Friday, April 22, 2011

Alt Attribute & Seo

SEO Optimization images is becoming more and more important in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is really a critical step that is often overlooked. This is often a lost chance of better rankings.


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

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

Why would they ask us to achieve that? The answer is easy, really; search engines like google have the same problem as blind users. They can't 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 certain keyword density, which is not as relevant for rankings now since it once was.

On the contrary, high keyword density can, on some search engines, trigger spam filters, which might create a penalty for the site's ranking. Even without such a penalty, your site's rankings won't benefit from this plan.
This method also puts persons who use screen readers at a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that really read aloud the contents of what is displayed on the screen. In browsing the net, the alt features of images are read aloud too.

Imagine listening to a paragraph of text that is then repetitions of numerous keywords. The page would be not even close to accessible, and, to put it mildly, would be found quite annoying.
What is an Alt attribute?

An ALT attribute shouldn't be used like a description or perhaps a label to have an image, though lots of people use it for the reason that fashion. Though it may appear natural to assume that alternate text is really a label or a description, it is not!

What used inside an image's alt attribute ought to be its text equivalent and convey exactly the same information or serve the same purpose the image would.

The thing would be to supply the same functional information that the visual user would see. The alt attribute text should be the "stand in" when the image itself is not available. Think about this question: If you were to replace the image with the text, would most users receive the same basic information, and wouldn't it create the same response?
A few examples:

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

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

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

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

If it is designed to convey the use of a function, then your function is what should 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 only a decorative role within the page, make use of an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image so that reading browsers don't bother users by uttering such things as "spacer image".

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

Alt text should be based on context. The same image inside a different context may require drastically different alt text.

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

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

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are stuff that serve no purpose apart from to make a site visually appealing/attractive and (oftentimes) fulfill the marketing departments. There isn't any content value (though there might be value to some sighted user).

Never alt-ify eye-candy unless there's something there that will boost the usability of the site for somebody utilizing 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 actually set the atmosphere or set happens as it were. These graphics are not direct content and could 't be considered essential, but they're important in they help frame what's going on.

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

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

Most times this will depend on context. The same image in a different context may require drastically different alt text. Obviously, content ought to always be fully available. How you use this example is really a judgment call.

III. Content and Function

This is where the image may be the actual content. Always alt-ify content and functional images. Title and long description attributes may also be so as.
The reason many authors can't figure out why their alt text isn't working is that they don't know why the images are there. You need to figured out exactly what function an image serves. Consider what it's concerning the image that's important to the page's intended audience.

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

Besides the alt attribute you have a couple more tools available for images.
First, in degree of descriptiveness title is within 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 never shown like a "tooltip" when focus is received via the keyboard. (So much for device independence). So use the title attribute only for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points towards the URL of a complete description of an image. If the information contained in an image is important towards the meaning of the page (i.e. some important content would be lost if the image was removed), a longer description than the "alt" attribute can reasonably display should be used. It may offer 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 a long description of an image...The aim is by using any length of description essential to impart the facts from the graphic.

It would not be remiss to hope that the long description conjures a picture - the image - within the mind's eye, an analogy that is true even for that totally blind."

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

Oftentimes, you are best just going with your gut instinct -- if it's not essential to incorporate it, and when you don't possess a strong urge to do it, don't include that longdesc.

However, if it's essential for the entire page to operate, then you have 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 a single spot, but not in another. If an image provides absolutely no content or functional information alt="" or background CSS images may 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 in order. In many cases this type of thing is a judgement call.

Image Seo optimization Tips


Listed here are key stages in optimizing images:

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

Label the file extension. For example, when the image internet search engine sees a ".jpg" (JPEG) file extension, it's going to assume that 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;

Ensure that the written text at the image that is highly relevant to that image.
Again, don't lose a great chance to help your site with your images searching engines. Begin using these steps to rank better on all the engines and drive increased traffic to your site TODAY.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Search Engine Optimization


The following is part of a multiple part series covering image optimization techniques. This article is intended for beginners through intermediate SEO’s; if this doesn’t pertain to you, you may want to skim as most of this will probably be review material for you.


Some of the big questions many people ask are why would they even want to perform image optimization? Doesn’t it just help people who want to steal or hotlink images? And is there really any meaningful traffic or links that you can get from image optimization? IMHO the answer is yes. Let’s say someone is going on a trip to Italy. They might do image searches for things to do or see in Italy and for famous Italian landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Piza, the Trevi Fountain, or St. Peter’s Basilica. Thanks to Google’s universal search results, images provide a way to get onto the first page (or, in some cases, the top result) and get a click through, an ad view, or adsense impression. It might even get a lead generation completion. Maybe you run a fish store. If a university professor or government agency needs a picture of a fish and your image result appears, and you allow your images to be reused in exchange for a link, this can be huge way to passively build links slowly over time (true story! It happened for a client I used to have). Now that we’ve got the why out of the way, let’s talk about the “how” of image optimization.


Filenames


This is one of the most basic elements of image optimization. If you have an image of blue widgets, I would name your image “blue-widgets.jpg” or “blue-widgets.gif”. You can use other formats like PNG, but I have gotten better results with “jpg” and “gif” files. You can use other characters like underscore as word delimiters, but I get better results with hyphens. You can run the words together if they are separate in other factors. I have found stemming plays a role (ie widget vs widgets), but you can get around it using other factors. I haven’t seen capitalization play a role, but I prefer to use all lower case because I usually use Apache servers and case sensitivity matters. If you are going to have multiple images of the same object-type, I suggest adding a “-1″, “-2″ onto the end.


Now, before the hate mail or hate tweets start, it is entirely possible to have an image rank without the keywords being in the file nameIF there are enough other factors in place. However, you should ask yourself why would you give up a chance to give a search engine a signal about what an image is about? If you work on a large ecommerce platform or other large database application, chances are good that your gold diamond earrings will have an image file name like “GDX347294.jpg” that corresponds to the item’s SKU or other internal classifier. So, yes, you will have to sacrifice the keyword for business reasons.


ALT Text


Let’s get the basic information out of the way: ALT text was designed for screen readers or visually-impaired people to know what they weren’t seeing. Your goal is to use it to satisfy the screen readers while being keyword focused enough for the search engines and without being a keyword stuffing spammer. Here’s an example of ALT text variations:


Keyword stuffed: discount hotel room paris france


ALT text only: Eiffel Tower


SEO optimized: Eiffel Tower from Louvre Bons Enfants hotel room


Striving to find a balance between pleasing the search engines and text readers can be a juggling act. If you are risky with some of your other SEO techniques, I’d play this on the safe side.


Headings and Bold Text


If image optimization for a particular image is important, I really like to optimize the image with bold or a heading tag of the term I’m chasing right above the image. I’ve found this really helps give a strong signal to the engines



seo optimization services


Search Engine Optimization - An OverviewSlide1 by doggy00123

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bench Craft Company on the subject of hotel

"Getting data privacy 'right' is an economic and social imperative. Trust and confidence in the security and privacy of the critical systems of our planet - especially the digital version of its central nervous system, the Internet - is foundational to individuals' continued engagement and reliance on such things as online commerce, e-health and smart grids. If individual consumers don't feel that their privacy and security are protected, they will not support modernization efforts, even though the capabilities of technology advancements are proven and the potential benefits to society are extensive.



"Here's an example of the tensions we face: The ability of smart grids to conserve resources relies on the ability of, and commitment from, consumers to monitor and modify their individual usage. An individual using a smart meter understands the difference in the cost of using electricity at peak versus non-peak hours and could opt to lower their usage during more costly time periods. At the same time, data from the meters can reveal sensitive information such as work habits, shower schedules, use of medical devices such as dialysis, and whether or not a house is occupied."



"I don't worry that the technology will have a negative impact on consumer privacy," wrote Mark Roberti, founder of RFID Journal in a June overview of the state of the RFID market where privacy is concerned. "Instead, I worry that ignorant legislators trying to score points with uninformed voters will pass laws that limit the many benefits RFID can deliver--and that is a much bigger threat to consumers."



Today's agreement in Europe appears not to be the kind of legislation Roberti feared. As a framework focused on self-reporting it may be too little, ultimately, but it's a start.











"Getting data privacy 'right' is an economic and social imperative. Trust and confidence in the security and privacy of the critical systems of our planet - especially the digital version of its central nervous system, the Internet - is foundational to individuals' continued engagement and reliance on such things as online commerce, e-health and smart grids. If individual consumers don't feel that their privacy and security are protected, they will not support modernization efforts, even though the capabilities of technology advancements are proven and the potential benefits to society are extensive.



"Here's an example of the tensions we face: The ability of smart grids to conserve resources relies on the ability of, and commitment from, consumers to monitor and modify their individual usage. An individual using a smart meter understands the difference in the cost of using electricity at peak versus non-peak hours and could opt to lower their usage during more costly time periods. At the same time, data from the meters can reveal sensitive information such as work habits, shower schedules, use of medical devices such as dialysis, and whether or not a house is occupied."



"I don't worry that the technology will have a negative impact on consumer privacy," wrote Mark Roberti, founder of RFID Journal in a June overview of the state of the RFID market where privacy is concerned. "Instead, I worry that ignorant legislators trying to score points with uninformed voters will pass laws that limit the many benefits RFID can deliver--and that is a much bigger threat to consumers."



Today's agreement in Europe appears not to be the kind of legislation Roberti feared. As a framework focused on self-reporting it may be too little, ultimately, but it's a start.












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New York Yankees reliever Pedro Feliciano likely done for season


Yankees lefty Pedro Feliciano will get a second opinion on his injured shoulder, but an MRI indicates he's likely done this year.


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Breaking tech <b>news</b>? Get email notifications as it happens. - TNW Voice

We're in the technology news business. To that end, if it's old, it isn't news. Given that you're reading this, chances are that you live, eat, sleep and breathe the tech lifestyle and want to get the news as soon as it happens. ...


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

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


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Video calls were a mainstay of classic sci-fi films, and even today there’s something almost magical about seeing your friends and family on the screen of a portable device. Video calling has been around for some time, but it’s only really in the past year or so that its got more attention among regular users. That’s thanks in no small part to Apple and FaceTime, as found on the iPhone 4, iPad 2 and other gadgets from the company’s range. Read on as we give FaceTime the full SlashGear 101 treatment!




So Apple invented video calling, right?


No, not at all, though they did do a lot to make it easier to use – just as long as you have the right hardware. Video calling is actually a part of the 3G standard, which – if the carrier and whatever phone you’re using supports it, which isn’t the case in the US – has been available since around 2003. Unfortunately a combination of high pricing, poor understanding by users, mediocre quality and patchy reliability meant this form of video calling has never really taken off.


Apple’s FaceTime takes advantage of the company’s tight control over the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and MacBook software, which has allowed it to polish the video calling experience to the point where everyday use is possible. Now FaceTime is available to anybody at the touch of an on-screen button.


Do I need an Apple phone to use FaceTime?


Not necessarily a phone, but definitely something with the Apple logo. FaceTime was first supported on the iPhone 4, which was Apple’s first mobile device with a front-facing camera (i.e. one that looks at the user, rather than out the back of the handset). The latest iPod touch and iPad 2 both have front-facing cameras and FaceTime support as well, and Apple has released a FaceTime app for its Mac and MacBook computers so they can join in the fun as well. FaceTime comes free on the mobile devices and the very latest Macs, and is a $0.99 download from the Mac App Store for earlier Mac owners.


Okay, so how do I use it?


It’s pretty simple, just as Apple was aiming for. On the iPhone you make a voice call in the normal way and then tap the FaceTime button on-screen to switch to video. On the iPod touch and iPad 2, you start a video call in the FaceTime app. You’ll need an Apple account in order to make and receive calls, since that’s used as the “phone number” for devices other than the iPhone 4.




Currently, FaceTime video calls can only be made when you have a WiFi connection, not when you’re using the mobile network for data. That’s a limitation Apple has put in place itself, though the company has said it is working on removing it in the future.


I’m not into Apple, can I video call with something else?


You certainly can, though the process gets a bit trickier. Various apps are available for Android and other mobile phone platforms which promise video calls, sometimes over not only WiFi but the 3G mobile networks too. That means you can make video calls when away from your home network or a WiFi hotspot, as long as your signal is strong enough.


Skype, Fring and Qik are all among the companies offering video calling apps, though their effectiveness often varies on a phone-by-phone basis. Not all phones have front-facing cameras, either, though they’re becoming more common on the latest handsets. A future SlashGear 1010 feature will look at the best video calling apps if FaceTime isn’t your thing.


Apple has said it plans to open up FaceTime to other manufacturers, so that non-Apple phones can make and receive calls too, but so far there’s no sign of that actually happening.


More information at Apple’s FaceTime page.








We’ve been hearing all kinds of Chatter that the next version of Final Cut Pro will debut in Vegas at NAB next week.  Thing is, we hear this every year and Apple hasn’t really done a NAB properly in awhile.  That’s OK, we’ll take that we can get.

Rumors are flying that Apple will be using the Vegas Supermeet to announce the next version of Final Cut Pro. Supposedly, Apple will be taking over the entire event for their announcement, cancelling all other sponsors, including AJA, Avid, Canon, BlackMagic, Autodesk and others, who were set to give presentations.

Philip Bloom just confirmed with me that Canon has canceled his appearance at the Supermeet. Canon was told last night that Apple has demanded ALL “lecturn” or stage time exclusively. Some sponsors who were not using presenters may continue to sponsor the Vegas event, but none of them will be presenting on the stage. I can’t imagine any news that would warrant this kind of “take-over” other than to announce and demonstrate the next full version of Final Cut Pro and possibly an entirely newly designed FCS4.

(UPDATE: Avid confirmed that Supermeet (Michael Horton) told them last night that their sponsorship had been cancelled. According to Avid, “Apple doesn’t want anyone to have stage time but them.”)

Who’s up for Vegas?

We heard the first concrete details about Apple’s all new Final Cut Pro coming during Spring this year, and recently some new information has come to light. Final Cut Studio expert Larry Jordan was one of the people at Apple’s meeting, demonstrating the upcoming upgrade to the professional film-making software.

Jordan can’t say much about the upgrade, due to an NDA with Apple, but he did say it is a “jaw-dropper.” Besides the “jaw-dropper” part, the thing we are taking most from his blog post is the fact that Apple allowed him to write it up. It appears that Apple already considers the software public knowledge. Afterall, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did tell a 9to5mac reader to buckle up for it.

Thanks to Charlie Sanchez

  • Next Final Cut Pro is a “jawdropper,” Apple considers it public knowledge, and will it drop at NAB? (9to5mac.com)
  • Apple says last Xserve orders shipping in April, here’s what’s next for XSAN (9to5mac.com)
  • Nasdaq to cut Apple’s weighting in rebalancing (9to5mac.com)
  • Feeling the heat, HP and Dell execs lash out at Apple, pray iPad will fail (9to5mac.com)
  • Certain MacBook Pro models ‘unavailable’ for reservation at many Apple Stores (9to5mac.com)
  • Apple asks Toyota to remove the Scion theme from Cydia (9to5mac.com)
  • New Final Cut Pro hits Spring ’11 and it’s the “biggest overhaul yet” (9to5mac.com)
  • iOS 5 pushed to the fall: major revamp, cloud-based, WWDC preview? (9to5mac.com)

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It’s not such a wonderful time to be a doctor, patient, hospital, health plan or pharma company, but judging by the quality and quantity of entries received for this edition of the HWR, it’s a wonderful time to be a wonk.


A couple weeks ago CMS released draft rules for Accountable Care Organizations. Several bloggers weighed in on that development:



  • Mark McClellan and Elliott Fisher at Health Affairs provide some historical context and argue that “those who care deeply about health care reform all have a common interest in the success of ACOs as a way of avoiding more classic fee-for-service payment cuts to providers.”

  • On a more downbeat note, The Road to Health concludes, “Dr. Berwick and his colleagues at CMS appear to have taken the ACO concept and made it into a financial program that only delusional practice administrators, or physician organizations bent on financial self-destruction, could love.”

  • The Healthcare IT Guy expects ACOs to be “far more lucrative and disruptive than Meaningful Use and likely to yield more patient quality improvements.”

  • GE Healthcare puts the emphasis on ACO change management challenges: “Healthcare executives and management teams are left to focus on preparing their organizations for a cultural shift of seismic proportions.”

  • HealthBlawg reviews the proposed rules and produces 8 takeaways. #2: “This is the Frankenstein regulation: A Medicare beneficiary must sit on the board of the ACO, CMS must approve all marketing materials before they are used.”


In the midst of the battle over funding the 2011 budget, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan came out with a plan to radically restructure Medicare and Medicaid starting in 2012:



  • The Apothecary likes much of what he sees and thinks the proposal may force Democrats to devise a credible plan of their own

  • John C. Goodman’s Health Policy Blog contrasts PPACA and the Ryan plan. “Obviously, the path we are on leads to an impossible place. So the only question is whether we are going to get off the current path in a planned, orderly way or whether we are going to let unplanned chaos do the trick.”

  • Wright on Health is less impressed and wonders, “if Rep. Ryan is so adamant about reducing the deficit, why is he cutting taxes for the wealthy and cutting programs for the poor and the elderly?”

  • Managed Care Matters is decidedly unswayed. “If you were looking for real solutions to the health cost problem, you’re going to be sorely disappointed… Unfortunately, he’s fallen into the same trap his Democratic colleagues did with their version of health reform – the Ryan plan does little to address costs.”

  • The Incidental Economist takes issue with Ryan’s plan to convert Medicaid to block grants and cut spending. “Should Medicaid be cut back, more people will be uninsured. Contrary to what some wish you to believe, those who become uninsured will suffer worse health outcomes”


As if the ACO rules and Ryan plan weren’t enough, there’s more on Medicare in the blogosphere:



  • The Covert Rationing Blog –always good for a lighthearted pick me up– “asserts that we are one giant step closer to the day when it will become illegal for all Americans to spend their own money on their own healthcare.”

  • Dr. Liberty discusses CMS’s deliberations on whether to pay for Provenge, a pricey prostate drug. “Decisions are made on the basis of politics, and the drive is to cover everything, leading to higher costs.”


Amid all the federal policy blogging, there’s still some room for technology talk:



  • Healthcare Talent Transformation has had it with Health Net’s repeated goof up’s leading to loss of confidential data. Although it may seem like there’s not much the average person can do, the blog argues, “You can make an impact on the security of your sensitive data by conducting due diligence when it comes to your insurance provider.”

  • The Healthcare Blog offers a video collage of the new Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health. “The Center is  a pretty fascinating place–part tech and idea showcase and part meeting room. Certainly no other health care organization that I’m aware of has spent so much on a place designed to stimulate the imagination and enhance conversation–under the nose of the folks on Capitol Hill.”

  • Meaningful HIT News features a podcast with mHealth Initiative’s Peter Waegemann, who’s shifted over from EMRs to ride the mobile wave

  • Healthcare Economist delves into new papers that, “examined how to develop accurate algorithms to account for cancer stage in studies using claims data.”


It was encouraging to receive a couple submissions about  journalism:



  • Disease Care Management Blog asks, “Is the kerfuffle over National Public Radio (NPR) the long delayed comeuppance for liberal bias run amok, or a narrow-minded attack on the inconvenient truths from journalistic excellence?” The blog reaches into the world of medicine and discusses of “framing” and its impact on patient decision making to provide an answer

  • HealthNews ReviewBlog cites, “daily evidence of the need for improvement in health care journalism – especially when we see examples like hype of a tiny, preliminary study of strawberries for esophageal cancer.”


We always have room in the Health Wonk Review for some posts on medical ethics:



  • Nuts for Healthcare looks at the pharma industry and concludes, “Doctors need to take a more definitive stand against the specter of industry influence. A good target? Industry sponsorship of continuing medical education.”

  • Health Care Renewal is concerned that so-called government run programs are more private than we think. “The majority of Medicaid has been out-sourced to private health care insurance companies… We need to have some real discussions about the rise of corporatism in US health care, in other aspects of US society and around the world.”


And finally, a few odds and ends



  • Workers’ Comp Insider provides resources for employers concerned about radiation exposure

  • Colorado Health Insurance Insider chronicles the decline of bipartisanship in the creation of a health insurance exchange for that state. “Healthcare reform has become such a polarized topic that it’s difficult for lawmakers to have any stance other than for it or against it.  Even though the health insurance exchanges would be marketplaces that sell private health insurance, the word ‘exchange’ has been thrown around so much during the reform debates that many opponents of the PPACA see it as synonymous with ‘ObamaCare.’”

  • Last week I went to a health care direct to consumer marketing conference to see former TimeWarner CEO Jerry Levin interviewed by OrganizedWisdom CEO Steve Krein. I also shared my thoughts in the video clip below



Thanks for reading the Health Wonk Review! The Incidental Economist hosts the next edition.





 



The Business Rusch: Royalty Statements


Kristine Kathryn Rusch


Imagine this:


Pretend you run a very large business.  The business has a lot of built-in problems, things not easily fixed.  You’re aware of the problems and are trying to solve them.  A decade ago, you actually had hope you could solve them.  It will simply take time, you thought, but back then, your business was a leisurely business.  Back then, you had no idea that the word “leisure” would leave your vocabulary and never return.


In that decade, your business has changed dramatically. Your corporate masters sold out to large conglomerates, so now you can no longer point to your small but steady profit as normal for your industry. The conglomerate doesn’t care.  All the conglomerate cares about is quarterly profits, which should rise steadily.


Your industry doesn’t work that way, but you do your best to make those quarterly balance sheets work for the conglomerate.  Unfortunately, that means any long-term outlook you used to have no longer works for your corporate masters.  Now you can only look one year ahead, maximum, because that’s all the focus the conglomerate will allow.


One of your business’s largest problem comes out of the nature of the industry itself. The success of each product cannot be replicated.  Just because you build one really good widget doesn’t mean that your next widget will sell at all.  Your business has a luck aspect to it, an unpredictability that no matter how much you plan, you can’t fix.


The other built-in problems mentioned above cause your prices to verge on too high.  If you solve the built-in problems, you might lose even more revenue, because most of those problems benefit the stores that sell your product. Those stores have made it clear they will not order from you if you take those harmful (to you) perks (to them) away.  So your prices hover at a point too high for an impulse purchase, even though your business does better when consumers can buy your product on impulse.


You have maintained this system for decades now, trying different ways to fix the built-in problems.  None of the solutions work, because the only way to fix the built-in problem would be to have an industry-wide change, one that all of the businesses in the industry agree to.  Unfortunately, if all of the businesses in the industry make that change, it will hurt stores, which will say that the industry businesses colluded to hurt their retail business—and sadly, the stores, under U.S. law, would be right.


So the easy solution is impossible, and all other solutions are half-assed.  You hang on and your business maintains a consistent, if unspectacular, profit year after year after year.


Then some changes hit your industry that force you to cut costs where you can.  Some of that cost cutting comes in employees.  You have to lay off necessary folk and hope that the remaining staff can pick up the slack.  These things have happened before, and you believe that you’ll be able to rehire in a few years.


Only this time, the economy “craters” and a global recession hits.  Every business loses much-needed revenue and products like yours, which are not necessities, sell to fewer and fewer consumers because the consumers have less disposable income.


You anticipate, cutting everything you can, dumping real estate, abandoning rent, maybe even negotiating your way out of some long-term contracts.  At the very end, though, you can’t prevent it: You cut staff to the bone.


Now, in some departments of your business, one person quite literally does the job that five people used to do as recently as a decade ago.  You have no flexibility left.


And then the industry you work in undergoes a technological revolution, one so big, so profound, that it changes the way business gets done.  Because you aren’t flexible, you adapt to the change late.  You can’t hire new employees to help with the shift without firing the remaining good, valuable (and dare we say it), unbelievably efficient employees that you kept when the recession started.  Yet your old employees can’t adapt to the new world.


Worse, this new world requires new systems.  You have to figure out new ways to produce your product.  You need to shoehorn these changes into the existing contracts with your suppliers.  You need an entirely new production crew because the old ways to produce your widgets are becoming obsolete.


And, most annoyingly, you need to develop an entirely new accounting system, because everything you’ve known, everything you’ve done, no longer applies in this brand-spanking new technological age.


But you can’t hire employees who can actually help you develop these systems.  Because those employees won’t earn you any money.  At best, they’ll prevent a loss of revenue. At worst, the systems they develop will cost you money because your suppliers, whom you pay a percentage of the retail price of the product they supply, will realize you’ve been inadvertently shorting them since the technological change hit at the same time as the beginning of the global recession.


In other words, to fix this problem, you will need to invest—in  new employees, in brand new technological systems, in new ways of doing business.  More importantly, you will have to take a huge loss as you make this change.  A loss that might eat into your profits for not one, not two, not three quarters, but maybe for two to three years, something your corporate masters will never, ever allow.


Better to close your eyes and pretend the problem doesn’t exist.  Better to hope no one notices.  Better to keep doing business as usual until profits rise, the recession ends, the world becomes wealthy again, and you can make the changes without causing a series of quarterly losses on your balance sheet.


Better to keep kicking this problem down the road until you retire or move to another company, preferably one which has already solved this problem so you don’t have to deal with it.


Does this scenario sound familiar? It should if you watch the evening news or read a daily newspaper.  Industry after industry suffers a variation of these problems, some caused by inefficiency, some by technological change, and all exacerbated by the worst recession to hit in the last eighty years.


But this blog deals with publishing, and what I just described to you is the situation at traditional publishers—the big publishers, the ones most people mistakenly call The Big Six (there are more than six, but leave it)—all over New York City.


Last fall, I dealt with these problems in depth.  Before you decide to comment on this post and tell me that traditional publishing will die (which I do not believe), read the first few posts I did in the publishing series, starting here.


I’m grappling with the changes in publishing just like everyone else is.  I knew that the changes—particularly the rise of e-publishing—would hit traditional publishing hard.  And it has, although not as hard as I initially thought.  As Publishers Weekly reported earlier in the month, traditional publishers have remained profitable in the transition so far.


The reasons why should sound familiar to those of you who read my earlier posts.  Publishers Weekly puts it succinctly:  “While the improvement in the economy helped all publishers in 2010, companies where profits improved all pointed to two main contributing factors—cost controls and skyrocketing e-book sales.”


Right now, e-books comprise about 10% of the book market, but some analysts believe that e-books will be as much as 50% of the e-book market by 2015.  Some see evidence that e-books will grow faster than that.  A month ago, a Barnes & Noble executive made news when he stated in a speech that e-books will “dominate the market” in 24 months.


We all know these figures are important.  Daily, writers tell me about their careers and then ask me if they should become independent publishers or go to traditional publishing.  As I’ve said repeatedly, I see no harm in doing both.


Earlier this month, however, I opened my mail to find a big fat warning sign of the future.  And if the problem that I—and hundreds of other writers—noted doesn’t get resolved, then traditional publishing will cease to be viable for all writers.


What happened?


I got a royalty statement for backlist titles of one of my on-going series.  The statement came from a traditional publisher.  Let me give you some background.


A few years ago, the publisher refused to buy the next two books in the series saying that while the series had some growth, the growth was not enough to justify the expense of a new contract.  I started writing some novellas in that series and publishing them in the magazine markets while I searched for a new publisher.


Then the e-book revolution hit, and as an experiment, I put up two of those novellas as e-books. Since they were the first two e-books I had ever done, the covers—in a word—sucked.  I did no promotion and no advertising, except to say in the cover copy that these e-books were part of this particular series.


In the first six months of 2010, those badly designed short novels sold about 300 copies each on Kindle, the only venue they were on at the time.  No advertising, bad covers, just hanging out waiting for buyers to find them.


I would occasionally check the Amazon sales ranking (that weird number you see on each book Amazon publishes, the thing they use to compile their hourly bestseller list).  Even though that ranking did not give me actual sales numbers, I did note that the sales of the novellas were less than the sales of the traditionally published e-books on Kindle in the same series.


In August, I wrote to the traditional publisher, asking that my rights revert.  The kind woman in rights reversal explained to  me that she couldn’t revert the book rights because the e-books were “selling too well” to revert.  Okay. All well and good. What I care about is getting books into the hands of my readers. I figured I would eventually be compensated for this.  I just had to wait until the royalty statement hit.


Which it did. At the beginning of this month.


How many e-books did the traditional publisher say I sold? 30.  That’s right. 30.


When the novellas, which had worse sales rankings from Amazon, sold 300 each.


That 30 number didn’t pass the sniff test for me.  So I talked with other writers who have books in the same genre with the same company. The writers I talked with also had some e-book savvy.


Guess what? They had been shocked by how low their e-book numbers were as well, especially in comparison with their indie published titles.  The indie books which had Amazon rankings indicating fewer sales sold more copies than the traditionally published books by a factor of ten or better.


Let me indulge in another sidebar for a moment.  I’m involved with four different indie publishers, two of which allow me to see the day-to-day operations, and one of which I own part of.  We’ve been having trouble setting up an accounting system that works efficiently for more than 100 different e-book titles.  The problem is, in short, that the ebook distributors report sales by publisher and then by title, and not by author, so if you’re published by AAA Publishing and your book is called  The Embalming and I also have an older book called The Embalming through AAA Publishing and they’re both in e-book, AAA Publisher will get sales figures on a daily basis for The Embalming. Which Embalming does that statement refer to?


Also, the e-stributors report at varying times throughout the year (some daily, some monthly, some quarterly), so if I want to know how many copies my book The Embalming sold in March of 2010, I can’t easily get that information because the info might not have been reported yet from some e-bookstore in some faraway country.


What all of the various indie publishers have figured out is that using a standard spreadsheet for each title is labor-intensive.  You can easily input data into a spreadsheet for one or two or even ten novels.  But when it comes to 50 or 100, the data-entry—figuring out what book belongs where and when (even if you use the estributor’s the computerized spreadsheet)—becomes prohibitive.


What we need is a cloud-based system that can be queried.  For example, the system should easily answer these two questions: How many copies did KKR’s The Embalming sell worldwide in March; and how many copies did KKR’s The Embalming sell through Kobo’s out-of-country distribution channels?  Right now, no spreadsheet program can answer that information easily from a pool of 100 titles and various e-book outlets without a lot of man-hours of data entry.


Traditional publishers—and indie publishers, for that matter—don’t have the staff with the ability to organize this wealth of information. Still, traditional publishers must —by contract— report the information to the best of their ability on royalty statements.


To do so, they revert to an old pre-computer accounting method.  The method existed back when there was too much data to be quickly processed. We all learned it in school.  They used little snippets of data to estimate, often using an algebraic equation that goes something like this:   If The Embalming sold (x) copies in January and e-books sales rose on a trajectory of (y) copies over a six-month period of time, then (x) times 6 adjusted for (y) equals the number of sales of The Embalming.


Close enough.  And frankly, I would be satisfied with that, if the number the publisher had come up with wasn’t so wildly off.


For me, in the instance with the traditional publisher I mentioned above, the difference between 30 copies per title and 300 copies per title is pennies on the dollar.  It’s not worth an audit.


But I never think in small terms.  My training in three fields—journalism, history, and the extrapolative field of science fiction—forces me to think in terms of the future.


Right now, e-book rights are a subsidiary right, negligible and relatively unimportant.  Between two and five years from now, e-book rights will become the dominant book right.


If traditional publishers do not change their accounting methods now, then these accounting methods will end up costing writers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  (In some writers’ cases, millions of dollars.)


Those of you who have any knowledge of journalism have just looked up and asked, Why the hell did Rusch bury her lead? That’s the story: publishers are screwing writers on e-book royalties.


But those of you who have had journalism careers know why I buried that lead.  When I was a news director faced with a reporter who had brought me information like the information I gave to you above, I would have said, Sounds like a good story.  But it’s all supposition.  Now get me something concrete.  Somthing I can use.


So that’s what I tried to do.  Last week, I contacted dozens of traditionally published writers who also had put up some backlist on their own in electronic format.  The writers who had the information handy responded with actual numbers.  The writers who didn’t told me that they had worried about their royalty numbers when the statements arrived, but had no real proof that anything had gone awry.


I also spoke to some trusted agent friends, several lawyers who are active in the publishing industry, a few certified public accountants, and other professionals who see a lot of publishing data cross their desks, and I asked those people if they had heard of a problem like this.


To a person, they all confirmed that they had. All spoke off the record, none with numbers.  A few hinted that they couldn’t talk because of pending action.


In other words, I got the confirmation I needed, just nothing that a reputable journalist could print.  Most people spoke to me on what’s called deep background, confirming my theory, and giving me some suggestions of places to look, and people to contact.  Several people, mostly writers, spoke on the record, but rather than using their information in isolation, I’ve chosen to keep their statistics confidential and to only go with mine.


Frankly, what I’ve learned is this:


Right now, some—and I must emphasize some, not all—traditional publishing houses are significantly underreporting e-book sales.  In some cases these sales are off by a factor of 10 or more.


This is a problem, but at the moment, not a serious one.  When e-books are 10% of the market, we’re talking a relatively insignificant amount of money per author. As one long-term writer said to me, “Ever since I got into this business, I expect my publisher to screw me on the sales figures.  This is no different.”


If you don’t understand that writer’s point of view, read the trust-me post I wrote a few weeks ago.


In the past, I would have agreed with that writer.  But I don’t in this instance.  We’re at an important moment in publishing.  We have the opportunity to change the behavior of traditional publishers.  We can, with an effort, get them to change their accounting practices.


The reason I started the blog post the way I did is this: I wanted to explain, before I got to the heart of this post, how traditional publishing works.  I wanted understanding before I worried some of you.


Because here’s the truth: traditional publishers are not indulging in a criminal act. They’re doing the best they can out of necessity.  They see no reason to spend precious dollars revamping their accounting systems to accommodate e-publishing when those dollars can be used elsewhere in the company.  Especially when an accounting change will cost them money, and might lead to payouts that will hurt quarterly profits for months to come.


It’s up to writers—and writers organizations—to force publishers to allocate those scarce dollars to develop systems for accurate e-book accounting.


If you are a traditionally published author, do not—I repeat, do not—write a blistering letter to your publisher accusing him of stealing your money.  Instead, contact any writers organization you belong to and point that organization to this blog.


What needs to happen is this: writers organizations need to band together and order group audits of e-book sales on behalf of their traditionally published authors.  One organization cannot handle the cost of this group accounting alone.  It’s better to have all of the writers organizations work in concert here.


A group audit of all the traditional publishers in various publishing divisions will force an accounting change—and that’s all we need.  But we need it before e-books become the dominant way that books are sold.


If you’re a traditionally published author who has also produced some self-published e-books and you want to do more than contact your organization, do this:


1. Look over all of your royalty statements.  Compare your indie e-book sales to your traditionally published e-book sales.  Make sure your comparison is for the same time period. For example, do not compare January 2011 sales to January 2010.


2. Compare similar books.  It’s best if you have books in the same series, some indie published and some traditionally published.  If you don’t have series books, then compare books in the same genre only.  Comparing romance sales to science fiction sales will not work because romance novels always outsell sf novels.


3. If you see a discrepancy, report that—with the numbers—to your writers organization.  Be clear in the letter you send to your organization as to what level of involvement you want in this issue.  Are you only there to provide background information? Will you take part in a group audit? Will you work on this project?


I’ll be honest.  I’m not going to participate in any group action.  Even though I’ve published with every single major publisher in New York, I only have two books caught in this problem.  I’m more interested in getting the rights in those books reverted than I am in insignificant back royalties.


If I was still a reporter, I would spend the month or two going after this story with a vengeance. But I am not.  In  nonfiction, I am just your humble blogger, stirring up the pot.  My career is in fiction, and I have found no problem with the publishers of my frontlist books.  I also have six novels with firm deadlines that won’t allow me to take time away from fiction writing to pursue this.


So all I can offer is a blueprint.


If you’re a reporter who specializes in the publishing industry and you want to tackle this story, e-mail me privately.  I’ll tell you what I can without revealing confidential sources.


If you’re a traditionally published writer, please follow the steps above.


If you’re an indie-only writer, stop gloating and for heavens’ sake don’t tell me or anyone else that this is proof traditional publishing is dead.  The majority of writers don’t want to self-publish, even when told how easy and financially beneficial it is.  They want a traditionally published novel.


Here’s what I believe: If a writer wants to publish traditionally and can secure a contract, then that writer should be treated fairly, with accurate sales reporting and good royalty rates.


Let me state again for the record.  I do not believe that anyone in traditional publishing is setting out to screw writers on this issue.  I do believe the scenario I wrote in the first 800 words of this blog: I think traditional publishers are overwhelmed and stretched to the limit.  Accurate e-book sales reporting is not even on their radar.


Right now, changing the accounting system is not high on their priority list.  It’s up to the writers—acting in concert through their writers organizations—to make accurate e-book sales reporting and accurate e-book royalty accounting a number-one priority in publishing houses across the country.


Let’s work together to solve this glitch before it becomes an industry-wide disaster for writers—anywhere from two to five years from now.


Last week, a few of you asked in e-mail why I have a donate button on this blog.  Also, last week, this blog marked its two-year anniversary. Every Thursday for two years without a miss, I have published an article on freelancing, business, writing or publishing (and sometimes on all four of those topics).  For the first 18 months, those blog posts were part of a book I was writing called The Freelancer’s Survival Guide (which, even though it’s now published, is still available for free on this website).


Initially, I had hoped to make my publishing articles into a book as well, but the industry is changing too fast.  I cannot make the publishing articles into a book that will be accurate in the short time it takes to produce.  So when this month rolled around, I did the numbers like I always do.  When I do a strict economic analysis, I am losing about $100 per week on each post—even with donations.  That’s because I can’t leverage these posts into any other income source.


However, I always ask the next question: am I getting something besides money out of these blogs? Right now, I am.  I would be doing the same research, the same work, and the same analysis with or without the blog.  I would be discussing the changes with my writer pals.  But I would lose the week-to-week contact with writers all over the world, who comment on the blog or in e-mail, sharing their own stories.


And that would be a significant loss.  It more than makes up for the financial loss.  But the donate button is here to minimize some of the financial damage, and to encourage me in busy or difficult weeks to carve out the time to write my post.


I hope that answers the question.  As always, I appreciate the feedback and all of the support.








“The Business Rusch: Royalty Statements” copyright 2011 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.


 


 



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George Washington University students in Washington, D.C. learned of a tragic coincidence of timing on their campus Wednesday. As President Obama delivered a speech on deficit reduction in the Jack Morton Auditorium, ...


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Roofing Companies Vancouver - 5 Questions to Ask yourself

Roofing Vancouver - Frequently Asked Questions


1. Repair or Replace?

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


2. Beauty versus Practicality?

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


3. Should I replace the rooftop so I can sell the home for additional?

Consider this cautiously before making a decision. With respect to the roofing material you select, a brand new roof lasts between twenty, fifty, to one-hundred years! This means you have to look into the year from the roof that's currently over your head first. Are you at year 18 of a 20-year warranted roof or year 30 of a 50-year warranted roof? Obviously, the quality is the reason why the roof keep going longer, but if you're not planning to remain in your present home throughout your lifetime, the larger expense may not be worth your investment. Although a new roof can enhance the value of your selling price, the rise may not be enough to pay for neglect the and that's definitely going to hurt your wallet.


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

Sure it is. But before you need to do, consult an expert first. You can do it yourself, but you shouldn't be considered a complete ‘lone ranger.' With respect to the extent of the repair, you may or might not convince you. In either case, it will help to obtain a professional eye on the problem first and maybe a free quote so you can do the math later and find out if it's truly worth your time and effort, sweat, and cash to become mister or miss fix-it.


5. When is a great time to get the roof replaced?

Weather can cause delays from days to weeks. Most people prepare yourself to have their roof replaced in the summertime when they know someone is going to be home during the day for a solid fourteen days. Once you have this period in mind, create a call to a trusted contractor months ahead of time to obtain a quote. Some companies get booked up fast and chances are, they're probably the most reputable. Preparing in advance from the summer also gives you time to ask around more and compare costs...especially if you need to possess the roof done by a specified date.

 

The very best 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 your roof more than 20 years old and showing wear and tear? Are your gutters overwhelmed and draining poorly?

When the response to these questions is "Yes" it is time to call the top roofing company Vancouver - Crown Roofing & Drainage.

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

YOUR Vancouver ROOF DESERVES Believe it or not!

The rooftop of your Vancouver house is the very first line of defence against wind, rain, snow, ice and other weather conditions. Make sure it is as much as the job. Among Vancouver Roofing companies, only Crown Roofing has got the depth of experience and successful track record to make sure your roofing system is going to be properly designed and installed.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS.

One reason Crown Roofing continues to be the most successful roofing contractor in Vancouver is our resolve for our neighbors. We treat your home as though it were our very own and that we were building a roof to protect our own family. That's what neighbors do, and you will rely on Crown Roofing being here to support you and also back our work. After all, we've been repairing and replacing roofs in Vancouver since 1902!

Obtain a FREE INSPECTION AND EVALUATION OF YOUR Vancouver ROOF.

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

 

Monday, April 11, 2011

Tacoma Roofing contractor: Help your house be Beautiful

Not many people view the worth of a good roof, but your knowledgeable Tacoma Roofer does. From top notch experience, they'll be in a position to tell you the reason why you require a strong, secure, and leak-free roof on your home.

Your local Tacoma Roofing contractor is knowledgeable how important an economic investment your property is for you personally, especially as it is a lasting one. Your home might have been damaged slowly through the years and you need to take steps to reduce this damage. For a lot of people, keeping their house beautiful is another matter of pride. There are those too who'd like to turn their property right into a cost effective and efficient living place. Your roof is an integral part of your property and contributes to each of the aspects mentioned above. Because of this, you should employ the expertise of qualified a Tacoma Roofing contractors.

Kinds of Roofs installed with a Tacoma Roofer


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

Each type of roof invites distinct problems, but they can be easily taken care of by a trusted Tacoma Roofing contractor. It's imperative that you nip roof problems in the bud before they become too costly or dangerous. You are able to schedule a scheduled appointment with the Tacoma Roofing contractor to take a look at your roof to see if there are any issues or potential problems with it. If there are, they may be in a position to let you know how to deal with them.

A Tacoma Roofing company Helps you to Build Strong Homes


The exteriors associated with a house, primarily the rooftop and gutters, face the onslaught of bitter and varying weather conditions, day after day. Painting, repairing, and cleaning gutters might be necessary. In some instances you may have to replace them completely. Usually, whenever your gutters show signs and symptoms of trouble, your roof must also be inspected for problems. Whatever issues there may be, an experienced Tacoma Roofer can examine them at length and suggest the remedy.

In case your gutters often clog too often, or you will find leaks along the walls of your home, it may mean that there is debris piled up on the roof. Loose branches, piles of leaves, along with other light objects that are swept on your roof throughout a storm can all contribute towards damaging your roof, and these damages could be lasting. An educated Tacoma Roofing contractor will tell you that birds, mice, and other types of rodents often build nest within the debris that collects on the top. While these nests may look rather innocent, they're great at collecting moisture, be responsible for loose shingles, mold, and indoor leaks in your home. In addition, this may also cause vermin infestation. After a storm, your Tacoma Roofer will claim that you inspect your roof for any signs and symptoms of debris or damage.

Reverse Damages with the Help of a Tacoma Roofing company


However high quality the rooftop might be, it will eventually wear down with time. You will find shingles which are known as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are only related to warranty produced by the manufacturers. They seldom last that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles will not last more than fifteen to twenty years. Within an area that's prone to storms, shingles or even the entire roof should get replaced every ten years. Having a Tacoma Roofing contractor, the price is going to be lower than what you think.

If there you lose any shingles, or there's some harm to them, a Tacoma Roofing company will be able to help you. Damaged shingles can result in indoor leaks, since the substrate of the roof becomes subjected to the elements. Shingles which are loose or broken can slip off and pose a potential hazard to individuals standing below. Missing shingles produce a gap that allows rain, wind, ice, and debris to develop underneath the adjoining shingles, which creates a "domino effect" that affects other shingles plus they become loose or broken. A thorough investigation is going to be made by your local Tacoma Roofing company, should you call them track of your suspicions of loose or missing shingles.


Your Tacoma Roofer come in a situation to inform you what are the best option is perfect for your roof. If your roof isn't inside a good shape, it's advised that you have it replaced completely. The Tacoma Roofing company can take you through the different roofing options available for you which will fit your requirements as well as your budget.

Tacoma Roofing company: Enhancing your Home's Efficiency


Your roof shelters you against storms, sleet, and hail. By giving adequate ventilation, your roof protects your house from overheating, and by holding in the heat, it keeps your home warm. That's why you need to ready your roof from indoors in addition to outdoors for any kind of weather emergency. A Qualified Tacoma Roofing contractor can provide help in this situation.

To begin with, inspect your roof thoroughly for just about any and all type of damage, prior to the beginning of a year. The gutters should be clear, debris shouldn't be piled on or trapped under shingles, there should be no homes of squirrels or birds in the eaves or attic, and the roof should be structurally sound. For your last part, you will need the assistance of the local Tacoma Roofing company. It may be quite dangerous to climb to the roof of your property. This is where the contractor from Tacoma Roofing contractor is available in. He'll check out the strength and security of the roof and shingles, and do a general inspection from the entire roof structure, to make certain that it's in proper working order. They'll be in a position to point towards issues that you have to keep close track of and problems you might not have spotted.

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

Tacoma Roofer: Someone You Can Count On
In the event that you realize or suspect that there is a problem, your Tacoma Roofer ought to be contacted. They are able to use their knowledge and expertise to obtain your house back in ace condition by simply working on the rooftop. Your homes roof deserves attention. So give them a call today, to enable them to get down to caring for your roof.

 

Sunday, April 10, 2011

What is Distinction between Commercial Roofing Companies From Residential Roofing Companies

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

If this sounds like the case then their labor costs will prohibit them from working on non union residential jobs. Beyond that, if a commercial roofing company hasn't signed a contract having a union they might be outfitted simply for commercial jobs which of course means their workers and equipment might not be consistent with smaller residential jobs.

Residential roofing contractors in general tend to run smaller companies and hence, tend to be more in a position to bid competitively on residential jobs, which tend to be small compared to comercial jobs. Actually, quite often residential roofing contractors will run one man operations, where the contractor that you speak with may be the one that actually does the job about the building.


residential by jpignanello

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

Still an additional factor is that commercial jobs can run on a tighter time period for just about any quantity of reasons, requiring an industrial contractor to employ a larger crew or crews which again makes smaller jobs not as profitable on their behalf.

 

Difference Between Commercial Roofing and Residential Roofing

Are you aware that the rooftop of a building has a huge impact on the entire structure itself? Damage caused to roofs due to natural or another disasters leads to a considerable loss of property everywhere. The kind of materials used to construct the rooftop that ought to be sturdy and long lasting, the manner in which the roof continues to be installed as well as its timely maintenance are extremely crucial. There are two kinds of roofs which are utilized on all the buildings that we see around us: commercial and residential. Although it might seem that commercial roofing is performed just for businesses or offices and residential roofing is performed for apartments and houses, in reality the differences tend to be more complicated than that.


residential by jpignanello

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 an industrial roof is commonly larger when it comes to sq ft than the usual residential roof.
Commercial roofs are necessary carefully keeping the nature and purpose of the building in mind. For instance, when there is a restaurant within the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes will be required. Residential roofs tend not to have such components apart from a chimney or two at the most.
Commercial roofs tends to be flat in design to accommodate further changes at a later period, whereas most residential roofs have peaks along with other architectural features like roof gardens.
Commercial roofing is a lot more expensive than residential roofing due to the special tools, materials and safety equipment which are needed onsite. Usually the patching or maintenance work is done in segments unlike for a residential roof in which the repair or replacement work could be completed in a short time. This is another reason why the equipment employed for residential roofs is often smaller and less expensive too.
Commercial roof installations take a longer time to accomplish in comparison to residential roof installations and are usually constructed in large sections. In this phase however, it is important to ensure that there are no leakages, cracks or any other visible wear and tear signs as it can certainly cause considerable harm to the entire building.
You should install the best roof for a building based on its purpose. Ensure that you hire a construction company that uses first class materials and has the right equipment for the job or neglect the may turn out to be considered a huge loss later.

 

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

If your business is seeking to have work done on its roof, it is important to use commercial roofing contractors which have an enthusiastic knowledge of any special needs that the business may have. For example, a roofing job is often disruptive for that operation of economic as usual. For this reason, it may be essential for the business to be temporarily turn off, or for the roofing to occur after business hours have ended. A roofer that understands these needs can work plus a business to make sure that these types of issues are minimized.


roofing contractor toronto by Gclooner

First of all , a company must do when it is trying to find commercial roofing contractors is to discover who other businesses in the area will work through. Obviously, this article not be helpful if it comes as an indicator from competitors, but there are circumstances in which it is not too difficult to find this information from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing is not an industry-specific service, this post is easily available.

It's a wise decision for any business to get in touch with at least three commercial roofing contractors to create bids on the price. In this manner, the company could obtain a better price. It's also vital that you ensure that each of the roofing contractors is licensed and bonded. This information are available by permitting touching their state contractor's board. This also makes it possible to determine whether there have been any claims filed from the company in the past.

When looking at bids, it is only as vital to look at what services are being offered and which products is going to be used because it is to look at the overall cost. The costs can differ quite drastically, but as tempting as possible to go for the cheapest bid, this isn't always the best option. Oftentimes, more costs now will mean fewer costs in the long run due to an undesirable roofing job. To help investigate the caliber of the job, it's a good idea to check on with the Better Business Bureau in order to see if the business continues to be accredited, and when it has not, to at least see what its rating is.

 

Selecting a Commercial Roofer


commercial by jpignanello

When you are looking for a roofer for the commercial roofing project you have to find a contractor who understands the special needs of a commercial roofing project. For instance it may be harder to operate on a business during business hours so either the company needs to be turn off for that repair or replacement or the job needs to be done after conventional business hours. Is the roofer you are considering for the job ready to operate around your schedule constrictions that might involve working weekends or evenings?

When you start your research for a roofing contractor you don't only need to answer those questions but you should also hire a company which will do a high quality job with no lot of time delays. Going about finding someone can feel as an obstacle by itself but there are several ways to make the search easier.

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

Once you select 3 or 4 roofers to place bids, you need to prepare yourself for that bids to become widely varied. Roofers may have brand preferences which will vary and could element in pretty much compared to next guy for a labor estimate. The more detailed a written bid is the more helpful it will be to focus on where the cost will be incurred. Don't, however, select a roofer based solely about the bid price. Any low ball bids might be tempting to consider, but if they are low because of low quality workman ship it may not be worthwhile ultimately.

As they say, you generally get that which you purchase, if you can afford a mid-priced bid it's always a good idea to go up within your budget instead of down. You also should select your roofer depending on how professional they were and just how comfortable you anticipate you'll be dealing with them.

Finally your cost will be different depending on which kind of roofing material you choose as well as the cost to haul your old roof to the landfill. If you are looking for places to cut corners on your roof, rather than cutting labor set you back may want to inquire about metallic roof option. Metal roofs can be cost effective and energy efficient making them overall money savers for that long run, as well as on commercial buildings they can be really low maintenance. Plus given that they can be put on top of an existing roof, you don't need to have the old one removed and hauled away, which can make a large impact on your cost.

Selecting a comerical roofing company nearer your home, does not have to be a difficult task. For more information, visit http://www.vancouverroofers.net

 

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Seattle Roofing Companies - How to locate The Best

In the home of rain and sleet, commercial coffee and grunge, and the famous space needle, you'll find a house which will suit you. Seattle, Washington can be a good place to build a house, however, you need Seattle roofing contractors to help you out. Your roof is, after all, the crowning glory of your home, as well as your strongest type of defense against the elements. You must have something that is not only built to last, but built to attract making your house more beautiful

Harsh Weather

How come roofing contractors essential in this the main country? Because Seattle is usually bombarded by rain and other harsh weather conditions, you'll need a roof that can withstand all of the forces of nature. With this in mind, you'll need individuals who be aware of Seattle weather best, and who know what materials can best go into your roof for it to last far longer in the region. In addition to all this, you need to blend with the rest from the houses in your living space, so you cannot simply get whatever roof you please.

In most these aspects, a Seattle roofers should be able to help you out. All that you should do is search for Seattle roofing contractors online to be able to obtain the best bang for your buck without wondering if the contractor will suddenly try to escape by using it and then leave you roof-less.

Why the Contractor Model Works

If you wish to set up your roof on your own, you will have to buy a whole lot of materials, secure permits and licenses, and obtain materials which are suitable for help you stay safe against harsh extremes of Seattle weather. This means that if you are a DIY kind of guy or gal, you will have to undergo a good deal of legwork in order to get the job done.

However, a Seattle roofing contractor can perform all the jobs for you and provide a package that can save you money and time. Because contractors operate under licenses and purchase materials in bulk, they are able to get discounts on building materials that you would not otherwise get should you be buying merely for your own personel home.

Roofing Associations


Roofing And Roofing Contractor In DESOTO, TX by roofinghub

Most roofing contractors also belong to roofing organizations which are bound by strict guidelines and standards. If they do well on their roofing job, they can showcase their roofing contractors association; if they do poorly, they are able to ruin the trustworthiness of their roofing contractors association and keep other contractors inside the association from getting good roofing jobs. There is lots of pressure to complete well, so you can be confident that prefer 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, therefore it knows what type of roofing you would like. The rooftop Brokers group can hook you up with the contractor that you'll require so that you do not have to look for contractors individually.

What Should You Demand from Your Contractor?

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

Pick a Seattle roofers that insures its employees, which has courteous workers who will respect your opinions and ensure that your needs are met. Ensure that you obtain the best value for your money: if you are unsatisfied using the job, you need to be guaranteed either money-back, or perhaps a free, new roof. Moreover, you also need the workers to find the job done on time, so be strict together with your deadlines - and find a contractor that is as strict when you are.

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


Selecting the Right Roofing Contractor Company for Replacing Your Roof

The shingles in your roof degrade and you're simply minded to locate a roofing contractor to replace the them. Perhaps you have already known as a few and are evaluating which contractor for your upcoming roof repair. How can you choose the best contractor for caring for your roof? Listed here are several things you should look at when looking for a legitimate roofer.

Where is the roofing contractor located? It is important to hire a roofer that is local. Then you will get a higher level of service if the roofing company is located near your home or comes with an office near your residence.
References. To look for the reliability of the contractor, references ought to be provided of the past clients who're prepared to vouch that excellent service was received. This should not be the only real factor in choosing your future roofer as some may claim they value the privacy of the clients and do not wish to bother them. If this is the situation, ask for business related references. The places that provide the contractor with supplies can reveal the quantity of materials and regularity of supplying the contractor to help determine their stability.
How does the roofer company handle complaints? There's a large number of issues that can arise throughout the progress of the roofing replacement. Ask what their process is perfect for handling complaints if they arise. It is also an excellent idea to get a past client reference who had a complaint which was resolved to the satisfaction from the client.
Terms of payment. What are the the payment schemes for the job? What's the down payment and amount due upon completion? Even though it is certainly reasonable that the substantial payment be made before a contractor begins focus on a project, it is strongly advised that full payment isn't made until after the entire job is finished.
Written contract. All the roofing replacement should be place in an itemized contract. No part of the contracting job should rely on verbal assurances.
Bonding. There are stuff that will go wrong with roofing installations that end up costing quite a bit of money to fix. Should this happen in your roofing replacement, you will feel a great deal better knowing that your roofer is bonded. This can supply the funds to repair 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 is actually a warranty on the materials being installed. Request a duplicate of the warranty.
Period of time in Business Just how long has the company you are interviewing experienced business? A short amount of time in business may reflect instability. If the contractor has been around business less than three years, verify just how long they have been in the industry. A brand new contractor may have a long time experience focusing on roofs before they form their own business. Seek a company that has been around for three years, or in which the contractor has had many more years performing roofing replacements. This again should not be the only factor, everyone has to start sometime. Balance this with referrals and the other points raised in the following paragraphs.
Appropriate Permits. A Seattle roofer ought to know what permits are needed for repairing your roof. They must be conscious of how to obtain these permits on your behalf. Ask the contractor whether or not they will obtain the permits essential to repair the rooftop.
Liability. If a worker becomes injured, who is accountable for the worker's compensation? If the contractor's equipment damages your house, who's liable for the repairs? A good contractor will provide certificates of insurance for liability and worker's compensation before they begin repairing your roof.
Subcontractors. Verify whether the contractor is going to be using subcontractors. If that's the case, it is strongly advised that everything contained in this article for verifying whether the contractor is credible also needs to be applied to subcontractors. You need to receive the names and license amounts of all subcontractors. You need to verify whether each subcontractor can also be insured so you are not held responsible for their accidents.
Pending Legal Actions. You should verify whether you will find any legal actions from the contractor. This is not only necessary for verifying if the roofing company is legitimate (credible roofing companies should not have to defend themselves in the court), it is also important because a lost lawsuit could cause the contractor to visit bankrupt. For those who have made a substantial down payment for services immediately before the company goes bankrupt, you could lose thousands of dollars and never have your roofing completed.
Material Disposal. Who is accountable for disposing of the waste generated from the roof being replaced? Will your contractor handle every aspect of this? Can there be an additional cost for getting rid of this waste?
NRCA Membership. Membership in local or national roofing associations, such as the NRCA, shows commitment to staying up to date with the very best methods for roof replacement and maintenance. Look for a roofing contractor having a high standard of education regarding their trade.
Replacing your roof is a significant investment. It makes good sense to ask serious questions before working with a roofer. Here are a few more tips that you ought to consider when selecting the best roofer for your upcoming roofing replacement.

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

 

For your SEO needs, you can check out Vancouver web site design and Vancouver Seo agency

It cannot be denied the worldwide web is just about the biggest financial market nowadays. Practically everything is anchored on the web. Currently, there are more than 182 million sites in the internet and still counting. If each one of these websites offers possibilities to make money, think of the limitless opportunities which can be found in the internet. More importantly, using the emergence of web sites, the requirement for website hosting and Search| Engine Optimization is significantly defined.

Seo is simply the entire process of helping the visibility of your internet site. As a result, if you'd like your web site to become visible to visitors, you should search for SEO Company. The optimization strategy considers how search spiders work and what people usually and what keywords they use. The main objective of SEO is making internet sites visible browsing sites through the natural or organic way.


Sacramento Seo Services by e3media.us

Organic search optimization or natural seo is a saying 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's two camps that search engine optimization companies may fall to, which are the 'White Hat' as well as the 'Black Hat', organic SEO would never belong to the 'Black Hat' camp.

Organic search engine optimization is really a highly specialized and complex practice which can literally dictate the success or failure of an online business. Since search sites often modify their algorithms, organic SEO isn't quite simple in any way. When search bots modify their algorithms, factors that allow your web site to appear facing prospects are decayed too. Thus, so that you can cope using these changes, SEO tactics and techniques has to be employed.

It is always ethical to utilize search engines engine optimization since search sites nowadays have grown to be extremely advanced they can easily determine if an online site is trying to manipulate their search indexes. Thus it's empirical to utilize search engine optimization practices which can be completed in 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 rather than linking schemes utilized by artificial SEO. Natural SEO also creates valuable resource in contrast to artificial SEO's algorithm chasing. With all these, one can clearly understand why search engines engine optimization is preferable over artificial seo. Although the latter may be harder and complicated, it produces favorable results which can be good for any web site. Fortunately, there are a lot of Vancouver SEO companies today offering the organic method in affordable rates and packages.


Search engine marketing Appears in this area


Internet Marketing ,Internet Advertising,Online Product Entry,Online Store Maintenance,Business Portal Marketing,catalog processing india  by Internet Marketing1

There was a time when search engine marketing was actually not essential.

Whilst late as a decade ago, in the event you developed a Web site anywhere, Google indexed it and you gained visibility in their search results. Your page might have been in one of the free "estates" where anybody could put in a page and Google didn't mind. It might likewise have been a pure affiliate page with no original content and Google still indexed it.

The situation is unrecognizably different now.

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

These wouldn't have mattered, except for something. It had been Google that provided the bread and butter for the an incredible number of small enterprises that could not afford expensive marketing campaigns. In case your site was one of the top few sites the appeared before a searcher's eyes when that person sought out your products, you have hundreds as well as a large number of visitors, lots of whom even bought your products.

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

Weight loss of one's competitors adopted seo practices, things became difficult again. Your role started to slip if the competitors did the SEO better. SEO battles became serious fights with every dirty trick working.

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

A war of wits followed between unscrupulous SEO practitioners and check engines. Google changed its ranking algorithms regularly to work around practices that allowed low value content to seem near the top of its search engine results. In the end, Google's success leaned on providing value to searchers, not merchants. And SEO practitioners came up with new tricks.

We will examine seo inside a series of articles, starting off by having an beauty at on-line or Internet marketing.

 


For your SEO needs, you should check out vancouver web site design and Vancouver Search engine optimization company.