What Is My IP?
WhatIsMyIP.com.au
Your IP : 38.107.179.237
38.107.179.237 resolved to 38.107.179.237 [United States]  |
What is my IP address?
Most people can rattle off their home address, but few know their IP address. What is an IP address you ask? In fact, it is not much different than your home address; it gives your location. What is unique about your IP address is that Instead of providing your actual brick and mortar address, it provides your address in cyberspace, although it can reveal your general location.
Your IP address is unique to your computer or network. It can be constant or change. It is an acronym for Internet Protocol address. Your IP address is made up of four sets of numbers separated by decimal points. Each set is referred to as an octet. There are nearly 4.3 billion potential combinations of IP addresses.
Your computer's address
An IP address on the Internet should be registered. This is to avoid duplication. On a private network, IP addresses can be assigned by the network administrator. Looking at an IP address the way a computer does in binary form would be too hard for the average person to make sense of, so IP addresses are stated in the four-set configuration for simplicity sake.
IP addresses can be separated into classes signifying their purpose. These classes can indicate to a trained observer if the IP address belongs to business or government for instance.
Under the current system, there are three general classes of IP address; A, B and C. In addition, there is a D class for multicasting and an E class for future needs. With the current explosive growth of the Internet, the current system will be supplemented with a new system for assigning IP addresses. Called IPv6, this next generation of Internet Protocol will expand the current IPv4.
What is my IP ?
After you have had the question "what is an IP address" answered, your next question might be "what is my IP ?" After all, your IP address is unique to your computer or network and you may want to know "how can I determine my IP ?"
Luckily for any Internet user, the question, "what is my IP address" is easily answered. Typing 'my IP' or 'what is my IP' into any browser will quickly answer the question. One of the easiest services to use to determine your IP address is What Is My IP, which can be found at: www.WhatIsMyIP.com.au
My IP address; why is it significant?
An IP address identifies a computer on a TCP/IP network. It can also identify other devices like printers and routers and other peripherals. Each IP address is only one of millions across the Internet. IP addresses can be static or dynamic.
If your IP address remains the same, it is referred to as a static IP address. If it changes often, it is called a dynamic IP address. It is common for an Internet Service Provider to assign an IP address to you each time you log-on to the Internet.
All this can leave you asking; "what is my IP address and why do I care?"
The purpose of your IP address
When you ask a server for a webpage, you give that server your IP address so that it knows where to send the web page you are searching for. This would be analogous to ordering a product over the phone and giving your mailing address out in order to have the product delivered to your front door. Your IP address is important, and without it, you would not get very far on the Internet. Imagine ordering a pizza for delivery and forgetting to provide your address.
We actually use domain names when we surf the Internet. It's a lot easier to remember the name of a website than to try to use the actual IP address. Of course, machines don't think that way, so when you use the domain name, a domain name server (DNS) has to convert the domain name to an IP address before the search process can begin.
Your actual IP address
With this new understanding, you may be asking yourself; "what is my IP address?" That's a fair question and an easy one to answer. Actually there are services on the Internet that are designed to provide you with your IP address whenever you ask. One good example is: www.WhatIsMyIp.com.au
Next time you browse the Internet, take a moment to reflect on the complexity of it all. You only need a domain name to get started, but that is only the beginning. When you ask, what is my IP, what you are really asking is; where do I exist among millions of Internet users around the world? That should put it into perspective. The Internet is a lot more than web design and e-mail.
Internet advertising
Every business has to be creative with their marketing efforts and watch their ad budget. With the growth of the Internet and its worldwide reach, selling products and services on-line requires a new level of expertise and an approach that is much different than traditional marketing or print advertising.
The challenge for Internet advertisers has always been how to get their product or service in front of as many potential customers as possible. More importantly, those customers should be qualified prospects who are actually searching for that type of product or service.
Adwords Google solution
Enter Google Adwords, a targeted advertising channel that puts ads in front of qualified prospective customers. Adwords is based on the PPC (pay per click) advertising approach, but takes the concept a step further by providing instant ad placement and geo targeting. Combined with a good business website or landing page, Adwords can get a business off to a great start in cyberspace.
Through the search network version of Adwords, an ad is placed on the Google search results page, on top of, or to the right of the search results. Depending on the advertisers' budget, the results will include ads with a larger budget placed higher on the page and lower budget campaigns underneath. Google attempts to match ads to web pages in their content network.
With Adwords Google offers a low-cost alternative to targeted advertising on-line. One advantage of the quick-start capability with Adwords is that it gives the ad owner the ability to test the effectiveness of the new ad quickly and adjust as necessary to prevent losses on non-performing ads. It also allows the advertiser to set a daily budget.
Keywords make it work
The entire concept revolves around the use of keywords. For that reason, those who incorporate Adwords into their ad campaigns need to do some keyword research ahead of time. The keywords that are included in an Adwords campaign should be relevant to the service or product offered. Google offers a keyword tool that can be used for research.
The actual Adwords text ad is based on formatting that Google requires. The ad title is limited to 25 characters. The next two lines are limited to 35 characters each. The last line is the advertiser's URL. The title line can link to the advertisers' landing page. A well-researched Adwords ad can produce measurable results.
Web design and the evolution of the Internet
At one time, the Internet accounted for only a small portion of the marketing budgets of most companies. Many companies didn't even consider utilizing a business website and allocated their marketing budgets to traditional marketing and print media only. That has, of course all changed.
Organisations and governments have discovered the global reach of the Internet and have joined the business community in establishing a web presence. Even individuals have staked out their space on the Internet with individual websites, social networking accounts and blogs.
Build a website - a necessity today
One theme that transcends all of these different groups is the need to put their best face forward on the Internet. Each group has also faced the prospect of the need to build a website. Some groups have had the luxury of employing internal resources to build a website but most need to find a web developer or web designer to move the process forward.
For individuals, blogs have served this purpose, but for a business website or government website, outside expertise is usually needed. A professional web designer will create a layout called a wireframe, showing the pages on a website and determine the site's navigation and features.
The evolution of web design
The first generations of websites were rudimentary and unidirectional. They provided information to site visitors and did little else. As the Internet evolved and Internet users became more savvy, the needs of users called for more interaction on websites. The explosion in social networking websites is clear evidence of this progression.
A new term grew out of the application of interactive websites on the Internet; it was Web 2.0. The significance of Web 2.0 was that it ushered in the next generation of Internet websites and the way users interacted with those sites. Reviews of products and services, forums and video websites all embrace the Web 2.0 format. This evolution has impacted web design and the emphasis on interactive capabilities.
Video is one example of the changes in web design. The addition of video as a standard feature of a website is part of current web design. When a web designer creates a business website today, they instinctively include video capability. Ten years ago, video was not even a remote consideration.
Another change that web designers have made is in the layout of blog websites. They have left specific spaces for Google Adwords in order to allow blog owners the chance to earn income from their blog. Web design has to keep up with the times. The evolution of websites is ever-changing and web design will embrace an evolving Internet.