OpenCart is an open source PHP-based online shopping cart system. A robust e-commerce solution for Internet merchants with the ability to create their own online business and participate in e-commerce at a minimal cost.

The Proniit Group (a.k.a Proniit Online Media and Marketing)  has released a web site that is dedicated to promoting the open source project, Open Cart, which is an online PHP based e-commerce shopping cart released under the GPL. The site was created to garner further development and both community support and commercial support. The site caters to anyone and does not necessarily restrict its’ users to be based in South Africa although commercial support will only be available here.

The site has deployed an open source standard using various technologies including WordPress, OpenID and the like for configuration thereof. There is a need for clean and open source software that can and will generate the sort of user experience that is expected throughout the world and this site offers it.

Open Cart is clean, neat and very user-friendly on both the end-user side and the administration side. Because it is written in PHP, it uses rather simple techniques that most developers will be comfortable applying. Open Cart is definitely the choice for The Proniit Group to make use of when implementing online stores for clients.

You can visit www.opencart.co.za to download, test or find support and technical information like installation guides and upgrade tutorials.

Advertise Online | Your Options

Internet Yellow Pages. Yes, it’s the online version of the tried and true yellow page directory. Simple enough to understand right? For example, check out YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, and Yellowbook.com. Each of these offers a free listing for your business and you can also pay for a more prominent listing… again, just like the regular yellow pages.

Online Directories. These sites make it easy for Internet users to search for a local business like yours. Yahoo! Local, Local.com, and InsiderPages are local directories you should consider. There may also be directories that just focus on your type of business. For example, if you own a restaurant then you probably want to be listed in UrbanSpoon. Many directories offer free business listings… and if you’re willing to pay, your business can show up higher in search results!

City Guides. These websites are more about “what’s great” and “what to do” in your local area… and user reviews and popularity are important factors in determining which businesses get the most attention. Citysearch and Yelp are good examples. And like the Internet yellow pages and online directories, you can get a business listing and promote your business in search results.

Paid Search. Of course you can always pay Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft to show up in their local search results. For example, if you’re a dentist located in Chicago, it may make sense to buy a paid search ad for the keywords “dentists, Chicago” to drive local prospects to your website. Keep in mind that setting up, testing, and managing your paid search programs can be time consuming and complicated… so you may want to turn to firms like Yodle or ReachLocal to help out.

Online Newspapers. Don’t forget your local newspaper! It attracts lots of online readers from your neighborhood. And just like the print version, you can buy ads in different sections like the news, sports, and entertainment pages of their site. But this may be a better option if you have your own website and a bit more of a marketing budget.

Local Websites. There are many other websites that cater specifically to your local market. For example, your city magazine probably has an online version. Plus there are local blogs that focus on community news, real estate, parenting, sports, and even nightlife. And some may be looking for advertisers just like you. The key is to find local websites that do a great job of reaching your target audience.

All good and helpful information right? But where do you start? Well… that depends.

What if you have no website or budget? At least get your free business listings with the Internet Yellow Pages, Online Directories, and City Guides. A business listing is like a one-page website showing your company name, address, phone number… and maybe more. That way the millions of people searching these sites can now find your business! And if you have some budget to spend then consider upgrading to a paid and more prominent listing (about $50 per month). You should also start testing some of the advertising programs these sites offer ($100 to $400 per month) to see what works best… to get the phones ringing!

What if you have a great website and $500 or more per month to spend marketing your business? Then, in addition to advertising in the Internet Yellow Pages, Online Directories, and City Guides, you should also be running local paid search ads. And if you’re looking to spend over $1,500 monthly on advertising your local website (lucky you!)… definitely consider adding your online newspaper and local websites to the mix.

Btw… right now someone in your neighborhood is searching the Internet for a business like yours. Hurry up and get started… to make it easy for them to find you!

Come visit us at www.leadtail.com

Guest Author

Carter Hostelley is a founding member of the Leadtail Community. What is Leadtail? A company founded with the mission of making online advertising easier for marketers, business owners, and entrepreneurs. Come visit us at www.leadtail.com.

If you are familiar with the social bookmarking, social networking and social media sites, then you must have heard about Mixx.com. For those that are not familiar with this service, I strongly suggest you try it.

Not necessarily because of the traffic that it could provide – which is currently way below services like Digg, Reddit or StumbleUpon – but mainly because is one of the few services that are still not “infected” with trolls, down-voters and spammers. On Mixx you can still find content worth reading and bookmarking and also, Mixx is of great help when it comes to what I’m about to share with you.

How to Increase backlinks and Technorati rank using Mixx.com?

If you don’t know, let me tell you all bookmarks added to Mixx are “do follow” links. Sure, they are marked with rel=”bookmark”, but that does not negatively affect the link.

Follow these things to make better use of those links:

Create a profile

And not just a profile, but rather start building a solid profile. Submit quality content, content that will attract votes. Considering that Mixx has been recently launched compared to other such services, you can still build a power user profile.

You profile page

This page contains links to all stories you’ve submitted. On Mixx you are allowed to submit your own stories, but encouraged to use moderation and common sense. Again, all links are followed by search engines; the profile page is indexed and gets Page Rank.

Power users/ Super Mixxers

It’s easier to get in touch and collaborate with power users on Mixx and just as your profile is indexed so is theirs, but only with more relevance and even higher Page Rank. After friendly helping them out, I’m sure that most of them wouldn’t mind submitting some stories for you.

Popular stories

And since Mixx is so “new”, you have quite a good chance of making the “popular stories” list. Success is guaranteed with a few supermixxers on your side. The “Popular” page is also indexed, links are followed and it currently has a PR6. Get your story on the Mixx home page and you’ll get yourself a PR 7 link.

Popular and home page stories will instantly affect your Technorati rank too.

This article will help you to better optimize your online presence. So the best you can do is:

* Join the Mixx.com * Submit your quality and relevant content * Make Friends, Help out and get help back. * Boost your rankings * And DO NOT spam!

Guest Author

Robin Dale is the publisher for www.teeky.org, we offer useful & quality articles and news about Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, Dedicated Server Hosting, Windows VPS Hosting UK, Linux VPS Hosting UK, e-commerce hosting, cPanel Hosting, hosting tips & UK Web Hosting.

For More Articles, Visit Us @ UK Web Hosting Blog

For now, keep a close eye on what we are up too.

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From the ground up we will develop your business site, online store, blog – anything and everything imaginable. We will work tirelessly to ensure that your presence is made noticed on the web and that receive high quality visitors from all search engines for free which lead to big contracts, sales or readers.

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