Google Changes Search Again With Knowledge Graph

Just in case you missed it, a few days ago, Google announced a new feature in search which they're calling Knowledge Graph. This is a move towards semantic or more human-based search, as opposed to a keyword-based one.

It enables you to directly search for things, places or people on Google's results page. Place in your query and Google will draw upon its enormous wealth of collected data to give you the best possible answers.

You can search for celebrities, landmarks, cities, sports teams, historical figures... somewhere in the background, millions of school and university students are jumping for joy. This will make their next research paper much easier.

What is Google really doing here?

Besides offering up a "cool" way to answer your next question or research project, is Google simply trying to compete with its rivals like Apple's Siri and sites like Wikipedia or even Yahoo Answers?

In a broader sense, this makes Google more the destination, rather than a means to the destination. This can mean a big difference to how everyone uses Google in the future.

It is no longer about keywords or links, or even finding the right website to answer your question, Google will supply it immediately on their site. Knowledge Graph could mean less traffic for every website on the web, except for Google.

I also find it very curious that Google may be targeting the only metric where Facebook is leading - time spent on site - if you judge this by Alexa numbers. People stay on Facebook about twice as long as they stay on Google.

This is only natural given that Google is mainly a search engine which you use to find other sites on the web. By its very nature, a search engine should be a temporary stop-over, on your journey to finding what you're looking for.

But...

Not if your destination is now Google and the Knowledge Graph where you can quickly find all your answers. If Google can keep visitors on their site and satisfy those visitors - it simply means the web has just gotten a lot smaller.

Of course, other lesser known search engines have been providing this kind of semantic search for years... Duckduckgo.com comes to mind.

The Bigger Picture

Knowledge Graph could also have a big impact on SEO and the whole notion of using keywords/links to find what we're looking for on the web. It could definitely mean SEO and links are much less important, if Google can supply the answer via its own site.

Will this Knowledge Graph be applied to "money paying" keywords or will it mostly have to do with more general, academic or non-commercial searches? How will Google use it with AdWords? Can it be integrated with Google's "bread and butter" advertising program?

An even bigger picture would probably include the whole direction of the web. Will it be a social based system like Facebook, especially if Facebook can come up with its own search engine? Or will Google further invade the social scene by integrating Google+, YouTube, Google Drive... by creating one super-site where users spend the majority of their time on the web.

It is this battle for "where" these web users are "based" for the majority of their web day - the real "portal" to the whole web, that's the bigger picture here.

Facebook, Google, Twitter... the winner of this battle will probably control the web of the future.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7070803

Read More

Planning an Organized Marketing Strategy for Online Business Development

The key to creating an organized online marketing strategy is planning. If your only business isn't developed using a streamlined approach to planning, you'll soon find yourself overloaded with stuff you didn't get done and don't have time to do. Worse, you'll be in that predicament with not enough profit to hire it done.


By using these simple, step-by-step procedures to plan your business online, you'll grasp a handle on your business quickly with plenty of time to enjoy your business profits.

1. Schedule time to plan every week and follow your plan. You may choose to use an online calendar, a notebook, or a 30 day file, the method you choose isn't as important as the process of using it.

    * Check it frequently.
    * Add everything to the calendar.
    * Include time for yourself in your schedule.
    * Make all appointments stand out, so you don't forget them.
    * Make time for admin and writing duties, they are important too.

2. Generate a ToDo List and keep it handy. This MUST be on paper. The sense of completion you will feel as you check off each item and cross them off your list is worth the extra paper activity each day. Don't pass up this opportunity to recognize your accomplishments.

NOTE: Each morning, before you get started, cross three things off your list that you know you're not going to get done that day. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

3. Spiral notebook. I'm going to say it again, because this is important. SPIRAL NOTEBOOK. Get a thick one with some folders and keep some paperclips attached. Write absolutely everything in your spiral notebook, because it's your record for the time you've got it. Notes, ideas, suggestions, names, addresses, contact information, goals, projects, discussions, topics for writing, information you MUST keep, and anything else you happen to want to jot down. Write it in your spiral notebook. This is your book, dated from beginning to end. Write on front and back pages, nobody will read it but you, and you want all the details.

There are so many pieces to planning your business online, you're going to want everything written down, organized and completely strategized. I always recommend new business owners find a business coach or consultant to help organize a business start up, because without one, it's like running blind into a mine field. The results of a well planned business from the beginning are immediate profits.

Nobody can guarantee those immediate profits on the front, but you're far more likely to have them, if your business is well planned.

With all the duties of a new business to line up and organize, you'll find more ways to procrastinate if you aren't ready with instant answers to your key problems of management. Get focused, get organized, and get to profits with our organizational strategy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jan_Verhoeff 

Read More

How To Make Your Online Business Progressive

This article is all about internet marketing, using the power of internet, a business owner can gain profits and be ahead of the competitors. Internet marketing is used to increase income and promote your own product in different sites. Internet marketing involves selling your product through email messages, as long as you have your own computer with an internet connection you can start working on your business. Negotiating with different clients via email is much easier, faster and hassle free. As an internet marketer, you must know on how to convince those who visited your website and your target audience. Show the advantages of the product, encourage the viewers to try on the product and tell them why they need it.

Internet marketing helps in increasing your sales, this is considered as the best strategy in order to make your product popular. Online marketer helps in increasing your sales, instead of hiring an advertising company which charges way too high prices for ads, lame commercials and billboards why not hire an online marketer? You’ll save more cash and the results are faster, expect to have increase of sales within a shorter span of time.

There are people who are expert in this field, they do know that taking your business online is not enough. The main goal of putting your business on the internet is to make it global, reach more people and make money online. You will need an online marketer who will make things easier for you. They provide virtual office, complete with the tools, training, technical support and other resources that your business needs. There are also mentors who will guide you in your business, these people are professional, backed up with vast knowledge and have a wide experience when it comes to business. Taking advises from these mentors is the key to become successful.

There are companies that help those who are in need of online marketers. A potential client must be referred, this is limited for qualified applicants only. Those who have potential are accepted. Not everyone can be accepted because the company wants to protect their integrity.

If you have an online business and you are selling a product or service, you must keep in touch with your visitors. Online marketers helps in communicating with your visitors by sending letters, emails regarding the benefits of the product and why they must acquire the product. Without follow – up, your business might be forgotten by the visitors, which only means you lose a client. As the owner you are too busy to handle all of these. Outsourcing will make things easier, let online marketers take some weight off your shoulders. All you have to do is count your profits and watch the sky rocketing sales of your product. Now that’s a way to have a successful online business!

Read More

The Critical Aspects Of Social Media And Its Overall Effectiveness

Social media has established a prominent presence as form of marketing utilized by companies in countless industries worldwide. There are a variety of inherent factors that can prove to substantially increase a company’s brand equity and visibility, or possibly victimize a company’s reputation. The way in which a social media strategy is implemented and monitored can go a long way in determining its overall effectiveness. Today’s market features a wide array of consumers who have certain expectations of brands, products, and services. Discontented and social media savvy consumers are simply awaiting any opportunity to voice their opinions via Twitter, Facebook, and associated social channels. This makes it even more vital for a company to thoroughly research and consider what methods of social media are most appropriate and beneficial to their needs.

There are a number of steps that can be taken in order to avoid the aforementioned social media disasters that occur frequently in today’s online marketplace. The first involves being realistic and properly understanding the relationship between conversations on social networks and other types of customer interactions. The next step includes utilizing a multi-channel strategy for customer sales and service. While social media is quite effective, interactions taking place at brick and mortar locations, on toll-free lines, and during online customer service chats are also very important in providing a comprehensive view of consumers’ opinions. The following step focuses upon viewing your data and evaluating the technology that is currently in place in order to understand consumer behavior and the voice of the customer. The final measure that can be taken to avoid social media disaster is to have a designated employee that specializes in the customer experience delivery chain.

A company that does not currently possess a strong presence in social media does not have to fear making a huge investment in social media. There are a number of low cost options that can be practiced to make that initial leap into the realm of social media marketing. Starting a blog about relevant industry news, trends, or intriguing applications of your product line is an excellent way to embark into the world of social media. Creating a LinkedIn group, Facebook page, Twitter account, a customers-only discussion forum, or a YouTube channel can provide unique opportunities to present and inform users and fans alike of current company highlights and information.

The key to a company’s successful use of social media is all about the results and the ability to properly measure them. Industry analysts are publicizing self-service business intelligence as the so-called “golden child” of 2011. In terms of marketing, one area that could widely benefit from self-service BI is social marketing. There are a number of best-practices that can be employed in order to measure social media effectiveness using BI solutions. Mapping out the ideal marketing process flow that will best transform prospects into quality sales leads is an exceptional starting point. Another practice involves determining the online marketing initiatives and campaigns that will be implemented to attract and engage prospects. Selection of the appropriate outlets to use is quite important in safeguarding the effectiveness of these initiatives.

Each initiative that comprises the marketing plan must then have a pre-established audience profile, outreach, value proposition, and budget that you are willing to spend. The most appropriate set of keywords must then be identified to ensure optimal website content that is designed for those specific keywords. Identifying and adjusting paths on social networks, aligning the website experience with specific landing pages, and setting goals for desired actions are all best-practice techniques in order to ensure continuity. It is also vital to measure all of the initiatives that are being used at a given time to display your activity, outreach, engagement, and outcomes. An even more thorough approach includes tracking all the way through to incremental sales, revenue and gross profit that is derived directly from online marketing. Business intelligence allows insight at the appropriate times during your social media campaigns. It offers the ability to instantly alter campaign focus and direction. Social media marketing can greatly benefit from the use of business intelligence as marketers can produce and exhibit greater value in their social media outreach campaigns.

Read More

Industrial Video Marketing Strategies - Part I

More smart industrial marketers are recognizing the power of online video marketing. The benefits are numerous, not the least of which is a significant leap for your website in terms of SEO. What use to be a marketing tool reserved for the BtoC space has finally migrated over to manufacturing and other industrial companies as they seek new ways to engage with their online audience.

Perhaps surprisingly, there is really not a huge difference in how an industrial company should approach a video marketing campaign as opposed to a retail business. Of course there will be a shift in the creative approach and the viral marketing strategy. Industrial business video content will no doubt be much more conservative and few industrial companies can depend on social media sites like Facebook to spread their video virally. This is where the differences end, however.

Just as with any other marketing initiative, the core fundamentals of establishing goals and objectives will ensure a more successful outcome and provide insight into ROI. Remember that goals are the end results you are predicting you will achieve. For example, a goal might be "improve brand image and credibility." Objectives are the steps you must take that will enable you to achieve your goals. They are generally short-term and might include items like "post one new video per month on all social media sites and website," or "obtain 15 specific online mentions per video each month."

Begin with this process and your efforts will be much more purposeful:

1.Establish goals that, if achieved, will be worth the investment you're making.

2.Establish objectives that will enable you to achieve the goals.

3.Measure the achieved goals against your investment to determine ROI.

Just remember that whether BtoC or BtoB, the videos you produce must appeal to YOUR consumer. You may be selling to businesses, but the video will be viewed by individuals within those businesses. Understanding their interests, needs, and problems will allow you to provide videos that get watched, commented on, and shared.

In Part II we will discuss specific strategies for content, viral marketing, and SEO for industrial videos.

Read More