Stay ahead of the game with a solid focus by working on the following:

• Develop a detailed Web Strategy for the coming two years
• Find socio-centric approaches to your online strategy - that is, create online social relevance for your brand, product or business
• Think Creatively. Necessity is the mother of invention. Looking back through history, one can see that business innovation expands as the economy contracts.
• Enable your website and campaigns for Web 2.0 technologies, by harnessing Social Media and Social Networking Platform traffic
• Devise a Search Engine Optimisation Strategy to maximise your online business potential, particularly if revenue is directly or indirectly generated through your website
• Develop a Facebook App, Viral Flash Game or Viral Video to spread through Social Media and Social Networking channels
• Stay in touch with your audience - develop a strong mailing list, and work on your online marketing techniques
• Implement a Corporate Blog to communicate with your audience, grow your online presence and keep your website current
• Build site stickiness by regularly adding content, such as Videos, Podcasts or Blog Posts
• Keep your web content up-to-date - this encourages return visits from both Search Engines and customers
• Regularly review your Web Strategy - in challenging times, remaining dynamic with your online strategy will give you an edge over competitors

With some serious implications on the horizon for corporate strategy this year, it is a good time to build a strong web strategy to enable your online assets to weather the storm.

Though many companies are implementing cutbacks, and tightening the purse-strings, now is a crucial time to plan ahead. eMarketer - even in the face of recession - is still predicting an 8.9% worldwide growth in online ad spend this year, from 23.6 billion to $25.7 billion. We expect to see Facebook really tapping some of that cash this year, with its’ vamped advertising engine. Can it become a contender to Google’s stranglehold? Doubtful. But the model is a very potent one.

Our prediction for 2009 online is an increasing trend towards the trends we have seen in 2008

• Social Media and Social Networking sites (like Facebook, Friendster and LinkedIn) will increase their foothold in the online environment;
• Integrating Social Network features and Relationship Knowledge into communications is a trend in the making
• Search Engines love Blogs (particularly Google) which begs corporations to step up and set up set their Corporate Blogs up as a means of interacting with their users
• Search engine balance of power shakeup this year, as Yahoo teeters on the verge of takeover, and Google loses its’ shine as the Golden-Search-Engine-Who-Can-Do-No-Wrong, and Social Media/Networking sites vy for position
• Massive increases in location-specific internet usage, thanks to the extraordinary technology that is Google Maps for Mobile
• New Social Media sites will spring up to challenge the existing megaliths like DIGG, Technorati and del.icio.us which are increasingly becoming victims of SEO SPAM;
• 3G phone-enabled applications, sites and services will experience massive growth in 2009
• Online Video to go mainstream. Broadband speeds worldwide are increasing massively, and set to do so in Australia, as are computer CPU speeds. Finally technology is catching up to the 1997 utopian dream of ‘multimedia’. Use of video will become far more widespread.
• Google, Yahoo, MSN, Apple and Facebook APIs which companies can plug their technologies into.
• Cloud Computing technologies for SMEs and large enterprise looking to
• Emerging online ecosystems of Development APIs will become more and more integrated with each other, and with mobile technologies.

Viral Video is bursting onto the Australian Web 2.0 scene in Sydney with the same pace that enthusiasm for the concept of ‘multimedia’ bloomed onto the scene back in the 90’s. The difference now is that so-called multimedia is actually happening…

Use a viral video to launch a product, or a marketing campaign, and reach a massive potential target market which would remain untapped using conventional, offline marketing mechanisms. The beauty of the web is that the is no broadcast cost - if you’ve produced a viral video, you can launch that across the net with a variety of tools, and using a variety of social media and social networking sites, at no cost. Once the video is completed, load it into a number of sites using Web 2.0 tools, and it will snowball.

SEO is a black art to many. There are many factors which influence your position in Google, Yahoo, and other Search Engines. Mastering these seven will ensure your website is successfully optimised.

The Seven Habits are:

1. Optimise landing pages and keywords

2. Increase Google PR

3. Find link partners

4. Submit articles

5. Find traffic sources

6. Use social media

7. Develop backlinks and get listed in directories

tbc…

As one of the first Fortune 500 companies to set up a home in the blogosphere over two years ago, Southwest Airlines is making some major upgrades to its blog, Nuts About Southwest.

Nuts About Southwest was originally launched as a means of giving Customers a look inside the culture and operations of Southwest Airlines and allowing them to interact and build personal relationships with the airline’s employees. Over the last two years, the blog’s function has evolved to also serve as a virtual focus group, assisting the Company through crisis and new product launches.

Southwest Vice President of Public Relations and Community Affairs, Linda Rutherford, said “From the debate over assigned seating to the timeframe in which we release our flight schedules, the passionate comments and opinions shared on our blog have unquestionably influenced several business decisions.”

Nuts About Southwest features more than 30 Employee bloggers that represent a mix of Frontline and behind-the-scenes Employees including Mechanics, Customer Service Agents, Schedule Planners, Executives, Marketing Representatives, Flight Attendants, Pilots, and more.

The blog’s readership continues to grow steadily month-over-month, and has more than doubled year-over-year since its launch in Apr-06. The airline estimates that it has reached more than 500,000 customers through Nuts About Southwest alone, and they expect that number to exceed one million in 2008.

Blogging is an effective way to reach a wider audience with a more personal message than a website may present.

Companies that employ a well thought out blogging strategy encourage the strongest community goodwill, and that goodwill, in turn, promotes significant marketing and sales gains. It is said that success breeds success. This holds very true for successful blogs. There is chain reaction that begins with a real desire on the part of the blogger to provide value and connect with their audience. The blogger shares useful and engaging content —the latest information, help, discussion topics and ideas.

More than 5% of the Fortune 500 companies blog externally.

Market research done in the first half of 2006 indicated that 34% of large companies had established weblogs. Another 35% planned to do so by the end of 2006, thus bringing the total to nearly 70%

A business blog can provide additional value by adding a level of credibility that is often unobtainable from a standard corporate site. The informality and increased timeliness of information posted to blogs assists with increasing transparency and accessibility in the corporate image. Business blogs can interact with a target market on a more personal level while building link credibility that can ultimately be tied back to the corporate site.

External corporate blogs, by their very nature, are biased, though they can also offer a more honest and direct view than traditional communication channels. Nevertheless, they remain public relations tools.

Greater word-of-mouth buzz on- and offline, higher search engine rankings, increased press coverage and superior lead generation are just some of the potential benefits of blogging in a corporate setting.

PR or page rank is a trademark of google. Page rank is a way to determine the value and importance of a page on web. Page rank varies from 0 to 10. We can view the page rank of a site simply by installing Google toolbar in our explorer. Google ranks pages depending upon the number of ‘votes’ or backlinks that page has on the Internet. The more quality links a page has, the higher page rank that page is going to have in general (spam link or link farm). Page rank of 0 is the minimum and page rank of 10 being the maximum a site can get.

As a general rule, the higher your Page Rank against your competition, the more likely your site will appear in Google’s Top Ten for a given keyword.

Below is a list of some of the top PR sites on the web:

# Google Website

# Adobe Website

# World Wide Web Consortium

# Microsoft Corporation

# NASA Home

# The White House

# Department of Energy

# Keio University

# US NSF (National Science Foundation)

# ERCIM (The European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics)

More and more these days, social media websites are influencing search engine rankings. Having a story on DIGG or Reddit can mean a massive spike in traffic in the short-term. But the longer-term effects of that link are much more powerful. A link from a well-respected, or ‘authority’ site, is considered valuable. In the world of SEO and backlinks, high Google PR websites are all important.

As social media networks become more popular, and widely-used, their influence on Search Engine Rankings increases. This is one of the foundations of the Web 2.0 concept - an internet which is controlled more by the end user. If a user likes a website or story, it achieves greater exposure on a social media website. And of course this will enhance ‘organic’ search engine results. So the effects are somewhat multiplied.

A great list of Social Media Websites

http://traffikd.com/social-media-websites/

By no means comprehensive, this Social Media website list will give you a great overview of many of the more well-known social Media and Social networking sites.

Engaging in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques will
massively increase website traffic to your site.  Sydney based SEO Specialists SHIFT Interactive share some of their techniques with you.

SEO experts widely agree that the single most important factor to achieving good results in Google are backlinks.  That is - other websites linking back to yours.  Of course, if you do not have any content on your website, then you likely not rank very well in Google, Yahoo or any other Search Engine.  We are making a basic assumption here that your website has some well-written content on it.  For tips on SEO content, view these SEO Content resources.  For tips on backlinks, read on!

There are many ways to effectively increase your backlinks.  One of the most obvious is approaching companies directly, and requesting reciprocal links - that is, they will put a link to your website on theirs, if you do the same.

By far the most effective is way to increase links though is to use a reputable SEO agency, with relevant link relationships with hundreds of directories and websites.  You will notice a significant increase in your Google and Search Engine rankings if you increase your backlinks.

Some SEO experts argue that up to 80% of your ranking status depends on the quality and and quantity of your website backlinks.  We at SHIFT Interactive believe that the percentage is between 65-75%.

With over ten years’ Search Engine Optimisation SEO experience, Sydney based Australian agency SHIFT Interactive have developed significant directory relationship with thousands of directory websites.  We can offer your company sophisticated packages for increasing your Google rankings and site traffic significantly.

There are many factors involved in increasing your Google rankings.  If nobody can find your website, chances are your website will be underachieving.
Contact us today for a holistic approach to your Search Engine Optimisation and Marketing strategy.

It seems to be completely mad when you look at it from the perspective of cash generation, but there is a very effective trend evolving on the internet - Give your content away for free.

Some of the internet industrys’ top Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Gurus are strong proponents of this philosophy.

In 2004, John Reese, a web entrepreneur and online marketing specialist made internet history - he made over $1mn in 24 hours. On his website, milliondollarday.com, he outlines how he achieved it. The main points that he outlines are:

1. ABUNDANCE - giving away lots of free content, often
2. ALWAYS OVERDELIVER - always give more than is expected
3. ANTICIPATION - anticipation increases response
4. GENEROSITY - give something above and beyond what is expected
5. SOCIAL PROOF - give customers feedback channels for the product - this encourages confidence in other consumers
6. FAITH - believe in yourself, and what you are doing

Take what you will from these six key motivators. Bear in mind though, that it made John Reese a millionaire in 24 hours!

The systematic dissemination of free content builds credibility and makes people think “If they’re giving this great content away for free, then what is the product I’m buying? It MUST be good!” Try it, and follow up with some paid products.

Another SEM guru, Ben Mac, suggests always thinking two products ahead. But that’s another article!