How to Use Blogging for SEO Link Building

Link building is a huge part of search engine optimization today. Just as every page of your website hast to be peppered with the right keywords at the right frequency, your keywords need to be linking into your site from other valuable websites. One way to do this is to start up a blog on a subject that directly interlinks with your website.

If you're thinking that you can link back to your website from that blog, you are only scratching the surface of what blogging can do for your SEO campaign. In order to take this strategy to deeper levels and get the biggest reward, you have to extend a warm hand of welcome to other bloggers within your niche.

The Hand of Welcome

Too many beginning bloggers take a super competitive view of other bloggers writing on similar topics as theirs. They think of these other blogs as the competition to beat, which is a correct summary of the situation. The problem is they watch these blogs with the goal of one-upping them and overtaking them, without ever seeing the opportunity to bond together as a community.

Why would anyone want to treat their competition as a community? Why would a blogger want to embrace another blogger who writes on exactly the same topics they want to target? Bloggers with good SEO sense want to do create this community atmosphere because it furthers their goal to establish reputable back links to their website.

Even bloggers who don't have websites to promote will eventually come around to see the value of extending a warm hand of welcome to other bloggers writing about similar topics. Here is the rationale:

• All bloggers are different even if they write on the same subjects. The best blogs will have a personal touch that makes them stand apart from others. This is why those serious about a subject will follow multiple blogs. Therefore, high quality bloggers don't worry much as much about losing out to competitors.

• Connecting with other bloggers gets your blog noticed by their established readers. Even if they post negative comments about your blog, you will get visitors when others link to your blog.

• Working as a community establishes an endless network for link building that benefits every blogger involved. This makes other bloggers want to join in, which extends the network of linking.

So, if you are a good blogger adding valuable posts on a consistent basis you can join with other blogger writing on similar topics and create a network of valuable linking opportunities. When you find something of value in another blog you blog about it with a link back to them. Send that blogger a quick message so they can check out their new link. In many cases, they will link back to you in some way.

This creates a network of links to your blog, which boosts the ranking and value of your blog. That enables the blog to link back to your website in a more powerful way. You may even get some direct links from other bloggers to your website once you become established.

The catch here is you can't link just for the sake of linking. Every post you make should not include a link to another blogging or your own website. Create a useful blog others find valuable and entertaining and the links will fit in naturally.

Cheow Yu Yuan is the co-founder of OOm, an online marketing agency providing SEO services in Singapore.

Find out more about OOm SEO services today.

Please feel free to republish this article on your website, or distribute it to your friends or clients, as long as you leave the resource box intact.

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SEO a Scam? The Truth About the Industry

I frequent many SEO and Web Marketing forums on a daily basis and every so often there is a debate about the SEO industry and ethics. After being involved in a number of these debates, it has become really obvious that the main problems are the facts that no two SEO companies are alike and there is no unified methodology. It's very hard to make statements about the industry as a whole because it's debatable what exactly 'SEO' is. Mix in the fact that most SEO companies keep their methodology and campaign strategies secret and we have a situation where every company is totally different with very different results.

Fact 1 : There is no unified SEO methodology. SEO is actually defined by wikipedia as a process of improving traffic from SERPs to a site. Of course, HOW they do that is the real question and causes the debates.

Fact 2 : The effectiveness of an SEO campaign depends on the site structure, site content, keywords, methodology used, and how popular the site is. A site cannot just rank for any random keyword. SEO is also not voodoo. It is logic, problem solving, and Web marketing mixed together. If your site provides no value to users, it probably won't rank.

Fact 3 : Some 'SEOs' do search engine optimization and some do search engine manipulation. Of course, it is all marketed as SEO. Unethical optimization provides results at any cost and is always short term (usually ends in a banned domain name). Ethical optimization opens up the site to the search engines and provides long term benefits.

Fact 4 : Most SEO companies get paid whether or not your site gets any rankings. Unfortunately, this is the case with the industry. Most SEO companies implement A, B, and C and move on to the next client. Hopefully, the site ranks. If it doesn't, they always have more clients.

Fact 5 : Most SEO companies use both ethical and unethical inbound linking strategies.To maximize profits, it is very common for SEO companies to buy bulk links from India, links on spam/scraper web sites, or sell large directory submission packages. It is also common for SEO companies to place huge amounts of the contract into inbound linking to make up for the poor quality of the site optimization.

I don't think it is fair to characterize the industry as a whole without figuring out what is wrong with it and how SEO companies can overcome it. So how exactly do we determine what is good and bad about the industry? I have now been involved with the Web for over 10 years and, specifically, with the SEO industry for almost 4 years and I've seen the inner workings of major SEO companies and worked with clients who had been burned by their previous SEO campaigns. Combined with numerous Web postings and forum debates talking about the same basic problems, I've compiled a list of the most common issues.

Problem 1: Responsibility for Results

It's no secret that the vast majority of SEO companies take no responsibility for results. It is a fact that no SEO company can guarantee results (and if they do, they are lying to you). It is also a fact that the client is taking a risk by spending money with an SEO company that basically says 'We'll do what we can'. SEO companies simply guarantee they'll do the work to 'optimize' the site, but without full disclosure of their methodology, what exactly is the client paying for? No other industry sells a product with no guarantees and no specific list of work that will be completed. Of course, SEO work is basically the sales of information and keeping the specifics of a methodology is important, but the combination of secrecy and no responsibility for results really makes SEO campaigns risky. So, how can an SEO company reduce the risk for the client and provide the best grade of service?

Answer 1: Incentive Based Pricing

The only real way to reduce the financial risk of the client is to share the risk. Through incentive-based pricing, the SEO company can charge a certain percentage of the total contract (say 70%) to cover their intellectual property and time while placing the rest of the contract price (remaining 30%) in incentives for success. Of course, incentives and their percentage of the contract would be totally relative depending on the campaign. This first step into sharing in the risk provides both reassurance to the client that the company believes in its methodology and places some of the financial burden of the campaign on the SEO company. At the moment, however, very few SEO companies are willing to share in the risk and charge the same price whether the client gets top rankings or no rankings at all (or possibly even lower rankings).

Problem 2: Unethical Optimization

Unfortunately, unethical (or blackhat) optimization is still very prominent on the Web. It's also unfortunate that 'SEO' has been mistakenly confused with 'Blackhat SEO'. This is still the biggest problem for SEO companies. Saying that all SEO companies deal in blackhat optimization is like saying everyone who emails is a spammer. Blackhat optimization is not optimization at all...it is search engine manipulation. Because there is so much money tied to top rankings, there will always be a market for unethical SEO and search engine spam. Until companies realize what is ethical and unethical and stop supporting those blackhat SEO companies, they will continue to thrive. This makes the industry as a whole look bad and does not reflect the ethics of good SEO companies. Blackhat provides fast, short term results, but is never a good option in the long run.

Answer 2: Ethical Optimization

There is no quick and easy solution to blackhat optimization's stain on the SEO industry. I would suggest that all marketing departments research optimization techniques and educate themselves on what techniques are unethical. No SEO company is going to say they do unethical optimization. It's also not a good idea to immediately trust a company or product based simply on their rankings. Unethical optimization DOES provide rankings...just not for the long run.

It would also be helpful if the major search engines would be more open and accessible to SEO companies. Currently, the major search engines and SEO companies do not deal with each other and have formed a sort of love-hate relationship. Because of this, many ethical SEOs have slowly moved into dark territory. Ethical optimization seeks to make sites more easily accessible to the engines and help to improve the engine's search results. The problem is that the search engines mainly clump all SEO companies together the same way as uninformed users do: search engine manipulation. This is just not the case. Search engines do not want to reveal what they consider unethical because it would basically be providing a list of holes in their algorithms that blackhat SEOs would be able to manipulate further, but a defined list of 'what not to do' would provide a definitive list for businesses looking for an SEO company.

Basic Rules of Ethical Optimization

Any campaign that does not abide by the following rules is dealing in unethical optimization techniques and should be avoided.

1.) What the user sees and what the search engine sees should be exactly the same. Do not hide anything.

2.) Your keywords (and the resulting optimization) should exactly reflect the content of the page.Keywords should always reflect what your site is about.

3.) Do not build out pages exclusively for search engines. The site should always cater to both audiences (users and search engines). Catering to only users is why optimization is necessary. Catering only to search engines is optimization gone too far into blackhat.

4.) Do not participate in manipulative inbound linking schemes like link farms, bulk links, triangle linking, or any other unethical manipulation of your Google PageRank or link authority. Inbound links should be relevant to the content of your site and you should always know who is linking to you and where your links come from.

Problem 3: Assembly Line / Software SEO

With the growth of the SEO industry has also come the automation of SEO. The absolute first thing any prospective SEO client should know is that all effective SEO campaigns are custom. There is no checklist of items that will work exactly the same on every site. If the SEO company claims there is, then they are not doing full optimization and the campaign is minimal. A good optimization campaign optimizes the site architecture, text content, and code of the site. Assembly line SEO does not take into consideration the unique needs/design of the site and may even deal in blackhat optimization. SEO software especially should be looked at closely. There are really only two things SEO software could do that would work for any site: doorway pages (showing engines one thing and users a different thing; which is unethical) or a system of pages build exclusively for search engines (often called info or information pages and linked in an out of the way part of the page). Doorway pages are 100% unethical and info pages are deep in the gray area. Neither of those two methods address the architecture of the site, proper keyword analysis, or effective text content. The following links are examples of automated SEO software freely available on the Web. All links contain 'nofollow' to prevent the sites from getting inbound link credit from our site. These sites are NOT recommended by TreeHouse SEM.

http://doorwaypagemaker.com/ - Doorway page system; UNETHICAL

http://www.doorway-wizard.com/ - Doorway page system; UNETHICAL

Answer 3: Custom Campaign and Assessment

'SEO Software' may be cheap and affordable, but you get what you pay for. Any campaign that is going to slap on additional pages are simply sell you links is NOT an effective SEO campaign. Any SEO effort that simply has you add a few 'optimized' pages to your site is not going to be optimal. If you wanted to convert a street car into a race car, you don't simply add racing strips to it. Don't think that dumping a few pages on your site targeted to some random keywords is the same as a real SEO campaign.

If your SEO company will not sit down and talk about the layout, architecture, and aim of your site, then it is not providing a top-end service. Remember that the vast majority of 'SEO software' either is for building doorway/landing pages or simply providing you with data about your site (data that is already free to everyone on the Web). Good SEO campaigns take into account both the user and the search engines...not one or the other. An SEO company should have a commanding understanding of user experience and search engine optimization and use these in combination to create a campaign that will provide the best ROI. The end goal should always be leads/sales. Bringing in piles of non-targeted traffic often leads to extremely high turn over rates and very low lead conversion.

Conclusion

Do your research. Find out what you want from an optimization campaign and then ask the right questions. Make sure that the sales representative you talk to knows what they are selling. If they do not, they are definitely not the person to get information from. A lot of SEO companies use hard sale tactics and the reps are less than knowledgeable about what they are selling. Ask the following questions and see what they have to say.

1.) How do you assess keywords? If an SEO company simply optimizes for whatever keywords are sent to them by the client, the SEO campaign starts off on very shaky ground. Keyword analysis should be performed that takes into account the number of searches in all the major search engines and the relative competition for those terms. The site should also be compared to the keywords to see if they support each other.

2.) Do you plan on building out pages specifically to house keywords? Landing pages and doorway pages are not effective long term SEO options. SEO companies like them because they do not have to touch the rest of the site and it's very easy to simply add band aids instead of performing surgery.

3.) Will my SEO campaign also help improve the user experience of the site? Proper architecture and usability goes hand in hand with SEO and helps increase ROI. You should want to bring in new traffic and convert it.

4.) Does my revenue model affect my keyword selection and the optimization as a whole? Any SEO company that does not optimize based on the target audience is NOT providing the most effective campaign. An ecommerce site marketing to comparative shoppers will want to optimize heavily for product names and model numbers. An online magazine wanting to bring in recurring traffic will want to optimize for article topics and specific themes. Local companies will want to optimize for geo-targeted keywords.

5.) I want to optimize my site, but do not want to change any of the existing content or layout...how would you go about this? Any SEO company that says they will simply add on landing pages or hide text is selling blackhat. This goes back to the earlier analogy. You are really saying that you have a car that you want to modify to be very fast, but do not want to modify the engine and the mechanic simply adds racking stripes and charges you full price.

Thank you for reading TreeHouse SEM articles. If you would like to know more about any of these topics, feel free to contact us.

About the Author: Steve comes from a rich Web background where he has worked on the design, development, and marketing aspects of hundreds of Web sites. Formerly from Mississippi where he attended Ole Miss, Steve moved to San Diego to pursue further challenges in the Web marketing arena.

To compete in the rapidly growing marketplace of SEM, Treehouse immediately set itself apart by placing Chief Technology Officer DeVries at the helm, who is one of the most coveted experts in the industry today. DeVries was previously a lead technical consultant at a competing local firm, achieving top rankings for major clients such as Entrepreneur, Vegas.com, Viacom, Workopolis, and Ziff Davis Media. DeVries' experience has brought him much industry attention and placed him in high demand as a speaker at industry events by those looking to pick his brain.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/833336

How Much to Pay for SEO Services?

The question comes up often. Many people have been burned by SEO Services, but many have also been rewarded by SEO Services. Like any business transaction or purchase you should only spend your money when you feel comfortable. Your comfort zone should pull from various dependencies, such as how well do you know this business, how long have you been doing business with this person or entity, what is your first impression, how do you personally feel about this person or entity ability to provide this service, and how well have you done your homework.

The truth about SEO services is that it is normally not hard work, but that doesn't mean its easy. It still takes time, dedication, effort, strategy, technique, method, skill, and experience to perform quality SEO services. Anyone can use SEO services because it is within your reach to learn, but not everyone can apply sensible strategy to make SEO work. That is why SEO engineers are needed to accomplish the almost impossible, but the question is how do you know you are making the right choice and not overpaying for SEO services?

I can honestly say for the most part SEO service providers are on the up and up who want nothing more than to do professional business and provide quality SEO services. Identifying every shady SEO service may not be possible, but I have some recommended advice which should help anyone get a fair and quality rate for SEO services.

- Set yourself a "realistic" marketing budget and goal

- Shop around

- Don't buy until you feel comfortable

- Remember "cheap does not always mean better"

- Ask for references / referrals / portfolio

- Verify references / referrals / portfolio

- Ask for statistical growth and progress reports

Set Yourself a Realistic Marketing Budget and Goal

This simply mean do not kid yourself and think you can pay $200 and overnight you will make thousands. Instead, create a budget depending on your marketing needs, competitive industry, projected outcome, and length of time. If you are looking for your website to rank in the Top 10 search engine result page for a particular keyword or keywords then expect to pay in the thousands, often times tens of thousands, for quality, professional, and reliable SEO services, almost always depending on the competitiveness of the keyword. If you want to rank in the top 10 for the keyword "Google", this in most cases impossible, but I am sure there are some SEO companies who will accept the challenge, but will charge in the thousands if not millions to attempt this insane marketing goal.

Shop Around

Find the most appealing SEO services and compare those to other competitive SEO services. Don't settle for "cheap" or "inexpensive", but settle for "effective" and "strategy". Anyone can do SEO work, but not everyone can improve results using SEO services. This is because, SEO is about technique and strategy. It's not about just throwing thousands a links around the web and sitting back waiting for the explosion. Its actually a lot more complicated than that, as it is about having strategy, technique, and competitive edge. You must find SEO services which live by this principle and can offer you the strategic road map you need for success.

Don't Buy Until You Feel Comfortable

You should always feel comfortable with entrusting your money into an SEO service provider paws. If you have special needs such as you want to sign a contract, you want a specific pay schedule, or you have any questions, make sure you get answers and are comfortable with the projected outcome then move forward. I personally suggest getting a contract which outlines the projected outcome and any other bullet points, then also exploring the consequences or possibilities if the projected outcome is not met.

Remember "Cheap Does Not Always Mean Better"

This is a buyer beware notice. When someone offers $20 SEO services or even $200 SEO services, I would say "buyer beware". There may be a handful of highly skilled SEO providers who can offer you SEO services at a discount or for extremely low rates, but most of the time these providers either do not know their service worth or know exactly what they are doing, but may have had a lucky streak. You will have to pay top dollar or aggressively, yet still affordable for quality, strategic, and experienced SEO services. SEO engineers is what I like to call them. These are SEO's who understand the SEO concept, who pioneer SEO methods, and who don't always follow the trend, but know the trends.

Most of the SEO engineers are not going to be cheap, but well worth every dollar spent. If you take into consideration other marketing and advertising platforms, such as television broadcast advertising, print advertising, large tradeshow/fair booth advertising, etc. internet marketing and search engine optimization cost peanuts compared to these other advertising methods and have a farther audience reach. SEO services can easily cost between $5,000-$25,000, it can even be much more than this, depending on your needs, but this is far more inexpensive and cheaper than other advertising platforms. So, next time you think that SEO service cost too much, think about the other methods of advertising and their rates, along with return on investment (ROI). SEO services come out on top every time when compared against these other advertising platforms.

Ask for References / Referrals / Portfolio

Any SEO service provider should be able to point you to their qualifying work. SEO service providers should be able to present you with affectionate websites which they have performed SEO work on. This can even be the SEO service provider personal website, they should be able to point you to their rankings in the search engine as well as some result driven SEO work within the site or across the web.

Verify References / Referrals / Portfolio

Verifying information is not always easy or accomplishable. You should attempt to reach out and verify what you can. If a shady SEO business was going to scam, then I am sure this is where they would start, with testimonials. I suggest verifying what you can, but don't get overwhelmed with referrals because it may be the shady SEO business giving self praise. I actually have some good verification tips, but that's another article all within itself.

Ask for Statistical Growth & Progress Reports

The SEO service campaign should include periodic progress/performance reports so you can track your website progress. Tracking your website progress is important in many ways. First, it tells if the SEO engineer is doing their job. Second, it tells you if the SEO methods, strategy, and technique is working or not. Third, it tells you how well the search engines are reciprocating your SEO efforts. And lastly, it tells you how much progress is being made and at what rate. All of this advanced reporting information and trend tracking can give you an overview of your website potential while giving you the opportunity to design or redesign your landing pages to increase your return on investment (ROI).

Okay, to wrap it up, just be sure you stay out of shabby internet neighborhoods and when making any online transaction, do your homework first. Also, remember "cheap does not equal better". Think about it, would you rather pay in the thousands to one SEO company for quality SEO work, which will produce results and increase your website overall performance or would you rather pay cheap $200 to many different SEO's who don't ever really give you the results you deserve. If an SEO engineer can increase your website sales and exposure by 80% without your site ever reaching the top 10 search results then you still got a good deal. This is the effect of skilled and experienced SEO services. The only difference between your website and the websites in the top 10, is those websites have SEO engineers working for them who understand SEO.

About the Author

Ant Onaf is the owner & founder of AntOnaf.com (http://www.antonaf.com), a provider of professional and quality SEO services. AntOnaf.com offers affordable SEO services as well as custom SEO packages to fit your marketing needs. Ant Onaf ingenuity, dedication, and passion for internet marketing & technology has made him an monumental icon across the World Wide Web.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/591025

What is SEO Anyway?

Both pay-per-click and SEO are targeted to get your website placed as close to the top of search engine results as possible. Marketing and SEO are different, yet very, very similar. SEO are considered as the main factors in enhancing the traffic of one's website. The concepts of good SEO are hardly a secret. The people who least understands issues with URL structure and SEO are the very people who create them: web developers, programmers, and software developers.

Many long-time SEO's are now looking at the big picture and working with usability analysts. Some SEO are scam artists. I find it interesting that so many newcomers are given the wrong impression that there is one almighty answer to doing well in search engines. SEO are specialized techniques used to optimize your web site, to be Search engine friendly and increase your chances of placing well in searches. But SEO can also be the most profitable methods of driving leads because any leads you receive from SEO are free leads.

There are a large number of companies that adopt a fast and unethical approach to SEO known as Black Hat SEO. They employ unethical techniques that are against search engine policies. The best results from SEO are rarely achieved overnight. Black hat SEO are the techniques used to fool the search engines in order to bring in more traffic to websites. Website owners who unknowingly utilize black hat techniques of SEO are more vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms and faced being banned.

Most hardcover books on the subject of SEO are best viewed as a vehicle to help the beginner understand the process of search engine optimization. This is because the principles behind SEO are not easy. They are very informative and most webmasters are involved in SEO and using it. White hat and black hat SEO are two opposing views of how to do search engine optimization. In a nutshell, SEO are methods that aim to improve the position or rank of a website in the listings produced by search engines. The benefits of SEO are almost unlimited.

Watch out for SEO Tools and software that is outdated and totally useless. Always research before you buy any SEO software because the search engine Algorithms are constantly changing thereby improving their search technologies to provide the most relevant results for their users. SEO tools for Google, MSN and Yahoo are numerous. SEO tools for press release optimization were also launched by PRWeb at the end of June called SEO Wizard. Search engine optimization is not easy, but with the right SEO tools, your website promotion task just got a lot easier. Blogs are one of the best SEO tools around and some like WordPress are free. Google Sitemaps' are a powerful SEO tools which you can get free by visiting my website.

MSN has launched a suite of SEO tools to go with their Pay Per Click product Adcenter. There are many SEO tools available on the internet, some are better then others, and some are not. Header tags, proper Keyword density, proper text formatting fonts, start text key-phrase as whole phrases, alt image tag text, links pointing to your site and each page and your domain name itself are some things to pay attention too. Many specialized SEO tools can help you determine the popularity and the competitiveness of your possible keywords and can help improve your search engine ranking particularly in Google.

Writing fresh content for SEO plays a large role in keeping visitors on a web site. Let's talk unique web page content and SEO content strategy. Finding a good SEO content writer is easier than you think. Just run a Google search or checkout elance.com. What is good SEO Content? It is unique, quality information that your visitors can use and is helpful to them. RSS feeds are an invaluable tool in the SEO content toolbox. If you scrape SEO content and end up scraping a couple spam pages, you may get noticed even more because someone is investigating the other spam pages.

The primary factor that will determine whether your SEO content is "good enough" is the content provided by competing websites. You need unique content that nobody has in order for it to pass duplicate content filters. That's why it is important to get your content articles indexed before you submit them to the search engines. I think nowadays though search engine algorithms can trace back the content and see who published it first, so at least make sure you publish it to your website or blog before submitting it to article directories.

To strengthen the theme of your web site, you need keyword rich SEO content. SEO content writing tips content writer's main aim is to create a new written piece which is original, simple, informative and also to the point. Write specific targeted SEO content for the independent pages. Unique SEO content remains king. Showing your visitors you can really write unique, compelling content, your traffic will grow very fast. Earlier it was just content writing but now it is widely known as SEO content writing. However there are some strict rules enforced on SEO content. Once you have visitors, your SEO content should be converting them into customers. With effective SEO content on your website, half of your search engine rank optimization work is done.

Ethical search engine optimization is a must or you will get banned. It's not if, it's when. Search engine optimization was and still is fascinating to me. Search Engine Optimization is a crucial part in a websites success. The objective of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to achieve high natural search engine placement for relevant keywords or keyword phrases. Hiring an ethical search engine optimization company to rank well in the natural results is essential to long term success.

Your white hat Search engine optimization (SEO) campaign will provide you with a long term increase in targeted traffic and qualified visitors to your Web Site. Visit my site often and add it to your favorites as I update you with the latest news and rumors in the search engine optimization industry everyday. The effects of bad search engine optimization are devastating and very depressing. Each website is unique in its own way and hence your (SEO) plans differ from website to website.

My site has some tips on how to perform search engine optimization (also know as SEO) on your website. I have a free, comprehensive guide to the practice of search engine optimization for those unfamiliar with the subject if you send me an email. There's a lot of hype out there about search engine optimization (SEO) services. Some are good and some are bad. Read through Google's terms of service as they have some information on their site about it.

Too often, visual design and SEO are perceived as a mutual sacrifice. Pay-per-click and SEO are targeted to get your website placed as close to the top of search engine results as possible. Pay-per-click cost money, but the clicks from SEO cost you nothing. SEO are considered as the main factors in enhancing the traffic of one's website. Both, PPC and SEO are important. The truth is, the most rewarding part of SEO are often the slowest to reward. PR and SEO are based mostly on editorial credibility and relevance, not a direct payment for exposure.

SEO are specialized techniques used to optimize your web site, to be Search engine friendly and increase your chances of placing well in searches. There are a large number of companies that adopt a fast and unethical approach to SEO known as Black Hat SEO. The main components of on-page SEO are optimization of the title tag, the headline tag, the body text and the Meta tags. Companies interested in SEO are occasionally not very happy with how their website looks. Programmers with an understanding of SEO are in high demand. As a matter of fact, sites with excellent Search Engine Optimization are making giant leaps in rankings and getting a major boost in free traffic with Google's new update.

Great web usability and SEO are wasted if folks who visit your web can't tell that you are worthy of their trust. Those who specialize in SEO are in the unique position of understanding the web in a way that no traditional marketing agency can hope to. White hat and black hat SEO are two opposing views of how to do search engine optimization so if you use one, choose with great care. The second most important aspect for high SEO is the headers. Use H1, H2, H3, H4 headers.

Many of the techniques that can be used for SEO are banned by the various search engines. The benefits of SEO are almost unlimited. Bad techniques of SEO are a strict 'NO' - Like same color text as the background and Doorway pages can get your website banned. The five forces of SEO are relevant Keywords, unique Content, clean Code, relevant Links and proper use of Technology. Designing for users and designing for SEO are not mutually exclusive goals. There will be compromise. White hat SEO are techniques that follow precisely the rules and guidelines provided by search engines stand a better chance of receiving traffic and higher rankings than black hat techniques.

For this reason it is important to try to stay updated as far as new SEO are concerned. The off-page elements of website promotion and SEO are just as important. The majority of issues with SEO is very basic and just takes time to be picked up on search engines. Web design and SEO are two very different disciplines, but a certain degree of collaboration is required. It's easy to see why effective SEO are now very much in demand. Black hat SEO is techniques used to trick or manipulate search engines for higher rankings.

If done properly, the results of your SEO efforts are very impressive. Those who practice what some refer to as "ethical" and "correct" SEO are called White Hat SEO's. The most important for SEO is to follow the rules and you won't have anything to worry about.

Patricia J Tuley is a Technology research analasis. You can visit my site [http://www.seoarticlesonline.com] for more great information on search engine optimization and products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/347015

Leprechaun Repellent and Guaranteed SEO Companies - The Disturbing Link

When researching SEO companies, it is tempting to choose any company willing to offer guaranteed SEO services. It is human nature - people love a guarantee. This holds especially true for purchases where the buyer is purchasing something outside of his or her area of comfort. When companies first consider pursuing search engine optimization (SEO) as a potential marketing channel, particularly when there is an ongoing cost involved, they get a sense of comfort from purchasing "guaranteed SEO." Unfortunately, with many SEO companies, this confidence in the guarantee is ill-placed.

A lot of questionable SEO companies offer what I like to refer to as a "leprechaun repellent" guarantee. In other words, it's a guarantee that is easily attainable - if you purchase such services and are not subsequently harassed by a pesky leprechaun, the guarantee has been met. How can you complain?

The truth is that SEO companies do not control the major search engines, and any firm that claims to have a "special relationship" that gives it sway over the natural search engine results is simply counting on your ignorance. Fortunately, this does not mean that guaranteed SEO is impossible, especially when the guarantee has to do with aggregate results and the methods used to achieve them.

What follows is a partial list of some of the more popular types of guaranteed SEO out there - some of them roughly as useful as leprechaun repellent, and some of them actually meaningful.

Questionable Guarantees

The "Leprechaun Repellent" Keyphrases Guarantee

Many SEO companies boast that they will achieve a certain number of top rankings in the organic results of major search engines. This type of guaranteed SEO can be tempting, especially to those who are investigating SEO companies for the first time. After all, high rankings are what it's all about, right? Isn't that the goal?

The answer is an emphatic "No." Quality SEO companies will point out that the real goal is to bring high quality traffic to your site. It's quite simple to guarantee top positions if you choose non-competitive or obscure phrases - for example, "leprechaun repellent." Want proof? Enter "leprechaun repellent into your favorite search engine. You will almost certainly find this article dominating the results (caveat - if you are reading this article immediately after its release, the search engines may not have indexed it yet. Wait a week and try again.).

It is extremely easy for SEO companies to achieve high search engine positions for phrases that nobody uses. Such rankings might impress your friends and neighbors, but they won't send you quality traffic. They likely won't send you any traffic at all. It's important to note that the phrase "leprechaun repellent" is used only for demonstrative purposes. Many unpopular phrases may not sound absurd. There are surely countless phrases out there that sound extremely relevant to your business that are never typed into search engines. Good SEO companies will avoid such phrases. "Leprechaun repellent" practitioners will embrace them - it allows them to attain their worthless guarantees.

There is also another aspect of this type of guaranteed SEO in which SEO companies will guarantee you first place positions on unspecified search engines for more competitive phrases. Unfortunately, this type of guaranteed SEO often involves obscure engines that have very little market share and are not sophisticated enough to quickly eliminate web pages that use spam tactics. In a few documented cases, the guarantees involved search engines that the SEO companies actually owned and operated!

There are really only three major search engines at present - Google, Yahoo, and MSN. There are a handful of minor engines that are also worth mentioning, including Ask Jeeves and AOL Search. Any guaranteed SEO should involve prominent engines, not obscure ones.

The "Company Name" Guarantee

There is also a common guarantee that shady SEO companies will use that guarantees that a company will show up for a search on its company name. This, much like the "leprechaun repellent" flavor of guaranteed SEO, offers no real value. Sure, if your company name is "Acme," it may actually be competitive - but chances are that if your website does not already show up near the top of the search engine results for a search on your company name, there is an easily fixed technical glitch that will resolve the issue. Quality SEO companies will address this area immediately. Moreover, ranking highly for your company name, while obviously desirable, provides only a tiny fraction of the potential value of search engine marketing. The real benefit for most companies is that search engine marketing attracts potential buyers who are not already familiar with the company name. Unless your company is a household name, it is unlikely that having your company name figure prominently in the results is going to have a huge impact on your business.

The Pay-Per-Click Guarantee

Some SEO companies will offer guaranteed SEO services that promise top positions for certain keyphrases on popular engines, but they are counting on dealing with prospects who do not understand the difference between natural search engine results and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. With PPC, it is very easy to guarantee a number one result, but this result will appear in the "paid" or "sponsored" results of the engine. Say, for example, that your company installs custom swimming pools. While a competitive phrase like "custom pools" might be difficult to achieve in organic results, the SEO company is not concerned with organic results. All it has to do is outbid the current highest bidder (using your money, of course), and your site will show up as number one in the "sponsored" results. Studies have indicated that sponsored results are held in a lower regard than natural results by savvy web searchers who recognize them as advertising. Also, as soon as you stop paying, your ranking disappears.

The "Submit Your Site to 50,000 Search Engines" Guarantee

There are many variations on this offer, primarily involving the number of engines promised. Regardless of the number, this is probably the most pervasive and persistent type of "guaranteed SEO," and it is basically a scam that preys on ignorance.

Companies that believe that they have high quality websites are predisposed to believe that the only thing holding them back from search engine success is that the search engines do not yet know that their sites exist. However, search engines measure quality in a much different way than a website owner does. A properly optimized site does not need to be submitted to search engines at all (I refer to actual "spider-based" search engines such as Yahoo, Google, and MSN, not human-edited directories such as Business.com, the Yahoo Directory, and the Open Directory Project). Engines prefer to find sites on their own.

This "solution" offers no real value, except of course to the SEO companies offering the service. Also, as previously mentioned, there are not 50,000 search engines - or at least 50,000 search engines worth worrying about. Do SEO companies that offer this service meet this guarantee? Certainly - they use automated programs to do the submissions. Is this type of guaranteed SEO worthwhile? Not for search engine positions, but it may keep leprechauns at bay.

Meaningful Guarantees

Given the preponderance of "guaranteed SEO" that is meaningless, the seemingly Wild West nature of the industry, and the reality that SEO companies do not control the results of any major engine, it may seem that guaranteed SEO can never be a worthwhile endeavor. However, this is not the case. If you note the examples above, they are primarily involved in specifics - top positions, a certain number of submissions, a certain number of engines. However, good SEO companies, understanding that they have no control over individual results, should be confident enough in the results of their work in aggregate and in the safety of the methodologies that they use to offer guaranteed SEO that lives up to its promise.

The Custom Guarantee

In very rare cases, certain skilled, experienced SEO companies will be able to develop for you a custom guarantee derived from the analysis of your current traffic data, the competitiveness of your industry, and the status of your site. You will ideally be offered this type of specialized guarantee from the beginning of your dealings with an SEO firm because it ensures that you will be achieving targeted, meaningful results based on your specific situation, rather than on generalities that could apply to any business in any industry. Some SEO companies may tell you that a custom guarantee is not possible because they have no direct control over search engine results. However, SEO companies who have been in business for a while know how to weather the algorithm shifts and understand that there is more than one popular search engine. Such a firm will be confident enough to create and back a custom guarantee for you.

The Targeted Traffic Guarantee

SEO companies dedicated to showing value to their clients will take a baseline reading of current search engine traffic at the outset of a campaign. While, as previously mentioned, SEO companies do not hold sway over search engine results, they should at least be confident enough in their overall skills to promise that their clients will see an increase in targeted search engine traffic based on popular phrases relevant to the business. If the firm offering this type of guaranteed SEO charges on a monthly basis, any month of the engagement where traffic for targeted phrases does not, at a minimum, exceed the baseline should not be charged. After all, you are paying on a monthly basis to protect and improve your positions. While major algorithm shifts that make results on individual results unstable can and do happen, they rarely happen on all engines at once. You should feel confident that the firm you are paying has a very vested interest in making sure it adapts to the changing nature of search engine algorithms, and few things inspire such confidence as knowing that it will not get paid otherwise. If your prospective firm is unwilling to at least guarantee that it will send increased traffic to your website from targeted phrases, every month, it may be time to look elsewhere.

The "White Hat" Guarantee

SEO companies are commonly broken up into two camps - "white hats" (practitioners who remain solidly within the search engine's stated terms of service) and "black hats" (practitioners who work to unravel the latest search engine algorithms and base their optimization techniques largely on technology, regardless of the engine's terms of service). Both approaches are legitimate - after all, there is nothing illegal about exploiting a technical loophole for results. However, black hat SEO companies put their clients at risk of penalization or even outright banishment from the major engines. Getting back in can be a long process, and sometimes it is not possible at all. If you are concerned about potential penalization, get a guarantee from your firm that they adhere to the stated terms of service of all major search engines. If you can (and this is rare), get a guarantee that your site will not be penalized through any action of the SEO firm. This is harder for a company to offer, since the major engines frequently update their terms of service, and techniques that are acceptable today can be deemed unacceptable tomorrow. However, a confident firm that always errs on the side of caution when optimizing client websites will offer this type of guaranteed SEO services, since it will not use techniques that have a potential for penalization in the future.

Abusing the Metaphor (Beating a Dead Leprechaun)

Guarantees have been around for at least as long as leprechauns have been hoarding breakfast cereal and starring in bad horror films. So have guarantees that are essentially meaningless but sound respectable. A good guarantee should not only appeal to the base emotion of a potential purchaser, but it should also afford some real protection that the purchase he or she is making will provide meaningful results. Many of the most popular types of guaranteed SEO do not, and that's a shame. The industry already has a questionable reputation due to "leprechaun repellent" practitioners - make sure you don't go chasing their rainbow. After all, it's your pot of gold they are after.

About the Author

Scott Buresh is the CEO of Medium Blue, a search engine optimization company. Scott has contributed content to many publications including Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004), MarketingProfs, ZDNet, WebProNews, Lockergnome, DarwinMag, SiteProNews, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. Medium Blue, which was recently named the number one search engine optimization company in the world by PromotionWorld, serves local and national clients, including Boston Scientific, Cirronet, and DS Waters. Visit MediumBlue.com to request a custom SEO guarantee based on your goals and your data.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/340113

Outsourced Vs In House SEO

Internet Marketing is growing by the day. In such a situation, it is not enough for a business to have just a website. It is important for this website to be visible to the users and appear in search results when users search for related keywords. With so many companies and websites selling the same products or services as your business, how do you make sure that you get noticed and get more business?

This is where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into picture. Many companies are incorporating SEO into their marketing strategies. This raises one more question. Is In-House SEO better or should you Outsource the SEO of your website to an agency? What are the pros and cons of getting the SEO of your website done In-House as compared to outsourcing your SEO needs? Both In-House SEO and Outsourcing SEO have its pros and cons. Each company needs to look into both these models and then decide based on their needs.

Pros of In-House SEO

1. An In-House SEO expert will know your business well and hence will understand the nuances of company and its challenges as well.

2. Doing your SEO In-House gives you complete control over the strategies and their execution. The SEO expert can be contacted immediately for any changes since he sits in the same office as the other members of the company.

3. The In-House SEO expert works only on your website and not on any other websites. This means that the expert can give full attention to your site and can work on improving the rankings of your website.

4. Sometimes In-House SEO is lesser expensive that Outsourced SEO agencies.

In-House SEO Cons

1. SEO is a rapidly changing field. The algorithms of search engines keep changing. One needs to always be updated with the changes. The skills in SEO also keep changing. If you decide to do the SEO of your site In-House, then you need to spend time and sometimes money to learn the new aspects of SEO and keep yourself updated with the changes.

2. It may be time consuming if you have to keep up to the trends of the business. And it is important to keep with the trends of the business if you choose to do your SEO In-House. You will also have to pay attention to the overall marketing of your website and may not find the time to update yourself with the latest in SEO. This can result in outdated SEO practices which can further affect your sites ranking.

3. SEO requires a number of tools. If you choose to do your SEO In-House, then you need to buy these tools. This can be very expensive. Just having these tools is not enough. You also need to learn how to use them which can further take up a lot of your time.

Outsourced SEO Pros

1. The biggest advantage of outsourcing your SEO needs to an agency is that you get the expertise of an entire team of SEO experts who will work on your website. Since, it is a team that only works on SEO projects, they will be up to date with the latest trends in business and hence you do not have to spend time or money in getting yourself familiar with these trends. The team will create SEO strategies for your business keeping these trends in mind.

2. SEO agencies work with a large number of clients. The advantage of this is that they have the experience of working on different kinds of businesses and understand their needs better. This wide perspective can be a big advantage in getting visibility on the web.

3. If you outsource SEO to an agency, you don't have to spend time, effort and money on hiring an In-House SEO team, training and tools.

4. The outsourced SEO agency will not be affected by the pressures of other aspects of marketing your business and can concentrate only on the SEO of your website.

5. Outsourcing SEO means faster execution of tasks since you get a team of people working on your website as opposed to one or two in-house experts.

Outsourced SEO Cons

1. Outsourcing SEO may require you to sometimes invest a little more money than you would if you were to do the SEO of your website in-house by yourself.

2. If you outsource the SEO of your website to an agency, then they would need sometime to get to know your business and the way you work. This would take up sometime till the agency gets used to working with your company.

3. Since the agency will be handling more than just your website, you cannot be sure of the time and focus that the agency will be giving your website. You may have to constantly keep checking on the work done and on the progress of your site.

4. Some of the SEO agencies may use cheap tool based SEO or black hat SEO techniques to get the results that they promise their clients. You may have to be involved with the agency's work to make sure such techniques are not being used for your website.

Anita Seol is a staff writer for VTechSEO. Outsource SEO to a leading SEO outsourcing firm in India and USA.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anita_Seol

A Promotional Compendium Brings Your Name Beyond the Business World

It is a common misconception that leather-bound promotional compendiums limit your promotions to clients belonging to the business world. In case you haven't noticed, the usefulness of compendiums has gone beyond that. That is why compendiums still haven't lost their reputation being one of the top promotional items for corporate giveaways. Look closely who has been carrying your compendiums? Even moms carry pocket-sized compendiums for that to-do list or merely to organize cards or lists. Not only that! Even students make use of a A4-sized promotional compendium you have decided to give away the other year. Unlike other compendiums they don't get easily thrown away because they are often found useful. This refutes the claims that compendiums cannot break out of the business niche barrier. They did it in their own perfect way.

How do you customize your promotional compendium to fit different market niches? That is simple. All you need is a bold step to change the entire image of the plain old compendium. As long as the manufacturers and suppliers are willing to customize, their will be no problem with that. Identify your target recipients. Aside from the business sector who else will you be giving it away to? Once you have that clearly defined, the rest will be easier for you to figure out. The next is to decide on the kind of compendiums you like. Think of the people you have labeled as your target market. Which do you think will be most useful for them? Will it be the small-sized compendium with numerous card slots in it? Will they prefer the zippered ones or the A4 sized compendiums? To make your compendiums fit your market even more, dare to try other colors of compendium covers. Of course, no matter how common the colors black and brown are, they do look best still. With your market in mind you can even start to consider materials for the cover other than leather. You can even have memo pad on your compendiums printed with designs related to your company's business.

What makes it easier for promotional compendiums to go beyond the business world? Compendiums help you carry your name around in a way that is not too obvious. They have become fixtures in organizing paper trails at home and elsewhere. Of course, with your logo or company name on it they will still get your message. By using this item your target customers will easily recognize your company.

If you need high quality promotional compendium and other promotional items, visit us at http://www.promotionalproductssupplier.com.au/.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jessah_T_Lopez

Outdoor Digital Signage Tools To Use

Outside digital signage is definitely well-liked, so much so anyone can produce a basic advert using free tools online, it really is child's play.

In the present hypercompetitive market place each and every retailer should increase sales along with share of the market, along with customer care. Sellers are choosing technology for instance outside electronic digital signs and keep buyers. Retailers not simply give extra price to offer its customers but additionally create supplemental profits throughout the rendering of named advertising and marketing. Audio pop-up is a thing of past, outdoor electronic digital signage is usually waiting in a store, presenting products details, innovative arrivals, promotions, room sales and also accessibility to products and solutions within their outlet. Massive display screen enable video clips to be shown to catch the eye of the buyer.

Communication is the key towards any business achievement, if we cannot communicate effectively, our business is dead in the water.

Digital Poster.

This is an industrial screen that has a built-in player into the screen and the ads are stored on a memory card, the easiest tools to use are "Powerpoint templates for digital signage", if you type this in to any search engine you will have a selection a professionally designed templates that can be used for digital advertising. All you have to do is add the text and images to have an instant attention grabbing campaign.

Electronic digital signage is fantastic for retail bank, enabling you to provide individualized info to major individuals for achievement within list bank.

Outdoor digital signage.

Outdoor digital signage can play a crucial role for making it in business, there are several types of solutions form touch screen (interactive) to non touch, but the tools needed ae below. Unlike indoor digital signage outdoor needs protection from the obvious.

Tools.

Media player - this is a small computer that holds the data you intend on using in you adverts, and using the software that is built into the player, will depend on what you can do with the content. Normally even the basic units allow you to schedule when updates are to be done, normally in the small hours of the day.

Flat screen display - this can either be LCD, plasma or an LED screen depending on your budget will also depend on large the screen is.

LCD enclosure - this is a steel casing that houses all the hardware and protects it from the elements and potential thieves.

Over the past 20 years the author has developed a range of outdoor digital signage protective enclosures and founded an LCD Enclosure manufacturing business who are the leading manufacturer of LCD monitor enclosures, they also offer anti vandal LCD enclosures that provides all the protection and security needed for outdoor use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Bradley

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5919736

Cost Of Outdoor Digital Advertising

The cost of outdoor electronic digital signage has numerous factors that make it an attractive solution, at this moment digital outdoor signage is the leading way to market and increase brand awareness for any business no matter what size.

Cost of out-of-doors dynamic signage.

The image of a company or business is essential to get to the forefront of buyers minds and needs to be highlighted in consumers minds, normally, your can make corporate announcements about your business and the products or services offered and update the advertising content online. Not just that, using their kind of solution also reduces engineers in the field going to site to update content, these updatable solutions reduce travelling time and labour costs.

Custom outside digital signage encompasses various solution that are assembled to work for that particular application and client, these custom solution can be pricey, these types of signs do have their restrictions such as long lead times if replacement parts are needed. Therefore, users of digital signage need a solution that can be used across the board, from a billboard digital poster. Prior to deciding upon how much money to invest in your own use of digital signs, find the benefits and drawbacks of the next generation of digital signs.

Benefits of Custom-Made open-air electric signs

One benefit associated with open-air digital signs as they are viewed. By means of their description, the solutions can vary form static locations updated using the net to mobile digital signs on rickshaws. There's nothing impossible with this type of hardware.

Moreover, these signs supply endless entertainment factors for the viewers. For the right price, any kind of configuration involving different media may be used.

Cons connected with Custom-Made outdoor digital signs

The downside of signage is that the content needed may require special knowledge, but this can be overcome using free programs off the Net to create awesome looking content.

Also you have to consider the lead time for custom units, as these will be on long lead times and will result in the advertising standing idle for a period of time until the replacement part is received.

In spite of several downsides, digital signage and outdoor digital signage has many points going for it, firstly the use of video, images and audio. Providing you have enough budget any solution is attainable. But in our experience we ave found large budgets demand the most complex solutions, where as a budget solution can be realised by using a LCD enclosure, a regular TV and a small media player that can be updated through the web.

Over the past 20 years the author has developed a range of outdoor digital signage protective enclosures and founded LCD Enclosure Global who are the leading manufacturer of LCD monitor enclosures, they also offer anti vandal LCD enclosures that provides all the protection and security needed for outdoor use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Bradley

3 Critical Parts That With Make Your Outdoor Digital Signage System A Winner

Outdoor digital signage systems are a lot more than merely a means to communicate some text. When designing creative signs it is very important you recall the 3 most critical portions of this method. These 4 elements include the message, colour and equipment. Digital signage is there to be seen and noticed, if your signage is being ignored, there is something wrong.

Out-of-doors electronic signage is more than just a static poster, is about catching the attention of the prospect and getting them to take note of the product you are advertising, so much they have an overwhelming desire to go and buy it, digital signage and the right content can do this for you.

The significance of an outside digital signage.

These electronics enables you to demonstrate not just the most up-to-date promo data to help prospective individuals, there are some principal methods for success and we will try and unwrap them.

1) The content has to engaging, this could be use of video or animation to catch the eye of the consumer, you could use both animation and sound by having the animation walk towards the screen and should "hi", the consumer may think they have met up with an old friend and right away be intrigued with the signage.

2) The colour is paramount as most colours have a real bearing on our moods, people say the colour red makes us feel hungry, hence the reason why most digital menu boards signage has a red background. The font has to be something that we are used to seeing every day and has to be clear, so no hard to read scrip please, if the prospect can't see it they will walk away and there goes a potential sale.

Using these 2 parts of the formula will help you increase sales, but combining the last part that is the equipment will guarantee a return on your investment.

The last part for digital signage including outdoor digital signage is the equipment and this mixed with a call to action is the ultimate way to market a product. Using bluetooth technology, a consumer that is interested in a particular ad could enter a text number that is displayed on the screen and receive product updates on sale items, or promotions. This is ideal when used in restaurants as you can get updated menus sent to your cell phone.

Getting the consumer to text the number is the call to action, it could be take this item to the checkout and mention the promotional code "na123" to get 25% off the price tag.

By using digital signage equipment will allow you to do this effortlessly, from flat screen TVs anda media player to an outdoor LCD enclosure fitted with a touch screen panel.

Consider these points when you next think about promoting an item or merchandise and I am certain your bottom line will increase with profit.

Over the past 20 years the author has developed a range of outdoor digital signage protective enclosures and founded LCD Enclosure USA who are the leading manufacturer of LCD monitor enclosures, they also offer anti vandal LCD enclosures that provides all the protection and security needed for outdoor use.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Bradley

Outdoor Digital Signage - Guarding Investors Money

Outside dynamic advertising is all about ROI, so let us look at how to protect that investment decision to allow the project to be a money-making campaign.

Let us look at what is needed first to make an outside dynamic signage solution.

The Display.
This is the major component you think of when anyone talks about a digital sign, as this is what exhibits the attention grabbing advertising, these range in sizes from 19" up to a colossal 60" and you must employ for a screen that has HDMI and USB connectors, this will be looked at later.

On the back of the screen will be a mounting pattern, typically referred to as the VESA mount, this will allow the television to be fitted on a wall.

Content player.
This is the computer hardware that stores the adverts and plays them, these are commonly powered from the mains but to bring up to date the subject matter the choices are almost endless, with cabled equipment using computer network cabling, or wireless solutions, then there is the 3G solution these allow for ads to be current and refreshed whilst the digital sign is mobile, such as in a taxi, so for stationary electronic marketing the widespread unit is the wired content player. The better solutions are the solid state units that have no moving components, as this means the moving parts will not wear out.

Now the above equipment collectively cost from $2,500 to $19,000, so investing this amount of capital needs to considered cautiously, if the investment is not shielded the components could be destroyed or even stolen, this is where an outdoor digital signage enclosure comes in, as these protect the electronics from the weather condition and likely harm.

Let us look at the characteristics of a monitor enclosure:

Water resistant - These models offer a sealed water-tight solution and these Monitor enclosures can even be hosed down with high pressure water jets while the internal computer hardware is kept perfectly safe.

Vandal Proof - A vandal proof solution has to be fitted with special high security locks on the entrance door, the inside mounting frame is anchored with anti theft fasteners that only the tool holder can access them.

Considering these points in mind, a digital outdoor signage campaign can be protected so the investment in the electronics and the project is protected, ensuring the task has a chance of being successful.

Dave is the owner of LCD Enclosures Global who are the leading manufacturers of outdoor digital signage enclosures, these digital signage enclosures are solid steel LCD enclosures with vandal proof locks for the best protection in the industry from the weather and vandals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Bradley

High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection: Copy Protect Your Digital Content

All the developments that aim at making our life easier and better do have one or the other downside. The easy availability of digital data on electronic media all over the world, with rapid advances taking place every day, is also not an exception.

However, there is an upside to this dilemma too. The problems generated by the increased availability of digital data have also motivated their developers to improve upon them so that the demands of the publishers as well as the users can be fulfilled and their concerns met.

One major concern of the publishers on digital media is copy protection of their content. After financing a long period of research, they have finally developed an effective tool to protect their valuable digital data. It is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).

What is HDCP?

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is an effective copy protection system. Developed by Intel, it is sold under license from Digital Content Protection LLC. To check copying of digital information, it uses a technology with an authentication as well as key exchange process before releasing the content for the intended purpose.

Most commonly used devices like HDTV equipment or DVD players are compatible with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. It is rapidly gaining acceptance as a standard by the manufacturers of digital equipment. Therefore, before buying any digital equipment, make sure they are HDCP compliant.

Why Should You Purchase HDCP Equipment?

Due to its obvious advantage of copy protection, manufacturers of digital equipment are now phasing out the older, analog based technology and turning to the HDCP technology. If you purchase older technology based equipment, you may soon find that add-ons and accessories are not working with them.

To be sure, some new generation products like Blue-Ray and HD-DVD, still support analog output resolution. However, this type of resolution is limited to 720p, 1080i and 1080p. Higher resolution can only be supported by digital connections (like DVI or HDMI), that use the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection encryption.

HDCP Compatible PC Monitors

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection is still not a standard with PC monitors. So, although PC monitors do have HDTV capability, their limitations are exposed when you use them to read HDCP enabled content. So, if you want to use your PC monitor with High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection media, you need to get an HDCP enabled monitor.

Basic Key Exchange Process in HDCP

The High-bandwidth Digital Content media and its rendering devices exchange their digital keys. It is a way to ensure that each party exchanging the keys is authorized to manage the digital content. If either of them is not able to issue the requisite digital key, the content is not displayed.

If you have any comment or suggestion about this article, or any query about its author, please address it to writexcell@gmail.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sunil_Kumar_Pandey

What Are the Differences Between EDiscovery and Digital Forensics?

On the surface, you might look at this question and think that it is as basic as, "what is the difference between a cat and a dog?" However, if you take a second to reflect on all of the times that you have had to explain this question to family, friends, acquaintances or clients, you can see that it isn't as straightforward is it appears. For better or worse, digital forensics has a habit of getting lumped into the same silo as ediscovery. While the similarities are noticeable, it is important to remember that each practice is unique and serves a specific purpose.

In this article, we will examine the three main differences between digital forensics and e-discovery. First, we will provide a basic overview between the two specialties. Next, we will look at the amount of data involved in each practice and how it differs. Finally, we will discuss the characteristics of the individuals who analyze the aforementioned data.

Basic Overview: Electronic discovery, simply, is the process of gathering electronic data. The gathered data is active and readily available, and it is found on any electronic storage device (computer, iPad, server, iPhone, etc). The holy grail of the ediscovery industry is the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM), a model created by industry legends George Socha and Tom Gelbmann. EDRM develops guidelines and sets standards to help ediscovery users improve quality and cost efficiency of electronic discovery. The basic model consists of the following nine stages: information management, identification, preservation, collection, processing, review, analysis, production and presentation. The scope of ediscovery collections is typically very narrow when compared to digital forensics. Simply put, you do not need all of the available data to produce the final product.

Digital forensics can be simply defined as a full "autopsy" of an electronic storage device. Much like a human autopsy that is needed to confirm a person's cause of death, an electronic autopsy is needed to validate a legal theory. Digital forensics identifies, collects, preserves, analyzes and produces data based off of a defensible process that complies with legal standards and passes muster in a court of law. Unlike ediscovery, the scope of digital forensics is much deeper. A forensic image (bit-by-bit copy) of the media in question is taken, and all potential data is analyzed (allocated and unallocated space). Deleted files, damaged data, encrypted files, metadata, slack space and user activity are all in play. If you have a legal theory that involves potential fraud, deleted data or anything that would not appear in the "live data", you need a forensics expert. Common types of cases that usually necessitate digital forensics, include: criminal matters, regulatory matters, insurance matters and employee matters (theft, IP infraction, abuse of policies, termination, general contentious circumstances).

Volume of a Device: The volume of a data reviewed in a particular device is another big difference between ediscovery and digital forensics. As we stated above, the scope of ediscovery can be narrowed significantly while digital forensics involves a bit-by-bit image of the media in question. In ediscovery, the goal is to deliver responsive data to the reviewer in a timely and cost effective manner. Generally, ediscovery is not concerned with analyzing the data, focusing on unallocated space, interpreting user intent or providing a legal opinion of the data. eDiscovery uses sophisticated software solutions to provide its client with a review platform to analyze the end results. Software solutions provide methods such as de-duplication, key word searches, hit counts and file extension filters to reduce the number of non-responsive files and counteract the explosion in ESI that we have seen in recent years. Additionally, ediscovery is more concerned with the active and readily available data, and not the ambient data that exists in the unallocated space.

On the flip side, digital forensics deals with a very comprehensive review of the allocated and unallocated portion of the media in question; usually a hard drive. Forensic examiners search intact files, file fragments and deleted files as well as perform keyword searches on the entire data set. The data review is performed by trained professionals with the experience and credentials to match (CCE, CFE, CCFE, etc). Digital forensics experts are concerned with providing an expert opinion on the data set, and they review the data accordingly.

Who Analyzes the Information: As we alluded to in the above sentence, one of the main differences between ediscovery and digital forensics is who analyzes the data. In ediscovery, the role of the service provider is to use the scope of the case to supply the relevant information in a reviewable format for further analysis. The person providing the ediscovery services should be qualified in technology and the legal process, but he or she does not need to be an expert. Most of the software solutions on the marketplace revolve around ediscovery, and each software solution aids a respective vendor in providing the necessary information in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

In comparison, digital forensics must be handled by a person with impeccable credentials. The digital forensics expert not only has to be qualified enough to follow the standard policies and practices that go into preserving digital evidence in a defensible manner, but must also be ready to be called for a deposition or take the stand in court. Since an engaged forensic expert must be disclosed in a case, this person should be highly skilled and qualified. Key elements of a qualified forensics expert include: technical aptitude, knowledge of specific procedures, applicable credentials and investigatory experience.

Comparable Analogy: One analogy that I like to use to simplify this conversation for people is to imagine a construction project. eDiscovery is the general contractor and digital forensics is the electrician. eDiscovery is a broad service that helps drive the results. Digital forensics is a highly specialized service that is needed in particular instances, and can only be accomplished by a trained professional.

Overall, it is perfectly understandable that an outsider might confuse digital forensics and ediscovery. This is especially true in today's marketplace where vendors are marketing themselves as "one-stop shops" whereby they can provide anything and everything under the ediscovery umbrella. However, upon closer inspection, it is apparent that these are two distinctive fields that require different skill sets and expectations. If all else fails, remember contractor versus electrician. That should at least ingrain the higher level differences between the two services.

Derek Shewmon is a partner at Campbell Solutions ( http://www.campbellsolutions.com ), a boutique digital forensics firm located in Washington, DC. Campbell Solutions focuses on providing digital forensics, ediscovery and expert witness services to law firms, corporations and local and federal government agencies. Key areas of expertise include: litigation consulting, digital forensics, digital investigations, e-discovery and document and e-mail recovery.

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Expert Witness: Games Console Forensics

In today's average home there exist many potential sources of digital evidence, from the obvious home PCs and mobile phones to the less common 'pen-drives' and PDA's. All have been subject to comprehensive scrutiny from people involved in the legal process and academics since their properties have been shown to have forensic value. So far comparatively little evidence of investigation into the forensic properties of modern gaming consoles exists, if we consider how they can be utilised in an increasingly 'PC-like' manner, this is an area capable of proffering considerable amounts of data with evidentiary value in criminal or civil court proceedings.

Computer forensics is a relatively new discipline combining elements of law and computer science to collect and analyse data from computer systems, networks, wireless communications and storage devices in a way that is admissible as evidence in a courtroom. Gaming consoles now provide the kind of data which can undergo forensic analysis because of the addition of memory (both internal and external) capable of 'storing' data beyond mere computer game information.

With the addition of storage capabilities beyond simple game data (i.e. hard drives capable of storing music, video, pictures etc.) gaming consoles are able to utilise 'web' functionality and therefore will likely generate both 'persistent' and 'volatile data' with forensic value. With an increasing amount of media functionality gaming consoles are becoming 'entertainment hubs' within the average household.

The machines most likely to provide usable forensic data are the Xbox360 and PS3 and due to their prevalence in homes (combined sales figures for the UK are around six million units) these are the machines where a pattern of use would be similar to more readily accepted sources of forensic data (i.e. home computers).

Microsoft Xbox 360:

This gaming console can support external memory cards for game data and media storage, however these are infrequently utilised because of small size (both physically and in terms of data capacity). The most commonly used memory for the Xbox360 comes in the form of a detachable hard-drive ranging in size from twenty gigabytes to two-hundred and fifty gigabytes (allowing vast amounts of saved music, videos, photos etc.) and is essential in allowing online functionality on the machine. On an unmodified machine this online functionality refers to 'Xbox live', the online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service operated by Microsoft. This service allows users to:

• Download content from Xbox live
• Log onto and update social networking and media services such as Facebook, Twitter, Zune and Last.fm
• Add people to 'friends lists' for gaming and/or communication
• Send (unsolicited) text/picture/voice messages to other users

Many of the functions performed on the console have a time and date attributed to when the function was performed (or at least when it was last accessed or altered); this could potentially provide corroboration of a defendant's location at a specified time. The communication possible through use of the Xbox live messaging system can provide evidence of illegal activity as messages are automatically stored for up to 30 days before deletion from the system, however all messages sent via Xbox live are retained on Microsoft servers and recoverable on any console the user profile is signed into, therefore any mention of a crime in a text or audio message would potentially be retrievable by a skilled investigator.

The functionality of the Xbox360 can be extended by modifying the internals to allow the playing of illegally downloaded software (piracy) or an operating system such as Linux could be installed and allow an Xbox360 to have almost all the functions of a PC (and associated data records of activity)

• Full access to the Internet (beyond mere Xbox live)
• E-mail
• Chat logs
• Pirated games

One important detail to note is that, at least from the outside, a modified console and an unmodified console can look exactly the same. While it is true that some members of the 'modding' community opt to apply various case modifications to their consoles, many do not, and therefore the console could be mistaken for a standard device.

Sony Playstation 3:

The PS3 is similar to the Xbox360 in terms of potential forensic viability. Large amounts of digital media can be stored on its hard drive, and the PlayStation Network (similar to Xbox live) allows users to send messages much in the same way as with the Xbox360.

There are two key differences between these consoles, firstly, the PS3 has full internet browsing capability 'straight out of the box', even an unmodified PS3 would contain more usable data in terms of Internet search history, downloads etc. on both the hard drive and the system 'data cache'. Secondly, it was possible to install third party operating systems on the PS3 without any modification to the system to enable it; this is currently in dispute in the US courts as this feature was removed by Sony to help prevent software piracy on the machine. Regardless, installing a second operating system (for whatever purpose) is still possible, now requiring some hard drive modification to enable this function, allowing the PS3 almost all the functionality of a PC.

Motion Control - Move & Kinect:

In the final months of 2010 new functionality was added to the PS3 (Move) and the Xbox360 (Kinect), 'Motion Control'. Using cameras and motion tracking software the console is able to interpret user body movement and replicate it 'in game'. From an evidential point of view, this provides another type of data to be collected from a gaming console, practically this expands the scope of what data stored on these machines can be used for. The cameras are actually used to record the user of the motion control software at certain points of game activity this can be stored, this could be abused and used to send videos of underage children or obscene videos via Xbox live. The videos could also be used to capture suspects involved in criminal activity, with the videos having a date and time attached, analysis could determine a location, thereby corroborating or disproving the validity of a defendants claim as to their location at the time of an offence.

Nintendo Wii:

The Nintendo Wii currently boasts higher sales numbers than the Xbox360 and PS3 combined. It is seen as a gaming console for 'non-gamers' and has lower technical specifications than both of its competitors, as such it is less of target for modification, although data with forensic properties can still be extracted from it. The Nintendo Wii can utilize a first-party Opera-based web browser; bookmarks are retained, and may be worth noting. The Wii also retains a basic, daily log of system usage, and also keeps a contact list of added friends, as well as the messages those friends have sent. Also worth noting is that images may be sent over the player messaging system, which are then saved to the system flash storage or to an external SD (memory) card. As is true of most modern consoles, various distributions of Linux have been ported to the system (Wii Linux), meaning that it could be utilized in the same way as any desktop PC and should be treated as such.

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP):

A portable game device can be defined as a gaming system that is small enough to be carried outside of the home and runs on batteries. While not as powerful as a console, portable game devices have made significant advances in power since their early days, and may now incorporate functions similar to PDAs. The PlayStation Portable may be used to access the Internet, store images and movies, and can be modified to run 3rd party operating systems, therefore forensic data is recoverable from the memory and 'data cache'.

Nintendo DS / DSi / 3DS:

All Nintendo DS units can establish ad-hoc wireless connections to other units to utilize a player to player chat program called Pictochat. Pictochat has been used in the past by predators to lure children to them. The DSi incorporates an SD card reader, which may be used to hide illicit materials. The DSi also incorporates a 0.3 megapixel camera which can store images on its internal flash RAM or SD card.

Games Console Forensics in the Real World:

For illustration purposes here are a few real world instances of crimes involving gaming consoles, hopefully illustrating the need to investigate gaming consoles just as thoroughly as more traditional computer forensic targets.

An example of gaming consoles being used in the same manner as a PC and providing usable forensic data would be an incident that occurred in August 2010 in the USA whereby an Xbox live user based in Florida was discovered to have been soliciting naked pictures of a 10 year old boy also using the Xbox live messaging service. Officers recovered the defendants Xbox 360, two computers and a flash drive and discovered sixteen child-pornography images of various boys.

Folsom Police Detective Andrew Bates stated that "parents should realize gaming systems like Xbox and PlayStation, when connected to the internet, can be used as other technology, such as a computer or telephone; users can speak to one another, text, or send photos, thus making these systems another potential threat."

Useful data recoverable from Xbox live was found in a case where a man surrendered himself to police after threatening a witness against him in an on-going criminal investigation, he was charged with tampering with a witness, intimidating a witness and two counts of second-degree harassment.

There are documented instances of unsolicited indecent images being sent via Xbox live and PlayStation Network, here a couple were sent a message from an unknown user account, upon opening it discovered it contained an indecent image of a young boy and immediately contacted the police. An investigation would be able to determine the time and date this image was received and whether or not it was solicited by the user receiving the image by retrieving previous communications.

N another incident a PS3 user persuaded an 11 year old girl to email him nude pictures of herself (which he subsequently forwarded on to contacts in other US states). No other devices were used to commit these offences and would potentially go undiscovered in an ordinary investigation.

On another occasion a man is accused of grooming several young girls over Xbox live; this was uncovered by the discovery of a mobile phone and recovery of Xbox360 data.

Considering the myriad of ways in which gaming consoles can now provide investigators with usable forensic data it is crucial that the potential rewards of forensic investigation of gaming machines are fully comprehended, and furthermore, that lawyers -whether prosecution or defence - find an expert witness with the necessary skills to support their case. It is possible to commit the types of offences typically associated with a PC on a gaming machine and it possible to retrieve data of equal significance from a gaming machine. Therefore correct seizure and investigation into of these devices should have equal priority alongside other digital storage and communication devices.

Simon Lang is a Computer Forensics Consultant with Sytech, A U.K based company that has wide experience as suppliers of computer and mobile phone forensics, cell-site analysis and expert witness services. You can view Sytech's profile and find an expert witness at X-Pro, the innovative expert witness directory.

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Article Marketing Strategy for Network Marketing Internet Business

Article marketing is no doubt a powerful internet marketing strategy. Why do we need to write and to submit our writing to article directories? Why can't we write in our website or blog only? I highlight 3 reasons why we should write to directories to promote our network marketing internet business.

Articles directories have high places in search engine. Take an example of EzineArticles.com. It has Google Page Rank 6 and Alexa rank 98. Your articles are more visible in article directories than if you write in your blog or website.
Article directories will give one way backlink to your website or blog. In order to crawl the rank in search engine, your blog or website needs authority links from other sites particularly quality sites such as articles directories.
You show your expertise in online MLM business through articles directories and there are articles directories who grant status to the authors/writers. This will add your credibility in your blog or website if you can show the badge: Expert Author of EzineArticles in your blog or Platinum Expert Author.

Unlike writing posts in your blog, you don't have rules perhaps. You can publish just as it is. If you write for article directories, you must read the editorial guidelines first before you start writing. Read Do and Don't rules. Don't snatch articles from PLR or other people's articles because the directories will know eventually. Your first article will make the first impression so you have to be sure that the first writing is your best. Watch out forthe excessive keywords. The new writers usually make mistakes by using keywords excessively. Position your keywords well throughout the article.

What are article marketing strategies for network marketing internet business?

Don't worry if you are newbies in network marketing internet business. Everyone has ideas and opinions to write about their online MLM business. The 8 article marketing strategies that you shall apply for network marketing internet business:

Share your tips "how to" generously and people will learn from you. Better still, they will join your online MLM business because they are eager to learn from you.
Write 400 to 500 words minimum. Some directories accept 250 words articles but most of them prefer an article of 500 words minimum.
Use keywords that are relevant to network marketing industry. Choose more than one keywords. Hyperlink the keywords to your blog or website.
Write a compelling biography about you, your journey and expertise in online MLM business.
Author resources box must have your blog or website link and you shall highlight your expertise again and what you can offer to people.
Submit your articles to various directories particularly the top 20.
You can use software to spin your own writing but you need to edit the spun words manually and go through your article before they are submitted to various directories.
Submit articles frequently. The more you submit them, the more exposure you have for your network marketing internet business.

I know that article marketing takes your efforts and time. If you don't want to be burned out for paid advertisements to promote your Online MLM Business, you shall take the route of article marketing strategy. It is free cost and the exposure of your network marketing internet business has a big impact through articles directories.

Viviana is network marketing coach moms. coaches ordinary moms to automate network marketing internet business. Visit her blog at Network Marketing Success with Viviana to read her journey, inspiration and tips in MLM internet business, get free e-books and find out her offer.

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