Does URL Length Affect Ranking? by Jon Ricerca Google Adsense Explained Copyright ) 2004, Sharon Housley How do I get my business on the Internet? Copyright ) 2004, Ivana Katz One American City Defies THE Rule Copyright ) 2003, John Calder A Business which Requires No Selling? Copyright ) 2003, John Calder How To Get Better Results From Non-Targeted Hits Copyright © 2002, Joe Bingham Keeping Your Email Box Organized & Ready for Business Copyright © Stone Evans, The Home Biz Guy

I was recently perusing results on the leading search engines, I seemed to notice that long URLs weren't very popular on the first couple pages for several keywords.
That intrigued me, so I performed a true statistical analysis to see if my observation was merely a coincidence or a true correlation.

The methodology: I gathered the results of the queries that were naturally performed last month by myself and three associates using the two leading search engines and analyzed them. I counted the characters in the URL (including the http://) and tabulated the results against the ranking of the URL in the search results. The tabulated results were finally converted into a normalized "ranking correlation." The results for each of the two leading search engines were kept separate so that we could discover any differences between the two leading search engines for this factor.

The resulting graphs show the results for groupings of URL lengths normalized into a number between -100 and +100 showing the likelihood of being ranked higher/lower. A value of +100 shows that all 10 rankings were in the proper order to show that pages of the studied value ALWAYS rank HIGHER than pages of another value. A value of -100 shows that all 10 rankings were in the proper order to show that pages of the studied value ALWAYS rank LOWER than pages of another value. Numbers in between show the varying likelihood of rankings proportionally between - 100 and +100.

That is the number you see on the Y-axis. On the X-axis, we have the URL lengths starting with a grouping of URLs that were 11-20 characters long and continuing with each group of 10 URL lengths up until 61-70. Here are the graphs for the two leading search engines:

http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com/graphs/ddy03.jpg
http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com/graphs/ddg03.jpg

The URL lengths were grouped in this way in order to increase the number of data points available.
Unfortunately it also reduces the precision of the results. It is possible to tell that URL lengths from 21- 30 rank much higher than URLs of lengths 61-70, but you are unable to see if URLs of a length of 22 rank differently than URLs of a length of 24 (for example). I did not list the grouping of URLs of a length of 1-10 because the number of data points were too small to accurately calculate a ranking correlation. I did not show any URLs longer than 70 characters for the same reason.

The result is very conclusive. Both leading search engines rank sites having URLs between 11 and 30 characters
(inclusive) much higher than any other URL length studied!

Notes:

1. There was no exercise to attempt to isolate different keywords. I merely took a random sampling of the queries performed by myself and three associates during the month.

2. This is merely a correlation study, so it cannot be determined from this study whether the leading search engines purposefully entertain this factor or not. The actual factors used may be far distant from the factor we studied.

Jon Ricerca is one of the leading researchers and authors of the Search Engine Ranking Factor (SERF) reports at SearchEngineGeek.com. For access to the other SERF reports, please visit: http://www.SearchEngineGeek.com

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Google Adsense Explained Copyright ) 2004, Sharon Housley
NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net

The Rise and Fall of Affiliate Programs

Affiliate programs were once a great source of online revenue, a
savvy webmaster with an eye for marketing could easily parley a
site into a money making machine with a little luck and effort.
However, the evolution and growth of the Internet has hampered
the growth of fortune making affiliate programs. Constant search
engine algorithm changes, along with the search engine's clear
distaste for sites participating in affiliate programs; have
made it a little more difficult to earn a healthy affiliate
revenue. An influx in the use of software programs that
terminate cookie tracking and privacy programs that prevent
webmasters from tracking referrers, have also hindered the
affiliate sales channel. While it is still possible to make
money through affiliate marketing, other alternatives ought
to be considered.

A Healthy Alternative or Supplement

Google's Adsense program allows approved websites to dynamically
serve Google's pay-per-click Adword results. This has become a
popular alternative and an effective revenue sharing program
for webmasters. Google's spider parses the adserving website
and serves ads that relate to the website's content. While the
Google's Adsense program still has some issues, they are making
efforts to improve it.

The website maintenance related to Adsense is very easy and
requires very little effort. Webmasters need only to insert
javascript into the webpage or website template. The javascript
calls the ad from Google and will ensure that ads are served
each time a visitor goes to the webpage. If the visitor clicks
one of the Adsense ads served to the website, the website owner
is credited for the referral.

The implementation, while simple, has its drawbacks. Google
dictates the format of the ads. Webmasters can select from a
handful of preformatted text boxes that lack creativity. A
recent improvement allows webmasters to modify the ad boxes
to resemble the website's color scheme. Still, a far cry from
some of the creative ads webmasters are accustom to.

The example below reflects how the color scheme can be modified
to match the look of the website, but the ads physically don't
fit well into the overall website design.

sample modified to match sites color scheme:
http://www.hospital-software.com (scroll to the bottom)

Google determines the content of the ads that are shown/
Sometimes the ads are poorly targeted, and of no interest
to the website visitors.

sample of poorly targeted ads:
http://www.real-estate-supply.com

Adwords can be a great addition to a website, and when well
matched to the content the revenue stream from Google is
consistent and effortless.

sample of effective Adsense program:
http://www.police-supplies.com (scroll to the bottom)
http://www.small-business-software.net (scroll to the bottom)

Not that the Google Adsense program is not without its problems,
as the reporting provided by Google is lacking. Google has only
recently implemented channels as a way to track multiple sites
that serve ads. The general reporting simply shows the number of
ads served, the percentage of clicks received, and the revenue
earned each day. Google does not disclose the amount of the
revenue they share, what percentage of the revenue they earn and
what someone can expect to receive for each click. Webmasters
with multiple sites will have difficulty determining which
websites are producing the money in the Adsense program.

With affiliate programs many webmasters implement a new browser
launch with each click off the site, Adsense removes the visitor
from the website and there is not currently an option to launch
the visitor into another browser.

Early on Google implemented a filtering system that allowed
webmasters to prevent a specific domain's ads from being served
on the website. Ad blocking meant that webmasters could prevent
their competitors ads from being dynamically served on their
website.

Overall, adwords are great supplements to websites where
affiliate programs are either not performing or when affiliate
programs don't exist that target the sites content.

Give it a Try

Implementing and maintaing Google Adsense program on a content
site requires very little effort and can often bring a steady
stream of additional revenue for webmasters. Consider
supplementing content and see what happens.

Resource Box:
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Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric
paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other
sites by Sharon can be found at
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and
http://www.small-business-software.net
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How do I get my business on the Internet? Copyright ) 2004, Ivana Katz
Websites 4 Small Business
http://www.web4business.com.au/

This is one of the most frequently asked questions by small
business owners. They are feeling the pressure from their
customers and competitors, yet for many business people it is
a daunting task, as they don't understand the whole process.

In fact, many people are even asking the question whether they
should have a website. Whether you are a consultant, florist,
designer, builder, architect or a doctor, consider the many
advantages a website provides:

1. Make money - Set up an on-line store or get paid for
advertising from other companies

2. Save money on advertising - Instead of paying for large ads,
simply advertise your website

3. Be flexible in your message - Change the content as your
business changes. No need to re-print expensive brochures.

4. Exposure to new customers - You will reach more local
clients as well as interstate and global markets

5. Having more professional image - Keep up with the times and
your competitors

6. Save time - Don't spend hours on the phone, direct customers
to your website

7. Keep your business open 24/7 - Provide customers information
when THEY need it. If you don't, someone else will.

So what does it really take to get your website set up?

Step 1 - Register your domain name OR not.

The big question is whether you need to register a domain name
or not. The simple answer is NO, but a better answer is YES it
is a good idea.

What is a domain name?

The purpose of a domain name is similar to that of a street
address or telephone number. The domain name directs customers
to you on the Internet. The domain by itself is not your email
or web address. The domain does form the base from which these
addresses are derived.

For example:

Company Name: Websites 4 Small Business
Domain Name: web4business.com.au
Web Address: www.web4business.com.au
Email Address: sales@web4business.com.au

Do I need to register a domain name to have a website?

NO, you don't need to have your own domain name. Your website
can be created and hosted without it. Your website address
will look something like this:

www.web4business.com.au/JBCleaning
OR
www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning

The only advantage of not registering a domain name is that you
will save yourself A$70 per year (it costs approx A$140 for 2
years to register a '.com.au' domain name).

The disadvantages of NOT having your domain name include:

1. If you decide to change your Webhosting company or if that
company goes out of business, you will lose your website
address. Your website can be transferred to a new company,
but your address will change. And that means re-printing
stationery and re-doing all your advertising, notifying all
your customers etc.

2. Website addresses that contain information other than your
company name are long and hard to remember and do not appear
as professional. Compare these two and see which one you
are more likely to remember:

www.ozemail.com.au/~JBCleaning
OR
www.JBCleaning.com.au

So it is a good idea to register a domain name, even if it is
just to protect yourself for the future. Say for example, your
business name is JB Cleaning and you decide not to register your
domain name for now.

Along comes Joe Bloggs who opens his own cleaning business and
registers JBCleaning.com.au domain name. After a year you
decide you want to have your own domain name, but since Joe
Bloggs already owns it, you won't be able to register it.
Not to mention your customers who know your business as JB
Cleaning may visit his website, thinking it's your web address
and instead hire Joe Bloggs Cleaning.

Step 2 - Plan your website.

Planning your website is a two part process:

(a) Decide on the website design (colour schemes, buttons,
special effects etc). This is your website designer's job.
However, you may have a preference for a certain colour or
look. To help you choose a design, you may wish to check
out other people's websites or work with your web
designer's pre-set templates.

(b) The content. There are many items you may wish to include
on your website. The most common ones include:

1 Product/Service Details
2. Contact Information
3. Pricing
4. Testimonials
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Response Form, such as "Join Mailing List"
7. On-line Magazine or Newsletter
8. Resources & Articles
9. Guarantee
10. Survey
11. Events Calender
12. Search My Website Form
13. Refund Policy
14. Privacy Policy
15. About Us Information
16. Site Map
17. Copyright information
18. Useful Links
19. Media Information
20. On-line store
21. News
22. Directions to Your Bricks & Mortar Premises

Step 3 - Choose a Web Hosting Company.

What is a Web hosting Company?

A Web host is a company that provides server space for your
website. You can think of a web host as a commercial building.
The web host provides space for your website just as a
commercial building provides space for your shop or office.
You can build your own building and you can host your own
website, but because of the cost and expertise required it
is easier to rent the space.

Which Company Should I Choose?

Web hosting companies are not created equal so you need to take
a number of things into account when selecting one. A proven
track record, experience and reliability form the foundation of
any successful business partnership.

Some of the issues you should consider when choosing a
webhosting company include:

1. Support - Does it provide comprehensive Technical Support
- 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
2. Reliability - Does it have multiple large-scale links to the
internet to provide a fail-safe path to your customers from
anywhere in the world?
3. Security - Does it have a robust security system that
minimises risk of web site intrusion?
4. State-of-the-art - Does the company utilises leading edge
technology and is supported by a large-scale uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) system.
5. Scalability - Does the product range and services offered
allow your business to grow without impediment by making it
easy to upgrade and add components to existing product
levels.

Step 4 - Getting people to your site.

The marketing of your website is important if you want to draw
visitors to your site. If you don't promote your website no-one
will ever see it. There are a number of different ways of
advertising your website. The best strategy is one, which
integrates your existing promotion methods with your website.

1. Office Stationery - Including your web address and email
address on your stationery is probably the easiest way to
draw attention to your site. It's cost effective and gets
your Internet presence out there in the market place.

2. Business Cards - When printing business cards you should
include the individual's email address and main address of
your website.

3. Radio Advertising - Radio Advertising should include your
web address. Don't include the http://, try "Visit us on
the internet at w-w-w-dot-qikphone-dot-com-dot-au". If your
budget is limited, you may wish to consider community radios.

4. Email and Mail-Outs - Let your current customers know the
details of your website. You can either send them an email
or a letter/postcard. Keep your website's content up-to-date
and they will keep coming back!

5. Print Media - Print advertising should include a generic
email address for the company and include your website
address. Normally positioned at the bottom right or bottom
centre of your advertisement.

6. Search Engines & Directories - People looking for your
website who don't know the URL are most likely to use an
on-line search engine to look for your organisation or the
kind of products and services you offer. There are over
300 major search engines and directories, but you should
concentrate on the larger, more commonly used ones. These
include: Google, Yahoo, Altavista, Anzwers, Inktomi,
Infoseek, Lycos, Excite, HotBot, MSN, Dogpile, AllTheWeb
etc.

7. Links from other websites - A good way to attract visitors
to your site is through the use of hyperlinks placed on other
sites. If you know of another site which has a list of links
and you think your website would be a good addition, let the
website owner know. You might also offer to provide a link
from your site back to the other site. This will encourage
the webmaster to include your site. You should also seek
out partners for trading links including vendors, suppliers
and providers of complimentary products.

8. Link Exchange - Another way to getting a link is through a
system called Link Exchange, a free public service designed
to help websites advertise each other. With Link Exchange,
you agree to display advertising banners for other Link
Exchange members and they agree to display banners for you.
The System is automatic, you simply add a piece of HTML code
to your web page and Link Exchange will display an
advertisement for another website. The disadvantage with
Link Exchange is that you don't get any control as to where
your banner ad appears or the type of banner ads that will
appear on your website. It is not possible to guarantee
that a competitor of yours may have their banner ad displayed
on your site.

9. Paid Banner Advertising/Affiliate Marketing Programs -
Various sites give you the opportunity to purchase banner
advertising on their site. Some sites will charge you a
flat monthly fee while other sites will charge you based
on the number of people who see your ad.

Step 5 - Monitor your site's statistics

Your website's statistics should show who visits your website,
where in the world they come from, how they are finding your
site and what pages are being viewed. Knowing your customers
is the first step in effective marketing. Most webhosting
companies will provide access to this information free of
charge.

Step 6 - Maintaining your website

It is important to update your website regularly to keep your
customers interested. One of the great advantages of having a
website is that you can change its content virtually overnight
at minimal cost (unlike re-printing brochures and flyers).

This is just a brief overview of the process involved in getting
your website up and running. In future articles we will cover
each step in more detail.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ivana Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a company
specialising in the design and promotion of small and home-based
business websites. She believes that every business deserves to
have a successful website, no matter what its budget is. For
more information visit http://www.web4business.com.au or email
info@web4business.com.au. To subscribe to Web4Business Ezine,
send email to web4business@getresponse.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

[TOP]

A Business which Requires No Selling? Copyright ) 2003, John Calder
The Ezine Dot Net
http://www.TheEzine.Net

"I want to find a business opportunity which requires no
selling." How many times have you heard that? How many times
have you said that?

I hope you answered the second question with "Never."

Let me be truthful with you here. There are only five types
of businesses on this planet:

7 Raw Materials Acquisition
7 Manufacturing
7 Distribution
7 Services
7 Sales

No matter the business type you pursue, if you are the owner
of the business, then you must participate in sales. That is,
unless you begin your business with tons of money and you can
afford to hire sales people to work on your behalf.

Sure, there are millions of jobs on the planet that do not
require any type of selling. But you must remember that every
job you have ever had that did not require any form of selling
DID require someone else in the company to do so. No business
can survive without someone in the company selling the products
or services offered by the company.

The jobs that you think would be great to possess that require
no selling are in fact support jobs --- supporting those who do
the actual selling.

If your goal is truly to start your own business and you do not
want to do any selling, you have four options available to you:

7 Cancel your plans to start your own business.
7 Plan to take on a partner who will do your selling for you.
7 Make sure you have enough start-up capital to hire a
salesperson to do your selling for you.
7 Decide to overcome your fears of selling.

WEIGHING THE OPTIONS

For most of us who have harbored dreams of starting our own
businesses, the first three items above cannot be looked upon
as real options to our quandary.

For us, the only option is to OVERCOME our fear of selling.

FIVE STEPS TO OVERCOMING YOUR FEAR OF SELLING

1. DECIDE to learn how to sell.

Some people argue that sales people are born. That is not true.
Sales people have all learned their trade --- it is just that
some had learned their trade early in life as a child trying
to get their way with their parents. If at first you fail, you
must try different techniques until you finally get what you
came for. The next time your toddler is testing your patience,
remember that he/she may be trying to learn how to be a better
sales person --- to master the art of persuasion.

2. Do not be afraid to try.

As Franklin D. Roosevelt so eloquently told the American people
at his inaugural address on March 4, 1933, "the only thing we
have to fear is fear itself."

FDR was referring to the economic chaos faced by America during
the Great Depression, which was underway as President Roosevelt
came into office. Roosevelt had the American economy on his
mind as he uttered these famous words, urging Americans not
to let the economy continue to be paralyzed by the public's
fear of the economic future of their country.

3. Acquire knowledge.

While it is helpful to acquire knowledge concerning the art
of persuasion, the knowledge that will be best acquired is
knowledge of your product, service, competition and marketplace.

With knowledge comes confidence.

4. The fourth step to selling is to acquire the confidence that
will be yours when you are comfortable in the knowledge you have
acquired.

5. The fifth and final step in learning the selling process is
to be like the toddler who is trying to learn how to persuade
his parents to his wants.

You must spend time practicing your technique and trying to
devise methods to improve upon your success rate. Try, try
and try again. Once you realize that most professional sales
people --- who live and breathe sales everyday --- do not
close every sale, then you are free to fail yourself. It is
only through failure that you learn the lessons you need to
improve your sales and closing skills.

FINDING YOUR STRENGTH

To find the business opportunity that is right for you, it is
important to take the first step now --- to make the decision
to learn how to sell --- and to understand that the rest will
come to you later.

You should find strength in the knowledge that the art of
persuasion is so easy that even a child can learn how to do it.
Start your education today. It may be the only thing standing
between you and business success.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
John Calder is the owner and editor of http://www.TheEzine.Net
WARNING: If you are only going to do one thing today, that should
be to subscribe to John's newsletter! The fact is, Misinformation
is killing your chance of becoming successful in an online
business. Subscribe Today and get real information YOU can use to
help build your online business today! mailto:news@ezinedot.net
-----------------------------------------------------------------

How To Get Better Results From Non-Targeted Hits
Copyright © 2002, Joe Bingham
NetPlay Newsletters
http://www.freehits2000.com/netplay.php

There are two types of visitors that come to your web site,
targeted and non-targeted.

Both can lead to sales, however they should NOT be treated
the same.

Targeted visitors are people that have either found your
site through a search they conducted, have clicked on a
link from another web site, or have clicked on a link in an
ad you placed or article you wrote. These are visitors that
already have some idea of what your site offers and have
come to look for more information.

Non-targeted visitors come from guaranteed hits purchases,
surf for hits or pop-under exchange programs, and other
similar methods. These visitors are seeing your site
without prior knowledge as to what your site is all about.

Non targeted visitors are just as viable potential
customers if you recognize that they must be treated
differently.

SETTING UP FOR NON-TARGETED VISITORS

At this time I'd like you to seriously consider setting up
a special page on your site for non-targeted hits. Other
visitors that come to your site through advertising are
already giving you their attention and will be looking for
whatever it was about your ad that attracted them. They are
already a step ahead of non-targeted visitors.

With non-targeted visitors, you must GRAB their attention
just the same as you grab people's attention with your
advertising.

The goal with your special page is to give people a reason
to stick around and visit the rest of your site, NOT to
start them into the sales process, at least not in the same
manner. Remember, at this point you are just a pop-up or an
extra site to what they are already doing in most cases.

Write your special page for non-targeted visitors much like
you write a classified ad. Use an ATTENTION grabbing
headline followed by a reason why they should give you
their INTEREST. Then create a DESIRE for them to know more
about you, and an ACTION for them to take that leads into
the rest of your site.

Do those words sound familiar? Attention, Interest, Desire,
Action? AIDA is the popular formula for writing classified ads.

START GENERAL

You never know what a non-targeted visitor might be doing
before they run across your site. If they are searching for
information on ezine publishing and all of a sudden your
site on fine tuning meta tag keywords comes up, they will
click your site down immediately thinking they had
mistakenly gone in the wrong direction.

However, if your headline is more general, you'll be more
likely to lead them in for a closer look as they will
believe it has something to do with what IS already on
their mind. A headline such as, "Discover how you can
improve the chances of your site being seen!" can relate
to anyone in business on the Internet. From there, you
interest them in learning more about how fine tuning their
meta tag keywords will improve the chances of their site
being seen, AFTER you already have their attention.

KEEP IT SHORT AND POINTED

Remember to keep all of the elements of AIDA in the first
screen shot on your web page. By this I mean what will be
seen by site visitors without having to scroll down. Some
pop-under programs don't open full size windows either, so
get to the point fast, essentially one or two short
paragraphs for each of the AIDA elements.

Now obviously that would lead to a VERY short web page.
However, just because you cover everything briefly in a
few lines first doesn't mean you can't then expand on those
topics. Get it out quick so it can all be taken in on one
glance, then go into further details for those that have
decided to give you their attention.

>From there, either lead directly into your main information
or link them to other pages on your site.

When creating a special page for non-targeted visitors, do
it with only ONE goal in mind, leading them to the next
step. The next step may be to continue reading further down
the page where your sales copy is, or clicking to another
page on your site, or merely subscribing to your ezine.
Whatever it is, focus on that one thing and give them a
reason to take that action.

ONE LAST THING

Whatever you do, make your page fast loading! Don't use a
bunch of large graphics and five miles of text that takes
15 seconds to load up. You'll lose a lot of people this
way. Keep it simple so your headline literally pops right
up and commands attention. Don't add pop-up windows to your
page either. This will only confuse things and draw
attention away from your main point.

Guaranteed hits and Free hits programs can make a
difference for your business if you target them the right
way. Like anything, it just takes the right strategy and a
little planning. Once you get set up correctly, it can open
a whole new aspect for promoting your business.

Resource Box:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ready to discover a Free method of getting Unlimited
Guaranteed Hits to your site? You can start today. Take
a look at: http://www.freehits2000.com/netplay.php

Written by Joe Bingham,
Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters
Discover the easiest way to start
publishing your own ezine.
http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Learning how to get the most organization from your email software is very likely the most important skill you can learn to conduct a successful online home business.

There are three primary email applications on the market that folks use to manage their incoming POP3 email. Those three are:

· Microsoft Outlook Express
· Eudora
· Netscape Mail

In order to get the most from your email software, there are three key processes that you should learn. These processes are concerned with data organization, saving time and email database management.

SET UP EMAIL FOLDERS

Organization is key to any emails that you intend to save.
Having 2000 emails in one folder is a sure-fire road map to confusion and lost communications and information.

You are the best judge as to how to organize your email into topics that provide an easy method of retrieval of the information when you need it most.

Fortunately, the primary email browsers make it easy to organize your information. By allowing you to create folders within your email software, you can file specific emails into folders dedicated to the topic of the email.

To create new folders:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: 1. Click File - Folders - New --- alternatively, you may also right click an item in the Folder window --- and then type in the name of your new folder.
Highlight the folder above where you would like your new folder to be placed, and then click OK.

EUDORA: Click on Mailbox - New --- or right click on Eudora in the folders window and then click on New. When the window opens, type in the name of your new mailbox and click OK. If you want to create a folder to place other mailboxes into, click the checkbox before clicking OK.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click File - New Folder. Then from the drop-down menu, select the folder that you wish to be the folder directly above your new folder, before clicking OK.

FILTERING EMAIL

Email filters are a tool to help you save time and frustration.
Have you ever lost an incoming email under the deluge of email coming into your mailbox? With filters, you can direct the important email or not-so-important email into certain pre-ordained folders.

As part of the war against spam, most ISP's use filters every day in an attempt to keep the spam out of your mailbox. In fact, I even use filters to sort my incoming mail trying to catch the spam my ISP missed.

Don’t be fooled into thinking you need some special software to filter your email. Setting up filters is actually quite easy.

To setup email filters:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Tools - Message Rules - Mail. A wizard will open to help you create your new email filters. Just follow the instructions provided to direct mail based on certain criteria into certain folders.

EUDORA: Click on Special - Make Filter. Once again, just follow the instructions in the Filter wizard.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on Edit - Mail Filters. Then click on New in the wizard. Once you click on New, you will be taken to a new wizard window. Follow the instructions here, then when you are done, click on OK. This will return you to the first window where you will set up the sorting order of your filter.

CLEANING AND COMPRESSING YOUR MAIL DATA

This is an important part of your email management. When you no longer need an email, it should be deleted. When you first delete an email, your software will send the email to the Trash Bin. Your email is not actually deleted until you first empty your trash bin.

Emptying your trash bin compresses the mailboxes from where the email was originally filed. This is absolutely paramount to the protection of your email data. If you go too long between compressing your email data, then your email data could become corrupted and you might need assistance in recovering your email data.

Even after you have emptied your trash, Compressing Folders is a recommended step to prevent other data corruption. Once you understand that an email does not actually move from one folder to another until the folder is compressed, then you can better appreciate this advice.

As an example, when Email A comes into your main Inbox, the data connected to Email A appears in two files. One file contains the header and body of the email. The other file contains only the email header information.

When an email is moved from one folder to the other, only the header information is actually moved. The body information will not be deleted from the original folder until which time the original folder is compressed.

This explains the purpose of emptying the trash AND compressing folders. If the email was simply moved from the Inbox to another folder, then emptying the trash is not enough. The original placement of the email is not actually removed from the file that contains the body information until the message has been designated for compression.

To empty your trash:

OUTLOOK EXPRESS: Click on Edit - Empty 'Deleted Items' Folder.
To compress the remaining folders, click on Tools - Options, then click on the tab for Maintenance. Then click the button that says, "Clean Up Now". Once the compression is completed, click OK.

EUDORA: Click Special - Empty Trash. To compress the remaining items that need compression, then click on Special - Compact Mailboxes.

NETSCAPE MAIL: Click on File - Empty Trash Folder. To compress the mailboxes, click on File - Compress Folders.

I cannot stress enough how important it is that you utilize the
tools for emptying the trash and compressing the mail folders.
Protecting your email data on a regular basis is good practice
for avoiding disaster in your mailbox.

So many of us rely upon our email software to keep our online
business running smoothly. Once you master the tools provided in
your email software, your online business will run smoothly also.

Let me share one important lesson I l've learned about computer
software. One should never be afraid to try new things. Learning
how to get the most out of your software relies upon your
willingness to dig in and learn how to use it.

Once you learn how to use your software to its full potential,
then your life will be greatly simplified and your effectiveness
will be dramatically improved.

About the author:
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