5 Ways to Go Green (and Save Green)

With Earth Day just around the corner, you might be thinking about what steps you can take to help the environment without radically altering your lifestyle or spending a whole lot of money. Fortunately, when it comes to home electronics, you don't have to overhaul your whole setup in order to save energy and be a little kinder to Mother Earth.

While newer electronics tend to require a lot less power to run, there's no need to go on a shopping spree. You can gradually phase in new, power-sipping equipment as the occasion arises. And some investments—say, a $35 "smart" power strip—can be well worth the small outlay in exchange for significant energy savings over time.

Here are just a few small ways you can modify your own office and habits to help the environment:

1. Recycle. Everything from cell phones to computers can now be recycled or reused. Most computer manufacturers now have recycling programs, and cell phones can be donated to a number of charities.

2. When you need a new monitor, get an LCD. Flat-screen LCDs use less energy than plasma monitors, and they're now Energy Star rated. Click here for information from Energy Star on a whole range of home electronics.

3. Reduce "vampire power" with a smart power strip. Many of the devices you use every day pull a fair amount of current even when they're not turned on. A smart power strip can detect when devices are shut off and prevent the flow of current to those devices. Some can also be set down to automatically power down peripheral devices, such as printers, whenever the main device (like your computer) shuts off.

4. Buy electronics that use rechargeable batteries. You'll have to buy fewer disposable batteries, and fewer disposable batteries will end up in landfills.

5. Don't buy it if you don't need it. A lot of people replace their cell phones, MP3 players, and other gadgets as soon as the newest version comes out. If you stick with the old version through a new product release or two saves you money and reduces waste.

(From Trend Micro's April Newsletter)

PDF Files

If you can't open all those PDF (Portable Document Format) files that people are sending you, go to http://www.adobe.com and download Adobe Acrobat Reader for FREE. Brilliant marketing move on Adobe's part - give away the reader for free, sell the PDF maker. PDF files are pretty much the industry norm for sharing files - get used to using it!

Here's more information on the history of PDF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pdf

What is SEO and why should I care?

1. What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. A search engine is a tool many internet users use to find sites that are relevant to their needs. The three biggies when it comes to search engines are Google, Yahoo and MSN. There are however, hundreds of search engines available to internet users. Search engines work by sending out spiders to crawl through the World Wide Web and gather information. If you have the information they're looking for, in the places they are looking, they'll find you and place you in their results when a person is looking for your information.

2. How important is SEO?
What's better, a few visitors who stumble upon your website or hundreds of visitors that go to your website with the direct intention of learning more or making a purchase? With more and more people searching and shopping online, getting on the first page or two of the search engine results can mean the difference between keeping your day job and becoming an internet entrepreneur.

3. What are text links?
Links are just one of the tools you can use to increase your search engine optimization. The more quality links you have, the better your search engine ranking will be. Text links are links that contain only text. Wikipedia is a great place to examine internal text links. The links are contained within a sentence and when a reader clicks on them they are taken to a different page on the same website.

4. What are link farms and link exchanges?
Search engines don't accept just any old link. The link has to be from a relevant and quality company. This means you don't want to participate in link farming. If a search engine suspects your links to be lacking, they'll actually penalize you. Link farming or link exchanging is essentially the process of exchanging reciprocal links with Web sites in order to increase your search engine ranking.

5. How do I find the right keywords?
There are several steps to finding the most profitable keywords. The first step is to generally do a bit of brainstorming and come up with a list of keywords you think people will use to find your products. The next step is to research supply and demand for those particular keywords. Supply means how many other websites are using those same keywords and demand is how many people are looking for those particular keywords.

6. How do I optimize my web pages?
Placing your keywords in the right location is a good start to optimizing your web pages. Search engines look to the headings, subheadings, domain name, and title of your website. They also look in the content on your page and primarily focus on the first paragraph.

Try to get a domain name with your primary keyword included. When you include your keyword in your URL it tells the search engine spiders immediately what your site is about.

7. Do I need to submit my site to the search engines?
The simple answer is - no. Search engine spiders are always out there doing their job and collecting information. Every time you update your website, add content, or change your keywords, the search engines capture the information and record it.

8. What are spiders?
Search engine spiders are also called web crawlers or bot. They're basically automated programs which scan websites to provide information to search engines often for the purpose of indexing or ranking them.

9. How does content help my SEO?
Content is one of the best tools to improve your search engine ranking. It is a great place to emphasize keywords, encourage linking to your site, and increase traffic. The key to content is to make sure you're offering quality content and you're updating your website and your content frequently.

10. Most of that reads like Greek to me! How can Silverbear Graphics help?
We have folks that not only understand the concepts presented above, but can implement them on your website quickly and easily. Don’t have a website yet? We can create one for you. Give us a call at 1-724-613-1814 for more information, or email us at info@silverbeargraphics.com

adapted from article by Jeremy Gislason

Tricks of the Trade

Have you ever sent a word processing file to a friend or colleague and that person cannot open your file because they use a different word processor or a different version of the same software you use?

Did you know that if you save your word processing file (for example, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, or Word Perfect, to name a few) as a Rich Text Format (RTF) file, that virtually every word processor can open your file?

Check back here for other tips and ideas to make your computer time more enjoyable. We try to speak English, not Tech-no-ease, and we understand that not everyone is comfortable in a technological environment! It is part of what makes it so easy to work with us at Silverbear Graphics.