How To Get Rid Of Spam In Your Email

June 17, 2013

Are you fed up of your inbox being loaded with unwanted junk emails? Do you miss the good old days when emails were exclusive, and receiving an email actually meant that there was something worth reading in your inbox? The following simple tips tell you how you can manage your emails, ensuring that spam stays out of the way.

  • The single most effective way to get rid of spam is to avoid giving your email address to unknown sources. This might be difficult, with most websites requiring users to provide a valid email address to move forward, and some even going to the extent of offering free merchandise or discounts in exchange for your email address. An easy way to cope with this is to have an alternate email id exclusively reserved for such purposes, and a separate one for friends and family.
  • You can also make use of your email application’s filter service to send emails from a specific source directly into your spam folder.
  • Avoiding an easy-to-guess email address is another effective way to stay safe from spammers. In most cases, these spammers do not go through the trouble of finding real email addresses from the net, but simply make guesses of obvious names, like say, michael92@xyz123.com.
  • Using the options of “unsubscribing” or being “removed from this list” should be exercised with caution. While it may seem like the easy way out, it could work against you in some cases. This is because requesting to unsubscribe tells the spammer that there is a real person at the other end, and that this is a valid email address. This could make you their target when they sell their lists to other spammers.
  • If you are willing to put some extra effort into curbing these spammers, you could report them to their ISP. The first step to doing this is determining the origin of the spam. You can easily do this by displaying the entire information in the email’s header. Working from top to bottom on the “received” lines could help you identify the spam’s origin. Most ISPs will block spammers from their service upon receiving the complaint.

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Google Penguin 2.0 Update And What To Expect From It

June 7 2013

The next update from Google is here, and webmasters the world over are eager to know what this could mean for their websites. Rolled out on the afternoon of May 22, 2013, the latest update from Google has affected approximately 2.3% of Google search queries in English, and the impact is expected to keep spreading.  Even though this is technically the fourth Penguin update by Google, insiders are referring to it as Penguin 2.0, since the previous two were simply data refreshes, while this is an all-new algorithm.

Here’s a look at what changes webmasters can expect to see in Google search results over the coming summer, and who needs to be worried about Google’s latest update-

  • Apparently, website owners whose focus is on providing high-quality and engaging content to users have no reason to worry this time around. Google’s aim is to bring compelling sites that users love higher in its organic search results.
  • The Penguin 2.0 update is being stated as the next generation of Penguin updates, and is claimed to be a lot more comprehensive and deeply impacting towards detecting and eliminating black hat web spam from Google search results. So if you have been spending a lot of time generating back links on black hat sources, this might not be a great summer for you.
  • Google is laying major focus on paid advertorials and linked websites through Penguin 2.0. Those indulging in these practices shall be required to offer clear and concise disclaimers of the ads being paid to users, and shall not be allowed to float page rank on Google.
  • Penguin 2.0 is making an effort to address specific user complaints that have been flowing in over the past year. For instance, users have been complaining about spamming in search results for “payday loans” on Google.co.uk. Issues like these shall be addressed through the sophisticated algorithms of this update.
  • Through its latest update, Google intends to completely deny value to link spammers through a “completely different system of link analysis”.
  • Focus shall also be laid on hack site detection, along with efforts to improve communication with webmasters. Google is making an effort to provide more concrete details with exemplary information to webmasters on how to deal with hacking threats.
  • Websites that were pushed to the “border zone” through previous updates have a ray of hope as Penguin 2.0 shall focus on refining search results for these websites.
  • Websites that are perceived as authorities in a particular space e.g. medical, travel etc. can also expect to be pushed higher on Google search results.

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What to expect in SEO in the coming months – By: Matt Cutts

Matt Cutts, talk about the changes coming up at Google – What search engine optimizers (SEOs) and webmasters should expect in the next few months.

E-Commerce And Handheld Devices

May 30, 2013

It is not an over exaggeration to say that e-commerce is rapidly going on to become “m-commerce”, with mobile devices serving as a major component of traffic to e-commerce websites. With the undeniable role of handheld devices as a shopping channel, it is becoming imperative for owners of shopping websites to optimize their mobile site designs, and monitor end-user statistics round the clock. Mobile commerce sales are expected to increase manifold over the next couple of years, accounting for a whopping 24% of retail e-commerce by 2016.

Needless to say, business owners have an exciting resource to tap in the form of mobile e-commerce, and need to be channelizing a major part of their efforts in this direction. The first step is to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile devices, whether this means creating a new mobile site, or changing the design of your current website into a responsive one. The biggest mistake that one can do is assuming that users shall adapt to their existing e-commerce website on their mobile devices. With all the well-optimized mobile sites to choose from, chances of that are bleak.

The prime focus while treading into the zone of mobile commerce should be to ensure optimal user convenience. You need to understand that users who are shopping on their handheld devices are not simply visiting your website, but are also comparing prices, looking for coupons, reading reviews, and performing a whole lot of parallel functions at the same time. You want to keep your web design as clean and light as possible, to ensure quick loading, easy call-to-actions, and absolute user friendliness. This ease of navigation could give you all the competitive advantage you need from a user’s perspective.

The two options that e-commerce website owners are faced with while trying to enhance mobile user experience are-

  • Creating an altogether new mobile site
  • Adopting responsive web design

The latter option is more feasible, as it makes it possible for companies to have a single website that adapts to whichever device it is being viewed on. While the upfront costs of implementing responsive web design might be higher than those of creating a mobile site, it saves significantly more in the long run. Now that mobile commerce is definitely here to stay and grow with each passing day, it would be prudent of business owners to take necessary steps to make the experience of their mobile users an optimal one.

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Need For Office Security Solutions

May 24 2013

Office security is a multidimensional undertaking, extending beyond the physical safety, into virtual safety. With the high number of security breaches that have been hitting the corporate world in recent times, it is becoming imperative for business owners to invest in high-end office security systems, which cover all the major aspects of security at the workplace. The following list enumerates the major modern office security solutions, and their need-

  • Security Cameras- Also known as CCTV cameras (Closed Circuit Television Cameras), these video cameras are an excellent way to monitor activity in the office at all times. Ensure that the CCTVs are installed at all prominent places, such as the entrance and exit, area of financial transactions, hall ways, stairwells, etc.
  • Digital Recorders- Even though not necessary, digital video recorders are a worthy component for any office security system. These recorders are connected to the CCTV cameras, and make it possible to watch the recorded footage at a later time, fast-forwarding through insignificant events. A security system without a digital recorder is of no major use, since you can only watch the footage in real time, and have no evidence to present to the police in case something suspicious happens.
  • Remote Viewing- Remote viewing is a great feature to look for in an office security system, as it helps you to monitor the office activities while on the go. You can choose from various remote viewing options including on your smart phone, PC, or even television screen at home! This means that you are virtually present in your office at all times.
  • Touch-Screen Systems- Modern touch-screen systems make for an excellent component of your office security systems. Using such a system, you can literally have your office activity on your fingertips all day. A touch-screen system can be used to virtually walk through individual employee’s desks, view latest activity on your system, communicate instructions through message center, create phone-line backups, disarm the security system, etc.

For complete range of Office Security solutions, call us at Centex Technologies – Toll Free: (855) 375-9654

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