April was a big month for Facebook, among some of the changes that they implemented were new security tools, Facebook Deals, and the Facebook Send button. Each of the new features was designed to provide users with a safe and beneficial user experience.
The first of the three features that Facebook released was a New Suite of Safety Tools. The new security provides users with additional information for user and family safety. In addition to the existing safety content the new resources include articles and videos on Facebook security and privacy. Along with the new safety content users will now be able to use social reporting tools to express to the community what items they do not like or find offensive. Another part of the new security features is two factor authentications. Two factor authentications are used to further prevent unauthorized users from accessing other user accounts. This protection procedure requires a secondary code when logging in from an unrecognized device or location. The last announced security update for Facebook is the option for users to access Facebook using a secure connection over HTTPS. However, because some apps do not accommodate HTTPS Facebook will need to automatically switch between HTTP and HTTPS given the user’s authorization.
Following the implementation of their new security, Facebook also launched Deals on Facebook. Deals on Facebook is currently being tested and is only offered in certain areas like Atlanta, Dallas, Austin, San Diego, San Francisco (many more to follow shortly). This feature lets Facebook users locate deals from local businesses, share, and coordinate plans with other Facebook users. Deals on Facebook will work similar to Groupon and Living Social but are now built right into the social network, which is convenient for both customers and businesses who utilize Facebook.
The latest addition made to Facebook is the “Send” button. This new button is very similar to the “like” button which was introduced last year. The… Read the rest
Tags: Facebook, facebook deals, internet, like button, send button, social networking, Users
Posted in Facebook, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking |
No Comments »
Does code validation really matter and if so to whom does it matter to, a website visitor, a search engine, both? Not everyone thinks that code validations are all that important and feel that search engines do not consider validation when ranking a website. Regardless of the impact that code validation has on a websites ranking, both sides of this discussion can agree that code validation is useful for a number of other reasons.
http://validator.w3.org/
Code validation is the process of inspecting and amending the code or your web documents. This is done by comparing the code to formal standards like those established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The W3C is the main international standards organization for the Internet. This organization offers a markup validation service to check HTML documents for errors and ensures that they are in accordance with their standards. To fully validate a websites code two separate assessments need to be performed, one for the HTML or XHTML and another for the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Although a number of programs like XHTML-CSS offer code validation services that are based on the standards set forth by the W3C it might be best to use the actual html validator and css validator provided by the World Wide Web Consortium.
Getting back to why it is important to validate your code regardless of how it impacts the page rank, of the many reasons for validation there are 6 fundamental reasons why it should be done.
Debugging and Maintenance:
HTML and CSS validation works similarly to a spell checker by locating errors found throughout your web documents. During the validation process errors are identified and documented so that a user can easily fix them.
Learning and Prevention:
As the validation process identifies common errors you can learn from your mistake and therefore prevent the… Read the rest
Tags: browser, code, errors, html validation, search engines, standards, validation, W3C, World Wide Web Consortium
Posted in Search Engine Optimization SEO, Web Development, Web Tips |
No Comments »
Search engines take into consideration a large number of factors when assigning a rank to a website. Although there are a number of factors that are obvious or specifically identified as ranking factors, the majority of the ranking criteria are kept private. Search engines avoid publicizing the exact pieces of the Search Engine Optimization puzzle that they use to determine a rank because it would most likely lead to a massive overflow of irrelevant search results.
Search Engines recognize that if all the sites on the Internet knew the characteristics that they use, then every site would be able to rank higher. Providing this information would make it too easy for website and go against their main goal which is to provide users with the most relevant and useful search results. Clearly expressing the measurements that are used to rank a website would prevent a relevant site from standing out amongst the other results and could potentially place a higher rank on a page that is worst or is less relevant to a user.
Search Engines use both on-the page as well as off-page elements to assign a rank. On-page factors usually focus on internal site structure including keyword use and internal linking where as an off-page aspect considers who you link to, how you link to them, and the popularity or relevance of your links. Some of the factors that are known or thought to be important to ranking well in search engines include:
- Keyword in the pages Title Tag.
- Appropriate and descriptive anchor text of Inbound Links.
- Global Link Popularity of Site.
- Age of domain.
- Link Popularity or equity within the internal link Structure.
- Relevance of an inbound link to the site and the text surrounding that link.
- Keyword use throughout the body copy.
- The popularity or authority of the website providing an inbound link.
With that being said, one of the major factors that search engines do directly distinguish as being harmful to a Websites rank is Duplicate Content. Duplicate Content is best described as a portion or… Read the rest
Tags: content, duplicate, duplicate content, inbound link, link, rank, search, search engine, website
Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization SEO, Web Tips |
No Comments »
For bloggers there is nothing better than seeing readers engaged and contributing their input to the discussion. We often write blogs to pass on information to visitors and it is often challenging to see that the topic has sparked minimal reactions or comments from the blog readers. Unless you’re an extremely popular blogger we look for comments to quantify how many people are receiving our information and find it helpful.
Although people may be utilizing the resource that is provided an author won’t exactly know if it was useful unless their readers tell them or become active in the discussion or a Tweet. For bloggers a main goal is to not only to share the information but also to connect with readers by assisting people across the web. Whether it is sharing recent news, instructions, support, or information they found interesting, bloggers may see an increase in visitors using analytics but won’t really know how the information came across without user feedback.
There are a number of factors that readers often take into account when deciding if they are going to comment on the subject or join the discussion. Some of these factors include the following:
Blog Page Rank:
It may not be the most important factor because a link is a link regardless of page rank and readers will see it as a method to point or direct traffic to their own website. However keep in mind that most users focus on blogs with high page ranks because they are trying to gain more link equity through their comment links.
Blog Topic:
Even with a low page rank is you choose the right topic it will still be able to engage the reader and encourage comments. A good topic should be current, informative, and possibly controversial.
Author and Writing Style:
Every author has their own style or type of language they use when communicating. Readers want to be able to connect with and understand an author when reading their work. Keep in mind that although it is important to
… Read the rest
Tags: author, blog, blog comments, blogger, blogs, comment, reader, Wordpress
Posted in Blog Hints |
5 Comments »
Released to a limited number of users on April 2, 2011 and later expanded for the remaining Google account users, Google +1 has introduced another way for users to recommend websites and share their preferences with the rest of the web.
Google +1
from www.google.com/+1/button
April 2011
The Plus One (+1) feature is not an entirely new concept and is very similar to the “Like” button on Facebook. The major difference seems to be the service’s name and the primary platform which it is utilized on. Similar to Facebook, users can use the +1 option to show that they recommend a website, both on Google as well as on the websites that provide the Plus One option through a widget. In order to take advantage of this new feature a user will need to create a Google account.
Once a user establishes a Google account they can begin selecting the +1 option that appears below each of the search results. After a user has placed their stamp of approval on a listing via the Plus One option, it will appear on a new tab in their Google profile. This newly created tab is where a user is able to manage all of the elements that they have chosen to +1. These options include the ability to remove a recommendation and to choose who has the authority to view the items that you have marked as Plus One. The +1 feature enables you to choose whether the +1’s (recommendations) are private, public, or customized to grant permission to specific users.
If a user decides to keep their Plus One item private they will still be added to the number of people who recommend the site however their profile name will remain hidden. For example below a search result it will display “54 people +1’d this” as opposed to their user name plus the number of other people who have chosen the Plus One option. Users will be able to… Read the rest
Tags: Facebook, Google, Google +1, like, search, search engine, search result, user
Posted in Internet Marketing, Search Engines, Social Media Marketing |
1 Comment »
 The number of users who access the Internet using their mobile device continues to grow each and every day. Approximately more than half of the people who use the Internet access it regularly from a mobile device. As new mobile devices are introduced and as mobile web browsers advance mobile web browsing further solidifies itself as a permanent fixture in our everyday lives. When considering how many or your potential customers are accessing the Internet via their mobile phone you should be asking yourself, is your website mobile friendly?
The advances of mobile devices has made tremendous progress however many sites that are not optimized for the mobile web often get lost in translation and present a less than desirable user experience. Due to the quick advancements and development it is probably only a matter of time till mobile browsing can offer an experience equal to that of regular Internet browsing. So, another important question to consider would be is the benefit of mobile optimizing worth the effort or would it make more sense to wait a year or two until mobile browsing possess the same technology and capabilities of traditional Internet browsing?
Most of the time if a user is accessing your website from a mobile device there is a higher urgency to make a purchase or perform a critical action such as finding directions to your brick and mortar store or acquire some kind of contact or customer support. I think it is clear that depending on the type of business and the needs of the customers it is probably worth the effort or at the very least wouldn’t hurt to make your website a mobile companion. The following are suggestions to assist you in making your website more compatible with the mobile web environment as opposed to creating an additional website solely for mobile users.
- Test your sites mobile compatibility
Before you make any adjustments to your site you should first test it and see if any changes are necessary. To do this you can navigate to your site on any mobile device or download mobile
… Read the rest
Tags: Browsing, content, internet, link, Mobile, mobile device, Mobile Web, user, web, web browsing
Posted in Mobile Web, Search Engine Optimization SEO |
2 Comments »
Content Management Systems (CMS) are a collection of procedures that are used to organize data such as a website, so that it is easily searched, accessed, retrieved, updated, and shared within a collaborative environment.
A Content Management System provides tremendous benefits for websites that have huge amounts of data that needs to be clearly organized and updated frequently. The data that a CMS manages may consist of documents, movies, pictures, contact information, as well as any other type of data a website may need to display.
The following is a breakdown of the main functions a content management system provides.
- Allows large groups of people to add and share data
- Improves the ease of documenting
- Improves the communication between users
- Eliminates some of the duplicate content
- Assists in data storage and retrieval
- Restricts and grants access to users based on predefined user authority
- Ability to update and change your content
- Reduces maintenance costs
- Faster creation and change processes
- More consistency
Web content management keeps track of all the information and data contained within your website and applies any processes to the creation and maintenance of your website. Now that we have the basic understanding of what a CMS actually does let’s take a closer look at two different web CMS software. The two web content management systems that we compared were Drupal and Joomla.
System Requirements:
Both the Drupal and Joomla content management systems are open source, free of cost, and use the PHP programming language. They allow you to build everything from personal blogs to enterprise applications and offer a ton of add-on modules and designs. Drupal uses Apache application server as well as an Apache web server where Joomla uses a CGI application server and is compatible with any web server. In addition both Drupal and Joomla operate using the MySQL database.
Security:
Read the rest
Tags: CMS, content management, Data, Drupal, Joomla, system, user
Posted in Web Development, Web Hosting |
1 Comment »
Google’s Blog recently announced a new method for customizing their user’s search experience, which will be available soon.
March 15, 2011 from http://googleblog.blogspot.com
Recognizing that the search results they provide may not be a perfect match, Google is now providing a search site-filter. Initially, Google released this feature as a part of their Google Chrome web browser in January 2011. Seeing that about 15% of Internet users browse using Google Chrome, Google recognized the benefit of offering this feature in their search engine in addition to Google Chrome (see Chrome market share).
Providing this personalized site-filtering feature enables users to avoid unrelated information and block undesirable websites from appearing in their search results. Whether it is because the website is offensive, low quality, or if a customer just doesn’t like it, they now have the option to exclude it from their search results. This feature is now available for people using Google Chrome version 9+, Internet Explorer 8+, and Firefox versions 3.5+ Internet browsers.
Search Results
Although this feature provides customers with a better search experience, could this be used to determine the future rank of a website? In their blog, Google states that they may eventually evaluate and use the data from this feature as a signal for ranking. Presently they are only attempting to offer customers an easy and more controlled search tool.
How It Will Work
When using a compatible browser the person performing the search will notice a “Block all example.com website results” next to the “cached” and “similar” links. These links are located next to the websites URL following the description. After receiving a confirmation request to block the site the results will be hidden until the user decides to deactivate the block. Once blocked, if the search results contain a blocked website a message is then displayed to the user stating some of the results have… Read the rest
Tags: browser, Chrome, filtering feature, Google, internet, results, search, site blocking, website
Posted in Browser, Search Engines |
No Comments »
Slightly off topic, Facebook’s latest business venture has them pairing up with Warner Bros. to bring Facebook users a new and easy way to rent movies. Facebook users will now be able to enjoy movies directly from the Facebook social media platform. The agreement states that customers will have the option to rent a movie for 48 hours using 30 Facebook credits. In order to do this a user would need to navigate to the selected movie page and click watch. Facebook and Warner Bros. rolled out this plan starting with the film “The Dark Knight”. Currently “The Dark Knight” is the only movie available but the contract will soon expand to the other Warner Bros. films.
Renting movies from Facebook is a great concept from a consumer point of view. This agreement makes it even easier for customers already using Facebook to rent movies and because Facebook already has an enormous following it also guarantees customers for Warner Bros. The way we rent movies has been progressing for years and although they are not the first company to offer online streaming video they too now see the financial opportunity that it provides.
Should businesses like Netflix and Redbox be concerned about competing with Facebook? Although this development may increase competition among the movie rental companies I think that it is safe to say that Facebook is still far from dominating this type of business. Facebook may provide viewers with a new way to experience their favorite films but there are still some downsides to this option. For example, other companies can offer viewers the option of multiple viewing platforms like televisions, gaming consoles, and computers whereas Facebook limits a customer’s option to view it from a computer only (though smart phones are computers). Currently being limited to Warner Bros. films also ensures that Netflix and Redbox will more than likely remain on top of this industry.
Since this is only the beginning and a test run for Facebook’s video renting service it doesn’t pose an immediate… Read the rest
Tags: Facebook, movies, netflix, warner bros
Posted in Facebook, Social Media Marketing |
No Comments »
People who are familiar with Facebook apps (applications) already know that in order to use them they require access to basic information from your account. Before using these apps a user encounters a permission request prompt to access their basic information and it is completely up to the individual to approve or deny that request. Recently Facebook has entertained the notion of applications that requires access to addition personal information found in user accounts. Like the previous request prompts the new apps would require access to your basic information as well as additional data such as your phone number and mailing address.
Although the applications would not have access to your contact information unless you provide them with authorization, this concept has caused concern for users. After announcing the news, Facebook Privacy Settings were faced with much criticism and the debacle eventually caused them to briefly abandon the idea. However, recently Facebook has announced that they are continuing as planned with contact information based applications. Facebook has stated that they only delayed this feature in an attempt to construct a better prompt screen that would inform the individuals accessing the application that their contact information is needed in order to continue.
Given the sensitive nature of personal contact information it is understandable that people are weary of this idea. It is important to remember that Facebook will still maintain their promise regarding not giving out any of your personal information unless you allow them to. If users do not want an application to access their phone number or address then they have the option of not using these programs.
Facebook is currently home to more than 550,000 applications. A number of applications have a legitimate reason for accessing your phone and address, but if you are unsure about sharing your information there are still plenty of other applications to enjoy where the contact information is not needed. Due to the buzz around this issue people have began to automatically assume that Facebook… Read the rest
Tags: applications, contact, contact information, Facebook, information, internet, Users
Posted in Facebook, Web Tips |
No Comments »
|
WordPress Suggestions to Engage Readers and Gain More Comments
For bloggers there is nothing better than seeing readers engaged and contributing their input to the discussion. We often write blogs to pass on information to visitors and it is often challenging to see that the topic has sparked minimal reactions or comments from the blog readers. Unless you’re an extremely popular blogger we look for comments to quantify how many people are receiving our information and find it helpful.
Although people may be utilizing the resource that is provided an author won’t exactly know if it was useful unless their readers tell them or become active in the discussion or a Tweet. For bloggers a main goal is to not only to share the information but also to connect with readers by assisting people across the web. Whether it is sharing recent news, instructions, support, or information they found interesting, bloggers may see an increase in visitors using analytics but won’t really know how the information came across without user feedback.
There are a number of factors that readers often take into account when deciding if they are going to comment on the subject or join the discussion. Some of these factors include the following:
Blog Page Rank:
It may not be the most important factor because a link is a link regardless of page rank and readers will see it as a method to point or direct traffic to their own website. However keep in mind that most users focus on blogs with high page ranks because they are trying to gain more link equity through their comment links.
Blog Topic:
Even with a low page rank is you choose the right topic it will still be able to engage the reader and encourage comments. A good topic should be current, informative, and possibly controversial.
Author and Writing Style:
Every author has their own style or type of language they use when communicating. Readers want to be able to connect with and understand an author when reading their work. Keep in mind that although it is important to
… Read the rest
Tags: author, blog, blog comments, blogger, blogs, comment, reader, Wordpress
Posted in Blog Hints | 5 Comments »