SEO Guidelines Search Engine Marketing

SEO guidelines also known as Search Engine Optimization set the rules used by major search engines like GOOGLE, Yahoo, and MSN, etc. to judge whether or not to include a website in their search engine results. Believe it or not , having your website included in Google results is not part of the Bill of Rights under the constitution. There are Search Engine Marketing guidelines that govern which websites are included and those excluded from their results.

SEO Guidelines Thou Shall

Write your pages for people, not for search engines. It seems obvious, doesn't it? We have all gone to web pages with garbage content written to deceive search engines for top rankings. When discovered (and they will be discovered), these websites are banned. Other SEO guidelines prohibit offering different content to search engines than your visitors. Called ""cloaking", it's unethical and another trick to avoid for high search engine rankings. Instead, focus on providing useful content your visitors are seeking and update your site frequently with fresh content.

SEO guidelines - Thou Shall Not...

Here are some important search engine optimization methods to avoid when using SEO methods on your website. These are unethical techniques that may lead to having your websites removed from the Google index. OUCH!!! That hurts! Once banned, your site will not appear in GOOGLE results or partner sites.

SEO guidelines clearly ban link farms that create multiple links to your site to raise your page rank by unethical means. Sooner or later your site will be caught and penalized for breaking SEO guidelines. In particular, avoid links to web spammers and software that auto submits your pages to search engines.

SEO guidelines Search Engine Optimization

Create web pages free of hidden texts and links seen only by the search engines. Instead, use search engine marketing strategies without redirects to other sites. Instead of garbage content, search engine optimization promotes useful reader content. Do you like to read the same thing again read the same thing again read the same thing again neither does the search engine. After all, search engines are people too!

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SEO Tools Of The Trade

Before you start optimizing your site for search engines, there are some tools that you should arm yourself with. These tools can become your best friends when it comes to SEO, especially when youre just starting out. The first and most important step in any search engine position campaign is recognizing which keywords you should optimize your site for, and there are several pieces of software that are useful for this, including Wordtracker, Optilink, Zeus, and Agent Web Ranking.

WordTracker's keyword research service is the only one on the Internet that provides a comprehensive database of the most popular keywords in a particular industry. It can help you recognize associated keywords that you may have never thought of. One of the differences between WordTracker and other tools is that it can spot subtle differences, for example singular and plural keywords, or often-misspelled ones, and tell you which versions are more popular.

Optilink has become very popular in a short period of time because of the power it gives you over search engines. Every site that links to you boosts your ranking, especially if its content is relevant to yours. Optilink helps you to come up with strategies to improve your link structure and get a better ranking. Here are some of the things it does:

1. Analyzes the link structures of your top-ranking competitors.

2. Tells you why your competitors rank well, so you can try to copy what theyre doing.

3. Tells you what kind of rankings you can expect if you adopt similar linking strategies.

4. Helps to monitor sites youve exchanged links with, to ensure that theyre still linking to you.

Zeus has an excellent way of increasing the link popularity of your site -- by exchanging with other sites that are related to yours, giving you a head start on your SEO. Zeus does the work for you, identifying sites that it thinks you should try to exchange links with. If you look for the sites yourself youll often find its not worth the time, but an SEO tool like Zeus lets you do it instantly. Once youve got links, you can manage and maintain them automatically.

Agent Web Ranking helps you to check your sites rankings this is good to see how your SEO efforts are working. Many people just optimize and submit, thinking the work is done, but theyre wrong. You need to continuously check your site's rankings, and Agent Web Ranking is a reliable and quick tool for doing this.

The only real problem you might have with any of this software is that search engines can change the way they display their results, breaking the tools until their authors update them. This means that most position reporting software gets outdated very quickly. Its not that much of an issue, though, as most software is provided on a subscription basis with updates included, rather than bought only once.

If you really want to stay ahead in the SEO industry, you should try as many different tools as you can. By paying attention to what tools others are using and learning how they work, you will have the edge in the SEO market. So get out there, and download these SEO tools of the trade!

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SEO Why Site Width Matters

Many search engine optimization efforts are focused on pushing the home page of a site. This is a fundamental mistake that can result in the site missing out on a lot of traffic.

Go Wide, Young Man

In nearly every case, a site should be designed to draw traffic through both the home page and various internal pages. Home pages, obviously, can be tailored to the primary keyword phrases you are seeking, but dont forget the minor pages.

I always find it odd when people ask which keyword phrase they should try to optimize for on their site. They become a bit flummoxed when I tell them to optimize for all of them. The only question is which keywords should appear on which pages.

For example, the site NomadJournals.com sells writing journals for outdoor activities such as fly fishing, traveling, hiking, bird watching and so on. So, which of these subjects should be used as the keyword phrase for the home page? None! Instead, the generic term writing journals was chosen. But what about the specific journal subjects?

The individual pages on the site promoting each journal are optimized for the specific product. The fly fishing journal page is optimized for fly fishing keywords, the travel page for travel keywords and so on. The end result of this is the home page is appearing high in writing journals search results, while each of the internal journal pages are also appearing high.

This can often lead to an interesting visitor situation. As you review your server stats, you may start noting a majority of your traffic is coming in through internal site pages, not the home page. In the above Nomad Journals scenario, the travel journal page far outdraws the home page, which makes for a nice revenue increase.

The home page of a site is critical in a search engine optimization campaign. Just keep in mind it isnt the only page that can draw free traffic and revenues to your site.

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SEO The History Of Optimization

Virtually every good thing comes to an end. Strategies that were once standard in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ultimately came to an end when individuals with less scruples than a box of corn flakes manipulated the system to their advantage.

Some of the earliest optimization methods were a simple alphabetical list much like a phone directory, but by 1996 web site programmers tried their luck at placing specific keywords in parts of the programming and they began to learn theyre manipulations had some influence in site rankings.

A variety of algorithms were utilized in 1997 that allowed programmers to crack the SEO code at Excite. These programmers were able to produce # 1 results for their clients at will.

What began as client-based assistance ultimately led to nefarious systems that sought a corner on site rankings to the exclusion of any competitor.

It wasnt long before most search engines began using Yahoo as a means of checking site rankings. Most programmers learned that by 1997 their clients needed to be included in Yahoo and they needed to perform well in that arena if they wanted similar results elsewhere.

By late 1997 Infoseek offered anyone the opportunity to optimize a website and made the role of programmers less prominent. Angry programmers strike back by essentially creating a mirror site of top ranked sites and diminishing the effectiveness of the rankings.

In the next two years search engines develop complex, multi-level algorithms that were difficult to decode and made little sense. However, these systems would serve as a foundation for filtering spam and punishing offenders with banned sites.

By the late 1990s algorithm decoding essentially ceased. It was getting too hard to try to fool the new systems that were developing and many of the original ideas for SEO assistance were now considered Black Hat SEO.

As the Y2K doom reports fade into memory a fresh realization hits programmers. The roller coaster ride that had been SEO now fell to one search engine for acceptance. If you could not make it with this search engine you would find little acceptance elsewhere.

Today Google is the gold standard for SEO. This search engine provides details on acceptable ways to promote your site through optimization.

Now that a comprehensive standard has developed programmers are back in the fray seeking to serve customers by attempting to gain respectable rankings.

Interestingly there are some SEO firms that must remember the old days of SEO because they continue to insist on using methods that could ultimately cause a site to be banned from search engines.

Learn what you can about SEO strategies. With this knowledge you can begin to personally implement strategies that help your site rankings in the long run.

Above all keep up to date on SEO strategies because this is an area that has a long history of being refined.

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SEO Anchor Text And Headings

There has been a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy that has been largely ignored. It may even be considered a minor element in the scheme of SEO techniques.

Most if us have visited websites with anchor text (hyper links) to third-party sites with more information. In the world of HTML you can hide the website address and include descriptive words to assist visitors in making a determination about the value of visiting the anchor text link.

In many cases you will find the common strategy that is used has no SEO function.

NEGATIVE EXAMPLE

To find out more CLICK HERE.

In this scenario the link is on the words CLICK HERE. While this might make sense to the reader it does absolutely nothing for search engines that are interested in the keywords associated with the anchor text link.

POSITIVE EXAMPLE

IMPORTED MOTHBALLS are making a comeback.

The reason this is better is that most Internet users understand that colored or underlined text is an anchor text link. While this is important to note, a better reason would be that search engines now have the capability of indexing the key phrase IMPORTED MOTHBALLS.

The use of search engine friendly anchor text statements can be important to the overall site ranking for your specific business site. This strategy is just one of many that can help you make the greatest impact when marketing your site through SEO Strategies.

One more tip that might help you place more prominently in the site rankings has to do with headings and subheadings on your web pages.

Many search engines pay particular attention to the headings on the web page. You can find creative ways to incorporate primary keywords or phrases in the first three headings on a page. These are the headings search engines will evaluate for search engine rankings.

For the visitor you can make the site easier to scan using bullet points and headings. Many online visitors will not read every single word you place on your website, but they will look for visual clues as to how relevant the information might be.

For search engines headings will be key locations for evaluation. In this case what is good for the site visitor is also good for the search engine.

By taking the time to incorporate what may seem like small steps you may end up with improved site rankings. By making these tips a habit you can move on to other SEO strategies that can further help you make the most significant impact on the web.

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SEO A Do-It-Yourself Guide

Some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms can toss around a lot of important terms and promise unbelievable results, but often the results are short-lived and the SEO terms they use are convenient in intimidating the faint of heart into subscribing to their services. After all if you cant understand what they are saying how are you supposed to understand how to do it yourself?

While it is possible to develop a masterfully designed SEO strategy for use on your website by accessing the skills of others, the truth is paying a third party for work you can do yourself may not be the wisest use of company assets, although most SEO companies would likely dispute my claim since, of course, their livelihood largely depends on your ignorance.

Did you know the primary influence on SEO success is keyword rich content? The content you write and the way that you say it has a profound effect on the way search engines determine your site rankings.

If you take no other advice on SEO take this one and implement it yourself. The primary search engines work to rank sites based on predominant keywords or key phrases.

You will discover that online visitors and search engines agree, great content makes for a great online experience for potential consumers as well as a few good search engines looking for great websites.

Did you know that if you invite others to link to your site the chances of SEO success improve?

Search engines are very favorable to linking strategies. It tells them that others view your site as a worthwhile destination with adequate reason to associate themselves with you in an online environment.

Did you know that developing positive contacts improve site visitation? Did you also know that increased traffic results in improved site ranking?

Search engine companies make locating trusted websites their number one priority. If your website is designed to maximize one or more facets of your business the search engines will view your site as serious about reaching a very specific customer base.

The idea of networking is as important to those you network with as it is to you. This is a business-to-business strategy that cant really be duplicated by using most paid SEO firms. You have the best handle on whom you are most interested in forming connections with. In the development process there is often mutual back scratching that can ultimately serve to drive traffic to both sites.

Many SEO firms rely on extensive strategies that required their intervention and care. Some of these strategies do have value, but that value is minimized as search engines streamline some of the indicators of site rankings. For instance Meta tag information was once very important to SEO strategies, today many site owners can achieve positive success without significantly altering their meta tag details.

Dont get me wrong there are plenty of SEO strategies that can help, but content and connections are the two primary means of achieving improved site rankings and you can do that yourself.

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Seo Can Be Rocket Science

Over the past week, there has been a lot of discussion about the SEO is/isnt rocket science debate. Although this issue has been around for years, the spark that brought it back to life can be traced back to the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo in Chicago. During the Search Engines Strategies Conference in Chicago, which took place from December 4th through the 6th, Jason Calcanis (the cofounder of Weblogs Inc) completely wrote search engine optimization off as a complete waste of money and resources. His philosophy is that if you build a clean page and great content, the traffic and rankings will follow naturally.

This statement caused quite a stir among not only the audience (which was primarily made up of a bunch of SEOs) but also the search engine optimization community as a whole. Angry blog posts were flying up left and right, and there was not a lack of great discussion on both sides of the issue.

At the beginning of January, Shoemoney made the statement on his radio show and blog that ninety-five percent of search engine optimization is super simple and the other five percent is what really matters in the world of SEO.

After all this various discussion, Todd Friesen (aka Oilman) decided to write an excellent blog post to address all of these various issues. Although he does not update his blog very often, the posts he does write are always well thought out. This particular post helped to give the SEO community some perspective on this issue. Even though ninety-five percent of search engine optimization may be extremely easy for someone who does it on a daily basis, it is still a complete mystery to ninety-nine percent of the population. The purpose of his post can be summed up by the idea that instead of spending time arguing within the SEO community, we need to realize that there is an entire world full of people who probably dont even know what the term SEO means.

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SEO - Smart Way to Gain Success

The popularity and visibility of a website on the internet makes it ranked good by search engines. Actually, the more visible the website is to viewers, the better the chances it can get to be noticed by the major search engines such as Yahoo, Google and MSN.

So if your website is not being notice by the search engines and your presence is being ignored by the internet, what will you do then? What will you do to make sure that your website will be recognized by the search engines? Read on, since this article will provide you the answer to these questions.

Definitely, having a business, you want it to gain success. Of course, you do not want your website left hanging in there without even a single visit or sale. One of your goals is to gain lots of visitors to your website; since this can help you gain traffic to your website and can get great ranking on the search engines.

Of course, you have heard about search engine optimization or SEO. For you to gain the goals you want for our business website, you have to optimize your website. Optimizing your website takes a lot of work, so if you think you cant do it, you can hire a SEO Company to make the work for you. But of course, do not hire just a SEO company; make sure it is the best one.

Having a business, you want to make sure that it will gain lots of profits and be popular, but you can achieve this if you make use of search engine optimization. Yes, as mentioned earlier working with a SEO Company can help you out achieve all of your goals. But you have to take time in finding the best SEO Company.

The Best and professional SEO company can guarantee the success of your website, with their methods, strategies and experiences, they can assure you that you will gain traffic to your site and be on the top rank of the search engines.

Yes, you know that lots of people are using the internet for information, services and products, and they do it with the use of search engines. So if you will be on the top rank of the search engines, lots of internet users will visit your website.

If you are looking for the best SEO Company, you can use the search engines in doing so. You have to simply type the topic or subject of your website on the major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Definitely, the search engines will give you plenty of results but of course all you have to do is open the one on the top rank and look for the SEO Company that made it possible for the website to be on that ranking.

Indeed, in order to gain the success you desire for your business, you have to work with the best SEO company that possess the strategies, methods and experiences that can aid to that goals.

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SEO: For Search Engines or Humans

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is something that many webmasters are now obsessing over. Many web site owners are spending countless hours tweaking and modifying their web sites, adding keyword rich content, and spending hours obtaining back links, so that their site will rank higher in search engines. It is true that over 90% of all web surfers use search engines to visit sites on a regular basis, but should web masters and web site designers build and tweak sites for search engines, or for their visitors?

The answer to this question is that when you build a web site, you are not targeting web search engine crawlers, you are targeting people and human visitors. Hence, you should build a web site for humans, not search engines. The whole purpose to create a web site is so that you can get traffic. Without traffic, a web site is worthless. No matter how many features and how functional your site is, without traffic, your design and functionality do not matter. Although search engines can help bring in traffic, web sites that are designed for search engines, are often not designed for human visitors and all the traffic that your web site gets will be worthless. Visitors will visit and then soon leave your web site and not return again. Return visitors are critical for the success of any web site.

One good example of optimizing for search engines purely is some webmasters tend to stuff tons of keywords into the Meta-Tags; this is a very bad practice and will get the site blacklisted. Moreover, this black hat technique does not benefit the users.

Hence, when building a web site, one should build it for human visitors. If you have articles that are too keyword dense, the quality of the writing will not be as high as it should, and quite frankly, many of your visitors will be annoyed if you keep using words such as mesothelioma or home insurance loan to get your web site high in the search rankings for these terms. They will leave your web site and most likely not return. If you create a web site where content is created for people to read and is well written, chances are you will get many return visitors who like the quality of the content you provide and come back frequently to read any new content you may have added. The more people that visit and link to your web site, the more popular it well become and naturally, it will be ranked higher in search engines.

Also, rather than spending hours building links for SEO purposes, that time could be better spent on adding features to your web site which would prompt more people to return to your site and stay at your web site for a longer period of time.

In conclusion, although spending lot of time on SEO and increasing your search engine rankings in the short run, the visitors you get from your SEO efforts will not be valuable as chances are they will not visit again. If you build your web sites for people, your traffic will grow and search engine rankings will rise naturally. Hence, the best way to build a successful web site is to build for people and allow your web site to naturally move up search engine rankings.

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SEO - Familiarizing Yourself With The Metrix

Turning a pay per click affiliate program into a money making machine involves getting to know what professional Internet marketers call the metrix. The metrix is simply a term that means numbers. You need to get cozy with your numbers and you have to know how to read them so that you can figure out when they are reflecting a profit and when they are reflecting loss. This is how you figure out your costs versus your profits and whether or not you are getting ahead.

As an affiliate marketer you will also hear the term ROI flung around all the time. This is an acronym for Return on Investment For instance, If you know that your affiliate program pays you $1.00 for sale, you could theoretically bid 0.75 cents per click to bid on a keyword in a pay per click program and still make a quarter with each click. However what many beginning network marketers overlook in the beginning (perhaps it is wishful thinking) is that this is only true if 100% of the people visiting your site actually buy. This means that most of that .75 that you are paying for is going to consumed by someone who logs into your site and is just looking. Never assume that the traffic you are bidding on is going to be the same kind of traffic that is already visiting your website.

If you dont want untargeted, non-buying traffic it is important to do some market research before you launch a pay per click advertising campaign. This means taking the time to find out which words or phrases people most commonly use and input into the search engines when they shop for your product or service. One of the best free online tools for conducting this kind of targeted market research is the Overture (Yahoo) keyword search engine tool.

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Say No To Illegal SEO Techniques

Search engine optimization spamming, substantially increases the possibilities that a website or page will appear at the top of results on search engines for a certain keyword.

Businesses that use illegal SEO techniques to control, raise and improve their search engine positions, are denying or removing the rights of ethical websites to be heard and seen. Regrettably, there are still many individuals who believe that illegal SEO techniques do no harm.

It is unethical and illegal for spamming sites to control search engines in order to gain high rankings in search engines at your websites expense. You acquire your search engine position fairly so you deserve to be safeguarded from deceitful individuals who steal your visitors, publicity and income.

Remember that any effort so as to deceive search engines to achieve higher rankings is regarded as SEO spam; under no circumstances should you implement such methods in your marketing campaigns.

Never sacrifice your principles just so to reach your goals. There will be a great risk involved, such as your website can be penalized or worst, banned from top search engines and can stay banned for a long time.

Unethical and illegal SEO techniques:

1. Keyword stuffing. This means employing the use of the same or exact keywords in your META tags or anywhere in your content repeatedly.

2. Hidden links and text. Search engines work by scanning pages for certain keywords which are submitted into a search request and display results where the exact keyword appears typically, on a page.

Webmasters then insert some links or texts that are only readable by search engines but can not be seen by the human eye. You can, for instance put a white link or text with the appropriate keywords unto a certain web page with also a white background. Individuals can not detect it and will not even notice the difference; however spiders can read it and rank that site higher.

3. Mirror websites or Sybil attack. These are several sites having identical contents but different URL, all linking to one another, constructed for a very cruel objective.

4. Doorway pages. Normally, these are pages of poor quality constructed to rank highly particularly for one or even more selected keywords. These do not affect your website visitors and only constructed for search engines.
These pages can contain the exact content of other sites but generally exhibits only a link going to the main page with no navigation menu. They can at times dwell on the very same, however typically on other business server.

5. Cloaking. Delivers many different web pages for search engines and visitors. Webmasters construct their servers so that it can identify IP addresses of spiders then provide them with content rich and optimized pages, at the same time displaying different web pages for individuals.

Cloaking can likewise redirect a web visitor to their home page.

6. Link farms. Purposely to acquire link popularity, link farms are typically one page consisting of fifty up to one hundred or even more links to certain websites having no similarities with your websites content.

Search engine spammers are aware of the fact that their pages content are of poor quality and are useless to individuals that visit their site.

The unethical and illegal websites prompted Google (Google page rank) as well as other top search engines in improving search technology that now has faster, better and advanced spam filters that can detect illegal techniques then ban such websites from search engines forever.

Risks and dangers of Unethical and illegal SEO Techniques

SEO spamming can, in reality bring about high rankings. Do keep in mind however, that the effect is only temporary. Webmasters using illegal SEO techniques can benefit from their high search engine position for days, weeks, even months however once search engines discover webmasters using these illegal techniques, then they will be banned from search engine index for possibly a lifetime.

Even if one is not banned for a lifetime, it is difficult to be re-indexed. One may need to start over and purchase a new domain name. So then before using any illegal SEO techniques, think wisely and weigh if you are prepared to put your entire internet business in jeopardy just for months of obtaining a high rank in search engines.

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Potter Pets

Peter Rabbit was a figment of the imagination of the very creative Beatrix Potter. The author was born in 1866 in Victorian Kensington London. Her home was large and sumptuous, her family rich. She was raised with several servants, a shy girl who wiled away many hours of every day by herself. Beatrix Potter learned many artistic things from her governess. She taught the writer about music, art, reading and writing. Her only other regular company was her full time nurse. Beatrix Potter had one brother. Bernard, six years her junior was away at boarding school most of the time and Beatrixs companion only during the summer months.

June, July and August Beatrix Potter and Bernard Potter together relished the outdoors of Scotlands Lake District, where the family spent its holidays. Bernard and Beatrix ran through woods and fields, chasing wild animals and sometimes catching a few. They drew sketches of their favorite wild creatures living in their natural habitats. From these ideal summer days grew Beatrix Potters adoration of wildlife and the natural outdoors. One local influence and adult friend, Canon Rawnsley, vicar of the Scots Lake District, captured her attention with his stories about how tourism and manufacturing can destroy the environment.

The Potter parents were overprotective of both Beatrix and Bernard. They discouraged their son and daughter from making any friends of the other local children their age. Beatrix and Bernard became closer to each other because of this. Together they created a vast pet collection from the wild creatures of nearby fields and woods. They kept these creatures in their own school room. There were times when Beatrix Potter and brother Bernard were caregivers from a lizard, several water newts, a snake, a rabbit, a turtle and a frog all at the same time. As the two siblings cared for the habitat, they sketched them as well. From these creature friends and their sketches grew the animal characters of the Beatrix Potter books.

Benjamin Bouncer was Beatrix Potters favorite animal pal. Benjamin was Peter Rabbits predecessor. Beatrix found him in a London bird shop. She kept the purchase from her mother and father, sneaking him into her nursery in a paper bag without telling anyone except Bernard. She devised a story around Benjamin of a bunny that loved hot buttered toast and used to run quickly into the living room every time the tea bell rang. He knew tea time meant toast time too.

Peter Piper, another Beatrix Potter creation, came from the antics of Beatrix and Bernards favorite buck rabbit. They bought the bunny in Belgium, and noted that this particular rabbit loved to lie on the rug in front of the fireplace hearth. The Potter tales told of a Peter Piper that learned tricks quickly, jumped through hoops, rang bells and played the tambourine.

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Organic SEO Top 10 Myths

There are many SEO myths circulating on the Internet. These misconceptions are often crazy and while some are based on partial reality, others have spread due to the lack of being proved wrong.

Here is an example: Lets assume you make a change to your website content. Maybe after a few days you notice that your Google ranking for a certain keyword has altered. Now, it would be natural for you to assume that your content change had led to change in ranking. However, it may not be true. Your ranking could have changed due to several reasons, and may have absolutely nothing to do with the changes made to the content.

Of course, this action of mixing up the cause and effect is a common error on the part of new SEOs. Well, if it were limited to just their work, I wouldnt really mind it. But these guys are clueless and many a times spread their ignorance to other newbies on blogs and forums and create a ripple effect of newer myths. Here, I am making an attempt to discuss and clear the top 10 organic SEO myths:

Organic SEO Myth 1: You must submit your website URL to search engines. Once upon a time, this could have been the in thing. But since the past 5-6 years it has become unnecessary.

Organic SEO Myth 2: In order to get better ranking, you absolutely need a Google Sitemap. Its partially correct. However, if you have built your site properly (ensured its crawler-friendly) you dont require a Google Sitemap. That being said, having one wont hurt you and you can even use other Webmaster Central tools offered by Google, but this doesnt guarantee higher ranking.

Organic SEO Myth 3: For higher rankings, update your website regularly. Regular updating of your content pages may certainly increase the crawl rate for search engines, but not your website rankings. Only update your website content it is necessary and not because search engines will like it any better. As a matter of fact, the highest ranked websites on Google are those that havent been updated in years!

Organic SEO Myth 4: PPC (pay per click) ads can help or hurt rankings. What amuses me most is that several people believe that participating in Google AdWords campaigns will hurt their organic SEO ranking, while many other believe that PPC will spike the traffic and up the ranking. All I can say is that neither of this is true!

Organic SEO Myth 5: Not following guidelines on Google will ban your website. Googles guidelines are common sense but not mandatory. Its advisable to read them, however just dont do any thing purely for search engines and youll be fine.

Organic SEO Myth 6: Buying links can lead to banning of your website. It is partially true again. Google doesnt like to count paid links as votes for a website page. Mostly Google is unable to find out if the links are paid for, but even if it does, it wont count the links. Google wont ban your website in any case. A quick update, Google has made it easier to report paid links in sites that are unrelated to your site. Thought the reasoning is yet unclear and best practice should tell you dont buy links in unrelated site to your theme.

Organic SEO Myth 7: Header tags or H1 should be used to ensure high ranking. There is no evidence to prove this. However, this is one of the most common myths. You can reach top Google positioning without H1 but they certainly dont hurt so use H tags correctly.

Organic SEO Myth 8: Meta keywords tag need to be used on your page. The fact is that a Meta keyword tag was introduced to use keywords that are NOT on the site page already! However, this tag is ignored by Google in any case.

Organic SEO Myth 9: The SEO copy should be 250 words in length. 250 words is not really an optimal number nor is it specific for SEO rankings. Easily, 250 words allow one to write a good marketing copy and can be optimized for 3-5 main key phrases. However, shorter SEO copies work just as well.

Organic SEO Myth 10: Your pages should be optimized for the long tail keywords. This is not true. Nowadays, long-tail keyword phrases are no longer effective as not many pages use them and not many people search using long tails. You can include these keywords in blogs or even an article, but that is not really optimization.

Remember dont go spreading any SEO myths that you believe may be true. Test it yourself several times on different websites before reaching any conclusion as there are other factors involved as well.

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Optimizing Your Site with SEO

Search Engine Optimization is a way to get directories and search engines to give your web-site a better indexing position so that customers or anyone who is looking for your web-site can see it. The higher you are in the search engines and directories, the better chance youll have doing business on the internet.

Here are simple steps to optimize your web-site:

Step 1: Modify your web-site - This step includes adding optimized content to all pages in the website.

Step 2: Add tags - Add or make changes to Meta tags, Title tags, H1 tags, H2 tags and alt tags for images, after keywords research.

Step 3: Link building A,
Website statistics monitoring and conversion tracking
There are offline tools that you can use to optimize your web site and it all involves your URL or your Web Domain name. I would put my web domain name on business cards, stationery, have a sign on my car, use bumper stickers or have tee shirts and coffee mugs made with the URL. I would do everything to advertise my web-site offline. This is called offline optimization of your web-site.

So web site optimization is both and online and offline deal. Online, you must use keywords to attract customers and get good search engine rankings and offline, you can advertise your URL to the public to get the to visit your web site.

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Maintaining Ethical Standards In SEO

In all kinds of businesses, credibility is important. This is one of the primary principles that are being established by the companies. It must be prioritized above all other things because if not, they will surely loose their customers. In every country, there is always a provision that sets ethical standards when it deals about business.

Even on the SEO or the search engine optimization companies, they are also very concerned with the maintenance of their integrity. It is easier to attract customers if the company is able to sustain a good name. It will also ensure a good profit, because the more subscribers who will patronize the business the greater the gain that they will have.

The kind of employees that you have will reflect the totality of the companys management. This will reveal the manner on how you discipline your staff. It will also transpire to the people that will make them decide whether they will go for subscription in your company or not.

In SEO, there are various ways to maintain its credibility.

Choose a trustworthy staff. Usually, chaos and controversies within the company starts when misunderstanding exists. Make sure that when you accept applicants as your future employees you are guaranteed that they have a good morale. Even though the task of the employees in SEO will be merely focusing on computer works but still it is very important since you will be making transactions within and outside your offices.

Small things should not be made complicated. If there are little problems that arise in running the business, better discuss it immediately before it grows into a bigger problem.

Problems arising in the company must be tackled within the office only. Avoid things that will likely worsen the situation, commonly this is the problem of the companies. Matters that deal on internal concerns must not reach the other offices. There are times that your opponent company may use the controversy against you that will lead to the obliteration of your name.

Always appear cheerful towards your customers. In spite of the internal problems that you are probably encountering do not take it as burden up to the point that you will disregard the welfare of your subscribers already. You will lose a lot of them if you continue doing this, so always remain positive to them at all times.

Some of the noted unethical practices that are very known to search engine optimization are cloaking and issue, doorway pages or hidden links and sometimes hidden texts.

These malpractices are treated to be forbidden by various search engines. Beware about this because once they discover these strategies used in your website, you will surely be banned.

Sadly, once your site is ban you will not only loose your ranking but as well as the money that you have invested on it. Everything will turn into nothing so it is better to be honest at all times. Do not grab for profit in an immoral way because you will just suffer the consequence in the end.

So, ethical standards will be comprised of all the factors surrounding the entire management of the company. It is not a matter of questioning your managers individual personality or even the staff but on their morale inside their work.

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Keywords In Page Title For SEO

It is recommended to use keywords in page titles itself. This title tag is different from a Meta description or keyword tag, but its and important onsideration for your overall page optimization.

Whatever text one places in the title tag (think keywords and theme here) will appear in the title bar of browsers when they view the web page. Some browsers also append whatever you put in the title tag by adding their own name, as for example Microsofts Internet Explorer or OPERA.

The actual text you use in the title tag is one of the most important factors in how a search engine may decide to rank your web page. In addition, all major web crawlers will use the text of your title tag as the text they use for the title of your page in your listings. This, much like a headline in a newspaper, invites the reader along with setting the topic and theme.

If you have designed your website as a series of websites or linked pages and not just a single Home Page, you must bear in mind that each page of your website must be search engine optimized. The title of each page i.e. the keywords you use on that page and the phrases you use in the content will draw traffic to your site.

The unique combination of these words and phrases and content will draw customers using different search engine terms and techniques, so be sure you capture all the keywords and phrases you need for each product, service or information page.

However, make sure you do not keyword stack, or keyword spam.

The most common mistake made by small business owners when they first design their website is to place their business name or firm name in every title of every page. Actually most of your prospective customers do not bother to know the name of your firm until after they have looked at your site and decided it is worth book marking.

So, while you want your business name in the title of the home page, it is probably a waste of valuable keywords and space to put it in the title line of every page on your site. Why not consider putting keywords in the title so that your page will display closer to the top of the search engine listing.

Dedicating first three positions for keywords in title avoiding the stop words like and, at and the like is crucial in search engine optimization.

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Keyword Selector Tools and SEO

Keyword selection is one of the primary procedures to have a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy implemented. It is extremely important that the right keywords are selected by businesses for their advertisements in order to maximize an online advertising service and gain profits. An advertising campaign can be deemed worthless is the wrong keywords are selected to represent it.

In a nutshell, SEO are methods that aim to improve the position or rank of a web site in listings produced by search engines. The benefits of getting a higher placement in the listings increases the chances that online visitors will view their pages and avail of the services offered by advertisers. It also gives visitors a feeling of security, because to them, a well-positioned ad equals high credibility.

Sites have different goals when it comes to optimization. Some sites employ broad search optimization strategy, they are in search for all traffic that comes along the way. It can be useful for sites that are generates broad interest, such as a directory or a periodical. Other sites go for utilizing keywords that are highly specific, and radiate the probability of a sale. In most cases, going for specific and carefully chosen traffic can prove advantageous, because it gives sales leads with more quality.

The process of choosing the appropriate keywords for a particular advertiser is not a simple task. An advertiser has to accomplish several things to pull it off successfully. First, the advertiser has to be well acquainted with the machinations of its target market. A thorough research into the keywords used by the competitor should be carried out, and whatever result that it will produce should be analyzed in detail. Keyword selection tools will assist advertisers in determining the keywords that is most suitable for their businesses.

Keywords selection can have many varieties, largely depending on the kind of web site that a client needs. These are the major types, static sites and dynamic states, where the former is more limited in terms of keyword numbers compared to the latter. If an advertiser is creating a brand new site, it is recommended to choose the initial number of keywords that will be needed, and afterwards, the architecture of the site can be prepared using the keyword selection criteria as a basis.

After coming up with the keyword list, the terms should be trimmed down up to the specific and necessary ones. In narrowing down the list, keep these factors in mind: Majority of the search engines do not bother doing word stemming, and that most visitors type keywords in lower case, and it is less difficult to gain a good rank for keyword phrases that are longer.

Here are some of the popular keyword selection tools available for advertisers:

1. Google AdWords Keyword Selection Tool
Google is the most successful search engine in the world, and it takes in more searches in the web than its competitors. This tool usually comes with the awards program of Google, and it shows the keywords that are actually utilized by users. Google AdWords provide users with the most sought-after queries, vast matches, and other keywords that the user may consider for usage.

2. Wordtracker
It is a database that people utilize as queries for searching terms. Aside from giving information on how often a term is utilized for web search, it will also inform users the number of competing sites that utilize the same term. The tool aids in finding combinations of keywords that is in any way related to the content of a web site.

3. Overture Search Term Suggestion Tool
A keyword selection tool that provides the number of searches in a month that proliferated within the Overture network. It provides the variations and phrase stems when a certain keyword is used. It also provides pay-per-click bids and a ROI Time CPM Calculator.

4. Keyword Destiny and Prominence Analysis
A keyword analysis tool which analyzes the words utilized on a web page by applying default settings or custom report options. It also reports on the number of times the word was used, and an analysis of a competitive URL. Other information provided includes word count, prominence values, the location of the significant keywords in the elements of the page, and density percentages.

Advertisers should choose the best tool that works for them. With various options available, it will not be too difficult to do so. Picking the right tool can make wonders for their business ventures.

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Iguana Pets

Are You Ready for an Iguana Pet?

People think that iguanas make cool pets; they may be right. Some may have the misconception that iguanas are low-maintenance pets; they would be wrong. As with all pets, iguanas have their requirements. However, the main issue in taking care of a pet iguana is not just your ability to provide the iguana's needs. It also involves your qualifications.

So what does it take to have a pet iguana?

1) Love of course, you need to love your iguana in order to take proper care of it. When you love your pet iguana, it naturally follows that you will do everything to take good care of it. This is the basic requirement for an iguana pet owner. This is because love lays down the foundation for all the other things that you need to do or have in order to take proper care of your iguana.

2) Patience iguanas need a very long time to be tamed. You cannot expect an iguana to begin behaving properly immediately. You need to be patient in order to spend the amount of time required to properly train an iguana. You must persevere in order to truly take care of your pet iguana. Remember that patience is not just about riding out your pet iguana's bad habits; it is about making the effort to train it properly.

3) Commitment we are not talking about a marriage. However, you need to be committed to taking care of your pet iguana. Some people just buy an iguana on impulse. During the first days, they might take proper care of the iguana. However, as time goes by, they soon lag in their responsibilities and the iguana is neglected. This, of course, leads to some serious consequences.

Before buying a pet iguana, you should realize that iguanas can live up to 20 years. Are you prepared to make a commitment for that length of time? If you think that you can just sell an iguana when you're bored with it, you would be wrong. You see, a sudden change of owners can affect the iguana very deeply. It would adversely affect the iguana's health.

4) Finances taking care of an iguana can be very expensive. You need to provide food, a spacious habitat, and other supplies that are necessary to a pet iguana's well-being. You will also have to spend cash for regular trips to the veterinarian. Can you do that? Remember that buying the pet iguana is only the first step. You need to spend money to take care of it too.

5) Willingness to learn some people jump at the prospect of buying a pet iguana without first thinking about the things they need to do in order to take proper care of an iguana. If you are planning to own a pet iguana, you should have the willingness to learn how to properly take care of them. This means that you have to make the effort to read up on iguanas and how to take proper care of them.
6) Time you need to have available time in order to take proper care of a pet iguana. This does not mean that you need to have time to feed it and clean it. You need to spend some time to play with your pet iguana. This will definitely help the health and well-being of your pet iguana.

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Household Pets: Peafowl

Peafowl belongs to the Phasianidae Pheasant family. There are two species of peafowl, the Green Peafowl and The Indian Peafowl. The Green peafowl is native to Myanmar, Thailand, and China and the Indian Peafowl or blue peafowl is native to India. The males, called Peacock, especially are famous for their glamorous tail and the crown on their head. The females are known as Peahen and are grey and brown in color.

Green peafowl are on the verge of extinction because of the massive hunting and depletion of their natural habitat. They further have three subspecies called P. M. muticus, P. M. imperator and P. muticus. Some breeders say that there are more subspecies of Green Peafowl. Green fowls are more expensive as they are not available on a large scale and they are very temperature sensitive. The Indian peafowl are hardy and are less expensive. They are also famous with breeders and are also found in North America.

When in full plumage, the tail of the peacock is a beautiful sight. It does this to attract females and they also call out to the female in a unique vocal. The feathers of the peacock are sold all over the world. The bird is also fancied for its meat. But when turkeys were domesticated for meat, peacocks were only kept as pets. They were kept as pets first in China and after few years in Europe, as exotic pets. Peacocks have been symbol of pride and gook luck for many.

Pet owners who have bought the peahen just because of their display of their beautiful tail, they should certainly pair it with a peahen. In only that case they will spread the tail. Peacock has a plumage or train which is green or blue green colored. The Green peafowl have a plumage of more brilliant green and golden color, but the upper feathers are short. The upper feathers are very elongated and there are series of eyes which look very beautiful when the tail is fanned. Peafowl are very easily to maintain. They do not develop diseases easily because they have natural resistance to many diseases. But peafowl certainly cannot be kept in extreme temperatures like below zero. They are habituated to live in temperate climates. They should also be saved from extreme heat exhaustion in hot months.

Peafowl are omnivorous and feed on mixed grains, flowers, green leafy vegetables, and game bird crumbles. In the wild peafowl are known to hunt and eat insects, amphibians, reptiles and arthropods. When on a healthy diet they can live for many years. They usually are allowed to roam in an open garden. For a healthier breeding, they should be given freedom of movement. They can be even kept in pens with closed tops. In captivity, they need lots of room to roam about, which is a kind of exercise for them. Another reason is that they are inquisitive pets, so they need lots of space to kill their curiosity. The pen can have facilities for warming and it should be insulated, incase if temperature drop. Peafowl should be left on their own with minimum human interference. They can be mixed with other poultry as they are very safe pets. They do not attack any bird, animal or human. But cats and dogs can attack the peafowl.

Peahen nests on the ground, although they stay on low raised braches most of their lives. Peahens take care of the peachicks for only sometime after which they drive them away. The peachicks can then be brought up in an electric brooder like any other poultry. Because of their hardiness and intelligence, when compared to other bird pets, they are very easy to be bred and raised. Peafowl are also known as urban guard dogs because they make warning cries when they see strangers approaching the premises. But their high pitched vocals can sometimes be disturbing in a closely inhabited area.

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Holiday Gifts: Pets

Pets are wonderful. They cheer you up when you are down, keep you laughing, and love you no matter what. There is very little more heartwarming than seeing a child who has fallen asleep curled up next to a puppy.

Pets are a very common gift for children at holidays. Puppies and kittens at Christmas, baby ducks, chicks and bunnies at Easter and so forth. What child's eyes wouldn't light up at the sight of a brand new baby animal to hold and hug? The promises to love, feed and take care of the new additions to the family flow like water.

The critters are soft, warm and fuzzy gifts for certain but, and it's a big but, they all grow up and in just a few short weeks are no longer cute little puppies but big romping barking dogs, the cuddly little kittens have turned into large aloof cats. The baby ducks and chicks are no longer soft and fuzzy, but big, noisy and messy, and those two bunnies, Fred and George turned out to be Fred and Georgia!

Pets are a long term commitment and buying a pet as a gift should be a well planned and thought out move not a spur of the moment decision based on emotional reaction.

If you are honestly thinking of getting someone a pet for the holidays (even if it is not for a child) be sure it is something you would do even if there were no holiday involved.

Make sure the gift fits. If the primary responsibility of caring for the animal is going to fall to a young child you don't want to get a dog that will quickly grow to the size of a small pony which the child wouldn't be capable of handling. You might also want to make sure you expose your child to other people's pets for decent lengths of time before buying a pet, so if by chance they have allergic reactions to animals you will know before you bring one home for them to fall in love with. This will also give you the time to convince them that they would really prefer a turtle, lizard or something else that doesn't have dander.

Keep in mind those animals, like babies, cost money way above and beyond the purchase price. Food, leashes, food, collars, food and water bowls, training supplies, food, toys, vet bills, food, licenses and tags, and more food!

There is a great deal of time that has to be invested in most any pet and the holidays are not always a good time to be doing that. The hustle and excitement of a houseful of friends and family may not be the ideal setting for a new puppy, kitten, or any other young animal. A better idea might be to cut out a picture of the pet you have in mind and put that in a card and make sure the child understands that as soon as the holidays have passed and things have gone back to a normal relaxed state they can help pick out the newest member of the family.

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Finding lost Pets

Different species of animals behave differently when they are lost and also in most of the situations, owners also panic and search frantically all over the place. What people dont realize is that they shouldnt take any action in haste but should put in some thinking. And in such critical situations, time cannot be wasted. If smart tactics are used, the animal will itself come walking to the owner.

The first thing to do is to call out the name of the animal very loudly. Usually the owners call out the name of the animal at meal times. So the pet will associate the name calling with food and will come out of the hiding for food if they are in vicinity. Also, the dry food treats, which are given to the animal, can be put in a can and covered with a lid. Then the can should be rattled. Hearing the noise the pet will come rushing to have the treat, no matter where they are hiding. They will get tempted to have their treat. This technique is also known as conditioning response and is very effective.

Very rarely will a pet come out of the hiding in broad daylight. The owners must wait till dusk and then start the search of the animal in the neighborhood. But they should not waste time during the day and it should be utilized to inform the law enforcement about the present situation, because in most of the states, it is a must to report a lost animal within an hour. And if this time limit is crossed the owner can be heavily penalized and even get arrested. All the legal requirements should be documented and all the names of the involved people should be noted down. This will help in providing a proof later.

Portable torch or spotlight can be used to search around at night. This is also an effective technique because the animal will be looking straight at the human and also its eyes will reflect the light and shine in the dark. If the animal has escaped from the premises, every house in the neighborhood should be knocked and people should be shown pictures of the pet. Also, contact information should be left in case if they find the pet they can contact you. There can be a great possibility of someone spotting the animal. And if someone does see the animal, it will give the direction in which the animal is proceeding.

The animal can be in big risk if it declawed or de-fanged. It will not have the basic means of self-defense. If in a dense area, it will hide till dark and then wander around in the night. Also the animal cannot hunt for food, it will be very hungry and tired. Again here the rattling of the can with dry food can do the trick. Even its favorite toy, which makes noise, can be used. Any familiar sound will encourage the animal to come out of the hiding. The recognition of the rattling of the can and noise of a toy should be part of the training, which will be useful in such situations. In fact, the animal should be made to hear this sound everyday. But a person should carry out this practice, which is close to the pet. The same person should try this trick when the animal is lost, as the pet will not come to an unknown person.

Even after all these efforts, the pet isnt found; flyers should be distributed in the neighborhood. The flyer should have a picture of the pet, its description, owners contact information and a reward if any. The idea of the reward, even if it a small amount, will catch the attention of many and some might even become proactive members of the search team. If budget allows, do print the flyer in color, as the picture will be more easily recognizable. It is very important to mention that if any one sees the animal, do not try to catch it, instead the owners must be contacted immediately.

Also, medium sized boards similar to advertising boards can be put up within a radius of two miles. The words lost pet and telephone number should be written in big and bold font. Other details can be written in smaller font. When the animal is found, the signs should be saved for future use.

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Exotic Pets: Tortoise

Tortoises are turtles, which live on land and belong to the reptile family of the order Testudines. They too have shell like sea turtles. The top part of the shell is known as carapace and the bottom side is known as plastron. They have both exoskeleton and endoskeleton. They are active during the day and are very shy animals.

They are very fascinating animals, but their dietary habits are different than others. Different species have a different diet. They consume huge amounts of food and the calcium and phosphorous balance should be maintained in their diets. The tortoises are also temperature sensitive. Usually it is a good idea to bring the tortoise indoors at night. And when the weather is cold, they should be kept inside totally. But this can be a big problem if the tortoises are big in size. Some species also hibernate during winter. This can be really stressful for the animal as well as the owners. The owners should provide the pet with special provision for hibernation otherwise the pet will suffer with stress.

A pen can be constructed in the yard, where the tortoise can live. The pen should be really strong and the fences should be buried deep as some of the tortoises have fascination of digging. They are also very strong reptiles. They can easily break weaker walls. Also some tortoises are good climbers, so the pen should also be provided with a roof. The roof also saves the tortoise from other dangers such as dog bite, bird attack, etc. The owner must check out for possible threat to the pet, also within the pen itself. Some plants can be harmful if the tortoise feeds on them. So plants that are edible only should be planted or kept in the den.

They should also be provided with water, but the water body should be shallow, so that the tortoise wont drown in it. Other things which are sharp or which can be chewed and not digested by animal shouldnt be kept in the pen. Steps should also be avoided within the pen, because while they are climbing they can trip and fall over their back, which is very deadly for them.

Some species grow really big, so this factor should also be considered while building the pen. In fact, this factor should be considered when buying itself. Different species grow to different sizes; have different dietary habits, living conditions, and temperature adaptability. Beginners should certainly go for a captive bred, as they are less troublesome than the ones that come directly from the wild. Also when tortoises are captured from the wild and transported, there are chances that they can fall ill or even die because of high levels of stress. Also such types of animals carry a wide range of parasites, which can be harmful for the owner as well. When the potential owner thinks of buying a tortoise, it should get it thoroughly examined for parasites and other diseases from a vet.

Tortoises prefer to stay alone. They shouldnt be mixed with other pets and no two male tortoises should be kept together as they can fight and injure each other very seriously. Tortoises have a very long lifespan. They can live up to hundred years. There can be possibility of the pet outliving the owner, so the owner should have everything planned and should make a lifetime commitment.

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Exotic Pets: Stick Insect

Stick insects belong to Phasmatodean Family. Other insects that also belong to the same family are leaf insects, ghost insects, and walking sticks. There are nearly two thousand and eight hundred species within the Phasmatodean family. The striking feature of this family is that the species have a body structure, which helps them to camouflage with the surroundings. Stick insects belong to areas having tropical climates and some of them have wings. Stick insects that are kept as pets can grow four inches and can live up to one year.

Among all the insects, which are kept as pets, stick insects are the most desirable. Some of the favorites are Indian stick insects; Vietnamese thorny stick insects and pink winged flying stick insects. They are desirable because they are low-maintenance and their unique appearance. Their surroundings in captivity should be similar to that of their native surrounding. The temperature and humidity should match almost exactly with their original habitat.

Also the food resources provided to them should be close to the foliage available to them in their natural habitat. Blueberries are among the most favorable foods of stick insects. Other than that, they can be given raspberry, ivy, oak, privet, oak and hawthorn. These insects can be kept in a vivarium or circular jar, which has some holes on the top. The length of the jar should be three times that of the insect and it should be tall in height. The holes shouldnt be so big that the insect can escape from it. To be extra careful, a net can be placed over the holes, to completely prevent them from escaping. The vivarium can be filled with ivy, bramble and privet.

The temperature within the jar should be maintained around seventy to seventy-five degree Fahrenheit. At night the temperatures can be lowered to sixties. The humidity within the vivarium should be moderate. Stick insects are very fragile insects and should be handled with extra care. A covered water container can also be placed and the insect should be allowed to drink from it only under invigilation, as the animal can fall and drown in it.

Stick insects shed skin often, which they eat. When the insect shed for the sixth time, it indicates that the insect has reached sexual maturity. All of the Indian stick insects are female as they reproduce by parthenogenesis or the eggs are laid and they do not need fertilization by a male. Owners that are interested in breeding can spray water on the eggs and wait till they hatch. After eggs are hatched, offspring can be managed with the help of paintbrushes. Sometimes the tail has some remains of the egg, which can be gently brushed off with the help of the paintbrush. Also, care must be taken to not to leave pools of water as there can be a chance of insects drowning in them and dying. And owners that arent interested in breeding should completely destroy the eggs by boiling, burning, or crushing them.

These insects should not be left out in the wild, from captivity. Since they do not belong to the environment, there is a possibility that they can harm the ecosystem by reproducing young ones. Insects, which dwell in environments other than their natural habitats are known as pests. In United States, Indian walking stick insects are supposed to be plant pest. A special permit is needed to import them.

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Exotic Pets: Serval

Servals are African wild cats and are also known as Leptailurus Serval. Its most distinctive features are the tall oval ears which are placed very closely to each other. It is mostly found in African countries such as Ethiopia, Benin, Tanzania, Mozambique, Congo, Angola, Togo, Uganda, Transvaal, and Algeria. Spread all over Africa, they are found where water can be found.

The average length of the body of a serval is about thirty-four inches and the tail is about sixteen inches long. It can live from twelve years to twenty years. Its weight can range from twenty to forty four pounds. It tawny fur has a pattern of round black spots. Some even have freckled spots. Servals have melanin in their skin which sometimes gives them the appearance of a black panther. A kind of serval is known to exist with white fur and grayish silver spots.

Servals which have high melanin content can be found in the mountains, while the rest belong to the savannas, bush lands, marshlands, grasslands, reed beds marsh, bamboo forests and open woodlands. It is not habituated to live in desert, semi-desert areas and its habitat should have a water body. Since its environment should have water and trees around, it also has the ability to swim and climb trees, when required. The servals have the longest legs among the cats, when the body and leg ratio is considered. Apart from having long ears, it also has long neck which helps it to see its prey when it is hiding in tall grass. The ears are so sharp that they can track rodents which are moving underground. It increases concentration while listening, by closing its eyes.

Before pursing its prey, it pauses for few minutes and listens to the animals movements. Serval relies on its hearing rather than its visuals. It has a characteristic hop which makes it easier to catch birds. They have terrific leaping and pouncing abilities. They can jump as high as ten feet and can make a precise jump from even as far as three to twelve feet. They can even dig burrows and look for rodents deep in the ground. With all these qualities, serval is a very good hunter. It feeds mainly on rodents apart from eating bird, fish, frog, insects, hare, reptiles and hyraxes. Servals eat their catch really fast and sometimes when the prey is big, it throws out the food as it gets stuck in its throat and chokes it. They hunt at mid-night and early morning.

When kept in captivity, everyday they need to be served with one to three pounds of raw meat with bones. Care should be taken that the meat shouldnt be cooked. Apart from that, they can also be given premium natural cat food, beef, turkey, chicken, canned tuna, and canned salmon. No exotic pets can be trained to use the letterbox properly, but this habit can vary from animal to animal. Owners who dont have time to devote to train a serval, shouldnt go for one. Even after thorough training, the pet does develop undesirable bathroom habits. Pet servals have a fascination for water, so its better if the toilet lid is closed at all times.

The pregnancy period of female serval lasts for nearly three months. At a time, the female can give birth to two or three cubs. Very rarely, even five cubs are born at a time. They are brought up behind shrubs or even in abandoned burrows.

Because of the human interference with the natural habitats of servals, they are decreasing in number. They are diminishing in numbers because of large scale hunting for their fur. That is the reason why they have been given the endangered species tag and are being protected in many nations. They are classified as exotic pets which are not threatened with extinction but will be, if their hunting is brought to an end. They have now become rare in the Sahara and almost extinct in the South African Cape.

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Exotic Pets: Hermit Crab

Hermit Crabs have no directly relation to crabs. They come from the super family Paguroidea. They are named as hermit crabs because it is their characteristic to occupy abandoned seashells. They do this to protect their delicate abdomen. Nearly five hundred species of hermit crabs are known to exist and most of them live in water. They live in colonies of approximately hundred occupants.

As the hermit crab grows it changes its shell and searches for a bigger one. Also, hermit crabs with well fitting shells grow faster than the ones with tight shell and the later ones becomes a prey very easily. But the availability of abandoned shells is less and hence the hermit crabs fight each other so as to get ownership of a shell. The number of shells available depends on the population of gastropods around. Very rarely do hermit crabs trade each others shells. The new shell will be selected if it is at least one-third bigger than the present shell. The hermit crabs also have a tough exoskeleton, which doesnt grow with the hermit crab. But the crab shed this exoskeleton and grows another one very fast. This process is known as molting. Molting cannot be determined before hand, but hermit crab does become inactive and may bury itself in the gravel for two weeks. A small hermit crab molts once a month and larger crabs molt once every eighteen months.

Hermit crabs are even kept as exotic pets. Pet owners like them because they are the one requiring least-maintenance of all the exotic pets. They do not grow more than the size of a peach and can be kept in a normal aquarium. They are scavengers and feed on algae and debris formed in the aquarium. Many of the species of the hermit crabs are part of the marine aquarium trade, some are herbivorous and some are omnivorous. Blue legged crab, zebra hermit crab, red reef hermit crabs, common hermit crab and red tip crab some of the types of hermit crabs which are kept as pets. The most desirable of them is the red reef hermit crab or scarlet hermit crab. It has a bright red body with yellow colored eyestalks. But some even grow to nearly twelve inches and feed on clams, corals, and crustaceans.

The aquatic hermit crabs live in salt water with salinity ranging from 1.023 to 1.025. The temperature should vary from seventy-five degree Fahrenheit to eighty degree Fahrenheit for the tropical species. The aquarium gravel bed should be filled with algae and they should also be provided with different types of shells for the hermit crab, to choose from. If they have a larger option they will change their shells frequently, which is an interesting activity to be watched. Food dishes can also be added as a landscape, but the dishes should be low so that the hermit crab can climb out of it. Even other activities like digging, climbing, etc. are very interesting to observe.

They should be fed and watered daily. Commercial food is available at the pet store. But along with that, fresh vegetables and fruits can also be added to the diet. Care must be taken that the fruit or the vegetable shouldnt be left in the aquarium for more than one day or else it will contaminate the water. The gravel must be removed and the tank should be washed every month. They also must be watered, meaning that everyday they need to be sprinkled with lukewarm water. This applies for land hermit crabs.

It is very easy to train a hermit crab. Training is more like playing. The hand must be held out and the hermit crab must be allowed to crawl on the palm. If the hermit crab pinches and doesnt let go, run the area under a little lukewarm water and it will immediately let go.

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Exotic Pets: Clouded Leopard

The striking pattern of clouded leopard outdoes all other patterns, stripes, spots and shades. It can be better explained as marble blotches and hence, clouded leopard is sometimes called marbled cat. No one blotch is similar and the larger ones are more beautiful when compared to the smaller ones. Clouded animals are on the verge of extinction and the Endangered Species Act has been passed for them. Some states even say that it is illegal to keep them as pets and even in states where they are allowed, they come for a huge price.

There is major difference between weight of males and females. The males weigh up to sixty pounds where as the females weigh thirty pounds. Since the natural habitats of these animals are found on high altitudes, they have a long, thick and furry tail. They have the longest canine teeth among the cat family. The structure of the body in front is compressed and powerful. Clouded leopards have short but muscular legs with huge front paws.

Since the animal comes from the mountainous region, it is very found of climbing. Its cage should be built at least ten feet high and it would be even better if trees are provided within the captivity. Climbing trees and reaching great height is a must exercise for them to satisfy their psychological needs. But extra care must be taken when they are outdoors and on trees because if they escape they are very quick and difficult to catch. The cage can also be equipped with hanging toys, which they can leap to reach. Other than that other toys can be included.

Clouded leopards can be fed with fresh chicken, pigeons, chunks of beef, rabbits, rats and even with fresh blood. Before consuming the food it does a ritual which aids their digestion process. They have a very unique way of hunting it prey. The prey is killed first, after which the clouded leopard plays with the deceased prey for more than an hour. At the end, it eats its prey. And if a tree is provided in its living habitat, it will take its dead prey up the tree and eat it there. Clouded leopards can make up to forty sounds and have very good vocal chords. They mimic many birds and also monkeys in order to trick them and subsequently kill them. Other than the regular food they should also be given daily vitamins supplements and giblets. Their daily diet should comprise of at least one chicken, a rabbit and a rat.

Clouded leopards make partners for life and bonds very early in life. Unsuccessful attempts are made to breed them by introducing the pair to each other post adolescence which is too late. In order to be successful, the pair should be introduced very early so that they can take time to develop the comfort level and build love. The pair shouldnt be separated till death, as that will affect both of them immensely. After the birth of the offspring, it can be kept with the mother for six weeks, after which it can be paired with the opposite sex for bonding. If the cub is separated earlier than that, it can be fed with bottled milk, which also helps to develop a relationship with the owner.

In zoos, too, these animals shouldnt be exposed a lot to the public, which drags them into extreme stress and eventually untimely death. Also they shouldnt be transferred frequently and separated from their partners after a certain age.

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Exotic Pets: Capuchin Monkey

Capuchin monkeys had their name derived from the Franciscan Capuchin whose cowl is similar to the coloration of the monkeys. They belong to the Cebinae family and Cebus genus. These monkeys are found in Central America and South America. Also known as sapajou, these species of monkeys are considered to be the most intelligent of all present species of monkeys.

The face, neck and chest of capuchins are white colored where as the rest of the body is either brown or black colored. Their body grows up to twelve to twenty two inches in height and their hairy tails are also usually the same length as the body. Their average body weight is two pounds. The males weigh more than the females. When they are held in captivity, they can live up to forty five years, but in the wild habitat they can live only for fifteen to twenty five years. They stay awake during the day and sleep at night except for the midday nap they take. During the day, they spend most of the time looking for food and at night, they sleep on the branches of the trees.

Capuchins are very social and live in a group of eight to forty males, females and their children. The area where the whole group lives together is marked with the smell of urine and intruders are not welcomed. A strong male controls the whole group and mates with the rest of the females in the group to produce offspring. Male and female capuchins smell each other to know whether the other is sexually mature or not. A female capuchin monkey has the capability of reproducing after every two years. Their pregnancy period lasts from five to six months.

The offspring clings onto the chest of the mother and when they grow big enough, they shift to their back. They expect their mothers to babysit till they are three months old. Male capuchins have no participation in the upbringing of their offspring. But if people want to keep them as pets, before keeping them as pets, they can be neutered. The whole group finds solace in grooming, which they also use as a means of expressing their feelings. They even reduce millipedes to pieces so as to rub that on their body to repel insects and mosquitoes.

Capuchins are very intelligent mammals and have been known to use various tools which assist them in their daily life. They drink the juice of palm nut fruits from the tip and then let them dry. After they dry, they will collect them and break them with the help of a big boulder collected from the rivers. They have the ability to walk on their feet with food and tools in their hands. They are also clever enough to find food on ground as well as on trees. Unlike other monkeys, they are omnivorous. Along with eating food like seed, nuts, fruits, flowers they also feed on eggs of birds, small birds, insects, spiders, reptiles, bats and even small mammals. Some of them who live near water bodies also feed on shellfishes and crabs, which they crack open with the help of stones.

They arent fussy about their environment; hence it is easy to maintain them as pets. People also favor to keep them as pets because they are good organ grinders and also as service animals. They are also kept as pets to help quadriplegics (people whose all four limbs are paralyzed) around the house. They are trained for this purpose by many organizations. They have capability to open bottles, microwave food and even wash the face of the patient. They are also safe around kids in the house as they are very gentle in nature. They can also be taught tricks and some have even starred in movies. Capuchins are also the most oppressed among the pet animals. They also become troublesome when they reach sexual maturity, which often confuses the owner.

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Dog Aggression: Children and Their Pets

It's terrifying how common tales are of dogs savaging young children. You might think that its just Pit Bulls or certain breeds that do this kind of thing but it's common across all breeds. Children have the uncanny ability to make dogs angry without intending.

Most families will luckily never have to deal with anything remotely as traumatic but if you own a dog and have children; or have children visiting often - then you too must take some responsibility for their actions and behavior.

You want to prepare your children by teaching them a few simple rules about playing with the dog.

The first step to understand the aggression. So, what causes dogs to become aggressive? There are a few different kinds of aggression that dogs experience. If they are scared they become aggressive, if something threatens their territory or family and as an act of dominance assertion.

An aggressive dog's ears will pin back; their tail might stand up and they will growl. The growl is a warning.

Whats the best way to deal with an aggressive dog?

If you have the luxury of realizing before something happens that the dog is upset and about to hurt your child or you there are some things you can do:

- It's most important to try to keep as calm as possible; the dog will sense your fear
- Speak in a soft voice - remove the disturbance if possible.


What can you do to prevent an aggressive dog?

- Teach your children that the dogs have feeling too and are to be treated with care. This means no rough playing with the dog. Some breeds of dog become agitated and roughhousing can greatly upset them. Enough to bite your child!

- If your children are very small you will need to take care to supervise them at all times. You cannot leave a toddler with a dog without risking something going wrong. Very young children do not understand how to treat animals yet.

- The importance of having a well trained dog cannot be stated enough. When you get a puppy take them to obedience classes straight away. Even if you don't have children it's important to have a well trained dog. You don't want your beloved pooch to harm someone else's children.

If you have children and are considering buying a dog; there are some considerations that can make it far less likely for an aggressive dog. Choose carefully - some breeds are known to have a low tolerance and others are known to be child friendly.

Dogs have a long standing relationship with humans - dogs love people and visa versa. By following these pointers you should be assured of a happy calm dog that won't harm anyone. A carefully trained dog will give you peace of mind and most importantly - become an important part of your family life.

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Diet for Exotic Pets

Exotic cats demand exotic food. Their nutritional requirements are different from domestic cats. Their diet should consist of very high levels of fat and proteins. Also important is the arachadonic acid which is found in animal cells. This fatty acid derivative is one of the essentials, along with vitamin B and nicotinic acid. Otherwise it can affect the growth and the reproductive system of these animals and will lead to reproductive system failure and metabolic diseases.

Problems such as blood clotting, immune system malfunction, vision problems and even heart failure can occur if their diet lacks taurine or amino acid. When the animals arent fed with whole animals and just meat products, they can develop deficiencies like cystine, arginine, and methionine. This especially applies to the bigger cats. Exotic cats digestive system cannot modify the provitamin cartenoids, like beta carotene, to change them into retinol or vitamin A.

The young ones should be fed with diet rich in calcium. They can get this from milk and even bones which they eat along with the meat. The bones contain the right amounts of phosphorus and calcium to facilitate the growth of healthier bones and joints. They also help the healthy development of gums and teeth. So it is really important to give meat with bones and not just meat chunks. If they eat only meat, the balance is lost and cubs become prone to bone and joint diseases such as rickets. Even when the matured ones are fed with only meat minus the bones, they become prone to bone and joint diseases such as arthritis, osteomalacia and get other problems such as joint pains and soft bones.

The calcium content should be at least one percent of the whole food given to them. Twice or thrice a week they can be given bones with very less meat on it, for example, ribs, tails, thighbones, vertebral bones, pelvis, necks and beef shanks. Oyster shells can also be fed, as it contains three times more calcium than other food products. Most of the captive cats have tartar, which can only be removed with proper calcium enriched food. If the tartar development is not controlled, it could lead to teeth loss and bacterial development which could poison the bloodstream. The poisoned bloods will then flow to other internal organs and damage them. If the animals arent fed with sufficient calcium enriched bones, a quantity of twenty smashed tablets of calcium carbonate weighing seven hundred and fifty milligrams can be given along with four pounds of meat. Extra amount should be given to pregnant and nursing females.

The respiratory and digestive systems are dependant on the supply of vitamin A. Insufficient amount can conjunctivitis, blindness, pelvic limb paralysis and tract infections. In males, it reduces the sperm count; both quantity and quality wise, and can actually lead to sexual organ failure. By looking at an animal it can be determined that it has vitamin A deficiency, if it has thin, lusterless and poor fur. A great source of vitamin A is liver.

Fat is also very essential and usually the chunk meat is lean. The larger the size of the animal, the more fat it requires. Insufficient quantity of fats leads to irregular excretion, coarse fur, and dandruff. Chicken backs are a good solution to this problem.

On an average, bigger animals eat between nine to eighteen pounds daily, when held in captivity. This figure is less that what animals eat in the wild, because captive animals burn lesser calories. Some animals like lions and tiger have the ability to eat hundred pounds at once and then go without eating anything, for days. Bigger cats can be given meals for five days and can be made to fast for the rest two days of the week. The food should also be stored below zero degree so as to retain its nutritional value and freshness. Frozen meat can also be given to the animal or the meat can be thawed just before feeding.

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Can Pets Have Allergies?

When many of us think of allergies, we, humans, are often the first thing that comes to mind. There are millions of Americans, alone, who suffer from allergies. These allergies may be due to food, mold, mildew, as well as the weather. Although humans are the most common sufferers of allergies, did you know that pets can also develop allergies? They can. In fact, dogs are the most common animals that suffer from allergies.

When it comes to determining if your dog or pet has allergies, many individuals do not know how to proceed. For starters, it is important to look for the symptoms. In fact, did you know that some pet allergy symptoms are similar to the ones that humans show? They are. One of the most commons signs that your pet may have an allergy is if they are constantly itching themselves. Another sign is that of skin irritation. With that being said, constant itching and skin irritation often go hand in hand.

Although it is relatively easy for some pet owners to determine if their pets are suffering from allergies, some are still unsure. If that describes you, you will want to seek medical attention for your dog, cat, or any other pet that may have allergies. A vet can do a number of tests, as well as examine your dogs skin to determine if they are suffering from allergies. Before you take your dog to the vet, you are encouraged to write down any questions that you may have or anything that may have caused you concerned. For example, did your dog start itching after getting into some weeds your backyard? Did you just change their pet food or give them a new pet toy or a new pet bed? If so, your vet should know.

Another one of the many reasons why it is a good idea to take your dog or cat to the vet is because you will likely end up doing so anyways. Many humans are able to stop itching, even when the urge to do so seems uncontrollable. Pets on the other hand, arent always able to do so. If you notice that your dog is itching a specific area of their body for more than two or three days, a visit to the vet may be in order. The same should be said, if you notice a skin rash or any broken skin. If left untreated, your pet may develop an infection, which is actually much worse that just having allergies.

As for how your dog or cat can be treated if they do have allergies, it is best that you follow the advice of your vet. This is because some of the medications prescribed may be for animals only, but some may also be human medications. The only thing is that not all medications are ideal for dogs; therefore, it is important to follow the advice of your vet. As for treatment, many prescribe antibiotic and antifungal cream for rashes or infections that may have already developed on the skin. Other preventative steps will likely be taken. For example, if your dog is allergic to a specific weed in your backyard, you may need to remove it or keep your dog away from the area. Although the treatment offered is likely to vary, most options will immediately provide relief to pets that are suffering.

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Biting the Hand That Pets You

Most cats will simply walk away when they have had enough attention from you. Others, however, will nip at your hand. Why do they do this? You aren't hurting him, just stroking, so it can get confusing.

Some cats become over stimulated easily. The stroking gets them wound and the bite relieves some of that tension. Others just never learned that biting was inappropriate behavior. There is no consensus on exactly why some cats bite and others don't, but there are some warning signs you can look for that may help you prevent being bit.

Watch your cat's tail. If the end begins twitching, this is a sure sign the cat is getting irritated. Unlike dogs, cats do not wag their tails. Another sign to look for is ear movement. Every cat owner is familiar with the flattened ears of an angry cat, but by that time, it is too late and you are nursing a bite. Watch for the ears to start turning to the sides. This is an indication your furry friend is getting agitated. Stop stroking now and you can prevent getting bit.

With cats that have a tendency to bite, it is good to follow what has been dubbed the seven-stroke rule. Allow yourself to stroke your cat only seven times to start. Then stop. This is usually short enough not to create agitation. Eventually you can add another stroke and then another, but do it slowly over time. This will give your cat time to build up to being stroked.

Just as some people prefer not to be touched, some cats are also this way. Learning to recognize the warning signs will help prevent anger on your part and irritation for your cat. This will make you both happier.

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