The Ultimate Guide to Mastering SEO in 2017 and Beyond

SEO is one of the essential components of digital marketing. If you are just getting started with learning digital marketing, SEO might look like a very complicated concept. But in reality, SEO is very simple. There is a lot to learn in SEO, but let’s first understand the fundamentals of SEO.

Think about why you use the search engines for in the first place. You enter “keywords” in a search engine looking for something. It could be for information (news & education), entertainment (movies & music) or transaction (buying products or services).

In all the above cases, you are searching for something that you know that it exists. Search engines are just an evolved form of yellow pages. You look for products and services that you already know about. That’s why the traffic from search engines are always of higher quality.

People are searching for something and already know what they want. If they land on a site to find what they were looking for, they are highly likely to convert.

Search Vs. Display Ads

Imagine that you are selling running shoes online via digital marketing channels. If you are advertising the shoes on display ads or Facebook, the person looking at it may or may not be interested in a running shoe.

However, someone who is searching for a keyword like ‘buy running shoes’ or ‘top 10 running shoes’ on a search engine is more likely to buy a running shoe.

With search engines, you are reaching out to people who are looking for you. You are meeting them in the middle. However, with display ads (interruption ads), you are knocking on the doors of people who may or may not be interested in what you have to sell.

Analogy: Imagine search engine like being a big marketplace, and the internet user who uses the search engine is like the guy walking into the marketplace and looking for what he wants. However, display ads are like door-to-door salespeople knocking at different doors to try to sell something. The buyers are not interested, and they did not welcome the salesman.

Buyer intent is clearly expressed in search engines compared to any other digital medium. That’s why SEO and SEM are one of the most essential components of digital marketing. And Google has the lion’s share of the search engine market.

What does a Search Engine or Google Want?

You want free traffic from Google. You want your articles to be ranked high in the search engines. That’s what you want. But Google is not in the business of sending free traffic to your websites. They are in the business of running a search engine and making revenue from the ads!

The only way to get good search rankings for your web pages is to think about what Google wants and give it to them. If you help other people get what they want, there is a high chance that you will get what you want.

A search engine like Google wants internet users to use their search engine frequently. And they can achieve that only be delivering quality and relevant results. (Who uses Yahoo or Bing anymore? We don’t use it because Google gives us better results).

So that’s what Google wants. But Google needs your help in delivering high-quality results. Because Google doesn’t create all the content in the world by themselves. They need your help in creating content. You are the content producer. If you create good quality content, then Google can help you market it. It would be a win-win.

Ideally, Google would want to review each and every page on the internet manually and rank them on the search engine result pages, for every keyword, based on the quality and relevancy. But the internet is too large, and there are hundreds of millions of pages.

So they have built an algorithm that automates this process. The algorithm checks each page for quality and relevancy and then ranks it accordingly. The algorithm is the core of the search engine. It mimics human intelligence, and that’s their greatest asset.

For Google’s algorithm to decide which pages are useful and which pages are not, they need signals. What signals? Quality and Relevancy signals! Who sends those signals? Your website users and you, the website owner (webmaster).

Two Important SEO Factors: Quality and Relevancy

When you think about search engine results, there are two important factors involved in it. One is quality, and the other is relevancy.

Quality: If you are searching for “top 10 laptops” and if there are 50 websites who have written articles about top laptops in the market, you would want the highest quality result to appear on the top. You might not want to read lower quality articles.

Relevancy: If you are searching for “top 10 laptops” and if the search engine shows results for “top 10 mobile phones”, the result will not be useful for you even if the page about the top 10 mobile phones is of superb quality. It is not relevant to you and hence not useful to you.

So the results have to be both of high quality and high relevancy. Otherwise, it will not be useful to the internet users. Quality signals are sent mostly by the web users based on their behavior, and we call it off-page SEO. Relevancy signals are mostly sent to Google by Webmasters, and we call it on-page SEO.

User Signals (Off-Page SEO)

Search engines track user behavior on a site to try to find out the quality and the relevance of the website and the pages inside it. There are many user signals recorded by the search engines, but the major ones are obvious.

Primary User Signals:

• If a user finds an article useful and relevant, he will share it on social media. (Social Signals)
• He may link to the article from his blog or a discussion forum. (Backlinks)
• He will spend a lot of time on the page reading the article. (Time spent on site)
• He will not hit the back button on the browser after clicking on your link in the search engine results. (Low bounce rate)

Off-page optimization is done by your users by communicating these signals to Google. These signals are predominantly signals of quality but have relevancy signals too. User signals are not under your control.

Webmaster Signals (On-Page SEO)

Google also wants signals from webmasters (website owners) about the type of content that is available on our websites. These signals are predominantly relevancy signals than quality signals. Because every webmaster would claim that their content is of the best quality!

Webmaster Signals:

• Title of the page and website as a whole
• Meta description of the pages
• Images and image alt tags on the pages

SEO Factors that Webmasters can Control

Apart from sending relevancy signals, there are other things that webmasters can do to improve their website’s search friendliness. Here are some of the major ones.

• Give a good user experience (make it mobile friendly, easy to read)
• Have a good hosting and high page load speed
• Help users navigate through the site in the best way possible

Once you have got these SEO basics right, you can master SEO. Tactics and strategies to achieve the above will keep changing over time.

SEO Fundamentals Do Not Change, Ever

Any new SEO technique that comes up will fit into the above framework. All you need to do is check if it helps your users and the search engines and if it is a yes, you can go ahead with it. That’s the only long term SEO strategy that you can have.

For example, the latest trend in SEO is AMP (accelerated mobile pages), but it is just another factor that helps with good user experience. Internet users would like to get the web pages fast and not wait for it.

Many webmasters try to game the system by bending the rules. For example, webmasters may try to send false user signals of quality and relevancy.

Such practices are termed as ‘black hat’ SEO. They may build backlinks themselves instead of earning links organically. They may boost fake social shares.

With such practices, some webmasters may get results in the short-term, but in the end, if you have to win the SEO game forever, you have to make it a win-win-win situation for your users, the search engines and yourself.

Conclusion

I hope this post helped you understand the fundamentals of SEO. Once you get the basics right and make sure that you are in a win-win game with the search engines, you would never need to worry about another algorithm update from the search engines. If there is an update, it would only help you get better rankings and more traffic!

In the future lessons, articles, and courses we will discuss how to master the SEO game.

More SEO Topics

• Keyword Research – finding out what users are searching for
• Local SEO – How to get results based on location and geography
• Rich Snippets & Schema markups – adding additional information such as price, ratings etc in the search results
• Using Google Search Console to monitor the SEO health of your websites
• Advanced On-page and off-page SEO
• Video SEO and other media types that enhance SEO
• Advanced SEO Tools that give you insights for ranking better (Moz, Ahrefs etc.)

Debu Nayak,Bhubaneswar,India.

10 Solutions for Climate Change

Ten possibilities for staving off catastrophic climate change.

The enormity of global warming can be daunting and dispiriting. What can one person, or even one nation, do on their own to slow and reverse climate  change ?But just as ecologist Stephen Pacala and physicist Robert Socolow, both at Princeton University, came up with 15 so-called “wedges ” for nations to utilize toward this goal—each of which is challenging but feasible and, in some combination, could reduces greenhouse gas emission to safer levels there are personal lifestyle changes that you can make too that, in some combination, can help reduce your carbon impact. Not all are right for everybody. Some you may already be doing or absolutely abhor. But implementing just a few of them could make a difference.

1.Forego Fossil Fuels 

The first challenge is eliminating the burning of coal , oil and, eventually, natural gas. This is perhaps the most daunting challenge as denizens of richer nations literally eat, wear, work, play and even sleep on the products made from such fossilized sunshine. And citizens of developing nations want and arguably deserve the same comforts, which are largely thanks to the energy stored in such fuels.

Oil is the lubricant of the global economy, hidden inside such ubiquitous items as plastic and corn, and fundamental to the transportation of both consumers and goods. Coal is the substrate, supplying roughly half of the electricity used in the U.S. and nearly that much worldwide—a percentage that is likely to grow, according to the International Energy Agency. There are no perfect solutions for reducing dependence on fossil fuels (for example, carbon neutral biofuels can drive up the price of food and lead to forest destruction, and while nuclear power  does not emit greenhouse gases, it does produce radioactive waste), but every bit counts.

So try to employ alternatives when possible—plant-derived plastics, biodiesel, wind power—and to invest in the change, be it by divesting from oil stocks or investing in companies practicing carbon capture and storage.

2.Infrastructure Upgrade

Buildings worldwide contribute around one third of all greenhouse gas emissions (43 percent in the U.S. alone), even though investing in the thicken insulation and other cost-effective, temperature-regulating steps can save money in the long run. Electric grids are at capacity or overloaded, but power demands continue to rise. And bad roads can lower the fuel economy of even the most efficient vehicle. Investing in new infrastructure, or radically upgrading existing highways and transmission lines, would help cut greenhouse gas emissions and drive economic growth in developing countries.

Of course, it takes a lot of cement, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, to construct new buildings and roads. The U.S. alone contributed 50.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2005 from cement production, which requires heating limestone and other ingredients to 1,450 degrees Celsius (2,642 degrees Fahrenheit). Mining copper and other elements needed for electrical wiring and transmission also causes globe-warming pollution.

But energy-efficient buildings and improved cement-making processor (such as using alternative fuels to fire up the kiln) could reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world and prevent them in the developing world.

3.Move Closer to Work

Transportation is the second leading source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. (burning a single gallon of gasoline produces 20 pounds of CO₂). But it doesn’t have to be that way.

One way to dramatically curtail transportation fuel needs is to move closer to work, use mass transit, or switch to walking, cycling  or some other mode of transport that does not require anything other than human energy. There is also the option of working from home and telecommuting several days a week.

Cutting down on long-distance travel would also help, most notably airplane flights, which are one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions and a source that arguably releases such emissions in the worst possible spot (higher in the atmosphere). Flights are also one of the few sources of globe-warming pollution for which there isn’t already a viable alternative: jets rely on kerosene, because it packs the most energy per pound, allowing them to travel far and fast, yet it takes roughly 10 gallons of oil to make one gallon of JetA fuel. Restricting flying to only critical, long-distance trips—in many parts of the world, trains can replace planes for short- to medium-distance trips—would help curb airplane emissions.

4.Consume Less

The easiest way to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions is simply to buy less stuff. Whether by forgoing an automobile or employing a reusable grocery sack, cutting back on consumption results in fewer fossil fuels being burned to extract, produce and ship products around the globe.

Think green when making purchases. For instance, if you are in the market for a new car, buy one that will last the longest and have the least impact on the environment. Thus, a used vehicle with a hybrid engine offers superior fuel efficiency over the long haul while saving the environmental impact of new car manufacture.

Paradoxically, when purchasing essentials, such as groceries, buying in bulk can reduce the amount of packaging—plastic wrapping, cardboard boxes and other unnecessary materials. Sometimes buying more means consuming less.

5.Be Efficient

A potentially simpler and even bigger impact can be made by doing more with less. Citizens of many developed countries are profligate wasters of energy, whether by speeding in a gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicle or leaving the lights on when not in a room.

Good driving—and good car maintenance, such as making sure tires are properly inflated—can limit the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from a vehicle and, perhaps more importantly, lower the frequency of payment at the pump.

Similarly, employing more efficient refrigerators, air conditioners and other appliances, such as those rated highly under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program, can cut electric bills while something as simple as weatherproofing the windows of a home can reduce heating and cooling bills. Such efforts can also be usefully employed at work, whether that means installing more efficient turbines at the power plant or running the lights  off when you leave the office .

6.Eat Smart, Go Vegetarian

Corn grown in the U.S. requires barrels of oil for the fertilizer to grow it and the diesel fuel to harvest and transport it. Some grocery stores stock organic produce that do not require such fertilizers, but it is often shipped from halfway across the globe. And meat, whether beef, chicken or pork, requires pounds of feed to produce a pound of protein.

Choosing food items that balance nutrition, taste and ecological impact is no easy task. Foodstuffs often bear some nutritional information, but there is little to reveal how far a head of lettuce, for example, has traveled.

University of Chicago researchers estimate that each meat-eating American produces 1.5 tons more greenhouse gases through their food choice than do their vegetarian peers. It would also take far less land to grow the crops necessary to feed humans than livestock, allowing more room for planting trees.

7.Stop Cutting Down Trees

Every year, 33 million acres of forest are cut down .Timber harvesting in the tropics alone contributes 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. That represents 20 percent of human-made greenhouse gas emissions and a source that could be avoided relatively easily.

Improved agricultural practices along with paper recycling and forest management—balancing the amount of wood taken out with the amount of new trees growing—could quickly eliminate this significant chunk of emissions.

And when purchasing wood products, such as furniture or flooring, buy used goods or, failing that, wood certified to have been sustainably harvested. The Amazon and other forests are not just the lungs of the earth, they may also be humanity’s best short-term hope for limiting climate change.

8.Unplug

Believe it or not, U.S. citizens spend more money on electricity to power devices when off than when on. Televisions, stereo equipment, computers, battery chargers and a host of other gadgets and appliances consume more energy when seemingly switched off, so unplug them instead.

Purchasing energy-efficient gadgets can also save both energy and money—and thus prevent more greenhouse gas emissions. To take but one example, efficient battery chargers could save more than one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity—$100 million at today’s electricity prices—and thus prevent the release of more than one million metric tons of greenhouse gases.

Swapping old incandescent light bulbs for more efficient replacements, such as compact fluorescent (warning: these light bulbs contain mercury and must be properly disposed of at the end of their long life), would save billions of kilowatt-hours. In fact, according to the EPA, replacing just one incandescent light bulb in every American home would save enough energy to provide electricity to three million American homes.

9.One Child

There are at least 6.6 billion people living today, a number that is predicted by the United Nations to grow to at least nine billion by mid-century. The U.N. Environmental Program estimates that it requires 54 acres to sustain an average human being today—food, clothing and other resources extracted from the planet. Continuing such population growth seems unsustainable.

Falling birth rates in some developed and developing countries (a significant portion of which are due to government-imposed limits on the number of children a couple can have) have begun to reduce or reverse the population explosion. It remains unclear how many people the planet can comfortably sustain, but it is clear that per capita energy consumption must go down if climate change is to be controlled.

Ultimately, a one child per couple rule is not sustainable either and there is no perfect number for human population. But it is clear that more humans means more greenhouse gas emissions.

10.Future Fuels

Replacing fossil fuels may prove the great challenge of the 21st century. Many contenders exist, ranging from ethanol derived from crops to hydrogen electrolyzed out of water, but all of them have some drawbacks, too, and none are immediately available at the scale needed.

Biofuels can have a host of negative impacts, from driving up food prices to sucking up more energy than they produce. Hydrogen must be created, requiring either reforming natural gas or electricity to crack water molecules. Biodiesel hybrid electric vehicles  (that can plug into the grid overnight) may offer the best transportation solution in the short term, given the energy density of diesel and the carbon neutral ramifications of fuel from plants as well as the emissions of electric engines. A recent study found that the present amount of electricity generation in the U.S. could provide enough energy for the country’s entire fleet of automobiles to switch to plug -in hybrids,reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the process.

But plug-in hybrids would still rely on electricity, now predominantly generated by burning dirty coal. Massive investment in low-emission energy generation, whether solar-thermal power or nuclear fission , would be required to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And even more speculative energy sources—hyper efficient photovoltaic cells, solar energy stations in orbit or even fusion—may ultimately be required.

The solutions above offer the outline of a plan to personally avoid contributing to global warming. But should such individual and national efforts fail, there is another, potentially desperate solution:

Experiment Earth—Climate change represents humanity’s first planetwide experiment. But, if all else fails, it may not be the last. So-called geoengineering ,radical interventions to either block sunlight or reduce greenhouse gases, is a potential last resort for addressing the challenge of climate change.

Among the ideas: releasing sulfate particles in the air to mimic the cooling effects of a massive volcanic eruption; placing millions of small mirrors or lenses in space to deflect sunlight; covering portions of the planet with reflective films to bounce sunlight back into space; fertilizing the ocean with iron or other nutrients to enable plankton to absorb more carbon; and increasing cloud cover or the reflectivity of clouds that already form.

All may have unintended consequences, making the solution worse than the original problem. But it is clear that at least some form of geoengineering will likely be required: capturing carbon dioxide before it is released and storing it in some fashion, either deep beneath the earth, at the bottom of the ocean or in carbonate minerals. Such carbon capture and storage is critical to any serious effort to combat climate change.

Debu Nayak, Bhubaneswar,India.

Supporting someone with depression or anxiety!

Caring for someone with depression or anxiety can be challenging.

Although every personal experience is unique, there are aspects of the role that are common to many carers.

The beyondblue Guide for carers includes helpful information for carers and relatives of people who have either just been diagnosed, are recovering, or are in the early stages of depression/anxiety.

The guide covers topics such as:

• recognizing that something is not right
• taking the first step
• getting to the first appointment
• accessing information
• keeping up the momentum
• working towards recovery
• overcoming setbacks
• emergency and crisis situations.

The guide also looks at the importance of taking care of you – the carer.

The Australian Government’s Carer Gateway online hub, developed with the Department of Social Services (DSS), provides information about the services and support available for people who care for someone with a disability, chronic illness, dementia, mental illness or who are frail aged. Visit www.carergateway.gov.au or call 1800 422 737 for more information.

Things you can do to help someone with depression or anxiety:

• Let the person know if you’ve noticed a change in their behavior.
• Spend time talking with the person about their experiences and let them know that you’re there to listen without being judgmental.
• Suggest the person see a doctor or health professional and/or help them to make an appointment.
• Offer to go with the person to the doctor or health professional.
• Help the person to find information about depression and anxiety from a website or library.
• Encourage the person to try to get enough sleep, exercise and eat healthy food.
• Discourage the person from using alcohol or other drugs to feel better.
• Encourage friends and family members to invite the person out and keep in touch, but don’t pressure the person to participate in activities.
• Encourage the person to face their fears with support from their doctor/psychologist.

It would be unhelpful to:

• put pressure on the person by telling them to ‘snap out of it’ or ‘get their act together’
• stay away or avoid them
• tell them they just need to stay busy or get out more
• pressure them to party more or wipe out how they’re feeling with drugs and alcohol.

Supporting a child or young person

For information to help you support the young people in your life and raise healthy, resilient kids, check out Healthy Families website.

According to a June 2015 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, close to one in 10 American men suffers from depression or anxiety, but fewer than half get treatment. The poll of more than 21,000 men also found that among younger males, blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to report mental health symptoms.

More than 39 percent of the men under age 45 said they had either taken medication or visited a mental health professional for daily anxiety or depression during the previous year, putting these younger men roughly on a par with the estimated 42 percent of “older men” (those 45 years and above) who said they had done the same.

In a September 2014 paper published in Qualitative Health Research, a team of Australian professors explored the problem of stigma as a barrier to men seeking help for mental health. They analyzed portrayals of men’s communication about depression in news articles over a five-year period. They found that by presenting media clips in which men were open about depression, and therefore experienced positive outcomes in their recovery, they could challenge the stigma associated with male depression.

 

Men — more commonly than women — are likely to feel angry, irritable, and frustrated rather than sad when depressed.

Instead of withdrawing from the world, men may act recklessly or develop a compulsive interest in … a new hobby. Instead of crying, men may engage in violent behavior.

Men also are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol when in the midst of a depression, perhaps to find relief from the pain of depressive feelings.

Changes in sleep habits, such as insomnia or feelings of exhaustion, and appetite changes are often recognized as signs of depression in both men and women, but it’s less well known that headaches; joint, back, or muscle pain; dizziness; chest pain; and digestive problems also may be symptoms. Men report these physical symptoms more often than women, although they are often unaware the symptoms are linked to depression.

 

Debu Nayak,Bhubaneswar,India.

Water is absolutely necessary for survival. It makes up approximately 60% of the human body, with every system depending on water to function properly. Thus, dehydration or a lack of body water has widespread repercussions. While mild dehydration is easily remedied, severe dehydration is a serious condition that can lead to loss of consciousness, organ […]

via 10 Signs and Symptoms of Dehydration — Visit Odisha

10 Signs and Symptoms of Dehydration

Water is absolutely necessary for survival. It makes up approximately 60% of the human body, with every system depending on water to function properly.

Thus, dehydration  or a lack of body water has widespread repercussions.

While mild dehydration is easily remedied, severe dehydration is a serious condition that can lead to loss of consciousness, organ failure or even death.

This article discusses the common signs and symptoms of dehydration.

What Is Dehydration?

Water is constantly leaving your body, mostly through sweat, urine and stools. An adequate amount of water must be consumed to make up for this loss.

Dehydration occurs when more water is leaving the body than coming in. It can be caused by either a lack of fluid intake or excessive fluid loss.

Here are some of the common causes of dehydration:

• Vigorous exercise: Intense exercise leads to fluid loss through sweat. If fluids are not replaced by drinking water, you can become dehydrated.
• Exposure to heat: Heat can cause you to lose fluid through sweat. You may become dehydrated if you don’t drink extra water when it’s very hot outside.
• Vomiting and diarrhea: Vomiting and diarrhea both cause significant fluid loss that can lead to dehydration.
• Nausea: Many people don’t feel like eating or drinking when they are nauseated. It’s important to continue drinking water so you don’t become dehydrated.
• Burns or skin infections: Water can be lost through severe burns and skin infections.
• Diabetes: When blood sugar levels are high, the body increases urine production to eliminate sugar from the body. This can lead to dehydration if this loss is not matched with an increase in water consumption.
• Fever: A fever may contribute to fluid loss through sweating.

Summary: Dehydration occurs when more fluid is leaving the body than being consumed. Factors that decrease fluid consumption or increase fluid losses can contribute to dehydration.

1. Thirst

Thirst is a craving for fluid that serves as an automatic reminder to drink water.

It’s often the body’s first indicator that it needs more water.

Interestingly, your body is equipped with a complex system for regulating fluid balance. Even a small change in fluid balance can trigger a sensation of thirst .

For most people, drinking when they’re thirsty is an effective method for staying hydrated.

However, there are some situations in which thirst might not be a reliable indicator of hydration status.

For example, older people may need to consciously manage their fluid intake, as your sense of thirst tends to decline with age .

In addition, you may need to drink beyond simply satisfying your thirst if you are sweating profusely. For example, intense exercise and exposure to high temperatures can cause you to lose a large amount of water through sweat.

In these situations, you may need to drink additional water to stay hydrated.

Summary: Thirst is the body’s first indicator of dehydration. For most people, responding to thirst effectively prevents dehydration.

2. Changes in the Color or Amount of Your Urine

Your urine can tell you a lot about your hydration status, since it accounts for the majority of the fluid that leaves your body.

Thus, controlling the amount and composition of urine is one way in which the body is able to maintain proper fluid balance.

Urine, which is produced by the kidneys, consists of both water and waste products that your body needs to eliminate.

If you are dehydrated, the kidneys conserve water by concentrating urine. This allows waste to be eliminated while retaining water for important biological functions .

Interestingly, urine’s concentration affects its appearance. If you’re well hydrated, your urine should be a clear, pale yellow color and nearly odorless .

On the other hand, cloudy, dark yellow urine is a sign of dehydration. A honey-yellow color may indicate mild dehydration, while a deep, amber-yellow color with a strong odor can signal severe dehydration .

In addition to controlling the concentration of urine, the kidneys can also conserve fluid by decreasing the amount of urine produced. In fact, if the body becomes severely dehydrated, the kidneys may stop making urine altogether.

However, urine output varies from person to person, so there is no set amount of urine you should be producing every day. If you notice a significant decrease in urine, you may be dehydrated .

Keep in mind that certain foods, medications and medical conditions can also influence the color and amount of urine. If your urine is consistently a color other than pale yellow, you should consult your doctor.

Summary: The color and amount of urine that your body produces are good indicators of your hydration status. Dark yellow urine or a low urine output are signs of dehydration.

3. Fatigue or Sleepiness

Fatigue or tiredness can have many different causes, but dehydration can be one of them.

Many studies have shown that dehydration causes fatigue and decreases endurance during exercise .

For this reason, drinking an adequate amount of water is particularly important during exercise.

However, you don’t have to be exercising to experience dehydration-related fatigue.

Studies have shown that fluid loss amounting to 1–3% of your body weight, which is considered mild dehydration, can cause feelings of fatigue and sleepiness during normal daily activities.

In a study of young, healthy women, water restriction for 24 hours caused sleepiness, confusion, fatigue and decreased alertness.

All of these symptoms improved when the women were allowed to freely drink water at the conclusion of the 24-hour period .

Another study in men found that a fluid loss amounting to 1.6% of their body weight significantly increased fatigue both at rest and during exercise.

This amount of fluid loss can easily occur during normal daily activities if you’re not drinking an adequate amount of fluid throughout the day.

Summary: Fatigue or sleepiness can be a sign of dehydration. Drinking water may boost your energy and help you feel more alert.

4. Headaches

Dehydration may trigger headaches or migraines in some people .

One study found that a fluid loss of 1.4% of body weight caused headaches and moodiness in healthy women .

Another study found similar results in men. Water restriction for 37 hours, which resulted in a 2.7% fluid loss, led to headaches and difficulty concentrating .

Fortunately, evidence shows that headaches caused by dehydration can be relieved by drinking water.

In one small study, all but one of 34 people who experienced a dehydration-related headache found relief from drinking water.

In fact, drinking water provided headache relief within 30 minutes for 22 out of 34 people, while 11 other participants found relief within three hours .

Keep in mind that there are many different types of headaches, and they are not all caused by a lack of hydration.

Nevertheless, a headache may be a sign that your body needs more water.

Summary: Dehydration can cause headaches. In most cases, drinking water can resolve a dehydration-related headache.

5. Changes in Skin Elasticity

Dehydration can cause changes to the appearance and texture of your skin.

Your skin is made up of approximately 30% water, which is responsible for its fullness and elasticity .

Healthy, well-hydrated skin will return to its normal shape after being pulled and stretched. This elastic nature of skin is known as skin turgor.

On the other hand, when the body is dehydrated, fluid is pulled away from the skin and diverted to major organs to keep them functioning properly. This shift of fluid away from the skin causes it to lose its elasticity.

To test the elasticity of your skin, pinch your skin between your thumb and your forefinger.

If you are well hydrated, your skin should snap back immediately after being released. If it takes a half a second or more for your skin to return to its shape, you may be dehydrated .

In addition, a lack of fluid in the skin can cause dryness and make skin feel cool and clammy to the touch.

Summary: Decreased skin turgor, or elasticity, is a sign of dehydration. Skin that is dry, cool and clammy may also indicate dehydration.

6. Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps may be a sign of dehydration. Cramps are particularly common when dehydration is caused by excessive sweating.

Interestingly, sweating can result in a significant loss of both fluid and sodium, which is an electrolyte that plays a role in muscle contractions.

Thus, when fluid and sodium become depleted, muscles sometimes contract involuntarily. This is known as a muscle cramp .

For this reason, adequate hydration is especially important during strenuous exercise or exercise in high temperatures.

Summary: Fluid and sodium depletions can lead to muscle cramps. Drinking water is particularly important during strenuous exercise.

7. Decrease in Blood Pressure

Low blood pressure can be a symptom of dehydration .

Dehydration lowers the volume of blood in the body, which lowers the pressure on artery walls .

Interestingly, low blood pressure might make you feel light-headed or dizzy when you go from lying down to standing up .

That’s because your heart has to pump faster and harder to get blood to the brain when there is less fluid in the body. When you stand up, it may take a few seconds for blood to get to the brain from the lower limbs.

What’s more, low blood pressure can make you feel weak and tired.

Nevertheless, a small drop in blood pressure is relatively harmless and usually remedied by drinking water.

On the other hand, severe dehydration can lead to dangerously low blood pressure. Symptoms like blurred vision, nausea and fainting could indicate very low blood pressure that requires medical attention .

Summary: Dehydration can cause a drop in blood pressure, which might make you feel light-headed, weak and tired. Severe dehydration can cause dangerously low blood pressure that requires medical attention.

8. Rapid Heart Rate or Heart Palpitations

Dehydration can cause a rapid heart rate or heart palpitations. Palpitations give you the feeling that your heart is jumping or skipping a beat.

Interestingly, these abnormalities are a result of the heart attempting to compensate for the lack of fluid in the body.

When there’s not enough fluid in your body, it decreases the volume of blood in your blood vessels. Your body then works hard to deliver enough blood to your organs by increasing its heart rate, pumping blood more quickly throughout your body .

When this happens, you might feel your heart racing, fluttering or pounding extra hard.

Fortunately, in most cases of dehydration, this increase in heart rate effectively makes up for the low blood volume. Even with less blood pumping through the body, the organs and tissues are able to receive what they need.

However, as dehydration becomes more severe, the heart becomes less effective at compensating for the lack of fluid. If the heart is unable to get blood to the organs, they will eventually shut down.

Keep in mind that dehydration is not the only condition that affects heart rate. Rapid heart rate or palpitations can also indicate a more serious medical condition.

That being said, if your heart rate does not return to normal after drinking water, you should consult a medical professional.

Summary: A lack of fluid in the body decreases blood volume. The heart makes up for the lack of blood volume by working harder and faster to pump blood throughout the body.

9. Irritability or Confusion

Dehydration can have a significant effect on brain function.

Studies have shown that even mild dehydration can cause irritability and decreased brain function .

A few studies found that a 1–2% loss of body fluid causes symptoms, such as anxiety, moodiness, difficulty concentrating and a decline in short-term memory .

Furthermore, brain function can deteriorate significantly as dehydration becomes more severe. Severe dehydration can cause confusion and incoherence.

In fact, confusion and even delirium are common symptoms among older adults who are dehydrated. Older adults are particularly susceptible to becoming dehydrated due to their sense of thirst declining with age .

Conversely, drinking plenty of water has a positive effect on mental clarity and brain function. In fact, both children and adults have been found to perform tasks better when they are well hydrated .

In one study, children who were given additional water to drink had improved short-term memory and performed better in school .

Overall, it appears that hydration status can have a significant impact on mental performance.

Summary: Dehydration can negatively affect brain function and cause symptoms like moodiness, anxiety, decreased concentration and confusion.

10. Serious Complications and Organ Failure

Severe dehydration can lead to very serious complications.

Every organ in the body requires fluid to function properly. If dehydration becomes critical, organs will begin to shut down.

In fact, a severe loss of body fluid can lead to shock, which is a potentially fatal condition .

Shock occurs when the volume of blood becomes so low that the brain and other organs are not able to receive the oxygen they need .

Moreover, shock can cause complications like loss of consciousness, brain damage, kidney failure and heart attack. If shock is not treated immediately, it will result in death .

That being said, shock is a rare consequence of dehydration that only occurs with an extreme loss of body water. It is most likely to come about when fluid is lost through trauma, severe burns or prolonged vomiting and diarrhea.

Summary: Extreme dehydration can cause shock and organ failure. This level of dehydration can be fatal if not treated immediately.

How to Prevent Dehydration

The key to preventing dehydration is to drink plenty of water throughout the day, along with other beverages like unsweetened coffee and tea.

Interestingly, water-rich foods like fruits and vegetables also contribute to hydration.

However, there’s no magic amount of fluid you should drink every day to stay hydrated .

Fluid requirements vary from person to person and are affected by activity level, amount of sweat and climate .

Nevertheless, here are some tips to stay hydrated:

• Drink when you are thirsty: For most people, thirst is a reliable indicator that your body needs water. If you feel thirsty, drink water .
• Drink plenty of water before exercising: It’s important to be properly hydrated before you start exercising, particularly if you are going to be active in the heat.
• Replace fluids lost through sweat: If you sweat a lot, you will need to drink extra water to replace lost fluids. In this case, you may need to drink more than your thirst demands .
• Keep tabs on the color of your urine: The color of your urine is a good indicator of your hydration status. Drink enough water so that your urine maintains a pale yellow color.
• Replace fluids lost through vomiting or diarrhea: Sip on liquids or ice chips if you are experiencing vomiting or diarrhea. If you are unable to keep fluids down for more than 24 hours, seek medical attention.

Summary: In order to prevent dehydration, drink when you are thirsty and replace fluids lost through sweat or illness.

The Bottom Line

Symptoms of dehydration range from thirst, in the case of mild dehydration, to organ failure when dehydration is severe.

While most cases of dehydration can be easily remedied by drinking water, more severe dehydration will likely require medical attention.

Drinking plenty of fluids can prevent dehydration and its side effects.

Furthermore, staying properly hydrated may have additional benefits,such as boosting your mood, fighting fatigue and improving memory and concentration.

Debu Nayak

Bhubaneswar.India.

10 Destinations In India You Can Visit On Shoestring Budget

1. Alleppey – The Venice Of East

 Free Travel Guide to Alappuzha (Alleppey)

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2. Meghalaya – Scotland of the East

 

Free Travel Guide to Meghalaya

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3. Darjeeling – The Queen of Hills

 

Free Travel Guide to Darjeeling

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4. Gokarna

Free Travel Guide to Gokarna

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5. Ooty – Chocolate, Forests And Hills

Free Travel Guide to Ooty

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6. Pondicherry – Free Stay In Ashrams

Free Travel Guide to Pondicherry

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7. Goa – Beach, Party And Sea Shores

Free Travel Guide to Goa

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8. Jaipur – Pink City Of India

Free Travel Guide to Jaipur

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9. Rishikesh – Abode Of Spirituality And Adventure

Free Travel Guide to Rishikesh

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10. Amritsar

Free Travel Guide to Amritsar

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Debu Nayak,

Bhubaneswar,India.

16 Affordable Places To Go If You’re Young, Broke And Want To Travel The World.

For some, traveling is not so much a hobby as it is a way of life, especially for those who are young, wild and free spirited.

Unfortunately spanning the globe doesn’t come cheaply, and getting the most bang for your buck is important, so some sacrifices have to be made — for example, staying in a hostel instead of that 4-star hotel (check out these killer hostels).

Keeping things cheap isn’t always easy for the world traveler, but for those who perpetually have the travel bug, here are a few places you must visit that won’t break the bank!

1. Auckland, New Zealand

If you are traveling to Auckland, New Zealand then the only thing that you may find expensive will be the flight, especially if you are flying from the US. But the food and accommodations are more than affordable here.

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2. Marrakech, Morocco

Tripadvisor named Marrakech as the number one travel destination in the 2015. You’ll want to go between October and May as the places to stay will drop their rates, and the food is amazing and will fit into any budget.

3. Machu Picchu, Peru

A hiker’s delight, the Incan ruins of Machu Pichu are simply breathtaking. The Inca trail and even a trip to the Peruvian coast are affordable destinations in this South American nation.

4. Varna, Bulgaria

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Though quite underrated, Varna is still one of the most affordable eastern European cities to visit. This resort town lies right on the coast of the Black Sea.

5. Medellin, Colombia

Okay, so the first thing one thinks of when Colombia is mentioned is cocaine and drug trafficking. Infamouse for being a dangerous place thanks tot drug lords like Pablo Escobar, Colombia is improving its reputation and places like Medellin, Bogota and Cali are very affordable for tourists.

6. Ankor Wat, Cambodia

Cambodia is a relatively cheap place to visit, but, unfortunately, the flights there aren’t. But to get a glimpse of the Buddhist temple Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world, just might be worth it.

7. Madrid, Spain

Even though Europe is considered to be an expensive continent, Spain is considered to be relatively cheaper. The best months to travel there are September, October, April and May.

8. Hanoi, Vietnam

Nothing could be a better value for travelers than Vietnam as it is quite budget friendly. The best time to visit is late December so you can avoid the rains.

9. Cuba

Cuba is one of the most popular tourist destinations and now flights from the U.S. have finally resumed after over half a century. Even if you go for the last minute deals or plan a package trip, Cuba is going to be quite affordable. The best months to travel are September to November and January to March.

10. Arizona, USA

Arizona is hands down the most beautiful state in the U.S. It has it all, from forests to deserts and there’s something for everyone. Hike or camp or get a hotel room or timeshare, either way the rates of accommodations have gone down in recent years. Just don’t go from June to August unless you like it hot!

11. Crete, Greece

Greece is among the top visited countries as it is both cheap and beautiful. Travel blogger Nomadic Matt says, “Greece is a great deal, but you should stay in places like Crete instead of Santorini if you want to save money.” If you feel the need to check out Santorini while visiting Crete, it’s a seven hour ferry ride, but it might just be worth it.

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12. Bangkok, Thailand

One of the cheapest places to travel in the world is Bangkok, Thailand. Rooms can be as low as $20 a night and food and flights are inexpensive as well.

13. Bali, Indonesia

Bali is an island province of Indonesia and a popular tourist destination. With accommodations and food being extremely cheap, it’s popular with the younger crowds. If you’re a coffee lover, then this might be the place for you — coffee is found in abundance on the nearby island of Java. Check it out in April, May, September and October.

14. Lisbon, Portugal

There must be something about the Iberian Peninsula. Like its neighbor Spain, Portugal’s capital city is one of the cheapest European cities to fly into. The best months, like just about anywhere else, are mid-spring and early fall.

15. Palawan, Philippines

For people traveling from the West Coast of the U.S., The Philippines is an very affordable place to visit. The average cost per night in a hostel will run you about 10 bucks, and the tripical resorts on the island of Palawan are second to none.

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16. South Korea

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If you love street food, then South Korea is for you. A meal won’t dig a hole in your wallet, even if it’s at a four-star restaurant. There are alos plenty of beaches on the nation’s coasts. Daechon Beach, which is just southwest of the capital city of Seoul, is one of the most popular for international tourists and locals alike.

Debu Nayak

Bhunaneswar,India.

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