Online Shopping: How To Know If An Online Store Is Trustworthy

Online shopping has been a very engaging activity for many Internet users. Instead of going to actual physical stores, the Internet has it possible to shop for almost any kind of product from the comforts of your own home. However, just like with every Internet activity that you engage in, it is very important to exert caution when shopping online and to make sure that your financial and personal security will not be compromised.

Among the things that you can do to ensure your security, one of them is to make sure that the website you are buying from is trustworthy. Unfortunately, it is quite easy to find websites that offer great deals that just seem too good to be true especially with the link building services that these sites make use of to increase their popularity. Once you found a website like this, how do you know that the website is trustworthy? Below is a guide to help you.

·         Customer feedbacks and reviews. The best way to find out if an online store will deliver the services and products that you are expecting, is to read feedbacks and reviews from previous customers. While some online stores have a section where they publish customer feedbacks and reviews, do not just rely on these because you will not see a negative feedback there. Research online for more accurate feedbacks and reviews. Even if an online store uses excellent SEO strategies, you should be able to find these accurate feedbacks and reviews by typing the store’s name in the Google search box.

·         Website security. The rule of thumb for online shopping is not to shop in a website that is not secure. Make sure that the website can securely process all your payment and personal information. Check that the website uses SSL technology by looking for the closed padlock image on the lower right hand corner of your browser or in the address bar. The address bar should also have ‘https://’ instead of ‘http://’ Some websites even use Verisign or other security measures to make sure that all your financial information is not compromised.

·         Check contact information. An online store that only has a contact form for you to fill up and no other contact information seems suspicious. If it is a trustworthy website then it should provide you with several ways of contacting them by providing a phone number, an email address, or an online chat support.

DOS AND DONTS: Safe Link Building Tips For 2013

With the Google Panda and Penguin updates, the method in which links were built and earned took a major turn over the last couple of years. For the year 2013, one word rules – that is quality. Below are some of the DOs and DONTs when acquiring backlinks.

DOs.

• Guest blogging. A way to build your brand and for people to visit you is to do guest blogging. Choose blogs that have high Google ranks. Study their topics closely so you’d know the fastest technique to get your post accepted. Stick to your niche. Be expert on the field.

• Content Creation. Quality over quantity. The type of copy that you put out there could make your business stand out from the rest. Always build fresh and innovative content strategies. Use up-to-date infographics and pin it on Pinterest. If you’re local, create SEO training materials to target professionals in the Philippines. Upload them to Slideshare and link it back to your website for more info.

• Social media. With Google putting on more weight to your presence in the social media scene, being active is a guaranteed to boost ranking. Create profiles and business pages. Add your site on each so you can easily be reached. Join communities. Let the word-of-mouth coupled with social signals take care of everything. 

DONTs.

• Directory links. Gone were the days when you suggest your website for inclusion to hundreds of directories that offer two-way link building services. You can still continue this practice but be very particular. Opt for PR 7 or 8 and those with good authority in Google.

• Blog comments. Most of the blogs have nofollow attribute thus, the old system of commenting, leaving your keyword on the comments has become obsolete as well. More often than not, the ones with links on it are often ignored by readers if not rejected by the blog owner itself. You can still proceed on keeping this strat but learn to put a limit into it.

• Article submission. One of the hardest hit with the change of Google algorithm are the article submission sites. Duplicate content is a big NO. The search engine giant has even warned against spinning as it offers low quality content. Hence, scratch this off your list. You may still submit one or selected two but be sure to really work on imparting great info for search engines to credit it as a link.