Homeless man has no access to safe

Don't store files on your desktop!

Does your computer desktop look like this?


I know, I know. Your desktop is the easiest place on your computer to save pictures, text documents, recent downloads, whatever. It's so convenient to just stick that file there where you know you can find it again.

Don't do it! Here's why:

1. Files stored on the desktop slow down the computer's overall operation. Not drastically, but some.

2. Your desktop will eventually run out of visible space. Then what? (Some of you reading this may be out of desktop space already!)

3. Most importantly, the files on your desktop at this minute are probably not backed up. If they are important enough to be quickly accessible, they should be backed up. When I set up an automated backup procedure on a client's computer, the first step is to get all the important files - the ones that need to be backed up - into one folder. Then you just have to back up that one folder. If you have anything on your desktop that you wouldn't want to lose, it's in the wrong place.

The solution? Shortcuts.

You can fill up your desktop if you want to (although #1 and #2 above still apply). But instead of putting the actual file there, just have a shortcut to that file.

Here's an example of how to do that. Let's say you have a folder on your desktop that contains several Word documents pertaining to your business. That folder is called "Loan papers". You want to store this folder in a location that is safe, but you still want it to be easy to access. Here are the steps to do that:

1. Right-click on the folder itself, and in the new menu choose "Cut"

2. Open your My Documents folder (in Vista, it is just called "Documents")

3. In an open area of the My Documents folder, right click and choose "Paste". Now your "Loan papers" folder has been moved from the desktop to the My Documents folder.

4. In the My Documents folder, find the "Loan papers" folder that you just moved. Right click on it, and choose "Send to - Desktop, create shortcut"

5. Close the My Documents folder and go back to your desktop. You should see a new icon there called "Shortcut to Loan papers".

So whenever you need to open that folder, you can just double click the icon on the desktop and it will open just like it always did. The difference is that the icon on your desktop is only a shortcut icon - the actual file is stored safely in your My Documents folder, where it should get backed up nightly.

(If you need an automated backup procedure set up, contact me. If you are wondering if you really need automated backup, here is the answer: you need automated backup.)

This week's video - can you imagine playing this game?

How does search engine optimization work?

How does search engine optimization work? That is a question often asked by many people. Everyone wants their website (whether it is a personal site, or a business site) to show up on page one of Google. But how does that happen? More importantly, how can you make it happen? It may seem impossible, but it happens every day. I see it first hand.

Before we can answer the question "how does search engine optimization work", we need to define what it really is.

Search engine optimization, simply put, is just removing the technical inaccuracies of a website that keep Google from reading it properly. You see, Google sends out what are called "spiders" to go from website to website, reading the code and the content in each web page. If the spider comes up against something in the code that it cannot read, it stops reading that page and goes on to another one. If you are asking, "how does search engine optimization work" because you want your business to be found on Google, you definitely want Google's spiders to be able to read your website easily. Your goal for your site is to make Google's job as easy as possible to read your code.

The problem is, most sites are not easily read by Google. Oh, they look beautiful when you look at them - they are well designed, have beautiful pictures to make them interesting, beautiful colors, etc. However, we are not talking about what you see when you view the site as a human. We're talking about the code that makes the site look the way it does. For most sites, the code is written in such a way that it actually puts up roadblocks that block Google from reading it.

"But wait a minute", you say. "I paid a professional web designer a lot of money to create my site! Shouldn't he know this stuff?" That answer is simple - no. Ask your web designer "how does search engine optimization work" and he will either say he doesn't know, or he will give you an answer that is mostly incorrect. Designing a website to make it look beautiful is an entirely different thing than getting it found on Google. You can have the most beautiful website in the world, but if no one sees it because it never comes up in Google, it doesn't bring you any new business. It's like putting up a great-looking billboard in the middle of a desert.

Think about it like this - if your web designer knew the answer to "How does search engine optimization work", your site would be showing up on Google already. It's a very specialized science.

Take my site, for example. As you probably know, I am called The Computer Tutor because I provide personal computer instruction to individuals or small business owners that want to learn how to use a particular program, or how to do something with their computer. I do this locally in person, or nationwide via remote access.

If you go to Google and do a search for the phrase "personal computer instruction", you will see about 25 million results come up. In other words, there are 25 million websites that are somehow related to personal computer instruction, and Google looks at all of them and ranks them in order of relevance. You will see that my site (www.ComputerTutorFlorida.com) is listed at #2 in that list.

Think about that - there are hundreds or thousands of businesses offering computer training all around the country, and some of them are very large businesses. Some of them may well be asking how does search engine optimization work even now! But Google has determined that my site is more technically accurate than theirs, so I rank higher in Google than they do.

I talk to business owners every day who are frustrated at not getting found on Google. If you own a business, the very life of your company could depend on that one factor. Don't trust your livelihood to a place that doesn't know the answer to this problem! My company currently has close to 400 clients all appearing on page one of Google, for tons of different key phrases. If you understand the importance of this, and want to achieve that for your business, contact me.

I love being able to help small business owners who are wondering how does search engine optimization work. Learning the answer to that question is vital to your success. I can help you with that, and you will have more business than you ever thought possible.

Save some time when you use MS Word

I used to waste a lot of time every time I opened a blank Word document.

Whenever I create a new Word file, I have a couple of preferences. I prefer to use Arial as the font (instead of Times New Roman, which is the default). I also like to use different margins. The new document usually defaults to an inch at the top and bottom, and 1.25 inches on each side. I usually change that to .7 on all sides, so that I can fit as much as possible on the page and still be able to print it all.

So I would open Word, and before starting to work, I would make those changes to suit my preferences. What a waste of time! I don't do that any more.

A few years ago, I decided to make a default "new document". I opened Word, made my changes as I mentioned above, then I just saved that blank file. I called it "narrow margins.doc" so I would know what it is.

Then I did two more things:

1. I right-clicked on the file name, chose Properties, and checked the box that says "Read only".

2. I right-clicked on the file again, and chose Send to - Desktop to create an icon on my desktop that is easy to access.

Now, whenever I want to create a new Word document, I just double click that shortcut icon and my preferences are already built in. Then when I save it, Word makes me give the new document its own name - that way, my original "narrow margins.doc" file never gets changed accidentally - it is always there waiting for me, just like I like it.

This week's video is one that you will probably want to watch a couple of times. Can you spot the changes?

What is a browser?

Do you know what a browser is?

Google sent a guy to Times Square to ask people on the street that question. The answers he got varied widely, but the vast majority of people didn't know what a browser is.

A browser is a program on your computer that allows you to view websites. Examples of browsers are Firefox and Internet Explorer (and Google's new browser, called Chrome).

Here is the video of the people who answered this question:

Family photo ends up as Czech billboard ad

This lady posts a picture of her family online. Great family photo. So great, in fact, that a grocery store in the Czech Republic decided to use it for a billboard advertisement.

Full story here

Professional computer repair

If you live in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, and you have a problem with your computer, I can fix it. Check out my new Computer Repair page for more details.