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10 Social Networking Sites that Failed to Stand the Test of Time

4 November,2015 What's New No Comment Author: Marie

 Let’s look down to those neglected networking sites who couldn’t outbid their competitors in the race staying alive.

10. ConnectU

It was launched in the year 2002, with the initial name as HarvardConnection by Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard classmates. It would have been alive if Mark Zuckerberg was a part of it and not Facebook.

The-Hub-logo

9. The Hub

It was founded in 2006 by Walkart, a well-known supermarket. It was solely focused on teenagers to promote ‘School your way’ which was to act as to increase the sales of its products. It closed down after 10 weeks due to teens being uninterested in the same.

iyomu-Social-Networking-sites

8. iYomu

Founded in 2007 by David Wolf Rooney and Frances Valintine, iYomu targeted only the adults above 18 years of age. It was created with the hope to give adults all those benefits which other sites at that time didn’t provided. It was failed in June 2008 due to adults not wanting a different site for them.

Eons-Logo

7. Eons

It was founded by the founder of Monster.com, Jeff Taylor in 2006 as a platform for Baby Boomers and those above the age of 40 years to promote funeral advertisements, etc. However, it closed as it failed to gain needed attraction.

Friendster-Social-Networking-sites

6. Friendster

Started in 2002 as a social networking site and was successful in gathering enough visitors’ from Asia. But, it slowly lost its charm though it was re-launched in June 20111 as a gaming network. It is still active in South East Asia.

iTunes-Ping

5. iTunes Ping

Launched by Apple in September 1, 2010 as a social networking site and recommended system for music. It allows users to follow their favorite musicians and artists, keep tabs on them and get informed about latest concerts, etc. it was discontinued in September 2012.

hi5-logo-Social-Networking-sites

4. Hi5

One of the most popular networking sites of 2008, founded by Ramu Yalamanchi in 2004, Hi5 is a typical social networking site which enables posting photos, updating status and messaging in groups, etc. Later, the feature of gaming was also added to it.

Social-Networking-sites-LiveJournal

3. LiveJournal

As the name conveys, it allows users to maintain a journal, blog or dairy of their own. It was founded in 1999 by American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick. It was used by political pundits of Russians as their medium of political commentary which led to its vulnerability. But, it is still keeping up with the controversies and keeping it afloat.

Social-Networking-sites-MySpace

2. MySpace

One of the popular sites of 225-2208, launched by Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson in 2003, MySpace deals with music especially the pop culture. With the introduction of new websites every year, it lost its significance.

Orkute-Logo-Social-Networking-sites

1. Orkut

Once the most popular social networking site, launched in 2014 by Orkut Buyukkokten, a Google employee was designed to be able to connect with their lost friends and relatives. It was most visited by the Indians and Brazilians. The site was closed down on 30th September, 2014 due to lack of privacy issues and others.

Besides, there are various other social networking sites that couldn’t see the light of the day.

(Source)

How Much Should I Be Spending In Google AdWords?

30 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie
how-much-should-i-spend-01

You may be missing out on showing your ads if your budget is depleted. But the comfort of knowing that you will be within the daily budget is like having some warm soup on a cold day… (Source)

One common dilemma about those who want to start their Google Adwords marketing is the amount to be spent. Below are two ways to answer the question.

First option involves a test budget.

If you are just starting the process, determining the cost is not easy, as you don’t know what’s going to work and what not.

Results may vary after the testing mode. It’s plausible that your initial test campaign is successful with regard to costs, but proceeds with a loss or break-even condition the next time. However, your mind should not be focused on making any campaign profitable but you should have a mindset of investing in market research.

With the help of initial testing, you’ll get to know, how your ad messages are resonating around the target market. Also, let you know what keywords are effective in generating maximum leads and attracting customers. Moreover, with this test you’ll be able to know which messages are generating the maximum or best response of clicks on your landing page. Continue reading

The Top 10 Global E-Commerce Markets

27 October,2015 Business Advice, E-Commerce No Comment Author: Marie

With eCommerce being the new shopping destination these days, various global markets are ruled by various eCommerce giants. Let’s find out what the Top 10 Global E-Commerce Markets are!

the-top-10-global-e-commerce-markets-infographic-01

  1. CHINA
  • Sales: $426.26 billion
  • Increase: 35%
  • Top online retailer: Alibaba
  • E-commerce sales as % of total retail sales: 10.1%

In China,  46 % of the population is using the e-commerce platform recording 35% sales increase, Alibaba boomed the e-commerce business growth, currently it is the largest online retailer.

  1. UNITED STATES
  • Sales: $305.65 billion
  • Increase: 15.7%
  • Top online retailer: Amazon
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 6.5%

USA the number two position in this global list, the rise in e-commerce business is rising at a rate of 15.7% yearly.

  1. UNITED KINGDOM
  • Sales: $82.00 billion
  • Increase: 16.5%
  • Top online retailer: Amazon
  • Ecommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 13.0%

UK leaded the retail e-commerce sales a couple of years back. When compared with USA, UK lacks behind with only $200 billion.

  1. JAPAN
  • Sales: $70.83 billion
  • Increase: 14.0%
  • Top online retailer: Rakuten
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 4.9%

87% of the population is well versed with the online shopping concept, thus Japan takes up the fourth position. Rakuten is the online retailer that leads the Japan’s e-commerce sales, the company is known to be one of the largest in the world.

  1. GERMANY
  • Sales: $63.38 billion
  • Increase: 22.1%
  • Top online retailer: Amazon
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 7.3%

Germany hits the 5th position in the list though it has shown a rapid growth of 22.1%, close to China. Amazon has the largest share in the market.

  1. FRANCE
  • Sales: $38.36 billion
  • Increase: 12.1%
  • Top online retailer: Odigeo
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 4.6%

The e-commerce market in France is practically led by Odigeo a travel company, though travel websites are not accepted in retails sales despite being the largest e-commerce company in France.

  1. SOUTH KOREA
  • Sales: $33.11 billion
  • Increase: 13%
  • Top online retailer: Coupang
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 9.0%

South Korea ranks seventh in the list, although it is the third largest with 9% retail sales in the last year. Coupang is the largest retail e-commerce store in South Korea.

  1. CANADA
  • Sales: $24.63 billion
  • Increase: 17.4%
  • Top online retailer: Amazon
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 5.2%

Amazon strongly holds the largest share of e-commerce sales in Canada, while Costo runs second in the competition.

  1. RUSSIA
  • Sales: $17.47 billion
  • Increase: 16.0%
  • Top online retailer: ulmart.ru
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 2.2%

59% of the Russian population enjoys having the internet access, e-commerce sale in Russia barely make more than 2% in comparison to other countries sales.

  1. BRAZIL
  • Sales: $16.28 billion
  • Increase: 22.0%
  • Top online retailer: B2W Digital Inc.
  • eCommerce sales as % of total retail sales: 3.8%

The last but not the least Brazil makes it to the 10th position. The e-commerce sales are pretty low in comparison to other countries. The infrastructure is not up to the mark, hence making it difficult for the delivery process which directly affects the e-commerce.

(Source)

Top 10 Adwords Tips for eCommerce Websites

21 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

google-adwords-tips-ecommerce

It is a well-established fact that internet users and the use of e-Commerce is increasing at a high pace. With this, the challenge to reach your target audience before your competitors is tough. Investing too much on advertising is definitely not a solution. Therefore, to keep the advertising and marketing to its cheapest and attaining what needs to be attained, Google AdWords is the solution. Here are the top 10 adwords tips for ecommerce websites.

  1. Keywords and competitors research

Using the right keywords and analyzing the competitor’s strength is an important part of AdWords campaign. Using the right keywords will help generate leads for your website. Using the right tools like keywords planner and WordStream, keywords can be very influential. Continue reading

5 Social Media Marketing Sins

18 October,2015 Business Advice, Social Media No Comment Author: Marie
(c) slinkysearch.com.au

(c) slinkysearch.com.au

Social media is a lucrative platform for online marketers. It sets a stage to reach the consumers directly. It is an easy reach to promote the brand. Social media platforms are like hives. They have a great impact on business and brand value. Engaging becomes easier in the internet savvy world. Promotions happen in a single click. It reduces the need of infra. It increases the presence of brand image. Yet the online marketing has certain downfalls when not played right. Many tend to commit sins online by not leveraging the social media in the right way.

Continue reading

Traditional vs Digital Advertising

17 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

Traditional-vs-digital-advertising-01

Traditional advertising dates back to the time of the 18th century, when advertising was done through the means of radio and television only. But with the advent of modern means of media like the internet, the trend and the means of advertising changed. Now, people prefer internet over all other ways to media. The internet is capable of providing everything from news, videos, as a social medium to buying and selling of product and services. This has resulted in the decline of traditional media use.

Though, traditional advertising is still an effective way to create your brand name and engage more traffic, but is not economical to be used by all businesses. Advertising on television and radio is still a costly affair and not all businesses, especially the startups are capable to spend such big amount of money in a go. This is the main reason digital marketing has become so common platform among businesses to reach the potential audience.

Moreover, reporting stats by means of traditional advertising, reporting ROI to the client is more challenging than in the case of digital advertising. Digital advertising enables reporting of exact ROI through different campaigns and changes can be carried out easily.

Continue reading

6 Common Adwords Mistakes

14 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

google-adwords-01

AdWords only permits 95 characters in text ads. These 95 characters have the power to either make or break your campaign. There are various mistakes which creep inside unknowingly while we frame the AdWords texts. Let’s see what these common Adwords mistakes are!

  1. Not Using Keywords

Keyword is the essence of advertising if you depend on the user’s query. Google bolds the keyword string inside the ads. This enables the user to identify the ad easily.

It is useful to adjust the wordings of keyword in the ad to make it work. Spilt your ad campaign into various ad groups to be more effective!

For instance, if a query says, ‘cheap web hosting’, ads focused on pricing should be provided. The ad text should include some valid offers for the same.

  1. Missing call to action

Usually, the commercials are too crammed up with information about products and services, but fail to add an important element like call to action. A call to action includes the use of words like try, check, join, see for yourself, etc., that favors an action to be action from the users. However, avoid using the word ‘click’ in your call to action, usage of ‘click’ in CTAs is forbidden by Google.

Continue reading

10 Reasons to Hire a PPC Management Expert

11 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

ppc-management-expert-01

There’s always a war raging between SEO and PPC in the world of digital marketing. Search engine optimization is a gradual process.

Therefore, for the businesses with high competitors, it may not be able to fuel the response that is needed to set your place in the market.

 

This is where PPC advertising is beneficial. Here’s why one should hire a PPC management expert!

  1. Keyword research

Effective keyword research is vital for the success of the business. This is why PPC experts spend most of their time on keyword research throughout the process.

To help you out, Google provides free and paid keywords tool, but it’s always the paid ones that make your campaign successful.

  1. Wrong ad copy could result in your fall

The best reason to hire PPC experts is their ability to carry out competitive research. They understand your competition by proper study, find good copy and form ads according to their understanding that works. The copy experts prepare cannot be attained by a beginner when each word carries equal importance.

  1. Tracking

Tracking sales is an important element of a PPC program. Ability to track sales and identifying the source of sales can only be done by an expert. Better analysis can help you to know which placements and keywords are most effective in bringing conversions.

For tracking code installation, it is necessary to know at least one basic language like HTML. If not, it’s better to let the expert accomplish the task for you.

  1. PPC terminology

Do you have a thorough study of PPC terminology like CPM, CPA, what is retargeting, difference between impressions and views? Probably not! Knowing these terms is very important to hold marketing campaign for your business.

  1. Campaign settings

Campaign settings are important in order to provide the right exposure to your marketing campaign. For instance geographical settings will enable to target a specific part of the country.

  1. Good landing page

A relevant landing page can save your money which will otherwise be spent on conversions. PPC experts are experts not only in understanding the principles but also in testing the landing page designs.

  1. Experience matters

A PPC expert who would have worked with any other client within the same industry as yours can apply the same competitive knowledge to your account. This could save thousands of dollars on your part. Finding experts who have already worked with any of your other competitors are beneficial in paid search.

  1. Click fraud

Make sure you know what a click fraud is and be able to suspect it, if any. For this, it is necessary to watch your stats and inform Google for refund if any click fraud is found.

  1. Keep yourself updated

Be a good online marketer and update yourself with the latest trends, news and articles. Attend the probable industry trade shows and networking events.

  1. Time bound

Do you have enough time to manage your PPC account? Though easier than SEO and costs money every time to use it, PPC gives you results by improving your ROI.

Therefore, if you have an experience of your own on PPC management, you can make it work on your own. Otherwise, it’s better to hire an expert to do so.

Simplio Web Studio offers professional ppc management services which includes all stages of the process from initial research and campaign creation to extensive research, analysis and optimization of the campaign results. Request a quote here.

Source: Search Engine Watch

11 Resources for Logo Designers

9 October,2015 Web Design Tips No Comment Author: Marie

logo-designers-01

Getting help from online resources is a good way to improve your logo designing skills. Check out the following top logo designers resources. These resources will provide you with advice and inspiration that will be helpful in designing logos.

  1. Logoed

Logoed hosts a collection of logo designs. It is a single page site. It contains a huge number of logo designs in its archives. The beautiful logos are arranged in an easy to view manner.

  1. Logospire

Logospire is a great site with an intuitive UI. It is easy to navigate. It displays many brilliant designs that can form your inspiration. It shows 12 projects per page. There are 14 such pages available in Logospire.

  1. Brand new

Brand new is actually more than just a logo resource. It is an upcoming graphic design enterprise. It gives advice for the brand identity development. It provides information on the latest design trends and gives valuable opinions. It also has archives of good logo designs. Continue reading

7 Ways Make Your eCommerce Site More Interactive

4 October,2015 Business Advice No Comment Author: Marie

An interactive website acts as an incentive for the users to visit it more often and experience the company’s enjoyable services. Any ecommerce website works well by revising tactics and finding ways to make it interactive.

Here some of the tips that can make your ecommerce site more interactive.

Using poll is a great way to capture your visitors' attention.

Using poll is a great way to capture your visitors’ attention.

  1. Polls

Including polls for your audience is one way you can make your website interactive. With the presence of various poll apps available, you don’t have anything to lose but gain a lot for your site. The polls provide instant feedback and let you know where you actually stand. You can also make polls that lets you know what your audience and customers want or are interested in.

There are many ways a poll can be carried out. One such way is to have a survey on customer satisfaction. People take pleasure in giving their feedback about the services and products which act as a best way for online merchant to know how his efforts are paying off.

questionnaire and computer mouse, business concept

  1. Surveys

Polls provide a rather light headed information and insight about your site, while surveys help you to find out more information from clients and users. Need not make a survey too long, just enough to know your users’ needs, their thoughts that could be interacted in just the right sense!

Surveys are the best way to collect viable information through means like emails.

  1. Personalization

Personalization is a new trend in the field of website development. It helps in targeting specific clients in a go and makes their experience even more delightful. Moreover, it provides ease to users in finding what they are looking for.

  1. Gifs

Gifs are graphic interchange format that are used as a light-hearted attraction and make your site look exciting. Which animated GIF you choose solely depends on the type of ecommerce site you have. Make sure, the Gif you use is humorous and does not seem like out of place. You can do seriously amazing stuff with these gif to make your ecommerce website interactive and seek attention.

blog-writing

  1. Blog

For every ecommerce site, it’s important to have a blog of its own. They provide much needed information to the audience and can be used in best way possible to make your site interactive. Post blog as frequently as you can with the right content which customers can relate to and find connected to it to read it whole.

  1. Chats and services

Users get more inclined to use your ecommerce site than your competitors’ when you provide the answers they are searching for and help them whenever needed. How you handle your users’ queries and their needs drives your site forward. One should use ways like live chat to interact with your customers.

  1. E-newsletter

Send monthly news letter to your users addressing them personally by their name through email. It is the best way to inform them about your new products, offers and any information that user may be looking forward to. Make them know about the latest trends and what’s new to your site and remain in contact with them.

ECommerce sites are proven to increase revenue of business by up to 250%! Making it more interactive can lead to even greater sales. If you are interested to make an online store for your business, check out out E-Commerce Solutions service here.

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