Alt Attribute & Search engine optimization

SEO Optimization images has become increasingly more important in SEO (Seo optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is really a critical step that is often overlooked. 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:. Make use of the alt attribute to supply descriptive text. In addition, we recommend using a human-readable caption and descriptive text around the image.

Why would they ask us to do that? The answer is easy, really; search engines have a similar problem as blind users. They cannot see the images.

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

On the contrary, high keyword density can, on some search engines like google, trigger spam filters, which might result in a penalty for your site's ranking. Even without such a penalty, your site's rankings won't take advantage of this tactic.
This process also puts persons who use screen readers in a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that really read aloud the items in what is 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 mildly, will be found quite annoying.
What exactly 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. Although it might seem natural to assume that alternate text is a label or a description, it's 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 that the image would.

The thing would be to supply the same functional information that a visual user would see. The alt attribute text should function as a "stand in" when the look itself is unavailable. Think about this question: If you were to replace the look using the text, would most users get the same basic information, and wouldn't it generate the same response?
A few examples:

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

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

If the image is meant to convey the literal contents of the look, a description is appropriate.

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

If it's meant to convey the use of a function, then your function is what ought to be used.

Some Alt Attribute Guidelines:

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

For images that play merely a decorative role in the page, make use of an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or perhaps a CSS background image so that reading browsers do not bother users by uttering things like "spacer image".

Remember that it's the function from the image we are attempting to convey. For instance; any button images should not include the word "button" within the alt text. They should emphasize the action performed by the button.

Alt text ought to be determined by context. The same image inside a different context may need drastically different alt text.

Attempt to flow alt text with the remainder from the text because that is how it is going to be read with adaptive technologies like screen readers. Someone listening to your page should hardly be aware that a graphic image is there.
Please remember that using an alt attribute for every image is required to meet the minimum WAI requirements, that are used since the benchmark for accessibility laws in UK and the rest of Europe. They are also necessary to meet "Section 508" accessibility requirements in the US.

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

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are things that serve no purpose apart from to make a site visually appealing/attractive and (oftentimes) 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 boost the usability of the site for somebody using a non-visual user agent. Use a null alt attribute or background images in CSS for eye-candy.

II. Mood-Setting

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

Attempt to alt-ify the second group as makes sense and it is relevant. There may be times when doing so may be annoying or detrimental with other users. Then avoid it.

For example; Alt text that is identical to adjacent text is unnecessary, and 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 inside for those users.

Most times it depends on context. The same image in a different context may require drastically different alt text. Obviously, content ought to always be fully available. The way you go in this example 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 may also be in order.
The main 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 exactly what function an image serves. Consider what it's about the image that's vital that you the page's intended audience.

Every graphic has a reason behind standing on that page: because it either enhances the theme/ mood/ atmosphere or it is advisable to what are the page is trying to describe. Understanding what the image is for makes alt text easier to write. And exercise writing them definitely helps.
A way to look into the usefulness of alternative text would be to imagine reading the page over the telephone to someone. An amount you say when encountering a specific image to make the page understandable to the listener?

Aside from the alt attribute you've got a couple more tools available 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 are invisible and not shown as a "tooltip" when focus is received through the keyboard. (A lot for device independence). So make use of the title attribute just for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points to the Link to a complete description of an image. When the information contained in an image is important towards the concept of the page (i.e. some important content will be lost if the image was removed), an extended description compared to "alt" attribute can reasonably display should be used. It can 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 the image. As Clark [1] states, "A longdesc is really a long description of the image...The aim is by using any length of description essential to impart the details of the graphic.

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

Although the alt attribute is mandatory for web accessibility as well as for valid (X)HTML, not all images need alternative text, long descriptions, or titles.

Oftentimes, you are better off just going with your gut instinct -- if it's not necessary to incorporate it, and when you don't possess a strong urge to get it done, don't add that longdesc.

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

What's necessary and what's not depends a great deal about 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, but not in another. If an image provides absolutely no content or functional information alt="" or background CSS images might be appropriate to make use of. But if the image provides content or adds functional information an alt would be required and perhaps even a long description will be so as. Oftentimes this kind of thing is 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 can use hyphens within the file name to isolate the keyword, but avoid to exceeding two hyphens. Stay away from underscores as a word separator, such as "brilliant-diamonds.jpg";

Label the file extension. For instance, when the image internet search engine sees a ".jpg" (JPEG) file extension, it's going 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 written text nearby the image that is highly relevant to that image.
Again, do not lose an excellent opportunity to help your website with your images in search engines. Begin using these steps to position better on all of the engines and drive more traffic for your site TODAY.

Website Optimization

Search engine marketers and usability engineers want to understand why we go to websites and what we do after we arrive at a search results page. They ask questions like:

• Are we satisfied with where we landed?


• Did the engine provide accurate results listings?


• Was our click choice a positive one?


• Did we stay on the site or leave?


• If we left, what search result better matched what we wanted to find?


• Was it the search results or did we have a bad experience with the web page we landed on?

Both search engines and human factors related fields study our intent.

Author Matt Bailey points to the depth of the importance of intent in his new book, Internet Marketing: An Hour a Day.

“Search engines are integrating more multimedia and allowing deeper access to documents and media earlier in the search process. They are attempting to determine the intent of the searcher and deliver results accordingly.”

What is our intent? Why do we visit the Internet? Why do we use search sites such as Google and Youtube?

In a 2009 ComScore study (comScore, 2009), they found that “Nearly one out of every ten minutes a person spends online around the world is spent on a Google site.” This includes the search engine itself, Youtube, which they own, Google books, email, Google reader and more.

Clearly, marketers want to be sure their clients’ websites perform well in Google’s web properties. Not doing so can wreck the success of a business.

Search Behavior = People Who Search

Shortly after search engines and information sites appeared on the Internet, case studies zeroed in to understand why, who, where, when, where and how humans use them. Hot on the trail, too, were analysts interested in learning about site traffic, popularity, rank and how to make money from it.

Many of you were guinea pigs during the 1990’s when web page backgrounds were gray with black text, and animation, 3D images, scrolling text boxes, rotating banners and blinking images were all part of a typical user interface.

As fun as all those things were to create (I loved animating images), web designers had to buckle to user preferences.

Search engines learned what we really come to the Internet for. Perhaps search engine sites are not suitable for certain subject types when it comes to information searches. In order to improve search engine design and SEO marketing efforts, we try to understand user intent and goals for searching.

It’s been well established at this point that search engines are used by us to find information. What kinds of information are most popular?

A recent study from Australia on who uses search engines found that half of search engine queries were looking for a particular website, while the other 50% were split between ecommerce and popular culture searches.

The study also pointed to what is referred to as “leisure searches”. The findings present the idea of search sites not only for information gathering or shortcuts to web sites, but they’re also sources for leisure, with one in six of all searches estimated as being leisure searches.

The Australian study offered some surprising details for anyone wondering what we’re searching for, by subject. Adult site searches fell into the middle, with ecommerce being second, edged under a tad by popular culture topics. Health, weather, contemporary affairs and government are the least popular searches.

The study stood out from others because it included and factored in the lifestyle of their participants. This is different than user testing labs or Eye tracking tests. To their surprise, lifestyle choices had no measurable impact on the type of search queries. In fact, new questions were raised on user –searcher behavior.

For example, do Internet users tend to go to particular trusted web sites for information on healthcare, computing and contemporary affairs, rather than use search engines? Does the distribution of the most ranked subjects searched for represent user interests or the suitability of search engines for looking up certain types of topics?

Another study (Broder, 2002) narrows search engine user behavior as informational, navigational, transactional and leisure. Half the searches in the study were navigational and one-third, transactional. Half of all searchers know where they want to go.

What Does This Mean To Search Marketers?

The most obvious is that it’s time to accept usability studies into marketing strategy. And, user experience professionals can no longer devalue the role of search marketers. Both camps provide essential skills and expertise needed for web site projects.

A lot of what’s happening on the Internet is relationship building. The global community wants this so badly they invented social networking sites and social marketing to drive interest and generate revenue from these new site sources.

Emotional web design is no accident. We’re emotional beings. Empathy makes us connect with others.

“In life and business, focus on creating win-win situations. Look beyond the immediate sale in order to connect with customers as people.” – Steve Harper, The Ripple Effect.

Despite our developing mental models and creating user personas, we remain on the edge of understanding who uses our stuff. Wouldn’t it be grand if stakeholders got out of their offices and actually interacted with the people who use their websites?

I’ve often wished I could video people who multi-task at home, with one hand on a laundry basket, an ear to the cell phone and a hand reaching for the laptop nearby. What does that busy person search for and how? Can we make their experience less stressful?

Division between marketing and user experience will dissolve as both approaches discover they need each others’ data to do a better job for their clients.

There’s no question that a passion for usability and search engine marketing leads to their fascinating cousins, like information architecture, findability, captology, analytics and neurology. There’s also no question that money can be made by optimizing for and advertising in search engines.

Studying user behavior is a win-win for search engine technology, search marketing and website usability and human factors.

Cited Resources:

Broder 2002; A Taxonomy of Web Search (PDF)

Waller, Vivienne 2010; Not Just Information: Who Searches for What on the Search Engine Google?

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

Related Topics: Just Behave

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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A 75-year-old woman was recently arrested by the Georgian police after she single-handedly cut off Internet connections in Georgia and neighbouring Armenia.

AFP reports that the pensioner was digging for scrap metal with the intention of stealing it when she stumbled upon a fibre-optic cable which runs through Georgia to Armenia, forcing thousands of Internet users in both countries to lose Internet connection for several hours. Georgian Railway Telecom, the company that owns the cable, said that the latest damage was serious, causing 90 percent of private and corporate Internet users in Armenia to lose access for nearly 12 hours while also hitting Georgian Internet service providers.

“I cannot understand how this lady managed to find and damage the cable. It has robust protection and such incidents are extremely rare,” Giorgi Ionatamishvili, Georgian Railway Telecom’s marketing head, told AFP.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time it happened. In 2009, another scavenger damaged a fibre-optic cable while hunting for scrap metal in the impoverished ex-Soviet state, forcing many Georgians’ Internet connections to get interrupted.

The woman has been charged with damaging property and could face up to three years in prison if convicted.

There has been a lot of talk as to whether or not social media is the front runner in another inflated internet bubble waiting to burst, leaving users “virtually” friendless and clueless. Will everyone be out of the loop, with no one keeping track of daily deals, happenings or status updates? Warren Buffet confirmed this fear stating that although it’s not as big as the dot com bubble, social media is not long term by any means. However, industry trends and buyer behaviors are stating otherwise.

Facebook has proven beneficial to marketing efforts for B2C companies, but B2B marketing has struggled to find its footing on the platform. That’s where LinkedIn has emerged as the go-to medium for B2B marketers.

A recent study done by BtoB Magazine, showed that when asked “Which of the following social media methods does your company currently use for your B2B marketing (i.e. not personal use)” 72% of B2B marketers said LinkedIn. After reaching more than 100 million users, LinkedIn has solidified its niche as Facebook in a business suit, and B2B companies have taken notice.

The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing (an annual report done by HubSpot, an inbound marketing software company) found that 61% of B2B marketers who participated in the survey acquired a customer through LinkedIn. The targeted and measurable aspect of inbound marketing is what makes it so attractive to smart business owners who are tired of spending money on marketing with no proof that it’s working. Former Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, M. Lawrence Light said, “It no longer makes economic sense to send an advertising message to the many, in hopes of persuading the few.”

Continued on the next page


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MLB leans toward extra replay for 2012, report says

Major League Baseball is leaning toward expanding replay for 2012 to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines, a person familiar with the talks tells The Associated Press.

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New Google <b>News</b> for Opera Mini - Official Google Mobile Blog

So we have rolled out a redesigned Google News for Opera Mini in all 29 languages and 70 editions of Google News. This includes an enhanced homepage featuring richer snippets, thumbnail images, links to videos and section content ...

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Wii 2 to be revealed at E3 – report <b>News</b> - Wii - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our Wii news of Wii 2 to be revealed at E3 – report.

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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.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said in an interview this week that he would consider returning to an active role at the company he helped start if asked.



During an interview in England this week, Wozniak said, "I'd consider it, yeah," when asked whether he would play a more active role if asked, Reuters reports.



Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer in 1976. Wozniak left his full-time role with the company in 1987, but remains an employee and shareholder of Apple.



Since leaving Apple, Wozniak has been involved in a wide range of entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors. He currently serves as Chief Scientist for storage company Fusion-io.



Meanwhile, Jobs is currently taking an indefinite leave of absence to focus on his health, though he remains CEO of Apple and continues to be involved in strategic decisions.



Wozniak, who has widely been acknowledged as the technical genius behind Apple's early success, believes that he has a lot to offer the company he helped start, which went on to become the world's second-largest company in terms of market value.



"There's just an awful lot I know about Apple products and competing products that has some relevance, some meaning. They're my own feelings, though," Wozniak said during the interview.



When asked his opinion on Apple today, Wozniak praised the company for its track record with recent products. "Unbelievable," he said, "The products, one after another, quality and hits."



Even so, Wozniak admitted that he'd prefer Apple's devices to be more open, so he can "get in there and add [his] own touches." Last December, Wozniak revealed that he had purchased a DIY kit for the iPhone 4 and "modded" the device into the as-yet-unreleased white version.



"My thinking is that Apple could be more open and not lose sales," said Wozniak, while adding, "I'm sure they're making the right decisions for the right reasons for Apple."



Wozniak has been committed to openness since the beginning. In December, Wozniak told reporters that he didn't design the original Apple I to make a lot of money and had given the designs away for free after his former employer HP showed no interest in the computer.

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The PPIC study Kolko co-authored sheds light on why historically California’s economy has grown on pace with the national economy even though it usually ranks low in surveys of states whose laws are favorable to business.

While the research suggests many factors that determine long-term economic growth lie beyond the reach of policy makers, Kolko cautioned that policy could still someday trump warm, sunny days on the Pacific coast.

“If California loses its ability to incubate and encourage fast growing industries to be here, that would be unfortunate” in the long term, she said.

Kolko identified two policies in particular, a simpler tax structure rather than a lower tax rate, and a lower share of government expenditure on welfare and transfer payments, as means of hastening economic expansion.

(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Next, Odeo moved into an office and started hiring more employees – including a quiet, on-again, off-again Web designer named Jack Dorsey and an engineer named Blaine Cook. Evan Williams became Odeo's CEO.

By July 2005, Odeo had a product: a platform for podcasting.

But then, in the fall of 2005, "the shit hit the fan," says George Zachary, the Charles River Ventures partner who led the firm's investment in Odeo.

That was when Apple first announced iTunes – which included a podcasting platform built into every one of the 200 million iPods Apple would eventually sell. Around the same time, Odeo employees, from Glass and Williams on down, began to realize that they weren't listening to podcasts as much as they thought they would be.

Says Cook: "We built [Odeo], we tested it a lot, but we never used it."

Suddenly, says Zachary, "the company was going sideways."

By this point, Odeo had 14 people working full time – including now-CEO Evan Williams and a friend of his from Google, Christopher "Biz" Stone.

Williams decided Odeo's future was not in podcasting, and later that year, he told the company's employees to start coming up with ideas for a new direction Odeo could go.  The company started holding official "hackathons" where employees would spend a whole day working on projects. They broke off into groups.

Odeo cofounder Noah Glass gravitated toward Jack Dorsey, whom Glass says was "one of the stars of the company."  Jack had an idea for a completely different product that revolved around "status"--what people were doing at a given time.

"I got the impression he was unhappy with what he was working on –  a lot of cleanup work on Odeo."

"He started talking to me about this idea of status and how he was really interested in status," Glass says. "I was trying to figure out what it was he found compelling about it."

"There was a moment when I was sitting with Jack and I said, 'Oh, I do see how this could really come together to make something really compelling.' We were sitting on Mission St. in the car in the rain. We were going out and I was dropping him off and having this conversation. It all fit together for me."

One day in February 2006, Glass, Dorsey, and a German contract developer Florian Weber presented Jack's idea to the rest of the company.  It was a system where you could send a text to one number and it would be broadcasted out to all of your friends: Twttr.

Noah Glass says it was he who came up with the name "Twttr." "I spent a bunch of time thinking about it," he says.  Eventually, the name would become Twitter.

After that February presentation to the company, Evan Williams was skeptical of Twitter's potential, but he put Glass in charge of the project. From time to time, Biz Stone helped out Glass's Twitter team.

And it really was Glass's team, by the way. Not Jack Dorsey's.

Everyone agrees that original inkling for Twitter sprang from Jack Dorsey's mind. Dorsey even has drawings of something that looks like Twitter that he made years before he joined Odeo. And Jack was obviously central to the Twitter team.

But all of the early employees and Odeo investors we talked to also agree that no one at Odeo was more passionate about Twitter in the early days than Odeo's cofounder, Noah Glass.

"It was predominantly Noah who pushed for the project to be started," says Blaine Cook, who describes Glass as Twitter's "spiritual leader."

"He definitely had a vision for what it was," says Ray McClure.

"There were two people who were really excited [about Twitter,]" concurs Odeo investor George Zachary. "Jack and Noah Glass. Noah was fanatically excited about Twitter. Fanatically! Evan and Biz weren't at that level. Not remotely."

Zachary says Glass told him, "You know what's awesome about this thing? It makes you feel like you're right with that person. It's a whole emotional impact. You feel like you're connected with that person."

At one point the entire early Twitter service was running on Glass's laptop. "An IBM Thinkpad," Glass says, "Using a Verizon wireless card."

"It was right there on my desk. I could just pick it up and take it anywhere in the world. That was a really fun time."

Glass insists that he is not Twitter's sole founder or anything like it.  But he feels betrayed that his role has basically been expunged from Twitter history.  He says Florian Weber doesn't get enough credit, either.

"Some people have gotten credit, some people haven't. The reality is it was a group effort. I didn't create Twitter on my own. It came out of conversations."

"I do know that without me, Twitter wouldn't exist. In a huge way."

By March of 2006, Odeo had a working Twitter prototype. In July, TechCrunch covered Twttr for the first time. That same summer, Odeo employees obsessed with Twitter were racking up monthly SMS bills totalling hundreds of dollars. The company agreed to pay those bills for the employees. In August, a small earthquake shook San Francisco and word quickly spread through Twitter – an early 'ah-ha!' moment for users and company-watchers alike. By that fall, Twitter had thousands of users.

By this point, engineer Blaine Cook says it began to feel like there were "two companies" at Odeo – the one "Noah and Florian and Jack and Biz were working on" (Twitter) and Odeo. Twitter, says Ray McClure, "was definitely the thing you wanted to be working on."

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Roofing Contractors Vancouver - 5 Questions to Really think

Roofing Vancouver - Frequently Asked Questions

1. Repair or Replace?

There's no opinion as an expert opinion. Most contractors will provide you with a free estimate. Get a summary of a few trusted contractors and phone them well ahead of time of when you wish to get your roof fixed so you can compare costs and opinions.

2. Beauty versus Practicality?

Discuss this together with your spouse or partner. (The children could care less...at least the young ones.) Truth is, nobody wants an ugly roof the same as nobody wants to be viewed with bed hair. If you've got a great quality roof and you just need to repair it, it's worthwhile to pay for the cost of the original shingle rather than doing patchwork. A roof replacement doesn't happen very often (hopefully!) and so make a choice 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 in order to sell the house for additional?

Consider this cautiously prior to making a choice. Depending on the roofing material you select, a brand new roof lasts between twenty, fifty, to one-hundred years! This means you have to check the year from the roof that's currently over your head first. Are you at year 18 of the 20-year warranted roof or year 30 of a 50-year warranted roof? Obviously, the quality is the reason why the roof last longer, but if you're not planning to stay in your present home throughout your life, the higher expense might not be worth neglect the. Although a brand new roof can enhance the value of your value, the increase may not be enough to cover your investment and that's definitely going to hurt your wallet.

4. Could it be advisable that i can repair the roof myself?

Sure it's. But before you do, consult a specialist first. You can do it yourself, however, you shouldn't be considered a complete ‘lone ranger.' Depending on the extent of the repair, you might or may not change your mind. In either case, it will help to obtain a professional eye about the problem first and perhaps 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 be mister or miss fix-it.

5. Just when was a great time to get the roof replaced?

Weather may cause delays from days to weeks. Most people plan ahead to have their roof replaced in the summer when they have a friend is going to be home during the day for a solid two weeks. Once you've this era in mind, create a call to a trusted contractor months in advance to get a quote. Some companies get booked up fast and odds are, they're the most reputable. Planning ahead of the summer also provides you with time to discuss with more and compare costs...especially if you want to possess the roof made by a particular date.

 

The Top Roofing Contractor In Vancouver!

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

If the response to any of these questions is "Yes" it is time to call the very best roofing company Vancouver - Crown Roofing & Drainage.

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

YOUR Vancouver ROOF DESERVES Believe it or not!

The rooftop of your Vancouver home is the first line of defence against wind, rain, snow, ice along with other weather conditions. Make sure it is as much as the task. Among Vancouver Roofing companies, only Crown Roofing has got the depth of experience and successful history to make sure your roofing system will be properly designed and installed.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS.

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

Obtain a FREE INSPECTION AND EVALUATION Of the Vancouver ROOF.

Go to the Roofers Vancouver for a FREE inspection and evaluation of the roof. Give you the best roof for the Vancouver home, in the cost effective. We build roofs to last!

 

Tacoma Roofer: Help your house be Beautiful

Not many people understand the value of a solid roof, but your knowledgeable Tacoma Roofer does. From top notch experience, they will be in a position to let you know the reason why you require a strong, secure, and leak-free roof on your home.

Your local Tacoma Roofer is well aware how important an economic investment your property is for you personally, especially since it is a long term one. Your house might have been damaged slowly over the years and you need to take steps to reduce this damage. For a lot of people, keeping their house beautiful is another few pride. You will find those too who'd prefer to turn their property right into a cost effective and efficient living place. Your roof is an integral part of your house and plays a role in each of the aspects mentioned above. For this reason, you need to employ the services of qualified a Tacoma Roofing company.

Kinds of Roofs installed by a Tacoma Roofing contractor

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 be easily looked after with 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 company to take a glance at your roof to determine if there are any issues or potential problems with it. If you will find, they might be in a position to let you know how to approach them.

A Tacoma Roofing contractor Helps to Build Strong Homes

The exteriors associated with a house, primarily the rooftop and gutters, face the onslaught of bitter and varying climate conditions, every single day. Painting, repairing, and cleaning gutters may be necessary. In some instances you might want to replace them completely. Usually, whenever your gutters show signs and symptoms of trouble, your homes roof also needs to be inspected for problems. Whatever issues there may be, a skilled Tacoma Roofing contractor can examine them at length and suggest the remedy.

If your gutters tend to clog all too often, or there are leaks across the walls of your house, it may mean that there is debris piled-up on the top. Loose branches, piles of leaves, and other light objects which are swept on your roof during a storm can all contribute towards damaging your homes roof, and these damages can be lasting. An educated Tacoma Roofing company will explain that birds, mice, and other kinds of rodents often build nest in the debris that collects on the roof. 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. In addition, it may also cause vermin infestation. Following a storm, your Tacoma Roofing company will suggest that you inspect your roof for any signs and symptoms of debris or damage.

Reverse Damages by using a Tacoma Roofer

However top quality the rooftop may be, it will eventually wear out over time. You will find shingles which are known as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are only associated with warranty made by the makers. They seldom require that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles will not last a lot more than a few years. Within an area that's vulnerable to storms, shingles or even the entire roof may need to be replaced every 10 years. Having a Tacoma Roofing company, the cost is going to be less than what you think.

If there you lose any shingles, or there's some damage to them, a Tacoma Roofing contractor can assist you to. Damaged shingles can lead to indoor leaks, since the substrate from the roof becomes subjected to the elements. Shingles that are loose or broken can slip off and pose a potential hazard to people standing below. Missing shingles produce a gap that allows rain, wind, ice, and debris to develop under the adjoining shingles, which creates a "domino effect" that affects other shingles and they become loose or broken. A comprehensive investigation is going to be made by the local Tacoma Roofing contractor, if you give them a call up with your suspicions of loose or missing shingles.

Your Tacoma Roofing contractor come in a position to inform you what are the smartest choice is perfect for your roof. If your roof is not inside a good condition, it is advised that you have it replaced completely. The Tacoma Roofer may take you thru the various roofing options available to you which will suit your requirements as well as your budget.

Tacoma Roofing contractor: Enhancing your Home's Efficiency

Your roof shelters you against storms, sleet, and hail. By providing adequate ventilation, your homes roof protects your home from overheating, by holding within the heat, it keeps your house 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 professional Tacoma Roofing company can provide help in this situation.

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

You'll need all of the help you could possibly get from the Tacoma Roofer. You can help your homes roof by installing a gutter guard or leaf cover to help prevent debris from forming in your gutters. The extra weight of debris prevents the gutters from draining and may even tear them down. Check the fasteners in your gutters and when they're loose, tighten them. Take steps to change worn screws and brackets. If you have a chimney in your house, inspect the bricks and mortar signs of wear. A trusted mason can be recommended by your Tacoma Roofer, if you will find any repairs to be done.

Tacoma Roofer: Someone You are able to Rely on
In the event that you realize or suspect that there's a problem, your Tacoma Roofer should be contacted. They can use their knowledge and expertise to get your house in ace condition by simply working on the rooftop. Your homes roof deserves attention. So call them today, to enable them to conclude working on your roof.

 

What is Difference Between Commercial Roofing Companies From Residential Roofing Companies

If you are considering hiring a roofing company to re roof your house or building then you may be wondering what the differences are between residential roofing companies and commercial roofing companies. To start with, the one huge difference is usually that times an industrial roofing company may have signed a contract with and be obligated to some roofing union in able to focus on union commercial jobs.

If this sounds like the case then their labor costs will prohibit them from focusing on non union residential jobs. Beyond that, if a commercial roofing company hasn't 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 consistent with smaller residential jobs.

Residential roofing contractors generally tend to run smaller companies and hence, tend to be more in a position to bid competitively on residential jobs, which tend to be smaller than comercial jobs. Actually, often times residential roofing contractors will run one man operations, where the contractor that you talk to could be the one which actually does the work on the building.

Also, liability insurance for commercial roofing is more expensive along with a larger bond is required for a commercial roofing work which can make it not cost effective for any commercial roofer to complete residential roofing jobs.

Still an additional factor is that commercial jobs can run on tighter time frame for any quantity of reasons, requiring an industrial contractor to train on 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 has a huge impact on the entire structure itself? Damage caused to roofs because of natural or another disasters causes a considerable loss of property everywhere. The kind of materials accustomed to construct the rooftop which should be sturdy and long-lasting, the way in which the roof has been installed as well as its timely maintenance are very crucial. There's two types of roofs that are used on all the buildings that we see around us: commercial and residential. Even though it might seem that commercial roofing is performed only for businesses or offices and residential roofing is performed for apartments and houses, the truth is the differences are much more complicated than that.

Residential roofing is usually completed just by one hired contractor but commercial roofing typically takes a whole team to accomplish the job. The reason being a commercial roof is commonly larger when it comes to sq ft than the usual residential roof.
Commercial roofs are necessary carefully keeping the character and reason for your building in your mind. For instance, when there is a cafe or restaurant within the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes will be required. Residential roofs usually do not have such components apart from a chimney or two at the most.
Commercial roofs tends to be flat in design to support further changes in a later period, whereas most residential roofs have peaks and 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 which are needed onsite. Usually the patching or maintenance jobs are done in segments unlike for any residential roof in which the repair or replacement work can be completed in a short while. This really is another reason why the gear used for residential roofs is usually smaller and less expensive as well.
Commercial roof installations take a extended period to complete compared to residential roof installations and therefore are usually constructed in large sections. In this phase however, you should ensure that there are no leakages, cracks or other visible wear and tear signs as it can cause considerable damage to the entire building.
It is important to install the best roof for a building based on its purpose. Make sure that you hire a construction company that utilizes first class materials and has the right equipment for the job or your investment may turn out to be a huge loss later.

 

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

If a business is seeking to have work done on its roof, you should work with commercial roofing contractors which have an enthusiastic understanding of any special needs that the business might have. As an example, a roofing job can often be disruptive for the operation of business as always. Because of this, it might be essential for the company to be temporarily shut down, or the roofing to occur after business hours have ended. A roofing contractor that understands these needs can work together with a business in order to make sure that these kinds of issues are minimized.

The first thing that a business must do when it is searching for commercial roofing contractors is to discover who other businesses in the area are working through. Obviously, this article not be helpful whether it may come as an indicator from competitors, but there are circumstances by which it is not too difficult to locate these details from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing is not an industry-specific service, this information is readily available.

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

When examining bids, it is only as vital to look at what services are now being offered and which products is going to be used as it is to look at the overall cost. The prices can differ quite drastically, but as tempting as possible to choose the lowest bid, this is not always your best option. In many cases, more costs now will mean fewer costs over time due to a poor roofing job. To help investigate the quality of the work, it's a wise decision to check on using the Bbb in order to see if the business has been accredited, and if it's not, to a minimum of see what its rating is.

 

Picking out a Commercial Roofer

When you are searching for a roofer for your commercial roofing project you need to find a contractor who understands the special needs of the commercial roofing project. For example it can be harder to work on the business during business hours so either the business has to be shut down for the repair or replacement or even the job needs to be done after conventional business hours. Is the roofer you are considering for the job willing and able to operate around your schedule constrictions which might involve working weekends or evenings?

When you start your research for any roofer you don't only have to answer those questions but you also want to hire a company which will perform a high quality job without a great deal of time delays. Going about finding someone can feel like an obstacle by itself but there are some methods to make the search easier.

Ask people around you for referrals and then try to find a minimum of three contractors to provide you with written bids in your job. Prior to going any further you have to make sure that the contractors you are thinking about are fully licensed and bonded. An easy search with the state contractor's board will verify in case your roofer is licensed and when you will find any past judgments or claims against their license.

Once you select 3 or 4 roofers to place bids, you should get ready for the bids to become widely varied. Roofers may have brand preferences which will vary and may factor in pretty much compared to next guy for any labor estimate. The more detailed a written bid is the more helpful it will be to focus on in which the cost will be incurred. Don't, however, pick a roofer based solely on the bid price. Any low ball bids may be tempting to take, but if they're low due to low quality workman ship it may not be worthwhile ultimately.

As the saying goes, you generally get what you pay for, so if you are able to afford a mid-priced bid it certainly is smart to increase within your budget rather than down. You also should select your roofer depending on how professional they were and how comfortable you anticipate you'll be dealing with them.

Finally your cost will vary depending on which kind of roofing material you select along with the cost to haul your old roof towards the landfill. Should you be looking for places to chop corners on your roof, instead of cutting labor cost you may want to inquire about a metal roof option. Metal roofs can be economical and efficient which makes them overall money savers for the long term, as well as on commercial buildings they may be very low maintenance. Plus given that they can be placed along with an existing roof, you don't need to have the old one removed and hauled away, that make a large effect on your cost.

Selecting a comerical roofing company nearer your home, doesn't have to be a struggle. To learn more, visit http://www.vancouverroofers.net

 

Seattle Roofing Companies - 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 house that will suit you. Seattle, Washington could be a good place to build a house, but you need Seattle roofing contractors to help you out. Your homes roof is, in the end, the crowning glory of your home, as well as your strongest type of defense against the elements. You need to have something which isn't just built to last, but built to attract and make your house more beautiful

Harsh Weather

Why are roofing contractors essential within this part of the country? Because Seattle is usually bombarded by rain and other harsh weather conditions, you need a roof that can withstand all of the forces of nature. With this thought, you'll need individuals who be aware of Seattle weather best, and who know what materials can best go into your homes roof in order for it to last far longer in the area. In addition to all this, you need to blend with the remainder of the houses in your living area, so you cannot simply get whatever roof you please.

In most these aspects, a Seattle roofing contractors should be able to help you out. All you need to do is search for Seattle roofing contractors online so that you can obtain the best bang for your buck 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 on your own, you will have to buy a whole lot of materials, secure permits and licenses, and obtain materials that are suitable for keep you safe against harsh extremes of Seattle weather. Which means that if you are a DIY sort of guy or gal, you will have to go through a good deal of legwork to get the job done.

On the other hand, a Seattle roofing contractor can perform all the jobs for you and provide you with a package that can save you time and money. Because contractors operate under licenses and buy materials in bulk, they are able to get discounts on building materials that you would not otherwise get if you were buying merely for your own home.

Roofing Associations

Most roofing contractors also fit in with roofing organizations which are bound by strict guidelines and standards. When they do well on the 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 lots of pressure to do well, to help you be confident that if you need a roofing job completed in Seattle, you can aquire a contractor from a roofing association to help you out.

For example, Seattle Roof Brokers operates with over 500 roofing contractors within the Puget Sound. This group has over fifty years of roofing experience and experience working with Seattle roofing contractors, so it knows what kind of roofing you would like. The Roof Brokers group can hook you up using the contractor that you need so you don't have to look for contractors individually.

What Should You Demand out of your Contractor?

When you finally get a contractor in the Seattle area, you must do lots of background research about the roofing contractors themselves. Request a list of previous companies or persons the contractor worked with to get a definite look at the roofing contractor's work ethics and roof quality. Your roofing contractor should also possess the appropriate working licenses and city licenses required by the Seattle city government.

Pick a Seattle roofers that insures its employees, and that has courteous workers who'll respect your thinking and ensure that the needs are met. Ensure that you obtain the best bang for your buck: if you are not satisfied using the job, you need to be guaranteed either money back, or a free, new roof. Moreover, you also require the workers to find the job done on time, so be strict with your deadlines - and discover a contractor that is as strict when you are.

You'll need guarantees and warranties on your roof, so look for a contractor that can meet your budget and roofing needs. If you get in touch with good Seattle roofing contractors, you may be guaranteed a good roof and a better house right in this fantastic city.

Selecting the Right Roofer Company for Replacing Your Roof

The shingles in your roof need replacing and you're simply minded to find a roofing contractor to change the them. Maybe you have already known as a few and are evaluating which contractor to use for your upcoming roof repair. How can you choose the best contractor for caring for your roof? Here are a number of things you should look at when searching for a legitimate roofing contractor.

Where's the roofer located? It is important to hire a roofer that's local. Then you will get the next step and services information when the roofing company is located near your home 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 are prepared to vouch that excellent service was received. This should 't be the only real element in choosing your future roofing contractor as some may claim they value the privacy of the clients and do not wish to bother them. If this is the situation, request business related references. The locations that supply the contractor with supplies can reveal the quantity of materials and regularity of supplying the contractor to help determine their stability.
How does the roofing contractor company handle complaints? There are a multitude of issues that can arise throughout the progress of the roofing replacement. Ask what their process is for handling complaints when they arise. It is also a great idea to get a past client reference who had a complaint that was resolved towards the satisfaction from the client.
Terms of payment. Do you know the terms of payment to do the job? What is the deposit and amount due upon completion? Even though it is certainly reasonable that the substantial payment be produced before a contractor begins focus on a project, it is highly recommended that full payment isn't made until following the entire job is finished.
Written contract. All terms of the roofing replacement ought to be put in a written contract. No part of the contracting job should depend on verbal assurances.
Bonding. There are stuff that will go wrong with roofing installations that end up costing a substantial amount of money to repair. If this happens in your roofing replacement, you will feel a great deal better understanding that your roofing contractor is bonded. This will supply the funds to fix whatever mistakes were made. Find a roofer that is bonded.
Manufacturer Warranty. Quality materials for roofing typically come with a warranty. It is important to verify that there's actually a warranty on the materials being installed. Request a copy from the warranty.
Length of Time running a business Just how long has got the company you are interviewing been in business? A brief in time business may reflect instability. If the contractor has been around business under 3 years, verify just how long they have been in the market. A brand new contractor might have many years experience focusing on roofs before they form their own business. Seek a business that has been around for three or more years, or in which the contractor has already established a lot more years performing roofing replacements. This again should not be the only real factor, everyone has to begin sometime. Balance this with referrals and also the other points raised in this article.
Appropriate Permits. A Seattle roofer ought to know what permits are required for fixing your roof. They must be conscious of how you can obtain these permits on your behalf. Ask the contractor whether they will obtain the permits essential to repair the roof.
Liability. If a worker becomes injured, who's responsible for the worker's compensation? When the contractor's equipment damages your home, who is liable for the repairs? A good contractor will provide certificates of insurance for liability and worker's compensation before they start fixing your roof.
Subcontractors. Verify whether the contractor will be using subcontractors. If that's the case, it is highly recommended that everything contained in this article for verifying whether the contractor is credible also needs to be relevant to subcontractors. You need to get 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. It is important to verify whether there are any legal actions from the contractor. This is not only essential for verifying if the roofing company is legitimate (credible roofing companies should not have to defend themselves in the court), it's also important just because a lost lawsuit might lead to the contractor to go bankrupt. If you have made a substantial deposit for services immediately before the company goes bankrupt, you could lose many thousands of dollars and never have your roofing completed.
Material Disposal. Who is responsible for getting rid of the waste generated from the roof being replaced? Will your contractor handle every aspect of the? Is there one more cost for getting rid of this waste?
NRCA Membership. Membership in local or national roofing associations, like the NRCA, shows commitment to staying up to date with the most effective means of roof replacement and maintenance. Find a roofing contractor having a high standard of education regarding their trade.
Replacing your roof is really a significant investment. It makes good sense to ask serious questions before using a roofing contractor. Here are some more tips that you ought to consider when selecting the very best roofer for the upcoming roofing replacement.

Payment. Don't create a full payment for services unless all work is finished.
Inspection. Don't make a full payment without having done a final inspection of services rendered.
Workers liens. Do not fully pay for the roofing replacement job until worker's lien releases happen to be obtained.
Oral Agreements. No agreement ought to be made verbally without backing up on paper. Every point that are important to you ought to be produced in writing.

 

For your SEO needs, you should check out Vancouver web design and Vancouver SEO company

It is true the worldwide web has become the biggest financial market nowadays. Practically everything is anchored on the internet. Currently, there are many than 182 million sites in the internet whilst still being counting. If each one of these websites offers the possiblility to generate income, consider the limitless opportunities that can be based in the internet. More importantly, with all the emergence of sites, the need for web hosting and Search| Engine Optimization is significantly defined.

Search Engine Optimization is basically the entire process of improving the visibility of a internet site. As such, if you would like your web site to become visible to visitors, you should seek for SEO Company. The optimization strategy considers how search spiders work and what people usually and what keywords they use. The primary objective of Search engine optimization is making sites visible searching sites with the natural or organic way.

Search optimization or natural search engine optimization can be a expression used in describing unpaid, algorithm-driven results of any particular engine. Quite simply, organic SEO uses natural strategies in achieving serp's ranking. While there are 2 camps that search engine optimization companies may fall to, and these will be the 'White Hat' and also 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 can literally dictate the success or failure of your web business. Since search sites often modify their algorithms, organic SEO just isn't very easy whatsoever. When search bots modify their algorithms, factors that enable your internet site to seem in front of prospects are drastically changed too. Thus, in order to deal with these changes, SEO tactics and strategies has to be employed.

It is usually ethical to make use of search engines engine optimization since search sites nowadays are becoming extremely advanced they can easily determine whether an online site is trying to manipulate their search indexes. Thus it's empirical to use search engine marketing practices which can be carried out wherein appear natural.

The approaches employed by organic search engine optimization and artificial SEO are very significantly different. Basically, organic SEO uses content when compared with artificial SEO's technical loopholes. Moreover, natural search engine marketing provides attracting links instead of linking schemes utilized by artificial SEO. Natural SEO also creates valuable resource as opposed to artificial SEO's algorithm chasing. Effortlessly these, it's possible to clearly understand why organic search engine optimization is better than artificial search engine optimization. Although the latter could be harder and complex, it makes favorable results which can be good for any web site. Fortunately, there are tons of Vancouver SEO companies today that provide the organic method in affordable rates and packages.

Search Engine Optimization Appears to the picture

Once when search engine optimization was actually not required.

Whilst late being a decade ago, should you made a Website anywhere, Google indexed it and you gained visibility in their search results. Your page could have been within the free "estates" where anybody could add a page and Google didn't mind. It might also provide been a pure affiliate page without original content and Google still indexed it.

Things are unrecognizably different now.

Affiliate pages with "cookie-cutter" content duplicated everywhere might never make it to the Google index; the identical fate is likely for those pages you add in on the free-for-all website. As well as "proper" websites with your own website name didn't achieve visibility one of the proliferating sites in millions.

These would not have mattered, aside from something. It had been Google that provided the bread and butter for your countless small businesses that could not afford expensive marketing campaigns. If your site was among the top few sites the appeared before a searcher's eyes when that person sought out your products, you've got hundreds and also 1000s of visitors, many of whom even bought your products.

Search engine optimization (SEO) entered the scene. Search engine specialists "reverse-engineered" to identify the factors that Google consider for showing websites near the top of its search results pages. These factors were then consciously included in your internet pages with the aspiration that Google will show your website one of the primary ten results it showed on the first page.

As more of one's competitors adopted search engine marketing practices, things became difficult again. Your situation begun to slip in case your competitors did the SEO better. SEO battles became serious fights with every dirty trick working.

There was "black hat" SEO practitioners who showed one page to look engines and the other to human visitors. As search engines weren't bothered with readability, you might fill the "search engine" page with pure gibberish, but gibberish designed in a way that the engine dutifully indexed high.

A war of wits followed between unscrupulous SEO practitioners and appearance engines. Google changed its ranking algorithms regularly to work around practices that allowed low value content to look near the top of its serp's. All things considered, Google's success been dependent on providing value to searchers, not merchants. And SEO practitioners created new tricks.

We'll examine seo inside a series of articles, beginning by having an overall look at on-line or Web marketing.

 

To your SEO needs, you should check out vancouver web design and Vancouver Seo agency.

 

Cedar Roofing: Benefits

Cedar shakes are simply in regards to the most aesthetically pleasing shakes on the market today. Frequently designed from red-colored cedar about the coniferous forests of northwestern United States, they're just the best roof covering materials for proprietors preferring supplying their roofs a natural look.

Unique cedar shingles are naturally resistant against the weather, that's the key answer why cedar shingles are widely-used generally around various climatic conditions. They're generally available in several specific qualities. At least one will be the shingle made out of red cedar while the other is produced out from the vibrant variety. Red cedar shakes are designed from tight-grained particles that will be previously saturated with tannic acidity that experts say is surely an all-natural additive. Red cedar shingles that will be dipped in creosote in order to avoid corrosion and they are desirable to homeowners given that they put in a rich and unique check out one's property or home.

It is critical to note that red cedars usually change dark-colored if exposed continuously to seaside weather. Consequently, sea side homes need white cedar shakes. Red cedar shingles are usually a lot more expensive when compared with white cedar types, even though cost factor doesn't diminish its reputation in anyhow. They may be preferably suitable for classic Colonial houses while white cedar shingles appear to be image ideal for bungalows and bungalows that have been built in Nantucket design.

Through the years, classic cedar shakes have mislaid out in a spot to synthetic shingles that emulate the cedar appear. Superior systems are utilized in order to make these kind of shingles use a for an extended period life-span when compared with unique cedar shingles. Most include advanced UV inhibitors and possess about 5 decades of steady guarantee. These shingles are often great insulators and lots of superior ones provide a chilly inside during summertime along with a warmer inside during harsh winters.

Cedar shakes, mostly accessible in honey, cinnamon, and silvery gray colors, need several amount of repairs and maintenance. They might need initial treatment method before installation. White cedar shakes by way of example, could be treated with bleaching oil which ought to be done almost every six to seven years to improve their durability.

Cedar shakes and cedar shingles are either CCA treated or otherwise not CCA treated. CCA represents chromated copper arsenate. CCA is really a chemical that stops the rise of mold, mold and fungus therefore it assists in keeping insects from eating away your own wonderful cedar roof. CCA cedar could make your homes roof go longer, but CCA just isn't A FIRE TREAMENT. Cedar that has been fire treated can be acquired, but your roofing company need to special order it. CCA treated cedar shingles cost 15 - 20% more than non-CCA cedar. Most cedar roofs are usually not CCA treated.

Cedar shakes and cedar shingles are wonderful, and they are additionally a good purchase. Information of terms for example CCA, advanced quality, Number 1, blue label and black label will help you to pick the right cedar roof for your personal home.

Elite Roofing & Home Improvements, LLC provides detailed information about shingles, cedar shakes, fiberglass shakes and more. Elite Roofing & Home Improvements, LLC is associated with the nation's Roofers Association.

You can learn more about cedar shingles, and obtain more articles and resources about cedar shakes at cedar roofing materials and shakes website.

 

Cedar Shingle Roof Vs Asphalt Shingle Roof

A cedar shingle roof remains highly coveted by homeowners. It is one of the oldest roofing products that has continued to be constantly used inside the more than 100 years. Around new roofing materials carry on being developed, cedar shakes still endear themselves to numerous. Below can be a comparison analysis of the cedar roof versus an asphalt roof.

Pros of Cedar Roofing shingles

Cedar shakes contribute to much better air circulation within the whole home. The shingles permit the where you can breathe well without trapping moisture around. This can help to maintain the structure of the property who is fit for extended. Cedar Shakes are durable and strong. They like an increased capacity bugs. A cedar shingle roof will stand up well for the various weather onslaughts. Storms, hurricanes, powerful winds and flying debris will barely damage the surface of the cedar roof. The color matures beautifully using the passing years, rendering it even more desirable. A cedar roof adds a distinct charm to your dwelling. Cedar is instantly accessible in lumber yards and doesn't require a lot of expertise or specialized tools to install.

Cons of Cedar Shakes

If rot shows its head, choosing compelled to improve the entire lot. It is not easy extracting only the affected pieces. They could are already nailed down in a manner that each elimination proves difficult. Cedar Shingles don't hold up well to constant wetting. Living in an area where rainfall is heavy or frequent, cedar shingles aren't an ideal choice. Frequent wetting causes mold or mildew to create in. Replacement and repair could be a costly business. Your very best self protection against constant wetting would be to use wide overhangs. Also, if the home is shaded by many trees or nearby buildings, cedar shingles tend to develop mold. You will end up compelled to change them earlier than you planned. Cedar Shingles tend to be more flammable than asphalt shingles. Many areas have a very building code in place that restricts cedar shingles to minimize the risk of fire. To set up a cedar shake roof, you must have your allowance concerning the higher side. Frequent maintenance can be essential to maintain the roof who is fit. Mildew and rot are ever-constant threats with a cedar roof.

Pros of Asphalt Shingle Roof

An asphalt roof is probably the least expensive to get and install. These come in various designs and colours, including a regular, flat consider a 3-dimensional look. Asphalt shingles have a high capacity fires unlike cedar roofing. An asphalt roof can certainly lessen the risk of fires brought on by flying embers. Asphalt roofs are easier and cheaper to set up than cedar. They're also low maintenance roofs.

Cons of Asphalt Shingle Roof

Algae is more susceptible to grow on asphalt roofing than cedar shingles. It causes the rooftop to produce somewhat with the stain which spoils the appearance. You will get an anti-algae coating completed in your asphalt shingles but this increases the cost. When it comes to stability, an asphalt roof is more apt to be blown off by strong winds compared to a cedar roof.

Discover more about cedar roof shingles, and obtain more articles and resources about cedar roofing shakes at cedar roofing materials and shakes website.

 

How to find Great Vancouver Search engine optimization

The amount of online businesses as well as e-commerce websites is actually constantly on the rise because everyone knows that it can bring in lots of profits. This has also caused another sort of providers that assist businesses within achieving their goals and making them grow. Amongst fundamental essentials Vancouver Search engine optimization; because the Search engine optimization industry is pretty young you will find that any kind of Search engine optimization Vancouver organization will not be greater than a 10 years old. But you may rest assured that they actually know what they have to do to get a company developing.

In case your company depends on the web to obtain people to your site and to obtain conversion rates, you certainly need help searching engine optimisation or even SEO as it is more commonly known. When people put a search within their preferred internet search engine, the most likely matches arrive at the top. If you wish to pull traffic to your site or even online business, you need to go ahead and take assistance of the Vancouver Search engine optimization company to obtain up of those search results. The SEO Vancouver services provided is going to be well worth the money you spend and you will be viewing the actual results shortly following.

Nevertheless, attaining a top rank in the search engines may not always be an easy task and more therefore if your own is a very aggressive business which they frequently make reference to as a market. It is no wonder after that that you need all the help that exist. If you do not possess the answer to "What is Search engine optimization?Inch you will want in order to very first educate yourself on the subject. Your best option is to leave the job to people that realize it best; the actual Search engine optimization Vancouver professionals in the Vancouver SEO company. You'll have to spend some cash however, you may enjoy the actual rewards as time pass.

The actual SEO Vancouver experts will start upon market and keyword research which is always the actual starting place associated with Search engine optimization. You should know the type of words or even phrases that potential customers would be typing in to Search engines to get to your website. The Vancouver SEO company is going to do this tedious task for you as they possess a better idea about how people start their own queries. A person, from you need to give them a better understanding regarding your business and some basic key phrases on which they'd perform their research.

In case your Search engine optimization campaign starts with keywords choice, then its backlink building which rss feeds search engine optimization; any good Vancouver SEO company will tell you this. The optimal method for your website to rank high for any given keyword is to have a excellent backlink building strategy created for it. The trick would be to depart your link on high rated websites. The SEO Vancouver experts will tell you the most typical way of doing this would be to submit articles containing the required key phrases within the proper proportion to article directories along with links back to your website within the resource box.

So what are you awaiting? Take the assistance of the Vancouver SEO company the following; the SEO Vancouver professionals will make your company grow so that you can reap higher profits.

 

Reliable Search engine optimization For the Business in Vancouver

Professional sophisticated Vancouver Search engine optimization help you to are available in the very best listing of the search leads to appeal to traffic. Moreover, the actual visitors of organic results is going to be eager to purchase items which services may end up being useful when you are your business.

You'll need SEO services Vancouver to profit your organization through allowing you to make the most visibility from the internet search engine and thereby getting good traffic to your internet website. By using search engine rankings, these types of services may hugely assist your internet website get in touch with the field of people being able to access internet and thus, drawing increasingly more traffic to your web site. Once the web site has started producing traffic to this, your business will enjoy advantages as your website will end up probably the most retrieveable on the top search engines like google.

A business requirements these kinds of providers since the SEO experts have the basic knowing and knowledge of how to do it. A person since the website owner can spend some time on the internet dealing with weblogs, forums, along with other materials. However, you have to focus on other aspects of your internet site and Search engine optimization experts focus almost all their initiatives upon SEO since this is what they do greatest.

The SEO companies guarantee to increase increased traffic to your site on a regular basis by giving you an assurance that after people look for products or services, your web website comes on the top the majority of desired search engines like google like Yahoo, Google, Windows live messenger as well as AOL.

Quite simply, to enhance web site traffic as well as visibility, it is vital that a website should get updated constantly. The entire process of seo is not a one-time try. An effective SEO service includes marketing, ranking, site marketing, link exchanges and many more. In order to hold the changes to SEO methods and strategies daily, professional SEO services preserve experienced as well as officially skilled Search engine optimization experts, site designers, copy writers, SEO publishers, marketing specialists and task supervisors.

A professional as well as result-oriented search engine optimization support includes the following:
. Research and statement pre-optimization ranking
. Key phrase choice and optimisation
. Competition evaluation report
. Explanation of tags
. Themed hyperlink web page development
. Optimization associated with pictures
. Keyword-rich content material building
. SEO copywriting
. Hyperlink strategies
. Code
. Search engine distribution

SEO businesses also provide the actual service associated with keyword research. These types of organizations will look in the clients' web sites as well as their competitors and will look for appropriate keywords. These people follow the best strategy that will ensure on the internet visibility as well as exposure.

Now, let us mention the benefits that will help an organization's site reach the surface of the search engines.
• Personalized Search engine optimization answer
• Long term best rankings searching engines
• Higher web site traffic and online sales
• Worldwide business coverage
• Business business identity
• Suggestions for company improvement
• Follow-up service
• Maximum returns