Search Results Archives: July 2011

Toronto Simcoe Day (Ontario Civic) Holiday

by André Vittorio
Published on: July 29, 2011
Categories: Toronto Business
Comments: Comments Off
The first Monday in August is a Civic Holiday in much of Canada, but it goes under different names in different parts of the country. Here in Toronto it is known as Simcoe Day, and in 2011 Simcoe Day is Monday August 1st.

August 1 of this year for many in Canada is a time of coming to the realization that the end of summer is approaching. It is also a time when a large part of Canada has a legislative holiday which falls on the first Monday of August of every year. But wait – this day has another special meaning for many provinces with a coat of many names such as August Holiday, Civic Holiday, Provincial Day or other local names. Just take a look at the image below to see some of the common names:

So just what is this Civic or Provincial Day. It’s a time where Canadians can celebrate sometimes throughout the first week of August and become entrenched in the local culture, history and achievement of their area. Like many other holidays in Canada, this is marked by having fun activities along with family and friends and celebrating — making and distributing birthday cakes for the province; sports events; and shared meals, such as breakfasts, barbecues, lunches and suppers. (Hmmm, did I hear the mention of food?). In some of the larger events, it is not uncommon to have public displays of fireworks, road races and cultural festivals.

So as long as you’re not in Quebec or Yukon where they don’t recognize this day as a public holiday (you have your own very special days to celebrate local history and culture), you’ll get to take the day off work or school, let your hair hang down and put your feet up so to speak and relax and enjoy. No matter what name is recognized in your area, put your stresses of work aside and have fun!

Learn more about what is going on around Toronto this long weekend, visit http://toronto.about.com/od/eventsattractions/a/simcoedayevents.htm.

 

5 Google PPC tips from your Markham IT support team

Keywords are the life of your paid search campaign. The right ones can keep it alive (and make it thrive too!) while the wrong ones can kill it. So, here are 5 tips you should keep in mind when selecting your paid search keywords.

  • Do your homework: Keyword selection is something that should never be taken lightly as keywords can make your search campaign or break it. When choosing your keywords, three factors must be taken into consideration; seasonality, competition and geographic variance. This will help you take advantage of the keywords in the best way possible. Consider using Google Insights, a free tool that helps you understand what new keywords are being searched on so that you can add them to your list.
  • Leverage Match Types to Control Experience and Also Gain Insight: If you want to control exactly what consumers see when they search for your products, Exact match is the option to choose. With Exact match, you don’t even have to guess what the consumers’ experience is! However, if it is insight you want to gain into what other keyword variations consumers are using that you may not have thought of, you should opt for other match types. The keywords could turn out to be those you will want to negative match or they could be great new keywords that will add incremental volume to your account. Also consider using the search query report to help comb through other keyword variations as this will drive additional consumer insights for your business.
  • Don’t Forget About the Customer’s Search Experience Across Devices: Did you know? Mobile, and tablet devices account for roughly 10 to 15 percent of search volume! And the percentage is growing by the day! So, it’s high time you focused your keyword research around these devices too. Consumers search differently when using these devices; the search queries contain more misspellings and local searches than desktop.
  • Try New Google Betas: Changes occur constantly within search. In the past year, for example, Google released some keyword targeting enhancements that have given additional controls to users; it is often a better choice to adapt to changes as these. We suggest you test these; Broad match finder which provides better control over where your ads are shown vs. broad match, but with wider distribution than phrase match OR Keywordless ads which allows Google to control the keywords that your ad will appear for given the content of your page. Limited tests for the latter have shown pretty good results.
  • You’re never done: With consumers and algorithms constantly changing, staying on top of trends and current data is what you should do to keep your keyword list from ebbing.

Take your keyword research seriously by following these simple steps and your search campaign is bound to be a success.

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