Sick and Tired of Microsoft Outlook? There is a better option!

eM Client Outperforms Outlook in Every Way

I have always despised Outlook as a POP3 or IMAP client. It’s heavy, slow, bloated software that is designed to integrate with Exchange server, an enterprise-level application. Corporations have teams of network engineers working to keep Exchange server and associated Outlook clients running. The average small to medium-sized business is not so lucky. We just want a trouble-free mail client that works every time we open it. Unfortunately, that is not Outlook.

Why not use Outlook? It’s heavy bloated software that struggles to perform simple email retrieval functions without having issues. Using it for POP3 or IMAP is a miserable experience. Since email is literally the cornerstone of business, this is unacceptable! In my year of using it, I experienced more downtime and frustration with Outlook than any other mail client I have ever used.

Some of the annoyances and issues I continuously encounter are:

  • Crashing – Restart computer
  • Hanging up – Restart computer
  • Endless “Syncing”
  • Connection errors
  • Database corruption – corrupt .PST file
  • Uninstalling and reinstalling the MS Outlook software multiple times
  • Slowest mail client in the world!
  • Poor spam filter
  • Poor email orgainzation
  • Cannot view mail source code.

The last time Outlook crashed, I finally had enough. It had to GO!

After some searching and reading reviews, I decided to take a chance on eM Client.

I opted for the Pro version which has a list of features that blows every other mail client away. The install was quick and easy and it loaded up all my IMAP messages quickly. After a few day of using eM Client, I was certain this was the mail client I had been looking for.

Things I love about eM Client:

  • It is FAST! Just what I was looking for.
  • No endless syncing!
  • Easy email setup
  • Consolidate Gmail and Google Calander into the app – Easy setup!
  • Nesting emails/replies in the the same pane for easy access and referance. Also, extended nesting of older email in the far right pane which show history and attachments. ( I have grown to love this time saving feature)
  • Frustration free mail client that allow you to get work done!
  • Easy online updates

Things that need improvement:

  • Spam handling capacities are poor. There is now way to whitelist legitimate email that go to spam or junk. Adding the email to your contacts and whitelisting on the server does not work! There is, however, a workaround. You can add the email address that are going to spam to a filter that redirects it to the inbox. This is a simple task. Just right click the email address in the header and select “create rule from”.
  • When deleting email, it will sometimes select the whole days worth of emails if you are deleting from the top row. Be careful!

I have just scratched the surface of the capabilities of eM Client. I will report back here as I discover more pros and cons of eM Client. Check out eM Client for yourself!

SiteBuilder Email – Strong Password Required

Email: Strong Password Required
February  2020
In an effort to reduce email system abuse, we require the use of a strong password. In the case of VERY weak passwords, we have started restricted sending.  If a sender recently started getting an error when trying to send and receive messages, we’d recommend that they update their email account password with a stronger password.
Email accounts that get restricted will still receive messages on our systems. Their messages will be available in their email client once the customer updates their password.

Secure Email Port Added

For customers using our email services, we have added a secure email port to our hosting server that is available to start using now.  We added this for customers using iPhones which try to use this port by default.  However, the port is available for everyone to use if you choose to do so. 

Anyone who is *not* using SSL/TLS won’t be getting any warnings, and don’t need to change anything.  So the rule is, anyone with SSL or TLS turned on (and it may be forced to “on” in some clients like iPhones) should use securemail.houstonshost.com for the incoming and outgoing server name.


Secure mail uses an encrypted SSL connection for both incoming POP and outgoing SMTP.

The new setting for secure mail are:

Incoming server: securemail.houstonshost.com
Port for POP3: 995

Outgoing server: securemail.houstonshost.com
If using SSL, then Port: 465
If using TLS, then Port: 587

Note that if you are using another email service like Office 365, Rackspace or Gmail, this does not apply to you.

2018 SiteBuilder Updates Online Now

Site Builder Updates – 2018
2018 SiteBuilder updates are now online and ready for all customers to use.  This update will feature many new enhancements and optimizations.

Updates
– HTTPS Security
– Mobile Editing
– Performance
– Data/Privacy GDPR
– Site Editor Updates
– System/Components
– Design Updates

HTTPS – TLS / Secure Connections enhancements.
With the Google Chrome update this July, Google will start displaying all websites that are not using HTTPS as “Not secure”. The site builder update will automatically enable HTTPS for all websites. The system will install a HTTPS certificate and redirect all pages to secure mode. The certificate setup is completely automated and will not require customers to do anything. Basic certificates will be included with all site builder plans (no additional fees to users).

Even with the switch over to HTTPS, some sites may still not display as secure because they have custom HTML,scripts and code. Customers will need to review their sites and update any pages that are not displaying as secure.

We will still offer enhanced certificates for purchase.

Site Editor Mobile Mode
The mobile edit mode makes it much easier to manage your site and edit content from mobile devices. When logging in from a mobile device users will have the option to switch to the mobile editor. The mobile editor simplifies the editing environment and uses responsive design to make the site editor much easier to use.

Touch/Swipe Support
The content slider has been updated to support swiping left/right to change slides.

Performance/Speed Optimizations
Many optimizations are being enabled to help sites load faster on both web and mobile. Optimizations include..compressing and combining script/css files, optimizing scripts to load and run after the page loads optimizing HTML pages, server enhancements, and more.

#Privacy/Data Policy (GDPR)
Starting this month the Europe Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will take effect. This regulation affects customers in the EU as well as any website that has customers/visitors from the EU. We are not experts on the law. It is very complex and has many requirements. It is up to website owners to determine what they must to do comply with the law. Depending on your location and where your customers are from, site owners may need to make adjustments to their site and how they use data.

Here are just a few of the components of the law….The law requires site owners to be more transparent about what data they collect from users and exactly how they use the data. Websites need to have a clear privacy/data policy. Users have a right to request all the data that you have collected about them as well as the right to have all of their data deleted (right to be forgotten). Data collection and usage is Opt In. Users must explicitly agree to each way that a site owner may want to use their data.

We are making adjustments to help site owners comply with the law and will continue updates as we learn more.

– Check boxes for mailing list signup (not checked by default)
– Form builder – new option to have required check boxes to submit a form
– Global privacy policy setup – privacy link is automatically added to forms that collect data
– Form to request user data – we are putting together a process to generate a report on data that the system has about a user.
– Form to request user data deletion – we are setting up a process to delete data about a user

NOTE: The site builder data reports will only include data from our systems. To be complaint with the law, site owners need to also report/delete any other data they have about users. This could be in emails, downloaded files, or data added to other systems out site the site builder such as a CRM system.

Site Editor UI
The site editor UI has been updated and optimized to make it easier to edit and manage your site. Many pages now have sticky apply buttons so you can scroll up/down and click apply without having to scroll back to the top or bottom.

Power Edit Key (Experimental)
When viewing or editing a page hold down the CTRL key when hovering over a component. Click the component to quickly access the component editor. This feature allows you to jump directly to the component editor without having to scroll around and click the “EDIT” link above the component. It can also be used on the site menu, banner, logos and footer areas.

InPage Editing (Experimental)
When editing a page, hover over text areas and titles. Click on highlighted areas to edit directly text on the page.

New Templates / Styles
New layouts have been added and with more layouts and style sets coming soon.

Design Area
The design area UI has been updated to focus on the design and text styles. With a couple of clicks you can easily adjust your base style settings for default text and titles.

New Design Styles
Several new styles have been added. These include groupboxes, page titles and tabbed content boxes.

Menu Options
New templates now have the option to enable/disable the sticky menu and inverse menu options. You can also set the sub menu in/out animation styles.

Page Layout
Adjust column widths from the page layout area.

Page Layouts Modern Style
Several new starter page layouts have been added. Click add page and choose the modern layouts. New page layouts include a quick option to start with a single page website layout.

Social Networking Icons
New modern style social icons have been added. These icon styles are designed to help your pages load quickly.

File Manager
The file manager has been enhanced to make it easier to select and manage your images. View images and adjust image sizes so you can see more.

Component Slider/Flow
Add components into a slider. Choose how many components to show on the screen and use navigation arrows to cycle through the list. There is an option to quickly copy the last component to make editing faster. With component flow you set the number of columns and components are automatically arranged on the page to fit. Both the slider and flow modes are responsive and will auto adjust for mobile.

Form Builder
The form editor has been updated to help make setting up your forms easier. There is a new option to setup required checkbox fields. The UI for showing required fields to users has been updated.

Blog
New option to enable a “read more” button under the blog post summary. New blog styles.

Big Text Component
Add styled/larger text to your site.

Facebook Feed Option

Designs

After the full update is out, We will be adding many new design/style options.

If you have any comments or questions, just let us know.

New SiteBuilder Updates Online.

New Templates / Styles

New layouts have been added and many more are in the works. These responsive layouts give you the flexibility to setup any kind of design to meet your needs.

New Page Layouts

We have made it easier to create fantastic looking pages. Our new page layouts will get you started with great looking pages. Select your page style, upload images and enter your text.

Updated Text Editor

The text editor has been updated and now supports the Microsoft Edge Browser

Image Hover Animations

Enable advanced hover animations for images. When visitors move the mouse over an image, you can set the image to zoom in. For image captions you can set the captions to fade in on top of the image or display with a slide in animation. To setup hover animation go to the design->advanced settings->animated transitions page. More great animations coming soon.

Simplified Text Edit Bar

Remove clutter from the text editor and quickly access primary editing functions: styling text, editing links and inserting images.

Long Page Updates

The long form pages are now much easier to edit. You no longer need to select which section you are editing. The full page can be edited at the same time. Edit and easily move components anywhere on the page.

Mobile App Services (Beta/Upgrade)

Are you looking to have an App in the IOS AppStore or Google Play Store for your customers/site visitors to download? With the new App Services we can take your existing website and turn it into a downloadable App. Once it is created, you can use the site builder to manage the content displayed in your App. Contact Support for more information.

Copy Component

Once you have a component set with all the options that you want, it can easily be copied so you can start editing with the setting that you like to use. To copy a component, tap the green box to the right of the component edit link and then click the copy button. NOTE: only some components support the copy feature.

New Icons

Hundreds of new icons have been added to the icons area. To add icons to your pages, use the image component and then tap the choose icon button. You can select different icons styles and customize your colors.

More Button for Text Components

Easily add a more button to the bottom of your text components. The more button creates an easy way to link a quick text paragraph to a detailed page with more information.

Text/Image Animation Component

Create dynamic text/image animations. As you scroll through pages text and images will animate.

Animated Rotating Word Component

Use the rotating word component to create an animated text sentence. Choose a word in the sentence and have to rotate between different words. Customize colors, words, animations and more.

Mobile Enhancements

Many updates have been added to help your pages display better on mobile devices. The new responsive templates have updated menus and options for search and viewing a shopper’s cart.

Form Component

This is a new mode that allows the form to auto size to fill the available page space. The form now allows for larger files to be uploaded when visitors submit a form. The new date field type allows visitors to enter a date or select the date from a popup calendar. The date field will show in newer web browsers.

Spacer Component

The spacer component allows you to add more space between components and sections. Adding space between components can help your pages to be easier to read and navigate.

Groupbox/Icon

A new groupbox style has been added that allows you to customize the color and choose an icon or image to be displayed at the top of the box.

Ecommerce

  • Miscellaneous updates to Amazon payments
  • Product option that requires a user be logged in to view pricing and order a product
  • Miscellaneous subscription feature enhancements
  • Company name can now appear on packing slips
  • Miscellaneous updates to product display
  • ShipStation upgrades and updates
  • New USPS shipping method options and removal of some methods per USPS updates
  • Miscellaneous PayTrace gateway enhancements
  • More custom text options for ecommerce
  • Subscription recurrence date can be changed
  • Option to automatically cancel a subscription
  • Inventory alert notice now includes link to edit the product
  • Coupon enhancements
  • Stripe gateway enhancements
  • AUPost API upgrade
  • VAT tax calculations for shipping fees
  • Google category setting for Google shopping export
  • Support added for Mastercard 2 series cards
  • Square gateway
  • Security updates to use stronger ciphers for PCI compliance
  • Checkout quantity restriction enhancement
  • My account and billing info update

SSL

  • Option to purchase SSL Certificates
  • SSL browsing enhancements

Forms

  • Updates to spam filtering for forms
  • New form date field option
  • Form file upload now allows for larger files

Responsive/Mobile Updates

  • Form enhancements to work better on mobile browsing
  • Responsive banner will display the logo if set
  • Miscellaneous responsive template updates
  • Responsive design updates
  • Miscellaneous mobile updates

Media

  • Audio playback enhancement for newer browsers
  • Video backgrounds on long form page

Design

  • Rotating banner updates
  • Content slide banner can now be set to different sizes on home versus other pages
  • Image gallery component upgrades
  • Blog enhancements
  • Image resizing adjustments

Long Form Pages

  • Long form page footer enhancements
  • Video backgrounds on long form page
  • Long form pages can now be copied

Google/Search Engines

  • Google tag manager
  • Google maps update

Speed/Quality

  • CDN enhancements for faster image loading
  • Site search enhancement
  • PCI compliance upgrades

Miscellaneous

  • Domain manager enhancements
  • User account can be directed to a specific page after login
  • Site owner notification when a user account is created
  • Custom page – allows a custom section layout

Coming Soon

  • Text Animations
  • Page section backgrounds
  • Image Hover Effects
  • New components
  • Text formatting updates

New Spam Blocker Installed

We have just installed a new layer of spam protection for our hosting customers.  Welcome to MagicSpam.
MagicSpam is not a filter but integrates with the mail server and works on the edge or the SMTP layer to reject spam before it enters the server. It is also configured to help stop Trojans and bots with Mail Server Profiling.
Furthermore, it performs best practices and DNSBL (Email Black Hole) checks against all incoming mail.
While all spam cannot be stopped, this extra layer of protection will help eliminate much of the spam that currently makes it to your inbox.
A poll of customers reports dramatic drops in spam as soon as MagicSpam was installed.

Top 10 ways to Instantly Identify a Fraudulent SEO Firm

For those that are new to SEO and the Online Marketing world, here are some tips to help you spot a phony SEO/Online Marketing firm.  Unfortunately, there are plenty of them out there and it’s just a matter of time until they contact you making compelling but fraudulent claims.

One method of finding you is through the use of Google AdWords.  However, there are spammers that send out an email to every address they can scrape.  Furthermore, they are very clever regarding this process as they address you by name and use your URL in the boilerplate copy.

Using  the common sense approach here will not only help you with SEO spam but spam of all kinds that flood your inbox.

If you see any of the following warning signs, Delete, Ignore, Hang-Up, or report as spam because it is all fraudulent! All of this effort is designed to do one thing and one thing only, take your money and produce no results.

Without further a due, here are the top 10 ways to spot a fraudulent SEO firm.

10)  They “Guarantee” 1st place or 1st page placement on Google.

9) They have been kind enough to “take the time” to review your site and think it’s fantastic.  However they cannot find you on the front page of Google and are “very concerned” about you.  They can turn this around with organic front page listings.

8) They will quickly build links from all over the web that point back to your site.

7) They offer ridiculously  low fees or just a one- time fee to get you on the front page of the search engines.

6) Want to redesign your site for “SEO purposes” without a valid reason.  Note:  There are still valid reasons to redesign a site that is search engine un-friendly.  However, these scammers never look at your site to determine if it needs a redesign.

5) Offers to provide massive traffic to your social media sites.

4) No Website listed or phone number is listed in their contact info.

3) They state you were contacted because you don’t place for your top keyword phrases even though they don’t know what your top phrases are.  Even if you currently have excellent positions in search, the pitch will be the same.

2) They use a free or third party email address to contact you. (@yahoo, gmail, etc.)

1) Finally,  the number 1 way to  spot a phony SEO firm.  They Initiate contact!  That’s right.  Any firm that is worth hiring will not use unsolicited email (SPAM) and/or phone calls.

A final point to consider, I have had people call me and actually state that they were from Google and could guarantee my company 1st place position,  not realizing they called an actual SEO agency.  When pressed with real questions about SEO, they crumbled and hung up.
I have also had customers that “went to SEO seminars presented by Google Representatives”  This will never happen.  A Google rep will never try to sell you an SEO package!
Legitimate firms have all the work they can handle which is driven to them by referrals, online articles, community involvement and of course legitimate SEO efforts.
The following are just a few of the real spam solicitations that flood our inbox. Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
I have bold comments next to identifiers that should instantly raise a red flag.

———————————————–Actual Spam Examples———————————————–
Anatomy of a Spam Email: Subject – Phony SEO SCAM
From: [email protected]  (Throw Away Address)
Owner of YourDomain.com,
I would like to request your consideration for Search Engine Marketing opportunity with your Business.
Would you like to rank YourDomain.com on top page of Google Organic Search, for ANY keyword of your choice?  (Wants give us front page Rankings for ANY keyword – Impossible Claim)
1. Redesign YourDomain.com with Richer Content and W3C Validated.  (Our site already has Rich Content and Validated – Site Not Reviewed)

  1. Optimize YourDomain.com  for top page ranking in Google, Yahoo & Bing by a link-building campaign at relevant Portals. (Again with the top Rankings.  Also, link building at the wrong portals can cause a penalty)
  2. Promote YourDomain.com massively in Online Social Medias and B2B portals for direct inquiries from your Customers. (Social Media is built slowly through your actual customers . Social media is not a big drivers of traffic that converts)
  3. Bring YourSite.com  to the top 5 Organic searches in Google, Yahoo & Bing, for any of your desired keywords. (Again with the top Rankings – This cannot be Guaranteed)
    Your Customers find you when YourDomain.com is on the top of Google. Having a beautiful Website as well as being on the top left of Google (#1- #5 Organic positions) is the best thing you can do for your company’s Website traffic and Online Reputation.
    Due to the recent changes in Google’s SEO policies, there are a lot of improvements for top page ranking of a Website. I can provide you a detailed analysis in the form of a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Report for YourDomain.com to let you know those areas of improvement.
    Sounds interesting? Feel free to ask questions or you can provide your phone number for me to call you.

Best Regards,
Sam  (Sam Who?)
SEO Consultant
———————-  (No WebSite)
———————-  (No Phone Number)
———————————————-Spam Email Example 2———————————————–
From: [email protected]   (Throw away Email Address)
Hi,
Would you like to be listed at the top of every major search engine such as Google, Yahoo! & Bing for multiple search phrases (keywords) relevant to your products / services?
Our Steps and the Activities to Rank You 1st Page on Google!  (1st page lie and cannot create a coherent sentence)
1. Keywords Research
2. Competition Analysis
3. Optimized Content Creation
4. Keywords Optimization
5. Back Link Creation/Link Building
6. Submission to Search Engines and Directories
7. Submission to Article Directories (Old SEO technique – no longer used in modern SEO)
We are a team of 80+ professionals which includes 50 full time SEO experts.  (Obvious Lie)
We are proud to inform you that our team handled 250+ SEO projects. We will be glad to assist you with offering our services. ( Probably true. Ripped of 250 people at least)
Contact us for the best quote for your website & we’ll place your website on 1st page Google ranking for targeted keywords. (1st page lie again)
Thanks
—————-
Kind Regards
Naveen Singh
Online SEO Consultant
———————–    (No Phone)
———————–    ( No Website)

——————————————————-End Spam Email————————————————–

Why Are Google Search Results Different?

Why are Google search results different from computer to computer?  This is a fairly common questions that that comes up concerning Google search for specific keyword phrase rankings.
A few years back, if I looked at a search engine result page (SERP) on my computer and you looked at yours, the results would be the same. Now, it almost guaranteed that we will not have the same results.

There are many factors that are currently involved that make it difficult to demonstrate specific keyword ranking positions. Google Calls this “personalized results”.
The following are the main factors that affect how search results are displayed from computer to computer. The results can be incredibly dynamic.

Every computer has a unique Local IP and Mac address. Google determines your approximate location, examines your machine cache, online history and tries to deliver appropriate results based on:

• Web history – Local Browser history, Browser cookies and online browsing history search results.
• Whether you are logged into of logged out of anything Google. However, Google will still deliver personalized results.
• Recent searches – Uses browser cache, Local Browser history and online browsing history
• Universal search – This is a way Google Blends results from other parts of Google such as YouTube, Images, news, etc. into search
• Geographic location – Search will vary by location
• Social search – Essentially blending of social results in the SERP.
• Google Data centers – Google has many data centers. Results may vary from Data center to Data center.
The result of personalized search are not always beneficial to the user.
Quoted from Wikipedia and credited below.

“Several concerns have been brought up regarding the feature. It decreases the likelihood of finding new information, since it biases search results towards what the user has already found. It also introduces some privacy problems, since a user may not be aware that their search results are personalized for them, and it affects the search results of other people who use the same computer (unless they are logged in as a different user). The feature also has profound effects on the search engine optimization (SEO) industry, since search results are not ranked the same way for every user – thus making it more difficult to identify the effects of SEO efforts.[11] Personalization makes search experience inconsistent for different users requiring the SEO industry to be aware of both personalized and non-personalized search results to get an increase in ranking.[10]
Personalized search suffers from creating an abundance of background noise to search results. This can be seen as the carry-over effect where one search is performed followed by a subsequent search. The second search is influenced by the first search if a timeout period is not set at a high enough threshold. ”
References:
10, 11: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Personalized_Search

Top 10 Most Commonly Asked SEO Questions

The following is a list of the top question we typically receive from our customers, potential customers and interested parties.
#1
Q. How long will it take to get my site listed in Google’s natural or “Organic” listings?

A. This depends on many factors. Be aware that getting “listed” and getting good positioning in the search engine results pages (SERP) are two entirely different things. Getting listed is fairly easy but the most important issue is getting good organic positioning so we will discuss this here.
In short, it could take anywhere from several months to up to several years to achieve favorable positioning in Google.
Some determining factors on achieving good position are:

  1. Web Site Optimization – Is you site optimized correctly for your relevant keyword phrases?
  2. Inbound Links – Do you have many relevant, high Site/Page Authority links that point to your site? This is as important as the optimization itself!
  3. Search Engine Friendly Site – Does your site have any barriers that would block search engine bots and prevent indexing?
  4. How long has your site been online? The newer the site, the longer it will take to achieve good positioning due to all the factors listed here.
  5. New sites generally have a zero or very low Page Authority. Established sites that rank at the top generally have a higher page authority. Page Authority is gained by building inbound links from authoritative and credible sites.
    You can check your site page authority and backlinks at Moz.
  6. How much competition do you have? New sites in highly competitive categories have an uphill battle. There are no quick solutions so settle in for the long haul. With perseverance, proper execution, and lots of hard work, good results can be achieved.
  7. Use “White Hat” or Ethical SEO techniques.
  8. Have you submitted press releases for Web/News syndication, Setup a YouTube channel with your video, setup social media accounts? All of these are important aspects of modern SEO.
  9. Are you keeping your content fresh by adding new content, articles, blogs on a regular basis? Search Engines love fresh, original content.
  10. Have you built an XML Sitemap and submitted to Google correctly?These are only some of the factors that will effect how fast your site will get good positioning in Google.
    Beware: There are many unscrupulous SEO companies out there that will tell you they can get you front page positioning in two weeks. That should raise a big red flag with you. See our blog post on how to spot a Fake SEO firm.

#2
Q. Should I participate in the PPC (pay per click) or Sponsor links at Google, Bing/Yahoo or focus strictly on organic optimization?

A. Organic optimization alone is not a true “Marketing Plan”. A true online marketing plan includes sponsor link setup and management.
There may be a time when you can take your Sponsor links offline but if your positioning drops in the organic listings due to algorithmic changes, you still have a backup plan that can be quickly enabled to drive traffic to your site.
Many of our customers that have top listing in Google still keep their sponsor links enabled.

#3
Q. How much will it cost to participate in the Sponsor link programs (pay per click)?

A. Cost to participate in Sponsor link AKA Pay Per Click plans such as Google Ad Words and Bing Ads, which deliver sponsor results to many search engines and Websites, is based on several factors.
We must determine the number of phrases you wish to promote, the cost per click of the particular keywords you wish to promote, the position you wish to maintain, the competition for the phrase and the frequency of the clicks. Therefore, it’s virtually impossible to determine the exact budget amount you will need initially. However, we can we can work within just about any budget you set.
Note: AWSP does not charge any Agency Fees for managing your PPC/Sponsor link accounts! Many SEO agencies charge a 15-20% agency fee for all your PPC activity. If your budget is $10,000 a month, the SEO agency could charge you 2000.00 just in fees on top of the other marketing fees.
AWSP charges a flat monthly fee for managing your account.

#4
Q. Google is the only search engine my customers use. Why should I submit to the other search engines?

A. While Google is overwhelmingly the #1 search engine right now, you cannot discount the traffic you will receive from Yahoo and Bing. These are still very viable search engines that are used by millions of loyal followers. Current Stats break down something like this:
(Estimates as of 2018)
Google: 92.7%
Yahoo:  2.32%
Bing:     2.17%

Consider this, Yahoo is still one of the Webs top portal and Bing is owned by the top OS software developer (Microsoft) and searching with IE using the Address bar defaults to the Bing Search engine.
Therefore, If you are not in these search engines you are losing market share.
We have always been surprised to see the traffic from Yahoo and Bing when comparing analytics on multiple sites. Another way to look at it is “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.

#5
Q. Do I really need to submit to any directories?

A. It depends. If you have a new site with few or no inbound links, limited directory inclusion is important to get some links built to start your inbound linkage profile. Targeted Directory inclusion builds inbound links that increase your credibility with Google. We limit inclusion to only a few of the oldest and trusted authoritative directories.
On the other hand, if your site is older and already has a good linkage profile, directory inclusion is typically not needed or recommended.

#6
Q. Will you optimize our site without including us in the directories or doing any link building?

A. Yes. However, it will be up to you to perform your inbound link building.

#7
Q. Why should I pay for an organic optimization plan once I gain good positioning?

A. Good organic placement is a moving target. It is not like a static “Yellow Page Ad” that never changes. Organic positioning is never guaranteed and always subject to change.
Once you stop worrying about your great organic placement, your competitor hasn’t and is still working to overtake you.
We monitor organic placement of our customers and continually make recommendations that will help them maintain good organic positioning for their phrases. We also maintain the inbound links, making sure they are renewed and not dropped. In addition, we perform code tweaking, keyword phrase additions, page additions and ongoing consulting on the latest algorithm changes that affect your site. Optimization is not a “submit and forget” proposition. It’s an ongoing process to stay on top.

#8
Q. Can you optimize my page for my top 20 keywords?

A. No. A single page cannot be optimized correctly for that many keyword phrases. The general rule of thumb is one keyword phrase per page and the maximum of two. We generally optimize sub-pages for your other relative keyword phrases. If a page does not exist that’s relevant to the phrase, we may create a new page specifically for those phrases.

#9
Q. I know inbound links are important so I hired a linkage company to build additional links for my site. However, I have not noticed any results and my Page Rank has dropped. What Happened?

A. You have probably been penalized by Google. Most of these “Link Builders” will list your site using linkage schemes that will include “Bad Neighborhoods”, Link Farms, Blog Comment spam, Directory spam or just pages that offer no real benefit. Make sure you know up front where and how you will be listed. Also, beware of low costs services. These are generally automated processes and will not produce any results and will most likely have a negative impact on the placement of your site in the search engines. As a general rule, we do not recommend ANY link building companies.

#10
Q. I receive a lot of email requests for reciprocal linking. Should I participate it this?

A. Generally speaking, no. 95% of all these requests are SPAM. Furthermore, the pages that will actually link to your site are typically buried deep within the linking site and offer no benefit to you.
Another tactic that link spammers use is to remove your link at some point in time leaving them with only inbound links which is the most favorable.
The exception to the rule is exchanging links with an industry relative site that is legitimate. Do they have a phone number? You may actually want to call them and discuss the exchange and negotiate for position.
Link exchanges should also be equal. If their link is one click off of the front page, yours should be too, not buried 5 pages deep in a site directory.  We generally don’t see much of this anymore.