فیس بک کا مستقبل خطرے میں؟

اکیسویں صدی کو آئی ٹی کے عروج اور مقبولیت کا دور قرار دیا جاتا ہے جتنی ترقی اور اصطلاحات آئی ٹی کی اس صدی میں آئیں اس سے پہلے کبھی نہ دیکھی گئیں اور آئی ٹی کی وسع اور تیزی سے مقبولیت اختیار کرتی ہوئی ایجادات میں سے انٹرنیٹ سر فہرست ہے ۔انٹرنیٹ کی مقبولیت کی وجہ یہ ہے کہ وہ اپنے اندر منفرد سی سحر انگیز دنیا بسائے ہوے ہے ایک اندازے کے مطابق روزانہ اربوں ڈالروں کی سرمایہ کاری ا نٹرنیٹ پر کی جاتی ہے یہ صارفین کو E-Marketing, اور E-Commerce, E-Learning, E-Banking جیسی بہت سی کار آمد سروسز آن لائن گھر بیٹھے فراہم کر رہا ہے یہی وجہ ہے کہ جو دنیائے عالم کو مقناطیس کی طرح اپنی طرف کھینچ رہا ہے۔
انٹرنیٹ کی مقبولیت کی ایک وجہ سوشل نیٹ ورکنگ بھی سمجھی جاتی ہے جو ایک عرصے سے دنیائے عالم کے فاصلوں کو کم کرنے کے لیے کوشاں ہیں جن میں مقبول ترین سوشل نیٹ ورکس Twitter, LinkedIn اور MySpace سمجھے جاتے ہیں جو صارفین کے دل جیتنے کے لیے دنیائے عالم میں اپنا قلیدی قردار ادا کر رہے ہیں۔ حالیہ ہی میں دنیائے انٹرنیٹ کے مقبو ل ترین سوشل نیٹ ورک Facebook نے آ کر نہ صرف دوسروں کے دانت کھٹے کر دیے ہیں بلکہ سوشل نیٹ ورکس کی دنیا کو چار چاند لگا دیے ہیں۔
ایک محتاط اندازے کے مطابق دنیا بھر میں آٹھ ارب سے زائدکے لوگ فیس بک استعمال کرتے ہیں اور صرف پاکستان کے صارفین کی تعداد ایک کروڑ سے زائدہے ۔فیس بک کی اتنی مقبولیت کی وجہ اسکا آسان فہم اور پر کشش انٹرفیس ہے یہی وجہ ہے کہ وہ چند ہی سالوں میں سوشل نیٹ ورکس کی دنیا میں سر فہرست آ گئی اور سالانہ اربوں ڈالر کا منافع کمانے لگی مگر آج اتنی ترقی و مقبولیت حاصل کرنے والا سوشل نیٹ ورک مستقبل میں گرتا اور ڈوبتا نظر آ رہا ہے۔
حالیہ ہی دنوں میں دنیائے انٹرنیٹ کی ایک اور مقبول و معروف کمپنی گوگل نے اپنا نیا سوشل نیٹ ورک Google Plus کے نام سے متعارف کروایاہے ۔ ماہرین کے مطابق جو مستقبل کا سب سے مقبول اور جدید سوشل نیٹ ورک تصور کیا جا رہا ہے اس جدید سوشل نیٹ ورک کے منظر عام پر آنے سے قبل ہی کروڑوں لوگوں نے اسمیں شرکت کی درخواستیں دائر کر دیں۔ا سکی اتنی مقبولیت کی وجہ اسکا جدید انٹرفیس جس میں وڈیو کانفرنسنسگ، گوگل پروفائل ، گوگل سرکلز جیسی بہت سی دوسری سروسز کا متعارف کرانا کے ساتھ ساتھ ایک وجہ لوگوں گا گوگل پر اعتماد بھی ہے یہاں یہ بات قابل ذکر رہے کہ گوگل اس سے پہلے گوگل سرچ انجن، Youtube,اور Blogger, Gmail, Adsense, Adword جیسی اور بہت سی سروسز سے صارفین کا دل جیت اور دنیائے انٹرنیٹ میں مقبولیت حاصل کر چکا ہے ۔ماہرین کے مطابق گوگل اپنی ان منفرد خصوصیات کی وجہ سے یہ بازی بھی جیت جائے گا اور اسے فیس بک کا حریف بن کہ مقبولیت حاصل کرنے میں دشواری کا سامنا نہیں کرنا پڑے گا جسکی وجہ سے اربوں ڈالروں کی سرمایہ کاری کرنے اور اتنی مقبولیت حاصل کرنے والی فیس بک کا مستقبل اب خطرے میں نظر آ رہا ہے اور سوالیہ نشان بن کر رہ گیا ہے۔

حافظ محمد عثمان

8 Durable SEO Elements

Recent changes to Google’s search ranking algorithms and highly publicized search penalization of well-known brands, have caused much angst in the SEO community. However, Google’s changes to its algorithms aren’t new.
Seasoned SEOs have experienced major algorithm changes over the last decade. In fact, Google has confirmed making on average at least one change per day to its search algorithms. Clearly change is here to stay.

How do you minimize the impact of these inevitable changes? Focus your efforts on the durable elements of SEO. These are the cardinal elements of SEO that will stay true regardless of Google’s ongoing improvements to its algorithms.
These eight durable elements will withstand the test of time because they are aligned with Google’s explicit statements and implicit motivations. Here’s a rundown of these elements and practical steps you can take to align your website with them.

1. Basic On-Page SEO Rules

The basic keyword SEO rules per the Google Webmaster’s SEO Guide are easy to communicate and easy to follow. Google wants you to follow these rules, because it makes crawling easier for their bots, which leads to better results for users, and in turn, helps Google with market share.
Make sure your pages are optimized for these basic SEO rules. Include target keywords in your URLs, titles, meta tags, H1s, etc. Determine which pages rank for which keywords. Then use the right keywords to double-down your efforts on these pages.

2. Inbound Quality Links

An inbound link from an external website to your website signals to Google that the content it’s pointing at is relevant to the subject surrounding that link. Quality inbound links aren’t easy to amass and they require your content to be good enough for someone else to reference. For these reasons, quality inbound links are believed to have the biggest impact on ranking.
Continue building your inbound links through white hat content syndication and promotions. Create unique content that others will want to reference and link to. Build relationships with other web writers, so they are aware of your content.

3. Authority

Google’s Internet is a meritocracy and authority is essentially your assigned status within this order. To date, Google has confirmed using only Google PageRank and social media authority as the two types of authority signals in their ranking algorithm.
A website’s authority is factored into rankings. There will always be those who attempt to game the system rather than advance on merit, so diminished authority is one way Google punishes fraud.
Build your authority by creating unique content and follow white hat practices. Build relationships with authoritative sites and users. Pursue links from them to benefit from their authority too.

4. User Experience

Google wants their users to be satisfied. If Google gives high ranks to bad websites, with terrible designs, slow page load speed, and difficult-to-navigate pages, users will look for alternative search solutions.
A fast page load speed and a low bounce rate are two measureable indications of a good user experience. Additional qualitative measures include a nice design, easy navigation and a good UI.
Basically, anything that makes a user remain on your site and read more. Keep your site updated, measure your bounce rate and page load speed, and create clear alignment between the keywords you target, your content and the experience you’re creating for your visitors.

5. Freshness

If relevancy is the name of the game, then freshness is its nickname. The world is evolving and so is the web, and freshness of content will always be an indication of a site keeping up with the world. Freshness is a supporting factor to a site’s authority and plays a huge part in news ranking.
Keep creating new content as well as updating existing content. Link to it internally from indexed pages as well as syndicate it on social media. Register your site and submit a sitemap to Google. If you have a news site, register to be on the Google News Index.

 

6. Diversity

To borrow from the capital investment world, diversification minimizes your systematic risk allowing you higher overall return on investment, and it would appear Google follows this rule. Google prefers diversity in the format and content of its results.
Use multiple formats to deliver your content on the same page – video, presentations, images – and publish unique pages for diverse content to optimize for long tail terms. Submit a unique sitemap to Google for formats other than text.

7. Feedback

In order to gauge their effectiveness, Google must collect feedback on its work. From machine input, like click through rate and bounce rate, to human input, like human evaluators, Google’s “manual intervention” and  Google +1, Google will keep collecting feedback to improve its results.
Use only white hat tactics, be relevant and optimize your pages to the actual content on them. In addition, syndicate, promote and give people an easy way to share their feedback.

8. Compatibility with Updated Technology

Being compatible with new technologies such as new browsers is important to the overall user experience. Freshness is always good practice when it comes to being on top.
As an example, consider mobile devices. With the emergence and rapid growth of the mobile market, we can see how and why, in the future, Google will discount sites that aren't mobile device-compatible.
Make sure your site is up-to-date with the latest mainstream technology. For example, verify that your mobile site is indexed by Google and submit a mobile sitemap.

Summary

These are the eight durable rules of SEO. Follow and implement them on your website to maximize your SEO results and maintain your website rankings over time.
By: Erez Barak

4 Things to Consider Before Investing in SEO Software

SEO software is a great tool for the DIY site owner or in-house employee looking to take control over their site’s SEO. It can help streamline the components of on- and off-site SEO, bring all your SEO activities into one place for you to more easily manage and more. There is no shortage of great SEO software available for purchase either. But before you jump the gun and download the latest and greatest SEO software you have to ask yourself, “is this the right decision for me and my site?”
Here are 4 things to take into consideration before purchasing SEO software:
Might be as expensive as hiring an SEO consultant
Some SEO software platforms can be incredibly expensive; you might find yourself shelling out hundreds dollars a month for any given SEO software platform. At what price point does it just make more sense to forgo the software and hire an actual person to handle your SEO? While the cost of an SEO consultant might vary on what kind of campaign you’re trying to implement, it might be more cost effective in the long run to hire an SEO services provider instead of buying the software.
For one thing, the SEO provider is a real person dedicated to the success of your website. They’ll be able to build a custom campaign that takes your business goals and assets into account. While SEO software might help streamline the process, it can’t do your SEO for you—an actual person will take the full load off of your shoulders so you can focus on other things. An SEO provider will also know how to leverage your other online activities such as social networking and your business blog for SEO so you get even more value for their work. SEO software might not be able to that as easily.
Account for the learning curve
Just like any other software you’ve ever used (either in your professional or personal life), you have to learn how it works before you can take full advantage of what it has to offer. You have to remember to factor in that learning curve into your SEO calendar. Do you have the time to set aside a few hours every day so you can learn the ins and outs of your new SEO software? If you don’t understand all the facets of your SEO software, then you aren’t able to take advantage of all it can do for you, meaning a good chunk of the price of purchasing that software is going to waste.
For comparison, consider Microsoft Excel. Just about everyone can make a list of numbers in Excel and add them up, but how many people know how to really use Excel to perform complex calculations and equations? Not nearly as many. If you want to use SEO software well, you need to become an expert at it. That isn’t going to happen overnight.
Do you have the time to really use it effectively?
After you factor in time for learning how your new SEO software works, you also have to remember that you still need to use it! If the software is just going to be sitting on your desk, what was the point? Don’t buy the software in the hopes that one day you’ll figure out how to work it into your schedule. If you don’t have the time to implement and use the software now, chances are you won’t any time soon. It would be better to invest the cost of the SEO software in an SEO consultant who can take all the work off your hands.
Still have to learn the basics of SEO
SEO software is a tool, but you still need the basic SEO knowledge to make it work for you and your site. For example, Microsoft Word can’t teach you how to write, but it makes the writing process easier—that’s what an SEO tool can do for you. As a site owner, you will still have to learn the basic vocabulary of SEO, learn to identify white hat from black hat link building techniques, figure out how to integrate your SEO and social media marketing efforts and more. Your SEO software is only going to know what you do!
By: Nick Stamoulis

What cool new websearch ideas should Google launch in 2012?

Even though this year is nowhere near finished, a lot of people at Google are already thinking about things to launch next year. So I wanted to put the question out: what cool things would you like to see Google launch in 2012?
For example, in 2011, we launched hundreds of search quality changes that might not be noticeable, along with a few high-impact changes. But we also added new ways to search, like the ability to search by image and search by voice. We’ve beefed up our social search, and continued to make search faster.
So take a minute to think about potential search features, products, or changes that we could launch next year. As a user (not as an SEO/webmaster/publisher), what cool piece of technology would you like to see Google launch in 2012?
By:  Matt Cutts