Libros UCLV { BETA }

Machine Learning for Hackers

What is machine learning? At the highest level of abstraction, we can think of machine learning as a set of tools and methods that attempt to infer patterns and extract insight from a record of the observable world. For example, if we are trying to teach a computer to recognize the zip codes written on the fronts of envelopes, our data may consist of photographs of the envelopes along with a record of the zip code that each envelope was addressed to. That is, within some context we can take a record of the actions of our subjects, learn from this record, and then create a model of these activities that will inform our understanding of this context going forward. In practice, this requires data, and in contemporary applications this often means a lot of data (perhaps several tera- bytes). Most machine learning techniques take the availability of such data as given, which means new opportunities for their application in light of the quantities of data that are produced as a product of running modern companies. What is a hacker? Far from the stylized depictions of nefarious teenagers or Gibsonian cyber-punks portrayed in pop culture, we believe a hacker is someone who likes to solve problems and experiment with new technologies. If you’ve ever sat down with the latest O’Reilly book on a new computer language and knuckled out code until you were well past “Hello, World,” then you’re a hacker. Or if you’ve dismantled a new gadget until you understood the entire machinery’s architecture, then we probably mean you, too. These pursuits are often undertaken for no other reason than to have gone through the process and gained some knowledge about the how and the why of an unknown technology.

Mastering Search Engine Optimization

Since web searchers are free to use any of the many available search engines to find what they are seeking, the burden is on the search engines to develop a relevant, fast, and fresh search experience. For the most part, search engines accomplish this by being perceived as having the most relevant results and delivering them the fastest, as users will go to the search engine they think will get them the answers they want in the least amount of time. As a result, search engines invest a tremendous amount of time, energy, and capital in improving their relevance. This includes performing extensive studies of user responses to their search results, comparing their results against those of other search engines, conducting eye-tracking and click-through rate studies (discussed later in this chapter), and constructing PR and marketing campaigns. Search engines generate revenue primarily through paid advertising. The great majority of this revenue comes from a pay-per-click (or cost-per-click) model, in which the advertisers pay only for users who click on their ads. Because the search engines’ success depends so greatly on the relevance of their search results, manipulations of search engine rankings that result in non-relevant results (generally referred to as spam) are dealt with very seriously. Each major search engine employs a team of people who focus solely on finding and eliminating spam from their search results (generally referred to as “web spam” teams). This matters to SEO professionals because they need to be careful that the tactics they employ will not be considered spam by the search engines, as this would carry the risk of resulting in penalties for the websites they work on.

SEO Search Engine Optimization Bible

Welcome to the Search Engine Optimization Bible. Search engine optimization has come to mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. In the strictest sense, SEO is about the on-page and off-page design strategies you can use to improve your search engine ranking. This usually means tweaking your web site, using design elements and content. And in most cases, it also means spending no money at all. SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is not just SEO. More accurately, SEM includes PPC or pay-perclick advertising. Search engine marketing is about doing whatever you need to do to ensure that your web site ranks as high as possible in search engine results. This means not only that you make the needed changes to your web-site design, but that you also employ other tactics, like using a paid advertising program or investing in content strategies. I lump them all into one category. The ultimate goal of SEM is to bring more people to your web site. And you can do that by improving your search engines results. You can also do that by taking advantage of a growing phenomenon on the Web, social media. Social media is a viral form of sharing information on the Web. You might think of it as a more sophisticated method of sharing your favorites or information that you think will interest other people. And using social media to improve the traffic to your web site is called Social Media Marketing, or SMM. I vote we do away with the alphabet soup completely. All these marketing efforts have one thing in common: reaching your target audience. And today anyone who is not an SEO purist places all these marketing methods under the SEM umbrella. All of them are methods for optimizing your web site for the audience that you’re trying to reach. And as social media grow in popularity, they’re going to be affected by and included in search engine results as well. Every now and then, you need to step away from the crowd and stop doing what everyone else is doing. In SEO, stepping out alone is usually rewarded with better traffic results. Everyone is doing the same thing. And that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. What it means is that you should do the same thing in a different way. And that’s where the Search Engine Optimization Bible comes in.

search engine optimization (SEO)

I was compelled to write SEO Warrior for many reasons. Every day, thousands of sites are born in the hopes of making it big. Most of them will fail before achieving their goals. Many site owners create their sites blindly, without conducting proper research. Many site owners do not even know what search engine optimization (SEO) is and what its benefits are. Although this approach might work for some sites, it is hardly the case for popular and successful sites. The goal of SEO Warrior is to make you, the website owner, successful!

WordPress Search Engine Optimization Second Edition

WordPress is a powerful and effective open source web publishing platform that enables anyone, regardless of computer skills, to create and maintain a world-class website. Millions of people worldwide have adopted WordPress, and its popularity continues to increase. In February 2011, WordPress.org reported over 32.5 million downloads of WordPress version 3.0. When you combine all the WordPress users that haven't yet upgraded, it's obvious that WordPress is firmly established as one of the most popular web publishing platforms. Its popularity is well-deserved. WordPress is easy to use, fun, efficient, and, as we will learn in this book, creates search engine-friendly websites. This book offers a practical, hands-on approach to installing, building, and optimizing a WordPress blog or website in a way that search engines will love. We'll unlock the hidden and not-so-hidden elements that search engines look for when they return search results for their visitors. We'll also look at a wide range of new ways to market your website or blog through secondary channels such as video sites and social media, and we'll learn that WordPress is particularly well-suited for extension into these other channels.