.: Adam McFarland Profile and Articles
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1). 13 Great Firefox Extensions For Web ProfessionalsLike most web developers or SEO professionals, I use a vast array of tools to get the job done. I use a combination of desktop and web applications, some purchased and some free. Everyone I know has downloaded a free copy of Mozilla Firefox, but few realize that by installing some of the 1,500 free extensions they can eliminate the need for most of the other applications they currently use.
2). Are Made For Adsense Sites Ruining Search Results?
It's happened to you. You've searched for something on Google and several promising results appear. You click on a link, but when you get to the site all you see are a few ads and nothing even remotely close to what you searched for. So you go back to the search results and try again, only it happens again and again until you finally find a page with some decent content.
3). The NBA Needs To Change It's Playoff Format...Now
One great thing about the NBA and commissioner David Stern is that they fix mistakes with their game. Case in point – in 2003 the NBA switched the first round of the playoffs from a best-of-five game series to a best-of-seven to help ensure that the better team advances. That's why it's mind boggling to wonder why they won't change the playoff format to account for debacles like this season.
4). What Does Everyone Have Against Hockey?
We're in the middle of the first NHL Playoffs since 2004 and there seems to be a common theme. No it's not Ilja Bryzgalov shut-outs (although those seem to be happening quite often), it's NHL bashing.
It's no surprise that the NHL is not as popular as the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, or NCAA Football and Basketball for that matter - but it gets treated by major media like it is a joke of a sport.
5). Book Review - Net Entrepreneurs Only
Everyone loves to read other peoples success stories. It provides us with evidence that amazing things do happen to normal people. By learning what they did to succeed we come one step closer to success ourselves. Such is the case with the ten stories told in Net Entrepreneurs Only – 10 Entrepreneurs Tell the Stories of their Success by Gregory K. Ericksen and Ernst & Young.
6). Book Review – Warriors, Workers, Whiners, And Weasels
We all know a Weasel. You know, that person that threatens to take down your organization by using every sleazy tactic in the book to advance their careers regardless of how it effects others. Warriors, Workers, Whiners, and Weasels: The 4 Personality Types in Business and How to Manage Them to Your Advantage by entrepreneur Tim O'Leary takes a refreshing look at the different personalities we encounter and how to handle them.
7). Getting Your Site Indexed Before You Launch
I've noticed that most SEO articles focus on what to do after you launch your site. Those that do deal with preparing your site for launch usually discuss on-site SEO like keyword research and meta tags. What tends to be neglected is the advantage that you can gain by getting your site indexed before you launch. With a little planning and a few hours of work it's easy to be indexed by Google, Yahoo, and MSN before your site goes live.
8). Increase Your Productivity And Your Margins With Free Software
I’m guessing you’re pretty busy. You’ve got a ton of stuff to get done everyday and you don’t need to waste time doing monotonous and repetitive tasks. But you also are probably pretty cost conscious and don’t have money to throw away on every piece of software that you need. Thankfully, there are several fully-functional free software packages out there that can help you and your business save time and money.
9). Do Search Engines Care About Valid HTML?
Like most web developers, I’ve heard a lot about the importance of valid html recently. I’ve read about how it makes it easier for people with disabilities to access your site, how it’s more stable for browsers, and how it will make your site easier to be indexed by the search engines.
So when I set out to design my most recent site, I made sure that I validated each and every page of the site.
10). 5 Free Things You Can Do To Get More Traffic Immediately
Just because you have a new site, it doesn't mean you have to wait months to start getting some traffic. Most site owners are so focused on search engine traffic that they neglect other sources of traffic that can pay dividends immediately and help their search engine rankings in the future. Below are five ways that you can bring quality traffic to your site today that won't cost you a penny:
Write an article
You don't need to be a professional writer to write a quality article.
11). Writing For The Web
Have you ever tried to read your local newspaper online? How about the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal? It just isn't the same. Do you know why? Because articles meant for print don't translate well to the web, and the rules that apply to writing content for the internet are different than those for print. What constitutes quality content offline does not necessarily constitute quality content online.
12). Google’s Next Move – Video Game Ads?
Since AdWords was launched in 2001, Google has expanded to image ads, video ads, and print ads, and has frequently been rumored to be entering radio and television. While many think that television ads (ala Spot Runner) could be Google’s next major move, they may be neglecting a potentially larger opportunity: in-game video game advertising.
Earlier.
13). Using Blog PR To Promote Your Site
The recent trend of using the press release to promote an online business has emerged with good reason – good press costs very little and can do more for a business than thousands of dollars of marketing. Most businesses use press distribution services like PR Web or PRFree to get the word out about their news. While distribution services certainly can be effective, they tend to miss out on arguably the most influential group of the press – bloggers.
14). You Don't Need More Traffic To Make More Money
Every website owner has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with driving more traffic to their site. We all want more traffic, if for nothing else to be able to brag to others how many unique visitors we've received. Competition among web owners aside, actually doing something with that traffic is equally as important as getting it. Yet for some reason, most site owners make the mistake of focusing most of their time on getting more traffic and rarely, if ever, focus on improving their conversion rate.
15). Book Review – Guerrilla Marketing For Free
Sure, advertising is easy if you’re Pepsi or Apple, but what if you don’t have millions of dollars to throw at TV and print ads? Any business owner out there looking to cut their marketing budget should look no further than Guerrilla Marketing for FREE – Dozens of No-Cost Tactics to Promote Your Business and Energize Your Profits by Jay Conrad Levinson.
16). How To Prioritize Your Work
Regardless of whether you are a student, work at home mom, a web designer, or a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, prioritizing your work is critical to your success. Failing to prioritize your work load usually results in being extremely inefficient and extremely stressed out. How many times have you thought to yourself “I have so much to do today, how.
17). Using Google Alerts To Help Your Business
At times it seems that Google releases more new products and services than we can keep track of. From Google Calendar and Google Video, to Google Base, Google Finance, and Google Trends, it can be overwhelming just to remember what each one does. One of the oft overlooked hidden gems in Google's enormous offering is Google Alerts. Within minutes, one can be signed up for email alerts that can give them and their business a leg up on the competition.