More than ever before, the need for selecting an amicable and trusted SEO Firm has become immense now. The competition in every field of online marketing has become tougher – thanks to the mushroom growth of websites, crossing one billion already. In this rat-race, how your website can bring forth desired results, unless it is popularized by ethical, meaningful and technology-upgraded Search Engine Optimization efforts?Talking of SEO techniques and tactics, you must understand that these are frequently changing phenomena. In line with the Algorithm Updates (priority of picking and projecting websites by Search Engine crawlers) the SEO tactics have changed vastly, over the recent years. More clearly, the SEO strategies adopted even by a Top SEO Company, believed to be effective till recently have lost their charm – like stuffing of keywords inside the web-content, mindlessly without context.With this changed scenario obtaining, to follow proven and successful SEO strategies that can guarantee top-ranking by popular Search Engine Page Results, you have to be even more careful in entrusting the website promotion project, only to professional SEO Specialists.How to choose the Top SEO Company? Here are important tips:1. Define your SEO requirements clearly:The objective of every website floated online is to meet with success – either highest profit or growth for online businesses or immense popularity for service-oriented sites. This is achieved only according to the aspirations of the site owners. For example, as the owner, you may need to achieve reasonable increase in volume of business in the next 3 months – this may be quantified in percentage. Some other website owner can desire differently and in different volume.If only you are determined of the target in your mind thus, prior to allotting the SEO task to the SEO Services Company, you can measure the success rate after end of this period, once the SEO Services Company finishes its SEO efforts.2. Get a Comprehensive Service provider for SEO: As mentioned earlier, SEO Services of today have become complex. Search Engines stipulate stiffer conditions for ranking a site at the top, as a measure of eliminating substandard sites and preventing them from getting the top-ranks, by illicit methods. The SEO Company you select should be the one that can render comprehensive services, relating to SEO from “A” to “Z”.For example, a result-oriented SEO Company, that has credible track records in SEO tactics should start with complete analysis of your website, including web design, to find out where it stands Search Engine ranking-wise, and suggest to you fruitful corrective methods.In addition, today’s SEO firms are to run that extra-mile, in not only bringing forth huge visitor-traffic to your site, but also prune your website’s content suitably. This pruning will help to provide happy consumer-experience, to convert visitors into buyers, then loyal customers and later on canvassing agents by the usefulness of your website, to their friends.3. Keep your search wider:It is your website that is going to suffer by selecting a so-so SEO firm. Therefore, you have every liberty to widen your dragnet and take free-consultation offered by multiple SEO Companies, to come to an informed decision. Gathering as much details as possible with regard to their services, capabilities, track-records and of course the cost involved will put you in a better standing, in implementing your choice.Check the credentials of the Top SEO Company carefully given from websites of your size, field and industry. If those sites have been promoted into prominence by the SEO Company in question, you can be sure that the SEO Company has the required capabilities to promote your site also very well.4. See only the merit and not size:It is not necessary that the so-called big names of SEO companies can only deliver results. Irrespective of the size, the professionalism of the SEO specialists is all that is going to achieve your objective. So be smart and select your right SEO Company (which must invariably be the Top SEO Company) that can work according to your wishes, aspirations and budget, to be a happy winner of online success.

What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.

There are various types of Internet businesses that an Internet business newbie or aspiring online entrepreneur could choose from. Generally, online or e-businesses are relatively cheaper to set up & easier to run than their offline counterparts, but they’re arguably more competitive. To succeed in the world of online business, an e-business newbie must be passionate about the business, must have a good knowledge of the business and must possess a good deal of communication & marketing skills. The early days of new Internet businesses are usually the toughest & most discouraging, and during these times, it’s only passion that keeps the newbie from throwing in the towel. Of course, it would be foolish to jump into what you know absolutely nothing about. Doing a lot of research & planning is, thus, absolutely crucial to the ultimate success of any online venture. Most importantly, if you cannot communicate adequately and promote your products or services, then don’t even bother starting an Internet business because the competition will just put you out of business.Types of online or e-businesses include the following:1. Corporate Websites – these are not actually e-businesses in the real sense of the word. They are, rather, online representations of established offline businesses. These established “physical” corporations use their websites to maintain an online presence through which they market their products or services to a much broader audience. They can also use this medium to transact business with clients who, otherwise, would have been impossible to reach out to, hence increasing their customer base.2. Informational Sites – this type of Internet business includes online encyclopedias, online news, e-magazines, blogs, forums, specialized websites, etc. These e-businesses monetize their sites by paid subscriptions, placement of contextual ads like Google AdSense, promotion of affiliate products, or even selling ad spaces on their sites directly to advertisers. Of all these, I believe blogs are probably the easiest and most inexpensive to set up and run, hence I advocate blogging for any Internet business newbie or aspiring online entrepreneur with little or no start-up capital.3. Web Services – this type of online business include email services, search engines, social networking sites, chat rooms, bulk SMS service, web hosting, graphic design, web design, Internet marketing, translation services, market research, online payment services, directories, online market place, software development, etc.4. Online Shops – just as the name implies, this type of Internet business entails displaying and selling of ones own products in a shop, except in this case both product display and transactions are carried out online. Delivery of the sold “physical” products, however, is done offline, well except for some digital products like software, e-books, music, videos, games, etc, that are downloadable directly to the buyers computer, PDA, phone, etc. Note that in this type of business, the shop owner must actually own the “physical” products on sale, not necessarily being the manufacturer, but has at least acquired the products and have them in stock ready for delivery to any buyer. Hence, it could also be an already established offline shop looking to expand its customer base online.5. Affiliate Shops – the difference between this type of online business and online shops as described above is that with affiliate shops, the shop owner doesn’t have to own or have in stock any of the “physical” products on sale. It is also not the responsibility of the affiliate shop owner to deliver any sold product to its end buyer. All the affiliate shop owner does is to market and sell products owned by other individuals or companies.6. Online Trading – this includes forex trading, stock trading, options, futures, precious stones, crude oil, real estate, e-minis, etc.Now, of all these various types of Internet businesses, some are easy to setup while others are less so, some are also easy to run while others, not so and some are relatively less expensive than others. For a new Internet business owner or aspiring online entrepreneur, I advocate blogging and/or affiliate marketing because they are relatively easier to set up and run, and also very inexpensive. For instance, you could start a money-making blog with NO CAPITAL at all, provided you have access to a computer linked to the Internet.Well all I can say at this point is good luck with your chosen type of Internet business.