Free Internet Web Directories are not a new thing; they have for a long time constituted a simple way for webmasters to increase their site’s search engine rankings.

Certain directories, however, are to be avoided; particularly the ones who ask for reciprocal links …

A number of Zlionauts, wanting to improve their ranking, have linked their Zlio Shops to Web Directories that demand reciprocal links in exchange. When getting out of hand, however, it can turn your Zlio Shop into something like that:

This, of course, strongly disturbs your Zlio Shop’s performance and tends to make your visitors flee the site. Furthermore, the practice of placing advertisement links on your Zlio Shop is forbidden, as mentioned in Zlio’s terms of use.

In order to avoid such situations, Zlio has decided to limit the creation of external links to five per Zlio Shop. Therefore it will from now on be possible to add external links only to your Shop’s footer, and only with a limit of five.

Every Zlio Shop not respecting these terms will be deleted without prior notice.

Nevertheless, to link one’s Shop to free Web Directories is always possible, and actually recommended. There are many quality Directories out there, although some of them may be hard to find.

Here is some advice on how to link your Shop to Web Directories:

1. In a text file, prepare all the important information relating to your Shop (title , description, keywords) in a way that will allow you to easily cut and paste this information into the required fields within the directories.

2. We suggest you avoid directories demanding a reciprocal link to your Shop. This type of partnership will not aid your shop in any way, and will simply jam your pages with unuseful logos and banners. The creation of direct links to such directories is in any case limited to five links.

3. Before submitting a store to a web directory, you should verify that it points directly to your Shop’s URL, and not to a redirection site, such as www.directory.net/redirect.php?site=shop.zlio.net. Only links pointing directly to your site will be picked up by the Search Engines.

4. Using a “directory of directories” allows you to compile an impressive list of quality directories which you can link your Zlio Shop to. An example for such a site is http://www.web-directories.ws

5. Look for directories that specialize in the topic of your Zlio Shop. For example, if your Shop specializes in home decor, type “home decor directory” into your Search Engine in order to find directories specializing in this topic.

6. Always keep an updated list of your web directory submissions, in order to avoid signing up twice with the same directory.

Dogs are known as “man’s best friend”. These days, however, they feel more like an integral part of our family, spending a great deal of their time with us and with our loved ones.

Is it any wonder then, that a survey by the Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) found that more and more dog owners give their four-legged friends human names? According to the survey, the names Max, Buddy, and Rocky top the list for male dogs, while the Top Three female dog names are Molly, Maggie, and Daisy.

As a tip of the hat to these beloved companions, Zlio has partnered up with an array of Petstore-Merchants who offer every product imaginable for pets in general, and for dogs in particular. Merchants such as 1-800-Petmeds, Dog.com, and Petco are just at the tip of the iceberg.

Do you have a dog? What is his or her name? Do you love your dog enough to create a Zlio Store under his or her name? Why not take a close up picture of that beloved companion of yours, and stick it right on the frontpage of your Store? We think there’s no better way to pay homage to your best friend, especially when there are thousands of products you can fill your Store with !

You created a Zlio Shop highlighting the topic of vacations, mountains or the ocean, and now you’re not sure which keywords to use?

Why not make use of Google’s Keyword Tool?

This easy to use tool will allow you to follow the latest trends by finding the most up-to-date keywords.

You can check out their Website at: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Here’s an example:

Type in the following keywords:

• travel
• travels
• beach
• ocean
• mountain
• mountains

Validate your selection by clicking on Get keyword ideas

A table will be displayed which, by default, will show three colums:

• Advertiser Competition
• Approximate Search Volume
• Approximate Average Search Volume

Don’t hesitate to be curious: access the drop down menu and choose which columns you want displayed.

We suggest you select Search Volume, which shows you the changes for a specific keyword within a twelve month period.

Note that you can choose a Match Type for your keyword. This is especially helpful when using whole phrases as keywords.

An example with the phrase “summer vacation”

• Broad Match – This is the default option. Results will appear for both “summer” and ”vacation”, in any order, and possibly along with other terms, both in singular and plural.
• Phrase Match – Results for “summer vacation” will appear in this exact order, and possibly along with other terms in the query.
• Exact Match – Results will appear for the specific phrase, in this order, and without any other terms in the query.
• Negative Keyword – You can use negative keywords if you want to exclude certain terms and phrases from the results.

For some specific reasons, Zlio has decided to delete this payment platform from the administration area of your shops.

We apologize for the inconvenience to all Zlionauts using Moneybookers as form of payment.

We invite you to use PayPal as a way to collect your Zlio payments from now on.

Our decision in no way reflects the integrity of MoneyBookers, which is an excellent payment platform that is highly recommended by Zlio.

Wanna spruce up your Shop? Add some pictures and attract more customers!

How to add images to your Zlio Shop:

1. Image Source Location

The picture you wish to integrate into your Zlio Shop should be already stored on your computer, from where you will upload it onto your Zlio Shop.

If the image is not stored on your computer, but rather on the internet, you can right click on it and choose the “save image as” option. Choose the location on your computer where you want the image to be saved.

2. Inserting the Image in your Zlio Shop

There are several spots within your Zlio Shop, in which you can add images:

• The easiest spot is the designated Image Space found under store display > display parameters > image. Click on the “browse” button and find the image location on your computer.

An image added here will appear on the top left side of every page of your store.

• Your Store’s Header and Footer. Go to Store Display > Header & Footer. Here you must enter the URL of the image in order for it to be displayed correctly. Please note that you must first upload the image from your computer to an online image hosting service. You can use a service like www.photobucket.com to host an image online.

You must then insert the Direct Link from the hosting Service into the Header or Footer of your store. Note that the Direct Link needs to be imbedded in the correct “img src” Tag.

For Example: <img src=”Image URL”>

An image added in the Shop’s Header will be displayed on the Homepage of your Shop, on the top right corner above the products. An image added in the Shop’s Footer will also be displayed on the Homepage of your Shop, but at the lower right corner underneath the products.

• The Store Description. Go to Store Identity > Store Description. Also here, you must embed your picture’s Direct Link which was produced by your online image hosting service inside the “img src” Tag. An image added in the Store Description will also be displayed on the Homepage of your Shop, but at the very bottom of the page.

• The Store Freetext. Go to Store Identity > Store Freetext. The image will appear at the bottom of the page, right underneath the products.

Here are some useful HTML Codes, which you can use to edit your embedded images.

The basic HTML Tag is : <img src=”Image URL”>

If you want your image to be centered, you need to use the <center> Tag.

For Example : <center><img src=”Image URL”></center>

If you want your image to appear on the left and the text to surround the image, you need to use this Tag: <div style=”float:left”></div>

For Example: <div style=”float:left”><img src=”Image URL”></div>

If you want your image to appear on the right, and the text to surround the image, you need to use this Tag: <div style=”float:right”></div>

For Example: <div style=”float:right”><img src=”Image URL”></div>

If you want to add a description to each image, which will be visible when you hover with your mouse above the image, you will have to use the “alt” Tag.

Search Engines cannot “read” your pictures, which means that plain pictures will not be included in Search Engines’ results. By adding the “alt” Tag, you are allowing the Search Engines to “read” and therefore index your images, improving their chances to appear in Search Results.

This is how you use the “alt” Tag:

<img src=”Image URL” alt=”Image Description”>

Zlio France recently organized a Movie Clip contest in which Zlionauts were asked to put a Video Camera in their hands and to create short Advertisement Clips about Zlio.

The amazing outcome of this Viral Video Contest is now being displayed on the Video Sharing Website www.Eyeka.com. Take a look for yourself, and be inspired by the outpouring of creativity displayed by French Zlionauts.

The Clips are in French, of course, but some of their creators have put in some extra effort and translated their work into English, as well.

So … which is your favourite Video? Do you think you have what it takes to be the next Steven Spielberg? Surprise us, and we promise to publish your work of art on the Zlio homepage!