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Showing posts from December, 2012

Emerging Trends in Telecommuting in Small-Medium Businesses

There has been a big push in recent years for employees of small to medium businesses to telecommute. The growing power of technological resources has enabled this movement toward a more mobile workforce. Cloud implementation of many software applications, and the effectiveness of internet based communications like Skype, have helped spur the adoption of telecommuting. Three key trends in telecommuting are core time mandates, the green movement, and specialty focused recruiting. Core Time Mandates As companies discovered the benefits of telecommuting, they encouraged more and more employees to work from home. Over time, employees and managers realized that the lack of face to face interaction presented its own problems - a disconnect with the corporate culture on the part of the telecommuter, for instance. Connecting with co-workers in person enables the development of more productive working relationships that are more difficult to foster electronically. To balance th

The Changing Face of Google’s Algorithm

Over 200 factors go into making up the Google algorithm (algo), but not all of these factors are equal. Some factors – like Page Rank – have more weight than others, and some seem to change regularly, while others stay the same year-on-year. As an Search Engine Optimizer, it’s hard to keep track with the algorithm changes that take place, seemingly every day – it’s been said that Google makes hundreds of algorithm changes every year. This post will cover some of the major updates that have occurred since the early days of Google. “Florida” – 2003 Florida is widely acknowledged as the first major “modern” algo update; one where it made life significantly harder for SEO’s than it was hence. Florida hit many sites hard, and mainly came down on spam tactics such as cloaking, keyword stuffing and aggressively optimised anchor text. Florida was a game changer – it was a signal from Google that they were not going to tolerate spammers polluting their algorithm. “Br

SEO For Bing - Tips To Help You Rank High In Bing

Do not put all your eggs in the same basket - so goes the old saying. In your quest to achieve higher search engine rankings, you cannot be devoting all your attention to Google and ignoring Bing altogether. And, for those of you who believe in numbers here is a fact. In 2012 Bing (along with Yahoo) accounted for almost 25% of all searches on the Internet. Individually Bing accounted for 15% of all searches. (Source: ComScore) While Google may still be sitting pretty at the top, Bing is fast catching up, and it's high time that you gave Bing its due consideration in your search engine strategies. In this article we will identify some 'SEO strategies for Bing' that will help you optimise your website to rank high in Bing search results. 1. Sign up for the Bing Webmasters tool and submit an XML sitemap for your blog or website. This will ensure that all your pages are discovered and indexed by Bing. 2. Use a Meta Description tag to describe the content

Adding A Meta Description Tag To Each Post In Blogger

A Meta Description Tag has practical relevance for SEO for it tells search engines what a particular page is all about. This is how the meta description tag looks like: <head> <meta name="description" content="This is a concise summary of your post that may show up in search engine results."> </head> When we talk about search engines, we tend to focus on the 'Big 2' - Google and Bing. As far as optimising your page for Bing is concerned, meta description tags are of paramount importance. In other words adding meta description tags to your posts will help them rank high in Bing Search results.

The Challenges Web Designers Face With Responsive Design

In the last year, it has been reported that nearly 12% of all website visits were made from mobile devices. This means, that websites are now being accessed by mobile devices, more than they ever have been. And it’s unsurprising really – I mean there are so many great gadgets out there for us to choose from – and many of them are becoming more and more affordable by the second. It’s not something that’s gone unnoticed though – companies such as Apple and Samsung have recognised the sheer demand for mobile browsing and have released cheaper products to compete in the market more effectively. And it’s not gone unnoticed by the webdesign world either. In fact more and more individuals in our industry are noticing this huge increase in mobile browsing and developing and changing their projects and developments to adapt and survive. It doesn’t, however, mean that web designers are completely stepping away from desktop design – as this is still a huge part of the browsing experien

10 Sites that are Excelling at Web Design, to Spark your Creativity

It’s almost a new year, which means that new design update and new design trends are going to hit us. But there are amazing web sites shooting up every week, with some hidden gems offering a real amount of inspiration and true creative flair. The thing is, unless you’re actively looking – a lot of these amazing sites can easily slip under the radar, never going viral or getting the attention they deserve. Here are some of my favourite websites – where the design and content fall so nicely into place – and then, suddenly, my inspiration levels are suddenly off the chart. I thought I’d share them with you – because with the New Year right around the corner – we could all do with a spark of inspiration to keep us going! Food Sense Awesome example of responsive design, and keeping things clean, fresh and simple. I don’t like over-complicating thing if they needn’t be – so this site works for me on every level. Goosebumps Pickles Again, another food site. I love

How To Increase Your Blog Traffic

You create a blog with one object in mind - getting more and more people to see your work. While creating a blog is easy, driving traffic to your blog is turning out to be an increasingly difficult proposition given the number of blogs the 'paint' the blogosphere today. In this article I will discuss some of the strategies you can employ to give your blog traffic a much needed boost. 1. Identify your audience and deliver to their needs Begin by identifying your audience. Once you have identified your target audience, you need to find out what their information needs are. You do so by putting yourself in your audiences' shoes and thinking from their perspective. By identifying your audience's information needs, you put yourself in a better position to create 'content' that delivers to their information needs. Remember great content is like a magnet that attracts traffic. 2. Go Social Social media is where your target audience most likely is

The Return of Google Maps to iPhone

Its great news for all iPhone users for Google Maps has made a triumphant return to the iPhone. I say triumphant because within hours of its launch, Google Maps has claimed the top-spot among free apps in the Apple’s iTunes store. The new Google Maps App for the iPhone features Google's much acclaimed 'voice assisted turn by turn navigation' - a feature that was missing in the earlier app. In addition to the navigation system, the app also includes 'Street View' - a feature that will allow iPhone users to preview destinations with with 360-degree street-level imagery. 'Local search' which enables users to find local businesses and services, complete with reviews and ratings, is another interesting feature of the new Google Maps App for the iPhone. Plus there is the 'compass mode' which enables you to find and orient yourself on the map. The new app, with its sleek navigation, has been received well by users and critics alike. The CNe

How To Gain More Twitter Followers

Twitter is a micro-blogging website that allows you to share your thoughts with people across the globe. Twitter as a social network has not just cut ice with individuals. Business - both small and big have recognised the tremendous potential that Twitter entails in bringing them new leads and increased sales. However just like any other social networking website, to benefit from and to get the most out of Twitter, you need to make your voice heard by the masses. In other words you need to increase your Twitter following. In this article we will recognise some of the ways in which you can increase your Twitter following. Gain more Twitter followers by 'following' these simple tips. 1. Tweet and Tweet often. That's what you are supposed to do on twitter. By Tweeting often you become more visible to other Twitter users, and if you are able to impress these individuals they will start following you. Tip: Use Hashtags (#) to mark 'keywords' so th

How To Drive Traffic To Your Blog Using Twitter

As a micro blogging website, Twitter is accessed by millions of individuals every day. You can use Twitter as an effective tool to drive quality traffic to your blog. This post identifies some of the ways in which you can find readers for your blog using Twitter. 1. Share Your Content on Twitter You begin by sharing your content on Twitter. Make sure that the tweets that you send out introduce your followers to your content and link back to the respective blog post/article. Never use tools that send out automated tweets each time you post. Instead craft your own tweets. The challenge is to come up with tweets that instantly captures the audiences interest and induces them to follow the link back to your blog/website. Given Twitter's word limit, sometimes asking direct questions help. Consider the following tweet for example: "Are you getting enough traffic to your blog via Twitter? [Include a link to your blog post here]" Tip: Use a URL shortener to sh

10 Ways to Use Keywords and Not Spoil the Quality of Blog Posts

Difficult to insert keywords are ones that cannot be entered into a chunk of text without a little bit of wordplay gymnastics. They may require a little bit of bad grammar or a sentence that is overly long or poorly comprised. Trying to incorporate 'these' keywords can cause your blog post quality to suffer. People feel compelled to insert these keywords because the keywords are searched for on a regular basis. People put them into their blog posts for the fear of the missed traffic if they do not. In this article we will discuss some of the ways in which you can use keywords without compromising the quality of your blog posts. 1. Use the keywords naturally Don’t have a keyword strategy? Use the keywords that naturally occur. If your blog post is about a certain subject and it is written well, then there is a high probability that all the relevant keywords have already found their way into the blog post. 2. Section with visual keyword tags Have a section of your w

Independent Australian Winemakers Get Support via Crowdfunding

Australian wines are turning into a product for the future, with the help of over 2,000 crowdfunders and the Internet . The initiative belongs to a company called Naked Wines. Naked Wines operates from the United Kingdom, it sells wines online and it comes from reputed lineage – specifically, it was created by the man who formerly helped tycoon Richard Branson run and grow his empire, Rowan Gormley. Its aim is to encourage young, independent Australian wine producers by helping them sell their wines online. It specifically targets producers who have no label of their own and has brought in support from an impressive host of investors. The next stage of the funding drive is to rally up three times as many such generous, independent business-oriented donors by the time Christmas rolls in. Naked Wines Australia managing director Luke Jecks states that the effort has been prompted by the wine distribution system currently operating down under. This system forces winemakers sell

The Correct Measure of Bounce Rate Plus How To Reduce It

A universally accepted definition of bounce rate is hard to find. In fact there are (at least) two ways of defining bounce rate : 1. Bounce rate is a measure of the number of visits to your website that comprise of a single page view, expressed as a percentage of the total number of (unique) visitors to your website. 2. Bounce rate is a measure of the number of visitors to your website who stay on your website only for a very short span of time (Eg. 10 seconds or less), expressed as a percentage of the total number of unique visitors to your website. On the whole bounce rate is a measure of user engagement that tells us whether or not a website is able to deliver VALUE to its readers. Sites with high bounce rate are the ones that provide very little to no value to their visitors. Though a lot of analytical packages use the first definition as a measure of bounce rate, the same is ideally not a true measure of user engagement or the lack of it. This is because a visi

16 Search Engine Optimisation Tips For Better Search Rankings

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the study and practice of techniques that enable websites to rank high in search engine result pages for specific search terms - more popularly known as 'keywords'. SEO is important because search engines are the major source of traffic for most websites, and a higher rank in the search engine result pages (SERP's) generally translates into a greater number of visitors for the concerned website. In this article we will try to highlight certain SEO best practices and techniques by which you can optimise your blog/website for better search engine rankings. Keywords 1. Use adwords keywords tool to research keywords. 2. Incorporate keywords strategically within your content. Do not stuff your pages with irrelevant keywords . 3. Always write for your readers. Do not simply spin an article around the keywords. Internal Links 4. Internal links can have a profound impact on your search engine rankings. 5. M