Being listed in search engines and ranked high on searches is the overall goal a webmaster is trying to achieve when dealing with search engines. Search engine optimization is probably one of the most commonly used words among webmasters. In the Internet market becoming much more critical to business success this is almost natural.
While the professionals know how to verify search engine rankings and listings, the normal user or startup webmaster might not know how to verify these things. The often just type their domain name into the search engine of choice and are happy if they get a result back that includes their domain name. But there is a little more these startup webmasters should know about.
Every page indexed by a search engine is a possible landing page for visitors to enter the website. As more pages get indexed the higher number of possible entry points to the website. But how can a webmaster verify how many pages are currently in the index of a search engine?
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=site=omainName.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=site=omainName.com
Replace "DomainName.com" with the actual domain name that needs to be verified. A webmaster should also run the following variation to get an impression of what is really out there.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=site:www.DomainName.com
http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.DomainName.com
The next thing a webmaster should check is to see how many other websites are linking to his/her website at all. As almost everyone knows nowadays - the higher the number of links pointing to a website (incoming links) as higher the possible search engine ranking on search can be (and we all want that number 1 spot, right?!). The problem is that Google will never show you all incoming links to a website. But even a ball park number can be helpful in finding out if the SEO work of the past paid off. So, how does a webmaster can get this ball park number of incoming links?
http://www.google.com/search?q=link:www.DomainName.com
This command will show the 'ball park' number mentioned above. It will give the webmaster a hint how successful the website is and how many people/websites are linking to it.
By researching the information of how many pages and how many links to/for a website are registered/indexed in a search engine a webmaster can gain important knowledge. This knowledge makes it easier to see what works and what does not work when it comes to search engine success for a website.
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Choosing a Web host
There are some simple rules to follow when looking for a web host. The first rules is to avoid free hosts whenever possible, it is easy to think that a free service is preferable to paying a monthly fee however with web hosting this is defiantly not the case.
Paid hosting has several important advantages over free hosting. Firstly you will receive more useful features with paid hosting. Technical support will be much better with help available when you need it. Generally speaking Paid hosts will have much faster connections to the internet so your site will appear quicker. Most importantly with paid hosting you won't have to display a banner on each page advertising the Hosting Company and advertising to the world that you are on a free host. With excellent hosting packages starting from $6.99 per month there is no reason why you shouldn't go with a paid host.
The second simple rule concerns what operating system to choose. You will find hosts offering you Windows Hosting or Linux Hosting, it is tempting to choose windows as it's a name everyone knows and many people mistakenly believe that because their PC runs windows they need a Windows Host but in this case they'd be wrong. Whichever hosting package you choose you will receive a control panel through which you administer your site these are graphical environments through which you can control many aspects of your website from configuring your web mail and installing forum software to creating a database. Take a lead from the marble halls of business most major companies host their websites on Linux Servers. Linux Servers generally runs faster and are more secure than a windows server. This is partly due to how the operating systems are built. Windows try to include every possible function in the base package whilst Linux allows the host company to add the functions they need.
The final thing to consider when choosing a host is the list of features they offer. If you don't know much about html you can look for a host that supplies you with free website building software and some of the better ones will even supply free Domain names. You should look at a number of different companies and compare what they offer as standard with their hosting plans. Technical aspects to consider are; the amount of disk space available to you and how much monthly bandwidth you have to use. Look at how many email accounts you can have the more the better. Customer support features should not be overlooked check to see what their response time is and if it's anymore than an hour look elsewhere, also consider if they offer a money back guarantee.
Look to see what additional services they include in the package for example do they offer daily backups? Make sure that they offer support for PHP as this is quickly becoming the programming language of choice with web programmers.
To conclude when choosing a website Host look for a paid host with Linux hosting and then compare the packages on offer from a variety of companies.
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Paid hosting has several important advantages over free hosting. Firstly you will receive more useful features with paid hosting. Technical support will be much better with help available when you need it. Generally speaking Paid hosts will have much faster connections to the internet so your site will appear quicker. Most importantly with paid hosting you won't have to display a banner on each page advertising the Hosting Company and advertising to the world that you are on a free host. With excellent hosting packages starting from $6.99 per month there is no reason why you shouldn't go with a paid host.
The second simple rule concerns what operating system to choose. You will find hosts offering you Windows Hosting or Linux Hosting, it is tempting to choose windows as it's a name everyone knows and many people mistakenly believe that because their PC runs windows they need a Windows Host but in this case they'd be wrong. Whichever hosting package you choose you will receive a control panel through which you administer your site these are graphical environments through which you can control many aspects of your website from configuring your web mail and installing forum software to creating a database. Take a lead from the marble halls of business most major companies host their websites on Linux Servers. Linux Servers generally runs faster and are more secure than a windows server. This is partly due to how the operating systems are built. Windows try to include every possible function in the base package whilst Linux allows the host company to add the functions they need.
The final thing to consider when choosing a host is the list of features they offer. If you don't know much about html you can look for a host that supplies you with free website building software and some of the better ones will even supply free Domain names. You should look at a number of different companies and compare what they offer as standard with their hosting plans. Technical aspects to consider are; the amount of disk space available to you and how much monthly bandwidth you have to use. Look at how many email accounts you can have the more the better. Customer support features should not be overlooked check to see what their response time is and if it's anymore than an hour look elsewhere, also consider if they offer a money back guarantee.
Look to see what additional services they include in the package for example do they offer daily backups? Make sure that they offer support for PHP as this is quickly becoming the programming language of choice with web programmers.
To conclude when choosing a website Host look for a paid host with Linux hosting and then compare the packages on offer from a variety of companies.
Read More!
Setting up a Web Server - The Most Important Step to Hosting your Website from Home
You might be trying to decide whether you want to host your website yourself rather than pay a hosting company. Maybe you just want to learn how it is done, or you want to save some money by doing it yourself. In this article I'll discuss the most important part of hosting your website from home, the web server.
The word "server" sounds scary and because of this many people think only a professional hosting company can host a website. This is not true. A server is nothing more than software that runs in the background listening to requests from "clients." The client in our case is an internet browser, like Internet Explorer.
How do you get a web server? Most Windows operating sytems come with a web server that just needs to be installed. There are also web servers than can be downloaded for free, like Apache. I'm not going to go over how to do this. In this article I'll discuss the concepts and what's needed to get your web server up and running and serving your site to the public after it's been installed. Every web server is different but the concepts are the same. By
going over the general concepts that are true for any web server, you'll know what to look for regardless of the software you are using.
Like I mentioned before, a server is just software that runs in the background. A web server is a server that listens to requests from internet browsers for a specific page, finds that page in the computer it is running on and then sends it to the browser that requested it. Keeping this in mind, can you believe there are actually just two things you need to do to have your web server configured?
1) Tell your web server where to find your web site. Your website probably consists of multiple pages. You need to tell the web server the path of the folder where you keep
your pages. For example, when someone types www.yourdomain.com/main.html, the server will look in the folder where all your pages live, and look for file main.html.
2) Tell your web server about your default page. This is the page that is displayed when someone types www.yourdomain.com in their browser without specifying a page. The web server already has some default page names like "index.html" so if you have a page with this name
it will be displayed by default when no document is specified in the request. You may also add some more default file names to your web server. If you don't want to name your file "index.html" you can tell your web server that your default page's name is "mainpage.htm."
This is basically all there is to configuring your web server. Actually, there is more, but these two steps will allow your web server to start serving your website. Of course, there is also more to hosting your website from home, like getting a domain name, dealing with your router if you have one, but these topics are beyond the scope of this article. I hope I've convinced you of how easy it is to set up a web server, which happens to be the most important step to hosting your website from home.
Read More!
The word "server" sounds scary and because of this many people think only a professional hosting company can host a website. This is not true. A server is nothing more than software that runs in the background listening to requests from "clients." The client in our case is an internet browser, like Internet Explorer.
How do you get a web server? Most Windows operating sytems come with a web server that just needs to be installed. There are also web servers than can be downloaded for free, like Apache. I'm not going to go over how to do this. In this article I'll discuss the concepts and what's needed to get your web server up and running and serving your site to the public after it's been installed. Every web server is different but the concepts are the same. By
going over the general concepts that are true for any web server, you'll know what to look for regardless of the software you are using.
Like I mentioned before, a server is just software that runs in the background. A web server is a server that listens to requests from internet browsers for a specific page, finds that page in the computer it is running on and then sends it to the browser that requested it. Keeping this in mind, can you believe there are actually just two things you need to do to have your web server configured?
1) Tell your web server where to find your web site. Your website probably consists of multiple pages. You need to tell the web server the path of the folder where you keep
your pages. For example, when someone types www.yourdomain.com/main.html, the server will look in the folder where all your pages live, and look for file main.html.
2) Tell your web server about your default page. This is the page that is displayed when someone types www.yourdomain.com in their browser without specifying a page. The web server already has some default page names like "index.html" so if you have a page with this name
it will be displayed by default when no document is specified in the request. You may also add some more default file names to your web server. If you don't want to name your file "index.html" you can tell your web server that your default page's name is "mainpage.htm."
This is basically all there is to configuring your web server. Actually, there is more, but these two steps will allow your web server to start serving your website. Of course, there is also more to hosting your website from home, like getting a domain name, dealing with your router if you have one, but these topics are beyond the scope of this article. I hope I've convinced you of how easy it is to set up a web server, which happens to be the most important step to hosting your website from home.
Read More!
Yes, You Can Use Hyphens in Your Domain Name: It Makes Them Easy to Read.
Most of the desirable one-word, two-word, and three-word dot com domains are taken. However, if add plurals and hyphenated terms, there is still some gold left in the domain name game. If you find that you need or want to use a phrase or a compound word with two or more words strung together, you can use hyphens. All of the search engine robots read a hyphen as a blank space so you don’t gain or lose anything when you use hyphenated words.
The most important reason for using hyphens is readability. Your keywords are ranked by robots. Your website is read by human beings. If your domain name is theanythinggoesguide.com, it would be much easier to read it as The-anything-goes-guide.com.
A domain name as well as an online business is a long term proposition. You might have to put a bit more effort into your upfront marketing efforts, but don’t be afraid to use hyphens in your domain name. If it’s easy to read, memorable and enhances your online image, hyphens can add to the lasting appeal of your domain name.
Remember that the purpose of the domain name is to make sure that customers remember your web address when they need to get information or buy a product. Anything that is easy to read easily wins out over a long jumbled mess of letters.
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The most important reason for using hyphens is readability. Your keywords are ranked by robots. Your website is read by human beings. If your domain name is theanythinggoesguide.com, it would be much easier to read it as The-anything-goes-guide.com.
A domain name as well as an online business is a long term proposition. You might have to put a bit more effort into your upfront marketing efforts, but don’t be afraid to use hyphens in your domain name. If it’s easy to read, memorable and enhances your online image, hyphens can add to the lasting appeal of your domain name.
Remember that the purpose of the domain name is to make sure that customers remember your web address when they need to get information or buy a product. Anything that is easy to read easily wins out over a long jumbled mess of letters.
Read More!
Domain Registration For Great Search Engine Ranking
A solid keyword domain name is the key to establish a strong presence and making the resources of the Internet more reachable. With a great name, it's always easy to reach new and existing clients. Therefore, a number of companies are ready to spend a large amount of money to get hold of and promote a good keyword rich domain name.
Choosing a keyword domain name can be vital to the success of a website. In order to take advantage of search engine traffic, people choose keyword domain. By selecting a domain that is equivalent to a keyword search, websites are able to rank higher for targeted keywords and thus benefit from added traffic and more potential clients. Whether to opt for a brandable domain or a keyword domain is a choice one must make in accordance with their business plan.
Follow these simple rules to maximize the benefit of a keyword domain, accomplish success in directory submissions, and enhance site keyword density:
Structuring
Order the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in such a manner that more vital keywords are listed before those that are less important. For example, if he target keyword is "money" then money-online.com would be more effectual than online-money.com.
Length
1. A majority of studies confirms that a number of people use two words or more in a search; as a result phrases are very useful.
2. Always stick to two-three keywords, with hyphens in between.
3. A lengthy, complex URL is more likely to be rejected by directory editors’ sites from which one would like to receive links.
Correct English and Must Make Sense
1. In order to execute directory submissions and link popularity campaigns, the URL should be grammatically correct.
2. When examined by an editor, "money-online-white.com" might sound like a less-reliable resource while "white-money-online.com" sounds more justifiable and is less likely to be questioned.
Put together "power words"
In order to create a distinctive domain name that is still available, one way is to add another less important word to the mix. A few examples include: now, top, just, goto, pro, guide, online and find etc.
Avoid using most popular keyword phrases
There is intense competition for keywords in the marketplace, so stay away from the most popular keyword phrases. It is impractical to think that a new website could rank number one on a popular phrase like “Shop Online”. A number of well-known companies who have been on the Internet for a few years will have the big advantage of link popularity and click popularity.
Try to register a .com domain
Always use ".com". In case it is a business website, avoid using domains ending with "ru" or "org". At once, one can consider registering a ".net" domain, but as most people are familiar with ".com", it is better to stick to convention.
In addition to the above, an understanding of the domain name system (DNS) is also vital while choosing a domain name. The DNS is set up to make regular words map to IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. In order to connect all computers on the Internet, an IP address is used by networks. A domain name can be up to sixty-three characters, comprising of letters, numbers, or the dash symbol. For example, in the world of computer networking, the web address fishing.com becomes the IP address 124.133.1.1. However, it's the domain name that people around the world use when looking for Web sites or sending an e-mail.
Finally, it is very important to choose a keyword phrase very carefully. This can be considered as one of the most critical decisions one will make regarding the success or failure of a website. One must identify the exact phrase that searchers will use to find a website. The more targeted the campaign is, the more increase in sales will be achieved.
Read More!
Choosing a keyword domain name can be vital to the success of a website. In order to take advantage of search engine traffic, people choose keyword domain. By selecting a domain that is equivalent to a keyword search, websites are able to rank higher for targeted keywords and thus benefit from added traffic and more potential clients. Whether to opt for a brandable domain or a keyword domain is a choice one must make in accordance with their business plan.
Follow these simple rules to maximize the benefit of a keyword domain, accomplish success in directory submissions, and enhance site keyword density:
Structuring
Order the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) in such a manner that more vital keywords are listed before those that are less important. For example, if he target keyword is "money" then money-online.com would be more effectual than online-money.com.
Length
1. A majority of studies confirms that a number of people use two words or more in a search; as a result phrases are very useful.
2. Always stick to two-three keywords, with hyphens in between.
3. A lengthy, complex URL is more likely to be rejected by directory editors’ sites from which one would like to receive links.
Correct English and Must Make Sense
1. In order to execute directory submissions and link popularity campaigns, the URL should be grammatically correct.
2. When examined by an editor, "money-online-white.com" might sound like a less-reliable resource while "white-money-online.com" sounds more justifiable and is less likely to be questioned.
Put together "power words"
In order to create a distinctive domain name that is still available, one way is to add another less important word to the mix. A few examples include: now, top, just, goto, pro, guide, online and find etc.
Avoid using most popular keyword phrases
There is intense competition for keywords in the marketplace, so stay away from the most popular keyword phrases. It is impractical to think that a new website could rank number one on a popular phrase like “Shop Online”. A number of well-known companies who have been on the Internet for a few years will have the big advantage of link popularity and click popularity.
Try to register a .com domain
Always use ".com". In case it is a business website, avoid using domains ending with "ru" or "org". At once, one can consider registering a ".net" domain, but as most people are familiar with ".com", it is better to stick to convention.
In addition to the above, an understanding of the domain name system (DNS) is also vital while choosing a domain name. The DNS is set up to make regular words map to IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. In order to connect all computers on the Internet, an IP address is used by networks. A domain name can be up to sixty-three characters, comprising of letters, numbers, or the dash symbol. For example, in the world of computer networking, the web address fishing.com becomes the IP address 124.133.1.1. However, it's the domain name that people around the world use when looking for Web sites or sending an e-mail.
Finally, it is very important to choose a keyword phrase very carefully. This can be considered as one of the most critical decisions one will make regarding the success or failure of a website. One must identify the exact phrase that searchers will use to find a website. The more targeted the campaign is, the more increase in sales will be achieved.
Read More!
Public Domain - Internet Gold Mine
With the advent of the internet and the ease of which information can readily be downloaded and compiled you would think that more people would realize that the public domain is a source of wonderful wealth that can be tapped into for huge profits.
I have spent the last 4 years "discovering" little known secrets of this information that is readily available to those who know where to look. Or should I say "prospect". That's exactly what it is. It's Mining. When you mine the internet, you are not mining little rocks in a quarry or dredging a cold river looking for that elusive nugget of gold. You are searching for the gold of the future, and of the past. Information becomes your ore. You now become an information prospector. A "Millennium-Age Gold Miner."
The tools of your trade are much different today than in the days of old. Your "pick-axe" has evolved into your mouse, and your "gold pan" is your hard drive. Your computer is the dredge and your internet connection is your "claim". In the old days when a prospector found gold he would drive a stake in the ground and this would become his claim. You are doing the same thing when you sign the contract for your internet connection. You are staking a claim to the largest source of wealth in the world. Public Domain Information.
You transcend the boundaries of the physical world by entering a realm in which it is possible to find riches in the deepest recesses and crevices of the web. The public domain is the undiscovered country of the information age. It's mysteries are deep as oceans and it's knowledge as expansive as the universe. The public domain now becomes ultimate natural resource.
Information has always reigned king since the beginning of time. There are millions of us who know not the sheer power and value of the information that is freely available to anyone who knows where to look.
The new millennium, and the information-age is very much like the GoldRush of 1849 in which hundreds of thousands of people rushed westward in a stampede of gold seeking pioneers. Some were young, some old, some in between, but all sought a common goal. Gold. Only this time it is different, the gold we seek in this age is information, and it's not mere thousands, but hundreds of millions people who are on this new quest blazing new trails and forging great new paths to wealth.
Information is abundant and widely available. You can mine this gold at anytime, from any place in the world. You do not have to travel vast distances facing the perils of the land to stake your claim. All you need is a computer and a connection to the web. From anywhere in the world you are able to seek out, find, download, and refine your treasure from the warm and cozy comfort of home.
Never before, in the history of man have you been able to procure such wealth so quickly. You are able to locate information on any subject in an instant, and your results are displayed before you faster than you could have ever imagined.
Your "gold pan" quickly become full of the valuable information-ore. Each time you find a nugget it motivates you to find more. You become entranced with the new found riches and it almost becomes obsession. The desire to find more pulses through your veins like a hot drug, steadily increasing your craving for more. The more you find the more you want. It the realization becomes obvious that you have "Gold-Fever" and now you can't stop searching for more information.
This is what the public domain is. It's an internet goldmine chock full of free information ready for the taking.
Stake your claim!
Eric Wichman is founder of PD Times a public domain resources site specializing in free resources for web content and references for webmasters, researchers, marketers, and businesses alike. Be sure to tell your friends about this great new resource for businesses using the public domain
Read More!Domain registration and copyright violation
One of the most important aspects of choosing a domain name registration is that it should be non-infringing. This is not an easy task since most unique names have already been registered. The number of useful domain names from the marketing point of view have become extremely limited. Several companies now register variations of their trademark names as a preventive measure against infringement. For example, check www.coke.com, www.coca-cola.com, and www.coca-cola.com, or try www.3m.com and www.mmm.com.
All these factors have led to a crisis of domain names and given rise to increasing cases of infringement of domain registration. A number of companies have taken legal action against other companies or individuals over alleged copyright violation on the domain names.
There are some fundamental guidelines and cross-checks for selection of a domain name registration.
You must carefully select some names that are relevant to your business model. You must be able to justify your reason for using the name. Your domain name registration should principally consist of a name you are using as a trade name, trademark or corporate name.
It is better to select more than one name since you are not sure about the availability of the required domain name.
Now, search the website of one of the prominent domain name registrars to check if the required name is available. If the name has already been registered by someone else, the search result will provide you with optional names that are similar to your requirements. For example, for the name "ford", the search result may give you similar names like "aboutford.com" and "fordbusiness.com".
If the domain name that you are looking has already been registered but there is no content being displayed at the domain, try to find out the details of the owner of the domain. It is possible that he/she may be genuine and have yet not published any content.
It is also possible that the owner does not plan to create a web site and is willing to give you the domain at the original price. You must confirm that the seller has ownership rights for that particular domain name.
Choosing a domain name registration that is same as or quite similar to another well-known trademark, may lead to legal action. The regulations governing these issues are dealt by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
It is very likely that you would lose right of your domain name registration if you have intentionally chosen a name similar to another domain name so as to confuse potential visitors to the site. For example, if your site deals in consumer electronics goods made by a Samsung competitor, do not choose the name "samsungbusiness.com" since a court is most likely to pass a verdict that you selected this name to divert attention of Samsung customers.
There could be others reasons of losing a domain registration. It may be found that you have never carried out any business under that name or there is no person in your company similar to that name. Another reason could be that you intend to sell that domain name to your competitor for financial gain.
If your domain name is same as your name then you may be allowed to continue to use it, inspite of the fact that it is similar to someone else’s domain name. But the usage of such a name is governed by certain conditions set by court. For example, Mr. Suki Nokia, who runs a cosmetics business, may be allowed to use the domain name "nokia.kr" but he would be barred from using his site to demonstrate any electronics-related information or advertising.
It is also possible for you to use a domain name that is similar to another's trademark if your objective is not to criticize the other person’s business.
In the non-cyberworld, two companies may have the same name if they do not conduct a similar business or do not have similar product lines. Roxy Electrical and Roxy Laundry can coexist comfortably. However, in the web world, both Roxies cannot own the "roxy.com" domain name. The laundry Roxy could register under "roxy.laundry" and the electrician under "roxy.electrical."
A very useful tip is to buy all three of the top level domains - .com, .net and .org. You should also buy all possible misspellings of your domain name before anybody else takes advantage of this fact.
You have put a lot of money and energy into building your business and if you are forced to give up the domain name, your business is likely to suffer due to it. So, you need to put your best efforts in choosing a domain registration that is both
Read More!
All these factors have led to a crisis of domain names and given rise to increasing cases of infringement of domain registration. A number of companies have taken legal action against other companies or individuals over alleged copyright violation on the domain names.
There are some fundamental guidelines and cross-checks for selection of a domain name registration.
You must carefully select some names that are relevant to your business model. You must be able to justify your reason for using the name. Your domain name registration should principally consist of a name you are using as a trade name, trademark or corporate name.
It is better to select more than one name since you are not sure about the availability of the required domain name.
Now, search the website of one of the prominent domain name registrars to check if the required name is available. If the name has already been registered by someone else, the search result will provide you with optional names that are similar to your requirements. For example, for the name "ford", the search result may give you similar names like "aboutford.com" and "fordbusiness.com".
If the domain name that you are looking has already been registered but there is no content being displayed at the domain, try to find out the details of the owner of the domain. It is possible that he/she may be genuine and have yet not published any content.
It is also possible that the owner does not plan to create a web site and is willing to give you the domain at the original price. You must confirm that the seller has ownership rights for that particular domain name.
Choosing a domain name registration that is same as or quite similar to another well-known trademark, may lead to legal action. The regulations governing these issues are dealt by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
It is very likely that you would lose right of your domain name registration if you have intentionally chosen a name similar to another domain name so as to confuse potential visitors to the site. For example, if your site deals in consumer electronics goods made by a Samsung competitor, do not choose the name "samsungbusiness.com" since a court is most likely to pass a verdict that you selected this name to divert attention of Samsung customers.
There could be others reasons of losing a domain registration. It may be found that you have never carried out any business under that name or there is no person in your company similar to that name. Another reason could be that you intend to sell that domain name to your competitor for financial gain.
If your domain name is same as your name then you may be allowed to continue to use it, inspite of the fact that it is similar to someone else’s domain name. But the usage of such a name is governed by certain conditions set by court. For example, Mr. Suki Nokia, who runs a cosmetics business, may be allowed to use the domain name "nokia.kr" but he would be barred from using his site to demonstrate any electronics-related information or advertising.
It is also possible for you to use a domain name that is similar to another's trademark if your objective is not to criticize the other person’s business.
In the non-cyberworld, two companies may have the same name if they do not conduct a similar business or do not have similar product lines. Roxy Electrical and Roxy Laundry can coexist comfortably. However, in the web world, both Roxies cannot own the "roxy.com" domain name. The laundry Roxy could register under "roxy.laundry" and the electrician under "roxy.electrical."
A very useful tip is to buy all three of the top level domains - .com, .net and .org. You should also buy all possible misspellings of your domain name before anybody else takes advantage of this fact.
You have put a lot of money and energy into building your business and if you are forced to give up the domain name, your business is likely to suffer due to it. So, you need to put your best efforts in choosing a domain registration that is both
Read More!
How A PROCESSOR Is Made
Sand. Made up of 25 percent silicon, is, after oxygen, the second most abundant chemical element that's in the earth's crust. Sand, especially quartz, has high percentages of silicon in the form of silicon dioxide (SiO2) and is the base ingredient for semiconductor manufacturing.
After procuring raw sand and separating the silicon, the excess material is disposed of and the silicon is purified in multiple steps to finally reach semiconductor manufacturing quality which is called electronic grade silicon. The resulting purity is so great that electronic grade silicon may only have one alien atom for every one billion silicon atoms. After the purification process, the silicon enters the melting phase. In this picture you can see how one big crystal is grown from the purified silicon melt. The resulting mono-crystal is called an ingot.
A mono-crystal ingot is produced from electronic grade silicon. One ingot weighs approximately 100 kilograms (or 220 pounds) and has a silicon purity of 99.9999 percent.
The ingot is then moved onto the slicing phase where individual silicon discs, called wafers, are sliced thin. Some ingots can stand higher than five feet. Several different diameters of ingots exist depending on the required wafer size. Today, CPUs are commonly made on 300 mm wafers.
Once cut, the wafers are polished until they have flawless, mirror-smooth surfaces. Intel doesn't produce its own ingots and wafers, and instead purchases manufacturing-ready wafers from third-party companies. Intel’s advanced 45 nm High-K/Metal Gate process uses wafers with a diameter of 300 mm (or 12-inches). When Intel first began making chips, it printed circuits on 50 mm (2-inches) wafers. These days, Intel uses 300 mm wafers, resulting in decreased costs per chip.
The blue liquid, depicted above, is a photo resist finish similar to those used in film for photography. The wafer spins during this step to allow an evenly-distributed coating that's smooth and also very thin.
At this stage, the photo-resistant finish is exposed to ultra violet (UV) light. The chemical reaction triggered by the UV light is similar to what happens to film material in a camera the moment you press the shutter button.
Areas of the resist on the wafer that have been exposed to UV light will become soluble. The exposure is done using masks that act like stencils. When used with UV light, masks create the various circuit patterns. The building of a CPU essentially repeats this process over and over until multiple layers are stacked on top of each other.
A lens (middle) reduces the mask's image to a small focal point. The resulting "print" on the wafer is typically four times smaller, linearly, than the mask's pattern.
In the picture we have a representation of what a single transistor would appear like if we could see it with the naked eye. A transistor acts as a switch, controlling the flow of electrical current in a computer chip. Intel researchers have developed transistors so small that they claim roughly 30 million of them could fit on the head of a pin.
After being exposed to UV light, the exposed blue photo resist areas are completely dissolved by a solvent. This reveals a pattern of photo resist made by the mask. The beginnings of transistors, interconnects, and other electrical contacts begin to grow from this point.
The photo resist layer protects wafer material that should not be etched away. Areas that were exposed will be etched away with chemicals.
After the etching, the photo resist is removed and the desired shape becomes visible.
More photo resist (blue) is applied and then re-exposed to UV light. Exposed photo resist is then washed off again before the next step, which is called ion doping. This is the step where ion particles are exposed to the wafer, allowing the silicon to change its chemical properties in a way that allows the CPU to control the flow of electricity.
Through a process called ion implantation (one form of a process called doping) the exposed areas of the silicon wafer are bombarded with ions. Ions are implanted in the silicon wafer to alter the way silicon in these areas conduct electricity. Ions are propelled onto the surface of the wafer at very high velocities. An electrical field accelerates the ions to a speed of over 300,000 km/hour (roughly 185,000 mph)
After the ion implantation, the photo resist will be removed and the material that should have been doped (green) now has alien atoms implanted.
This transistor is close to being finished. Three holes have been etched into the insulation layer (magenta color) above the transistor. These three holes will be filled with copper, which will make up the connections to other transistors.
The wafers are put into a copper sulphate solution at this stage. Copper ions are deposited onto the transistor through a process called electroplating. The copper ions travel from the positive terminal (anode) to the negative terminal (cathode) which is represented by the wafer.
The copper ions settle as a thin layer on the wafer surface.
The excess material is polished off leaving a very thin layer of copper.
Multiple metal layers are created to interconnects (think wires) in between the various transistors. How these connections have to be “wired” is determined by the architecture and design teams that develop the functionality of the respective processor (for example, Intel’s Core i7 processor). While computer chips look extremely flat, they may actually have over 20 layers to form complex circuitry. If you look at a magnified view of a chip, you will see an intricate network of circuit lines and transistors that look like a futuristic, multi-layered highway system.
This fraction of a ready wafer is being put through a first functionality test. In this stage test patterns are fed into every single chip and the response from the chip monitored and compared to "the right answer."
After tests determine that the wafer has a good yield of functioning processor units, the wafer is cut into pieces (called dies).
The dies that responded with the right answer to the test pattern will be put forward for the next step (packaging). Bad dies are discarded. Several years ago, Intel made key chains out of bad CPU dies.
This is an individual die, which has been cut out in the previous step (slicing). The die shown here is a die of an Intel Core i7 processor.
The substrate, the die, and the heatspreader are put together to form a completed processor. The green substrate builds the electrical and mechanical interface for the processor to interact with the rest of the PC system. The silver heatspreader is a thermal interface where a cooling solution will be applied. This will keep the processor cool during operation.
A microprocessor is the most complex manufactured product on earth. In fact, it takes hundreds of steps and only the most important ones have been visualized in this picture story.
During this final test the processors will be tested for their key characteristics (among the tested characteristics are power dissipation and maximum frequency).
Based on the test result of class testing processors with the same capabilities are put into the same transporting trays. This process is called "binning". Binning determines the maximum operating frequency of a processor, and batches are divided and sold according to stable specifications.
The manufactured and tested processors (again Intel Core i7 processor is shown here) either go to system manufacturers in trays or into retail stores in a box. Many thanks to Intel for supplying the text and photos in this picture story. Check out Intel's site for full size images of this entire process.
