You can copy and paste graphic as many times as you need, each time making gif link to a different web page. Some of my customers just make a stock footer that goes on bottom of every single web page they create. This footer contains contact info, navigation panel, copyright info and you guessed it, hundreds of invisible pixel links. You can take a look at one such page here:

http://www.dynamicmedia.com

At bottom of page there are around fifty or so links, can you see them? The search engine can. To see invisible links, just "View Source" in your browser window, or save page to your hard drive and open it up with an html editor. Note that I have links leading to home pages, internal pages and hook (doorway) pages.

The Technical Stuff

Here is actual html code that goes into making an invisible pixel. First of all, there are two parts to a hypertext link in html code. The first part is url or destination of link that search engines follow. The second is part that people see on web page as familiar blue underlined text.

This is blue text that people will see.

We can do same thing with a picture or graphic. The first part contains destination.... where I want search engine to go. The second part calls up a gif graphic called "follow.gif", that is 1 pixel by 1 pixel in size.

What Makes It Invisible

There are two things we need to do, to make graphic invisible. First off we need to use image editing software to make gif transparent. In other words, it takes on same color as background color of web page, which makes it appear invisible. The good news is, I've already done this part for you with sample you can download. The second part is to make sure BORDER="0" in html code. That will prevent a blue border or box from being drawn around your invisible pixels.

Conclusion

I wrote about this technique in my book "Nothing But 'Net" in section entitled "How to ensure a search engine can spider your pages." Its an old tactic that I've used for years. Word got out about cross linking and although this tactic is well publicized, few people have used it, not realizing how powerful and effective it is.

Cross link all of your home pages, internal pages, and hook pages to each other. When search engine comes to catalog your page it finds links to all your other pages. If engine is a spider it will crawl and add your other pages to its index. Being cross linked gives your pages a greater chance of being cataloged and having your pages "stick" in index. Some search engines even prefer this method of "finding" your pages rather than having you announce them to their submission areas.

Hope this clears up mystery surrounding cross linking and invisible pixels.

Constructing and presenting useful e-business websites for skilled users is not going to reach or impress millions of potential customers who are not, and probably never will be, skilled users of browsers, email programs, and Internet in general. However, these same users can read signs being waved alongside road, and follow directions of pitchmen and women on TV. This does not mean that webmasters need put on a chicken suit and dance along sidewalks waving a sign promoting their website. In fact just such a sign is not like providing customer with a street address. Practically everyone can find a location with a street address. But a large number of people interested in whatever sign might address, still have not knowledge or sufficient interest in Internet to be able to find a URL that may be shown them. The URL could be in a regular magazine or newspaper, or shown on TV or listed on a radio show, and still be in a mysterious, unattainable location for many, many people.

This leads to an unavoidable conclusion. Many products presented on Internet are not available to a large proportion of population. And only way to make these products available to them is with person-to-person contact. Tell a friend about a desirable product and show them how to reach it online. Convince others to tell a friend about a desirable product and show them how to reach it online. This cannot be done online. No amount of website information and instructions will have a noticeable effect. The product catalogs need to be online but information on how to reach them cannot be presented only online. The webmaster needs to physically meet public and not depend on achieving success by just sitting at computer and becoming proficient in programming.

Todd Rockwell, webmaster for Arts & Crafts online. Visit this site at http://artcrafts.home.att.net/