'Net Features : infographic

Home PCs are Safer Than Small Business Sites

Michael Garrity — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:00:00 GMT

UK-based Web hosting and domain name provider Heart Internet recently released a handy infographic that compares the state of website security to that of personal computer security, and found that site security “simply isn’t taken as seriously as the measures we take for our home computers.”

The Website Invaders infographic (see below), which playfully adapts its theme from the once-popular arcade game Space Invaders, begins by comparing the percentage of home computers that have an anti-virus software installed (96 percent) with the number of small business websites that use an anti-virus software, which is just 65 percent, despite the fact that 6000 websites are blacklisted by search engines everyday for carrying viruses.

In addition, the infographic also provides helpful tips for both PC and site owners. It warns them both not to simply ignore updates to their anti-virus software (and we’re all guilty of that sometimes, aren’t we?), and to downloaded them whenever they’re prompted to do so.

And when it comes to password protection, easily one of the most common security measures in the tech world, 75 percent of PC users use passwords to protect their data, but only 50 percent of small business sites do, despite the fact that they house a lot of employee and consumer information. The infographic says that passwords that are nine characters long and use a mixture of numbers, symbols and upper and lowercase letters will take over 40,000 years to crack, and that regularly changing passwords helps site owners stay ahead of password hacking techniques.

Heart Internet also discovered that only 45 percent of home PCs and 35 percent of small business websites are protected from phishing, although around 156 million phishing emails are sent every day, and the number of phishing attacks around the world reached 445,004 in 2012, a 58 percent increase from the year before.

And finally, the company found that while 40 percent of small business’s backup their website data online, only 23 percent of home users have secure data backups. The infographic advises PC owners to backup sensitive data on a hard drive with a secure password, and informs small business sites to take regular backups so that they can easily restore their sites to their most recent clean states.

Yelp Hits 100 Million Users

Allison Howen — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 16:15:00 GMT

Ever since Facebook launched the beta version of Graph Search, there has been some speculation around the ’Net that the social network’s new feature could end up being a Yelp and/or Foursquare killer.

If that is the case, Graph Search will have some big shoes to fill, because Yelp has announced that it received more than 100 million unique visitors in January 2013 (not including the 9.4 million users who used the mobile app during the same timeframe). While 100 million is still far from Facebook’s membership numbers, it does prove that Yelp has a very dedicated user base. Moreover, the engagement that came from these visitors was equally impressive.

Yelp reported that there were more than 4.5 million calls and more than 5.6 million directions generated from the Yelp mobile app in January alone. Additionally, the site received more than 1 million new reviews and had 475,891 local business listings submitted last month. It is also interesting to note that on average, customers who leverage Yelp spend $101.59 on their first visit.

The data seems to show that Yelp is helping millions of people make spending decisions each month, and business owners who are not already managing and monitoring their company’s presence on this platform are likely missing some valuable customers – who are ready to make spending decisions.

Check out Yelp's infographic below, which is based on metrics from Google Analytics and comScore, to discover more data about the local review service.

Three Simple Infographic Builders

Allison Howen — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 17:25:00 GMT

We all know that images are worth a thousand words, but to content publishers, infographics are worth higher engagement rates.

In fact, infographics can help publishers reformat content in a unique way that captures both audience members’ and industry professionals’ attention, which can result in higher traffic numbers, an increase in time spent on site amongst visitors, more social shares and even an influx of inbound links from sites across the Web.

However, creating a quality infographic is typically a time consuming and complicated task. Not only does the publisher need to determine a subject and collect the appropriate supporting data, but they also need the assistance of a designer for the creative and construction process, which takes valuable time and resources.

Luckily, the Internet is full of tools that can help make the infographic creation process a quick and easy task. Learn more about three of these tools below:

Easel.ly – This theme based Web app, which is still in beta, helps Web workers create infographics and data visualizations at no cost. Users simply need to drag a theme to the canvas, add new art if desired and then edit and customize any object on the canvas. Additionally, users can create an infographic that fits a portrait, landscape or mobile format. Once the data-filled image is complete, users can share it via an embed link or Web link.

Infogr.am – This free infographic creator, which is also in beta, enables users to build interactive infographics and charts with just a few clicks, and then allows them to share the images in articles, blog posts or on social networks. Users can add data and videos to their infographic, as well as have the ability to create interactive maps. Currently, Infogr.am users have published more than 200,000 inforgraphics with this platform.

Piktochart – Depending on your content publishing needs, Piktochart offers three different infographic solutions, which range in price from free to an annual charge of $169. Some of the company’s pro clients include Red Bull, Marriott and Forrester. The solution's themes and drag-and-drop functionality enables users to create infographics quickly and then export them as images that can be embedded into presentations and websites. It is also important to note that according to the company's website, Piktochart infographics are search engine friendly. Furthermore, the platform is expected to launch additional interactive features soon and will also provide publishers with data about who is reading their infographics.

Tracking the Behavioral Targeted Ad Debate

Michael Garrity — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:00:00 GMT

The major advantage of online advertising is the ability to target ads to consumers based on each individual’s interests, geographic location and other personal characteristics, which ultimately makes these ads more effective for marketers and consumers alike.

However, the fact that advertisers are able to track people based on their interests and online behavior is understandably off-putting to many Web users. As a result, consumers and consumer advocacy groups have come out to demand transparency with regards to advertiser practices.

Since this push, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has gotten involved, most notably by introducing the Final Privacy Framework Report to outline guidelines as to how companies can and cannot use consumer data gathered on the Internet.

Two primary aspects of the industry’s self-regulatory commissions, the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) and the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), have both seen a significant swell of participation over the last few years. At present, the NAI boasts over 80 different companies as partners.

To opt out or not to opt out ...
The real important figures, which are outlined in a new infographic by Loeb & Loeb, have to do with how many consumers are actually opting out. In the last four years, nearly 10 million users have visited NAI’s opt-out site. That may not seem like much, but 2011 saw 5.9 million of those visitors, nearly twice as many as 2008 to 2010 combined. In that time, 1.75 million (or about 17 percent) of these visitors have opted out of cookie tracking.

In the end, this seems like it is going to be a real issue for online advertisers. One Pew survey points out that as many as 73 percent of consumers are “not OK” with search engines keeping tabs on their searches to personalize results, which is in effect the same process that marketers use to serve targeted ads. This begs the question: If the majority of Web users begin to reject behavioral tracking, how can (or should) marketers attempt to continue serving relevant ads that are as effective as their current offerings?

View the full infographic below:

How to Create an Infographic

Allison Howen — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:30:00 GMT

An infographic is one of the best ways for a to generate buzz on the Web and create high-quality links.

These visual representations of data are informative, visually appealing and great marketing tools.

But how do you create one?

Find a topic: Search for ideas through social media, brainstorming sessions or news stories.

Identify your best idea: Make sure the content relates to the website that it will be published on, that the concept is easy to understand and that the information is credible.

Research and organize: Define the topic’s focus, find supporting information, group similar points together and think of a way to connect and visualize all of the content together.

Get your artistic juices flowing: Think colors, visuals and cohesiveness. By providing your graphic designer with direction, you can ensure the infographic is created the way you have thought it up.

Review and edit the finished project. While you and your designer may have got it right on the first try, it is more likely that you will find a few flaws in the first draft. Don’t be afraid to add, take away or change some aspects of the infographic.

Check out some infographics about infographics: