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April Newsletter
Dear Newsletter Subscriber
Welcome to the UKFast newsletter!
UKFast is on tour this month! We’ve set up camp at the Internet World exhibition in Earl’s Court, London and we’re having a great time meeting clients and potential customers. Meanwhile, back in Manchester the company continues to grow with several new appointments.
Also in this month’s edition - our marketing minute focuses on choosing the right keywords to drive traffic to your website and the tech tip reveals how to tweak your dedicated firewall rules for added security.
As always, it is great to get your feedback on our newsletter. So please get in touch with any comments or suggestions for future editions.
In this month's issue
April@UKFast
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Back at company HQ in Manchester the recruitment process has continued apace. Our new HR manager has been working hard to recruit the high-calibre staff we need to support our continued expansion.
However, it’s not just about new staff. The company recently bought a property in Snowdonia National Park to use as a training facility and several UKFast members have already been down to take on the challenge of climbing the mountain. Take a look at our most recent video of Snowdon, just click on the image above to go to the site and see what we have been getting up to.
Moving onto more serious matters, this month we have been highlighting the energy shortage problems facing the UK. Infrastructure throughout the country needs to improve and until it does UK business faces the possibility of power shortages stifling growth.
But don’t worry. We have already implemented policies to mitigate energy issues for our clients, including introducing energy-efficient technology and securing a suitable site that has requisite power to build a sizeable data centre in the future. Nonetheless, UKFast is still championing the cause to get the necessary debate going for everyone’s benefit.
Tweaking your dedicated firewall rules
Hosting with twenty-four hour connectivity is not without risk, which is why online businesses should have in place the full-hosting support of an effective firewall solution.
A dedicated firewall is a major component of a secure hosting solution. It acts as a filter between your server and the internet in order to block malicious attempts to access your server and allow only legitimate traffic through.
UKFast dedicated firewalls are configured by our highly qualified consultants to meet your specific requirements. Nonetheless, your dedicated firewall ports can be tweaked and new rules added in order to achieve enhanced security.
It is also possible to customise your firewall rules so that particular services are locked down to specific admin IP ranges. These include RDP for Windows and SSH for Linux. Carrying out this function minimises the attack surface of your server.
Choosing the right keywords
Many online marketers are aware that search engines can bring a large volume of low cost traffic to a website, but surprisingly many have no idea of how they should go about doing so.
Search engine marketing is made up of several different aspects and choosing keywords is arguably the most important part.
Here are some tips on choosing keywords that will give you great leads, which can easily be converted into sales:
- Research your competition – View your competitor's Meta tags to see which keywords they are using. This is a great way to quickly list down the most commonly used keywords for your type of business.
- Make your own list - Once you have the competitor keywords list, add to it any keywords you feel are important. Include your company name and city as well. Also add plurals and variations of the keywords.
- Ask for an outsider’s perspective – Ask customers to send in keywords relating to your company. You could also ask friends and family to make suggestions.
- Evaluate your keywords using keyword tools – Narrow down your keyword list using software such as Google Adwords: Keywords Tools. These decipher the popularity of your keywords and keyword phrases.
By finding the appropriate keywords you can dramatically affect the performance of your search engine marketing efforts and you’ll be well on your way to improving your site's bottom line at minimal expense.
Please get in touch with me if you would like more information on any of the articles mentioned above.
Until next time, I hope everyone has a very prosperous May and a sunny one at that!
Best wishes,
Jonathan Bowers
For more information on the range of UKFast products and services go to http://www.ukfast.net
UKFast.Net Ltd, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza, Manchester, M1 4BT, Registered in England. Number 384 5616
