The Changing Face Of Web Marketing

admin    Website Marketing Companies     Changing, Face, marketing

Almost everyone from interactive advertising agencies to any web advertising agency worth its salt to business owners who are looking to turn their online presence into a revenue-generating business venture has heard of “search engine optimization”, although they all may have half baked ideas about what exactly it entails.The earlier practice was to select some keywords, place them (or stuff them, as was the norm earlier) in the web content, throw in some meta tags (again stuffed with keywords), submit the website in directories and exchange of few links with other sites. But that practice has for long been on its way out. Neither is it enough to make your website search friendly enough, not is it looked upon favorably by either the search engines or your customers.Typical search engine optimization is not enough any more to established your online presence or your brand. With Web 2.0 firmly in and Web 3.0 peeping on the horizon, these are times to let people, the end users take the decision, take your message forward in so many shapes as Web-video, web-audio, web discussions, articles, blogs, forums, postings in social networking sites (SNS) and what not. SEO in these times is about delivering the marketing message to the targeted audience, not just make it SE friendly. If latter is your choice, or you are still stuck in the old method of SEO, you will end up corrupting or distorting the message by techniques aimed at attracting search engine robots. This way you will drive away real people who may actually be potential customers.8 Milestones To SuccessWith Web 2.0, audio and video content have become very effective method of delivering marketing messages over the Web. But before you as a web marketer jump on to the bandwagon, do go over following points to ponder: (a)    These multi media messages should not be cost prohibitive so that even small and medium-sized companies could afford professional Web-audio and Web-video. They are the real revenue earner for you.(b)    Remember the website design is about delivering the marketing message effectively and unequivocally and not just search engine optimization. This point is particularly important for web design firms who double as web advertising agencies.(c)    Professionally done Web-audio and Web-video requires more than just the ability to use a video camera. So avoid a rush job as professional multimedia story-telling requires a unique set of creative skills and technical ability.(d)    Make sure that all messages whether on the web or offline confirm to each other whether you have been developer of all these messages or not.(e)    Evaluate business opportunities in the broader sense of marketing. Build viable partnerships by sitting down and taking a hard look at how various factors might complement your message.(f)    Don’t ever forget that the web is used by 87% of Internet users today to research goods and services and that extra knowledge is not available anywhere else. So do give the visitor something worthwhile. Ask yourself while designing a website or any marketing campaign, what as a user am I getting and will it add value to my life, career, business, etc.(g)    Spend considerable time to analyze what the competitors are doing. If they are successful you would know why, and if they are not you would know what to avoid.(h)    Do spend time to make a beautiful web site that is attractive and add value to the visitor, but it will all be wasted effort if it does not make it easy for people to contact your client. Take time to build a site that lets people communicate with the client. Very fundamental, but equally necessary and ignored many a times.All this sounds great but how and who can implement the strategies. Pay attention to what those old marketing warhorses are saying. Web or not, the fundamentals of marketing remains right there, and companies with experience in marketing and advertising along with providing web development services are best equipped to show you the right and time tested way to do things. These guys may not flaunt the latest PDA or be rather old fashioned in their sense of fashion but they have years of experience building successful campaigns behind them.

The New Face Of The Microsoft Dynamics Software

admin    Misc     Dynamics, Face, Microsoft, Software

The demand for ERP applications are met with leaders and industry shakers such as the Microsoft Company. Listed here are some of Microsoft ERP products including the integrated line of Microsoft Dynamics GP, SL, NAV, AX and CRM.The Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains was created earlier in the 1990s. Great Plains that are in versions 5.5, 6.0, 7.0 and 7.5 are available in the database platform of Ctree and Pervasive. The higher version of GP, which is 8.0, is only able to function side by side with MS SQL Server or MSDE platform. The Microsoft Great Plains version 9.0 is now offered in markets where English is one of the common language. This includes the United States of America, UK, Canada, Latin America, New Zealand, Australia, some parts of South Africa and South East Asia.Microsoft Navision has its own shell, which is the C/SIDE database proprietary platform. The Navision software is flexible to be able to accommodate fast rising business growths. It can be integrated in any business operation whether it is small scale, mid and even upper-mid segments. Microsoft Navision already has a strong following in Europe, UK and the United States of America. The current market that the software is tapping is from the Gulf and South East Asia.Microsoft Dynamics Solutions has its rising star in the form of Microsoft Axapta or AX. This is the application for you if your business is in the mid-upper or upper segments. The design of the Microsoft Axapta is made modern and it incorporates the tendency of the business to expand. One of the many advantages of Axapta is its ability to integrate with Microsoft Office, Web Fronts, eConnect, eCommerce and Business Portal.For the project driven organizations, there is a Microsoft Dynamics Software right for you and that is the Microsoft Solomon or SL. The complicated task of project tracking is made easy and convenient with the Microsoft Solomon. A lot of ERP applications available today cannot compete with the project management facility integrated in SL.Another cutting edge Microsoft Dynamics Software introduced is the Microsoft CRM. The version 3.0 of which are already integrated with MS Dynamics GP versions 7.5, 8.0 and 9.0.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

Pay Per Results and Pay Per Enquiry – Changing the Face of SEO

admin    Website Marketing Resources     Changing, Enquiry, Face, Results

 

Till now, search engine optimisation targets were considered ‘achieved’ for a website if it appeared in the top ten search results for the targeted keywords. Well, SEO was (and still is) targeted primarily at climbing up the organic search engine results to make the website rank in the top search results for the targeted keywords.

 

However, with increased competition, merely a jump in traffic inflows is not proving to be enough since many of the visitors are actually irrelevant traffic who drop in and leave. Companies are no longer satisfied with higher rankings and traffic, they are looking for relevant-to-the-business visitors who can be converted into confirmed leads or bona fide customers.

 

Hence, nowadays SEO firms are concentrating on bringing in qualified leads who can be converted into customers rather than just furnishing the details of the number of visitors to their clients. This has given rise to the need for a more result or performance oriented SEO.

 

Keeping in view this emerging demand, two new performance oriented pricing models are now being introduced by some leading SEO firms:

 

Pay-Per-Results SEO



Each website has a particular purpose, whether it is selling products or services or providing information. Pay Per Results ensures that the client pays the SEO firm only when the aim of the website is fulfilled through results-based search engine optimisation. This is a performance related model and SEO firms don’t get paid until they produce the results.

 

Pay-Per-Enquiry SEO



Most websites with a commercial purpose have an enquiry form for visitors to fill in, which is usually either a ‘request a quote’ form or a brief capture form to collect the customer’s contact details. This can also be termed as online lead generation. People filling in these forms are confirmed leads who have a high potential of being converted into customers. Under the Pay Per Enquiry SEO pricing model, the client pays per confirmed enquiry.

 

In other words, SEO firms are becoming more focused towards clients’ needs and are playing a larger role in bringing in business for the client. The clients on their part have their risk shared and can be assured of the SEO marketing firm’s commitment to help them achieve concrete results.

 

With performance and results based SEO pricing becoming more and more popular with clients, SEO firms are faced with the challenge of moving ahead from standard SEO techniques towards innovating newer strategies so that not only top 10 rankings are achieved, but also more and more visitors are converted into confirmed leads and customers.

 

Here are three ways in which SEO firms can ensure relevant traffic and better conversion rates:

 

3 tips for better conversion



Be customer oriented



* Explore the psyche of the target customers.

 

* Find out what their problems are and how you can solve them through your products and services.

 

* Think why a customer would come to you i.e. identify your positive points that would attract your customers.

 

* Actively seek out and remove the friction points or factors because of which a customer is likely leave your site.

 

* Find out what motivates your target audience and develop call to action links, buttons and forms with catchy, relevant content.

 

Be relevant



Once you have understood your customers, this should not be much of a problem. But being relevant does not mean loading your site and your customer with too many details. Showcase your products/services with just the relevant amount of details and information and leave a little bit unsaid to perk curiosity in the visitor, particularly if your aim is to encourage the visitor to give their contact details. Work on the content to make the message relevant to the customers’ needs, problems and their expectations from the site.

 

Don’t ask for too much information

While asking for the information to be filled in on a form, remember not to ask for too much information. A unique visitor might be interested in the products/services offered, but they would be wary to give more than the necessary information online, to an unknown website. So just ask what you essentially require to serve the customer best and the rest of the information can be collected once you have proven your credibility.

 

Performance oriented SEO pricing models are logical next steps from rankings focused SEO. They are logical and focussed since the ultimate aim of any marketing firm is to help its client sell more. This evolution is a sign of the maturing of the SEO industry in a time when the Internet as a whole is moving rapidly towards a wholly user-oriented approach under the Web 2.0 trend.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

Apple Ipod Nano: Music Has New Face

admin    Misc     Apple, Face, Ipod, Music, Nano

The new iPod nano from Apple Inc. is a portable media player that resulted in a revolution in the field of music. It is the mid-range model in the iPod family. The first generation model was launched on September 7, 2005 combining the features of both the iPod shuffle and iPod classic. Apple launched this product with an intention of replacing the iPod mini which was discontinued on the same day. The replacement of the mini was a big surprise for the Apple-related websites even though there were rumours about a new flash memory-based iPod, there was no prior notice of the popular mini being discontinued.

The development work on the design of the Apple iPod nano began only nine months before its launch date. The nano uses flash memory, but with a miniaturised version of the display screen and “click wheel” found on the iPod classic. The screen of the nano also shares the same resolution as the classic. The battery and other internal parts are also in reduced size compared to the mini.

The nano works with iTunes on the Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows. It connects to the computer via the same proprietary dock connector as the third-generation iPod, the fourth-generation iPod, and the iPod mini, using USB 2.0 connectivity. The iPod nano comes with a stop watch and a multiple time zone clock function. There also exist combination lock features that make use of the click wheel to lock the iPod, and serves to secure the user’s calendar and contact information. The Apple iPod nano uses general-purpose integrated circuits (IC) instead of smaller, low cost custom developed chips, in order to reduce time-to-market. This design helps in increasing the number of electronic components and increases the cost.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

Apple Ipod Shuffle: the New Face of Music Players

admin    Misc     Apple, Face, Ipod, Music, Players, Shuffle

Apple launched the digital audio player with many expectations. Its entry was mainly after getting an excellent name in the electronic market. Apple Inc. took no time in having a large part of market share. The digital audio player became an instant hot selling device in the market, thanks to it’s really mind blowing features. The digital audio player iPod Shuffle was designed and marketed by Apple Inc that marked the beginning of a revolution in the field of musical entertainment. This media player is the budget model coming from the lineage of Apple, which got a big success in the mobile phone market. If looking for the specialties, this model is the first one from iPod to use flash memory. Prior to this model, all the models were storing data on a hard disk.

The Apple iPod Shuffle media player is the second generation model that weighs just 15 grams. The Shuffle model was introduced on January 11, 2005 with an eye catching design that could comfortably store songs and play them in random order. The availability of an “autofill” feature in iTunes makes it easy to select songs at random from a user’s music library. These songs could then be copied and fitted into the memory of the Shuffle. What makes the model important is its capacity to store up to 240 songs. Another attractive feature of the Shuffle is its bass response that is better than 4th generation iPods. Remember, the first generation Shuffle weighed 0.78 ounces.

The latest music player Shuffle carries various features offered by iTunes. The capability of this gadget to reduce the bit rate of songs to 128 kbit/s is just one among the many attractive features of the player. Let us now have a look at the physical appearance of the music player. We could see that the front of the iPod Shuffle comes with buttons for Play/Pause, Next Song/ Fast Forward, Previous Song/Fast Reverse and up and down volume adjustments. The model is also used as a USB flash drive. The user will find no difficulty in storing all required information and music in this music player.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

The Another Face of the Google Coin

admin    Google Optimization     Another, Coin, Face, google

By now most of you realize that Google can give our websites the ability to appear within their results pages using a Pay Per Click model (PPC). This is called Google Adwords Hopefully, you will also be aware that that Google offers website owners the ability to display these PPC results on their own websites. For this privilege, Google will pay the website owner a share of the PPC revenue earn from any click through on the results displayed on their website. This is called Google Adsense So there you have both sides of the Google coin. On one side, the ability to drive low cost targeted traffic and on the other side, the ability to generate revenue from your existing traffic. You’d think that was the end of it but really it is only the beginning. Heads or Tails? Heads it is…. Let’s look at Adwords There are those that think… …write your ad, pays your money and away you go. Which to 80% of the people using Adwords, this seems to work OK for them. Remember I said OK! For the other 20%, these guys and gals, are testing, changing, innovating and working Google as hard as they can. One such character is Chris Carpenter, whose Google Cash is pioneering in the way that he works Google and now let’s other work Google just as hard. “Like Bruce Lee taught us the art of fighting without fighting, Chris Carpenter shows us the art of website revenue generation without a website!” Chris has shown examples of Adwords campaigns that cost cents to set up but pay dollars in commissions. None of my current investments give me such a high ROI. I have tried my hand at it and I am currently making around 00 per month just from this one product. I am only spending 0 on Adwords to get this return. Why not have a look at Google Cash yourself. Tails you win! Secondly, while most people just cut and paste Adsense code into all the pages of their site, they just leave it at that thinking job done! They don’t explore the high value keywords in their market or niche. Why do that? Well if you knew what the more profitable keywords and terms are, you can write content and these words can be displayed. Google Adsense will then look at your page content and work out what to display. You could double your income by changing words on your site. Maybe Life insurance to life assurance or personal loan to loans or adverse credit to bad credit. Also sites tend to use one format and one position for the ads. Test, test, test Try different layouts and work out which ones work best for you. You may be surprised. Test, test, test There are several tools that can help you identify keywords but the best for you would be either the Google Adwords program or Overture view bids tool. Don’t worry about thinking you are doing anything wrong. You can also go to www.youradsenseprofit.com. In fact, think about it – you will be creating relevant content for Google to display and for their users to read. Users are happy, Google are happy and you will earn more revenue from Adsense. So hopefully you’ll be happy too! A Win situation! Again, like most things rather than reinvent the wheel there is a whole book on Adsense written my friend William Charlwood has written The Definitive Guide to Google AdSense which tells you exactly how to make money by hosting small ads on your website. It is a detailed road-map of everything you need to do to get going and then maximize your AdSense income. Once you’ve got it right, you can look forward to a check every month from Google.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

Google Chrome – Changing Face of SEO

admin    Google Optimization     Changing, Chrome, Face, google

The launch of Google’s new browser, Google Chrome, has signaled the start of a change to the search engine optimization (SEO) world. SEO is the process of organically increasing the search engine rankings of a website and, thus, increasing traffic. Since the Internet offers a staggering number of options, a carefully planned online marketing strategy lays the foundation for a successful e-business. Google remains the number one search engine, far outstripping its competitors. Consequently, most SEO firms need to optimize their clients’ sites for the Google rankings.• Why is Google Chrome different? Google Chrome is Google Inc.’s new offering, with hopes pinned to challenge the dominance of Internet Explorer. Along with its many features, the Google Chrome also packs the Omnibox – the URL box at the top of each tab. The Omnibox combines the functionalities of both URL box and search box, and blends every move made by Chrome surfer with its search engine. The added search feature is hotly debated by SEO experts across the web. This is due to the heavy influence that Google Suggest seems to have had on the Omnibox.• How does Google Suggest affect Google Chrome? Google Suggest is a search suggestive feature that aims at simplifying the users’ search experience by providing users with search suggestions. The Omnibox incorporates elements of the feature by providing a drop down menu that has been the source of much debate. This aspect of Google Chrome is believed to have a significant effect on SEO practices. When a query is typed in, the Omnibox provides two sets of color-coded information; in black are the related search queries and secondly, in green is the number one organic Google search result. Therefore, according to top SEO experts, this has a variety of implications for any SEO company.• What SEO changes does Google Chrome signal? With Google Suggest so intricately woven into the browsing fabric, the number one spot is now more valuable than ever. The advertising advantage of appearing before the SERP (search engine results page) is twofold. First, the top ranked site can capture visitors before they even see the SERP and secondly, chances are even higher of click throughs on the first link. Now every SEO company has to prepare itself for a potential phase out of domain name optimization if search based browsing is adopted by other browsers as well. Furthermore, prices of domain names should experience a downturn, but on the other hand, building brand awareness and encouraging numerous brand-related searches will certainly make your brand-relevant queries show up.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage

The Changing Face of Web and Search Engine Marketing

admin    Website Marketing Companies     Changing, Engine, Face, marketing, Search

A few years ago, search engine placement was arranged by your average Web designer and/or Webmaster. The Webmaster would simply submit a site to search engines manually or use rudimentary software that was widely available.

Keyword relevance was largely a matter of link popularity and the Webmaster assigning a simple keyword meta-tag to each page of your site. The system used to work reasonably well, or so it seemed. That is no longer the case.

Today, submission to the major search engines like Google is largely irrelevant, although there is a complex mix of PFI (pay for inclusion) and PFP (pay for performance, sponsored links, PPC ads) that require complex submission of details.

Today’s Methodology

In today’s Internet economy, sophisticated and complex programs – called spiders – surf the Web looking at the source code of Web pages. They sort through the complex web of formatting tags, programming script, multi-media, page titles, and content that the user may or may not see, to ascertain how to rank each page of your site for each and every word and word combination that it finds.

These spiders index the words of each page found and add it to the engine’s database, making them available as keywords for search engine searchers. In this new environment, sophisticated software programs that analyze the various search engine algorithms and how they rank selected pages have moved to the forefront of search engine placement.

This has spawned a large industry of SEO (search engine optimisation and marketing) experts and specialist SEM firms.

What Does Keyword Based Marketing Offer?

If implemented correctly, SEO can offer a higher return on investment than nearly any other marketing strategy (online or offline). Placing high in the search engine ranking positions (SERPs) is a great way to attract first time visitors. Placement in the search engines can largely determine the “reach” of your online marketing strategy.

The stakes in this battle are being raised all the time as the number of users going online increases – which in the U.S. alone approaches 100 million – with over 60% of those users spending some 48 BILLION dollars per year for online shopping (Greenspan, 2002, cyberatlas.com).

With broadband prices in Australia falling rapidly and the rate of Internet takeup extraordinarily high, the Australian consumer is showing similar enthusiasm for online sales. Unfortunately, many potential buyers – some say as many as 70% – give up because they cannot find the good sites to shop at, because they are poorly keyword indexed or the actual site has poor navigation and design.

When any business is making plans to improve their Search Engine positions, they need to understand that optimisation of your site for the Search Engines is not a one-shot job. It requires ongoing monitoring and tweaking in order to keep ahead of both the competition AND the changes the Search Engines make to how they rank sites.

Any comprehensive Web marketing plan should:

(1) Promote your web site based on the (optimised) content of your site and knowledge of the relevant marketplace;
(2) Utilise data of how the average search engine user actually looks for information on your site – including alternative terms, synonyms, common phrasing, etc;
(3) Include internal and external link building with relevant sites and relevant keywords;
(4) Regular reporting of search engine positioning, general Internet visibility and actual visitor statistics/analytics and recommendation for improvements.

Every serious Web site owner should be on a Web marketing plan that is definitely more than just a submission or reporting service. Set a monthly budget and take action.

We’ve seen many of our clients benefit from the ongoing relationship we have developed with them through our web marketing plans. Plenty of page 1 rankings on Google, Yahoo, MSN are not uncommon over time, as we monitor and tweak their sites for the Search Engines.

However, in almost all cases, those clients would have never achieved and then maintained those high rankings if they had not had someone in the know keeping track of how their site is ranking, and making changes where ever needed.

It’s like advertising in the Yellow Pages really. If you don’t pay to have your ad included, you don’t get an entry in the book, and eventually the calls to your business start to drop off as people update to the newest edition.

Search Engine Optimisation / Marketing is the same. The Internet is NOT static – it’s always changing and evolving, and in order for your site to get and maintain good rankings around the keywords that are important to you, you have to keep someone on the job on a regular basis who knows how to react to the changes happening.

The Return On Investment (ROI) for good SEO/SEM services is very high, compared to traditional advertising and marketing. According to Google’s statistics, Search advertising is up to 20 times CHEAPER per lead, compared to (for example) Direct Mail. For any company spending money on advertising, this statistic should be of EXTREME interest! After all, what company doesn’t want to reduce their cost of customer acquisition?

That’s what SEO/SEM companies are supposed to be about! Well, at least at our company, we are – I can’t speak for our competitors. Before you hire an SEO/SEM company, ask what their plan is for the ongoing optimisation of your site. If they don’t have a plan, run, don’t walk, to the nearest exit and hang onto your money.

need a website? want to be #1 on Google? visit our florida web design company homepage