RSS feeds are a great communication medium, and when properly managed, web feeds can bring in significant Internet traffic. RSS feeds should contain compelling themed content with episodic titles that are united in common broad theme. Use RSS feeds as an online marketing and search engine optimization tool. Just as optimizing an HTML web page will increase exposure, so too will an RSS feed that is properly optimized and promoted. Use these simple tips to improve your web feed exposure.
Channel Title
The channel title in your RSS feed is one of the most important aspect. The channel title should be keyword rich and contain information related to the general theme of the RSS feed. In order to maximize compatibility with RSS readers, it is best not to include any HTML in the channel title. The channel title is a website visitors first glimpse at the RSS feed, so its important to make an impression and attract the interest of casual browsers. Additionally, many of the RSS feed directories and search engines use the information contained in the RSS feed's channel title and description to index the feed. In order for the feed to be properly categorized, it is important that the information contained in these fields be relevant to the contents contained in the feed. If included at all, the blog, brand, or company name should be at the end not the beginning of the RSS feed channel title.
Channel Description
The channel description field provides an opportunity to expand on the broad theme of the RSS feed. The channel description should contain related keywords and phrases, but it should be written to capture the interest of readers not search engine spiders. HTML can be used to decorate and emphasize specific text in the description field. In summation the channel description should provide a compelling overview of the RSS feed's contents.
RSS Feed Item Titles
The item titles should be 50-75 characters with spaces. In order to increase readability and compatibility with news readers, the RSS feed item titles should not be encoded with any HTML. Think of an RSS feed item title in the same way that you would a webpage title. The RSS feed item title is your opportunity to capture the interest of your reader. Really an RSS feed item title is nothing more than a headline. The most effective item titles are calls to action that grab the readers attention. Include pertinent keywords or keyword phrases in the items title and this will help any individuals doing deep feed searches for specific content.
Optimize RSS
Optimize all aspects of the web feed. While the feed should be optimized for search engines, using the same techniques a webmaster uses on a website, the optimization should not be at the readers expense. The content in an RSS feed is often what leads readers to click or not click through. Readers will judge RSS feeds on the quality of the content. This means that grammar and punctuation do matter. Consistent grammatical errors will reduce the writers credibility and the number of subscribers.
Anchor Text
Using RSS feeds, publishers have the unique opportunity to determine the anchor text that will be used to link to internal website pages. RSS feeds are often syndicated, and even more often compelling feed items will often be re posted by other publishers. With that in mind, when including links back to a website in the item description field, use anchor text that is a relevant keyword or phrase. Anchor text is one factor that search engines use in determining a website's ranking for specific keywords and phrases.
Number of Feed Items
Routinely prune the old items in an RSS feeds and archive the content contained in the feed to ensure that feeds load quickly in RSS readers. If you are using a third party service to host your feeds, keep in mind that FeedBurner will truncate or not display RSS feeds that it finds to be too large.
Heading Tags
If you are displaying an RSS feed as an HTML web page it makes sense to use H1 or H2 tags to display the RSS feed's item titles. If the RSS feed is optimized, the website will benefit from the keyword emphasis by using the header tags.
RSS Feed URLs
As with HTML web pages, the URLs contained in an RSS feed should contain keywords if possible. Use hyphens not underscores, to separate the keywords in the RSS feed's URL.
Add an Image
Consider adding an image to your RSS feed to enhance its appearance in an RSS reader. The image should be no large 144x400 and it is recommended that the image be 88x31. Most RSS readers will display the feed image above the feed contents, this is a great way to reinforce brand and establish brand recognition. Additionally you can add images to the RSS feed's description field. In all cases, it is important that the full URL to the image be referenced, because if the feed is syndicated it will report a broken image if its attempting to retrieve it locally.
Some of the RSS feed directories use the feed's website favorite icons to flag the RSS feed. The RSS feeds containing a favorite icon stand out from others in the directories so be sure to include a favicon in the domain's root directory. RSS feeds are a great marketing tool, but like web pages, they must be optimized so that you can reap the full marketing benefits. Taking the time to implement some basic optimization tips will steadily increase your RSS feeds exposure.
Selasa, 24 Maret 2009
Improved RSS Feeds
Getting Rid of Spyware
To do away with spy-ware, you need to be aware of what spy-ware is. Spy-ware is a program that is set up in your PC and it trails whatever you do, at any time you are online surfing the Internet. It then transmits info back to the starting place and displays to you banner advertisements, which are derived from what websites you surf. The majority of spy-ware is packaged in software that is free of charge, which you download from the Internet. You will be able to tell whether the software which you have has got spy-ware or not, since you will observe a banner ad in the web browser, which is not usually there, or else you will come across pop-ups presenting you services or products at any time you surf.
Spy-ware can fill up the computer’s memory and then force your computer to operate slower, and at last, will make the computer freeze. Hence to do away with spy-ware you need to locate it in your PC. A software that can assist you with this difficulty is Ad-ware. Perform a search for this software on www.Google.com and you ought to come across a website from where you can download it.
Run this software and observe what it comes across. Then start the computer once again and run the software once more and observe if it locates any extra spy-ware. If it finds a spy-ware yet again, then perform a search online on www.Google.com for “Spybot Search and Destroy”. Perform the identical steps and observe if you again have spy-ware. If you have it, then restart your PC in safe mode then start both the software once more. This time the PC will go through all the files and ought to locate other spy-wares, which could not be located previously.
After the software finishes running, reboot your PC, run them all over again, and then go online and look for up to date versions for the software. If up to date versions are obtainable, download them and re-run the software to find out and delete any latest spy-ware.
If you would like to do away with spy-ware and prevent it from coming back to your PC, you ought to purchase a spy-ware program CD from a computer store. After you have this you will be allowed to enroll to the facility that will give you up to date information. If the program deduces that a spy-ware is in the PC, it will make you aware and will delete the impostor.
You ought to make use of any of these techniques to locate and delete spy-ware since it will make your PC operate in an incorrect manner. In case you would not prefer to make use of one of these software and would not want to download programs from the Internet, then you ought to inform anybody else who utilizes your PC not to do the same thing also.
Antispam Organization Out There That's Fighting For You
There's an antispam organization out there that's fighting for you and could use your help.
CAUCE, the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, is an all-volunteer global entity that began as SPAM-LAW, a group brought together for discussion only. They put all their efforts into getting legislation passed that would help stop and penalize spam.
CAUCE has no treasury and no offices. Completely virtual, the organization exists on the Internet, in newsgroups, and online discussion lists. Donations are not accepted because the CAUCE founders and members believe that would necessitate having to respond to numerous lobbying regulations.
CAUCE is now soliciting members, however. While the grassroots of the organization began in the United States - in San Francisco - there are chapters in other parts of the world as well, such as CAUCE Canada, CAUCE India, CAUBE.Au, which covers New Zealand, Australia and all Pacific Rim countries; and Europe's EuroCAUCE. CAUCE can boast more than 20,000 members in the U.S. alone, with all states represented. Even American Samoa and Guam have antispam proponents who have jumped on the CAUCE bandwagon.
CAUCE makes use of their membership list and each member's individual information in one way only. They give that list to the relevant legislators to further the cause of antispam legislation. The purpose of this is to let these legislators know how many voters in their area are concerned about spam and the need for antispam legislation.
To join CAUCE you simple provide them with your full name and e-mail address, your mailing address, your congressional district, and choose a password.
If you don't know which congressional district you are in you can determine that by visiting http://www.house.gov/writerrep. Here you will be asked for your state and zip code. Not only will this tell you your district but it will also give you your legislator's name as well as a feedback form to write to her or him should you so desire.
CAUCE has been gaining national and international recognition as they battle for legislation to stop, curtail and punish spammers. As long ago as 1998, CAUCE went to congress to spur on antispam legislation, which did make it to the floor but was never passed. The latest attempt, again quashed, was a bill requiring spam tagging.
This bill would have forced convicted spammers to note on their messages some clue in the subject line that would tell folks that the message they received is from a convicted spammer. The law didn't pass, nor was it supported by CAUCE. CAUSE and legislators both agree that the law would have been spineless, lacking enforceability. They agreed that those who were already breaking the law by spamming were not likely to comply with some new law that said they had to notify people they were spammers.
The CAUCE web site, http://www.cauce.org, lists its hall of shame. Here you will find sites that have been known to send or support, or at least fail to block spammers. At this writing there are only six sites listed.
Checkouts & Security: Your Web Host Is Key
From a commercial site owner's perspective, the checkout is the most rewarding of all site pages. It's the reason the site was built - to generate sales. Smooth, hassle-free transactions.
Unfortunately seven out of ten visitors who place an item in their carts never complete the sale. Many times, the problem lies in the site's checkout - its look, feel, security and most importantly, its ease of use.
Your web designer and host should offer a tool box of checkout solutions free, or at preferential pricing. Your web host should also provide the server security you want and need.
What Do Potential Buyers Expect At The Checkout?
The same thing they expect in a brick-and mortar outlet. Convenience, no long lines, security and politeness. So, how do these visitors' needs translate to a site's checkout design?
Convenience:
Numerous payment options are a convenience. Naturally, any site must accept credit cards - the big ones, any way. But what about PayPal, electronic bank transfer or how about an old-fashioned, hard copy check or mail order? The more ways to pay, the more sales are made. And a one-click checkout option for regulars boosts sales even more.
No Long Lines
Clear, easy-to-follow directions on every check-out page. And limit the number of checkout clicks and checkout pages.
Security
And plenty of it. Buyers expect complete, secure encryption of their transactions. They want to see the padlock lower-right, the http s in the address box and an SSL secure logo. Or no sale.
Politeness
Checkout copy that's reassuring. The ability to back out to previous pages and a follow-up thank-you/confirmation e-mail are all ways of demonstrating commitment to customer care.
Checkout Apps
Checkouts are available as separate applications that simply bolt on to your site's back office. Some of these checkouts are open source, while others cost a few bucks.
osCommerce is an open source application that's under constant development by experts from the ecommerce community who volunteer their time to refine this free and fee-free software. It's a great option for start ups - simple interface, straightforward administrator's console and compliant with all site servers - a critical consideration.
MIVA Merchant 5 comes in at the other end of the checkout spectrum, providing numerous checkout options, a feature rich administrator console, sales metrics, visitor tracking and many more features.
Most web hosts offer open source checkouts as part of their applications libraries, a real money saver when first starting out. And upgrading to a more sophisticated checkout is easy for the site owner and the hosting service.
Web Hosting and Checkout Security .
If you've been in business on-line for a year, you have a great deal of sensitive data stored on your web host's server. Names, addresses, credit card numbers - a veritable treasure trove to any script-kiddie or cracker. The information collected during the buyer checkout process must be secure for the sake of your business and for the sake of your buyer's confidence in your enterprise.
Regardless of whether you opt for an open source checkout or spend big bucks on the out-of-the-box supermall edition, your web host should provide site security in several ways.
SSL Certification
In order the take credit card payments, sites must be SSL certified and receive an SSL ID code.
Any reputable site host supports SSL certified secure connections. So, if you subscribe to a shared hosting package, in which you share server space with other sites, you'll be able to use the host's SSL certification to accept credit card payments through your site. There shouldn't be a charge for this since the host must have the SSL cert any way.
Is There A Steel Cage Around Your Checkout?
If a site accepts credit cards and uses other payment options (PayPal, Paystation, etc.), it must be secure. Now, a site owner can (and should) install quality software on the business system, but that's just the beginning. What kind of security does your hosting service offer?
Sensitive customer data, names, addresses and credit card numbers, make small sites attractive targets to hackers. And since this sensitive data is stored on your business system and your host server, that web host better have state of the art security on its shared and private servers.
And not just one layer of protection - a firewall and virus zapper. To protect the business and keep check-out transactions private, web hosts require multiple layers of security to protect against a variety of digital malpractice: brute force attacks, wardriving, malware injections and other forms of server intrusion.
Today's most advanced (and reliable) security is capable of defending itself automatically, detecting suspect incoming data and diverting it before it even reaches the host server.
Sure, any site owner must locally defend against intrusion with top-flight malware protection installed on the office computer or network. But without a secure server, the doorway to the www is wide open and anyone can walk in.
Downtime
Another important feature to consider when searching for a hosting service is downtime. When an on-line enterprise suddenly finds itself off-line due to a server malfunction, you might as well close up shop until the problem is solved.
Regardless of what checkout application you employ, from low-cost open source to high-priced tools that do it all, a host that can't deliver reliable, consistent service is going to cost money in downtime.
What kind of reliability should you expect? 99% plus. That's right, almost perfect uptime. Today's technology makes 99% reliability achievable. And that's what any site owner should expect from a hosting service.
The Bottom Line? Your Bottom Line.
When looking for a web host to connect you to the www, it's essential that you and the host consider checkout options to determine that the package you select is compliant with the host's servers and other hardware.
A well-equipped host should offer a toolbox of useful applications including an open source (free) site design and management package. And as you grow, it's important that your host be able to upgrade your checkout app without any downtime. Remember, you may start out small but you'll grow, your business will process more and more orders and you want to make sure your host can grow right along with you, offering everything you need to expand your on-line empire.
For shared hosting accounts, you should be able to use the host's SSL certification to enable you to take credit card orders. This service should come as part of the hosting plan, not as an add-on.
Finally, learn all you can about the host servers' security. Look for multiple layers, hardware- and software-based firewalls, virus detection, spam shooters and other 'at the gate' features to keep intruders at bay.
Working with your web host, you'll be able to design and develop an on-line checkout that's simple to use, accessible to customers 24/7/365 and impervious to threats from the outside.
Then, it's time to hang out the 'Open for Business' sign.
Optimize Broadband & Dsl Connections
These settings allow you to boost the speed of your broadband Internet connection when using a Cable Modem or DSL Router with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
Open your registry and find the key below.
Create the following DWORD values, as most of these values will not already exist you will need to create them by clicking on 'Edit -> New -> DWORD Value' and then set the value as shown below.
DefaultTTL = "80" hex (or 128 decimal)
Specifies the default time to live (TTL) for TCP/IP packets. The default is 32.
EnablePMTUBHDetect = "0"
Specifies whether the stack will attempt to detect Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) routers that do not send back ICMP fragmentation-needed messages. The default is 0.
EnablePMTUDiscovery = "1"
Specifies whether the TCP/IP stack will attempt to perform path MTU discovery as specified in RFC 1191. The default is 1.
GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)
Specifies the system maximum receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack.
TcpMaxDupAcks = "2"
Determines the number of duplicate ACKs that must be received for the same sequence number of sent data before "fast retransmit" is triggered.
SackOpts = "1"
Enables support for selective acknowledgements as documented by Request for Comment (RFC) 2018. Default is 0.
Tcp1323Opts = "1"
Controls RFC 1323 time stamps and window scaling options. Possible values are: "0" = disable RFC 1323 options, "1" = window scale enabled only, "2" = time stamps enabled only and "3" = both options enabled.
TcpWindowSize = "7FFF" hex (or 32767 decimal)
Specifies the receive window size advertised by the TCP/IP stack. If you have a latent network you can try increasing the value to 93440, 186880, or 372300.
Exit your registry and restart Windows for the changes to take effect.
If you don’t want to edit the registry, here's a little TCP utility that is ideal...
http://www.broadbandreports.com/front/doctorping.zip
Jumat, 20 Maret 2009
Corner Computer Desks
With the high price of office space today, getting maximum usage of all your space is essential. Placing your workstations on corner computer desks can efficiently use an overlooked are of that space, the corners. These desks are designed to fit into that underused space compactly while still allowing more than adequate room to perform the tasks needed on your computer. There are many attractive designs available that will add shelf space for storage of supplies for your computer as well. You can find corner computer desks at most office furniture stores and many web sites on the Internet.
When you shop for your corner computer desks to use those underutilized areas of your expensive office space on the Internet, you should stay aware of a few things. First is to look for the shipping costs and types of shipping available. What seems to be a great price on those corner computer desks may turn out to be much higher after adding the shipping costs onto the price. Some firms may offer you free ground shipping with your order and then take six to eight weeks to get your order to you. So look at the shipping costs and look for the method of how it will be shipped before sending your payment.
Payment methods brings us to the second important thing to stay aware of. When you place that order for those corner computer desks you want for your office, never put your payment information on any page that is not a secure page. You can tell a secure page from a regular page by looking at the page address on your browser. A secure page will start with https://. Regular pages start with http://. That extra letter is only used on secure pages and is a sign that you are dealing with a reputable dealer. If the site that offers the corner computer desks you desire does not have a secure page for your ordering information, it is risky to do business with them. You will be better off to seek your corner computer desks elsewhere.
Corner computer desks are available in a wide variety of styles and finishes. With a little searching, you can find them in select hardwoods and even in faux finishes to appear as select hardwoods. One model I noticed appeared to be a corner hutch until you opened the cabinet to see the monitor and pulled out the keyboard tray to type. Others have a minimalist style that just utilizes that underused area of your office in an efficient manner. The choices are endless.
Corner computer desks are available at prices to fit any sized budget. A quick search on the Internet will locate corner computer desks starting well below a hundred dollars with some of those prices including shipping. They may have to be assembled upon delivery. Start using that under utilized space in your office today by placing your workstations on corner computer desks. You will be happy that you did.
Computer Desk Plans
For a dedicated do it yourselfer, nothing brings more satisfaction than a well completed project. Building your own desk for your computer is a project worth contemplating if this is your hobby. A simple search on the Internet will bring in many computer desk plans to plan this project around. These plans come with parts lists and tools needed to make your planning of the project easier. The prices vary from no cost to a high of less than fifty dollars for the computer desk plans. You will be able to find computer desk plans in your local craft and hobby store as well.
A search for computer desk plans available at web sites on the Internet will turn up thousands of woodworking sites with plans available. The prices for the plans will vary with the method you choose to obtain them. Some sites will be happy to mail you a set printed on paper. Other sites will only have downloads available, leaving the printing all in your hands.
When making purchases from web sites on the Internet, always be sure that your order is done on a secure page. You can tell when a page is secure by looking at the pages address on your browser. Secure page addresses will always with https:// instead of the normal http://. If the order page is not secure, do not put any information on the page as it will be susceptible to hijacking. You can try contacting the owners of the web site to find a more secure method of ordering. The only time you should have shipping charges involved is when the web site is mailing a paper copy of the plans to you instead of you downloading the computer desk plans. On the sites I visited that had this option available, the shipping charges were reflected in the price of the plans.
Now that you have obtained the computer desk plans, the fun of starting the project begins. Finding a good lumberyard with reasonable prices for your wood will be easy if your choice of wood is pine or bonded plywood. If you want to make the desk out of select hardwoods, a little more effort will be required. You can get the wood in more or less bulk form and do the entire cutting yourself or have the lumberyard pre cut your wood to size. With precut pieces, you will still have to do all the finishing and assembly of the wood into the final state of your computer desk.
You have gotten your wood, cut it to size, sanded it to perfect smoothness and stained and sealed it against use. The final assembly will best be done in the location where you plan to use the desk. That way you will not have to move the desk after it is assembled. The feeling of satisfaction you experience every time you sit down at the computer, knowing that you built this desk with your own hands will make the purchase of your computer desk plans well worth the money you spend on them.