The ensuing Internet browser battle has become a full fledged war with latest enhancements to Mozilla's Firefox and the newest release of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7. A large percentage of users are still using Microsoft Internet Explorer due to the fact that it's embedded into every Windows operating system, but things are starting to change. The one time underdog, Mozilla Firefox, has all but leveled the browser playing field, and may soon be the victor in this War of the Web Browsers. From an Internet Marketing perspective, Firefox wins hands down (of course this is my humble, non bias opinion). If you haven't yet moved from IE or Netscape, you might want to stick around as I give you my top 5 reasons why I think Internet marketers should consider Firefox as a wise business move.
Reason #1: An SEO Friendly Web Browser As SEO (Search Engine Optimization) becomes part of your new Internet marketing vocabulary, it should also become part of your business. Firefox is no punk when it comes to SEO. Even if you have no intention of becoming an SEO expert, the SEO plugin support for Firefox is top notch. Integrated SEO allows for a quick glance at where your website ranks with Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Alexa, helping you to evaluate your own marketing strategy and that of your competition. This is a killer time saving feature for your Internet business. My SEO plugin of choice is called SEO for Firefox, which can easily be found by doing a Google search.
Reason #2: The Perfect Webmaster's Companion From the serious web developer or Internet marketer, to the part-time website hobbyist, Firefox is a feature rich browser that can help make your job much simpler. Firefox supports many W3C standards including XML, PHP, CSS, XHTML, etc.
Websites that often fall apart in other browsers due to lack of dynamic page support are preserved and functional in Firefox. For the Internet marketer looking to learn HTML or PHP coding, viewing source code and page info is made simple with a right-click of your mouse. Page info even provides a great way to find the destinations of all links on a page. What a great marketing research feature!
Also, Firefox is Open Source. What's Open Source? Well, it basically means that you can look under the hood and tinker with the engine. Not in a million years would you be able to "look inside" of Internet Explorer to see how it ticks. The Firefox source code is open to development by programmers worldwide, which means features and updates are constantly being added. Quick tech support is often available through the many Open Source web forums or from Mozilla's Support Page.
Reason #3: Security: The Fort Knox of Web Browsers Let's face it, as an Internet marketer, you're on the Internet a good percentage of your day. After all, the Internet is your lifeblood. Security and privacy should be on your list of "must haves", as identity theft is on the rise. If you're portal to the web is lost due to a virus, spyware, or a application crash, this could mean lost productivity, lost customers, or even lost profits. Not to mention increased frustration and the occasional broken keyboard that often results from anger directed at the computer. (Of course I'm not speaking from personal experience)
Overall, the security in Firefox is one of the main reasons more and more people are making the switch from Internet Explorer. In addition to enhanced stability, Firefox is far less prone to the many vulnerability exploits common in IE. Open Source code allows for teams of programmers from around the world to jump on the first news of a security exploit and to close the hole before it causes havoc. This is simply not the case with Internet Explorer. Trust me on this; I worked intimately with IE for many years as a network administrator. It wasn't fun. Firefox is a welcomed breath of fresh air!
Here are just a few of the security features available in the latest version of Firefox: (2.0 at the time of this writing)
- Phishing Protection - Enhanced identity theft protection and forged website safeguards
- Automatic Updates - Checks and notifies you of security updates to make sure you're always using the most stable and secure Firefox version available
- Integrated Spyware Protection - Will not allow a website to download or install programs unless you explicitly allow it, and provides notification of downloads and software installations
- Integrated Pop-Up Blocker - Eliminates pop-ups that could harm your computer, and simply annoy you from a pleasant browsing experience
- Privacy Protection - Allows for one-click clearing of private data, such as stored cache, cookies, authenticated sessions, and passwords.
- Strong Encryption - Support industry encryptions standards to protect and secure data transmissions.
Firefox 2.0 weighs in at a small 5.7mb installation; where as IE7 is almost 15mb. The Firefox installation is quick and simple, and doesn't require a huge amount of bandwidth to download updates and addons. Firefox is responsive, loading quickly into memory, with page loads much faster than any other browser I've used. Long gone are the days of getting a cup of coffee while your web browser loads. Enhanced features such as an integrated search engine, download manager, tabbed browsing, built-in spell checking, web feeds, and smart keywords are just a few of the reasons why you many want to consider switching to Firefox.
Firefox is also a cross platform browser, meaning you don't need to be using Microsoft Windows to install it. In addition to Windows, Firefox is also available for many versions of both Macintosh and Linux. And if you need additional language support, Firefox is available in over 40 different languages. Some my favorite Firefox features:
- Tabbed Browsing - If you've been using the Internet without tabbed browsing, you're in for a treat. Instead of the cluttered windows of traditional web browsers, Firefox opens web pages in tabbed windows by default, which provides improved speed and accessibility. Microsoft has only recently implemented tabbed browsing in IE7, while this feature has long been a favorite for veteran Firefox users
- Integrated Search Engine Support - Quick searches can be done via the built-in search bar which offers instant searching via your search engine of choice. If you're serious about search, Firefox delivers the goods. Yet another huge time saver for the Internet Marketer.
- Bookmark Manager - With this feature, it is easy to import your IE favorites, manage and sort bookmarks into groups, and even sort bookmarks by keyword. Live bookmarks dynamically deliver updated content, such as news headlines, directly within your bookmarks list.
- Smart Keywords - Now this feature rocks! In addition to creating quick bookmarks, you can also create quick URL links using keywords. For example, let's use my site. First I create a bookmark for my site from the Bookmark menu. I then right-click my new bookmark to open it's properties. In the keyword field I enter "RB". Now instead of typing www.RianBrooklyn.com to open my site, I just hit Ctrl+L to go to the Location Bar, and then type "RB". Instantly I'm taken to my website. Now that's a cool feature!
- Web Syndication - RSS web feeds (Really Simple Syndication) makes it easy to stay up to date with your favorite websites from one location. Now the content comes to you without effort. I personally love this feature as an easy way to stay updated with my favorite Internet Marketing blogs.
Reason #5: Can You Say Customization? Custom addons, plugins, themes, and toolbars; Firefox has it all. If you love personalization, you'll have plenty of options too keep you busy with the 1000's of add-ons that are available for Firefox.
Using Firefox add-ons, you can add functionality with quick third party downloads. Integrated weather, news, music and video, or comparison shopping are all possible from your main Firefox interface. I personally like the tools that make web design and marketing much easier and fun, such as the SEO for Firefox plugin mentioned above. I've been hearing about a blogging plugin calling "Performancing" but have yet to try it.
With Firefox themes you can totally control the user interface and tweak it to your liking. Don't like the colors? Ugly fonts? Grab a new theme from the Firefox Themes page and within minutes you can have an interface that you like. You can even make it look like Internet Explorer, though I can't see any reason you'd want to?
Well, there you have it. My top 5 reasons I think every Internet marketer should use Firefox, as plain and direct as I can give it to you. If you made it this far, congrats! I have a tendency to get wordy. But I hope I've provided you with some new insight if you're unfamiliar with what other browsing options are available. Oh wait, I almost forgot, there's one more reason...it's free! Now you really have no excuse not to make the switch to Firefox. You may have grown up with Internet Explorer or been forced to use in at your workplace, but this is a business decision. There's simply not a better browser out there. Ok, enough reading. Head on over to www.Mozilla.com to get your free Firefox download, and start experiencing the Internet with the performance, speed, and security that you've been missing.
Rian Brooklyn is a network engineer, specializing in computer and network security. Recently though, Rian's computer knowledge has lead him to finding the world of Internet marketing, where he has become quite knowledgeable with affiliate marketing and Google Adwords. Rian, while a new Internet marketer, and has been documenting his successes and failures on his quest toward Internet freedom on his affiliate marketing blog. Visit Rian's site and signup to the newsletter if you'd like to have a blueprint to follow as Rian reveals how he joins the ranks of successful Internet marketers. http://www.RianBrooklyn.com
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