Internet Marketing Blog

True Cybercrimes

September 2, 2010 – 3:16 pm

As social media gains popularity in our common lives, protection of our identity becomes paramount.  One who is more of a dilettante to viral socializing may just decide to deactivate themselves, which is fine.  Others who value social media as a portal to entertainment and interaction plan to investigate their privacy rights according to the website policy, seeking loopholes in data accessibility in order to close them.  

The advancement of smartphone technology will only intensify the sharing of personal information across hardware and channels, so diligence need apply.  We are already seeing this with the development of geolocation, a practice where one can update their point on Earth in real time.  Security concerns have been shared on this space and the cyberworld, so delving in farther is unnecessary.

Despite all of this emerging concern with the increase of channel platforms to transfer data between your laptop, mobile phone, video game console, and the like, the public remains concerned about traditional cybercrimes such as identity theft.  Banks remain the least trusted business, according to recent survey done by Kindsight.  I have heard stories about security fraud in the past and present, as banks would infiltrate their customers with phishing messages while touting the finest security emblems on their webpage.  Credit histories are at stake when e-commerce transactions go haywire. When it comes to banking, however, many people have lifestyles today that do not permit the time to wait in a teller line for routine transactions. Larger firms, in light of the financial settlement passed by Congress, have taken steps to mitigate this personal service by assessing fees.  It will affect several demographics, namely senior citizens who are not technologically efficient.  This situation deserves monitoring by all, as the restrictive legal elements have yet to make a measurable impact.

Millennial who are savvy with their hardware and software easily make the adjustments necessary to protect their personal identity online.  Others struggle with the societal shift to online distribution of personal data, and whether they become successful remains to be seen.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Click Fraud, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Social Media Marketing, World, blog, eCommerce | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Click Fraud, click fraud security, identity theft, kindsight, preventing click fraud, Social Media Marketing

Unique Features of a Successful eCommerce Website

September 2, 2010 – 2:19 pm

E-commerce websites are mainly designed to sell products and their success is very essential for better business results. When designing and developing an e-commerce website, a designer has to face so many challenges in order to deliver the best of all. Hence, it is very essential to analyze all the areas of the process to ensure delivery of a good product. E-commerce is a unique topic in online business with various beneficial features, including global audience reach, high standards, user interaction, valuable information, and customization.

There are a range of essential factors that influence the look and feel of e-commerce websites. The top features include quick & easy navigation, product related simple design for increased visibility of product, effective branding, specific product images, displaying related or recommended products, listing popular products, offers & discounts, simple checkout process, and complete website search option.  

The navigation of product pages should be carefully designed with more options for the users to locate the product easily.  This feature of the site requires thorough user experience testing to ensure all navigational issues are addressed properly. With the help of some simple design approaches, the site will give better visibility to the product, as selling is the key point of any e-commerce website. For better performance of the website, the design should be related to the style of products available and thus making a direct connection with the brand.

Your firm should include product specific photos, especially in different angles.  This will help the user get a feel of the product and to make an easy purchasing decision. They should also make use of the homepage and help the users to find something really interesting by adding offers, popular products, new arrivals and other discounts. Displaying a list of related products on the product details page to the user may result in increased sales of those products as well and serves as a promotional tool for similar products. Users may find it difficult to land with the particular product of their interest even with good navigation, so in order to avoid this and help them gain easy access to the product, it is advised to include search box with range of options.

In total, e-commerce websites with all the above good features provides advantages for small and medium businesses in developing countries reducing operational costs and increasing efficiency.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Offshore Outsourcing, Photography, Small Business, Website Design, eCommerce, web 2.0, web development | No Comments »
Tags: eCommerce, Internet Marketing, Mohamed Mohideen, new york web development agency, small businesses, web analytics, web design, web development

Major Factors Influencing Mobile Advertising

September 1, 2010 – 5:08 pm

Mobile marketing and advertising has created plenty of opportunities to promote the products or services of any business. Nowadays, mobile as a new media channel offers a great reach that is highly relevant for the advertisers to target audiences. This form of advertising can prove to be an effective medium for businesses. A range of influential factors exist in this movement. Hence, there is a great need for completely analyzing the factors that largely influence the consumers to accept mobile devices as an advertising medium. Studies indicate that when compared to older generations, the younger people are more attracted towards mobile devices.  

The major factors that affect the use of mobile advertising include device, interface, purpose, media, content, message and the audience. Acceptance of mobile as an advertising medium among consumers is influenced by a wide range of factors that include purpose, personalization, control, privacy, protection, usage, specificity, psychological barriers and other regulations. When these factors that influence the consumer acceptance are analyzed properly, it will provide valuable insights about the role of mobile marketing and advertising in the near future. Quite a few non consumer centric variables exist, like advertising content and technology, when manipulated accordingly will create a positive response among the target audience.

So it is important for one to understand the consumers’ attitude towards mobile advertising and various factors influencing it, based on that a unique model can be defined and executed. One of the key elements for the success of a mobile advertising campaign is to understand both the user expectations as well as the differences in available mobile devices and keeping the users engaged in communication. A good number of businesses are now experiencing success using mobile advertising and marketing as a tool, because of less competition as of now when compared to internet marketing. Overall, mobile marketing is a great tool for lead generation and to build relationships with consumers if the so called factors that influence consumer acceptance are addressed properly.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing Agencies, Mobile Marketing | No Comments »
Tags: Content Marketing, mobile advertising agency, Mobile Marketing, Mohamed Mohideen, new york interactive marketing agency

Yahoo and Microsoft Deal For Some Of The Search Marbles

August 31, 2010 – 3:42 pm

Yahoo!, after a period of management disarray, is settling into a full search partnership with Microsoft.  A couple days back, the technology firm aligned their services with Microsoft’s Bing to help leverage market share against Google in the search advertising industry.  The technology giants agreed to a ten-year contract with the goal to be a serious contender.  Yahoo was motivated to enter this direction to reduce expenses incurred from years of fiscal mismanagement leading to a reduced stock price quote.  Microsoft wanted to test new search algorithms and expand their product strategies with Bing, which is also aligned with Facebook’s wealth of personal profile data.  Bing needs to recoup startup expenses incurred and this is a start on that path.

Neither company is capable of catching Google alone, but as mentioned, offer unique abilities that can complement one another.  First off, companies are looking to use Bing as a search index and have an ability to negotiate pay-per-click rates more palatable with their budgets.  Bing needs to gain credibility with local and national businesses, and will not cut off their nose to spite their face.  Facebook’s new geolocation application, Places, can drive up search indexes even more as users entrust the privacy settings installed online.  Yahoo wants to gain credibility as a content provider, and possesses loyal visitors who use the website for assorted page applications such as Finance, News, and Sports.  They can now focus on delivering that content with more quality.

In a perfect world, the companies will save resources, while creating a vacuum for research and development that offers a premium price point for online advertisers.  Innovative technologies will present themselves and shift seamlessly between platforms. Here are some thoughts from advertisers at the San Francisco SES Conference on the impact.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), blog, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Bing, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, Chris Walbert, ppc, ppc advertising, seo media agency, yahoo microsoft deal

The King Is Dead, Long Live The King, by David Houle

August 31, 2010 – 2:26 pm

Futurist David Houle has been peeling layers on Oprah.com about The Shift Age. He has went into discussion about the change of communication with technology, and how values shifted into various directions.  He discussed the future of education, arguing that women will be at the forefront.  He feels that technology has advanced with such speed that our brains cannot handle the relentless flow of information.  Now, he examines this proverbial statement:  Content is King.  In his mind, that is no longer true.  Click on the image to hear his reasoning.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Blog Marketing, Business News, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, David Houle, futurist, Houle, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Oprah.com

Weekly Blueliner Newsminer

August 30, 2010 – 1:39 pm

Good afternoon, everyone.  We are back with the Weekly Blueliner Newsminer, a Monday edition.

1.  Paul Allen Sues Apple, Google, over patents

This story broke on Friday afternoon.  It’s not unlike the suit by Larry Ellison of Oracle over Java Technology, but equally as laughable.  According to the piece, Allen had been sitting on these patents for years and just now realized that they have value.  It’s like the alphabet inventors suing the estate of James Joyce because they are still making revenue from the sales of Ulysses.  I’ve documented on the space about the mobile technology being in a virtual shootout for control.  This is just another gun firing the pistol.

2.  HP and Dell square off for 3Par

HP and Dell continue to reach outside of their traditional customer PC markets by bidding for the data management firm.  The latest word is that 3Par executives consider HP to have a superior presentation and plan to nullify the agreement with Dell.  Both corporations are looking to gain control in the race for cloud computing.  Cloud computing is an emerging industry with remote data centers offsite.  Firms now are expanding their reach into the market with CRM solutions that can be an asset for small businesses.   These days, tech firms are looking to exhaust their piles of cash on the balance sheet.  Whether their decisions benefit shareholders will be seen later on.

3.  Yahoo and Microsoft team up to counter Google

After two years of rebuffing the pursuit, Yahoo and Google team up to gain market share in search advertising.  Bing, Microsoft’s emerging search index, has made moves with an alliance with Facebook, who presents a wealth of personal data for marketers seeking to leverage revenue from social media.    Small businesses will have a wider array of pay per click rates to choose from that fits their respective budgets.  Yahoo receives a strong chunk of the revenue gained from search on their site, while Microsoft provides the algorithms. Both companies can also start experimenting with product innovation, giving hope to restoring Yahoo’s former glory as a search leader.

4.  Intel makes a second deal in two weeks; this time for Infineon

Intel continues to expand into wireless technology buy purchasing Infineon.  Infineon specializes in electronics for automobiles along with producing chips for security cards.  Intel’s track record of expansion has been relatively weak of late, and it is unclear when the investment will return dividends since mobile technology has negligible security issues at this time.  This should be nice for Infineon, as they can focus on product innovation, which has been their weakness.

5.  Google to Acquire Angstro

Google acquired this start-up to build their portfolio and challenge the social media industry, where Facebook clearly is the titan. Angstro has developed applications that mine personal data to deliver search results on a person’s professional network. Angstro also creates social networks and caller IDs for sites like LinkedIn.  Google is clearly worried about Facebook as an emerging search presence and after the disaster of Buzz, looks to pull a rabbit out of their hat. It could be too little, too late.

That’s the Blue news for now. See you next week.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Applications, Mobile Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), blog, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, internet marketing agency ny, new york interactive media agency, weekly blueliner newsminer

For Google, Yelp Will Not

August 26, 2010 – 5:32 pm

The launch of Facebook Places last week is rustling more than privacy settings.  Their rivals are now sparring against one another. In a current report, Yelp has struck a deal with Google to remove their content from Google Places, since the pay-per-click credit would fall to advertisers on Google Places and not Yelp, despite their influential business review to extract a consumer purchasing decision.  Yelp had a syndicated relationship that ended in 2006, but their reviews content appeared after the partnership’s termination.  After a meeting between both site executives, Google promised to remove the content.  Yelp still wants to surface in Google’s search index results, especially with Caffeine as an additive, pun intended.  

Those unsure of the distinction between the two can follow this distinction.  Google Places is seeking to overtake Yelp, Facebook, Craigslist, and other classified search hubs through acquiring third party publisher sites.  Third party publisher sites are created for advertisers to provide server space, campaign delivery, and reporting facilities needed to show content at an optimal cost.  Yelp clearly doesn’t have the financial resources of Google, so third party publishing is a fiber of their cyberspace identity with cookies being the sweet tooth. Cookies are placed on viewed websites to eliminate repeat pop-ups per page open, establish an advertising sequence, and monitor web traffic for analytical reports.  It gives them the platform for their unique customer reviewers to post routinely, creating a bucolic online community.  I think this will be a permanent discontinuation since the e-classified market needs to distinguish itself.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), blog, online advertising | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Affiliate Marketing, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, facebook places, google places, internet marketing agency ny, new york mobile marketing agency, yelp

How To Measure Social Media Marketing

August 25, 2010 – 3:18 pm

How do you measure social media marketing? This is the top question nowadays among web marketing professionals who also use social media as a tool, making a social media analytics plan highly recommended. Studies indicate that almost 50% of the marketers are not sure about the direct value or how to measure the impact of social media on business. It is important to analyze the data by creating a unique analytics plan so that you can make well informed decisions on your marketing efforts.  

First define your goal when you are planning to measure the social media performance metrics on your business. Then go ahead and define actionable performance indicators to effectively measure the results of your campaign and then adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. Social media analytics are all about measuring the results to understand your customers, opportunities for business development, and how you translate your conversations with prospects to make business decisions.

Plenty of great tools are available either paid or free to monitor your social media marketing strategies. Both the free and paid tools offer different features and benefits. IBM introduced one such tool named the IBM SPSS Modeler Professional that helps marketers to find insights of campaigns. You should find such a tool, monitor your customers or prospect’s online activity and their conversation about your products or services to learn how to enhance the social media campaigns further.

Posted by Mohamed Mohideen
Posted in 7 Pillars of Internet Marketing, Content Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Public Relations, Small Business, Social Media Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: Content Marketing, internet marketing agency, Mohamed Mohideen, Social Media Analysis, Social Media Marketing, social media optimization, web analytics

Viralheat Lets You Know It’s Coming

August 25, 2010 – 12:33 pm

Viralheat is a new start-up company based in San Jose that tracks social media networks to help businesses track their campaign progress.  Their new service called Social Trends lets users gain instantaneous access to data and embed web analytics into editorial content.  Several large brands ranging from Oracle, MTV, and Disney are using the service to monitor feedback on brands, support programs, and other services.  The venture represents a more specialized version of Google Analytics, and could prove invaluable over time once social media marketing emerges as a lucrative force in the industry.  On the surface, an overlap of reporting capabilities is a concern

At the moment, corporations are still having difficulty tracking absolute revenue metrics from social media networks.  This tool is a solid first step in not only solving this quandry, but also to better engage with customers on products and services.  Corporations can also enforce quality control over their social media strategies rather than simply relying on an agency to do the heavy lifting.  They can work with a shop that has the specific tools to drive ROI with more cost certainty and aplomb to maximize efficiency.  We will see if Viralheat has an analytics goldmine on their hands.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Website Analytics, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, internet marketing agency ny, new york social media agency, social media analytics, viralheat social trends, viralheat.com

Want To Get A Job Online? BranchOut Then.

August 24, 2010 – 12:09 pm

Many discussions lately have been focused on advertising through multichannel platforms and the influence of large technology firms on distribution of content.  The content also varies from online advertising to product development driven by social media.  I was curious about the factor of social media servers, namely Facebook and Twitter, in leveraging career positions.  Many articles have covered that it does expedite services and listed success stories.  Rick Marini, founder of BranchOut, has an opinion on several industry topics, which he discusses here.  His company offers an application that aims to truly synthesize the personalization of Facebook with company profiles to engender a relationship with far more depth than LinkedIn.  The main feature of BranchOut is the opportunity to search for a company and see all of your friends who have worked at said firm.  Once your friend installs BranchOut on their profile, then you can take inventory of their work history.  You can also see jobs available that they have posted from their current and past companies.  BranchOut currently does not have the depth of features that LinkedIn provides, but can offer a chance to network virally without privacy interference.  Those Facebook members who are interested should investigate here.

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Posted by Abdul Fattah Ismail
Posted in Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Social Media Marketing, blog | No Comments »
Tags: abdul fattah ismail, Blueliner, Blueliner Marketing, career development, internet marketing agency ny, new york interactive media agency, social media agency ny