I can't tell you how often people have asked me "Why doesn't my web site show up in search engines?" You could have the most beautiful, technologically advanced web site, but it doesn't get any visitors because people can't find it. Using a search engine is the number one way in which people find new web sites. There are several things you need to do in order to get your site listed.

1. Have a basic understanding of how search engines work. Search engines use different methods for listing sites in their results. The tasks involved in getting your site listed will be different depending on the method used by the search engine. Searchenginewatch.com has some articles and links that explain the "under the hood" workings of search engines in plain language.
2. Focus on the most popular search engines. This list changes occasionally so you need to keep up with it. Searchenginewatch.com also contains a list of the major search engines and highlights those which are updated regularly. As of this writing, the last update was January of this year.
3. Submit your site to each search engine's directory listings. Every major search engine will have some sort of "submit your site" link. For the most part, these listings are either free or very low cost. Re- submit your site directory listing at least once per year, preferably more often. Directory listings get "stale," and many search engines will push the more popular listings to the top of the list.
4. Optimize your home page properly so that search spiders will find it and list it correctly. There are several things you need to consider in order to accomplish this:
   1. Specificity: When you are coming up with your list of keywords, make sure that they are specific enough. For example, if you have a site that sells hair accessories, using the keyword "hair" is too general. Examples of more accurate keywords are barrettes, bobby pins, and scrunchies. You can use both the singular and plural version of each keyword. Keywords can also be phrases, such as "organic shampoo" or "hair bands for kids."
   2. Meta Tag: Once you have your list of keywords, enter them into your web page using the meta tag. An example of how to use the keyword meta tag is:
      <meta name="keywords" content="barrettes, bobby pins, scrunchy, scrunchies, organic shampoo, hair bands for kids">
      You should also use the title tag and the description meta tag to insure that when your site does come up in search results, it displays the proper title and description.
   3. Hot spots: Search engine spiders check to see if the keywords you used in the keyword meta tag is also used in other places, such as the title tag, header tags, and the first few paragraphs of copy. The keywords that are used in those places will receive higher list rankings.
   4. Validity: Search engine software has ways of knowing when web pages are trying to "stuff" themselves into search list results. You may have noticed that some web pages have large amounts of blank space at the end. Sometimes, html writers will use white text on white background to "stuff" their keywords into their web page. They will repeat their keywords many times over in this invisible section on the page in an effort to get higher rankings. Search engines can now tell when a web page has this keyword stuffing on it, and will completely remove that web page from their list. So, the lesson here is... don't stuff your keywords :-).
   5. Repetition: When properly placed, repeating your keywords is an effective method to prepare your site for search engine listings. For example, if you want people to find your site using the phrase "Yellow Submarine" then make sure you repeat that phrase in your title tag, keyword meta tag, description meta tag, and in the first paragraph of your copy, including any page headers (<h> tags).
5. Be patient. Sometimes it takes several weeks for your site to appear after you have completed all these tasks.

There are some alternatives to consider: one is to pay for a search engine service and the other is to purchase software. Search engine services generally will make guarantees that your site will show up in some top number of listings on all the major search engines. There are many advantages and disadvantages to hiring one of these services. The biggest disadvantage is that there are literally thousands of these services out there - you need to do your research and find one that is reputable and will deliver on their promises. Unfortunately, the reputable ones are usually the most expensive. The primary advantage is that once you've done your homework and chosen a service, the service will do the rest of the work.

Search engine software comes in many styles and flavors, however the basic purpose is to optimize the pages of your web site for you so that your site will show up on search engines. Keep in mind that many of these software packages require a significant amount of investment of your time in setting up and configuring the software to work best for your specific site. Make sure you know the requirements before making any purchase.

Lisa Pecunia is the Founder and Principal of Red Horizon. Lisa is a technology industry professional with 17 years of proven people and project management skills, serving both large and small software development organizations. With full software development lifecycle expertise, she has successfully planned, built, and managed software application development efforts and client service-oriented functions. Lisa can be reached at lpecunia@redhorizon.com.**

British Telecom to Offer Web Meeting Services Powered by WebEx Communications Network
Conferencing Division of Europe's Largest Telecommunications Company Teams with Web Communications Leader to Offer Web Meeting Services

SAN JOSE, Calif., September 4, 2002-WebEx Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBX), the leader in Web infrastructure for business communications, announced today that BT Conferencing Inc., a division of European telecommunications company British Telecommunications plc (BT), will provide Web meeting services powered by the WebEx network. By combining the visual communications capabilities of the WebEx network, BT Conferencing is able to offer its customers a seamless data, voice and video communications service. With more than 6,400 corporate customers and agreements with the world's leading telecommunications companies, WebEx is the standard for business meetings on the Web.

"Web meetings are quickly becoming a standard part of business communications," said Robert F. Moore, CEO of BT Conferencing. "We are committed to offering state-of-the-art audio and visual communications services, and teaming with WebEx is an integral part of fulfilling this commitment. WebEx's switch-based global network enables us to provide our customers with the most reliable, scalable and secure Web communications services."

"BT has always been quick to identify and integrate the breakthrough technologies that drive business and we are proud to have them as a partner," said Subrah Iyar, chairman and CEO of WebEx Communications. "Our relationship with BT further solidifies our position as the world's leading provider of Web communications services. The flexibility and power of our communications network has made WebEx the standard for corporations and telecommunications providers worldwide."

WebEx is the only company to develop and deploy a global network designed specifically for multimedia Web communications. The WebEx Network supports visual communications and has the unique ability to support multiple languages within a single Web meeting.

"WebEx designed its switch-based network to meet the rigorous communications demands of the world's telecommunications leaders," Michael LeBlond, vice president of Telecom Business at WebEx Communications. "BT Conferencing and WebEx have created an offering for business users that delivers the best in audio, data and video conferencing."

WebEx provides communications services to corporations, technology companies and telecommunications providers worldwide. All of WebEx's services are built on the WebEx's MediaTone^TM platform and delivered through the WebEx Interactive Network, a fully redundant, high-performance private global network specifically designed for real-time Web communications. WebEx's MediaTone™ technology allows the WebEx platform to manage complex media types including 3-D objects, streaming media and multi-point video. With hubs around the world and a carrier-class information switching architecture, WebEx provides a superior level of performance, reliability and security.

About BT Conferencing

BT Conferencing is a division of BT Retail, BT's consumer facing business based in the United Kingdom, while BT Conferencing Inc. is its US subsidiary. BT Conferencing Inc. will provide audio, video and web-based remote meeting services, supported by BT's global networking infrastructure, ensuring reliability and scalability. Audio conferencing services will be available in three main offerings: reservationless service, operator-assisted service and premium service. Web-conferencing services will include web collaboration and web presentation, while video conferencing services will provide custom-tailored video conferencing.

BT Conferencing services enable customers to share presentations, documents, applications, voice and video spontaneously in a seamless environment. Additional information is available at www.btconferencing.com.

About WebEx Communications, Inc.

Founded in 1996, WebEx Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: WEBX) is the leader in Internet infrastructure for interactive business communications. WebEx provides Web-based carrier-class communication services using its multimedia switching platform deployed over a global network. WebEx's services enable end-users to share presentations, documents, applications, voice and video spontaneously in a seamless environment. WebEx's services are used across the enterprise in sales, support, training, marketing, engineering, and various other functions. With its modular framework, standards-based APIs and unique MediaTone technology, WebEx's multimedia communications platform is the "dial-tone" for meetings on the Web. Please call toll free (877) 509-3239 or visit http://www.webex.com for more information.

H O T   T I P

USE TRANSPARENT GIFS Graphics are usually stored as rectangular images. If you want to present a graphic image with an irregular outline shape, consider using transparent GIF images. Most graphics packages support transparent GIF images, and have an options dialog box for controlling the storage of the image. When you use a transparent GIF image, you can specify a single color as the background color. When a Web browser paints the image, it does not paint any of the pixels of this color. The effect is that the Web page background shows through, and the image appears to float or be drawn on top of the page background. This is a cool effect, and it adds interest to any Web graphic.

Why do we need Microsoft .Net?

Answer: We don't. But...

The long version is probably worthy of several volumes of discussion and argument. The short version is that the trend toward web services is probably the most significant change in the way computers are being used, and will be used in the foreseeable future. .NET is just one way to get there, but the bottom line is: That's where we're going.

For the longest time we've struggled to make diverse products work with each other, and share valuable chunks of data between divergent applications. First we crunched everything into fixed width and then delimited text files. Then came the promise of ODBC compliance. Microsoft's OLE automation made big moves toward integration, and the resulting software "suites" grew better at working together…but not necessarily with anyone else's suites.

Enter the web and the move toward common language development. The history is interesting enough, but the present and future are even more so. Standard protocols like XML, SOAP, and HTTP are beginning to open the door for universal (or potentially so) data sharing and access regardless or platform. This is big stuff, and we need to keep an eye on the trends if we aim to stay competitive.

I've cursed the evil empire in Redmond and the Gates of hell over the years for many reasons. Mostly the forced obsolescence and incessant need to make us upgrade this, that, or the other thing. No sooner do we grow comfortable with one platform than we need to implement changes to accommodate the next. I suppose I should revel in it, knowing that my clients will soon need an upgrade ($ Cha- Ching!). I don't however, because I understand that their REAL goal is to operate their business and increase revenue…not lead the bleeding edge in technology spending.

I've spent most of my career in the frustrating pursuit of integrated systems, so I have to cut the Micro-squirrels a bit of slack. Here we have an opportunity to bring divergent development platforms together in a way that creates a universally (or potentially so) consumable product. Cheers.

Oh, but don't try to integrate any open source product or portion thereof into your .Net project... you'll breach your EULA. Jeers.

We may not all need .Net. But if you're already paying tribute to the high priest in Redmond for the privilege of using MS products to earn a living, be glad you have a tool that will help you compete. Developing applications will soon be synonymous with developing web applications (it already is really) and services, and it's about time Microsoft came up with a tool for the job at hand.

**Jamie Epranian is the Principal of CE Proactive Technologies, Inc. and has been an Information Technology professional for over sixteen years. He is experienced with networking, PC's, support, project design and application development for over 16 years. Jamie can be reached at Jamie@ceproactive.com.**

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WEB PAGE TEXT - PROVIDING THE MOST WITH THE LEAST

Just like the browser has to wait to download a minimum amount of information before it can display a picture, users have to "download" information in the form of reading text before they can determine that the article or other text item you are presenting is what they want to see. If they have to read too much of your content in order to get the picture, they may leave before they finish. Here are a few basic tips to help you improve your content so your audience can find the information they want as quickly as possible.

1. Make it easy to scan - Visitors will usually scan headlines, bolded lead lines and the first few lines of text (at the most) when searching through online articles before moving on. This means that these first elements should get the point across. It's also a good idea to put the conclusion of your piece in the first paragraph. You can always follow it up with the reasoning in subsequent paragraphs. On the web you need to provide the "punch" up front.
2. Use Bullets - Breaking the text up with bulleted items when possible also helps your users to scan for salient information with greater ease. Large, solid blocks of text can seem daunting and not worth the effort to a user in a hurry.
3. Break it up - One good trick is to put a summary of your article giving the "hook" with a link to the rest of the article after the first few lines or the first paragraph. This will help save on valuable real estate that can be used to present other important information to your user.
4. Be concise - Articles on the web should be about 50% the length of their print brethren, since research shows that users' attention spans are far shorter when reading online.
5. Sesquipedalians need not apply - Keep the text simple if writing for the general public. Displaying your extensive vocabulary skills may show intelligence but your audience will much better receive the use of plain language.
6. Don't use all caps - IT IS HARDER TO READ ALL CAPS. The average person can read mixed case text considerably faster so try to avoid using all caps.

** Greg Gage is a Project Manager for Red Horizon. Greg brings a broad mix of experience in Project Management, Product Management and Business Systems Architecture to the team. In addition, his technology experience spans over ten years and includes web site development and basic accounting application development. Greg can be reached at ggage@redhorizon.com. **

Computer magazines-such as PC World, CNet and PC Magazine-do the best job of evaluating voice recognition software; in fact there are really only two main competitors in this arena, ScanSoft's Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM's ViaVoice. These publications get picky with each title, testing for accuracy, speed and ease of use-no small consideration when it takes up to 30 minutes just to get the software up and running, and more if you want to improve accuracy.

Read the full story:
http://wsj.consumersearch.com/computers/voice_recognition_software/

Track, manage, and resolve all your software issues online, with SourceAction, The Ultimate Issue Tracking System. Visit http://www.sourceaction.com for more information and to sign-up for a FREE 30-day trial.

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