Alt Attribute & SEO Optimization

SEO Optimization images is becoming more and more essential 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 that images in your web site:

Images:. Make use of the alt attribute to supply descriptive text. In addition, we recommend using a human-readable caption and descriptive text round the image.

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

Many webmasters and inexperienced or unethical SEOs abuse the use of this attribute, trying to stuff it with keywords, looking to achieve a certain keyword density, which isn't as relevant for rankings now as it once was.

On the other hand, high keyword density can, on some search engines like google, trigger spam filters, which might result in a penalty for your site's ranking. Even without this type of penalty, your site's rankings won't take advantage of this plan.
This method also puts persons who use screen readers at a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that actually read aloud the contents of what's displayed on the screen. In browsing the net, the alt features of images are read aloud as well.

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

An ALT attribute shouldn't be used like a description or perhaps a label for an image, though lots of people utilize it in that fashion. Though it might seem natural to assume that alternate text is really a label or a description, it is not!

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

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

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

If your search button is really a magnifying glass or binoculars its alt text ought to 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 suitable.

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

If it's meant to convey the use of a function, then the 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 in the page, use an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image so that reading browsers do not bother users by uttering such things as "spacer image".

Keep in mind that it is the function from the image we're attempting to convey. For example; any button images should not range from the word "button" in the alt text. They ought to emphasize the action performed through the button.

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

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

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

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are things that serve no purpose other than to create a site visually appealing/attractive and (oftentimes) satisfy the marketing departments. There isn't any content value (though there may be value to a sighted user).

Never alt-ify eye-candy unless there is something there that will enhance the usability of the site for someone utilizing a non-visual user agent. Use a null alt attribute or background images in CSS for eye-candy.

II. Mood-Setting

This is the middle layer of graphics which may serve to set the atmosphere or set happens as it were. These graphics are not direct content and may not be considered essential, but they are important in that they help frame what's going on.

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

For instance; Alt text that's just like adjacent text is unnecessary, and an irritant to screen reader users. I recommend alt="" or background CSS images in such cases. But sometimes, it's important to get this content inside for all users.

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

III. Content and Function

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

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

Besides the alt attribute you have a couple more tools available for images.
First, in level of descriptiveness title is within between alt and longdesc. It adds useful information and may add flavor. The title attribute is optionally rendered by the user agent. Remember they are invisible and not shown as a "tooltip" when focus is received via the keyboard. (A lot for device independence). So use the title attribute just for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points towards the Link to a complete description of an image. When the information found in an image is essential towards the meaning of the page (i.e. some important content would be lost when the image was removed), an extended description compared to "alt" attribute can reasonably display should be used. It may provide for rich, expressive documentation of a visual image.

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

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

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

Oftentimes, you're better off just choosing your gut instinct -- if it's not necessary to include it, and if you don't have a strong urge to do it, don't add that longdesc.

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

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

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

Image Search Engine Optimization Tips

Listed below are key stages in optimizing images:

Choose a logical file name that reinforces the keywords. You can use hyphens within the file name to isolate the keyword, but avoid to exceeding two hyphens. Stay away from underscores like a word separator, such as "brilliant-diamonds.jpg";

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

Make sure that the text at the image that is highly relevant to that image.
Again, do not lose a great chance to help your website together with your images in search engines. Use these steps to position better on all the engines and drive increased traffic to your site TODAY.

SEO Company

Gaining Discipline and a Strong Work Ethic at a Young Age

Entrepreneurs mostly fall short because they don't have the work ethic needed to start a business from nothing. It took a while, but I had to train myself to work 17 hours a day.

I've learned that it is the indirect work that an entrepreneur puts in that makes him or her successful. For instance, I continuously read new books that I feel may be pertinent to my job. I always take detailed notes so I don't forget the concepts.

If I'm not at the gym or sleeping for 7 or so hours, I'm available for my clients. This is what compels them to continuing working with my firm.

The biggest problem I have with my vendors is that it takes them too long to execute a request. Corporate America has set a standard of 8 hours a day - no more no less. It is imperative that the entrepreneur exploit this status quo and stand out from the crowd.

Advertising and Marketing on a Budget

I knew that I could not rely on cold-calling forever. Also, I am a firm believer that you should never rely on current clients. They can move companies and no longer need you, they can experience budget cuts, or you can have a disagreement that leads to a falling out.

However, pay-per-click would not work for me because candidates who yielded little to no return would kill my budget through costly clicks. Obviously it was important that job seekers visit my company's site, but they aren't the real revenue-drivers in the recruiting world. Therefore, I found various industry directories that were accessible to my target market and only cost a hundred or so dollars per advertisement annually.

Once I closed enough deals to support a marketing budget, I decided that we needed some form of SEO. I found a company out in California through the web and the sales representative, seemingly desperate for business, threw in 35 programmed new pages per month with the SEO.

At this point, I had an intern from NYU come to my apartment full time, and together we wrote over 150 landing pages. (Landing pages are website pages geared toward ranking on a particular keyword phrase or two and, mostly they are not linked to from your website's homepage.)

While their programming skills were satisfactory, when it came to SEO, my vendor had no idea what they were doing. Before we parted ways, over the course of approving programmed pages, my vendor sent me their programming and meta tags for my site.

This piqued my interest and I began studying SEO. I ended up studying it all day, every day. I knew it was the only way my company would grow. I read SEO blogs, contacted sites that would give links to recruitment agencies and, at this point I began the uphill battle that was cold-calling universities for.edu links.

In total, I probably contacted 350 or so university career centers in order to present my company as a career resource and, subsequently get a link from their site. I got a lot of resistance, mostly because I was a recruiter and recruiting has a certain low reputation, but some of the career center people were simply hard to negotiate with.

Partially, that's due to academia being its own, insular world, where rules apply differently than in the business world. A university in Arizona would not even accept donations to be listed because we were a staffing agency. Another university's career center got in a lot of trouble when the woman asked for $500 for us to be listed, but there was no cost for any other firm.

I knew something was wrong when she emailed me right away with a "First-Ever Best Career Center Intern Award" in which she would give cash to the student who did the best job of convincing her that they were the best intern and should get the money.

Then, there was my alma mater, who took a donation, only to tell me that the woman who swiped my credit card was no longer there and she didn't have authorization.

In the end, I ended up with only 30 or so links after literally days' worth of cold-calling hours. Even so, it was a higher number than my competition had. Right now, SEO is what fuels my business. We get around hundreds of visits a day and our advertising budget is a mere pittance compared to what most ad and marketing agencies quote.

This means that our firm does not need to attend trade shows and is not reliant on one particular customer to maintain a steady stream of revenue and fuel growth.

Recruiting the Right Employees From an Apartment

I started my business from a studio apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side, and continued to grow it when my wife and I moved to a larger place on the East Side. But a Manhattan apartment with the attendant space restrictions it still very much was.

I decided to prioritize growing our online presence and business base, as described above, rather than investing in office space before it made logistical sense. But I was quickly busy enough that I couldn't run the business on my own, and that meant bringing on employees.

Recruiting employees to work out of your apartment is very difficult. This is especially true when they are of the opposite sex. I knew that remote employees would not work, as they have a significantly higher turnover rate than in-house employees.

Also, I wanted to hire entry-level people, and too much autonomy leads to failure at that experience level. I wanted them trained by me and not another recruiting firm, therefore we would have to teach them the business.

When I set out to get new full-time people, I already had our Managing Director, Alison, on board so it was a little easier, but many applicants would not consider working out of an apartment.

They would get very skeptical as to the legitimacy of the company. Most would not show up to the interview.

The only way to accomplish recruiting the right people was to increase the salary for the position to roughly 25% over market. It was worth it, as we found one great employee who would help us find the 4th member of the team.

We also assured our employees that we would get an office, a promise that we kept and signed a lease after a few months of the new team members being on board.

Recruiting, even if you have the tools, is a very difficult thing for a start-up. However, the hurdles I cleared can apply to many industries, not just staffing or consultancy services. Work hard, plan smart, and hire right. Aren't those the basics to any start-up's success? The trick is getting them right the first time, or if not, to try, try again.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6129956

Part of my work as a social media manager is to consistently seek out new folks to engage across various social media platforms.. As a full time B2B social media analyst, it stands to reason that most of the tweeps I’m going to seek out are other businesses. In my searching I’ve noticed a curious trend.

Most of us are familiar with the big three icons, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, as they are everywhere these days – television, print, business cards, and yes, company websites. Adding these icons to your site, in a prominent location, helps to drive traffic to your social media pages which ultimately keep your site visitors engaged with fresh content. After users like your page, or follow you, or subscribe to your YouTube channel they’ll receive a constant stream of posts, which will include your messages. This helps enhance your web presence, has tremendous SEO benefit, and encourages brand loyalty.

So why are so many prominent companies hiding their social media pages?

I often find I have to dig through a company website to find the icons, sometimes displayed on the “about us” or the “contact us” page. Sometimes they aren’t displayed at all, yet after doing a Google search I find that they do, indeed, have a Twitter or Facebook account. What’s up with that?

B.L. Ochman at AdAge pointed out recently that only 44% of the Fortune 50 display their Twitter icon on the homepage, and a sad 4% link to their blog. While I hate to speculate on why they withhold their accounts from this prominent real estate, their homepage, I have to admit that it appears as if they’re, well, above it. My experience, although anecdotal, reveals a trend which I’m coming to recognize. Often it is the Mom and Pops that get it, while the big corporate sites tend to, more often, omit their sharing features. Don’t get me wrong,  many, like my company, have them front and center. But some, hide, or worse, omit them altogether.

Maybe this is because Mom and Pops are used to talking with their customers on a day-to-day basis. They aren’t so far removed that they’re afraid to put themselves out there, and they aren’t afraid of what their customers will talk about. I wonder if sometimes corporations become fearful of the very thing that makes them great, their customers, and social media can amplify that. The thing to remember is, people are talking about your brand anyway, and offering social media spaces where you can engage in those conversations gives you more control, not less.

So if you’ve started social media pages for your company but have not cross connected them you are missing out on several benefits. Use these ideas to get started:

• Include your social media accounts in your email signature and on your business cards


• Add all your accounts with the icons to your homepage


• If you have a blog, add your Twitter and Facebook accounts there as well as a link back to your website


• Include your Twitter account on your Facebook Info page


• Include your website in your Twitter bio

By doing these simple things, you’ll reap the benefits of the social media presence you’re working hard to establish. If you don’t have a social media presence yet, well, that’s another post.

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las vegas high rise condominium and bech craft company

Determination (the act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose,) it happens to be this attribute by yourself which will make or break an individual, a local community, or a nation. It is the attribute of determination which has set the bench craft company Besides the remainder of the competition, producing it the leader of Gold Course venue advertising inside United states. It can be this identical determination that can eventually make the bench craft company the leader in this discipline worldwide, because they start to put into action their remarkably

flourishing organization design on a worldwide scale.
There is certainly a require for this sort of a niche while in the promoting business. Some clientele and merchandise producers decide on to concentrate their efforts in promoting to a demographic that's specified to deliver the response that they need and need for their services or products. The top approach to generate a steady and constant client base should be to advertise to a likely demographic that could be statistically essentially the most steady and economically consistent. The bench craft company will provide this great demographic routinely, in a great natural environment, presenting their customers services to this demographic in the ideal of settings.
The golf courses that bench craft company function along with, receive goods and services at no added expenditure. bench craft company income force immediately finances the program for each golf course by obtaining sponsors for every solution. Neighborhood distributors and players with the neighborhood obtain sponsorship priority and golf program management functions carefully with Bench Craft to recognize

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The ahead contemplating Visionaries at bench craft company formulated a technique that garners the eye and participation of not only its unique sales staff, however the sponsors, golf course management and the membership and patrons.
To locate out a lot more important information about this Organization of the New Millennium you can communicate with the organization at: http://www.benchcraftcompany.com
Drive (the trait of being very motivated, the act of applying force to propel a thing.)

It truly is generate which has propelled the bench craft company to its position as the selection a person advertiser on golf program properties inside the United states of america. It can be drive that permits Bench Craft to supply above 1400 golf program properties in about 43 states for their consumers advertising and marketing demands. But what’s driving this corporation to regularly be the success that its 12 months after year?
Bench Craft can provide marketing companies in the specialized area of interest sector, golfers. This can be a sough soon after demographic given that statistically this demographic has the highest discretionary earnings while in the nation. This unique demographic also tends for being

one of the most economically steady within the nation. One of many most effective methods to get a client’s business enterprise sales and sales revenue secure would be to have their clients promote to a consumer base that's not merely economically stable, but constant at the same time. That is one of the

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The golf courses that bench craft company partners with, get goods and services at no charge. bench craft company revenue crew instantly money the process for each golf course by obtaining sponsors for each product or service. Regional distributors and gamers while in the neighborhood acquire sponsorship priority and golf program management works carefully with Bench Craft to spot potential sponsors. Bench Craft’s highly

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For an additional advantage, every single program is coated under a $3,000,000 liability coverage. The company can accommodate nearly any golf course. Furthermore to this, bench craft company performs along with all branches for the Armed Forces, as well as state, county and city golf courses. This array of golf programs

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The forward considering Visionaries at bench craft company designed a technique that garners the eye and participation of not merely its individual product sales workers, but the sponsors, golf program management and the membership and patrons.
To search for out more advice about this Service for the New Millennium you may

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Focus (a central stage, as of attraction, attention, or exercise) The central point from the bench craft company thru the decades has normally been to fulfill the wants of their customers while using the greatest and greatest specifications of advertising and marketing venues and support that may be made available within their jonrah. Most likely that is one of several primary good reasons the bench craft company will be the leader in marketing on Golf Program Properties during the U.s.. Its because of this focus on excellence that they keep up this most coveted honor yr soon after year during the marketing industry.
So what is the

concentrate of bench craft company? Obviously the emphasis is on excellence. There isn't any other reason to explain how this marketing enterprise regularly out-performs the some others in golf course marketing with this kind of a excessive fee of results. In their 25 yrs of firm Bench Craft continually presents it’s customers the fairly most desirable in golf program

advertisement year just after yr by supplying them while using most in depth geographical coverage inside the nation, with over 1400 golf programs in over 43 states. Supported also by regional offices nationwide, Bench Craft out-performs the competitiveness in advertising their customer’s services to the customers which can and can make use of them.
The golf programs that bench craft company capabilities in concert with, acquire products and providers at no expenditure. bench craft company sales force directly funds this product for every golf program by getting sponsors for every merchandise. Regional distributors and players in the neighborhood obtain sponsorship priority and golf program management performs closely with Bench Craft to recognize probable sponsors. Bench Craft’s extremely

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As an added advantage, just about every course is integrated under a $3,000,000 liability coverage. The company can accommodate pretty much every last golf program. Also, bench craft company works as well as all branches from the Armed Forces, as well as state, county and town golf programs. This range of golf programs

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To discover out extra information about this Organization for the New Millennium you’re able to speak to the company at: http://www.benchcraftcompany.com
The word innovation is made use of lots; most often it's utilized in a means that does not fit the real definition for the word. Advertising and marketing and advertising pros are significantly guilty of the tongue in cheek utilization of the word. So in the spirit of this bench craft company just isn't heading to tout the word innovation to explain how they've managed to be the nation’s selection on advertiser on golf program properties inside the America. Bench Craft isn't going to claim innovation on providing its clientele with all the most extensive network of golf courses (1400 in 43 states) for their purchasers to promote their services and products at. bench craft company is not really claiming innovation with offering golf program properties by far the most seamless still

powerful way of boosting their sales revenue stream by getting to be a Bench Craft partner.
The golf programs that bench craft company performs together with, obtain goods and providers at no charge. bench craft company gross sales force directly money the program for each golf course by obtaining sponsors for each solution.

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The golf courses that bench craft company works in concert with, obtain providers and programs at no price. bench craft company gross sales crew straight funds this system for each golf program by acquiring sponsors for every item. Native vendors and players in the neighborhood acquire sponsorship priority and golf course management performs closely with Bench Craft to acknowledge possible sponsors. Bench Craft’s extremely

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Bench Craft Company on the art of jobs

Here is a roundup of important small business tips to start out your week on the right track. We’ve tried to collect some of the best resources to get you started but we’d love to hear from readers as well, so if you’ve got some tips or advice to add, please, as always, leave them in the comment section below. Enjoy!

Legal

Legal tips for your small business. From Jeffrey Fabian of Fabian LLC, serving small business and legal professionals, here are a collection of legal issues every small business must look out for. Consulting on legal matters with an attorney can be another important step, but remember that legal issues of all kinds come with the territory in small business, so be prepared. 365 Days of Startups

Ideas for maintaining your professional image. As a small business owner or entrepreneur, your online reputation is becoming more important every day. So what does a Google search say about you? If you don’t know yet, you should find out. Reputation has always been an important commodity in the business world. The Internet has made it more important than ever. Beware! Startup Professionals Musings

Customer Service

Tips for creating a more appealing product or service. You may think you’re giving your customers choices, but, in reality, you’re only handing them indecision. And perhaps an invitation to do nothing? Here’s an alternative. Give them a step-by-step on how to use your product. Tell them what to do and how to do it. And don’t worry if it doesn’t fit every customer’s needs. They’ll create the fit that’s right for them. Chris Brogan

Marketing

How to set yourself apart from competitors. Saying you’re better than your competitors just isn’t good enough (even if it’s true.) The question is what you can offer customers that is different from any one else in the market. Create a service no one else provides in exactly the same way, and you’ll have a marketing strategy that can work in the long run. Duct Tape Marketing

How to use “help marketing” to strengthen your business and brand. You can call this PR instead of marketing if you like, but no matter what you call it, it may be the best thing for your brand and business, if you do it right. Helping others including your customers is really what your business should be about anyway. So don’t be afraid to show your willingness to extend a helping hand. TechLunatic

Startup

How to seek help from business accelerators. Efforts to get new businesses up and running have increased in recent years and business accelerators in various forms are spreading across the country, according to this piece on the trend. Often these organizations offer “more help than funding” but can still be an important resource depending upon the nature of your startup. Bloomberg Businessweek

Taxes

How to prepare for tax compliance expenses in your small business. Ballooning tax regulations are a huge source of expense for small businesses, especially here in the U.S. It’s important for small business owners to consider the expenses related to tax compliance, since this is likely to be an ongoing burden for small business owners into the foreseeable future. WSJ

Last minute tips for last minute tax filers. If you’re doing your small business tax filings on your own, here are some last minute tips you may want to consider ranging from how to file an extension to how long to keep your tax records and more. If you want some last minute advice as the tax deadline closes in, why not take a few minutes and watch the video? BostoneHerald.com

Self-development

A new persription for stress and overwork: relax! Small business owners and entrepreneurs, like everyone else, experience burnout at times and can easily become overwhelmed with work. After all, when the final responsibility for everything falls upon you, there’s no one else to turn to. But experts now suggest that taking those breaks when necessary can be absolutely essential. Here’s more. The Globe And Mail

Tech

Tips for keeping your business technology up and running. Keeping your business technology alive and kicking is not just a luxury in today’s small business world. It is an absolute and vital necessity! So tips on keeping the critical tools you use to operate your business and serve your customers should always be a priority. Here are some tips you won’t want to forget. Jackrabbit.com Blog

From Small Business TrendsSmall Business News: Best Small Biz Tips Today

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NBA Playoffs: San Antonio Spurs' Manu Ginobili doubtful for Game 1 after elbow sprain

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili is doubtful for Game 1 against Memphis after spraining his right elbow in the regular-season finale.

bench craft company

Resident Evil Mercenaries VS. hits iOS <b>News</b> - iPhone - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our iPhone news of Resident Evil Mercenaries VS. hits iOS.

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Resident Evil Mercenaries VS. hits iOS <b>News</b> - iPhone - Page 1 <b>...</b>

Read our iPhone news of Resident Evil Mercenaries VS. hits iOS.

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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.

Given the current cost of components, a prepaid contract-free iPhone with less internal storage would likely earn Apple only about 16 percent gross margin if it were priced at $300, a new analysis has estimated.



Analyst Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company took a closer look at the prospect of a hypothetical "iPhone lite," to see if it would be in Apple's best interest to build such a product. A cheaper iPhone has been viewed as a strategy that would work to Apple's advantage in emerging markets like China.



In February, both Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is working on a smaller and cheaper iPhone that it could sell contract-free. Soon after, The New York Times chimed in, and claimed that while Apple is not working on a smaller iPhone, it has explored opportunities in developing a cheaper handset.



Wolf largely agrees with the Times, and doesn't see a smaller iPhone with a new form factor as something that would be in Apple's best interest, even though it would be the easiest way to cut costs and created a cheaper handset.



"In our view, the iPhone would not be an iPhone if the display were, say, cut in half," he said. "Such a move would (dramatically) reduce the value of the iPod module for video viewing as well as the size of web sites accessed through the Safari browser. A smaller screen would also degrade the experience in using some applications, not to mention the possibility that some applications would probably have to be rewritten to accommodate a smaller screen."



iSuppli estimated that the 16GB iPhone 4, when it launched last June, carried a bill of materials of $188. The iPhone has an average selling price of $625 with a carrier subsidy, while gross margin is usually around 50 percent, suggesting that additional costs like assembly, software, testing, licenses and warrantees add up to $100 or more.



Ruling out the possibility of a smaller iPhone, Wolf said Apple could reduce internal storage from 16GB to about 4GB, but that would only reduce the bill of materials by $30 to about $157. By his estimation, such a handset would still have a total cost of $270.



"Apple would at best break even if it priced an iPhone Light at $250; and it would earn a modest 16% gross margin if it priced it at $300, which we regard as the high end of the range for a prepaid phone," Wolf wrote.



Gross margins of just 16 percent would be a number uncharacteristically low for Apple. For example, in its last quarterly results for the 2010 holiday buying season, Apple reported margins of 38.5 percent, or more than twice Wolf's estimate for a low-cost, no-contract iPhone.



"We suspect that the iPhone's designers and engineers have thought about this a lot more than we have so that the cost savings would be somewhat greater than we've estimated," Wolf said. "If, for example, the expenses incurred beyond the cost of components could be materially reduced, Apple might be able to earn a gross margin of 20% pricing the phone at $250 and 33% gross margin pricing it at $300."



The possibility of a cheaper iPhone with fewer features was hinted at by Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook earlier this year. Cook, in an interview with Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi, said Apple doesn't want its products to be "just for the rich."



Cook reportedly said that Apple is planning "clever things" to compete in the prepaid handset market. He also stated that Apple is "not ceding any market." He also referenced China, where Apple has found great success of late, and noted that it is a "classic prepaid market."

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

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

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

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

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

The basics:

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

Net Revenue of $6.54 billion slightly better than expected.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Traffic acquisition costs are looking good as well:

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

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

Here are our notes from the call:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opex increase is primarily payroll, some advertising.

Op margin 37.6%

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

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

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

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

4:45: Local and commerce SVP Jeff Huber.

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

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

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

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

Mobile traffic up 500%+ over last two years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

4:49: Now it's Susan Wojcicki.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still disciplined: quarterly reviews to get your next funding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. But financially? Any meaningful difference?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. Employee bonuses and social -- define success?

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

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

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

Q. Engagement through frequency rather than share of time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nobody is going to say a substantive thing about acquisitions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

In recent weeks we’ve shared articles on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others. Now it’s time to look at how all these tools are changing the way you do business. By the way, we’d like to learn what kind of social media your business is using and why. Be sure to leave a comment below.

Strategy

How to be a social media leader. How to be a social media leader or authority. It’s a question surely on the mind of plenty of small business owners working to learn the vocabulary of the new online media. In the end, it may be easier than it looks. Check these simple tips. Small Business CEO

How to set up a small realization that business blog. Whether practitioners of small business social media nowadays would describe a format as “old school” as blogging as being a part of the social media is uncertain. We certainly consider it to be. In many ways blogging is the cornerstone of a strong online social presence and establishing a blog as the hub of your social media campaign requires learning some basics on establishing a small business blog. Dazzlin Donna

Marketing

How to use social media to build context. Gary Vaynerchuck is arguably one of the most innovative pioneers of the social media marketing approach, but in this interview he argues using the means open to small businesses today isn’t necessarily about the tools, it’s about the context. Find out why. The Rise to the Top

How to grow your social media fan base. Whether it’s Facebook or another comparable site, social media is about being social. To understand why this is harder than it might at first seem, check out this post on growing a social media fan base for your business. Like other online marketing, social media is about content. This post talks about how to use content and other tools to boost your number of fans. Premium SEO Solutions

Operations

How to create Twitter and other social media content. So, we know that using social media and frequently updating with content are the key to an effective social media marketing campaign. But what in the world can you say. As it turns out talking endlessly and pitching endlessly about your business on social media is NOT the answer. Follow this guide to participating effectively in social media WITHOUT being labeled a spammer. What’s your approach? Blog Godown

How bloggers have become much more influential than celebrities. When it comes to influencing purchasing decisions, people are more likely to listen to a blogger than a rock star. That’s according to a recent study suggesting the increased influence social media is having on purchasing decisions. If you haven’t yet considered social media and particularly blogging as part of your marketing campaign, you may want to read more. Fox News

Research

Why social media may not be your best traffic driving tool. A recent study suggests that as a strategy for driving traffic to your Website, social media may not be the best choice. Then again, the study goes on, for brand awareness its effectiveness may be somewhat higher. In the end, it’s important to remember that the tools you use must make sense to your business, says blogger Cynthia Boris. Don’t look to social media as a magic bullet. It’s a useful tool, nothing more. Marketing Pilgrim

How to create a successful social media strategy. Businesses seeking to take advantage of all aspects of the social media need to apply careful planing to their approach. The possibilities for crowdsourcing, studying of online customer conversation and other factors makes innovation easier as well. But with all these possibilities, where should your business begin? A well defined social media strategy is a good first step. 1 to 1 media

How to listen to social media and gain insight about your brand. Someone is talking about your business out there. But what are they saying and is it something you should even be worried about? Monitoring social media for positive and negative comments about your business can be a great strategy for constant innovation. Here’s more about how it works and how you can get involved. InformationWeek

Final Thoughts

Trying to figure out social media. One of the main issues for small businesses today, surprisingly, is not just deciding to implement social media but trying to figure out all of the possible implications. Social media is, after all, more than just a tool. It is a movement as well. The existence of social media is a hard reality and offers opportunities to small business of all kinds. But there are challenges too. Here are some important thoughts. Business 2 Community

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Fox <b>News</b> Throughout History: Pics, Videos, Links, <b>News</b>

Fox News Throughout History: History is written by the pundits winners. As long as humans have existed, they've tried to spin historical events to shed themselves in the best light. And their enemies in the worst.

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Courteney Cox Does Letterman and Other <b>News</b> - The Superficial <b>...</b>

Gwyneth Paltrow makes bulimia fancy again. - Robert Pattinson is spreading disease. - Emily Browning stars in a movie about high-end date rape and,

Roofing Companies Vancouver - 5 Inquiries to Ask yourself

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In case your gutters often clog all too often, or you will find leaks across the walls of your home, it might mean that there's debris piled-up on the roof. Loose branches, piles of leaves, and other light objects which are swept onto 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 kinds of rodents often build nest in the debris that collects on the top. While these nests may look rather innocent, they are great at collecting moisture, which can lead to loose shingles, mold, and indoor leaks in your house. In addition, it may also cause vermin infestation. Following a storm, your Tacoma Roofing contractor will claim that you inspect your homes roof for any signs and symptoms of debris or damage.

Reverse Damages with the Help of a Tacoma Roofing company

However high quality the roof may be, it will eventually wear down over time. There are shingles that are referred to as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are just related to warranty produced by the makers. They seldom require that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles will not last a lot more than a few years. Within an area that's vulnerable to storms, shingles or even the entire roof may need to get replaced every ten years. With a Tacoma Roofing contractor, the cost is going to be less than what you think.

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

Your Tacoma Roofing company will be in a situation to tell you what the best option is perfect for your homes roof. In case your roof is not inside a good shape, it's advised that you have it replaced completely. The Tacoma Roofing contractor can take you through the different roofing possibilities to you that will fit your requirements and your budget.

Tacoma Roofer: Improving your Home's Efficiency

Your homes roof shelters you from storms, sleet, and hail. By providing adequate ventilation, your homes roof protects your house from overheating, by holding within the heat, it keeps your home warm. That's why you need to ready your roof from indoors as well as outdoors for any sort of weather emergency. A Qualified Tacoma Roofing company can provide assist in this situation.

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

You will need all of the assist you to could possibly get in the Tacoma Roofing company. You can help your homes roof by installing a gutter guard or leaf cover to help prevent debris from forming in your gutters. The additional weight of debris prevents the gutters from draining and may even tear them down. Look into the fasteners in your gutters and when they're loose, tighten them. Do something to alter worn screws and brackets. If you have a chimney in your home, inspect the bricks and mortar signs of wear. A trusted mason could be recommended by your Tacoma Roofing company, if there are any repairs to be done.

Tacoma Roofer: Someone You Can Count On
In the event that you know or suspect that there is a problem, your Tacoma Roofing contractor should be contacted. They can use their knowledge and expertise to get your house in ace condition by simply focusing on the rooftop. Your homes roof deserves attention. So call them today, so that they can get down to caring for your roof.

 

What is Difference Between Commercial Roofing Companies From Residential Roofing Companies

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

If this is the case then their labor costs will prohibit them from working on non union residential jobs. Beyond that, if your commercial roofing company hasn't signed a contract with a union they may be outfitted just for commercial jobs and that means that their workers and equipment may not be consistent with smaller residential jobs.

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

Also, liability insurance for commercial roofing is more expensive and a larger bond is required for a commercial roofing work which will make it not cost effective for any commercial roofing contractor to complete residential roofing jobs.

Still one more factor is that commercial jobs can run on tighter time frame for any quantity of reasons, requiring an industrial contractor to train on a larger crew or crews which again makes smaller jobs not as profitable for them.

 

Distinction between Commercial Roofing and Residential Roofing

Did you know that the rooftop of the building has a huge impact on the whole structure itself? Damage caused to roofs because of natural or other disasters causes a considerable lack of property everywhere. The type of materials used to construct the roof that ought to be sturdy and long-lasting, the manner in which the roof has been installed and even its timely maintenance are very crucial. There's two types of roofs which are used on all the buildings that we see around us: commercial and residential. Although it may seem that commercial roofing is performed only for businesses or offices and residential roofing is done for apartments and houses, in reality the differences tend to be more complicated than that.

Residential roofing is usually completed just by one hired contractor but commercial roofing usually takes an entire team to complete the task. This is because an industrial roof is commonly larger in terms of sq ft than the usual residential roof.
Commercial roofs are necessary carefully keeping the character and purpose of the building in your mind. For example, when there is a restaurant within the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes will be required. Residential roofs usually do not have such components other than a chimney or two at most.
Commercial roofs tends to be flat in design to accommodate further changes at a later period, whereas most residential roofs have peaks and other architectural features like roof gardens.
Commercial roofing is a lot more expensive than residential roofing because of the special tools, materials and safety equipment that are needed onsite. Often the patching or maintenance work is completed in segments unlike for any residential roof where the repair or replacement work can be completed in a short while. This really is one more reason why the gear used for residential roofs is often smaller and less expensive as well.
Commercial roof installations have a extended period to complete in comparison to residential roof installations and therefore are usually constructed in large sections. During 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 cause considerable damage to the entire building.
It is important to install the right roof for a building depending on its purpose. Make sure that you hire a construction company that uses first class materials and it has the right equipment for the job or your investment risk turning out to be considered a huge loss later.

 

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

If a clients are looking to have work done on its roof, you should work with commercial roofing contractors which have an enthusiastic understanding of any special needs that the business might have. For example, a roofing job can often be disruptive for that operation of business as always. For this reason, it might be necessary for the company to be temporarily shut down, or for the roofing to occur after business hours have ended. A roofing contractor that understands these needs can function plus a business to make certain these types of issues are minimized.

First of all , a business must do when it's searching for commercial roofing contractors is to discover who other businesses in the region are working through. Obviously, this information will 't be helpful whether it comes as an indicator from competitors, but you will find circumstances in which it is not too difficult to locate these details from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing is not an industry-specific service, this post is readily available.

It is a good idea for any business to obtain touching a minimum of three commercial roofing contractors to make bids about the price. In this manner, the business could get a better price. It's also vital that you ensure that each one of the roofing contractors is licensed and bonded. This information are available by permitting touching their state contractor's board. This assists you to determine whether there have been any claims filed from the company in the past.

When looking at bids, it is just as vital to check out what services are being offered and which products will be used as it is to check out the overall cost. The prices can vary quite drastically, but as tempting as possible to choose the lowest bid, this is not always your best option. In many cases, more costs now means fewer costs in the long run as a result of an undesirable roofing job. To further investigate the caliber of the job, it is a good idea to check using the Bbb to be able to find out if the business continues to be accredited, and when it has not, to a minimum of see what its rating is.

 

Picking out a Commercial Roofer

When you are searching for a roofer for the commercial roofing project you need to find a contractor who understands the special needs of the commercial roofing project. For instance it can be harder to operate on a business during business hours so either the company needs to be turn off for the repair or replacement or the job has to be done after conventional business hours. May be the roofer you are considering to do the job willing and able to operate around your schedule constrictions that might involve working weekends or evenings?

When you begin your search for a roofing contractor you don't only need to answer those questions however, you should also hire a company that will perform a high quality job with no great deal of time delays. Going about finding someone can seem as an obstacle in itself but there are some ways to result in the search easier.

Ask friends and family for referrals and try to find a minimum of three contractors to provide you with written bids in your job. Before you go any more you need to make sure that the contractors you are considering are fully licensed and bonded. An easy search using the state contractor's board will verify in case your roofer is licensed and when you will find any past judgments or claims against their license.

When you select three or four roofers to place bids, you should prepare yourself for that bids to be widely varied. Roofers may have brand preferences which will vary and could element in pretty much than the next guy for any labor estimate. The greater detailed a written bid may be the more helpful it will be to focus on where the cost will be incurred. Don't, however, pick a roofer based solely about the bid price. Any low ball bids might be tempting to consider, but if they are low due to low quality workman ship it might not be worthwhile in the end.

As they say, you generally get what you pay for, so if you can afford a mid-priced bid it's always a good idea to go up within your budget rather than down. You also ought to decide 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 along with the cost to haul your old roof towards the landfill. Should you be looking for places to cut corners in your roof, rather than cutting labor set you back may want to inquire about a metal roof option. Metal roofs could be cost effective and energy efficient which makes them overall money savers for the long term, and on commercial buildings they can be very 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 effect on your cost.

Choosing a comerical roofing company in your local area, does not have to be a struggle. For more information, visit http://www.vancouverroofers.net