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How Google has changed our Lives

Hector Carreno — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:23:00 +0000

On September 7 1998, two Stanford University students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founded Google, a company they started as part of a research project in January 1996. On August 19, 2004 Google had its first public offering, the one point six-seven billion dollars it raised gave it a net worth of twenty-tree billion dollars. As of December 31, 2006 the Mountain View, California based internet search and online advertising company Google Inc. had over ten thousand full time employees. With a 50.8% market share, Google was the most used internet search engine at the end of 2006. When Page and Brin began creating Google it was based on the hypothesis that a search engine that could analyze the relationships between the different websites could get better results then the techniques that already existed. In the beginning the system used back links to estimate a websites importance causing its creators to name it Backrub. Pleased with the results the search engine had on the Stanford University's website the two students registered the domain google.com on September 14, 1997. A year after registering the domain name Google Inc. was incorporated. Google began to sell advertisements associated with keyword searches in 2000. By using text based advertisements Google was able to maintain an uncluttered page design that encouraged maximum page loading speed. Google sold the keywords based on a combination of clickthroughs and price bids. Bidding on the keywords started at five cents a click. Google's simple design quickly attracted a large population of loyal internet users. Google's success has allowed it the freedom to create tools and services such as Web applications, business solutions, and advertising networks for the general public and its expanding business environment. In 2000 Google launched its advertising creation, AdWords. For a monthly fee Google would both set up and then manage a company’s advertising campaign. Google relies on AdWords for the bulk of its revenue. AdWords offers its clients pay-per-click advertising. AdWords provides adverting for local, national, and international distribution. AdWords is able to define several important factors in keywords when and ad is first created to determine how much a client will pay-per-click, if the ad is eligible for ad auction, and how the ad ranks in the auction if it is eligible. By following a set of guidelines provided by Google, webmasters can ensure that Google's web crawlers are able to find, index, and rank their websites. Google offers a variety of tools that have help provide information about add sites, updates, and sitemaps. Google's Apps have changed how my company also communicates internally and externally. Two years ago we changed our email, calendar and contacts from MS Exchange to Gmail Apps. This has made our lives so much better and has reduced the cost of upgrading software in our firm. The major factor behind Google's success is its web search services. Google uses Page Rank for its search engine optimization program. Page rank is a link analysis algorithm that assigns a numerical weight to every single element of a hyperlinked set of documents, like the World Wide Web. Its purpose is to measure the relative importance within the set. PageRank is a registered trade

Internet Branding ideas

Hector Carreno — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:13:06 +0000

Branding, as a whole, is essential for any serious business because quite simply a company’s brand is what distinguishes it from its competitors. In today’s high techr age, not only is it essential for many businesses to have an internet presence to stay competitive but also to create a brand online that your target consumer market will recognize. An effective internet branding, just like its offline counterpart, helps bring awareness to your unique business offering and drive customer demand. While Internet branding offers vast opportunities for business, in order for it to be effective one must be able to attract and engage its customers doing this over the Internet is not an easy task. Internet branding is not as simple as putting up a website and adding your company logo and slogan. Your internet branding strategy should make your online brand visible and distinguishable. Internet branding makes use of technological tools to create an online presence for your business. Graphics and animation, a compelling web copy, and overall website design that reflect your company’s brand are some of the important elements that will bring your online brand alive. Additionally, an attractive website that helps customers easily and quickly find the information they need is the key to get customer interaction and eventually, business. Your Internet branding strategy should incorporate good design elements and ease of use to create an effective overall impression of your company. A strong online brand image will make the difference whether a customer will buy from you online or switch to your competitors. Remember, that online customers can just leave your site and go to your competitors in a click of a mouse. Therefore, a lot depends on the impression that they get from your site. Internet branding seeks to deliver an immediate unique message about your business to your target clients. Visibility is also crucial in the online business world. There is no use to having a website if Internet users are not aware of it and because of the vast number of websites, businesses are competing to appear at the top pages of big search engines like Google and Yahoo!. Most customers do not look past the first few search pages when they make a search query so ranking high in these pages gives you better chances of driving customers to your site. That is why optimizing your site is another major consideration in Internet branding. As you can see, there are many requirements for a successful Internet branding strategy. For small or large businesses, hiring an Internet branding or marketing specialist will be helpful to give you focus on your efforts in creating an online presence that will become a valuable asset to your business.

The Value of Corporate Branding

Hector Carreno — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:27:18 +0000

In today’s crowded business market, companies – whether big or small – are competing more than ever to deliver their message. As companies launch all kinds of advertising, PR and marketing campaigns to lure consumers, it becomes more difficult for one message to stand out. Additionally, the increasing cost of marketing a new product or service makes it critical for a company to come up with an efficient strategy to promote its business. Companies utilize corporate branding in order to bring out their message effectively and efficiently. With a strong corporate branding strategy, a business is able to establish to the consumers immediately the unique value of their product or service such as credibility and high quality. This is why creating a powerful corporate brand and protecting it is critical not only for large businesses but for any business serious about its goals. Corporate branding is the use of the company’s name as a brand name of a product or service. Some examples include Coca-Cola and Kleenex. This practice is effective in building product recognition. However, corporate branding is more than just advertising and marketing. It involves those processes but, at the same time, corporate branding incorporates other strategies such as investor and media relations. Corporate branding requires the participation of not just the marketing group but top management as well. It is important to note that corporate branding is not the same as corporate identity. Corporate identity is the image of a company manifested in the company’s logo, product packaging designs, media advertisements and etcetera. It is just one strategy employed under the overall corporate branding strategy. Corporate branding involves the company’s values, philosophies and culture. In order for corporate branding to be successful, a company must establish solid long-term goals and vision and infuse it in all of the company’s operations. Corporate branding takes time and a lot of research. Some large corporations that have built powerful corporate brands include GE, Disney, Apple, Microsoft, Nestle, Aramark, Nike, Procter & Gamble, Sony and many more A company, whatever size, will be successful in its corporate branding efforts if through time it will continually invest its resources and ensure consistent delivery of its business message in all level of operations – whether the message is commitment to customer service, innovation, or values like perseverance or integrity. Corporate branding allows businesses to be competitive by leveraging its unique business values and approaches in order to create brand awareness and loyalty among consumers. Corporate brands are one of the most valuable non-financial asset a company can own. Protect them, because if your brand is tarnished in any way, getting it back can cost you billions and maybe your job, just ask former BP CEO Tony Haywood if you think I'm wrong.

FIRMS EXPECT INCREASE IN SOCIAL MEDIA, RESEARCH AND DECLINE IN MEDIA RELATIONS, ADVERTISING SERVICES IN NEXT THREE YEARS

Hector Carreno — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 16:58:20 +0000

Brussels, Belgium. June 29 2010 – The Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s leading partnership of independently owned communications counseling firms, today announced results of a survey of its partner offices around the world that projects a rise in social media and research and a decline in media relations and advertising services over the next three years. More than 70 of Worldcom’s 104 offices responded to the survey. “The results of this survey clearly demonstrate that public relations has moved multi-channel,” said Stefan Pollack, chair of the Worldcom Americas Region and president of The Pollack PR Marketing Group, a Los Angeles-based firm. “From a trend perspective, clients are looking for firms that can deliver immediate impact with sustainable value. These results provide insight to our partner firms about how to gear their client programming and to determine how best to continue to grow services and in what areas.” According to the survey, the services respondents expect the decrease to include: media relations (19 percent), advertising (17 percent), and direct mail and marketing (11 percent). In general, the majority of firms are optimistic about business increasing in the next three to five years. Moreover, an increase in multichannel services is a critical indicator for firms to move beyond media relations as a major source of revenue. For example, more than half of the respondents expected social media, interactive/web development and search engine optimization services to increase – 93 percent, 73 percent and 61 percent, respectively. Yet obstacles still remain for firms to determine how to increase revenue from these services; particularly search engine optimization – for example, no agency reported more than 10 percent of revenue from SEO. In addition, one-third of the Worldcom Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and Asia Pacific region firms expect the percentage of work from their home countries to decrease. This represents an opportunity for global firms to acquire clients from beyond their home countries. Additional key findings included investor relations and influencer/stakeholder relations as other significant areas of revenue, and 37 percent of firms in the Americas targeting specific cultural demographics. The most commonly cited was Latino/Hispanic, with 10 percent. Methodology The online survey was sent to 104 Worldcom firms regarding services provided by their firms. Seventy-four firms responded, a response rate of 71 percent. Padilla Speer Beardsley’s research practice facilitated the survey. About the Worldcom Public Relations Group Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations counseling firms, with 104 offices in 91 cities worldwide. Established in 1988, it was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent public relations firms could serve national, international and multi-national clients while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent firms. Through The Worldcom Group, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic arenas in which they operate. Visit www.worldcomgroup.com for more information. Worldcom EMEA currently comprises 34 agencies with strong expertise in consumer, healthcare, travel & tourism, technology, energy & environment, financial services, investor relations, public affairs and crisis & issues management. Clients include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Sony Ericson, LG Electronics, the EU Anti-Tobacco Campaign, Verbatim and Palm. Visit www.worldcomprgroupemea.com for more information.

How Do Search Engines Work – Web Crawlers

Hector Carreno — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:37:04 +0000

It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. Hence it is better to know how these search engines actually work and how they present information to the customer initiating a search. There are basically two types of search engines. The first is by robots called crawlers or spiders. Search Engines use spiders to index websites. When you submit your website pages to a search engine by completing their required submission page, the search engine spider will index your entire site. A ‘spider’ is an automated program that is run by the search engine system. Spider visits a web site, read the content on the actual site, the site's Meta tags and also follow the links that the site connects. The spider then returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is indexed. It will visit each link you have on your website and index those sites as well. Some spiders will only index a certain number of pages on your site, so don’t create a site with 500 pages! The spider will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which this happens is determined by the moderators of the search engine. A spider is almost like a book where it contains the table of contents, the actual content and the links and references for all the websites it finds during its search, and it may index up to a million pages a day. Example: Ask, Excite, Yahoo, Bing and Google. When you ask a search engine to locate information, it is actually searching through the index which it has created and not actually searching the Web. Different search engines produce different rankings because not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices. One of the things that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a web page, but it can also detect artificial keyword stuffing or spamdexing. Then the algorithms analyze the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By checking how pages link to each other, an engine can both determine what a page is about, if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page. For additional information, please visit our partner agency at www.ideafolder.com, thank you.

Tips to Increase Ranking and Website Traffic

Hector Carreno — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:55:17 +0000

It is worth cataloguing the basic principles to be enforced to increase website traffic and search engine rankings.

Create a site with valuable content, products or services.
Place primary and secondary keywords within the first 25 words in your page content and spread them evenly throughout the document.
Research and use the right keywords/phrases to attract your target customers.
Use your keywords in the right fields and references within your web page. Like Title, META tags, Headers, etc.
Keep your site design simple so that your customers can navigate easily between web pages, find what they want and buy products and services.
Submit your web pages i.e. every web page and not just the home page, to the most popular search engines and directory services. Hire someone to do so, if required. Be sure this is a manual submission. Do not engage an automated submission service.
Keep track of changes in search engine algorithms and processes and accordingly modify your web pages so your search engine ranking remains high. Use online tools and utilities to keep track of how your website is doing.
Monitor your competitors and the top ranked websites to see what they are doing right in the way of design, navigation, content, keywords, etc.
Use reports and logs from your web hosting company to see where your traffic is coming from. Analyze your visitor location and their incoming sources whether search engines or links from other sites and the keywords they used to find you.
Make your customer visit easy and give them plenty of ways to remember you in the form of newsletters, free reports, reduction coupons etc.
Demonstrate your industry and product or service expertise by writing and submitting articles for your website or for article banks so you are perceived as an expert in your field.
When selling products online, use simple payment and shipment methods to make your customer’s experience fast and easy.
When not sure, hire professionals. Though it may seem costly, but it is a lot less expensive than spending your money on a website which no one visits.
Don’t look at your website as a static brochure. Treat it as a dynamic, ever-changing sales tool and location, just like your real store to which your customers with the same seriousness.

For additional help with this and other SEO issues, please contact our partner agency at www.ideafolder.com or contact me at hector@carrenogroup.com

B2B Marketers Do It, Too

Hector Carreno — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:54:05 +0000

They use viral marketing by e-mail as a marketing tool… what did you think I meant? Viral marketing can work well for B2B providers, as long as the following is true: The product or service has to add value for the sender, as well as, the receiver. 1. The offer has to be deliverable. You don’t want to offer a product that you can’t deliver if demand grows rapidly. 2. The offer has to be easily transferable to others. E-mail and Web pages provide the best medium to facilitate this. 3. The vest viral marketing campaigns use existing networks to move the message along. The basis of viral marketing has been around for a long time. The idea is that you incite your customers or referral sources to pass on something about your business to their network of colleagues and friends. Those that pass on your information get something in return. The something might be a gift or service related to your business. Using e-mail makes it incredibly easy to pass information on to a friend or colleague, especially if it involves something fun or free. With millions using the Internet worldwide, the potential for exponential growth is tremendous. The great things about viral marketing are that it is free and works virtually by itself. Once you make an offer and provide the facility for referrals, viral marketing spreads like… well… a virus…but the good kind. To implement viral marketing at your business; first, start with your customer base. Incite existing customers to refer new ones. Second, go to your referral sources. Service providers, your outside network and colleagues can be encouraged to provide referrals that lead to business. If you need help in creating a viral marketing campaign, feel free to contact us at hector@carrenogroup.com.

The Importance of Search Engines

Hector Carreno — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:33:15 +0000

It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. When a topic is typed for search, nearly instantly, the search engine will sift through the millions of pages it has indexed about and present you with ones that match your topic. The searched matches are also ranked, so that the most relevant ones come first.

Remember that a prospective customer will probably only look at the first 2-3 listings in the search results. So it does matter where your website appears in the search engine ranking.

Further, they all use one of the top 6-7 search engines and these search engines attract more visitors to websites than anything else. So finally it all depends on which search engines the customers use and how they rank your site.

It is the Keywords that play an important role than any expensive online or offline advertising of your website.

It is found by surveys that a when customers want to find a website for information or to buy a product or service, they find their site in one of the following ways:

The first option is they find their site through a search engine.
Secondly they find their site by clicking on a link from another website or page that relates to the topic in which they are interested.
Occasionally, they find a site by hearing about it from a friend or reading in an article.

Thus it’s obvious the the most popular way to find a site, by search engine, represents more than 90% of online users. In other words, only 10% of the people looking for a website will use methods other than search engines.

All search engines employ a ranking algorithm and one of the main rules in a ranking algorithm is to check the location and frequency of keywords on a web page. Don’t forget that algorithms also give weightage to link population (number of web pages linking to your site). When performed by a qualified, experienced search engine optimization consultant, your site for high search engine rankings really does work, unless you have a lot of money and can afford to pay the expert. With better knowledge of search engines and how they work, you can also do it on your own.

Tips For Creating Powerful Headlines That Sell

Hector Carreno — Wed, 26 May 2010 21:53:02 +0000

You have mere seconds to capture a prospect’s attention. One of the single most powerful tools you have to accomplish this task is your headline. There are several keys to a compelling, and selling, headline and a few tips to help you get the job done.

#1 Tap into Your Prospects’ Emotions – According to psychologists our buying decisions are based first and foremost on our emotions. Use headlines which offer your readers a strong emotional benefit or reaction. Some possible emotions are:

For example, Five Step that Will Make You a Business Genius taps into readers’ desires to feel smart and powerful.

Other emotions you can tap into are a desire to feel:

1. Attractive

2. Assertive

3. Confident

4. Energetic

5. A sense of belonging

6. In control of their own destiny

7. Wealthy

8. Proud

9. Respected

10. Safe

#2 Make it Active – To compel it’s important to use active language – language that shows movement and commands attention.

For example, “Stop Your Sugar Cravings Today With This Simple Step,” is a fine headline however it doesn’t command action nor does it really tap into any emotions. However, “Conquer Your Sugar Cravings With This Simple Step.” Conquer is an active and emotionally powerful word. Readers receive the benefit of feeling powerful and in control and it commands action.

#3 Let Your Reader Know They’re Important – The word YOU is a very powerful word. It let’s your reader’s feel as if you’re talking to them specifically and interested in solving their problems, issues and helping them achieve their desires. Instead of using I, Me or We in your headlines, use You.

People want to know what’s in it for them and when they can assess that information in the headline, they’re going to be compelled to continue reading your copy and making a purchase.

So now you have some ideas about what types of headlines sell, how do you begin to write those powerful headlines?

Step One – Get to know your audience intimately. What are their hopes, dreams, desires, and problems? Understanding your audience will help you create an emotional and powerful headline directed specifically at your audience.

Step Two – Determine how your products or services are going to make your prospects’ lives better or solve their problems. For example if you sell fitness equipment and your audience struggles with feeling attractive then you can create a headline that highlights a specific benefit your fitness equipment offers to solve that problem.

Step Three – Write ten to twenty, yes twenty, possible headlines. Not only will this give you practice writing compelling headlines, it’ll help you hone in on that perfect headline. And if you think you have a few winners you can always test them for conversion rates to find out which headline is more effective.

Marketing and copywriting experts consider your headline to be the most import element of any effective marketing piece. Take the time to craft a compelling, and selling, headline and you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.

Houston Elections

Hector Carreno — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:25:58 +0000

Tomorrow is election day for the Houston City elections runoff. It is important that we all come out and vote. I would would ask that you vote for my good friends Annise Parker for Mayor and Alma Lara for HISD Trustee #1. It only takes a few minutes to vote so please remember to do Continue Reading