Self Improvement I Tips for Bloggers I Social Media, SEO for Beginners

5 Power Self Belief Quotations

2011-11-27T05:05:00.000-08:00

The significance of a man is not in what he attains but in what he longs to attain.
Kahlil Gibran

We are what we believe we are.
Benjamin N. Cardozo

We attract hearts by the qualities we display: we retain them by the qualities we possess.
Suard

We all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.
Thomas Edison

Stimulate the heart of love and the mind to be early accurate; and all other virtues will rise of their own accord, and all vices will be thrown out.
Coleridge

Authoritative Search Engine Resources

2011-11-27T04:43:00.000-08:00

Best sites I recommend for anyone seriously interested in understanding search engine optimization, search news and trends.

Search Marketing and Search Engine News
Searchengineland is steered by Danny Sullivan , an authority on search. Search news, webcasts and conferences are the highlights.

Search News and Trends
The thoughts of John Battelle, author of The Search. More than 145K subscribe to his posts.

Search Marketing Tips and Search News
Searchenginewatch is one of the most authoritative sources of information on search engines. Has a good forum.

Seo Tools
Headed by Rand Fishkin, Seomoz offers a number of tools and resources

Search Engine News
Edited by Loren Baker, a search marketing veteran.

FREE Search Engine Optimization PDF Downloads

2011-11-10T18:16:00.000-08:00

I gathered these SEO PDFs over the years. I’ve read each one of them and improved my traffic, page rank and SEO strategies. Go ahead and download if you’re beginning to build a blog or learning the SEO basics.

Highly recommended. This is the Official Google Search Engine Optimization guide. Basic SEO tips. Fundamental for beginners.

Details the basics of domain name, keywords, analysis and linking.

SEO expert tips to bring SEO in-house

Broad level Search strategies by Aaron Wall

Easy to implement search tips for starters with an exhaustive SEO glossary at the end.

Brad Callen’s guide to SEO , with examples and screenshots.

Why Prayers are Important in Today's World of Uncertainties?

2011-11-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Why prayers important in this age of uncertainties and how it helps people manage their lives better. Pastor Eric Johnston, Associate Pastor, Christian Prayer Center, answers in an interview with Rajasekar Raju KS.

Prayer is such an important part of our lives in this digital age and I think with people spending more time on the internet and phone, there's really a need to emotionally connect to each other. What are your thoughts?

Yes, absolutely. People are working harder these days, and often don't have the time to go to church every week. By finding fellowship online, and bringing their prayer requests(http://www.christianprayercenter.com) before thousands of people, they can acheive the same spiritual connection they might find at their local church. Just like we've seen on many current social networking sites, people do not necessarily have to meet face to face in order to find meaninging relationships.

Doesn't prayer work better when you do it for others? The law of Karma works, right!

Prayer is a certainly a give and take, yes. At the Christian Prayer Center, people have an opportunity not only to post prayer requests of their own, but they are also encouraged to read and comment on what other's have prayed for. This two way communication is very important, and forms a lasting connection between the prayer community.

Can you share a personal story of prayers that worked for someone.

It's hard to think of anyone praise report that stands out against others. Each day we receive blessed stories of people who have used prayer to rise them up from their lows. Prayer has helped people repair fractured relationships, find new financial opportunities, and strengthen their relationship with God.

What does the Bible say about prayers?

The Bible says that prayer is our way of communicating our needs and our thoughts to God. When we have faith, God shows us His love by answering our prayers.

Prayer is a crucial part of our daily lives, how do you help people realize that?

It's sometimes difficult to know when God has truly heard our prayers. With faith, we know that he has, but at the Christian Prayer Center, we are able to show immediate results to people. Once a prayer request is posted, people can immediately start praying for them, and commenting on their request to show their support. It's very comforting. We do our best to provide a means for people to use prayer to enrich their lives.

Can you suggest a way for busy people to have periods of silence and reflection in everyday life?

Whether you are having a good day or a bad day, it's always important to remember that life is a gift. I tell people that in their moments of pain, grief, and joy, we should always remember that God has a plan for us, and that God put us on Earth for a reason.

We were made to be social and therefore should we not give a thought to the underprivileged and the disadvantaged in society? How does the Christian Prayer Center help in this?

We do our very best to teach and comfort people from every country around the world. We operate a fully staffed prayer support center that offers guidance and prayer to those with specialized needs. In many circumstances, we've been able to provide support to the disenfranchized individuals with nobody or nowhere else to go. As long as you can find a computer at a public library, or elsewhere, we are there to help. For those who host regular bible studies, and look for mentorship in starting their own churches, we also provide online ordination. (http://www.ministerregistration.org/)

Why Linking to Other Sites is Good Karma

2011-11-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

To link or Not? My answer is Google loves outbound links that offer value to users. It’s Google’s way of understanding what users think of the other sites.

Link out to relevant and good quality content. Readers always love authorities who refer the right resources. They like to read more about a subject they are currently browsing. Outlinking Tip: Linking is like a respected professor recommending some books to his students. Obviously, the professor won’t risk his reputation by recommending the irrelevant, low quality or unethical books.

Outlinks should be part of your strategy to develop authority on the subject. Links are a vote for the content, relevancy and quality of the other site. You can build your credibility by letting users know that you read the latest on the subject and are interested in keeping them updated by recommending relevant and good articles to browse.

Linking Karma
Another advantage of linking to quality sites is that by sending visitors to other sites and blogs, webmasters who track traffic to their sites will find out and probably recommend your site in return. A mutually beneficial strategy in the long run.

Don’t link out to spammy sites
Spammy sites are those that are illegal. Sites that use black hat search engine optimization techniques to draw visitors are also spam sites. They sell links to all and sundry including porn and illegal sites. Sites that obtain data about users and share them with other sites, without user permission are also spam sites. Excessive exchange of links is also considered spam. They may be downloading a virus or malware when you visit the site.

Selling outbound links affect Page Rank?
It’s not wrong to sell links. But if outbound links on a page are there because you have taken a payment, users must be informed. Remember, how Google shows paid ads as “Sponsored Links”. And you must use a "no follow" so that it's clear that it's a paid link. Page rank juice should never be passed on to an ad link.

Passing page rank to the outbound link page is not ethical. Kindly use rel="nofollow" when you sell links. This way you inform search engines that you are not passing page rank.

Linking out Does Not Affect your Site Traffic
Many webmasters and bloggers fear that outlinks will drive away visitors from their site or blog. That’s not true. Users will check out the other site, if it’s good they’ll respect your judgement. They’ll come back to your site for more. Wikipedia is the best example of relevant, quality outbound linking that helps create authority on the subject. Which is why users love Wikipedia, and Google shows Wikipedia pages for many search terms.

Snap Deal Frustrates Users with Bad Design

2011-10-30T23:34:00.000-07:00

Snap Deal, one of the hot deal sites in India, recently introduced a Splash Screen to grab email ids of visitors.

This was perhaps thought to be an innovative idea to gather data and engage visitors. But it actually turns out to be frustrating users on the site.

For one, the designer has been very clever in keeping the close button rather small, indistinct and on the edge of the box curve (see pic 1)

When you hit the CONTINUE button, it says: Please enter a valid email address.

This is frustrating for users who want to continue browsing information on the site. If they can’t find the close button, they will most likely exit from the site (Snap Deal, I hope you’re listening).

On some browsers, even the small, indistinct close button is not visible, leading to further frustration.

I hope someone at Snap Deal will check their analytics and see the page exits; and quickly correct this - to offer users a choice to browse the site without submitting their email ids (see pic 2).

Let users do what they want to and if they find the site useful, they will come back. And do business with you.

Remember, it costs a lot of money and effort to bring frustrated users back to the site.

First Impressions are very important not just for people, but brands too.

Update: Life sometimes throws great surprises at you. Within minutes of reading this post, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, who lead the Snap Deal team, responded "We appreciate your spending time on Snapdeal and encouraging us to keep improving. It is definitely something that we noticed too. and realized that it isn’t the best experience from a user standpoint. The design of this page is changing soon. We are always open to getting better at what we do."

I must say I was surprised at the openness and speed of response. That is what you expect from nimble e-commerce sites that are customer friendly. Good Luck, Snap Deal, the hottest deal site in India.

Note: Only parts of the response have been shared with readers. A shining new UI is what we can expect soon, they said.

Rajasekar Raju KS
You may reach the author at rajasekar (DOT) india (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.

Seth Godin Motivational Quotes

2011-10-21T05:21:00.000-07:00

Inspiring quotations by Seth Godin, an influential marketer, who has been challenging traditional marketing thinking for decades.

I'm just not willing to believe we're as stupid as we pretend to be.

If the rice isn't right, it really doesn't matter what else you do, you're not going to be able to serve great sushi.

If you're not willing to face the abyss of choice, you will almost certainly not spend enough time dancing with opportunity.

The best way to be the next Mark Zuckerberg is to make difficult choices.

Everyone, apparently, is just like us, but lying about it.

There are more mirrors available than ever. Sometimes, though, what's missing is the willingness to take a look.

Everyone is capable of being missed.

Tell us how to do something.

Driving with your eyes on the rear view mirror is exhausting.

Just because there are no firestorms on the porch doesn't mean you're doing okay.

Don't set the clock when you're tired, set it when you are planning your day.

We repeatedly underestimate how important a story is to help us make sense of the world.

The shortcut to success is this: why not always act as if the other guy is doing the favor?

Discernment is the hardest part of marketing--seeing the world as it is, instead of how you experience it.

If you want people to speak up, be clear and mean it. If you don't, don't pretend.

If you do a job where someone tells you exactly what to do, they will find someone cheaper than you to do it.

The thing to remember about the short-term is that we'll almost certainly be around when the long-term shows up.

You'd be amazed at how far you can go, if you commit to doing it, not merely talking about it.

If you're going to waste time (and I hope you will) the least you can do is do it well.

Short Motivational Quote Image about Will

2011-10-19T02:18:00.000-07:00

5 Ways to Get Kids to Do Chores

2011-10-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

Simple techniques to get children to do chores at home. This could make them confident, independent and successful in Life.

A duty which becomes a desire will ultimately become a delight
- George Gritter

Lucky are those parents who need not tell the child to clean the bicycle every Sunday, look after the younger sister while at play, or take a bath before going to school. These children are responsible. They know their duties.

Later life they’ll turn out to be confident, independent and successful persons. But what about those who shirk responsibilities, argue, complain and seek excuses. Well. Don’t be upset with this. It’s normal with most growing up children.

And, the fact is.. you could easily change this situation.

Don't Sermonize, Set Eaxmples
The best way to make your child responsible is to first set examples. Parents must execute their responsibilities and let the child see it. The example sets the right pattern in him. Later, trust him with responsibility. Without giving him stern instructions. Tell him to clean his bicycle so that he can take a ride to the park in the evening. Trust him to do his work. Find out how he’s shaping up. No comments or criticisms.

Be prepared for disappointments. He may never do the job.

Do it with your child
If he hasn’t done it, sit along with him and show him how to do it. Teach him the joy of a duty. Make him experience the satisfaction of executing a task. Stand beside him. Let him know you’re there just in case he needs your help.

Identify areas of responsibility
Can you identify activities where he needs to be responsible? Baby-sitting, household chores or running an errand. Then work on that by doing it a few times along with him. Teach him how to do it. Do not blame or reprimand him when things go wrong. Tell him there’s always another time. Give him the time to learn.

Right way to compliment
Point to his shortcomings but relate it to the job entrusted. Not to his qualities or character. “Can we do it this way? is better than “You’re a lazy, good for nothing fellow who can’t execute a small task? Avoid doing what your dad did to you.
No duty in life should go unrewarded. A pat on the back or a compliment serves as a tonic to repeat the responsible behaviour. Sometimes it may be necessary to reward things with an ice cream, movie, or a new toy.

No overpraises please
Caution: do not over-praise responsible behaviour. If he has only dusted his bicycle, instead of cleaning it, don’t say “great job child”. Not only is it insincere but it will limit his sense of responsibility. He may begin to think that this is enough to satisfy any parents.

Note: The carrot stick policy may fetch rewards sometimes, but it’s advisable to make him savor the joy of doing things. Be patient and gentle. But be persistent. The rewards will definitely show up.

Action Result
Execute your responsibility See him learn
Trust him with duty Watch him grow
Don’t comment or criticize He’ll enjoy his work
Reward a good job well done He’ll feel proud
Join him as he executes Its not work any longer, its fun
Overpraise He’ll slow down work
Punishment for not executing task Builds resistance in him
Patience and persistence The rewards will show up

Best of Gandhi Quotes PPT

2011-09-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Inspiring quotations from Mahatma Gandhi. Motivating and life changing messages from the great soul.

Best of Gandhi Quotes PPT

View more presentations from Rajasekar Raju KS

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 9

2011-09-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

An inspiring Zen story about how fears stunt our thinking and prevent us from realizing our potential and above all understanding the truth. This Zen story about understanding fears is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

The Great Waves

Many centuries ago there lived a wrestler named, O-nami , meaning the Great Waves. He was so strong, so graceful a wrestler and so good in this sport that he defeated even his master.

All this he could do in private. But when he appeared before the public he seemed to panic. He would lose to inferior wrestlers from the neighboring village. Try as he might he could not overcome the fear of wrestling before the crowds.

Having heard of a Zen master, Hakuju, who was camping in the village, O-nami went to meet him.

After listening to O-nami’s peculiar problem, the Zen master asked him to stay with him for the night. O-nami did as told.

At night after dinner, Hakuju met O-nami. “You are the Great Waves, you must think like the great waves. You are powerful and strong live the waves. Think about sweeping away all those before you. Just forget that you’re O-nami and think that you’re the Great Waves that you see over here in the sea.”

The Zen master left after saying this. And O-nami kept looking at the waves.
Soon he began thinking as the master said that he was the great waves. He kept thinking all night and by dawn, he saw the waves rising higher and higher and them come ashore and wash away many boats the fishermen had left by the shore.

The master realising what had happened said to O-nami, “Now go and fight the best wrestlers. But think you’re the Great Waves.”

O-nami thanked the master and left.

After this he fought many wrestlers from near and far and defeated all of them. He became the most feared and most respected wrestler in the whole kingdom. Villagers narrated his heroism to their grandchildren by the fireside.

Notes: Fear is a very negative emotion that stunts our growth. If we need to realize our potential we need to understand our fears and overcome them. And you can do this with just a positive seed of thought.

Positive TV Watching with Children and How They Can Stimulate Thinking?

2011-09-25T04:26:00.000-07:00

Select television programs that stimulate curiosity, provoke the child's thoughts, enhance understanding of science and life, enrich knowledge and shape the kid's character. Can you decide what your child should see on the idiot box? You can, depending upon school, tuitions and playtime, schedule a time for TV.

Answer the Child's Curiosity
Other than cartoons and probably serials for children, you must be present by his side asking questions, analyzing what is being shown and teaching him important lessons. And of course, you must first answer his questions, why did Adrian’s mother scold him? Was it right for Katie to steal from her friend’s pencil box? Mustn’t we all take care of trees like Mike’s family did? Well, such analysis and comments helps mould a child’s values.

Why Kids Watch TV for Hours Together
The Psychology of Seeing TV

Psychologists say that every child has a lot of pent-up feelings, fears, frustrations etc, which are dissipated on seeing TV. It helps the child identify himself with other children and feel normal about such feelings, but they warn that too much violence or typical adult programs could leave a scar on their brittle psychology.

Parental Guide is Necessary
Hence parental guide is vital to the developing child while watching programs the child can’t easily comprehend. The better route being to avoid such programs in the presence of your child.

If we do a little survey about our television watching habits, we’ll quickly realize that we’re hooked to it so much that we spend hours before it, many a time because we have nothing else to do. Most of us would be shocked to discover that sometimes we kill time before the ‘idiot box’ watching programs we can’t recall ten minutes later, leave alone benefiting from it.

This explains the grip television has over our lives. But, we must admit that all of us, including children, need to relax, entertain and laugh our tensions away. We can do this if we can control what we watch. There are Discovery and National Geographic channels to stir the curiosity of your child. Cartoon Network will see your child laugh and fall off his chair. Then there’s Splash and news-based program. Not to forget ESPN and Sky Sports. There are interesting television serials for children too.

Caution: follow the rules you draw for your child, with regard to watching TV. Watch your words when children are around. Avoid the TV when you’re at lunch or dinner as extreme reactions to the scenes on TV effect your digestion. Keep away from TV when exams are around. Above all keep your promises.

What should you child watch on television?

Points to ponder
a. Control the amount of time you spend before the TV.
b. TV curtails creativity.
c Guide your children while watching TV.
d. Select the programs children should see.
e. Above all, keep your promises about letting him watch his cartoon serial if he finishes his homework.

Uncle Anant Pai Google Doodle

2011-09-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Google has honored Anant Pai, the creator of the most popular comic book series for Indians, Amar Chitra Katha. Since inception, it has been published in over 20 languages and sold 100 million copies.

He died in February this year.

Bloggers Guide to Basic SEO

2011-09-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

Art of Group Work and Group Discussions at School

2011-09-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

For most people studying is an isolated act, confined to a book or notes being perused in the corner of a room at night or early morning. While we have to acknowledge that solitary reading and preparation is a must during examinations, and a pleasure if one is reading a novel, it has some serious flaws.

Acquiring information is just one part of learning, one needs to understand, assess, compare, contrast, debate and then come to a conclusion. And this is better done in a group. Moreover, it is dull and boring to read alone. One will soon notice that the interest wanes after the initial period.

If the teacher teaches and the students just listen, they will not be able to absorb much of the subject. There has to be active participation, through question-answer sessions, group discussions or interaction with the teacher and classmates. This ensures that you listen to the opinion of others, learn to accommodate, adjust, improve and contribute to the discussion. In short, it is a personality development exercise.

We all have to survive and succeed in a social setting and early participation in a democratic exercise lends students the right perspective of life. Teachers should do well to remember that learning is retained better if it is debated, discussed and understood well. Such knowledge is retained for life. Further, when students grow up, they are all going to be in a family, work with a group at office, be members of a club or association and live in a neighbourhood, where co-existence with other individuals and groups ensure peace and success.

Hence, teachers must engage students in group work and group discussion as often as possible. But before they do they must spell out the rules.

Rules for Group Work and Group Discussions at School
1. The group should be small enough to manage and offer adequate opportunity to each member to air his views. This not only ensures diverse opinions but also a certain equilibrium.
2. All members must take turns to speak and no one should be allowed to dominate the discussion.
3. There should be a balance of weak and intelligent students to maintain harmony in the group.
4. A leader ought to be elected to conduct the proceedings in a free and fair manner.
5. Everyone should be encouraged to air this opinion, without fear. The elected leader must solicit the opinion of even average students.
6. The teacher should be at hand to oversee and steer the discussion in the right path.

A number of methods to ensure active participation exist. Try some of them noted below, but by no means should they stifle your creativity to engineer more novel methods suited to your class.

1. The lecture
The teacher speaks on a subject for about half an hour or so and follows it up with a doubt clearing session at the end of it. This helps the teacher evaluate the understanding capabilities of students, besides provoking students to think of different views they would have missed otherwise.
2. The lecture discussion
Here the teacher throws open a discussion on the subject just taught. This leads to better participation, newer ideas, better understanding and retention.
3. The seminar.
This is a more focused activity where students prepare for a particular theme, research and presents their views and supporting facts. A stimulating exercise pushing learning to higher levels.
4. The panel discussion
The advantage of this lies in the expertise available on the panel, which discusses and arrives at a conclusion with active participation of the audience.
5. Informal discussion
This could be done anytime with topics at short notice of five minutes. Helps students think on their feet and learn to grapple with sudden situations.

Advantages of group work
1. It makes learning much more interesting and lively.
2. Helps slow learners keep pace with the intelligent guys, thereby improving their standard.
3. Allows for exchange of new ideas. Its not necessary for everyone to know everything. Hence its an opportunity to see things in a new perspective.
4. Makes students accept other’s opinions, and adjust to a group, respect fellow students views and enhances conflict management abilities in them.
5. Group work results in better synergy and the output is usually better than the sum of individual efforts.
6. Problems are solved faster because many minds work in many directions.

How Djokovic Shut Out Rafael Nadal in US Open 2011

2011-09-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

How Djokovic Shut Out Nadal

View more presentations from Rajasekar Raju KS

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 8

2011-09-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

This Zen story about human nature, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

Nature of Things

Long ago in China two monks were sitting by the stream and washing vessels.

One monk noticed a scorpion fall into the river and struggle. So he picked it up and put it on the banks so that it could move to safety.

As he did so the scorpion stung him in the hand.

A few minutes later, it crawled into the waters again.

The monk put it back on the banks once again. And yet again it stung the monk.

“Why do you want to save the scorpion when you know it’s his nature to sting?” asked the other monk.

“Because it’s my nature to save,” said the monk.

Notes: While it’s true that inherent bad nature can’t be changed easily, you shouldn’t forget that you must relentlessly pursue your own goodness. Ultimately the rewards will come. The evil will realize the futility of being evil. It will know the power and peace of goodness. It will change.

Page Rank 10 Websites

2011-09-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

The comprehensive list of Page Rank 10 sites for SEO professionals to feast upon.

A few highly ranked pages on Google with PR 10, in recent times have moved to page rank 9. Many .gov sites are constantly seen in the Page Rank 10 list. But, the fact is .gov or .edu domains do not get any preferential treatment from Google’s algorithms.

Page rank changes of one or two are normal with new updates from Google. Sometimes page rank changes one sees could be temporary and one should not panic. While looking at page rank as an indicator of the value of a site is healthy, undue obsession about Google’s page rank is not necessary.

Facebook - Social Networking site
135,000 backlinks to this site
Facebook is the first social networking site to grab the famed Google Page Rank 10, considered the holy grail of search. For those new to SEO, it just means that the site is a lot more SEO compliant and has been pointed to by a lot of relevant and highly ranked sites, has fresh content every minute, has a huge traffic driven of course by 400+ million users, is bookmarked heavily by users, and has a ton of online PR that talks about the usefulness of Facebook.

Zimbra - Open source email collaborator
1,890 backlinks to this site

IFLA - The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
3,330

Addthis - The popular bookmarking and sharing services site
159, 000 backlinks to this site

G08 – Group of eight site
1,180 backlinks to this site

Sciencedirect - Showcases 9.5 million articles/chapters from scientific journals, 2,500 peer-reviewed journals and more than 11,000 books
8210 backlinks to this site

CNN - (same as http://www.bozkurtihsan.co.uk/ ) The news site
47,800 backlinks to this site

University of California - University of California
4,140 backlinks to this site

Adobe Reader - The trusted Adobe reader download
458,000 backlinks to this site

W3 - The World Wide Web Consortium
33,600 backlinks to this site

USA Govt Site - Official portal of the United States Government
30,100 backlinks to this site

EUA – The European University Association
3,210 backlinks to this site

Google - The world’s popular search engine
149,000 backlinks to this site

Indian Govt - The official site of the Govt of India
2,360 backlinks to this site

Europeana - showcases Europe’s cultural heritage with links to 6 million pieces of unique information.
5,160 backlinks to this site

Miibeian - Ministry of Information Industry Records in China
54,800 backlinks to this site.

HHS (same as www.dhhs.gov) - The United States Department of Health and Human Sciences
36,200 backlinks to this site.

Universitas21 - Network for Higher Education
1,140 backlinks to this site

SEO Tips to Optimize your Titles and H1 Tags

2011-09-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

The secret to optimizing titles and tags is to write copy naturally with relevant keywords that visitors use to search for your content. Write for humans and not search engine bots.

Don’t be obsessed with keywords. Write titles and tags as a user would search on Google. For this you can use Google trends and Google keyword tools. Try keeping them in the order of words that visitors might type, although search engines do take into consideration variations in the order of keywords.

The H1 tags you create in your post (which means your headings and sub headings) to indicate to users the important or key content in that section, must be written naturally. The keywords here must reflect the core of the content in that section. You should never try to use keywords that are meant to cheat search engines into believing that the content is different. Write titles and tags that reflect the content following them. Be ETHICAL.

Example: If you are doing a post on the new drug testing for skin cancer, then the correct H1 tag is: New drug for Skin Cancer being tested and not: Treatment for Skin Cancer Found

You shouldn’t use the second tag just because you know people are searching for “treatment for skin cancer.” Search engines’ algorithms are very intelligent and will easily find out that the content is different from the title given. And will not give you benefits. Rather, you could be penalized if it finds that you do this once too often.

Tip: Write titles and tags naturally as users would use them. Don’t overdo or use non relevant keywords to optimize. Search engines are smarter than you think they are.

Remember that the job of search engines like Google is to serve useful and relevant content to searchers. So they’ll find your content anyway if it’s good enough. Focus on writing good content, use ethical SEO techniques and the traffic will come.

Try not to stuff keywords into the title, tags or body. This will result in a negative experience for users and Google will penalize your ranking for those pages or keywords.

Always attempt to give rich information to visitors.

Use keywords that are relevant.

Place them in the order that user would use while searching for your information.

And you are on your way to a better page rank, user satisfaction and loads of traffic.

Short Stories of Jataka Tales 3

2011-09-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

This Buddha story about treating others with respect, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

The Brahmin who abused the Buddha

One day the rich Brahmin Bharadvaja invited the Buddha to his home for lunch.

When the Buddha arrived, Brahmin Bharadvaja instead of welcoming Buddha hurled abuses at him.

The Buddha listened quietly.

When Brahmin Bharadvaja stopped his abuses, Buddha asked, “Brahmin Bharadvaja, what do you do when guests come to your home?”

“I offer them alms and food,” replied the Brahmin.

“And what do you do when the guest refuses to receive the alms?” asked Buddha.

“We gladly partake that ourselves,” replied Brahmin Bharadvaja.

“Then I’m refusing to take the alms you just gave me. Please take them back, they belong to you,” said the Buddha.

Notes: Always give others what you’d gladly receive. The power of wealth often makes one heady and leads to a downfall. Beware of that. And treat others with humility and respect.

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 7

2011-08-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

This Zen story, Which is the Way?, about experiencing the present, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

Which is the Way?

A young disciple asked the Zen master, “Which is the Way?”

“Oh! Look at the mountain, it’s so beautiful. Can you see it”

“I did not ask about the mountain master. I asked about the Way,” said the disciple.

“As long you cannot see beyond the mountain, you’ll never reach the way,” replied the Zen master.

Notes: Experiencing the present is everything in Zen. Needless searching for truth leads one no where. Be in the present and enjoy the truth.

SEO tips to make blogs accessible to Google and users

2011-08-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Getting Google to index and crawl through your blog content easily will mean more traffic for bloggers like you. The SEO trick here is to understand how search engines like Google read web content. I’m letting you in on some simple and easy to implement secrets of search engines.

How do users reach your blog content? How do search engine crawlers arrive at your blog?
Well users and Google arrive on your blog by navigating through hyperlinks somewhere on the internet. These can be links on another blog or site, forum, social media, delicious, digg, directory and the like. From there they click (or crawl) to land up on your blog post. So if you’re a webmaster or blogger, your hyperlinks must be neat and navigable.

Important content on your blog is better placed via simple static html links, than the Ajax, Flash or Javascript. Google can crawl html hyperlinks easily, then the above technologies. People use different browsers and HTML text is compatible and accessible by all of them. So it’s important that you link all critical blog content via html hyperlinks.

To make content useful to readers and search engine bots, publish them as html documents. Use less of scripts and make it easy to navigate to your articles.

Making images indexable, accessible
Images, Photos, Pictures, Graphics must all either have alt and title tags that explain the content and context. The titles and alt tags must be useful, meaningful and relevant to the content on the page. The context of the picture to the page content is important for ranking it better. Otherwise they turn useless from the point of view of search. You can also write some content on what is there in the images to help users and crawlers identify and understand the content. This helps Google to rank your pages better. And assign a better quality point to your content.

Clean up broken links, duplicate content
Broken links, empty pages, duplicate content, affiliate articles with no value aditions and 404 errors – all interfere with indexing your site or blog. Avoid all these by checking and publishing unique, fresh, value added and useful content for readers and crawlers.

Nothing can change destiny - Short Motivating Story

2011-08-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

This story about positive thinking is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

In 17th century Japan, a General was leading his soldiers to war. He was confident of winning it but some of his soldiers were in doubt.

On the way they stopped to pray at a Buddhist temple.

Here the General, taking a coin from his coat pocket, addressed his men, “I’m tossing this coin. If it’s heads we’ll win, if it’s tails we’ll lose the war.”

He tossed the coin and it was heads. The soldiers were delighted and marched forth with confidence.

And won the war.

“Nothing can change destiny,” said the Lieutenant to the General.

“Yes indeed,” replied the General showing the coin with heads on both sides.

Notes: Success or failure is in the mind. Starting with a positive thought is quite often decisive in winning. Think positive and the battle is half won.

Everyone has a Problem, short motivational story

2011-08-21T19:41:00.000-07:00

This short motivating story about perceptions that only we have problems, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

A beautiful lady visited a psychiatrist. She was ushered into his consulting room.

She sat down before him.

“Please come closer,” said the psychiatrist.

The women moved closer to the psychiatrist.

At once he jumped from his seat, hugged and kissed the beautiful lady.

She was nevertheless shocked.

“Now this takes care of my problem. Tell me, what’s your problem?” asked the psychiatrist.

Often we think that we are the only ones troubled by a multitude of problems. And think others are enjoying their lives. We forget that everyone has a fair share of their own problems. And, perhaps, many are in a much worse state than us. If only we’re able to realize that we’d feel a lot better. And we’d spend our energies in doing positive things than sulking about our misfortunes.

Note: It’s human frailty to think that only we in the world are burdened by problems. And everyone else is happy and problem free. You have to understand that often millions out there are in dire need of help. Take control of yourself and you’ll succeed.

Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors 6

2011-08-20T05:59:00.000-07:00

This Zen story, A Moment of Enlightenment, about living in the moment, is part of an eBook series 51 Short Motivational Stories from Zen, Buddha and Ancient Tales.

A Moment of Enlightenment

P'an-shan was a Chinese Zen master who lived in the 8th century. It is said that he once walked through a busy market in a far flung Chinese province and overheard a customer ask a butcher:

“Give some good meat.”

“Here look, there’s no meat other than good meat,” replied the butcher as he showed the customer a large piece of meat.

Zen master P'an-shan felt enlightened. He looked around him. Everything seems beautiful. He looked at the people in the market, everyone seemed to be happy. He looked at the sky, it looked good too.

He smiled and walked on.

Notes: Zen is not about some complex philosophy, it’s about everyday experiences. We see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear. If we start looking at people and things fresh each time, everything will be fine.