Are you using PHP includes on your website?? You should. They are an amazing timesaver.

I'm not that into the whole technical part of it so I'll explain as best I can in English:

PHP includes are snippets of php markup that you add to the source code of your web page. When a user loads your page, the web server executes the include before loading the page to the users browser. This is the opposite of javascript in which the script itself is loaded to the browser and then it is executed.

The key to this in terms of SEO is that the search engine spiders will not see the PHP code, but instead will see the data is within it. This way you'll receive credit for the keywords and content that are in the include.

What do you use PHP includes for??

I use them for anything that I want to have across my site such as NavBars, Headers, Footers, even Adsense units. If I need to make a change, such as adding a new category to my NavBar, I only have to make the change once and it will update every page on the site.

How does it work??

Just create a simple text file in Notepad and add whatever info you would like to it. For example, lets say we are adding a Navbar. I'll save the file as navbar.txt.

Then, on the page you want the info to appear just add this bit of code:

< ?php include("navbar.txt"); ?>

This will automatically add whatever text you have saved in navbar.txt. And you can format the content the same way you would any other text.

Just one thing to remember...in order for the PHP code to work you have to save your web pages as PHP pages, not html. (index.php instead of index.html).

Use php includes wisely and you'll save yourself a lot of time. It also cleans up the source files, making them easier to edit.

Using Google Analytics

Not long ago, I set up a Google Analytics account and added their stats trackers to some of my sites. I must say I am very impressed with the results so far. I haven't even gotten around to testing all of the different features but some of the offerings include:

An Executive Summary sorted by date that includes geographic maps, line charts, and pie charts tracking your visitors.
A Marketing Summary that shows where your visitors are coming from and what keywords they are using to find your site.
A Content Summary that shows your most popular pages, and the top entry and exit points.
And a whole lot more...

What's great about Google Analytics is that its free and that it can rival many of the paid stats packages out there.

The one limitation I've noticed so far is that it only shows the top 5 in most categories. For example, the top 5 keywords used to find your site. This is a nice start, but I'd like to see a much more extensive list.

Also, due to high demand Google Analytics is currently being offered to webmasters by invitation. But that will likely change soon so make sure you grab one as soon as you can. You can give Google your info and request to be notified when they have a spot open here:
http://www.google.com/analytics/sign_up.html

Happy Father's Day!

Just want to take a moment to wish all you Dads out there a Happy Father's Day.

I made myself a promise to take this one day and not do any work at all. Just gonna spend the day playing with my 2 little girls.

Have a good one!

AdSense Hot Zones

So you've built a web site or are in the process of creating one and you want to know where to place your Google AdSense ads...

Everybody has their own opinion of what works and what doesn't. But here's the scoop directly from the source. Google itself has provided a map that shows where the hot spots are. In other words, where to place you ads to get the highest conversion rates.

Keep in mind every site is different, so you should play around and try the Adsense units in different spots to see what works best for you. But save this heat map and use it wisely...

http://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=17954

The Best Forums for Web Marketers

There are countless forums and discussion groups online that are devoted to internet marketing, affiliate marketing, web promotion, web design, etc. You'll find brilliant minds discussing every aspect of marketing and you can learn a lot from them. Here are the 3 forums I spend the most time reading:

Associate Programs - Geared mostly toward affiliate marketing, which is my main interest these days, Allan Gardyne's forum is perhaps the best for a web marketing beginner. The members and moderators are friendly and helpful and have an answer for just about any question you have.

The Warrior Forum - This is a fast paced forum with lots of members and discussions that can get a little beyond a beginner. But read them anyway and you'll soon start to put the pieces together.

SEOChat - A more technical forum that discusses SEO tactics and tips on improving your rank in the search engines.

Check these 3 forums out and read through some of the threads. There's a lot to absorb in them.

But don't spend too much time in them. Your best bet is to schedule a little time in them each day and stick to it. Don't forget you have to put what you learn into action. Otherwise you risk falling into the trap of 'paralysis by analysis.'

In addition to reading marketing and SEO topics, you should also keep up to date on whatever business or niche your web site serves. For example, if you own a site that deals with wine you should find forums that deal with wine and join them. Spend some time reading and posting messages with your url in your signature file and you can promote yourself as an expert on the subject, and hopefully bring in some customers while you're at it.

For help in finding forums or directories that are specific to your web site's topic, check out my earlier post on Finding Targeted Directories.

Don't Get Yourself Banned by AdSense

It's very tempting to click on your own Google AdSense ads or have someone
do it for you. With just the click of a finger you can add a few cents
(or a few dollars) to your account.

DON"T DO IT.

Google is smart and if they catch you they will shutdown your Adsense account forever. And AdSense is just too good of a thing to risk losing for a couple of bucks.

A buddy of mine found this out the hard way when he was banned for click abuse. And he didn't even click his own links.

He had told a bunch of his co-workers about his site and how we was pulling in $150 a month. He was so proud that he told them all to check out his site.

Unfortunately, a few of them thought they'd help him out by clicking on a bunch of his ads.

Well he was certainly excited to see that his revenue that day took off through the ceiling. But it all came crashing down when Google took it away and told him his account was deactivated due to click abuse.

He emailed them explaining what had happened but only got a form letter response that reiterated the terms of service and rejected his attempt to reapply.

I really don't blame Google for not believing him. They're kind of like the traffic cop whose heard every story 1157 times. And there are plenty of people out there abusing the system.

But keep this in mind the next time you think about clicking one of your ads for a quick score. And tell your friends and family not to click on them either. Their attempts to help you may ending up getting you banned.

Winning The Google AdSense Game

Words of wisdom from Mike Mograbi of Internet Marketing Newswatch concerning the question of building lots of little sites or focusing on growing one:

I wanted to share with you a quick and valuable lesson that I and
many others have learned from Internet Marketing Newswatch.

It is related to the right way to play the Google AdSense Game.

The Lesson is:

It is better and more profitable to work hard on creating one
high-quality website that offers high-quality, in-demand information
to site visitors, than to create hundreds of cheap sites, making
a few bucks a day, and getting banned/dropped out of major search
engines, like Google and Yahoo, in no time.

Does IMNewswatch offers high quality, in-demand information? Yes.

Will it get banned or dropped out of search engines? No, not
likely.

Will it last long? Yes, as long as there is internet marketing
news to be covered, which seems to be forever.

IMNewswatch is an online business. It gives people what they want
and that's how one succeeds online.

I had an SEO expert tell me that IMNewswatch could be making $1000
a day with AdSense, and that's only the beginning. A few months
down the road this figure could easily double as traffic increases.

That's around a solid $730,000 a year. Not bad for one site.

You would need over 600 cheap sites, making $3 a day for a whole
year to match this figure. That's IF they last for a few months,
let alone a whole year.

IMNewswatch Advice: You can make a lot more with Google AdSense
investing time to create quality websites, rather than wasting
money, time and effort creating tons of cheap perishable sites.

If you really do want to create those cheap sites, then it wouldn't
be a bad idea to create a few good/high-quality ones anyway.

You know something? Ultimately, it's all about giving people what
they really want, and they want hot/quality information. Give it to
them. They would be happy, search engines would be happy and
ultimately, you would be really happy. win-win-win.

Consider this as the most important lesson.

Mike Mograbi
www.imnewswatch.com
Internet Marketing Newswatch

5 Tips for Automating Your Business

If you're someone who can appreciate the value of a guaranteed
return on the time and money you invest -- and you're excited
by the prospect of making, say, $300 for every $1 you put into
your business...

... Then I have an exciting special report for you!

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Plus, he's going to show you how to make MORE MONEY this year (from $12,000.00 to $200,000.00 or more depending on your particular business and situation) than ever before.

He's not only going to reveal how he made over $3.5 Million in
online sales in the last 365 days using a series of powerful
e-mail marketing techniques and tools, along with case studies
of real people who increased their incomes by 242%... $80,000... even $200,000 using these strategies...

... By popular demand, he's also decided to share his
FREE MONEY system.

You may be astonished to learn that -- right now -- he has
students all around the world quietly using his FREE MONEY
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To read Derek's special report, that explains step by step how
this system works -- and how you can apply it to your business
immediately, visit:

http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/

All the best,

Mike Collins

P.S. By the way, as part of a special celebration, on this page
Derek's also giving away FIVE SUPER BONUSES (valued at over
$827, but yours FREE!), including the secrets of avoiding spam
complaints and getting your e-mail delivered to the
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But only the first 250 people who contact him will get this
ENTIRE bonus package, so visit:

http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/