Archive for August, 2007

rehabilitation through empowerment 0

Anyone who has had someone close go through a drug addiction knows just what a challenging and difficult task is involved with rehabilitation as well as the heavy toll it takes on the addicts close surroundings. This is only intensified when dealing with drug addictions among teenagers. Dealing with drug addictions among teenagers is not the same as with adults and it requires a subtle yet dedicated approach.

One of the greatest programs available for adolescence rehabilitation has been set up at Teen Rehab Echo Malibu. At Echo Malibu, they believe in rehabilitation through empowerment giving these young adults the tools and confidence to get their lives back on track and view life after rehabilitation.

Informative and Utilitarian 0

From my experience you can usually divide all website on the internet into two categories – informative websites and utilitarian websites. Both have a place in the online world and the internet wouldn’t be complete without either kind of site. But rarely do you find a site that manages to do a great job in both aspects. I have come across what I see as one exception to that rule at apartmentguide.com.

Basically, apartmentguide.com is the ultimate resource for anyone planning on moving to an apartment, and when I say ultimate resource – I really mean it. That’s because the site covers every aspect of moving possible including both the informative side as well as the utilitarian side.

Besides providing one of the most advanced and useful apartment search engines including over 6 million apartment units available for rent, the site provides extensive information for people moving to an apartment with plenty of helpful tips. The site dedicates entire sections to topics such as living with a roommate, hiring movers, pets in apartments, financial and credit issues and much more. The site is very well organized and can be a helpful resource for people in all stages of moving from the initial planning phase on to well after they are established in their new place.

Know Thy (Google) SERP 0

Searching the web for a decent search engine optimization firm often results in some shady companies. You see most SEO companies dedicate their site to describing all the wonders they could do for you and promising top results without getting into much detail as to how exactly they work and what are their methods. The problem is that most unprofessional SEO firms think that if they provide their customers with too much information they would become obsolete.

In my opinion, if you are running a company based on the fact that you know a few SEO “secrets” that your customers don’t know, you should be afraid of losing your customers since you probably are not a very professional SEO. That’s why I liked the website featured by a small Arizona SEO company called OBU web technologies. They are not afraid to provide their website visitors a great in depth SEO Guide. The guide is one of the best I’ve encountered online and provides great information for both novice and advanced SEO’s.

The Arizona Search Engine Optimization company is not “afraid” of their customers being educated since an educated customer is actually a better one (assuming you provide a professional service). I am not new to SEO bus still managed to find a few interesting points in their guide that I wasn’t aware of before.

One interesting piece of information is the first page SERP breakdown by position. According to the guide, the clickthrough breakdown for the first page is as follows: 35%, 15%, 7.5%, 5%, 2.5%, 2.5%, 2.5%, 2.5%, 5%, 10%. Obviously the first position receives the most clicks but some of the other positions surprised me. For one thing, I was sure there is a higher click through rate for position three but according to the guide it only receives 7.5%. It is also interesting to note that the positions at the bottom of the page are actually higher than the middle.

The site also provides constant updates through their blog. In a recent post, the author points out that Google’s SERP can sometimes be shorter than we think as they are now splitting the page and only showing 7 results for the searched keyword at times.

Web 2.0 Coupon Site 0

Coupon code websites are nowhere new and every savvy internet shopper knows that to really save money online you should first check it the store you are interested in accepts certain online coupons. In fact in many cases you may compare prices finding that one store is cheaper than another but if you factor in the coupon code that the more expensive one accepts your product can actually be cheaper there. But while coupon codes are a great way of saving money and are a available for many websites it is not always easy finding the right ones for each purchase.

There’s a reason for this too. Websites prefer to keep these coupon codes under taps publishing them only to certain customers so that they can keep their average sale price higher not having to discount their items to all their website shoppers. While there are many coupon code websites that make the task of finding coupon codes for individual stores or categories, event these only list coupon codes which are provided my the merchants and in most cases don’t include all the coupon codes these merchants accept. For instance, many merchants offer special coupon codes for repeat customers which aren’t published anywhere on the web and are emailed exclusively to previous customers.

But that’s where deallocker.com stands out. At first glance they may seem like a traditional coupon site featuring coupon codes by category and store. But when you delve deeper into what the site’s about you realize they are web 2.0’s answer to coupon code sites. In addition to the free online coupons provided directly from merchants, deallocker.com allows site visitors to submit any coupon code they are aware of for any site. The result is the largest database of coupons available online. The community is also used to help maintain quality control of the coupon codes and users can report any bad or expired coupons to maintain accuracy. Currently the largest category on the site is for consumer electronics coupons with many great deals available including Circuit City coupons, Best Buy coupons and more.

Google Features Norton Security Scan 0

I’ll be honest, I don’t buy much software. Other than Windows (which came with my computer) and the Office suite, the only thing I bother paying for is an Antivirus program. I kind of switch on and off between McAfee and Norton Antivirus and typically decide on which to purchase when my yearly subscription expires. I find that there is plenty available in the form of freeware for most other types of programs. But a new cooperation between Google and Norton now offers consumers the option of downloading a free AntiVirus program, eliminating one more program that we have to pay for. You can find information on how to download Norton Security Scan as part of the Google Pack online at freeantivirusinfo.com.

Classifieds Meet Dating Site 0

Sometimes I see a site and just think how is it that no one thought of this sooner? I must admit that with time this is happening much less as it seems all the good ideas have already been implemented but every now and then a new site just surprises me with a great idea. This is definitely the case with roomster.net. At first glance it is just another classifieds site allowing people to list themselves and fine partners as roommates and shared rentals. But when you dig further in the site and realize their model you see how it clearly stands out from all the rest. What they have done is sort of created the dating site of rentals.

Rather than just list an ad, each person can create a profile (similar to what we are used to in dating sites) in which he can list information about himself as well as what kind of roommate he is looking for, where, what budget etc. The site even incorporates features familiar from other types of sites such as feedback ratings and testimonials. You can easily narrow your search by location and once you find someone who might be a match you can correspond with them through the site to either join their current apartment, offer to join forces in looking for an apartment or any other type of arrangement. Roomster.net combines a great idea with a terrific implementation, I highly recommend.

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