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Search engine optimization (SEO), making sure that websites appear high in search results, can often seem like it exists in a sort of twilight zone somewhere between science and witchcraft.

So, how does SEO work? What can it do for your business? And if you do any business at all online, can you afford not to do it? We spoke to Chris Rodgers, the founder and CEO of SEO agency Colorado SEO Pros to get answers to these and other questions.

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As part of its continuing efforts to clean up the platform, Twitter has removed 143,000 apps in the last three months for policy violations. To help reduce the need for such measures in the future, the company has also introduced a new registration system that means developers must now request access to Twitter's APIs.

The change is a significant one, and with it Twitter will be hoping to prevent the appearance of malicious apps in the first place -- making its job easier and improving the overall experience for users.

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Apple has released a patch which addresses a serious performance issues with its latest MacBook Pros -- and it could double the speed of your new laptop.

Called "macOS High Sierra 10.13.6 Supplemental Update for MacBook Pro (2018) ", the patch fixes a throttling issue that was brought to light recently that saw massive performance reduction when running power-intensive tasks. Apple says that a software bug was to blame, causing thermal management software to perform too aggressively.

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BitTorrent Inc says that it has been acquired by TRON, a blockchain startup, to create "the world's largest decentralized ecosystem".

There have been rumors about the acquisition for a few weeks now, but the news has now been confirmed. TRON is thought to have paid $126 million in cash for company, and the two teams will merge and pool their talent resources.

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Amazon Echo devices are very convenient for listening to music. Not only can you use your voice to play, say, Spotify or Pandora, but SiriusXM too. Unfortunately, the Echo devices aren't exactly audiophile products. While the normal Echo is passable, the Dot is downright terrible for audio quality -- this is probably why Amazon suggests connecting it to an external speaker.

But what if convenience isn't enough? What if you want to use Alexa and also have superior audio quality? Today, a company named Cavalier Audio launches a premium portable Bluetooth/Wi-Fi speaker with Amazon Alexa support that aims to solve that dilemma. The "Maverick," as it is called, promises better audio quality compared to Echo, but also, it is comprised of premium build materials, such as leather.

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Later this year you'll be able to use Apple Pay to pay for goods bought on eBay. Starting in the fall, Apple Pay will be a payment option on eBay's Marketplace platform as the company continues to move away from PayPal.

eBay has also announced that it is teaming up with Square Capital so that it can offer business financing to sellers in the US. Aimed at targeting small businesses looking to grow, the new partnership will provide access to finance from options between $500 and $100,000.

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Cybercriminals are delving into the past to launch attacks based on some very old vulnerabilities according to the latest report from Kaspersky Lab, and they're using Linux to do it.

In the second quarter of 2018, experts have reported DDoS attacks involving a vulnerability in the Universal Plug-and-Play protocol known since 2001. Also, the Kaspersky DDoS Protection team observed an attack organized using a vulnerability in the CHARGEN protocol that was described as far back as 1983.

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IBM's i operating system -- originally known as OS/400 -- is still popular in many larger and mid-sized organizations, and it is of course subject to the same security and compliance challenges as other systems.

Big data specialist Syncsort is launching additions to its Syncsort Assure family of products to help i users achieve compliance with GDPR and other legislation, and strengthen security with multi-factor authentication.

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Apple knows how to make products consumers love (for the most part), but that is only part of the equation. When you charge such a high premium for your products, you have to offer a superior shopping experience too. For software, its App Store -- which just celebrated a 10th birthday -- revolutionized how consumers buy and install software. It inspired many copycats too, such as the Google Play Store and the Microsoft Store.

For buying hardware, the Apple Store also offers a unique and elegant retail experience. Not only can you walk in and try the products before you buy them, but if you have a problem later on, you have a physical location that you can go to for help. Not to mention, the Apple Store offers classes to help consumers learn how to use the new device that they purchased. Today, the iPhone maker announces that its newest such store -- called Apple Piazza Liberty -- will be opening in Milan.

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TP-Link is well known for making quality products at affordable prices. I don't hesitate to recommend the company's wireless routers, for instance -- they are a great value. TP-Link shows that you don't have to break the bank to get great gear.

The company doesn't just make routers, however. TP-Link produces other types of networking gear, such as smart light bulbs, cameras, and more. Today, it launches two new smart home products -- the Kasa Cam Outdoor Security Camera and Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Plug (2-Outlets). The former is a Wi-Fi security camera designed to be installed outside, while the latter is a really cool smart outlet adapter that controls two electrical devices, such as a lamp, coffee maker, and more. Wow, dual outlets in one device? How very cool!

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Of over 200 respondents to a new survey, more than half report the most vulnerable aspects of their IIoT infrastructure as data, firmware, embedded systems, or general endpoints.

But at the same time the survey by information security training organization SANS Institute reveals an ongoing debate over what actually constitutes an endpoint.

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Microsoft has announced that the Skip Ahead ring has been opened for people who want to get the first look at the Windows 10 Redstone 6.

Back with the release of Windows 10 build 17713, Microsoft announced it was "doing a complete reset of Skip Ahead". This is now complete, so you can sign up for the preview ring once again. Spaces are limited, so if you want to take part you're going to have to be quick -- once the maximum number of participants has been reached, Skip Ahead will close once again.

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Following on from lawsuits files against console ROM sites LoveROMS.com and LoveRETRO.co, Nintendo has succeeded in getting a Game Boy Advance emulator removed from GitHub.

The company filed a DMCA request asking that a JavaScript-based emulator that enabled retro gamers to enjoy the likes of Mario in their web browser be removed, GitHub has complied with the request meaning that the emulator is now longer available through the site.

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For PC builders and enthusiasts, these are quite exciting times. Hardware is faster than ever, making it possible to build some monstrously powerful computers. Solid state drives in particular have made storage blazing fast -- especially since NVMe began replacing the slower SATA drives.

Today, Toshiba unveils its latest NVMe solid state drive and it has some revolutionary technology on-board. You see, the "XG6," as it is called, is the first SSD to feature 96-Layer 3D Flash.

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Quantum computing is the future, and it has the potential to change everything. These new machines will be much more powerful than any "classic" computer available today. Quantum computers will be able to do calculations that we can only dream about today, potentially solving problems never thought solvable before. These powerful computers may even render current encryption methods obsolete.

Of course, hardware is just part of the equation. In order for quantum computers to truly change the world, we will need software written for them. Microsoft seems eager to get programmers on the quantum bandwagon, as today, it launches the open source Quantum Katas on GitHub. What exactly is it? It is essentially a project deigned to teach Q# programming for free.

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