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Monday, October 23, 2006
Internet Explorer 7 Is Here

Update (Oct 26, 2006): IE7 off to a fast start.

It’s official…Internet Explorer 7 is here and available for download.

IE 7 will also be included in an upcoming Automatic Update as well.

IE 7 boasts many new features, including:

  1. RSS Feeds
  2. Tabbed Browsing
  3. Higher security, including a phishing filter

These enhancements are great, but they really come because the Firefox web browser has slowly become the default browser for many PC users. IE was losing market share and Microsoft had to do something to improve upon their browser that was over 5 years old.

Check Your Website With Microsoft’s New Browser

Another important point I wanted to mention regarding the release of IE 7, is to make sure you visit your existing website using the new IE browser. Many changes in the browser have occurred “underneath the hood”, so to speak, and your website may look and act a lot differently in this new release from previous versions. So PLEASE check that out.

If your website does look different in Microsoft’s new browser, contact your webmaster immediately to test and fix any errors that are occurring. This is critical because (as I mentioned above) the new browser is going to be loaded onto everyone’s PC automatically from Microsoft’s Automatic Update. Meaning everyone will eventually be using it.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out.”

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 6:48 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design, Web General


Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Stocks and SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

I just came back from the library with two new books to read: “The Successful Investor“, by William J. O’Neil and “How to Trade in Stocks” by Jesse Livermore. The Successful Investor was written in 2004. Mr. Livermore’s book was written in 1940…yes 1940.

It’s amazing. The principals of trading stock in Jesse’s book, written in 1940, still apply today. It’s the technologies (i.e. internet) to trade those stocks that have changed.

The same can be said about marketing and SEO. Marketing principals have remained the same throughout history, but technologies to implement those marketing principals keep evolving (i.e. the internet and search engine optimization).

The goal of marketing is to attract your customer and convert them, right? Well SEO is just a new way of attracting that customer.

P.S. Another book I picked up was Winning Results with Google Adwords.

Have a great day.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:43 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO


Monday, October 16, 2006
Score for Microsoft Media Player

Score for Microsoft.

I inserted a CD into my CD ROM drive and wanted to ripped it onto my hard drive. (Note: I’m converting all my music (CD’s, tapes, LP’s) to digital - my hard drive.)

Microsoft Media Player opened up and it didn’t immediately display the tracks (Media Player by default will retrieve CD tracks from the internet). I tried Apple, iTunes. It didn’t recognize the CD tracks either. I went back to Windows Media Player and clicked “Find Album Info”. MS Media Player found the CD and all of its contents. I clicked finished and I could satisfactorily rip my CD with all tracks accounted for.

Well done Microsoft. :)

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:17 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Computer


Monday, October 2, 2006
Website Visitors Take Action After Performing Local Search

Hello.

I hope you had a great weekend.

(NOTE: Regarding my last post, I still haven’t fixed the iTunes fiasco. I’ll give an update when that’s complete (or not)).

In our last email newsletter, I spoke about the importance of local search and optimizing your website for local search visitors. Turns out there is more research to back up this importance.

I have seen more traffic and conversions from our own site and many of our clients websites from locally based search results. Comscore has released new data that supports this fact.

Local Searchers Take Action

Some facts I found most interesting were:

  1. Local searches were up 43% from a year ago
  2. Most people searching used either Google or Yahoo
  3. About 52% said they were searching specifically for a business phone number or address.
  4. 41% were looking for information on a local service in their home area, including car rental office, dry cleaner or lawyer.

These are incredible findings.

The most impressive finding was “The comScore study also found that performing a local search drives consumers to take action. More than one-third (37 percent) made contact online as a result of conducting a local area search.”

Isn’t this the main goal of any website - to get people to take action? Are you seeing these results from your website? If not, it’s time to optimize your site to take advantage of your local customers. They’re out there searching.

If your business relies on local customers, it’s now more important than ever to get your site optimized for your local customer base!

Read our latest newsletter to find out more on how you can get your website found by local visitors. Or if you don’t like reading, contact us to find out how we’ve helped other organizations reach the top of the local search results.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:44 am

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO, Web Marketing


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