Copyright © 2004 Steve Shaw

Doesn't make too much sense does it? Am I really going to give you some advice that asks you to ignore the advice I'm giving you? Well, that's not strictly true. I am however going to show you how to qualify the advice you are given, so you can sort the wheat from the chaff, and help you to survive the information overload on the Internet.

Firstly, you need to find out who is giving the advice. Are they speaking from a position of experience? Is the advice they are giving first-hand? Or is it second-hand advice, something they have heard somewhere else, have not put it into practice themselves, and are simply handing it onto you and presenting it as their own (and perhaps somewhat altered).

For example, if you read an article from someone on how to get more visitors to your web site, you need to ensure it is written by someone who has high traffic levels themselves. If you visit their web site, and discover it ranks somewhere below a million on Alexa, are they really someone you should be taking advice from on traffic? After all, would you take financial advice from someone who is bankrupt?

Ensure that if you get advice, it is coming from someone who knows what they are talking about from personal experience (and that you can see adequate proof).

Secondly, does the person giving the advice have an underlying motivation - or is it 'independent'? If they are recommending the use of a particular widget on your web site, and they are actually selling that widget, even as an affiliate, how useful is that advice? This is where you need to look for supplementary advice from third parties, such as via testimonials.

Thirdly, ensure that it works for you. Something may have worked for someone for a whole myriad of reasons, such as time, place, coincidence, a particular type of business, a particular type of visitor, and so on; but, that doesn't mean it will work for you.

For example, the use of banner graphics has completely different results on different web sites. On some sites, they improve sales. On other sites, it's been found that sales can be increased by removing the banner. The same can be said for the use of guarantees. In brief, something that works well on one web site may have the opposite effect on another.

You always need to test it out for yourself, and make up your own mind based on your own results, before coming to a conclusion on whether a particular piece of advice helps you towards your own goals.