How Does Link Popularity Work?When some search engines index a page, they will check their database for how many pages are linking to that page (or domain). This will give the page a ‘link popularity’ rating. In some cases, such as Google, it will also use the link popularity of the site that is linking to that page to determine the quality of the link. For example, a link from C-net would push the rating much higher than a link from a personal page.When a search is performed, the engine will first scan for relevant results. Once it has the results, it will use the link popularity rating to sort the results. You can see great examples of this by performing searches in Google. Most of the results for general query’s are from high traffic sites. For example, the top 3 results on Google for an ‘entertainment’ search are Netscape, Lycos, and Yahoo.Getting LinksSo how is it that you get links?First, the Web site must have quality content. A site with good content will get plenty of links from around the Web through no extra effort by the webmaster.Another great way to get “quality” links is to get listed in search directories such as Yahoo and the Open Directory. These count as links from high traffic Web sites, and will increase your link popularity significantly. Getting a listing in the Open Directory will get your link on several Web sites, such as Lycos, AOL, and Altavista, since the data is syndicated on many engines.Maintaining an affiliate program is also helpful. Many search engines will follow affiliate links and they will factor into the site’s link popularity. An affiliate program can effectively give a site thousands of links on the Web.Giving Links to the EnginesThere could be thousands of pages linking to a site, but they don’t help unless the search engines are aware of them. we have spent hours going through my referral logs and collecting urls of pages that link to my sites. We keep these urls in a text file for a mass submission we will do later on.

Advances in computing and information technology are changing the way people meet and communicate. People can meet, talk, and work together outside traditional meeting and office spaces. For instance, with the introduction of software designed to help people schedule meetings and facilitate decision or learning processes, is weakening geographical constraints and changing interpersonal communication dynamics. Information technology is also dramatically affecting the way people teach and learn.As new information technologies infiltrate workplaces, home, and classrooms, research on user acceptance of new technologies has started to receive much attention from professionals as well as academic researchers. Developers and software industries are beginning to realize that lack of user acceptance of technology can lead to loss of money and resources.
In studying user acceptance and use of technology, the TAM is one of the most cited models. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was developed by Davis to explain computer-usage behavior. The theoretical basis of the model was Fishbein and Ajzen’s Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA).The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an information systems (System consisting of the network of all communication channels used within an organization) theory that models how users come to accept and use a technology, The model suggests that when users are presented with a new software package, a number of factors influence their decision about how and when they will use it, notably:Perceived usefulness (PU) – This was defined by Fred Davis as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would enhance his or her job performance”.Perceived ease-of-use (PEOU) Davis defined this as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort” (Davis, 1989).The goal of TAM is “to provide an explanation of the determinants of computer acceptance that is general, capable of explaining user behavior across a broad range of end-user computing technologies and user populations, while at the same time being both parsimonious and theoretically justified”.According to the TAM, if a user perceives a specific technology as useful, she/he will believe in a positive use-performance relationship. Since effort is a finite resource, a user is likely to accept an application when she/he perceives it as easier to use than another .As a consequence, educational technology with a high level of PU and PEOU is more likely to induce positive perceptions. The relation between PU and PEOU is that PU mediates the effect of PEOU on attitude and intended use. In other words, while PU has direct impacts on attitude and use, PEOU influences attitude and use indirectly through PU.User acceptance is defined as “the demonstrable willingness within a user group to employ information technology for the tasks it is designed to support” (Dillon & Morris). Although this definition focuses on planned and intended uses of technology, studies report that individual perceptions of information technologies are likely to be influenced by the objective characteristics of technology, as well as interaction with other users. For example, the extent to which one evaluates new technology as useful, she/he is likely to use it. At the same time, her/his perception of the system is influenced by the way people around her/him evaluate and use the system.
Studies on information technology continuously report that user attitudes are important factors affecting the success of the system. For the past several decades, many definitions of attitude have been proposed. However, all theories consider attitude to be a relationship between a person and an object (Woelfel, 1995).In the context of information technologies, is an approach to the study of attitude – the technology acceptance model (TAM). TAM suggests users formulate a positive attitude toward the technology when they perceive the technology to be useful and easy to use (Davis, 1989).A review of scholarly research on IS acceptance and usage suggests that TAM has emerged as one of the most influential models in this stream of research The TAM represents an important theoretical contribution toward understanding IS usage and IS acceptance behaviors. However, this model — with its original emphasis on the design of system characteristics – does not account for social influence in the adoption and utilization of new information systems.