Twitter will allow its users to set their current location and then determine which content needs to be blocked. Users and social media agencies made their displeasure known by threatening to deactivate their accounts. Censorship for an open platform like Twitter greatly curbs people’s ability to express their viewpoint.

However, it looks like this development was prompted by Twitter’s interest in entering China; a country that was yet too stringent for Twitter’s “open platform” structure. The site had been blocked in China since 2009 and will now stand a better chance in the country if it will be able to block all tweets that will be considered sensitive in China. Region specific blocking which was earlier implemented by YouTube and Hulu for its video content is now being adopted by Twitter for its 140-character Tweets.

What is left to be seen is whether Twitter will be able to maintain its brand image even after moving away from its core value of “free expression”.  The only consolation here is that Twitter is not attempting to delete the Tweet or the user entirely. As long as the Tweet exists on the website’s servers, users in some parts of the world will still be able to view it. The future of the internet remains a mystery. Will we need to watch our backs before we put up content or will we continue to enjoy the freedom to express ourselves?

One of the most important strategies for your site is its positioning. This involves including important search terms on your website which are most likely to be used by prospective clients while searching for resources related to your industry. It is a proven fact that users only view sites that appear on the first page and hence you should attempt to get your website ranked within the first 10 listings. Search Engine Marketing will help you achieve that desired ranking which will, in due course, lead to better website traffic.

Directory Submission is a great technique to help websites rank for keyword phrase searches. People use these directories in order to search for desired products and services. The best aspect of these directories is that there are specific categories under which you can classify your website.

While it requires a certain investment, the pay per click strategy can greatly help your website and brand. It is a valuable tool that will help create better targeting for a particular keyword.

Search engine marketing strategies can go a long way in improving your website’s rankings and get more valuable traffic to the site. These campaigns require a considerable amount of time and effort and hence it is imperative for brands to find a Search Engine Marketing company that will help you create an effective internet marketing plan and derive maximum value from it.

1)    Distinguishable main navigation

The main navigation of your website is the most important and must be clearly visible to all those who visit the site. Make the primary navigation easy to locate and equally simple to read and use. In case your site needs multiple navigations, all of them must be well defined and the purpose of each must be clear to the consumer.

2)    Clear Navigation labels and Fewer Buttons

Label all tabs clearly in order to give customers a clear indication of what they can find on the page. Don’t have a large number of buttons unless they are absolutely necessary. The goal should be to create an interesting webpage that is clear and easy for users to understand.

3)    Link the Company Logo to the Home Page

While it is okay to exercise creative liberty while designing your site, there are certain aspects that must remain standard in order to make it easy for the users to grasp. The logo on your site should link to the main home page when clicked to avoid confusion.

4)    Consistent links

It is an internet norm to have ‘links’ underlined and blue in color. Maintain this standard while designing your site in order to help the links stand out.

5)    Simple Site Search

Most users enter a term in a search box in order to locate it on your site. This box is crucial for all websites for them to be less complicated and make it simpler for the user to navigate.

6)    Descriptive headings

Since users tend to skim over content instead of reading it entirely, it is important to have clear and concise headings that will provide an idea of the nature of the content.

7)    Remember the ‘fold’

The fold is the imaginary line at the bottom of your screen which ends the page. If you need to scroll down to read certain sections of the content then that is considered to be below the ‘fold’. Always remember that the important content, that you don’t want your website visitors to miss out on, should be above the fold.

8)    Style and color consistency

You will tend to lose out on visitors if you have a confusing website that has different themes and color schemes on different pages. Make it a point to pick a theme that is not an eye-sore and keep it consistent throughout the site.

9)    Don’t try too hard to attract attention

I’m sure most people have visited websites where majority of the words are highlighted, hyper-linked or have weird pop-ups. Make sure your website is not one of those! While ads are intrinsic aspects of websites, figure out a way to incorporate them well and reduce emphasis on words. Save the ‘Bold’ and ‘Underlines’ for only the most important words.

While these are not the only aspects that need to be maintained for better usability of a website, they certainly go a long way in providing a more user friendly and engaging website.

To start off the campaign you need to primarily define the target audience. Since the target audience comprises of other businesses, this step helps in understanding the kind of content that will be well received. This will also help determine which social channel is the most beneficial and will help maximize campaign reach.

Before you plan your campaign you need to monitor the trends in the industry and figure out what your kind of social activities your competitors are engaging in. This is a crucial step before you start take part in conversations actively. Find blogs and online forums that are relevant to your business along with relevant Twitter hashtags. Once you understand the trends it will become easier for you to implement them.

Once you review the social scene for your business type you have to develop a concrete plan that is most relevant to you and is feasible from an execution perspective. Make sure you don’t jump in without a specific goal in your mind.

Content is the most important aspect of your marketing plan. Since social media is extremely dynamic, attention span of users is low and content needs to be engaging enough to keep your target audience hooked and prompt them to engage in a conversation.

Always remember that no social media plan is created just once and executed as it is. Keep testing your plan and amend where necessary to open avenues for success and eliminate aspects that provide no value.

Any outsourcing of work is a mutual give and take. A good company will take efforts to understand your requirements and create a customized plan that will leverage your business ideology and help you best meet your targets. One of the most important questions you need to address while you outsource SEO is the cost! Each company has a unique payment model and you need to find the merits of each and pick one that is most suitable. Don’t assume that the company that provides services at the lowest price will necessarily be the best for you.

Check with the companies if they provide precise reports of the kind of work they do on your brand and the results it yields. Although you may outsource your optimization requirements, you need to ensure that you monitor the progress. This will help you understand if your goals are being met.

Requirements and procedures may differ from brand to brand. Find out what you want to achieve with your SEO campaigns and use that to find the ideal company to work with.

Wikipedia staged a blackout on Wednesday, 18^th January, in protest of the SOPA and PIPA bills that threaten to change the dynamics of a free web. In a show of solidarity, several other websites such as Google (US), Reddit, WordPress, Wired etc. too turned the pages, or parts of the pages black, in order to depict what a world without a free web would look like.

Wikipedia kicked off the announcement of the blackout via Twitter. Jimmy Wales posted ““Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday! #SOPA”” via his Twitter profile. This led to a flood of responses from the Twitterverse showing their support for the cause. On Wednesday, Wikipedia, along with several other sites, turned black with only the stark message stating “Imagine a world without free knowledge”. While a single day may not make much of a difference to our online lives, imagine a world without the internet as we know it? Imagine a world without Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or even to some extent Google! What would it be like to get cut off from all social ties and go back a decade in time? What is important to be noted here is that website owners and users are not against legislation or a law. They want to support the end of piracy without senseless hampering of their online liberty. Shut-downs can turn out to be larger than what they seem. Take a look at Egypt, a year ago. The Mubarak government tried to curb the growth of protest messages by shutting down internet, only to have their plan backfire. People got more agitated and upset by their “freedom of speech” being curbed and literally took to the streets.

Although the SOPA bill has been stalled for now, authors are planning to bring it up once again and push forth their motive of abolishing piracy. Let’s look forward to a more concrete bill that does not threaten our right of free speech and online liberty.

1.)    Less Load time

With broadband connections reaching every nook and corner of the world, users have lost the patience to wait for a site to load.

2.)    Text to Background Contrast

While it may sound shallow, no one wants to stick around on a page that is an eyesore. Keep your website contrast high in order to make it an appealing experience for the user.

3.)    Spacing and size of font

This is usually a debatable topic as various designers have their own opinion on what the font size should be for a particular page. Avoid having miniature font that is difficult to read or extra large font that will keep the user scrolling continuously to get through a small amount of content.  Also ensure that the spacing is adequate and gives a clean look to the content.

4.)    Avoid flash that takes a long time to load

While flash may look interesting on a web page, no user wants to wait for a long time till it loads.

5.)    Use adequate ALT tags

ALT tags are important from a search engine perspective and it is important to use appropriate ones that will define your image.

6.)    Custom 404 Page

If your website has a page does not exist users will be faced with a 404 page that can be a hindrance if you want them to scan the rest of the site. In this case you can create a custom 404 page that will direct them to the other content that is relevant.

7.)    Prominence of Logo

The logo of your company is its identity and must be placed at a prominent location that will attract attention and foster recognition.

8.)    Use a Tagline

A tagline is the shortest way in which you can make the purpose of your company clear and it is important to use  this to your advantage. This is also a plus point from an SEO perspective.

9.)    Remember the 5-Second rule

In usability the 5-second rule is very important in order to please your site visitors. Website visitors have a low threshold for patience and it is important to enable them to get a gist of the entire home page in the shortest time possible.

10.) About Us and Contact pages

Don’t underestimate the power of the “About Us” page. This is the platform in which you can explain the value of your company and capture the user’s attention. There should also be a clear path which will lead users to your contact page and maximize conversions.

This is the 1st of a 2-part series where we take you through the “Website-Usability” checklist which will help you to make the pages on your website more user-friendly. This will obviously result in more conversions as users will have a very smooth and pleasant experience on your site.

Social Media sites have decided to protest against the impending bill by going on a complete blackout of their services which could seriously hamper advertisers, brands as well as users. This decision was started by Jimmy Wales who threatened to shut down Wikipedia in protest of the bill. Websites like Google and Facebook too decided to join in on the protest of a bill that could threaten their stand in the Internet world.

We cannot argue that piracy has been one of the evils plaguing the internet since its beginning. Users have downloaded, uploaded and shared data that they do not have rights to and there needs to be a way to put a stop to this. However, it cannot be said that there is no screening and regulation of any kind. Google uses both bots and humans to regularly get rid of sites that are found to share data illegally. By demoting search rankings the site is doing its bit to reduce the chances of pirated content spreading further. While it may look like an “American” phenomenon at the moment, it won’t be long before this bill triggers similar such laws in other continents. We need to find a way to protect the rights of content on the web without hampering the social needs of an individual.

Traditionally, mobile ads work similar to other forms of PPC. While the layout may be similar, there are several aspects such as user intent, keyword selection, targeting options etc. that need to be kept in mind while planning a specific mobile strategy.

In most cases, pay per click advertising on mobile works best for inexpensive products or ads that require immediate action such as downloading a ringtone or ordering a pizza. Targeting through mobile ads is a lot more specific as you can choose your device and carrier in order to display the ads only to the relevant audience. For e.g. For an Android app you can choose only Android phone owners to be able to view the ad. Since mobile owners will always search using shorter phrases, your campaigns can target shorter search queries.

With Mobile PPC advertising it is a great idea to incorporate Google Maps into your strategy. There are several strategic ways in which you could include Google Maps into your plan. During important events in a year brands can include special offers in their mobile ads. Similarly, brands can also come up with special offers during seasons such as Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s Eve etc. To draw people to their stores, brands can also include their store’s physical location along with an incentive for users who visit the store. If you are targeting iPhone users you can advertise using the app store which is a great way to connect with users of the Smartphone.

In order to boost “Click to call” mobile advertising brands should make it a point to include their phone number in their ad. This is a great tactic for those who want to draw customers to their storefront and connect with their consumer.