Friday, April 22, 2011

Alt Attribute & SEO Optimization

SEO Optimization images has become more and more important in SEO (Seo optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is a critical step that is sometimes forgotten. This can be a lost chance of better rankings.


In Google's webmaster guidelines, they advise using alternative text for the images in your site:

Images:. Use the alt attribute to supply descriptive text. Additionally, we recommend using a human-readable caption and descriptive text around the image.

Why would they ask us to do that? The answer is simple, really; search engines like google have the same problem as blind users. They cannot begin to see the images.

Many webmasters and inexperienced or unethical SEOs abuse the use of this attribute, attempting to stuff it with keywords, looking to achieve a particular keyword density, which is not as relevant for rankings now since it was previously.

On the other hand, high keyword density can, on some search engines, trigger spam filters, which might create a penalty for your site's ranking. Even without such a penalty, your site's rankings won't benefit from this tactic.
This process also puts persons who use screen readers at a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that actually read aloud the contents of what's shown on the screen. In browsing the web, the alt attributes of images are read aloud too.

Imagine listening to a paragraph of text which is then repetitions of numerous keywords. The page would be far from accessible, and, to put it bluntly, will be found quite annoying.
What is an Alt attribute?

An ALT attribute should not be used like a description or perhaps a label for an image, though lots of people utilize it in that fashion. Though it may appear natural to assume that alternate text is a label or perhaps a description, it is not!

The words used inside an image's alt attribute should be its text equivalent and convey exactly the same information or serve the same purpose the image would.

The goal would be to provide the same functional information that the visual user would see. The alt attribute text should function as a "stand in" in the event that the look itself is not available. Ask yourself this question: Should you replace the image using the text, would most users receive the same basic information, and would it create the same response?
Some examples:

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

If your search button is really a magnifier or binoculars its alt text ought to be 'search' or 'find' not 'magnifying glass' or 'binoculars'.

If an image is supposed to convey the literal items in the image, then a description is appropriate.

If it's meant to convey data, then that information is what's appropriate.

If it's designed to convey the use of a function, then the function itself is what should be used.

Some Alt Attribute Guidelines:

Always add alt attributes to images. Alt is mandatory for accessibility as well as for valid XHTML.

For images that play only a decorative role within the page, make use of an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image to ensure that reading browsers don't bother users by uttering things like "spacer image".

Remember that it's the function from the image we're attempting to convey. For instance; any button images shouldn't range from the word "button" in the alt text. They ought to emphasize the action performed through the button.

Alt text should be based on context. Exactly the same image in a different context may require drastically different alt text.

Attempt to flow alt text with the remainder from the text because that's how it will be read with adaptive technologies like screen readers. Someone hearing your page should hardly remember that a graphic image can there be.
Please keep in mind that using an alt attribute for every image is needed to satisfy the minimum WAI requirements, which are used as the benchmark for accessibility laws in UK and the remainder of Europe. Also, they are required to meet "Section 508" accessibility requirements in america.

It is important to categorize non-text content into three levels:

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are stuff that serve no purpose other than to make a site visually appealing/attractive and (in many cases) satisfy the marketing departments. There is no content value (though there may be value to a sighted user).

Never alt-ify eye-candy unless there's something there which will enhance the usability from the site for somebody utilizing a non-visual user agent. Make use of a null alt attribute or background images in CSS for eye-candy.

II. Mood-Setting

This is the middle layer of graphics which may serve to set the mood or set happens so to speak. These graphics aren't direct content and could not be considered essential, but they are essential in that they help frame what's going on.

Try to alt-ify the second group as is sensible and is relevant. There may be times when doing so might be annoying or detrimental to other users. Then avoid it.

For instance; Alt text that's identical to adjacent text is unnecessary, as well as an irritant to screen reader users. I recommend alt="" or background CSS images in such instances. But sometimes, it's important to understand this content in there for all users.

Usually it depends on context. Exactly the same image inside a different context may require drastically different alt text. Obviously, content should always be fully available. The way you go in this case is really a judgment call.

III. Content and Function

This is when the look is the actual content. Always alt-ify content and functional images. Title and long description attributes can also be in order.
The reason many authors can't figure out why their alt text isn't working is they don't know why the pictures exist. You have to determined precisely what function an image serves. Consider what it's concerning the image that's vital that you the page's intended audience.

Every graphic has a reason for standing on that page: since it either enhances the theme/ mood/ atmosphere or it is critical to what are the page is attempting to explain. Understanding what the look is perfect for makes alt text easier to write. And exercise writing them definitely helps.
A method to look into the usefulness of alternative text would be to imagine reading the page over the telephone to someone. What would you say when encountering a particular image to create the page understandable to the listener?

Aside from the alt attribute you've got a couple more tools at your disposal for images.
First, in degree of descriptiveness title is in between alt and longdesc. It adds useful information and may add flavor. The title attribute is optionally rendered through the user agent. Remember they're invisible and never shown as a "tooltip" when focus is received through the keyboard. (So much for device independence). So make use of the title attribute just for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points to the URL of a complete description of the image. If the information found in an image is essential towards the meaning of the page (i.e. some important content will be lost when the image was removed), a longer description than the "alt" attribute can reasonably display ought to be used. It may provide for rich, expressive documentation of the visual image.

It ought to be used when alt and title are insufficient to embody the visual qualities of an image. As Clark [1] states, "A longdesc is a long description of an image...The goal is by using any period of description necessary to impart the details of the graphic.

It wouldn't be remiss to hope that the long description conjures an image - the look - within the mind's eye, an analogy that holds true even for that totally blind."

Even though alt attribute is mandatory for web accessibility and for valid (X)HTML, not every images need alternative text, long descriptions, or titles.

In many cases, you are best just going with your gut instinct -- if it's not essential to include it, and when you don't possess a strong urge to get it done, don't include that longdesc.

However, if it's necessary for the entire page to work, then you have to include the alt text (or title or longdesc).

What's necessary and what's not depends a lot on the function of your image and it is context on the page.

The same image may require alt text (or title or longdesc) in one spot, although not in another. If the image provides absolutely no content or functional information alt="" or background CSS images might be appropriate to use. But if the image provides content or adds functional information an alt would be required and maybe even a long description will be so as. In many cases this kind of thing is really a judgement call.

Image Search Engine Optimization Tips


Listed here are key steps in optimizing images:

Select a logical file name that reinforces the keywords. You should use hyphens in the file name to isolate the keyword, but avoid to exceeding two hyphens. Avoid using underscores as a word separator, such as "brilliant-diamonds.jpg";

Label the file extension. For example, if the image search engine sees a ".jpg" (JPEG) file extension, it's likely to assume the file is really a photo, and when it sees a ".gif" (GIF) file extension, it's likely to assume that it is a graphic;

Make sure that the text at the image that's relevant to that image.
Again, do not lose a great chance to help your site with your images in search engines. Use these steps to rank better on all of the engines and drive more traffic to your site TODAY.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Website Optimization


Note the Client companies are based in either the US or Canada and the “percentage of traffic outside key service areas” are based on each client’s target market.


For instance, if a client only services the US only, any traffic outside the US would be traffic outside their service area.


Evaluating Your Own Traffic For Relevance


To use our own web design and Internet marketing business as an example, we service both Canada and the US, but were getting 24% of our traffic from other international countries. Big portions of that traffic were companies looking to sell their services to us.


These international visitors would fill in our web forms and call us to inquire, untimely skewing our website analytics data by not giving us a real understanding of how our website was performing to quality prospects.


A solution had to be implemented to significantly reduce the amount of resources we were dedicating to people outside our service areas.


Ultimately, we didn’t want to be contacted from people we couldn’t help. The four possible solutions we considered were:



  1. Create a custom report in Google Analytics to filter out the unwanted data (reporting related)

  2. Adjust the content of our website (website related)

  3. Block the traffic from specific Countries from viewing our website (server related)

  4. Don’t change anything.


Option #1


When evaluating the first solution, creating a custom report to filter out this data in Google Analytics, this would clear up our analytics data. Implementing a filter would provide a more realistic picture of quality prospects we could service in our geographic area instead of those prospects or solicitors in other counties we don’t service.


This option didn’t run the risk of blocking any traffic or robots that we do want. It’s also a simple filter to add in Google Analytics. We set up another Profile with the country exclusions filters. A new Profile was the preferred approach, rather than going through the extra steps of creating Custom Reports.


However, setting up analytical filters doesn’t fully resolve the issue, since these visitors could still access our site, fill in web forms, and contact us, ultimately wasting resources that we could dedicate elsewhere.


It wouldn’t give us a true picture of what was going on. It also wouldn’t resolve the problem – we didn’t want to be contacted by companies from some outside countries.


Option #2


Updating the website content to say you only service a specific area is another solution that we considered.  This would inject more geo-targeted keywords into your site, which would help in local SEO. Adding a graphical map, drop-down options and/or links that allow the visitor to select their country would help qualify visitors.


Some of the downfalls of this option include spending a much higher amount of time to implement versus the other options. The success of this would also be dependent on how honest the visitor is.


Assuming visitors are reading your website content, adding geo-targeted keywords into your site would set a clearer expectation of service area delivery. However, this option still doesn’t resolve the issue of sharing contact information that allows unsolicited visitors to contact us and invalid web form data.


Option #3


How about blocking or filtering visitors automatically based on their IP address? When considering to block website visitors by IP it’s important to first evaluate the reliability of the IP address(es). The accuracy of an IP list is over 99.5% on a country level and 80% on a city level. The smaller the location, the less reliable the IP address.


Internet Service Providers change IP addresses they designate to customers. Some change them more frequently than others, which is why you want to keep the database of IPs updated. Scheduling a monthly update is typically a good routine if city level IP authentication is required. Country level is much more static.


The benefit of blocking the country via IP address would not only clean up analytical data, but also ensure our sales funnel was more efficient and provide a more accurate picture of real prospects in all systems. We needed to consider other issues in this approach.


One concern was the potential for a search crawler coming from an IP in the location we were planning on blocking. For example, there was a possibility that Google’s search crawler would also be blocked if it came from the same country. The implementation of this option is more technical. One would need to obtain a list of IP addresses for the desired locations and update the websites htaccess file.


In our example, the inquiries from some countries became so frequent that we couldn’t ignore it any longer. After much debate, we decided to ban the countries; however, we would only ban one at a time to evaluate the effects.


For instance, one of the largest traffic sources, accounting for approximately 20% of this, was from India, a market we don’t service. These Indian visitors were companies looking to sell their services to us.


We executed the ban in the polite Canadian way. We also implemented the Google Analytics profile with the country filter to monitor future website statistics versus the past.


Those visitors that came from our blocked list would land on a different page that displayed a nice message. It read: “Thank you for visiting. However, we don’t provide services in your area.”


In sum, the tests have gone over very well. Banning the country from our website has significantly cut down the number of unsolicited calls, emails and web form requests. It also gave us a much more accurate picture of how our website was performing within our own target market and service area.


Considerations For Blocking Traffic By Location


If you’re considering this strategy, some factors to consider when filtering visitors include:



  • Why do you want to filter website traffic?

  • Which locations would you want to filter?

  • How much traffic do you currently get from locations outside your service area?

  • How important is this traffic?

  • How to funnel visitors outside your service areas?

  • The accuracy of the IP addresses locations in mind.

  • Effects of non-human visitors.


A few months after we implemented this, we received a direct mail package that contained pens with our logo on them from a company that wished to sell us branded pens.


Guess what it said under our logo? “Thank you for visiting. However, we don’t provide services in your area.” We had a good laugh. Someone obviously didn’t read what they printed. It was evidence that our website block was working and a nice souvenir.


The key takeaway, as always, is monitor your traffic and conversions. Track where your quality traffic is coming from and decide for yourself if you should block the traffic of certain countries. Make sure to proceed with caution to ensure that you are not missing some opportunities.


Think outside of the box for other ideas of how you can use that traffic. Perhaps referring the traffic to a partner or creating a unique service for specific markets is another option to consider.




Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.



Related Topics: 100% Organic - Search Engine Optimization Tips | SEO: General


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SES Chicago 2010 – Video SEO Panel by Voodoo Buddha

Thursday, April 14, 2011

phoenix dui lawyer and bech craft company

Determination (the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a objective,) it is this attribute by yourself that might make or break someone, a neighborhood, or perhaps a region. It is the attribute of dedication which has set the bench craft company Apart from the remainder of the opposition, producing it the leader of Gold Program venue advertising during the America. It truly is this exact same determination that could finally make the bench craft company the leader within this area globally, as they begin to put into action their tremendously

productive corporation product on the international scale.
There is a demand for this kind of a niche within the advertising and marketing market. Some clients and products suppliers choose to concentrate their efforts in advertising and marketing to a demographic that's certain to provide the response that they need and need for their services or products. The most beneficial technique to generate a steady and steady purchaser base may be to promote to a likely demographic that is definitely statistically the most steady and economically consistent. The bench craft company will provide this great demographic continually, in an excellent environment, presenting their users services to this demographic inside finest of configurations.
The golf courses that bench craft company function together with, acquire items and solutions at no added expenditure. bench craft company sales force specifically finances the plan for each golf course by obtaining sponsors for every products. Regional vendors and players in the neighborhood get sponsorship priority and golf course management will work closely with Bench Craft to recognize

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To look for out far more details about this Provider with the New Millennium it is easy to contact the business at: http://www.benchcraftcompany.com
Drive (the trait of becoming really determined, the act of applying force to propel something.)

It's always generate that has propelled the bench craft company to its placement because the quantity one particular advertiser on golf program properties while in the United states. It truly is generate that allows Bench Craft to supply over 1400 golf course properties in above 43 states for his or her customers advertising and marketing wants. But what’s driving this business to persistently be the being successful that it happens to be yr right after yr?
Bench Craft allows for promoting companies inside of a specialized specialized niche market, golfers. It is a sough soon after demographic given that statistically this demographic has the highest discretionary income from the country. This distinct demographic also tends to be

essentially the most economically secure within the nation. One of the most efficient methods to obtain a client’s firm sales and revenue stable would be to have their clientele promote to a purchaser base that could be not simply economically secure, but steady at the same time. This is certainly one of many

ideas behind the Bench Craft product, to provide one of the best audience for his or her clients to promote to for that intent of creating the most, and ideally most secure profits for their business enterprise.
The golf courses that bench craft company partners with, receive merchandise and providers at no charge. bench craft company gross sales staff instantly money the model for each golf course by getting sponsors for every product or service. Local vendors and players while in the neighborhood obtain sponsorship priority and golf program management functions closely with Bench Craft to spot potential sponsors. Bench Craft’s extremely

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The forward pondering Visionaries at bench craft company created a method that garners the eye and participation of not only its personal sales staff, but the sponsors, golf course management and also the membership and patrons.
To search for out more info about this Business for the New Millennium you possibly can

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Emphasis (a central point, as of attraction, interest, or activity) The central stage with the bench craft company thru the decades has always been to meet the wants of their customers along with the greatest and preferred specifications of advertising and marketing venues and services that can be made available in their jonrah. Most likely this really is one of the crucial explanations that the bench craft company is a leader in advertising on Golf Program Properties inside Usa. It really is thanks to this focus on excellence that they sustain this most coveted honor year right after year inside advertising and marketing marketplace.
So what's the

concentrate of bench craft company? Clearly the concentrate is on excellence. There is absolutely no other factor to clarify how this advertising and marketing service continually out-performs the other individuals in golf course marketing with this sort of a huge rate of achievements. In their 25 yrs of business enterprise Bench Craft routinely gives it is clients the extremely very best in golf program

advertisement yr immediately after year by offering them while using the most extensive geographical protection with the nation, with around 1400 golf courses in in excess of 43 states. Supported at the same time by regional offices nationwide, Bench Craft out-performs the competitiveness in advertising and marketing their customer’s products and services on the individuals that could and can make use of them.
The golf programs that bench craft company functions in concert with, get items and services at no expenditure. bench craft company sales force straight funds this process for every golf course by acquiring sponsors for each product. Regional vendors and gamers inside neighborhood get sponsorship priority and golf program management functions closely with Bench Craft to identify probable sponsors. Bench Craft’s remarkably

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The phrase innovation is implemented quite a bit; most often it's used in a way that doesn't suit the genuine definition on the phrase. Online marketing and advertising specialists are specifically guilty of the tongue in cheek utilization of the phrase. So with the spirit of this bench craft company isn't really heading to tout the phrase innovation to describe how they've managed to be the nation’s selection on advertiser on golf course properties inside the U.s.. Bench Craft will not claim innovation on furnishing its clients along with the most thorough network of golf programs (1400 in 43 states) for their purchasers to advertise their products and services at. bench craft company is simply not claiming innovation with offering golf program properties one of the most seamless nevertheless

productive means of boosting their income stream by being a Bench Craft spouse.
The golf programs that bench craft company functions together with, get items and services at no cost. bench craft company product sales force straight money the system for each golf program by obtaining sponsors for every merchandise.

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As an extra gain, just about every program is coated below a $3,000,000 liability coverage. The organization can accommodate almost just about every golf course. At the same time, bench craft company performs together with all branches in the Armed Forces, at the same time as state, county and city golf courses. This range of golf courses

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In an age where by no one wants to get obligation for anything, Bench Craft tends to make itself totally responsible for the results of their marketing clients, that's why their clients and effectively as Bench Craft constantly knowledge balanced expansion charges and revenue margins. A company won't be able to be any longer

successful than their consumer, so it truly is purpose of Bench Craft for making particular that every customer gets the most impressive possible venue for presenting their clientele services, irrespective of whether it be locally or nationally. This commitment to quality is what sets Bench Craft besides its competitors, and dollar for dollar helps make its promoting

products and solutions many of the most beneficial within the industry.
The golf courses that bench craft company operates in concert with, receive providers and solutions at no expense. bench craft company gross sales staff specifically funds this technique for every golf course by getting sponsors for each solution. Community vendors and players inside the neighborhood obtain sponsorship priority and golf course management performs carefully with Bench Craft to acknowledge prospective sponsors. Bench Craft’s highly

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Bench Craft Company on the focus of music


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Gionta nets 2 as Price, Canadiens blank Bruins


Carey Price returned as Montreal's starting playoff goalie with his third postseason shutout, Brian Gionta scored twice and the Canadiens opened the series with a 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.


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Google <b>News</b> Blog: New Google <b>News</b> for Opera Mini

While the Google News team has been hard at work redesigning our service for smartphones, we've also been thinking about our milllions of users around the world who access the web not from a smartphone, but from a feature phone, ...


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NBC <b>News</b>, CNBC, MSNBC All Particpating in NBCU&#39;s 2011 &#39;Earth Week <b>...</b>

The networks of NBC Universal, including CNBC, MSNBC and NBC News, are all lining up green-themed programming for the 2011 installment of the company's Green is Universal “Earth Week” April 17-24. On “Today” Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda ...


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Apple has reportedly become more aggressive in securing components from overseas suppliers, making moves such as upfront cash payments to both ensure supply and block out competitors.



Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said in a note to investors on Thursday that Apple began "aggressively attacking" the component situation in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country. The iPhone maker reportedly sent executives to suppliers immediately to ensure adequate supply of components, and also began offering upfront cash payments.



Separately, White's contacts in Taiwan also revealed that Apple is allegedly securing component capacity using what is known as a "three cover guarantee," referring to capacity, stock and price. Apple's move is seen as one that could potentially block out competitors and prevent them from building ample supply of devices.



The information comes as a separate report out of the Far East suggested that a one-month delay for Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet was as a result of Apple securing most of the available touch panel production capacity. The delay has forced the PlayBook to go on sale after Apple's in-demand iPad 2.



Last month, it was said that Apple could agree to price hikes in order to secure touch panel supply, particularly in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake. Apple was said to be in talks with component makers about touch panel pricing, and allegedly considered some price increases in negotiations.



In the company's last quarterly earnings call, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook revealed that Apple had invested $3.9 billion of its nearly $60 billion in cash reserves in long-term supply contracts. He declined to reveal what components Apple had put its money toward, citing competitive concerns, but said that it was a strategic move that would position the company well in the future.



Analysts largely believe that the secret investment was related to touch panel displays that are the centerpiece of devices like the iPhone and iPad. One cost breakdown estimated that such an investment could secure Apple 136 million iPhone displays, or 60 million iPad touch panels.



It's a move similar to 2005, when Apple inked a major deal with Samsung to secure longterm supply of flash memory. NAND flash would go on to become a major part of Apple's products, including the iPhone, iPad and new MacBook Air.




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bench craft company
Wi-Fi Photo Transfer is a free app that makes it insanely simple to download photos from your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.


We've been using iPhoto, jailbreak tweaks, and Image Capture to download photos to our computer. None of these methods are as quick, as painless, or as wireless as Wi-Fi Photo Transfer. 


There isn't a single setting to alter once you download the app. It works by making the photos folder on your device (DCIM, if you're an iOS explorer) visible from your web browser so you can download photos straight to your computer. Your computer and device must be on the same Wi-Fi network for this to work.


You can view all your photos in a convenient thumbnail view to select multiple items, or you can download them one by one (in various sizes, too). 


This free app is a can't-miss. In fact, we used it to download the screen-grabs for this very post you're reading now.


Price: free from the App Store (universal app)


NOTE: if you're downloading screen captures you've taken on your iDevice, this app mislabels them as JPG so you get an error trying to open them in Photoshop. Once you download the screen captures, change the JPG extension to PNG in the file name and you'll be all set. This note is only for iDevice screen captures, achieved by holding down the Home button and Sleep button simultaneously for a second.


(Via App Storm)


Google reported solid quarterly earnings this afternoon, but EPS was slightly below expectations and expenses were high. 


The expenses were apparently cause for investor concern, and shares have dropped more than 5% after hours.


In particular, cap ex spend was $890 million. Google explained most of that was related to the purchase of new buildings in Dublin and Paris.


Operating expenses were also up thanks in large part to the 10% one-time salary raise, which kicked in this quarter.


In a Q&A with investors during the earnings call, several analysts wondered if this level of expenditure is the only way Google can continue to grow revenue more than 20%. Execs tried to reassure them that Google is measuring and paying very close attention to the expense side of the equation.


The basics:


Gross Revenue of $8.58 billion was slightly better than expected and rose a strong 27% year over year.


Net Revenue of $6.54 billion slightly better than expected.


Adjusted EPS of $8.08 is slightly--slightly--below expectations of $8.13. Revenue was strong, so the key will be whether the earnings miss is the result of lower margins (bad) or, say, a higher tax rate (irrelevant).


Paid clicks growth was better than expected at 18% year over year (vs 15%-17% expectation). This is Google's key revenue unit, and better-than-expected unit growth is positive.


Revenue per click increased 8% year over year, at the high end of expectations.


Free cash flow was a solid $2.2 billion. Cash flow from operations was spectacular--$3.2 billion--but the company spent an astronomical $890 million on capital expenditures, much more than expected.  (What on earth are they spending all this money on?)


Product highlights: Android is getting 350,000 activations per day. Chrome now has 120 million users -- that means 120 million people who are more likely to be "locked in" to Google services. YouTube revenue is doubling every year, but still no concrete numbers to share.


Bottom line, Google remains robustly healthy.  27% year over year revenue growth in a company this size is extremely impressive, and the core search business is humming along. The high capital expenditures are a question and concern--it will be interesting to hear what the company says about them on the call.


Here are some slides from the deck Google used on its earnings call. Scroll past them for our live blog of the call itself.


You've got to love 27% growth from such an enormous base.



Traffic acquisition costs are looking good as well:



But this is what investors are worried about -- costs rising as a percentage of revenue, particularly R&D and sales and marketing. A lot of that is salary-related:



Here's another way of looking at it: operating margins are getting lower:



Here are our notes from the call:


4:27 ET:  We're waiting for the call to start. We'll see if Larry Page jumps on, since he just took over as CEO last week. He's reportedly investor and press shy, so we'll be curious to see how he performs.


One slightly curious note: the call isn't being broadcast on YouTube as it has in the past.


4:31: Larry will join at the beginning of the call. It's also Patrick Pichette, CFO. Two of the new senior VPs are on board as well -- Susan Wojcikci (advertising), Jeff Huber (local and commerce). Plus Nikesh Arora, the chief business officer, who's  been on past calls.


4:33: Page notes 27% revenue growth. Tremendous improvements still ahead. Now he's talking management changes.


"Everything we told you last quarter has happened." He's managing day to day operations as CEO. Eric Schmidt is on government and partner outreaches -- last quarter he was in Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Spain. Sergey working "very intensively" on a few projects.


4:34: Also made changes to simplify their org structure. He's thanking Jonathan Rosenberg, who's been on most of these past calls.


That's about it. Now it's on to Pichette.


4:35: Expenses show the 10% across the board raise for the first time.


Gross revenue up 27%, $8.6B. It actually rose 2% quarter to quarter -- and last year Google had the Nexus One goosing revenue. Plus this year the disaster in Japan.


Google Network revenue up 19%. Negatively impacted by loss of search distribution deal, plus search quality improvement -- spam control. It always serves us well.


Other revenue was down 10% year over year to $269 million. That's mostly Google Apps and Enterprise Search, a very small business.


Aggregate click growth up 18% year to year, and 4% from last quarter. The shift from offline to online is driving that.


4:40: International revenue was 53% of total.


TAC was 25% of total revenue, $2.2B.


Overall opex totaled $2.8m, including stock-based compensation.


Opex increase is primarily payroll, some advertising.


Op margin 37.6%


Headcount up 1,900 during the quarter. total 26,316 employees.


Capex is facilities, data centers. Facilities driven by purchases of buildings in Dublin and Paris. Capex is "lumpy from quarter to quarter" depending on when it wants to make capex investments.


4:43. Boasting about Android, fastest growing mobile OS, and Chrome, fastest growing browser. Pushed frontier of mobile search which is adding to overall search volume. YouTube "win win" platform for content owners and users.


Second half of 2010, grew 25% year to year. This quarter 27%. Compared to comp of 23% a year ago. "We are building multibillion dollar businesses" and confident now is the time to invest. Discipline.


4:45: Local and commerce SVP Jeff Huber.


Ambitious hiring this quarter by design. 2011 will be biggest hiring in history, hired 1,900 this quarter. Core and growing businesses are doing well, so "who wouldn't want to invest in this business." Over half the "Nooglers" who joined will be in new areas like YouTube, Chrome, Enterprise.


Search: improving quality. Launched over 90 quality improvements, including changes to ranking algorithms. Impacted about 12% of queries, and addressed over 80% of sites that users reported.


Had adverse affect on revenues on SOME SITES in Display network. But improving search is always the best thing to do in the long run.


Personal, as in building around people. Launched the +1 button, easier to share results. "This is just the beginning" more personal search coming soon.


Mobile traffic up 500%+ over last two years.


350,000 Android devices activated per day. Recently launched in-app billing.


Chrome: users "very valuable". Investing in Chrome marketing. Now more than 120m daily users, more than 40% added in last year.


Chrome OS "also going well" and look forward to launching devices later this year.


Enterprise: growing across businesses and schools. New deals, reseller agreements. University of Texas, Boston U.


Pleased our ITA deal closed, travel search lots of room for innovation there.


Huber is now thanking Jonathan Rosenberg as well. "Friends and colleagues for over 15 years. He will be missed"


4:49: Now it's Susan Wojcicki.


Lots to be excited about in ads. Search is still core, but big oppty for growth.


"How can we search the perfect ad for every query?" New creative types, new ways for advertisers to set up campaigns. Product Listing Ads, introduced Q4 last year.


Display advertising: bought DoubleClick 3 years ago, lot of integration, lot of progress. Display Network up 5x since acquisition, doubling annually in Brazil, UK, and Japan.


Display advertisers either performance oriented (conversions) and brand oriented (awareness). Launched new stuff for brand advertisers, like Display Ad Network Reserve -- buy premium inventory on a guaranteed basis. Also tools to measure effectiveness of campaigns -- not just clicks.


Ad Exchange -- transaction volume has tripled in past year, 2/3ds of that inventory bought via real-time bidding.


YouTube: revenue doubling year over year, shared with more than 20k content partners. The more money we make for them, the more engaging stuff they upload.


AdMob: over 150 million iOS and Android devices, up 50% in last four months.


Advertisers starting to run mobile-only campaigns. Incorporating local -- how far are you standing away from the advertiser's location right now?


4:55: Pichette taking over again for Q&A.


Q: Opex up 45% year over year excluding traffic acquisition cost. Is this kind of spending required to retain 20%+ revenue growth? Or one-off?


A. Clearly the effect of the one-time salary change. Salary increase flows through to other stuff like 401(k) and vacation, so disproportionately felt in first quarter. "Nooglers" as well. One-time step change in labor, but after that regular.


Marketing has increased since last year because it's providing great returns. Both customer acquisition and key products like Chrome.


Still disciplined: quarterly reviews to get your next funding.


Q. What about marketing costs? What's going on?


A. Professional services. Chrome -- really pushing the web. When they get Chrome, instead of having to look for Google, they get it. It's there already. "Everybody who uses Chrome is a guaranteed locked-in user of Google."


Q. How does Larry view the company differently than it was?


A. Position hasn't changed. We're a tech company, focused on users, looking for products that can affect billions of people. Computer science helping find problems for billions of people.


If you think that way, Chrome, Android, search all make sense. The 70/20/10 is very alive. "Search is the next billion dollar business." 90 improvements on one side, 40 on the other -- search still in our infancy. Mobile, display, enterprise.


10% is commerce, social, stuff that's nascent. Strategy same core lenses, same products that serve billions of people.


Q. But financially? Any meaningful difference?


A. No. Build great products, same financial discipline.


Q. More about opex. Customer acquisition in Chrome, salespeople. Do you think your 20%+ growth rate would be achievable without these costs? Will you still get the growth without the costs?


A. Strategy in context of last 4 to 5 quarters. Trajectory of revenue growth, 23%, 25%, 27%. We're funding revenue growth with discipline. "Carpe diem, it's there to take."


Q. Imagine display is $20B based on various figures. Right now you're at 10% or so. How big can that be? And as display gets bigger, how does that affect margins?


A. Search unique with very very high margins. Display more paperwork. But still very good margin product. "All of those dollars I want." Plus great "symbiotic" relationship -- display ads now showing up in search.


Could say that display was stalled at $50 to $60B because video wasn't there. YouTube helps reach 23 to 24% more consumers. Efficiency of Web applied to video. All efforts trying to build that display, rich media and video. Every profitable dollar of revenue is good.


Q. What about social data? You don't run social network. Do you need it for search?


A. Jeff Huber -- it's important, we use 200+ signals for ranking search today. It's one of many inputs. Assets that apply to that, we do have large number of users coming to our door every day. Considerable percentage logged in, using multiple products.


Pichette: launch of +1 is commitment to get every signal. Continued focus on social as one of 200 signals.


Q. Does Chrome give you any signals you can integrate into search results?


A. Huber -- will be part of story over time, personalized today. Chrome experience, can sign into Chrome, will sync info across computers.


Q. Where are those bold steps to control expenses? We don't see it. And is social really just one of 200 variables?


A. On expenses, you see ramp-up on one side. Guarantee you everybody who has cost center has to demonstrate productivity. Data center, incredibly steep. Sales force. We always think of cost per x. Cost per bit for data centers. Even food, everybody has productivity curve.


Google is growing 25% year over year from a $25B base. Tide coming with it, but every element of the company is "scrubbed and scrutinized." The unit costs haunt many of my managers.


Huber now on social: one of many signals. We regularly measure and tune.


Pichette again: expenses, we really want to lay the ground clear on these issues.


Q. Search algo changes -- how does that affect search ads and cost per click? And what's driving display ad revenue growth -- ad units or more targeting?


A. Huber: 12% of queries affected. Was Web search only, not ads. NO effect on CPC. Did affect display network, but focus is on user experience.


Wojcicki: Can buy audiences, target more effectively. It's both. End to end platform to enable buying across the Internet for all advertisers and all publishers.


Pichette: Some properties tuned to display like YouTube, but entire Web is more powerful than any single prop.


Q. What about tablet share -- is it as important as smartphone share?


A. Jeff Huber: tablets doing well, lot of growth in that segment. Dynamics -- hybrid between mobile and desktop when you look at user behavior. Optimistic about Honeycomb. Xoom was product of the show at CES in January. More products, more innovation.


Enable advertisers to target tablets, which will help that segment.


Q. Employee bonuses and social -- define success?


A. This is an internal matter. We focus a strategy across many platforms, we wanted to signal to employees that social is an important signal and worth investing. No further comment.


Q. Search important, but engagement might be more important. Have you looked at 70/20/10 and think about shifting to build greater engagement? Look at how other products and services can be integrated in?


A. Web in general, how platforms are growing, we're focusing in areas where engagement matters. Local, mobile, YouTube, all about engagement. Mobile, Chrome. Technology fuels engagement. At highest level, search itself is more engaged today than it was 3 years ago. It's part of our strategy.


Q. Engagement through frequency rather than share of time.


A. When you are in YouTube, you're spending more time in YouTube. Android phone, now visiting and in town, additional signals sharing with friends etc.


Q. Does Chrome give you potential to create unique products, apps, content services?


A. Huber: great opportunities in that. Chrome Web Store -- same model as Android Market, bringing it to that platform.


Q. How much is a mobile user worth today, and how do you think about larger acquisitions?


A. Can't answer about mobile user. Look at our focus, we're very excited about mobile. Great potential there. Monetization side -- click to call ads. Locally targeted ads, ability to engage users where they are. Smartphone will be way people do everything -- inform, entertain. It will merge.


Q. Do you think value can go up order of magnitude in 3 years?


A. Wojcicki: very early in what mobile can do. Will grow overall opportunity, overall pie.


Nobody is going to say a substantive thing about acquisitions.


We haven't found big one that will significantly accelerate our growth. We have a really focused agenda, don't want massive distraction. Google is a specific culture --- big acquisition must be both financially sensible and cultural fit. "That's a pretty high bar to pass."


Q. Non cost-per-click ads -- what kind of growth are you seeing? And does Google have a video strategy outside of user-generated content?


A. We have new people on board with YouTube to expand beyond user-generated.


Huber: user-generated is huge. But we're interested in "long-form premium content," another area is developing content of, by, and for new medium being created. Next New Networks acquisition was there.


Wojcicki: we're allowing advertiser to bid with CPA (cost per action) then Google figures out CPC (per click) in background. Also CPM (per impression). Depends on whether advertisers are more performance or ad-driven. As we introduce new kinds of ads for brand advertising, CPM will become a bigger deal.


Q. How bad was Japan? You also said 350k Android activations per day -- can you give breakdown smartphone v tablet and US v international?


A. Our first response to the events was to help the Japanese community. People finding people and disaster recovery. Focus on community, not optimizing revenue.


Tons of searches, by the way, but not monetizable searches. Japan is great market for us. Historically they bounce back fast. We can't predict how will rebound on advertising, but it's a 1st world economy that will recover.


Huber: Android. Not going to answer the question. But we have strong partnerships in Europe, Japan, Korea, and international is growing. Android is relatively early on in tablets, Honeycomb just came out. Big innovations coming.


 


 




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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Roofing Companies Vancouver - 5 Questions to Really think

Roofing Vancouver - Faq's


1. Repair or Replace?

There's no opinion like an expert opinion. Most contractors will provide you with a free estimate. Get a list of a couple trusted contractors and phone them well in advance of when you want to get your homes roof fixed to help you compare costs and opinions.


2. Beauty versus Practicality?

Discuss this together with your spouse or partner. (The children could care less...at least the children.) The fact is, nobody wants an ugly roof just like nobody wants to be seen with bed hair. If you've got a great quality roof and you simply need to do the repair, it's worthwhile to pay the price of the original shingle rather than doing patchwork. A roof replacement doesn't happen very often (hopefully!) and thus make a decision that suits you and your loved ones well or it'll stick out like a sore thumb everyday you decide to go home.


3. Must i replace the roof so I can sell the home for additional?

Consider this very carefully prior to making a decision. Depending on the roofing material you select, a brand new roof lasts anywhere from twenty, fifty, to one-hundred years! This means you have to check the year from the roof that's currently too deep first. Are you at year 18 of the 20-year warranted roof or year 30 of the 50-year warranted roof? Obviously, the quality is what makes the rooftop keep going longer, but if you're not likely to remain in your current home for the rest of your lifetime, the larger expense may not be worth your investment. Although a new roof can improve the value of your value, the increase may not be enough to pay for neglect the and that's bound to hurt your wallet.


4. Could it be advisable for me to repair the roof myself?

Sure it's. But before you do, consult an expert first. You can perform it yourself, but you shouldn't be considered a complete ‘lone ranger.' With respect to the extent of the repair, you might or may not change your mind. In either case, it helps to get a professional eye about the problem first and maybe even a free quote to help you do the math later and see if it's truly worth your time and effort, sweat, and cash to become mister or miss fix-it.


5. Just when was a good time to find the roof replaced?

Weather may cause delays from days to weeks. Most people plan ahead to have their roof replaced in the summertime once they know someone will be home throughout the day for any solid fourteen days. Once you have this era in mind, make a call to some trusted contractor months ahead of time to get a quote. Some companies get reserved fast and chances are, they're probably the most reputable. Planning ahead from the summer also gives you time to ask around many compare costs...especially if you need to have the roof made by a specified date.

 

The very best Roofing Contractor In Vancouver!

It is possible to leak in your home's roof? Have you lost shingles or tiles inside a storm? Have overhanging branches caused damage? Is the roof more than 20 years old and showing its age? Are your gutters overwhelmed and draining poorly?

If the answer to these questions is "Yes" it's time to call the very best roofing company Vancouver - Crown Roofing & Drainage.

For more than a century Crown Roofing has been the roofer of preference among our Vancouver neighbors. We provide complete roofing services, from emergency repairs and roof restoration, to accomplish roof replacement. All while using finest quality materials, installed with precision and the highest level of customer support.

YOUR Vancouver ROOF DESERVES Believe it or not!

The roof of the Vancouver home is the very first line of defence against wind, rain, snow, ice along with other weather conditions. Make sure it's up to the job. Among Vancouver Roofing companies, only Crown Roofing has got the depth of expertise and successful history to make sure your roofing system is going to be properly designed and installed.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS.

One reason Crown Roofing has been the most successful roofing contractor in Vancouver is our commitment to our neighbors. We treat your home as though it were our very own and that we were building a roof to safeguard our very own family. That's what neighbors do, and you can count on Crown Roofing being here to aid you and back our work. In the end, we've been repairing and replacing roofs in Vancouver since 1902!

GET A FREE INSPECTION AND EVALUATION OF YOUR Vancouver ROOF.

Visit the Roofers Vancouver for any FREE inspection and evaluation of the roof. Give you the best roof for your Vancouver home, at the best value. We build roofs to last!

 

Monday, April 11, 2011

Tacoma Roofing company: Make your Home Beautiful

Not many people view the value of a solid roof, your knowledgeable Tacoma Roofing contractor does. From first hand experience, they'll be in a position to tell you the reason why you require a strong, secure, and leak-free roof in your home.

Your local Tacoma Roofer is knowledgeable how important a financial investment your house is for you personally, especially as it is a lasting one. Your home might have been damaged slowly through the years and you have to take steps to reduce this damage. For a number of people, keeping their property beautiful is also a matter of pride. You will find those too who'd like to turn their property right into a cost effective and efficient living place. Your roof is a valuable part of your house and plays a role in each one of the aspects mentioned previously. Because of this, you need to employ the expertise of qualified a Tacoma Roofer.

Kinds of Roofs installed with a Tacoma Roofing company


Among the more common kinds of roofs are asphalt shingles, steel or metal sheeting, fiberglass, slate and terra cotta tiles.

Each type of roof invites distinct problems, however they can all be easily looked after by a trusted Tacoma Roofing contractor. It's vital that you nip roof problems within the bud before they become too costly or dangerous. You are able to schedule a scheduled appointment with the Tacoma Roofing contractor to consider a glance at your roof to see if there are any issues or potential issues with it. If there are, they may be in a position to tell you how to approach them.

A Tacoma Roofer Helps to Build Strong Homes


The exteriors of any house, primarily the roof and gutters, face the onslaught of bitter and varying climate conditions, every single day. Painting, repairing, and cleaning gutters may be necessary. In some cases you may have to replace them completely. Usually, when your gutters show signs and symptoms of trouble, your homes roof must also be inspected for problems. Whatever issues there might be, an experienced Tacoma Roofer can examine them in detail and suggest the remedy.

If your gutters often clog all too often, or there are leaks along the walls of your house, it might imply that there's debris piled up on the top. Loose branches, piles of leaves, and other light objects that are swept on your roof throughout a storm can all contribute towards damaging your homes roof, and these damages can be lasting. An educated Tacoma Roofer will explain that birds, mice, and other kinds of rodents often build nest within the debris that collects on the top. While these nests may look rather innocent, they're great at collecting moisture, which can lead to loose shingles, mold, and indoor leaks in your home. Additionally, it may also cause vermin infestation. Following a storm, your Tacoma Roofer will claim that you inspect your homes roof for just about any signs and symptoms of debris or damage.

Reverse Damages by using a Tacoma Roofer


However high quality the roof may be, it is going to wear out with time. You will find shingles that are known as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are just associated with warranty made by the manufacturers. They hardly ever require that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles will not last more than a few years. In an area that is vulnerable to storms, shingles or the entire roof should be replaced every 10 years. With a Tacoma Roofing company, the cost will be less than what you believe.

If there you lose any shingles, or there is some damage to them, a Tacoma Roofer will be able to help you. Damaged shingles can result in indoor leaks, as the substrate from the roof becomes exposed to the elements. Shingles which are loose or broken can slip off and pose a possible hazard to individuals standing below. Missing shingles produce a gap which allows rain, wind, ice, and debris to build up under the adjoining shingles, which creates a "domino effect" that affects other shingles and they become loose or broken. A thorough investigation will be made by your local Tacoma Roofer, should you call them track of your suspicions of loose or missing shingles.


Your Tacoma Roofing contractor come in a situation to inform you what the smartest choice is perfect for your roof. In case your roof is not inside a good shape, it is advised that you have it replaced completely. The Tacoma Roofing company can take you thru the different roofing possibilities to you which will suit your requirements and your budget.

Tacoma Roofing contractor: Enhancing your Home's Efficiency


Your roof shelters you from storms, sleet, and hail. By giving adequate ventilation, your roof protects your home from overheating, by holding in the heat, it keeps your home warm. That's why you need to prepare your roof from indoors as well as outdoors for just about any kind of weather emergency. A Qualified Tacoma Roofer can offer assist in this case.

To begin with, inspect your roof thoroughly for any and all sorts of type of damage, before the beginning of the new season. The gutters ought to be clear, debris shouldn't be piled on or trapped under shingles, there should be no homes of squirrels or birds within the eaves or attic, and the roof ought to be structurally sound. For that last part, you'll need the assistance of your local Tacoma Roofing contractor. It may be quite dangerous to climb onto the roof of your property. This is when the contractor from Tacoma Roofing company comes in. He will check out the strength and security of your roof and shingles, and perform a general inspection from the entire roof structure, to make sure that it's in proper working order. They'll be able to point to issues that you have to keep an eye on and problems you might not have spotted.

You'll need all of the assist you to can get from the Tacoma Roofing company. You can help your roof by installing a gutter guard or leaf cover to assist prevent debris from forming in your gutters. The extra weight of debris prevents the gutters from draining and may even tear them down. Look into the fasteners on your gutters and when they're loose, tighten them. Do something to change worn screws and brackets. For those who have a chimney in your home, inspect the bricks and mortar signs and symptoms of wear. A trusted mason can be recommended because of your Tacoma Roofing company, if you will find any repairs to become done.

Tacoma Roofer: Someone You Can Count On
When you realize or suspect that there is a problem, your Tacoma Roofing contractor ought to be contacted. They can use their knowledge and expertise to get your home back in ace condition by simply focusing on the roof. Your roof deserves attention. So give them a call today, to enable them to get down to working on your roof.

 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

What is Distinction between Commercial Roofing Companies From Residential Roofing Companies

If you are getting a roofing company to re roof your house or building then you may be wondering what are the differences are between residential roofing companies and commercial roofing companies. To begin with, the main one huge difference is usually that times an industrial roofing company might have signed an agreement with and become obligated to some roofing union in able to work on union commercial jobs.

If this sounds like the case then their labor costs will prohibit them from working on non union residential jobs. Beyond that, if your commercial roofing company has not signed an agreement with a union they may be outfitted simply for commercial jobs and that means that their workers and equipment may not be in line with smaller residential jobs.

Residential roofing contractors in general often run smaller companies and therefore, are more in a position to bid competitively on residential jobs, which are usually smaller than comercial jobs. In fact, often times residential roofing contractors will run one man operations, where the contractor that you speak with may be the one which actually does the work on the building.


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Also, liability insurance for commercial roofing is more epensive and a larger bond is required for a commercial roofing work which can make it not economical for any commercial roofer to complete residential roofing jobs.

Still one more factor is that commercial jobs can run on a tighter time period for any number of reasons, requiring a commercial contractor to employ a larger crew or crews which again makes smaller jobs less profitable for them.

 

Distinction between Commercial Roofing and Residential Roofing

Are you aware that the roof of the house or building includes a huge impact on the entire structure itself? Damage caused to roofs due to natural or other disasters causes a considerable loss of property everywhere. The type of materials used to construct the roof which should be sturdy and long lasting, the manner where the roof has been installed as well as its timely maintenance are extremely crucial. There's two kinds of roofs that are used on all of the buildings that people see around us: commercial and residential. Although it may seem that commercial roofing is done just for businesses or offices and residential roofing is done for apartments and houses, the truth is the differences are much more complex than that.


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Residential roofing is generally completed by just one hired contractor but commercial roofing usually takes an entire team to complete the task. The reason being an industrial roof is commonly larger in terms of sq ft than a residential roof.
Commercial roofs are necessary carefully keeping the character and purpose of the building in mind. For example, when there is a restaurant in the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes is going to be required. Residential roofs tend not to have such components apart from a chimney or two at the most.
Commercial roofs tends to be flat in design to support further changes at a later period, whereas most residential roofs have peaks along with other architectural features like roof gardens.
Commercial roofing is a lot more expensive than residential roofing because of the special tools, materials and safety equipment that are needed onsite. Often the patching or maintenance jobs are done in segments unlike for any residential roof where the repair or replacement work could be completed in a short time. This is another reason why the equipment used for residential roofs is usually smaller and less expensive too.
Commercial roof installations take a extended period to complete compared to residential roof installations and are usually constructed in large sections. In this phase however, it is important to make sure that there are no leakages, cracks or other visible deterioration signs as it can certainly cause considerable damage to the whole building.
You should install the best roof for any building depending on its purpose. Ensure that you hire a construction company that utilizes first class materials and it has the right equipment to do the job or neglect the may turn to be considered a huge loss later.

 

Commercial Roofing Contractors: How to purchase a Qualified Commercial Roofing Company

If a clients are looking to have work done on its roof, it is important to work with commercial roofing contractors which have a keen understanding of any special needs that the business may have. As an example, a roofing job can often be disruptive for the operation of economic as always. Because of this, it might be necessary for the business to be temporarily shut down, or the roofing to occur after business hours have ended. A roofer that understands these needs can function plus a business in order to make certain these types of issues are minimized.


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The first thing that a business should do when it is trying to find commercial roofing contractors is to discover who other businesses in the area will work through. Obviously, this article 't be helpful whether it may come as a suggestion from competitors, but you will find circumstances by which it's not too hard to find this information from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing isn't an industry-specific service, this post is easily available.

It is a wise decision for just about any business to get in touch with at least three commercial roofing contractors to create bids on the price. In this way, the business could get a better price. It's also important to ensure that each one of the roofing contractors is licensed and bonded. This information can be found by getting in touch with their state contractor's board. This makes it possible to determine if there have been any claims filed from the company previously.

When examining bids, it is only as important to check out what services are being offered and which products will be used because it is to look at the total cost. The prices can differ quite drastically, but as tempting as possible to choose the lowest bid, this is not always your best option. Oftentimes, more costs now will mean fewer costs in the long run due to a poor roofing job. To help investigate the quality of the job, it is a good idea to check using the Bbb to be able to see if the business continues to be accredited, and when it has not, to at least see what its rating is.

 

Selecting a Commercial Roofer


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When you're searching for a roofer for your commercial roofing project you need to look for a contractor who understands the special needs of the commercial roofing project. For example it may be harder to operate on a business during business hours so either the business has to be shut down for that repair or replacement or even the job has to be done after conventional business hours. Is the roofer you are thinking about to do the job ready to operate around your schedule constrictions which might involve working weekends or evenings?

When you start your search for any roofing contractor not only do you need to answer those questions however, you should also find someone which will perform a high quality job without a lot of time delays. Going about finding someone can feel like an obstacle by itself but there are several methods to make the search easier.

Ask friends and family for referrals and try to find a minimum of three contractors to give you written bids in your job. Before you go any more you need to ensure that the contractors you are thinking about are fully licensed and bonded. A simple search with the state contractor's board will verify if your roofer is licensed and when you will find any past judgments or claims against their license.

When you select three or four roofers to put bids, you need to prepare yourself for that bids to become widely varied. Roofers will have brand preferences which will vary and could factor in pretty much compared to next guy for a labor estimate. The greater detailed an itemized bid may be the more helpful it will likely be to focus on where the cost will be incurred. Don't, however, pick a roofer based solely about the bid price. Any low ball bids may be tempting to take, but if they are low because of low quality workman ship it may not be worthwhile ultimately.

As they say, you generally get what you purchase, so if you can afford a mid-priced bid it's always a good idea to increase in your price range instead of down. Additionally you ought to decide your roofer based on how professional these were and just how comfortable you anticipate you will be working with them.

Finally your cost will vary depending on what type of roofing material you select along with the cost to haul your old roof towards the landfill. If you are looking for places to cut corners in your roof, rather than cutting labor cost you may want to ask about metallic roof option. Metal roofs could be economical and energy efficient which makes them overall money savers for the long run, as well as on commercial buildings they may be very low maintenance. Plus since they can be placed on top of a current roof, you don't have to have the old one removed and hauled away, which can make a big effect on your cost.

Choosing a comerical roofing company nearer your home, does not have to become a difficult task. To learn more, visit http://www.vancouverroofers.net

 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Seattle Roofing Contractors - How To Find The very best

In your home of rain and sleet, commercial coffee and grunge, and also the famous space needle, you'll find a home that will suit you. Seattle, Washington could be a good place to construct a home, however, you need Seattle roofing contractors to assist you. Your roof is, after all, the crowning glory of your house, and your strongest type of defense from the elements. You must have something that isn't just built to last, but created to attract and make your house more beautiful

Harsh Weather

Why are roofing contractors essential within this part of the country? Because Seattle is often bombarded by rain along with other harsh climate conditions, you need a roof that can withstand all of the forces of nature. With this in mind, you'll need people who know the Seattle weather best, and who understand what materials can best get into your homes roof in order for it to last far longer in the region. In addition to all this, you have to blend with the remainder of the houses in your living space, which means you cannot simply get whatever roof you please.

In all these aspects, a Seattle roofers should be able to assist you. All that you should do is search for Seattle roofing contractors online to be able to get the best value for your money without wondering if the contractor will suddenly try to escape by using it and leave you roof-less.

Why the Contractor Model Works

If you wish to put up your roof by yourself, you'll have to buy a whole lot of materials, secure permits and licenses, and obtain materials that are suited to help you stay safe against harsh extremes of Seattle weather. Which means that if you are a DIY sort of guy or gal, you will have to undergo a good deal of legwork to get the job done.

However, a Seattle roofing contractor can perform all the jobs for you and provide a package that may help you save money and time. Because contractors operate under licenses and buy materials in large quantities, they are able to get discounts on building materials that you'd not otherwise get if you were buying merely for your own personel home.

Roofing Associations


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Most roofing contractors also fit in with roofing organizations that are bound by strict guidelines and standards. When they prosper on their roofing job, they are able to showcase their roofing contractors association; if they do poorly, they are able to ruin the reputation of their roofing contractors association and keep other contractors within the association from getting good roofing jobs. There is a lot of pressure to do well, so you can be confident that prefer a roofing job done in Seattle, you can aquire a contractor from the roofing association to assist you.

For example, Seattle Roof Brokers operates with over five hundred roofing contractors within the Puget Sound. This group has over fifty years of roofing experience and experience working with Seattle roofing contractors, so it will know what kind of roofing you want. The rooftop Brokers group can put you in contact using the contractor that you'll require so that you do not have to search for contractors individually.

What Should You Demand from Your Contractor?

When you finally get a contractor within the Seattle area, you must do lots of research on the roofing contractors themselves. Ask for a list of previous companies or persons that the contractor worked with to get a clear look at the roofing contractor's work ethics and roof quality. Your roofing contractor should also have the appropriate working licenses and city licenses required by the Seattle city government.

Select a Seattle roofers that insures its employees, and that has courteous workers who'll respect your thinking and make sure that your needs are met. Ensure that you get the best bang for your buck: if you're unsatisfied with the job, you need to be guaranteed either money-back, or a free, new roof. Moreover, additionally you require the workers to find the job done promptly, so be strict together with your deadlines - and discover a contractor that's as strict when you are.

You'll need guarantees and warranties on your roof, so locate a contractor that can meet your financial allowance and roofing needs. If you get touching good Seattle roofing contractors, you may be guaranteed a good roof and a better house in this fantastic city.


Selecting the Right Roofer Company for Replacing Your Roof

The shingles inside your roof need replacing and you are minded to find a roofing contractor to change the them. Maybe you have already called a few and therefore are evaluating which contractor for your upcoming roof repair. How can you choose the best contractor for caring for your roof? Listed here are a number of things you should consider when searching for the best roofing contractor.

Where is the roofing contractor located? It is important to hire a roofing contractor that's local. Chances are you will receive a higher level and services information when the roofing company can be found near your house or comes with an office near your residence.
References. To determine the reliability of the contractor, references should be provided of their past clients who're prepared to vouch that excellent service was received. This will 't be the only real element in choosing your future roofer as some may claim they value the privacy of the clients and don't desire to bother them. If this sounds like the case, ask for business related references. The locations that supply the contractor with supplies can reveal the amount of materials and regularity of supplying the contractor to help determine their stability.
How does the roofing contractor company handle complaints? There are a large number of issues that can arise throughout the progress of a roofing replacement. Ask what their process is perfect for handling complaints when they arise. It's also an excellent idea to get a past client reference who had a complaint that was resolved to the satisfaction from the client.
The payment schemes. Do you know the the payment schemes to do the job? What is the down payment and amount due upon completion? Even though it is certainly reasonable that a substantial payment be made before a contractor begins work on a project, it is highly recommended that full payment isn't made until after the entire job is completed.
Written contract. All terms of the roofing replacement ought to be place in an itemized contract. No the main contracting job should depend on verbal assurances.
Bonding. You will find things that can go wrong with roofing installations that end up costing quite a bit of money to fix. Should this happen on your roofing replacement, you'll feel a whole lot better understanding that your roofer is bonded. This will supply the funds to fix whatever mistakes were made. Find a roofer that's bonded.
Manufacturer Warranty. Quality materials for roofing typically have a warranty. It is important to verify that there's actually a warranty about the materials being installed. Request a copy of the warranty.
Period of time in Business Just how long has the company you are interviewing been in business? A brief amount of time in business may reflect instability. If the contractor has been in business less than 3 years, verify just how long they've actually been in the market. A new contractor might have many years experience focusing on roofs before they form their very own business. Seek a business that's been around for 3 or more years, or where the contractor has already established many more years performing roofing replacements. This again should not be the only factor, all of us have to start sometime. Balance this with referrals and the other points raised in the following paragraphs.
Appropriate Permits. A Seattle roofing contractor ought to know what permits are needed for repairing your roof. They must be conscious of how to obtain these permits for you. Ask the contractor whether they will obtain the permits essential to repair the rooftop.
Liability. If a worker becomes injured, who's responsible for the worker's compensation? When the contractor's equipment damages your house, who is liable for the repairs? A good contractor will give you certificates of insurance for liability and workers comp before they begin repairing your roof.
Subcontractors. Verify whether the contractor will be using subcontractors. If so, it is highly recommended that everything contained in this article for verifying whether the contractor is credible also needs to be applied to subcontractors. You need to receive the names and license amounts of all subcontractors. You need to verify whether each subcontractor can also be insured so you are not held liable for their accidents.
Pending Legal Actions. You should verify whether there are any legal actions against the contractor. This is not merely essential for verifying whether the roofing company is legitimate (credible roofing companies shouldn't have to defend themselves in court), it is also important just because a lost lawsuit might lead to the contractor to visit bankrupt. For those who have made a substantial down payment for services immediately prior to the company goes bankrupt, you could lose thousands of dollars and not have your roofing completed.
Material Disposal. Who is accountable for disposing of the waste generated from the roof being replaced? Will your contractor handle all aspects of the? Is there an additional cost for disposing of this waste?
NRCA Membership. Membership in local or national roofing associations, like the NRCA, shows resolve for staying up to date with the very best methods for roof replacement and maintenance. Look for a roofing contractor with a high standard of education regarding their trade.
Replacing your roof is a significant investment. Celebrate sense to inquire about serious questions before working with a roofing contractor. Here are a few more tips that you ought to consider when selecting the best roofing contractor for the upcoming roofing replacement.

Payment. Do not make a full payment for services unless all jobs are finished.
Inspection. Don't make a full payment without having done your final inspection of services rendered.
Workers liens. Don't fully purchase the roofing replacement job until worker's lien releases happen to be obtained.
Oral Agreements. No agreement ought to be made verbally without backing it up in writing. All points which are important to you should be made in writing.

 

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There is no denying how the internet is just about the biggest financial market nowadays. Practically things are anchored on the net. Up to now, there are other than 182 million web sites online whilst still being counting. If all these websites offers the possiblility to generate income, consider the limitless opportunities which can be based in the internet. More to the point, with all the emergence of web sites, the requirement for internet hosting and Search| Engine Optimization is significantly defined.

Seo is basically the entire process of helping the visibility of your web site. As such, if you would like your internet site to become visible to visitors, you ought to seek for Seo agency. The optimization strategy considers how search spiders work and what folks usually and what keywords they will use. The key objective of SEO is making web sites visible in search sites through the natural or organic way.


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Organic search optimization or natural search engine marketing is really a expression used in describing unpaid, algorithm-driven outcomes of any particular engine. Quite simply, organic SEO uses natural strategies in achieving serp's ranking. While there are two camps that search optimization companies may fall to, which would be the 'White Hat' as well as the 'Black Hat', organic SEO would not belong to the 'Black Hat' camp.

Organic search engine optimization is a highly specialized and complex practice which could literally dictate the success or failure of an web business. Since search sites often modify their algorithms, organic SEO just isn't quite simple in any way. When search bots modify their algorithms, factors that permit your web site to seem facing potential clients are drastically changed also. Thus, in order to cope up with these changes, SEO tactics and techniques should be employed.

It is usually ethical to use search engine optimization since search sites nowadays have become extremely advanced that they'll easily determine if a web site is attempting to manipulate their search indexes. Thus it's empirical to make use of search engine optimization practices which are completed in wherein appear natural.

The approaches employed by organic search engine optimization and artificial SEO are really significantly different. Basically, organic SEO uses content compared to artificial SEO's technical loopholes. Moreover, natural search engine optimization provides attracting links instead of linking schemes used by artificial SEO. Natural SEO also creates valuable resource contrary to artificial SEO's algorithm chasing. With all these, you can clearly realise why search engine optimization is better than artificial search engine marketing. Although the latter could be more challenging and complex, it creates favorable results which can be very theraputic for any site. Fortunately, there are a lot of Vancouver SEO companies today offering the organic method in affordable rates and packages.


Search Engine Optimization Appears in this area


Harald Fortmann ist Autor im Leitfaden Online-Marketing by marketing-BOERSE

There was a time when search engine optimization was actually not required.

Even while late being a decade ago, should you made a Web page anywhere, Google indexed it and you also gained visibility in its search engine results. Your page might have been in one of the free "estates" where anybody could give a page and Google didn't mind. It may also provide been a pure affiliate page with no original content and Google still indexed it.

The situation is unrecognizably different now.

Affiliate pages with "cookie-cutter" content duplicated everywhere might never reach the Google index; the same fate is likely for anyone pages you throw in over a free-for-all website. And even "proper" websites with your own personal domain name did not achieve visibility among the proliferating sites in millions.

These wouldn't have mattered, aside from one thing. It had been Google that provided the bread and butter for that an incredible number of smaller businesses which could not afford expensive marketing campaigns. If your site was one of the top few sites the appeared before a searcher's eyes when see your face searched for your products, you have hundreds and even 1000s of visitors, lots of whom even bought your products.

Search engine optimization (SEO) entered the scene. Internet search engine specialists "reverse-engineered" to spot the standards that Google consider for showing websites towards the top of its search results pages. These factors were then consciously incorporated into your internet pages in the hope that Google will show your internet site the primary ten results it showed on the first page.

As more of the competitors adopted search engine marketing practices, things became difficult again. Your role started to slip if your competitors did the SEO better. SEO battles became serious fights with every dirty trick being employed.

There have been "black hat" SEO practitioners who showed one page to find engines and another to human visitors. As search engines were not bothered with readability, you could fill the "search engine" page with pure gibberish, but gibberish developed in wherein the engine dutifully indexed high.

A war of wits followed between unscrupulous SEO practitioners and appearance engines. Google changed its ranking algorithms regularly to operate around practices that allowed low value content to seem at the top of its search engine results. After all, Google's success been dependent on providing value to searchers, not merchants. And SEO practitioners created new tricks.

We are going to examine search engine marketing inside a series of articles, beginning by having an overall look at on-line or Online marketing.

 


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