Strong passwords which include a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation, and are not based on a dictionary word are often not very easy to remember. And if it’s not easy to remember, chances are we’ll either end up writing it down (bad idea!) or we’ll choose a simpler password. Additionally, since we are often faced with a myriad of sites which all require separate accounts (and passwords), using different passwords for each site we use tends to fall by the way side in favor of convenience.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Here’s a technique I’ve found helpful for creating strong, easy-to-remember passwords. It involves coming up with a unique method of transforming a simple word into a strong password using a few simple rules. The beauty of this system is that, unlike a strong password generator, the passwords you come up with using a system like this are easy to remember and can be unique to each site you use them with.

Here are a few other strong-password-generating ideas:

• Microsoft: Create Strong Passwords
• McAfee: I Hate the Password Policy!
• About.com: Creating and Maintaining a Strong Password System

No matter what you choose to use to help you generate strong passwords. It’s always a good idea to check your password’s strength to gauge how hard it would be for an attacker to guess your password.