The idea of cheating search engines for more web traffic is as old as the search engines themselves.

No surprise there, but it’s worth looking at how and why people do it, to see if it’s worth the effort…

When search engines go about ranking how they display their search results, they have always needed a system to work out what any website is about.

So, they designed robot ’spiders’ which trawl the internet, using their own programming to evaluate sites.

It’s this which people try to take advantage of to get higher rankings.

And why shouldn’t they?

Why shouldn’t you?

After all, there is no internet police deciding how you design your site, so surely any sensible business person should work at their site to make it seem as relevant as possible to the search engines, and therefore get more free traffic, right?

Well, sort of.

In the early days, search engines would maybe look mostly at the text on the page, so this led to the phenomenon of people putting their selected keywords all over their sites, but in the same colour as the background, so they would appear to the spider robots but not real visitors.

The search engines caught on to that, and not only did it stop working, any site would be punished or delisted if it was found doing this.

Then the focus switched to the tags in the HTML code.

These are there precisely to give an idea of what the site is about, but again it led to stuffing them with keywords, negating the effectiveness.

The next development was to judge websites by the amount of links they had with other sites, firstly one way links, then reciprocal links, then one way links but only from relevant sites.

This cat and mouse game has always gone on - the biggest search engine Google has a mantra of ‘be nice’, and strives to provide genuine results for users.

This is logical, as genuine results mean people will keep using Google, which now has shareholders to answer to.

The marketer is not interested in ‘being nice’, rather is much more interested in ‘making sales’, and this has led to the so called ‘black hat’ side of the fence where people use the latest tricks to try and get good rankings with Google.

In my view the best way to get the best ranking is to provide what Google want, which is genuine updated content on the subject at hand.

The latest Google favourite is Latent Symantic Index, or LSI, which means that rather than seeing a keyword phrase over and over on the page, they look for words that could naturally expect to also be seen on a genuine page about that phrase.

It’s a complicated programme, and Google unsurprisingly are coy about revealing details, but it theoretically does favour site with genuine content.

Yes, you need to set your site up a certain way to make it easier for Google to rank it, but if your site simply does what it says it does, you won’t have to cheat search engines for more web traffic.

Discover some of the best traffic secrets reviews and discover which course of action is right for you to explode your website traffic at: http://TrafficSecretReviews.com

That may sound contradictory, to go offline when you want to increase website traffic, because surely you want to always be online to promote website business, right..?

Wrong.

Of course you would love to have a flood of traffic coming to your site from online generation, and this is obviously never to be overlooked, but the idea of going offline to generate traffic is something which *is* overlooked - to a staggering degree.

If you think about it in the days before the internet, all business promotion was done offline.

It may be hard to think of a time when the internet wasn’t as all pervasive as it is now, but it really wasn’t that long ago.

Global major brands have jumped at the chance to use the web for business, as you’d expect, but have they suddenly stopped using offline methods? Of course not!

You see the same adverts on TV, and at the movies, and on billboards.

You see the same adverts on the side of buses, and put through your letterbox, and slotted into your paper.

There is only one reason why you still see these methods used - they work.

If they stopped working, the global brands would stop using them, it’s as simple as that.

The business know that for every dollar they spend, they get more than that dollar back in profit, so it would be business lunacy for them not to carry on with those methods!

The classified advert still has massive potential.

A correctly structured small block of words can have vast amounts of people wanting to give you business, because you have targeted your readers.

Online classifieds do work, but less so, because a lot of people online go to classifieds with more of an interest to place ads rather than read them.

This is totally different offline, where people will see classifieds in the magazines which appeal to their interest, so they actively seek out the classifieds to see what they offer.

Direct mail works in the same way, and internet marketers are leaving huge amounts of money on the table, by just not applying this method.

Many people simply have not considered it as a possibility.

If you have a website that has local relevance, make sure all the local people know about it!

How about a simple postcard letterbox campaign?

One massive advantage the internet has over the old methods, is cost.

Back then as you can imagine, the cost of a full colour multi-page brochure was prohibitive, an you’d have to lay out that cost before you saw any money coming back in.

Good profit potential, but risky for losses if you get it wrong.

Online, you can put a full colour sales pitch together which is a long as you want, totally for free!

This means that for your offline promotion, you can rely on cheap postcards and classifieds - if they are worded correctly your sole aim is to get them to the site, and it’s there that your pitch will begin.

It’s amazing how many people do not take advantage of the offline promotion methods.

It’s easy to get caught up in SEO or other online traffic generation, when the answer may well be going offline to increase website traffic.

Discover some of the best traffic secrets reviews and discover which course of action is right for you to explode your website traffic at: http://TrafficSecretReviews.com

Investment is about risk. While the extent of financial risk any one of us is prepared to take is very much a personal issue, we are fortunate in the UK of having a network of Independent Financial Advisers to consult and to help us consider whether or not to invest – especially if we are doing so for the first time. The network of advisers means that there is certain to be at least one near to where you live, providing a service that could genuinely be termed “investment advice, UK”.

What is the risk?

If investment is about risk, what exactly does that risk amount to and how much of it am I prepared to bear? The way to approach this sort of question is to ask yourself how relaxed you could be in suffering a loss in the short term so that you retained the chance of making gains in the longer term. In other words, could you face the prospect of some temporary fall in the value of your investment without going into a panic? Would you be prepared to stick it out, holding on in the confident expectation that the future will see that investment’s rise again to still greater heights?

If you have honestly addressed those sorts of questions and the answer is a resounding “no, I do not want to risk seeing the value of my investment fall at all”, then investment in the stock market – whether directly as the owner of individual company shares or indirectly as the owner of units in a collective trust fund – is not going to rest easy with you. If you have been able to answer in the affirmative, however, then the stock market offers just the arena in which you can risk your investment.

No need to go it alone

Although you are prepared to risk an investment, you do not have to face the unknown totally alone. To help you assess the risks and to decide whether they really are the ones you want to be taking, a financial adviser will assume the duty of recommending particular investments only after having assessed their suitability for your particular needs. To assist him, you will be asked key questions about your financial starting point, and your longer term goals and ambitions.

The network of “investment advice, UK” is an extensive and varied one, peopled by a number of different types of financial adviser:

Independent – an ability to recommend products across the entire market and offering the client the option to pay for the advice received;

Whole of market – recommending products from across the whole market, but in return for a commission earned on the products thus sold;

Multi-tied – recommending products from a specific list of financial providers; and

Single-tied – recommending products from a single financial provider.

Whichever type of financial adviser you feel is the best suited and qualified for your own particular investment preferences, you will find the investment advice, UK, network has spread to an office close to your home.

Sean Horton is a Director of Enhanced Wealth, a whole of market mortgage broker and IFA specialising in mortgage advice and the associated areas of investment advice UK, protection, and life cover.

There is a well-worn saying that no one is indispensable. Perhaps not indispensable, but it is equally true that the role of a key player in many a small business can spell make or break in its fortunes. The loss of that “keyman” is therefore something to which every business should pay serious attention and consider the protection that keyman insurance provides.

What is keyman insurance?

Keyman insurance recognises that any business is likely to have one or two members who play a particularly key role in the company. It might be a leading salesman who has a knack for retaining existing clients and winning new ones; it might be the company director, who owns the lion’s share of the business. Whoever you would be likely to identify as the key men or women in your own business, the impact of their contracting a serious illness or their untimely death is likely to be severe.

Sales figures could plummet, profits follow in their wake, the bank starts chasing a director’s guarantee of a loan, temporary, long-term or even permanent replacement appointments need to be made – the business could stand on the brink of disaster.

Keyman insurance, therefore, can be arranged to ensure a regular income to the business while the key person is unable to work, thus providing a monetary compensation for any losses incurred by their absence. Alternatively, keyman insurance could be arranged so that it paid a lump sum benefit in the event of the death of the key person so enabling the company to buy out any share of ownership or to maintain cash flow to the business pending the key person’s replacement.

Does your business need it?

Although very few of Britain’s 4 million or so small businesses are covered by keyman insurance, a surprising number of them could safeguard against a very real and significant business risk by arranging it. How real is that risk? It is an established fact that one in five men suffer a critical illness before their normal retirement age and premature death is by no means uncommon.

The profile of British enterprise is dominated by the small business. In fact, 95.2% of all UK businesses employ fewer than ten people. The smaller the number of employees, of course, the much greater the impact of the sudden and unexpected incapacity or death of a key member of that business.

How can I go about arranging keyman insurance?

To date, few small businesses have cottoned on to the likely impact of the loss of a key player and still fewer have realised the lifeline that keyman insurance could offer if the worst should happen. The relevant and appropriate insurance policies, therefore, are few and far between. In these circumstances, the best place to start is a discussion with your independent financial adviser, who will have his finger on the pulse of the most likely providers and will be able to assess the particular and specific keyman insurance needs of your own small business.

Sean Horton is a Director of Enhanced Wealth, a whole of market mortgage broker and IFA specialising in mortgage advice and the associated areas of keyman insurance, protection, and life cover.

There is probably a tendency to think of the Independent Financial Adviser offering help and advice only in the area of personal finances. But the role is not restricted just to the individual. Increasingly, the adviser is being called in for corporate financial advice to assist small and medium-sized businesses to achieve optimum commercial success.

Critical business areas

There are a number of key areas in which businesses can draw on the financial expertise and knowledge of the independent financial adviser. Many of these will be familiar to the individual who has benefited from such advice, which applies just as critically to the financial health and commercial success of a business. Depending on the nature of your particular business, the possibilities for the injection of sound financial advice are almost endless, but just some of the key areas might be:

- Investment advice – investment opportunities for small businesses are as boundless as they are for the individual and the wrong investment decisions can prove even more costly;

- Pension planning – tapping into the financial adviser’s wealth of knowledge on pensions matters could result in your business paying less tax and, therefore, instantly improving its trading position and bottom-line profits. What is more, corporate pension planning can lead to improved benefits packages for your employees, thus raising motivation and helping with staff retention and recruitment;

- Health insurance – similarly, a company health scheme is likely to be a highly-prized feature of your employees’ benefits package. Not only will it provide security and peace of mind for your employees themselves, but also help you to manage better their occasional sickness and absence;

- Keyman insurance – if yours is like the majority of small businesses, you could probably easily identify one or more absolutely key players whose contribution to your commercial success is critical. It might be anyone from the director upon whose financial backing the company relies to the salesman whose seemingly boundless energy keeps your order books full. Whoever these key players are, you could draw on corporate financial advice to devise schemes for insuring against the adverse impact on the business should they be struck by a serious illness or even die;

- Tax issues – businesses have even more reason to minimise their tax liabilities than individuals. With sound, well-informed and impartial corporate financial advice on a whole range of tax issues, you could achieve significant savings for your business and immediately improve its competitive standing;

- Insurances – some business insurances will be legally required for your company and others offer essential protection when things go wrong. But are you under-insured, and so exposed to unreasonable risks, or over-insured, and paying too high a price for your business insurances? Corporate financial advice can help you restore the appropriate level of balance;

- Commercial finance – in the current climate of economic uncertainty, commercial finances need to be especially robust. Most businesses could benefit from at least a review – and in cases a complete overhaul – of their current borrowing. Corporate financial advice will help ensure that all your business finances are in the best possible state to weather the coming trials of the general economy.

Sean Horton is a Director of Enhanced Wealth, a whole of market mortgage broker and IFA specialising in mortgage advice and the associated areas of corporate financial advice, protection, and life cover.

Company pensions are an invaluable part of employees’ remuneration packages. They are a central incentive and motivation to staff and an important part, therefore, for successful retention and recruitment. This importance is recognised by the Independent Financial Advisers who help and advise employees and companies alike on the benefits of a company or occupational pension scheme.

Types of occupational pension

If the company offers an occupational pension scheme, this generally means that it also makes contributions to its employees’ pensions and may also include benefits to the spouse, partner or dependents of the employee in the event of their death.

Although the particular scheme in place in any one company will vary from workplace to workplace, it will fall into one of two broad categories:

- Final salary schemes – as the name suggests, this type of scheme bases the pension on the salary the employee is earning in the final years of his employment and the number of years he or she has worked for that employer;

- Money purchase schemes – individual employees receive pension benefits based on the amount of money that has been paid into a pension fund and the performance of the investments in that fund.

Who pays?

Company pensions generally rely on regular monthly contributions being made by both employee and employer, based on a percentage of the employee’s salary. For both employee and employer, those contributions are made free of any tax deductions.

Pension payment

The employee’s retirement age – the age at which he or she can start to draw the pension – will be set out in the rules of the particular pension scheme. Details about qualification, together with estimates of the pension benefits likely to be paid on retirement, will be made available by the administrator of the pension scheme.

Changing jobs

If the employee leaves the company’s employment, it is generally not possible for him or her to continue contributions to the same occupational pension scheme, although the benefits are preserved and the former employee becomes what is known as a “deferred member” – the benefits are deferred until the employee’s qualifying retirement age under the rules of the scheme.

In the case of a final salary scheme, the deferred pension benefits are re-valued on a regular (generally annual) basis, with the intention of their being kept broadly in line with inflation. Some of the benefits of such schemes – “death in service”, for example – are unlikely to continue to be available, however, if the employee has left the company’s employment and is a deferred member.

In the case of a money purchase pension scheme, the combined employee and employer contributions remain invested in the pension fund. Annual statements on the current performance of the fund and forecasts of its future performance will continue to be sent to the former employee and deferred member.

Pension transfers

Employees have the option of transferring their accumulated pension from the occupational scheme into a personal pension plan or, if they have changed jobs, into another company scheme.

The implications and costs of doing this, however, are by no means straight forward and anyone thinking of transferring from an occupational pension scheme, or anyone with any questions about company pensions in general, would best seek independent financial advice.

Sean Horton is a Director of Enhanced Wealth, a whole of market mortgage broker and IFA specialising in mortgage advice and the associated areas of company pensions, protection, and life cover.

Recently, there has been a movement among some parents of autistic children toward a therapy that involves the use of Vitamin B6 and Magnesium. However, before jumping on the bandwagon, it is a good idea to know what is involved in the treatment and understand the pros and cons of treating a child with substantial doses of vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) is considered to be an essential vitamin. The term essential means that it is one required by the human body in order to properly function, but that cannot be produced on its own by the body. Therefore, Vitamin B6 must be obtained through food, supplements, or other means. This specific vitamin is required in order for the body to perform over sixty different biological processes. When the body receives Vitamin B6, it converts it into pyroxidal-5-phosphate (PLP), which is an enzyme that is used in order to obtain the energy from within starches, and to break proteins down into more useable forms. PLP is also necessary for brain chemical production.

Magnesium (Mg) is an essential mineral. Again it is vital for the health of the body but is not something the body can produce on its own. It is crucial for the health of every one of the body’s cells, as well as for brain and muscle cell function. Though it is rare for a magnesium deficiency to occur, a 2006 study published in the Biol Trace Elem Res Journal, called “Magnesium Profile in Autism”, by M. Strambi (et al.) suggested that children with autism may actually suffer from too little magnesium in their bodies.

Because of the essential element of these two vitamins/minerals, some parents feel that supplementing a child’s magnesium and vitamin B6 intake is a viable alternative autism therapy. If you are considering choosing a vitamin B6 and magnesium therapy for your own child, please consult your child’s doctor or pediatrician to find out if it is a therapy that may work well with your child’s unique needs, and to find the appropriate dose for your child’s age, weight, and requirements.

It should be noted that this therapy is considered to be somewhat controversial. There have been two very small yet well controlled studies – one by L. Tolbert (et al.) published in the Journal of Autism Dev. Disorders in 1993, “Brief Report: Lack of response in an autistic population to a low dose clinical trial of pyridoxine plus magnesium”, and the study by R. L. Findling (et al.) from the same journal but in 1997, “High-dose pyridoxine and magnesium administration in children with autistic disorder: an absence of salutary effects in a double blind, placebo-controlled study” – which showed absolutely no impact on autism with low and high doses of vitamin B6 and magnesium.

However, there was one more substantial, yet less effectively controlled study - J. Martineau (et al.) in 1985’s Biological Psychiatry journal, “Vitamin B6, magnesium, and combined B6-Mg: therapeutic effects in childhood autism” – which showed that when used in combination, vitamin B6 and magnesium have a significant behavioral impact, though neither of those substances alone appears to make a difference.

Before beginning this kind of therapy, you should know that high doses of vitamin B6 pose the risk of nerve problems. However, there have been no reported significant side effects regarding autistic children taking vitamin B6 and magnesium supplements. At over 600 mg per day, magnesium can be toxic, but when taken in moderate amounts (200 mg per day) no significant side effects have been reported.

Grab your free copy of Rachel Evans’ brand new Autism Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you and your family find out about other autism therapies based on the use of vitamins, minerals and supplements.

If you want to do everything you can to prevent a gout attack, then you may want to look into your favorite beverages to make sure that they’re not increasing your odds of a gout recurrence. A recent study published on http://BMJ.com in January, 2008, called “Soft Drinks, Fructose Consumption, and the Risk of Gout in Men: Prospective Cohort Study”, by Hyon Choi and Gary Curhan showed that men who regularly consume foods and beverages containing fructose have a notably higher risk of a gout attack.

Gout levels in the United States have doubled throughout the last few decades. This increase in gout attacks mirrors the increase in fructose consumption through soft drinks and other sugary foods. Fructose is a simple form of sugar that is now known to increase the production of uric acid in the body.

Though patients who suffer gout attacks are typically instructed by their doctors to cut alcohol, organ meats, and legumes from their diets, as they are high in purines – organic compounds that encourage uric acid production in the body – it is rare for patients to be told to limit their consumption of fructose-filled foods such as soft drinks.

American and Canadian researchers examined the relationship between the intake of high-fructose foods such as soft drinks and the risk of a gout attack. They looked into more than 46,000 men who had no history of gout attacks, and who were aged 40 or older. They followed these men for 12 years, compiling data on food consumption regarding more than 130 different beverages and foods including both regular and diet soft drinks, as well as fruits and fruit juices which are also naturally quite high in their fructose levels. From the start of the study, the researchers collected weight, medication use, and medical condition data. During that time, there were 755 new cases of gout attacks diagnosed within the participants.

The major findings of the study included the following:

- The more sugar-sweetened soft drinks were consumed by the participants, the higher their risks of a gout attack would be.

- When men who drank fewer than one serving of soft drinks in a month were compared to participants who drank over five or six servings every week, the risk of a gout attack was increased by 29 percent.

- The participants who drank two or more servings of soft drinks daily increased their risk of a gout attack by a significant 85 percent when compared to those who consumed fewer than one serving of soft drinks every month.

- Participants who consumed only soft drinks did not increase their risk of a gout attack.

- Fructose-rich foods such as fruits and their juices also increased the risk of a gout attack. However, the study’s authors caution that the interpretation of the impact of fruits and fruit juices on the risk of gout should be interpreted with care as eating some fruits and vegetables is important for the prevention of high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and some cancers, and should therefore perhaps be considered more beneficial than hazardous.

The study’s results occurred independently of other gout attack risk factors, such as age, body mass index, blood pressure, diuretic use, alcohol consumption, and the rest of the diet of the participants.

Grab your free copy of Lisa McDowell’s brand new Gout Newsletter - Overflowing with easy to implement methods to help you discover more about how to effectively treat and prevent gout attacks naturally.

There are many issues regarding diabetes that all of us should know. Most of which are helpful on general terms and in common circumstances. However, differentiating fact from fiction is important for taking precaution against diabetes.

First of all, let us take a look at the basic things regarding diabetes. There are three types of diabetes; type 1, type 2 and gestational.

Type 1 diabetes is also known as ‘juvenile diabetes’ by which a person’s pancreas does not produce insulin. Insulin is a type of hormone vital for the control of our body’s sugar level in our blood. There are no methods which this disease can be prevented as it is not caused by overeating of sugar. Therefore cutting down your sugar intake is not the answer as it is your pancreas that is not able to produce insulin.

Type 1 diabetes patients can take in insulin to control the sugar levels in their blood. Though it cannot be cured, this condition is certainly containable which makes it none life threatening if insulin is taken as prescribed.

Type 2 diabetes on the other hand could result from the patient’s body not being able to use the insulin properly. This condition is containable and preventable; by not overeating sugary and sweet foods.

Gestational diabetes is a diabetic condition that occurs during pregnancy. The causes of this diabetes type are unknown but it could be explained by the hormonal changes in the woman body during pregnancy.

Fiction: ‘I’m just having mild diabetes.”

Fact: There’s no mild or serious cases of diabetes, it’s the case of you have it or you don’t and if you do, it’s definitely serious.

Fiction: ‘Insulin is the antidote to diabetes. I can stop eating them once I feel fine.”

Fact: Insulin does not cure diabetes. It helps maintain and manage your sugar levels in the blood. Stopping your insulin prescription could immediately increase your sugar levels.

Fiction: ‘People diagnosed with diabetes cannot eat sugars or carbohydrate.’

Fact: People diagnosed with diabetes still need sugar to provide them energy. However they must take their insulin prescription regularly as recommended to ensure that the sugar will be absorbed by the body and do not stay in the blood.

Fiction: ‘I don’t feel sick or I feel absolutely fine so I’m not diabetic.’

Fact: There is no affirmative way other than a blood test to tell that whether a person is diabetic because diabetes sometimes produces no symptoms and one-third of diabetic patients do not know they have the condition.

Now that you’ve heard of these facts, kindly read on to see the vitamins and minerals that can help prevent diabetes. They (1) enhance insulin sensitivity and synthesis or (2) maintain a stable balance of sugar and carbohydrate metabolism:

(1) Zinc, Chromium, Vitamin B8 (Biotin),

(2) Vanadium, Manganese, Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Sources of these vitamins and minerals can be found in:

Zinc – Oysters, red meat, poultry.

Chromium – Broccoli, grape juice, garlic.

Vitamin B8 (Biotin) – Eggs, sardines, soy beans, beef liver.

Vanadium – Black Pepper, corn, olives, olive oil.

Manganese – Macadamia nuts, almonds, cashew nuts, hazel nuts, brown rice.

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) – Soy beans, potatoes, eggs, fish, meat, poultry.

Pinnacle Award Given To IBD Preventive Health Insurance

Do your cravings come under pressure? Feel like binging when feeling stressful? These are common responses apart from smoking and drinking, from under-stress individuals but the results of these stress relief approach are equally damaging to your lifestyle. Stress under the circumstances could refer to sadness or loneliness, depressed or angry over someone or something.

“Why?” you may ask. It is obvious that when you start turning to binging and munching as ‘antidote’ to your problems, it will slowly and without realizing turn into a habit – just like smoking or drinking. The worse effect of eating disorders is not just putting on weight. Instead it could jeopardize your diet by changing your appetite. Nausea and tiredness will follow and result in worsening your health condition apart from the mental problems you might already be facing.

To solve this problem, the first step is to determine the root. What is the actual cause of your sudden desire to binge and munch? Was it the recent relationship break up? Was it a recent fight with your loved ones or loss of something you find dear? Sometimes a sudden big appetite or craving could be due to certain health problems. Look into this aspect as well.

By solving the initial problems, it will correct and put your state of mind right. This is the biggest step and most of times upon resolving the issue, the eating disorder is put away for good.

If this doesn’t help, it is also important to know that certain foods are addictive such as chocolates and candies. And I mean as addictive as nicotine and alcohol. Chocolate triggers the body to release endorphin hormone that puts our state of mind into a ‘happy mood’. This makes you ‘think’ that it makes you feel better. Well they don’t, your problems make you feel worse. Solve it and you will feel better.

‘I have eating disorders but I’m not feeling sad or angry or stressful, in fact, I’m feeling emotionally fine.’

For this case of eating disorders, food plays a part as a distraction. Eating becomes nothing more than just something to do. I’m a smoker and sometimes I chain smoke. However, I don’t usually chain smoke because I’m having a bad day or a bad week. I do it because I want to do something with my hands, therefore I chain smoke.

‘How do I overcome any of the types of eating disorders mentioned above?’

First of all, it is best to know that sometimes you can keep the ‘binging and munching’ habit. Just do it in a healthier way. Use your imagination. When smokers try to quit and fail, they can turn to nicotine gums or nicotine patches to satisfy their nicotine desires. The same can be applied to eating disorders. If you absolutely have to munch, due to stress that continues with your routine such as work, choose right food to binge on. The right types of nuts, fruits and grains alike are recommended by various nutritionists. If you eat a lot, exercise harder!

Try it and you’ll set yourself free from dependence!

Preventive BCBSNC Universal Health Care