As a Web designer, are you aware of the challenges that you may have to deal with while in the process of developing a website?

You are probably thinking that most aspects of site development and design are tough. Yes, you are correct. But, perhaps, one of the biggest difficulties, which many professionals like you face, is on-site SEO.

Do you know why?

The main reason for this is that you have to optimise a website properly to make it easy for search engine algorithms (also called spiders) to read and gather information for indexing purposes. Once the spiders consider your content relevant to the users’ queries, there is a huge chance of it ranking well in SERPs. When you do, you can generate high site traffic as more and more individuals click on your link to check out what you have to offer them.

Given this insight, you can see that it is important to make your site search engine and user-friendly.

Now, as much as you want to keep your webpages well optimised, there is a big possibility that you will commit mistakes. Then again, you can minimise the likely of errors by knowing which on-site elements to avoid. These usually include the following:

Flash Navigation

Yes, it makes your page look very appealing. The only problem is that algorithms find it hard to spot or follow it. The same thing goes for flash image and text effects because the spiders cannot read such type of content. So, if you think that this is an interesting component for website, you have to think twice.

Splash Page

Several Web designers create a splash page inserted with a banner link, which the users have to click in order to land on the main page. While this practice shows creativity, it only ends at that.

If you plan to show off your graphic skills by embedding your website URL in a flash page, you are most probably going to end up with a low ranking since search algorithms will not be able to find your site link. You have to remember that there is a proper way of linking to internal pages to guarantee proper indexing.

Too Much AJAX

It is the abbreviation for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, an approach that combines technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets, XML, XHTML, XSLT, and JavaScript. When you design a webpage with it, you can offer dynamic and interactive displays.

However, it usually results to long uploading time, which is not good if you like to have a high page rank since it is hard for search engines to index content that takes several seconds to load. What is more, the users find the lengthy loading time annoying and there is a huge chance that they will leave the page. Therefore, avoid using too much AJAX to encourage productive SEO results.

Nondescript URL or Link

The adjective means ordinary or zero interesting quality. So, if the global address or internal links on your website are nondescript, these will probably look like this – www.domainname.com/index.php/content=aksdkj.03093 (for example).

If you want to make your links appealing to search algorithms and to your target audience, you have to make sure they are descriptive and easy to remember like this – www.domainname.com/lose-weight-today (for example).

Keyword Overuse

According to plenty of SEO experts, there is no such thing as key phrase density or frequency. In fact, a webpage can rank in SERPs even if it does not have too many keywords or tags.

With that said, it goes to show that you do not have to stuff your content with several search terms just because you want search engines to put your site on the first page. Instead of doing this, you need to focus on creating well written, unique, and interesting topics combined with relevant images or videos.

So, there you have five common errors to avoid while designing your website. With these elements in mind, here are the benefits you can obtain when you keep away from them:

• High ranking
• Significant traffic rate
• Repeated user views
• Long period spent on your site
• High conversion rate (applicable if you are selling something)

Given these advantages, always practise caution when it comes to Web design and optimisation.

Emma Tomlinson is the Head of Retail at Smart Traffic, a UK-based specialist company providing SEO marketing services and solutions to many clients from different parts of the globe.

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

If you are a tech geek like me you will have noticed the growing speculation surrounding the possible launch of a new iPad Mini. Personally I think this would be great because just like the next person I drool over the iPad 3, however I definitely do not drool at the price tag attached to it. Apple has been tipped to release this new mini iPad to compete with the smaller Android tablets because they sell much cheaper. If Apple had a slightly cheaper tablet they will be able to dominate all areas of the market. How much would this new smaller tablet cost? It has been mentioned on the grapevine that Apple would be looking to sell a mini at around £150 as it has a price point of around $200-$250. All the stuff you love about the iPad 3 would be there if they did release it – just on a smaller screen. Therefore, you could enjoy the same Retina display with its 3.1 million pixels as well as G/F2 thin-film technology in a space of 7 inches instead.

If this rumour did come true when would we be likely to see these mini me’s? Possibly around October 2012- so watch this space. However, if you are wondering like I did how they could possibly keep all the amazing features of the latest iPad without having to sacrifice something with its smaller size? These new iPad’s have found the sacrificial lamb- its storage space. The thousands of apps, videos and music that you could enjoy on the larger iPads would be reduced with the smaller amount of storage space, especially if they kept the high resolution screen- HD content eats up storage space. It looks like only around 8GB will be available if the mini iPad is released- which will no doubt be filled up very quickly by fans. Of course, there are a wealth of cloud storage options out there however.

You can buy a 64 GB Micro SD or other memory cards pretty cheaply online which will without a doubt be a much cheaper option for people than forking out for this little guys older and bigger sibling. For those who simply wish to browse and play with a few cool apps this probably won’t even be an issue either.

Of course none of this has been officially confirmed and the decision about whether to go ahead with releasing is down to the company having to think about the premium brand issue. Is Apple bringing itself down by stooping to compete with cheaper tablet options out there? Apple has been known for its higher prices but this has reflected (I know a few people may argue with me on this) it always having high quality products too. The overlap with existing products such as the iPhone and the iPod Touch are also called into question too with the release of an iPad mini. So who know what they will decide, but popular public opinion seems to show lots of enthusiasm for a cheaper alternative mini iPad.

This has been a guest post.

Jag is a member of the digital marketing team at London based PPC Agency Cayenne Red. She is a regular contributor on how companies market themselves in the digital age, and also specialises in electronics and gadgets.

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

Twitter is one of my personal favourite social platforms for conversing with my audience across all of my websites and as an online marketer managing multiple clients, I have seen an increasing trend whereby whole customer service departments are being taken off e-mail duty and put on to Twitter management duty.

Key companies that actively use Twitter to communicate directly with customers include all of the big boys such as 02, eBuyer, Samsung and more which is probably one of the many reasons that Twitter has become so popular across the UK and also globally.

So how does one measure the success of a social network? Well numbers are where it’s all at of course, and Twitter has just hit a pretty big one in the UK; Twitter now has over 10 million active UK users tweeting away, adding to the 140 million strong worldwide user base.

According to Twitter 80 per cent of the UK users use the tweet service on their mobiles, more than in any other country.

Via: IT Pro Portal

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal Apple is buying up displays of at least 4-inches for their next generation iPhone, most probably to be incorporated within the iPhone 5.

Apparently and according to the report Apple is in talks with LG, Sharp, and Japan Display (the newly-merged display businesses of Sony, Hitachi, and Toshiba) on the new screen.

If these reports are to be believed it means that the future iPhone will indeed include a display size which can finally compete with the latest smartphone offerings, where bigger seems to be better. What’s more, and because the display will be bigger, Apple may very well be working on increasing it’s pixel count even further to keep the same resolution as seen in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S within the next generation iPhone.

Overall nobody will know for sure exactly what features will be within the iPhone 5 until it is released by Apple this year. Of course, we’ll keep you in the know regarding any new rumours that surface.

Source: Macrumors

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

In a move very clearly aimed at providing as much coverage for the Olympic Games this year as possible Sony has confirmed that a BBC Sports app will make its way over to Sony PlayStation 3 gaming consoles and Bravia line smart TV’s. The app, which will allow users to view up to 24 different live sports at a time in HD, will also allow users to watch Formula 1 amongst other hot sports seasonally.

The app should be available to download next month on to PS3 consoles and Bravia smart TV’s, which is a great move as it will allow even more people around the world view coverage from this years hottest athletic events.

It is unclear currently whether Microsoft will follow suit with a BBC Sports app.

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

When it comes to digital book stores you consumers are massively spoilt for choice with Kindle, Nook and Apple having the main stores on offer. Now though Nokia has entered the mix too with ‘Nokia Reading’, however unlike Amazon’s product Nokia Reading will be available exclusively on Lumia branded handsets only (that’s the Lumia 800, Lumia 900, Lumia 610 and Lumia 710 FYI).

The new exclusive app, which will further add desirability to the Lumia range of smartphones, aims to make reading books on your Windows powered handset easier and what’s more there are already thousands of 100% free titles available to wet your reading whistle.

“The initial version of the service focuses on making it easy for you to find, buy and – most importantly – read a book in your own language” Nokia stated in their announcement.

Via: Nokia

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

In this little how to article we are going to showcase five secure password tips which will help you to create the best password for your security needs.

Test your current passwords

There are lots and lots of 100% free online tools you can use to find out how secure your current password is as well as how secure your future passwords are. At Technology Blogged, we use “How Secure is My Password” which can be found right here.

Overall the free online tool is fun to use and can also generate highly secure passwords for you.

Password Length

The safest passwords are very long, as these are much harder to guess. Some people consider a password with eight characters to be long enough, but others say that 10 characters should be the minimum. However, most people agree that the longer the password, the better.

At the same time, make sure you can remember the password. One problem with using a long password is that it can be very difficult to remember if the password isn’t relevant to you. Writing down the password can be helpful, but corporate spies and hackers often looking for these pieces of paper on desks or in the garbage.

Characters

While 10 characters or longer is a great start, what type of characters should you included in your password? Most secure services allow you to create type-sensitive passwords. This means that if your password includes an uppercase letter, then you have to type the password in with that uppercase letter. While this is slightly annoying, especially if you just want to type the password in quickly, it is also safer.

The best passwords have an array of different characters. You should have at least one number, lowercase letter and uppercase letter. Many people also suggest a special character, like an ampersand or the dollar sign, but some services do not allow you to make a password with special characters. While special characters are safer, since they are rarely used, they can be skipped if your service does not allow them.

Don’t Use Words

The easiest passwords to guess with brute forcing hacking are those that use real words. For example, hackers will usually first try out passwords that include your name, your pet’s name, family member’s names or company’s name. They will also try words in the dictionary, especially words like admin, password or guest.

A secure password will not use real words. Instead, you should use a mass of different alphanumeric characters that is very difficult to decipher. For example, “66rH(bc3Kl” is a very hard password to guess, while “guest1234” is a very easy password to guess.

Unique Passwords

Even if your password seems completely safe, like the above example, never use the same password for two different services. If a hacker is able to guess the one password, then he or she effectively knows how to get into your email, online databases and everything else. Using one password is like using one key for your entire house and all of your cars.

Whenever you need to make a password, make sure it is completely different from your other passwords. Don’t just switch around the characters; you should make a completely different password so it is unrecognizable from the original one.

Change your Password

Your current password may be very secure, and there may be no way for a hacker to guess it. But, you should still change your passwords every three to six months. Even the most illegible passwords can be cracked, so it is only a matter of time before a diligent hacker gets into your system.

To decrease the chance of a hacker getting into your computer or email, it is best if you change your password periodically. It doesn’t matter if you are a consumer or a business user, your password can still be stolen if you use the same password for years and years.

Conclusion

Picking the right password can be very difficult, and it can be even harder to remember your password. Try to make the password relevant in some way, and make sure you never write it down. Writing it down is practically like handing it to a hacker, as he or she can easily steal your password out of a desk drawer or a trash can. Also, make sure you change your password periodically to keep yourself safe.

This has been a guest post.

Ken Lyons writes for Brainloop, a company specializing in creating a highly secure workspace through secure online document sharing, information rights management, and other document protect services using the highly secure Brainloop dataroom environment.

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.

According to a brand new report the Nokia Lumia 900 is outselling the HTC One X and what’s more the Nokia Lumia 900 is in second place behind the iPhone 4S in overall smartphone handset sales.

The report, compiled by Raymond James analyst Travis McCourt in conjunction with Pierre Ferragu of Bernstein Research, included the data from 15 separate US AT&T stores as well as 15 different UK based stores. The report shows that the Lumia 900 is finding massive success in the US with it looking unlikely that demand is going to slow down for it anytime soon.

Hit up our source below for the real deal.

Via: blog.barrons

©2012 Technology Blogged. All Rights Reserved.