Here are some programs that will generate your Meta Tags for you:

WEBSITE GARAGE http://websitegarage.netscape.com urbocharge/metatag/

META MEDIC http://www.northernwebs.com/set/setsimjr.html

MULTI-META-MAKER http://www.multimeta.com ools/multimetamaker.html

6. Load Time

A slow-loading index page is one of main reasons for lost sales. The generally accepted maximum time for a page to load is around 15 seconds. Here is a free service that tells you how long your web page takes to load:

NETMECHANIC http://www.netmechanic.com/cobrands/FutureQuest/load_check.ht m

Your pages should be no more than about 30Kb in size. To calculate size of your web page, highlight HTML document and then click on 'File' and 'Properties' and note down file size. Then do same for any graphics you have on that page. Then add those figures together to get your page size.

If your page is less than 30Kb and takes more than 15 seconds to load, problem is most likely with your web host. The solution is to change web host. Here are 2 services that will check speed of your web host's server and compare it with other web hosts:

HOST COMPARE http://www.hostcompare.com esttools.htm

CNET WEBSERVICES http://webservices.cnet.com/ping/

7. GIF (or JPEG) Cruncher

Shrinking size of your images is one of best ways to get a faster-loading web page. You can usually reduce a GIF or JPEG image by 40% to 50% without losing any significant definition or sharpness.

SPINWAVE http://www.spinwave.com/crunchers.html

8. HTML Optimizer

Another way to make your page load faster is to compress (or optimize) your HTML code. An HTML Optimizer removes all blank spaces in your HTML code and also removes certain unnecessary tags.

On average, an HTML optimizer will reduce size of your page by 15% to 20%. That percentage may not seem much, but saving in load time is much higher, as your visitor's browser will parse your page much more efficiently.

A word of caution: in most HTML Optimizers you will find an 'Options' menu that tells program to ignore certain parts of your code. Make sure your Optimizer does not compress embedded script tags - if they get compressed, script will usually not work.

ADVANCED HTML OPTIMIZER http://www.pcbit.com/htmlopt/

9. WIDTH, HEIGHT and BORDER Tags

The WIDTH, HEIGHT and BORDER attributes are essential for each image that you have on your website. When you hyperlink an image, always make sure that BORDER attribute is set to zero (BORDER=0). If you don't do this, your hyperlinked image will have an ugly blue border around it.

The WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes allow your page to load faster, as browser knows in advance how much space image requires. To find out width and height of any image, just double click on image file. This will automatically open 'Microsoft Photo Editor' - your image will appear, with width and height of your image (in pixels) displayed on tool bar.

10. HTML Validator

Always check validity of your HTML. Some Search Engines give lower rankings to pages that have poor quality HTML (such as incorrect nesting of elements).

Here are some free online validators:

HTML HELP http://www.htmlhelp.org ools/validator/

BOBBY http://www.cast.org/bobby/

WATSON http://watson.addy.com/

The final type of CMS is what I like to refer to as an integrated CMS. This type of Content Management Systems is built directly into site during development. In order to make changes web owner simply enters in a secure URL, logins and makes changes to site without having to know any HTML or FTP commands. Changes are instant and all user needs is a web browser and access to Internet. This has been a very successful model for our company because it allows us to build web sites that empower web owners. Web owners can make changes to their sites as often as they like without need for a high priced web developer. Of course cost of a site with an integrated CMS will be a little higher but overall cost of ownership of site will be dramatically reduced over time.

Regardless of model you choose web site owners must acknowledge that their web site does come with a Content Management System installed. An educated web site owner will ensure that their site has a CMS that allows them to get most out their web site.