Newsletters

Newsletter September 2010

Welcome to the Cooloolabusiness.com Newsletter for September 2010.

We received our first Christmas catalogue yesterday.  I don’t know whether they are sending them out earlier than usual but it means 2010 is quickly coming to an end and Chirstmas will be here before we realise.  With the approach of Christmas and the boom in Online shopping, it is timely to provide a reminder about online security in our Internet News section below.

MEMBER NEWS

Dingo Creek Jazz & Blues Festival.  After a very successful 2010 festival, Marg is already looking forward to 2011.  Photos from the 2010 Festival have been added to the Photo Gallery.  The 2011 dates have also been set – mark these on your calendar 30th April and 1st of May 2011.

Site Updates

•  Gympie 4X4 Accessories – We have completed a site update for Chris to update the product range and add some new products including Airbag Man Suspension, Bushranger 4WD Gear, GME Radios, HEMA Navigators, MSA Products and the NEW ARB Fridge Freezers.
• Gympie Diesel and Dyno – Simon’s website has been updated to include a new dyno chart showing the performance gains by fitting a DPChip to a V8 diesel Landcruiser and some new products which include Bogaard Turbo Timers, HillSpeed Digital Speedometers, Stanadyne Additives, UNI Filters and Wurth Additives. 
• Brad Adams Constructions – We have added some photos of new houses to Brad’s website and a page to a brand new master built home for sale in Gympie.

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INTERNET NEWS

Internet Explorer Version 9 (IE9). Microsoft has just released IE9 (Beta) with one report saying that there has been 2 million downloads already.  IE9 should be the best Internet browser yet but don’t rush out to download and install it.  As is usual with Microsoft, the download will become available in the Windows Update service in due course and I suggest that is the time to think about installing it.  However, you will need Windows Vista (SP2) or Windows 7 (SP1) operating systems as IE9 will not run on Windows XP.  It is expected that both Windows 7 Service Pack 1 and Internet Explorer 9 will get their release sometime in the first half of 2011.

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Search Engine News. When we talk about search engines these days, we are really talking about Google as almost 70% of internet searches are performed using Google.  Microsoft bought Yahoo search and therefore most of the rest of the searches are performed by Microsofts Bing engine.  As Google is by far the most important search engine, it makes sense for us to monitor changes at Google and to identifty what changes we need to implement to maintain or improve Google rankings i.e. where your website is returned in the search results for a specific keyword search term.

Keywords – (Search Terms).  Keywords are the important words used in websites that Google software (Googlebot) use in the indexing process.  The process basically categrorises your site so it can be listed in the results pages for searches for that keyword.  The ranking for websites for searches for specific keywords is calculated by Google’s algorithm.  The algorithm is secret and changing regularly to meet the sole objective of returning the best results for the searcher.  The important thing for a site owner is that if they want their site found for a keyword, then the site must contain that keyword. 

Keywords Case Study. As an example, Chris from Bamboo Refined sells and installs his bamboo flooring on the Sunshine Coast as well as Gympie but his site wasn’t listed for the Sunshine Coast.  To have his site is listed in Google for “bamboo flooring sunshine coast“, he added a new page specifically for the Sunshine Coast market on Monday 27/9/2010 i.e 2 days ago.  A search for this keyword phrase today in Google.com.au returns Chris’s website on the Google first page results at number 8.  This is a good result and should improve further as we add some links for Chris.

This case study shows the importance of reviewing your business operation and website keywords.  A good way to this is let Google tell you what they want with one of their free tools – the Google Wonder Wheel. 

Google Wonder Wheel.  We have probably all used Google for searching for information on the Internet, but did you know that Google can provide you with information about your business and give tell you what keyword/search terms you should be using in your website.  To use the Wonder Wheel, open a Google search page, (turn off Google Instant if you are using google.com instead of google.com.au) and then click the “more search tools” text link.  In the tools list, click the  Wonder Wheel and the wheel will show beside the website results list.  Using the bamboo flooring case study above, the Wonder Wheel shows us the important keyword phrases/search terms that Google associates with “bamboo flooring sunshine coast”.  Based on the Wheel, I would suggest that Chris should also add pages for “bamboo flooring noosa” etc as these are the keywords that Google sees as being related to bamboo flooring sunshine coast (and most likely the terms that are being searched for as well).

Google Instant.  If you use Google.com for search instead of google.com.au, you may notice search results pages are now appearing before you finish typing in your search query – this new functionality is Google Instant i.e. instant search results.  Google Instant doesn’t appear to have any impact on ranking and most SEO commentators agree that there is no change required to optimise for Google Instant.  I find the instant function to be a bit annoying and usually turn it off before searching. 

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Online Security. As we approach Christmas, it is timely to remember some of the basics of online security which include these details from the Preventing Identity Theft website:

• Do not submit credit card details through email or unsecured websites – only use reputable secure shopping sites if you are using a credit card online.  Look for the HTTPS in the browser bar as well as the lock symbol to help identify secure websites.
• Don’t open un-solicited emails as the can carry virus and other malicious code
• Ensure that you have antivirus and antimalware protection installed on your computer and that it is kept up to date (Microsoft Security Essentials is free and provides good protection)
• Do not use online banking sites etc when connected to the internet via a public wireless network e.g. wireless hotspots
• Use additional security verification when banking online e.g. dual authentication with a numerical Token
• Do not respond to unsolicited email offering work from home jobs or any email requesting your bank details etc.
• Do not store personal information on notebooks, laptops, USB’s or smart phones
• Do not submit personal information like your birth date, address and phone numbers on social networking websites
• Do not click on photos or videos on unknown websites or social networking sites

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HANDY SOFTWARE

CCleaner Standard 2.36.1233

CC Cleaner is a free tool for cleaning your Windows PC. It helps to keep your privacy safe online, and makes your computer faster by removing temporary files, and more. Over 500 million downloads.

It is available for free download from the developers website at www.piriform.com/ccleaner

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   MEMBER CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENTS
(send us an email to advertise here for free)

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	M1 First Aid  & The Gympie Safety Shop Be Quick Black and Gold Welding Gloves Now $4.00*inc GST Limited stock while stocks last
The M1 First Aid Melbourne Cup Sweep It is FREE to enter and begins on Wednesday the 29th of September. Any in-store purchase daily to  22 Hall Road Gympie will go in to a draw for a name of a horse in the Melbourne Cup. This allows for 24 horses, one drawn at the end of each business day to a lucky customer.

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