Google Friend Connect

I have seen this being used in blogs. From what I think, it would actually help like minded people (and that is the reason why they would connect on to a blog?) to help share ideas amongst themselves. With the advent of the use of languages - or atleast a part of it in Orkut where you can scrap in languages other than English or OpenSocial which has begun adopting native languages (See the official Google Blog for more)

What makes me think is - does this actually help spread information? What kind of information can be passed on from one user to another? Is this going to be a begining of the use of a language convertor of sorts? (I've seen that being used in various world meets where the representative of a nation is unable to converse in English.) 

Does this also mean - one would have to begin using multi-language keyboard as in India where you can find a user easily conversant with atleast 3 different languages! Or for that matter the Chinese, Japanese and the widely spread Arabic speaking countries. 

Time to get some coffee. 

Google Reader - how good can it be?

I heard a lot about Google Reader and was wondering aloud what the heck could it be? Until I thought I must Google it to find out exactly what it is. So, i got down to business and searched for Google Reader. 

Yes, I found it was (yet another?) invention of the big G. So, what does this reader do for you? Well, it certainly does not read the morning newspaper for you (or does it?). 

This is the best way to keep yourself updated about the latest happenings through blogs of your interest. You can actually go create an account in Google and you are done. Find out blogs of your interest and you can get fresh news from them, everyday. 

Now, isn't that great? 

I thought it was, until I realised that I was not getting exactly what I wanted. Okay, I intended to start the Google Reader only for the purpose of receiving news and feeds related to SEO, PPC and Internet Marketing. But, I realised that I had been mindlessly following so many other bloggers and there was one who had subscribed to the reader. Unfortunately, I fell a victim to the crap load she was posting. 

My concern is: how do I remove the blog from my reader? I have not subscribed to her blog though. 

Another thing I wonder is why does the post not go up (like a scrolling text) slowly so that I am saved of the ignominy of pressing the left mouse button continously? Or you know, like the flash screen, display each post for say 5 minutes and then flash up the next one. Cool idea?

Labels however is a cool feature. I am yet to explore that option. Though I do feel that it helps a lot. 

Then of course, as Google would always want (to gather as much sh*t it can), you have the reader where you can subscribe to feeds, share your feeds and post notes, just in case the writer's bug got the better of you. 

So, here goes another post - just like anybody else would have written, into the cyberspace.

Have a good week ahead. 

Microsoft Bing - will it really zing?

Well, I just gave a search in the newly created baby of Microsoft - Bing. The same I gave it in our trusted ol' Google.

This is what I gave. I wanted to search for cable tv retailers or outlets in Cochin and I gave just this "cable tv cochin"


What Bing gave me is this. Pretty handy I must say as I got a list of the local cable tv operators in Cochin at the very top. This was of course followed by the top cable operators list in the yellow pages.

What I did notice is that it picked up the tag / keyword from the description area. I found the title pretty much different from each other, unlike the Google, where if you look at closely, you would find that even the title (link) would contain keywords picked up.

Does this mean that Bing is more result-centric than Google? Just because it returned me the results with a list of local cable operators?

I don't appreciate much of what Microsoft has done so far. Bing though, it seems to have (or will slowly) make its mark.

Here is what Google returned for me for the same set of keywords "cable tv cochin".

Well, as you can see, I just got a list of ads where the keywords "cable" "tv" and importantly "cochin" were added at the very first title line. Of course, irrelevant ads were also displayed here.

For example, there was an ad from a well known hotel here displayed in the list.

Which makes me ask "Will Google come out with a search which understands what we want to type or search?". Or has it already come out with such a search?

Time will tell, how Bing copes up in this big race to be the best search engine against the BIG giant G.

I will come out with more search examples later in some other post. Till then, happy weekend.

Blogging your way in SEO style

Blogging is not just about telling your friends about your food habits, your daily routine or even perhaps showing off your skateboarding talents by posting some cool videos on it. NO, blogging has come a long way than just being an area of interest where we could write about anything and yet capture the minds of your online audience.

More individuals are now using blog as a handy tool to carve a niche market for themselves in the field that they are involved in. This is the best bet to make yourself known in the field you are in. Why of all the things – Blogging? Well, blogging since its inception has been a catalyst in boosting your SEO metrics. And the primary reason of this being the fact that blogs have been the all time favorites of human readers and of course the search engines.

You might just be wondering what has blogging got to do with SEO. Well … a lot actually. Here are a few things that blogs actually help boost your SEO.

Blogging speaks of current events or happenings
Search engines love content. Fresh content. What the search engine does is to ‘decipher or understand’ your content and simply start indexing it under a particular category. That's right. Your content is accepted and indexed right away such that search engines wants to present its readers the best and latest contents. Google, MSN, Yahoo are the prominent ones which does this.

Search engines are constantly updating the index. Its like a 24-hours call center. The blog owners are constantly updating their contents. Sometimes more than just once in a day. Human nature – hence you would find most blogs talking about the latest topic around the world. Which means fresh and relevant content. Sounds good eh?

Blogging is relevant and specific of the topic
Relevancy factor is most important feature while a search is conducted. It indicates the search engine that the most relevant search information is here while showing relevant search pages. Your contents give the search engine a chance to talk about what you have to say about the relevant search term. Blogging usually means pin-point concentration of relevant keywords about the subject or topic you are writing about. Let us say – you are talking about style sheets, then your blog would contain a lot of words like “style”, “cascading style sheets”, “CSS” and so on.

Search engine friendly navigation gives you an upper hand
The blog is structured in such a way that its very easy for the bots or crawlers to crawl through. The blog is well structured, such that you will find the menus sitting up nicely on to the left with your latest post on a section and an archive of your posts.

The best part is that the interlinking and links to other prominent websites or blogs are easily done. Due to the good interlinking policy that you follow crawling your blog become much easier.

Blog is a repository of rich information
Yes, a blog is considered an area of very rich information. This fact is reassured when your blog speaks about the niche you have to present. Not only would you want to get linked to many such related niche websites, but you will find them wanting to link back to you. Awesome, isn’t it? So, what follows next is that all search engines (that crawl your weblog) start to consider your blog as a niche (say rubber products, motor bikes and so on) for promoting your product or service and alleviate your position and rankings.

Linking to blogs is easily done
When you are linked from other websites its considered good for you. Usually you would find it difficult to link to websites as the trust factor is not so high. On the contrary, it is high amongst bloggers who love to link each other. Your SEO effort gets a boost this way!

Happy Blogging…what are you waiting for?

How To Persuade A Buyer Online?

If you’d ask me how many scientists are needed to remove a nail – well the obvious answer is NONE. Jokes apart, if you really want it to happen then you can persuade the nail to come off the wall.

Do I sound crazy? Well, that’s exactly what it means to persuade somebody to buy something online – be it consumer goods, luxury items, offers, gifts or services of any kind. It’s not a hardcore scientific formula from the books of a physics book but the knack that many a marketers and scientists (read marketing purist) would tell you to do.

The best way to tackle this is to understand human nature, understand YOU as a buyer. What makes you tick and buy items that you may not even need? Well, it involves understanding the basic human nature which is often repetitive and works subconsciously the same way.

Here are some tips to ethically persuade people to buy.

1. Show Them The Trend – Show What Others Like To Do

The finicky mind often plays an important role while making a buy. People often tend to look at what others are doing. More the number of people doing the same mean more the comfort level they are in. The psychological phenomenon is called the ‘Social Proof’. This means often decisions are based on the reactions or doings of the mass. The feeling of the buyer is that his knowledge is bettered by knowing these conditions.

What can you showcase as ‘Social Proof’? Here are some ways to establish yourself.
• Most popular items
• ‘People who bought this also liked…’
• Top selling items
• Testifying the product or service

2. Online ‘User-Generated’ Reviews

Another best method of guaranteeing a buy is to have reviews and ratings for products or services on your website. User generated reviews have a great impact on the minds of the buyers. In the age of Web 2.0 and social media and networks like Facebook this is one of the most popular ways to promote your product or service.

It’s a good way to have reviews and ratings section on your website after all; it’s a FREE way to promote you, isn’t it? Reviews are considered reliable, as opined by most and if there is no review the potential customer tends to walk away from your website. There is no turning back.

Reviews on a website have to be open, clear and true. You must stand the truth – because reviews can be bad as well. But wait; don’t write it off, cause it’s easier to ‘catch’ an edited review. So face the truth!

3. Show That Products Are Scarce

If the products are scarce the demand for it goes up. The social psychology is such that it makes a person feel that ‘he needs it no matter what’ and a loss is ‘felt’ more than a gain. Simply put, if a person loses a chance to buy a certain product the feeling of not having got that is more than the feeling of having gotten the same.

Scarcity can be portrayed online by showing messages like
1. For 5 days only!
2. For the 1st 100 customers only
3. Sales end on December 30th
4. Offer valid until stock lasts
5. The offer will end in 4 days 2 hours 34 minutes 18 seconds (this could be a countdown timer on your website)

4. Seeing Is Believing – Entice Them With Pictures And Videos

Images play an important role in retention of information. It’s said that ‘A picture is worth 1000 words’. Images are good for luxury items and high value goods.

Just make sure the images you provide a good visual appeal, high quality images.

• Professional quality
• Different views of the same image
• Zoom for better viewing

Get innovative – maybe a short video (of 15 to 20 seconds) is good to show WHAT exactly you want to promote. Novel, isn’t it? Sure, because watching a video is less cumbersome than reading and digesting facts.

5. Cross And Up-Sell

I had once gone to McDonalds and ordered for a Mac Burger®. The maître d' asked me if I’d like to have some fries and coleslaw along with it. Well, could I refuse it? No.
Cool tactic eh? Once you have committed to purchasing / consuming any product it’s not that hard to persuade to buy more.

It’s a good idea to display related items / products near the product you want to sell like – French fries and coleslaw with burgers or sandwiches or a pair of neon laces along with your skating shoes. The craving to buy never stops!

6. Show Authority

We are easily overwhelmed by authority or influential icons. Let us take the example of basket ball. If Kobe Bryant would promote a certain brand of basketball shoes you would easily buy it, and not if you were recommended by your best friend Michael. Am I right?

RIGHT!

Websites that show authority are trusted more easily as they are considered experts in their field and this holds good for B2B websites.

• Show you are an expert
• Link to 3rd party websites and back up your facts
• Give reference to authoritative bodies
• Display symbol of authority like VERITAS, Veri Sign

7. Dispel The Fear In Them

Numerous questions like ‘Can I return the goods if I don’t like them?” or “Are there any additional costs that is not shown?” can arise while buying online.

Dispel such fear by providing an exhaustive FAQ which helps them clear up any cobwebs in their mind. It also generates a positive influence on you.

Persuasion in short helps the user get all the information he needs and changing his stubborn mind into one who is urged into buying from you. But remember, along with such persuasive tactics you need to also have a solid website to back it up with good service and usability.

Social bookmarking sites list

Yes, that is what I typed in the Google search bar "social bookmarking sites list" and it gave me a result so ever useful. Here are a few links I found really good - lots of social bookmarking sites to pick from.

Well, why social bookmarking? It is a way to announce your niche. What you are and why do you want to be in the peer group is what brings you to bookmark your website.

Here are some of the URL list

http://www.arsenalmarketing.com/blog-marketing/social-bookmarking-list-over-120-sites-with-page-rank

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social30

http://www.blogmarketingtactics.com/social-bookmarking/social-bookmarking-top-links.html

Worth the wait for me.

Another super site I found - http://www.buzzle.com/articles/5-quality-check-tips-from-a-professional-seo-company.html

Off Page Optimization Tips for Directory Submission

When you talk about optimization, it includes your on-page and off page optimization. What is interesting to note is that it is the off page optimization that does help you increase your chances to have your website being seen/ visited frequently.

Let me talk about directory submission today.

Before you submit to a list of directories (there are hundred thousands of them there) make sure you DO understand what the website does. By that I mean, you must be sure of "What" your website does. You must understand the purpose for what your website is here. That is called the niche.

Pick up the niche factor for which the website is all about.

Prepare titles appropriate to the type of business / service it does. Ensure that its not too lengthy or even too short. Remember to put in all the service based words / phrases in the title - of course make it a sensible sentence and not just a mixed bag of keyphrases thrown in together.

Prepare a set of description which is apt and says just what the website does. Aim at the keywords in your website, thats a good thing to do. Just make sure your description does contain the best keywords in it.

But mind you, do not make it look like you are pouring out all the keywords into the description. Make sure that its meaningful, so the readers do understand (again, just like the title - make your desription sensible as well)

Lastly, if your website has a ranking report being run for the past 6 months, look out for keywords that ranked well and seen frequently on the top pages, say 1 to 3.

If you do not have a ranking report run, just run your keywords on Keyword Discovery or Overture and you will get the best ranked keywords for your website.

Chose them wisely and place them as your best keywords.

For directory submissions, besides this you will need a valid working email address that is not a free account (like GMail, Hotmail and the likes), but which belongs to a domain (like submisions@mybusinessmarketing.com). An email that belongs to a website is always trusted. It pays to have a couple of such addresses in case one is already used up.

You must have a valid (fake does work though) submitter's full name. Make sure that the name matches well with the region (for example, you cannot have an Indian name for a Canadian website, got me? Say you cannot have an Indian name like "Harbhajan Singh" for a Canadian Immigration Attorney's website (unless the owner is Harbhajan Singh of course, lol).

The full address of the company, including the telephone number, fax, email address and importantly the Zip or PIN code.

When you submit make sure you submit it to the right category. Thats important. Its better to NOT submit it in case you don't find an appropriate category for any particular directory. That way you won't be banned (obviously, your IP address would be tapped, a reason good enough to ban you)

In case there are directory websites which demand a login, sign up for it.

Make sure you do note the login details somewhere for future use. Its great to use the Google Docs for this. Accessible anywhere, anytime!

After having submitted to various directories, you may need to confirm the entry by clicking on the link which would be sent to you by mail (that is the email address you provided as a point of contact).

The email address you provide as a point of contact should NEVER be the official email address of the company or that which belongs to some department. For example, you cannot use an email address like info@mybusinessmarketing.com or that which belongs to a department like sales@mybusinessmarketing.com. Instead it could be submisions@mybusinessmarketing.com - which is valid and sounds good.

Doing that ensures the trust you have built in the directory submission websites.

Lastly, you need to wait and watch (and reap the fruits of your efforts) until you get mails from the websites approving or disapproving your entry.

In case its approved, make a note of it so that you don't blunder by re-submitting it to the same category.

In case your entry is disapproved also, make a note of it. Look out for any provisions for resubmissions or a 'time gap' before which you can try your resubmission.

Its recommended to wait until you resubmit lest your IP is marked and you are blocked from submitting again.

Comments? Suggestions?