Classic Best Ferrups UPS's nominal input can be configured for 120V, 208V or 240V. 208V and 240V inputs can not be switched "on the fly; factory level changes must be made by a qualified technician in the field or in our shop, and require system shudown. Call to schedule service (904-396-0145).http://wesonline.com/ ...read more

overall, the manual is  Alpha X Boostover one hundred pages, and this machine is designed to work for each males and females, and suitable for all age companies. What separates this ebook from the crowd is a simple, easy to recognize approach to diet and exercising that indicates you step-with the aid of-step how to burn fat speedy using the most time efficient techniques and eat proper so you hold it off.http://www.strongtesterone.com/alpha-x-boost/ ...read more

Jacksonville, Florida, USA, November 18, 2015 -If Leviton's ducts, express drops and junctions prove easy to build and durable, fiber installers can have a ready alternative to ADC Fiberguide, hopes Bud Worwetz. Worwetz Energy Systems has been selling chunks of its surplus Fiberguide for the last several years, as installers had often been delayed by lengthy lead times offered by ADC distributors. With key pieces dwindling in his Jacksonville stock, Worwetz is looking for other ways to keep his clients happy. The Fiberguide ducting was just a sidebar inventory for Worwetz, but a base of loyal customers has since grown and continues renewing orders. Leviton, an ISO 9000-9001 certified global manufacturer of datacenter, fiber, low voltage equipment, plugs and residential receptacles, builds high grade ducting for routing fiber. "Black is the new yellow," remarks Bud, referring to the sleek look in one downtown Church Street datacenter. Colocations, data centers that house, power and provide connectivity for other businesses, now have a modern night club vibe without the hokey yellow ducting beaming overhead. "Since ADC has been unresponisve to the time constraints of the colo clientele, I want a manufacturer that has more stock on hand. They must feel they are the only game in town, and can afford to ignore the smaller installers' turn around time." This week Worwetz met with a Leviton rep that promised shorter lead times and a large Texas inventory. "Let's make sure they fit. We will give you some samples to play with." Worwetz states that if Leviton is priced right, delivers quickly and connects without hassle, Worwetz Energy will offer the new fiberducting as a supplement to the large surplus of ADC Fiberguide System still on hand in Jax. Worwetz Energys Systems, located in Jacksonville since 1996, is a national refurbisher of surplus battery backups and data center infrastructure equipment. ...read more

Luckily, my good client accepted my good advice to allow me to do a service of four of his UPS units plotted at the corners of his large North Carolina county. His thrifty nature chided me into doing all in a single day at a nominal fee, "cuz I was just passin' thru from Virginia." I honestly had slobbery visions of a gratis barbeque dinner topping off the day, as a dozen of his back-slapping crewmen all joked about fishing, hunting, and loose expense accounts. Instead, I was met by my familiar lunch partner with half a cold gas station calzone. The day was spent knee crawling and stretching to record measurements. For the first two Best Ferrups UPS systems, dust bunnies were the devil and a few volts calibrated ensured longevity. Tightened bolts, metered temps and checked for alarms. Two more units to go and I am on my way to surprise my wife in Jacksonville, albeit the taste of she crab soup still lingered on my tongue. As my preventative maintenance sessions are more than thorough, I apologize to my client for my extensive use of his time as guide. He nods a humble appreciation for my record keeping and seems to take my recommendations seriously. I hand him a football size oval of plastic wrap which had somehow situated itself over the main fan guard cooling the heatsink of a 10KVA unit. "I guess that could have become a problem," he drawls. "Yes," I agree, "Power systems like their cooling. I expect this kind of crap to accumulate since ya'll have made this room storage for files and ... starter fluid ... 2-cycle oil .... and what the Hell is this? Propane tanks?" "I guess we ought to do something about that," is murmured under a thick mustache. This is commonplace. Battery backup equipment is relegated to an electrical room. That's OK, but that room is also home for some fat-daddy transformer installed right after WWII. The room is hot, but access is restricted. I'll take it! (My first apartment overlooked a swamp... it was smelly, but secluded, and I loved it.) Our Carolina gentleman, a director, has many other duties and he hands me over to an older fellow who is still senior, and, therefore, first in line to (WAIT FOR IT!) OVERTIME. We are at the county's west perimeter and we are boxing to its east and lastly its south site. It was a perfect line-up that will leave me 30 minutes south on I-95. After 15 minutes of eating Chevy 1500 fumes I was deposited behind my new guide on a slather clay road. We bounced over an old tobacco field to finally roll onto the gravel pad spread beside the county's cell tower. It's time to work. This Best Ferrups 4.3KVA is old. I mean FD series old, but the sucker is still humming; and according to the senior maintenance man, it was not a problem unit. Humming she was, as one fan was stuck tight. She was hot enough to grill cheese (yes I was getting hungry again). "No problem, I'm sure I have a 230V fan for her"......... no. I was scheduled to inspect three 10KVA to 18KVA units, and I am unprepared. If this fan is only dumping heat into the working unit, then there is no harm in yanking one (1) lead. So that's how we left it. Cooler, but not in shape. I chuckle as I note the wide calibration change I had to make, yet she hummed. So tough: so dirty. The years (ten or more) of inattention allowed static and vibration to take hold. I barked as my hotdog fingers nearly test-tugged one of two wires clean out of the din-rail. Oh, did I mention that everything is still hot? (You see, these sites (911 call centers) are seldom inclined to go to bypass and almost never allowed to go down. Would it be my luck that I drop a UPS supporting switches connected to a withered old lady suddenly the prey of a home invader?!) I settle down and tighten the leg's retaining screw. I tighten all the screws (did I mention it is still hot!) The unit seems to even be more quiet. Overall, the batteries are good and the system is now OK. The batts are good, because my client was smart enough to write in bold black Sharpie "LAST BATTERY REPLACEMENT DATE nn/nn." My veteran host is quick and serious as he relays the order to replace the fan, instructing my Jacksonville office to overnight ship this fan to his county office. (How did he get reception? I've been roaming since we passed that goat farm.) Now we can proceed to the south tower. Cats, opossums and rabbits scatter as I roll down a tree-lined path to our last tower. Damn! This is a big county. We drove at 70mph (more or less) for at least 5 twangy songs before we wiggled into this camp site. My weekend Boy scout trips were less remote than this cell tower. This box is beautiful: the "building" is encaged by fences and it's goose-bump cold inside. My guide awards me his confidence and trust: he pats my back, exiting, places a broom handle in the doorway to ensure I don't lock myself out. OKAY, I get it, but I'm gonna make short work of this PM (Preventative Maintenance) while this sucker is reheating his meatloaf and wiggling his shoeless feet in his EZ chair at home. His truck throws rocks. I love nature, but this neck of the woods is real ... naturelike. Wrap it up, Bud! As I survey the system's status, the Low Battery Alarm is not my first worry. 208V Nominal Input is my worry, given the main voltage is 240V. Also High Input Alarm. How long has this been like this? (The initial Service Call was, "We moved a UPS from the city to a new outside tower and we got some problems later." Problems, huh? Yes, this mobile data center is actually wired for 240V and the unit was configured for 208V. She also had new but damaged batteries in it. These ran themselves dead, dead, dead, trying to support an underpowered unit at 208V. The top battery was 10.something, so I took a shot. I reconfigure the UPS by software and by internal wiring to make her a 240V system. Viola! She began to hum and charge and white doves flew overhead. I checked all other connections and tucked my Superhero cape back into my bag. I clenched back a wash of urine as Mr. Overtime unexpectedly returned, clanging open the metal door."Well, I was worried you didn't lock the gate," he smacked. I am sure he had barbeque sauce on his breathe. "Whew! Yes, we are OK, and I am done. Let's lock it up together. I got your system back up." No response. "I will call [supervisor] in the morning. Maybe we can save the batteries. In fact, I'll call him now." "OK, lock it up when you're done." His truck is already barrelling down the path before I can wave. Again, rocks are slung behind him. So, what can go wrong in a year, or two, or five after installing a battery backup? Debris blocks airways. High voltage/current wires loosen and fall out. Batteries leak and fail. Fans seize up. Even new systems may fail in the event of an hasty and untrained startup. My clients are great folks. They protect citizens, fuel power plants, and make the Internet go, but they don't open the UPS. Maybe someone should. ...read more

When is it better to invest in a major rebuild in an old battery backup power system than to buy a new unit? While I can not discern the efficacy of your decision without intmacy with your corporate funding plan and its sources, I can highlight some concerns you may want to evaluate before you order that new Powerware 9390 or whatever make and model seems right. First, understand that a major rebuild often referred to as a major Preventative Maintenance (PM) involves not only changing batteries, it involves other new parts: AC&DC capacitors, fans, and even some inductor coils. The process can be relatively expensive and should be performed by professional power men, not your IT staff. It will require bypass operation and sometimes a complete shutdown window. So why waste your money on that old box? This is usually what follows: 1. Is the new UPS model transformerless? Did you know that newer model UPS often do not bear an isolation transformer? Transformerless systems are fine for linear loads such as in data centers, but try to run an MRI. 2. What is the cost of shipping? UPS systems are heavy (even the transformerless types). At best, a small 1500 lbs, 40 KVA system costs over $900 to ship from Florida to Colorado. Now add batteries, and add another $900. 3. Once the new UPS has arrived (hopefully in tact) and the pallet was offloaded without tipping onto the ground, you must get that unit off the pallet and into its little room. You know the room - 110 ft down the carpeted hallway, buried behind stacks of boxes and where did that wall come from? I thought the doorway was wider, and how do we get it over that 6" bump? Riggers usually cost no less than $1000 per day. 4. After maintenance removes the doorjams, your new unit is staged very close to the old system, which, you notice is still chugging along. In fact, the new unit is really in the exit/work path of the old unit. Push it back into the hallway. 5. Schedule a shut down period or place unit in external bypass. Oh, I hope that existing bypass will work with the new unit. Why didn't we buy a bypass cabinet with the new unit? 5. Hire an electrician to shut down and pull the old unit. Another $1000. Get that rigger to load out the old unit - did they leave already? Oh they can't be back 'til next week 6. Extend bypass window. I hope it does not storm. We should have bought a generator, too. 7. Return fom vacation. 8. The new unit is connected to the main feed and bypass, but the factory can not do Startup until next week. ... I hope it does not storm... Can we rent a generator? Too late, your IT manager is complaining he had to reboot 44 servers this morning. 9. Mr. OEM Jumpsuit Man arrives on site the following week and prepares to install the unit. He discovers that AAA Electric reversed the phases, so he must reschedule Startup until you have that corrected. 10. Meanwhile Alice from Accounting wants you to price the value of the old unit with at least 3 quotes. In what budget shall the cost of shipping or storing that unit come? The shipping department complains that the old unit is blocking deliveries and want that thing moved. Gary, the resident fishing expert, wants you to give him a couple batteries from the old unit for his trolling motor. He says he will remove the batts himself. 11. Next week AAA Electric returns, but they don't have a phase rotation meter so they make a second trip (Hint: Swap any 2 phases). Here's your bill. 12. Gary got burned while removing "them deep cycle batteries." He won't sue, but he needs time off because he is also a little blind from the flash, too. 13. Mr. OEM Jumpsuit Man returns the following day. He starts up the unit with no problem. 14. The new unit runs fine for weeks. 15. You handle 50 messages from EBAYers and Craigslisters offering to buy the old unit. Finally, one guy actually shows up with a small stack of cash. As he loads the system onto the truck he asks, "If it was working, why didn't you just get it serviced?" ...read more

Due to recent catastrophic weather worldwide Worwetz Energy Systems has been experiencing a definite upturn in our business. Yet, it never fails to surprise us how many IT Managers underestimate the impact of power episodes on their data centers. And while we're certain that data recovery businesses are also enjoying a brisk increase in client services, much of the loss and impact that comes with can be avoided to a great degree with proper critical power protection and distribution. We offer economical solutions to avoid data loss through sufficient back-up as well as protection from hardware damage due to power outages, surges, and sags. Installing an uninterruptible power supply is the first step, which is common sense, however, the systems needs to be adequate for the anticipated load in an emergency. Beyond that, serious consideration ought to be given to UPS system maintenance year round: checking battery life, upgrading for additional hardware, and parts replacement as needed. Having a Planned Maintenance Agreement in place can prevent disaster to precious data and valuable hardware components. A trend in recent years has been to add back-up generators to defray the loss of grid power for long periods of time. It has come to our attention that the automatic assumption is that generators will 'kick-in' when grid power fails, but there is some serious downtime that occurs even in a short interim period until they can fully support operations. So as generators are a splendid idea and will help save an organization from interminable production loss, there still exists a need to keep UPS systems in place as well. So as the threat of savage weather conditions prevails, WES can offer advice and all of the services mentioned to prudent IT persons and help keep as many organizations as possible running smoothly despite the weather outside. ...read more

Tick, Tick, Tick... Like it or not, the clock is ticking that is rapidly turning the Internet into a visual environment that will be dominated by players who are savvy enough to realize that text-only is the surest way to lose your online audience. The bad news is that those sites that continue to resist the trend toward video inclusion are going to find browsers and buyers going elsewhere. The good news is that it still isn’t too late for you to get with the YouTube crowd before the clock runs out. In fact, with a little bit of practice, you may soon find out that online video could well be the best thing that ever happened to your company. Did You Know that:n       In November of 2009 31 Billion videos were viewed online in the US.n       85% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in 2009.n       The average online video viewer watched more than 5 hours of video (in one month!). 12.2 hrs. per viewer in 2009!n       98.9 million viewers watched 5.9 Billion videos on YouTube (that's 59.2 videos per viewer per month!)The first thing you have to understand before you rush out to buy a webcam is that bad video is worst than no video at all. What works on paper can be as boring as watching paint dry. That doesn’t mean it takes Steven Spielberg to turn out must-see online TV With a little practice, almost anyone can create corporate videos that are some of the best sales tools a business could have. What follows is what you need to know in order to create and deliver a marketing message by telling a story so that your audience will remember the message and act upon it. Best of all, we can even show you how to do this on a shoestring budget.Lights, Camera, Online Action!Online it’s all about production value, not airtime The first thing you have to understand is that Web video is completely separate from the world of broadcast television, where the cost of airtime is at a premium and show formats are from 30 to 120 minutes in length. “A typical 30-minute block of television airtime includes 22 minutes of programming with 6 minutes of national advertising and 2 minutes of local (although some half-hour blocks may have as much as 12 minutes of advertisements)." We've all had to gnash our teeth while sitting through the now all-too-familiar 3-minute commercial break, wondering if we are even going to be able to keep the dramatic train of thought sustained long enough for the programming to resume. Fortunately, the world of web video doesn’t work that way. There aren’t any commercial breaks during a typical web broadcast, the length of an average YouTube clip being anywhere from two to five minutes. With that kind of format, there isn’t time for a commercial. That being said, an argument needs to be made for discipline when creating an online video presentation. The way to format an effective video is to do it in the most efficient and memorable manner possible. No-Frills Filmmaking at its Best is about telling your story, whether it's a thirty-second elevator pitch or a five-minute web TV microcast. If you don't tell a story you aren't communicating your message effectively. Best of all, since YouTube doesn't require you to purchase airtime, your video presentation once uploaded, is available 24/7 for all to see, anytime, as often as they want. Since you have so much freedom of expression when it comes to online video, what you need to ask yourself, is, “What is the best way to make my point?” If you follow the standard television format and drone on for half-an-hour all you are going to accomplish is boring your viewers to tears? The best format for successful Web video is to hit the viewer right between the eyes and deliver the message in an unforgettable way. Just as with most things in life, discipline is very important when it comes to video production. Particularly when it comes to video shorts, the producer needs to stay focused. Lose this focus and you won’t just lose the viewer, you could very well lose track of your shooting budget as well. Time is money on the set. Unlike producing a show for broadcast television where ads and episodes are timed to the second, when it comes to web-based video you have the freedom to fudge the timing to meet your needs. Online, it makes no sense to cut a presentation because it runs fifteen seconds too long, or to add filler because it runs fifteen seconds short. However, it is still sound practice to create a structure that allows you to build a presentation that works. This means just as in any TV or Hollywood production, your video must have a beginning, a middle, and an end.  More importantly, it you also need to tell a story that will grab the viewer’s attention. What I have done below is create a simple formula for web video production.  It’s loosely based on the standard, three act Hollywood treatment, scaled down from a one hundred and twenty minute movie to a one hundred and twenty second video short. Put On Your Producer’s HatBefore rolling tape, the first thing you need to learn about video is that for every hour you put into preproduction, you will save two in post. What this means in a nutshell, is that you want to have the production well laid out before you shoot video. This boils down to either writing a script, or at the very least laying out some talking points that will give your production structure. Act One introduces your hero.  It also needs to create an object of desire. This is what’s known in literary circles as the hook.  It’s the hook that creates viewer interest, holds the viewer’s attention, and generates suspense.  Act Two is all about establishing conflict and building tension by creating an obstacle that provides the motivation necessary to resolving the problem. It also plants an element of doubt in the viewer’s mind.  Will the hero carry the day?  Will he get the girl?  Act Three involves the payoff which resolves the conflict.  The best payoffs are ones that not only save the day, but also plant a seed in the mind of the viewer that leads to the hero’s next appearance.  This is how Hollywood makes most of its money: the sequel.Production: Armed with either a script or talking points, you can now lay out the meat and potatoes on tape.  Usually this involves scouting a location, assembling cast and crew and shooting your video.  However, one of the things you are going to quickly discover about location shooting is that you can’t control the environment.  Having produced hundreds of videos, I can’t tell you how many times the weather, or someone running a leaf blower, or simple traffic noise has spoiled the best laid production schedule.  That’s why I now shoot about seventy percent of my productions on green screen.Regardless of how you shoot it, you will need to shoot at least two takes of the script, preferably from different angles. (example: one medium and one closeup)  This way you will be able to cover any gaffs on the part of the talent by cutting away.  This is also the way in which most people are accustomed to viewing TV shows.  Plus it helps hold the viewer’s attention.Postproduction: Once you get the tape back to post, you should first lay out the rough cut. This means laying out all the action first. Don't worry about narration, music or titling, as these will all be added later. Use transitions with discretion. Too many can give your video an Amateur Hour look. On the other hand, you definitely want to add some cutaways that reduce the “talking head” action so common to amateur videos.  Transition from time to time to a photo, a graphic or even another video clip, anything that helps break up the monotony.  Once you are happy with the flow onscreen, then you can work toward the final cut by adding narration, titling and music.Post-Postproduction: The best part about web video is that you distribute them free of charge on any number of video hosting sites that have sprung up like weeds since the inception of YouTube. In upcoming posts, I’ll tell you how to use YouTube as an alternative search engine optimization tactic to provide not only content for your website, but also added traffic as well.Just keep in mind that one of the best ways of adding web video to your repertoire before the 2-Minute Warning runs out, is to call in the video marketing professionals at Jacksonville Video Production  -             904-234-6007      .     http://jacksonville-video-production.com Video Samples:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFDU9kyWPCAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG83B2cG4f4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIs7F1Fx2N0 ...read more

Everyone is always looking for a shortcut to getting on page 1 of the major search engines, particularly Google.  The problem is, with 240 million websites already online and another 130,000 sites entering the fray daily, generating a page 1 result is getting harder and harder to accomplish with any rapidity, especially if you rely solely on the pig-in-a-rut methodology of traditional SEO. That's not to say that traditional search engine optimization shouldn't be part of your armada of online marketing technology.  It just shouldn't be the only thing separating you from page 1 of the major search engines. While SEO is an important part of developing your web presence, it isn't the only way to generate results.  Some would argue that it isn't even the best way to generate results.  Why?  Because virtually every search engine shakes out the carpet from time to time by updating their algorithms.  If you have ever seen your search engine listing go from page 1 to page 5 overnight, this was in all likelihood due to a search engine "update." Updates have an adverse effect on your on-site SEO that can leave you scrambling to make up for lost ground immediately after an update hits.  But what if there was a way to get on page 1 of Google that didn't rely on your website at all.  And what if this technique could not only solidify your position online but actually be 5 times more conducive to getting a prospect to take action?  Do you think that would help you grow your business? Lights, Camera, Viral Video Action If you really want to get both the attention of prospects and googlebots alike, what you need to do is create a series of optimized videos on YouTube.  That's right, video alone can get you onto page 1 of the world's most popular search engine.  If you have ever done a search on Google and seen a video pop up on page 1, you have just witnessed the phenomenon known as "Mixed Media."  Google searches through more than   websites looking for relevant results to display on page 1.  It also looks for photos and videos as well.  By creating and wrapping a YouTube video with titling and text that contains the keywords you wish to gravitate to on Google, you will increase your chances of rising to the top.  Posting the video to your social nets and embedding it in your blog isn't a bad idea either.             ...read more

When it comes to search engine optimization, most people think of it as some kind of religious cult where members speak in tongues, intoning such mantras as “SERPS,” “Meta Data,” “Linkbait,” and “AJAX,” as though they were trying somehow to transmute lead into gold.  Worst of all, there is so much conflicting data out there regarding the ever changing world of SEO that keeping current is almost a full time job in itself.  Add to this the fact that no sooner do you get a bead on what the search engines want, when they up and change their algorithm (as Google recently did with their Penguin Update), making the analogy to sorcery even more poignant as your listing disappears like a puff of smoke.  So, if you don’t want to have to start the process from scratch every time the search engines decide to do a little spring cleaning, this is what you need to know:1.      Stop trying to please the search engine spiders and work on pleasing your audience instead.  In the good old days before the turn of the century, many SEO experts would generate page one results by stuffing their homepages with as many keywords as possible.  Some would even take this to the extreme, by generating nonsense paragraphs using white text that more or less guaranteed that they would have higher keyword saturation than the competition.  While this tactic may have worked back in 1999, today’s spiders are trained to flag keyword spamming, along with other black hat techniques as link farms.  Besides, who wants to read a website that is nearly unintelligible?  If you really want to score points with both the search engines and your readers, start creating better content on a regular basis that engages, educates and intrigues your audience. 2.  Having a blog isn’t the same thing as blogging.  If your idea of a blog is to write an occasional paragraph about your business that would make the minutes of your next board meeting seem animated by comparison, then you really don’t understand what blogging is all about.  The best way to maximize your blogging results is to generate weekly installments that solve problems, provide insight and/or provoke a reaction. Properly employed, blogging can be one of the best ways to increase your audience, create backlinks and get on page one of search engines.  (Note: Google is gaga for blogs.  A properly optimized blog will many times wind up on page one of the world’s most popular search engine in as little as 24 hours.)  If you repost your best blogging efforts on article posts, zines and other blogs then you will not only create an opportunity for your blog to go viral, but you will also enhance your SEO at the same time.     Why read the book when you can wait for the movie to come out?  I can’t stress the value of YouTube too much in terms of SEO worthiness.  In the first place, YouTube is itself a combination of video portal, social network and search engine all rolled into one.  Secondly, YouTube streams more than 3 billion videos daily, making it the most watched Super Station on and offline by far.  Third and more importantly, it is owned and operated by Google.  What this means is that a properly optimized video can jump from YouTube to Google page one. Better still, having a video on page one is 5 times as powerful as having your homepage in the same spot.  Why?  Because it is a fact that people prefer watching a video to reading text.  Best of all, you can enhance your website, blogs, social networks and even your print literature by embedding videos in all of them.4.       How social are your social networks?  Social networking is again another free marketing tool that makes your web presence 100% interactive and sticky.  Just as with blogs, social networks are only useful if you feed them on a regular basis.  This doesn’t mean that you have to write a blogpost a day to succeed online.  But you also don’t want to post only now and then.  Especially with timeline driven social networks like Facebook, having long gaps between posts is not likely to help you build readership.  One tip to making the job of feeding the social nets less of a chore is to link or repost your blogs on your social networks.  Make sure the posts have links and offers embedded at the bottom of the post.  This way you will kill two SEO birds with one stone.5.      How many websites should your company have?  (Note: the correct answer is never one.)  Four or five years ago, the consensus was that all a company needed to do was create one website chock full of as many pages that described the business as they could generate.  Back then it was hoped that someone arriving from a search engine query would click around the site for ten minutes or so in order to determine if they should do business with you. Today, the average website visit lasts less than 2 minutes.  More importantly, if a visitor has to click onto a subsidiary page in order to find the item they seek, the next click you will hear will be the prospect clicking back to the search engine for a new search.  Heck, it's next to impossible to get web surfers to scroll beneath the fold nowadays.  To give your business a competitive edge, you need to look at a search engine query as a question and the website or landing page as the answer.  If you want to maximize not only your SEO potential, but also your conversions as well, then you need to research the keywords and phrases that correspond to your business and create a number of landing pages that contain a video, text and offer related to each keyword or phrase. What it takes to cast an SEO spellWhile it doesn’t necessarily take eye of newt to get the magic formula right, what it does take is imagination, interaction and persistence if you are going to make the Tao of SEO resonate for your business. Carl Weiss is president of W Squared Media Group, a company that specializes in putting client websites on steroids.  Carl also operates http://jacksonville-video-production.com a cutting edge viral video production facility.  Carl can be heard live every Tuesday at 4pm Eastern onhttp://blogtalkradio.com/workingthewebtowin ...read more

When it comes to search engine optimization, most people think of it as some kind of religious cult where members speak in tongues, intoning such mantras as “SERPS,” “Meta Data,” “Linkbait,” and “AJAX,” as though they were trying somehow to transmute lead into gold.  Worst of all, there is so much conflicting data out there regarding the ever changing world of SEO that keeping current is almost a full time job in itself.  Add to this the fact that no sooner do you get a bead on what the search engines want, when they up and change their algorithm (as Google recently did with their Penguin Update), making the analogy to sorcery even more poignant as your listing disappears like a puff of smoke.  So, if you don’t want to have to start the process from scratch every time the search engines decide to do a little spring cleaning, this is what you need to know:1.      Stop trying to please the search engine spiders and work on pleasing your audience instead.  In the good old days before the turn of the century, many SEO experts would generate page one results by stuffing their homepages with as many keywords as possible.  Some would even take this to the extreme, by generating nonsense paragraphs using white text that more or less guaranteed that they would have higher keyword saturation than the competition.  While this tactic may have worked back in 1999, today’s spiders are trained to flag keyword spamming, along with other black hat techniques as link farms.  Besides, who wants to read a website that is nearly unintelligible?  If you really want to score points with both the search engines and your readers, start creating better content on a regular basis that engages, educates and intrigues your audience. 2.  Having a blog isn’t the same thing as blogging.  If your idea of a blog is to write an occasional paragraph about your business that would make the minutes of your next board meeting seem animated by comparison, then you really don’t understand what blogging is all about.  The best way to maximize your blogging results is to generate weekly installments that solve problems, provide insight and/or provoke a reaction. Properly employed, blogging can be one of the best ways to increase your audience, create backlinks and get on page one of search engines.  (Note: Google is gaga for blogs.  A properly optimized blog will many times wind up on page one of the world’s most popular search engine in as little as 24 hours.)  If you repost your best blogging efforts on article posts, zines and other blogs then you will not only create an opportunity for your blog to go viral, but you will also enhance your SEO at the same time.     Why read the book when you can wait for the movie to come out?  I can’t stress the value of YouTube too much in terms of SEO worthiness.  In the first place, YouTube is itself a combination of video portal, social network and search engine all rolled into one.  Secondly, YouTube streams more than 3 billion videos daily, making it the most watched Super Station on and offline by far.  Third and more importantly, it is owned and operated by Google.  What this means is that a properly optimized video can jump from YouTube to Google page one. Better still, having a video on page one is 5 times as powerful as having your homepage in the same spot.  Why?  Because it is a fact that people prefer watching a video to reading text.  Best of all, you can enhance your website, blogs, social networks and even your print literature by embedding videos in all of them.4.       How social are your social networks?  Social networking is again another free marketing tool that makes your web presence 100% interactive and sticky.  Just as with blogs, social networks are only useful if you feed them on a regular basis.  This doesn’t mean that you have to write a blogpost a day to succeed online.  But you also don’t want to post only now and then.  Especially with timeline driven social networks like Facebook, having long gaps between posts is not likely to help you build readership.  One tip to making the job of feeding the social nets less of a chore is to link or repost your blogs on your social networks.  Make sure the posts have links and offers embedded at the bottom of the post.  This way you will kill two SEO birds with one stone.5.      How many websites should your company have?  (Note: the correct answer is never one.)  Four or five years ago, the consensus was that all a company needed to do was create one website chock full of as many pages that described the business as they could generate.  Back then it was hoped that someone arriving from a search engine query would click around the site for ten minutes or so in order to determine if they should do business with you. Today, the average website visit lasts less than 2 minutes.  More importantly, if a visitor has to click onto a subsidiary page in order to find the item they seek, the next click you will hear will be the prospect clicking back to the search engine for a new search.  Heck, it's next to impossible to get web surfers to scroll beneath the fold nowadays.  To give your business a competitive edge, you need to look at a search engine query as a question and the website or landing page as the answer.  If you want to maximize not only your SEO potential, but also your conversions as well, then you need to research the keywords and phrases that correspond to your business and create a number of landing pages that contain a video, text and offer related to each keyword or phrase. What it takes to cast an SEO spellWhile it doesn’t necessarily take eye of newt to get the magic formula right, what it does take is imagination, interaction and persistence if you are going to make the Tao of SEO resonate for your business. Carl Weiss is president of W Squared Media Group, a company that specializes in putting client websites on steroids.  Carl also operates http://jacksonville-video-production.com a cutting edge viral video production facility.  Carl can be heard live every Tuesday at 4pm Eastern onhttp://blogtalkradio.com/workingthewebtowin ...read more

Many website owners were shocked and dismayed to find their sites had suddenly disappeared from page one of the world’s most popular search engine after Google launched its Penguin 5 Update at the end of April.  While Google’s recent action has left many website owners blindsided and scrambling to recover lost rankings, the move, while ruffling more than a few feathers, was hardly unprecedented.  So if you have suddenly fallen out of favor with the 800 lb gorilla in the room, what you need to ask yourself is whether you want to get mad, or whether you want to get even.Even Gorillas Get the BluesMore importantly, you need to ask yourself what is it that the gorilla wants that you aren’t currently providing.  For the most part, the Penguin Update was seeking to redress issues regarding link spamming, where sites rely on paid links that have little relevance in the real world and only exist to game the search engines.  So if you have been dabbling with link farms, or otherwise engaging in building links with questionable sites, it is time you stopped this practice. Google also took issue with such tactics as keyword stuffing, where keywords are dropped without rhyme or reason throughout a site in order to influence the search engine spiders.   If your text is peppered with keywords that have little relevance to your storyline, or you have hidden text readable only by the googlebots, then you need to clean up your act.In fact, one of the best ways to get back in Google’s good graces would be to conduct a bit of spring cleaning in order to prune old or irrelevant content, links and keyword spam.  Instead of crying over spilt milk, perhaps you should look at this as a wakeup call that could be put to good use.  If it has been more than a year since you updated your site, this would be the perfect time to add some sizzle by dropping in a video or two, or adding Google+ to your social networking scheme.  Both these and additional blogs will do more to boost your links and ranking, as well as giving your site a fresh new look.While there are a few additional and highly technical details that the Penguin was designed to curtail, for the most part what every website owner needs to know that if you are more interested in gaming the search engines than you are in engaging your audience, then you can only expect to get as good as you give.  What I mean by that is that if you provide consistent, relevant content on a regular basis that improves visitor experience and delivers value to your customers, then you are going to wind up not only wooing the search engines, but wowing your audience as well, which is why you should be working the web in the first place.So, if you really want to create a web presence that is more or less bulletproof to the ever changing whims of search engine operators, then you need to stay focused on creating the kind of site that people will want to come back to read time and time again.  And always beware of booby trapped umbrellas.Carl Weiss is president of http://wsquaredmediagroup.com and co-hosts the weekly online radio show Working the Web to Win on http://blogtalkradio.com/workingthewebtowin  He also owns and operates http://jacksonville-video-production.com ...read more

Having worked the web professionally since 1995, I can remember a time when we weren’t so hardwired to technology. Sure a lot of the elements of online life that we take for granted today were already in vogue back then, like Apple vs PC, inkjet printers, zines (the forerunner of blogs), and even cellphones had already made the scene. The chief difference between then and now was the way in which the public viewed the wired world. Back then going online was more of a convenience than a way of life. While some people (particularly the young) were addicted to certain aspects of technology, more teenagers were hooked on video games than the Internet in 95. That was Then and This is Now Flash forward 16 years and the Internet and the cellphone have sunk their technological hooks into every aspect of modern life. Most people would find it hard to function professionally if they couldn’t surf the web 24/7 on PC, cellphone and tablet. Gone are the lines that separated one form of wireless technology from the other. Far from simply being able to read the printed word, the twenty first century version of the Internet now offers everything from streaming video to voice activation. But while the web has insinuated itself into our daily lives, has that been a help or a hindrance to businesses on the whole? Through the Gorilla Glass If we view the past sixteen years of online “progress” in terms of competition and opportunity we get mixed results. On the one hand, there are certainly more people using the Internet. In 2000 there were more than 108 million people in the US and 360 million people worldwide who were using the Internet. By 2011, those numbers had jumped to 273 million in the US and 2.2 billion worldwide, an increase of 528%. So from a strictly statistical level, the Internet offers more mouths to feed, which is a boon to businesses hungry for more customers. Now for the downside. Back in 2000 there were lots of search engines that could provide businesses with both position and traffic. Companies such as Alta Vista Ask Jeeves, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, Magellan, and WebCrawler made it possible for companies large and small to get into the online game. Sure, Google was also in the mix back in 2000, but they hadn’t muscled their way into dominance back then to become the 800 lb gorilla in the room that they are today. While even the smallest of businesses can generate page 1 results on Google today, it is a far more complicated affair. And in the wired world, complicated translates into time and money. Whereas back in 2000, it was relatively simple to have an SEO expert tune up your homepage, in the modern world of Internet marketing, there are 31 points of light that every search engine spider alights on today, including such things as blogs, social networks, backlinks, and video. If your web presence is lacking in any of these, or you aren’t adding compelling content to them on at least a weekly basis, then your chances of achieving a page 1 result are slim at best.Back to the Future Not only are there far more stops on the technology train in 2012 then there were in 2000, but a number of the stops have siderails. Consider social networking. If you are serious about making the grade online, then being on Facebook (the second most visited destination online after Google) isn’t enough. You also need to Tweet. Not to mention the fact that back in November of 2011 Google launched its own social network Google+. So if you are looking to make the grade with Google, it’s probably a good idea to add this to your online marketing mix as well. Overwhelmed? Well we’re not done yet. Because while more than half of the cellphones in the US are smartphones capable of surfing the web, that doesn’t mean that every business in the US shouldn’t also take the time and money to invest in a mobile version of their website. Why’s that? First of all, in the world of web surfing, it is a fact that in two years or less there will be more people surfing the web via smartphone and tablet computer than via PC and laptop. Add to this, the fact that not only do these sites fit smartphone screens picture perfect but mobile search engines as a rule look for mobile sites, and you need to go mobile. No End in Site Not only isn’t the Internet going to get simpler as time goes on, it is inevitably going to get ever more complicated. As time passes there are going to be more must-have portals and networks that businesses will be coerced into joining, there will be more technological marvels (such as Google Glasses) launched that will not only hit the market, but will be required if you are going to keep up with the Jones’. While you read this article more than 8,000 websites were launched, all of which want to be on Google page 1. To put things into perspective, while there are infinitely more online opportunities for businesses to engage in 2012 than there were way back when, remember this: In order to keep up with the herd you have to know where it is heading. Carl Weiss is President of W Squared Marketing Group. Since 1995, he has helped hundreds of businesses increase their exposure and results online. He is also co-host of the BlogTalk Radio.comshow Working the Web to Win, which is aired Tuesday at 4 Eastern. ...read more

Having worked the web professionally since 1995, I can remember a time when we weren't so hardwired to technology.  Sure a lot of the elements of online life that we take for granted today were already in vogue back then, like Apple vs PC, inkjet printers, zines (the forerunner of blogs), and even cellphones had already made the scene.  The chief difference between then and now was the way in which the public viewed the wired world.  Back then going online was more of a convenience than a way of life.  While some people (particularly the young) were addicted to certain aspects of technology, more teenagers were hooked on video games then the Internet in 95. That was Then and This is Now Flash forward 16 years and the Internet and the cellphone have sunk their technological hooks into every aspect of modern life.  Most people would find it hard to function professionally if they couldn't surf the web 24/7 on PC, cellphone and tablet.  Gone are the lines that separated one form of wireless technology from the other.  Far from simply being able to read the printed word, the twenty first century version of the Internet now offers everything from streaming video to voice activation.  But while the web has insinuated itself into our daily lives, has that been a help or a hindrance to businesses on the whole? Through the Gorilla Glass If we view the past sixteen years of online "progress" in terms of competition and opportunity we get mixed results.  On the one hand, there are certainly more people using the Internet.  In 2000 there were more than 108 million people in the US and 360 million people worldwide who were using the Internet.  By 2011, those numbers had jumped to 273 million in the US and 2.2 billion worldwide, an increase of 528%.  So from a strictly statistical level, the Internet offers more mouths to feed, which is a boon to businesses hungry for more customers. Now for the downside.  Back in 2000 there were lots of search engines that could provide businesses with both position and traffic.  Companies such as Alta Vista Ask Jeeves, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, Magellan, and WebCrawler made it possible for companies large and small to get into the online game.  Sure, Google was also in the mix back in 2000, but they hadn't muscled their way into dominance back then to become the 800 lb gorilla in the room that they are today. While even the smallest of businesses can generate page 1 results on Google today, it is a far more complicated affair.  And in the wired world, complicated translates into time and money.  Whereas back in 2000, it was relatively simple to have an SEO expert tune up your homepage, in the modern world of Internet marketing, there are 31 points of light that every search engine spider alights on today, including such things as blogs, social networks, backlinks and video.  If your web presence is lacking in any of these, or you aren't adding compelling content to them on at least a weekly basis, then your chances of achieving a page 1 result are slim at best. Back to the Future Not only are there far more stops on the technology train in 2012 then there were in 2000, but a number of the stops have siderails.  Consider social networking.  If you are serious about making the grade online, then being on Facebook (the second most visited destination online after Google) isn't enough.  You also need to Tweet.  Not to mention the fact that back in November of 2011 Google launched its own social network Google+.  So if you are looking to make the grade with Google, it's probably a good idea to add this to your online marketing mix as well. Overwhelmed?   Well we're not done yet.  Because while more than half of the cellphones in the US are smartphones capable of surfing the web, that doesn't mean that every business in the US shouldn't also take the time and money to invest in a mobile version of their website.  Why's that?  First of all, in the world of web surfing, it is a fact that in two years or less there will be more people surfing the web via smartphone and tablet computer than via PC and laptop. Add to this the fact that not only do these sites fit smartphone screens picture perfect but mobile search engines as a rule look for mobile sites, and you need to go mobile. No End in Site Not only isn't the Internet going to get simpler as time goes on, it is inevitably going to get ever more complicated.  As time passes there are going to be more must-have portals and networks that businesses will be coerced into joining, there will be more technological marvels (such as Google Glasses) launched that will not only hit the market, but will be required if you are going to keep up with the Joneses.  While you read this article more than 8,000 websites were launched, all of which want to be on Google page 1. To put things into perspective, while there are infinitely more online opportunities for businesses to engage in in 2012 than there were way back when, remember this: In order to keep up with the herd you have to know where it is heading. Carl Weiss has been helping clients stay ahead of the herd since 1995.  You can hear Carl's weekly online radio show on http://blogtalkradio.com/workingthewebtowin  You can also find out more about the unique way he works the web by going to http://access-jax.com and http://jacksonville-video-production.com. ...read more

Baby, it's cold outside...unless like me you live in Florida.  Alright, so it's a brisk 73 outside.  Brr.  The point I'm trying to make is that during the holiday season there's a chill in the air that puts a rosy glow on your cheeks and a little extra pep in your step.  So why not use the reason for the season to step your blogs, vlogs and social networks up a notch or two.  Why let the big boys have all the fun. Spread a little Holiday Cheer As you know, nothing online has a higher probability of going viral than humor.  I mean, 10,500,000 funny cat videos can't be all wrong.  So why not use the touchstones of the holiday season to spice up your web presence.  Madison Avenue and Hollywood have been featuring Santa, elves, and/or a snowman or two in their advertisements and motion pictures for years.  You don't have to be David Ogilvy or Stephen Spielberg to get in on a good marketing schtick when you see one.  Just roll up your sleeves and join in the fun. Lights, Camera, Sleigh Bells For instance, last year we shot a humorous video featuring Santa Clause asking a 12 month old toddler what she wanted for Christmas.  (See the video below)  While the video didn't exactly glean thousands of views, it did generate a lot of  good-natured responses from those who viewed the video, which was broadcast on our social networks and newsletter.  It was also clearly passed along to friends and family of many viewers.  We also tagged the videos on Twitter with #santababy which helps to promote it beyond the local neighborhood.  We also rebroadcast the video this year. What Santa Baby Really Wants for Christmas Santa Baby Part 2 So this year, we thought we'd try the Santa Clause theme once again.  So we rented a Santa suit and hired an actor to play Santa.  Only instead of using an infant, we decided to opt for a little eye candy, in the form of a vivacious 25-year old blonde actress.  Once again aiming for a tongue in cheek approach, we asked  Santa Baby the same question as we had the little girl from the first feature.  Her answer, along with Santa's surprising response, is sure to make this video an even bigger draw than the one previous. (See below) Santa Baby Asks for the Wrong Present You Can't Get Enough of that Jolly Old Elf While we had the suit, we also decided to shoot a third video, this one showing how the Internet has clearly effected Santa's business in 2011.  We will drip this video (below) and the one above out over the course of the Christmas season.  All told, the entire project set us back less than $200.  Ho ho holy mackerel, what a jolly good deal. Santa's Secret The bottom line is that if you get into the spirit of the season and employ a little creativity, there is no telling what you can come up with to entertain both prospects and customers while simultaneously promoting your business. I think next year we'll give the Grinch a shot. Have a happy holiday from all the elves at Access-JAX.com. When Carl Weiss isn't directing jolly St. Nick, he helps clients maximize their results online.  If you want to find out how you stack up online, go to either of Carl's sites at http://access-jax.com or http://jacksonville-video-production.com and sign up for a FREE Web Presence Analysis today.   ...read more

In my last blogpost I showed you how to break out of the nest on Twitter by using hashtags.  This week I am going to show you how to use Facebook Plugins that can help you build your following without working up a sweat. While many of you understand the importance of using Facebook to build an audience, precious few realize that there are a number of facilities built into the platform that can make the endeavor more proactive. Below are a few Plugins to help you feed your facebook. Plugin#1: Adding the Like/Send Buttons Facebook offers a set of widgets called Social Plug-ins that you can drop into any web page. One of the first you will want to familiarize yourself is the Like Button. Adding the button isn’t all that difficult as long as you follow the instructions. First you need to go tohttp://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/and look for the dialog box under the heading Step 1 – Getting the Button Code. By simply copying and pasting the url of the page you wish to add the button and hitting the button that reads, “Get Code,” facebook will return both the Java and html code you need. Simply paste the code where you want the button to appear and then follow the instructions below. Direct from Facebook The Like/Send buttons lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user's friends' News Feed with a link back to your website. When your Web page represents a real-world entity, things like movies, sports teams, celebrities, and restaurants, use the Open Graph protocol to specify information about the entity. If you include Open Graph tags on your Web page, your page becomes equivalent to a Facebook page. This means when a user clicks a Like button on your page, a connection is made between your page and the user. Your page will appear in the "Likes and Interests" section of the user's profile, and you have the ability to publish updates to the user. Your page will show up in same places that Facebook pages show up around the site (e.g. search), and you can target ads to people who like your content. I know what you’re thinking…“What the heck is the Open Graph Protocol?”  Don’t panic, it isn’t as complicated as you might think.  Follow the steps below to add the Like/Send Buttons it to your website. To use Open Graph protocol, follow the following steps  Step1: Add following tag just before the <head> tag on your web page: <html xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” xml:lang=”en” xmlns:og=”http://opengraphprotocol.org/schema/” xmlns:fb=”http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml”> Step2: Add following open graph protocol meta tags in the head section (<head>…</head>) of your web page: <meta property=”og:title” content=”Enter title of your web page here“/> <meta property=”og:type” content=”article”/> <meta property=”og:url” content=”Enter the URL of your web page here“/> <meta property=”og:image” content=”Enter image URL which represent your object here“/> <meta property=”fb:admins” content=”Enter your facebook user ID here“/> <meta property=”og:site_name” content=”Enter the name of your website here“/> <meta property=”og:description” content=”Enter one or two sentence description of your web page here“/> Step3: Once you have added your special meta tags, you can now add the code of ‘like’ button into the body section (<body>..</body>) of your web page. You’ll need to include the JavaScript SDK on your page once, ideally right after the opening <> tag. (Copy this from the top box of the “Your Like Button plugin code:”) It should look something like this: <div id="fb-root"></div> At first blush all this sounds like a lot of work, but once you have done it even once, it takes less than 5 minutes.  Just make sure you dot all the I’s and cross all the t’s. You'll know right away if you have left something out of the equation, since the plugin will not display.   If you want to see what the finished product looks like, go to my blog at http://jacksonville-video-production.com/onlinetv.html  By right clicking and hitting “View Page Source” you can see what you need to include to get the buttons up and running. Why should you add the Like/Send Buttons?   This is a great way to increase your distribution with the click of a mouse. Whenever a Facebook user visits your site and clicks on the button, a link to your page will automatically be added to their activity stream. This also means that all of their friends can see and click on it which will send them to your page. Better still, when the friend arrives, the Like button shows which oftheirfriends have already clicked it, and when they click on it, a link to your page gets added totheirstream. When someone Likes your page, it does more than just pass the link around. For instance, if you are an author touting a book and I go to your fanpage and “Like” your book, Facebook will add a link to your book’s website in my profile. If I keep a list of my favorite books in my Facebook profile, a link to your website will be added there. Now here’s the part you are really going to like. Once you have the page configured per the instructions above, it is a snap to drop other plugins onto the page. Below are a couple more that I use to increase readership. Plugin2: Recommendations   The Recommendations plugin shows personalized recommendations to your users. Since the content is hosted by Facebook, the plugin can display personalized recommendations whether or not the user has logged into your site. To generate the recommendations, the plugin considers all the social interactions with URLs from your site. For a logged in Facebook user, the plugin will give preference to and highlight objects her friends have interacted with. You must specify a domain for which to show recommendations. The domain is matched exactly, so a plugin with site=facebook.com would not include activity from developers.facebook.com or www.facebook.com. You can specify multiple domains and the results will be mixed together. To add this plugin to a page, go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/recommendations/ Plugin3: The Registration  This little beauty allows users to easily sign up for your website with their Facebook account. The plugin is a simple iframe that you can drop into your page. When logged into Facebook, users see a form that is pre-filled with their Facebook information where appropriate.  The registration plugin gives you the flexibility to ask for additional information which is not available through the Facebook API (e.g. favorite movie). The plugin also allows users who do not have a Facebook account, or do not wish to sign up for your site using Facebook to use the same form as those who are connecting with Facebook. This eliminates the need to provide two separate login experiences. Go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/registration/ to obtain the code needed to install this plugin. Plug This In For a complete listing and description of available Facebook Plugins, go to http://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/ Carl Weiss has been plugged into the Internet professionally since 1995. He owns and operates Access-JAX.com and Jacksonville-Video-Production.com among other sites.  If you want to turn your website from an E-brochure to a lead generating, cash register ringing machine, go to either of the above sites and click on the Free Web Presence Analysis form to find out how plugged in your company is online. ...read more