This Ganeshotsav Go Green

Long-drawn celebrations are a part of the social and cultural stuff of India. Amongst many religious and social cultures that mark the diverse festive calendar of Indians, is a very significant religious occasion – Ganesha Chaturthi is about the birth of the Elephant-headed god, Ganesha. It is celebrated with much excitement especially in the states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.

Ganesha Chaturthi in most places in India is a day to entreat Ganesha, the god of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune. On this day, devotees worship Ganesha idols, perform the aarti and offer Prasad of fruits and sweets, especially modak, which is said to be the favourite of Lord

Ganesha. In many places, clay idols of ganesha, big and tiny, are made months in advance and thousands of devotees take them home to worship. It is common to immerse these idols in water once the festivities are over with a prayer entreating the god to visit his devotees again the following year.

Everybody likes to decorate Ganesh idols beautifully and celebrate Ganesh festival with enthusiasm. But the most serious impact of the Ganesh festival is on the environment due to the immersion of the Ganesha idols. The idols are made out of chemical materials which causes significant water pollution. The use of thermocol and plastic in pandals as well as for garlands and other decorations rises non-biodegradable waste. The harmful waste from these materials kills plant and animal life in the water bodies. Celebrating the eco-friendly Ganesh festival lets you celebrate the festival grandly without harming the environment and other living beings. The following are some useful tips for celebrating the eco-friendly Ganesh festival.

Tips for Eco Friendly Ganesh Chaturthi

1)    Use Eco-Friendly Ganesh idol :

As going green is the latest mantra, say no to idols made of chemical, Plaster of Paris, clay, thermocol. Go for natural, biodegradable material so that after immersions it does not pollute water and surroundings. Natural products can be used to make an idol such as unbaked clay, coconut, paint with natural colours, etc.

2)    Eco-friendly Decoration :

In festivals, people usually use plastic and non-degradable material. These materials add more risk to our environment when dumped as garbage later. You can use instead of paper flowers or natural flowers for decoration. Natural materials like cloth, wood, paper can be used to make dolls, puppets, and bells to decorate around Ganpati idol. Make beautiful paper decorations instead of thermocol, which is also not degradable.

3)    Ban Plastic: Offerings, Prasad, fruits which are carried to pandals are thrown here and there. Nobody takes care of that and it pollutes the ecosystem. So Say No to Plastic Bags. Instead, cloth bags can be used which is very easy to carry, biodegradable and can be reused later. Discourage the use of Plastic Bags for disposing and other offerings and these should be disposed of in a paper bag. Use natural plates like banana leaves instead of plastic plates for distributing Prasad. Disposable, non-biodegradable plates, plastic sheets, etc. affect the environment.

4)    Typical immersion

Instead of immersing Ganesha idol in a water body, it can be symbolically immersed at home. Some people use a stone idol and symbolically immerse this in a bucket of water, or even carry it in procession to the sea, hold it under the water, and then bring it back home for the next year. Another way of immersion can be spraying a few drops of water on the idol and then cleaning it off and keeping it for next year’s use.

5)    3Rs-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle: There are three key factors when thinking about how to recycle – the 3 R’s– reduce, reuse and recycle – all help to lower down on the amount of waste we throw away. Reduce is the best way to manage waste. Reuse products in different ways. Recycling the Ganesh festival flowers and leftovers is a different way to manage waste. Other festival leftovers can be used to make compost.

What is Remarketing?

Remarketing means targeting consumers who have previously viewed something on your website or showed an interest in your products. It offers a means of re-engaging consumers who might have been browsing pages on your site but did not follow through with a conversion.

Remarketing will allow you to track individual pages on your website. This will let you recognize the consumers who spent time on those pages without converting. For example, many brands will track their shopping cart pages, so they can target those who leave their shopping carts.

Once you have recognized the targets, you can then display specialized ads that promote the products they previously viewed. These ads, therefore, will be extremely personalized and promote items that people previously showed an interest in, increasing their relevance.

How Remarketing Works

What makes remarketing so striking are the layers of data it uses to re-engage potential consumers. This is possible through the data obtained while they make their way through the pages of your website, such as their email address or small bits of data that are collected on their computer when they interact with particular webpages. This data includes information such as the pages they visited, how long they stayed, and the products they viewed or clicked on.

By analysing this sequence of actions, you can distinguish which product(s) the user was interested in and if they were interested enough to come close to buying them. The behaviour determines the type of remarketing action the campaign will start.

Types of Remarketing Campaigns

Remarketing campaigns can be classified into five main types:

1.    Standard Remarketing

2.    Dynamic Remarketing

3.    Remarketing Lists for Search Ads

4.    Video Remarketing

5.    Email Remarketing

Standard Remarketing

This type of remarketing involves showing display ads to earlier visitors as they navigate their way through different websites that use the Google Display Network apps and social media websites such as Facebook. Standard remarketing also targets visitors who use search engines such as Google to search for terms that are correlated to the products or services that you offer.

Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic remarketing means serving visitors ads that are tailored especially for them depending on how they have browsed a webpage. This type of remarketing includes ad messages that are created especially for the visitor who’s viewing the ad, rising their chances of coming back to your webpage for the retrieval of those abandoned items.

If a visitor spent more time on the pricing page and then exits your website, your dynamic remarketing ad should focus around the pricing, maybe tell them of a free trial offer or a discount.

You can also display remarketing ads to visitors who have browsed through your blog or other informational stuff and convince them to download a guide or join a webinar that correlates to the information they’re engaged in.

Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSAs)

Remarketing lists for search ads are offered by Google AdWords that provides you to customize your search ad campaigns for visitors who have been on your webpage in the past. The search network allows you to tailor your bids and ads to the visitors that have been on your website when they’re searching Google and other partner search sites. You can use this type of remarketing ads for visitors who abandon your website and then go on Google search to find related solutions.

Video Remarketing

Video remarketing includes showing those visitors remarketing ads that have recently viewed your videos or to people who have been on your website.

You can display video remarketing ads on YouTube at the start or in-between videos your potential consumers are viewing (where they’ll have the choice to skip the ad). You can also display a remarketing ad on the right-hand side margin where they find video recommendations.

Email Remarketing

Email remarketing encapsulates two methods:

1. Serving remarketing display ads across various websites to users who open an email from you.

2. Reaching out to visitors who have left your website without completing a purchase with targeted follow-up emails that persuade them to come back to your website.

What is backlink in SEO?

A backlink is the most used term in the world of SEO. Backlinks are external links to the website. They show the change from one site to another or from one page to another. They help to index the website’s pages accurately.

Backlinks are a vital part of the SEO process. They help search bots to craw to rank site correctly to its content. Each backlink is a component of a ranking puzzle. That’s why every website owner wants to get as much as likely backlinks due to improving the website’s SEO ranking factors. It’s a type of reference or hyperlink used in the text.sed term in SEO.

Advantages of Backlinks in SEO:

Here are some benefits of backlinks…

Regular Referral Traffic - Whenever you comment on a site with your link there or a link to your site is placed on some different domain then there are great chances of you receiving the referral traffic to your site from there. So backlinks help you to get the referral traffic which will be excellent for your site.

Jump in Metrics - With the quality backlinks, you not only grow the referral traffic but also the increase in the ranking metrics like DA, PA, TF, CF, etc. And this rise in the metrics will be going to work for you.

Branding & Authority - With the quality backlinks, the parameter of your site goes huge and what that gives the authority to your blog. The quality of backlinks not only gives the authority but it also gives branding to your site. Now how can the authority and branding of your blog benefits you, the branding and authority will give you with some paid post from some big brands in your niche. So this brings the chance to earn more by just writing a sponsored post on your blog.

Relationship Opportunity - When your blog is brand-new, you have to find out the authority blogs to publish a guest post but when your blog receives the authority people will contact you to post their guest post on your blog. This will help you some more money too in case you want a paid guest post to be published on your site. So with the guest post and sponsored post opportunity on your blog, you are open to generate some good relationships with some big brands and fellow bloggers.

Dos and Don’ts

Dos-

ü  Constantly monitor the DA of the site, it should be minimum 20+ when your site is new. Once you have a DA of 20+ then take that to 30+ at least.

ü  Do monitor the TF of the site if the quality of the site is good only then give it a go.

ü  Regularly check the content whether it is original and quality content or not.

ü  Do Monitor whether the site is penalized by Google or not.

ü  Check how many they are with the article update i.e. do they publish new articles daily or not.

ü  Before proceeding to create a backlink always check whether the site is getting a big amount of traffic or not.

Don’ts -

• Quantity does not matter so don’t generate huge numbers of backlinks at a time and then rest back.
• Don’t generate links on a site that is spammy or not with genuine content.
• Don’t generate links on irrelevant sites e.g. if you have a tech related niche blog then there is no point in creating links from a movie niche blog. Relevancy is necessary for the longer run.
• Don’t insert the links on the site which contain links or content that is banned by Google like hacks and all.

Significance of Rakshabandhan

Rakshabandhan is a popular, traditionally Hindu annual ritual, or ceremony, celebrated in India, and amongst people throughout the world influenced by Hindu culture. On this day, sisters of all ages tie rakhi, in right wrist of their brothers, symbolically guarding them, receiving something in return, and brothers take the responsibility of their possible care to their sisters

Meaning of Rakshabandhan in Sanskrit is, "the bond of protection, obligation, or care," It is celebrated in "Shrawan Purnima"

Raksha Bandhan is now recognized as a day to celebrate the pure relationship of a brother and a sister. In history, the rakhi was just been for Raksha or protection. It could be tied by a daughter or mother or wife. The Rishis tied rakhi to the people who came seeking their blessings. The sages tied the holy thread to themselves to safeguard them from the evil. It is, by all means, the 'Papa Todak, Punya Pradayak Parva' or the day that gives blessings and end all sins as it is mentioned in the writings.

History of Rakshabandhan

It is said that the story behind Raksha Bandhan is during the time of "Devasur Sangram" All gods, goddesses, and even Indra were kicked out from heaven by evils in the war. Gods were not so powerful to face powerful evils. They had no options to stay anyplace so they went to Lord Shiva for solutions. It was this day "ShrawanPurnima" so Mata Parvati quickly tied up a rakhi on the right wrist of all gods and blessed with more divine powers for war with evils. After having tied up Raksha sutra (Rakhi), gods fought the war with evils and it kept on going for thousands of years.

And finally, gods won the war and Indra took his throne of heaven.

Gods then came over to Kailash for the darshan of Lord Shiva and Maa Bhagwati.

So, since then "Raksha sutra or Bandhan" on the wrist of her brother is a guarantee always long protection of brothers and back brother additionally guarantees for

Safety and protection of sisters at all cost.

Another Story of Rakshabandhan is the story of Draupadi and Krishna.

It is said that while Sri Krishna was in a fight with Sishupala, he had his finger cut and Draupadi quickly tore off a piece of cloth from the pallu of her saree and offered it as a bandage to prevent the bleeding.

For every thread which she had used to treat his wound, Lord Krishna promised to repay the cost of every thread.

He had assured Draupadi to help her by saying, “whenever you need my help I will be always there for you.” Many of the people believe, the concept of Rakshabandhan came from Draupadi and Krishna.

Krishna not only helped Draupadi during the 'Vastra apaharana' but also at the time when Durvasa rishi had come at the Pandavas place during their exile for alms along with his entourage, he helped her with the 'Akshaya Patra'.

Significance of Rakshabandhan

It is an amazing Hindu Festival where sisters dress up beautifully to celebrate this special occasion with their brothers. Sisters also pray for a wealthy future and a long life for their brothers. Rakhi holds great emotional and religious significance. The festival keeps the deep-rooted culture of the country alive, strengthens the relationship between siblings and ensures togetherness. No such festival is visible anywhere except India.

How influencer marketing works?

What is influence marketing?

Our lifestyles have changed with advancing technology so much that they are not only affected by the way we consume, they have also changed marketing strategies for many businesses. Advertising methods that worked only a decade ago, such as doorstep sales, hoardings or television advertising, have all lost their meanings in our day. The most common media of our age, the internet, is the most chosen medium for marketing. But we are in such a fast-changing period that even the ads on websites are no longer powerful enough. At this point, we have been introduced with a new marketing method: influencer marketing

Unlike other marketing approaches, by which brands advertise their products and services directly to the customer, influencer marketing is an approach by which brands promote their products or services through an "influencer." Here "influencer" defines people who have created their group of followers in a specific area (such as makeup, fashion, traveling, or sports) and hold the power of inspiring and affecting them. By working with them, brands promote their products through the direction of a third party.

How does it works

Influencer marketing uses key leaders to drive a brand’s message to the targeted audience, and for this reason, brands tend to associate themselves with personalities who lead most towards their goals. Influencer campaigns are meant to tap into the present market or community of engaged followers and you have probably seen this through famous bloggers and YouTubers who actively promote market brands to their followers.

Influencer marketing conforms to a popular business law that states that the marketplace will always easily attach to the opinion of an influencer without any denial, a law that makes influencers be a prized asset among market brands. Influencers enjoy a solid following from social media platforms and they do make a notable impression in their online communities, these individuals play the role of journalists, content writers, entertainers and advisers and are normally connected to a network of other popular individuals who are also considered as influential.

Who can be an influencer?

Anyone can be an influencer. There is a trick, but, most brands look for influencers who are ‘knowledgeable’ about their type of product. For example, a makeup brand looks for influencers who are either well-known in the field, like a celebrity, or who are great at using their types of products.

Types of influencers -

Celebrities

Content Creators

Thought Leaders

Industry Experts

Micro-Influencer

What is SEO and how does it works

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website to get un-paid traffic from the search engine results page. In other terms, SEO involves making certain changes to your website design and content that make your site looks more attractive to a search engine. You do this so that the search engine will display your website as a top result on the search engine results page.

Though search engine optimization can get quite difficult when it comes to all the different factors that impact your ranking, the basic process is not as difficult to understand. Search engines want to provide the best facility for their users. This means delivering results on the search engine pages that are not just only high quality but also relevant to what the searcher is looking for.

In order to do this, search engines will scan, different websites to better understand what the site is about. This helps them deliver relevant results to those who are searching for certain keywords or topic. The search engines will scan the site to decide how easy it is to navigate and read, rewarding user-friendly sites with higher rankings on the search engine results page.

SEO is the method that organizations go through to help make sure that their site ranks high in the search engines for relevant keywords and phrases.

By improving your SEO, you can work to increase your visibility on the search engines. This helps you reach and engage more potential consumers. By creating more engaging and effective SEO-focused content, you can boost your chances of bringing in more targeted organic traffic.

Factors That Impact SEO

Now that you simply know what's SEO and the way it works, let’s take a glance at a number of the factors that can impact your search engine optimization ranking.

Search engine giant, Google will never give away the accurate algorithm they use to rank sites. However, we do have a pretty good knowledge of some of the factors that impact search engine results page (SERP) rankings. These factors include both on-page and off-page factors, which we will explain below.

Content Marketing

Before we jump into some of the factors of on and off-page SEO, let’s talk about content. Content is powerful in both attracting the search engines and helping your organization make connections with site visitors.

The more quality, relevant content pieces that you have on your site, the more possible search engines will be to rank your pages higher on the search engine results page. The more engaging and powerful content you have on your site, the more likely your visitors will be to spend some quality time on your website and maybe even make a purchase.

On-Page SEO

The on-page SEO factors are those factors that happen on your website. These are the things that you have total control over, it means that you can work to improve these factors over time by following best practices for SEO. This goes beyond just your content marketing to the deeper levels of your website’s HTML.

Here are some of the on-page SEO factors that can help you to improve your search ranking :

Title Tag – The title tag on each page describes the search engines what your page is about. This should be 60 characters including both the keyword your content focuses on and your business name.

Meta Description – The Meta description on your website describes search engines a little more about what each page is about. This is also used by your human visitors to quite understand what the page is about and if it’s related. This should include your keyword and also provide enough details to tell the reader what the content is on.

Sub-headings – Not only do sub-headings make your content easier for visitors to read, but it can also help increase your SEO. You can use H1, H2, and H3 tags to help search engines properly understand what your content is about.

Internal Links – Building internal links, or hyperlinks to other content on your site can help search engines discover more about your site.

Image Name and ALT Tags – If you are using images on your website or in your blog content, you will also want to include your keyword or phrase in the image name and alt tag. This will help search engines better index your images, which may appear when users perform an image search for a specific keyword

Off-Page SEO

In addition to the on-page SEO elements that your organization has control over, there are also off-page SEO factors that can affect your ranking. Though you do not have direct power over these off-page factors, there are ways that you can increase your chances of having these factors work out in your favour.

Here are various off-page SEO factors that can impact your search engine rankings:

Trust – Trust is becoming a more important factor in a site’s Google ranking. This is how Google determines whether you have a legitimate site that visitors can trust. One of the best ways to develop trust is by building quality backlinks from sites that have authority.

Links – One of the most common ways to build off-page SEO is through backlinks. You want to be cautious here as spamming sites with your links is a fast and simple way to get your site banned from the search engines. Instead, take the time to form relationships with influencers and fans who create quality content and will link back to your site in their content.

Social – Another important off-page SEO factor is social signals, such as likes and shares. When it comes to increasing SEO, you want to look for quality shares from influencers. The more quality content you publish, the more likely you will be to get people to share your content with others.

Top 5 food items you should not eat in monsoon

The monsoon comes with a lot of puddles, thunder and lightning, and a large portion of food cravings! Especially on those days when you have nothing much to do. The rainy season is incredibly romantic, but it’s also that time when you’re likely to fall sick easily. If you want to avoid running to the doctor every other week, then here are some foods you should not during the monsoon.

1)    Leafy veggies

It is a known fact that leafy vegetablesare very important for our health. However, you should avoid consumption of leafy veggies during monsoon because leafy veggies like spinach, methi etc. grow in the mud. And in monsoon, washing this dirt off the leaves can be a challenging, and often germs still remain on them, leading to stomach infections.

2)    Juices from Roadside vendors

The fruits that are on the cart of roadside vendors is a perfect spot for a mosquito party, they have the fruits cut up well in advance, which could have come in contact with contaminated air. Prepare your juices at home using fresh fruits and drink it instantly.

3)    Fried food

Fried food is one of the food items you should completely avoid this monsoon. The extremely humid monsoon weather causes our digestion process to slow down. The fried food could cause gastronomical complications like bloating and stomach upset. So avoideating fried food during monsoon

4)    Sea food

Monsoon is the breeding season for fish. So you must avoid eating sea food during monsoon. Instead, you can consume chicken or mutton. However, if it is absolutely necessary to have sea food, make sure you are taking extra care to cook them well.

5)  Chaat

Chaat is a roadside snack every Indian loves to eat. Chaat includes panipuri, bhel puri, dahi puri that might be made with contaminated water. Chances of consumption of contaminated water while making these snacks are high leading to infections which can cause jaundice or diarrhoea. A few moments of pleasure can land you in hospital for days.