guacariduit

2. Beta thalassaemia

is due to mutations, in one or both of the beta globin genes. There are 100 to 200 mutations that have been identified but only about 20 are common. The severity of the Anaemia caused by beta thalassaemia depends on which mutations are present and on whether they decrease beta globin production (called beta+ thalassaemia) or completely eliminate it (called beta0 thalassaemia). The different types of beta thalassaemia include:

Beta Thalassaemia Trait. A person with this condition has one normal gene and one with a mutation. They will usually experience no health problems other than microcytosis (small red blood cells) and a possible mild Anaemia that will not respond to iron supplements. This gene mutation can be passed on to an individual’s children.

Thalassaemia Intermedia. In this condition, an affected person has two abnormal genes but is still producing some beta globin. The severity of the Anaemia and health problems experienced depends on the mutations present. The dividing line between thalassaemia intermedia and thalassaemia major is the degree of Anaemia and the number and frequency of  blood transfusions required to treat it. Those with thalassaemia intermedia may need occasional transfusions but do not require them on a regular basis.

Thalassaemia Major (also called Cooley’s Anaemia). This is the most severe form of beta thalassaemia. The patient has two abnormal genes that cause either a severe decrease or complete lack of beta globin production, preventing the production of significant amounts of  HbA. This condition usually appears in an infant after 3 months of age and causes life-threatening Anaemia. This Anaemia requires lifelong regular blood transfusions and considerable ongoing medical care. Over time these frequent transfusions lead to excessive amounts of iron in the body. Left untreated, this excess iron can deposit into the liver, heart and other organs, and can lead to a premature death from organ failure.

Other forms of thalassaemia occur when a gene for beta thalassaemia is inherited in combination with a gene for a haemoglobin variant. (link to Hb Variant page) The most important of these are:

HbE – beta thalassaemia. HbE is one of the most common haemoglobin variants, found predominantly in people of Southeast Asian descent. If a person inherits one  HbE gene and one beta thalassaemia gene, the combination produces HbE-beta thalassaemia   which causes a moderately severe Anaemia similar to beta thalassaemia intermedia.

HbS - beta thalassaemia or sickle cell - beta thalassaemia. HbS is one of the most well known of the haemoglobin variants. Inheritance of one HbS gene and one beta thalassaemia gene results in HbS-beta thalassaemia. The severity of the condition depends on the amount of beta globin produced by the beta gene. If no beta globin is produced, the clinical picture is almost identical to sickle cell disease.

Laboratory Tests

1. FBC (full blood count). The FBC is a snapshot of the cells and fluid in your bloodstream. Among other things, the FBC will tell the doctor how many red blood cells are present, how much haemoglobin is in them, and give the doctor an evaluation of the size and shape of the red blood cells present. MCH (mean corpuscular haemoglobin) and MCV (mean   corpuscular   volume) are measurements of the haemoglobin content and size of the red blood cells. Alow MCH or MCV is often the first indication of thalassaemia. If the MCH or MCV is low and iron-deficiency has been ruled out, the person may be a thalassaemia trait carrier.

2. Blood film (smear).  In this test a thin stained layer of blood is examined on a slide, under a microscope. The number and type of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets can be manually counted and be evaluated to see if they are normal  and mature.   variety of disorders  affect normal blood cell production. With thalassaemia, the red blood cells are often microcytic (small). They may also be:

Hypochromic (pale - indicating less haemoglobin)

Vary in size (anisocytosis) and shape (poikilocytosis)

Be nucleated (not normal in a mature R&1)

Be distorted to produce “target cells”, which look like a bull’sMeye under the microscope.

3. Iron studies. These may include:  Iron, Ferritin, UIB1, TIBC, and Percent Saturation of Transferrin. These tests measure different aspects of the body’s iron storage and usage.

They are ordered to help determine whether an iron deficiency is causing and/or exacerbating a patient’s Anaemia. One or more of them may also be ordered to help monitor the degree of iron overload in a patient with thalassaemia.

4. Haemoglobinopathy (Hb) evaluation. This test measures the type and relative   amounts of haemoglobins present in the red blood cells. Haemoglobin A, composed of both alpha and beta globin, is the major normal type of haemoglobin found in adults.   greater percentage of  HbA2 and/or  HbF is usually seen in beta thalassaemia trait. HbH may be seen in alpha thalassaemia , but only when at two of the four alpha genes are deleted or mutated.

5. DNA analysis. This test is used to investigate deletions and mutations in the alpha and beta globin producing genes. Family studies can be done to evaluate carrier status and the types of mutations present in other family members. DNA testing is not routinely done but can be used to help diagnose thalassaemia, and to determine carrier status.  Ht is the only reliable way of diagnosing carriers who have only one of four alpha genes deleted or mutated.

Thalassaemia Classifications

1. Alpha thalassaemia

is due to a deletion or mutation in one or more of the 4 alpha globin gene copies. The more genes affected, the less alpha globin produced. The four different types of alpha thalassaemia include:

Silent Carrier State (1 affected gene). The silent carrier will have normal haemoglobin levels red cell indices which are normal or show a slightly decreased MCH (hypochromia). Carriers can pass on the affected gene to their offspring. Often these individuals are identified only after having a child with HbH disease or alpha thalassaemia trait.

Alpha Thalassaemia Trait (2 affected genes). Patients who have alpha thalassaemia trait have smaller (microcytic), paler (hypochromic) red blood cells and a mild chronic Anaemia but do not generally experience any symptoms. This is an Anaemia that does not respond to iron supplements. Diagnosis of alpha thalassaemia trait is usually by exclusion of other causes of microcytic Anaemia. Confirmatory testing by DNA analysis is available but is not routinely done.

Haemoglobin H Disease (3 affected genes). With this condition, the large decrease in the amount of alpha globin chains produced causes an excess of beta chains which then aggregate into beta4 tetramers (groups of 4 beta chains), known as Haemoglobin H. HbH disease can cause moderate to severe Anaemia and splenomegaly (enlarged spleen). The clinical picture associated with HbH disease is extremely variable, however. Some individuals are asymptomatic while others have severe Anaemia. Haemoglobin H disease is found most often in individuals of Southeast Asian or Eastern Mediterranean descent.

Alpha Thalassaemia Major (also called hydrops fetalis, 4 affected genes). This is the   most severe form of alpha thalassaemia. In this condition, no alpha globin is produced, therefore, no HbA or HbF are produced. Fetuses affected by alpha thalassaemia major become anemic early in pregnancy. They become hydropic (retain fluids), and frequently have enlarged hearts and livers. This diagnosis is frequently made in the last months of pregnancy when a fetal ultrasound indicates a hydropic fetus. About 80% of the time the mother will have toxaemia and can develop severe postpartum hemorrhage. Fetuses with alpha thalassaemia major are usually miscarried, stillborn, or die shortly after birth.

Individuals with alpha thalassaemia may be misdiagnosed as iron deficient by unwary doctors, as iron deficiency also leads to small pale (microcytic hypochromic) red cells. It is important that iron therapy in thalassaemic patients is only given when specific iron tests (LINK TO FERRITIN, SERUM IRON, TIBC&TRANSFERRIN) have confirmed   iron deficiency. This is especially important in alpha thalassaemia, where there is a small potential for dangerous iron overload to develop.

Alpha thalassaemia is found most commonly in individuals with an ethnic background of Southeast  Asia, Southern China, the Middle East, India, Africa and the Mediterranean.

Thalassaemia is a group of inherited disorders that affect the amount of haemoglobin a person produces. Haemoglobin refers to a family of compounds all made up of haem (an iron-containing complex), and various globins (protein chains that surround the haem complex).

Haemoglobin (Hb) molecules are found in all red blood cells, and are the reason for their red colour. They bind oxygen in the lungs, carry it through the bloodstream, and release it to the body’s tissues.

Normal adult haemoglobins include:

• Haemoglobin A (about 95% - 98%). HbA contains two alpha (α) chains and two beta (β) chains.

• HbA2 (about 2% - 3,5%), has two alpha (α) and two delta (δ) chains.

• HbF (up to 2%). This is the primary haemoglobin produced by the fetus during gestation.    Its production usually falls to a low level within a year after birth. HbF has two alpha (α) and two gamma (γ) chains.

Mutations in the genes coding for the globin chains can cause disorders in haemoglobin production. There are 4 genes coding for alpha globin chains and 2 genes coding for the beta globin chains.

Inherited disorders of haemoglobin production fall into two categories:

• Thalassaemia: decreased production of normal haemoglobins.

• Haemoglobinopathy: production of an abnormal haemoglobin molecule.

       
Thalassaemias are a group of disorders in which mutations in one or more of the alpha or beta globin genes cause a reduction in the amount of the Hb produced. This leads to a reduction in HbA, the relative increase in the amount of minor haemoglobins HbA2 and  HbF, and perhaps detection of unusual haemoglobin types. The thalassaemias are usually classified by the type of globin chain whose synthesis is reduced.

Saponins are phytochemicals naturally present in plant foods. Many
of these compounds serve as “natural antibiotics” for the plant
themselves, but now scientists are using them in the fight against
viruses, and infections. TheyÌre also known to lower blood cholesterol
thereby reducing heart disease. 1 out of every 4 Americans need to
lower their Cholesterol! Saponins have the ability to lower
Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Raise HDL levels. The lack of
saponins also seems to closely parallel the rise in heart disease. In

todayÌs fast food society, foods rich in saponins make little
contribution to our normal diets, which makes it necessary to take a
good supplement.

One of the most exciting prospects is found in how saponins
inhibit or even kill cancer cells, without killing normal cells around
them in the process, which is the norm with present cancer-fighting
drugs. Since cancer cells have more cholesterol-type compounds in
their membranes than normal cells, a diet rich in saponins is known to
bind cholesterol and thus interfere with cell growth and division.
Saponins are safe and non-toxic while drugs are known to have
adverse side effects, many of which can be serious.

How Do Saponins Work?

Since saponins cannot penetrate the intestinal wall, consequently
when they bind with cholesterol the cholesterol is now unable to
absorb back into the body, and is then excreted out of the body. This
forces the liver to produce more bile acid. To produce more bile acid,
the liver must remove cholesterol from the bloodstream, leaving less
to buildup in the arteries.

While all herbs contain saponins, those particularly rich in saponins
are gynostemma and ginseng. Gynostemma contains 84 different
kinds of saponins.

Recently a new word has begun to enter the vocabulary of botanists, herbal researchers, pharmacologists,
and sports medicine practitioners.
That word is “ADAPTOGEN”!

Adaptogens are natural substances found in a few rare herbs.The word ‘adaptogen’ was coined as far back as 1947,
by Russian scientists, and is used to describe the unique effect certain herbs have in increasing the human body’s natural resistance to physical and emotional stress, fatigue, depression and illness. Adaptogens help balance the body when it is under the influence of stress, and they do it in a restorative rather than curative manner.

Adaptogens heighten the general resistance of the human body to infections, chemical poisons and stress,
as well as safely increasing muscle strength and mental capacity.”

Adaptogens have three distinguishing qualities:
1. They catalyze a non-specific response in the body to increase the body’s resistance to stress on a cellular level.
2. Their effect is to balance and normalize the body’s systems leading to a greater overall health.
3. They are completely non-toxic and have no harmful effects no matter how long they are used.

Diets rich in adaptogenic nutrients have been scientifically proven to
have extraordinary effects on the human body, physically, mentally
and emotionally, and to provide benefits you cannot get from anything
else in the modern western diet.

The single greatest “killer” in today’s modern world is  STRESS.
Stress upsets the body’s normal balance, creating the perfect
breeding ground for illness. Stress is said to be responsible for as
much as 80% of major illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases,
cancer, diseases of the endocrine system, metabolic diseases, and
infections of many different kinds. If this weren’t enough, stress can
also be responsible for aggravating many major skin problems, such
as skin cancer and psoriasis, as well as minor skin problems like
blemishes. When the body is under stress, the immune cells in the
skin can become damaged by chemicals that are released from the
nerve cells in response to it. Read the rest of this entry »

Suami saya adalah seorang insinyur, saya mencintai sifatnya yang alami dan

saya menyukai perasaan hangat yang muncul di hati saya ketika saya bersandar di bahunya yang bidang.

Tiga tahun dalam masa perkenalan, dan dua tahun dalam masa pernikahan,

Saya harus akui, bahwa saya mulai merasa lelah, alasan2 saya mencintainya dulu

telah berubah menjadi sesuatu yang menjemukan.

Saya seorang wanita yang sentimentil dan benar2 sensitif serta berperasaan halus. 

Saya merindukan saat-saat romantis seperti seorang anak yang

menginginkan permen.  Tetapi semua itu tidak pernah saya dapatkan.

Suami saya jauh berbeda dari yang saya harapkan. Rasa sensitif-nya kurang.

Dan ketidakmampuannya dalam menciptakan suasana yang romantis dalam

pernikahan kami telah mementahkan semua harapan saya akan cinta yang ideal.

Suatu hari, saya beranikan diri untuk mengatakan keputusan saya kepadanya,

bahwa saya menginginkan perceraian. “Mengapa?”, dia bertanya dengan terkejut.

“Saya lelah, kamu tidak pernah bisa memberikan cinta yang saya inginkan”

Dia terdiam dan termenung sepanjang malam di depan komputernya,

Tampak seolah-olah sedang mengerjakan sesuatu, padahal tidak.

Kekecewaan saya semakin bertambah, seorang pria yang bahkan tidak dapat mengekspresikan perasaannya,  apalagi yang bisa saya harapkan darinya?

Dan akhirnya dia bertanya,  “Apa yang dapat saya lakukan untuk merubah pikiranmu?”.

Saya menatap matanya dalam-dalam dan menjawab dengan pelan, “Saya punya

pertanyaan, jika kau dapat menemukan jawabannya di dalam hati saya, 

saya akan merubah pikiran saya,

“Seandainya, saya menyukai setangkai bunga indah yang ada di tebing gunung

dan kita berdua tahu jika kamu memanjat gunung itu, kamu akan mati.

Apakah kamu akan melakukannya untuk saya?”

Dia termenung dan akhirnya berkata, “Saya akan memberikan jawabannya besok.”

Hati saya langsung gundah mendengar responnya.

Keesokan paginya, dia tidak ada dirumah, dan saya menemukan selembar kertas

dengan oret-2an tangannya dibawah sebuah gelas yang berisi susu hangat yang

bertuliskan….

“Sayang, saya tidak akan mengambil bunga itu untukmu, tetapi ijinkan saya

untuk menjelaskan alasannya.”

Kalimat pertama ini menghancurkan hati saya. Saya melanjutkan untuk membacanya.

“Kamu bisa mengetik di komputer dan selalu mengacaukan program di PC-nya dan

akhirnya menangis di depan monitor,  saya harus memberikan jari2 saya supaya  bisa membantumu dan memperbaiki programnya.”

“Kamu selalu lupa membawa kunci rumah ketika kamu keluar rumah, dan saya

harus memberikan kaki saya supaya bisa mendobrak pintu, dan membukakan pintu

untukmu ketika pulang.”.

“Kamu suka jalan-2 ke luar kota tetapi selalu nyasar di tempat-tempat baru

yang kamu kunjungi,  saya harus menunggu di rumah agar bisa memberikan

mata saya untuk mengarahkanmu.”

“Kamu selalu pegal-2 pada waktu ‘teman baikmu’ datang setiap bulannya, dan

saya harus memberikan tangan saya untuk memijat kakimu yang pegal.”

“Kamu senang diam di rumah, dan saya selalu kuatir kamu akan menjadi ‘aneh’.

Dan harus membelikan sesuatu yang dapat menghiburmu di rumah atau

meminjamkan lidahku untuk menceritakan hal-hal lucu yang aku alami.”

“Kamu selalu menatap komputermu, membaca buku dan itu tidak baik untuk

kesehatan matamu,  saya harus menjaga mata saya agar ketika kita tua nanti,

saya masih dapat menolong mengguntingkan kukumu dan mencabuti ubanmu.”

“Tanganku akan memegang tanganmu, membimbingmu menelusuri pantai, menikmati

matahari pagi dan pasir yang indah. Menceritakan warna-2 bunga

yang bersinar  dan indah seperti cantiknya wajahmu”.

“Tetapi sayangku, saya tidak akan mengambil bunga itu untuk mati. Karena,

saya tidak sanggup melihat air matamu mengalir menangisi kematianku.”

“Sayangku, saya tahu, ada banyak orang yang bisa mencintaimu lebih dari saya mencintaimu.”

“Untuk itu sayang, jika semua yang telah diberikan tanganku, kakiku, mataku,

tidak cukup bagimu.  aku tidak bisa menahan dirimu mencari tangan, kaki, dan mata lain yang dapat membahagiakanmu.”

Air mata saya jatuh ke atas tulisannya dan membuat tintanya menjadi kabur,

tetapi saya tetap berusaha untuk membacanya.

“Dan sekarang, sayangku, kamu telah selesai membaca jawaban saya. Jika kamu

puas dengan semua jawaban ini, dan tetap menginginkanku untuk tinggal di

rumah ini,  tolong bukakan pintu rumah kita, saya sekarang sedang berdiri

disana menunggu jawabanmu.”

“Jika kamu tidak puas, sayangku, biarkan aku masuk untuk membereskan

barang-barangku, dan aku tidak akan mempersulit hidupmu. Percayalah,

bahagiaku bila kau bahagia.”.

Saya segera berlari membuka pintu dan melihatnya berdiri di depan pintu

dengan wajah penasaran sambil tangannya memegang susu dan roti kesukaanku.

Oh, kini saya tahu, tidak ada orang yang pernah mencintai saya

lebih dari dia mencintaiku.

Itulah cinta, di saat kita merasa cinta itu telah berangsur-angsur hilang

dari hati kita karena kita merasa dia tidak dapat memberikan cinta dalam

wujud yang kita inginkan,  maka cinta itu sesungguhnya telah hadir dalam

wujud lain yang tidak pernah kita bayangkan sebelumnya.

Seringkali yang kita butuhkan adalah memahami wujud cinta dari pasangan kita,

dan bukan mengharapkan wujud tertentu.

Karena cinta tidak selalu harus  berwujud “bunga”.

1. DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid.
2. DNA is part of our definition of a living organism.
3. DNA is found in all living things.
4. DNA was first isolated in 1869 by Friedrich Miescher.
5. James Watson and Francis Crick figured out the structure of DNA.
6. DNA is a double helix.
7. The structure of DNA can be likened to a twisted ladder.
8. The rungs of the ladder are made up of “bases”
9. Adenine (A) is a base.
10. Thymine (T) is a base.
11. Cytosine (C) is a base
12. Guanine (G) is a base.
13. A always pairs with T in DNA.
14. C also pairs with G in DNA.
15. The amount of A is equal to the amoun tof T, same for C and G.
16. A+T = T+G
17. Hydrogen bonds hold the bases together.
18. The sides of the DNA ladder is made of sugars and phosphate atoms.
19. Bases attached to a sugar; this complex is called a nucleoside.
20. Sugar + phosphate + base = nucleotide.
21. The DNA ladder usually twists to the right.
22. There are many conformations of DNA: A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA are the only ones found in nature.
23. Almost all the cells in our body have DNA with the exception of red blood cells.
24. DNA is the “blueprint” of life.
25. Chromosomal or nuclear DNA is DNA found in the nucleus of cells.
26. Humans have 46 chromosomes.
27. Autosomal DNA is part of chromosomal DNA but does not include the two sex chromsomes - X and Y.
28. One chromosome can have as little as 50 million base pairs or as much as 250 million base pairs.
29. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is found in the mitochondria.
30. mtDNA is only passed from the mother to the child because only eggs have mitochondria, not sperm.
31. There’s a copy of our entire DNA sequence in every cell of our body with one exception.
32. Our entire DNA sequence is called a genome.
33. There’s an estimated 3 billion DNA bases in our genome.
34. One million bases (called a megabase and abbreviated Mb) of DNA sequence data is roughly equivalent to 1 megabyte of computer data storage space.
35. Our entire DNA sequence would fill 200 1,000-page New York City telephone directories.
36. A complete 3 billion base genome would take 3 gigabytes of storage space.
37. If unwound and tied together, the strands of DNA in one cell would stretch almost six feet but would be only 50 trillionths of an inch wide.
38. In humans, the DNA molecule in a non-sex cell would have a total length of 1.7 metres.
39. If you unwrap all the DNA you have in all your cells, you could reach the moon 6000 times!
40. Our sex cells–eggs and sperm–have only half of our total DNA.
41. Over 99% of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans’.
42. DNA can self-replicate using cellular machinery made of proteins.
43. Genes are made of DNA.
44. Genes are pieces of DNA passed from parent to offspring that contain hereditary information.
45. The average gene is 10,000 to 15,000 bases long.
46. The segment of DNA designated a gene is made up of exons and introns.
47. Exons have the code for making proteins.
48. Introns are intervening sequences sometimes called “junk DNA.”
49. Junk DNA’s function or lack thereof is a source of debate.
50. Part of “junk DNA” help to regulate the genomic activity.
51. There are an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 genes in our genome.
52. In 2000, a rough draft of the human genome (complete DNA sequence) was completed.
53. In 2003, the final draft of the human genome was completed.
54. The human genome sequence generated by the private genomics company Celera was based on DNA samples collected from five donors who identified themselves only by race and sex.
55. If all the DNA in your body was put end to end, it would reach to the sun and back over 600 times (100 trillion times six feet divided by 92 million miles).
56. It would take a person typing 60 words per minute, eight hours a day, around 50 years to type the human genome.
57. If all three billion letters in the human genome were stacked one millimeter apart, they would reach a height 7,000 times the height of the Empire State Building.
58. DNA is translated via cellular mechanisms into proteins.
59. DNA in sets of 3 bases, called a codon, code for amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
60. Changes in the DNA sequence are called mutations.
61. Many thing can cause mutations, including UV irradiation from the sun, chemicals like drugs, etc.
62. Mutations can be changes in just one DNA base.
63. Mutations can involve more than one DNA base.
64. Mutations can involve entire segments of chromosomes.
65. Single nucleotide polymorpshisms (SNPs) are single base changes in DNA.
66. Short tandem repeats (STRs) are short sequences of DNA repeated consecutively.
67. Some parts of the DNA sequence do not make proteins.
68. Genes make up only about 2-3% of our genome.
69. DNA is affected by the environment; environmental factors can turn genes on and off.
70. There are many ways you can analyze your DNA using commercially available tests.
71. Paternity tests compare segments of DNA between the potential father and child.
72. There are other types of relationship testing that compares DNA between siblings, grandparents and grandchild, etc.
73. DNA tests can help you understand your risk of disease.
74. A DNA mutation or variation may be associated with a higher risk of a number of diseases, including breast cancer.
75. DNA tests can help you understand your family history aka genetic genealogy.
76. DNA tests can help you understand your ethnic make-up.
77. DNA can be extracted from many different types of samples: blood, cheek cells, urine.
78. DNA can be stored either as cells on a cotton swab, buccal brush, or frozen blood or in extracted form.
79. In forensics, DNA analysis usually looks at 13 specific DNA markers (segments of DNA).
80. The odds that two individuals will have the same 13-loci DNA profile is about one in one billion.
81. A DNA fingerprint is a set of DNA markers that is unique for each individual except identical twins.
82. Identical twins share 100% of their genes.
83. Siblings share 50% of their genes.
84. A parent and child share 50% of their genes.
85. You can extract DNA at home from fruit and even your own cheek cells.
86. DNA is used to determine the pedigree for livestock or pets.
87. DNA is used in wildlife forensics to identify endangered species and people who hunt them (poachers).
88. DNA is used in identify victims of accidents or crime.
89. DNA is used to exonerate innocent people who’ve been wrongly convicted.
90. Many countries, including the US and UK, maintain a DNA database of convicted criminals.
91. The CODIS databank (COmbined DNA Index System) is maintained by the BI and has DNA profiles of convicted criminals.
92. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to amplify a sample of DNA so that there are more copies to analyze.
93. We eat DNA every day.
94. DNA testing is used to authenticate food like caviar and fine wine.
95. DNA is used to determine the purity of crops.
96. Genetically modified crops have DNA from another organism inserted to give the crops properties like pest resistance.
97. Dolly the cloned sheep had the same nuclear DNA as its donor mom but its mitochondrial DNA came from from the egg mom. (Does that make any sense?)
98. People like to talk about DNA even if it bears no relation to science or reality.
99. A group of bloggers who write regularly about DNA and genetics have banded to gether to form The DNA Network.
100. Lists about DNA can get a little boring.

Source:by Dr. Hsien-Hsien LeiPosted August 20, 2007 in DNA Fun, DNA in General

Your favorite thing about having a blog may soon be this - they naturally attract search engine traffic.

Blogs already have optimized site architecture. Most are set up with a clear navigation, where every page is set up to link back to the other main pages.

They also have the inherent potential to be well-linked.

If you haven’t already submitted to blog directories, you are missing out on some great one-way links. Many of the top directories can be found on Robin Good?s Top 55 list at MasterNewMedia.org.

But before you head over there and start submitting, you should know a little about how to optimize your blog. Then your new listings can help your site get the best keyword placement in the major search engines.

These are my top five tips for lucrative blog search engine optimization.

Lucrative Blog SEO Tip #1: Lucrative Keyword Choices

You have a choice. You can target a general high traffic keyword you have little chance of ranking well for and get barely any traffic.

Or you can shoot for a keyword that gets a moderate level of targeted traffic resulting in more subscribers and sales. I like to call this a “lucrative keyword”.

Whatever you call them, here’s the most important thing: They may not get you the most traffic, but they often bring the most profit.

You may be surprised to learn that there isn’t always a correlation between high traffic and high sales. Many of the most profitable sites in the world get moderate traffic because their lucrative keywords result in a much higher ratio of visitors to buyers.

A recent article in Information Week stated that the highest conversion rates from search engine traffic comes from people who do four word queries.

The great thing about your blog is that it can get so well-indexed that you have the potential to show up for any number of four word phrases that are relevant to your industry.

It isn’t just the four word phrases that get converting traffic - there are two and three word phrases that can bring you traffic and sales.

Targeting your blog discussion to a two or three word phrase that has a high yield of traffic, and yet has little competition, is not a dream of past Internet days. Another recent study revealed that surprisingly high percentages of search engine queries debuted as late as 2004.

As long as there are new developments, new products, services and trends, you’ll never have a shortage of these terms if you learn how to discover them.

Lucrative Blog SEO Tip #2: Keyword Placement

Your blog can be set up to repeat the keywords that you want to target just enough times to establish a theme.

You can take full advantage of this in your post titles, your category names, the pages URL names, or even a combination of Technorati tags and the text of your permanent links that appear after each post.

Lucrative Blog SEO Tip #3: Timely Posting

Instead of pinging at 15 minute intervals when your site hasn’t been updated, or even pinging after every single post, you can actually get better results if you update or ping just once during one of three sweet spots in the day. Here’s one that you can use today.

Check your web site statistics. If you’re getting spidered every two weeks or even monthly, you can increase your number of spider visits by blogging on the anniversary of the period that the spider comes to your site. It takes a bit of monitoring, but you can often predict when the date of your last spider visit was.

An even faster way is to ping at a time when the spider is reading a page that carries your update. (This is a little harder to explain, as I’ve mentioned, but I have a resource that explains this process in-depth at my site.)

Lucrative Blog SEO Tip #4: Get Linked

Turn on your site feed(s) and use them to promote your blog. Robin Good’s guide can get you some great one way links.

If you sparingly include the lucrative keyword you selected in tip two in your title and description, all those link backs will contain the keyword term you most want attention for, which is often noted by the spiders as they follow the link through to your site.

Once there, if you use these and other tips to skew your blog a little more to the search-engine-friendly side, the synergistic effect is better, more profitable traffic.

Lucrative Blog SEO Tip #4: Frequent Updates

The more you post, the more food for the spider, which can cause the spider to react by splitting up its job into several visits, whereupon you have even more content, and so on, until the spider just adds you to a more frequent schedule of returns.

For example, my main site gets spidered several times daily by Google, and yet I can go a week without an update with no change in spider visits. This means my pages get indexed more often and my new pages show up faster.

Think of what that could do for the launch of your next product.

You’ll be happy to know that you don’t have to slave over long blog posts several times a day, all day long to get similar results from your blog. In fact, some blog software will let you set up your posts in advance, so that you can have posts show up daily even though you technically only blog once a month.

Source: www.searchengineguide.com

Disappointed with your online sales? What would you say if I told you, chances are, your less-than-stellar sales can be attributed to one of three problems?

If you aren’t making the sales you envisioned, it’s probably due to one of these three things:

1. You aren’t getting enough traffic
2. You aren’t getting the right kind of traffic
3. Your site isn’t converting your visitors to customers

I’ll discuss the first two problems in Part I of this article and Part II will address some ways to increase your conversion ratio.

PROBLEM ONE: Not Enough Traffic

Simply put, no visitors = no sales.

You can have the best product in the world, but if no one can find you online, what good does it do you?

You must devote a significant amount of time daily to attracting visitors to your site. There are lots of ways to do just that.

Here are a few means to attract visitors:

• Submit to the major search engines and directories.
• Launch one or more pay-per-click campaigns. Overture and Findwhat.com are two PPC engines I like.
• Start your own email newsletter in order to maintain contact with visitors and (hopefully) convert them to customers at some point in the future.
• Utilize banner ads. Many publishers now offer pay-per-click banner advertising in addition to the traditional CPM (pay-per-impression) model, so you can get more bang for your advertising buck.
• Locate email newsletter advertising opportunities. Try Ezine Ad Auction or simply look for rate cards/advertising info on the sites and in the newsletters where you want to advertise.
• Become a “regular” on high-traffic message boards whose subject matter relates to your product/service. Many boards allow you to use your SIG file to discreetly promote your site. NEVER blatantly advertise your product or service! Most boards don’t allow it and an obvious ad probably won’t get any attention anyway - at least not the good kind of attention.
• Subscribe to several quality Internet marketing newsletters. Trafficology’s newsletter is my new favorite. You’ll be amazed at the unique traffic-generating ideas people submit each month. Some are super, some are off-the-wall, some are downright sneaky, but they’re always unique.

PROBLEM TWO: Untargeted Traffic

We’ve established that visitors are necessary in order for an online business to survive. Traffic, in and of itself, however, is worthless when it comes to selling your products or services.

Yes, I know I just said “no visitors = no sales”; and it’s true. BUT, there’s a corollary to that rule: the “wrong” visitors - even lots of them = few/no sales, too.

We’re all taught from the time we’re baby webmasters that traffic is the ultimate goal, but the reality is, it’s not.

The ultimate goal is to sell your product or service - and unless your product or service is advertising, traffic alone is useless.

You need targeted traffic.

Here’s the bottom line: you want people to visit your site that are actually interested in what you have to sell.

If you own a site that sells DVDs, visits from a million die-hard VCR users who don’t even own a DVD player might give you an ego rivaling Texas in size when you view your stats, but it ain’t gonna put any money in your pocket.

It’s better to have fewer visitors and make lots of sales than to have lots of visitors and make few sales, right?

Granted, if you have 100,000 visitors and your conversion ratio is 0.1%, that equals 100 buyers. The same amount of buyers you’d have if you converted 2% of 5,000 visitors…I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the task of herding 5,000 people to my site than trying to attract 100,000.

Spend your hard-earned cash on getting your ads in front of your target market’s eyes. Do a little research; find out where they hang out online and pursue advertising opportunities there.

You don’t have to have huge numbers of visitors to make lots of sales…IF you have the right kind of visitors.

Now, one exception to this rule is that cheap - or better yet, FREE untargeted traffic doesn’t hurt. In fact, you may actually pick up a few sales from people who aren’t your typical customer. They might have a friend that is interested in your product or service and pass your link along to them, or something along those lines.

If it doesn’t cost you much, go for it. Save the big bucks for advertising to your target market, though.

That wraps up Part I. Be sure and read Part II to learn how to more effectively turn visitors into customers.

PROBLEM THREE: Turning Visitors into Customers

In the first part of this article, I discuss two of the three main reasons for lackluster sales at small business web sites - not enough traffic and not getting the right kind of traffic.

This half of the article, I’ll cover reason three: visitors aren’t being converted to customers.

If you’re getting enough targeted traffic but aren’t making many sales, it’s time to examine your site and try to identify potential trouble spots.

Does your site load slowly?

Very few folks are going to wait around for a bloated site to download. Consider cutting unnecessary graphics and always be sure to optimize the images you do use.

Reduce the number of server connects, especially on the home page. For example, if your affiliate program banners are hosted on another server, you might consider moving them to one of your inner pages.

If you clutter your front page with banner ads, you stand to lose the visitor before he even has a chance to find out what your site is all about - either from him mousing away to check out one of your advertisers, or because he’s simply tired of waiting for your page to load.

Do you make it difficult to do business with you?

Get past the knee-jerk reaction of, “Of course not! How stupid!” and take a really hard look at your site.

• Is your navigation consistent and intuitive? Is it easy for visitors to find what they want?
• Do you make them sit through useless intros, splash pages, etc.?
• Do you offer a variety of payment methods?
• Is the order/delivery process explained fully?
• Can the customer access a frequently asked questions page AND CONTACT YOU if he has questions?

Do you maintain contact with your visitors?

Not everyone will buy the first time they visit your site. In fact, the majority WON’T.

Does that mean they don’t need or want what you have to sell? No, it simply means they don’t need or want it *now*. There’s a good chance that sometime in the future, they will want what you have to sell. The question is, how do you keep your product/service on their minds, so that when they’re ready to make that purchase, they choose you?

Starting your own email newsletter is a super way to have sustained contact with potential customers; however, to be effective as a sales tool, the newsletter must offer something of value so that folks subscribe and actually read it.

For example, imagine you sell birdhouses. You could start a newsletter with content that birdlovers would find useful. You could publish original articles, review products and services, include links to sites of interest to your subscribers AND in each issue, you could also place a small ad detailing your current specials, informing subscribers of new items, etc.

The key is, the focus of the newsletter can’t be shameless self-promotion - what value is that to your subscribers? The FOCUS of the newsletter must be content of interest to them.

Do visitors trust you enough to become customers?

It’s not enough to have a great product or a super service. Your visitors must perceive you as trustworthy and credible or they’ll never buy.

Lots of factors play a role in how favorably you’re perceived by visitors. Here are a few ways to boost your credibility:

• Eliminate spelling errors and errors in grammar.
• Use graphics and colors that convey a professional image.
• Post your contact information!
• Consider posting customer testimonials and/or examples of your work.

The suggestions above are just a few ways you can convert more visitors to customers.

Don’t waste time promoting a site that doesn’t do its job!! If your site stinks, tons of visitors won’t do anything to fix your sad sales.

Concentrate on developing a site that SELLS. The higher your conversion ratio, the easier it is to meet and exceed your sales goals.

Source: By Jennifer Johnson on sellitontheweb.com