Archive for December, 2011
20 Ways SOPA Can Affect The Internet
Posted by dean in Guest Posts, Technology, Tips & Advice on December 30, 2011
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is now before the American Congress, waiting to be passed or not. With online piracy at an all time high, the US feels that it’s become almost impossible to manage traffic across borders. While the Congress ponders over this, the internet population is concerned as to how SOPA will affect the internet.
- Death Penalty For Online Businesses: SOPA authorizes sites that are reported for copyright infringement to be cut off from their domain name. ISPs can force advertisers and payment processors to suspend their services to the site.
- Sites Blocked And Sued For User Content: Sites which host copyright content uploaded by users can be blacklisted and blocked via ISPs, search engines and payment processors. This can be done without the benefit of a court hearing.
- Copyright Holders Can Sue Sites: Sites hosting copyrighted material uploaded unknowingly by users can be sued now and held accountable. Such sites have to comply within 5 days or risk total loss.
- Social Media Held Accountable: Social Media sites such as FaceBook will be held accountable for every copyright violation that their users commit. These sites will now be forced to proactively censor user content.
- Small Tech Companies To Suffer: Recently started tech startup companies may not have the resources to comply with SOPA standards and may have to close down as a result.
- Free Speech Rights Will Be Censored: Online businesses, user-generated content sites and social media sites will try to play it safe and start heavily censoring user content. This can stifle users’ free speech rights, making the internet a risky place to say anything at all.
- Downloading Free Content Will Become Risky: Users may not know which materials are still under copyright. This makes it risky to download content that is actually free or perceived to be free, as the site will be penalized.
- Legitimate Business Will Be Held Liable: The radical restructuring of internet laws may expose legitimate innovators and businesses to liability. This will only give rise to lawsuits, fewer jobs and lesser venture capital investment.
- Open Source Sites May Shut Down: Sites that operate open source software such as browsers may be shut down under SOPA. This is because several websites use the open source code for their copyrighted businesses, which in turn targets sites providing the same technology as open source.
- DNS System Will Be Undermined: SOPA requires internet service providers to filter DNS queries for websites that contain copyright infringed content. This act will undermine the DNS system integrity and also heavily tax websites that may unknowingly contain copyrighted material.
- Internet Speeds May Slow Down: SOPA would impose DNS filtering and also force ISPs to prevent access to certain sites. This means each ISP has to inspect the entire Internet traffic of its user base, which will consume additional resources and slow down ISP service.
- Downgrade Attacks Will Increase: A user running a secure application such as banking won’t know if a resolution failure is because of a court order or because of a hacked nameserver. This may cause an increase in downgrade attacks and hacking.
- Use Of Illegal Web Proxies Will Increase: Illegal web proxies that select non-US servers will be developed to circumvent DNS redirection. This will only cause havoc with the internet security protocol, Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC).
- Emergency Proxy Servers May Be Made Illegal: During emergencies such as the recent Hurricane Katrina, several proxy servers were legally set up to enable ad-hoc networks. However, such proxies can be used to thwart copyright enforcement and made illegal by SOPA.
- Streaming Sites Will Be Penalized: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and similar sites that host user content can be criminalized, because SOPA fails to distinguish between commercial and non-commercial conduct. Due to the lack of concrete definitions, SOPA can criminalize conduct that is actually permissible under current law.
- Online Album Sites Will Shut Down: SOPA may force album sites such as Etsy, Flickr and Vimeo to shut down. These sites have no way of knowing at this point which albums or photos are copyrighted.
- Browsers Will Be Penalized: Any website that links to copyright infringed material will be penalized or sued and this includes browsers that throw up search results linking to copyrighted material.
- ISPs Will Infringe On Privacy: The intense monitoring and censorship authorized to ISPs will give rise to deep packet inspection, which means minute inspection of user data and communication.
- Legitimate Links Can Be Deleted: In their effort to clean up links to copyright infringed material, legitimate links to the same content can also be deleted, since SOPA does not provide concrete directions in this matter.
- Browser Ability To Generate Fair Links Will Be Impacted: This means that users will not be able to search for the content they want.
4 Necessities for Bloggers on a Budget
Posted by Danielle Young in Guest Posts, SEO, Tips & Advice on December 27, 2011
Although blogging has been around for more than a decade, it still remains one of the most popular mediums for communication on the internet. It has done much to democratize the production and communication of information for those who have interesting things to say. However, there are still a lot of things that a potential blogger must consider before taking on this worthwhile endeavor. Indeed, a little bit of planning in the beginning will go a long way in helping bloggers produce quality content on a shoestring budget while gaining access to many potential readers.
In order to grow your blog on a small budget, there are several things that you should consider:
- Changing Your Hosting Provider
- Use Social Media
- Work with Other Blogs
- Search Engine Optimization
Changing Your Hosting Provider
The website hosting market has become very competitive over the past several years as server prices continue to plummet on account of Moore’s Law. This has been a great boon for people who want to run their own blogs since they are able to reach a worldwide audience for just pennies a day.
Unless you already have a large, established audience, your blog can get away with a shared hosting solution at first. This is the cheapest way to go since the hosting provider will not need to provide you with a dedicated server.
There are a number of companies that will provide you with a complete hosting solution for less than $10 a month. Some of the most popular companies are listed below:
- Dreamhost
- Bluehost
- HostGator
All of these companies provide a full complement of website hosting services, including database access and use of numerous programming languages to create a fully interactive website. Even if you don’t like to get involved with the technical aspects of your website, several hosting providers, including Dreamhost, allows for a one-click setup of WordPress, one of the most popular blogging platforms on the internet. By doing this, you do not need to worry about installation at all.
Of course, if you are really hamstrung for money, there are several free blogging platforms on the internet. Two of the most popular at the following:
- WordPress
- Blogger
These two websites will allow you to easily create a blog from among numerous templates. By going this route, you can be up and running in just minutes without paying a dime. Of course, there are some negative to going this route. You will not have your own domain name and customization options are limited. However, if you just want to test the waters of the blogging universe, it may be a good first step.
Use Social Media
Creating a blog is usually the easy part; the difficult thing is to actually get people to your website. The internet is littered with the remnants of long abandoned blogs, neglected due to their lack of traffic. Bloggers who were originally excited quickly become discouraged when they come to discover that no one is coming to read their brilliant insights. In order to find potential readers, you are going to need to do some marketing. One of the easiest ways to do this is by employing social media to bring people to your site. For one thing, you can employ social news and bookmarking sites like the following:
- Digg
- Hacker News
These sites aggregate news articles from a variety of sources, which are then rated based on popularity. Although many of your submissions may not become popular, it only takes one great article to go viral, flooding your blog with new visitors. Websites like Facebook and Twitter can also be used to market your blog. By providing a Facebook “Like” button or a “Tweet” icon, readers at your site can become personalized marketers for you by spreading popular articles to their friends.
Work with Other Blogs
Unless you are writing about a particularly esoteric niche, it is exceedingly likely that there are already many sites discussing the same topics that you are. More likely than not, these sites probably have more visitors than you do. Instead of competing with them, you can work with them in order to help their blog while giving you ready access to numerous new potential readers. One popular strategy is to offer to write an article for their website. Many popular blogs struggle to fill their page with content that will interest their readers. You can offer to relieve that burden by writing something for their site. In return, they will give you a byline where you can describe your own blog.
Best of all, this strategy will not cost you any money but just an investment of time in order to write the article.
Search Engine Optimization
Other than various social media websites, the main way people will find your blog is through search engines. Indeed, companies like Google have created a business empire by connecting people to the information that they want. Since search engines have become so popular, an entire industry has developed, known as search engine optimization, in order to help small sites get to the coveted results at the top of the front page. You can hire people to do this for you, but the basics are pretty straightforward and can be done by yourself. Although Google’s search engine algorithm is strictly confidential, they do provide lots of information to website owners about how to optimize their site for their search engine, which handles more than 60 percent of all searches.
So if you are interested in doing this, you should definitely spend some time here: Google Webmaster Tools. Starting your own blog is an exciting adventure and a great way to spread your ideas to the rest of the world. Although it may seem overwhelming at times, by following some of the advice presented above, you will be well on your way to launching a successful blog.
How to Drive Traffic to Your Site Using Twitter
Posted by LuisMasi in social media, Twitter on December 23, 2011
Social media marketing is a fairly new concept, but one that any business can benefit from. More and more, people are turning toward social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as a way to connect with family and friends, but also to keep updated on their favorite brands and businesses. While Facebook is in many ways still geared toward staying connected with friends, Twitter is a favorite website for business professionals and even celebrities to interact with their followers.
Here are some simple tips for improving your site’s traffic using Twitter.
1. Keep your site URL in your bio. This way, anyone who finds you can easily locate your website.
2. Tweet regularly. The more active your Twitter page, the more likely that people will find you. There are several apps that allow you to write tweets in advance and have them posted automatically throughout the day.
3. Join the conversation. Rather than using Twitter as a one-way advertisement tool, join in discussions relevant to your topic. Link to blog posts or websites that relate to the discussion.
4. Follow people with similar interests. Search for users who are interested in your niche and follow them; chat with them regularly and click their links. They will do the same to you.
5. Add a “Tweet this” feature to every blog post or site page so that your visitors can share your information with their own followers.
6. Hold a contest over Twitter. Participants can visit your site for more details, but make the actual contest take place in re-tweets; this will drive a lot of interest to your Twitter profile.
7. Use Twitter to find guest bloggers or other professionals. They will be interested in promoting themselves through their own channels, allowing your post to get double coverage. You’ll also get great content for your site.
8. Spark a conversation. Rather than just stating your message, ask your followers questions. They’ll become engaged with your discussion, and their followers might come investigate what all the fuss is about.
9. Share other people’s links, not just your own. If you find something relevant to your niche, share it with your followers. They will be interested in the information, and it makes you look more friendly and less like you’re only trying to promote yourself.
10. Be friendly. People like social media marketing because it makes them feel like they are genuinely connected to the people they follow. Be warm, genuine, and helpful, and your followers will multiply.
Five Ways to Use Social Media to Grow Your Blog
Blogging is easy. Getting people to read your blog isn’t. Thankfully, you don’t just have to sit, wait and hope people stumble across your work – the vast social sphere that is social media offers a number of ways to drive more prying eyes to your blog.
Promote It
Yes, this is the obvious one – no-one’s going to read your blog if you don’t get out there and tell people about it. Use bookmarking sites, Twitter and any other social media network you might be affiliated with to tell people about each new article you submit.
Monitor It
Social media monitoring tools such as Klout and Social Mention can not only help you to monitor how popular your blog is, who’s talking about it and what they’re saying about it – but it can also help you to learn what works. Social media monitoring tools can allow you to track what people are reading and what they aren’t. When you know what your most popular topics are, you know what you need to write more of.
Link to It
Linking to your blog helps in two ways – it helps you to move up the search engine rankings so that (all being well) at some point, readers will find you naturally. It also drives people to your site. As well as the classic social media networks and bookmarking sites, you can also utilise other blogs, forums and free article marketing sites. Read blogs on similar topics to your own and contribute to the comments. If for example, someone has written an article on how they don’t believe global warming exists and you’ve written an article on how you think it does – comment that you think it’s a really interesting article but you’ve written about your differing views and would love to hear what the blogger thinks (needless to say, use this to link to your article).
Learn from It
Social media can teach you a lot. Find out who the most successful bloggers are in your field of interest and research what they’re doing differently to you. Note down what they Tweet about and how they promote their articles. Look at the topics they write about, the stance they take on certain issues and their style of writing. However, this doesn’t mean you should just copy exactly what they do – remember that some of the most successful bloggers are the most original.
Socialise with It
At its core, social media is about socialising. So use it to socialise. Those ‘successful bloggers’ we were just talking about – communicate with them. If you say something interesting, they will probably say something back. Build a relationship with them and not only will you learn even more about what successful blogging entails but you might also find they promote your best articles for you (thus reaching all of their readership with your blog).
They might even offer you a guest blogging opportunity – a fantastic way to link build and drive more readers to your blog. However, liaising with celebrity bloggers isn’t the only way to secure guest blogging opportunities – try using sites like My Blog Guest to find high quality blogs that are looking for writers just like you to contribute.
Outsource It
If you simply haven’t got the time or inclination to promote your blog yourself, you could always seek the help of an online marketing company or social media agency to do it for you.
What to Consider When Choosing Your Web Hosting Provider
Posted by m_schraiber in Blogging, Other on December 19, 2011
Choosing the right web hosting provider is just as important as deciding what domain name you are going to purchase. Finding the best hosting provider from the beginning will save you time, money and unnecessary headaches. If you just do a simple search online for web hosting provider, hundreds of results will be returned as well as a few ads for hosting providers, but sorting through those results is easier than you may think.
Start by choosing a company that provides web hosting as a service that has stood the test of time. Online companies come and go everyday. It’s important to choose a provider that has already been around for a few years. Choosing the wrong provider means that they can close their doors tomorrow and you will be out a host and the money that you spent on the service.
Next, look into their Customer Support Department. If a problem occurs or you just need some guidance and have some questions, what kind of support do you expect? Consider what your preferred method of communication is as well as what kind of hours you keep. Not all hosting providers are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Some may only communicate through email and others just through chat.
Then, you may want to consider price. Some companies offer free hosting, but you may need to read the fine print to figure out why that is. Providers who offer free hosting do this because in return, they will post ads on your website. If you do not want ads on your site, then you can expect to have to pay for hosting. Prices will vary. Prices simply will depend on what is being offered and what is not being offered with the service.
One company that has stood the test of time, does offer customer support 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and offers three tiers of pricing for hosting services is GoDaddy. For those who are considering having their website(s) hosted by GoDaddy, keep in mind that you never have to pay full price. GoDaddy offers coupon codes that can be used with most purchases. Coupons codes come in the form of a percentage off a purchase and a set amount off a predetermined amount in a single purchase. To start receiving GoDaddy Coupons Codes, simply visit the GoDaddy website and sign up for their email newsletter. Once you start receiving their newsletter, you will start receiving their coupons codes good for your next purchase.
Deciding what web hosting provider to use is not a tedious process as long as you do some research and consider what you want from your provider.
How to be a Successful Guest Blogger and Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Posted by amandatradwick in Blogging, Guest Posts on December 16, 2011
Guest blogging is one of the best ways to build quality backlinks to your blog, which can improve your search-engine ranking. Also, when you write for another blog, you are being introduced to a whole new audience of readers, which you can attract to become regular readers and subscribers of your blog. However, effective guest blogging requires more than just contacting a few blogs, asking to post, and throwing up some haphazard content with a link to your blog. If you want to make the most out of your guest blogging opportunity – both to become a successful guest blogger in the long term and to get quality traffic to your site – here are some steps you should follow:
Find Appropriate Blogs
If you write a blog about caring for dogs, you likely won’t have a high reader conversion rate if you guest post for a blog on car repairs. To ensure that you are targeting the right audience, perform keyword research to find appropriate and relevant blogs. Also, look for blogs that have a steady flow of traffic to make sure that you are maximizing your efforts. Alexa, Technorati, and Google PageRank are some good tools for researching and choosing appropriate blogs with quality traffic.
Make Contact
Before you start contacting blog owners, be sure that you have some quality posts ready to pitch. Simply saying “I would like to guest post for your blog”, and waiting for an idea, may not land you a writing opportunity. Instead, treat each point of contact as an opportunity to sell yourself and your blog. Be sure that you include information about your blog, your writing experience, your areas of expertise and some topics for potential guest blog posts (including catchy headlines). Highlight how the blog owner would benefit from having you as a guest, as well, perhaps including information about your traffic base, how you will promote the post or your unique expertise.
Write a Quality Post
Once you have the go-ahead to write a guest post, start your research and planning as if you were writing a post for your own blog. Your guest post is an opportunity to connect with new readers, and if your post is poor quality, readers will likely think that your blog is of poor quality as well. They will have little incentive to visit your blog. Write a quality post with a unique angle, and be sure that you have optimized your posts with appropriate keywords (both for your blog and for your guest blog). Optimizing your posts will increase their visibility, helping you and the blog owner.
Optimize Your Byline
Your post is a way to highlight your expertise and the quality of content that can be found on your blog, but your byline is a way to let readers know a little something about you and to tell them why they should visit your blog. Be sure to include a photo of yourself (or an avatar), relevant information about your blog and your expertise, and a link to your blog. Use anchor text or other keywords in your byline as well.
Promote Your Post
When you submit your guest post, you are not yet finished. Once your post is published, you should promote your post by linking to it on your own blog, as well as any social-networking sites you are on. Not only will this encourage readers to visit the guest blog, thereby establishing a good relationship with the partner blogger, but it will also encourage more buzz around the post, helping to boost search-engine ranking. Be sure to also reply to all comments about your post in your efforts to promote it and build up more buzz.
Guest posting is a valuable marketing tool for any blogger, but it requires research and diligence to get the maximum benefit. Following these tips can help you to become a successful guest blogger and to encourage quality traffic back to your site. What other tips do you have for successful guest blogging? Share your ideas in the comments!
-
You are currently browsing the archives for December, 2011
Welcome & About Info Carnivore
Top Commenters
Backlinks: The Importance of PageRank
Posted by Marcelina in Blogging on December 14, 2011
Commenting on Websites with High PageRank
Here’s the tricky part of it though, blog commenting on any blog you find isn’t what will get your website on the first page of Google. What will boost your page rank or PR is blog commenting on websites with high PR. Google decided that URLs on websites that have a PR should receive more prestige than URLs on websites with a low PR. It’s just like life. If you hang out with people who are losers, you won’t gain as much regard as if you hang out with the elites of society.
Your mission is to find blogs in your niche with the highest PR as possible and get your URL on it. When Google crawls that high PR site, it will follow your link, go to your site, and immediately index your site. While it won’t immediately consider your site as a higher PR, with time and collection of URLs on high PR sites, your site’s acclaim will rise.
Finding the PageRank of a Site
Your next question may be how you know what the PR of a site is. It’s easy these days with plugins for IE, Firefox and Chrome. Just search for the PR plugins for each of these browsers. You can also use the PR search engine to check on each site’s ranking. It’s called the Google Page Rank Checker. Simply input the site’s website URL and within seconds you’ll know the PR. Are you still with me? Now that you know you need backlinks, you can blog comment to get them, which you should comment on high PR sites, there’s just one more piece of the puzzle you need to know before you’re on your way to boosting your website to the top of Google ranking – DoFollow.
The Importance of DoFollow
When you input your URL into a high PR site, it may not mean anything. Yes, I’m sorry, it’s true. If it’s not a DoFollow blog, your URL will just sit there and do nothing for your site. It’s called a NoFollow site. To check on DoFollow, you can check the source of the page by clicking on the right mouse button and click on page source. If you scan the contents of the coding, you should see the DoFollow or NoFollow. If you’re looking for some DoFollow blogs, you can use a DoFollow search engine. One that I use is InlineSEO.com but there are others that you can try. Now that you have the knowledge, go out there and use it. You are on your way to getting the traffic you need to make the profits you want.
Marcelina Hardy, a freelance writer who specializes in Hedge Funds and Emerging Markets, wrote this guest blog.
backlinks, comments, PageRank
8 Comments