Attracting Targeted Traffic

Attracting targeted traffic is providing quality content that others are searhing for.

• Keep your visitors returning to your site by providing interesting and relevant contant. Focus on your particular niche and update often, this will give your readers a reason to bookmark you and return to your site


• Give your readers a clear image of what they will find on your site as this is an invitation for them to navigate around for the topic of interest.
  
  


• Information should be easily found, have a menu of topics on each page so they can follow through with their search for relevant information. This will increase your page views, which are very important for making money with Google’s AdSense.
  
  


• Participate on forums, submit your site to Directories and leave sincere comments on other blogs in your niche.
  
  


• Write articles and submit them to article directories as this will give you a link back to your own site when others use your articles.
  
  


• Ask your readers to subscribe to your RSS feed, this will attract new visitors by sharing headlines and articles with other sites.

Forex trade, Online Forex broker, Marginal treding on forex

Forex:

"The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex markets currently exceeds US$ 2 trillion. Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks."

The Retail forex

(Retail Currency Trading or Retail Forex or Retail FX) market is a subset of the much larger Foreign exchange market. The Foreign Exchange market trades around 1.9 trillion daily, and retail trading is about 20 - 25 billion of that volume.
Retail Forex is usually highly leveraged

-->The idea of margin (leverage) and floating loss is another important trading concept and is perhaps best understood using an example. Most retail Forex market makers permit 100:1 leverage, but also, crucially, require you to have a certain amount of money in your account to protect against a critical loss point. For example, if a $100,000 position is held in Eur/USD on 100:1 leverage, the trader has to put up $1,000 to control the position. However, in the event of a declining value of your positions, Forex market makers, mindful of the fast nature of Forex price swings and the amplifying effect of leverage, typically do not allow their traders to go negative and make up the difference at a later date. In order to make sure the trader does not lose more money than is held in the account, Forex market makers typically employ automatic systems to close out positions when clients run out of margin (the amount of money in their account not tied to a position). If the trader has $2,000 in his account, and he is buying a $100,000 lot of EUR/USD, he has $1,000 of his $2,000 tied up in margin, with $1,000 left to allow his position to fluctuate downward without being closed out.

Typically a trader's trading platform will show him three important numbers associated with his account: his balance, his equity, and his margin remaining. If trader X has two positions: $100,000 long (buy) in EUR/USD, and $100,000 short (sell) in GBP/USD, and he has $10,000 in his account, his positions would look as follows: Because of the 100:1 leverage, it took him $1,000 to control each position. This means that he has used up $2,000 in his margin, out of a $10,000 account, and thus he has $8,000 of margin still available. With this margin, he can either take more positions or keep the margin relatively high to allow his current positions to be maintained in the event of downturns. If the client chooses to open a new position of $100,000, this will again take another $1,000 of his margin, leaving $7,000. He will have used up $3,000 in margin among the three positions. The other way margin will decrease is if the positions he currently has open lose money. If his 3 positions of $100,000 decrease by $5,000 in value (not at all an unusual swing), he now has, of his original $7,000 in margin, only $2,000 left. As discussed above, if you have a $10,000 account and only open one $100,000 position, this has committed only $1,000 of your money plus you must maintain $1,000 in margin. While this leaves $9,000 free in your account, it is possible to lose almost all of it if the position dives. On the other hand, if you have 5 positions open in a $10,000 account, you can lose only $5,000 because the other $5,000 is held in margin. However, this does not make it safer to hold more positions. The Forex market fluctuates so rapidly, that with shallow margins, you are much more likely to be closed out of your position and lose it entirely when it might have recovered from a temporary fluctuation if you had had sufficient margin to cover the variation. The more positions open at one time, the more risk the trader is exposed to.


Marginal Trading on FOREX

Marginal trading is the term used for trading with borrowed capital. It is appealing because of the fact that in FOREX investments can be made without a real money supply. This allows investors to invest much more money with fewer money transfer costs, and open bigger positions with a much smaller amount of actual capital. Therefore, one can conduct relatively large transactions with a small amount of initial capital. Marginal trading in an exchange market is quantified in lots. The term "lot" refers to approximately $100,000, an amount which can be obtained by putting up as little as 0.5% or $500.

But you always should remember these rules:

Margin trading can make you responsible for losses that greatly exceed the dollar amount you deposited.

Many currency traders ask customers to give them money, which they sometimes refer to as "margin," often sums in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. However, those amounts, which are relatively small in the currency markets, actually control far larger dollar amounts of trading, a fact that often is poorly explained to customers.

Don't trade on margin unless you fully understand what you are doing and are prepared to accept losses that exceed the margin amounts you paid.


The CFTC lists 9 warning signs for foreign exchange trading fraud:

1. Stay away from opportunities that seem too good to be true
Always remember that there is no such thing as a "free lunch." Be especially cautious if you have acquired a large sum of cash recently and are looking for a safe investment vehicle. In particular, retirees with access to their retirement funds may be attractive targets for fraudulent operators. Getting your money back once it is gone can be difficult or impossible.

2. Avoid any company that predicts or guarantees large profits
Be extremely wary of companies that guarantee profits, or that tout extremely high performance. In many cases, those claims are false.
The following are examples of statements that either are or most likely are fraudulent:
"Whether the market moves up or down, in the currency market you will make a profit."
"Make $1000 per week, every week"
"We are out-performing domestic investments."
"The main advantage of the forex markets is that there is no bear market."
"We guarantee you will make at least a 30-40% rate of return within two months."

3. Stay Away From Companies That Promise Little or No Financial Risk
Be suspicious of companies that downplay risks or state that written risk disclosure statements are routine formalities imposed by the government.
The currency futures and options markets are volatile and contain substantial risks for unsophisticated customers. The currency futures and options markets are not the place to put any funds that you cannot afford to lose. For example, retirement funds should not be used for currency trading.
g. You can lose most or all of those funds very quickly trading foreign currency futures or options contracts. Therefore, beware of companies that make the following types of statements:

"With a $10,000 deposit, the maximum you can lose is $200 to $250 per day."
"We promise to recover any losses you have."
"Your investment is secure."

4. Don't Trade on Margin Unless You Understand What It Means
Margin trading can make you responsible for losses that greatly exceed the dollar amount you deposited.
Many currency traders ask customers to give them money, which they sometimes refer to as "margin," often sums in the range of $1,000 to $5,000. However, those amounts, which are relatively small in the currency markets, actually control far larger dollar amounts of trading, a fact that often is poorly explained to customers.
Don't trade on margin unless you fully understand what you are doing and are prepared to accept losses that exceed the margin amounts you paid.

5. Question Firms That Claim To Trade in the "Interbank Market"
Be wary of firms that claim that you can or should trade in the "interbank market," or that they will do so on your behalf.
Unregulated, fraudulent currency trading firms often tell retail customers that their funds are traded in the "interbank market," where good prices can be obtained. Firms that trade currencies in the interbank market, however, are most likely to be banks, investment banks and large corporations, since the term "interbank market" refers simply to a loose network of currency transactions negotiated between financial institutions and other large companies.

6. Be Wary of Sending or Transferring Cash on the Internet, By Mail or Otherwise
Be especially alert to the dangers of trading on-line; it is very easy to transfer funds on-line, but often can be impossible to get a refund.
It costs an Internet advertiser just pennies per day to reach a potential audience of millions of persons, and phony currency trading firms have seized upon the Internet as an inexpensive and effective way of reaching a large pool of potential customers.
Companies offering currency trading on-line will usually be located in different legal jurisdictions to you. Even if they display an address or any other information identifying their nationality on their Web site it may be false. Be aware that if you transfer funds to foreign firms it may be very difficult or impossible to recover your funds.

7. Currency Scams Often Target Members of Ethnic Minorities
Some currency trading scams target potential customers in ethnic communities, particularly persons in the Russian, Chinese and Indian immigrant communities, through advertisements in ethnic newspapers and television "infomercials."
Sometimes those advertisements offer so-called "job opportunities" for "account executives" to trade foreign currencies. Be aware that "account executives" that are hired might be expected to use their own money for currency trading, as well as to recruit their family and friends to do likewise. What appears to be a promising job opportunity often is another way many of these companies lure customers into parting with their cash.

8. Be Sure You Get the Company's Performance Track Record
Get as much information as possible about the firm's or individual's performance record on behalf of other clients. You should be aware, however, that It may be difficult or impossible to do so, or to verify the information you receive. While firms and individuals are not required to provide this information, you should be wary of any person who is not willing to do so or who provides you with incomplete information. However, keep in mind, even if you do receive a glossy brochure or sophisticated-looking charts, that the information they contain might be false.

9. Don't Deal With Anyone Who Won't Give You His Background
Plan to do a lot of checking of any information you receive to be sure that the company is and does exactly what it says.
Get the background of the persons running or promoting the company, if possible. Do not rely solely on oral statements or promises from the firm's employees. Ask for all information in written form.
If you cannot satisfy yourself that the persons with whom you are dealing are completely legitimate and above-board, the wisest course of action is to avoid trading foreign currencies through those companies.

Good luck, you will need it ;)

ON VACATION AND NEW STUFF IN PROGRESS

ON VACATION

AND NEW DESIGN IN PROGRESS

(came back: 06-09-2007 )

SORRY!

Search Engine Optimization

In my role as a search engine consultant, many people ask me what search engine optimization (SEO) is all about. Well, here's an explanation!

Search engine optimization is a relatively new business area and one which, as the name suggests, is very closely related to search engines.

As many people will know, search engines represent a type of service provided online to help internet users find information as quickly and easily as possible. Popular search engines include the market leader, Google, plus the likes of Yahoo and MSN.

When you type in a search on one of these search engines, you are then presented with a list of results. The software behind the search engine effectively finds what it considers to be the best matches for your chosen search.

So, where does search engine optimization fit in here?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about trying to get a website to appear more highly in the search engine results.

Achieving this can be done in a number of ways, but will usually include a range of techniques. Typically, a search engine consultant might look to make changes to the structure of the website, to the way in which content is presented and to the underlying website code.

The consultant may also adopt a range of "off-site" techniques - these might include increasing the number of other sites that link to the target site.

In effect, the target of search engine optimization is to increase the number of visitors to a particular site, by improving the site's search engine rankings.

Increasing the number of visitors should, if done properly, increase the number of sales made on the website.

This scope for improving income is what has put the best search engine optimization experts in high demand.

You can find out more about improving your web presence by visiting where Keith Barrett is employed as a search engine consultant. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.

Search Engine Optimization Tips

Search engine optimization (SEO) seems to be shrouded in mystery for many people. Perhaps this is a good thing, as if you don't optimize properly and according to "the rules" it's very possible that the search engines will stop indexing you all together. So, the aim of this guide is to help you do the simple things that provide the largest return on investment. But first some background on how search engines work, and why search engine optimization is a good idea.

SEO Background

To index the huge number of webpages online (30 billion plus) the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN, have created, or acquired, complex algorithms designed to comb through the web and deliver relevant results. These algorithms have always been closely guarded secrets, but by looking closely at the results page, and running "tests" on the system, many people have determined what it is they're looking for. This in turn gave rise to search engine optimization as we now know it. As for why SEO is important, depending on the source 75-90% of people find the websites they're looking for using a search engine, so the importance is easy to see.

Give The Search Engines What They Want

In the constantly changing world of search engine algorithms, I can't give you exact details. However, there are some important things that will most likely never change. When it comes to your website, there are two major things search engines look for, the first is your onsite content, and the second is how your website is seen by the rest of the internet. The easiest things to do involve your onsite content, so we'll start there.

Content

The most important words on your website are in the title. Make absolutely sure that your title contains the keyword, or keyphrase that you'd like people to search for. A good way to do this is to follow this formula: "Website Name - Keywords/Keyphrase". Continuing on, your headings, the h1, h2, h3, etc. tags, are also very important, so try to have them include your keywords as well. However, in the case of headings use them as they were meant to be used. Don't use headings as normal text, and don't have multiple instances of h1 headings. Search engines caught wind of this early on and penalize sites that abuse it.

Another important item is the anchor text used in links. The anchor text is the actual underlined text that goes between the "a" tags, and it should reflect your keywords and keyphrases instead of something like "click here." Then of course is the high quality, unique content you've added to the internet community. Make sure your content includes your keywords and phrases so the search engines know what your website's about. It seems as if ideally your keyword frequency and density should be somewhere between 3% and 7%. So, let's say your keyphrase is "car repair," then this phrase should be repeated 2-3 times for every 100 words. On top of that, you should be shooting for over 200 words per page which seems to be a standard among all search engines.

Offsite Optimization

Onsite optimization can take you a long way, but to really drive your traffic up you'll need to concentrate on link building. Unfortunately, this is not as easy as working with your content. The search engine algorithms have changed recently to include backlinks in the formula they use to rank your website. What this means, is that the more high quality, relevant backlinks you have to your site the more important your website is considered by Google, Yahoo, etc. The key here is high quality and relevant backlinks, as opposed to those found in link exchange farms. There are a few good ways to do this. The first, and simplest thing to do, is to submit your website to online directories.

Try to pick reputable directories that take free submissions such as the Open Directory project, and LinkCentre. Another great way to build backlinks is to write articles like this one. There are tons of websites that take article submissions and allow other webmasters to use them. However, to use an article the webmaster must also place the author's information which the author defines. It's a great idea to place a link, with good anchor text, back to your website in this section. Assuming your website presents valuable information to other users, you might also try contacting other webmasters directly.

Let them know that your website can serve as a great resource for his users. Depending on the size and popularity the website, you may or may not get linked. If you don't, shake it off and keep plugging away. My last little tip on search engine optimization is to be persistent, and patient. Search engines, specifically Google, have begun to value backlinks on the basis of longevity, so the longer a backlink survives the more valuable it becomes. This may mean it will take months to obtain a top ranking, but keep plugging away, your efforts will pay off.

Organic Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization can be broken down into two separate yet intertwined categories. Non-organic or paid search optimization and organic, or unpaid search optimization. Paid search advertising relies on purchased search phrases to drive visitors to a website, while organic search optimization focuses on developing web sites that are naturally search engine friendly and appear in the unpaid or "organic" search engine results pages. (SERPS)

Successful organic optimization combines technical know-how with persuasive marketing. Organically optimized web sites contain content that visitors find informative and relevant to their searches. Content is further optimized for search engines by incorporating relevant key phrases or words into the site's literature. Organic optimization is holistic in approach. Every aspect of a web site is analysed for it's level of search friendliness. Aspects like the site's title, meta-tags, editorial copy, structure and design, usability and function are all taken into consideration.

These aspects and many others are equally considered when optimizing a web site. There are, however four main points of interest:

1. Key Phrases: One of the first steps in organic optimization is determining which key phrases are to be targeted. This is determined by researching which words or phrases a target audience is most likely to search for. These target keywords are then incorporated into the title, description and content of a web site. It is important to note that the overuse of keywords in a web site can result in a search engine's indexing software to considering a site as abusing or spamming the search engine and can result in that site being removed from the search index. Generally a key word should appear five to eight times within a site's editorial content and content should consist of between 200 and 400 words.

2. Site Structure: Search engines are somewhat limited in the way they can index a web site. Search engine robots or spiders are chiefly concerned with determining two things, what is this web site all about and where should this site show up in the search engine results. Often the way in which a web site is constructed can have negative results in how effective these search spiders are. It is important to understand how search engine indexing works in order to create web sites which are fine tuned for optimal search results Search spiders look primarily for text content when judging how a site is to be indexed. Sites which are built entirely of graphic elements or flash are not search friendly. Sites which feature an overuse of javascript and other dynamic content are not search friendly. A multitude of factors are considered when optimizing for the search engines. Since different search engines follow different rules, and the rules often change, it is unlikely that every aspect of a web site will be perfectly matched to every search engine. The important thing to strive for is eliminating the elements of a site that are known to cause problems, and emphasizing as many search friendly aspects as possible.

3. Usability: A site which is difficult to navigate, slow to load, or leaves a user wondering exactly what the site is all about is a site that is not going to perform very well. The flow of information within a web site must be logical and intuitive. Optimizing a site for performance is critical to its overall level of success. After all, what is the point of having a web site that ranks well in search engines if nobody can use it?

4. Inbound Links: The amount of inbound links to a web site has a direct effect on the search engine page ranking of the site. Virtually all of the popular search engines have methods of calculating the link popularity of any given site. This makes inbound links an important area of organic optimization. The quality of the inbound links can matter more than the quantity. Search engines place more importance on relevant links from sites which they consider to be authorities on any given key phrase. Search engines strive to provide the most relevant results possible by filtering out meaningless or "junk" links to a website. In some cases, large numbers of irrelevant inbound links are seen by the search engines as abuse or spamming. Practices such as "link farming" and "free-for-all" link pages are frowned upon.

As the popularity of paid search advertising grows so does the need for organic optimization. While paid search campaigns can offer short term exposure, organic optimization involves steady, long term results. And as the costs of paid search advertising continues to climb, organic optimization offers the assurance of appearing in search pages for natural searches. By combining aspects of search engine technicalities, site structure and usablity, organic optimization not only focuses on search engine results but offers the end user of a site a quality experience.

Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

By Avinesh Prahladi

Search engine optimization is a method to evaluate and assess your website and it assists the search engines to read, and comprehend it. It is not all about rephrasing or altering the look of the website. It is a procedure where slight changes are made so that the content is more noticeable and the search engines can view and interpret the website easily. SEO cannot be termed as spamming as it is a method under which the search engines are assisted so that in return they can provide you assistance in the coming time.

For the past couple of years the procedure of SEO has been frequently put into use. Websites are being created using Java and Flash which the search engines are not able to comprehend and overlook. In a situation where the content of the website is overlooked by the search engines subsequently they are not able to index your website. If your website is not indexed then nobody can look for it in the search engines like- Yahoo, Google, and MSN. If your website is not visited by the target consumers then there is no use of putting efforts and capital in creating a website.

Search engine’s main purpose is to provide the potential results to the visitors and if for some reasons they are not able to index any particular website they might be loosing a great amount of content that the visitors are expecting. SEO bears so much importance that Google offers rules and regulations to opt for a SEO service.

How SEO functions?

There are majority of the websites those are not well functional on their topics. The keyword directory which has about fifty or more phrases in a particular page and the business that contains four individual submissions, websites make an effort to aim at all the four in a single time. Probably the website was targeting a search phrase that nobody is searching. SEO assures that every page of your website stays centered and consequently observed as an influence on the particular topic.

Free of cost search engines

On the internet search engines are free of cost. Google itself and the websites taking services of Google’s results make about fifty percent of the internet search market themselves. If you are only targeting Google then you are loosing your fifty percent of the business profit. SEO should be for all search engines, not just Google and at the same time keep constantly evaluating the search engines so that your website (or websites) remains at a decent rank. This way you are increasing your website consumers by making minimum efforts.

Pay Per Click Advertising

The results that are displayed on Yahoo and Google are known as sponsored links. Entirely depending how much is your budget, you can appear anywhere on the lists. There are companies who provide assistance in conducting effective pay per click advertising operation.

Linking

Search engines consider that keeping a link with your website will be beneficial. If you don’t contain an inbound links then the search engines won’t list your website. Higher number of inbound links will get your website decent ranking. It is recommended that be cautious of free for all (FFA) which is exclusively made to link. Search engines block these websites those are linked with these farms.

Choosing a SEO service

It can be verified by rankings of the website in the search engine. You should opt for those websites which has a ranking in the top ten because of its keywords. Imagine if a SEO company which can place a website in the top ten ranking at the same time when the opponents are professionals in this field, now you can very well assume what treatment your website will get

Five Steps For Basic Search Engine Optimization

By Tony Williams 

The comparatively low cost of building a Website makes it one of the most cost effective ways of promoting a business. Even the smallest business can benefit from an online presence; provided it is an effective one.

One of the basic necessities of promoting your business with a Website is that it must be able to be found on the search engines. Without this simple thing your site is effectively invisible to the general public and may as well not even exist. Disillusionment can soon set in when the company Website does not appear to be 'performing' or bringing in any customers.

For this reason, it is essential when contracting a Web designer to ensure they have some knowledge of search engine optimization. There are many who don't. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is not some black art (although many would have us believe so) and there are many simple tips and tricks that can easily be carried out to optimize a site.

Here are my five steps for basic search engine optimization...

1.Optimize your site around the most popular keywords – A keyword or keyword phrase is what a user will type into a search engine to look for the information they need. So spending some time anticipating and researching the keywords related to your business will not only be worthwhile; but is a vital step towards the success of your Website.

2.Know your target audience – One of the basics of marketing is to advertise to the people who are likely to be your customers. This applies also to your Website, so make sure it is built to be appealing to them.

It is also a good idea to look for ways of getting your existing visitors to keep returning to your site such as a regular newsletter, promotions, giveaways, etc. Again; knowing your target audience will be a big help in deciding the most effective methods.

3.Don't give up on your existing Website – If you already have a site that is not performing as well as you would like, don't abandon it. Instead get the site looked at by a professional and find out what improvements can be made.

There will more often than not be more value to search engines in an existing site than in a brand new one.

4.Make sure your site is designed to be 'user friendly' – There are many superb guides that go into great detail about effective Web design. But some of the more obvious things to consider are: Colour schemes, easy navigation, page layout, text sizes, etc. Without a user friendly Website your visitors will not stay long enough to find out what your business is all about.

5.Add content to the Website regularly – A site that is updated regularly encourages repeat visitors and also gets looked upon more favourably by search engines. A simple way of adding fresh content to a site is to incorporate a blog. This can then be posted to on a daily or weekly basis.

Following these five steps for basic search engine optimization will help to ensure that your Website gets noticed and attracts the customers you need for your business. Good luck!

Danny Sullivan & The Formation of a Local SEM Organization

By Todd Mintz

It´s true that Danny Sullivan is indirectly responsible for the formation of SEMpdx (Portland´s SEM Organization). At the 2006 SES Seattle Conference, in a conversation with Anvil Media´s Kent Lewis, Danny inadvertently (for he´s too nice a guy to do something like this deliberately) slighted our Rose City. When Kent relayed Danny´s comments to Scott Orth, the desire to form a local SEM organization that would be the envy of much bigger marketplaces was born. One year later, I can state unequivocally that being one of the founding board members has been an extremely valuable, enriching experience.

The purpose of my writing this article is to attempt to show others the value of what we´ve accomplished and hopefully encourage like-minded SEM´s in other communities to form their own local organizations. I know that SEO Meetups are forming many places and it´s wonderful that folks are getting together to talk shop and drink beers. However, Dallas / Fort Worth, New York, and New England are the only regions that I know about that seem to be doing what we´re doing in Portland (and if I´ve slighted your organization, it´s due only to my ignorance).

So, why are the benefits of such groups?

• Exchange of ideas. SES Seattle 2006 was the first time I ever had an in-person conversation with another SEO (and I had been doing SEO since 2000). An SEO who doesn´t go to conferences has not likely met many (if any) fellow professionals. It´s really nice to hang out with people with whom you can openly share your work experiences and who understand what the heck you are talking about.

• Business Referrals. Not everybody is an expert in all facets of SEM. Many SEMpdx members have more clients than bandwidth. It´s nice to be able to refer out potential clients to trusted sources.

• Competitors Can Be Friends. All the original SEMpdx board members were with difference agencies at the time our organization was formed (though two of us are now corporate). Competing with each other for business is a little less onerous when you have strong relationships with your competition (and when they can also be a referral source for you).

• Educating Our Community. Each board member knows that once our Portland Business Community sees the value of search engine marketing, they will be more likely to invest in the search process. To further this aim, SEMpdx hosts a series of monthly events along with our annual day-long Searchfest where business people interested in learning more about search can learn from the best minds in our industry.

• Recruiting New Search Professionals. Our members who run multi-person agencies have to turn business away because they can not find enough qualified people to hire. There is an extraordinary lack of search personnel. We are using our organization as a magnet to attract potential employees (and any Portland people who are looking for search careers really should start hanging out with us).

• Giving Back To Our Community. Each year, we designate a local non-profit to get a percentage of our revenues, plus we collectively offer our professional services gratis to that charity.

• Increased Individual Visibility. Because our organization has become highly visible, each Board Member has become much more visible in the Portland business community, as well as in the global search community.

So, it´s great first step to organize and attend a local SEO meetup…however, the benefits of forming a full-fledged local organization can personally and professionally profitable for all involved.

Are Anti-Glare Search Engines Really To Glare On?

The buzz surrounding the anti-glare search engines is on! With a number of anti-glare search engines like Blackle introducing a new theme of using a black screen for saving energy, people are curious to find out the truth about its claim. According to an article published by Mark Onktush in January, 2007, turning Google page black would save 3000 MWh per year!

Interesting as it sounds, there are actually a number of aspects to be taken into consideration prior to resting a complete belief in the theory of the anti-glare search engines. Mark, in his article, claimed that Google could actually save 750 MW hours a year using a black screen. This, in fact, is true for cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors, which consume more power. The black screen would definitely use around 15 watt less in CRTs. But what about LCD monitor users? To be precise, Mark had himself claimed that around 25% of people use CRT monitors. If such is the case, would a black screen really be a great help for LCD users?

As said earlier, the CRT users would save around 15 watts less energy than their LCD counterparts, amounting to 1,917,750 kWh (511,400,000 hours x 25% x .015 kW). This is definitely good news for CRT users. However, there is a flip side to it as well. The LCD users can hardly benefit from a black screen for they use a black lit display, selectively blocking out certain wavelengths of light. It is surprising to find that an LCD monitor actually consumes an extra watt when switched on to black screen. However, the CRT users would definitely be benefited by setting up anti-glare screen as their home page.

The concept of anti-glare search engines or Black Google has been criticized widely. But it would not be altogether correct to negate the whole issue by claiming it as worthless. People should appreciate the fact that importance is being placed on health issues of the users. Anti-glare screens are easy to read as they negate straining of the eyes. Energy saving or not, users certainly feel easier to read on a black screen than their colored counterparts. The debate on anti-glare search engine has gained from strength to strength. In spite of multiple criticisms, we sincerely believe that the concept should really be worked upon and bettered.

3 Top Ways to Search Engine Optimization

By Sean R Mize 

The track of the number of websites on the World Wide Web is a Herculean task. And searching for a particular website in this jungle of websites is an even harder task. To make your site stand out you must have your site search engine optimized. Here are three top ways to search engine optimization or SEO.

First way to search engine optimization is to make a good professional website in which the content is updated regularly and the content is search engine optimized. This can be done by giving some consideration to the keyword and keyword density in the word content. The search engine detects the website that is keyword rich and regularly updated.

Second way to get search engine optimized is the use of RSS feed. By the RSS feed you can have your website link to all the major sites and have your updated content sent to the subscribed users immediately. Also this will give your website a dynamic nature which in turn will increase your search engine rating. The use of RSS feed also give your website a professional look that will help you increase your public presence.

Third way to go for search engine optimization is to submit your website link to the search engines and web directories. You can also pay for some keywords that best describe your website. This will help you improving your search engine rating. Here the keyword should be chosen carefully as you need to pay for the keywords. So make a list of keywords and then bid on the keywords according to the applicability list of the keyword.

Do you want to learn more about how I do it? I have just completed my brand new guide to article marketing success, ‘Your Article Writing and Promotion Guide‘

Unethical Search Engine Optimization Explained

By Keith Barrett 

If you've ever thought about hiring a professional search engine optimization (SEO) consultant or read about SEO as a subject then you may have seen the term "black hat" mentioned. Let's take a closer look at what black hat SEO really means.

To begin with, we'll revisit what is meant by the term search engine optimization (SEO). SEO refers to methods that improve search engine rankings for a particular website. Techniques can vary but will often involve making the most of the website by ensuring that its content and structure appeal to search engines, as well as visitors.

There are various schools of thought on how best to carry out such optimization. As far as the major search engines are concerned, there are ethical methods of improving search engine rankings and unethical methods.

Within the professional search engine community, ethical techniques are known as "white hat", while techniques that are viewed as unethical have been labelled "black hat".

White Hat SEO involves making the best use of the structure and content of the website to improve rankings. Black Hat techniques will often involve attempting to fool a search engine into believing that a particular website is more relevant or highly regarded than it actually is.

Examples of Black Hat methods might include cloaking, which is where a search engine is effectively shown a different version of a website to visitors. Other techniques would include employing hidden text and links.

Although Black Hat SEO can have some impressive results, the major search engines are constantly attempting to clamp down on such methods, banning websites who employ them.

For long-term results, ethical White Hat methods are the most effective.

You can find out more about improving your web presence by visiting Search South, where Keith Barrett is employed as a search engine consultant. This article may be used by any website publisher, though this resource box must always be included in full.

A Professional Web Promotion Service

Are you looking for a professional website promotion service? What do you expect from a web promotion service, for example do you expect your site to reach the top ten of the rankings, top five or even number one? How do you ensure that you have chosen the right company to carry out your web promotion requirements?

I have had sites on the net since 1999 and have had many negative experiences when choosing a company or a person to promote my websites. I have now learnt from these experiences and am now hoping to educate the readers of this article to ensure that they do not make the same mistakes. I have now learnt how to successfully promote my own websites and have helped many other people to attain top five rankings on some of the major search engines such as Google.

I personally believe that a web promotion service should include:

Personal web promotion tuition

As well as promoting a site, I think the company should explain each step of what they are doing and why they are doing it. This is a way of educating their client in to how to promote a website.

For example if they believe in one-way links they could show where they have obtained and placed the backward link and explain why they have done this, the benefit it could bring and all of the aspects of page rank.

If they use article marketing as a form of web promotion, again they could explain the benefits of writing articles and about which article directories they submit each article to.

Monthly ranking reports

For each keyword they are attempting to promote, the web promotion should send a monthly report to their client to show the current ranking of the website.

Search engine optimisation

The web promoter should also be able to advise on how the webmaster could change his/her website to help to make it more search engine friendly. This could include ensuring that all of the main keywords are on the homepage(I am often amazed at how many websites do not already have this in place) and to advise about the importance of adding fresh unique content to the site on a regular basis.

Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre, he has a number of websites including:

web promotion servicetreatments for stutteringstuttering information

All a rticle Source: EzineArticles.com

ISO 9000 certification

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. For a manufacturer, some of the requirements in ISO 9001 (which is one of the standards in the ISO 9000 family) would include:

• a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business;


• monitoring manufacturing processes to ensure they are producing quality products;


• keeping records;


• checking outgoing product for defects, with appropriate corrective action where necessary;


• regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness; and


• facilitating continual improvement

A company or organization that has been independently audited and certified to be in conformance with ISO 9001 may publicly state that it is "ISO 9001 certified" or "ISO 9001 registered." Certification to an ISO 9000 standard does not guarantee the compliance (and therefore the quality) of end products and services; rather, it certifies that consistent business processes are being applied. Although the standards originated in manufacturing, they are now employed across a wide range of other types of organizations, including colleges and universities. A "product", in ISO vocabulary, can mean a physical object, or services, or software. In fact, according to ISO in 2004, "service sectors now account by far for the highest number of ISO 9001:2000 certificates - about 31% of the total" - source: the ISO Survey 2004

ISO 9000 family

ISO 9000 includes the following standards:

• 'ISO 9000:2005', Quality management systems - Fundamentals and vocabulary. covers the basics of what quality management systems are and also contains the core language of the ISO 9000 series of standards.


• ISO 9001:2000 Quality management systems - Requirements is intended for use in any organization which designs, develops, manufactures, installs and/or services any product or provides any form of service. It provides a number of requirements which an organization needs to fulfill if it is to achieve customer satisfaction through consistent products and services which meet customer expectations. This is the only implementation for which third-party auditors may grant certifications.


• ISO 9004:2000 Quality management systems - Guidelines for performance improvements. covers continual improvement. This gives you advice on what you could do to enhance a mature system. This standard very specifically states that it is not intended as a guide to implementation.

There are many more standards in the ISO 9001 family (see "List of ISO 9000 standards" from ISO), many of them not even carrying "ISO 900x" numbers. For example, some standards in the 10,000 range are considered part of the 9000 family: ISO 10007:1995 discusses Configuration management, which for most organizations is just one element of a complete management system. ISO notes: "The emphasis on certification tends to overshadow the fact that there is an entire family of ISO 9000 standards ... Organizations stand to obtain the greatest value when the standards in the new core series are used in an integrated manner, both with each other and with the other standards making up the ISO 9000 family as a whole".

Note that the previous members of the ISO 9000 family, 9001, 9002 and 9003, have all been integrated into 9001. In most cases, an organization claiming to be "ISO 9000 registered" is referring to ISO 9001.

Contents of ISO 9001

ISO 9001:2000 Quality management systems — Requirements is a document of approximately 30 pages which is available from the national standards organization in each country. Outline contents are as follows:

• Page iv: Foreword


• Pages v to vii: Introduction


• Pages 1 to 14: Requirements
  
  
  
  • Section 4: General Requirements
  
  
  • Section 5: Management Responsibility
  
  
  • Section 6: Resource Management
  
  
  • Section 7: Product Realization
  
  
  • Section 8: Measurement, analysis and improvement
  
  
  
  


• Pages 15 to 22: Tables of Correspondence between ISO 9001 and other standards


• Page 23: Bibliography

The standard specifies six compulsory documents:

• Control of Documents (4.2.3)


• Control of Records (4.2.4)


• Internal Audits (8.2.2)


• Control of Nonconforming Product / Service (8.3)


• Corrective Action (8.5.2)


• Preventive Action (8.5.3)

In addition to these, ISO 9001:2000 requires a Quality Policy and Quality Manual (which may or may not include the above documents).

Summary of ISO 9001:2000 in informal language

• The quality manual is a formal statement from management, closely linked to the business and marketing plan and to customer needs. The quality manual is understood and followed at all levels and by all employees. Each employee needs measurable objectives to work towards.


• Decisions about the quality system are made based on recorded data and the system is regularly audited and evaluated for conformance and effectiveness.


• You need a documented procedure to control quality documents in your company. Everyone must have access to up-to-date documents and be aware of how to use them.


• To maintain the quality system and produce conforming product, you need to provide suitable infrastructure, resources, information, equipment, measuring and monitoring devices, and environmental conditions.


• You need to map out all key processes in your company; control them by monitoring, measurement and analysis; and ensure that product quality objectives are met. If you can’t monitor a process by measurement, then make sure the process is well enough defined that you can make adjustments if the product does not meet user needs.


• For each product your company makes, you need to establish quality objectives; plan processes; and document and measure results to use as a tool for improvement. For each process, determine what kind of procedural documentation is required. (Note: a “product” is hardware, software, services, processed materials, or a combination of these.)


• You need to determine key points where each process requires monitoring and measurement, and ensure that all monitoring and measuring devices are properly maintained and calibrated.


• You need to have clear requirements for purchased product. Select suppliers appropriately and check that incoming product meets requirements.


• You need to determine the skills required for each job in your company, suitably train employees and evaluate the effectiveness of the training.


• You need to determine customer requirements and create systems for communicating with customers about product information, inquiries, contracts, orders, feedback and complaints.


• When developing new products, you need to plan the stages of development, with appropriate testing at each stage. You need to test and document whether the product meets design requirements, regulatory requirements and user needs.


• You need to regularly review performance through internal audits and meetings. Determine whether the quality system is working and what improvements can be made. Deal with past problems and potential problems. Keep records of these activities and the resulting decisions, and monitor their effectiveness. (Note: you need a documented procedure for internal audits.)


• You need documented procedures for dealing with actual and potential nonconformances (problems involving suppliers or customers, or internal problems). Make sure no one uses bad product, determine what to do with bad product, deal with the root cause of the problem and keep records to use as a tool to improve the system.

Pre ISO 9000

During WWII, there were quality problems in many British high-tech industries such as munitions, where bombs were going off in factories. The adopted solution was to require factories to document their manufacturing procedures and to prove by record-keeping that the procedures were being followed. The name of the standard was BS 5750, and it was known as a management standard because it did not specify what to manufacture, but how to manage the manufacturing process. According to Seddon, "In 1987, the British Government persuaded the International Organisation for Standardization to adopt BS 5750 as an international standard. BS 5750 became ISO 9000."

1987 version

ISO 9000:1987 had the same structure as the UK Standard BS 5750, with three 'models' for quality management systems, the selection of which was based on the scope of activities of the organization:

• ISO 9001:1987 Model for quality assurance in design, development, production, installation, and servicing was for companies and organizations whose activities included the creation of new products.


• ISO 9002:1987 Model for quality assurance in production, installation, and servicing had basically the same material as ISO 9001 but without covering the creation of new products.


• ISO 9003:1987 Model for quality assurance in final inspection and test covered only the final inspection of finished product, with no concern for how the product was produced.

ISO 9000:1987 was also influenced by existing U.S. and other Defense Standards ("MIL SPECS"), and so was well-suited to manufacturing. The emphasis tended to be placed on conformance with procedures rather than the overall process of management — which was likely the actual intent.^{[citation needed]}

1994 version

ISO 9000:1994 emphasized quality assurance via preventative actions, instead of just checking final product, and continued to require evidence of compliance with documented procedures. As with the first edition, the down-side was that companies tended to implement its requirements by creating shelf-loads of procedure manuals, and becoming burdened with an ISO bureaucracy. In some companies, adapting and improving processes could actually be impeded by the quality system.^{[citation needed]}

2000 version

ISO 9001:2000 combines the three standards 9001, 9002, and 9003 into one, now called 9001. Design and development procedures are required only if a company does in fact engage in the creation of new products. The 2000 version sought to make a radical change in thinking by actually placing the concept of process management front and centre. ("Process management" was the monitoring and optimizing of a company's tasks and activities, instead of just inspecting the final product.) The 2000 version also demands involvement by upper executives, in order to integrate quality into the business system and avoid delegation of quality functions to junior administrators. Another goal is to improve effectiveness via process performance metrics — numerical measurement of the effectiveness of tasks and activities. Expectations of continual process improvement and tracking customer satisfaction were made explicit.

Future Version : 2008

TC 176, the ISO 9001 technical committee , has started its review on the next version of ISO 9001, which will in all likelihood be termed the ISO 9001:2008 standard, assuming its planned release date of 2008 is met. Early reports are that the standard will not be substantially changed from its 2000 version.

As with the release of previous versions, organizations registered to ISO 9001 will be given a substantial period to transition to the new version of the standard, assuming changes are needed; organizations registered to 9001:1994 had until December of 2003 to undergo upgrade audits.

ISO does not itself certify organizations. Many countries have formed accreditation bodies to authorize certification bodies, which audit organizations applying for ISO 9001 compliance certification. Although commonly referred to as ISO 9000:2000 certification, the actual standard to which an organization's quality management can be certified is ISO 9001:2000. Both the accreditation bodies and the certification bodies charge fees for their services. The various accreditation bodies have mutual agreements with each other to ensure that certificates issued by one of the Accredited Certification Bodies (CB) are accepted world-wide.

The applying organization is assessed based on an extensive sample of its sites, functions, products, services and processes; a list of problems ("action requests" or "non-compliances") is made known to the management. If there are no major problems on this list, the certification body will issue an ISO 9001 certificate for each geographical site it has visited, once it receives a satisfactory improvement plan from the management showing how any problems will be resolved.

An ISO certificate is not a once-and-for-all award, but must be renewed at regular intervals recommended by the certification body, usually around three years. In contrast to the Capability Maturity Model there are no grades of competence within ISO 9001.

Auditing

Two types of auditing are required to become registered to the standard: auditing by an external certification body (external audit) and audits by internal staff trained for this process (internal audits). The aim is a continual process of review and assessment, to verify that the system is working as it's supposed to, find out where it can improve and to correct or prevent problems identified. It is considered healthier for internal auditors to audit outside their usual management line, so as to bring a degree of independence to their judgments.

Under the 1994 standard, the auditing process could be adequately addressed by performing "compliance auditing":

• Tell me what you do (describe the business process)


• Show me where it says that (reference the procedure manuals)


• Prove that that is what happened (exhibit evidence in documented records)

How this led to preventive actions was not clear.

The 2000 standard uses the process approach. While auditors perform similar functions, they are expected to go beyond mere auditing for rote "compliance" by focusing on risk, status and importance. This means they are expected to make more judgements on what is effective, rather than merely adhering to what is formally prescribed. The difference from the previous standard can be explained thus:

Under the 1994 version, the question was broadly "Are you doing what the manual says you should be doing?", whereas under the 2000 version, the question is more "Will this process help you achieve your stated objectives? Is it a good process or is there a way to do it better?".

The ISO 19011 standard for auditing applies to ISO 9000.

Industry-specific interpretations

The ISO 9001 standard is generalized and abstract. Its parts must be carefully interpreted, to make sense within a particular organization. Developing software is not like making cheese or offering counseling services; yet the ISO 9001 guidelines, because they are business management guidelines, can be applied to each of these. Diverse organizations—police departments (US), professional soccer teams (Mexico) and city councils (UK)—have successfully implemented ISO 9001:2000 systems.

Over time, various industry sectors have wanted to standardize their interpretations of the guidelines within their own marketplace. This is partly to ensure that their versions of ISO 9000 have their specific requirements, but also to try and ensure that more appropriately trained and experienced auditors are sent to assess them.

• The TickIT guidelines are an interpretation of ISO 9000 produced by the UK Board of Trade to suit the processes of the information technology industry, especially software development.


• AS 9000 is the Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard, an interpretation developed by major aerospace manufacturers. The current version is AS 9100.


• PS 9000 is an application of the standard for Pharmaceutical Packaging Materials.


• QS 9000 is an interpretation agreed upon by major automotive manufacturers (GM, Ford, Chrysler). It includes techniques such as FMEA and APQP. QS 9000 is now replaced by ISO/TS 16949.


• ISO/TS 16949:2002 is an interpretation agreed upon by major automotive manufacturers (American and European manufacturers); the latest version is based on ISO 9001:2000. The emphasis on a process approach is stronger than in ISO 9001:2000. ISO/TS 16949:2002 contains the full text of ISO 9001:2000 and automotive industry-specific requirements.


• TL 9000 is the Telecom Quality Management and Measurement System Standard, an interpretation developed by the telecom consortium, QuEST Forum. The current version is 4.0 and unlike ISO 9001 or the above sector standards, TL 9000 includes standardized product measurements that can be benchmarked.


• ISO 13485:2003 is the medical industry's equivalent of ISO 9001:2000. Whereas the standards it replaces were interpretations of how to apply ISO 9001 and ISO 9002 to medical devices, ISO 13485:2003 is a stand-alone standard. Compliance with ISO 13485 does not necessarily mean compliance with IS0 9001:2000.

Debate on the effectiveness of ISO 9000

The debate on the effectiveness of ISO 9000 commonly centres on the following questions:

1. Are the quality principles in ISO 9000:2000 of value? (Note that the version date is important: in the 2000 version ISO attempted to address many concerns and criticisms of ISO 9000:1994.)


2. Does it help to implement ISO 9000:2000?


3. Does it help to obtain ISO 9000:2000 certification?

Advantages

It is widely acknowledged that proper quality management improves business, often having a positive effect on investment, market share, sales growth, sales margins, competitive advantage, and avoidance of litigation.The quality principles in ISO 9000:2000 are also sound, according to Wade,and Barnes, who says "ISO 9000 guidelines provide a comprehensive model for quality management systems that can make any company competitive." Barnes also cites a survey by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance that indicated ISO 9000 increased net profit, and another by Deloitte-Touche that reported that the costs of registration were recovered in three years. According to the Providence Business News , implementing ISO often gives the following advantages:

1. Create a more efficient, effective operation


2. Increase customer satisfaction and retention


3. Reduce audits


4. Enhance marketing


5. Improve employee motivation, awareness, and morale


6. Promote international trade

However, a broad statistical study of 800 Spanish companies found that ISO registration in itself creates little improvement because companies interested in ISO have usually already made some type of commitment to quality and were performing just as well before registration.

In today's service sector driven economy, more and more companies are using ISO 9000 as a business tool. Through the use of properly stated quality objectives, customer satisfaction surveys and a well-defined continual improvement program companies are using ISO 9000 processes to increase their efficiency and profitability.

Problems

A common criticism of ISO 9000 is the amount of money, time and paperwork required for registration, According to Barnes, "Opponents claim that it is only for documentation. Proponents believe that if a company has documented its quality systems, then most of the paperwork has already been completed."

According to [Seddon, ISO 9000 promotes specification, control, and procedures rather than understanding and improvement.Wade argues that ISO 9000 is effective as a guideline, but that promoting it as a standard "helps to mislead companies into thinking that certification means better quality, ... [undermining] the need for an organization to set its own quality standards." Paraphrased, Wade's argument is that total, blind reliance on the specifications of ISO 9000 does not guarantee a successful quality system.

The standard is seen as especially prone to failure when a company is interested in certification before quality.Certifications are in fact often based on customer contractual requirements rather than a desire to actually improve quality."If you just want the certificate on the wall, chances are, you will create a paper system that doesn't have much to do with the way you actually run your business," said ISO's Roger Frost. Certification by an independent auditor is often seen as the problem area, and according to Barnes, "has become a vehicle to increase consulting services." In fact, ISO itself advises that ISO 9000 can be implemented without certification, simply for the quality benefits that can be achieved.

Summary

A good overview for effective use of ISO 9000 is provided by Barnes: "Good business judgment is needed to determine its proper role for a company... Is certification itself important to the marketing plans of the company? If not, do not rush to certification... Even without certification, companies should utilize the ISO 9000 model as a benchmark to assess the adequacy of its quality programs"

See also

• ISO 10006 Quality management - Guidelines to quality management in projects


• ISO 14000 - Environmental management standards


• ISO 19011 - Guidelines for quality management systems auditing and environmental management systems auditing


• ISO/TS 16949 - Quality management system requirements for automotive-related products suppliers