One of the hot new website promotion tips du jour is the Google Sitemap. This is a small XML file that sits on a website and provides information for Googlebot when it comes to visit. Is this file useful? What does it do? How do I create one? How do I get Google to find it? Well, let me tell you.

Avoid being caught with a "Sorry For Any Inconvenience" staring at you from the monster on your monitor. Make sure you select the right web host the first time.

If you're doing automated testing or using the Rational Suite testing tools for the very first time, your success will depend on keeping a few simple pointers in mind. This article gives you the pointers you need in order to get started with Rational TestManager and Rational Robot.

The business of the online gaming industry is a complex one, requiring the input and integration of many variables -- people, business conditions, product goals, and more -- to create, implement, and distribute a successful online game. In the fourth of five articles in this series, IBM® Senior IT Architect Veronika Megler offers some patterns-based solutions to handle community interaction needs, to address adding new content for users of the game environment, and to provide assistance when users want it.

The business of the online games industry is a complex one, requiring the input and integration of many variables -- people, business conditions, product goals, and more -- to create, implement, and distribute a successful online game. In the third of four articles, Senior IT Architect Veronika Megler offers a scenario that demands a new set of functional requirements, identifies e-commerce needs and methods to solve them, and discusses how adapting the existing infrastructure can help providers handle device-connectivity issues.

The business of the online games industry is a complex one, requiring the input and integration of many variables -- people, business conditions, product goals, and more -- to create, implement, and distribute a successful online game. In the second of this four-part series, IBM senior IT architect Veronika Megler focuses a patterns-based perspective on the game itself, discusses scaling options, demonstrates how to integrate the runtime patterns selected for the infrastructure into a solution, and uses the runtime model to offer real-world suggestions that determine the better option for the in-housing or outsourcing of function building.

The business of the online games industry is a complex one, requiring the input and integration of many variables -- people, business conditions, product goals, and more -- to create, implement, and distribute a successful online game. Senior IT architect Veronika Megler ignites the first of a five-part series that focuses on infrastructure providers for online games. The series illustrates the state of the industry today and demonstrates how to develop a high-level business description and how to identify the all-important business patterns. The author offers eight steps towards this goal.

Online games are the future of the interactive entertainment industry. They also present a number of exciting opportunities for new business models, new markets, and new growth. The main problem faced is a solution integration issue. This article describes a framework for online games using Web services as the underpinning technology that can take advantage of reusable business function, distributed throughout the network with a solid integration story.

Creating an effective Web site that provides real business value requires a lot of planning. Potential customers can't take advantage of the content you so carefully create if you don't spend time and effort considering the technical requirements of the site. This article summarizes advice on performance, scalability, and availability from IBM's High Volume Web Sites Team.

On the World Wide Web your domain name is your own unique identity. No two parties can ever hold the same domain name simultaneously; therefore your Internet identity is totally unique. If you have a business site on the Internet your domain name is your own online brand and in a sense you can use your domain name as your online business card.