It does not matter what side of the global warming debate you are on, this article will help anyone who wants to save money. By making simple changes in our lives and thinking about particular habits and routines that we have, all of us can take simple actions to improve the quality of our lives, live a more eco friendly life, and save money by going green.

Most blogs that discuss saving money and the environment will include tips such as walk or bike rather than drive, try public transportation and carpool, and think about using an alternative fuel vehicle. Unfortunately these are not an option for everybody. However, there are many different things we can do to become a part of the national movement of “going green.”

Simple Actions to Save You Money and Save the Planet:

1. Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs. If every household in the United States changed only 1 frequently used light bulb to a fluorescent light, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for one year. This is one of the easiest changes to make in order to save money and help save the earth.

2. Expand your batteries life span. It is best to buy rechargeable batteries but if that is not an option here are some tricks to increase the life of a battery.

•Do not replace all 4 batteries. When your device stops working, it may be because only one battery is dead. Try buying the self-testing batteries and check each one, only replace the dead batteries.

•Keep your batteries in the refrigerator to make them last longer.

•Believe it or not, your laptop computer does not belong on your lap. Laying a notebook on a soft surface restricts air flow and heats up the battery. To prolong the life of the battery, invest $5 to $20 in a “cooling pad.”

3. Get a home energy audit: Check to see if your utility company offers a free home utility audit to help you find air leaks, poor insulation and determine your homes energy efficiency.

4. From the home energy audit, you will likely be told to seal and insulate your home. You can hire a contractor or for the more adventurous try a “Do-It-Yourself-Guide.” This may cost some money up front but will definitely save money in the long run.

5. Keep your water heater warm by wrapping it in an insulation blanket. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, adding insulation to your water heater can reduce heat loss by 25-45%, thereby saving you 4% to 9% in water heating costs. You can buy these at any home improvement store for about $20.

6. Insulate your car’s battery. Check to see if your car’s battery is insulated properly, if not buy a plastic insulated battery blanket for $10 to $30.

7. Charge your batteries with solar power. Pay a onetime fee of $80 to $200 and then charge your batteries for free for years and save money.

8. Unplug unused electrical devices and save money on your electricity bill. This is easier said then done. Start by unplugging your cell phone and iPod chargers. In addition buy a power strip that allows you to turn it on and off easily.

9. Turn off the lights and go green! This may seem like a no-brainer but it is amazing how many people keep their lights on, television running, and computers going. Turning these off will not only save money on your electricity bill but will add in our efforts to save the earth.

10. Keep your thermostat between 68 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Use blankets, open windows and take off layers of clothes. For most of us, this is easier said than done. Remember to turn off your thermostat when you go to work and when you go to bed. If you forget, get a programmable thermostat. This can save a considerable amount of money on your heating bill.

Important facts to keep in mind: First it does not require more energy to reheat your home than it does to keep it at the same temperature. Second, turning the temperature up higher does not make the house warm up faster, it only makes the heater stay on longer after turning it off.

11. Stop using store catalogs and shop online. Most of the time you save money online anyway.

12. Stop receiving junk mail. Millions of trees are lost each year on junk mail alone. You can try to get your name deleted from the junk mail sources or spend a little time and write on each junk mail received, “Return to Sender.” You do not have to pay for the postage and eventually you will stop receiving mail from them.

13. Print less often. Write down directions on small note pads, do not print emails. If you need to print there are free software programs out there that allow you to edit web pages to only print the content that you need.

14. Ways to Save Water:

1. Take shorter showers

2. Turn the water off while shaving or brushing your teeth

3. Repair all toilet and faucet leaks immediately. A leaky toiled can waste up to 200 gallons of water per day, a leaky faucet a little less.

4. Be smart when irrigating your lawn and landscape. Only water when needed, early morning is best.

5. A water saving-energy efficient dish washer used with the right dishwashing soap can save water, energy and save money.

15. Eat out less. Restaurants use more energy to produce your meals.

16. When staying at a hotel, practice what you do at home. Turn off the lights and television when you leave, don’t waste water, turn off the A/C when you leave the room. Reuse your towels and use your own toiletries. The hotel’s toiletries are cheap and are always over-packaged.

17. Conserve and use less and transition to “living green.” Use less shampoo, cleaning detergent, soap, toothpaste and paper products. It is amazing how much conserving saves you money and how beneficial it is in our fight to save the planet.

18. Buy used: Search online classifieds and newspapers. You can find gently used furniture, appliances, cars, and many other things.

19. These next two items are the easiest, quickest way to start “going green” and living more eco friendly. Invest a little money in reusable shopping bags ($1 to $5). My favorite is the Chico Bag that clips onto your purse or keys and are therefore hard to forget. Use them at the grocery store, the mall, or any other place where you need to pick up a few items. This not only saves plastic but it brings public awareness towards the living green movement.

20. Avoid using plastic water bottles. Instead buy reusable aluminum or stainless steel bottles at any Target or Sports shop. This truly helps in the effort to save our planet but it is also beneficial for our health.

21. If you have to use the one time use plastic water bottles, fill some bottles up (not completely full) and put them in the freezer. This increases the energy efficiency of your freezer by allowing it to run less and you can use the frozen water bottles when you need an ice pack. When they melt, it makes for a wonderfully cold drink.

22. Save your left over’s. You can save bread bags, butter containers, and other packages that you can use to store your left over food. Buy cheap labels at the dollar store and label everything.

23. When possible avoid using disposable plates, cups and utensils. These cost a lot of money and take up a lot of space in our landfills.

24. Use cloth diapers not disposable. It is not as difficult or inconvenient as most parents think it is. There are many great articles on the cloth versus disposable debate.

More difficult steps towards “going green.” Spend a little time and money in the short term, save money and/or save the planet in the long run.

1. Composting your food and yard trimmings lessens the amount of garbage that is sent to landfills and also reduces the amount of pollution to the atmosphere.

2. Efficient Landscaping: This can save money, save energy and save the earth.

3. Install solar panels. Solar is quickly becoming more affordable and efficient and many states have tax incentives now.

4. To help get you motivated towards “going green” and eco friendly living, research incentives and tax rebates for home improvements at the U.S. Department of Energy. http://www.dsireusa.org

5. Last but not least, PLANT A TREE. One tree, over its life will absorb over one ton of carbon dioxide and put healthy oxygen into the air.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people who believe that the problem is much too big for one person to make a difference. But that is simply not true. Every time you choose to recycle instead of throwing it in the trash, or walk to the store instead of drive, or spend a little extra money on organic and eco friendly products, you alone are making a difference. And if 100,000 people just made simple changes in their daily routine, our efforts will significantly improve our chance to save the earth and save the planet. For more detailed information, links and resources to start living a more eco friendly life visit my website and click on the Article: Save Money.


source : Alicia Thompson

Analyzing your web traffic statistics can be an invaluable tool for a number of different reasons. But before you can make full use of this tool, you need to understand how to interpret the data.

Most web hosting companies will provide you with basic web traffic information that you then have to interpret and make pertinent use of. However, the data you receive from your host company can be overwhelming if you don't understand how to apply it to your particular business and website. Let's start by examining the most basic data-the average visitors to your site on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

These figures are the most accurate measure of your website's activity. It would appear on the surface that the more traffic you see recorded, the better you can assume your website is doing, but this is an inaccurate perception. You must also look at the behavior of your visitors once they come to your website to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your site.

There is often a great misconception about what is commonly known as "hits" and what is really effective, quality traffic to your site. Hits simply means the number of information requests received by the server. If you think about the fact that a hit can simply equate to the number of graphics per page, you will get an idea of how overblown the concept of hits can be. For example, if your home page has 15 graphics on it, the server records this as 15 hits, when in reality we are talking about a single visitor checking out a single page on your site. As you can see, hits are not useful in analyzing your website traffic.

The more visitors that come to your website, the more accurate your interpretation will become. The greater the traffic is to your website, the more precise your analysis will be of overall trends in visitor behavior. The smaller the number of visitors, the more a few anomalous visitors can distort the analysis.

The aim is to use the web traffic statistics to figure out how well or how poorly your site is working for your visitors. One way to determine this is to find out how long on average your visitors spend on your site. If the time spent is relatively brief, it usually indicates an underlying problem. Then the challenge is to figure out what that problem is.

It could be that your keywords are directing the wrong type of visitors to your website, or that your graphics are confusing or intimidating, causing the visitor to exit rapidly. Use the knowledge of how much time visitors are spending on your site to pinpoint specific problems, and after you fix those problems, continue to use time spent as a gauge of how effective your fix has been.

Additionally, web traffic stats can help you determine effective and ineffective areas of your website. If you have a page that you believe is important, but visitors are exiting it rapidly, that page needs attention. You could, for example, consider improving the link to this page by making the link more noticeable and enticing, or you could improve the look of the page or the ease that your visitors can access the necessary information on that page.

If, on the other hand, you notice that visitors are spending a lot of time on pages that you think are less important, you might consider moving some of your sales copy and marketing focus to that particular page.

As you can see, these statistics will reveal vital information about the effectiveness of individual pages, and visitor habits and motivation. This is essential information to any successful Internet marketing campaign.

Your website undoubtedly has exit pages, such as a final order or contact form. This is a page you can expect your visitor to exit rapidly. However, not every visitor to your site is going to find exactly what he or she is looking for, so statistics may show you a number of different exit pages. This is normal unless you notice an exit trend on a particular page that is not intended as an exit page. In the case that a significant percentage of visitors are exiting your website on a page not designed for that purpose, you must closely examine that particular page to discern what the problem is. Once you pinpoint potential weaknesses on that page, minor modifications in content or graphic may have a significant impact on the keeping visitors moving through your site instead of exiting at the wrong page.

After you have analyzed your visitor statistics, it's time to turn to your keywords and phrases. Notice if particular keywords are directing a specific type of visitor to your site. The more targeted the visitor-meaning that they find what they are looking for on your site, and even better, fill out your contact form or make a purchase-the more valuable that keyword is.

However, if you find a large number of visitors are being directed-or should I say misdirected-to your site by a particular keyword or phrase, that keyword demands adjustment. Keywords are vital to bringing quality visitors to your site who are ready to do business with you. Close analysis of the keywords your visitors are using to find your site will give you a vital understanding of your visitor's needs and motivations.

Finally, if you notice that users are finding your website by typing in your company name, break open the champagne! It means you have achieved a significant level of brand recognition, and this is a sure sign of burgeoning success.


Source :Nelson Tan