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By
Jim Daniels
Are you truly
using technology in your Web business? Before you answer yes, stop a moment and
consider how many promotion or marketing tasks take place at your Web site without
you lifting a finger.
Perhaps your site signs up new opt-in
subscribers for you while you sleep. If so, that's ONE automated task. Maybe orders
are accepted securely without your intervention. That's TWO. But can you keep
counting?
If you have a little trouble going beyond that, what
follows will help you.
As you probably already know, perhaps
the most powerful of all applications on the Internet is the CGI script. CGI stands
for the "Common Gateway Interface". It is a standard for interfacing
external applications with information servers, such as HTTP or Web servers. If
you have a website, more than likely you already have cgi based software running
at your site. But your profits could probably benefit greatly from a few more.
Now
don't worry, I'm not going to go into a long, boring explanation of how to install
cgi scripts. I'll save that for the techhies. Instead, I'll simply share a wide
variety of scripts that are ideal for small business owners looking to grow website
traffic and sales.
(Note: If you're not at all familiar with
CGI, http://www.cgi101.com/ is a great place to learn about how it works. Remember,
if it all seems too confusing, fear not. Using CGI can be as simple as picking
out a script and having someone else set it up!)
Anyway, on
with the scripts...
Automark
http://www.superscripts.com/scripts/automark.html
Automark
is a cgi script that will automatically pop up a "bookmark" suggestion
box for first-time visitors to your website. While this can be accomplished using
straight javacode, this script will not annoy regular visitors by popping up the
window every time they return. The first time
a new visitor hits your "target
page" the bookmark window pops up, but never again. This is a great way to
get your site bookmarked by more visitors.
MailNow
http://www.mailnow.co.uk/
MailNow
allows you to provide web-based email to your users. Its Web-based email product
provides unlimited addresses for multiple domains. A free email account is a great
giveaway that ensures constant repeat visitors to your site.
Master
Subscriber Pro
http://willmaster.com/master/subscriberpro/index.shtml
This
program automates joint ventures with other ezine publishers. Using this script
your visitors can subscribe to an unlimited number of ezines without leaving your
Web site to do so. Locate a few ezine publishers with traffic comparable to yours
and you'll all increase your new subscriber signups!
Protect
It
http://www.cgi-world.com/protect_it.html
This
script offers a simple way to setup .htaccess or .nsconfig type user authentication
to your web directories using username / password. It is a solid solution for
managing private site signups. This script features auto- creation and expiration
of accounts, account edit features, a customizable email template, and many other
configurable settings.
Master Reciprocal Links
http://willmaster.com/master/rlinks/index.shtml
Most
search engines favor sites with links from other similar sites. But growing and
maintaining a list of links can be a lot of work. Here's a free script that will
automate these tasks for you. Not only does the program make it easy to maintain
a links page, it also finds out who the cheats are!
Your
Own Associate Program
http://www.palis.com/new/yoap16/index.htm
Leverage
the efforts of hundreds or even thousands of other webmasters by opening up an
affiliate program at your site. This script by Paul Galloway runs my program automatically
and is used by many high-profile marketers.
Master Syndicator
http://willmaster.com/master/syndicator/index.shtml
Do
you offer articles, images or other content to webmasters, to use on their own
sites? Here's a way to automate the process -- for you AND them! This script lets
webmasters add two lines of JavaScript code on their page at the location where
your content is to appear. Then, all you do is paste your column into your own
Syndicator form and with one click you can automatically update every syndication
websites' pages, all at once. Pretty slick eh?
CDomain Pro
http://www.cdomain.com
This
script contains a domain lookup which helps your visitors find existing domains
and it also includes a powerful domain name wizard. The wizard combines descriptive
words that your visitors enter and presents them with a list of related domain
names that are available. If you are a domain name reseller, this lightning-fast,
user friendly script is ideal, as it can take your visitors right to your domain
name registration service. I liked this one so much I had it installed at my site!
You can demo it at:
http://www.bizweb2000.com/wizard.htm
If
you feel that any of these scripts would enhance your Web site, visit the URL
and learn more. Or, if you have an idea for your site and would like to automate
the process, you can search for a script at www.cgi-resources.com.
And
remember, don't pass up a script because of limited knowledge of cgi. While you
can install cgi scripts on your server yourself, you can also hire someone else
to do it. The key is to never stop transforming your site into a powerful lead
and sale generator - and these scripts do just
that!