Google Instant

What is Google Instant? The newest feature for Google has got a lot of people buzzing. It uses a mix of search prediction and up-to-date visuals during a search. Using the auto complete software, users can choose from a number of different predicted key phrases that will pop up underneath the search bar in a drop-down-box.

Instant is designed to make searches faster and easier, because most people spend less time reading than they do typing. The best thing about this program is that, like many other features that are a part of Google, it is optional. Users have the ability to turn it off in the settings located directly to the right of the search button.

What is Instant going to change? Today, people are allowed to read short summaries of the content contained in each page that a search reveals. Within these summaries most people use call-to-action phrases. With the new software, it is now recommended that people who design websites place those phrases in the title. The reason behind this is that people will be using the Instant results more heavily, without reviewing the summaries.

Ultimately, the biggest difference in the new software will be searches with longer keywords that are more specific. Because the auto complete software shows sites that have the highest rating, it may detract users from completing a longer keyword, and instead coax them to click on one of the instant results. This impacts all types of sites, specifically those that get a majority of traffic from specific searches.

The results have been an increase in natural traffic, as well as a disappointing decrease in variety with keywords. There are a lot of keywords that are not seeing any viewers because of the new software. The best solution is to make sure that you are continuously aware of how users are searching content and to come up with a plan that best works with Instant.

Finding the Right Online School

Usually you’d want to visit a university to get a feel for the area—some of the dorm rooms maybe and even the halls where the classes are held. You’re probably interested in what activities are held on campus, and the amenities in any residence hall are essential in your decision to attend any university. All of these factors actually raise an important question regarding something completely different . . .

What if you’re considering an online school? How do you figure out that? It’s not like you can visit the campus. Nor are you in a classroom with a bunch of other students. You’re in your PJs, doing your work online. Simple as that. So what are the factors in choosing the right online school?

Workload is important to know when choosing an online school because you don’t want to drown in all the work. Getting one of the many online degrees is quite a bit different from a traditional degree on campus. So you want to be sure to consider the curriculum. One of the only ways to do that is to talk to others who have attended and find out what they were up against. The online directory of professors who teach at the virtual university is an important asset to keep in mind as well. Any questions you have can be answered by an authority within the online school.

Also, of course, it’s crucial to consider what type of degree you’re pursuing. More and more fields are converting programs to being available online; but not every field has that available, and not every online school offers the same fields of study. So keep that in mind when choosing your online school.

Online schools are the latest rage, though. They’re convenient and quick. Be sure, however, to make an informed decision. Your future will benefit from it.

Tips and Tricks for FileZilla Users

FileZilla is a free open-source software that allows you to efficiently transfer files from a local or remote computer to a server. This FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, client is a utility that enables users of all knowledge levels to upload files onto their websites.

Download and Installation Tips

  • If you are looking to install FileZilla, it is recommended that you only use the download available from the official source so that you can avoid spyware and other security issues.
  • Advanced users (like web designers, programmers, and site builders) may want to use the source code installation for the most comprehensive FTP experience. You will need to refer to instructions for compiling the source code.
  • For maximum portability, FileZilla can be installed as a zip file and then transferred to a USB stick.
  • Unix users may use precompiled binaries for installation.

Once installed, you will open the software in the same manner as any other program that you use on your computer. Next, you will need to connect to the server. Your directory will appear and you can begin uploading. Uploads are simple with FileZilla’s drag and drop configuration.

Tips for Connecting and Uploading

  • Save the server information to the site manager to quickly connect on your next transfer.
  • The site manager allows storage for the information of multiple FTP servers.
  • You can right-click the file to be uploaded and then click “upload” if you prefer that over the drag and drop method.

Now that you’ve started uploading files, it’s nice to be able to see where you are at in the process. Use FileZilla’s directory comparison feature to quickly give you an overview of files on your local machine as well as the server.

Directory Comparison

  • Compare directories based on either file size or the time of modification.
  • Click “hide identical file” so that only unmatched files return on your query. This eliminates matches so that you need only look through files that don’t correspond.
  • The directory comparison is color-coded. Yellow means that a file is located in only the server or the local computer. Green means that the file is located in both the server and the local machine, but that the recent versions differ in update time. Red means that the file is in both, but that the files or directory sizes differ.

Getting Set Up

  • FileZilla recommends running your network configuration wizard for the best configuration.
  • During active mode, choose ports ranging from 50,000 to 65,535 with at least 50 ports in between each connection.
  • Uninstall routers or firewalls that drop connections on an early idle. This, added to FileZilla’s “stay-alive” feature will help with dropped connections during transfer.
  • Show hidden files by clicking the dropdown under server (version3) or view (version2).
  • Various filters can be used when searching directories; these filters will shorten your search time significantly.

FileZilla offers an interface that is simple to learn. Three different builds are available, each regularly updated. Thanks to the ease of use, site builders of all levels can take advantage of all of the benefits offered by FileZilla. Configurable transfer speeds and IPv6 support are available with FileZilla as well.

Six Common SEO Issues

1. Linking Issues

A lack of sufficient inbound links would probably be the biggest problem that people experience when they are having trouble getting ranked. Continual link building is vital to being ranked in any search engine.

2. Redundancy
Another common mistake is to use title tags over and over again. The leading search engines often will even punish people who re-use title tags by stripping rank or all-together removing the website from the database.

3. 404 Errors
If a website has more errors than functioning pages, search engines have the option of reducing the rate of downloads, making the data that appears during a search old content. When content is old enough rank drops.

4. 301 Redirecting and Getting Sandboxed

Getting sandboxed because of multiple page redirects is one of the other big problems that people will see. Search engines like Google will reduce the rank of new websites in order to counteract the attempt to gain rank through multiple sites.

5. Link Buying
Most search engines look down on the use of unnatural strategies to boost ranking. When a web page has paid for links, some search engines will strip ranking, and this website will take a hit in overall traffic. A way to ensure that your web page does not lose its ranks is to keep current on the status and to stay away from Black Hat procedures like link buying.

6. Dirty URLs
Search programs are careful about the websites they search, as the chance of getting stuck on a web page or downloading a virus is still very real for search engine programs. Therefore, these programs will often skip websites that look even remotely questionable. An easy way to fix this issue is to make your website URL short and sweet; don’t use symbols or numbers to make things fancy, because in the end it seems threatening.

How to Optimize Your Site

Keyword optimization can be tricky due to the numerous synonyms that exist within language. When you are searching for something, for example “SEO,” you can search by many different keywords. For “SEO” you could look up “SEO,” “Search Engine Optimization,” “Keyword Optimization,” and many other phrases to get the same content. Unfortunately using all of these phrases in a article or website does not ensure you great rankings or good content.

Realistically, it is best if you choose a couple similar keywords and stick to those phrases rather than incorporating all of the phrases. Using appropriate words that fit well into the content is important because if you use a word incorrectly or if it stands out in a way that isn’t comfortable, it is likely to lose ratings and traffic. Simply put, people like reading good content.

A useful technique is to find website that targets the same viewers and pick the keyword with the largest rating. Because most words are interchangeable, it is easy to substitute the more popular words for under-ranked words without impacting the content meaning. The benefit of this would be that the traffic from the keywords are directing people to the content without changing the message of the content. However, caution is advised, because you don’t always want to change your wording, and mixing things up can be good.

Because keywords are such an important part of SEO, when you use them appropriately within your website on the right pages, posts, and links it makes the content easy to read. When the content is easy to read for a user it is more likely to be relinked to other people and gain ranks on search engine sites. When the webmaster uses these techniques they can focus on quite a few keywords within the site, resulting in an increase in appropriate traffic and sales.

White Hat vs. Black Hat

What is White Hat SEO?
White Hat SEOs are devices that are suggested to be a good part of the search design. These devices are typically used by people who assume that their web pages will be around for a long time, creating lasting results in search engine optimization. White Hat tactics are the devices that adhere to the guidelines of the search engine. These devices are more about making sure that people see search-able content in the same way that the programs do.

The content is directed at providing relevant information to the people who are searching rather than to gain rank and traffic through spam. This is done by making site maps easy to review and having specific text that may point search programs to specific destinations.

What is Black Hat SEO?
Black Hat SEOs are devices used by people who don’t expect to have lasting results. These people create web content that is typically banned once their techniques are discovered. Black Hat devices are used to boost websites rank in ways that are frowned upon. These are devices such as spamdexing, hidden text, cloaking or other methods. Spamdexing is when there is multiple search heavy words in a site map. Hidden text is when a user will hide text in the background of a web page and make it the same color as the background so that it isn’t apparent to users. Cloaking is when the content is presented incorrectly to search engines.

Most search engines block sites or strip ranking if they use Black Hat devices. These punishments are implemented by both individual users and instantly by mathematical equations that are used to find techniques that are not allowed. There are several companies, even prominent companies like BMW, who have had their ranks stripped. BMW had to fix their error before their ranks were restored.

SEO How To

How do people get websites indexed? Industry leaders use a program that searches websites to find data that meets specific mathmatically-based guidelines. Other pages that are attached to these pages are found automatically by that program. There are a few search engines, such as Yahoo, that take payment for ranking services. The service can either be a set fee or a price per click. These techniques can guarantee that a website gets placement in the database, but it wont automatically mean that it will be ranked.

The Yahoo Directory and Open Directory Project are pages that people can manually input information into, and then review and edit it. Google on the other hand offers tools to create a site map that can help search engines find all of the additional pages within a website. Not all pages are going to be indexed, as some are further away from the main site map, and that can impact whether or not a page is seen along with several other reasons.

How would you prevent a program from searching your site? Programmers can tell programs not to search their pages through a specific data file in the main site map. Also, pages can be removed specifically by using a HTML tag code. When a search is done on the website, the robot file is searched first. The file will tell the engine which pages should be searched and which ones should not be. This does not guarantee that a page wont be searched occasionally. Pages that use this technique are usually shopping carts, login pages, and user specific pages that contain privileged content. Web pages often have internal search devices that can lead back to these pages. In 2007, Google told people to watch out for search indexing within individual sites, because it is considered search spam.

What is SEO

What is search engine optimization? It is the process of getting a website to be ranked highly in search engine results though unpaid means. The paid listings are referred to as SEM. Typically, the latest information that is displayed at the top of web page will be the first thing people see first in search engines. Also, the more often that a web page is searched the more likely it is to appear in the search engine. SEO can focus on a specific kind of information like pictures, local businesses, videos, or products, which gives the appropriate website a higher chance of being seen.

Marketers strategically consider the way that these search engines function and the way people use them. Then, they will change a web page to include specific data that will be linked in public searches, thus creating more traffic for the web page. This promotes more business and appropriate information linking so that customers and potential clients can access the information more easily. Because of increased traffic on the web page, there will be more links that come back to that web source.

The term “SEO” can be applied to people who optimize web pages for clients. These people are search engine optimizers. Essentially, these employees take into account the information that the company provides and design a web page that is more likely to show up first during a search engine search. This can be so effective that these people are sometimes required to change the basic html code and site content in order to be ranked in the search engine at all. These websites can be called “search engine friendly” because of the use content, design specific layouts, videos and images, and other things that allow them to be ranked. With increased ranking and exposure, the content receives a higher chance of being viewed.

Cydia Store for Mac OS X Coming Soon

If you own Apple products, then you’re probably familiar with the term “jailbreaking.” Jay Freeman (known as @saurik on Twitter) is considered by many to be “The Godfather” of the process and is most notable for his Cydia App Store for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Freeman has made the process of adding to and improving your Apple devices as easy as a reboot and a few taps.

Many people, about 10% of those owning an Apple handheld device, have decided to jailbreak and use Cydia on a daily basis for free apps, as well as apps that may not be found in Apple’s App Store. Cydia offers a plethora of open source material, somewhere in the vicinity of 30,000 different packages, that can be downloaded to extend the built-in uses of these handheld products. For the user who is easily bored with the minimalist look of his or her iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, hundreds of different themes to suit any interest can be downloaded and installed with ease as well. Users can even visit the sites of developers for more apps and to et in contact with the developers themselves.

Freeman’s next endeavor? Building the same type of platform for Mac apps on Apple’s devices that run OS X. The store is slated to be ready within the next few weeks, something many “jailbreakers” are excited about. After Apple’s announcement that its upcoming Mac App Store will not allow in-app purchases, Freeman’s Cydia Mac Store is a welcome sight, especially for app developers who work in the “freemium” category of development.

To keep up with any new developments on the Cydia Store for Mac OS X, you can follow @saurik on Twitter and find him on Facebook (Jay Freeman). If you’re a developer and are interested in discussing the possibility of having your apps included in the new Cydia Store for Mac, you can send an email to patrick[at]saurikit[dot]com.

Sock Warmers Plus a Few Internet Marketing Basics

Internet Marketing has acquired a few nicknames over the course of its relatively short life (online marketing, e-marketing or web marketing). But whatever you may call it, internet marketing means promoting goods, services or ideas (Who can believe Aunt Thelma’s collapsible artichoke squeezer never took off?) through the Internet or associated wireless media formats. Hopefully with a large degree of success (sorry Aunt Thelma).

Internet marketing offers more methods to promote something (sometimes free methods)than almost any other form of media. For instance, maybe you’ve just invented the world’s first clap-on, clap-off bamboo sock warmer. You don’t have space right now for a store front. You’d rather keep things uncomplicated anyway. So you compile a list of a few simple things many marketing strategists or business owners can do:

•Create a blog (free blog software like wordpress.com or blogger.com abounds);
•Join Twitter and tweet your warm-feet-loving followers about the benefits of your product with abandon (free);
•Sign up for or create Pay Per Click (PPC) advertisements (through programs like GoogleAdSense or Google AdWords, Microsoft adCenter, Yahoo! Search Marketing);
•Ask to write a guest post for a popular blog in your marketing niche;
•Create a YouTube video or two promoting your latest invention (free to post);
•Post a podcast;
•Produce a Facebook page dedicated to news and info for disciples of the sock warmer (once again, free … the Facebook page that is, not the sock warmer).

Free or even fairly inexpensive sounds good, right? But where do you go to find more information about marketing basics? A search with bing using the phrase ‘internet marketing course’ shows 48,000,000 results… that should get you started. But if you’re of the DIY persuasion, try Facebook’s help center for social media specifics or if it’s general information you’re after the online community at business.gov might help. Who knows? Maybe someday soon that sock warmer will be warming socks from Miami to Katmandu.