Alexa Toolbar- How to Add it to Your Browser and Why You Want to Do It

A web browser toolbar is of great help for people who frequently surf the Internet for information.  Toolbars do not eliminate the work of searching. Instead, they assists in cutting your browsing time significantly so that you can devote more time to do what you want to with the information you gather.

There are numerous tools available on the Internet to help online surfers with web searching. One of the most valuable and useful tools is the Alexa Toolbar. Alexa was founded in April 1996 and was designed to provide an interactive web navigation system.

Did you know that Alexa is owned by Amazon.com? It is also possible to make your own personalized Alexa toolbar with your Amazon.com affiliate code. The valuable information about a webpage, and of course a complete website, provided by Alexa is truly amazing.

So, how do you add an Alexa toolbar to your browser?

It’s very simple. First, go to Alexa.com, then click Download Alexa Toolbar at the top right hand corner of the page. Next click on the install option provided on the following page. After you've finished installing, the toolbar will appear across the top of your browser.

There are two main features offered by Alexa toolbar:

1. Traffic Ranking: One of the most helpful features provided by the Alexa toolbar is traffic ranking of any website. Alexa toolbar tracks how people use the Internet and turns this information into ranking statistics for each site on the Internet. By now, most web marketers know that the Alexa.com ranking of their site is important. It gives an independent measure of your monthly unique visitors. Ranking 1 has the most traffic and so on. For example on the basis of most visited site in the world, Yahoo is currently ranked one by Alexa.
   
   This information helps you determine how well your advertising campaigns are going, how your rivals are doing and how to keep your website one step ahead of them.
   
   The Alexa information is also used by other search engines so you benefit from an increase in you search engine results page (SERPS) rankings as your site progresses up the rankings.



2. Related Links: Another vital feature of Alexa toolbar is it provides links to additional websites that are similar to the one that is being viewed.
   
   When you start searching the term on your favorite search engine, it gives a list of urls’ closely matching your search term in the search engine result page. This feature allows you to view a list of similar website without much of an effort – great for competition analysis. Also, you will be able to see a new set of related links on the toolbar that may be same or different from the earlier ones, which allows you to save time you would have otherwise spent for searching.

There are additional features that come with Alexa toolbar like a popup blocker, search engine entry box, a link to Amazon & Alexa website, and additional information about the current Alexa ranking of the website that you are visiting.

In conclusion, the Alexa toolbar is a valuable tool for determining a website's placement or position in the Internet world. It is interesting to note that Google also uses Alexa's information for ranking and indexing websites. Whether you just want to use the Alexa Toolbar's features for general web browsing or for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) analysis, I recommend going to http://www.alexa.com and installing the Alexa Toolbar in your favorite web browser.

Steve Kozyk
CEO/Founder ITegrity
SEO Web Development & Custom Web Site Design Company
http://www.itegritygroup.com

How to add a Google Toolbar to Your Browser and Why You Want to do it

In the simple terms, a toolbar is any row, column, block, etc. of buttons or icons that activate a given program function when clicked. They are designed to offer shortcuts to commonly used functions.

Google Toolbar for Internet is a feature from Google Inc. and it can be installed on almost any browser including Internet Explorer (IE) and Firefox. To install Google toolbar on your browser, you must make sure you have the right operating system. I can be installed by clicking on to: http://toolbar.google.com/
It’s a worldwide accepted fact that Google is the most popular search engine amongst thousands of World Wide search engines. But if you have to pull up its home page every time you run a search, you’re wasting time.

The best way is to use Google from a toolbar and your search operation starts without even opening your browser. Google Toolbar have a shortcut to Google Bookmark page and Page Rank indicator, also you can login fast to your blog or Gmail account.
Google Toolbar was designed as a tool to make the Internet surfing easier and help people find the information they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible.
Google toolbar offers major benefits and other miscellaneous useful features, which are listed below:

1. Google Search Window: Take Google’s search window with you anywhere you go on the Internet. This built-in search window makes it incredibly easy to make a quick and efficient search regarding anything you happen to be reading. It helps people find the information they are looking for as quickly and easily as possible.
2. Pop-Up Blocker: Pop- up ads – the little advertisement windows that sprout like mushrooms in a damp basement which are real impediment to productivity. Therefore, it’s better to use a pop-up blocker, which prevents these annoyances from opening as you surf the web. The Google toolbar has a built–in pop-up blocker that provides relief from this perpetual pest.
3. Auto Fill: The Google toolbar’s auto fill function can save you scads of time filling out order forms and other pages on the Web. The feature lets you store your name, address, and other information in one place of your computer. This allows you to automatically have any form filled in based on your saved personal information and drastically speed up the process of filling out forms and applications online.
4. Additional Features: Google is continuously making updates and upgrades to the functions represented on the Google toolbar. Now they have options for spell check, a word translator and an autolink feature that instantly provides a map of a given location, bookmarks, a VIN number that gives a vehicle’s history, ISBN numbers to book history, etc.

Google is also offering a new version of the Toolbar for enterprise environments. With this new version, an enterprise could distribute customized toolbars to their users pre-loaded with Custom Buttons for Intranet sites, employee directories, and frequently used information sources.

These are just a few of the useful features provided by Google toolbar. It should be clear that Google Toolbar is a must for anyone who uses an Internet browser on a regular basis for faster and more efficient Internet surfing experience.

Steve Kozyk
CEO/Founder ITegrity
SEO Web Development & Custom Web Site Design Company

http://www.itegritygroup.com

9 Critical Reasons To Build a Website for your Business

A website is an online representation of the company and is the most cost effective way to connect with customers all over the world and not just your physical geographic region.

With the rising competition in all business industries globally, and, with the shifting trends (towards technology) of the business market, having a business website is of vital significance.

When used correctly your business website can be an effective tool in marketing your business on the World Wide Web.
Going past just survival, if you want to thrive in your market then you should be more forward thinking if you want to establish your business as a leader and make your business stand out.
Being in the market is just not enough, people should mark and take notice of your presence then only your business will be successful and this can be easily achieved by a professionally designed website.
Below is list of 9 reasons of having your business website on the internet.

1. Gain an Edge Over your Competitors.
   Internet is a necessity of modern business life. Businesses that have a website are already at a huge advantage over their competitors. They not only have a wider customer base but they are also considered more professional.
   
2. Cost Effective Marketing.
   A business website has the potential of reaching millions of customers throughout the globe without spending or investing huge amounts of money. The number of potential customers contacted via your website and the costs involved puts the return on investment of a website on higher scale when compared to other marketing techniques, such as traditional advertising and on the road sales representatives.
3. Provides Complete Business Information.
   A business website can easily provide complete business information including your business policies, terms and conditions, phone and fax numbers, business address, directions, maps and special offerings. People can get all the pertinent details about your business just by visiting your company website.
4. Eliminate Time Constraints.
   A prospect can visit your website at their leisure without time pressure. This is one of the biggest advantages that web advertising has over other media. It allows unlimited time for a potential customer to explore your company and its products.
5. Continuous 24/7/365 Days Advertising.
   A website can be viewed any time 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. To have a business website means 365 days continuous advertisement of your products and services. It helps to keep your existing and potential customers updated with latest information about your business.
6. Creates A Global Presence.
   A website has no geographical boundaries which enables people from all over the world to look at your products. This gives your small business a global presence and an ability to drive more sales and make more money.
7. Best Media to Showcase your Products.
   A business website enables you to post photographs of all your products and services along with technical details such as pricing, quantity discounts, color, size availability, delivery, shipping, scope, etc. This will give your readers and general idea and a sense of your business, range of products and or services and your offerings.
8. Ability to Attract New Suppliers.
   Your website will not only be visited by potential customers, but also by motivated suppliers who are looking for more customers who might approach you to sell their products at lower prices which gives your business the opportunity to expand. Adding new suppliers can help you to offer your customers more variety products at lower prices.
9. Create a Professional Image of Your Business.
   A website helps you to create a professional image of your business giving an impression that the company is credible and trustworthy. A professionally designed website can not only attract visitors (prospects) but can help convert them in buyers or paying customers.

A website provides benefit of saving thousands of dollars on traditional advertising medium and publicity. Also your products and services will be available to anyone anywhere in the world. This definitely helps business to expand and earn lucrative profits.

Steve Kozyk
CEO/Founder ITegrity
SEO Web Development & Custom Web Site Design Company

http://www.itegritygroup.com

What is ASP.NET? -Top 12 Advantages of ASP.NET

What is ASP.NET? ASP.NET stands for Active Server Pages.NET. In other words ASP.NET is a web application which is developed and marketed by the Microsoft.
ASP.NET is used to create Web pages and services and is an integral part of Microsoft's .NET vision. It is a magic tool for the programmers, it allows them to build web sites, web applications, and web servers.

ASP.NET is a part of the .NET framework, which allows developers to build dynamic web applications and web services using compiled languages like VB and C#.
ASP.NET is not limited to script languages, it allows you to make use of NET languages like C#, J#, VB, etc. It allows the developers to develop very compelling applications by making use of visual studio, the development tool from Microsoft. It is built on a common language runtime that can be used on a server to build powerful Web applications. ASP.NET is purely server-side technology.

In the early days of the Web i.e. before the release of Internet Information Services (IIS) in 1997, the contents of web pages were largely static. These web pages needed to be constantly, and manually, modified. There was an urgent need to create websites that were dynamic and would update automatically.

Microsoft’s Active Server Pages (ASP) was brought to the market to meet this need. ASP executed on the server side, with its output sent to the user's web browser, thus allowing the server to generate dynamic web pages based on the actions of the user.
These server-side technologies are important contributions to the development of the Web. Amazon.com, eBay.com, and so on, are the results of ASP.NET without ASP.NET it would not be possible.

ASP.NET offers several important advantages over previous Web development models.
Here’s a list 12:

1. ASP.NET drastically reduces the amount of code required to build large applications.
2. With built in Windows authentication and per-application configuration, your applications are safe and secured.
3. It provides better performance by taking advantage of early binding, just-in-time compilation, native optimization, and caching services right out of the box.
4. The ASP.NET framework is complemented by a rich toolbox and designer in the Visual Studio integrated development environment. WYSIWYG editing, drag-and-drop server controls, and automatic deployment are just a few of the features this powerful tool provides.
5. Provides simplicity as ASP.NET makes it easy to perform common tasks, from simple form submission and client authentication to deployment and site configuration.
6. The source code and HTML are together therefore ASP.NET pages are easy to maintain and write. Also the source code is executed on the server. This provides a lot of power and flexibility to the web pages.
7. All the processes are closely monitored and managed by the ASP.NET runtime, so that if process is dead, a new process can be created in its place, which helps keep your application constantly available to handle requests.
8. It is purely server-side technology so. ASP.NET code executes on the server before it is sent to the browser.
9. Being language-independent, it allows you to choose the language that best applies to your application or partition your application across many languages.
10. ASP.NET makes for easy deployment. There is no need to register components because the configuration information is built-in.
11. The Web server continuously monitors the pages, components and applications running on it. If it notices any memory leaks, infinite loops, other illegal activities, it immediately destroys those activities and restarts itself.
12. Easily works with ADO .NET using data-binding and page formatting features. It is an application which runs faster and counters large volumes of users without having performance problems.

In short ASP.NET, the next version of ASP, is a programming framework used to create enterprise-class Web Applications. These applications are accessible on a global basis leading to efficient information management.

Steve Kozyk
CEO/Founder ITegrity
SEO Web Development & Custom Web Site Design Company

http://www.itegritygroup.com