Organic SEO v/s PPC

The preferences of web users have witnessed a sea change recently and the tilt is towards organic results over paid links.

A study on this sensitive subject by Jupiter Research-a renowned search marketing advisor has brought to light the fact that net users search doesn’t go beyond the first three pages of search engine results.

According to the study more than 70 percent of web users have the habit of clicking on a link in the first page, while 92 percent select a web site from the first three pages. The survey is a testimony of user preference and shows that fewer users are clicking on results beyond the first three pages; In 2008 the figure was 8 % more than half when compared with the 2002 figures which stood at 19 %. It is heartening news for all online businesses retailers whose web sites have a high rank in the organic listings, and also highlights the need for an effective SEO strategy.

Every online business has two options when they are in the course to develop an internet marketing strategy; They have to decide which alternative guarantee higher return on investments, besides being more easy to manage.

If you take the case of PPC (Pay Per Click) there are an array of plus points that can be associated with it. A pay per click search engine advertising produces instant results as it allows quick leverage of search engine traffic by placing bids for keywords associated to your product or service. The flip side of this campaign is that it’s expensive and to get good results you have to spend lot of money.

When you take up the case of Organic SEO it’s not that much simpler task as it requires optimizing your web page and enhance its position in the naturally occurring search results. An organic SEO campaigner has to make sure that the search engine spiders are able to crawl and recognize what is on the web page. Once they understand the succeeding task becomes very easy.

You just have to continue supplying relevant content and forge more inbound links from other web sites. In this way you boost your web site ranking easily and cost effectively.

Advantages of Web-Based CRM Systems

Web-based CRM has come on very strongly as a viable alternative to on-premise CRM. This is great news for SMBs who earlier could not afford on-premise CRM because of its prohibitive costs.

Some of the advantages of a web-based CRM system:
- A tremendous cost saving as you pay only for what you use besides you are not required to maintain an IT team, you can also free precious real estate which would otherwise be used for placing servers and other hardware.

- A great opportunity for SMBs to test the CRM waters before adding more functionalities and modules. SMBs can explore business ideas that they were earlier unable to execute because of poor information on sales and marketing opportunities

- Greater scope to close deals and resolve customer queries by the field staff that remains connected to the database via the internet

- Smooth and inexpensive integration of a lot of customer-data that hitherto had been lying in discrete databases

- Perhaps the biggest advantage of CRM for SMBs is that it gives them a platform to compete with businesses that operate on a larger scale with larger budgets

Web design trends of 2010

1. More White Space

Most websites on the Internet try to make use of every single space that’s available on the page. There’s the left hand navigation bar, the right hand navigation bar, the footer, the header, and of course the main content.

But many websites are now taking another approach. They are trying to put in more white space and focusing on their main message. It’s a great way to get your visitors to relax and listen to what you’re trying to say.

It’s easy on the eyes and also gives your visitor the opportunity to learn more.


2. Big Header or Leading Images

definitely stand out more than words. While it’s your words that help you communicate with your visitors, the images allow the viewer to really take in the whole experience.

They can immediately get what kind of idea you’re trying to present to them and it will help them focus in on finding what they’re looking for on your site.


3. The Magazine Layout

All of us are used to reading magazines. They’re filled with interesting articles with beautiful images, lots of sub headings, and lots of quotations set under a sleek, glossy page. Many websites are using the magazine approach to present their content.

Since we are accustomed to the magazine layout, it is more inviting to read and dig into the content and website. The format also stands out from the other websites devoted to delivering content in the standard format.


4. Social Media Sites and Icons

By now, all your favorite blogs and content sites have icons where you can follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and MySpace. Although most of us are already familiar with this trend, it’s still becoming more popular. Many more sites are adding social media sites and icons to help connect with their readers.

It’s not uncommon to see icons that allow you to digg content, subscribe to RSS feeds, add them to your social bookmarking profile, and more. There are even icons to add them to sites that are not as popular as the big social networking sites we’re familiar with.

5. Big Introduction Blocks

Rather than leave the visitors to figure out what you’re about, why not tell them in one big paragraph? That is what many websites are doing. They either state what their site is about or what kind of services they offer in a few short sentences in the header or right below the header.

If you’ve gotten a lot of criticism from your visitors about not being able to figure out what you’re about, then maybe it’s time you try this web design format to see how it works.


6. Hand Drawn Style Illustrations and Sketches

These types of graphics really stand out and catch attention. Your visitors will really appreciate the artwork and it will set you apart from every other site in your industry.


7. Websites Designed for Mobile Phones

Smart phones are becoming more and more popular. So it’s important for you to make sure that your site is compatible for smart phones to cater to your demographic that use these phones to browse the Internet.

How to Decrease Your Bounce Rate

Bounce rate tells you if your site works.

And it also tells you if you’re wasting money.

Bounce rate is the percentage of people who view a page but don’t click a link. They look at what you’ve got, decide they don’t like it, and click the back button. A good bounce rate is below 35%.
If you paid to bring in a visitor (like via Google Adwords) and they bounce, your ad spend goes down the drain. And if you worked your butt off to get a top 3 ranking for a great keyword, a bounce means that your prospect is probably going to check out your competitors.

Landing page bounce rate is one of the most important metrics to monitor constantly. If yours is too high here are some ways to improve it.

Headline Keyword Matching
Each of your pages’ top keywords has a common theme. You can find this out by looking at your ‘Entrance Keywords’ for a specific page in the Content area of Google Analytics. It will show you the top keywords that brought traffic to a page.

If 80% of your visitors enter looking for information about ‘red army knives’ and you have an unrelated headline like ‘Discover the Difference’, your bounce rate is most likely really high. Most of your visitors won’t be immediately satisfied and they’ll bounce.

Web surfers want what they want and they want it now. (Say that three times fast.)
So give it to them! Put text related to your entrance keywords in big bold letters at the top of your page.

More Images

Pictures are another bounce rate reducer.

It’s easy to know you’re in the right place when you see an image of what you’re looking for. Tons of text may be relevant but it can also be daunting.

Put images of your page theme near the top of your page. If your entrance keywords relate to ‘red army knives’, have a nice big picture of a red army knife into the optimal viewing area to show people they’re in the right place.

Discover Your Optimal Viewing Area

This handy tool from Google shows you the percentage of web users who can see your content without scrolling. Enter your page URL and see the percentages overlaid on your site.

Move your most relevant content to where the most people can see it right away. This means headlines, pictures of relevant things, and a little bit of text within the 99% area of your page.
If your relevant content is outside the viewing area your bounce rate will be high.

Happy testing!

Handling Computer Viruses

A computer virus is software that is capable of creating a lot of problems to your computer programs and files. It can even affect your hard disk as well. These viruses travel through the Internet from computer to computer. Some of them can even be used to extract information from your computer illegally with the intent to sell. With all your personal information, identity theft becomes easy.
Often times your computer will begin doing weird things and stop running like it usually does when it has acquired a virus. Some signs of this can be your computer is reacting slower, freezing up frequently, runs and then restarts itself many times, some programs are not running at all and the it does not recognize disks or disk drives in the computer. You will also see some strange programs that were not there in the computer before, which you did not install.
You should run an anti-virus program to see if you do have a virus and where it is located. Sometimes your computer shows signs of having a virus, but this may also be due to other hardware failures that your computer is having and it may not have anything to do with computer viruses.
Removing computer viruses is not an easy task. Even experts need the help of removal tools. It is therefore very important to have the latest anti-virus updates on your computer. These programs have been created to stop most of the viruses from getting through, before they enter your computer in the first place. Of course, once you have a virus, you will have to try and get rid of it without losing too much of your data in the process. This also applies to the memory on your hard drive.
Prevention is perhaps the best solution to computer viruses. There are a few things that you can do to make sure that you don’t get viruses in the first place. First, keep your firewall on at all times. This will help keep unwanted programs out. Secondly, keep your system completely up-to-date to be able to handle the latest viruses efficiently. Next, make sure you have a good anti-virus software and that it is not expired. Now make sure to use antispyware software to protect your computer as well. Make sure you have all the information on these products and tools to keep your computer healthy at all times.

5 Reasons You Should Use LinkedIn Groups for Business Social Networking

LinkedIn currently has over 75 million professionals who are actively participating on the site today. The site includes many features such as allowing users to upload their full resume, updating their status to let the world know what projects they are currently working on and participating in group discussions. Many LinkedIn users take advantage of these features, but there are still some that aren't sure how to make the most out of them.

LinkedIn groups are a great way to interact with other professionals in your field by sharing information and building contacts in other parts of the world. Although joining many groups can make you look more important and connected, it can also be overwhelming to maintain. Aren't sure how to use LinkedIn groups?

Here are 5 tips for getting the most out of groups, provided by the LinkedIn blog.

1. Make a commitment to a few groups that focus on your greatest professional interests. LinkedIn allows business professionals to network and collaborate with others that they may have never spoken to otherwise. If you haven't joined any groups yet, pick a couple that spark your professional interest and jump right into the conversation. According to LinkedIn, many of the most active members find that their participation in the right groups "directly enriches what they do at work."

2. Post news on group discussions. One of the easiest ways to start participating in groups is to post current news and ask an open-ended question. This will start a conversation and you will be able to see what stance your fellow professionals take on the issue. Expressing your opinion on a certain news piece will give you a chance to show others your professional expertise. This will boost your credibility and increase your chances of making useful professional connections. To find material, subscribe to industry-related newsletters, RSS feeds, Facebook feeds, company blog or Twitter.

3. Take advantage of the "Following" tool. Groups make social networking online easy by giving professionals a great way to keep track of which news stories their colleagues think are interesting and what they have on their minds. To keep up with all the current information, subscribe to the digest emails that summarize the activity of a group. Also use the "Following" tool to watch specific discussions that interest you. This will allow you to sit back and observe then jump in the conversation when you feel you have something provocative to contribute.

4. Get your coworkers involved. Why not create your own LinkedIn group and invite some of your trusted coworkers, clients and/or customers to join? You already discuss your professional interests with them which make them the perfect people to collaborate and network with on LinkedIn. Once other professionals see the intelligent discussions you are having, they'll want to join the group too and you'll be able to engage in a broader collaboration than you ever felt possible.

5. Learn more about the professionals on LinkedIn. Make sure to click through the profiles of your fellow group members to spark conversations about what they're currently working on. As your relationship and conversation grows, you can invite them to become a professional connection. The more connections you make, the more chances you have to expand your business and learn from others in your industry.

How Facebook can expand your Business

As a business owner, you are constantly looking for ways to make your business bigger and better. You always want your business to be successful and to continue growing. In order to expand the horizons of your business, you are always looking for the next big thing to take your business to the next level. A great way to do this is to take your business to the internet, but not just the internet, take your business to the social networking website known as Facebook. Facebook is one of the most popular social networking websites on the World Wide Web today with more than two hundred million active users from all over the globe.

How can joining the social networking website “Facebook” better my business?

The Facebook website is a social networking website. This website has taken the internet by storm. There are more than two hundred million active Facebook members who are located all over the globe. Where else can you get that level of exposure for your business? There are no boundaries for your success when it comes to taking your business to Facebook. Here is how Facebook can build your business:

• Build a Facebook profile for your business. On your profile you can use your “About” section to introduce your business and to give viewers a idea of what your business is about.

• Your Facebook profile will allow you to upload extensive amount of pictures. This will allow you to display your business name/logo, a picture of your physical store, and take pictures of your items or products.

• You can create albums, which could be useful for new merchandise. For instance, when you receive new products you can upload photos of all the new goodies and create an album just for your new items.

• If you have sale items or discount items, you can place them in an album all of their own. You can use the caption of the photo to display regular price, and what the price has been reduced to.

• Facebook allows you to update your status. This means you can update your friends and page viewers of new merchandise, sales or discounts, or promotions.

• You can use Facebook as a “refer a friend” method. Tell your existing friends that if they refer a friend to add you to Facebook, that you will reward them with some sort of of discount.

• Your Facebook friends could make purchases through your Facebook profile. For example, tell friends they can send you a message on Facebook with the subject of “order.” Tell them to make the body of the message contain product number, quantity, and color and other product information. Your customers can paypal their total amount due, send checks, or money orders to your business.

• You can also display contact information on your Facebook profile such as physical business address and your business phone number. This will allow potential customers to validate your business

Using Long Tail Keywords for better Optimization

The objective of a business website is to attract potential buyers and convert them into paying customers.

Keywords can help you fulfill this objective. Use appropriate keywords on your site and you’ll attract visitors who want to buy the types of products you have to offer....The more relevant keywords that you rank well for, the more business you will do.

So, by constantly expanding your keyword lists, you expand the potential market for your business.

If your visitors are searching for chocolate they may also be searching for dark chocolate or organic dark chocolate or even organic mint-flavored dark chocolate.

So try to cover long tail keywords for better positioning in Search Engines...!!

The Importance of Using Viral Marketing to Get Traffic

Viral marketing is one of the fastest growing methods of online advertising today.
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It is different from other methods of advertising in that it is attractive and can be seen as interesting by customers. The most important part of using viral marketing for your site is that it helps for your site to stand out. Using viral marketing has many other advantages, including being able to get visitors to spread the work about your work and your site.

First, let's take a look at what this is all about. Viral marketing is used to help increase awareness of a product or group. This helps to promote something while amusing the viewer through various different methods, including interesting articles, videos, games or other online files. It will be useful enough that it will prompt the viewer to send the viral marketing piece to others. As you can se, using viral marketing can help you with increasing product awareness.

Another part of using viral marketing is that it can offer special deals to visitors. When using viral marketing businesses can offer special deals to go with the marketing tool or piece of information people are receiving. This includes special rebates or discounts. It helps to increase the likelihood of a person using your service and spreading the word to others.

Using viral marketing is an inexpensive and safe method of marketing. One of the best parts of using viral marketing is that the piece of marketing you are using will not be seen as spam on email servers. That's because customers use the viral marketing to send it personally to other people so that others will know that it is being sent to them by a good friend and that it is not spam.

The biggest advantage of using viral marketing is that it allows for a great increase in publicity for your services and your site. Using viral marketing allows for you to get a stronger flow of customers and site visitors because your name will become easily memorable through the viral marketing process.

Of course, having a good imagination for how you plan on using viral marketing and having a good offer will greatly help improve the efficiency of the program. Also, using viral marketing should be done in conjunction with many other methods of promotion, including search engine optimization. While it is just one part of the marketing process, using viral marketing is still a great idea.

Lets Define Digikraf

Digikraf is committed to bring an innovative and exciting approach
to the Internet providing high quality, yet affordable design solutions.

We specialize in the development of a wide range of websites and
solutions from Brochure design, Web Designing, Logo Design,Product
Manual Designing, Web applications, Multimedia
Presentations, Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing and
Usability Services.

You get customized solutions to meet your specifications.