Cool Consortium

I’m making an assumption that at want point in your life you’ve been a tourist. You’ve carried a map, a camera, maybe even had a tour guide. You’ve traveled to different destinations, relaxed on remote beaches, climbed stairs in buildings you see on television. You’ve done all of these things but some how when you get arrive home, all your left with is a short memory, and a few photographs.

Vacations are nice every once in a while, but it doesn’t make sense to me why we will travel thousands of miles to sit in hotel rooms and watch movies, or lie on a pool deck and catch some rays. These are all things that we can do where we are from, I want you to think about being a traveler not a tourist. You want to soak in as much of the new country and culture that you can rather than bring as much of your culture to them. It’s really quite simple. In one step you need to forget about your way of live, and adopt theirs.

It’s simple things like the mindset that we have when we go abroad, and what we bring. Don’t bring all of the things that we depend on in America. Bring what it is that you are going to need to survive and stay healthy during your visit. The more comforts you have, the more you will depend on them, and the less you will step out to become the traveler you ought to be!

Put yourself out there. Locals are always interested to interact with foreigners, and it’s best to take advantage of this. Meet people that you can share life with while you are in their country. Immerse into their culture and be open to new idea’s. A lot of times we are closed to new idea’s and we miss out on opportunities for better things to come along. Be open, willing and accepting.

If you want to be changed, and to experience you need to leave the tourist at home. Bring out the inner traveler in you and see the world in the way that it was meant to be seen.

–

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the following caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

About the Author

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of Travel Area. Which is a great web directory and information center for Traveling, Trips and lots of other related topics.

All Aboard The Gambling Train

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Are you looking for a fun place to stay and play in Laughlin, Nevada? Look no further than the Ramada Express Hotel and Casino. With more than 1,500 rooms and suites, a 53,000 square footBook The Ramada Express Online casino, and seven restaurants, this hotel clearly has earned the title, “Best Accommodations” for five consecutive years. Want more? Heck, they’ve got the Vegas mega-casino theme concept down to the wire, or shall I say rail, with their Victorianera train theme and decor throughout the hotel and casino on this 27-acre property near the Colorado River. Take your pick from river or desert mountain views: this hotel has it all and is chugging right along.

The Hotel

The hotel calls itself, “The Adult Place to Play & Stay.” It is quite evident with its policy of allowing no children to stay in any rooms in the newly renovated twelve-story East Tower. Yes, they do allow kids to stay in most of the rooms in the 24-story West Tower that’s currently under restoration.
Book The Ramada Express Online
The outdoor swimming pool is very cute with its steam train shape and spa completing the large locomotive wheel of the train. Special adults-only hours exist for the pool and spa to aid in your rest and relaxation. Friendly 24-hour security is always present to put any worried mind at ease.

The Ramada Express boasts of “25 Reasons Why They’re Still #1 in Laughlin.” They have been voted year after year by guests and locals as the best hotel, casino, slot club, accommodations, gourmet dining, steakhouse, Italian food, seafood, cocktail service, cocktail lounge, live entertainment, hotel lounge, gift shop, concierge, banquet facilities, pool Jacuzzi, catering, bartender, chef, waiter, cocktail waitress, keno, room service, wedding chapel, and valet. Loyal guests? What more can I say? Read on.

There’s a 24-hour complimentary award-winning valet to safely tuck in your car in the surface and garage parking lots. If you want to watch other people really work, watch the valets run to get the next car for a customer. I’m a runner, but these people actually sprint. They make me tired just watching.

The room we stayed in was clean, comfortable and recently redecorated with green carpet with gold accents. Railroad themed pictures and memorabilia decorate the reddish wallpapered walls. Each room has a table to spread out all your stuff, two upholstered chairs to kick back in, and a very firm mattress, which was fine with me, but not for my wife. Don’t pack your hairdryer as it’s already there. Non-smoking and specially equipped rooms are available. If a crib is needed, just ask.

Things To See and Do

One of the key thematic elements of this accentuated brass and rich wood toned hotel involves the early days of the railroad. Inside, there’s over $1 million in Victorian train memorabilia, and antiques arranged throughout the hotel, meeting rooms and casino. Outside, it’s hard to miss Good Old No. 7. This is Laughlin’s only working steam train railroad and has been dubbed, “The Gambling Train of Laughlin.” If you’ve got twelve minutes to spare from your hectic schedule of gamling or feasting, then why not take a ride on this -mile train route? For you history buffs, the turn of the century steam train is a replica of the Genoa, which hauled freight on the Virginia and Truckee Line in Western Nevada over 100 years ago. The fare for this train that’s been hauling over 2 million guests since June of 1988 is, “Only a smile,” says the conductor.

American war heroes are treated like special guests at the Ramada Express. First, the 9,000-square-foot Pavilion Theater, aka the American Heroes Museum, is complimentary and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is loaded with war memorabilia, uniforms, medals, photos and memories, and it is certainly worth checking out. Second, Veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam are paid tribute in the free 15 minute multi-media show, “On the Wings of Eagles” which relives America’s bravest moments and finest hours, and runs daily on the top of each hour from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Third, every Tuesday at 1:15 p.m. is another installment in their American Heroes Speaker Program, in which a veteran is scheduled to speak about his or her experiences and how they were able to contribute to the overall cause. Fourth, the Ramada Express has also established The American Heroes Foundation, a non-profit foundation to raise funds, promote and support American Veteran causes. Lastly, veterans are given free gifts at the slot club booth just for registering. Talk about targeting a market audience!

Shopping is always a worthwhile escape from the reality of losing too much in the casino. Feel free to take the free shuttle offsite to the Horizon Outlet Center to watch a new release movie, and/or, shop ’till you drop. Onsite, there’s The Boutique and a 24-hour convenience store, and my favorite, The W.O.W. Store. WOW is a wacky store with numerous fun and interesting items that are mostly priced below US$20. The Whistle Stop Smoke Shop in the Gift shop is for the serious smokers that need to restock their supplies.

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Don and Kim Tatera, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

About the Author

Kim and Don Tatera,
Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Leave your email next to the logo for FREE e travel newsletter.

Tie together two of man’s dominating quests and you will show a vogue that’s called a sportsbook. Truly, what could be more original… If you think of a knot of people clapping for any given preferred local team, and almost regularly antes are certain to be reckoned along with the uproar. Seeking to get their share of the anticipation, bystanders will ordinarily try to speculate who is the likeliest to win the coming tournament. Put together, all of this eventually develops into a charming little tournament called sportsbook.

Learn the strategies of the bet casino sports pros at this site.

So it might easily look habit forming, though sportsbook betting is, in reality, simply an amusement and to relate with one’s fellow sports fanatics. Here, you’ll be able to bet a a small budget of greenbacks and regardless enjoy a outstanding time. Further to this, here are a few select guidelines to get started sportsbook betting.

If you want to place your bet, you will be best advised to go to a sportsbook, which is a place that receives sportsbook. In the U.S., you’ll find four states where you can go for sportsbook betting officially, but if legality is no concern, you can do it everywhere if you can locate a bookie and you happen to be of legal age. The games you can choose to risk some money on are professional + college football as well as college basketball, professional hockey, professional hockey, + dog and horse racing. Visitors might choose to risk money on the complete combined score of a contest or game, when exactly a given opponent will be vanquished, and even if a tossed coin in a contest or game will come out heads or tails.

The odds makers trust mere figures to help you out choose which team you trust is the likeliest to win. First we have the spread, that is to say specific advantage as expressed in points given to a a disadvantaged competitor that is presumed to take a licking by X number points. This constitutes the betting outfit’s technique of offering unprejudiced antes for a sportsbook. For instance, you could choose to wager on a contestant that is presumed to take a licking and and regardless make money on that bet if the competitor does actually lose by X number of points.

We can select a lot of different brands of antes- parlays, straight bets, over-unders, teasers, etc., the straight being the best known in sportsbook betting.

So, why not give it a runover, and enjoy the excitement in the process… Simply take pains to ensure that you won’t get too carried away and exhaust your total income on a fancy! Because you will certainly end up deploring it for the rest of your life!

Do you ever want to escape from reality, just Get Away? Then finding cheap cruises and discount cruises from among several different cruise ships is what you need to do. Cruise ships come in all sizes and themes. It doesn’t matter what your age is, what your background is, everyone can enjoy the fun and luxury of being on a cruise. Searching for cheap cruises and discount cruises can save you a lot of money when planning your vacation. After all, why not take the money you save on sailing and spend it on shore?

One of the unique aspects of cruising is that after spending a day sightseeing, shopping and visiting local sites, you can enjoy the luxury of coming back on board your floating, 1st class hotel. Shopping for cheap cruises and discount cruises is the way to go whether you’re planning for Alaska cruises, carribbean cruises or cruises that take you around the world.

About the Author

Mike Yeager
Publisher
http://www.a1-travel-4u.com

The importance of the medical transcriptionist can never be overestimated. The reports that they document can make the difference between right and wrong treatment. A small error can lead to bad or even fatal consequences. Thus, formal training becomes a necessity for them.

Employers generally choose to hire transcriptionists who have done their post-secondary training in the field, which is offered by community colleges, vocational schools and distance-learning programs. Though not always obligatory, the completion of a 1-year certificate program or a 2-year associate degree is recommended. These courses may include anatomy, medical terms and legal issues involving health care documentation, and grammar and punctuation of the English language. Most of these programs offer supervised on-the-job training. Transcriptionists, who are already attuned with medical jargon from prior experience as a medical secretary or a nurse, become adept through training and refresher courses.

The American Association for Medical Transcription, or AAMT, grants the voluntary designation of Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) to students who pass a certified examination. The constant evolving of medicine requires the medical transcriptionist to frequently update his or her skills. Every three years, CMTs must produce continuing education credits for recertification.

Apart from understanding medical lingo, it is imperative for transcriptionists to have competent English grammar and punctuation skills. Also, familiarity with computers and word processing software will come in handy. Normal sharpness in hearing and attentive listening skills are crucial, too. Applicants are sometimes required to take pre-employment exams, with employers generally preferring those with experience.

With certain experience, medical transcriptionists can elevate to administrative positions, editing, home-based work or teaching. With supplementary training or education, transcriptionists can become health information technicians, health information administrators or medical coders.

Hvar Island is situated in the Adriatic Sea and belongs to Croatia. The island spreads out on 80 km from west to east and it is truly paradise for its tourists. People all over the world visit all four major parts of the Hvar Island as its surprises are many and diverse.

During its existence, the Hvar Island was know by other names also, depending on what culture it belonged to. First it was known as Pharos and after that it was called Piteyeia (around the third century B.C.) as we know from the Greek poet Apollonius of Rhodes. While it was under Roman rule it was called Pharia and later Fara. The Slavs, people that occupied the island during the middle ages, named the island Hvar. Even if the island was under Slav occupation, a lot of the inhabitants were Roman-speaking and convinced the Slaves to change the official name once more, this time into Quarra. In the eleventh century the Italians changed the name again into Lesina (meaning forest), a word full of meaning because at that time the island was perfectly characterized by a woody terrain. This name was kept until the nineteenth century when it was changed back into Hvar Island.

This place exists nowadays under the name of the Hvar Island, but the Hvar Culture has long been extinct. It is said that this culture existed from the year 3500 to 2500 B.C. The Hvar Island is an important piece in Croatian history being one of the important literary centers of this country during the Renaissance. Nowadays it is known as a producer of lavender, honey and wine and these aspects can be charming to those interested in stimulating their senses. Because of its climate and unique position, the Hvar Island is home to a lot of different species of flora and fauna like the Croatian Fighting Toad. An interesting fact about the Hvar Island is that it gets 2800 hours of sun per year. As you can see, there is no possibility for anyone to get bored on this island because it reunites history and culture for those with this kind of interests and it can be a great place to relax by bathing in the sun and admiring nature.

There are many cities to visit on this island, each with its own story and appealing characteristics. The town of Hvar had a population of little over four thousand people in 2001. It can be a tourist attraction because this is the place where the first public theatre was opened in Europe back in 1612. The town of Stari Grad located in the northern part of the Hvar Island had almost three thousand inhabitants in 2001. It is the site of some of the first human settlements on the Adriatic Sea from Antiquity. Jelsa, a town in the central northern region of the island, it’s said to have had a population of approximately 3.600 back in 2001. The fourth region that might capture your attention is the town of Sucuraj, a city of picturesque beauty situated on the east cape of the Hvar Island. Sucuraj has been named officially the center of the eastern part of the Hvar Island. The town is said to be 2300 years old, fact which can fascinate anyone. The city has been blessed with mild climate and a beautiful country side which makes it even more perfect for contemplation and relaxation. The 400 people settled here live off tourism and fishing therefore any person who is interested in this location will be received with open arms and will have a wonderful time.

The Hvar Island is thought to have been inhabited since the year 5000 B.C. Since then, a lot of different cultures living there in each age known to man have left their own fingerprint on the place. The Neolithic age proves its existence in the history of the Hvar Island by a fragment of pottery dating from the year 2500 B.C. The bronze pottery and hilltop sites represent the Bronze Age. The Iron Age left behind a lot of settlements including a castle; most of these settlements were even equipped with some rudimentary forms of defense. After that, the ancient Greeks became very interested in the Hvar Island. Remains of the Greek colony can still be seen through some of the defense walls that are still standing. After the Greeks, a lot of different cultures left their legacy to the people on the Hvar Island, like the Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, Venetians, Turks and even newer states like Austria, France, England and Russia had their own influence.

The Hvar Island is a great place for a vacation. One of the few places were you can escape from the big city life and all its problems, a place where you can really catch your breath and relax. Strolls on a forested sea path or a week of quiet life in one of the picturesque villages to see how life is without any connection to civilization. The Hvar Island is a relaxation heaven. There are a lot of sites to admire like one of the monuments of the Hvar Island, the Saint Lawrence Church which is known for the collection of paintings by old masters. The Hvar Island also has one of the largest naturist camps. There is simply no way you can get bored here.

One of the few places that man hasn’t destroyed yet, the Hvar Island is a must see just like other famous places in the world. It’s just that it hasn’t had so much publicity and this is perhaps the reason its beauty remains untouched. You can enjoy the scenery and you can see the way native people live there. This will give you an idea about the way our forefathers made a living without having to work in loud plants and polluted environments. As a fact, it is necessary to say that Hvar Island is one of the perfect places you can visit and unwire yourself.

Life in the big cities is tiring and soliciting. This is why people take vacations and search for the perfect place to forget their daily lives. One of the best places to do exactly this is Hvar island in Croatia.

A villa vacation is a fantastic way of enjoying a relaxing break. But so much can go wrong – some villa owners, unfortunately, fail to tell the whole truth about their properties, and sometimes you find help difficult to come by if something goes wrong.

So how do you find out the reality before you arrive for your vacation? As a villa owner for over 15 years in Spain and also as a villa agent that fully manages villa rentals on the Costa Blanca – as well as personally preferring self catering accommodation – I’ve seen what can go wrong with a villa vacation from both perspectives.

I also know the best ways to make sure you and your loved ones or friends get your dream vacation. What to look for, and the questions to ask. If you’re not happy with the answers, simply go elsewhere. Your vacation is too important to gamble with.

What do the photographs tell you?

Firstly don’t get fooled by a single picture – especially if it’s tiny and difficult to see – or the lovely descriptive prose which may not resemble reality. All villas can look stunningly beautiful when painted gleaming white, but avoid booking one that does not show sufficient interior pictures. And look closely into each picture – does the bedroom show a headboard, or is it just pillows against the wall? This could indicate lack of preparation by the owner or lack of expenditure on the villa generally.

Clarify if the pictures are current. Was that fantastic view taken from the roof of the building or before some building plot was developed next door? It’s not much fun if your sea view is only from the top floor toilet. It does happen.

Ask if you have sun on your terrace. Or will you be in shade from 1pm onwards? Find out about the villa’s position and orientation so you know that you do not have go to the beach in order to catch some rays.

Key questions for private advertisers:

A private villa owner may oversell his pride and joy. Think about the things that can make a big difference to your vacation. Would you think to ask an owner if the kitchen china is really just inexpensive acrylic or is it a proper unmixed china set? How can you tell if the sofa suite is cheap and not so comfortable or of superior quality? What is the type of linen and towels used, could it be bobbly winceyette sheets for summer use?

Look for an unbiased grading or rating – it’ll save you asking awkward or embarrassing questions about your villa vacation. It’s best to seek out those who show gradings that indicate the quality grade of kitchen equipment and soft furnishings (including beds and sofas), say, separately.

Ask what service backup do you have if something goes wrong. Ensure that your chosen villa has professional support in case you experience a problem that cannot be rectified quickly. Is for example a knowledgeable local person on hand seven days a week to resolve maintenance issues efficiently?

What happens if the villa becomes unavailable due to the owner taking a double booking (it happens)? Or if there is a problem with the pool, a new building next door, or something not repairable quickly. A private owner may have problems relocating you, while a firm has more options to give you alternative accommodation should something go wrong.

Is privacy important to you? Be aware that many new villas are on very small plots and though are detached, you will be close to your neighbour. So check if the details are specific about this. And, if closeness to shops and supermarkets is important, then do ask.

Private owners may also wish to get a high rate of return on their investment when they rent them out to vacationmakers – or simply believe that their villa just has to be worth more than the market around them. So rates could be unjustifiably higher when compared to similar villas in the same areas.

Key questions for Villa agencies:

When thinking about booking a villa vacation through an agency, be certain who you are dealing with. Ask if the agency has a direct contract with the owner and is not sub-contracted. This ensures that you only liaise with one party, as sub-contracted parties are not in full management control of the villa, resulting possibly in delays of damage deposit repayments.

Check the small print carefully for extra charges. These can include surcharges for credit card use, damage charges even if no damage occurs, and unfair administrative fees charged per person or for simple changes to a booking.

Using a credit card such as Mastercard and Visa (not a charge card such as Amex, Diners Club or Switch or a business card) gives you, providing the payment exceeds £100 (payment amounts and cover may vary from country to country), full consumer credit card protection. So if the villa was fictitious, or the owner or agency was not what it seemed, you can get a full refund from the credit card firm.

Get the information you need

Take a more detailed look at the web site or brochure and look for the detailed information that will help you decide that you can be comfortable with your choice. Look to see if there are clients’ comments, how old are they, how many. Always look at the pictures and ask the questions, then you’ll have that relaxing villa vacation you’ve dreamed of.

For more tips and information, see www.villaspain.co.uk

Bruce Gibson is owner of Villaspain (www.villaspain.co.uk). Villaspain is a long-established, though modern, friendly local Spanish villa rental agency.

The usual perception is that VoIP costs so little because everything’s cheaper on the net. There’s high competition, and very low overheads etc. However you need to acknowledge the history of the telecommunication companies and their relationship with computer networks, and the way data physically travels around the Internet. An appreciation of this is necessary to fully comprehend the confusion behind the VoIP vs. POTS pricing structure.

In the days before computer networks were pre-eminent telephone companies were using digital communication. At the start the original digital voice circuit was used in Chicago in 1962 however ARPANET, the forerunner to today’s Internet, wasn’t up and running until 1969. The telecommunication companies used these digital circuits to make lots of voice connections over long distances something that analogue circuits did not have the capacity to do and they continue to use them for this purpose today.

Voice communication have several special characteristics. For one thing, it’s inherently real-time. You’d get annoyed if phone calls consisted of long periods of silence followed by several seconds of high-speed playback to catch up with the conversation on the other end. To keep this from occurring digital voice circuits provide guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS). Once a connection is made, you will always get exactly the amount of bandwidth you need. It’s not just bandwidth though; jitter is also taken care of by using small, fixed sized data packets. The point is the infrastructure was specially designed for voice communication.

When computer networks began emerging in the 1980s companies wanted in. They already had a lot of infrastructure there so they started looking at how they could send data over their existing trunk lines. They came up with quite a few different technologies with different levels of success. But there was (and still is) an issue: data networks are essentially different from voice networks.

Data is sent in packets, which can arrive randomly a long time after they have been requested, without causing problems. Internet Protocol (IP) was created to provide best effort delivery. Telecoms companies had an expensive network in place, so there was a lot of incentive to use it. After a few misses Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) was designed as a compromise technology that could carry both voice and data. But in reality it’s much less efficient than a pure data network. The costs for data transfers on ATM is more than 10link, compared to about one percent for an Ethernet running full-throttle.

Time and time again content has proven to be the single most important component of successful web sites. Virtually everywhere you surf the web, you can locate just about any type of information or content you are seeking. With this thinking in mind, what would make people utilize your web site? Furthermore, what would persuade people to return? The answer to these questions could hold the answer to your web sites long-term health.

WebSiteEstates.com (http://www.websiteestates.com), a free on-line marketing resource, is a perfect example of a web site that thrives on delivering content. While I am managing editor of the web site and control the editorial content, I have proactively been involved in examining how our users interact with our web site and their involvement with our content over time.

What we’ve learned is quite simple. If your content is good, you will over time acquire web site visitors. To retain those visitors often takes a little bit more. While the number of web sites on the Internet continues to escalate, the value of solid content will only continue to rise. Here are some concepts that may help make your site the ’stickiest of them all.’

Well-Organized Content

You may have the best content on the planet, but if people can’t find what they are looking for, it’s useless. One idea is to break your content into appropriate subcategories and make sure those subcategories are clearly representative of the content behind them. Also, be consistent in the placement of content for up-dates on the site. You don’t want to confuse repeat visitors who become accustomed with the navigational structure you have set forth from the beginning.

Refreshed Content

When possible, up-date the content on your site. If the content is exactly the same as the last time that user viewed your site, why should they stay? Furthermore, why should they return again if they believe the sites content will be exactly the same as when they left. Also, try and be consistent on your up-date schedule. Whether it is daily, weekly, or monthly, the user knows when to return for the sites latest content.

Multiple Deliveries of Content

Offering the content to be deliverable to their email account is a definite luxury that many web site visitors may definitely take advantage of. If you have multiple topics of content, you can offer the option to select which topics they are interested in receiving instead of all of the content at once. The key here is to give the user control of the content they are seeking.

Feedback to Improve Content

There is no better market research that the insight from your site visitors. Make sure your web site has open channels of communication to allow visitors to let their opinion be heard. As with any web site, you should always respond promptly to suggestions or at least make note that all suggestions will be reviewed and taken into consideration.

Allow Visitors to ‘Spread’ the Content

“Recommend a Friend” or “Send this Page” are very good features to have on a web site. It makes it quick and easy for users to spread the word to friends and colleagues. You may also consider inserting a link “Print this Page” to further assist users in displaying your content

Most businesses don’t take advantage of search engine optimization, but few things on the Internet can be as beneficial. A recent Forrester Research report showed that 80% of web surfers discover the new sites that they visit through search engines (such as Yahoo, Google, or MSN). According to iProspect, 85% of web users use search engines to find solutions and vendors. Properly optimizing a site for search engines helps it to attract numerous, highly targeted visitors- visitors that may become buyers.

For the technically inclined, there are numerous places on the web to get detailed, in-depth information on search engine optimization. However, many people don’t care about the technical aspects of search engine optimization- they just want to know what is wrong with their site (and how to fix it). What follows is a practical guide that covers some of the most basic search engine issues. It is in no way intended to be comprehensive, but it should help the average site owner determine whether their site is optimized, and if not, how to make some simple changes to improve their search engine rankings.

Issue #1- The Title Bar. On your homepage, what does the title bar say? If you use Internet Explorer, this is the blue bar at the extreme top of the window that displays your page (it may include the words “Microsoft Internet Explorer” at the end). Does your company name appear here by itself, when you have more important keywords to emphasize? Worse yet, does it say “untitled”? This area should contain the most important keywords you see on your homepage (Don’t have any text on your homepage? See issue #2). To check the rest of your site, click on any link from your homepage and see if the words in this title bar change for each page in your site. They should- and each title bar should contain the most important keywords from their corresponding page. Note: Very long keyword strings in the title bar should be avoided- six words or less is optimal. Also, words in the title bar should not repeat more than once, and identical words should not appear next to one another.

Issue #2- Content. Search engines all try to list sites that contain good content. Translation- you need words on your pages, not flashy graphics. This text should contain the most important keywords that your potential customers would use to find you on a search engine. If you have very few or no words on your pages, it is a good idea to add some, ideally around 250 per page. For aesthetic reasons, this is not always practical, but even 100 well-written words can have an impact on rank. It is also important that you make certain that the words are written in a language the search engines can read. Using your mouse, bring your cursor down to the text on one of your web pages. Clicking and holding down the left mouse button (make sure you aren’t near a link) see if you can highlight just one or two words of the text. If you can, everything is most likely fine. If nothing happens, or you can only highlight a large block, it is most likely in graphic form. Graphic text needs to be replaced by standard html text to allow the search engines to read it. Your web expert should have no problem understanding what you require, and the transition should be fairly simple and affordable.

Issue #3- Meta Tags. Some people believe that meta tags are the Holy Grail of search engine optimization. Unfortunately, their effectiveness is limited (many engines ignore them completely), but they can play a limited role in determining rank on some engines. To see if your site has meta tags, go to your home page. Click the “view” command at the top of the browser window. >From the pull-down menu, select “source”. This should open up another window that shows your code. Much of this may seem indecipherable, but there should be two commands there (usually near the top of the code). One of these says meta name=”description” content= and will go on to describe your company and products, and one says meta name=”keywords” content= and goes on to list applicable keywords for your site. If these tags are missing, have your web expert insert them.

Issue #4- Links. Link popularity has become increasingly important to search engine rankings, with 19 of the top 20 engines using it in their ranking algorithm. Simply put, search engines give a ranking boost to sites that have links from quality, related sites. There are numerous free tools on the web that will allow you to see what sites link to yours (just type “free link popularity check” in your favorite search engine). If you don’t have many sites linking to yours, it may be time to start a link building campaign. This is where you find quality, non-competing sites in your industry and ask them if they would like to exchange links. An additional benefit of link exchanges is that these links can bring you additional, highly targeted traffic.

Conclusion Although following the above guidelines will by no means guarantee you top page rankings for your keywords, fixing one or more of the problems should have a very positive impact on your search engine rankings. For the volumes of potential customers that a search engine can send to your site, it’s certainly worth the effort.