domain name expiration notice email scam

Domain Name Expiration Notice Email Scam

Internet scams are nothing new and as we highlighted before they can arrive via email or even in the mailbox. The most recent scam warns of domain name expiration and has fooled a couple of our clients. The email pictured above uses language that scares business owners into thinking they have to pay quickly:

Don’t miss out on this offer which includes search engine submission for YOURDOMAIN.COM for 12 months. There is no obligation to pay for this order unless you complete your payment by Apr 18, 2013. Our services provide submission and search engine ranking for domain owners. This offer for submission services is not required to renew your domain registration.

Failure to complete your search engine registration by Apr 18, 2013 may result in the cancellation of this order (making it difficult for your customers to locate you using search engines on the web).

Always make sure your domain name renewal is coming from the company you registered with. We always recommend our clients to check with us before paying any web related bills.

Have questions? Give us a call: (213) 245-1057 or drop us a line. We can help you sort this web stuff out.

The Good Bad and Ugly movie poster

Cheap Web hosting is Bad for SEO

Often times when the topic of web hosting comes up with clients, it is something they have not thought about. Some ask for our recommendation and others do a Google search for “cheap web hosting” and are quick to spot the $1.99 hosting from GoDaddy.

There is nothing wrong with cheap hosting if used for a personal webpage. If on the other hand your site is business related or if search engine rankings are important to you, it would be a bad choice to choose the cheapest option.

Here are the top reasons why cheap or bad hosting can not only irritate your visitors but also negatively effect SEO:

1. Web Server Downtime
Cheap shared hosting plans experience a lot of downtime. During these times your website cannot be accessed by either visitors or search engines, which hurts SEO efforts badly.

2. Page Load Time
Slow page load time can directly impact high bounce rates and decreased conversion rates and negatively effect SEO. Cheap web hosting companies promise Unlimited bandwidth but fail to mention how slow it will be. How long your website takes to load has been a ranking factor used in Google’s search ranking algorithms since 2010.

3. Bad Shared Hosting Neighbors
With shared hosting, your website files are stored on the same server space and IP address with other websites. If the other neighbor websites are spammy it can negatively effect your SEO. Use this free tool to see who is sharing your IP address.

If you are losing sleep because of these and other hosting issues, drop us an email. We’ll point you in the right direction.

DNS Services Scam bill mail copy

DNS Services Bill Scam

We recently received calls from several clients asking if they should pay the “bill” from DNS Services for hosting and email servers. This was a surprise to us because we provide hosting and email services for these clients. Once the bill / invoice was scanned over to us, we quickly saw the scam. Notice the second paragraph,

“This is a solicitation for the order of goods or services or both and not a bil, invoice, or statement of account due. You are under no obligation to make any payments on account of this offer unless you accept this offer.”

This type of scam usually succeeds with the accounting department and busy small business owners who quickly pay what looks to be a real bill. If you receive this “bill” feel free to trash it or respond with a bill of your own, for wasting your time.

Contact us with any questions about DNS, web hosting or other web accounts.

Romney accidently publishes victory website

Romney Publishes Victory Website by Mistake

On Tuesday, one person was re-hired and another fired. President Barack Obama was re-elected and will continue working for another four years. The person fired was a Romney staffer who accidentally published the website Mitt Romney had prepared in case he became president elect.

Romney’s look and tag line “Smaller, Simpler, Smarter” Future of America, is classic! View the larger image grab at Politicalwire.com

Arm and Hammer knockoff

Spotting a Fake Social Media Expert

Companies are increasingly on the hunt for social media savvy professionals. Whether for Customer Service or Marketing, social media experts are in demand by small to large businesses. Once business owners understand that a high school student should not be running the companies social media marketing, they will search for an agency.

There will always be those who try to pawn themselves off as experts. With such important customer facing visibility you don’t want to hire the wrong person or agency. So how do you spot a fake social media guru? Here is what to look for in a fake:

Dependence on buzz words
They don’t have program goals outside of setting up accounts and posting randomly.

Their own social presence is a mess and only focus on top social networks
Their own social media accounts are short on content. Facebook and twitter are the big platforms but there are many smaller platforms depending on your business.

They don’t understand how to fit social media into a business
Just because they maybe good at personal branding, it doesn’t mean they’ll be great at managing a corporate social program. Managing a personal brand is VERY DIFFERENT from managing a corporate brand.

They employ the same strategy to every platform
There are many good strategies to use on Facebook that don’t work on Twitter, and vice verse. Do they know which strategy is best for each platform?

If you don’t have the time or expertise to filter through a list of candidates, bring in people who know the space. Hire an online marketing agency to partner with your HR team and sift through the candidates. And remember you don’t need a Twitter Hotshot, a LinkedIn Guy or a Facebook Ninja, settle for a solid professional who will positively represent your company and brand. Oh and by the way, we are here to help.

Best Time to Share on Facebook, Twitter and Others

Several months ago the social sharing widget AddThis! had it’s five year anniversary and to celebrate they produced this infographic: 5 Years of Sharing.
We saved it on our hard drive since then and sharing it on our blog has been long over due.

The following highlights are great for businesses trying to time their content release:

  • 9:30 am on Wednesday is the peak time most people share, with most people clicking two minutes after content is posted.
  • Twitter is the fastest growing service with over a 35k% increase, followed by Facebook and Linkedin.
  • Most online sharing happens via address bar cut and paste.

Interesting stuff!

Best time to share on Social Media infographic

First photo on the internet

First Picture ever Posted on Internet

Even thou it looks like a bad prom or high school reunion picture, this is actually the first picture ever posted on the world wide web! The lovely ladies in the photo were part of a musical group called Les Horrible Cernettes, based at the CERN laboratory in Geneva. The photo was taken during the annual music festival put on by CERN and  tweaked in version one of Photoshop, before being uploaded by Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the Internet.

Desk Excercises guide

Exercises to do at Your Desk – Burn Calories and Avoid RSI

Most technology and web related work requires sitting at your desk all day long and clicking at the computer. Before repetitive stress injuries get the better of you, add some simple exercises and stretching to your workday.

I keep this info-comic illustration by Yumi Sakugawa on my desktop to remind me to stretch through out the day. She provides simple body, neck and wrist stretches to keep your body from getting stiff.

The “Water Bottle weightlifting” looks a bit like the Shake Weight, which I would pay to watch anyone do in the cubicle at their office!

Camera Porn: The Making of the Leica M9-P

Last week Leica announced that it was launching a a special edition of its M9 with fashion label Hermès. It will cost an wallet-crushing $25,000 and this video helps explain the high cost.

Old-world craftsmanship, attention to detail and of course pure sex appeal are all part of making Leicas. God do I want one!