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What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
by Tyler Thursby August 7th 2018
Search Engine Optimization Overview
Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is how a website can be improved or optimized so it ranks higher by search engines. By improving a site's visibility in search engines and focusing on how the search engine algorithm measures a website, a site can have better results in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The constant evolution of Google's algorithm requires vigilant attention to changes in SEO strategies. In the past, cheating the system by using black hat techniques has resulted in manual penalties and de-indexation. One must create content that is searchable, shareable, and linkable to avoid risk. It is vital to put a focus on creating websites and pages for users, not websites. Today's search has more things in common with creating a good user experience than pandering to robots.
Search engines use robots/spiders/crawlers to scan the internet, indexing the pages in a large database usually relational or Bigtable. These crawlers go from site to site following the links on each site, both internal and external. These sites are then sorted by their content, usability, and other factors.
Search Engine Algorithm
When a keyword is searched for on a search engine, an algorithm that takes over 200 factors into consideration is used to query the database to find the best results. These algorithms are constantly being tested and improved so that the best results can appear in the search engine results page. In recent years, Google has created updates to fight spam and serve the best webpages possible. Some things that these updates focus on are duplicate content, paid links, and using black hat techniques.
Major Google Algorithm Updates
There's a handful of major Google algorithm updates responsible for dramatic sea changes in SEO. Here's a brief overview of some of the most influential algorithms.
As recently as 2016, studies showed more people were accessing the internet from mobile devices than traditional desktop computers. Google's mobile-friendly update was designed to address this significant milestone—a mobile-based web required mobile-based search results to better serve Google users. Whereas having a mobile-friendly website used to be considered an advantage in SEO, it's now universally regarded as essential.
The quality of a website's content became a major focus with Google's Panda update. Sites with shallow content or excessive amounts of duplicate content (scraped from other parts of the web, recycled throughout the site itself, etc.) saw rankings negatively impacted. Panda forced websites to prioritize content marketing if they wanted to rank competitively, dramatically improving the quality of individual results for Google searchers.
Backlinks, or external links, have always played a critical role in SEO. But, Google's Penguin update radically redefined their responsibilities. The update changed the game by determining the quality of links when ranking sites—not just the quantity of links. Websites could no longer manipulate search rankings by building tons of spammy, low-quality backlinks; sites with links from trustworthy, relevant sites improved.
Google's local algorithm update helped provide more useful, relevant, and topical search results to users based on their search location. The update dramatically refined Google's distance and location ranking parameters—it's the reason we can search 'pizza near me' and get a list of results just down the road.
Google's Local Algorithm Update
Google's algorithm will continue to evolve and consider new factors when determining the value websites provide and how they should subsequently rank. This timeline can be especially useful for anyone interested in a more comprehensive look at how we got here.
Code of a Website
Search engines do not see a website like a person does, they see code. Instead of seeing the color green, search engines see the hex value of #008000. Instead of seeing an image, they see the file name and the alt attribute. The source of a page can be viewed to see how a search engine sees the webpage. It is important to understand this when optimizing your site, even if something looks good visually, it may not have the proper optimized code.
These crawlers can be instructed where they can or cannot go with a robots.txt file and sitemaps which will be discussed later in this article.
On-Site SEO
Many factors can affect how a search engine ranks your site are within the code. Optimizing a website's code is called on-site SEO. Think of a website as a car. Each of these factors are a part of the car, some more important than others, but all are needed to correctly run the car. Some of these techniques are a simple fix while others require access to the ftp server.
The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of your site. It's what people will type in to get to the page and what the search engine displays as the destination. The URL should relate to the page's contents. Some important factors in optimizing your URL include the following.
Shorter Is Better Than Longer
A short URL can be displayed completely on the search engine and social media networks. Avoid having many levels of subdirectories, in many cases the best optimized URL has one subdirectory. Create short concise URLs for each page. When using the title of the post, remove unneeded filler words to keep the URL concise.
When creating the file name (specific URL) for each page, be sure to use the focus keyword. Avoid oversaturating your URL with keywords. Instead, insert keywords where it reads naturally without forcing or overdoing it.
Use Hyphens, Not Underscores
It is a best practice to use hyphens (-) not underscores (_) to separate words in the URL.
Remove The Date
Some Content Management Systems add the date to the final URL or place it in sub directories. This adds unneeded length to your URL. If displaying the date is important, implement it in the page itself instead of the URL.
The title tag is located in the <head> of the webpage. It is used by the browser, search engine, and any bookmarking or sharing platform. It shows up as the name of your page. It is important to create titles that are unique, something made for users that entices them to click. It should also summarize the content of the page in a concise manner.
How Title Tags Show Up In The SERP
The title is the first impression your website makes on a person when doing a search. Perhaps the most important thing about the title of a page is that it is displayed prominently in the SERP. Different search engines will display different amounts of characters in their results. Title tags allow up to 70 characters on desktop and 78 characters on mobile. There's two different philosophies when it comes to crafting title tags: keep it short and sweet, and shoot for ~50 characters—OR use up all the space you can as it's essentially added real estate in SERPs. You may want to experiment and see what works best for your site.
Title Displayed In Browser
The title is also what is displayed in the title bar or tab of a browser and bookmarks. These often cut the title short. Knowing this, attempt to put most descriptive terms first and the brand terms (optional) last.
The description is a short paragraph that describes the content of a page. It is located in the <head> of the webpage. Descriptions should be unique to the page it is on, written in a way to compel a user to visit the page and created for the user, not the search engine. The meta description is used by the search engine in the results page, appearing underneath the title and URL. If you do not create a description, the search engine may take a piece of content from the page and use it as the description. It is a best practice to keep the character count of the description under 156 or it will get cut off. Descriptions on mobile results are generally limited to 110 to 120 characters, so you may want to run shorter on specific pages.
Header Tags
UPDATE THIS IMAGE
Header or H tags are a way of structuring the content on your page both through code and styles. They are used to create a hierarchy in the content within the page and help the piece flow. The content within these tags are more visible and are used by search engines when interpreting the purpose of the page. Search engines look at headers to take quick inventory and determine how much it relates to a search query. Due to spammy techniques, H tags have less value but are still considered essential with on-site SEO. H tags should be unique from page to page. Usually there should be a single H1 tag on a page with multiple H2, H3 or H4s—a natural hierarchy. Be sure that all H3s appear below a H2 and H4s appear below a H3 that is below a H2, all of which are below a H1 tag.
Linking is how users and search engines navigate through the internet. There are two types of links: follow and nofollow links. In the context of SEO, it helps to think about links as endorsements or professional recommendations. A follow (also known as dofollow) link is essentially a positive endorsement—the linking source is telling search engines I know and trust this site. A nofollow link is essentially a non-endorsement—here, the linking source is telling search engines I don't know this site so please don't associate me with it and potentially tarnish my good name! While most links (backlinks) provide value in SEO, the general consensus has been and remains: followed links are the gold standard.
Internal linking is a very important part of SEO. It benefits users by making your website easier to navigate, like aisles in a grocery store. It benefits search engines by helping them crawl your website and more readily interpret the content. Internal links should ideally be used to point toward pages that expand on or support the topic you are discussing—relevance to the linking keyword/overall subject is key. Don't disorient your users.
Some key factors in optimizing internal linking is to use descriptive anchor text that gives the user an idea of where they will go if clicked. Anchor text like "click here" or the exact URL can be improved by using descriptive text instead. Be sure to include a title attribute that describes the link.
External Linking
External linking is very similar to internal linking, except it sends the user to another site. The same principles for internal linking apply here; link to a site that expands on a topic, use descriptive anchor text and title attributes. At Zion & Zion, we generally recommend external links open in a new tab or window so users can easily come back to your article.
Implementing different forms of media on a page helps users digest your message in different manners. They also help break up the page from a mass of text. There are ways to optimize each type of media by using more than just text.
Images are a great way to break up the text on a page. Give an example of a subject and optimize the page. Be sure to use images wherever you can to enhance your content. It is best to use images created or shot by the site's owner. Search engines will rank your image higher in image search if your images are unique to the site. Images allow for four separate ways to optimize; alt attribute, title attribute, file name, and an image caption. Optimizing the image for web use and saving as progressive will ensure that the images do not increase page speed.
Video Media Type
Videos are a great way to serve content in a manner other than text. They can be used almost anywhere you would place an image. Host a video on a third party hosting platform like YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia to increase video load speed and decrease the bandwidth on the site's server. Utilizing schema.org micro data helps search engines know the content of your video. Unfortunately, search engines cannot listen to a video, so transcribing the video and placing this text on the page allows search engines to crawl the video content. Video transcriptions also help your website remain ADA compliant.
Canonicalization
Canonicalization is creating a single page for a particular term or set of terms. Each page on a site should be focused to a particular set of terms so no other pages compete for that term. If there are pages competing, one should be set as the canonical page using the rel=canonical tag in the <head> of the document. This allows search engines to serve the page you have designated to rank for a targeted set of terms.
Without canonicalization, multiple pages can compete for the same set of keywords. This can confuse the search engine and have a negative impact on both pages. Duplicate content can also be an issue if canonicalization is not implemented. This can lead to lower rankings due to the Google Panda update.
Crawl Issues
Ensuring that a site has no 400 status errors is important so pages that do not exist are not indexed. 302 temporary redirects should be reviewed to evaluate if the page will return. If not, change the code to a 301 permanent redirect.
Schema Microdata
Schema is a micro format that Google and Microsoft created so search engines could easily digest a site and understand the different parts. It can and should be implemented through the entire page. It's especially important to apply schema to your physical address if you operate a local business to improve your performance in local search results.
There are two types of sitemaps and both are beneficial, one for users and one for search engines. A HTML sitemap is a sitemap created for users so they can easily find any page on the site. The XML sitemap is created for search engines and tells them what pages to crawl and index. The location of the XML sitemap should be placed in the robots.txt file on the website.
Robots.txt File
You may not want every page of your website visible to the public. A robots file on the root of the sites server tells search bots where to go, restricting access to key areas. These are great for CMS websites like WordPress because it can block the files used by the CMS from showing up in search. A link to the location of the XLM sitemap should be included in this file so the robots know where to find a list of pages to crawl.
.htaccess File
The htaccess file is a very powerful file that, when used correctly, can help optimize a page. Because this file is used prior to displaying the website's content, if it is used incorrectly the website can act incorrectly or not at all. Not all servers support htaccess. Other tools like Plesk or CPanel can be used to complete the same tasks. Some benefits of the htaccess file include:
Created redirects
Specifying http or https for a page
Forcing or omitting www.
Removing trailing index files in the URL
Pointing to a 404 page
Page Speed Test Results
Page speed is now considered a critical aspect of SEO and essential to delivering a quality user experience. Users expect your page to load within three seconds—if it doesn't, they're more likely to abandon your site altogether. To optimize a page's speed, follow these best practices:
As few http requests as possible
Enable compression on files
Minify JavaScript, CSS & HTML
Use a content delivery network
It's important to test your pages for speed. Google's PageSpeed Insights is a free tool you can use for a quick snapshot of your performance and get suggestions on areas to fix.
Off-Site SEO
Off-site SEO are the external factors that impact your rankings — things like backlinks, social media and local listings. Here's a brief overview of the major off-site factors that influence SEO:
Backlink Profile Summary
When a website links to a website it is called a backlink. These links can be looked at like a vote from one site for another site. The more authoritative the site linking to the other, the more valuable the link. Not all backlinks are created equal—there's a big difference between receiving a link from Adweek and receiving a link from your cousin's blog. The more familiar Google is with a website, the more trusted backlinks the linking source they themselves have—generally means the more powerful the link becomes.
Links should come naturally. As a site produces quality content, other sites will link to it. Some factors to links that are important are the anchor text, the page the link is pointing to, the authority of the domain linking, and the ratio of links per domain.
Social media is a great way to increase awareness of your site and brand. It can be used to spread content, so it is more likely to earn links. While search engines have stated that social signals are not in the algorithm, some searches do use feedback from social media to order and personalize rankings.
Social media accounts and posts can rank highly, allowing a site to take up more of the SERP with more than their domain. For best rankings, be sure to post regularly on social and create a large network that shares your content.
Local listings can also rank highly in the SERP. There are a variety of listing sites throughout the web. It is important that all of these listing sites have the accurate NAP information for your business and website. These sites can drive traffic to your site and provide reviews.
White Hat vs Black Hat SEO
The main difference between white hat and black hat SEO is that black hat is used to manipulate search engines to garner better results, while white hat SEO stays within search engine guidelines. Ranking highly is difficult and takes time, be wary of someone who promises to gain top rankings in search quickly.
White Hat SEO
White hat SEO are techniques of optimization that follow search engines' guidelines. All of the topics that are discussed in this article can be considered white hat. The key is to follow best practices, so your site is finely tuned for search engine use and earns quality social shares and links to the site.
White hat SEO takes a lot of work and time. Doing a single thing like optimizing title tags will not get a site to the top spot in search. White hat SEO requires a holistic approach to improve a site user's experience, crawlablity and footprint on the web through social media and backlinks. When starting a new campaign, expect 6-9 months for results to truly show.
The best advice for anyone who is trying to improve rankings is to create content that people will read and enjoy. Turn the site into a resource for the world and establish the brand as an expert in the field so people will trust and utilize the information and services provided. Then, tell everyone about it through all available channels.
Black hat techniques may work quickly but can result in the site being de-indexed in the most extreme cases, essentially removing the site from search results altogether. By manipulating rankings through unethical means, rankings can soar but can also hinder a domain forever.
Some black hat techniques to avoid include the following.
Bad Link Building
Link farms
Sitewide Links
Website Scraping / Mirroring
Taking something from one site and putting it on yours as if it was your own.
Cloaking / Doorway Pages
Making the page appear one way to a search engine but a different way to a user.
Placing text off the page or having it be the same color as the background.
Hijacked Site
Taking over someone's site and placing links on it.
Negative SEO
Doing black hat techniques to someone else's site so they get penalized.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complex science that has an end goal of improving a website's ranking in search engines. There are many aspects to optimization, both on-site and off-site. Success can be had by creating a strategy that improves the site for search engines, creating unique and quality content and earning shares and links throughout the web.
SEO Resources
Google's SEO Starter's Guide
For anyone new to SEO, this is a must read.
Google Webmaster Central Blog
Information straight from the horse's mouth. A great place to find out what is new with search.
Google Webmaster Central YouTube Channel
Videos from the Google team that help webmasters understand how Google works.
Matt Cutts Website
The head of Google's Search Spam fighting division's personal blog.
A fantastic resource for SEO. The Moz team regularly pushes out great content to their blogs.
A site with the latest updates in search.
List of Search Engines
Blekko
Hotbot
ExaLead
Contenko
SEO Resources On Google Plus
Rand Fishkin
Danny Sullivan
Search Engine Round Table
Cyrus Shepard
Neil Patel
Will Reynolds
Arnie Kuenn
Gianluca Fiorelli
Bill Slawski
Aaron Bradley
Jenny Halasz
Mark Thaphagen
Dana Lookadoo
Dejan SEO
Internet Marketing Ninjas
SEO By The Sea
SEO Theory
Traffic Generation Cafe
SEO Takeaways
SEER Interactive
Yoast SEO Plugin
The best plugin for optimizing titles, descriptions, canonical pages and setting social media meta data.
Does the same things as Yoast, but not as well.
This plugin will improve your page speed by minifying code and connecting the site to a Content Delivery Network.
Easy redirection of pages on the site. Allows tracking or redirects to see what pages are visited the most.
Easily create sitemaps for the website.
Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is how a website can be improved or optimized so it ranks higher by search engines. By improving a site's visibility to search engines and focusing on how the search engine algorithm measures a website, a site can have better results in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The forever changing landscape of Google Updates that improve search results has created a shift in strategy. Cheating the system by using black hat techniques is getting sites penalized and de-indexed. Now one must create content that is searchable, shareable and linkable that is not only unique to the site but also a unique and expert opinion on the topic. It is vital to put a focus on creating websites and pages for Should say "users, not websites for search that try to "trick" the search engines.
How Search Engines See Your Site
Off-site Optimization
Google Authorship
Search engines use robots/spiders/crawlers to scan the internet, indexing the pages in a large database usually relational or BigTabe. These crawlers go from site to site following the links on each site, both internal and external. These sites are then sorted by their content, usability and other factors.
When a keyword is searched for on a search engine, an algorithm that takes over 200 factors into consideration is used to query the database to find the best results. These algorithms are constantly being tested and improved so that the best results can appear in the search engine results page. In recent years, Google has created updates to fight spam and serve the best webpages possible. Some things that these updates focus on are duplicate content, paid links and using black hat techniques.
Search engines do not see a website like a person does, they read the code. Instead of seeing the color green they see the hex value of #008000. Instead of seeing an image they see the file name and the alt attribute. The source of a page can be viewed to see how a search engine sees the webpage. It is important to understand this when optimizing your site, even if something looks good visually, it may not have the proper optimized code.
Many factors that can affect how a search engine ranks your site are within the code. Optimizing a website's code is called On-Site Optimization. Think of a website as a car, each of these factors are a part of the car, some more important than others but all are needed for the car to run correctly. Some of these techniques are a simple fix while others require access to the ftp server.
The URL or URI is the address of your site. It is what people will type in to get to the page and what the search engine displays as the destination. The URI should relate greatly to the page's contents. Some important factors in optimizing the URL are:
When creating the file name (specific URL) for each page, be sure to use the focus keyword. Avoid over saturating your URL with keywords. Instead, insert keywords where it reads naturally without forcing or overdoing it.
Use – not _ to separate words
Keep the date out
Some Content Management Systems will add the date to the final URL or place it in sub directories. This adds unneeded length to your URL. If displaying the date is important, implement it in the page itself instead of the URL.
The title tag is located in the <head> of the webpage. It is used by the browser, search engine and any bookmarking or sharing platform. It shows up as the name of your page. It is important to create titles that are unique, will compel someone to click and are written for users, not search engines. It should also summarize the content of the page in a concise manner.
The title is the first impression your website makes on a person when doing a search. Perhaps the most important thing about the title of a page is that it is displayed prominently in the SERP. Different search engines will display different amounts of characters in their results. It is a best practice to have your titles under 70 characters. I like to keep them around 52 characters, this way the title is long enough to explain the page's content but is short enough not to get cut off.
The description is a short paragraph that describes the content of a page. It is located in the <head> of the webpage. Descriptions should be unique to the page it is on, written in a way to compel a user to visit the page and created for the user, not the search engine. The meta description is used by the search engine in the results page appearing underneath the title and URL. If you do not create a description, the search engine may take a piece of content from the page and use it as the description. It is a best practice to keep the character count of the description under 156 or it will get cut off.
Header Tags On A Website
Header or H tags are a way of structuring the content on your page both through code and styles. They are used to create a hierarchy in the content within the page to help the piece flow and be broken up into segments. The content in these tags are more visible on the page and are more important than other text. Search engines will take the headers and use them in the algorithm. Due to spammy techniques, H tags are less important to SEO than before. H tags should be unique from page to page. Usually there should be a single H1 tag on a page with multiple H2, H3 or H4s. Use these in a hierarchy. Be sure that all H3s appear below a H2 and H4s appear below a H3 that is below a H2, all of which are below a H1 tag.
Internal & External Linking
Linking is how users and search engines navigate through the internet. There are two types of links: follow and nofollow. The difference being that an attribute of nofollow is added to the link, letting search engines know that this link should not pass page rank. A follow link sometimes called dofollow, is a link that is placed on a site consciously as an editorial decision. They are meant to improve the user's experience and should not be paid for or used for advertisements.
Internal linking is a very important part of SEO. It is beneficial to the user allowing them to stay on your website to find out more information. It is beneficial to search engines by helping pass page rank throughout the site and assisting them in crawling the website. Ideally links would point to pages that expand upon the topic you are discussing. This allows the page to cover a topic without diving deep or going off on a tangent.
Some key factors in optimizing internal linking is to use descriptive anchor text that gives the user an idea of where they will go if clicked. Anchor text like "click here" or the exact URL can be improved by using descriptive text instead. Be sure to include a title attribute that describes the link. The link should open in a new window or tab, this way users can keep reading your article or come back to it easily.
External linking is very similar to internal linking except it takes a user off of the site and sends them to another site. These sites should be authoritative and a primary source of information. The same principles for internal linking apply here; link to a site that expands on a topic, use descriptive anchor text and title attributes and have the link open in another window.
Images are a great way to break up the text on a page. Give an example of a subject and optimize the page. Be sure to use images wherever you can to enhance your content. It is best to use images created or shot by the site owner. Search engines will rank your image higher in image search if your images are unique to the site. Images allow for four separate ways to optimize; alt attribute, title attribute, file name and an image caption. Optimizing the image for web use and saving as progressive will ensure that the images do not increase page speed.
Videos are a great way to serve content in a manner other than text. They can be used almost anywhere you would place an image. Host a video on a third party hosting platform like YouTube, Vimeo or Wistia to increase video load speed and decrease the bandwidth on the site's server. Utilizing schema.org micro data helps search engines know the contents of your video. Unfortunately search engines cannot listen to a video so transcribing the video and placing this text on the page allows search engines to crawl the video content.
Canonicalization is creating a single page for a particular term or set of terms. Each page on a site should be focused to a particular set of terms so that no other pages compete for that term. If there are pages competing, one should be set as the canonical page using the rel=canonical tag in the <head> of the document. This allows search engines to serve the page you have designated to rank for a targeted set of terms.
Without canonicalization, multiple pages can compete for the same set of keywords. This can confuse the search engine and cause them to rank both pages poorly instead one well. Duplicate content can also be an issue if canonicalization is not implemented. This can lead to lower rankings due to the Google Panda Update.
Ensuring that a site has no 400 status errors is important so pages that do not exist are not indexed. 302 temporary redirects should be reviewed to evaluate if the page will return, if not change the code to a 301 permanent redirect.
Schema is a micro format that Google and Microsoft created so search engines could easily digest a site and understand the different parts. It can and should be implemented through the entire page. It is especially important to schema your address to help with local search.
There are two types of sitemaps, both are beneficial, one for users and one for search engines. A HTML sitemap is a sitemap created for users so they can easily find any page on the site. A XML sitemap is created for search engines telling them what pages to crawl and index. XML sitemaps can be created for specific content like blog posts, images and videos. The location of the XML sitemap should be placed in the robots.txt file on the website.
A robots file on the root of the sites server that tells robots (the scripts that search engines use to crawl a site) where not to go. It is used to prevent undesired pages to appear in search. These are great for CMS websites like WordPress because it can block the files used by the CMS from showing up in search. A link to the location of the XLM sitemap should be included in this file so the robots know where to find a list of pages to crawl.
The htaccess file is a very powerful file that when used correctly can help optimize a page. Because this file is used prior to displaying the website's content, if it is used incorrectly the website can act incorrectly or not at all. Not all servers support htaccess. Other tools like Plesk or CPanel can be used to complete the same tasks. Some benefits of the htaccess file include:
Load speed of a webpage is and will continue to be a growing part of the search algorithm. Slow pages frustrate users causing them to bounce and return to search results. To optimize a page's speed, follow these best practices:
There are factors that can impact the rankings of a website that are not actually on the website. External factors like links, social media and local listings can boost the rankings for a specific location or term.
Backlink Profile Summery
When a website links to a website it is called a backlink. These links can be looked at like a vote from one site for another site. The more authoritative the site linking to the other, the more valuable the link. Links pass Page Rank from one page to another; this Page Rank pass is what helps websites rank higher. Backlinks have a large impact on the search engine algorithm and have been utilized in black hat techniques so much that Google has updated their algorithm to lower the ranking of sites that have participated in link placement.
Links should come naturally. As a site produces quality content, other sites will link to it. Some factors to links that are important are the anchor text, the page the link is pointing to, the authority of the domain linking and the ratio of links per domain.
Social media is a great way to increase awareness of your site and brand. It can be used to spread content so it is more likely to earn links. While search engines have stated that social signals are not in the algorithm, some searches do use feedback from social media to order and personalize rankings.
Local listings can also rank highly in the SERP. There are a variety of listing sites throughout the web. It is important that all of these listing sites have the accurate information for your business and website. These sites can drive traffic to your site and provide reviews.
Google is now providing a service that tracks all the content created by a specific person to a Google+ account. This will allow posts to have an established author created to rank higher and more quickly than if authorship was not implemented. It also can display an image next to the search results which may lead to higher click through rates.
Google Authorship is now deprecated and no longer active.
White hat SEO are techniques of optimization that follow search engines' guidelines. All of the topics that are discussed in this article can be considered white hat. The key is to follow best practices so your site is finely tuned for search engine use and earns quality social shares and links to the site.
The best advice for anyone who is trying to improve rankings is to create amazing content that people will read and enjoy. Turn the site into a resource for the world and establish the brand as an expert in the field so people will trust and utilize the information and services provided. Then tell everyone about it through all available channels.
Black hat techniques may work quickly but can result in the site being de-indexed forever, never ranking on a search engine again. By manipulating rankings through unethical means, rankings can soar but can also hinder a domain forever.
Black hat SEO has given Search Engine Optimizers like myself a bad name. These companies or professionals that promise the world quickly, then leave a site owner worse off than before they started, have given our industry a black eye. Some black hat techniques to avoid are:
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Kent have re-signed Antigua-born fast bowler Robbie Joseph, who has not played county cricket since 2012.
The 32-year-old spent the 2012 season with Leicestershire after being released by the Canterbury side at the end of the 2011 campaign.
Joseph made his debut for Kent in 2005 and took 144 first-class wickets at an average of 31.25 during his first spell with the club.
He has featured for Kent in pre-season matches against Durham and Essex.


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Collaboration Platforms & Systems
Knowledge & Data Infrastructure
Scott David
Business21C launch of the year
Scott David September 24, 2010
Collaboration Platforms & Systems, Content Strategy, Digital Transformation, Experience Design, Key Projects, Knowledge & Data Infrastructure, Organization Design No Comments
The UTS Business School in Sydney embarked upon a new strategy in 2009 – when it's Dean set an agenda for a Knowledge Future. This led to a rethink of the course structures, stronger ties with the business community and alumni, brought voice to the academics and business leaders, and built a new campus to enable innovation and collaboration.
To enable this transition, the creation of a multi-channel knowledge and community platform (physical and digital) and its brand was required. It included well attended events, expert articles on global issues and new technologies, community channels, video presentations, weekly podcasts and newsletters, a quarterly magazine, and presence on social platforms. Our work also led to Frank Gehry designing the new business school, with funding from a member of our business community – the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building.
The creative process and my role
My responsibility for the Business School was to lead the digital product and brand creation. I assembled the creative and technical team, specified the structure and User Experience of the platform and its features and functionality, and oversaw the creative development of all branded touchpoints.
The branding reflected the disquiet brought about by the Global Financial Crisis, set against the optimism that innovation and creativity through collaboration could be a solution. It's a mixture of dark unknowns and dramatic high-colour symbolism. This graphic language successfully connected the business community with the youthful student body.
On the website I wanted a few key experiences to be done well.
1. A calm and focussed reading experience for articles and features. This was achieved with a clean design in line with Read-later applications that were becoming prominent
2. A focussed watching experience. For video and interactive features we enabled all other page content to visually fall away, leaving only the attention on the content.
3. Easy social sharing. We coded custom social buttons, prominently anchored on all pages, to share our content. This helped build the conversation around ideas, and dramatically increased website traffic from around the world.
4. Knowledge mapping and data visualisation. We created, commissioned and profiled data visualisation and non-linear narrative content. These interactive features and data points brought journalistic clarity to our stories and new ways to explore ideas.
5. Personal profile pages. All our academic and business contributors were highlighted on the site. This achieved a sense of pride and connection, and showcased the talent and ideas of our community.
Development team and technologies
I worked alongside a head of marketing and head of content. We had a key designer for web and key designer for print. One highly talented developer built and maintained the website and its evolving features. An editorial team and lead editor produced the quarterly magazine. And a production house in Sydney supplied the camera crew for the video filming.
Mind mapping leadership and innovation
The Thinking Web
The shortest distance between two brains: classifying Information Graphics
Scott David leads User Experience strategy and design at the World Economic Forum, across their digital platforms for data-driven knowledge and communities of global leadership.
View on LinkedIn | Read more
Recent Projects & Posts
Lifelong Machine Learning December 20, 2016
Wireless earphones: quietly ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution October 20, 2016
O'Reilly Artificial Intelligence Conference in New York September 30, 2016
Creating a digital-first Reports and Initiatives platform (a retrospective) April 15, 2016
Beyond CRM: The promise of Cognition Management Platforms March 19, 2016
Machine Learning for leadership content February 1, 2016
Neo4j interviewed me at GraphConnect January 22, 2016
Building a Global Issues Graph for world leaders November 22, 2015
The Inclusive Growth and Development Index and a digital-first workflow September 7, 2015
Big Data, Machine Learning and Graph trends from O'Reilly Strata May 15, 2015
© 2018 Scott David / Patterns in the Data
Lifelong Machine Learning
Wireless earphones: quietly ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
O'Reilly Artificial Intelligence Conference in New York

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Rahman Rezaei (; * 20. Februar 1975 in Nūr) ist ein iranischer ehemaliger Fußballspieler.

Karriere
Rahman Rezaei begann seine Profikarriere bei Zob Ahan Isfahan. Nach fünf überzeugenden Spielzeiten in der höchsten iranischen Spielklasse und guten Auftritten im Dress der Nationalmannschaft wechselte er zur Saison 2001/02 ins Ausland zu AC Perugia in die italienische Serie A. Dort blieb er zwei Spielzeiten, bis es ihn zur Saison 2003/04 zum FC Messina zog. In seiner ersten Saison bei Messina gelang ihm der Aufstieg in die Serie A. Nach drei erfolgreichen Spielzeiten wechselte er zur Saison 2006/07 zum AS Livorno, bei der er nur unregelmäßig zum Einsatz kam.

Sein Nationalmannschaftsdebüt gab er im Jahr 2001 gegen die Auswahl Bosnien-Herzegowinas. Bei der WM 2006 war er ein Schlüsselspieler Irans, der allerdings nicht die Hoffnung erfüllen konnte, die man in ihn setzte. Rezaei erntete vielmehr Kritik für seine Fehler, die nicht selten zu Gegentoren führten. Im April 2007 gab er nach der enttäuschenden Asienmeisterschaft 2007 seinen Rücktritt aus der Nationalmannschaft bekannt. Im Dezember 2007 erklärte Rezaei seinen Rücktritt vom Rücktritt und nimmt mit seinem Land an der Qualifikation für die WM 2010 teil.
Er bestritt bislang 56 Länderspiele für den Iran, in denen er drei Treffer erzielte.

Rahman Rezaei wird in der Saison 2008/2009 bei Persepolis Teheran spielen.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Fußballnationalspieler (Iran)
Fußballspieler (al-Ahli SC)
Fußballspieler (AC Perugia Calcio)
Fußballspieler (ACR Messina)
Fußballspieler (AS Livorno)
Fußballspieler (Paykan Teheran)
Fußballspieler (FC Persepolis)
Fußballspieler (Zob Ahan Isfahan)
Iraner
Geboren 1975
Mann
Teilnehmer an einer Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft (Iran)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Transformation of Collectively Owned Enterprises and its Outcomes in China, 2001-2005
World Development, Vol. 37, No. 10, 2009
Posted: 11 Sep 2009 Last revised: 6 Jul 2014
See all articles by Xia Jun
Xia Jun
affiliation not provided to SSRN
Shaomin Li
Cheryl Long
Colgate University - Economics Department
Date Written: September 9, 2009
Previous studies have primarily focused on the relative success of collectively owned enterprises (COEs) in China during the early years of reform, but they have ignored the agency problems inherent in this type of organizational form that may be an obstacle to further improving performance in a changing environment. Drawing on agency theory and the privatization literature, we argue that the transformed COEs in the ongoing organizational transformation process may achieve better performance by reducing agency costs. We examine a sample of COEs in Chinese manufacturing industries and track their ownership statuses from 2000 to 2005. Our findings reveal that the transformed firms achieved better performance than the traditional, untransformed COEs by mitigating agency problems.
Keywords: ownership transformation, agency problems, performance, collectively owned enterprises
JEL Classification: G34, L33, P21, P31, P32, P41
jun, xia and Li, Shaomin and Long, Cheryl Xiaoning, The Transformation of Collectively Owned Enterprises and its Outcomes in China, 2001-2005 (September 9, 2009). World Development, Vol. 37, No. 10, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1470622
affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )
Old Dominion University ( email )
Norfolk, VA 23529-0222
Cheryl Xiaoning Long (Contact Author)
Colgate University - Economics Department ( email )


text:
You are here: Home / Sports / Wildcats move back into conference tournament contention
(Photo by Christi Lim)
Wildcats move back into conference tournament contention
October 24, 2017 by Jonathan Raitz
With wins over the 2016 regular-season conference champion in Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Incarnate Word on Sunday, volleyball has found its way back into the top-eight of the conference standings.
In eighth place, the Wildcats sit right at the edge of the postseason tournament qualifying, with the top-eight teams earning a postseason berth at the season's conclusion. Having little wiggle room, head coach Angela Mooney said her team has to narrow its focus.
"Our goal right now is just to take one match at a time," Mooney said. "We're at a position where we just have to keep climbing that ladder."
The Wildcats started the weekend with a strong performance against the Islanders that required five closely-contested sets before ACU came out on top. After dropping the first game 25-23, the Islanders responded with a 25-18 victory to event the score. ACU then took a 2-1 set lead with another 25-23 win, before TAMUCC once again evened the score, outlasting the Wildcats 26-24. But it was the home crowd carrying the team to a 15-11 victory in the final set and the match.
On Saturday night, the Wildcats struggled to find any momentum or rhythm left over from Thursday's win, dropping the first set to the Cardinals, 25-21. But the team adjusted and found a spark in the second set.
"In between one and two, we just regrouped and said you know what we don't want to play like this, let's let this set go, let's be done with it," Mooney said. "We wanted to control that next set and that's exactly what we did."
In fact, the women converted 14 kills and committed just five errors as the middle blockers began to control the game.
But out of the break the Wildcats were lethargic, spotting UIW a 14-8 lead early in set three. This time it was junior setter Kendall Bosse, who rallied the troops during an ACU timeout.
"Kendall Bosse was actually the one who took control of that timeout and said 'you guys we're not doing this, we're going to take control and we're going to push them," Mooney said. "And that's the first time I think on our bench that we've really had that this year."
From that point on it was all ACU.
The Wildcats outscored the Cardinals 17-6 the rest of the way and shut the door in the fourth set with an astounding .452 hitting percentage and 25-17 win. Bosse, who was moved to setter during last season after starting her career as an outside hitter and middle blocker, proved she was more than comfortable at the position. Aside from rallying the team on the bench, Bosse aided the offensive attack with 43 assists. Mooney said she has put in extra time during and after practice to get to where she needs to be.
"She's doing a really great job learning. We have a lot of new hitters on our team and a lot of people in good positions than they've played in the last year," Mooney said. "If we can get her going than that's just another attack for us."
At 8-13 overall and now 4-5 in Southland Conference, ACU has seven games left, five of which are on the road and five of which are against teams ahead of them in the standings. While this will give the team a great opportunity to continue to climb the ladder, the Wildcats will still have some work left to do if they want to clinch a postseason tournament berth.
Filed Under: Sports
About Jonathan Raitz
JMC Network Sports Director. Try to cover all things sports related, on and off The Hill (ACU).


After nearly 5 years on the air, Dave's Strange Radio has ceased broadcasting. As much as I've loved creating and running this station, my kids are nearing college age and the money I would need to spend to keep the station going would be better spent on them. This is not a time to be sad. I'm moving on to a different, but very good stage of my life.
Please note that I've created a Spotify playlist called Dave's Strange Radio that includes much of the music we've been playing over the years. I hope to get it updated with all the music we've been playing, but in the meantime, if you have a Spotify account, you can add it as a favorite, hit play, and shuffle. Or you can just access the playlist below.
And while the radio station is going off the air, Dave's Strange World is not. I haven't posted in a while, but hope to keep the blog going with new posts soon.
Thank you for all of your support and kind words. This is the most fun I've had in years and I wouldn't trade it for anything.


Play online or with friends as SNK's iconic heroines in the brand-new 2 vs 2 fighting game, SNK HEROINES Tag Team Frenzy! Activate Special Moves with a single button, and make use of special items to change the tide of battle! However, the fight isn't over the moment you've chipped enough health away. Once your opponent is on the ropes, utilize your Dream Finish technique to win the match! Spectate on other battles online, and wager in-game points on who you think will win. Use your winnings to buy voice clips and accessories in an all-new costume system, and customize your favorite heroine to your heart's content!
An Iconic Cast of SNK's Female Characters! - Choose from a generous roster of female heroines from the SNK universe!


text:
China, on Its Way to Innovation
2015-03-12 16:45:31 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Xie Tingting
By Zhao Yang (About the author)
In the government work report this year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned "innovation" 29 times, whereas in the 2014 Report it was mentioned only 3 times. In the 2014 Report, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were mentioned 4 times, while in 2015 SMEs and micro-sized businesses were mentioned a total of 8 times. As China seeks to transform its economy into the new normal and avoid the "middle income trap", the central government is clearly looking towards innovation in order to transform its economy. At the core of this effort is the desire to encourage SMEs and micro-sized businesses to be the vehicles of innovation.
Buoyed by recent Chinese commercial success in the highly competitive cell phone market by Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE and seven other rapidly growing Chinese cell phone manufacturers, and in the equally hot Internet services arena, via Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu, China seems to be turning away from its emphasis and reliance on state-owned enterprises (SOEs), towards small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs); the traditional breeding grounds of jobs, innovative ideas and products.
But, China is not alone in its quest to encourage and support innovation, as every country in the world is trying to replicate the miracle of Silicon Valley. Given the economic softness, every country is trying to come up with ways to efficiently encourage innovation and most of those efforts are also centered on small, medium and micro-sized enterprises. In Germany, for example, officials are proposing long-term tax breaks and easier access to capital for start-ups. In Japan, the government is setting up special zones where foreign and Japanese entrepreneurs can start businesses with less red tape. The question is, what does China have in mind and will it work?
Apart from competing with other countries during difficult economic times, in order to understand China's focus on innovation, it is first necessary to understand what the "middle income trap" is and why it has become a driving force in China's economic outlook.
The "middle income trap" occurs when a country's rising wages makes their manufacturing sector uncompetitive. Under this circumstance, wage costs are no longer able to offset poor logistics, inefficient use of resources and uncompetitive manufacturing processes. It is exacerbated by a lack of educated workers and innovative products. Examples include South Africa and Brazil, which have been unable to get beyond the "middle-income range" since their per capita gross national product reached 10,000-12,000 US dollars. The symptoms of being in the "middle income trap" include a stagnant GDP, slowing investment, marginal growth in secondary and tertiary industries, and stagnant labor markets. As of 2014, China's GDP per capita was at 11,525 US dollars, based on purchasing power parity, putting China squarely in the "middle income trap" zone.
To avoid the "middle income trap", as real wages rise, countries have to become more efficient and productive. If countries are able to move their manufacturing and service industries to the next competitive level, the rise in real incomes can actually help drive the economy by supporting a larger consumer base and thus contribute to continued and sustainable economic growth. The challenge of moving from a resource driven economic model, which is dependent on cheap labor and investment, towards growth based on efficient production and innovation is difficult and has stymied many emerging economies. Populist pressures to maintain jobs and increase social benefits, and a lack of critical infrastructure, education and innovation have thwarted the transition for most countries. The exception is South Korea, which invested heavily in infrastructure, education and research and development, resulting is an efficient world competitive economy, which has a treasure trove of scientific and technological intellectual property.
China's approach to the "middle income trap" puzzle, as detailed in Premier Li Keqiang's Work Report, emphasizes increased reliance on market forces to increase efficiency, continued infrastructure investment, educational reforms that emphasize more scientific and technical training, and less government red tape. China also plans to set up a 40-billion-yuan (6.5 billion US dollars) government fund for emerging industries; provide more support for research development; and decrease regulations for in-bound and out-bound investment. The goal is clearly to create a new culture of innovation within China and to start tapping into its creative core.
A concrete example of what China is doing includes the 1,500 plus so-called incubators operated under the Ministry of Science and Technology's Torch Program; a nationwide initiative that provides policy, financing and consulting services for hi-tech firms. China is planning to increase the number of incubators by 15 percent each year. In addition the Ministry also runs an innovation fund that has channeled 3.5 billion yuan of investment into more than 3,000 projects in emerging industries.
Last year, almost 80,000 companies received services from government-run incubators. They are in strategic emerging industries that include energy-saving and environmental protection, next-generation information technology, bio-technology, advanced equipment manufacturing, new energy, new materials and new-energy vehicles.
The high-profile successes of Chinese companies like e-commerce giant Alibaba has also helped to fuel start-ups. Compared with Americans and Europeans, a Chinese national is now twice as likely to engage in entrepreneurship, according to Max von Zedtwitz, director of the Centre for Global R&D and Innovation, a research institute with a focus on studying innovation in China.
But, there are always those who doubt, and there are many questions that will still have to be answered. For example, many outside China still question whether China's "Shanzhai" (copycat) culture, can morph into an innovation powerhouse. Their questions are reminiscent of the questions which accompanied the rise of the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when European newspapers and governments harshly criticized the U.S., a nation that had broken Great Britain's cloth monopoly by buying English mills, dismantling and then shipping them to the U.S., in some cases in the middle of the night. Every new rising power has borrowed from the powers which came before, but in each case, they have to bring new innovations if they are to survive.
There are also differences about the use of government run innovation development funds. There is a split between those who say it's a necessary signal of the government's commitment to encouraging innovation and those who believe the market can be a more efficient player. But if China can combine the government and market in a good way, then we can benefit from it on our road towards becoming an innovation nation.
Finally, as some say the challenge/difficulties will be in the details, such as cutting red tape, IPR protection, funding useful R&D, educational reform, legal reform, financial reform anti-corruption etc... All these factors will have to be effectively implemented and the overall state of the world economy is not something that China can control. One major factor will be the Chinese people and how we respond to the challenge - can and will we develop the courage and skills needed to take China to the next level of economic growth. But the more pressing question in my opinion is will China transition to an innovation nation? I believe we will; we are a hard-working pragmatic people and we have a government which is committed to leading the way.
Zhao Yang hosts a China Radio International business flagship program Biz Today. Before that, she has been a financial reporter for CRI's London correspondent bureau. She was actively involved in reporting the financial market in the city of London, and the Chinese economy as well.
The opinions expressed here are only personal, and do not necessarily represent CRI's official policy.
Read all opinion stories by Zhao Yang
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Examine the theoretical framework used in the study and assess its appropriateness for the selected research question.
In this assignment, you will evaluate the research methodologies used in a particular study to apply the knowledge you have gained in the course. This will be your opportunity to explore a research study in depth and gain a stronger understanding of both conducting the research and also reporting the outcome of that research.
Evaluate the way in which the literature review portion of the article informed and supported the research.
Analyze the instruments used in data collection and discuss how they were an appropriate selection to achieve the desired outcomes.
Evaluate the results and conclusions drawn and discuss the extent to which they supported the research question.
Evaluate the ethical considerations that the researchers kept in mind regarding multicultural diversity in data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
Write your paper in a Microsoft Word document and save it as M3_A2_Lastname_Firstname.doc. Include a title and reference page and apply APA standards to the citation of sources, including use of in-text citations and full references.
By Wednesday, January 6, 2016, post your saved paper to the M3 Assignment 2 RA 1 Dropbox.
RA 1 is worth 200 points and will be graded according to the following rubric.


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On April 17, 2019, the United States Supreme Court heard the oral arguments in perhaps the most significant trust case in 100 years: North Carolina Department Of Revenue, Petitioner, V. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, Respondent.
The crux of the Kaestner case is whether the state of North Carolina should be able to constitutionally tax trusts where the only connection to the state is that the beneficiary is a resident.
In the state of North Carolina, the taxpayer won throughout the entire court system, but North Carolina appealed successfully to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Matthew W. Sawchak, North Carolina Solicitor General, argued on behalf of the Petitioner and David A. O'Neil, Esq., of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP on behalf of the Respondent.
In the hour-long arguments, the Justices actively participated, frequently interrupting the counsels. Overall, based on our initial analysis of the transcript, the line of questioning from the majority of the Justices seemed to be slightly more sympathetic to the Respondent. However, there were several times the Justices were challenging the Respondent's arguments.
As always with the Supreme Court, it is difficult to tell the outcome until the decision is published.
More Context By Including the Fielding Case?
The central argument seems to focus on what is the connection of a trust to a location – trustee, place of administration or the beneficiary. Interestingly, there was no discussion over the location of the grantor – which is the central argument in the Fielding case from Minnesota.
We are closely watching to see if SCOTUS will hear Fielding as well providing more context to taxing resident trusts.
In this case, there are many ways the court could decide whether to grant for the respondent, rule for the petitioner, or the send the case back to North Carolina for further analysis.
We reached out to an estate planning attorney in Minnesota with whom we have been closely monitoring the Fielding case which carries similar trust taxation issues as the Kaestner case.
Click here to see our summary of both cases.
"The Court took note that the state was essentially asking the Court to overturn 100 years of tax precedent to reach the conclusion that the beneficiaries residence alone should determine. It is essentially a personal jurisdiction question. Who owns the trust assets? When do they own the trust assets? Traditionally, it has always been the trustee and not the beneficiaries.
"This is analogous to the legal fiction that a corporation is a person. A corporation is a separate person from the shareholders. The shareholders ultimately benefit from the economic activity, but the corporation is separately taxed and has separate legal character. The same principle applies here but is even more powerful.
"Because there is an actual person there: the trustee. The beneficiaries may ultimately benefit, but the ownership is held in the personhood of the trustee.
"Discretionary trusts further embody this. The court seemed to look to this ownership question: When does the beneficiary own the property?
"It's when they control the property. Just like when stock options and incentives vest. The Court focused on this question.
Based on the arguments, we were pleased that the Court seems to be settling in that this is a Due Process case (and not a Commerce Clause case) and seems to be set on deciding either way based on the arguments.
Our expectation, given the arguments, is that we don't think the Court will give practitioners broad constitutional direction on all state trust taxation laws, but narrower guidance on the taxation of beneficiaries.
It is possible that the Court could solely rule regarding the taxation of discretionary trusts as the arguments centered around them.
It would not be unreasonable for the court to opine that current state income taxation of undistributed trust income would be unconstitutional, but throw-back taxes would be permissible.
A combination of a narrow ruling on Kaestner and the Court not granting a writ of certiorari on Fielding could lead to an interesting situation for practitioners.
Furthermore, given the discussion surrounding adjudication v. taxation, it will be interesting to see whether the Court's opinion will impact out-of-state asset protection trusts, specifically states' arguments over jurisdiction of trusts.
Below, we highlight some of the exchanges and questions from the discussion yesterday. For those who are interested in the full transcript, it is 69 pages.
You may check the transcript out here.
All text within quotations is taken from the SCOTUS transcript linked above.
Justice Breyer had one of the most extended remarks from Mr. Sawchak: "Look, the trustee lives in New York, okay? The settlor is in New York. All the administration is in New York. There is one thing that's going to happen in North Carolina. The thing that's going to happen in North Carolina is if she is there when it's distributed, she'll get some money. Okay? Which you're totally free to tax. But that isn't what want to tax. You want to tax all these things which are everyone except her is in New York, and moreover, we don't even know if she'll ever get the money.
"Now there's something wrong with that. I don't know, it doesn't say specifically about trusts in the Constitution, but, thus, I mean, lots of trusts say there are 10 beneficiaries, each one lives in a different state, and I, the trustee, have total discretion as to who give this money to and maybe I'll give it to none of them.
Justice Sotomayor's line of questioning is asking whether unequal state taxation could be interpreted as potentially changing the settlor's intent and if the trustee needs to take that into account in distribution decisions.
Justice Sotomayor: "No, there is something in the trust instrument here. The trust instrument says that the trustee has absolute discretion to give her something or nothing, to give three people–I think there's two or three children; I don't know how many there are here, but let's assume there's four of them, her and three children, for using even numbers.
Justice Kavanaugh: "If –I thought we didn't need to answer the question raised by Justice Kagan's previous hypothetical, and just raised by you, which is, if we did know, in other words, if it were guaranteed or certain, that might or might not be a different case.
Could states impose throw-back taxes as the Federal Government does with offshore trusts?
Mr. O'Neil later said: "I'd like to just focus, if I could, on the –on the point of the throw-back tax because I do think –I do think it is an answer to why –to the state's concern about all of the potential loss of revenue that it may –may –may lose out on here.
Alliance Trust Company of Nevada will continue to monitor this case very closely.
Why Are Asset Protection Trusts Popular in California but not Minnesota?
Alliance Trust Company of Nevada is partnering with BlackRock and Redden Law to host a Breakfast Event for a discussion on Asset Protection in Minnesota: From market to legal risks; Who is at risk and for how much?; Is it true that a creditor can seize my car for $4,600?; My IRA for $69,000?
Our expert panel will lead a lively discussion.
Market outlook and investment implications of balancing risk and reward – What can I do to protect myself?
What other risks are impacting my wealth – Is it true that a creditor can seize my brand-new Suburban for $4,600? What about my IRA or my house?
Brian Weverbergh, CIMA® is a Market Leader with BlackRock. He serves financial advisors in the states of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, he was a Regional Vice President for Allianz Global Investors based in Minneapolis, MN.
Mr. Weverbergh earned the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®) designation through the Investment Management Consultants Association in conjunction with the Yale School of Management. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from Ithaca College.
Michael Redden is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He served as an Intelligence Analyst with the 31 FW in Aviano, Italy. After the Air Force, Michael returned to Minnesota where he attended law school at Hamline University School of Law. Michael lives in New Hope with his wife and four sons while coaching youth wrestling. In the past, Michael worked at Prudential Insurance Company of America where he helped clients of the company protect their assets. While at Prudential, Michael was a registered representative of Pruco Securities and held his Series 6 and Series 63 securities designations.
Michael has a passion for helping licensed professionals preserve their wealth for the next generation. Since tort reform is unlikely, it is more important than ever to have a plan to protect your wealth from lawsuits. He has also served as an independent Trustee/fiduciary in the past. Michael's practice has a special focus on Integrated Estate Planning. He combines effective Asset Protection techniques with other Estate Planning strategies in order to protect the assets of individuals and businesses from lawsuits.
As president of Alliance Trust Company of Nevada, Gregory E. Crawford develops strategy, drives growth, and oversees operations. For two decades, Greg has designed and implemented asset management and asset protection plans for multi-generational families in the United States and abroad for some of the largest institutions in the world. This work involves comprehensive financial planning, portfolio design, business entity structure strategy, and sophisticated estate planning techniques.
Greg is a regular speaker on the benefits and advantages of Nevada trust situs at law school conferences around the country. A native of Menlo Park, California, Greg holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Davis, and a Master of Health Administration from the University of Minnesota. Greg is certified in financial planning by Boston University and is a Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner and a Certified Financial Planner.
Mr. Crawford has regularly been quoted in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times of London, and has appeared as an on-air expert on CNBC, Bloomberg and ABC World News Tonight.
Greg has lived in Reno since 2000 and is married with two children. He is a member of Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church, the Reno Angels Investor Group, the Entrepreneur's Organization, Reno Sunrise Rotary, and the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition.
Can Incomplete Non-Grantor Trusts (INGs) Really Save Wealthy Californians Money on SALT?
Taxpayers could be scrambling after the Federal Tax Reform passed at the end of 2018 capping state and local income tax (SALT) deductions at $10,000. For many wealthy families in high-tax states, this deduction will only cover property tax and won't touch capital gain income or other investment income.
While California is attempting to pass the Protect California Taxpayers Act which allows taxpayers to deduct some taxes as "charitable contributions," for many the bill feels like a workaround or even tax evasion, and it's unclear whether the IRS will allow such a bill to pass.
Rather than waiting for legislation to pass that is more protective of taxpayers, many residents from states like California are considering leaving the state or taking other measures to protect their wealth.
Moving out-of-state is not a feasible option for many. However, moving assets out of a high-tax state may be an ideal solution.
Traditionally, grantors gift away income-generating investments to beneficiaries who live in tax-favored states. However, these gifts often incur federal gift tax or utilize some of the grantor's exclusion for a gift and estate tax.
A newer option is the NING trust or Nevada Incomplete Gift Non-Grantor Trust. There are several tax-sheltered states in the U.S., but only a few allow Incomplete Gift Non-Grantor Trusts and the most tax-favored state for such a trust is Nevada. The NING allows a trust to avoid taxation by the grantor's home state until assets are distributed, or, rather, the gift is complete.
By transferring assets into a NING, the assets become a separate taxpayer receiving the tax benefits of Nevada. Because transfers are not completed gifts, there is no federal gift tax exclusion.
For those who live in high-income tax states, such as California, establishing a NING to transfer some of the tax burdens to Nevada allows them to take advantage of Nevada's no income tax benefit.
Additionally, Nevada has the most robust creditor protection and protection as its considered a "spendthrift trust" in Nevada. Nevada also has tested protection from divorcing spouses which has held up in Nevada Supreme Court with Klabacka v. Nelson.
An ING trust only works in a state with no state income tax. Otherwise, a tax will apply to the trust. Nevada is the preferred state for an ING trust as it carries many other protections and benefits to grantors and beneficiaries.
ING trusts cannot be grantor trusts under the income tax laws of the grantor's state of residence. Only states that allow self-settled spendthrift trusts (asset protection trusts) can form non-grantor trusts enabling the settlor to be a beneficiary, such as Nevada.
The incomplete gift portion of the ING trust is critical to ensure that the contributions to the trust are not treated as a gift and subject to federal gift tax. It's essential for the settlor to have lifetime power of appointment and post-death power – which the ING trust allows.
NING trusts will be subject to federal estate tax when the settlor dies, however, if the estate is not large enough to trigger federal estate tax, this is not an issue.
Although a NING has many benefits, the benefits may not be for every grantor. Here are some of the criteria which would make someone a good candidate for a NING trust.
Grantor lives in a high-income state – such as California.
Grantor carries intangible assets with substantial tax exposure.
Grantors in the highest federal tax bracket who would remain in that bracket after transferring assets to a NING.
Should YOU Establish a NING?
NING trusts can be an excellent option for those looking to preserve wealth and protect it from their state's high tax rates. Since changes to SALT are recent, there are still some questions about how the IRS will respond to attempts to shield wealth from taxes. However, the NING appears to be the best option to do so.
It's important to work with a trusted advisory team or trust company that is familiar with Nevada Tax Law and NINGs to ensure it's the right choice for your family and that you're gaining the most benefit possible.
At Alliance Trust Company, we're experts in Nevada Trust Law and have a network of attorneys specializing in NINGs. We are available to walk you through your particular situation regarding NINGs. Contact us to learn more about preserving your wealth in the state of Nevada.
Over 225 attendees and 22 exhibiting companies came together at the Fashion Island Hotel in Newport Beach, CA for the Orange County Chapter of STEP's 8th Annual Institute On Tax, Estate Planning, and the World Economy on February 4-5, 2019.
After a very disappointing Super Bowl on Sunday, the conference kicked off on Monday morning in rainy Southern California. Discussions covered the changes in tax law, including Opportunity Zone Funds, domestic asset protection, and international issues.
Despite the problems in Washington, D.C., the U.S. is still being viewed as an attractive bastion for foreign families given its stability, attractive investment climate, and other benefits.
After the welcoming remarks, Read Moore of McDermott Will & Emery began with a discussion on taxation of trusts with foreign implications. Moore mentioned the differences between trust laws between the U.S. and foreign countries and the challenges these differences could pose.
In such cases, the legal environment should be carefully analyzed including the tax situation of both countries in order to recommend the right structure for each client.
Colleen Barney, a partner at Albrecht & Barney discussed life insurance and ILIT trusts and noted that her practice had gone from 100 ILIT trusts a year before the 2017 tax law change to just 10 a year.
She highlighted that the Crummey notices are actually not required by case law, the only part that is required is the ability of the beneficiary to be able to withdraw the funds within a reasonable time, whether they are actually aware of it or not.
She also discussed items that can be made to make ILITs more flexible, such as trust protector features.
Lawrence P. Katzenstein, a partner at Thompson Coburn, covered charitable planning under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He discussed strategies, such as the bunching of deductions, to breach the new standard deduction in some years.
Katzenstein also went over the new section 4943(g) (the Paul Newman rule) and how foundations are no longer required to dispose of companies under certain circumstances.
Andrew M. Katzenstein, a partner at Proskauer, highlighted how the unified credit will ultimately come down from the current $11.2m in 2025 or earlier, depending on how the politics will play out in the early 2020s.
Katzenstein recommends that clients start using it now before it is gone. He also discussed Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds and the importance of clients carefully analyzing the underlying investments over the tax benefits, which can be worthless in a bad investment scenario. It's suggested to carefully analyze the income tax benefit vs. estate taxes.
The Honorable James P. Gray (Ret.), a mediator for ADR Services, talked over lunch about how minimizing surprises and overcommunicating within families can resolve many conflicts before they arise.
Families can use strategies such as family meetings and neutral accountants pre-death to reduce family conflicts at a very difficult time for everyone.
Enrique Hernandez-Pulido, a partner at Procopio, discussed high net-worth Mexican families and the complexities surrounding their situations with first, second, and third generations being a mix of citizenships between U.S. and Mexico.
Hernandez-Pulido covered the surrounding tax and estate planning strategies, including the fact that Mexico has no inheritance tax for Mexican residents, but 25% tax if a Mexican resident inherits from a U.S. trust. This could put a lot of pressure on advisors to make sure they stay updated on family movements and employ the right strategies.
The new post-election climate, Common Reporting Standards (CRS), privacy needs, and potential new inheritance tax keep wealthy families in Mexico interested in US structures.
Jay D. Adkisson, a partner at Riser Adkisson, capped off the first day with a creditor's view on asset protection trusts and his approach to pursuing them.
Adkisson's approach can include private investigators, finding debtor's pressure points, and pursuing fraudulent conveyance as a strategy.
Leigh Harter, Managing Director at NFP Insurance Solutions started Tuesday morning off with a discussion on life insurance as a portfolio stabilization tool.
Harter spoke with Paul S. Lee, Global Fiduciary Strategist at Northern Trust, about Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) strategies for business owners.
Joseph A. Field, Senior Counsel at Pillsbury, discussed the history of FATCA and how it gave rise to CRS, and the 3,200 bilateral agreements the 110 nations have put in place.
Field explained that the U.S. is not a signatory and is leading to capital being moved from across the world to the U.S. Additionally, CRS is not balancing privacy vs. transparency but has almost reached Orwellian proportions.
Field also discussed the new OECD initiative that would criminalize advising clients avoiding CRS and its chilling impact on advisors. He highlighted the attractiveness of the U.S., given our stability (despite the political climate in D.C.), the world's largest investment market, the school system, inexpensive real estate vs. Europe and Asia, a favorable tax system for foreigners, and how to structure around some of the pitfalls.
He ended his chat with a question: If advisors need to police their clients, shouldn't they have a gun and a badge?
Justin Miller, National Wealth Strategist at BNY Mellon talked about how successful families (think Rothchilds) vs. unsuccessful (think Vanderbilts) transfer not only wealth but values to next generations.
Most families are adept at transferring financial capital but struggle with non-financial capital (think family values) which leads to significant loss of financial capital by the third generation.
Strategies such as having a team of advisors that work together, good investment advice, smart tax planning, and most importantly a focus on family governance and giving, lead to family harmony and success for future generations.
Steven J. Oshins, a partner at Oshins & Associates, discussed selecting the best jurisdiction for Domestic Asset Protection Trusts, and how they work for the 17 states that have enacted DAPT statutes, but not for the other 33 states.
A hybrid structure with third-party beneficiaries is superior in many cases and Oshins discussed how they can be structured to still provide flexibility for grantors and their families.
Oshins also talked about how after 20+ years of DAPTs, there still isn't a case that has pierced the trust in a non-fraudulent situation, and how DAPTs are leading to quick settlements, which is preferable to long litigation for most clients.
The conference wrapped up with Robert Keebler, a partner at Keebler & Associates, discussing the Impact of the IRC Section 199A Deduction on Estate Planning.
Overall, the two-day conference was well-attended, informative, and successful and the content of each presentation was very well received by the attendees.
For additional details from the 2019 STEP OC Conference or to learn more about the benefits of Nevada's trust structures, contact us today.
The state of Nevada has dominated the asset protection space and positioned itself as the most beneficial situs to establish an asset protection trust.
Precedent-setting cases and favorable trust laws have launched Nevada to the forefront of the estate planning industry and allowing trustees and estate planners flexibility, privacy, and the power to protect wealth and assets more securely than any other state.
Nevada's trust advantages continue to grow and have edged out other states with similar trust provisions. Here are some of the ways that Nevada takes asset protection measures further.
Nevada carries no state or corporate income tax.
Federal taxes take a significant chunk out of trusts and returns made on assets so establishing a trust in a state with no income tax can help preserve a large portion of wealth.
Nevada carries no state or corporate income tax, protecting your wealth from additional taxes and allowing it more unhindered growth.
Every state carries a different statute of limitations ranging from 1.5 years to 5 years. While Nevada carries a two-year statute, the language in the Nevada code reinforces that trusts are actually still protected during the two-year seasoning period.
Zero exception creditors, including divorcing spouses.
In the recent case of Klabacka vs. Nelson, Nevada sets a new precedent that its asset protection laws are the most robust in the nation.
In a similar case in Delaware, the courts sided with the divorcing spouse, weakening the state's asset protection laws.
The grantor is able to name an independent financial advisor to manage trust funds.
Anyone can take advantage of Nevada's favorable trust laws as grantors can name a Nevada resident or a Nevada trust company as trustee or co-trustee, this includes international families and businesses as well as domestic families.
Nevada Asset Protection Trusts are irrevocable but flexible.
In Nevada, the trust settlor is allowed to make decisions regarding powers related to managing the Nevada Domestic Asset Protection Trust (NDAPT). Though the term irrevocable sounds final, in Nevada, there is actually a great deal of flexibility in these trusts.
What is a Nevada Asset Protection Trust?
Simply put, an asset protection trust limits creditor access to the value of the beneficiary's interest in the trust. The asset protection trust protects the value of the assets and legally protects them from lawsuits and other claims.
Nevada Asset Protection Trusts have proven their strength, holding up in court most recently in the case of Klabacka v Nelson, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. (May25, 2017): Nevada DAPT Protects Against Spousal/Child Support Claims. In this case, a divorcing spouse sought access to her ex-husbands self-settled spendthrift trust and the courts sided with the trust. All alimony, child support, and other claims on the trust had to be taken from liquid assets outside of the trust.
The decision in the Klabacka case reaffirmed Nevada's asset protection strength as other states are scrambling to keep up. While other states may defer to Nevada's ruling in the Klabacka case, that is far from a guarantee.
Nevada Residency is not required.
If your trust is established in Nevada you may live anywhere in the world and take advantage of Nevada's many trust benefits. Nevada also fully protects personal privacy.
Alliance Trust Company of Nevada helps people take full advantage of Nevada's trust laws and may serve as independent trustee if the grantor is out of state. We're available to answer any questions regarding Nevada Asset Protection.
Choosing the right trust strategy to protect your assets is an important and often complex decision. Dynasty trusts are a great option when you need to hold assets for generations, and they minimize or even eliminate many taxes associated with trusts including distribution, estate, inheritance, transfer and more.
Once you've decided that a Dynasty Trust is right for you, the next most important decision is where you should establish your trust. Both Nevada and Delaware are considered some of the best places to establish a trust to take full advantage of friendly trust laws, because of precedents set in both Nevada and Delaware, Nevada is often considered the better choice.
If you're feeling unsure about establishing a Nevada Dynasty Trust, here are five reasons why it's the best choice to care for your family for generations to come.
Nevada has long paved the way when it comes to friendly trust laws. Moreover, several recent cases proved the state's protection laws are second to none.
In the case of Klaback v Nelson, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. (May25, 2017): Nevada DAPT Protects Against Spousal/Child Support Claims, the Nevada courts moved to protect Eric L. Nelson's trust from the mandated $800,000 his estranged wife was seeking in child support and alimony, choosing to allow Nelson to fulfill these obligations out of his liquid assets.
In the Matter of Daniel Kloiber Dynasty Trust u/a/d December 20, 2002 (Court of chancery of Delaware), an ex-spouse was granted access to a Delaware Dynasty trust, effectively weakening the state of Delaware's trust laws and further establishing Nevada as the superior choice.
Currently, Nevada has the most current and robust precedents set to protect assets while still protecting those affected by life events such as divorce, especially in the case of a Nevada Dynasty Trust with the potential to last up to 365 years.
With a Nevada Dynasty Trust, your assets will only be taxed at the estate level once with the federal gift/estate tax or lifetime exemption upon transfer into the trust. The Nevada Dynasty Trust allows you to allocate a generation-skipping-transfer tax exemption which is a powerful way to limit estate tax liabilities, sometimes even eliminating them altogether.
Due to the nature of the Nevada Dynasty Trust, these tax benefits are provided for an extended period of time.
Nevada's seasoning period is one of the shortest in the United States. The statute of limitations during this vesting period is just two years on asset transfers to self-settled spendthrift trusts (domestic asset protection trusts).
During the seasoning period, your assets are not under the full protection of the dynasty trust. For this reason, a short seasoning period is essential to ensure the security of your assets as quickly as possible.
However, the burden of proof that creditors would have to provide to gain access to your trust during the seasoning period is quite challenging in the state of Nevada – another benefit to those looking to establish a trust in the state.
Trust decanting is a term taken from wine decanting in which wine is transferred from one container to another, leaving the undesirable sediment behind. With trust decanting, the terms of the trust are changeable after it has been established.
Trust decanting allows trustees to keep aspects of the trust that are still beneficial while leaving old trust provisions which are no longer wanted, needed, or relevant behind.
Nevada allows for trust decanting without the need for court approval, which can be expensive, or notice to the beneficiaries.
An important consideration as you prepare to set up your Nevada Dynasty Trust is the use of an independent corporate trustee. Because Dynasty trusts can last hundreds of years, it's advisable to put an independent corporate trustee in place to avoid needing to transfer trustees due to death or unforeseen circumstances.
Alliance Trust Company of Nevada is a trusted and qualified institution and is available to serve as trustee, directed trustee, or many other capacities if you choose to establish your trust in the state of Nevada.


Some have called us "Digital Superheroes". We prefer to consider ourselves to be practical, visual thinkers. You won't be bombarded with UX jargon from us. Trust us- we don't like that talk ourselves. What you will get is great listening, thoughtful research, and a well thought out product.
We can work in both agile and traditional methodologies. We've been particularly successful with quick, informal tests and high fidelity prototypes.
Although we are creatives; we do manage our work. We typically use Basecamp and MS Project to provide insight into our work and progress.
We love concepting. It is one of the best parts of our job. Imagine a room of Post-It Notes, markers, and random sheets of paper.
After a round or two of testing, design, and dev we wrap up our work with a warm, hand-off and documentation.
User experience is an investment in your brand and your customers. Our expertise in information architecture, usability testing, and interface design work hand-in-hand with our ability to create awareness. We create and launch brands, manage the digital presence of existing brands, optimize web applications, and design your vision in a way that affirms your brand.


Bring your sock drawer into bloom this winter with these stunning Rosebud Ankle Socks. These wonderfully soft socks are made with bamboo and come in a gorgeous mustard colour and are finished with a delicate bow detailing.
All Powder products come with complimentary gift wrapping making these socks a perfect Christmas stocking filler or secret Santa present!


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Seth Kushner
Seth Kushner is an environmental portrait photographer fascinated by all types of people. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker, and others. Kushner was chosen by Photo District News magazine as one of their "30 Under 30? several years ago and is twice-winner of heir Photo Annual Competition. The New York Times declared Kushner's first book,The Brooklynites (powerHouse Books, 2007), a "terrific coffee table book." Currently, Seth is working on his web series CulturePOP Photocomix, mixing his photgraphy with a comic book-typw format on ACT-I-VATE.com. Seth resides in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York with his wife, son, and way too many cameras and comics.
Get updates about Seth Kushner and recommended reads from Simon & Schuster.
Books by Seth Kushner


Reuben Siegman is Tzedek DC's 2018-2019 Avodah Service Corps Fellow and Intake Specialist effective September 2018. Reuben graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in June 2018 with a double major in Political Science and Religious Studies. Reuben was a Community Engagement Fellow at Organizing for Action in DC, where he gained experience working with vulnerable individual client community members, and with the constellation of issues related to immigration. He was also an intern at Bluelight Strategies public relations firm, where he developed social media and blog posts. In college, Reuben served as both a Staff Writer and Director of Programming for Washington University Political Review. He has also interned for Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Gus Bilirakis, and was a finance intern for Eric Lynn's campaign for Congress, and completed a study abroad program in Tibet.