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Effective Ways to Optimize Security in IT

By Eddie Bannister in Featured

Chances are your computer network or PC has been attacked at some point or another. Perhaps a worm caused your system to slow down severely, a virus erased your entire hard drive, or, malware plagued your registry and browser, leaving you helpless and frustrated. What you probably learned from these attacks was how or where to find a quick-fix while your overall security remained unchanged. What you may not know is that there are a few fundamental practices in relation to the hardware, software and people that can help to improve or optimize the safety level of your computer network and personal system. These practices or ways are sound, easy to implement and highly effective.

On the Hardware/Software Side

While they may appear relatively basic at the onset, some practical measures should be taken to not just establish and maintain but also to increase ongoing security to computer hardware and software. Failure to adhere to these measures or ways of implementing security can potentially lead to disaster. Of course, you can further add to or enhance these measures depending on your particular situation–such as budget restraints, time-frame, etc.

Specifically, you will want to:

• Upgrade or replace. Older hardware can malfunction and become unstable; older software can have security holes and vulnerabilities or could fail to properly integrate with newer technologies.
• Patch up and harden. Whether it’s a domain controller or your home PC, install anti-virus software, configure a firewall, update the OS using service packs and remove unnecessary services.
• Limit access. Keep the system away from prying eyes and unauthorized users. Implement strong passwords; use encryption. Locks and biometrics are strongly recommended, too.
• Monitor regularly. Make a habit of watching network activity and reading system logs to find inconsistencies and unusual traffic patterns.
• Maintain good backups. Backup often and verify your backups always. Keep one or more copies off-site, if possible.

On the People Side

When it comes to security, people usually are the weakest link in the chain. They can be lazy, indifferent, uninformed or represent some other security liability. Because you, too, may possibly exhibit such characteristics and behaviors yourself, here are ways to address these people problems and successfully increase and ensure IT security. For example, you should:

• Establish controls. Rules and policies can help to specify what is or isn’t acceptable use. Enforce them. Be prompt at acting on the slightest deviation.
• Train and educate. You and your staff can never be too knowledgeable about the newest technologies or the latest types of attacks–worms, viruses, Trojans, malware and others. Be prepared to learn and learn to be prepared.
• Be safety aware. Don’t expose yourself or your systems to potential attacks by linking to questionable websites. And, opening an email attachment from an unknown source could quench much more than sheer curiosity.
• Go “long” on commitment. Engage people by assigning them (or yourself) duties and responsibilities with realistic goals and rewards. Foster loyalty and support alongside accountability for non-performance.

Experiencing a malicious attack is sometimes the result of weak or ineffective security practices. And, while finding quick solutions to the attack may be reactionary and expected, it is not necessarily the only or best course of action in securing PCs and networks. There are far more sensible and fundamental ways to implement and address security in relation to the hardware, software and people involved in day to day operations. It is, in fact, by applying those ways and practices that you can effectively and successfully improve upon and optimize security in IT.

Author:  Eddie Bannister works as a network consultant and computer instructor. He also enjoys writing about a wide range of topics.

Internet Marketing - 6 Important Factors to Good Product Launching

By Joel Christopher in Featured

Whether you have good products or you are reselling products for other people, you need to have a good launch. When you are new in the business or making some expansion, this is the way for you to have a higher chance of establishing yourself. There are different key factors to consider in order for you to be able to handle a product launch effectively.

Connections

This is the first important key to a good launch. If you want your launch to come out fabuously, you need to link up with other people in the target market of your choice. Connectivity will give your launch event more exposure and significance. If you manage to get the approval of the bigwigs in your market and they view your launch as something worth customers’ time, it will be a big winner.

Maximization of Profits

The mazimization of profits is another important aspect of the launch. The thing is, you will have to spend a considerable amount in order for you to be able to gain much from the launch. But you must be able to do this in such a way that you will gain more favorable returns than the initial amount you had to invest or shell out for the completion of the launch itself.

Loud and Proud

A launch will not be a launch if it is not loud enough and soaring high. Rockets do not get launched at slow speeds. They are designed to break barriers in the atmosphere. In the same manner, your own business product launch must be like that as well. Make it loud and proud so that it will make waves and get attention.

Proper Planning

You cannot have a good launch if you did not have a good plan to back it up. Proper planning will not erase simultaneous problems that may arise when you actually go through the launch, but it will save you time and give you more foresight with what to expect. This is very important. Also, if you are in the planning stage of your launch, you must get other people’s opinion or feedbacks.

Good Mechanics, if applicable

If your launch has an embedded contest in it, make sure that the mechanics are clear and easy to understand for your target market prospects. Also, the mechanics of the game must be simple and not hard to incorporate. If there is a time frame involved, emphasize it. And give out good prizes for the game.

Thinking Beyond the Launch

Ultimately, you cannot really expect that the launch will bring you to sustained fame. Think beyond the launch and be sure that you have follow up projects at bay after you create that grand launch. Remember, you cannot just exhaust all of your energies to the launch and not have something to sustain it with.

The launch is an important aspect in the initial stages of your business as an internet marketer. However, this is just one small piece in the big puzzle that will contribute to your overall success. If you really want to be able to succeed in this thing, you need to be able to put all these together as consistently and passionately as possible.

Author:  Joel Chritopher is known worldwide as the MasterlistBuilder who can help you generate leads and increase you profits. Find out more at http://www.masterlistbuilder.com

Interview with Wikipedia Administrator Durova

By Jim Hedger in Featured

“I’m so glad I don’t manage Wiki, it’s like having squabbling kids high on sugar in the back of a mini-van for 10 hours!” EvilGreenMonkey - Forums Editor, SearchEngineWatch

I have just spent two and a half hours on Google Chat with someone who does. Controversial, quick witted and damned by those she has banned from Wikipedia, Durova is a much maligned but multi-faceted character. She is also one of the most recognized names surrounding Wikipedia. As one of the more outspoken of 1302 or so Administrators, Durova has attracted a lot of heat for her ardent defense of the Encyclopedic nature of Wikipedia.

SiteProNews.com readers will recall Durova’s name from Ross Dunn’s article, “Is Wikipedia Corrupt?” which ran on Thursday August 9. In the piece, Durova’s name came up several times in relation to a dispute between herself and Gregory Kohs, an SEW Forums member who goes by the name of “thekohser”.  It was this dispute that caught the eye of several writers in the search marketing sector. Durova contacted me hoping that more open communication would help clear the air between the Administrators at Wikipedia and the search community.

The Chat-interview (transcript here) lasted far longer than either of us expected but, after speaking with Durova for such a long period of time, the conversation left me with a deeper respect for the work of the Wikipedians along with a deepened cynicism when reading the rantings of some of its detractors.

The interview covered over 13 pages (Arial, 10pt font) in a Word document. I’ve decided to reprint excerpts from it in this article along with a link to the full transcript.

To start the interview, I wanted to get some background on how the Wikipedia operates. I wanted a sense of structure, an understanding of how its hierarchy works to make and enforce decisions.

me: ok.  Is there a hierarchy of editors/volunteers at Wikipedia?

durova: Mostly it’s a meritocracy.

me: ok… a hierarchy based on merit

durova: In theory (I could show you a quote) an administrator’s opinion in a discussion carries no more weight than any other editor’s.

But certain tools have to be restricted for practical reasons.

me: k.

durova: There are tools I don’t have.

Checkuser, for instance, gives information about an account’s underlying IP address.  That’s very closely controlled for privacy reasons.

Likewise there’s a power called Oversight.  That’s done to erase personal disclosures.  Such as a twelve-year-old who posts her home address.

me: what are the various titles (ie: admin, editor, etc…) and how are they earned/granted

Sent at 11:10 AM on Wednesday

durova: Well, anyone’s an editor who edits the sight.  You could click the “edit” tab on an article and become an editor right now, if you haven’t already.

Here’s a page on administratorship. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators

Administrators and bureaucrats are elected by community consensus.

Arbitrators are a combination of election and appointment.  The other positions are appointed either by Jimbo Wales or the arbitration committee.

me: TY:  my goal here is to help users understand the environment.

durova: Sure.

me: how does one get noticed by the community / stand for election?

how long are the terms?

durova: Arbitration is a three year term.  The others have no specific duration.

me: as an estimate, how long does the average editor/admin/arbitrator serve?

durova: Most arbitrators resign before the full three years.  It’s a very demanding position.

me: no doubt

durova: For the rest, people are as active as they want to be.  Wikipedia had 1302 administrators when I checked this morning.  About 2/3 of those are active.

Sent at 11:15 AM on Wednesday

me: so you are one of about 860?

durova: There’s a voluntary program called “Administrators open to recall.”  These are sysops who’ve pledged to go through a reconfirmation vote if enough other editors ask for it.  About 100 administrators participate in that program.  I’m one of them.

I could check that number if you like for accuracy, but about that.  Yes.

Here’s a link to the current votes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:RFA

me: ok. this is like a democratic method of deposing admins for the editors?

durova: There’s been talk of that.  Nothing formal has come out of it.  The arbitration committee handles instances of misconduct.  Occasionally they desysop someone.

me: I’d like to get back to that in a moment or two.

durova: Sure.

me: why would a candidate’s nomination be voted down or fail to reach consensus?

how do the voters (editors) know about each nominee?

durova: Well, there could be concerns about an editor’s overall experience or about their conduct.

me: is there a lot of thought put into voting by the editors?  Is there debate?

durova: These are discussions rather than raw votes.  Reasoning counts for a lot. If you’d like to take a moment and look at the current discussions you’ll see a cross section of how this plays out.

Next, I wanted to get a sense of how much work was involved for any given editor or administrator. As Wikipedia is an entirely volunteer run organization (there are only 7 paid staff at the WikiFoundation, none of which are directly involved in the administration or editing of Wikipedia), the amount of work varies from volunteer to volunteer.

me: what does the job of admin entail?  how much time commitment?

durova: Totally flexible.

I could spend ten hours a day or do nothing for a month.

me: yes but the work must pile up if Admins don’t dedicate time

durova: There’s usually enough of us to keep on top of things.  We could always use more help.

I asked for help collecting statistics on the workload.  One sec while I dig up an example.

me: k

durova: Here we go.  In August 2005 the site deleted about 1000 articles a day.

12 months ago the average was 3000 deletions a day.

By 6 months ago that average was 5000.

Another area that eats up a lot of administrative time is Recent Changes patrol.

me: so, on average, there could be up to 150,000 deletions a month

durova: In that neighborhood, yes.

One hundred and fifty thousand deletions a month!  No wonder there are some awfully angry people out there. Many of the complaints against Durova and other editors or administrators come from disgruntled contributors whose postings were deleted. As the popularity of Wikipedia continues to grow, and as search and Internet marketers find ways to use Wikipedia to get solid backlinks or a guaranteed placement for a commercially focused posting, the number of editorial deletions is increasing. Rapidly…

durova: Here’s a humorous look at vandalism patrol. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Friends_of_gays_should_not_be_allowed_to_edit_articles

me: 150K deletions in a month indicates a lot of (what?)

durova: Well, one classic example is garage bands.

A group of friends start a band, try to get gigs, aren’t signed yet.

So one of them writes a Wikipedia article to try to get attention.

Unfortunately there aren’t any reliable sources to prove whether the article is something real or a hoax.  Just the band’s homepage, which can be spoofed.

So we delete that.  Happens all the time.

me: what is the test for reliability, credibility?

durova: For your readership, I should note that a certain percentage of those deletions are about non-notable people and businesses.

Let me give you a link to the notability guideline.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability

The links lead to detailed discussions for specific areas.

me: ty

durova: Here’s another important link, our articles for deletion page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:AFD

Right now there are 96 open discussions for businesses and organizations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:AfD_debates_%28Organisation%2C_corporation%2C_or_product%29

Deletions are not done lightly. There is an enormous amount of discussion surrounding whether to keep or drop a posting. Some specific debates can go on for several pages with tens of editors and administrators writing their opinion of each post. When a super-majority consensus of approximately 75% is reached, a decision is made.

me: what constitutes “consensus”?

durova: Usually, two-thirds.

But closure is complex.

It’s pretty obvious when someone joined up just to comment at a discussion.  Those opinions usually get discounted.

And a single editor’s post may get extra weight for raising one or more important points that the opposing side doesn’t answer.

I was still curious how an article or entry was considered by the editors. One of my personal concerns about Wikipedia is the growing work-load for a staff of volunteers. Wikipedia has become an important social institution with an extraordinary power of placement at Google. A similar thing happened to the Open Directory Project. It grew much faster than its editorial staff could manage.

me: What is the process an entry goes through when made?

(from editor/admin perspective)

durova: Well, each new edit gets listed at Recent Changes.  There’s a link to that at the far left of your screen (depending on which skin you use).

Here it is for simplicity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Recentchanges

Some of the volunteers hang out here to screen for vandalism or new articles that need deletion.

They also add categories if the article doesn’t have any categories.

me: I see over 50 new entries in the past minute or two

durova: Yep.

me: are the rate of entries per day growing?

durova: This isn’t my quote. “At a rate of four hundred words a minute, twenty four hours a day, a person could read nearly twenty million words in a month. In the month of July 2006, Wikipedia grew by over thirty million words. In other words, a sleepless fast reader could never catch up with Wikipedia’s new content. Reading the current incarnation at that rate would take over two years, and by the time they were done, so much would have changed with the parts they had already read that they would have to start over.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Statistics

me: ty

durova: np

me: so if the readers can’t keep up, how can the editors?

durova: Heh.

We do our best.

Some bots crawl the site to sniff out vandalism and copyright violation.

me: is there a tremendous backlog of unedited or unfiltered posts?

durova: Mostly Wikipedia keeps on top of it.

Watchlists are important.  I wrote about them in my last article for SEL.
 http://searchengineland.com/070807-085103.php

Even with a large number of volunteers, running the Wikipedia can be a frustrating, thankless task. Apparently, the Wikipedians have a very strong and supportive internal community. Though Durova’s name tends to draw heat outside the Wikipedia, reading posts by other admins and editors shows she has quite a bit of internal support.

durova: I’ve been hoping that better communication could reduce the frustration on all sides.

me: what frustration?

durova: 5000 deleted articles a day represents a lot of wasted time.

We all know that Wikipedia is a top Google return.  And of course the professionals in SEO and related fields pay attention to it.

me: oh yeah

durova: There are things you can do to achieve your goals that work within site standards without taking too much of your time.

Most of the professionals don’t know much about what these methods are.

And a lot of the things that get published in the mainstream press are written by people who don’t know Wikipedia very well.

me: What exactly do you mean?  Are you referring to the goals of a marketer or those of an editor?

durova: They may be well-intentioned, but they often misrepresent one or more aspects of site policy.  Their readers read those mistakes and follow them, then our volunteers have to go to work. Now in SEO your basic goal is to send readers to websites.  Would you say that’s a fair summary?

me: Absolutely. Increased traffic is the goal. That was generally done via search engines. Now, Wikipedia is sort of a search engine that has at least one guaranteed placement in Google SERPs

In this and a few other ways, Wikipedia is starting to remind me of the Open Directory project.  SEOs are going to pay a HUGE amount of attention to Wikipedia in the coming year

durova: Well the way to get durable outgoing links from Wikipedia to a client’s site is to treat Wikipedia as an encyclopedia first.  Its social media aspects exist to support the encyclopedia.

I wrote about one way to do that in my first SEL column.

My next column is going to address another way to create durable links.

me: excellent

durova: Wikipedians don’t like linkspam, but they don’t begrudge links that serve a clear encyclopedic purpose.

The interview meandered over several other topics ranging from her personal experience at Wikipedia to the relationship between Wikipedia and Google:

me: Does Wikipedia have a relationship with Google?

durova: Yes, we run away for intimate weekends in the mountains and cuddle up on the bearskin rug by the fire.

me: do you think they respect you in the morning?

durova: We’ll see how Wikia does in the marketplace.

I have no connection whatsoever to Wikia, by the way.

me: I figured that. Wikia is still very small

durova: I think Google is very smart and is watching that very closely, and probably has a business plan to address it if it takes off.

me: Oh yeah. Google watches the space like nobody else’s business.  seriously though. Does Wikipedia have any agreements w/Google regarding content?

durova: Not that I know of.  Wikipedia is all copyleft licensure, so anybody can use the material for free if they credit the source.

But a lot of people wonder why Wikipedia consistently ranks so high.

me: does the fact that entries will almost certainly get high placements under relevant keywords have any bearing on editorial decisions?

lots of links.

durova: Among Wikipedia regulars, no.  Among occasional visitors and newcomers, very much so.

So to the extent that the hardcores like me deal with it, we’re taking out links and explaining policies to those people.

I know this isn’t the ivory tower.  Wikipedia content and links have real world impact.

That’s a reality and I deal with it.

Occasionally I siteban people because of it.

That sitebanning is what gets folks so angry with Durova. There is little she can do about that except try to do her job with consistency and relative compassion. More on the argument between Durova and certain members of the search marketing community next week.

Author:  Jim Hedger is Executive Editor of SiteProNews.com/. Jim is also a writer, broadcaster, commentator and analyst in the search marketing sector. He is an avid Wikipedia user and temperate Wikipedia supporter.

3 Ways To Backup Your Website

By Max Adams in Featured

Data loss is the worst nightmare of people who own precious computer files, whether he is a website administrator or just a simple e-mail user. Sometimes, just one wrong push of a button can make all your files instantly vanish without a trace. Unless you have a magic wand that can make those files reappear, regular backing up of files is really a must. This duty of saving data to another storage device should be the routine of all webmasters. Having a backup of all your website files is extremely important because it gives you peace of mind in case accidental loss of data occurs.

Backup simply refers to a copy of existing files on a separate storage device to preserve data in case the original has been damaged or deleted. You need a duplicate of all your files so that if your hosting company suddenly shuts down or closes your account, your data is still safe and secure. Even if you have a reliable web host, there is also a need for you to backup because computer systems can be so unpredictable. One time their servers have your files and the next time, they are gone.

So, if you are really serious about keeping your website alive, don’t take for granted the importance of having a backup. It is 100% possible, easy, and you can even do it in a number of ways.

1. Backing Up With cPanel

Every time you log in to your hosting account, you are usually greeted by a page-like interface that contains all tools you need to manage your website. This web-based interface is called a control panel. Now, there is a special kind of control panel called cPanel. It is currently the most preferred web based control panel today because of the utmost convenience it offers.

To perform full backup using cPanel, you just have to find and click the Backup icon on the main interface. Find Generate / Download a Full Backup and click again. Go to the Home Directory in Backup Destination and supply an authentic email address, no need to fill in the other fields. After that, select Generate Backup. When you successfully managed to do all of these, all you have to is wait for the e-mail that tells you that all your files are ready for FTP download. You can either save the entire file in your own hard drive or in another server if you have one.

2. Backing Up Using Online Storage

Your server is already an online storage, but if you want to be more secure about your files, get another. If you have the money, you can always buy an additional hosting plan, maybe just a basic one. However, this is not a good option for those who have limited financial resources. If you are one these people, sign up to a free online storage service instead. This option, however, is only recommended to owners of personal websites that do not have too much files.

3. Backing Up Databases Using phpMyAdmin

Databases are the most common repository of important records. If you are running MySQL, the most widely used database program today, it is most likely that you have phpMyAdmin. A tool written in the php programming language, phpMyAdmin is used to effectively manage your MySQL database.

To make a backup of your database content, just log-in to your phpMyAdmin account. On the main interface, you will see the Export link. Click it. You will then be taken to the list of all your databases. If you want to save them all, just click the “Select All” option. Tick the Save As check box and click Go. A pop-up window will appear. It will prompt you to provide a name for the backup file and the location where you would like to put it. Click OK. Congratulations! You already have backup copy of your database!

Author:  Max Adams is the owner of Web Hosting Daily (http://webhosting.infospotters.com/). Our duty is to find you a web host that offers maximum security, reliability, and stability at a price that will surely fit your budget.

Web Hosting Options : 5 Critical Things

By Mario Lerma in Featured

So how do you go about choosing a web host? Pull one out of a hat! Not really! Unless, of course, you’re a magician and can pull out the right one! Hey, who knows maybe with a little practice! Just kidding!

Now for those of you who aren’t Merlin the magician, the task is made even harder due to the fact there are so many website hosting companies. I mean, there’re a bunch of them and they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It’s pretty safe to say most people don’t even know where to begin.

And just where do you begin? Well, faced with so many choices you need an efficient way to narrow down the field. The best way, I’ve found, is to start searching based on RECOMMENDATIONS and EXPERIENCE! So ask or look for recommendations from people you trust and find out what experiences they’ve had with the web site host.

Once you’ve built a small list, say 10-12, you’re after quality not quantity, put them through the tests. Here’re the 5 critical things you must look for!

1. World-Class Service. This is Numero Uno for a very good reason. Picture this scenario: It’s 3 a.m. and you’re in a bind. You’ve run into a technical problem! And it must be fixed pronto! Now answer these two questions: Do you know where your support is? How accessible are they?

Your answers are crucial because you need quick and easy ways of getting a hold of your customer service or technical support people anytime of the day or night. Even at 3 a.m.! This means your web hosting company must guarantee telephone and email support 24/7/365.

And not only round the clock support but your web hosting provider must be staffed by knowledgeable and helpful people. It’s not going to do you any good at all to get incredible response time if they aren’t able to fix the problem. In other words, they’ve got to know what they’re doing!

Live chat service adds another way for you to get a hold of your support team. The more ways the better!

Stay away from web hosts who provide support only through email. You could be waiting days for a response. You can’t afford to wait! You want prompt answers to your questions and technical problems fixed quickly! Your business and livelihood depend on it!

Even though email support is the preferred method for resolving technical problems you still want to be able to get on the telephone and chew on someone’s ear if the situation calls for it.

When it comes to technical support, experience really matters! I mean with a capital “E.” So find out if they have actual experienced systems administrators on board. They’re the one’s responsible for making sure all the different components of a computer system fit together and work properly. This is extremely important!

2. Hacker safe. Hackers are intruders who would like nothing more than to get their rotten hands on your information and do nasty things to it. So your web site hosting company must provide you with top-notch security. They should have all the important security issues covered, especially what hackers are up to, and God knows, they’re always up to something.

So you know what this means, don’t you? Yes, firewalls should be running all the time to protect your web site from hackers. A firewall is a security device, (it can be either software or hardware), basically acting like a barrier to secure your server from possible hacker attack. Make sure they have the latest software installed and top of the line computers, too.

OK, now what’s the bottom line here? For your peace of mind, your web host better know how to protect their system! And your website from unauthorized access!

3. Click away! This is what your customers are doing when they get tired of waiting for your web page to download. They aren’t going to wait forever. In fact, your customer is only one click away from going to your competitor’s web site. So having quick loading web pages is extremely important!

Another key factor is your web host has to get consistently reliable connection times to ALL your customers. What I mean is your customer may have to wait 5 seconds to download a web page one time and then wait longer to download the same page another time. So what’s the crux of the matter? Your customers won’t wait so your website hosting company has to download fast!

In turn, fast download time is affected by how good the connection is your web host has to the Internet. So if your web hosting company has a poor connection to the Internet then you’ve got a major problem on your hands in getting consistent and reliable connection times.

Here’s a simple formula for you to remember: Long download times = click aways! Click aways = lost customers! Lost customers = lost sales!

It impacts your bottom line! Your livelihood! You can’t afford it!

4. Backbone, baby! No, I’m not talking about intestinal fortitude. I mean Internet backbone or fiber optic networks. Your web host should be “multi-homed” or connected to multiple backbone carriers.

Each connection or line coming into the data center from the backbone carrier must be separate. This way if one backbone carrier goes down your host will maintain connectivity to the Internet and your customers will still be able to access your web site. Most web hosts don’t have this continuous service capability. Level of connectivity is one of the most important aspects to consider.

Being a “multi-homed” web host has its benefits because the router, a computer switching program, is able to monitor each link and identify the best one to use to get your data to its destination by the most efficient path possible. The bottom line: Fast web page download speed! Allright!

Be certain to look for a web host with at least a T1 connection going to the main backbone carriers. A T3 connection or faster is better yet. T1 and T3 are high capacity phone lines capable of transferring data at high speeds.

5. Stability. Make absolutely sure the web hosting company is stable and secure. The last thing you want to happen is for your web host to go belly up or go out of business. Cover yourself and ask some key questions. How long have they been in business? How many owners have they had? Is it making money and cash-flow positive from hosting-generated sales? In other words, is it financially sound?

To recap, rely on recommendations and experience. Put these recommendations through the tests and find a web host you feel comfortable with.

Author:  Mario Lerma is an article author. He specializes in the web hosting area and has been a successful Internet marketer since 1999. If you’re looking for a web host or aren’t happy with the service your current one is giving you, send an email to = = > mailto:information@accountablewebhosting.com

The Impact of Social Media on Search Rankings

By Susan Esparza in Featured

Over the past few years, the Internet has increasingly become a participatory social network where user-generated content is just as important as traditional advertising messages. This means your articles, blog posts, videos, podcasts, and other comments on the Web are now critical sources of information about your company, your products and services. This phenomenon has given consumers a voice and weakened the power formerly held by advertising media. Social media, therefore, becomes increasingly important to a Web site’s success and its visibility in search engines.

Not long ago, search engine optimization focused on fine-tuning your on- and off-page Web site elements in order to achieve better rankings in the search engines. While on-page elements remain the fundamental building blocks of your SEO campaign, it is no longer the entirety of the puzzle. With the rise of social media, it is more important than ever to create and optimize many different types of content in order to dominate the SERPs. The increase in user-generated content, and implementation of Google search personalization and universal search, has helped bring this about.

Search Personalization

In personalized search, individual user search results are reordered based on their previous search behavior and other indicators. Pages can move up or down based on the influence of a user’s Google home page content, bookmarks, search history, Web history, etc. While Google is the only search engine currently adjusting rankings using personalization factors, Yahoo and Ask have variations on this theme with MyWeb and MyStuff.

Google’s reasons for initiating search personalization are that it delivers more relevant results and can reduce spam. Others have challenged this rationale, stating that user interests are not static and can vary by season, mood or other factors. It’s also difficult to know user intent based on click behavior, as sometimes when people click on a link they’ll immediately realize this wasn’t what they wanted and click off. Queries can also be hit and miss, landing users on non-relevant sites which would then be used in creating non-relevant future results for that user.

Because of personalized search, optimization techniques will change, requiring more intense multivariate analyses in the competitor landscape since the leading competitors will vary as the SERPs vary. This will affect analyses of competitor on-page and off-page factors, especially keyword analysis. However, all the basic optimization tactics remain important. Content, in particular, must do a better job of telling search engines what the page is about, and this will result in better rankings for those able to do so.

Universal Search

With the advent of universal search by Google and others, search marketers and site owners will soon find it necessary to optimize their Web sites for a broad range of content types. This means creating content in every media and vertical niche applicable to your brand. Compelling, useful and widely propagated content will create more search visibility and Web site success.

Fresh content will bring repeat visitors and increase the odds that other users and Web site owners will want to share your content with their visitors, creating more backlinks. For most brands, the benefit of encouraging social networking activities is increased search visibility.

Search engine optimization techniques vary depending on the type of content being optimized. We’ve written before about optimizing content for Google image search, video search, news, maps and blog search. Two other areas you can optimize content for are podcasts and your Google Base data feeds.

Optimizing Podcasts

To create a podcast, you must record an audio file to be uploaded to the Web. Once uploaded, users will be able to download this rich media file and listen to it via an iPod or some other media player.

Up until recently, multimedia search engines relied on metadata to determine relevancy of rich media files. However, this was insufficient for finding relevant podcasts because the average podcast is 15 to 20 minutes long and has only 25 to 30 words describing it.

Currently, speech recognition technology is used to determine the relevancy of audio files. Speech recognition and extracting podcast content is essential for indexing content and making it findable by users. One way to do this is to play audio snippets to determine the relevancy of the terms within a podcast.

When optimizing your podcast ensure your content is easily found by promoting only one feed. Optimize the audio file, and then optimize a landing page for each episode in addition to your category page. Make your subscription information visible on landing pages. Create valid feeds and validate them with a feed validator tool such as FeedValidator.org or the W3C Feed Validator.

Your podcast should have a unique, keyword-rich Title tag explaining the subject matter. The landing page should contain a link back to your Web site. The publication date is important. This tag specifies the last time the feed was updated. Include image tags if applicable.

Since iTunes does not redistribute, we recommend building a separate feed for iTunes. You can promote with three separate feeds, a media feed, a 2.0 feed and an iTunes feed. Include a transcript or a summary of the podcast on the landing page, depending on the podcast length. If it is brief, only a summary reviewing the main points is necessary.

Optimizing Google Base Data Feeds

Google Base is a database where you can upload all kinds of online and offline content for sale. Your items will include labels and attributes to help describe the content you are uploading, making it searchable for users. Attributes are the words that describe the characteristics of your items. You can enter multiple values separated by commas for any given attribute. Labels are keywords that can be used to classify or describe your item, such as products, services, and even a house for sale.

The items you submit to Google Base will go in the Base directory, and some items, depending on relevance, might also go into the Google SERPs, Froogle or Google Maps. So the quality of your data is important if you want it to be found far and wide.

Use Google Base custom attributes to optimize your feeds. Google Base allows you to specify your own custom attributes, which means you can include additional information about your items. Unlimited custom attributes can be included in your tab-delimited bulk upload file. Detailed descriptions can make your items more relevant, getting them into the Google index and other vertical databases, providing more opportunity for them to be found.

Since many of those uploading their data feeds to Google Base don’t know about the custom attributes feature, you would gain a significant advantage because your feeds will be more successful than those of your competitors.

Another way to gain competitive advantage is to completely automate your Google Base data feeds. By automating your feeds, you ensure that the information uploaded to Google Base is up-to-date and accurate.

Automate your Google Base data feed by connecting it directly with your database with a process that pulls the most recent data once a day, submitting a new bulk upload to Google Base on a regular basis. Outsourcing this task takes about one day’s time for setup, and then it becomes automated. One resource for such e-marketing services is Hudson’s Horizons.

Though the fundamentals remain the same, search engine optimization is an ever evolving industry, adapting as the search landscape continues to change. It is now important to create and optimize many different types of content to dominate the SERPs. Optimizing your podcasts and Google Base data feeds will go a long way toward expanding search visibility.
Author:  Susan Esparza is the Senior Editor at Bruce Clay. She joined Bruce Clay in November 2004 and has written extensively for clients and internal publications. She also knows where the knives and forks go in a buffet line. The latter makes her invaluable to the Bruce Clay organization.

Relevant Website Content is the Key to Getting More Traffic

By CL Talbert in Featured

Obtaining high quality targeted traffic to your website has never been as challenging as it is today. There are several different ways to advertise your website all with varying results. This article will discuss a brief history of advertising online, current advertising techniques and why website content is so important.

To understand the best way to advertise online and increase your website’s traffic today first you should learn about the history of advertising on the internet. In the 1990’s when the internet was still young the most effective way to advertise online was through banner ads. By 1996 companies were advertising through Juno’s new ad supported e mail service and Webconnect started to offer accurate measurement tools to advertisers such as URL tracking. (http://www.worldata.com/wdnet7/articles/
the_history_of_Internet_Advertising.htm)

It has been said that in 1998 Amazon was the first to launch a successful affiliate program. They invited webmasters and retailers to link to their website in exchange for a commission. This was the beginning of the still popular advertising method of link exchanging. That same year Larry Page and Sergy Brin introduced Google to the World Wide Web. This new search engine technology was designed to analyze these back links which were considered votes for a website. The “votes” determined how the page was ranked in the Google index. (http://www.searchenginehistory.com/#google)

Today there are over 66 million websites on the World Wide Web and a lot more ways to advertise your site than there was just a decade ago. Companies use everything from pop up ads, banner advertising and even ads that interrupt online games and other interactions.

Advertisers are always looking for easier, faster and less expensive ways to promote their products and services. The cost of regular postal mail has increased over the years making electronic mail the better choice. Email advertising can result in a better targeted audience. Customers who receive the email message are interested in what the advertiser has to say; therefore they click on the link. There are also several downsides to this form of advertising. In order for email advertising to be effective you have to have a well designed lead capture page. Along with this you must use a reputable auto responder service that obeys all the spam laws. This can get complicated because you also have to advertise your lead capture page. Banner advertising is very simple and can be effective if your banners are placed on relevant websites. But this method is also very expensive. Banner advertising can cost you as much as $20-$50 per thousand impressions which could run you anywhere from $2,000-$5,000 per month.

A lot of companies today use pop up ads as a way to get traffic. But with the increasing popularity of pop up blockers pop up ads do not attract as much traffic as they used to.

The most effective way to get highly targeted traffic to your website is by getting indexed by the search engines. Relevant back links will help you with your search engine rankings but if you do not have good content the links will not matter. For example, when someone types something in the search engine such as “Dodge Trucks” that searcher will more likely click on a website with information on that particular brand, not just “Trucks.” If you are selling Dodge trucks it would benefit you to have an article about that particular brand of trucks. This will help the search engines to index your website and you will get more return visitors.

There are two different ways you can get good website content. The first way is by writing your own articles pertaining to your online niche. You can then add them to your website or blog to increase your traffic. Or you can submit them to free article sites like this one with a link to your website. Either method will give you more targeted traffic.

Advertising online has come a long way since simple banner ads in the 1990’s. Webmasters, companies and affiliate marketers have a wide variety of different ways to get their message across online from email marketing to pop up ads. But they can get complicated and expensive. To avoid these issues the best way to get traffic to your website is by having accurate content. Relevant website content will help the search engines index your site and visitors will like what they see and return for more information. Writing your own articles and subscribing to articles previously written are two great ways to get content for your website.

Author:  Ms. Talbert has been an online marketer since 2003. She has sold on eBay, has been involved with SFI and numerous other Affiliate programs. Currently she writes reviews of marketing and advertising products to aid affiliate marketers and webmasters. To subscribe to her free newsletter visit: http://www.freeinformation.12w.net. Or visit her blog at: http://cltsmarketingresources.blogsavy.com

Top 10 Reasons You Are Not Getting Links

By Erik Cunningham in Featured

Convincing other webmasters to link to your website is a difficult, yet rewarding Internet marketing strategy. Inbound links help increase traffic to your website in two different ways.

First, inbound links create “click-through” traffic for your site. Click-through traffic is generated when visitors on other websites see a link to your site and click on it.

Second, inbound links create search engine traffic for your website. Many popular search engines use the number and quality of inbound links to your website as a key factor in determining the position or rank of your site in their search results. The higher your website’s ranking, the more potential traffic your site receives.

There are many factors involved in convincing another webmaster to link to your site that are beyond your control. Rather than focus on those factors, let’s focus on the top 10 reasons you’re not getting links that are within your ability to correct.

1) You don’t ask.

The majority of webmasters (at least the ones I know) don’t spend their twilight hours combing the Internet for websites to link to. Maybe they should, but they don’t. If you want other websites to link to you, you need to pound the pavement, write some emails, and make some phone calls.

2) You ask the wrong people.

Don’t use the shotgun approach when asking others to link to you. Requesting inbound links from unrelated sites wastes your time, and the time of the unfortunate people you contact. Instead, approach Internet marketing like you would any other form of marketing. Identify your target audience and put your link where they can see it.

3) You ask the wrong way.

Nobody wants to receive emails from automated software programs. If and when you use email as a tool for link building, make sure each link request is personalized and includes the recipient’s name whenever possible.

4) Your website is new.

Many webmasters want to know that Google has accepted you and other sites are linking to yours before they join in. It’s definitely a catch 22. In most cases you just need to submit your URL to Google and wait a month or two for them to come around.

5) You link to “bad neighborhoods”.

Bad neighborhoods are clusters of websites that search engines have flagged as disreputable in regard to their search engine marketing practices. Linking to these sites or even linking to a website that links to these sites can hurt your reputation with search engines, other website owners and Internet users alike. Thoroughly examine the websites that you’re linking to. If their content seems “spammy” or gives you a bad gut feeling, it’s probably best not to link to them.

6) Your website contains ads or links to adult content.

There are two major reasons why hosting links to adult websites can seriously hurt your link building efforts. First, adult sites are offensive to many Internet users. Webmasters who would otherwise link to your site may avoid you for that reason alone. Second, the online adult entertainment industry is notorious for search engine spamming. This dramatically increases the likelihood that linking to your site will damage the reputation of anyone linking to you. This understanding is not lost on experienced webmasters who will likely avoid your site like the plague. If your online business isn’t part of the adult entertainment industry, you would do best to steer clear of it.

7) Your website uses a flash intro or splash page.

Flash intro pages have been known to annoy Internet users and have an adverse effect on search engine rankings. And while this may not affect your link popularity when it comes to one-way inbound links, many reciprocal link partners may pass on the opportunity to exchange links with you because of the lack of text content on your homepage. Save your site visitors the extra mouse click and skip the intro yourself.

There isn’t enough text on your site.

Internet users and search engines, seeking information on the Web, put a high value on text content. If your website is short on text, and it’s not a video or photo related site, odds are that other websites will look elsewhere when handing out links. Take some time to write descriptive text about the topic of your site or hire someone qualified to do it for you.

9) Your site hosts pop-up or pop-under ads.

Few things annoy web users like pop-up and pop-under ads. Most website owners understand that providing a positive user experience for their website visitors encourages them to return at a later date. If your pop-up ads irritate their visitors and hurt their efforts to generate return traffic, they won’t link to you. Drop the pop ads and we’ll all sleep better tonight.

10) Your URL is a subdomain of another site.

Using a subdomain as your primary URL raises questions about the stability of your site. Many subdomain hosted sites are free or temporary. Other webmasters don’t want to link to a site that they aren’t sure will be there next week. If your serious about your online endeavor, spend the $8.00 and purchase a top-level domain.

There is your top 10 list. For more reasons why other sites won’t link to yours, see our Top 30 Reasons Why People Won’t Link to You link building article at LinkAssure.com.

Author:  Erik is the VP of Business Development for LinkAssure Link Building Services DBA Advanced Internet Marketing.

Google Ranking Secrets - Link Pop

By Jim Pretin in Featured

Google is by far the most important search engine on the net. To rise to the top of their search engine, you need to improve your link popularity and you need to understand how they measure your link popularity (over 50% of all search engine traffic comes from Google, and if you can rise to the top, you will likely rise to the top of all the other search engines as well).

Link popularity is defined as the number of sites that are linking to your site. Some websites have thousands or even millions of sites linking to them, while others might have only a few. The search engines use the number of inbound links your site has as a measure of how important your site is, which translates into your search engine ranking.

The actual number of links to your site is not the only variable used to calculate your link popularity. The search engines also examine the relevance of the links to the subject matter of your site. For example, if a website that sells vitamins has 4,000 inbound links, but the source of most of the links are websites that have nothing to do with vitamins, then the algorithm that search engines use to determine link popularity will take that into account, and the link popularity score will not be very good.

It is possible for a website with a relatively small number of quality inbound links to be ranked higher than a site with a bunch of irrelevant or insignificant links. If I have a website that offers quotes for auto insurance, and I have 800 quality inbound links, then I might receive a much higher search engine ranking than another mortgage site that has 3,000 links that stem from link farms or Free For All (FFA) pages.

If you try to acquire inbound by using link farms or FFA pages, not only will it hurt your search engine ranking, but you might get permanently removed from the search engine listings. Links farms are sites where you can instantly exchange links with all the sites listed in that directory. FFA pages are pointless link directories. The search engines usually discount any links that come from either of these sources.

Now that we understand what link popularity is and how it works, we need to look specifically at how Google measures it. They use a number of variables in their algorithm to calculate your overall link score. The higher your score, the higher you will be ranked in the search listings.

One factor that Google uses in their algorithm, obviously, is the total number of sites linking to you. The more links you have, the higher your score will be. However, their algorithm is a little more complicated than that, and it is possible for a website with fewer links to be ranked higher than a website that has more links.

The reason for this is because Google also measures the quality of your links. If your website is about vitamins, and the site linking to you is a video game site, then that is not considered a quality link. The link still helps your score, but the link would help your score much more if it were from a website whose subject matter is the same as yours.

Also, Google gives a higher score to a link if it comes from a page that has actual content that relates to your keywords. For example, if your site is about jewelry, and another jewelry website has posted a link to your site on their links page, that link is not as valuable as a link to your site coming from a blog or a message board where a lot of information about jewelry is being written or discussed.

Also, they give an even higher score to a link if it contains anchor text that matches one of the keywords that describes your site. For example, if I have a site that sells lawnmowers, and a blog about lawnmowers has posted a link to my site, it helps my score even more if the link text (also known as anchor text) is LAWNMOWERS. To learn more about anchor text, go to a search engine and look up ANCHOR TEXT and you will be able to learn about it.

Another factor used by Google to score your link popularity is the diversity of keywords contained on sites linking to you. For example, if you have a site that sells handbags, and all the links to your site are from other sites that contain nothing but the keyword HANDBAGS, Google considers that to be abnormal. To get a higher score, you need to have links coming from sites that contain a variety of keywords related to handbags, such as BUY HANDBAGS, LEATHER HANDBAGS, etc.

It is difficult to increase your link popularity, but now that you understand how your score is calculated, you can devise a plan to improve your score. You might want to consider posting to forums and blogs that contain information that is related to your site, and when you post, include a link to your site.

Author:  Jim Pretin is the owner of http://www.forms4free.com, a service that helps programmers make an HTML form

The Four Fatal Mistakes Of Affiliate Marketing

By Damien Oh in Featured

Affiliate marketing is appealing and attractive. It promises you great income without the need to handle any inventories or product shipping. You have seen plenty of success stories which suggest to you that you could be one of them too. You bought all kind of ebooks, software and system that promises to lead you to success, but after a while, you discovered that the business is making you a loss rather than a profit. So what really happens?

While affiliate marketing is truly financial rewarding, it is definitely not an easy task. The reason why so many people fail at affiliate marketing is because many affiliates make fatal mistakes that result from their ignorance of facts concerning how the entire business runs. Affiliate marketing is not about setting up a website and recommends a few products. It is about the skill of building a real long term business that can bring you profits even when you are sleeping.

Here are the top 4 fatal mistakes that most affiliates make:

Wrong attitude

The first fatal mistake that most affiliates make is to have the wrong attitude toward affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is never a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme and should not be treated as one. What successful affiliate marketers never tell you is that they have put in a lot of effort, time and hard work before they achieve what they have today. If you want to be successful in affiliate marketing, you must treat it just like any business and possess the right attitude and mindset. Only then can you achieve result that you want.

No passion/knowledge in the product

Next commonly made mistake by affiliates is to promote a product that they have no passion or knowledge on. In other word, they are not promoting something they liked. This is going to be fatal. The reason is simple. How can you recommend a product to anyone when you don’t even know what benefits the product can bring to your customer? If you have personally used and loved the product, you will be able to share, review and even give powerful testimonial to your customer on the benefit of the product. You will also be in a great position to answer the needs of your customer. The bottom line is: if you do not have genuine interest in the product, do not promote it.

Lack of consistent effort

Consistency is the key to success in any business. This applies to affiliate marketing as well. In affiliate marketing, most affiliates do not put in consistent effort to apply the strategies they have learn.

Lack of patient

Affiliate marketing though ideal as a business model, does not make you a millionaire overnight. Most affiliates do not have the persistent and patience to build their affiliate marketing. They often give up when they are not making any income. The truth is: it’ll take a long time to build up a full-time income with affiliate marketing and during this time, you are likely to face a lot of uncertainties and setback. The good news is, as long as you persist and consistently employing the right strategies, it is only a matter of time that you reap your rewards from your affiliate business.

All in all, affiliates that are doomed to fail in this business are those who do not exert enough effort to understand everything involved in the industry that they are in. Knowing the fatal mistakes that others make and avoiding them will prove to be useful to them.

Author:  Damien Oh is an experienced affiliate marketer. He provides a free ebook to help affiliates to succeed in their affiliate marketing business. Download it at his site http://www.ecsecretaffiliateweapon.com