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Having a good website is
one thing. Having a good website that users can easily find is
another.
Have you considered Search
Engine Optimization for your website? If your business can benefit
from website traffic then this is something you should consider.
SEO for your website will bring in potential customers who are
seeking your services - this is a highly targeted form of
advertising.
Compare SEO to traditional forms
of advertising.You can place a print
advertisement for a couple hundred dollars per run and get exposure
to people who may or may not need your services or goods. Print ads
work when you place them frequently and expose your customer to
your brand over and over again (assuming that they would need your
services in the first place). Tracking the return on investment is
difficult and usually it takes thousands of dollars until you see
any type of results. Unless your services are for the general
public, you may want to allocate your marketing budget somewhere
more profitable.
SEO services allow people who are on the
Internet searching for the goods or services that your company
provides to be able to easily find your website and company
information. It only makes sense to market to people who are
looking for what you have.
This is a
shotgun approach compared to traditional marketing.
What exactly is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is essentially
making your website easier for search engines to find when a user
searches for specific keywords related to your goods or services.
There are many different things that search engines take into
account when determining which websites to display; some of these
factors are controllable and some are not (ie: how long your
website has been established, etc.). Alternate Image works on the
controllable factors to make your website rank higher for keyword
searches.
What is the difference between paid and
organic listings?
Paid listings appear under
the "sponsored links" for Google in a box - these are the
top three listings and then overflow over to the right hand side of
the page. This is a fast and easy way to get your website to appear
at the top of the rankings, however it can get expensive.
Advertisers pay per click and depending on the keyword popularity
you can spend upwards of $1.00 per click. Below is an example of
where sponsored listings appear.
Organic listings are what you
see below the sponsored listings. These are more commonly clicked
on and cannot be "purchased" from Google. Google is
constantly changing their formula for determining website rankings
and we have to stay in the loop to keep our SEO clients ranking on
top. We offer SEO
services for organic listings and additional packages for paid
listings (called Google AdWords) campaign
management.
What is included in SEO
services from Alternate Image?
Search engine optimization is very labor
intensive. We do all of our work in-house and will never farm it
out overseas. SEO work is completed by Michelle Herrin, VP, and
Morgan Seedarnee, our Internet Marketing Specialist. Alternate
Image was one of the first companies in our area to offer these
types of services. We have years of experience in an industry that
is very new, and we are continuously learning and applying more
techniques to our SEO services for our clients.
First, Michelle will have a
consultation with you to determine your overall goals and what you
are trying to market. She will research your competition to see how
difficult it will be for your website to climb the rankings and
make it to the first page on Google. Prices for SEO packages are
determined based upon this research and a proposal will be given to
you.
The next step is for Alternate
Image to research your keywords. We use software programs to
determine which keywords are more popular for general searches and
come up with a list of keywords that will be the most successful
for your SEO campaign. This list is sent to you and depending on
your contract you can narrow this down to about 15-20 keywords that
you feel would be the best suited for your website. Once this form
is received SEO will begin.
SEO services include the
following:
- Listing your business on
Google local listings to appear on the local map
- Changing your
meta-tags, meta-descriptions, and meta-keywords for each page
within your website to optimize for the keyword list
- Writing 15-20
articles (individual webpages) within your website that are
optimized for search engines and your specific keywords
- Submitting blog
posts, press releases, and other articles to online websites that
are optimized with your keywords and link back to your website
- Generating
keyword reports every 2 weeks to show you where you rank on the top
three search engines for each keyword. This report will be emailed
to you once your SEO has been completed.
- Additional
"tweaking" and monitoring of your rankings to add fresh
content and keep your rankings from falling
- Crawling your
website every 2 weeks and submitting a new site map to Google so
that they can find new pages and new content added (generally
Google crawls websites 3-4 times a year unless you directly submit
your site-map)
How does your website
perform?
Call Michelle today for a free website analysis report to see how
your website ranks on the top search engines for your top keywords
and a free consultation.
- Morgan
Seedarnee,
Internet Marketing
Specialist
Alternate Image
386-760-1774
Ask about our social media
management packages!
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Alternate Image's programmers and
designers have been busily working on updating what we call
'skins' for all applications in the administration area.
You will notice some items have already been updated such as News
and Calendar. The new 'skins' allow for visual enhancements
and user-friendly navigation, yet leaving the functionality the
same. Currently you will see enhancements in some of the Hotel
applications such as Rooms, Room Options and Reports.
Go to Rooms. Click on the details of a
specific room and you will see noticeable enhancement, such as the
length of the form. Instead of having to scroll down to complete
the form now you can click across the page. Description, Pictures,
Policy, and GDS settings are now more visible and easily navigated.
We also added some Additional Settings, which allow you to choose
the specific discounts, amenities, and options for that particular
room. Also see Room Options>Details.
The Billing Overview and Revenue Overview
reports have also been upgraded. The revenue amounts are legible
and the color is easy on the eyes. You can also view your GDS
revenue, separate from all revenue. If you are looking for
something more specific you may choose to Build Report. To build a
report you can choose certain criteria, such as Date Range of when
the reservation was made, Booked At if there are portals you are
attached to, Discounts if you are looking to isolate reservations
that used a discount, or Booked By which would primarily be any
wholesalers you have contracted with. If you click on the details
of a particular month a light box window will appear to include all
reservations where the revenue derived. You can also print the list
of reservations for your backup.
The 'skins' will have similarities
in all applications once each has been completed. Larger font for
legibility, softer color which is easier on the eyes, shorter forms
to complete for an overall better experience. Look for more
application enhancements throughout the next few months. |
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In-case you didn't know, Alternate Image has an interface into
the well known Global Distribution Systems also known as GDS.
We've made it easy for you to manage your rates and inventory
for your online booking engine as well as your GDS through one
point of management. We can give you the exposure you need to
increase your bookings and be more visible right next to your
competition.
GDS currently encompasses all
leading hotel and travel companies to include Sabre, Galileo,
Pegasus, Worldspan, Amadeus, as well as online hubs, such as
Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire, Priceline and much more. If
your hotel is not currently on GDS, we can help. Our existing
system works hand-in-hand with the GDS interface with no additional
data entry or third party access. Room descriptions and pictures,
discounts, rates and inventory all coincide with the GDS channels
automatically for your convenience. Our rates are very competitive
to include one-time setup, flat fees with no percentages, quick
activation, and free full time support and
training.
While the demand for direct
electronic access to hotel websites is growing exponentially no
hotel company can afford to ignore this explosive growth of online
hotel internet reservation bookings. Nearly 300 million active
Internet users have already purchased travel online. Online travel
bookings have exceeded $100 billion since 2005. GDS on average
produces up to 30% of all hotel bookings. The biggest advantage for
any hotel is having the largest online exposure to the online
markets through GDS where millions of buyers and sellers work
together to exchange travel services. If you would like more
information on how your hotel can benefit from GDS, please call us
today at 386-760-1774. |
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HTML Code Tags & Tips
By Morgan from Alternate Image
HINT: You can always undo any action with CTRL + Z (Command + Z
on a MAC). You must hold down the control key while holding down
the 'Z' key.
How to align a paragraph differently than
another paragraph or sentence above/below it
If you want the bottom paragraph text to appear
centered and the top to be left aligned, like this:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing
elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore
magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis
nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip
ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in
hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum
dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto
odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue
duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
You will need to use a Div Tag. The Div Tag will be placed before
the sentence with a closing Div tag following it. If there are font
tags you will want to place this around those as well so that the
styling is included in the Div Tag.
You can align the text to be 'center', 'left', or
'right' using the tags below:
(Note: this is an image as entering in any HTML code is
automatically hidden from the user)
How to add a specific font color that is not in the color
swatch
If you want to add a new font swatch color that is
not in the color swatch, or if you have a specific logo color that
you need to use to match a logo or branding, you will first need
the 6 character color code (ex: #66CC00).
You can find a complete list of colors and their
color codes at www.visibone.com/colorlab.Here you can place colors
next to each other and see how they look or complement each other.
These colors are web safe colors that will be consistent through
all browsers and on a MAC and PC. Only use these web safe colors
for your website. Simply click on a color on the palette and the
color code will appear on the right.
Go to your CMS and type in your text. Highlight it
and add a color from the color swatch. It does not matter which
color you select, as we will be changing it in the next step.
Go to your source code and search for that text. The color code
will appear within the font tag that surrounds your text. Replace
the 6 character color code with your new color code. The code
should look like this:
How to add spacing around an image
If you want to add space between the text and image, like this:
To add space first float the image either right or
left. (You can do this by inserting the image from your photo
library and selecting float to left or right, selecting none will
not make any text wrap around the image.) In the code, look for the
image tag and insert your margin style tag within the Div Tag
surrounding the image.
These are the tags you can add:
margin: 15px - adds 15 pixels of space around the entire image
margin-left: 15px - adds 15 pixels of space to the left of the
image
margin-right: 15px - adds 15 pixels of space to the right of the
image
margin-top: 15 px - adds 15 pixels of space to the top of the
image
margin-bottom: 15px - adds 15 pixels of space to the bottom of the
image
The code should look like this:
You can add more or less space by increasing the pixel size. A good
amount is about 10-25 pixels, depending on your website layout and
images. Be consistent with your margins throughout the website.
You can add more or less space by increasing the pixel size.A
good amount is about 10-25 pixels, depending on your website layout
and images.Be consistent with your margins throughout the
website.
How to add 'Alt text' to images to enhance SEO for your
website
Alt tags are used to identify the image to search
engines and the user. When your mouse hovers over an image the alt
text will appear. Your alt text should include your website
keywords and not be a complete sentence. Here are some great
examples of effective Alt Tags:
Daytona Beach Hotels
Bike Week events 2010
Daytona Beach restaurants
Daytona Beach Homes for Sale
After you have inserted your image, find the image
source code and type your keywords into the quotation marks for the
Alt Tag:
Add a border around your image
To add a border around your image go to your source
code and find the image source. Within the image tags there will be
a 'border=0' code. Change the '0' to the amount of
pixels you would like your border to be. One pixel in width is
usually sufficient but you can add more. Your image will appear as
such:
Here is the source code:
Always remember that your website will display
differently in Internet Explorer, FireFox, and Safari and that it
is recommended that you preview your website in all three. If you
need to revert back to previous content in your content management
system you can do so from the Activity Log on the Security
Dashboard of your website. The activity log will display the
content before and after each save from user sessions. You can copy
and paste the previous content from the activity log back into your
content management box should you need to revert back to your
previous content.
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Newest Version of Content Management is finally here! We have
just recently turned on the new content manager in our mailer
application. It is cross browser friendly and will work with any
browser including Safari. Let me explain about the newest features
you will love.
FONTS
The basic editing functions are always important. Anytime time you
want to edit the font you will have to be sure to highlight the
text. Once the text is highlighted click on the "A"
viewer, which is now a combination of three options in one; the
Color, Size, and Type of font. When choosing the color, click on
the check box next to color and a color wheel will appear. There is
a small cursor in the bottom left corner you drag into the color
choice. You can also move the vertical cursor up and down. Once you
have chosen the color click on the rainbow wheel at the bottom to
activate and Submit. You can also Bold, Italic, or Underline in the
"A" viewer, for one less step.
INDEX
The same items apply with indexing. Options include Left index,
Right index, and center. Highlight the text area you want to edit
and chose the index you prefer. We have also added bullets and line
breaks which can be useful. Rumor has it, tables will be added in
the near future.
HYPERLINK
Hyperlinks are
very useful for any content. Highlight the text you would like to
link. Click the "Chain" link next to the camera and a pop
up box will appear. Main functions include Type, Text, Url, and
Open In.
The type is whether it is a secure page, https, a regular page
http, or a mail to, which is a link to an email address. If you are
linking to an email address be sure you type in the full email
address in the url field.
The text field will pre-populate what you highlighted. Make sure
you are not linking words such as "click here" these are
not search engine friendly. They should be a descriptive word about
what you are writing, such as, "register for class" or
"bike week rates." The url is the link, you do not have
to include the http or www.
The open in, is whether or not you would like the link to open a
new browser window or the same browser window. Suggestion, if you
are linking away from your website, chose to open in
"new" window. If you are linking within your own website,
chose to open in the "same" window. This will ensure your
viewing traffic is not directed away from you site.
Once the link has been customized to your liking, you may now chose
to change the font by clicking on the Style tab. The style tab will
drop down and offer options of font, size, and color, which work in
unison with the "A" viewer. For reference see FONTS.
MEDIA
UPLOAD
The media upload is by far the most advanced feature. It contains
several uploading options such as Pictures, Documents, Audio/Video
and Flash. Now you can upload your newest YouTube video to a news
article. Here are the steps to using the media upload.
-Place your cursor where you would like to upload your
picture/file.
-Click on the "Camera" viewer and a pop up box will
appear. The media holds all files and organizes them accordingly
for easy navigation. Notice you have the ability to scroll through
several pages of uploads using the page finder.
-You now have a thumbnail which acts as a preview and the title is
visible below the thumbnail for easy viewing. You can easily chose
to view all files, or select specific files.
-To upload chose the "Upload" tab found in the middle
below the files. Two options show up within the upload section.
Destination, is the libraries created to help organize your media.
And Browse where you can upload from your desktop. Once uploaded
there will be a preview indicating the file has successfully
uploaded. To close the upload tab, do NOT click the close link.
Instead click the UPLOAD tab, again, to go back to the media
viewer.
-To search for the title of the file, type it in the search field
found to the left of the upload tab. Once you have found the file,
you may click the thumbnail to view the details of this file.
-The details of the file will have available sizes that are created
by default. The original file is typically the largest. Next to
that, you can create custom sizes. The More options section below
is used for natural search engine optimizing. Alt Text is the title
you give your document. Float allows for you to float your image to
wrap text. And Link is to link your image to a designated url.
For sneak peak, check out the new look of the user-side content
manager.
If you have any questions regarding any of our products please do
not hesitate to call us.
-AI Staff
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To stay on top of your internet
marketing sometimes you just have to go mobile. But with so many
mobile phone and social media apps out there you may need some
help.
Here are some
helpful reviews:
I've
personally had problems with the previous version of the Facebook
App, and to be honest I never really liked it. Luckily, they've
fixed those problems and came out with an upgrade.Here is a
review for the new
iPhone Facebook App that was released this year.
Qik App for
iPhone.
Michelle's favorite for creating live video streams. Your
iPhone doesn't even have to have the video capabilities, the
Qik app allows you to take video and stream it live to the
internet. These videos can be posted to your website or blog. Now
you can create short little clips to show off whatever you would
like in a few quick minutes. Perfect for internet marketing on the
fly.
And let's
not forget our office favorite; The Scare Bear Trail Companion App
for the iPhone. This app allows you to make a foghorn sound,
clapping sound, or lound jingling noise on your iPhone. This is
supposed to be used to scare away bears but we've been using it
to announce important events or big sales. Your office staff will
hate you for this one. (To download the app, log into yout iTunes
account and search for "Scare Bear Trail
Companion").
What else is
there for the iPhone?Here is a
comprehensive list of the iPhone apps from
2010.
Sometimes we
play favorites because most of our staff members at Alternate Image
has an iPhone, but we haven't forgotten about you Blackberry
users.Here are some
of the best social media apps for Blackberry.
Are you a
Tweeter? Here is a great review onthe best
Twitter apps for MAC users.
Enjoy!
-AI
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Some say Bike Week is about bikes, babes and booze.
I think it is about revenue, bottom line and earnings. It may not
have the same ring to it but in today's market we are all about
the ring of the cash register anyway. BikeWeek.com is this month's featured website
because spring time brings bikes. While BikeWeek.com does cover the
big three 'B's' that it has become associated with it
also covers where to stay, what to do and where to be. With over
85,000 unique visitors a month, this site is HOT.
Drum roll please….the all new BikeWeek.com
has been launched just in time for Bike Week Daytona. Site visitors
have access to printable coupons (could coupons on the phone be
coming soon?), listings of national and local businesses, news
stories from across the bike world, forums and a vibrant biker
community.
And oh yeah - pictures. We have thousands of pics
from past bike events all over the US. If you have a story or a
press release about Bike Week we would love to receive it. Email
editor@bikeweek.com. Interested in
advertising on BikeWeek.com?We would love to talk to you about the
incredible affordable options. Email advertising@bikeweek.com for
a media kit with options and rates.
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What
is an Internet Browser?
A software application used for retrieving, presenting and
transferring information resources on the Internet.According to
Wikipedia, an information resource is 'identified by a Uniform
Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or
other piece of content.Hyperlinks enable users to easily navigate
their browsers to related resources.'Basically, an Internet
Browser is what you use to view websites.
How Do
I Know Which Internet Browser I am
Using?
There are a few ways to tell.
MAC users: Click on the Apple menu (top left of your screen)
and click 'About Safari' or whichever browser you are
using.Apple will then display your browser info.
PC users:Go to the menu items across the top of your browser
and select the support menu item.Select About…. To see the
browser name and version.Some browsers may display the menu items
differently.Most of the time you can view the browser details under
the Support>>About menu item .In Internet Explorer 8 you can
click on the Help menu and it will say 'What's New in
Internet Explorer 8' so that you know you are using the latest
version of IE.
You can set your default browser by going to Tools>Internet
Options>Programs. There you can choose your default browser for
opening hyperlinks and websites.
What Types of
Browsers are There?
There are a few main browsers used by the majority of Internet
users.
Internet Explorer
Safari - (Apple's Internet browser, also used on the
iPhone)
Firefox
Google Chrome
Opera
Which Browser is
the Best?
Alternate Image software supports IE 8. Our newest content
management version showcased in the admin area supports IE8 which
will soon be a mandatory upgrade. If you log into your admin area
and see the green bar at the top, that means you need to upgrade
and are not using IE 8. If you have IE 8 but have the compatibility
view turned on, then that will also cause the green bar to
appear.Turn your compatibility view off (click the broken page next
to your address bar, or click on Tools>Compatibility View to
change this setting.
Firefox is a great browser and has proven to be the most effective
when working with AI's Content Management system. We are
looking forward to turning on our newest version of content
management for the user side as early as first quarter. This will
allow for cross browser usage to include Safari. We recommend
remaining current on all browsers to fully utilize the software and
its improvements.
What
is the Difference Between Browser
Performance?
We found these great reviews and browser comparisons online - IE8
and Firefox are a sure bet.
Performance Comparision of the Top Ten Internet
Browsers
Reviews on the Top Ten Internet Browsers
We hope you find this information helpful!
-AI Staff |
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Have a support question?
Many commonly asked questions can be found in our AI
support desk knowledge base at www.AIsupportDesk.com. Simply log in with the same email address you use to
send tickets, if you do not know your password you can choose the
'Lost Password' option located above the login field to
have your password emailed to you.
Once you have logged in you will see the knowledge
base located on your left.Click on this to see the different help
articles and support questions.
We are always updating the knowledge base so that
our clients can find answers to commonly asked questions. If you
have a question that was not answered by any of the articles in the
knowledge base you can send in a support ticket by emailing
help@aisupportdesk.com or by logging intowww.AIsupportDesk.com and selecting 'Submit a
ticket'.
What to Include in your Support
Ticket:
Name
Phone Number
Email Address
Your website
Your support issue
The exact url for the page you are having an issue
with
What browser you are using (ex: Safari, Internet
Explorer8, Firefox, etc.)
Please be as thorough as possible so that we can
better troubleshoot and solve your issue. If you are just
submitting a ticket for simple graphics updates be sure to include
the file attachment and the url for the page you would like this to
be applied to.
If you are submitting an excel file to import users
to your database for an email, be sure that your excel file is in
the proper format (see 'How Do I Import Users to My
Database') and that you mention any special user groups you
would like created for this list. If no user group is mentioned the
list will be uploaded to the general 'user' group. Keep in
mind that lists may take a few hours to upload depending on their
size. Please plan ahead when scheduling email blasts to
accommodate for this time.
For general requests please allow 48 business hours
for tickets to be completed.
Thank you for using the AI Support Desk and
Knowledge Base
-AI Staff
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Major
credit card issuers created PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliance
standards to protect personal information and ensure security when
companies process, store, or transmit credit card information,
whether it be a brick and mortar or an online business. All members
of the payment card industry must comply with these standards if
they want to accept credit cards. Failure to meet compliance
standards can result in fines from credit card companies and banks
and even the loss of the ability to process credit cards.
PCI Compliance applies to all
businesses or merchants, regardless of size, who acquire banks, are
independent sales organizations, processors, hosts, shopping carts,
e-commerce and retail merchants. All merchants who store, process
or transmit card holder data must now be compliant. You may refer
to your merchant bank for specific validation
requirements.
A SSL (Secure Certificate) is
not a valid PCI compliance requirement. Its purpose is to secure
connection between customer's browser and web server, as well
as, validation of a Website organization. To be PCI compliant you
must protect credit card information.
To satisfy the requirements of
PCI compliance Alternate Image has a registered account with
TrustKeeper, a
certified PCI compliance provider for all credit card companies.
TrustKeeper has validated the compliance of the majority of service
providers listed on the Visa and Mastercard
websites.
We have also passed compliance
with Security Metrics, but work exclusively with
TrustKeeper.
Alternate Image stays up to date
on all PCI compliance regulation changes. If you receive a
notification of non-compliance, this does not mean your website is
insecure. Please notify us immediately and we will work towards
resolving any data security vulnerabilities.
If you have any other questions
regarding PCI Compliance please feel free to contact us
anytime.
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