Is Spyware Slowing Your Computer Down?

              Everyday more and more computers are becoming infected with Spyware and Adware (advertising tracking). No matter where you go on the web, someone is trying to sneak something on your computer. From honest web sites placing simple logon cookies, to paid advertising tracking your movements on the web, to malicious software that is designed to record your keystrokes and discover your passwords, Spyware and Adware have together become the web's number one problem.

        Many of these programs are down right dangerous and seriously threaten your online privacy and identity. But even the simple and supposedly benign Adware programs can cause you serious problems.

        Spyware is any program that installs itself onto your computer with the intent to spy on your activity. This can be recording your online searching habits, or whatever you type on your keyboard. Adware is not much better. It is designed to watch what you do online, where you go, which terms you search for and then report this to the ad agency that runs the adware program.

        Adware programs may be designed with the best intentions in mind, but even these can cause your computer serious problems.

        Here is what happens. Many, if not most, advertisers on the internet will try and place a cookie or other small program on your computer. Many will add code that will track that cookie as it hits different pages. The code may be designed simply to gather anonymous data, or it may be trying to send ads to your browser that the advertising company thinks you will be more likely to respond to.

        Whatever the case, the Adware or Spyware is using your computer to do its tracking. This means that part of your computer's power and CPU cycles are being diverted away from the activity you are trying to perform. Your computer is being used by someone else instead to track your movements. Now, when we multiply this behavior by tens or hundreds of Adware or Spyware programs all trying to use your computer for their work you can begin to see the problem.

        These programs can literally slow your computer down to a crawl, or make it crash altogether. They can fill your computer up with trash files, open unwanted popup windows, use up the space in your internet cache and generally just make working on your computer a nightmare.

         Luckily there are several easy solutions to the problem. But first let me make one distinction, Spyware and Adware are not the same thing as a computer virus. Although a computer virus can install spyware on a computer, you will need different tools to remove a computer virus and to keep your system clean from Spyware and Adware. You should be using both a high quality commercial anti-virus program and one or more good quality programs for handling the spyware/adware problem.

        There are several good Spyware/adware programs on the market. I use two different programs on my network, Ad-aware from Lavasoft and Spy Sweeper from Webroot Software although there are several others. You can easily find both of these by doing an internet search for Ad-aware and Spy Sweeper. Or simply do a search for spyware. Both of these programs will scan your hard drives and registry and present you with a list of spyware/adware programs hiding on your system. You can then quarantine or remove the offending programs. I use both of these programs since neither one seems to catch everything. Plus I will run them 2 or more times in a row, the nastier spyware will not be completely removed on the first pass.

         The process is very easy and I recommend running these programs at least once a week and every time you have been doing some extended web surfing. You will be surprised at how many of these spyware/adware programs will sneak onto your system. I run a very clean network and I have yet to scan my system and not come up with at least a few of these hiding on my hard drive.

So be aware of the problem, take reasonable precautions, scan your system frequently, and the spyware/adware curse can be broken.

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10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer Without Upgrading

             It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it gets! A lot of people will keep their computer until it gets so slow that they feel they need a newer, faster model. Some feel like the reason it is getting slower is because it is getting older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run just as fast as the day you brought it home – if you follow these 10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer.


1). Empty the Temp directory regularly:

                Every time you launch a program, it creates a temporary file, until you either save or close the file. The reason it does this is in case your system crashes or gets turned off (before saving the file), it will be possible to recover the unsaved file you were working on. This is a good idea, but rarely works. Every time your system crashes, locks up, or gets turned off while you have open files, these temp files get created and just sit there in the Temp directory. Then, every time you launch a program, it looks through all of the temp files (to see if one needs to be recovered) and slows the open process, and in some rare cases, even locks up when trying to launch. In any event, the launch process is slowed.

Other ways of getting unneeded temp files is by installing programs. Most programs that get installed extract temp files (needed during the installation) to the temp directory, but a lot of times don’t get deleted when the installation is complete.

Windows also uses the temp directory for its temp files, for recovery purposes and ongoing use.

After a short while, the temp directory fills up with hundreds (and I have even seen thousands) of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.

Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don’t have any programs open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn’t have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do, delete them.

To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and…

a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.

b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the

C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete everything here.
Also, look in the
C:Windows(or Winnt)Temp or Tmp folders. Delete everything here, as well.

Note: this assumes that your logon ID is Administrator. If the main account is not Administrator, or if there are more than one account, substitute “Administrator” for the account names, and delete the temp files from all of the C:Documents and Settings(account name)Local SettingsTemp folders.


2). Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly:

                 This is similar to the Temp directory, but for images and cookies while browsing websites. Every time you go to a website, your browser will look through your list of temporary Internet files, to see if you have all of the images needed to view your requested web page. If it is a very long list, it will delay your view time. However, if you have a dial-up, this is the lesser of two evils. If you already have the needed images, it is quicker (for a dial-up) to look through your temporary Internet files, than to download new images every time you visit a website.

On the other hand, if you have a broadband Internet connection (highspeed CableModem, DSL, Wireless, etc.), and you want a little more snap in your surfing, then you should delete your Temporary Internet Files on a regular basis, and choose to Check for Newer Images on Every Visit to a web page.

To empty Temporary Internet Files:
               Go to your Control Panel, by click on the StartSettingsControl Panel (or in Windows XP, just StartControl Panel) and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files.

To have Internet Explorer always check for new images and content on every visit to a web page, to the right of the Delete Files button, is the Settings button. Click this button and choose Every Visit to the Web Page. This option never has Internet Explorer look through your Temporary Internet Files to see if you already have the images needed. This way, Internet Explorer will just automatically download every image, every time, without looking through a list. If you have a good Internet connection, this is the better way to go. Don’t forget to delete your Temporary Internet Files every once in a while (see above).


3). Check your hard disks for problems:

                   There are two different types of disk checks: one is a file check, which checks the state of your operating system, checks all of your files, your file structure, and other software checks. If there are software problems (such as a corrupt FAT (file allocation table), etc., this check will attempt to fix it. The other is a physical hardware disk check. This checks the surface of your hard disks, to see if there are bad sectors (sections) of your hard drive, to see if your drive is physically experiencing problems. This disk check will attempt to repair the bad sectors, but if it can’t, it will mark the sector as bad and attempt to move the file(s) or file “pieces” to a good sector(s) of the disk. By marking the sector as bad, it knows not to write any future files to this section of the hard drive.

To run a disk check (or scan disk), here are the steps:

a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Otherwise, the Standard Scan does the software file check. In either case, you can choose to have the scan automatically fix any errors it finds. The Thorough Scan does take quite a bit longer. You may want to let this run over night. Only do the Thorough Scan when you think there may be a problem with your drive itself, or if you haven’t run it in a few months, otherwise, run the Standard Scan once a week or so.

b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Again, if you think you may be having problems with the hard disk itself, then check the second one, as well. And just like the Windows 98 Thorough Scan, this will take quite a bit longer to run, so let it run over night. One thing, though: For Windows 2000 and XP, you won’t be able to run the check right then. After clicking the Start button (once the check boxes are checked), you will need to reboot to run the disk check. It will ask you if you want the system to run the CHKDSK on reboot. Choose Yes and reboot. Just before getting back into Windows, the system will do its CHKDSK, and depending on which options you chose, will take either a few minutes, and sometimes up to an hour or so, to run. Let it run.


4). An even more thorough disk check (and tune-up):

                     It would be to use a 3rd party utility (a stand-alone program outside of Windows) to check everything for you, automatically. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It costs $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days, to check it out to see if it speeds up your computer and/or fixes any problems. This program does a really good job of not only checking your computer’s file structure, master boot record, file allocation table, and files, but also an extremely good job of detecting and fixing bad sectors of your physical disk drives. And not only that, it also tunes up your system for increased speed, checks and cleans your registry, adjusts memory for you, tweaks your Internet settings for faster downloads and browsing (whether you use a dial-up or broadband), and streamlines your operating system for peak performance.


5). Don't want the TuneUp Utilities:

                   If you don’t want to get the TuneUp Utilities 2004, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very streamlined for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little faster.

             To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don’t need any of them. If you choose one of the radio buttons at the top, say, Adjust for Best Performance, then all of the check boxes will turn off. This will noticeably speed up your computer. You can go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without. The one that will make the biggest effect is the very last one in the list. This is the Themes. If you turn it off, it will free up a lot of system resources and give you quite a bit more memory to work with, but Windows XP will look more like Windows 2000. For most people, this isn’t a problem. It is all eye-candy, anyway. Your pretty green pasture picture will disappear; your pretty green and blue buttons and task bar will go to a gray. If you can live with these things, then you will have much more performance. You will find that menus open up much more quickly and everything responds more immediately.



6). Turn off Active Desktop:

                  Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These things are really neat, but your system takes a performance hit when they are running in the background all the time. And even if you don’t use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a performance decrease. Turn it off.

a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it isn’t on. Don’t choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again to get out of the menu.

b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.

c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren’t any, then Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.


7). Install and run a good AntiVirus program: 

                  Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses and Trojan horses that can take over your system. If you have a virus(s), your system performance can be dramatically decreased. Viruses can do all kinds of nasty things to your computer. They can take over your computer, erase your hard drive, use your computer as a server, give you a bunch of illegal music or programs and tell all of their friends to download it all from you – leaving you holding the bag and supplying the computer space and bandwidth for their hobby. So, protect yourself with a good AntiVirus program. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don’t have any AntiVirus software on your computer, get AVG AntiVirus NOW by downloading HERE. If you already have an AntiVirus program, and you want to use AVG instead, do NOT install AVG. First, uninstall your current AntiVirus program, reboot and install AVG. You do NOT want to have two AntiVirus programs installed at the same time. They will work against each other and can cause problems.


8). Get rid of Spyware:

                 A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don’t want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren’t even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.

On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.

SpyBot is not only a good program for getting rid of Spyware, but also as a preventative Spyware-catcher. It sits there and looks for known Spyware coming into your system, as well as suspicious-looking content. If you use the Tea-Timer feature, it can be a little annoying, but ANY suspicious-looking program, trying to be installed on your system, is flagged and your permission is asked for it to be installed (now and always).

AdAware SE has a little better Spyware database in it, but is not setup as a preventative AntiSpyware program. It does do a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan your system with AdAware.

If, after downloading and installing, updating, and running both of these AntiSpyware program, you still can’t get rid of your Spyware, you may need to enlist the services of a professional. Some Spyware is so intelligent that it looks to see if AntiSpyware programs delete the Spyware part of its programming and, if it’s gone, reinserts it back in place. This can be very frustrating for the user (and in some cases, even for the professional). There are stronger measures that can be taken to get rid of the Spyware, in cases like this, but can be very devastating to the user’s computer, if not handled perfectly. At this point, leave it to the professional. Call a local computer repair company and have them come out to your home or business and get rid of the Spyware for you.

In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a computer repair technician can’t get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don’t want to just put a “band-aid” on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system. It’s the best way to go.


9). Streamline MSCONFIG:

                  One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock, in the lower-right corner of your screen). These are tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them you need, while most you don’t. Some of the programs you DON’T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren’t always running, doesn’t mean that you still can’t print, burn CDs or Instant Message. They can be run when you need them, from a shortcut.

You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.

a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background, some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is much more “snappy” and quick to respond.

b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn’t supplied. You actually have to download and run an MSCONFIG utility. A Google Search on "MSCONFIG utility" leads you to the download page, you can download this software from there. And if you copy it into your C:Windows(or Winnt)System32 folder, you can access it the same way as Windows 98 or XP (by the Run command in the Start menu). Or, you can just double-click it and use it that way, too. See above for what to leave checked and unchecked.

After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.


10). Defragment your hard drives:

                  If you have never done this, or it has been a few months since the last time, this step is one of the most important things that will give you more performance. As you use your computer, your drives become fragmented, by creating and deleting files. Just because a file is 10mb in size, doesn’t mean that it is sitting there on the drive (all 10mb) all in one spot on the drive. It fills in from the inside of the drive, outward, as the drive finds room. So your one file can be in pieces, in several spots on the hard drive. Don’t worry, your file allocation table keeps track of where the pieces are, however, it takes longer to access a file that is in pieces (fragmented), than a file that IS all in one spot on the hard drive. This is where defragmenting comes in. When you defragment your hard drive, this process copies all of the pieces to temporary spots on the hard drive, and then fills in all of the files (in their entirety) from the inside, out, so that no files are split into pieces. This dramatically speeds up the seek time, as well as speeds up the use of your files and programs.

NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now… Click on the appropriate drive, and then on Defragment. This can take some time. Depending on your processing power, the amount of RAM you have available, the size and speed of your drive, and a few other things, this process can take 20 minutes, or hours. It is best to let this one run over night, as well, but it is well worth it.

Good luck. I hope this article has helped you. If you live in the Lapeer, Genesee, or Tuscola County, Michigan areas, and would like an IT Professional to do a professional TuneUp on your computer(s) in your home or business, please contact Lapeer Tech Group at (810) 793-1093, or visit our website at www.LapeerTechGroup.com. You can email us at info@LapeerTechGroup.com.

Author Bio:

              Jim Shutes have worked in the IT field since 1989 and hold several Microsoft certifications. I am a network administrator and owner and operator of Lapeer Tech Group located in Columbiaville Michigan (just outside of Lapeer). During these years I have supported both Macs and PCs am an accomplished graphic and web designer and have had the opportunity to support 2nd and 3rd level enterprise networks for GM EDS Delphi and Delco.

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Make Your Pictures To Appear On Google Earth At a Particular Location

            Hi Friends! Recently i added a Photo of my Home to Google Earth by making it to appear right above my Home in it. And i thought of sharring it with you too. You might have seen it in google earth, Many Institutions, Colleges, Banks, Hospitals, etc... are displaying the photo of their building on the Google Earth. Likewise You too can now display your own images on the Google Earth, Putting your pics on Google Earth is really easy and very rewarding when you see them displayed.

There are some basic rules to follow with the pic you are about to display:

• No frames or mattes around your pics.
• No advertising (obviously).
• No signatures or text on your pics. But you can put discrete copyright info.
• No pics of people or pets etc, unless they're relevant to the scene.

These are the main things people fall foul of because any of these will cause your pics to be rejected. However, once you abide by these rules, gaining acceptance is easy.

Here's what to do:

1. Create an account with Panoramio. It's free and works pretty much like Flickr.
2. Upload your pic.
3. Map your pic. You do this by typing in the location and a map appears with a marker. You simply drag and drop marker where you took your pic.
4. Give your pic a title and then press enter - -that's it!
5. Your pic is evaluated after 24 hours in most cases and a symbol appears to denote that it's been accepted to Google Earth. 
6. Updates to Google Earth take place a set times and is usually about 2 weeks after you've uploaded your pics.
7. When you open Google Earth, go to your location and you'll see a little blue square denoting a picture. Click on your blue square and your pic opens together with your info and all of your other pics you've submitted.
8. It feels very rewarding seeing your pics on GE and you can forward links to your friends.
9. An added bonus is that other people open your pics and can make comments on them.

It's a great tool if you want to place some history around your home area and to post some pics of your travels around the world.

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Why You Should Buy An Antivirus Software? And 2013 Threats To Expect

New viruses, spyware, trojans, worms and other malware are created every day. The purpose of the viruses have also changed; viruses that used to be annoying pranks have evolved into pernicious threats capable of destroying not only your computer but also steal your information and identity. Nowadays, a computer without anti-virus is not just vulnerable, but probably, is already infected.

The modern antivirus software not only improves your level of protection, they significantly improve resources efficiency and speed of the system in general. You can have the protection without giving up resources. With advanced technology and simple usability, antivirus software is more effective than ever, and does not require constant maintenance from you. Say goodbye to annoying security warnings and slow computers, current antivirus programs offer constant protection.

What to look for in an antivirus program:

Protection:
         The best solutions include traditional antivirus protection against viruses, worms, trojans and spyware, but also should include protection against keyloggers, phishing, email threats and rootkits.

Effectiveness:
         Antivirus is specifically designed to protect your computer, and if it does not do that well, it has no reason to exist. All that paraphernalia, flashy graphics, etc ... can often compensate for the bad performance.

Ease of installation and use:
         The software security should not be difficult to install, and you should be protected as soon as possible. The best security programs must meet both sophisticated users as well as ordinary computer users who want a security solution that they can install and forget. The software should not require constant maintenance or have annoying interruptions.

Features:
       A set of well designed and useful resources.

Updates:
        Security software is only as good as its last update. Viruses are being identified and added to signature databases all the time, so it is important that your antivirus is up to date.

Help and Support:
         The best software does not require reading a manual in depth, but should always offer additional help and the best manufacturers should always offer support online and by phone.
A balanced antivirus solution is efficient and easy to use. Must combine all the features with a usable interface, and provide the best security and usability without a serious investment in time, money or system resources.

       According to the Guia Anti Virus, for 2013 we should expect the following threats to emerge, so make sure your computer antivirus or internet security software is keeping you safe.

• Continued increase in targeted attacks.
• Great advancement of "hacktivism".
• More cyber attacks come from countries.
• Use of legal tools of surveillance in cyberspace supported by governments.
• Attacks targeting cloud infrastructure.
• Deterioration of digital privacy.
• Problems of online trust and digital authority online will continue.
• New malicious attacks for Mac OS X.
• The vulnerabilities and exploits will remain the methods most used by cybercriminals.
• Attacks to steal data from smartphones and tablet PCs.

Author Bio:
Joe Conno, Guia Anti Virus 2013. Joe Conno works in the antivirus software industry and is looking to give good advice tips on the Guia Anti Virus website.

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Get On Top Of Google

This article is to give you a very basic understanding of search engine optimisation and what it actually means to get your business on page one of Google.

Google is the ultimate way that businesses can find new clients and for new clients to find businesses. Let us say for example that you are a plumber in Cheadle and when someone types in the query ‘Cheadle plumber’ or any other variation to this, you want to make sure that your business is listed on page one. This is because if your site is appearing on page two, three, four and so on, you stand very little chance of finding any new clients as less than 15% of searches go beyond page one. Search engine optimisation is all about getting you on page one.

You might be asking yourself the question what did other businesses do to get on page one whereas other businesses are appearing on page five? Are the plumbers on page one better at plumbing than those on page five? The answer to this is no, but what has most likely to have happened is that the businesses that you find on page one have implemented what we call a search engine optimisation or SEO campaign.

Now there are a lot of factors that go into SEO and getting onto page one, but I will not be able to cover them all in one single article. But I will go over some of the basics. Firstly your website needs to be optimised for Google. When it comes to a website, there are certain things that Google will look for. This will include page titles, use of keywords and a good description tag. These are the basic areas that need to be covered and are quite straight forward.

Recommended: Blogging Tools For Keyword Research!

There are some things that people tend to forget about and the main one is the importance of content on your website. You need to be engaging the viewers of your website. Your content needs to be relevant to what they are looking for. Google has actually started paying attention to various metrics on your website such as how many times people comes to your website and leave without going onto a second page. This is known as bounce rate, and if yours is high then it will prove more challenging for you to rank on page one.

So let us say that someone has typed in ‘plumber Cheadle’ and they visit your website but 70% of people do not go past page one; this means your website is not really relevant for that particular keyword that you are hoping to rank for. As a result of this, Google will push your website further towards the back. Your website needs to be highly relevant and it needs to be compelling. You need users to come to your website, read one page and to visit as many other pages as possible. My message to you is to content and to add it constantly.

The next part is all about building links to your website and your content should hopefully be good enough where users will be linking back to you from their website. Link building is what will tell Google just how important your website is. If you have a lot of other websites linking back to you, your website will be considered highly relevant and Google pays attention to this.

It is also very important that you are in the social media game. This means that you have accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc and you are frequently using these sites as well. Google is taking all of this data to generate information on businesses and in particular which businesses are relevant for particular searches. If you are not utilising these free services then you really need to as the impact on your SEO campaign can be dramatic.

What does it actually means to be on page one?

             Well just imagine potentially hundreds or even thousands of free leads every single month. The businesses that are listed on page one of the organic listings are receiving free traffic. Just imagine a high traffic key phrases that is driving potential customers to your site and remember you do not have to pay for this traffic. In the long term you are generating more leads, more business and more revenue than any of your competition on page two and beyond.

This was just a sample article covering SEO and the essential key elements that you must take on board if your aim is to be on the first page of Google and to also stay there.

Author Bio:

              Sadhiv Mahandru has been developing websites and optimising them for over a decade. Specialising in Search Engine Optimisation Manchester and provides a high quality service throughout the UK. You can read a lot more about SEO, Link Building and Social Media by reading my personal blog which is frequently updated.

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Convert Your Blog to Podcast [Updated]

            Hi friends i found an interesting service by iSpeech while searching that site for the previous post on "Text to Speech Software - Free Download". They provide a free and very useful service for we like bloggers for Converting A Blog To A Podcast. This adds a "Listen" button below each post title, as you see it on my blog right now.

Remaining thing, by clicking that button you can know it.
This will help your site visitors by many ways and even increase your page views too.  Get it now!

Important: Don't forget to update your feed when you create a new post or edit a post, orelse this text to speech utility wont work for the newly created posts.

How to update your feed?

• Go here.
• Click on the Manage Blogs, from the right of that page.
• In the next page Select the blog's name, which you want to update.
• Then select the Update Now, link in the upcoming page.
• That's it!
• Don't forget to Do that whenever you create a new post!

A small tip to all my blogger blog friends:

On that site, In the "Enter your blog's Url" field, don't add your blog's url. Add the feed url in the below format:

http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=500

If you have more than 500 posts change that no. to 1000!

This is Because if you add the feed url in this format: http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml or rss.xml or simply http://yourblogname.blogspot.com, this Text to speech tool will work only for first 26 posts of your blog, So only!

iSpeech currently supports the following services:

• Wordpress.org
• Blogger
• BlogEngine.net
• Terapad
• Typepad
• Live Spaces

Get it for your blog right now from here!
Friends, Don't forget to hit the "+1" button on the right or to comment if you found this useful!

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Dissatisfied With Your Website And It's Traffic?

          There are a lot of small business owners that we talk to that are not happy with the results of the website that they paid a web site design company to build for them, or the traffic they paid an internet marketer to generate. They complain that the site is plain or is hard to update or that is has received little traffic or generated the few sales.

          The blame lies with the small business as much as the web site design company. When small businesses hire web site companies they tell the designers basically what they want but leave most of the decision up to the designer. This is a mistake. Building a website is very similar to building a house. When building a house you pick out the house plan not the builder. You decide the colors of the walls, the type of siding, color of the shingles, what carpet, which cabinets, and so on. But with a website people leave this all up to the designer.

         If you are going to have a website built then you need to take responsibility for a lot of the design and most of the content. The first thing to do is develop a set of goals for your website. Is it going to be used to generate new business or a place to direct existing customers? This will determine what kind of website is best for your needs.

         Then you need to develop a list of functionality and information that you want the website to contain. Also, note what information will need updating and which is static and will never change. It is important to have an easy way to change information that is changed often. There are to many outdated websites on the internet already.

         Next scout other websites on the internet until you find one that has the look you like or some functionality that would be good for your site to have. Or several that you like parts of. Being able to show a website designer an example of what you have in mind makes it very easy for them to meet your needs.

        This is the easy part so far. You have enough info to give your designer a list of functionality and some example websites that look like what you have in mind. Now you have to decide what color schemes you want, what kind of font. The colors and font of a website set its tone. Is it professional or casual? Is it serious or fun? These might seem like trivial details but they matter. No matter how good the designer you need to direct them. You don’t need the exact font, but tell them weather you want a professional or casual font; Soothing or bright colors. All of this extra work will help you be more satisfied with the end product.

         Next comes traffic. This is usually the job of an internet marketer but most web companies offer both services. We often hear complaints by people who launch an internet business and then do not receive the traffic they expect.

         First of all, submitting your website to the hundreds of search engines will not produce a lot of traffic. It is a small part of an overall internet marketing campaign. Also, this is a service that is provided free by most web hosts and you should not be spending money on it. This merely gets your website listed in the various search engines. To receive traffic you need to gain enough strength so that when a searcher searches on a keyword relevant to you that your website shows up. This takes time and effort and will not be achieve by simply submitting your website.

        A lot of websites are used as a tool for its organization to spread information or as a brochure for a small business to direct its customers. These kind of sites are not looking to generate traffic and do not need an internet marketing strategy. But if you are running an ecommerce site or a website to generate sales leads for your business then you need an internet marketing plan.

        This plan will consist of several parts a search engine strategy for both organic listings and paid listings, a grassroots plan to generate traffic by writing articles, posting in forums, and in general becoming an online expert for you niche. And an online advertising plan for banner ads.

        Long term, establishing yourself as the online expert in a field and developing a strong search engine ranking for the keywords relevant to your business is very important. This will allow you to generate traffic without spending advertising dollars. Early you will need to advertise to generate visitors and revenue but over time your advertising dollars should decrease. This should be the long term objective of all internet businesses.

        To achieve this you will need a comprehensive plan, and the discipline to stick with it when no one is visiting your website. It is hard to outsource some of an internet marketing campaign to an Internet marketing company because you are the expert. It is hard for an internet marketing company to produce your level of expertise in your business. Internet marketing companies are excellent for managing ad campaigns, creating banner graphics, and teaching you search engine optimization and grassroots marketing. In search engine optimization and grassroots internet marketing a lot of the work is producing content(articles, guides, tutorials, etc.) in your niche and becoming known at expert sites in your area and forum boards that you are an expert in this niche and a place to go. You cannot outsource this expertise. You can hire someone to teach you how to do it but you need to do it.

       To get satisfaction out of your website and have it generate the traffic and new business that you want, you need to take ownership and be involved in the design, content, and internet marketing. You can have a web company build the site but you need to drive the design and functionality. You can also have an internet marketing company setup a marketing plan and teach you the basics of search engine optimization, but you need to become the online expert in your niche and produce as much quality content for that niche as you can.

Author Bio:

                 Rodney Ringler is President of Advantage1 Web Services, Inc., which owns a network of Web Hosting Informational Websites including HostChart.com, ResellerConnection.com, FoundHost.com, ResellerForums.com, and HostingKnowledge.net. Rodney has over 15 years industry experience from programming to internet marketing.

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