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Things Every Computer Geek Should Know

2010-09-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

67 Things Every Computer Geek Should Know.

The term ‘geek’, once used to label a circus freak, has morphed in meaning over the years. What was once an unusual profession transferred into a word indicating social awkwardness. As time has gone on, the word has yet again morphed to indicate a new type of individual: someone who is obsessive over one (or more) particular subjects, whether it be science, photography, electronics, computers, media, or any other field. A geek is one who isn’t satisfied knowing only the surface facts, but instead has a visceral desire to learn everything possible about a particular subject.

A techie geek is usually one who knows a little about everything, and is thus the person family and friends turn to whenever they have a question. If you’re that type of person and are looking for a few extra skills to pick up, or if you’re a newbie aiming to get a handhold on the honor that is geekhood, read on to find out what skills you need to know.

1. The Meaning of Technical Acronyms

USB – Universal Serial Bus

GPU – Graphics Processing Unit

CPU – Central Processing Unit

SATA – Serial ATA

HTML – Hyper-text Markup Language

HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol

FTP – File Transfer Protocol

P2P - peer to peer

2. How to Reset RAM

If you rolled your eyes here, that is a good thing. If not, you have many things to learn, young padawan. It’s amazing how few people know how to do this. If you’re unsure, hit up the link below to find out how:

**[Need more study on it]

http://www.yousaytoo.com/sudjarwo/how-to-reset-ram-in-a-computer/29133

3. Identify Keyloggers

Internet cafes are the most likely place you’ll find them, followed by library, perhaps, and maybe even you own house if you’ve some unscrupulous friends/family. Identity theft groups warn about keyloggers and advocate checking out the keyboard yourself before continuing. Can you identify a keylogger, however, if one is plugged into the back of the system?

Here’s what one looks like:

Hit up this link for excellent info on keyloggers on public computers and how to protect yourself:

, http://www.ghacks.net/2007/06/28/how-to-defeat-most-keyloggers-on-public-computers/

4. Surf the Web Anonymously

We won’t make any assumptions about why you may need this particular skill, but the fact remains that every geek should know how to traverse the Internet with the highest amount of security possible.

Aside from the safest method–which is using a connection that is not yours–you will need the ultimate in proxies…Tor. Tor is an onion-routing system which makes it ‘impossible’ for someone to find out who you actually are.

5. Bypass a Computer Password on All Major Operating Systems

Obviously you shouldn’t use this to gain unlawful access to a computer. If you’re a geek, however, you’ll eventually end up in a situation where someone forgets their password, you acquire a machine with an operating system you cannot access, or similar situation.

See this tutorial for info on how to bypass the password on the three major operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux.

http://www.joetech.com/2009/01/29/how-to-crack-the-account-password-on-any-operating-system/

6. Find a Users IP Address on AIM

Knowing someones IP address is actually pretty useless in this case, but most people don’t realize that. If someone is harassing you via AIM and you can’t get them to stop, discovering their IP and sending it to them–with a nicely worded threat of law enforcement involvement should they not stop–is likely enough to send them scamping away with tail between legs.

http://www.elitehackers.info/forums/archive/index.php/t-2827.html

7. Hide a File Behind a JPEG

So you need a nice spot to hide your blackmail personal files. You could, of course, bury them deeply within a series of random, useless folders, but there’s always the chance of them being discovered. A password protected RAR is the best choice, but it’s a bit obvious despite the most boring title you could give it.

A sneaky person would hide the important file behind a completely random and boring family reunion photo, where no person in their right mind would shift through.

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/hide-file-in-picture/

8. Crack a Wifi Password

This is one of those things you don’t need to do (hopefully), but that you still need to know just for the sake of knowledge. A strong WPA password is very secure, but most people don’t want to bother learning a convoluted series of letters, numbers, and symbols, instead opting for random everyday words.

A good overall tutorial on wifi and cracking can be found here:http://docs.lucidinteractive.ca/index.php/Cracking_WEP_and_WPA_Wireless_Networks

9. Monitor Network Traffic

The Internet is a vast place with a bit of everything. Whether you’re curious about what your roommate is downloading, your kid is getting into, or any leeches living around you who’ve unscrupulously breached your wifi, knowing how to analyze network traffic is an invaluable skill.

Here is a list of dozens of network analyzers, as well as some general info to get you started: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/xorg/nmtf/nmtf-tools.html

10. Recover Master Boot Record

A virus or other problem can lead to an MBR error, which will make it impossible to access install. Many users would simply become frustrated and reinstall, but not you! Every geek should know how to recover the master book record.

Here is an excellent guide to get started: http://www.ntfs.com/mbr-damaged.htm

11. Retrieve Data off Hard Drive

There will come some point in your life when a hard drive craps out sans warning. It could be due to a number of reasons–physical damage, file corruption, etc. There are computer service centers that would be happy to extract the data for a (hefty) fee; a true geek would be the one working at center, not taking his or her drive there.

To find out how to retrieve data off a damaged hard drive, read here: http://laptoplogic.com/resources/5-ways-to-retrieve-data-off-a-crashed-hard-drive

12. Load Rockbox onto an MP3 Player

The firmware that comes on your average mp3 player is intended for those who are scared of advanced features; often, the only audio settings available are a few prearranged EQs. If you’re an audiophile–or simply frustrated with the lack of control over your music settings–Rockbox is the firmware for you. Open source and free, it can be installed on several different types of players and enables full control over what you listen to.

http://rockbox.org

13. Unbrick a Smartphone

No geek can resist the allure of flashing the newest beta firmware onto their shiny smartphone. The byproduct of that is sometimes a bricked phone, which would leave many sobbing into their pillow at night. To avoid rendering your $400 gadget into a door stopper, learn the fine art of unbricking and then flash away.

As the method used to fix a phone will vary, this is the best place to start looking for answers: http://www.howardforums.com/

14. Replace a Laptop Keyboard

Keyboards get gummy after awhile. If you use yours a lot (aka: all day), then you probably eat over it at some point. Crumbs get into the keys and things are sticking, and before you know it, you need a new keyboard.

http://www.refurbished-laptop-guide.com/how-to-remove-a-laptop-keyboard.html

15. Rip Streaming Videos

Streaming videos are officially in vogue. We’re not going to make any assumptions about what type of videos you are streaming and may want to keep, but no matter what it is, any geek could rip them while sipping a Red Bull and watching the latest episode of BSG.

Here’s a hint to get you started: http://applian.com/download-videos/

16. Strip Windows DRM

DRM is incredibly annoying. With many online stores now offering DRM-free mp3 audio files, it would seem it’s not as big of an issue as it used to be. That is not not the case, however, with all videos bearing a DRM as well as music of a higher-quality than MP3.

Stripping Windows DRM is not legal. If you’re a geek, your probably don’t care: http://undrm.info/remove-DRM-protection/FairUse4WM-freeware-DRM-removal-Windows-software-Strip-copy-protection-from-WMV-ASF-WMA-Windows-Media-Player.htm

17. Homebrew Hack Game Systems

Gaming consoles are notorious for having features you can’t use simply because the manufacturer decided to lock them down. As a geek, you can’t just be satisfied with the features they decided to give you. No, you have to crack that case open and take a peek inside. Every geek should know how to homebrew hack their system and unlock it’s full potential.

18. Find a Website IP Address Without Web/Command Prompt Access

Some school admins think they’re being sneaky when they lock down the command prompt and block all major IP search websites and block all the websites you actually want to visit. Of course, that is child’s play for any geek.

First, to get a new command prompt, open Notepad and type: command.com. Then, save as “cmd.bat”. You now have a command prompt.

Now, open the command prompt and type “ping http://www.website.com/” to find the IP address of that website.

Enter the website into the browser and you will officially have impressed all your friends.

19. Bypass School or Work Website Blocks

What is a horrific situation for an average computer user is a simple irritation for an everyday geek. To bypass a website block/filter, simply enter that websites IP address in instead of the actual site address.

20. Screw with Wifi Leeches

Nobody likes a wifi leech. At best, they’re simply using up your valuable bandwidth. At the worst–and far more likely, they’re stealing your identity and watching your activities. After watching your network and identifying the leech, use this trick to flip their browser upside down and let them know you don’t appreciate the intrusion.

http://tech.nocr.at/hacking-security/baffle-wifi-leeches-with-an-upside-down-ternet-2/

21. Hexadecimal and Binary Number Systems

Everyone knows the normal, everyday digit system used. It takes a special–possibly psychotic person–to also know hexadecimal and binary number systems.

Here is an excellent interactive tutorial on learning the two systems: http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/index_tj.asp?objID=DIG1102

22. How to Hot Wire a Car

If your family always turns to you any time their computer hiccups, their DVD player needs fixed, or their home security system doesn’t activate, it’s only a matter of time before someone asks you how to hot wire a car. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to answer them?

To learn this unique skill, read here: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Hot_Wire_Your_Car

23. Increase Wifi Range

With so many small portable gadgets gaining more and more sophisticated web browsers, in addition to gaming systems like the PSP and DS, getting the most use out of your wifi is practically a geek necessity.

Here is a good guide on extending your wifi’s range: http://www.mavromatic.com/archives/000451

24. Carrying a Computer Cleaning Arsenal on Your USB Drive

A good geek prepares for their friends stupidity. No matter how many times you tell them to stop downloading porn, they keep doing it until their machine is so infected it can’t drag itself into a grave. An arsenal of portable malware cleaners, a portable task manager, anti-virus, etc, will make those impromptu purging sessions all the easier.

25. Running an Operating System from a USB Thumb Drive

Most people don’t even understand what the magical operating system is. As a geek, you should transcend that basic knowledge and have a small operating system on your thumb drive handy for those times you need computer access but don’t know the password to a nearby computer.

http://www.pendrivelinux.com/

26. Understand What “There’s no Place Like 127.0.0.1″ Means

A lot of geeks wear this shirt as a short hand code for their computer finesse–or maybe just to screw with other people who stare but cannot figure out what it means. No matter the reason, if you’d like an answer, check out the link below.

http://www.tech-faq.com/127.0.0.1.shtml

27. Read 1337 At Normal Speed

Sure, everyone knows about it and it’s no longer cool, but if you’re going to proclaim yourself as a geek, you should be able to read it full speed. Who wants to choke in front of the wannabe that learned to read it full speed and flaunts it in your face?

http://www.wikihow.com/Read-and-Write-in-1337

28. At Least One Fictional Language

And not only should you know a fictional language, but you should use it to say something about yourself. Do you choose Klingon or Quenya?

Here’s a list of constructed languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_constructed_languages

29. How to Survive in a Linux Argument

Linux is gaining an all around higher standing in the geeksphere, and it’s bound to enter a conversation at some point (which will invariably end up turning into an argument). If you want to keep up, you’ll need to understand the basic points of Linux, as well as the general info of all basic things.

Here’s a good place to read and gain a foothold: http://www.linux.com/articles/feature/

30. Identify Major Constellations

For those times you venture from the air-conditioned, computer filled basement of your parents house (or something like that), look up at the stars and have yourself a Galileo moment. The stars may just be dots to many people, but with the handy website below, you’ll be stopping man-belts and lions in no time.

http://www.sky-watch.com/astronomy-guide/major-constellations.html

31. Use a Camera in Manual Mode

Sure, you could just use auto mode like everyone else too afraid to learn what some letters and numbers mean, but then you wouldn’t be much of a geek, would you? The oft-ignored dial on a camera is the key that unleashes the best quality photos possible, and every geek should be a whiz at using one.

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-camera-modes

32. Who Mulder and Scully Are

It seems that in the plethora of geek websites, there always appears a joke about Mulder and Scully, the two main characters from the X-Files. If you don’t know who they are, you’ll be left in the dark, alone, contemplating what exactly it was you were doing in the 90′s that you wouldn’t understand the joke.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulder_and_Scully_(song)

33. Javascript

HTML is running the world (not really). Everyone knows some HTML and it makes them feel empowered. As a geek, you want to transcend that basic knowledge others share and know a little more. JavaScript is the answer–it is easy to learn if you’re not actually interested in web programming, but simply curious, and it looks scary to anyone who doesn’t know it.

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/javascript/basicjavascript.html

34. How to Unlock an iPhone

Sure, most geeks wouldn’t be caught dead with an iPhone, but what about your friends? You’re the smart techie, they’ll expect your to know how to unlock it.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/137223/how_to_unlock_an_iphone.html

35. How to Install Mac OS X on a PC

Just because you don’t want Mac on your PC doesn’t mean you shouldn’t know how to do it. Knowledge is power, right? Go ahead, use this to stump your friends and family.

http://dailyapps.net/2007/10/hack-attack-install-leopard-on-your-pc-in-3-easy-steps/

36. Build a PC

If you purchase a ready-made PC, you can be sure of one thing–you’re paying more than you should. Assembling your own PC isn’t too hard, and is the first thing you should be aiming to accomplish as a geek.

Here is a massive article on assembling your own PC: http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

37. Tethering a Smartphone

Nothing like a little wifi on the move, eh? Tethering a smartphone means using the Internet on your laptop/netbook via your cell phone. Of course, the method to do this depends on your phone, but here’s an article to get your started:

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/2276/smartphones_bb_treo_tether_modem_usa_carriers/

38. Wiring a Home Theater System

Home theater systems used to consist of a TV and a chair. Gone are those days of simplicity, however, and setting up a modern system can be pure mind-boggling horror. Where does the modulator go, why does the DVD player have no video and the cable box no sound?

Here’s a tutorial, including excellent diagrams, to show you how: http://www.prillaman.net/ht_info_8-wiring.html

39. Replacing a Laptop LCD

Laptop LCDs are vulnerable to many different mishaps: accidental pressure spots, shadows, airsoft pellets…. No matter, there will come a point when you need to swap your LCD for a new one. Now, as a geek, you probably don’t have an extended warranty. If that’s the case, here are some excellent pages and pictures on replacing the display:

http://www.fonerbooks.com/laptop_4.htm

40. Make a Laptop Cooling Pad

Can you believe these cost $50?! A geek will need one, because data crunching/DVD ripping/videos playing/rendering at the same times tends to cause excess heat. Instead of shelling out your hard earned dollars, make your own like so: http://www.instructables.com/id/Lazy-mans-laptop-cooler/

41. Unleash a Laser Pointer’s full potential

A normal person uses a laser pointer to drive their dog crazy. A geek uses it to melt butter for their grilled cheese sandwich. To unless a laser pointer’s full strength, crack open the case, fry the resistor with a hot soldering iron, then snap it back together and keep it away from flesh/eyes/airplanes. The pointer will burn out after a few hours, but what a fun few hours they will be.

Note: this is dangerous. Don’t do anything stupid.

42. Keyboard Shortcuts

This will depend on your operating system and the apps you use, so there’s no tutorial available. However, that is irrelevant–you’re a geek, you can find them yourself. Shortcuts are the difference between a slow computer user and a geek. The geek will always will out in a speed contest, because they do practically everything from their keyboard.

43. Soldering Glasses Together

Nerds use tape on broken glasses; geeks use solder. ‘Nuff said.

44. How to Execute a Shell Script

If you’re a true geek, you’ll need to do this at some point. Below are instructions on how to do so. Remember: always be cautious when running a script, you don’t want your computer to turn into a door stop, now do ya?

http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp/scrpt/scrpt1.2.html

45. How to Hack a Pop Machine

Okay, so stealing isn’t cool. Still, hacking is simply a misunderstood art, right? So hacking a pop machine isn’t really stealing, because it’s not about the pop, it about the pleasure of getting your way. Or something like that. (Newsflash, it is illegal, don’t do it.) If you want to try your fingers at getting a free Coke, check out this link:

http://skattertech.com/soda-machine-hack/

46. Turn a Laptop into a Digital Picture Frame

So you want to show off pictures of your dog and that girl you once met, but you want to do it in an uber geeky way. Any schmuck can go to Walmart and buy a digital picture frame for a grossly inflated price. But you…oh, you’re too smart for that. No, instead you’ll find an old laptop on eBay for $5 and turn it into a true work of art.

http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_picture_frame.html

47. How to Mod a Flash Drive Case

All the geeks are doing it…. Whatever. The case your flash drive came in is probably weak and most certainly plain. Why not jazz it up with your own unique style?

Here’s one such case mod, and dozens of related projects: http://www.instructables.com/id/Metal-USB—Flash-drive-case-mod/

48. Do Cool Things to Altoids Tins

People are obsessed with these things. Altoids tins are durable, small, and just begging to be filled with LEDs, mp3 players, audio amps, and maybe some snuff. A good geek will find millions of uses for these little metal wonders. If you need a mental boost, however, here’s some interesting links:

http://www.squidoo.com/altoids-tins

49. Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital Audio Files

If your geekhood started in the 90′s, then you probably have a least a few (dozen) cassette tapes still sitting around. Why not breathe digital life into them before they fall ill to mortal fate?

http://lifehacker.com/software/mp3/alpha-geek-how-to-digitize-cassette-tapes-222394.php

50. Lock Your Computer with a USB Drive

You don’t want anyone getting into your files while you’re gone. A normal password would be enough to keep most people out, but what if you got super-secret X files on your computer? You can lock your machine down with a USB drive via these instructions:

http://lionjkt.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/how-to-lock-your-computer-with-usb-drive/

51. Run Your Own Ethernet Line

Wifi has taken the place of a wired connection in many homes, and with good reasons–you can go anywhere, no cables necessary. What about those…sensitive…activities that you’d rather the neighborhood script kiddie didn’t see on your wifi? An Ethernet cable is your solution.

To wire your own Ethernet, hit up this link: http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

52. Set Up a Streaming Media Server

With digital files becoming the ultimate medium, many people have hundreds of gigabytes worth of music, videos, and pictures. You could keep them on a portable hard drive, but then you’re have to take it everywhere, and only one person could use it at a time. The solution is a streaming media server, something no geek can live without.

http://www.n00tz.net/2008/07/vlc-media-server-ubuntu-hardy/

53. Setting up a VPN

If you’re like most geeks, you can’t live without your computers. They store your life in some poetic fashion, holding files you feel a personal connection with…. Anyway, if you are at work and suddenly realize you left an important picture at home (or you need blackmail material pronto), having a VPN ready to go will save you big time.

http://www.computernetworkinghelp.com/content/view/41/1/

54. Turn Webcams into Security Cameras

Is someone stealing your Netflix DVDs? Do you suspect it is a fat hairy man in his boxers taking them each morning? If so, you can get your proof using a couple webcams and a bit of software.

http://www.simplehelp.net/2006/09/27/how-to-use-your-pc-and-webcam-as-a-motion-detecting-and-recording-security-camera/

55. Control Your House Lights with a Computer

Controlling the lights in your house via computer is a great way to freak out the neighborhood kids ding-dong-ditching (assuming you wire up a Halloween scream motion sensor, also). If you reasons are less nefarious, you simply use it to turn on and off lights without having to life ye butt from thy seat, which is a good reason in itself.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Control-lights-in-your-house-with-your-computer/

56. Play Retro Games without Retro Consoles

This applies to the geeks who enjoy gaming. Setting up an emulation PC on your TV is a great way to relive those games of old.

57. Put LEDs Inside a Lightbulb

The days of hot incandescent and mercury-laden fluorescent are gone, and in are the days of long lasting, low heat, low consumption LEDs. As any good geek, you want to be able to say “I was doing X long before it became mainstream.” Here’s your chance–the following link will show you how to put an LED inside a lightbulb, something sure to stump your friends the same way Grandpa’s ship-in-a-wine-bottle used to stump you.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/06/make_a_led_bulb.html

58. Create Music with Keyboard

How awesome is KeyBored? This little app gives all of your QWERTY keys a piano note. When you type, it sounds like an infant monkey punching a keyboard. If you’ve got some musical chops, it won’t take you long to figure out the Star Wars theme or find a hidden musical message in Counter Strike control buttons.

http://agdoa.net/ [edit:link updated]

59. Make Your Office Ergonomic

Face it–you spend a lot of time at your desk. You might even have a few extra pounds and pallid skin to show for it. While those things are temporary, far to common and more serious is the carpal tunnel, eye strain, and back problems you’ll develop from having a poor workspace.

Hit up this link to create a body-friendly workspace that will keep you limber and flexible: http://www.ergotron.com/tabid/305/language/en-US/default.aspx

60. Adding a Third Monitor

Studies show that dual monitor increase work productivity by 30%. As a geek, you’ll need a third monitor to equal the dual setup of a layman (if that makes sense). While any hack with a VGA port can add a second monitor, it takes a true geek to add a third (or more). This will vary based on graphics/OS, so hit up Google for a tutorial or two.

61. How to Convert a DVD to x264 (or XviD or DivX)

It might seem like child’s play to you, but many individuals do not understand the fine art of converting a DVD into a digital file, let alone the careful skills it takes to achieve a happy balance between size and quality.

Here is an excellent tutorial demonstrating how to rip a DVD with the multi-platform free software Handbrake: http://howto.diveintomark.org/ipod-dvd-ripping-guide/

62. Flash System BIOS

Ya gotta do it some time, so stop putting it off and man up. Flashing the BIOS on your laptop might seem scary (as it should–fear keeps you on your toes and prevents mistakes), but it’s not (actually, it is, but if you even understand why you need to do this, you’ve gotta have at least a few chops by now). Warning–you can seriously bork your computer doing this!

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1605

63. How to Irrecoverably Protect Data

TrueCrypt, my friends. Learn to use TrueCrypt. If you have ask why, you don’t need it.

64. The Fastest way to Kill a Computer

It’s said that you have to get into a killers mind to understand their weaknesses, right? Same goes for the unfortunate boobs who always kill their laptops. Here’s a list of all the different ways you can accidentally kill a computer–arm your family and friends, and save yourself grief (because it’s surely you they will call when something goes horribly, horribly wrong).

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1720

65.GK for every drunken Geek

Describing the advantages and disadvantages in various alcoholic drinks

http://www.aagneyam.com/blog/?p=797

66.Microsoft Network Monitor

Microsoft Network Monitor is a network protocol analyzer that lets you capture, view, and analyze network traffic. Version 3.3 of Network Monitor is available in 32- and 64-bit versions

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=983b941d-06cb-4658-b7f6-3088333d062f&displaylang=en

67.Windows Sysinternals Suite

The Windows Sysinternals Suite is a set of advanced tools for troubleshooting issues with Windows-based computers. These tools were originally developed by Winternals Software LP, which Microsoft acquired in 2006.

http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/SysinternalsSuite.zip

source: http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1wM5MV/www.aagneyam.com/blog/?p=466&utm_source=ffp&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=ffp/r:f

Optimizing Your Site for Search Engine Marketing

2010-07-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

For millions of websites, publishers, and online businesses, search is still the king. While social media may have the media's attention and Twitter and Facebook are garnering a lot of the hype, search still trumps them when it comes to driving traffic and being discovered by potential new customers.

Because of the importance of search traffic to online business, there is an entire industry dedicated to improving websites' visibility in search engine results: Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

SEM is a complex topic that focuses on search engine optimization (SEO), but also includes the use of paid advertising and contextual advertisements in order to bring a website's articles or product pages to the top of search engine result pages (SERPs).

While I could write dozens of articles on the art of search engine marketing and SEO, I'm going to focus on some of the key issues and best practices for optimizing your site for search.

Defining SEM

Before we dig into search engine marketing, it's important to note that not everybody agrees on the definition. This has caused confusion among search professionals for years.

Essentially, there are two ways of defining SEM: either it is an "umbrella" term that encompasses SEO, paid search, contextual advertisements, and paid inclusions, or it only covers paid advertising, inclusions, and search and is separate from SEO.

Organizations such as Forrester Research and the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization believe that SEM is an umbrella term that encompasses both SEO and paid search. For the purposes of this article, I'm using that definition.

Making Your Website SEM-Optimized

Defining SEM is fine, but what matters is this: what simple things can you do to make your website search-optimized?

With help from Chicago-based SEO consultant Carolyn Shelby, currently the Web Experience Manager at the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago, I've come up with a short list of tasks that can quickly boost your website for SEM.

1. Familiarize yourself with SEO: The most important component of search engine marketing is making your site easily discoverable in search results, and that requires a basic understanding of SEO. You don't have to buy a book or take a class on the subject, though: SEOmoz has a fantastic beginner's guide to SEOthat will get you up-to-speed.

2. Grade your website: Hubspot offers a tool called Website Grader, which will provide you with a quick assessment of where your website is optimized for SEM and where it is not.

3. Make the quick fixes: While you could spend months optimizing your website for SEM, make sure to get the little things out of the way first. Focus on what Website Grader says you're lacking (e.g. meta tags, keywords in your title tags, etc.) and then go from there.

4. Use SEM-optimized CMS software and plugins: Unless you're a large company with the money and need to customize every aspect of your website, you're likely using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress,Drupal, or Zen Cart. The good thing about using one of these tools is that they come optimized for search engines.

Do your research: choose software with good SEM features and a plug-in system so you can enhance it. For example, WordPress has the All in One SEO Pack, a great plug-in for optimizing your website. If you run an ecommerce website, Wikipedia has a good comparison of SEO features for different shopping cart software.

5. Test your PPC and landing page strategies: Another major component of search engine marketing is PPC, or Pay Per Click advertising. By putting your ads in search engines, you can drive traffic to your website. Even if you have good SEO and organic search, paid placement still helps. However, that's only half of the story: you need to convert those visitors into customers or regular users.

It's a smart idea to test which keywords and advertisements drive the most traffic (keep track of the stats), and it's just as important to track what happens once those visitors arrive. Google offers tools such as Google Analytics to help you track those visitors and see whether they are staying on your site or bouncing away.

6. Inbound links are still king: This quote from my discussion with Carolyn Shelby really stood out to me:

"I would love to say that the most important thing to get a site to rank well is having superior content, or standards compliant HTML, or even a magic percentage of certain keywords, but I can't. Unfortunately, you can overcome a lot of really basic flaws with any website if you have enough inbound links (with the right anchor text) pointing at the site."

The truth of the matter is that inbound links are still the top way to boost your rankings in search results, so partnering with other websites, asking for links, and creating great content that others want to link to should be your top priority.

This Is Just the Beginning

These tips will only help you get started. Search engine marketing is a constant process that requires trial-and-error and self-education. People stay on websites because of great content or great products, but if they can't find it, it's essentially useless.

I think Carolyn Shelby sums it up perfectly:

"The most important thing for people to know/remember is that a well optimized site provides a solid foundation for all the other promotion/advertising/marketing efforts you put into building your brand and building your traffic."

reprint from: openforum

30 Things to be careful of when doing SEO

2010-07-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

Hidden text – Create modern CSS based websites with JQuery effects. They often hide large portions of text in layers to display them on click or mouse over for usability reasons. Example: CSS pagination.
IP delivery – Offer the proper localized content to those coming from a country specific IP address. Offer the user a choice though. Shopping.com does a great job here.
301 redirects – Redirect outdated pages to the newer versions or your homepage. When moving to a new domain use them of course as well.
Throw Away Domains – Create exact match micro sites for short term popular keywords and abandon them when the trend subsides. Something like tigerwoodssexrehab.com
Cloaking – Hide the heavy Flash animations from Google, show the text-only version optimized for accessibility and findability.
Paid links – Donate for charity, software developers etc. Many of them display links to those who donate.
Keyword stuffing – Tags and folksonomy. Keyword stuff but adding several tags or let your users do the dirty work via UGC tagging (folksonomy) every major social site does that.
Automatically generated keyword pages – Some shopping search engines create pages from each Google search query and assign the appropriate products to each query. You can do that as well if you have enough content.
Mispsellings – Define, correct the misspelled term and/or redirect to the correct version.
Scraping – Create mirrors for popular sites. Offer them to the respective webmasters. Most will be glad to pay less.
Ad only pages – Create all page ads (interstitials) and show them before users see content like many old media do.
Blog spam – Don’t spam yourself! Get spammed! Install a WordPress blog without Akismet spam protection. Then create a few posts about Mesothelioma for example, a very profitable keyword. Then let spammers comment spam it or even add posts (via TDO Mini Forms). Last but not least parse the comments for your keyword and outgoing links. If they contain the keyword publish them and remove the outgoing links of course. Bot user generated content so to say.
Duplicate content on multiple domains – Offer your content under a creative Commons License with attribution.
Domain grabbing – Buy old authority domains that failed and revive them instead of putting them on sale.
Fake news – Create real news on official looking sites for real events. You can even do it in print. Works great for all kinds of activism related topics.
Link farm – Create a legit blog network of flagship blogs. A full time pro blogger can manage 3 to 5 high quality blogs by her or himself.
New exploits – Find them and report them, blog about them. You break story and thus you get all the attention and links. Dave Naylor is excellent at it.
Brand jacking – Write a bad review for a brand that has disappointed you or destroys the planet or set up a brand x sucks page and let consumers voice their concerns.
Rogue bots – Spider websites and make their webmasters aware of broken links and other issues. Some people may be thankful enough to link to you.
Hidden affiliate links – In fact hiding affiliate links is good for usability and can be even more ethical than showing them. example.com/ref?id=87233683 is far worse than than just example.com. Also unsuspecting Web users will copy your ad to forums etc. which might break their TOS. The only thing you have to do is disclose the affiliate as such. I prefer to use [ad] (on Twitter for example) or [partner-link] elsewhere. This way you can strip the annoying “ref” ids and achieve full disclosure at the same time.
Doorway pages – Effectively doorway pages could also be called landing pages. The only difference is that doorway pages are worthless crap while landing pages are streamlined to suffice on their own. Common for both is that they are highly optimized for organic search traffic. So instead of making your doorway pages just a place to get skipped optimize them as landing pages and make the users convert right there.
Multiple subdomains – Multiple subdomains for one domain can serve an ethical purpose. Just think blogspot.co or wordpress.com – they create multiple subdomains by UGC. This way they can rank several times for a query. You can offer subdomains to your users as well.
Twitter automation – There is nothing wrong with Twitter automation as long as you don’t overdo it. Scheduling and repeating tweets, even automatically tweeting RSS feeds from your or other blogs is perfectly OK as long as the Twitter account has a real person attending it who tweets “manually” as well. Bot accounts can be ethical as well in case they are useful no only for yourself. A bot collecting news about Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake would be perfectly legit if you ask me.
Deceptive headlines – Tabloids use them all the time, black hat SEO also do. There are ethical use cases for deceptive headlines though. Satire is one of course and humor simply as well. For instance I could end this list with 24 items and declare this post to a list of 30 items anyways. That would be a good laugh. I’ve done that in the past but in a more humorous post.
Google Bowling – The bad thing about Google bowling is that you hurt sites you don’t like. You could reverse that: Reverse Google bowling would mean that you push sites of competitors you like to make those you dislike disappear below. In a way we do that all the time linking out to the competition, the good guys of SEO who then outrank the ugly sites we like a lot less.
Invisible links – You’d never used invisible links on your sites did you? You liar! You have. Most free web counters and statistic tools use them. Statcounter is a good example. So when you embed them on your site you use invisible links.
Different content for search engines than users – Do you use WordPress? Then you have the nofollow attribute added to your comment links. this way the search engine gets different content than the user. He sees and clicks a link. A search bot sees a no trespass sign instead. In white hat SEO it’s often called PageRank sculpting. Most social media add ons do that by default.
Hacking sites – While crackers hack sites security experts warn site owners that they vulnerabilities. Both discover the same issues. Recently I got an email by someone who warned me to update my WordPress installation. That was a grand idea I thought.
Slander linkbait – Pulling a Calacanis like “SEO is bullshit” is quite common these days. Why don’t do it the other way around? The anti SEO thing doesn’t work that good anymore unless you are as famous as Robert Scoble. In contrast a post dealing with “100 Reasons to Love SEO Experts” might strike a chord by now.
Map spam – Instead of faking multiple addresses all over the place just to appear on Google Maps and Local why don’t you simply create an affiliate network of real life small business owners with shops and offices who, for a small amount of money, are your representatives there? All they need to do is to collect your mail from Google and potential clients.

Optimize Your YouTube Social Media Marketing Campaign for Maximum Traffic For Your Site

2010-06-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

One of the Best Social Media Marketing Strategies one can implement, is to get targeted traffic from YouTube.

Here are a few things to consider when using YouTube in your marketing strategy.

1) Add Keywords to Your Video Title

By adding relevant keywords to the beginning of your video title you actually assist search engine spiders to find your video and rank it higher in search engines. Remember when someone searches in YouTube for a video they are entering keywords and having your keywords in the beginning of the title helps.

You do this for your website pages then why not for your video campaigns ? Same principle applies.

2) Add a Reason to watch the Video in the Title Image

Think about it, if the image you see is not appealing would you yourself click to watch the video? Probably not. So why not make the image appealing, to make the person want to click on the video to see what it is about.

What you can do is use Windows Movie Maker ( imovie for Mac owners ) which is free with windows XP and add an appealing Image at the beginning and at the end of the video, enticing them to wanna see the video.

3) Add an Informative Description for your video along with Contact Info

You already have a great image and you can take it further. Add relevant description for the video letting viewers know what the video is about and how they can benefit by watching it. People need a stimulus and you need to provide it to them.

You may also want to provide a URL and an Email for people to be able to contact you in case they want to. Always make it easy for viewers to reach you.

4) Add a Reason to Visit your Site at the end of the video

Now that they’ve watched your video and liked the information you had to share, don’t leave them hanging. Entice them with a reason to visit your site for even more information. Add your site URL preferably a deep link to the relevant page letting them know how to reach your site. Whats better is if they hear you speak your reason to visit your site spelling out the site URl helps !

Dont just ask them to visit your site for more information, give them a reason to visit your site. Clarify what other information they can get at your site. If you can add a free offer.

Source:http://www.ramitnarang.com/blog/smo/how-to-optimize-your-youtube-social-media-marketing-campaign-for-maximum-traffic-for-your-site/

Local Website

2010-05-26T13:00:00.000-07:00

Many people make certain errors when launching themselves into the world of the internet. Below are just 5 of the most common.

1. Assuming Your Customers Behave Like You

Just because you go to the blogosphere before you buy any products or services doesn't mean that your target audience does. Conversely, you might be a 70-year-old dentist, and you think the Internet is just a fad. You need to think the way customers think and figure how they find businesses. No matter what your mom told you, in this case, don't be yourself.

2. Not Knowing Your Limits

You can create your own Web site, do search engine optimization (SEO), and run your own pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, but to do these things right, you need to spend an appropriate amount of time on them. That means that the five minutes you spend monthly on your PPC campaign may not be enough. You're wasting money that could just as well go to pay someone to take care of your local online advertising for you. Think hard about whether you'll make an ongoing commitment to optimizing your advertising campaigns. If not, maybe the best thing to do is go with the pros.

3. Assuming Web Site Aesthetics Equals Web Site Success

You may think all the frames, flash, and images you've put on your Web site look great. Unfortunately, that great stuff is all but invisible to the search engines. Search engines want only the facts. Not only that, they can't see the pretty pictures. So if your site is one big image, no search engine points for you.

4. Creating a Web Site That No One Visits

If you build it, they will come, right? Wrong. Just because you have a Web site doesn't mean anyone will go there. To get people to your site, you need to drive traffic -- whether that means using SEO, PPC, e-mails, banners or other tools. Give people a road and put them on a bus; then they will come.

5. Making It Difficult for Potential Customers to Contact You

You'd be surprised how many local business Web sites we see that don't even show the phone number. Or the contact information is buried deep down the Contact Us page. Your phone number (or however you want your potential customers to contact you) needs to be large and in charge on your Web site. Throw an easy-to-fill-out form on your page, too. That way potential customers who don't want to call still have a way to contact you.

There are many more things that we see, but these are the most prominent. If you don't have the time (or energy) to develop this kind of website then give us a call!

source:http://smb.informationweek.com/

Five Rules for Responsible Social Marketing

2010-05-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

BY FC EXPERT BLOGGER DAVID LAVENDATue May 11, 2010

“I am baking cream cheese cupcakes this morning.”

A colleague of mine tweeted this and got a message within a few minutes that said something like:

“Become a fan of Brand X cream cheese”

Now, wait a minute. Where did that come from?

Unfortunately, we can expect a lot more of this in the future. I say “unfortunately”, because this is clearly bad for business. At worst, it will erode the power of the social channel; at best, it will become the social equivalent of email spam – essentially transparent clutter in our inboxes. With Facebook’s and Twitter’s new “publicity” policies, most people’s conversations are now exposed to those willing to pay for them. These are not “privacy” policies, because you automatically agree to share your information, unless you manually opt-out. First of all, how many people truly understand the issue, and second, how many know how to opt-out? Not many on either account.

Why is this bad for business? To paraphrase Henry L. Stimson, a U.S. statesman, “nice people don’t read each other’s correspondence.” This means eavesdropping on conversations, or snooping on email, Twitter, or Facebook posts. Since most people are not aware that they are being followed; they will be shocked and pissed when they find out.

So practice responsible social marketing. Here are some of my own guidelines:

Don’t connect with people beyond the context of the relationship – if people sign up on your website to get a monthly newsletter, don’t assume you can send them a message every week with your latest announcements.
Social outreach needs to be subtle – use Twitter and Facebook to create real communities where participants get value for participating. Pummeling prospects with ads or product pitches through these channels is inappropriate. Recently, I see more and more companies following me on Twitter. I don’t really think this is a good thing.
Respect people’s privacy online, even if you don’t have to. It is one thing to follow someone on Twitter, it is another thing to mine Tweets to build a prospect list. Just because I tweet that I am baking cream cheese muffins, doesn’t mean I want to be a cream cheese fan. This is really tricky, because this type of outreach can be a good way to find people who share your interests, but you need to be careful. Err on the side of caution. The price of pissing people off is high when you are playing with your organization’s brand equity. Even if you don’t agree that this is inappropriate, others might. Would you like to see your “campaign” exposed in popular blogs as an example of inappropriate marketing behavior
“Social” means that interaction is two-way. Connect in ways that don’t trigger “fight or flight.” When you join a community, listen at first to understand the conversation, and then join the ongoing thread. Don’t try to divert the conversation to your agenda. How many times have you seen people join a LinkedIn group and immediately send out blasts offering their professional services? This is such a turnoff. Would you actually hire someone like that?
Approach people in a respectful manner – how do you feel when someone on an airplane eavesdrops on your conversation, and then butts in with comments? It is no different online. Letting people know how you reached them, and providing a context for why they might be interested in interacting with you, is not only good manners, it is good business.

As always, I would like to hear about others’ experiences and hear more suggestions.

Top 10 online marketing mistakes

2010-05-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of research lately on what it takes to cut it in this always growing, always changing on-line game called marketing. Most say to get on twitter, Facebook, and any other social media that you can find. But, is this enough? The short answer is no, just being there and calling on the field of dreams incantation, “If you build it, they will come” simply doesn't work. Below is a good list of blunders that on-line businesses tend to make, hopefully this will help you and get your marketing going faster.

If You Build It They Will Come. How will they know you have built it? Print your web address on anything and every thing that you market with. Use a signature when posting to blogs, replying to emails, etc that have your address prevalent.
Fear of Conversation. Just because you have a Facebook or a twitter account doesn't mean leads will fly at you. You have to build a conversation with people and get them to trust you.
Insular Thinking. Your target audience is not in your “bubble”. Reach out to people that are not in your circle to gain a better market stance.
Ignoring the Search Engines. This is one of those catch-22 things, you build a site for customers, NOT SEARCH ENGINES, but at the same time if the search engine can't see it what good is it? This is where avoiding flash and non-standard web languages where possible.
Being Stagnant. A website should be relevant to today or at least this month. Always update the site as often as possible, it you aren't updating people will think that your information is out of date and go somewhere else.
No clear conversion mechanism. Do you have your email/phone #/etc prevalent on all of your pages? The idea behind a website is to drive a sale!
No real follow up system for the leads a site generates. Do you answer inquiries? If not customers will go somewhere else.
Sites targeting product numbers and industry terms rather than what people are looking for. This goes hand in hand with #4. Don't build a site for search engines or for special cases, build it for your market.
Assigning Internet marketing tasks to the companies “tech person”. You know how to fix a computer you must know how to rank a website. WRONG!
Not doing quality link building and digital PR. Get involved with the community that you serve and begin building relationships that can give you reciprocal links, get the name out there, but be weary of purchased links and get it quick gimmicks. This takes time!!

For the full article see http://seoaware.com/2010/05/13/common-online-business-mistakes-michael-gray-alan-bleiweiss/

Top ten mistakes of web sites

2010-04-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

What is your biggest pet-peeve when you visit a website? Mine… Music that auto plays. Although this drives me nuts, the consensus is that this is not bad enough to make the top 10. So what are the top ten mistakes that WebPages can make? Below is a conglomeration of the web developing community’s opinion on the matter, in no particular order.

Slow load. Whether it is due to poor design or bloated tables, images, etc slow loading pages will make your bounce rate closer to 100%. No one wants to wait 1-2 min while your cool graphic loads to read the information they want.
Landing pages. There is nothing worse than being greeted by a message “please wait” while a flash intro loads. A user is looking for content not a flashy video telling how great your site is. Further, this landing page does nothing for your SEO efforts having no crawlable content.
Wall of text. Users don’t want to read your latest novel. They are looking for information and they want it quick. Make text easily scannable, and break subsections with headers to allow the user to find the information they need.
No Contact Info. So… whose site is this? If you want to lose business or drive it away leave a phone number/ address/ email off of every page. The drive of any commercial site should be CONTACT US, but with no contact info… yeah.
Busyness. So where is the content? I only see the 5 flashy ads, but no information... Almost as deadly as the wall of text is the busyness of a page. If the pages are not consistently clean and direct the user to the content they need an overhaul.
Alternate content. Whether a PDF, video, etc, loading alternate content breaks the flow of the user’s navigation. A rule that I always design with is “If it can be text, it should be”.
Readability. White text is OK, but not on a light blue background. There are uses for 6 and 8 point font, but not as content text. If you have trouble reading the text, what makes you think that a user will be able to read it, or want to?
Over Advertising. What is the site about, the ads or your content? In most cases, ads are ok, but should be limited to as few as possible and should be outside of the main content so that it does not interrupt the user’s search for content.
Over use of new technologies. This has been the downfall of flash sites, too much use and not well done. JavaScript can also get there. As a general rule don’t use something other than HTML or CSS to do what they can do by themselves.
Uninformative information. Blah, blah, blah… Does your site say a lot and nothing at the same time? Websites are supposed to answer questions for clients. If you have pricing use it, if you have special cases tell them about it. In general don’t leave your potential customer guessing and going somewhere else.

SEO… SE-shmo … what is all the hype about?

2010-04-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

SEO… SE-shmo … what is all the hype about, I have a website that’s enough for me. WRONG! Unless you only want people that can remember your website address you need to do at least some basic SEO. Some of the easy things that you can do include keywords, and meta-data. So, what is SEO anyway? Search Engine Optimization is the process of making changes to your website to make them show up better on search engines. There are two main camps of SEO “black hat” and “white hat” and everything in between. Black-hatters use deceptive means to try to rank higher like having a webpage specifically written for spiders that is completely different than any user will see. White-hatters on the other hand use common practices and common sense in tandem to improve your site’s content and keywords so that the users can find the information that they are looking for. In general the Big three (Google, Yahoo, Bing/MSN) frown on making changes just to improve your ranking on the search engine without improving the user’s ability to find what they are looking for. This point is actually one of the main reasons that Google is changing their algorithm. In short, if it doesn’t allow a potential customer/user to find the information that they request then don’t do it!

At Next Step Computers we run a custom program over your site to determine a score based on best practices. For example, does your site have keywords listed in the meta-tags that are actually on the page itself? Just because you shove a bunch of words in the meta-tags, doesn’t make them KEYwords in the eye of search engines. There are also many free tools available that will tell you bits and pieces of the information that you need to accomplish a good SEO. One of the best tools comes from Google, Google Webmaster Tools. There are many others, but through Google you can access a community that will help you with questions, the tools will give you information on true keyword usage on your site, etc.

How to Hire a… Web Developer!

2010-03-31T08:08:00.000-07:00

One of my business associates shared with me an article titled “How to Hire a…” from Good Housekeeping's march 2010 the other day. This article touted “Find the right fix-it pro for those jobs you can’t (or don’t want to) do yourself.” The article listed Electricians, plumbers and a few others, but no mention of a web developer. So here is my take on what you should be asking a web developer before you hire them.

Web Developer

What is included in the service? Does a certain amount of SEO come included with the design? What about analytics? Is the site written in HTML, CSS, or simply an image?
What other sites have you done? Ask for a portfolio, this will give you an idea of the work that the developer is capable of and as with any artist they will be happy to show off their work. Be wary of developers that do not have a portfolio.
What guarantees do I have that the site will be functional? What is the developer’s policy on upgrades breaking code, or accidental deletion of a page? How much will they charge to fix a problem?
What other things will I need to make the site functional? Be careful when a developer doesn’t ask you about your hosting situation at the get-go. An integral part of making your site functional is hosting (ie where the files go for the web to see them). This will be needed for your site to be used.
Is there a written contract? Does the developer have the terms of the development written out so that there are nothing is hidden and time-tables are known? Verbal communication is great, but if it’s not in writing it won’t stick. Get all agreements in writing so that both sides are held accountable.

Now, let me answer these questions from Next Step:

What is included in the service?

We have 4 basic packages, each including Search engine friendly pages (basic SEO) and creative customized design. All of our sites are designed in HTML with CSS for visual effects, and php for processing. Our Bronze includes 5 customized pages and free content placements. This is the most basic design. Next our Silver package includes 10 customized pages and 1 hour free updates after launch. This is great for small businesses! Our Gold package includes 20 customized pages and 2 hours free updates after launch. This is a great start for small e-commerce websites. Lastly our Platinum package includes 50 customized pages and 5 hours free updates after launch. This is a great start for larger e-commerce websites.
Our hosting packages include email, mailing lists, Google, Webalizer, and Awestat analytics.

What other sites have you done?

We have a complete portfolio on our website (http://nextstepcomputers.net/portfolio.php) that shows a wide variety of designs.

What guarantees do I have that the site will be functional?

We guarantee our work till the end. If there is a coding error that has been caused by something other than the customer going in and changing it, we will fix it at no charge. This includes server upgrades, and accidental deletions.

What other things will I need to make the site functional?

As always, a website host will be needed to make the site functional. We require a host that supports php, mySQL, and recommend it be a Linux/Unix platform for most functionality. We offer affordable hosting options for those who do not already have hosting. This info can be found on our website (http://nextstepcomputers.net/hosting.php).

Is there a written contract?

Yes, we believe in informing customers up front about all the requirements and the performance time expected for each project. We go over the contract before we begin work.

Now, there may be more questions that you personally would ask, but this is a good starting point.

Pictures are good ...right?

2010-03-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

   My morning has been spent looking at websites as usual, but one thing I noticed is that a lot of sites have too many images or they are poorly optimized (if at all) for displaying on the web. This, as I have posted before, reduces the performance of the site making it load slower. This, in turn, causes potential customers to bounce. This is not good for business, nor the customer!

   Another flaw that I have seen is the website that is basically a Photoshoped image that has been exported as HTML and called a page. This may look great and exactly how you want the site to appear, but it is basically a ghost to the search engines. This is a HUGE problem, because as I posted earlier 85-90% of your traffic will come from a search engine. So, if the search engine cannot see information on your site, you automatically loose 85-90% of your potential customers. Having said this, there are ways that you can make the site more friendly to search engines, but the best way is to reduce the image to a minimum and use text where possible and CSS for design. The most important part being your contact information and a description of what you do.

   If you find yourself in this predicament don't panic, SEO! The basics of SEO will only help you, but will not be enough on their own. These basics include complete meta-tags and compelling content. Now, if this is Greek to you, hire a web developer (not designer) to complete these tasks for you. Once you have the information, the process is very quick and straight forward. Any good web developer will know the questions to ask you and know what content is needed to complete a basic SEO once looking at your site.

Social Media... huh?

2010-03-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

In my business networking group BNI, I have been bring in the point that social networking sites are the future of search engine rankings and everyone should get involved before they are left behind. BUT HOW? Yeah, this is good information, but how is it accomplished? It involves a little work every day, not just creating some static content and forgetting about it.

The biggest advise that I can give… Participation is required, and not only that, it will be what gets you noticed. Sure it may seem like a pain at first and that you won’t get there in a day, but the longer you participate and become an active member in the groups that you participate in the better you will be. This is the same idea as a group in the “real world”, just like my BNI group. If I am not there for an extended period of time no one will know me and more than that the membership committee will inform me that my spot has been opened for another professional in my line of work.

The next thing that I want to stress is don’t be a pest! Link spamming, asking a million questions, retweeting everything you see, etc is a sure fire way to get ignored. Everyone is busy, most (like you) probably have only a short time to devote to catching up on things and answering the few questions that they can then it is back to the rat race! You don’t need to comment on every item that you see, choose a few a day and take the time to really apply yourself. One liners and pointless “you’re dumb” replies will get you ignored real quickly.

Overall think of social media as another business networking group that needs your time and energy to be effective. All the rules apply in a physical group as a digital one. Flaming is looked down on, foul or profane language is not advised, and in most cases dominating conversation is a no-no too. If you wouldn’t do it in your physical group, why would you do it in a digital one?

Website Secrets Revealed Part 8

2010-03-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

8. The last point in this series is Content. Does your site have relevant content that is both compelling and informative? No? Simply having information on your website doesn’t make sales. A website should lead a potential customer to purchase. Get your in-law to look over the site and see how well they can navigate and get the information you have requested them to look up. You want to get someone that is in your target audience to review the site for the best return. Above all, check spelling and grammar!

Website Secrets Revealed Part 7

2010-03-18T10:23:00.000-07:00

7. You have a great website… now what? Just because you have a website doesn’t mean they will come (sorry for the field of dreams reference). The question on most people’s minds when visiting a website is “how credible are they”. If you are not credible then your potential customer will bounce. One way to improve this is to offer the customer ways to contact you. Provide a mailing address, telephone number, Skype account name, etc to show your customers that you can be reached. There is nothing worse than purchasing something from a website then trying to get a hold of the seller when something goes wrong. Make this process painless for customers and detail your return policy and privacy statement clearly on the site.

All of Next Step web design packages include contact pages that show your contact information prominently and a design that showcases your company information on every page. Also included are the privacy and policy pages. You have to simply customize the information from our basic outline to make it yours.

Website Secrets Revealed Part 6

2010-03-12T07:32:00.001-08:00

6. Would you go to a sporting goods shop looking for groceries? What about the grocery store to find that outfit for your big date? NO! Then why do websites try to sell everything under the sun? That being said, you can sell a lot of products, but the more products the harder it will be to maintain navigation and speed.

This is why we need focus when designing a website. Each product should have its own page devoted to it focusing on its attributes. It is also a good idea to cross promote using things like “others have also purchased…” or “these accessories would increase functionality…” and list the products. Be careful to not bombard potential customers with meaningless ads, but subtly suggest they buy more.

Website Secrets Revealed Part 5

2010-03-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

5. 85-90% of the traffic that comes to your site will be from search engines. Sites like Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, etc will index your site (if you tell them it exists) and allow users to find you. With this in mind, why not make it easier for the search engines to index your site?

Some will say that Keywords are dead, but that is not entirely true. Keyword usage is part of the overall ranking system that makes up you search engine score. The big thing here is using relevant keywords to the page; do not stuff irrelevant keywords into the Meta tags (some search engines are said to dock you points if you stuff). Each page should have its own relevant set of meta tags that are optimized for that set of information.

The most commonly overlooked tag is the title, do not forget that the title tag will be the wording for the link on the search engine. Do not simply use titles like ‘home’, or ‘products’ instead use ‘Next step computers – Take your business the next step, Quality Web Design ~ Affordable Pricing’ or ‘Next Step Computers - Take Your Business the Next Step, website design packages’ . Here I have used our tag line in the title.

Website Secrets Revealed Part 3 & 4

2010-03-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

3. Jumping off of #2, a site need simple navigation. Gone are the days of the flashy splash page that forced a user to wait and view a video or ad before your page loads. The more time it takes a user to find the information that they want the higher their bounce rate goes. That said the navigation should be intuitive not just a list of everything that you do on a separate link. Group like products or use expanding menus to allow users to easily find what they are looking for. If a user/customer is anything like me they will bounce in less than 10 seconds if they can’t find what they want easily.

I you would like to see examples of our work and clear navigation go to http://nextstepcomputers.net/portfolio.php.

4. Do you know who you are selling to? The typical response is “EVERYONE!”, this is just flat wrong! If you are looking to sell to everyone you have no focus or target market. Sure you may get some people if you toss out a big enough net, but that too shall pass. In web design you need to know who you are selling to sometimes more than in a brick and mortar store. If you plan on selling to teens/young adults your site can be more colorful and vibrant with lots going on. On the other hand if you are going b2b (Business to Business) your site should be clean and formal with lots of straight edges and compartmentalized. If you get this wrong you turn away your target. You can try for a happy medium, but you will lose in the end.

As a business, Next Step Computers targets b2b relationships that need web design and hosting. Our target audience is 30-50 year-old small business owners that need to “Take the next step” to the internet. We offer packages that compartmentalize the information that we need to get across and use a basic color scheme to cater to the business world.

Website Secrets Revealed Part 2

2010-03-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

2. Customers are looking for familiarity. They look for logos, trade symbols, etc when going into a ‘brick and mortar’ shop, why would a website be any different? Keep the look of your site consistent from page to page, making sure that the navigation and information area remain in the same general area. This will assist the customer in focusing where you want them to focus. If you change it up too much a customer might think that they left your site and someone or thing is hijacking them. Only use alternate colors to accent areas of your site.

Our websites use CSS and html templates that allow pages to be easily added in the future. This also allows for easier updates to the site. If you would like a free consultation on your website please call or send us a message.

Website Secrets Revealed Part 1

2010-03-05T08:51:00.000-08:00

What are the secrets of the super sites? Why do some sites succeed while others fail? As A business owner you should be asking yourself this daily. Over the next few days I will be posting some tips for building (and maintaining) a better web site.

1. If customers can not at least begin to read about your product in under 10 seconds, they will bounce (leave your site). To minimize your load time, keep graphics small. Compress them where possible. Use flashy technology (Javascript, Flash, Streaming Audio/Video, animation) sparingly and only if it is important to your presentation.

Quite a few "web designers" will use a program that will convert an image of the site into smaller images of the whole to make up the site. This means a couple things, slow load time and low search engine recognition. You can tell these sites when you try to copy and paste something and you can't because it is an image.

Our websites use CSS and html with as little javascript and flash as possible to make load times almost instantaneous. If you would like a free consultation on your website please give us a call or send us a message.

Working Hard

2009-05-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

Just updated my BNI member profile and learned about some great social networking sites. Here are the links to all the ones that I am a member of:

I knew about several of them, but others like ecademy seem really busy... I don't care for busy sites. I am preping for a presentation Tuesday Morning at 7:00am at the Hof Brau Restaurant for BNI.

Showcase

2008-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for the business expo, a brand new event presented by the Oroville Chamber of Commerce, FRRPD and the City of Oroville, scheduled for Wednesday, April 9 at the Municipal Auditorium in Oroville. The event is all-day, and is designed to promote the Oroville area, spotlight local businesses and provide networking opportunities to both exhibitors and guests. Admission is free to the public. It has been tiring to say the least. One good thing that has come of it is the refining of the services that I have to offer.

I am designing commercials, yes I can do that too, to run in loop for the show that include or touch on each of the services that I offer, a long list I might add. They are 60- 70 sec spots to highlight what I do graphically.

I am also putting together, well ordered already, a newsletter that by the way you can find here: http://nextstepcomputers.net/index.php?p=newsletter. I am including it in the next issue of the chamber newsletter and I will have copies on hand at the expo. In these newsletters we will be featuring one aspect of our services, supplementing our website. This will allow all subscribers to get to know all of the many areas of services we offer. In this issue we are advertising our giveaway at the expo, Free Custom Website or one year Search Engine Optimization.

So if you are in the Oroville, Thermalito, Palermo, Kelly Ridge, Area and are interested in some Free services, stop by and enter.

_____________________________________________________________

Brad Hays, Owner/Technician
Brad@NextStepComputers.net
PO BOX 207 Palermo, CA 95968
(530) 533.8005

www.NextStepComputers.net
___________________________________________________________________

For more information or to register see the attached press release and Exhibitor Agreement, visit www.orovillechamber.net or call 538-2542.

Spring Ahead

2008-03-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

To have your computer change the time for you, just double click on the clock icon (located in the bottom right hand corner of your desktop) and select the Time Zone tab. Under the map that is shown for the different time zones, there is a checkbox that says "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes." Check that and you'll be all set!

You'll then have one less clock to change when you have to spring forward or fall back! Your computer is there to make things easier for you, so why don't you let it do this for you? It's a very cool feature that you can easily put to good use. Of course, the next time change is coming up this Sunday, March 9, 2008, so you might as well get your computer ready now. Do it today!

Optimizing Your Registry

2008-03-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Statistics have shown that 94% of computer registries have problems that may affect system performance. Many people don’t know what a registry is, much less how to fix one that has become damaged. A damaged registry can lead to slow program performance, frequent error messages, slow start up times, and an unstable system overall. Keeping the registry clean can be challenging but understanding what the registry is and how it is used will bring you one step closer to keeping your system at peak performance.

So, what is the registry?
Simply stated, the registry is the collection of settings and preferences used by your computer that are stored in registry entries and files. In the registry you will find information about the hardware and software on your computer, including what programs are installed, what hardware you are using, and the customized settings you have defined for each.

How do registry problems occur?
There are many things that can cause registry problems. The most common is something many users do on a regular basis: install or uninstall software. As software is added or removed, registry entries and files are also added or removed to support the program. Unfortunately, when you uninstall some programs (such as trial download software) registry items can be left behind. These relic files and settings can conflict with other items in the registry, and lead to damage and possible corruption. Other reasons for a damaged registry include embedded spyware and adware, as well as outdated or unused drivers.

What do I do if my registry is damaged?
Even a new system can have problems in the registry. Most users will experience sluggishness or poor performance. Other users may not be able to start Windows at all. Some users may not experience any outward symptoms until the problems compound, leading to system instability further down the road.

Fixing a damaged registry can be done manually by editing the registry entries or reinstalling the operating system. However, the number of registry entries can be huge and editing them confusing and risky. Reinstalling your entire system is very time consuming and not an effective way to keep your system in shape. The quickest and easiest way to protect your registry and system is to use a registry cleaner during regular computer maintenance.

from Trend Micro User News | Spotlight Feb '08

Old Computers and Credit Information

2008-02-29T09:09:00.000-08:00

If you have an old computer you're thinking about giving away or just throwing out, STOP!

Think about it - you wouldn't toss paperwork with credit card, bank, or social security numbers in the trash without shredding the heck out of 'em would you? Of course not! However, day in and day out, people toss out old computers and think that just deleting or formatting a drive is going to get rid of all the personal info they had on it - not a chance!

When you delete a file, it's not really gone. YES - You read that right! The area where the file sits on the hard drive gets tagged as free space, but until it's overwritten, that data is VERY recoverable. I formatted a test drive and ran recovery software on it awhile ago just to see what would happen. Nearly EVERYTHING was easily recoverable! No problem at all! Recent studies show that 74% of hard drives sold or given away contain data that can be easily read and recovered - and 36% of those hard drives had even been reformatted! Scary Stuff!

If you've ever used your computer to check on your banking, buy a product online, or anything that involves your personal info, then that info might be easily available when you get rid of your old hardware! Yikes!

Don't think it can happen to you? Well, two MIT students did a study. They went and purchased 158 used hard drives for less than $1000 from a web swap-meet type site. When they went through the drives, they found over 5,000 credit card numbers, medical reports, lots of personal and corporate financial information, and gigs of personal e-mail. And get this - 60% of the drives had been formatted!!!

There are people who look for old computers at the curb or in the dumpster just to pull info off the hard drive or sell the drives to others! Plus, if you just "donate" an old computer you have no idea what really is going to happen to it! If this doesn't scare the heck out of you, then you shouldn't be using a computer!

It is a very simple process to wipe your drive. Don't think this wont happen to you.

Speed Up Your Computer For Free

2008-02-22T23:54:00.000-08:00

Do you know that most of the computer slowdown problems can be resolved by performing a few simple PC tasks?

We will show you some of the common reasons for slow computer problems and what you can do to avoid them and speed up your computer.

Computers usually slow down due to one or more of the following:

*Large, fragmented, corrupt and slow registry.
*Too many startup programs unnecessarily feeding on your system resources and CPU.
*Virus or spyware infections.
*Cluttered, filled up, and fragmented hard disk.

Registry problems usually happen when a large amount of unwanted, invalid, and obsolete data within it. This causes the registry to grow to a very large size, which, in turn, corrupts and fragments its files. A large, bloated and corrupt registry slows down, and as a result slows down your computer. To combat this problem, you may use a reliable registry cleaner tool to regularly scan the registry and remove unwanted data from it. Using a registry tool, you can also defrag the registry which enables you to compress and reindex its files to speed up registry data access time.

Excessive usage of CPU and other system resources by unwanted startup programs is also a major cause of slow PC performance. To decrease CPU usage and speed up your computer, you need to disable unwanted programs to launch at startup. To do this, perform the following steps:

* Run the msconfig command to display the System Configuration Utility dialog box. On the Services and Startup tab, clear the check boxes of all programs and services you do not want to load at startup. While doing so, you must be careful to not disable programs and services that are essential for your Windows system.
*Delete unnecessary program shortcuts from the Startup folder in Start menu.
*Press Ctrl + Alt + Del to open Task Manager. Here, on the Processes tab, close all programs that are running unnecessarily on your computer. (This is a temporary operation that helps you free up the CPU and other system resources while your PC is operational.)

To prevent computer slowdowns due to virus and spyware infections, it is important to take measures to prevent these malicious programs from infiltrating your system in the first place. You can do this easily with the help of reliable antivirus and antispyware tools. You must always keep these tools updated with the latest definitions. It is a good idea to opt for tool that comprises the automatic or live update feature. It is even better, if your antivirus and antispyware tools have the real-time protection feature. Enabling this feature will provide you with real-time protection against virus and spyware attacks.

Finally, you must use the Disk Cleanup tool regularly to remove unwanted files and data from your computer. You can use this tool to get rid of unwanted Internet Explorer and Program setup files, clean the Recycle Bin, uninstall no longer required programs, and delete old system restore points. After cleaning up, you can use the Disk Defragmenter tools to restore the contiguity of the hard disk data and optimize it for high-speed performance.

This information was found here