As our site grows every day we want to share some information with you on the way we are operating the project. We call this section «Business Blog» as it is similar to doing a log book where data is recorded in a chronological order. «Blogging» is gaining popularity with more and more people picking up the habit of publishing their experiences and thoughts on the Internet. Our Blog covers various topics — from TOEFL, TOEIC, MBA, GMAT, ESL/EFL test preperation to cultural traditions and current political events.
There will also be some Internet marketing terminology and if you have any questions regarding the information simply let us know.

The Business Blog is written by Torsten Daerr and edited by Alan Townend.

2004 — July 27
Have you ever wondered just how important a domain name is? Are you aware how many different aspects there are to web addresses? Take for example all the new words and terms related to this topic. What exactly is a domain? What is the difference between a «URL» (Uniform Resource Locator), a «TDL» (Top Level Domain) and a «Sub Level Domain»? Which are the most popular top level domains? Steve Baba, who holds several university degrees in Economics and Computer Science, has written an ebook providing detailed information on how to identify and obtain an elite domain name. He outlines the differences between «offline naming» (creating and promoting business and product names in the real world) and online naming (creating and promoting business and product names on the internet). One of the important factors in online branding is «memorability»: On the internet you don't have the chance to showcase your business name in as many different ways as you can offline: Online there are no supermarket shelves, billboards or shop windows. Your single most important branding element is your domain name. Ask your friends, family and colleagues how many web addresses they can recite by heart to see what I'm on about...

2004 — July 22
Alan has added five tests to his story «It never gets you anywhere», which focuses on the Present Simple. So now you can get entertainment, fun and improve your English grammar all at the same time. When we started english-test.net in early 2003 only a very small number of users would access our site and take Alan's tests. As of summer 2004 more than 15000 test questions are answered online every day by people who come from over 150 different countries. At the same time our forum is getting busier too and we are planning to add a new feature to our site in August. It's like this: when you take one of Alan's test now and you want to know why a particular answer is correct, you can put your question to Alan on the forum. What you have to do is memorize the sentence for which you need an explanation but this seems to be a bit of an obstacle for most of our users. With the new feature it will be possible to request further information on any test question by one single click.

2004 — July 15
An active and interesting forum is an indicator for a successful website. Think about it for a moment: «what do companies and organizations need a website for»? They want to get closer to their prospects, clients, customers, members — in other words, they want to interact with people. Now, how do you engage someone in a dialogue? Yes, you have to ask them questions and listen to their answers. Most websites provide very few interactive features. Often there is just a contact button which leads to an email address. Although email is still a very powerful communication tool it has a number of substantial drawbacks: Today more than 75% of all email messages sent worldwide are «Spam» — unsolicited commercial information often infected by viruses and worms. Many companies have installed email filtering systems preventing your email from getting through. Another disatvanage of email is that it usually limits the number of people participating in a conversation. An internet forum on the other hand allows any person to engage in discussions and dialogues. In addition all the messages are displayed and indexed by search engines which increases exposure and website traffic. If you want to read more about internet forums you can take a look at this interview we took with TheForumZone.com: TheForumZone

2004 — July 12
Campuschances.de is one of Germany's most popular students' portals. It provides in-depth information about the academic life and how to make a successful career after graduation. Their team has been able to establish an excellent network including international companies, job agencies, exhibition providers and education carriers throughout Germany. When you take a look at the Campuschances website you will see that it is filled with rich content, clearly structured and pleasant to read. Advertising is kept to a minimum and navigation is easy. Google has awarded the site with PageRank 6. I found out about Campuschances while checking the english-test.net statistics: We are listed in their index next to www.wikipedia.org the internet's free online encyclopedia. If you want to explore it yourself - simply go to Google and type in Campuschances then follow the main menu.