Archive for the 'Marketing' Category
Friday 26 June 2009 @ 2:21 am
Barry Babister asked:
In The Begining
Have you ever entered a search term into a search engine and then had to wade through many useless ‘junk’ pages in order to find what you were looking for in the first place? Many web site owners have learned how to ‘fool’ or ‘game’ the search engines which has resulted in lots of trash sites spewing advertising etc clogging up the search results. Social book-marking has grown out of what was originally called ‘folksonomy’. This refered to open ended organisational systems that allowed multiple internet users to sort web sites and their elements. Instead of relying on one organisations assesment of how these sites should be sorted the folksonomy system allowed individual internet users the chance to mold and influence the architecture of this giant filing system.
The key to the structure of the folksonomy system is ‘tagging’. The creation of the categories within the system is made by using a tag or tags to describe a website, document or photograph for example. Tags are almost the equivelant of the keyword looking from a search engine perspective. For example www.help-me-park.com is a web site selling meet and greet parking, sometimes called valet parking, at London Gatwick Airport. Tags for this site could include parking, Gatwick Airport, meet and greet, valet parking, etc. This site would be found if a user of the folksonomy searched under any of the tags associated with that site.
The folksonomic or book-marking system is constantly evolving from the bottom up as actual users of the internet and the folksonomy add sites and tags that will influence the outcomes of any searches performed. This is opposed to the top down search engine model where by their programers and search algorithm writters are trying to stay ahead of webmasters efforts to play the system and get their web site returned for a particular search enquiry.With folksonomy or social bookmarking it is the will and opinions of the participants that make the difference and influence results. Every entry is ‘peer reviewed’ and each tag is a vote of confidence or a personal recommendation.
A Short History fo Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking has grown out of folksonomic thinking. The idea to arrange content with tags is over a decade old. Sharing bookmarked sites online began in 1996 as a variety of web sites tried to grab market share in the social bookmarking field. Unfortunately for these early pioneers the quest to grab users of the internet was not accompanied by any workable business model and when the dotcom bubble burst these fledgling social bookmarking sites were among the casualties. The social bookmarking concept was down but not out. 1997 saw the introduction of del.icio.us. Working on the model that users were allowed to import their favourite bookmarks and make them visible to all participants via tagging them.
The site was well received and soon developed a loyal following. Not only were people able to find information but they could influence and shape how others found it. The quick growth of del.icio.us showed that the social book marking phenomena was upon us. There was a communal mindset amongst the participants who, through their co-operation, enjoyed using the peer reviewed search results instead of having to rely on the search engine algorithms to guide them through the truly gigantic sea of information that is the modern day world wide web.
The Future of Social Bookmarking
There is a constant injection of new ideas into the social bookmarking arena as the sites such as digg.it, del.icio.us, furl etc as they evolve and improve based on users needs. Social bookmarking has developed to become the grassroots tool of information discovery and organisation. Excitingly for social bookmarking many industry experts and commentators don’t believe that this phenomena is even close to reaching it’s high water mark. Unprecedented levels of involvement from users across the world has the potential to give social bookmarking the capacity to continuousley evolve and change with users needs and never become outmoded.
Social book-marking sites today often employ a search engine style interface to simplify information retrieval. Although tag driven these programs sit between the user and the information and act as search algorithms designed to return results based on what they infer from the tagging structure. For purists of the folksonomy concept this interference by computer programs is not welcomed bu many users do find the search engine model to be useful.
Social bookmarking allows real people as users of the internet to be the judge of useful relevant information. It is possible that the traditional search engines will begin to look to the tags of the social bookmarking world in order to further sift and catalogue the web according to relevance and imprtance to the search customer. Many believe that with the exponential growth of the web in the future it will only be via a human edited and peer reviewed cataloguing of the internet that we will ever hope to find the information we all crave.
Create a video blog
In The Begining
Have you ever entered a search term into a search engine and then had to wade through many useless ‘junk’ pages in order to find what you were looking for in the first place? Many web site owners have learned how to ‘fool’ or ‘game’ the search engines which has resulted in lots of trash sites spewing advertising etc clogging up the search results. Social book-marking has grown out of what was originally called ‘folksonomy’. This refered to open ended organisational systems that allowed multiple internet users to sort web sites and their elements. Instead of relying on one organisations assesment of how these sites should be sorted the folksonomy system allowed individual internet users the chance to mold and influence the architecture of this giant filing system.
The key to the structure of the folksonomy system is ‘tagging’. The creation of the categories within the system is made by using a tag or tags to describe a website, document or photograph for example. Tags are almost the equivelant of the keyword looking from a search engine perspective. For example www.help-me-park.com is a web site selling meet and greet parking, sometimes called valet parking, at London Gatwick Airport. Tags for this site could include parking, Gatwick Airport, meet and greet, valet parking, etc. This site would be found if a user of the folksonomy searched under any of the tags associated with that site.
The folksonomic or book-marking system is constantly evolving from the bottom up as actual users of the internet and the folksonomy add sites and tags that will influence the outcomes of any searches performed. This is opposed to the top down search engine model where by their programers and search algorithm writters are trying to stay ahead of webmasters efforts to play the system and get their web site returned for a particular search enquiry.With folksonomy or social bookmarking it is the will and opinions of the participants that make the difference and influence results. Every entry is ‘peer reviewed’ and each tag is a vote of confidence or a personal recommendation.
A Short History fo Social Bookmarking
Social bookmarking has grown out of folksonomic thinking. The idea to arrange content with tags is over a decade old. Sharing bookmarked sites online began in 1996 as a variety of web sites tried to grab market share in the social bookmarking field. Unfortunately for these early pioneers the quest to grab users of the internet was not accompanied by any workable business model and when the dotcom bubble burst these fledgling social bookmarking sites were among the casualties. The social bookmarking concept was down but not out. 1997 saw the introduction of del.icio.us. Working on the model that users were allowed to import their favourite bookmarks and make them visible to all participants via tagging them.
The site was well received and soon developed a loyal following. Not only were people able to find information but they could influence and shape how others found it. The quick growth of del.icio.us showed that the social book marking phenomena was upon us. There was a communal mindset amongst the participants who, through their co-operation, enjoyed using the peer reviewed search results instead of having to rely on the search engine algorithms to guide them through the truly gigantic sea of information that is the modern day world wide web.
The Future of Social Bookmarking
There is a constant injection of new ideas into the social bookmarking arena as the sites such as digg.it, del.icio.us, furl etc as they evolve and improve based on users needs. Social bookmarking has developed to become the grassroots tool of information discovery and organisation. Excitingly for social bookmarking many industry experts and commentators don’t believe that this phenomena is even close to reaching it’s high water mark. Unprecedented levels of involvement from users across the world has the potential to give social bookmarking the capacity to continuousley evolve and change with users needs and never become outmoded.
Social book-marking sites today often employ a search engine style interface to simplify information retrieval. Although tag driven these programs sit between the user and the information and act as search algorithms designed to return results based on what they infer from the tagging structure. For purists of the folksonomy concept this interference by computer programs is not welcomed bu many users do find the search engine model to be useful.
Social bookmarking allows real people as users of the internet to be the judge of useful relevant information. It is possible that the traditional search engines will begin to look to the tags of the social bookmarking world in order to further sift and catalogue the web according to relevance and imprtance to the search customer. Many believe that with the exponential growth of the web in the future it will only be via a human edited and peer reviewed cataloguing of the internet that we will ever hope to find the information we all crave.
Create a video blog
Friday 26 June 2009 @ 1:31 am
Gillian Meier asked:
Social Media Optimisation is not coming…it has arrived. Just when website owners think that they are finally coming to grips with the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’, they are suddenly introduced to the all new ‘Social Media’ or ‘Consumer Generated media’. Companies will need to compete to get social and search engine preference if they want to succeed.
We have barely digested the term SEO and already we’re hearing new jargon such as SMO (Social Media Optimisation) creeping in. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is simply a preview of things to come on the web. It’s already here and pioneering companies have already grasped the concept and are ensuring that their internet marketing strategy extends beyond traditional e-Marketing and into the area of Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Optimisation.
Pioneering companies will win: Sadly, few South African companies realise the significance of optimising their websites for top search engine rankings and social popularity. There are many extraordinary looking websites being launched onto the Internet daily, yet their splashy entry pages and dazzling creative’s seldom does the company any good. These websites occupy space on the web; however they are by no means optimised to attract the correct target audiences. Few web designers are taught the skill of optimising the websites that they design for search engine rankings. From the start of the web development project, companies should commission experienced search engine marketers or analysts to be involved in preparing the website brief for the developer by defining the essential elements that should be incorporated, if the website is to be positioned anywhere of significance on search engine results pages.
There are more than a hundred varying criteria that search engines include as part of their ranking algorithm. Website owners, web designers and marketers should take cognisance of the fact that it is simply not good enough to publish a fancy looking website onto the Internet and expect it to start attracting and converting customers in the hope of producing income from its online presence. It takes skill and careful planning to create a website that will be recognised by search engines as relevant enough to rank in the top ten results, and then to take this one step further by ensuring that the user experience is one that will convert a researcher into a customer. Today’s consumer has a lot of power.
Today’s consumer is in control: The new consumer is actively participating in social networks, they are bookmarking websites on social search engines and they are blogging about you. Ensure that your website is optimised to generate publicity through social media, online communities and social networks. There are websites that consist of user generated ranking systems. Make sure that your website can be bookmarked, linked to and tagged easily enough by the user. Create a company blog or user community within your own website. If you create something that allows your user to engage with you, and it is compelling enough for them to spread the word and to bookmark you then you are half way there.
You can’t fake it until you make it: Getting ranked highly on search engine results is not a quick fix. It is a process that requires a great deal of planning, editing and monitoring in order to first climb into the top ranking positions and then to try to remain there. With the algorithms changing at will, there is no one technique
Content
Social Media Optimisation is not coming…it has arrived. Just when website owners think that they are finally coming to grips with the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’, they are suddenly introduced to the all new ‘Social Media’ or ‘Consumer Generated media’. Companies will need to compete to get social and search engine preference if they want to succeed.
We have barely digested the term SEO and already we’re hearing new jargon such as SMO (Social Media Optimisation) creeping in. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is simply a preview of things to come on the web. It’s already here and pioneering companies have already grasped the concept and are ensuring that their internet marketing strategy extends beyond traditional e-Marketing and into the area of Search Engine Optimisation, Search Engine Advertising and Social Media Optimisation.
Pioneering companies will win: Sadly, few South African companies realise the significance of optimising their websites for top search engine rankings and social popularity. There are many extraordinary looking websites being launched onto the Internet daily, yet their splashy entry pages and dazzling creative’s seldom does the company any good. These websites occupy space on the web; however they are by no means optimised to attract the correct target audiences. Few web designers are taught the skill of optimising the websites that they design for search engine rankings. From the start of the web development project, companies should commission experienced search engine marketers or analysts to be involved in preparing the website brief for the developer by defining the essential elements that should be incorporated, if the website is to be positioned anywhere of significance on search engine results pages.
There are more than a hundred varying criteria that search engines include as part of their ranking algorithm. Website owners, web designers and marketers should take cognisance of the fact that it is simply not good enough to publish a fancy looking website onto the Internet and expect it to start attracting and converting customers in the hope of producing income from its online presence. It takes skill and careful planning to create a website that will be recognised by search engines as relevant enough to rank in the top ten results, and then to take this one step further by ensuring that the user experience is one that will convert a researcher into a customer. Today’s consumer has a lot of power.
Today’s consumer is in control: The new consumer is actively participating in social networks, they are bookmarking websites on social search engines and they are blogging about you. Ensure that your website is optimised to generate publicity through social media, online communities and social networks. There are websites that consist of user generated ranking systems. Make sure that your website can be bookmarked, linked to and tagged easily enough by the user. Create a company blog or user community within your own website. If you create something that allows your user to engage with you, and it is compelling enough for them to spread the word and to bookmark you then you are half way there.
You can’t fake it until you make it: Getting ranked highly on search engine results is not a quick fix. It is a process that requires a great deal of planning, editing and monitoring in order to first climb into the top ranking positions and then to try to remain there. With the algorithms changing at will, there is no one technique
Content
Saturday 20 June 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Kartik asked:
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The nation’s largest and perhaps one of the worst ruled state is finally out of the clutches of mafia rule and is probably heading towards a new dawn of equitable social and economic development. Mayawati’s victory is not only significant that a Dalit woman has once again been given the mantle of the largest state, but is also the reflection of the changing dynamics of India’s socio-political milieu. Her sweeping victory is one of the biggest of Indian democracy, by all parameters.
Probably for the first time in the history of modern India, people cut across caste lines and came together to vote for a woman who is known to be a hard task master and accepts no nonsense. Two years ago, when the people of Bihar dethroned Lalu Prasad and rejected his caste-based divisive politics and reinstated Nitish Kumar, they had shown the path. Despite this, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his right hand Amar Singh missed the writing on the wall. In the last nearly four years of Mulayam’s rule, he has shown the extent that criminalisation of politics and crony capitalism can go. While party members like Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed and Raja Bhaiya ran their fiefdoms untrammeled like autocratic rulers and engineered arson of their own accord, Mulayam preferred to look the other way. Kidnappings, contract killings, rape and the hard to forget Nithari like incidents were becoming more of a norm, rather than an exception. Not only that, development was restricted to Noida, Ghaziabad and his village of Saifai (which is more like a five star resort than a village), while the rest of the state reeled under acute shortage of power, employment, road connectivity and peace. No one knows how much money has been siphoned in the last nearly four years. It is no secret that Mulayam’s version of industrialisation was all about doling out favours to his friends whose names are too well known to merit a mention. Mulayam let the situation drift in this manner because he was sure that the Muslim-Yadav vote bank would see him through, come what may.
Eventually, hope for good governance had to win over identity politics. Incidentally, people voted for the Dalit woman because they wanted to at least be safe in their homes. Uttar Pradesh has been one of the last bastions of identity politics, where caste matters to such an extent that every other factor takes a back seat. This election gave that “reality” a burial. Mayawati’s victory is also historical for the fact that after a long time, one party crossed the simple majority mark on its own without the crutches of other parties.
This is no mean achievement knowing that in the recent past, Uttar Pradesh has been infamous for the fractured mandates, giving rise to rampant horse trading and unabashed politicking. Previously, whoever was running the government was very dependent on these smaller parties or breakaway factions for survival, that governance and development was the last thing in their mind. What always took precedence was the survival of the government and for that they would go to any extent to appease these small time MLAs, who were like kingmakers threatening to topple a government any moment.
Another reason which needs to be mentioned is that the communal politics of BJP and identity politics of Samajwadi Party have been given a thumbs down by the electorate, a similar thumbs down has also been given to the Congress. Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively, which was a dress rehearsal before the 2009 general elections and proved that he has a long way to go. The voters too did not fall for any of the rhetoric. What they wanted was stability, peace and progress and they voted for that. Mayawati’s biggest achievement is her social engineering, whereby she brought the upper castes, scheduled castes, other backward classes and Muslims together and thus heralded the beginning of a new India. Her victory has been a true victory of India’s identity of being a secular nation.
So where do we go from here? Now that half the job is done, the bigger test awaits Mayawati. She has to deliver on the trust that people have reposed in her and usher in development along with peace. At the same time, she has to make sure that the type of crony capitalism the previous government encouraged should be completely dismantled. She should not go in for a witch hunt and not rollback all the projects that were started by the previous governmment, because that would only hurt the interest of Uttar Pradesh. The manner in which she has successfully managed to coalesce all castes and communities, she needs to replicate similar success in engineering the socio-economic initiatives and herald the beginning of a new India. She has worked hard to achieve this and now is her opportunity to prove her mettle not only to the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, but the entire country.
Create a video blog…instantly.
r/>
The nation’s largest and perhaps one of the worst ruled state is finally out of the clutches of mafia rule and is probably heading towards a new dawn of equitable social and economic development. Mayawati’s victory is not only significant that a Dalit woman has once again been given the mantle of the largest state, but is also the reflection of the changing dynamics of India’s socio-political milieu. Her sweeping victory is one of the biggest of Indian democracy, by all parameters.
Probably for the first time in the history of modern India, people cut across caste lines and came together to vote for a woman who is known to be a hard task master and accepts no nonsense. Two years ago, when the people of Bihar dethroned Lalu Prasad and rejected his caste-based divisive politics and reinstated Nitish Kumar, they had shown the path. Despite this, Mulayam Singh Yadav and his right hand Amar Singh missed the writing on the wall. In the last nearly four years of Mulayam’s rule, he has shown the extent that criminalisation of politics and crony capitalism can go. While party members like Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed and Raja Bhaiya ran their fiefdoms untrammeled like autocratic rulers and engineered arson of their own accord, Mulayam preferred to look the other way. Kidnappings, contract killings, rape and the hard to forget Nithari like incidents were becoming more of a norm, rather than an exception. Not only that, development was restricted to Noida, Ghaziabad and his village of Saifai (which is more like a five star resort than a village), while the rest of the state reeled under acute shortage of power, employment, road connectivity and peace. No one knows how much money has been siphoned in the last nearly four years. It is no secret that Mulayam’s version of industrialisation was all about doling out favours to his friends whose names are too well known to merit a mention. Mulayam let the situation drift in this manner because he was sure that the Muslim-Yadav vote bank would see him through, come what may.
Eventually, hope for good governance had to win over identity politics. Incidentally, people voted for the Dalit woman because they wanted to at least be safe in their homes. Uttar Pradesh has been one of the last bastions of identity politics, where caste matters to such an extent that every other factor takes a back seat. This election gave that “reality” a burial. Mayawati’s victory is also historical for the fact that after a long time, one party crossed the simple majority mark on its own without the crutches of other parties.
This is no mean achievement knowing that in the recent past, Uttar Pradesh has been infamous for the fractured mandates, giving rise to rampant horse trading and unabashed politicking. Previously, whoever was running the government was very dependent on these smaller parties or breakaway factions for survival, that governance and development was the last thing in their mind. What always took precedence was the survival of the government and for that they would go to any extent to appease these small time MLAs, who were like kingmakers threatening to topple a government any moment.
Another reason which needs to be mentioned is that the communal politics of BJP and identity politics of Samajwadi Party have been given a thumbs down by the electorate, a similar thumbs down has also been given to the Congress. Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively, which was a dress rehearsal before the 2009 general elections and proved that he has a long way to go. The voters too did not fall for any of the rhetoric. What they wanted was stability, peace and progress and they voted for that. Mayawati’s biggest achievement is her social engineering, whereby she brought the upper castes, scheduled castes, other backward classes and Muslims together and thus heralded the beginning of a new India. Her victory has been a true victory of India’s identity of being a secular nation.
So where do we go from here? Now that half the job is done, the bigger test awaits Mayawati. She has to deliver on the trust that people have reposed in her and usher in development along with peace. At the same time, she has to make sure that the type of crony capitalism the previous government encouraged should be completely dismantled. She should not go in for a witch hunt and not rollback all the projects that were started by the previous governmment, because that would only hurt the interest of Uttar Pradesh. The manner in which she has successfully managed to coalesce all castes and communities, she needs to replicate similar success in engineering the socio-economic initiatives and herald the beginning of a new India. She has worked hard to achieve this and now is her opportunity to prove her mettle not only to the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, but the entire country.
Create a video blog…instantly.
Tuesday 16 June 2009 @ 9:12 pm
Carl Weinschenk asked:
Employees use two types of social networking sites. They bring their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other identities to the office. At the same time, they use professional social networking – LinkedIn and others – for more “official” duties.
It has the potential to be a major problem. This Newsfactor piece based on Forrester research identifies social networking as a key element of the ongoing corporate Web 2.0 wave. By 2013, the firm says, social networks will constitute a $2 billion chunk of what will be a $4.6 billion sector.
Hopefully, organizations will catch up on the security front. The piece says that only half of Web filters deployed by Barracuda Networks are blocking MySpace or Facebook. Those who are doing so are trying to guard against virus and spyware and to maintain employee productivity. It would be interesting to understand how many of these organizations understand that social networking sites are great avenues for phishing and other social engineer exploits, and for dishonest or ignorant employees to send vital information beyond the firewall.
This is a nice CNN overview of the flow of social networking into the corporate space. What the author doesn’t say is that the evolution of social networking from consumer to business use is precisely what happened with cell phones, Wi-Fi and other tools: People used them in their private lives, liked them, and brought them to work. In this case, the writer says, more secure, corporate-aimed offerings are available. Yammer, for instance, is a business version of Twitter. Other corporate social networking newbies, according to Forrester, include Awareness, Communispace and Jive.
One of the advantages of the fact that new technology has moved from the consumer to business world so many times in the recent past is that experts consider the security issues more quickly. There seems to be a bit less denial. This Legal Technology piece offers a good description of social networks, and references a Black Hat presentation that looked at insecure features of social networks and identified the biggest vulnerabilities. They include cross-site request forgery (CSRF), cross-site scripting (XSS) and the lack of a mechanism to validate the security of customer applications. The writer offers seven tips for safely using and administering social networks.
This is not all theoretic: Business people are using social networks – and the bad guys are going after them. For instance, SPAMfighter cites reports from The Washington Post’s Brian Krebs about spear phishing attacks against about 10,000 LinkedIn members. The story says social networking sites often are the target of spear phishers because users are used to getting e-mail from other members. This e-mail purported to come from support@linkedin.com and carried the subject line “Re: business contacts.” Recipients following the instructions in the e-mail installed a malicious program aimed at stealing sensitive information from the computer.
There is a lot to worry about. Dark Reading offers a scary vignette on how dangerous a social networking site can be. The big problem is that there is no way to simultaneously optimize security and interactivity. To a great extent, emphasizing one comes at the expense of the other. Dark Reading runs through some of the problems, and links to pages that describe in more detail seven of the most dangerous activities: impersonation and targeted hacks; spam and bots; “weaponized” applications; XSS and CSRF; identity theft and corporate espionage.
Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress
Employees use two types of social networking sites. They bring their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other identities to the office. At the same time, they use professional social networking – LinkedIn and others – for more “official” duties.
It has the potential to be a major problem. This Newsfactor piece based on Forrester research identifies social networking as a key element of the ongoing corporate Web 2.0 wave. By 2013, the firm says, social networks will constitute a $2 billion chunk of what will be a $4.6 billion sector.
Hopefully, organizations will catch up on the security front. The piece says that only half of Web filters deployed by Barracuda Networks are blocking MySpace or Facebook. Those who are doing so are trying to guard against virus and spyware and to maintain employee productivity. It would be interesting to understand how many of these organizations understand that social networking sites are great avenues for phishing and other social engineer exploits, and for dishonest or ignorant employees to send vital information beyond the firewall.
This is a nice CNN overview of the flow of social networking into the corporate space. What the author doesn’t say is that the evolution of social networking from consumer to business use is precisely what happened with cell phones, Wi-Fi and other tools: People used them in their private lives, liked them, and brought them to work. In this case, the writer says, more secure, corporate-aimed offerings are available. Yammer, for instance, is a business version of Twitter. Other corporate social networking newbies, according to Forrester, include Awareness, Communispace and Jive.
One of the advantages of the fact that new technology has moved from the consumer to business world so many times in the recent past is that experts consider the security issues more quickly. There seems to be a bit less denial. This Legal Technology piece offers a good description of social networks, and references a Black Hat presentation that looked at insecure features of social networks and identified the biggest vulnerabilities. They include cross-site request forgery (CSRF), cross-site scripting (XSS) and the lack of a mechanism to validate the security of customer applications. The writer offers seven tips for safely using and administering social networks.
This is not all theoretic: Business people are using social networks – and the bad guys are going after them. For instance, SPAMfighter cites reports from The Washington Post’s Brian Krebs about spear phishing attacks against about 10,000 LinkedIn members. The story says social networking sites often are the target of spear phishers because users are used to getting e-mail from other members. This e-mail purported to come from support@linkedin.com and carried the subject line “Re: business contacts.” Recipients following the instructions in the e-mail installed a malicious program aimed at stealing sensitive information from the computer.
There is a lot to worry about. Dark Reading offers a scary vignette on how dangerous a social networking site can be. The big problem is that there is no way to simultaneously optimize security and interactivity. To a great extent, emphasizing one comes at the expense of the other. Dark Reading runs through some of the problems, and links to pages that describe in more detail seven of the most dangerous activities: impersonation and targeted hacks; spam and bots; “weaponized” applications; XSS and CSRF; identity theft and corporate espionage.
Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress
Monday 15 June 2009 @ 6:35 pm
Sandeep Tyagi asked:
“The Ten important Steps for optimizing your website for search engines:
In these ten steps we will know ten basics and important steps to optimizing a website to perform better on major search engines. If you will follow these steps correctly your website search engine position website will be surly improve depending on you industry competition.
Step 1 - Keyword Selection
Step 2 - Creating optimized Content
Step 3 - Site Structure
Step 4 - Internal Linking
Step 5 Submissions
Step 6 Link Popularity Building
Step 7 - Title and Meta tags
Step 8 Monitoring
Step 9 social bookmarking
Step 10 Testing
Step 1 - Keyword Selection
Selecting Keyword is the single most important factor in the entire search engine optimization (optimisation) process. Choosing the right and relevant keywords will not only help you in getting good search engine position and targeted traffic but it will also increase you return on investment (ROI).
Example: If you are a company based in UK providing search engine optimization (optimisation) (SEO) services. The first keyword in your mind would be definitely
Keyword Competition
SEO : 73,000,000
Search engine optimization : 63,600,000
Seo Company : 26,800,000
It is possible to get good ranking on these keywords but it will take lot of time and money instead you can target “”Seo Company Uk” and “Search engine optimization company Uk’ this way you are targeting two keyword at a time with less competition that means more chance of targeted traffic and good Search engine positions.
Keyword selection and research tools
The Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool
Site: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Word Tracker
Site: http://www.wordtracker.com/
Step 2 - Creating optimized Content
There has been lot of changes in the search engine algorithms but there is no change in the importance given to quality content. In this step we will focus on how to create optimized and unique content for high search engine positioning using the keywords we have selected in the first step.
Unique and well written content will both grab your visitor’s attention and at the same time, make them want what you have to offer. So write in keeping mind what your audience are looking for and targeted keywords.
First ask yourself some questions:
What services you offer
Do you provide the services your visitors are looking for
Do some research
Provide as much as possible information on the subject. Provide useful and unique information about your industry / subject area it can entice your visitors to visit your website in future. It has found that most of the online visitors search for information about their interests.
Content Optimization
Four important factors for optimizing content
1. Heading Tags - (H1 to H6)
2. Special Text - (bold etc.)
3. Inline Text Links - (Anchor text and alt tags for images )
4. Keyword Density - (number of occurrences of your targeted keywords in a page)
Heading Tags
By default text in these tags appear too large than standard text in a browser. We can customize it by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Tip: Do not use the same tag more then once on a page.
Special Text
It can be used in bold, colored, “”In quotes”" or (in brackets). Using special text will help draw the attention to important information and also add weight to your keywords.
Inline Text Links
Example: We provide seo services and web hosting.
You add a link to related page on your site to these bold words. it gives the reader a way to find the information you are referring to.
Keyword Density
Keyword density is the no. of occurrences of targeted keyword in the content of the page. You should not spam the targeted keyword in your content; recommended keyword density is between 4% to 10%.
Step 3 - Site Structure
You must structure your website to attract the visitor as well as the search engine spiders. The site structure will help spiders read your site. Keep the code as clean as possible so search engine spider can get to your content, where you want them to be.
Use CSS to cut down code extra code like for font style, tables, images etc…
Things to remember while planning site structure
Keep URL Short and close to Root of the site
While creating folder and files use keyword
Eg: for a page in web hosting packs www.domainname.com/web-hosting/website-hosting.html
Use Hyphens (-) while splitting name in to 2 instead of underscore (_) as shown in above example.
Step 4 - Internal Linking
Internal linking means linking to your pages within the website by way of sitemap, navigation bar, footer, header etc. The sitemap should be linked on all pages of your website to get spidered by search engines from anywhere. You should also include Google sitemap on your site to get indexed easily by Google. It adds relevancy to the linked page which directly helps in getting high rank for the linked page
Using text based links with anchor text, footer navigation and use inline text link will improve Your Internal Linking Structure. So spider can crawl it easily add relevancy to the linked page. The closer a page is in clicks from your homepage. The higher the value the page rank is assigned.
Step 5 Submissions
Where to submit:
o Search engines
o Web directories
Major search engines to submit
Google.com | yahoo.com | Msn.com
Major web directories to submit
1. Yahoo (paid)
2. Dmoz.org (most important)
http://www.about.com/
http://www.incrawler.com/
http://www.jayde.com/
3. http://www.wowdirectory.com/
Step 6 Link Popularity Building
There are 2 ways of building Link popularity
o Reciprocal link building (2 way link building)
o Non-reciprocal link building (1 way link building)
Reciprocal link building
There are some basic rules to follow when exchanging links:
Relevancy is more important
Check and make sure the reciprocal link aren’t being blocked and pages are indexed
Link pages with more than 50 links aren’t worth exchanging with
Non-reciprocal link building
It can be in form of paid link, directory listings, social bookmarking, article publishing ,blogs and press releases
Step 7 - Title and Meta tags
Once you have planned and completed the site structure and content integration. Its turn for Title Meta and Description. Unique and optimized title and Meta tags are really helpful in achieving higher search engine positions
Title:
this tag represents information of page this can be in browsers header bar
Meta keywords:
This include the targeted keywords for that particular page
Meta description:
The Meta description shows on the SERPS (search engine results page). It is used in describing the products / services you offer to your customers, you can describe specific pages within your website that shows in the search results page.
You can describe your pages the way you want them to be seen by your visitors in the SERPS (search engine results pages)
Next is alt tags, Alt tags is a white hat SEO practice used very commonly by search engine optimizers
An example of alt tag:
Step 8 Monitoring
There are three basic things in the monitoring process. They are:
Monitoring your search engine positions:
You can go through the searches manually, you can use software like IBP to check your rankings or you can use online. There can find many related Seo tools listed here http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/seo-tools.html
Monitoring Back Links
Schedule weekly checks of how many backlinks you have and are your link partners still linking to you
Monitoring Changes in the Search Environment
The last thing you will have to monitor is for changes with the search engines themselves.
Visiting forums and subscribing to newsletters to keep yourself updated about search engines algorithm changes
Step 9 social bookmarking
The social bookmarking is used by many people to bookmark their pages and websites. Using the social bookmarking visitors can bookmark the sites listed in the social networking websites. The popularity of the websites in the social bookmarking world gauged by most favorites websites among the visitors. The most bookmarked website obviously will get more traffic than others and it can also help improving your search engine ranking in major search engines.
How does it work?
In a social bookmarking system, users store lists of Webpage Urls, which they find useful. Often, these lists are publicly accessible, and other people with similar interests can view the links by category, tags, or even randomly. Some social bookmarking systems allow for privacy on a per-bookmark basis.
Most bookmarking websites allows to enter multiple tags for your web pages in order to be searched by the visitors that helps social bookmarking visitors to get relevant and accurate search results for their keywords.
Advantages
1. Social bookmarking helps in promoting your website users market your site.
2. It indirectly helps by building a brand.
3. Generates targeted traffic.
Some important social bookmarking sites
Dig.com | Blink |Del.icio.us |Digg |Furl |Google |Simpy |Spurl |Y! MyWeb
Step 10 - Testing
You have created a great design and added SEO elements to your site. Now its time to see if all that hard work done has achieved the main goal of reaching the visitor and to convert them to a customer.
o Check for broken links :
o Other script errors
o Ease in navigating site
o visual appeal of the site
o placement of content
o are you able to find what u are looking for
You have created a great design and added SEO elements to your site. Now you should test your website for errors (i.e. 404 not found error, script errors etc.).
Check for broken links :
Other script errors
Ease in navigating site
Visual appeal of the site
Placement of content
Are your visitors able to find what they are looking for?
“
Website content
“The Ten important Steps for optimizing your website for search engines:
In these ten steps we will know ten basics and important steps to optimizing a website to perform better on major search engines. If you will follow these steps correctly your website search engine position website will be surly improve depending on you industry competition.
Step 1 - Keyword Selection
Step 2 - Creating optimized Content
Step 3 - Site Structure
Step 4 - Internal Linking
Step 5 Submissions
Step 6 Link Popularity Building
Step 7 - Title and Meta tags
Step 8 Monitoring
Step 9 social bookmarking
Step 10 Testing
Step 1 - Keyword Selection
Selecting Keyword is the single most important factor in the entire search engine optimization (optimisation) process. Choosing the right and relevant keywords will not only help you in getting good search engine position and targeted traffic but it will also increase you return on investment (ROI).
Example: If you are a company based in UK providing search engine optimization (optimisation) (SEO) services. The first keyword in your mind would be definitely
Keyword Competition
SEO : 73,000,000
Search engine optimization : 63,600,000
Seo Company : 26,800,000
It is possible to get good ranking on these keywords but it will take lot of time and money instead you can target “”Seo Company Uk” and “Search engine optimization company Uk’ this way you are targeting two keyword at a time with less competition that means more chance of targeted traffic and good Search engine positions.
Keyword selection and research tools
The Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool
Site: http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Word Tracker
Site: http://www.wordtracker.com/
Step 2 - Creating optimized Content
There has been lot of changes in the search engine algorithms but there is no change in the importance given to quality content. In this step we will focus on how to create optimized and unique content for high search engine positioning using the keywords we have selected in the first step.
Unique and well written content will both grab your visitor’s attention and at the same time, make them want what you have to offer. So write in keeping mind what your audience are looking for and targeted keywords.
First ask yourself some questions:
What services you offer
Do you provide the services your visitors are looking for
Do some research
Provide as much as possible information on the subject. Provide useful and unique information about your industry / subject area it can entice your visitors to visit your website in future. It has found that most of the online visitors search for information about their interests.
Content Optimization
Four important factors for optimizing content
1. Heading Tags - (H1 to H6)
2. Special Text - (bold etc.)
3. Inline Text Links - (Anchor text and alt tags for images )
4. Keyword Density - (number of occurrences of your targeted keywords in a page)
Heading Tags
By default text in these tags appear too large than standard text in a browser. We can customize it by using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
Tip: Do not use the same tag more then once on a page.
Special Text
It can be used in bold, colored, “”In quotes”" or (in brackets). Using special text will help draw the attention to important information and also add weight to your keywords.
Inline Text Links
Example: We provide seo services and web hosting.
You add a link to related page on your site to these bold words. it gives the reader a way to find the information you are referring to.
Keyword Density
Keyword density is the no. of occurrences of targeted keyword in the content of the page. You should not spam the targeted keyword in your content; recommended keyword density is between 4% to 10%.
Step 3 - Site Structure
You must structure your website to attract the visitor as well as the search engine spiders. The site structure will help spiders read your site. Keep the code as clean as possible so search engine spider can get to your content, where you want them to be.
Use CSS to cut down code extra code like for font style, tables, images etc…
Things to remember while planning site structure
Keep URL Short and close to Root of the site
While creating folder and files use keyword
Eg: for a page in web hosting packs www.domainname.com/web-hosting/website-hosting.html
Use Hyphens (-) while splitting name in to 2 instead of underscore (_) as shown in above example.
Step 4 - Internal Linking
Internal linking means linking to your pages within the website by way of sitemap, navigation bar, footer, header etc. The sitemap should be linked on all pages of your website to get spidered by search engines from anywhere. You should also include Google sitemap on your site to get indexed easily by Google. It adds relevancy to the linked page which directly helps in getting high rank for the linked page
Using text based links with anchor text, footer navigation and use inline text link will improve Your Internal Linking Structure. So spider can crawl it easily add relevancy to the linked page. The closer a page is in clicks from your homepage. The higher the value the page rank is assigned.
Step 5 Submissions
Where to submit:
o Search engines
o Web directories
Major search engines to submit
Google.com | yahoo.com | Msn.com
Major web directories to submit
1. Yahoo (paid)
2. Dmoz.org (most important)
http://www.about.com/
http://www.incrawler.com/
http://www.jayde.com/
3. http://www.wowdirectory.com/
Step 6 Link Popularity Building
There are 2 ways of building Link popularity
o Reciprocal link building (2 way link building)
o Non-reciprocal link building (1 way link building)
Reciprocal link building
There are some basic rules to follow when exchanging links:
Relevancy is more important
Check and make sure the reciprocal link aren’t being blocked and pages are indexed
Link pages with more than 50 links aren’t worth exchanging with
Non-reciprocal link building
It can be in form of paid link, directory listings, social bookmarking, article publishing ,blogs and press releases
Step 7 - Title and Meta tags
Once you have planned and completed the site structure and content integration. Its turn for Title Meta and Description. Unique and optimized title and Meta tags are really helpful in achieving higher search engine positions
Title:
this tag represents information of page this can be in browsers header bar
Meta keywords:
This include the targeted keywords for that particular page
Meta description:
The Meta description shows on the SERPS (search engine results page). It is used in describing the products / services you offer to your customers, you can describe specific pages within your website that shows in the search results page.
You can describe your pages the way you want them to be seen by your visitors in the SERPS (search engine results pages)
Next is alt tags, Alt tags is a white hat SEO practice used very commonly by search engine optimizers
An example of alt tag:
Step 8 Monitoring
There are three basic things in the monitoring process. They are:
Monitoring your search engine positions:
You can go through the searches manually, you can use software like IBP to check your rankings or you can use online. There can find many related Seo tools listed here http://www.seocompany.ca/tool/seo-tools.html
Monitoring Back Links
Schedule weekly checks of how many backlinks you have and are your link partners still linking to you
Monitoring Changes in the Search Environment
The last thing you will have to monitor is for changes with the search engines themselves.
Visiting forums and subscribing to newsletters to keep yourself updated about search engines algorithm changes
Step 9 social bookmarking
The social bookmarking is used by many people to bookmark their pages and websites. Using the social bookmarking visitors can bookmark the sites listed in the social networking websites. The popularity of the websites in the social bookmarking world gauged by most favorites websites among the visitors. The most bookmarked website obviously will get more traffic than others and it can also help improving your search engine ranking in major search engines.
How does it work?
In a social bookmarking system, users store lists of Webpage Urls, which they find useful. Often, these lists are publicly accessible, and other people with similar interests can view the links by category, tags, or even randomly. Some social bookmarking systems allow for privacy on a per-bookmark basis.
Most bookmarking websites allows to enter multiple tags for your web pages in order to be searched by the visitors that helps social bookmarking visitors to get relevant and accurate search results for their keywords.
Advantages
1. Social bookmarking helps in promoting your website users market your site.
2. It indirectly helps by building a brand.
3. Generates targeted traffic.
Some important social bookmarking sites
Dig.com | Blink |Del.icio.us |Digg |Furl |Google |Simpy |Spurl |Y! MyWeb
Step 10 - Testing
You have created a great design and added SEO elements to your site. Now its time to see if all that hard work done has achieved the main goal of reaching the visitor and to convert them to a customer.
o Check for broken links :
o Other script errors
o Ease in navigating site
o visual appeal of the site
o placement of content
o are you able to find what u are looking for
You have created a great design and added SEO elements to your site. Now you should test your website for errors (i.e. 404 not found error, script errors etc.).
Check for broken links :
Other script errors
Ease in navigating site
Visual appeal of the site
Placement of content
Are your visitors able to find what they are looking for?
“
Website content
Sunday 14 June 2009 @ 10:30 pm
Steve Waganer asked:
Other than Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO) can also drag more and more audience to your websites. Through social media optimization, your site would get a good ranking on the search engine. Internet has become a strong weapon to fight against unsocial factor. Via internet, we can share our ideas and knowledge with others. Moreover, communication has become quite feasible through internet. Social media optimization is a method of generating publicity through online processes, communities and websites. Uploading videos, blogging, forums, discussions enhance the effect of social media optimization. It has brought people nearer to each other.
Through social media optimization, people can advertise any of their products or services. Social media optimization utilizes the techniques of social bookmarking, video, photo sharing and blogging. Today, the gift of social media optimization like Orkut and Facebook are receiving much popularity. Social Media Optimization is an effective tool of advertising. Any new product or service are reaching people’s ear very instantly. Internet makes people get the product and services. Through Social Media Optimization, people are becoming more and more social. You can also get yourself updated with any new happenings. It has made life very easy and hassle free. Everything happens very instantly. Social media optimization makes communication very easy.
Three ways to excel at social media optimization are-(1) Generate interesting contents, write what you feel, people are more interested to know your feelings, (2) Know your target audience and plan things accordingly and (3) Your content and product should be very interesting and should had the capacity to drag more and more audience. Linkage is an important factor of social media optimization. Five rules for conducting an SMO for a client’s website are- (1) Increasing linkability, (2) Add bookmarking sites and tag your article, (3) Reward inbound links, (4) Submit your content on relevant sites and (5) Encouraging mashup. RSS and flickr may also be very useful. Social media optimization is a form of search engine optimization. Social media optimization requires proper planning. A lot of research should be undertaken. It has made the world very small. People get instant news of their near and dear ones.
People are coming out with their views and opinions. They are updating themselves with any new happening. New options are opened for the internet surfers. Interaction has become quite easy through social media optimization. Exchange of ideas and opinions are getting prominent. Through social media optimization, many businessmen are able to popularize their products. Your site receives popularity only through social media optimization. Social media optimizing requires proper planning and strategies. Booking of tickets or availing loans is all possible though internet. Online business is flourishing day by day. Your website will reach the top only when your site is visited time and again. Spamming is quite common and steps should be taken to get rid of spammers. Spamming may cause a big harm to your site. Social media optimizing is a blessing for one and all.
Content for WordPress
Other than Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Optimization (SMO) can also drag more and more audience to your websites. Through social media optimization, your site would get a good ranking on the search engine. Internet has become a strong weapon to fight against unsocial factor. Via internet, we can share our ideas and knowledge with others. Moreover, communication has become quite feasible through internet. Social media optimization is a method of generating publicity through online processes, communities and websites. Uploading videos, blogging, forums, discussions enhance the effect of social media optimization. It has brought people nearer to each other.
Through social media optimization, people can advertise any of their products or services. Social media optimization utilizes the techniques of social bookmarking, video, photo sharing and blogging. Today, the gift of social media optimization like Orkut and Facebook are receiving much popularity. Social Media Optimization is an effective tool of advertising. Any new product or service are reaching people’s ear very instantly. Internet makes people get the product and services. Through Social Media Optimization, people are becoming more and more social. You can also get yourself updated with any new happenings. It has made life very easy and hassle free. Everything happens very instantly. Social media optimization makes communication very easy.
Three ways to excel at social media optimization are-(1) Generate interesting contents, write what you feel, people are more interested to know your feelings, (2) Know your target audience and plan things accordingly and (3) Your content and product should be very interesting and should had the capacity to drag more and more audience. Linkage is an important factor of social media optimization. Five rules for conducting an SMO for a client’s website are- (1) Increasing linkability, (2) Add bookmarking sites and tag your article, (3) Reward inbound links, (4) Submit your content on relevant sites and (5) Encouraging mashup. RSS and flickr may also be very useful. Social media optimization is a form of search engine optimization. Social media optimization requires proper planning. A lot of research should be undertaken. It has made the world very small. People get instant news of their near and dear ones.
People are coming out with their views and opinions. They are updating themselves with any new happening. New options are opened for the internet surfers. Interaction has become quite easy through social media optimization. Exchange of ideas and opinions are getting prominent. Through social media optimization, many businessmen are able to popularize their products. Your site receives popularity only through social media optimization. Social media optimizing requires proper planning and strategies. Booking of tickets or availing loans is all possible though internet. Online business is flourishing day by day. Your website will reach the top only when your site is visited time and again. Spamming is quite common and steps should be taken to get rid of spammers. Spamming may cause a big harm to your site. Social media optimizing is a blessing for one and all.
Content for WordPress
Saturday 13 June 2009 @ 8:39 am
Markus Skupeika asked:
Marketing on Social network sites is not an easy feat. It relies on a lot of user interaction, especially with existing contacts. Know the benefits Social sites can do to your business. Understand how social networking can drive targeted traffic to your website today.
Social network sites are the new breed of online social hubs. More and more users turn to social networking sites to find loved ones, reconnect with old friends, or even host a high school reunion. However, social networking sites offer more than just meeting new and old friends, it can also be an avenue to promote your latest book, show online users about your website and updates, or even use the social sites to promote your views and agendas. Social network sites or User-created content sites like blogs, forums, or dating websites are basically places online where users can congregate to share information, give advice, or work on similar interests. Users flock social network sites, making it a good vantage point for web marketers to launch their products.
There are two types of marketing involved over social networking sites. Different types of individuals who promote their products or skills over social networking sites often employ varying tactics to get their message across. Several online marketers employ the use of the comments system on social marketing sites to post information about their products or use social sites to improve search engine placement for their websites. Though some web marketers would go overboard with the promotion and quite literally spam their target audience with useless data just to lure them to clicking a link which will direct them to the website being promoted. Other types of web marketers employ a subtle technique of social engineering to make users trust them and to make them purchase their products or click on a link to their main website. Other marketers would go as far as using black hat search optimization techniques to force web browsers into redirecting to another site. This type of marketing is not allowed on most social communities, and could get you banned on that social site, if caught.
Taking the different strategies piece by piece we identify different patterns on how web marketers coordinate their efforts to capture a wider scope of online users on a social networking site and achieve better search engine placement for their websites. Web marketers who operate viral marketing strategies often use software tools that will allow them to harvest different user profiles or account numbers, which they would use to send or post messages on. Web marketers meticulously gather user details and interest, and seek out vital social community sections like forums and rant pages where their messages can go around with the least possible chance of getting erased by members. Web marketers usually lace their promotional words with entertaining music or videos. But this can still be the tip of the iceberg on the grand scheme of online promotions. Once you give into the advertising, you will see yourself clicking on different links which will make you download or get redirected to another website which can force you to download a certain application or Trojan which they can then use to either force your browser to redirect to other web pages when you are browsing or quite literally force your computer to accept different ads from their website.
Social engineering on the other hand employs more interaction between the marketer and the end users. Web marketers who employ social engineering often use chatrooms or utilize the email system of social network sites to send messages to users. VoIP or Internet telephoning can also be used to improve marketer and user interaction. This type of online marketing may take awhile to be realized, but is often more successful in landing repeat customers, if done right.
Content for WordPress
Marketing on Social network sites is not an easy feat. It relies on a lot of user interaction, especially with existing contacts. Know the benefits Social sites can do to your business. Understand how social networking can drive targeted traffic to your website today.
Social network sites are the new breed of online social hubs. More and more users turn to social networking sites to find loved ones, reconnect with old friends, or even host a high school reunion. However, social networking sites offer more than just meeting new and old friends, it can also be an avenue to promote your latest book, show online users about your website and updates, or even use the social sites to promote your views and agendas. Social network sites or User-created content sites like blogs, forums, or dating websites are basically places online where users can congregate to share information, give advice, or work on similar interests. Users flock social network sites, making it a good vantage point for web marketers to launch their products.
There are two types of marketing involved over social networking sites. Different types of individuals who promote their products or skills over social networking sites often employ varying tactics to get their message across. Several online marketers employ the use of the comments system on social marketing sites to post information about their products or use social sites to improve search engine placement for their websites. Though some web marketers would go overboard with the promotion and quite literally spam their target audience with useless data just to lure them to clicking a link which will direct them to the website being promoted. Other types of web marketers employ a subtle technique of social engineering to make users trust them and to make them purchase their products or click on a link to their main website. Other marketers would go as far as using black hat search optimization techniques to force web browsers into redirecting to another site. This type of marketing is not allowed on most social communities, and could get you banned on that social site, if caught.
Taking the different strategies piece by piece we identify different patterns on how web marketers coordinate their efforts to capture a wider scope of online users on a social networking site and achieve better search engine placement for their websites. Web marketers who operate viral marketing strategies often use software tools that will allow them to harvest different user profiles or account numbers, which they would use to send or post messages on. Web marketers meticulously gather user details and interest, and seek out vital social community sections like forums and rant pages where their messages can go around with the least possible chance of getting erased by members. Web marketers usually lace their promotional words with entertaining music or videos. But this can still be the tip of the iceberg on the grand scheme of online promotions. Once you give into the advertising, you will see yourself clicking on different links which will make you download or get redirected to another website which can force you to download a certain application or Trojan which they can then use to either force your browser to redirect to other web pages when you are browsing or quite literally force your computer to accept different ads from their website.
Social engineering on the other hand employs more interaction between the marketer and the end users. Web marketers who employ social engineering often use chatrooms or utilize the email system of social network sites to send messages to users. VoIP or Internet telephoning can also be used to improve marketer and user interaction. This type of online marketing may take awhile to be realized, but is often more successful in landing repeat customers, if done right.
Content for WordPress
Saturday 13 June 2009 @ 8:33 am
Steve Nimmons asked:
I recall (approximately 8 years ago) reading an impressive poster on Social Engineering at a well-known manufacturing company in Silicon Valley. The poster contained sensible advice for dealing with unsolicited phone calls, ‘chance’ conversations, and the importance of discretion when discussing corporate matters on planes, trains and automobiles. Tail gating and the ‘risk of gallantry’, the social and psychological tricks used by experienced practitioners to ‘project belonging’, the need for vigilance in public spaces, and of course ‘clear desk policy’ and appropriate security of corporate assets. Our workforces were equipped to deal with the primary aspects of exposure.
The advice (like all good advice) was clear, concise, relevant and accessible. With the advent and exponential uptake of Web2.0 however, I wonder what a similarly intentioned poster should convey today?
Linkedin, Facebook, Plaxo and the proliferation of associated groups provide a rich hunting ground for the Social Engineer. Companies can be significantly profiled, names, departments, reporting structures, nature of business, personal links, networks can be mined to provide a basic ‘mapped framework’. It would not be difficult to sift these sites for information to use in ‘impersonation attacks’, then Social Engineering additional information through email or telephony channels. Worse still, with no identity management (i.e. no established trust), it is simple to create fake pages, groups and details and use these to link the unwitting. A very interesting topic for future discussion (but perhaps of grave concern in terms of information freedom) would be creation of trusts and identities to ‘validate’ the Web2.0 profiles (personal certificates for Web2.0 anyone?).
I don’t want to be alarmist. I am in fact one of the greatest evangelists of collaborative technology (having worked on groupware projects since 1993). Indeed I am resolutely against those who seek to ban access from corporate networks (this is not a solution). I think the ubiquity of these technologies and their genuine usefulness in conducting business and expanding networking possibilities is immense.
That said, does you business attempt in any way to train your staff on the potential dangers of these sites? Do you have a view of the key dangers that should be addressed? Do you have relevant corporate security policies? I provide some suggestions for areas of consideration:
1. Discussion of confidential information in a closed group could be extremely unwise (you do not really control the security of the group, despite the best intentions of the provider)
2. Fake groups or unofficial groups could be created for good or bad intention. Corporations finding unofficial groups using their name and branding should seek to intervene and gain some degree of control. Lambasting the group’s creators (assuming their intention is genuine) is foolish, as this simply indicates you were too slow to embrace Web2.0 in your corporate IT landscape. This is a wake up call that you have lost touch with an emerging and dominant demographic
3. How much of your business in terms of personnel, roles, responsibilities, professional activities can be profiled? Links to friends in the same business can be used to elicit and deduce further intelligence. Do you have any guidance for personnel identifying themselves as members of your organisation?
4. Public comments from identified staff could be detrimental to the reputation of the business. Marketing and IT Security need to work hand in hand with identification of “damaging” (or potentially damaging) material
The proliferation of Web2.0 opens a huge number of holes in the sieve of corporate intelligence. What are you doing to understand and mitigate your exposure? Do you have corporate policies, security guidelines and policies, underpinned by an auditing mechanism? Do you provide advice on safe and positive self-marketing?
Empowered employees can act as corporate ambassadors and an entirely new (highly scalable and highly distributed) channel can be leveraged for your marketing goals. Loose control of your employees in Web2.0 however, at your peril!
Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress
I recall (approximately 8 years ago) reading an impressive poster on Social Engineering at a well-known manufacturing company in Silicon Valley. The poster contained sensible advice for dealing with unsolicited phone calls, ‘chance’ conversations, and the importance of discretion when discussing corporate matters on planes, trains and automobiles. Tail gating and the ‘risk of gallantry’, the social and psychological tricks used by experienced practitioners to ‘project belonging’, the need for vigilance in public spaces, and of course ‘clear desk policy’ and appropriate security of corporate assets. Our workforces were equipped to deal with the primary aspects of exposure.
The advice (like all good advice) was clear, concise, relevant and accessible. With the advent and exponential uptake of Web2.0 however, I wonder what a similarly intentioned poster should convey today?
Linkedin, Facebook, Plaxo and the proliferation of associated groups provide a rich hunting ground for the Social Engineer. Companies can be significantly profiled, names, departments, reporting structures, nature of business, personal links, networks can be mined to provide a basic ‘mapped framework’. It would not be difficult to sift these sites for information to use in ‘impersonation attacks’, then Social Engineering additional information through email or telephony channels. Worse still, with no identity management (i.e. no established trust), it is simple to create fake pages, groups and details and use these to link the unwitting. A very interesting topic for future discussion (but perhaps of grave concern in terms of information freedom) would be creation of trusts and identities to ‘validate’ the Web2.0 profiles (personal certificates for Web2.0 anyone?).
I don’t want to be alarmist. I am in fact one of the greatest evangelists of collaborative technology (having worked on groupware projects since 1993). Indeed I am resolutely against those who seek to ban access from corporate networks (this is not a solution). I think the ubiquity of these technologies and their genuine usefulness in conducting business and expanding networking possibilities is immense.
That said, does you business attempt in any way to train your staff on the potential dangers of these sites? Do you have a view of the key dangers that should be addressed? Do you have relevant corporate security policies? I provide some suggestions for areas of consideration:
1. Discussion of confidential information in a closed group could be extremely unwise (you do not really control the security of the group, despite the best intentions of the provider)
2. Fake groups or unofficial groups could be created for good or bad intention. Corporations finding unofficial groups using their name and branding should seek to intervene and gain some degree of control. Lambasting the group’s creators (assuming their intention is genuine) is foolish, as this simply indicates you were too slow to embrace Web2.0 in your corporate IT landscape. This is a wake up call that you have lost touch with an emerging and dominant demographic
3. How much of your business in terms of personnel, roles, responsibilities, professional activities can be profiled? Links to friends in the same business can be used to elicit and deduce further intelligence. Do you have any guidance for personnel identifying themselves as members of your organisation?
4. Public comments from identified staff could be detrimental to the reputation of the business. Marketing and IT Security need to work hand in hand with identification of “damaging” (or potentially damaging) material
The proliferation of Web2.0 opens a huge number of holes in the sieve of corporate intelligence. What are you doing to understand and mitigate your exposure? Do you have corporate policies, security guidelines and policies, underpinned by an auditing mechanism? Do you provide advice on safe and positive self-marketing?
Empowered employees can act as corporate ambassadors and an entirely new (highly scalable and highly distributed) channel can be leveraged for your marketing goals. Loose control of your employees in Web2.0 however, at your peril!
Content - Members-Only Content for WordPress
Thursday 11 June 2009 @ 8:16 pm
Matjaz asked:
Social engineering is a collective noun for those techniques what malicious hackers use for preparation before the real attack against our computer system. They try to induce employes to break the general security policy of their company. These tricks are non-technical methods and usually they operate with psychological effects. They are very confident and they appeal to have the authority for what they are talking about.
Pretexting by phone, on the net, dumpster diving, trojan horse, road apple, phishing, persuasion are different kinds of techniques for social engineering.
It’s a complex threat and can appear in very different ways but it’s not impossible to avoid. The only thing that we should be aware of the information security, aware of the value of the information. Weaknesses of most people come from the inability to keep the speed with the developement of technology. We enjoy the advantages of the internet, of the webmarket but we can’t size up what can happen to our private datas and the datas’ of the company where we are working. We can’t size up that our company is a target for hackers or not.
We must not give any information on phone, in e-mail and in any way when we can not check the person’s authorization who asks private datas from us. We should take care to who we give information and we should follow the security procedures of our company.
www.infosecuritylab.com
Content
Social engineering is a collective noun for those techniques what malicious hackers use for preparation before the real attack against our computer system. They try to induce employes to break the general security policy of their company. These tricks are non-technical methods and usually they operate with psychological effects. They are very confident and they appeal to have the authority for what they are talking about.
Pretexting by phone, on the net, dumpster diving, trojan horse, road apple, phishing, persuasion are different kinds of techniques for social engineering.
It’s a complex threat and can appear in very different ways but it’s not impossible to avoid. The only thing that we should be aware of the information security, aware of the value of the information. Weaknesses of most people come from the inability to keep the speed with the developement of technology. We enjoy the advantages of the internet, of the webmarket but we can’t size up what can happen to our private datas and the datas’ of the company where we are working. We can’t size up that our company is a target for hackers or not.
We must not give any information on phone, in e-mail and in any way when we can not check the person’s authorization who asks private datas from us. We should take care to who we give information and we should follow the security procedures of our company.
www.infosecuritylab.com
Content
Wednesday 3 June 2009 @ 10:10 pm
Meenakshi Wali asked:
Social Media sites and social media networking is a new revolution in the world of Internet. With the social media sites coming into existence and actively being used by people all across the world, it is now looked at as a new opportunity by search engine optimization experts. And that led to the birth of the concept called ‘Social Media Optimization’.
Before we go on to discuss, what Social Media Optimization is and how it is done, let us first see, why these social media sites have gained such huge popularity in such short time. Social media sites are based on the technology of Web 2.0. This makes them very interactive and interesting too. They are all about real people getting connected with real people in different parts of the world. Sometimes social media sites are helpful in increasing the social connections of a person, and sometimes it is passing on knowledge from one person to another.
What is social media optimization and how we do it? Social media optimization is utilizing these social media sites and the social media networks to popularize a product, a service, an organization or any concept. It is done by using the advantages and facilities provided by the various kinds of social media sites for maximizing promotion and penetration.
Examples of social media optimization - many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts and webmasters have started social media optimization. They do it through blogging, submitting in wikis and other information sites and some also utilize the vertical specific forums to spread awareness about products and services.
In blogging, people talk about the products or services or the site that is to be promoted. They educate their readers about various things related and also have a target audience who can subscribe the blogs with the help of RSS. Another way to spread information and knowledge is through Wikis. Today we have different Wikis like Wikipedia, WikiHow and Wikia. They are the best place to submit content, especially if you have something new to share. Another great tool for Search Engine Optimization is forum. Through forum postings, one can not just syndicate information, but also gain knowledge about the market trends, what the consumers want and what’s hot.
Social Media Optimization has a huge scope and this is just a beginning. It is not something that will pass you by; it is here to stay and bring in more ripples of evolution and development in the world of online promotions.
Content
Social Media sites and social media networking is a new revolution in the world of Internet. With the social media sites coming into existence and actively being used by people all across the world, it is now looked at as a new opportunity by search engine optimization experts. And that led to the birth of the concept called ‘Social Media Optimization’.
Before we go on to discuss, what Social Media Optimization is and how it is done, let us first see, why these social media sites have gained such huge popularity in such short time. Social media sites are based on the technology of Web 2.0. This makes them very interactive and interesting too. They are all about real people getting connected with real people in different parts of the world. Sometimes social media sites are helpful in increasing the social connections of a person, and sometimes it is passing on knowledge from one person to another.
What is social media optimization and how we do it? Social media optimization is utilizing these social media sites and the social media networks to popularize a product, a service, an organization or any concept. It is done by using the advantages and facilities provided by the various kinds of social media sites for maximizing promotion and penetration.
Examples of social media optimization - many Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts and webmasters have started social media optimization. They do it through blogging, submitting in wikis and other information sites and some also utilize the vertical specific forums to spread awareness about products and services.
In blogging, people talk about the products or services or the site that is to be promoted. They educate their readers about various things related and also have a target audience who can subscribe the blogs with the help of RSS. Another way to spread information and knowledge is through Wikis. Today we have different Wikis like Wikipedia, WikiHow and Wikia. They are the best place to submit content, especially if you have something new to share. Another great tool for Search Engine Optimization is forum. Through forum postings, one can not just syndicate information, but also gain knowledge about the market trends, what the consumers want and what’s hot.
Social Media Optimization has a huge scope and this is just a beginning. It is not something that will pass you by; it is here to stay and bring in more ripples of evolution and development in the world of online promotions.
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