HostEntrepreneur

You can install SSL certificates on both Windows as well as Linux Dedicated Servers. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is used for the e-commerce websites. This is generally done for the security of the website. It is highly recommended for the websites where money is transacted or the website which needs some sort of security. You can install SSL certificate on your domain through Plesk control panel with the help of the easy steps which are given below :-

1) First login to your Plesk control panel.

2) Then select the domain on which you wish to install the SSL certificate.

3) Then select the “certificates” icon.

4) Then select the icon “Add New Certificate”.

5) Give the certificate a name. This is for your reference only.

6) Then generate a certificate request which you will submit to the Certified Authority (CA).

7) Once you are done with it, come back to the previous page.

Then select the certificate 1 which is given below the page.

9) Copy the CSR (Certificate Signing Request) and the Private key. You will need to submit these in your application to the Certified Authority (CA).

10) Once you have done that and submitted the CA your SSL certificate will be installed on the domain you have selected.

If you do not wish to get into all this, your web hosting provider can provide you with the SSL certificate on the domain you wish to. You will have to pay some charges to your web hosting provider for the SSL certificate. It might be possible that your web hosting provider does not provide SSL certicates and if this is the case, then you will have to do it on your own with the above given steps.

Note : You will have to purchase a Dedicated IP for the domain you wish to have the SSL certicate on both Windows as well as Linux Dedicated Servers. You cannot install the SSL certificate on the domain if the domain does not have a Dedicated IP.

If you have a dedicated server on which you have a mission critical website running then it is surely not good for you to face any downtime. For this reason some techniques for backups are used. One of the techniques for backup is the Mirroring of the server. In this technique, two servers with the same configuration are setup. Out of these two servers, one server is the Master server and the other is the Slave server. This is done for the purpose of backing up the Master server. If due to any reason, the master server fails or faces any kind of problem then the slave server immediately takes its place. As a result of this arrangement, there is no downtime faced by any of the websites. This kind of arragement i.e. the mirroring solution is generally done with the help of FAM and RSYNC modules. This process is know as the Failover dedicated servers process.

Failover process is the process in which the Master server is replaced by the Slave server in case the Master server faces downtime i.e. fails due to some problems. The user and the applications which are requested to the master server are automatically directed to slave server. One more process is involved which is known as the Restroration process.

If the master server fails and the slave server is replaced instead of it, then the slave server will have the data modified after the master server has failed. Restroration process is the process in which the data which has been modified is sent back to the master server which is said to be its original place. Since the data on the master server is already maintained in the slave server the data does not require each and every file to be selected and transferred.

The data on the slave server will be of great benefit if the master server has crashed due to a disk crash which results in the complete data loss on the master server. But as the data is present on the Slave server, it is very easy to get the data back to the master server. The slave server is always up to date due to the RSYNC software and when the master server is ready and can be relied upon, the two server will not have the same information as the slave server has the updated data right from the time master server was failed due to some reason. Restroration is the process of copying the updated data to the master server once the master server is set to come online.

This kind of adjustment is very beneficial for you and it has a lot of advantages. But as there are advantages involved, there are disadvantages involved also. Actually this cannot be called as the disadvantage as the only thing is the cost which is invoved in this process i.e. the mirroring of the servers. As mirroring requires two dedicated servers of the same configuration, you will have to spend double the cost of the dedicated server you select for your websites. If you can afford this cost of having two dedicated servers of the same configuration then you should go for Mirrored servers as they will always help you to keep your websites online. Some of the web hosting providers do not charge for this kind of service apart from the server charges, so you should look for these web hosting providers.

failover dedicated servers, mirroring solutions, what are mirrored servers, working of mirrored servers

When choosing a data center to colocate your servers in, it is important to check the colocation providers financial situation and consider how reliable they are. Colocation is a costly business and should it happen that the provider runs in to financial problems or goes bankrupt it can have serious consequences for your business.

In case the power or connectivity is turned off, your servers will become unavailable and unless you have planned for disaster recovery with a secondary backup data center your business will most likely be damaged. It obviously depends on what kind of business you are in and what the servers in colocation are used for, but on the short term clients could be unable to find you and do business with you while in the long term it could damage your reputation due to your site(s) and/or services being unavailable.

Furthermore if the colocation provider is filing for bankruptcy and all the assets are being held back in the bankruptcy estate, you might be unable to get your servers and more importantly data until the attorney handling the case has an overview of the colocation business. He obviously needs to validate that the servers are actually owned by you and not an asset owned by the bankruptcy estate, usable for improving the financial situation for the creditors. In such a situation you could risk having to purchase new equipment and set up from a backup at a new colocation data center if the process takes too long.

Therefore make sure to raise the topic of financial stability with the colocation data center before signing a contract, to see how they respond to it and how they feel about their own financial situation and if they have taken any measures to ensure that things keep on running and that you can get your servers and data in case problems should occur.

Going with a large provider with a good reputation and perhaps even several data centers is therefore often worth considering. Checking for business and data center certifications is also a smart thing to do, as it often is a good signal if the data center is SAS 70 audited, tier 4 certified, PCI compliant or has taken other measures of that kind. Make sure to google the provider and check industry forums and blogs to see if there are any bad reviews, outages or other negative things about the company you are considering using.

Colocation providers can easily be found via tools such as Data Center Map, where you can search for colocation data centers.

A good logo is critical for a successful business-especially in a trade as competitive as landscaping. Here are five ways an outstanding corporate identity will help your company succeed.

1. Great Logos Make Great First Impressions Before your sales person knocks on the door, before your truck pulls up, and even before they call you, potential customers consider your logo when they decide whom to trust.

Wayne Stuetz, founder of The Sodfather Landscaping in White Plains, New York, understands how that first impression gives them an edge. “People are always asking for a t-shirt with my logo on it. My logo is very memorable, and once a person has seen it, it’s hard to forget.”

When people can easily remember your logo, you have a competitive edge.

2. Attract New Customers Your customers see hundreds of logos a day-and they know a good logo when they see one. By sending the right message to potential customers, your logo helps them choose you over the competition.

The Lawn Rangers, in Pearland, Texas, have seen the fruits of a good logo. “When customers initially see the logo on our estimate sheets, trucks and website, they feel good about us,” said co-owner Aaron O’Donley. “And unless there’s something you can show potential customers to convince them their expectations will be met, they will turn to the competition. Our logo helps us persuade them.”

3. Stand Out from Your Competition Flip through the phone book and you’ll quickly see that potential customers have plenty of landscaping company choices. You’ll also notice very few logos stand out from the crowd. Differentiating yourself from your competition is critical in winning the battle for customers.

The Lawn Rangers do that with color. Instead of the usual greens and blues, they use a warmer color combination that stands out. Original uses of colors, words, shapes, and fonts can set your logo apart from the rest.

4. Keep Loyal Customers Good service is the key to keeping your customers. But what happens when a competitor moves in with shiny trucks, clean-cut employees, a professional look and promises to match your service? If your company image isn’t as good, your customers may be tempted to try the competition.

Don’t put your business in that position. “A great logo convinces high-end customers who look for a loyal, long-term relationship to choose you over the next guy, who is probably waiting around the corner,” adds Stuetz.

5. Earn Trust with Professionalism What convinces people to choose an established landscaping business over a couple kids with lawnmowers? Often it’s the professionalism of the business.

“People see our professional logo, and see that we’re here from year to year, and that builds trust,” said Tina Zoltan, owner of Oak Leaf Landscape in Groveland Florida. “If we can send the message of professionalism through our logo, a lot of the work is done for us.”

Money is one of the most important thing which everyone thinks about while considering to use a dedicated web server host, no matter what business they own. Cash is the most important factor of al the businesses. The best Linux Dedicated Server statistical distributions is having a good advantage that you don’t need to pay extra amount of money for any software package that Microsoft introduce. So this can help you to invest your budget on the hardware or any other important thing which can help you a lot in your project.

The most important thing that comes to my mind and you should also know about it is it’s trustworthiness and safety are really well documented when having a talk about Linux Dedicated Servers. They are well known to keep running for months, giving consistent performance and you need to forget only one thing, that is maintenance.

When you are thinking about normal servers that run on normally used servers or even thinking about coded software, one thing you should always keep in my mind is that, Linux always performs much better and longer than other and this is the most important think you need to think about when it comes on something that will stand the test of time. For people who are working from home and using a in house server, crash occasionally and need to reboot is not a big deal and what to keep in mind is that when it comes on talking about some one who is running a business online, this can be terrible and they may loose thousands of dollars on a single day when there website goes down.

They occasionally route the problem by having a ghost server running an exact duplicate of website on the same server but with different hardware, and what will happen if the main web host and all its channels are affected, and if your ghost server is build on a same hardware and what if there could be a universal crash and loose all the data that is inside together with any transactions or any type of financial information as well and this is really very important. So you need to have a server that are reliable, provide some security to the customers on who are running a e-commerce site.

These are all the reasons you should think about “Why you should use Linux Dedicated Server?” One more thing that you should know is that Linux Server is able to communicate with a host of operating systems pretty easily and efficiently, and this a good when you need to connect the server with other platforms to configure a network where business can really operate.

Colocation is a type of web hosting service, where clients store their server’s at a Colocation Centre, which is a type of Data Centre. It is becoming more popular all the time as a preferred form of hosting.

A Colocation Centre works by providing rack space for clients to rent. The clients’ server will then be placed into this rack space which they have rented from the Colocation Centre. It is the rack space that is hired, not the server itself. The server and other equipment is owned by the client. It is in their control and they perform maintenance and other tasks and are responsible for the server’s up-keep.

One of the main benefits of storing a server at a Colocation Centre is that it is cost effective when compared to renting you own server. As the Colocation Centre has several clients they are able to drive the cost down. Another advantage is that certain other things (such as the environment the server is kept in and security) are taken care of so the client doesn’t have to worry about it. The client knows that the server is being kept in a safe place and they to not need to be concerned with providing security themselves.

Measures are put in place to make the servers as secure as possible. Protection against natural disasters and fire is provided, with the server areas being secure and fire proof. Close circuit television (CCTV) is usually provided and there are normally security guards on duty meaning the areas is protected against intruders. If clients were hosting their own server they would need to provide this themselves and this would involve extra costs.

All the necessary power that is required is provided by the Colocation Centre. It may be priced at a set amount per month for power and bandwidth usage up to a certain point. If a client requires extra in a particular month it will usually be provided automatically and they will be billed at the end of the month. This means downtime is less likely to be an issue. Using less that the expected amount of power or bandwidth will mean a reduced bill. There is normally power backup as well. There are generators that can be used in case there is a power failure or a similar problem.

The Colocation Centre’s environment is designed and managed to be the optimum for web hosting. Air conditioning is used to keep the air at the right temperature – usually between 20 and 25C.

At some Colocation Centre’s assistance is available, while at others it is not. This can be an advantage as the Colocation Centre’s employees will have high expertise, something that is especially useful if the client does not have advanced knowledge themselves. This may be part of the package with assistance included in the original price, or it may be an optional extra that can be purchased when required.

Colocation is for those who want control and their server but do not want to host it themselves. It has the advantages of the right environment and protection that hosting it at the clients premises would not provide, while still meaning they can maintain control, something they would not be able to do if it was being completely managed by the hosting company.

Andrew Marshall ©

Colocation

Cloud Computing is a form of computing in which all applications, information and resources are managed in a virtual environment.  The term cloud computing, specifically the use of the word “cloud”, it meant to represent the nature and structure of cloud computing. Cloud computing involves virtual hosted environments allowing users to connect to the services being hosted over the internet.

Google Apps is a great example of cloud computing as companies to no longer require the need for installed word processing software, in house email servers, multiple IT personnel and many more cost saving advantages. Google Apps allows companies to access all services including email, website hosting, calendar, document editing/creation and much more directly through a web browser. The advantage to using Google Apps is increased productivity, security, lower IT costs and data backup. Microsoft has also entered the cloud computing realm by integrating its current software such as Word and outlook with online storage and easy accessibility.

Many hosting companies and even a few internet retailers are beginning to offer cloud hosting services. Rackspace, an internet hosting company, has begun to offer cloud hosting for clients who wish to have personal cloud applications in an environment controlled by them. Amazon.com is also offering cloud hosting services due to its large infrastructure and internet bandwidth capabilities. Most cloud hosting companies offer easy setup and creation of private cloud hosting with simple user interfaces. Most cloud hosting companies have per usage pricing instead of flat rate pricing. Users simply pay for the amount of processing, bandwidth and storage that they use. This pricing method benefits both cloud hosting companies and end users.

There are three main variations of cloud computing:

1. IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): The need for expensive equipment is outsourced. Instead of companies purchasing expensive equipment including servers, hard drives and networking equipment, they would instead be used over the Cloud and hosted by a cloud computing company. The business entity would use the virtual equipment on a cost usage basis.
2. PaaS (Platform as a Service): Applications are run off of cloud servers hosted virtually. A small company selling cloud applications to businesses will use PaaS to “host” the sold cloud applications and have them run off of the cloud servers instead of having them run off of in-house servers. The company selling the applications pays for the services based on a processor/bandwidth basis.
3. SaaS (Software as a Service): Cloud applications are paid for on a per use basis and not sold in bulk licenses. This allows small companies to purchase a la carte licensing for applications they may use infrequently. Instead of purchasing 15 licenses a company can instead only pay when the software is used and removing the limits on how many machines the software can be installed on.

IaaS, Infrastructure as a Service, is currently the most widely used cloud service. IaaS allows small, medium and even large companies to cut costs considerably. Companies can completely remove the need for expensive network equipment, expensive bandwidth to support their network, expensive network storage equipment and much more. A company only pays for what they use from the cloud infrastructure thus eliminating the capital lost due to lack of usage from in house network equipment, bandwidth, etc. As IaaS gains more popularity and more cloud hosting companies emerge, costs can potentially drop even more due to oversupply and increased cloud hosting competition.

PaaS, Platform as a Service, is second to IaaS in terms of popularity and consumer adoption. A small company selling cloud applications and/or cloud services does not have to host the applications but can instead have them hosted elsewhere. Platform as a Service saves the company selling the applications/services as expensive network equipment, bandwidth and the need for additional IT personnel are instead outsourced to a cloud hosting company. This allows cloud application companies and even small developers the ability to enter the cloud application market without the need for considerable startup capital. PaaS has the potential to overtake IaaS in terms of consumer adoption and overall use.

SaaS, Software as a Service, is the least used cloud hosting service. It is a win-win for both consumers and the software companies. Consumers save money as heavily priced software licenses are no longer necessary due to the fact that consumers are only paying when the software is used. The need to purchase software in bulk is removed and every consumers’ software needs are custom suited based on usage. This is also a win for cloud software companies as it will attract more consumers due to the custom pricing model. Consumers who could not afford the high cost of bulk software licenses will now be able to purchase based directly on their software usage needs. SaaS has the potential to completely revolutionize the software industry and may even curb software piracy.

The customized nature of cloud computing is what makes it such a popular and newly adopted internet technology. It will revolutionize the way that networking and everyday computing is run. It is a great win-win situation for both cloud companies and consumers.

Potential Disadvantages

There are also disadvantages to cloud computing, specifically in online storage and client applications. A company which utilizes cloud computing to host its email, document editing, calendars and other applications can be shut down if a cloud hosting company experiences downtime. This specific disadvantage was the case on February 24^th, 2009, when Google Apps as well as Gmail were down for several hours. The downtime also reiterated that if Google can go down so can any other hosting companies. Confidence in cloud computing may have been hindered after this specific downtime although Google has assured it will not happen again. Google Apps services over 1million business around the world and is the leader in cloud computing applications.

Security is also a potential disadvantage to cloud computing. Companies that are willing to adopt the ability to host their services on the cloud may be reluctant to do so until the security of cloud computing has been heavily demonstrated and thoroughly tested. Large companies may consider the additional costs of in-house network hosting outweigh the potential security risks associated with cloud hosting. A security breach involving a companys’ cloud information storage has the potential for disaster. However, hacking and security breaches are rampant for in-house IT hosting such as millions of credit card numbers being stolen as well as detailed customer information. If cloud computing can prove that its security is much better than any in-house hosting this may help it to grow and overtake the percentage of companies that have in-house IT infrastructures.

Cloud computing is still in its infancy and is expected to grow and revolutionize the way of everyday computing. Many theorize that cloud computing will one day take over today’s desktop computing altogether. Until intense applications are developed for use over the cloud, desktop computing will remain the staple of everyday computing. Cloud computing innovation is rapid and as new cloud technologies emerge more people will start to adopt the cloud.

Current browser technologies are not up to date with cloud computing capabilities, especially in the mobile computing world. Cloud applications require several browser technologies including Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Adobe Flex and much more. Until browser technology evolves to fit the capabilities of cloud computing, cloud computing will remain a relatively simple method of computing.

Overall Benefits

The advantages of the cloud heavily outweigh the disadvantages. As better cloud computing technologies are developed and redundancy is fine tuned, the disadvantages will slowly become obsolete. As mentioned, cloud computing is in its infancy and new cloud technologies are growing exponentially. One day we will all use the cloud. In-house IT hosting as well as desktop computing may become a thing of the past.

cPanel servers have a good small file named as antivirus.exim. It is a central filter for the exim mail server which lets you setup all kinds of good filters which helps you to stop spam from coming in and going out of your server.

In this article I will provide you my /etc/antivirus.exim config file which will help you to protect your servers from spammers. First off the default /etc/antivirus.exim has a couple different rule sets in it. The main ones are attachment filters to help stop email viruses from your users. They stop things like .src and .com and .exe attachments.This shows you some custom rules to stop spammers from sending out of your server, you can also use it to stop spam from coming in. I don’t really go into a lot of detail for filtering incoming mail since other applications like Spam Assassin handle that better IMO.

You will need root access to your cPanel server.

First off we need to create a special log file for these filters do this:

touch /var/log/filter.log chmod 0644 /var/log/filter.log

Now open up the configuration file vi /etc/antivirus.exim

Simply add this to your existing file, and save the changes and they take effect instantly.

# START # Filters all incoming an outgoing mail

logfile /var/log/filter.log 0644 ## Common Spam if

# Header Spam $header_subject: contains “Pharmaceutical” or $header_subject: contains “Viagra” or $header_subject: contains “Cialis” or $header_subject: is “The Ultimate Online Pharmaceutical” or $header_subject: contains “***SPAM***” or $header_subject: contains “[SPAM]”

# Body Spam or $message_body: contains “Cialis” or $message_body: contains “Viagra” or $message_body: contains “Leavitra” or $message_body: contains “St0ck” or $message_body: contains “Viaagrra” or $message_body: contains “Cia1iis” or $message_body: contains “URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL” or $message_body matches “angka[^s]+[net|com|org|biz|info|us|name]+?” or $message_body matches “v(i|1)agra|vag(i|1)n(a|4)|pen( i|1)s|asu|seks|l(o|0)l(i|1)ta|dewacolok”

then # Log Message – SENDS RESPONSE BACK TO SENDER # SUGGESTED TO LEAVE OFF to prevent fail loops # and more work for the mail system #fail text “Message has been rejected because it hasn # triggered our central filter.” logwrite “$tod_log $message_id from $sender_address contained spam keywords”

seen finish endif

# END # Filters all incoming an outgoing mail

# START # All outgoing mail on the server only – what is sent out

#Check forwarders so it doesn’t get blocked #Forwarders still work =)

## FINANCIAL FAKE SENDERS ## Log all outgoing mail from server that matches rules logfile /var/log/filter.log 0644 if ( $received_protocol is “local” or $received_protocol is “esmtpa” ) and ( $header_from contains “@citibank.com” or $header_from contains “@bankofamerica.com” or $header_from contains “@wamu.com” or $header_from contains “@ebay.com” or $header_from contains “@chase.com” or $header_from contains “@paypal.com” or $header_from contains “@wellsfargo.com” or $header_from contains “@bankunited.com” or $header_from contains “@bankerstrust.com” or $header_from contains “@bankfirst.com” or $header_from contains “@capitalone.com” or $header_from contains “@citizensbank.com” or $header_from contains “@jpmorgan.com” or $header_from contains “@wachovia.com” or $header_from contains “@bankone.com” or $header_from contains “@suntrust.com” or $header_from contains “@amazon.com” or $header_from contains “@banksecurity.com” or $header_from contains “@visa.com” or $header_from contains “@mastercard.com” or $header_from contains “@mbna.com” ) then logwrite “$tod_log $message_id from $sender_address is fraud” seen finish endif

## OTHER FAKE SENDERS SPAM ## Enable this to prevent users using @domain from addresses ## Not recommended since users do use from addresses not on the server ## Log all outgoing mail from server that matches rules logfile /var/log/filter.log 0644 if ( $received_protocol is “local” or $received_protocol is “esmtpa” ) and ( $header_from contains “@hotmail.com” or $header_from contains “@yahoo.com” or $header_from contains “@aol.com”

) then logwrite “$tod_log $message_id from $sender_address is forged fake” seen finish endif

## KNOWN FAKE PHISHING ### Log all outgoing mail from server that matches rules logfile /var/log/filter.log 0644 if ( $received_protocol is “local” or $received_protocol is “esmtpa” ) and ( #Paypal $message_body: contains “Dear valued PayPal member” or $message_body: contains “Dear valued PayPal customer” or $message_body: contains “Dear Paypal” or $message_body: contains “The PayPal Team” or $message_body: contains “Dear Paypal Customer” or $message_body: contains “Paypal Account Review Department” or

#Ebay $message_body: contains “Dear eBay member” or $message_body: contains “Dear eBay User” or $message_body: contains “The eBay team” or $message_body: contains “Dear eBay Community Member” or

#Banks $message_body: contains “Dear Charter One Customer” or $message_body: contains “Dear wamu.com customer” or $message_body: contains “Dear valued Citizens Bank member” or $message_body: contains “Dear Visa” or $message_body: contains “Dear Citibank” or $message_body: contains “Citibank Email” or $message_body: contains “Dear customer of Chase Bank” or $message_body: contains “Dear Bank of America customer” or

#ISPs $message_body: contains “Dear AOL Member” or $message_body: contains “Dear AOL Customer”

) then logwrite “$tod_log $message_id from $sender_address is phishing” seen finish endif

# END # All outgoing mail on the server only – what is sent out

The log file will have the logging format like this: /var/log/filter.log

2006-05-10 12:05:13 1Fds7S-0002Sa-MV from smooth595@gmail.com contained spam keywords 2006-05-10 14:18:47 1FduCn-0006GV-1r from dayton.nowellu7xn@gmail.com contained spam keywords 2006-04-27 15:44:35 1FZDLn-0005Mo-5z from nobody@ocean.wavepointmedia.com is fraud 2006-04-27 16:37:40 1FZEB9-0002KQ-VP from nobody@ocean.wavepointmedia.com is phishing

Date and time, the Exim message ID, the sender and the section of the filter, like phishing, fraud or spam. You can check the mail message by grepping the exim_mainlog for it like this

grep 1FZEB9-0002KQ-VP /var/log/exim_mainlog

Whilst search engine optimisation is supposed to help boost a website’s ranking, there are some dangers to watch out for. Black hat techniques are far less prevalent than they were, largely due to search engine algorithms becoming wise to these unscrupulous methods of boosting. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not still around and can’t still land you in hot water.

If you’re struggling in the rankings and are losing business as a result, you may well be tempted over towards the dark side. But be warned, Google won’t often be fooled, so quick fixes to fundamental problems will often only exacerbate the situation. But if you’re not familiar with black hat techniques there’s a chance you could be falling into this trap by accident, so here are a few of the main pitfalls to avoid.

Keyword Stuffing

A cardinal sin for any copywriter or website. Keyword stuffing was all the rage in the not too distant past; in fact even up until a few years ago it was still reasonably common practice, despite search engines clamping down on it severely. Today though it is very much frowned upon. Copy that has been filled with keywords is difficult for visitors to read and more often than not the search engines will punish your site accordingly.

You should be safe with a keyword density of around 5%, but don’t become obsessed by their frequency. As long as they are included in the onsite content and behind the scenes HTML, you should have enough to gain the search engines’ attention.

Hidden Text

If you don’t want to ruin the visible content by filling it with keywords you might be tempted to sneak in some invisible text to fulfil the same person. Don’t! This is sometimes referred to as white text, or hidden text, but essentially it refers to any copy present on a page but can’t be read.

By having the font colour the same as the background, the copy, for all intents and purposes, is invisible. This is a major black hat faux pas and will almost certainly be punished with the sophisticated site crawlers that search engines now employ. Whilst this too was fairly common in the past, don’t be tempted to bring it into the present. It’s not new and it certainly isn’t clever.

Doorway Pages

In an effort to gain additional traffic to your website you might also consider setting up a secondary, often highly simplistic, site with the sole intention of pushing visitors to your primary site. Because this additional platform has no obvious affiliation with your original site, you may choose to optimise it using more risque black hat techniques, targeting certain phrases that will gain traffic.

This is certainly an underhanded way of gaining visitors, one which most people landing on your site may not be too happy about. Additionally if search engines uncover that you’re hosting both, you may well suffer a dip in rankings or expulsion from their listings entirely.

Cloaking

As with doorway pages, cloaking is a way of trying to fool the search engine about some of the content on your website. This is pretty much impossible to do ‘by accident’ so it is often held in very low regard, despite the apparent ingenuity involved. Essentially a cloaking site will be able to identify when a search engine spider is crawling a site and provide an alternative version of the site.

Admittedly this is often done to cover up something illicit, so it is unlikely that you’d ever even consider it. But cloaking can also be used for doorway pages, and is fairly regularly, to ensure that only the content you want to be indexed is ever seen by search engine crawlers. But as this is a clear violation of the rules set out by the leading search engines, the risks far outweigh any potential gains.

Implement Suggested Changes

Finally, if you’ve gained some SEO advice, make sure you implement the changes. It sounds simple, but search engine marketing professionals have experience in helping sites move up the rankings. It can be frustrating when this doesn’t happen immediately, but keep the faith and keep making those changes. If nothing else, it will at least give you reason enough to go and seek other SEO advice or implement changes of your own.

Depending on the current state of your site, SEO can take some time and does require a modicum of patience. Even if you hire a professional SEO agency, they will need to analyse your site, work out where it’s failing, highlight key terms and then go about implementing it all. Search engines won’t index everything immediately and as a result, your rankings may only fractionally fluctuate. But don’t lose patience, get the advice you need and certainly don’t try any of the black hat techniques explained above, it really isn’t worth the risk.

Stephen Logan works as a Copywriter for leading Hampshire-based SEO Agency Impact Media. They offer a full range of search marketing solutions including expert SEO services.