Abstract:
A program may be used to increase traffic flow to a Web site by analyzing, optimizing and submitting the Web site to one or more search engines. The program may accept search phrases and check the compatibility of the Web site with the search phrases as well as check the textual content, the parseability and the spiderability of the Web site. In a preferred embodiment, the analysis mimics the ranking methodologies used by the search engines. The program assists the owner of the Web site in optimizing the Web site for the search engines, possibly by automatically editing the code of the Web site, and submits the Web site for registration with the selected search engines. The program may be repeated from time to time to insure the Web site remains in an optimized state.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to systems and processes for increasing traffic flow to a Web site on the Internet and more specifically for registering the Web site with a plurality of search engines in such a manner as to be ranked near the top of the result lists of Web sites displayed by the search engines when Internet users are searching for material that is related to the Web site.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The Internet is a worldwide network of computers and computer networks arranged to allow the easy and robust exchange of information between the users of the computers. Hundreds of millions of people around the world have access to computers connected to the Internet via one of the hundreds of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Content providers place information, generally multimedia information in the form of graphics and sounds as well as data, at specific locations on the Internet referred to as Web sites that are typically hosted by an ISP. The combination of all the Web sites and their corresponding Web pages on the Internet is generally known as the world wide Web (Web or www).  
         [0003]     Web sites may be created using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) to generate a standard set of tags that define how the Web pages for the Web site are to be displayed. Internet users may access content providers&#39; Web sites using a software program known as a browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. After the browser has located the desired Web page, it requests and receives information from the Web page, typically in the form of an HTML document, and then displays the Web page&#39;s content for the user. The user may then view other Web pages at the same Web site or move to an entirely different Web site using the browser.  
         [0004]     Web site owners often use their Web sites for business purposes, selling a wide range of goods and services as well as displaying paid advertisements. In order to increase revenue, Web site owners try to attract additional Internet users, i.e. customers, to their Web sites. However, with an ever increasing number of Web sites on the Internet, Web site owners are finding it increasingly difficult to attract customers to their Web sites. This trend is likely to continue as the number of businesses trying to gain a presence on the Internet increases the competition for the attention of the Internet users. The future level of success for many of these businesses will depend on their ability to attract Internet users, i.e. customers, to their Web sites.  
         [0005]     Web sites are predominantly found by Internet users through the use of a search engine or directory. Some of the more widely used search engines are, for example, AOL, Google, Yahoo, Excite and Dogpile. Internet users are able to enter a search phrase comprised of one or more keywords or a phrase, typically a name of a good or service or a topic of interest, into a search engine. The search engine will display a list of Web sites, i.e. a result list, that the search engine has determined are related to the search phrase along with links to the Web sites. The search engines invariably display the Web sites in a particular order or rank thereby producing a result list. The Web sites that the search engine has determined are of the highest quality or are the Web sites with content most closely related to the search phrase are displayed near the top of the result list, while lower quality Web sites or those not as closely related to the search phrase are displayed lower on the result list. The sheer number of Web sites currently on the Internet can often result in the result list having multiple pages of Web site related to many common search phrases.  
         [0006]     In an effort to increase traffic flow to their Web sites, Web site owners typically register their Web sites with one or more search engines. The search engines may try to determine the search phrases that are related to each submitted Web site. The methods used by the search engines vary from search engine to search engine and each search engine typically keeps its exact methodology a secret. In general though, most search engines parse through the various parts of the Web sites submitted to them for registration. The keywords and phrases that are discovered by parsing the submitted Web sites are used to determine if a Web site should be cited based on the search phrase entered by Internet users.  
         [0007]     Not surprisingly, Web site owners have noticed that Web sites listed near the beginning of a result list receive substantially more traffic than Web sites listed near the end of a result list. It is thus important not only for a Web site to be on the result list generated by the search engines, but to also be listed as high as possible on the result list. The search engines typically display the Web sites that are determined to be related to a Internet user&#39;s search phrase in an order based on the perceived quality of the Web sites by the search engine and the closeness of the contents of the Web sites to the search phrase. The search engines use different algorithms in an attempt to determine the quality of submitted Web sites.  
         [0008]     In an effort to raise the rank of their Web sites on the result lists, Web site owners are altering their Web sites so that search engines are more likely to determine their Web sites are of a higher quality. However, few Web site owners are familiar with all the factors used in the algorithms by the search engines and are thus unable to take advantage of all the beneficial alterations that they could be making. Further, operators of search engines are aware of the common tactics used by owners of Web sites to artificially raise their rank and the operators adjust the algorithms of their search engines to counter these efforts. In addition, few Web site owners are familiar with the procedures or want to spend the time in submitting and tracking the status of their Web sites with a large number of search engines.  
         [0009]     New systems and process are therefore needed to attract customers and increase traffic flow to Web sites that overcome the limitations of current methods. Thus, there remains a need for systems and processes which reduce or eliminate the problems associated with the conventional methods. Specifically, systems and processes are needed to assist Web site owners in submitting their Web sites to a large number of search engines and to get their Web sites listed as high as possible on the result lists generated by the search engines.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     The present invention addresses these needs by providing improved systems and processes for improving traffic flow to a Web site and specifically for a Web site that is to be submitted for registration with one or more search engines. A software program is preferably used to automate the systems and processes of the invention and to provide quick and repeatable results. Specifically, the invention improves the Web site&#39;s chance of being visited by an Internet user after the Internet user uses search terms related to the Web site with a search engine.  
         [0011]     As a first step, the software program may be used to accept one or more search phrases from the owner of the Web site. The search phrases should be those that Internet users typically would use with a search engine if they wanted to find the Web site and that the owner would like to result in a high ranking of the Web site on the search engines&#39; result lists.  
         [0012]     A search phrase suggestion tool, such as one produced by Overture (found on the Internet at www.overture.com and based in California), may be used to enable users to submit their current search phrase(s) to a tool provided by some search engines, which will return a list of related words and phrases that the search engine&#39;s users have searched for within some specified time, for example within the last month. When optimizing a Web site for the Internet&#39;s search engines it is advantageous to determine the most likely words and phrases used to search for the Web site, and subsequently put the Web site in the most opportune position to score high in search engines result lists for those words and phrases. The software program may parse through the Web site and its Web pages using algorithms to analyze the Web site&#39;s compatibility with the search phrases. The software program may also check on other known factors used by search engines in ranking Web sites, such as, the textual content, spiderability, use of frames, graphical content or graphical links and the use of Flash animation.  
         [0013]     The software program may display the results of the analysis with emphasis on any problems found along with directions and advice on how to make recommend changes. The owner may then manually make the recommended changes to the Web site as desired.  
         [0014]     After the Web site has been analyzed and optimized, the Web site may be submitted for registration with a plurality of different search engines and directories. The automated nature of the software allows the owner of a Web site to enter registration information one time and to be able to submit the Web site to a plurality of different search engines and directories. The owner may select the search engines from a list that the owner would like the program to submit the Web site to, thereby relieving the owner from having to manually submit the Web site to each and every desired search engine.  
         [0015]     The software program may also track the status of the Web site with each of the search engines. In a preferred embodiment, the submission date and submission results may be made available to the owner for each of the submitted search engines. This one point source of information allows the owner to easily keep track of which search engines have accepted the Web site and the status of the Web site with the remaining search engines.  
         [0016]     In another embodiment of the invention, a Web site owner may select one or more search engines to be submitted to. The program must either determine, for example by experimenting and noticing how changes to a Web site produce changes to a search engine&#39;s results, or be given information regarding the factors used by the selected search engines. In this embodiment, the program then specifically analyzes the Web site based on the factors used by the selected search engines. The software program may be used to mimic the algorithms used by the search engines in ranking submitted Web sites in order for the analysis to accurately reflect how the search engines will rank the Web site. After the analysis, the software program may request acceptance of the recommended changes and, after acceptance of the recommended changes by the owner, automatically edit the Web site to update and optimize the Web site. The Web site may then be submitted to the selected search engines. Care should be taken during this process to avoid any allegations of engaging in deliberate search engine spamming. Search engine owners may black list the Web site if they think the Web site&#39;s content is written primarily to fool the search engine&#39;s ranking algorithm and not for the legitimate use of Internet users.  
         [0017]     Search engines from time to time may change their algorithms to fine tune and improve their ranking methodologies. In another embodiment of the invention, the Web site may maintain its optimized structure by periodically analyzing, optimizing and resubmitting the Web site to the search engines. For example, every 30 days the selected search engines&#39; algorithms may be reevaluated to check for any changes. The Web site may be re-optimized if needed to compensate for any changes found in the search engine&#39;s ranking algorithms. The re-optimization may be manually done by the owner or the program may automatically make the recommended changes. The automated updates may be pre-approved by the owner or approved by the owner at the time of the edits. If any changes are made to the Web site, the Web site may be resubmitted to the selected search engines. This process may be periodically repeated so that the Web site remains in an optimized condition in relation to the selected search engines.  
         [0018]     Additional advantages and aspects of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description and claims.  
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating the interrelationships between different elements related to the invention;  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  is a screen shot from a software program that may be used during a Web site analysis process;  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  is a screen shot from a software program that may be used during a Web site optimization process;  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  is a screen shot from a software program that may be used during an automated Web site submission process;  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  is a screen shot from a software program that may be used to display a Web site submission status with various search engines;  
         [0024]      FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0025]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a second embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0026]     The present invention will now be discussed in detail with regard to the attached drawing figures which were briefly described above. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth illustrating Applicants&#39; best mode for practicing the invention and for enabling one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention. It will be obvious, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without many of these specific details. In other instances, well-known machines and process steps have not been described in particular detail in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention. Unless otherwise indicated, like parts and processes are referred to with like reference numerals.  
         [0027]     The invention will now be described in greater detail with continuing reference to  FIG. 1 . Many Internet users  100 , i.e. customers, use search engines and directories (hereinafter referred to as search engines  101 ) as their primary tools in locating Web sites  103  on the Internet that sell products or services of interest to them. In fact, the majority of purchases that are made from most Web sites  103  come from Internet users  100  that were directed to the Web site  103  from a search engine  101 . It is thus very important for a Web site  103  to be customized and have features that will enhance the ability of search engines  101  to guide Internet users  100  to the Web site  103 .  
         [0028]     In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a program  102  may be used to analyze a Web site  103 , optimize the Web site  103 , submit the Web site  103  to a plurality of search engines  101  and track the submission status of the Web site  103  with the search engines  101 . The program  102  is preferably a software program that may be written in any desired programming language. The program  102  is preferably able to parse through the code of the Web site  103  and in some of the embodiments of the invention must be able to modify the code of the Web site  103 . The process will be more fully disclosed below with continuing reference to the steps in the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 6 .  
         [heading-0029]     Web Site Analysis  
         [0030]     An owner  104  of a Web site  103  may use the invention to perform a Web site analysis that inspects the same features of the Web site  103  that search engines  101  typically inspect. Web sites  103  typically include multiple Web pages and the invention may assist the owner  104  of a Web site  103  in analyzing the entire Web site  103 . If the invention detects any problems or potential problems with the Web site  103  or any of its pages, a site analysis report may be generated that flags these problems and provide suggested solutions. An example of a Web site analysis report is illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0031]     The analysis may start with the owner  104 , or other person with authority to edit the Web site code, directing a software program  102  to the location of a Web site  103 . (Step  600 ) The software may be given a link  200  to the Web site so the software program  102  may analyze the Web site  103  over the Internet or the program  102  may be given data, typically in the form of one or more html pages, to permit the program  102  to analyze the Web site  103 . The owner  104  may also insert one or more search phrases  201  into the program  102 . (Step  601 ) The search phrases  201  are preferably similar to the keywords or phrases entered by Internet users  100  into search engines  101  that the owner  104  of the Web site  103  wants to trigger the listing of the Web site  103  by the search engines  101 .  
         [0032]     The program  102  may determine additional search phrases based off the search phrases  201  from the owner  104 . (Step  602 ) A thesaurus-type database may be used to find additional search phrases  201  related to the search phrases  201  entered by the owner  104 . In a preferred embodiment, data from search phrases  201  actually entered into one or more search engines  101  may be used in combination with the owner&#39;s search phrases  201  to determine additional related search phrases  201 .  
         [0033]     A search phrase suggestion tool may be used to enable owners  104  to submit their current search phrase(s)  201  to a tool provided by some search engines  101 . The search phrase suggestion tool will return a list of related search phrases  101  (words and phrases) that the Internet users  100  of the search engine  101  have searched for within some specified time, for example within the last month. That way, the owner  104  of the Web site  103  may review the returned list and the popularity of each of the suggested search phrases  201 , and, based on that, decide which search phrase(s)  201  to use with the program&#39;s site analysis.  
         [0034]     The program  102  may review the Web site&#39;s  103  compatibility with each of the found search phrases  201 . The search phrases  201  may be the owner  104  entered search phrases  201 , the program  102  determined search phrases  201  and the search phrases  201  supplied by one or more search engine suggestion tools. (Step  603 ) The search phrase compatibility may be determined by the program  102  parsing the Web site code, typically written in HTML, searching for the number of occurrences of each search phrase  201 . The program  102  may also check the different Web site elements, such as the title tag, description meta tags and keywords meta tags for the search phrases  201 .  
         [0035]     The program  102  may also review the textual content of the Web site  103 . Search engines typically will list Web sites  103  higher on the result list that include a substantial amount of textual content. The program  102  may count the number of character strings separated by spaces or simply the total number of characters. The program  102  may assist the owner  104  of the Web site  103  by displaying any problems in this area and how to remedy the situation.  
         [0036]     The program  102  may also check that the home page of the Web site  103  has links, e.g. HTML hyperlinks, to the other Web pages in the Web site  103  and that the other Web pages have a link to the home page. When reviewing a Web site  103 , search engines  101  are able to locate the different pages of the Web site through the links on the Web pages. Search engines  101  tend to rate Web sites  103  with multiple high quality Web pages higher, and thus rank them higher on the result list, than Web sites  103  with only one or a very few Web pages. Including the links on each Web page assist the search engines  101  in finding and evaluating the entire Web site  103 . The ability of the different Web pages of a Web site  103  to be found by a search engine  101  in this manner is referred to as the spiderability of the Web site  103 . The program  102  may assist the owner  104  of the Web site  103  in determining the spiderability of the Web site  103  and making or suggesting improvements to the Web site  103 .  
         [0037]     The program  102  may also check to see if the Web site  103  has any HTML pages that are inside, i.e. “framed”, by other HTML Web pages. Some Web site designs use the home page to frame other Web pages as part of the programming structure of the Web site  103 . This design usually results in the home page having lots of HTML code, but little or no content. Search engines  101  will often give a Web site  103  a poor rating based on the lack of content in the home page. Framed Web pages in Web sites  103  should thus be avoided if possible.  
         [0038]     The program  102  may also check to see if the Web site  103  uses graphics to display textual content or links. Search engines  101  cannot read text or links on the Web site  103  that are written in a bit map format or other graphical protocol. This results in graphical information that may have raised a Web site  103  in ranking on a result list to be not considered by the search engines  101 . Flash is an example of a common format for multimedia presentations on a Web page that cannot be easily reviewed by most search engines  101  and should thus used with care and preferably in combination with non-Flash, HTML format renditions of the same site functionality embedded in the animated elements.  
         [0039]     The results of the above described analysis of the Web site may be graphically displayed for the owner  104  of the Web site  103  with descriptions of recommended changes to the Web site  103  as needed. (Step  604 ) The results may be displayed, for examples, in the area illustrated at  202  in  FIG. 2  and in the area  300  in  FIG. 3 .  
         [heading-0040]     Web Site Optimization  
         [0041]     After the Web site  103  is analyzed, the problems that were found may be corrected, thereby optimizing the Web site  103  and improving its ranking in the result lists. (Step  605 ) Problems or potential problems may be corrected by reporting the problems in a site analysis report  300  along with easy-to-follow directions and advice on how to manually fix these problems. Each of the corrections may be accompanied by a link to more thorough information about the source and nature of the problem. The owner  104  of the Web site  103  may then edit the Web site code as desired, preferably to comply with as many of the suggestions made by the program  102  as possible.  
         [0042]     In another embodiment of the invention, the program  102  may be used to automate the editing process of the Web site code. The invention may list the problems found in the Web site  102  and allow the owner  104  of the Web site  103  to approve or disapprove the suggested corrections to the Web site  103 . The program  102  may then automatically edit the Web site code, typically HTML code, and make the approved corrections to the Web site  103 . The program  102  may then create a report detailing the changes made to the Web site code. Automated changes to the Web site code have the advantage of not requiring the owner  104  of the Web site  103  to make edits to the Web site code which might be difficult for the owner  104  due to the owner&#39;s lack of technical abilities or time constraints. To simplify the process for the owner  104 , it is preferred for the program  102  to perform as many of the corrections automatically as possible to reduce the amount of editing required by the owner  104  of the Web site  103 . Some desired corrections to the Web site  103  may not be easily automated by the program  102 . In those situations, a combination of manual and automated edits may be performed, where the program  102  makes as many edits as it can automatically to reduce the amount of edits to the Web site code required of the owner  104 .  
         [heading-0043]     Web Site Submission to Search Engines  
         [0044]     The owner  104  of a Web site  103  may select one or more desired search engines  101  for submission to by the program  102 . (Step  606 )  FIG. 4  at  400  illustrates one possible layout for allowing the owner  104  of a Web site  103  to select the desired search engines  101  for submission of the Web site  101  located at a link  200 . In addition to the home page of the Web site  103 , additional product, service, informational, etc. Web pages with unique content, including keywords and search phrases  201 , may also be submitted. The more Web pages listed in the search engines  101  for the Web site  103 , the more traffic the Web site  103  is likely to receive. The program  102  may also allow the owner  104  to submit the Web site  103  to providers of paid-for-inclusion search engines  101  or pay-per-click advertising, such as the Overture search engine  101 .  
         [0045]     Because the program  102  may be designed to take care of the actual submission procedures, the owner  104  of the Web site  103  may advantageously only have to enter the applicable Web site  103  information, select the one or more desired search engines  101  to which the Web site  103  should be submitted and click a “Submit” key. The program  102  may be designed to handle the rest of the submission process of the Web site  103  to the search engines  101 . (Step  607 ) Each search engine  101  has its own method of accepting Web site  103  information and the program  102  may be designed to accommodate the requirements of each search engine  101 , thereby relieving the owner  104  of the Web site  103  from this burden.  
         [heading-0046]     Web Site Submission Status  
         [0047]     After the Web site  103  has been submitted, a submission status for each of the search engines  101  may be displayed in a submission report. (Step  608 ) A sample submission report is shown in  FIG. 5 , showing the names of the search engines  500 , status of the search engines  501 , names of the directories  502  and status for the directories  503  for the Web site  103 . The submission report may be used to track the status of the Web site  103  at the selected and submitted search engines  101 . For each search engine  101 , the submission status may be classified, for example, as “Pending,” “Submitted” or “Submission Failed.” If the latter status is displayed, the program  102  may be used to continue to attempt to submit the Web site  103  to the search engine  101 . Once the targeted search engine  101  has acknowledged the submission, the status may be listed as “Submitted.” In addition to the submission status, the report may also be used to display each search engine and directory&#39;s initial submission response. That way, the owner  104  of the Web site  103  will instantly know whether or not each of the search engines  101  has accepted the Web site  103  submission.  
         [heading-0048]     Automated Web Site Updating Methodology  
         [0049]     Another embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the flow chart in  FIG. 7 . This embodiment allows a Web site  103  to be periodically updated to obtain improved ranking positions within a selected group of search engines  101 . The periodic updates to the Web site  103  are desirable since the ranking methodologies used by search engines  101  are also periodically updated. The program  102  encompassing this embodiment may be given long term access to review and preferably even to modify code of the Web site  103 . (Step  700 ) The program  102  needs access to the code of the Web site  103  for as long as the program  102  is to continue to operate and optimize the Web site  103 .  
         [0050]     The owner  104  may select one or more desired search engines for submission by the program. (Step  701 ) Where the prior embodiment of the invention focused on improving all or at least most of the known elements commonly used by search engines  101  in ranking Web sites  103 , this embodiment focuses on improving those elements specifically looked at by the chosen search engines  101 . It is therefore highly desirable to have detailed information regarding the methodology used by the selected search engines  101  in ranking Web sites  103 . This is difficult since the timing and content of the updates to the search engines  101  are often kept secret by the operators of the search engines  101 .  
         [0051]     Operators of search engines  101  tend to keep their particular methodology for ranking Web sites  103  a secret. However, the methodologies used by the selected search engines  101  may be obtained, for example, by either paying the operators of the search engines  101  for the information regarding their methodology or by reverse engineering the methodology used by the search engines  101 . (Step  702 ) Reverse engineering of the ranking methodology used by the search engines  101  may be accomplished, for example, by making small changes to a Web site  103 , submitting the Web site  103  to a search engine  101  and then checking how the changes affected the ranking of the Web site  103  with the search engine  101 . Other methods include reviewing already submitted Web sites  103  to the search engines  101  and reviewing their ranking by the search engines  101 . The speed of the reverse engineering process may be increased by creating a program to automate this process. The program may check on the factors and the weight of the factors used by the search engines  101  in ranking various Web sites  103 .  
         [0052]     Once the ranking methodology for each of the selected search engines  101  has been determined, the program may analyze the Web site  103  according to the methodology of the selected search engines  101 . (Step  703 ) This may result in a list of desired edits for the code of the Web site  103  for each of the selected search engines  101 . Typically the desired edits for one search engine  101  will either help or not influence the ranking of the Web site  103  with the other search engines  101 , but this may not always be the case.  
         [0053]     If edits to improve the ranking of the Web site  103  with one search engine  101  hurt the ranking of the Web site  103  with another search engine  101 , further analysis may be performed. The invention may look at the importance of the conflicting search engines  101  in influencing traffic to the Web site  103 . Greater weight may be given to improving search engines that result in improved traffic to the Web site  103  verses search engines  101  that are not as effective in directing traffic to the Web site  103 . In addition, the impact of the improvements compared to the impact of the harm to the ranking of the effected search engines for the edits may also be determined. In a preferred embodiment, the program  102  selects and makes the edits to the code of the Web site  103  that maximizes the traffic to the Web site  103  via all the search engines  101  as opposed to trying to maximize the traffic to the Web site from each individual search engine. (Step  704 )  
         [0054]     The Web site, after being analyzed and optimized, may be submitted to the search engines  101  selected by the owner  104 . (Step  705 ) The program  102  may automate the submission process and keep track and display for the owner  104  the status of the submission process for each of the selected search engines  101  as previously disclosed.  
         [0055]     The process as described may be terminated after the Web site  103  has been submitted and, hopefully, accepted by the selected search engines  101 . However, in another embodiment, the program  102  may, from time to time, monitor the ranking methodologies used by the selected search engines  101 . Search engines  101  update their methodologies in ranking Web sites  103  so the Web site  103  may need to be further edited to account for these updates. The monitoring of the selected search engines  101  and editing of the Web site  103  may be on a fixed time schedule, for example once every 30 days, or the program  102  may monitor the selected search engines  101  on a more frequent schedule, such as about once per day, and edit the Web site  103  when an update is detected in one of the selected search engines  101 . (Step  706 ) The more frequent the monitoring of the selected search engines  101  and the editing of the Web site  103 , the more consistent the Web site  103  will remain in an optimized condition.  
         [0056]     The program  102  used to implement the invention may be sold to the owner  104  and placed on the owner&#39;s personal computer or the program  102  may reside on a server and accessed by the owner  104  via a third party Web site.  
         [0057]     In view of the foregoing, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the systems and processes of the present invention can facilitate the optimization of a Web site  103  and the submission of the Web site  103  to one or more search engines  101 . The above-described embodiments have been provided by way of example, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. Multiple variations and modification to the disclosed embodiments will occur, to the extent not mutually exclusive, to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the foregoing description. Such variations and modifications, however, fall well within the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.