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The Importance of Solid and Secure Computer Data Storage

March 15, 2018   Site Security   No comments

Are you thinking about computer data storage yet? Because with the rainy season approaching, your backup computer files might be the only thing between secure records and utter chaos. And if you’re thinking that’s a well-placed bit of exaggeration, try asking the residents of Freehold, NJ how many of their personal emails, financial records and pictures they wish they still had.

But what happened in Freehold is an excellent reminder of why computer data storage is so vital. When you don’t backup your computer files, you run the risk of losing everything during power outages not just because the power is out and your computer won’t run but because the surges in power can corrupt your files and hard disk. There are ways of protecting your computer at home – a power strip is a good idea, and saving files to a thumb drive is smart – but they’re not comprehensive enough for people who use their computer for more than just creating documents or updating social media. Offsite backups are a far better idea for keeping your most important files safe and sound.

So: what can you do to keep your files safe in the wettest season of the year? We’ve compiled some ways of protecting your computer and its contents so that you don’t end up with a very expensive paper weight the next time a hurricane rolls through town.

• Offsite Backups: There are a number of reputable companies out there who can help you protect your information. Outside computer data storage facilities will store your information (for a fee, which can be nominal – or not – depending on the company) at their facility. Be Things to watch out with this so be careful of where your data is and how secure it is. That will be another article.

• The Cloud: It seems strange to recommend putting all of you stuff into space, but that’s essentially what the Cloud is. You can backup computer files online for free, which is great. Just be conscious that a computer hacker can wipe out those files a bit easier than s/he could if you use a company that specializes in computer data storage for your home or business.

• USP: That’s an Uninterruptible Power Supply, and it’s a pretty cool gadget. It sends a steady stream of power to your computer even if a storm causes a power surge, giving you time to shut it down correctly. Some of them will even initiate the shut down for you, if you can’t get to it yourself because you are away. It’s one of the better ways of protecting your computer because it keeps the machine and its contents safe. Just make sure to “comparison shop” first, because some of them are a little pricey. Be aware that they do need to be configured properly in order for them to work the way they are meant to work.

• Electricians: How good are your wires? If you live in an older home or if your area is particularly susceptible to sever storms, then all of the computer data storage in the world might not be able to save you. May be time to invest on a home generator to help keep your lights on during and after a storm. You never know how long it may take the electric company to get your lights back on. No matter what, remember to backup those computer files ASAP before it is too late.

Don’t Wait to Backup Computer Files
The most important thing to remember is that sometimes – believe it or not – the weather reports are wrong. Some storms blow right over, while others cause levels of devastation that are almost unimaginable. (Just ask anyone from the Gulf Coast.) The best ways of protecting your computer mean nothing if you don’t implement them. That’s why it’s so incredibly important that you backup computer files often. Offsite backups at reputable companies can keep your files – necessary and precious – safe when the lights go out.

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Seven Vital Considerations for your On-Page SEO Check-list

March 12, 2018   Search Engine Optimization   No comments

On-Page SEO carries far less weight than off-Page SEO in terms of getting your content ranked high in the search engines. In fact, there are many webmasters that don’t consider it at all, which is why you should. It can give you the edge over competing pages that neglect on-page SEO and is relatively easy to do. Additionally, once it’s done, it’s done and costs nothing but a little time and planning.

The best way for us to explain on-page SEO is with this 7 point checklist that explains each step in getting your pages optimized. This checklist will refer to implementing optimizations in a WordPress Blog – although the concepts are the same for any website.

Our Must-do On-Page SEO Checklist

Keyword Density

Keyword density is the most important factor of the on-page SEO checklist, especially since recent Google algorithm updates. Keyword density refers to how many times your keywords appear in your content and is expressed as a percentage. For example, say I was optimizing this article for “on-page SEO checklist”, my article was 1,000 words long and I mentioned on-page SEO checklist 20 times, my keyword density would be 2%.

I would not go above 2% anymore! Google can and will penalize you for “keyword stuffed” content. No-one really knows that magic number, but a conservative goal is 1.5-2%.

Meta Tags

Don’t be put off by the name; WordPress makes it very simple to administer Meta Tags. There are 3 simple fields to fill in – using the Simple Meta Tags plugin.

Meta Title – Include your Keywords in here – this will be the main title your visitors see when searching in the search engines – so make it appealing and make it stand out!

Meta Description – Very important. This is a short description of your content your visitor will read in the search engines. Include your keywords and again make it appealing.

Meta Keywords – Make sure you include your keywords. This one is not so important, just reinforces to the search engines about what your page content is based on.

Meta Tags are still one of the most important parts of the this checklist, not so much for rankings, but because potential visitors are going to base their decision to visit your site or not on the title and description they see when searching for your content.

Title, URL, Content and Headings Optimizations

Some real simple, quick guidelines:

– Make sure the page title contains your keywords preferably beginning with them
– Make sure your URL contains your keywords
– Bold, Italicize and Underline your keywords on separate occasions
– Make sure you have both H2 and H3 titles in the page somewhere with your headings

Alternate Text Image Tag

A part of the on-page SEO checklist many people forget, but is very easy to do. This refers to the alternative image tag. When you insert a picture into WordPress, you have a field option called Alternate Tag Image Text. Make sure to include your keywords in here, if you have multiple images use different iterations of keywords, for example: on-page SEO checklist, checklist for SEO, on-page optimization checklist and so forth.

Get a Sitemap

This one doesn’t really apply to optimizing the page you’re working on, but will boost SEO for all your pages, so I wanted to include this in the on-page SEO checklist. The good news is, if you’re running a WordPress Blog, it is a snap to do! Like all things WordPress, there’s a plugin for that – Google XML Sitemaps

This automatically builds and keeps up to date a logical “map” of your website. It allows the search engines more efficiency in figuring out where all your pages are and leads to more of them being indexed (included) in the search engine results. Furthermore, it creates backlinks into to each of your pages (with hyperlinks that match your page title – which should contain your keywords ) – Google loves to see a site with intertwined pages!

External Links to Authority Sites

Google loves to see natural content, and natural content usually links to other content – especially authority sites. By Authority sites, I mean sites like WordPress, Yahoo, CNN and even Google itself – popular, very highly ranked pages. Try to place at least one hyperlink to an authority site.

On-Page SEO Checklist – Last but not Least…

Unique content! No On-Page SEO checklist should be complete without it. If you are plagiarizing material you will get no credit for it. The reason being is Google gives credit to only one piece of unique content – the first page it comes across and indexes. It holds this page in its indexes and if it finds highly duplicated content on another website at a future time, it will not consider that page as part of the search engine results.

Write unique, interesting, helpful material and implement all the points of this on-page SEO checklist into your posts, and you will be ahead of the pack already!

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SIP Vs VoIP, Which Telephony Solution Do I Choose?

March 11, 2018   Technology   No comments

SIP Or VoIP Telephony Systems? Which One?

SIP vs VoIP Telephony Systems

Both SIP & VoIP telephony solutions have their benefits & drawbacks, although they coincide & are hard to distinguish without prior telecoms knowledge there are specific benefits to using VoIP over SIP or SIP over VoIP.

Defining VoIP

VoIP refers to (Voice Over Internet Protocol), this telephony solution is IP based & hence we use the term VoIP. VoIP is in essence internet telephony, some other terms to describe VoIP refer to as, IP communications, IP telephony, broadband phone system, voice on broadband telephony & broadband telephone service.

Defining SIP

SIP refers to Sessions Initiation Protocol, this can be widely used for the management of multimedia communication sessions, i.e. voice, imagery & live video calls.

Benefits & Drawbacks Of VoIP Telephony Solutions

& 10003; VoIP telephony solutions can be very flexible when it comes to cost saving, even if your business is looking to expand or move to a new office.
& 10003; When it comes to VoIP all you need is a single network for both voice & data.
& 10003; VoIP can be very flexible when it comes to re-routing calls & or for example home working solutions.

– With VoIP, the voice quality can be 100% reliant on your businesses quality of broadband.
– Investments into VoIP may require your business to upgrade your older phone system or buy in a new system.

Benefits & Drawbacks Of SIP Trunking Solutions

& 10003; SIP solutions can help your business lower its costs, SIP trunking can be tuned into a businesses specific requirements. You can either scale up during busy peak calling times or scale down during notorious low call volume periods.
& 10003; Easy maintenance, SIP trunking solutions are generally easy to manage due to being virtually based. Scalability of maintenance is much more efficient & effective for businesses.
& 10003; Data integrated with simplified engineering.

– Your business will 100% need to have effective broadband, very similar to VoIP solutions you need a consistent connection.
– Your business will also need to consider restrictions on porting numbers, DID numbers & simultaneous calling.

VoIP Deployment SIP Deployment

& 10003; Local Area Network (LAN) & 10003; Your own sever proxy sever
& 10003; Your Internet connection & 10003; PSTN & dial plan
& 10003; A connection to the PSTN & 10003; A stable internet connection
& 10003; A VoIP service provider & 10003; A suitable IP phone system
& 10003; A VoIP PBX & 10003; Will you need simultaneous call needs?
& 10003; IP suitable phones & 10003; Will you need backup lines?

Before your business considers deploying VoIP & SIP solutions, remember that you will need to understand the implications to your broadband & network bandwidth. Your business must ensure that your deployment is prepared for any challenges that could arise. Make sure you find the most effective VoIP & SIP providers, Best 4 Business Communications is award winning so do consider us.

Final Things To Consider For VoIP & SIP Telephony Solutions

If you’re going to choose SIP, remember that it is considered half traditional & half virtual, however instead of setting up your phone system to run on a SIP solution, you could just get Yealink or LG telephony handsets to run over VoIP. If you’re going to consider SIP, VoIP is worth serious consideration. However remember that one of the main key advantages of using SIP vs VoIP is of course you have the ability to interact & communication with other protocols. You’re able to adapt its signalling to match that of the client systems.

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