Alt Attribute & SEO Optimization

SEO Optimization images has become more and more essential in SEO (Seo optimization) for websites. The ALT attribute is really a critical step that is sometimes forgotten. This can be a lost opportunity for better rankings.

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

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

Why would they ask us to achieve that? The answer is easy, really; search engines like google have a similar problem as blind users. They can't 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 like google, trigger spam filters, which may result in a penalty for the site's ranking. Even without this type of penalty, your site's rankings will not take advantage of this tactic.
This method also puts persons who use screen readers in a greater disadvantage. Screen readers are software-based tools that really read aloud the items in what's displayed on the screen. In browsing the net, the alt attributes of images are read aloud as well.

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

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

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

The thing is to provide the same functional information that the visual user would see. The alt attribute text should be the "stand in" when the image itself is not available. Think about this question: If you were to replace the look using the text, would most users get the same basic information, and would it generate the same response?
Some examples:

 

Some SEO Optimization Tips

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

If an image is supposed to convey the literal items in the image, then a description is appropriate.

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

If it's designed 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 and for valid XHTML.

For images that play only a decorative role in the page, use an empty alt (i.e. alt="") or a CSS background image to ensure that reading browsers do not bother users by uttering things like "spacer image".

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

Alt text should be based on context. Exactly the same image in a different context may require drastically different alt text.

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

It is useful 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 (oftentimes) satisfy the marketing departments. There isn't any content value (though there may be value to a sighted user).

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

II. Mood-Setting

This is the middle layer of graphics which might actually set the atmosphere or set the stage as it were. These graphics aren't direct content and could 't be considered essential, but they are important in that they help frame what is going on.

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

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

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

III. Content and Function

This is where the image may be 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 understand why their alt text isn't working is that they don't know why the images are there. You have to figured out precisely what function an image serves. Consider what it is concerning the image that's important to the page's intended audience.

Every graphic has a reason for being on that page: because it either enhances the theme/ mood/ atmosphere or it is advisable to what are the page is trying to describe. Knowing what the image is for makes alt text easier to write. And practice writing them definitely helps.
A method to check the usefulness of alternative text is to imagine reading the page on the phone to someone. What would you say when encountering a specific image to create the page understandable towards the listener?

Besides the alt attribute you've got a couple more tools available for images.
First, in degree of descriptiveness title is in between alt and longdesc. It adds useful information and can add flavor. The title attribute is optionally rendered by the user agent. Remember they're invisible and never shown like a "tooltip" when focus is received through the keyboard. (A lot for device independence). So make use of the title attribute only for advisory information.
Second, the longdesc attribute points towards the Link to a full description of the image. If the information found in a picture is essential to the meaning of the page (i.e. some important content will be lost if the image was removed), a longer description than the "alt" attribute can reasonably display ought to be used. It may offer rich, expressive documentation of the 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 an image...The aim is by using any length of description necessary to impart the facts of the graphic.

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

Although the 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're best just choosing your gut instinct -- if it's not necessary to incorporate it, and when you don't have a strong urge to get it done, don't include that longdesc.

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

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

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

Image Seo optimization Tips

Listed here are key stages in optimizing images:

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

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

Ensure that the written text nearby the image that's relevant to that image.
Again, don't lose a great chance to help your site with your images in search engines. Use these steps to rank better on all the engines and drive increased traffic for your site TODAY.

SEO Company

Gaining Discipline and a Strong Work Ethic at a Young Age

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

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

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

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

Advertising and Marketing on a Budget

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Recruiting the Right Employees From an Apartment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In 1999, years before major traditional publishing outfits cared about making money online or knew their bottom lines would soon depend on it, a small Melbourne startup called SitePoint figured out how to make money as the premiere destination for those looking to learn about building websites.

I remember my visits to SitePoint as a teenager fondly. I had a head full of ideas on grand businesses that would make me rich, and all I needed to do was pick up the skills to build them — or so I thought. I got my hands on the classic ‘Build Your Own Database Driven Web Site Using PHP & MySQL‘ by Kevin Yank and read SitePoint’s articles (this was before blogs existed) as often as I could.

In the end, things didn’t quite go as planned. My first job after high school and a bit of uni was (fortunately, before corporate life could claim me) my own business, which involved pushing out word count at breakneck speed, not creating web apps. Even still, I imagine those hours spent learning what SitePoint had to offer had a part to play in my early success, or I wouldn’t have know where to begin building my completely web-based service business.

Humble Beginnings

SitePoint was co-founded by Mark Harbottle and Matt Mickiewicz. Before SitePoint, Mark was a founding member and programmer with the company that developed HotDog, which you may remember as one of the few HTML editors available in 90s. Matt, on the other side of the world in Canada, had started a site that would soon become very popular — Webmaster-Resources.com, which these days redirects to SitePoint (and would probably sell for a small fortunate on the domain market).

By 2000, the two were working on SitePoint full-time and making advertising deals to keep the site in the black. In 2001, they turned their most popular tutorial into a book, which they sold themselves through a print-on-demand service.

The experiment was worthwhile, because the book was a success, enough to warrant a switch from the print-on-demand model to ordering large print runs. The company’s library today features books and kits on everything from running an SEO business to hosting your site using Amazon Web Services.

They’re also the company behind three popular marketplaces — 99designs, a design crowdsourcing site, Flippa, where users buy and sell websites, and Learnable, which is a platform for user-generated education.

Making Money with Information

SitePoint was one of the earlier companies in the world to bring in enough revenue from online content to support a growing staff — and on top of that, was listed several times in the BRW Fast 100, Deloitte Technology Fast 50, and the Deloitte Asia Pacific Fast 500. I spoke with co-founder Matt Mickiewicz to find out how they figured it out so early while News Corp continues to flounder years later.

“When we first launched our Forums in 1999, I made going in there, reading discussions, and helping out people personally one of my core daily activities. I used to answer hundreds of emails every week providing feedback to people about their websites, helping them troubleshoot problems, and in general be as helpful as humanly possible,” said Mickiewicz.

When the infamous ‘social media experts’ talk about building community as an essential part of doing business online, they’re not wrong — even if they don’t seem to know how to do that themselves. Putting some elbow grease into daily and helpful interactions with visitors put SitePoint in the right place for the company’s expansion into new markets. According to Mickiewicz, even SitePoint’s weekly newsletter would result in hundreds of email responses — something I’d be surprised to see today.

“SitePoint really was a community in every sense of the word, and when we published our first books and asked people to buy from us, we had build up a huge amount of trust and goodwill so that people happily opened up their wallets to us.”

Advertising’s No Golden Egg

In the last few years, the annual online ad spend has declined, but SitePoint still walks away with both a good profit and happy customers. To SitePoint, selling ad space isn’t just about slapping banners up when their clients’ ad-men send it over. They work hard to deliver extra value, and that means SitePoint doesn’t have to bring ad rates down to the point of commoditization while its competitors slash their inventory prices in desperation.

“Ad agencies & clients are as demanding as ever, so it’s our job to provide them with the absolute best customer service and justify our value and offer out of the box ideas to clients,” said Mickiewicz.

Mickiewicz and SitePoint started in an era when online advertising was a Wild West and have watched as Internet advertising standards were established by the IAB and the technology that made it possible to target their ad serving based on user demographics — things that have made the job of delivering a great experience for advertisers easier.

Even still, Matt doesn’t recommend that new media businesses rely completely on advertising revenue. “Products sales play a very important role in our business to this day in monetizing our traffic,” he says, though he’s not eager to tell me how much of their revenue is made up by products versus advertising.

“No one wants to buy advertising from you when you’re small, and when you get to a certain size you end up backfilling with ad networks which devalues your ad inventory.”

SitePoint’s continued success has been born of diversification. With a business that gets its revenue from marketplaces, subscriptions, advertising and a plethora of popular products, the company is largely resistant to recessions and market disasters — if one revenue source gets knocked out, they know they’ve got plenty of backups.

seo optimization services

ft lauderdale dui attorney and bech craft company

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Bench Craft Company on the focus

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

Legal

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

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

Customer Service

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

Marketing

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

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

Startup

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

Taxes

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

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

Self-development

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

Tech

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

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

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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Sources: Phil Jackson, Los Angeles Lakers fined $75,000 each

Lakers coach Phil Jackson has been fined $75,000 for making unauthorized comments about collective bargaining, sources said Thursday.

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NBC <b>News</b>, CNBC, MSNBC All Particpating in NBCU&#39;s 2011 &#39;Earth Week <b>...</b>

The networks of NBC Universal, including CNBC, MSNBC and NBC News, are all lining up green-themed programming for the 2011 installment of the company's Green is Universal “Earth Week” April 17-24. On “Today” Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda ...

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Great <b>news</b>: Working population percentage drops to three-decade <b>...</b>

Great news: Working population percentage drops to three-decade low.

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China is a notoriously tough market for American brands. The last few years has seen tech giants like Google struggle to do business due to restrictive censorship and retail giants like Best Buy and Home Depot have found that heavy price competition makes it hard to gain a toehold. Yet, despite the conventional wisdom, Apple’s business in China is booming and it’s not lower prices but better presentation that’s driving their success.

The Chinese economy is having some of its best years ever due to the rising world demand for consumer electronics, much of which is manufactured in China’s city-sized factories. The Mercury News reports that this has led to the average Chinese citizen being more flush with cash than ever before and ready to spend it on what would previously be deemed as unaffordable luxury.

Paul French of Shanghai-based Access Asia indicates that the increase in middle class affluence is behind the increase in purchasing power. “There is now enough of an urban middle class with enough money to afford Apple products. Five years ago — or even two or three years ago — there weren’t enough of those people.”

Five years ago, Apple didn’t have a retail store in China, now it has four, including a stunning split-level glass and metal flagship store in Sanlitun, an area of Beijing known more for its nightlife than its retail outlets. Those stores aren’t barely surviving either, with $2.6 billion in revenue this year, four times what we saw last year from Apple in China. This should mean that Apple is fighting the price war well in China, offering its products for less than they can be purchased in the US, but that’s not actually true. In fact, Apple sells a comparatively specced 13-inch Macbook Air for $180 more in China than it does stateside.

This success seems to fly in the face of conventional wisdom, typically premium products have not sold well in cost conscious China. Some, like Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, say that Apple will have to eventually compete on price or risk losing the Chinese consumer. “The iPhone is going to be huge in China. That’s a given.” he tells the Mercury News. “But if Apple wants it to flow out across China, it has to come up with lower price points.”

Yet Apple shows no signs of slowing down in the Chinese market, which is projected to account for 10 percent of Apple’s revenue within 5 years.

When asked, locals said that in a country where the people like to try products out before they purchase them, Apple is doing the best job of presenting those products. Apple’s retail stores offer the Chinese consumer a chance to test the products in a beautiful and visually stimulating atmosphere and those efforts are paying off with big sales numbers. This kind of attention to the senses and emotions of the consumer wasn’t pioneered by Apple of course, but they are one of the first major companies to bring that kind of experience to China’s city centers in a big way.

This difference in the way that the products are presented is doing its job in separating Apple’s products from the rest of the pack almost everywhere that its retail stores are located, but nowhere is that effect felt more than in China. A country where consumers are hungry for polished products presented in a stimulating atmosphere and they finally have the cash to afford them.

As rumors of a later-than-usual iPhone launch for 2011 persist, a new report reveals that the notoriously secretive Apple is being even more careful than usual when dealing with overseas suppliers.



"Apple is keeping its iPhone 5 cards extra close to the vest on this launch to avoid a falloff in iPhone 4 demand ahead of a refresh, especially given the February launch of the CDMA iPhone 4 with Verizon," Analyst Brian White with Ticonderoga Securities said in a note to investors on Friday. He believes that the iPhone 5 could still launch in June or July, as previous models have.



White noted that various rumors have pointed toward a launch later than June this year for the fifth-generation iPhone. One report from March alleged that Apple has not even begun ordering components for the anticipated "iPhone 5," and the device is slated to arrive in the company's 2012 fiscal year, which begins in late September.



And a third report alleged that Apple is working on a major revamp of iOS, its mobile operating system, for version 5.0. New features like cloud-based storage of music, photos and video are rumored to arrive in the update this fall, likely alongside new iPhone hardware.



But despite all of those reports, White isn't yet convinced that the iPhone 5 will be introduced later than its typical June or July timeframe.



"Although we do not have a smoking gun that definitively rules out a delayed autumn unveiling or one that supports a launch this summer, there is a pattern of activity in motion with the supply chain that makes us question a delayed launch," he said.



White also cited sources who indicated that iPad sales could reach up to 40 million units in calendar year 2011. And supply chain sources also indicated that disruption from the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan will actually end up benefitting Apple, as suppliers will "rush to support Apple at the expense of competitors."



The analyst already revealed earlier this week that Apple has been offering upfront cash payments to component suppliers in order to secure components in the wake of the disaster in Japan. Apple has apparently also been using a "three cover guarantee," referring to capacity, stock and price, to block out competitors and prevent them from building ample supply of devices.

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During today’s Google earnings call, one analyst asked for some color on Google’s mobile business. CFO Patrick Pichette didn’t give much more in terms of specifics, but he did offer up some color. “Without any radical effort, we already announced at end of Q3 this is a $1 billion run-rate business,” says Pichette. Mobile is “growing at an amazing blazingly pace,” he says. “We tripped into $1 billion.”

Mobile search is definitely something Google is keenly focussed on. Senior VP of Local Jeff Huber noted on the call: ” In terms of where it trends over time, the smartphone is becoming an extension of the person, and how they do everything.”

Google is tackling that opportunity with mobile search obviously, but also with Android, which comes with Google search built-in as the default. Google is seeing 350,000 Android devices being activated a day.

Asked whether Google would have to build out a local salesforce with feet on the ground to take advantage of the new mobile and local advertising opportunities, sales chief Nikesh Arora didn’t rule out any possibilities. “we will use a combination of existing sales teams and methods and others that might be required,” he responded. Sounds like Google is picking itself up and going after the next billion dollars or two in mobile search.

Photo credit: Flickr/ Jeffrey Beall

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

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

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

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

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

The basics:

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

Net Revenue of $6.54 billion slightly better than expected.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Traffic acquisition costs are looking good as well:

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

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

Here are our notes from the call:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Opex increase is primarily payroll, some advertising.

Op margin 37.6%

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

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

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

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

4:45: Local and commerce SVP Jeff Huber.

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

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

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

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

Mobile traffic up 500%+ over last two years.

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

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

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

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

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

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

4:49: Now it's Susan Wojcicki.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still disciplined: quarterly reviews to get your next funding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. But financially? Any meaningful difference?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q. Employee bonuses and social -- define success?

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

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

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

Q. Engagement through frequency rather than share of time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nobody is going to say a substantive thing about acquisitions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

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Great <b>news</b>: Working population percentage drops to three-decade <b>...</b>

Great news: Working population percentage drops to three-decade low.

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

Roofing Companies Vancouver - 5 Questions to Really think

Roofing Vancouver - Frequently Asked Questions

1. Repair or Replace?

There's no opinion as an expert opinion. Most contractors will provide you with a free estimate. Get a summary of a few trusted contractors and contact them well in advance of when you wish to get your homes roof fixed so you can compare costs and opinions.

2. Beauty versus Practicality?

Discuss this with your spouse or partner. (The kids could care less...at least the children.) The fact is, nobody wants an ugly roof just like nobody wants to be viewed with bed hair. If you've got a great quality roof and you just need to do the repair, it's worthwhile to pay for the cost of the initial shingle rather than doing patchwork. A roof replacement doesn't happen very often (hopefully!) and so make a decision that suits you and your loved ones well or it'll stick out like a sore thumb everyday you decide to go home.

3. Must i replace the rooftop in order to sell the house for more?

Think about this cautiously before making a choice. Depending on the roofing material you choose, a brand new roof lasts between twenty, fifty, to one-hundred years! This means you need to check the year of the roof that's currently too deep first. Are you at year 18 of a 20-year warranted roof or year 30 of a 50-year warranted roof? Obviously, the quality is what makes the rooftop keep going longer, but when you're not likely to stay in your present home for the rest of your life, the larger expense might not be worth neglect the. Although a brand new roof can improve the worth of your selling price, the rise may not be enough to cover neglect the and that's definitely going to hurt your wallet.

4. Is it a good idea for me to repair the roof myself?

Sure it is. But before you need to do, consult an expert first. You can perform it yourself, but you shouldn't be considered a complete ‘lone ranger.' With respect to the extent of the repair, you might or may not convince you. Either way, it helps to get a professional eye on the problem first and maybe even 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. Just when was a good time to get the roof replaced?

Weather can cause delays from days to weeks. Most people plan ahead to have their roof replaced in the summer once they have a friend will be home during the day for a solid fourteen days. Once you've this period in mind, make a call to a trusted contractor months ahead of time to get a quote. Some companies get reserved fast and odds are, they're the most reputable. Preparing in advance from the summer also gives you time for you to discuss with more and compare costs...especially if you need to possess the roof done by a particular date.

 

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Obtain a FREE INSPECTION AND EVALUATION OF YOUR Vancouver ROOF.

Go to the Roofers Vancouver for a FREE inspection and evaluation of the roof. Give you the best roof for the Vancouver home, in the best value. We build roofs to last!

 

Tacoma Roofing contractor: Make your Home Beautiful

Very few people view the value of a good roof, your knowledgeable Tacoma Roofer does. From top notch experience, they will be able to let you know the reason why you need a strong, secure, and leak-free roof on your home.

The local Tacoma Roofing company is knowledgeable how important a financial investment your property is for you, especially as it is a long term one. Your house 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 property beautiful is also a matter of pride. There are those too who'd prefer to turn their property right into a cost effective and efficient living place. Your roof is a valuable part of your property and contributes to each one of the aspects mentioned above. For this reason, you should employ the expertise of qualified a Tacoma Roofing contractors.

Types of Roofs installed with a Tacoma Roofing company

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

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A Tacoma Roofing contractor Helps you to Build Strong Homes

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

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

Reverse Damages with the Help of a Tacoma Roofer

However top quality the roof may be, it is going to wear down with time. You will find shingles that are referred to as "25 year" or "30 year" shingles, but those numbers are just associated with warranty produced by the manufacturers. They hardly ever last that long. Realistically speaking, "25 year" shingles will not last more than a few years. In an area that's vulnerable to storms, shingles or the entire roof may need to be replaced every ten years. With a Tacoma Roofing contractor, the cost is going to be lower than what you believe.

If there you lose any shingles, or there's some damage to them, a Tacoma Roofing company can assist you to. Damaged shingles can lead to indoor leaks, as the substrate from the roof becomes exposed to the sun and rain. Shingles which are loose or broken can slip off and pose a potential hazard to people standing below. Missing shingles create a gap that allows rain, wind, ice, and debris to develop under the adjoining shingles, which creates a "domino effect" that affects other shingles plus they become loose or broken. A thorough investigation will be made by your local Tacoma Roofer, should you give them a call up with your suspicions of loose or missing shingles.

Your Tacoma Roofing company come in a position to inform you what are the smartest choice is perfect for your homes roof. If your roof is not inside a good shape, it's advised that you have it replaced completely. The Tacoma Roofer may take you through the different roofing possibilities for you which will suit your requirements and your budget.

Tacoma Roofing company: Improving your Home's Efficiency

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

First of all, inspect your roof thoroughly for any and all sorts of type of damage, prior to the beginning of the year. The gutters should be clear, debris shouldn't be piled on or trapped under shingles, there should be no homes of squirrels or birds in the eaves or attic, and the roof should be structurally sound. For that last part, you will need the assistance of the local Tacoma Roofer. It may be quite dangerous to climb to the roof of your house. This is when the contractor from Tacoma Roofing contractor comes in. He will read the strength and security of your roof and shingles, and do a general inspection of the entire roof structure, to make certain that it is in proper working order. They will be able to point towards problems that you have to keep an eye on and problems you might not have spotted.

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

Tacoma Roofer: Someone You are able to Rely 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 get your house back in ace condition simply by focusing on the roof. Your roof deserves attention. So give them a call today, to enable them to get down to caring for your roof.

 

What is Distinction between Commercial Roofing Companies From Residential Roofing Companies

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

If this is the situation then their labor costs will prohibit them from focusing on non union residential jobs. Beyond that, if your commercial roofing company hasn't signed an agreement with a union they may be outfitted simply for commercial jobs and that means that their workers and equipment may not be in line with smaller residential jobs.

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

Also, liability insurance for commercial roofing is more expensive and a larger bond is required for a commercial roofing work which will make it not economical for a commercial roofer to do residential roofing jobs.

Still one more factor is the fact that commercial jobs can operate on tighter time period for any number of reasons, requiring a commercial contractor to employ a larger crew or crews which again makes smaller jobs not as profitable on their behalf.

 

Distinction between Commercial Roofing and Residential Roofing

Did you know that the roof of a house or building includes a huge impact on the entire structure itself? Damage caused to roofs due to natural or another disasters leads to a considerable loss of property everywhere. The type of materials accustomed to construct the roof which should be sturdy and long lasting, the way in which the roof continues to be installed and even its timely maintenance are extremely crucial. There are two kinds of roofs that are utilized on all of the buildings that we see around us: commercial and residential. Although it might seem that commercial roofing is performed just for businesses or offices and residential roofing is performed for apartments and houses, in reality the differences are much more complicated than that.

Residential roofing is usually completed by just one hired contractor but commercial roofing usually takes an entire team to complete the task. The reason being a commercial roof tends to be larger in terms of square feet than a residential roof.
Commercial roofs need to be made carefully keeping the nature and reason for your building in mind. For instance, when there is a restaurant in the building then external components like ventilation systems, smoke stacks and pipes will be required. Residential roofs tend not to have such components apart from a chimney or two at most.
Commercial roofs is commonly flat in design to accommodate further changes at a later period, whereas most residential roofs have peaks along with other architectural features like roof gardens.
Commercial roofing is a lot more expensive than residential roofing because of the special tools, materials and safety equipment that are needed onsite. Usually the patching or maintenance jobs are done in segments unlike for a residential roof where the repair or replacement work can be completed in a short time. This really is one more reason why the gear employed for residential roofs is often smaller and less expensive too.
Commercial roof installations take a longer time to accomplish in comparison to residential roof installations and are usually constructed in large sections. In this phase however, it is important to make sure that there aren't any leakages, cracks or any other visible deterioration signs as it can cause considerable damage to the whole building.
It is important to install the best roof for a building based on its purpose. Make sure that you hire a construction company that uses top notch materials and it has the best equipment to do the job or your investment may turn out to be considered a huge loss later.

 

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

If a business is seeking to have work done on its roof, it is important to work with commercial roofing contractors that have a keen knowledge of any special needs that the business may have. For example, a roofing job is often disruptive for that operation of economic as usual. For this reason, it may be essential for the company to become temporarily turn off, or for the roofing to take place after business hours have ended. A roofing contractor that understands these needs can function plus a business to make sure that these kinds of issues are minimized.

First of all , a business must do when it is trying to find commercial roofing contractors is to discover who other businesses in the region will work through. Obviously, this information will 't be helpful if it may come as a suggestion from competitors, but you will find circumstances by which it is not too difficult to locate this information from suppliers or retailers. Since roofing isn't an industry-specific service, this post is readily available.

It is a wise decision for just about any business to get in touch with a minimum of three commercial roofing contractors to create bids about the price. In this manner, the company can often obtain a better price. It's also important to ensure that each of the roofing contractors is licensed and bonded. This information can be found by permitting touching the state contractor's board. This also assists you to determine whether there has been any claims filed against the company in the past.

When examining bids, it is only as important to look at what services are now being offered and which products will be used because it is to look at the total cost. The costs can vary quite drastically, but as tempting as possible to choose the cheapest bid, this is not always your 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 find out if the company has been accredited, and when it's not, to at least see what its rating is.

 

Picking out a Commercial Roofing Contractor

When you're looking for a roofer for your commercial roofing project you have to look for a contractor who understands the special needs of the commercial roofing project. For instance it can be harder to work on a business during business hours so either the business has to be shut down for the repair or replacement or 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 work around your schedule constrictions which might involve working weekends or evenings?

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

Ask people around you for referrals and try to find at least three contractors to provide you with written bids on your job. Prior to going any more you have to ensure that the contractors you are considering are fully licensed and bonded. A simple search using the state contractor's board will verify in case your roofer is licensed and if 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 that bids to become widely varied. Roofers may have brand preferences which will vary and may element in pretty much compared to next guy for any labor estimate. The greater detailed an itemized bid may be the more helpful it will likely be for you to see where the cost are going to be incurred. Don't, however, select a roofer based solely about the bid price. Any low ball bids may be tempting to consider, but if they are low because of poor quality workman ship it may not be worth it ultimately.

As they say, you generally get that which you purchase, if you are able to afford a mid-priced bid it certainly is a good idea to go up within your budget instead of down. You also should select your roofer depending on how professional they were and just how comfortable you anticipate you will be working with them.

Finally your cost will vary based on which kind of roofing material you choose along with the cost to haul your old roof towards the landfill. Should you be looking for places to cut corners in your roof, instead of cutting labor set you back might want to inquire about metallic roof option. Metal roofs can be cost effective and energy efficient which makes them overall money savers for the long term, and on commercial buildings they may be very low maintenance. Plus since they can be placed 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 in your local area, doesn't have to be a struggle. For more information, visit http://www.vancouverroofers.net