Here is a complete list of popular HID lamps!

Thought this would help anyone looking for these…

Double Ended HPS Medium Base HPS Teflon Coated HPS

White Son HPS Low Pressure Sodium LPS Bulbs

Medium Base MV Mogul Base MV MV Reflectors Self Ballasted Mercury Vapor

BT5 CDM Master Color Lamps ED18 CDM Master Color Lamps PAR20 CDM Master Color Lamps

PAR30 Long CDM Master Color Lamps PAR38 CDM Master Color Lamps T4 CDM Metal Halide Bulbs

T6 CDM Master Color Lamps TD6 CDM Master Color Lamps TD7 CDM Master Color Lamps

Double Ended Metal Halides Pulse Start Medium Base MH Standard Medium Base MH

Open Fixture Mogul Base MH Pulse Start Mogul Base MH Reduced Outer Jacket Metal Halide

Standard Mogul Base MH Super Metal Halide Mogul Base Teflon Coated MH HPS to MH Retrofit Bulbs

It seems to me that Digital Point is being a little strict with their banning rules. They are now issuing 7 day bans on anyone who says "pm me info" or "PM sent". If you are caught submitting a post like this, you are subject to a 7 day banning with no warning, no heads up, nothing. Their argument is you must thoroughly read the TOS before you post. Well i'm not sure how many of you scan a TOS before you post but I never do. The reason for this is I am fully aware of basic message board etiquette and saying "pm sent, thank you for your consideration" should not be a bannable offense. I see people all the time committing far more severe infractions all the time and get nothing. Seems like their just on a "PM" post kick. Its funny, I've been reading through their post about banning procedures and the very people who are praising the ban have been banned themselves... check it out its actually quite funny. http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=934065&highlight=digital+point+7+day+ban

Today marks the first a many installments in my getting ahead blog series. I will be showcasing numerous schools and degree programs that can get you ahead in these tough economic times.

The first program I would like to talk about today is getting a masters of computer informations degree . This is a great program for anyone who wants to earn their degree online and is too busy for the traditional classroom setting.

Make sure you check out their programs in database management and information security

In my last posted I talked quite a bit about what type of webhosts are available and some of the different web hosting options.  I would now like to talk about the different web host companies and how to choose a reputable hosting company.

When picking a web host, it is extremely important that you do your homework. In my opinion, web hosting review sites seems to cut down on the tedious act of hunting down creditable review information.   The best website hosting review site I have come across would have to be upperhost.  They perform reviews on the top web hosting firms online.  Some of my favorites include the webhostingpad review, the lunarpages web hosting review, and the bluehost review.

Would you look at that, I’ve even saved you time and effort in finding particular webhosts to review.  If you already have these host, feel free to leave comments about them!

Ok so you have your site, you’ve built great content, you’ve created an effective SEO campaign, and you now have traffic!! This sounds like an awesome scenario.  What could go wrong?…Plenty!

If you are going to drive a vast amount of traffic to your site you have to make sure your web host is going to be able to facilitate all those visits.   Doing a quick Google web search, you may find that having your own dedicated web server may be the way to go.  The major downside to a dedicated server is the increased cost associated with the changeover.  The best alternative to a dedicated server is vps web hosting with cpanel.  VPS web hosting in a nutshell is a server divided into multiple servers each with its own operating system.  VPS hosts can typically deal with large amounts of traffic, which is a major plus.  (especially with an e-commerce site).

Al in all if you need an added punch to your web host VPS webhosts are a great option without having to spend a large amount of money on a completely dedicated serverer.

Being that I am from Michigan, I only deal with SEO jobs in my local area. I don’t know why, I just feel comfortable doing business with someone I can meet face to face. I guess i’m just old school like that

Beacuase of my “local only policy” I am often asked if I would reccomend firms that deal in other areas in the country ; Particularly in the Los Angeles area. Due to my active role in the online SEO community, I have met many SEO professionals from all areas in the world. The one firm that I would recommend for Los Angeles Marketing needs would have to be hifocal.com. Not only are the folks at hifocal.com a top notch Los Angeles SEO firm, but they also specialize in Los Angeles business plans. It is safe to say that they are an e-commerce “one stop shop”. It is rare when I SEO firm can also offer quality webdesign at the same time but hifocal can actually pull this off nicely. They are one of the most prominent names in Los Angeles web designers today.

Please stop by and check them out when you get a chance!

One of the most frequent questions I receive as an SEO consultant is “what is the most important factor when trying to start a SEO campaign”. Many people have very different answers to this question but I feel the answer is quite simple. The answer to this question reminds me of the move “Field of Dreams” when Kevin Costner kept hearing the phrase “If you build it, they will come”. In the SEO world if you build quality, relevant, content the traffic and inbound links will come. So many times I am approached by people who are looking for the simple and easy SEO magic bullet that will get them straight to the first page of Google. Well this magic bullet doesn’t exist. Google and the other major search engine have spent years perfecting their algorithms to weed out spam and other black hat SEO techniques. What you are left with is good, quality, content-rich, websites at the top of just about every search query. Another advantage to having a website with excellent content is the emergence of StumbleUpon and other web programs that allow users to recommend and promote content they enjoy. There is nothing better a website owner can do than create an online buzz about your company or product.

Here some examples of ways to build relevant quality content on your site.

1. Build a top 10 list that informs people about your specific industry or service but should not have a sales focus. You want to show your readers that you are an expert on your particular subject or industry.

2. Start a Blog about your specific industry that keeps people in the know of current trend and changes in your area of expertise.

3. The less graphic content the better. If you are going to add content to your website, make sure a search engine will be able to read it. If your website is made up of 90% flash, consider redesigning your site to include some keyword rich text.

As a blogger, I am often asked what blogs that I frequently read.  There are almost too many to name but one of my favorite blogs on how to make money online is moneymakerinfo.blogspot.com.  Moneymaker is filled with great online money making ideas.  

What make this blog so special, is that now only does the author come up with their own great ideas, they will also share ideas from other well know blogs and sites.  It would be fair to say that moneymaker is the one stop shop for all things blogging and blogging to make money. 

In conclusion, I would reccomend this blog for anyone interested in striking gold online!

As many of you may know, I help manage a few e-commerce sites. In my opinion e-commerce is the best way to make money online; Better than PPC, better than blogging, better than selling e-books. 

When setting up an e-commerce site, one of the most commonly overlooked steps in the setup process is choosing a reliable and affordable credit card processing service.    I recommend going with a company that doesn’t charge an application fee, or software fee.  I would also avoid any company that charges over $2.25 for an internet/phone/discount rate, and over $.25 for a per transaction fee.  If you can find a company that meets these parameters you should be all set and ready to sell. 

My recommended company for online credit card processing is a company called charge.com.  All you would need to do is perform a Google search on that company and you would know that they have been recommended by Apple, Magellan, and AOL. and Excite.

If you are in the process of setting up an e-commerce site, do you self a favor and fill out charge.com’s online application, it only takes 5 minutes and you’re on your way!

Pay Per Click (PPC) vs. Organic Search: Which method is Best?

One of the age old SEO questions that is frequently asked is, “Should I spend the time and money to improve my organic search ranking or foot the bill for an extensive PPC campaign?”  In this article I will explore both of these options and discover which one seems to be a more viable option for most webmasters.

PPC -

Pay Per Click is the search engine’s bread and butter.  If we were to break down the earnings of all the major search engines at the top of the list of revenue drivers you almost always see PPC.  The numbers speak for themselves; people would not continue to purchase PPC ads if they didn’t convert into sales.

If you are a new business to the web and would like to see immediate results, PPC is the only way to go.  PPC is the only search engine optimization strategy that can yield immediate first-page placement.  Another benefit to using the PPC campaign is that you can set you own fixed budget.  If you want to only spend $100 dollars a month, no problem, $10,000, go for it.   Another advantage to PPC is that you can instantly track your conversion, and success rates through Google Analytics and other PPC management soft wares.

The Best Choice is…

When evaluating both of these online marketing strategies, I have come to the conclusion that they both play key roles in online marketing, yet organic optimization is the better solution for a long term, cost effective marketing campaign.   Don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel that PPC has its place in just about any SEO strategy, but as a secondary tool.   It can also serve as a jumping off point for a brand new site that needs to see immediate results.  A PPC campaign can serve as a temporary solution while an Organic campaign is being built.