Discount Contact Lenses Online

Are you in the market for contact lenses, but don’t know where to start? Do you feel like your current retailer is overcharging you, or just want to shop around? Here is a list of some of the best places to buy contact lenses.

Your Eye Doctor’s Office

Your eye doctor’s office is not the first place that people think of to find discount contact lenses, but you might be pleasantly surprised by the prices available. Many doctors offer a reduced price on contact lenses to attract new patients to their office. Others offer bundled contacts and professional services, resulting in great deals for patients.

Mass Market Retailers

Many large stores, ranging from department stores like Sears to discount stores like WalMart or CostCo, offer contact lens services. Because they deal in large amounts of volume, they are often able to offer excellent prices on contact lenses.

Eye Care Chains

Eye care chains, such as Pearle Vision or Lenscrafters, often do a bustling business in contact lenses, allowing them to provide discounted prices and fast service.

Online Retailers

Online retailers offer an excellent selection of discount contact lenses. Shopping online is quick and convenient, and you are easily able to compare prices and services across different websites.

Where Not to Buy Contact Lenses

In order to avoid the risks of infection, eye damage, and blindness, you should never buy contact lenses from an unregistered source. Flea markets, video stores, gas stations, and the like are not trustworthy sources of discount contact lenses. Before buying from any of these sources, ask to see their license to sell contacts.

As you can see, you have a broad variety of options when it comes to selecting a contact lens retailer. By shopping around, you can save yourself a lot of money when filling your contact lens prescription.

Last Thursday, I reported on an article marketing experiment I am in the midst of conducting. Specifically, I wanted to create more passive income, so I decided to give article marketing a real try and see how it went.

All this week I will be detailing the sites I’m submitting to and how it’s going. For details on the beginning of the experiment, see the 10/26/06 post on InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com.

Following are the sites I’m consistently submitting articles to. I chose them because they had good PR and Alexa rankings. If you don’t know what a PR or Alexa rank is, it is explained briefly below, with links to other sources for in-depth information.

1. EzineArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 552. This is perhaps the number one article directory on the net. You can submit across a number of categories and the submission process is very easy.

You must create an author account to submit. The thing I like the most about this site is that you can track your articles and it gives you a wealth of information like how many ezines picked up the article, how many hits it’s gotten, when you submitted, etc.

To me, the best part of this directory is that they post your article within 4-6 hours, once you’ve achieved platinum status, which is not hard to do.

2. ArticleDashboard.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 3,461.

Again, you must create an author account to submit. It’s easy to submit once you do this. This directory also gives some article stats (eg, how many times the article has been downloaded, emailed to others, etc.).

3. IdeaMarketers.com: This directory has a PR rank of 4 and an Alexa rank of 8,897. You must create an author account and article stats are provided.

4. EasyArticles.com: This directory has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 52,143.

You must create an author account to submit. Beyond providing a list of articles you’ve submitted, this directory doesn’t provide article stats. Submission process is very easy one you’ve set up an account.

5. PowerHomeBiz.com: This site has a PR rank of 6 and an Alexa rank of 25,152.

NOTE: This is not an article submission site, but a small business portal of sorts. I submitted to this site because they don’t publish “fluff” articles. There is a certain level of professionalism that you must have to get published on this site. They don’t just publish anything and it gives you a certain level of prestige if you’re lucky enough to be published here.

I got good e-zine subscription feedback from an article that I had published on their site a couple of years ago. The article was entitled, Why You DON’T Need National Media Attention to Grow Your Biz, and can be found at the following link: http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol147/marketing.htm.

What is a PR Ranking? What is an Alexa Rank?

PR Rank: First, PR stands for page rank. Impact-Direct.com defines page rank as “A method developed and patented by Stanford University and Larry Page (cofounder of Google) to rank search engine results. Page Rank gives a unique ranking to every page on the internet. The ranking number is based on the number of quality inbound links pointing at a page and is represented on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the optimal rank.”

In the article, “What Is Page Rank?” by Kimberly Bodane, she describes why page rank is important, as well as what you can do to improve yours.

You’ll also find a detailed article on problogger.net (“Google Page Rank Explained”) with helpful feedback from other readers.

Alexa Rank: An article on e3Server.com, What is Alexa Ranking, describes Alexa rankings as “ a very powerful tool of viewing and comparing web site traffic for one site to the rest of the web.”

The lower the ranking, the better. Sites that rank 100,000 or lower are considered extremely popular.

To learn more, type “alexa ranking” in the search engine of your choice and do some reading. You’ll be able to get a full understanding by reading a few articles of detailed information.

Why I Used PR and Alexa Rankings as Markers for My Article Marketing Campaign

To be honest, I’m an SEO (search engine optimization) neophyte. I don’t like learning about technology – I’m a writer; all things technical bore the bejeezus out of me.

BUT, I have read enough about these two tools to know that they are important and that if I was going to use article marketing to create passive income, I needed to rely on getting the word out to as many as possible. This only happens via sites that are extremely popular.

How do you measure the popularity of a site? Via its PR and/or Alexa ranking are two viable ways.

Disclaimer: I had written in another post that my site, InkwellEditorial.com, had a PR of 6. When I checked it months ago, it did. I checked it today (10/30/06) and it’s a 5. We won’t even discuss my Alexa ranking, which used to hover in the 800,000s; now it’s at over 6,000,000.

It seems to me that when I didn’t update the site as regularly, it’s ranking was fine, but as soon as I started to fiddle with it, the rankings went in the crapper. I’m sure some expert can tell me why.

From what I understand, Google sometimes changes its algorithms, and that can cause site rankings to shift significantly, eg, my blog’s PR has skyrocketed since the last time I checked; it went from a 0 to a 5. Go figure!

To find out your site’s PR, go Go here: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

To find out your site’s Alexa’s ranking: Go here: http://www.Alexa.com.

Show Me the Money!

Okay, all of that is fine you may be saying, but what about the money? During the first few days of my experiment, my Google Adsense earnings quintupled. That’s what got me so excited.

Well, my earnings have cooled off, but I am still, on average, doubling what I was making before I started this experiment. Rules of the Adsense program prohibit giving specific figures, but before I was making decent pocket change, which meant, eg, monthly car payment, barhopping with friends, etc.

Stay tuned for Part II in another article.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less — Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.

Ok, it happens. Whatever the circumstances, you have a problem of removing a stuck contact lens. Maybe you thought you took the lens out, but in all the mess and slipperiness that accompanies contact lens insertion and removal, the lens pinged back into your your eye.

….. and now you cannot find it

….. or you cannot grab it ….

….. or perhaps you did what I did once, and put two lenses in one eye and then spent an hour scouring the room for the missing one.

Removing a Stuck Contact Lens The Easy Way

If you use hard contact lenses, then perhaps the best way to place and remove contact lenses is to buy a contact lens plunger. The DMV original hard contact lens plunger is used with hard contact lenses. It is simple and effective for removing hard contact lenses. All you have to do is moisten the cup of the remover and gently place it squarely on the contact lens. The lens will adhere to the suction cup and will come off the eye easily.

If your lens is stuck, sometimes the problem can be caused by an inability to get adequate purchase with your fingers, especially as your eyes begin to tear. Remember that you can damage your lens or your eye by trying to pull the lens away from your eye with your fingers. The lens plunger will prove very useful under these circumstances.

Please note that this accessory cannot be used with soft contact lenses.

For soft lenses, you really need to use your fingers, but because the lenses are so malleable, you should be ok to manipulate the lens without damaging either the eye or the lens. You may need to hold your eyelid away from the eye with your other hand, because the lid will want to keep shutting, especially if it is starting to get irritated.

In both cases, it would be good to to lubricate the eye first, to aid the removal of the lens. Sometimes it is purely the dryness of the eye that can cause the problem, especially if you have worn the lenses for a significant length of time. So adding some drops may well make the problem much easier to manage.

Some people worry that the lens can go behind the eye, which can exacerbate the removal problem. If you start to panic, you could hurt yourself.

It is impossible for the lens to go behind your eye, so please don’t worry.

If you find yourself struggling, just keep adding drops to ease your discomfort, until you can get to a professional for help. If these means waiting overnight, then your eye can survive. Just make sure that you add plenty of lubrication to stop the lens becoming too dry.

The article was written by Charlie Cory, who is the owner of FX Eyes, a website dedicated to providing advice about buying special effects contact lenses online.

You can visit his website about special effects contact lenses.

Contact lenses can literally be a “real pain” if misused, so following are some tips for contact lens wearers, to help keep your eyes comfortable and happy!

** Replace your contacts as recommended by the manufacturer & your eye care professional. Don’t stretch extended wear, which is usually 2 weeks, to 4 weeks and those of you with the monthly disposables….don’t go over one month! Also, it’s not a good idea to wear them nonstop without taking them out and cleaning them.

** Never swap contacts with another person.

** Always keep a spare pair of glasses with a current prescription, in case of emergency.

** If your eyes become irritated or bother you at all, take them out & give your eyes a break. If it’s more than tired eyes, or more than just a little irritated, remove them & check with your doctor.

** Use only FDA approved lenses.

** Make sure your hands are clean before handling your lenses.

** Don’t let the tip of your solution bottles come in contact with any surface, and only use sterile saline solutions meant for your lenses. Throw out any expired solutions.

** Read the labels on your solutions. Some shouldn’t be used directly in your eyes and not all solutions are good for all contacts.

** When inserting your lenses, try to do so in the same order each time, to avoid mix ups. And always check each lens for particles or tears.

** Apply one or two drops of lens lubricant if they feel dry.

** Remember, there is nothing wrong with giving your eyes a rest from contact lenses, even if just overnight. Your eyes need a break, and some oxygen, especially if you are exposed irritants such as smoke, dust, fumes from paint, gasoline, even hair spray!

Lisa T. has been a contact lens wearer for over 25 years and provides contact lens resources on Comfy Contacts.

One of the most effective ways to promote your business online, especially if you use search engine optimization to build traffic, is linking.

However, as a certified Web CEO professional, and someone who also uses only “white hat” optimization strategies, I see people make a lot of mistakes when using this technique.

Below are some of the strategies that I use to make linking more effective, as well as raise my rankings in the search engines.

1. Do your homework first.

You’re probably wondering what “white hat” techniques are.

“White hat” techniques are techniques that will always work with the search engines, like writing articles, blogs, and press releases, and optimizing individual pages for the search engines.

These are the primary techniques I use in addition to linking because they work.

Just ask Tinu Abayomi-Paul, the owner of http://www.freetraffictip.com. Tinu is an expert when it comes to using search engines to build traffic to her sites.

She wrote me the other day to thank me for “inspiring her”. I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I do know that she uses a lot of the same techniques I do to promote my sites. She now has over 90,000 relevant entries in Google, more than a lot of the top “gurus” on the internet.

The fact is, the more pages you have listed in the search engines, and the more links you have pointing back to your site, the more likely you are to be found.

Although writing articles, blogs, press releases, and optimizing pages definitely works, you still have to do your homework. This means actually doing a search in the search engines to find out how sites get to the top, i.e. what keywords they use, how their pages are optimized, etc.

I use Alexa, http://www.alexa.com, for this because it allows me to look at traffic stats, as well as see what sites are linked to eachother.

To get started, search for the keywords you are targeting. Take a good look at the sites at the top. This includes studying the keywords, titles, and descriptions they use in their headers. Also, read the text of the pages. It’s not that hard to optimize your page(s). Just write search engine friendly content that repeats your keywords. Make your content easy for your readers to read and understand though.

Now this may sound juvenile, but again, it works. Tools like Keyword Density Analyzer, http://www.keyworddensityanalzyzer.com, and Web CEO, http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/ht/search.html, can tell you if you are on the right track.

You can also read Linking Matters, http://www.linkingmatters.com. This short, and free ebook in PDF, will give you more tips on linking.

2. Link to complementary sites.

I get link requests all the time, and I have to reject about half of them. The reason why is that I won’t link to sites that have nothing to do with mine.

I offer small business, internet marketing, and search engine optimization and submission products and services. Links to quote sites, joke sites, and shoe sites don’t fit with this.

The key here is to understand that not only does Google, the most important of all the search engines, look at how many links are pointing back to your site, but they also look at the relevance of the links.

Sites that are similar, or complementary to yours, give you more credibility and higher page rank than having tons of sites pointing back to you that have nothing to do with your site.

Make the links pointing back to your site relevant.

3. Choose relevant, highly searched for, low competition keywords for your anchor text.

This tip relates to tip four. Before you start sending out link requests to other webmasters, make sure that you’re targeting the right keywords. Not only are a lot of relevant links important, but your keywords should be keywords that will get you traffic.

4. Change your anchor text.

Recently Google decided that links with the same text between your {{a href=”"}} and {{/a}} text should be different. Too many links pointing back to your site that had the same text “looks” like spam. This doesn’t mean it is spam, and sometimes, you don’t have control over how others link back to your site.

However, if you decide to exchange links with others, vary your anchor text.

5. Try other alternatives to software.

Although there are many software programs out there you can use to help you automate this process, I caution you to be careful when using this kind of software. Although it may speed things up for you, you may also end up with a lot of links pointing back to you that have no relevance. Also, these programs really won’t help you as much as you think if you don’t change your anchor text once in awhile.

If you do choose to use software to automate the process, make sure that you personalize your emails. Again, do your homework and make sure that you are actually sending out email to sites that complement yours. No one likes to receive emails that say “Dear Webmaster”.

Using a directory script on your site can help you because others can visit your site and add their links. Just make sure that you check your directory once in awhile to see who is linking to you. Also, make sure that you set up your script in such a way that others have to have a link pointing back to you first before your script will accept their site.

Link Management Assistant - http://www.dirfile.com/link_management_assistant.htm

You can also find reciprocal link exchange sites like Link Metro, http://www.linkmetro.com. Sites like this will allow you to choose your partners, search for new partners, and exchange links without being bombarded with email or generic requests.

Regardless of how you develop a linking strategy for your site, you need to develop one if you want high rankings in the search engines.

Jinger Jarrett is a writer and internet marketer living in Alpharetta, Georgia. She teaches search engine optimization strategies “for the rest of us”. Get her best strategies, as well as a copy of her “Search Engine Secrets” ebook for free, when you visit her site at http://www.jingerjarrett.com

The novelty contact lens that change your eyes to funky shapes and colors have turned to be quite popular nowadays, but not many people have heard about these unique types of lenses. If you are considering buying them, you should be aware of all the ramifications. You probably you didn’t even know that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows only novelty contact lenses made here. Do your homework about these contact lenses and be aware of the dangers, then in case you decide to wear them, you should certainly purchase them from a qualified eye care specialist.

When choosing these eye accessories you should know that they come in lots of different designs, like flags and bears. Novelty contact lenses were first used at Halloween parties but later on they were utilized for many other occasions. Maybe you are not aware of the fact that up until now just about anyone could sell them. You can find them on the Internet, at open novelty markets and even in beauty salons. They can be sold to anyone over 18 years of age. One size of the novelty contact lenses of the past was said to fit anyone, but this was far from the truth.

Actually there are quite some many people who lost eyesight because of them. If you are planning to buy novelty contact lenses, visit an ophthalmologist and get such lenses made in extended wear for you. If you follow my advice, your lenses will fit your eye and this is how you will avoid corneal infections. Such affections are also possible when the novelty contact lenses are stored in a solution for a long period of time.

When having novelty contact lenses you should take good care of them, just as if they were vision corrective type of lens or coloured contacts. If you don’t know the proper cleaning procedures, consult any qualified eye doctor. He will also tell you how long you should wear them.

In case you want to be different and have novelty contact lenses, you can use them but you should do it the right way. Be careful not to get any infections in your eyes. Such infections are often contagious, so you must be very careful. Apart from that, having eye problems will cost you medical bills and treatment that you probably cannot afford. Of course, you should never give your contact lenses to any other person. Novelty contact lenses are really fun to use and with the right handling they are no different than the other types of lenses.

Enjoy wearing your novelty contact lenses and show your creativeness when you have them designed. Don’t forget to follow the instructions of your eye doctor and in case of need seek additional medical advice. As far as your eyes are concerned, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To end with, novelty contact lenses show your creativeness and individuality, so use them but follow the instructions.

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning kids and teens. Learn more at Novelty Contact Lens

High Alexa traffic rankings are coveted by webmasters around the world. While data is collected only from Alexa Toolbar users, the toolbar is used by millions of heavy web surfers.

Plugins are available now for the Firefox browser which I use on a new U3 thumbnail drive. I can plug into any Windows computer with a USB port, see the Alexa rankings in my browser, and not have to install or leave anything behind on the borrowed computer.

How are Alexa’s traffic rankings determined?

* traffic rankings based on usage of Alexa Toolbar users only

* may not be representative of the global Internet population

* traffic rank is based on three months of aggregated traffic data from millions of Alexa users

* combination of reach and pageviews

* reach is number of unique Alexa users who visit a site each day

* reach is expressed as the percentage of all Internet users who visit a given site

* pageviews are the total number of URL requests for a site each day

* page views are the average number of unique pages viewed per user per day by the users visiting the site

* ranking is determined by a combination of users and pageviews

* top level domains only (e.g. playtriton.com)

* no separate ratings for subpages or subdomains

* personal home pages are identified with an asterisk (*)

* sites serving the “same” content are counted together as the same site

* sites with low traffic (under 1,000 pageviews per month) will not be accurately ranked by Alexa due to statistical limitations

* the main traffic rank shown in the Alexa Toolbar is calculated from three months of aggregate traffic data

* the movers and shakers list is based on changes in average reach on a week to week comparative basis

Other factors can affect your site’s Alexa ranking. Sites on the toolbar itself - like Amazon.com - may be over ranked. Heavy toolbar use in a particular region - like China - can raise Chinese sites to high levels.

The best use of this traffic ranking tool is to see how your site compares to 3 months ago.

Moving up in the Alexa rankings can help you determine if your Internet marketing efforts are bringing unique visitors to your website.

Charles Lamm is a RetroGamer moving into the online PC gaming space. He uses the fast Triton player, available free at: http://www.playtriton.com Visit his new blog at: http://www.retrotoextreme.com

New research suggests that in the future contact lenses might be able to help diabetics monitor their blood sugar levels. They would work by changing their appearance in line with the wearers changing blood sugar levels.

Currently, diabetics have to draw and test blood to track the changes in their blood sugar levels. This is painful and inconvenient. Monitoring blood sugar levels via the changing appearance of contact lenses would be a much less painful alternative. It is also a logical next step as diabetes often affects sufferers’ vision meaning that they have to wear glasses or contact lenses.

These contact lenses work by sensing changing levels of glucose in the wearers’ blood. They contain boronic acid which react to glucose in the wearers’ tear ducts producing fluorescence. By shining a blue light into their eye, the wearer can gauge the intensity of the glow which indicates their blood sugar levels.

Another option being tested, and which would work in a similar way, is a colour changing contact lens. This would change from green to yellow to orange to red. As a result the wearer would be able to get a more accurate reading of their blood sugar level. Although the level of glucose in tears takes around half an hour to match the body’s sugar levels, the researchers did not think that this would pose a problem. This is because the majority of diabetics have hour long gaps (or more) in between their blood tests. Therefore, the contact lens approach would be more timely.

Although there are already other glucose monitoring system that do not rely on skin pricking, this method offers a significant advantage over current models.

The existing model is worn as a bracelet and applies a small electrical current to the skin. This draws the fluid that sits between the cells through the skin so that it can be tested for glucose. The disadvantage of this method compared to the glucose testing contact lenses is that its manufacturers still recommend that users carry out occasional blood tests.

20-20 Optical Store sells contact lenses from all the main manufacturers, including daily disposable lenses at unbeatable prices- guaranteed!

Acuvue Oasys contact lenses are a great version of the regular Acuvue, or Acuvue 2 contact lenses. While the Oasys contact lenses do have some special features about them, they are still a version of the regular contact lenses that we already know and trust.

Acuvue Oasys contact lenses are disposable, which means that you wear them for a little while, and when the time is up, you throw them away, and pop in a fresh pair of contact lenses. Wearing disposable contact lenses is a great way to keep down eye infections and irritations that might normally occur. The disposable feature of the Oasys contact lenses, are a great feature wether you want to wear them for a week, or stretch their life out to two weeks long at a time. You can choose to wear them for two weeks at a time if you take them out of your eyes on a daily basis, or you can leave them in your eyes and sleep in them for a week and then toss them.

Acuvue Oasys are also known for the UV blocking feature. Because these contact lenses are able to help you protect your eyes from sun’s harmful rays, it should set your mind at ease when you leave the house and forget to grab your sunglasses. Eye wear that protects your eyes from the UV rays is obviously eye wear that you can trust.

While all of these great features are pretty much the same as the other Acuvue contact lenses, there is still one more great feature the Acuvue Oasys has that is different. This Oasys contact lens is designed to help keep your eye’s wetter. While you will find that your eyes stay wetter, you will also see that the contact lenses that are oasys are also some what smoother. This is a great alternative for someone who did not want to wear contact lenses because they were worried about their eyes drying out. The oasys feature will keep your eyes from drying, and help them not feel quite so tired after a long day anymore.

The Acuvue Oasys contact lenses have many great features just as the other Acuvue contact lenses do. However, having dry eyes with contact lenses is a concern for many people. The oasys will help prevent your eyes from drying out, and in return you will have a pair of contact lenses that you can wear and enjoy without having dry eyes.

Penni has done extensive research on vision care including the development of the latest contact lenses as well as vision correction procedures. Visit http://www.thevisioncare.com to learn more about different topics such as discounted contact lens.

Contact lenses are a perfect solution for those who find glasses inconvenient or troublesome. They are easy to use, convenient and flattering. No wonder then that over 75 million people worldwide wear them.

Contact lenses offer a number of advantages to wearers. Unlike glasses which can get hot and burdensome in the summer contact lenses offer real comfort. The way in which glasses steam up when it is rainy or humid can be irritating. This is something that you do not need to worry about with contact lenses.

Contact lenses are virtually undetectable so they do not affect the way you look. And if you do want to make a statement, you can always try tinted lenses.

For active sportspeople they improve peripheral vision and make running easier. Glasses however are practically impossible to wear when playing sports because they tend to slip when you run.

The issue of peripheral vision is a big advantage from an optometry perspective. In this respect they are much better than glasses because they give the wearer a broader field of sight.

They also offer better vision to wearers than glasses by giving a more realistic object size because they are worn so close to the eye. Contact lenses also slow down or prevent the development of short sightedness completely. This is something that regular glasses cannot do in the same way.

The good news is that most people could wear contact lenses if they needed or wanted to. Although hard lenses can be slightly uncomfortable to start with most people get used to them pretty quickly. Whilst soft lenses are normally comfortable and easy to use from the word, “go”.

There are some people however for whom contact lenses would not be suitable. For example people who are prone to eye infections should probably avoid them. Speak to your optometrist about whether or not contact lenses would be appropriate for you.

One Stop Contact Lenses is the UK’s largest independent online contact lens retailer. We sell monthly disposable contact lenses at unbeatable prices- we promise to match any price that beats ours!