Month: March 2015

March 24, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

At some points in your work with web page redirection, it can feel that you are simply dodging bombs and at your luck will eventually run out. Enter in the 301 redirect, and canonical options. These have been around for years, and yet throughout the industry they continue to bring debate and stir up questions on how to best approach them. In this article we will be looking at the two main methods to manage both the 301 redirect, as well the canonical attribute. Naturally, we will show you how to better the duplicate content issues, sustain your rankings and lastly how to improve the all important user experience. Before we dive in, lets make sure we are all on the same page with what the difference between 301 redirects and canonical redirects. In laymen terms: a 301 redirect communicates to search engines that this page is no longer here, and has permanently moved to a new page. Please remove it from your index and pass credit to the new page. a canonical redirect communicates to the search engine that, I have multiple versions of this page, but please only index this version. People can see the other versions, but please do not put them in your index thanks! 301 Redirects We have all seen the standard 301 HTTP status code that is mean to mange the complete and permanent redirection of page. Once this is established, in theory you will eventually pass the majority of the original page's link authority relevance as well as its ranking power to the page that you are redirecting to. A 301 redirect informs both the user and Google of this change. However, in realty we know that this can be trying process in which success is measured by increments rather than full authority all at once. Common issues with the 301 The first issue you may face is that it takes a long time, and I mean you are going to have to take a few turns of the calendar until some search engines will attribute authority to the redirected page. Naturally, this depends on how often your page is crawled by the...

March 16, 2015

Hosting Related, Security Related

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Internet is wide open, but sometimes your proprietary content that has value should she sold for a certain amount of money. This is where Paywall systems come into play. This creates a membership or customer or client base for you as well, giving you email addresses where you may be able to sell similar content to the same previous customers. For paying subscribers, they then get access to say your gallery, video, mp3s books, articles, or any other kind of files. Again to keep things under control, you will need a paywall system. Paywalls have received a bad reputation because content people think should be free isn't always free. However, that is the proper nature of things, that your works should have some sort of monetary value. You just need to make sure you publish interesting content that others can easily find for free anywhere else; that is the other half of things. read_more Setting up a paywall system should be integrated smoothly into your website. Some CMS's (Content Management Systems) have plugins that can be used to setup your subscription system. Or maybe you are handy at programming and have developed your own paywall integration. However, the easiest option is to use Paypal's service. See PayPal.com for their easy to use integrations. Search "Paypal Paywall" or can you certainly use another payment provider's services. There are too many to list here. Also, you should also enable your website to use SSL encryption to keep your customer information, such as credit card information, email, phone numbers - private. When your site is run under "https" potential customers feel more confident to use your services. The final item you will need to take care of is how you plan to receive payment and the kinds of payment you will accept (Paypal, bitcoin, etc.) Many of the members online plugins for CMS's support most of the popular payment processors, and supply integrations with them as well. This minimizes the amount of work and headache for you to run your little private ecommerce service. If you don't have a website yet, check out our Canadian Hosting Packages.

March 9, 2015

Hosting Related, SEO Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

April 21st is another 'big SEO day' around the world from a google ranking index perspective. Why a month and two weeks from the date of this article? Well, that is when Google will be changing the technique that they use to rank websites (with a higher high ranking factor given to websites that are also mobile friendly). Google started highlighting 'mobile friendly sites' in results last year. Google states that their April 21st update will have ''significant impact'' on all mobile-based searches from all around the world. Google justifies the change in saying that searchers will see better search results. Details on how ranking will effect desktop searches is yet to be seen; but it is anticipated that websites that are also mobile friendly will be given extra elevation by Google's new algorithm. These changes are good news for mobile webmasters. Also, it should help motivate webmasters and designers that still don’t have a mobile website deployed to create one. Since the middle of this past year - mobile internet users started outnumbering those who surf the web with a desktop computer (or laptop). Today's mobile users certainly expect that websites will display most effectively on their choice of device. Webmasters who want to test their website’s 'mobile compatibility' can use Google’s tools for detailed information. Overall the change means that owners of websites that are not 'mobile-friendly' as of April 21st, 2015 can now expect to see their search rankings and traffic take a significant downward hit. read_more However, 4GoodHosting - your global Canadian based web hosting provider and premium SEO service, already has the solutions for you in place, specifically a mobile siteuilder. Recently Google emailed mobile usability warnings to untold numbers of website owners, with a detailed about the ways their website is offering negative mobile experiences. For example it was said: “ These pages will not be seen as mobile-friendly by Google Search, and will therefore be displayed and ranked appropriately for smartphone users. ”- an obvious warning that they intend to prioritize mobile-friendly websites. After April 21st, 2015 , with a majority of people accessing the Internet with mobile devices, businesses and webmasters should...

March 4, 2015

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

According to the latest Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) one in five 18-34 year old Canadians have made a purchase on a mobile device. The CIRA announced its fourth annual .CA Factbook 2015 this last Tuesday, and within it the mobile device is becoming a central hub for ecommerce among the Canadian Youth. read_more Although the focus is on this trend, the .CA Factbook also presents the numerous statistics and findings that are related to the .CA TLD, which of course the CIRA administers, as well as Canadian internet practices and adoptions. As of 2013, over $136 million was sold in goods and services by Canadian enterprises, according to Statistics Canada, which is 11% increase from 2012. As well, the trend to buy local, or at least Canadian, as the majority of Canadians spending more money at domestic websites than international competitors. With this trend to buy Canadian, International enterprises may see a chance to increase sales by creating or partnering with Canadian sites. This potential increase, also points to this Canadian buying power as the future for ecommerce market, or at least those markets, like Canada, that have the level of internet development to allow it. Along with these statistics, CIRA also found that more and more Canadians are doing research online before coming into a store. As well, online and offline sales accounted for almost 25% of revenue by Canadian Enterprises. Canadians continue to utilize the internet to research, or complete their shopping and the importance of a effective online presence is paramount to a businesses success. David Fowler, who is the Director of Marketing and Communications for .CA summed it well, “ecommerce represents an important avenue of growth for Canadian companies. Our research found more than 40 percent of small businesses do not have websites, yet all Canadians, particularly younger adults, are increasingly making purchases from mobile devices. Canadian small business need to get online, and they need to be ready to sell on mobile.” This report also points out that 75% of Canadians now own smart phones, android, windows, blackberry or apple based, and of those 49% of their time online is spent while on their...