Five ways to ensure your data online is safe

The recent leak of nude images of over 100 well-known celebrities online has rocked not only Hollywood but also the Silicon Valley. Online service providers are doing their best to ensure security of their cloud offering is improved. But there are steps you can take to improve the security of your data on the cloud. While there is no foolproof way to protect your digital data, and the threat of hacking being very real, the following steps will ensure that at you provide the best possible protection to your digital data.

Strong passwordsThis is the easiest thing to do yet most people fail to do it. Passwords created by most users are fairly basic — names of family members or other personal information, and in some cases, extremely generic passwords (password123, admin, etc).  Generic passwords don’t take much effort to crack and hackers can cause serious damage if your password is compromised. The simplest way to create a strong and effective password is by using a site like www.strongpasswordgenerator.com.
Separate passwords for separate services
Most people choose to keep the same password for all their web services. This leaves all their accounts vulnerable as a single breach in security can cause them to lose all their data to hackers. Even if you chose to have an easy-to-remember password make sure your cloud service and email password is not the same as the password you use to access any random web service. 
Guard against phishingThe most effective way the hackers gain access to people’s accounts is through phishing sites. Do not, under any circumstance, click on any link that seems remotely suspicious.
Two step authentication
Most important web services like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook offer a two-step authentication process. This requires any log-ins to your online accounts from new computers to enter an additional code that might be, for example, texted to your mobile. Ensure that you set up a two-step authentication process on all services they offer.
Encrypt all your dataIf you have any sensitive data to store on the cloud service, do ensure that you encrypt it before uploading it. This will make it harder for the date to get hacked.

How Keywords Affect Business Results

Keywords are the terms which describe the theme or subject addressed in a piece of content on a webpage or blog. In the world of SEO they are the terms your potential customers are searching for using search engines. Therefore, you will tailor the content on your website to include those keywords, thus driving more organic traffic to your website. Once you have identified the keywords you wish to target, you can begin creating content centered around those terms, creating page titles that contain the keywords and generating links to those pages using anchor text that relates to those terms.

Having determined your keywords and started creating content around those terms, it is time to start measuring their success at attracting visitors to your website and engaging those visitors to the point of making a purchase. Your keywords may be very successful at increasing the traffic to your website, but if the increase in traffic is not related to a corresponding increase in conversions then your strategy will ultimately fail.

By monitoring the sources of your traffic and the keywords that are driving traffic to your website you can evaluate how effective your keyword targeting has been. Then, by monitoring the customer journey your visitors take through the conversion paths you have created on your website, you can conclude which keywords are actually resulting in increased sales and are helping to grow your business.

Analysing the keywords which are proving most successful can have significant implications for the development of your business as a whole. When used from a market research point of view they can help you to better define your product/market fit, which can it turn help to guide future product development. It can also help you to identify the elements of your product or solutions which are most attractive to your prospective customers. This can lead to some surprising results, and can even result in your company pivoting away from its original offering or messaging, once the data indicates that your initial approach has been out of sync with the needs of your market and a revised strategy proves more effective.

Once the results of your keyword analysis start to flow in, you can begin the process of planning and creating new content which will capitalize on your findings. Focusing on your revised list of keywords, you can create content which builds out on your existing pages, and provide links back to your previous ranked pages, thus boosting them further in the search rankings and driving more high quality traffic your website. Your goal is to create content which will both attract, inform and convert traffic from your ideal customers.

How to create a Multi Column Page or Post in Wordpress with WP Easy Columns

I thought this may come in handy for people who are trying to pick up tricks on WordPress:

What are Keyword Search and Keyword Density?

What are Keyword Search and Keyword Density?

There have been many instances when I am at a meeting with a client discussing a website project, planning how to create and implement when they would ask – can you make sure that keyword search is enabled so that it climbs the Google ladder.  Most of the time, it is a catch phrase that they picked from some website or some news article without much knowledge as to what it really is and what is involved behind this.  Here is my stab from various articles that I have found online…

What is a keyword?
A keyword is essentially any word or phrase you use when searching with a search engine. The search engine does its best to match your words with the words on websites. The mathematics involved are complicated (and way over my head), but the first link you see in the search results should be the best match for your keyword, followed by the second best, and so on and so forth.

What is keyword density?

Keyword density is referred to as the percentage of certain word or words or phrase or phrases contained within the total number of words on a web page. Such word(s) or phrase(s) are known as keyword(s) or keyphrase(s). The keywords are, generally, targeted words that the users are most likely to type in the text box of popular search engines, like Google, to reach your website. The rule is simple. The greater the number of keyword(s) or keyphrase(s) in the text, the greater will be the keyword density. For instance, consider an article of 500 words, wherein the keyword “flower” appears 10 times. The keyword density of that article for the keyword “flower” is 2%, i.e., 10/500 * 100.

Why is Keyword Density Important?

Keyword density is an important parameter in your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) campaign. The assumption is that the algorithm of search engines works in a way that favours ideal keyword density, i.e., if a user queries for a keyword, he will be shown the results of web pages that contain the keyword in an optimum density. The more near to the ideal keyword density, the higher the rank of that web page.

It was an over-simplistic method of getting the higher ranks for any website. However, over the years, the Search Engine algorithms have improved dramatically. They deploy different techniques of measuring keyword density and importantly, keyword density is not the sole factor determining the rank of a web page.

Here are a couple of reasons why keyword density is important:

1. The ideal keyword density will keep your web page in the good books of Search Engines. Otherwise, keyword stuffing or keyword inadequacy may lead to negative ratings from the Search Engines, which gets reflected in the Search Engine rankings.

2. The SEO experts consider keyword density as an important factor in determining the efficacy of their SEO campaign. The keyword density is a vital parameter for writing content of the web pages and the marketing articles submitted to the article directories.

What is the perfect keyword density?

The perfect keyword density is varies because different search engines employ different techniques to measure keyword density. Therefore there is no straightforward reply to this question. However, a commonly accepted figure of 2%-4% is generally advised by the marketers to the copywriters. Some strategists still rely on heavier keyword density (10% and even more).

The important aspect that should never be forgotten in the context of keyword density is that your keywords should not appear to have been stuffed in the text, which destroys its context. The quality of the content should not be compromised as the modern Search Engines lay a much greater emphasis on the quality in determining the perfect keyword density.

You can easily determine the keyword density of your text with the help of freely available tools. However, never lose focus on the richness of your content, which is both user-friendly, as well as Search Engine friendly.

A few tips for writing with keywords:

Use keywords in headlines and subheadings.

Use keywords in bullet lists.

It’s okay to use variations of and synonyms for your keywords.

Cookies or no cookies?

What is a Cookie?
Cookies are small files placed on your computer, tablet or mobile device by a website or mobile app. The cookie has a unique ID assigned to your device, but does not contain any of your personal information like name or email address. It helps to navigate from page to page on a website, provide secure connections, and remembers preferences from a previous visit, when you return.

Per Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, companies may require a visitor to their sites to explicitly provide their choice reqarding the use of cookies on that site. Providing explicit choice is driven by the implementation of this directive in each EU country. While compliance is directed to residents of the specific EU country, any visitor to the company's sites will need to respond to the cookie prompt.


Cookies On Our Websites:
Operational cookies: 
Websites use cookies to provide services that you request on their websites. These services include user log-in, managing the items in your Shopping Carts, setting language preferences and security protection. These are essential to the operation of the site.

Non-Operational Cookies / Web Beacons 
Companies also use cookies to provide other services or to help improve their products and services. This includes giving you the opportunity to provide ratings and reviews about our products and services, order free samples and print money-off coupons, link to Social Media sites, and setting controls for audio and video players. Information is tailored to you based on your preferences.
Some cookies provide us statistics about the number of visitors and the web pages viewed. This information helps us to design better content for you. You may refuse cookies, but this may limit your usability of the site and reduces our ability to improve our products and services and provide engaging content.

Managing cookies via your web browser:
Your web browser has settings that let you manage which cookies can be dropped onto your computer. To learn more about the settings, click on the link for your browser.

List of key browsers

Apple Safari: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Safari/3.0/en/9277.html
Google Chrome: http://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en-GB&answer=95647
Microsoft Internet Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/info/cookies.mspx
Mozilla Firefox: http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/Enabling%20and%20disabling%20cookies
All About Cookies – More information can be found at All About Cookies: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/

Dedicated Servers

Since 2009, EUITSols has grown from website design, website maintainence, setting up a forum, setting up a blog to customized web applications, hosting and domain registration etc.  We are now in the process of offering 'Dedicated Servers' with fixed IP addresses to those customers who have specific bandwidth and load requirements.  We can set up the server, manage it, provide remote access and take regular backups as par your requirements.

EUITSols are now providing Website hosting and domain registration service

Another era in the world of website design and development.  EUITSols are now providing Web hosting and domain registration service.  For Irish Domains (.IE), we have a tie up with IEDR to register smoothly and without unnecessary hassles.  For competitive rates, check us out at http://www.euitsols.com/

Susan Bluechild

Website: http://www.susanbluechild.com/
Susan Bluechild has recently commissioned us to redesign her website after having disappointing results with a Flash site(being too slow) earlier (www.wix.com/susanbluechild/susanbluechild - soon to be removed) and a customized Joomla template currently at http://www.susanbluechild.com/  where the player will not display the full track name and wasn't working properly.  We hope to be coming up with a new site, that she and her audience will appreciate, in vew that it will raise her confidence in free lance web developers like us. 

An important lesson here for web developers to be learnt here: Please listen and understand to what the client wants, and then expand on their requirements.

Microsoft related scams.- Part 2

How to recognize scams

New scams seem to appear every day. We try to keep up with them in our Security Tips & Talk blog. To see the latest scams, browse through our fraud section. In addition, you can learn to recognize a scam by familiarizing yourself with some of the telltale signs.
Scams can contain the following:

·         Alarmist messages and threats of account closures.

·         Promises of money for little or no effort.

·         Deals that sound too good to be true.

·         Requests to donate to a charitable organization after a disaster that has been in the news.

·         Bad grammar and misspellings

How to report a scam

You can use Microsoft tools to report a suspected scam.

·         Internet Explorer. While you are on a suspicious site, click the gear icon and then point to Safety. Then click Report Unsafe Website and use the web page that is displayed to report the website.

·         Hotmail. If you receive a suspicious email message that asks for personal information, click the check box next to the message in your Hotmail inbox. Click Mark as and then point to Phishing scam.

·         Microsoft Office Outlook. Attach the suspicious email message to a new email message and forward it to reportphishing@antiphishing.org. To learn how to attach an email message to an email message, see Attach a file or other item to an email message.

You can also download the Microsoft Junk E-mail Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook.

What to do if you think you have been a victim of a scam

If you suspect that you've responded to a phishing scam with personal or financial information, take these steps to minimize any damage and protect your identity.

·         Change the passwords or PINs on all your online accounts that you think might be compromised.

·         Place a fraud alert on your credit reports. Check with your bank or financial advisor if you're not sure how to do this.

·         Contact the bank or the online merchant directly. Do not follow the link in the fraudulent email message.

·         If you know of any accounts that were accessed or opened fraudulently, close those accounts.

·         Routinely review your bank and credit card statements monthly for unexplained charges or inquiries that you didn't initiate.

Microsoft related scams.- Part 1.

After a long break, I have decided to write again.  Recently, I got a call from a client of mine who had received a call from 'Microsoft Tech support' claiming to need to fix his computer.  He ofcourse was smart and said that he needed to contact his IT consultant, get back and hung up.  So, I decided to split the possible Microsoft related scams and present them here.  The following has been taken from Microsoft's website:

Microsoft does not make unsolicited phone calls to help you fix your computer

In this scam cybercriminals call you and claim to be from Microsoft Tech Support. They offer to help solve your computer problems. Once the crooks have gained your trust, they attempt to steal from you and damage your computer with malicious software including viruses and spyware.
Although law enforcement can trace phone numbers, perpetrators often use pay phones, disposable cellular phones, or stolen cellular phone numbers. It's better to avoid being conned rather than try to repair the damage afterwards.
Treat all unsolicited phone calls with skepticism. Do not provide any personal information.
If you receive an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Microsoft Tech Support, hang up. Microsoft does not make these kinds of calls.

You have not won the "Microsoft Lottery"

Microsoft customers are often targets of a scam that uses email messages to falsely promise money. Victims receive messages claiming "You have won the Microsoft Lottery!" There is no Microsoft Lottery. Delete the message.
If you have lost money to this scam, report it. You can also send the police report to Microsoft and we will use it to help law enforcement catch the criminals who send out these e-mail messages.
To help protect yourself from these e-mail hoaxes, you can use the same general guidance that you use to protect yourself from phishing scams.

Microsoft does not request credit card information to validate your copy of Windows

We require that your copy of Windows is legitimate before you can obtain programs from the Microsoft Download Center or receive software updates from Microsoft Update. Our online process that performs this validation is called the Genuine Advantage Program. At no time during the validation process do we request your credit card information.
In fact, we do not collect information that can be used to identify you such as your name, email address, or other personal details.
To learn more, read the Genuine Microsoft software program privacy statement.
To learn more about the program in general, see Genuine Windows: frequently asked questions.

Microsoft does not send unsolicited communication about security updates

When we release information about a security software update or a security incident, we send email messages only to subscribers of our security communications program.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals have exploited this program by sending fake security communications that appear to be from Microsoft. Some messages lure recipients to websites to download spyware or other malicious software. Others include a file attachment that contains a virus. Delete the message. Do not open the attachment.

Legitimate security communications from Microsoft

• Legitimate communications do not include software updates as attachments. We never attach software updates to our security communications. Rather, we refer customers to our website for complete information about the software update or security incident.
• Legitimate communications are also on ourwebsites. If we provide any information about a security update, you can also find that information on our websites.

Dublin Therapy

John Kelly was a former colleague of mine with whom I had worked in the CRM team at Microsoft Business Solutions in Dublin.  He left MS to start his own business as a Neuromuscular Therapist and hence started Dublin Therapy.  I have the honour to redesign and develop his website http://www.dublintherapy.com/  We are about to go live over the Christmas period, and fingers crossed Letshost is less painful then Register365 when it comes in terms of Database handling.  As always, comments, feedbacks are more than welcome! This weekend's update will be the 1st stage.  A 2nd stage to follow soon in January with images and more content.

Paypal Premier/Business account

I knew for long that if you wanted to sell goods via Paypal i.e. those who want to add 'Pay through Paypal' button to their websites and they receive regular payments from their services or products then you MUST have a business account. I vaguely knew this was due to a cap on the transaction amount or else you can get banned. So today a client of mine was insisting that her 'Premier account' should be enough to conduct e-commerce business. Recently I had done some work for another website where the client had setup a business Paypal account, so I personally wanted to know what was the rules behind Premier and Business accounts.
Here is what I got from an Ebay guide (http://reviews.ebay.com/PayPal-Premier-Versus-Business-Account_W0QQugidZ10000000003441164) :
Business Accounts and Premier Accounts both offer the same basic features.

The only distinction between the two is:

•Business Accounts allow members to conduct business under a company or group name
•Premier Accounts allow members to use their individual name
•The Multi-User (Secondary Users feature is available only to Business Accounts)
PayPal Premier accounts should be created by any individual who may anticipate surpassing the monthly limitations placed by PayPal on Personal accounts. Personal accounts that accept credit or debit card payments are assessed a transaction fee. See our "fee schedule" by clicking the "Fees" link at the bottom of any PayPal page for more information. Personal accounts have a limit on the number of credit or debit card funded payments received per year. To view your Personal account limit, log in to your PayPal account and click the View Limits link.

PayPal Business accounts should be created by formal businesses which are either Sole Proprietor, Corporation or Organizations that maintain a federally issued Tax ID Number and wish to provide only their business name, address and telephone number to their customers.

Again, the distinction between the two account types is whether or not you appear to your customers as a valid business or an individual.

Adtrax

One of our ongoing projects which is centered around music and copyrights  used in the advertising industry.  Our task is to upgrade the existing website http://www.adtrax.ie/ .  Currently, we are hosting the upgraded site along with the work progress at : http://www.webitsols.com/demo/adtrax1/

My 1st Blog!

Over the years I had been pessimistic about the whole idea of creating and posting blogs.  Man, who would have the time to write, let alone read blogs!  But here I am, making my 1st entry, and hoping that there would be more to follow.