A well planned search engine optmisation campaign should always start with on page optmisation. As the name already suggests, this part of a search engine optimisation will optimise key elements on-page.

To start the on-page optmisation process, keyword research is the paramount of importance. This will ascertain the most relevant keywords related to your site’s theme. Another important factor that should be considered here is the search volume of each keyword you are analyzing.

There are various free keyword analyzing tools available today, with wordtracker, keyword discovery and the Google Adwords keyword suggestion tool been the most used ones.

Once you have a list of keywords that you are happy with, it’s time to start implementing those keywords on the right places on your website’s pages.

The most important on page optimisation element are the title tags. The title tag is the first thing search engines robots look at when they crawl a page, and it’s given a very high importance by the search engines so it’s crucial to add you keywords to your title tags.

Another good place to add your keywords is in the meta description and keywords tags, these meta tags are not as important as they used to be, but since search engines normally displays the meta description tags as the text snippet under the link to your site on the SERPs, writing compelling meta description tags can make your site stand out on the SERPs and instigate searchers to click through your link.

Headers are another important element that should be given special attention, search engines give a high importance to headers, especially the H1 headers or H1 tags, adding your keywords to these tags can help improve the rankings for these keywords.

Since the search engines are not good in reading images you will need to use special tags to tell the SE what the image represents, these special tags are called ALT tags. Again an important place to add your keywords and always use a meaningful file name to your images, for instance “dog-playing-with-ball.jpg” is much better than “DC23124.jpg”.

The content or the text of your pages should also be optmised. Optmise your content in a way that suits both your visitors and the search engines. Don’t stuff your content with keywords; try to use synonyms and variations of your keywords. By en-bolding the odd keyword, this also high lights important text to the search engines, once again care must be taken to not look artificial.

With these guidelines we covered more or less all the on-page optmisation elements.

Over the past 40 years the first week of January is one of the most important weeks, if not the most important, for consumer electronic manufacturers and the reason for that is because that is when the most prestigious Consumer Electronics fair is on.

Held in the city of Las Vegas Nevada, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is a major technological related trade show. Sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association, the CES is a trade-only show not open to the general public, and it is where manufacturers announce, introduce and preview future products.

A little bit of history:

The first CES show was held in New York in 1967. From the years of 1978 to 1994 CES used to be held twice a year, once in the summer in Chicago and once in the winter held in Las Vegas. However, SCES begun to loose popularity and in the summer of 1995 organisers decided to put the show on the road, consecutive failures led to the cancellation of the summer show and a once a year format was adopted.

Throughout the years the Consumer Electronics Show has been the main stage of notable products introductions, it would be virtually impossible to list all products and technologies introduced at CES over the years, so here is a compilation of the most notable ones in chronological order:

1970: Was the year when the Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) was introduced.

1974: Was marked by the introduction of the Laser disc player.

1981: Two notable introductions this year; the Compact Disc (CD) and the Camcorder.

1985: First notable revolution in the gaming industry with the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

1996: Year when the DVD was introduced.

1998: HDTV was introduced.

2001: Microsoft introduced its gaming console the Xbox.

2008: Panasonic stole all the attention by releasing a 150 inch Plasma TVs as thin as 0.46 inches.

2009: Highlights to the impressive number of exhibiting companies, +2,700 and the introduction of 3-D Home Entertainment.

The internet is a very competitive place nowadays with so many companies promoting their businesses and events.

It use to be just a simple website a company would need to promote themselves online, but now the possiblities on the net are pretty much endless.

A lot of companies and individuals are making use of search engine optimisation, blogs and social media to put themselves at the top of Google.

There are also so many social networking sites being subscribed to now that more people are using the internet to research, find places and even shop.

So it is therefore very important to have a well designed website that will beat your competitors in style and function. This can make a big impact on how long a potential client will spend on your site, as an out of date or difficult to use site will put users off.

Having a website is all well and good but without the right promotion it can get lost in the world wide web, that’s where search engine optimisation can be just the right solution!

CCNA Security Certification meets the needs of IT professionals who are responsible for network security. It confirms an individual’s skills for job roles such as Network Security Specialists, Security Administrators, and Network Security Support Engineers. This certification validates skills including installation, troubleshooting and monitoring of network devices to maintain integrity, confidentiality and availability of data and devices and develops competency in the technologies that Cisco uses in its security structure.

Students completing the recommended Cisco training will gain an introduction to core security technologies as well as how to develop security policies and mitigate risks. IT organizations that employ CCNA Security-holders will have IT staff that can develop a security infrastructure, recognize threats and vulnerabilities to networks, and mitigate security threats.

More info here

How do you define optimism?

A banker who irons 5 shirts on a Sunday.

 Of course the average techie doesnt iron any shirts at all

Pupils will be taught about blogging and podcasts as part of a new literacy drive by the Scottish Government. 

Ministers want teachers to pay attention to basics like spelling, comprehension and punctuation under the new Curriculum for Excellence. 

However, Schools Minister Maureen Watt said pupils would also be asked to look at how they communicate online. 

She said they would be failing pupils if they ignored new developments like blogging and social networking sites. 

“Communication in the modern workplace is essential. Employers expect and are demanding core literacy skills from school leavers,” she said.

‘More relevant’ 

“Young people are immersed in technology and the tools that help them create websites, blogs, videos and podcasts also allow them to be authors and publishers. 

“They can reach a worldwide audience, so we have to teach them to do this well. We would be failing them if we just stand by and ignore these developments.” 

Youngsters will also be taught when the use of text-speak is acceptable. 

The new guidance forms part of English literacy “draft outcomes” which are published as part of the government’s plans to introduce a more “holistic” approach to education for children aged three to 18. 

Improve your project management skills by becoming a registered PRINCE2 Practitioner The demand for project management training and in particular, PRINCE2™, has never been greater than it is today. It is estimated that 40,000 individuals attend a PRINCE2™ Practitioner course every year in the UK. The PRINCE2™ methodology has been widely deployed by many of the UK’s leading private and public sector organisations.

 More information on Prince 2 Taining

Since its acquisition by a US Private Equity firm in late December 2006, PPI Learning Services has engaged in several partnerships with key Learning Solution providers. In particular, its new HowDoI™ based on the LearningGuide is being introduced to its large strategic clients in order to deploy custom designed training rollouts and to increase Help Desks efficiency.

“Our customers are seeking new and better ways to train and support their staff as new enterprise solutions and processes are introduced to increase their employees’ productivity in view of the increased competition from Emerging Markets” says Dr Marie-Paule Donsimoni-Bupp, Chairman and CEO of PPI Learning Services. “We need to maintain our leadership position in the traditional IT Professional and end-user Training but to also expand our offering to include new Learning Solutions and new Financial mechanisms.”

To that effect, PPI Learning Services has concluded its first acquisition with the merger of Exchange Group Corporate Sales which offers employers a unique approach to their employee training needs, delivering a broad range of services into the heart of the community. They have a range of flexible courses leading to recognised qualifications particularly in the Microsoft arena.

A key outcome of the acquisition is that Roy Sunley will join PPI Learning Services as its new Managing Director. “Mr. Sunley’s wealth of experience is a real asset to the company and with his forward thinking management strategy and the backing of a committed and enthusiastic workforce and investors, I am convinced that he will propel PPI Learning Services to the very top of the Learning industry” said Dr. Donsimoni-Bupp.

Mr Sunley brings 25 years of experience in the strategic IT training market. Prior to being Managing Director at Exchange Group Corporate Sales, he was CEO of Computeach International and prior to that, spent eight years as Vice President and Managing Director of Thomson NETg International.

In addition, the continued partnership with Exchange Group means that PPI Learning Services will now have the benefit of government funded training for those clients that have a requirement for very basic skills which may be covered under government funded schemes. Finally, via Exchange Group, a new set of European investors have entered into the capital of PPI Learning Services, opening the doors for acquisitions not only in the UK but also in the rest of Europe.

About PPI Learning Services

PPI Learning Services is an enterprise learning integrator that manages some of the country’s largest learning and performance-development contracts. It integrates learning technologies and tools, methods and services together to provide world-class learning solutions. PPI Learning Services offers IT training around the UK via prestigeous training centres and its fleet of mobile coaches and provides on site learning services. Learning partner accreditations include: Microsoft, Oracle, Citrix, PRINCE, ISEB and CompTIA.
About PPI Learning Services:
PPI Learning Services is an enterprise learning integrator that manages some of the country’s largest learning and performance-development contracts. It integrates learning technologies and tools, methods and services together to provide world-class learning solutions. PPI Learning Services offers IT training around the UK via prestigeous training centres and its fleet of mobile coaches and provides on site learning services. Learning partner accreditations include: Microsoft, Oracle, Citrix, PRINCE, ISEB and CompTIA.

The Institute of IT Training (IITT) has selected the Enterprise Study Network system to provide a nationwide schedule of accredited training.

The new service provided via the Institute’s website enables training buyers to search a wide range of courses from its list of Accredited Training Providers in one place. “Many buyers use a variety of sources to search for training but often find the process time consuming and end up with no way to assure the quality of the supplier they eventually select,” outlines Colin Steed, CEO of the ITTT. “The new free course search and booking service offered via our website not only provides an easier way to source training, it also gives buyers the confidence of purchasing from only IITT accredited organisations.”

“The Institute is delighted to work with Enterprise Study to provide this service and we are confident that it will be a valuable tool for the training industry,” concludes Steed. “Source: Training Press Releases”

The IT skills gap, a phenomenon of the 1990s, is on the increase again, exposing a significant shortfall of skills in advanced networking technologies.

A report by IDC and Cisco has demonstrated that the skills gap is very much alive with a shortage of 230,000 networking specialists today rising to 615,000 in 2008. This is quite frightening given the reliance that business and government places on the Internet.

In the late 90s, entry into IT careers was difficult and the skills gap was wide open between the haves and have-nots. Today, more people have a basic knowledge of PC hardware and software, yet networking technology remains an unknown for many. “Source: Training Press Releases”