Online Banking Security Tips

Here are the most valuable security tips to ensure your online banking sessions are secure.

How to Choose a Safe Bank:

• Does the bank offer a two-phase logon system?
  (2 different passwords needed)
• Is SMS alerts offered?
• Does the website have a verified security certificate?
• Does the website use multiple firewalls?
• Does the website use encryption?
• Does the website automatically log out inactive users?
• Does a set amount of failed login attempts lock your account?

 Choosing your passwords

• Choose a strong password of more than 8 characters
• Combine letters, numbers and special characters
• Avoid dictionary words
• Make your password and login name completely different from each other
• Avoid sequences or repeated characters (like “12345”
• Avoid using words than can easily be guessed (like your birth year)
• Don’t use the same password as you use for other web sites since those can easily be leaked

PIN & Password Precautions 

• Never trust phone calls, e-mails or SMS’s asking you to disclose any personal details or card numbers
• Be cautious about disclosing personal information to individuals you do not know
• Remember that your bank will never contact you, in any way, to ask for your PIN or password information
• Never store your password on your computer
• Avoid using online password storage (via your browser and via 3rd party services)
• Change your PIN & Password often

 Accessing the Website

• When doing online banking, always use your browser’s “private browsing” feature. This deletes all logins and cached files 
• Always access your bank’s website by typing in the complete web address 
• Never follow links to reach your bank’s website 
• Never follow links you received via e-mail
• Never trust email attachments, even if sent from what appears to be your bank
• Check your banking session is secure (https://) and the presence of a digital certificate (padlock or key icon)
• Always completely log off from your banking session and close the browser window
• Use a virtual keypad to enter your PIN, this will avoid key loggers to capture your keystrokes

PC Security

• Always use up-to-date Anti-Virus software and a personal firewall (software or hardware)
• Check for spyware on your PC
• Always update your computer’s operating system with the latest security updates
• Ensure your Internet browser is the most up to date version
• Be vigilant when using public computers

Account Details

• Regularly check your bank statements for erroneous or criminal transactions
• Set up a SMS service to be notified of Internet banking logon
• Also set up a SMS service to be notified of any transactions
• Never disclose any personal information (account number, ID number, etc.)
• Set daily limits on your accounts

General Precautions

• ¨Phishing scams are fraudulent attempts to gain your login details through acting as your bank
• ¨These scams are usually initiated via e-mail, but also through social network services (Facebook, twitter, Google Talk, etc.)
• ¨Don’t support online shops whose true identity is unknown to you
• ¨Only share your email address with people you know
• ¨Enable spam and security filters on your email program
• ¨Protect your computer with a secure password

 When Attacked

• When you think your login credentials have been compromised, immediately contact your bank telephonically

Ayoba Designs - Bloemfontein Web Design

Understanding the Mission & Vision of an Organization

What the vision and mission of any company should entail:

The Mission statement of a company should describe what the company aims to achieve through its existence. It must define the company’s business, motives and methods.

The mission has to be reevaluated and reexamined on a regular basis to keep the company relevant and dynamic. Reviewing the mission gets an organization back to the basics. (Smallbusinessnotes.com, 2011).

Each member of an organization should be able to verbally express this mission.

Additionally, each employee in the organization needs a mission for his life. The alignment of an employee’s life mission with the organization’s mission is a very important determinant in job satisfaction. If they are incongruent, you employees are most likely dissatisfied with their working environment. (humanresources.about.com, 2011).

The Vision serves as a structure which guides the business into achieving its goals set in the mission statement. It also functions as a motivator inside the organization. When the vision is vivid and meaningful enough it can inspire employers and employees to do surprising things to bring the mission to realization.

A vision statement answers the question “what impact do we want to have on society?” It creates a sense of organizational purpose, impacting the mindsets of employees to see themselves as “building a cathedral” rather than “laying stones”. (smallbusinessnotes.com, 2011)

It sets practical goals to aim for and can serve as a statement of what the organization wants to become like in the future. All members of the organization should be lead to feel proud, excited and part of something significant. (humanresources.about.com, 2011)


Why a company needs a vision and mission statement:

When a company lacks a vision to which all its employees subscribe, individual visions and missions tend to rise up and compete with each other. The result is conflict, delays, and lost revenues in the organization. (management-issues.com, 2005)

The mission and vision statement brings focus and unity to the organization. The direction of the organization must be thoroughly communicated to all its members.

The mission statement may be one way to influence the public through descriptive words and concepts. A mission statement is often carefully constructed, and the phrases are tailored for maximum meaning. (helium.com, 2011)

The vision statement creates a clear picture for the business owner or organization leader and sets goals which should be achieved. It aids the organization in making objective decisions.

Furthermore it serves as inspiration to employees as it motivates them during their every-day tasks.

It is important to use the vision statement to evaluate how a company and its employees should spend its time. (ezinearticles.com)


Steps involved in the Strategic Planning Process

1. Agree on a strategic planning process and establish responsibilities for the various steps in the process

2. Develop the Vision, Mission and values of the company. Clearly define specific mandates.

3. Do business and operation analysis (environmental scan, SWOT Analysis etc.). Understand internal Strengths and Weaknesses as well as external Threats and Opportunities. Involve various stakeholders to analyze your business.

4. Identify key issues, questions, and choices to be addressed as part of the strategic planning effort. Specify strategic issues the organization should address and set priorities in terms of importance or time constraints.

5. Establish strategic objectives or goals to use as success measurement in the future. When the strategic options are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound), it will help to ease the communication toward the lower level of the organizational hierarchy for implementation.

6. Draft a strategy execution plan and solicit feedback.

7. Develop a strategy execution plan (strategy action plan) that addresses the goals described earlier

8. Establish Resource Allocation. Ensure enough resources are allocated to ensure individuals, teams or departments are not overloaded.

9. Do a progress review. Analyse the organization’s progress with the strategic plan.

10. Evaluate periodically to ensure the organization plan is dynamic and adaptive.

11. Make strategic planning an on-going process by continually re-evaluating the strategic plan. (siteresources.worldbank.org, 2001) (June Campbell, nightcats.com, 2011) (Dr. LM Foong, ezinearticles.com,2011) (CFFBest.org, 2011)

Ayoba Designs: Web Design

Create ISO in Nero

My blog is not about any specific topic, and every now and again a random post will appear here. This is one of them.

I've been  having some trouble to create a .ISO image file from a data DVD/CD with Nero. Apparantly Nero wants you to only use their .nrg format images.

To use your disc images you create, the best and most widely supported format is .iso. Most 3rd-party software, and Windows 7's built-in image writer, will not read Nero's .nrg image format.

So to create an image from your original DVD/CD follow these steps:

• Insert the disc into your optical drive (duh)
• Open Nero Burning Rom
• Cancel the automatic popup called "New Compilation"
• Now, in the file menu, go to "Extras"
• Select "Save Data Track"
• Choose your optical drive letter
• Click on "Save Track"
• A browse window will appear. Choose where you want to save your image, type in a File Name and select "ISO" under "Save as Type:" ]
• Click "Save"

Your ISO image is now being created.

Now you can use your ISO to burn multiple copies of the same disc, or to mount it with image mounting software like Virtual CloneDrive

Ayoba Designs: Web Design 

Carters Rest Guesthouse's Website Launched!

The new web site for Carters Rest Guesthouse in Kimberley has just launched!

Carters Rest is a new business which aims to provide luxurious and comfortable accommodation in Kimberley.

The aim of the website is to:

• Tell potential guests about the guesthouse
• Show guests photos of the guesthouse
• Explain the facilities available at the guesthouse
• Provide potential guests with the rates
• Familiarize the guests with the guesthouse's atmosphere
• Provide a way for guests to contact the guesthouse online
• Show a map and directions to travellers
• Briefly describe tourist attractions in Kimberley

Ayoba Designs created a visually appealing website to draw the visitor's attention.

Photos of the guesthouse were used generously to familiarize visitors with the guesthouse. The Home page displays a stylish slideshow of images.

Omdat Kimberley 'n groot aantal Afrikaans-sprekendes het, is Carters Rest se web tuiste ook twee-talig.

The Details page shows the rates and explains what to expect from each of the 5 units available.

On the Locate page visitors can see a dynamic map of the guesthouse with satellite photos. Google's Street View has also been implemented to give online visitors visuals of the guesthouse and its surroundings.

The Contact page provides all the contact details with an online contact form too.

We have also created a Reservations page to facilitate online bookings.

To accommodate the tourist, we have added an Attractions page. This page briefly explains some of Kimberley's most famous attractions and provide the relevant online links.

Finally we have added a Trivia page which contains general information needed when looking for lodging. This helps guests to know what to look for and what to expect.

We trust that the owners of Carters Way are very happy with their brand new Ayoba Design.

This website will attract plenty of visitors and serve the guesthouse well.

Visit: www.cartersrest.co.za

Email: bookings@cartersrest.co.za

Want a similar quote? Contact Us

Ayoba Designs: Web Design 

Libra Pharmacy's New Website

The new website for Libra Pharmacy has been launched!

Libra is a popular service-driven pharmacy serving Kimberley with all its medical and health needs. The aim of the website is to serve as an information center for its current and potential customers.

Ayoba Designs developed a website which can be fully updated by the pharmacy staff. This helps to keep the website up to date with fresh content.

Omdat Kimberley 'n groot aantal Afrikaans-sprekendes het, is Libra Apteek se web tuiste ook twee-talig.

The Home page displays photos of the pharmacy and its staff to create a friendly and welcoming feel to new visitors.

The About Us page allows visitors to get to know the pharmacy's history and development to ultimately gain customer loyalty.

On the Services page is a list of services Libra Pharmacy offers.

There is also a dedicated Specials page with all the latest specials on offer.

The Diet page introduces the Diet Everone Talks About ("Die Dieet Waarvan Almal Praat") and how the pharmacy can help you loose weight on a healthy way.

The Health Articles page allows the pharmacist to write new articles on health and have them displayed to visitors. This will become a valuable resource.

The Contact Us page contains all the contact information of Libra Pharmacy. It also has an online contact form to allow visitors to contact the pharmacy online.

The Locate Us page displays a Google Map in satellite view to help visitors orientate themselves and find directions to the pharmacy easily. It also contains Google's Street View, allowing visitors to see the pharmacy from the front.

On the Newsletters page pharmacy staff can paste all their newsletters for future reference for visitors. These newsletters contain interesting information and visitors will want to check on it later.

As an additional feature, the website also contains a Body Mass Index Calculator where visitors can calculate their BMI.

There is an ad-rotator below the menu. When other businesses want to advertise on Libra Pharmacy.co.za, their adverts can be will be put in the ad-rotator. The rotator shuffles between the different ads loaded to give all an equal display time to visitors.

Here is a complete sitemap of www.librapharmacy.co.za

Visit: www.librapharmacy.co.za

E-mail: info@librapharmacy.co.za

Want a similar quote? Contact me 

Ayoba Designs: Web Design

Adding META tags to ASP.net Pages

Adding META tags is a very beneficial way to improve your rankings in popular search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! For more information on the benefits of META tags, read Climbing Google's Search Results.

I will now explain how to add meta tags to your ASP.net (using C#) page. These tags are static and hard-coded for the most part. You will use this method on pages where the content doesn't change very often.

In your code-behind file (example: Default.aspx.cs), add the namespace "using System.Web.UI.HtmlControls;" This will allow you to use the HtmlMeta keywords.

Under the Page Load Event add:


// Render: <meta name="keywords" content="Some words listed here" />

HtmlMeta meta = new HtmlMeta();

meta.Name = "keywords";

meta.Content = "Some words listed here";

this.Header.Controls.Add(meta);

//Replace the "Some words listed here" string with the keywords you would for your specific page. Separate keywords with commas. It must be relevant to your page's content.

// Render: <meta name="description" content="Some words listed here" />

meta = new HtmlMeta();

meta.Name = "description";

meta.Content = "Some words listed here";

this.Header.Controls.Add(meta);

//Replace the "Some words listed here" string with a description of what your page's content. This will be displayed in search results. It must be relevant to your page's content.







// Render: <meta name="robots" content="index,follow" />

meta = new HtmlMeta();

meta.Name = "robots";

meta.Content = "index,follow";

this.Header.Controls.Add(meta);

//This will tell search engine spiders to index the current page

 
// Render: <meta name="date" content="2006-03-25" scheme="YYYY-MM-DD" />

meta = new HtmlMeta();

meta.Name = "date";

meta.Content = DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd");

meta.Scheme = "YYYY-MM-DD";

this.Header.Controls.Add(meta);

//This will set the current page's date to the current date every time the page is loaded. This means that every time a search engine indexes the page, it sees the content as fresh content.


Do this for every page on your site to improve your search rankings!

Ayoba Designs: Web Design 

Climbing Google's Search Results (Technical)

How does Google decide how relevant your website is in searches? Understanding this greatly helps your web developer to increase traffic to your website. This is a technique called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Google ranks your website according to their own Page Rank Algorithm.

When you do a search, Google goes through the following steps:

1. It finds all pages matching the keywords of the search
2. Rank accordingly using "on the page" factors (proximity between words, frequency, repetition etc.)
3. Calculate the relevancy of inbound anchor text
4. Uses the page rank to decide what order to display the results in

How can I know if Google has indexed my site?
Don't be surprised if Google already indexed your site without you knowing. Their GoogleBots (also called spiders) constantly crawl the web and follow links, maybe being directed to your site. When your site is indexed, Google caches a snapshot of it.

 There are two ways you can check if your site is indexed:
1.   Type into a new Google search "site:www.xxx.yyy". For instance, to check if my site is indexed I will Google "site:www.ayobadesigns.co.za". If there are results returned, your site is indexed.
2. Install the Google Toolbar. After installation, go to its Options, click the "More" tab and check the "Page Info Menu" option. Now you can select the Page Rank button on the toolbar and choose "Cached snapshot of page" while you are vising your own web page. If a snapshot is displayed, your site has been indexed.

Know your Page Rank
You should know your calculated Page Rank in order to track progress of your Search Engine Optimization. To do this, use this Page Rank tool and follow the steps. The result returned will be x/10. Now you got a number to work with!

Increase your Page Rank
Every page on your site starts with a default base Page Rank (PR), just like every web page. You can create more pages on your site to increase it's PR. Having more pages on your site is better, having too long pages is a waste. Distribute your information over more pages, dividing it into a logical structure. Other ways to increase your PR is to regularly write blogs on your website and to have other websites with a good PR link to your site.

Check your inbound links
Inboud links are links from other sites to yours. These are vitally important in improving your SEO. To see who is linking to your site, search in Google for "link:" followed by your web address. For my site I'll search "link:www.ayobadesigns.co.za". Unfortunately, though, this only returns results with a significant PR, and not all pages indexed by Google. Even if pages link to your site but aren't listed here due to too low PR themselves, Google still uses them to rank your site positively.

Creating inbound links
Create inbound links on other web pages. Let those links drive GoogleBots and traffic (human visitors) to your website. 

When linking to your site, do not link like this. But rather link to the website's name or content keywords, like this web design. 
Technically  this means that anchor tags must be descriptive, else it is not helping your site's SEO.

Keywords

Content and relevant keywords are the single most important factor in SEO. Make sure your pages include all the keywords relevant to your page's content. A general rule of thumb is to get all the important keywords in the first few paragraphs of every page so that spiders can't miss it.

Before writing content for your site, you have to decide which keywords will be relevant to your content. Your site will be listed as a result when people search for these keywords in Google, and Yahoo & Bing for that matter.

Descriptive HTML tags
The <title>, <h1>, and <h2> tags need to be descriptive. They should briefly describe the purpose of your content page. Have your web designer make sure this is implemented.

For instance, setting the <Title> to "Ayoba Designs: Bloemfontein Web Design" summarizes the web site. It says (1)The company name, (2) Where it is located and (3) What it does. <h1> and <h2> tags are used to put heading for content pages. <h1> being the first, bigger heading and <h2> being a sub-heading.

Instead of having the heading tags say "About Us", rather let it say "About Ayoba Designs - Web Designer in Bloemfontein".

Write Fresh & Catchy Content
If you have good content, people will always come back for more. Keep it fresh and up-to-date. Archive your content for people to refer back to later. This will also help your ranking in search engines like Google. It is website owner's responsibility to ensure new content is added regularly.

META Tag Keywords
Search engines use META tags to categorize your website's content. META tags are hidden keywords inserted to tell search engines what the content is about. This was more common place in earlier years and play little role in search engine rankings at the moment.

However, though the importance of META tags have decreased, it is still easy to add to your site and should therefore not be ignored.

There are two kinds of META tags you should use:

META-Description tag: Search engines will often use the information in the META Description tag as well as the Title to describe your site in the short description that goes along with the link in your search engine rankings.
Meta-KEYWORDS tag: The META keywords hold words that you can use to help search engines classify your content. The keywords you use must be relevant and must appear in the body text.

Use no more that 5 keywords, and type them all lower-case. Adding META Tags is your web developer's responsibility, unless you have a Content Management System (CMS) where you add your own content to your site.

Typing your URL
Whenever you type or share your URL, ensure it is always typed in lower-case since Google's ranking algorithm is case-sensitive. For instance, www.AyobaDesigns.co.za and www.ayobadesigns.co.za is not seen as the same page. Be sure to type your URL like this wherever you share your link.

Index data-driven pages
When your site has a page which has its content built dynamically from a database, you have to show all the possible content that can be loaded to the GoogleBots as separate pages (as your visitors will see it too). You can do this by adding link which displays an index of all the content. 

Working with Inbound Pictures
When you want images to work as a link to your website, you have to add the image's ALT and TITLE tags. For instance:


Not good:


   
Good: (Hover over the image)

Avoid Link Farms
Link farms are websites whose sole purpose is to create interconnecting networks of links. If you are caught in a link farm, or have hidden text in your pages, you'll eventually get caught and sentenced with the Google "death penalty". So after all is said and done a safe and sure fire way to increase your website's Page Rank is to provide useful information that other websites will want to link to. Google's ideal of the Internet is that it should be filled with webpages that have high quality information and based on this ideal it rewards high quality content and penalizes crud.


Avoid using Frames 
Websites that use frames often don't get crawled by search engine spiders. The web was designed in such a way that every URL is supposed to correspond to a webpage, and with framed websites this is not the case. We recommend that you avoid frames altogether.


Domain Registration
Register your domain for the maximum time-period (usually 10 years). Google will notice this and assume your site is permanent and rank your site higher.

Use US English
The majority of web traffic comes from the US, so standardize your content to fit the US-standard English. Write new content in a word processor like Microsoft Word and set the language to US English. Always spell-check content before publishing.

Google Places
With the growing trend to localize searches, it is important to add your business to Google's Places. Add your Google Places entry.

For more information on improving traffic to your site, see Ways to Get Your Site Noticed

Original Article:
http://www.ssw.com.au/SSW/Standards/Rules/RulesToBetterGoogleRankings.aspx#GoogleIndex 

This has also been posted on the Ayoba Designs Web Design Blog

Ayoba Designs: Web Design

Financial Law - Seedtime & Harvest

I have been reading a book called "The Richest Man in Babylon" which aims to teach certain financial principles by using parables. It is written in story-form by George Samuel Clason in the space of ancient Babylon. I have however read the Afrikaans version with footnotes by Hein Kruger.

One principle it teaches did catch my attention: It notes how Arkad, the main character, was known for his remarkable generosity. Then the footnotes also state how Hein Kruger found that every super-rich person he has ever studied is equally generous.

The reason this was so significant is that the Bible teaches this same principle. Its called seed-time and harvest.  What a man sows, that he will reap (Galatians 6:7).

Whether we sow finances, friendliness, love, hate, anger, time etc., we WILL reap that in due time.

The Bible teaches many principles which I believe work like gravity in a sense, because you don't have to believe in it for it to work. Many aspects of the New Age mythology, including doctrines like that of The Secret, uses these spiritual laws without giving credit to the Creator.

Talk is cheap, but money buys the whiskey.

Can Biblical laws bring forth wealth? Certainly, but God is not after expanding your kingdom, but His. God put these laws into action to empower us to expand His kingdom. So Christians can be wealthy and enjoy a life rich with material blessings, but God asks: Where is your heart? With your finances and luxuries, or are you focused on Me?

The blessing is always THROUGH you and not FOR you! 

Matthew 6:33 reads: "Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these (material) things will be given to you"