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GOOGLE MAKES MOBILE OPTIMIZATION SEO RANKING FACTOR

GOOGLE ALGORITHM CHANGE BEGINS APRIL 21ST

The change to Google's algorithm will begin on April 21st. Starting then Google says, "(we) will be increasing our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking indication. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices."

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WEBSITES THAT ARE NOT MOBILE-FRIENDLY?

According to a Forbes article on this subject, by Jayson DeMers, up to now, "The ranking improve you get from having your site optimized for mobile has been significant, yet not overwhelming. Millions of sites have fared just fine despite not being optimized for a mobile user experience, and yours may very well be one of them. Unfortunately, this respite will not last much longer."

DeMers goes on to point out that "this latest algorithm rollout is set to have a bigger impact than either Panda or Penguin, and allowing for Panda and Penguin are the major algorithm updates we’ve ever seen from Google, this new mobile update could totally change how we look at search."

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR WEBSITE IS MOBILE-FRIENDLY?

Google describes non-user friendly sites in this way, "Have you ever tapped on a Google Search result on your mobile phone, only to find yourself looking at a page where the text was too small, the links were tiny, and you had to scroll sideways to see all the content? This usually happens when the website has not been optimized to be viewed on a mobile phone. This can be a annoying experience for our mobile searchers.

To see if Google considers your website mobile-friendly take the Google Mobile Friendly Test. It's as simple as entering in your website address, clicking the 'Analyze' button and waiting as Google analyzes your website for mobile-friendliness. The process is fast!

THE TOP 3 THINGS TO KNOW WHEN BUILDING A MOBILE-FRIENDLY WEBSITE

Google says the top 3 things you should know when building a mobile-friendly website are:

• Design your website so it is simple for customers to complete their most common tasks. 

• Measure the effectiveness of your website by how easily mobile customers can complete common tasks. 

• Select a mobile template, theme or design that is reliable for all devices. In other words.  

The text size is easy to read (not too little - no need to pinch and zoom)

The links are spaced or sized appropriately (not tiny) and are easy to click on when using a handheld or mobile device.

The content of the site can be viewed by scrolling down the page (no need to scroll sideways).

GOOGLE RECOMMENDS USING RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN

To achieve the aforementioned, Google recommends using responsive web design over other design patterns.

Responsive web design allows businesses to have one mobile-friendly website that provides a good knowledge for all visitors, whether they are viewing your website on a desktop or almost any mobile device.

Responsive web design, basically, takes your desktop website and adjusts how the information is displayed when viewed on a mobile device. So that, whether viewed on a desktop or a mobile device, the experience is good. The website is easily readable and usable on a desktop or a mobile device, without having to pinch and zoom or scroll sideways.

Rather than having one website designed just for desktop users and another one or more websites designed specifically for mobile devices, responsive web design works for both. Responsive design also means you are only making changes to and managing one website, rather than two or more.

REMEMBER THIS WHEN TRANSITIONING TO MOBILE-FRIENDLY DESIGN

Google provides the following advice when moving to a mobile-friendly site: "On a very basic implementation level, transitioning an existing desktop site to mobile entails using existing sections of content from the desktop site and organizing them in a mobile-friendly design pattern."

If your website is not already mobile-friendly and you are transitioning to a responsive web design, how the various sections are laid out will impact how your site looks on mobile devices.

Thus, the design process needs to incorporate not simply designing a responsive website that looks good on a desktop. It also needs to consider how the site elements will respond/adjust when viewed on mobile devices. This isn't a complicated process with responsive web design, but it is one that needs to be kept in mind when designing a mobile-friendly site.

HTML5 is the Future for project Developers

A fresh information finds standards-based HTML5 development, whose popularity has been rising in part because such apps can run cross-platform, has caught on huge in the enterprise.

 HTML5 is the newest version of the HMTL hypertext markup language. In combination with other standards-based technologies like CSS and JavaScript, it can run in browsers and across platforms without plugins. The State of HTML5 Development in the Enterprise report from Sencha, a supplier of open-source web application frameworks, survey more than 2,000 business application developers from its business-focused community. It create HTML5 is booming:

More than 60% of developers have converted to HTML5 and hybrid development of their key projects More than 70% of HTML5/hybrid developers are using HTML5 more this year than last and 75% intend to use it more in 2015
19 percent of native mobile developers look forward to use native technologies less in the future

Sobering News for Microsoft 

“The days of developers supporting just Windows desktops or just iPhones with their applications are over,” the report confirmed, adding that half of developers support both mobile devices and desktops for their main apps. The “typical developer,” Sencha maintains, supports Windows classic, Mac OS, iPhone, iPad and at least one Android phone. Only about one fifth and one third of developers, respectively, are targeting mobile devices only or desktops only.

For the record, HTML5 is a cooperation between the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). WHATWG was working with web forms and applications, and W3C was working with XHTML 2.0. In 2006, they decided to cooperate and create a new version of HTML.

CMSWire asked Mullany about the new mobile platforms, such as Firefox OS, which are focused on HTML5 apps rather than native ones. He said that the “next stop for Firefox” in its support of HTML5 apps is higher-end hardware to generate better experiences, and added that Sencha’s survey create five to ten percent of developers are already expecting to target that new platform.

Two Other Reports 

While Sencha has an obvious interest in promoting HTML5, it is not alone in documenting the HTML5 bandwagon. For instance, a recent report from digital ad platform Flite, Why Digital Advertising Must Embrace HTML5 (registration required), noted HTML5 “offers an alternative to [Adobe’s proprietary] Flash and is likely to become the dominant platform for interactive ads in the coming years.”

Similarly, a report last summer from Forrester Research — Development Landscape, 2013 — found that 55 percent of developers in the general market are using HTML5 for web apps or websites – which represent the majority of their projects. For mobile apps, the report said, “it’s actually a dead heat between native technologies and HTML5.”

The Forrester report echoes the continuing discuss between greater performance in native mobile apps versus the reduced cost, portability and a general code base for HTML5-based apps. Those building enterprise apps and connected mobile apps have gravitated toward HTML5, the report said, while consumer-facing apps, such as games, “will continue to decide a native platform approach.”

But “for the majority of developers,” the Forrester study concluded, “the debate is now over; they’ve embraced the future and HTML5.”

How Social Media Can Help With PR

Social media has come a lengthy way from the days of Friendster and Myspace. With the beginning of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google Plus and so several other newer platforms, it has become as much a professional staple as a personal one.

So, how is it achievable that so many businesses (especially small or online-based businesses) are failing to use social media for PR? After all, it can only be hugely improved by the use of direct engagement with both customers and the press -- and social media is wonderful for both.

Here are a few instructions to get you on track

Publish social-media friendly content 

Case studies are some of the most powerful quantifiers you can use on the web. Not only do they present clear, concise data, but they also offer outlook in the results. More than that, if you present it in the right way you can extract an emotional reply that will timely engagement and potentially sharing.

If you look at the case studies provided by other companies, you will become aware of how often those studies are shared and cited by major media outlets. For example, The Wall Street Journal is notorious for sharing case studies of companies of many sizes and influence.

Add in visuals, and you have the ideal content for social sharing, all with the plan of improving PR and brand image.

Seek bloggers' coverage

Blogosphere is the wonderful link between social media and PR, as bloggers are active on social media and lots of of them are closely monitored by journalists.

Here are a few ways to get mentioned by popular bloggers:

Be a contributor: Guest posting at a famous blog is a good way to get media coverage. Here are some ways to find guest blogging opportunities.

Provide your expertise: Being featured in a expert interview is a good way to make yourself more discoverable by journalists looking for quotes on a topic. MyblogU offers you an easy way to participate in specialist round-ups and find solo interview opportunities on niche blogs. Using the stage, you'll see your name cited again and again by niche bloggers and if you are lucky enough by journalists too!

Get your service or product reviewed: Blogger reviews work great for potential media coverage as well. Whether you pro-actively seek coverage or not, your product will most likely be reviewed by users anyways: There are lots of online generators and platforms that give users that capability. Again, the question is, whether or not you want to control the message and make more of user reviews by approaching power niche bloggers. Free platforms like Tomoson help you get your product or giveaway featured on niche blogs which increases your chances to be noticed by journalists.

Connect with the press on social media

The media picks up a shocking amount of information from the web these days: Not just details to enhance stories but entire stories. Reddit has been used by main publications to source interesting stories. Twitter trends and hashtags are covered by main news outlets. Social media sites have grow to be a solid part of journalism.


Social media can suggest you a fast way to go about connecting with the media. By strategic use if hashtags and social media tagging, you can get a solid media coverage, provided you have a good story to cover.

Developing Employability Skills.

Today, employers in every industry sector emphasize the need for employees with certain foundational skills. These include a strong academic grounding in reading and math, as well as individual abilities such as teamwork, problem solving, work ethic and integrity.

While employers rely on employees to have the same basic skills, they do not always talk about or label them the same way. This makes it difficult for prospective employees and educators to know exactly what it takes to be ready to succeed in any career path in any industry. Anishjai has brought together the organizations that represent employers from major economic sectors, and they have worked to identify the core set of fundamental skills that potential employees need in the workplace – and a common vocabulary to explain them.

Employ-ability skills, also known as key competencies or soft skills, are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions.

Employ-ability skills are generally divided into three skill sets: (a) basic academic skills, (b) critical thinking skills and (c) personal qualities. The three skill sets are typically broken down into more detailed skill sets.

The Anishjai has identified the Common Employ-ability Skills for all jobs, which benefit:

 • Employers, who can now identify the common skills that all their employees should exhibit.

• Potential employees, who know what basic skills employers expect them to have for any job in the workplace, and can better communicate their skill levels to employers.

• Educators and other learning providers, who know what foundational skills to emphasize.

Core Skills

Ø  initiative & problem-solving

Ø  communication

Ø  team-work

Ø  leadership

Ø  commercial awareness

Ø  organisation & planning

Ø  self-management

What Are Employ-ability Skills?

The two greatest concerns of employers today are finding good workers and training them. The difference between the skills needed on the job and those possessed by applicants, sometimes called the skills-gap, is of real concern to human resource managers and business owners looking to hire competent employees. While employers would prefer to hire people who are trained and ready to go to work, they are usually willing to provide the specialized, job-specific training necessary for those lacking such skills.

Most discussions concerning today’s workforce eventually turn to employ-ability skills. Finding workers who have employ-ability or job readiness skills that help them fit into and remain in the work environment is a real problem. Employers need reliable, responsible workers who can solve problems and who have the social skills and attitudes to work together with other workers. Creativity, once a trait avoided by employers who used a cookie cutter system, is now prized among employers who are trying to create the empowered, high performance workforce needed for competitiveness in today’s marketplace. Employees with these skills are in demand and are considered valuable human capital assets to companies.

Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job. These are the skills, attitudes and actions that enable workers to get along with their fellow workers and supervisors and to make sound, critical decisions. Unlike occupational or technical skills, employability skills are generic in nature rather than job specific and cut across all industry types, business sizes, and job levels from the entry-level worker to the senior-most position

Google will begin ranking mobile-friendly sites higher starting April 21

Big changes to Google’s search algorithms are coming: beginning April 21, the company will increase the ranking of sites that are mobile-friendly and surface app results much higher.

The company says that the change will have a “significant impact” on all mobile searches in all languages worldwide, but as a result Google says that users will find higher quality results.

Along with this change, Google will start to use more information from indexed apps as a factor when ranking search results for users that are signed-in and have the app installed.

These changes are great news for mobile users as it should help motivate those sites that still don’t have a mobile site to actually build one. Google started highlighting mobile-friendly sites in results last year.

Site admins who want to test their site’s mobile compatibility can use Google’s tools to quickly evaluate the status of a page.

Top tips for Ruby on Rails beginners

Ruby forms the foundation of many top websites. If you fancy learning more about the language, here's some tips to get you started.         

You've probably heard the name – Ruby on Rails. But what is it, why is it so poplar and how do you start learning about it? Ruby, like JavaScript, is a general purpose programming language that's best known for is use in web programming. It was created around twenty years ago by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto.

Along the way, you've probably heard the term Rails too – Ruby on Rails. Rails, in this context, is an extension – or a software library – that's designed to expand the Ruby Programming language. The Rails framework is for building websites.

Under the hood, Rails combines CSS, HTML and JavaScript. It's let you create web applications that live on web servers. As such, it's generally considered a 'back-end' or 'server side' platform. If you fancy learning more about Ruby, our guest experts - Rik Lomas and Ben Scofield - give three piece of priceless advice...  

01. Choosing a language  

Why should I choose to learn Ruby over the other languages out there?  

Rik Lomas: "I went through several languages before settling on Ruby. I like it because its syntax is simple and readable, and you can do a lot more with less code – I don’t want to be writing five lines of code when I can write one. The Ruby community is very open with lots of gems (Rubylibraries and plugins), and it’s friendly to coding beginners."

 02. Define your terms  

What is Rails and what's special about it?  

Rik Lomas: "Rails is a library that is built on top of Ruby to make building complex web applications easier. It was created by David Heinemeier Hansson from Basecomp when he was building the company's web app.  If you want to create your own social network, shop or any kind of site where users can sign up, look into Rails. It's bit of a steep learning curve to begin with, but once you start seeing the same patterns repeat, it gets easier and easier."

03. On the right track  

What’s the best way to start learning Ruby on Rails? 

 Rik Lomas: "There are some great guides online to help you. For learning Ruby itself, there's a funny-but-weird guide called Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby. The official Rails guides are well written compared to most technical documentation, too.  The best way, of course, is to have a project and get stuck in. It can be tough but keep checking Stack Overflow and RailsCasts for help, and stay determined."  

04. Different operating systems  

How do we set up for Windows? 

The majority of tutorials seem to be Mac focused.  Ben Scofield: "Honestly, this is hard. If you're already comfortable with virtualization, I would strongly recommend using VirtualBox and Vagrant to run a Linux virtual machine on your PC. That's a significant commitment, though, so if you want to get started with something simpler your best bet is to look at RailsInstaller or RailsFTW. Neither will give you the latest and greatest versions of Ruby and Rails, but they should be enough to get you started."

05. Find inspiration 

What’s the best way to get started?  

Ben Scofield: "From what I've heard over the past few years, Michael Hartl's Ruby on Rails Tutorial is the gold standard for getting started learning Ruby and Rails on your own. The current version of the tutorial covers Rails 4.0, but the previous edition (which covers Rails 3.2) may be helpful as well. Beyond that, your best bet is to look for topic-specific content -- as you need to learn more about, for instance, sending email, you can check the Rails Guides, RailsCasts, or more recent blog posts."

06. Working with scaffolding tools  

What's your advice for developing and deploying Rails apps where front end build is done by one of Gulp/Grunt/Yeoman?  

Ben Scofield: "My personal preference is to separate the two pieces as much as possible; over the past year or so, I've seen a lot of promise in building a Rails application to provide an API, and building a pure JavaScript front-end to consume that API. In that sort of setup, you wouldn't need the front-end build tools on the Rails app, and you're free to build the front end in whatever style you favor."