Category: Ezine

Articles submitted to EzineArticles.com

  • China Internet Censorship in the Age of Globalization

    China Internet Censorship in the Age of Globalization

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comChina internet censorship has a major impact on the political and economic industries affecting the information and communication technologies for the Chinese society. The economic development, bureaucratic politics, civil and political liberties, international relations and security is also affected by the China internet censorship. This also includes the aspirations of Chinese policy makers for using the internet for attaining virtual leap for economic development.

    There has been much advancement after putting China online, as China has made immense progress in the virtual world including the nature of one party state, lack of visibility of the legal structure in China. There has been a wide digital divide within China and there have been many problems of bureaucracy on china internet censorship and this has lead to a technological time lag, throwing China behind the advanced industrial economies.

    The China internet censorship includes normative issues such as the state’s ability, to maintain control over the flow of information on the internet. It also stifles political dissent and the impact of the china on the formation of national and regional virtual identities. It also affects the impact information and communication technologies on international security. Today experts are exploring the methodological and theoretical problems arising from issues regarding the reliability of data, to the nature of relationship between technological and social change.

    Thus, the Chinese censorship covers many areas including social impact of the internet and information and communication technologies, from academia to business and public policy making. There is huge cultural and political diversification of the internet for the Chinese society. There is a rapid growth of the internet that has been enthusiastically embraced by the Chinese government, but the government is making a giant leap ahead in order to seize control of the virtual world. China has witnessed many individual responses in the form of impassioned campaigns against the China internet censorship by the government.

    The question is not whether the internet will democratize China, but it focuses on what way the internet is democratizing communication in China. It also has an impact on the interplay between civil society and the internet in China. There is an increased need to nurture a brand new type of social space for Chinese individuals and social groups in China. It is about redefining existing social relations and propelling existing civil forces into new possibilities. Today the Chinese government explains its internet censorship policies and asserts that it promotes free communication while it adheres to the set of laws and regulations that prohibit the spread of information that contains contents subverting state power.

  • The Best of Twitter Marketing from Naked Pizza

    For small and medium sized businesses or SMBs, Internet marketing is very important. Regardless of what industry you are in, a well-thought-of online marketing technique will make a very big difference. With today’s social media trends, social media platforms too have become open to online marketing. One SMB that has followed and studied social media trends is Naked Pizza. It is a pizza shop based in New Orleans, LA.

    In 2009, it was aiming to go national, with the support of multimillionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. But even with the support of a well-known person, if you aren’t able to put yourself out there and make your name known, you cannot possibly succeed in a big time venture.

    Because of this big challenge, Naked Pizza decided to take on Twitter marketing. Twitter marketing is one of the most effective ways of marketing yourself through social media. In order to successfully sell your company in Twitter, you have to study current social media trends and find different ways of making the community listen to you. Twitter is basically a networked microblog.

    For business, it is great for broadcasting new offers and events. But for small and medium sized business, the best thing that can be done in Twitter is to win customers over. This can be done in what’s called Twitter promotions.

    Twitter has already done a lot for the Naked Pizza business. Most of the attention is has now is because of the many promotions it ran via Twitter. What makes Naked Pizza special is the health difference it makes versus other pizza shops. Unlike other national pizza places that have already made a name for themselves, Naked Pizza is healthy. That in itself is a marketable characteristic. But the thing is not all people know about it.

    But after all Naked Pizza’s, Twitter promotions, people now know of the health benefits it offers. If you could get the same great tastes in a much healthier package, would you not go for it? This is exactly what the pizza company promoted to the online Twitter community.

    Twitter marketing has definitely done a lot for the Naked Pizza business. After their first Twitter promo, it had a 15% sales increase. In May 29, 2009, roughly 68% of the customers who called in for an order were calling in as a Twitter follower. That is just how important Twitter is for this company. Naked Pizza is living proof of the effectiveness of social media marketing for an SMB.

  • The Best of Twitter Marketing from Comcast

    For big companies, sometimes it’s hard to keep track of this. Everything is so widespread and broad that some parts of the business tend get neglect. And whenever there’s neglect there are bound to be casualties. More often than always, the negative side effects will be felt the customers. When customers feel unsatisfied, the company will feel a backlash. This is especially true when there are a lot of customers experiencing the same issue. Big companies don’t worry much about getting new customers; their primary concern is keeping their existing ones.

    Comcast is one of the biggest Internet providers in the country. Unfortunately, it is also known for its poor customer service and frequent downtimes. They have such a bad reputation they are actually called “Comcrap” by some subscribers.

    It is very important for Comcast to fix its reputation. If customers don’t feel satisfied, there is a big chance that they will transfer to other service providers. One of the many ways that Comcast is employing to fix its reputation is by Twitter marketing. For Comcast, Twitter marketing is a way they can show customers that they really do care and that they have an initiative to fix their customer’s problems.

    There is no better way to appease a customer than to show them that their problem is being taken care of. Even if the problems don’t get fixed yet, a customer has peace of mind is he or she knows someone is working on the problem.

    For its Twitter marketing, Comcast has launched Comcast Cares. This is a Twitter page where people can actually express their grief over the services they get. Customers can also express their concerns online, plus they can even give suggestions. These posts are not only viewed Comcast representative, but also by Comcast executives. Thanks to this, Tweets can be a form customer tickets for their problems. The great thing about it is that, at times, problems get fixed faster through Twitter that if customers called the tech support hot line.

    The result has been very good for Comcast. Their customers have seen their efforts in trying to make things better for them. One tweeter even claims that after a few minutes of tweeting his complaint, he got a reply from an actual Comcast executive asking how he could help his situation. Knowing that their issues are being fixed, customers feel better about the company. A company’s willingness to help is very important for customers. Showing them good customer service will go a long way.

  • The Best of Twitter Marketing from Namecheap

    One of the biggest online marketing techniques today is social media marketing. Online businesses can study current social media trends and tap into social media platforms to market their products and services. This is a very effective technique and has worked wonders for so many companies already. When you run your business online, it is important to market it well as there is a lot of competition.

    Namecheap is one company that is employing Twitter marketing. Namecheap is a small company comprised of only 70 people. Their main line of business is selling domain names. If you have every tried searching for domain name providers in the Internet, you would know that Namecheap has a lot of competition. This is the primary hurdle the company has to overcome.

    Twitter marketing is the perfect solution to Namecheap’s problems. Twitter is a social media platform that serves as a networked microblog. After studying social media trends, an online company can apply best Twitter practices and promote themselves to members of the Twitter community. Twitter is a very effective platform for online marketing and has done wonders for a lot of online businesses already. Namecheap just needs to put themselves out there and get as much followers as possible. Getting a lot of followers is one of the best Twitter practices for online businesses promoting themselves online. As simple as it is, Twitter can present great opportunities to businesses.

    Namecheap has employed one of the best Twitter marketing techniques− Twitter contests. Namecheap offered their best Twitter followers a way to win freebies just helping to promote the company in the simplest way they can. One example is Namecheap’s trivia contest where they held hourly trivia contests and offered the first three Twitters one-year free domain registration. Everyone wanted a free domain registration. People were so delighted with the contest that they Twittered about it to everyone they knew. The contest spread like wildfire in the Twitter community, eventually making Namecheap a well-recognized name. Followers jumped from 200 to 4,000 in a month.

    After following social media trends, Namecheap was successfully able to infiltrate the Twitter community, instantly making their small company a popular service provider for domain name registration. Their effective Twitter marketing led to a 10% increase in their website traffic and a 20% increase in their domain name registrations. Without a doubt, Twitter helped their business immensely. After years of being in the business, Namecheap now has their biggest customer base ever. This is all thanks to effecting social media marketing.

  • Online Marketing Trends – 7 Top Influential Marketing Trend Websites

    Online Marketing Trends – 7 Top Influential Marketing Trend Websites

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comEvery day, billions of keyword searches are made all over the world, reflecting stories of entertainment and celebrities, current affairs and popular news, and the interests of millions of people. Tapping into these enormous online marketing trends not only gives you an advantage in online marketing, it also gives you the privilege to easily draw maps of cultural trends, business, food, and virtually any topics they desire.

    Google Search Trends
    Google is a very popular website that specializes in search engine and page ranking. This website also offers 20 more different services, which includes Google Maps, G-mail (e-mail accounts), Google Earth and Google Moon.
    Google also offers a service called ‘Google Zeitgeist’ that delivers the top 10 lists of the most highly searched keywords in different countries.

    AdCenter Search Trends
    AdCenter is Microsoft’s applied research group that is intended and dedicated to incubate and search the latest digital advertising technologies. This website was opened in 2006, which roughly combines talents of its engineers and researchers. AdCenter also offers effective services with regards to the changing online marketing trends. They also provide clients with an account and campaign setup where trends and other related information are forwarded.

    AdCenter Keyword Forecast
    Beta tools are not really expected to operate perfectly, but you might want to raise your expectations a bit higher with Microsoft’s AdCenter Keyword Forecast engine. AdCenter Keyword Forecast is a helpful search engine tool that includes impression count in its searches. It also predicts the demographic distribution of keywords, providing you the advantage to learn what keywords are popularly searched in different areas.

    Blog-Pulse
    BlogPulse is a newly launched website that specializes in keyword searches, tracking tools, and ranks. It is a website built with intelliseek technology that specializes in various Language processes, internet searches, and unstructured data analysis. This website is a helpful and entertaining search engine tool for people who are interested in tracking certain issues, trends and rumors, often before these issues finally hit mainstream media.

    TrendPedia
    TrendPedia is website that searches trends in blogs and blogospheres. TrendPedia is a very simple search engine site that searches and provides the latest hottest online marketing trends on the web.

    Facebook Lexicon
    Facebook is popular social networking site that historically started as a social site for college students. Today, the website is now a phenomenal social group that stretches around the world. And with this, Facebook finally released its own search engine tool called Lexicon. Lexicon is a very basic search engine tool that follows the language trend. It is specifically designed to search for word and phrase usage on groups, events, and profiles.

    Twitter Twist Trends
    If you are feeling a little bit lost with your online business, and your progress seems to be very slow, then you might want to consider Twitter Twist as an alternative option. Twitter, personally does not own an official in-house trend product, but Flaptor did released Twist. Similar to Facebook and Google services, Twist also looks at keyword terms and creates graphs and messages according to their information. Users can also precede directly to their previous twitter messages containing that keyword.

  • Will Bing Make It in China?

    Will Bing Make It in China?

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comMicrosoft has recently planned to capture the online Chinese market by creating the Bing Chinese search engine, which they plan to be their next biggest strategy. China is a huge market, having the largest online and mobile markets in the world. The scale is quite massive, obviously because of its huge population. There are over 350 million internet users and 700 million cell phone users in China alone.

    Currently, the search engine Baidu is the leader in the search market in China with 63 to 75 percent of query volume. Google comes up only at number two with a measly 31%. Because it is still in its introductory stage, Bing had only 0.3 percent of the search market but researchers found out that there has been growth in the Bing Chinese usage since its launch last June.

    Bing is Microsoft’s attempt to dethrone Google from its throne, tying up with Yahoo Inc. to achieve their goals. The search engine industry is still an emerging market—thus, instead of concentrating at market share, Microsoft plans to focus in improving its search quality. Search is quite relative to scale—the more content and users it has, the better it gets. This is the very reason why they partnered with Yahoo. Yahoo already has a large base, giving out more relevant results. The partnership between the two giants will give huge long term benefits to Bing. A classic win-win situation.

    Bing’s plans are not market share or monetization. Rather, the company envisions it as a decision making search engine. They want to provide the best consumer experience through the latest technological advances available. Instead of inputting a keyword and giving a mass of all kinds of links, Bing’s strategy is to give the user more relevant results.

    Bing also plans partnerships with Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Twitter to improve their services. There have also been talks about getting an exclusive partnership with New Corp. These plans are all in hopes that the alliances will help Bing grow and move forward.

    Aside from this, Bing decides to provide accessibility to as much people in China as possible. What use will a great product be if it will only be distributed to a limited market? Distribution and logistics is the key to success.

    With the latest news of Google exiting China, Bing hopes to capture the rest of the Chinese market and compete against Baidu in market share.

    Despite all this plans, will Bing make it in Chinese market? All we can do is speculate, hope and wait.

  • SEO To Be Seen

    SEO To Be Seen

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comWith over 60 Internet regulations, the Chinese government has successfully built a virtual Great Wall that even Google got tired of climbing over. On March 22, 2010, Google officially redirected all traffic from its Chinese mainland site to its uncensored Hong Kong site. Eight days later, all hits for Google and its other international sites ended in a DNS error for mainland Chinese netizens. Some fear the ban may be permanent.

    But where Google left off, baidu.com, a Chinese Internet search engine and Google’s closest rival in China, has emerged to fill the gap. Well, if the shoe fits. And what a snug fit it is.

    Baidu, owing to its domestic roots, has emerged as the leading search engine service provider in mainland China. Knowing one’s users in and out, their environment and culture has proved to be the home court advantage of the 10 year-old search engine. Baidu actively censors its content in conjunction with the government’s policies. Its host of local offerings makes the World Wide Web more accessible to its users. With over 140 million sites indexed and growing, Baidu has carved its niche in Chinese Internet so deeply that it is here to stay.

    Despite the censorship, and perhaps because of it, Internet marketers would be well advised to tap into growing market that is the community of Chinese Internet users. Approximated at a staggering 338 million in June 2009, this number jumped by 13.4% from 298 million in a period of six months. This trend is most likely to continue with the reality that the Internet has become an essential aspect of life in the 21st century – yes, even one in virtual China with its virtual wall. 81.6% of Chinese Internet users cannot imagine a life separate from the Internet. A sentiment that is echoed by netizens all over the world.

    Implementing Chinese SEO on Baidu would target the steadily rising group of Internet users in the largest country in the world. It would be like putting your site’s name in Chinese on GPS for the World Wide Web. Over 338 million users will know where your site is and the potential for marketing and generating income would increase dramatically.

    Chinese SEO on Baidu will prove to be a long-term and worthy investment. The ratio between the cost of advertising and the extent of the market range is certainly a profitable one and Baidu’s longevity is undeniable. Claiming a stake in what will become cyberspace prime property in the years to come will ensure your spot in the middle of it all when the real estate booms.

  • SEO Your Way to the TOP

    SEO Your Way to the TOP

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comIf you cannot beat them, join them. Instead of trying to find your way around China’s Great Firewall, why not work with it to your advantage?

    Baidu.com is a Chinese search engine that voluntarily and actively censors its output to adhere to the regulations set forth by the Chinese government. Established and developed by and for Chinese, Baidu has become the logical choice for search engine services because of its domestic advantages and wide array of offerings.

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the easiest method to ensure your site is at the top of the pack when related search results are produced. Chinese SEO on Baidu could prove beneficial to Internet Marketers owing to the large number of Chinese Internet users, which has risen to 338 million in 2009.

    An in depth survey of Chinese Internet demographics also shows that the Internet has become a vital source of information and interaction as well as a means of communication and convenience for the users. 84.3% say the Internet for them is a major information channel. 81.6% say the Internet saves them a lot of time. The value of the Internet in today’s digital age is undeniable. The power of information and of convenience has turned the Internet into ally rather than a foe.

    By doing Chinese SEO on Baidu, you would be advertising your products for a relatively low cost because of the large target audience you can reach. China has a sprawling population of 1.3 billion, the largest in the world. More than 25% of that population is already wired and the number of Internet users is steadily growing despite the censorship implemented by the Chinese government. A sprawling nationwide market with a size at the fraction of more conventional advertising costs is a marketer’s dream. Moreover, word of mouth about your site from returning users is always welcome. And 76% of Chinese Internet users say they will forward something good when they see it.

    SEO is also a natural way to lead users to your site unlike other paid Internet marketing alternatives. Though the clever use of keywords to rise above the ranks to the top can be employed by other dummy sites, leading search engines such as Baidu remove from their indices or records these sites that aggressively use SEO to the point of nonsense and miscorrelation. This will ensure the results are always valid and that your site does not get lost under the rubbish.

    Chinese SEO on Baidu will put your site on the map accessed by millions of Chinese users everyday. To target and tap into a market that is already established and growing could open the doors to your site. And, as everyone knows, the Internet is open 24/7.

  • Chinese SEO – Scaling the Great Firewall

    Chinese SEO – Scaling the Great Firewall

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comAt approximately 1.3 billion, it has the largest population in the world. The number of its Internet users rises significantly each year. It has a great virtual wall that rivals its real one that stretches 8,800 kilometers from Shanhaiguan to Lop Nur. It is the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

    On March 22, 2010, all users who tried to access google.cn were redirected to google.hk to bypass more than 60 Internet regulations set by the Chinese government. Hong Kong, being a Special Administrative Region (SAR) and having special judicial powers, is not subject to some national laws including Internet censorship.

    Google, one of the leading search engines in the world, gave up its stake in China leaving in its wake a void teeming with potential and growing opportunity costs. One such search engine can fill the gap. Enter baidu.com.

    Established in 2000, baidu.com is a Chinese and Japanese search engine that censors inappropriate web content in consonance with the Internet regulations set forth. Moreover, owing to its domestic nature, Baidu, is privy to the inherent cultural and social tendencies of its users. This makes it the preferred search engine of the largest country in the world.

    Chinese Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on baidu.com could prove quite profitable and lucrative for Internet marketers. SEO is a method by which keywords are strategically repeated in a website to produce a top result for that site in a related search engine query.

    It is undeniable that the Internet has become an indispensable tool in people’s lives. Despite the censorship, the number of Chinese Internet users continues to grow each year so much so that the Chinese Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) concluded in 2009 in its 24th Survey Report that the construction of network infrastructure is being overtaken by the increase in Internet users. It has even called for more rigorous means to improve the quality of Chinese Internet.

    What else did the CNNIC report? 77.5% of users say the Internet is separable from their lives. 78.5% say they share their knowledge with others. This chain of users relying more and more on the Internet and their tendency to share information with others is an overflowing resource waiting to be tapped. The higher your site ranks on search engine queries, the more mouse clicks to your virtual door, the greater your web presence.

    By implementing SEO for your site on Baidu alone – you could be reaching out to 338 million prospect users. The figures are staggering. And the possibilities that lie beyond the Great Wall? Unbounded.

  • A Good Affiliate Partners Management

    A Good Affiliate Partners Management

    As Featured On EzineArticles.comWith a little effort managing little details, you can have a good affiliate partners management. Managing your affiliate partners system is not difficult. The easiest way to do it is to have a proper system and always follow up on it.

    After prospecting your affiliate partners or joint venture companies, the next logically step to take is to contact them and usually through email because most likely that is what you will find on the website. Even if there is a number to call, you will not have the habit to call it. However it is advisable to make a call when a partnership is about to form.

    Since this is the initial contact and is also an important one, you need to seriously write an email to grab their attention and response to you. Your potential affiliate and joint venture partners receive a lot of emails everyday and they will be choosy to pick one to work together.

    To write this initial email, check out your potential partners websites first and see how their business are structure. Understand what they are really doing and avoid asking questions that are already in their frequently asked question section. Understanding them will help you draft the email that is appealing to them. The content of the email should include why you want a partnership, mentioning in the email that you have common interests that can complement one another.

    The email should also include your commission payout, explaining how much you are paying. It is important to let your potential partners know that it is a win-win situation and they will benefit more by promoting your product or service. The email also include that you will send them a free evaluation copy for their perusal and when they are ready you will give them a courtesy call to finalise the partnership.

    If you like to cross sell your potential partners products as part of the partnership, you can also mention it in the email. Lastly, add all your available preferred mode of contacts before signing of the email. The more contact information you provide, the better and easier for your potential partners to contact you for further discussion. MSN Messenger, ICQ, Skype, email address, etc, make it all available to them to reach you easily.

    After all these efforts and the partnership is forge and the first email marketing launch, do not forget to follow up your partners. Support them continuously by sending new promotional materials, such as sales articles for their websites, email promotion and special reports. Customise ad banners for your partners when they have special promotion.

    Consistent effort and put your partners management system in practice and you will have good control over it that will generate profitable income for you to enjoy.