#very satisfying to see that page number steadily increase

[selestialsprout]

my voltron reboot doc has reached 37 pages. and im still not done moving everything i currently have onto it. what the fuck

[preserving-ferretbrain]

Red Seas Under Red Skies

by Wardog

Friday, 01 February 2008

Wardog praises with faint damnation~

I was nosing about Scott Lynch's LJ (which is endearingly titled The Dork Lord, on His Dork Throne) not so long ago and I came across this:

I was not a fan of the Wheel of Time books, probably because I came to them in my twenties with my tastes already fairly developed. I was never able to get past the opening of the second book, and those of you who've known me for ages I'm sure absorbed my criticism and invective years ago. I once wrote at excruciating length upon the weaknesses of the books as I perceived them, and while I thought it was extremely clever and somehow necessary at the time, the years since have drastically mellowed my taste for mocking the work of other authors who aren't huge assholes in person or pushing a distasteful agenda with their work. About the best I can say for my mosquito bites is that I sincerely hope Jordan himself never had them called to his attention. Something tells me he would have given them the eye roll they deserved.

And the sheer decency of it has sort of shamed me to such an extent (especially since I am a non-achiever who hangs about on the internet criticising other people's work) that I can hardly bring myself to review Red Seas Under Red Skies, especially since my attempt to write about The Lies of Locke Lamora degenerated into a (semi-harmless) mock-fest of Scott Lynch's hair. By the way the important word in that sentence was "hardly." With this mind and all due humility, here are some thoughts on Red Thingies Over/Under Red Other Thingies, which I shall hereafter refer to as RSURS for the sake of my sanity. It's the second book in the Gentleman Bastard sequence which will, I understand, eventually form a septet. I have to say, this idea distresses me. Not only has Harry Potter soured me on the number seven for life but, given the fact the fantasy genre generally can't cope with trilogies, the idea of a septet seems utterly ludicrous to me. I mean, what do you have to say that takes seven books? Seriously?

For the moment, however, Scott Lynch seems to have something to say. Ultimately there's no point in reading RSURS if you haven't read The Lies of Locke Lamora not because it doesn't almost stand alone but because familiarity with the background, the setting and the characters deepens the experience of reading. To give it due credit: RSURS is reasonably satisfying on its own terms. You can feel the slow gathering of plot upon the horizon like distant clouds (and fear the coming storm) and there are some massive danglers just left hanging in a deliberately taunting and irritating fashion but, hey, thems the breaks with this kind of thing. And, as in Lies, the mysterious Sabetha, the apparent love of Locke's life, is alluded to but remains absent: for fuck's sake, Lynch, stop it. You know she's just going to be a total let down after a build up like this.

The problems evident in Lies are evident in RSURS, only slightly moreso because you don't have the novelty factor of being a first book to distract you from them. If you didn't like Locke the first time round, you won't like him here because he's exactly the same and still, some might argue, something of a Mary Sue or the male equivalent thereof. Although I don't personally object to the love affair Scott Lynch is tenderly enacting with his (anti)hero, I do struggle somewhat with the character. As I think I said in my review of Lies, he's absolutely the nicest bastard you could ever hope to meet: he never harms or kills anybody who doesn't thoroughly deserve it, his supposedly long-dead conscience miraculously reappears whenever he's confronted by any sort of cruelty or injustice and his unswerving and self-sacrificing loyalty to his friends is a virtue of such magnitude that it eclipses everything remotely unsympathetic about him. It shouldn't, but that's the way fiction works: if your character cares about the same people as the reader, it doesn't really matter how that character behaves, they're always going to garner a degree of support and approval.

I wouldn't mind this so much if I didn't have the feeling that Locke is supposed to be a shady character for a dark world. Perhaps I have the wrong end of the stick and Locke was never meant to be anything but a big bleeding heart beneath a thin veneer of survivalist criminality but I don't think so. I think the problem with Locke Lamora is that he's neither enough of one thing nor its opposite: he's neither selfish enough to be a convincing anti-hero nor virtuous enough to be a convincing hero. I know part of his shtick is his shifting sense of self and I'm not averse to complicated, contradictory characters but I find Locke incoherent rather than complex. I'm genuinely uncertain as to what Lynch is trying to do with the character or what we're meant to think. I'm not saying he doesn't do terrible things - he mutilates someone (who, admittedly, deserves it) in the first book - but everything he does that's vile and shocking is excusable whereas everything he does that's compassionate is extraordinary. For example, in RSURS, he and Jean, hanging out a decadent casino called the Sinspire, witness an entertainment in which a young nobleman, unable to pay his debts, has to survive in cage of stiletto wasps. Needless to say he doesn't and Locke secretly makes a blessing over the young man's forgotten corpse:

"Crooked Warden," Locke muttered under his breath, speaking quickly, "a glass poured on the ground for a stranger without friends. Lord of gallants and fools, ease this man's passage to the Lady of the Long Silence. This was a hell of a way to die. Do this for me and I'll try not to ask for anything for a while. I really do mean that this time."

There is no reason for this scene to be in the book (not that it isn't cool) - there are plenty examples of the upper classes being cruel and bloodthirsty to make the point and if the stiletto wasps are at all relevant beyond providing atmosphere they're certainly not to this book. In fact, its only purpose is to remind us that Locke Lamora is great and to show him, thief and conman that he is, being humane in the face of the world's inhumanity.

Unlike some of the reviews I've read, I've never had a problem with the snappy, modern dialogue and the very modern obscenity. In fact, I genuinely relish it. Unfortunately, it was during RSURS that I realised something that had passed me by in the first book: it's the only kind of dialogue Lynch can write. Everyone sounds the same. Pirates, noblemen, thieves, priests Locke, Jean: they're interchangeable. Witty but interchangeable.

"And now, my dear professional pessimist," said Locke... "my worry merchant, my tireless font of doubt and derision ... what do you have to say to that? "Oh very little to be sure... it's so hard to think, overawed as I am with the sublime genius of your plan." "That bears some resemblance to sarcasm." "Gods, forefend," said Jean. "You wound me! Your inexpressible criminal virtues have triumphed again, as inevitably as the tides comes and go. I cast myself at your feet and beg for absolution. Yours is the genius that nourishes the heart of the world." "And now you're-" "If only there was a leper handy," interrupted Jean, "so you could lay your hands on him and magically heal him-" "Oh you're just farting out of your mouth because you're jealous."

And so on. And here we have Jean talking to his ladylove:

"Have you really been practicing on barrels Jerome?" "Barrels. Yes. They never laugh, they never ridicule you and they offer no distractions." "Distractions?" "Barrels don't have breasts." "Ah. So what have you been telling these barrels?" "This bottle of brandy," said Jean, "is still too full for me to begin embarrassing myself like that." "Pretend I'm a barrel then." "Barrels don't have br-" "So I've heard. Find the nerve, Valora." "You want me to pretend that you're a barrel, so I can tell you what I was telling barrels back when I was pretending they were you." "Precisely." "Well ... you have ... you have such hoops as I have never seen in any cask on any ship, such shiny and well-fit hoops-" "Jerome-" "And your staves! Your staves ... so well planned, so tightly fit. You are as fine a cask as I ever seen, you marvellous little barrel. To say nothing of your bung-."

See what I mean?

I think in my review of Lies I commented on the deftness and subtlety of the world building - well, in RSURS, the action has moved from a city made of elderglass to a city consisting of islands made of elderglass. Astonishing. And sadly the delicacy of touch seems to have been replaced by the typical fantasy fiction obsession with geographic detail. It's nowhere near Perdido Street Stationbut, as much as I enjoy Lynch's world, there's a bit too much of this sort of thing:

Tal Verrar, the Rose of the Gods, at the westernmost edge of what the Therin people call the civilised world. If you could stand in thin air a thousand yards above Tal Verrar's tallest towers, or float in lazy circles there like the nations of gulls that infest the city's crevices and rooftops, you would see how its vast, dark islands have given this place its ancient nickname. They whirl outward from the city's heart, a series of crescents steadily increasing in size, like the stylised petals of a rose in an artist's mosaic.

And so on for two or more pages at a time. A bit like this review really.

Also it has to be said, the plot makes no sense whatsoever. It attempts to follow the embedded narrative format of the first book but it feels strained: Lynch occasionally plays with chronology, explaining how events came about after they occur, and offers a few reminiscences but it's noticeably a device now, rather than the most natural vehicle to tell the story. And, like the first book, it begins with Locke and Jean mid-heist only to drag them - reluctant and swearing as ever - into much bigger events, allowing the plot to twist, turn, double back on itself and eventually come full circle in a strangely satisfying manner. Except this time, it turns out that the Archon of Tal Verrar wants them to become ... wait for it ... pirates. Yes. Pirates. Two conmen from the streets of Camorr. Pirates. Now, I know that pirates are just inherently cool and you can't go wrong with them but still, come on. What's next? Locke Lamora and some ninjas? Locke Lamora and zombies? I don't know whether to respect the sheer brass bollocks ludicrousness of it or complain bitterly because it has to be the most spurious excuse for a plot I've ever encountered. And the fact that even main characters complain about the stupidity doesn't actually counteract that stupidity:

"Send us out to sea to find an excuse for you, that's what you said," said Locke. "Send us out to sea. Has your brain swelled against the inside of skull? How the screaming fucking hell do you expect the two of us to raise a bloody pirate armada in a place we've never been and convince it to come merrily die at the hands of the navy that bent it over the table and fucked it in the arse last time."

This is Lynch's latest technique, by the way, one I think he might have borrowed from JK Rowling. He seems have developed a tendency to address the inevitable plot holes of his novels by having his characters draw attention to it. To be honest,

fridge logic

doesn't bother me - I don't care how Buffy the Vampire slayer pays the mortgage on her dead mother's house or how Sydney Bristow circles the globe in half an episode - but attempting to pass it off as anything other than what it is offends me. Having the Archon blackmail Locke and Jean into mustering a pirate armada for political reasons is little more than a blatant excuse for the author to have them messing about with pirates, which is in itself fair enough. However, having Locke and Jean constantly bitching about the insanity of the plan even as they enact it only serves to induce bouts of fridge logic before you're even anywhere near the fridge. It also leads to odd little moments like this:

"Why not?" [said Jean] "Why not? We carry your precious misery with us like a holy fucking relic. Don't talk about Sabetha Belacoros. Don't talk about the plays. Don't talk about Jasmer or Espara or any of the schemes we ran. I lived with her for nine years, same as you, and I've pretended she doesn't fucking exist to avoid upsetting you. Well I'm not you. I'm not content to live like an oath-bond monk. I have a life outside your gods-damned shadow."

Err...actually Jean, you're a sidekick. Haven't you noticed? You actually do not have a life outside Locke Lamora's gods-damned shadow. The more Lynch tries to demonstrate to the reader that Jean is a person in his own right the less convincing it becomes. All it does is illustrate the fact that whatever Jean does on his own account is completely meaningless because his only relevance is tied to his supporting role, a role to which he will always return. His short-lived relationship - although actually moderately engaging, while it lasts - is only further evidence of this. You can see its inevitably tragic conclusion approaching on the horizon like the sails of the good ship Obvious.

The other thing I'm feeling a little bit peeved is Lynch's reliance on a technique he seems to have ganked from Alias. Now, I'm not sure if it continues in the later seasons but the early episodes of Alias always end with a cliff-hanger. And at first I used to get tremendously caught up in them. Oh no, I'd cry, Sydney is hanging from a cliff with only her suspender belt between her and certain death. Oh no, Sydney's rival has locked her in the poison-gas filled vault. Oh no, Sydney is being held at gunpoint by the bad guys. And then I'd insist that we watched another episode to find out what was going to happen, only to be faintly disappointed when the desperate, deadly situation resolved itself harmlessly in about two minutes of screen time. RSURS opens with Locke and Jean caught at crossbow-point on the docks and then, gasp, ever-faithful Jean turns on Locke. The novel then spools backwards in time to show you how they got themselves into this mess and, yes, it's arresting except that it's basically just like Alias, a cliff-hanger critical on the surface but ultimately completely meaningless and wrapped up quicker than a streaker at a tennis match. A couple of similar situations happen over the course of the book and, despite the satisfactory resolution of the plot, there's one left right at the end. I suspect I'd be more interested/frustrated by this Tense and Terrible State Of Affairs if the experience of the rest of the novel hadn't led me to the conviction that it's merely there for affect.

Okay, so I've just written four pages of bitching about RSURS but the fact remains that, despite its flaws, despite everything in it that doesn't quite work for me, I still heartily enjoyed it and very nearly loved it. Pirates, for God's sake, pirates! It's not quite as taut as the first book but once Locke and Jean hit the high seas the pace really picks up and the book becomes wonderful fun, sweeping you along on sheer exuberance and panache. And, damn it all, that's good enough for me. Roll on book three.Themes:

Books

,

Sci-fi / Fantasy

~

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~Comments (

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Arthur B

at 01:09 on 2008-02-02It strikes me that the Gentleman Bastard series embodies a problem I have with lots of fantasy series, namely that one book is really enough. I've felt absolutely no urge to go and read RSURS, and most of the things you point out in the review cement that; sure, it seems to be more of the same, and that's well and good - at least it's not a serious decline. On the other hand, one

Lies of Locke Lamora

is enough for me - having read one book, I don't feel as though anything the other books say can really add anything. (I'm also utterly unconvinced that there's enough juice in the Gentleman Bastards concepts to fill 7 books. I mean, for goodness' sake, he's only on the second book in the series and already he's resorted to pirates.)

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empink

at 02:49 on 2008-02-02@ ArthurB: Forsooth, he *will* go to ninjas next.

You know, I had more faith in this guy. I thought he'd at least 'fess up about Sabetha whatshername, or tie the book back to the first one, or do something other than send Jean and Locke to cavort with pirates for no good reason. It made for fantastic cavorting and rather dull and simplistic reading, though-- I won't be buying any more sequels in hardback, or holding on to them out of guilt either.

Oh, and Kyra, the DIALOGUE. Everyone does sound the same, it's so boring. No one is allowed to be stupid, or say frightening things without twisting themselves into witty shapes and cursing fit to kill themselves. It was all right in the first book, but in RSURS, it starts to look like lack of imagination on Lynch's part.

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Arthur B

at 12:04 on 2008-02-02Yeah, I can think of several points in the first book where I had to start reading a conversation again from the beginning because I lost track of who was who. It's this really weird blind spot in Lynch's writing; he can, when he tries, differentiate between characters in terms of disposition, personality, and so forth, and you can tell that by looking at their actions. (To pick the most obvious example, Jean is far more inclined to charge headlong into a fight like a raging bull than Locke is.) But he's chronically incapable of differentiating them when they're speaking.

I can only assume that he finds dialogue difficult (and to be fair, dialogue

is

difficult), and is trying to compensate by finding a style of dialogue he's quite good at and applying it to everyone.

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Wardog

at 14:23 on 2008-02-04I'm glad the dialogue thing isn't only me ... it's the main problem I have with the series to be honest, despite all my trivial bitching above. After a while, it gets really wearing and the characters all start blurring into each other because I find that it's language rather than behaviour that distinguishes people in books - heh, she says, massively generalising.

I think I must be less bothered by "more of the same" than Arthur is - I genuinely enjoyed both books and I'll happily read more (although I've never splashed out a hardback of either, so the cost of my good will is significantly cheaper than Empink's!) as long as they stay on this kind of level (or get better!). I do find them a nice antidote to ponderous, serious fantasy. I genuinely dig the exuberance and the irreverence.

Also I've been poking about Scott Lynch's personal sites and he seems like a pretty decent, charmingly humble guy...

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Cheriola

at 16:16 on 2014-07-26You know, oddly most of the things you mention didn't bother me at all. Except the utter pointlessness of the opening cliffhanger.

The only thing I did have a problem with is the way Jean shames Locke out of his depression, and Locke keeps apologising for "letting Jean down" in those few weeks for literally the next two years. I mean, in this book, it still reads like he's just mourning/recuperating a little too self-indulgently and maybe like he has a really short bout of alcoholism - but since the next book starts pretty much the same (except Locke has even more good reason to be depressed), and Jean then actually makes a reference to some kind of mental disorder (more something like Freud's innate death wish than depression, but still), it becomes problematic in hindsight. Especially since, either intentionally or not, Locke pretty much reads like a textbook case for bipolar disorder (spending most of each book in a manic phase), if you read all 3 books right after another. So for largely-neurotypical Jean to go "If I can handle our losses, why can't you?" and being sucessful at shaming/angering Locke out of suicidal depressive phases, that's rather problematic in my eyes. I know it fits with the setting that nobody has a clue about modern psychology and how Locke's mood issues are a disease, not willful misbehaviour, but Lynch should find a way to make at least narratively clear that Jean isn't right to do this. Besides, that kind of shaming would just make things worse with a real depressive person.

By the way, I'm fairly sure Locke is supposed to be a straight up trickster hero. Like Robin Hood, or the characters of the show "Leverage". He's not just a crook, he's also a priest and he really does believe in his duty to the dead and that holy mission for class revenge that Father Chains put them all on. (Even if this was retconned into this book and not in the first.) If anything he gets ever kinder from book to book. I think the third one literally points out that Camorr culture is particularly brutal, macho and homophobic compared to all the other city states, and much of Locke's initial darkness is part of his culture (like for example an extreme belief in having to take personal, blood-feud style vengeance) and that this is supposed to be a character flaw. But as he spends time in other cultures, he grows out of some of it. For example, in the first book, he calls the villain homophobic slurs several times. After encountering the queer-positive pirates in the second novel and that little discussion with "I'll try anything once - or 5 or 6 times" guy, he never does that again. And by book 3, when encountering a random pair of gay lovers making out in a garden and being tempted to go through their discarded clothing for their wallets, he stops his kleptomaniac impulse by reminding himself that doing malice to happy lovers would be bad karma.

Also, the losses of his friends, the brush with alcoholism and several with death have seemed to have made him a lot more sympathetic with other people's failings and tragedies. I actually really liked this character development. Yeah, he starts out as a bit of a cock-sure, obnoxious ass, but he does grow up and mellow out over the years, as one should expect.

Heh, but one character actually goes into a rant in the 3rd book about how Father Chains ruined them all for life as hardened, greed-motivated criminals by saddling them with a conscience. So I guess Lynch sees your problem.

By the way, can you really call a character a Mary Sue if literally none of his grand plans for cons ever work out, sometimes because of his own sheer stupidity (e.g. forgetting the cats), sometimes because his mark is just plain cleverer than him (e.g. the paintings), and the author takes an almost perverse delight in beating the crap out of him on a regular basis?

And, as in Lies, the mysterious Sabetha, the apparent love of Locke's life, is alluded to but remains absent: for fuck's sake, Lynch, stop it. You know she's just going to be a total let down after a build up like this.

I thought so, too, and got annoyed at the on-the-pedestal-putting. But now that I've read book 3, which features Sabetha both at about age 30 and when they were both teenagers: She's not. She's really, truly not. In fact, I was genuinely amazed at Sabetha - she's the best feminist (NOT straw-feminist!) character I've ever seen a male author write. And even if half of her discussions with Locke function mainly to introduce the male part of the audience to concepts like male entitlement to female sexuality, Nice Guy behaviour, Shroedinger's Rapist, victim blaming, the general frustration inherent in being an ambitious, highly talented woman in a patriarchal society and the frustration of being in love a with patriarchally socialised guy (who messes up occasionally even if he tries very, very hard not to, and who can't help the unfair male privilege that said society gives him), and that what feminists most want in a man is the ability to listen and learn - even if she's a bit of a mouthpiece in that regard: It's for a good and noble cause, and the author's heart is in the right place. And besides, there still is a clever, head-strong, angry, conflicted, and of course snarky character behind all the Issues. Her characterisation and reasons for leaving are thoroughly believeable, and also function as an Author's Saving Throw by actually pointing out in-text that the worldbuilding in the first book was problematic. Locke and Sabetha are still in love when they meet again, and they are surprisingly mature about their falling out and their attempts to fix it (if not in their professional rivalry...)

And Locke's adoring pedestal-putting, claiming her to be the love of his life, and his whole fixation on her are just that, quite literally - and the text seems aware that it is creepy, and the only thing that saves it is the fact that Locke is absolutely respectful of Sabetha's wishes and never, ever would force so much as a kiss on her. (I found the retconned-in reason for the fixation a bit sad, though: Until book 3, Locke could be read as demisexual for only ever being romantically/sexually attracted to one person. Then it's retconned as having creepy magical reasons that I don't want to spoil.)

The only thing about Sabetha I found a little... amusing, was that teenage Locke was almost too understanding and willing to accept anything feminism-related that she says and to change accordingly. Like I bet the author wishes he was at the age of 16, now that he finally gets it. Still, again, if it serves as a positive role model for male teenage readers, I'm fine with that kind of Mary-Sue-ism. Maybe it's a little preachy, especially since Lynch tries to cover so many topics, but I was just smiling through the whole thing. We do need more books like this.

The con plot of book 3 is a bit meh (basically it's a satire about 'democratic' elections, where Sabetha and Locke are press-ganged into controlling the campaign of one rivaling but politically indistinguishable party each, with all methods allowed short of murder, all ostensibly just for the entertainment of the people who really control the power in this 'republic' - their lives are being threatened to keep them in line, but it just doesn't have the personal stakes and sense of danger that the previous books had), and the teenage flashback is largely about the gang having to stage an annoyingly faux-Shakespearean play while conning a noble into paying for the production. So the relationship between Locke and Sabetha and the object lesson in how to make feminism 101 easily digestible in a fantasy novel, really are the main draws of the book. The meta plot for the series gets going right at the end, though. Which to me felt a bit like jumping the shark, but YMMV.

But I really do recommend the 3rd book, even if the plot is a little weak. Just for the sheer surrealness of reading a male author who manages to get practically everything right with regards to feminism. I mean, I've just read Elizabeth Bear's "Carnival" thinking she must have been the one to teach Lynch - but even she had like two dozen points in that ecofeminist polemic that made me headdesk.

(That book also needs a Ferret review, by the way. It's not thoroughly bad, as such, but the social philosophising made me uncomfortable and I wasn't always sure if I was supposed to be, and the worldbuilding has huge holes at least from my biologist/ecologist point of view. Still, queer protagonists are rare and deserve a mention.)

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Robinson L

at 20:15 on 2016-12-21

Cheriola: You know, oddly most of the things you mention didn't bother me at all. Except the utter pointlessness of the opening cliffhanger.

That pretty much sums up my feelings about the book, too. I guess I just think of this series as running on Rule of Cool and nothing else. Locke and Jean become pirates? Sure, why not? Doesn’t make sense? Who cares? And of course they’re going to complain about how ridiculous the Archon’s plan for them is, but that’s part of the fun.

Dialogue’s all the same? Ehn, so what? It’s all fun. And like you, I relish the modern snappiness/obscenity.

I mean, I don’t blame Wardog or Empink or anyone else who is bothered by this stuff, but just for myself, it seemed fine.

Wardog: I genuinely dig the exuberance and the irreverence.

That’s me, all the way (well, more like ~90% …)

I think the series is of two minds about whether Locke is actually supposed to be kind of an awful person or a stand up guy who happens to be a criminal—but as explained in my comment to the

Lies

review, I’ve chosen not to engage with those aspects and treat the whole thing as a rollicking adventure yarn. I will, however, once again point out a couple instances from this book of Character We’re Supposed to Root For Acts Like a Shitheel and Is In No Way Critiqued For It By the Text presently.

Re: description

And sadly the delicacy of touch seems to have been replaced by the typical fantasy fiction obsession with geographic detail.

Okay, here we come to a criticism I wholeheartedly agree with. Ye GODS but the description got tedious at times. It got tedious on

audiobook

; I shudder to think of trying to slog through it in text format.

I didn’t so much resent the book ending on a cliffhanger – although by the time I got to it, <Republic of Thieveslt/i> was already out, so I knew I’d be reading the next installment in a few months. Mostly, though, I was just relieved the cliffhanger revolved around Locke’s survival rather than Jean’s, because there’s a chance, however slight, of the series killing off Locke’s sidekick before the final book, whereas there’s absolutely none with Locke. So I appreciate the book making it absolutely clear that it’s not really a question of

if

the poisoned character will survive, but

how

.

His [Jean’s] short-lived relationship - although actually moderately engaging, while it lasts - is only further evidence of this. You can see its inevitably tragic conclusion approaching on the horizon like the sails of the good ship Obvious.

I think you undersell the extent to which the tragic conclusion was telegraphed beforehand. We’re talking

a MegaBrooks at the very least

. And I don’t think it would be humanly possible for the way it played out to have been any more cliché. Not to mention the whole fridging angle. Easily the lowest point of the series so far for me.

I thought RSURS handled the aftermath of said inevitable tragic conclusion a heck of a lot less annoyingly than most other books with similar big deaths I’ve encountered, though (lookin’ at you,

Harry Potter

). Jean is, of course, grief-stricken, and the book portrays the depth of his unhappiness while mostly avoiding an Epic Angst Sequence (seriously, there are few things in fiction less engaging than characters sitting around moping), and even sets up some genuinely touching moments, such as in the immediate aftermath of Ezri’s death, when Locke talks Jean down by threatening to throw himself at Jean, forcing the latter to beat the crap out of him (Locke), “and then you’ll feel terrible.”

Yes, pretending Jean is anything more than Locke’s sidekick is on par with “suddenly, Harry realized Dumbledore had actually been a fully-fleshed, three-dimensional character the entire time.” (Book 3 confirms this, when, after Locke is all patched up, Jean slips happily back into his role as Locke’s Number 2 without a hint of lingering grief over Ezri’s death, even as he’s helping out his best buddy romance Sabetha.) However, I thought the conflict between Locke and Jean set off by this outburst of Jean’s you quote in the article was actually pretty decent in terms of a “tensions between the series’ Main Pairing” subplot, which are usually of the eye-bleedingly terrible variety.

And what’s this guff about “moderately engaging?” I found it one of the two most engrossing parts of the story, along with some of Locke and Jean’s interactions. Jean and Ezri are adorable in every single scene they’re together: they bond over martial arts (with Jean being impressed that tiny Ezri actually managed to take him down at first), and their mutual affection for the Gentleman Bastardverse’s Shakespeare analogue. And then there’s the celebration scene where the two of them officially get together, soon after Jean has had his argument with Locke. And he’s keeping his distance from Ezri and it seems like at first he’s heeding Locke’s “you need to stay away from her, bro” bullshit, but it turns out, no, he’s craning away because he’s near-blind and he’s trying to see her properly and it’s incredibly cute you guys, like seriously.

Another thing I really like about the Jean / Ezri relationship is that the presentation feels balanced. I instantly get why Ezri is attracted to Jean as much as why Jean is attracted to Ezri, and in that scene during the celebration where, of course, Jean is being all shy and awkward, there’s a part where we suddenly see Ezri being shy and awkward as well. I’ve read a lot of similar romance arcs—especially those told from the male perspective—where the viewpoint character is vulnerable and complex while their love interest is all strong and confident and basically put on a pedestal.

I actually found it more engaging than Locke’s relationship with Sabetha in

Republic of Thieves

. While I agree with Cheriola that Sabetha is a great character, we don’t get much sense of her interior life, and the only times she displays vulnerability are when it directly relates to Locke. Also, it takes a long time into the story for her to tell Locke and the reader why she’s attracted to him, and I don’t feel the text really

shows

her being attracted the way RSRUS does with Ezri.

RSURS opens with Locke and Jean caught at crossbow-point on the docks and then, gasp, ever-faithful Jean turns on Locke. The novel then spools backwards in time to show you how they got themselves into this mess and, yes, it's arresting except that it's basically just like Alias, a cliff-hanger critical on the surface but ultimately completely meaningless and wrapped up quicker than a streaker at a tennis match.

Oh my god, that was the worst; maybe even worse than Ezri’s death.

I detest flash-forward openings as a general rule. I feel like there

may

have been one or two I’ve encountered which actually worked okay, but if so I can’t remember them now. Those possible examples aside, at best, flash-forward openings contribute f***-all of substance to the story, and at worst they undermine immersion by distracting the reader from the current action with questions which aren’t going to be answered for another 200-400 pages.

To be fair, some flash-forward openings, while still crap, sometimes do something clever with the reader’s expectations (I remember one where a guy wakes up and wonders what the heck is going on, and when we get to that part of the book in turns out the original guy died, and this is a clone, so that waking up sequence is technically his birth). RSURS is not one of those stories, though. The sequence takes on no new significance or added meaning for having read the rest of the book up to that point.

But wait, it gets

better

! Jean turning on Locke is in itself not terribly surprising: they are master con artists, after all. The linchpin (no pun intended) of the tension to this scene is that Jean fails to give the hand signals which mean “this is a scam, play along,” leaving Locke, and the readers, to wonder if this is a real betrayal, after all. Then, after Jean has dispatched the two assassins he says: “Oh, yeah, didn’t you see me giving the hand signal which means ‘this is a scam, play along’?” and Locke is all like, “Gosh, man, I must’ve missed it.” And that’s an end to it. Are you f**king kidding me?

Granted, this sort of stuff happens all the time in real life, but narratively speaking, it’s the worst kind of cheap trick for creating false tension. It

might

have been forgivable if there were some long-term consequences to the whole business. Locke and Jean have both been dosed with a slow-acting poison at this point in the story, and I thought maybe Locke’s failure to notice the hand signal was an early warning sign that the poison is beginning to effect his perception. But

no

. Or maybe Jean really was considering turning on Locke for some reason or other and then had a change of heart, and made up the part about the hand signal. No sign of that, either.

Look, I’m glad Jean doesn’t actually betray Locke, because as story turns go, that would have been at least as irritating as Ezri’s death, probably worse. But first you hit me with this bullshit flash-forward, then you double down on the bullshit by revealing the whole thing was just a trifling misunderstanding with no effing consequences whatsoever? What a waste of time.

… So yeah, on balance, I was not well pleased or amused by this sequence, especially as our hook into the main story.

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Robinson L

at 20:30 on 2016-12-21And now it’s time for another installment of Robinson Dissects the Ethics of the

Gentleman Bastard

Books. This week’s episode: Captain Zamira Drakasha Edition.

So yeah, Zamira is all kinds of awesome, but like with the other main characters, it’s best to turn one’s critical thinking off when thinking about her actions, or it becomes very hard to think of her as any kind of hero.

Case in point: she takes Locke, Jean, and the rest of their sorry crew onto her ship as probationary pirates. You do good, you play by the rules, you become full crew members; you step out of line, you die. All pretty standard stuff, except it turns out when she says she will kill you for breaking the rules, she means it.

One of the guys who originally signed on with Locke and Jean now despises the two of them intensely and is kind of an asshole in general, so the reader is primed to dislike him. He’s getting picked on by some of Zamira’s crew members, and finally he gets pushed too far and grabs a weapon to defend himself with. But laying hands on a weapon is against Zamira’s rules, so she has him executed on the spot. For the kind of mistake that anybody could make. And the reader is supposed to be okay with this because the guy was made to be unlikable. It could just as easily have been someone like Jean or Locke making a similar mistake, prompting Zamira to execute them, and the reader to hate her, in turn. We’re not invited to judge her character based on her actions, but on how we feel about the characters she acts against.

Later, there’s the time when we first see Zamira’s

Poison Orchid

attack a merchant ship, which involves pretending to be in peril themselves. As the pirates are preparing to board the ship, one of Zamira’s lieutenants tells the new recruits “if any of you are feeling moral qualms about attacking these merchants, just remember that they thought we were in distress, and only came to help us when we signaled we were willing to give them unconditional salvage rights.” Which, if you stop to think about it, is a

really

clever rationalization to psych people up to potentially commit an atrocity. I mean, if that were the point of the sequence—which it isn’t—I would’ve said it was brilliant. For all they know, the captain of the merchant ship was just a huge asshole, and literally everyone else aboard was clamoring to help the

Poison Orchid

right from the beginning.

It also seemed like, in the three way struggle between the Archon, Stragos; the proprietor of the big gambling den, Requin; and the members of the Priori; Stragos winds up being the Designated Villain of the book, not because his actions are worse than those of Requin or the Priori (we’ve already established they can be equally vicious), but because it happens to be Stragos’ actions which got Jean’s girlfriend killed. He gets punished, whereas Requin and the Priori members get happy endings, only because Stragos hurt someone the reader is supposed to care about.

Locke and Jean are quick to forgive the Priori member who was sending assassins after them because the Bondsmages told him the two Gentleman Bastards were going to cause him trouble. Which, okay, the assassins all failed, and all got killed, but by the logic of this story they were probably all Bad Men who deserved what they got, so no harm, no foul, right? Except, no, there

was

harm. One of the attempts to kill Locke and Jean was a really convoluted scheme to give them free drinks which were laced with poison. And the thing about convoluted schemes is that they’re full of holes, as in this one where Locke and Jean weren’t interested in the drink in question, and passed theirs on to the dockworker at the next table, who proceeded to die in their stead. No one in the story ever gets any kind of comeuppance for this murder, ‘cause I guess we’re not supposed to care about red shirts.

So basically, what I’m trying to say here is that the ethics of this series are all kinds of messed up if you look closely.

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Robinson L

at 00:00 on 2016-12-22

Cheriola: book 3, when encountering a random pair of gay lovers making out in a garden and being tempted to go through their discarded clothing for their wallets, he stops his kleptomaniac impulse by reminding himself that doing malice to happy lovers would be bad karma.

That was cute. Another very minor point I appreciated from that book was in a scene where Locke has to hold Sabetha as part of this play they’re performing and the narrator (speaking broadly from Locke’s perspective) talks about what it’s like for someone to hold another person whom they’re attracted to. It would have been

so

easy to gender the subject of attraction in that sentence as female, or to say something like “a person of the opposite sex whom they’re attracted to.” But no, it’s a general statement, and so the book sticks with generalities, not making stereotypes about the genders or orientations involved. Again, a minor point, but one I’ve seen even a lot of nominally well-intentioned works fail at, so I was mildly impressed.

I was genuinely amazed at Sabetha - she's the best feminist (NOT straw-feminist!) character I've ever seen a male author write.

I think it was this part which finally clinched it for me to read the series. As a male author myself, I can’t help but take it as a challenge.

As mentioned earlier, though, I feel like we didn’t get much sense of Sabetha’s internal life, except as it relates to Locke, and she has to tell Locke (and the reader) what particularly attracts her to Locke, rather than the book showing us.

It probably was implausible to have 16-year-old Locke be so receptive to Sabetha’s Feminism 101 lectures, but for me it was preferable to the second hand embarrassment of having Locke throw out insipid, MRA-apologist arguments for Sabetha to shoot down.

Since I’m not seeing a

Republic of Thieves

review on the horizon, I suppose I might as well give my thoughts on the book in general. Overall, I liked it, and Sabetha is a fine addition to the series’ cast.

I also kind of dug the way the main caper of the book was not a high stakes life or death game of taking on some brutal, affluent, entitled snot or other, but rather fixing an upcoming election. It shows you can have all the same drama and intrigue without putting countless lives on the line, which comes as a nice change of pace. (Granted, it turns out there are countless lives on the line in the Bondsmagi’s larger game, but that only comes up after the whole thing is over, so in my view it still counts.)

My political sensibilities being what they are, I particularly liked the election angle to the plot because the book depicts it as 1) an aristocratic exercise with no pretense of populist input (only a small fraction of the city’s residents have the franchise), and 2) a complete farce in any case, because who gets elected has f**k all to do with who’s better leadership material or has the best policies – the book dispenses with such preposterous fig leaves and dives straight into the real heart of electoral politics: naked corruption, double dealing, and general chicanery. There’s also the implication that who gets elected is ultimately trivial in terms of how Karthain is actually run, because the real ruling elite (in this case, the Bondsmagi), make damn sure that in practice, it gets run exactly the way they believe produces the greatest benefit for the city’s inhabitants. (The book seems to suggest that what they think is best for Karthain really is, which is where its views and mine diverge, but other than that, I’m completely on board with the book’s representation.)

Locke’s backstory seemed … really out of place. Given how magic has always taken such a tertiary role in the books up to that point, I didn’t expect it to play such a huge part in Locke’s past. This felt like the backstory to a character in a very different type of story, honestly. But other than that it’s just kind of, “whatever.”

[adieka]

Keyword Research: Primary Keywords Only or Related Keywords Also?

(1) Keyword Research: Primary Keywords Only or Related Keywords Also? (2) Keyword Research: Should I Create Content Based on All Related Keywords to Increase the Chance to Acquire the Main Keyword I Aim To? (1) Keyword Research: Primary Keywords Only or Related Keywords Also? Allen Let's talk keywords. When you take on a new client or build a site out, are you pulling all keywords related or just a few at a time? 10 👍🏽 10 [filtered from 9 Answers]📰👈

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💬🗨

Jordan My team crawls the site (if existing), maps all ranking keywords to all pages, looks at the page itself and assigns a primary keyword on what it should be ranking for. (just because its ranking for keywords does not mean it matches with the intent of the page)

Allen » Jordan So how are you deciding on which keyword to use as the primary keyword for that given page? Jordan » Allen A combination of things but mostly intent of the page + common sense. It might be ranking for some high volume keyword on page 2 but has nothing to do with the intent of the page. Don't chase short tail keywords if they dont make sense. Do the Google search and see of the sites that are ranking match what your site is about. If it makes sense, optimize. If not, reevaluate

Keith L Evans 🎓 All keywords past, current and potential. I have to plan the site for now and the future opportunities. Key to is asking the CEO where they plan to be so products, geos, categories can be planned accordingly.

Allen Hey Mr. Trickster, so say you gather a list of 400 keywords. You're assigning each of those 400 keywords to each page and mapping them out at the start? Keith L Evans 🎓 » Joshua They are more like keyword topics or categories. I don't know what the cool kids call it now: clusters, clouds, clans. 🤭👍🏽4

Ejaz In start, we first go for the low competitive keywords in our niche. We first prioritize keywords on the basis of competition. Slow and steadily we go for the keywords having higher Keyword Difficulty (KD). Before making website my strategy would be Competitor Analysis — ->> Competitor's keywords after filtration — ->> Shape Content Plan — ->>Publishing Schedule Dino Better question: Why only pull just a few? Makes no sense to me. MORE DATA in my reasoning equals BETTER analysis for making the most PROFITABLE determinations. Whenever I am doing keyword research I want to find the most profitable keywords to target. I can't do that unless I have the best data to work with! Best data = MORE DATA

Allen » Dino Indeed. But once you have a list of 1000 relevant keywords, what do you do? Dino » Allen I sort them in a spreadsheet using conditional formatting to color code them by category. For example, all the keywords with a certain word in them. Also I narrow down the list first by removing anything with no search volume (unless of course it is in a niche that has very little search volume to begin with). So with a list of 1000 that can be narrowed down to just a few hundred. Also in the list you will find most of these are redundant. Like for example flipping the keywords "Chicago Dentist" or "Dentist Chicago". Other examples of redundancy could be the keyword "Dentist in Chicago". So by adding the word "in" you will still be optimized for "Dentist Chicago". Other examples of category could be having the word "best", "top", "number one", "highest rated", etc. So if the keyword with "best" has more search volume than "top" I will make that one a higher priority by optimizing for that in a stronger place on the page. After having color coded all the categories you will find that locating keywords in the columns of the spreadsheet is much easier and faster. It will be "scannable by a human eye to find the categories quickly. After the color coding I sort the list again from highest to lowest search volume - which will reveal the most profitable and relevant groups of keywords (because those have the potential to bring in more traffic). Doing this will make it so that you can easily prioritize which ones to use when writing the content. So when taking away the redundancy, the list of 1000 can be narrowed down to about 50 to 100 keywords - that can then be used for writing the main content on the website and later for things like blog posts. I usually do "question keywords" separate because these can be used for informational articles designed to draw in more traffic from potential buyers (who are in a different stage of the buying process). For the highest search volume keywords I will optimize for those in the strongest places like title tag, h1, h2, h3. For the lower search volume those can be sprinkled into the paragraphs in a natural way. It would make no sense to optimize for a keyword in the title tag with only 10 searches a month when another similar keyword has 100 searches a month. Unless of course your strategy for the pages is targeting easy to rank keywords that will rank faster for quicker results for whatever reason you are doing that. So by collecting more data you can then narrow that down to the best keywords - many of which most people will never find because they are not willing to do the extra work. I use the same process whether it is a list of 20,000 keywords or 1000. Larger populated areas will of course have more keywords with search volume to deal with (because of the higher number of people searching in that area). 💟1

📰👈

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(2) Keyword Research: Should I Create Content Based on All Related Keywords to Increase the Chance to Acquire the Main Keyword I Aim To? Soni Trying to create content on the "Art Classes" keyword. I am seeing related keywords for the same. Should I create 5 different pages for the keywords I mentioned in the picture or just one page that covers all 5? 5 👍🏽 5 [filtered from 16 Answers]

🔗🏹💬🗨

Zak Art classes ≠ online art classes ≠ art classes for kids ≠ art classes near me ≠ online art classes for kids // for me this 5 keywords have all different search intent so it's different pages. You could put them all on one page but I guess nobody likes to read 10k word articles (you will reach better rankings if you do for all this keywords different pages with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) like 2010). If I would be you I would create that cluster around "art classes" and link back and up… Properly there are much more of that low hanging fruits - don't overthink Google AI is not that smart :') Thomas I'd look at WHY you want to create content around "art classes" more. Are you offering art classes and want to sell art classes to buyers? Put up the content that's relevant to your business/client's business and the customers associated with that. Solve their pain points, entertain them, make them think, educate them, etc. Ben It seems like you're trying to rank for something without understanding the search intent, which is a problem. This is shown by the fact that you want to rank for a "near me" keyword, which is going to return mostly local city level results, which you would have a near-impossible time ranking. Just because keywords seem related, doesn't mean they should be grouped together. They could have different search intents, which is way more important. Search intent is basically, "what is the user really looking for when they search for this keyword?" People who are searching for "online art classes for kids" aren't looking to take in-person art classes, and vice versa (there might be a small overlap with some people, but it's not most people). As Thomas pointed out, ask yourself what are you trying to do? Are you actually offering art classes? If not, I would try to find a different keyword. 💟👍🏽25

Garnes » Ben Great explanation 👏 Ahmed » Ben This 💯 Marian » Ben The masterchef has spoken 🤭1 Sanker Yup. also the near me isn't an actual keyword, but local intent. Farley » Ben Seems like their trying to rank without knowing how to rank lol…which may be a bigger problem

Truslow "Related" does not always correlate to "Relevant." Start by looking at intent. Are your art classes online? Or In-Person? (Or Both?) If they are only in-person, then "online art classes" is silly to go after - even if you can rank for it, you don't have what the person was searching for. If they are only online classes, then "near me" is useless for the same reason. Do you have classes for kids? If not… then the "kid" variations are silly, too. Then once you've narrowed that down… you need to look at covering your bases logically based upon the user personas that are going to be visiting your site. Got some classes for kids but not all - then sure… create a page that lists your classes for kids, but don't forget to make one that lists classes for adults, too. If you've only got a "kids" page but didn't make an "adults" page because there wasn't enough search volume - where is Google supposed to send people who aren't looking for classes for kids? Ultimately, when it comes to products and services, keyword research gives you an idea of how you can classify and organize EVERYTHING on the site. It can give you an idea of how to tag or categorize things - but it won't cover everything. Think first of what you've got to offer, then use those suggestions as a way to look at how that can be presented, organized, and structured so that EVERYONE can get through. Build a site based upon keyword research alone and you're going to be in a world of hurt. Roger If the keywords have different types of intent, yes, build few pages and links them, else just group them into one. I strongly recommend you watch this video. Nathan is really good and kind to offer such value info in free video - https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=Nt7i_0pWu80 7 Advanced Keyword Research Tips for SEO (Works in 2021) 📰👈

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These may satisfy you: » Why Keywords are Important in SEO Content! » Unique Keyword Research » 4 Common Mistakes I See People Make in Doing Keyword Research for SEO

[baekkxong]

Rain

Pairing: EXO Baekhyun X Reader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1,150

A/N I hope uni is like this when I go lmao

also thanks @supernooodles for the standing in the rain idea :D

You glared at the clock ticking. Every second was advancing towards your escape from the lecture with which the whole of your class seemed to find dismal. Fifteen minutes left. The professor’s voice drawled on, too monotone for you to latch onto and concentrate on. You stared blankly at the empty page in your notebook, the lines beginning to waver. You rested your head back on your seat and began tapping your pen in a constant rhythm on the desk. Usually, this would earn a few harsh glares from other students, but the lecture was so incredibly morbid that most people found the pen tapping rather comfortable and used it as a distraction.

Soon your pen was thrumming in time with the seconds, and you could feel eyes glancing at your pen intently, then flicking over to the clock. It was like tension was building, your pen and the clock steadily competing against each other for the time to finally reach 5:00pm. Rain began hammering on the ceiling and soon everything was just a consistent countdown for the lecture to finish.

Sighs of relief echoed around the lecture theatre as people jumped up, stuffing their notebooks into their bags. You tossed your bag on your shoulders, shaking your head and blinking to wake yourself up again. Following the crowd down the steps, you made your way to the two large doors exiting the theatre.

The doors burst and open and you were met with students muttering and complaining about the heavy rain.

“Y/N!” You heard the unmistakable voice of the boy you were dating, Baekhyun. You turned on your heel to spot him leaning against the wall on your left. His black hair was messily stuck to his face, masking equally dark eyes from you. He wore a blue and white flannel shirt over a plain white tee, which clung unforgivably to his toned stomach. You couldn’t help but blush at the sight, wondering what thoughts were going through other girls’ heads when they saw him. He jogged over to you.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing out here in the rain?” you asked, reaching out a hand to his shoulder. He leaned forward and pecked you on the lips, meeting you halfway as you stood up on your tiptoes. His wet fringe tickled your face.

“Waiting for you,” he smiled.

“You’ll catch a cold!” you said, pulling up the hood on your grey hoodie.

“Let’s go inside then.”

The two of you half jogged back to your dorm, hand in hand. You punched in the numbers to open the college dorm and dragged Baekhyun inside the hall. You pulled out the key to your room and entered inside, dropping your bag on the floor. Instantly, you grabbed a towel and threw it at Baekhyun.

“Go and have a shower.”

“Okay, jagi.” Baekhyun’s eyes flashed. “Care to join?” he asked, slinging the towel over his shoulder.

“I’ve got some work to do, actually. Plus, I’m dry. I dress appropriately to the weather,” you grinned. Baekhyun rolled his eyes before exiting your room and heading down the dorm to the showers.

You sat on your computer chair at the desk and flicked on your laptop. You got a solid title written down for your essay by the time Baekhyun returned. You spun around in the computer chair to see he was shirtless, with only the towel wrapped around his waist.

“Baek!” you exclaimed. “There are other people who live here!” He grinned at you.

“Yeah, I realised after bumping into someone and stunning her to silence,” Baekhyun joked. You frowned at him, crossing your arms. “My clothes were too wet to put on – guess I’ll just have to stay like this,” he sighed sarcastically, as if it were the most unfortunate thing in the world.

“Actually,” you said, crossing the room to your bed. “You left a hoodie here.” You picked up one of his dark blue hoodies from under your duvet, rolling it up into a ball and throwing it at him.

“That’s where it is! This is one of my favourites, and you just carelessly screw it up in your bed? Thanks,” he teased, before snaking his arms into the hoodie. You laughed.

“I like sleeping with it when you’re not around,” you said sheepishly.

“Aww.” Baekhyun came closer to you and held your chin in his hands, leaning down to your lips. Even after dating for months, moments like this never failed to increase the speed of your heart beating with excitement in your chest. “Any chance you’ve got some of my joggers here as well?” he whispered. Well, you had really expected something a little more breath taking.

“Believe it or not, there’s a pair in my top drawer,” you replied flatly. Baekhyun pulled away and went to find them, leaving you to return to your essay that would certainly not write itself. He accustomed himself to your single bed which you two often squeezed into, crawling under the covers and plugging his phone in to your charger. He lay there, scrolling down social media apps while you managed to write a whole paragraph.

Baekhyun got out of bed after a while and left your room, making his way to the shared kitchen on your floor. He came back with two hot drinks, placing one next to you and one on your bedside table. He clambered back into bed, returning to his original stature and scrolling aimlessly down his phone again.

“Jagiiiii,” Baekhyun whined, dropping his phone on the duvet.

“Mmm?” you mumbled, keeping your eyes on the screen.

“Come here.” Generally, you’d have put up a fight and given Baekhyun a lecture on the importance of your work and how he shouldn’t get in the way of it before giving in to him, but the essay you were writing just wasn’t coming to you. Instead, you immediately shut the lid of your laptop and slid under the covers next to him. He mumbled, satisfied.

You snuggled into his neck until suddenly his whole body shook as he sneezed, followed by a string of coughs, shocking you. His hair was still damp and you suddenly noticed how abnormally hot it was under the covers.

“Oh dear,” he said. “I think I have a temperature.”

“Byun Baekhyun, are you serious?” You sat up almost instantly, and felt his forehead. “You’re sweating. Right, I’m never allowing you to wait outside a lecture in the rain again. Okay?” you said. Baekhyun’s brown eyes looked up at you from under the covers and he nodded, sniffing.

The weekend then ended up with Baekhyun lying in bed, mainly your bed, while you’d go to your lessons and return to a sleeping, vulnerable boyfriend. Although you pretended caring for him was an inconvenience and he should have listened to you from the very beginning, you secretly enjoyed looking after a sleepy and warm Baekhyun.

[krestmarketinggroup-blog]

Optimizing Sites for Featured Snippets with Q&A Content [Case Study]

Posted by  NickRebuildGroup   Ranking near the top of the SERPs for short-tail keywords in competitive business verticals can be extremely difficult. Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, and similar sites have the market cornered on ranking at the top of search results. Even if you manage to rank in the first position, there are  featured snippets , ads, map packs, and other SERP layouts that are dominating the space as well.

  Because short-tail keywords have such broad search intents, it’s in the search engine’s best interest to try and answer questions directly in SERPs. That is the intent of featured snippets. If a search engine is able to answer a user’s query without them leaving the results page, they believe that delivers the best result. And the proliferation of featured snippets is only beginning. According to Search Engine Land,  19.45% of queries will display rich answers (a form of featured snippets)  in Google.

  A search for “what is orthodontics” in an incognito Google Chrome window displayed the following featured snippet:

      This search result satisfies at least one large search intent: “What is orthodontics?” I use this as an example because my agency and I had been trying to get a client to rank for this keyword for some time. They were a dental practice with locations across the US that offered both orthodontic and general dental procedures. We  had optimized their locations  for their orthodontic procedures, but we wanted to get their non-localized service pages to rank as well in order to draw new patients that may be in the beginning stages of looking for a new orthodontist. But without a local qualifier, it was difficult to get the pages to rank for the short-tail searches.

  After a year and change of writing, optimizing, re-writing, and re-optimizing the content — all while building links — we weren’t getting any movement with our organic rankings. It seemed that business websites were not meant to rank for these short-tail keywords. Content creators have long lamented that featured snippets don’t  attribute where the content in the SERP comes from , thus leaching traffic away from the site.

  We believed that rich snippets in SERPs would become more prominent — especially with mobile and  voice search on the rise  — and that, even without proper attribution, it would benefit our client to appear in these types of search results, especially if we were able to rank in long-tail, question-oriented searches. If we could rank in a featured snippet, where a potential consumer was asking a question about a service that we provide, it would benefit us to answer that question for them. Not only would we achieve the coveted “zero position,” we would position our client as authorities in their vertical, potentially increasing conversions.

  With this in mind, we began developing the strategy that would ultimately lead us to ranking in featured snippet searches.

  Q&A content  Question and answer content on websites is fairly standard. Many companies will place Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) content on their sites to help users with any questions they may have instead of answering them directly. Noting the prevalence of featured snippets in SERPs, we used the Q&A format to create new content to find out: a) could we rank for these queries? and b) would it benefit our client to rank in these queries?

  Research & content creation

  Using SEMRush, we conducted keyword research to find long-tail keywords with high monthly search volumes. Some of the phrases we decided to create the content around were “how long does it take to put on braces,” “how much does Invisalign cost without insurance,” and other similar queries. We also asked our client’s call team and Livechat correspondents to send us the most-asked questions they receive about orthodontics. The questions that the internal teams provided were primarily about pricing and insurance. This information was vital for our new Q&A content, as it allowed us to create answers we knew our users were looking for.

  While researching current featured snippets, we gleaned that the content must emphasize the answer, not the answerer. Meaning, the content needed to be straightforward and answer the query without any marketing fluff. We ensured that our headers included the targeted keyword, along with the title tags. Once the content was created, we placed each question in the main navigation bar on the site, with each one leading to a  separate   landing   page .

  Link building

  As most SEOs will tell you,  backlinks are still a very important ranking factor . It was our belief that building links to our new Q&A content would be essential in ensuring that it ranked well. We built links exclusively via sites like Quora and Reddit, the idea being that these are places where people are already asking questions that we can answer as experts, while linking back to our site. In order to avoid spamming, we limited the number of links that we built per month.

  Results  After a year of collecting data, we can confidently say that not only were we successful in getting the site to rank for a featured snippet, but traffic to the orthodontics content increased by 46.10%, conversions from the content increased by 235%, and the conversion rate increased by 129.30%.

      Organic sessions to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversion rate from orthodontic Q&A content 

  The results were even more striking on mobile, where traffic increased by 91.46%, conversions increased by 322.22%, and conversion rate increased by 120.53%.

      Mobile organic sessions to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Mobile organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

      Mobile organic conversion rate from orthodontic Q&A content 

  Measurement method  For this study we only looked at organic and mobile organic traffic. We also only looked at traffic that landed on our site via the orthodontics content (meaning we only measured users that entered the site via one of the orthodontics pages from an organic source).

  Attention metrics

  It should be noted that this implementation was not successful in every facet. One of the most important goals for new content is making sure that users engage with it. And at Rebuild Group, we normally measure content engagement through attention metrics: pages/session, average time on site, bounce rate, etc.

  Upon collecting the data, we noticed that all attention metrics decreased year over year. Our hypothesis is that because the content is both meant to answer a question and is easily digestible, users were more likely to leave the site after their question was answered. It explains why traffic, conversions, and conversion rate increased so much year over year and attention metrics decreased.

  Rankings  Most important to this experiment, we were able to have our site rank in the first position — or  zero position  — in search results for the query “how long do you wear invisalign a day,” while also ranking on the first page (though not the first position) for other Q&A orthodontic terms.

     We started ranking in the first position for this term in mid-January, though we lost the ranking shortly thereafter. We began to consistently rank in the first position in March and are still ranked there as of this writing.

  Our belief is that by simply answering the question and including the keyword in crawlable parts of the content, we were able to rank in the first position for one of our targeted Q&A phrases, resulting in a featured snippet.

  Conversions  Conversions were measured as the number of contact form submissions sent during sessions where a user entered the site via the orthodontic content. As mentioned above, conversions and conversion rates for all organic and mobile organic traffic increased greatly year over year. However, the effects were not seen until 9 months into the experiment.

  When the traffic was measured at 90 and 180 days, organic traffic to the new content was steadily increasing overall and via mobile devices, but conversions and conversion rate had not gone up compared to the previous year. It wasn’t until 270 days in, when we first ranked in the featured snippet SERP, that conversions began to increase.

      Organic traffic to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

  Once we were consistently ranking in the first position for a featured snippet SERP, while also ranking on the first page of SERPs for other queries, our conversions and conversion rates began to greatly increase.

  Google Home

  As stated earlier, voice search is on the rise. Once we were able to rank as a featured snippet in a targeted SERP, we wanted to see if that featured snippet would affect how  Google Home  provided an answer to the targeted query:

      *Note: This video was recorded on my phone, so the quality is not the best. You may need to turn up your volume to hear the question and answer.

  As you can see, Google Home clearly attributes the answer to our client, answers the question, and then sends the user to the Home App, where the answer is again shown:

     From there they can click through to the site on their mobile device:

     In the end we drew a strong correlation between the implementation of the Q&A orthodontics content, ranking highly in rich snippet SERPs, and increased conversions and conversion rates. But like all things SEO, there are no definites when implementing this kind of strategy. We implemented content that drove users to a site that offered services they were looking for. Someone searching “how to boil water” is not likely looking to buy new pots and pans. Ultimately, it’s important to know what your users are looking for and cater to their searches. Once you’re able to answer their questions with simple, to-the-point content, the rest is easy.

    Sign up for The Moz Top 10 , a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

http://bit.ly/2vA65Z7

#socialmediamarketing #newportbeachseo #linkbuilding #internetmarketing #articlewriting #lagunabeachseo #blogpower #digitalmarketing #leadgeneration #seo

[apollo-v1]

Pro Tips for Growing your Mobile Ranking Significantly

The best part about SEO is also its worst part. SEO specialists are almost always going in blind especially when Google releases an algorithm update or two. However, let’s focus on the more optimistic part and talk about how we can go about this, specifically with growing your mobile rankings.

The best way to keep yourself up to date with Google’s algorithm updates is by taking a look at Google’s Webmaster Blog. With that said, it is worth noting that majority of Google’s updates over the past couple of months focus on mobile instead of desktop. Their most notable update was when they announced mobile-first indexing, which we also covered.

Anyway, the gist of Google’s current campaign is focusing on Mobile-First so I’m taking this opportunity to list down a few things you might want to keep in mind order to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Let’s get started.

1. Get to know your site: Find out if it’s mobile friendly

First thing’s first right? The first logical step in this endeavor is finding out if your website is Mobile Friendly or not. The easiest way to do this is by using a tool – and it’s worth noting that this tool is accurate because it comes from Google Search Console.

First step is visiting Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. The website or tool is fairly simple to use; in fact all you need to do is type in your website’s URL and that’s it.

So now that’s done, you now have an idea if your website is mobile-friendly or not. The next step is doing a full audit of your website to see where it’s strong, where it’s vulnerable and find out what you can improve. The reason for this is that there are many factors can potentially affect your SEO rankings.

You’re going to want to make sure that your website is crawlable where it counts and protected where it should be. After that is finding a tool that you think is suited for your website’s needs. The things that you should keep in mind when looking for an auditing tool is that it has to be able to perform a full-audit on your site as well as being able to search for every possible SEO factor that might be affecting your site.

When you’re done with the mobile-friendly test as well as finished with your website’s full audit then solving whatever problem that you’ve found should be your priority. There are minor SEO mistakes that you could be missing but here are some of the more common ones that you should definitely fix:

Slow-load times especially on Mobile

Broken Links

Blocked Resources such as images, Javascript and the like

Unsupported Content

Intrusive ads

Mobile-404 errors

As you go through the list of your website’s problems, it is prudent to track your progress by using Google Search Console. Simply go to Search Traffic -> Mobile Usability so you can monitor your website as well as any error that the tool can find.

2. Optimize your website for voice search

Google has been working on perfecting Voice Search for a while now. This is evident in other companies’ endeavors in order to make voice search viable, such as Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana. In line with this, Google has recently announced that Voice Search is the fast growing option for search – and it may soon overtake typewritten search but I personally believe that scenario may not happen for some time.

Some background on voice search: According to Google, at least 55% of teens and 40% of adults were regularly using voice search – the twist is that this was back in 2014! Obviously, that number has grown significantly since then.

Anyway, optimizing your website for voice search isn’t really difficult. The key is to understand why and how people verbally ask search engines. Here are some examples:

The How: The main difference between voice search and typewritten search is that typewritten queries are often short-form and are sometimes just the keywords themselves. Some examples include “Best SEO Philippines” and “Best Burger in (location)”.  Verbal queries, on the other hand tend to express complete thought such as “What is the nearest movie theater in (location)?”

The best way to ensure that your content is included in voice search is to, in turn, ensure that your SEO includes long-tail keywords that directly address these queries.

The Why: Sure, addressing long-tail keywords is easier said than done but truth be told, it’s really easy as long as you know the why.  Here’s a guide that you might want to remember when you start crafting long-term keywords to make your website voice search optimized:

I want to know _______

I want to go ______

I want to do _______

I want to buy _______

The guide is mentioned at Google’s Micro Moments Guide and according to the same article, voice search is usually done to satisfy the four above queries. Google refers to these types of questions as “micro-moments” and they are often asked to satisfy an urgent need. What this means is that these questions should be answered in a way that’s prompt as well as accurate.

3. Local Search is something that you should prioritize

Voice search is trailblazing into a promising era of fast, accurate searches which means that local searches are also steadily increasing. According to Google’s Micro Moment Guide which is linked above, Google believes that the search for local business that are near the user have increased to at least twice their norm. Google also says that 1 in 3 smartphone users will most probably purchase from a store or brand regardless of what they initially wanted precisely because Google listed that brand first when they made a quick search.

Crazy. right?

What this means is that local search is definitely something that you should work on as soon as possible. Not only can it make your business more marketable, it also allows your website to become more SEO friendly. Google likes that so they list websites like that first and it wouldn’t hurt to be liked by Google, yeah?

Furthermore, if you sincerely want to be mobile-first (After reading through this article, of course you’d want to be mobile-first), you’re going to want to be the top result for your field of business or for the services that you specifically offer. Here’s what you can do:

Definitely register at Google My Business. Here’s the link.

Represent your business properly by including high-quality photos of your business or your services/products.

MAKE SURE THAT YOUR ‘CONTACT US’ PAGE IS CONSTANTLY UPDATED. Also, it won’t hurt to make your contact page really visible so Google can display it on their SERP when it counts.

Schema Markup helps. Include it when possible!

Finally, one of the most freely accessible assets that you can request from your users are REVIEWS! It’s a win-win scenario, really. Make sure that your customers/users are satisfied so that they’ll give you good reviews which in turn makes your business looks good. Win-win, right?

4. Accelerated Media Pages!

Google is hard at work in promoting their latest endeavor in the form of AMP or Accelerated Media Pages. These pages are well-liked by Google simply because they load instantly – or at the very least, as fast as possible. Google says that AMP loads 4x faster than regular mobile pages and are well-suited for mobile users because it offers them everything that they need: Instantaneous results which promptly solves their more pressing concerns using as little data as possible.

AMP pages are actually more simple than you think. They basically use stripped-down HTML coding as well as a bunch of specific, custom tags that are designed to let these pages load faster than regular pages. What this means for your content is that you should have two versions:

Regularly written content with multimedia design in order to make it pleasing to look at.

A stripped down version of the article designed for AMP which means no Javascript, extra content, lead forms and the like.

WordPress is actually really easy to work with when it comes to AMP. Install an AMP plugin as soon as you can just so you can enable AMP for your pages. As of writing, AMP is still being strongly pushed by Google – and I can’t blame them. AMP is nothing but good for your website if it help your content load extra fast, as well as help people find your content in the first place.

Key Takeaway

2017 is the start of Mobile officially taking over the internet if we take 2016’s monthly heralding of the age of mobile into due consideration. What this means is that Mobile is no longer simply a trend, and instead it is something similar to a force of nature – we have to accept that it is inevitable. 2017 marks the year where mobile-friendly is slowly repealed in favor of making websites mobile-first and there’s a very big divide between the two.

Do you have any questions? Any experiences with mobile browsing that you want to share with us? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

[forlawfirmsonlymarketing]

How verticalization and zero-click will impact local search in 2020

By Damian Rollison In a recent post on the SparkToro blog, Moz founder and search guru Rand Fishkin predicted that 2020 will be the year Google is transformed “from everyone’s search engine to everyone’s competitor.” Fishkin cites Google’s monopoly on web search and the trend toward zero-click searches, then outlines a dizzying range of examples to prove his case, from dictionaries like Merriam-Webster to lyrics sites like Genius, from news sites like USNews and FiveThirtyEight to travel sites like Expedia and Kayak … and the list goes on. Restaurant recommendations, weather, celebrity net worth, video games: just about every vertical you can think of has been impacted by a few related threads in Google’s recent development:

Featured answers

Knowledge cards

Verticalized search experiences

Zero-click transactions (Reserve with Google)

Transactions further down the funnel (Google Shopping, Google Travel)

Carousels

Local packs

All of these trends are related both technologically and strategically. From a technological perspective, they speak to the building out of the Knowledge Graph and the ubiquity of machine learning in just about everything Google touches in search. From a strategic point of view, along the lines of Fishkin’s argument, Google is pushing every potentially minable source of information, including those that hope to generate commercial transactions, further into the margins, and occupying more and more of the center of the experience. I want to share some thoughts about how all of this impacts local search, in ways that are very likely to expand in the coming year. My sense is that Google has looked very hard at the way consumers search within different types of verticals, from travel to shopping to restaurants to services and beyond, and has been tweaking the local search feature set subtly, in particular over the last year, but in some cases for much longer than that, to create ever more verticalized search experiences and own an ever-greater share of the funnel. Google wants to do this in part because of the never-ending quest towards stickiness and protection against competition. In other words, Google wants to be the best local search engine in the world, and having more or less conquered the generic use cases, verticalization is an obvious next place to go. But of course, it’s about more than that. In a scenario where the search engine succeeds beyond its wildest dreams, niche sites and directories that still serve significant margins of the population will simply be removed from the equation, leaving only Google to connect consumers with businesses. Here are a few examples of the trend.

Retail shopping

This is a case where many subtle changes over time have coalesced into what is now a vastly different product search experience than Google has presented in years past. Google is much more likely now to indicate local availability of products, even when the search has no obvious local intent: Further down the page for the same search, Google is essentially using the local listing as a conduit for customized presentation of content that meets the searcher’s needs. Note that the primary category of Target has been switched to “toy store” to help satisfy the searcher’s intent, and all three listings show that Google has mined data from the business website to determine relevance, making it unnecessary for the business to explicitly broadcast via Google My Business the availability of individual products: Particularly with product searches, Google has also focused heavily in recent months on drilling into photo content and modifying the display of listings in order to feature photos that match specific search queries. As Mike Blumenthal has demonstrated, this seems to work especially well when searching for jewelry. In my example below, Google pulls photos of earrings from among the available photos in each listing and displays them prominently in the local pack. In the third listing, Google can even tell earrings are present in a photo that also contains other items.

Hotels

Fishkin talks about this as well, but I still think it’s worth discussing hotels specifically in the context of local, because of how dramatically hotel search has changed in comparison with other local categories. This year, the local pack became the “hotel pack.” Though it looks similar to the local pack, the hotel pack is in reality a portal to a completely different search experience. You may recall that in late 2018, Google introduced a new version of the Local Finder for hotels, with a greater number of filters and a nine-by-nine grid of hotel listings; that’s already gone and replaced by the hotels section of Google Travel, which has hugely expanded the profile information available for each hotel: Tabs in the hotel profile now include Prices, Reviews, Location, About, and Photos, with data including a much-expanded list of amenities compared to what was previously available in Google My Business, as well as recommendations of things to do in the area near the hotel and photos from the business, Google users, and third-party sources.

Restaurants

Here’s a vertical with a long history of specialization. A very long history, if you remember back to the days of Hotpot and a range of other Google experiments designed to raise the profile of restaurants in search and capture traffic that might otherwise turn to Yelp or elsewhere for restaurant recommendations. That’s not surprising given the popularity of restaurant search, which must have made it seem like low-hanging fruit to Google from the beginning. In fact, in a recent survey we conducted at Brandify (written about in Search Engine Land by Greg Sterling), we found that 84% of consumers have looked up a restaurant online in the last 30 days, far more than any other category of business. Today, search for restaurants doesn’t look dramatically different from generic search, but there are several subtle differences, including prominent photos of dishes. Restaurant local packs also include special filters for ratings, cuisine type, price, hours (planning ahead to see if they’re open for brunch on Sunday), and “your past visits,” where you can ask Google to reference your location history to only show you restaurants you’ve been to before — or those you’ve never visited. In addition, editorial descriptions, such as the line “Relaxed spot for traditional meals” in the listing for Divine Thai, are far more common for restaurants than any other non-chain listing, due to the dedicated efforts of Google’s editorial team to build out that content and make restaurant search appear much more recommendation-oriented than other verticals.

Service-oriented businesses

Though Google has been steadily rolling out new features over the last couple of years for its Local Service Ads, such as the Google Guaranteed money-back program and the Google Screened license verification service, the initiative feels only half realized. Perhaps this is because so many verticals are still excluded from buying Local Service Ads — real estate agents, attorneys, and financial planners were added in 2019, augmenting a list that currently includes about 30 other business types such as locksmiths, plumbers, pet groomers, photographers, house cleaners, and pest control. Local Service Ads are also not available in all regions of the U.S., though coverage has been growing. The user experience for Local Service Ads is somewhat anemic when compared with Google Shopping or Google Travel. When I search for “house cleaners anaheim ca” I see an ad carousel at the top of the screen, with a local pack right underneath competing for traffic. Compared to Google Hotels, I have much less of a clear incentive to choose the sponsored path: Once I enter the Local Service Ads interface proper and select a business, I’m presented with a profile much simpler than that of the hotel example I shared above. If this is supposed to stand in for a business website, it’s not particularly impressive. Still, the very existence of Local Service Ads speaks to Google’s interest in becoming the HomeAdvisor of the future, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a leap forward at some point where Google provides a more robust recommendation service, perhaps with a basic level that is free to businesses. Today, service-oriented businesses are caught between having to pay for ads (if they qualify) or trying to rank alongside brick-and-mortar businesses in Google Maps and the local pack, which has traditionally been a huge challenge for them — no doubt one of the reasons service-oriented categories like locksmiths, garage door installers, and even attorneys have become notorious for listing spam.

Where is Google headed next?

Given the momentum Google is building around verticalized experiences, there’s every likelihood that the company will continue to add more verticals to its roster in the coming year and beyond. In fact, a recent Think with Google report may provide a hint to the company’s direction in this regard, given that it specifically calls out grocery, automotive and finance in a section called “Traditional industries are transforming with digital.” Google notes that in the past two years, mobile searches for “grocery app” have increased 900%, mobile searches for “electric car(s)” have grown by 85%, and mobile searches for financial planning and management have grown by 70%. These are the kinds of demand signals a data-driven company like Google surely looks to when determining where to build out new feature sets. Speaking of mobile searches, verticalization is a curious case where desktop is actually out in front of mobile as a locus of innovation. Though, for instance, the mobile browser version of Google hotel search is more or less the same as desktop, all those extra tabs feel crowded in, and the search experience isn’t as strong. And Google Maps — where much of the growth in local search is currently happening — still hasn’t switched over to the new interface for hotels, constrained no doubt by the need to present a unified in-app experience. It will be especially interesting to see how Google balances the priority of verticalization against the growing popularity of Google Maps as the first choice among searchers. This is part of a special feature from our community of experts on what successful marketers will do in 2020. > (opens in a new tab)" href="https://marketingland.com/23-expert-predictions:-heres-what-successful-marketers-will-do-in-2020-272786" target="_blank">Read more >>

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

  About The Author

Damian Rollison is VP of Product Strategy at Brandify, a leading local search solution provider specializing in multilocation brands. Damian has more than ten years of experience in SEO, reputation management, and listings management, having previously served as product lead at UBL and Moon Valley Software. Damian writes a regular column at Street Fight covering various topics in local.

https://www.businesscreatorplus.com/how-verticalization-and-zero-click-will-impact-local-search-in-2020/

[jobsearchtips02]

The 15 Finest On-line Shoe Websites to Purchase Low-cost Identify-Model Footwear

I’ve by no means been up on the newest trend tendencies.

So in terms of sneakers I’m completely happy shopping for low cost sneakers on-line or the most cost effective manufacturers from huge field shops simply to have one thing on my ft.

However extra usually than I’d wish to admit, these sneakers value me extra in the long term. The sandals don’t have any help, the ballet flats rub my heels uncooked, and sneakers disintegrate after just a few weeks of use. Then I’ve to purchase them over again.

As I’ve found, you don’t need to spend some huge cash to purchase good sneakers. There are dozens of low-cost on-line shoe shops and saving methods that make high-quality sneakers inexpensive.

How you can Amplify Your Shoe Reductions

Trying to purchase low cost sneakers on-line is an efficient begin, however you continue to need to perform a little additional work to avoid wasting wherever you store. Earlier than you head to the perfect on-line shoe websites, try these buying apps and hacks to amplify your financial savings.

Use Money-Again Apps

A straightforward strategy to get an additional 2-Eight% off your shoe buy is to enroll in cash-back apps. Some of the well-known is Rakuten, previously Ebates.

Rakuten companions with greater than 2,500 retailers and will get a fee for referring clients. While you store your favourite shops by way of the Rakuten web site or obtain the Google Chrome extension, it passes a portion of that fee to you.

Enroll earlier than you begin buying to get $10 cash-back in your first buy of $25 or extra at their associate retailers. For extra info on this cash-bac web site, learn our full Rakuten evaluation.

Purchase Discounted Present Playing cards

When you’ve determined the place you wish to purchase your sneakers, maximize your financial savings by buying a reduced reward card to that retailer.

Present card reselling web sites like Increase purchase undesirable reward playing cards and promote them at a reduced fee. You may get reward playing cards as much as 15% off from manufacturers like Ann Taylor, New Stability, Adidas, and Reebok. Rakuten additionally provides money again for buying at Increase.

Promote Your Outdated Sneakers

In case your shoe closet is bursting on the seams or you’ll be able to’t justify shopping for one other pair, promote your sneakers on-line to make room for brand new kicks.

You possibly can promote sneakers by way of on-line shops like Tradesy and Poshmark. These websites require a bit work in your finish speaking and negotiating with consumers. For a hands-off expertise, order a Clear Out Package by way of thredUP and get money or retailer credit score for accepted objects.

Store Round

Loving Nike doesn’t imply you’re restricted to buying on the Nike retailer or at Nike.com. While you purchase sneakers on-line, you’re in a position to store and evaluate costs on the identical shoe from the perfect on-line shoe websites.

Begin by doing a fast Google seek for the shoe you’re in search of. If you happen to haven’t selected a shoe but, the shops on this record have a spread to select from.

The Finest Low-cost On-line Shoe Shops to Get Low cost Sneakers On-line

Right here’s the place to search out the perfect low cost sneakers on-line to satisfy all of your footwear wants.

1. Amazon

Amazon is the primary place many individuals go to search out the bottom value on the whole lot, and sneakers are not any exception. You’ll find each main and new manufacturers in addition to Amazon’s personal highly-rated merchandise for low costs.

The very best half about searching for sneakers on Amazon is free transport on qualifying listings. At Amazon, free transport begins for $25 orders, and Prime members get two-day transport without spending a dime.

2. thredUP

Procuring secondhand is best in your pockets and the setting. thredUP is without doubt one of the largest trend resale marketplaces and an amazing place to search out low cost sneakers on-line. Based on its web site, thredUP carries greater than 35,000 girls’s and youngsters’ manufacturers and has over 50,000 sneakers.

thredUP is choosy in regards to the sneakers it buys, so that they’re normally like-new or in nice situation. Free transport begins at $79, and returns are free inside 14 days for those who select retailer credit score for reimbursement. thredUP steadily runs gross sales, so subscribe to its e mail for promo codes.

Instance of a Great Deal: Steve Madden heels for $42.99, commonly $119.

three. Tradesy

If you happen to’re in search of luxurious manufacturers like Christian Louboutin, Tory Burch, or Gucci, yow will discover them at a big low cost on Tradesy. Tradesy is a peer-to-peer resale market only for girls’s designer manufacturers.

Like thredUP, sneakers on Tradesy are secondhand, however at Tradesy you’re shopping for straight from the present proprietor, so the shoe’s situation and authenticity haven’t been inspected by Tradesy. Take a look at footage totally and ask the vendor for extra info when obligatory.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Christian Louboutin metallic glitter pumps for $522.07, commonly $795.

four. Zappos

Zappos began as a small on-line shoe retailer. Twenty years later, it’s owned by Amazon and is a go-to place for males’s, girls’s, and youngsters’ sneakers.

What units Zappos other than different on-line shoe shops is buyer critiques. You possibly can see how others felt in regards to the shoe, together with its truth-to-size, width, and arch help. Since Zappos has been round for thus lengthy it has extra critiques on its sneakers than most different websites.

Test the Sale part for the perfect offers and be part of the free Zappos Rewards program to get free expedited transport and early entry to gross sales and particular occasions.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Clarks Breeze Sea flip-flops on sale for $27.50, commonly $55.

5. 6pm

6pm is the outlet division of Zappos, providing closeout and discontinued objects at low costs. Inventory runs out rapidly so it is best to soar on a deal you want. Due to the restricted stock, it’s doable to see totally different costs for a similar shoe in numerous colours.

Along with its already low costs, the location additionally provides occasional free transport promos. Get coupons by signing up for day by day emails and following 6pm on social media.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Coach Low Prime sneaker for $55, commonly $195.

6. Zulily

Zulily is without doubt one of the finest low-cost on-line shoe websites. They promote name-brand sneakers on-line at rock-bottom costs, however just for a short while. After a sale ends at one other retailer, Zulily locations an order of its extra inventory and sells it for 24 to 72 hours for as much as 70% off the unique value. Gross sales refresh day by day at 6am PST, and you may preview gross sales as much as a day upfront.

As a result of Zulily sells inventory from retailers Eight to 10 days earlier than it receives the cargo, it could possibly take some time to obtain your order. If there’s a model you want, join emails and “heart” the model to search out out upfront when it’s on sale.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Badgley Mischka Rose Pauline sandal for $80, commonly $245.

7. Onlineshoes.com

With quite a lot of males’s, girls’s, and youngsters’ sneakers, Onlineshoes.com is unquestionably the most effective locations to search out low cost sneakers on-line. Costs are larger than different shops on the record, however transport is free on each order and return.

You may get entry to gross sales and reductions by signing up for its e mail record and following OnlineShoes on social media.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Sperry Prime-Sider boat sneakers for $35.99, commonly $89.95.

Whereas not inherently a reduction shoe retailer, Foot Locker has an amazing number of clearance athletic sneakers and sandals. It additionally has a coupons web page for present promo codes.

Save additional at Foot Locker by becoming a member of its free VIP Program. You’ll get $10 off your first buy of $50 or extra, early entry to gross sales, and a birthday low cost.

Instance of a Nice Deal: ASICS GEL-Nimbus 20 on clearance for $99, commonly $160.

9. Overstock.com

Overstock.com has a wide selection of garments and sneakers. The Gross sales & Offers part has flash gross sales, and lots of objects are 20% or extra off retail. Be part of the Overstock e mail record so as to add a 12% off coupon.

If you happen to’re a frequent shopper of Overstock.com, it can save you extra by becoming a member of Membership O, Overstock’s loyalty program. For $19.95 monthly after a 30-day free trial, Membership O members get free transport on the whole lot, 5% rewards on each buy, and a price-match assure for choose rivals.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Sketchers Girls’s Breathe Simple Slip-ons for $51.96, commonly $64.95.

10. DSW

Designer Shoe Warehouse has shops throughout the nation, however you’ll be able to generally discover higher pricing on in-store sneakers on the web site.

If you happen to be part of the free VIP Rewards program, you’ll get free floor transport on each buy, $5 reward in your birthday, and a $5 reward for ever $100 you spend.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Hunter tall gloss rain boot for $115, commonly $160.

11. Sneakers.com

Sneakers.com is an internet shoe retailer owned by Walmart, so you’ll be able to anticipate a few of the lowest costs round. Delivery is free on any of its over a million merchandise with no minimums. However for those who’re in search of the perfect offers, you’ll want to look within the sale part.

For coupons, subscribe to Sneakers.com’s emails, observe the location on social media, or go to the coupon web page to see present gross sales and low cost codes. Sneakers.com’s Shoefan Rewards program is free to hitch, and also you get 100 factors only for signing up. That equals $5 off your subsequent buy.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Converse Chuck Taylor low prime sneakers on sale for $33.95, commonly $60

Well-known Footwear is finest recognized for its brick-and-mortar shoe shops, however in addition they have an amazing on-line choice. If you happen to’re in search of athletic and informal sneakers, yow will discover nice offers on name-brands in Well-known Footwear’s Clearance part.

Its Famously You Rewards program is free to hitch, and members get free transport with no minimums, a $5 reward in your birthday, and $5 rewards for each $100 you spend. If you happen to spend $200 in a 12 months, you’ll double your rewards in your birthday and for each greenback spent throughout your birthday month.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Adidas Males’s Streetfire basketball shoe on clearance for $49.98, commonly $79.99.

13. Zumiez

If you happen to’re in search of different kinds, Zumiez is the go-to retailer for skate and snowboarding trend manufacturers. Zumiez’s outlet part has closeout costs on buyer returns and discontinued objects, generally with a further 50%.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Emerica Dissent skate shoe on clearance for $43.97, commonly $64.95.

14. Fortunate Ft Sneakers

Fortunate Ft Sneakers focuses on comfy sneakers for foot ache. You’ll find strolling sneakers, customized orthotics, arch help and extra at inexpensive costs. Delivery is free on orders of $100 or extra, and Fortunate Ft Sneakers will match the value for those who discover the sneakers cheaper elsewhere.

The Fortunate Ft Sneakers Rewards Program is free to hitch and provides extra methods to avoid wasting. You possibly can earn a $10 credit score for referring a buddy, $5 for reviewing the corporate on Yelp, and $10 annually in your birthday.

Instance of a Nice Deal: Spring Step Minna slip-ons on sale for $69.97, commonly $99.99

15. Shoe Carnival

Shoe Carnival has greater than 20 totally different coupons and reductions out there at a time and unique on-line reductions. Be part of its e mail record to get $10 off your buy of $59.98.

The free Shoe Perks Rewards program provides a $10 reward for each $200 spent, $5 in your birthday month, and particular offers not out there to the general public.

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Instance of a Nice Deal: Males’s Fila Reminiscence Countdown 5 working shoe on Day by day Deal for $40, commonly $75.

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from Job Search Tips https://jobsearchtips.net/the-15-finest-on-line-shoe-websites-to-purchase-low-cost-identify-model-footwear/

[onlinemarketingcourses]

An SEO’s guide to Google Analytics terms

We all know Google Analytics is a powerful tool for serving up actionable data. And one of the quickest ways to get that data is to be clear about what all those terms mean.

What does bounce rate mean and is it connected in anyway to exit rate? And how about sessions and page views?

If those questions sounds familiar but you’re not sure of the answers, read on…

Because as soon as you understand all the Google Analytics terms, you can begin to get closer to the actionable data you need, the kind of data you can use to increase visitors, sales, and sign-ups.

Google Analytics can show what pages you need to improve in order to rank higher in organic search. It shows you if your copy needs tweaking, keywords need updating, or meta-descriptions re-writing. It also tells you if your call to action button is converting or not.

See also: A guide to setting up Google Analytics for your WordPress site.

Bounce rate

What Google Says:

“A bounce is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, such as when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session.”

A user could leave a site because they lost interest, were confused, didn’t find the answer to their query, or did already found the information they were looking for.

The right kind of thinking here is this: What was the person expecting to find after searching for a keyword or key phrase. And does my site provide it?

If the bounce rate is very high, this is an indicator the site has a significant problem. Here are some helpful tips on ways to reduce bounce rate.

Alternatively, if the content is awesome and people spend a long time interacting with it, then that is known as “sticky” content.

If you’re just starting out with GA, here’s something to help get you started:

Clicks

The number of times people click on your link from the search results page is the number of clicks that appears on Google’s SEO report.

Clickthrough-Rate (CTR) is the number of clicks to your site divided by the number of impressions. Impressions are the amount of times your search link is shown to a searcher. So if CTR is high, the meta description is doing its job and converting searchers to visitors. However, if CTR rate is low then it’s worth testing different headlines.

Note that these clicks are not related to Google Ads clicks. These appear in Google Ads reports.

Entrances

If your site has more than one page then it has different entrance points, and Google records those separate entries.

Perhaps a blog post is performing well and bringing in traffic. Great. It might also show pages you want to be traffic-heavy are not performing properly.

Events

Events are certain user actions that happen on the site, and are created in line with KPIs.

For example, a site might offer a free download after pressing a button. So an event gets recorded each time the button is pressed. Now we have an event, we can extract actionable data. We know how many visitors the page had, and we know how many of those people we converted into button pressers.

Exit page

If an entrance page is where people arrive at your site, an exit page is where they leave.

A visitor may click through from the SERP, read the article, click on an internal link to read another article, then leave. Are there weaknesses on the exit page? This is easy to spot if one page stands out with a high leave rate.

Exit rate (% Exit)

The exit rate is calculated by dividing the number of ‘exits’ made from the page by the number of page views. However, a page with a high % exit rate may not necessarily have a high bounce rate.

But — and we said front and center these terms are confusing — a page with low exit rate is more likely to have a low bounce rate. That’s because users are probably heading to other pages on the site rather than exiting.

Hits

A hit is a request made to a web server to show a certain file. This could be a web page, an image or other things.

An event is considered a hit. A page view is a hit. All of these hits are grouped together in what Google calls a session. A session is a group of hits from one user. Google uses hits to determine the interaction between the user and the web page.

If the user takes no action for 30 minutes then Google ends the session.

Impressions

We first spoke of impression when looking at clicks. Impressions occur when your link is served up in the search results.

According to Google’s SEO Reports, impressions do not include impressions by paid Google Ads campaigns, which are recorded separately.

In short, when the user can see your link in the search results, that’s counted as an impression. And as you know, we use impressions and clicks to calculate the CTR.

Landing or entrance page

Both of these terms are used by Google to indicate the very first page a user lands on at the beginning of each session. This means in GA you can check which pages users most arrive at your site.

Page views

Page views are the number of times a visitor lands on any page of your website – these are called screen views on mobile.

Within page views, we first have unique page views. Google does not count multiple views of the same page by the same person in the same session as individual views. Instead, it counts them all as one unique view.

Then we have pages per session, also called ‘Average Page Depth’.

APD is the average number of pages viewed by a each user in one session and inside the analytics it includes repeated views of a single page.

Sessions

We encountered sessions earlier on. You already know that a session is the complete amount of time a visitor spends on your website.

You also know that each action a visitor takes is recorded as a hit. And all those hits are recorded within the session. This means in a 24 hour period you might have 100 sessions and 300 hits. The hits figure is equal to or higher than the sessions number.

There is a time limit on sessions. With standard GA settings, a session is ended after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Average session duration is the average time of a user’s session and the calculation to get this is to divide the session duration by the number of sessions.

Time on page

Time on page is the average amount of time that particular visitor spent on the page. If a page is text-heavy then there’s much more chance of each session producing a greater amount of time on page.

Google records average time on page. This is a simple calculation of dividing time on page by the number of page views, minus the exit number.

Users, visitors, or traffic — which one do you need to know?

Each of these terms describes visitors who access your site. Google uses these terms as and when they want.

There is, of course, a self-evident distinction between a new visitor and a returning visitor. Traffic generally expresses the total volume of people visiting the website. But traffic is split down into categories…

Direct traffic is when someone sends you the full URL to a website and you click on that link to go directly to the site. No search has has taken place. Direct traffic is common when sending out a link to your email list. Each person would directly access the site.

Next, we have organic search traffic. Organic traffic is free and targeted, and comes about from SEO efforts to rank the site as high as possible in those all-important Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). If the site is showing little to no organic search, then go back to the drawing board on the keywords in use.

Paid search traffic means the number of people who visited the site via Google Ads.

Lastly we have referral traffic. This means a search engine, another website or social media site has placed a link to your web page on their site and is referring traffic to you.

Further reading

Overview

Reports

Tracking

Analysis

Custom segments

Error pages

Beyond GA

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

Related reading

In-depth guide for all things SEO in the travel industry for 2019. Index bloat, on-site search, 404 pages, meta titles, and more. Common mistakes and fixes.

As CTR and organic steadily drop, how can we compete in SERPs in 2019? “Zero results” update, mobile, featured snippets, and Google’s “biases.”

SEO moved beyond exact keyword matching long ago. We need content that includes related concepts, satisfies intent and provides value. Keyword tools with something new to bring to the table for understanding topics, expanding keyword lists, and diversifying organic rankings.

Top ranking factors for mobile-first indexing in order to dominate search in 2019, segmented by relevance, content, backlinks, and user experience.

Want to stay on top of the latest search trends?

Get top insights and news from our search experts.

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[eliaandponto1]

TECHREPORT 2018: Practice Management

The Practice Management report is sponsored by Thomson Reuters.

  The annual ABA TECHREPORT combines data from the annual Legal Technology Survey Report with expert analysis, observations, and predictions from leaders in the legal technology field. For the first time, we are bringing TECHREPORT to Law Technology Today for you. Every Monday we’ll be posting a new report from one of our experts, so stay tuned!

In last year’s TECHREPORT, we noted that the profession’s adoption of practice management tools had slowed to a crawl. After several years of increasing uptake, this year’s numbers confirm the narrative that a plateau has been reached for now. “Peak legal technology” is the order of the day, barring a sea change in demographics or a disrupting event.

Usage and Adoption of Practice Management Tools

Attorneys continue to use practice management software at a steady rate at firms of all sizes. Attorneys at solos and small law firms report usage at around 30% to 35%, which has held steady for several years. Among law firms larger than 10 lawyers, the high 62% usage among firms with 10-49 attorneys and 51% usage among firms with 100+ attorneys in 2016 were mere blips. The general trend has held steady at 33% and 22% respectively with little change over the last handful of years (disregarding the 2016 blips).

Most attorneys are satisfied with the practice management software they use, as 32% reported “very satisfied” with the features and functions therein and 61% reporting “somewhat satisfied,” for a total of 93% that were somewhat or more satisfied. This is not surprising. Practice management software offers a myriad of advantages over the old ways, including an efficient way to docket, bill, manage timelines, build contacts, and store documents within one application. It is also a gateway to a paperless practice.

With such high satisfaction levels, one can only speculate as to why the adoption of practice management software has plateaued. Is the inertia of the status quo (practicing without this technology) simply too much to overcome? Is the up-front cost in time and effort to change to a new way of practice too daunting? Presumably, given the steady usage numbers, practice management software does offer value for money.

Room for Improvement—and for Disruptors

The true one-stop shop is still missing. Some practice management software includes built-in accounting, some offer built-in timelines from local court rules, some have robust document management systems, and some have great collaboration tools. But not one has everything under one umbrella. There is room for improvement, and integration with other applications can range from smooth to rickety, with no standard for what “integration” truly means nor what levels of integration are appropriate. This leads to a common refrain from attorneys trying to figure out which is best for them: it is difficult to impossible to compare different practice management software given the lack of standards.

In the meantime, the public (“non-lawyers”) are catching up. Apps for legal tasks are made available for free or minimum charge. The market for legal services at the bottom end, previously unmet, are gaining traction to the point where there is likely an invasion into legal services provided at the higher (more expensive) end. This continues to put pressure on attorneys to provide efficient and cost-effective lawyering through technology like practice management software.

Managing Clients and Conflicts

In the absence of the one-size-fits-all solution, dedicated customer relationship management software (“CRM”), document management, and conflicts products are potentially easier to implement and they provide more robust solutions. Following the theme of this report, the use of these systems has remained steady, neither trending significantly up nor down.

Metadata Removal

Bucking the steady-ship trend, metadata removal software availability is slowly rising. This is good news as privacy and confidentiality have become bigger issues. With the implementation of GDPR best practices, it is perhaps only a matter of time before attorneys are expected to take steps like metadata removal to protect the privacy of their clients.

Tablets are Laptops are Tablets are Laptops

The line between tablets and laptops is blurring. The Microsoft Surface has steadily grown in availability at law firms every year since 2015, from 12% to a high of 22% in 2018. Competitors are popping up everywhere with tablets and attachable keyboards. Those not providing the power of a laptop within a tablet are likely going to see market share and usage fall.

Tablet use among attorneys at every firm size spiked in 2016, but it did not stick among solos and small firms (which peaked at 57% in 2016 and fell back down to 47% in 2018). Meanwhile, tablet use has increased markedly among large law firms, from a low of 32% in 2015 to a high of 53% in 2018 for firms of 100-499 attorneys. Firms of 500+ also peaked at 39% usage. The Apple iPad continues to dominate the scene, with 77% of respondents reporting it was available at their firms, followed by the Microsoft Surface (22%), the Samsung Galaxy (6% and falling every year), and the Amazon Kindle Fire (3%).

The usage of tablets among the large firms is interesting. Is it because large firm attorneys travel often and enjoy the portability of tablets? Is it the ease of use of conducting large trials and transactions on a tablet? Is it the growth of legal apps that can be run on a tablet? Is it the rise of tablets becoming the equivalent to laptops such as the Microsoft Surface? It certainly appears as though the trend will hold. The soothsayer here says don’t be surprised when tablets and laptops refer to the same thing, sooner rather than later.

Remote Access On The Rise

Remote access is slowly taking shape among solos and small firms. The anecdotal demand from millennials to be able to telecommute is showing up in the numbers, with usage among solos rising from 38% in 2015 to 46% in 2018, and from 58% in 2015 to 68% in 2018 among firms with 2-9 attorneys. About time!

Curiously, a downward trend in remote access for larger firms is showing, from a high of 87% in 2015 to a low of 79% in 2018 among attorneys of 10-49, and from a high of 94% in 2016 to a low of 88% in 2018. Perhaps while working remotely has high rewards, there is a limit to just how much work one can do outside of the office.

Fees and Time Management

A word on fees. Law firms continue to report hourly fees as the most popular (69%), followed by fixed fees (15%), contingent (11%), retainer (4%), and other (1%). This is almost identical to last year.

Despite the popular discussions surrounding the need and growth of alternative fee arrangements like fixed fees, this does not seem to be borne out by the numbers. Has the alternative fee revolution reached a plateau? Before speculation begins as to why, this is one to watch in the years to come.

In a nod to practicality, electronic billing software continues to trend upward among solos and small firms generally. This is no surprise as the benefits are indisputable. Both law firms and clients like accurate accounting, and electronic billing software allows for regular billing intervals which means happier clients (yes, clients like to know you are working on their file regularly and how much it’s costing them on a regular basis!).

Rules-based docketing has seen increased use among small firms, topping out at 40% in 2018. These are incredibly useful to keep deadlines in check. It is good to see that even amongst the biggest law firms, rules-based docketing remains steady (and has not declined), indicating the value in the software. Will solos step up in the next year?

Conclusion

With few exceptions, the use of technology has not taken any large steps in recent years. Even alternative fee billing has not seen a rise. Law firm technology has been around long enough now that attorneys know what is available. It seems attorneys that wanted to change and upgrade made the change, and those that didn’t have remained behind. Perhaps the onus falls on the producers as much as on the users: an iPad-like user-friendly interface is still sought out, a layman looking at the front page of a practice management or document management software may be more intimidated than impressed, and security and speed remain question marks among the uninitiated. The world keeps turning, though, and one can only assume that those who turn with it, by adapting the technology according to the market, will be less dizzy.

Watch a video from our sponsors!

The post TECHREPORT 2018: Practice Management appeared first on Law Technology Today.

from https://ift.tt/2PH2jdX

[taleshalance4]

TECHREPORT 2018: Practice Management

The Practice Management report is sponsored by Thomson Reuters.

The annual ABA TECHREPORT combines data from the annual Legal Technology Survey Report with expert analysis, observations, and predictions from leaders in the legal technology field. For the first time, we are bringing TECHREPORT to Law Technology Today for you. Every Monday we’ll be posting a new report from one of our experts, so stay tuned!

In last year’s TECHREPORT, we noted that the profession’s adoption of practice management tools had slowed to a crawl. After several years of increasing uptake, this year’s numbers confirm the narrative that a plateau has been reached for now. “Peak legal technology” is the order of the day, barring a sea change in demographics or a disrupting event.

Usage and Adoption of Practice Management Tools

Attorneys continue to use practice management software at a steady rate at firms of all sizes. Attorneys at solos and small law firms report usage at around 30% to 35%, which has held steady for several years. Among law firms larger than 10 lawyers, the high 62% usage among firms with 10-49 attorneys and 51% usage among firms with 100+ attorneys in 2016 were mere blips. The general trend has held steady at 33% and 22% respectively with little change over the last handful of years (disregarding the 2016 blips).

Most attorneys are satisfied with the practice management software they use, as 32% reported “very satisfied” with the features and functions therein and 61% reporting “somewhat satisfied,” for a total of 93% that were somewhat or more satisfied. This is not surprising. Practice management software offers a myriad of advantages over the old ways, including an efficient way to docket, bill, manage timelines, build contacts, and store documents within one application. It is also a gateway to a paperless practice.

With such high satisfaction levels, one can only speculate as to why the adoption of practice management software has plateaued. Is the inertia of the status quo (practicing without this technology) simply too much to overcome? Is the up-front cost in time and effort to change to a new way of practice too daunting? Presumably, given the steady usage numbers, practice management software does offer value for money.

Room for Improvement—and for Disruptors

The true one-stop shop is still missing. Some practice management software includes built-in accounting, some offer built-in timelines from local court rules, some have robust document management systems, and some have great collaboration tools. But not one has everything under one umbrella. There is room for improvement, and integration with other applications can range from smooth to rickety, with no standard for what “integration” truly means nor what levels of integration are appropriate. This leads to a common refrain from attorneys trying to figure out which is best for them: it is difficult to impossible to compare different practice management software given the lack of standards.

In the meantime, the public (“non-lawyers”) are catching up. Apps for legal tasks are made available for free or minimum charge. The market for legal services at the bottom end, previously unmet, are gaining traction to the point where there is likely an invasion into legal services provided at the higher (more expensive) end. This continues to put pressure on attorneys to provide efficient and cost-effective lawyering through technology like practice management software.

Managing Clients and Conflicts

In the absence of the one-size-fits-all solution, dedicated customer relationship management software (“CRM”), document management, and conflicts products are potentially easier to implement and they provide more robust solutions. Following the theme of this report, the use of these systems has remained steady, neither trending significantly up nor down.

Metadata Removal

Bucking the steady-ship trend, metadata removal software availability is slowly rising. This is good news as privacy and confidentiality have become bigger issues. With the implementation of GDPR best practices, it is perhaps only a matter of time before attorneys are expected to take steps like metadata removal to protect the privacy of their clients.

Tablets are Laptops are Tablets are Laptops

The line between tablets and laptops is blurring. The Microsoft Surface has steadily grown in availability at law firms every year since 2015, from 12% to a high of 22% in 2018. Competitors are popping up everywhere with tablets and attachable keyboards. Those not providing the power of a laptop within a tablet are likely going to see market share and usage fall.

Tablet use among attorneys at every firm size spiked in 2016, but it did not stick among solos and small firms (which peaked at 57% in 2016 and fell back down to 47% in 2018). Meanwhile, tablet use has increased markedly among large law firms, from a low of 32% in 2015 to a high of 53% in 2018 for firms of 100-499 attorneys. Firms of 500+ also peaked at 39% usage. The Apple iPad continues to dominate the scene, with 77% of respondents reporting it was available at their firms, followed by the Microsoft Surface (22%), the Samsung Galaxy (6% and falling every year), and the Amazon Kindle Fire (3%).

The usage of tablets among the large firms is interesting. Is it because large firm attorneys travel often and enjoy the portability of tablets? Is it the ease of use of conducting large trials and transactions on a tablet? Is it the growth of legal apps that can be run on a tablet? Is it the rise of tablets becoming the equivalent to laptops such as the Microsoft Surface? It certainly appears as though the trend will hold. The soothsayer here says don’t be surprised when tablets and laptops refer to the same thing, sooner rather than later.

Remote Access On The Rise

Remote access is slowly taking shape among solos and small firms. The anecdotal demand from millennials to be able to telecommute is showing up in the numbers, with usage among solos rising from 38% in 2015 to 46% in 2018, and from 58% in 2015 to 68% in 2018 among firms with 2-9 attorneys. About time!

Curiously, a downward trend in remote access for larger firms is showing, from a high of 87% in 2015 to a low of 79% in 2018 among attorneys of 10-49, and from a high of 94% in 2016 to a low of 88% in 2018. Perhaps while working remotely has high rewards, there is a limit to just how much work one can do outside of the office.

Fees and Time Management

A word on fees. Law firms continue to report hourly fees as the most popular (69%), followed by fixed fees (15%), contingent (11%), retainer (4%), and other (1%). This is almost identical to last year.

Despite the popular discussions surrounding the need and growth of alternative fee arrangements like fixed fees, this does not seem to be borne out by the numbers. Has the alternative fee revolution reached a plateau? Before speculation begins as to why, this is one to watch in the years to come.

In a nod to practicality, electronic billing software continues to trend upward among solos and small firms generally. This is no surprise as the benefits are indisputable. Both law firms and clients like accurate accounting, and electronic billing software allows for regular billing intervals which means happier clients (yes, clients like to know you are working on their file regularly and how much it’s costing them on a regular basis!).

Rules-based docketing has seen increased use among small firms, topping out at 40% in 2018. These are incredibly useful to keep deadlines in check. It is good to see that even amongst the biggest law firms, rules-based docketing remains steady (and has not declined), indicating the value in the software. Will solos step up in the next year?

Conclusion

With few exceptions, the use of technology has not taken any large steps in recent years. Even alternative fee billing has not seen a rise. Law firm technology has been around long enough now that attorneys know what is available. It seems attorneys that wanted to change and upgrade made the change, and those that didn’t have remained behind. Perhaps the onus falls on the producers as much as on the users: an iPad-like user-friendly interface is still sought out, a layman looking at the front page of a practice management or document management software may be more intimidated than impressed, and security and speed remain question marks among the uninitiated. The world keeps turning, though, and one can only assume that those who turn with it, by adapting the technology according to the market, will be less dizzy.

Watch a video from our sponsors!

The post TECHREPORT 2018: Practice Management appeared first on Law Technology Today.

from https://ift.tt/2PH2jdX from https://eliaandponto1.tumblr.com/post/180362924357

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Vigenix Male Enhancement Reviews

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Buy Instagram Followers From Solely $2

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[krestmarketinggroup-blog]

Optimizing Sites for Featured Snippets with Q&A Content [Case Study]

Posted by  NickRebuildGroup   Ranking near the top of the SERPs for short-tail keywords in competitive business verticals can be extremely difficult. Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, and similar sites have the market cornered on ranking at the top of search results. Even if you manage to rank in the first position, there are  featured snippets , ads, map packs, and other SERP layouts that are dominating the space as well.

  Because short-tail keywords have such broad search intents, it’s in the search engine’s best interest to try and answer questions directly in SERPs. That is the intent of featured snippets. If a search engine is able to answer a user’s query without them leaving the results page, they believe that delivers the best result. And the proliferation of featured snippets is only beginning. According to Search Engine Land,  19.45% of queries will display rich answers (a form of featured snippets)  in Google.

  A search for “what is orthodontics” in an incognito Google Chrome window displayed the following featured snippet:

      This search result satisfies at least one large search intent: “What is orthodontics?” I use this as an example because my agency and I had been trying to get a client to rank for this keyword for some time. They were a dental practice with locations across the US that offered both orthodontic and general dental procedures. We  had optimized their locations  for their orthodontic procedures, but we wanted to get their non-localized service pages to rank as well in order to draw new patients that may be in the beginning stages of looking for a new orthodontist. But without a local qualifier, it was difficult to get the pages to rank for the short-tail searches.

  After a year and change of writing, optimizing, re-writing, and re-optimizing the content — all while building links — we weren’t getting any movement with our organic rankings. It seemed that business websites were not meant to rank for these short-tail keywords. Content creators have long lamented that featured snippets don’t  attribute where the content in the SERP comes from , thus leaching traffic away from the site.

  We believed that rich snippets in SERPs would become more prominent — especially with mobile and  voice search on the rise  — and that, even without proper attribution, it would benefit our client to appear in these types of search results, especially if we were able to rank in long-tail, question-oriented searches. If we could rank in a featured snippet, where a potential consumer was asking a question about a service that we provide, it would benefit us to answer that question for them. Not only would we achieve the coveted “zero position,” we would position our client as authorities in their vertical, potentially increasing conversions.

  With this in mind, we began developing the strategy that would ultimately lead us to ranking in featured snippet searches.

  Q&A content  Question and answer content on websites is fairly standard. Many companies will place Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) content on their sites to help users with any questions they may have instead of answering them directly. Noting the prevalence of featured snippets in SERPs, we used the Q&A format to create new content to find out: a) could we rank for these queries? and b) would it benefit our client to rank in these queries?

  Research & content creation

  Using SEMRush, we conducted keyword research to find long-tail keywords with high monthly search volumes. Some of the phrases we decided to create the content around were “how long does it take to put on braces,” “how much does Invisalign cost without insurance,” and other similar queries. We also asked our client’s call team and Livechat correspondents to send us the most-asked questions they receive about orthodontics. The questions that the internal teams provided were primarily about pricing and insurance. This information was vital for our new Q&A content, as it allowed us to create answers we knew our users were looking for.

  While researching current featured snippets, we gleaned that the content must emphasize the answer, not the answerer. Meaning, the content needed to be straightforward and answer the query without any marketing fluff. We ensured that our headers included the targeted keyword, along with the title tags. Once the content was created, we placed each question in the main navigation bar on the site, with each one leading to a  separate   landing   page .

  Link building

  As most SEOs will tell you,  backlinks are still a very important ranking factor . It was our belief that building links to our new Q&A content would be essential in ensuring that it ranked well. We built links exclusively via sites like Quora and Reddit, the idea being that these are places where people are already asking questions that we can answer as experts, while linking back to our site. In order to avoid spamming, we limited the number of links that we built per month.

  Results  After a year of collecting data, we can confidently say that not only were we successful in getting the site to rank for a featured snippet, but traffic to the orthodontics content increased by 46.10%, conversions from the content increased by 235%, and the conversion rate increased by 129.30%.

      Organic sessions to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversion rate from orthodontic Q&A content 

  The results were even more striking on mobile, where traffic increased by 91.46%, conversions increased by 322.22%, and conversion rate increased by 120.53%.

      Mobile organic sessions to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Mobile organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

      Mobile organic conversion rate from orthodontic Q&A content 

  Measurement method  For this study we only looked at organic and mobile organic traffic. We also only looked at traffic that landed on our site via the orthodontics content (meaning we only measured users that entered the site via one of the orthodontics pages from an organic source).

  Attention metrics

  It should be noted that this implementation was not successful in every facet. One of the most important goals for new content is making sure that users engage with it. And at Rebuild Group, we normally measure content engagement through attention metrics: pages/session, average time on site, bounce rate, etc.

  Upon collecting the data, we noticed that all attention metrics decreased year over year. Our hypothesis is that because the content is both meant to answer a question and is easily digestible, users were more likely to leave the site after their question was answered. It explains why traffic, conversions, and conversion rate increased so much year over year and attention metrics decreased.

  Rankings  Most important to this experiment, we were able to have our site rank in the first position — or  zero position  — in search results for the query “how long do you wear invisalign a day,” while also ranking on the first page (though not the first position) for other Q&A orthodontic terms.

     We started ranking in the first position for this term in mid-January, though we lost the ranking shortly thereafter. We began to consistently rank in the first position in March and are still ranked there as of this writing.

  Our belief is that by simply answering the question and including the keyword in crawlable parts of the content, we were able to rank in the first position for one of our targeted Q&A phrases, resulting in a featured snippet.

  Conversions  Conversions were measured as the number of contact form submissions sent during sessions where a user entered the site via the orthodontic content. As mentioned above, conversions and conversion rates for all organic and mobile organic traffic increased greatly year over year. However, the effects were not seen until 9 months into the experiment.

  When the traffic was measured at 90 and 180 days, organic traffic to the new content was steadily increasing overall and via mobile devices, but conversions and conversion rate had not gone up compared to the previous year. It wasn’t until 270 days in, when we first ranked in the featured snippet SERP, that conversions began to increase.

      Organic traffic to the orthodontic Q&A content 

      Organic conversions from orthodontic Q&A content 

  Once we were consistently ranking in the first position for a featured snippet SERP, while also ranking on the first page of SERPs for other queries, our conversions and conversion rates began to greatly increase.

  Google Home

  As stated earlier, voice search is on the rise. Once we were able to rank as a featured snippet in a targeted SERP, we wanted to see if that featured snippet would affect how  Google Home  provided an answer to the targeted query:

      *Note: This video was recorded on my phone, so the quality is not the best. You may need to turn up your volume to hear the question and answer.

  As you can see, Google Home clearly attributes the answer to our client, answers the question, and then sends the user to the Home App, where the answer is again shown:

     From there they can click through to the site on their mobile device:

     In the end we drew a strong correlation between the implementation of the Q&A orthodontics content, ranking highly in rich snippet SERPs, and increased conversions and conversion rates. But like all things SEO, there are no definites when implementing this kind of strategy. We implemented content that drove users to a site that offered services they were looking for. Someone searching “how to boil water” is not likely looking to buy new pots and pans. Ultimately, it’s important to know what your users are looking for and cater to their searches. Once you’re able to answer their questions with simple, to-the-point content, the rest is easy.

    Sign up for The Moz Top 10 , a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don’t have time to hunt down but want to read!

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What Transforms Male Off In Connection As well as Relationship.

I have actually related to uncover with individual adventure that contentment is a moment-by-moment celebration. See to it That He Isn't really Simply Hearing Your Slam Him: As a person who has goned on the opposite of this particular discussion, I can easily inform you that when you hear these words, this can believe that a strike and that can experience as if you must defend on your own. When you value exactly how your partner experiences, he is goinged to become much more contented in the relationship, which consequently will make him happy. This is actually typical and also many perform this, however you must be actually great and also amusing to create this truly settle. During the course of our separation I did not desire to be actually the one creeping back to him, so I decided to participate in hard to obtain, and create him recognize that he was the one missing outing listed below, certainly not me. 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Since of my setting and not be actually reliant after my instances, I could be actually delighted. Inquire your children, Exactly what can I carry out to create you experience liked?" You'll be amazed to hear exactly what little ones desire. Remaining in touch along with friends and family is one of the top five remorses of the perishing 7. If you yearn for a lot more proof that this's favorable for you, I've found some study that shows this can easily make you better at this moment. As you may observe, comical friendship quotes are a wonderful method to consider what makes our friendships so special and also our buddies so dear. Take this a measure even further as well as definitely take into consideration goals you had when you were younger or even currently have concerning what are going to create you absolutely satisfied. She 'd performed regarding wanting to be actually observed usually good enough, and this specific song was actually by among their beloved composers. 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How Bariatric Of Alabama Can Help Seriously Overweight People

By James Nelson

The number of people classified as obese, rather than just over weight, is steadily rising. Obesity can lead to a wide variety of serious health problems. Obese people often suffer from high blood pressure and cholesterol, certain types of cancer, asthma and diabetes. These are just a few of the possible problems faced by obese people. They also struggle to maintain a healthy and pleasurable lifestyle, because the often struggle to walk. Consulting a doctor that specialize in bariatric of Alabama may perhaps be the answer. Surgeons do not perform this surgery on demand. They first assess their patients and they will not even considering scheduling an operation within six months of first seeing the patient. During this time the patient must make some changes in his life and sometimes these changes are dramatic. Only when the surgeon is satisfied that the patient has indeed made the required changes will he schedule the actual operation. Most patients find the psychological preparation the most difficult. Not only do they have to make changes in the lifestyles, but they have to be highly motivated to make sure that those changes are permanent. This type of surgery can be dangerous and it is a very big intervention. Doctors therefore want to be sure that their patients truly wants to loose weight and to never gain it again. Not all obese patients qualify for the procedure. No surgeon will perform the operation if the patient is a smoker. Smokers easily develop blood clots and this can lead to all sorts of nasty complications after completion of the procedure. Patients need to stop smoking for at least six months before seeing a surgeon. Patients must also forego alcohol, because it causes fluctuations in the blood sugar levels. Most surgeons require their patients to lose some weight before the operation is scheduled. Patients therefore has to make immediate and sometimes drastic changes to their diet. They have to eat protein three times a day and they have to give up sugar and caffeine. If they cannot stick to a strict eating plan or if they fail to lose at least some weight the surgeon may be hesitant to proceed. Exercise can also help to make the surgery successful. Patients need to embark upon a discipline regime of low impact exercises. Swimming, walking and cycling are all good. Taking up yoga can also be a big help because it helps to improve the flexibility of the body and the strength of the muscles. Exercises are not only good for the patient in a physical manner, but also in a psychological one because exercise increases serotonin levels. The major intervention made during this operation will almost certainly cause bruising and discomfort. Patients must expect this discomfort to last for as long as two weeks. Most patients will also find it difficult to bend or to walk. This will resolve itself within a week or two, however. Patients must also avoid all solid foods for a couple of weeks after the surgery. Obese people must never think that surgery is an easy way in which to lose weight. This is certainly not the case. Surgeons will require patients to prepare for at least six months and to clearly show that they are motivated to lose weight permanently. For those that succeed, however, this procedure can be life altering.

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