Alt Attribute & SEO Optimization

SEO Optimization images is becoming more and more essential in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is a critical step that is sometimes forgotten. This is often a lost opportunity for better rankings.

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

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

Why would they ask us to achieve that? The answer is simple, really; search engines like google have the same problem as blind users. They cannot begin to see the images.

Many webmasters and inexperienced or unethical SEOs abuse using this attribute, attempting to stuff it with keywords, looking to achieve a certain keyword density, which is not as relevant for rankings now since it was previously.

On the other hand, high keyword density can, on some search engines, trigger spam filters, which may create a penalty for your site's ranking. Even without this type of penalty, your site's rankings will not benefit from this tactic.
This process 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 web, the alt attributes of images are read aloud too.

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

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

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

The goal is to supply the same functional information that the visual user would see. The alt attribute text should be the "stand in" in the event that the image itself is unavailable. Think about this question: If you were to replace the image with the text, would most users receive the same basic information, and would it generate the same response?
A few examples:

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

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

If an image is meant to convey the literal items in the image, then a description is suitable.

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

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

Some Alt Attribute Guidelines:

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

For images that play only a decorative role within the page, use an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image so that reading browsers don't bother users by uttering things like "spacer image".

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

Alt text ought to be based on context. The same image in a different context may require drastically different alt text.

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

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

Eye-Candy
Mood-Setting
Content and Function

I. Eye-Candy

Eye-Candy are things that serve no purpose apart from to create a site visually appealing/attractive and (in many cases) satisfy the marketing departments. There is no content value (though there might be value to a sighted user).

Never alt-ify eye-candy unless there's something there which will boost the usability of the site for someone utilizing a non-visual user agent. Make use of a null alt attribute or background images in CSS for eye-candy.

II. Mood-Setting

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

Attempt to alt-ify the 2nd group as makes sense and is relevant. There might be instances when doing so might be annoying or detrimental to other users. Then try to avoid it.

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

Usually it depends on context. Exactly the same image in a different context may need drastically different alt text. Obviously, content ought to always be fully available. How you go in this example is really a judgment call.

III. Content and Function

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

Every graphic has a reason behind standing on that page: since it either enhances the theme/ mood/ atmosphere or it is critical to what the page is trying to describe. Knowing what the look is for makes alt text simpler to write. And exercise writing them definitely helps.
A way to look into the usefulness of alternative text is to imagine reading the page on the phone to someone. An amount you say when encountering a specific image to make the page understandable towards the listener?

Besides the alt attribute you have a couple more tools at your disposal for images.
First, in level of descriptiveness title is in between alt and longdesc. It adds useful information and can add flavor. The title attribute is optionally rendered through the user agent. Remember they are invisible and never shown as a "tooltip" when focus is received via the keyboard. (So much for device independence). So use the title attribute just for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points to the Link to a complete description of the image. If the information found in a picture is important to the concept of the page (i.e. some important content would be lost when the image was removed), a longer description than the "alt" attribute can reasonably display ought to be used. It can offer rich, expressive documentation of a visual image.

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

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

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

In many cases, you are better off just choosing your gut instinct -- if it's not necessary to incorporate it, and if you don't have a strong urge to do it, don't include that longdesc.

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

What's necessary and what's not depends a lot about the function of the image and its context on the page.

Exactly the same image may require alt text (or title or longdesc) in one spot, although not in another. If the image provides simply no content or functional information alt="" or background CSS images may be appropriate to use. But if the image provides content or adds functional information an alt would be required and maybe a long description would be in order. In many cases this type of thing is really a judgement call.

Image Search Engine Optimization Tips

Listed below are key steps in optimizing images:

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

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

Make sure that the written text nearby the image that is relevant to that image.
Again, don't lose an excellent opportunity to help your site with your images in search engines. Use these steps to rank better on all the engines and drive more traffic to your site TODAY.

SEO 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 name–IF 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

Last week, I was on a panel at a CTIA pre-conference show in Orlando, and a question that was asked during several sessions at the conference was “what should we invest in: a mobile site or a mobile app?”

I heard this same question in a panel I was on at Digiday Mobile in September 2010, and earlier at the Mobile Search App Opportunities session at SMX West 2010, so it’s clear that this is still a question that marketers and developers are still struggling with, and have been since the opening of Apple’s App Store in 2008.

If you’re lucky enough not to be familiar with the question, brands with limited resources often wonder whether they really need to build both a mobile site and a mobile app, and would prefer to funnel their limited resources into one fully-funded mobile project.

Mobile apps have historically been seen by web designers as the only way to provide a rich user experience in mobile, and they are recommended frequently by CEOs who have been impressed by the user experience of an app and then fast-tracked their own mobile app project.

Why are companies still struggling with this issue after three years of talking about it? I think that’s because it’s a complex issue with more than one right answer depending on your business goals and objectives.

Add to that the countless partisan debates between those who want to sell you a mobile app and those who want to sell you a mobile site and it can be difficult to get to some semblance of truth about what it actually makes sense for your business to invest in.

As an SEO, I’m not selling mobile apps or mobile sites, and I can help you optimize either for more qualified traffic in search, but I’ve seen enough to know that the strongest mobile strategies start with a mobile web site and use it as the foundation for success.

Consider the following problems inherent with betting the farm on a mobile app:

• The most successful iPhone app project, which becomes viral enough to be passed around to every user on the platform, would only ultimately reach only 7% of the total mobile market. A mobile website or mobile web app, on the other hand, has the potential to reach 100% of mobile web users.

• Many iPhone apps require the current version of iOS to run, which can’t be run by first-generation iPod touches. According to Chitika research, these devices account for almost 10% of iPhone traffic, which could lower your reach even more. Android devices are even more fragmented, and could require additional development time to make your applications accessible to the already-limited app market. Mobile websites and web apps built with a progressive enhancement strategy, however, should be accessible to most users regardless of device.

• It’s a myth that users prefer a mobile app experience, largely propagated, I suspect, by those who are looking to sell additional services. Research shows that most users, in fact, prefer mobile websites over mobile apps (Adobe, eMarketer, InsightExpress), and that more people use mobile websites than apps.

• Users of search engines will likely not find your app in Google or Bing unless they’re looking for it. You can optimize the app for app stores and to some extent for Google, but it’s a different process that requires some specialized knowledge for success. As of this writing, it’s highly unlikely that searchers will find your app when searching on high volume, competitive keywords in search engines outside of app stores unless you buy a search ad. Given that 21.4% of mobile users in the United States search on their phones, a brand that wants the content it creates to find an audience would be wise not to ignore traffic from mobile search.

• Most apps are downloaded once and discarded (Pinch Media, Localytics). If you don’t have a good reason for creating your app and don’t ultimately succeed in creating an app that people need to use regularly, it’s likely that your app will suffer the same fate.

• There are very few apps that exist that provide something beyond what a mobile web site can do. If you’re creating a game or an application that truly cannot exist on the mobile web as it exists today, then by all means, build an app. However, given that Safari now has support for accelerometer and gyrometer, there are many things that mobile websites can do now that they couldn’t do previously. Be sure that you can’t build your mobile app as a web app before you build it, as there’s a good chance that you could build something similar with greater reach and engagement.

• Apps drive link equity to iTunes, Android Market, or Blackberry App World, and not to your website, which needs it to help your other content be found in search results. Even mobile websites at m.subdomains ultimately benefit the host domain, which could help you generate more revenue on your desktop, tablet and mobile websites if they’re hosted at the same domain.

• Apps are software. As such, they’re not currently able to be crawled and indexed as individual pages with a separate theme. It’s likely that you will index and rank one or two mobile applications pages for navigational keywords for apps, but you have the potential to rank as many pages as you have accessible pages with web apps. If your app is relevant to more than one concept or audience, building it as an accessible, open web app instead of a native application will give you greater relevance and reach.

There are good reasons for creating native apps as well, so I don’t want to make it seem as though creating a mobile website is all any business needs to reach its mobile target. For example, if you build a mobile website and not an app, you run the risk of alienating your brand from the audience that does prefer mobile apps and uses them regularly.

That audience, though, is the minority target; and if you only have funds to build one experience—mobile web or native mobile app—my recommendation is to build the best mobile web app you can afford, market it as aggressively as possible, and use the money you make and the data you collect to experiment with native apps.

If you can afford it, of course, the best solution is to build both a mobile site and a mobile app, and to enjoy not having to answer this question of limited resources that many businesses are struggling with today.

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

Related Topics: Mobile Mondays | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Search Marketing: Mobile | SEO: Mobile Search

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

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

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

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

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

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Lee bounces back, fans 12 as Phillies blank Nats

Back at his best after an unusually brief outing, Cliff Lee struck out 12 in a three-hit shutout, allowing the Phillies to overcome their own problems at the plate in a 4-0 victory over the Nationals.

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

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He's named president and CEO of the News Licensing Group, launching this summer.

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Apple has reportedly become more aggressive in securing components from overseas suppliers, making moves such as upfront cash payments to both ensure supply and block out competitors.



Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said in a note to investors on Thursday that Apple began "aggressively attacking" the component situation in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami that struck the country. The iPhone maker reportedly sent executives to suppliers immediately to ensure adequate supply of components, and also began offering upfront cash payments.



Separately, White's contacts in Taiwan also revealed that Apple is allegedly securing component capacity using what is known as a "three cover guarantee," referring to capacity, stock and price. Apple's move is seen as one that could potentially block out competitors and prevent them from building ample supply of devices.



The information comes as a separate report out of the Far East suggested that a one-month delay for Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet was as a result of Apple securing most of the available touch panel production capacity. The delay has forced the PlayBook to go on sale after Apple's in-demand iPad 2.



Last month, it was said that Apple could agree to price hikes in order to secure touch panel supply, particularly in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake. Apple was said to be in talks with component makers about touch panel pricing, and allegedly considered some price increases in negotiations.



In the company's last quarterly earnings call, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook revealed that Apple had invested $3.9 billion of its nearly $60 billion in cash reserves in long-term supply contracts. He declined to reveal what components Apple had put its money toward, citing competitive concerns, but said that it was a strategic move that would position the company well in the future.



Analysts largely believe that the secret investment was related to touch panel displays that are the centerpiece of devices like the iPhone and iPad. One cost breakdown estimated that such an investment could secure Apple 136 million iPhone displays, or 60 million iPad touch panels.



It's a move similar to 2005, when Apple inked a major deal with Samsung to secure longterm supply of flash memory. NAND flash would go on to become a major part of Apple's products, including the iPhone, iPad and new MacBook Air.

Apple should see a material dip, on top of the one that occurred
after I indicated that I was short the stock on March 16th. Before we
delve into my opinion, let’s peruse the news from 1 a.m. this morning:

WSJ: Apple Crunched in Nasdaq Rebalance- In
a move likely to ripple across the stock market, Nasdaq OMX plans to
announce a rare rebalancing of its Nasdaq-100 index, which will reduce
the big weighting of Apple, which currently makes up more than 20% of
the index.

Bloomberg: Apple’s Weight in Nasdaq-100 to Be Reduced as Microsoft, Cisco Are Raised

So, why do you think Nasdaq decides to reduce Apple’s weighting now?
Well, the competitive pressures that Apple faces are nigh guaranteed to
make it impossible for it to fulfill the pie in the sky expectations
that are being built for it.  That in combination with a 20% weighting
create a recipe for a guaranteed crash in the Nasdaq unless something
was done about it. Signs of heavy reliance on on or two products for 70%
of their profit, while sourcing the most important parts of those
products from their biggest competitors, were starting to show. iPad 2
supplies are tight due to Japan’s woes, and Apple does not have the
mobile computing product diversity to handle it like the 150 or so
Android competitors it is battling. This means much more than just a gap
in profits for the quarter. These companies are in race, and Apple is
being forced to give up some of its lead due to diversification issues –
issues that Android manufacturers (who are more diversified because
there are so many more of them from different places) don’t have, or at
least not to the extent that Apple does. Thus, Samsung, LG, Asus, HTC,
etc. will be rolling out to customers who may have had an Apple iPhone
or iPad.

This is also another (of many) massive triumphs of BoomBustblog
research over that of the most esteemed Godman Sachs who put a $430
price target on Apple just as it was making all time highs and in direct
contravention to BoomBustBlog’s stated logic. See Shorting Apple and Why Software Developers Can Make More Money On Android Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

I have finally started dabbling with Apple
shorts and puts. My OTM S&P put positions were profitably stopped
out due to trailings yesterday when the market recovered some of its
losses. I have decided to use Apple in the place of the S&P puts
for the time being. Medium to long term, the trade is more evident and
obvious to anyone who is objective and follows BoomBustBlog. It is
significantly more risky shorter term. Alas, there are marginal gains
already, and once they accrue to the point of indemnifying my trailing
stop, I will add more. After I finish the current leg of my global real
estate research to be disseminated to institutions, I will offer
tidbits of the modeling (I have already offered subscribers significant
info on why I think Apple is a risky long play). From a contrarian
standpoint, it may be safe to go short with tight stops, after all
although Apple Gears Up To Combat The Margin Compression That Apparently Only It, Google & Reggie Middleton Sees Coming, we still have those guys over at West Street… Goldman’s
$430 Target, Screaming Buy On Apple At Its All Time High Is In Direct
Contravention To Reggie Middleton’s Logic – Who’s Right? Well, Who
Has Been More Right In The Past? I have taken The Challenge To Goldman Sach’s Apple Proclamation One Step

Farther, Apple’s Closed System Risks
Failure! Listen, everyone, regardless of what investment positions or
tech products you may have in your stable, needs to ask themselves the
appropriate “What if’s”. I have spurred the conversation with “Will Google Win The Mobile Computing War? Let’s Walk Through Where They Stand Now & How To Value Them”

Remember, I may not always be right, but it does pay to look at the track record…  Did Reggie Middleton, a Blogger at BoomBustBlog, Best Wall Streets Best of the Best? More attention should be paid to the little guy, after all by now it is Now Common Knowledge That Goldman’s Investment Advice Sucks!
Didn’t you get the memo? I’m sure many traders have spurned Apple due
to the Japanese market being cut off right at the launch of the iPad 2,
but the issues go deeper than that. I will cover it in depth at a later
date, though.

Additional thoughts on the Apple short:

1. Note For The Few Realistic Apple Bears… Wednesday, March 16th, 2011
2. Buffet on Apple – Common Sense! Monday, March 21st, 2011
3. Competition Heats Up In The Mobile Computing Space On Many Fronts – Prices Driven Down Once Again By The Big Players Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
4. How the “I Love Apple, There Is No Other Fever” Adds To The Attractiveness Of An Ever So Unpopular Apple Short Monday, March 21st, 2011

And that Research in Motion short alert
given to subscribers is working like a charm – even more so if it get’s
caught in  NASDAQ storm: Research in Motion Drops 10% After Hours, Precisely As We Warned Two Months Ago – MARGIN COMPRESSION!!! Thursday, March 24th, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

One important thing about cities is their sex appeal — their magnetism. Places flourish when they attract people, resources, opportunities, and ideas, and match them to one another. Cities are much more than the built environment of roads and real estate. Cities are about relationships, and whether people have access to opportunities. Cities are one big dating game.

When cities lose their magnetism, the whole population suffers. The deterioration of Detroit began well before recent auto industry woes; its population plunge was confirmed by the latest Census. Some attribute decline to bad urban redevelopment schemes or corrupt politics that failed to improve schools or reduce crime. "A once-great American city today repels people of talent and ambition," a Wall Street Journal columnist wrote recently. A local leader told him, "It's been class warfare on steroids, and ... so many Detroiters who had the means — black and white — have fled the city."

Cleveland is another shrunken city with significant poverty. In the 1980s, Cleveland Tomorrow, a coalition of major company CEOs, sponsored downtown projects, including a new baseball stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This attracted luxury apartment developments, luring the affluent to the center city and revitalizing it. But inner city ghettoes were barely touched, and the region continued to lose high-wage manufacturing.

There's a tale of two cities within many city borders: one rich, the other very poor. Dubai, a gleaming new city of luxury high rises, is ringed by hidden slums for temporary service workers from the underclass of Asian nations. In New York, the middle class, including young families, cannot afford to live in the city. Baton Rouge has affluent areas with some of Louisiana's best quality-of-life indicators and extreme poverty areas with some of the worst. Other divides include racial and ethnic enclaves that vary in opportunities — for example, minority entrepreneurs with promising business ideas who can't access mainstream sources of capital and support.

Cities should be connectors but can have connection problems. Cities are where all parts of life come together: jobs, health, education, environmental quality. Yet, in most cities, businesses, schools, hospitals, and city services still operate in silos. And the political boundaries of cities don't encompass their true extent or the flow of people, as the Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Center points out. IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge supports efforts to use technology for connected regional solutions.

Interdependence among urban issues makes vicious cycles worse. If there is no action on high youth unemployment or poor educational quality and high school dropout rates, then too many African-American males end up in prison. High crime rates make sections of cities undesirable, and neighborhoods deteriorate. Aging buildings and toxic environments then cause health problems, such as lead poisoning or asthma, which disproportionately affect inner city children. Children in poor health have trouble learning, learning problems are associated with school dropouts, and vicious cycles continue.

Pivotal investments can start virtuous cycles. The transformation of Miami from sleepy southern city to international trade hub and informal capital of Latin America was propelled by investments in a world class airport and a flood of immigrants from Fidel Castro's Cuba. Mayors and civic leaders took advantage of this to attract new businesses and tout Latin connections, as my book World Class describes. But progress stalls if benefits don't reach the grass roots, racial divides persist, and major institutions fail to collaborate. The Miami Foundation's emerging leaders program is designed to deploy diverse younger professionals for major civic projects.

Revitalizing cities requires national urban policy investments and social innovations on the ground. Leadership might come from:

• Enlightened mayors who build public-private partnerships or join Cities of Service, which align the city and non-profits around high-impact goals.



• Business leaders, such as former Miami Herald publisher David Lawrence, who rallied Miami-Dade County to vote for a tax increase (Yes to new taxes!) to create the Children's Trust, a fund to improve life for all children.



• Faith communities, such as Rev. Raymond Jetson's community organizing toward a coalition for "A Better Baton Rouge."



• Financiers, such as Tim Ferguson and Ron Walker, who co-founded Next Street to invest in inner city businesses.



• Social entrepreneurs, such as Hubie Jones, who wants to replicate a birth-to-college educational model like the Harlem Children's Zone in Boston.



• Community foundations with a strategic perspective, seeking integrated solutions across issues such as youth employment, education, health, and green plans.

The best social innovations will connect people and institutions, producing an infrastructure for collaboration. That social infrastructure will increase the sex appeal of cities by going beyond initial attraction to build lasting relationships for lasting improvements.

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

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

Roofing Contractors Vancouver - 5 Inquiries to Ponder

Roofing Vancouver - Faq's

1. Repair or Replace?

There's no opinion like an expert opinion. Most contractors provides you with a free estimate. Get a summary of a few trusted contractors and phone them well ahead of time of when you wish to get your roof fixed 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 good quality roof and you just need to repair it, it's worth it to pay the cost of the original shingle rather than doing patchwork. A roof replacement doesn't happen frequently (hopefully!) and thus make a choice that best suits you and your family well or it'll stand out just like a sore thumb everyday you go home.

3. Must i replace the rooftop in order to sell the home for additional?

Consider this very carefully prior to making a decision. With respect to the roofing material you choose, a brand new roof can last anywhere from twenty, fifty, to one-hundred years! This means you need to look into the year of 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 standard is what makes the roof last longer, but if you're not planning to stay in your present home throughout your lifetime, the larger expense may not be worth your investment. Although a brand new roof can enhance the worth of your selling price, the rise may not be enough to cover neglect the and that's bound to hurt your wallet.

4. Could it be a good idea for me to repair the rooftop myself?

Sure it is. Before you need to do, consult a specialist first. You can do it yourself, however, you shouldn't be considered a complete ‘lone ranger.' Depending on the extent of the repair, you may or might not convince you. In either case, it will help to get a professional eye about the problem first and perhaps a free quote so you can do the math later and see if it's truly worth your time and effort, sweat, and money to become mister or miss fix-it.

5. When is a good time to find the roof replaced?

Weather may cause delays from days to weeks. Most people plan ahead to have their roof replaced in the summertime when they know someone will be home throughout the day for a solid fourteen days. Once you've this period in mind, create a call to some trusted contractor months in advance to obtain a quote. Some companies get booked up fast and chances are, they're probably the most reputable. Planning ahead of the summer also gives you time to discuss with many compare costs...especially if you want to have the roof made by a particular date.

 

The very best Roofing Contractor In Vancouver!

It is possible to leak inside your home's roof? Have you lost shingles or tiles inside a storm? Have overhanging branches caused damage? Is your roof a lot more than Two decades old and showing its age? Are your gutters overwhelmed and draining poorly?

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

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

YOUR Vancouver ROOF DESERVES Believe it or not!

The roof of the Vancouver home is the very first type of defence against wind, rain, snow, ice along with other weather elements. Be sure it's up to the job. Among Vancouver Roofing companies, only Crown Roofing has got the depth of experience and successful history to ensure your roofing system is going to be properly designed and installed.

NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS.

One reason Crown Roofing has been the most successful roofing company in Vancouver is our commitment to our neighbors. We treat your house as if it were our very own and that we were creating a roof to protect our very 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 any FREE inspection and evaluation of your roof. Make sure you get the best roof for your Vancouver home, in the best value. We build roofs to last!

 

Tacoma Roofing contractor: Help your house be Beautiful

Very few people understand the value of a solid roof, your knowledgeable Tacoma Roofing contractor does. From first hand experience, they'll be able to let you know the reason why you require a strong, secure, and leak-free roof in your home.

The local Tacoma Roofer is knowledgeable how important an economic investment your house is for you, especially as it is a lasting one. Your home may have been damaged slowly over the years and you need to take steps to reduce this damage. For a number of people, keeping their house beautiful is also a few pride. There are those too who'd like to turn their property right into a cost effective and efficient living place. Your homes roof is an integral part of your property and plays a role in each of the aspects mentioned previously. Because of this, you need to employ the expertise of qualified a Tacoma Roofing company.

Types of Roofs installed with a Tacoma Roofing contractor

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 with a trusted Tacoma Roofing company. It's imperative that you nip roof problems within the bud before they become too costly or dangerous. You can schedule a scheduled appointment using the Tacoma Roofing company to consider a look at your roof to determine if you will find any issues or potential problems with it. If you will find, they may be able to let you know how to approach them.

A Tacoma Roofing contractor Helps to Build Strong Homes

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

In case your gutters tend to clog too often, or you will find leaks across the walls of your home, it might mean that there's debris piled up on the top. Loose branches, piles of leaves, and other light objects which are swept on your roof throughout a storm can all contribute towards damaging your roof, which damages could be lasting. An educated Tacoma Roofing contractor will explain 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 house. In addition, it may also cause vermin infestation. Following a storm, your Tacoma Roofing company will suggest that you inspect your homes roof for any signs and symptoms of debris or damage.

Reverse Damages with the Help of a Tacoma Roofer

However high quality the rooftop may be, it will eventually wear down over time. You will find shingles that are referred to as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are only related to warranty made by the makers. They seldom require that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles won't last a lot more than fifteen to twenty years. In an area that is prone to storms, shingles or the entire roof may need to get replaced every 10 years. With a Tacoma Roofing contractor, the cost will be lower than what you believe.

If there you lose any shingles, or there is some damage to them, a Tacoma Roofing contractor will be able to help you. Damaged shingles can lead to indoor leaks, as the substrate from 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 create a gap that allows rain, wind, ice, and debris to develop under the adjoining shingles, which results in a "domino effect" that affects other shingles and they become loose or broken. A thorough investigation is going to be produced by your local Tacoma Roofer, should you give them a call track of your suspicions of loose or missing shingles.

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

Tacoma Roofer: Improving your Home's Efficiency

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

First of all, inspect your roof thoroughly for any and all sorts of kind of damage, prior to the beginning of the new season. 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 also the roof should be structurally sound. For that last part, you'll need the help of the local Tacoma Roofing contractor. It can be quite dangerous to climb onto the roof of your house. This is where the contractor from Tacoma Roofer is available in. He will check out the strength and security of the roof and shingles, and perform a general inspection of the entire roof structure, to make sure that it's in proper working order. They will be able to point towards problems that you have to keep an eye on and problems you may not have spotted.

You will need all the assist you to can get from the Tacoma Roofer. You can help your homes roof by installing a gutter guard or leaf cover to help prevent debris from forming in your gutters. The extra weight of debris prevents the gutters from draining and can even tear them down. Look into the fasteners on your gutters and if they're loose, tighten them. Take steps to alter worn screws and brackets. If you have a chimney in your house, inspect the bricks and mortar signs of wear. A reliable mason can be recommended because of your Tacoma Roofing company, if you will find any repairs to become done.

Tacoma Roofing company: Someone You are able to Count On
In the event that you know or suspect that there's 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 simply by working on the roof. Your roof deserves attention. So give them a call today, to enable them to get down to working on your roof.

 

What is Difference 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 the differences are between residential roofing companies and commercial roofing companies. To begin with, the one big difference is usually that times an industrial roofing company may have signed an agreement with and become obligated to a 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 having a union they may be outfitted just for commercial jobs which of course means their workers and equipment may not be in line 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. Actually, often times residential roofing contractors will run one man operations, in which the contractor that you talk to may be the one that actually does the work about the building.

Also, liability insurance for commercial roofing is more expensive along with a larger bond is needed for a commercial roofing work which will make it not cost effective for any commercial roofing contractor to do residential roofing jobs.

Still an additional factor is that commercial jobs can operate on tighter time frame for just about any number of reasons, requiring an industrial contractor to train on a larger crew or crews which again makes smaller jobs less profitable on their behalf.

 

Distinction between Commercial Roofing and Residential Roofing

Did you know that the roof of the house or building includes a huge effect on the entire structure itself? Damage caused to roofs due to natural or other disasters leads to a considerable lack of property everywhere. The kind of materials accustomed to construct the roof which should be sturdy and long lasting, the way in which the roof has been installed as well as its timely maintenance are extremely crucial. There's two kinds of roofs which are used on all the buildings that people see around us: commercial and residential. Even though it may seem that commercial roofing is done only for businesses or offices and residential roofing is performed for apartments and houses, the truth is the differences tend to be more complicated than that.

Residential roofing is generally completed just by one hired contractor but commercial roofing typically takes an entire team to accomplish the task. The reason being a commercial roof is commonly larger in terms of sq ft than a residential roof.
Commercial roofs are necessary carefully keeping the nature and purpose of your building in mind. For instance, when there is a cafe or restaurant within the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes is going to 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 in 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 because of the special tools, materials and safety equipment that are needed onsite. Often the patching or maintenance jobs are completed in segments unlike for a residential roof in which the repair or replacement work can be carried out a short time. This really is one more reason why the gear employed for residential roofs is usually smaller and less costly too.
Commercial roof installations have a longer time to accomplish compared to residential roof installations and therefore are usually constructed in large sections. During this phase however, it is important to make sure that there are no leakages, cracks or any other visible deterioration signs as it can cause considerable harm to the entire building.
You should install the best roof for any building depending on its purpose. Ensure that you hire a construction company that uses first class materials and it has the right equipment to do the job or neglect the risk turning to be a huge loss later.

 

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

If your business is looking to have work done on its roof, you should use commercial roofing contractors which have an enthusiastic understanding of any special needs that the business might have. For example, a roofing job is often disruptive for the operation of business as always. Because of this, it may be necessary for the business to become temporarily turn off, or the roofing to take place after business hours have ended. A roofer that understands these needs can work together with a business to make sure that these types of issues are minimized.

The first thing that a company should do when it is trying to find commercial roofing contractors is to find out who other businesses in the region will work through. Obviously, this information will not be helpful if it comes as an indicator from competitors, but there are circumstances by which it is not too difficult to find this information from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing is not an industry-specific service, this information is easily available.

It is a wise decision for just about any business to obtain in touch with a minimum of three commercial roofing contractors to create bids on the price. In this way, the business can often obtain a better price. It's also important to make sure that each of the roofing contractors is licensed and bonded. These details are available by getting in touch with the state contractor's board. This also assists you to determine if there have been any claims filed against the company in the past.

When looking at bids, it is just as vital to look at what services are now being offered and which products is going to be used as it is to look at the total cost. The costs can differ quite drastically, but as tempting as it can be to choose the lowest bid, this is not always the best option. In many cases, more costs now will mean fewer costs in the long run as a result of an undesirable roofing job. To further investigate the quality of the work, it's a wise decision to check using the Better Business Bureau in order to see if the company continues to be accredited, and if it's not, to a minimum of see what its rating is.

 

Selecting a Commercial Roofer

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

When you start your search for a roofing contractor you don't only need to answer those questions however, you also want to find someone that will do a top quality job without a great deal of time delays. Going about finding someone can seem as an obstacle in itself but there are some ways to make the search easier.

Ask friends and family for referrals and try to find at least three contractors to provide you with written bids on your job. Prior to going any further you have to ensure that the contractors you are considering are fully licensed and bonded. An easy search using the state contractor's board will verify if your roofer is licensed and when there are any past judgments or claims against their license.

Once you select 3 or 4 roofers to place bids, you should get ready for the bids to be widely varied. Roofers may have brand preferences which will vary and may element in more or less than the next guy for a labor estimate. The more detailed an itemized bid may be the more helpful it will be for you to see where the cost are going to be incurred. Don't, however, pick a roofer based solely about the bid price. Any low ball bids may be tempting to take, but when they are low due to poor quality workman ship it might not be worthwhile ultimately.

As they say, you generally get that which you pay for, so if you can afford a mid-priced bid it certainly is a good idea to go up in your price range instead of down. You also ought to decide your roofer depending on how professional these were and how comfortable you anticipate you'll be dealing with them.

Finally your cost will vary depending on which kind of roofing material you select along with the cost to haul your old roof towards the landfill. Should you be looking for places to chop corners in your roof, rather than cutting labor set you back might want to ask about metallic roof option. Metal roofs can be cost effective and energy efficient making them overall money savers for that long run, and on commercial buildings they may be really low maintenance. Plus given that they can be put along with a current roof, you don't need to have the old one removed and hauled away, that make a big effect on your cost.

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

 

Seattle Roofing Companies - How To Find The Best

In the home of rain and sleet, commercial coffee and grunge, and also the famous space needle, you'll find a house which will suit you. Seattle, Washington can be a great place to construct a house, but you need Seattle roofing contractors to assist you. Your homes roof is, after all, the crowning glory of your home, as well as your strongest type of defense from the elements. You must have something which isn't just built to last, but created to attract making your home more beautiful

Harsh Weather

Why are roofing contractors essential within this the main country? Because Seattle is often bombarded by rain along with other harsh climate conditions, you'll need a roof that can withstand all the forces of nature. With this in mind, you need individuals who know the Seattle weather best, and who understand what materials can best go into your roof for it to last far longer in the area. On top this, you have to blend with the rest of the houses in your living area, which means you cannot simply get whatever roof you please.

In most these aspects, a Seattle roofing contractors should be able to help you out. All that you should do is look for Seattle roofing contractors online so that you can get the best value for your money without wondering when 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 put up your homes roof by yourself, you will have to purchase a whole lot of materials, secure permits and licenses, and get materials which are suitable for help you stay safe against harsh extremes of Seattle weather. Which means that if you are a DIY kind of guy or gal, you will have to undergo a large amount of legwork to get the job done.

On the other hand, a Seattle roofer can do all the jobs for you and provide you with a package that may save you money and time. Because contractors operate under licenses and buy materials in large quantities, they can get discounts on building materials that you'd not otherwise get if you were buying merely for your own home.

Roofing Associations

Most roofing contractors also fit in with roofing organizations which are bound by strict guidelines and standards. When they do well on their roofing job, they are able to showcase their roofing contractors association; if they do poorly, they can ruin the trustworthiness of their roofing contractors association and keep other contractors within the association from getting good roofing jobs. There is a lot of pressure to do well, so you can be confident that prefer a roofing job completed in Seattle, you can get a contractor from the roofing association to help you out.

For instance, Seattle Roof Brokers operates with more than 500 roofing contractors in the Puget Sound. This group has over half a century of roofing experience and experience dealing with Seattle roofing contractors, therefore it knows what type of roofing you would like. The Roof Brokers group can hook you up using the contractor that you'll require so that you do not have to look for contractors individually.

What In the event you Demand from Your Contractor?

Whenever you finally obtain a contractor in the Seattle area, you must do a lot of research on the roofing contractors themselves. Ask for a summary of previous companies or persons that the contractor caused in order to get a clear view of the roofing contractor's work ethics and roof quality. Your roofer should also possess the appropriate working licenses and city licenses required by the Seattle city government.

Select a Seattle roofers that insures its employees, which has courteous workers who'll respect your opinions and ensure that the needs are met. Ensure that you get the best value for your money: if you are unsatisfied using the job, you have to be guaranteed either money back, or a free, new roof. Moreover, additionally you require the workers to find the job done on time, so be strict together with your deadlines - and find a contractor that's as strict when you are.

You need guarantees and warranties in your roof, so look for a contractor that may meet your financial allowance and roofing needs. If you get touching good Seattle roofing contractors, you can be guaranteed a great roof along with a better house in this fantastic city.

Choosing the proper Roofing Contractor Company for Replacing Your Roof

The shingles inside your roof need replacing and you are minded to find a roofer to replace the them. Perhaps you have already called a few and therefore are evaluating which contractor to use for your upcoming roof repair. How do you select the best contractor for caring for your roof? Listed here are several things you should consider when looking for the best roofer.

Where is the roofer located? You should hire a roofer that is local. Chances are you will get the next step of service when the roofing company is located near your home or comes with an office near your residence.
References. To determine the reliability of the contractor, references should be provided of the past clients who're prepared to vouch that excellent service was received. This will not be the only real factor in deciding upon your future roofing contractor as some may claim they value the privacy of the clients and don't wish to bother them. If this sounds like the case, ask for business related references. The places that supply the contractor with supplies can reveal the amount of materials and regularity of supplying the contractor to assist determine their stability.
How does the roofer company handle complaints? There are a multitude of issues that can arise during the progress of the roofing replacement. Ask what their process is perfect for handling complaints when they arise. It is also an excellent idea to get a past client reference who had a complaint that was resolved to the satisfaction from the client.
The payment schemes. What are the terms of payment to do the job? What's the down payment and amount due upon completion? While it is certainly reasonable that a substantial payment be made before a contractor begins focus on a project, it is highly recommended that full payment isn't made until after the entire job is finished.
Written contract. All terms of the roofing replacement ought to be place in an itemized contract. No the main contracting job should depend on verbal assurances.
Bonding. There are things that can go wrong with roofing installations that wind up costing quite a bit of money to repair. If this happens in your roofing replacement, you will feel a great deal better understanding that your roofer is bonded. This will supply the funds to repair whatever mistakes were made. Find a roofing contractor that is bonded.
Manufacturer Warranty. Quality materials for roofing typically have a warranty. You should verify that there is actually a warranty on the materials being installed. Request a copy of the warranty.
Period of time in Business How long has the company you're interviewing been in business? A short in time business may reflect instability. When the contractor has been around business under three years, verify how long they've been in the industry. A new contractor may have a long time experience focusing on roofs before they form their very own business. Seek a business that has been around for 3 years, or where the contractor has already established a lot more years performing roofing replacements. This again shouldn't be the only real factor, everyone has to begin sometime. Balance this with referrals and also the other points raised in the following paragraphs.
Appropriate Permits. A Seattle roofing contractor ought to know what permits are needed for fixing your roof. They should be aware of how to obtain these permits for you. Ask the contractor whether or not they will have the permits essential to repair the rooftop.
Liability. If your worker becomes injured, who is accountable for the worker's compensation? If the contractor's equipment damages your house, who is liable for the repairs? A great contractor will provide certificates of insurance for liability and workers comp before they begin fixing your roof.
Subcontractors. Verify whether the contractor is going to be using subcontractors. If so, it is strongly advised that everything contained in this article for verifying if the contractor is credible also needs to be applied to subcontractors. You should receive the names and license amounts of all subcontractors. You should verify whether each subcontractor is also insured which means you aren't held liable for their accidents.
Pending Legal Actions. You should verify whether you will find any legal actions from the contractor. This is not merely necessary for verifying if the roofing company is legitimate (credible roofing companies should not have to defend themselves in the court), it's also important just because a lost lawsuit might lead to the contractor to visit bankrupt. If you have made a substantial down payment for services immediately before the company goes bankrupt, you can lose many thousands of dollars and not have your roofing completed.
Material Disposal. Who's responsible for getting rid of the waste generated from the roof being replaced? Will your contractor handle every aspect of this? Is there an additional cost for getting rid of this waste?
NRCA Membership. Membership in local or national roofing associations, such as the NRCA, shows resolve for staying current with the very best means of roof replacement and maintenance. Look for a roofing contractor with a high standard of education regarding their trade.
Replacing your homes roof is really a significant investment. Celebrate sense to inquire about serious questions before using a roofing contractor. Here are a few more tips that you should consider when choosing the best roofing contractor for the upcoming roofing replacement.

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

 

For the SEO needs, you can examine out Vancouver web site design and Vancouver SEO company

It is true that the internet is just about the biggest financial market nowadays. Practically everything is anchored on the web. Currently, there are other than 182 million internet sites on the net and still counting. If each one of these websites offers the possiblility to generate income, think of the limitless opportunities that can be perfectly located at the internet. More importantly, using the emergence of web sites, the requirement of web hosting and Search| Engine Optimization is significantly defined.

Search Engine Optimization is simply the process of improving the visibility of your site. As a result, if you would like your web site being visible to visitors, you ought to seek for Search engine optimization company. The optimization strategy considers how search spiders work and what folks usually and what keywords they'll use. The main objective of Search engine optimization is making web sites visible in search sites from the natural or organic way.

Organic search optimization or natural search engine optimization is really a saying used in describing unpaid, algorithm-driven results of any particular engine. Put simply, organic SEO uses natural strategies in achieving search results ranking. While there are two camps with which search engine optimization companies may fall to, that would be the 'White Hat' and also the 'Black Hat', organic SEO could not belong to the 'Black Hat' camp.

Organic search engine optimization can be a highly specialized and complex practice which could literally dictate the success or failure of the online business. Since search sites often modify their algorithms, organic SEO just isn't super easy at all. When search bots modify their algorithms, factors that enable your internet site to look before prospects are decayed too. Thus, to be able to cope up using these changes, SEO tactics and strategies must be employed.

It is usually ethical to use search engine optimization since search sites nowadays are becoming extremely advanced they can easily determine whether an online site is attempting to control their search indexes. Thus it really is empirical to use search engine marketing practices which are carried out wherein appear natural.

The approaches used by organic search engine optimization and artificial SEO are really significantly different. Basically, organic SEO uses content when compared with artificial SEO's technical loopholes. Moreover, natural search engine optimization provides attracting links rather than linking schemes used by artificial SEO. Natural SEO also creates valuable resource contrary to artificial SEO's algorithm chasing. Effortlessly these, one can clearly see why search engine optimization is preferable over artificial search engine marketing. Even though latter may be more difficult and complex, it produces favorable results which are good for any web site. Fortunately, there are tons of Vancouver SEO companies today that offer the organic method in affordable rates and packages.

Search engine marketing Appears in this area

Once when search engine optimization was actually not required.

Whilst late as a decade ago, should you created a Web page anywhere, Google indexed it and you gained visibility in their serp's. Your page has been with a free "estates" where anybody could put in a page and Google didn't mind. It may also provide been a pure affiliate page without original content and Google still indexed it.

The situation is unrecognizably different now.

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

These would not have mattered, with the exception of a very important factor. It was Google that provided the bread and butter for the millions of small enterprises that may not afford expensive marketing campaigns. If the site was one of the top few sites the appeared before a searcher's eyes when see your face sought out your product, you've got hundreds and also thousands of visitors, lots of whom even bought your products.

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

Weight loss of the competitors adopted search engine marketing practices, things became difficult again. Your role began to slip in case your competitors did the SEO better. SEO battles became serious fights with every dirty trick being employed.

There have been "black hat" SEO practitioners who showed one page to look engines and the other to human visitors. As search engines were not bothered with readability, you could fill the "search engine" page with pure gibberish, but gibberish designed in a way that the engine dutifully indexed high.

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

We are going to look at seo in a number of articles, starting having an beauty at on-line or Online marketing.

 

To your SEO needs, you can examine out vancouver website design and Vancouver Search engine optimization company.

 

Cedar Roofing: Advantages

Cedar shakes are only in regards to the most aesthetically pleasing shakes available today. Frequently designed from red-colored cedar around the coniferous forests of northwestern United states of america, they're only the best roofer materials for proprietors who prefer supplying their roofs an organic look.

Unique cedar shingles are naturally resistant to the weather, that's the key answer why cedar shingles are widely-used generally around various climatic conditions. They're generally for sale in a couple of specific qualities. One or more will be the shingle made out of red cedar as the other is produced out of the bright white variety. Red cedar shakes were created from tight-grained particles which can be previously saturated with tannic acidity that experts say is surely an all-natural additive. Red cedar shingles which might be dipped in creosote to avoid corrosion and therefore are desirable to homeowners given that they put in a rich and unique check out one's property or home.

It is critical to observe that red cedars usually change dark-colored if exposed continuously to seaside weather. As a result, sea side homes have to have white cedar shakes. Red cedar shingles are usually a lot more expensive in comparison to white cedar types, even though cost factor doesn't diminish its reputation in anyhow. They could be preferably perfect for classic Northeastern houses while white cedar shingles seem to be image suited to bungalows and bungalows which have been built-in Nantucket design.

Through the years, classic cedar shakes have lost out in a place to synthetic shingles that emulate the cedar appear. Superior systems are utilized to make these kind of shingles have a for an extended period life-span in comparison with unique cedar shingles. Most include advanced UV inhibitors and possess about 5 decades of steady guarantee. These shingles in many cases are great insulators and lots of superior ones give a much cooler inside during summer months plus a warmer inside during harsh winters.

Cedar shakes, mostly accessible in honey, cinnamon, and silvery gray colors, need several amount of repairs and maintenance. They might need initial procedure before installation. White cedar shakes for example, may be given bleaching oil which needs to be done virtually every six to seven years to enhance their durability.

Cedar shakes and cedar shingles are generally CCA treated or otherwise not CCA treated. CCA represents chromated copper arsenate. CCA can be a chemical that stops the increase of mold, mold and fungus so it helps keep insects from eating away your own personal wonderful cedar roof. CCA cedar might make your homes roof stay longer, but CCA just isn't A hearth TREAMENT. Cedar that has been fire treated can be acquired, your roofing company need to special order it. CCA treated cedar shingles cost 15 - 20% a lot more than non-CCA cedar. Most cedar roofs are often not CCA treated.

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

Elite Roofing & Small remodels, LLC provides more information about shingles, cedar shakes, fiberglass shakes plus more. Elite Roofing & Small remodels, LLC is associated with the National Roofers Association.

Uncover more about cedar shingles, and get more articles and resources about cedar shakes at cedar roofing materials and shakes website.

 

Cedar Shingle Roof Vs Asphalt Shingle Roof

A cedar shingle roof remains highly coveted by homeowners. It is one of many oldest roofing products which includes stayed constantly used inside the centuries. Just as much as new roofing materials continue being developed, cedar shakes still endear themselves to many. Below can be a comparison research into the cedar roof versus an asphalt roof.

Pros of Cedar Roofing shingles

Cedar shakes bring about far better air circulation inside entire home. The shingles let the home to breathe well without trapping moisture around. This can help to maintain the dwelling of the property who is fit for extended. Cedar Shakes are durable and strong. They like an increased potential to deal with bugs. A cedar shingle roof will fully stand up well towards the various weather onslaughts. Storms, hurricanes, powerful winds and flying debris will barely damage the top of one's cedar roof. The colour matures beautifully with all the passing years, making it much more desirable. A cedar roof adds a definite charm to your dwelling. Cedar is instantly accessible in lumber yards and require a large amount of expertise or specialized tools to set up.

Cons of Cedar Shakes

If rot shows its head, you would be compelled to improve the complete lot. It is sometimes complicated extracting merely the affected pieces. They could are already nailed down in a fashion that each elimination proves difficult. Cedar Shingles don't hold up well to constant wetting. If you live within an area where rainfall is heavy or frequent, cedar shingles aren't a great choice. Frequent wetting causes mold or mildew to set in. Replacement and repair could be a costly business. Your very best self protection against constant wetting should be to use wide overhangs. Also, should your home is shaded by many trees or nearby buildings, cedar shingles tend to develop mold. You'll be compelled to replace them sooner than you planned. Cedar Shingles tend to be flammable than asphalt shingles. Many areas use a building code in place that restricts cedar shingles to lessen the chance of fire. To setup a cedar shake roof, you'll want your financial allowance about the higher side. Frequent maintenance may also be necessary to maintain the roof in good shape. Mildew and rot are ever-constant threats for some cedar roof.

Pros of Asphalt Shingle Roof

An asphalt roof is probably the least expensive to get and install. They come in various designs and colours, which range from a regular, flat use a 3-dimensional look. Asphalt shingles have a great effectiveness fires unlike cedar roofing. An asphalt roof can in fact reduce the risk of fires caused by flying embers. Asphalt roofs are easier and cheaper to set up than cedar. They're also low maintenance roofs.

Cons of Asphalt Shingle Roof

Algae is more vulnerable to grow on asphalt roofing than cedar shingles. It causes the rooftop to develop somewhat of the stain which spoils the looks. You will get an anti-algae coating completed in your asphalt shingles but this increases the cost. With regards to stability, an asphalt roof is much more likely to be blown off by strong winds than the usual cedar roof.

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

 

How to locate Good Vancouver Search engine optimization

The number of internet sites as well as e-commerce websites is actually constantly increasing because everybody knows that it can generate a lot of earnings. This has also brought about a whole new kind of providers that assist companies in achieving their set goals and which makes them grow. Among fundamental essentials Vancouver Search engine optimization; because the Search engine optimization market is pretty young you will notice that any Search engine optimization Vancouver organization won't be greater than a 10 years aged. However, you may rest assured that they actually know what they need to do to get your company growing.

In case your company relies heavily on the web to get visitors to your site and also to obtain conversions, you need help searching motor optimisation or Search engine optimization because it is more commonly known. When individuals place a search within their favorite internet search engine, probably the most likely fits arrive at the very top. If you wish to draw visitors to your website or online business, you have to go ahead and take assistance of the Vancouver SEO company to obtain to the top of those search results. The Search engine optimization Vancouver services provided will be well worth the cash spent and you will be seeing the returns shortly after.

Nevertheless, achieving a top rank in the search engines may not continually be always easy and more so if yours is an extremely competitive industry which they often make reference to as a market. It's no surprise then that you need all the help that exist. If you do not possess the answer to "What is actually Search engine optimization?" then you need in order to first educate yourself on the subject. But your smartest choice would be to depart the task to those who know it best; the actual Search engine optimization Vancouver experts at the Vancouver SEO company. You'll have to spend some cash but you may enjoy the actual benefits as the years go by.

The SEO Vancouver professionals will begin upon keyword research which is always the starting point associated with Search engine optimization. You need to know the kind of words or phrases that potential prospects would be keying into Search engines to get to your website. The actual Vancouver Search engine optimization company will do this tiresome task for a person because they possess a better concept about how exactly people go about their own searches. A person, on your part need to give them a much better knowing regarding your company plus some basic key phrases which they would do their study.

In case your SEO campaign starts with keywords selection, then its backlink building which feeds seo; worthwhile Vancouver SEO company can help you understand. The optimal method for your website to position high for a provided key phrase is to have a excellent backlink building technique designed for it. The secret is to leave your hyperlink upon higher ranked web sites. The actual Search engine optimization Vancouver professionals will tell you the most typical method of doing this is to submit articles that contains the desired key phrases in the proper proportion in order to article directory sites with links back to your website within the resource box.

What exactly have you been waiting for? Take the help of the actual Vancouver SEO company right here; the actual SEO Vancouver professionals can make your company develop so that you can enjoy higher profits.

 

Reliable SEO Services For Your Business in Vancouver

Expert sophisticated Vancouver SEO services enable you to are available in the very best list of the search results to attract traffic. Furthermore, the site visitors associated with organic results will be eager to purchase products and these services may end up being useful when you are your business.

You'll need Search engine optimization Vancouver to benefit your business through allowing you to get the most presence from a internet search engine and thereby getting good traffic to your web website. With the help of search engine rankings, these types of services may hugely assist your internet website get in touch with the field of people accessing internet and thus, drawing more and more traffic to your internet site. Once the web site has started generating visitors to it, your business will reap advantages as the web site will become the most retrieveable on the top search engines like google.

An organization needs these kinds of providers as the SEO experts have the fundamental knowing as well as knowledge of how you can get it done. You as the website owner can spend time on internet going through blogs, forums, and other supplies. Nevertheless, you have to concentrate on other facets of your internet site as well as Search engine optimization professionals concentrate almost all their efforts upon Search engine optimization since this is what they do best.

The actual SEO businesses promise to increase increased traffic for your web site on a regular basis by giving an assurance that when people search for services or products, your web site occurs the top most desired search engines such as Google, Search engines, Windows live messenger as well as AOL.

Quite simply, to enhance web visitors and visibility, it is crucial that the website should obtain updated constantly. The process of search engine optimization is not the one-time attempt. An effective SEO support consists of marketing, ranking, site promotion, hyperlink exchanges and many more. To be able to hold the modifications in order to Search engine optimization techniques and techniques every day, expert SEO services preserve skilled and technically experienced SEO experts, web site creative designers, copywriters, SEO publishers, marketing specialists and project managers.

An expert as well as result-oriented search engine optimization service consists of the following:
. Study and report pre-optimization position
. Key phrase selection as well as optimization
. Competition evaluation statement
. Description of labels
. Themed hyperlink web page creation
. Optimization associated with images
. Keyword-rich content material creating
. SEO copy writing
. Hyperlink strategies
. Code
. Internet search engine submissions

SEO organizations also provide the support associated with market and keyword research. These organizations will look at the customers' web sites and their competition and will search for appropriate keywords. These people adopt the best strategy that will ensure on the internet visibility and publicity.

Now, let us point out the benefits that will assist a good company's web site reach the top of the search engines.
• Customized Search engine optimization solution
• Long-term top rankings in search motors
• Higher web site traffic and online sales
• Global company protection
• Business business identification
• Recommendations for business improvement
• Follow-up service
• Maximum returns

 

'Counter-Terror' Policy Targets Uyghurs

2011-04-07
A new report says China uses the threat of terrorism to crack down on Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

AFP
Uyghur men and women chat outside a mosque in Urumqi, July 17, 2009.

China's anti-terrorism policy deliberately targets ethnic minority communities such as Uyghurs and Tibetans struggling for greater autonomy, according to a white paper by a rights group.

The policy equates terrorism with groups pushing for more self-governing rights, is too broad in scope, and shirks international human rights commitments, said the Hong Kong and New York-based Human Rights in China (HRIC).

The paper looked into human rights concerns within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional intergovernmental organization which includes China and five other member states-Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan-with a total population of 1.5 billion people.

It said the SCO approach to counter-terrorism, modeled on China'sThree Evils doctrine, and highlighting principles of territorial integrity, noninterference in internal affairs, and social stability, contributes to supporting repressive regimes at the expense of human rights.

A failure to demand accountability from the SCO undermines the effectiveness and integrity of the international system in countering terrorism and advancing rule of law, peace, and security, HRIC said.

"China's approach to counter-terrorism is the Three Evils doctrine, and it links terrorism with separatism and extremism," HRIC director Sharon Hom said in an interview.

"This Three Evils approach is overbroad, highly politicized, and while not exclusively applied only to ethnic minority groups, it is regularly applied to Uyghurs and Tibetans in its practice."

Hom said other SCO member states follow China's lead by recognizing Xinjiang and Tibet as inalienable territories of China and repatriating its ethnic minorities who seek asylum within their borders.

"China has enormous clout in the SCO, and you can also see it in the ways in which the other SCO member states and the SCO will completely parrot China's line and China's policy on these two so-called autonomous regions."

Treatment of Uyghurs

The HRIC white paper said it found "serious issues" concerning China's treatment of Uyghurs, including the principle of non-refoulement and potential use of torture during interrogations.

Regulations specific to Xinjiang became part of China's domestic counter-terrorism legal framework in December 2009 when provincial-level lawmakers revised the region's Comprehensive Management of Social Order.

Through the revisions, Chinese authorities were ordered to specifically crack down on the three threats of "terrorism, separatism, and extremism" in the aftermath of the July 2009 ethnic violence in Urumqi which left hundreds dead, according to official media reports.

HRIC called the amendments "unique" to Xinjiang, adding that "such singular focus by the Chinese government ... suggests that the concept of terrorism has been applied in a biased fashion, with the Uyghur community the subject of intense scrutiny and suspicion."

It noted that while China does face real threats of terrorism, "the limited involvement of Uyghurs in terrorist acts cannot serve as justification of widespread repression throughout [Xinjiang] or the labeling of peaceful Uyghur activists under the rubric of the Three Evils."

Adherence to rules

But despite its reliance on the Three Evils doctrine, HRIC wrote, China continues to claim that it is acting to "firmly uphold and fulfill the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council," according to a statement by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS).

Under U.N. rules, China pledged to oppose the "arbitrary widening" of the scope of fighting terrorism and identifying terrorism with any specific ethnic group or religion.

"The Three Evils doctrine undermines this principled approach and, in doing so, compromises human rights guaranteed under international law, and international counter-terrorism efforts as a whole," HRIC said.

HRIC recommended that Beijing narrow its "Three Evils"-based approach to national security and reformulate its definition of terrorism.

On June 24 last year, Chinese authorities announced they had broken up a "terrorist" ring of a Uyghur separatist group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), after arresting more than ten of its members involved in an alleged major plot against China.

The announcement said that information leading to the arrest had been obtained through the investigation of 20 "individuals of Chinese citizenship" who had been deported to China on December 20, 2009-the exact date that Cambodia deported 20 Uyghurs seeking asylum following the July 5 ethnic unrest in Urumqi.

The statement also indicated that several of the alleged ETIM members had confessed to participating in a wide array of terrorist activities during interrogation.

Human Rights Watch said in February that the Cambodian government has a "dismal track record" of deporting refugees granted asylum status by the UNHCR, particularly those from neighboring countries such as China and Vietnam.

Ethnic tensions

Millions of Uyghurs-a distinct, Turkic minority who are predominantly Muslim-populate Central Asia and the Xinjiang region.

Ethnic tensions between Uyghurs and majority Han Chinese settlers have simmered for years, and erupted in riots in July 2009 that left some 200 people dead, according to the Chinese government's tally.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Chinese authorities blame Uyghur separatists for a series of deadly attacks in recent years and accuse one group in particular of maintaining links to the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Reported by Mamatjan Juma for RFA Uyghur service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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