Daily Internet Guide

Young Europeans prefer the Internet over TV

Bean — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 05:06:18 +0000

Poor old television has just lost to the Internet according to a survey released by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA). Apparently, a majority of the 7,000 survey participants in 10 European go online between five and seven days a week. Only 77 percent watch television just as often with 48 percent saying that their TV consumption has been reduced because of the Internet. A European teen spends an average of 11.9 hours of Internet time every week. 32 percent of the respondents cite the e-mail as particularly indispensable. Participating countries were Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

I wonder what the results will be like in the rest of the world. I guess it must be the same. I myself don�t even watch TV anymore. And if I do access my TV, it�s to watch DVD�s. Ask me about the recent TV commercials and I won�t be able to answer you. I even get my news over the Internet.

Source: Yahoo! News

“w00t!”

Brian Yalung — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:28:11 +0000

Thanks to gamers from all over and l33t-speak (that�s hacker language for the laymen out there) shout — “w00t!” — has just been named as the “Word of the Year” by the Merriam-Webster Online Web Site. According to the Merriam-Webster Web site, the word �w00t!� (spelled with two zero�s instead of two letter O�s) is an acronym for �We owned the other team,� but is mainly used as an interjection to express joy, most especially in the case of triumph.

Such as other coded languages, l33t-speak was developed for exclusivity so as to make it harder to detect hackers� online conversations. And as the nature of speakers of coded languages, despite the popularity of “w00t!,� I�m sure that these guys have moved on and have coined another term to substitute for it. But I�m sure that whatever that new term is, it would eventually get out of its exclusivity and may even be the next catch phrase of 2008.

Source: Yahoo! News

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Hosting

Frank — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:04:30 +0000

If you want to run your business effectively, knowing your customer in and out is important. That’s were Microsoft Dynamics CRM Hosting plays its key role. Microsoft CRM helps to proficiently consolidate customer information and correspondence, thus identifying business projections and capturing workflow. Microsoft Dynamics CRM creates a centralized repository of customer data.

Benefits of using a Microsoft Dynamics CRM hosting

o Microsoft CRM automates repetitive tasks, guides users on next steps, sends e-mails, and raises alerts for open items

o Dynamics CRM builds customer or lead lists, create targeted marketing campaigns, track the progress of those campaigns, and follow up on campaigns.

o It allows marketers and salespeople to send out e-mails to targeted lists and track response.

o Microsoft Dynamics CRM hosting allows you to centrally manage all aspects of a service request, from logging and dispatching to tracking and follow-up.

o It allows fast data search across large volumes of customer data that help users find the information they need.

o Microsoft CRM includes a sophisticated scheduling engine that helps you sell and schedule services to customers.

o It allows auto-fill of name and date fields, and next-step recommendations that speed application use and improve worker productivity

o Microsoft CRM can be customized according to the business needs.

o It allows creating custom reports that are accessible from within Microsoft CRM through an e-mail subscription service or over a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server site.

All in all, if building relationship with your existing and future customers is important and effective for your business, then it’s worth investing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. You can also evaluate CRM without purchasing by using any of the application hosting providers.

Advantages of SharePoint Intranet

Frank — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:51:58 +0000

In any big organization, keeping oneself updated on things happening around is difficult —be it about some change in the company policy, arrival of new projects, so on and so forth. Hence, a centralized place where all employees in an organization can keep themselves updated is undoubtedly requisite. And this is where SharePoint Intranet plays its significant role.

SharePoint Site used for internal use by an organization is an Intranet website, with a centralized location for company policy documents, project information and data. Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) for intranet hosting ensures that all employees can access the changes in policies and procedures and project work changes. SharePoint intranet software enables them to collaborate on a project, track changes to documents, and access the latest information and data.

Benefits of using Intranet Hosting using SharePoint Server 2007

• MOSS SharePoint Intranet hosting allows to keep yourself updated on crucial information
• SharePoint Intranet enables sharing of ideas
• It helps for speedy communication
• SharePoint Intranet allows easy accessibility of documents
• Managing grouping meetings and schedules is effortless using SharePoint Intranet
• SharePoint Intranet includes an assortment of collaboration methods and tools that makes life easier for employees and employers equally in an organization

SharePoint Intranet hosting easily designs, deploys, and manages corporate internet websites. It amalgamates very well with Microsoft Office applications. It helps users to share information and work in teams, manage workflow to avoid process variations, calendar sharing, notifications and alerts to team members for better coordination, Outlook integration and instant messaging. Intranet hosting provides private logins for employees to securely manage access to the company intranet

Go and Do A Mouse-click Away

Frank — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:00:06 +0000

I believe in the power of information technology. I remember a time when my father told me of a story about how he ended up on his first job. He was an above average student with a good character and pleasing personality. Job hunting was never a source of anxiety for him, especially with all referrals about him going to the right people. He ended up with a job in a prestigious government project back in the 70s. However, 20 or so years later, he commented that with his credentials and outstanding character references he could have landed in a prestigious government project…abroad.

It is suffice to say that we are a blessed generation with all the necessary tools to get connected and stay in touch with pretty much any part of the world. The world wide web has exposed conspiracies, built vast business kingdoms, and even won wars. Never has information technology had such a great impact in lives of people and nations as a whole. How I used it in my life, however, is not nearly as dramatic. I consider myself a voyeur of the world as it passes me by. Surfing local and international directories is a past time. Some of my favorite sites to visit are the New Zealand travel and Australia business directory, Europe vacation guide, and Africa safari tours. You can search and connect to thousands of businesses daily. Mailing lists, domain names, and web hosting facilities are also readily available in some of these sites. I never feel a lack of data when the necessity, or “itch”, arrives.

Don’t change your ‘.com’ for local search

Frank — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:04:17 +0000

One of the first things most SEO experts recommend doing when their clients want to target local search with their search engine optimisation is to buy a local domain. It’s a very easy way to declare your locality. Changing from a generic to a local domain, however, can mean you have to build up your site history from scratch – not an attractive option.

Never fear. There are ways to build your locality without having to dump your ‘.com’ domain. Some of these are more complicated than others, and you can discuss this with our team at www.seoconsult.co.uk

Why a ‘.com’ puts locality into question

Generally, ‘.com’ domains tend to indicate an international or a US-based domain. The extension is specific to the US, but has been picked up over the years by so many international websites that it has come to indicate an international site that may or may not be targeted at America. Plenty of companies buy up the ‘.com’ version of their domain name when they want to create a multi-national image.

The trouble with purchasing a ‘.com’ domain isn’t that you’re targeting the wrong country, but rather that you’re failing to target your own. It’s a missed opportunity. Extensions give you the chance to firmly tie your site to your locality, as local domains are only available if you follow certain rules. The search engines are aware of these rules and take them into consideration accordingly. Essentially, having a domain name that is linked to the country your website is hosted in gives you an automatic tick in the ‘locality’ box.

When you can’t ‘.co.uk’

Not everyone can afford to swap their ‘.com’ to a local domain. If you’ve spent time building up your site, it might not be worth it – or if your brand is a global one with customers worldwide then you will be better off staying as you are. However if you feel that you would benefit from more localisation, here are some things you can do to help your local search engine optimisation:

1. Contact information. It is essential to have some local contact information on your site. Linking your ‘contact us’ page will enable the search engines to reach your locality information easily. Make sure you include your address and directions in written format, rather than on a map.

2. Off-page local SEO. There are possibly more ways to get local with your off-page SEO than generally get attention. There are lots of local review sites and local directories that you can take advantage of if you’re trying to enhance your local feel. Look around for the major ones in your area, and don’t forget to check out their rankings.

3. Talk with the experts. It’s often helpful to communicate with those providing reputable SEO services when you’re in a tricky spot with SEO. Setting your geographic target with Google and updating your language region can be extremely helpful when you want to target your locality.

IE10 Microsoft Trying to get the Browser Market Back

Frank — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:24:05 +0000

The browser war has been going on for quite some time and Microsoft has had it’s share of wins and loses. This also goes for the rest of the group who have been plagued by bugs that always seem to come out in a game ruled by Microsoft. Microsoft’s Windows operating system is till one of the most used operating systems on the planet and with a majority of computers running it, it comes natural that the rest of the pack can only follow suit with what that specific company is doing.

Seems like a game of cat and mouse with Microsoft always trying to keep the edge. Their latest player, IE10 the latest installment in the so-called browser wars which has been ruled by Firefox in the past few years. Will it be a better browser, time will tell for as with all things on this earth, time is the determining factor for it will tell us if it makes or breaks their efforts to regain their hold on the browser market.

Getting Started Using What You Already Have

Frank — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:05:21 +0000

Here is a success story shared by a good friend of mine. She owns a struggling apparel shop in the town market, where human traffic abounds but buying capacity for trendy clothes is often very low. The business has been operating for 10 months when she decided to take a leap of faith and rent a tiny space in the local shopping mall. The lease is, of course, much higher but she hoped to find more customers there who could “afford”. Sales did increase, but sad to say profit was at an all time low due to the high cost of rent.

Fortunately, there was an internet shop in front of her’s that provided fast internet connection. She created a website for her shop from a selection of distinctive domain names. Her business was plugged online and started to be advertised on popular social networking sites. She was doing her own marketing using connections to friends and family, and to local groups within the area. Soon, more people started visiting her shop, which in turn brought in even more traffic. Shortly after, she started on other ventures using her existing shop and marketing strategy.

This story is one of the many I’ve heard over the past few years. Having your own business space may often times not be enough. Getting connected online and linked to other marketing websites may be the key to having a more successful business. It can also lead the way to other ventures once your existing business has been established.

Compliance and Oracle’s Identity Manager

Bean — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:26:33 +0000

Oracle recently released its latest version of its software, Identity Manager. For those who are new to this, it’s a user provisioning and administration software application that enables companies to update, upgrade, and add or remove user accounts from other applications and directories. Oracle states that the latest version of Identity Manager improves compliance since it provides “granular” reports which identified which users has access to specific data and other pertinent and sensitive information – which has always been a challenge for companies who wish to meet “regulatory mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley, FFIEC and PCI.”

SOURCE: Internetnews

How video content can benefit your SEO

Frank — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:25:39 +0000

Video is not the optimal content for search engine optimisation. Quite simply, the search engines have trouble dealing with it. It’s much harder for the search engine spiders to interpret anything about video content, and when something is hard, it is quite possible they won’t even try. If video is such a difficult thing, you might think it best to leave it off your site altogether. Bad move.

The sort of audience video content can attract makes it a great addition to your SEO. Although videos may be well nigh impossible for the search engines to examine, they are very appealing to internet users. As time goes by and more types of sites feature video content as a matter of course, it is becoming important for all site owners to consider this type of content as part of their search engine optimisation plan.

Video forms

The world of video is a far broader one than text. Most websites can’t get away with text that is too far outside of their usual content style. A casual, friendly blog, for example, will have difficulty suddenly featuring serious instruction. A professional site will not be able to get away with a witty story.

As long as your video maintains a certain level of production standard, you can do just about anything you want. If you’re stuck for video ideas, talk to our consultants at www.seoconsult.co.uk.

Don’t forget to optimise video

Although the search engines can’t really read video content in the same way they can read text, they do interpret it to some extent. It’s not just a black hole as far as the search engine algorithm goes. When posting video content on your site, it’s important to optimise it and the text around it.

1. The video itself. Search engines have trouble with images, but love text. It is thought that the search engines can at least see the subtitles within a video. This makes optimising the text within your video a must. Make sure that the title screen of your video, titles within the video and any bullet points presented during the video are all optimised according to your search engine optimisation plan and included in any SEO services you sign up to.

You also need to ensure that your video file name contains keywords, or at least references the video in an understandable way. Naming your video ‘vid-Mar-90’ may help you keep track of your files, but it won’t do much to help get traffic in.

2. The text surrounding the video. As there is little you can do to optimise your video content, it’s vital that you make the best use possible of the text surrounding it. This means writing excellent SEO titles, descriptions and even presenting a text transcript file for download when appropriate.

3. Use of the video off pages. It’s always a good idea to use your content to the full extent of its ability. With video content, the danger of duplicate content issues is gone. Posting on YouTube and other video hosting sites can get you extra coverage.