mdvaden

I think your reason for the site is one of the best reason for a website. And as years progress, it will become apparent to people that optimizing for search results may become the most futile reason for a website in a big city. Emphasis on "big city". In looking in my server files, I see that a page is still stored online, check this page if interested: WEBSITE TRAFFIC INFORMATION Similar to what I posted earlier, but more long-winded Cheers

Yes ... it's amazing how simple the sites can be. Barely a few hundred dollars or pounds anymore to get something decent for the first few pages up and running.

That sounds more like a new thread. Because there is a bunch of stuff I can think of to include for your question. It's related, but seems worthy of it's own discussion.

Not sure how versatile the styling is, but try Googling and reading about JOOMLA websites. Apparently inexpensive and effiective with fairly easy content management for site owners. Again, I don't know much, but have heard decent feedback from someone very familiar with JOOMLA. There must be a decent batch of information on it.

Thanks. By the way, I like this new look a lot.

At one point, I found Google Adwords to be of use. But it can develop similarities to the flooding of the internet related to the other I wrote, if you read my prior replies. Google Adsense provided me with plenty of work for miminal expenditure. But when I used it several years ago, I was only bidding and paying about 6 cents to 25 cents per CLICK for the best keywords. I understand that several tree services are now paying up to $5 per click for the best keywords - thank goodness there is a feature to set a limit to daily spending. And - only so many Google Ads can fit across and down the right side of a page. Again, like search result rankings, Google Ads will depend on your area, and how flooded the use of it is. If you are just one of two companies in your town using AdWords, you will be in the top 2 ads whether you bid 10 cents per click or 10 dollars per click. But if in a big city and 40 companies all have bids for clicks in between the $4 and $8 per click range - ain't no way on earth all 40 companies will show up on page one or two of search results in an ad. But if it works - it works. I got a few thousand dollars worth of contract for every $5 to $10 I paid Google when the bids were in the 10 cent per click range. It was effective and affordable. If you do those ads, be CERTAIN to put your city name in the ad keyword. If you don't, you will mess up results big time. More details related to that angle will be in the FAQs at Google Adwords.

Birds gone to bed - time for part II So, if I were to start from scratch all over again, I'd put all the search engine ranking stuff on the backburner, and begin with 3 aspects: 1. At least one decent looking page, even if just the home page. 2. It would have the essential vocabulary words on it for anyone searching exclusively for me, and me only. 3. I would MASTER displaying my website URL on anything and everything not plugged into the internet. #3 is probably the most ignored aspect there is. I've got a folder at home that had about 150 business cards in it, and almost every card except 1, had the website URL in TEENSY WEENSY letters at the bottom. What do they have a website for? Why put it on the card? These days, if someone wants your phone number from a card, they are going to look until they find it. So it's the phone number that should be at the bottom in teensie weensie numbers, and the website address should probably be in the middle in some of the bigger text on the business card. Likewise with Ads, Brochures, Flyers, etc.. If the printed piece is big enough, then more than once. Here's the deal, and it partly depends on where you live... If you are in a city like I'm in, the internet and website thing will just multiply. Eventually, if not already, it will just get flooded with websites of similar businesses. So let's say that you and I, and 98 others of us all start from scratch. How about if we ALL hire the BEST and SAME website designer. The cream of the crop of SEO professionals. Supposedly, he will say that he can optimize all our sites for Google and Yahoo, etc.. So let's go for it hypothetically. All 100 of us all get a website designed to the max, by the best of the best. Grand ... Now, in 2 months, which one of us 100 companies is going to be #1, #2 and #3 on Google? You tell me ... because ain't nobody going to know. It's a coin toss - a roll of the dice. If you can rank good, fine, that's nice. But even with the best designer, you have no guarantee. But the one thing you can totally control is getting a decent looking site, and making sure you put it right under the nose of anybody who gets your business card or sees an ad. Starting with at least one good page, then you can add to it. Personally, I'd rather people go to my site first, because it reduces the number of questions on the phone about what I do or don't do. If you have good references that you can add to your site, one glance at those can spare 10 minutes of selling services. I got a call while hiking 400 miles away in California last summer from someone up here in Hillsboro. I told them that if they could decide in advance that they would hire me if my bid was reasonable for a design, I'd charge them $100 less if I did not have to drive back out while they thought about me as a service. I could take photos and measurements right then and there. So I asked them to review the few testimonials or letters on my site and see if that helped. 2 hours later, I saw a text message from them saying they wanted to go with my service and would see me in 3 days when I was back north. Sometimes it works that way, sometimes it does not. But the point is, it works that way with everyone it works that way with, and that's quite a few instances that have been streamlined via that one page alone. Can add more later - will see what other's think. This is my business card, with the URL in the middle. White foil was last version, gold foil is the latest version. I may add a phone later - chose not to this time. We live in internet land. Intel is in the next suburb over.

I've got feedback on this... Holding a bird & typing one handed - will add more. For now... Consider that to Google, landscape design & arborist are day and night - 2 different trades. And my one site must handle 3 aspects. Google these keyword strings with and without quotes - look in the URL rather than the top titles for mdvaden / mdvaden.com CHOP OREGON OUT TOO AND SEE THE CHANGE Portland Oregon Certified Arborists Tree Services Portland Oregon Portland Oregon Landscape Designers Portland Oregon Landscape Designer - SINGULAR Portland Oregon Landscape TRY THIS UNIVERSAL STRING AS WELL Safe Woods for Parrots Signs of hazard trees MORE CENTRALIZED Nehalem Bay state park JUST MADE PAGE ONE ON THIS Redwood photos So, it's working for me and about enough for 30% of another outfit too. But ... I don't even think the decent results are even close to being the meat of discussion. That's the more relevant part that I'll comment on when I don't have these birds in my hand - maybe tonight. There is a good side this internet thing that anybody can benefit from and has total control over.

Your photo caught me off guard for moment. Your drive down the left side there too - don't you?

Starting to rain here in Oregon. Temperatures dropping, but had a suprising 62 degree morning at 9am today. And dang - does this cool weather feel awesome. My favorite time of year for working.

Just snatched a photo of a cool looking tree while exploring last weekend. Calling this the Mutant Redwood - from the Valley of the Lost Groves:

I don't know the link off the top of my head ... But did you catch wind of the underwater mushroom last year or so, that was discovered under the surface of Oregon's Rogue River? I think it was a first, for underwater. Apparently, they watched the area following years to make sure it would reemerge.

It seems so hard to understand how anybody would do any chainsaw injuries. I'd imagine that someone who is going to hold a saw and thier body in a risky position where that can happen, would probably not be someone who would take time to prepare for emergencies. Anyway, if we did lose body parts around here, most hospitals are within 5 to 10 minutes. Anyone know how long an arm or leg or finger will last in room temperature and still be good enough to use?

Did you mean British Columbia in Canada by "BC" ?? Because there are some very big trees in the British Columbia forests too. Douglas fir and western red cedar, but definitely hefty. I was born in BC, but spent most of my life in Oregon. Here's one more pic for a thread ornament - this one is Del Norte Titan; within about 1500 feet of the Screaming Titans.

It would make a big source of tree hunting ideas. The list was probably mostly from Atkins and Taylor who spend the most time measuring tall ones. Stratosphere Giant is the tall one I'm likely to want photos of next, as it's access should not be too hard. But it's undisclosed as well. There is a lot of cool stuff to photograph in those wood either way.

Most of the top 10 largest for size coast redwoods are in the 320 foot tall range, give or take. About 97 meters if that measurement works better for you. An anonymous tree has been posted at a university website at about 348' tall, to be the second largest redwood by volume. I suspect it is one called "Fusion Giant". I have an older list that is not uptodate, but it has a lot of big and tall redwoods on it, not being disclosed anymore: Redwood Dimensions That page does list the top 10 or so Tallest redwoods that are on the site Gymnosperm Database. In the table, the Fusion Giant is the one I noticed that apparently matches the height of the anonymous tree, with a diameter big enough to probably supply the wood volume needed to be second largests. The researchers hardly even give out names anymore. Virtually no photos, no locations, and apparently no names. So when I discovered this list on what seemed to be an obscure European website, I saved a copy of the measurements and converted it to HTML for a page that's like a numerical snapshot back in time.

This next tree is also in the Grove of Titans. I have no idea which name would be assigned to it; never really tried to match it's circumference / DBH to any info I found for the grove. It is about 25' across the widest part at chest level. In the entire grove, this one may still be my favorite one - I just like the way it looks.

I think I will agree in part at least. One thing, it's filmed, so they will select more "dramatic" stuff. If you read my post about the redwood Screaming Titans, you may note where I said author Preston really stretched the story. Seems that this goes for some writing and some television. I considered this exaggeration thing, but dismissed it in regards to the show and safety, because no matter how we look at it, there is a lot of stuff that was questionable and not questionable. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, lack of the right safety gear at the right time, etc..

Finally got a mystery solved about a titan redwood called Screaming Titans, written about in The Wild Trees. Following finding what was supposed to be the Lost Monarch, I sort of figuratively have been scratching my head in the background, wondering why I've seen no other tree in that area wide enough to be a Screaming Titans. So turns out, that what I thought was Lost Monarch, is really the Screaming Titans. The trunk is so singular looking below, it could arguably be considered one tree with codominant stems. The mix-up stems from this tree in other images online being labeled Del Norte Titan and Lost Monarch, and I weeded out Del Norte Titan from the equation. It's take a little while to get this figured out, since Preston stretched the truth heavily in some sections of the book, and one descriptive section is an antithesis to what we are seeing in the grove. Anyhow, for any redwood fans, or readers of The Wild Trees, this would be Screaming Titans.

Just curious. I don't wear any layers. Generally short sleeves under a non-down vest is about all I can handle in the temps just above freezing or I get overheated. The wind tends to be the big factor for me. There a plenty of sunny days when it's under freezing by a few degrees here, where a short sleeve shirt is fine mid-day, but if it's windy, a light sweatshirt really feels good to me. So I'm sort of in reverse, adding top layers when needed.

Reminds me of an older lady a couple of years ago who I did some landscape work for. She thought I stole her contract copy and changed it. But could not explain her signed signature on her copy in ink. Anyhow, she threatened to press charges with the District Attorney, as she put it, for "abusing old people". I told her "great, let me give you a ride down there now so we can do this in a streamlined and efficient manner". She backed off. Funny, by the end of the next day when I was finishing, she was bringing out cookies and soda and genuinely being friendly.

Same tree, tighter crop:

Seems that this process may only work one time. I've got a decent pic of a maple I removed, where similar was done. The top cut is about 10" diamter, and the right limb cut about 12" across. Most of the darker area on this Big Leaf Maple is deadwood. Only a small film of life is on the outer "skin". Anyhow, it was the same sort of topped pollard thing. Not sure how long ago it was top cut. You can barely make out where the limb area cut was compartmentalized at one time about 15" to the inside where a dark barrier can be seen. It's interesting to cut these things open and look at the history inside.

What temperature range do you start wearing them in? Below freezing? Or a bit higher?

Interesting - I don't remember if I used any tricks. All I remembe is that in college, we got about 15 new ones every week, and a review of each previous week's 15 the following week, prior to the next 15. Somehow I managed to remember them. I vaguely remember sitting down for coffee or a beer with another student, quizzing each other. Actually, I'm fairly decent on my tree ID, but I need CEUs for my arborist certification and also my Oregon landscape contractors license. So I'm going to repeat the deciduous trees and shrubs class at the local community college starting next week. For me - I love the college environment. It's one reason I'm glad we moved back to north Oregon. Hopefully I can take one class every year or two, even into my 80s.