Optimizing Your Site for Bing

Bing is Microsoft’s new search engine after MSN, and is performing exceptionally well in terms of SEO, increasing their rank daily on the Internet. Through Bing your website will get listed at the top of its portal faster than other search engines in its league. The following takes a look at the approaches to optimizing your site for Bing.

Bing and Optimization
Bing was launched in 2009 and has become a leading competitor for other search engines such as Google and Yahoo! Bing’s comprehensive site offers numerous services and features to its visitors. What makes Bing different to Google is the search engines interest in optimizing new or old sites. Once the sites are optimized to their highest potential for Bing and are well ranked on Bing, the sites can then move onto optimization for Google.

Optimizing Tips for Bing

• Have a good site map for your website. Bing’s server depends on site maps when optimizing your site.
• Provide selected keywords in your websites sub-domains. The search term must appear in your domain or your sub-domain.
• Bing favours sites that have good and clear codes. Non-compliant HTML’s make it harder for Bing to optimize your site.
• For best optimizing results opt for using XHTML rather than HTML. Ensure to follow the regulations set by W3c standards if you opt in using XHTML’s.
• Include selected keywords in your websites URL, the keywords used here should be the same as those used for your site’s page title.
• Do not update your URL’s too often; this may make it harder for Bing or any other search engine to organize them.
• Older sites on the Web are often better noticed. The age of your domain does determine the success rate of your site’s presence.
• If your site has been newly launched, opt in buying an older domain name, this may increase your rankings.
• In terms of optimization on Bing, titles are of importance. Title tags are held in a higher esteem to Bing than they are on Google.
• Titles should be no shorter than 5 characters and no longer than 65.
• Create unique and dynamic keywords for your website’s title tags.
• Optimization of your site is also made easier if your website is rich in text.
• Ensure to include 400 words or more on each page of your website.
• The contents of your articles must include a sufficient amount of your selected keywords.
• Include keywords in your articles titles, this helps in increasing your page rankings.
• Update content on your site as much as possible in terms of text.
• Add blogs to your site and update them daily if possible.
• Outbound links are also favoured by Bing. However do not include too many outbound links as it may become difficult to optimize.
• Direct other websites or blogs to link to your website; the more links you have, the better the chance of your site being ranked higher.
• Be cautious with blogs on Bing as the search engine does not value them as much as Google does.
• Provide backlinks to your website, as long as they are relevant they will help Bing optimize your site.
• In terms of Meta-tag optimization; ensure the keywords you use do not get repeated more than 5 times, this may be otherwise regarded as spam.
• The number of keyword characters present in your Meta-tags should not exceed more than 870 characters.
  
  

Conclusion
Optimization of a website is a timely process and results may only be shown to you after a couple of months. However, the results of your optimized site are well worth the wait and you will ultimately increase your return on your investment (ROI). The above tips will help you obtain a higher ranking with Bing.

Content Source: http://www.optimus01.co.za/optimizing-your-site-for-bing/

Professional SEO Companies May Optimize a Site in Accordance to Google

what is search engine optimization? This is a process, which would ensure that your site is ready for the search engines and gets easily identified by them. Search engine optimization would ensure that your site gets listed on all the search engine listings for your keywords. These days, it is not a question of whether you need sophisticated or affordable SEO services or not, it is only how you do it and how effective are you with search engine optimization.

Today internet marketing emphasizes on how much popular your website presently is. Getting your website optimized for Search Engine Marketing will work remarkably in getting additional hits by the target audiences to your online business. The same however is only possible when someone indexes the targeted keywords or phrases into a search engine to locate your site. Following this way, you can easily get to the people who are seeking the services or products of your online business. Internet Marketing, at present, is reliant only on professional SEO services.

Incidentally, a number of SEO India companies in the industry offer professional SEO services and solutions without any compromise in quality. Many of these firms offer you both SEO Services as well as Search Engine Marketing Services at affordable price rates. There is no doubt that even a most affordable SEO company India offering quality SEO services  optimize a site in accordance to Google search engine requirements. They will ensure that whenever someone searches for those keywords representing your business, the site does come up in the search list. Professional SEO services also involve providing the right keywords at the right place and at right number of times. Ann ideal SEO India Company with a good credibility in the industry can expertly run specific campaigns for you to promote your web site during a campaign. This may be happening when the company is launching a product and in line with this, they could bring up the site on all search lists to the top page.

Obviously, a reputable SEO India company such as Seojot dot com offers quality and proven SEO services as well as Internet Marketing Services. Over the years, the company has managed to play a major role in optimizing a site in accordance to Google’s latest algorithms and other parameters. You can count on this website to streamline the efficiency of your website without a second consideration. Customer support services of Seojot dot com is also very good, you can visit the website now to get the entire lowdown about the website and the services it offers.

As you can see now, choosing an ideal and reputable SEO services company requires research and thoughtful consideration. If you feel that you need a right SEO Company for your business, take the time to consider your needs before hiring one. This will ensure that you do not waste your time and money getting a service that you do not need and will not use. Hiring a SEO and marketing agency is a right step to help your business grow properly.

iPhone 5s/5c reviews: Is Apple still magical?

iPhone 5s/5c review: Is Apple still "magical"? Apple announced not one but two new iPhones this year in a market awash with larger-screened Androids and Windows Phones. In 2013, is Apple's view of what makes a premium smartphone still magical?

iPhone 5s

The iPhone 5s doesn't represent a radical design departure for Apple, unless you consider a gold iPhone, or the removal of that little square in the middle of the home button to be radical design shifts.

I've been testing with the gold version for a week now, and I'm somewhat surprised with how much it has grown on me; while the early leaked shots suggested an orgy of gold that would only suit the aspiring 50 Cent wannabe, the end result is rather more refined looking. Still, a lot of what made last year's iPhone 5 stand out is still the case here; it weighs the same, has the same resolution screen and same storage arrangements to boot.

It's a little hard to separate an iPhone from its operating system, and the iPhone 5s is the first phone Apple has offered (alongside the sibling iPhone 5c) to run iOS 7 natively; users with older handsets could always opt to stay on iOS 6 or earlier, but if you buy an iPhone 5s, you're stuck with Sir Jony Ive's particularly bright vision of a modern operating system. There's a learning curve here even for old hands at iOS, but for the most part it's stable and fast, and, as always, built around the app ecosystem that remains a core strength of Apple's smartphone offerings.

Apple has beefed up the camera it offers for iPhones in the 5s, but not by pushing up the megapixel count. Instead, what you get is an 8 megapixel sensor, but each individual pixel is a little larger at 1.5 microns. It's the same philosophy that HTC used with the HTC One, although its "Ultrapixels" measure in at two microns.

The end results are pretty impressive; the iPhone 5s can continuously shoot stills at full resolution and a rapid rate, manages well at low-light shooting and can pull off some neat tricks with 120fps 720p video to boot. It's not quite at the lofty heights of the Lumia 1020 and its 41-megapixel sensor, but then the Lumia 1020 can't boast iOS' ecosystem - or the iPhone 5s' fast shooting abilities either.

There is also some future-looking technology within the iPhone 5s that's basically impossible to assess at this point in time. The A7 chip that runs the iPhone 5s is 64-bit capable, but there's precious little 64-bit code out there just yet.

The M7 "Motion Processor" should allow for fitness apps to track users in the way that bands such as the Jawbone Up or Nike Fuelband do right now, but right now it's more or less there, rather than being functional.

The fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5s is surprisingly fun to use, although again it's limited to simply unlocking the phone and authenticating iTunes purchases; opening it up for third party app developers to use doesn't appear to be on Apple's agenda. Biometrics like this are hardly "new" in the business world - there's no shortage of laptops with fingerprint sensors - but in the more consumer-centric smartphone world, Apple's sensibly gone for an ease of use approach to get people used to the technology before adding complexity.

There was a time when folks would have been lining up for more than a week now to get a new iPhone, but that doesn't seem to have happened this time around, as the halo has dimmed somewhat and many solid competitor products are available for smartphone buyers.

Where does that leave the iPhone 5s? It depends where you come to it from. If you're happy in the iOS ecosystem it's a very solid upgrade for everyone except iPhone 5 buyers, but then that's always been the case with the previous year's model; the sensible time to upgrade should be every two years, not every twelve months.

If you're happy in Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry enclaves there's really one key thing the iPhone 5s offers that other platforms genuinely struggle with, and that's small form factor and power. You can get small Android/WP8 devices, but they're all underpowered; if you want cutting edge you're getting a larger-screened device such as the Galaxy Note 3. Those who want a smaller device will find the iPhone 5s to be an excellent choice.

iPhone 5c

Alongside the premium iPhone 5s, Apple also launched the iPhone 5c, its polycarbonate and highly-colourful line of ever-so-slightly-cheaper iPhones based primarily around the hardware found in the iPhone 5. I was going to type "existing" iPhone 5, but the theatre where Apple held its launch hadn't even finished clearing before Apple pulled the iPhone 5 from its own sales channels. If you want an iPhone 5, you'll need to find one still on store shelves, and rather quickly at that.

As I've been testing the iPhone 5c, I've been struggling with one basic question, and it's this: Who is the iPhone 5c for?

Apple was widely rumoured to be bringing a "cheap" iPhone to market, and it didn't, but then it never said it would. What we've got instead is a marginally-cheaper iPhone that's rather well built - like the other iPhones that came before it, in other words - and comes in a variety of colours. The physical build is fine, the colours will appeal to some and appall others, and iOS runs acceptably well on it, as it should. Testing it felt like testing the iPhone 5, and that's already a very well known quantity. Apple states that the battery in the iPhone 5c is improved over that of the iPhone 5, but in my own tests they run pretty much neck and neck for most of the time.

It is essentially just an iPhone 5 in a pretty new hat. The iPhone 5 was a fine premium smartphone in 2012, but in 2013, that makes it (at best) an upper mid-range phone. Apple hasn't priced it that way, putting $130 (if purchased outright) between the price of the 5c and the 5s. The performance and feature gulf, once you take the better camera, fingerprint sensor, motion sensor and faster processor into account isn't trivial, but it is quite trivial to get a colourful iPhone 5 case - most I've tested with fit just fine - and pop it onto an iPhone 5s. Hey presto, it's an iPhone 5c, only quite a bit better.

So who's going to buy it? I'm honestly not sure outside of the heavy fashion crowd who, for one reason or another might just want colour and not actual features. When it was announced and outright pricing emerged, the only glimmer of hope was that telcos would take it on board in a heavily-subsidised fashion, making it a better value pick, but that hasn't really happened at all in Australia. We're still better off on contract than in the US - an interesting reversal of the outright purchase price - but carriers are less inclined to subsidise handsets in such a heavily-competitive space, which means that the iPhone 5c, like many other handsets, isn't available in any kind of budget space.

Maybe I'll be proved wrong, and a market will emerge that loves the iPhone 5c and buys it in droves. Undeniably, that's what Apple would be hoping for, although at the time of writing it's the first Apple product I can think of that hasn't sold out on pre-order; as I write this Apple is citing delivery availability if pre-ordered for every colour of iPhone 5c on Friday, which is precisely when both the 5c and 5s (which you can't pre-order) go on sale.

So is Apple still "magical"? I'm not entirely convinced it ever was, but in offering two different iPhones to market at once, it is offering more choice, even though the choice between two premium models, where one is markedly better than the other, is one that's astonishingly easy to make.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/technology/articles/2013/09/18/3851155.htm

Microsoft out $20 billion on Nokia deal

Microsoft's $US7.2 billion ($7.9 billion) takeover of Nokia's handset business cost shareholders more than twice that, as it dashed hopes for a fresh start under Steve Ballmer's successor.

The world's largest software company lost $US18 billion ($19.7 billion) in market value since the purchase of Nokia's mobile phone assets was disclosed, erasing all of the gains that followed the announcement last month that Ballmer is retiring, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The agreement cements the departing chief executive's shift toward the more volatile consumer-device business and leaves little room for his successor to take a different tack, Atlantic Equities said.

Microsoft is chasing growth in a market already dominated by Apple and Google with devices that generate lower returns than the company's business-software division. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is returning to Microsoft as part of the asset sale, making him Ballmer's most likely successor and signalling that the company is in smartphones for the long haul, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said, even as some shareholders say that strategy is misplaced.

"I can't say I'm too thrilled about the deal," said Tim Schwartz, a money manager at Schwartz Investment Counsel, which oversees $US1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) and owns Microsoft shares. "The perception is that this is going to be a continuation of the old management and old-school Microsoft mentality."

Ballmer exit

Microsoft shares surged 7.3 per cent on August 23 after Ballmer, who has been CEO since 2000, said he will retire within 12 months. Some investors were eager for his replacement to be an outsider who might make bold moves to reverse a shrinking market value, such as spinning off consumer-centric units such as Xbox and shifting its focus back toward software and services for businesses.

The Nokia purchase instead has fuelled speculation that Elop, a former Microsoft executive, is being groomed to take the helm and will continue with Ballmer's strategy of keeping enterprise and consumer products under one roof. The stock has dropped 6.6 per cent since announcing the Nokia deal, sending Microsoft's market value down to $US260 billion ($285 billion) on Wednesday in the US.

"There have been a meaningful proportion of investors who had hoped that Microsoft would de-emphasise its consumer businesses and focus on its more profitable, more predictable corporate businesses," said Atlantic Equities analyst Chris Hickey. "This acquisition obviously makes that possibility extremely unlikely" and "ties the hands" of the next CEO, he said.

Critical market

Microsoft said adding Nokia's handset business will let it make more money from Windows Phones and help the software maker move faster and create better products in a market that is critical to its success. The company sees "significant long-term revenue and profit opportunities" for shareholders, Ballmer said in the press release announcing the deal.

"Phones are the most personal of the personal devices people use today and success in phones is important for success in tablets and PCs," said Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. "We need to move faster."

Microsoft spokesman Tony Imperati declined to comment further.

The timing of the deal limits activist shareholder ValueAct's ability to fight the deal, according to Rick Sherlund, a New York-based analyst at Nomura Holdings. ValueAct last week won an agreement that would give it a seat on Microsoft's board next year and guaranteed regular meetings with "selected Microsoft directors and management". In return, the investor won't pursue or participate in a proxy contest.

Response options

A source with knowledge of the matter has said ValueAct wants Microsoft to focus on its business software and internet-based cloud services rather than consumer technology. Representatives for ValueAct didn't return calls for comment on the Microsoft-Nokia deal.

"Now that ValueAct has entered its standstill agreement, it is not clear what alternatives ValueAct may have to respond to shareholder dissatisfaction with the Nokia deal," Sherlund wrote in a note on September 3.

Much of the dissatisfaction is due to "not the deal itself but what it could mean," said Bernstein analyst Mark Moerdler. "It may not be the end of the investments Microsoft makes in trying to chase after the consumer market, an area that the Street may or may not feel is the best use of Microsoft's resources."

More deals?

Microsoft still needs more applications and services if it wants to fulfil Ballmer's strategy of integrating its services with its devices, similar to what Apple has done, Wells Fargo analyst Jason Maynard wrote in a September 3 report.

BlackBerry's strong presence in the enterprise market could still attract interest from Microsoft, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. Shares of the Canadian smartphone maker, which is weighing a sale, have risen 6.2 per cent since Microsoft's Nokia announcement.

Microsoft paid 0.42 times Nokia's trailing 12-month revenue from devices and services, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that includes net debt. That revenue multiple would imply an enterprise value of $US4.8 billion ($5.3 billion) for Blackberry. The device maker's equity and net cash are currently valued at $US2.8 billion ($3.1 billion).

The acquisition will put an even bigger spotlight on the struggles in Microsoft's consumer-devices business, which are likely to continue as it faces off against stronger rivals Apple and Google, Hickey of Atlantic Equities said.

Declining asset

The deal doesn't offer much more to Microsoft than it already had as part of its partnership with Nokia, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Nandan Amladi.

"They already had a partnership in place, so people are wondering why they bought an asset with a declining revenue base and pretty challenging margins," Amladi said.

Microsoft is paying a much higher premium for the Nokia assets than "even optimistic estimates suggested they were worth", said Todd Lowenstein, a fund manager at HighMark Capital Management, which oversees about $US19 billion ($20.8 billion) and owns Microsoft shares.

"The deal handcuffs the next CEO somewhat," Lowenstein said. "This feeds into the perception Microsoft lacks capital discipline, overpays on deals, and chases growth in areas where they aren't competitive at their core."

 Content Source: http://www.theage.com.au/it-pro/business-it/microsoft-out-20-billion-on-nokia-deal-20130906-hv1md.html