I usually don’t like to give credit to other people but this site has a great article with screenshots on using the bates stamping features of Adobe Professional. You have to be at adobe pro not standard for bates stamping and redaction but for smaller firms or firms not in a big system like Concordance this is a great option for bates stamping software. Click the link below for a really well done article.
So the ipad is here (watch part of the keynote below). So its a tablet PC or maybe just a large ipod touch or iphone. The keynote addresses that Apple is not interested in making a netbook that netbooks are just slow cheap laptops. Hm. Netbooks are portable, light, fast at what they should be used for and yes inexpensive. I am not sure about Steve’s assumption that netbooks are not hear to stay. Lets talk the positive:
It looks like a really neat device
I am excited by Apple’s choice to make a high powered device in the sub $500.
Takes multitouch to a new space
ereader + web
The not so positive:
iphone OS instead of full OS X
no multitasking
no flash support
no camera would have been a great start to video phones
Apple has knocked their laptops and iphone out of the park will the ipad live up to its brothers? Time will tell. The real question is, would you buy one?
It has been estimated that 70% of all business transactions begin with a search. Even if that is 50% correct, that means over a third of business transaction begin with some type of search function. Clearly, coordinating all effort toward appealing to those searches is necessary to drive business to your website. Logically then, it follows that doing so is a matter of knowing what people are searching for. From my previous post we know that finding out what search terms (i.e. keywords) need to be targeted isn’t a matter of simply guessing. So how do you employ them to get people to find your site? Include them in the right areas of your site in the right proportions. Here’s how:
Domain Name – admittedly using a keyword or a combination of keywords in your domain name is not often an option, however, doing so on landing sites IS almost always an option. More about this in a later post. Suffice it to say for now that this can make a huge difference in how search engines rank your site.
Metatags – “Meta” information is simply user-defined data that is added to your site specifically for the search engines. It is, for the most part, unseen by visitors to your site and should be crafted using keywords. It’s important to mention, however, that not all search engines even use metatags in their ranking algorithms. So it’s still valuable to include your keywords in your metatags, just know that certain search engines – Google especially – will ignore the data.
Site Title – This is the name that appears in top of your browser. Often you’ll see website titles like “home” or “welcome” or some other name that lacks keywords. Including a keyword or multiple keywords in your site title can make a big difference in your site rankings.
Anchor text of Links – For sake of simplicity, let’s divide the links on your website into 3 parts: the name of the link, the string of characters that says where the text goes, and the tool tip for the link (the anchor text). The tool tip is text that shows up when you hover your mouse pointer over the link. Make sure your anchor text includes your keywords
H1 & H2 Headers – These are the titles of your articles and or sub-articles. Resist the urge to title the different articles on your site with catchy or nifty titles – unless they include your keywords.
Content – I talked about how keywords should be used in your content in a few of my previous posts, but for the most part using your keywords 2 to 3 times within the first 150 words is a good starting point. Additionally, keeping your keyword usage within 2% to 5% of your total word count generally works out best.
The world is taking a break from everything this last week and watching the images coming from Haiti and I think we are all taken back. It is a great new year in 2010 and we have so much to be thankful for here in America. One of the technology innovations making a difference in this crisis is the ability to text and donate $10 to the Red Cross. So join us here at ITP and text to help:
Text HAITI to 90999 to donate 10$ to American Red Cross
In my last post I talked about what keywords are. This time, I’m going to go into a bit more about how to determine which keywords are valuable to your online marketing and search engine optimization efforts. Unlike traditional marketing vehicles where you craft a message that you expect to resonate with prospects, search engine optimization requires you to figure out what words or phrases (keywords) people will use to search for your products or services. Certainly, this requires you to know your market, your business, and your target prospects, but you also need to know what your competition is doing. For that, there are some tools that can help you gather more information about what keywords are likely to be valuable to your business AND what keywords your competition is using:
Google Search Based Keyword Tool (http://www.google.com/sktool/#) – This tool is free and provides some basic information about keywords that could be valuable to you. It is at the very least insightful and, used correctly, can be invaluable. Let’s take a look at how it works…
You can type a domain name in the “domain name” field for suggestions specific to a domain name or you can simply type in some keywords to get “general” information as I did below.
What you’ll find is how often your keywords are used in searches along with some other similar search terms (below). You’ll also find an estimated dollar amount next to each term. These dollar amounts are the average prices other businesses are bidding on these terms in their pay-per-click/adwords campaign. I’ll go more into Google Adwords, pay-per-click campaigns, and writing ads for Google and other search engines in future posts. For now, however, you can see how this information can be invaluable in your efforts to find the best keywords for your business.
Another popular tool is Word Tracker (http://www.wordtracker.com/) which has a few more advanced tools to help you make decisions on your keywords.
Ultimately, you need to have a good idea what keywords potential prospects are using to look for your products or services. Once you have a good grasp of the keywords you want to target, you’ll be able to utilize them throughout your search engine optimization efforts. Next time, we’ll talk about how to use the keywords you’ve targeted.
In a number of my previous posts I used the term “keywords” and I did so for good reason – they play an absolutely critical role in all your online marketing efforts. Yet, until you know what keywords are it’s pretty tough to incorporate them into a search engine optimization strategy, much less tactically employ them in a manner that will drive business to your door. So let’s start by defining what keywords are…
In the simplest terms, keywords are words that people will use when searching for your products or services. For example, a business in the Chicago area looking for accounting services may type the following phrase into a search engine: “Best Chicago Accounting Firm.” Each word in the phrase, “Best Chicago Accounting Firm” is a keyword. Now clearly, if you’re our hypothetical Chicago Accounting Firm you wouldn’t use any of those keywords by themselves because it wouldn’t make sense. No one is going to do a search using only one of those terms – at least not anyone looking for an accounting firm in the Chicago area. So we use terms “Long-tail keyword” or “Short-tail keyword” to describe the type of keyword “phrase” we’re talking about. True to the description of each term, Long-tail keywords are longer search phrases and Short-tail keywords are shorter phrases. Each type of keyword traditionally provides different benefits, results, and traffic, but I’ll post more about keywords and how they directly relate to search engine optimization in my next post. Stay tuned.
Unlike other advertising mediums (magazine, yellow pages, radio, tv, etc.) the online world moves fast, often changing by the day. It’s part of what makes online marketing so challenging and intriguing. It also means that in order to succeed you have to be better than your competition. So understanding what factors matter the most can make all the difference. Here’s a quick list (and maybe a little recap from previous posts) of the things you should pay close attention to as you engage in your online marketing efforts:
Keyword in your domain name – whether it’s your main site or a landing page having the proper keyword(s) in your domain name is critical.
Age of domain – not much you can do about this, but it’s important to note that there’s value in the duration of time you’ve owned your domain name.
Title of Web page – Pretty self explanatory here.
H1 & H2 tags – Header tags, especially your H1 and H2 tags, should be properly worded and, ideally, specific to the keywords your targeting.
Competition of the keywords – know your keywords and compete them intelligently.
Keyword density – Articles you write, blog entries, pretty much all content can benefit from good keyword density. In general, using a keyword 2 to 5 times in first 250 words of any content is a good rule to follow.
Frequency of updating – Search engines like change. Keep it fresh and make them happy.
Internal link structure – I’ll be posting more about the dynamics of website links in the future, but for now, ensure you have a logical link structure for your site. And be careful not to create a link structure too deep. No more than 3 layers deep if you can.
Next time, more about keywords – how to find them and what to do with them when you do. Stay tuned.
From time to time we like to take a break and recognize our clients and their online work. One client we are particularly proud of his continued investment into his online marketing through blogging is Attorney Tristan Pettit of Petrie & Stocking. Tristan is both knowledgeable and personable and you can see by his large online blog following a clear expert in the field of landlord tenant law and eviction in the Milwaukee, WI area. Whether you are a property owner, know someone who is a landlord or just interested in good writing- do yourself a favor and read through a quality, informative blog. Wisconsin Landlord Tenant Law blog by Tristan Pettit
I ran across this article written for Tech Republic (a great source of all things technology) by Debra Littlejohn Shinder and thought it would be helpful to many businesses. Being in IT, I’m all too familiar with the scams businesses see in their e-mail boxes every day, but I know some (many) people still get confused. So, here’s a little quick information on what to look out for when you’re reviewing your e-mail in the morning…
1. Fake Facebook “friend” messages – these are e-mail messages that look the same as when someone posts to your Facebook wall or sends you a private message.
2. Fake Messages from “The Administrator” – these are messages that come from “The Administrator” of any number of given organizations (facebook, your bank, credit card, etc.). Here, there are two things that give away these “false” e-mails.
First beware of the “To” address – it will be incorrect and you most likely won’t recognize any of the domain name(s).
Secondly, if it’s not from your local IT administrator, you should immediately be wary. Because honestly, when is the last time you had an “administrator” send you anything valid that wasn’t as simple as “server reboot tomorrow” or “turn your system off tonight”?
3. Messages that play on our fears – these are emails that feed off of current events or high profile media events a good example would be the (H1N1 virus ) Swine flu, etc. Don’t panic, just don’t click on it.
4. Cancellation of an account Emails - these may show up even if you don’t have an account with them! These messages are usually chocked full of spelling/grammar errors and are often sent from another country.
5. Fake “Holiday Cards”- these cards are usually very generic, rather than saying that they are from a specific person’s name they say it is from “a friend”. Be careful, because when you open them, you could be putting your computer at risk without every being aware of it! To be on the safe side, only open Holiday Cards from friends, or better yet just don’t open them at all.
6. Notice of the “Mysterious” package message – these are e-mails saying that you have an UPS, FedEx or perhaps DHL package that was undeliverable due to incorrect/incomplete address information with an attached form that they need you to complete in order to get the package to you. Just as you may suspect, there really isn’t a package at all! They want you to open the attachment so they can infect your computer with a virus. Because some people may be aware of this kind of scam, they will try and infect your computer by sending you an email with a link to a Web page to open instead.
7. Government “Threat” Emails – these can be sent to you to notify you that either the FBI or Homeland Security has been notified of your alleged involvement in terrorist activities or money laundering. Just as you may suspect from a hoax like this… they have an offer for you to avoid prosecution, which could be a payment of a few hundreds made to the Economic Financial Crimes Commission Chairman. If it would be an official threat, they would contact you in person, without asking for a payoff to buy your way out.
8. Fake “Census Survey” email – here again they will use the Federal Government to get you to respond to their emails. The Federal government does require you by law to fill out a census survey every 10 years, and yes, they may send you an online request for your participation in a census surveys, but they don’t ask for your personal information unlike email scams.
9. Abuse of “Trust” in software and hardware manufacturers – these e-mails are basically fake security warnings with a “quick fix” attachment, dubbed to look like it was sent from Microsoft or another familiar company. These “quick fixes” are really malware to fake special offers to payment requests which require you to download and install a transaction inspector module if you want to decline to have payment charged to you credit card.
10. The “Fake” You-are-a-Winner E-mail – You just won a prize, how awesome is that? Well, the only problem is you didn’t enter into any contest to win the prize. These e-mails want you to fill out a form to claim your prize, complete with your social security number so “the value of your prize can be reported to the IRS.” Remember to check out the legitimacy of any email notification. If you need to send any sensitive information, remember to email it encrypted if you don’t have an alternative method in which to submit it.
Keep in mind, if you’re unsure just don’t open it. It’s just that simple. Instead, call your helpdesk, administrator, or IT manager and let them figure out whether it’s valid or not. Trust me, they’d rather you call them than open it.
So you’ve completed your site and now you’re ready to unleash it on the world. Congratulations, if you used all the good design principles detailed in my previous posts, you’re probably a long way ahead of your competition. But now you need to put your site somewhere. Your Internet service provider is a good option, right? Hmmm….Well, if not your Internet service provider, certainly the firm that designed your site then, right? Or how about just going to one of the large hosting companies? The price is right and with the amount of sites they host they’ve got to be good at it. The answer is a resounding “maybe.” In short, a few simple factors are going to make all the difference. Knowing these can make or break your online marketing and SEO efforts.
The good news is these factors are pretty simple: bandwidth, who-you’re-with, and location.
Bandwidth – pretty simple stuff here. Whoever hosts your site needs to have enough bandwidth to serve your site to all those who want to see it. There aren’t really any “sure-thing” tests or tools you can use to verify this, but this information should be provided to you by your hosting company in your agreement. Verify data throughput maximums and check to see if there are any bandwidth guarantees.
Who-you’re-with – this criteria may be the most important of them all. Ultimately, the other sites hosted on the same server as you make a difference – both in terms of the server’s ability to deliver the site (too many sites can bog a server down) and even more importantly, the type of sites that are on the server. Want to be hosted with pornography sites? Probably not. The sites your website “commiserates” with makes a difference. Use this tool to check and see who you’re hosted with. You might be very, very surprised.
Location – the facts are that many of the largest hosting companies and data centers are located domestically in Florida and Texas. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if your business is located in or near either state (or if many of your customers are). However, if you’re located quite a ways away from either of those locations and many of your clients/customers are local, this can make a difference in the time it takes for your site to load. Is it likely to be a huge difference? No, probably not. But how many times have you waited 4 or 5 seconds for a site to load and gotten frustrated? The fact is that even as ridiculous as a few seconds sounds, people don’t expect to wait so why make them? Ultimately you want to drive people to your site and get them to become customers. Hosting your site in a local data center may not be the answer, but then again if you have a quality data center near you it is probably worth looking into.
Ultimately, your decision on where to host your site can make a difference in how the search engines look at it and how quickly it loads for people. Both should be considered very seriously.
Next time we’ll talk about how to be better than your competition. In the online world you don’t necessarily have to be good, you just have to be better than your competition. Stay tuned.
Law Practice Management | Paul Hager | 
February 5, 2010 8:49 pm | 
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