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Search engine optimisation is all about online, the latest buzzwords, etc., right? Wrong. Natural search is very dependant upon natural use of language. Understanding how people use language will help you understand how they will search, which in turn should help you pinpoint the words and phrases most likely to get you some decent natural traffic.

So, in fact looking at books can help you identify what words are most used in the English (or your chosen language) and unsurprisingly the boffins at Google have developed a tool that can do all the leg-work for you. Ngram Viewer is somewhat hidden within the Google Books back-end but is as relevant to SEO professionals as it is literary experts. Using the extensive database in the Google Books system it has identified how words have been used in books over time. You can see how words have become popular over periods of time and how their use and popularity has also declined.

Just choose the words you want to examine and compare, choose the years or period you want to cover, the language and then the smoothing of your curves on the graph. Click search lots of books and await a perfectly formed line graph. The results are very interesting. For example here’s a look at the use of communication words in books published between 1984 and 2008.

The domination of the word ‘letter’ could be a bit skewed with the other potential definition of the word but it is interesting to see it’s rise in usage of letter as the use of fax declines.

So how can this help SEO?

Well looking at what words are most popular is at the core of any SEO professionals work. If you can combine that with knowledge of historic use and also knowledge of how all words wax and wane in popularity over time, you can become better in your role.

If you want to be really clever about it too, you can find what words are the most popular in general and keep those always in mind when looking for case studies, examples and newsworthy stories. Unlike other aspects of our daily lives the science of language is still a relatively un-tapped market, but as more and more clients search for metrics that work and you search for the smallest of tweaks for the biggest of marketing gains, expect more time and investment to be made into how we use words and how that can equate to increased revenue.

What other language tools do you use to help your SEO?

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Let’s just dive straight in shall we? I’m not going to mess around this month and tease you, instead, boom, I’m going to give you one of the funniest videos I have ever seen. Ladies and gentlemen, the Sexy Sax Man

http://youtu.be/GaoLU6zKaws

But while the Sexy Sax man takes on an epic journey into the world of the Careless Whisper, this next website doesn’t. It’s just an annoying clip on an infinite loop. How long will you last? Sadly, I watched it for 15 hours straight.

http://jupiter.kamfjord-it.no/~wheelman/Saxguy/

OK. That’s out of the way, now we can proceed.

I remember years ago when I made the move from PC to Apple Macintosh. It was an exciting journey, but also terrifying. I still struggle with certain things because the Apple Macintosh doesn’t make sense. But it looks sexy and makes me, along with the millions of other Apple Macintosh users, individuals. The main problem facing all people who cross from the dark side to the light is where is the hash key on a mac? You need never be confused again. Store this website in your favourites and click on it whenever you are puzzled.

http://www.wheresthehashkeyonamac.co.uk/

2 of my least favourite things in the world are bees and dogs. I hate them. Bees sting. Dogs bite. And wee everywhere. And dry hump your leg and sniff your crotch when you go near them. It’s odd then that I get so much pleasure from bee dogs. Don’t panic, it’s not some kind of bizarre Dr. Moreau style hybrid, it’s just bees dressed as dogs. No. Hang on. That’s not it. I meant the other one – dogs dressed as bees.

http://www.beedogs.com/

Even though I dislike dogs immensely (I am a cat person), I have to admit that this next website is cruel and should be closed down immediately. I have written to the internet and expect it to be removed soon. So click on this http://dog-shaming.com/ before this awful abuse of canines is no longer available.

People who collect toilet seats are NOT weird. And people who collect toilet seats covered in like art and stuff are most definitely NOT weird. Barney Smith runs a museum of toilet seats covered in like art and stuff and I can say categorically that he is totally 100% NOT weird. Have a look and make your own mind up.

http://www.unusualmuseums.org/toilet/

OK, maybe he’s a little odd, but odd in the good way. Not the bad way. You know that if this museum was near your house, you would buy an annual pass and be there every weekend. I can never see enough of this stuff. Ever. Yes, technically it may not be an actual museum. It is, of course, an ‘oversized garage’ but at least Barney is trying. What have you done with your life? Very little in comparison I would suggest. Very little indeed, my friends.

Fighting is bad. That’s been proven by science. Which in some ways is good, because I punch like a girl with a broken wrist and cry like a baby. But in every other way, it’s bad. We all like watching fights, don’t we? Well, fear ye not. I am not going to send you to a violent fighty fight fight site. Everything I recommend here is workplace friendly. But…we can all imagine fights can’t we? www.whowouldwinafight.com allows users to discuss fantasy fights and vote on the outcome. Yeah, it’s got the obvious ones like Batman vs Ironman (although one poster, Mythlvr0821, questions the validity of this fight in his post “Because they are from different universes, I’m assuming this fight would be a surprise to both, and that each would enter with no prior knowledge of the other.” He then goes on to say Ironman would ‘kick the crap’ out of Batman) What’s great about this site is the slightly odder battles it sets up. Google Chrome vs. Mozilla Firefox, Siri vs. Hal from 2001 and Homer Simpson vs. Peter Griffin. All can be argued about and debated in a fair and scientific way here.

Finally, and I only share this with you because I know you are responsible adults who will take this in the spirit in which it is intended, I give you this. It’s simple, it’s stupid and it is literally minutes of fun. Hit that button!

http://oldspice.com/explosion/

Want to recommend a site you think I should be looking at?
Please let me know iainATiainlee.com (you know replacing AT with @ to foil those spammers!

You can read Iain Lee’s very own take on the internet here on the 123-reg blog every last Friday of the month.

A familiar face on television since he got his first break landing the job hosting Channel 4’s thrice weekly topical comedy show the 11 O’Clock Show at the age of 25, Iain is also an award winning radio presenter, top podcast creator and a genuinely funny guy with an eye for the bizarre.

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We all want to be a success. We all have different ways we think we can achieve it. There’s no right or wrong answer but what about those who have already proven their success?

Here’s six top tips to making your start-up business a success from those in the know:

Simon Hughes MP

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for Bermondsey & Old Southwark

“Work with somebody from your area who is five or more years older than you and is doing the sort of thing that you want to be doing”

Lee McQueen

Winner of BBC The Apprentice 2008, entrepreneur and founder of Raw Talent Academy that provides SMEs and corporate organisations with the vehicle to build internal sales academies into long term staffing plans.

“Get as much critique as possible about your idea. Don’t just ask friends, family and those sort of people, they are just going to tell you what you want to hear. Do go and ask the sort of people who are likely to tell you the things you don’t want to hear. That’s how you are going to hone your idea. That’s how it is going to get much better.”

Ketan Makwana

A self-made serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Youth Enterprise Live and Enterprise Labs. He is a special advisor on youth employment & enterprise to the UK government and contributor to Parliamentary workgroups.

“Believe in yourself and even when the going gets tough just keep pushing through. If you believe in what you are doing and you keep pushing you will breakthrough.”

Claire Young

Runner up of BBC The Apprentice 2008 and serial entrepreneur specialising in the area of social enterprise

“Before you dive off and start spending any time or money make sure you do your homework. Research your market. Know who your competition is and take the time to have a plan in place because without a plan you will have no idea of where you are going.

Naomi Timperley

Entrepreneur and Co-founder of Enterprise Lab who once with a previous very successful venture turned down an offer of investment on BBC Dragon’s Den

“Use and build your network – you never know who someone knows – treat people with respect and how you would like to be treated yourself.”

Michael Sani

Teacher, actor and founder of apolitical movement Bite the Ballot an organisation engaging young people into thinking about politics.

“My top tip….well it’s right to say that I have not gone into this to make money…To be faced with the challenges of setting up and running your own business is a great thing. It means your doing something that has the ability to take you on a roller coaster of ups and downs, questioning what your doing whilst constantly redefining your desire to achieve and if you are the one at the steering wheel of the business, then you are the one that has to ensure it does not fail. But in between, that feeling of sinking deeper and deeper you see the landmarks of achievement that you know, one day, have the potential to be spoken about as examples of success, long after you are gone!”

So that’s your six top tips from those at the top of the tree and now here’s a bonus one from this entrepreneurial blogger. My business background is nothing if not varied and coming to the party with many different hats on, I like to think I have a few valid points to make. So what is my tip for success?

“Read, listen and absorb. Information is your weapon, your shield and should be your inspiration. Read words of wisdom (such as this) from those who have already lived it and hopefully you will avoid many of the pitfalls that can de-rail your plans for success. Listen to podcasts, attend conferences and network with those who hold golden nuggets of advice. Even friends and family running small operations will have knowledge that may come in useful. Don’t expect all that information you take on board to be of immediate use either. It may be years down the line but every snippet of learning you absorb will one day pay dividends.”

123-reg caught up with all our top tipsters at Youth Enterprise Live 2012 an event focusing on employment, education and enterprise for 15-30 year olds. The event hits the road in 2013 visiting 12 different cities in the UK.

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Even if you’ve never heard of the Google Safe Browsing service, you’ve probably used it. Chrome, Firefox and Safari all incorporate the service into their browsers. Services like Trust Inn also use it to help their users know when to avoid a particular website.

Here’s how it works in a browser. When you click on a link to a site, the browser contacts Google and checks whether the website you are about to visit is in the Safe Browsing database. Websites are added to this database, or “blacklisted,” if they are considered dangerous – usually because they have been caught phishing or harboring malware. When you attempt to visit a blacklisted website, the browser first displays a scary-looking page warning you that the site you’re trying to visit may harm your computer.

For site owners, the impact of being blacklisted by the Google Safe Browsing service is catastrophic. All web browsers that rely on the service will begin to show alarming dialogs to people who try to visit the website. With Chrome, Firefox and Safari boasting a combined market share of over 50%, that’s a majority of the Internet.

Most small business owners don’t think website blacklisting concerns them. After all, they don’t traffic in malware or phish their users.

But here’s the danger they are overlooking. Small business websites tend to be developed quickly and inexpensively. Once a website is deployed, little thought is given to its ongoing maintenance. It is treated like a sign hanging on a building or in a window. There’s no need to worry about it as long as it is still around and operating.

The reality is more complicated. A website, like any computer system, is susceptible to hacking. Hackers take advantage of the business owner’s inattention, breaking into websites and infesting them with malware and phishing. If this happens to your site, it will probably be blacklisted. Because Google automates its blacklisting process, your website doesn’t have to be reported; Google will likely find it on their own while indexing your website for their search engine.

So, what can a small business owner do? First, have your website built by a reputable organisation that understands safe design and deployment. Second, retain personnel or a service to manage and monitor your website with scanning tools like Site Scanner. If something does go wrong, you need to find and fix the problem before Google’s next index of your site.

Getting blacklisted in the Safe Browsing database costs far more than just lost site visitors. You can recover your site’s traffic fairly quickly. But even a brief brush with phishing or malware can deal your business’s reputation a blow that could take much longer to recover from.

–
Dave Hess is the founder of Data Bakery. He’s been designing, building, and operating reliable, secure, user-friendly services and software for 20 years. Data Bakery’s latest innovation is Trust Inn, your trusty web safety companion.

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This week it’s Malware Awareness week here are 123-reg. So, we thought we’d take you through the evolution of malware throughout the years so you can see how much more dangerous it has become.

From ‘innocently annoying’…

Malware has evolved plenty from a bizarre hobby for computer geeks to profitable organised cyber-crime. Digital threats are a huge source of profit for hackers and thus the reason why malware will continue to be a big threat to IT infrastructures in the future. Malware will become more complex as hackers are constantly improving their techniques.

Early forms of digital threats can be described as “innocently annoying” because these weren’t particularly harmful but mere pranks pulled by young computer geeks. These malwares would usually reach your PC when opened the attachment from inside an innocent-looking email that reached your inbox. When you opened the attached file, the malware would launch which would then send a copy of that email to all the people in your address book. The purpose was simply to fill up your email storage space and nothing more. Using an antivirus was the simplest solution to stop these types of digital threats.

… to ‘severely damaging’

Later on, malware became more complex and that’s because hackers discovered that they could use this to earn a lot of money. Those were the days when PC users were afraid to connect to the Internet because of the tens of pop up ads that were appearing on their screens every 3 minutes. The worst thing was that, at that time, antiviruses were having a difficult time tracking the signature of many types of malware.

Today malware is becoming even more sophisticated and dangerous. It’s now made to attack specific sites of particular businesses, governments or people and it’s focusing on theft and other illicit activities. So, we can say that digital threats have ‘evolved’ from ‘innocently annoying’ to ‘severely damaging’ as the hackers are no longer those smart kids that just want to have fun but web-savvy programmers that have technology at their fingertips and are not afraid to use it to their benefit.

Malware now targets sensitive information related to credit cards or even your identity. What’s scary is that this complex generation of malware is making it difficult for antivirus software to detect it. Hackers are changing their techniques by creating malware that can learn and adapt on their own. These new strains of malware don’t cause any physical damage but instead get the sensitive information the hacker needs and even shuts itself down to prevent from being discovered by an antivirus. This means that you may not even be aware that your computer or your site has been infected with malware.

How can you keep your site safe from malware?

Today’s complex cyber threats are a security issue that must be considered by everyone from a simple home user to large businesses and government agencies. The need for better defense systems and security tools that can adapt at a rapid pace to keep up with these ever-changing digital threats has led us to launch Site Scanner. This is an unbeatable malware monitoring tool that can help keep your site safe and secure from both known and unknown digital threats.

With Site Scanner you know if your site has been infected with malicious code and you can act in minutes so you can keep your site safe. Try it now or contact us if you want to learn more about it.

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When I’m a fan of a website, whether it’s an online clothing shop, a travel agency or a restaurant, I usually become a fan on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. I think that’s what we all do so we can engage with them and to ensure we don’t miss any of their offers.

Everything is moving toward social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and many others so it’s only normal to add them to your site to let your visitors and customers know where they can find you online. When you’re building your site, whether it’s a personal site, an e-shop or a presentation site, integrating widgets into your site is very important.

Let’s look at a few reasons why you need to add 3^rd party widgets to your site and how easy you can do that.

Help your customers find you

Whether you’re a lawyer or you own a shop or run a coffee shop, people need to know where they can find you. Adding a Google Maps widget on your site is the easiest way to give them directions, rather than writing your address in plain text.  People are looking for directions from a specific location and with Google Maps they can see exactly what route to take to get to you.

For instance, last week I was looking up directions to a hotel in Berlin that I booked for this month. As I’ve never been to Berlin before, I was having trouble finding their address based on the limited directions offered on their site. No step-by-step instructions from the airport, just an address.

When you add a Google widget on your site, it makes it easier for your customers to find you as they can see exactly how they can get to your location. When you’re building your site with the easy website builder from 123-reg, you simply need to drag’n’drop the Google Maps widget on to your template and add a line of code from Google Maps to show you location.

Engage openly and ask for feedback

Most every company in the world is using Facebook, Twitter and many more social networks to interact with their customers and to also attract new customers. You can also use these networks to ask for feedback from your customers and encourage them to share their opinions on the products or services that you’re selling. It’s the easiest way to communicate with your clients and find out first-hand what they think about your products and what you can do to improve them.

Your customers’ testimonials are seen as recommendations and that’s why so many companies or brands have included social networks into their marketing strategies.

With our easy website builder, you can add these widgets to your site by simply draggin’n’dropping them from the Social tab on the left menu onto your template.

Find out where your customers are spending their time online and add widgets for those social networks on your site so they know where to find you online.

Show how your product works

YouTube is such an amazing tool to grow your business. There are so many things you can do with it to connect with customers, promote your products, share your knowledge and show off your expertise.

You can upload videos, testimonials from your customers to add to your credibility, promote events, share a tour of your office and many more. So, why not also add a YouTube widget on your site?

If you’re a fan of Flickr, you can also add a Flickr widget to your site so your visitors can see your photos directly on your site, without having to visit your Flickr account. Add pictures of your office, your team or show how your product works.

You can do all this and more with our easy website builder. Not only can you build a new website from scratch with little to no programming skills, but you can also create a more engaging experience for your visitors. We’re offering a 14-days free trials so you can see for yourself how easy it is to build a great website that you visitors will come to love.

What other widgets are you using on your site?

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Gone are the days where we all lived with the default install, the internet is where many of us spend the majority of our time these days so user an interface (browser) that connects how you want it to is important. Consider it a bit like choosing a house or an office, you want to make sure the look and feel are right and then you want to make sure you can do everything you want to within it. Remember its name too. Browser suggests almost a casual approach and indeed the best browsers operate without you even thinking or noticing the intricate processing it is carrying out.

Yet, the choice is massive and while many of the features cross-over, how they interact with other programmes, how fast they are and how powerful they are all varies and with add-ons and plug-ins it is very possible to completely personalise your browser for just your needs, but you need to understand what browser has the best basic set-up for you before you begin that journey.

The 2012 Internet Browser Software Product Comparison from TopTenReviews.com isn’t the only site to offer its opinions, but is one of the best in terms of presenting you the information and a comparison chart of what, does this and what can’t do that.

As with any good comparison site there are benchmarks and ticks alongside the relevant features and it is only when looking at the list of the top ten browsers that you begin to realise how different they all are. Like many working in this industry I have a selection of browsers installed on each of my machines – my smartphones too. This used to be for design reasons so I could immediately see how the odd tweak responded in different browsers. Nowadays, it is as much to do with functionality. For example, I am a big fan and advocate of podcasts, yet Gooogle Chrome doesn’t always like the standard .xml RSS feeds many of these use. For that Firefox is best, enabling the feed to load correctly and letting me click straight through on the link for the podcast to play straight out in my browser. Now I am sure there is a plug-in for Chrome that would probably fix that, but I know Firefox works and trust it, so for me familiarity wins over hunting for possibly a more effective solution. The same is true of my mobile devices. I’ve designed in Flash, it was great, but WAS is the operative word. I’ve not designed in flash for years, but too many people still do. Especially those embedding video. So the default browsers on my smartphone and tablets can’t read them. Frustrating! Yet, I know that a minority browser like Skyfire (One of four browsers installed on each of my tablets and smartphones) is clever enough to identify flash on a site and open the video in a separate window. Hey presto, I can watch almost any Flash video components on the move. It’s not perfect however, in fact it is rather clumsy and it doesn’t look great either, but it works. Again functionality wins.

So while this blog may be entitled how to choose a browser, I guess it probably should be browsers plural. You see each of us is different and each of our needs is different each day too. So unless you are a whizz at coding for a specific browser the chances are that your every need may not be met by a single option. It is as much about trial and error as it is research but certainly the comparison chart above is a great starting place for those looking to find the browser that best fits their internet use.

What is your browser of preference? Have you found any great browser comparison tools?

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The world of retail is in its biggest transition since the adopting of the barcode scanner over hand-held pricing guns. Even small corner shops are now more likely to use the former, although there will always be a handful of retailers who hold on firmly to tradition. The current transition, the consumer move from physical shopping to virtual shopping, has been underway for a few years now but the mass-growth is now well and truly upon us. E-commerce is no longer a word used by only certain demographics, it is a term understood by 99% of the population. Yet, where e-commerce goes next, is the question thousands of retailers are asking, here are some of our predictions:

1. E-commerce dependance will continue to rise

The mass-market for e-commerce is already here, but the economic climate and reluctance for businesses to invest in expensive overheads such as retail space and customer-facing staff, means e-commerce will continue to grow and be more attractive to businesses both new and old. That’s not to say E-commerce should be seen as just a cheap option. Investing in back-end infrastructure and a pleasing customer journey is essential and cutting corners and costs on that invariably also means cutting customers.

2. Seasonal trends will still be applicable

While leaving your Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve is probably soon to be assigned to history (although we know there are some online retailers that offer this and the printable / emailable voucher has never been as popular), shopping at Christmas is still going to present a potential bumper windfall for online retailers. In addition, the tradition of the January sale lives on long and strong online so if you are running an ecommerce site, consider December and January a pretty much no go area for personal holiday.

3. Buying social will increase

The recommendation of a friend or trusted colleague can have a massive impact on whether you buy or don’t buy. The big retailers have long known this and the push post checkout of many retailers to “share your purchase” via your social networks is almost second nature to most of us buying online nowadays. That will only increase as will the number using the high street more as as browsing tool than a shop. Think Argos catalogue of the past, that could soon become the way we treat the physical shopping world, perhaps not even ever buying presents either, but sharing them over the internet (see Web 3.0)

4. The development of personal verification

With social networking sites now dominating the way we login to control panels and accounts across the web, the single login system while secure in principle is potentially open to abuse if you stay logged in for example on a publicly located computer. Many systems with automated payment logins and processes would therefore allow a ‘hacked’ account to be used to rack up £s of orders without extra security checks. Already to market Jumio’s NetSwipe hasn’t quite captured the imagination as many had expected, but we think it won’t be too long before banks – and consumers – are insisting on this or similar technology to combat web fraud.

5. Flash sales will drive traffic

In the real world retailers call these “fire sales” and you see the High Streets littered with ‘Closing Down’ and ‘ All stock must go’ almost everywhere you go nowadays. That trend is set to move onto the internet. Already, the growth of social shopping sites like GroupOn and LivingSocial have relied heavily on the same mentality to drop prices to all-time lows and drive sales and hopefully traffic back to the retailer sites. Now as brands become more powerful and influential themselves via social media, so they will be looking to use similar tactics to drive traffic to their site alone.

6. Online loyalty programs kick in

The success of large scale affiliates offering money-back to customers for click-through purchases such as QuidCo and TopCashback makes it clear that loyalty to brands extends online – especially if there is a financial incentive. Expect this to be become more polished and more targeted by the big names in the next few months. Already the big high street names such as Nectar are evident if not overtly active online, but brands are aware of the importance of customer loyalty and will be exploiting that more and more in tighter economic times.

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Web 1.0 connected parts of the world and communities in ways that few had every imagined but it was flat and one-dimensional. Where once a letter may have taken weeks to be delivered, an email could be sent almost instantaneously but it was still only really old technology being pushed in a new format. Web 2.0 brought us interactivity: Rich media, social & bridging of the gaps in the global economy, making us all closer and in part more reliant on one another. Next up is Web 3.0 but what of it?

With debate still raging about Web 2.0 and what it is, Web 3.0 is even less agreed in terms of a definition, and possibly never will be. What is certain however, is it will be nearer Sci-Fi than anything we have ever seen before. If you are pertubed by Google’s suggested search phrases now, dislike social search and are anti-CCTV, the next generation for web technologies may have you squirming in your seat as the colour drains from your face.

The Semantic Web

Tim Berners-Lee the founder father of the WWW and has described the Semantic Web as part of Web 3.0

The key will be internet tools that make search faster, more intuitive and become an even more important part of your life. For those yet to be controlled by their smartphone mood apps, electronic calendar and online task reminders, the world of the web is set to become very different as Web 3.0 becomes our personal assistant, analysing the patterns of our daily lives and throwing up new suggestions for us to follow. Imagine the ship’s computer in the BBC comedy Red Dwarf and Web 3.0 might not be too far away, if a little less sarcastic.

3D-Printing

The semantic Web is only part of the package that Web 3.0 is likely to offer. As this video https://vimeo.com/36027546 of the world’s first 3D-printer pavilion now open in Amsterdam shows, technology now exists to effectively print in 3D form. Creating physical objects down electrical wires is as close as science has so far got to the sci-fi favourite of tele-porting and possibly that itself may be what Web 4.0 brings. For now Web 3.0 is likely to be very focused upon creation of 3D form. It could revolutionise the way we consume, almost banish shipping costs in an instant and have a massive impact on how we interact with the world around us. Imagine turning up at an exhibition with just a printer under your arm and then ‘printing’ a full exhibition stand, with banners, tables, chairs and display stands. The technology already exists so within a few years the chances are it is the kind of technology that certainly those with a techie-bent will be taking for granted.

Augmented Reality

If Web 3.0 is about all things Sci-Fi, then augmented reality is possibly the closest thing to tele-porting humans will get in Web 3.0. Placing you in any environment, overlapping real with virtual worlds, augmented reality is already in use by some in the form of Blippar and Aurasma.

GeoSocial

Whether you use it or not Geo-social in the form of FourSquare gaming or just check-ins on Facebook Places has had an impact on our culture in recent years.  What has been learned by the geeks however, is far more ground-breaking. If the other sci-fi aspects of Web 3.0 concerns you, this functionality could be very disturbing. Imagine your friends knowing exactly where you were at any point, so that you could move your virtual engagement into the real world. It exists in the mainstream already as Apple’s Find Friends and it is just that technology that could soon see you ‘stalked’ by every brand you have ever liked on Facebook or engaged with on Twitter. Spot marketing at it’s most accurate but where the law will be drawn on privacy is yet to be seen. You needn’t have been so overt in your actions either. Modern forensic language analysis by computers can identify brands or places you might like just by the words you use on a day to day basis. You could be reaching out to perfect customers before they even know you exist.

In summary Web 3.0 will be more about personalisation and dynamic content created on the basis of intelligent analysis and search of our individual actions… Sound familiar? Yes, in reality we are already embracing many of the Web 3.0 facets, beginning to understand them and accept them as part of our normal every day lives. Certainly that is the case in terms of the Semantic Web. In relation to 3D printing, the technology is being refined every day, but imagine being able to reward a loyal customer immediately with a physical item as a thank you. Literally printing down the line to their office. That brings reaching out to customers to a new level and it is that element of Web 3.0 which we think will literally bring about the biggest change in engagement.

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2012 continues to be a year of great excitement for 123-reg. We are thrilled to announce the release of Site Scanner, powered by Stop the Hacker.

For those not in the know, Site Scanner is a SaaS based malware monitoring tool that scrutinises a user’s website, notifying the customer when malicious code/viruses are found via email and in the 123-reg control panel. Furthermore, the software provides the user information on where the damaging code is located (the line of code it starts and ends on) and provides steps on how to eradicate it.

Protecting your online business against malicious code couldn’t be more important in 2012. This year has seen the issue of internet security rise to the front pages of the national newspapers. Whilst events such as the Linkedin security breach are unfortunate, they are helpful in educating the market.

123-reg spoke to Anirban Banerjee, Co-Founder of StopTheHacker Inc., in a bid to help inform website owners of the growing threat of malware and detail how purchasing Site Scanner can give you peace of mind. A blacklisted website can have serious implications for any online business in terms of lost revenue, potential customers and credibility. We asked Banerjee about the threats to 123-reg customers who run websites with little or no malware detection service. ‘Malicious hackers are targeting websites in order to compromise them. If your website gets compromised and is misused to distribute malware to innocent visitors, the infected website is put on a blacklist by Google and other search engines.’

The potentially spiralling affects could be disastrous for your online business as Banerjee explains. ‘If your website is blacklisted, users will be blocked from coming to your website. This could lead to a loss of revenue. Moreover, this could result in an irreparable loss to the reputation of your website and business.’

The threat of being blacklisted by Google is one that is not only very real but one that every website owner needs to protect against. Once malware infects a website, it harms both the company and its customers. Website owners typically have no idea they have been infected, and many do believe that anti-virus protection software is enough. However, it is not.

‘9,500 websites get added to the Google blacklist every single day. Given the UK market is quite big; this represents a substantial number of UK businesses. It takes 7-10 days for a blacklisted website to clean up its act, on average, this process can cost thousands of pounds in lost revenue before even considering the potential revenue lost from your brands’ reputation being tarnished.’

Prevention is better than cure, but having said that, Site Scanner also acts as a quick reaction, something users can take heart from. If malicious code is found on the user’s website at any time, they are sent an email detailing exactly where the code is, and just as importantly, how to delete it.

‘Site Scanner incorporates the best of breed technology when it comes to malware detection, Antivirus engines, signature databases and reputation monitoring. It will help 123-reg customers by providing them with peace of mind. Together, we will help fight the battle for them!’

Central to seeking a partnership, 123-reg looked-for a provider with a real passion for the online security industry. What 123-reg customers should also take from the partnership is Banerjee’s passion for helping people secure their websites as well as the quality of product that his company provides. ‘Our goal is to make website security ubiquitous. Having a secure website and not worrying about hackers installing malware on your site and getting blacklisted shouldn’t be a luxury, everyone should have access to a high quality, reliable and accurate malware detection prevention like Site Scanner.’

Releasing a product like Site Scanner highlights 123-reg’s commitment to helping its customers secure their websites. 123-reg is working with everyone involved with Site Scanner to bring website security to millions of users.

Remember, you don’t have to be a high traffic website to be targeted. Even if you see yourself as a small site, you are attractive to hackers because your site will have more vulnerable openings for hackers.

For more information on Site Scanner please visit http://www.123-reg.co.uk/security/site-scanner/

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