The Many Faces of E-mail

"You've Got Mail"

Back in the 80's, a well known voice (trademarked, of course) announced from the computer speakers when AOL users received electronic mail. The email program was just there. You didn't need to know how it worked. It just gave you access to email.

But with technology and innovation comes change. People wanted the freedom to access their email from other locations and be able to have it even when they didn't have their own computer. So email evolved with lots of choices and even more confusion. Hopefully this small tutorial will make it easier to understand.

Email Software

Email downloaded to your computer needs some sort of software to be able to download, read and send email. Many of the software programs are free (such as Thunderbird) came with your computer (such as Outlook Express) or is part of a commercial software package (such as Outlook which comes with some bundles of Microsoft Office). It used to be that this was the only way to access your internet service provider email but now many of them provide web based email as an option as well.

Web Based E-mail

Many people have free e-mail accounts online through sites such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and even AOL which is still around after all these years. Many of them have added features you can purchase as well. The advantage is no matter what company you use for your internet connection, your email will always be the same. These accounts are accessed through a web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome to name a few). All your messages, contact information and sent messages are stored on the websites servers. For years you could only access this email online but now you can also download your emails to your computer using email protocols (See email software above.)

Specialized Email

Many colleges are now using web based email for their students such as Microsoft Outlook Live. This allows all students access to email and provide a consistent method of communication without outside difficulties that can occur with a wide range of ISPs or internet e-mail providers.

Many companies have their own email servers and provide their employees with their own business email address. Like colleges, they can control downtime, security and availability on their servers and computers.

If you have your own website, you often have a choice of using an web based email or using email software with an email account reflecting your website name such as becky@mywebsite.com. You can even forward your email to your personal account; for example, becky@mywebsite.com could be sent to my personal email becky@herISPserver.com.

So when you call someone for tech support, you may need to identify if your problem is online, through a software package or through a specific website. This will help your computer technician understand the issues you are having with your email!☺

Typing Exercises

You took typing but need to increase your typing speed? Job interview or just because? Typing has become critical in this computer based world, not only from the workplace but also resumes and communication now rely on the keyboard instead of pen and paper. I took typing in high school before corrective ribbons were on the electronic typewriters. I was lucky to get to 15 WPM, and that was on a very good day. My typing teacher was awesome. It really wasn't her fault that I just was not that coordinated and often made mistakes reducing my numbers to single digits. Fast forward to today, I teach Microsoft Office and often encourage my students to start or refresh their typing skills by increasing their speed. The website I use for "learning to type" is typingclub.com where you can easily learn the basics to more advanced techniques. Yes there are advertisements although you can pay for an ad-free premium. I don't benefit from this suggestion, but found the 684 lessons ...

Google: Now you know!

Google has released clear information on how to perform better in search engines. Provide useful, legitimate content! This update is called the " Helpful Content Update " and it is clear that original, informative information is king. A new sitewide ranking system is being added which awards people with good quality content. Now, this isn't really new, but it clarifies that your ranking can be impacted and if you are a subject matter expert in your field or business, make it shine! Utilize your website as informational, not just a short brochure or a business card. Show your knowledge and experience and make it work for your organically.

Is Your Website Ready for the Search Engines?

Photo by sarah b on Unsplash Let's be clear. When it comes to search engines, keep in mind that SEO is an experiment, there are no rules. The algorithms changes regularly (estimated 400 times a year) and Google doesn’t share specifics on those changes except general guidelines on their site. That being said, there are some best practices to help improve the rank of the website. We can't cover all of them here, but there are some obvious ones. This applies to the majority of search engines, so don't feel like you need to cater to each one individually. Most of all, if this is greek to you, consider hiring someone to handle your SEO. Also, if they make promises of specific results, run far away. SEO is a slow, continuous process. Make Your Content Clear According to Google, they want to "see your page the same way the user does". That being said, when you see a search engine entry, you notice the title and a brief description. These are...

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