As one of Europe’s most celebrated countries, Switzerland offers a combination of unique history, political standing, and notable geographic features. What follows are seven interesting facts about Switzerland.
If there is one element that Switzerland is most famous, it is its long standing policy of neutrality. Although much of the country’s history has been involved in conflicts on European soil, the last such year in which Switzerland participated in a foreign war was 1815.
For over 200 years, Switzerland’s neutrality has allowed the country to host peace talks and head humanitarian efforts around the world. The capital of Geneva is home to several agencies of the United Nations. Plus, the country acts as headquarters to the International Red Cross.
The most dominant land feature is the Swiss Alps, which cover more than 60% of Switzerland. Offering breathtaking scenery, the Alps are a popular destination for hiking, mountaineering, and skiing. The rugged terrain has also shaped much of Switzerland’s history as well. You can find the Matterhorn, the most famous mountain in the Swiss Alps.
One lesser known feature is the Gotthard Base Tunnel, which was completed in 2016. At 35 miles, it is the longest train tunnel in the world. The Swiss Alps makes travel overland difficult, so the train tunnel was created to bolster travel and trade between northern and southern European countries. By going underground, the tunnel also has a reduced environmental impact compared to using overland roads.
The most notable industry in Switzerland is watchmaking. You can find popular brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, and Omega operating out of the country. The watchmaking industry began during the 16th century and is still a major part of the Swiss economy.
Just behind watches is the chocolate industry. Swiss chocolate is considered among the best that can be found. The Swiss themselves love chocolate and consume more per person than any other country, which amounts to almost 22 pounds per man, woman, and child.
Switzerland is credited with inventing milk chocolate, which occurred during the 19th century, and the refinement of the conching process which improves the texture of chocolate.
There are few countries in the world with as many official languages as Switzerland. The languages are German, French, Italian, and Romansh. The diversity of languages reflects the culture and location of Switzerland in relation to Germany, France, and Italy. German is the most spoken language, followed by French and then Italian.
Romansh is a unique language that is spoken primarily in the canton of Graubunden and only represents about 1% of the total population.
Switzerland is one of the few countries that has a direct democracy system. Citizens regularly vote for national referendums. And voters can also propose changes to the Swiss constitution using a process known as popular initiative. Voters have a powerful say in shaping national policy.
The combination of political stability, richness of culture, and incredible natural beauty makes Switzerland of the most unique countries in the world.
Getting the name of your business out there is one of the hardest parts of doing business. There are a lot of ways to do this. Having your business listed in an online business directory is a great way to do that. Most directories have options for listings.
Premium paid business directories are the best option in most cases. They will help your business to be seen and they offer more features than a standard business listing. In order to get a better understanding of the benefits of a premium paid listing, we have written this article.
Keep reading to know the benefits.
There are business directories out there that don’t cost you anything to submit to. These directories are not often the best place to go. Why? Because free business directories don’t make their money by helping businesses (or customers). When you pay for a service, the company that you are paying is often far more interested in helping you because they want to keep your business.
In addition to that, free services are often not able to utilize top of the line hosting options. That means they will offer slower websites, the ability to host less traffic, and more down time.
Overall, we don’t recommend going with a free business directory.
The name of a paid business listing, premium listings, should already tell you that there are more features included in the service. Each listing service will have different features but you know when you are paying for the premium option, you are getting the best they offer.
Some of the features you can find on premium business listings are:
It is a simple fact of business that the more that you pay for something the more you get. This is no different with paid business listings. Those who decide to opt for premium business listings will notice that their listing gets more exposure.
One example of how a premium listing does this is to give premium listings a higher ranking over standard listings. Sometimes websites will also give premium listers a special area on search results.
By having a business listing on a good online business directory you are boosting your search engine optimization. A good online business directory provides a number of benefits for your SEO and local SEO efforts.
One example of search engine optimization from a premium business listing is the ability to connect your listing with new keywords. Whether the keywords are in your description or reviews, it will help to associate your business with these words.
You will also have a bigger online presence with the online listing which is good for search engine optimization. The more that Google can find your business and the more links to your website that Google sees, the more legitimate your business becomes in their eyes.
The appearance of your business in a premium business listing will also build your trust with customers. A visual difference can be seen between free listings with barebones information and the premium listing’s content filled listing. The more you put into your listing, the more it shows and that builds customer trust.
Customer trust is also built through positive reviews left on your premium business listing. The more good reviews that you have, the better your business looks. Just make sure that they are real reviews from real customers.
At first when trying to decide whether or not to invest in a premium paid business listing you might not be sure. After reading these reasons that a premium listing is needed, you will know what decision to make. Premium paid business listings will help your business.