Byte of the Week

Last year I got a Droid. I’ve been pretty happy with it and it takes decent video – but I can’t upload them directly to YouTube, which is kind of a pain. Luckily I found a free and easy video converter.

DVDVideoSoft http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/ has a series of free downloads related to video and video conversion. I downloaded the Free Studio. It allows me to use the following tools:

• Free Video to DVD Converter
• Free Video to Flash Converter
• Free Video to MP3 Converter
• Free Video to JPG Converter
• Free 3GP Video Converter
• Free Video to iPod and PSP Converter
• Free Video to iPhone Converter
• Free Video Flip and Rotate
• Free Video Dub
• Free Screen Video Recorder
• Free DVD Video Burner
• Free DVD Video Converter

The 3GP Video Converter is the only one I use. I open it up, add my file (which I have downloaded to my laptop) and click convert. Then it’s saved to a local folder and ready to upload to YouTube. Here’s my latest upload http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wka2xIeCOCA. I’m only adding it so you can laugh at the sort of videos I upload. (It’s a reenactment of the Battle of Clontarf!)

I recently received an email from Google that compiles average traffic stats for web sites that opted to share their stats in the aggregate. It’s interesting to look at them – because it’s nice to know where most sites get their traffic or how much time most people spend on the average web site. So I wanted to share some of the info with you – except that I wanted to add a caution about thinking of this info as average. It’s the average from web sites that will willing to share data. I suspect that there are a disproportionate number of nonprofit, educational and maybe government web sites in the mix. Even in the aggregate, I think businesses are shy to share this sort of info. (Also the info was gathered from Nov 1, 2010 to Feb 1, 2011.)

So take it with a grain of salt, but here you go…

Visitor Experience:
Pages per Visit: 4.5
Bounce Rate: 47% (folks who leave the site immediately)
Average Time on Site: 5:23

Traffic Sources
Direct Traffic: 36.8% (people who type in the URL or bookmark site)
Referral: 19.4%
Search Engine: 28%
Other: 15.8%

Probably more interesting if you too have a web site – but hopefully worth the read.

Every six months or so Google changes some aspect of how they rank sites. Last summer it was called Google Caffeine – because the goal (or so we assume) was to pick up stories more quickly. In other words, they wanted to be able to rank news and events in real time. (Possibly to keep up with Twitter.) So after last summer, I really emphasized regular changes on the homepage and faster download speeds. http://byteoftheweek.com/2010/08/12/google-caffeine-dinner-for-tcdp/

They made some more changes recently. (I’ve heard this change called Google Panda.) The goal this time (we assume) was to downgrade junky sites – or sites that just seem to rerun syndicated information and ads. I want to be clear and say that Google doesn’t have a problem with people who buy ads – but with people who run too many of them on their sites. Google sells ads – or it seems strange to penalize folks who run the ads, but Google was always clear that only so many ads per page are acceptable. So how are they tracking this? It seems as if Google has added people to the equation. They have been having human indexers out there making some judgments. I suspect most people won’t notice much of a change in their ranking but it’s good to be aware of the fact that they are looking at syndicated article and ads.

I often think these changes are like fashion. Good to be aware of what’s happening – but few of us will be slaves to the changes. The folks who are slaves to the changes run the greatest risk of falling out of fashion – while the rest of us can forge ahead on a steadier course of just looking good

I have a double Byte today. The first part is for everyone:

Esty: http://www.etsy.com/ – it’s like e-bay for handmade stuff. Go there to buy unique handmade items or sell items if you make them. (I learned about it at the Blandin Conference http://tinyurl.com/37fo3lo last week – where I was also inspired to learn at least one new thing a week, which hopefully will keep me on top of the Bytes!)

The second part is for anyone who uses WordPress (on their own  server) and wants to improve Search Engine Optimization.

All in One SEO Pack: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

With All in One you can add meta tags (which are back in vogue) and make alterations to the title tags. You add it as you would any Plugin. Once added you’ll be able to access it under the WordPress Setting in the Dashboard. You need to administer it before you enable it. The top section is pretty straightforward, you add the title, meta-keywords and meta-description. Next you can a make modifications to the titles that show up in posts and pages – but it’s not as easy to set up. You can select what types of information you want to include in the title, such as the header, blog name, post categories or add your own text. Then you can set up no-index codes for categories and archives, which can be a good way to make sure that search engines aren’t penalizing you for duplicate content.

Once enabled you will also be able to set titles for each page and post when you write them – just scroll down for the option.

If you want more instructions on the setting the All in One options you can get more details here: http://www.jackleblond.com/all-in-one-seo-pack-configuration/

Thanks to Carissa in Minneapolis for today’s Byte. After last week’s Byte on Get Listed (www.getlisted.org), Carissa was inspired to look into her map placement and sent on the tools she used. If you want to make sure that your address is showing up correctly on web site and GPS systems, check out the following:

• NavTeq: www.navteq.com Click the “Map Reporter Tab”
• Tele Atlas (TomTom Brands GPS): www.teleatlas.com go to “Map Feedback”
• Map question Help.mapquest.com
• Yahoo link: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php
  
• Bing: https://sslbing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx
• Google: http://maps.google.com/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=data_errors

Today’s Byte is very specific – so I suspect few folks will use it today – but I hope you’ll be able to store away the knowledge until you need it – or that it might inspire you to include a clickable image on an upcoming WordPress post.

Here is a site I’ve been working on: http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/

We wanted to include a clickable map of the areas served in the first post. I created a “hot spot” image using Dreamweaver. (You can learn how to do that here: http://www.dreamweavertutorial.net/tricks/dreamweaver-cs3-image-hotspots/.) Unfortunately simply cutting and pasting the html from Dreamweaver did not work. But the solution was simple. I just shifted one line of code. I’ll paste the Dreamweaver version vs what I used in WordPress below – and I’ll highlight in bold the line I moved.

From Dreamweaver:

<table width=”276″ height=”38″ border=”0″ align=”right”>

<tr>

<td></p>

<img src=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/regionBlueGray.gif” alt=”Arrowhead” width=”250″ height=”287″ border=”0″ usemap=”#Map” /></td>

</tr>

</table>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<map>

<area shape=”rect” coords=”58,50,106,93″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/koochiching-county/” alt=”Koochiching” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”59,94,104,145″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/itasca-county/” alt=”Itasca” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”77,145,107,197″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/aitkin-county/” alt=”Aitkin” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”109,157,139,194″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/carlton-county/” alt=”Carlton” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”108,52,155,159″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/saint-louis-county/” alt=”St Louis” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”155,75,185,145″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/lake-county/” alt=”Lake” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”185,70,243,125″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/cook-county/” alt=”Cook” />

</map>

</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

Into WordPress:

<table style=”height: 38px;” border=”0″ width=”276″ align=”right”>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td><map name=”Map”>

<area shape=”rect” coords=”58,50,106,93″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/koochiching-county/” alt=”Koochiching” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”59,94,104,145″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/itasca-county/” alt=”Itasca” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”77,145,107,197″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/aitkin-county/” alt=”Aitkin” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”109,157,139,194″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/carlton-county/” alt=”Carlton” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”108,52,155,159″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/saint-louis-county/” alt=”St Louis” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”155,75,185,145″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/lake-county/” alt=”Lake” />

<area shape=”rect” coords=”185,70,243,125″ href=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/schedules-by-county/cook-county/” alt=”Cook” />

</map>

<img usemap=”#Map” src=”http://arrowheadtransitmn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/regionBlueGray.gif” border=”0″ alt=”map of Arrowhead” width=”250″ height=”287″ /></td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

Just remember to add the code into the HTML face of WordPress.

I thought I’d written a Byte on web-friendly fonts before but when I needed it earlier today I couldn’t find it. So here is it. Sometimes folks ask me about using specific fonts on their web sites. It works so long as you choose a fairly standard font. The issue is that if you choose a font that most folks don’t have they won’t see that font when they visit your page. They will see some kind of default, you can set the default or their browser will select the font.

Traditionally the web-friendly fonts have been: Arial/Helvetica, New Times Roman and Courier New. that list has been expanded because newer computer and later versions of popular browsers have added more fonts to their default settings. Here’s a good list of current standard fonts: http://www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html

In the past I’ve talked about the importance of having other sites link to yours – if you want to rank highly with Google. Mostly I like the idea of doing that organically – by linking to content you think is good and hoping folks do the same. Now that doesn’t mean that you might not ask someone to link to you if you think you have something valuable to their visitors.

When choosing who to link to f or where to request links – it often makes sense to see what Google thinks of them. It’s easy to do that with the Google Page rank checker: http://prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

The higher the rank, the more Google likes the page. Now I have to say that I don’t use this tool a lot – because I use my best judgement on whether I think a site is related and worthy to link – but when someone comes to me with a request to exchange links, I have been known to use it as a shortcut.

Have a fun and safe 4th of July!!

Earlier this week someone asked me which was better Flickr or Picasa, both are online photo sharing tools. I have used both – but I must admit that I found some articles from other experts rather than do extensive research myself. (After all I’m a librarian, not a tester!)

I found a couple of articles that lay out the differences:

http://www.priteshgupta.com/2009/05/flickr-picasa-web-albums/ – a great article – but it doesn’t give an opinion per se

http://www.stealblade.com/2010/01/facebook-photos-vs-flickr-vs-picasa-vs.html – they lean towards Picasa, but give some good reasons and mention other tools

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/12/picasa-web-albums-vs-flickr-which.html – they lean towards Flickr

It seems as if Flickr may be best if you want to build a community – for example invite others to add their image to your collection. Picasa is better if you think folks might want to download the images for any reason. The second article mentioned Facebook – which might be worth considering if your main goal is reaching people and you already dabble in Facebook at all.

OK a couple of weeks ago I mentioned QR codes with a promise to say more later – well it’s later. It’s a little later than intended but I got mixed up with a great vacation in the West of Ireland and a week back home for work. (For a great refresher or demonstration of QR code you should check out this link from my friend John in St Paul: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsPRpQfHYOY).

Google Local Business Center has changed and is now Google Places. You know when you search for something and you get the almost phone book like listings at the top – well that’s Google Places. And if you have a business web site – especially if location matters – it makes sense to claim your address (real and URL) on Google Places. According to the Google blog here are some of the new features of Google Places (although first I’ll add that one of the best features is that most features are still free):

• Service areas: If you travel to serve customers, you can now show which geographic areas you serve. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private.
• A new, simple way to advertise: For just $25 per month, businesses in select cities can make their listings stand out on Google.com and Google Maps with Tags. As of today, we’re rolling out Tags to three new cities — Austin, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. — in addition to ongoing availability in Houston and San Jose, CA. In the coming weeks we’ll also be introducing Tags in Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Boulder and San Francisco.
• Business photo shoots: In addition to uploading their own photos, businesses in select cities can now request a free photo shoot of the interior of their business which we’ll use to supplement existing photos of businesses on Place Pages. We’ve been experimenting with this over the past few months, and now have created a site for businesses to learn more and express their interest in participating.
• Customized QR codes: From the dashboard page of Google Places, businesses in the U.S. can download a QR code that’s unique to their business, directly from their dashboard page. QR codes can be placed on business cards or other marketing materials, and customers can scan them with certain smartphones to be taken directly to the mobile version of the Place Page for that business.
• Favorite Places: We’re doing a second round of our Favorite Places program, and are mailing window decals to 50,000 businesses around the U.S. These decals include a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to directly view the mobile Place Page for the business to learn more about their great offerings.

You can take advantage of as much or as little as you want – but as I said it make sense to at least claim your spot. You can do so here: http://google.com/places