HTML Page Load Times – Making Them Quicker

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: WebDesign | Response: 0

Surfers on the web are here for one thing and one thing only, they want information, they want it to be correct and, more importantly, they want it now. We cant always help when it comes to getting the information however we can help them so far as making sure that when one of the surfers clicks on our pages they load quickly.

Taking Control Of Speed.

For many webmasters hand coding their HTML pages is an often timely and costly method and, because of this they turned to the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You get) editors such as Dreamweaver and Frontpage to create their pages for them however, even this in itself requires some manually intermission on the webmaster part. Many of the older style WYSIWYG Editors added a fair amount of un-needed code to the HTML so, spending a few minutes after you have your pages created to physically go through the HTML code and clean up the junk html can in effect, cut down your page size by up to 25% in some instances.

HTML Quotations And Hyphens.

In addition to un-needed HTML tags you may also want to consider removing any quotation marks or hyphens from your HTML code, both of these can quickly clutter up a page and laden it down with more code than is actually required.

For example, ‘HTML Coding’ makes just as much sense as me telling you HTML Coding when read in sequence. The trick with using quotations and hyphens is actually knowing at what point in your text you can ‘get away’ with removing them and, this is only something you will know yourself after proofing your completed page.

Hyperlinks.

If you are only going to provide links from one page of your site to another then, why use absolute paths? http://www.domain.com/linking.html is the same as /linking.html when you use it in a link from one page on your site to another and, well, in all honesty you have increased the load time of your page by only linking to the relative url instead of the absolute and that’s what we are trying to do here right? Make our pages load faster.

White Space.

White space on a web page can be a good marketing tool however, white space in your HTML code is a bad thing, placing spaces between certain parts of your HTML code can quickly bog down your load times instead, try to use the tab key to separate certain parts of code likewise, keep the use of &nbsp to a minimum, this can quickly become the most relevant term on your page if used in excess.

One other benefit of making your pages as small as possible is that a webmaster wanting to steal your HTML code is going to have a harder time finding the exact piece of coding if the HTML is all on a single line than they would if the code was laid out nicely however, this in itself is only a deterrent and it wont stop those webmasters determined to steal your HTML code.

Page Load Time Overview.

Hopefully this brief article has given you some idea of ways in which you can practically reduce the load time of your pages without affecting the overall look and feel of your site and, who knows, if your page loads quicker, then you have a better chance of your surfer getting to your sponsor quicker.

Article written by Lee

Adult Industry Standards – What Are They Exactly?

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: General | Response: 0

For some, the term ‘industry standards’ might seem like an oxymoron and, in such a wide spread global industry this might just be the case, the adult industry is not regulated in any way shape or form however, this term is thrown around with the best of them.

In this article we will take a quick look at some of the ‘standards’ which have been set and, for the most part, seem to be accepted across the online adult industry as a whole.

Industry Standards – The Basics.

‘Industry Standards’ are, in effect a set of guidelines or rules by which any person operating a business in a specific sector operate by. These may range fro charging a standard price for a product, operating in a certain way or something else. Most industries have their own set of specific ‘standards’ which are usually upheld regardless of whether they are actually written in law, as regulations, rules or, unwritten, unspoken standards.

Adult Industry Standards – The List.

This is a list of the 4 most common ‘Adult Industry Standards’ that webmasters would seem to operate their businesses towards, these are not ‘official’ industry standards more general operational guideline which are accepted as the ‘norm’ in our industry.

1) Adult Webmasters should use ‘legal’ content.
2) Adult Webmasters should abide by the rules of the sponsors they use.
3) Adult Webmasters should not promote ‘child pornography’ or imply the promotion of the same.
4) Adult Webmasters should operate their business within the scope of the law.

Taking the above four items into account, there of course, other standards by which webmasters already self-regulate to some extent for example, you shouldn’t steal other webmasters work, content, bandwidth (through hotlinking), etc. However, other than the four primary ‘unwritten rules’ above there doesn’t appear to be any special ‘code of practice’ to which webmasters should or even, can adhere to.

Taking the above information one step further, lets take a quick look at the adult industry sponsors, almost all of them have a different variation of their Terms and Conditions however, implied or otherwise, most of them tend to stick within the confines of the details already mentioned above. This in itself can lead webmasters into some troubles for example, promotion of sites, most sponsors have unwritten rules about what webmasters can and cant do to promote sites, no spamming paysites, no misleading links but, again, there are no ‘set’ rules that any two sponsors seem to say in the exact same manner.

Adult Industry Standards – Self Regulation.

We all know by now (at least those of us whom have been doing this for a few months) that the adult industry is pretty much self regulated and, whilst this is almost certainly a good thing it can also lead to complications. For example, ‘Webmaster A’ does something to promote a site that they got permission to do whilst, ‘Webmaster B’ does the same thing without having permission. in this instance, more often than not ‘Webmaster B’ will the one who gets their name blackened in the industry. it would also seem that, whilst those webmasters who have a long standing in the industry are capable of getting away with certain things, others, who perhaps have seen things done, when they try the same they get ridiculed.

Adult Industry Standards – Overview.

As ‘Adult Webmasters’ and, i would like to stress the ‘Adult’ part of that job title we have a lot of information thrown at us from the very first day of joining this industry, how we choose to use that information is up to us on an individual basis. That said, until the ‘standards’ are set on a level playing field i cant help wondering what effect, negative or positive our own style of self regulation is having on our associates and peers, does it help that we can go to message forums and call sponsors, hosts, other webmasters cheats? or, does this hinder our industry on a much wider scale?

One thing is for certain, if i were a journalist writing a report on the adult industry as a whole, i don’t even think i could write about the actual ‘business’ side of things after all, we all run our businesses as we see fit and, at the same time, read the rule book that would at least, for the time being, suit us as individual business owners.

Article written by Lee.

Building A Surfer Trap – Stage 6

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: Traffic | Response: 0

Stage 6 already!

Only 2 more stages to go after this tutorial until you have a fully functional surfer trap!

Ok as promised in the last tutorial, we are going to implement the table pages you hopefully made in our last tutorial.

You now need to signup for ANOTHER counter code. Use the same counter as you did last time and, again, make sure the URL you send the traffic from the counter to is your main Multi-Site FPA surfer trap page.

Ok, you have the new counter code, what you should do with this is place it on every one of the niche table pages we made yesterday. Nowhere else except on these pages.

Once you have the counter code placed you now need to go back to our consoles, what we are going to do is make these HTML table pages into a secondary console from off the first pop up that we get when a surfer visits any of our FPA’s.

What you should do is enter the following coding in between the <head> and </head> tags of the niche pop-ups ensuring that you choose a DIFFERENT niche to the one of your original consoles:

<!—— BEGIN CONSOLE CODE ——->
<SCRIPT language=Javascript>
<!–
var exit=true;
function exitcnsl()
{
if (exit)
open(“http://www.yourdomain.com/tableconsolepage.html”, “tables”,”toolbar=0,location=0,status=0,menubar=0, scrollbars=0,resizable=0, width=800,height=600,top=0,left=0″);
}
//–>
</SCRIPT>
<!—— END CONSOLE CODE ——->

You need to edit the figures for width= and height= to reflect the size of your table, ideally the frame of the console should be around 3 or 4 pixels either side of your tables.

Ok now once you have added the above to your existing pop-ups you now need to add the following to the newly created table consoles between the <head> and the </head> tags:

<SCRIPT language=javascript>
self.blur();
</script>

What this will do is once the first console loads, it will immediately load a second console but, this second console should be ‘hidden’ behind the main window that is displayed. We have created a blur console.

We now have one last thing to do with this ‘blur console’ that we have just created.

Go to the HTML coding for the table ad console and add the same JavaScript to that page however, this time you DO NOT need to use the self.blur section of the instructions or, change the sizes of the console that pops.

Instead you need to add the following to the <body> tag:

onUnload=”exitcnsl()” so as an example your body tag may look like this:

<BODY BGCOLOR=#000000 onUnload=”exitcnsl()”>

Now you also need to alter the location for the console that will pop this time, you have a choice, you can send the console directly to the ARS POTD program or, you can send it BACK to your Multi-Site FPA page, at which point the surfer will be able to select another niche or leave your site.

Now remember, this surfer trap IS aggressive however, every time one of your counter codes load both from the FPA’s where we implemented them AND on the newly created table consoles we are gaining extra traffic.

If you have ANY questions at all please do not hesitate to post on the forums and myself or one of our administrators will assist you.

Article written by Lee

Records Keeping Compliance Checklist for European Content Providers

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: 2257 | Response: 0

More and more European Content Producers are choosing to do business with American. webmasters. While citizens of foreign countries cannot be compelled to comply with United States’ restrictions on the creation of adult material, business realities are forcing foreign content producers to consider voluntary compliance. American webmasters, painfully cognizant of the increasing need to focus on legal compliance, consistently reject foreign content that is not produced in compliance with 18 U.S.C. §2257.  Non-compliant content not only increases the risk that an underage model could slip through, but failure to strictly comply is itself a federal felony, exposing those involved to a 2-year prison term.  Given the substantial compliance motivations involved, foreign content producers are expected to adopt the U.S. requirements as the global standard for creation of sexually explicit imagery.  The following constitutes a bare minimum checklist for compliance with the requirements of Section 2257:

1) Assume that all erotic images require Section 2257 compliance:  While the law only applies to actual “sexually explicit activity,” it is ill-advised for the content producer or the webmaster to attempt to guess which images require compliance, and which can be safely distributed without compliance. Since child pornography does not require the depiction of sexual activity to meet the federal definition, such distinctions can be risky business. And, in any event, a release given by a minor normally is not enforceable.

2) Obtain a signed compliance form created by a competent attorney:  Section 2257 requires that certain records be created containing certain information. The right form is the best place to start.

3) Obtain, at a minimum, the following information from each model:

a.     Date Of Birth

b.     Legal Name

c.     All other names, aliases, nick names, stage names, and maiden names

d.     Social Security Number

e.     Copy of Government-Issued Identification containing a picture; preferably 2 pieces of identification. Note the requirement that the producer actually examine the identification document, not just the copies.

f.       Address, phone and other contact information

g.      The model’s signature

4) Require the model to execute a binding model release prepared by a competent attorney.  The images are only as legal as the model release backing them up.  If all relevant rights have not been transferred and released by a valid model release, both the webmaster and the content producer are subject to claims once the content is displayed on a Web site.

5) Maintain the records so that they are cross-indexed by the models’ legal names and stage names and by web page. Alternatively, provide copies of all records to the webmaster if the webmaster will act as Records Custodian. You need to discuss the particulars of this with an attorney, because each circumstance may be unique.

6) The Records Custodian should maintain an off-site backup copy of the records: What happens if there is a fire or a government seizure?

7) Include a conspicuous records custodian disclosure on all CD’s / DVD’s containing erotic imagery, including the full legal name of the custodian and physical address where the records are kept.  The disclosure should also certify that all models are over the age of 18, and include the date when the content was first created, published or republished.  Placement of the disclosure on the product should be reviewed by an attorney.

Only through strict compliance with the mandates of Section 2257 will American webmasters fully embrace content produced overseas.  The right compliance procedure will open profitable markets for foreign content producers, and result in a wider variety of adult content for both webmasters and consumers.

Article written by Lawrence Walters

JavaScript Know How

Date: 2011.02.22 | Category: Scripts | Response: 0

JavaScript can be one of the most useful additions to any web page. It comes packaged as standard in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and, Netscape Navigator and allows webmasters to perform field validations, mouse-over’s, pop ups and a whole entourage of other nifty little features on our sites.

In this article we will show you how to:

– Display the browser name and version number
– Change the text in the status bar of the browser
– Use an input box to get text from the user
– Use a message box to display text to the user
– Change the title of the browser window

Before that, however, we need to know how to setup our web page so that it can run the JavaScript. JavaScript code is inserted between opening and closing script tags: <script> and </script>, like this:

<script language=”JavaScript”>

–> JavaScript code goes here <–

</script>

These script tags can be placed anywhere on the page, however, it’s common practice to place them between the <head>and </head> tags. A basic HTML page that contains some JavaScript looks like this:

<html>
<head>
<title> My Test Page </title>
<script language=”JavaScript”>

function testfunc()
{
var x = 1;
}

</script>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Hello</h1>
</body>
</html>

For the examples in this article, you should use the basic document format I have just shown you, inserting the JavaScript code between the <script> and </script>tags. When you load the page in your browser, the JavaScript code will be executed automatically.

Displaying the browsers name and version number.

The “navigator” object in JavaScript contains the details of the user’s browser, including its name and version number. They can be displayed in a browser using the document.write function:

document.write(“Your browser is: ” + navigator.appName);
document.write(“<br>Its version is: ” + navigator.appVersion);

I run Windows 2000 and Internet Explorer version 6, so the output from the code above looks like this in my browser window:

Your browser is: Microsoft Internet Explorer
Its version is: 4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0b; Windows NT 5.0)

Changing the text in the status bar of the browser.

To change the text in the status bar of a browser window, just change the “status” member of the “window” object, which represents the entire browser window:

window.status = “This is some text”;

Using an input box to get text from the user.

Just like in traditional windows applications, you can use an input box to get some text input from the user. The “prompt” function is all you need:

var name = prompt(“What is your name?”);
document.write(“Hello ” + name);

The prompt function accepts just one argument (the title of the input box), and returns the value entered into the text box. In the example above, you get the users name and store it in the “name” variable. You then use the “document.write” function to output their name into the browser window.

Using a message box to display text to the user.

You can display a message box containing an OK button. These are great when you want to let the user know what is happening during their time on a particular page. You can use a message box to display the “name” variable from our previous example:

var name = prompt(“What is your name?”);
alert(“Your name is: ” + name);

The “alert” function takes one argument, which is the text to display inside of the message box.

Changing the title of the browser window.

To change the title of a web browser’s window, simply modify the “document.title” variable, like this:

document.title = “My new title”;

One bad thing about the “document.title” variable is that it can only be manipulated in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Netscape’s implementation of JavaScript doesn’t allow for modification.

In Closing.

As you can see from the examples in this article, JavaScript is a powerful scripting language that can be used to enhance a visitor’s experience with our site. However, you shouldn’t use JavaScript too much because in some cases it can annoy visitors and send them packing before your site even loads!

Article Written By Lee

Converting Japanese Traffic – The Niche Paysites That Work

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: Traffic | Response: 0

Up to this point we have only looked at the European traffic sources and what niches convert for them however, we will now take a look at the Japanese specific adult surfers and, see just what makes them tick when they come to look online for porn.

Japanese Adult Traffic – Dispelling The Myths.

Contrary to popular beliefs Japanese porn surfers are not all looking for Bukakke or Hentai orientated adult sites in fact, the results we saw far from backed this up. Also, many webmasters believe Japanese traffic is worthless again, from our results this is simply not the case.

Japanese Adult Traffic – The Niches.

We were extremely pleased with the results we found from the Japanese traffic we got to our hub sites in fact, we altered the type of sponsors we used on our Japanese hubs so that we could see just how well this type of international adult traffic converted and, i think you will see the results are worthy of you sending your Japanese adult traffic to sites that do not encompass dialers as the only means of revenue for those surfers after reading this article.

Asian.

We set up a small niche specific ‘Asian’ hub trap that we could use to primarily filter our Japanese traffic through and, as we expected, very little of the traffic actually purchased memberships to these sites that were supposedly made specifically for Japanese surfers instead, all but 2 sales came from sites outside of this ‘Asian’ specific hub.

Ebony.

By far our best converting niche on Japanese traffic, the sales figures we saw from a join perspective were enough to warrant that we altered the rest of our hub site to ensure maximum exposure of the Ebony niche sites we were using to get them in front of the Japanese surfer as quickly as possible.

Anime / Hentai / Toon.

Again another surprise, the sales we saw on these niche paysites were lower overall when compared to sites in completely different niches what was also surprising about this is that the vast majority of adult webmasters will actively push their Japanese traffic to sites in this niche.

Bukakke.

Finding a Japanese Bukakke sponsors was impossible for us, instead, we opted to send the traffic to a US only paysite and, as expected, we had no sales for this niche on the Japanese traffic we saw flowing through our sites. As mentioned above with the Anime niche, this is often the first type of site adult webmasters will send their Japanese speaking traffic too and, as we thought, this is wrong.

Teen.

The teen niche converted really well for us, not as well as the ebony niche did but non the less, we received a steady amount of signups each month, this steady signup rate was also added to by recurring incomes from the previous months signups towards the end of our three month test period.

Gay.

As with the Bukakke niche paysite we received absolutely no sales to the Japanese gay paysite we used in our hub site this was surprising as even with the other international traffic we had gotten at least one sale a month but, alas, it seems the vast majority of Japanese surfers do not want to see naked men online.

Amateur.

Specifically amateur web cam sites converted for us on our Japanese traffic and again, this was good because of the rebills at the end of the month in fact, we still have some rebills continuing now some 5 months after our test period ended.

Japanese Adult Surfers – An Overview.

As expected at the start of the test period, Japanese adult surfers are not primarily interested in Bukakke and Anime sites in fact, it would appear they were primarily interested in the Ebony paysites we had to offer them. This is interesting in itself because, when offered ‘Asian’ niche paysites we only achieved 2 sales a month compared to the vast amount of sales to the Ebony niche, I think it might be worthwhile re-visiting Japanese traffic at a later date so we can evaluate exactly what preferences they have over time.

One other thing we discovered when testing the Japanese traffic was that, as we have been saying for a long time, Japanese surfers do hold credit / debit cards and, will use them online if their needs can be matched. This is good as if, like us, you use recurring sponsors on this type of traffic you will see some good long term residual income.

Article written by Lee

AVS Changes – Is The Proverbial Sky Falling?

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: General, Promotion | Response: 0

With the announcement yesterday from several of the large AVS systems, Free Age Card, Sex Key and, Gay Passport (also speculation on and off the forums state that Mass Pass were aware of this happening) that they will no longer allow webmasters to use the terms; AVS, Adult Verification Service, AGE Verification Service and, Access to thousands of other sites what does this hold in store long term for AVS webmasters?

Quite simply, it looks at first glance as if these changes have something to do with the speculation surrounding VISA and AVS systems from a few months ago.

In fact, these changes have been on the horizon for some time now however, until yesterday webmasters seemed to be unsure as to what, if anything will be changing. Even though the speculation has been circulating for some time, one of the first AVS systems to envoke these new rules, Sex key, came out with the following statement; ‘While we knew changes were coming, we just now found out what we believe are the new requirements. With this new information, we are trying to comply as quickly as humanly possible.’ quickly followed by; ‘We felt it was better to give people a chance to modify their sites this weekend rather than to not be in compliance Monday.’- Craig Tant.

One thing is certain, come Monday, there WILL be a lot of unhappy webmasters

So apart from the added workload for webmasters what other issues is this likely to bring up in the immediate future, well, again, based on the rumors and, i should stress that is all they are up to this point in time, from a few months ago we could expect one or more of the following items to happen to the AVS model as we know it.

1) Visa starts to charge the AVS companies the $750 fee just to process memberships.
2) Visa starts to charge individual webmasters the $750 fee to use an AVS service.
3) AVS Systems cease to exist.

So, lets break each of the above items down and see how it will have a long term effect on both AVS webmasters and, the adult industry as a whole.

AVS Companies Charged $750 Visa Fee’s.

In itself this isn’t a big issue that we should be immediately worried about, after all the AVS company will be the one footing this bill and, with the amount of traffic and sales that these programs get $750 is a relatively small pebble at the foot of a mountain. That said however, some of the smaller AVS systems might end up having to close because they cant afford the fees in much the same way that some Amateur paysite owners had to close their aff programs.

Webmasters Charged $750 Visa Fee’s.

This is the option that i am most concerned with, after all, with thousands of AVS sites being built each day and being submitted to literally hundreds of AVS companies the potential cost of this could run into thousands for individual webmasters.

Of course, with this expense there also comes some benefits. The immediate benefit that comes to mind is that a lot of the dishonest webmasters will refuse to or, be unable to pay this fee that in itself will lighten the strain for the rest of the industry.

There is also the possibility that webmaster may need to pay this fee for each and every AVS that they submit to which, in itself will not only harm the individual webmasters but, it will also see the rise and, dare i say it, fall of some of the smaller or less profitable (from a webmasters point of view) AVS companies. No doubt if this did ever happen the likes of Cyberage, UGAS, Global Male Pass et al will be unaffected as, they have enough of a webmaster following and traffic base to ride this potential storm out.

AVS Systems Cease To Exist.

This is potentially the worst case scenario and, whilst i will be the first to admit that this is VERY unlikely to happen, the possibility needs to be looked at.

What happens to all of your sites you have in the AVS systems? What happens to all of your potential rebills? What happens to all of that AVS traffic?

Well i would say for the most part, changing your sites from AVS to the free model wont be such a big deal for webmasters however, the financial losses to individual webmasters and companies could run into hundreds of thousands a month. With these financial losses will more webmasters leave the industry or, will more of the AVS webmasters start running TGP’s and dilute the traffic quality even further?

Speaking of traffic, we all know by now that AVS traffic is qualified potent traffic but, what will happen when this traffic, should the AVS be closed down, hit the adult web again? Quite simply long term the effects of such a force could have positive and negative effects ranging from paysite memberships sales rising to the onslaught and proliferation of free porn being searched for again – good news for TGP owners.

As you can see from the above, all of the speculation, rumors and, facts speak for themselves in so much as, if you are an AVS webmaster, you NEED to start diversifying your business model to ensure that even if the worst doesn’t happen, you are still able to be profitable online.

Article written by Lee

SEO Pyramid Scheme

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Search Engine Optimization | Response: 0

I thought i would spend a little time to let you guys in on a little something i like to call the SEO Pyramid Scheme

Basically, we all know the importance of targeting specific keywords and phrases however, this isn’t necessarily the easiest of things to do until now…

Lets take a simple free site as our example, We know we have to have Meta Tags, Descriptions, Alt Texts and Body text on our site but how do we keep this all in within the theme of our site and, more importantly, how do we make sure we target as much of our niche traffic as needed? Actually the process itself is a simple one that has been around for many years however, very few people make good use of it.

So we have our free site all ready and waiting to be optimized for the search engines the first thing we need to do is take a look at our sites content (read as images) and make a short mental description of them so for example, if we have a teen site the pictures may be of a ‘blonde sexy teen model wearing stockings’.

That description is the basis for our keyword pyramid.

We now have to construct our pyramid based on that brief description so we start o break it down word by word for example:

Blonde
Sexy
Teen
Model
Stockings

That is our primary layer in the pyramid already completed, not so hard really was it

Now comes our second level in our SEO pyramid:

Blonde Sexy
Sexy Teen
Teen Model
Model Stockings

As you can see from this we now have our secondary layer of the pyramid all worked out onto our tertiary layer:

Blonde Sexy Teen
Sexy Teen Model
Teen Model Stockings

Now we have our tertiary layer for our pyramid we can continue this for further layer like this:

Blonde Sexy Teen Model
Sexy Teen Model Stockings

Again, we can break this down one more level like this:

Blonde Sexy Teen Model Stockings

We now have 5 layers to our pyramid.

The next stage is to incorporate these layers into both your Meta Tags and, more importantly you body text.

Take each layer in turn and, where possible include one line from each later into each portion of our HTML code from the Meta Tags, Alt Tags, Main Body Text, Hyperlink Text and, Image File Names.

By working through each layer of this SEO pyramid at a time you will not only discover keyword rich phrases that you could otherwise be missing out on in the search engines but, you will give your sites a theme making your chances of being listed for the correct search terms even better.

Article written by Le

Adult Webmaster Health

Date: 2011.02.21 | Category: General | Response: 0

Sounds to me like you are a webmaster. Most of us realize that working at a computer everyday can and often is, bad for our health in one way, shape or, form. However, how do we alleviate these potential problems with our health?

Well in this article I will detail some of the things that can often affect the webmasters in our industry and how they can be solved.

RSI (Repetitive Stress Injuries) are the results of, as you may have figured out already, the effects of constantly doing the same movements over and over again using specific parts of your body. One of the most common of these that webmasters are aware of is CTS (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) which is a result of typing a lot.

So, how do you combat the effects of CTS? First and foremost, if you experience any form of pain at all, your first port of call should be the doctor, the pain you are feeling could be an indicator of a bigger problem. If you think your pain might be caused by use of the computer then an occupational therapist might also be a good person to visit.

CTS is often attributed to use of your digits and poor hand positioning when you type one way to solve this problem is to go to Office Depot and purchase a wrist rest, this will ensure your wrist has ample support whilst you are working throughout the day.

You might also like to try re-positioning your monitor, as a general rule of thumb, having your monitor placed about 20 inches away from your face will usually result in good posture and that in itself can often be a solution to the potential medical problems. One other thing on your posture, get a good chair, one with a high back may be good, these generally offer you more support and, can stop that awkward habit of leaning into your keyboard when you type.

Eyestrain, Eyestrain is another common problem that the webmaster faces, often it leads to things such as excessive headaches, fatigue and, blurry vision, the most acceptable relief from eyestrain is the use of screen filter that will reduce the glare your monitor emits.

There of course, some other things you can do to alleviate this problem such as, Adjusting your monitor so the top of the screen is no higher than eye level, as already mentioned, keeping the monitor a safe working distance from you, usually between 18 and 30 inches is recommended by doctors.

We know computers are machines and tend to forget that our own bodies are complex machines which, should be looked after just as our computers should be, we often forget that sitting at the PC building what was meant to be a 10 minute site can turn into an hours worth of ‘online work’. Take some time every now and again to stand up and walk for 5 minutes, even if it is just to the local store to buy some more smokes, you are actually getting some exercise and, even though the tar in your smokes will end up killing you anyway, you’ll at least be able to work a little longer without getting any problematic computer related medical symptoms.

This article is not meant as an alternative to visiting your physician and, should you think that any of the above are relevant to you then it is recommended that you visit your doctors without delay and follow any advice that they give you.

Article written by Lee.

Outsourcing – Becoming More Profitable Online

Date: 2011.02.24 | Category: Employment | Response: 0

As webmasters we already do a lot of outsourcing from hosting our sites to design and marketing to getting traffic which we send to our sponsors. However, many of us are missing out on opportunities to outsource even more of our work and, by missing these opportunities, we are losing money.

Outsourcing work can consist of anything from translations, design, scripting, marketing, seo, site submissions and pretty much anything and everything in between.

However, before we outsource some work to others there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration these are what will be addressed in this article.

Cost.

Ensuring we work ‘cost-effectively’ is one thing we all want to do, we need to make a profit whilst still being able to develop our business further. One good way to find out if the costs of outsourcing outweighs the cost of keeping the work in house to make a simple list of both the time and financial involvements both in and out of house. For example, in house you may have employees that need paying to do the work, you will almost certainly need to spend a lot of your own time on the project and, more likely than not you will need to research the work you want to undertake, all of this can become costly when looked at in detail a good reason to outsource your work to another company or individual.

Benefits.

How will outsourcing benefit you and your business? As with the cost example above make a list of things that will benefit you from the time saved on the project to the monetary benefits of outsourcing the work and the completion times often, by outsourcing your work you can have it done in much less time than if you handled it yourself ‘in-house’ so to speak.

Flexibility.

What are the indirect benefits of you outsourcing your work? Not necessarily the money saved but more along the lines of time management. if you give a designer a list of ideas and suggestions you WANT your work to have, chances are, they will get it right the first time whereas, if you amble along experimenting with what you actually create you may, in effect, take much longer to complete the task in hand. By saving yourself time what else can you get done, whether it is building more sites or marketing your existing sites further the indirect benefits all weigh up more often than not, these benefits will be favorable to outsourcing the work.

Risk.

This is probably THE most important thing to take into account when considering outsourcing your work, what happens if, you pay for the outsourcing and, overnight the company who is doing the work for you goes out of business? What happens if someone you have in your employ decides that they would rather be doing the work rather than you outsourcing it? Financially can you afford to outsource the work? All of these factors need to be considered before undertaking any form of outsourcing.

Basically, what I am trying to tell you is that, if you spend a few moments actually running the numbers as oppose to the ideas you have in respect of your workload you will see that outsourcing can be come a valuable asset to your business and, more importantly, your bottom line profits.

Article written by Lee