Net Covered Blog

Miscellaneous by admin

SearchMe is a new interesting search engine and it seems like it could become a serious player. But how is it different from other search engines like Google or Yahoo? It offers visual searching.

Right. Once you type in what you are looking for, instead of ordinary list of related websites you’ll see the actual screenshots. That will help you decide whether the site is relevant to what you’re looking for or not without clicking on any link. Additionally, as you start typing - categories appear that relate to your query. That can save some time, too. Of course besides visual searching you will get also standard text search results.

They have already around a billion indexed sites. That’s good start - it’s negligible compared to giants like Google but remember it’s still in beta. We’ll see if it will pull off. I’ve already signed up for a private testing and I’m awaiting invitation within next few days. I will be then able to give you more information.

Wordpress by admin

So you’ve just started a new blog, right? And you need more traffic, right? The problem you are experiencing is the usual one and many other bloggers (including me) are dealing with it. I will tell you what I have done in few last days to promote this blog.

Crucial Plugins

There are few important plugins you should consider installing before you do anything else. All in One SEO is one of them. It gives you almost endless possibilities to tweak everything that hangs together with SEO. You can comfortably change the blog’s title and format, set description and keywords and much more. Another two plugins I really recommend you to use are KB Robots.txt plugin and XML Sitemap Generator for WordPress plugin. You will be able to easily manage and modify your sitemaps and robots.txt file (the first thing search engines do when they visit any site is to request robots.txt file).

Submit Your Blog to Search Engines

This one is a real must do. As soon as your blog is online go and submit it to the major search engines (Google, Yahoo etc). Don’t forget to submit also your RSS feed. Once you are done with that you should consider tweaking your website’s search results via so called webmaster tools (Google Webmaster Tools for instance). Set up prefered domain (I recommend the one without www), submit xml sitemap and so on.

Backlinks!

Backlinks are a backbone of improving PR (page rank) and also your ranking at search engines. How to get them? There are many ways - blogroll exchanges with other blogs (preferably with similar niche), link exchanges, posting comments containing your url on popular blogs etc. I have one very good tip to gather backlinks though. Forum posting. Yes, I have recently noticed that some of my sites are getting strong backlinks from forums such as Digital Point. Of course, you must place the website into your signature and start posting regularly to get some backlinks.

Social Bookmarking

It can help a lot to register at Technorati and submit your blog there. Once you will get good enough reputation the results will be visible. Moreover you will get some additional backlinks. Try using some social bookmarking plugin, too. For example, my blog uses this social bookmarking plugin. It looks smooth and offers many customization options. You can see it at the end of my articles. When readers like your articles they will be able to help you a bit by clicking little icons under each post (like Del.icio.us, Digg, Facebook, Sphinn, Stumbleupon etc).

Pinging

Update your blog as often as you can (though it’s better not to make a new post for 2-3 days if you’re too busy than to post some boring stuff - articles posted just for the sake of update tend to be bad) and every time you add a new article - ping it! Pinging means letting search engines to know that your blog has updated. Go to Ping-O-Matic or some other similar site and ping. Just don’t overdo it. Ping only when you add new content… no need to ping when you just changed font or color of the links - that’s counter-productive.

Miscellaneous by admin

I have been using quite a few either commercial or free firewalls in the past (including Norton Personal Firewall, ZoneAlarm, Seagate and probably few others I dont even remember) but I’ve got to tell you the truth folks… So far, none of the firewalls I’ve used managed to beat Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0. I’ve been using it for a few last months and I am completely satisfied with its performance, security, easy of use and user-friendly interface.

Comodo Firewall Pro 3.0.18.309 is the final and first release of Comodo Personal Firewall 3 and contains support for Vista, a new interface and a bunch of improved security features, including host intrusion protection, network-based firewall and an application analysis engine. The most important thing about Comodo is that it passes all known leak tests to ensure integrity of data entering and exiting your system. Comodo secures your system against internal attacks such as trojans, viruses, malicious software and also external attacks by hackers. Second appealing thing about Comodo is its simplicity. You don’t need to spend hours editing settings to harden the performance and security. Comodo works just fine with default settings. Even if you need to change something, it can easily be done with a single click.

The only thing I didn’t like is its way of getting information about your system after new installation. You will have to go through day or two of occasional permission pop-ups asking you whether Comodo should or should not trust certain application. The trusted applications are then added to the Safe list. Once it adapts to applications and software you use most often, it will become almost invisible and won’t ask about anything.

Interface

There are four tabs once you open Comodo control centre - Summary, Firewall, Defence+ and Miscellaneous.

The first one you see is the summary. It gives you the information about system status, ingoing and outgoing internet connections, condition of proactive defence (Defence+), traffic stats and more.

Under the Firewall tab, there are many options. You are able to manage stuff like defining a new trusted program, blocking a specific program, view active connections and many other specific features usual user wont ever need but thy can be very useful for more advanced users or when you are planning to use Comodo in your work or business.

Under the Defence+ tab, there is a lot of useful options such as ability to protect files and folders, quarantine a file, view and terminate processes, protection against registry changes and the list goes on.

Miscellaneous tab contains infromation about version of the firewall, you can check for updates, browse support forums to get help and more.

Conclusion

Have you been looking for an ideal firewall? No need to look further - you have found one. Combination of Comodo and proper antivirus will sufficiently protect your computer agains online dangers and will safe you a lot of time, too. I can only recommend this vintage piece of software.

Webdesign by admin

The new year has brought us a lot of new interesting webdesign trends. Though it seems that color schemes haven’t changed that much. Fasion Trendsetter has presented their conception of the ideal color schemes for this year’s upcoming spring and summer.

It is divided into two volumes (Vol. II and Vol. III).

Spring/Summer 2008 color trends Vol.02 have all the strongest hues for the summer regarding the brightest whilst darkest color tones freshened by split complements. Vol.03 is much more like a candy store. Colors reminding of everyone’s childhood while keeping up the pinks and blues screaming out; “It’s a Boy!” or “It’s a Girl!”…

Of course we cannot take this too serious and it might easily happen that websites will adapt some totally different color shemes this year (let’s face it - webdesigners don’t care much about fashion trends). However this can give you some basic idea about what professional designers think this year’s summer will look like. For complete set of 2008 color trends click here.

SEO by admin

People are browsing the net in may different ways. Some people type the address directly, some people visit their favorite portal or directory but most people are using search engines to find the sites they visit. To successfully gain traffic from search engines (i.e. Google, Yahoo, MSN etc) you will probably need to edit your website a bit (sometimes completely) and make sure there are no barriers for search engines to crawl your site. And this is where SEO (search engine optimization) becomes crucial.

The Aim of SEO

First of all, you need to know what visitors you want to attract to your site. It is very easy to bring in 5000 people not interested in your website but it is far better (and more diffucult) to bring in only 100 people but those will actualy be interested in your site and there’s great a chance they will visit again in the future.

The aim of SEO is not to bring as much traffic as possible. The aim of SEO is to bring in targeted traffic and people to whom you can offer something (high quality content). Good SEO will also help you earn more money when your website is commercial. If not, you can at least make few bucks from advertisements to help you cover expenses of your website (hosting expenditures etc). Read the rest of the article

Wordpress by admin

I have seen many people online asking how to divide blog posts into more columns. There isn’t much useful information about that around so I’ve decided to write this article. I will show you how to divide blog posts into two and then also into three columns. Though, after reading this article you’ll be able to add even more columns. Read the rest of the article

General Blogging by admin

If you want to earn, start an online business or just to gain a following for some reason, then blogging could be for you. However, there are some things regarding blogging that you must avoid as much as possible.

One of the things you must remember when you blog has something to do with your host site. You must remember that these host sites have terms and conditions and you must always follow them. Some people would wonder why their blog gets shut down, what they may not know is that they may already have broken some law of the host site which resulted tot heir shut down. If you want your blog to flourish, always follow the rules set by your host.

You should also avoid posting sub-par content or stuff that is really useless. Tell your avid readers something new. People would want to keep on returning to your blog when you post entertaining or exciting stuff. Don’t be afraid of highly competitive niche. If you will work hard, you can succeed.

Try to avoid arguing with visitors of your blog. Sometimes people may leave harsh or silly comments but if you argue with them it will lead to nothing. Try to respect their opinion and the rest of your readers will trust and respect you more.

You should not give false information to your readers. Make sure that all your posts are true and accurate. Giving false information will destroy your reputation and people will think that you are an ignorant blogger. If you want to build trust with your readers, you will need to provide quality and accurate information.

You should avoid plagiarism or copying what other bloggers write. The more original the posts and information you give the more likely would it be for you to build a bigger reader base.

Try to give all your information for free. Do not be shy to use few ads to earn some extra bucks (once your blog will get bigger, you will have to invest much more money into hosting and related stuff), just do not overdo it or your readers will be annoyed by it.

Try to avoid attacking someone or something on your blog. If you want to criticize a person or a company, do it in a subtle manner. People will be more interested in reading constructive criticism.

Alright. This is the end of my blogging articles serie. I hope this guide will help people who want to start they own blog and need some general blogging information to pull off. But also experienced bloggers might find many interesting tips here.

General Blogging by admin

One very popular method of inviting new readers to your blog site is by sharing blogging tips to them. This topic is always updated regularly and is almost endless. Giving out tips could also help new bloggers who may want to join the blogging industry start out. There are some experts who give advice for free while there are some who may ask for something in return. However it would not matter how effective your tips are, if it is difficult for your readers to understand then they will still be useless. With this in mind, below are tips on how to give out blogging tips.

The first thing that you should keep in mind is that you should always consider your readers. Remember that your readers will be looking for tips and not instructions. You should also always imagine that your readers have zero knowledge on blogging and you should try to use simple words as much as possible. Try to stay humble even if you already are a veteran blogger. Do not act like you are the best tip giver because there are people that may be better than you. People are only after your tips and not you.

Be more creative with your blog. Use audio, video, or pictures that you could use or relate to the tips that you give, these things will definitely help your readers understand your tips a lot more. The more creative your blog is, the more readers you will have. However do not overreact and exaggerate the tips you give or you may mislead some of your readers. If ever that happens, you will be the on put to blame.

Tell the truth and do not lie. Do not try to hide anything regarding the possible effect of the tips you give. Do not alter or add any of your tips just to produce more readers of your blog. If your tips would have some requirements or restrictions before it could be more effective, you should explain them more carefully. Be honest since readers will rely on your tips for their success.

General Blogging by admin

Weblogs today have completely transformed from what they used to be a decade ago. Thousand of blogs created by hobbyists, companies, businessmen, and professionals sprout every day. Professional blogging is considered to be both an art and science. A lot of aspiring bloggers who want to turn blogging into a career always struggle first to have their presence felt at the beginning. If we closely study the best bloggers, we will be able to find some common traits which help them in becoming an effective and influential blogger. Let us find out how we could become a professional blogger. Before we start with our blogging ventures we must first be able to answer some questions. Can I consider myself as a writer? Will I be able to devote sufficient time for blogging? Am I a web savvy person? Will I have enough funds to pay for the hosting and ISP bills before I receive the returns of my blog? What topic should I blog about?

One of the most important qualities of an effective blogger is being able to write informative and useful content that will attract readers. It would also be important that you would be able to hold firmly over the authority of your niche. Writing an interesting post is not that difficult actually. You may already have heard of the phrase “Content is King”. It does not matter how stunning a blog may look. If you do not have good writing skills, you will not be able to succeed in pulling in readers.

If you could not afford to spend at least three hours per day writing on your blog, then it would probably be better to not do it anymore. Readers would want to have fresh content to read on a consistent basis. Only if you could do this will you be able to attract more people to your blog site.

If you are not a web savvy person, then you will not be an effective blogger. You need to be able to popularize your blog in order to be one step ahead of your competitors and you would need to have the proper technical knowledge in order to do this.

The guide has not ended yet. Two more parts on their way!

General Blogging by admin

As an online blogger, one thing that most people would need to decide on would be what type of platform the person would want to use for his or her blogging. By being able to decide on the right blogging platform, it will make your whole blogging experience a lot easier. Choose the wrong platform and you will feel that blogging would feel more like a chore than something you would enjoy doing.

A blogging platform is a program wherein you would use to manage your own blog. You would use this to create or add new posts, editing your existing posts, deleting your posts or deleting and approving the comments left by your readers and using other elements that may enhance your blog. This is why you need to look for the right platform in order to ensure a smooth blogging experience. In order to look for the best platform for you, you would need to check for the different types of blogs on the Internet and look for the one that would best fit your needs.

It would be ideal if you would choose a user-friendly platform and a platform that is flexible enough so that you could easily customize your blog and allow you to create something that will be uniquely yours. Do not expect to find the best platform for you right away, this is a part of the blogging process that usually takes a lot of time and you would need to devote a lot of your time testing these different types of platform before you find the one most suitable for you.

When you are looking for your blogging platform, it would be better if you know what you are looking for. For example, would you want a platform that is very customizable?

You may be wondering what blogging platform is the best, however you will not be able to get any definitive answer for this. Every blogger has his or her own needs and this is why a blogger may think one platform is the while another blogger may think the platform he is currently using is a lot better.

This blog, for instance, uses Wordpress CMS (Content Management System) and I haven’t had any problems with it so far. It’s fast, stable, highly customizable and open source. Other blogging platform options include Joomla, Graffiti, e107 and others. The best thing you can do now is to look around your favorite blogs and see what blogging platform they are using. Your final decision will be very important - it isn’t easy to switch between differnet content management systems. So take your time and make good decision.