November 27th, 2010 by typhonvision

Internet Advertising has revolutionized the way we market our business in the last 10-15 years.  As Advertising traditionally reserved for companies with a large advertising budget.  Whom could afford the high cost of distribution for Media on TV, Radio, Billboards, Signage and Print.  Yet year over year, statistics have demonstrated that advertising budgets are shifting in their allocation.  Moving away from the traditional advertising systems.  While traditional advertising systems  still have there place, there is no question that budgets are being reduced in that area and increased on the Web.

When discussing the Internet Advertising systems, this includes reference to the Pay per click (PPC) and Affiliate Advertising methods.  The main topic of discussion in this article will be the PPC advertising system.  Since today, it is the most popular and by general consensus considered the most effective.

Some of the reasons for the success of Internet Advertising over traditional advertising are listed below :

Flexibility in Budget : Traditional advertising was thought to be very expensive.  And often could be unaffordable for medium and small businesses.  However the new Internet Advertising systems allow for affordability on some level for businesses.  Providing a varied range and scope with low, medium and high budgets.

Advanced Tracking and Demographics : One of the challenges of the traditional advertising systems is the inability to track down which methods produced the best results.  Like all things computerized,  the Internet advertising model allows for greater precision and measurability.  Giving a better cope of what advertising networks produce the best results for your campaign.  As well, Internet Advertising has greater potential in reaching your target market.  (Discussed further later in this article when outlining the benefits of Facebook advertisements).

More people are Searching / Shopping online : Internet phobia is reducing.  As today, often any shopping for a product or service begins with research on the Internet.  Whether your product or service is Business to Business (B2B) or Business to Consumer (B2C).

Acknowledging the growth Internet Advertising, often the question occurs which particular Internet Advertising systems are beneficial for your business.  Which can be answered first by determining whether the PPC method or the Affiliate Advertisement route is favorable for your business model.

How do PPC and Affiliate Advertising differ?

The two major categories of Internet Advertising are listed below:

Affiliate Advertisement : An Affiliate advertisement often can be seen when visiting a website which a banner ad is displayed at the top or the bottom of the website.  Affiliate advertisements are paid on the basis of how many times a significant action has occurred, such as how often a Sale or Lead is generated.  Affiliate advertisements are designed that once the user visits the site from the ad, the advertiser is only committed to pay if the consumer purchased the product after seeing the ad.  Alternatively the Affiliate advertisement can also be setup for other concrete measurable actions, such as a lead being generated.  Which the landing page of the ad is setup for the user to fill out their information as a potential lead.  Which the sales team may follow up with that lead at another point

The benefit of Affiliate advertising is that you are only paying on the basis of your bottom line results.  Therefore if the traffic numbers you receive in response to the ad are strong, but the actual sale of the product is weak, the Advertiser is not committed to pay.

Ultimately Affiliate ads are more difficult to setup and often requires someone with a fair degree of technical knowledge to setup the tracking code.  And it’s  a less popular choice since many website publishers choose not to take the risk of have an advertisers ad show 1000 times in a day and not being paid anything.  (Which is more favorable for the advertiser, but not the website publisher).

Affiliate Advertisements share greater popularity with E-commerce stores.  Since it is easier to measure the concrete trigger for the payout based on on-line sales.  Most of the Affiliate Advertising systems work with similar systems with some variations in back end management.  So recommendations will be limited in this article to some reputable companies such as Dark Blue, Commission Junction and Neverblue.  With the main purpose of this article to investigate the PPC systems, due to the greater popularity and equality.

PPC Advertising (Pay per click Advertising) : The way the PPC advertising system works is by selecting the trigger action for your ads.  In search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, it often is the specific keyword combinations that trigger your advertisement.  For example. when the user to types in “home renovation toronto” in the Search Engines, your advertisements appears on the top and side margins of the Search Engine results.  For social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn, it may include other triggers.  Such that if the user of the given social network is of a certain age, the advertisement would be displayed (Since enrolling in a Social network likes Facebook or LinkedIn users often include this personal information).

Once your trigger is defined, you then select your monthly budget.  Your monthly budget determines the ceiling in which you do not wish for your bill to go above.  Advertising networks like Google Adsense and Facebook start at $31 per month.  So your advertising budget can range from the minimum rate to thousands of dollars per month, depending on what you can afford.  However the higher monthly budget gives greater leverage.

Next you select what the range you are willing to pay for each time someone clicks on your ad for your selected trigger. (Ie. how much you are willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad after typing in “home renovation toronto” in Google).  The higher monthly budget will allow you to use more aggressive bidding ranges for what you are willing to pay per click.  Providing you with a wider spread per click.

Based on the bidding ranges you enter, you ads appear in a given frequency.  Where during certain days and times of day the bidding ranges are more competitive.  And certain triggers or keyword combinations are more expensive based on their demand.  Which the more aggressive bidder would appear more frequently.  Although it is possible for the advertiser with a $31 budget to appear on the 1st page of Google when compared to the $100 budget per month (During certain times of day).  Yet the frequency of the ads being displayed with the smaller budget will be less.

The beauty of the Pay per click system is you are only obligated to pay when someone actually clicks on your advertisement.  Therefore you are paying based on the given response and not on how many times your ads shows up.  This is drastically different from the traditional advertising systems such as Print, Radio or Television, which you are essentially paying for how many times your advertisement is displayed.  Giving limited accountability for the Advertising media to how responsive people are to your ad.

Which PPC Advertising system to choose.

Choosing the right PPC advertising Network can be a daunting task.  It it all depends on who you are trying to target and how you are trying to target your audience.  Whether you are looking to use a push / pull marketing strategy.  Or if your product or services are B2B or B2C.  Below are some of the advantages of the different advertising networks with their respective Pro and Cons.

Google Adsense Advertising

Description : The Google Adsense is by far the most popular advertising system on the Internet today.  And lead to the revolution in the advertising world, proving that Internet Advertising can be effective.  As often other advertising networks look to model the success of the Google Adsense program.  The Google adsense program is mainly triggered when users are performing google searches and ads rank favorably in the top and right margins.  However, the Google Adsense program also includes the Google Partner program.  Which looks similar to an Affiliate ads system in appearance.  In when a given user is visiting a website, a banner advertisement may be shown somewhere on the top or side of the website.  Or while a user is watching a Youtube video an advertisement may appear at the bottom.  Which the Partner program ad is triggered by keywords on the page.  Therefore if the user is reading an article on Do-it-yourself home renovation, the banner ad promoting home renovation would be displayed.  And the advertiser would only be obligated to pay if the user clicked on the ad.

Pros : Google by far is the predominant search engine today in the Internet World.  And is only continuing to grow in popularity, as it’s the most frequently visited website in the world.  Making a fair portion of most Internet advertising budgets allocated towards the Google Adsense program.  As it is an effective ‘Pull’ Strategy for users that are researching for a product / service in your related field.  Google is continues to be a pioneer in the Advertising world by being quick to implement new features.  And always looking for better ways to improve the quality of its system for both advertisers and users.

Cons : Being the most popular Internet advertising system out there, it often is the most expensive in the cost per click.  Since the cost per click is based on the law of supply and demand.  And the demand for favorable placement on Google is high.  Also Google has a strict quality control team.  Which they can have some unforgiving policies of banning or suspending advertisers that do not follow their guidelines.  That can be considered a plus, however some well meaning advertisers may get burnt in the process.

Yahoo / Bing Advertisments

Description : When web users can’t find what they are looking for on Google, they often go to search engine like Yahoo and Bing next. In 2010, Yahoo and Bing have now merged there advertising system in order to remain a competitive force with Google.  However Yahoo / Bing advertisements mirror the Google Advertising system very closely working on similar principals of showing ads when keyword searches are typed in. As well, Yahoo and Bing have a partner program which mirrors Google.

Pros : Based on the law of supply and demand, Yahoo / Bing ads can have a lower cost per click.  And it can be argued, the quality of the lead does not change, whether the web user found your website through Google or Yahoo.  It may in fact increase the quality of the lead since the web viewer is taking time to throughly search for a good respective partner.

Cons : Often Yahoo / Bings ads look like the “me too” little brother of Google.  In which they replicate the Google Adsense program so closely, they can be appear to be the copycat.  Also, the gap between people searching on Google and other search engines seems to only be growing every day.

Facebook Advertisments

Description : Facebook is one of the greatest threats to the Google Adsense system.  Which will continue to develop and be more significant as time goes on.  Since Facebook is the 2nd most visited website in the world.  But exceeds Google in the amount of time people spend on the website and how frequently they visit per day.  Facebook advertising is displayed when a Facebook users is on the site and a banner ad is displayed on the sidebar.  Unknown to some, this banner ad is targeting the specific demographic of the user profile.

Pros : Part of the process of being involved in Facebook is to enter your personal information such as your Date of Birth, Profession, Interest and Activities.  Facebook is able to target ads based on your personal information.  Which provides massive leverage as a marketing system.  At the time of this article (November 2010), Facebook ads are relatively inexpensive on a cost per click basis when compared to Google.  Making it much more affordable for most businesses of all sizes.  In addition, it provides greater brand awareness, even if your ads are not being clicked on that often.  Since the ads are graphical, it repeats the imagery of your brand, impressing it subconsciously into the mind of the consumer.

Cons : Facebook ads is still a work in progress.  Although the rate of progress is occurring at a very fast rate to be in competition with Google.  Yet it’s still not at the same level of sophistication as the Google Adsense program.  However in years to come, the gap of sophistication between Google Adsense and Facebook ads will most likely reduced.

LinkedIn Advertisments

Description : LinkedIn is the most popular professional social network to date.  In which professionals go online to meet other professionals.  LinkedIn can be considered Facebook with a suit and tie.  Where you often channel people whom you do not wish to reveal details of your personal life.  With the millions of users on LinkedIn, it’s a significant network to take into account.

Pros : Almost every profile on LinkedIn includes the users current profession and professional history (Which not everyone on Facebook includes this information).  LinkedIn has a foothold of this information.  By allowing ads to show only to people in specific professions or industries.  Which makes it one of the best potential Business to Business advertising networks (If not the only viable one at the moment).  Therefore you can target your ads to the specific decision maker for your potential customers, if they categorize in a specific profession(Such as the CEO, VP of Finance, HR manager, Professional Purchaser, Creative Director or Customer Service manager)

Cons : As of today, the LinkedIn advertising system is still within it’s Beta stages(Test software).  And it lags behind in terms of sophistication with its reporting tools when compared to Facebook, Yahoo and Google.  And when compared to a social network like Facebook, people don’t spend as much time on LinkedIn as they do on Facebook.  Since the air of formality doesn’t lend for the same level addictiveness as Facebook.

So is Internet Advertising right for you?

Especially during these challenging economic times, marketers are looking for more effective alternatives.  With the range of Internet Advertising networks to choose from, the ability to reach your potential customer continues to grow.  Especially with the future of developing Internet Advertising systems like LinkedIn and Facebook.  Yet today, many businesses have found great success with the older systems like the Google Adsense program.    As Internet Advertising has proven to be a effective method for promoting business  and will only increase in importance.  So Internet Advertising is here to stay and not going anywhere but up!

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October 22nd, 2010 by typhonvision

E commerce was supposed to change the world.  In the infant days of the DOT.COM Revolution(early 2000s) Brick and Mortar stores were said to be a thing of the past.  Whereas E commerce stores were thought to be more efficient with lower overhead cost.

And we all know what happened to the DOT.COM bubble when it burst.  As a result the E commerce revolution didn’t occur as quickly as originally anticipated.  The main reason for the delay in consumer adoption to E commerce shopping was the lack of familiarity and comfort.  As the general consumer still had anticipations about issues regarding credit card security and reliability with the delivery of products.

Moving in 2010, E commerce has advanced considerably.  Which larger players like Amazon and Ebay have helped spread the general consensus that E commerce shopping can be safe, fast and easy.  As a result, year over year E commerce shopping has increased.

While the traditional ways of doing business still exist for most.  Lending a portion (Even a small amount) of your business to a E commerce component on your website can drastically increase your efficiency.

Who should use E Commerce solutions?

E commerce solutions are thought to be of benefit to those only focused on selling products.  As most companies providing services are limited by their Geographical region (Usually to their local area of service such as Toronto, Ontario).  However, there are some applications which E commerce can be effectively used for Services.  Furthermore, the traditional geographical limitations in providing services can now be faced with the myriad of the free technology available to us.  This includes tools such as Sykpe (Long distance calling), Youtube and Social media(Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn).  Particularly if your business involves consulting as opposed to a physical service.

E commerce solutions for selling Products

The beauty of E commerce utilized for the sale of products is that your store can be everywhere and serve at any time.  Which exceeds the typical limitations of Brick and Mortar store.  Here are some broad categores of where E commerce for products can be used effectively:

Electronic Media - These include e-books, videos, audio and any form of Electronic media.  Special consideration should be given to e-books which in todays age is rising in usage.  This was confirmed when Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon has claimed currently(Oct 2010) that 35% of sales from Amazon come from E-books(See Article here).  As E-books are a great way to distinguish yourself as a credible expert in your field.  And have a lower cost of production than hard copy books.  There are a variety of ways Electronic Media can be sold through an E commerce platform.  Which either the material can be downloaded within a limited timeframe (ie. 3 to 30 days window of opportunity to download).  Or can be downloaded multiple times indefinitely for a flat fee.  As with any electronic media, the susceptibilityto piracy is always factor and a threat in having downloaders redistribute the product for free.

Deliverable Products – This includes physical tangible objects which can be delivered by mail such as gift items, CDs, Videos and Promotional products etc.  Which virtually any product can be sold on-line.  However, consumers may be reluctant to buy from your website with the fear of receiving damaged goods upon delivery.  This can be challenged by outlining a solid customer satisfaction and return policy.  And describing your measures for effective packaging.  Consumers also might be reluctant to buy from your website since they may not be able to see, touch or feel the product.  Effectively integrating Video on your website for each of your key products can reduce reluctance.  Which the Video can display the product from all angles and its useful applications.  Consumers often feel enticed to buy a product based on a TV Commercial alone.  Done properly, Web Video can work in a similar manner to invite the consumers to buy.

Customized Products - This can be either a subset of a deliverable product or an electronic media item.  And can marketed in a manner that is similar.  However often the challenge with Customized products sold online is the variable pricing.  Which price can be determined by different factors (size, colour, accessories).  A strong identification of all the factors that make up the price of the item in a logical system can resolve this issue.  Where the different factors to scale the price can be programmed into the system.

E commerce for Services

Using E commerce for the sale of your services can be used in a variety of manners.  Included below is a brief example :

Events - This includes Seminars, Parties, Network events and Social events.  Whereas pre-registration is often required for many events to get an accurate estimation of the number of people in attendance.  Receiving a deposit for the event on-line can help to ensure more committed attendees show up.  Events can be promoted on your own website as well as third party websites such as meetup.com

Payment to Vendors – E commerce cannot only be used to get paid by your customers, but it can also help to pay your Vendors and respective partners.  This can be particularly useful if your vendors are overseas.  As platforms like Paypal can make it easy to transfer money

Services with a Variable price - This can include services which may vary in the price per item such as consulting services or donations (If you are not for profit).  However, depending on your E commerce setup ,it can be designed to handle a variable price specified by yourself or the consumer on each transaction.

What platform to use for E commerce component on your website

There are a variety of options which to house your e commerce platform.  Which is all dependant on your unique needs.  However, if you have under 20 items to sell on your website.  A dedicated platform may not be necessary at all.  As items can be sold with Paypal buttons extended onto your website.  Which is relatively easy and inexpensive to setup.

For a greater quantity of items.  A dedicated platform maybe required.  Which would also provide additional benefits such as advanced reporting tools (Showing most popular items), ability to enter stock quantity and expecting time of arrival.  In choosing a E commerce platform, open source software is often recommended.

Open source software is free software which a collective community of programmers continue to improve upon the functionality of the system.  Which yields regular and free upgrades in security, plug-ins and features.  In the past, it used to be the case that open source software was inferior to commercial grade packages.  However in 2010, often Open source packages can be more powerful.  Since the strength of hundreds of thousands of contributers can be greater than a single development team for a commercial package.

Stand alone open source E commerce packages like OS commerce and Zen cart have proven to be popular choices.  Which offer relatively easy installation and expandability.  However, if you already have a website and have taken the painstaking time to have it developed, there are options to extend upon your original site.  Such as if you have a WordPress (A popular content management system) site, there are various E commerce plug ins such as Welcart which can expand upon your current website without having to revamp your website design.

What E commerce can mean to you

Utilizing E-commerce on your website is not as daunting as it seems.  Its true in the past by majority E commerce was considered cumbersome and impractical.  However, the Internet has and never will be in a fixed state.  And technologies have greatly matured since its early days.  With the number of shoppers going on-line growing year over year, it’s becoming more important for businesses to not neglect this route.  As a effective E commerce plan can save you time and money while increasing your sales.

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August 20th, 2010 by typhonvision

So you’ve obviously heard of Social Media.  And are probably wondering is it time for you to jump on the Social Media bandwagon to accelerate your business.  As you’ve been hearing all the great things it’s doing for business today.

So is social media REALLY revolutionizing the way we do business?

The answer is yes, as social media makes it easier to connect with people and your network.  Giving a virtual presence, even when those contacts are not involved in your daily routine.  BUT there is a great deal of hype and overblowing on the practical results one can expect.  Especially those whom are slow to adopt technology in their organization and are limited in time.   As not everyone has all the time in the world to be tweeting, twooting and tagging, as well as getting on with managing their daily business.  And in most things in life, you get what you put in.  So here we’ve put together some simple, down to earth and practical benefits on uses of Social Media.

While, there are many social media platforms out there, in this article we’ll be focusing on the big 3 : Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Using LinkedIn to keep in touch with networking contacts

Business is often about Networking.  As the saying goes “Its not what you know, but who you know”.   However the problem with traditional networking is it often takes a great deal of time and effort to keep in touch.  As if you went to a network meeting, you may have exchanged cards with a contact, because you have complimentary businesses which you pass referrals.  Or they could be a potential prospect in the future.  The traditional means of maintaining contact would be making that awkward phone call every once in awhile.  Or  taking the time out to go out for lunch or coffee.  Or  writing an email which doesn’t get responded to.  LinkedIn helps to ease those gaps of keeping in touch.  And one of those key aspects of LinkedIn is the status updates (Which was copied from Facebook).  Which allows your personal network to know what’s new in your professional life.  Your status updates may include interesting projects you’re working or posting enticing links to web material your reading.  And what’s best about these status updates is your personal network can respond to them with short comments and responses.  While some of these status updates may seem mundane, often it facilitates real discussion that is not forced, spontaneous, time efficient and to the point.  Because it’s all the about the little things which help us bond, form connections and strengthen relationships.

Aside from the use of status updates, LinkedIn allows direct private messages to be sent to your network.  Which is similar to how email is used.  And often these private messages have a copy sent to the receivers direct email address.  Additionally your contacts can be organised into different categories such as Suppliers, Referral Partners or Prospects.  This is much easier than maintaing a roladex of new prospects and network partners you meet.  Which you may need their contact once in a blue moon.

LinkedIn also allows you to network with people offline that you wouldn’t otherwise meet in person.  As you are permitted a certain number of anonymous request.  And after your reaching your ceiling, you can be co-introduced through a shared network contact.  Therefore if you are looking to make new contacts which can potentially increase your business;  LinkedIn can allow you to make that connection that you wouldn’t easily be able to make in person.  Which may eventually lead to a face to face relationship or business opportunity.

Finally, Linkedin also allows you to join group forums which you may engage in public discussions with like minded people.  What better way for people to familiarize and get a taste of your professional opinions through a informal group discussion.  However, it’s important to always keep these discussions clean and professional since these forums are public.  And you never want to say something which you may regret later.

Keeping in touch of what people say about your Business with Twitter?

Twitter is becoming a social stratosphere which people write about there most mundane thoughts.  Some of those published thoughts are useless for business purposes, such as  “Bob is eating cornflakes”.  But some of those thoughts might be important to your business.  Since they might include someone mentioning your company name in a positive or negative reference.  With millions of users tweeting on their mobile phones and computers, there is a good chance someone maybe talking about you or your brand.  Good or bad news, it’s better to be aware of that dialogue.  Which you can choose further to engage in that dialogue or passively observe it.  As Twitter can be setup to monitor and notify you anytime someone mentions your name “XYZ company”.  This process can be made even easier using common alert tools like TweetDeck, which give a pop up alert on your PR managers computer everytime “XYZ company” is mentioned on the social melting pot of Twitter.  With the millions of users currently on Twitter(and growing), it’s becoming even more important to be aware of the real time conversation that’s happening on the Internet which may involve you.

By the same principal, you may also be made aware when people mention a certain ASPECT of your business which may require your expertise.  For instance, if you are a plumber in Toronto, you might want to be aware anytime a statement is tweeted which include 3 key words “Looking, Plumber, Toronto”.  As often people may be asking for referals for reputatable professionals via Twitter.  Which you can be alerted and notified of instantly when those given keywords are mentioned.  And then engage with the person requiring your expertise through Twitter or privately off-line through email.  Using Twitter in this method allows you to find prospects you wouldn’t otherwise have, with minimal effort.

Using Facebook as a Content Management System and Entertainment Businesses

Facebook is similar to LinkedIn.  Or rather LinkedIn is similar to Facebook, considering Facebook is the more popular social network.  As well, many features from LinkedIn have been modelled after Facebook.   However, LinkedIn is more popular for professional use since it seperates business from personal contacts.  As LinkedIn is best thought of “Facebook with a suit and tie“.  However, in some cases Facebook is appropriate for business.  Particularly if you are in a more informal business such as Entertainment.

Facebook has all the benefits mentioned before with LinkedIn such as keeping in touch with network contacts, being introduced to anonymous contacts, status updates and group discussions.  However, with Facebook there is additional benefits such as being able to upload an unlimited amount of pictures.  Whereas LinkedIn only allows one picture per profile to conserve server space.  So some businesses use Facebook as the Content Managed System by placing a Facebook link from their main website.  Allowing them to upload photos of their latest projects and providing news updates on their latest developments

Most importantly, out of all the social networking sites, people tend to visit Facebook more than any other social network.  So there is a greater chance they would actually see the latest updates on your business, by virtue of being more active.

And lets not forget the benefits of Facebook Advertising, which is bringing a new dimension to Internet Advertising by its targetted demographics.  As Facebook advertising is the greatest potential threat to the Google Ads system as it continues to develop in the years to come.  You can read more about the benefits of Facebook Advertising at our previous article archived here.

So are you jumping on this bandwagon or not?

So while it may not be necessary to spend all your invested time, money and effort on Social Networks, it’s important to be aware.  As some of the key benefits offered by Social Networks can’t be found anywhere else.  And it’s best to take baby steps in implementing a plan to action in integrating Social media into your business model.  Social Media helps to connect those microlayers which made traditional communication and networking is a challenge.  As once upon a time, Email was also a foreign practice in most businesses.  But has proven to be effective tool which helps businesses communicate better.  While Social Media does still have a long way to go, it’s here to stay and only will increase in importance as time goes on.

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July 22nd, 2010 by typhonvision

Web design is like fashion, we all have our own personal taste.  And what was in yesterday, isn’t so hot today.  As the Internet world also goes through its own fashion trends.

Pre-1992 era, the Internet was not known to the general public, and text was all the rage.  As the graphical layouts with the Internet world we know today didn’t exist.  Then there came the first graphical browser known as Mosaic which changed everything.  Mosaic allowed graphics to be seen and shared on the Internet.  Bringing a new dimension to the World Wide Web, where a picture is worth a thousand words.  The same original developers of Mosaic went onto develop the famous Netscape Navigator.  Which then was duplicated with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.  And the rest is history as we know it.

From 1995 onward the Internet became more common amongst the average person.  And became a great buzz word to bring up in any conversation.  Similar to how today(2010) the words “Social Media” are brought up at every dinner party, meeting or company gathering.  As it helps to make one to sound more sophisticated, distinguished and with the times (Regardless if you know what it is or what a computer looks like).

With the graphical interface Mosaic exposed, website visuals were taking to the maximum.  Adopting a “LOOK AT ME” philosophy, using everything and anything to garner attention.  Such as Animated GIFs, Flashing lights, Rainbow font colours in a single line of text and MIDI Music blaring from your computer speakers when you first enter a website (For the purpose of waking up the kids).  With all these components combined without any consideration stylistically if they made sense.  As it would be the equivelant to wearing a cowboy hat with a pin stripe suit combined with flip flops.  Although many of these old web designs have been extinct like the Dinosaurs for many years, a place to visit these vast artifacts was on www.geocities.com.  Geocities was a free web server owned by Yahoo.  Thankfully, in october of 2009, Yahoo buried these tired old web designs by closing Geocities.

Then came the era of Macromedia Flash in the early 2000s.  Although Macromedia Flash had originally came onto the scene in 1996, in the early 2000s it grew in prevalence.  Everyone wanted a Flash intro, except nobody would watch them.  Flash designers often touted the benefits of Flash, as a way to stand out from the crowd.  Working with full Flash web designs to Flash Intros when you enter a website (Which thankfully the SKIP INTRO button was invented).  Although Flash does have its place in todays web design world, it is used more sparingly due to its Search Engine Optimization challenges (Discussed further in this article).

The prevalent trend toward simple and clean web designs co-related with the growth of the social networking website Facebook.  Facebook grew out a Hardvard domatory, to the billion dollar company it is now.  Retaining much of its original look in its simplicity.  Although Google(Which came before Facebook) was a proponent of “simple is better” in its own design; Facebook nailed the point home that simple can be also be profitable.  One of many the aspects which made Facebook popular, was it was easy to navigate and quick  loading compared to some of its respective social networking competitors such as Myspace and Friendster.  Which were known for their painfully long loading times.  Part of the reason for this was the complexity in which Myspace users could customize their page.  Facebook was relatively intuitive  in comparison(Unlike Myspace, people over 17 years old could understand it), allowing users to network with their friends and share their latest news.  Users appreciated the simplicity in being able to find information quickly and not having to wait or be confused.  Showing you can have a million dollar website AND be cool, without being overly flashy in your visuals.

So here are some reasons YOU should consider a simple and clean design for your next web design project :

1) Website viewers often speed read.

The truth is, web viewers are lazy, we are guilty of that at one time or other.  In the constant rat race of life, the Internet allows us to find information quickly and move onto the next site if we don’t get what we want.  The reality is most web viewers speed read, as the average time spent on a business website at 30 seconds is not a uncommon number.  Speed reading is often conducted in making a “S” pattern with ones eyes when glancing at the screen.  Therefore it makes sense to visually make sure there is ample space between text.  And that the key points can be picked out during that speed reading process.

2) Google has confirmed better search engine results for websites with quicker load times.

Earlier this year(2010), Matt Cutts, director at Google confirmed that website load times as one of many (200+) factors were added to SEO results.(Search Engine Optimization Rankings)  Now does this mean you need to cut out every graphic image from your site to make it load faster than the speed of light? No, as  the basic principals of SEO still exist with Keyword density and Outside Links being the predominate fundamentals.  And load times are one of many aspects added to its detailed criteria.  So it’s just one more reason to not over burden your web design.

3) It’s easier/more cost effective to design an Search Engine Optimized website.

Before mid-2008, Macromedia Flash designs were a nightmare from an search engine optimization perspective.  However, preceding the summer of 2008 Google and Macromedia announced a partnership to improve search engine optimization with Flash sites.  While Flash sites optimize better these days, optimization is still not great.  The reason being is Google doesn’t read graphics very well. (Or at all – As it reverse engineers the graphics to read text.  Using OCR – Optical Character recognition technology which works with varying success.)  Even though some text may in fact look like regular text, it would technically be a graphic in Google’s eyes.  Since that graphic is made so it can be animated and flashy.  This doesn’t doesn’t only apply to Flash sites, but also static HTML websites as well.  As when a web designer is focusing on a flashy approach, graphics maybe used when text maybe more effective.  Text is the high octane fuel for search engines!

4) Simple and clean web designs present a more modest and professional look.

How do you want to present yourself professionally?  Do you want to convey trust, professionalism and credibility to your potential clients?  Often a simple web design projects a quiet, conservative, reserved and respectable image for your company.  Being, simple and to the point by saying a great deal, with as little as possible.  Being too flashy and over the top is like trusting the salesman in the brightly checkered suit.  Would you trust the smart, conservative, sober professional?  Or the backslapping, oh too positive to be real salesman who seems to think his finger is a gun.

So what your saying is….

So in short, the key is to be simple but NOT BASIC.  As web users of today prime concern is to get the information quickly and efficiently without having to do a whole lot of searching and navigating.  Often we seek to stand out from the crowd by being over the top and too flashy.  However, specific customers at your target market are often best captured with quiet, composed and clean web designs.  As its a true sign of expertise to be able to communicate your message effectively with less.  So don’t be that guy/gal standing out at the party for all the wrong reasons with leather pants in a fishnet top.  Get with the times and make sure your website is clean, clear, simple, professional and to the point in its web design.

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May 29th, 2010 by typhonvision

Presented at Toronto Marketing Power Networking meeting May 2010

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PRESENTATION SLIDES

After 23 consecutive appearances, Pepsi Cola opted out of the 2010 Superbowl and instead invested its ad budget in Social Media Marketing. This is yet another sign that internet promotion has, and will continue to overtake traditional Marketing channels. Topics such as Internet Advertising and Search Engine Optimization are higher on the priority lists of entrepreneurs and business managers than ever. But what do these terms really mean? And how can you apply these tactics without breaking the bank?  In a no nonsense, plain English approach, a logical and intelligent approach to the Internet Marketing will be demystified.

In this presentation the following topics will be discussed :

1) The strengths and weakness of the two major Internet Marketing Methods: Pay per Click and Search Engine Optimization

2) How Pay Per click and Search Engine Optimization work.

3) How you can engage in Pay Per Click and Search Engine Optimization through your own efforts.

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March 4th, 2010 by typhonvision

What exactly are website viruses?

With all the given security threats computer users need to worry about;  The standard for responsible awareness grows even further with each passing year.  In the past, before the days of Internet Popularity(Previous to the year 2000) computer users only needed to worry about viruses which infected personal computers.  Some of these viruses we’re relatively harmless, at most displaying a mischievous message on your screen during certain times of day.  While others we’re more destructive, aiming to destroy your critical data.

After the year 2000 came a new variant of a security threat known as spyware, ad-aware and malware.  These malicious inventions main source emanated from adult sites.  In which they would display aggravating pop-up ads on your computer while you surfed.  Some spyware had even worse intentions, attempting to capture sensitive information such as your banking or credit card information while you browsed the web.

Now from the year 2007 and onward, comes a new threat known as the “website virus”.  Website viruses infect the code of non-suspecting website owners.  Particularly vunerable are owners who have sophisticated website structures such as a Content Management System, Blog, Forum or E-commerce store.  The virus then attaches itself to the code of your website.  Then it attempts to spread the infection to each and every visitor who visits your website!

From a functional standpoint this is obviously detrimental.  Since certain infected areas of your website will not work at all.  As the virus code may cause it to completely malfunction.

From a marketing standpoint, this is even worse, as it’s tarnishing your brand/image you have worked so hard to create.  Infecting all your potential and existing clients whom are visiting your site.  Also since this would reduce your traffic, on-line leads would shrink and your revenues would be effected.

As of the time of writing this article(March 2010), there isn’t any easy way to clean viruses from your website(Unlike viruses for personal computers).  So the process to remove the virus is not as simple as using a program like Norton Antivirus or Mcaffee.  If you DO get infected by a website virus,  tt requires a web developer to spend hours painstakingly going through each page of your website and manually removing the faulty code.  The easier method of course is to restore a saved copy of the website.  However, if you have a content management system or e-commerce platform, you would also need to have saved a copy of the  database itself.  Since the database would store the latest contents of the site.

Now the good news is detecting a website virus is fairly easy.  If certain aspects of your website are not working properly, it’s possible it may have a website virus.  However, this could be caused by many other things.  So this would be the most basic clue.

The best form of detection of a website virus is through Google.  Since Google scans websites in the attempt to capture the latest updates.  If Google suspects that there is a virus on your site, it will place a warning which will be displayed in your search results.  So by googling your company website, you can see if a virus has been detected.

Also, the browser Apple Safari will warn you if you try to visit a site that is potentially infected with a virus.  However, the source of Safari’s alerts come from Google.  So this is a good option to feel ensured when you are surfing that you will not get infected by a website virus.

With the growing power of technology, comes new ways to exploit power with negative means.  Website Viruses are become an unfortunate reality in the Internet world.  And can create a huge setback to your company reputation.  However, by taking precautionary measures by having an appropriate backup strategy, the potentially detrimental effects can be minimized.  Keeping your customers confident in your business and protecting your brand as a highly valued asset.

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February 24th, 2010 by typhonvision

If you are a business owner or marketing manager, there often comes a time where you need to re-assess the marketing budget for the company.  In that process, this often requires a decision to choose how to best promote and build traffic to your website.  The two most popular methods of Internet promotion today are Internet Advertising and Natural Organic Search Engine Optimization.  And often the question is, which method is superior?

The answer is….it depends….They BOTH have their strengths and weaknesses depending on your objective.

Just to be clear for those of you who don’t know, for example, when you do a Google search such as “cleaning company toronto” (As in the screenshot below).  Often results are broken down with a mixture of Internet Advertising (Known as Pay per Click.  PPC for short form) and organic results.  The PPC results are listed on the top and side of the page (Circled in green in the picture.  You can click the picture to expand your view).  And these listings are achieved by paying google a fee to appear favourably on the 1st, 2nd or 3rd page of google.  It’s another article in itself which we’ll outline how the Google Adwords PPC system works in detail.  Now the results circled in green are the natural organic results.  Meaning that a fee hasn’t been paid to Google.  But most likely an SEO company (Like us nudge nudge, wink wink…shameless promotion, shameless promotion) was paid to achieve those favourable results.

There are some important facts to understand before making a decision as to which method is best to focus on for your marketing strategy.

Since marketing is a form of investment,  we invest in our business with the intention of getting a return on investment through more leads and sales;  The differences between the two strategies could be compared to stocks and bonds.  Whereas if PPC we’re an investment, it would be your stocks.  Which yields your potential for a faster return.  However it can also dry you out much quicker and is more volatile.  Whereas natural SEO are your bonds, which are more stable in nature and yield results in the long term.

As another metaphor, If PPC and SEO we’re athlete runners.  PPC would be your sprinter.  Who could achieve fast, explosive results.  And SEO would be your marathon runner, who would sustain over the longer period of time.

Keeping these metaphors in mind helps to categorize some of the individual attributes of these systems.  A comparison of the individual attributes include :

SHORT TERM COST

Winner : PPC

Why : PPC has leaner entry level cost.  Utilizing PPC networks such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Yahoo Ads you can start at an entry level budget of $31 per month.  Whereas with Natural Search Engine Optimization, you don’t have that same flexibility since it requires a more intensive effort and greater level of commitement.

LONG TERM COST

Winner : Natural Search Engine Optimization

Why : Since with PPC you are paying every time someone clicks on your site.  That can become a costly expense when calculated over the course of the year.  However, once you have obtained 1st, 2nd or 3rd page google ranking with natural Search Engine Optimization, you are not paying each time someone clicks.

TIME FRAME

Winner : PPC

Why : A PPC advertising campaign has great superiority over a Search Engine Optimization campaign in the timeframe which you can see results.  With a PPC campaign you can potentially see results within the same day.  As when you submit your advertisement, it gets checked by a moderator to see if there is no obcenities or anything illegal.  If it passes that basis, the PPC ad can appear within the same day and you can start receiving traffic.  Whereas for most businesses, you may not even start to see results of the Internet advertising campaign for 3-6 months.  As often there is a delay rate in which Google recognizes changes to your site.  This is known as the crawl or index rate.  This rate in which Google checks your site for updates, which differs for various websites.  For most average websites, a 1-2 month timeframe for visitation is normal.  Whereas bigger sites, like news websites may get checked every hour.  So all the optimization work in the world may not be realized until months after the fact.

PRICE FLUCTUATIONS

Winner : Natural Search Engine Optimization

Why : A PPC campaign can be more susceptible to price changes.  Since the PPC works on a bid system, it’s governed by supply and demand at that time.  As an example, in December many on-line retailers may ramp up their PPC advertising budgets to capture the Christmas shopping madness.  Therefore the business spending $300 per month on their Google Ads campaign may get less clicks for their dollar during that period since there is more competition.  Whereas with Natural Search Engine Optimization, because it is harder to do, and less people are doing it, it is a little less venerable to price changes (This is a general statement and doesn’t include Google algorithm/formula changes, which is another topic)

PRESTIGE / BRANDING

Winner : Natural Search Engine Optimization

Why : Most people know at least subconciously that PPC has a lower barrier of entry.  And seeing a given company on the first or second page of Google appear frequently in the natural results gives a better impression of your company image.  So it helps to enhance your brand and boost your credibility.  As consumers  still don’t fully trust advertising, in whatever form.

BEST INTERNET MARKETING COMPANY ON THE PLANET

Winner : Typhon Vision Incorporated!!!!!!!

Why : Sorry we we’re just wondering if you fell asleep at this point.  Or was speed reading the article.  If you caught this, you’ve won a prize.  You have won a rock.  That’s right, a rock, straight from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Give us your mailing address and we’ll send you your rock.  (Hey, some people call these things gratitude rocks).  Anyhow, we digress.

Now with all the strengths and weaknesses to consider.  The question still remains as a business owner/marketing manager which method do you choose?  The answer is BOTH!  Since PPC is your sprint, it should make up the early backbone of your Internet Marketing campaign.  Since it will allow you to achieve your short term goals quicker.  However, the aim should be then to substitute some of the areas which you are paying per click to achieve Natural search engine rankings.  To help lock you in for longer term results.  Also, using PPC allows you to experiment with what are your most profitable search terms.  And once those are determined, it makes good sense to try to achieve greater permanancy in your search engine rankings.

So to summarize, both PPC and Search Engine Optimization have their place in an Internet marketing strategy.  They are Yin and Yang and require co-existence with each other.  A PPC strategy is best used at the outset of a campaign with its biggest strength to obtain quick and fast results.  Whereas the Search Engine Optimization makes up the longer term strategy.  Marketing managers of today have a challenging task of utilizing the tools of technology to best achieve the company’s financial objectives.  However, an effective strategy is broken down into short term and long term goals to encompass the overall scope of your plan.

Happy Marketing!!!

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February 24th, 2010 by typhonvision

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