2 in 1 : Choosing a partner

As I was saying a couple of days ago I just had an awful time with my internet provider . I had to make about 4 trips to their office and I barely managed to get a contract signed after 4 visits . Their client services told me I DIDN'T needed some paperwork . And I didn't take that document with me . And when I got there the lady at the office told me that I , in fact , did need that document . And eventually you know what I found out ?

That NO . I didn't need the respective document . The lady at the office had her stuff all mixed up . Anyway this was one more proof to support my way of seeing things and that is : in most cases , most of the time , it's best to work with small companies , instead of big ones .

I mean this internet provider that I just signed a contract has a couple hundred thousands users in just one city . And still ... they suck .

Never really understood why this happens . Do they not care about every single individual and they start treating people in dozens ? Or they simply cannot pay attention to everyone and people get ignored ?

I honestly don't think it makes much difference which is which ... what matters is , that for the most part of my life , working with big companies has proven to be at least troublesome .

I prefer the little guys . They need me . They know that . I'm not just another customer . I'm a guy that puts a little in everyone's paycheck at the end of the month . And they work for that . They get things done faster . Maybe it's because they don't have so much stuff to do ... but I don't care as long as I get my things done as fast as possible .

Now why did I bother you with this ? Well ... these experiences may be of use to some of you . Sometimes it's best to keep things small . A small hosting company . One that values quality . An individual developer ... one that knows first hand that your business , be it whatever it may be , will put food on his table .

Don't rush into the first big company just because they have a name for themselves . Do some research . Maybe you can find something smaller but faster , better .

Now , in another topic somehow related ... do you remember that guy that you used to party with in highschool ? The really funny one , great friend , knew a lot of jokes and all in all he was a great company ? Remember him ?

He was a great guy , wasn't he ? Boy ... the times we've had ... the parties and the fun .

But just because he could burp the alphabet ... can he actually work by your side and fulfill his tasks before his deadlines ? Can he be trusted to take responsibility for his part of the job ?

I recently talked to a friend of mine , an old colleague of mine . We haven't talked in ages . And at a certain point in the conversation we , evidently , reach the following question :

'So ... what do you do ? What have you been working ?'

He looks at me and after he tells me he is working for a company dealing with computer assembly and repair he asks me :

'Do you remember Catalin ? From highschool ?'

'Yeah . How is he by the way ?'

'I think he is good . Haven't talked to him in some time now . About 2 years ago we agreed we would start a small business together fixing computers for start and then maybe bigger things . But he is a dick . I mean ... he is a great guy and all that but he is lazy as heck and talks a lot of crap . Never knew that about him . I never had to work with him before . We started this thing , we got a lot of clients at first  but I was the one doing all the work and eventually it blew in our faces . I couldn't keep up with all of them and he always seemed to find some excuse from doing things .'

The rest is irrelevant . I trust you know what I am trying to say , right ?

what causes a high bounce rate ?

We all know that different stats mean different things for different types of sites . That's a lot of different , isn't it !? You need to understand that there is no real recipe for success with websites , blogging or any other type of virtual endeavor . In fact I don't think there is a clear recipe for success in any aspect of life ... but this is a talk for another session , on a different blog . It all comes down to thinking just one step ahead of your site .

What we do know is that some sites need leads , other sites just need people to stay on them for as long as possible , other sites may need word of mouth , and so on and so forth .

When it comes to web analytics , whatever your site's needs may be , it is - however - clear that all sites need a low bounce rate . The bounce rate is basically just a percentage of how many people see just one page of your site and then skip to the next website . And this simply isn't good for any kind of website .

So the rule is to keep your bounce rate as low as possible for as long as possible .

What causes a high bounce rate ?

3 things : bad content , bad design , bad information . Notice that I use both content and information . Some of you might ask : 'How come ?! Aren't they the same thing ?'

Not necessarily . By content I mean text ( quantity and quality - proper spelling , etc ) and the way the text is structured and placed while by information I mean the actual pieces of knowledge the user receives after reading your content .

So ... bad content . When someone stumbles to your webpage it is critical to have proper spelling , easy to read layout and correct use of grammar . Check your landing pages and make sure they are in tip top shape in terms of spelling , grammar , layout .

Now when it comes to layout and grammar there really aren't too many options out there . You can do some research in terms of layout ( you can start here ) and you simply must know proper grammar .

As for spelling there are plenty of online tools out there that can spellcheck text ( to name a few : spellchecker and orangoo's tool ) .

When it comes to content you need to make sure you optimize your pages for what your website is about , make sure - with the use of meta data and keywords - that your visitors know what they will find even before they click your link . This ensures valuable visitors instead of weary ones that just bounce off .

The design of a webpage can get highly underrated many times and this is strange because design is basically how a page looks . We all love beautiful women , right ? We all love beautiful cars , right ? People are fond of beauty ... and design makes no exception from the rule .

Obviously the best option is to hire a professional to do all of your design . But in case you can't do that there are tons of resources out there featuring free web templates , blogger templates , wordpress templates and so on . All you have to do is search . Seek and you shall find . Make sure the design keeps in touch with the general topic of your website .

Another thing to keep in mind is ad placement in case you have ads on your website . Don't crowd your landing pages with banners and link ads . Ads are a turn off . Learn to blend your ads with the overall look of your page . This way visitors won't think your page is just another scheme and they will see it as a genuine resource .

Bad information or no information at all . They both need to be avoided as much as possible . Make sure the message you are trying to send is visible from the very start . Make sure it is up to date . Fresh content has become the new mecca of our times . Make sure your message is real and has real world applications for the people interested .

These are a few things you should keep in mind when optimizing your website for a lower bounce rate .

stemming your way to the first place

I've had me a horrific past couple of weeks . I've had no access to an internet connection . I could have surfed the web from some place other than my home but , for various reasons , I prefer to do my browsing/writing/chatting strictly from home .

Anyway , after a lot of dealing with incompetent employees and a lot of dealing with stupid , useless protocols I've finally got my connection set up and I thought it would be a good idea to start posting again . It will take some time getting back in line but I'm confident enough , especially with autumn knocking at my door ( for some reason I feel rejuvenated when it's raining and it's cold ) .

So ... what is keyword stemming !?

Probably everyone knows what it is ... but some of you may not know that it's called this way .

Keyword stemming ( sometimes referred to as conflation ) is basically the process of obtaining a base word , a stem , from it's various derived forms .

For example stemming is getting to the word 'sink' from it's derived form 'sinking' or maybe 'sinks' . Or getting to 'flow' from it's derived forms 'flows' or 'flowing' . You get the point .

Now I've seen a lot of incorrect use of this term ( 'stemming' ) when it comes to 'keyword stemming' . People tend to refer to it as being the other way around which is getting to a derived form from a basic word , stem .

For example getting to 'sinking' or 'sinks' from it's stem which is 'sink' .

Basically you get the idea . Just as a note on this the first definition is correct while the second one , the one most bloggers tend to use , is incorrect .

Initially search engines have had problems with this because it requires a tricky algorithm for a search engine to read the word 'sinking' and know that it's related to 'sink' . But we live in an age of wonders in which search engines ( at least the big ones ) no longer have issues with this stemming .

And because they no longer have these problems it is a good bet you can spruce up your position by taking advantage of keyword stemming .

Now , for the most part , you will not have problems with stemming a keyword and finding the right place for it , but if your english skills are not in top shape or if you stumble upon a tricky word you could go and check out this handy stemming tool over at indeksering .