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South Africa's ZA Central Registry has informed registrars about a price hike for .ZA domain registrations and renewals. Registering or renewing co.za , org.za , net.za , and web.za domains will cost more from 01 March, according to MyBroadband. ZACR CEO Lucky Masilela said the wholesale price of registrations through the extensible provisioning protocol (EPP) system would become ZAR 45, while legacy registrations would increase to ZAR 90. Currently. EPP costs ZAR 35, while legacy registrations cost ZAR 65.88. These price increases were approved in November 2014, and were originally set to take effect on 16 February. Further price increases to legacy registrations of ZAR 10 per year will be implemented annually from 01 March, until the price reaches ZAR 130 in 2019. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com

Anyone who had not yet updated should do so immediately, it warned. However, the team added, simply applying this update might not remove any back doors that attackers have managed to insert after they got access. Sites should begin investigations to see if attackers had got away with data, said the warning. "Attackers may have copied all data out of your site and could use it maliciously," said the notice. "There may be no trace of the attack." It also provided a link to advice that would help sites recover from being compromised. Mark Stockley, an analyst at security firm Sophos, said the warning was "shocking". The bug in version 7 of the Drupal software put attackers in a privileged position, he wrote. Their access could be used to take control of a server or seed a site with malware to trap visitors, he said. He estimated that up to 5.1% of the billion or so sites on the web use Drupal 7 to manage their content, mean...

Social media has created a new syndrome: FOMO (fear of missing out). A national survey on social media behaviour by MyLife, a Web presence management firm, has found that as the number of social networks continue to grow, people are not only becoming overwhelmed but fearful of missing something "important" should they decide to take a social break. Of those surveyed, 56 percent of people are afraid of missing important posts if they don't regularly check their social networks. According to the study, the first thing 27 percent of people do upon waking each morning is check their social networks and 35 percent spend more than half an hour each day on social networking sites and responding to personal e-mails. Of the 42 percent of people with multiple social accounts, 61 percent fall into the 18-34 age category. The survey also discovered more than half of social network users want to pull the plug on the habit. In fact, 52 percent have either ...

Website technology is constantly evolving. That is because website redesign is a necessity especially for businesses whose brand, label, products, and services rely on online marketing and whose customers, leads and prospects are mostly online. The question to ask yourself while looking at your website is, does it need a virtual makeover? Here are the top indicators: Website Isn't Parallel with Your Business Ask yourself these questions: Does your website accurately reflect your brand? Have you ever changed your logo? Is your website still designed to accurately represent your current customers or clients and prospects? If you answered NO to questions 1 and 3 and if you answered yes to question 2, then it's high time for a redesign. Unclear and Outdated Content Does your website offer high-quality, relevant content? Is your company's mission, vision and objectives accurately represented by your website? Is your logo consistent with your ...

Be Aware Of The Trends. The most important element in making sure you stay relevant is to follow the trends. This is both for in your field and the overall trends around the Internet. For example, having photographs with fancy filters over them is quite trendy, and many professional businesses are starting to go that way. Take the following photo as an example. It is of a kitten and old film camera with a filter overlay to make it look more vintage, giving it a trendy feel. Professional businesses are learning that this is the way their ad campaigns need to go. Maybe not so much with a cat in the photo (though that will win businesses points on the Internet) but by keeping up with how people expect to see photographs nowadays. This is just one example of staying up on trends, so keep a weather eye on the trend horizon and watch for any changes that you can implement into your content. my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything...

Getting a recommendation from a friend or family member can end up being one of the most powerful driving factors when it comes to you making or not making a purchase. This same power of suggestion is alive and well in the form of online local reviews. If you manage a small business or have clients who want more exposure in their local market, it is vital to start paying more attention to local reviews. Even if you have been active with them previously, there is always room for improvement. They can end up being the difference between a thriving online presence and a barren shell of a Google+ profile. Here are four reasons you need to pay more attention to local business reviews. Correcting Past Mistakes I recently began work with a client who is looking to turn around their online reputation. This process began with a new website and fresh content to help improve search ranking. However, one of the most glaring issues was there were some less than flatter...

When getting started with a new online business one of the first things you need to do is choose a domain name. This step is much more important than you might realize. An appropriate and effective domain could decide your website's fate. Unfortunately many people will be so involved in the design and set-up of the website they will overlook the importance of selecting the proper domain name. Your domain name will be your website's identity and it will also be the doorway for people to purchase your products and/or services. The following checklist will guide you and help you keep in mind some of the things you need to consider when choosing your domain. 1. Keep It Short and Simple — Keeping your domain name short, simple and easy to remember will make it easier for people to get to your site. Choose a domain that is easy to spell and type. Don't use big fancy words or commonly misspelled words such as believe, amateur or collectible. You ca...