What if your Internet broadband connection could be faster and more secure? That’s the promise of OpenDNS, and according to the New York Times and it’s Technology Guru David Pogue, OpenDNS delivers.

What brought my attention to OpenDNS was an article on security in the online edition of today’s NY Times. It seems there’s a flaw in the Internet Domain Name System that could cause you to be unknowingly routed to a phishing site. This could occur if the phishers hijack the domain of your bank or a trusted website to gain access to your personal information.

There are no reports of phishing crews exploiting this problem as yet and Internet service providers are rushing to plug the potential leaks. But it could take some of them months to correct the problem.

You can read the whole article here.

Later in the article, the author mentions that using OpenDNS as your domain name server can eliminate the problem. OpenDNS is free and there are easy instructions on how to install it on your computer or home/small office (SOHO) network.

I installed it on our network this morning and it took less than ten minutes. Not much of a time investment for peace of mind.

That OpenDNS logo at the top of the page is active. If you install OpenDNS and come back to this page, it will tell you that you are using OpenDNS. Same if your provider or workplace has OpenDNS installed. If the button says “Use OpenDNS - Get Started,” click the button and get started! (or just click here)

While researching OpenDNS, I discovered that it is also useful for speeding up your broadband connection. On my network, I have noticed no change in speed the first time I loaded a website after installing OpenDNS. But subsequent loadings seemed to complete 25% to 50% faster. Cool!

Read David Pogue’s New York Times article on speeding up your broadband connection with OpenDNS here.

Because OpenDNS requires a change in your local settings on your network, I cannot install it for you remotely. But it isn’t difficult. Increased security and a faster connection – now there’s a combo that’s hard to beat!

Most of our clients link to other websites. Linking to other sites can help increase your relevancy rating with the search engines (SEs). When they reciprocate, the inbound links can help with your search engine rankings as well - provided the link is wrapped around keyword-rich text that is relevant to your content.

But just as valid links can help you, dead or broken links can hurt you. When a website has been around for a while, it be a plus in the eyes of the search engines if you have continually added fresh content. But if your site suffers from “link rot” - old links to pages that have been renamed, dropped or relocated and links to now defunct websites - your SE ranking can be hurt by them. Defunct or non-working links show Google et al that your site is not being maintained - and they may penalize you for it.

None of us is perfect. I’ve had dead links on my sites as well. Websites need to be checked regularly. Links to outside pages and sources can break. Even internal links to web pages and images can break over time. A regular link check is the only way to be sure that your website is functioning as you intended.

To help OrangeCat customers prevent “link rot,” we’ve set up a monthly program to check the links on your website and report the results to you. We use proven software to scan your website(s) on a monthly basis and report any problems so you can fix them - or have us or your webmaster do it.

This is really important. Your website is your lifeblood and it’s importance to your business will only increase over time - but only if you make site maintenance one of your cardinal principles.

And if you’re an OrangeCat Gold customer, the LinkChek service is FREE.

More information on OrangeCat’s LinkChek service can be found here.

Want to learn how to configure and use WordPress? Camtasia? JavaScript? PHP? Would some “how-to” videos help?

You’ve undoubtedly heard that Article Marketing is an effective and inexpensive way to drive traffic to your website. How would you like a set of videos that show you how to do it?

Need to set up a PayPal “Buy Now” button? We got a video for that, too.

If you’re an active OrangeCat client, we just made 41 “how-to” videos available in the Client’s Area of OrangeCat.com. But you’ll have to register and be approved to see them.

So why not head over to OrangeCat.com and register. Just click on the “register” link as illustrated above and create a username and password. If you’re an active client, we’ll OK your account, usually in just a few hours.

We’re going to keep adding to the videos on the website, so register now and you’ll be ready when some irresistible videos come along.

If you are not an OrangeCat client, you can see the same videos at the How Do I Do That? Videos website. But either way, YOU’RE the winner.

Learn by seeing it done - it’s the best way!