Analysts Urge Upgrade to IE7 Browser

David Garrett, newsfactor.com

"When in doubt, upgrade." That's what Forrester analysts Natalie Lambert and Colin Teubner are saying about installing Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 7 Web browser.

Last week, Microsoft released version 7 of its Web browser -- the first update in five years -- and, with the exception of a couple bug reports that some experts have dismissed as minor, initial reviews have been positive.

In early October, prior to the release of Internet Explorer 7, Lambert and Teubner wrote a research note titled "Just Do It," urging business users to upgrade to IE7 after careful testing of any crucial business programs that rely on the browser.

They joined analyst groups such as Gartner, which also is advising companies to test, then upgrade, in large part because of IE7's improved security. Even members of the press, skeptical by nature and training, have joined in the chant.

"Internet Explorer 7.0 is the best browser Microsoft has ever produced," wrote Mike Wendland of the Detroit Free Press.

Safer Browsing

"IE7 has many security features they have added into this edition, including antiphishing and ActiveX opt-in," said Forrester's Lambert. ActiveX controls are small plug-ins embedded in Web sites that can be used by hackers to hijack a user's machine.

The new version of Internet Explorer kills several bugs that cropped up in version 6, including eight that were reported by security firm Secunia in August alone. Why so many? According to Lambert, Microsoft software suffers because of its popularity.

"Microsoft has a huge target on its forehead," she said. "Hackers and virus creators are going to create malware against software that is the most heavily deployed. They want to get the most bang for their buck."

Thus, Internet Explorer 7 might seem to be the least-secure browser option, but it's at least as secure as the new version of Firefox, and potentially more so, she added.

"As more people begin to adopt Firefox, you will see more threats against it," said Lambert.

Worry Not?

According to Forrester, Microsoft ran five beta tests of IE before its new release, and sought more input from users than ever before.

Of course, no software product -- above all, one that's just been released -- is without flaws. But if the notion of installing Internet Explorer 7 still gives you the jitters, there's a good reason to relax. The new version comes with a well-designed uninstaller that rolls back changes to your system -- just in case something goes wrong.

"If you've installed IE7 and find it doesn't work with your favorite Web site or, more importantly, enterprise application, you can go back to IE6 with minimal hassle," says Forrester's Teubner, who added that he tested this feature himself.

MySpace to block illegal use of copyrighted music

NEW YORK (Reuters) - News Corp.'s (NYSE:NWSA - news) (NYSE:NWS - news) MySpace.com on Monday said it had licensed a new technology to stop users from posting unauthorized copyrighted music on the social networking Web site and oust frequent violators of its policy.

The move comes amid pressure from major studios and record labels against popular online sites like MySpace and YouTube, which they accuse of infringing the copyrights of their artists' music and videos.

Source: Yahoo! News

Why Facebook's Even More Attractive Than YouTube

What’s the significance of page views? They determine how many ads a company’s website can deliver to readers. For example, a site with 100 visitors who are “sticky” - meaning they spend a lot of time on the site each day, view many videos, different pages, etc. – is clearly superior to a site with 100 visitors who rarely visit more than a few pages during their time on the site. The reasoning is simple: you can deliver a lot more ads to the first group than the second group.

Read more at Yahoo! News.

Optimize Your Website For Search

You have created your website - uploaded content and images to create a pleasing online environment for your information - and are ready to launch. Yet, for all the relevant content and attractive photos provided, optimization for the search engines will require more than presenting a nice package. The site needs to be optimized for search results, that search users looking for information on your topic are able to find you. For newer sites, age can be a determining factor in how it is ranked among older sites search engine view as more experienced and relevant, yet with proper optimization and implementation good results can be had.

Some factors to consider when optimizing your website for good search rankings include:

Code - Is the HTML code that builds your website valid? Will a search engine spider be able to crawl your front page in its entirety, then go onto the listed sublinks without hitting any walls? Is your code free of dynamic strings that a search engine spider cannot read. If not, is the code altered in a way to keep the dynamic factors of your site without holding up a crawler's ability to mine data from your website?

Content - Is the content you provide on site relative to the site's topic? If paraphrasing from other sources, do you give proper credit? If your content is original, do you make it available to other sites of relevance to use, and do you include your link information? Is your content well-written, free of spelling and grammatical errors? Is there a proper balance of relative keywords that may be targeted in search? Is your content compelling enough to prompt site owners of relative content to link back to you without being asked?

Freshness - How often do you update your website? Do you use a blog to power your site with updated content? Do you syndicate your content through an RSS feed for other sites of relative topics to use? Do you use an RSS feed of relative information on your site to bring updated content to your visitors?

Keywords - How balanced is your use of searchable keywords in your content? Are the keywords used relative to the site's overall content? Are you trying to trick the engines using keywords that are not relevant? Do you use too many keywords, or too few? Do you create anchor link text of searchable keywords, leading users to information deeper within your website?

Links - Do all of the links on your website work? Is every subpage within your site linked back to the home page? Do you have outbound links on your site that lead to relevant information? Have you performed a link popularity check on your site to determine what sites are linking back to yours? Do you seek link building relationships with sites of quality and relevance?

META data - Do you include relevant META tags for keywords and descriptions on your website? Do you use too many META keywords, too few?

Search Friendliness - Overall, how search friendly is your site? Will search engine spiders be able to explore the entire site without running into problems? Does the site look professional, original?

Sitemap - Do you have a sitemap containing links of all subpages in your site? Is it parsed correctly and easy to read? Is a link to the sitemap available on your home page? Do all the links on your sitemap work?

Usability - Is your site's look and feel attractive to the site visitor? Is the site easy to read, easy to navigate? Does a visitor need to click on more than one or two links to find relevant information? Does the site load quickly?

One thing to note about search engine optimization is that there are no set rules. What works for some will not work for all. Take into consideration this list and apply the best of your abilities where needed on your website. Constant care to your website will yield results.

Affiliate Your Website

Website affiliation refers to the practice of either A) setting up your website of products for other site owners to market your products via their own sites; or B) setting up a website for the purpose of selling products from other companies.

An affiliate signs up for a specific program to market products on a website, whether it's clothing, cosmetics, software, or food. Once approved, that affiliate is given an account where he/she may use text links or graphic ads created with special HTML codes that, when clicked through, keep track of visitors and sales. For every sale of a product made through an affiliate site, the owner of the site will receive a percentage of that sale.

Selling products by others from your website

By signing up for affiliate programs, you have the potential to turn your website into a profitable venture. Amazon.com, for example, runs one of the largest and oldest affiliate programs, called Amazon Associates. Here, site owners can link back to anything sold on Amazon.com (books, music, videos, etc.) and receive a percentage of every sale sold via click-through. Not only does this allow for money-making potential, but site owners can find relative content via Amazon.com to use on their sites.

Google Adsense is another popular referral program. Here site owners can sign up and place Google ads on their sites. Every click through generates a referral fee to the site owner.

Presently there are thousands of product sites that offer affiliate programs to sell a variety of goods, from clothing to health and fitness accessories to computer peripherals. There are also affiliate programs for travel and personal ad referrals. Site owners interested in becoming affiliates can visit a number of sites that host affiliate programs for businesses. Commission Junction, LinkShare, and ClixGalore are just three of many programs you can browse for more information.

Becoming an affiliate-driven site

E-commerce sites may want to consider offering an affiliate program for the purpose of extending their online presence and building link popularity, thereby increasing relevance and trust. By allowing aggressive site owners to affiliate with your website, there is the potential for more sales of your product, and higher visibility of your brand. As an e-commerce site, you have the option of outsourcing your affiliate program or managing it with specific affiliate software.

Programs like Commission Junction, ClixGalore, and LinkShare handle affiliate programs for large companies. By partnering with such a company, you allow them to handle all affiliate issues, from creative to payment. Some companies require setup fees and a percentage of sales, while others have financial requirements for joining (your company must make so much a year to be considered). If you are unable or unwilling to manage an affiliate program, outsourcing is in an option, but it's best to research all available third-party programs.

Affiliate software and online individual affiliate programs are available for e-commerce sites that take complete control of affiliation. You can set up your own creative, market for affiliates, send newsletters and offer incentives, and handle all support. Be prepared, however, to answer any questions affiliates will have and be sure all finances are handled correctly.

Building Inbound Links and Building Search Popularity

These days, age and content presently play the most important roles in effective search engine optimization. Gone are the day one could simply stuff META tags with relevant keywords and hope for the best. As search engines have become more savvy in collecting fresh data around the Internet, it is no longer necessary to continually submit sites to search engines, so what else is left for the SEO to do to insure high rankings?

Search engines like a site with age - the longer a site is establish, the more trusted the content is deemed to be. Sites with relevant, fresh content are well-liked - the more a site has to contribute, the more attention it will receive. Yet, with these two factors is a third procedure that has always existed and has never gone out of style. A site's link popularity is equally important.

Link popularity refers not only to the number of outbound links connected to your website, but to the number of related websites that link back to yours as an important resource. The more relevant sites linking back to yours, naturally, increases your site's popularity in that particular subject in the eyes of search engines. Search engines give precedence to such websites, deeming them as authoritative sources. Therefore, it is important when building your website that you seek out relevant sources that may be interesting in linking back. The owner of a website about a particular baseball team, for example, may seek sites related to the baseball team, individual players on that team, the town where the team is based, and sites related to baseball or sports in general.

Building Link Popularity

In the matter of finding websites for potential linking relationships, sometimes it is as simple as an Internet search. However, one must be careful not to go overboard in achieving inbound linkage. Be selective of sites to contact, and establish a friendly relationship with the webmaster that does not appear overtly demanding or intrusive. If you are able to assist other sites by linking back to them, make an offer to do so. As you look for quality websites for linking, be sure that the outbound links on your website are also quality, as the quality of an outside site that links to yours also may determine your site's value in search.

Link Farms and Lists

Oftentimes in your search for potential link partners you will find websites with special "link directories" through which anybody can submit a site for inclusion. Look closely and you may find such sites have adopted a special code from a webmaster's resource site to build this directory. You may find hundreds, even thousands, of sites linked, but how many are actually relevant to the parent site?

Such directories are known as "link farms," and are often the target of spam and/or adult websites seeking to boost their own link popularity. To have a quality site associated with such a directory can be detrimental to your site's value in search, therefore it is strongly recommended to avoid these directories. It is better to have ten links from quality, trusted websites than 1000 links from spam sites, regardless of the page ranks bestowed upon them by Google or other search engines.

As thousands of new websites are launched daily, learn to sift the wheat from the chaff as you build your online relationship, and find relevant quality sites with whom you can building linking relationships. Link building is an ongoing process in SEO, and ultimately a beneficial one for all parties involved.