Learn How To Increase Traffic To Your Blog For Free!

Learn How To Increase Traffic To Your Blog For Free!






Most bloggers are out to find ways on how to increase blog traffic. There are several ways to get more blog traffic, both paid and free blog traffic.

Here are some ways to get more blog traffic, which are actually free blog traffic:

The Other Web Browser* Have a prominent place in your blog for readers to easily sign up for your RSS feed.

* Make friends with blogs in your niche and leave quality comments on blogs related to your niche. By checking on Commentsniper.com, you can be notified each time a post is published by a popular blog in your niche. You can then be among the first to make a comment.

* Join mybloglog.com and choose communities with which you can join to make friends.

* Sign up your blog at technorati.com and ping it once you update.

* Submit your blog to as many rss and blog directories that you chance upon, like starting off with http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

* Sign up with Stumbleupon.com. You can stumble your own post and ask friends to do so.

* Make a good review or a post of the top bloggers in your niche, and link them. Chances are, they will link you back.

* Sign up with Socialposter.com. Fill in your blog post’s exact url, the title, general summary text, and your tags. Submit this to as many social sites as you can.

* When posting in forums where you are a member, always add your blog url to your forum signature to attract visitors. It is good to have quality posts.

* Join Squidoo.com and add a link to your blog.

One technique to get more blog traffic is by forecasting. Think about the searches that people will make in the search engines in the future, say a lead time of one or two weeks. Make an optimized post a week before an activity happens, say a hot boxing fight, using keywords that you think people will most likely use in their searches. By the time the activity happens, your blog is already indexed and ready for the search engines, while those who have just posted will need to wait 2 to 3 days before their blogs are indexed. The search engines will direct readers to your blog.

Another technique to increase blog traffic is to make the most use out of Technorati tags. Tag every keyword in your posts. If you are using WordPress, use its plugin called SimpleTags instead of tagging your keywords manually. By effectively tagging your post, your blog will get more attention compared to untagged posts, a great way to get free blog traffic.

Use trackback links to popular sites effectively. Make sure that you set up appropriate trackback when you make comments. This enables you to interact with the popular blogsites, and creates free blog traffic.

By using the simple hints and techniques above, you will get more blog traffic. Your hits could increase from a few hundred a day to thousands per month. With this free blog traffic, very soon, your blog will come out of the Google sandbox and you will receive serious traffic, and even loyal readerships.

Web Traffic Secrets For Your Blog

Inexpensive Web Traffic Secrets For Your Blog





You have built a great website. Everything is set up and you are excited about your online presence. A day goes by, a week, then two,and your traffic is just trickling in one or two visitors at a time. Your excitement turns to woe. What went wrong? Having a great website with good products/service and having virtually no traffic is like throwing a big party and having no one show up. Use the following inexpensive traffic tips and you will see the results you want.

Before you do anything else, use a keyword tool to research the right keywords for your site. What keywords are your competition using? Make sure your site is content uses the keywords your niche market uses to search. This will do two things. It will help improve your ranking in the search engines for these phrases, and it will get you visible to those you want to visit your site.

Once you have done your keyword homework and have your site optimized, the next inexpensive traffic secret is to make sure to add fresh content to your site every 3 to 4 days. Again, this keeps you in the engines and in front of your prospects. This point is the most inexpensive and one of the most important aspects of improving and maintaining your search engine rankings. Remember, if people don’t know your site is available they won’t visit.

Start a blog about your niche market. Make sure to write fresh content at least once a week. Let your visitors comment on your content, or even add their own. This will keep visitors coming back to your site to see what is been added.

Another inexpensive traffic secret is to write and submit articles to articles directories. These article directories allow others to use your content as long as you are given credit for the article. Your signature file is always attached to the articles. In your signature file, youll place links with strong call to action to your site.

Regularly submitting articles to the ezine directories will increase links to your site and help you establish yourself as an authority in your industry. Just as with a brick and mortar business, you must make your presence known on the Internet.

Many think that banner ads no longer work generating traffic to websites. Just look at some of the more prestigious sites on the web…and you will see banner ads galore. Several directories list websites selling ad space. The fees will vary depending mainly on how many visitors the site attracts.

Getting your site listed in directories relating to your industry is another inexpensive way to bring traffic to your site. If you are targeting a local market, also make sure to get listed in local directories.

These few inexpensive traffic secrets consistently generate website visitors. Some of these strategies may take a few months to increase your traffic. Others such as banner ads will generate traffic almost immediately.
thx for kickstartblogging.com/blogging-news/inexpensive-web-traffic-secrets-for-your-blog/

10 Tips to the Top of the Search Engines

Having a website that gets found in Google, Yahoo, and MSN, etc. isn't hard to do, but it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are my latest and greatest tips to get you started:

1. Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to. The search engines put a lot of stock in how long your website and domain have been around. While you can purchase a new domain and redirect your old one to the new one, your best bet is to use your existing domain/website if at all possible. If you're redesigning or starting from scratch and you have to use a brand-new domain for some reason, you can expect at least somewhat of a loss in search engine traffic. It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months or more.


2. Optimize your site for your target audience, not for the search engines. This may sound counterintuitive, but hear me out. The search engines are looking for pages that best fit the keyword phrase someone types into their little search box. If those "someones" are typing in search words that relate to what your site offers, then they are most likely members of your target audience. You need to optimize your site to meet *their* needs. If you don't know who your target audience is, then you need to find out one way or another. Look for studies online that might provide demographic information, and visit other sites, communities, or forums where your target audience might hang out and listen to what they discuss. This information will be crucial to your resulting website design, keyword research, and copywriting.


3. Research your keyword phrases extensively. The phrases you think your target market might be searching for may very well be incorrect. To find the optimal phrases to optimize for, use research tools such as KeywordDiscovery, Wordtracker or Google's Keyword Tool. Compile lists of the most relevant phrases for your site, and choose a few different ones for every page. Never shoot for general keywords such as "travel" or "vacation," as they are rarely (if ever) indicative of what your site is really about.


4. Design and categorize your site architecture and navigation based on your keyword research. Your research may uncover undiscovered areas of interest or ways of categorizing your products/services that you may wish to add to your site. For instance, let's say your site sells toys. There are numerous ways you could categorize and lay out your site so that people will find the toys they're looking for. Are people looking for toys to fit their child's stage of development? (Look for keyword phrases such as "preschool toys.") Or are they more likely to be seeking specific brands of toys? Most likely, your keyword research will show you that people are looking for toys in many different ways. Your job is to make sure that your site's navigation showcases the various ways of searching. Make sure you have links to specific-brand pages as well as specific age ranges, specific types of toys, etc.


5. Program your site to be "crawler-friendly." The search engines can't fill out forms, can't search your site, can't read JavaScript links and menus, and can't interpret graphics and Flash. This doesn't mean that you can't use these things on your site; you most certainly can! However, you do need to provide alternate means of navigating your site as necessary. If you have only a drop-down sequence of menus to choose a category or a brand of something, the search engine crawlers will never find those resulting pages. You'll need to make sure that you always have some form of HTML links in the main navigation on every page which link to the top-level pages of your site. From those pages, you'll need to have further HTML links to the individual product/service pages. (Please note that HTML links do NOT have to be text-only links. There's nothing wrong with graphical image navigation that is wrapped in standard a href tags, as the search engines can follow image links just fine.)








6. Label your internal text links and clickable image alt attributes (aka alt tags) as clearly and descriptively as possible. Your site visitors and the search engines look at the clickable portion of your links (aka the anchor text) to help them understand what they're going to find once they click through. Don't make them guess what's at the other end with links that say "click here" or other non-descriptive words. Be as descriptive as possible with every text and graphical link on your site. The cool thing about writing your anchor text and alt attributes to be descriptive is that you can almost always describe the page you're pointing to by using its main keyword phrase.


7. Write compelling copy for the key pages of your site based on your chosen keyword phrases and your target market's needs, and make sure it's copy that the search engines can "see." This is a crucial component to having a successful website. The search engines need to read keyword-rich copy on your pages so they can understand how to classify your site. This copy shouldn't be buried in graphics or hidden in Flash. Write your copy based on your most relevant keyword phrases while also making an emotional connection with your site visitor. (This is where that target audience analysis comes in handy!) Understand that there is no magical number of words per page or number of times to use your phrases in your copy. The important thing is to use your keyword phrases only when and where it makes sense to do so for the real people reading your pages. Simply sticking keyword phrases at the top of the page for no apparent reason isn't going to cut it, and it just looks silly. (Purchase and read our Copywriting Combo for exact tips on how to implement this correctly.)


8. Incorporate your keyword phrases into each page's unique Title tag. Title tags are critical because they're given a lot of weight with every search engine. Whatever keyword phrases you've written your copy around should also be used in your Title tag. Remember that the information that you place in this tag is what will show up as the clickable link to your site at the search engines. Make sure that it accurately reflects the content of the page it's on, while also using the keyword phrases people might be using at a search engine to find your stuff.


9. Make sure your site is "link-worthy." Other sites linking to yours is a critical component of a successful search engine optimization campaign, as all of the major search engines place a good deal of emphasis on your site's overall link popularity. You can go out and request hundreds or thousands of links, but if your site stinks, why would anyone want to link to it? On the other hand, if your site is full of wonderful, useful information, other sites will naturally link to it without your even asking. It's fine to trade links; just make sure you are providing your site visitors with only the highest quality of related sites. When you link to lousy sites, keep in mind what this says to your site visitors as well as to the search engines.


10. Don't be married to any one keyword phrase or worried too much about rankings. If you've done the above 9 things correctly, you will start to see an increase in targeted search engine visitors to your site fairly quickly. Forget about where you rank for any specific keyword phrase and instead measure your results in increased traffic, sales, and conversions. (You can sign up for a Google Analytics for free, which easily tracks and measures those things that truly matter.) It certainly won't hurt to add new content to your site if it will really make your site more useful, but don't simply add a load of fluff just for the sake of adding something. It really is okay to have a business site that is just a business site and not a diatribe on the history of your products. Neither your site visitors nor the engines really give a hoot!
Thx for highrankings

Video SEO Provides More Traffic and Higher Conversions

Video SEO Provides More Traffic and Higher Conversions

By Julie Ann Ross in Video Marketing

Video SEO is a largely overlooked search marketing strategy. Even as videos continue to gain significant traction in the search engines’ natural listings, most companies either ignore them, or remain completely unaware of their potency. That oversight represents a valuable edge your company can use to leapfrog your competitors in the organic rankings.
The strategy blends traditional search optimization tactics with a relatively new platform. With the rise of YouTube, Revver, Blip, and similar video sites, consumption patterns have driven the search engines to provide these sites with greater ranking authority. As long as your primary objective is clearly established, a video SEO campaign can have a dramatic effect on your exposure in Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
In this article, we’ll explain why you should integrate video SEO into your current search marketing strategy. We will also provide a few ingredients that will help you avoid potential pitfalls along the way. Last, you will learn what to look out for when choosing a video SEO company that can drive traffic and conversions.
How Video SEO Improves Your Search Exposure
Before Google released their Universal Search platform in May 2007, their natural listings were dominated by text-based pages. Videos were rare in the top positions. Universal Search changed the way Google displayed their primary index. Google, Yahoo, and Bing now include entries from their respective video search platforms. What’s more, popular video-sharing sites have been given higher ranking authority and increased link weight (we’ll describe this latter point in a moment).
Video SEO gives you greater exposure in the search engines through two levers. First, it caters to the algorithm used for Universal Search. By allowing syndication of your videos to authoritative video-sharing sites, you will enjoy more exposure through their increased ranking authority. In effect, those sites will rank higher, drawing more people to your videos.
Second, videos that are placed on your site (as opposed to syndicating them) attract links – both directly and indirectly. As your videos gain popularity, direct links will naturally build, pointing to the pages on your site that host the videos. Indirect links will point from other sites whose owners have embedded your videos. As a result, your inbound link profile will continue to grow and strengthen, lifting your site higher within the search engines’ organic listings.
3 SEO Video Tips To Capture Higher Search Positions

1. Your video SEO campaign can only be effective if you recognize the limitations of the search engines. First, their algorithms cannot read lips. In order to rank for your target keywords, they must be available to the search engines’ spiders in text form. If you’re placing videos on your site, optimize your titles and surrounding text, and include an edited transcript of the video. If you’re syndicating them, optimize your external titles and tags.
2. Second, focus on inbound links. An effective video SEO campaign relies on contextually related links pointing from a wide breadth of sites. Videos that spark a groundswell of attention – whether through entertainment, information, or controversy – can achieve this easily.
3. Third, integrate a social media sharing component. You want viewers to share your videos with their friends on Facebook. You want them to “Tweet” about your videos on Twitter. You want them to bookmark your videos on StumbleUpon, Digg and Delicious. These social media sites can form the backbone of your video SEO campaign, driving waves of inbound links to your site.

Key Factors In Choosing A Video SEO Company
Traditional search optimization is a mature strategy. SEO specialists have honed their craft for more than a decade. By contrast, video SEO is still an evolving science. Even though it leverages the core tenets of a traditional optimization campaign, the rise of social media and video-sharing sites has infused video SEO with enormous complexity. Hiring a video SEO company removes the need to keep up with the roiling landscape. The key is using the right criteria to identify a proficient firm.
A professional video SEO company should have an established track record that shows a keen grasp of the search engines’ organic algorithms. That track record should also demonstrate an ability to evolve as the algorithms change. Many search optimization experts were completely unprepared for the debut of Universal Search. By extension, so too, were their clients.
Leveraging Video SEO For More Traffic And Higher Conversions
A carefully executed video SEO campaign can sharply increase your exposure within the search engine’s natural listings. When implemented as a component of a multi-pronged search engine marketing campaign, it can drive more targeted traffic to your site. Targeted traffic translates into higher conversions. If you are not yet utilizing video SEO for your site, your current organic rankings may be more vulnerable than you realize.
About the Author:
With 20 years in marketing, advertising and 10 years in internet marketing, Rostin Reagor Smith is on the cutting edge. Combining Social Media Optimization with more traditional SEO and SEM methods, RRS is a consulting firm specializing in enhancing clients’ online presence and managing their public relations online. SEO, SEM and ORM, Online Reputation Management, are combined in this successful formula. http://www.RostinReagorSmith.com
Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources



Video SEO Provides More Traffic and Higher Conversions

5 Steps to Improve your website Traffic

5 Steps to Improve your website Traffic:-

1- First of all your website address is shown to your website information. Try to best give your best and related address. Your website main page is the attractive and graphic is high quality.

2- Your website all link are working properly. Every link have own information.

3- Add to your website directories sub - directories. Social website and try to inform in all search engine.

4- Search Engine Optimization to your website for expect. And e-mail to your related companies.

5- If your website for business. You are show to report in main page it's selling report by contest. If your website is common important to show counter.

Carrying out these 5 steps will ensure unstoppable traffic to your website. It needs planning and setting up the system for it to work and creation of the reports, but you are sure to get an avalanche of traffic.

The 10 Biggest SEO Myths Exposed (By David Jackson in Featured)

1. Search Engine Optimization will put you on the first page of Google.

This is without question the biggest SEO myth floating around the Internet today. Here’s the truth: SEO is a tool – nothing more. And any tool is only as good as the person using it. That’s why some people have success with SEO, and others don’t.

Can SEO help get your website on Google’s first page? If the person doing the optimizing is competent, sure, it can help. But it’s far from guaranteed.

Here’s why: There are far too many variables that are involved in the ranking of a website – not the least of which are the age of the domain, relevancy and quantity of quantity of content, number and quality of inbound links, competition, and of course Google’s ever-changing algorithms.

2. Getting on the first page of Google will guarantee your success.

This is false. Let me tell you something: Getting on the first page of Google guarantees absolutely nothing!

Every single day, thousands of websites fail and go out of business. Some of those websites were on the first page of Google’s search results. So being on the first page of Google guarantees nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. While being on the first page of Google’s search results can definitely be an advantage, there are far too many variables involved that determine whether or not a website will be successful – not the least of which is the competency of the people behind the website.

They’re the one’s who really determine a website’s success or failure, not Google.


3. If you get a lot of traffic, you’ll make a lot of sales.

Another popular myth – but just that – a myth. It’s not how much traffic you get to your website that matters. It’s the quality of traffic and what you do with it that matters.

There are websites that get thousands of visitors every single day, that are not making a profit. Why? Because either their traffic is garbage, and/or they don’t know to convert their traffic into profits.

Conversely, there are websites that get only get two or three hundred visitors a day that are doing quite well. How are these websites able to do so much with so little?

Three reasons: 1. Their traffic is quality, targeted traffic. 2. They’ve figured out how to maximize the amount of traffic they get. 3. They’re working with a healthy profit margin.

If you’re not getting a lot of traffic, you’d better be making a lot of profit for each sale. Remember, traffic is wasted if you don’t have the ability to convert it into profits.

4. When your website tumbles in the search rankings, it’s because Google is penalizing you.

While this may be true in some instances, it’s not true in all instances. Here’s the truth: Google is only interested in one thing… Delivering the best and most relevant search results that it possibly can. Its continued world dominance depends on it.

And all things being equal, if your website delivers more relevant results than other websites in its category, then your website will rank ahead of those other websites. Now are there exceptions? Absolutely. Does Google get it wrong sometimes? Sure they do. No system is perfect.

But despite any conspiracy theories you may have heard about how your website is ranked, there’s really nothing conspiratorial about it.


5. All websites on the first page of Google are successful.

That’s the prevailing theory of course, but it’s far from true. The fact of the matter is some categories are more popular and profitable than others. Some categories simply don’t generate as much traffic as you might think.

That’s reflected in the price of pay-per-click advertising. Advertisers pay sky-high prices for some keywords, and mere pennies for others.

In addition, many businesses operate on extremely slim profit margins. That means they have to make an extraordinary number of sales to be successful. And if they aren’t getting the traffic, it’s difficult to generate the amount of income that they need to be successful.

6. Registering your domains for multiple years will help your search engine ranking.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all, if it was discovered that a domain registrar started this particular myth. But that’s all it is – a myth. While I was doing research for this article, I couldn’t find any evidence that registering a domain for multiple years has any impact on rankings at all – none.

That being said, registering your domain for multiple years certainly can’t hurt either.

7. Inactive or parked domains that are several years old have an advantage over newer domains.

This is false. A domain that’s 10 years old, which is inactive or parked does not have a significant advantage over a brand new domain that is active.

Why? Because inactive domains, regardless of age, don’t accrue links or trust. And inbound links and trustworthiness are significant determining factors when it comes to rankings.

8. Any link is a good link.

Nothing could be further from the truth. And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: ALL LINKS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL.

If you’re under the mistaken impression that exchanging links with any and everybody is helping you – think again. While exchanging links may seem like a good idea, it always isn’t.

For example, if you own a hosting website, how does it possibly benefit you to exchange links with a butcher, baker or candlestick maker? Answer: It doesn’t.

The link has to be relevant to your website’s overall theme, otherwise, it will do you no good. Also, reciprocal links and links from article directories just aren’t as valuable anymore, as links from quality, relevant websites.

Because of rampant misuse, reciprocal links and links from article directories have been degraded over the years. And Google just doesn’t place as much value on those types of links as it once did.

Google places much more value on links from quality, relevant websites. So those are the types of links that you should spend your time trying to obtain.


9. If you build it, they will come.

Just because you build a great looking website doesn’t mean that people are going to be so impressed, they’re going to virally push your website to the top of the search engines. It doesn’t work that way. You have to get the word out.

Building your website is only the first step. You have to advertise your website to the world. In addition, you have to make sure that your website is properly optimized for the search engines. You also need to make sure that your website has plenty of fresh, quality, relevant content to keep visitors coming back again and again.

If you build it, they will come – but only if they know about you.


10. Submitting your website to the search engines will help you get indexed faster.

This is one myth that simply will not die. It has been written about in article after article after article that submitting to the search engines WILL NOT help your website get indexed faster.

What WILL help your website get indexed faster is getting linked to by a website that has already been indexed by the search engines – preferably a website that’s popular. For example, forums, blogs, article directories, etc.

Why is the popularity of the website so important? Because popular websites get spidered much more frequently – giving your website the opportunity to get indexed much more quickly.

About the author:

David Jackson is the owner of http://reviews-by-customers.com – directory of reliable online services! If you would like The Secret to Non-Stop, FREE Targeted Traffic, read this: http://tinyurl.com/yfj6rxk

Thx for SiteProNew

Affiliate Marketing – 5 Reasons To Use Squidoo

Affiliate Marketing – 5 Reasons To Use Squidoo

An affiliate marketer has to have certain things. I consider it very important to have a web page where you can put your offers and content.
Then you can just get down to driving traffic to your site, making sales, and earning money.
Still, the beginning affiliate marketer and perhaps even some intermediates, would like it to be low priced and more straightforward than the typical setup.
Take as an example the mass of web pages called Squidoo.
It’s really just another website except for it’s size and variety of content. It’s VERY well known at Google.
By the end of 2009 there were nearly a million individual pages on this huge website and those pages are called “lenses” by the “Squids.”
Here are 5 good reasons to use Squidoo as an affiliate marketer.
The first reason is your cost for the hosting space. It’s zero.
The second reason is the cost of registering a domain name. It’s zero too!
Squidoo loks good because it’s practically effortless, AND it’s very low cost, especially when compared to the typical cost of hosting and domain at about $100 to $130 per year.
That doesn’t sound like much, and it isn’t if your site is making money or if you just have plenty of it. But for affiliates who are just starting and a lot of intermediates too, it’s just perfect.
The third reason, and one of big importance to affiliates, is that it is relatively easy to get indexed by Google for your lens. Really it’s a web page. But Google seems to like them.
If you pick your domain name with a keyword relevant to your sites content, that you can easily rank for, and you put it at the beginning of your domain name, you will be on your way to good rankings.
Doing a good job optimizing your page (lens) for your relevant keyword, is the best way to get your site to come up on the search results page in Google. And Page One of Google for almost ANY keyword will result in some good traffic.
The fourth reason to use Squidoo is that there is on site help. There is lots of assistance.
This would have really helped me when I was getting started because it seemed like, for me, everything new wasn’t just new…it seemed wierd…alien even. I didn’t “get it.”
Squdoo helps you in a dozen ways and you can see for yourself by just going there and looking around.
In addition, there is a forum where you can go and ask questions and get answers. And maybe later you will even answer some questions.
The fifth reason to use these pages (lenses) is because they work!
By work I mean that you can make them look like a great web page. You can also set them up to get a good bit of traffic. And you can sell directly from them.
If you’d like a landing page, this is it!
And that’s not all. You will learn a lot!
Many of the stumbling blocks a typical newcomer or even intermediate affiliate marketer will run into are completely eliminated by this alternative. The first reason that comes to mind is the FREE domain name and hosting.
Go there, join up and start your first lens. Start fooling around with it. Learn how to do a few of the things you need to get a halfway decent site up. There’ll be plenty of help if you get stuck.
In a couple to three weeks you could have an affiliate site up, indexed, and getting traffic, and making sales.
Watch out because IF you do this, the next thing that will happen is that you will get a sale. A sale that didn’t cost you anything but your time and effort.
Only now you’ll know how to repeat it and increase your income.

Thx for SiteProNews

How to earn extra money from Twitter

How to earn extra money from Twitter

Use Your Yellow Page Savings to Finance Your Internet Local Search Visibility

Use Your Yellow Page Savings to Finance Your Internet Local Search Visibility

Copyright 2005 Off the Page

A Yellow Page Ad Says You’re "Open for Business"

Most small businesses that have a storefront or provide a service are committed to a Yellow Page directory ad. It was a safe bet, since buyers went to the directory when they were ready to buy.

Every year owners renew their ad. And steadily the costs go up. Many advertisers "beefed up" their ad, hoping to stand out - making it even more expensive. For too many, their directory ad is their most expensive (or only) promotional activity. While the expense increased, directory use has gone down. Since last year’s advent of Local Search, many more people go online than to their Yellow Pages before they make buying decisions.

The Walking Fingers are Walking on the Keyboard

"Let your fingers do the walking" means calling a business to get desired answers before visiting the store. Nowadays, instead of opening the directory, 70% of buyers head to the Internet to conduct searches. Already, 36% of such searches are looking for local vendors. Of those, 45% have a buying intention. Yet 54% of the qualified small businesses don’t appear in those results. So customers select from those who do - a major handicap for those left out.

Older businesses depend on the directory more than newer ones. 78% of enterprises open over 20 years rely on the directory, compared to 52% of firms under 10 years. Younger operations are more willing to incorporate online exposure, and thereby out-pace their well-established competition. Ouch!

Of course, every Yellow Page category is different. Some get a lot more use than others. Maybe it’s true for you. But the only way to know is to track where your new customers come from. And if you’re bothering to track, how much is coming to you via the Web?

Local Search Appeals to Computer-Savvy Buyers in your Town

A Local Search occurs when a person adds a geographic term (city, state, region, zip code) to a search engine query. The results only show enterprises in that area - florists in Cheyenne - displayed on a map.

Who searches for local businesses? The locals, certainly. But so do travelers, people intending to move there (or just arrived), and those who want to do business with an enterprise in that town (flowers for Aunt Mildred). Most have no prior contact (or preference) with your competitors.

Yellow Page directory listings were added to search engine data bases. So even the cheapest ad gets a business listed. And there’s no evidence that a more expensive directory ad can accomplish any more than that. That’s why your savings from cutting the size or options of your directory ad could cover the costs for your initial online exposure.

Your directory ad gets you into the search data bases, but won’t make you stand out there. And just being listed isn’t sufficient. Where are you listed? In an obscure section that doesn’t get searched? Under what keywords? Is your information accurate or complete? Probably not.

Take an Active Role to Assure Plentiful Search Engine Results
To get the steady flow of customers search engines can deliver, you need to get involved. Make sure information about your enterprise is accurate, complete and consistent - everywhere it appears.

Look for yourself online. Conduct various Local Searches from the buyer’s mindset - what terms do they look for? How hard are you to find? And who does appear in such results? What are they doing that you’re not? Enough said.

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves methods to boost one’s search engine rankings. Be wary of most SEO advice. It can be expensive and time consuming - and unlikely to work for you anyway. As a small or mid-sized enterprise, you’re not competing for a front position related to the entire Internet. You only need to appear at the front of search results geared to your community, and ahead of your local competitors.

Get listed in the various Internet Yellow Pages (IYP). Some are free, some aren’t. Some are national, others regional. But the few dollars spent for enhanced listings or links to your site, can pay real dividends. Shop around and compare what works best for your region and type of business. Start by checking where you’re already listed: w.localsearchresources.com/listed.html

Businesses with Websites Benefit Most from Local Search

Even a small website provides more complete and useful information than any directory ad. And you’ll appear in many more categories of search results. When asked where to get an inexpensive website that’s optimized for Local Search, I recommend Geo Target Search w.geotargetsearch.com. If you mention my name they'll give you third month of hosting free.

Look for resources designed for brick-and-mortar enterprises that bring effective search engine results - without it being expensive or overly complicated. They’re out there.

For those who already have a website and want to make sure it appears in Local Search results, I recommend Sharon Fling’s set of videos, "Get listed on local search for free"
w.localsearchresources.com/fling.html She has spent years showing small businesses how to develop their Internet presence and earnings at w.geolocal.com

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Falaq - Nas (Tafsir Ibn Kashir)

Falaq - Nas (Tafsir Ibn Kashir)

 The Position of Ibn Mas`ud concerning Al-Mu`awwidhatayn 

Imam Ahmad recorded from Zirr bin Hubaysh that Ubayy bin Ka`b told him that Ibn Mas`ud did not record the Mu`awwidhatayn in his Mushaf (copy of the Qur'an). So Ubayy said,

"I testify that the Messenger of Allah informed me that Jibril said to him, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَق  Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq.''

So he said it.

And Jibril said to him, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ  Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.''

So he said it.

Therefore, we say what the Prophet said.''

 The Virtues of Surahs Al-Falaq and An-Nas

In his Sahih, Muslim recorded on the authority of Uqbah bin `Amir that the Messenger of Allah said,

أَلَمْ تَرَ آيَاتٍ أُنْزِلَتْ هَذِهِ اللَّيْلَةَ لَمْ يُرَ مِثْلُهُنَّ قَطُّ:

Do you not see that there have been Ayat revealed to me tonight the like of which has not been seen before, They are

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ

Say: "I seek refuge with, the Lord of Al-Falaq.''

and;

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.''

This Hadith was recorded by Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i.

At-Tirmidhi said, Hasan Sahih.

 Another Narration

Imam Ahmad recorded from Uqbah bin `Amir that he said, "While I was leading the Messenger of Allah along one of these paths he said,

O `Uqbah! Will you not ride,

I was afraid that this might be considered an act of disobedience. So the Messenger of Allah got down and I rode for a while. Then he rode.

Then he said,

يَا عُقْبَةُ، أَلَا أُعَلِّمُكَ سُورَتَيْنِ مِنْ خَيْرِ سُورَتَيْنِ قَرَأَ بِهِمَا النَّاسُ؟

O Uqbah! Should I not teach you two Surahs that are of the best two Surahs that the people recite?

I said, `Of course, O Messenger of Allah.'

So he taught me to recite

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ  Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq.'' 

and

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.''

Then the call was given to begin the prayer and the Messenger of Allah went forward (to lead the people), and he recited them in the prayer. Afterwards he passed by me and said,

What do you think, O `Uqayb!

اقْرَأْ بِهِمَا كُلَّمَا نِمْتَ وَكُلَّمَا قُمْتَ

"Recite these two Surahs whenever you go to sleep and whenever you get up.''

An-Nasa'i and Abu Dawud both recorded this Hadith.

 Another Narration

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:

إِنَّ النَّاسَ لَمْ يَتَعَوَّذُوا بِمِثْلِ هَذَيْنِ:

Verily, the people do not seek protection with anything like these two:

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ

Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq.''

and;

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

Say: "I seek refuge with (Allah) the Lord of mankind.''

  Another Narration 

An-Nasa'i recorded that Uqbah bin `Amir said,

"I was walking with the Messenger of Allah when he said, يَا عُقْبَةُ قُلْ O `Uqbah! Say!

I replied, `What should I say!'

So he was silent and did not respond to me. Then he said, قُلْ Say!

I replied, `What should I say, O Messenger of Allah!'

He said,

 قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ    Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq.''

So, I recited it until I reached its end.

Then he said, قُلْ    Say!

I replied, `What should I say O Messenger of Allah!'

He said,

 قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ   Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.''

So, I recited it until I reached its end.

Then the Messenger of Allah said,

مَا سَأَلَ سَائِلٌ بِمِثْلِهَا، وَلَا اسْتَعَاذَ مُسْتَعِيذٌ بِمِثْلِهَا

No person beseeches with anything like these, and no person seeks refuge with anything like these.''

 Another Hadith

An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn Abis Al-Juhani said that the Prophet said to him,

يَا ابْنَ عَابِسٍ أَلَا أَدُلُّكَ أَوْ أَلَا أُخْبِرُكَ بِأَفْضَلِ مَا يَتَعَوَّذُ بِهِ الْمُتَعَوِّذُونَ؟

O Ibn Abis! Shall I guide you to -- or inform you -- of the best thing that those who seek protection, use for protection?

He replied, "Of course, O Messenger of Allah!''

The Prophet said,

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ

هَاتَانِ السُّورَتَانِ

Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq.''

and Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind.''

These two Surahs (are the best protection).

Imam Malik recorded from A'ishah that;

whenever the Messenger of Allah was suffering from an ailment, he would recite the Muawwidhatayn over himself and blow (over himself).

Then if his pain became severe, A'ishah said that she would recite the Muawwidhatayn over him and take his hand and wipe it over himself seeking the blessing of those Surahs.

Al-Bukhari, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah all recorded this Hadith.

It has been reported from Abu Sa`id that;

the Messenger of Allah used to seek protection against the evil eyes of the Jinns and mankind. But when the Muawwidhatayn were revealed, he used them (for protection) and abandoned all else besides them.

At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah recorded this.

At-Tirmidhi said, "This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.''

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيم In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبّ الْفَلَقِ 113:1 Say: "I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq, مِن شَرّ مَا خَلَقَ 113:2 From the evil of what He has created, وَمِن شَرّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ 113:3 And from the evil of the Ghasiq when Waqab,'' وَمِن شَرّ النَّفَّـثَـتِ فِى الْعُقَدِ 113:4 And from the evil of the blowers in knots, وَمِن شَرّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ 113:5 And from the evil of the envier when he envies. Top

Allah said,

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ ﴿١﴾

Say, 

"I seek refuge with the Lord of Al-Falaq,''

Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Jabir said,

"Al-Falaq is the morning.''

Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn Abbas,

"Al-Falaq is the morning.''

The same has been reported from Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Aqil, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and Ibn Zayd.

Malik also reported a similar statement from Zayd bin Aslam.

Al-Qurazi, Ibn Zayd and Ibn Jarir all said,

"This is like Allah's saying, فَالِقُ الإِصْبَاحِ He is the Cleaver of the daybreak..'' (6:96)

Allah said,  

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ﴿٢﴾

From the evil of what He has created,

This means from the evil of all created things.

Thabit Al-Bunani and Al-Hasan Al-Basri both said,

"Hell, Iblis and his progeny, from among that which He (Allah) created.''

وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ﴿٣﴾

And from the evil of the Ghasiq when Waqab,

Mujahid said,

- "Ghasiq is the night, and

- `when it Waqab' refers to the setting of the sun.''

Al-Bukhari mentioned this from him.

Ibn Abi Najih also reported a similar narration from him (Mujahid).

The same was said by Ibn Abbas, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi, Ad-Dahhak, Khusayf, Al-Hasan and Qatadah. They said,

"Verily, it is the night when it advances with its darkness.''

Az-Zuhri said, وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ 

"This means the sun when it sets.''

Abu Al-Muhazzim reported that Abu Hurayrah said, وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ  

"This means the star.''

Ibn Zayd said, "The Arabs used to say,

`Al-Ghasiq is the declination (of the position) of the heavenly body known as Pleiades. The number of those who were ill and stricken with plague would increase whenever it would decline, and their number would lessen whenever it rose.'''

Ibn Jarir said,

"Others have said that it is the moon.''

The support for the people who hold this position (that it means the moon) is a narration that Imam Ahmad recorded from Al-Harith bin Abi Salamah. He said that A'ishah said,

"The Messenger of Allah took me by my hand and showed me the moon when it rose, and he said, تَعَوَّذِي بِاللهِ مِنْ شَرِّ هَذَا الْغَاسِقِ إِذَا وَقَبَ Seek refuge with Allah from the evil of this Ghasiq when it becomes dark.''

At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i both recorded this Hadith in their Books of Tafsir in their Sunans.

Allah said,

وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ ﴿٤﴾

And from the evil of the blowers in knots,

Mujahid, Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak all said,

"This means the witches.''

Mujahid said,

"When they perform their spells and blow into the knots.''

In another Hadith it has been reported that Jibril came to the Prophet and said,

"Are you suffering from any ailment, O Muhammad''

The Prophet replied, Yes.

So Jibril said,

"In the Name of Allah, I recite prayer (Ruqyah) over you, from every illness that harms you, from the evil of every envious person and evil eye. May Allah cure you.''

 Discussion of the Bewitchment of the Prophet

In the Book of Medicine of his Sahih, Al-Bukhari recorded that A'ishah said,

"The Messenger of Allah was bewitched until he thought that he had relations with his wives, but he had not had relations with them.''

Sufyan said,

"This is the worst form of magic when it reaches this stage.''

So the Prophet said,

يَا عَائِشَةُ،

أَعَلِمْتِ أَنَّ اللهَ قَدْ أَفْتَانِي فِيمَا اسْتَفْتَيْتُهُ فِيهِ؟ أَتَانِي رَجُلَانِ فَقَعَدَ أَحَدُهُمَا عِنْدَ رَأْسِي وَالْاخَرُ عِنْدَ رِجْلَيَّ،

فَقَال الَّذِي عِنْدَ رَأْسِي لِلْاخَرِ: مَا بَالُ الرَّجُلِ؟

قَالَ: مَطْبُوبٌ،

قَالَ: وَمَنْ طَبَّهُ،

قَالَ: لَبِيدُ بْنُ أَعْصَمَ: رَجُلٌ مِنْ بَنِي زُرَيْقٍ حَلِيفٌ لِيَهُودَ، كَانَ مُنَافِقًا،

قَالَ: وَفِيمَ؟ قَالَ: فِي مُشْطٍ وَمُشَاطَةٍ،

قَالَ: وَأَيْنَ؟

قَالَ: فِي جُفِّ طَلْعَةٍ ذَكَرٍ، تَحْتَ رَاعُوفَةٍ فِي بِئْرِ ذَرْوَانَ

O A'ishah!

Do you know that Allah has answered me concerning that which I asked Him. Two men came to me and one of them sat by my head while the other sat by my feet. The one who was sitting by my head said to the other one, `What is wrong with this man?'

The other replied, `He is bewitched.'

The first one said, `Who bewitched him'

The other replied, `Labid bin A`sam. He is a man from the tribe of Banu Zurayq who is an ally of the Jews, and a hypocrite.'

The first one asked, `With what (did he bewitch him)'

The other replied, `With a comb and hair from the comb.'

The first one asked, `Where (is the comb)'

The other answered, `In the dried bark of a male date palm under a rock in a well called Dharwan.'

A'ishah said, "So he went to the well to remove it (the comb with the hair).

Then he said,

هَذِهِ الْبِئْرُ الَّتِي أُرِيتُهَا، وَكَأَنَّ مَاءَهَا نُقَاعَةُ الحِنَّاءِ،وَكَأَنَّ نَخْلَهَا رُؤُوسُ الشَّيَاطِين

This is the well that I saw. It was as if its water had henna soaked in it and its palm trees were like the heads of devils.

So he removed it (of the well).

Then I (A'ishah) said, `Will you not make this public?'

He replied,

أَمَّا اللهُ فَقَدْ شَفَانِي، وَأَكْرَهُ أَنْ أُثِيرَ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنَ النَّاسِ شَرًّا

"Allah has cured me and I hate to spread (the news of) wickedness to any of the people.''

Surah Falaq Recitation (Sa'id Al Ghamdi)

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيم In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبّ النَّاسِ 114:1 Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of An-Nas, مَلِكِ النَّاسِ 114:2 The King of An-Nas, إِلَـهِ النَّاسِ 114:3 The God of An-Nas,  مِن شَرّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ 114:4 From the evil of the whisperer who withdraws. الَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ النَّاسِ 114:5 Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.  مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ 114:6 Of Jinn and An-Nas. Top

Allah says:

قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاس ﴿١﴾

مَلِكِ النَّاس ﴿٢﴾

إِلَهِ النَّاس ﴿٣﴾ ِ

Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of An-Nas,

The King of An-Nas,

The God of An-Nas,

These are three attributes from the attributes of the Lord, the Mighty and Majestic. They are:

- lordship,

- sovereignty and

- divinity.

Thus,

- He is the Lord of everything,

- the King of everything and

- the God of everything.

All things

- are created by Him,

- owned by Him, and

- subservient to Him.

Therefore, He commands whoever is seeking protection to seek refuge with the One Who has these attributes from the evil of the whisperer who withdraws.

This (the whisperer) is the devil that is assigned to man. For verily, there is not any of the Children of Adam except that he has a companion that beautifies wicked deeds for him. This devil will go to any lengths to confuse and confound him. The only person who is safe is He Whom Allah protects.

It is confirmed in the Sahih that he (the Prophet) said,

مَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا قَدْ وُكِّلَ بِهِ قَرِينُهُ

There is not a single one of you except that his companion (a devil) has been assigned to him.

They (the Companions) said, "What about you, O Messenger of Allah!''

He replied,

نَعَمْ،

إِلَّا أَنَّ اللهَ أَعَانَنِي عَلَيْهِ فَأَسْلَمَ، فَلَا يَأْمُرُنِي إِلَّا بِخَيْرٍ

Yes.

However, Allah has helped me against him and he has accepted Islam. Thus, he only commands me to do good.

It is also confirmed in the Two Sahihs from Anas, who reported the story of Safiyyah when she came to visit the Prophet while he was performing Itikaf, that he went out with her during the night to walk her back to her house. So, two men from the Ansar met him (on the way). When they saw the Prophet, they began walking swiftly. So, the Messenger of Allah said,

عَلَى رِسْلِكُمَا، إِنَّهَا صَفِيَّةُ بِنْتُ حُيَيَ

Slow down! This is Safiyyah bint Huyay!

They said, "Glory be to Allah, O Messenger of Allah!''

He said,

إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ يَجْرِي مِنِ ابْنِ آدَمَ مَجْرَى الدَّم، وَإِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَنْ يَقْذِفَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمَا شَيْئًا، أَوْ قَالَ: شَرًّا

Verily, Shaytan runs in the Son of Adam like the running of the blood. And verily, I feared that he might cast something into your hearts -- or he said -- evil.

Sa`id bin Jubayr reported that Ibn Abbas said concerning Allah's statement, 

... الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاس ﴿٤﴾

The whisperer (Al-Waswas) who withdraws.

"The devil who is squatting (perched) upon the heart of the Son of Adam. So when he becomes absentminded and heedless he whispers. Then, when he remembers Allah he withdraws.''

Mujahid and Qatadah also said this.

Al-Mu`tamir bin Sulayman reported that his father said,

"It has been mentioned to me that Shaytan is Al-Waswas. He blows into the heart of the Son of Adam when he is sad and when he is happy. But when he (man) remembers Allah, Shaytan withdraws.''

Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn Abbas;الْوَسْوَاسِ  The whisperer.

"He is Shaytan. He whispers and then when he is obeyed, he withdraws.''

As for Allah's saying;

الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاس ﴿٥﴾

Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.

Is this specific for the Children of Adam as is apparent, or is it general, including both mankind and Jinns

There are two views concerning this. This is because they (the Jinns) are also included in the usage of the word An-Nas (the people) in most cases.

Ibn Jarir said,

"The phrase Rijalun min Al-Jinn (Men from the Jinns) has been used in reference to them, so it is not strange for the word An-Nas to be applied to them also.''

Then Allah says,

مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَ النَّاس ﴿٦﴾  

Of Jinn and An-Nas.

Is this explanatory of Allah's statement, الَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ النَّاسِ  Who whispers in the breasts of An-Nas.

Then, Allah explains this by saying, مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ Of Jinn and An-Nas.

This is supportive of the second view.

It has also been said that Allah's saying, مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ Of Jinn and An-Nas, is an explanation of who is it that whispers into the breasts of mankind from the devils of mankind and Jinns.

This is similar to Allah's saying,

وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نِبِىٍّ عَدُوّاً شَيَـطِينَ الإِنْسِ وَالْجِنِّ يُوحِى بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ زُخْرُفَ الْقَوْلِ غُرُوراً

And so We have appointed for every Prophet enemies -- Shayatin among mankind and Jinn, inspiring one another with adorned speech as a delusion. (6:112)

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Abbas said,

"A man came to the Prophet and said,

`O Messenger of Allah! Sometimes I say things to myself that I would rather fall from the sky than say (aloud openly). '

The Prophet said,

اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرٌ الْحَمْدُ للهِ الَّذِي رَدَّ كَيْدَهُ إِلَى الْوَسْوَسَةِ

Allah is Most Great!

Allah is Most Great!

All praise is due to Allah Who sent his (Shaytan's) plot back as only a whisper.''

Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i also recorded this Hadith.

This is the end of the Tafsir. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of all that exists. 

Thank for quran4u.