Webmaster Blog

There are a lot of things that go into making a good website. Whether you are a big company who is looking to expand your online presence, or an independent website developer with a message to share, there are a lot of necessary steps to take before the process is complete. One of the most important, however, is making sure that your website is 100 percent secure. If it is not, you can face any number of problems, such as hackers, viruses, and other cyber attacks that will damage the success of your site. Here are five top tips for making your website more secure. Secure Coding Much of the best security starts at the foundations of your website, that is to say your coding. You might be concerned with getting your site up and running, but do not let that prevent you from doing the proper work required to make sure that your coding has no holes that can harm security. It might take a little bit longer, but it will save you a lot of trouble in the long run! Secure Payment Processing If your website has anything to do with the transfer of money, it is crucial that...

A lot of businesses get scared when they contemplate entering the world of Paid Search. And we can’t really blame them because it is an element on online marketing that is often talked about and recommended, yet the details are almost never fully disclosed. Between the acronyms (CPC, PPC), the budgets, the long lists of keywords, and all the little features you can turn on and off within a Paid Search platform like Google AdWords, it’s no wonder that many businesses hesitate on creating their own campaigns. However, you’re about to receive a crash course in Paid Search. You might not become a master of AdWords instantly, but you’ll understand the basics – enough to boost your confidence and embark you on a journey of powerful business development. What Is Paid Search? Paid Search is a one-stop elevator to the top of a Google search page. When you create a Paid Search campaign, there isn’t the same waiting game like there is with organic SEO methods. Instead, when a user searches for something that’s right up your company’s alley, Google will display your advertisement right at the top of the page.    Perform a Google search for just about anything. See...

Proper maintenance planning and scheduling influence the success of any maintenance department. A lack of effective planning and scheduling can result in decreased wrench time, work effectiveness, equipment reliability, and equipment uptime as well as increased costs. Wrench time is the time that maintenance technicians spend at work, using tools and in front of jobs. Time spent obtaining assignments or traveling to and from work sites doesn't count. Typically, workforce wrench time is between 25% and 35%, but maintenance planning and scheduling can raise wrench time to above 50%, essentially doubling the labor of your workforce. Higher wrench time equals lower costs. Effective planning and scheduling is also crucial for moving out of reactive maintenance mode into a more planned, productive environment. One of the most important functions of facilities maintenance software, also known as CMMS/EAM software, is to plan and schedule maintenance work. Maintenance software can be used to report on the maintenance jobs that are to be carried out. Once a routine maintenance job is performed, the software automatically adjusts the calendar and reschedules the job so that it is performed on the next due date. Effective maintenance planning and scheduling with facilities management software increases the reliability of...

There are reviews upon reviews that talk about the "Do"s and "Don't"s when starting a website. Wordpress is one of those platforms that has about a million different posts across the Internet that will offer tips and tricks and plenty of reviews about everything. Tips about what plugins to use. Tricks about setting up the plugins. So on and so on. I have built about five different websites, all with the use of Wordpress, and I learn something new every time I build a new one. I will say; however, there are a few things that stay the same every time, and I simply build on them. First, where I get my themes from is a constant. I choose Elegant Themes. This website offers me plenty of options and even the Photoshop files too. A lot of web designers have their own locations they go to find their themes (especially with Wordpress themes), but this is different from person to person, so on to the next and main piece to the puzzle that I don't change: plugins. There are a handful of plugins that I download on to every Wordpress site that I create. I think they are little plugins that...

Writing effective copy can be the difference between success and failure for your business. But writing quality content means more than just creating content that reads well. For the most effective content, follow the best practices for copywriting below: 1. Do your research: It is just as important to understand who you are writing for as it is to know what you are promoting. This is why the first step – and the most important – is to do your research. Even if your well-versed on the subject, frequent research about the product and the people who are expected to use it will keep the information fresh and up-to-date. 2. Make an outline: Outlines are the skeleton of any good copy. They help organize thoughts in an orderly fashion and ensure that all points are made using smooth transitions. Best of all, they can be produced quickly and will help the rest of the copy fall nicely into place. 3. Write your first draft: Now it is time to add the meat to your skeleton outline. Just remember that your readers won’t have a lot of time to invest in lengthy text, and will most likely scan the document for key...

Yelp is one of the most influential online review sites available today, and if you want to use Yelp to help boost your online reputation and visibility, you need to optimize your page correctly. Some companies make the mistake in thinking that they can claim their business page and that’s all they need to do, but in order to successfully optimize your Yelp business page, you need to do the following. 1. Fill out your profile completely. After claiming your page, the very next thing you need to do is to fill out your profile completely. Make sure that you add in as much information about your business as you can, such as your name, location, contact information, products/services, and anything else that is asked of you. The more information you can put on this page, the more keywords you’re adding to your site, and this will help your page earn visibility among the search engines. 2. Add keywords. There’s an About This Business section on Yelp that allows you to add in your own content, so be sure to fill this section out with relevant keywords about your business, industry and general offerings. Use tools such as Google’s Keyword Tool...

If you own or manage a blog, there always comes a time when your creative juices aren’t flowing. Or in some instances, you find yourself having a hard time providing posts that provide solutions to the problems of your readers. When the problem strikes, it is hard to keep up with your regular publishing calendar. Of course, you surely don’t want to slack off or miss a few times posting. So if you are struggling to come up with fresh ideas, why not open up your blog to guest bloggers to fill the gaps? Guest bloggers can help add variety to your blog and at the same time help improve traffic to your site and boost your SERPs. They can also expand your readership. So if you are ready to accept guest posts, here are four important qualities you should be looking for in a guest blogger. Expertise This goes on top of the list because it greatly shows the experience of a guest blogger in a particular field. When someone is knowledgeable about the topics he or she is writing about, then you can expect that he or she will be able to make the post engaging for your readers....

Maybe you're paying some serious cash for an "SEO Specialist" to optimize your site, or maybe you're an SEO Specialist in the making. Either way, it's good to know what should be happening with the website in question. Here's a basic checklist of tasks that effective SEO should involve: Strategy The first part of any project, SEO related or not, should always be planning and looking at strategies on how to approach things. This task should be especially well communicated with the client, illustrating what exactly needs to be done and how each of those needs will be met with a plan of action. It is during this strategizing and planning process that an SEO specialist's expertise and familiarity with the field should really show through. After a strategy has been formed, it's on to it's execution. Keyword Research Keywords are the building blocks of SEO. Thus, proper and thorough research of keywords is a crucial task and can make or break your SEO success. This task involves going through dozens if not hundreds of possible key words and phrases around which all of the optimization will be focused. Eventually, this list will be narrowed down to fewer than a dozen...

One of the biggest challenges online web administrators and markets face today is writing quality content for the various marketing channels they target. There have been a lot of studies specific to content marketing but one recent poll really solidified some of the challenges people face when managing content. Recently the Content Marketing Institute’s annual report says that 64% of B2B marketers are challenged to produce sufficient good content. The answer lies in re-purposing the quality content you have already written. This way you will get the most out of the content you have already generated there by reducing the time involved in content creation. This month you might want to write 3 blog posts, an eBook and 2 press releases, 2 pitches to the media, a white paper and a by-line article. That amounts to 10 articles, lucky if you are able to write these articles. Instead try focusing on three ideas and re-purpose them to make 10 articles. You then fashion your content to fit the different formats that you can then distribute accordingly.  White Papers Write a white paper that will establish your company’s position and thought processes. These can be used for a series for your blog...

With more people making the move to the cloud, NASA has recently attempted to follow suit by transitioning into using cloud computing services. However, the move called attention to some shortcomings in their IT governance and risk management practices. NASA’s problems with moving to the cloud should be an example to other agencies of what to avoid when they make a similar transition.  For now NASA will have to resolve some of their issues with IT in order to continue moving to the cloud and update their programs.  Late In The Game NASA has been late in the game to make the transition to public cloud services with currently only about 1% of their budget spent on cloud computing. They hope to increase this number to about 75% in the next 5 years but problems recently came to light as they attempted to move to the cloud. Auditors released a report criticizing their weaknesses in IT and the fact that a number of cloud contracts were signed without approval of the Chief Information Officer to prevent security risks. A few of their systems ran through the cloud for two years without authorization and no security measures and tests. The CIO was...

Website creation is not one time expense or process, website creation includes many things with its process like, time, weight of data it holds which affects its speed or access speed. One creates website so that more and more people could visit on it. It is necessary that if you have any website then people should visit on that and to fascinate people toward your website, making of website should be attractive like its design, filled data and all how people getting information easily and all the stuff but, there are some reasons which can force people to leave your website and prefer someone else's. It is important that if you are going to make website then take care of the choice of people as in think with their mind that as a visitor how you want this site? Let's have a look on those things which can force people to leave your website: Bad Designing: Design of a website is first part of website creation process there for it should be more fascinating and eye catchy so that people could find it attractive and visit on your website. Use colors according to site type like whether it needs flashy and...

Your search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) efforts are only as strong as the content you publish.  After all, "content" remains "king."  However, if it was as easy as simply posting any kind of content, most companies would have SEO & SEM success.  But they don't, and that's because while content is important, compelling content is even more important. So what constitutes "compelling" content?  And what are some tips to keep your blog fresh and engaging?  This is what we'd like to talk about today. First and foremost, you need to make sure you content is original.  No cutting and pasting or shameless republishing from other sites.  People have tried that - it's called "black hat" SEO - and actually some of them realized success in the past.  But Google caught on.  They recently launched their Penguin and Panda updates - tweaks in algorithms - which essentially punish sites that repurpose content. That being said, you can of course site other pieces of content - just attribute it and, better yet, add your own personal commentary.  Political blogs are great at this.  They take an excerpt from a column (we call it the "money quote"), provide a link,...

Optimization of any site is very important part while doing the online marketing of your product or services. A properly optimized site is visible to all those users who are continuously searching your products or services. More users mean more traffic and thus more sales and higher profit. An optimized website facilitates cross browser compatibility. It means your website can be easily accessible to any browser. It results in large number of users who visit your site. Many type of Search Engine Optimization techniques are available for you to apply on your site. You can choose any one to implement it on your site so that you can optimize your website to get more traffic. Below you’ll find some essential SEO tips for e-commerce site. Nowadays you need to do lot of brainstorming while searching for keywords for your site. Depending upon your business type, brand, services, industry and targeted customer, you have to choose particular keywords and key phrases. After that you should test them on Google keyword tools or any other keyword tool so that you can get idea of your keywords and keyword list of competitors that have high ranking. Make blogs on your e-commerce site which you...

There are certain standards set by governments when it comes to the quality of drinking water consumed by civilians. Standards vary from country to country, however most will set a minimum and level of purity in which the water needs to possess. This is to ensure the safety of humans, as water without being properly cleaned and/or filtered using certain water treatment processes can be extremely harmful to health, depending where the water comes from. In some cases water could be safe to drink without having to be purified e.g. natural spring water. Commercial water treatment is on the rise due to an ever growing demand for clean and safe water. However, commercial water treatment processes couldn’t simply take place without the correct tools, equipment and professionally trained personnel. Baring this in mind, this article will look at: Flowback Water Treatment and the issues Fracking can cause Bio-Char - the research into the new alternate ‘discovery’ to fracking. Water Treatment Technologies Flow-Back Water Treatment  The flow-back water treatment process is for the time being, critical in terms of sustainability for both the oil and gas industries. This is due to the pure volume of oil and gas needed for the flow-back water treatment...

Going back to the early noughties, Jacob Nielson, well known and respected author and researcher on all things to do with the visual web, declared that people do not actually read websites in a standard linear fashion. He speculated that people tend to skim the page, picking out the bits that resonate with their search. As you might expect, content creators were then handed a brief to put together their articles which were easy on the eye, and prevented that ever so well used ‘back’ button being utilised. The idea was to use bullet points wherever possible, creating headings and subheadings, and highlighting important phrases and passages in bold. Web Design Is 95% Typography Only a few years later, another well known web designer penned an article extolling the importance of an almost innate understanding of typography, on the basis that ‘web design is 95% typography’. Reichenstein went on to say that “A great web designer knows how to work with the text not just as content, he treats text as a user interface.” It was an important statement at the time, but fast forward a few years from that statement, and we have to question to validity of the statement...

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? How does it help your website? How can you drive more traffic towards your website? How can you increase the number of visitors on your website? How can you give a boost to your business? Are you stuck in a myriad of such questions, while defining marketing strategies to enhance your business? Well, first things first, SEO is the answer to all your business requisites. Fret Not! It is quite an essential task but not an arduous one to improve your website ranking and visibility on the World Wide Web. Nevertheless, by following a few simple tips, this task becomes quite an easy one and works at all hours. 10 Easy Steps to Search Engine Optimization Target Your Audience Group: Brainstorm to find the words that talk about your business and associate directly to your service offerings. For example, if you sell watches, you may use the keyword like “buy watches online”. There are many tools like the keyword tool that is available on the internet for giving you a comprehensive list of potential keywords that associate to your website and their online usage as well. Update the Webpage Titles: Do you see the blue...

Internet without search engines? It may look as if I don’t know what I am doing, but sometimes when I have a thought; I love to share with people, in order to see if someone out there is doing the same. In my office today; I needed to find up to forty websites offering similar health services. I knew it would be a thorny puzzlement for me; so I gave the job to one of my employees. He came back after ten minutes with a list consisting of fifty websites. That prompted me to ask how he ended up completing the job within the time frame. “Similaronweb search engine, sir”, he said politely. I believe that I am not the only person to have benefitted from search engines.  Now, what do you think will happen if you wake up someday and all the search engines are gone? Let’s take a look at few things that may happen if search engines are no more: No more Internet Businesses, which means buying and selling online will not be possible. Think of an Internet world with no search engines, what will happen to anyone trying to make a living by selling a product...

Using social media in business is as important as T.V was for advertising 30 years ago. It seems that using social media has become necessary for success in business, these days. Some social media platforms aren’t as used by businesses as others, however. While Facebook and Twitter are two of the most popular sites out there, there are plenty of other sites that still provide you a large audience, and can help increase your bottom line. Here are some of the top networking sites that are lesser used: Google Plus Google Plus has a lot of users, but many of them don’t use their account to its fullest. One of the best things about Google Plus is that you can choose with whom you’d like to share content. The “circles” feature allows you to separate the people that you connect with into different groups, according to how you know them. You can have a circle for business partners, clients, executives, acquaintances, etc. This helps you to target your audience more accurately and it will keep people interested in what you’re sharing. Using Google Plus will increase your company website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which basically will get your website higher...

Image Credit : https://oasysadmin.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/proc3.jpg Website security is of prime importance for website owners who sell their products online. Regardless of the nature of the product or the offer on your website, if a customer feels insecure to part with his payment details and other relevant information, the sale opportunity along with the customer’s trust would be gone. An SSL certificate is a stamp of security for your website which makes you a reliable vendor online and ensures a customer’s sensitive data is not fiddled with by fraudsters, thereby protecting their data There are few things to look for when you are looking to select an SSL certificate:-   Cost consideration– There are some SSLs which come at a lower price and have a money back guarantee scheme and other discounts attached to them. Determine if, you stand to lose money by buying an economical SSL Certificate. The expensive SSLs validate the business requesting the SSL certificate with hands-on methods instead of domain validation. Some SSLs use a completely automated validation procedure to verify the control of the domain name. There are also multi-year or an ongoing renewal scheme available with many SSL providers. This is especially useful for those who plan to sell...

Social networking is becoming more and more popular and necessary, by the day. It provides you with the great chance to market yourself or your business, for free. Twitter is one of the biggest social media tools that you can use, to get your name out there and let people know who you are. Your success depends solely on your ability to creatively market yourself, and build something people want to follow. It gives you the opportunity to connect with people who have common interests and goals, and create a network from it. There are many different ways that you can use your Twitter account. Some people create parody accounts of popular celebrities or movie characters. Others prefer to keep their twitter profile professional and strictly use it for business. While the purpose of Twitter can vary for each person, there are some unwritten rules that remain the same, for all. Twitter has become an easy way for the everyday person to connect with celebrities, politicians, athletes, and businesses when it would be otherwise impossible. Companies are increasingly dedicating more and more resources to social media for a few reasons. One, it is a great way to reach a target...