"Are travel agents making a comeback?"

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

From CNN's Travel Companion an article by Stephanie Chen posted 8/12/2009, "Are travel agents making a comeback?".

Read it here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/08/12/travel.agent.comeback/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Twitter

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Look for OnlineAgency on Twitter. Check us out at http://twitter.com/OnlineAgency

How do I build a promotion for a single itinerary?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

How do I build a promotion for a single itinerary?

1. Login to the account using your "USER ID" and "PASSWORD".

2. It will take you to the "DASH BOARD" page, where you can find the link "PROMOTIONS WIZARD".

3. By selecting the "PROMOTIONS WIZARD" link a new "PROMOTIONS WIZARD" window will open. Here you can select the promotion you want to build (e.g.cruises, tours, etc.). Select the Radio button for the "SINGLE PROMOTION" and then select the "NEXT" button.

4. This will take you to the page where you can select the Supplier & Itinerary. Click on the drop down box and select the supplier you want to display.

5. When you've selected the supplier from the drop down box it will show the "ITINERARIES" you may feature in your promotion. Select the "ITINERARY" and then select the "NEXT" button.

6. By clicking the next button you will open the "PROMOTIONS TEASER BOX" where you can add Promotion Name, Description, Image and Schedule Dates for your Promotion to Display. You can also specify whether the promotion should display Only To Travel Agents and you can add a Disclaimer to your promotion. Once you complete editing process for the promotion and then select the "NEXT" button.

7. Now you can see the "DATES & PRICING" page where you can specify the date by clicking the check box. You can also add a "NEW DATE" & "PRICE". For adding a new Date select the dates from the drop down box and for Price use the input box with the dollar symbol and then click the "ADD" button. Once you complete adding Dates and Price select the "NEXT" button.

8. This will take you to the "CONTENT & PREVIEW" page where you can see the information that will be displayed on the Promotions Detail page. You can see the preview of your promotion by clicking on the link provided. Here you can include an image from our library or you can upload your own image. Then select the "NEXT" button.

9. When you've selected the next button it will take you to the "THINGS TO DO" page where you can add applicable attributes for your promotion so it can appear when your site visitors search for content. When you've selected the attributes select the "NEXT" button.

10. This will take you to the "META TAGS" page where you can assign Meta Tags for your promotion. When you've assigned the meta tags then select the "FINISH" button.

11. Go to the "PROMOTIONS CONFIRMATION" page where you can view the features of your promotions.

My computer guru told me to update my metatags...

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

How do I Add or Update my websites Metatags???

~Start by logging in to your Online Agency account: Go to http://login.onlineagency.com;
enter the email address and the password you chose during registration and click "login"

~Now that you're logged into your account, you'll be on your "Dashboard", which is your main Online Agency account page.

~Click on the "Pages of Content" link to go to the Editable version of your Home Page.

~On the Top of the editable home page click on the Meta Tags yellow button, it will take you to the Edit Meta Tags section.

~Here you can add the Meta title, Description, Keywords and Comments using the respective fields. All of these tags are added to the header of the page helping search engines find your pages. Once you add all the fields please click on the Save button.

Reminder: Clear your site cache for all changes to take effect on your live website.

HAPPY TAGGING!!!

How do I select specific suppliers in my Online Agency Account?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

How do I select specific suppliers in my Online Agency Account?

You can choose your featured suppliers...

-Start by logging in to your Online Agency account: http://login.onlineagency.com
-Enter the email address and password you chose during registration and click "login"
-Now that you're logged into your account, you'll be on your "Dashboard", your main Online Agency account page
-Click on the "Suppliers" link to go to the Editable version of your Home Page
-It will take you to the “Search supplier” box where you can find the suppliers for your account listed in alphabetical order
-If you want to feature a particular supplier you should type the supplier name in the supplier text box. If it is a member please select the Yes or No option provided and also choose a business option where you can associate the particular supplier with either a cruise line, tours or packages etc.
-Click on the green Search button on the right. If the supplier is found within our system then it will be listed below. To include a supplier, select the check box on the right next to the supplier you choose. Click on the include button. Once it the supplier is added to your list you can find a green tick mark next to the supplier in the included column which allows it to appear on your website. The Feature Button allows the supplier to appear on the Top Supplier List.

How do I create a Blog and add a new post?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

How do I create a Blog and add a new post?
1. Login to your account using your 'User Id' and 'Password'
2. Then click on the 'PAGES OF CONTENT'
3. Now on the Left panel you can see the header called 'NEW PAGE'
4. Below this header you can find the link called 'OTHER'
5. Click on the link (other) to create a new blank page
6. You can see the new blank page is created under the header called 'SITEMAP'
7. Click on the link called 'OTHER', you can see the editable page on the right hand
8. Now click on the 'TITLE' on the editable page and change the name of the page from 'OTHER' to 'BLOG' and then click on the 'SAVE' button at the bottom of the page
9. You can see the page title changes to 'BLOG'
10. Then click on the 'BODY' button, it will take you to the edit page
11. Click on the link 'TEXT EDITOR', now click on the 'CONTENT BOX CONVERT' button
12. It will take you to the 'EDIT CONTENT BOX' page, where you can find the header called 'BLOCK'
13. Under that there will be a drop down menu, click on that then select 'LOG', click on the “NEW” button and at last click on 'OK' button
14. It will take you back to the blog page where you can find the 'LOG' button next to the 'BODY' button
15. Click on the “LOG” button it will take you to the “NEW POST” page
16. Now insert the title of the blog you want to create, in the 'TITLE' field and the texts related to the blog in the 'POST' field
17. If you want to insert images to your blog page then click on the 'IMAGE' button below the post field, then browse and insert the image you want and click on the 'SAVE' button at the bottom of the page
Now you can see your Blog page with your new content!!!

Weekly Update: How Do I Clean Up My Email Storage?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

How Do I Clean Up My Email Storage?

If you use Outlook or Outlook Express you can change the Advanced settings to not leave messages on the server or to remove emails from server when they are deleted. Please check the built in help documentation for your email client for more detailed instructions.

If you are using our Webmail System you can manually delete messages by selecting the check boxes of the emails you'd like to remove and clicking the delete button. Check in all of your email folders to remove unwanted messages (the sent folder is often neglected when cleaning unwanted messages from an  email inbox).

Please be sure you click "purge" next to the trash in the Webmail system when you are finished deleting messages to completely remove all excess messages from the system.

Online Agency Releases New Travel Designs for 2008

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Today we released 10 new designs for Travel Sites - Travel 2008. You an see them here.  The designs are a part of  a much larger and ongonig system upgrade that includes changes to the infrastructure software, programming lanuages, and equipment. You  may have noticed that the OnlineAgency/Levelfield system no longer uses Microsoft''s Active Server Pages.  The system has been converted so that it runs on Microsoft's ASP.NET. We have seen a significant improvement in the performance of our web servers as a result of the ASP.NET converstion.  So much so that our technical folks were very pleasantly surprised by the results.  They expected a performance boost but not as much as they ended up getting. They also took time to optimize much of the database code to remove performance bottlenecks.

The design upgrades are not free but you will be moved into the new system with the purchase of a New Look Design Upgrade or Customization Package. 

5 More New Looks Added today

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Each month we add several New Look Designs. For March we have added 5 new ones. Check out the designs to see if one of them fits your mood, need and personal taste.

These designs are an upgrade to your current travel site. The list price is a one time fee of $379 for the upgrade. This is substantially cheaper than our customization packages. However, we have had some great specials which make it a much better deal. Watch your email box or call our sales folks. They will be glad t help you out.

what's up with those search engines?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

For the last 3 years the top three search engines seen by the OnlineAgency (TM) system have been Google, Yahoo, and MSN in that order.  However the amount of searches for the 3 companies has changed drastically over the years.

3 years ago in 2005 Google was responsible for 46.14% of the search engine traffic on sites powered by OnlineAgency.com (TM). Yahoo was not far behind with 36.40% of the search requests into the OnlineAgency (TM) system. MSN had 17.44 percent.

Last year in 2006 Google moved up to 61.74 percent of the search engine traffic in the OLA system, Yahoo dropped to 28.63 and MSN dropped to 9.63.

This year, 2007, the top 3 search engines are still Google, Yahoo, and MSN in that order. However 75.30% of the search engine traffic into the Online Agency system was from Google.  Yahoo had 21.71% and MSN had 4.99% of the search traffic. 

Are there other search engines? AOL, Ask Jeeves, Netscape, Myway, InfoSpace, Alta Vista, Excite all bring in traffic in small percentages ranging from about 2.08% to 0.06% of the overall traffic.

Open letter from your website.

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Open letter from your website.

Hey, I miss you. Where have you been. Don't you love me?

I see some of the other websites in my neighborhod with owners who visit with them frequently. They feed them new great content. Many people crusing the internet come visit to check out the added value on the website that was placed by the site's owners and the valuable content that gives the visitors a reason to keep coming back to the web site.

 I don't get any visitors not even from  you. The search engines come by frequently and I just shake my head sadly, they shrug and pass me by.  I can tell they want to index me but I have nothing for them. Please help me dear site owner. I need some new content from you.

Hey,  didn't you go on that trip with your digitial camera. Why don't you share some of your trip with me. I'd love to see the pictures on my pages.  It would give me something to brag about to the other web sites.  And it wold make me feel so pretty with those colorful photos adorning my pages. I just know that I can help you - just feed me please.

I get jealous when the other sites tell me how many visitors they got today.  One of them actually gets a blog post every day from their site owner.  I can tell their owner cares for them and is very smart. They always have something new to share on their website. And they always have new people visiting them coming in on the search engines.

Well, that's it for now. I hope you come see me today. I really miss you.

Love,

Your web site,

P.S.  I  have a super duper built in blog that you could use. Wouldn't that be cool? You could come visit me regularly and we could have so much fun.   The blog told me that it was very easy to use and would help me get more web visitors.  The blog also told me a secret. Your competitors use blogs. That's not good is it? Doesn't that mean they might get more site visitors?  The blog also told me that it had something very cool going on next week. I guess that won't matter to me if you don't come visit.  Any way bye for now. I'm going to take a nap. Nothing else to do.

Has my website been indexed?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

From time to time folks ask us if their website has been indexed.  It's pretty easy to check.

Copy the following links and paste them into your Internet browser. Make sure you replace PUTYOURDOMAINHERE with your actual domain name.

Google

http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.PUTYOURDOMAINHERE.com

Yahoo

https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/search?p=http://www.PUTYOURDOMAINHERE.com

MSN

http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=site:www.PUTYOURDOMAINHERE.com

We also have an test page that might work for you. Check your website

Flags, Flags, and more Flags

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

If you look at  your site traffic reports today you may be seeing a lot more color on the daily report. We've updated the information about IP Addresses  with about 30,000 new ip to country associations.

Thanks to the update, I see a site visitor today from Sri Lanka. Most of our traffic is from the US and Canada but we always see traffic from other countries.

Your website can reach further than you think. Make sure you give people a reason to come there.

Think unique content, interesting photos and commentaries of your trips and those of your customers.

How can I get Search Engines to Index me?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

In our support system, we see this question frequently. I will tell you there is no magic answer. Getting Search Engine traffic requires time or money or both. However, you should know that Unique Content is the essence of the Search Engines world. The more content the Search Engines see the more they devour (index). If you don't add your own unique content there is absolutely no reason for a search engine to index your website. Fortunately, your Online Agency account has several features to help. We know because we use them ourselves. When we post regularly to our blogs we get more search engine traffic than when we don't.

Your Online Agency account coupled with the Levelfield Broadcast Option is the first step to getting noticed by the Search Engines. If you don't have the Levelfield Broadcast Option call us (866) 489-4889 and get it today. This month (January 2007) you can get it for $69.00 normally $169.00 and an extra month of service on your account.

The next step is to add unique content to your website. I'm not talking about the various supplier specials that you get in the email. Promotions are important and you should add them to your website but they are not unique content. I'm talking about something that is unique one of kind. This sounds hard but here's a little tip that might help you.

1. Create a blog
2. Set up a link on your website to your blog
3. Post regularly to your blog - the more the better but at least several times a month.
4. Not sure what to post - try this approach.
   • Find 30 to 100 photos that you have taken while traveling
   • Post a blog entry about the photo and attach the photo. Make sure you mentions things like where you took the photo, the time of the year, why you were traveling, and a brief description of the photo. Mention it's colors, travel suppliers, and your personal comments. Every noun that you write is a great keyword in its natural format. And every natural keyword gives the Search Engines something to index and can help bring Search Engine users to your website.
   • Make an entry every 2-3 days and before long you should start seeing some search engine traffic.

One thing I am sure is that if you do nothing, nothing will happen. Get busy it's going to be a great year!

PS.  There is nothing magic about META KEYWORDS.  Most search engines don't even look at them these days. Yet we see customers being instructed by various EXPERTS to set them up.  You may want to think a bit about your META TTITLE and META DESCRIPTION but I'm betting and seeing that the real deal is the actual content of the pages. 

A cautionary note from Google - ""Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or through the Google Sitemaps (Beta) program, and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever."

We still want you to blog! - Get Busy

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

On July 7, 2006, I posted here to introduce "Clarity - Levelfield's Small Business Blog". Since that time I have tracked the progress of the new blog in terms of views and search engines using the reports that are built into every Levelfield (TM) / OnlineAgency (TM) account.

Here's a bit of what I am seeing.

In terms of page views the new blog has become this website's 2nd most popular page taking 19.5% of the page views. What page is number 1? The Levelfield Broadcast Blog, of course. During the same time period, the Levelfield Broadcast Blog got 22.9% of the page views. Based on the trend however, we expect our Clarity blog to move into first place soon. However there is nothing like a bit of healthy competition. Expecially if it results in increasing the overall number of pages views and attracts new visitors to the website.

So how has the new Clarity blog fared with the search engines? Well, on Google, it's visible on the 4th page of results when one searches for small business blog. Not the best position, but look at it this way. This blog is less than 2 months old and is showing up in the top 35 of 337 million results. check it out here

On the MSN Search you'll find the new Clarity blog in the top 40. On Aol top 50.

I have also found 184 references to the name of the blog, "Clarity - Levelfield's Small Business Blog". 172 listings found on Yahoo Search

And I have found seven inbound links to the home page from external sites.

We saw another new website, www.jeanniesamson.com that launched this past month that has been indexed and is showing up in various searches on Google and MSN. The magic - two things with this site. This is a redesigned site but has been visibile in its old format for a few months and this site is making chock full of unique content. Note that the site doesn't have hundreds of pages but just a few. No work has been done to add unique keywords or other meta tags. We don't feel that these are viable any more. Instead the content that carries the site and attracts the search engines is the page level content.

Tip# 1: If you haven't added a blog to your account you need to get started. Blogs are free with your Levelfield (TM) / OnlineAgency (TM) accounts.

Tip# 2: If you have more than one person in your organization you might consider adding a new blog to your website to increase the amount of unique content that you get on your website. Your Levelfield (TM) / OnlineAgency (TM) accounts have built-in support for multiple blogs

Remember this formula:

Unique Content = Search Engine Magnet.

Blogs = Unique Content

Blogs = Search Engine Magnet

Now you see it - Now you don't

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

The Levelfield Website may have limits but you will be surprised how far you have to go to find those limits.  And once you have reached the edge you  can actually change the limits if you are willing to do a little bit of work.   One easy way is to use CSS and Javascript.  With the combination of these two you can add a lot of punch to your pages.  I've  set up this small example for you.

In the example, I added a few links above the search box and I hide the search box when the page loads.  If you click on the links you can hide and show the search box in several interesting ways.

Example: http://content.onlineagency.com/c/0/63/32379_63.htm

The example is using a fine javascript library Jquery  and a Jquery plugin called Interface.

When one is not enough

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Using the Levelfield Box and Blocks system you can easily add extra columns to a page.

Example: http://www.levelfield.com/columns.htm

Special congratulations to Susan Pitchford and to Phyllis Wlotzko

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We enjoyed seeing you at Vancouver last week. Special congratulations to Susan Pitchford, Travel Masters West Broadway and to Phyllis Wlotzko, Travel Your Way. Both won a free Online Agency (TM) web site.

NEW ---> Window to the world

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Click on the examples

Click to see example

Levelfield Customer Comment Documentation

More cool things in an iframe

Google Sitemap Generator

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

In case you didn't know or had forgotten the Levelfield Broadcast package includes access to the Google Sitemap Generator.  This feature is only available to those who have the Levelfield Broadcast package.  This great package combines several important features into one affordable bundle and it is yours for as long as you have an Online Agency account.

This month we are featuring this product and have a special price of only $99 (regular price is 169). Call today to lock in this special price - 866 489-4889   Ask  your sales representative how you can the Levelfield Broadcast Package for free.

The package is built around the Private Label Supreme option that removes your website from a frameset, brands each link in the site with your domain name, and makes your website very search engine friendly. Along with this we will include the Google Sitemap creator which allows you to create and submit a site map of your website to Google and then to easily update the sitemap as you change your pages. Plus we'll upgrade your newsletter so that you can create and save for reuse your newsletter campaigns. You also get the Levelfield Comment module. This package is design to work all the time for you. And it keeps getting better.

What if your customers could post their comments easily on your website

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

What if your customers could post their comments easily on your website! What if you wanted to be able to approve the comments before they automatically were displayed on your website? What if you could get this feature added at no cost to your website?

Wait no longer! We have added a new feature, the Levelfield Customer Comment Module, for everyone who has the Levelfield Broadcast Package.

What is the Levelfield Customer Comment Module?

The Levelfield Customer Comment module allows you to feature approved customer comments on your Levelfield site. For the customer, it means they can come to your site and submit a comment and after you approve it then it will appear on the site. For you, this can serve as one more way to communicate and interact with your customers. They can submit a comment and after you approve it you can put it on the site, showing them your appreciation. This new feature will be a part of our Levelfield content boxes and can also appear on a stand-alone page as well. You will have the flexibility to decide exactly where you want your comment box featured on the sit.

Click here to see how you can add the Levelfield Customer Comment Module to your website.

What is the Levelfield Broadcast Package?

The package is built around the Private Label Supreme option that removes your website from a frameset, brands each link in the site with your domain name, and makes your website very search engine friendly. Plus we'll upgrade your newsletter so that you can create and save for reuse your newsletter campaigns. And from time to time, you will get certain new features at no cost like the Levelfield Customer Comment Module! Pay once and it keeps on going for you.

If you don't have the Levelfield Broadcast Package, May is a good month to add it. You can get it at no cost with certain upgrades. Or if you prefer you can purchase the Levelfield Broadcast Package for the one time price of only $99. Plus we'll give you an extra month of service. Our regular price is $169. Save at least $140 in May.

Click here to read more about the Levelfield Broadcast Package.

Call now Toll Free 866 489-4889 to lock in your savings.

News Flash - The world is round

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

O you knew that!   But our webpages didn't.

 We are working on a technique that will allow you to have rounded corners on your web page. Not sure what I'm talking about. Take a look at the example:

Example  Click around the demo site you'll see that the rounded corners are beginning to show up through out the system. We've not decided exactly how we will implement this for you but this working demonstration will let you see what's possible. The example has only been tested in IE which represents so many folks who use your websites. However, we will make it look ok in Firefox as well as other browsers.

Want to learn more about the roundification of website corners:

Read This

Want to know even more

Google Search: rounded corners

Warning: the system still doesn't know much about rounded corners and other visualization tricks but we are teaching it. Stay tuned.

Added ID to all promo searches in application

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

The promotion ID  has been added to all the promotion searchs available to you when working on your website  within the Online Agency (TM) Dashboard. This feature makes it easy for you to find a promotion when a customer mentions a promotion id for something that they were viewing on your website.

Click to See how to use new search feature

Editing Non-Member Supplier Pages

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Although they don't provide us content, you can use them by editing their page in our system to include whatever content you have from them.  You can also use them as a supplier to create promotions and add your own Itinerary information.

* You can modify their page in our system
* They can be listed in your "Top Suppliers" column
* You can use them to build promotions in our system

Many of our customers use non-member suppliers in our system on their websites.  Some use non-member suppliers exclusively and sell lots of travel.

There are 3 different methods or some combination of these to do it:

1. Create custom promotion using the non-member supplier
2. Create a page from scratch for the supplier
3. Edit a new version of the non-member supplier page in our system

_____________To edit a supplier page "New Version"_________

1. login.onlineagency.com > Click on "pages of content"
2. Click on "all pages" (in yellow Toolbar on the side)
3. Click on the Supplier Link or Destination Link to get to the page
(Follow path e.g.: The World > North America > United States > Hawaii)
4. click the "New Version" (in yellow Toolbar on the side)
5. Enter any pertinent information in the form fields (at least a title) > click "save"
6. Edit your page
7. Click "Release page" 

____________To Create a Promotion______________

1. Login.onlineagency.com
2. Click promotions wizard ;
3. Select the type of promotion; if you are using a supplier select "Type 1", if not using a supplier select "Type 2"
4. Continue through the screens; follow the instructions in the wizard

***For Detailed Instructions****
login at onlineagency.com > Help? > How to Guides > Promotions & Specials How-To

Or just use this link:
https://content.onlineagency.com/sites/dl/Building_Editing_Promotions.htm

* The instructions include how to display the promotions on your page
* You can also create links to the pages just as you do with a static page
* After you are done you can go back and edit the promotion; click on "Promotions", click on "edit" or the name of the promotion to edit the page or the settings

________Walk-Through Training Support____________

The Online Agency Training program runs Monday through Friday each week.
You can sign up from your account dashboard (login to account).
The sessions occur every Day at 2:00 pm CST.

* Customizing OLA Content - In this class we cover how to customize any of the 30,000+ pages of content that make up your website. * Promotions In Depth - Here we go over the promo picker (which allows you to customize which promotions will be displayed on your pages), how to edit a promotion itinerary and how to build your own itinerary from scratch.

The March of the Internet Travel Consumers Begins

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Each December just after Christmas day, with visions of sugar plums fading from their heads, the damage done to the family budget, and a cold winter chill setting in, Internet travel consumers all through the land have begun their annual quest for adventure, warmer climates and relaxation in strange and wonderful places.

Right on schedule on December 26, 2005 we saw the annual march of travel shoppers begin as they flock to the Internet and will be watching as the next couple of months unfold. We hope that you have done your planning and have your travel business geared up for this annual march of travel consumers.

Looking for ways to dress up your website for the holidays?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

As the holidays approach people are decorating their homes, their streets, their desks and, yes, even their websites. If you like to tinker with your website, CSS, and HTML there are many ways you can customized your website. 

If you would like to dress up your website and don't have time or don't think you want to fool with it - be sure and ask us to see what sort of specials that we have. We have customization packages starting as low as $75.

Contact us today Local 512 401-9200 or Toll Free 866 489-4889 to see what specials that we have for you. You can save big on site customization packages, Levelfield Broadcast Package, Site Renewals or Even new or additional websites. Louie and Jason are waiting to help you.

Check out these links to see one of thousands of techniques we can use to spice up  your website :

Put yourself, your vision, and your dreams on your website.

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

The biggest problem for small businesses when creating a website is knowing what to put on the website. It's actually pretty easy. Put yourself, your vision, and your dreams on your website. Tell your story. Its unique - don't be like everyone else. Don't copy everyone else. Tell your story. That's what your customers need and want to hear.

Click to Read the full article "Put yourself, your vision, and your dreams on your website".

Customer Suggestion Comes to Life!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

This week on Tuesday a customer suggested that we add the HTML editor to Blogs.

On Wednesday, we added the html editor to the blog.

Today we are letting you know about it in our blog.

Thank all of you who give us suggestions on how we can make things easier for you. Of course we are not your custom development shop BUT if you have a suggestion we frequently find a way to work it into your Levelfield (TM) / Online Agency (TM) account. Sometimes is fast and sometimes its way slow. But we never forget. Keep your suggestions coming!

BTW if you haven't started a blog - you really should. A certain Levelfield person has a personal blog that has NEVER been submitted to a SEARCH ENGINE and has NO links to the site from ANYWHERE. Further there are no META TAGS or DESCRIPTION.

Yet the site has been indexed.

How can that be?

We think 2 things are going on.

1. Google must tap into a database of domain registrations.
2. the blog is full of unique content (search engine magnet)

Search Engine Optimization or good luck!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

This morning one of our customers reported to me that in MSN Search a link to her website for a well known cruise supplier is showing up first in the MSN search results and in another case on the first page.

How did she do this?

Well I'm guessing that luck is involved. Who knows exactly what and when the search engines are going to do something. However, I think there are several steps she took that certainly contributed to her good fortune.

1. She has added keyword rich unique text to her pages.

2. She has updated here website several times over the last 2-3 months.

3. She has added some meta keywords and a meta description. The search engine did not display the meta descripton. The keywords were not specific to the page. I don't think they help much.

4. She has the Levelfield Broadcast Option which includes Private Label Supreme. I don't think the Levelfield Broadcast Option made her number 1 or even got her on the first page but having this option certainly made it possible for Google, MSN, and Yahoo to index her website. Just 2 or 3 months ago she didn't have the Levelfield Broadcast Option. Now she has been indexed by the 3 primary search engines. She has not yet taken advantage of the of the Google Site Map feature.

Click to Read more about the Levelfield Broadcast Option and how it can help you.

One very important question:

Will she get search engine traffic as a result of this new positioning on the search results page?

After all it's possible to get top ranking for keywords that no one will ever use for a search. To demonstrate this I added the following phrase to one of our pages: Eightieth Waffle Mansion. If you search google and msn you'll see that phrase in the coveted number one position on the search results page. BUT who would ever search for that particular phrase.

click to see results on MSN

click to see results on Google

In a month or so I'll do a follow up report to see how our customer fared with her new positioning on the search results pages. What I can say for sure is that she gets traffic from Yahoo, Google, and MSN in that order on a daily basis. The question that I have will she benefit from this placement reported here.

Travel Agency gets indexed by Google, MSN, and Yahoo in less than 2 months

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

I was working with one of the Online Agency customers today and saw that their website had been indexed by Google, MSN, and Yahoo. And they only signed up in September, 2005.

The magic?

The customer has created about 45 pages of their own content including a blog and their own promotions, and they have the Levelfield Broadcast Option.

The end of the year is rapidly approaching and you want to make sure your site is ready for the wave. If you don't yet have Levelfield Broadcast Option get it now while the price is low. We are offering the Levelfield Broadcast Option for a one time fee of $129. But hurry this price is going up at the first of the year.

Be one of the first 20 callers to purchase this option on Monday November 21, 2005 and we'll make this great upgrade even better. We'll add 30 days of service to your account. Call Toll Free 866 489-4889 and add the Levelfield Broadcast Option.

Read more about the Levelfield Broadcast Option

This offer is only valid on Monday November 21, 2005

66 Blogs!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Welcome to all the new bloggers out there. So far 66 blogs have been created. Keep up the good work. Make sure you add a new entry today. AND for those of you who have not create a blog yet - get busy. Who knows your next customer just might find your website because of your blog.

Small Image - Large Image

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

When you select an image for use on a page, you can now link automatically to a new page that contains a larger version fo the image along with Title and Description. Just click on the image to the left to see how this works.

Levelfield (TM) Blog now has PERMALINK

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We made it easier for you or others to reference one of your blog entries by adding a new permalink feature. You can see the permalink on this post - just look for the "link" next to to the date and time.

What is a PERMALINK?

A permalink is a link that will always be good for your blog entry. As you may have noticed the actual blog entry tends to move around. First it shows up in the blog, As time goes by the entry will drop in the blog list until one day it is not visible. At this point the blog entry is grouped with blogs for a given month.

This is good and bad. It's good because you are freed up from lots of maintenance on your website. It's bad because people looking for your blog entry might not be able to find it. That's where permalinks come in. They are a "permanent" link to the entry no matter where the blog post actually ends up.

If you want to read more about PERMALINK click here

We also updated the RSS feed code so that it will have the correct date on it. This makes it work better with various RSS readers.


Did you know that the levelfield.com RSS Feed reader supports RSS 1.0 and RSS 2.0?

55 places to put your RSS feed

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

The Levelfield (TM) website comes with free blogging capability with built-in RSScapabilities. This features makes it possible for people to "subscribe" to your promotion list or blog so that they can keep up with you. You can also submit your RSS feeds to various sites as part of your campaign to get the word out!

Need to learn more - well read Robin Good's TOP55 page where you can find out more about using RSS as part of your marketing efforts and where you can find 55 places that you can submit your RSS feeds so that you get your word out further and wider than ever before.

More Search List formatting options added!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We added 2 new formatting options today. 1. You can change the look for your even and odd rows in the search results.
If you are wondering about the colors use on the example site. You might want to click on Site - Style and check out the Palettes, Font and CSS buttons to see more customization options.

Weekend Challenge

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

This weekend take a few minutes for your business I challenge you to starting learning something new about your Levelfield (TM)/Online Agency (TM) account.

Log into your Levelfield (TM)/Online Agency (TM) account and do something that you have never done - Create a page, upload an image, use a Levelfield Content Block, create a blog, create a promotion, check your statistics, add an email account, check out all the extras, go in and select a new supplier. You’ll be amazed how quickly you learn when you are doing.

Have a wonderfully healthy and prosperous month.
May you live a century, learn a century.

Blogging and your business

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Are you wondering why we talk so much about blogging? Take a few minutes to read this article written by Scott Ingram, one of our customers. Scott discusses the top 5 reasons why blogging for business is so valuable and has so much potential. Click to Read Scott Ingram's article

Get the word out!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

You may have noticed that we are talking a lot about blogging. That's because we are trying to get the word out about a powerful new business tool that is included free with your Levelfield(TM) / Online Agency(TM) account.

It's one of those tools that are designed to make it easier for you to get the word out. Getting the word out always increases your potential for new business.

Links
Here are a couple of articles that a Levelfield customer posted on their website that might help you decide to blog today: Business Blogging - Part 1 "Do You Blog?
Business Blogging - Part 2 "Why Blog?"

Here's a search that shows you one important fact:
Search engines love your unique content. Increase your business potential! Get the word out.
Google Search: levelfield.com blog

HOW TO: Did you blog today?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

All Levelfield/Online Agency users have a blog. It's an easy way to periodically add content to your website. A blog is a log or journal on your web site that you can use to easily report on events or post information for your customers or friends, the term "blog" is short for weblog. The blog is automatically formatted with a bold header a date stamp (you can turn off if need be) that indicates an ongoing dialog. On the Online Agency editing platform the feature is labled with a yellow "log" button . Editing the log is simple as clicking the button and typing in text. You can also add images and HTML if you wish to do so. How to Add the Blog Block to a Page To create a blog block on your page you must first convert a body on a page to a content box: The blog block will be available for selection in the content box, it is called a "log". For instructions to convert a body to a content box use this link: Documentation How to add a Post to a Log After the Log Block has been added to the page in the Content Box, will have a "Log" button on your page to Post or Edit a Log. Click the yellow "Log" button: Type in a Title for a Bold Header for your Log. Type in and format your text in the "Post" field. To add an Image click on the green image button at the bottom. To add links or format the text, you can use HTML tags. Check the "Hide date/time on posts" field to remove the date time from the log. How to Add the Blog Block to a Page How to Edit an Existing Post in a Log You can go back and make corrections or update an existing log on your page by going into the log block and selecting "search posts". Click the yellow "Log" button - . Click "Search Posts" in the upper right side in the blue bar. Click the name of the Post, this will reopen it for editing. Click the green "Save" button or "cancel" button at the bottom right to finish.

Site Look and Feel - New Display Preference

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We added a new display preferences for the info box for Cruise Ship Detail pages. This display option is particularly useful for those Ships with dozens of itineraries. You can put the info box before the itineraries so that it is easier to see.

You can find this preference when you log by clicking on Site and the Preferences. Look for the Section called Display toward the bottom of the page.

Webmail Features

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We are consolidating all our annoucements into the Levelfield Broadcast Blog. Here's a list of features that we added to the webmail services in September. If you don't see these features you may not be using the new system. Contact support for more information. Check out the various options that are available to you now by clicking on the OPTIONS link at the top of the page once you log in to webmail. Pick where you save "sent" messages. Useful if you need to keep track of mail sent by customer. Forward or reply from the list of emails. Pick links, icons, links and icons, or buttons for the menu items at the top of the screen. Select two items from the list, click "select range", and all items between the two become selected. This is useful if you want to delete or modify message status of a bunch of messages quickly. You can also change your select range preferences to support selecting "multiple ranges". For example, you select message one, then message five, then click "select range". You select message eight and message twelve, then click "select range". You now have messages 1-5 *and* 8-12 selected. Enabled shift-clicking. Keep track of dates using the Calendar feature to the webmail with month view and day view. Events can be created, deleted and updated. You can also place a small calendar in the folder area. See Options for settings. Address book Import-Export Import address books from a CSV (comma separated values) file. Located at the bottom of the "Addresses" section. Auto Login: Ability to log in without retyping email address and password. DO NOT USE IN PUBLIC SETTING. Bounce: Resend an email preserving the headers. Email Sent Confirmation: Provides a variety of ways to see tha email has been sent plus a new feature to add addressee to address book. Enhanced Composition: Streamlined tab sequence when writing emails. Show Headers: Ability to show custom headers Add Address: Add the From Address to your address book, via a small link next to the From Address. Auto Completion: Automatically fill in nickname/email address while filling in your To/Cc/Bcc fields. Bookmarks: Keep track of your important Internet links. HTML Editor: Send colorful emails. Quick Save:Saves a copy of your message just in case you leave the compose form by accident. Message Highlighting: Based upon given criteria, incoming messages can have different background colors in the message list. This helps to easily distinguish who the messages are from, especially for mailing lists. New Mail Notifications: Configure settings for playing sounds and/or showing popup windows when new mail arrives. Notes: Create notes, for easy reminders or quick saving of information for future use. Preview Pane: Use a third frame below the message list for viewing message bodies Random Signature Taglines: Append a randomly selected tagline to the user's signature. Spelling Check: Cannt spel? No problem. Templates: Create text templates to quickly add to your emails Weather: How cold? how hot? Rain or Shine? Support: Send a note to the Online Agency support team. And much more:

Built in support for Google SiteMap beta program

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Google has introduced a new program called Google Sitemaps. Levelfield has added built in support for this new program. Only Levelfield customers who have the Supreme Private Label program will be able to use the Levelfield site map creation tool. The pages that the Levelfield system can submit will be limited to the pages that you actually have created. The sitemap will not include the Levelfield content. Our goal is to encourage you to create "unique content" for your website.

In order to use this new system. You need to create an account with Google. Create new Google Account

Once you have the account you'll need to log into your Online Agency account. Click on Google Site Map link on the dashboard.

Once you have created the sitemap you will need to submit the sitemap to Google when you log into your Google account.

As with all search engines, Google states that they cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or IF your urls will be crawled and added to the index. Remember that it is not technology that will make the difference for your business it is YOU.

What's in that Box!

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

We've enhanced the content BOX. You know that green thing tha shows up on your pages while you are editing your website.

The plan behind the madness it to make it easier and easier for you to customize your webpages and website by offering you more features.

Here's two that you might not know about. You can now create a content rotator or a slide show. And the cool thing is that you can mix images, text, html, and even flash into the content rotator or slide show.

Built in Slide Show

Built in Content rotator

New Travel Images added to the image library

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

69% of Online Agency customers prefer Blue

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

On 2/28/2005 we released a new map feature that made it possible to choose the color theme for the maps used on travel sites powered by OnlineAgency.com. Today the most popular color has been blue by an overwhelming 69% majority. Next comes green (19%) and yellow (9%). Grey and the classic color made a poor showing of 1.5 percent for each color.

Released Levelfield Box and Blocks

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Today, we released the first full version of Levelfield's Content Box and Blocks. Content Box and Blocks makes it possible for you to add Titles, subtitle, paragraphs, images, extras, and other types of content as it is made available. And you'll have a much better ability to fine tune the look and feel of any page.

This is a big step away from having fixed templates for your custom pages. Additionally you can now override your site's style sheet for specific blocks of text or images. You'll be able to add borders, set background colors, background images and other properties for your blocks of text.

We recommend creating a test page in your account and playing with these new features to see what they can do.

Internally, the Content Box and Blocks are making it easier for us to maintain our own website plus the customized sites that we build.

I did notice that we didn't add the new style formatting to the BLOG. I'll have to find out why!

Use the comment form to the leftto let us know what you think.

What is this?

12/9/2019 9:24:40 AM Link |  | Add comment

Welcome to our Levelfield Travel Agency Log. This is the Levelfield version of a BLOG or weBLOG. This coming month we will be activating this new feature and others on your website. (no charge)

A blog contains dated entries in chronological order starting with the most recent. They are a very popular way of posting tidbits of information.

Do a google search for blog and you'll see more than 181,000,000 references for blog.

What do people use blogs for? They use them for everything from political commentary to keeping track of Disney movies. We plan on using this one as a way to introduce you to new features, content, and suppliers as we make them available to the Online Agency system.

Book mark this page and check back regularly.