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Tricks to Get More Traffic to Your Website
By Mike Caudill, DRIVEN Media Communications and VYP Media Chair
Wanna know how to get more traffic to your company web site? Well, without
getting too technical, there are a host of things you can do to make your web site
more efficient. Today’s tip is pretty simple. Each page of your web site is being reviewed
by the search engines out there on the internet. Examples of such search engines would
of course be Google, Yahoo and Ask.com. The search engines deploy something called
web crawlers that continually screen your company web site for updates and changes.
When a change occurs, it’s noted with the search engine and increases your ranking,
thus moving your web site up on the search lists. This is important because you want
your customers or potential customers to see you before the competition!
How do you do this? Just add more content to your web site on a routine basis. However,
there is another small trick that will really maximize your exposure. Each page you create
for your web site has a series of words that help the web crawler identify your site. These
key words are what truly help elevate your exposure and ranking. The technical term is
meta tabs, but for the purposes of this exercise…just call them key words.
If you use your cursor (do this now) and right click on a web site, click the properties
button. When the properties come up, click on view page source. Under page source you
will see the word meta on the left side. Next to it are the key words that describe each and
every page on your web site. Use our web site as an example, type in your web browser
Rising Gas Prices Spark New Demand for 4-Day Workweeks
By Marti Fisher, CalChamber
Gasoline in California cost $4.63 per gallon this week, more than double
the price of a year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration.
In addition, traffic congestion is getting worse and Californians are
increasingly looking for ways to clean up the environment.
One strategy that would have a positive impact on household gas budgets, commuter
congestion and the environment would be permitting employees to work alternative work
schedules such as four 10-hour days rather than five eight-hour days in a week.
Alternative Workweek
California law allows an employer to implement alternative schedules for all employees
in a specified work unit by following a series of steps, including holding a secret ballot
election.
Under current Labor Code 511 and following Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders,
employers may institute alternative work schedules if two-thirds of affected employees
agree to the arrangement by secret ballot.
In moving to an alternative work schedule, however, an employer must carefully follow the
rules so as to avoid being subjected to potential lawsuits.
Water, Water, Water...
Action Needs to be Taken Now – Both Governor and Local Assemblyman Agree
California is facing a serious water crisis. After two years of below-average rainfall,
snowmelt runoff and court-ordered water transfer restrictions, Governor
Schwarzenegger has proclaimed a drought in California and is encouraging all of us to
conserve water through the remainder of this year and into 2009.
This crisis highlights the state’s need for a long-term solution to our water supply needs.
It is more important that ever that the Legislature work with Governor Schwarzenegger to
pass a comprehensive plan for the state’s water infrastructure that supplies the water we
drink and fuels our farmers.
That is why Governor Schwarzenegger is leading the effort in our Capitol to pass a water infrastructure
plan. As part of his budget, he has proposed $11.8 billion to invest in water storage,
Delta sustainability, water stewardship, conservation, and water quality improvement.
Help Governor Schwarzenegger put into place a water plan for California that will keep our
faucets flowing and our farmers growing food for generations to come.
Take Action NOW – visit www.JoinArnold.com to email your legislators today and ask them to
work with the Governor to solve California’s water challenges!
California’s farmers and families cannot afford to wait any longer for a real solution!
www.driveontheweb.com. When the site loads, right click on the screen, view page source
and voila…it tells you the meta information.
If you are the one making changes to your web site through a Content Management
System or CMS, it will take you literally five minutes to add information to your meta tabs.
If you don’t use a CMS, then forward this to your Web master and ask them to do this for
you. It might cost, but it’s worth it.
So, that’s today’s tech tip brought to you by the Young Valley Professionals. Next newsletter,
tune in and we’ll give you five tips to keeping your car running smoothly!
Each month the Chamber will be including
an article from the Valley Young Professionals
(VYP) committee. These tips and articles will
be written by the VYPs from their business perspective
and are meant to be useful and interesting
to the entire TVCC membership. To learn
more about VYP visit, www.TemeculaVYP.org
More information about establishing an alternative workweek schedule is available in the
CalChamber’s California Labor Law Digest and in Chapter 56, “Alternative Workweek Arrangements,”
of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement field enforcement manual
at www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Manual-Instructions.htm.
Although the multi-step process can be challenging and cumbersome, it does present an
opportunity for employers to implement 4/10 schedules to benefit their employees and
their business.
Flexible Workweek Legislation
This year, many local chambers of commerce sponsored AB 2127 (Benoit; R-Bermuda
Dunes), which would have permitted an individual employee in a non-union workplace
to request, and the employer to grant, an alternative workweek schedule without going
through the election process.
More Information
Information on how to implement an alternative work schedule in accordance with the
current requirements is available on the CalChamber’s HR California website.
Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries (R-Lake Elsinore) applauds Governor Schwarzenegger for signing
an executive order declaring a drought and calling for concerted state action to conserve
water and better coordinate efforts by local water districts and agencies to deal with water
shortages. “I would like to thank the Governor for his continued focus on the current and
long-term shortages of water in California. Two of the areas hit hardest by this drought
are the Inland Empire and Northern San Diego County, both within my district. I welcome
these efforts by the Governor to expedite the release of previously approved bond funds to
local districts to aid in conservation, recycling, and groundwater storage efforts,” said Assemblyman
Jeffries.
San Diego County’s critical agriculture industry has also already been hard hit with increased
water rates and a mandatory 30% cut in agricultural water usage. Jeffries commented,
“as avocado, citrus, and grape growers are forced to stop farming by these drought
restrictions, we will see these orchards and vineyards replaced by homes and other developments
that will only use more water. We need to recognize that we are all in this water
shortage together, and must work cooperatively to increase the supply of water in California
so that we can preserve our economy and our way of life.”
Temecula Today | July 2008 p11