More and more complaints are being received by the client support service about the votes in the store directory. Consequently, the decision has been taken to remove the voting system from the directory.

The points already acquired will remain.

Note: your store will continue to be scored. This score is automatically updated regularly by ZLIO based on your store’s characteristics and activity.

We are happy to announce the launching of the Zlio toolbar !
The Zlio toolbar allows you to stay logged into your Zlio account, giving you direct access to your shop’s features right from your web browser !

The Zlio Toolbar : What is it ?
The Zlio Toolbar is an extension which plugs into your web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) in order to add new features to it. Installation takes no more than two minutes and is entirely free.

Features of the Zlio Toolbar :

Direct access to the Zlio portal
Advanced product/shop/web search
Referral management
Shop management
Real time Commissions Display
CashBack : Earn money on your own purchases
Stay tuned to Zlio news

Direct access to the Zlio portal

Reach the Zlio homepage in just one click ! Forget about typing in Zlio’s URL in order to get to our homepage. With the click of this “always on” button, you will now locate products and shops much faster.

Zlio’s Toolbar : Zlio search (Web/Products/Shops) :

Replace your browser’s search engine with Zlio’s new search feature !
This feature allows you to perform searches on the internet, as well as on the Zlio network. Now you can locate new products and new Shops much faster and easier.

Referral management

Referrals are an excellent means to improve your commissions on Zlio, as you receive a percentage of the income generated by your referrals. The Zlio toolbar grants you quick access to your list of referrals as well as to the referral features.

Shop management

This feature allows you to display a list of your stores, along with the number of pending tasks for each one of them. Rolling your mouse over a Shop’s name will enable you to access that Shop’s administration interface and management area.

Real time Commissions Display

This feature of the Zlio toolbar allows you to see commissions you have earned through Zlio, without having to leave the website you are currently visiting. The total amount of your commissions is displayed, and you can get details by clicking “see my commissions in details”.

Your favorite merchants in one click

Zlio makes CashBack easy : you can now reach Zlio’s partner merchants with a single click and even earn money on your own online purchases. Take advantage of this feature and save money on your personal purchases !

Stay tuned to Zlio news

Staying up to date with all of Zlio’s news can sometimes be a daring task. Therefore the new Toolbar offers a feature which allows users to automatically follow all of Zlio’s Blog Post updates. The number between the brackets “[xx]” indicates the amount of Blog Posts not yet read by you. Now Shop Optimization advice and Zlio News are just a mouse click away!

With the Zlio Toolbar you will be able to :
1. Save time in the management of your store
2. Easily access shops and search products
3. Receive Zlio News updates on a daily basis

The Zlio Toolbar is compatible with Internet Explorer, as well as with Firefox.
We look forward to your feedback on the usability of this tool. Zlio members, we are waiting for your comments!

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.

]]> http://us.blog-zlio.com/2008/07/31/using-web-directories-to-increase-your-shops-rankings/feed/ 0 http://us.blog-zlio.com/2008/07/30/more-than-just-your-best-friend/ http://us.blog-zlio.com/2008/07/30/more-than-just-your-best-friend/#comments Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:54:22 +0000 admin http://blog-us.zlio.com/?p=187

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 !

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.

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.

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!

Zlio Shop “For Whom The Bells Toll” (http://anniversary.zlio.net) has been announced the official winner of this year’s Wedding Season Contest, which took place from June 3rd to June 18th, 2008 !

With 140 total votes, Zlionaut Zizzi Le Corre is the lucky winner of a

6 Megapixel HP Photosmart Digital Camera and Printer.

Zlio’s annual Wedding Season Contest called upon Zlio Shop owners to create Shops around a “Wedding Theme”. Zlionauts could have either sold Bridal- and Wedding related products in their Shops, or they could have used their Shop as a Bridal Registry.

Contestants were asked to let their imagination roam and to design beautiful, interesting and attractive Shops.

What did we like about Zizzi Le Corre’s Shop “For Whom The Bell Tolls” ?

• The idea of the Shop is superb! We just loved that she created a store for “the first ten years of marriage” … why just concentrate on the Wedding, when you can celebrate ten whole years of togetherness?
• The Shop Design really spoke to us: we loved the cursive font used in the caption and we adored the interplay of the mellow colors used.
• Zizzi really got into things when she added products to her Shop. Every single category is filled to the brim with products that fit perfectly into the contest’s theme.

Congratulations to the winner … we are sure she will really enjoy her prize!

One of the best things you can do for your Zlioshop, or any online business for that matter, is to stay on top of what’s happening on the web.

New applications, technology, and methods of promotion and communication are developed everyday to give surfers a more complete web experience. We’ve decided to put together a list of the 10 essential websites to know and watch so that you can stay in the now:

1. Technorati: The most comprehensive blog search engine on the web. Also an internet search engine, use Technorati to find out what people are most interested in right now. Check the top 100 list to see whose blogs and websites are succeeding and why.

2. Del.icio.us: Social bookmarking that works primarily on tags. Keep track of subjects that interest you and perfom tag searches for just about anything. For example try “Cheat at CSS” if you’re looking for some new designs for your Zlioshop.

3. Digg: Another social bookmarking site that works primarily on user votes and catgories. Submit stories, news, blog articles and more then vote and leave comments.

4. Mashable: The Social Networking blog. If it’s important and it’s online chances are you’ll find it on Mashable.

5. Facebook: Long having since surpassed its predecessor Myspace, Facebook allows you to use groups and pages to promote anything you like without having to spam your friends.

6. Stumble Upon: “Discover” new websites with this interactive browser. Be sure to submit your Zlioshop so that millions of users can “stumble” across it.

7. Webware: The best of Web 2.0 applications and news.

8. InternetNews: Find out what’s happening on the net, right now, with this traditional newspaper approach to web news.

9. The Consumerist: “Shopper’s Bite Back” at The Consumerist. Find out what consumers really think, what they like, and what they’re angry about on this blog.

10. Lifehacker: “Tips And Downloads For Getting Things Done.” Interested in computers? Why not use the same principles to upgrading and organizing your machines with your life.