Blogs

Google released its search algorithm update at the end of February, and this resulted in the usual scurry by Search Engine Optimization (SEO) gurus to outline how the changes will effect search engine rankings. The algorithm change also caused people to re-examine and alter some of their SEO strategies.

The reason for this is because they have to ensure the websites they optimize are in line with the factors Google says are most important since the algorithm change.

1.       Speed

-          Because the “load time” of a web page is now included in the algorithm of Google, developers and SEOs are now making sure that the images and all page elements are optimized and the pages load fast.

2.       Search Engine Optimization keyword usage

-           Keywords should be in title tags and alt tags. Putting keywords in internal links pointing to the page is also important. Keywords in the domain and/or URL are great. The order keywords appear in are important, and many more of a stable SEO techniques surrounding keywords still apply.

3.       Flash sites

-          As we mentioned with speed, this is bad news for Flash sites because they take forever to load. Do not expect to rank high with full flash sites even if it was meteorically quick, as flash is full of images, which is not fully readable by Google robots.

4.       Age and Quality of Links

-          Google says that the age of links matter and stable links will get you up in rankings.

5.       Content Quality Score

-          As Google's Matt Cutts said: “The net effect is that searchers are more likely to see the sites that wrote the original content rather than a site that scraped or copied the original site’s content.”

So what is it that Google really wants?

Google is pushing website owners, developers and SEOs to create better content inside faster websites which are optimized with quality backlinks.

The good news is that websites which are informative, clean, compatible, fast and popular will benefit.

Basically, the SEO game doesn’t change here at KAYWEB.

Problem

Workstation 1 needs to connect to Database Server located at another part of the globe.

Prerequisites

• Workstation 1 and Workstation 2 are on the same network.
• Workstation 3 and Database Server are on the same network.
• Workstation 2 can connect to Workstation 3 via SSH.
• Port 4321 at mycompany.com is forwarded to port 22 of Workstation 3.
• Workstation 2 does not have a firewall which allows Workstation 1 to connect to it.
• Database Server allows connection from Workstation 3.

Solution

Create an SSH tunnel using Workstation 2 and Workstation 3 where Workstation 1 connection can pass through going to Database Server.

Steps:

1. Go to Workstation 2 and make sure it can connect to Workstation 3 by issuing the following commands:

[user1@Workstation2 ~] ssh user1@mycompany.com -p 4321
user1@mycompany.com's password:
Last login: Mon Feb 21 21:55:54 2011 from Workstation2
[user1@Workstation3 ~] exit
[user1@Workstation2 ~]

If you can do the above, then we are set to do tunneling.

2. Still on Workstation 2 issue the following command:

[user1@Workstation2 ~] ssh -f user1@mycompany.com -p 4321 -L 192.168.70.2:1234:192.168.50.2:3306 -N
user1@mycompany.com's password:
[user1@Workstation2 ~]

We will define each one of the parameters:

-f

This tells ssh to go to background just before command execution.

user1@mycompany.com

This defines your username and address of the remote computer.

-p 4321

This is the port in the firewall where in it is being forwarded to port 22 of Workstation 3. If your firewall is on Workstation 3, then this parameter can be omitted.

-L 192.168.70.2:1234:192.168.50.2:3306

This is where the magic happens. -L means you want a local (Workstation 2) port  to be forwarded to a remote host (Database Server) and port (3306) on the remote side (Workstation 3). Just to be clear, local side pertains to the computer network at Africa while remote side pertains to the computer network at South America.

The bunch of numbers after -L can be separated by colon(:) and here are their meanings:

192.168.70.2 is the address of the local computer (Workstation 2).

1234 is the port on the local computer (Workstation 2).

192.168.50.2 is the address of the remote computer (Database Server) on the remote side.

3306 is the port to access in the remote computer.

-N

This means that you cannot execute a command on the remote host since your are only tunneling data. This is basically for security.

Once you have issued the above command and entered your password, the ssh connection will go in the background. The tunnel is now created.

3. To use the tunnel, we go to Workstation 1 and execute mysql:

[user1@Workstation1 ~] mysql -h 192.168.70.2 -P 1234 -u dbuser -pdbpasswd dbname

That's all there is to it. Workstation 1 is now connected to Database Server.

I get a lot of small business clients who come to me looking for a new website to help promote their business.

We go through pricing and different options for the web design and development, but for some reason, when I get to search engine optimisation (SEO) - explaining it, not selling it - some people decide this is less important that their website.

They think that having a website will be enough to help promote their business. But how can a website be found if there is nothing supporting it?

The problem is that there are billions of sites on the net. Just typing "Web Design" into google gets me about 700,000,000 results!

How is your website meant to compete? How are people going to find your brand new website or your brand new business? You need SEO.

Firstly, you should have some DIY SEO options available to you.

KAYWEB provides our clients with a SEO-friendly Content Management System (KAYWEB CMS), where tools are provided for clients to constantly be able to optimise their own website to achieve better rankings in Google and other search engines.

Is your current provider offering this service? Do your research, ask your web provider if you are getting a SEO-friendly website included in your package, with some ability to do SEO yourself.

Did you also know that when it comes to SEO, External Link Popularity and Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links are two of the most important things to generate better results on Google? Sound confusing? We can explain ;)

Why spend hundreds or thousands of dollars towards a website that will ultimately struggle to be found on Google? Ask questions!

If DIY SEO is proving difficult and not delivering you results, KAYWEB offers many affordable SEO packages for clients, where we focus on External linking, Content massage and much more to generate results. It always works!

Try our SEO services today, you have nothing to lose! Instead you have the opportunity of generating more results to your website and if you are not seeing results, which we know won't happen, just cancel your service!

Let us help you in growing your business.

P.S. I'll give you a BIG SEO hint . . . HOST your website in the same country as your main audience. Google Australia will rank a website higher if it's hosted on an Australian server when searching on Google AU. Google America (and any other country) will also do the same. So make sure you are hosting in the right area - it is worth the extra few hundred dollars per year!!

More info about SEO coming soon!