. If you notice that there are some things you have already done, feel free to simply skip over them.
Promoting your site takes a lot of time and may involve waiting several weeks or even months to get into certain directories and search engines. Thus, it might be wise to bookmark this page so that you can return to it later and continue the tutorial from where you left off.
Website promotion, phase one - Directories
You should start your website promotion efforts by listing your site at the most popular Internet directories. Because they can send you substantial amounts of traffic and affect your ranking in various search engines, it is wise to make sure that your site is present in all of the major directories before doing anything else.
Step one - General information
Submitting to directories is easy and doesn't require much effort. It's ensuring that your submission will be accepted that makes this task a hard one. Start with the Open Directory Project. While your site has to offer good, unique content to be accepted to the ODP, its editors usually review sites quickly and won't reject them without a good reason for doing so. This, along with the fact that submitting to the ODP is free of charge, makes it a perfect starting point. Completing this step successfully will also provide you with experience that will prove to be very valuable later on.
Read my thoughts on how Google's ranking algorithm works and notice how an ODP listing seems to affect your ranking at Google. Keep this information in mind when you submit.
Take a look at the advice on submitting your website to the ODP.
Finally, submit your site to the ODP.
If your submission isn't successful, consider becoming an editor at the Open Directory and listing your own site.
Step three - Yahoo
After securing a listing at ODP, your next task is to get the folks at Yahoo to notice that your site exists and is worth a place in their directory. This might cost you a fair amount of money if you are running a commercial site, but is usually worth it. Non-commercial sites can get in for free, but might require several submissions and a lot of patience before they are accepted.
Check out the Yahoo-specific guidelines and hints and the article about how Yahoo's search feature ranks sites.
Bite the bullet and submit your site to Yahoo.
Website promotion, phase two - Search engines
Now that your site has been included in ODP and Yahoo, you should already be receiving clearly more traffic than before. The next task is to get to know search engines and use them to bring even more people to your pages. Because you have completed phase one, you have established a good foundation for making your site perform well in the search engines.
Step one - Search engine optimization, basics
In order to gain good rankings, you'll need to learn the basics of search engine algorithms (ranking systems) and adjust your pages to meet their criteria as well as possible. This will take some time and effort, but doing some work now will save you from a lot of trouble in the future.
First, try to make the design of your site as search engine friendly as possible. To read more about the subject, take a look at my article about website optimization.
Next, you'll need to do some keyword optimization. Sounds frightening, but in plain English it simply means choosing the correct keywords for your pages. Using the wrong words is perhaps the most common reason why people don't get satisfying results from their search engine optimization work.
Continue by reading these search engine optimization tips.
Read the article about META tags and add them to all of your pages. The META keywords tag isn't absolutely necessary, but the META description tag is very important.
Learn what link popularity is and how search engines use it to rank your pages.
Unless you have already done so, read about Google's algorithm. Google is among the most popular search services of today, so it is wise to take its requirements into account.
Use all of this information to optimize your pages for the search engines.
Step two - Search engine optimization, advanced
Your site is now adequately prepared to really start bringing in traffic from search engines. But if you want to widen your knowledge about them and increase your chances of success, you still have some work to do. On the other hand, if you're totally exhausted and just want to get this thing over with, you'll be delighted to know that this step isn't absolutely necessary.
Study some of the more advanced things related to search engine optimization. Among them are cloaking, css tricks, doorway pages, themes and how to improve your search engine ranking with click popularity.
Read about the things you should avoid doing from this article that outlines common web site promotion mistakes.
Step three - Submitting to search engines?
Now is the time to make sure that your site has a presence in the indexes of major search engines. Fortunately, they are quite good at finding your site on their own. There are things you can do to help them, though..
Get to know how search engine submission works and how the search engines determine which sites to list.
Read the article "Targeting your search engine marketing" to see which engines are the most popular ones.
If you are running a commercial site, you might also want to consider paying for search engine placement. Take a look at how you can use PPC search engine advertising to buy your way to the top.
Website promotion, phase three - More techniques
After being accepted into the largest directories and having pages of your site come up in answer to searches done at the major search engines, the long hours that you've spent on website promotion have begun to pay off and your daily visitor count is starting to look good. But there is still plenty you can do to help your site attract even more traffic.
In phase three, we'll examine different promotion methods that you might want to try. However, in order to prevent you from wasting your time on things that don't work, we'll also go over a few techniques that have proven to be less than spectacular when I experimented with them.
Step one - Keep these in mind
First, let's take a look at the good stuff. The articles introduced in this step are about the website promotion methods that are at least partially effective. Some of them work better than others, but if used correctly, all of them can produce results that will be worth your while. Of course, most of the articles include advice on what you need to do to obtain the best possible results with the method discussed.
If you sell something on your site, you might want to try banner ads. Usually banner campaigns are seen as expensive and ineffective, but it is partially because advertisers don't know how to design good banners.
Read the article on how to increase traffic with return visitors. Getting people to come back is the secret to why some sites get amazingly many hits per day.
Learn what reciprocal links are and how to get them, then put that knowledge into use. In addition to sending you visitors, reciprocal links will also increase your link popularity and help your site rank higher in the search engines.
Start using E-mail signatures. They might not produce thousands of visitors, but are a great way to promote your site a bit without having to actually do anything.
Evaluate whether your site could benefit from joining a topsite list. These lists have their good and bad sides, but might be at least worth a try.
Consider trying to build traffic with Usenet advertising. It can give you a nice traffic boost and help spread the word about your site, but only if done properly. Read the article to learn why Usenet promotion should only be done with great care.
Writing newsletter articles often works well and can send you large amounts of targeted traffic in a short period of time, for free.
Step two - Forget these
As said, everything just doesn't always work the way it should in the world of promotion. In step two, our attention is focused on website promotion methods that are more trouble than they are worth. They might not be entirely useless, but your time would be better spent on improving your site or spreading the word about your site in other ways.
Click exchange programs are easy, fast, free and will get you a lot of visitors. That's why it might be a surprise to hear that they really aren't good website promotion tools.
A lot has been written about FFA pages and for the past few years, most of it has been negative. The only thing they are good for is increasing the flow of spam to your E-mail address.
Winning website awards can occasionally be useful, especially if the awards are well-known. However, sometimes the winner of the award is not the real winner.
Final words
Congratulate yourself for being persistent, bright and hard-working. Most get frustrated and quit before this point, which is why most sites never become anything. After all, the secret to having a successful site is working hard in both promoting
and creating it. You just might have what it takes. After going through those three phases, you've read just about everything this site has to offer. While there is more to website promotion than what we have discussed here, you now know quite a lot about the subject. If you still desire more information, don't forget to come back to this site every now and then. This tutorial is always incomplete, because I continuously notice things that I want to write about.
I hope that A Promotion Guide has been able to help you to make your site more popular and thus given you the chance to spread your ideas and thoughts to a larger audience. And remember, if you have achieved good results, it's not because I showed you how to do it - it's because you did it.

Answers to your referrals retirement questions

Since our announcement about retiring AdSense Referrals during the last week of August, we've noticed a number of questions in your blog comments and in our Help Forum. In this post, we'll address some of the most frequently asked questions.
When you say 'AdSense Referrals' are being retired, does this only mean the program where I refer publishers to AdSense?No, all referrals will be retired. This applies to referrals for AdWords advertisers, as well as for Google products.What's the deadline for generating referral conversions once the program has been retired?In order for you to be credited for a conversion, the referred user must complete the required action by the last week of September 2008. However, please keep in mind that your referral units will no longer display after the last week of August.I have referral earnings in my account, but they haven't been included in a payment yet. Will I lose all past referral earnings?No. If you've had successful referral conversions in the past, they'll still be included in your earnings and future payments. As mentioned above, any additional conversions must occur by the last week of September 2008 in order to generate earnings for your account.Can I sign in to the Google Affiliate Network with my AdSense login information? At this time, no. You'll need to create a new login and password on the Google Affiliate Network site at http://www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork/ .Will my ad units and search boxes be affected by this Referrals change?No, AdSense for content and AdSense for search will still be available to publishers in our supported languages, and you can continue to generate ad and search code by visiting your AdSense Setup tab.Thanks for your feedback, and we hope this helps provide clarification. Feel free to visit our Help Center for additional details about the AdSense Referrals retirement.

A peek into recent AdWords developments

If you're an avid Inside AdSense reader, you know that we frequently post about the latest developments in AdSense and new features you can take advantage of. However, we've heard from some publishers that they want to know more about what's happening in AdWords, and what we're doing to bring more relevant, targeted ads to AdSense sites like yours. With that, we'd like to take a moment to give you insight into a few recent AdWords developments, and what they mean for you as an AdSense publisher. One of the main changes is the ability for advertisers to be more specific with their ad targeting through a combination of contextual targeting and placement targeting. As you may know, contextually targeted ads will appear on your pages if an advertiser's keywords match your content, while placement-targeted ads will appear if an advertiser has specifically selected your ad placement or site. Now, advertisers can target your site or placements, but can also specify keywords for them so that their ads only appear in the most relevant pages. These ads will still need to compete with the available inventory of ads for a particular placement, and so only the highest-paying, most relevant ads will appear on your pages. At the same time, you'll still be able to use your Competitive Ad Filter to prevent ads from specific URLs from appearing.What does this mean for you, as an AdSense publisher? Your users may see more relevant ads on your pages, and advertisers who become more confident that their ads are reaching the right audience may increase their ad spend -- both of these can result in higher monetization for you. In addition, while advertisers previously could only change their bids for all ads running across multiple sites, they can now adjust their bids for individual sites. This means that advertisers can spend more of their budgets on the specific AdSense sites which perform well and generate high-quality leads for the advertiser.With these recent improvements, we're looking forward to expanding the number of advertisers who use the AdSense content network and increasing the relevance of their ads on your sites. Not only will this increase your earnings potential through the AdSense program, but it will also strengthen the ads ecosystem that benefits publishers, advertisers, and users.

Search Engine Optimisation

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)?
SEO is the process of increasing the number of visitors to a Web site by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. Most of the web site visitors come through search engines, so if a website ranks well in search engines, the chance for getting more website visitors is greater. Also, it is very common that Internet user will not click through pages and pages of search results, hence it is essential for a site to rank well in search engines to drive more traffic towards the site.In crisp, SEO ensures accessibility of a site to a search engine and improves its traffic rate.

Why you need SEO?
The majority of web traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines- Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, Altavista, Alexa, AskJeeves etc. In order to search a product or service, people search not deeper than 4-5 pages. The website won’t get more traffic if it is embedded deep in search results. SEO facilitates to improve the visibility of the website by making the website ranks higher in search results.

Why you need SEO Impact?
SEO Impact will generate high quality traffic to your website through Search Engine Ranking and Directory Placement which will enhance your leads and sales. SEO Impact optimization packages include:

Website Analysis
Suggestion for structural and navigational improvement
Extensive key phrase research
Search Engine Optimization Process
Manual submission of optimized website to search engines
Monthly ranking reports to monitor website ranking in top ten search engines (including Google, Yahoo, AOL etc.)

Paid inclusion/pay-for-inclusion
Paid inclusion program guarantees inclusion of any web pages that a search engine robot or spider might have missed but it does not maximize search engine rankings. Yahoo Inclusion Program will get you listed in Yahoo Search Engine, AltaVista, AllTheWeb, Overture and other Yahoo Search Partners.

NEPAL TELECOM is constructing ADSL Network

NEPAL TELECOM is constructing ADSL Network to provide broadband services to its Land Line customers. The network will be constructed in different phases, with 22000 ADSL 2+ Ports in the Kathmandu valley in the first phase. Initially, services like High Speed Internet and Virtual Private Network (VPN) shall be available at affordable costs to its valued customers through this network. In due time new services like IPTV and Video on Demand (VOD) services can also be made available through this network.
The ADSL technology is a renowned and proven technology for broadband data service all over the world. For more information regarding this technology and its services, please refer to FAQ below. What does ADSL stand for? Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a modem technology that transforms ordinary phone lines (also known as "twisted copper pairs") into high-speed digital lines for ultra-fast Internet access. ADSL also enables access to corporate networks for telecommuters, as well as exciting new interactive multimedia applications such as multiplayer gaming, video on demand and video catalogs.

1. How does ADSL work?
   ADSL modems use digital coding techniques to squeeze up to 99% more capacity out of a phone line without interfering with your regular phone services. That means you could be simultaneously talking on the phone while accessing a world of new online multimedia applications such as video, music and high speed internet access without interfering each-other.
2. How fast is ADSL?
   Traditional ADSL provides speeds up to 8Mbps downstream (to the user) and up to 1 Mbps upstream but the technology being deployed by Nepal Telecom ADSL 2+ is ideally capable of speeds upto 24 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream, depending upon line length and line conditions.
3. How does ADSL compare to ISDN?
   The two services are not the same -- ISDN provides two voice channels or a 128 Kbps data channel while ADSL is predominantly a data pipe providing an asymmetrical bandwidth of up to 8 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps upstream under good conditions.
4. What are the main benifits of ADSL?
   
   • Simultaneous broadband and phone services over a single line without interference.
   • Uninterrupted, high-speed Internet access that's always on-line
   • Cost-effective solutions for residential customers, telecommuters and small businesse
   • Data security that exceeds other technologies
5. Where can I apply for the High Speed Internet service?
   The service can be applied and connected from your PSTN (Land line) office.
6. What do I need at Home to run high speed Internet through ADSL?
   You need PC a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment or commonly known as ADSL Modem) with splitter and ADSL subscription from Nepal Telecom.
7. Where can I get the CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) from?
   The CPE can be either purchased from open market or from Nepal Telecom subject to the availability.
8. When the service will be launched?
   Tentatively, Nepal Telecom is planning to launch its service around April 2008.
9. What will be the tariff structure?
   Nepal telecom has not yet decided the tariff. In due time, the tariff will be announced together with service launch.

How to Find a Job (Good Ideas)

There are several basic methods of looking for work:
Networking. Talk to everyone who may be able to help you, and give each of them a copy of your updated resume. Word of mouth is still the most common method of finding a job.
Direct Contact. Call or write to employers you have an interest in. Ask to arrange a visit.
Job Postings. including those in newspapers & magazine classified ads, bulletin boards, Cable TV scrolling ads, and government-funded Employment Centres. And don't forget the Internet! These days, more job openings are posted on the Internet than on any other single medium. The best source of Canadian job postings is the Job Bank operated by Service Canada. Make sure you look there first, before investigating other job advertisements.
Employment Agencies. Many businesses advertise job openings through employment agencies. But be aware that agencies are profit-seeking companies. They may charge a fee for their services, or deduct a percentage of your pay. It's wise to learn all the details beforehand.
School Placement Office or Guidance Department. You don't necessarily have to be a student to investigate these sources. Many community colleges have a job finding service that is available to anyone – not just students.
Trade Associations and Service Clubs. including trade shows, job fairs, chambers of commerce, business associations. Merely getting involved in these activities may help you with your job search.
The Phone Book. This is one resource that is often overlooked – but shouldn't be. Bell's Yellow Pages or The Phone Guide's Yellow Section can be especially helpful for those who have recently moved to a new location, or for anyone who is unfamiliar with the companies and services in their area. If you're stuck for ideas on where to find work, the Phone Book is to job seekers what the Sears Wish Book is to Christmas gift buyers.
Volunteer. Not only will volunteering give you valuable experience (which you can then add to your resume), it also shows that you are genuinely interested in working for an organization. Volunteer work can sometimes lead to paid employment, but even if it doesn't, you will have increased the size of your job-seeking network, gained another reference, and perhaps even found someone willing to write a letter of referral which you can then present to prospective employers. The more methods you use, the greater your chances of finding employment.

Finding Jobs Online

Your Job Search Should Include an Effective Online Approach
Using the Internet to find jobs online greatly increases your ability to gather information from the widest array of sources. I'll show you some simple Recruiter Tips that you can easily learn and incorporate into your online search to make your job search go faster and give you much better results.
Be aware that there are probably hundreds of sites where you can find jobs online on the Internet. At this writing, however, here are the top job/resume posting and career/job search information & advice sites with a few up-and-comers to take note of. (For a more extensive collection of job posting sites and career advice sites, click here.)
Monster Starting to feel competition from several sites below but still the grandaddy and largest of all the online job sites also offering job search and career advice.
Careerbuilder Owned by the Gannett Co., offers both print and online job search and advice services partnering with 150 newspapers as well as AOL and MSN.
Hotjobs Division of Internet giant Yahoo®, has huge job search site plus offers extensive tools and advice section for career and job search improvement.
WorkGiant Up-and-comer, this pay-for-performance site allows employers to post all jobs for free, plus pays job seekers referral fees of from $50 to $200 each for all candidates who are hired.
Indeed Another up-and-comer, this is billed as a one-stop search engine for jobs. Simply list your job preferences and get a slug of returns pulled from many other sites, including those listed here. No resume posting (visibility) here, though.
CareerOneStop (formerly America’s Job Bank) a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers
Craig’s list *
Workblast **
JobMaps ***
* Craig's List, founded by Craig Newmark in 1995 who began posting high tech jobs online that he and a few others became aware of in the Silicon Valley area. What started as a small underground jobs and information networking bulletin board has since flourished into a large jobs/personals datasite that offers a more personal touch and is now highly targeted to many major cities throughout the country. If you live in or near any major city (including outside the US), you should find a local site devoted to your area.
** Workblast is another up and comer. Like other job sites, they link candidates with thousands of employers. However, they've added an interesting twist in that job seekers can easily make and upload up to 3 video resumes along with their conventional digital resume and store them on the company server for later viewing by potential employers. A recent study indicated that 89% of employers/recruiters would view a video resume if available as it adds an extra element to the candidate selection process. An added bonus: candidates may watch an employer video to discover more about the company before they apply. The service is free to candidates.
*** JobMaps combines Indeed.com resources with Google Maps, this is a job search engine that allows you to see where jobs are located on a map.

Remember, you want to increase your exposure to the highest degree possible. I'll take you through each site and show you several easy techniques that you can use to get more hits from employers who use these sites every day. We'll cover three of the major sites above. Since the Monster® site is the most visible and used by the majority of employers, you might want to start there:
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How to Register on Monster Increase your resume response.with recruiter insider tips on registering with the Monster job search site.
How to Register on CareerBuilder How to increase your resume response with recruiter insider tips on registering with the CareerBuilder job search site.
How to Register on HotJobs Recruiter insider tips on how to register on Yahoo's HotJobs job search site to increase your resume response.
How to Register on WorkGiant Submit your resume, search for jobs AND make money through referrals by registering on the WorkGiant job search site. Added details on how to increase your resume's odds.

How the Web works

Viewing a Web page on the World Wide Web normally begins either by typing the URL of the page into a Web browser, or by following a hyperlink to that page or resource. The Web browser then initiates a series of communication messages, behind the scenes, in order to fetch and display it.
First, the server-name portion of the URL is resolved into an IP address using the global, distributed Internet database known as the domain name system, or DNS. This IP address is necessary to contact and send data packets to the Web server.
The browser then requests the resource by sending an HTTP request to the Web server at that particular address. In the case of a typical Web page, the HTML text of the page is requested first and parsed immediately by the Web browser, which will then make additional requests for images and any other files that form a part of the page. Statistics measuring a website's popularity are usually based on the number of 'page views' or associated server 'hits', or file requests, which take place.
Having received the required files from the Web server, the browser then renders the page onto the screen as specified by its HTML, CSS, and other Web languages. Any images and other resources are incorporated to produce the on-screen Web page that the user sees.
Most Web pages will themselves contain hyperlinks to other related pages and perhaps to downloads, source documents, definitions and other Web resources. Such a collection of useful, related resources, interconnected via hypertext links, is what was dubbed a "web" of information. Making it available on the Internet created what Tim Berners-Lee first called the WorldWideWeb (a term written in CamelCase, subsequently discarded) in 1990.

Ask.com - Search egnine for married woman

Ask.com one
of the popular search engines will now not be in direct competition with search engine giant oogle d will try to focus on becoming first search engine only targeted for married woman. Ask would now focus on woman over 30 who are a majority part of search engine visitor and according to ASK this group of visitors normally visit the site asking questions about entertainment and
health topics।

However source from inside the ASK office denied that search engine is going to die. In an answer to media question ask spokesman said that “We recognize that we can’t be all things to all people, so we’re focusing on our core group of users. We want to build up the kinds of answers those users are looking for, while at the same time remain a strong search site”.

PHP optimised for Windows Server 2008

Want to run a Coppermine photo gallery on a Windows 2008 Server? In the past, that's meant that the popular PHP application for photo galleries would run more poorly than on a Linux or Unix server, for which PHP had been optimised..

But the specialist in the PHP language, Zend Technologies, says that's no longer the case. The Zend Core commercially supported form of PHP has been certified by Microsoft as ready to run "with performance and stability" on Windows Server 2008, said Andi Gutmans, co-founder and CTO of Zend. That means passing more than 100 compatibility tests, plus collaborating closely on certain Microsoft technologies.

For example, Zend worked with Microsoft's FastCGI component for its Web server, IIS, to make FastCGI set up and run PHP applications efficiently. The IIS Web server is now built into Windows 2008, and the two companies made certain the PHP interface to FastCGI worked smoothly, Gutmans said in an interview.

Zend's PHP now supports CardSpace, Microsoft's identity management system, so users of PHP applications may gain online services after being authenticated and awarded the proper privilege level. The Windows 2008 certification also means Windows as well as Linux servers can be expected to host such PHP applications as the Mambo Web site content management system or the WordPress blog publishing system, Gutmans said.

Previously, PHP "didn't run as well as it should on Windows," said Gutmans, despite the fact that 75% to 80% of PHP users were developing on Windows workstations. When they deployed their Windows-based applications to production, their performance was disappointing and they tended to develop on Windows and deploy under Unix or Linux. Now the three platforms should be available on a more equal footing, he said.

The two companies have started work on a SQL Server driver for Zend Core that will make interfacing PHP Web applications to SQL Server a more straightforward task, Gutmans said.

Cyber-attack launched from 10,000 web pages

A security firm has identified over 10,000 web pages rigged by cyber-criminals to hijack the PCs of unsuspecting surfers..

The web pages have been modified to silently redirect visitors to sites laden with malware that attempt to break into the user's PC.

McAfee Avert Labs described the assault as "one of the largest attacks to date of this kind".

The redirects and attempted break-ins are all hidden from the unwitting user. Compromised web pages include everyday destinations such as travel, government and hobby sites.

The attack serves as a reminder that even trusted websites can be malicious, McAfee warned.

"Often you hear warnings about not going to untrusted sites," said Craig Schmugar, threat researcher at McAfee Avert Labs.

"That is good advice, but it is not enough. Even sites you know and trust can become compromised."

The reprogrammed web pages are probably victims of an automated attack that included scanning the internet for unsecured servers and planting a piece of JavaScript code that redirects to a site in China to serve up the malware.

The malware cocktail attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in Windows, RealPlayer and other applications to break into the PC. A back door also allows the subsequent installation of additional malicious programs.

McAfee Avert Labs first spotted the attack on 12 March. "Of the 10,000 pages that were compromised a number have already been cleaned up," the firm stated.

"A single entity is likely to be behind this attack, since the malicious code on all these pages came from the same server in China."

Searching the Net? Here Are Places to Start

Google Search, mail, maps and more. It includes a search of Usenet discussions, a government search, an image search, maps, local listings and Google Scholar for scholarly literature.
Yahoo! Search, news, e-mail, shopping, and many other services
Vivisimo searches and categorizes results helpfully
A9, from Amazon, adds some interesting twists to Web search.
Alta Vista now from Overture, includes audio and video search.
The Open Directory Project aims to become the largest Web directory edited by (volunteer) humans
All the Web, from Fast Search, is quick and simple
Ask.com has Web search and several other useful search features.
Ixquick, Excite, Dogpile, CNet Search.com and Metacrawler simultaneously search different combinations of multiple Web search engines
Reporter's Desktop conveniently consolidates many ways to find people and things.
Librarians' Index to the Internet Useful sites organized and annotated by librarians in California and Washington
About.com has humans who assemble mini-sites on a wide variety of topics.
Searchmil.com searches for information in military (.mil) computers
The Hardin Meta Directory catalogs health-related sites
Topica and Tile.Net will help you find Internet mailing lists

Typical Areas

Web Development can be split into many areas and a typical and basic web development hierarchy might consist of;
Client Side Coding
CSS
XHTML (in accordance to modern web design standards, XHTML's use is replacing the older HTML)
Javascript
Flash (Adobe Flash Player is a ubiquitous client-side platform ready for RIAs. Flex 2 is also deployed to the Flash Player (version 9+))
Microsoft SilverLight But doesnt seem to support older win9x versions
Server Side Coding
PHP and MySQL
ASP and MSSQL
ASP.NET and MSSQL
CGI and/or Perl
Java, e.g. J2EE or WebObjects
Python, e.g. Django (web framework)
Ruby, e.g. Ruby on Rails
Smalltalk e.g. Seaside
ColdFusion
Lotus Domino
In practice, many web developers will also have interdisciplinary skills / roles, including:
Graphic design / web design
Information architecture and copywriting/copyediting with web usability, accessibility and search engine optimization in mind
Project management, QA and other aspects common to IT development in general

The above list is a simple website development hierarchy and can be extended to include all client side and server side aspects. It is still important to remember that web development is generally split up into client side coding covering aspects such as the layout and design, then server side coding, which covers the website's functionality and back end systems.



Looking at these items from an "umbrella approach", client side coding such as XHTML is executed and stored on a local client (in a web browser) whereas server side code is not available to a client and is executed on a web server which generates the appropriate XHTML which is then sent to the client. As the nature of client side coding allows you to alter the HTML on a local client and refresh the pages with updated content (locally), web designers must bear in mind the importance and relevance to security with their server side scripts. If a server side script accepts content from a locally modified client side script, the web development of that page shows poor sanitization with relation to security.

Web development as an industry

Since the mid-1990s, web development has been one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In 1995 there were fewer than 1,000 web development companies in the United States alone, but by 2005 there were over 30,000 such companies.[1][citation needed] The web development industry is expected to grow over 20% by 2010. The growth of this industry is being pushed by large businesses wishing to sell products and services to their customers and to automate business workflow, as well as the growth of many small web design and development companies.

In addition, cost of Web site development and hosting has dropped dramatically during this time. Instead of costing tens of thousands of dollars, as was the case for early websites, one can now develop a simple web site for less than a thousand dollars, depending on the complexity and amount of content.[citation needed] Smaller Web site development companies are now able to make web design accessible to both smaller companies and individuals further fueling the growth of the web development industry. As far as web development tools and platforms are concerned, there are many systems available to the public free of charge to aid in development. A popular example is the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), which is usually distributed free of charge. This fact alone has manifested into many people around the globe setting up new Web sites daily and thus contributing to increase in web development popularity. Another contributing factor has been the rise of easy to use WYSIWYG web development software, most prominently Microsoft FrontPage or Adobe Dreamweaver. Using such software, virtually anyone can develop a Web page in a matter of minutes. Knowledge of HyperText Markup Language (HTML), or other programming languages is not required, but recommended for professional results.

The next generation of web development tools uses the strong growth in LAMP and Microsoft .NET technologies to provide the Web as a way to run applications online. Web developers now help to deliver applications as Web services which were traditionally only available as applications on a desk based computer.

Instead of running executable code on a local computer, users are interacting with online applications to create new content. This has created new methods in communication and allowed for many opportunities to decentralize information and media distribution. Users are now able to interact with applications from many locations, instead of being tied to a specific workstation for their application environment.

Examples of dramatic transformation in communication and commerce led by web development include e-commerce. Online auction sites such as eBay have changed the way consumers consume and purchase goods and services. Online resellers such as Amazon.com and Buy.com (among many, many others) have transformed the shopping and bargain hunting experience for many consumers. Another good example of transformative communication led by web development is the blog. Web applications such as WordPress and b2evolution have created easily implemented blog environments for individual Web sites. Open source content systems such as Typo3, Xoops, Joomla, and Drupal have extended web development into new modes of interaction and communication.

Web Development

Web development is a broad term for any activities related to developing a web site for the World Wide Web or an intranet. This can include e-commerce business development, web design, web content development, client-side/server-side coding, and web server configuration. However, among web professionals, "web development" usually refers only to the non-design aspects of building web sites, e.g. writing markup and coding. Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services.

For larger businesses and organizations, web development teams can consist of hundreds of people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or contracting webmaster, or secondary assignment to related job positions such as a graphic designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.