Introducing Genesis 2.0: The Smart Evolution of Your WordPress Website

The web is a constantly evolving organism that can seem complicated and difficult to keep up with … if you’re not a hard-core programmer.

So what’s a content producer — someone who’s building an audience to build their business — to do?

Should you become a coder? Should you spend days, months, even years learning the ins and outs of PHP, Ruby, javascript and HTML5? I don’t think so …

There are really only five essential components of websites that work in 2013 (and beyond):

• Rock-solid security
• Blazing fast performance
• Out-of-the-box SEO
• Beautiful, turn-key design
• Ultra-flexible foundational code

In short, you’ve got to build and maintain a safe, fast, flexible, and beautiful website, while creating content that builds your business.

How do you do it? Allow me to introduce you to Genesis 2.0.

Our StudioPress division has been building quality WordPress themes for nearly a decade.

And now, fresh on the heels of the latest WordPress release, we’re officially unleashing the latest incarnation of Genesis.

Genesis 2.0 is here, and with it, a simple way to get everything you need out of your website, without becoming a professional programmer.

Here are five ways the Genesis Framework for WordPress has you covered …

1. Rock-solid security

Security isn’t sexy or fun.

But the ugly truth is this: Sites around the web are constantly under attack. And hackers love to exploit vulnerabilities in themes, plugins, and sloppy code.

That’s why I’m listing security as the number one reason you need to upgrade to Genesis 2.0 today … or install the Genesis Framework on your site for the first time.

All the speed, style, and conversion power of your website does not mean a thing if your site isn’t secure, and one of the best ways to keep a WordPress website secure is to run it on a proven, supported theme Framework.

I know this from experience, being part of a team that regularly keeps thousands of WordPress websites safe on days when so many others in the WordPress world scramble with fear.

Understand this: WordPress 3.6 included great security improvements. So will WordPress 3.7. As will every WP incarnation after that.

Some of these security fixes necessitate theme tweaks to ensure safety. Do you want to be on the hook for incorporating these into your theme every time WordPress is updated?

Of course you don’t. So let the experts do it. The Genesis Framework responds and adapts to these constant advancements, and it does it without going near the design of your site, and without you needing to touch a line of code.

All you need to do is click a button to update your theme Framework and keep your site (and your readers) safe.

2. Blazing fast performance

Nothing slows down a website like bloated code. And we now know that slow load times can have a devastating effect on your search rankings.

Our StudioPress team obsesses about this, constantly working to make Genesis even cleaner and more lightweight.

If you’ve got a “geek streak” running through you, here’s a quick sampling of a few new elements of Genesis 2.0 that make it faster than it’s ever been:

• Widget classes are now coded in PHP5 format
• Admin CSS and Javascript are now minified
• Inline HTML comments have been removed to reduce page size
• Displayed entry IDs are now tracked (so they can be excluded from showing twice on a page)

For those of you who don’t have the time (or interest) to learn code, here’s the short version of what all that means …

Web page load times are usually discussed in seconds. Page load times for sites built on Genesis can often be measured and discussed in milliseconds.

In 2013, that’s an absolutely essential difference.

Genesis 2.0 is incredibly fast, don’t miss it.

3. Out-of-the-box SEO

If you know anything about how SEO works (don’t worry if you don’t, Genesis will take care of a lot of it for you), you know that Google hands out brownie points for clean code.

As amazing as search engines are, they’re not as smart or grown-up as you might think.

Present them with an orderly, squeaky clean page of code, and you’re well on your way to a solid ranking for your chosen words (kind of like spoon feeding a child).

The Genesis Framework does the bulk of this SEO work for you, so you can get back to work creating the content that will build your business.

However, our StudioPress division has taken its already state-of-the-art SEO controls, and made them even more powerful.

Genesis 2.0 now supports Schema.org code, which builds on the Genesis Framework’s “built-in SEO options that make 95% of the SEO plugins out there look bad.”

What Schema support means is that Genesis 2.0 allows you to output microdata in your site’s code. This enhances your site’s search engine optimization even further, and ultimately its conversion optimization, in numerous ways.

As explained on Yoast.com:

Let me start with explaining why you should be bothered with schema.org if you weren’t convinced yet. Not just Google uses schema.org, all 4 major search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing and Yandex use it for several different purposes … but it’s not just them. Recently, Pinterest joined the party by announcing support for Product, Recipe and Movie schemas through their Rich Pins effort. So, in my opinion, schema.org markup is a must for everyone serious about their website’s optimization.

If you’re reading this article, you’ve already qualified yourself as someone who is serious about your website’s search optimization.

The Genesis Framework has always handled the basics of good SEO for you, and now it’s even better.

4. Beautiful, turn-key designs

If all of this has you a little confused, it might help to think of the Genesis Framework as your car, including the engine, the transmission and the thousands of parts that make it run.

The available 43 turn-key child theme designs from StudioPress are the paint job that make your car really look good.

The really cool thing about using child themes for your design is the ability to change the “paint job” of your site in minutes, without trashing the underlying engine that powers your site.

Whether you’re building a new site, or revamping a classic, child themes allow you the freedom to re-invent yourself without ever touching the critical code underneath.

Oh, and did I mention that Genesis 2.0 comes out-of-the-box with a breathtaking new design? Take a look …

5. Ultra-flexible foundational code

The basics of security and performance must be present before a website can power the lifeblood of any modern business — compelling content.

But after that, the web publisher needs to know that her site can adapt to constant change, be ready for exciting breakthroughs in technology, and be generally future-proof in terms of code and structure.

In 2013, this means one thing: HTML5.

Of all the new features in Genesis 2.0 that have folks excited, HTML5 compatibility is at the top of the list.

Why? What does HTML5 actually do for your site? Here are just six of the most important benefits to you, the online publisher …

1. HTML5 makes your website future compatible … you don’t know what’s next for the web, but HTML5 has it covered.
2. HTML5 will automatically increase your site’s cross-browser compatibility … which means fewer instances of people seeing your site differently in different web browsers.
3. HTML5 will make your website truly mobile-friendly … and you already know the importance of responsive design.
4. HTML5 allows for truly extensible web design. Want your site to behave like an app? Hire a developer and go for it, if that’s your thing 
5. HTML5 supports video and audio like no other markup language.
6. HTML5 is cleaner and even “smarter” — in terms of storage, API interaction, and other important behind-the-scene ways — which radically enhances user experience.

Genesis 2.0′s compatibility with this advance in code structure is an interesting feature, in that it’s a little difficult to point to and expect to hear the roar of the crowd.

It’s technical, but powerful.

It’s geeky, but practical.

It’s abstract, but it’s the future of the web.

The thing you should really know is that we’re constantly working to push the Genesis Framework to the edge of state-of-the-art, and always in a way that makes practical business sense for our customers.

The marriage of Genesis 2.0 and HTML5 is simply the next crucial step on the road to helping you easily build beautiful websites that work.

96,000+ people take WordPress further with StudioPress

Our Genesis Framework for WordPressempowers you to quickly and easily build incredible websites with WordPress.

With search-optimized code and functions, 43 turn-key designs, state-of-the-art security, and unlimited support, updates, and websites you can build, Mashable calls Genesis the “best of the best” among premium WordPress themes.

Serious online publishers trust Genesis to provide a solid foundation for their sites. By serious, I mean people planning to get somewhere with this Internet thing.

Whether you’re a novice, or an advanced developer, Genesis provides you with the rock-solid infrastructure to take WordPress places you never thought it could go.

Pick up Genesis 2.0 today!

Need a little help?

If you have questions about Genesis that you’d like to get answered before purchasing, please contact our Support Division directly.

If you are an existing StudioPress customer, please log in to MyStudioPress for all support questions.

For non-support related discussions about WordPress, CSS, design, and site feedback, please jump into the StudioPress Community Forums anytime.

Thanks!

How to Create Smarter Content Using Semantic Keyword Research

Ever hear two people arguing and then someone dismisses their differences like this: “Well, that’s just semantics”?

What the person means by that is the difference boils down to “just” a difference in the meaning of the words. In other words, the meaning of a word isn’t all that important.

Really?

For serious SEO professionals (and marketers), the specific shades of meaning of a word can make a world of difference. That’s why modern search engine optimization has gone beyond basic keyword research into synonym creation, semantic search optimization, and further into semantic themes.

It might sound a bit complicated, but it isn’t really. So let’s explore — what does semantic keyword research mean for your online marketing efforts?

Here’s a short guide to help you create content that attracts links, builds page authority, and ultimately rises in the search rankings by using semantic-themed keyword research.

Let’s start at the beginning

What does the word semantics mean?

The dictionary defines semantics as:

Semantics is about how somebody or something interprets a particular word.

From a search perspective, users have a very clear goal in mind when they search using a specific word.

Imagine someone searched using the word “lemon.” Do they mean the fruit? The tree? A car? The color?

We don’t know.

Hopefully, they’ll expand their search query to something like “How to avoid buying a lemon.” Even in that case, it’s not absolutely clear if they mean the fruit, tree or car. We’ve eliminated the color, but that’s it.

This is where semantic search comes in. Search engines have developed complex algorithms that allow them to understand that the best way to interpret this term is “how to avoid buying a lemon car” … in other words, a car that’s defective or of poor quality.

That’s something most 6th graders can understand, which is the highest level of intelligence for search engines, and you should understand it that way, too.

How to create “core” keywords

The work of effective semantic keyword research begins with defining your core term/s.

This is basic SEO stuff, but let’s not breeze over it — we want to build a solid foundation for the following two levels.

Using our example above, “how to avoid buying a lemon,” we would develop a list of core keywords and phrases that were relevant to that search. Just using the Google Keyword tool, I came up with this:

Notice how closely the keyword phrases are tied to our intended meaning? This means that Google recognizes the typical meaning of the phrase. There isn’t much deviation — no one is trying to avoid buying the yellow citrus fruit when they type that phrase in.

So our core keywords could look like this:

• “avoid buying bad car”
• “prevent buying bad car”
• “avoid purchasing defective automobile”

The variation of the core words run between “avoid,” “buying,” “bad,” and “car.” We’ll dump those into what I’ll call our “core basket bucket.”

How to create “supporting” keywords

As you build this semantic theme, your next step is into the circle outside of your core terms. These are your supporting keywords, the ones you sprinkle into your content, meta sets, and headers.

For the phrase “avoid buying a lemon,” the supporting keywords would look like this:

• “buying from a used dealer”
• “battery life”
• “good alternator”
• “fan belt condition”
• “dead battery”
• “alternator died”
• “broken fan belt”
• “engine oil leak”
• “mechanic checkup”

Do you see the feeling you are trying to create with these supporting terms?

You’re developing a piece of content that not only explains what can happen when you buy a car from a used dealer, but also some related topics, like how it feels when the car breaks down, and a list of things to look for when buying.

You are being instructive and practical. And the content naturally addresses the problem in its entirety — you’re not glossing over the topic.

And we’re not finished yet …

How to create “stemming” keywords

Now it’s time to step into the outermost circle of our keyword research, with keyword phrases that emphasize issues not directly related to the search. But because we are trying to predict the search, we need to think about these things.

Don’t forget that the search engine is trying to do the same thing.

For example, why is the user typing in “avoid buying a lemon”? The most obvious answer is they are a buyer and they are thinking about buying from a used car dealer or someone who is selling a car personally.

Of course, you can create two pieces of content that address both of those possibilities. But which one will the search engines deliver to the user on the SERPs (search engine results pages)?

It’s hard to know, but it’s probably going to be the most comprehensive, most authoritative piece … even if your user doesn’t need all the information. That means you need to write comprehensive content … which is where the “stemming” keywords come in.

These keywords are building a larger picture behind “avoid buying a lemon.” They’re getting to the real question the searcher is trying to answer.

Here’s what I mean:

• “consumer used car rights”
• “consumer law”
• “used car buying rights”
• “used car law”
• “consumer protection agencies”

At stake here is what the user can expect his or her legal rights are, and actions they can take if they do buy a lemon and it dies.

That’s the underlying theme.

What to do with these keywords

Notice that you haven’t written any content at this point … you’ve just built three buckets of keywords.

From those buckets, you can create a rough outline. In fact, let’s build two:

How to Avoid Buying a Lemon from a Used Car Dealer

• Definition of a lemon
• Definition of a used car dealer
• Things to inspect on a used car
• When a lemon dies
• Your legal rights
• Who to approach and how

How to Avoid Buying a Lemon from a Private Seller

• Definition of a lemon
• Definition of a used car dealer
• Things to inspect on a used car
• When a lemon dies
• Your legal rights
• Who to approach and how

Keep in mind: the content within each section will have to vary to avoid duplicate content issues, and to work well for the human readers who are always your primary focus.

You will receive greater relevance weight and authority when you define terms absolutely, the way a Wikipedia or Dictionary.com does.

In addition, this research will be useful when it comes to building links to the site.

When will the authority and links come?

It is very difficult to predict for certain whether a page will become authoritative on a topic, and attract high-quality links. But, like forecasting weather, you can study the elements behind successful pages. And unlike the weather, you can apply those elements to your own work and improve your chances for a good ranking.

Here’s what we know: great keyword research alone won’t do the trick.

It’s a great start — and can help you build content architecture that leads to authoritative pages — but it’s not a silver bullet.

So here are the things you can control:

• The core, supporting, and stemming keyword collections
• The content architecture of the page
• The comprehensiveness of that content
• The usefulness and readability of that content
• The promotion of that content
• The measurement of users’ reaction to the content
• The adjustment of the content based on user reactions

Of course what’s out of your control is other people’s reaction. Will they view it as authoritative? Will they find your writing compelling? Will they link to it? You create the best-possible content to try to influence those factors, but ultimately they lie outside your hands.

Follow the advice I’ve laid out here, however, and you will have a better chance of influencing reader reaction in a positive way, ultimately getting search engines to recognize your content as a relevant and significant contribution to the web.

Don’t forget to write for humans first

All of this sounds a bit technical. But after you’ve done your keyword prep, when you finally sit down to write, be sure you’re writing in a natural way that doesn’t smack of spam.

When done properly, SEO copywriting should never sound robotic or stiff.

Write for humans first, then gently tweak for optimization. Get in the habit of reading each article aloud to make sure your keywords are included in a natural, reader-friendly way, and read sites like Copyblogger for pointers on writing voiceand other elements of high-quality writing.

Your final step is to read your content to another person and get their reaction. If they think it sounds spammy or awkward, rewrite it. Nothing will flush your work down the drain faster than a spammy article. It pays to get it right.

India has expressed interest in balloon internet: Google

India has expressed interest in Google's 'Project Loon', a network of balloons that enable connectivity in remote areas. An official of Google said that India is among the countries interested in the balloon project, which is expected to ensure Internet access to areas not covered by the global network.

“A number of countries, including India, have expressed interest in implementing the project," Todd Rowe, managing director of global channel sales at Google, told reporters. He said the company was working on a pilot project in New Zealand. "Depending on the results of this pilot project, we will be able to implement it in other countries," he said. He said there was no time-frame to implement 'Project Loon' in India.

Google's Project Loon is underway in New Zealand

Google recently launched Internet-enabled balloons into the stratosphere over New Zealand to provide broadband connectivity to rural areas. The helium-filled balloons floating 20 km above earth and carrying Internet signal antennas will provide connectivity by acting as a hub for users. The balloons are carried around by winds and can be steered by rising or lowering them to a particular altitude. They are being controlled by a specialised Loon Mission Control in New Zealand.

With this project, Google hopes to bridge the Internet divide across the globe, especially in countries like India, where Internet access is dismal. About two-thirds of the world's population does not have Internet access. On Google India's premier Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Partner programme, Todd said the company was planning to expand it in south India in the light of growing demand for digital advertising from SMEs. Under the programme, Google is training SME partners in developing, launching and managing digital campaigns.

"Within 10 months of its launch, our partner programme model has gained significant momentum in India. Starting in September, we have partnered with 16 medium-sized companies with over 3,000 sales people who have been trained to help SMEs gain from digital advertising," Todd said."In the next one year, we are looking to significantly increase our presence in south India by doubling our partner base and add another 3,000 sales force through these partners," he added.

IANS

Hackers leak US military personnel details following South Korean attack

Hackers say they have leaked personal details of tens of thousands of US troops to websites, South Korean news reports and online security officials said on Wednesday, a day after cyber attacks disabled access to government and news sites.

The hacking attacks on Tuesday, the anniversary of the start of the Korean War in 1950, brought down the main websites of South Korea's presidential office and some local newspapers, prompting cyber security officials to raise the alert.

The identity and motives of the attackers were not immediately clear, but the reports come as cyber security and surveillance has become a global issue, with US seeking fugitive former security contractor Edward Snowden who leaked details about its surveillance to the media.

North Korea has been blamed for previous cyber attacks on South Korean banks and government networks, although it denies responsibility and has said it has also been a victim. The unidentified hackers said they had secured and released publicly personal details of more than two million South Korean ruling party workers and 40,000 US troops, including those stationed in South Korea.

US military is the new target  (Image credit: Getty Images)

"We have seen the sites where the details were posted and clips that supposedly capture the process of hacking into web sites," an official at the South Korean online security firm NSHC said. The legitimacy of the information could not be verified, the official who requested anonymity said.

An official at the Communications Ministry said authorities were probing the nature of the attacks and declined to comment on the reports of leaked information about US troops. The U.S. military in South Korea, where 28,500 US troops are stationed, did not immediately comment.

North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The US troops' presence is aimed at ensuring the truce holds. News reports said personal details such as dates of birth and ranks of 40,000 US troops including members of the 25th Infantry Division and the 3rd Marine Division were leaked to unspecified websites. The websites of the presidential Blue House and the Prime Minister's office were down for more than six hours on Tuesday.

North Korea is believed to be running a large corps of computer experts aimed at hacking into the networks of governments and financial institutions and was blamed most notably for the 2011 shutdown of a South Korean commercial bank.

Last week it accused the United States of being at the forefront of rights abuse, pointing to Snowden's revelations of mass surveillance operations by the National Security Agency. On Tuesday, access to some North Korean news sites was blocked after the hacker group Anonymous vowed to direct a denial-of-service attack direct at them.

LinkedIn now shows who's been checking your updates

LinkedIn is personalising its homepage in a massive way with two new features to aid connections on its service. The features have to do with profiles you have checked out, discussions you have visited or participated in and users who’ve viewed your updates. 

Called 'Who’s Viewed Your Updates' and 'You Recently Visited', these features will aim to provide users with more personalised insights of your activities on the professional networking site. These sections can be found on the right-hand side of your Homepage, under the 'People You May Know' tool.

 

The 'Who’s Viewed Your Updates' tool is pretty self explanatory. It will show you a snapshot of all you’ve shared over the past 14 days and how it has been received. It will tell you how many views, likes and comments the post has received. The tool will not just show you engagement from your 1st degree connections but also how many 2nd and 3rd degree connections engaged with your shared posts. 

Since LinkedIn plans to push itself as a content-sharing site, giving users the ability to track feedback in real time seems like a great way to begin. The good thing about this feature is that LinkedIn plans to offer it for free and not as a premium feature. 

Users can now see highlights of profiles they’ve seen in the past with the 'You Recently Visited' feature. It will show you people you have looked up, searches you’ve made, group discussions you’ve viewed or participated in. It goes beyond just being a tool to remember profiles you’ve seen and extends itself to discussions too. LinkedIn thinks that this tool will help make easier for you to retrace your steps, re-engage in conversations and follow-up with colleagues. 

Caroline Gaffney, Product Lead at LinkedIn writes in a that the service’s goal is to create a customised experience that would make it easier for users to “begin each day armed with the knowledge and insights you need to be productive and successful.” These tools are a move in that direction for LinkedIn. Gaffney also writes that LinkedIn has been working on improving the Homepage experience for the past year and there are more features in the pipeline.

Twitter updates Windows Phone and BlackBerry apps

The folks over at Twittter sure seem busy this week. The micro-blogging service has tweaked its apps for Windows Phone as well as BlackBerry to provide them with some interesting new features.

First up, Windows Phone is fast turning into a platform Twitter is taking seriously as far as fitting it with updates is concerned. The newest update, which pushes the app to version 2.2.0.0, is available for Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 from the 

  

The app will now allow you to see translations of foreign language tweets on your timeline, in your preferred language. This built-in translation feature will be powered by the Microsoft Translator API.

This addition comes not too long after Twitter for Windows Phone was given the visual treatmenThe update provided support for Vine as well as brand new photo filters for images. The feature finally made its way to Windows Phone and brought along eight new filters with it.

Twitter has also updated the BlackBerry version of its app; this update is also centred around image enhancement. While there are no filters, Twitter for BlackBerry brings along image tweaks like photo card support, indicators for Retweets, Favourtites and other miscellaneous indications. When you now expand a tweet on your BlackBerry devices, you will be able to view images in-line.

The app update pushes it to version 4.2 and is available for BlackBerry phones running BlackBerry OS version  0.5 all the way to BlackBerry 10. It is available for download from

Facebook bug brings shadow profiles to light; could affect non-users as well

Facebook was  saying that the service was faced with a bug that inadvertently exposed the private details of over six million users. This was the first time that news about the social network’s shadow profiles surfaced, which is basically detailed databases that the company has on each user, when information from these profiles accidentally merged with user accounts during data history record requests.

Now, the security researchers who discovered Facebook’s shadow profiles vulnerability, have compared the numbers between what they had found and what Facebook has told its users in emails, to reveal a mismatch

According to the firm, Facebook has told users that the exposure is much lesser than what researchers have found. In addition, the firm has also revealed that the social networking site is keeping a track on contact information of non-users, a fact that was ascertained when the company was forced to reveal that offsite records were also leaked when the bug was discovered.  

Facebook is on the defensive after bug revealed the presence of detailed user dossiers

From 2012 onwards, Facebook users who may have used the Download Your Information (DYI) tool to get a copy of their data history record also got an address book full of contacts that other users never directly provided to the social network.

In an attempt to address the widespread user anger, the company sat down with and explained that when a Facebook user uploaded an address book, the social network saved a copy of all the contacts in the user’s database.

Facebook users have voiced their anger at the social networking site for collecting and storing their offsite phone numbers and email addresses, which are being secretly matched to them and now accidentally shared by the social network.

On Friday, the company released an email to placate users while talking about the security and privacy flaw. It is now been seen that the company was not completely honest with everyone, though. The real story was revealed by security researcher Michael Fury and his colleagues at Packet Storm Security.

The security company was able to compare the prior test data which was used to ascertain the leak with the reports that Facebook released to its users via email, as well as the press. The comparison revealed that there is a lot more detail in the DYI reports than earlier believed.

Facebook declined to comment when ZDNet tried to ascertain the claims of going on the defensive by saying that everything that needed to be revealed was on its.

In the post, the social network has said that it collects and links the offsite-sourced data with user profiles to create shadow profiles. This is done to help create better friend suggestions for the Facebook user.

After last week’s incident, the security company now believes that Facebook is collecting all the data it can get to create disturbingly detailed dossiers about everyone, including people who are not on the social network.

When Packet Storm sat down with Facebook, it was disquieting to find that the social network declined to answer quite a few important questions that the security company had to say. ZDNet also found that Facebook, at one point in the conversation, told Packet Storm that it was sticking to its First Amendment rights in context to this data collection policy.

What is scary is that the policy Facebook is talking about basically says that the data collected by the social network is not directly from the user, but from the user’s friends. Thus, the user has no right on the data collected, despite pertaining to him. The policy also states that the user’s friends will have more control over the data than the user himself.

Facebook began providing the DYI history feature back in October 2010 to more than 500 million Facebook users in a move that was spread over several months. A month after the feature was rolled out, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) pulled the social network up for changes it had made in 2009 with regards to user privacy.

Facebook would now need to ask users for their consent before sharing their data in anyway that was different from what users had initially agreed to. Nothing was spoken about the data that could be collected about the user from a friend’s profile, which could be stored and then shadow-profiled on the pretext of giving better friend suggestions.

In 2011, Max Schrems of Vienna, Austria sent a formal request to Facebook citing European law while asking for his data. A CD was sent, which had 1,222 files on it. The detail of the data stored about him was staggering, including items that he had deleted, likes, unlikes as well as a variety of information on his friends' activities, including their whereabouts at any given time.