Posts Tagged Internet Marketing
Is Google benevolent on Link buyers?
Posted by Aniruddha Badola in Google, SEO on August 2nd, 2011
Many webmasters complain that no action is been taken against websites that blatantly use paid link to boost their SERPs and page rank. It is common knowledge that a whole link selling/buying industry is flourishing.
Links from blogs and websites are sold and bought in large numbers. In a high profile incident, J.C. Penney was found to be indulging in buying of links on a massive scale to boost its search rankings on Google. Once the news came out in open, Google did penalize it briefly. After few months, J.C. Penney’s search rankings were restored to great extent.
Webmasters and SEO consultants have been wondering if buying links is a good strategy considering absence of any concrete action from Google. Though, webmasters have received notices regarding unnatural links, it is not that widespread as of now. These notices have surely not made much impact on link buyers and sellers.
Will we be seeing any further activity on this front? Will Google be able to curb this menace and that too without inflicting any collateral damage like we saw with Panda update?
Is your SEO Company acting like News of the World?
Posted by Aniruddha Badola in Enovabiz, SEO on July 14th, 2011
By now everyone must have heard of News of the World’s (NOTW) hacking activities to get scoops for its hungry-for-bytes, voyeuristic readers. NOTW has been accused of hacking phones of everyone from murdered children to terror victims to royalty to celebrities to get news.
NOTW is quite famous and has a long history. It is one of the most celebrated tabloids in Britain but this one mistake from their over-eager reporters has tarnished their credibility for ever.
While, NOTW and its owners deserve every bit of condemnation and punishment, what we can’t loose sight of is public’s own insatiable appetite for sleazy news and sensationalism.
News and media outlets are filled to gills with inane news and tidbits of celebrities of every shape, size and character. Murderers, sex maniacs, philandering spouses, corrupt tycoons, are our new heroes.
Daily new celebrities are destroyed and newer ones created. There is a mad race to get the most weird and inconsequential news. Public is getting hungrier and media is feeding everything it can lay its hands on.
NOTW also succumbed to this pressure and went further. It treaded in to a zone which was not only legally untenable but also morally reprehensible.
Similarly, SEO industry is also many times accused of indulging in tactics which are deemed unacceptable in an Internet where rules are made by one entity called Google. SEO companies are always under pressure to deliver extraordinary results (which many times they themselves promise) with even more extraordinary deadlines. As a result, what we see is link selling and buying and other sleazy tactics on a huge scale to influence Google search results.
All this and much worse activities, often called black hat tactics, are carried out rampantly many times without the client’s knowledge. Clients just like NOTW’s readers smug and happy never bother to ever think on what methodologies were used.
Have you also hired a SEO company for your SEO campaign? Have you ever tried to know how they are going to achieve top rankings for you? If not, ask today because in case your SEO company is violating Google’s webmaster guidelines then it won’t be the SEO company that is going to be punished but your own WEBSITE!
Enovabiz Solutions provides website design, development and promotion services. “Websites that bring business”
What can Delhi Belly teach about Internet Marketing & SEO?
Posted by Aniruddha Badola in Marketing, SEO on July 7th, 2011
Delhi Belly is full of expletives, potty jokes and a whacky plot with few fine performances.
There is no ‘Delhi’ in Delhi Belly except for a fried chicken from a roadside vendor which inflicts one of the lead characters with the world famous Delhi Belly.
The producer Aamir Khan said, the film is an Adult comedy. If profanities make a film adult then I guess it is one.
But apart from abusive language, there is nothing much adult about it. And, certainly not much Delhi. The storyline though bit novel (by Bollywood’s standard) is not something that we have not seen in last few years.
So what is the reason behind the success of Delhi Belly? What can we learn and apply from to marketing especially internet marketing.
1) Pedigree: Delhi Belly’s is backed by Aamir Khan, who is probably the biggest star in Bollywood right now. Anything form his production house automatically garners eye balls and whips frenzied media hype.
From internet marketing’s perspective, what you can learn is that, if you have a name in your industry, cash on it. If you have been successful with your earlier products and ventures then while launching a product, remind your audience/niche about your previous success.
If you are newbie then you can contact internet marketing gurus and get them to back or endorse your product.
2) Publicity Blitz: Delhi Belly was releasing on the same date as ‘Buddha Hoga Tera Baap’. Aamir Khan is a master at managing media. In his last few films he has courted media like never before. For this film also, he ensured that the film got as much attention from media as possible. He certainly succeeded.
If you are also launching your site or product, then your only chance is all out promotion. Whatever industry you are in, chances are that it is already overcrowded with thousands of similar websites. If you are thinking about succeeding on the strength of your product or services then you can be in for a long haul. While promoting your website, explore & exploit every avenue. Blogs, article directories, web directories, press releases, book marking. Offer guest posts on other blogs related to your industry. Be proactive and regular about it. Article directories are a great way to get traffic and also search rankings. You can hire a SEO company to do your promotion or do it yourself if you have time and expertise. These tactics are low cost and highly effective. Get the word out about your website/product.
3) Controversial: ‘Delhi Belly’ courted many controversies. From the lyrics of a song to jokes on a popular car brand to expletives – everything in this film was intended to raise eyebrows. And it served producer’s purpose also.
Similarly, if you want to get instant publicity for a not-so- stellar website/product/services then be controversial. Take potshots at rivals, call names to industry leaders, align yourself with a camp and be open about it. Anything to stir the pot and get attention. Be careful with this approach because it can backfire magnificently.
4) Exclusivity: ‘Delhi Belly’ asked for an adult rating certificate from the Indian censor board and got it. The producers publicized the fact that this movie had adult content and hence was unsuitable for viewing with family. This tactic made people more curious about it. Since people under 18 were not allowed to watch this movie, this raised inquisitiveness even more. This contributed to more people coming to theatres just to see what the heck is there in this film.
When people are prohibited/forbidden from doing something, they are more tempted to do it. Make your launch only available to only certain people. Only invite certain people to test your product or even better openly proclaim that this product is only for certain kind of people. You can do it by releasing it to only certain niche or by your pricing strategy. Make people curious. Make them want to join your network. If you can do so then your chances of success improves tremendously.
Watch DK BOSE from Delhi Belly
Enovabiz Solutions provides website design, graphic design and promotion services. “Websites that bring business”
Google Update: Why webmasters should not panic (not at least yet)
Posted by Aniruddha Badola in Google, SEO on March 3rd, 2011
The Google update has claimed many innocent casualties and even reputable sites have suffered. While, some may dismiss off the distress of these sites as inevitable collateral damage when a serious purge is going underway, the matter is quite serious for those affected.
Google is the main source of traffic for most of the sites on internet and any dip in traffic means huge amount of revenue loss. When it’s a matter of your next pay cheque, the matter is serious enough.
My take on this issue is that those sites who have been penalized for no fault of theirs will see rankings improve very soon as the Google will be working overtime to fix the glitches. After all, I don’t think Google would like to seen as this bully who goes on picking geeks arbitrarily.
While there is not much a webmaster can do except take the case on various forums like http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters?hl=en and wait while Google cleans up the mess it created.
What this episode has done is that many companies will be now asking tough questions from their SEO consultants. Advice for SEO consultants – Be prepared for any eventuality. Your site could be the next victim of Google update. Till then, you can just keep doing legal SEO stuff and try not get involve in shady SEO practices.