The petition to GM to stay in Michigan June 24, 2009 By Editor Keep GM in Michigan by signing a petition that encourages the company to stay where it all began. http://makeitmichigan.org/ has encouraged others to come forward in a open letter to the struggling company to keep future production facilities in Orion, Michigan and not in Tennessee or Wisconsin. With Michigans economy down and the unemployment outlook still a little dim it would be good if GM stays were they belong and keep Michigan strong.
OMA Comp On-Site Computer repair, serving Southeast Michigan June 11, 2009 By Editor sales@omacomp.com | 248-616-3057 OMA Comp has been servicing Southeast Michigan for over 15 years. Our 24 hour support has kept large business’s to the small home office up and running at the speed of light. Our staff members have A+ certification, CNE (Certified Network Engineer) and Microsoft Certification for NT base computers and servers. ON SITE SERVICE We are highly motivated and qualified to consult on many technical issues to improve your business flow and communications. System maintenance and diagnosis to data back up and Disaster recovery is just some of the on site services we offer. Getting Connected Get connected and stay connected with Networking options to fit your needs. We keep up to date on all the latest hardware and software to keep your business moving. From simple home wireless systems to multiply computer network devices we have the tools to share files, print servers, network printers, Voice over internet protocol (VoIP) devices and set up media centers. Preventative Maintenance OMA Comp can keep you operating with mininum down time by Installing Critical Microsoft software and hardware updates Virus and Spyware Removal Computer and Server Cleaning for optimal performance Analyze and Secure data Infrastructure from internal/external threats Data Back up and Recovery New hardware /software installations and upgrades Intsall new workstations or servers Network routers and switches configurated for optimization Disaster recovery and back up analysis Remote monitoring & maintenance We can set up a plan to fit your budget and look for ways to improve your current configuration. You have nothing to lose with our free consultation, give us a call and see what makes us better than the rest. sales@omacomp.com | 248-616-3057 Areas of Service Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair, Wayne, Genesee, Monroe, Washtenaw, Central City, Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Canton Township, Clinton Township, Dearborn, Livonia, Sterling Heights, Troy, Warren, Westland, Downriver, Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills, Grosse Pointe, Macomb Township, Novi, Pontiac, Redford Township, Rochester Hill, Royal Oak, Saint Clair Shores, Shelby Township, Southfield, Taylor, Waterford, West Bloomfield, Ann Arbor, Brighton, Flint, Howell, Lapeer, Monroe, Port Huron
Green Companies Make New Products Available June 11, 2009 By Editor We have just completed two new web sites that have designed and produced stylish earth friendly products. e-cooler and Sacs of Life are both Michigan based companies focused on waste reduction through use of their products. The “e-cooler” company has designed a 100% recyclable and reusable wax free alternative to the corrugated box. Its uses are almost limitless with the ability to pack almost any soluble material into their containers. From a cooler full of your favorite drinks with ice, to the produce and meat packing industry e-cooler has you covered. Say good bye to the PVC bags of the past with Sacs of Life. Sacs of Life has been adding style to there system of reusable shopping and travel bags. They are food safe and the systems they have come up with are great. There are many options to choose from to fit any needs one may have. The clipster is a neat little bag that folds up and fits on a key chain for easy convenience to the insulater3 system that includes three bags that fold down to one small pouch. They have many different styles and patterns to choose from. If you have a green product that you would like help promoting, we can help. Just give us a call 248-616-3057 or email us at sales@omacomp.com Mention this article and receive a 10% discount for having a green product.
Uploading images and placing them in post March 16, 2009 By Editor For the non tech savvy person images can be a hassle to implement. So here is a quick way to help you get started. Getting the image on to your server My choice for FTP software is Filezilla client. It is simple, free and easy to use. Go ahead and dowload it, then install the software. Once it is open you will need three things to connect to the sever to access your files. The host name: yoursite.com The user: Admin Password: secret888 (All of this information can be obtained from your hosting provider and please do not mess with any other files or directories stored on your server.) Connect and log into the site with the information and you will see many directories (folders) filled with files. Find the directory name public_html, inside of this folder you will find another folder named images. This is where all of your site images are stored. The nice thing about Filezilla is the drag and drop capability to move files. The left field is your local view of your computer and the right is the connection to server. Find the file you want to uplaod in to the images folder, by dragging it into the sever directory or use the transfer method from local view to server. If a file name already exist it will ask you to overwrite with a yes or no. The safest way is to rename your current file, so not to match anything on the server and possible mess something up on the website. Getting the image path Your image is on the server and you would like to get a direct path to use it in a post. So go to your browser and view your website and in the address bar you can see the path to your site. I will use this site as an example: http://www.acupunctureinmichigan.com The image I would like to use has been uploaded and is named monica_small.jpg If you add the path and the image to the web address you will get http://www.acupunctureinmichigan.com/images/monica_small.jpg and you should be able to view it in your browser if all is correct. Code for the image Go inside your post in the html tab and insert this bit of code where you would like the image to appear. <img src=”http://www.acupunctureinmichigan.com/images/monica_small.jpg” alt=”A lovely picture of Monica” align=”left”/> img src is the path to the image, the alt is the description that is seen on mouse over and align is used to position the image left, right or center. For more coding tips on using images please visit w3schools or Dave’s site.
I need a website… Where do I begin? March 4, 2009 By Editor Many new clients come to us in a need of a website, but are unfamiliar with what it takes to create a site that satisfies both user and owner. Here is a handy guide of common questions a prospective client can use to help inform the design firm of their goals and expectations. Purpose of website: * Promote your Ideas, Hobbies, or Beliefs * Advertise your company and or products and Services * Provide Customer Services and Support * Inform your Audience * Give, Buy or Sell Information * Create an ‘Extended Business Card’ for your company * Provide internal information and services for your company Research: Look at what your competitors’ are doing and fine ways to improve on that. Know your audience and target your site toward them, while keeping the door open for new demographics and potential clients. What are your goals and expectations of the web site? Quality Content: Give them a reason to come and a reason to return to your site. Content is king and if your users know your content, then why should they return. It is good for you to keep content fresh and up to date. Inform your audience with the latest news and events related to your site or business. [Read more…]
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) March 4, 2009 By Editor The RSS feed symbol can be found on most blog sites, but what is it and what can it do for you. The RSS is an xml feed that has been standardized to be viewed on a wide variety of platforms. The feed (which sometimes is referred as) can be viewed in a web page, on your desk top or cell phone. This “feed” can carry a wide variety of information that can help users find your content efficiently and effectively, by embedding meta tags, images, video and textual content. The best way to get your information delivered to this wide variety of devices is to sign up with feedburner and get the code to paste in your site that will allow users to subscribe to your feed or you can log into your wordpress account and go in to Appearance / Widgets and add the RSS to the sidebar. Once it has been added to the sidebar you can hit edit and enter your RSS feed url (http://feeds.feedburner.com/yourblog). Hit save and your done, now anyone can subscibe to your feed and get your information on the device they prefer.
Blogging Communities and Directories March 4, 2009 By Editor Part of my job is helping smaller business’s achieve harmony on the web. Most clients cannot afford to spend large amounts of money to help boost their online presence. One way to help boost presence and deliver more quality content to their users is through a blog. There are so many different aspects to help achieve blogging bliss it is hard for me to explain them all. One of the biggest boosts I found in the blogging game is to join blog communities and directories. Blogging communities can be found throughout the net and finding a good one takes a little trial and error. It is good to join as many as you can just to get the exposure, but finding a niche community related to your blog may be a little tougher. All blogging communities offer something of value to other users and yourself, and once again it comes down to what you put in, you will get out. [Read more…]
WordPress Stats September 26, 2008 By Editor I great and easy way to track your users is by installing the plugin WordPress Stats. Accuracy is not 100%, but it does work well enough to see progress and hits to your site. The stats plugin will also allow you to see referrers and your top post and pages viewed from your dashboard. It is free andthe only requirement to use it is your API number you get from your WordPress account.
The Importance of Keywords September 25, 2008 By Editor Getting to the top of search engines can be a daunting task. Not knowing where to begin can leave you feeling frustrated, while your site sits on the net unnoticed. Fret not because there is a solution. The best place to start is by using and understanding “key words” and how they relate to your site, while still attracting visitors. You can start by making a list of relevant words and phrases that pertain to your site and search for them in Google to see how many returns you get. This will give you an idea of the competition you are facing. However, it is important to choose your keywords wisely. There is no sense in trying to compete with twenty different sites with page ranks of 7 or higher by using the same keywords they do because let’s be honest; your use of the same keyword is not going to help you out-rank them. Not to say you are not going to have some of the same key words, because obviously, it is essential and clearly works. The point is to find keywords that give you the chance to be a worthy competitor; words related to the content of your site. If you choose words that people Google on a regular basis, only to find that when they get to your site, your content is not even remotely related to it, chances are they will leave and not return. This is what you want to avoid. You want people to visit your page, and keep coming back. I am going to use examples that I used for the site carshowkiosk.com. Remember that these techniques can be applied to any site, under any situation and it is important to find your niche. The site name (carshowkiosk) has little competition so I will focus on other keywords that will have potential to drive traffic to my site. My first choice for a keyword was “car show”. I typed it into Google and got 49,300,000 results. That’s a lot of competition to go up against for a small web site. By refining my keyword to “Michigan car show” I got a return of 2,820,000 listings from Google. By adding Michigan to my keyword, which suited my website better anyway, I was able to go from 49 million competitors, to just under 3 million, which are much better odds in this competitive game. Getting your keywords to work for you to gain higher ranking is the next step. Link exchange is still the best way to get higher rankings in search engines. When you make your links, use your keywords as the anchored text and not the site name. Example link: CarShowKiosk.com, your information kiosk for Michigan Car Shows and cruises. Page optimization is also important. Whenever possible, include your keywords in titles, tags and headings. Make links to other pages within your site that include your keywords. When using alt tags for images, include keywords when relevant. However, do not spam your site with keywords, as this will only hurt your efforts and irritate your visitors. Below is a picture of how keywords are used in the anchored text linking to internal pages, in the title of pages and within the site structure (address bar). Remember to find keywords that fit your niche, are relevant to your particular site and that offer you a competitive edge. Do not be afraid to research misspellings of your target keywords or phrases to gain an edge also; in fact, I encourage it. Try to include your keywords whenever and wherever possible in an applicable manner and get as many links possible with your keywords as the anchored text.
Askimet Spam Filter September 25, 2008 By Editor I can not stress the importance in activating your Askimet spam filter. Your site may be new and have very few readers, but sooner or later the spam bots will find you. You can not hide from them so, sign up for a free word press account and get your API key to activate the filter. It sure is better than deleting a eleventy thousand worthless comments. The API key can also activate several other great plugins…. so do it already.