Affiliates
New Year - Employee Rules and Regulations
***Dress Code***
It is advised that you come to work dressed according to your salary.If we see you wearing Prada shoes and carrying a Gucci bag, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore do not need a raise. If you dress poorly, you need to learn to manage your money better,so that you may buy nicer clothes, and therefore do not need a raise.If you dress just right, you are right where you need to be and therefore do not need a raise.
***Sick Days***
We will no longer accept a doctor's statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.
***Personal Days***
Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.
*Toilet Use*
Entirely too much time is being spent in the toilet. There is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of the three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, the stall door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the "Chronic Offenders category". Anyone caught smiling in the picture will be sectioned under the company's mental health policy! You are allowed to use the rest room only thrice a day and you have to swipe in and out from the toilet doors also.
*Lunch Break*
Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch as they need to eat more, so that they can look healthy.Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that's all the time needed to drink a slim fast.
*Mails*
Don't read junk and forwarded mails.
Thank you for your loyalty to our company.We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore,All questions, comments,concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations,consternation and input should be directed elsewhere.
The Management.
Credit Card
A credit card is small plastic card used as a mode of payment once issued by the credit card company to the users after checking user information. In debit card user has already money in his account and if user made payment with debit card , company charged the money from user account and takes required money. A credit card is different from a debit card in that it does not remove money from the user's account after every transaction. In credit cards, the issuer lends money to the consumer (or the user) to be paid to the merchant. User purchase any thing and gives payment through credit card and user paid those money to the credit card company in a certin time period. Credit card company charges some interest on the amount spent after certain time period. A user can spend money up to credit card limit , Credit card company fix the limit of the credit card
An example of the front of a typical credit card:
1. Issuing bank logo
2. EMV chip
3. Hologram
3. Card number
4. Card brand logo
5. Expiry Date Cardholder's name
6. Expiry Date
7. Cardholder's name
An example of the reverse side of a typical credit card:
1. Magnetic Stripe
2. Signature Strip
3. Card Security Code
Mohammed Rafi a unique Voice
Mohammed Rafi (Hindi: मोहम्मद रफ़ी, Urdu: محمد رفیع, December 24, 1924 – July 31, 1980) was an Indian playback singer.He was one of the greatest Indian playback singers in Bollywood. Rafi still remains popular in India and in many other parts of the world with people of Indian origin. His voice is referred to as "the voice of god". He continues to inspire new Bollywood playback singers like Sonu Nigam, Mohammed Aziz, Shabbir Kumar and Anwar. Rafi sang many well known duets with Lata Mangeshkar, Geeta Dutt and Lata's sister Asha Bhosle. He has sung in many Indian languages like Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Telugu, but he is chiefly remembered for his songs from Hindi cinema (also known as Bollywood). His songs are widely popular in the Indian subcontinent. Along with Mukesh and Kishore Kumar, he was one of the three leading male Bollywood playback singers from the 1950s to the 1970s
Early days
Mohammed Rafi was born at Kotla Sultan Singh (or Kotla Sultanpur), a town near Amritsar in undivided Punjab.His father was Hajji Ali Mohammad, and he had five older brothers. Rafi, whose pet name was Pheeko, started singing by imitating chants of a fakir in his village.In 1935-36, Rafi's father shifted to Lahore, and the rest of the family followed later. Rafi's family managed a men's salon in Lahore's Noor Mohalla. His elder brother-in-law Mohammed Hameed was aware of Rafi's love for music and encouraged it. Rafi learnt Hindustani classical music from Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Abdul Wahid Khan, Pandit Jiwanlal Matto and Firoze Nizami.
One day Rafi and his brother-in-law Hameed went to attend a performance by K. L. Saigal. But the legendary singer refused to sing because there was a power failure at the venue. Hameed went up to the organizer to ask whether his brother-in-law could sing to keep the audience quiet. That was Rafi's first public performance, at the age of 13. Rafi was noted by the composer Shyam Sunder, who gave him a chance to sing a duet Soniye nee, Heeriye nee with Zeenat Begum, in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch in 1942 (the film was released in 1944).Rafi was also invited by the Lahore radio station to be a permanent singer with them.
One day Rafi and his brother-in-law Hameed went to attend a performance by K. L. Saigal. But the legendary singer refused to sing because there was a power failure at the venue. Hameed went up to the organizer to ask whether his brother-in-law could sing to keep the audience quiet. That was Rafi's first public performance, at the age of 13. Rafi was noted by the composer Shyam Sunder, who gave him a chance to sing a duet Soniye nee, Heeriye nee with Zeenat Begum, in the Punjabi film Gul Baloch in 1942 (the film was released in 1944).Rafi was also invited by the Lahore radio station to be a permanent singer with them.
Initial days in Bombay
In 1944, Rafi decided to move to Bombay (now Mumbai). He was introduced to some leading film producers such as Abdul Rashid Kardar, Mehboob Khan and actor-director Nazeer by Tanvir Naqvi. He contacted the famous music director Naushad with a letter of recommendation from someone. Initially, Naushad used Rafi as part of a chorus. Rafi's first song with Naushad was Hindustan ke hum hain with Shyam Kumar, Alauddin and others, from A. R. Kardar's Pehle Aap (1944). Around the same time, Rafi recorded another song for the film Gaon ki Gori (1944) for the composer Shyam Sunder, Aji dil ho kaaboo mein with G. M. Durrani and chorus. He considered this song as his first Hindi language song. In 1945, Rafi got married to his cousin Bashira, nicknamed "Majhi", in his village.
In 1945, Rafi also appeared on the screen for the song "Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha" in the film Laila Majnu. He sang a number of songs for Naushad as part of a chorus, including "Mere sapnon ki rani, Roohi Roohi" with K. L. Saigal from the film Shahjahan (1946). Rafi was first noted for the song Tera Khilona Toota Balak from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946). His duet with Noor Jehan in the film Jugnu 1947, Yahan Badla Wafa Ka became a hit song.
In 1948, Rafi was also noted for the song Suno Suno Aye Duniya Walon Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani, written by Rajendra Krishan. He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at the latter's house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Nehru on the Indian Independence Day. In 1949, Rafi was given solo songs by music directors such as Naushad (Chandni Raat, Dillagi and Dulari), Shyam Sunder (Bazaar) and Husnalal Bhagatram (Meena Bazaar).
In 1945, Rafi also appeared on the screen for the song "Tera Jalwa Jis Ne Dekha" in the film Laila Majnu. He sang a number of songs for Naushad as part of a chorus, including "Mere sapnon ki rani, Roohi Roohi" with K. L. Saigal from the film Shahjahan (1946). Rafi was first noted for the song Tera Khilona Toota Balak from Mehboob Khan's Anmol Ghadi (1946). His duet with Noor Jehan in the film Jugnu 1947, Yahan Badla Wafa Ka became a hit song.
In 1948, Rafi was also noted for the song Suno Suno Aye Duniya Walon Bapuji Ki Amar Kahani, written by Rajendra Krishan. He was invited by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, to sing at the latter's house. In 1948, Rafi received a silver medal from Nehru on the Indian Independence Day. In 1949, Rafi was given solo songs by music directors such as Naushad (Chandni Raat, Dillagi and Dulari), Shyam Sunder (Bazaar) and Husnalal Bhagatram (Meena Bazaar).
Rise to fame
Rafi established himself as the number one playback singer in Bollywood with the songs of Baiju Bawra (1952). The songs from Baiju Bawra, O duniya ke rakhwale and Man tarpat Hari darshan ko aaj established Rafi's credentials.The newly-started radio program Binaca Geetmala also played the songs, leading to an increase in their popularity. It is said that Talat Mahmood used to be Naushad's favorite singer. Once Naushad found Talat smoking during a recording. Annoyed, he hired Rafi to sing for Baiju Bawra[citation needed]. Rafi was a devout Muslim refrained from smoking and drinking alcohol. Later, Naushad started using Rafi as the male voice in almost every song composed by him. Rafi sang a total of 149 songs (81 of them solo) for Naushad.
In 1950s and 1960s, Rafi became the favorite singer of other composers too, notably O. P. Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan and Sachin Dev Burman. S D Burman patronized Rafi as the singing voice of Dev Anand in 1950s and 1960s. Rafi's notable songs with S. D. Burman included songs from the movies Tere Ghar ke Saamne (1957), Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Guide (1965), Aradhana (1969) and Abhimaan (1973). O P Nayyar was so impressed with Rafi that he got Rafi to sing a song Man mora baawara for singer-actor Kishore Kumar, in the movie Raagini. Rafi sang for Kishore Kumar in many other movies such as Baaghi, Shehzaada and Shararat. O. P. Nayyar used Rafi and Asha Bhosle for most of his songs. The team created many hit songs in early 1950s and 1960s for movies such as Naya Daur (1957), Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) and Kashmir Ki Kali (1964). Rafi sang a total of 197 numbers (56 solo) for O P Nayyar. The team of Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi is noted for the songs picturized on Rajendra Kumar. Rafi sang a total of 341 numbers (216 solo) for Shankar-Jaikishan.
Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), composed by Ravi. He got his first National Award for the song Babul Ki Duaen Leti Ja from the film Neel Kamal (1968), also composed by Ravi. Ravi and Rafi produced several other hit songs, in the films such as China Town (1962), Kaajal (1965), and Do Badan (1966). Madan Mohan was another composer whose favorite singer was Rafi. Rafi's first solo with Madan Mohan in Ankhen (1950) "Hum ishq mein barbad hain barbad rahenge" was a great hit.They teamed up to produce many hit songs including Teri Aankhon ke Siva, Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil and Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho. The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal ("L-P") also patronized Rafi as one of their leading singers since their first released film, Parasmani (1963). Both Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Awards for the song Chahoonga main tujhe saanjh savere from Dosti. Rafi sang a total of 369 numbers (186 solo) for LP. Rafi sang for many lesser-known composers as well. Once, when a minor composer, Nisar Bazmi (who migrated to Pakistan in early 1960s), did not have enough money to pay him, Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him.
In the 1960s, Rafi was not on good terms with Lata Mangeshkar, the most sought-after female playback singer in Bollywood, over royalty issues. Lata wanted Rafi to back her in demanding a half-share from the five percent song royalty that the film's producer conceded to select composers.But Rafi took a diametrically opposite view, and believed that a playback singer's claim on the filmmaker ended with the payment of agreed fee for the song. During the recording of Tasveer Teri Dil Mein (Maya, 1961), Lata lost her cool with Rafi in a certain passage of the song. Rafi felt belittled, as music director Salil Chowdhury sided with Lata.The situation worsened when Lata Mangeshkar declared that she would no longer sing with Rafi. Rafi stated that he was only so keen to sing with Lata as she was with him.Later, at the insistence of S.D.Burman, the two decided to make up and sing duets, but on a personal level, they were not on good terms.
Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought after singer in Bollywood, some say, at the expense of the careers of contemporaries like Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. He did playback singing for all the major male stars in Hindi films until his death. In 1965, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Sri award.
Rafi recorded two hindi songs in English on 7" release in 1968. He also sang a song in Creole language, while his visit to Mauritius in the late 1960s.
Rafi recorded two English albums. One of them is Pop Hits. In Bollywood, yodeling is generally associated with Kishore Kumar. But Rafi also used yodeling in some of old songs, such as Hello sweety seventeen (duet with Asha Bhosle), O Chale ho kaha, Dilke Aine main, Unse Rippy Tippy Ho gayee (duet with Geeta Dutt).
In 1950s and 1960s, Rafi became the favorite singer of other composers too, notably O. P. Nayyar, Shankar Jaikishan and Sachin Dev Burman. S D Burman patronized Rafi as the singing voice of Dev Anand in 1950s and 1960s. Rafi's notable songs with S. D. Burman included songs from the movies Tere Ghar ke Saamne (1957), Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Guide (1965), Aradhana (1969) and Abhimaan (1973). O P Nayyar was so impressed with Rafi that he got Rafi to sing a song Man mora baawara for singer-actor Kishore Kumar, in the movie Raagini. Rafi sang for Kishore Kumar in many other movies such as Baaghi, Shehzaada and Shararat. O. P. Nayyar used Rafi and Asha Bhosle for most of his songs. The team created many hit songs in early 1950s and 1960s for movies such as Naya Daur (1957), Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957) and Kashmir Ki Kali (1964). Rafi sang a total of 197 numbers (56 solo) for O P Nayyar. The team of Shankar Jaikishan and Rafi is noted for the songs picturized on Rajendra Kumar. Rafi sang a total of 341 numbers (216 solo) for Shankar-Jaikishan.
Rafi got his first Filmfare Award for the title song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), composed by Ravi. He got his first National Award for the song Babul Ki Duaen Leti Ja from the film Neel Kamal (1968), also composed by Ravi. Ravi and Rafi produced several other hit songs, in the films such as China Town (1962), Kaajal (1965), and Do Badan (1966). Madan Mohan was another composer whose favorite singer was Rafi. Rafi's first solo with Madan Mohan in Ankhen (1950) "Hum ishq mein barbad hain barbad rahenge" was a great hit.They teamed up to produce many hit songs including Teri Aankhon ke Siva, Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil and Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho. The composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal ("L-P") also patronized Rafi as one of their leading singers since their first released film, Parasmani (1963). Both Rafi and L-P won the Filmfare Awards for the song Chahoonga main tujhe saanjh savere from Dosti. Rafi sang a total of 369 numbers (186 solo) for LP. Rafi sang for many lesser-known composers as well. Once, when a minor composer, Nisar Bazmi (who migrated to Pakistan in early 1960s), did not have enough money to pay him, Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him.
In the 1960s, Rafi was not on good terms with Lata Mangeshkar, the most sought-after female playback singer in Bollywood, over royalty issues. Lata wanted Rafi to back her in demanding a half-share from the five percent song royalty that the film's producer conceded to select composers.But Rafi took a diametrically opposite view, and believed that a playback singer's claim on the filmmaker ended with the payment of agreed fee for the song. During the recording of Tasveer Teri Dil Mein (Maya, 1961), Lata lost her cool with Rafi in a certain passage of the song. Rafi felt belittled, as music director Salil Chowdhury sided with Lata.The situation worsened when Lata Mangeshkar declared that she would no longer sing with Rafi. Rafi stated that he was only so keen to sing with Lata as she was with him.Later, at the insistence of S.D.Burman, the two decided to make up and sing duets, but on a personal level, they were not on good terms.
Between 1950 and 1970, Rafi was the most sought after singer in Bollywood, some say, at the expense of the careers of contemporaries like Manna Dey, Talat Mahmood, and Hemant Kumar. He did playback singing for all the major male stars in Hindi films until his death. In 1965, he was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Sri award.
Rafi recorded two hindi songs in English on 7" release in 1968. He also sang a song in Creole language, while his visit to Mauritius in the late 1960s.
Rafi recorded two English albums. One of them is Pop Hits. In Bollywood, yodeling is generally associated with Kishore Kumar. But Rafi also used yodeling in some of old songs, such as Hello sweety seventeen (duet with Asha Bhosle), O Chale ho kaha, Dilke Aine main, Unse Rippy Tippy Ho gayee (duet with Geeta Dutt).
Last years
From 1970-1976, Rafi's output was less, but he sang several hit songs during this period.[15]. Some of his hit songs in early 1970s were with music directors like L-P, Madan Mohan, R. D. Burman and S. D. Burman. Some of Rafi's popular songs from this period include Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil from Heer Ranjha (1970), Chura Liya Hain Tumne from Yaadon Ki Baarat, Yeh Jo Chilman Hain and Itna to Yaad Hain Mujhe from Mehboob Ki Mehndi, Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho from Hanste Zakhm (1973), Gulabi Aankhen from The Train, Aaj Mausam bada Beimaan hai from Loafer (1973), and Jhilmil Sitaron ka from Jeevan Mrityu (1974).
Rafi made a comeback as a leading playback singer in mid-1970s. In 1974, he won the Film World magazine Best Singer Award for the song Teree Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Qadam Aaj Ke Baad (Hawas) composed by Usha Khanna.[7] In 1977, he won both Filmfare Award and the National Award for the song Kya Hua Tera Wada from the movie Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, composed by R. D. Burman.[8] Rafi did playback for Rishi Kapoor in films like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Sargam (1979) and Karz (1980). The qawwali Pardah Hai Pardah from Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) was a superhit. Rafi gave many other hit songs in late 1970s, notably for the films Laila Majnu (1976), Apnapan (1978), Qurbani, Dostana (1980) and The Burning Train (1980).
On Thursday, July 31, 1980 after composing the song Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost for the movie Aas Paas with Laxmikant-Pyarelal (L-P), Rafi asked if he could leave for home. L-P were surprised because Rafi would be the last person to leave the recording session.[16] While leaving, Rafi said once again "OK. I will leave." Rafi died at 10.50 p.m. on the same day due to a massive heart attack. His funeral procession was one of the largest Mumbai ever witnessed.The whole Indian nation mourned his death for a long time and there was public holidays for two days in his honor. Shammi Kapoor, who was shooting outside Mumbai, rushed back to attend his funeral in Mumbai. Later, the Padma Shri Mohammed Rafi Chowk in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai was named after him.[17]
In his last years, Rafi was involved in controversy over Lata Mangeshkar's entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. In a letter dated June 11, 1977 to the Guinness Book of World Records, Rafi had challenged the claim that Lata Mangeshkar has recorded the maximum number of songs ("not less than 25,000" according to Guinness). After receiving a rather escapist reply from Guinness, in a letter dated November 20, 1979, he wrote: "I am disappointed that my request for a reassessment vis-a-vis Ms Mangeshkar's reported world record has gone unheeded.".[17] After Rafi's death, in its 1984 edition, the Guinness Book of Word Records stated Lata Mangeshkar's name for the "Most Recordings" but also stated: "Mohammad Rafi (d 1 Aug 1980) [sic] claimed to have recorded 28,000 songs in 11 Indian languages between 1944 and April 1980.".[18] Many fans of Rafi state that he has sung over 28,000 songs. However, according to the available figures, Rafi has sung 4,516 Hindi film songs, 112 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.[18] The Guinness Book entries for both Rafi and Lata were later removed in 1991
Rafi made a comeback as a leading playback singer in mid-1970s. In 1974, he won the Film World magazine Best Singer Award for the song Teree Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Qadam Aaj Ke Baad (Hawas) composed by Usha Khanna.[7] In 1977, he won both Filmfare Award and the National Award for the song Kya Hua Tera Wada from the movie Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin, composed by R. D. Burman.[8] Rafi did playback for Rishi Kapoor in films like Amar Akbar Anthony (1977), Sargam (1979) and Karz (1980). The qawwali Pardah Hai Pardah from Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) was a superhit. Rafi gave many other hit songs in late 1970s, notably for the films Laila Majnu (1976), Apnapan (1978), Qurbani, Dostana (1980) and The Burning Train (1980).
On Thursday, July 31, 1980 after composing the song Shaam phir kyun udaas hai dost for the movie Aas Paas with Laxmikant-Pyarelal (L-P), Rafi asked if he could leave for home. L-P were surprised because Rafi would be the last person to leave the recording session.[16] While leaving, Rafi said once again "OK. I will leave." Rafi died at 10.50 p.m. on the same day due to a massive heart attack. His funeral procession was one of the largest Mumbai ever witnessed.The whole Indian nation mourned his death for a long time and there was public holidays for two days in his honor. Shammi Kapoor, who was shooting outside Mumbai, rushed back to attend his funeral in Mumbai. Later, the Padma Shri Mohammed Rafi Chowk in the Bandra suburb of Mumbai was named after him.[17]
In his last years, Rafi was involved in controversy over Lata Mangeshkar's entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. In a letter dated June 11, 1977 to the Guinness Book of World Records, Rafi had challenged the claim that Lata Mangeshkar has recorded the maximum number of songs ("not less than 25,000" according to Guinness). After receiving a rather escapist reply from Guinness, in a letter dated November 20, 1979, he wrote: "I am disappointed that my request for a reassessment vis-a-vis Ms Mangeshkar's reported world record has gone unheeded.".[17] After Rafi's death, in its 1984 edition, the Guinness Book of Word Records stated Lata Mangeshkar's name for the "Most Recordings" but also stated: "Mohammad Rafi (d 1 Aug 1980) [sic] claimed to have recorded 28,000 songs in 11 Indian languages between 1944 and April 1980.".[18] Many fans of Rafi state that he has sung over 28,000 songs. However, according to the available figures, Rafi has sung 4,516 Hindi film songs, 112 non-Hindi film songs, and 328 private (non-film) songs from 1945 to 1980.[18] The Guinness Book entries for both Rafi and Lata were later removed in 1991
After death
Rafi's song from the film Gumnaam (1966), Jaan Pehechaan Ho, was used on the soundtrack of Ghost World (2001). The film opens with the lead character dancing around in her bedroom to a video of Gumnaam.[19] Several of Rafi's unreleased songs will be used for an upcoming film titled Sorry Madam.[20]
Even before Sonu Nigam Mehboob Chohan performed superbly in the heart of England with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's A Tribute to Mohammed Rafi on the 7th April 2006. [www.mehboobchohan.co.uk]
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra released a CD entitled "Rafi Resurrected" in July 2007 comprising symphonic renditions of 18 songs by Rafi. Sonu Nigam will provide the vocals for this project.[21]
Both Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar are mentioned in Cornershop's homage to Indian playback musicians, "Brimful of Asha."
On Saturday 22 September 2007, a shrine to Rafi designed by artist Tasawar Bashir will be unveiled in Birmingham. Bashir is hoping that Rafi will attain sainthood as a result.[22]
Mohammed Rafi has 4 sons (Saeed Rafi, Khalid Rafi, Hamid Rafi, Shahid Rafi) and 3 daughters (Parveen, Nasreen, Yasmin) residing in London, UK and Mumbai, India. He was a Grandfather to 18 Grandchildren.
Even before Sonu Nigam Mehboob Chohan performed superbly in the heart of England with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's A Tribute to Mohammed Rafi on the 7th April 2006. [www.mehboobchohan.co.uk]
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra released a CD entitled "Rafi Resurrected" in July 2007 comprising symphonic renditions of 18 songs by Rafi. Sonu Nigam will provide the vocals for this project.[21]
Both Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar are mentioned in Cornershop's homage to Indian playback musicians, "Brimful of Asha."
On Saturday 22 September 2007, a shrine to Rafi designed by artist Tasawar Bashir will be unveiled in Birmingham. Bashir is hoping that Rafi will attain sainthood as a result.[22]
Mohammed Rafi has 4 sons (Saeed Rafi, Khalid Rafi, Hamid Rafi, Shahid Rafi) and 3 daughters (Parveen, Nasreen, Yasmin) residing in London, UK and Mumbai, India. He was a Grandfather to 18 Grandchildren.
Awards
Government Awards
1948 - Rafi received a silver medal from the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on the
1948 - Rafi received a silver medal from the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, on the
first anniversary of the Indian Independence Day.[6].
1965 - he was honoured with the Padmashri by the Government of India
1965 - he was honoured with the Padmashri by the Government of India
1977 - National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for Kya Hua Tera Wada song in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin), composed by RD Burman, lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri
Winner
1960 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho song in the film Chaudhvin Ka Chand
1961 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Teri Pyaari Pyaari Surat Ko song in the film Sasural
1964 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Chahunga Mein Tujhe song in the film Dosti
1966 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Baharon Phool Barsao song in the film Suraj
1968 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Dil Ke Jharoke Mein song in the film Brahmachari
1977 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Kya Hua Tera Vaada song in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin
1960 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho song in the film Chaudhvin Ka Chand
1961 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Teri Pyaari Pyaari Surat Ko song in the film Sasural
1964 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Chahunga Mein Tujhe song in the film Dosti
1966 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Baharon Phool Barsao song in the film Suraj
1968 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Dil Ke Jharoke Mein song in the film Brahmachari
1977 - Filmfare Best Male Playback Award for Kya Hua Tera Vaada song in the film Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahin
Nominated
1961 - Husnwale Tera Jawaab Nahin song in the film Gharana
1962 - Aye Gulbadan Aye Gulbadan song in the film Professor
1963 - Mere Mehboob Tujhe song in the film Mere Mehboob
1965 - Choo Lene Do Nazuk Hothon Ko song in the film Kaajal
1968 - Mein Gaaon Tum Sojaao song in the film Brahmachari
1968 - Babul Ki Duayein Leti Ja song in the film Neel Kamal
1969 - Badi Mastani Hai song in the film Jeene Ki Raah
1970 - Khilona Jaan Kar song in the film Khilona
1973 - Hum Ko To Jaan Se Pyaari song in the film Naina
1974 - Achha Hi Huva Dil Toot Gaya song in the film Maa Behen Aur Biwi
1977 - Pardah Hai Pardah song in the film Amar Akbar Anthony
1978 - Aadmi Musaafir Hai song in the film Apnapan
1979 - Chalo Re Doli Uthao Kahaar song in the film Jani Dushman
1980 - Mere Dost Kissa Yeh song in the film Dostana
1980 - Dard-e-dil Dard-e-jigar song in the film Karz
1980 - Maine Poocha Chand Se song in the film Abdullah
1962 - Aye Gulbadan Aye Gulbadan song in the film Professor
1963 - Mere Mehboob Tujhe song in the film Mere Mehboob
1965 - Choo Lene Do Nazuk Hothon Ko song in the film Kaajal
1968 - Mein Gaaon Tum Sojaao song in the film Brahmachari
1968 - Babul Ki Duayein Leti Ja song in the film Neel Kamal
1969 - Badi Mastani Hai song in the film Jeene Ki Raah
1970 - Khilona Jaan Kar song in the film Khilona
1973 - Hum Ko To Jaan Se Pyaari song in the film Naina
1974 - Achha Hi Huva Dil Toot Gaya song in the film Maa Behen Aur Biwi
1977 - Pardah Hai Pardah song in the film Amar Akbar Anthony
1978 - Aadmi Musaafir Hai song in the film Apnapan
1979 - Chalo Re Doli Uthao Kahaar song in the film Jani Dushman
1980 - Mere Dost Kissa Yeh song in the film Dostana
1980 - Dard-e-dil Dard-e-jigar song in the film Karz
1980 - Maine Poocha Chand Se song in the film Abdullah
MY HEART WILL GO ON
Every night in my dreams I see you,
I feel you That is how I know you go on.
Far across the distance and spaces between us
You have come to show you go on.
Near, far, wherever you are,
I believe that the heart does go on.
Once more you open the door And you're here in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.
Love can touch us one time and last for a lifetime,
And never let go till we're gone.
Love was when I loved you,
one true time I hold to In my life we'll always go on.
Near, far, wherever you are,
I believe that the heart does go on.
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.
You're here, there's nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on.
We'll stay forever this way,
You are safe in my heart,
And my heart will go on and on.
Saawariya is Impressive
Saawariya is a strange movie.
If we think about the acting then there is Greate performance by Ranbeer Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. Ranveer has those thing which is essential for a Hero. Greate body, good look, Dancing skill. He is quite satisfing in Comedy and Emotional seans. He is true successor of Kapoor family.
***1/2
Sonam kapoor has also good acting skills like his Father Anil kapoor. She is very good looking and done very well. She can change his face expression according to situations. It never seems that this is her first film.
***1/2
Rani, Salman and Johra sehgal also performed very well.
Music is very good. Monty Singh is very impressive and showing good talent. He has long way to go.
***1/2
Sets are the always special part of Bhansali's movies so as in Saawariya. Set is very well designed like DEVDAS and HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM.
***1/2
POEM
Something as simple as me hearing your name,
Put words in my head that I cant explain.
Back then, I wasn't really sure,
But now I see you are all I need and more.
I know we're only friends and it hurts so bad,
Because I know I'm a girl you don't wish to have.
My eyes glisten, I have butterflies flying,
Can you look at me, see how much I'm trying.
I sit and stare in your eyes, as you tell me again
Of how much you have fallen for my friend.
You leave me sad, yet I wish you'd stay,
In case I don't see you for the rest of the day.
You call me daily, asking how I am,
Inside I'm dying to say I want you as my man.
I'm not sure, exactly how long I can take,
Before my heart shatters of waiting so late.
I want to say I love you, for you to understand,
That I can no longer see us being just friends.
I'm scared to tell you baby, I don't want you to go,
So deep inside I hide my emotions so they wont show.
Every love song I hear, your name pops in my head,
So easy to feel it, so hard to be said.
Your everything I need in a man to be,
If only one day, you would love me.
Some Famous Shayri
मैं मैकदे की राह से होकर गुजर गया, वरना सफर हयात का काफी तबील था - अब्दुल हमीद ''अदम''
कुछ सागरों में जहर है कुछ में शराब है, ये मसअला है तश्नगी किससे बुझाई जाय -"अखलाक''
दुख्तरे-रज ने उठा रक्खी है आफत सर पर, खैरियत गुजरी कि अंगूर के बेटा न हुआ-अकबरइलाहाबादी
रिन्दे-खराब-हाल को जाहिद न छेड़ तू तुझको पराई क्या पड़ी अपनी निबेड़ तू - जौक
उस शख्स पर शराब का पीना हराम है जो रहके मैकदे में भी इन्सां न हो सका - पारसा कौसरी
इतनी पी है कि बाद तौबा भी बे पिए, बेखुदी सी रहती है - रियाज खैराबादी
कभी खुशी से खुशी की तरफ नहीं देखा तुम्हारे बाद किसी की तरफ नहीं देखा - मुनव्वर राना
यूं इस कदर हवा नहीं चलती उसे तो सिर्फ हमारा दिया बुझाना था
मेरे महबूब के दामन की वो एक जुम्बिश है बागवां जिसको गुलिस्तां की हवा कहते हैं -फलक देहलवी
थोड़ी बहुत मुहब्बत से काम नहीं चलता ऐ दोस्त ये वो मामला है जिसमें या सब कुछ या कुछ भी नहीं - फिराक
समझते क्या थे मगर सुनते थे फसानाए-दर्द समझ में आने लगा जब तो फिर सुना न गया -यग़ाना
पूछा जो उनसे गैर को चाहूं तो क्या करो बोले कि जाओ चाहो कोई दूसरा भी है - हकीम काशिफ
Why women need to invest
For women, as with all individuals, investments form an integral part of financial planning; they generate returns for the future and take care of financial needs. This is especially necessary in light of the big question - 'What if'? 'What if' your husband has not planned your finances well? 'What if' there was an eventuality in your family? 'What if' your child's career plans cost you a packet? After all, it's the child who decides on his future, not the parents. And importantly, investments play a key role in making today's woman financially independent.
Education has also played its part in driving women towards the corporate world. More women are taking to education. Armed with a degree, they want to put it to good use by taking up a job. The past few years have seen a steady rise in the number of working women. On the other hand, the goods and services at the consumer's disposal have only increased. With women taking to work, disposable incomes of households have increased. And naturally, alongwith surplus income comes the responsibility of investing.
Apart from working women, homemakers too should take to investing. They can save from the monthly allowance they get to run the house. Not only will this enable them to plan better for the family's future but the savings will be handy on a rainy day. After all, women are considered to be better savers than men!
Like all of us, women also have to deal with an increase in cost of living (inflation). Vegetable prices have been rising consistently. A gas cylinder, which was available for around Rs 70 ten years back, costs almost Rs 300 now. And of course, there's the issue of rising medical bills as the years roll by. So women must have an investment plan in place to secure themselves against inflation. These are just some factors that should compel women to think on the need to invest. And of course, drive them towards actually investing money on a regular basis into various investment avenues.
But just what are these investment avenues that we are talking about here? And how do women go about the task of investing their money 'smartly' to yield a desired return on their investments? In the subsequent articles, we have answered all these questions and more so as to empower women with the necessary advice and guidance to help them secure their financial future.
By Personalfn.com, a financial planning initiative
आखिर द्रविड़ ने कप्तानी क्यों छोड़ी ? Reason Behind Dravid left Captaincy
Give your comment about this.....
Link Building - How To Get The Most Links To Your Website In The Least Amount Of Time...
SEO Power Strategies
Pssst…I'm going to let you in on the worst kept secret of search engine optimization:
It's all about getting links to your website.
I'm serious. While on-page factors such as keyword density and title tags are rudimentary techniques that almost every new website has picked up on (quite a difference from three years ago), link building is something that still eludes many webmasters, and for good reason: It involves work.
In fact, search engine optimization is about 90 percent effort and 10 percent experience. You need experience to recognize which keywords are more profitable, which techniques you need to learn in order to get more visitors to your website, etc. etc. After learning all that, it's just a matter of getting down to doing the work itself. And that is why search engine optimization software such as SEO Elite are so effective:
They cut down on the sheer load of work involved and provide intuitive ways for you to use your experience and get the most out of your investments (in this case, your website AND your time!)
In this lesson I'm going to talk a bit about the techniques you can use to get more links to your website.
There's nothing special about them; they all involve some work, but they all pay off in terms of targeted traffic. In fact, that should be the prime goal of your link building campaign:
Use inbound links to build targeted traffic.
All the strategies mentioned below can be used to get more links to your website. It goes without saying that the more of these strategies you use, the faster you'll be able to get more links.
A common pitfall for most people new to SEO is that they often get sucked in by catchphrases such as ‘the best way to get links to your website' or ‘the top 3 strategies you can use to get tons of links to your website'. The truth is that none of these techniques is the ‘best'. In reality, your website and your business model (in other words, the nature of your website-customer interaction) will determine the most fitting strategies for your linkbuilding campaign.
In fact, when you launch your linking campaign, you'll probably have varying degrees of success with the strategies below. For example, article submissions are a great way to earn more subscribers to your newsletter, while affiliate programs work wonderfully well if you have a decent list of proven products (or a great product). The methods below are not separated in any specific way; I've listed the ‘free' methods first and the paid methods later. Use this list as a reference through your link building campaign, and for best results, mix and match these techniques in the way they suit your website the best.
Just ask...
The traditional way of getting links is to directly ask potential link partners to link to your website. This can be a one-way link or a reciprocal link (more on reciprocal links later). The key factors here are to identify potential link partners and then to contact them and offer either a reciprocal link, an offer to their visitors, or both (we'll cover paid links later).
Finding potential partners is a difficult business. It used to be that you would search on a major search engine like Google or Yahoo for your target keywords, and then check each website in the top 50 or top 100 listings manually, evaluating their similarity to your niche and noting their contact information. This is a tedious process, and is fraught with the primary obstacle of most link managers: ‘What if they say no?'
You could make them an offer they can't refuse (which you will, and I'll tell you how) but to improve your chances, use technology to your advantage. As before, use your target keywords to search for the top websites in your niche, but instead of contacting them, use a search engine optimization software to evaluate the back-links of a top website.
The idea here is to find out which websites link to the top competition in your niche – the websites in the top 10 or top 20 results for your target keywords.
The second step is to make the approach, sell the idea, or like I said before, make them an offer they can't refuse. Part of this approach is to ability to write convincingly (you'll find samples online of successful link request emails) and it is something you learn with time – test your link requests by sending different letters and measuring the response and repeating what works.
The other half involves the offer itself – what your website (or you) can offer to the link partner that will compel him/her to link to you. If you're looking for free links, this offer can include a reciprocal link, site-wide links or maybe just the quality of your website content. The idea here is to sell your link even before they visit your website to check if it's worth linking to, and this can only happen if you can the right pitch.
Write an article...
The idea is quite simple. To establish yourself as a knowledgeable expert in your field, you need to be able to project your knowledge beyond your own website. In this case it involves writing articles on a particular topic in your niche, and distributing them to article directories online.
While this is a crude approach, the method can be refined by offering an article to potential link partners – thus providing them with valuable content for their visitors. Article syndication is a powerful tool and if used properly can generate hundreds, even thousands of visitors for you.
A quick search within your niche can help you find article directories where you can position your article, but a better option is to look at content aggregation websites in your niche – sites which regularly post articles from off-site authors. This not only gives you a chance to build your links but also gives your reputation in this field a boost, something that you can leverage in later techniques.
Run an affiliate program...
If you sell a product, or a range of products, or even a membership service, launching an affiliate program is the quickest way to get inbound links. Of course, you'll need to promote the affiliate program beyond your own website, and you can combine the above two techniques to promote not only your website but also your affiliate program.
In addition, if you have an e-product (an e-book or software) and you sell it through a portal like ClickBank,you can be assured that your affiliates are managed directly through their website. In case you want to run your own affiliate script, you can find several for a low price and even some good ones for free.
http://www.easyclickmate.com is a good Clickbank affiliate script...
An affiliate program offers your visitors and potential link partners the chance to make money by doing a little promotion of your product. For other webmasters that could simply involve posting your link or even posting your article promoting your product on their website; a sure bet for getting a link.
Directory submissions / site submissions...
Second-tier directories and niche directories are seriously under-estimated in terms of their impact on your website traffic. If you're just starting out and looking for free traffic, steer clear of the paid listings of Yahoo and ilk and concentrate on smaller hubs. They may not receive hundreds of thousands of visitors every day, but if you can garner 10 visitors a day from one directory, and get 10 or 20 such directories to which you can submit your link, you have a free stream of 100-200 daily visitors for only an hour's worth of work.
The same goes for submitting your website's link on sites that have a ‘links' page and require a reciprocal link in exchange. While this is not the best strategy to get links by, it will help you in the beginning to get some traffic and hopefully, natural links as a result of that traffic.
Paid links...
If you're looking for a high value link (for example a link from a PR 7 page) and your website is fairly new, you're not going to get in through normal means. In this case, the offer involves money, and this can usually be judged through the site's own advertising policies. Search the website for its media kit, or something similar. Alternatively, you can email them asking them about advertising opportunities on their websites. In this case being direct is the best approach, and will save both your time and theirs.
Of course, the catch here is the amount of money you're willing to pay. Some websites charge a monthly fee, others charge a ‘per impressions' fee (for example, your ad would be shown for 10,000 page views only). In these cases you won't have much room to negotiate if you are just starting out, so it's advisable to shun the big guns and go for the smaller fish – people who won't ask you for too much money and will accept a combination of reciprocal linking, money and some other ‘free method' such as an article submission. Once your website carries its own weight in traffic and Page Rank, you can target the PR 7 and PR 8 websites.
The advantage of such websites is the sheer amount of traffic they get. A news site in Pakistan gets about 60,000 page views a day. Even on a CTR (click-thru-rate) of 1%, that amounts to 600 visitors a day, or 18,000 visitors a month.
The question is, what will you do with this traffic? The possibilities are endless.
Paid listings...
Similar to paid links, paid directory listings are essentially directory inclusions for your website. For some directories, like Yahoo, this is a yearly arrangement, and even then there is no guarantee of inclusion; your website must pass certain editorial criteria. On other, less known directories, the payment is simply a onetime fee plus a request for a reciprocal link.
In many ways paid listings and links are the ‘extra' tweaks that you give to your online business. Even if you have the cash at the start, it's a prudent strategy to pursue free linkbuilding strategies alongside paid methods to ensure that you don't invest too much in your business before it starts to show a profit.
The key to a successful link-building campaign is the consistency of effort you put in. Cut out the hard work in finding link partners (and for that matter, niche directories) by using a linking software such as SEO Elite, with which you can simply plug in the website URL, select your search engine and get a list of all the websites that link to it, the anchor text of those websites as well as their Page Rank. Lists like these, of your top 20 competitors, should be your target link partners during your link campaign.
Link-building is a simple business. All it requires is consistency, and some hard work (which you can eliminate using a simple search engine optimization software such as SEO Elite). And with things being so easy, don't be surprised if you follow these steps and find yourself in the top 10 results for your keyword in just a few months.
All the best,
Professional SEO
What's The Secret To Optimizing Your Website For Yahoo And MSN?
In the last year Google has found itself thrust in an unfamiliar position. First, it has had to contend with the loss of half of its market share after Yahoo! dropped Google as its SERPS provider and began focusing on its own modified version of Inktomi. Additionally,
the rise of MSN Search has further evened out the search engine playing field.
Second, while Google is still the de facto leader of the search engine world, it is now a leader people love to hate. Google's meteoric rise to fame and its hypnotic hold on the search industry have led some observers to compare Google to Microsoft.
The end result? Google occupies only an estimated 35 to 40 percent of the search engine market share. With Yahoo and MSN taking over another 40 to 50 percent, webmasters have had to readjust and consider optimizing their websites Yahoo and MSN as well.
But really, do we need to do anything different?
SEO theory - General SEO vs. Search Engine Specific SEO |
When it comes to search engine optimization, webmasters generally flock to one of two camps:
- Forget about optimizing specifically for each search engine and concentrate on general ‘best' SEO practices.
- Find out what each search engine is looking for, and optimize your web pages accordingly.
Both are with their problems, but surprisingly, once you get to the bottom of the argument
Both sides are essentially saying the same thing |
How? Let's find out.
General-SEO proponents say that since search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, today's optimizations may not work in tomorrow's search engines. So, to optimize for search engines individually is to keep playing catch-up all the time. Another argument often posited is that eventually, all search engines aspire to the same goal – to provide quality results that are most relevant to a user's search term. If that is the ultimate goal, the Holy Grail of search engines, as it were – then if you were to optimize with only the generally proven SEO practices, you would rank well in all search engines and continue to do so even through various algorithm updates.
Search Engine specific proponents claim that as every search engine gives a different level of importance to different factors, it pays not only to know which search engine is looking for what in your web pages, but to also know how to optimize your web pages so they rank as well as possible on different search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo and others.
To me, that's like saying the same thing in two different ways. Since all search engines, leaders or not, are generally measuring the same factors (and just giving them a different weight), the key to constant high rankings across the search engine world is this:
Optimize your web pages for ALL factors – in other words, cover all your bases.
This means not only to espouse best practices for SEO, but to also ensure that you optimize your web pages for all the search engines – because eventually, as long as you don't do anything that a particular search engine penalizes (keyword spamming is bad, and if Yahoo doesn't catch it now, it will soon enough), any optimization that you do will help your web pages rank better.
Having said all that, it stands to reason that we should find out more about the ‘other' 40- 50 percent of the search engine market, Yahoo and MSN. Surprisingly, both Yahoo Search and MSN Search are quite similar to each other in their differences with Google.
Let's look at both on-page and off-page factors.
On page optimization factors |
Whereas Google has giving a primary importance to inbound links and the quality and theme of your web page's inbound links, Yahoo and MSN both tend to favor on-page optimization a lot more. That's not to say that they don't consider off-page factors; it's just that both MSN and Yahoo give far greater importance to on-page factors than does Google.
Here's a quick check-list of the important factors you MUST cater to in order to rank highly in MSN and Yahoo:
Keyword density |
This is given far greater importance in both Yahoo and MSN – in fact, their keyword density tolerance is slightly higher than that of Google. The trick here is not to over-do the keyword density (lest you get punished by Google or even MSN for keyword spamming).
A good benchmark is to keep your keyword density at 3%. More can possibly help, but it's not necessary, and generally a range of 2% to 4% is fair enough. Contrary to some experts, keyword density in itself is only as important as the other on-page factors, namely the title tag and the
When trying to optimize your content, ensure that you follow this pattern:
- Include your keyword phrase in the first sentence of the paragraph for each header (the paragraph after each major heading).
- In your final paragraph (for each header), use your primary keyword phrase again. Preferably twice.
- In between, use combinations of your primary key phrase by splitting it up and using individual words, and throw in semantic uses to vary the nature of the content.
- Avoid using the keyword phrase too much – some SEO experts say that your keyword phrase should be used once in every paragraph and twice in your first and last paragraphs.
As always, these are guidelines that have come about after experience with several websites. Your own experiences may differ. The key is to understand the general principle:
Mix up your content with your keyword phrase, and to use as many variations as you can without compromising on readability (a criteria that can assure a keyword density below 5%).
Title Tags
Ensure that your Title tag contains your keyword phrase at the very start. It's common practice to stuff your company's name or website's name at the beginning of each page's title tag. This is a definite no-no. Put your primary keyword phrase for that page first, followed by your name.
Whereas Google seems to ignore
Keywords tag – keep this to less than 15 keyword phrases, and to avoid keyword spamming, only include those keyword phrases that are part of your web page content. Otherwise, you run the risk of being penalized by Yahoo and MSN.
Description tag – important even in Google, ensure that you include your primary keyword phrase (just once), and make it unique (i.e. a proper description instead of keyword stuffing).
Content tags (H1, H2, bullets, italics, bold)
As in Google, use your primary keyword phrase in H1 tags, and if possible, use variations of your secondary keyword phrases in H2 and H3 tags.
Also, use your keyword phrase and it's variations in bold and italics as well – minor steps but your intention here is to ‘cover all the bases' and these tags always help.
Remember to use bullets – not only do they help readability, but they give increased importance to the content in them – ergo, use keywords and variations.
Clean code
Yahoo and especially MSN have placed a strong emphasis on clean code. Some experts say that MSN Search spider significantly downgrades sites that have badly written code, but the reasons could also be related – sites that are badly designed are also liable to subscribe to ‘bad' SEO strategies such as keyword spamming and Alt tag spamming and thus could be punished because of them.
In any case, make sure that your website code is clean and W3 compliant. It's easier to maintain and in might prevent your website from being punished.
Internal linking
Internal linking is very important to MSN and to a lesser extent Yahoo as well. Whereas Google has eventually reduced its reliance on internal linking as a sign of a page's importance, MSN considers all incoming links from the same source to have value, and assigns them value accordingly.
Be sure to link extensively throughout a site, and to use strong keyword rich and thematic
anchor text relevant to the page with the incoming link. While anchor text is important in
both search engines and Google as well, the difference lies in how they differentiate
between the different sources for incoming links – within a site, MSN and Yahoo seem to
favor internal linking a lot more. In any case, having a site-map is a must for any search
engine, and placing thematic links on each page always help your SERPS.
Off page optimization factors |
Yahoo and MSN have both placed a lot of emphasis on the anchor text and quantity of incoming text, but their emphasis on thematic links does not match that of Google.
As always, links to a particular page should have that page's primary keyword phrase in it's anchor text, and across the board ensure that you use several variations of your anchor text (to avoid making it look like link spamming).
Other than that, off-page optimization for Yahoo and MSN run pretty much like your normal off-page optimization for Google. There is less emphasis on thematic links so there's the possibility to gain search engine rankings by just getting a lot of links from the same IP Address (i.e. sitewide links) - not a best SEO practice, but for new websites it's a quick-start option. Yahoo and MSN have also shown little affinity for Google's penchance with domain and site link-aging.
Recap - Playing the balance game |
The differences between Google on one side and Yahoo and MSN on the other are reminiscent of how Google has evolved over the past few years. Google's emphasis on onpage optimization has gone down over the last three, four years and it's entirely plausible that keyword stuffing may become the norm again for websites trying to rank highly in these two search engines.
What then? Does this mean that Yahoo and MSN search engine algorithms are less developed, or in the same place as Google was a few years ago?
Not exactly. Some of the techniques used by both MSN and Yahoo to sniff out keyword spamming are quite advanced (and based on their spam-filtering experiences in their respective email programs), yet you get the feeling that optimizing for Yahoo and MSN might involve adopting those same practices that webmasters used for Google in its early years.
In any case, Yahoo and MSN do own a significant portion of the search engine market and factoring them into your search engine optimization strategy is critical to winning with the search engines.
Now get out there and start focusing on that other 50% of the search engines!
"What's The Secret To Optimizing Your Website For Yahoo And MSN?"
In the last year Google has found itself thrust in an unfamiliar position. First, it has had to contend with the loss of half of its market share after Yahoo! dropped Google as its SERPS provider and began focusing on its own modified version of Inktomi. Additionally,
the rise of MSN Search has further evened out the search engine playing field.
Second, while Google is still the de facto leader of the search engine world, it is now a leader people love to hate. Google's meteoric rise to fame and its hypnotic hold on the search industry have led some observers to compare Google to Microsoft.
The end result? Google occupies only an estimated 35 to 40 percent of the search engine market share. With Yahoo and MSN taking over another 40 to 50 percent, webmasters have had to readjust and consider optimizing their websites Yahoo and MSN as well.
But really, do we need to do anything different?
When it comes to search engine optimization, webmasters generally flock to one of two camps:
How? Let's find out.
General-SEO proponents say that since search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, today's optimizations may not work in tomorrow's search engines. So, to optimize for search engines individually is to keep playing catch-up all the time. Another argument often posited is that eventually, all search engines aspire to the same goal – to provide quality results that are most relevant to a user's search term. If that is the ultimate goal, the Holy Grail of search engines, as it were – then if you were to optimize with only the generally proven SEO practices, you would rank well in all search engines and continue to do so even through various algorithm updates.
Search Engine specific proponents claim that as every search engine gives a different level of importance to different factors, it pays not only to know which search engine is looking for what in your web pages, but to also know how to optimize your web pages so they rank as well as possible on different search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo and others.
To me, that's like saying the same thing in two different ways. Since all search engines, leaders or not, are generally measuring the same factors (and just giving them a different weight), the key to constant high rankings across the search engine world is this:
Optimize your web pages for ALL factors – in other words, cover all your bases.
This means not only to espouse best practices for SEO, but to also ensure that you optimize your web pages for all the search engines – because eventually, as long as you don't do anything that a particular search engine penalizes (keyword spamming is bad, and if Yahoo doesn't catch it now, it will soon enough), any optimization that you do will help your web pages rank better.
Having said all that, it stands to reason that we should find out more about the ‘other' 40- 50 percent of the search engine market, Yahoo and MSN. Surprisingly, both Yahoo Search and MSN Search are quite similar to each other in their differences with Google.
Let's look at both on-page and off-page factors.
Whereas Google has giving a primary importance to inbound links and the quality and theme of your web page's inbound links, Yahoo and MSN both tend to favor on-page optimization a lot more. That's not to say that they don't consider off-page factors; it's just that both MSN and Yahoo give far greater importance to on-page factors than does Google.
Here's a quick check-list of the important factors you MUST cater to in order to rank highly in MSN and Yahoo:
This is given far greater importance in both Yahoo and MSN – in fact, their keyword density tolerance is slightly higher than that of Google. The trick here is not to over-do the keyword density (lest you get punished by Google or even MSN for keyword spamming).
A good benchmark is to keep your keyword density at 3%. More can possibly help, but it's not necessary, and generally a range of 2% to 4% is fair enough. Contrary to some experts, keyword density in itself is only as important as the other on-page factors, namely the title tag and theMeta tags (keywords and description both).
When trying to optimize your content, ensure that you follow this pattern:
Mix up your content with your keyword phrase, and to use as many variations as you can without compromising on readability (a criteria that can assure a keyword density below 5%).
Title Tags
Ensure that your Title tag contains your keyword phrase at the very start. It's common practice to stuff your company's name or website's name at the beginning of each page's title tag. This is a definite no-no. Put your primary keyword phrase for that page first, followed by your name.
Meta Tags
Whereas Google seems to ignoreMeta tags (especially the Meta keywords tag), there is no reason you should exclude them simply because other search engines continue to give them some importance.
Keywords tag – keep this to less than 15 keyword phrases, and to avoid keyword spamming, only include those keyword phrases that are part of your web page content. Otherwise, you run the risk of being penalized by Yahoo and MSN.
Description tag – important even in Google, ensure that you include your primary keyword phrase (just once), and make it unique (i.e. a proper description instead of keyword stuffing).
Content tags (H1, H2, bullets, italics, bold)
As in Google, use your primary keyword phrase in H1 tags, and if possible, use variations of your secondary keyword phrases in H2 and H3 tags.
Also, use your keyword phrase and it's variations in bold and italics as well – minor steps but your intention here is to ‘cover all the bases' and these tags always help.
Remember to use bullets – not only do they help readability, but they give increased importance to the content in them – ergo, use keywords and variations.
Clean code
Yahoo and especially MSN have placed a strong emphasis on clean code. Some experts say that MSN Search spider significantly downgrades sites that have badly written code, but the reasons could also be related – sites that are badly designed are also liable to subscribe to ‘bad' SEO strategies such as keyword spamming and Alt tag spamming and thus could be punished because of them.
In any case, make sure that your website code is clean and W3 compliant. It's easier to maintain and in might prevent your website from being punished.
Internal linking
Internal linking is very important to MSN and to a lesser extent Yahoo as well. Whereas Google has eventually reduced its reliance on internal linking as a sign of a page's importance, MSN considers all incoming links from the same source to have value, and assigns them value accordingly.
Be sure to link extensively throughout a site, and to use strong keyword rich and thematic
anchor text relevant to the page with the incoming link. While anchor text is important in
both search engines and Google as well, the difference lies in how they differentiate
between the different sources for incoming links – within a site, MSN and Yahoo seem to
favor internal linking a lot more. In any case, having a site-map is a must for any search
engine, and placing thematic links on each page always help your SERPS.
Yahoo and MSN have both placed a lot of emphasis on the anchor text and quantity of incoming text, but their emphasis on thematic links does not match that of Google.
As always, links to a particular page should have that page's primary keyword phrase in it's anchor text, and across the board ensure that you use several variations of your anchor text (to avoid making it look like link spamming).
Other than that, off-page optimization for Yahoo and MSN run pretty much like your normal off-page optimization for Google. There is less emphasis on thematic links so there's the possibility to gain search engine rankings by just getting a lot of links from the same IP Address (i.e. sitewide links) - not a best SEO practice, but for new websites it's a quick-start option. Yahoo and MSN have also shown little affinity for Google's penchance with domain and site link-aging.
The differences between Google on one side and Yahoo and MSN on the other are reminiscent of how Google has evolved over the past few years. Google's emphasis on onpage optimization has gone down over the last three, four years and it's entirely plausible that keyword stuffing may become the norm again for websites trying to rank highly in these two search engines.
What then? Does this mean that Yahoo and MSN search engine algorithms are less developed, or in the same place as Google was a few years ago?
Not exactly. Some of the techniques used by both MSN and Yahoo to sniff out keyword spamming are quite advanced (and based on their spam-filtering experiences in their respective email programs), yet you get the feeling that optimizing for Yahoo and MSN might involve adopting those same practices that webmasters used for Google in its early years.
In any case, Yahoo and MSN do own a significant portion of the search engine market and factoring them into your search engine optimization strategy is critical to winning with the search engines.
Now get out there and start focusing on that other 50% of the search engines!
the rise of MSN Search has further evened out the search engine playing field.
Second, while Google is still the de facto leader of the search engine world, it is now a leader people love to hate. Google's meteoric rise to fame and its hypnotic hold on the search industry have led some observers to compare Google to Microsoft.
The end result? Google occupies only an estimated 35 to 40 percent of the search engine market share. With Yahoo and MSN taking over another 40 to 50 percent, webmasters have had to readjust and consider optimizing their websites Yahoo and MSN as well.
But really, do we need to do anything different?
SEO theory - General SEO vs. Search Engine Specific SEO
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- Forget about optimizing specifically for each search engine and concentrate on general ‘best' SEO practices.
- Find out what each search engine is looking for, and optimize your web pages accordingly.
Both sides are essentially saying the same thing
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General-SEO proponents say that since search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, today's optimizations may not work in tomorrow's search engines. So, to optimize for search engines individually is to keep playing catch-up all the time. Another argument often posited is that eventually, all search engines aspire to the same goal – to provide quality results that are most relevant to a user's search term. If that is the ultimate goal, the Holy Grail of search engines, as it were – then if you were to optimize with only the generally proven SEO practices, you would rank well in all search engines and continue to do so even through various algorithm updates.
Search Engine specific proponents claim that as every search engine gives a different level of importance to different factors, it pays not only to know which search engine is looking for what in your web pages, but to also know how to optimize your web pages so they rank as well as possible on different search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo and others.
To me, that's like saying the same thing in two different ways. Since all search engines, leaders or not, are generally measuring the same factors (and just giving them a different weight), the key to constant high rankings across the search engine world is this:
Optimize your web pages for ALL factors – in other words, cover all your bases.
This means not only to espouse best practices for SEO, but to also ensure that you optimize your web pages for all the search engines – because eventually, as long as you don't do anything that a particular search engine penalizes (keyword spamming is bad, and if Yahoo doesn't catch it now, it will soon enough), any optimization that you do will help your web pages rank better.
Having said all that, it stands to reason that we should find out more about the ‘other' 40- 50 percent of the search engine market, Yahoo and MSN. Surprisingly, both Yahoo Search and MSN Search are quite similar to each other in their differences with Google.
Let's look at both on-page and off-page factors.
On page optimization factors
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Here's a quick check-list of the important factors you MUST cater to in order to rank highly in MSN and Yahoo:
Keyword density
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A good benchmark is to keep your keyword density at 3%. More can possibly help, but it's not necessary, and generally a range of 2% to 4% is fair enough. Contrary to some experts, keyword density in itself is only as important as the other on-page factors, namely the title tag and the
When trying to optimize your content, ensure that you follow this pattern:
- Include your keyword phrase in the first sentence of the paragraph for each header (the paragraph after each major heading).
- In your final paragraph (for each header), use your primary keyword phrase again. Preferably twice.
- In between, use combinations of your primary key phrase by splitting it up and using individual words, and throw in semantic uses to vary the nature of the content.
- Avoid using the keyword phrase too much – some SEO experts say that your keyword phrase should be used once in every paragraph and twice in your first and last paragraphs.
Mix up your content with your keyword phrase, and to use as many variations as you can without compromising on readability (a criteria that can assure a keyword density below 5%).
Title Tags
Ensure that your Title tag contains your keyword phrase at the very start. It's common practice to stuff your company's name or website's name at the beginning of each page's title tag. This is a definite no-no. Put your primary keyword phrase for that page first, followed by your name.
Whereas Google seems to ignore
Keywords tag – keep this to less than 15 keyword phrases, and to avoid keyword spamming, only include those keyword phrases that are part of your web page content. Otherwise, you run the risk of being penalized by Yahoo and MSN.
Description tag – important even in Google, ensure that you include your primary keyword phrase (just once), and make it unique (i.e. a proper description instead of keyword stuffing).
Content tags (H1, H2, bullets, italics, bold)
As in Google, use your primary keyword phrase in H1 tags, and if possible, use variations of your secondary keyword phrases in H2 and H3 tags.
Also, use your keyword phrase and it's variations in bold and italics as well – minor steps but your intention here is to ‘cover all the bases' and these tags always help.
Remember to use bullets – not only do they help readability, but they give increased importance to the content in them – ergo, use keywords and variations.
Clean code
Yahoo and especially MSN have placed a strong emphasis on clean code. Some experts say that MSN Search spider significantly downgrades sites that have badly written code, but the reasons could also be related – sites that are badly designed are also liable to subscribe to ‘bad' SEO strategies such as keyword spamming and Alt tag spamming and thus could be punished because of them.
In any case, make sure that your website code is clean and W3 compliant. It's easier to maintain and in might prevent your website from being punished.
Internal linking
Internal linking is very important to MSN and to a lesser extent Yahoo as well. Whereas Google has eventually reduced its reliance on internal linking as a sign of a page's importance, MSN considers all incoming links from the same source to have value, and assigns them value accordingly.
Be sure to link extensively throughout a site, and to use strong keyword rich and thematic
anchor text relevant to the page with the incoming link. While anchor text is important in
both search engines and Google as well, the difference lies in how they differentiate
between the different sources for incoming links – within a site, MSN and Yahoo seem to
favor internal linking a lot more. In any case, having a site-map is a must for any search
engine, and placing thematic links on each page always help your SERPS.
Off page optimization factors
|
As always, links to a particular page should have that page's primary keyword phrase in it's anchor text, and across the board ensure that you use several variations of your anchor text (to avoid making it look like link spamming).
Other than that, off-page optimization for Yahoo and MSN run pretty much like your normal off-page optimization for Google. There is less emphasis on thematic links so there's the possibility to gain search engine rankings by just getting a lot of links from the same IP Address (i.e. sitewide links) - not a best SEO practice, but for new websites it's a quick-start option. Yahoo and MSN have also shown little affinity for Google's penchance with domain and site link-aging.
Recap - Playing the balance game
|
What then? Does this mean that Yahoo and MSN search engine algorithms are less developed, or in the same place as Google was a few years ago?
Not exactly. Some of the techniques used by both MSN and Yahoo to sniff out keyword spamming are quite advanced (and based on their spam-filtering experiences in their respective email programs), yet you get the feeling that optimizing for Yahoo and MSN might involve adopting those same practices that webmasters used for Google in its early years.
In any case, Yahoo and MSN do own a significant portion of the search engine market and factoring them into your search engine optimization strategy is critical to winning with the search engines.
Now get out there and start focusing on that other 50% of the search engines!
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