Affiliate Links - to Cloak or Not to Cloak

Let's first get the question of what is link cloaking out of the way. Normally, an affiliate link is a cumbersome thing, and doesn't entice clicks. An Amazon affiliate link might look like the following little gem when a visitor hovers over the link's anchor text: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NIYJF6U/ref</a>=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00NIYJF6U&linkCode=as2&tag=lifeslargech-19&linkId=3ZZ7XLL7RCJS5FHH Rather than showing your site

What's in Your Computer?

I have lots of information on the computer - 6 or 7 terabytes! There are times I lose track of what I filed where, and times I forget having a resource saved at all! How do you keep track of all the bits and pieces? (Re) Introducing Google Desktop SearchThe good news is that Google Desktop Search (GDS) is free. The bad news is that it was discontinued by Google in September of 2011. But... wait for it... the good news is that you can still download and use the power of Google to search and inde

Amp Up Your Google Search!

You may be familiar with how to use Google to search. Some common search techniques include:Simply putting a word or words in the search field - Google will try to return links to pages that contain all those words.Putting those same words in "double quotes" - Google will try to return results with those exact words, and in that exact word order.Put a hyphen or minus sign before any word you do not want to have included in your search results. Google will delete results that contain that word.D

Want to be Helpful - But Feeling a Little Snarky?

The word "helpful" is self explanatory - but "snarky"? The Urban Dictionary defines snarky asA witty mannerism, personality, or behavior that is a combination of sarcasm and cynicism. Usually accepted as a complimentary term. Snark is sometimes mistaken for a snotty or arrogant attitude. "Her snarky remarks had half the room on the floor laughing and the other half ready to walk out."Combining helpful and snarkyHave you ever wanted to help someone that's got a legitimate question or a problem,

Site Down?

Do you ever wonder if your site is down? Alternately, have you ever wondered if another site you're trying to access is down?Monitoring your site(s)You can monitor your site on an ongoing basis by using a service like http://uptimerobot.com which allows you to keep tabs on as many as 50 sites for free. It monitors the sites' status, alerting you by email when one of the sites goes down and when it comes back online. Uptimerobot also keeps track of your sites' response times. This is not the loa

Is Your Internet Connection Letting You Down?

I've read of some members having trouble with videos streaming correctly, who use their Internet connection to make phone calls (VoIP calls). Some even make regular video calls using Skype or some other service over their Internet connection. What's the problem??Your problem may be in your your Internet connection. Upload speeds are typically a lot slower than download speeds, and latency can be nearly a second for satellite based Internet providers - since your click has to travel to a satel

Resurrecting a Dead Computer

I have an older desktop computer, and just lost a couple of days when it refused to boot up. It turns out that there's a tiny battery that desktops and laptops need to boot up. After five years or so, mine gave up the ghost - and my computer couldn't remember how to boot itself up anymore. Who knew?Warning - geek talk ahead. Turn back now!We've had some fairly hot weather recently, and my computer started randomly shutting itself off while I was working. I assumed it was the heat getting to it,

Bookmarking - "X" Marks the Spot

Have you ever wanted to send traffic to a specific spot in a lengthy web page? Not a problem, jump links were made for the task. What's even better, once a jump link is created, you can bookmark it for use at a later date!Introducing the Jump Link...Just insert a bit of link code in the editor's Text tab. When your visitor clicks that link, they'll be whisked to another spot on the same page. For example, the following will create a jump link to a location called "collar" elsewhere on the page.

Imaginary Friends and Other Writing Tricks

I've been slowly going back through the LIve Video Classes, and the class I reviewed today was fresh out of the box on August 8, 2014. There were a number of interesting points in the class, but one that really caught my attention was one in which Jay (magistudios) suggested writing to a single person - even an imaginary person! Keepin' it realGive them a name, an age, a sex, and even a bit of a profile; someone who might be interested in what you were writing about - then write to them. You'll

Don't Change Your Title!

Edu (TopAchiever) just did a blog about having your blog deleted for violating the rules at WA. You can read it at https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/topachiever/blog/t... If you overstep your bounds, all your viewers will see is an "Oops!" message similar to that shown below - Another way to lose your blog, tutorial, or question...Note that overstepping the rules at WA isn't the only way to lose your work though. Once you've hit the "Publish" button, the system assigns a URL to your blog, your t