29th April
A turnaround in internet strategy is the use of press releases to reach out to millions of users who have internet access and subscribe to RSS feeds.
Gone are the days when press releases depended upon a handful of journalists. You can now communicate with your customers directly through Google, Yahoo and other such verticals. Your customers and potential customers should reda about yourproduct on the internet and reach your website directly.
You can write a press release about anything in your company. Do not wait for something big to happen.
Make sure that your press release contains terms and phrases that customers use to find you. This way you may be picked up by search engines.
Tips for Press Release
- Always write your press release in third person.
- Include a quote or two for authenticity.
- Keep the headlines of your press release interesting.
- Add a date to a press release only if necessary.
- Add a follow-up URL in a press release; if necessary create specific landing pages. Try to track the visits from a press release to your website. It provides a useful insight into your customer behavior and is useful for further press release strategies.
- Keep the press release length at about 350 to 500 words
- Release the press release on your website and for submission simultaneously
- Check for spelling mistakes
- A press release that offers a new solution to an existing problem is likely to be picked up by readers.
- Add social bookmarking tags to your press release, this makes it easier for a person interested in your product refer the product to his or her group. In short, it helps in viral marketing.
Press Release or Media Section on Website
It is helpful to have your own press release or media section on your website. It has been proved that journalists or even customers often visit the media or press release section on your site to try and get latest information about your company and its product. Additionally, press releases will live on your site forever, but will get deleted from other sites, most probably after three months. You media section can also include informative videos and audios that a customer may enjoy seeing.
A word of caution however. DO NOT ignore the traditional media. They have their own role to play especially in attracting local business. Use the internet aprt from the traditional press.
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List of Press Release sites
PRWeb
PR Leap
Web Wire
PR Web Direct
PR News Wire
Fast Pitch Networking
1888 Press Release
Business Wire
PR Log
Free-Press-Release
PR
Market Wire
Majon
24-7 Press Release
Press-Release-Writing
eReleases
Send 2 Press
Pressbox
EMail Wire
Internet News Bureau
Prime News Wire
USA News
EWorld Wire
Press Flash
Soft Press Release
Press Release Network
Mass Media Distribution
News Wire Today
Press-Releases
News Press
Corporate News
Exclamation PR
Company Press
Press Release 365
Trans World News
Free-Press-Release-Center
Rush PR News
DP Directory
PR Free
Exact Release
PR Urgent
PR 9
Mopress
Online PR News
Posted by admin in Internet Strategy | No Comments »
22nd April
Podcasting is a brand new unsaturated marketing channel based on audio communication at the will of the listener.
What is podcasting?
Podcasting is basically audio over the Internet where people subscribe to listen to content that they deem useful. The best part is that you don’t have to be on a computer to listen to a podcast. It has gone mobile. Listen to it on your iPod. You can listen to what you want, when you want, where you want. And very important: Podcast listenership is doubling and tripling over the months.
Why is it effective?
- It’s an additional communication tool for your business.
- It increases your visibility in target markets.
- Audio communication medium is more powerful than text. This translates into potential results for your business.
- Increased internet visibility from the search engines from RSS, blog & podcasting directories.
- You add an improved level of perceived trust & expertise from your target market. Increased perception of your product, service, brand or value in customers minds
- Increased mind share from your target audience. People listen to podcasts while doing other tasks online. They can also take you messaging with them on their portable media player such as an iPod.
Requirements for a podcast
- A Microphone
-
An audio recording software. These softwares can be can be downloaded free. Download the software and install it on your desktop for easy access e.g
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
How does it work? The steps
- Determine the nature of your podcast. What will the content for podcast be? If you cannot speak extempore write down the script. All successful podcasts have a script behind them.
- Record the audio for your podcast You can download the software at the link for windows. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. Garageband has software that comes with a Mac version.
- Tag it, give it ID information (Artist, Album) and give it an album cover.
- Save the audio file (in MP3 or iPod format) on your computer. Keep the filenames simple.
- Create your RSS podcast feed. The feed must meet all industry standards for a valid 2.0 feed with enclosures. Try using a complete solution and free service such as Podblaze or Podomatic (see the external links below). If you are zapped about it all create a blog on http://www.blogger.com. The blog should have the same title as that of your podcast. Don’t make any posts just yet.
- Now you need to put your RSS podcast feed on the Internet. The best way to do it is to go to http://www.feedburner.com and type in the URL of your blog and click "I am a podcaster!". In the next screen, configure the elements for your podcast. These are the elements that directly relate to the podcast. .
- Go to OurMedia.org and sign-up there (this may take a while). Then go to your files, and upload your MP3 file.
- Make a post on your blog/website – the title of the post will be the title of that episode of the podcast, and the content will end up as the "Shownotes" or "Description". At the end of the post, put a link directly to your media file.
- Wait a little. In a few minutes, feedburner should add this to your feed, and now you have an episode! You can submit it to iTunes or a number of other podcast directories to get it known. You may want to wait, however, until you have some experience, so that your podcast will be compared as a fifth episode to another’s first.
- Ping the appropriate podcast directories when a new show is updated.
- Put the appropriate subscription buttons on your website so people can subscribe to the RSS podcast feed.
(Source: wikiHow)
Podcast Strategy
- Witty, racy script
- Good Audio quality
- Proper format, check for iTunes validity
- Use social bookmarking tools like del.icio.us
- A podcast works well if it has a companion blog. If you are just podcasting
- The bandwidth consumption can be astronomical. Make sure your podcast is hosted with a reliable server that can handle huge bandwidth spikes. Most cheap hosting services will not work for this.
Tools for Podcasting
Recording Software:
Podcast Directory
Posted by sangeeta in Internet Strategy | 1 Comment »
Tags: Podcasting
17th April
Videos are an effective way to get a message across to our clients and yet they are still under used. With the explosion of web 2.0, videos can be supported by most sites and they can be hosted cheaply too.
A vlog is short for videoblog. It is a blog which uses video as the primary content as technically it is linked to within a videoblog post. A vlog is accompanied by supporting text, image, and additional meta data to provide a context for the video. Vlog like Blogs are updated regularly, generally includes personal reflections, comments and often take advantage of RSS for syndication to other web sites and aggregator software (rss readers).
Why Use Videos?
If audio has more impact over text, visual takes it all. Visuals have a cutting edge as far as conversions are concerned. It leads to more personalization hence greater customer involvement.
Some examples of business videos are:
- Showing a demo of a product
- A presentation of services
- A CEO giving a speech
- An explanation of a procedure
- Showing different uses of a product
- Fun videos
- Create interaction
- peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and acquisition
Earlier videos were used sparingly because of bandwidth considerations and the increases of loading time. Moreover content was needed for optimization. However with the introduction of Video Sitemap Protocol optimization of videos has been made possible. Moreover now there are dedicated media servers to take care of vlogging and podcasting
Requirements:
- A Microphone compatible with your PC
- A Webcam that allows you to record video and save it on your computer hard drive.
OR
- A camcorder
- Video editing software
How does it work?
- Get a microphone: To record a video, you need to have a microphone that is compatible with your computer.
- Get a webcam.: You need to get a webcam that allows you to record video and save it on your computer’s hard drive.
- Take time to Prepare your vlog content: Take some time to think about what you’re going to say or do during your vlog.
- Record your vlog: Turn on your microphone, start your webcam and begin recording. Save the file when you’re done.
- Upload your vlog file to YouTube or Google Video:
- Get the embedding code of your uploaded vlog file. Alternately if your server supports these type of media, upload it to your website.
- Copy the embedding code: Once you upload your vlog file to YouTube or Google Video, copy the embedding code and keep it handy.
- Create a new blog post: Give it a relevant title and add content to introduce your vlog.
- Paste the embedding code for your vlog file into your new blog post. Using the embedding code you copied earlier for your uploaded vlog file, paste that information into the code of your new blog post.
- Publish your new blog post. Select the publish button in your blogging application to send your new blog post with your vlog in it live online.
Deciding on a video host: Check the following
Check out the other videos on the site. Are they high quality and in good taste, or a little raunchy and inappropriate? Choose a site you feel comfortable about.
Check the File Size Limits: Web video hosting sites have varying limits in the size of the video files they allow you to upload. Generally you’ll have to compress your video before uploading so it meets the file size requirements of the video hosting site. If you have to compress it too much, your video may not look very good by the time it’s playing on the web.
Storage Space Offered: Is there a limit to how many videos you can upload to your account, or how much storage space you can use?
Uploading Formats: What video formats does the site accept? Most web video hosting sites accept multiple video formats, such as Quicktime, Windows Media, MPEG etc. You can even find sites that allow you to upload directly from your camcorder or cell phone. If this is important to you, make sure that the web video hosting service you choose to use offers these features.
Viewing Formats: What format do the videos on the site play in? Flash is the standard for most web video hosting sites, because it is installed on most computers and plays quickly and easily. However, some sites offer other video formats, in case you want to share your video on a site that doesn’t use Flash, such as iTunes.
Compression Quality: Web video hosting sites will recompress your video before publishing it. Some sites do this better than others.
Video Downloads: Because of copyright issues, many web video hosting sites do not allow users to download copies of the videos on the site. There are some sites though, such as Google Video, that allow users to save copies of videos to their desktop or portable video player.
Editing Capabilities: Many web video hosting sites now offer editing features. JumpCut offers extensive online nonlinear editing, and other sites give you the ability to remix your video or add titles, narration or photos.
Audience: Different sites have different audiences. If your video focuses on a niche topic, choose a web video hosting service that serves that niche, else YouTube.
Video Sharing: Most web video hosting services allow you to embed your videos in blogs, on personal web pages, and on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
Video Player: Some sites will include advertisements next to the video player, or will place a watermark of their logo over part of your video. This may be fine, but it doesn’t look so professional if you’re sending the video to clients and it has a big “YouTube” logo on it.
Tips
- Decide on the purpose of your video. If it’s to attract traffic to your website, host is there. Else you can go in for third part hosting. like http://www.youtube.com.
- Use keyword rich title for your videos.
- Add a video sitemap on your website. Sign into Google webmasters to create a Video Sitemap
- Get your video transcribed. Either use an automatic transcriber or use an affordable cheap transcription service vendor.
- Keep your video duration around 5 minutes, not more for bandwidth considerations and to keep it effective.
- Add a call to action.
- Test your vlog after publishing to ensure it’s working smoothly.
- Some popular Download-First video formats are AVI, MPEG1, MPEG2, and MPEG4. Here are some popular Streaming Video formats: WMV (Windows Media Video), QT (QuickTime), and RealVideo (RM).
Video Editing Software
- iMovie: iMovie comes free with new Macs. iMovie offers many options for editing video and audio, and adding photos, music and narration to your movies.
- Movie Maker: Movie Maker is Window’s free video editing software, which comes installed on new PCs. Use the program to create and share high-quality
- Avid Free DV: Free DV is Avid’s free video editing software, and it works with both Macs and PCs. It’s a stripped down version of Avid’s professional software, and gives users limited video and audio editing capabilities.
- Jump Cut: An online entry, Jump Cut’s free video editing software allows you to cut video, and add audio, photos, effects and titles right on the web.
- Virtual Dub: Virtual Dub offers simple editing capabilities. You can’t get too creative with the software, but you can use it to make simple, clean edits in your video footage. Virtual Dub works with Windows only.
Places to Host Your Vlog
Some Video Sharing Sites
- YouTube: YouTube is the biggest and best known, and it offers many features if you want to share your video and get it seen by a large audience.
- Revver : Revver is a revenue sharing, as well as video sharing, web site. Ads embedded at the end of videos can earn producers real money.
- Google Video : Google purchased YouTube, but it still maintains its own video sharing and search tools.
- Blip.tv : Use Blip.tv to start your own online television program.
- Jump Cut : Yahoo!’s entry into the world of social video sharing, Jump Cut offers a sleek online video editing tool, as well as all the bells and whistles for uploading and sharing your videos.
- Yahoo! Video: Yahoo! Video has all the features available on other large video-sharing sites. It also gives you the ability to upload a transcript for your video, which makes it easier to find in web searches.
- My Space: If you have a My Space page, you have a forum for easily sharing your videos online.
- Video Egg: Upload your video, share it and, possibly, make money off of it.
Posted by sangeeta in Internet Strategy | No Comments »
Tags: Internet Strategy
7th April
A Site Map is an XML file which contains a listing of all URLs and pages on your website. This file is used to inform and direct search engine crawlers so that web pages can be discovered and indexed quickly. It also helps the visitors to your website. It contains the layout of the whole site which helps them to go wherever they want to and get whatever they require. If one may draw an analogy here, a site map helps a visitor of a website to navigate in the same way as the layout map at the beginning of a large national park helps its visitor to navigate in the parka site map is a plain list of all your URLs and nothing else. Just a simple ordered list that tells them by category just what your site contains. It does not involve anything complicated such as java or fold up menus.
One of the major benefits of having a site map is Visual Representation. It is like a navigation tool for people who visit your site. If they get lost, the site map gives them a quick visual reference to how the website is laid out. Some people doubt the usability of the site maps. But data show that at least 7% of the people visiting a particular site take the help of site maps. That means if 1500 people visit your site then at least 100 of them cannot find their way around your site if it does not have a site map. The probability of them returning to your site is negative.
All sites do not need site maps. It is particularly the large and bulky ones who need them. Site maps are particularly helpful when you get into the main and sub navigation menus. Small sites do not need a site map if all the pages are linked in the main navigation. But even for the small sites also it is a good idea.
For creating site maps for Spiders and Visitors different methods are used. In order to be accessed by the spiders, .xml document should be added to your site’s root directory containing links to all site pages. With the .xml site map file in place you must then make it accessible to search engines and reference the site map in your robots.txt file by adding a line for sitemap. Example: sitemap:http//www.xyz.com/sitemap.xml. The .xml file is updated and uploaded frequently, or at least as often as pages are added or removed from your site. Large sites should implement an automated site map update monthly or even weekly or daily.
Designing of a site map consists of putting navigation links and headings. The site map is created just as any other website page. The link to the site map should be included in the primary navigation or the site’s global footer. Visitors should be able to find this link without too much searching. Site map should also be linked from various pages within the site such as Help pages and your custom 404-redirect page. This helps point visitors to the site map as a quick and easy means to find what they need. An Overview paragraph added at the top of the site map page help those visitors who land on this page directly from a search engine or elsewhere. The layout of the site map should present a clear hierarchal structure of your website. Headings and sub-headings should be used properly. Site map primarily use textual links and page should not be cluttered with image or other distractions. Sometimes, if space is available then an additional short description for each link is provided which allows the visitor to better understand where each link will take them. Lastly, the site map should be updated and uploaded frequently. When the pages are added or removed from the site it is essential to update the site map.
Now let us discuss how site maps help in SEO and web marketing. Site maps help web pages to be indexed. The format required by the engines (most common is .xml) is the same format as used in blogs and RSS feeds with several major changes. The search engine spiders are able to access and determine those web pages better which have site maps. Nowadays the XML site map protocol is subscribed by all the four major search engines, namely, Google, MSN, Yahoo and Ask. This format has codes which search engines can read and access your web site. Site Map provides the spiders all the URLs and pages to be indexed at one place, which makes it easy for the search engines. At one go the spider has it all. The spiders are not the sharpest tools and need things to be taken down to simple level. Site maps are easier for them to understand and catalog. Engine spiders are not like average browsers and cannot read any other format than xml, which gives them the basics like what URLs and how often it changes. Like any other viewer, the spiders do not want to visit a page again which they already have and the pages which will not change. The scanning of pages requires a lot of time and large amount of data transfer, so it is better to have site maps provided for them than letting them index hundreds of pages which might be identical to what has been scanned before. It is also very important to constantly keep updating the site map of any changes whatsoever on your web page. Once the spiders know where your site map is they will hit there first before scanning any other part of your site. Thus the site map is the best tool for getting the pages of your site indexed properly.
The site maps are very easy to generate and you do not need to be programmer to create one. There are three types of site maps, Outline, Table and List. Outline has pages listed along with deeper pages that are linked off that page. Table has a series of site’s primary page and then the pages lined to those pages. Only pages with sub links have tables generated for them. The last one List type site map has a simple list of pages on the site arranged in depth order. The most popular is outline type.
Web Marketing or Internet Marketing is not only the marketing of products and services over the internet but also refers to the placement of media along different stages of customer engagement cycle through SEM, SEO and e-mail marketing. So, it can be inferred that site maps help in web marketing.
Posted by Vandana in Internet Strategy | 4 Comments »
