My friend Steve recently asked me to critique a web site and suggest changes that could improve conversion rates. There were several backbone upgrades that I recommended.

The holidays can be a stressful time, and when you add in the fact that the US economy has been a bit bleak, your visitors will be in no mood to wait endlessly while your dinosaur of a web page finally loads in their browser.

Email newsletters are an excellent way to market your business, highlight your expertise and build a relationship with your prospects and customers. Email newsletters are relatively easy and inexpensive to produce, but that doesn't mean they're fool-proof.

I recently met with my friend Neil to discuss several business building strategies. I shared with him a tool that I use in my own business on a daily basis. You can create this tool on your own, it's super easy to use, and I guarantee it will help you grow your business exponentially.

My sister-in-law recently shared a little tip with me, and even though the tip was related to housekeeping, I thought it was a great concept to apply to any business. Here's what she said: she always ends her day by making sure her kitchen sink is cleaned. That way she can wake up to a clean sink, and the rest of her day just goes more smoothly.

Sam told me he never bothered collecting testimonials since he always thought they were "stupid". He claimed that reading testimonials never inspired him to make a purchase since they always sounded like they were made up anyway.

Here's a great plan of attack for using email marketing to supplement your sales during the holiday - and beyond.

You probably know by now that your web site needs to be updated on a regular basis. Updating your site is vital because search engines love fresh content.

Google's recent changes to AdWords make it easier for novices to get started with pay per click advertising. But if you've never created a PPC ad before, the task can seem a little intimidating.

Every SE has its own web crawler program and its own formula for ranking pages. However, while page factors might be ranked differently by different engines, the idea behind the web crawlers is basically the same. Getting your site crawled often is a good indicator that the SE finds your site important.