Knowledge about Technology

Technologies for Site Builders and Web Masters

What is ICMP? (Internet Control Message Protocol)

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) is an Internet protocol that is focused on the control of messages and the reporting of errors. In design, ICMP is configured to provide these functions as a mediator between a gateway and a host server. The presence of ICMP helps to protect the integrity of the messages that are relayed back and forth between the two devices, as well as make efficient use of the Internet Protocol datagrams that are present.

Being one of the core protocols within the overall protocol suite, ICMP takes on the direct responsibility of processing error messages. This can be especially helpful in a networked environment, as ICMP makes it possible for a server to send out an error message to all connected workstations in the event that a program is taken offline or is temporary unavailable for some reason. This makes ICMP a valuable tool in making the most use of the operating system interface on the network, without tying up a lot of resources at the same time.

How Does ICMP Work?

The beauty of being the go-between for the host server and various connected devices is that ICMP can encapsulate the message in a way that protects the content, but does not use up lots of resources. When a message is received by ICMP, the protocol places the entire message in single IP datagram, and then forward the datagram to the destination. This special routing relieves some of the usage from the more standard protocols and helps to keep resources open and available to the other protocols.  Overall, this aids in the total efficiency of the network.

How Do I Get ICMP?

Chances are you already have ICMP in place if you work within a network environment, or are using a computer system that has the ability to be linked into a network. Installation on systems that do not have ICMP is not difficult, but owing to the widespread use of the protocol, there is not much chance that an outside installation would ever be needed. Just to be sure, check with a technician about the use of ICMP on your network.

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What are DoFollow links? What is NoFollow? Remove the mystery.

If your reading up on link building, then you would have heard the terms mentioned “nofollow” and “dofollow” links. These are very important terms to understand when you are trying to build great links back to your site in order to increase the page rank of your site.

To tell the search engine spiders to NOT crawl a link, you need to add the following code to the HTML code:

rel=”nofollow”

To tell the search engine spiders to crawl a link from the host site to your site, it needs to be “dofollow” which means just NOT using the “nofollow” tag. Pretty simple, eh?   Unfortunately, out of the box most blog software – such as wordpress commonly use the rel=”nofollow” against all links.

 

Why does this matter?

When you are using different methods (hopefully from this site) in order to build links on other web sites (to increase the page rank of your site), you need to determine if the web sites you are attempting to get your site listed on use the “nofollow” tag or not. If they do, it may still be a good idea to try to get that link there, but conventual wisdom regards this as not the best use of time since the search engines don’t follow that link and you don’t get any increase in search engine rankings from that link.

So, when you are looking for sites and blogs that you could leave your link on (through reciprocal links, commenting on a blog, directory submissions, buying links, etc) figure out if the links in the particular section of the site you are aiming for uses “nofollow” or not.

Why wouldn’t I want the search engine spiders to see all of the links on my site? (Or, why would I use “nofollow”?)

 

There are many reasons you would want to use the “nofollow” tag, such as:

  1. Paid Links: This is suggested by Google. Basically, your sites page rank give a small amount of rank juice to the sites you link to (which helps their page rank, which is the purpose of link building, to get that juice from others). If you have a paid link on your site, it’s in essence buying a higher rank in Google.
  2. Maybe in your blog’s comment section (if using most blog software, this is automatic). It is up to you if you want your commentators to get link juice back to their site. It is personal preference of you the site owner.
  3. When linking to major, very popular sites. If you are linking to google.com, yahoo.com, digg.com (the front page), cnn.com, or whoever else, they are already popular, so you might as well use “nofollow” since your link won’t make or break them.
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So you want to Blog, what does that mean?

If writing is an art, then, blogging is one way of using words to come up with an art. This is because people who are into blogging are the ones who are artistic on their own sense, carefully choosing words that would best describe their feelings, sentiments, wishes, desires, and everything.

Basically, blogs were first introduced as weblogs that refer to a “server’s log file.” It was created when web logging hit the virtual market. Since its inception in the mid-1990s, web logging gradually saturated the virtual community making the Internet a viable source of greater information.

However, with web logging, you still need a web site and domain names, but with blogging, you do not need anything just an account with blog providers. In most cases, these kinds of blogs are free of charge.

With the onset of blogging in the industry, personal journaling had been a common ground for people who wish to be known all over the world. However, not literally famous as this is not a case on being popular or well-known personality.

Generally, blogs are created for personal use. Like a journal, people can write their daily adventures, sentiments, and whatever ideas they want to express online.

Nevertheless, with the advent of the online businesses, blogs had gradually taken the limelight in providing businesses a chance to boost their productivity online. This is where the business blogs have taken the limelight.

Business blogs are, basically, created to advertise the services or products of a certain web site or online business in order to increase online sales.

Moreover, business blogs are also one way of promoting the company so that the other readers will know that a certain company exists online. With blogs, entrepreneurs are able to establish a name in the virtual market through articles that can be very useful in the reader’s life.

From there, you can make money out of blogs by simply syndicating it to your business’ web site. This can be done through the RSS technology.

So, if you are thinking to create a blog, whether for business or for pleasure, you need to know some tips that could help you get through and make your blog one of the interesting blogs online.

 

Here’s how:

1. Consider your audience

Even if your blog is generally personal, still, it would be better to consider the minds of your readers. You have to think of something that would interest them.

After all, most of the reasons of people who write blogs are not at all confined to their own personal motives. Most of them would love to be “heard” (or read) and would love to be known, in some way or another, even for just a minute. Hence, it is very important to come with a write up that everybody can understand, not necessarily that these people can relate to it but they can understand it.

 

2. Pictures speaks a thousand words

To make your blogging worth the browsing effort of your readers, it would be extremely nice if you will put some pictures in it. It does not necessarily mean you have to place a picture of yourself. Any photographs will do as long as it does not pose danger or insult to anyone who will be reading your blog.

 

3. Make constructive and beneficial blogs

Even if you are free to write anything you wan to say to the world, still, it would be better to create some write-ups that would be beneficial to your readers.

After all, its information technology that you have there so better be inclined to provide information rather than sheer quirky entertainment.

 

4. Avoid making multifaceted and complicated blogs

In order to have an interesting blogs, try not to use some highly technical and highfalutin words. After all, it is not a science discourse or a debate that you are making, so better stick to simple facts and short blogs.

Bear in mind that most people who use the Internet usually do more scanning than scrutinizing each site word for word. Therefore, it would be better to come with blogs that will not bore your readers just because you have these lengthy articles.

 

5. Make it interactive

As much as possible and if your capacity will allow it, make your blog interactive. Yu can do this by placing some video or audio clips in your blog.

You can even place an area for comments or for some feedbacks. In this way, you can get some impressions or reactions of other people. Who knows, you might even gain some friends just by making them feel at home in your blog site. 

Indeed, blogs are not created just for the mere fun of it. It also has its own purpose in the world of the Internet. 

Therefore, for people who wish to harness their craft, as far as writing is concerned, blogs are the best way to do it. 

As they say, blogging is the contemporary term of creative and commercial writing.

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Affordable search engine advertising – Pay Per Click

PPC search engine advertising is by far the most affordable form of advertising available. PPC search engine advertising is a flourishing business that by 2008 is expected to reach $ 8 billion. PPC search engine advertising is about producing leads. Creating leads will help potential buyers find the specific website that will provide them with the product or service they need.

However, PPC search engine advertising does not end there. It is important to understand that although PPC search engine advertising generates leads, it is also important for users to find relevant information at the website they are directed to. Information is a valuable asset in PPC search engine advertising that is often left unchecked by many websites. Keep in mind that users are more likely to purchase products or services from a company that provided them with the necessary information they needed in the first place.

 

Qualified traffic with PPC search engine advertising

One of the benefits of PPC search engine advertising is that it provides qualified traffic to a specific website. Users that click on a PPC ad are those in search of a particular product or service. This helps eliminate unnecessary clicks from non-prospective buyers that only produce expenditures not profits. PPC search engine advertising is also the fastest way to get a reasonable return on investment.

A bidding process is used to establish the price of a specific keyword. In general, the budget for PPC search engine advertising may be a $100 to $100,000 depending on the number of keywords used. These prices can skyrocket in just minutes as more and more sites bid for the same keyword thus causing the prices to jack up.

PPC ads are placed alongside search engine results to which they are relevant. The highest bids for a specific keyword or phrase gets top billing on the search engine results page. Getting top placement provides greater odds for a PPC ad to get clicked by a qualified searcher.

 

Elements of PPC search engine advertising

PPC search engine advertising involves three basic elements; constant monitoring, response analysis and refinement as the essential factors involved in PPC search engine advertising. Proper management of PPC search engine advertising can result in big profits for a website.

PPC search engine advertising makes it possible for sites to monitor the productivity of each PPC ad they place. This gives a site the opportunity to turn off any PPC ad that is not performing at its best. PPC search engine advertising provides the most economical way for a site to advertise on the World Wide Web.

The cost entailed in PPC search engine advertising is dictated by the clicks made on a particular PPC ad. The number of clicks made on a PPC ad is subtracted from the initial amount paid by the business to a search engine company. To minimize cost and maximize return on investment, a business will have to regularly monitor its PPC search engine advertising campaign.

 

How to use PPC search engine advertising

Many businesses are unable to get the most out of their PPC search engine advertising campaign. PPC search engine advertising involves a lot more than just bidding on the highest keywords. Information is a main concern of many online users.

Providing online users with relevant information they need will help bring about a more long-term relationship with an online user that will more likely result in a sale.

Information provided to online users may be in the form of a newsletter or e-zine that online users would likely sign up for. Sign-ups may be enough to cover the expenses of a PPC search engine advertising campaign.

Sign-ups also help generate leads for websites as they build opt in list from qualified online searchers who clicked their PPC ad. Getting personal information from qualified online searchers can be done in a variety of ways such as offering freebies for surveys or signing up for newsletters.

PPC search engine advertising is a continuous process that requires hands on supervision and a thorough understanding of PPC search engines. Businesses may opt to hire the services of a professional or do PPC search engine advertising with in-house experts. Whatever course of action is selected, a business is sure to get a huge return on investment with PPC search engine advertising. 

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Sitemaps 101 – What is a Sitemap and what are it’s Benefits

Have you ever wondered how a search engine works? It must be enthralling figuring out how this search tool could direct you to several websites that are pertinent to your keywords. Or, have you experienced instances where the link that allegedly contains your keywords is not exactly what you have in mind? You would probably think that there must be something wrong with the search engine that it generated unrelated results.

 

How does a search engine work?

Two things figure greatly in making search engines work efficiently and effectively: the electronic search spider and the sitemap.

 

What is a sitemap?

A sitemap is basically a page or pages that serve/s as a directory listing of all the links to all documents and files found in a website. It is not just a random listing of links, but is organized in such a way that it gives the web user an idea of how all the information that can be found in the site fits into an outline or structure. It is like viewing the table of contents of a book, or viewing the “concept map” of the site’s information.

 

What is a spider?

In SEO language, spider is not an animal found in your closet. This search spider is actually a bot (robot) which collects data and copies content to be stored in the search engine’s database when keywords are fed into the search user entry box. The spider reads the information of the site and then sends another bot to follow the links and copy the information contained in them.

 

What purpose does a sitemap serve?

A sitemap like any other map gives directions to a guide. It primarily targets search engine spiders so that they are properly aimed at to your site and to all the links where your keywords entered in the search dialogue appears.  As such, it is actually a helpful tool in search engine optimization. A well organized site map would guide the spider to find the information it needs when keywords are entered during a search operation.

An additional useful consequence, sitemaps have proven to be helpful even to web users. Since a sitemap displays all the links to content found in a website, it helps the user to search for a particular topic in mind. Many users also use the sitemap to navigate between pages in a site.

 

How are sitemaps formatted?

There are at least three major types of sitemaps: indexed, full categorical, and restricted categorical.

  • An indexed site map appears as an alphabetical listing or directory;
  • A full categorical map displays all links classified into categories;
  • A restricted categorical sitemap displays all links listed in a chosen category at a time.

The full and restricted sitemaps are comparable except that the former displays all links in all categories in a single page, while the latter focuses only the links under the selected category making it easier for users to navigate.

The most widely used format in web sites today is the full categorical, this format is most preferred by users since it is easier to search for topics within the site and it allows easier comparison between and among categories.

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Tracking your sites performance

There are many very important elements that will assist you to fix the things that are falling behind in your particular website that can help you make your website more alluring to many people out there. There are several hosting companies that do provide a tracking program that would assist you to seek answers of all those questions that you have unanswered.

The other side of tracking is doing something your website that will enable you to assist to get you the website that you desire and is not the same old same old boring. You would be required to have a plan to update, maintain, and improve your web site on a weekly basis as no one would want to visit an outdated website, as its clearly not beneficial to anyone. These updates also fall back on the value and the goals of a web site.To entertain people so that they can get what they want, trafficking is the key. This is very important so that your clients will not go to your competitors website but to yours to get the information that they would need. Why do people read the comics in the paper every week? Its cause not only is it mind relaxing but also because its entreating, your website should have the similar goals so that your website will not fall behind! Customers should have a reason to visit your website and you can achieve this by making it more alluring to them.

Make sure you track your progress as you go along. See what is that they’re your customer’s want, what is it that they are looking for? This is a very crucial element that requires constant updating Always examine who is your customer! Who visits your website, this is important as your source of income is from your customer so that you can fulfill what exactly does your customer need and to ensure that you are successful in this aspect you would have to indulge in tracking so you can fulfill what your customer wants.

Every time you do something it generally has a lifecycle. Studies have literally shown that once a product is first introduced its generally at its peek and this is when you can make your most money. Tracking customers’ needs can help companies identify exactly what your customer wants so that you can fulfill this.Your customer then will be happy tell their friends about it and CONTINUE investing This can mean larger profits than other companies that are slower to fill this gap as they do not have the benefits of trackking. However, you’ll never get to the root of things if you do not track.

You should have a tracking plan that allows you to :-                                                           

  • Realize how many people has visited your site

This is generally crucial so that you will know whether your site is of any good and more importantly whether its marketable or not.

  • How do they get to your website

This is generally important also so that you know that its not hard to get to your website, the easier the better.

  • How often they re-visit

This is also important as they will only revisit is they find your information adequate

  • What pages do they scroll too?

So that you know what exactly customers want

  • Which pages aren’t looked at

This can show you what are not important so you can take this away and replace it with other items that are more important

  • What percentage of your visitors become customers?

This is also important so that you know the average of them who turn into customers and from this you would know where actually your website is.

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What is a Content Management System and why must I have one?

A content management system is what a computer cleverly does to edit, manage and even create contents that maybe deemed necessary to promote something for the user.Content management system is basically what the computer uses to control the computer, this would include images, audio files and etc.

A lot of people are not aware of what is content management system, the answer is one that is simple to any lay people, and content management system is a system that will make it easy to publish an idea on a website. Thus, anyone with minimal knowledge and not so tech savvy can publish something on a website via the content management system.

A content management system is extremely important especially when your web page is out of date and needs to be updated. Its dire that you always keep up to date with all the information that you have so that those whom are accessing your website are well informed of all the things that they need to be. If you don’t update your website, you may be misrepresenting people especially if the information there is no longer accurate and so on.

A content management system is easy to use and so on, any one with the most minimal knowledge on information technology can access this, and its important as your website can be updated at all times and the information is new and accurate. A content management system is accessible anywhere and anytime! You can access this to update your website from anywhere that you are so that its always up to date.

With content management system, you can change your skin design at anytime, this is really important as people get attracted to skin layout and it is one of the features that they look at all the time before they access and see your website at all the time. Skin layout changes all the time just like fashion does! That’s why you would need to keep it updated at all times so people will not get bored of seeing the same thing and that your skin layout is good with fashion.

Content management system is also very cost efficient as you do not need to hire a professional to manage your website, any person even you can do it as all it requires only a single click with your mouse to access it and you can do almost anything with the mouse.

Content management system generally contains of two items that is the content management application and the content delivery application. The content management application allows the author to know whom does the HTML belong to, to manage, create and modify the system without the expertise of the Webmaster. The content delivery application allows the information in the website to be compiled.

The web-page will allow individuals/author to use a tempelate/tempelates to modify the website to make it better and keep it up to date at all times. The format management feature will allow programs including legitimate electronic documents and scanned paper documents that will allow it to be programmed into HTML or Portable Document Format (PDF) into Web site. The fact that the control feature allows content to be updated either to a new version or to go back (restore) to what it was. Revision control also keeps tracks of any changes that may have been made by individuals. An additional feature is indexing, search, and retrieval.

There are nevertheless factors, which must be considered before you consider to invest in a Content management system. First, what is your organization size and geographical dispersion must be considered especially if your company is so big that it has branches all over the world. This is because for these organizations/ companies, the change to content management system is more difficult. Secondly, the different and vast types of electronic data forms that are used within your company must seriously be considered. If your company uses text documents, graphics, video, audio and diagrams to supply their information, the content management system would be more difficult to manage.

Whatever said, content management system helps you keep your website up to date, so you should seriously consider investing in it. It is also extremely cost efficient as you will not need a professional to do it, but any clerk can handle it well enough.

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Get your new site Listed In Google In 24 Hours

As we have previously discussed, Google, can make or break a web site, you can get a kick start by getting your site listed in 24 to 48 hours. Don’t do this - Go to Google and look at “Submit a Site”. That is exactly what everyone does and it takes months to get listed that way.

Here’s the trick. Get a high Page Rank site to link to you. A PR (page rank) of 5 or higher will do the trick. Yes, it is that simple.

This won’t guarantee you the #1 slot for all your keywords but it’s a great start. At least you can be found. Google currently takes 6 to 9 months for a new site to appear - not even rank - but appear.

If you can find more than one PR5 or higher to link to you that just helps you even more.

This is simple idea, it can be free if you submit to the right site or you can pay a small fee to link to a PR 5 site, and there are plenty of sites to link to you. Search for sites that are in the same category as yours or use a directory. There are several free ones out there.

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Get wise with your Search Engine Optimization!

Attracting visitors to your site is the best way to do to improve your website as well as to promote your site is the best thing you can do for your website.

Anyone even a teenager now days will know to improve your search engine website, you have to do a basic search engine optimization. A lot of people are getting more and more aware of the need in lieu of the search engine optimization to improve what their site.

There are a few “YES” when he comes to search engine optimization, firstly you would have to commit yourself! Search engine optimization has to be a long time investment if you really intend to make it a success, most search engine optimization that would have been considered the best last year would probably be the worst this year, in other words search engine optimization that would have worked last year may not have worked this year.

Secondly, You have to be patient. With Search engine optimization, you may not be able to see your pot of gold immediately, you need to be patient to see the growth, and it is usually worth the wait.

Thirdly, When you intend to hire a search engine optimization company you have to do your research to ensure that you get the best services so that you will be able to see your pot of gold as soon as possible. Research on the company that you intend to hire so that you will know what are their strategies and tactics

Fourthly, the most important thing is to you yourself become a student of search engine optimization, so that you will study and know what exactly does search engine optimization do so that you can have the knowledge of search engine optimization at your finger tips. If you ask how can you learn on search engine optimization, the answer is simple, there are many books and websites that you can have access too, just google it and all your needs are answered.

Web analytics would actually be a very wise place to start, this is so that you can define what exactly you want your website to achieve and having this you would have set down your goals. Thus having a web analytics are very good so that you can lay out your goals and know precisely what you can achieve and what you cant.

You also have to build a GREAT website to attract people, no one is going to go to a lame website as it clearly will not interest them in anyway whatsoever. So you have to always ensure that your websites is one of the top and in the event it is not in the top, make it better as you and everyone else know that no one is going to visit a website that is not GREAT! (unless they are visiting to criticize it)

You should always make search engine optimization user URL user friendly so that people whom are not tech-savvy can still access your website as you will not want only a selected elite visiting your websites, you would rather have anyone and everyone visiting your website so that your website would be a success and to do this user friendly is extremely important.

A page title is the single and most important thing with regards to search engine optimization as that is what most people will glance through before reading further.

Another fantastic search engine optimization would be when you have something catchy on your website that can easily catch the attention of humans out there. It should be something different and something out of the ordinary so that you can stand out and people will be more interested in seeing and purchasing what you have to offer. It would be wise to hire a professional when it comes to this so that you can get a catchy slogan that would ensure your success.

It’s also important to get professionals to do your press release so that you will know that it is done well and people who read it will actually be impressed with what you provide. Try distributing the press release links online so that people are more impressed and get the idea. Get good journalists to do your press releases so that you will get a good report.

Start a blog! That’s the best thing to do, a lot of people reads blogs so it would be wise to indulge in writing a blog to promote and get people enlightened with your blog. This is a very effective search engine optimization. Participate in other peoples blog and promote your site smartly.

Remember to use social media wisely, Facebook would be a very good way to start as many people are using facebook, so get an account and promote your site!

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A great blog publishing system – WordPress

WordPress, by definition, is a blog publishing system written in PHP and backed by a MySQL database. But really provides a foundation with a lot more features and functions for old and new Web Masters.

 

This site is built utilizing WordPress and it runs many of the sites I develop. Sure it can run the advanced and flexible blogs, but it’s because of that flexibility that I choose to utilize WordPress as a Content Management System (CMS).

 

WordPress as a Blog

WordPress provides the foundation upon which a blog is built, published through, and displayed to the world. Some of the biggest blogs in the world utilize WordPress for just one or even a large number authors (The New York Times, CNN, People, TechCrunch, Engadget, and so on all utilise it).

 

Having a blog is great for any business. Using a blog consistently provides fresh content for your vistors to view and subscribe to. It’s also an leading indicator that your business is active and reassures potential customers that you are interested in them and their knowledge. Don’t you want to be known as the specialist in your field? Publish your thoughts in a blog and you’ll not switch potential customers to actual customers but have a competitive edge in your industry.

 

WordPress as a Website

The great thing about WordPress is that once your site is created you’ll have the ability to edit, add, subtract, and whatever else you need to do with just about all of the content in your site.  You also don’t need to be a technical guru – no knowledge of HTML is required. You can avoid re-doing your whole site in two years when your business model changes and you won’t have to worry about the cost of hiring someone who knows HTML to change the price your products. You have control!  If you want to alter the look of the site in 12 months time, alter the template and wallah!

 

A professional, maintained, fresh and well designed web site is crucial to converting visitors into customers. In a society of short attention spans and where first impression count, your website has to shine and engage visitors, something that WordPress enables a designer like myself to do much more quickly.

 

For detail on WordPress, its benefits and how it can be enhanced to meet your needs, visit WowEBZ.com

 

For more detail on the actual product, visit WordPress.org.

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