Saturday, 18 August 2012

Google vs Facebook : The Fight on Online Advertising Goes On [Infographic]

facebook vs google
For those of you who are are watching the online space long enough will know that online advertising is a huge and booming business. It is estimated that the online advertising spending in 2012 is valued at USD94.2 billions (USD39.5 billions in US alone) [source: GO-Gulf.com].

The current giant and top online advertising network provider is non other than Google (enjoying 44.1% market share [source: GO-Gulf.com]). Of course, the other social media giant, Facebook is gaining its momentum in the online advertising space as well. Check out the following infographic from Wordstream detailing how each of them performed in the area like Advertising Reach, Revenue/Growth and Ads Format etc. (click/download the image for the expanded image). 

facebook vs google, infographic
  
Cheers!

Monday, 13 August 2012

FREE Tool To Check Potential Questionable Outbound Links

Nowadays, whenever you are visiting a website/blog, you will notice that there quite a number of outbound links (links that direct users to another website/blog) scattered around the page. In fact, Link Exchange is a common practice in harnessing the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the respective site/blog. In short, it helps to improve the site/blog's SEO if it is done appropriately.

On the other hand, it could be detrimental to your site/blog's SEO as well if too many of the said outbound links are heading towards the sites that are deemed questionable, from Google's perspective, e.g. adult entertainment, online gambling etc. Thus, it is important to monitor the health of the outbound links regularly. 

Recently, I've chanced upon a FREE tool called Text Links Checker that will help you to scan through your site/blog and provide you with stats and potential links that deemed questionable (Note from the site: This tool is intended as a guide to assist webmasters in locating potential problem areas with their linking strategies, it is not intended to dictate who you do or do not link out to). Even though it is only a guide, it is good enough to have an interim assessment of the health of your site/blog's outbound links. Thus, give it a try by simply punching in your site/blog's URL and let the tool do the work for you.

Do you have any similar tool to share? If yes, please feel free to share it in the comment section.

Cheers!

Monday, 6 August 2012

10 Paid To Blog Networks For Your Blogging Venture

Sorry for being  MIA for the past few weeks, I am back now. The reason for my MIA is due to my eye condition which I shared it in my personal blog post : I am back with almost fully recovered vision

Time flies and we are already in the beginning of Aug 2012. How is your internet marketing or blogging venture goes? I hope you have a great first half of the year and have nicely planned out the remaining  months of the year.

I am pretty sure many bloggers started out their blogging venture out of interest, i.e. the hobbyist bloggers. Along the way, after getting the hang of it, they started to get more involved into it and started to look into ways to monetize their blog(s) i.e. becomes the professional bloggers. Blogging is a long term venture and you need to like what you are doing and writing in order to enjoy it and out run it.


So, if you are blogging for money, do check out the following Paid-To-Blog Networks which might come in handy for your venture:

Except Blogvertise which I have done a few paid blog posts, I have no partnership with the other networks yet. Thus, please read through their T&C and FAQ before signing-up any of the above networks.

Do you have any other Paid-To-Blog networks to recommend? If yes, do share them with us in the comment section.

Cheers!

Soak the red dot in vinegar

Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Facebook Cheat Sheet (Sizes and Dimensions)

I believed most of you folks would have a few social media accounts, among them, I am pretty sure that facbook will comes up top or second in your social networking activities. For me, facebook is my top social media both for personal sharing as well as my internet marketing venture.

Talk about facebook, I believed the last major revamp is the introduction of the Timeline. I know it has been quite awhile but noticed that there are still a number of users doesn't find it (the timeline) attractive and resort to the older user profile. For me, I find the timeline more graphical and catchy, also, it does provide more control for the user to place the more important message/statuses in a more prominent  section/position of the overall timeline.

However, one challenge that many of us are facing is to find out the appropriate sizes and dimensions of photos/videos for various section of the timeline that can yield a perfect view. Here comes the help, the Facebook Cheat Sheet (sizes and dimensions) from dreamgrow.com, presented in an easy to digest infographic format:
  

Cheers!

  

Saturday, 30 June 2012

5th Anniversary for the Mother Of All Smartphone aka iPhone

iphone, apple, steve jobs
On 29 June 2007, Apple launched the very first version of iPhone. Since then, the mobile scene has never been the same, iPhone has single handedly changed the world of mobile computing. Throughout these 5 years and the subsequent necessary handset upgrade to 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S and the upcoming 5, iPhone is still deemed as the mother of all smartphone, globally.

The vision of ex-CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, changed the way how millions of people live their life (including myself) for the better. With his recent passing and Tim Cook taking over the helm now, Apple is going through an internal adjustment phase, this has given the competitors some breathing space and chance to hit back. Samsung's Galaxy S3 being the most talked about worthy contender now.

Anyway, what I am trying to highlight is that mobile computing like Smartphones and tablets are here to stay for the following reason:
1. It is Real-Time
2. It allows us to take the advantage  of location-based services
3. It integrates well with social media for greater reach

In my opinion, a few things that can make the mobile computing even more magical are:
1. Faster speed (with the upcoming launch of 4G networks, it will take care of the speed issue)
2. Lower cost of the handset and data services
3. More compatibility across different mobile devices

Thus, if you are involved in any form of internet marketing, do pay equal attention to the mobile marketing as well as it is a totally different ball-game with lucrative potential.

Cheers!   
  

Saturday, 23 June 2012

Have You Heard Of The Social Media Day?

Social Media is becoming a very important component of overall marketing strategy in any kind of business (online or offline). In fact, it is so important nowadays that almost every website/blog you visit, there bounds to be few social sharing buttons/icons spread across the site (the main "culprit" will be non-other than Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and the more recently Pinterest).

Talking about Social Media, do you know that there is actually a day being coined as "Social Media Day"? It is an annual event launched by the authority Social Media Blog, Mashable since 2010. So, this is the third year and it happen on every 30th June of the year. The original idea of this event is to recognise the digital revolution happening right before our eyes. What it does is to invite you to join fellow social media enthusiasts by hosting or attending a Social Media Day Meetup in your area. 

For more details of Social Media Day Event, check out the links below:





It is a day to learn and share with the social media enthusiasts around your area (physically or virtually). So, mark your calendar and go ahead to check out any Meetup event(s) in the area.

Cheers! 

Thursday, 14 June 2012

Facebook VS Google+ [Infographic]

I am sure you folks are aware by now that Social Media is getting more and more critical when comes to internet marketing. It plays a major role in Public Relation, Customer Service, and Traffics/Leads generation. More and more companies and entrepreneurs (big and small) are aggressively making their social presence in Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ etc...

Even though Google+ is not very new in the market but it is still the latest heavy weight social media comes into play. Thus, it is common that we will compare it with the existing giants like Facebook or Twitter. I managed to source for an infographic depicting the key comparison between Google+ and Facebook. So, if you are still clueless about the important differences between these two social medis, check it out below:

infographic on google+ and facebook

Cheers!