Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter : Issue #18
Copyright (c) 2003 : http://www.ground-z.org
June 28 2003 : All Rights Reserved
Editor : Rik Tairea - webmaster@ground-z.org

The Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter is a monthly eZine created for webmasters and website owners who are looking for useful resources, tools, editorials, software, eBooks, promotion and design tips to help get the most out of a website. For in-depth reviews of webmaster resources and website tools, articles, books, software, awards and past newsletter issues visit http://www.ground-z.org


- In This Issue -

1. Introduction
2. Recommended Resources
3. Top 10 Resources @ Groundzero
4. Editors Corner
5. Promotion Tip
6. Recommended eBook
7. Design Review
8. Recommended Software
9. Contact/Unsubscribe/Subscribe/Privacy
10. Final Thoughts
11. Newsletter Details


- 1.Introduction -

Welcome to Issue #18 of the Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter. This month in the "Editors Corner" I talk about that "niche" buzz word and we also have the usual recommended resources, promotion tip, eBook, website design and software reviews.

Pop quiz hotshot, what do you call a webmaster who is working on too many websites for their own good? The answer, Rik, the funny thing, I love every minute of it.

But the problem is that some websites are neglected in the process with Groundzero becoming a casualty this month. I have been working my booty off this month on three of my other websites, this meant Groundzero was pushed down the order of things to do resulting in only minor maintenance work being done on it for the last few weeks.

I regard Groundzero as my main site because it's my biggest, page and content wise. It's a varied site with lots of different information that serves different purposes and it also includes publishing this eZine as well (which I love). I had to actually dedicate some hard time to produce this months issue.

One of these day's I'm going to have to go into some kind of partnership with someone in order to spread the workload, I could even resort to hiring an assistant (which is actually more common than you think) to do a bit of grunt work.

I wonder if there are any webmaster interns out there?

Enjoy this months issue!

Editor - Rik Tairea
Groundzero - http://www.ground-z.org


- 2.Recommended Resources -

Fr#e Flash Sites :
http://www.freeflashsites.com
Providers of fr#e flash files for your website, you can browse through their large selection of flash website templates/intros and download the ones you want for no cost. You can also submit templates or intros that you have created and receive credit and exposure.

Leo's Icon Archive :
http://www.iconarchive.com
The icon archive is a collection of fr#e icon sets of over 10,000 high quality icons in gif and ico format. View the icons and download them separately or download the original packages of icon sets for PC (zip) or MAC (sit/hqx). The gif icons can be used as web graphics for your webpages.

What is Copyright Protection :
http://www.whatiscopyright.org
This page covers the basic definitions regarding copyrights. It has been written using the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (Berne Convention) as the main bibliographical source and covers topics ranging from copyrights and the Internet to hot linking and frames.


- 3.Top 10 Resources @ Groundzero -

Here are the top 10 rated webmaster resources reviewed at Groundzero. Visit the "Webmaster Resources" section and read in-depth reviews on various website tools, guides, affiliate networks, traffic generators and software. New webmaster resources are added weekly and are rated out of 5.00.

1 - Logo Creator
2 - iPowerWeb
3 - Group Mail
4 - Ulead Cool 3D
5 - A Best Web
6 - CoffeeCup Firestarter
7 - 123 Log Analyzer
8 - Ulead GIF Animator
9 - Shareasale
10 - Effect 3D Studio


- 4.Editors Corner -

"Niche"

A few years ago I was told the simple traffic method of building a lot of webpages with unique information content on it in order to gain traffic. It's no big secret, and I know it sounds very similar to the cliche of "build it and they will come" (which really doesn't apply when promoting websites in this day of age).

I was told "if you make a million webpages, and each of those million pages gets one unique visitor a day, then the website that these webpages are hosted on (in theory) gets a million visits per day".

Now a million is a big number, but it's a great way to illustrate that particular theory. So let's push that number down quite a bit to something that is accomplishable by everyone, like one hundred (although this will depend on the type of your website). One hundred visitors a day = easy.

It's not rocket science, it's not a secret method, it's not built on hype and it's pretty much a fundamental fact that is straight forward and easy to implement.

1. create page content
2. optimize for 2 or 3 terms
3. make it easy to be found by search engine bots

Hands up who didn't know that formula.

Now some of you may be wondering why I'm writing about this to an informed audience of skilled webmasters? Mainly because the implementation of Step 2, or more precisely the"lack" of implementing Step 2 still amazes me.

The "build it and they will come" slogan is normally laughed at by veterans of website promotion, it worked a couple of times a few years ago, but because of all the competition out there now you would have to have a very unique site that has virtually no competition for it to work now.

This brings me to the word of the day - "niche".

I can hear some of you going, ugh, that word again and I can see why. It's a buzz word that's been recommended by every marketer and their dog for about a year now and I can understand if you're getting sick of reading it on every webmaster board and eZine.

But it works.

Finding a niche takes a little bit of work, and sometimes it can be easier said than done but it is possible. Once you find your niche, implementing Step 2 (optimize for 2 or 3 terms) in my opinion is very important. It's something I practice on every sales page I make these days and it also works on pure information sites as well.

For example, a new site of mine is now listed on the major search engines, every page sells a product that is listed under terms that have some competition but not very much, but there is still demand for said product. Each page is optimized for two keyword phrases but in some circumstances for one or even three, I won't give you all the statistics but the results are good so far.

Finding a niche (or in some cases niches) takes a bit of research and sometimes a tiny bit of luck, but the results can be well worth it. I usually don't compete for well used phrases (I have had a listing on page 14 for a certain competitive phrase for a while now) so aiming for more exact phrases is my method of choice when working for traffic.

Like some of you I despise Internet buzz words, but "niche"
is something worth looking into.


- 5.Promotion Tip -

JoeAnt Directory :
http://www.joeant.com

JoeAnt is a directory which is a little similar to the Open Directory Project and Yahoo where webmasters submit their websites for inclusion into an appropriate directory. Sections are run by editors (you can also apply to edit categories).

Just browse through the topics available and choose one that best suits your website, then click the "Suggest A Site" button at the bottom of the page and JoeAnt will guide you through the rest of the process.

Submission of your site for a guaranteed review within the next two business days (in relation to the date of your submission) is $39.99. This is non refundable.

Final placement will be determined by JoeAnt and its editors and use of the JoeAnt Speed-Pass Service does not ensure that your submission will be accepted for inclusion in the JoeAnt.com directory or that it will receive the site placement, title or description that you request. This is similar to the way Yahoo handles submissions.


- 6.Recommended eBook -

Title : Topic Distillation
Format : adobe acrobat document
Size : 757KB
Price : Fr#e
URL : http://www.searchengine-report.co.uk

In this 15 page fr#e report, Mike Grehan summarizes how topic distillation (finding the most authoritative pages on a particular subject) has been incorporated into search engine algorithms. The main aim of this eBook is to try and get across the fundamentals of what is loosely termed as link popularity.

Topics covered include :
- flat corpus text retrieval vs html pages.
- social networks, bibliometrics and citation analysis.
- hubs and authorities.
- search engine analysis.

Mike Grehan is Managing Director of an established British Internet Marketing Consultancy. He is also the author of Search Engine Marketing (formerly The Essential Guide To Search Engine Positioning) which is the second edition of the practice guide for online marketing professionals.


- 7.Design Review -

Site Name : egrafix
Type : web and graphic design
URL : http://www.egrafix.co.il

egrafix is a personal portfolio of the web, graphic design, photography and illustrations of it's creators. It is also a past winner of the Groundzero Design Award.

Judging by the entry page alone you know that egrafix is filled with high quality graphics thanks to it's artistic logo and unique color scheme. It also houses some great Macromedia Flash work that is very smooth and stylish.

What really catches my eye on this site is the art work graphics. For example, the entry graphic/logo reminds me of a classic painting and really sets the tone for the whole site. I'm not an art lover but I know what I like.


- 8.Recommended Software -

Name : AutoGallery Professional
Type : thumbnail gallery post software
Price : $55.00
Server : Unix/Linux
URL : http://www.jmbsoft.com/software/agp

The AutoGallery Pro software package is a powerful thumbnail gallery post (TGP) program. It will allow you to setup and maintain a TGP on your website and can be used on any type of site that has galleries of any type of item. Combined with proper marketing, a TGP can help to give your website traffic a boost.

In it's standard use, a TGP is a place where webmasters will be able to submit a link to one of the pages on their website. On this page will be small thumbnail sized images which link to larger pictures.

AutoGallery Pro will take submissions of these URLs, allow you to review and completely moderate them, and then automatically add them to the others in your list. The most recent postings are listed at the top, and the older at the bottom. Once a certain number of posts has been reached on your main page, AutoGallery Pro will place the oldest posts into categorized archives.

AutoGallery Pro is packed full of many features including Passprhase Protector, Gallery Analyzer and much more. Requirements needed include Unix/Linux server, Perl 5.003+, Htaccess, Basic Privileges, HTML Knowledge and Shell Access.


- 9.Contact/Unsubscribe/Subscribe/Privacy -

If you have any questions regarding this newsletter then please feel free to contact me by e-mail. You can also send in any feedback about the Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter. I love receiving e-mail so feel free to send in a message to just say hello or, if you need any help (website wise) then send in a question that I might be able to help you with.

contact - webmaster@ground-z.org
unsubscribe - unsubscribe@ground-z.org
subscribe - subscribe@ground-z.org

I absolutely despise SPAM and I will respect your privacy. I will not share or sell your e-mail address with anyone, I will not send you any unsolicited mail or collect any demographic information about you. Your e-mail address will only be used to receive the Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter and any correspondence with me will remain confidential.


- 10.Final Thoughts -

I hope you enjoyed Issue #18 of the Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter. Remember you can always read past issues of this newsletter on the website and the next issue will be sent out July 28th 2002. Please feel free to send any feedback or comments you may have about this newsletter.

If you want to recommend some webmaster resources/websites, eBooks, software or any well designed websites then let me know, even if it's yours. If it benefits others then I'll feature it in an issue of this newsletter so send it in.

If you think you know someone who might be interested in reading this newsletter then do them a favor and forward them this entire e-mail or point them to the Groundzero website located @ http://www.ground-z.org

If you want to help out some more and you think that this newsletter is useful then feel free to put a link on your website pointing to Groundzero @ http://www.ground-z.org

Thanks for your time and stay safe.
Rik Tairea :)


- 11.Newsletter Details -

You are receiving the Groundzero Webmaster Newsletter because you submitted your e-mail address by way of e-mail or a sign-up form located at Groundzero. If you do not wish to receive this publication anymore then use the unsubscription e-mail link located in Section 9.

No part of this newsletter may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission. You may forward this eZine by e-mail as long as you forward it in its entirety. It is forbidden to post this newsletter on any website or republish it in print or other media without prior written consent from the editor.