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What is keyword research? There is a lot of important stuff to go with answering that question, so I will go fast. A keyword is a word or phrase that will help a page rank in organic search results on search engine results pages (like Google). Therefore a keyword is your best –free- way to get your site noticed.
♦ Keywords and SEO
For now there are lots of ways to get a site ranked. This process of doing the little things to get a site ranking well on Google (ignore the rest-everyone else does) is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). One of the major parts of SEO is using keywords with the proper frequency and placement. Of course before you need to know how to use them you need to know the answer to our question, “what is keyword research”. So, let’s get on with it:
♦ What is Keyword Research?
•What is desirable in keywords?
Keyword research is trying to find keyword popularity research that a page will be able to rank on well. The first desire is for decent and beatable competition on the first page of Google results. The second desire is to have a decent amount of daily traffic looking for the specific keywords you want to use. The third desire is that those keywords are based on ideas (niches) where people want to BUY things. b schools in india
•How do you do keyword research?
There are many ways to go about doing it. Everyone has their own favorite tools here are some of the best keyword research tool:
Wordtracker: This tool lets you look up keywords and find out how popular they are. Check out the competition search to see how touch your competition may be. It has a ton of options and it is wonderful for finding those great keywords. It is a pay product, but it does have a free trial.
Google Adwords: Simply put it is THE free tool for keyword research. There are others that complement it, but nothing free comes close. Diverse Management Classes
Market Samurai: My personal Favorite. It is another free one. –A 30 day free trial too- Go to the “dojo” and watch the videos (free). It teaches a ton about keyword research and some about using Market Samurai. It is a very cool tool that will do everything you want except wash your dishes.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Best for-profit colleges in the US
The reasons are obvious: convenience, innovative online courses, lower cost (usually), and the ability to earn the desired degree or certificate more quickly. However, evidence has emerged that many of these for-profit institutions are doing a poor job of educating their students - and an even worse job of helping them to land that all-important first job in their chosen field.
So, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff when there are nearly 3,000 for-profit colleges operating in the U.S.? Frankly, you should go with the largest of the institutions because they have built superior track records of service and they have the resources to equip their schools with the right technology to make the courses relevant for students' career goals. Here is a short rundown of the largest for-profit colleges and their specialties.
Also, keep in mind that none of these institutions have perfect records. The entire industry is under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Education and the Governmental Accounting Office for alleged abuse of students, who were encouraged to take out immense loans for worthless educational programs. So, stay tuned, because a shakeout in the industry might be coming in 2011.
Carrington College (formerly Apollo College, not to be confused with Apollo Group, which owns University of Phoenix). Based in Phoenix, Carrington offers an extensive array of healthcare-related courses at 10 campuses in the West. It offers various certifications for dental hygienists, medical lab technicians, physical therapists, and similar professions. Its track record is pretty good in those areas, and, of course, jobs are relatively plentiful in those fields. In 2010, it started an online program to enable people to complete bachelor's degrees, but it's too early to judge the quality of the program. scholarships in india
ITT Educational Services, Inc, or "ESI" for short. This is one of the largest programs in the country, with 38 "campuses" and an extensive online course curriculum. ITT Ed has a ridiculous number of courses, but its deepest array of offerings are in technical fields, which is where it got its start. These are courses like electronics, industrial automation, and computer design - the types of things that are now expected for many blue-collar jobs. ITT offers both certifications and bachelor's degrees, and it's probably necessary to get the bachelor's in order to land a job. For people who have work and who are seeking upgrade their skills, individual courses and certification programs can be an excellent choice.
Corinthian Colleges. This massive operation actually operates under three different "brand" names (yes, it calls its colleges "brands."). Overall, Corinthian says it has more than 110,000 students. Corinthian's great strength is in healthcare, and it also has a huge number of industrial engineering courses (engine design, auto/truck/motorcycle repair, etc.). To take the best advantage of these courses, it's crucial to be able to go onsite to a Corinthian campus, because the school has state-of-the-art training equipment; doing it online just isn't the same.
Education Management Corp. For students who want to get into the arts - either as artists or in arts management - Education Management Corp. is the leader. It has developed or purchased a series of small, specialized arts institutions that provide classes in painting, sculpture, computer art, etc., as well as fashion, cooking, and hospitality management. Given the trends in the U.S. away from manufacturing jobs, it's easy to see why EDMC offerings have made it the 2nd-largest for-profit educator in the country (nearly 140,000 students). The big caution here is that jobs in many of these fields are very hard to find, and it's not clear that a degree or a certificate is necessary anyway; it's often more about talent and hard work. universities in india
Kaplan. Owned by the Washington Post newspaper, Kaplan is familiar to many high schoolers through its SAT preparation courses. Kaplan has branched out to become one of the leading for-profit educators across the spectrum. Kaplan does't go for the technical training; it's trying to capture the types of students who would go to traditional colleges, but either feel they are too old or don't have the option to go full-time. Kaplan's degress include things like psychology, communications, and human services, and it even has an online law school,
University of Phoenix. The largest and best-known of the for-profit colleges, University of Phoenix has made its mark with innovative online courses and webinars (although it also has more than 200 campus sites nationwide). It's impossible to summarize the range of courses available to the school's 150,000 or more students, but suffice it to say that University of Phoenix aims heavily at people who want to advance their current careers with additional business and technology and continuing education courses. While the University goes all the way up the ladder to Ph.D. programs, it's really best for the more immediate goals of shorter programs. Because it's the best-known program and pays better wages, the Universit of Phoenix typically gets better professors. This is a crucial factor in a program, as those professors can potentially provide job advice and even job leads.
So, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff when there are nearly 3,000 for-profit colleges operating in the U.S.? Frankly, you should go with the largest of the institutions because they have built superior track records of service and they have the resources to equip their schools with the right technology to make the courses relevant for students' career goals. Here is a short rundown of the largest for-profit colleges and their specialties.
Also, keep in mind that none of these institutions have perfect records. The entire industry is under scrutiny from the U.S. Department of Education and the Governmental Accounting Office for alleged abuse of students, who were encouraged to take out immense loans for worthless educational programs. So, stay tuned, because a shakeout in the industry might be coming in 2011.
Carrington College (formerly Apollo College, not to be confused with Apollo Group, which owns University of Phoenix). Based in Phoenix, Carrington offers an extensive array of healthcare-related courses at 10 campuses in the West. It offers various certifications for dental hygienists, medical lab technicians, physical therapists, and similar professions. Its track record is pretty good in those areas, and, of course, jobs are relatively plentiful in those fields. In 2010, it started an online program to enable people to complete bachelor's degrees, but it's too early to judge the quality of the program. scholarships in india
ITT Educational Services, Inc, or "ESI" for short. This is one of the largest programs in the country, with 38 "campuses" and an extensive online course curriculum. ITT Ed has a ridiculous number of courses, but its deepest array of offerings are in technical fields, which is where it got its start. These are courses like electronics, industrial automation, and computer design - the types of things that are now expected for many blue-collar jobs. ITT offers both certifications and bachelor's degrees, and it's probably necessary to get the bachelor's in order to land a job. For people who have work and who are seeking upgrade their skills, individual courses and certification programs can be an excellent choice.
Corinthian Colleges. This massive operation actually operates under three different "brand" names (yes, it calls its colleges "brands."). Overall, Corinthian says it has more than 110,000 students. Corinthian's great strength is in healthcare, and it also has a huge number of industrial engineering courses (engine design, auto/truck/motorcycle repair, etc.). To take the best advantage of these courses, it's crucial to be able to go onsite to a Corinthian campus, because the school has state-of-the-art training equipment; doing it online just isn't the same.
Education Management Corp. For students who want to get into the arts - either as artists or in arts management - Education Management Corp. is the leader. It has developed or purchased a series of small, specialized arts institutions that provide classes in painting, sculpture, computer art, etc., as well as fashion, cooking, and hospitality management. Given the trends in the U.S. away from manufacturing jobs, it's easy to see why EDMC offerings have made it the 2nd-largest for-profit educator in the country (nearly 140,000 students). The big caution here is that jobs in many of these fields are very hard to find, and it's not clear that a degree or a certificate is necessary anyway; it's often more about talent and hard work. universities in india
Kaplan. Owned by the Washington Post newspaper, Kaplan is familiar to many high schoolers through its SAT preparation courses. Kaplan has branched out to become one of the leading for-profit educators across the spectrum. Kaplan does't go for the technical training; it's trying to capture the types of students who would go to traditional colleges, but either feel they are too old or don't have the option to go full-time. Kaplan's degress include things like psychology, communications, and human services, and it even has an online law school,
University of Phoenix. The largest and best-known of the for-profit colleges, University of Phoenix has made its mark with innovative online courses and webinars (although it also has more than 200 campus sites nationwide). It's impossible to summarize the range of courses available to the school's 150,000 or more students, but suffice it to say that University of Phoenix aims heavily at people who want to advance their current careers with additional business and technology and continuing education courses. While the University goes all the way up the ladder to Ph.D. programs, it's really best for the more immediate goals of shorter programs. Because it's the best-known program and pays better wages, the Universit of Phoenix typically gets better professors. This is a crucial factor in a program, as those professors can potentially provide job advice and even job leads.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Competitive Intelligence Gathering for Business Purposes
In business the more you know about your competition, the more effectively you can respond to any actions made by them. I compare the business world to a war. When you know the actions of the enemy you are able to respond to it effectively or even catch them off guard by making an unexpected assault at them. Just like in a war, intelligence is crucial to knowing the actions of your enemy. The more that you know about your competition the more likely you are going to be able to make critical decisions that will allow you to compete.
The method in which you gather competitive intelligence information is completely different from one type of business to another. This makes it incredibly difficult to make a blanket statement on how to generally obtain intelligence on the competition. The method of attainment is also going to change depending upon the type of information you are trying to obtain.
Probably the easiest method of obtaining competitive intelligence in business, about your competition is to simply call them. It is amazing how much information the secretary will give you about the company. If you are looking to gain information about their pricing, their products, and other information that is somewhat available anyway, then this method can be quite effective. If they have a storefront you could easily walk into their store and look over things this way as well. In fact, many will take small cameras into a store location so that they can take pictures of the different products, in store marketing, and layout. All of these things can have a major impact on the success of a business and it is important to know these things.
Sometimes the basic information just isn't enough. For this reason many businesses will install an insider to obtain further information about the company. This is typically done by having a loyal get a job with the competitor. By doing this you can discover information about training. You can learn about their computer systems. You can even learn about the different strategies that the company has in the near future. The loyal would know what types of information they are looking for and would attempt to listen carefully so they can get this information. They would then report back to explain the details. Depending upon their position they could even have access to customer lists, product information, pricing, and a variety of other details that could be competitive secrets.
Also, having someone on the inside can allow you to obtain information on marketing details for the company. If you know when your competition is having a sale and know how they are promoting it, you can run a promotion the same day that is slightly better ultimately taking some of the thunder away from your competition. Imagine seeing a commercial advertising 10% off everything and you put out a commercial advertising 15% off everything. Those interested are most likely going to take advantage of the 15% off. This would be a huge coup.
Another way that you can obtain information about your competition in an outside sales environment is by inviting them to your house. For example, if you own a pool company and want more information about your competitive intelligence jobs, have them come over and give quotes. By doing this you can hear more about their presentation. You can find out about how they price things out. You can even ask questions that could get the employee to give you far more information than they realize.
While many say that competitive intelligence can be running the line of what is ethical and what isn't, sometimes in business you have to do what is necessary to take the competitive edge. The only way to do this is to know what your competition is up to and find a way to strike first.
The method in which you gather competitive intelligence information is completely different from one type of business to another. This makes it incredibly difficult to make a blanket statement on how to generally obtain intelligence on the competition. The method of attainment is also going to change depending upon the type of information you are trying to obtain.
Probably the easiest method of obtaining competitive intelligence in business, about your competition is to simply call them. It is amazing how much information the secretary will give you about the company. If you are looking to gain information about their pricing, their products, and other information that is somewhat available anyway, then this method can be quite effective. If they have a storefront you could easily walk into their store and look over things this way as well. In fact, many will take small cameras into a store location so that they can take pictures of the different products, in store marketing, and layout. All of these things can have a major impact on the success of a business and it is important to know these things.
Sometimes the basic information just isn't enough. For this reason many businesses will install an insider to obtain further information about the company. This is typically done by having a loyal get a job with the competitor. By doing this you can discover information about training. You can learn about their computer systems. You can even learn about the different strategies that the company has in the near future. The loyal would know what types of information they are looking for and would attempt to listen carefully so they can get this information. They would then report back to explain the details. Depending upon their position they could even have access to customer lists, product information, pricing, and a variety of other details that could be competitive secrets.
Also, having someone on the inside can allow you to obtain information on marketing details for the company. If you know when your competition is having a sale and know how they are promoting it, you can run a promotion the same day that is slightly better ultimately taking some of the thunder away from your competition. Imagine seeing a commercial advertising 10% off everything and you put out a commercial advertising 15% off everything. Those interested are most likely going to take advantage of the 15% off. This would be a huge coup.
Another way that you can obtain information about your competition in an outside sales environment is by inviting them to your house. For example, if you own a pool company and want more information about your competitive intelligence jobs, have them come over and give quotes. By doing this you can hear more about their presentation. You can find out about how they price things out. You can even ask questions that could get the employee to give you far more information than they realize.
While many say that competitive intelligence can be running the line of what is ethical and what isn't, sometimes in business you have to do what is necessary to take the competitive edge. The only way to do this is to know what your competition is up to and find a way to strike first.
Online Business Ideas Despite Economic Turmoil
The internet is here to stay and if anything it will gradually become more and more ingrained into everyday life. With cheaper broadband connections and free internet access incentives even the higher end sites are becoming accessible to wider ranges of users. If you set yourself up with an online business you will be in an expanding market for the long term. A major drawing factor with online business is the fact that you can set up and start earning money with absolutely no financial investment and only as much time and effort as you have the opportunity and willingness for. Most smaller internet operations are running on very low or nonexistent budgets. Unlike a traditional business you don't have to think about big sums of money, shop floor rent, wages and a start date. You can start right now without parting with any money at all.
In order to establish an online business you need to have something to offer a potential customer base. This could be a skill base, knowledge base or product. We all have at least one of these things. Due to the massive amounts of people online combined with the power of search engines virtually anything you do can be marketed to and found by your target audience. For example if you have experience of raising children you might create a web-site full of tips, information and advice. This site could then contain products such as clothes and blankets. If you did not want to create your own products you might feature products on the site and earn a cut each time something is sold via a link which hooks up with an affiliate program.
You could branch out by establishing profiles on MySpace, twitter, face book and Live Journal. You might build article and product bases on lulu.com, Helium.com, Associated Content.com or caf press and link all these profiles into your site. Keep the content you create central to your main area of sales and you will boost traffic and resultant sales. If you don't want to pay for a site you can set up a blog, bolster it with Google ads and use it to promote products. These could be products you make, that other people make or that you have made and uploaded to sites which will sell them for you.
The internet is an ideal earning environment because all skills which have a potential audience have the potential to make money. With so many different people online all aware of how to find the content they want there is an audience for almost everything. The internet is a huge sales market but you don't necessarily need to have a product to be part of that. You can use your skills and knowledge to get in on some of the action. An online business can be set up so efficiently and at such low cost that you would easily be able to manage a modest business alongside your current employment. Build up your online earnings and your knowledge of how to earn on the net and then if disaster ever strikes and you lose your job you can immediately start pumping all your hours into your business. In this way an online business can work as a back up mode of employment. There is an audience of millions online and you will have some, if not many, things to offer them. You can set yourself up to provide a service or product at little or no cost and generate income in line with your own time and financial restraints. Far from being held back by the economic turmoil now is the ideal time to get started.
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