Google launches “Abtal Al Internet” initiative to teach children online safety habits

Aiming to encourage children to be confident online explorers while avoiding potential cybersecurity pitfalls, Google has launched “Abtal Al Internet” (Internet Heroes) initiative in Arabic, a free online platform full of learning resources and interactive activities on online safety for kids, parents and educators. This move seems in line with Google’s Be Internet Awesome initiative launched last year.

Children now access the internet at very young ages and are vulnerable to online predators and scams whether it be on social media or online games. To that effort, Abtal Al Internet is designed to teach kids the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety and help them confidently navigate the online world by being smart, alert, strong, kind and brave. 

Also part of the online learning program is an online adventure, A’lam al Internet (Interland), that allows kids to develop good digital habits such as not sharing information online to those they don’t trust, building strong passwords, staying away from fake profiles and phishing scams, being kind to others online and reporting inappropriate content. 

According to Google’s survey, majority of teachers in the Arab world believe that online safety should be part of curriculum and have reportedly witnessed concerning online incidents. To that end, Abtal Al Internet aims to provide guidance for educators and parents to teach kids about digital safety in homes as well as classrooms through videos, activities and more.

The program has been developed in collaboration with online safety experts including Family Online Safety Institute, the Internet Keep Safe Coalition and ConnectSafely. It can be accessed here: g.co/abtalinternet

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20 ways to promote your website

We’re all familiar with the term ‘one hit wonder’, and many artists or groups have had huge success with a single song, then subsequently nosedived into commercial oblivion with their following tracks.

The lifecycle of a website can be disturbingly similar, at least to a point. There’s a kind of gravitational force which acts on all websites, pulling them down the search engine rankings as they’re replaced with newer, fresher, more successfully promoted sites.

If you want to defy this natural force, you’ll need a promotional plan, many clever tricks, and a concerted effort from your web development team. With that in mind, here’s a list of 20 ways in which you can promote your website, and keep it as visible as possible.

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1. Be SEO smart

Most of the time, your website will be found via a search engine, and the vast majority of folks out there are using Google for search duties. And where your site is placed in terms of the rankings in any given search is heavily influenced by how Google matches the words and phrases that people are using to search. 

Consider altering the site’s content to include popular phrases that people are searching for, and find the magic words that you need using the Google AdWord keyword planner. This process – although there’s a lot more to it – is known as SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization.

2. Get reciprocal

The more links that external websites have to your site, and the more links you make to them, will be seen by search engines as a good reason to elevate your importance as a web location. 

Therefore if you have commercial relationships, you can strengthen those by exchanging links and building a flow of traffic between your mutual sites. This is especially useful if you are part of a bigger conglomerate, where the group site can link to all the subsidiaries without the need for permissions.

3. Facebook ads

If you want to sell door-to-door, then you need to turn up when people are at home, and the web equivalent of this is catching them on social media. Despite some recent flattening of growth, many millions of people still use Facebook, and this platform has the advantage that you can target users of a specific age or gender, those with certain interests, or those who follow particular brands or celebrities.

4. Connect with influencers

Perhaps you can’t get an A-list star to blog about your products or services, but maybe you could find a blogger who has a dedicated following that they can influence. 

Compared with celebrity endorsements, the costs will be minimal, and some might even cover a product for a free sample if asked.

5. Go beyond Google

Google may be the search giant of the world, but not everyone uses it. For example, in China, more surfers use Baidu. Submitting to all those other search engines aside from Google and Bing is a worthwhile exercise, especially if you do business in locations outside of the US and Europe. 

Instead of submitting to each engine in turn, use a tool like Submit Express to hit a large number in a single operation.

6. Use YouTube

The right video on YouTube can rapidly attract tens of thousands of views, and can subsequently generate links in Facebook and Twitter. Even if it’s just a recording of a seminar speech or something made to promote a new product line, it’s all worth placing on YouTube to create interest and attract visitors to your website.

7. Be adaptable

Tracking and analyzing information from your website will tell you where visitors typically enter, and the pages they most often access. You can then concentrate on enhancing the more popular areas of your site – and deprioritize the sections which see less traffic – and that should hopefully see your visitor count grow. Not only that, but those who do visit will be more likely to come back, elevating your status with search engines.

8. Use Reddit

Modestly labelled as the ‘front page of the internet’, any news story or press release from your company should be put on here, with links to bring people back to your site. 

However, be advised that Reddit users can take a dislike to anything perceived as overtly corporate, so be careful about how you position content and interact with the denizens of the site. 

9. Be a community player

As a representative for your business, you might want to join appropriate Facebook and Google+ groups, so that you can tap into what they’re thinking, and how they react to product launches and promotions.

10. Be professional

If you post images on your website or social media, then make sure they’re really good quality ones, and even consider having them link to the full resolution original. 

The same goes for video footage. Avoid portrait recordings made by a phone with no image stabilization, at the very least.

11. Answer questions

People love online experts who can answer questions, so be one of them. There are numerous question-and-answer forums run by the likes of Quora, Yahoo, and so on, which are all free to join. 

You might also consider adding a question page to your site. You could then take the best answers, and use them to construct a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).

12. Create infographics

Infographics are those charts which you see here and there about the web, which graphically illustrate an interesting trend or the breakdown of a market by percentages. Making one that relates to your business, or the market that it operates in, and then distributing this infographic is an excellent way to get visitors.

13. Incorporate a blog

This is a method that both Google and Microsoft (and many others) employ, where they have senior staff blog about new or interesting products that they’re working on. 

Visitors react better to people than corporate entities, and personalizing product development, in particular, can be highly influential. Often this is a much better way to release company news, rather than an official press release.

14. Use Google My Business

This is most useful if you run a local business where customers can physically come to your office or store to collect products, or engage in personal interaction. The Google My Business tool allows your company to appear on a Google Map search so that you can be found easily by anyone looking for you. 

A nifty added benefit of being on here is that if your company name is searched via Google, the result returned will also bring up a map showing where you are.

15. Get a webmaster account

Most search engines have special accounts for those who run websites, and once you have this connection with them, you can use it to interact with the company about how you might improve your search ranking. 

A Google account, for example, is an excellent way to make sure that the site is indexed correctly, and isn’t being ignored for some spurious reason.

16. Use email marketing

A timely reminder to previous customers or a nudge to potentially new ones is an effective way to stimulate web traffic. It’s also a great idea to include links to new and interesting content within the marketing email, stimulating the recipient to visit. 

Just make sure that those who get the emails have a means to decline receiving any further messages, or you’ll get a reputation as a spammer.

17. Cross-marketing

Once you have a web presence up and running, make sure that the web address is clearly visible on all stationery, printed promotional materials, giveaway pens, T-shirts or other merchandize. 

The more places that your web address is visible, the greater the chances that new folks will see the URL and decide to visit.

18. Have an email signature

All company emails should have a branded signature, and in that information, a link to the website should be included. By doing this, you ensure that any email which is forwarded to another person will include the link, and allow the recipient to click through to your site with the minimum of effort.

19. Invest in search engines

Search engine marketing allows you to promote the position you will appear at on a search, and those links that are present on the first page of results will get the majority of traffic for any given keyword.

Paying for a sponsored link enables this to happen, assuming you pay more than your competitors for each link that is clicked. Depending on the keyword, each click might cost you very little or a good bit more, but the fact that most large companies use this method demonstrates that it’s an effective marketing strategy. 

20. Use Wikipedia

Most companies have a Wikipedia page, and those that don’t need to make one. 
Not only is this a good place to chart the growth of the firm and how it compares to competitors, but it can also provide a good linkage to the main website that anyone researching a subject related to your business might run into.

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The ‘lazy’ option: Should you let a third-party outfit manage your website?

Read enough business journals, and you’ll encounter the expression ‘core business’ on a regular basis. 

The phrase refers to the part of the company that creates, produces or services those things which are the intrinsic reason that the business exists. Most firms have departments like human resources and accounts that are important in operational terms, but aren’t ‘core business’ functions. 

Some companies will review the various components of their business on a regular basis to determine which parts are core, and which aren’t – potentially outsourcing the latter to other firms, who can then take responsibility for, say, cleaning the offices, finding new recruits, and so on.

In a similar vein, hosting a website, updating the contents and managing any web-related security issues are all complex jobs that require experienced staff to handle. Therefore, rather than accepting those additional tasks, many businesses outsource the whole problem, and have their entire web solution managed by another company. 

In these scenarios, the website is designed and developed, then ultimately hosted and managed by a third-party, with minimal contribution from the client company. 

This might seem like the ‘lazy’ option on the face of it, but it could also be the most sensible one too. Let’s look at the arguments for doing things this way first, and then the cons, before weighing up the relative merits in our conclusion.

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The advantages

An obvious benefit of having the website created and maintained independently is that it won’t involve the hiring of expensive specialist technical staff. 

This is especially important if the web project is going to be a relatively short-lived exercise, followed by an update and maintenance phase that can be overseen by less knowledgeable folks. 

A big company could easily justify having a web expert, but smaller operations might not need one. 

Where the full service agreement is most valuable is if the website must go live within a tight timescale, as that can be specified within the contract and resources allocated accordingly. 

On the client side, there needs to be a dedicated project manager to parallel that of the development team, with this manager making sure that milestones are achieved on schedule, and that the live date is still achievable. 

This person should also be involved in the creation of the website specification that the developers will subsequently use to construct the site. 

Don’t think that because much of the work is done for the client company, that this disconnects the firm from all responsibility, as without branded graphics, content guides and sign-offs, the development team is effectively rudderless. 

Costs are traditionally regarded as a disadvantage (more on that shortly). However, with a properly defined specification, delivery schedule and maintenance quote, the costs should at least be ring-fenced.

Internal web projects have a knack of spiralling over their previously agreed budget, and very rarely take into account the hidden impact on staff members who are employed to do other things the majority of their working days. 

The companies that provide the full web design, development and maintenance cycle are usually very experienced at delivering these things without stressing their clients, and that peace of mind is really what you’re paying for. 

The disadvantages

One obvious disadvantage of managed web facilities is the inherent lack of control. 

The service and the website provided by a managed service will deliver exactly what the original contract specified, no more or less. Therefore, any major expansions or revisions, or the addition of new technology, will cost extra. 

Any company entering into one of these agreements should have a clear understanding of what will happen to the site and its contents when the contract ends – since the line between ownership of code and content might easily be blurred. 

Those outfits providing this type of service often have bespoke internal web development tools that are then licensed for use on each project, and without access to those, further changes might not be practical or possible. 

But the biggest disadvantage of the lazy approach is undoubtedly cost. The initial design overheads and monthly charges aren’t likely to be cheap, and those providing these services obviously need to make a profit.

What’s the best choice?

How well a full service solution fits a given company will depend on the human resources available, the immediacy of the need for the site, and the level of control and involvement that is required. 

A simple website doesn’t need this commercial hammer to be cracked, but those wanting to jump straight into e-commerce might require it. 

Bigger companies usually have internal resources; smaller ones would balk at the cost. So, middle-order organizations that are in the process of expanding are the most likely candidates. For them, being able to deliver a professional web solution without becoming web experts is an ideal option. 

At any rate, the decision should ultimately be one that reduces the number of senior management headaches, rather than creating extra ones.

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Facebook hack leaks data from 50 million users

Earlier this week Facebook discovered a breach in its security that compromised the data of nearly 50 million accounts. The announcement that the breach occurred was made on Friday and while authorities have been contacted, but Facebook has yet to discover where the attack came from or the full scope of it.

The breach was discovered by Facebook’s engineering team Tuesday morning and, according to a post on Facebook’s newsroom, the company says that 90 million users were forced to log out and log back in to verify their credentials. 

According to Facebook, the attackers used the “View As” feature that allows users to see what their account looks like to their friends, family members and complete strangers to “steal Facebook access tokens which they could then use to take over people’s accounts”.

After the breach, Facebook says it will disable that feature until it can conduct a thorough security review.

What information was taken?

At the moment, Facebook has yet to reveal what data was affected by the breach but says that it’s working to figure that information out.

It doesn’t help that the company isn’t sure who the attackers are or where the attackers came from. Those details, according to Facebook, are still under investigation.

“We’re working hard to better understand these details — and we will update this post when we have more information, or if the facts change. In addition, if we find more affected accounts, we will immediately reset their access tokens.”

Facebook has reset the access tokens for some 50 million accounts it knows were affected by the breach, alongside another 40 million other accounts that may have been affected.

For those worried they may be affected, Facebook is encouraging folks to visit the “Security and Login” section in their settings to log out of all the locations signed in with their account.

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TSB and HSBC resolve system glitch that locked users out of their accounts

Banking customers of both TSB and HSBC had difficulties accessing their accounts after a glitch in the banks' online systems locked them out.

TSB says that its systems are now almost back to normal after some customers were unable to access their online accounts. HSBC was also hit by similar problems with its mobile banking app though it too now says all operations are back online after the outage.

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A spokesperson for TSB apologised to customers affected by the disruption, saying: “We're sorry for any issues our customers experienced. These services are now recovering back to normal levels.”

Users of TSB's smartphone app and online banking services experienced difficulties logging in since around 7:40am on Friday. Around the same time, 50 per cent of HSBC's mobile users were having trouble connecting to its app.

This is just the latest in a string of IT outages across the banking industry, including the recent major IT failure at TSB that led to its chief Paul Pester stepping down.

Sorry for the disruption

Both banks have since apologised to their users though being unable to access one's funds online is not the kind of thing customers can get over quickly.

TSB emphasised that although users were having difficulties with its online banking, “Our cards, branch and telephone services continue to operate as normal.”

A spokesperson for HSBC did their best to reassure customers, saying:

"An earlier issue where some customers were unable to log on to the HSBC mobile banking app has been resolved and users of the app should be able to log on as usual. We will be conducting an investigation into the cause of this issue, and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

TSB experienced a huge IT meltdown earlier this year that left customers frustrated for weeks and led to the resignation of the bank's chief executive. The bank's customers, many of which are still recovering from previous outages, took to Twitter to vent their anger with the company's online services.

Via BBC

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Cloudflare launches new cut-price domain registrar

Cloudflare is looking to take some of the stress out of getting your website online by launching a new cut-price domain registration service.

Cloudflare Registrar does away with additional costs normally charged by competitors, which can be a major expense for companies and individuals alike, with the company promising to bill only wholesale prices, with no hidden charges.

Instead, users will only pay the same amount that other registrars would pay to ICANN and TLD providers, rather than being hit with hidden extra costs or pushed to upgrade to services they don't need.

Cloudflare Registrar

The new service, launching on the company's eighth birthday is available to all Cloudflare customers today, with those that have been with the company for the longest time getting access first.

It follows the launch of an earlier platform which was only designed for companies, and also offers high-level security thanks to the inclusion of Custom Domain Protection, which helps clients tailor their online protection according to their needs, as well as its Whois security platform.

In a blog post announcing the launch, Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince revealed that before the company even launched back in September 2010, customers were asking the company to launch a registrar service.

He added that there seems little reason for providers to mark up such additional services to users, as registering a domain name incurs few overheads except for ongoing support.

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Why social media and newsletters are vital for your website’s success

Given the vast number of websites that exist these days, the chances of anyone turning up randomly at yours are vanishingly slim. And equally, if a person does visit your website, and you want them to return, it will take more than blind optimism to make that happen.

What you need is a means to lure potential new users to your site, and also encourage those who have already visited to come back again. 

And, while other options certainly exist, using social media and sending out newsletters are both good methods of drumming up customers. 

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Be professional

Almost anyone who uses a computer can craft an email and send it to a long list of email addresses.

But doing this in a way that represents the company – branding and all – and isn’t automatically rejected as ‘spam’ by the majority of recipients’ email servers requires more skill and knowhow. 

The obvious solution is to let a service provider handle the process, as it can manage the distribution of marketing messages, and also collate the responses to any customer engagement. 

Service costs are entirely dependent on how many subscribers you are likely to have, and the number of emails or social media postings that you intend to make on a monthly basis.  

When looking for the right service to deliver a marketing message, these are the features to bear in mind which are critical for it to be a success. 

• A signup form: While most marketing projects start with a pre-existing list of subscribers, adding new ones should be one objective. So having a form to capture them is a necessity. 
• Templates: For newsletters to look business-like they need to be structured using templates with all the branding predefined. Once these have been created a newsletter or post can go out very quickly, if needed. 
• Unsubscribe: Not everyone will want to hear from you indefinitely, so some means for removing subscribers must be available and managed. Ignoring unsubscribe requests is a guaranteed way to annoy potential customers and scare them off. 
• Blog trigger: With many business sites already creating a blog, what can save time and money is if these postings are subsequently repurposed as email newsletters and social media posts. A system to automate this process of repackaging the content is very helpful. 
• Date triggers: Having a means to automatically trigger an email, maybe only to say ‘happy birthday’ if you have that information, can be useful. Or you could remind a user that a service that they’re paying for is about to be renewed. 
• IP collection: While this isn’t a perfect means to identify the geographic location of a new subscriber, it’s better than just guessing. 
• Statistical analysis: When you’ve sent a newsletter out, and it had feedback for a new product embedded in it, those responses need collating, and maybe comparing with similar questions you’ve asked previously. The more data captured – and the better analyzed it is – all contributes to providing useful information for future communications and strategic marketing.

Where to get this help?

The majority of web hosting businesses will provide an email marketing service, and some will deliver at least some of this functionality as part of a hosting or web management package. 

GoDaddy, for example, has a simple tool that (for a monthly fee) can deliver all critical newsletter functionality. This, combined with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts, can have a big impact on your site visitor numbers. 

There are also companies like Constant Contact that specialize in delivering these facilities, at a price. 

Whatever approach you decide to take, making full use of social media and newsletters to establish a communication channel to your existing and potential customers is a critical component in the success of a website. 

Therefore, it should be considered at the website planning stage, and not in the weeks after the site goes live and hasn’t had many visitors.

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Cloud-based adoption and collaboration is key to business success

Cloud technology is not something businesses are unfamiliar with, but it is something that increasingly needs to be kept up with due to on-going technological shifts. Whilst the technology to utilise the cloud has been available for some time, companies are now taking the opportunity to understand how it can aid them in their specific discipline.

Each industry, whether it be retail, manufacturing or utilities, have different requirements for how the cloud can benefit its respective businesses. Where retail companies may need a detailed solution to help cope with vast amounts of purchase orders and invoices, utility companies may require a product to help them manage large amounts of data, such as meter readings and customer bills. However, one thing is universal; for those who have adopted the cloud earlier than others, it has revolutionised how they handle their business communications.

Processes such as manual, paper-based invoicing have since become obsolete as cloud-based e-invoicing presents a more cost effective and efficient solution. Existing legacy systems, some that are still widespread in many companies despite technological developments, are no longer required, with new technologies replacing them, altogether. The cloud is allowing businesses freedom to expand and adapt how they handle all aspects of their communications.

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Reluctance to adopt cloud technology

However, whilst some businesses have utilised these cloud-based technologies, other companies have still shown reluctance in embracing the technology. Different industries and sectors have adopted the cloud at varying speeds, with some still not convinced of the benefits. 

This apprehension to inherit new systems stems from historical trust in new technologies and stepping into the unknown, following previous issues and reluctance to adopt new technologies in the past. In particular, many businesses still fear the digital age, removal of paper-based solutions and mobile banking.

When more organisations begin to adopt the cloud, like we are now beginning to witness, those who are unsure can see the profound benefits it can provide to their company. Understanding the capabilities of cloud-based software and maximising its offering means businesses are more empowered to reach their full potential. If businesses don’t effectively use the new technology or, worse so, fail to adopt the cloud entirely, they will find themselves left behind their counterparts in the industry, potentially negatively influencing their position in the market.

Remaining competitive in the cloud computing era

So, what can businesses do to ensure they don’t get left behind their competitors? It is vital to move to these cloud-based systems to improve processes, rather than attempting to reconfigure their existing legacy systems and applications. Instead, implementing a pre-configured ERP solution through the cloud will result in a much more efficient and effective solution, with the implementation taking place over the course of months, whereas re-configuring an existing legacy system could take years, and result in unnecessary inefficiencies. Not only that, users will also be able to take advantage of new technologies through the solution, such as the use of smart phone applications.

Yet, businesses need to ensure they choose the right solution for their specific needs by working with a partner-focused organisation. The ERP industry, itself, is going through a change, with many systems within the sector being consolidated, due partly to Microsoft disrupting the market. This was not something that happened overnight. 

Many people expected it to happen at a faster pace, but we are now at a place where it is really beginning to take off. With system integration comes the opportunity for businesses to design more tailor-made solutions that meet their specific needs. This potential for vertical specific solutions for businesses will allow them to operate more efficiently, as they will not have to adapt to new processes, but rather work with a solution that adapts to their requirements and current workflows

The need for collaboration

Organisations with a partnership-focused approach demonstrates a commitment to delivering solutions that meet the ever-changing needs of the market. Collaboration between organisations allows for the opportunity to share specialist knowledge and solve specific business challenges, something that is vital in a fast-paced market. Not only this, but collaboration is crucial in ensuring businesses can cope with the growing market. Every industry needs to be catered for, and this cannot be done without businesses collaborating to help cover all these verticals.

For independent software vendors (ISV) however, this need for collaboration is all the more crucial, as it is looking increasingly likely that more ISV’s will be looking to partner in the coming years. With consultancy companies consolidating more and more, these ISV partners will need to ensure they align with each other as they aim to offer customers a more wholesome, complete solution.

The journey to a cloud-based working environment is one that most businesses share, yet there are various paths to reach the destination. However, taking a partnership-based approach and trusting in new, worthwhile technologies is a good way to ensure businesses stay ahead of future tech shifts that are certain to occur.

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Google adds option to disable auto-sign in to Chrome after privacy backlash

Google has added the option to turn off a controversial new feature of its Chrome operating system, after it provoked a furious backlash from users who were worried that it would share your browser history (and more) when you log into certain sites owned by the search giant.

The auto-sign in feature included in Chrome 69 would automatically sign you into the Chrome browser if you visited and logged into Google-owned websites such as Gmail and YouTube. After signing into Chrome, your bookmarks and browser history would be uploaded to Google’s servers.

Chrome users weren't happy about this, and the reaction has caused Google to rethink its ideas, and it has now added a toggle that allows you to turn off the controversial feature.

Turn off

The toggle isn’t in the current release of Chrome, but Google has added it to an early Chrome Canary build (71.0.3563.0), allowing you to turn off “Allow Chrome sign-in”. Hopefully this feature will make it to a final Chrome release soon.

While this move is a welcome one, and the speed with which Google implemented it shows how rattled the company was by the criticism, it may not be enough to calm the backlash.

For a start, Chrome’s auto sign-in feature is still enabled by default. Also, the option to turn off the feature is hidden away in Chrome’s Advanced Settings menu, which isn’t easy to find unless you know what you’re looking for.

So, it’s a start, but Google has further to go if it wants to win back its users’ trust.

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"Most sophisticated" Torii botnet targeting IoT devices

Avast's threat labs team has discovered “the most sophisticated botnet that they have ever seen” and it is targeting IoT devices.

The new IoT malware strain/botnet, that the firm has codenamed Torii, has spread over poorly secured telnet services with the attack stemming from Tor exit nodes.

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Payload delivery

According to Avast, the infection chain begins with a telnet attack on the weak credentials of targeted devices followed by the execution of an initial shell script. The script tries to discover the architecture of the targeted device and once this is complete it attempts to download the appropriate payload for the devices (binary files in the EFL format).

The core functionality of these payloads is to install an inner EFL with the first EFL file. This is the second stage executable which is highly persistent and uses at least six methods to ensure the EFL file remains on the device and is always running. After this, the inner EFL is executed to deliver the second stage payload, a fully-fledged bot capable of executing commands from its master CnC server.

Threat details

Torii has yet to be used in either DDoS attacks or for cryptojacking. Instead, the malware steals data from IoT devices and allows attackers to execute code remotely which could allow them to run any command on the infected machines. However, the malware is capable of fetching and executing other commands using multiple layers of encryption.

Torii is one of the most sophisticated malware strains ever observed by Avast. In addition to sharing information regarding infected devices, the malware's communication with the CnC server allows its authors to execute any code or deliver any payload to an infected device. This suggests that Torii could become a modular platform for future use.

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The reasons why it’s crucial to keep your website regularly updated

Ever had to endure a series of visits to a dentist or doctor, where you end up reading all the magazines, even the ones that are months old? For most people, boredom is quite simply torture – and nothing kills enthusiasm like seeing the same things over and over again. 

And the same is true of a website, because once we’ve visited somewhere on the web, there needs to be a good reason to return. Which is why it pays to ensure that there is constantly something fresh and new to experience on your site, in order to encourage a regular pattern of visits.

But the attention span of the average human isn’t the only reason for regular content updates.

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Ranking signals

When a search engine creates a list of links for a given enquiry, it takes a good many factors into account when deciding which sites are the most relevant. 

One of the important elements in how page rankings are determined is exactly how new the content on the linked page (or pages) is. Therefore if there are two web pages with an article about a given subject, and one was written more recently, then there is a good chance that this one will be listed in first place, unless it is on a site with almost no visitors. 

While there are many other factors in determining search rankings, having fresh and regularly updated content is one proven means to deliver a successful site in this respect. And conversely, sites that arrive and are never subsequently revised are mostly a complete waste of time, money and effort.

Where to add content

Exactly what content should be added to a website is very much influenced by the nature of the site and what it was created to achieve. 

However, if you’re looking for ways to create content on a regular basis, here are a few standard methods that any site can include.

• A blog: Make a person in marketing a blogger, using the pages to talk about products or clients on a regular basis. These pieces can be created during quieter periods, so as not to interfere with the regular work cycle, and then released once a week or so. 
• A dynamic homepage: Even if the homepage of the website isn’t meant to change, you could include a section that links to a news story, the blog, or external news coverage of the business. It only needs to include the latest chronological item, with a link to a page containing all the previous stories that have been run. 
• A forum: Having a website forum does take some user management, but regular visitors will create their own content and a community that encourages repeat visits. 
• Whitepapers: An informed article by an expert in any subject will attract lots of visitors, and amass reference links on both social media and other websites. These aren’t something that needs to be added every day, or even on a weekly basis, but building a collection of informative discussion papers is another way to get visitors.

Keep moving forwards

The majority of sharks must move forward through the water to get the oxygen they need to survive for their entire lives, and new content is the equivalent life force that enables a site to establish itself in a very crowded worldwide web. 

All websites start with very few visitors and not all of them manage to evolve into a dynamic operation with many visitors who repeatedly return. 

The key is to keep producing enough new and interesting content to drive the numbers up and ensure that people come back to see what else you’ve created. 

If done correctly, new content can provide engagement with potential customers, plus it can differentiate you from business rivals and provide new opportunities for building relationships. 

The idea that a website is a fire-and-forget missile built for a static cost is long behind us, and what companies need now is an effective digital shop-front that entices window shoppers inside, and entertains them once over the threshold.

Quite simply, the key to the success of any web venture is updates – and plenty of them.

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Instagram is finally bringing notifications to your browser

Instagram is beginning to roll out notification support to users who'd prefer to scroll through photos from their friends and people they follow from a browser rather than the mobile app.

Although you've long been able to scroll through Instagram's News Feed via a browser, the best experience was always via the mobile app. This makes sense, as Instagram has always been a mobile-first offering, and the team behind it have been happy to keep it that way. 

But ensuring that mobile app users are the only ones with a true Instagram experience creates a barrier to entry for those who can't access the app for any reason.

That's why Instagram has been bolstering the web experience and adding more and more features over the past few years, the most recent being notification support that some users are reporting they've seen using Google Chrome over the past 24 hours.

We've yet to get the pop-up when logging in via Google Chrome ourselves, but our best guess is that the update is being rolled out to users slowly at the moment e'll keep you updated.  Instagram Lite, the lightweight version of Instagram that's been created for those living in areas with a slow internet connection.

We've yet to get the pop-up when logging in via Google Chrome ourselves, but our best guess is that the update is being rolled out to users slowly at the moment – we'll keep you updated. 

• Instagram's next project is a standalone shopping app

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How businesses can secure top Cloud talent amid fierce competition

The global Cloud market is set to reach $390bn by 2020, representing a compound annual growth rate of 17% since 2015. That opportunity – alongside the underlying Cloud architecture requirements of emerging technologies like mobile, cyber security, big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and blockchain – places Cloud skills at a premium. However, 38% of those involved in recruiting talent in Cloud have struggled to find the skills they need over the last 12 months.

It’s therefore not surprising to note that competition between the top four Cloud platforms – Amazon Web Services Cloud (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and IBM Cloud – is heating up. In fact, our latest Tech Cities Job Watch report reveals strong growth in both the permanent and contractor marketplaces, with demand for Cloud skills currently outstripping supply. The research also indicates that the two major established players in AWS Cloud and Microsoft Azure dominate much of the Cloud market, with Google Cloud and IBM Cloud set to disrupt the industry over the next few years.

Battle of the cloud platforms

AWS Cloud accounted for 54% of all UK Cloud roles in Q2 2018. This demand is particularly strong in security-conscious industries like financial services. It also has a well-established foothold in the public sector that is unlikely to diminish soon. The ability to create private Clouds with AWS is crucial for these two sectors; while the platform’s data warehousing capabilities are also helping attract interest from businesses looking to focus more on Big Data applications.

Microsoft Azure hasn’t yet reached the popularity of AWS but retains its position as the biggest challenger for market share with 41% of all UK Cloud roles advertised (Q2 2018). It remains the platform of choice in sectors like utilities and also has a strong presence in financial services , where it competes with AWS. However, permanent salaries for Microsoft Azure (£64,647) are below the Cloud average (£68,672).

Google Cloud only accounted for 4% of all UK Cloud roles advertised (Q2 2018). However, it looks poised to have a big impact on the Cloud status quo over the next five to 10 years. It commands the highest average salary (£71,701) of the four platforms and has generated real traction in dynamic industries like betting, gaming and media, which crave the agility it provides to run their operations more nimbly. There is also a large talent supply in short-term contractor support, and this is growing.

With only 1% of all UK Cloud roles advertised (Q2 2018), IBM Cloud doesn’t hold the market share of AWS and Microsoft Azure yet. But it could also be a major disruptor in the market over the next few years. The tech giant has focused much of its development in Cloud around IoT. Its collaboration with VMware in particular shows that this is where it sees the opportunity in the market.

For employers looking to attract and retain top Cloud talent in their businesses, here are five tips to consider: 

• Don't penny-pinch

Businesses must be willing to offer attractive remuneration packages. Whether permanent Cloud platform specialists or short-term contractors, organisations need to consider the impact of small savings on recruitment costs against their Cloud needs. Efforts to save on a pay packet may hamper an organisation’s ability to secure individuals that can drive substantial business value

• Offer challenging work

Not all Cloud experts are motivated by money alone. Contractors will also be attracted to organisations that provide them with an opportunity to upgrade their existing skillsets. Cloud projects that focus on emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things and Edge Computing will most appeal to talent. 

• Cross train staff

When expert contractors are brought in, employers need to make sure that their knowledge is disseminated throughout the business to upskill the existing workforce. There are several transferable skills, including SQL and MySQL, software quality assurance and project management. 

• Complement permanent staff with contractor support

Businesses need to get the balance right between having a permanent IT skillset (whether in-house or retained with an outsourcer) and employing short-term experts who can offer support for transformation or consolidation projects. 

• Embrace diversity

According to Microsoft, 80% percent of IT roles in the UK are occupied by males. However, research has shown that gender balanced teams adhere better to project schedules, incur lower costs and achieve higher performance ratings. Addressing this imbalance will help to fix the Cloud skills bottleneck and in turn improve the overall economy. 

As Cloud adoption increases, so too will competition for individuals with this skillset. With this in mind, it’s important that organisations think long-term about how they will secure the Cloud skills their business needs. Businesses should keep in mind that in the digital age, their organisations are only as resilient as the technology upon which they depend, and their technology is only as good as the talent that builds, integrates and maintains it. This makes the acquisition of Cloud skills a strategically important matter. 

Martin Ewings is director of specialist markets at Experis.

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BT's best value broadband deals now come with a free Amazon Echo

We usually know what we're going to get from BT broadband promotions. We're usually here talking about free activation, an epic reward card or access to the BT Sport app. But this time, its new broadband deals are getting smart.

For the next 10 days BT will throw in a free Amazon Echo smart speaker (worth £90) with its best Superfast fibre broadband deals for new customers. That's on top of the chunky pre-paid Mastercard and rapid internet speed it usually offers.

- Read on for more details or click here to go straight to the deals

The promotion is available on BT's main fibre optic broadband tariffs - the imaginatively names Superfast 1 and Superfast 2. The former costs £31.99 per month for an average speed of 50Mb (roughly 6MB per second) and that £80 pre-paid Mastercard included as well. Or it's a tenner more a month to take the average speeds up to 67Mb (over 8MB per second) and the Reward Card to £100.

But do bear in mind that the clock is ticking for this one. You need to take advantage of the offer by next Thursday, October 4.

• All of today's best broadband deals in one place

BT's great value broadband deals:

What is a BT Reward Card?

The Reward Card that BT sends out is a pre-paid credit card that you can use anywhere that accepts Mastercard. In short, that's around a million shops, cafes and restaurants around the world, so you shouldn't find it difficult to find places to spend, spend, spend.

It's an old-fashioned chip and pin card, rather than contactless. But do make sure that you claim your Reward Card within three months of installation, otherwise you'll lose out on all that cash.

Is the Amazon Echo any good?

The Amazon Echo features within the top three of TechRadar's best smart speakers buying guide - so yes, we rate it highly.

If you've not yet had the chance to form a relationship with Alexa, now is a good chance to start. With her unique set of Skills (over 30,000 of them), she'll simplify listening to music, finding out the weather, varying your central heating, ordering Christmas presents, and tonnes more. Plus, the Amazon Echo is a stylish and decent sounding standalone speaker as well.

Today's best broadband deals

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Cryptocurrency mining malware is only going to get worse according to McAfee report

McAfee has published its latest threat report which highlights a big spike in cryptocurrency-related malware.

The McAfee Labs Threat Report for September found that malware which engages in cryptocurrency mining – using your PC’s resources behind your back to mine coins for someone else – nearly doubled in the second quarter of this year, with an 85% increase. In total, 2.5 million new samples were found, and McAfee discovered what appeared to be older strains of malware, like ransomware, retooled to target cryptocurrency.

That isn’t surprising given the amount of news we’ve seen coming through of these various crypto-mining exploits popping up all over the place, for example, in games on Steam or Kodi add-ons.

McAfee also found that malware which is designed to exploit software vulnerabilities shot up by 151% during Q2, much of it being repurposed spins on WannaCry and NotPetya.

Christiaan Beek, Lead Scientist and Senior Principal Engineer at McAfee, commented: “WannaCry and NotPetya provided cybercriminals compelling examples of how malware could use vulnerability exploits to gain a foothold on systems and then quickly propagate across networks.

“It’s still surprising to see numerous vulnerabilities from as far back as 2014 used successfully to spearhead attacks, even when there have been patches available for months and years to deflect exploits.”

As for ransomware, that continues to increase steadily, with growth pegged at 57% over the past year. And when it came to mobile malware, McAfee found a 27% increase over the course of the second quarter.

Cortana capers

On the voice assistant front, McAfee reminded us of a flaw in Microsoft’s Cortana which allowed for bypassing the Windows 10 lock screen, found back in June, and patched by Microsoft at that time.

Concerning the Internet of Things and smart home gadgets, McAfee also highlighted a security hole in Belkin’s Wemo smart plug, which the security firm discovered last month. An attacker could potentially use this to remotely open a backdoor on a network, and subsequently meddle with any connected smart home devices (for example, turning your smart TV on or off).

There are likely to be more vulnerabilities which can be leveraged via digital assistants discovered in the near future – McAfee has said it’s already looking more deeply into finding further examples of these – and there will certainly be more holes in IoT gadgets cropping up than you can shake a ‘smart stick’ at.

• We’ve picked out the best antivirus software of 2018

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Australian consumer watchdog slams tech giants over fake celebrity ads

Fake celebrity ads aren’t new but they’ve become widespread in 2018. According to reports from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Scamwatch, celebrity endorsement scams have increased by 400%, resulting in financial losses for consumers that have gone up by an eye-watering 3,800%.

During this year alone Scamwatch received 200 complaints, with the total amount of money lost adding up to $142,000, with older women falling victim most often.

The ACCC’s deputy chairperson Delia Rickard said that a consumer typically loses between $100 to $500 to these scams, but one individual “lost more than $50,000 through fake celebrity endorsement of an investment scheme”.

“The growth in these scams is very concerning, particularly as over half the reports we received included a financial loss,” Rickard added.

Check the floodgates

Facebook and Google are already under investigation by the ACCC for data harvesting and their influence on advertising and traditional media companies in Australia, but the consumer watchdog has called on the tech giants “to do more” to check the spread of fake celebrity ads on their internet platforms.

According to Rickard, “Most of the reports to Scamwatch involve these scam advertisements running on Google ad banners or as ads in Facebook's news feeds.” She wants the “tech giants to do more to quickly suspend ads, as every time consumers click on a scam ad, they are at risk of losing money”.

No such thing as a free trial

Celebrity scammer ads use doctored images and fake quotes from popular and trusted celebrities promoting a wide range of items, from weight loss pills to skin care products – even investment schemes. 

The ACCC says that these free trials come with strict terms and conditions, which only arrive with the product and aren’t visible anywhere online, and include terms like having to return the product within a near-impossible timeframe.

Anyone clicking on those ads is prompted to sign up for a free trial, but are required to provide payment details before the trial can begin. Once signed up, however, victims find they’re being charged immediately with little or no options to cancel payments.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has urged the public to be wary of products and services that come with endorsements from popular celebrities and require payment details to be submitted up front.

• How to delete Facebook
• How to configure Windows 10 to protect your privacy

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Etisalat introduces new eLife Unlimited packages with higher internet speeds

The UAE based telco Etisalat announced a new lineup of eLife bundles that focus on offering enhanced TV content with double internet speeds. There’s a no-commitment option for those who wish to waive off the minimum commitment period by paying a monthly fee of AED20. 

All eLife Unlimited packages still come with an Etisalat router, phone kit and access to basic TV channels and OnDemand content but starter bundles now offer 50 mbps internet speeds for as little as AED 389 (US$ 105) per month and go up to a whopping 1 Gbps for the AED 2,850 (US$ 775) Premium 1G package.

eLife Unlimited subscribers will also be able to purchase a “Mini Pack” to boost their TV subscriptions with premium Asian, Arabian, Pinoy, and Western channels at a hefty discount of AED10 per month while eLife Premium subscribers get one Mini Pack for free. 

For Emirati and “Home al Watan” card holders the doubled internet speed comes for free with their dedicated eLife plans. Existing eLife customers can subscribe to the revamped service by calling 800101 or visiting Etisalat retail stores across the country.

• Etisalat announces six month free Apple Music subscription

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The three Ws: Web hosting, WordPress or Website builder?

When creating a website, early on, those involved should decide on the exact breakdown of responsibilities between those in the business and outside companies contracted to provide services and technical knowledge. 

The three Ws represent three possible divisions of responsibilities, where external service companies handle some aspects of website creation, and the business others. 

With web hosting, a service provider sells space and access to a server (or virtual server) where the website can exist, but the content of that location is entirely down to the company to provide – whether crafted by them or another external firm. 

WordPress is a widely available content management system that was initially very popular with bloggers. Using it, a relative novice to the web can create a working website pretty swiftly, and private hosting services for this platform are widely available. 

The third alternative we’re discussing, a website builder, is a software tool for creating websites without any understanding of HTML or other technical knowhow. Once the site is completed and tested, it is uploaded to the hosted location, and the domain name then points to this server. 

An easy way to think of these different options is to imagine organizing a wedding reception.

Web hosting is the equivalent of hiring a venue, but doing all the catering yourself, so you get to choose exactly what people will eat. 

WordPress has a good selection of pre-prepared foods but doesn’t require the bride, groom or relatives to cook on the day. And using a website builder is like ordering pizza to be delivered to the reception. 

Let’s look in greater detail at what each option offers, and the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches. 

• We’ve chosen the best web hosting services right here

Web hosting

Those who buy hosting have the most flexibility concerning the nature and content of their site. However, they are also taking on a greater workload to deliver the end product.

Most hosting businesses have some kind of website creation system that you get as part of the hosting package. But if you want to create an e-commerce solution, then it is likely that you will use the server space to host a third-party platform, or an entirely custom-built site. 

What you’ve bought is storage space and access to the site for internet users, and the rest is up to you.

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What type of website do you want to build?

Deciding on the type of website you’re making right from the outset can save you plenty of time in the long run. Because if you spend time and effort on making a certain type of site, only to be forced to try and turn it into something entirely different, it can be quite a painful – not to mention costly – experience.

This scenario is especially true of e-commerce sites, as they require special facilities and coding that a different kind of website certainly won’t need. 

There is little point going to the expense of creating a site with all the functionality to sell products if you’ve no intention of offering online sales. And equally, adding this functionality into a site that was previously meant to be a blog or portfolio solution is going to be a frustrating experience. 

So what sort of website do you need? Let’s explore some of the main types of sites, and whether they fit the bill for you.

• We’ve chosen the best web hosting services right here

Main business site

Every major company has a main site, the one that you’re invariably directed to if you put the firm’s name into a search engine, because it’s returned at the top of the search results. 

At this location, you should find all the information about products and services that are offered by the business, and be able to establish a communication channel for sales, support or marketing. 

If the company concerned has many products or supports multiple markets, the main site often has a very limited selection of pages at the top level, with a series of subdomains representing various functions layered below that, all of which are separate websites you can visit.

By choosing this model, the site structure ends up less complex and allows for the isolation of e-commerce technology on the sections associated with financial transactions. 

For companies that aren’t big blue chip or multinational affairs, the main business site can be something entirely different – like a blog.

The blog

When blogs first appeared they were generally a personal site with a stream of thoughts on a subject or the life of the blogger. 

Like most things on the internet they’ve evolved, and they now combine the regular blogging function with branded sponsorship, product reviews, site-related products (T-shirts, mugs, and so forth) and services. 

A blog that does these things and utilizes targeted advertising can be a source of income for a popular blogger. And, with the regular income, it is much easier to justify the time spent in maintaining the site and creating new content. 

Blogs can be code-built, made with website builders, or many creators choose to use the most popular blogging tool: WordPress. 

Another useful monetization method is affiliation.

Product and services affiliation

Let’s imagine that you have a passion for lawnmowers, and you have a blog where you discuss the technology involved in mowing lawns and the latest products released in this sector. 

If you can create a list of all the lawnmowers made by a given brand, and then link to another site where they are sold, a referral fee can be earned for directing your visitors to those locations. 

Building one of these sites isn’t an overnight exercise, though, as accumulating enough content to attract visitors, and then gaining the trust of those readers, all takes time.

Those who pick the right products or services can be very successful, but getting there can easily take two or three years of work. 

The consensus is that direct selling is an easier path.

Selling site

Most e-commerce sites started as a normal business doing work through either phone sales or with a retail bricks-and-mortar location. But now some start out from a website or by using eBay, or one of the other major selling portals. 

These sites don’t generally need a blog or other content as they’re updated with new product lines and special offers as a means to generate traffic. 

What these sites need most is a way for the product catalog to be easily searched and navigated. And, when the customer has found what they want, a means to process the order securely, and then confirm that order back to the customer. 

While this might sound easy, there are numerous caveats to creating e-commerce sites that make them challenging to create and maintain. 

Often the best way to create one is to buy an existing e-commerce model and then customize it with bespoke branding. That’s because building such a site from scratch is an expensive exercise that requires specialist knowledge.

Support systems

Not every site can be a big standalone venture, and often isolating a business offshoot with a unique web location has many advantages. 

Here are a few of the better reasons for having a subdomain and associated website:

Brand identity 

Everyone knows Kellogg’s, so well in fact that it has become the accepted term for Corn Flakes, even if it is technically a brand.

Fewer people know that the company that makes this breakfast cereal is called The Kellogg Company, and that it also makes a wide range of other products including crackers and cookies, plus it owns other well-known brands like Cheez-it. 

Often those brands are more important to the organization than the holding company’s identity, and therefore a separate website is needed where promotional material can exist away from the corporate content.

A good example is Nestlé, which has an official website at www.nestle.com. But it also has a brand site for KitKat in the UK that can be found here. 

The other advantage of branding sites is that they’re very easy to disappear should the brand or product fail, rather than attempting to remove all the references from the main site.

Pure support

Product and service contract support is big business. And having a dedicated website that can manage that part of the operation can convince customers that they’re getting something useful for their money. 

Usually, access to the internal resources on the support site is via customer login, and support requests are subsequently managed through a ticketing system that records the progression of the request.

By way of providing some self-help options, many support sites have an integrated forum, an extensive FAQ, and a complete collection of support documentation. 

Having live support responders available for a chat is also common. 

Lead generation

You have a new product or service, so naturally you want to direct customer interest in that to a specific new team who will follow those leads. 

Achieving this is remarkably simple, and is usually done with just a single-page site that has the company branding and a contact form for those who want to register their interest. 

What could be simpler?

Other website types

There are many site types that we’ve not covered in detail that are mostly variations on what we’ve mentioned or amalgamations of traditional types. 

Artists, photographers, sculptors and artisans of all types often have sites that are effectively digital galleries, allowing potential customers to see the range and quality of work on offer. 

Homage sites exist for musicians and actors, and there are also the likes of streaming media portals, historical reference collections and translation services. The variety of site content is almost endless, although they all build on the fundamental concepts of easily navigating through that content and directing the visitor so they can find the knowledge, service or product that they’re interested in. 

The skills needed to build any type of website are essentially the same, except e-commerce sites, where financial transactions require specialist knowledge to handle safely. 

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China blocks Twitch amidst rise to popularity of live gaming streams

After a recent surge in popularity among Chinese gamers, China has blocked the popular video game streaming service Twitch.

The service's website has been unreachable from the country since September 20th and its app is no longer available from Apple's App Store in China.

Twitch has confirmed that its service is being blocked in China though it does not know what led Chinese authorities to impose the restriction.

• We've also highlighted the best Twitch VPN and the best VPN services

Asian Games

The streaming platform's recent popularity in China occurred as a direct result of state-run broadcaster CCTV's decision not to air the e-sports matches that were shown during the Asian Games in Jakarta. 

Chinese users began downloading Twitch's app as an alternative to watch coverage of the games which pushed it to the third highest spot on the free apps section of the App Store. This surge in popularity likely led to Chinese authorities taking notice of the service and deciding to block it within the country.

While CCTV initially chose not to cover the Asian Games, the network did eventually report on the games after China brought home two gold medals.

Twitch's future in China

This is not the first time that the Chinese government has blocked access to a Western service after it has become popular with Chinese users. 

The social media networks Facebook and Twitter were also banned in China and have remained so to this day while Google has not operated in the country for eight years.

Twitch's parent company, Amazon, may be a tech giant in the West but even with its influence, it will likely be quite difficult to convince China's governing elite to reverse the ban on the popular games streaming service.

• Having trouble accessing Twitch? Use a VPN to get around region blocks

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Google may not read your Gmail messages, but third-party apps do

Last year, Google stopped scanning your Gmail inbox in order to target personalized ads at you, but plenty of third-party apps are still able to access the content of your emails.

In some cases, developers of certain apps – for example trip planners – can be directly integrated with Gmail and granted access to utilize user data for their benefit (emails which show when you’re going away, for example, in this mentioned case).

Google has stated that it’s fine with this, as detailed in a letter by Susan Molinari (spotted by CNN Money), who is VP of public policy and government affairs at the company. And what’s more, the firm is okay with that data being further shared with others, with one proviso – Molinari wrote a letter to Senators stating that: “Developers may share data with third parties so long as they are transparent with the users about how they are using the data.”

In a blog post defending how the user’s security and privacy are ensured within Gmail, Google said that any app produced by a third-party goes through an extensive review process before it’s allowed access to Gmail messages.

That includes both an automated and manual review of the developer of the software, along with scrutinizing the privacy policy relating to the app (and undertaking an assessment of the app’s legitimacy). The software is also tested to make sure that it actually does what it claims to do.

Google further notes: “Apps should ask only for the data they need for their specific function – nothing more – and be clear about how they are using it.”

Watchful eye

The firm says it ensures non-Google apps continue to meet the stipulations it has laid out for third-party software, and it can identify apps which are falling foul of these policies, and suspend them. That suspension happens before any user data has been accessed in the ‘majority’ of situations, apparently.

Furthermore, Google also reminds us that before a third-party app is allowed access to your data, there’s a permissions screen which shows what type of data will be accessed, and how it will be used – and that users should thoroughly evaluate these permissions before they install a non-Google app.

Google has mustered a fairly comprehensive defense then, but the fact that it has felt the need to do so is somewhat telling. It’s certainly true that giving third-party software access to your messages can enable some useful functionality.

The main worry, though, is how all this sounds very open-ended when it comes to app developers being able to pass on user data to other third-parties, as long as they are ‘transparent’. And of course, speaking of the latter, the way in which this matter has emerged leaves a lot to be desired in terms of transparency from Google itself…

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How to build a data center in nine months

A massive 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are produced every day. Whilst this may be a figure that is hard to fathom for many, it demonstrates exactly how data is now the currency that fuels digital transformation strategies. All of this data however must be managed properly, and that presents businesses with a real challenge. To operate successfully, data center providers must be available, secure and flexible, and the data center community must respond by scaling facilities at the right pace.

This pressure to deliver facilities on demand is sparked by the fact that spending on IT storage has  increased by nearly 25 % in the past four years and is forecast to increase by an additional six per cent by 2019. Unfortunately however, many providers are forced to endure two years of investment with no return in the short term, with the average build time for data centers sitting at 18 to 24 months.

• We've also highlighted the best cloud storage

At e-shelter, we decided to tackle this problem head-on by creating our own agile data center construction plan. This meant we have been able to halve the average build time and in fact, build a data center in less than 9 months. This is how we’ve done it…

The demand for cloud storage has rocketed with the UK adoption rate alone already at 88%. In light of this we have taken the agile approach from our IT teams and applied it to building works. This is a method that has not been seen previously in our industry. We have streamlined our construction processes by undertaking all design, procurement and project management from the beginning. As a result, we completed construction and delivery of Building H at our Frankfurt 1 campus, the biggest data center campus in Europe, in 9 months.

No mean feat

The project was not without its challenges. In the initial phase, adverse weather conditions delayed the foundation stages by a full month. Yet we managed to use the delay not only to our advantage, but to our customers’ as well.  We used this time to refine our scheduling and planning process and to speak with contractors directly. All parties involved came to collaborate more closely, finding ways to optimise processes by holding workshops to plan and troubleshoot specific aspects of the build. When the weather improved and core works began in February 2017, the team had already made sufficient progress to start planning final fit-outs. Working partnerships had been established with an approach to optimisation that continued throughout the build.

Evolving from the past

The capacity to collaborate and project manage effectively, and the inclination to plan ahead, proved increasingly important as the build progressed. e-shelter's years of experience operating a construction company within a data center company really came to the fore. The working relationships we have developed with suppliers and construction experts and the great volume of learning achieved over numerous years of construction experience, allowed us to innovate in ways that would have been otherwise impossible.

To give an example, for Building H we used a new construction tool that was designed to promote lean construction management. This meant we approached the build incrementally, addressing sections by type and constructing standardised areas in groups. This enabled us to build all sections of a given type at once, as a 'lot', and then fit them out in consultation with the individual end user, and greatly increased our project agility.

In a similar way, we managed the entire construction of Building H in a responsive manner that flexed over time, according to need. Thus, project management was initially month-by-month, but this evolved into very hands-on, day-by-day management as the build progressed. The construction team met every morning for half an hour to ensure project management and actions were aligned, and that any opportunities for efficiency gains were seized. The team also developed a highly visual system of project tracking using coloured cards, so that a glance was enough to discern which elements had been completed and what was still outstanding.

e-shelter's almost 20 years of construction experience mean we have now honed processes so well, that for Building H we were fitting out the first floor while the floor above was still being built. In other words, the building quite literally took shape from the ground up, with many final fittings in place before the roof was on. Now complete, Building H covers 7,100 square metres, has 17MW power supply and access to more than 350 carriers, as well as cloud and application providers.

Building for the future

Building H may be one of the latest additions to e-shelter's data center family, but it won’t be the last. Plans for new sites in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, as well as secured sites for development in London and Madrid, demonstrate e-shelter’s strategic initiative to expand outside of the DACH region.

Naturally, the speed and efficiency of this expansion has not occurred in a vacuum. It has been  undertaken in response to high global demand for cloud services, colocation, scenario and concept testing and emulation. We must stay agile and keep pace with demand in an ever-changing technological landscape in order to match the increased volumes of data and applications that are migrated to the cloud. This will be achieved by continuing to monitor and enhance our resources, and embracing innovations and new demands.

Building H was built in only 9 months not by chance, but by developing an in-house, individual building design, construction and project management programme (an attribute that could possibly result in e-shelter being unique among comparable firms). This demonstrates e-shelter’s ability to provide data center capacity swiftly, efficiently and in an agile way, and our continued expansion across Europe will bring our services closer to home for a larger customer base. Lastly, it provides additional options for those customers seeking to colocate their data across national borders.

Ulf Achenbach, Director of Construction at e-shelter 

• Interested in data centres? We discuss the drivers behind data centre demand here

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Managed WordPress Hosting or shared hosting : Which one to choose?

You have a vision for your idea, and you’ve selected the perfect domain name - now what? You need to figure out what type of platform is best for your website. 

For most people with a blog, personal website, or small business, the choice is almost always WordPress. Its power, its flexibility but also its ease of use. And as the learning curve that becomes shallower by the day, it means WordPress is the obvious choice for most - web professionals and also beginners looking to learn more.

Great. You’ve decided on WordPress but what about hosting? The choice is usually between traditional shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting. In this article I look at why the new breed of Managed WordPress products are superior to traditional shared hosting if you’re using WordPress for your site. 

• We've also highlighted the best web hosting services

It's simple

Simplicity is freedom. Managed WordPress hosting can really set you free. In short, it’s just simpler and easier than shared web hosting.

There’s no need to manually install WordPress or upload anything. With managed WordPress hosting, you can typically create and manage multiple WordPress websites from a single dashboard. As well as this, it’s simple to maintain. You can update and backup your website with just a few clicks.

Shared Hosting is the ultimate in versatility but does require more advanced technical knowledge, as well as the desire to learn the skills to run and manage your website, navigate around tools such as cPanel, keep an eye on security as well as other, potentially more complex issues. You will essentially be running your own IT admin or spending a lot of time talking to customer service.

Managed WordPress hosting takes care of all things technical on the server side, and lets you focus purely on building, maintaining and growing your website. More importantly, it allows you to allocate more time to concentrate on the commercial side of your business, such as marketing, social media, search engine optimization, advertising or content creation. 

The power of the cloud

Shared Hosting from most providers will exist on a single cPanel server. Typically this is differentiated in terms of how many resources you get (disk space, bandwidth, CPU/RAM power), the quality of the server hardware and the supporting infrastructure – good providers will use the latest server-grade hardware in fully-redundant data centers with fast networks.

Managed WordPress, that is good managed WordPress hosting, offers more than this. The leading managed WordPress platforms are built on top of the cloud - in Namecheap’s case, our own - and bring benefits such as removing single point of failures that include a server going down and causing downtime, or having a noisy neighbour who is mis-using server resources. 

Further, the specialized managed WordPress environment that many providers offer is setup, tuned and maintained just for WordPress. This means things like the web server, database, PHP and all of the components are fine tuned to create the fastest and most reliable WordPress without technical know-how or time required from your part.

Just as the cloud abstracts single physical servers into logical groups of resource pools, managed WordPress takes this a step further by abstracting the software side of things that have been traditionally a headache. 

Another advantage to using managed WordPress hosting is the elastic scaling to support traffic spikes and growth. We all love it when our site becomes more popular and featured in the news or on a busy website, or gets recognition across social media. In traditional shared hosting, even some of the best shared hosting, you can quickly run out of resources that take your website or even the entire server offline. With managed WordPress on a real cloud platform, this doesn’t happen. The platform just scales up to take the load.

Thousands of themes and plugins to choose from

WordPress is chosen by over 1/3rd of the web, making it the most popular and trusted website creator in the world. Why is this? One of the top reasons is that it gives you the freedom to build virtually anything you want. It comes with an easy to use interface to write, edit and publish your content. 

Not only that, it has over ten thousand themes and plugins available online. You can have a beautiful design and a powerful website up and running in no time. And what’s more, if none are up to your taste, you can always upload your own. In short, WordPress lets you customize your website with any theme you like, while the huge array of powerful plugins available enables you to expand your website functionality easily.

Value for money

Managed WordPress is getting more and more affordable. It’s still more expensive than traditional Shared Hosting; there are increased costs associated with running a true cloud platform to underpin the Managed WordPress product. However, a number of Managed WordPress providers are now offering good products at less than $10 (£7.54) per month and some at less than $5 (£3.77) per month.

So while the headline price might be a few dollars a month more than shared hosting, the time you save combined with the benefits covered above deliver better value for most WordPress scenarios.

As always, you get what you pay for. Do your due diligence while comparing providers. Are they established? Do they have a good reputation? Are they likely to disappear overnight (we’ve all seen the fly by night hosting companies…)? Do they build, own and operate their own infrastructure? What do real customers say?

Epilogue

There you have it. As you can see there are lots of benefits to choosing managed WordPress hosting. And it is getting better all the time since the cost continues to come down while at the same time more innovative features are being added. If you plan on using WordPress, for me it’s simply a no-brainer. You get so much more back for your investment. Your time, peace of mind, and data integrity, for a start. How does that sound? 

Matt Russell, Chief Cloud Officer and EasyWP Product Visionary at Namecheap 

• Still can't decide? Check out the best managed WordPress hosting and the best shared hosting

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