Editor's Corner

Happy Friday! My apologies for not having some fun and juicy bit of grammar or punctuation to send you off with for the weekend; I suppose you will have to find your own cocktail party topics to discuss. In the meantime, I have the vocabulary for the letter “N” from Building Brand Character.

· NAP
Stands for name, address, and phone number. The NAP should be consistent across all citations; otherwise, it decreases your site’s local authority. [KC – My idea of a nap is much more pleasant. It involves a comfy bed, a snuggly dog, and complete darkness.]

· News Feed
On Facebook, the News Feed is the homepage of users’ accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their friends. The news feed on Twitter is called Timeline.

· Non-reciprocal Link
If site A links to site B, but site B does not link back to site A, then the link is considered non-reciprocal. Search engines tend to give more value to non-reciprocal links than to reciprocal ones because they are less likely to be the result of collusion between sites.

· Network
This can refer to a social network like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, or the people you are connected to on those sites.

I hope your weekend is enjoyable. Don’t forget your mom on Sunday!

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

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It’s a crazy day in Editor’s Corner, so I’m just providing you with a few more definitions from the social media gurus at Building Brand Character. However, the definitions (for meta tags) is from w3schools.com.

· META Tags

o Metadata is data (information) about data.

o The <meta> tag provides metadata about the HTML document. Metadata will not be displayed on the page, but will be machine parsable.

o Meta elements are typically used to specify page description, keywords, author of the document, last modified, and other metadata.

o The metadata can be used by browsers (how to display content or reload page), search engines (keywords), or other web services.

· Metric
A standard of measurement used by analytics programs.

· Mirror Site
An identical site at a different address.

· Microblogging

The act of broadcasting very short messages to an audience, such as on Twitter, where posts are limited to 140 characters each. Other microblogging services include Plurk and Jaiku.

· MySpace

One of the first big social media networks, it’s now mainly used by music acts and other entertainers. MySpace uses many of the same conventions as Facebook. It’s not recommended for businesses outside the entertainment industry.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Good morning, folks!

We have a few new subscribers today, including JHA’s own Social Media Recruiting Specialist. I hope I do right by her in reporting this information from the Building Brand Character glossary. Our letter of the day is “L.”

• Landing Page
  The page that a user lands on when he or she clicks a link in a search engine results page.
• Like
  An action that can be made by a Facebook user. Instead of writing a comment for a message or a status update, a Facebook user can click the Like button as a quick way to show approval and share the message.
• Link
  An element on a web page that can be clicked on to cause the browser to jump to another page or another part of the current page.
• Link Building
  Actively cultivating incoming links to a site.
• Link Exchange
  A reciprocal linking scheme often facilitated by a site devoted to directory pages. Link exchanges usually allow links to sites of low or no quality, and add no value themselves.
• Link Farm
  A group of sites which all link to each other.
• Link Spam
  (Comment Spam) Unwanted links such as those posted in user-generated content, like blog comments.
• LinkedIn
  A business-oriented social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. As of June 2010, LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
• Live-blogging
  Term used to describe when someone reports "live" from an event by posting short entries to a blog during the event. [KC – Also referred to as “live tweeting.”
  I suppose this is the opposite of “dead tweeting,” which you do while watching or attending anything related to the Zombie Apocalypse.]
• Local Rankings
  These are separate from organic rankings in that they display the business’s Google+ Local page as opposed to the site. They are often referred to as the maps pack or simply maps.
• Long Tail
  Longer, more specific search queries that are often less targeted than shorter, broad queries. For example a search for “widgets” might be very broad while “red widgets with reverse threads” would be a long tail search. [KC
  – Not to be confused with the long-tailed chinchilla, which is much cuter.]

Chinchilla lanigera

• Lurker
  Someone on social networks who simply listens and watches, but doesn’t participate in conversations or the activity on the site.

Kara Church
Technical Editor, Advisory

Today I have the last of the quotation marks for you. Well, the truth is, there are more rules and regulations, but I am giving you the basics and that still seems like more than plenty! These are some of the odds and ends that you might come across while reading and writing. These rules, except the last one, are compiled from the Chicago Manual of Style.

· Quotations and “quotes within quotes”

Quoted words, phrases, and sentences run into the text are enclosed in double quotation marks. Single quotation marks enclose quotations within quotations.

“Don’t be absurd!” said Henry. “To say that ‘I mean what I say’ is the same as ‘I say what I mean’ is to be as confused as Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party. You remember what the Hatter said to her: ‘Not the same thing a bit! Why you might just as well say that “I see what I eat” is the same thing as “I eat what I see”!’ ”

Note carefully not only the placement of the single and double closing quotation marks but also that of the exclamation points in relation to those marks in the example above. Question marks and exclamation points are placed just within the set of quotation marks ending the element to which such terminal punctuation belongs.

· Single quotation marks next to double quotation marks

When single quotation marks nested within double quotation marks appear next to each other, no space need be added between the two except as a typographical nicety subject to the publisher’s requirements. For example, most typesetters will use a thin space between the two marks to enhance readability.

“Admit it,” she said. “You haven’t read ‘The Simple Art of Murder.’ ”

· Quotation marks can be used to indicate a translation of a foreign word or phrase

The Prakrit word majjao, “the tomcat,” may be a dialect version of either of two Sanskrit words: madjaro, “my lover,” or marjaro, “the cat” (from the verb mrij, “to wash,” because the cat constantly washes itself).

· Single quotation marks in horticulture

In some horticultural publications, such names are enclosed in single quotation marks; any following punctuation is placed after the closing quotation mark. If the English name follows the Latin name, there is no intervening punctuation.

The hybrid Agastache ‘Apricot Sunrise’, best grown in zone 6, mingles with sheaves of cape fuchsia (Phygelius ‘Salmon Leap’).

And this tidbit is from the Microsoft Manual of Style:

“…placement of the closing quotation mark depends on whether the punctuation is part of the material being quoted. Quotation marks have specialized uses in many computer languages. Follow the conventions of the language in code samples.”

In the following example, the period goes outside of the quotation marks because it is not part of the value:

/*Declare the string to have length of “constant+1”.*/

More from the pages of UnnecessaryQuotes.com:

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

The most common questions I receive about quotation marks are about using quotation marks with other punctuation. There are so many rules and examples, I’m going to divide this into two days of lessons so as not to overwhelm. It is Friday after all!

Remember, these are American rules; England and many formerly English territories use a different set of punctuation rules.

From the Chicago Manual of Style:

· Periods and commas precede closing quotation marks. This is a traditional style, in use well before the first edition of this manual (1906).

o Growing up, we always preferred to “bear those ills we have.”

o “Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,” she replied.

From the Purdue OWL:

· Use a comma to introduce a quotation after a standard dialogue tag, a brief introductory phrase, or a dependent clause.

o The detective said, "I am sure who performed the murder."

o As D.H. Nachas explains, "The gestures used for greeting others differ greatly from one culture to another."

· Put commas and periods within quotation marks, except when a parenthetical reference follows.

o He said, "I may forget your name, but I never forget a face."

o History is stained with blood spilled in the name of "civilization."

o Mullen, criticizing the apparent inaction, writes, "Donahue’s policy was to do nothing" (24).

More from the pages of UnnecessaryQuotes.com:

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Good morning,

Let’s take a break from quotation marks to return to our social media vocabulary lesson. Today from the Building Brand Character glossary, when it comes to “K,” it’s all about the keyword.

· Keyword: (KW, key phrase) The word or phrase that a user enters into a search engine.

· Keyword Cannibalization: The excessive reuse of the same keyword on too many web pages within the same site. This practice makes it difficult for the users and the search engines to determine which page is most relevant for the keyword.

· Keyword Density: The percentage of words on a web page that are a particular keyword. If this value is unnaturally high the page may be penalized.

· Keyword Research: The hard work of determining which keywords are appropriate for targeting.

· Keyword Spam: (keyword stuffing) Inappropriately high keyword density. [KC – Thank goodness it isn’t spam stuffing—that would taste terrible!]

· Keyword Stuffing: See keyword spam

· Klout: A measure of social influence. The service allows users to connect various social accounts such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc., and then provides every user with his or her Klout score. The score is out of 100—the higher the score, the more influence you have on the social world.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
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together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
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Today I’m continuing with a few more rules and examples of how and when to use quotation marks. Here are direct quotation rules four through six, from the Purdue OWL:

4) If a direct quotation is interrupted mid-sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.

"I didn’t see an actual alien being," Mr. Johnson said, "but I sure wish I had."

5) In the examples above, note how the period or comma punctuation always comes before the final quotation mark. It is important to realize also that when you are using MLA or some other form of documentation, this punctuation rule may change.

When quoting text with a spelling or grammar error, you should transcribe the error exactly in your own text. However, also insert the term sic in italics directly after the mistake, and enclose it in brackets. Sic is from the Latin, and translates to "thus," "so," or "just as that." The word tells the reader that your quote is an exact reproduction of what you found, and the error is not your own.

Mr. Johnson says of the experience, "It’s made me reconsider the existence of extraterrestrials [sic]."

6) Quotations are most effective if you use them sparingly and keep them relatively short. Too many quotations in a research paper will get you accused of not producing original thought or material (they may also bore a reader who wants to know primarily what YOU have to say on the subject).

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

There’s a good reason I left quotation marks for last in our discussion of overused punctuation. Quotation marks come with many more rules than exclamation points and question marks. Not only is the list of rules long—it changes depending which side of the pond you live on. The British and American standards for using quotation marks are different. We’re going to stick with the American standards.

The primary use of quotation marks is to set off direct spoken or written language. Quotation marks are also used heavily in fiction to indicate dialog. In business writing, you will use them for the former reason, to quote passages from books, people, and resources. As one of my favorite resources, the Purdue OWL says, the “successful use of quotation marks is a practical defense against accidental plagiarism and an excellent practice in academic honesty.”

The following rules and examples are also from the Purdue OWL article on quotation marks. We will cover additional rules over the next day or two.

Direct Quotations

Direct quotations involve incorporating another person’s exact words into your own writing.

1. Quotation marks always come in pairs. Do not open a quotation and fail to close it at the end of the quoted material.

2. Capitalize the first letter of a direct quote when the quoted material is a complete sentence.

Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, "The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes."

3. Do not use a capital letter when the quoted material is a fragment or only a piece of the original material’s complete sentence.

Although Mr. Johnson has seen odd happenings on the farm, he stated that the spaceship "certainly takes the cake" when it comes to unexplainable activity.

Don’t use quotation marks for emphasis! Italicize the word instead. Quotation marks indicate you are using a word in an unusual or special way. Often the reader will see quotation marks around words as a warning that the word is being used in an abnormal or weird way. In the following examples, you can see that the words in quotations marks should not be seen as abnormal, or the seller will never get rid of their goods or sell their services:

Looks like catfish, tastes like chicken—but what is it really?

So do they groom dogs, or by “dog” to they mean horses? Hamsters? Billy goats?

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

Happy Friday! Today from the Building Brand Character social media glossary, we have several “I” terms and one “J” term for you.

I

· Impression: (page view) The event where a user views a webpage one time.

· Inbound Marketing: A style of marketing that essentially focuses on permission-based marketing techniques that businesses can use to get found by potential customers, convert those prospects into leads and customers, and analyze the process along the way. Inbound marketing leverages tactics such as search engine optimization, blogging, social media, lead generation, email marketing, lead nurturing, and analytics. It is in direct contrast to outbound marketing, which utilizes traditional interruptive marketing tactics such as direct mail, trade shows, print and TV advertising, and cold calling.

· Index: (noun) A database of webpages and their content used by search engines.

· Index: (verb) To add a webpage to a search engine index.

· Instagram: A photo sharing application that lets users take photos, apply filters to their images, and share the photos instantly on the Instagram network and other social networks like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and Foursquare. The app is targeted toward mobile social sharing, and in just over one year, it has gained almost 15 million users.

J

· Joomla: A content management system (CMS) that enables users to build websites and online applications.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory

619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773

www.symitar.com

NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any files transmitted with it are intended
exclusively for the individual or entity to which it is addressed. The message,
together with any attachment, may contain confidential and/or privileged information.
Any unauthorized review, use, printing, saving, copying, disclosure or distribution
is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please
immediately advise the sender by reply email and delete all copies.

Today we’re covering one of the easier pieces of punctuation: the question mark. According to Wikipedia, it is also known as an interrogation point, interrogation mark, question point, query, or eroteme. No matter what you call it, it goes at the end of a sentence, clause, or phrase to indicate a question. Like the exclamation point and period, you only need one at the end of the sentence.

The sign below is full of punctuation horrors: an apostrophe “s” on the word “rooms” (though they whited that out when they were proofreading); two question marks; double sets of unnecessary quotation marks; and, the period outside of the quotation marks. Not to mention the unnecessary capitalization and eerie emphasis of the words behind you. I don’t know what’s happening in rooms 130 and 135, but this sign is enough to make me run away screaming.

Coming soon to an email near you: misused and abused quotation marks.

Kara Church

Technical Editor, Advisory