Saturday, June 21, 2008

Inexpensive ways you can market your service or business on the Web

Well many times I face this question that just making a website isnt the only thing..For it to be successful it requires marketing just like for any other thing ...But the main thing is how to market ur website so that u can get max number of users to your website..

Below there r few ways of doing marketing for ur website - online..and they r very affordable methods which is another thing to be kept in mind for a new business..since they have less budget..


Every time I used to mention only few points since i couldnt remember all of them..And then i came across the article on powerhousebiz which made me write this blog today

So there are a number of inexpensive ways you can market your service or business on the Web, and here are eleven of them:

1. Network. Have you ever received an email from a friend asking you to send that email to 10 more of your friends? If you pass along emails to other people in your address list ­ whether it is a virus alert, crime alert, urban legends or even chain letters ­ you can use this strategy to promote your business. Tell your family, relatives and friends about your new online venture, then ask them to spread the word to their friends. In your email, describe to them your new site and how it will be of use to them. Hopefully, your email will be passed on to many more of your friends’ friends. This will help get the word out about your site. Don’t forget to ask for their comments and suggestions on how to improve your site.

2. Viral Marketing. Another form of effective word-of-mouth strategy on the Web is through viral marketing. Hotmail and Bluemountain.com became valuable properties on the Web as a result of clever use of this strategy. Emails from Hotmail and e-cards from BlueMountain always comes with a footer message that describes the company, resulting in multiplier effect in terms of brand awareness.

Another way of utilizing viral marketing for your site is through referrals. If you are offering content or service, you can put up a “Tell a Friend” button that lets customers recommend products or Web pages via email to friends. Recommend-It and BigNoseBird.com are some of the sites that offer these services for free. These services allow you to keep track of those who recommend your site and the people they recommend it to.

3. Start a newsletter to keep 'em coming back. Newsletters and e-zines have become valuable tools in building loyalty and repeat visitors to a site. You can choose to develop the content of your newsletter, or use articles provided by other authors. Build your mailing list as you go along, but never send unsolicited emails. Spam is simply not worth it. You may start with 10 subscribers in your 1st two months, but you can grow to a thousand in a year depending on your traffic levels and promotion efforts.

4. Print flyers for distribution in your neighborhood. While the Internet is global in its reach, you can start promoting your site locally. Prepare fliers about your site, making sure that its lay-out does not scream: "I am a cheapo!!" Go to your neighbors whom you think might be interested in what you have to offer. If going door-to-door is not your style, post your fliers in your neighborhood grocery stores, public libraries (if they allow you), fast-food eateries, and even your local churches. Some even go to the mall to distribute flyers, while others leave their flyers in the cars in the parking lot.

5. Send out Press Releases to as many newspapers, local or national media that you can think of. If worked properly, the media can provide you with the publicity boost that your business needs. Send out a press release about your site’s launching, highlighting the features that makes your site different from all the rest. If you have an interesting and unique business model, describe it in your release. Tie-up your launching with a local event, or sponsor a contest. There are many ways of using the media; you just have to know how to use it.

6. Print business cards, with your website URL on it. A well-designed card is the mirror of your site. Give one to everyone you know. You may also want to take a look at web cards, or postcards with your web site’s screenshot. Instead of sending traditional Easter or Christmas cards, try them out.

7. Talk about your website whenever you have the opportunity to meet new acquaintances. You are the best promoter of your business. Take every opportunity to network and participate in local organizations. Tell your friends in the Sunday choir that you have a web site. Ask your peers in your ToastMasters club to check out your site. If you are riding the subway and are seated beside a person reading a book on how to make money, give him or her your business card.

8. Submit your site to the search engines and directories. Be patient though; as most search engines take about 2-3 months to list a site. You don't have to use a submission service as you can pretty much do it yourself. Yahoo now charges $199, but it is definitely worth it. LookSmart also charges listing fee, but they provide smaller traffic compared to Yahoo. Evaluate pay-per-click sites like Overture, where you can bid for keywords and pay for every traffic that it brings your site.

9. Participate in discussion forums. A lot of websites provide message boards to attract traffic. You can post messages and invitation to your site in these message boards. Participate in the discussion, always ending your posts with your signature file. There are also business chat rooms where you can introduce your website to anyone in your product line. Carefully read the guidelines and don’t spam lest you be banned from participating in future discussions.

10. Write articles and establish yourself as an expert in your field. Make sure to provide a brief description about you and your site. Read the guidelines of the site before submitting your articles. If you have developed a wide body of content, and regularly produce new articles or write-ups, you can even earn from them through syndication.

11. Never forget opportunities to promote your site offline. These can range from simple things such as putting a car sticker with your URL on it (make sure it is big enough for other commuters to see) to writing a book or regular column in a newspaper.

All these will be enough to keep you busy 16 hours a day and may never end as long as you are on the Internet. You should always be looking for new areas where you can promote your site with minimal expenses.

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

SEO - What is Google PageRank and Why You Should Care About It

Well this specific post is some what different from the general topics that I cover on this blog. But the thing is that recently I have launched my website www.dhavalparikh.co.in and so the idea came after I hosted it...

First of all whenever a site is launched the main thing is that it should be known to the public...U dont want to restrict just to ur group but u want that ur website should be seen by more and more people. So wats the way out..Well ofcourse the first thing that comes to mind is SEO.

For any site to actually succeed you require to do SEO for that site ... and the first step for that it getting it listed on major search engines...And thats wat I did and I was lucky to get my site listed on the search engines with good ranks.. On yahoo is u search for Dhaval Parikh as a keyword u will get my site listed first.. and on google if you see with the same keyword it comes 4th so its good for me @ the initial level...I did that by trying some of the basics in SEO such as Sitemaps, Meta tags and so on..

After that comes page rank..Google Page rank is now a days becoming popular bcoz it decided the value of the site. I wanted to get a better google page rank and I m still finding out methods to get better page rank for my site...

While doing research for it I found this little article which will actually help u to know what is google page rank and how its useful and also its importance

If you have a new website and you want people to visit it, then you are probably going to be interested in learning about PageRank. So what is Google PageRank, and why does it matter? Well pretty much, PageRank is what the search site Google uses to determine the quality and popularity of a webpage. Thus, it really is choosing if the site will appear at the top of the search engines results. So if you want your site to come up in search results, then you should care about what PageRank things about your site!

When PageRank first came out, it usually ranked the sites with the highest keyword density at first.
During that period someone with basic seo skills was able to get a website in the top 10 results without to much hassle. People were using that weakness to rank their sites higher. Now that time is over and in order to get in the top 10 results on google you have to work harder and build a lot of back links to keep your head out of the water and generate some google organic traffic from google.

So how does Google PageRank rank your website now? Well, in theory, Google thinks that if a page has a lot of links leading to it, then it must be a pretty important site. Thus, if you have a lot of links out there on other sites leading back to your website, it is going to do wonders for your search engine ranking. In fact, you can think of a link on another site kind of like a vote for your site. So, say website A has a link to website B; then it would be like website A was voting for website B! Of course, it does not just stop there. Sites that have a higher ranking have more weight when voting. Thus, if you are linked to a lot of small, low ranked sites and then another site is just linked to one high ranked site, they could be ranked above you.

Of course, with any system there are flaws. People tend to post their links anywhere to try and get their ranking up. In fact, if you have ever come across a web page that has nothing except a ton of links on it, then you just uncovered a link farm. This is a site that is made to not be found by people. The only things that usually find this page are the Google Crawlers. Thus, they find the links and count it as a vote for another site. However getting your link on a link farm does not count as a positive vote for your web site. Keep in mind that all links are not created equal! Link farms are considered spamming by Google so try to stay away from link farms. In fact, getting your links to several link farms websites may get you banned from some search engines and especially Google.


Hope you njoied the article..You can post comments below and let others know about this article also.

Dhaval Parikh
Software Engineer
Ruby on Rails
www.dhavalparikh.co.in
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Saturday, June 14, 2008

Apple launches Web 2.0 infrastructure: MobileMe

At the WWDC on Monday, Apple announced the next evolution of its .Mac service, MobileMe. A cloud storage solution that handles e-mail, calendar items, contacts, photos, and other documents, it will arguably compete with Microsoft's Live Mesh, as well as several other data synchronization start-ups like SugarSync (download).

MobileMe will replace Apple's consumer Web site service, .Mac, and adds to that service additional storage (.Mac's 10GB gos to MobileMe's 20GB), plus support for the new iPhone and for Windows PCs.

The big pitch for the new service is its synchronization capabilities. E-mail to your MobileMe account will be pushed to your phone. Photos you take on your phone can be automatically uploaded to your Web-based MobileMe account and shared with your friends.

The concept is that the iPhone becomes just one way to view your data and your community. If you're in front of a full-screen Web browser or sitting at your Mac or Windows desktop, you might prefer to use one of those larger interfaces instead, but with MobileMe, everything you do will be updated to your iPhone immediately.

The service is being pitched as "Exchange for the rest of us," referencing Microsoft's corporate e-mail solution that offers excellent shared calendar features and e-mail and contact sync across devices and the Web. These are features everyone deserves, and Microsoft has been late, to say the least, at offering this kind of service to consumers.

There's no indication that MobileMe will be open to developers, although we assume not. It was launched at Apple's developers' conference and if it were open we would have heard it there.

Apple's current .Mac accounts will upgraded to MobileMe automatically when the service becomes available in July. A 60-day free trial will be available. The service will cost $99 a year after that from Apple. It looks like you can sign up for .Mac on Amazon.com right now for $69, though, and get the auto-upgrade in a month. Might be worth a shot if you want to save $30.

Update: Apple has posted a Guided Tour of MobileMe.
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Apple launches Web 2.0 infrastructure: MobileMe

At the WWDC on Monday, Apple announced the next evolution of its .Mac service, MobileMe. A cloud storage solution that handles e-mail, calendar items, contacts, photos, and other documents, it will arguably compete with Microsoft's Live Mesh, as well as several other data synchronization start-ups like SugarSync (download).

MobileMe will replace Apple's consumer Web site service, .Mac, and adds to that service additional storage (.Mac's 10GB gos to MobileMe's 20GB), plus support for the new iPhone and for Windows PCs.

The big pitch for the new service is its synchronization capabilities. E-mail to your MobileMe account will be pushed to your phone. Photos you take on your phone can be automatically uploaded to your Web-based MobileMe account and shared with your friends.

The concept is that the iPhone becomes just one way to view your data and your community. If you're in front of a full-screen Web browser or sitting at your Mac or Windows desktop, you might prefer to use one of those larger interfaces instead, but with MobileMe, everything you do will be updated to your iPhone immediately.

The service is being pitched as "Exchange for the rest of us," referencing Microsoft's corporate e-mail solution that offers excellent shared calendar features and e-mail and contact sync across devices and the Web. These are features everyone deserves, and Microsoft has been late, to say the least, at offering this kind of service to consumers.

There's no indication that MobileMe will be open to developers, although we assume not. It was launched at Apple's developers' conference and if it were open we would have heard it there.

Apple's current .Mac accounts will upgraded to MobileMe automatically when the service becomes available in July. A 60-day free trial will be available. The service will cost $99 a year after that from Apple. It looks like you can sign up for .Mac on Amazon.com right now for $69, though, and get the auto-upgrade in a month. Might be worth a shot if you want to save $30.

Update: Apple has posted a Guided Tour of MobileMe.
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