How Can I Find Out My Ranking on Search Engines? 
There are many tools online, both free and paid, that enable you to check where your website ranks on search engines on a daily, weekly or a monthly basis. Here are a few to name;

• Google Rank Checker (Free)
  This is a free tool that lets you check the ranks of up to 100 keywords on Google, Yahoo and Bing. http://tools.seobook.com/firefox/rank-checker/
• Rank Tracker Tool (Paid)
  This is a good tool that lets you check, store and compare your rankings at different time intervals. http://www.seomoz.org/rank-tracker
• Sheer SEO (Paid)
  This paid tool is great and affordable. It takes data points for each ranking checked and also sends you a daily email letting you know the rank fluctuations.
  http://www.sheerseo.com/

What is Search Engine Optimization?
Simply put, it is the optimization process that makes your site popular and an authority site. When a user types a search phrase on Google, your site should show up on the first page organically. When you land in the top page results, it’s more likely that the users will click on your website thus garnering more traffic. One must also take note that ending up in the top page of searches may take time and a lot of patience. You also have to adhere to the guidelines of SEOs (Search Engine Optimizing) provided by Google. A Google and user-friendly CMS (content management system) such as WordPress is a safe way to start building your reputation online.

What is Backlinking and Why Does My Content Have to Be Original?
Backlinks are the site’s incoming links. Most SEO meters use it as a basis to measure the popularity of a site. The content of every site must be unique and original to differentiate your self from the competition and provide the users what others don’t. For example, consider searching for a specific product. You need to describe your product uniquely so that people searching for it will be directed to your site. Take time to make different articles and never copy paste from other sites. Make your content unique and personalized.

The Relevance of Titles to Your Articles
People take for granted the importance of titles when they are doing SEOs. You need to optimize your titles based on your keywords. Make them simple and easy to search for. Don’t go for catchy titles that are not relevant to your article. Meta descriptions also help the users see the contents of your pages prior to a click. These are brief descriptions regarding your site. Put the keywords in front of the article to generate more buzz. Content should be relevant to your topics.

Building your reputation may take time and you need to be patient. Don’t expect that your site will be in the top searches after just a few tweaks. Take time to build your content and find ways to improve it. There are many tips online. Always make sure that you follow all the guidelines and create a great and quality website. Contact us if you need assistance, we can help.

Well, I recently recommended to a friend that he change his web site URLs from ‘keyword1_keyword2′ (underscore) to ‘keyword1-keyword2′ (dash).

Why?

Because according to Matt Cutts – a senior software engineer at Google – he recommends using dashes for Google.

According to his article, “Dashes vs. underscores“, if you have a URL like ‘keyword1_keyword2′ Google will only return that page if the user searches for ‘keyword1_keyword2′ (which almost never happens).

If you have a URL like ‘keyword1-keyword2′, that page can be returned for the searches for ‘keyword1′, ‘keyword2′, and even ‘keyword1 keyword2′.

Don’t forget to inform Googlebot and other search engine crawlers that a page has moved to a permanent location by adding 301 redirects to your web site’s ‘.htaccess’ file.

301 Redirect

For example:

Redirect 301 /old_directory http://www.example.com/new-directory

Redirect 301 /old_page.html http://www.example.com/new-page.html

Redirect 301 /old_directory/old_page.html http://www.example.com/new-directory/new-page.html

Note that the first URL only includes the directories (if any) and file name. The second URL must include the domain, in addition to the directory (if any) and file name. This is because the redirect may point to a file on another domain – it doesn’t have to be on the same domain.

A Word of Warning

Be very careful with entries in the .htaccess file. It is very sensitive. The entries must be exact, otherwise it will crash your web site. So before making any changes to the .htaccess file, make a copy of the file you’re editing. Make 1-2 changes at a time, and make sure there are no typos in your entries.

Conclusion

So there you have it. In dash vs underscore in URLs, dash is the clear winner.

One of the most important factors in attracting customers is the color; its eye-catching power can convert visitors into regular users or customers. Choosing a color scheme for a site is not easy, this being emphasized by the importance of color in the whole ensemble.

Another advantage in choosing the right color layout is the power of suggestion, vision is color dominated, and in the absence of writing it will take certain meanings. This has applications not only in web design but also in everyday life, depending on the culture and tradition, for example white represents purity for Europeans whilst for some areas of China and Africa mourning.

In conclusion, choosing the right color can have significant effects and, in web design, it can mean the difference between amateurism and professionalism. In this article I will submit a list of the most important ideas to be considered when choosing the color combination of a site; I look forward to any additions or opinions so please use the comment form!

1. The color scheme has to bear in mind the target audience

The selection of colors used in a site should not be influenced by ones’ own preferences, although subjectivity has its role. The main purpose of used tones is to help attract potential visitors, the success of any online presence being dependent on the traffic received. So, before sketching the first possibilities of color combinations it’s good to establish the target audience, the segment of population for which the website is designed .Amongst the most important factors in determining the appropriate colors are the visitors’ gender, the major age category, trade or geographic location.

For example, a site featuring the latest news from the auto industry is usually aimed at men aged over 18 (so determined by the legal possibility of obtaining a driving license and the genders’ preferences for speed and adrenaline). In this case we can use powerful colors, sharp contrast emphasizing the idea of dynamism, power and innovation. Definitely, other visitors are welcome to visit the site but as most visitors are from the formerly mentioned segment we can neglect their preferences. Any web designer knows that he cannot please all Internet users with a single color scheme.

A more complicated problem is faced by designers who have as target audience a population that is spread across different geographical areas. The meaning of colors can vary around the world, and sometimes may even have opposite positions. In this case the designer’s first concern is to make a statistic of his potential visitors and if that cannot be precisely determined it’s advisable to use a smaller number of colors which should be as characteristic of that area as possible.

2. Any color scheme should be attractive but mostly accessible

It may be that a designer will choose a gorgeous color scheme, but the end result will not please the public. Although apparently the number of people with visual problems is small in reality there are many people who have eyesight related problems. Even if these persons do not manifest problems in everyday life, certain color combinations are not appealing and cause discomfort, the most common case is a stark contrast which leads to the difficulty of distinguishing writing from its background. Accessibility standards are clearly defined and any designer must take them into account; Internet belong to everyone, you know. For example in the U.S. this issue was regulated by binding state institutions sites to comply with accessibility standards.

In conclusion a mark of professionalism is avoiding such problems and implementing accessible designs and color schemes.

3. The colors you chose must facilitate the site’s success

A layout should not be thought of as a bundle of elements: header, content, footer, logo each with his shades, a layout is a whole aimed at satisfying the visitor. Each site is unique and to meet its declared goal, color can play an important role. For example, for a blog the number of subscribers is very important so the “subscribe” button will require a position as obvious as possible and a color that will highlight it even more.

Experts recommend using a different or attractive color for any more important idea, but excessive use can be harmful and will result in transforming the site into a rainbow.

4. Prepare multiple variants of color schemes

A project is well made if the customer is satisfied, but most times the customer is not an expert or connoisseur of web design and chromatics. To avoid any problems and especially to meet the deadline it is very wise for a designer to prepare several alternatives of color schemes. It is likely that the web designer will choose the appropriate solution, but if the customer does not like it you need another approach. So it is always advisable to have a backup option.

5. Choose colors professionally

Internet seems like the realm where everything is possible, therefore chromatic resources are plentiful, highly detailed and of quality. There are blogs and posts that deal with the problem of coloring but there are also very good applications that help designers in choosing the best colors schemes. As a bonus here are some of the most common.

1. http://kuler.adobe.com/

Kuler is one of the most widely used applications in particular because of its many possible uses. Using this application different color palettes used by other designers can be studied, you can give feedback and create your own mix of shades.

2. http://www.colorotate.org/

This application impresses through graphics: it gives a 3d rendering of nuances that is very attractive. It basically offers the same solutions as the majority of applications presented herein.

3. http://www.aviary.com/tools/toucan

This application is very complex, the possibility of selecting colors are carefully channeled from the menu that offers options for any project. Definitely worth a visit!

4. http://jrm.cc/color-palette-generator/

Here it is necessary to upload an image and the application will present the colors used. The design of the application is not one of the most modern but the idea and solutions used are brilliant.

5. http://colorexplorer.com/

Color Explorer is a complex application that can provide an invaluable aid to any designer. It is to be appreciated the presentation of the “Help and Guides” menu.

There are many other interesting applications that help designers chose their colors professionally but experience is the main aid, so exercise is irreplaceable!

Hope you will find this tutorial useful and you will learn something new. Please share your opinion about this tutorial in comments section below.

Tutorial Resources

Fonts: Nevis

Photo: grass farm

Pattern: 20 Repeatable Pixel Patterns

Preview

Step 1: Create a new document

Open Adobe Photoshop and start by creating a new document CTRL+N. Then make the document 600 px by 420 px with a white background.

Step 2: Guidelines

We need to add some guidelines. Go to View > New Guide… and add following guidelines: vertical at 90 px, 100 px, 500 px and 510 px, horizontal at 70 px, 80 px, 340 px and 350 px.

Step 3: Background

At first create a new group (Layer > New > Group…) called “Background”. After that click twice on background layer and unlock it, then move it inside the group and download grass farm photo bydavedehetre. Now drag photo to your Photoshop window and using Move Tool (V) drag it to your login form design document. Resize if needed by clicking Ctrl+T.

Step 4: Body

Minimize “Background” group by clicking a small grey arrow next to the group’s title and create one more new group (Layer > New > Group…) called “Login Form”. After that set foreground color to white (#FFFFFF) and pick Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) with radius set to 5 px. Further draw a rounded rectangle between an external guidelines. An example shown on the picture below.

Now click right mouse button on rounded rectangle layer and select Blending Options… after that apply following options.

Finally reduce Fill of the layer to 35%.

Change foreground color to grey (#E8EBF2) and pick Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) with radius set to 5 px again. After that draw another rounded rectangle between an internal guidelines. An example shown on the picture below.

Now click right mouse button on previous created rounded rectangle layer and select Copy Layer Style. Then click right mouse button on just created rounded rectangle and select Paste Layer Style and do not forget to change Fill to 100%.

Now go to Filter > Noise > Add Noise… and set Amount to 1%. An example shown on the picture below.

Create a new layer (Shift+Ctrl+N) and name it “Stripes”. After that download pixel patterns from 20 Repeatable Pixel Patterns. Then hold Ctrl button and click on grey rounded rectangle layer thumbnail to make selection. Now select Paint Bucket Tool (G), choose Pattern and load pixel patterns that you have downloaded. Select pixelpattern6 and fill selection.

Click Ctrl+D to deselect and reduce “Stripes” layer Opacity to 3%.

Step 5: Input elements

Change foreground color to white (#FFFFFF) and pick Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) with radius set to 5 px and draw 360×40 px size shape. After that move it 23 px down from the grey rounded rectangle top corner. An example shown on the picture below.

Now click right mouse button on white shape layer you that just created and select Blending Options… then apply Stroke option.

Change foreground color to green (#7EA431) and pick Horizontal Type Tool (T), choose Nevis font, set type size to 16 pt and write “E-mail:”. Place it 20 px to right from input shape left corner.

Click on white input shape layer and duplicate it by clicking Ctrl+J. After that move it 20 px below the first one. Then write “Password:” inside the duplicated input element.

Set foreground color to white (#FFFFFF) and grab Ellipse Tool (U). After that hold Shift button and draw 12×12 px size circle and paste layer style copied from input element layer.

Change foreground color to green (#7EA431) and pick Horizontal Type Tool (T), choose Nevis font, set font size to 14 pt and write “Remember Me”. After that place it in the same level as circle. An example shown on the picture below.

Now click right mouse button on text layer and select Blending Options… then apply following option.

Now write “Forgot Password?” apply the same drop shadow option and place it on the right side as shown on the example below.

Step 6: Login button

Pick Rounded Rectangle Tool (U), set radius to 5 px and draw 360×60 px size button. After that click right mouse button on it’s layer and select Blending Options… then apply following options.

Set foreground color to white (#FFFFFF) and select Horizontal Type Tool (T), choose Nevis font, size set to 30 pt and write “LOGIN”. After that click right mouse button on text layer and select Blending Options… and apply drop shadow option.

Conclusion

We’re finally done with our login form design. Hope you’ve found this tutorial useful and covered techniques will help you in future projects. Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

]]> http://www.emazedesign.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=248 26 http://www.emazedesign.com/blog/?p=240 http://www.emazedesign.com/blog/?p=240#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:15:25 +0000 coheneric5 http://emazedesign.com/blog/?p=240 Have you done anything to protect your WordPress site or is it lying there just like that without any protection and security? Of-course you have that default login/password system but do you honestly think that it is enough? Imagine what will happen if anyone gets access to your admin dashboard. One word. Mayhem! Now the one and only way to keep your site safe is by strengthening the security. So here a few good ways to do so as discussed.

You may like our previous WordPress Collection : Improve WordPress Performance, SEO WordPress plugins, WordPress Ads Banners Plugins, useful wordpress plugins, wordpress facebook plugins.

1. Google Authenticator

It is a plugin that uses the Google Authenticator mobile app to give a two-factor authentication login to your WordPress site.

Note: Make a point that before you activate Google Authenticator, you have enabled two-factor authentication in your Google account and installed the Google Authenticator app in your Android, iPhone or Blackberry phone.

When the installation and activation process of the plugin is finished, open ‘Users -> Your profile’ and then you will be able to see the Google Authenticator settings.

There you will see ‘Active’ and a checkbox by its side. Check the box. Then when you will login the next time, it will ask you to enter the confidential key. And if If you fail to enter the correct key, it will not let you login.

2. One Time Password

The name says it all. This is an amazing tool that provides high security to your WordPress site. One Time Password lets you login to your site without putting in your real password. It makes a list of passwords that can be used to login ti the site, but the great past is that those passwords can only be used one time, so even if someone gets to know this password, it will be of no use to him [one time password, remember?]. This toll is very useful is you travel alot and login to your site using a cybercafe.

When its installation and activation process is finished, go to the One Time Password section to create your password list. Then enter a passphrase and click the “Generate” button.

It depends on you if you want to get a print of all the passwords and carry them with you.

When you want to login, it will show you a sequence number and all you need to do is to match the sequence number with the password list and enter the password

When you need to login, it will show a sequence number. You just have to match the sequence number with your password list and enter the password accordingly.

3. WP Login Security

This amazing tool works through the IP address. It demands admins to register or whitelist their IP address. Now when the admin logins, it will its IP address. And if the IP doesn’t matches the one in the list, then it will send an email to the admin with a link that has a one-time key.

The plus point of this plugin is that very little or almost no configuration is needed. All you are required to do is to just activate it and Voila!

4. Login Lockdown

Login Lockdown is a very useful plugin that records the IP address and timestamp of every unsuccessful login attempt. If the failed attempts continue within a short period of time from the same IP range, and the number of maximum attempts is reached then the login function would be disabled for all login attempts from that range.

5. WP Firewall 2

This plugin has nothing to do with login field, but it secures your site by looking into web requests to detect any malicious attack. It has the ability to halt the attack before it harms to your database.

After it has been activated, its configuration options can be found under the Firewall section. The default options give good results and anyone rarely needs to make any alterations.