• Two-column phpLD template that features site-wide left sidebar and homepage bottom bar for sponsor ads.
• phpLD version: 2.0 / 2.1 / 3.0.6 / 3.1
• Designer: Futuristic Artists
• Live demo: X Web Directory
  Download: 2.0 / 2.1 / 3.0.6 / 3.1
• Description: This template contains a “contact us” mode and a mod that shows top categories site-wide.
• Free to use as long as the footer link remains intact.

2-column WordPress theme of blue color tone. The layout has rounded borders and widget-ready sidebar on the right. The original design credit goes to Nuvio. Theme description can also be find at themes.wordpress.net. Free use of this theme is granted only when footer links remain intact. This theme has also been released at ThemeBox.org.

• Fixed-width one-column phpLD template with sky blue color tone.
• Template Name: Cool Breeze
• phpLD version: 2.0 / 3.1
• Designer: Emillie.net
• Live demo: Moorec.com
• Download: 2.1 / 3.1
• The footer links must be retained when using this template.
• The template information is also available at ThemeBox.org.

With the recent launch of Google’s own payment processing system, some observers have noted that this may cause the demise of PayPal which is owned by eBay. But while this concept is certainly not true, in the near future anyway, Google Checkout provides more advantages when compared to PayPal. In particular, Google’s strength in online advertising and its reputation as a search engine will make people take notice of their services immediately. Also, affiliated payments will be made easier because of advertising related to visitor’s a search.

Because of these strengths, Google can revolutionize the way consumers buy online by integrating all online activities related to search, advertising, buying, and payment processing. The payment transaction using Google will also be significantly lower when compared to using credit cards for online purchases. There is also a rebate for Google clients who advertise through Google Adwords. All these advantages combined threaten PayPal’s dominance in the online payment processing market at this point.

However, market observers believe that the impact of Google Checkout to PayPal’s revenues will be limited because a large chunk of PayPal’s income comes from eBay sales. It should also be noted that because Google had become such a force to be reckoned with in the online market, Yahoo and eBay formed a partnership to ward-off fight Google’s dominance. This allows advertisers in Yahoo to use PayPal for online payment transactions.

It is definitely easier and cheaper to use Google Checkout because all the convenience you should expect is already provided. You just need to go to Froogle which is Google’s online store, fill your cart with products you want to buy and click on the Google Checkout for the payment processing. This procedure is very much like going to the nearby supermarket and buying the goods except in this case, you do the buying in the convenience of your house.

Despite the apparent strength of Google though, it is still susceptible to fraudsters and hackers. This threat is real as can be seen in the failure of Yahoo, Microsoft, and even Citibank to have a successful online payment processing. Even PayPal itself was bought by eBay because eBay’s payment processing system at the start was a failure. Another concern that is being raised by sellers is the fact that Google will have all the access to their database and consumer behavior. In addition, it is also inconvenient for some clients to use Google Checkout when they are already satisfied with their current processor so it will take time before Google Checkout becomes a real threat to PayPal.

Despite the setbacks of the Google Checkout system, as early as now, many observers believe that this will be a success because it is beneficial to both online buyers and sellers. For example, it is advantageous for buyers to use Google Checkout because this system can track multiple purchases from different sellers. Google Checkout can also track all your payment history; store your credit card information, and your shipping information. There is no need to worry that your security will be compromised though because Google will ensure that your security is protected.

• Two-column phpLD template layout with excellent color combinations (black/gray background and green/white foreground). Left sidebar can be used for sponsor ads.
• phpLD version: 2.0 / 2.1 / 3.0.6 / 3.1
• Designer: The Links Shack
• Live demo: The Links Shack
• Download: 2.0 / 2.1 / 3.0.6 / 3.1
• Description: This template contains “contact us” mod.
• Free to use as long as the footer link remains intact.
• The template information is also available at ThemeBox.org.

Many website owners visit webmaster-related forums such as Digital Point, Site Point, Namepros, and many others on a frequent basis. Every user on these forums gets a signature, a message that is automatically added below each post made by them that can contain texts, links, or even images. These signatures can be very valuable for Internet marketing purposes.

The value of forum signatures is two fold. First, forum signatures can provide high quality exposure and generate targeted leads to the business that utilizes that space. For example, comments posted at an Internet marketing forum will receive targeted exposure from the Internet marketing community and webmasters in related fields, and naturally, signatures plugged into these posts will attract their attentions as well. Whether the signature space contains a link to a web site, corporate brand image, or political slogan of your choice, it sure will catch the eyes of the targeted community behind the forum.

The second benefit of forum signature lies in search engine optimization. Due to the advances of forum scripts as well as search engine spiders’ crawlability, it is pretty common nowadays that website links shown in forum signatures are crawled and indexed by search engines. For example, Digital Point forum, one of the most well-known Internet marketing forums, has more than 140,000 Google-indexed forum pages as of March 2007, and these pages contain individual forum members’ signatures as well as any website links contained therein.

If you place a web site link in your signature and make posts on a heavily crawled search-engine friendly forum, you may be getting as many back links to the web site, that are quickly indexed by search engines. The benefit of such forum back links depends on how popular and how authoritative the forum is in the eyes of search engines. Most forums with more than 100,000 non-spammy human posts usually have very good search engine rankings. You can check the search-engine authority of a given forum by posting a few time and checking how soon your posts are indexed by search engines.

The back links from forum signatures will not count as many different back links coming from different domains, but forum signatures are a great free way to increase Google PageRank and search engine rankings. A recent case study conducted by several webmasters at NamePros.com revealed that with just one link in the signature of a user with 50 posts, they were able to increase the Google PageRank of their new sites from PR0 to PR3.

Although forum signatures bring these marketing benefits, individual signatures are not equally valuable. Naturally, the more active you are as a forum member, the more frequently your signature shows up, and thus, the higher benefit it will bring. Not only the number of posts, but also the quality of your posts determines the value of your forum signature. The signature space of a member who posts five knowledgeable and thoughtful comments a day will exert more power than that of a member who posts dozens of meaningless spams, both in terms of quality exposure and in terms of search engine ranking benefit.

You would like to have the benefits of the signature space, but do not have time to make posts and engage in a forum community? Then you can purchase other members’ signature space. At the Digital Point forum’s Marketplace, signature links are purchased and auctioned off in the “Links” section for a range of monthly prices. A signature from an active and reputable member is being purchased for as much as $40 to $50 per month. Such high price tags allude to their effectiveness.

If you have not tried forum signature marketing yet, maybe you should. You will be surprised at the result!

Non-cluttered clean looking WordPress theme with rounded borders. It’s widget-ready and works on WordPress 2.1. Template description can also be found at themes.wordpress.net and ThemeBox.org. Footer links must not be removed while using this theme. Design credit goes to Zeebob.com.

This cool-looking WordPress template is a fixed-width 3-column (two right side-bars) layout, and it’s widget ready. Template description can also be found at themes.wordpress.net. Footer links must not be removed while using this theme. The original design credit goes to Headsetoptions.