Are You Shopping Online-How About The Rules?
What rules, you may say? If you have shopped online you quickly realized the convenience, the saved gas, and the elimination of long lines that you do not have to contend with. However, with the convenience comes the responsibility you must give yourself and your pocketbook. What responsibility? Staying safe online. Nothing can ruin an online shopping experience faster than getting scammed. We're already seeing it, with the Feds bringing down 150 websites that were selling fraudulent items, stealing from legitimate companies and you.
Before clicking on the unfamiliar email link, or clicking on the send for a buy on a website that you are not familiar with, it might be wise to go over some safety rules, to keep that shopping experience convenient and enjoyable, instead of an adventure into financial hell.
I've included 10 simple rules, along with some information about your credit liability in the eyes of the law. It's a simple read, but one that should be looked at, Shopping Online and Staying Safe.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
SOPA's Internet Censorship-What Is It?
SOPA's Internet Censorship-What Is It?
SOPA is "Stop Online Piracy Act". The bills' stated purpose are to provide additional enforcement tools to combat "rogue" websites who are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting.
As too be expected, the internet community has rallied against the bill in the form of online petitions. In addition, the tech giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, AOL and others have sent a joint-letter speaking in opposition to the measure.
To summarize Google's position, it feels that the way in which the bill has been drafted would expose law-abiding US Internet and Technology companies with uncertain liabilities, private rights to action and technology mandates that would cripple possible innovation and job-creation, as well as, endanger cybersecurity.
Here is an article SOPA Meets Massive Backlash (http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-meets-massive-resistance-2011-11) to learn more.
Bipartisan Opposition?
It was stated that this bill had bipartisan support. But does it really? If you have worked on the Internet, or have any kind of presence online, you should be aware of the SOPA Internet Censorship bill that is currently being debated in Congress. Because it can possibly affect you. Is there hope around the corner? Maybe. We are starting to see bipartisan opposition from Congress .
SOPA is "Stop Online Piracy Act". The bills' stated purpose are to provide additional enforcement tools to combat "rogue" websites who are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting.
As too be expected, the internet community has rallied against the bill in the form of online petitions. In addition, the tech giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, AOL and others have sent a joint-letter speaking in opposition to the measure.
To summarize Google's position, it feels that the way in which the bill has been drafted would expose law-abiding US Internet and Technology companies with uncertain liabilities, private rights to action and technology mandates that would cripple possible innovation and job-creation, as well as, endanger cybersecurity.
Here is an article SOPA Meets Massive Backlash (http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-meets-massive-resistance-2011-11) to learn more.
Bipartisan Opposition?
It was stated that this bill had bipartisan support. But does it really? If you have worked on the Internet, or have any kind of presence online, you should be aware of the SOPA Internet Censorship bill that is currently being debated in Congress. Because it can possibly affect you. Is there hope around the corner? Maybe. We are starting to see bipartisan opposition from Congress .
Monday, November 14, 2011
Google Testing-And Content To Ad Ratio
Google Testing-And Content To Ad Ratio
It looks like another Google algorithm is being tested. And at the core of the test is, the number and size of the ads that appear "above the fold" on a content page.
Since it is in the test mode, those sites that may be infringing on this new "testing algorithm" will not see the effects, yet. But the fallout could be great if they should put it into effect. And, in my opinion, it's very possible if they are looking to give the viewer a good experience.
The new algorithm will be related to the concept of "ad-to-content ratio". Though this concept is not new, the the Panda update and it emphasizing quality content/user experience, this is just another piece to the quality issue.
Cutts was quoted as saying at PubCon, “If you have ads obscuring your content, you might want to think about it,” asking publishers to consider, “Do they see content or something else that’s distracting or annoying?”
Another point I would like to add, and that is the list that was put out by Amit Singal from Google, after the Panda update. If you are not familiar, or have not seen the list that was put out by Google's Fellow Amit Singhal on quality content, there is one question on the list that you need to take notice of, because,more than likely this is what the new algorithm is going be looking at: "Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?"
Okay, in my mind there are more questions than answers. But as you know, Google is not really in the habit of giving you answers, leaving it up to you to figure it out yourself. Which, I might add, you should be doing. That means, taking an objective view of your content to ad ratio. If you have two lines of content and a huge ad, you might have a problem.
Will Google be looking at the size of the ads above the fold and the number of ads above the fold. Probably both. Some sites have a lot of ads above the fold, and I would venture to say that Google would be looking a little closer at those ads. EzineArticles found that to be a problem and had taken steps to improve their ad to content ratio.
Bottom line, webmasters and blogmasters will have to take a step back, be objective, and begin cleaning up their pages. It's a major hassle if you have a lot of pages, but I would venture to say worth the effort if you want your website to be around for awhile.
It looks like another Google algorithm is being tested. And at the core of the test is, the number and size of the ads that appear "above the fold" on a content page.
Since it is in the test mode, those sites that may be infringing on this new "testing algorithm" will not see the effects, yet. But the fallout could be great if they should put it into effect. And, in my opinion, it's very possible if they are looking to give the viewer a good experience.
The new algorithm will be related to the concept of "ad-to-content ratio". Though this concept is not new, the the Panda update and it emphasizing quality content/user experience, this is just another piece to the quality issue.
Cutts was quoted as saying at PubCon, “If you have ads obscuring your content, you might want to think about it,” asking publishers to consider, “Do they see content or something else that’s distracting or annoying?”
Another point I would like to add, and that is the list that was put out by Amit Singal from Google, after the Panda update. If you are not familiar, or have not seen the list that was put out by Google's Fellow Amit Singhal on quality content, there is one question on the list that you need to take notice of, because,more than likely this is what the new algorithm is going be looking at: "Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?"
Okay, in my mind there are more questions than answers. But as you know, Google is not really in the habit of giving you answers, leaving it up to you to figure it out yourself. Which, I might add, you should be doing. That means, taking an objective view of your content to ad ratio. If you have two lines of content and a huge ad, you might have a problem.
Will Google be looking at the size of the ads above the fold and the number of ads above the fold. Probably both. Some sites have a lot of ads above the fold, and I would venture to say that Google would be looking a little closer at those ads. EzineArticles found that to be a problem and had taken steps to improve their ad to content ratio.
Bottom line, webmasters and blogmasters will have to take a step back, be objective, and begin cleaning up their pages. It's a major hassle if you have a lot of pages, but I would venture to say worth the effort if you want your website to be around for awhile.
Monday, November 07, 2011
Context Linking - Is It Important?
Context Linking-Is It Important?
You may have on occasion heard the world "context linking", however, you may not know what it is, or how it can benefit you, or the mechanics of developing a link. Many people think that they can put links of other companies on a web page and consider it context linking. In fact, I would call it a directory, not context linking. The important factor with context linking is "content" that is relevant to your link. With that being said....
Check out the article on my website - Why Context Linking is Important to learn what context linking is, how it can benefit you, and the mechanics of the contextual link. You may not think it is important, but sometimes simply overlooked items on a web page can make a big difference in your ranking or whether your web page will be indexed.
You may have on occasion heard the world "context linking", however, you may not know what it is, or how it can benefit you, or the mechanics of developing a link. Many people think that they can put links of other companies on a web page and consider it context linking. In fact, I would call it a directory, not context linking. The important factor with context linking is "content" that is relevant to your link. With that being said....
Check out the article on my website - Why Context Linking is Important to learn what context linking is, how it can benefit you, and the mechanics of the contextual link. You may not think it is important, but sometimes simply overlooked items on a web page can make a big difference in your ranking or whether your web page will be indexed.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
SEO Relevance and Google
SEO Relevance and Google
While surfing the Internet, I'm always coming across articles about the relevance of SEO, especially after Google Panda updates. So is SEO still relevant?
Though SEO has changed, it still has relevance in two important areas, keywords and keyword density.
If you write content, you need to use keywords, an element of SEO for the search engines to determine your topic and for readers to find you online.
With the new algorithm of Google (aka: Panda) more sites are chasing or I should say, appeasing the Google search engine to try to again, be in Google good graces.
The question you have to ask yourself is: Are you making changes to your site to appease the search engines only and forgetting totally about the users experience on your site? If you are only attempting to appease only the search engines, you may want pause for a moment, and rethink your strategy.
In my opinion, you have to build a website that will appease both the spiders and the user, because they are both important. Obviously, spiders are needed for the traffic to find you, and the human reader is needed for your site to prosper. So what do you do?
If you make changes, you'll have to do it systematically, monitoring the changes and the effects it has on the human readers. If the readers leave, you need to do some tweaking.
Several thoughts on keywords, do not stuff your keywords in your articles. It's noticeable to readers and search engines. Though a reader may not know the terminology for "keyword stuffing" they do recognize how the copy reads. Usually it makes for poor reading, and other times, it's unreadable.
As for search engines, the spiders determine the density of the keywords, and if it goes over a given percentage, you could be penalized. Not good, for you, or your website if the content is either loss in the abyss of the Internet search, or not indexed at all.
So is SEO still relevant? Yes. More so today, than it was yesterday.
While surfing the Internet, I'm always coming across articles about the relevance of SEO, especially after Google Panda updates. So is SEO still relevant?
Though SEO has changed, it still has relevance in two important areas, keywords and keyword density.
If you write content, you need to use keywords, an element of SEO for the search engines to determine your topic and for readers to find you online.
With the new algorithm of Google (aka: Panda) more sites are chasing or I should say, appeasing the Google search engine to try to again, be in Google good graces.
The question you have to ask yourself is: Are you making changes to your site to appease the search engines only and forgetting totally about the users experience on your site? If you are only attempting to appease only the search engines, you may want pause for a moment, and rethink your strategy.
In my opinion, you have to build a website that will appease both the spiders and the user, because they are both important. Obviously, spiders are needed for the traffic to find you, and the human reader is needed for your site to prosper. So what do you do?
If you make changes, you'll have to do it systematically, monitoring the changes and the effects it has on the human readers. If the readers leave, you need to do some tweaking.
Several thoughts on keywords, do not stuff your keywords in your articles. It's noticeable to readers and search engines. Though a reader may not know the terminology for "keyword stuffing" they do recognize how the copy reads. Usually it makes for poor reading, and other times, it's unreadable.
As for search engines, the spiders determine the density of the keywords, and if it goes over a given percentage, you could be penalized. Not good, for you, or your website if the content is either loss in the abyss of the Internet search, or not indexed at all.
So is SEO still relevant? Yes. More so today, than it was yesterday.
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