How To Display RSS Feeds on Your Website

By Allan Burns

This article is intended as a guide for webmasters who want to display automatically updated content on their website in the form of RSS feeds. In this article I will cover the easiest method to implement using javascript for displaying RSS on websites to create additional dynamic content. This will allow you to display headlines from syndicated content around the web on your website.

RSS to Javascript.

By far the easiest method is to use client side javascript to parse and display the headlines on your site. To achieve this all you need to do is cut and paste some HTML or javascript code into the web page where you want the RSS feed headlines to display.

To achieve this there are several sites that offer a free service that will allow you to select a few options to choose your feed source and display formatting parameters. You will then be presented with some javascript code that you can cut and paste into your website.

Now before I give you the address of the sites that offer this service freely there are a few points I need to clarify with you. Although you will achieve your goal of displaying dynamic content on your site in a few short minutes there are some downsides to this method.

Javascript is not search engine friendly.

As you may or may not already know, javascript is not visible to search engine spiders. They will not see the RSS feed you have parsed into your site and so this will not benefit you if you are doing this to better your search engine rankings.

You are using a third party service.

The second potential downside is that although the javascript is on your site you are actually calling a script on another server. This could lead to a couple of potential problems. If the server is busy it will mean the news feed will take longer to display on your site. The other point is if the third party server fails or disappears altogether then your feed will not be displayed at all.

In summary there are a few downsides, but if you do not code and want some feeds on your site quickly then this is the way to go. Ok, so now you understand what is involved here are the links to the sites that provide the free RSS to javascript service. All you need to do is follow the on site instructions.

• Feed2JS
  
• RSS2HTML
  
• RSS-to-Javascript
  
• FeedSweep
  
• RSS Xpress Lite
  

Allan is the webmaster at http://www.newsniche.com an RSS resopurce for webmasters. Learn how to use RSS to attract and retain visitors to your site.

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Search Engine Opimization - A Beginner's Guide

By Ben Coleman

What is SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the name given to the process of making a website achieve high ranking in search engine queries. The most popular search engine by a long margin (60% of all searches worldwide) is Google, and so most effort is put towards optimizing for that website.

How to implement it

SEO is founded on good web design that consists of accessible and efficient code. Words or phases should be researched using online keyword popularity tools such as Overture and WordTracker to determine which keywords should be used in the text of your website. The ideal scenario is to find a keyword or phrase, or set of keywords or phrases that are frequently searched for, but are not found on many websites. Obviously, very popular searches will have many websites focussed on these keywords.

However, SEO is not only limited to keywords. Perhaps even more important is the PageRank factor. PageRank is a Google-created attribute that reflects a page's importance: the higher the PageRank (out of 10), the greater authority and importance your website has, and normally, this is reflected in your ranking on search engines. How PageRank is determined is a closely guarded secret (by Google), but it an important factor is the number of links from other websites to yours. The greater the number of links from high PageRanked websites, the higher your PageRank will be, and the better you will rank in searches.

The Long Tail

A Long Tail when applied to SEO is a term used to describe niche areas that in total receive greater interest or traffic than mainstream areas. For example, "books" is a very popular search term, whereas "antique art books" is much less popular. However, if you can optimize your website for those search terms, although you will not have as many people searching for the term, you are much more likely to be one of the top results returned. Furthermore, and most importantly, the people that have found your website are much more likely to be interested in your content, than if they were just searching for books. The Long Tail effect enables smaller specialist websites to survive and thrive, and it is important to consider when choosing your keywords.

When should you do SEO?

It is best to start SEO before you write the content of the website. This way you can ensure the keywords you have targeted are well incorporated into your text, in prominent positions, such as page titles, near the top of your page content, in headers, and emphasized in bold or in italics. However, if your website has already been made without considering SEO, you can still go back and make editions to the website content and design if necessary.

What you should not do

With the growing importance of search engines on the Internet as a method of finding information, SEO has become big business. There are now thousands of specialized businesses offering SEO alone, many making bold promises such as a guarantee of a top 10 rank in Google. Approach such offers with care, as you may be paying for a top 10 rank in a search phrase that receives no traffic at all!

You must also be exceptionally careful not to try and trick search engines. There are a huge number of dirty tricks that can be done to try and increase your ranking on searches, such as websites filled with thousands of links linking to yours. It is possible that such schemes may bring you temporary success, but it is almost guaranteed that your trickery will be found out, and then you can expect to be stripped of your rank, and possibly banned for good from the search engines. This is a risk that will not pay off.

Best practice

While SEO is essential to consider when trying to get a top-ranking site, if you have a website filled with quality content, and you are able to promote it so that other websites link to it, this is arguably the most important strategy you can employ. Although assorted SEO strategies and fads come and go, if you are producing good quality text that is useful, you are already giving your website a headstart. "Content is King" is the catchphrase coined to illustrate the importance of this.

Ben Coleman is the CEO and owner of RealFreeWebsites. He has been designing websites and working on website technologies since 1999. RealFreeWebsites was created to fill a niche: to offer free or low-cost customized websites and top quality hosting.

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7 Tips for Taking Better Vacation Photos

By Kristin Martori

A family vacation or a romantic getaway with your sweetie is a time to be remembered. Bringing a digital camera along is just one way to make your memories stick. Whether you are taking digital photos of the Leaning Tower of Pisa or of the Caribbean Sea, you are going to want to make sure your vacation photos are the best they can be.

1.) Plan photography into your trip

• Research various photo books of the places where you will be traveling, and decide which photos you want to use to make your memories. Then choose the best time of day for these photos - sunset or sunrise both offer the most flattering light.

2.) Choose uncluttered backgrounds

• Trying to get as much into the shot as you can is great - just make sure other people an buildings don't take away the integrity of your photo.

3.) Use people to show scale

• What looks dramatic in person may not look that way once the photo is framed. Use people in the foreground or off to the side to show perspective and create a more dramatic effect.

4.) Capture color

• Vivid colors make your photos stand out. Always be prepared to take a gorgeous picture of bright sailboats or the brightly painted houses in the Caribbean, or of the landscape in a national forest.

5.) Change your perspective

• Don't be afraid to crouch or lay down to take a more interesting shot with your digital camera. These shots are more dramatic and can bring back fun memories of a trip from a different point of view.

6.) Adjust to the light

• Avoid harsh shadows at the beach by shooting on cloudy days, in shade, or at sunrise or sunset. You can also use your flash when shooting into the sunlight to lessen the strong shadows on faces or other objects in the shot.

7.) Bring your camera along for the ride

• Be sure to catch all the action and relive the days of theme park fun by taking photos on the swings, the roller coaster or the Ferris wheel. But be careful, if you don't have a wrist strap for your camera, now is the time to get one!

Display your gorgeous vacation photos on your wall in a frame, or in a scrapbook that holds your favorite memories for years to come. But know that by following these tips, others will not only be jealous of your vacation, but of your photography skills as well!

For more tips on how to take better vacation photos, visit the HP Digital Photography photo tips page at http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/digital_photography/take_better_photos/index.html

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How to Capture The Moment In Your Photos

By Jennifer Thompson

The holidays are coming up, meaning tons of photo opportunities. My aunt is the photographer in our family and she loves taking pictures of us eating. I don't mean with our mouths full, I mean with our mouth wide open getting ready to take a bite out of that turkey leg. How humiliating, but she has mastered capturing the moment of us looking like vultures.

I, on the other hand, have always loved taking pictures. My favorite pictures are the ones of my kids sleeping, they're so surreal. Motherhood is the highlight of my life and I want to capture every moment of it. My pictures never seem to meet my expectations. I wanted to take better quality photos, so I could learn how to 'capture the moment'. I did some research and lots of practice!

First and foremost, you need a good understanding of your camera and its abilities. I don't know about your camera, but mine came with a 200+ page manual, a little overwhelming, to say the least. I suggest starting with the settings and testing them in different types of light, with and without using the flash. Knowing which setting to use and whether or not to use the flash is key. Using natural light is best. Take photos in the early morning or late afternoon, when the sunlight is more flattering. Too much light may cast shadows, so you may want to use the flash to eliminate natural shadows, like a nose.

Apply the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is more of a guide than a rule. It's basically dividing an image into nine equal parts creating horizontal and vertical balance. Just imagine that your photo is a tic-tac-toe board. By positioning your focal point at the intersections of the tic-tac-toe board you will create more professional-looking and intriguing photos. For example, when photographing landscapes, use the horizontal grid lines to place the sky or water horizons and when photographing people, place their eyes at the horizontal and vertical intersections. The vertical grid lines are guidelines for things that are taller than they are wide like people, waterfalls and skyscrapers. Keep the rule of thirds in mind while experimenting with some of your current photos. Open them with a photo editing program and crop them to see what impact it might have on your photos.

Be sure you're on the same level as your subject. Don't be afraid to take a few steps forward, having your subject fill most of the frame helps capture emotion that you wouldn't have noticed farther away. This allows you to get up-close and personal, to capture more of your focal point than the background. Also, you want to be aware of what's going on in the background in your pictures. Make sure it's not too busy. Shoot at the highest resolution available. If you want to print your images or enlarge a part of the image, you'll get the best results from a larger file.

Last, but not least, have fun and take tons of photos. Have your camera ready at all times. The more photos you take, the better your chances are of "capturing the moment". Expect to only have a couple of great shots for about every 30 pictures that you take. Be sure to use rechargeable batteries. We have an extra set so we can take pictures while the other set is charging. Oh yeah, don't forget to have enough memory capacity for all the pictures you're going to be taking.

Now is the time to practice your photo techniques, so you'll be ready for the holiday hustle and bustle.

Jennifer Thompson would like to inspire and enrich your digital scrapbooking experience. Scrap! by Penelope & Simon is a place where you can find tutorials, tips & tricks, product reviews, inspiration, how-to guides and the latest news in digital scrapbooking. We're here to provide a safe and secure place where you can share your ideas, experiences, techniques and your favorite shops. Our goal is to become the #1 information source and community for all your digital scrapbooking needs.

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