A Brief Tutorial in Social Networking

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There are a variety of avenues to explore when it comes to optimizing a website's visibility. The use of social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, has become a popular strategy for sites hoping to expand their demographic and get their brand visible by thousands, if not millions, of prospective customers who access these networking sites on a daily basis.

For example, Facebook enables any company to create a profile or Fan Page that prospective clients become aware of through mass invitation. A company invites fellow Facebook members to "become a fan" of their site through a personalized message they see when logging on to their account. When Suzy becomes a fan of a company's site, Suzy's information is shared with her network of friends who can see her recent activity each time they log on. "Suzy just became a fan of Joe Blow's Vacuum Service", for example. For many of Suzy's friends, this is enough to peak their curiosity, prompting them to investigate Joe Blow's Fan Page. This type of social networking creates a "trickle-down" effect, enabling a web of visibility as more and more networks of friends tune in to the activity.

Likewise, a Twitter account enables a company like Mr. Blow's to give up-to-the-minute status reports pertaining to the actions of their company over the course of the day. A typical "tweet" for a company like Joe Blow's Vacuum Service might read: "3/3/2010 9:30AM Just posted a new BLOG entry about our Super Suction Cups. Check it out!"Over time, directing accumulating followers to educational information will incite "buzz", that is to say more and more people will start to discuss a company's informative articles in online forums, through other social media outlets, or via email. Either way, by optimizing visibility through social media and directing end users to useful, educational information, more people over time will come to know a company and their site. They will consider the company a trusted source for helpful information, and therefore any of the products or services offered on the site will likewise be considered worthy of their consideration.

The goal of Twitter, from a business perspective, is networking. By opening an account up to an inner circle of friends and business associates, a business owner is in turn breaking the threshold into a vast array of potential business relationships. The key is information - insightful, educational, unforgettable information. The seed gets planted within a small niche of friends or close business associates, and then it grows. More and more people refer to the site as a useful resource for not just great products or services, but for information that makes their life, or just their online experience, more enjoyable. Look at all those viral YouTube videos that spread like wildfire throughout the web. It's the same concept, just a different medium.

When someone comes across an informative resource online they often bookmark it, like someone might bookmark this page or this site as a valuable resource for information on SEO. Many times bookmarks are catalogued on websites like buzz.com or del.icio.us. Even Facebook and MySpace have tools their members can use to index their favorite web pages. The goal for a business owner, of course, is to have as many end users bookmark their site as possible. When a search engine spider crawls a page and detects a link to their website, the site can increase in relevance. Many sites may ask their users to install a badge or icon on their site that contains a link back to their site. This is considered reciprocal linking, and is another chapter entirely, but the principle is still the same. The goal of all this, the Twitter account, the Facebook Fan Page, even article submission and forum posts, is to give a website as much external visibility and relevance as possible. There are many sites similar to Twitter and Facebook with a more direct approach to helping online businesses and websites achieve visibility. These sites are great resources for companies to promote their products and services in a professional and intriguing tone.

To conclude, there are many ways to increase a website's visibility within the social pipeline. There are companies out there whose main focus is to help companies establish and grow a social network to use to market directly to their customer base. They strive to get their clients visible through every known medium, starting with Twitter and Facebook accounts, evolving that into online press releases and frequent article submission with a professional and knowledgeable tone that endeavors to inform and attract a broad demographic of online users to their clients' sites. Still, this is just one small aspect of the overall SEO package, a practical integration of a business into the social pipeline that is becoming more and more paramount for a business to be successful online.

Electrical Engineering Study Options

Electricity makes up a major part of today's modern society making it a prevalent career choice for many college students. Students have many educational options to choose from if they want to become an electrical engineer. Study options at the collegiate level range from certificate programs to doctorate programs.

When pursuing an education in electrical engineering students work through programs that focus heavily on math and science. Programs are completely focused on teaching students through a rigorous curriculum to create, produce, test, and maintain the manufacturing of electrical equipment. Equipment includes motors, machinery controls, power systems, computers, electric devices, and much more. Degree programs match the need for all of these areas by providing numerous concentration options for career study. The career goal of students will dictate what level of education is needed.

Students that want to enter a career working to repair and maintain electrical equipment should consider earning an associate's degree. Entry-level jobs can be gained in areas that include:

* Communications
* Electronics
* Medical Equipment
* Automation

Students that want to advance their knowledge of electrical equipment to broaden their job prospects most often enter associate's degree programs. Education covers information at the basic level to give student's foundational understanding of electricity and electronic measurement. Some careers may require some on-the-job training to be fully qualified for a certain position. Students can expect to earn a practical degree that is usable within the field and in further study.

Earning a bachelor's degree is the best starting point for students and it creates the most career options upon graduation. Degree programs last four years and teach students the design and analysis procedures in regards to electronic applications. Careers can be entered inside fields that include:

* Circuitry
* Information Theory

Education focuses on giving students knowledge in mechanics, thermodynamics, physics, and electrical circuits. Students can expect to learn design principles and the theoretical practices that go into creating electrical equipment. Many programs require students to choose a concentration in their last year of study. Some options can include power systems or digital systems. Programs give students hands-on experience in areas like control systems, circuits, and microprocessors.

Students work through their chosen concentration at the undergraduate level inside a master's degree program. Fields of study can include:

* Optics
* Nanotechnology

The education completed prepares students for advanced careers inside their place of work. Further understanding on how to research, develop, and create electrical systems is gained. Networking, computer engineering, circuit design, and automatic control are degree courses that prepare students for management level responsibility. Earning a terminal degree at the PhD level of education gives students the knowledge to research and teach others about the field of electrical engineering.

The field of electrical engineering provides students with numerous career options based on their level of education. Completing an accredited educational program allows students to become a member of the electrical engineering industry. Full accreditation is proof of a quality learning program. Agencies like the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ( http://www.abet.org/ ) can fully accredited programs that meet certain criteria. Learn about possible study options available to begin training.

DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.

Copyright 2010 - All rights reserved by PETAP.org.

Special Education Teacher Salary Range

Today, teaching is a highly noble profession in United States and attaining a degree in special education facilitates you enhance your teaching career. This special teaching program helps you learn special skills including understanding diversity or counseling. During this course, you receive training and educational information that educates you how to impart the knowledge to the students.

Today a special teacher's salary largely depends on the location of school in which you choose to make your living. At times, a public school position may offer you a salary package complete with paid summer vacations and a pension. Besides this, sometimes the salary range or details also vary upon the municipality and the type of school in which you teach. Generally, suburban schools compensate more salary than urban or inner-city schools, but on other side it can be difficult to find jobs in the higher paying districts.

The median annual salary for special education teachers is $47,000. Apart from this, the top 10 percent earn more than $77,000, and the lowest 10 percent earn less than $32,000. However, the median earnings in the industries employing the largest number of special education teachers are:

* Elementary and Secondary Schools - $52,200
* Child Day Care Services - $36,140
* Residential Mental Retardation, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities - $40,000
* Educational Support Services - $49,880
* Government - $50,000

In most schools, special education teachers can also enjoy extra pay for coaching sports and working with students in different extracurricular activities. Some teachers also receive extra income during the summer, working in the school system or in other jobs.

Certainly, special teacher's salaries can be highly regarded in the education industry. Talking something more apart from salary range that you cannot ignore is that most classroom teaching or special education positions come with the extra benefits like summer vacations, winter and spring breaks, a pension plan, comprehensive health care and life insurance benefits.

Today the employment of special teachers has increased dramatically and expected to increase faster than average. The number of special education teachers is also predicted to increase by 15 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than the average for all occupations. The ratio of student enrolling in special teaching programs is increasing and in next few years the salary of special education teachers is also expected to boom further.

Rising Demand of Overseas Education Consultants in India

A large number of Indian students nowadays prefer getting their education in abroad because of new opportunities opening up there. It has become easier for them to bear high fee structure and high cost of living due to easy availibility of loans. This increased number of students interested in making global career have contributed greatly in the demand of education consultants by leaps and bounds. Upon realizing the probable importance of Overseas Education Consultants in India, the Government of India has founded the organization 'Education Consultants India Limited (Ed. CIL)' in the year 1981. The body was formed with an aim to offer guidance and right direction to prospective Indian students.

With the increase in number of courses available and subjects offered in various streams, the requirement of education consultants has tremendously felt by the students in recent years. The motto of educational consultants is to provide specialized information on the country where the students would want to study, the university they would want to join and course they would want to opt. Counsellors are there to councel students who are not able to decide what course should they opt and how enormous is the scope of a particular course. The unlimited options available in the courses offered to the students today has made them extremely cautious and choosy about their academics. Also, peer pressure is strongly associated with the level of success in academics and their is a great deal of peer-pressure that students are facing throughout their career building these days from family, friends or society. The situation arises the need to visit the educational consultants to seek information, suggestions and idea from those counsellors which are necessary in building a right career path. Overseas educational consultants help these students to get their dream fulfilled who want to seek education from foreign countries by getting them admitted in a renowned university situated across easily. They also assist them in completing the necessary formalities while getting admission in an institute outside. Education consultants in India have set up their branches in every corner of the nation, emcompassing major cities and towns, with their popularity increasing and demand rising among the students in India. However, to some extent, with the advancement in the technology and easy accessibility of Internet facility, there are a lot of information available on the net from where the students can get immediate information without a need to visit those consultants.

Many Education consultant agencies have started offering various services nowadays in addition to providing guidance and information. One of the services includes coaching for entrance examinations such as GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS and others. They also conduct personality development programs that helps students to deal better with group discussions, campus interviews and personal interviews. Education Consultants offering required assistance to the students are blessings for them in the era of excessive information and abundance of options available.

Link-Building Policy for Bing

It’s easy for everyone to get caught up in obsessing about how to optimise your site & build links for Google, when trying to market through search. That’s certainly a wise thing to do, considering Google totally dominates the search market. But, there are still other search engines that some people are using, so it is wise to make sure your site is performing to the best of its ability in those too!

Obviously the other two engines are Yahoo and Bing and whilst Yahoo is seemingly declining fast, Bing is actually gaining a market share. Furthermore, if the deal between Microsoft and Yahoo goes through, Bing search will be talking over Yahoo anyway. With the muscle of Microsoft behind Bing, you can be sure the search engine won’t be prepared to play second fiddle to Google for long!

However, unlike Google, we don’t hear much about what Bing wants out of a site for decent rankings, but Rick DeJarnette of Bing Webmaster Center has shared some dos and don’ts of link-building for Bing. Not surprisingly, a lot of his advice for complying with Bing’s policies, does not differ too much from the advice that Google would give you. It is however, still always nice to hear what they think, just to clear up any possible confusion.

Like Google, Bing places great emphasis on quality links to determine its rankings. “Just don’t make the mistake of believing it will result in instant gratification. Successful link building efforts require a long-term commitment, not an overnight or turnkey solution,” says DeJarnette. “You need to continually invest in link building efforts with creativity and time.”

What You Should Do!

DeJarnette shared some tips for getting more quality links. The following are Bing’s tips for effective link building (paraphrased):
1. Develop your site as a business brand and brand it consistently
2. Find relevant industry experts, product reviewers, bloggers, and media folk, and make sure they’re aware of your site/content
3. Publish concise, informative press releases online
4. Publish expert articles to online article directories
5. Participate in relevant conversations on blogs/forums, referring back to your site’s content when applicable
6. Use social networks to connect to industry influencers (make sure you have links to your site in your profiles)
7. Create an email newsletter with notifications of new content
8. Launch a blog/forum on your site
9. Participate in relevant industry associations and especially in their online forums
10. Strive to become a trusted expert voice for your industry, while promoting your site

What You Should Not Do!

DeJarnette shared a list of things that you should avoid in your link building efforts, if it is a good Bing ranking that you are after. Here is what Bing says will get your site reviewed more closely by staff:
1. The number of inbound links suddenly increases by orders of magnitude in a short period of time
2. Many inbound links coming from irrelevant blog comments and/or from unrelated sites
3. Using hidden links in your pages
4. Receiving inbound links from paid link farms, link exchanges, or known “bad neighborhoods” on the Web
5. Linking out to known web spam sites

“When probable manipulation is detected, a spam rank factor is applied to a site, depending upon the type and severity of the infraction,” says DeJarnette. “If the spam rating is high, a site can be penalised with a lowered rank. If the violations are egregious, a site can be temporarily or even permanently purged from the index.”

Most of the stuff DeJarnette shared is nothing any experienced search marketer is not already aware of, but it can be quite helpful when a search engine itself lays out what to do and not to do, to help webmasters get better rankings.

in reference to:

"Link-Building Policy for Bing"
- http://www.freshwebz.co.uk/blog/ (view on Google Sidewiki)

Google Sidewiki entry by SEO Expert

Banners have been a major part of the World Wide Web world since its early days. Copywriters burn the midnight oil looking for new designs that will grab the visitor’s attention and compel him to click on their banner. This article discusses some of the most successful banner designs.

Teasing your curiosity

“Do Not Click Here”. How many of you have seen this slogan in a banner? What did you do when you first saw it? If you are like most people, when you first saw it, you clicked on it. What makes this simple sentence so powerful that it compels the visitor to click on it? The answer is curiosity !!!

Copywriters and web designers are always looking for ways to arouse the website visitor’s curiosity. As banner designers their goal is to attract the visitor to the banner, usually completely ignoring the other elements on the web page that are more important to the website owner. However, because the “Do Not Click Here” slogan tells us nothing about what is on the next page, it arouses the visitor’s curiosity and makes it almost impossible not to click on this banner to see what’s behind it.

Simple integrated design

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin first introduced their product, “Google”, to potential investors, they mentioned Adwords as a backup option in case they didn’t make any money. We all know how lucky they were that they eventually needed to use that backup plan. What made these “boring” ads such a great success?

Unlike other ads, Adwords neither arouse the visitor’s curiosity nor disturb the main flow of the web page. In fact, the opposite is true. Adwords are meant to look like part of the search results giving the user the feeling that those ads are there because he asked for them. No one has any doubt that this simple design helps Google to promote both their search engine and the Adwords advertising program.

Take part in the action

Banner designers wisely used interactive technologies like Flash to develop type of banners that invite the user to take part in the action. Drawing the user into the action can be accomplished in many creative ways. Some web designers use popular old games elements as part of the scene. You all know the famous game pacman. One of the banners that I like the most is the one where the user is allowed to let pacman “eat” few dollar signs. At the successful completion of this mission, a nice slogan is revealed asking him to open a saving account that will earn money with a fixed interest rate. The idea behind those interactive banners is simple: Let the user take part in the action and then at the right moment when his mind is less resistant, show him the sales message. Those interactive banners proved to be very efficient. Their biggest disadvantage is that most webmasters will not allow that kind of banner because it distracts too much from the web page content.

Back to Black and White

Website designers are always seeking to be different with their design ideas. One banner fashion trend that can be found lately is Black and White banners. Although research shows that blue and yellow are the most efficient color to use in a banner, Black and White banners have been seen a lot lately. It’s probably something that will eventually vanish, but the idea behind it is to be different and to make the user wonder what’s up and hopefully click on the banner to find out.

Get Out of the box

Have you heard about the mrfdesign.we.bs If not, check out this website before continuing to read this article. This website has proven that creative thinking not only can bring you money but also create a whole new trend. Right after the milliondollarhomepage.com got the internet community’s attention, many designers used this idea to deign a banner on which they sell a 10x10 pixel area. Like the original concept, this banner design had its impact. Advertisers are investing money on these ad spaces while at the same time visitors are curious enough time after time looking at those unorganized pixel banners to click on them.

What about the next trends

What the

in reference to: The White House (view on Google Sidewiki)

eCommerce Website Design

250 Free Business Cards

eCommerce websites have their own unique character that is designed to lead the visitor to one simple task – make an online purchase. A web designer needs to consider a variety of online selling principles while designing an eCommerce website. In this article we will try to take a look at some of the major design aspects that you must have in an eCommerce website.

Many of you are probably already asking why eCommerce website design is different from any other website design. They all need to be attractive, well organized and use the right colors that fits the website spirit and so on. Your instincts are good. However a close look at some successful eCommerce websites will reveal the conceptual differences that are typical in a successful eCommerce website.

An eCommerce website needs to follow certain selling principles:

1. Give the user a pleasant experience during his online shopping.
2. Make certain you provide sufficient information on who owns the website and why they should be trusted.
3. The website must be easy to use. If it isn’t, the visitor will go to your competitor.


Those principles are not new. We all know those basics from our day to day experiences in the mall, shopping center and every other market place that is waiting for us to open up our wallets. The big challenge for a web designer is how to translate those conventional marketing techniques to the virtual world of the internet. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that in most supermarkets the bread stand is placed at the far end of the building, yet you can smell the fresh bread at the entrance (sometimes they even use a special air duct to carry the smells). That has been done deliberately. Marketers use our sense of smell to draw us through the store where we are exposed to all sorts of tempting goodies as we go to get our loaf of bread.

How do you draw an imaginarily path in a web page? A path designed to lead the visitor to do what you want him to do…make an online purchase. Unlike the supermarket our website has no smell. In a website the distance from one point to the other is pretty much the same, so the exit is always right there. In a website you can try to order the “shelf” in the way you think will best expose the visitor to many of your products, but there is always a chance that he will find a short cut to another page that can also be the way off your site.

As can be see, although putting your products on the web is much easier then renting space and opening a supermarket. However, selling your products on the web can be difficult.

A good eCommerce website design will lead the visitor to the right page in one click or two at the most. Sometime web designers will use techniques that would never be considered for non-eCommerce websites. Everyone has seen at least one sales letter website. On these web pages the only link is to the order form. Sales letters are not the most typical eCommerce website because they usually sell only one product. That allows the web designer the ability to exaggerate the one click principle and make it an advantage. All the facts about the product have been presented to the user is a smart way while every few lines he has the option to click on the order form. If he is not yet convinced he will have the option to continue to read more facts and testimonials about the products. Believe it or not, those sales letter websites are actually selling.

“What about online shops?” Online shops have to deal with more then one product. Of course, the greater number of products increases the complexity of the website. Sophisticated eCommerce websites use a variety of personalization technologies in an effort to determine the best selection of products to offer to the visitor. Personalization technologies are a major part of advanced eCommerce websites. However this topic is beyond the scope of this article. The cleverness of an eCommerce website’s personalization technology has a major influence on its design. The first to use such technology was Amazon.com who decided

in reference to: The White House (view on Google Sidewiki)