Category: Domain Related

February 4, 2017

Domain Related, Security Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

DNS isn’t exactly a buzzword in discussions among web hosting providers or those in the web hosting industry, but it’s darn close to it. DNS is an acronym for Domain Name Servers and what DNS does is see to it that after entering a website URL into your browser you then end up in the right spot - among the millions upon millions of them - on the World Wide Web. When you enter this URL, your browser starts trying to figure out where that website is by pinging a series of servers. These could be resolving name servers, authoritative name servers, or domain registrars, among others. But those servers themselves - often located all around the world - are only fulfilling an individual part in the overall process. The process itself is a verification of identities by means of converting URLs into identifiable IP addresses, which the networks communicate with each other and by which your browser confirms that it’s taking you down the right path. In a world with literally billions of paths, that’s a more impressive feat than you might think, especially when you consider it’s done in mere seconds and with impressive consistency. It’s quite common to hear of DNS in conjunction with DDoS, with is another strange acronym that is paired with the term ‘attack’ to create a phenomena noun. What DDoS is and how it’s related so explicitly to DNS much of the time is as follows: A DDoS attack is a common hack in which multiple compromised computers are used to attack a single system by overloading it with server requests. In a DDoS attack, hackers will use often use infected computers to create a flood of traffic originating from many different sources, potentially thousands or even hundreds of thousands. By using all of the infected computers, a hacker can effectively circumvent any blocks that might be put on a single IP address. It also makes it harder to identify a legitimate request compared to one coming from an attacker. The DNS is compromised in the way browsers essentially can’t figure out where to go to find the information to load on the...

January 24, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

In all this talk about, servers, databases, cloud storage etc etc., fibre optics have been a bit of a lesser light despite being the unsung hero in the successes we’ve seen in the supercharging the digital world. Now some of you will know what a Terabyte is, and others won’t. Most of you will be familiar with a Gigabyte though, and a Terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes. That’s a lot of capacity, and with that understood fibre optics cable these days can achieve transfer speeds up to 255Tbps. Simply put, that’s blazing fast and nearly every Canadian web hosting provider we don’t overlook the value those transfer rates have in letting us work with our clients in making their websites - and in the bigger picture their online marketing efforts - really pay off. What’s different nowadays is that it’s not just one single-core fibre. Fibre optic cables now feature a multi-core glass stem that allows for an enormous load of data to flow through it. While this technology is still a long way off from being used extensively throughout cities, it’s setting the tone for the newer upgrades poised to hit the fibre optics market, and they’re not far off. Information Super Expressway Many cable providers plan to upgrade their lines, with some of the major cities in the world soon to see cables capable of handling 400Gbps. That’s a huge upgrade from the current standard of 10Gb/s that many companies use. The newer fibre optic cables also include a host of upgrades and capabilities that really outdistance them from their predecessors. Here’s a quick reference of the improvements: Security - The integrity of an optic cable actually plays a role in how easily hackers can force their way into data stores. Now, fiber optic cables use light. That makes it tough to ‘grab interference’ as the term goes. About the only way to break into them is to physically break the cord. Since they use light to transmit data, all of the light escapes and makes it easy for network security to notice breaches in data. Design and Speed - These newer materials are lighter and thinner too. They...

January 17, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Anyone familiar with the acronym ARPANET? Perfectly understandable if you aren’t, even many in the IT World likely wouldn’t have a clue. So let’s introduce ARPANET and it’s significance to one of the more predominant technical developments in computing these days. ARPANET is the network that became the basis for the Internet, and began with the interconnection of four university computers in the late 60s. ARPANET sent information in small units called packets that could be routed on different paths before being reconstructed at their destination. The development of the TCP/IP protocols in the 1970s made it possible to expand the size of the network in a much more orderly way. The initial purpose was to communicate with and share computer resources among users at the 4 different connected institutions, and with that connection the application principle behind cloud computing was born. Today, we often hear the term “It’s in the Cloud” or “that’s Cloud based”. But what does that mean exactly (and as some might ask, ‘why is Cloud capitalized?’) To put it simply, data existing in a cloud simply means that it exists on multiple computers at once. Before understanding cloud technology you’ll need to have a basic grasp of server technology. Servers are powerful computers, similar to the technology in a desktop computer, just must more dynamic. When you take all the CPU power and memory of a server and make it a virtual server, the advantage becomes that it doesn’t physically exist anywhere, and can be moved from one host to another as needed and automatically. This is the “Cloud”. The virtual server that is created can move from one host to another as needed and be given more resources or drive space by grabbing more from the storage servers, known as SANs (Storage Area Network). Trends in Cloud Technology So despite being 48 years in the making, it’s only in the last 15 years or so that Cloud computing has established itself. Even that number may surprise some who would think it’d be much less given the ‘newness’ of the technology to the public. In the early 2000s, Clouds were used, but they were more...

January 9, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

There’s no debating that Google is the world’s #1 search engine, and any website that exists for e-commerce should be tailored to match (at least reasonably) Google’s ever-changing search algorithms. Reliable web hosting is one thing and gets you solidly set up on the information superhighway, but you need to compete. But what about Bing? Some people are quite surprised to learn that Microsoft’s search engine is still a legitimate competitor for Google when it comes to being someone’s go-to searcher. Bing is also holding its own when it comes to being a destination for Search Ads, and it seems there’s a good number of reasons why some businesses are still considering Bing for at least part of their ad placements. Currently, Google owns 65% of market share for US searches, but that’s down from 72% since 2010. Where’s that 7 percent gone? You guessed it – Bing’s had the most growth over the last year, moving up to 19.7% (in part continuing to be powered by Microsoft’s acquisition of Yahoo years ago). So when it comes to cost-effective search ads - what’s the better choice - Google or Bing? Bing Keep in mind that Internet Explorer is still the default web browser for a Windows device, and Bing comes as the default search engine. This is a clear reflection that most Bing users are: Less computer savvy, given the fact that they’re not able to or not interested in upgrading to a more modern and functional web browser Generally over 35 years of age More of the blue-collar employment type as compared to white-collar It’s not difficult to identify how these findings validate Bing as a still-popular search engine. The blue-collar, over-35 working middle class crowd makes up a HUGE part of the purchasing public in both Canada and America and - you guessed it - because their PC came with Bing as the default search engine, more often than not Bing is their search engine. Google Google has hundreds of thousands more total searches and holds more of the market share in all countries except Russia, China, South Korea, and Japan. Research suggests that Google users are: Generally...

January 4, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

One thing we can count on for this New Year of 2017 is that the world of SEO continues to change at lightning speed. It’s a day in and out reality for us digital marketers to be keeping up with customer usage and expectations, Google’s never ending algorithm updates, and any other of the daily seismic shifts in the world of digital marketing. Complacency will easily destroy your rankings, and rankings are oh so important when it comes to thriving or surviving in modern marketing. Considering that 93% of online experiences begin with search, prioritizing the latest best practices in digital marketing and optimization will be critical to the success of any website.So this new year is as good as any to take a fresh look at the trends and developments that we have seen throughout the past year and see how they’ll play a part in dictating where we are heading next. Let’s get to them shall we? Schema Using a schema markup is increasingly advisable for advertisers with changes to Google and user trends.Schema lays out your site more clearly for search engines to understand its nature, and of course this helps to ensure that it is displayed correctly. Schema can also be particularly helpful when Google decides to display rich answers, as is the case with quick answers or a rich card. Google has made known its preference to display answers that make it easier for users to find what they are looking for. Rich snippets are displayed for recipe and videos, AMP articles, local businesses, music, reviews, and TV & movies. Although this may change in the future, using the schema helps to ensure that your site is more likely to be identified and served up accordingly. Then there’s Google directing more towards Quick Answers, jumping up from just over 22% in December 2014 to over 40% by the beginning of 2016 and having continued to increase incrementally over this past year. Schema improves the effectiveness of your snippet boxes. Schema is these days tied very closely to RankBrain and artificial intelligence.This is to be expected, with this machine learning now standing as Google’s third most...

December 19, 2016

Domain Related

Reading Time: 7 minutes

The fact that small business owners are going to face challenges in growing their business and making it successful here in the digital age isn’t likely to change. It’s all too common to be up against box stores and large nationwide chains that boast marketing budgets, development teams, programmers, and pricing freedoms that simply aren’t an option for the smaller guy. But there are ways to give your business a boost with regards to your digital marketing efforts. We encourage you to become familiar with these various online tools that are proven-effective for giving big boosts for small businesses, and then begin utilizing any number of them for yourself. From heat mapping to email marketing, they can help you generate more customers AND allocate your digital marketing budget more wisely and whether you’re an online store or a physical retail shop is of no matter here. These tools are easily accessible, surprisingly simple to implement, and again – proven effective for people just like you. Google Alerts Google Alerts gets thumbs up right across the board from small business owners. All you need to do - after registering for the service of course - is select keywords that are related to the nature of your business and then request to be notified by Google Alerts when an article is published with one of those keywords. This is particularly helpful for quickly and easily finding content for you to link to from your company blog, keeping in mind that doing so is an important part of maintaining your SEO. For example, if you’d like to find content for your outdoor sporting goods store’s blog that’s seasonally relevant for this time of the year, you might have an alert with all articles with “ice fishing tips.” You can also receive alerts for when your company name is mentioned on the web, allowing you to share good news, commendations, or more simply when you’re being talked about. You can also set up alerts for your competitors as well, and be informed similarly when people are talking about them. Check out Google Alerts here SumoMe For us, SumoMe is pretty much a must-have for...

December 12, 2016

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It wasn’t that long ago that cloud storage was making quite the splash on the IT scene, and the fact that retaining files and data didn’t have to exclusively occur within hard drives was quite a revolutionary development. Right from day one, however, some people had concerns about the security of their information and other concerns related to a form of storage that wasn’t exclusively theirs. If it’s not my storage, they asked – then what’s to stop someone from reaching into that ‘cloud’ and helping themselves? The question’s fair enough, and in truth there’s been increasing concerns over pretty much every aspect of exchanging data over the Internet. A public survey down south in the States earlier this year revealed that 47% of people have cloud security concerns, and 80% of respondents support federal certification of cloud services. We can’t be certain if those same percentages would be reflected up here, but they likely would be. The next question, though, would quite naturally be – what would a web hosting or other related-service provider have to do, show, or prove to be federally (or nationally in our case) certified? Products and Services Fueling the Cloud Phenomenon There are all sorts of examples. Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s integrated cloud are two good ones of where extremely in-demand products are establishing the cloud as the norm for accessible data and services. Small and medium sized businesses are also coming around en masse to cloud hosting, and e-commerce is especially familiar with the cloud now too. So for as uniformly well-received as its been, the overall security of cloud computing is still a work in progress. But the key word there is progress. Progress is being made, and recently very much so. It’s a common belief that – because the cloud is so increasingly popular and yet still a remote ‘location’ for external storage – hackers will be particularly enthusiastic about seeing if they can get their way in and pillage the village. The extent to which that’s true is highly debatable, but fact is it’s increasingly important for web hosting companies offering cloud products to anticipate weaknesses in cloud security and...

December 7, 2016

Domain Related

Reading Time: 7 minutes

It’s increasingly rare these days to find a business that doesn’t have their own website. As is the case with every one of them, there’s a whole lot of work that goes into a website – planning, designing, and the actual construction of the different HTML elements that together make up those web pages we’re happy to just visit and browse through as we like. Be aware that there are choices you can make when putting your website together, however, that can have negative repercussions down the line and quite possibly sabotage the successes you envisioned for yourself when you decided to take your business onto the World Wide Web. Start with the Right Conceptual Thinking First off, all of the following are FALSE: I need a flashy website that looks ‘cool’ Believe us when we tell you that substance trumps flush in a big way when it comes to the entirety of your online presence. Stressing to your web designer that it’s all-important to have a ‘cutting edge’ site is creating the wrong perspective for what you want to be accomplishing here. Keep in mind that this isn’t a competition about ‘looks’, it’s about effectively conveying to your customers THAT WHICH IS IMPORTANT TO THEM – which, in nearly every instance, is a quality product or service that’s priced reasonably and comes with positive reviews from buyers just like them. What your website looks like will pretty much be the last of their considerations. It’s always good to save few bucks by having my friend / relative / other design my website for a discount For sure, hiring designers or developers with many years of experience and a proven portfolio of work can be expensive. The best professionals can and do charge what they do because – in addition to designing the website – they also often research, plan, and strategize the entire conversion process and site flow as well. Needless to say, you stand to benefit IMMENSELY from this value-added part of their service, and these types of analytical approaches are very likely going to be beyond the ability of the guy or gal you know. Hiring a...

November 28, 2016

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Putting together a website involves making a whole lot of decisions. There’s design, functionality, content and more that needs to be chosen, and oftentimes making the best decisions there involves consulting with someone who’s more knowledgeable than you are with Internet marketing. One of the later decisions you’ll need to make – but one that is no less important – is what type of web hosting service will you need. That web hosting is a necessity for your website goes without saying (your site requires it to be accessible on the Web), but understand that most Canadian web hosting service providers will offer a number of different web hosting packages at different price points. When choosing which one will be best for you, your 3 primary considerations will be: Optimum performance Security Configuration options All of them coming, however, after you answer some very basic questions – what type of website do you have, what type of purpose(s) will it be serving (and how), and what type of incoming visitor volume do you expect to see for it? 3 To Start With Generally, web-hosting packages will include one of 3 different types of web hosting. These are: Shared hosting Platform / CMS (content management system) specific hosting VPS (virtual private server) hosting So what are they, and how do they differ? Shared Hosting Shared website hosting in Canada is ideal for small businesses, individual sites, sites that have low traffic volume, and sites that need to be launched as soon as possible. And a big part of why it’s ideal for many people is – quite simply – it’s the most affordable option and you can often secure shared Canadian web hosting for less than $25 a month. Shared hosting works by the service provider having any number of large, expansive servers where data is stored. With a shared hosting package, you – and many others like you – get a portion of this expansive space. It’s not unlike renting a room in a hotel, you’ve got your own little spot – and so does the fellow next to you. This option also has a genuine user-friendly appeal, as shared...