The merciless malignancy of malware Part 3 (SEM 101)

We're going to diverge a bit from our regularly scheduled programming. Normally this column discusses search engine optimization (SEO) and related elements of search engine marketing (SEM), but we're knee deep into our multi-part series on malware and we're going to begin the wrap-up with a talk about improving computer security.
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The merciless malignancy of malware Part 2 (SEM 101)

Malware infections are no laughing matter. When they afflict your website, they can infect your customers, who won't appreciate your sharing, intentional or not (and I'm guessing it's not)! And if Bing discovers malware on your site, your listing in the Bing search engine results pages (SERPs) will either be completely omitted or the link to your site will be disabled, so when the searcher clicks on it, only a malware warning appears.
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The merciless malignancy of malware Part 1 (SEM 101)

The Web is an incredible place, filled with amazing media, fascinating content, and wonderful social opportunities, and there’s more of each than anyone can possibly ever consume. But unfortunately, it’s not a benign place. There are more than a few malefactors out there who actively seek to take over your computer for a variety of nefarious purposes.
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Search Engine Optimization for Bing

When I attended both SMX Advanced in Seattle back in June and SES San Jose just a couple of weeks ago, I heard a lot of questions from webmasters about Bing, especially pertaining to search engine optimization issues. Typically these included: I want to do SEO for Bing—where should I start? How is Bing different in terms of SEO? What do webmasters need to know and do? Are there any insider tips for successful ranking? I...
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Prevent a bot from getting “lost in space” (SEM 101)

We recently published a non-SEM 101 blog post on controlling the crawl rate of MSNBot, the Bing web crawler (aka robot, or simply just bot). That got me thinking about robots. Naturally, that led to The Robot on Lost in Space. Will Robinson, the show’s precocious youngster who was a whiz at 1960s-style, clunky electronics (even though the show was supposedly set in 1997!), was best friends with The Robot. They looked out for each other and...
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Getting the IIS SEO Toolkit up and running

We recently published a popular blog post called Get detailed site analysis to solve problems that highlights the function and capabilities of the new, beta search engine optimization (SEO) Toolkit from the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) team. The tool works as an extension to the latest version of IIS, version 7. We’ve received some webmaster feedback with specific questions on how to set up IIS 7 before installing the IIS SEO...
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Uncovering web-based treasure with Sitemaps (SEM 101)

Have you ever noticed how pirate treasure maps are like Sitemaps? While your website may not contain a treasure of gold and silver (unless it’s a metals commodities trading site!), if you have good content, that is certainly treasure to someone who is looking for it. Unfortunately, it’s buried on your website and no one knows what’s there except you! But since you want to share your site’s treasure with others, you need to...
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Get detailed site analysis to solve problems (SEM 101)

Last week I discussed common site errors that can inhibit the search engine crawler (aka bot). I pointed out common areas of concern and recommended a few tools to help diagnose such issues on your site’s pages. This week, I wanted to introduce a new tool for your collection that will be of great service to you in checking and maintaining your site. The tool, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit from the Microsoft Internet Information...
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Common errors that can tank a site (SEM 101)

Imagine being a content developer for a website. You write a bunch of clever and informative articles, which should deliver a good dose of new visitors and ranking potential to the site. You submit them to the IT department for publishing online, and wait for good things to happen. But instead, it all falls flat. A look at your web analytics tools reveals that the number of site visitors has not increased over the time your new material was...
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Images and Flash and script, oh my! (SEM 101)

The old adage that was once attributed to a Chinese proverb tells us, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” But John McCarthy, a noted mathematician and computer science pioneer, stated conversely, “As the Chinese say, 1001 words is worth more than a picture.” Perhaps McCarthy was also a pioneer of search engine optimization (SEO)! The use of interesting and relevant images and animations on a website can certainly elevate...
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