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50+ Ways to Drive Website Traffic Beginner's Guide for FREE Traffic

2020-05-16T09:00:00.000+05:30

Have you tried every method out there but your website still isn’t getting website traffic?

Do you struggle with turning your website into an income-generating asset?

Don’t worry – driving traffic to your website may take some time, but if you follow the right steps you’ll speed up the process.

Here are 50 effective ways to increase your website traffic in 2020.

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website with SEO

#1. Improve Your On-Page SEO

What can help you supercharge your results is learning the right SEO strategies and the best practices for using target keywords.

You can improve your on-page SEO through keyword research and just the right optimization to your website content.

For example, you can:

Optimize the keywords in your SEO title
Put core keywords in the headlines throughout your website articles
Add keywords to your image file names so search engines know what they’re about
Make your URLs as SEO-friendly as possible by optimizing the slugs.
Make sure you include at least your main keyword in your meta description

Google’s algorithm factors in all these ranking criteria before it decides how to rank your content.

To make it easier on yourself to optimize on-page SEO, consider installing plugins like Yoast SEO and use Ahrefs or HubSpot’s SEO tools.

#2. Research New Keywords

Keyword research isn’t about finding one high volume keyword and ranking for that single keyword alone.

It’s about coming up with a keyword strategy with a variety of terms that are relevant to your product and industry.

But if that’s too narrow, don’t be afraid to expand on different keywords in your industry. For example, it’s perfectly acceptable for a website offering hosting services to create a content strategy for a blog that covers topics on hosting along with broader topics on web development, CMS platforms, WordPress errors, and more.

If you do expand on new keyword families, just don’t forget to identify the search intent behind them and try to serve that search intent with your content.

#3. Optimize Your Content With Long-Tail Keywords

Don’t go with the most popular parent keywords in your industry. For example, don’t use “business ideas” – because this is a top-level-keyword that’s highly competitive, and it would be hard for a new website to rank for it.

Instead, use long-tail keywords like “most profitable business ideas 2020.” Keywords like this usually have a lower volume, but they’re not as competitive – they’re low hanging fruits that are easier to snatch.

Using tools like Ahrefs or Google Keyword Planner can help you research keyword volume and difficulty.

Besides, search engines rank websites based on factors like size, popularity, and age on a scale from 1-100. This is called DA (domain authority), a search engine ranking score developed by Moz.

For example, if your website is new – it has a domain authority of 1, while platforms like Facebook have a domain authority of 99.

It’s difficult for a website with low domain authority to rank for short-tail keywords with 100,000 searches per month. A new website will have higher chances to rank for long-tail keywords because there is far less competition.

#4. Build On Competitor Keywords

You might consider looking into your competitors’ content and keyword strategies if you’re out of ideas.

Features like Ahrefs’ “Content Gap” analysis can help you identify the keywords your competitors are ranking for, but you aren’t.

#5. Make A Few Good Guest Posts Each Month

Link-building, or to be more exact, a website’s backlink profile is one of Google’s ranking factors and a great way to boost your website traffic. The links that lead to your site are called backlinks.

Backlinks show search engines that your content is gaining industry recognition and that it provides value to both users and websites.

Now we’ll also get down to talking about natural link building, and that’s the ideal way to get more link juice – but it’s more of a passive strategy – after you produce great content, you’ll be sitting ducks.

Or, you can use a more proactive way to boost your backlink profile – guest posting.

Guest posting can help you both land backlinks and strengthen your backlink profile, and drive traffic to your website.

If you’re reaching out to sites in your niche and industry it means that you’ll be getting your link in front of potential new readers and site visitors that are in your target audience.

Now, of course, guest posting usually involves some sort of exchange between the two websites in question, and it can be the good old link exchange.

But the key to landing a few good guest posts each month is a streamlined email outreach strategy. And since that’s not something you can easily learn by simply reading 100 words, read up on it some more and start optimizing your current processes!

Keep in mind that some websites have guest post submission guidelines. So, follow each website’s guidelines carefully if you want to land a link.

#6. Natural Link Building

Natural link building happens when other websites, bloggers and web owners from your niche link to your content on their own.

Now, if earning quality backlinks from authoritative websites was easy we wouldn’t have coined the term “link building.” That being said, with enough effort you will eventually get your website up there, and the most straightforward way to do it is by creating valuable content people will want to link to.

But what’s “valuable content?”

Well, more about that in the next section.

How to Drive Traffic with Content Marketing

#7. Create Content That People Want to Share (and Link To)

If you think about it, the stuff we tend to share or link to on our own is usually well-researched, genuinely helpful or relevant and something we consider trustworthy. When it comes to great content, you’ll find that the key thing is to think about the value it provides.

If you think the quality of your copy is up there with the greats, the next step is to enrich it with media – using compelling and relevant images.

But why not go all the way? It’s always a good idea to add a video to your website content (a how-to tutorial or a product showcase for example). If you’re worried about production costs, you can always create an infographic. Or hell, even a custom GIF.

These visual elements have the potential to make your content more shareable – and media always makes it easier to repurpose website content for social media.

#8. Create Infographics

Every solid piece of content can be pushed to excellent with the right infographic that’s both educational and entertaining.

Infographic on how to increase website traffic. Source: CometChat.

Eye-catching infographics increase website traffic because they can be used by other websites that publish content in the same niche – and they’re easily shareable.

#9. Produce Video Content

Statistics show that marketers who use video grew revenue 49% faster than those who don’t and 92% percent of customers say that visuals are the most influential factor in their purchasing decisions.

#10. Interview Leaders In The Industry

If you’re brainstorming content ideas, here’s one tip: you’d be amazed at how many big-names in your industry will be willing to do an interview if you just ask them. Send out emails or contact industry leaders in your niche on social media and request an interview.

Prepare thought-provoking questions and publish this content on your website.

The best part? They will likely share their interviews with their audience.

#11. Add Social Share Buttons

It’s not that search engines take into account the amount of attention your website is getting on social media. But that can amplify the actual ranking factors, and adding social sharing buttons doesn’t cost you anything.

Not adding them to your website posts is missing out on a huge opportunity to increase organic traffic.

#12. Write Knowledge Base Articles

When it comes to content marketing, there’s something to be said about length.

Article length is important for several reasons.

First of all, Google likes length. A QuickSprout survey found that longer content ranks higher in Google’s search results.

The average content length for a web page that ranks in the top 10 results for any keyword on Google has at least 2,000 words.

Second, you don’t want a bunch of smaller, similar articles focused around similar keywords cannibalizing each other in the SERPs.

Third, if you focus on creating the best, most informative and exhaustive article on a given topic, that’s also going to be lengthier, you’ll have the chance to tackle some smaller related keywords naturally, which means your article will pop up in several search results.

And last but not least, readers love genuinely helpful pillar articles and an easy-to-navigate knowledge base.

It’s great for site structure, it’s great for readers, and it’s great to link to as a relevant resource in guest posting, or if you happen to be doing some low-key marketing helping out people in forums like Quora or Reddit.

#13. Internally Link Your Content

You see, the strength of your website isn’t determined solely by how many other websites link back to you. It also depends on your internal link structure.

Have a new knowledge base pillar article ready?

Interlink it with your smaller existing pieces to make sure you provide a better user experience and improve your site’s link structure.

That way, you’ll allow your readers to stay on your site a while longer, gobbling up other resources instead of leaving your site the second they finish reading your article.

#14. Add New Content Weekly

Regular activity on your blog allows you to accelerate your growth – the more content you have, the bigger your chances for ranking on multiple search results. Plus, as you start establishing your presence, you can teach your audience to expect new content at a certain time.

If you can’t manage to write new articles weekly, hire a content writer.

Take some time to plan out a real content strategy and use some type of content calendar. Your content production shouldn’t be an afterthought.

#15. Keep Your Content Up-To-Date

Oh, and one more thing – if you want to remain a relevant player in your niche – upgrade old content.

Search engines like fresh and new content and upgrading is a great way to boost a page that’s not quite ranking.

Here are some great ways to upgrade outdated content:

Add media – images, infographics, videos
Remove obsolete information
Back up your content with more external sources
Interlink with newer content to boost your site’s structure

Drive Traffic by Sharing Extra Goodies

#16. Create Free Products/Tools

Now that the topic of quality content is out of the way, there’s room for some special mentions: giving your audience one more reason to visit your site by giving them something for free.

The type of free goodies you can offer depends on your industry, of course, so it’s smart to research what your competitors are doing for inspiration. But it can be any type of product – something that you can gift to customers for a specific number of orders or for purchasing a specific product.

Moz offers free tools to give visitors an incentive to return to their website.

It can even be a free tool – a strategy that works particularly well for SaaS companies, for example.

#17. Host Contests And Giveaways

Another way to draw more website visitors to your site is by hosting contests and giveaways. They play on the power of urgency and the fear of missing out, and they’re great for generating leads and maximizing brand exposure.

They can also leave you with all sorts of valuable data you can track and analyze – by A/B testing your giveaway ads you can gain insight into what attracts your customers.

#18. Create FREE Online Courses

If you want to establish your site as an authority in your industry, creating a free online course might be just the way to do it.

Plus, you’ll get to include lead generation forms for everyone that wants to sign up!

Depending on your skillset, knowledge, and the nature of your business – find a topic you think will be relevant to your customers. Of course, this should be a topic on which you can provide useful and in-depth knowledge.

However, if you want to create a quality online course you do have to think about production costs, so plan ahead and think about whether investing in it at the moment makes sense for your marketing strategy.

#19. Run Webinars

Online courses are evergreen, but if you want something similar that capitalizes on FOMO you can opt for a webinar.

Webinars are an excellent way to share your expertise and connect with other professionals and your target audience.

Besides, unlike conferences, there are no geographical or practical restrictions for the attendees of a webinar.

#20. Create Quizzes With a “Share Results” Feature

Why are quizzes effective marketing tools?

When users finish a quiz, they get shareable results and if they find these results interesting or funny they are likely to share them on their social media accounts, spreading the word and attracting more website visitors.

#21. Use Email Marketing

A research conducted by Backlinko revealed that 91% of consumers check their email daily. So, it’s no wonder that, according to the same research, U.S companies spent $360 million on email advertising just in 2019.

In light of these stats, a few welcome additions to your email marketing strategy can drive more traffic to your website.

For example, anyone can create a sign-up widget that allows users to subscribe to a newsletter.

If you have trouble building an email list or managing your email marketing campaigns we recommend that you use one of the many quality email marketing tools available out there.

#22. Brand Partnerships

Another way you can tap into new audiences and drive them to your website is by partnering up with brands. Solid brand collaboration can be built on:

Mutual promotion
Shared projects

Partnering up with other brands on a shared project can lead to audience crossover – and the brands don’t necessarily have to be in the same exact niche.

Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson sold out their beauty palette in less than 24 hours. Source: Jeffree Star.

For example, the beauty giant Jeffree Star recently partnered up with another famous YouTuber, Shane Dawson, to co-create a beauty collection that drove so much traffic to their Shopify store on launch day that it crashed and they weren’t able to process orders.

How to Drive Website Traffic Through Social Media

#23. Create A Facebook Page and Build A Community

When it comes to driving traffic (both organic and paid), social media remains one of the best ways to create buzz around your brand, and building a strong online presence on Facebook is simply social media marketing 101.

While social media engagement is not exactly a ranking factor on its own, there’s a strong correlation between the number of social media shares and backlinks. According to EarnedLinks.com, “social sharing can boost website links by up to 245% over the course of a year.”

So, create a Facebook page and share your blog content! On top of that, make sure you optimize it for website clicks by adding CTAs designed to drive leads to your website.

Brush up on Facebook marketing best practices – use native Facebook videos, add compelling images – as with all content, adding visual elements drives more engagement.

#24. Launch a YouTube Channel

As the Jeffree Star example clearly shows, with more than one billion active users, Youtube has become an essential tool for marketers looking for ways to get website traffic.

YouTube statistics. Source: HubSpot.

Since you won’t be using YouTube as a primary source of income, but as a tool to boost traffic to your site, you need to think about how you as a brand could tap into its potential.

Generally, we can only outline a few very effective video content types, so think about which will suit your needs best:

Customer testimonials
How-to and tutorial videos
On-demand product demonstration videos
Event videos

YouTube videos can be easily repurposed – shortened to use as native videos on Facebook and Instagram or embedded in a blog post on your website.

#25. Go Live

Statistics show that 80% of users would rather watch live video from a brand than read a blog post. Using live videos to promote your brand gives you the opportunity to attract audience attention.

Live videos are especially effective for sharing company news and promoting upcoming events and product launches – so make sure you use them to get more brand exposure.

#26. Use Instagram To Drive Traffic

A recent survey conducted by HubSpot showed that seven out of ten hashtags on Instagram are branded.

#PutACanOnIt – RedBull branded hashtag drove more than 1,000 followers to take pictures of themselves with a RedBull can. Source: Instagram.

So, if you haven’t gotten around creating a custom hashtag for your brand, now is the right time!

After all, this is the platform where users engage with branded content the most. Statistics show that brands are getting 10x higher engagement rates on Instagram than they do on Facebook.

It goes without saying that you need to post high-quality images that are in line with your brand aesthetic.

But that alone won’t cut it – every user on Instagram is doing the exact same thing.

So, what are some additional ways you can drive website traffic through Instagram?

Add a call-to-action to your Instagram posts
Create engaging, short videos (or repurpose them) and include your website URL
Partner with influencers
Offer your Instagram audience something extra – bonuses, discount codes, and special promotions that will help you drive them to your website
Include around 5 hashtags in your posts to make sure they appear in relevant hashtag feeds
Share user-generated content

FashionNova knows how to capitalize on Influencer marketing and UGC on Instagram and sneak in a call-to-action.

#27. Get Involved With Influencers

Here’s a fun fact: 89% of marketers say that ROI from influencer marketing is higher compared to other marketing channels.

Reaching out to influencers with big followings can be a game-changer, but it can also be a big investment, so whatever you do, don’t forget about micro-influencers.

Although they have a smaller audience (let’s say between 1000 and 100 000), they tend to have higher engagement rates, and with a little bit of research, you can identify individuals whose niche matches yours and whose brand persona aligns with your brand image.

#28. Build a Loyal Community on Twitter

There are a lot of opportunities to drive traffic through Twitter (depending on your industry of course) and hashtags are at the center of it all. On this platform, it’s crucial to use niche-specific hashtags and create your hashtags as well.

But the key thing on Twitter is to know who you’re talking to. Give your brand a distinctive voice, or angle your Twitter posts to address your target audience specifically. Sparking conversations and buzz is at the core of tweeting.

Also, don’t forget to sneak compelling visuals in your tweets. According to Buffer, tweets that have visuals receive 1.5x more shares.

#29. Be Active on LinkedIn

Don’t overlook LinkedIn. This is a platform specifically created for business networking and works exceptionally well for B2B businesses. Statistics show that 97% of marketers use LinkedIn for content marketing purposes.

Statistics on B2B marketers using LinkedIn. Source: Ironpaper.

So, how to build a strong presence on LinkedIn?

First of all, create a good flow between your website and LinkedIn – make sure you have a LinkedIn share button on your posts and email your website content directly to your connections by using LinkedIn email.

But whatever you do, don’t forget to engage with your network! Comment on other channels’ posts. When you post articles, include your personal view and add questions and polls.

The more engaging you are, the more chances you’ll get to connect with your LinkedIn community and build your way to authority.

#30. Use the Power of a Good Podcast

Podcasts are huge right now. A recent survey showed that 22% of Americans listen to podcasts at least once a week. They are fun, popular, and reach a wide audience, so they’re a great way to both increase website traffic and raise brand awareness – as you might get discovered by a new audience.

If you start a podcast, you can do interviews with thought leaders in your industry. Or, if you don’t want to branch out into this type of marketing entirely, you can do a guest appearance on a podcast yourself – think of this as an equivalent of guest posting.

How to Drive Traffic with Advertising

#31. Run Facebook Ads

With its algorithms constantly devaluing organic reach (research conducted by LYFE Marketing showed that pages reach only 2% of their audience through organic posts) a 100% organic strategy just won’t cut it.

After all, 98% of your audience is not seeing your content regularly in their feeds.

To be truly effective with your ads, run split testing and discover what functions best for your audience to turn Facebook ads into a sustainable, profitable part of your business.

#32. Run Reddit Ads

Aside from being the third most popular website in the U.S, statistics also show that Reddit has 330 million monthly active users.

To successfully drive traffic through Reddit, the first thing you need to do is find a good subreddit with an audience that will be interested in your products or services.

The rest is merely knowing how to strike a good balance between offering valuable information and being promotional.

If you want to succeed you need to engage with the Reddit community genuinely. Only then can you get away with posting ads and links to your website content that’s relevant to the discussion.

This is important because marketers that just post ads on Reddit are usually downvoted.

Once you engage with the community in your subreddit you can invest in a sponsored post which guarantees that your post will be pinned to the top of the subreddit.

#33. Run Twitter Ads

As is the case with some other social media networks, thanks to algorithm updates, organic reach on Twitter is also declining.

No wonder that 75% of B2B and 65% of B2C businesses are running Twitter ads – and if you’re not advertising on Twitter, your competitors are already one step ahead of you.

To get your Twitter campaign off to a good start, incorporate these techniques:

Be concise
Use images
Target keywords
Ask questions

#34. Run Google Ads (PPC)

Investing in Google ads can be a quick way to increase website traffic from high-value commercial intent searches – “65% of all clicks made by “users who intend to buy” go to search ads.”

Of course, Google ad campaigns have a bit of a learning curve, but there’s nothing a good expert guide on the subject and some A/B testing can’t solve.

#35. Run YouTube Ads

Before you start a YouTube ad campaign, you have to think about your target audience and how they consume content. But, as is always the case with ads, there’s a lot of trial and error – you can do A/B testing to find out which types of ads perform best.

Youtube has three types of ad formats you can choose from:

TrueView Ad

After 5 seconds of watching this ad, users can choose to click “skip.” You’ll pay for this add if users watch it for 30 seconds or they click on the ad.

TrueView Discovery

These types of ads show under-recommended videos or in Youtube search. You’ll pay for this ad if users click on it and watch the video.

Bumper

Bumper ads are shorter but also unskippable. They’re shown before, during or after a video. You’ll pay for bumper ads when your ad is shown 1000 times.

#36. Buy Ad Space On Similar Sites

Social media advertising is one thing, but advertising on similar websites is also a great way to increase website traffic.

Here are some of the ways in which you can buy ad space:

Directly from a website
By using an agency
Through an ad network such as Google Display Network
Through a marketplace such as BuySellAds.com

#37. Advertise via Ad Networks

Using ad networks can help you generate ad revenue from your content. This will give you the chance to create digital ads that will target a focused group of customers.

Ad networks connect buyers and sellers. They target customers based on their behavior, location, job, and interests which will be impossible for you to do it on your own.

#38. Use Retargeting

The majority of visitors will access your website a couple of times before they make a purchase. However, there is a great number of visitors that will open your website just once and never come back.

Retargeting is a cookie-based technology that uses simple Javascript code to follow your customers and bring them back by placing an ad for the product or service they reviewed.

Retargeting ads allow you to drive prospective customers back to your website which always increases the odds of conversion.

Drive Traffic by Engaging with Communities

#39. Participate In Forums

Find where your community is and reach out to them. Are they using Quora, Reddit or Yahoo Answers? Or maybe there is another digital community where professionals in your niche have discussions and share valuable insights?

Don’t use forums to just promote your products – it’s generally frowned upon. Instead, take part in discussions and add valuable content. This will help you build relationships with professionals in your niche and in time, they’ll get interested in your business.

#40. Be Active in Niche-Focused Online Communities

Are you familiar with any niche-forums related to your industry? If not, start your search immediately. This type of online community is a great way to reach very specific target groups.

#41. Participate In Quora

Quora is a popular forum where people engage in discussions about any possible topic you can imagine. It’s a great place to discover how customers react and experience services and products in your industry – or even about your business.

This type of info can be invaluable – it can help you learn how you can improve your products and services.

One thing you can do is take active participation in Quora. Answer people’s questions on topics connected with your industry – but try to avoid sounding salesy.

In these types of forums, you need to build relationships and earn trust as a member – don’t rush in with posting links to your website’s blog. Be relevant and be helpful.

In time, you’ll build a loyal community that will be receptive to your website’s products and services.

#42. Use Reddit To Promote Your Content

If you want to get large amounts of traffic, you should engage with the community on Reddit.

But be careful, this is a platform where readers want to get in-depth, valuable, and helpful content. Short and generic doesn’t do well – as we said, you can easily get downvoted.

So, do a bit of research on your subreddit, find out what type of posts are popular and post only your best content.

#43. Share Images On Pinterest

If you have a B2C company, regularly posting (or repurposing) appealing product images and custom visuals and creating boards (with your industry keywords) can help you in the traffic department.

In fact, statistics show that Pinterest drives 33% more website traffic to shopping sites than Facebook.

Just remember that Pinterest functions exactly the same as other social media platforms – posting regularly is the key to success.

#44. Develop SlideShare Presentations

Did you know that SlideShare is on the list of the 150 most visited websites in the world?

Don’t underestimate this platform – over 80% of SlideShare’s 70 million website visitors come through organic research!

Besides, you can easily repurpose blog content into a presentation and use SlideShare as yet another channel that will drive traffic to your site.

Promote Your Website Offline

#45. Sponsor Events

Sponsoring events is a great way to boost your brand exposure and establish business authority in your industry.

Pick an event that fits your brand image and is likely to be attended by your target audience. Exposure to media and a chance to get your brand logo out there is always a powerful way to generate more interest.

#46. Advertise At Conferences

If you get the chance to speak at a conference on a topic related to your industry or your business, don’t miss out. Besides, networking with industry leaders is never a bad thing, nor is any opportunity to attract new leads from the pool of attendees.

Drive Traffic by Optimizing Your Website

#47. Focus on Mobile Usability

Internet browsing is no longer done solely on desktops – more and more people are using mobile devices to access the web. In fact, research shows that 70% of website traffic happens on a mobile device.

If your website is not optimized for mobile, your mobile visitors are not likely to come back.

So, make sure your website is responsive on all devices, pick a mobile-responsive theme and make sure that your website content looks good on the mobile!

#48. Speed Up Your Website

Having a fast website translates to good user experience. Research shows that website visitors are likely to leave your website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.

So, what you can always do is to speed test your site, pick a good hosting provider and optimize your images (reduce image size) at least.

#49. Optimize Your CTR

Your CTR (Click-Through Rate) is one of your most important metrics.

While CTR optimization is not always the most straightforward thing, you can:

Include keywords in your title tag, URL, and meta description
Keep them all within the character limit using a tool like the SeoMofo Snippet Optimizer
Use power words
Write compelling titles (consult tools like Headline Analyzer)

#50. Examine Analytics Data

Analytics tools such as Google Analytics allow you to track:

How and where your content is being shared.
Mobile traffic
Most visited pages
Referrals
Organic keywords

This can give you incredible insights into your audience and much much more.

Instead of operating on a blind guess, a tool like Google Analytics will help you make data-driven decisions on how to improve your website.

#51. Research Your Competitors

Some of these ways to get website traffic will work for you, some of them won’t.

At the end of the day, there’s no general rule for every type of business.

But what generally works for every business is finding successful examples of their business model in the same industry and learning from industry leaders.

That’s why you need to do a little digging – research what your competitors are using!

What’s their content strategy?
What keywords do they keep using in PPC?
Who are they collaborating with?

That’s always going to be the knowledge that’s most relevant to you.

#52. Determine Your Best Traffic Source and Scale

Finally, it’s up to you to track your results, keep an eye on your analytics and determine where most of your traffic comes from.

When you have a good grasp of the type of sources that drive the highest volume of traffic, and what percentage of that traffic is converting, you’ll know what to invest in. Double down on what’s already performing!

Do you have more ideas on how to drive more website traffic?

Share them below!

Characteristics of Good Paint

2020-05-15T09:00:00.000+05:30

Metals will corrode, wood will decay, concrete and masonry may receive corrosive dust and they finally disintegrated unless they are protected by paint.
Different types of paint are available in the market by different trade name. Paints are giving attraction, smooth finish to the surface and it stands against the crack.

What is Paint

Paint is liquidated colour pigment which is applying on the surface to reduce the defect of cracking happening due to the corrosive dust and weather conditions.

Function of Paint

The main function of paint is to provide colourful and decorative appearance to the surface and protect the surface from the weathering effects of the atmosphere.

Do you know the What is White Roof Paint
Characteristics of good paint will increase the life of the building. The following points are the characteristics of good paint.

Characteristics of Good Paint

The paint has good hiding power & required color.
It should be able to resist the atmospheric conditions.
It must form a tough, elastic & durable film when it is dry.
Paint must resist corrosion.
It could not be crack when it’s dry.
It should be fluid enough to be spread evenly in a thin coat with a brush.
The brush mark should not appear after drying.
It should be free from cracking and blistering.
It should have good resistance capacity against moisture.
The paint must be present a good attractive appearance.
The colour of the paint should not fade in a short period.
It should have a lasting pleasing appearance.
It must dry quickly.

How to stop automatic updates on Windows 10

2020-05-14T09:30:00.001+05:30

If you're fed up with Windows 10 installing updates automatically, then use this guide to stop this behavior and decide when to install them.

On Windows 10, quality updates (or cumulative updates) always download and install automatically as soon as they're ready for your device. While this approach makes sure that every computer has the latest security patches, performance, and stability improvements, it's also among one of the features that users complain the most.

Typically, it's because to apply updates, users are required to restart their devices, and because updates are also known to (sometimes) cause problems negatively affecting the user experience.

Whatever the reason it might be, depending on your edition of Windows 10, you can regain control and stop automatic updates using Group Policy and Registry.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to block Windows Update from downloading and installing updates on your computer automatically.

How to disable automatic updates using Settings

If you're looking to postpone updates, you don't need to disable the feature permanently. You can pause updates until you're ready to install them. Using the Settings app, you can pause updates for up to 35 days.

Disabling all updates

To temporarily disable automatic updates on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Windows Update.

Click the Advanced options button.

Under the "Pause updates" sections, use the Pause until drop-down menu, and select the time range to disable automatic updates.

Once you complete the steps, your device will no longer receive updates of any kind until the day you specified. When your device reaches the pause limit, you must allow Windows 10 to download and install the latest updates to make the option available again.

If you want to undo the changes, you can use the same instructions, but on step No. 5, choose the Select date option. Alternatively, you can click the Resume updates button from the Windows Update settings page.

Disabling security updates

In addition to temporarily disabling all updates, Windows 10 also offers an option to defer only quality updates up to 30 days.

To disable security updates on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Settings.
Click on Update & Security.
Click on Windows Update.
Click the Advanced options button.

Under the "Pause updates" sections, use the drop-down menu at the bottom of the page, and select the number of days that you want to defer quality updates (if applicable).

After you complete the steps, your computer won't download and install monthly quality updates until the schedule reaches its limit, or you change the setting back to zero.

How to disable automatic updates using Group Policy

On Windows 10 Pro, you can use the Local Group Policy editor to disable automatic updates permanently, or you can change the Windows Update settings to decide when updates should install.

Disabling updates

To permanently disable automatic updates on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for gpedit.msc and select the top result to launch the Group Policy Editor.
Navigate to the following path:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update
Double-click the Configure Automatic Updates policy on the right side.

Check the Disabled option to turn off the policy.

Click the Apply button.
Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will stop downloading updates automatically.

Although the automatic updates feature will remain disabled, you can still download and install patches manually from Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update, and clicking the Check for updates button.

If you want to re-enable automatic updates, you can always revert the changes using the same instructions, but on step No. 5, make sure to select the Not Configured option.

Limiting updates

Alternatively, if turning off the policy isn't working, you can also try customizing the Windows Update settings using the Group Policy Editor to limit the availability of updates on your computer.

To control Windows Update settings with Group Policy, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for gpedit.msc and select the top result to launch the experience.
Navigate to the following path:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Update
Double-click the Configure Automatic Updates policy on the right side.

Check the Enable option to turn on the policy.

In the "Options" section, you'll find several options to configure automatic updates, including:

2 - Notify for download and auto install.
3 - Auto download and notify for install.
4 - Auto download and schedule the install.
5 - Allow local admin to choose setting.

Quick tip: The closest option to disable automatic updates is the 2 - Notify for download and auto install option, but you can select any other option that best fits your situation.

Click the Apply button.
Click the OK button.

After completing the steps, updates will stop downloading automatically. However, when a new update becomes available, you'll receive a notification to download and install updates manually from the Windows Update settings page.

How to disable automatic updates using Registry

If you're running the Pro version of Windows 10, you can also disable automatic updates using the Registry in at least two different ways.

Disabling updates

To permanently disable updates on Windows 10 modifying the Registry, use these steps:

Warning: This is a friendly reminder that editing the Registry is risky, and it can cause irreversible damage to your installation if you don't do it correctly. It's recommended to make a full backup of your PC before proceeding.

To permanently disable Windows Update using the Registry, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for regedit and select the top result to launch the experience.
Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Right-click the Windows (folder) key, select New, and then click the Key option.

Name the new key WindowsUpdate and press Enter.

Right-click the newly created key, select New, and click the Key option.

Source: Windows Central

Name the new key AU and press Enter.
Right-click on the right side, select New, and click the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
Source: Windows Central
Name the new key NoAutoUpdate and press Enter.

Double-click the newly created key and change its value from 0 to 1.

Source: Windows Central

Click the OK button.
Restart your computer.

Once you complete the steps, Windows Update should stop trying to download and install updates automatically on your device.

If you must check, download, and install a new update manually, you can perform this task from Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update by clicking the Check for updates button.

Limiting updates

In the case that using the Registry to disable updates isn't working as expected, you can also use the Registry to customize the Windows Update settings to prevent updates from installing automatically.

To customize Windows Update settings to block updates with the Registry, use these steps:

Open Start.
Search for regedit and select the top result to launch the experience.
Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Right-click the Windows (folder) key, select New, and then click the Key option.

Source: Windows Central

Name the new key WindowsUpdate and press Enter.

Right-click the newly created key, select New, and click the Key option.

Source: Windows Central

Name the new key AU and press Enter.

Right-click on the right side, select New, and click the DWORD (32-bit) Value option.

Source: Windows Central

Name the new key AUOptions and press Enter.

Double-click the newly created key and change its value using one of the following options (number only):

2 — Notify for download and auto install.
3 — Auto download and notify for install.
4 — Auto download and schedule the install.
5 — Allow local admin to choose settings.

These options work similar to the Group Policy settings, and number 2 is the closest option to disable Windows Update permanently. However, you can always select the configuration that best suits your situation.

Source: Windows Central

Click the OK button.
Restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, Windows 10 will stop installing updates automatically. However, you'll receive notifications as soon as new quality updates are available, but they won't download and install until you approve them manually.

You can always use the same instructions to restore the original settings, but on step No. 4, right-click the WindowsUpdate key, and select the Delete option. Then reboot the computer to complete applying the settings.

Wrapping things up

Software updates are crucial to safeguard your device and files and to improve the overall experience. As such, it's never advised to use an unpatched device. However, there are many scenarios when disabling updates could make sense. For instance, when you may need to apply updates manually, or you want to delay the installation until you make sure that a particular update doesn't have any problems.

Also, this guide only stops monthly updates, which usually fix security vulnerabilities and improves the stability of Windows 10. If you want to avoid automatic installs of feature updates, such as the Windows 10 November 2019 Update, when the current installation is nearing the end of service, you need to modify the settings to defer major releases.

White Roof Paint on Shingles

2020-05-14T06:00:00.001+05:30

Generally, weathering tile has been placed on top of the roof surfaces to reduce heat evolving inside the building.
Globally we are facing global warming and we were surrounded by heat atmosphere which is not reducible.
However provision of weathering tile not sufficient to reduce the heat inside the building. So now we are moving to provide electronic households such as Air conditioner, Air cooler to produce cooling inside the building.

What is White Roof Paint

White Roof Paint is a unique paint which is reflecting the sun rays and making the building cooler.
The white coat reflects the sun’s rays and absorbs the cooling particles from the air.

The secret behind the White Paint

Basically, the black colour absorbs the sun rays but at the same time the white colour reflecting the sun rays and absorbing it.

Benefits of White Roof Paint

It reduces the heat emission inside the building up to 85%.
The white paint is more durable compared to weathering tile roof and we can recoat it 15 years once.
It is really very effective compared to the weathering tile.
It reduces the electrical cost because it reduces the air conditioner running time.
The white paint reduces air pollution and emission greenhouse gas.
We may directly apply this paint on shingles and over the weathering tile.
Little expensive but really good for the humans.

There are different types of paint available in market so we have to be choose and procure good branded white roof paint to get the full benefits...

HOW TO PROTECT MASONRY DURING CONSTRUCTION?

2020-05-10T09:00:00.000+05:30

PROTECTION OF MASONRY DURING CONSTRUCTION

It is necessary to protect masonry during construction when the mortar is green or when masonry has not been laterally supported, against damage due to rain, frost, storm, etc. It is also necessary to protect some vulnerable parts of masonry such as jambs, corners and sills and expose masonry, during construction from damage due to construction activities.

1. PROTECTION AGAINST RAIN

A heavy down-pour of rain falling on freshly laid masonry can leach out cement and lime from the mortar used for laying masonry if mortar has not sufficiently set. In the first instance, masonry work should be suspended if heavy rainfall is expected. When some masonry work has been freshly laid and rain is imminent, masonry should be covered with tarpaulins or water-proof canvas and if these are not readily available, with old gunny bags. It is only the top few courses which need protection. This protection is needed more in case of slow setting lime or cement-lime mortars and less in case of fast setting cement mortars.

2. PROTECTION AGAINST FROST

As a general rule no masonry work in exposed situation should be carried out when ambient, temperature is below 50C, unless special means are adopted to heat masonry, materials and to protect completed work. When there is likelihood of occurrence of frost at night, in the first instance, mortar which is quick setting, that is, mortar containing fair proportion of Portland cement should be used for laying masonry. Where considered necessary, use can be made of accelerators in cement mortar so that mortar sets quickly and develops sufficient strength before occurrence of frost. As a further precaution, day’s work should be protected by covering the freshly laid masonry with tarpaulins, canvas or gunny bags. Use of air-entraining admixtures in cement mortars results in increased resistance to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing.

3. PROTECTION AGAINST STORM

A masonry wall is able to resist lateral forces due to wind pressure only when cross walls have been built or R.C.C. floor/roof bearing on the wall has been laid. A high wall, therefore, is liable to overturn due to wind pressure if a storm happens to occur, before the wall has been braced either by cross walls or by floor/roof slab. It is, therefore, necessary to protect an unbraced wall during construction if there is a likelihood of occurrence of a storm, with the help of adequate number of bully stays, fixed on both sides of the wall.

4. CARE OF EXPOSED MASONRY

In case of masonry which is not to be plastered over and is to have exposed finish, care should be taken that mortar droppings and surface blemishes are removed soon after laying of masonry, that is, before mortar has set. It is very difficult and laborious to clean the surface of exposed masonry once mortar droppings have set and surface has been blemished.

5. PROTECTION FROM DAMAGE DUE TO NORMAL CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Care should be taken that corners/edges and jambs and sills of openings, etc, are not damaged due to falling of materials, movement of workers, fixing and removal of scaffolding, centring and shuttering, etc. For preventing damage of this nature, it is necessary to issue suitable instructions to workers and to impress upon them the necessity of exercising due care.

How to calculate cement sand quantity for plastering?

2020-05-09T09:00:00.001+05:30

Already we discussed concrete material calculation
So, in this post, we are going to discuss how to calculate cement and sand for plastering work with an example calculation.
Before getting into the calculation, Let’s learn some basics
Common plastering mortar thickness and mix ratio listed below.
LOCATION THICKNESS RATIO
External Wall 20mm 1:6
Internal Wall 15mm 1:4
Ceiling 12mm 1:3

LOCATION	THICKNESS	RATIO
External Wall	20mm	1:6
Internal Wall	15mm	1:4
Ceiling	12mm	1:3

Quick Check

Make sure you have selected optimum cement mortar ratio
Make sure you are using good quality of sand (less silt content).
Make sure you know the required plastering thickness
Inner Wall Plastering – 12-15 mm
Outer wall plastering – 20mm
Ceiling Plastering – 10-12 mm

Plastering Calculation

Assume we need to calculate plastering material quantity for 10 X 10 m ceiling.
Required Plastering Area = 10 x 10 = 100 m2 or Square Metre
Plastering thickness = 12 mm
Cement Mortar Ratio = 1:3 (1 Part Cement : 3 Part Sand)
Required volume of Cement Mortar = plastering area x plastering thickness = 100 x 0.015 = 1.5 m3

Adding Void Ratio Compressibility

So to get 1 m3 of wet concrete, we have to multiply the dry volume by 1.55.
What is 1.54 constant in concrete calculation?
If you fill the shuttering area with blue metal alone it has lots of voids in it which also need to be filled by the other materials such as sand & cement. Such void gap is known as void ratio compressibility which is 30-32% for coarse aggregate & 20% for sand.
So if we need 1 m3 of concrete in wet condition we have to take consideration of the void ratio compressibility for both coarse & fine aggregate (32%+20%) = 52%
Adding 3% as wastage it comes as 55%.
Thus every time you need to calculate the volume of concrete you need to add the above percentage with dry volume
Wet Volume of concrete = Dry Volume of concrete + 55% of dry volume of concrete or
Wet Volume of concrete = Dry Volume of concrete x 1.55
So whatever volume we get from the above formula, we need to multiply the value with 1.55%

So total part of mortar = 1+3 = 4

Therefore,

Required Volume of Cement = 1/4 x 1.55 (Bulkage & Wastage) x Mortar Volume

= 1/4 x 1.55 x 1.5= 0.581 cum

To convert into cement bags – (0.581 x 1440)/50 = 16.7 Bags

Unit weigh of Cement – 1440 Kg/m3 1 bag cement – 50 Kg

Required Sand Volume = 3/4 x 1.55 (Bulkage & Wastage) x Mortar Volume

= 3/4 x 1.55 x 1.5 = 1.74 m3

So the required quantity of material for 100 sqm plastering with mortar thickness 15mm & mix ratio 1:3 is

Cement = 16.7 Bags
Sand = 1.74 m3

Types of cement Grades

2020-05-08T09:00:00.000+05:30

Cement is the most required bonding material for construction works and it is available in the market by different types and grades based on the strength requirement.

Types of Cement Grades

The types of cement grade have classified based on its achieved compressive strength in 28 days test. The compressive strength is measured in Mpa or N/mm2. Basically, the grade of cement denotes its strength so we can choose the right cement grade based on our requirement. The grade of cement is mentioned in front of the cement bag.

Why was cement graded 33,43,53?
Before to know about the grade of cement, most of our construction standards are derived from British Standards even we were following the British education system only.
As per British Standards code EN 196 & EN 197, the grade of cement is listed below.

32.5 N
32.5 R
42.5 N
42.5 R
52.5 N
52.5 R

R – High initial strength cement N – Normal setting cement
Finally, we reformed the grade of cement as per IS standard as OPC 33, OPC 43, OPC 53.

OPC 33 Grade cement

The compressive strength of 33-grade cement is 33 N/mm2. These grade of cement used when high strength has not required for plastering, finishing works.

OPC 43 Grade cement

The compressive strength of 43-grade cement is 43 N/mm2. These grade of cement used structural works (Column, Slab and Beam) like small size buildings.

OPC 53 Grade cement

The compressive strength of 53-grade cement is 53 N/mm2. These grade of cement used when high strength required like high rise structure.

GRADE	IS CODE	COMPRESSION STRENGTH IN 28 DAYS
OPC - 33	IS - 269	33 Mpa
OPC - 43	IS - 8112	43 Mpa
OPC - 53	IS - 12269	53 Mpa

15 Different Types of Paint

2020-05-07T18:05:00.000+05:30

Generally, different types of paint are available in the market by various brands. The paint is a good aesthetic material to show our building looking good and it also restricts from corrosion.
Apart from aesthetics, the paint applied over a surface of wood, metal, concrete as a protective coat.

Actually, the paint classified based on its technical requirement for the structure. Before, to know the different types of paint let we have look at the function of Paint.

Function of Paint

To protect the surfaces of elements from the weathering effects of the atmosphere and other liquids or gases.
Paint gives a smooth surface and a decorative appearance to the surface.
To prevent decay of wooden members and also prevent corrosion of steel surfaces.

Types of Paint

The different types of paint have explained below along with its uses.

Oil Paint

By economically oil paint is very cheap and easy to apply on the surface. Oil paint is generally applied in the format of three coats namely Prime, undercoat & finishing coats.
Oil paint possesses good opacity and low gloss and not suitable during damp weather.
Aluminium Paint
An aluminium paint does not corrode in seawater. Aluminium paint contains aluminium powder in spirit varnish.

It has high electrical resistance.
It has Good heat resistance capacity.
Aluminium paint has Good visibility in darkness.

Mostly the aluminium paint used for painting the radiator, gas tank, oil tank and hot water pipes.

Asbestos Paint

Asbestos paints are distinctive types of paint and it is mostly applied on the surface which has contact with acidic gases and steam.

Bituminous Paint

The Bituminous Paint is made by dissolving asphalt of petroleum oil. Its look black colour and used for painting ironwork underwater.

Cellulose paint

The cellulose paint manufactured by nitrocotton, celluloid sheets and photographic films.
The main advantage of cellulose paint is not affected by contact with hot water and the surface will stand in extreme degrees of cold and hot.

Cement Paint

The cement paint consists of cement, hydrated lime mixed with a colouring pigment. The cement paints are available in powder format and we can use by mixing of required water.
Sand is often added as an inert material to make the paint economically.

It is economical compared to oil paint.
The cement paint suitable for painting fresh plaster having high alkalinity.

Colloidal Paint

There is no inert materials are added in these types of paint. Colloidal paint is used to paint internal and external surfaces.
In this process of settlement, it penetrates the surface and it requires more time to settle.

Emulsion Paint

This type of paint contains polyvinyl acetate and synthetic resin as binding materials. It dries within 2 hours and easy to apply on the wall or wood surfaces.

It posses good alkali resistance.
Emulsion paint colour is retained for a long period.

The emulsion paint is mostly used for painting steel or wood surfaces.

Enamel Paint

These types of paints are developed by mixing of resinous matter along with white lead or Zinc and little quantity of petroleum.

Enamel paints are applied on the timber surfaces like wood, door and these paints are used both internal and external surface.

After dry, It forms a hard and durable surface.
It is not affected by cold and hot water.
Little expensive.

Graphite paint

The graphite paints are looks black colour and it is used in underground railways and mines.
Graphite paints are applied in iron surfaces which are in contact with ammonia, chlorine and sulphur gases.

Luminous Paint

The luminous paints surface shines in darkness it contains calcium sulphide mixed with varnish.
The luminous paint is applied on the surfaces which are free from corrosion or any other lead paint.

Silicate Paint

Silica paint is prepared by mixing calcined & silica with resinous substance. The surface should not be painted with silicate paint in hot weather and the surface should be wet before painting.

It can be applied directly on brick, plastering or concrete surfaces.
It resists against alkali attack.
Silicate paint has no chemical action on metals.

Anti-corrosive Paint

Anti-corrosive paint is cheap but has good durability and easy to apply. It consists of oil, chromium oxide or lead and sand.

Plastic Paint

The plastic paint is the finest types of paint and it posses attractive appearance. The plastic paint has been applied on the surface either by brush or spray gun.
It is available in the market by different trade name. These type of paint mostly used for painting auditorium, showroom and movie theatres.

Synthetic Rubber Paint

The rubber paint is little affected by sunlight and weather. It is easy to apply on the surface and it contains excellent chemical resisting property.

Different Types of cement – 17 Types

2020-05-06T09:00:00.000+05:30

Cement is the one of the essential binding material in construction and we knew the importance of cement in construction. So many types of cement have manufactured and we have to decide the right cement for the construction.
So in this post, we are going to discuss the different types of cement and its uses.

Types of Cement

Natural Cement
Artificial Cement

Natural Cement

Natural Cement is manufactured from crushed stone which is having 20 to 40% of clay content and remaining lime mixed carbonate magnesia.
It holds brown colour and sets rapidly when mixed with water.

Artificial Cement

Artificial cement is produced by the composition of the different material. The Artificial cement is classified below.

Ordinary Portland Cement

Ordinary Portland cement is widely used to construct normal structure where the special cement
properties are not required. It produces the medium range of strength development and heat generation.
OPC cement is resisting the dry shrinkage and cracking but it has less resistance to chemical attack.
Different grades of OPC cement is availabel in market.

Modified Portland Cement

Modified Portland cement is developing less heat of hydration compared to OPC cement. Mostly these type of cement is used in hot climate location.

Rapid Hardening Portland Cement

Rapid hardening cement is also known as “High early strength cement” because it produces the strength at the age of 3 days is equal to the 7 days strength of OPC cement with the same water-cement ratio.
A higher percentage of C3 S (Tricalcium silicate) has added into the cement to attains the higher strength in short period and also it is lighter than OPC.
This cement attains the higher strength in short period so we can remove the formwork in an earlier period.

Extra Rapid Hardening Cement

This cement has manufactured by adding 3% of calcium chloride with Rapid Hardening Portland Cement.
Extra rapid hardening cement is preferable to use when high strength required in a very short period. It gives 25% higher strength than RHP Cement in 2 days and 10 to 20% higher at 7 Days.

Low Heat Portland Cement

Low heat cement is mainly used in mass concrete (Raft Concrete) work because it produces less heat of hydration.
It contains a low percentage (5%) of C3 S and a high percentage (46%) of C2 S and remaining materials are same as ordinary cement.
Due to its less compressive strength, it is not suitable to construct the structure.

C3 S – Hydrate Quickly C2 S– Hydrate Slowly

Sulphate Resisting Cement

This cement is used to where sulphate impact action is high. The Tricalcium Aluminate (C3 A) increase its resisting capacity against sulphate.
It is expensive and not easily available because a special raw material has required for manufacturing the cement.

Water-proof Cement

The water-proof cement is manufactured by adding waterproof additives and some metal like Ca, Al with ordinary or RHC cement.
Waterproof cement is used to construct the water retaining structure like dams, tanks.

High Alumina Cement

High Alumina cement has manufactured from bauxite and limestone and it attains the high strength in short period. Its achieve the strength after 1 day up to 40 Mpa.
High alumina cement is used for the construction of underwater-related works because of its good resistant capacity against sulphate.

Quick Setting Cement

Quick setting cement contains less percentage of gypsum and Aluminium Sulphate. The setting time of this cement was accelerating by Aluminium Sulphate.
Initial Setting Time – 5 Minutes and Final setting time – 30 Minutes
Quick Setting cement is used in the construction of the water retaining structure.

Slag Cement

Slag cement has manufactured by mixing of Portland cement and blast furnace slag. The price of slag cement is lower than the OPC cement. It is not suitable for normal RCC structure because it having less early strength.
Generally, slag cement is used in seawater construction because of its good sulphate resistance capacity.

White Cement

Mostly the white cement is used in architectural work because of its good aesthetic values. It was manufactured by the raw material iron oxide and manganese oxide adding with OPC.

Acid Resistant Cement

Acid resistant cement is manufactured by mixing of acid resistant aggregates like quartz and sodium fluosilicate with normal cement.
ARC cement is widely used in chemical industry.

Coloured Cement

Coloured cement is manufactured by adding 5 to 15% of suitable pigment while grinding the cement.

Example

Iron Oxide – Red colour
Chromium Oxide – Green Colour
Cobalt Oxide – Blue Colour

Expanding Cement

To produce the Expanding cement, the expanding material added with normal cement.
It is used in the construction of water storage structure.

Portland Pozzolana Cement

Pozzolana is a natural or artificial material having silica and alumina. It is having the good tensile strength and also economically good.
Mostly PPC cement is used in the construction of sewage works.

Super sulphate Cement

The super sulphate cement has manufactured by the combination of granulated slag, calcium sulphate and portland cement.
It produces less heat of hydration during the setting time.
Super sulphate cement is used in the construction of seawater related works.

Masonry Cement

This cement has manufactured by the raw material of Portland cement, gypsum and limestone. Normally its compressive strength is 2.5Mpa in 7 days.

IS Code for Cement

We listed out the IS code for cement.

NAME OF THE CEMENT IS CODE
OPC cement IS 269
Rapid Hardening Cement IS 8041
Low Heat Cement IS 12600
Sulphate Resistant Cement IS 12330
High Alumina Cement IS 6452
Super Sulphate cement IS 6909
Slag Cement IS 455
White Cement IS 8042
PPC Cement IS 1489
Masonry Cement IS 3466
Hope that we have discussed all different types of cement. Anything we missed to mention above post don’t forget to comment.

NAME OF THE CEMENT	IS CODE
OPC cement	IS 269
Rapid Hardening Cement	IS 8041
Low Heat Cement	IS 12600
Sulphate Resistant Cement	IS 12330
High Alumina Cement	IS 6452
Super Sulphate cement	IS 6909
Slag Cement	IS 455
White Cement	IS 8042
PPC Cement	IS 1489
Masonry Cement	IS 3466

How to calculate cement, sand and coarse aggregate for concrete?

2020-05-05T13:11:00.000+05:30

Estimation of any material looks daunting until unless you learn the nitty, gritty of the calculation.

In this post, We are going to discuss the concrete material calculation with an example.

For Slab calculation ( 5m x 2m x 0.1m)
For Beam calculation ( 5m x 2m x 0.3m)
For Circular Column ( 6m height & 0.3 m diameter)
How to calculate concrete volume?

Example Concrete Volume Calculation

A. For Slab,

Length – 5 Metre | Breadth – 2 Metre | Width – 0.1 Metre

Make sure all the measurements are in the same unit
Volume = Length x Breadth x Width = 5 x 2 x 0.1 = 1 m3

So the required concrete volume = 1 m3

B. For Beam,

Length – 5 Metre | Breadth – 2 Metre | Width – 0.3 Metre

Make sure all the measurements are in the same unit
Volume = Length x Breadth x Width = 5 x 2 x 0.3 = 3 m3

So the required concrete volume = 3 m3

C. For Circular Column,

Height – 6 metres, Diameter – 0.3 metre

Make sure all the measurements are in the same unit

Formula for Circular Volume = π r2 h = 3.14 x (0.15)2 x 6 = 0.42 m3

So the required concrete volume = 0.42 m3

Now we have calculated the required volume. It’s time to calculate the micro-ingredients.

Concrete Material Calculation

For the above slab volume ( 5m x 2m x 0.1m) = 1 m3
We need 1 m3 of wet volume concrete of M15 Mix, (Mix Ratio, M20 = 1: 1.5 : 3)
So Total Parts = 1+1.5+3 = 5.5 Parts which gives Dry volume that means before adding water content.

We have discussed the effect of water on concrete.

Adding Void Ratio Compressibility

So to get 1 m3 of wet concrete, we have to multiply the dry volume by 1.55.
What is 1.54 constant in concrete calculation?
If you fill the shuttering area with blue metal alone it has lots of voids in it which also need to be filled by the other materials such as sand & cement. Such void gap is known as void ratio compressibility which is 30-32% for coarse aggregate & 20% for sand.
So if we need 1 m3 of concrete in wet condition we have to take consideration of the void ratio compressibility for both coarse & fine aggregate (32%+20%) = 52%
Adding 3% as wastage it comes as 55%.
Thus every time you need to calculate the volume of concrete you need to add the above percentage with dry volume
Wet Volume of concrete = Dry Volume of concrete + 55% of dry volume of concrete or
Wet Volume of concrete = Dry Volume of concrete x 1.55
So whatever volume we get from the above formula, we need to multiply the value with 1.55%

Now back to the calculation,

Sum of total parts = 1+1.5+3 = 5.5 Parts
Volume of concrete = (1 Cement Part)/5.5 + (2 Sand Part)/5.5 + (4 Coarse Aggregate Part)/5.5)
Therefore Volume of Cement = 1/5.5 x 1.55 (Bulkage & Wastage)
Volume of Sand = 2/5.5 x 1.55
Volume of Coarse Aggregate = 4/5.5 x 1.55
So the required

Cement Volume – 0.282 m3 or 8.14 Bags
Sand Volume – 0.55 m3
Coarse Aggregate – 1.13 m3

Water Cement Ratio Calculation

From the IS Code standard, Assuming the water-cement ratio for M20 is 0.55.
Therefore required water quantity = Cement Volume X WC Ratio = 0.282 X 0.55 = 0.1551 m3
Unit weight of water = 1000 Litres / m3
Water Quantity in Litres = 155.1 Litres

Material requirement for Different Grade of Concrete

GRADE	RATIO	CEMENT IN BAGS	SAND IN CUM	COARSE AGGREGATES IN CUM
M5	1:5:10	2.77	0.48	0.96
M7.5	1:4:8	3.41	.047	0.95
M10	1:3:6	4.44	0.46	0.92
M15	1:2:4	6.34	0.44	0.88
M20	1:1.5:3	8.06	0.42	0.84
M25	1:1:2	11.09	0.39	0.77

Difference Between Beam and Column

2020-05-04T22:07:00.000+05:30

A structure built up by various components and those all are designed to stabilize the structure. A building can stand without beam but cannot stand without a column.

You may interest to know about Types of Load.

Now, we are going to discuss the difference between beam and column.

What is Beam?

A horizontal member of the structure is called “Beam”.

What is Column?

A vertical member of the structure is called “Column”.

The column and beam both are transferring the stress to the foundation but there is a difference between beam and column by the way of the load transfer.

Difference Between Beam and Column..

BEAM AND COLUMN	BEAM	COLUMN
Load Transferring	A Beam transferring the load perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.	A Column transferring the load parallel to the longitudinal axis.
Way of Load Resistance	Basically, Beam resists the transverse load of the structure.	Columns are resisting the compression load of the structure.
Shape	Beam Shape can be square, rectangular, T /I shape.	Column Shape can be square, rectangular, Circular and T /L shape.
Steel Consumption	Minimum and maximum steel usage of a beam is 0.25% to 2.5% respectively.	Minimum and maximum steel usage of a column is 0.8% to 5% respectively.
Support	Beams are supported by the column at both ends or one end.	Columns are directly built from the foundation.
Classification	The Beam is classified based on its support.	Columns are classified as short column and long column based on the Slenderness Ratio.
Failure	As above said the beam have received transverse load and it should not fail suddenly. The failure of the beam will show symptoms like crack or deflection.	The failure of a column will not show any symptoms and it happens suddenly without any warning. The column failure will make fatal damages.

You may interest to read Different types of column.

A Glance of Lintel

A lintel is a horizontal member which is rest on the door or window opening to support the portion of the structure above it.

Besides, the function of a lintel is the same as a beam, it transfers the structure load to its supports.

There are different types of lintel used in construction but now almost RCC lintels are widely using in building construction.

Anti Termite Treatment procedure.

2020-05-04T12:55:00.000+05:30

A construction of a building is not an easy thing at the same time we have to protect our building from force majeure or other natural disorder because the building is the biggest investment of us.

Protection of building from natural disorder depends on the structure design, we will see design detail of structure in another post.

In this post, we are going to discuss how to protect the structure from Subterranean Termites along with types of anti termite treatment & anti termite treatment procedure.

Before to discuss we shall take a look at termites and effects of termites.

What are Subterranean Termites?

Termites are one of the insect’s types seems to size like ants. Termites have differed from ants because they eat wood. Basically, ants build their colonies under the earth’s surface near to the standing water around the foundation because they need moisture area.

Impacts of Termites

Can termites eat concrete? – Absolutely No!.

Wood is the prefered food for termites but if the concrete obstacle to get the wood then termites will make the tiny holes in concrete to get the wood. The holes are formed as crack and affected the foundation strength.

Now we are going to discuss the Anti Termite treatment procedure.

Anti-termite treatment classified as below

Most of the people not aware of the Anti Termite treatment and they easily left the activity. We suggest Pre Construction anti termite is best because “Prevention is better than cure” but here we discuss both Pre & Post construction Anti-termite.

Anti Termite treatment specification

n India the anti-termite work was executed by below mentioned IS standard. The Anti termite treatment should be executed by a certified and experienced agency.

IS CODE	DESCRIPTION
IS 6313 Part I	Constructional Measure
IS 6313 Part II	Pre-construction Anti Termite measure
IS 6313 Part III	Treatment for Existing building

Pre-construction Anti termite treatment procedure

The purpose of anti termite treatment is providing a chemical barrier around the foundation to against the termites.

Material and equipment Requirement

Chloropyriphos 20% EC (Chemical)
Add 1 part of Chloropyriphos 20% EC with 19 parts of water (1:19 ratio)
Earth driller machine
Measuring cane (20 Liters)
Sprayer

Procedure

The earth surface should be dry and clean.
The chemical should be injected into the ground by 3 stages as a specified ratio.
At first stage below to the PPC, the earth surface has drilled 12mm dia and 300mm deep at 150mm interval. The chemical should be injected as the above-mentioned ratio of 5 litres per sqm.
At the second stage, the substructure of the building which is surrounded by earth has to be treated with the chemical by 7.5 Liters per sqm. In this stage, the chemical shall be injected at 450mm deep and 150mm distance from the substructure.
At the third stage, before laying the flooring the inner plinth wall portion should backfill by normal earth and it should be well compact. The chemical treatment will complete as mentioned above ratio of 5 litres per sqm.

Post construction Anti Termite Procedure
What is meant by Post construction Anti Termite?

The termite treatment shall execute after completion of the building works is called post construction anti termite treatment.
We have to dig a trench close to the external wall of building the chemical shall be injected at 500mm deep at the ratio of 7.5Liters per sqm. But the ratio and depth will be different based on the size of the foundation because the chemical should reach the ground to restrict the termite’s entries. If already termites attack the households items then we have to apply the chemical to the material by the spraying method.
Now we come to the conclusion., As above said “Prevention is better than cure” so better we have applied the Pre construction anti termite treatment and also it is economical.

You may like to read Types of foundation.

What is a Diaphragm Wall?

2020-05-03T15:11:00.000+05:30

Diaphragm wall is a continuous reinforced concrete wall constructed in the ground to support major construction activities like the construction of dams, tunnel approaches, deep basements and enclosures. They act as a retaining wall, support for the underground structure, as a foundation or facilitate cut off provision in order to support deep excavation.
The construction sequence and the varied features of a diaphragm wall are explained in this article.

Features of Diaphragm Wall

A diaphragm wall forms a rectangular section constructed in-situ under the soil. Hence, this is an underground concrete wall. These walls are constructed panel-by-panel each interlocked to ensure structural stability and water tightness.

The diaphragm walls can have a thickness ranging from 60cm to 150cm with a width of 2.0 to 3.5m. The diaphragm walls can be constructed up to a depth of 60m.

How to construct a Diaphragm Wall?

The construction sequence mainly has three steps:

Construction of Guide Wall
Excavation of the panel
Wall Concreting

Fig.1.Construction Stages of Diaphragm Wall

Image Courtesy: www.railsystem.net

1. Construction of Guide Wall

Guide walls are two temporary parallel beams constructed along the side of the wall in order to guide the excavation tool and stabilise the top portion. The implementation of guide walls prior to diaphragm-wall construction helps to maintain the horizontal alignment and continuity of the diaphragm walls constructed. Guide walls also:

Avoid Soil collapse
Help mark the panel positions
Support the reinforcement steel cages

Fig.2.Guide Wall Constructed To Prevent Soil Collapse during Trenching

As the slurry levels of soil vary largely, it is necessary to have a temporary support like guide wall. The dimensions of the guide wall constructed changes with the type of surface soil. In case, the water table level in the area is too high, the guide wall is constructed at a height above the ground level to guide the construction.

2. Excavation of Panel

This stage includes soil-removal and stabilisation. A rectangular excavation tool is used to excavate the panel section. A clamshell or grab is used to excavate the trench in normal soil. Grab suspended by a crane or cable easily moves into the soil. If any obstruction is encountered, it is broken by the means of a gravity hammer and taken out by means of the grab.

The above procedure must be conducted with adequate excavation support, otherwise, the sides of the excavated trench can collapse. To protect the sides, bentonite slurry is used. The slurry helps in producing lateral pressure that is sufficient to retain the vertical soil.

3. Wall Concreting

This stage involves the concreting of the panel excavated. Initially, the reinforcement cage is inserted into the trench. If the depth of the diaphragm wall is more, two or more steel reinforcement cages have to be inserted to cover the depth and these cages are lapped.

Once the reinforcement is placed, the concrete is poured into the trench with the help of tremie pipes. The use of tremie pipes helps to avoid segregation of concrete. The poured concrete replaces the bentonite clay in the trench. The density of bentonite is low compared to concrete hence is replaced during the concreting. The bentonite clay displaced is collected and reused.

Diaphragm Wall Connections

Mainly two types of joint design are employed in diaphragm walls. They are by using:

Stop End Pipes
Disposable Pipes

1. Stop End Pipes

In this method, two steel pipes are inserted into the trench before concreting, so that after concreting a semi-circular end section panel is obtained. The panel formed with concave ends forms the primary panel. Alternatively, an intermediate section is formed where the secondary panel is constructed. Once the primary panel is made, the secondary panels are executed.

Fig.3. Diaphragm Joints by Stop end Pipes; Image Courtesy: http://soilmec.com.au

2. Disposable PVC Pipes

In this method, two pipes are arranged at the ends of the steel reinforcement cage of the panel. The concreting is performed for the primary panel leaving the pipes with slurry. During the concreting of the secondary panel using a dedicated tool, the separation is broken as shown in figure -4 below. A round indentation is made in the primary panel in connection with secondary. While concreting the secondary panel, the indentation too is filled thus making a joint with the primary panel.

Fig.4. Diaphragm Joints by Disposable PVC Pipes; Image Courtesy: http://soilmec.com.au

Mukesh top 10 Video Songs

2020-05-03T09:00:00.000+05:30

1. Aaja Re, Ab Mera Dil Pukara

2. Kabhi Mere Dil Mein

3. Chand Aahen Bharega Phool Dil Thaam Lenge

4. Jeena Yaha Marna Yaha Iske Siva Jana Kaha

5. chhodo Kal Ki Baaten Kal Ki Baat Puraani

6. Chal Ri Sajani Ab Kya Soche, Kajra Na Beh Jaye Rote Rote

7. Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo Khuda Ke Paas Jana

8. Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne Chune

9. Mera Joota Hai Japani Ye Panloon Englishtani

10. Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega, Voh Gana Gayega

15 Best Web Safe Fonts...

2020-05-02T21:21:00.000+05:30

90%* of website design comes down to:

(1) the image assets you use
(2) the fonts you select.(*That’s our personal completely hypothetical, biased estimate.)

Font embedding services (like Google Web Fonts or Adobe Fonts) sprung up as an alternative, giving your designs something new, fresh, and unexpected.

They’re also super easy to use.

Take Google for example:

Choose any font like Open Sans or Droid Serif or Lato. Generate the code and paste in your document’s <Head>. And you’re all set to reference it in CSS!

That took 60 seconds. And it was completely free. (Thanks, Google!)

What could go wrong, right?

Not everyone will have access to that same font. Which means you will have a problem. That beautiful font you just chose is going to show up as something random for your visitors.

Not if you create a fallback with a web safe alternative!

Here’s how it works.

Why Does ‘Web Safe’ Matter?

Each device comes with its own pre-installed font selection. The selection is based largely on its operating system.

The problem is that every system differs a bit.

Windows-based devices might have one group. MacOS ones pull from another. Google’s own Android system uses its own as well.

Now pull up a website. Even this one would work. The font you see may not be the one original one intended.

Meaning: Let’s say the designer picked some obscure, paid font family for this site’s design. If you don’t have that font already installed and it’s not pulling from a web-friendly place, the font you see would default back to some basic variation like Times New Roman.

You, as the visitor, wouldn’t necessarily know that this is what has happened, though. For you, it might just look plain ugly.

The ‘Web safe’ ones, appear across all operating systems. They’re the small collection of fonts that overlap from Windows to Mac to Google (even Unix or Linux ones too).

They give designers (and website owners) the ability to specify which fonts to fall back to if needed. That way, you can control what shows up (no matter what) across all devices. And you can pick something that’s still kinda close to the original font (so that what your users wouldn’t see something random or out of place).

It’s a plan B, the ‘just-in-case’ version. An emergency system to save the world from bad font selections.

Got it? Good! Let’s take a look at the most popular web safe fonts to choose from.

15 Best Web Safe Fonts

There might be a few more.

But these are the best 15 web safe fonts to choose from. Select one of these and you can’t go wrong.

1. Arial

Arial is like the de facto standard for most.

It’s one of the most widely used sans-serif fonts (which means no little curls at the end of each letter). It’s often substituted on Windows devices for other interesting (read: more beautiful) font choices.

2. Roboto

Roboto is a sans-serif typeface that was developed by Google to be their system font for Android.

3. Times New Roman

Times New Roman is to serif what Arial is to sans serif.

It’s among the most popular on Windows devices and is a new variation on the old Times font.

4. Times

The Times font probably looks familiar. It’s the old newspaper print that you’re used to seeing in a small size in narrow columns. It’s about as traditional as it gets.

5. Courier New

Courier New, similar to Times New Roman before it, is a variation of another old classic. It’s also considered a monospaced font (as opposed to the serif vs. sans serif we just saw).

6. Courier

Courier is the old monospace stand-by available on almost all devices and operating systems.

7. Verdana

Verdana is a true web font because (1) the simple sans serif lines and (2) it’s super large size. The letters are almost elongated, which makes it easy to read online.

8. Georgia

Georgia is similar to Verdana in size and stature (with bigger-than-usual letters compared with fonts of the same size). So while it’s great for certain circumstances, make sure to avoid pairing this serif font with others (like Times New Roman) which might look minuscule in comparison.

9. Palatino

Palatino dates back to the Renaissance. Seriously! It’s another large font that makes it perfect for the web, traditionally used for headings and print-style ads.

10. Garamond

Garamond is another old-school font that dates back to styles used in 16th century Paris. This new and improved version was introduced and bundled on most Windows devices (and has been adopted by others since).

11. Bookman

Bookman (or Bookman Old Style) is another perfect headline option that maintains legibility (or readability) even when used in a small size.

12. Comic Sans MS

Comic Sans MS is a playful, whimsical alternative to other sans serif options.

It’s also kinda fugly. Don’t use it! 😉

13. Candara

Candara is a sans-serif typeface commissioned by Microsoft. It is part of the ClearType Font Collection which was released with Windows Vista.

14. Arial Black

Arial Black is the bigger, bolder, badder version of your basic Arial. Funny enough, it also shares proportions with Helvetica. Why is that important? So that they could originally use it to replace Helvetica and print things without paying for the license.

15. Impact

Impact is another bold headline choice that looks great in a few short words, and absolutely terrible in a sentence or longer.

Conclusion

Web-safe fonts give you a Plan B. A fallback option for when your first option might not work.

They’re widely accessible and have been available on most devices for decades (in some cases).

While not all of them are #winners (Comic Sans MS? Yuck!), there are enough to choose from that should be closely related to your original option.

What happens, when if not? You can’t go wrong with Arial!

Udit Narayan top 10 Video Songs...

2020-05-02T09:00:00.000+05:30

1. Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Me

2. Ik Rab Ambar Pe, Dharati Pe Jo Rab Hotaa Hai Vo Hai Pitaa

3. Sath Chodu Na Tera Chahe Duniya Ho Khafa

4. Akele Ham Akele Tum

5. Pardesi Pardesi Jana Nahi (Version I)

6. Madhuban Me, Radha Kaise Na Jale

7. O Palanhare, Nirgun Aur Nyare

8. Janam Janam Jo Saath Nibhaye Ek Aisa Bhandhan Ban Jao

9. Suno Gaur Sey Duniya Walon

10. Mashup Of The Year

Std 1 to 12th - Free download Text book - GUJARATI AND ENGLISH

2020-05-02T07:52:00.000+05:30

CLICK TO BELOW STANDARD NAME AND GET BOOK

10 Best Blogging Sites – Detailed Comparison

2020-05-01T21:33:00.000+05:30

There are many good reasons to create a blog.

You may want to practice your writing, create a following, establish your brand or use blogging as a marketing tool to increase site traffic. It’s also a great way to connect with like-minded people.

How do you choose the site to build your blog on?

There’s a wide choice of blogging platforms. The more choices there are, the harder it is to make up your mind.

To help you choose the right blogging platform for yourself, we will first talk about what to look for in a blogging solution. After that, we’ll examine the pros and cons of the 10 best blog sites.

Ready? Let’s get started…

How to Choose The Best Blogging Platform

For making a decision, it helps to know what you are looking for. As they say – if you don’t know where you are going, every way is the right way. Below are some categories to judge the candidates by:

Costs – An indispensable consideration. It’s not only important that your blogging platform of choice fits within your budget but what you also get for your money. A free offer is worth nothing if it doesn’t do what you need.
Beginner-friendliness – Beginners need a blogging solution that is easy to set up, manage, and doesn’t need coding skills to run. They also have to be able to find support when they run into trouble.
Features and extendability – Over time, your needs and requirements for your site will change. You might want to modify or overhaul the design, add features, or make other drastic changes. A good blogging platform needs to be able to accommodate that.
Maintenance – How much hands-on work does your blogging solution need? Does it take care of most of the activities and features for you, or do you have to do everything by hand? This will have a serious impact on your workflow.
Monetization options – Many people start a blog or website to eventually earn money. If that is your objective as well, you better choose a platform that enables you to do that in a way that works for you.

The weighing of the factors above will be different depending on your skills, goals, and requirements. Keep them in mind while we compare the best blogging platforms out there.

10 Best Blog Sites for 2020

Below, you’ll find some of the most popular blogging solutions in the world and how they compare to each other.

1. WordPress.org – Best for Self-Hosted Blogs

Among the best blog sites, the self-hosted version of WordPress is, by far the most popular blogging platform in the world. WordPress powers over 90 percent of all the blogs on the Internet. It’s often confused with its close cousin WordPress.com. We will cover the latter as well. You can learn more about the differences between the two platforms in this article.

WordPress.org self-hosted version is perfect for all kinds of blogs, but mostly for those who are serious about blogging:

Personal blogs
Business blogs
Online businesses
Bloggers who want full control over their site

Pros

Very flexible – WordPress gives you full control over every aspect of your site
Highly extendable – you can add almost any functionality through plugins (The WordPress directory has over 55,000).
Thousands of mobile-friendly themes allow you to switch the design of your blog at the touch of a button
The platform is search engine friendly and works well with social media
You will have full ownership of your content
Its large community means lots of support options

Cons

You need to have a web hosting and a domain name

Setup and pricing

WordPress is an open-source blogging platform which means it’s free to use. However, to set it up, you’ll need a domain name ($10/year) and web hosting ($4/mo). Also, you may want to spend money on premium plugins and themes that add more flexibility to your blog.

Setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog is relatively easy, all you need is a web hosting that offers “one-click-installs” for WordPress, such as Bluehost.
We also wrote a step-by-step guide on how to build a self-hosted WordPress blog.

2. WordPress.com – Best for Free Blogs

WordPress.com is a blog site hosting service by Automattic. You can get a free blog with basic features. For advanced functionality, you need to opt for one of their paid plans. It can be a great starting point for blogging. If you ever decide to have more control over your site, it’s relatively easy to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.

Perfect for

Small hobby blogs
For people who want to test waters with blogging

It’s a good option for small blogs or hobby blogs that are not actively maintained.

Pros

Super easy to set up – just create an account and follow the installation wizard
Hosting is included, so you have less moving parts to deal with
The interface is even more streamlined than self-hosted WordPress
No need to worry about site maintenance, everything is done for you
Built-in stats and community functions
Professional and dedicated support on paid plans

Cons

The free account is very limited, e.g., your blog is hosted on a subdomain
Narrow customization options, third-party themes, and plugins are only available on Business plans
Limited monetization opportunities, advertising is forbidden for lower plans
You can lose your site if you violate the terms and services of the platform
Ads and branding are present on your site unless you pay to remove them

Setup and pricing

Paid WordPress.com plans cost between $4 and $25 per month (billed annually). Each tier increases the amount of storage space, features (including monetization options) and support. With the Business plan, you can install external plugins and themes and connect your site to Google Analytics.

Signing up with WordPress.com and building a limited free blog can be done here – WordPress.com

3. Wix.com – Best for Small Websites

Wix is similar to Squarespace. It allows you to put together your web presence via drag and drop and comes with blogging ability that you can add to your site. You can read about adding Wix in this article.

Perfect for

Small business owners who need a blog with a website
Creative artists who mostly share photos

Pros

Ability to customize your site with templates and third-party apps
No coding skills required, you can achieve everything with the graphical interface
Quick and easy setup, includes top-notch hosting
Lots of design options and everything is built with HTML5
Has a feature to automatically design your blog using an artificial intelligence
Comes with free stock images

Cons

The free account comes with limited capabilities, traffic, storage and has Wix branding and ads
The number of free apps is limited
You are unable to change your site template after choosing it
The e-commerce capabilities of Wix are limited, even on paid plans
The service charges for many things so costs rack up easily
You are unable to move your site elsewhere and take your content with you

Pricing

Wix is subscription-based and offers different packages. They start at $13/month for 2GB of bandwidth and 3GB storage plus the ability to connect a custom domain (which you need to pay yourself). Higher plans add more bandwidth and storage, free domains, apps, the ability to create an online store and remove the ads. The most expensive plan ($39/month) also comes with VIP support.

Visit Wix.com to start a free blog

4. Joomla.com

Next on our list of the best blog sites is another open-source content management system that you can use to build all kinds of websites. We have detailed information about it in WordPress vs. Joomla vs. Drupal and in the post on how to create a website with Joomla.

Perfect for

Business websites
Online stores
Technically advanced users

Pros

Powerful and flexible, suitable for building more than blogs
Hundreds of professional templates make it easy to change the design
Lots of available extensions for adding more features and functionality

Cons

More technical than other solutions on this list; basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is a necessity
The responsibility for security, backups, and performance is on you (although you may avail of Joomla managed hosting)

Pricing

Joomla is free to download, costs only incur for hosting and a domain.

5. Medium.com

Medium is a publishing platform founded in 2012 by one of the people behind Twitter. By now, it has become a popular community for writers, bloggers, and journalists.

In addition to the ability to write blog posts, it also comes with limited social networking functions. You can comment on other people’s content and “like” it (likes are called “claps” on Medium). The audience is built into the platform.

Pros

Just sign up, and you are ready to blog
Great user interface and elegant writing experience
The focus is completely on content creation, not running or designing the site around it
You can embed content from other services (YouTube, Twitter, etc.)

Cons

All blogs on Medium look the same, there are hardly any customization options
Very limited marketing features
No way to transfer your audience from Medium to any other platform
Monetization options are absent
Medium has control over your content

Pricing

The platform is free to use. If you have your domain, you can hook it up to individual stories. Unfortunately, you can’t do the same with user accounts.

6. Ghost.org

This is a publishing platform focused only on blogging. The idea was to make a more streamlined and modern version of WordPress. As a consequence, the platform is built on JavaScript. It’s also available for a hosted or self-hosted version.

Perfect for

Bloggers who are happy to experiment with the newest technical solutions

Pros

Focus on writing and blogging
Clean, intuitive, streamlined user interface
Live preview of blog posts
Superfast because it is built on JavaScript
The hosted version requires no setup
SEO and social media capabilities are built-in
Integrated function for Accelerated Mobile Pages

Cons

Not easy to customize
Limited configuration and customization options
The number of themes is narrow
Ghost’s self-hosted version is complicated to set up

Pricing

The price for the hosted version depends on the number of websites and the amount of traffic. For $29/month you get one blog and 100,000 monthly page views. This also includes SSL encryption. The most expensive plan is $249/month ($199/month paid annually). Ghost has prioritized support, uptime guarantee, and other premium features. All plans come with a custom domain.

For the self-hosted version, you need to pay the usual hosting plus the domain registration.

7. Squarespace.com

Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder which is aimed at small business owners. It’s a great all-in-one solution for non-technical people and offers hosting, domain registration, and the possibility for e-commerce. It also has blogging capabilities which are the reason why it’s among the best blog sites out there.

Perfect for

Business owners
Portfolio websites
E-commerce

Pros

Simple to use and beginner-friendly
Professional design templates are available
SSL encryption is built into the platform
Ability to build an online store
Free trial to test drive the platform
Includes hosting and a custom domain
24/7 customer support

Cons

Users are limited to the features that Squarespace offers
Integrates only with a few third-party services and tools
Personal plan is limited to 20 pages and two contributors
Slightly overpowered if all you want is a blog

Pricing

Squarespace is subscription-based. It comes with only two plans: Personal and Business. One is $12/month and the other $18/month. You get a discount and a free custom domain if you pay annually.

Both plans come with unlimited pages, bandwidth, and storage. The Business plan also has e-commerce, marketing features, and allows you to customize your design through CSS and JavaScript. You can use your domain name, which comes with extra costs. There is a 14-day free trial to test the waters.

8. Weebly.com

Weebly is another site builder with a modular approach and a web-based interface. Pick a template and position your content as blocks in different areas.

Perfect for

Business owners who need blogging capability
Online portfolios
Bloggers with no technical knowledge

Pros

Easy to use – everything is operated via drag-and-drop
Comes with decent mobile apps to run your site on the go
You can try out the service before committing financially
Has a good reputation in terms of SEO, even integrates with Google Analytics

Cons

Limited integrated features and no possibility to add more
Integrates with only a few third-party platforms
Exporting your site is difficult

Pricing

You can start with a free account. After that, $6/month gets you a custom domain. For advanced features like site stats, video backgrounds, or membership options, you need to go for one of the higher plans. Those come in at $12-$26/month. Weebly also has separate plans for online stores that are slightly more pricey. All plans are paid annually.

9. Blogger.com

This free blog hosting service has been around for a long time. It was founded in 1999 and acquired by Google in 2003. As a consequence, you can sign up easily with your existing Google account.

Perfect for

Hobby bloggers and personal blogging

Pros

Free to use and the set up only takes minutes
Hosting, maintenance, and other technicalities are taken care of
Integrates well with other Google offerings (e.g., you can store your images on Google Drive)
Mobile-optimized templates
Comes with tracking and anti-comment spam measures

Cons

Limited to basic blogging tools and there is no way to add additional features
Design options are few
Updates or new features are scarce
Blogger displays advertisements on your blog

Pricing

Blogger is completely free. The only cost you might incur is if you want to use a custom domain. In that case, you have to acquire and pay for it yourself.

10. Tumblr.com

The final entry for the best blog sites is Tumblr. The service is a micro-blogging platform optimized for short-form content. It also has a community behind it and social network features. Think of it as a middle ground between WordPress and Twitter.

Perfect for

Hobby bloggers
Personal blogging
Micro-blogs

Pros

Free and very easy to set up and use
Hosting is included (your blog is located on a tumblr.com subdomain)
Has integrated social features such as following, re-blogging and sharing
Easy to publish multimedia e.g. videos, GIFs, images and audio
Many design opportunities and they are easy to change

Cons

Limited features and no way to extend them
It’s difficult to back up your Tumblr content and use it on other platforms

Pricing

The platform is free to use. Optional costs are for a custom domain (which you can map to your Tumblr account) and third-party themes and apps.

Best Blog Sites – What’s Your Pick?

When looking for the best blogging platform, you have many candidates to consider. Each comes with its pros and cons. There are three varieties: self-hosted blogging platforms, hosted blog sites, and site builders that also have blogging capabilities.

Which is the most suitable for you depends on your needs, goals, and preferences. Here on websitesetup.org, we like the self-hosted WordPress. It’s what this site is built on and we have had solid experience with it. It’s powerful, super flexible, and deserves to be among the best blog sites for a reason.

What do you consider the best blog sites out there? Anything to add to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.

Alka Yagnik top 10 Video Songs...

2020-05-01T09:00:00.000+05:30

1. Tumsa Koi Pyara Koi Masum Nahi Hai

2. Aaye Ho Meri Zindagi Me Tum Bahar Banke (Female Version)

3. Mujhe Maaf Karna Om Sai Ram

4. Aapke Pyaar Me Hum Savrne Lage

5. Har Ek Muskurahat Muskan Nahi Hoti

6. Tujhe Na Dekhu To Chain Mujhe Aata Nahi Hai

7. Pardesi Pardesi Jana Nahi (Version I)

8. Pyar Ke Liye Char Pal Kam Nahee The

9. Chura Ke Dil Mera Goriya Chali

10. Meri Sanso Me Basa Hai Tera Hi Ek Naam (Female)

Kishore Kumar top 10 Video Songs

2020-04-30T09:00:00.000+05:30

1. Rimjhim Gire Sawan, Sulag Sulag Jaye Man

2. Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi, Aaj Rushwa Teri Galiyo Me

3. Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera

4. Ye Shaam Mastaani, Madhosh Kiye Jae

5. Humen Tumse Pyar Kitna Ye Hum Nahi

6. Aa Chal Ke Tujhe Main Leke Chalu Ek Aise

7. Mere Sapno Ki Raani, Kab Aayegi Tu

8. Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, Tum Rahti Ho

9. Phulo Ke Rang Se, Dil Ki Kalam Se, Tujhko Likhi Roz Paati

10. Gaataa Rahe Meraa Dil, Tu Hi Meri Manzil

Asha Bhosle top 10 Video Songs...

2020-04-29T19:15:00.001+05:30

if you like Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed

Lata Mangeshkar Top 10 Video Songs...

Mohammed Rafi Top 10 Video Songs...

1. Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar, Ke Dil Abhi Bhara Nahin

2. Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu

3. Jan Gan Man Adhinayak Jay He

4. In Hawao Me, In Fizao Me Tujhko Mera Pyar Pukare

5. Aadha Hai Chandrama Raat Aadhee

6. Do Lafzon Ki Hai Dil Ki Kahani

7. De Di Hame Aazadi Bina Khadag Bina Dhaal

8. Ek Pardesi Mera Dil Le Gaya, Jaate Jaate Mitha Mitha Gham De Gaya

9. Haal Kaisaa Hai Janaab Kaa, Kyaa Khayaal Hai Aapakaa

10. Mujko Ye Zindagi Lagti Hai Ajnabi, Chhaon Bhi Dhoop Bhi

Mohammed Rafi Top 10 Video Songs

2020-04-29T18:29:00.002+05:30

if you like lata Mangeshkar and asha bhosle

Lata Mangeshkar Top 10 Video Songs...

Asha Bhosle top 10 Video Songs...

1. Insaaf Ka Mandir Hai Ye Bhagavaan Ka Ghar Hai

2. Yeh Mera Prem Patra Padhkar, Ke Tum Naaraz Na Hona

3. Baharo Phool Barsaao, Mera Mahboob Aaya Hai

4. Rahi Manva Dukh Ki Chinta Kyu Satati Hai

5. Chahunga Main Tujhe Sanjh Sawere

6. Zindagi Bhar Nahi Bhulegi Woh Barsaat Ki

7. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jina Yaha, Zara Hatke

8. Khoya Khoya Chand Khula Aasman

9. Man Tadpat Hari Darshan Ko Aaj

10. Abhi Na Jaao Chhod Kar, Ke Dil Abhi Bhara Nahin

Lata Mangeshkar Top 10 Video Songs

2020-04-29T17:59:00.001+05:30

if you want to like mohammed and asha bhosle...

Mohammed Rafi Top 10 Video Songs...

Asha Bhosle top 10 Video Songs...

1. Aap Ki Nazro Ne Samjha, Pyar Ke Kabil Mujhe

2. Aaja Re, Ab Mera Dil Pukara

3. Kora Kagaz Tha Yeh Man Mera

4. Chalte Chalte, Yuhi Koi Mil Gayaa Tha

5. Tera Mera Pyar Amar, Phir Kyo Mujhko Lagta Hai Dar

6. Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandnee Me

7. Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahaan Ho Tum

8. Yeh Raat Bhigi Bhigi, Yeh Mast Fizaaye

9. Jan Gan Man Adhinayak Jay He

10. Tujhe Dekha Toh Yeh Jana Sanam

How to resolve Google Drive file sync issues - red cross mark?

2020-04-29T09:58:00.000+05:30

Google Drive is a cloud storage available to all Google Users. If you have a Gmail address, you have Google Drive access too. Every user gets a basic 15GB storage, which is quite sufficient to store your personal files. If you are already using Google Drive, you may already know that it is accessible at https://drive.google.com. Google Drive also has a "Backup and Sync from Google" which can be installed on computers to store and sync files to and from Google Drive. It is recommended to install the "Backup and Sync from Google" if you need to frequently manage files from the computer. Google Drive is also available for Android and other platforms too.

In this post, we shall discuss ways to resolve Google Drive sync issues.
Scenario: Assumed that Google "Backup and Sync from Google" / Google Drive for desktop - is installed on the computer. This creates a folder at "C:\Users\username\Google Drive", where files can be saved and synced to and from Google Drive.
Issue:Sometimes, due to network issues, files places in the Google Drive folder on the computer may not get synced to Google Drive properly.

These files with sync issues can be identified by the red cross sign against each file or folder.
Files which are synced successfully have green tick marks.

How to resolve Google Drive file sync issues - red cross mark?

Watch this quick demo video to resolve the sync issues in Google Drive:

1) Start Google "Backup and Sync from Google" if not already

Press Windows Key and type "Backup and Sync from Google".
Double click to run the program.

2) Click on the "Backup and Sync from Google" icon in the system tray.

The "Backup and Sync from Google" software places an icon in the task bar. Click on it to see status and go to settings etc.

3) If there are sync issues, there will be a notice and a view link.

Such as "Can't sync 10 items" --- View

4) Click on the VIEW link against the sync issue notice
5) A new window will open which shows the list of all the files which could not be synced.
6) Click on the "RETRY ALL" button at the bottom of this window.

This will force "Backup and Sync from Google" software to retry the sync process.

This will normally resolve the issue. If the network is poor, the sync may not complete properly still, and there may be some files which may not be synced still. In this case, retry the entire process described above till all the files are synced.

How to schedule emails in Gmail?

2020-04-28T09:53:00.000+05:30

How to schedule an email in Gmail?

Gmail has introduced a new feature this year (2019) which enables us to schedule an email. This feature was very much needed. Email scheduling feature allows us to send emails later such as if you are composing an email on a Sunday evening because you would forget but want to send only during
business hours on Monday.
In this post, we'll see how to schedule an email in Gmail.

Watch a short demo on how to schedule an email in Gmail.

Steps how to schedule an email in Gmail:

1) Open Gmail and click compose.
2) Enter the receipient (else Gmail will not allow scheduling or sending)
3) Enter Subject and body as you would normally.
4) Click on the drop down just next to the Send button.
5) Select Schedule
6) Pick a predefined date and time or select your own
7) Click Schedule Send

Where are the Scheduled emails in Gmail?
The scheduled emails are placed in a separate label - called SCHEDULED. You can find it right below the Inbox and Sent folders / labels.
Click on Scheduled and you should be able to see your scheduled emails.

How to cancel a scheduled email in Gmail?

Click on Scheduled and you should be able to see your scheduled emails.
Select the message you want to cancel and click "CANCEL SEND" from the top button which appears after selecting the email.