Google Chrome Extension Blocks Unwanted Websites

Posted on February 21, 2011 by dzineit

Google's website browser, known as Google Chrome, now allows search engine users to block low-quality websites from its search results page.

This will likely be one of many new ways that Google will respond to user complaints of spam websites. It is also a likely response to new kid on the block, Blekko (http://www.blekko.com), which aims to show search results from only useful, trustworthy sites, mostly through user participation.

The tool, called the Personal Blocklist extension, can be downloaded directly from the Google Chrome web store. Once downloaded, Chrome users can decide which web pages they want to block from the search results pages that they view. Those decisions are automatically sent to Google for review.

If a Google Chrome user finds that that the results obtained from a particular website found through a Google search are not up to par in terms of quality, or if the content has been copied from another site, the user can click on a link to block that website from appearing in future search engine results pages. When a user blocks a website, a signal is automatically sent to Google.

Google will study this feedback and if it finds that certain sites are being blocked repeatedly, they may decide to block the site from their search results entirely. Users also have the ability to check their list of blocked sites by clicking on the extension icon on the top right hand of the Chrome window. Users can also unblock a blocked site if he or she wishes to as well.

This new extension reflects a conscious effort on the part of Google to reduce spam in their search results. Specifically, it aims to shut down content farms, which are sites that host lots of content that is merely duplicated from other sites or has little or no value on its own.

This Google Chrome extension is still in its early testing stages and is currently available in various languages, including English.

Copyright 2011 dzine it, inc. Website Marketing All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Interesting Articles; News

Google PageRank Strategies

Posted on February 18, 2011 by dzineit

With more than 200 factors determining page rank, Google is urging small business website owners to create more relevant content and improve conversion rates for premium PageRank placement.

Google PageRank is still the gold standard for search engine optimization. Business website owners and search engine marketers know that it is one of the most viable ranking factors in measuring the effectiveness of their online marketing efforts.

Google now heavily ranks documents based on user behavior and content. In the past, each link on a webpage was given the same link juice or authority as the other. Now, Google weighs each of those links based on behavioral action and the likelihood of users clicking on that link.

In layman's terms, this means that the placement and the appearance of a link, as well as its relevance, is of primary importance to Google.

As a result of this shift, the old school way of link building is no longer as effective as it once was. Submitting your blog or multiple articles to several directories and submitting links to several social bookmarking websites, will not significantly impact your Google PageRank.

Now that Google is giving so much weight to user behavior and real-time traffic patterns, business owners should take a page from the Google playbook and adjust their link building strategies. It is imperative that websites now focus on live visitors, decreasing their dependency on Google by creating click-thru traffic through natural linking.

Business owners and their search engine marketers should focus less on the following:
- Blogging
- Social Bookmarking
- Article Submission
- Bulk Directory Submission
- Bulk Link Exchange

Instead, more emphasis should be placed on:
- Guest Blogging
- Link Baiting
- Press Releases
- Joint Ventures
- Building Social Communities

A business's goal should be to achieve quality links through bloggers and social activities relevant to your industry. If you own a business website, start paying more attention to relevant content, traffic sources and conversions.

Copyright 2011 dzine it, inc. web design new york All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; Interesting Articles; News

Do Not 'Stiff' Your Web Designer

Posted on February 17, 2011 by dzineit

There has been a lot of recent discussion online about a certain small business website gone awry. It was the result of a disgruntled, unpaid website developer.

The website developer created a website for a chiropractic firm, Winona Chiropractic Center (http://winonachiropractic.com), and provided the company with hosting services. According to a recent message posted on the website, when the company 'failed to pay any of their total web design bill, despite repeated attempts by their web design agency to collect,' the designer, claiming to have 'a childish sense of humor,' hijacked the website and used it to inform the world of how he had been stiffed by the business.

While the website developer's behavior has been criticized by some in the website development industry, I have to admit that I feel his or her pain. No matter what business you are in, when a deadbeat client fails to pay their bill, you really want to punish them.

In the case of the Winona Chiropractic Center, the website developer claims that the developer was more than patient, writing, 'Please note that I have waited years for this business to pay. I have hosted their site for free since about 2007. This is me giving up.'

'Personally, I wouldn't trust a doctor of any kind who couldn't pony up for what, in the grand scheme of things, is a small charge for their web design,' the statement continued. 'Do what you will, though.'

The site gathered some attention across the Internet. However, the developer had a change of heart and a statement on the website now reads, 'This site has been removed. Ok, I did what I probably should have done to begin with, and have removed this site entirely. Sorry folks.'

While I will stop short of condoning the behavior of this unknown website developer, I do sympathize. The lesson to be learned here is quite simple. Pay up for services rendered or else there is a chance that it will come back to haunt you.

Copyright 2011 dzine it, inc. web design new york All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Interesting Articles; News

Succeeding in the Consolidated Data Center Future

Posted on February 16, 2011 by dzineit

We've all heard the phrase, "do more with less;" When we talk about the future of data center consolidation, the world seems to be on track with that philosophy.

Regardless of whether we refer to servers, storage, networking or data centers themselves, many in the industry are suddenly finding themselves in a position where they must streamline their data center infrastructure and cut costs, while continuing to maintain the resources necessary to expanding data loads.

Research indicates that in 2011, there will be a major push for consolidation, with a potential savings reaching into the millions for many data centers. This, coupled with the push toward greener data center management, consolidation is becoming the most likely enterprise scenario.

However, consolidation isn't always easy. Typically, the consolidation of a mid-sized data center requires a fairly sizable upfront investment. For companies with multiple data centers, looking to downsize, that investment is going to be even more sizable. Of course, staff re-training should be factored in as well.

The irony of the situation, however, is that data centers are being asked to consolidate in the face of exploding data loads.

According to recent Information Week article, data managed in the average data center is increasing at a rate of 20 percent per year on average. Some data centers are reporting increases of as much as 50 percent per year.

Using these figures, capacity will have to double every two or three years. This is quite an expectation as nearly half of the world's enterprises are either cutting their IT budgets or holding the line on spending. Already, such contradictions have forced data center managers to come up with creative new combinations of SSDs, high-density magnetic disks, virtualization, thin provisioning and other related technologies.

Of course, cloud management also plays a major role in the discussion too.

No longer are data centers at the mercy of a risk that would leave them with too few resources to meet growing demands. Now, additional resources are a phone call away, giving enterprises more leeway to cut infrastructure and better respond to fluctuations in data. This allows the center to reserve its resources for the most critical applications and data.

With the growing availability of state-of-the-art hardware and software, a consolidation effort, if executed properly, can create a streamlined and more efficient infrastructure.

Read more at Aten-USA Technology Blog

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
IT Technology; News

Keep Your Business Cards

Posted on February 14, 2011 by dzineit

Sure, everyone talks about the importance of online marketing through advertisements, small business websites and social networking as the best way to grow a business. However, marketing tactics in the digital age do not negate the need for businesses to have that personal touch.

The personal side of small business marketing and the tangibility of business cards means that business owners may want to refrain from cutting their business card budget.

Although Facebook and Twitter are still the rage, and rightly so, as the newest and best way to market a small business, having business cards on hand to dole out during face-to-face meetings remains a critical component of promoting a brand. No one knows how to market your business better than yourself. All the social networking in the world cannot compare to on the ground networking, whether at conferences, chamber of commerce meetings or when meeting new people on the street.

A business cards design also plays a role in how successful that sort of networking will be.

Your business card should be visually striking and unique, but it should also be legible and not too complicated. Those of us in the graphic design industry can really help your business grow immensely, by helping you with the design and production of business card that can produce results.

Business cards can also be combined with other marketing initiatives as well. For example, LinkedIn recently purchased a company whose service allows users to scan business cards directly into computerized contact information.

Copyright 2011 dzine it, inc. website design company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Digital Marketing; Interesting Articles; News

How a Government Website Failed the Public

Posted on February 10, 2011 by dzineit

Many people that tried to access the official National Weather Service (NWS) website last week encountered significant problems and issues. The government website's performance has been consistently sluggish and, at times, much of its content, which includes important forecasts and weather warnings, has been totally inaccessible.

These issues could not have come at a worse time, when a massive, life threatening storm was affecting more than 100 million people.

For a government agency whose mission is to protect the life and property of its citizens, the dissemination of timely information, particularly during hazardous weather events, is vital. In this day and age, it is important for our government to effectively leverage technology to communicate information to the people of America, particularly during hazardous weather events. Last week, the National Weather Service failed.

In addition to last week's poor performance, the NWS website has come under fire recently for its poor usability and design.

The problem isn't that the website doesn't offer enough information, it offers way too much. The home page, for example, links to more than 100 other websites, features a confusing map, and is awkwardly sized.

The website needs to be more organized and useable. Although there is a lot of useful content on the site, the information is scattered across many different pages and there is a lot of redundancy.

Copyright 2011 dzine it, inc. web development company All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 Pinterest
Leave a comment
Peter Crisafi (Peter Crisafi dzineit)
dzine it, inc. +1.212.989.0813
26 West 23 Street
New York, NY, 10010 U.S.A
Specialty:
Interesting Articles; News
Page 52 of 99
1…42505152535462…99