Support, Docs & Knowledge Base

Generating Incoming Links with Blogrolls

jgunderson — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 16:11:00 GMT

One of the most important aspects which Google takes into consideration when generating search engine results is how many qualified incoming links your site has. Gaining quality incoming links is also one of the most difficult things to achieve in effective search engine optimization. One effective way to acheive numerous incoming links with quality anchor text is to gain a link in another site's blogroll. A blogroll is a link manager built into most blogging software and online blogging systems such as Blogger. These links typically show up on the right or left columns in the blog. Why linking from a blogroll is so effective, is because when an author writes a blog post, that post appears both on the front page of the blog as well as generated as an individual archived page. This generates two disctinct links to your site and everytime the author writes a new post, another two links are created. Over time the links add up and are indexed by Google as qualified incoming links to your site. Although it is preferable to have many incoming links from many different sites, Google still considers these incoming blogroll links as being relevant and it will indeed boost your search engine results page rankings.

Robogeo- tagging photos on a windows computer

vrinteractive — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:27:00 GMT

After seeing HoudaGeo in actiona few weeks ago, i came as close as i ever have to breaking down and buying a mac to manage my media. Then on a Snowy day in Valdez, I found what could be the easiest, coolest piece of software to bridge the gap between web interfaces, portable devices, and life experience.

www.robogeo.com - Image Geotagger for Windows

Not only does it tag your photos, but it exports directly to flickr (as seen here), To a google map, google earth, or just a directory with the geodata in your EXIF file. i'll be posting all of my images at www.flickr.com/frumkinwy, and likely turning my clients on to it as quickly as possible.

RSS Feeds

jgunderson — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:16:00 GMT

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way to publish content such as blogs, podcasts and news items. RSS feeds often contain a summary or even the full content from a website and are viewed using stand-alone readers such as Feedreader for Windows, the RSS reader built directly into Safari for Mac or feed aggrators such as Google's Reader.

The most common and widely adopted icon for RSS feeds looks like this: Generally, clicking on a site's feed icon will provide you with a feed address which commonly begin with "feed://" and allow you to add it to your reader of choice.

One of the benefits of publishing an RSS feed is to be a channel for information and to publicize relevant news to your visitors and subcribers. Because RSS has been standarized, your readers are able to view all their subscriptions through their viewers without the need to visit each and every website. This allows you to get free targeted traffic. Additionlly, RSS content can be syndicated across other websites so your content is published across the web. This provides an extremely effective way to get fresh and relevant content to your readers. In order for your site to be successful you need to get visitors to it and utilizing RSS is another tool in which to draw traffic in addtion to your search engine optimization and other Web marketing tactics.

Jackson Hole Central Reservations

vrinteractive — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:19:00 GMT

Launched on 3/16/2008 for Jackson Hole Central Reservations

Team:

Jed Frumkin - Lead Developer
Christopher Dunn - Lead Designer
Lisa Ridenour - Project Manager
Christopher Moen - CSS w3c Guru
Micahel Massie - Designer
Courtney Luddon - Client Contact & Content Management

Project Length: 9/1/2007 - 3/16/2008Scope:

Complete redevelopment and redesign of existing website.
CMS Integration with heavy focus on SEO and usability.
Planner/shopping cart system with Smart-suggestions
Heavy focus on maintaining legacy content & pages
Technology: ASP.net 2.0/sql server 2005

Quickbooks Time Tracking - vbscript error in Vista x64

vrinteractive — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 04:34:00 GMT

So we use Quickbooks to track labor, both internally and for our clients. It's great in a number of ways- the online interface is easy to use, we can easily create reports for our bookkeeper as well as our clients.

I use the Outlook Integration tool- it is mindless and allows me to tie my tracking right into my normal office environment without having to use a separate tool.

Running vista (32 bit and 64 bit), I get "error 2738, vbscript module cannot be accessed" upon installation.

I have a sneaking suspicion this error is a result of running the unsupported Visual Studio 2003 from within Vista.

I found the following technote that saved the day recently when i tried to update: http://www.nitropdf.com/kb/article.aspx?id=10106&cNode=3D8W4P

1. Run Command Prompt as administrator
         1.1 Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories
         1.2 Type "cmd"
         1.3 Right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
2. cd %windir%\system32
3. regsvr32 vbscript.dll

The slight modification for my x64 got it up and running

1. Run Command Prompt as administrator
         1.1 Start Menu -> Search
         1.2 Type "cmd"
         1.3 Right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
2. cd %windir%\SysWOW64
3. regsvr32 vbscript.dll

When i called last month, intuit had no documentation of this issue. Hope this helps.

Jackson Hole Central Reservations Launches Dynamic and Interactive Website

jgunderson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:36:00 GMT

JHCR Launches New Website To Increase Conversions Of Website Visitors Through Interactive Tools, Mapping, Imagery, And Ajax Components.

Jackson Hole Central Reservations is just days from launching a new, user friendly, dynamic, and interactive website. JHCR hopes that the new and improved site will increase the number of website visitors by creating an easier and enjoyable environment for users to find information about the area, to learn about lodging and activities, and to book packages. VR Interactive LLC has been working with JHCR for the past six months to dial in the design of a new site, create new interactive tools with ajax components like a travel shopping cart and virtual tours, develop a content management system, and adhere to search engine optimization standards.

The “Trip Planner” is a shopping cart for travel in Jackson Hole. Users have the ability to browse through the website for activities, lodging, travel packages, events, local information, skiing information, National Park information, and more. If they find something that interests them, they can bookmark it in a personalized Trip Planner simply by pressing the “Add to Planner” button. At any time while browsing the site the user can view the items they have collected in their Trip Planner and choose to do one of the following: Save their plan; Send their plan to a JHCR agent; Begin a live chat with a JHCR agent; Call an agent; Send their Plan to a Friend. This feature offers the user a way to personalize their experience, and potentially their vacation in Jackson Hole.

Virtual Tours can be uploaded for every lodging listing, which also include a photo gallery, amenities, and descriptions. Virtual Tours, a service offered by VR Interactive LLC, can be viewed once the user is viewing a lodging detail page. Virtual Tours have grown increasingly popular with web users as they provided an “inside view” of the property to someone who may live across the country. As only a few of the properties currently display Virtual Tours, JHCR thinks many lodges will be adding their tours soon.

If users are not sure where to start when looking for lodging in the Jackson area, they can start by using the “Search Lodging Options” feature. Users can select a price range, a lodging type, a location, and choose from a long list of amenities. They are directed to a search results page where they can either edit their search or select a lodge.

Additional interactivity on the new Jackson Hole Central Reservation’s website is included in what they have called the “Interactive Toolbox,” which exists on every page of the site offering quick and easy access to features like the Blog, Photo Gallery, Email Sign-Up, Live Chat, Interactive Map, Travel Brochure, Send Page to a Friend, and Send a Postcard to a Friend. The final feature listed allows the user to choose from a wide variety of Jackson related photos, add a virtual message, a “to” and “from” email address, and send a Postcard via email.

Jed Frumkin, VR Interactive LLC owner, comments “The development of a new website for Jackson Hole Central Reservations has been one of our largest projects, a learning experience, and has allowed us to really take our services to a new level. I am proud of what this team has achieved and excited to share it with the public.”

VR Interactive LLC is a multimedia production agency. Specializing in dynamic web applications, website production, hosting, and multimedia, VRI LLC works closely with the client to integrate technology, information, and design into a virtual environment. Integrating websites, business applications, development tools, and promotional animations, VRI LLC uses the latest technology to create a virtual space that enhances the goals of the client.

If you would like more information on the topic, please contact Jed Frumkin at VR Interactive LLC.

Jed Frumkin
Tel: (307)690-2319
Email: jed@v-r-interactive.com