Express Action Sports

Like chatroulette minus the video chat.

http://www.meebo.com/
Meebo, the web messenger that lets you access IM from absolutely anywhere. Meebo supports msn, yahoo, aol/aim, google talk (gtalk), jabber and icq.

http://www.ebuddy.com/
eBuddy is a web-based chat application that provides access to your MSN, Yahoo and AOL account. To use the web version of eBuddy, all you need is a JavaScript enabled browser on your computer and it works even if you are behind a firewall. If you are on the road, you can use the mobile version of eBuddy to chat with your buddies. Every mobile device (mobile phone, PSP) that supports xHTML or WAP can be used.

http://www.orgoo.com/
Manage and organize your internet communications! All your email accounts, IM accounts, chat, SMS, video conferencing and more, integrated in one interface.

http://airtalkr.com/
AirTalk is a flash based Instant Messenger chat that connects to MSN,GTalk,Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM,YouTube, Flickr. You can also view your buddies profile on myspace, flickr, friendster, and latest blog and twitter entries.

http://flick.im/
FlickIM is a chat application specifically for your iPhone. (AIM,Gtalk,Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ and Jabber)

http://www.24im.com/
24im is a smarter, faster, easier way to deliver enterprise-grade IM to your private group. For Free.

http://www.digsby.com/
digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. digsby is an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as ‘Delete’ or ‘Report Spam’ with just one click, and it’s also a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to.

http://site.bumpin.com/
BumpIn enables people with similar interests, needs, likes and dislikes to live chat with each other. For instance, with BumpIn, people searching for similar information can strike a live conversation, people following the same breaking news, sporting event or a blog post can start a live discussion, people interested in buying or selling similar things can share leads and negotiate live on BumpIn.

http://www.chatterous.com/
Chatterous is a service that lets you talk to your friends across the web, IM, email and your phone.

http://www.yakkle.com/
You may have used an instant messaging tool like AIM or Yahoo Chat or Google Talk and know that you can send text messages to your family, friends, co-workers and associates. Yakkle does instant messaging too, but it also allows you to use your PC to transmit your voice to your friends and to share your desktop with them all from within a single application.

https://www.dexrex.com/
Dexrex is the free add-on for archiving IM & SMS messages. Sign in with your screen name, download the plugin, and start saving your world one message at a time.

http://www.omgpop.com/
OMGPOP is a place where you can play free multiplayer games with your friends.

http://www.formspring.me/
Create a box where friends can ask questions anonymously. Post your responses to Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or your blog.

http://www.tinychat.com/
TinyChat is a free service that allows you to create a free chat room that is accessible by anyone with a browser. Simply create a chatroom from the homepage then send the link it gives to you to anyone you want to chat with. After you leave the chat room, all the chat data is gone, so its perfect for secure chats.

http://www.gixawchat.com/
Gixaw Chat is a web-based live chat service that lets you create your own chat site in just seconds. You get a 24/7 URL where you can invite friends, visitors, or colleagues to chat, collaborate, and share files.

http://www.chatroll.com/
Chatroll is a place to create and share live interest groups. It’s a diverse and growing collection of groups created by people like you. Can’t find your group? No problem, just create your own! It’s an easy and unique way for you to connect with people and share your interests.

http://zohochat.com/
Often times, we need to collaborate with others to make decisions. Email, blog, forums & wiki allow us to share information & have asynchronous discussions. Conventional chat requires presence of participants. In vocal discussion over phone, the conversation is lost, only the decisions remain at the closure. Zoho Chat helps in filling this gap by enabling groups to collaborate & make decisions faster.

http://en.netlog.com/
On Netlog, you can create your own account with pictures, blogs, a guestbook, and much more. You can find people from your area, expand your friends network, or find people having the same interests as you.

Your own profile on Netlog
with pictures
a blog and a guestbook,
and a large friends network!

http://www.friendster.com/
Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, groups, activities and interests. Friendster prides itself in delivering a clean, user-friendly and interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world. Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking.

http://www.smallaa.com/
Smallaa helps you bring relevancy to your social interactions by enabling you to follow the most interesting aspects of your friends. The feeds in your multiple social networking sites are combined at Smallaa. Everything you post at Smallaa will automatically goes to those websites. When you and your friends post to different topic of interests, you get to pick and follow what really interests you from them.

http://omegle.com/
Omegle is a brand-new service for meeting new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other. Chats are completely anonymous, although there is nothing to stop you from revealing personal details if you would like.

http://www.chatroll.com/
Chatroll is a place to create and share live interest groups. It’s a diverse and growing collection of groups created by people like you. Can’t find your group? No problem, just create your own! It’s an easy and unique way for you to connect with people and share your interests.

Whether you’re looking to promote your own content, share relevant content with a group of people, or just chat and have fun, Chatroll is the new and exciting way to do it.

http://www.anybodyoutthere.com/
Search online chat partners and find people from around the world to talk with, filter by areas of interest, age, gender and location.

http://www.onlyChat.com
One-to-one chat with random users, no registration needed and completely anonymous.

http://8hands.com/
8hands is a small and friendly desktop application that presents a concise summary of all your online social networking activities (your MySpace & Flickr profiles, your blog, etc.) with useful statistics (the number of friends in each network, activity meter, etc.). With 8hands you can always stay connected to your favorite networks and your network friends without having to check your various profiles on each and every site.

http://www.chatmaker.net/
ChatMaker is an easy-to-use web-service that you can use to create your own chatroom. Just type a name, copy and paste the URL to anyone you want, and click go. Free to use.

http://multiply.com/
Multiply gives you an easy way to share all kinds of digital media, including photos, blogs, videos, music and more, all in one convenient place: your own personal web site

http://www.vside.com/
vSide is an immersive, interconnected virtual city environment where you can hang out, listen to music, chat, dance, and make friends.

http://www.ipernity.com/
With Ipernity you can:- Publish whatever you like : blog, photos, videos, audios- Customize your own Ipernity page (like at Myspace)- Share what you want with people who matter to you or with the whole world- Create a powerful page with only the stuff that matters to you

http://www.farmville.com
Grow delicious fruits and vegetables and raise adorable animals on your very own farm, with the help of your Facebook friends.

http://www.there.com/
There is a beautiful virtual world where you can:
Create a 3D avatar
Hang out with friends
Play games
Build a home
Design and sell things.

http://www.fav20.com/
Fav 2.0 is a modern way to use your most visited websites. Set it as homepage and add your most visited sites. It uses cookies to store your sites and settings.

does it contribute to the agression and violent actions of the players?
what may be the main idea in these games?

No, It does not contribute to aggression. I dont fully understand what you are asking so I will explain the debate.

Theres one side that think that violent video games are bad for people and another that doesnt.

Video games sales have gone way up in the past 30 years while the juvinile crime rate has fallen. An person can be affected by a violent video game only if they are unreasonable and unstable. Any resonable person would know better than to renact the scenes in the video game but a unstable person would most likely not. These are the people you see commiting crimes. Along with this the Media and a some politicians use acts of violence by children who play violent video games as a reason to have it stopped.

There was a controversy over the Columbine shooting (look it up) Where the two shooters had been avid DOOM players and people tried to link DOOM to their shooting when realy they were just two sick individuals that would have done their act even if they didnt play DOOM.

An example I made for an essay I wrote was, Compare Violent Video games and Football.
You can say both are violent. In football you are suppost to stop the other player with a violent action to achieve a goal. In a violent video game you are suppost to use a violent action to achive a goal. So these two things are generaly the same. If a football player commits a violent crime, do you blame the sport of football for it and say all football players will commit the same action as this player? Why should violent video games be held responsable for the actions of its players? It went something like that lol I kinda forget the exact wording.

Seriously if you want to know more about this just google it theres tons of information.

Edit: The main idea of these games is for entertainment. What is the main Idea of Football? To entertain. Same thing with violent movies. Some people like being able to do stuff virtually that they would never do in real life.

Like in a resume in a sentence what would you put , for example i like to read, play tennis and soccer, im a sociable person, i love to try new things annd want to explore the world
something like thatt but i want it to make it sound more professional and better loll:p thank you:)

you don’t always need to have a section on INTERESTS. if you prefer to have, then you can include your activities (e.g.: sports – tennis and soccer). Include anything that you can prove with some action. Even if you enjoy reading, only put it there if you are part of a reading club, or if you exchange used books with other readers (idk…any kind of organized activity); the same goes for traveling.

and i think it is useful to have a good structure for your resume, so here are some suggestions:

start with your personal information (name, email, phone, address)

then, the "education" section: mention high school (with expected graduation date) and elementary school. For both of these include name of school, city, state, your GPA and your specialization (if you have any; some high-schoolers do)

then comes the "honors" section, where you put everything you think you can include (i think you know better than me what goes here).

you don’t really have an experience section, so you can jump to "(extracurricular) activities/interests" section. here you can put anything, from study groups, to sports, to musical instruments. try to put some activities that show qualities like team work, leadership, or good with people (without actually spelling them out)

then finish up with a "skills" section. include here language skills (all languages you know, and your level: beginner, conversational, advanced,) and computer skills (MS Word, MS Excel, PC literate, Mac literate, internet savvy (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Google Chrome).

I hate how intrusive the ads are and I hate how much of it is restricted.

http://www.meebo.com/
Meebo, the web messenger that lets you access IM from absolutely anywhere. Meebo supports msn, yahoo, aol/aim, google talk (gtalk), jabber and icq.

http://www.ebuddy.com/
eBuddy is a web-based chat application that provides access to your MSN, Yahoo and AOL account. To use the web version of eBuddy, all you need is a JavaScript enabled browser on your computer and it works even if you are behind a firewall. If you are on the road, you can use the mobile version of eBuddy to chat with your buddies. Every mobile device (mobile phone, PSP) that supports xHTML or WAP can be used.

http://www.orgoo.com/
Manage and organize your internet communications! All your email accounts, IM accounts, chat, SMS, video conferencing and more, integrated in one interface.

http://airtalkr.com/
AirTalk is a flash based Instant Messenger chat that connects to MSN,GTalk,Yahoo!, ICQ, AIM,YouTube, Flickr. You can also view your buddies profile on myspace, flickr, friendster, and latest blog and twitter entries.

http://flick.im/
FlickIM is a chat application specifically for your iPhone. (AIM,Gtalk,Yahoo!, MSN, ICQ and Jabber)

http://www.24im.com/
24im is a smarter, faster, easier way to deliver enterprise-grade IM to your private group. For Free.

http://www.digsby.com/
digsby is a multiprotocol IM client that lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. digsby is an email notification tool that alerts you of new email and lets you perform actions such as ‘Delete’ or ‘Report Spam’ with just one click, and it’s also a social networking tool that alerts you of events like new messages and gives you a live Newsfeed of what your friends are up to.

http://site.bumpin.com/
BumpIn enables people with similar interests, needs, likes and dislikes to live chat with each other. For instance, with BumpIn, people searching for similar information can strike a live conversation, people following the same breaking news, sporting event or a blog post can start a live discussion, people interested in buying or selling similar things can share leads and negotiate live on BumpIn.

http://www.chatterous.com/
Chatterous is a service that lets you talk to your friends across the web, IM, email and your phone.

http://www.yakkle.com/
You may have used an instant messaging tool like AIM or Yahoo Chat or Google Talk and know that you can send text messages to your family, friends, co-workers and associates. Yakkle does instant messaging too, but it also allows you to use your PC to transmit your voice to your friends and to share your desktop with them all from within a single application.

https://www.dexrex.com/
Dexrex is the free add-on for archiving IM & SMS messages. Sign in with your screen name, download the plugin, and start saving your world one message at a time.

http://www.omgpop.com/
OMGPOP is a place where you can play free multiplayer games with your friends.

http://www.formspring.me/
Create a box where friends can ask questions anonymously. Post your responses to Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or your blog.

http://www.tinychat.com/
TinyChat is a free service that allows you to create a free chat room that is accessible by anyone with a browser. Simply create a chatroom from the homepage then send the link it gives to you to anyone you want to chat with. After you leave the chat room, all the chat data is gone, so its perfect for secure chats.

http://www.gixawchat.com/
Gixaw Chat is a web-based live chat service that lets you create your own chat site in just seconds. You get a 24/7 URL where you can invite friends, visitors, or colleagues to chat, collaborate, and share files.

http://www.chatroll.com/
Chatroll is a place to create and share live interest groups. It’s a diverse and growing collection of groups created by people like you. Can’t find your group? No problem, just create your own! It’s an easy and unique way for you to connect with people and share your interests.

http://zohochat.com/
Often times, we need to collaborate with others to make decisions. Email, blog, forums & wiki allow us to share information & have asynchronous discussions. Conventional chat requires presence of participants. In vocal discussion over phone, the conversation is lost, only the decisions remain at the closure. Zoho Chat helps in filling this gap by enabling groups to collaborate & make decisions faster.

http://en.netlog.com/
On Netlog, you can create your own account with pictures, blogs, a guestbook, and much more. You can find people from your area, expand your friends network, or find people having the same interests as you.

Your own profile on Netlog
with pictures
a blog and a guestbook,
and a large friends network!

http://www.friendster.com/
Online adults, 18 and up, choose Friendster to connect with friends, family, school, groups, activities and interests. Friendster prides itself in delivering a clean, user-friendly and interactive environment where users can easily connect with anyone around the world. Friendster has a growing portfolio of patents granted to the company on social networking.

http://www.smallaa.com/
Smallaa helps you bring relevancy to your social interactions by enabling you to follow the most interesting aspects of your friends. The feeds in your multiple social networking sites are combined at Smallaa. Everything you post at Smallaa will automatically goes to those websites. When you and your friends post to different topic of interests, you get to pick and follow what really interests you from them.

http://omegle.com/
Omegle is a brand-new service for meeting new friends. When you use Omegle, we pick another user at random and let you have a one-on-one chat with each other. Chats are completely anonymous, although there is nothing to stop you from revealing personal details if you would like.

http://www.chatroll.com/
Chatroll is a place to create and share live interest groups. It’s a diverse and growing collection of groups created by people like you. Can’t find your group? No problem, just create your own! It’s an easy and unique way for you to connect with people and share your interests.

Whether you’re looking to promote your own content, share relevant content with a group of people, or just chat and have fun, Chatroll is the new and exciting way to do it.

http://www.anybodyoutthere.com/
Search online chat partners and find people from around the world to talk with, filter by areas of interest, age, gender and location.

http://www.onlyChat.com
One-to-one chat with random users, no registration needed and completely anonymous.

http://8hands.com/
8hands is a small and friendly desktop application that presents a concise summary of all your online social networking activities (your MySpace & Flickr profiles, your blog, etc.) with useful statistics (the number of friends in each network, activity meter, etc.). With 8hands you can always stay connected to your favorite networks and your network friends without having to check your various profiles on each and every site.

http://www.chatmaker.net/
ChatMaker is an easy-to-use web-service that you can use to create your own chatroom. Just type a name, copy and paste the URL to anyone you want, and click go. Free to use.

http://multiply.com/
Multiply gives you an easy way to share all kinds of digital media, including photos, blogs, videos, music and more, all in one convenient place: your own personal web site

http://www.vside.com/
vSide is an immersive, interconnected virtual city environment where you can hang out, listen to music, chat, dance, and make friends.

http://www.ipernity.com/
With Ipernity you can:- Publish whatever you like : blog, photos, videos, audios- Customize your own Ipernity page (like at Myspace)- Share what you want with people who matter to you or with the whole world- Create a powerful page with only the stuff that matters to you

http://www.farmville.com
Grow delicious fruits and vegetables and raise adorable animals on your very own farm, with the help of your Facebook friends.

http://www.there.com/
There is a beautiful virtual world where you can:
Create a 3D avatar
Hang out with friends
Play games
Build a home
Design and sell things.

http://www.fav20.com/
Fav 2.0 is a modern way to use your most visited websites. Set it as homepage and add your most visited sites. It uses cookies to store your sites and settings.

before last thursday I never rode a motorcycle. I passed the course and now I need to know what kind of sport bike would best fit me. Im 6-1 and I don’t want to look like a monster on a pocket size motorcycle. Also which bike would be best to visit my hometown (165 miles from current location). I’ve done extreme sports (boxing, dirt bike, snowboarding, etc) all my life so I’m not afraid of size or control.

I’m in the exact same boat as you, from what I’ve noticed its hard to take someone’s opinion with any merit. This is because only you know what your capable of. Its easier to get a straight answer from someone if you ask about a specific bike. Looks play a role in my decision as well as ergo, comfort, weight, and power. I like the V-twin engines instead of the i-4’s, but those super sport bikes can be found cheap because owners get scared riding them or decide motorcycling isn’t for them after they drop it once.
I’ve tried 6 different bikes in my testing ‘the waters’ experience, as most of my riding has been on dirt. Honestly if your going to get a super sport bike, get one, you don’t need any validation from someone here at yahoo, but if you want my opinion and you have some time, research a little bit. I’ve joined the gixxerforum and the svforum (Google them). Some other people have some really good ideas about moding their bikes to specifically suit them. The ninja 250’s seem to small, at least to me and at 6’1 probably yourself too, and I would say the ninja 500 but I think their really 90’s looking (in a bad way).
After everything I’ve heard and been recommended; not to mention lectured about over the past few months I’m most likely going to get the sv650 used. Its a vertical twin cylinder, standard seating position (better for longer rides), with lots of low end power and torque. Once I’ve put 10k miles on it then I’ll consider one of the super sport bikes, because as much as I like to think I’m ready for one; It’s smarter that I don’t. Check out the ducati monster as well, its a cool looking naked style bike.

I am an aspiring print and promo model looking to get into the industry. My dream is to do catalogue and print modeling for alternative clothing companies such as Metal Mulisha, No Fear, Tilly’s, etc. and do promo work for the Action Sports industry like Monster Energy, Supercross, and even MMA. I have no experience but you have to start somewhere. My question is: where? If anyone with experience in the industry can help me get on my feet with this, I have looked everywhere but to no avail. Thanks.

Promo models are booked through promo model agencies. Google promo models or promotional models + your nearest big city to find agencies near you where you can apply

I am a hockey coach and use video extensively with my teams. I want to be able to isolate snippets of NHL games to teach game situations to my teams. I have a DVR built into my Direct TV box. My goal is to copy NHL games or portions of games to my PC and THEN have the ability to edit the content on my PC. (ie slow motion, stop action, draw arrows/circles X’s and O’s, etc.) Any suggestions???

I don’t know the setup of your PC but the DVR has on page 14 of the manual the inputs and the outputs look for the Red, White and Yellow RCA jacks they will be sorta in the middle of the read of the box run that to your computer. Now if you have a Video input for you computer then just connect the three cables to the PC if not then your going to need a converter box for the video like a Dazzle or Grass Valley that would be a lot better and easier to use yet Dazzle has the software included.

NOTE: It is illegal to record any sporting event and broadcast it or modify it in anyway with out permission from the team and the league. That said you do know and understand that I had to state that.

Dazzle
http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=dazzle+video+capture&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=Aa0MTMqhI4K8lQeD2p3nDg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CEEQrQQwAg
Grass Valley
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320530056621&rvr_id=&crlp=1_263602_263622&UA=M*S%3F&GUID=1185388b1290a0aad214bf74fd8e79ee&itemid=320530056621&ff4=263602_263622

I hope this helps you out, your computer setup what help to know

I’m planning an event for 20 to 30 18 and 19 yr old males. Our first choice is laser tag, but does anyone know of anything similar like paintball etc? Much appreciated.

A. Sharp Import – www.sharpimport.com – (856) 382-0631 – More

B. Hobbytown USA – www.hobbytown.com – (610) 544-7007 – More

C. On Point Paintball – www.sx-paintball.com – (856) 468-6774 – 4 reviews

D. Hobbytown USA – www.hobbytown.com – (610) 544-7007 – 2 reviews

E. Manhunt Paintball Games – maps.google.com – (856) 321-2665 – More

F. National Paintball – www.nationalpaintball.com – (856) 464-1068 – More

G. Picasso Lake Paint Ball – maps.google.com – (856) 854-2127 – More

H. Fort Dix Army & Navy – maps.google.com – (856) 665-2044 – More

I. Key Action Sports – www.nationalpaintball.com – (856) 468-6939 – More

J. Capt’n Carl’s Paintball – www.captncarls.com – (610) 364-9666 – More

Ski/Board Rock climbing and Bikes, targeting young men and woman that are into extreme sports.

Part of a good marketing mix would be a PR campaign due to the unique nature of your store for starters. You can target market in your local area via Google AdWords and start some local sponsorships of certain sporting events. You seem to know your demography so see about having fliers advertisements located in malls and other areas your target audience would frequent.

Tying in promotional sales incentives to new customers can cause some word of mouth buzz as well as increase store customers.

Despite the many and varied articles written on how SEO is done, most people have only a vague appreciation of WHY it is absolutely essential. As the economic downturn bites into revenue streams, can you afford to ignore a key website business strategy?

That includes a depressing number of website designers, some of whom actually tell their clients that SEO is a waste of time and money, and that it’s quite unnecessary these days because Google is smarter than ever before… Au contraire – it becomes more and more critical every day, as website numbers expand exponentially! Lack of knowledge is not confined to website designers, it also includes a number of wanna-be SEO firms who make outrageous claims about their special relationship and affinity with Google etc, but have little idea of what it takes to consistently succeed in attaining Top 30 rankings.

There are many articles written on the HOW of SEO, covering the many and varied aspects of the art of improving your site’s position in search engine ranking pages (SERPs). Whilst most people have heard the term “search engine optimization” and have a vague appreciation (or apprehension) of the hoped-for outcome, surprisingly few people seem to really understand WHY it is absolutely essential.

Be very aware that in most cases website design is taught as an Art, not as a Business discipline. Website designers are rarely taught anything about search engine optimization, and few are interested in mastering the skills required to produce optimal results. That’s all very fine and dandy – but it leaves a lot of website owners desperately disappointed in mediocre results! You’ve probably heard the analogy about building a shop in the middle of a forest too, I bet? Seriously, it really does not matter how beautiful the site is – if no one finds it, then it’s just a gorgeous waste of virtual space.

Content is Still King

Regardless of the various conflicting opinions, Google conspiracy theories and misinformation, it comes down to a very simple concept – content quality, and accurate content classification. Content is where many sites fail dismally! The sites that thrive are those with well written, well organised original, interesting and useful content. Don’t copy other peoples stuff. Aside from being illegal, at best it immediately downgrades you to second best… As a general rule, from an SEO perspective, bear in mind the most fundamental issue – Google loathes duplicate content!

Classification

There are literally millions of websites, each competing for viewers in a particular niche. Reasons for their existence vary across the A to Z spectrum – advertising, entertainment, comedy, educational, humour, informational, music, news, promotional, sports, wine, video, zoos… you get the picture, right?

In the world of books we have the Dewey decimal classification system. Every published work is assigned an ISBN number, and libraries classify all books under a rigid hierarchical subject classification system. It’s not perfect, but it works pretty well because every one uses and understands it! Erudite people write insightful book reviews, which are sometimes included in advertising and promotions. Hold this thought, its relevant to a following section. You want to find a book on a particular topic, or by a specific author, you do a search and Eureka! You’ve found it, there’s a list, even! The best books are reviewed multiple times, and take pride of place in the “best sellers” rack.

Relevancy Ranking

Using different terminology, search engines are trying hard to do the same thing – to give their searchers the most accurate list possible, containing exactly what they want, so they can pick and choose from it! Unfortunately, there is no Dewey classification system on the web. The closest thing to a hierarchical subject listing is the Open Directory, Yahoo, or one of the thousands of other web directories – all of which are inconsistently organised into completely different illogical structures!

So, here we have Google and other search engines trying valiantly to index and categorize the billions of pages on millions of websites, in hundreds of countries in a multiplicity of languages. Then, they have to calculate each page’s relevance to specific search queries…

Are You Helping or Hindering?

That’s where YOU come into the picture… It’s a big, big task – have you made any effort at all to help Google to help you? Or is your website fuzzy and unfocused, with no clear statement of content or purpose? In most cases, sites are constructed with vague intentions to do SEO as an optional extra sometime in the future… What, you want Google to do everything for you?

Done Any Homework?

Do you have any idea how your primary audience searches for the information, products or services you offer? Do the pages on your site describe your content using terms your clients use? Because that’s the only way Google can match searchers with relevant content! What? You actually forgot to do any market research before launching the site? You have no accurate, researched, hard data on the keywords your potential clients would use? You asked your friends at work for ideas? Absolutely incredible!

Let us pretend you’re looking for clients for your small bed & breakfast business in Christchurch, New Zealand. You are optimistic that potential customers in New Zealand, Australia and the UK will be able to find your website amongst the millions of competing B&B pages on the web, be convinced by your persuasive advertising copy and elegant pictures… you’d also like them to come and book directly with you, to avoid hefty commission payments on the dozens of B&B Advertising Directory sites who also want you to pay to advertise! Dream on!

So You Want Google To Work For You?

You’d really like Google et al to help connect your potential clients to your business via Search Engine Results Pages by making your site No.1… And you certainly want “qualified” traffic from Google, visitors who are specifically looking for exactly what you offer!

Anyone who thinks they can survive online without Google, Yahoo and MSN is either a thoroughly well-rounded idiot, or is a household name who does not need to advertise to generate qualified traffic. There is no middle ground.

But here’s where it gets hard! How will Google do that? What solid information have you provided Google in your on-site content, and in the off-site links to your site? Have you got a Domain Name which encapsulates your business type and location; Bed-Breakfast-Christchurch.co.nz? Or a cryptic name, like; BnBChChNZ.com? Of the two, which is most likely to give the SE its first clue as to what your site is about?

What is On-Site SEO

Think about it this way… Does your home page have an explicit and accurate Title that provides a direct and unequivocal statement of the site’s business purpose in 70 characters? Does the Title say “Bed & Breakfast Accommodation, Christchurch New Zealand” or does it say “Welcome to Dusty Lodge” or something equally asinine?

Does your home page have an explicit and accurate Description that provides a brief outline of your business purpose, unique selling proposition, and call to action, encapsulated in 150 – 200 characters? Or does it contain some vague warm and fuzzy drivel about beaches and sunsets?

Keep the book analogy in your mind, and take a look at your Home page, particularly the first heading and first paragraph… “Welcome to my website” is not a productive approach! What does it tell your visitors about you? It tells me that you are at best naïve and both you and your website designer need SEO counselling! And think about that first paragraph… is it an accurate summary of the site’s reason for existence? Eliminate that fruity, cheesy, fluffy verbiage immediately!

If your website is required to deliver a return on investment, particularly by selling products or services, or delivering customer service, informing or entertaining, your really need to accurately describe your website’s content, and allow it to become visible online. What’s that I hear? Oh, you want it to make you rich as well? But you don’t really want to make a serious commitment or effort to do the job properly? Right… good luck with that! And remember that old GIGO acronym – “Garbage In, Garbage Out!”

What is Off-Site SEO?

This may surprise you, but some people are dishonest about their site content. Frankly, some people handle the truth in a very awkward fashion indeed… Telling Google that your site is about Pamela Anderson, when its actually selling Bart Simpson comics, is deuced annoying to the people who visit it! Therefore, Google and other SE’s decided long ago that some external verification of every website’s content would assist their efforts to deliver the most relevant SERPs to their clients. Makes perfect sense to me…

How is this achieved, I hear you ask. Well, you’ve heard of links, right? Back to the book analogy – think of good links as being like a series of book reviews! What if lots of people are writing positive things about your site? What if multiple, external, widely distributed sites are all saying that your site is about “Bed & Breakfast Accommodation Christchurch NZ” huh? The balance of probability that your site is relevant to such a search is positively impacted by this external confirmation! A coincidence of keywords in on-site content and off-site links reassures Google immensely! Those keywords in the off-site links are referred to as anchor text, and should form the link title.

No, Its Not Rocket Science

Frankly, search engine optimisation, in the pure sense of the term, is not particularly difficult to understand, or to do. The aim of the search engines is to provide their customers with the content most relevant to the search they are making. Therefore, your salvation lies in making your content relevant to the known searches! Do some thorough keyword research, learn and understand your target audience’s searching behaviour. Plan pages that target specific, high-volume, low competition search phrases.

Don’t be vague, don’t waffle, and help Google to help you!

When the economic gravy pot is bubbling merrily, and there’s ample business gravy slopping over, even the mediocre get a share. But when the economic ice age casts midnight shadows at noon, and credit wolf packs softly pad the empty streets, howling balefully at the waning moon… then, when you’re sucking the last congealed streaks of business gravy off your tarnished website spoon, ask yourself… Can you afford your website to be second rate, disorganised and drifting ever further into the icy wastes of mediocrity?

With a better understanding why SEO is so important to your website’s success, will you continue to ignore it?

Ben Kemp
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/the-why-of-seo-a-thermal-lifejacket-for-the-economic-ice-age-729218.html