Browsershots

I discovered this site, Browsershots, which tests a websites compatibility with different browsers and operating systems - including Macs. Simply enter your websites URL, select the browsers you want to test it against and any other options, and you'll get thumbnails of how your website will look in the different browsers. Each thumbnail can be clicked on to produce a larger image. Useful for mass testing your site for compatibility.

Affiliate Program Directories

I've updated my list of Affiliate Program Directories. Some new ones have been added, some dead ones have been removed, and notes have been added to some of the directories listed.

FeedBurner

FeedBurner is a way of publishing your blog's feed. Simply join FeedBurner, and submit your blog's feed to them. You will then end up with a new feed URL. FeedBurner feeds are formatted so as to be compatible with the major directories. You also get access to a variety of stats that help you analyse your traffic and subscribers, and see where they come from.

Should your feed be popular enough, you may be able to participate in the FeedBurner Ad Network, and either monetize your blog or earn extra money. FeedBurner is now a part of Google.

I have a number of RSS feeds burned using FeedBurner. The one for this blog is http://feeds.feedburner.com/EgdcLtd

Free Classified Ad Sites

I've started making a list of free classified ad sites that aren't specific to the US & Canada. I've found a number of lists in the past, but a fair number of sites don't allow classifieds from outside US or Canada, or were simply dead. Here's my list so far.

04Ads
1America Mall
Best Ads
Call Harry
Classified Ads
Classifieds for Free
Craigslist
EC E-Classified Ads
Graand
Hyt
Iklanfree
I Net Giant
Kick Ads
Kugli
Smallbiz-ads

HTML Blog Formatting

Adding sample source code to a blog can be a bit of a pain, as many blogs will automatically render any HTML found. These are two sites where you can encode your HTML so it can be posted in a blog. Makes life much easier.

http://www.opinionatedgeek.com/DotNet/Tools/HTMLEncode/Encode.aspx

http://formatmysourcecode.blogspot.com/

Affiliate Program Directories

I did some research to get a list of Affiliate Program Directories to add my own affiliate program to. I added the list to my main website for others to use too.

These directories are useful to either add your own affiliate program to, if you have one, or look for someone else's program that suits your needs.

Sitemap Generator Tool

Here's a useful Java based XML sitemap generator

Sitemaps are useful for helping search engines properly spider your site, and, if you are using Google Webmaster Tools, you can submit your sitemap to Google directly.

This one has a couple of advantages. Firstly, it's free, which isn't that uncommon, but secondly, it doesn't place a limit on the number of URLs that will be included. Most free sitemap generators typically won't spider more than about 500 pages, and I don't like purchasing one before I know it will definitely work for a full site. You can also save your project to you own computer.

Webmaster Forums

On my main site, I added a list of Internet Marketing Forums. Joining forums can be a useful way to interact with other people running websites, and for promoting your own site. You can add your blog feed to your profile on some sites, your homepage URL to your profile, and various links to your signature. Some will allow you to advertise your site as well.

Don't abuse any of this though, or you'll probably get banned from the forum. Only directly advertise your site where and when you're allowed, don't spam posts just to get your signature links as many places as possible. If you're a good community member, it's more likely people will be interested in what you're offering, or help you if you have problems.

Free Web Directories List

This site has a useful list of free web directories that can be used to generate backlinks for a site you're promoting. In addition, there is a fairly active forum, and new free directories will usually appear there first. Here's the link: info.vilesilencer.com

Useful Tool

Pingates is a tool that I use any time I update any blog, or anything with an RSS feed. Sometimes, a page can be indexed by Google within the hour after using this.